Godspell

There dawns a time in all our lives when we win. "Win what?" you may ask. WIN THE GODSPELL LOTTERY.

Okay, so I've had my fair share of lucky experiences (incredible seats to shows for incredible prices, meeting Daniel Radcliffe multiple times, meeting Aaron Tveit multiple times, etc.), but never have I ever won a Broadway lottery. Nonetheless, one in which I get to set on a pillow next to the stage and get to hang out with the cast during the intermission. Oh, and I may mention that having Hunter Parrish sing to you while wearing little more than underwear is a plus.

This was a lottery that I had entered no less than 5 times, all of which were for Saturday evening performances. This time, I entered for a Wednesday matinee... And I emerged victorious!

The incredible cast of the 2011 Godspell revival

Godspell. Entertainment at the pinnacle of perfection. It was a thoughtful, hilarious look at what it takes to be a good person. It wasn't about religion, or faith, or any ideology really, but just simple notes of being good to one another in our day to day lives. That may sound corny, but in actuality the subject matter of this wonderful musical is extremely relevant.

What particularly stood out to me in this musical was its "feel". I feel like I can't even describe it as a musical because it was the farthest thing I'd ever experienced from a conventional one, not only in its subject matter, but in its execution as well. The first fascinating thing about how this show was executed was its utilization of the audience. As I mentioned before, us lottery winners sat on pillows on the floor. These pillows were actually props that were used in the show that all of us were asked to hold up. Secondly, members of the audience were actually called to the stage to perform. Okay, so I may have heard that Hunter sometimes sit on your lap, but I really didn't realize how involved in the show I would actually be.

I couldn't tell when the show started and finished. The lines were so incredibly blurry. It began with a song about turning off your cell phones and segued into the opening number. During the intermission, the cast called everyone up onto the stage to have a glass of "wine" (child-friendly grape juice) and just continued to hang out there playing music, going around singing, maybe even getting a bit of candy from little kids. I had the opportunity to talk to two incredible cast members about their performances while they just laid on the stage right next to my seat!

Audience up on the stage during intermission

Another interesting thing was the structure of the show. It felt more like I was watching a comedy show because, to an extent, it was set up like one. It felt much more like a series of short vignettes than a long story line, though it was still thematic. Another reason I describe it as "comedy show-esque" is that there were so many jokes relating to current events. There were references to anything from Occupy Wall Street to Lindsey Lohan, and of course Charlie Sheen's "winning!" In that respect, this show broadened the audience by miles. It's not a young person show or an old person show or a new yorker show or a foreigner show. It's an everyone show, but beyond that, it's an opportunity for across-the-board enjoyment.

And yes, this is the one show where it's sometimes acceptable to sing and clap along!

Stick Fly (In honor of its closing)

What's family without dysfunction, affairs, aggravation, sibling rivalry, separation and, of course, a whole lot of secrets?

Stick Fly was a representation of all of these. It dealt with self preservation and remembering who you are as an individual no matter what your family says or does. It was a reminder that our family isn't necessarily what defines us, contrary to what many believe.

Stick Fly is filled with people struggling to find out their true identities.

Rosie Benton, Mekhi Phifer, Tracie Thoms, Ruben Santiago Hudson,
Dulé Hill and Condola Rashad

Beginning with the father, always struggling with the fact that he will forever live beneath his wife's father. He felt so powerless and inferior that he needed to sleep with the maid to feel like a "man". Then there was his perfect, rich, plastic surgeon son, so unconcerned with who he was as long as he had money and his waspy girlfriend. There was the younger son who was constantly struggling to figure out what he wanted to do, and of course, once he did, he was thought of as a joke by his father. There was the waspy girlfriend who was so unvalued by her boyfriend and was using him because he was black to make her parents mad. There was the younger son's girlfriend who grew up poor and unrecognized by her famous and successful father who completely denied her existence.

And then there was Cheryl (Played by Condola Rashad. INCREDIBLE). Cheryl was the maid's daughter. She grew up without a father. She was always out of place, going to predominantly white and rich prep schools and always being one of the few African Americans, as well as the only poor one. She was the only character that could cope with family, that understood that we are independent of our families, that they don't necessarily define us. When her mother calls to tell her that the man Cheryl works for is her father, she confronts him. He does nothing. In response to this, she merely utters, "Well that sucked."

