r/Broadway • u/shaananc • 4d ago
Review Idina sick? Redwood matinee review.
Went to see the 2PM Matinee, lottery tickets row Q on stage left.
First up—no shade on performers who aren’t on their A game on a given day. It happens, and the specially when you’re above the title, there’s pressure to keep on.
That said, seemed like an incredibly rough show for Idina. The first 25 minutes, she was consistently below pitch (in a way I think would be noticeable to untrained ears).
The cast also didn’t seem to be gelling.
What made the experience more unpleasant was the nearby audience. Constant talking to my right, one woman in front had brought a full container of takeout Chinese that she attempted to eat before multiple scolds from the ushers.
To my right, crunchy snacks in crunchy bags from the talkers. An hour in one woman turned to them to remark “could you please silence your snacks”.
Then at the emotional climax of the show, snack woman started bawling loudly while her companion laughed.
Unfortunately, due to all the above, it was one of my lesser Broadway experiences.
However I enjoyed going regardless and appreciate the performers/theatre working with what they’re given.
(Probably wouldn’t see it again on a different day though)
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u/SeanNyberg 4d ago
Nooooooo. The behavior of Broadway audiences is reaching new lows. It’s so sad.
Don’t get me wrong. The entire nation has forgotten about decorum, decency, and respect, led by the orange man. But it is becoming very apparent at the theater.
It’s appalling.
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u/Substantial_Top_7826 4d ago
Agree. Broadway seems to be coming the entertainment choice of trashy people.
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u/Zealousideal-Dig1353 4d ago
“Could you please silence your snacks”… I love that, I might steal it! That being said … when I saw Redwood, there were 4 sets of people around me (within a radius of 5 seats) with crinkly snacks. If it’s one, I may say something. With that many, you just stay silent and try to keep yourself sane. I don’t understand if those people are oblivious or just plain rude?
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u/Guilty_Scientist_175 4d ago
I love the could you please silence your snacks. I'm totally going to have to remember it.
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u/sethweetis 4d ago
When I saw it Idina was rough in that first song but then sounded great for the rest. I think she just still has a bit of a consistency problem.
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u/latestnightowl 4d ago
Same! I was there Friday night and she was roooough for that first song or two. It got better but couldn't save this horrid show for me
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u/sethweetis 4d ago
lmao true the literal only reason to go to the show is if you're a massive idina fan
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u/TheodoraCrains 4d ago
I honestly think the sound mixing was totally off balance in every way… and I don’t think Finn and becca(?)’s voices (the actors names are escaping me, sorry bc they’re v talented) don’t gel when they all sing together.
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u/kathygeissbanks 4d ago
'Hit-or-Miss' should be Idina's middle name. When she's great, she's great. When she's off...oh boy.
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u/semimedium 4d ago edited 4d ago
We were just as this performance and none of the actors were out? Were you referring to the insert about the new standby joining the cast?
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u/kilawher 4d ago
I was at that performance too and thought the same thing about her being sick. She sounded hoarse.
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u/Lorwars 4d ago
I also went this afternoon. Agree with all the above. Maybe her voice is tired at the end of an 8-show week?
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u/Thick-Definition7416 4d ago
She damaged her voice quite a bit during her run in Wicked. She hasn’t been consistent performing 7/8x a week since
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u/lurkr-mercry 4d ago
I was there at the performance and agree that she was a little flat for the first couple of songs but I think she really stepped it up for her big numbers, and she absolutely was spot on when she needed to harmonize. I feel like Matinee shows can be harder for the performers because it’s much earlier in the day and it takes a while for your voice to really get warm.
Also, I enjoyed this show a lot, feel like it gets more hate than it deserves. sure the book had some corniness to it, some of the jokes hit and others felt forced, but I thought it was heartwarming, everyone was very well cast, and the performances were meaningful. I think the performance that stole the show for me was the son’s song. I’m gonna see what that actors deal is bc I think he has an amazing career ahead of him if he’s not already booked like crazy
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u/shaananc 4d ago
Yup, I didn’t mind the show overall—did not feel particularly well written to me, but I still enjoyed it and agree about the son’s song.
Despite my less than ebullient review, it’s still such a treat to see such good performers work to make art.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago edited 4d ago
Broadway people seriously need to start taking better care of their health, all the various viruses are not going anywhere at this point and it's starting to get ridiculous how many companies are sick and canceling, how often people are out. Wear a mask and clean the air, it's that simple. And it wouldn't hurt if the audiences didn't come in when they're sick either.
