This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Jeff Malone: Welcome to Half Hour with Jeff and Richie, the podcast where we explore the latest shows we see, sharing our insights and opinions on the performance of storylines and everything in between.

[0:08] Richie Grasso: In today's episode, we're discussing the Broadway production of Beaches playing at the Majestic Theater.

[0:13] Jeff Malone: Whether you cannot catch the show in person or you want to expand your thoughts after seeing it, this episode is for you.

[0:18] Richie Grasso: And as always, we want to inform you that this episode will contain spoilers.

[0:22] Jeff Malone: So if you're ready to dive into this production, stick around with us.

[0:24] Jeff Malone: I'm Jeff.

[0:25] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie, and we're thrilled to be your hosts for today's episode.

[0:28] Jeff Malone: But before we start the conversation about Beaches, here are a few words from our advertisers.

[0:33] Richie Grasso: Welcome everyone to a new episode of Half Hour with Jeff and Richie.

[0:36] Jeff Malone: Today we're discussing Beaches.

[0:38] Richie Grasso: Beaches is a new musical based on the best-selling novel that became the blockbuster film.

[0:42] Jeff Malone: It brings to the stage one of the most iconic friendships in popular culture.

[0:47] Richie Grasso: This sweeping emotional and joy-filled new musical follows the vivacious CeCe and elegant Bertie, who meet as children and become fast friends.

[0:54] Jeff Malone: From pen pals to roommates to romantic rivals, CeCe and Bertie's oil and water friendship perseveres over the course of 30 years through even the most tragic trials.

[1:04] Richie Grasso: With a touching vulnerability, Beaches exemplifies the triumph of the human spirit and the bonds of friendship.

[1:11] Jeff Malone: Alrighty. Well, let's get into our overall thoughts on the plot, concept, and music of this Broadway production of Beaches.

[1:19] Richie Grasso: So, as I had said, or just in that little recap, we have this pretty big book that becomes this really big movie and then a musical all these years later, right?

[1:29] Jeff Malone: Um, it's interesting because when I mention to many people, oh, Beaches is coming to Broadway, the first gut reaction from most people is, oh my gosh, what a sad movie that is.

[1:39] Richie Grasso: That movie's so sad. Oh my god, that's oh, Wind Beneath My Wings, oh, oh, Bette Midler, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. And there's just that emotional core attachment to it, which maybe the creators of this thought, okay, that will transfer to the stage all these years later, right?

[1:53] Jeff Malone: Right. Um, and it's interesting because I've only seen bits and pieces of the movie.

[1:57] Richie Grasso: I have not seen the whole movie start to finish.

[2:00] Jeff Malone: Have you though?

[2:00] Richie Grasso: Same, right.

[2:01] Jeff Malone: And I have the soundtrack right behind me.

[2:02] Richie Grasso: Right.

[2:03] Jeff Malone: And do we know? Listen, I knew Wind Beneath My Wings, it's one of the biggest songs. I mean, just like iconic, beautifully written, so tragic and sad, but also uplifting and beautiful.

[2:14] Richie Grasso: Um, we're just a little young for when this film came out.

[2:18] Jeff Malone: So, and I also feel like, you know, Bette Midler, pretty iconic in this.

[2:23] Richie Grasso: Uh, so if you're looking for like the movie coming to the stage, I mean, I'm pretty sure most of the plot basically stayed the same here.

[2:30] Jeff Malone: There's no drastic change.

[2:31] Richie Grasso: Um, when I go into this though, I w I'm just very torn on this.

[2:37] Jeff Malone: I feel very I'm just mixed.

[2:39] Richie Grasso: I I don't like that people are like, I loved it, I hated it. I loved it, I hated it. Like I don't know why it has to be so polarizing.

[2:46] Jeff Malone: Like there's some people that really liked it, and there's some people that absolutely hated it. I'm like, it doesn't need to be so black and white, I don't think, in terms of that.

[2:53] Richie Grasso: I think there's like a, there you can sit in the middle on some of this.

[2:56] Jeff Malone: Do I think some of this is entertaining? Sure.

[2:59] Richie Grasso: I don't think I liked all of it.

[3:02] Jeff Malone: Um, there were moments I was a little confused, and I will say, unfortunately for me, what I found to be the weakest element of this was the score.

[3:10] Richie Grasso: Yeah, I don't really understand that we had this like set in the, we went from like the 50s to the 60s to the 70s, all the way through, and yet like all the music was jazz.