She didn't dwell on her misfortune, she accepted that shit happens and she always just let life go on.

Porgy and Bess

So I'm aware it seems I have been wiped from the face of this planet, but I assure you, I'm still alive. The end of 2011/beginning of 2012 was super hectic for me, and unfortunately I did not get to see all the shows I would have liked. But, as Christopher J. Hanke puts it beautifully as Bud Frump in How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, "I HAVE RETURNED!!!!"

In fact, I have news! I have recently become involved in none other than TDF's Play by Play "plog" and magazine! It's a for teens by teens website and magazine, with more than just reviews, but including interviews with stars and a lot of other awesome info about theatre that you really can't get anywhere else. Become a fan on facebook here!

And now, without any further ado, the touching, the heart wrenching, the redeeming, Porgy and Bess.

Polyphony is the combination of multiple individual melodies to create a harmonious whole. In Porgy and Bess, Gershwin’s polyphonic music can be interpreted as a microcosm of the structure of the 2012 revival production of this beautiful love story. Like the rest of the show, his music weaved together multiple independent “trains of thought” that overall created a captivating harmony. Though this constant overlapping of each melody sung by many different performers made some of the lyrics difficult to understand, it reminded me that it’s not so much the words, but the music itself that is conveying the characters’ ideas and emotions, something that is so easily grasped when it comes to George Gershwin. Still, beyond the music, this entire show was constructed in a very similar way.

First, the first thing that caught my eye was the set. It seemed to be a combination of random, not exactly beautiful, pieces that constructed the complex setting for the complex story. Second, each character had his and her own independent thoughts, ideas and feelings that were critical to the plot development. Finally, because there were so many well developed characters, there were also many engaging story lines. There was Robbins’ death, Porgy’s disability, Bess’ addiction, Clara and Jake’s relationship, Sporting Life’s lust, and the entire Catfish Row’s dealing with racism, poverty, faith and much, much more.  Still, in all of these bloomed an inspiring love story. When these separate “melodies” were woven together, they did much more than just create a wonderful harmony.  They came together to convey the idea that it is most important to have the audacity to chase after whatever it is that you love.

But beyond this, the cast is a force to reckon with.

Audra McDonald and Norm Lewis

I know I've said this before, but a lot of us go to Broadway to see something astounding, something unfathomable to the extent that it becomes this fantastical experience beyond anything we can really understand. I have seen roughly 45 shows in the past year, and still it is beyond me how people can perform for that extensive amount of time in an extremely vulnerable position: on stage. I still yearn for that moment when I hear someone's voice as they sing the first note of their solo and my heart skips a beat because of the beauty that can only be achieved by so few. Those moments when I feel the heat of the moment from the characters and when tears a brought to my eyes are constantly sought after by me. And this happened to me at this show.

There is only one word to describe Audra McDonald's voice when she began to sing "Summertime" towards the end of the show. This song had already been one of my favorites when sung by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong, but when experienced live, it was..... breathtaking. That's the only word I can think of to describe anything executed by Audra McDonald in this performance.

Norm Lewis was unbelievable!..... or actually the opposite, exceedingly believable. Okay, so I know that goes without saying when someone is a professional actor, but he went through 2 and a half hours of limping and hobbling across the stage with his leg twisted in ways I didn't even know was possible! Let alone his vocal and emotional performance, when he came out to take his bow, I half expected him to be using that cane.

Must see, all I can say. (Well all I can add to the above rant about how incredible this musical is)

The Submission

Have you ever been to a show that really tugs at your heart strings? One that makes you reevaluate yourself and your environment? One that sticks in your head, lines ringing in your ears, inescapable concepts that continually haunt you? What about a show about ignorance, racism and homophobia all at the same time? Have you ever left a theatre afraid to speak? afraid of what it is you were gonna say? with a sense of self-awareness that you had never felt before? trying to mull over what it was you just saw while your head was still spinning?

One of most incredible, astounding, indescribable shows I've ever scene. The Submission was a theatre experience that I had never had before. It's beyond anything that I can describe, but I'll try to do so anyway.

