I found something worse than Rock of Ages..
I finally got around to seeing King Kong: The Musical last Friday. It was such a hot mess that I'm fairly sure they'll have to rework it if there's any chance it won't be a joke when it hits Broadway.
I won't lie; the puppet is amazing. Really, truly amazing. Never in my life have I quivered in anticipation at seeing a puppet. But honestly, I don't think it's enough to make up for how badly written the script was.
I thought the characters were clichéd and just generally shallow and under-developed.
There's an Elphaba/Fiyero romance a la Wicked that doesn't really work out. They start fighting because one of them is a woman and then fall in love because he teaches her to dance (for no apparent reason other than it seems to be the thing to do when there's a full moon).
There's a captain, who I think is supposed to be comedic relief, but he only has three lines in the whole show.
And then there's a weird, old woman, who comes out every now and then to sing the odd line about a foreboding future. I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be a fortune teller, but I can only guess since she always stands under a huge neon sign that says "FORTUNE."
And the costumes..I've only seen worse costumes in Rock of Ages. At least their excuse was the whole 1980s theme.
Was it really necessary to have backup dancers in bras in almost every single ensemble scene?
Could the backup dancers have worn actual underwear instead of thongs?
I left the show feeling unsatisfied. It's disappointing that they didn't spend as much time on the script as they did on the puppet.
I won't lie; the puppet is amazing. Really, truly amazing. Never in my life have I quivered in anticipation at seeing a puppet. But honestly, I don't think it's enough to make up for how badly written the script was.
I thought the characters were clichéd and just generally shallow and under-developed.
There's an Elphaba/Fiyero romance a la Wicked that doesn't really work out. They start fighting because one of them is a woman and then fall in love because he teaches her to dance (for no apparent reason other than it seems to be the thing to do when there's a full moon).
There's a captain, who I think is supposed to be comedic relief, but he only has three lines in the whole show.
And then there's a weird, old woman, who comes out every now and then to sing the odd line about a foreboding future. I'm pretty sure she's supposed to be a fortune teller, but I can only guess since she always stands under a huge neon sign that says "FORTUNE."
And the costumes..I've only seen worse costumes in Rock of Ages. At least their excuse was the whole 1980s theme.
Was it really necessary to have backup dancers in bras in almost every single ensemble scene?
Could the backup dancers have worn actual underwear instead of thongs?
I left the show feeling unsatisfied. It's disappointing that they didn't spend as much time on the script as they did on the puppet.