[3:21] Jeff Malone: So it had this like Broadway jazz score throughout all the time periods.

[3:26] Richie Grasso: And I, other than that CeCe song she sang on the TV show, which was so 70s, like nothing else kind of always mimicked or mirrored.

[3:34] Jeff Malone: And then when we get to Wind Beneath My Wings, that's so 80s to me that it almost stood out.

[3:38] Richie Grasso: But I understand why it stood out because it was like this iconic song, which spoiler alert is the ending of this show.

[3:43] Jeff Malone: So if we're just starting to dive right in with the score and the lyrics, I just don't know if it worked for me in general.

[3:50] Richie Grasso: I agree in many ways with what you're saying.

[3:54] Jeff Malone: I think this is a bigger conversation.

[3:56] Richie Grasso: We talk about this a lot because for a while now on Broadway, let's take something that people know and put it on the stage because it's going to sell.

[3:56] Jeff Malone: Whether it's a pop star's music catalog or it's a movie or a book or a TV show.

[4:15] Richie Grasso: Like it's very easy to just take something that already exists.

[4:19] Jeff Malone: We're not really getting brand new original musicals that don't have a source material that comes from before it, right?

[4:28] Richie Grasso: So I look at something like this, and I'm very on the fence because I don't think the show is amazing, and I don't think the show is bad.

[4:36] Jeff Malone: I'm just in the middle here.

[4:38] Richie Grasso: You know, it was entertaining to watch, and that was fine, but it just kind of leads me to the are we playing something like this way too safe.

[4:49] Jeff Malone: And I always go back to this conversation around like shows like Thoroughly Modern Millie that took a source material and I think made it better, you know, where I think it had people go and revisit the film with Julie Andrews and say, like, oh wow, okay.

[5:06] Richie Grasso: I see the moments that they took and enhanced it.

[5:10] Jeff Malone: So now we're taking a movie that people know, and they're not even giving them the moments from the film that they want.

[5:18] Richie Grasso: And they're not making something better than those moments in the film.

[5:23] Jeff Malone: I think is what the people are.

[5:25] Richie Grasso: It's replication, it's I almost think this could have maybe worked better as a play version with that song at the end versus like all this added music.

[5:33] Jeff Malone: I I also found, and again, this is just my thoughts on this.

[5:37] Richie Grasso: For a show about an entertainer who goes and travels the world entertaining, I was kind of shocked we didn't have more production numbers of that.

[5:48] Jeff Malone: Because when you look at something like Dreamgirls, that's about a group that goes and travels, and the songs in Dreamgirls are them performing around the world.

[5:56] Richie Grasso: Um, not always, but so many of CeCe's songs were not like showy, and then we had like no ensemble, basically.

[6:05] Jeff Malone: So could this have pushed a little further into like she does shows, she's a song and dance woman.

[6:10] Richie Grasso: Since she's a little girl. Maybe we put some more like production numbers together because that's what like the source material kind of calls for.

[6:18] Jeff Malone: And instead it was like her alone singing internal ballads a lot, which is fine, but it didn't really flow the way I thought it could have with some more spectacle because you know, only 10 people in the show.

[6:28] Richie Grasso: Right.

[6:28] Jeff Malone: And I I think that's why I go back to the source material here.

[6:31] Richie Grasso: The source material is a book.

[6:33] Jeff Malone: So the book is good. I don't mind the book in this musical.

[6:37] Richie Grasso: I think it's fine.

[6:38] Jeff Malone: I think it touches on the points that it needs to, and it gives us the development that it needs to for the characters that are in this show.

[6:46] Richie Grasso: It's very similar to something like The Notebook.

[6:49] Jeff Malone: The Notebook was already good as a book, and then it became a film and was also good.

[6:53] Richie Grasso: And then we get to the musical now.

[6:55] Jeff Malone: And I'm like, okay, like we already know the source material is good, and it has a huge fan base.

[7:02] Richie Grasso: And I feel like The Notebook and this are very similar in its own ways, where like we now have a score that's not bringing the show to the next level, and I'm probably gonna get ripped to shreds for saying this because I know many people liked the score of The Notebook, but I just don't think it did justice to that musical the same way now with Beaches that the score is not really doing anything for the stage musical here, you know.

[7:29] Jeff Malone: And I I think if I'm not, I mean I could be corrected on this, but I think when they had the out of town on this as well, that Wind Beneath My Wings was originally not in the musical.

