Viagra Falls

 All these years and I have never been to the Little Shubert Theatre on 42nd Street.  Now I have.  I just wish it were for something a little better.  This production clearly represented a lifetime dream to have a show on Broadway.  I"m not sure who, but their dream did come true - just not to rave reviews.

This is one of those old people shows.  Incontinence jokes, fart jokes, prune juice jokes, and the list goes on and on... and on...  Bernie Kopell and Lou Cutell were funny for all of about 15 minutes.  Then it got monotonous.  We get it already.  Jacqueline Tempest (Teresa Ganzel) had a few good lines too.  Not exactly the show stealing character i thought she would be.  I think the part might have worked better if she had been a zip in, fire off some zingers, and leave.  Instead we got to know her.  Zzzzzzzz.

To me this seemed like really bad episode of the Golden Girls.  You know, one where you are dying to change the channel, but just can't pull away - hoping Blanche will come out with a zinger.  Unfortunately, as amusing as both of the actors are, the zinger never came.

Everyday Rapture

A rare revisit of a show on my part - not by total choice, i might add.  This show had a fairly decent run at Second Stage Theatre last spring during which I paid it a visit.  Due to an "opening" in the Roundabout schedule and a stroke of fairly decent luck the show was granted a run on Broadway.

The story is mostly unchanged from the original - Small town girl with an overly-religious (flavor of the month = Mennonite) upbringing and generally racist/intolerant family wants to be a Broadway star.  Broadway here she comes... Broadway here she is!  Trouble is, the show is not really designed for a large Broadway stage, nor is the story very engaging.  It's basically still  a one woman show with a keyboard, guitar and drum set.  To fill the American Airlines Theatre they turned up the mics and put up lots of colored lights and background set filler.  Eamon Foley (broadwayislove2009@earthlink.net) is still a show stealing cutie.

I doubt this show would have made it to Broadway were it not for Megan Mullally's temper tantrum and subsequent abrupt departure from Lips Together Teeth Apart.  I thought the show was marginally entertaining off-Broadway, but for a repeat run - stay home and plan a trip to the beach this summer instead.

Nunsense

The Cherry Lane Theatre brought back an original after 25 years - Dan Goggin's Nunsense.  I believe I heard somewhere that he did not want to update it.  That was a mistake.  The show is campy enough and now on top of that, it's stale - which leads to uninteresting and boring.

The nuns themselves were OK. Sister Mary Amnesia (Jeanne M. Tinker) stole the show. Everyone else was good and seemed talented enough, but given the material - just fell flat. Old jokes, campy songs with outdated lyrics. Maybe 25 years ago people were jumping out of their seats in shock (at least the Catholics should have been!). Today it was more - ehhhh.

I had to go see it so I could say "I saw it", but I wasn't impressed. This one won't be coming to Broadway any time soon. Sister Act has them beat by a mile, I'm sure. It's over in London now. Here's hoping for a transfer of that one.

Rock of Ages

 One pure guilty start to the summer pleasure, coming right up.  Let's just get this out of the way right up front.  This show is so bad, it's delicious!  There is marginal talent on the stage - certainly not much good dancing, plenty of loud 1980's power ballads and anthem like songs we all remember, and plenty of fairly decent, but not breakthrough acting going on.  Frankly, from a pure theater standpoint, it gets a C- at best.  But from the entertainment angle, it's a B+.  A simply enjoyable evening that includes lots of bad hair, fairly decent tunes, a giggin' rock band, a couple of sexy as all hell boys - and on top of that I could have a beer at my seat!

I did at times feel like I should have been at Madison Square Garden - partly because of the aforementioned beer and partly because of the strange non-traditional theatre crowd drawn in for the music.  Many yelled and pumped their pinkies and thumbs in the air and some just talked throughout the show, probably because their girlfriends did not inform them that they were going to a Broadway show rather than a rock concert.

All this aside, I was entertained.  James Carpinello  - hot and dripping with sex.  Kerry Butler (Sherry) finally got to make out with him (since he never made it to the opening night of Xanadu because of his injury!).  I didn't see Constantine Maroulis, but his understudy was darn good.  Fill in the comedy factor with Hertz and his son Franz (um, super funny and sexy and the boy could dance his cute little ass off!).

