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

How to Succeed: Endeavors at the stage door, and MORE. Part III

How to Succeed. Again.

So I know I had only seen the show once, but I have been outside of the stage door many times- and not for the same reason as many. I may have once been a Daniel Radcliffe freak, but seriously, who hasn't? We have all found ourselves crazy about the once-boy-wizard/nude-horse-lover. Still, something about the phenomenon behind this extremely talented young man confuses me. The constant screaming and crying? Really preteen girls? Always on and on about Harry Potter, not about the more intellectual and important things Daniel had done. Please keep to Justin Bieber, he at least sounds like you and doesn't make any drastic career moves anyway.

Anyway, no tangents about less than Broadway talent on this blog. As I was saying, I do love Daniel and all, but the solidity behind a triple threat Broadway actor a bit more incredible to me. Said Broadway actor is Christopher J. Hanke. As Bud Frump he is absolutely amazing. I could very well be the biggest Harry Potter fan on earth and I still find Hanke's character by far the most appealing and fun to watch. Every time he's on stage he has his timeless expression of resentment to the growing success of J. Pierrepont Finch (Radcliffe's character) and though every time Finch succeeds and looks adorably at the audience with that sly smirk etched across his face, nothing amounts to the expression on Frumps face at the end of the amazing number Brotherhood of Man. Hanke is so extremely talented, I wish it was displayed more in his role as Bud Frump.

Another thing about Hanke. I have gone to the stage door of the Al Hirschfeld theatre a bunch of times in hopes of meeting this talented guy, every single time he doesn't come out. Only once had I actually had the pleasure of meeting him and taking a picture, unfortunately the camera I was using was all out of film! This time, I had actually gone to see the show a second time and Hanke hadn't come out so I decided I'd leave him a note telling him how much of a fan I was and how sad I was to not have had the chance to see him this evening. I also referred him to this blog due to my avid theatre blogging. I knocked on the stage door and asked the new stage doorman to give it to him. I really don't know if he'll ever get it, it'd be really cool if he did though! It'd be even cooler if he checks out this blog so shout-out just in case he ever reads this post.

Just to note: Daniel is leaving the show January 1st and then being replaced by Darren Criss for two weeks. I must say, it's as if in auditions they were looking strictly for harry-potter-ness. Daniel Radcliffe was the face of the whole franchise and Darren Criss played Harry in a Very Potter Musical.

Go see this show. Really a great one!

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.

"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.