[7:40] Richie Grasso: And to find that it was only just added in, which needed to be the button the whole show.

[7:46] Jeff Malone: I mean, that is the song that we're all sitting there waiting for.

[7:49] Richie Grasso: But it felt very out of place to the rest of the score, right?

[7:53] Jeff Malone: And it felt like really clear that this was like a pop 80s song to end the show with all this like what seemed like 50s jazzy vaudevillian kind of like, and then a couple 70s songs, like it just seemed didn't find its footing in terms of what world we wanted to live in by the ear.

[8:11] Richie Grasso: What world do you want to live in?

[8:12] Jeff Malone: Yes, I understand you're covering 30 years of friendship, but maybe don't ignore that.

[8:17] Richie Grasso: Maybe lean into that as they got older, the music changed and show that her act had to change because the style we've had drastic change in music from the 50s to the 60s to the 70s to the 80s, right?

[8:29] Jeff Malone: Drastic.

[8:30] Richie Grasso: What maybe lean into that a little bit and show like the different costumes of TV show, vaudeville acts.

[8:37] Jeff Malone: I think that's like the two different things here because I think you have the moments that are the show kind of within the show, her doing her acts, versus what's the sound that they want this musical to be like with the songs that they're actually writing as the material here that's gonna drive plot.

[8:54] Richie Grasso: And I go back to that because I say the music is supposed to drive plot, right?

[9:00] Jeff Malone: Is it not?

[9:00] Richie Grasso: Yes, and continue the plot.

[9:02] Jeff Malone: And sometimes it kind of sat and we would watch a three-minute number and be like, okay, but we're not doing anything to move this plot, and then we just jump ahead 10 years and we're like, whoa.

[9:11] Richie Grasso: Right.

[9:11] Jeff Malone: So when we get to the music and lyrics of this, it's like it just doesn't feel like that is what really needed to help enhance this show and really kind of make it more in a groundbreaking moment than what we actually have on this show.

[9:26] Richie Grasso: But I will say what I did really like about the book, and I said this to you in an intermission was I love that we started and she got this phone call, and she's like, I gotta go.

[9:34] Jeff Malone: And then as we flash back, we keep flashing forward to this journey of hers, like in disguise, trying to get to her friend.

[9:41] Richie Grasso: I kind of really like that instead of moving linearly from childhood all the way through, right?

[9:46] Jeff Malone: Right.

[9:46] Richie Grasso: So I mean, yes, I think that in general there's things that just didn't seem to work really for me here.

[9:51] Jeff Malone: Um, but yeah, there were moments, and I think we'll talk about that in a little bit in some of the direction and some of the casting choices, which I think this is a perfect time to kind of transition over into that.

[10:01] Richie Grasso: So let's take a quick break, and when we get back, we'll get into the direction, actor performances, and design of Beaches.

[10:07] Jeff Malone: Okay, and we're back.

[10:08] Jeff Malone: So now let's get into this overall production here because I think this is where we're really gonna kind of dive into this show a lot more here.

[10:17] Richie Grasso: So we know that this is a limited run.

[10:20] Jeff Malone: We know that they're building this set to tour.

[10:24] Richie Grasso: It's definitely touring after this, but this New York is like the first stop of it.

[10:29] Jeff Malone: So we have to look at it from that lens.

[10:31] Richie Grasso: But I also kind of say, like, I don't know, this whole tour thing and Broadway still is a mixed bag for me because I'm like, we're not getting a full Broadway scenic design on the stage, and we're just relying on projections and video screens, and it just feels cheap.

[10:49] Jeff Malone: And I feel like I'm sitting watching a tour at the Majestic Theater, and that on feels doesn't feel like the right space for it.

[10:58] Richie Grasso: Even though it was pretty full on the show, we were there.

[11:00] Jeff Malone: I some of the direction feels like there's a lot of blackout scene change lights up.

[11:00] Richie Grasso: Blackout scene change lights.

[11:07] Jeff Malone: There's a lot of up to up and down the deck, right?

[11:09] Richie Grasso: The deck was like a lifted stage, right?

[11:10] Jeff Malone: So up and down, up and down.

[11:12] Richie Grasso: And then, but then there would be moments, and there were moments like when they were having a friendship moment, and then in the back you saw the little girls sitting at the beach.

[11:20] Jeff Malone: I loved that.

[11:20] Richie Grasso: I thought that was so special.

