2022 - 2023 Season Wrap-up: Broadway Logos - The Best and the Worst and the Much Improved

2022 - 2023 Season Wrap-up: 

Broadway Logos - The Best and the Worst and the Much Improved

We make it no secret that we love Broadway show art and advertising campaigns here at JK's TheatreScene. And we are thrilled that a lot of you seem to agree. These logo-related posts are always among the top most read each month.

This season just ended has really been an embarrassment of riches in terms of shows and show art. We saw two plays and fifteen musicals (all of the new ones!) during the 22/23 season, and were pleased to bring you not only reviews of each, but also "closer looks" at each of those show's logos. 

Below is a recap of how we graded each, a look at how some of the low scorers have improved their campaigns, and our pick for the Best of the Best!

GRADE RECAP: Average: A

F: 

17. Bad Cinderella     16. Camelot

C: 

15. Some Like It Hot

C+: 

14. Kimberly Akimbo

B-: 

13. A Beautiful Noise     12. KPOP

A-: 

11. Life of Pi     10. Almost Famous

A: 

9. 1776     8. Into the Woods     7. Leopoldstadt

A+: 

6. Parade     5. Bob Fosse's Dancin'     4. & Juliet

3. Sweeney Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street     2. New York, New York

THE BEST SHOW ART (and Advertising Campaign): 

1. Shucked

Simple, eye-catching and as fun as the show it represents, the show art, merch and the overall marketing for Shucked is inspired, interactive and has a broad appeal. While not forgetting more "traditional" means, those in charge have fully embraced the new generation of cyber loving influencers. It is, in fact, so ingenious that I suspect we've reached a turning point in the way Broadway shows will be advertised.

MOST IMPROVED:

Happily, all four of our lowest-rated logos have made some positive steps in the right direction. Adding interest and some much needed context, each has largely gotten rid of their original images, keeping only their titles, and adding photos of their stars in action, along with some tweaks to their taglines. (This is in addition to the usual pull quotes and awards numbers.)

  

  

I think the most improved of the lot are Bad Cinderella and Kimberly Akimbo. Sadly, it's too little, too late for the former, as it'll be closing in a matter of weeks. Hopefully, the latter will get a boost from the updated ads (and several awards).

With a new crop of shows already started for the 2023-2024 season, we are already at work on a closer look at Once Upon a One More Time. Look for that soon!

2022 - 2023 Season Trend: (Orchestra) Size Matters

This season, musical lovers had a lot to be grateful for. 15 musicals opened, featuring a variety of scores covering everything from historical classics and repurposed jukebox songs to traditional and country. There was even a new style for Broadway - the international techno-pop sound of K-Pop. But for this musical fanatic, there was an even nicer trend.

Trends of the 2022/2023 Broadway Season:

Orchestra Size Matters

With shows downsizing their orchestras and adding computerized tracks, it was indeed wonderful to hear (literally) that several shows this season were opening with more than the average number of players in the pit. In fact, nearly half of this year's new productions had 15 or more credited musicians playing! 

The average for all of them came out to just over 13. KPOP had a mere 3 players - amazing considering the huge sound they brought to that Tony-nominated score. On the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln Center really brought their A game with their superb 30 piece orchestra for Lerner and Loewe's Camelot. Such a deserving score to have that kind of size. To be fair, every time they produce a classic revival, the band is always huge. I can't be the only one who is still flabbergasted by that big reveal at South Pacific, can I?

The other big orchestral news came from the revival of Stephen Sondheim's masterwork, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Seven times a week, and for the first time on Broadway since its original production, the score is being played with an impressive 28 players. Perhaps even more importantly, the show boasts the original Jonathan Tunick orchestrations. It is a truly gorgeous thing to hear.

While it'll always be my hope that musicals will have a full complement of musicians, let's just keep away from making cuts for the sake of a buck. Thankfully, this season we were gifted with amazing music from amazing scores, each one played to perfection.

