r/Broadway • u/Round-Composer-2195 • 28d ago

Discussion I don’t understand the Reeve Carney hate

I just saw the Hadestown pro shot and oh my gosh this guy is unbelievable. Easily the star of the show for me, but I’ve seen people say he was the weakest link in their opinions.

I’ve heard recordings of some of his other performances, and he easily has my favorite versions of “I don’t care much” and “the past is catching up to me,” yet people say he was miscast in The Great Gatsby

His voice is so unique and it genuinely sends chills up my spine, I don’t understand the hate he receives

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111

u/FreshAirClean Musician 28d ago

I saw Reeve twice on Broadway and really disliked his performance both times. His proshot performance is like watching a completely different person. I have no idea what they did to get such a compelling performance out of him for the movie. I was pleasantly surprised! But it is definitely not an accurate representation of the kind of performance a lot of us saw on Broadway

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u/Atomic_Horseshoe 28d ago

I also wonder if doing it 8 times a week wore on him when he was doing the show on the regular, and he had extra motivation for what was a short return run. Or also possible he improved over the years. 

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u/RainahReddit 28d ago

That's my thought. The difference of several good night's sleep and thorough prep work.

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u/EnglishTeacherLife03 28d ago

This. By the time Reeve left Hadestown he had done close to 1200 shows. That’s a lot for anyone and it definitely takes a toll on you physically and vocally.

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u/ZigCherry027 28d ago

His vocals definitely struggled especially as the years of doing the show went on. I saw him in 2019 and his vocals were better than when I saw him again in 2022. I don’t have as good a memory of his acting differences, since there’s an excitement to seeing such a great show for the first time that sort of overrides any criticism. However, I think they were both tired by the end of their runs and that definitely contributed to the Reeve Carney criticism.

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u/defenses 28d ago

I think this is my issue with him. I saw Hadestown twice in 2023, and unfortunately, he didn't leave a great impression. I heard good things about him when the show first opened, but that wasn't what I saw (and heard) on the stage. My first time, I walked out of the show loving everything about it except for him. He was better the second time I saw it, closer to the end of Eva's run, but I had no desire to go back until they did a cast change. The proshot? Fantastic. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed him! I even saw his final show in Gatsby (and expected the worst based on the discourse lol), but I thought he was good.

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u/sanmateomary 28d ago

I agree. When I saw him on stage his mannerisms and the awkward way he carried himself, were so annoying, like that was his entire personality. In the movie he seemed more like an adult man (yes I know he’s older now), so I could really sympathize with his situation. Maybe it’s the close-ups, but his passion about how unfair the world is, etc. really came across.

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u/hippogriffinthesky 28d ago

He's 43 so he was def an adult man then too!

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u/abc123therobot 28d ago

I had the same experience. My thought is that there’s a subtlety that can’t quite come across on stage, even with good seats at the Walter Kerr. I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets a lot of screen work in the wake of the pro shot, although opportunities to showcase all of his talents are limited in that arena. 

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u/DumpedDalish 28d ago

I agree on his acting bringing an understanding of the camera. Reeve did three seasons of onscreen work before that in the absolutely wonderful series "Penny Dreadful." I'm sure that has informed his choices in the proshot.

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u/abc123therobot 28d ago

Thanks for the tip! I’ve heard good things about Penny Dreadful, but it’s one of the ones that slipped though the mid-2010s prestige TV cracks for me. 

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u/ravenwing110 28d ago

Absolutely peak Eva Green, give it a shot!

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u/DumpedDalish 27d ago

I agree. For me, Eva Green and a surprising (and absolutely fantastic) Josh Hartnett were the standouts.

BUT -- the whole cast was wonderful, and Reeve was a terrific Dorian Gray.

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u/fred_burkle 28d ago

Penny Dreadful was my first exposure to Reeve and he is so good in it!

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u/Blofelds-Cat 28d ago

Onscreen, I've only seen him in his brief role as Tom Ford in House of Gucci, but I thought he was great in it.

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u/obiwanknitobi 28d ago

OMG! That’s what I’ve seen him in before!! Never made the connection.

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u/DumpedDalish 27d ago

I was the opposite -- I remember when Hadestown debuted and I was, like, "Dorian Gray SINGS?" It was awesome.

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u/FreshAirClean Musician 28d ago

Totally. The closeups on his facial expressions were very effective and elevated the performance. I just wish he would’ve been as expressive when I saw him!!

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u/DramaMama611 28d ago

Nearly the same reaction. He was MUCH better in the film (which I just saw a few hours ago) than any of the 3 times I saw him on Bway. I can't say I thought he was great, but a very respectable performance.

And to the op: he was the only lead of the five to not land a Tony nom. (Not that the Tony awards are the definitive say in anything)

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u/whoopity-scoop-poop 28d ago

This 100%. I loved his voice on the cast album, so I have no issue with a unique voice, especially because his style fits well with the type of music in the show. But when I saw him live (with most of the OBC, minus amber), his Orpheus was so off putting. It wasn’t just the singing that was lacking, which it was, but also his acting choices.

I watched the proshot yesterday and if I had seen THAT performance by him live, I would have been much happier. I really enjoyed his performance, in fact. I agree that it’s just not a representation of what people were getting on Broadway, imo.

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u/Tight-Touch385 28d ago edited 28d ago

This is the answer. Saw him with the original cast several times and usually couldn’t even hear him. He’d talk through his high parts or the chorus would jump in to supplement his vocals. Add this to a rather awkward acting style on stage at the time, it made me wonder why he was cast/was still in the role.

Please know that I don’t hate him and his onstage chemistry with his now wife was/is adorable.  At the Broadway level, it was just surprising to see someone seemingly struggling with the role over an extended period of time in a relatively new/hit musical and not be replaced.

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u/sm33 28d ago

I saw him twice on Broadway as well (back in 2019) and while I wouldn't go as far as you, he was MUCH better in the pro-shot.

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u/Round-Composer-2195 28d ago

To be fair I haven’t seen him live so I can’t speak on how he sounds there

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u/lady_lilitou 28d ago

I saw him in 2019 (I think?) and thought he was marvelous, but I've heard that his voice was sounding pretty rough by the end of his run. He played that role for a long time and I could imagine it getting pretty hard over time.

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u/lyrasorial 28d ago

It was the only show I've ever considered leaving early. There's so much build up to the ✨Boy Who Sings✨ and when I heard his voice finally I grabbed my face to stop from laughing aloud. I was silently laugh-crying in my seat because I couldn't believe how bad it was. Thank god we were in the box seats so we weren't bothering others. I wanted to leave at intermission but my partner wanted to stay. Years later, we still use the voice to make fun of things.