On a Clear Day

Cheesy, yes, but more affecting than I had expected. Chorus awful and sets tawdry, but the singing leads were good, and even with thinned out orchestration and overcranked audio, Burton Lane’s songs were lovely. Hey, buds below indeed.
Not surprised it’s closing. But the shrink sitting next to us loved it.

I liked the fact that On a Clear Day had an original plot, the eye candy of Harry Connick, Jr. and most especially, Melinda Wells (Jessie Muller) voice is divine.
At times the music was a bit slow, the performance was a bit tedious and I found myself less than engaged.

I was thrilled to get tickets to «On A Clear Day» not just because of Harry Connick, Jr. but because I was looking forward to a new interpretation of this musical, that was previously made into a movie with Barbra Streisand. :) On the day that I was going to see it, I read the reviews as I’m wont to do and knew that the critics panned it. I’m glad to disagree with the critics.
First of all, anytime one sees a Broadway show, in fact even if it is a television reality show, there is an inherent suspension of disbelief that is required. Why? You think those reality shows are not scripted? Or that Vin Diesel is as good a driver as he seems to be in that movie? Or that Tom Cruise really did scale that building? Or even that those magazine cover girls didn’t get airbrushed? Oh please! Similarly, a certain suspension of disbelief is necessary to appreciate On A Clear Day, especially as the story line was modified to make it more interesting.
Second, one must have realistic expectations. Harry Connick, Jr., is a crooner. Thus, it would be unrealistic to expect him to sing or to perform the way Kristin Chenoweth or Mandy Patinkin does. As a crooner, he did deliver on the songs that he sang. He also did the narration and had the unenviable job of staring at the co-​stars while the story unfolds. It’s quite possible that they could have edited the narration better, but having a narrator is necessary for the continuity of the show.
Third, one must also prepare to be surprised and delighted. Jessie Mueller as Melinda Wells puts the «Clear» on «A Clear Day». Her beautiful soprano covers every nuance of emotion and her regal bearing is a sight to behold. She gave an outstanding performance and soothed the soul with every song.
I saw this show courtesy of Unilocal and thus didn’t pay the $ 200 that two of my friends paid to see this show. Granted that they had orchestra seats and I was in the mezzanine, we are all in agreement that On A Clear Day is definitely a delightful musical. :)

Who was I in my past life? A lioness? A snail? Maybe a gay guy in love with his psychiatrist? Who knows… what I do know, is I really enjoyed this play (thanks again to the Unilocal crew.)
Besides the yum factor of Harry Connick Jr., it was a fun story with a bit of a daring twist, much different than the original play, 40+ years ago.
The play is set in the 1970’s, with all its cheesy décor. David Turner plays the part of a homosexual, chain-​smoking, florist, named Davy. He is on the cusp of turning 30 and is basically just stuck in life. His boyfriend is successful and crazy about him, but something is missing.
Davy’s best gal pal Muriel (Sarah Stiles,) invites him to one of her psychology classes, to possibly help him quit his smoking habit. It is there, Davy meets widower, Dr. Mark Bruckner (Harry Connick Jr.) The doctor hypnotizes Davy and in his hypnotic slumber, Melinda Wells emerges as Davy’s 1940’s style female reincarnate. Melinda is a beautiful, talented, plucky character, quite opposite of Davy. She sings her way right into the lonely, Dr. Bruckner’s heart.
Mark instantly falls in love with Melinda and starts seeing Davy several times a week, just to hypnotize him to share time with Melinda.
After many meetings, it is revealed to Bruckner, that Melinda was killed in a plane crash on her 30^th birthday. No matter how many times he hypnotizes Davy, he knows it can’t change the past. By this time Davy, is in love with Bruckner in real life.
OK, now this is getting confusing, right? Damn that $ 19 cocktail!
In the end, it is exposed to Davy that his alter-​being was a talented woman who in her short life alive, made a huge difference in someone’s life. Davy quits smoking, moves in with his boyfriend, Mark moves on with his life and accepts that he too will find happiness and they all live happily ever after, blah blah.
It is quite possible that the vodka drink may have augmented my liking of the play, but it’s all good. I had a great time, enjoyed the fabulous singing and left with a smile on my face! So who will I be in my next, next life?

I was so pleased to see this happy and uplifting show.
HCJ needs to adjust himself a bit to the fantastic group of people who surround him. Yes, he is very handsome and he does not need to make an effort to prove it. By the end of the play he sounds more comfortable in the role, perhaps they need more days to adjust themselves to the show.
Melinda Wells (Jessie Muller) voice is absolutely delightful! Her and David Turner (David Gamble) stole the show, both are very talented people
So far it is a fun show, with a touch of «reincarnation» without going to crazy about it, I personally do not believe in that, but the show does not intend to make you think so deep about «passed lives»…
It is about love and the obsession with the «ideal» person or perhaps the «idealistic person» that we believe she/​he was… that feeling that does not allow us «to see beyond our own life»
I found the set fun and of course very psychedelic according to the time where the play takes place, simple but versatile for the show.
I do not give the show 5 stars because I did not get hypnotized completely, but I definitively recommend it!

Something must be wrong with me but I actually like this play and sometimes you thought in your head who really think of these things but the songs were uplifted. You get to see Harry Connick jr perform and yes the jokes wasnt that funny but I was happy to be there watching the show. I even got out of work early to attend this event. If anyone wanted something different to watch on Broadway then this show would be perfect for you. I like it!

Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō
Oh, a Broadway Show about reincarnation! COOOOOL.
The purpose of chanting daimoku (Nam Myōhō Renge Kyō) is to attain perfect and complete awakening (enlightenment). This is from Nichiren Buddhism. I don’t pretend to know anything about Nichiren Buddhism. I just started a reading a book about it though.
I know… some of us are unconvinced about reincarnation but I kinda believe in it… so does Shirley MacLaine! And maybe even the writer of On A Clear Day! I mean… imagine who I was in a past life. Was I a puppy? Was I a butterfly? Was I a gay man who before that was a singer from the 40’s? Who knows… didn’t Shirley MacLaine think she is the Queen of Egypt? Maybe I was a Chinese Gang Leader who was shot and got reincarnated!
Heck, I thought a gay guy who is the reincarnate of a woman from the 40s who is a singer… wow. Cool. The original story was a woman reincarnate they changed it to a gay guy. I think that part is INTERESTING. COOL. Thanks Monica for telling me that tidbit.
The character Melinda Wells was so enjoyable to listen to and watch. I loved listening to her sing. She did a great performance.
This is my first time watching Harry sing live and it was awesome for me.
I wanted to give 4 stars just because Harry is HOT. do you know how HOT?! The play is just more like 3.5 stars for me… it is barely a 4-​star show for me but It’s Harry Connick, Jr!
Harry is so HOT that there were cops on that block… all over the place… hello, you got Hugh Jackman and Harry Connick Jr. on the same block. All these girls and woman screaming… it is scary and dangerous! It was a mob scene of women waiting for both of them. WOW. I’m not kidding. My friend also wanted to wait for Hugh Jackman and ask him for a kiss!

On A Clear Day is your classic tale of love, loss, and… hypnosis-​induced romance. Wait, what? If you’re thinking to yourself, «well that sounds ridiculous,» you’d be right. Unfortunately whoever wrote the screenplay didn’t think so. To give you a quick synopsis: Harry Connick Jr. plays a psychiatrist who falls in love with a dazzling woman. The catch is that this woman is the «former self» of his gay male patient and she can only be brought out through hypnosis. Yeah. That’s not just regular weird. That’s creepy, supernatural weird.
I do feel a little bad about saying this, especially since Harry Connick Jr.‘s voice did not at all disappoint, but On A Clear Day was pretty terrible. The acting was awkward from most of the leads, including Mr. Connick, and it felt like they took at least a third of Act One just getting into character. David Turner as Davie nailed his comedic moments but I thought his acting overall felt contrived. He also had a few surprising pitch problems. On the contrary, Drew Gehling as Warren was pitch-​perfect and had a really powerful voice, but for some reason I couldn’t feel any emotion in his singing.
There’s no doubt that Harry Connick Jr. has a gorgeous voice, and I really enjoyed hearing him sing live. His unique timbre hypnotized me, but as soon as he went back to just acting, I snapped out of it. While he emotes believably through song, he fails to translate that into his acting which I found to be stiff and unconvincing. It didn’t help that he’s scripted to awkwardly stay on stage as a viewer during many of the musical numbers that didn’t include him.
But the cast isn’t entirely to blame. They were set up to fail by a ridiculous screenplay that ultimately didn’t even make sense. I didn’t connect to the storyline or feel invested enough in the characters to care what happens to them. There were some funny moments and some heart-​wrenching moments, but those were few and far between the moments that made me face palm or yawn. The disastrous premise of the musical managed to overshadow the clever rolling set, the fun costumes, and even the lovely musical score.
Luckily all was not lost. Redemption for this haphazard musical came in the form of Jessie Mueller who plays 40s jazz singer Melinda Wells. I went to On A Clear day to hear Harry Connick Jr. sing and fell in love with Jessie Mueller’s voice instead. From the moment she started singing I was entranced. Her voice is beautiful! Gracefully soft at moments and dynamically powerful at others, Jessie’s singing was not only expert-​level but convincingly era-​appropriate as well. AND her acting was also stellar, very charming and believable. She was definitely the star of the show. Imagine my surprise when I flipped to the «Who’s Who» in the playbill and found out that On A Clear Day is her Broadway debut! I’ll definitely be following up to see what she does next.

Things that I could have done instead of watching this show…
Clean my apartment with a toothbrush
Laundry and everyone else’s in Brooklyn
Reupholster my couch
Installed Solar Panels on my roof
Churn Butter
Studied how diamonds are made and make some
Basically anything than this show. I know it’s Harry Connick Jr and all, but he should just stick to fighting aliens, being a doctor in the jungle and being a creepy serial killer.
I’ve never been so bored at a show before. It felt like everything was in slow motion. Or was it that the blood flowing to my legs due to the uncomfortable seating.
The story was real slow and it seemed like HCJ was just reading the lines and not really acting them out. The real star of the show is the character, Melinda. She has an amazing voice and really carried the show. The set was cool… That’s all I can say…
Who was I in my PAST LIFE?
I think I would be Harry Connick Jrs Manager and tell him NOT TO DO THIS!!!
Remember the video of that Croation Girl who was throwing puppies into the river? I could watch that video on loop than this show…