OktoberZest

[Lord Robert]

This is starting to remind me a little of what happened with "Mix It Up!" when it premiered in 2011. A show that some people really liked but many others have pointed out the big glaring flaws in it that by the time 2014 rolled around, the changes that occurred had it turned into a fantastic show.

Maybe the same thing will happen with "OktoberZest".

 

[Zimmy]

Pointing out valid concerns, especially when documented with examples, history, and perspective is good commentary, it is not the same as being negative.  In fact when people just say nice things about any performance for the sake of not sounding, "negative," does they do the artists a disservice.

If my professors had told me that all my designs were great even when they  looked like crap (frankly, more often then not they were not great),it would have been terrible for my education.  As I recall the head of my department was often intentionally critical so that we, the theater majors did not have a false sense of what the real world is like

Just as it is not fair to paint any show with a brush that says everything sucks, it is equally unfair to not point out the faults.

Frankly there are plenty of other sites that do nothing but positive things about the emperors clothes even when he has none.  If people do not like how the community and admins function here they might consider a community that is more to their liking or, if they think they can do better, start their own site.

 

[Nicole]

We have never criticized the cast, only the park. We think the on-stage talent is great. That does not mean we should sugar-coat the final product. We do not blame the cast for the show, but we won't pretend it is better than we honestly​ believe.

In fact, if you read my analysis, I clearly implied that the dancers must have years of training to execute the choreography. Ballet and Character Dance require years of formal training. That is one reason why they do not belong is a show set in a beer hall. The dancers were able to do both. Therefore, they must have training.

ParkFans and BGWFans have a reputation for honesty and encouraging reasoned and logical debate. Thus we do not support lying about the quality of something at the park. Everyone on this Forum has the right and responsibility to share honest opinions without being condemned.

 

[Lord Robert]

Exactly Nicole, if someone likes any show that has good things about it to them (like I am most of the time), that's good. If someone is very disappointed with a show and points out why the show was like that to them, that's good too.

BGWFans is for all honest opinions and none of them are condemned, but welcomed for healthy/interesting discussion. And I love the site for it!

 

[CastleOSullivan]

Apparently there were several former, well-liked BG directors that were called in to give creative advice. They all seemed to be part of the more traditional crowd, but unfortunately their advice was probably duly noted and mostly thrown out.

There have been many concepts in the past for Das Festhaus shows that were ultimately shelved. Some of those ideas were already seen partially in previous shows. Even "This is Oktoberfest!" contained some of these ideas in 2010-2011. Roll Out The Barrel, for instance was shelved twice. The last season of TiO contained some early concepts, and even had a pattern around the stage resembling a wooden barrel.

In 2012, the park slipped up in announcing Roll Out The Barrel too soon. The park still didn't have the show ready, so the switched to plan B: Entwined. Don't quote me on it, but supposedly all of the costumes for Entwined 2012 were designed in less than six weeks; almost the same amount of time that it took to bring the full show together (two weeks to spare).

I'm not saying that the park has no choice but to keep playing TiO forever. However an Oktoberfest show with a 100% live band is the only formula proven to work in that venue during the main season. All other shows struggle for many reasons, but one of the biggest is sound.

Bavarian brass music (the same used in TiO) was perfected over many centuries to fight bad acoustics of beer halls such as our huge, box-shaped Festhaus with a stage in the center. Even Busch Gardens Tampa's much smaller former-Festhaus, now called DragonFire Grille, still suffers from bad acoustics, even after changing the stage to a one sided stage in the back of the hall.

Busch Gardens needs to decide unanimously on what Das Festhaus is and hopefully make the right decision. Furthermore, they can't keep putting together scraps of disoriented ideas. And they can't keep changing things last-minute, and still hope for it to be a good, or even decent show. I fear that they will one day give up on German shows altogether, but that is a whole other thing.

 

[Thomas]

 

[Lord Robert]

Since I have a Fun Card now, I may see the show again a few more times this season.