[11:22] Jeff Malone: I think um and this is directed by Lonnie Price and Matt Coward.

[11:26] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[11:26] Jeff Malone: I will say, you know, there when they are just having their moments as friends downstage, and uh I actually thought the nurse coming in to tell her that her friend had passed without saying it was actually beautiful, and just she looked and she said that was it, and you knew as an audience, and I was like, Oh my gosh, and that little girl and having her the just moment, like the more intimate moments are beautiful, and then I felt like just there were so many locations and moving from location to location just felt a little clunky to me.

[11:56] Richie Grasso: It didn't really move.

[11:57] Jeff Malone: Right.

[11:57] Richie Grasso: I think like that's what's interesting about the direction here because it's like I feel like we had great moments.

[12:01] Jeff Malone: It's actually interesting to see like how does co-direction really work on uh a stage?

[12:07] Richie Grasso: Because is it like one saying, Oh, I'm gonna direct this scene, and then the other issue.

[12:11] Jeff Malone: No, working together the way doing process usually.

[12:13] Richie Grasso: You know, it would be very interesting to see that whole process and how that worked because I feel like it does feel like it was directed by two people at times and instead of one person's vision on here, and a lot of this was moving quickly, which I was not mad about.

[12:30] Jeff Malone: I felt like the show was moving.

[12:33] Richie Grasso: But then I had moments where I said, wait, we're moving too fast.

[12:38] Jeff Malone: We're not letting this show breathe.

[12:40] Richie Grasso: Even at the end, when we have the most major moments, like uh the end and the end of act one, like we have these major moments happening here where I think like if I go back to the book, like it's structured right.

[12:52] Jeff Malone: We're ending on conflict, and now we're going into intermission.

[12:56] Richie Grasso: What's gonna happen after when we get back?

[12:58] Jeff Malone: You know, it's kind of really set up in that cookie cutter way, but to have the moment happen and not let that be a moment that we see and stand with the colour.

[13:06] Richie Grasso: You kind of like rushed and then curtain out.

[13:09] Jeff Malone: And I'm like, Oh, we the act act never moment seems weird.

[13:12] Richie Grasso: I think we both like turned to each other and we're like, yeah, that was a weird way to end that.

[13:15] Jeff Malone: Yeah, it's like we just got to the moment, and then we're like, we don't get to sit with that, you know.

[13:21] Richie Grasso: So that that to me was interesting, and the same thing.

[13:24] Jeff Malone: Like now we're getting to the final scene, and we're we're we're now rushing through the end of act two here, and we're learning that she's dying, we're learning about what's happening.

[13:33] Richie Grasso: Like, is she gonna adopt um Bertie's daughter?

[13:37] Jeff Malone: And it's like we're going through all this.

[13:39] Richie Grasso: I'm like, wow, wow, this is really happening.

[13:41] Jeff Malone: We're not getting a musical number either in here.

[13:43] Richie Grasso: We're getting like little ballads here and there, we're getting here, and then all of a sudden it's like, ladies and gentlemen of the Hollywood Bowl, and now it's like now we come out and we sing when beneath my game.

[13:51] Jeff Malone: And then it ultimately felt like was fast paced in a way.

[13:55] Richie Grasso: Yeah, and I also don't know if I liked the younger and middle aged version of her starting the song.

[14:00] Jeff Malone: I was just something about I just wish she just came out and sang it, like just for her herself.

[14:04] Richie Grasso: And and speaking of younger and middle, I thought the younger kids and involving that was big in the movie, right?

[14:09] Jeff Malone: And I understand that like using the younger kids totally makes sense in the flashbacks to feel like the the length of time.

[14:16] Richie Grasso: But also we didn't see the middle girls enough, besides like once or twice.

[14:20] Jeff Malone: And it led me to go.

[14:22] Richie Grasso: And I also like was led to believe like, did they go to the beach every year throughout their childhood, or did they only go to the beach one year and that was it?

[14:30] Jeff Malone: I couldn't tell you that if someone's listening and be like, oh no, they went every year, or oh no, they only the movie may have made that clear, but the musical did not make that clear.

[14:38] Richie Grasso: If like if if then you shouldn't have even had the middle-aged version of them if it was just this one meeting as children.

[14:44] Jeff Malone: Well, I think that's meant to be there for them being pen pals for all those years, but it does make it seem like they did actually see each other when they were teenagers, but you know, it feels like a kind of like a loophole in the plot.

