Revolution In The Elbow of Ragnar Agnarsson Furniture Painter

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 8:09am

Does anyone know anything about this? I was given a ticket to it for tonight. I heard some of the music on the show's site, and it sounds good and it looks like it has a good cast a well. But, the plot summary on their website makes me a little unsure.

[haterobics]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 9:50am

The plot summary makes you unsure in ways the title didn't?

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 12:04pm

For what it's worth, I know that it was originally a concept album. One that I heard a few tracks of (and enjoyed) off Spotify. However, the plot and the summary from the show's website seemed a little obscure. I was wondering if anyone happened to catch it in hopes of getting someone's thoughts prior to me seeing it tonight.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 12:09pm

Tonight is the first preview so I don't know how anyone could have caught it already.

[AntV]

Posted: 7/31/14 at 11:20pm

At first I was thinking this is so bad it's laughable and worth seeing just if you like that sort of stuff. But eventually I couldn't wait for it to be over and really don't suggest anyone go see this. Just a bizarre nonsensical underdeveloped plot with laughable dialogue and an indecipherable rock score that all sounds the same. Don't bother wasting your time. Really shocking something this bad can even exist. I can't imagine anyone can like this and I can't wait to see how harsh the critics are on this. If they were smart they'd save themselves the embarassment and don't even bother opening. The hard working cast is the only decent thing about this show.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 12:17am

What time was tonight's 8pm show "out on the street" ?

[HBBrock]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 12:24am

Ended at 10:15. Some really good melodies in the songs, but a VERY bizarre show in every way. Do not recommend.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 12:32am

I got comps, and if it weren't for my seat being in the front row, I would have walked out during the middle of act one.

[elphaba.scares.me]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 4:46am

Oh no. Have tickets to this! Is there anything good about it? Huffman, perhaps?

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 10:14am

^^^^^

I so wish I could say yes, but sadly no.

[HBBrock]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 10:22am

Islander_Fan: You're not supposed to talk about the show comping and where your seats were (Comp sites prohibit it, and it hurts sales and will make the theatres give worse seats in the future)

Elphaba: Huffman was fine, but the show is horrible. There is nothing good about it.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 11:00pm

Saw this tonight and it was really bad, with the second act being truly painful. They use an in media res opening, and by the time we got back to that point in the second act I was ready to rejoice that things were wrapping up, but how wrong I was! The damn thing just wouldn't end and we were subjected to another 20 minutes with a truly asinine ending.

Cady Huffman was able to maintain an air of dignity, but the rest of the cast didn't fare as well. Believe it or not, Kate Shindle had a much better character in Wonderland to work with than in this horror!

The piece reminded me of a poor man's Urinetown. A weird setting and lots of symbolism, but none of the wit, humor or strength of score. The absolutely bizarre setting was completely unnecessary and underutilized. Even in such a place you still have to have characters and a story- neither of which were present here.

The score was a monotonous bore.

It's sadly not even funny bad. It's just awful.

[stevenycguy]

Posted: 8/1/14 at 11:46pm

I really enjoyed this show - very talented cast (including Cady Huffman), band on stage, Broadway-trained voices, a very professional production. It takes place in a city called Elbowville (which is located inside the elbow of this guy called Ragnar Angarsson who's a furniture painter). It has a weird sci-fi vibe to it (women are pregnant for years, there are different cities in Ragnar's body, etc), but if you like sci-fi you'll find this all in good fun. Basically they come up with a Ponzi scheme to print money/paper via a weird-looking contraption (a "prosperity machine"). There are 3 brothers, but 2 of the brothers both like the same girl, so one of them leaves town while the other one stays in town with the girl, and gets married to her. We find out: Can the Ponzi scheme last? What happens to the love triangle with the 2 brothers? It's a very simple plot to follow.

I absolutely loved the catchy rock score - especially songs like "You're to Blame" and "A Revolution". I could hear those songs over and over. Would love to hear dance remixes of some of the songs too. Some of these songs reminded me of the songs I loved so much in "Tick Tick Boom" and "Radiant Baby". Patrick Boll and Marrick Smith have wonderfully trained voices. I would be very interested in getting the soundtrack to this show.

Also, this is one of my favorite theaters to go to. 30 second walk from several major express trains. And some of the nicest ushers you'll see. (By the way, they were handing out surveys for audience members to complete after the show.)

Updated On: 8/1/14 at 11:46 PM

[LightsOut90]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 12:57am

^ shill much?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 1:17am

What even is this? Sounds like a rejected Fringe show.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 1:55am

With a title like that, who needs enemies?

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 6:50am

It felt like a bad Fringe show to me.

It wasn't a good weird, like the previous Minetta Lane offering, The Adding Machine. This was amateurish and inept. So rarely do you see a show ramble on as long as this one does without developing the characters OR the plot.

[After Eight]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 7:04am

"It wasn't a good weird, like the previous Minetta Lane offering, The Adding Machine."

*A* previous Minetta Lane offering, as it was some years ago.

I found that one even worse than Revolution. Excruciatingly unbearable, with music that was beyond ugly.

This one was dull and amateurish, but at least the music was listenable.

Updated On: 8/2/14 at 07:04 AM

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 9:01am

The title may be the most pretentious in musical history.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 8/2/14 at 10:29am

A neighbor and friend of ours is a theater freak and would see show after show and ones really obscure. We joked with him about it

We told him this is right up his alley - obscure and bad. He may even see it twice

Even when I was interested, I was never this interested. Seeing Charles Aznavour in his possible last NY performance . He is 90 and still going strong. He is the French Frank Sinatra . He had a great concert with a much much younger Liza which is available on DVD & CD. This gets me excited like Broadway used to.

Updated On: 8/2/14 at 10:29 AM

[tazber]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 10:25am

I saw this thread and last month and thought (based on the thread title) it was one of those spam threads we get.

I didn't even realize this was a musical until BWW TV showed that Bryant Park clip.

So I went to their site. I liked the songs I heard, but that's divorced from the narrative and whatever absurdity is happening on stage.

Maybe this is one of those shows that should have stayed a concept album.

[Islander_fan]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 11:50am

@Tazbar

I originally heard the music too before I saw it. I went in there without being able to find any sort of real summary online. However, I thought that the music wasn't half bad and felt like taking a chance. I didn't realize how bad it could be. Needless to say, everyone around me was checking their watches and couldn't wait until intermission. Needless to say, I want that hour and change of my life that the show took from me back.

[ClydeBarrow]

Posted: 8/10/14 at 3:55pm

Let me first start by saying that I really wanted to like this show. Every after reading the previous pans I went in with an open mind hoping for an off-kilter, Icelandic rock musical. What I got instead was a great big mess.

The story is pretty incomprehensible and boring. The love triangle makes no sense because you never see the couples interact but rather briefly. I didn't believe that the girl loved either brother just because she sang it during one song. I'm guessing the debt plot has something to do with the Icelandic economy but unless you're really up on current events you won't get the point or care about it. I also hated the fact that it tried to be weird...kind of. There were hints of weirdness but it never went full out. Like there was a germ for a pet and one character is obsessed with getting shoulder implants. Additionally the two false endings started to get on my nerves. I would think the show was over but then it wouldn't stop.

The actors were pretty good for the most part. Cady Huffman and Kate Shindle (unsurprisingly) came out the best. It might have been better for the producers to spend a bit more lobster dollars on the male lead because he was a definite weak point. The falsetto he kept trying didn't work for me in the slightest.

The producers clearly spent money on this show and plan on keeping it open at least 8 weeks. That's going to be 8 long weeks of throwing money down the toilet.