REVIEW: Camelot

Review of the evening performance on Saturday, April 22, 2023 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center in New York City. Starring Andrew Burnap, Phillipa Soo, Jordan Donica, Dakin Matthews, Taylor Trensch, Marilee Talkington, Camden McKinnon, Anthony Michael Lopez, Fergie Philippe and Danny Wolohan. Book by Aaron Sorkin, based on the original book by Alan Jay Lerner, which is based on The Once and Future King by T.H. White. Music by Frederick Loewe. Lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner. Scenic design by Michael Yeargan. Projections by 59 Productions and Benjamin Pearcy. Costume design by Jennifer Moeller. Lighting design by Lap Chi Chu. Sound design by Marc Salzburg and Beth Lake. Choreography by Byron Easley. Direction by Bartlett Sher. 2 hours, 55 minutes, including one intermission.

Grade: C-

Camelot is the most disappointing revival of the season. So why a "C-" and not a lower grade? Well, it's because what is good about it is superb; the rest, not so much. For me, this is a show that has, in my mind, never lived up to its potential. Despite its solid, if not fully satisfying, Lerner and Loewe score, the property has always been a bit of a bore. Pageantry and mythical magic always seemed to stave off the doldrums. And so, with Aaron Sorkin on board to tweak and update the book, and revival master Bartlett Sher at the helm, my hopes were high for a thrilling new take to make me reevaluate my feelings about this classic.

Alas, I'm afraid I like Camelot even less now than before.

To start, the overall production is, to be blunt, unattractive on the verge of ugly. Designed by Michael Yeargan (sets), 59 Productions and Benjamin Pearcy (projections), and Lap Chi Chu (lighting), the cavernous Beaumont stage is severely underutilized. Large faux stone arches reach past the proscenium and suggest that castle hallways go off both sides. The floor, resembling a few lanes at a bowling alley, is there for the using, but really only facilitates a whole lot of walking around. Occasionally, the monolithic upstage wall and the sides are transformed by projections into various vague settings - lush-ish green expanses in spring, grey desolation with snow in winter, and some oddly science-like images when the villain shows up in act two. As nice as they are, they actually emphasize a lack of dimension rather than adding to it. While I wouldn't even begin to profess an understanding of how to light such a space, I found it to be largely uninspired. An occasional pool of light to denote the isolation of various areas in the castle, and an eye-opening brightness to let us know it is the lusty month of May, are about all we get - not even any interesting use of murky shadows.

Some of Jennifer Moeller's costumes are lovely - Arthur, Guenevere and Lancelot definitely get the royal treatment. Others look like cast offs from an as yet unseen Star Wars film: the knights are all dark, overly armored and shrouded with floor-length capes, reminiscent more of Darth Vader than any hero of The Round Table. Still others look embarrassingly amateurish - Renaissance Fair cosplay garb for the "simple folk." All of that is to say that visually the show looks as cold, distant and off-putting as it feels.

By and large, Sorkin has reworked this into a series of TV drama scenes where more often than not, it feels like the songs are interruptions. Not good for a musical. In his alleged effort to "update," "enrich," and "modernize" the book, he has stripped it of its heart, humor and magic (literally and figuratively). Okay, so the central trio are more relatable (?), and argue and strategize like we do. So what? You'd think he'd know how to do this without decimating what makes Camelot Camelot. To match that, Sher has blocked a series of scenes that involve a lot...a lot...of pacing, and dramatic turns, and still more pacing. You'd have thought with all of that skulking around, he'd have used more of the stage, or at least given us something more to look at. More than once, I thought to myself, "if he was only going to use the thrust, why not use the Circle in the Square?"

There were but two times in the it-feels-longer-than three hours, where the staging was actually excellent. Thrilling even. One was the tournament, that was actually colorful, exciting and wonderfully staged (fight direction by theater legend B. H. Barry). The other was the extended sequence during "Fie On Goodness!"/"I Loved You Once in Silence"/"Guenevere." The energy was palpable. It was like watching a live action movie, with cross-cutting, chases, sex scenes, arguments and treachery all weaving in and out at an alarming - and exciting - pace. The best 20 minutes of the entire production.