[14:58] Richie Grasso: Yeah, because then we get to the moment where Bertie comes to the theater that she's at when they're older, and she's like, Wow, you look amazing.

[15:06] Jeff Malone: I haven't seen you.

[15:07] Richie Grasso: And it makes it seem like they only ever met that one time when they were little kids at the beach, and then they never saw uh them again until they were what in their twenties?

[15:18] Jeff Malone: Right.

[15:18] Richie Grasso: And so I understand the longevity of the pen pal ship, but when we keep going back to the beach, it only kept going back to when they were little.

[15:24] Jeff Malone: Right.

[15:24] Richie Grasso: Um, if you talk a little bit about some of the design choices here, yes, I think it's all fine.

[15:29] Jeff Malone: I think it's orchestrated nice, it's lighting sound, costumes.

[15:32] Richie Grasso: Nothing stands out to me though as Tony nomination worthy.

[15:35] Jeff Malone: Right.

[15:35] Richie Grasso: Really, I mean, it I I don't think, and we'll talk about the Tony nomination potentials in a second, but I just didn't think anything really stood out that much.

[15:43] Jeff Malone: But however, I would like to talk a little bit about some casting because I was very impressed with a couple casting musicians here.

[15:50] Richie Grasso: Okay.

[15:51] Jeff Malone: So let's go into that.

[15:52] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[15:52] Jeff Malone: First of all, we are big Jessica Vosk fans on the show.

[15:56] Richie Grasso: I still think that her alphabet is one of the best.

[15:59] Jeff Malone: Uh, she was alpha for a long time on Broadway.

[16:02] Richie Grasso: Um her performance in the Munis Chess.

[16:05] Jeff Malone: Yes.

[16:06] Richie Grasso: And I will say it over and over.

[16:09] Jeff Malone: Jessica Vosk is very good in a show that doesn't feel like it is a hundred percent there.

[16:17] Richie Grasso: And I do feel like and Kelly Barrett is doing wonderful too.

[16:21] Jeff Malone: Yes.

[16:21] Richie Grasso: But I think Jessica Vosk is carrying a show that is that needs someone like her to carry.

[16:29] Jeff Malone: She is just carrying it.

[16:31] Richie Grasso: I don't know what other way to say it.

[16:32] Jeff Malone: It's like if you could do you think Bet Midler carried the movie, sure, we can argue that maybe she did.

[16:37] Richie Grasso: But in terms of vocals, in terms of moving scenes along, the comedic wit.

[16:41] Jeff Malone: Jessica Vosk is Beaches.

[16:43] Richie Grasso: And I think that if there's any Tony nomination coming out of this, it's Jessica Vosk for this.

[16:48] Jeff Malone: And we're recording this at the time that the Tony nomination is not come out.

[16:50] Richie Grasso: So when you're listening to this, you may already know if she got a Tony nomination or not.

[16:53] Jeff Malone: We do not know at the time of recording.

[16:55] Richie Grasso: I thought that where Jessica got the big moments, I thought Kelly got the nice subtle moments.

[17:02] Jeff Malone: And when she hugs her daughter and she's crying and she's she looked very sick, and she did play that really serious at the end.

[17:10] Richie Grasso: Eight times a week to do that is very hard.

[17:13] Jeff Malone: Yeah, I think on an acting level for Kelly Barrett, I think it's like it's a tough role.

[17:19] Richie Grasso: Tough.

[17:19] Jeff Malone: And to kind of get into that every night must be difficult.

[17:25] Richie Grasso: But going back to what you were saying about Jessica Vosk here, I mean, like this role feels like it was built for her.

[17:25] Jeff Malone: Like it was built for Bet.

[17:34] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[17:35] Jeff Malone: And Jessica has this big belt.

[17:37] Richie Grasso: She has this big personality.

[17:39] Jeff Malone: She has the comedic timing in what we want to see in this role.

[17:45] Richie Grasso: And it, you know, it's one of those things where you like you kind of like look at the show overall and you say, Yeah, like is this the star vehicle for Jessica?

[17:53] Jeff Malone: I don't really know.

[17:54] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[17:54] Jeff Malone: I mean, I hope she is decorated in nominations for it, but uh it feels like she's the most amazing part of the show in a show that needed a little bit more, you know.

[18:08] Richie Grasso: And I think Kelly Barrett does a great job.

[18:11] Jeff Malone: I think they both play great oil and water together in here with having so much chemistry.