I've said it a few times this season - the show was good, but is this Broadway?  I think not.  I'd pay to see it at the Beacon Theatre or in this case even the Theatre at Madison Square Garden - I'm not happy that this crap ends up on Broadway!

The Forest

What a satisfying evening in theatre.  The ensemble cast at Classic Stage Company has put on yet another gem.   Headlined by Diane Weist, the entire ensemble was a powerhouse.  The Forest is a play originally by a Russian, Alexander Ostrovsky (think Chekov), which has been adapted by Kathleen Tolan.  It concerns a powerful woman in Russia who has some money, is a little cheap but cares for and raises poor young children from the town.  'Tis the age of arranged marriages, dowries, male dominated business and politics, and many formalities of public life.   It's a romantic comedy of days gone by.

Here we have a young girl who is promised to man whom she does not love.  She loves a boy from the town madly (and secretly) who does not have the dowry to pay to marry her.  There's a poor young man at the estate who is not too smart and can't figure out how to please the mistress of the estate.  The mistress of the estate who is in love with the young boy but for the formalities of life, is afraid to tell him. There are two vagabond actors, one of whom is a long lost relative, a few townspeople and two servants on the estate.

The actors all serve up outstanding performances - from the comedic to the dramatic and you left the theatre with a sense of just having witnessed true professionals delivering the goods.  Bravo!

Bass for Picasso

 I have no problem with actors who have disabilities.  I actually love to see them on stage, disproving stereotypes, taking on the challenge alongside their peers.  At the end, we just decide who did well and who did not.  Who cares about the disability?  Not me.

On the other hand, I don't agree with the idea that a hearing person can't play a deaf character, a seeing person can't play a blind role, etc.  I don't think either should be preferred - or discouraged - just the best person for the cast at that time, that production, and the desired result.  This production of Bass for Picasso was produced by Theater Breaking Through Barriers.  They promote and encourage actors with disabilities to hone their craft.  Bravo!

Now - with that out of the way - the play was awful.  An absurd, (and frankly a bit dishonest) comedic romp (occasionally) looking at the gay lifestyle and concepts of family in New York today.   Well - i for one don't know anyone like these characters - none of them.  They were over-the-top and stereotypical.  I presume the theater company was trying to make a point about discrimination and stereotyping - just using another group of people to prove the point through the laughter.  Well, the characters were strange - and frankly, the disabilities the actors had only served to make each of their characters more absurd and in turn the entire play a flop.  There were plenty of funny lines, but I left feeling sad for many of the characters.  Most of them, actually.   I think the choice of the work was a gamble.  One that will not pay off.

This Wide Night

 Two extraordinary women playing two rather ordinary women.  Two contemporary powerhouses, Edie Falco and Alison Pill, take on this two-hander from Naked Angels at the Peter J. Sharp Theatre at Playwrights Horizons.  Probably not a coincidence that artistic director, Jeffrey Nauffts, has a hit play, Next Fall, currently playing on Broadway.   How he has one playing off-Broadway too.

The play was commissioned in England to be delivered to women in prison - to tell them how hard it may be "on the outside" after they are released.  Money doesn't come easily, old habits die hard, and family may  take several forms.

A 90 minute electrifying performance by both women.  While virtually nothing much transpires between the two women the entire show - the message, emotion, and result is incredibly powerful.

White's Lies

A light romp on West 50th Street at the New World Stages with a delightful cast.   It's a bit like a skit on the Tonight Show - a wink and a nod - but delightful nonetheless.  Betty Buckley and Peter Scolari headline the ensemble.   Check it out.  The cast alone is well worth the off-Broadway ticket price.  New favorite funny boy - Jimmy Ray Bennett.

The Kid

This seems to be the break-out season for contemporary gay-themed plays and musicals of all kinds  - The Temperamentals, The Pride, Yank, Next Fall.  Each of them is different - an almost forgotten historical gay movement, a mysteriously time shifting play comparing the 1950's and the 1980's, a musical about a military romance during the war, and a contemporary family shocked from all sides by an accident face each other in a hospital.   One way or another, they all involve important social issues of our today - family, relationships and love.  The Kid is no different.  Dan Savage, sex columnist, wrote a book about his experience of adopting a baby with his partner.  This is their story set to a wonderful score with an eclectic and magnificent ensemble cast.