Unfortunately, this show closed a while back so none of you will have the chance to see it for a while, so hopefully none of you will be upset at my complete spoilers.


Before I tell you all what this was about, I sorta just wanted to state the obvious. The whole cast was absolutely phenomenal. Jonathan Groff was in this show. The sweetest Broadway actor I've ever met. Honestly. He was swarmed by fans after this draining performance and still posed for a picture and the end of it all. :)

My friend Vera, Jonathan Groff and Me

Fan girl moment over. Time to get serious.

This play was about a "very white" and "very gay" playwright who submits a play to a festival and gets chosen. The problem is, he submitted it as a black woman because of the sensitive subject matter of the play and didn't want to be accused of being racist. To avoid any issues of this kind, the playwright hires an actress to play the "playwright". With his ultimate intention of getting his play produced, the playwright completely disregards the feelings of the woman he hired, his boyfriend and his best friend. His play is found out to be about a black family in the projects filled with racial stereotypes, and when asked by the woman to take the N word out of one scene in which it is said 37 times, he blatantly refuses. His argument is that his being gay and discriminated against is the same as racism and that he can say what he wants in his play because he knows how it feels. The two decide that at opening night of the play at which the playwright is asked to say a few words, the woman he hired will reveal to the audience that he was the true playwright. When things don't go according to plan and she does not reveal to the audience that he was the true playwright, he loses it and fights with her. After yelling about all the unresolved issues that the two had between them over the course of the show, she screams, "F****t!" and he retaliates, "N****r!"

The play ends with the playwright sitting in Starbucks a few weeks later. He gets a phone call, assumed to be someone asking him out on a date. He's asked about what type food he wants for that night. The call ends with him saying, "Ew, no. Isn't that Pakistani? Let's go somewhere normal."

Until that last line you side with him. You pity him, until you realize that he's just another ignoramus.

I'm still trying to gather my thoughts on this play, thinking about it too much keeps my head spinning.
It was an incredible reminder of what each and every one of us is capable of as well was how powerfully something can be expressed through art.

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. 

When you're an Addams?

So I saw the Addams Family a while back, a show that I must admit, I had little to no interest in seeing, before Brooke Shields joined the cast, that is. The thing is, when someone like Brooke Shields is in a show, when she's not on stage it gets pretty boring very easily. I got amazing seats, so it wasn't my bad view that got in the way of my attention span, and Brooke Shields wasn't even the gripping one in the show.

Brooke Shields, Rachel Potter and Roger Rees

Rachel Potter. Wednesday. She has one solo. ONE. With a voice like that, I'd say the entire show should be structured around her. Before her song, which was early in the show, you could feel people around you fidgeting and sort of restless. When she started to sing everyone fell silent, sat still and just watched. By the final belt of her song, almost everyone was on their feet. The applause was far greater than that at the end of the show. After that, however, it was downhill.

Heidi Blickenstaff was also amazing. Her solo was another jaw-dropping performance not to mention her absolutely ridiculous character, a seemingly clean cut but actually sex crazed mom.

Of course, I had to pity the acts to follow hers, for none were nearly as good. Jackie Hoffman, however, did come very close. She was simply hilarious. I mainly new her from 30 Rock and the Billy Green web series (If you don't watch these, check them out!), so when I realized that I was watching her, I immediately became more interested. Hilarious (I know, I said that already, but I really can't describe it in any other way). She said one thing about John Lennon and I was gone. Talk about comedy in the theatre....
Still, it wasn't her celebrity that kept me interested, as I can prove through my lack of interest with Brooke Shields. It's not that Shields was bad, but more like Jackie Hoffman, Heidi Blickenstaff and Rachel Potter are exceedingly tough acts to follow. I still did very much enjoy seeing her in this production.

If curious about seeing this one, don't have too high expectations. The cast is alright, excluding Potter, Blickenstaff and Hoffman. It's definitely worth seeing just for them.

Pictures from Broadway.com

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.

"I GOT MEMPHIS!"

