Theatre Review: Cabaret

Pre-Theatre Meal: Rosie O'Gradys
Accompanied by: Nana & Donna

Shockingly, I have never seen a production of Cabaret. Not a high school production, not the movie, nothing. That's because I was unintentionally saving myself for Alan Cumming to be my first. Soooo worth it. There is something just absolutely mesmerizing about him. You just can't keep your eyes off of him, which is especially problematic in his role as the Emcee because he tends to always be off to the side and a little distracting, but in the best possible way.

Speaking of brilliant performers, Linda Emond was fantastic as Fraulein Schneider. As for Michelle Williams' Sally Boyle though, I just wasn't getting the choice. She's a great actress, so she really committed to it, but I found it to be whiney and infantile. I got the feeling that Sally is meant to a vivacious, larger than life character which explains why Cliff can't help but be drawn in to her world. However, Williams played her with a quivering voice which made her always seem on the edge of a breakdown.

Curious to see the contrast, when I got home I immediate rented the Joel Grey & Liza Minneli film version. While I wasn't drawn in by that Sally Boyles personally, it was definitely more what I expected of the role. And now I've seen Cabaret two times!

Theatre Review: Bullets Over Broadway

Pre-Theatre Meal: Blue Fin
Accompanied by: Tracey

Bullets Over Broadway wasn't too high up on my list although I was curious to see Zach Braff's Broadway debut as he had won over my heart as JD on Scrubs. However, these positive feelings were pretty equally balanced against my dislike of Woody Allen (and yes, I mean his work, not his personal life drama). BUT when my friend needed a last quintessential NYC Broadway Musical before moving out of town, this definitely fit the bill so we picked up some TKTS.

In terms of setting the scene with a believable mobster, Vincent Pastore as Nick Valenti was pretty perfect. He's most recognizable as Pussy on The Sopranos which I just finished watching for the first time last month. From there everything continued to be pretty perfect- an amazingly talented group of showgirls - and show guys - all of whom busted out some amazing classic Bway tap dancing. The sets, the costumes, the songs were all Grade A musical entertainment. Everyone in the cast was also amazingly talented. Special shout outs to

• Brooks Ashmanskas (Warner Purcell) the foppish famous actor with an expansive love of food.
• Betsy Wolfe (Ellen) who plays the sweet ingeniue for the most part, but then belted it out like nobodies business.
• Marin Mazzie (Helen) who played the larger than life famous Broadway star to a T. She was stupendous and very familiar, I'm pretty sure I saw her when she played the role of Lady of the Lake. I've definitely seen her when she originated the role of Mother in Ragtime, but that's a very different role.

Theatre Review: Violet

I purchased a membership to Roundabout to get my Cabaret ticket and of course was interested in seeing Sutton Foster. When my date arrived I headed over to the theatre after work. It was an enjoyable show with some incredible performers such as Joshua Henry (Flick) who had some literal show stopping moments. Another performer I couldn't take my eyes off was a young girl who was in the company during group scenes. This girl had that something special, after the fact I looked up who she was and it turned out she was the understudy for Young Violet Emma Howard. Keep an eye out for that one!

Theatre Review: The Realistic Joneses

Pre-Theatre Meal: Thalia
Accompanied by: Mike

Cast:
Toni Collette as Jennifer
Michael C. Hall as John
Tracy Letts as Bob
Marisa Tomei as Pony

This was kind of a weird one. There were a few chuckles all the way through, which kept it going but overall I was pretty disappointed.  All of the actors were great of course, although I was sad that Michael C Hall's character was surprisingly Dexter like. I know he's a great actor capable of doing so much more because he was absolutely unrecognizeable as Dexter when you knew him from Six Feet Under. It felt kind of exisistential- I had no idea what I was supposed to be taking away from it.

Theatre Review: Les Miserables

Playbill: Les Miserables

Pre-Theatre Meal: Marseilles

Accompanied By: Nana & Donna

The second the movie production of Les Miserables was announced I knew that that meant a Broadway revival and that I would be going with my grandmother as it is her all time favorite musical. So when earlier this week she told me she had tickets to go with her friend Donna for Saturday night, I hopped online and snagged a seat. I was torn between a Row C Partial View seat and one a few rows back and to the right for $50 more. Not that I wanted to cheap out on Les Miz, but I liked that the Partial View seat had an unobstructed view of the stage...at least the majority of the stage that wasn't blocked from view. At first when I sat down I thought I had chosen poorly, but the entrance ramp I was sitting next to was used a LOT and made it a semi-immersive theatre experience. I also loved that there were no heads between me and the stage to block my view at all. I wound up loving my Partial View seat completely.

The highlight of the show was hands down Ramin Karimloo who was beyond stunning. After hearing him sing his 1st number in the prologue I literally felt as though I had my admission's worth. He's my favorite Jean Valjean of all time and I don't think he will ever be possible to top. Of course, the entire cast was phenomenal- the best of the best musical theatre actors in the world. His rendition of "Bring Him Home" was a literal show stopper and the action had to pause for the thunderous applause. I almost stood up right then.

Getting to experience this musical reminded me how fortunate I am to live in New York. Getting to sit right up at the stage where I got to hear some of the individual voices of the Ensemble members and was totally blown away- each of them could tear down a house on their own accord. Anyone who gives a hoot about theatre should see this production.

I Made This: Toilet Paper Roll Wall Decor Part 2

DIY Toilet Paper Roll Wall Decor

DIY Toilet Paper Roll Wall Decor

A long time ago I posted Part 1 of my attempts at making wall decor with toilet paper rolls. I wound up making four designs, but ran into a dilemma when it came to spray painting since I live in NYC and don't exactly have a backyard or other convenient spot to spray paint. I attempted to make a "spray paint" by mixing acrylic paint and water in a spray bottle, but the result was a disaster.

Since then, I moved to a new apartment which is located near a sanitation depot which turned out to be a fine spot to go and attempt to spray paint. I got more than a few funny looks for sure, but it was all worth it in the name of some cheap and easy DIY wall decor to spruce the place up. 

I'm quite pleased with the results which turned out to be quite tricky to photograph. The best thing about it is that they were so cheap and easy that I won't feel bad getting rid of them the next time I want to switch up my decor or the next time we move!

DIY Toilet Paper Roll Wall Decor

Theatre Review: Macbeth

Pre-Theatre Meal: Minca Ramen Factory
Accompanied by: Mike

A small production set in the Church of St. Teresa in the Lower East Side which was totally unique and special. Entering the church I assumed it was Episcopalian or Presbyterian because it looked traditional, but I didn't think for a second a Catholic Church would allow a theatre production in it. However, then I noticed the Stations of the Cross and the telltale light in front of the tabernacle and realized that it was indeed Catholic. Pretty darned cool. We knew of this production because of Careena Melia who originated the role of Hecate in Sleep No More and who was a stunning Lady Macbeth in this production. The acting was fantastic and the way they used the space was really creative. It was so neat to see this production just a few weeks after seeing the production at the Lincoln Center to contrast the mega-production with this extremely intimate one. While they were both wonderful in their own right, we both enjoyed this one tremendously.

Theatre Review: No Man's Land

Playbill: No Man's Land

Pre-Theatre Meal: db Bistro Moderne

Accompanied By: Mike

I'm a big geek so when I heard legendary actors of stage & screen Ian McKellan & Patrick Stewart where going to be appearing together on Broadway, you better believe I snagged some Row C seats to see my beloved Gandalf and Picard up close. I almost choked while waiting for the show to start and the elderly couple next to me said "Well I don't know who this Stewart fellow is, but we saw this other guy in another play and thought he over-acted". 

I had a traumatic experience reading "Waiting for Godot" in high school (it made me nauseous to read and my English teacher couldn't explain what the point of reading it was to save her life besides for the fact that it was on the curriculum). In light of that, I chose "No Man's Land" which I knew nothing about. While also very abstract, I didn't care because McKellan & Stewart were an absolute delight. I should also mention that Billy Crudup & Shuler Hensley were fantastic. That said, I'm not sure I would really enjoy this play if I wasn't there for the actors, I hate walking out not knowing what it all meant, although it does make for some interesting post-show discussion.

Theatre Review: Macbeth

Pre-Theatre Meal: Nougatine
Accompanied by: Mike

The set was dark, minimalist and mostly focused on a medieval mandala (a seal comprising of pentagrams within circles). The costuming was similar dark, muted, and minimal, but also somewhat futuristic. The 3 Witches and Hecate were played by old men, which was interesting, but also felt like it was just done to be interesting. Macbeth was played by Ethan Hawke, who played him in a very subdued manner which was definitely a choice, but I never figured out what he was going for other than "broody". This was Mike's first time seeing a show at Lincoln Center and it was great to get to experience such a large scale production at the pinnacle of the world's theatre.