From: rugggdindv@hotmail.com   
      
   I saw the first preview of "Good Vibrations" last night on Broadway. The   
   creators seem to have missed the reason "Mama Mia" is so much fun. "Mama   
   Mia" has an absurd little story line that is a load of fun and laughs. "GVs"   
   just strings together as many songs as possible over a threadbare story that   
   isn't much fun.   
      
   After I saw the Brian Wilson tribute at Radio City I wrote here that   
   Jubilant Sykes' performance of "That's Not Me" sounded a lot like a Broadway   
   tune. Well, "That's Not Me" didn't make it into "GVs", but "I Wasn't Made   
   For These Times" did, and it was a show highlight. So was "Sail On Sailor".   
      
   As for the rest of the tunes, the performances did not do much justice to   
   the originals. The cast is very young and did not, or could not, put much   
   feeling into the tunes.  I did not expect a Beach Boys concert, but I   
   expected better than lukewarm performances of the songs. The sound mixes   
   were also very bad and often the vocalists were obscured by the music.   
      
   Oddly enough, there was a character named Marcella, but that song didn't   
   make it into the show. But a few other oddballs did like "Keep An Eye On   
   Summer," "Crazy Car Cutie," "Breakaway," and "Your Imagination". A few   
   others made it in as background music like "Karate," "Pet Sounds," and   
   "Friends."   
      
   I chuckled because one character looked exactly like Sean Penn's "Spiccoli"   
   character from "Fast Times At Ridgemont High." There were also two surfer   
   guys named "Jan" and "Dean".   
      
   I had really good seats so I could enjoy the young girls running around in   
   bikinis very much.  So much that I could see the occasional bruise or   
   something on a girl's hip. :) But that wasn't enough to compensate for the   
   show's other shortcomings.   
      
   The audience response was moderate. No standing ovations. No curtain calls.   
      
   I think the biggest problem with the show is that it sorely lacks an   
   interesting and amusing story line to tie the tunes together. Without that,   
   all that is left is a bunch of young performers trained in singing show   
   tunes doing a Beach Boys concert.   
      
   The bottom line: If you're coming into NYC, and are a huge Beach Boys fan   
   like myself, go see "Mama Mia" instead of "GVs". I'm a so-so admirer of   
   ABBA's music, but the show was really a kicker. "GVs" is a limper.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)