A very long four weeks that felt like a period of withdrawal from my addiction to Broadway shows has recently ended. Last week I saw Catch Me if You Can for the fifth time. Yes, it was amazing as usual. Anyway, that is clearly not what this post is about. So to begin,

Memphis. A show that I had been trying to get tickets to for ages and finally managed to pull off in the eleventh hour. Okay, so maybe I wasn't the one to pull them off. Props to my friend Alice, who, while I was sulking and non-optomistic about getting tickets to show after many failed attempts at student rush tickets, called me up and yelled, "I GOT MEMPHIS. MEMPHIS!"

Now what to discuss first... the story, the talent, the music, the stage door? All of these were simply amazing. The story was basically the birth of Rock n'Roll. Huey, played by Chad Kimball, is a sort of misfit in his white society because of his adoration for the "colored music". When he tries to become involved in an African American underground club he isn't the least bit welcome because of the terror that the average white folk cause. He wasn't trusted, and falling for the club owner's sister, Felicia, didn't really help things. Huey makes the "colored music" big and makes Felicia, played by Montego Clover, a star because of her incredible voice. The story goes on to have both Felicia and Huey become successful, but are then faced with an awful dilemma: to go to New York, a place where Felicia would definitely thrive, or to stay in their home town, Memphis.

Onto the talent. Chad Kimball. What can I say? He did get a Tony nomination for his performance, and it was definitely well deserved. He played this seeking-to-be controversial, sometimes perverse character, but there was something about his perverseness that was extremely gripping. Whenever he was on stage it was impossible to look away, and it wasn't just because of his completely insane outfits.
Montego Glover. Now it goes without saying that in a Broadway musical, all the performers will be absolutely brilliant. Yet when going to a show, we still get blown away. Still, nothing compares to the voice of Montego Glover.
Nancy Opel- another cast member that deserves noting. She had the ability to make you absolutely despise her one second but make you genuinely forgive her the next, not to mention how hilarious and nice she was at the stage door, telling us all about ridiculous things people sitting in the front row were doing.
Finally, huge kudos to Rhett George, the understudy for the role of Delray. Really amazing job.

Montego Glover as Felicia and
Chad Kimball as Huey

Now, as you all know, the stage door is one of my favorite parts of Broadway, and this stage door experience was one of the nicest I've ever had. First, a huge number of people in the show came out to sign. This is definitely the most full playbill that I have. They didn't just rush off, they actually stuck around to actually have a two-way conversation, which was extremely nice of them considering how exhausted they must have been.

Really great show. I'd say its 100% a must see.

The Normal Heart

As I walked silently out of the Golden Theatre, I thought about what I was going to write for this post. Normally I discuss the incredible cast, the synopsis, the stage door. However, this phenomenal play is far above that.

Once a show ends, many normally start talking and mingling with the rest of the audience. Not this time. After the applause everyone walked slowly in silence, which was broken by the many people still in tears.

This play is about the AIDS epidemic, or I should say, the beginning of it. "Please know that everything that happened in The Normal Heart actually happened" Larry Kramer writes in the letter that was passed out as everyone was leaving the theatre. This play is about the fight for the many gays to gain recognition from the government. It's about people not giving a damn about this disease when it was still believed to reside only in gay communities. It's about family. It's about denial. It's about ignorance. It's about love, finding it, and having it taken away from you.

Most of all, this play is about recognition. Recognition for the terror that our fellow human beings went through in the early 80s and recognition for the fact that AIDs is still a plague today, though many people fail to refer to it as such.


".....Please know that AIDS is a worldwide plague.

       Please know that no country in the world, including this one, especially this one, has ever called it a plague, or acknowledged it as a plague, or dealt with it as a plague. 

       Please know that there is no cure. 

       Please know that after all this time the amount of money being spent to find a cure is still miniscule, still almost invisible, still impossible to locate in any national health budget, and still totally uncoordinated.

       Please know that here in America case numbers continue to rise in every category. In much of the rest of the world—Russia, India, Southeast Asia, Africa—the numbers of the infected and the dying are so grotesquely high they are rarely acknowledged. 

       Please know that all efforts at prevention and education continue their unending record of abject failure.

      Please know that there is no one in charge of this plague. This is a war for which there is no general and for which there has never been a general. How can you win a war with no one in charge? 

