If you go back vote for Taylor Swift!! We saw her and Seance-ay win. I can say with certainty that you need to hear Taylor sing more than the one awful song they gave her.
Phantoms of the Festhaus
- Thread starter AlpenChrist97
- Start date
I saw the show twice Friday and twice Sunday. As a fan of the various incarnations of the 'Night Beats' franchise, I wasn't jazzed about the concept. However, as a dance photographer, I'm thrilled with the high energy and the terrific visuals. The lighting design is fantastic. I was amazed that they were able to do so much with the minimal set pieces, which right now are just three multilevel illuminated pyramids. There are more set pieces, which were construction delayed by COVID, due to be delivered near the end of the month. The vocals, especially the MC's 'Hamilton' inspired rapping, are heavily reliant on vocal wordplay. The reverberant sound environment of the Festhaus isn't optimal for clear sound. In some of the other park venues, digital sound systems allow the sound techs to roam the venue, adjusting the mix on a network linked tablet. The Festhaus has an analog sound board, so the tech needs to stay on the bridge to make adjustments. Often, Festhaus shows sound best the closer the viewer is to the position of the sound board. I was warned, so I watched my first show from near that spot. For the Sunday shows, the sound had noticeably improved to the point where it no longer was a detraction for me. I learned that they made a concerted effort to position "scouts" around the venue, taking notes that could be implemented into the mixing. I appreciate the effort, and am impressed with the results. I'm still not over the moon about the competition show concept. But, I flip away from those kinds of shows on TV, so I'm not coming from a place of impartiality. What makes the show for me are the fantastic performances of the singers, dancers, and musicians, and also the terrific visual design. Every time I watch I see more clever new things I hadn't seen before, and leave the show with various songs stuck in my head. That leaves me wanting to come back for more, and that, for me, is the measure of a good theme park show.
First batch of show pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10219625323893483&type=3
For those who haven't seen it yet, someone has already posted an early show video on youtube:
First batch of show pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10219625323893483&type=3
For those who haven't seen it yet, someone has already posted an early show video on youtube:
I was forced encouraged to watch this show last night by the others I attended with. I am NOT a shows person despite my oldest son having attended the musical theater program at the Center for the Arts for high school. It's no surprise that I didn't particularly enjoy it, but I was impressed by the talent of a number of the performers/musicians. It's a shame they weren't given something better to work with.
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NO offense to any of the performers. They only can perform the material that is given to them. But wow is this show disappointing. Especially considering that it replaced Night Beats.
Night Beats had a great playlist of songs and absolutely stunning choreography that matched the music perfectly. The playlist of songs in this new show is absolutely horrid, and the choreography is disappointing. It feels like the dancers walk around the stage in circles and lot and pose a lot. The playlist of songs contributes to the uninspired choreography. Those songs don't lend to great moments of dancing.
It's also just awful the put the vocalists in a "competition." The crowd cheers more for some than others and that's not appropriate for hard-working perfomers.
I think this is a Davenport show and that makes it all the more disappointing.
While this isn't quite as bad as when they replaced wonderfully choreographed and thoughtful "Miracles" with that awful "Gift of Harmony" (no dancing in that), it's another example of Busch entertainment sliding down a hill to mediocrity.
Night Beats had a great playlist of songs and absolutely stunning choreography that matched the music perfectly. The playlist of songs in this new show is absolutely horrid, and the choreography is disappointing. It feels like the dancers walk around the stage in circles and lot and pose a lot. The playlist of songs contributes to the uninspired choreography. Those songs don't lend to great moments of dancing.
It's also just awful the put the vocalists in a "competition." The crowd cheers more for some than others and that's not appropriate for hard-working perfomers.
I think this is a Davenport show and that makes it all the more disappointing.
While this isn't quite as bad as when they replaced wonderfully choreographed and thoughtful "Miracles" with that awful "Gift of Harmony" (no dancing in that), it's another example of Busch entertainment sliding down a hill to mediocrity.
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Please correct me if I am wrong, but it looks like the stage got a little upgrade...
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Not sure why they added these things to the side of the stage half way through the event. They don't use them at all during the show.
Also Notable is that they now have a new intro for the show with a narrator explaining the story and the voting at the end of the show before the MC starts to sing.
I guess too many people were confused what the show was about.
Anyways, apparently this is the "Great American Ghoul" song contest of 2121 and we are "transported 100 years into the future" to judge it.
I am not sure what sense that makes now...
Also Notable is that they now have a new intro for the show with a narrator explaining the story and the voting at the end of the show before the MC starts to sing.
I guess too many people were confused what the show was about.
Anyways, apparently this is the "Great American Ghoul" song contest of 2121 and we are "transported 100 years into the future" to judge it.
I am not sure what sense that makes now...
The new chandelier and side set pieces were intended to be installed for the opening of the show. The fabricator was unable to deliver on time due to their operations being affected by COVID. Expect a few finishing touches when the park opens this week. I was out of town last week, and unable to attend until Sunday evening. I found the new set pieces, and the added lighting effects in the existing pyramids, to be welcome additions. I'm less jazzed about the voiceover intro, but it doesn't detract from the experience and probably helps newbies who haven't read the show synopsis on the website.
Does anyone know who the purple Taylor Switch is?
Love how she is acting even while she is not singing.
I hope she is in some of the shows during the other events.
Love how she is acting even while she is not singing.
I hope she is in some of the shows during the other events.
Yes, but identifying them here is against forum rules.
That said, one of my favorite things to do when re-watching this show is to pick a character and follow them throughout the show. They all are constantly interacting with each other in character. Each of the ghouls is a sendup of both a classic Halloween staple and a real life singer. They each have an assigned color scheme which shows up in the show lighting when they are featured, and they have "powers" which match their ghoul-o-types. Taylor's Witch is especially fun to watch freezing and un-freezing the zombies and mummies during her song.
I apologize. I did not intend to have any rules broken.
I wish they would list their performers on a playbill somewhere. I have seen a bunch of talented people perform at BGW that I would have loved to follow outside of the theme park.
Sucks that they don't get credited anywhere officially.
In the first few seasons of Scrooge No More, I remember BGW had headshots of each actor posted in the Globe Theater lobby along with the performers' first names and the characters they played. I wish they hadn't stopped doing that.
I also noticed that at KD's shows, each performer's first name is announced as they take a bow at the end of the show. That would be a nice practice for BGW to consider taking up, too.
Many places went away from it for performer safety.