Christopher Sieber (Dan) and Lucas Steele (Terry) give a tender, romantic, and honest performance  - so honest in fact, that you might think they are an off-stage couple as well (alas, they are not).   The supporting ensemble peppers them with with sage advice, warnings, a splash of humor, and of course lots of great harmonies.   Jill Eikenberry, as Dan's mother, sings a song in Act II that brought tears to my eyes about a mother watching her son grow up and letting him be who he needed to be.   The always adorable Tyler Maynard hammed it up as only he can as Chad and a few other scene stealing characters.  Susan Blackwell usually known for her sardonic wit kept things uncharacteristically serious and real as Anne, the adoption agent.   Ann Harada, as Ruth (and others) had several comedic cameos.

Not only was the musical score divine, the set had a multi-media backdrop where video blurbs and graphic animations were shown.  The final animation clip was a perfect way to end and entirely enjoyable evening of theatre. There's a lot of competition in this market segment this year - but I have a feeling that this won't be the last time we see The Kid on a New York stage.

The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity

As advertised - a power-slam of a play!  Wow. Kudos to Kristoffer Diaz.  Wrestling on Broadway - who could guess that it would win a Pulitzer prize!?  Well, although it's subject matter happens to be wrestling - it's about so much more.  Americans, immigrants, money, culture, ignorance, racism, and identity.  That's a whole lot of stuff packed into two hours.

Let me be upfront.  I HATE wrestling.  (If I liked it do you think I'd be writing a Broadway theatre blog?).  But wrestling is a merely the perfect tool to lay out the argument.  And "lay out" is exactly what Ushman Ally, Terrence Archie, Desmin Borges, Christian Litke, and Michael T Weiss do with the material.  Power-Slam.

Want to see what a Pulitzer prize winning play looks like - Proceed immediately to Second Stage Theatre.

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Entertained?  I sure as f*#k was.  Witness to history?  In a way, sort of.  Top notch theatre?  No, not really.  What does this all mean?   Spend the $60 for a ticket and get an irreverent, funny, musical history of the life of our 7th president - Andrew Jackson.  

I don't see this as a Broadway transfer (but crazier things have certainly happened).  Appropriate for the Public Theatre this musical romp was well worth the 90 minutes in the elaborately shabby Newman theatre at the Public.  

From his first words (and first sight - *sigh*) Benjamin Walker (Andrew Jackson) is HOT (dripping with sex, one might say) .  The ensemble cast surrounding him never failed to entertain.  More than a few times - over the top - but I guess that's what I signed up for.  My favorites included Lucas Near-Verbrugghe (Van Buren) and Jeff Hiller (Adams)  - who both almost made me pee in my pants a few times.  Everyone is young.  Everyone is sexy.  It's loud. That's what they are going for.

Spring Awakening meets American Idiot meets Saturday Night Live - - that's my vote and I'm sticking to it.

The Burnt Part Boys

What a thrill to see a new show that really blows you away.  This is a joint production between Playwrights Horizons and The Vineyard Theatre.  It's been in development for about a year on various stages and this stop on 42nd Street is a true winner.

Pete (Al Calderone) runs away with his best buddy Dusty (Noah Galvin) to try and preserve the memory of his father who was killed in a mine explosion (hence the title, the Burnt Part... of the mine).  Chet his older brother (Andrew Durand) and his best buddy Jake (Charlie Brady) chase after them.  The story is a powerful ode to family and memory, growing up, chasing a dream, and a fight to "get out" vs the need to "stay".   The power behind this show is the music - one strong ballad after another and a cast that can fill the theatre from the front row to the very last.  Kudos to the entire creative team - Mariana Elder (book), Chris Miller (music), and Nathan Tysen (lyrics)  The creative direction (Joe Calarco) and use of the stage, ramps, and aisles during the performance drew you in even closer to the story.

Run, Don't Walk.  This one has Broadway transfer potential.

A Behanding in Spokane

This was possibly one of the worst plays I have ever seen.  While there may have been a lot of talent assembled on stage, the material was offensive - homophobic and racist.  Yes, it was a black comedy, but I highly doubt the fat white tourists all sitting in the audience realized it as they were laughing at the jokes.  

La Cage Aux Folles

Yet another revival of this Jerry Herman classic.  It seems only yesterday I saw this one (twice even) at the Marriott Marquis.  (For the record it was 2004).   For a show that had its original run in 1983, this one has done quite well in both New York and London.