[18:16] Richie Grasso: They look like they're friends.

[18:18] Jeff Malone: And I'm also gonna say this Samantha Schwartz, who plays Little CC is like a standard.

[18:23] Richie Grasso: Hilarious because she's a little ham up on that stage, loving every moment of it, performing, you know, there were a few times where you lose some words here or there, but I think it also works for the role, you know, where you're just like saying, Oh, okay, yeah, it's like it it eats it in that way.

[18:39] Jeff Malone: But the comedic timing for her as well as a child star was great.

[18:43] Richie Grasso: You know, I'm very intrigued to see someone like her in like what is she gonna do next after this exactly?

[18:50] Jeff Malone: And I do feel like you know, the ensemble is working hard, a lot of roles for a lot of different people, but there was something about it that felt off too because like they they double triple cast some of these ensemble members here, and it's like, oh, okay, like so many moments that we're just seeing the same ensemble member come out, and even the the middle CC and Birdie there that are like, oh, we see them and they're playing another role later on.

[19:18] Richie Grasso: It just feels, you know, it brings me back to the overall scenic design as well here because it just feels like they're taking more of the economical way out with this show.

[19:27] Jeff Malone: Like don't hire a tumble tundra ensemble.

[19:30] Richie Grasso: Let's do the simple bear stage with a lot of projections and video screens.

[19:35] Jeff Malone: And I'm like, okay, that's fine.

[19:37] Richie Grasso: But it that to me cheapens it.

[19:40] Jeff Malone: I think there's an expectation that a show like this would have been a little higher elevation.

[19:44] Richie Grasso: And that's why I think, you know, yeah, that's why I said I'm this is nothing against people who've worked so hard on this.

[19:49] Jeff Malone: It's just something just doesn't feel right about it.

[19:52] Richie Grasso: But then I do feel like Jessica's just again, she's just carrying it.

[19:56] Jeff Malone: Like she's carrying everyone with her.

[19:58] Richie Grasso: Yeah.

[19:58] Jeff Malone: And I and and she is really holding it as a strong belt, a strong character from start to finish.

[20:05] Richie Grasso: Totally.

[20:05] Jeff Malone: All right.

[20:06] Richie Grasso: Well, let's take another quick break, and when we get back, we're gonna move into our own questions about the show and our closing half minute segment.

[20:13] Jeff Malone: Okay, and we're back.

[20:15] Richie Grasso: So again, we're gonna do Tony talk here, and the nominations will be out by the time that this episode is released.

[20:21] Jeff Malone: So let's give our little kind of quick one, two, three on what we think could get nominated.

[20:26] Richie Grasso: I really think the only thing that it will probably get a nomination for is Jessica.

[20:31] Richie Grasso: I don't even know if it's gonna get a best new musical nomination. Because if it's Lost Boys and Shmigadoon and Two Strangers and Titanic, and those are the four, I do unfortunately see a world where Queen of Versailles and Beaches is not on that list.

[20:48] Richie Grasso: And I think that this just wasn't as strong of a Tony nomination potential. And I wonder if the nomination committee is just gonna overlook this, but not Jessica. And I do think that there's a really high chance that someone like Jessica Vosk is getting a lead or maybe her first Tony nomination.

[21:04] Jeff Malone: Right.

[21:04] Richie Grasso: I mean, I think she could definitely get a nomination. I think she should get a nomination. And I actually will go so far as to say I would be disappointed for her if she does not.

[21:13] Jeff Malone: Yeah.

[21:14] Richie Grasso: And in this Tony world too, like I don't know where they are putting Kelly Barrett, but is she in leading or maybe and I don't know if I don't know. You know, that would also be something that gets nominated in here.

[21:29] Richie Grasso: But I don't really see a lot in the design category. I mean, it could get book in terms of like maybe I don't know. I don't know, I don't think it's getting scored. I don't think it's getting I don't really know if it's getting much.

[21:41] Richie Grasso: I really don't see this in a world getting a lot.

[21:44] Jeff Malone: I don't.

[21:44] Richie Grasso: Right.

[21:45] Richie Grasso: And I think it's gonna do its run and it's gonna run till what Labor Day or whatever, or and then it's gonna be a summer run for a lot of tourists and people who like the movie and go, and then it's gonna go right on tour. I think that's just what the intention was with it.

[21:57] Richie Grasso: And I feel like, you know, moving on from Tony's here, like, do you feel like going back to like my initial kind of comments about like real source material that's already has a fan base? Do you think a show like this would be studied in any way that says like, oh, we don't do what Beaches did?

