Flashdance

I saw this "musical" in Saskatoon on Wed. Feb 24. WHAT A LOAD OF RUBBISH. Oh where to begin. Lets just say that if you take a show called "Flashdance" and then TAKE OUT ALLL OF THE DANCING (except for a few box steps, kick ball changes and a continuous stream of jazz hands) then don't call it Flash Dance. The singing sounded like yodeling goat herds, the dancing( what there was of it) could have been done by third string strippers in on the Wednesday morning shift in a biker bar in the desert. And OMG there was NO ambiance of the 80s. No Iconic costumes, no big hair nothing. Tina Techs iconic "Manhunt"was ACTUALLLY DONE WITH GIRLS IN TUTUS!!!!!! AND POORLY. The "ballet" dancers themselves lacked poise posture and honestly even forgot to point their toes OMG people. It was so bad that about a third of the audience left at intermission. We almost did as well but by that point it was a challenge to stick it out. It was so bad that the women sitting next to me and I rudely started talking shortly after the start of the second act and agreed that had we known what we were about to be exposed to we could have brought bottle and taken a shot at ever Jazz hand moment. Hell we would have been sloshed by the intermission. Oh and the finale. "What a Feeling" REALLY WHAT FEELING? The dancer eviserated the body of the dance and left it bleeding on stage while kick ball changing, jazz handing around it. BLEEECH. Heard on leaving" Well that is one night that I won't forget and not in a good way" " Sorry honey sorry I spoiled our anniversary" "Thanks for taking me Grama, and it's not your fault" I had to come home and re-watch the movie on DVD just to remind me of the beautiful Iconic dance moves that were cutting edge for the time, the costumes and the absolute lack of yodeling on the sound track. I know we are a small city but we have taste and if you don't bring your A game but rather "put on a show in the barn" game you get the review you deserve. IT SUCKED!!!!!

This was a very talented cast however I think something was lacking in the production. Karli Dinardo played Alex and though her voice was wonderful her dancing was not. This is the first musical I have ever seen that I honestly thought the movie was better. The harmonies between Karli and Adam were beautiful.

I feel that this missed the mark of the high energy felt in the movie. It seemed to be all about steel mill and the layoffs. Would have loved to see more dancing of Alex in the bar scenes. The original soundtrack to the movie was cut short eg: Gloria was barely sung through. My friend and I felt short change of this Musical. It was lacking!!!

The lead playing Alex was flat.. no charisma.

Her dancing did not inspire me at all. She was like a boxer in a ring. Even as an exotic dancer, I was not moved at all.

She had no real stage presence, even when she was all there was to look at, standing alone on an empty stage.

The woman playing Gloria was a phenom however. great dancer, actor and singer. She had presence. I look forward to seeing her in other productions.

Overall, not impressed with the direction or the choreography: very flat.

A few characters were worth noting: a young factory worker, perhaps Cuban or Puerto Rican. He had that "stage presence" I mention.

The best part was the video graphics and the sliding doors. Those danced better than any person on stage. The scene of Hurley looking at past Presidents of the company was somewhat moving, and my favorite scene of the entire show.

Gloria : 4-1/2 stars (out of 5)

Alex : 2-1/2 stars

Hurley : 3-1/2 stars

Direction: 1-1/2 stars

Set design: 2-1/2 stars (plus one for the moving doors)

Lighting and videography: 3-1/2 to 4 stars

Music: (aside from the original old songs) 4 stars

Dancing: 1-1/2 to 2 stars. common guys: This was a musical about dancing. Very disappointing

Special effects: It was water. We expected it. 2-1/2 stars

The ensemble: better than the lead... they deserved a better director and lead in Alex.... 3-1/2 to 4 stars

The beautiful theatre at Playhouse Square and its staff: As always... 5 stars.

Suggestion: take it down: rewrite, add in some dream sequences, show more grit in the workplace. Bring contrast. take out the phony as hell attack scene, recast Alex and replace the director and choreographer.

Saw in Boston on March 22 very bad script and other than the songs from the movie the songs were poor. Felt badly for the cast which did a respectable job.

I loved this show!! Jillian Mueller does a fantastic job of portraying Alex Owens. Corey Mach is amazing as Nick Hurley, and Ginna Claire Mason is fabulous as Gloria.

I will admit at first I wasn't so sure about seeing the show. I told my mom that I wouldn't like it. I told her that she could go alone. A few days later I changed my mind thinking that if I went, at least I could use the experience for my school concert review.

I know my mouth was dropped wide open almost the whole show. I loved the iconic water scene where Alex gets soaked. The dancing in this production is incredible. You can tell that a lot of hard preparation has been put into every scene to make it the best show possible. I am going to see it again this coming Saturday in D.C and I'm SO excited. I am going to try to meet the cast afterwards.

One of the few new musicals based on a movie I liked, the new songs are actually GOOD, like "Steeltown Sky"

My husband and I were fortunate enough to see the last matinee performance on Saturday, it was absolutely fabulous, the whole cast were brilliant!! We felt very much part of the whole performance!!!!

Great interpretation of the movie for stage, characterization excellently presented by Victoria Hamilton-Barritt as Alex and Matt Willis as Nick, and if you love dance that girl can dance...

Despite being the matinee the show was packed, cast switched on tuned in and terrific atmosphere I haven;t seen people dancing in the aisles for a while, so you get the gist.

As a lover of the 80's and the original movie - I was initially apprehensive about Flashdance. However, with the first beats of music I was hooked! The singing and dancing were fabulous. The story captured all the emotion and atmosphere I remembered and the staging was great too. I loved all of the cast - the whole production should be congratulated. I haven't enjoyed a new show more in ages. They had us cheering and dancing at the end. Well done and I'll be going back again. A great show for young and old and anyone who loves the 80's!!! November, 2010.