The Big Broadcast of 1938

[prog]

The first act was ingenious, wonderful, and perfectly paced. derspatchel has such an affinity for both creating and delivering radio comedy that one is tempted to conclude he was born 70 years too late. The music from Emperor Norton's Stationary Marching Band was hot, and fit in perfectly as a buffer between the vocal performances. I would have happily sat

Comments

[ruthling]

I agree 100%. There was soo much good stuff in there but the long running time was wearying. Sometimes even really good stuff needs get sacrificed for the good of the production as a whole. I also thought the guy who played the head mobster looked the part, but didn't have the energy to carry off such a significant role and so parts with him in them dragged.

[radiotelescope]

(I said some of this last night, but...) It ran long, but it was the *first* act where I thought "This is dragging a little." Once the invasion started, I thought it was running full pace. Not that it couldn't have been cut -- but I never thought "I wish this bit were shorter."

(Maybe because it felt like historical pacing, not narrative... it felt like real events.)

Also, Insider Sources Reveal that the Friday night show got out particularly late, not because the show was longer, but because the intermissions were longer. Friday crowd buys beer.

I did hear someone else say that the third act seemed draggy, but that was a member of the band. Because *they* sit around a lot in the third act. :)

[treacle_well]

I agree, but not 100%. I enjoyed the first act and thought it was quite well paced, but it probably wouldn't have been hurt by some trimming in order to bring the total run time down. And I strongly agree that the whole thing was just too long. I overheard some conversation during intermission that suggested the whole first act should have been cut, but I disagree. Aside from being enjoyable in itself, it was an important period and mood-setter for the subsequent acts. Plus the music was freaking awesome

indeed

[cthulhia]

there's nothing like seeing where it could've been cut well after it's too late

Re: indeed

[mmcirvin]

Act II started a little wobbly after the clever transition from Frank Cyrano (on Friday they were having some problems with the audio, lots of feedback) and built to a tremendous climax, thanks to the sound design and Tom Champion. Some of the early mobster scenes in Act II probably could have been cut; the mob guys become interesting in Act III.

One of the most effective things about the revised script, especially in Act II--which I wasn't personally sure would come off--was the use of Boston-area geography. It really helps paint a picture of a massive alien invasion in your head when the landscape the tripods are stomping through is one you know, albeit 70 years back in time.

I recall thinking that the very rough equivalent of Act III dragged in H. G. Wells' original novel.

Here, I actually kind of liked the romantic subplot and the North End/Southie conflict. It was initially hard to tell what was happening in the Martian-breakin scene, though that could be seen as an element of the horror.

[chanaleh]

Yeah, lillibet explained it as "They didn't have time to write a shorter script, so they wrote a long one." IOW, clearly it could have been tightened, beneficially; but knowing how and where takes time (and energy) that they didn't have by the time the whole thing was even *written*.

Maybe for the revival... or the touring production... ;-)

[mangosteen]

"They didn't have time to write a shorter script, so they wrote a long one."

...and that's after cutting paragraphs and lines from the script. The fact that cuts like that are an incremental process as people hear it played out again and again, only means that it takes more time.

or the touring production... ;-)

Now wouldn't that be a hell of a thing. :)

[derspatchel]

Byfar Hour writer here. (Hello!) I had written a comment here about how chanaleh was right about the time constraints and the editing process, but ironically the comment was too long for LJ to post.

I've since posted it in full on my own LJ.

[radtea]

I just edited a story for a submission down from a little over 3000 words to a little under 2500 to meet editorial guidelines, and oh man do I feel for them. It's hard enough when you're just cutting words on a page, making sure you aren't accidentally throwing out some crucial bit of information that turns an insight into noise. With cutting in theatre you're cutting people's lines, you're throwing away hard work that other people have already put in. Necessary to do, but it makes an intellectually challenging task emotionally challenging as well.