By far, though, the very best thing about this Camelot is its principal cast, who, to a person, mines the otherwise tedious book for every possible nugget of gold. It speaks volumes for both the production and the actors involved that the most interesting things happen in act two, when the bastard son of the King shows up to wreak havoc on the realm, and his mother lets her former lover have it, claws full out. The son, Mordred, is played by one of my favorite young actors, Taylor Trensch. His record of captivating performances remains unblemished; he pretty much single-handedly breathes life into the whole thing. His mother, Morgan Le Fey, in this version stripped of any magical powers, instead traded in for some test tubes and the idea that the Earth revolves around the sun. It is Dark STEM and Marilee Talkington (in a delightful Broadway debut) makes a meal out of the crumbs she is given.   

With the central trio, we are watching a living chess game. The knight, Lancelot, is played with humorous pomposity and staggering chivalry by Jordan Donica. His "If Ever I Would Leave You" is a true highlight of the entire Broadway season. The queen, here a quagmire of conflicting loyalties and love, tempered by self-protective harshness, is astutely, if coolly, played by Phillipa Soo. She really is the full package, even if more than once one gets the sense that she is holding something back. The king, a very human, conflicted, and unsure Arthur is fully embodied by the marvelously charming Andrew Burnap. It is astonishing to watch him evolve from a youthful victim of fate/circumstance to a not-much-older but wiser (if reluctantly so) leader. By the time it is over, you'd swear he'd actually aged a few decades. All three are superb despite the material they have to work with.

The best way, unfortunately, to sum up the problems with the show comes during one of the final scenes, where both Burnap and Soo are crying passionately, and Arthur and his queen admit they have loved each other from the moment they saw each other. I was surprised. Though not the actors' fault (that is all on Sorkin and Sher), not once did I see even a glimmer of love between them. 

What does it say about a Camelot where its one brief shining moment involves an illicit tryst, an evil illegitimate son and a scorned older woman? 

📸: J. Marcus

2022 - 2023 Show Logos: Camelot and Sweeney Todd

Hello, again, logo lovers! Today, we are taking a closer look at the key art for two of this season's biggest - literally and figuratively - musical revivals, Camelot and Sweeney Todd. One, I think is very successful in conveying the show it represents. The other, not so much.

Camelot:

If you've followed me for any serious length of time, you know how much I admire the works of James McMullen. He is one of my favorite show art artists of all time, in fact. So you can imagine how much it pains me to say that I find this logo to be a complete miss.

Where do I start? How about that title? The "font" is generic, the shade of yellow, while eye-catching, is practically offensive. The color palette is bleak - muted earth tones and smokey grey sky, punctuated with a fire red. The images - a tree in the foreground that calls to mind the African Savannah, not Medieval England, and the mountaintop castle is stark and lonely looking. The color combination and the bleak imagery makes for a dystopian nightmare, not a fantastical Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot-Arthur-Guinevere romp. Where is the pageantry? The magic? The "take me away to another time"? 

The bottom line here is that I find it, well, ugly. Nothing about it entices me to look into it more, let alone buy a ticket. (Of course, I have a ticket...) I hope the show is better than the logo.

Grade: F

Sweeney Todd:

    

Funny how a bleak color palette and stark imagery that does not work for one show, works brilliantly for another.

Much has been made of the fact that this revival will be a big production: big cast, big orchestra, even a big theater. The epic nature of this version is more like the iconic 1979 original than any other New York revival of the Sondheim classic. It makes perfect sense, then, that they are using the original title plate. It is what they have done with it that makes it chilling fun. Here the blood stain of the title is smeared as if it were spatter sliding down a wall, or what a body might do as it slides down a chute to a basement... Even better, within that smear is a Victorian London skyline surrounded by a bloody smoke.. a city on fire, if you will.

I also love the Playbill/advertising image, a painting of our two stars in character on a cobblestoned London side street, faces menacingly aglow from a sewer grate, bowels of the underground clearly aflame. If I had to quibble about anything, it's that the title doesn't stand out enough in this iteration.

This fresh take on a classic has me very excited to pay a visit to Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett very soon. I think the logo adds to the thrill.