This time around, however, is different - less glitz, glamor, sequins and stardust - and more family, love, and character.  This time around we have Kelsey Grammer and Douglas Hodge as Georges and Albin.  Les Cagelles, as they always are, put on a hot, dazzling  performance - emphasis on HOT .  Anyone sitting up close can see the bulging muscles these "ladies" clearly spend time working on (oh my!).   An interesting choice this time around is for Jared De Jesus to play the role of the Jacob, the houseboy.  He's certainly adorable, but I thought maybe he was a bit over the top - too much - trying to hard - more like a Saturday night live skit than a Broadway show.  This, of course, is not his fault, and probably falls squarely on the director, Terry Johnson.

Overall, I think most people agree, the story is timeless - love and family take many forms and shapes - a message that still has a long journey ahead.

Collected Stories

A charming and poignant evening in the theatre.  Seeing Lavin on a Broadway stage is a pleasure.  The role of Ruth Steiner was one she was born to play.  She brought an ethnic and comedic touch that few others could bring.   Sarah Paulson turned in a transformative performance - going from a shy, insecure undergrad to a successful award winning published author.

The dilemma presented in this story is one argued through the ages - Who owns a story?  Who has the right to tell it?   Ruth and Lisa wove a complex relationship - one of teacher and pupil and another as surrogate mother and daughter.  Playwright Donald Margulies prods the audience to take sides, makes you ask yourself where to draw the line.  He presents both sides of the story but it's highly likely you'll walk out of the theatre with an opinion on one side or the other.

Who's side will you take?

Enron

It may have been a smashing success in London, but here in New York, a bit "closer to home" as they say, it probably won't fare as well.  The Brits probably enjoy laughing at our moments of weakness just a bit more than we do.  A monumental undertaking by playwright Lucy Prebble, Enron attempts (and quite frankly succeeds) at telling the story of Jeffrey Skilling and his downfall at the Company we all know as Enron.

As the play unfolded, she (and the actors) all did a remarkable job at keeping in "interesting".  Lighting, music, dance numbers, and sophisticated digital looking sets all contributed to the "wall street" atmosphere.  Norbert Leo Butz nailed Skilling.  Gregory Itzin and Stephen Kunken as Kenneth Lay and Andy Fastow both turned in remarkable performances.  Marin Mazzie was superb as one of the few fictional (or more correctly stated, composite) characters.

The trouble is - they wove a complex tale.  There was no hero to route for.  While your senses were being bombarded with business terms, facts, figures, and jargon - the story simply lacked anyone or anything redeeming in the end.  My personal feeling is that they could have "created" (i.e. taken literary license) a "whistle blower" (which, in reality would not have been that difficult as the real story had the makings of one anyway).

Overall - I (an accountant by trade) loved it, understood it, and appreciated what they had to say.  I am guessing that as brilliant as the storytelling efforts were, most people walked out of the theatre confused or angry at a time when the economy is once again in the toilet - hence resurfacing old thoughts of anger, resentment, and ill will towards corporate America in general.  At a minimum, some might wonder if Ben Brantley's mutual funds took a nose-dive the day before he reviewed it.

Looking for Billy Haines

This play, another in what appears to be an extensive offerings of gay story-lines in the 2010 season, is not one of the better offerings.  While the cast was mostly cute and the tap dancing top notch (and surprising), the storyline was a bit contrived (some might say silly) and the choice of Jason Gaffney as the lead (Jamie Hollis) is odd.  While he's adorable and clearly a talented tap dancer - acting does not seem his forte.  Joseph Cullinane (Billy Haines) on the other hand proved himself to be Fred-Astaire-like and extremely graceful.

Truth be told, i left at intermission (as did several others).  Act I was simply too long, listening to the meek and childlike voice of Billy tell his story just bored me.  Were it not for some of the supporting cast and the incredible tap dancing, I'm not sure I would have lasted as long.   I'm sure everyone in this cast deserves a some applause, but the collection of talents seemed mis-aligned with the story.

The Common Air

A true off-off Broadway experience to be had down at 45 Bleaker Theatre.  This show is off-beat, clever, and intriguing to say the least.  It's a play by Alex Lyras and Robert McCaskill - performed solely by Alex Lyras - A true one man, multi-character show.

