The line about the forest is lifted directly from Monty Python’s Spamalot
So someone reached out to me about my review on MiG and I clarified my review with the following message.
Greetings. I appreciate you reaching out. A little backstory on me, I’ve attended well over 60 Broadway/Off Broadway shows in the past 5 years. I’ve seen the spectrum from epics to complete flops, so I know what works.
I’ll start off saying that I enjoyed the show, but I enjoy live musical theater. I’m not sure that can be said of all guests.
While the show is not horrible, I personally feel Reuben’s suffers from trying to do too much in too short of a time. I think spending a little more time in each scene would help a lot. Give us some meaningful dialogue on why and how this connects to the big story. Think about why Dickens, Wonderful Life, Heading West and even For the Glory were all successful. They told a story - a meaningful one. I felt like that was missing here.
Song choices might also have something to do with it as well, as only a well-seasoned theater goer (snob) is going to recognize the music. The sing-a-long left the audience around me very confused. Most didn’t know the song - even my family had no clue what the song was (I did - but I’ve seen Pippin).
I think another issue is that Reuben’s is an “original” story so the general public won’t feel like they have an investment in the story. Both For the Glory and Heading West had historical aspects that the audience could draw past experiences from. I’m afraid that fact alone will hurt the staying power of the show.
Finally the biggest complaint I heard was the audience (around me) felt the show was a bait and switch. They went in expecting a pirate show and it wasn’t. Look at the ads. Look at the ushers. Look at the “Photo with a Pirate”. Look at the announcer using pirate ship terms. Do you think they’re wrong in being upset about the bait and switch?
I know this is long and I’ll be more than happy to listen to your responses, but I feel my report was fair for what the show was. I’m sure I’ll watch it again this season, and I hope it’s improved by then. I guess we’ll see
Here’s a list of most of the major songs and where they are from
“Sailing for Adventure” - Muppet Treasure Island
“Friend in Me” - Toy Story
“Time to Start Living” - Pippin
Let it Shine - ?
“Defying Gravity” - Wicked
“To thine own self be true” - Something Rotten
Home is not a place (that’s how you know you are home) - ?
“Bright Star” - Bright Star