Grade: A+

Looking Forward to Spring: March - May 2023

Alright, so winter doesn't officially start for three more weeks, but we're going to go ahead and call it early. Just like it always does, Broadway is beginning to fill its empty theaters with new shows to entertain, provoke and move us. And we are so excited to see many of them! Our goal is to see every new musical in each season, meaning the list below is musical-heavy, but beyond this period, we have several plays we are looking at for the summer.

Of course, before we look ahead, we like to review the recent past. Over the winter months we were very fortunate to have seen several wonderful shows, and only one real clinker. Though we didn't make it back to Harry Potter, we did make another visit to Kimberly Akimbo, which was as brilliant as ever! We also saw & Juliet (A+), A Beautiful Noise (D+), Leopoldstadt (A+), and The Kennedy Center's Sunset Boulevard (A+) for an average of A. Not bad at all!

Looking Forward To Spring:

March - May 2023

BROADWAY:

Bad Cinderella (Broadway - Imperial Theatre) Despite, or maybe because of, the vitriol of certain social media influencer wannabes, I'm looking forward to seeing this! The cast looks fun, and the snippets I've seen look pretty neat-o. True to my word, I'm going into this looking forward to a new musical where anything is possible.

Camelot (Broadway - Vivian Beaumont Theater) Any time Bartlett Sher helms a new Lincoln Center revival, it is cause to be excited. I'll admit this is not my favorite classic, but if anyone can get me to love it, it is Sher. Add to it the stunning, sexy and young principals (Andrew Burnap, Phillipa Soo  and Jordan Donica), and I am ready to be transported!

Dancin' (Broadway - Music Box) If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you know I am obsessed with anything Bob Fosse. In fact, the 1st National Tour of Dancin' was my first brush with his genius. Needless to say, I'm really looking forward to seeing what original cast member-turned-revival director Wayne Cilento has done to bring this piece back to life. 

Life of Pi (Broadway - Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre) Okay, I am more interested in how this play will be done than what it is about. Actually, I know nothing more about this work (in any form) than what can be gleaned from the logo. The pictures I've seen of it look enchanting. I have a feeling seeing it happen live will only intensify the thrill!

Shucked (Broadway - Nederlander Theatre) The season's biggest question mark for me, on paper this looks absolutely ridiculous. But I've been won over by equally silly on paper shows (Urinetown, Xanadu). Frankly, I think their ad campaign is a riot - they know what they have and are really into the silliness. Jack O'Brien parading around Times Square dressed as an ear of corn is an image one won't soon forget. And have you seen their music video for the song "Maybe Love?" It gives me confidence in the quality of the writers.

Sweeney Todd (Broadway - Lunt-Fontanne Theatre) Even more than Fosse, I am truly a Sondheim fanatic, and Sweeney Todd is my absolute favorite of his shows. The cast and creative team have me really excited to experience the thriller of all musicals. I don't know who I'm most excited to see - Josh, Annaleigh, Ruthie, Jordan? Heck, it's the entire company! 

REGIONAL:

Pacific Overtures (Signature Theatre, Virginia) The mid-Atlantic's foremost interpreter of the works of Stephen Sondheim, Virginia's Signature Theatre is bound to put on a thrilling production of this regrettably rarely done piece. Catch their recently posted video of the song, "Someone In a Tree." If that's any indication... 

Spamalot (Kennedy Center - Eisenhower Theatre) If I'm being completely honest, one of the biggest reasons we got a Kennedy Center subscription for the Broadway Center Stage series was to see Kiss of the Spider Woman. And frankly, Spamalot is not really any sort of equal trade off. So, why does it still make our "looking forward to" list? Well, I like to give shows a second chance. Who knows? Maybe I'll like it better this time! But really, the initial casting has me intrigued. Alex Brightman, James Monroe Iglehart, Leslie Rodriguez Kritzer and Rob McClure are all on my "actors to see no matter what" list. Even as I type this, I'm getting excited!

Before the Tonys, we'll also be seeing Parade, Fat Ham and New York, New York, and I don't know about you, but this summer is going to be hot with new shows!!