I am not centralparkkid, but I will answer your question anyway (I am beginning to have an identity problem in this thread). There was a graveyard scene last night. The odd part about the scene was that the gravedigger's wife goes looking for him. Now that I think of it, it just didn't seem to fit right. Her part seemed like filler where none was needed.

It took me a while to figure out what that "kid" reference was. I think it was a California Pizza Kitchen reference I made by mistake. :D

But yes, you just said what others have said about that scene and the guy who posted saying it was gone tonight says it is much better without it. I guess you have the privilege of being in the last audience to see that scene.

Thanks for the review, CPG. I like to get preview tickets just before opening night, by which time they will have ironed out all the wrinkles - maybe.

Sounds like it might be worthwhile at the discount price.

BTW, discount tickets are still available for "Gypsy". I get emails from Theatermania all the time. The only one not discounted is South Pacific, for which I'd gladly shell out $125 to see a second time.

panecott - I'm with you on South Pacific. I may get tix again because dh didn't see it. But I paid $50 the first time because I'm a member of Lincoln Center Theatre. It's a great deal. I don't normally do memberships or subscriptions (except the ballet), but with LCT, if you go to one event you've broken even with the membership fee. And you get to buy tix before they go on sale to the public ($40 for previews, $50 afterward). I just got in today's mail the first offer of the season - 'Dividing the Estate' with Eliz Ashley. It's not at LC because South Pacific is still playing, but it's from LCT.

Just wanted to piggyback CentralParkGirl's review, since we saw the show last night. I'm in agreement that it wasn't great, but good and entertaining, and there are some wonderful performances (especially James Barbour as Sydney, Natalie Toro as Madame Defarge, and also liked Mackenzie Mauzy as the Seamstress).
The first act was too long (1-1/2 hours) and to us, seemed very choppy since they were trying to cover a long time period and a lot of activity. As one example, in about 2 minutes, Lucie and Darnay get engaged, married, have a baby, who then becomes a little girl! The second act was very strong (and shorter).
The theater was packed with a very appreciative crowd. We had nosebleed seats, but they were just $59 and since they were in the center, were excellent for viewing the play.
Monday afternoon/evening was a great time to be in the city since it wasn't very crowded and we easily got street parking and had plenty of time for dinner at Uncle Nicks (and the ride home to NJ was a breeze).
Overall....while it will be interesting to see what the critics say and how this impacts the show, we thought it was an entertaining evening out!

Thank you for the report CP

Where have you been, andrew8?

We were out in Beverly Hills and Malibu Beach. It was a bad idea as I should have waited until I was done with this treatment. I didn't want to let my wife down as I knew how much she was looking forward to it.
Hope you're doing well !

Hey Andrew and sg,
Been thinking of you too.

andrew8 - what a way to spend a vacation - I hope you finish soon with the results that you want!!!

I pretty much agree with the reports on "Tale of Two Cities." I thought the tender songs were the best moments. Personally, I'm a bit surprised that this show was produced, because you spend about half the show comparing it to Les Miz. Impossible not to, given the time period and even the story lines bear some similarities.

Also agree about "South Pacific." I saw ALOT of shows this summer, and this stands out as one of the two I would turn right around and go back to see. (The other one was "Passing Strange" -- I was really sorry that closed.)

btw, both my mother and my MIL were with me at "South Pacific" and they felt the whole cast measured up to their memories of the original production, but they preferred Ezio Pinza as Emil and felt there was more chemistry between him and Nelly. I was perfectly happy with the current production and then some!!!

Thank you Starrs !!

Looking forward to hearing about your trip to Italy it Oct.

CP,
My wife just told me that she thinks her father wouldn't enjoy A Tale of Tow Cities. In the meantime I'm going to get tickets for Gypsy for his birthday. What's the legroom like at the St. James theater? Can you slide your feet under the seat in front of you?

the leg room at South Pacific was horrible. and i am not tall. Patrick is right about that theater. we were in the orchestra.

I don't remember any problems with legroom for Gypsy. We were in the orchestra.

The only other theater I remember legroom problems is the mezzanine wherever Grey Gardens was playing.

"What's the legroom like at the St. James theater? Can you slide your feet under the seat in front of you?"

Yes. It's an older theatre and while there may not be a lot of "knee room", there you can always slide your feet under the seat in front -- it's pretty level in the orchestra.

My wife and I saw the preview last night (Thursday). We were in the 3rd row of the mezzanine. Almost the entire mezzanine behind us was empty.

We were both very disappointed with the show. We have seen at least half of all shows playing on Broadway, so we do have points of reference. This show is no Les Mis, that's for sure. While there were some very good individual performances, they made the best of pretty lousy material. The music is entirely forgettable. I hope that they realize that and are rehearsing one or two new numbers that have catchy tunes. Half an hour after the show neither of us could recall even one tune.

My prediction is that this show will be roundly panned by the critics, and rightly so.

Patrick,
Any gossip on West Side Story? Preview performances start Feb. 23rd. I'm hoping it will be a memorable performance like South Pacific and Gypsy.

As I previously posted somewhere on Fodors, this upcoming revival of West Side Story will definitely be a change from the past. In a move towards realism, the Sharks' dialog will be delivered in Spanish, and perhaps the songs as well, but I'm not 100% sure of the latter. Similar to what is done at the opera, subtitles will be provided.
I also understand that some of the dialogue will be updated.
As for as "gossip" about the show, that's a bit premature (unless, of course, you consider the above-mentioned comments to be gossip!).
Anyway, my wife and I look forward to this latest production of one of our all-time favorite shows.

That's great to hear Howard that some of the songs/dialog will be presented in Spanish as both my wife and father in law are Spanish.

The only other "gossip" I'm aware of is that the original choreography will remain pretty much intact. No point in fooling around with perfection!

And they are supposedly casting it "age appropriate" so we can expect young and fresh talent.

A Tale of Two Cities was not treated too kindly by the critics this morning.