It's.....

A show that I had truly wanted to see for months now. I had gone to the theatre about 4 times to rush tickets, with no luck each time. One day, however, I found a $20 bill in a taxicab and it was destiny, I knew exactly where I was gonna spend it. I woke early the following morning and got to the theatre at 8:30am. On a day with both a matinee and night show, I was sure that I'd be successful in my endeavors. Of course, I was, and as expected, the show was... (This is my attempt at a corny segue into my review)

Delightful. The cast especially. Everyone knows Sutton Foster won a Tony for this role, so I had extremely high expectations for her. Yet she still exceeded them. From the very second she walked on stage, she was radiant. She had a beautiful voice, was amazing in her acting and comedic timing and wow, can she dance! The company number 'Anything Goes' was one that I had watched countless times online, I practically know the choreography. Not even mildly being a performer, I must say, seeing the entire cast of that show tap their hearts out in sync was incredible enough, but that wasn't even the finale! They still completed another act flawlessly. Not to mention, Sutton's solos during that number. To put it simply, it is beyond me how someone has the physical capability to do that.

Joel Grey and Sutton Foster
(I found this funny)

Joel Grey was yet another incredible cast member. As I had posted about, I saw the Normal Heart, a breathtaking, touching and devastating play about AIDS, which happened to be directed by this amazing performer. Of course, I had only been convinced of his directing skills at the beginning of this show. He, like the rest of cast, was absolutely hilarious. The overall comedic timing was indeed perfection, however his being 79 made things all the better. Not only was it astounding that he was on stage or the majority of the show, but he had some dance solos of his own in the epic 'Anything Goes' number.
Delicious. The story was extremely sweet and entertaining. Cliche done right. Okay so maybe is was the average love triangle, SPOILER ALERT, everything works out for the best, but I didn't sit there thinking 'Really? This AGAIN?'. I wasn't thinking at all in fact. I was merely enjoying myself. I walked out of that theatre with a smile on my face. I felt happy, and a bit starstruck. I still have a hard time coping with that tap number.

Colin Donnel and Sutton Foster

Deluxe. The music was rich. Of course, I love innovative, different, rock musicals. However, nothing ever amounts to the classics. I sometimes have those 'why wasn't I alive in the 30s?' Moments, but that's what this show was, in a nutshell. It was a classic, stereotype of a musical, with the perfect amount of jazz hands, I might add.

De-Lovely. That's the word I was looking for. Anything Goes was de-lovely.


For those of you who have seen the show, I hope you enjoyed my corny segue for this review.

For those of you who haven't,

One more fun experience at this show to share:

When I was at the stage door, everyone was so nice and so chatty, which I love. Of course, me and my mourning the closing of Catch Me If You Can, saw none other than Jay Armstrong Johnson hanging around the Anything Goes stage door! I didn't have the opportunity to say hi and tell him I was a huge fan, but it was exciting nonetheless. 

I hate goodbyes.

I just want to apologize for yet another Catch Me If You Can post. Then again, I shouldn't be apologizing- it is a great show. Still, I'll even admit I have gone a bit overboard. (When Tom Wopat, Frank Abagnale Sr., tells you you need to get a life, you know you're a bit crazy).

Cut me some slack! It was closing day today!

Now the most incredible performance one will ever see is a closing performance of a great show whose run was cut short. I'm not saying this was the greatest show I've ever scene, because it's not (Next to Normal still holds that place in my heart) but I must admit, during this performance I could feel the energy, the "going-all-out" of the performers in the same way I felt it at N2N's closing performance, but this had this lack of satisfaction for it's run- which in a way added to it's energy. I do understand why it was cut short. The past three times I have gone to see it, it wasn't even close to being sold out. What I don't understand is why that is. It's such an uplifting show with performances by some of the most incredible Broadway performers I've ever seen. At this stage door, I would tell everyone I was so sad to see it go and they would all say "Me too," not "It was time" like the cast said at N2N.

I do have to say, this performance was definitely satisfying. Even from all the way in the nosebleeds. Row T, Seat 7, Mezz. I felt the energy. From the very beginning you could feel that no one, not a single performer or anyone (including the audience) was holding back. Nine times seeing the show, and this made me feel like I was seeing it for the first time all over again. Act I went by far too quickly and during intermission I was dreading what was yet to come. This show made me so happy and it was seemingly unfathomable that it had one more act and then would be over. Still, all good things must end.

Act II began and of course, none other than Marc Shaiman was on stage! After that the show went on as usual. The normal hyperventilating during Seven Wonders because of Aaron Tveit's lack of clothing- and he can sing too! Then the tears at the end of Kerry Butler's chillingly beautiful Fly Fly Away. And not even to bring up how much of a wreck I was at Goodbye. That song makes me sad already because it leads to the end of the show, but for this entirely phenomenal number, I was only thinking about how this was actually goodbye. And boy! Aaron Tveit really did not hold back! I thought he was phenomenal normally but it was nothing compared to this. And it's safe to say that he finally got some recognition that he deserved from the very beginning: a full house standing ovation at the end of that song. His face as he was tearing up staring at Norbert Leo Butz, who was just smiling at him is his natural fatherly fashion as Carl Hanratty. You had this sense of Norbert saying "I told you that you were incredible, and no damn Tony committee can say otherwise". (Okay, I really don't know if that's interpreted correctly, all I know is that that is what I was thinking).

Marc and Scott at the curtain call

Thanking Aaron for being incredible

Once the show was over, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman came on stage and made a little speech. Marc told this beautiful story of how he was helping a kid who come out and spoke a bit about Catch Me. I always love those sentimental speeches. Finally, the show had finished and it sure had a happy ending. I got out to the stage door, chaos almost reaching the point of How to Succeed (Damn teenage girls are CRAZY. Hehe). I had the opportunity to talk to a lot of cast members (also Marc and Scott and Jerry Mitchell! and Jack O'Brian walked by me.) about how amazing the are, Brandon Wardell actually stuck around to have a conversation with me witch was pretty cool. Then, after basically everyone left, I broke out into song and sang that one line of Goodbye, "The show is done now!" then my friend Anna slapped me. Just a quick shout-out to her: Thanks, I needed that. I stuck around for quite a while afterwards talking to people coming in and out of the stage door. Though I couldn't go backstage because they were cleaning up the set, I did manage to pull off a lot of souvenirs. I got various props, Tom Wopat's door sign, a music book from the orchestra and the Catch Me book that people can buy. Oh, and a lot Rachel de Benedet's old stuff.

It was yet another very successful day at the theatre. I promise this is my last Catch Me post for at least a few months now!

I'd say catch it, but you can't.

Catch it before it closes

Catch Me If You Can. I may not have mentioned it yet, but I absolutely love this show. As of recently, I have scene it six times. SIX. And I must admit, it should be seven. Because I had gotten selected for Catch Me's blogger night on the 18th- a small contest for two free tickets to the show. I, however, was going to be on a plane at the time, so I couldn't go.

Still, the last times I saw the phenomenal show, I had the pleasure of seeing it with the understudy for Brenda, Alex Ellis, and Carl Hanratty, Joe Cassidy. Both amazing.

Joe Cassidy.
Let's just say Joe Cassidy really has some big shoes to fill. Norbert Leo Butz is a bit of a legend (to put it lightly) and won a Tony for this role, I'd be a nervous wreck if I were Joe- not to mention I saw him his first night on as Agent Hanratty. He was an absolutely wonderful performer, one of the things that was a bit off from the average "Norbert-esque" just because when Butz was talking about the role in an interview, he said it to be not one for singing and dancing. I don't imagine Agent Hanratty to be a good singer or dancer, I think of him to be this shlumpy, short, quirky, uncoordinated, lonely guy. Joe Cassidy was a bit too good on his feet, a bit too coordinated, not to mention tall. Then again, I must mention the "Don't Break The Rules" number with this guy. Truly great. Still, the dynamic was thrown off because they were missing one male ensemble member so, especially in the beginning, there was a gaping hole in the choreography. Still, another thing worth mentioning, the chemistry between Aaron Tveit and Norbert Leo Butz is like nothing I have seen before. The energy that they give off from each other, the authenticity that you feel when you see them perform together is incredible. In all the shows that I have seen in the past months (14 to be exact), I haven't experienced something like this. And this is the final reason that Norbert's shoes are so hard to fill, and unsurprisingly- Joe didn't quite fill them.

Alex Ellis.

Aaron Tveit as Frank Abagnale, Jr. and Alex Ellis as Brenda Strong

Well, since I first heard she was the understudy for Brenda, I had been dying to see her perform. I really always liked Alex from all the Catch Me vlogs, and I had also seen a video of her performing Fly Fly Away, in which I thought she was brilliant. Needless to say, she definitely lived up to that in her performance as Brenda. Though Kerry Butler is absolutely amazing, I found that Alex Ellis has a very similar atmosphere to her. The only thing that I really missed about Kerry was the joke about the other nurses being so very tall. Unfortunately, Alex couldn't make that joke because she was just as tall as the rest of them.
Also, thought I'd not that when she and Aaron were singing Seven Wonders, Alex nearly fell off of the bed. Ah- I live for those moments in live theatre.

Finally, in all the Catch Me performances I've seen I've never had the pleasure of seeing Jay Armstrong Johnson, who I've heard such great things about. Hopefully one day in the near future, I'll have the pleasure of having that experience.

Another thing worth noting, in the most recent performance I saw, Norbert completely smacked Aaron in the face with his tie during Strange But True, and the reaction of everyone on stage (especially Aaron) once again reminded me why Broadway is brilliant.

My most recent Broadway endeavors.

"The right place at the right time"
Somehow this idea never really seemed to apply to me. Recently, however, I have seemed to be extremely lucky, Broadway-wise, in encountering stars. My most recent Broadway endeavor occurred whilst waiting to meet my family to go to Radio City to see Cirque du Soleil, Zarkana, which was great. It's fun to see a circus that actually has an interesting story with live music, not just a bunch of circus acts. Still, nothing beat the incredible set and the amazing theatre. If you get the chance, definitely go see this.

Slight tangent, back to my endeavors.

Radio city is on 50th and 6th so I decided I might as well hang out in the one place I was bound to run in to the Broadway stars within that area. It also just happened to be 6:15pm, roughly when all the performers go out between their matinees and night shows. I went to the Starbucks on 52nd and 8th, half a block from Jersey Boys and Catch Me If You Can. I was just lucky that it was such a hot day and everyone was trying to get inside where there was air conditioning. While on line at Starbucks getting the most refreshing drink I know of, a passion iced tea, none other than Dominic Scaglione Jr. walked in. He was Frankie Valli in Jersey Boys! (Or at least in the production I saw) At first I wasn't sure, but I finally I decided that it was actually him. Still, I have yet to figure out how to pronounce his last name so I was not sure how to approach him. While deliberating, there were these two little girls by the window waving to the people on the outside. For those of you who are New Yorkers, you know that that is something definitely in the ordinary. Of course, only in the place that I was would these little girls wave to Aaron Tveit as he was passing by and then ask "What if we waved to someone famous without realizing it?"

Anyway back to Dominic, the story about Aaron yet to come. I finally decided to just ask him if he by any chance played Fankie Valli in Jersey Boys, which he of course said yes to and we had a short conversation while I told him how wonderful he is. He then asked my name (something that really makes me happy about Broadway stars, it actually makes you feel like they care) and in anticipation of the awkward moments to follow if I were to continue to hang out in that Starbucks, I left.

The moment I stepped outside, a gust of heat hit me, followed by a long minute of lightheadedness and me having to lean against a street sign to actually be able to start breathing again (what can I say? I'm more of a winter girl). Of course standing 10 feet from me is Aaron Tveit talking on the phone, another thing that didn't quite help with the whole lightheaded and breathing thing. I walked across the street planning on heading over to Radio City, but still unable to. I needed water. I went back to the Starbucks to buy myself a water bottle to help me last the longest four block trip I have ever been on and of course, I see Jay Armstrong Johnson and once again Aaron Tveit. After a few long moments of hesitating I decided I'd walk over and say hello after I had gotten some water. Of course when I got to the register the cashier made a big fuss about how I was just in here and if she needed to check my ID. By the time I had bought my water, they were both gone.

Still it was cool to just see them and have the chance to talk to Dominic! Let's hope I continue to be this lucky when it comes to theatre.

Sidenote: I hate to overshadow my Tony's post with this one seeing as that one is a bit more significant. I just thought I'd share this experience.