      Please know that beginning with Ronald Reagan (who would not say the word 'AIDS' publicly for seven years), every single president has said nothing and done nothing, or in the case of the current president, says the right things and then doesn’t do them. 

      Please know that most medications for HIV/AIDS are inhumanly expensive and that government funding for the poor to obtain them is dwindling and often unavailable. 

      Please know that pharmaceutical companies are among the most evil and greedy nightmares ever loosed on humankind. What 'research' they embark upon is calculated only toward finding newer drugs to keep us, just barely, from dying, but not to make us better or, god forbid, cured. 

      Please know that an awful lot of people have needlessly died and will continue to needlessly die because of any and all of the above. 

      Please know that the world has suffered at the very least some 75 million infections and 35 million deaths. When the action of the play that you have just seen begins, there were 41.

      I have never seen such wrongs as this plague, in all its guises, represents, and continues to say about us all." - Larry Kramer, excerpt from the letter that was handed out.

The words of this play are still ringing in my ears, and so they should. Beyond the fact that play itself was incredibly well done, it is a true story. I did not live through that time period. I really knew little about the terror that so many people went through at that time. And though I'm sure I still understand little about the constant fear, hurt and loss that so many went through, I think this play gave me a little taste. 

This will be my last post for a while. I'm going away for the summer, but when I come back I can promise posts on Memphis, The Motherfucker with the Hat and Hair!

Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo

For some reason, I always think of Robin Williams as that guy from RV, that incredibly stupid movie that I saw on a plane once. I think that was the first time I saw him in a movie, something I am slightly ashamed of. Still, since then I have watched a lot of his other work to learn that he is not "that guy from that stupid movie that time" but an amazing actor. Mostly I learned this from his phenomenal performance in Good Will Hunting, one of my favorite films. And then I saw him on Broadway.

One of my favorite things to do is see screen actors come to Broadway, to see an actor that you know from somewhere in a completely different setting. And honestly, Robin Williams was great as the Bengal Tiger in the Baghdad Zoo.

Bengal Tiger was a play about the current war in Iraq and how it has affected everyone there, the soldiers, the civilians and of course, the Bengal Tiger. It was told, for the most part anyway, from the perspective of this tiger who died and is now on his path of redemption so he can escape the terror of the world around him. Throughout his path of redemption he encounters various people and situations only to have his final epiphany and the end of the show.

Robin Williams as the Bengal tiger

Honestly, I think the show was incredibly clever. First, the overall premise, the chaos of the war interpreted through various people's stories, and mainly based around the death of this tiger. Everything, down to the last word was just smart. Even at those moments when you started laughing because of the show's comedic outlet, right afterwards you were left thinking. I left the theatre lacking my usual stage door excitement/"let's meet the actors" mood, but more of just wandering around thinking about what it was I just saw.

And I find it fascinating when a relevant and controversial topic is used to create some art form. It really shows our ability to understand and cope with various problems in any way we know how.

GUEST POST: The Importance of Being Earnest

A play that jokes about a now defunct system of social class, yet still manages to resonate a hilarious chord with its audience, is truly one worth seeing. The production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest by the Roundabout Theater Company is not only sidesplittingly funny, but still manages to remain poignant and relevant over a century after it was penned. 

A Tony winning Brian Bedford (and aptly so might I add) reigns supreme as Lady Augusta Bracknell, a rank obsessed mother whose approval is necessary to facilitate the marriage of several key couples. Meanwhile, the exploration of the utility, as well as function, of truth in modern society ranges from absurd rhapsodizing to hard-hitting mantras that leave the viewer pondering what exactly is the importance of being earnest. 

Accompanied by breathtaking sets and a sublime cast, The Importance of Being Earnest is aggressive in its perfection: it grabs you from the very beginning and never relinquishes your attention, despite two intermissions. This flawless production will leave you speechless, tears coursing down your cheeks as a result of intense laughter. If you are going to see one play this summer, make it The Importance of Being Earnest.


This incredibly written review is by Penina Kessler. When she becomes a published and renowned theatre critic, the best in all New York, all of you can say you read her very first here!


... I don't think I'll have the audacity to ever write again because I know that I will never be able to measure up to her amazing skills.

Baby It's You!

I must admit, I have been getting a bit spoiled with my incredible student rush seats, so when I got rear mezzanine for Baby It's You! I must say I was a bit disappointed. Then again, you get what you pay for- most of the time anyway.

Synopsis: This is the story of Florence Greenberg, a Jewish women from New Jersey yearning to work in the music business. She finally gets out of her house after discovering and managing the Shirelles and founding two record labels. The show is interestingly not so much about her managing this incredibly girl group but more about Florence herself and her development as a character along the way.

Obviously, there is a lot to this woman's life and it is hard to cover all of it efficiently and tastefully, and I must say that this show did that sufficiently well. Still, I personally found the changing relationship with her kids the most interesting, so once I left the theatre when the show was over, I sort of had this feeling of "What ever happened with that?"

Now the two extremely tall people sitting in front of me making out for the majority of the show (until an usher told them to stop) may have had something to do with the fact that I wasn't entirely engrossed, I sort of felt like there was a bit too much going on at once. There seemed to be so many little tangents occurring around the central premise of Florence and her love interest. Then again, maybe that's how the life of Florence Greenberg really played out. Who am I to say?

Still, it may have just been that exceedingly aggravating couple sitting in front of me that ruined my attention span.

On top of that, this show is described as a "Boomer's delight", unfortunately, that does not include me. I could definitely see how a person from the baby boomer's generation would have enjoyed the show more.

And now the cast:

Beth Leavel. Amazing. She portrayed the whole "Oy-Vey", Jewish housewife thing perfectly - trust me, I would know. She had a wonderful voice and an extremely gripping stage presence. No wonder she was nominated for a Tony this year!

Everyone on Broadway is incredibly talented and these performers were no exception. The whole cast was full of amazing singers, wonderful actors and incredible dancers.

It was truly a fun show but nothing was as amazing as the fact that it is a true story!

Rock of Ages

Storyline: So basically, a young man from Detroit who wants to be a rockstar and a girl from a small town who wants to be an actress and are in Hollywood trying to achieve their dreams. Surprisingly, they fall in love and there's conflict. At the same time, an evil German developer and his son, Franz, try to reconstruct the sunset strip and they are trying to demolish the Bourbon Room, where our story for the most part takes place.

What can I say? It's a true example of how important each and every component of a musical is. For instance, the cast was amazing, the set was hilarious, the music was great, but the story was incredibly cliche, and it's the story that is the basis for the rest of the production. Okay so maybe there were a few funny moments, but they were the type of funny moments that you see in those ridiculous movies that are funny for a second and then they just seem absurd. The essence of a great comedy is that of an over-exaggeration of a truly serious subject. In this show, the serious subject, had little impact on what seemed like the main story, or the love story, which consisted of two people trying to achieve their dreams and then, SPOILER ALERT, they find out that what they really want is love and, unexpectedly, everything works out for the best! Alright, so even the narrator recognizes the fact that it was incredibly cliche. He even says, "Betcha didn't see that coming!", one of the few really funny moments of the show. Still there was more about the show that didn't quite appeal to me.

If it wasn't the uninteresting story line that didn't intrigue me, it was the far too many "Huh?!" moments. From the very beginning of the show, I just kept thinking "What the what?" It all began with the very first scene when one of the guitarists came to the very front of the stage and just stood there playing in slow motion while smiling and making eye contact with the audience for what seemed like an endless amount of time. I must say, for a show that seems to be aimed at middle-aged, single women, this show had far too many stripper dances. Then, there was the "coming out" of two characters who had shown such an obvious attraction to women throughout the entire show. That was just plain random.

Still, nothing beats the outrageousness of the final number "Don't Stop Believing". It started out cheesy, but sweet all the same but as the song went on, it just got stranger and stranger. Out of nowhere, the lead girl comes out and she's pregnant! Alright, so even if there was no mention of wanting kids or anything having to do with pregnancy in the entire show, I guess it sort of make sense. I can however, tell you what doesn't. When completely out of the blue, she's holding a plastic baby in the air and a "Lion King" sort of sequence occurs. Keep in mind, "Don't Stop Believing" is not a very long song so all of this sort of happened rapidly, while simultaneously, one of the guys who died in the show is walking around the audience in this unbelievable golden angel suit while another just in underwear! Throughout this entire number, I was legitimately just thinking, "I do not comprehend what is going on."

I do have to admit though, there was one part of the show that I truly enjoyed. Franz. A German boy with a dream of having a candy store (trust me, this actually does fit into the storyline). This one number "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" is pure brilliance. Out of nowhere (as usual) Franz rips off all his clothes to reveal a blue sparkling unitard and sings with a German accent. Honestly, it was hilarious. Cody Scott Lancaster, great job. His performance was by far the most entertaining. Don't get me wrong, the rest of the cast was wonderful, the music was obviously fantastic, the only problem was the story.

My friend Vera and me with Cody Scott Lancaster at the stage door

Like I said, the show was aimed toward single, middle-aged women, something that I am proud to say I am not. At the stage door this one lady walked up to the guitarist whilst referring to him as her new "Rockstar boyfriend" and just said, "You are so hot." I'm a teenage girl and I wouldn't even do that. What does that tell you? I guess it's sweet that these women got another chance at their childhood, they probably appreciated the show more than I did. And maybe one day I'll think back to that show and appreciate it way more, but until then all I can say is, "What?!"

Something funny:

Inside the Helen Hayes theatre

I don't know why I found this so hilarious, but inside the theatre they had bras hanging everywhere.

West Side Story: A Bronx Science Production

So recently my high school put on a production of West Side Story for our spring musical. Honesty, I am slightly ashamed to admit I did not know what it was about until one of my friends told me. And though it is not public theater, it was definitely a performance that's worth giving recognition to.

I had never seen West Side Story and some of my friends had pulled off some lead roles in the show so I had been anticipating it for weeks (Mostly because many of them were inconspicuously dropping hints that the show was going to be amazing). My friends were of course aware of my current Broadway frenzy and had to remind me many times not to have too high expectations. Still, the performance exceeded them. The entire show was well done, obviously the story is riveting and the music is wonderful, but I really need to make a huge shout-out to the cast. It's truly amazing how incredibly talented a group of high schoolers can be.

The entire cast

The thing about high school productions is that you have really little control over casting. There are only a handful of amazing singers, dancers and of course actors and an even smaller group who have the courage to audition, let alone perform in front of our school. Still, something tells me it was little more than just luck that made our cast so incredible.

Shanti Kumar and Shawn Geller as Maria and Tony

First, Maria and Tony. The two who played them (in the production I saw) had incredible chemistry, were phenomenal singers, and overall performed so well. In the auditorium filled with fidgeting teenagers, both of them had this strange ability to cause everyone to get quiet and still the moment one of them opened their mouth to sing. When Tony died and Maria made her final speech while holding the gun that was used to kill him, I was legitimately brought to tears.

Finally, apart from the incredible cast, the other thing that stood out to me was the choreography. West Side Story is a very dance dependent musical and in the numbers where virtually everyone was dancing, everyone was really great. Okay, so maybe the whole "synchronized" thing didn't really work out, but it added more the the show. I mean, a show about disputes between gangs and such, how much organization and synchronization actually is realistic?

And lastly, one of the greatest scenes (dancing-wise anyway) is in the ballroom right before Tony and Maria meet, when Anita and Riff's girlfriend, Velma, have a "dance-off" there were these two incredible lifts done by Anita and Velma. Honestly, I am astounded that this show was put together in only three months!

Equus. The experience of a lifetime.

As promised, here is my recollection of my experience at Equus. It was a mere three years ago that my mother had taken me to see this show. She of course had the knowledge that Daniel Radcliffe was fully nude for parts of the play but really had little idea of what the context of said nude scene was and how it would scar a seventh grader.

The play was incredible, even to someone who lacked the intellectual capacity to truly understand what was going on. At first it was a sort of an "OMG It's Harry Potter!" feeling, but after a few scenes, I was brought into the despair and disturbance of Allan Strang's mind. For those of you who don't really know what it's about, just to clarify, it is not Dan Radcliffe just screwing a horse. It's the story of a boy who blinded six horses and his series of sessions with his psychologist to try to understand what brought about his rash actions.

Side Note: the psychologist was played by Richard Griffiths (Uncle Vernon anyone?)

Sadly, in the performance I saw, the psychologist was played by Bill Buell. Don't get me wrong, Bill Buell was phenomenal (to the best of my memory, I was really young back then) but I was really looking forward to seeing the chemistry between Richard Griffiths and Dan Radcliffe, whom he knows well, not to mention that plays the role of the evil Uncle who despises Harry in the Harry Potter series. Obviously in this performance he takes on a much more supportive role in respect to Daniel's character.

And now, the nude scene. I obviously was anticipating this from the beginning. I, however, was not anticipating it being in the context of an extremely intimate and intense sex scene. Still, that was not the part that scarred me. It was the endless yelling of "I put it in!" by Daniel Radcliffe while sitting completely naked on top of a completely naked girl for what seemed like an hour. It was his running around on stage for another endless amount of time, still full-frontal, "stabbing" horses (aka a bunch of guys in strangely tight suits with horse heads on their heads.

My mom and I then left the theatre for a car ride that was destined to be long and awkward, and my mom simply said "Well that was intense."

And enough of all that unnecessary drama. Thinking back to that night now, it really wasn't a big deal. Those few moments really enhanced the performance and the show was incredible. I can't help but gain so much respect for Daniel Radcliffe who did this role for his Broadway debut and risked his entire reputation if the role hadn't been played so well. Incredible.

And for anyone out there who has never read this play, you really should. And so what if you don't get the whole "Dan naked" experience, the play is a good enough read on its own.

Jersey Boys

Saturday, May 28th, let's just say getting to Times Square at 1:30pm for an 8pm show and waiting in the hot sun for hours on end was worth it. I did, however, manage to pull off two first and second row seats, student rush price ($27), which made it all the better. And I must say, It was a really great show.

After seeing Catch Me 3 times I've really grown fond of the whole interacting with the audience/telling a story thing, and that was exactly what Jersey Boys was. It began with a really nice segue from Ces Soirées-là into Tommy DeVito (Dominic Nolfi) talking about how it all started. I was sort of expecting it to be sort of "concert-y" but the balance between the break out into song and the storyline worked perfectly, then again, that's what a good musical is. It also had a wonderful balance between the drama, the romance and the comedy.

There were also moments when people in the audience just had to sing along, I mean these songs are way before my generation and I still knew them.

And of course, the cast was incredible. I actually had the pleasure of seeing the show with two phenomenal understudies, Dominic Scaglione Jr. (Frankie Valli) and Nathan Scherich (Bob Gaudio). Of course I have heard all the hype about Ryan Jesse and Jarrod Spector, but these two guys were amazing. Scaglione turned the switch from the young, new to the group "younger brother" of DeVito to the powerful, decision making lead singer so smoothly and Scherich had one of the the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. Matt Bogart (Nick Massi) had this funny, tension relieving presence on stage, so much so, that even in some of the most dramatic moments, something would just slip out of his mouth and the audience would just break out into laughter. But as I said, perfect balance. And of course, Dominic Nolfi. What can I say? He was amazing. His voice, his dancing, his accent, his sharp movements that sort of looked like choreographed dance moves even when he was merely strolling across stage.

All in all, everyone in the show was incredible, and of course, so nice at the stage door.

Me, Matt Bogart, Dominic Nolfi and my friend Alice

Me, Alice and Dominic Scaglione, Jr.

I did feel sort of bad that there was this huge crowd outside of Catch Me If You Can and only a few stragglers outside Jersey Boys, not to mention my surprise. I mean, who doesn't want to get a playbill signed by amazingly talented performers from an incredible show? When Scherich came out he sort of dashed out really quickly, barely giving anyone enough time to tell him, "Great job!"as he rushed by, which was sort of a letdown because he was wonderful and I really would've loved a picture with him. However, when Nolfi, Scaglione and Bogart came out they were all so nice. And due to the not-so-huge crowd I actually got a picture with all of them! They all seemed genuinely happy that we had stayed to tell them how great they were which is always something nice to see.

Great story. Great cast. Great songs. What else does a great musical need?