Friday, November 10, 2006

"High Fidelity" Can't Meet Even Low Expectations

The NY Post's Michael Riedel reports that the box office for the new Broadway musical "High Fidelity" is shockingly low: advance ticket sales are at a rock bottom $600,000 and showing no signs of life even as the show goes into previews. That advance is pathetic and Riedel lists all the reasons why, headed by (in my opinion) the fact that the show has an original score instead of employing the rock classics that are fundamental to the story. Basically, you've got the story of a guy passionate about the Clash and Bruce Springsteen and he's singing Broadway tunes. It literally makes no sense. Mind you, even if they got the rights to classic rock songs, Broadway versions of them probably wouldn't satisfy. When you're talking about Van Morrison or Beta Band, you need to HEAR Van Morrison or Beta Band. What music do they use for the classic moment in the show when our hero puts on a cool Beta Band song in his record store and counts the seconds till someone asks what is playing and buys a copy? What do they do at the finale, when the Jack Black character had his show-stopping performance of Marvin Gaye's "Lets' Get It On." These are the highlights of the movie and they are lost in a Broadway show. Sadly ill-fated from the start.

No comments: