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.

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.

Theatre Review: The (Curious Case of The) Watson Intelligence

Playbill: The (Curious Case of The) Watson Intelligence

Pre-Theatre Meal: Chez Napolean

Accompanied By: Mike

We've really been on a play kick recently, so when some cheap tickets for "The (Curious Case of The) Watson Intelligence stumbled on my path, I picked them up. It sounded very interesting, following the story of 3 Watsons in different times: Sherlock's right-hand man, Alexander Graham Bell's assistant, and IBM's supercomputer of Jeopardy fame. I really enjoyed it, cleverly written with interesting parallel's and great actors, definitely a nice night out- we will definitely make an effort to see some more Off Broadway shows as we tend to really enjoy them.

Theatre Review: The Glass Menagerie

Playbill: The Glass Menagerie

Pre-Theatre Meal: Danji

Accompanied By: Mike

Surprisingly I have never read nor seen the classic Tennessee Williams "The Glass Menagerie" so I went into this play "blind" so to speak. Which is exactly how I like to experience theatre, I love to be on the journey as things unfold with no idea where they are going.

I am a huge fan of Celia Keenan-Bolger since seeing her in Peter and the Starcatcher and she did not disappoint as Laura. I also love Zachary Quinto from Star Trek & Heroes, so it was a real treat to see that he had bonafide stage acting chops. And while this was my first time seeing Cherry Jones, I was not surprised to find she was an absolute power given her long and impressive resume.

I would love to see another production of this play, because I could easily see how depending on the Director's/Actors' choices you could find yourself leaning more towards Tom leaving vs staying, but I for one was very conflicted (although Mike was much less so and thought he should absolutely get the eff outta dodge).

Theatre Review: Then She Fell

Pre-Theatre Meal: Mini East Williamsburg Bar Crawl

Accompanied By: Mike

I'd really wanted experience "Then She Fell" since I'm a huge "Sleep No More" fan and heard lots of great things about this smaller production. I also was very interested to see Immersive Theatre in a different format. Mike bought me tickets for my birthday so we went back in October, but he had accidentally bought tickets for December so we wound up having two sets. My impression after the first visit was that I was really happy that we went, but that I didn't think it would be worth going to again so I asked him to sell the other pair of tickets. He didn't and I am SO glad he didn't! I enjoyed the second visit immensely. Since, it is a smaller space/production, I had assumed that each visitor sees the same scenes, just in a different order so I was very surprised to see that I was very much mistaken and there were entire large spaces of the set that I had never seen/experienced on the first way through.

I really like the contrast that "Then She Fell" offers to "Sleep No More". The main difference is that you are guided through the entire experience and there is little to no direct action required on your part. This is wonderfully relaxing compared to the dog-eat-dog SNM experience. Also, you are usually alone or with only one other audience member and the actor(s) throughout the whole time (there are just 15 audience members per show). This play would be the perfect introduction to immersive theatre for anyone not willing to jump right in to Sleep No More.

Theatre Review: Big Fish

Big Fish

Pre-theatre Meal: The View Lounge at the Marriott Marquis

This has been one of my families go-to pre-theatre spots because of the fantastic view and the buffet making it easy to control the pace of your meal. However, after 30 minutes no waitress came to take our drink order. Once she did, it was another ridiculously long wait to get our drinks. Then of course, tracking her down to get our check was another chore and we wound up just making it to the theater in time.

Accompanied by: Nana Frank, Aunt Debbie, M. Scott

Started out slowly, but really picked up in the 2nd act. Incredible talent (especially the amazing Norbert Leo Butz), beautiful sets, touching story. They used a lot of projected images for the scenery which I absolutely would hate for any other production, but I thought were absolutely perfect for this musical. To me it represented the layer of fiction Edward projects on top of reality to make everything just a little bit more magical and beautiful than it really is. Overall we enjoyed it, but it was lacking wow factor.

Theatre Review: Little Miss Sunshine

Playbill: Little Miss Sunshine

Pre-Theatre Meal: Shake Shack

Accompanied by: M. Scott

A really talented cast working with a total dud. You could see in their eyes that despite them doing everything they can, it just wasn't working. Shout out to the dance captain who stole every scene he was in (and like I said, talented cast here, so that's saying something).

So happy to see Stephanie J Block, so disappointed she didn't have a score that let her shine.

Theatre Review: Matilda

Playbill: Matilda

Pre-theatre Meal: Totto Ramen

Accompanied by: Ron & John

Brilliant! Fun, moving, magical - everything you could want in a Broadway show. I'm still bitter that Kinky Boots got the Tony for Best New Musical, Matilda was absolutely robbed.

Oh and I somehow totally missed that the headmistress was a dude and had a complete epiphany just towards the end of Act 1, much to my companions' amusement.

Theatre Review: Kinky Boots

Playbill: Kinky Boots

Pre-Theatre Meal: Joe Allen's

Accompanied by: Nana & Donna

A modern day classical musical. The plot is pretty predictable, the songs are fun yet forgettable, but the real story here are the two male leads Billy Porter & Stark Sands. Stark Sands had some moments that were 200% Broadway Magic- a little over the top and cheesy, but he's so damn good that you just sit back, turn off your inner snark, and let it wash over you. It's going to be a super tough call on who will win the Tony on this one.

Theatre Review: Pippin

Playbill: Pippin

Pre-theatre meal: N/A. Wine & Twizzers at the theatre (Don't judge!)

Accompanied by: Me, Myself, & I

Found myself with a free evening so made a last minute decision to hit the TKTS booth and grab a ticket to Pippin per my Grandmother's glowing recommendation. Got my sippy cup of wine and bag of Twizzlers (aka Dinner) and settled in for a night of "Entertainment with a Capital E" as my Grandma described it. And boy was she right. I somehow have had very little exposure to Pippin, so besides for the first bit of the opening number the music and plot were all totally new to me.

Now, the plot is…odd. But you barely notice because of all the spectacle around. The decision to embrace the circus theme with a Cirque du Soleil type vibe ended up working very well here. Oh and Patina Miller? Holy cow. I could watch her do ANYthing for 2 hours. She's fantastic and if she doesn't get the Tony it will be an absolute crime.

Theatre Review: Macbeth

Playbill: Macbeth

Accompanied by: Mike

Anyone doubting Alan Cummings brilliance as an actor should get their head examined. Preferably at this Sanatorium.  He almost single handedly plays the entire cast of Macbeth and it actually makes sense. Whoever thought up the concept of doing this one-man version is also brilliant. It was captivating and creepy- a fantastic rendition of the Scottich Play.

Theatre Review: Lucky Guy

Playbill: Lucky Guy

Pre-Theatre Meal: Marseille
Accompanied by: Nana & Donna 

Having started a new job recently, I haven't been going out as much since I've been trying to learn my new industry. But considering my new position is in newspapers, I felt more than justified taking some time to see Tom Hanks in Lucky Guy, the story of Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Mike McAlary. 

It's very odd to see Tom Hanks playing someone who isn't a 100% likable nice-guy, but he did a good job with it, so I recovered quickly. It was OK, but I definitely think this would be more interesting to people who remember the real life events of his surrounding scandal in the 80s.

Theatre Review: One Man, Two Guvnors

Took my Mom and Grandmother to see One Man, Two Guvnors tonight. We got there early, which is very unusual for me, but I was super glad we did because the band performs pre-show. They set the 60s mood with their boyish charm and matching suits- very early era Beatles-esque.

Not too long into the performance, James Cordon pulls a couple of blokes (see, I'm in the British mood now) from the audience on stage to help him with something. This is where things got weird for me. One of the guys was dressed so ludicrously that I simply could not believe he wasn't a plant. This continued to color my perception of the show as more audience interaction occurred.

Then, I watched the first gentleman talking with his girlfriend and going to the mini-bar during the intermission and I realized that he was 100% genuine. This is also when I realized that James Cordon is in fact such a ridiculously good improviser that my mind just could not accept it. Tony well deserved, Sir.

I was able to relax and enjoy the second act a bit more once I wasn't carefully observing all the audience "plants". It was a classic, slapstick farce- silly and delightful and just a good old fashioned good time. All three generations of my family got a huge kick out of it and it turned out to be the perfect evening out.

Theatre Review: Jesus Christ Superstar

Having never been a fan of this show I wasn't super interested in it, but I read a couple interviews with Sir Andrew Lloyd-Weber claiming that this production "got it right" and heard good things from a coworker, so decided to grab a discount TKTS and check it out.

This show wound up being absolutely worth seeing, but ironically, Jesus (Paul Nolan) was NOT the Superstar of the show. That honor went soundly to Josh Young who blew everyone else out of the water as Judas. Check him out in his fancy blue suit. He stole the show and my heart (for a couple of hours, until I got home to my fantastic husband of course)....