Each character is connected to an unseen character in each scene.  That unseen character becomes the character in the next - and as such - a diverse, meandering story develops as the story forwardly unfolds character by character.  Much of the play revolves around the airport - a ride to it, waiting in it, and coming home from it.  The only surprising, but quite dramatic element, was the climax of the last scene.  It seemed a bit out of the context of the rest of the play.  In the vernacular of the airport, it seemed like we had a very bumpy landing at the wrong airport.   While poignant, the last scene threw the entire play off course.  I left feeling i had been duped into something a bit more than i bargained for.

The Temperamentals

Okay, I'll admit it.  I went to see this show because of that adorable, boyish, young hunk, Michael Urie.  But I left with much, much more - An entire history lesson on the gay rights movement pre-stonewall.  The entire cast was magnificent - funny, awkward, serious, shy, and.. well... gay... all at the same time.

Playing at New World Stages, this play should not be missed by anyone - it's affordable, accessible, and consider it a bonus that you get to see Michael Urie up close and personal.

Promises, Promises

A long time in coming, the first Broadway revival of a 1960's classic.  A Neil Simon book, Burt Bacharah music and Hal David lyrics - how could you go wrong putting this one on?  Well, let me tell you - mis-cast the leads and don't update the book.

It's not like Sean Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth are not capable, they certainly are.  It's not like Rob Ashford is not a talented director, he most certainly is.  The problem is that we've picked "stars" to lead the show instead of the right talent.  Mr. Hayes is a comedic genius - not necessarily a singer - (although i must admit he's got a pretty decent set of pipes).  Kristin Chenoweth could possibly be one of the brightest stars on Broadway, but the role of Fran Kublick - questionable.

The dancers, the sets and lighting are all fantastic.  And if there's one person who steals this show out from under everyone - it's Katie Finneran.  With no more than 20 minutes on stage the entire time, she walks off to a virtual standing ovation right in the middle of the show.  Go figure.

Because this show is such a good romp and a light hearted love story - it's certainly worth seeing and the cast is certainly talented even if mis-cast.  I suspect despite the mixed and luke warm reviews, this one will last a short while.

G.B.S.

Jason Hall has penned a mighty 90 minute dialogue between two estranged brothers who are forced to reunite after, as we slowly learn, his death from Guillain-Barre Syndrome (hence the title of the play).   The show is true storytelling at its best, with virtually no props or scenery and limited lighting.

Kudos to Curran Connor and Jason Jacoby for their fine performances.  Both actors are on stage together for just about the entire play - each taking a break for mere moments while the other has a brief monologue.

This play is about family, family issues, and the mess that happens in our lives and how life can grow more complicated despite our desire to love and be loved.  I've no idea where the idea for this play came from, but one might speculate the disease may have hit a loved one in Mr. Hall's family and thinking further about it - perhaps this play is somewhat autobiographical.  I'm not really sure, but one would assume the ideas, facts, or circumstances may have come from within.

American Idiot

It's loud, irreverent, but not pointless.  A story of teenage angst is told thru the music.  Conceived in the Bush era this show is both artistic and uncomfortable at the same time.  John Gallagher, Jr., Stark Sands and Michael Esper lead the cast in a 90 minute multi-media, alcohol, drug, and profanity laced tour de force.

Green Day may not be your favorite band and watching a group of kids come of age in different, yet predictable ways may not be the ideal night in theatre - but the "shock and awe" on stage might just win you over.   Will it last?  I think at least as long as Spring Awakening.  Longer?  Not sure.

Sondheim on Sondheim

A thoroughly enjoyable multi-media evening spent learning about the musical legend, Stephen Sondheim, at the legendary Studio 54.  My only complaint is that I spent over $400 bucks for a subscription to the Roundabout Theatre company - expecting to see great plays and musicals - and instead i get this.  It's cheap to produce and not what I signed up for.

Thumbs up to Barbara Cook and Vanessa Williams - two great voices from two generations.  Kudos to Leslie Kritzer and Euan Morton who solidly rounded out the cast and brought many laughs.   Norm Lewis is not stranger to the stage, but I'm not sure he was right for this role.  And then there's Tom Wopat.  Why people think he can sing and act, I'll never understand.