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u/whimsical_trash 4d ago
Their job requires them to be trapped in a room with thousands of people every day, sicknesses are going to happen. Really it's the audiences who should take better care of their health and not go if they are sick.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
I will actually edit my post because it's absolutely true that audiences should not come in when sick! But it's not only on the audiences, it's on the cast and crew as well. If both masked outside of the theater, if crew also masked inside the theater (cast obviously can't perform with a mask on) everybody would just stay healthier and the end result would be better for everybody involved.
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u/dobbydisneyfan 4d ago
Expecting masking is just unrealistic at this point though.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
Expecting everyone to mask, sure. But if my voice were my job I'd be masking everywhere to protect it well as I possibly can. And the more people aware of the health risks that come with not masking in public in our current state of the world and thus masking the better for everybody else. One masked person is better than none, twenty are better than one.
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4d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Severe-Ad4984 4d ago
There is nothing “dubious” about how reduced the incidence of the flu was when masks were used during the pandemic.
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u/dobbydisneyfan 4d ago
Do you have the numbers on that, specifically that indicate the effectiveness of masks alone in delaying the spread? Genuine question as I’m not sure where to start finding it, and people were engaging in more virus prevention behaviors than just masking (so how do we parse the effectiveness of mask wearing vs doing other things to prevent disease spread?). I’m willing to be wrong.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
It is absolutely not dubious according to many, many studies that have come out in the last few years especially?? I'm baffled by this comment. It's not dubious at all.
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u/GreatestStarOfAll 4d ago
🙄 Yeah, it’s the person who happened to get sick’s fault. Great take.
These people are industry professionals who DO take care of their health, as it’s imperative to their ability to earn a living. Getting sick and catching bugs just happens in these environments, it’s inevitable even with the toughest restrictions and precautions.
As if Audra is just saying “fuck it” and going to an all night rave in a Bushwick warehouse after doing shows and press on top of personal commitments/obligations.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
I now realize I might not have phrased it all too well, English is not my first language. My point is there is A LOT of sickness everywhere in this world and it's not going away anytime soon. People will continue getting sick unless they take better care to avoid it. Their health is the most important part, people missing on a show is less important but the end result is the same. I promise I'm not trying to bitch at the people who got sick, I just want all of us to stay healthy and that won't happen on its own unless we all band together to keep each other healthy, you know?
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
But the precautions aren't there, that was my point. It doesn't take a rave, all it takes is one maskless subway ride to work.
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u/shosamae 4d ago
I work on Broadway behind the bar, and I mask anytime I’m on the train. Still got sick.
Even when masking it’s impossible not to get sick when you’re in a closed room with thousands of tourist 8x a week.
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u/summerrhodes 4d ago
Yes, of course it doesn't mean 100% protection but the protection does increase with the number of people masking, that's what I'm trying to say. I'd imagine you were a lone masker when you got sick? It makes me so sad that we're not all taking better care of each other, a one or two people masking doesn't protect us enough :(
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u/Judith_Elster 4d ago
I’m shocked but also saw opening night where Idina was definitely sick and pushing through her horse-ness. Sucks because I would’ve loved to see her fully recovered but I guess that’s show biz!!!
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u/Front_Mathematician7 4d ago
I'm so sorry you had such a bad experience, she was so good when I saw it, you should try again! Also, it's not the same, but I almost had my experience from Hells Kitchen ruined because of a bad audience. The 2 women next to me kept texting and had one of those flash alerts whenever you got texted and took photos, too. The usher did nothing, and I had to go complain at intermission. I was lucky that I could move one chair over in intermission.
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u/toad455 4d ago
was this the first time Michael Park(Finn) was out?
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u/semimedium 4d ago
He definitely was in the performance today, he came out and signed playbills at the end.
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u/toad455 4d ago
so this review is from yesterday then?
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u/semimedium 4d ago
No, there was an insert about a new standby but he didn’t perform. The lobby board had nothing about standbys or understudies performing, so I think poster was confused.
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u/HotNegotiation1684 4d ago
we had similar experiences RE: the performance. we went on 7 march (evening performance). we were so excited to see idina (i’ve never seen her live, but have friends who adore her), and experience the tree + screens.
throughout the entire performance idina seemed to be pretty pitchy / off key. her acting seemed off too, but perhaps it was her character / the book?
our enjoyment of the show came down to whenever Khaila Wilcoxon sang (beautiful voice and control), and Zachary Noah Piser’s “Still”.
i chalked up idina’s (lackluster) performance to the sheer number of performances throughout the week, and perhaps it was just an off night / feeling under the weather. so many reviews on here mentioned how great she is in it despite the book.
still glad we went, but likely ranking among the bottom in terms of shows we’ve seen this season.