 

[Rhaw757]

I've been a reader of this forum for a while and a relatively quiet member for a few years and I will agree there can be a lot of negativity, but it's usually reasonable. A lot of the negative opinions contain a lot of hyperbole that can make the statements seem a little crass, but I've come to recognize that the negativity is usually founded. We're harder on Busch Gardens here than most of the public because we're passionate about the park. We want good things for the park and being dishonest for the sake of kindness and not wanting to hurt anyone's feelings wouldn't help the park improve.

Believe me, I hate to see negativity as much as anyone and I will say I've seen plenty of times where I genuinely believe there has been some unnecessarily harsh reviews on certain things but, in general, this is an excellent place to get good, honest opinions on all things related to the park.

My honest opinion of the show? It wasn't very good at all. The opening sequence turned me off almost immediately. The violinist, though, was incredible. Everything else just didn't interest me. I ended up leaving in the middle of the show so maybe it got better (apparently not), but I just wasn't feeling it. It honestly made me miss Roll Out The Barrel which I thought I'd never say. We'll see how it plays out as the season goes on. Hopefully the park hears the criticism and takes it seriously and makes some changes to make this a decent show. We'll see.

 

[Lord Robert]

Hopefully the park hears the criticism and takes it seriously and makes some changes to make this a decent show.  We'll see.

According to Bama, the park is making some changes in the coming weeks so maybe it will.

 

[Zachary]

Narration to explain how each act in the show reflects the modern-day Oktoberfest (see: TiO 2013) would make a huge difference in my opinion.

This is why Country Roads is actually one of my favorite parts of the show—its introduction teaches guests something super interesting that I'm sure few people know.

I feel like we have seen a full departure from the park teaching its guests about the cultures represented inside its gates. In my opinion, that is a real shame. In fact, in a way, it starts to feel exploitative of the cultures supposedly being displayed when education is removed.

Oh, and any sections that can't be justified by a narrator probably shouldn't be in the show to begin with...

 

[Lord Robert]

Narration to explain how each act in the show reflects the modern-day Oktoberfest (see: TiO 2013) would make a huge difference in my opinion.

That sounds like a pretty good idea, I like it.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

^Remember though that poorly designed narraration was what finished off season one of London Rocks. There are already enough similarities between the shows, to the point that it's alarming. They may need to cut back on time, and be sure that they don't wrap themselves in a bad situation in doing so.

 

[UncleDuncan]

I usually refrain from interacting in show threads, since it's usually full of discussion topics I don't care about, but I have to tell you folks: this show sounds exceptionally terrible. It might be so terrible I end up loving it (like Fiends). But terrible, nonetheless.

 

[Lord Robert]

"OktoberZest" could end up becoming something close to a "guilty pleasure" show for some people. Me being included as one of them. :blush:

 

[Zimmy]

I usually refrain from interacting in show threads, since it's usually full of discussion topics I don't care about, but I have to tell you folks: this show sounds exceptionally terrible. It might be so terrible I end up loving it (like Fiends). But terrible, nonetheless.

This... Oh this so hard

 

[Lord Robert]

CastleO'Sullivan has posted the video of the show. After re-watching it a few more times, my opinion has not changed: where I still like it but acknowledging the problems it has. Can't wait to see what the changes are going to be for this year.

 

[CastleOSullivan]

[tweet=https://twitter.com/castleosullivan/status/853412722419146752]
Due to the nature of this show it is highly advised that you do not watch this video. Nonetheless:OktoberZest.

Seriously though, I actually did hold off on posting a video for the sake of the cast. Unfortunately I don't see them making any real changes anytime soon.

 

[Lord Robert]

You're right, it's going to be very minor changes at best this year. But I have a big feeling that in a year or two, there's going to be an abundance of changes that I don't think they're going to give up with this one.

Besides, there's still "Britmania" and "All For One" to think about this season.

 

[Zimmy]

Against my better judgement, I am going to bite. What on Earth makes you certain there will be an "abundance of changes," or for that matter "Britmania," is going to be worth a crap?

 

[Thomas]

I seem to recall London Rocks receiving several changes throughout its short life, yet it was never a success.