Mr. Sondheim materializes all evening on the fancy-schmancy TV monitors that morph all over the stage the entire evening.  He sets the scenes, tells the story and even makes us laugh and cry in the trip of memories down Sondheim Lane.  One wonders if he's so busy that he couldn't make an actual appearance live on stage in the very show that is a tribute to him.  Oh well.   The talent  gets an A but Roundabout gets a D for effort on this one.

Lend Me a Tenor

What started as a funny romp turned into a tragedy of epic proportions at the Music Box Theatre.  More like a overly long episode of the Carol Burnett Show, I thought this one would never end.  Truth be told, I left at intermission.  The actors were all decent  - and frankly i chuckled quite a few time - but c'mon, even Carol Burnett has limits.  She can only try to make Harvey Korman or Tim Conway laugh so many times before the joke gets very old, very quickly.

The Scottsboro Boys

 I've just come up with a new final exam for a musical theatre class.  Here it is:  Pitch this idea to a producer and try to get them to put it on - -  The story of 9 black boys accused of raping two white women on a railroad car in the south in 1931 presented as a musical minstrel show with the boys all being actually black with the show's white narrator telling the story to the audience while intermittently playing a character throughout throughout the entire performance.  Good luck with that one, right?!


Well this is exactly what Kandor and Ebb set out to do and despite the death of Fred Ebb before the work was completed, it has finally been given its world primere in New York City at the Vineyard Theatre. Despite the awkward premise, the show works.   It instantly feels both entertaining and uncomfortable at the same time.  It's supposed to feel that way - but never lets you get stuck being uncomfortable for too long.  Memorable numbers, inspiring ballads, rousing show numbers and talent crawling all over the stage make for an invigorating and educational night of theatre.   Stand out performances by all the boys and most of all John Cullum as the interlocutor.

This one is likely to transfer to Broadway.  The stage at the Vineyard is small - probably too small, but Susan Stroman worked her magic nonetheless.  On a larger Broadway stage, this one has great potential.   I'm not sure it will have a long lasting run, but it will certainly make a substantial contribution to the live theatre experience and enrich its audiences substantially while there.

RED

Alfred Molina and Eddie Redmayne turn John Logan's play into a 90 minute tour de force.  This is some of the best theatre around and two of the best actors for it.  Mark Rothko a contemporary artist is the subject - or shall we say his artistic viewpoints and opinions are the substance of the show.  Molina plays him with the intensity of a lion.  Redmayne comes along as a young, shy assistant in the art studio and turns out to be one of his most powerful foils.


Art is not only performed on stage, it's created.  The stage is the studio.  Art is on the menu.  Look for one or both of these two to win a Tony this season.  This is theatre at it's most electrifying best.

A Cool Dip in the Barren Saharan Crick

 I'm always a fan of the productions at Playwrights Horizons.  This one is a new work by Kia Corthron.  The play has a somewhat radical version of the enviro-political message - Save our drinking water.   William Jackson Harper takes command of the stage as Abebe, the young student / preacher from Ethiopia who rails against waste of water in America and everywhere else.  So much, in fact that the audience finds itself drowning in his sermons.  His host family has some issues too and somehow Kia manages to weave Abebe into their life to help heal them too.  Myra Lucretia Taylor (Pickle) and Kianne Muschett (H.J.) give admirable performances as Mother and Daughter.

A play with a strong message is hard to pull off.  Aside from its length, this one almost does it.

All About Me

Looking back, this seemed like a pretty good match up on Broadway - the frivolity and acerbic hilarity of Australia's great Dame Edna Everage combined with the great American songster Michael Feinstein - a duo to be reckoned with, right?   Wrong.

This show combined the worst of both.  Not nearly enough of the American crooner and the the Dame had only fleeting moments of her signature comic repartee with the audience.  The plot (if you can call it that) is a bit ridiculous and contrived - both artists booked in the same theatre at the same time doing what each of them thinks is his/her own individual show.  The madcap antics that follow are best left to the keystone cops or Monty Python.   I should have known exactly how the entire evening was going to unfold when, as soon as we sat down and compared Playbills (yes, I love my Playbills!), I realized there were two versions - one for Michael's show and one for Dame Edna's show.  

Don't get me wrong - I love both of these veterans and was hoping for something grand - but instead got mediocrity at best.  I'd still buy tickets to each of them separately but for both of them i think it will be a long break before a return to the stage after this flop.