[22:17] Jeff Malone: I think that what frustrates me with a lot of these movie to stage adaptations as of late is this whole like, well, how will it tour? How will high schools do it? How will we make money down the road? But we're losing the plot.

[22:29] Jeff Malone: Instead of just like, I understand you have to be three steps ahead and look at the tour potential of something and the I'm gonna assume there's a lot of things that producers are thinking about, but in the front of my head I'm thinking touring potential, and I'm thinking rights. And the rights are gonna come out, and do you know how much money these writers still make on the rights of shows that are 20, 30, 40 years still produced?

[22:51] Jeff Malone: Some of the biggest shows that are every school and community. But I think there's a show like this is hard because it's like they didn't build any big ensemble numbers into it. They built a lot of but I think it had character roles. I mean, that people could get, you know, they could split up roles here.

[23:08] Richie Grasso: I could see that yeah.

[23:09] Jeff Malone: I'm just saying it felt like from the get-go, oh, we're gonna tour it, we're gonna go to ProV then tour it. Oh, yeah, Broadway, but tour it. Like it always just felt like it was like Broadway wasn't the end.

[23:18] Richie Grasso: And so, like, when you saw I almost wish we had the opposite problem. You do something huge on Broadway, and then you say, Okay, now let's figure out how we tour this. And I know that's a big risk with money because you're like, Okay, well, no, now we have to spend a lot of money to rethink the designs and things, and I understand that.

[23:33] Jeff Malone: I think that's where we definitely are losing the plot with Broadway. We're not really creating for the longevity on Broadway anymore.

[23:43] Richie Grasso: It seems like what is the cash grab moment here that we can kind of like get the rights to something, put it on Broadway or off Broadway, and then say, Okay, what are we gonna do with it next? Is it going off? Is it gonna go and tour? Is it gonna go to the schools? And it just feels like we're not really giving it the life that it needs to get.

[24:09] Jeff Malone: And I just feel like there was a time where people were inspired by, you know, the source material, and then created something new, cool, and unique. And we're not really like doing that.

[24:24] Richie Grasso: I think there wasn't a lot of like, hey, it's Beaches, we're just gonna put Beaches up with a score and kind of let this run. I don't think there was any like Steven Sondheim-esque take on Beaches here, you know, and I don't think it needed to, but also, you know, yeah, that's a lot of things right now.

[24:38] Jeff Malone: This season in general feels a little like what's going on in that way.

[24:42] Richie Grasso: Not everyone. You had Mamma Mia! tour come here, you had the Beetlejuice tour come here, you have Titanic that's ready to go on a tour after, you have Shmigadoon that's gonna probably tour. This has already made the announcement that it's gonna tour.

[24:57] Jeff Malone: It just feels like we're not really creating for the longevity.

[25:02] Richie Grasso: Right, and instead of going right to tour, they want to be able to say, Well, we did a Broadway run. Well, we were a Broadway musical, we had a Broadway run, you know, and it's opening during Tony season and all that.

[25:10] Jeff Malone: So right, and with this though, I'm gonna say this.

[25:15] Richie Grasso: This would be very successful on tour.

[25:17] Jeff Malone: Sure.

[25:18] Richie Grasso: I do, because I saw the crowd, and I'm like, oh, this has an audience. This clearly has an audience.

[25:26] Jeff Malone: It doesn't seem like the New York audience is really gung-ho about this person.

[25:29] Richie Grasso: No, because I don't think it's the New York caliber. But when you put this into the tour field and you're like, oh, Beaches is coming. Oh, I want to see that.

[25:37] Jeff Malone: It was very similar to like when we saw Mystic Pizza at Paper Mill.

[25:42] Richie Grasso: I was said, oh, this has a fan base here of people that want to see this. This would never work on Broadway, though.

[25:48] Jeff Malone: And I feel like that this Beaches has almost the same feel of like what we saw at Mystic Pizza, where it was like it's a decent show, but Broadway would eat it up because it's not at the Broadway level that we want something.

[26:03] Richie Grasso: And I don't know if like people would argue, like, well, like anything could go on to Broadway, and anything could go on to Broadway, but like we're devaluing like what we really need here, you know, for works that have been on the stage for long, long, long time.

[26:20] Jeff Malone: Why are we not getting that anymore? You know, so it's just, you know, a big topic.

[26:25] Richie Grasso: Yeah, but oh my gosh, just got out of time.

[26:29] Jeff Malone: It's time for our half-minute segment where we want to ask each other for 30 seconds. What would you say to the casting creative team of Beaches?

[26:36] Richie Grasso: So am I gonna go first this time?

[26:37] Jeff Malone: You'll go all right.

[26:39] Richie Grasso: Okay, Richie, on Beaches. If you had 30 seconds alone with the creative team, what would you what note or compliment would you give them? Ready? Go.

[26:50] Richie Grasso: I don't know if this really worked, this show in general, Beaches. I didn't hate it so much that I had to storm out at intermission. It wasn't like that, but I definitely feel like this wasn't as cohesive of a thought process of really bringing this to the stage. Yes, there was heart, yes, there were some funny moments, but the score was really what threw me off the most. I found some of the book scenes to lag a little bit, some clunky direction. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever seen. It just didn't really, I just wish there was a little more collaboration, a little more like we said earlier, Broadway dream, Broadway goal than just trying to get this to tour something like that.

[27:22] Jeff Malone: Yes, yes.

[27:24] Richie Grasso: All right, same question for you for 30 seconds. If you could talk to the casting creative team, what would you say to them? Go.

[27:30] Jeff Malone: All right, the biggest thing I would say is that I was waiting for more space within this show. In a moment where I thought, like, we were moving so quickly, and I was like, wow, this is really well directed. I then started to feel like no, no, no, no. We're rushing through this whole show, and I feel like if we had more space to let these roles and characters and moments breathe on the stage, which I think is warranted in a production like Beaches, we would have had a different outcome.

[27:59] Richie Grasso: There we go.

[28:00] Jeff Malone: Amazing.

[28:00] Richie Grasso: 30 seconds.

[28:01] Jeff Malone: All right. So as we wrap up, what are your final thoughts on Beaches on Broadway at the Majestic Theater?

[28:07] Richie Grasso: You know, as they say on the Did they Like It? I'm definitely on the fence with Beaches. I didn't hate it. I didn't love it. I think that Jessica Vosk is amazing and amazing talent in our Broadway, you know, bubble here. And I think, you know, with the right show, she's really, really, really gonna shine. But I think that if you are a die-hard fan of the film, I don't know if you're gonna love this. And if you don't know anything about the film, you might be like us where we are just kind of sitting on the fence.

[28:39] Jeff Malone: So go check it out.

[28:40] Richie Grasso: The final things I will say is I was moved to tears at the end.

[28:45] Jeff Malone: Yes, he was.

[28:47] Richie Grasso: Because there that is very difficult to watch on stage, to watch that and then to watch that song. And if that's what everyone feels in the movie, and then I just feel the same thing on stage, but I didn't really feel much of anything for anything else in the show, then I don't know how this really sits the Broadway musical. Because I think I'm just really being moved to tears by the plot of what's happening, and then this iconic song, which moves me to tears every time I hear it, because it's, you know, we were saying it's could it be taken romantically? Sure. But it's also a song about this beautiful friendship and how anybody in your life can lift you up and support you. And it was just beautiful at the end, like that, that she got her daughter and that she had that moment.

[29:32] Jeff Malone: So that was what moved me to tears. And if you're looking to be moved to tears from a live performance of it, sure, or you can go watch the movie too again. But I just thought in general, this is very, yeah, I'm not really, I'm not didn't love it, didn't hate it. I'm kind of sitting in the middle, like, I don't know really how this fit in the season overall.

[29:48] Richie Grasso: Yeah, but yes, Jessica Vosk. If you love Jessica Vosk, go see her do this because she is belting. Like she is belting and very impressive.

[29:56] Jeff Malone: So one of my favorite belts.

[29:57] Richie Grasso: Oh yeah, we love her.

[29:59] Jeff Malone: Well, that just wraps up our discussion of the episode. We hope you enjoyed our deep dive into Beaches. Remember, we want to hear from you. Continue the conversation with us on Instagram and TikTok at Half Hour Podcast and drop us a comment on Spotify and let us know your thoughts on Beaches.

[30:12] Richie Grasso: Please also leave us a review. Your reviews mean so much to us. And remember to subscribe to our channel for all past and future episodes.

[30:19] Jeff Malone: Until next time, I'm Jeff.

[30:20] Richie Grasso: And I'm Richie saying ta ta for now.

[30:22] Jeff Malone: Bye.