Grace

 Paul Rudd has come back to Broadway. We decided to check him out seeing as we see nearly all his films. We didn't even know the premise of the show. It's basically about bible toting freaks who move to a new city and have to make friends. (Well, that's a VERY broad explanation but I don't want to give anything away) The writing wasn't great to be honest. Aaron didn't like the female character. But we did really like Rudd's acting. He was solid.

 We sat in row C of the mezz which was a nice change. I'm always seated in the house left orchestra here so I got to see it was up high. The seats weren't too terribly comfortable (it could stand a remodel job) but they were roomier than some other theaters.

There was a great monologue done by an actor where he was getting customer service on a phone which was hysterical and everyone in the audience could relate to. Ed Asner also stars in it and we didn't know until after the show ended that he is the voice from Up!

Peter and the Starcatcher

 Sigh, I just love this show. So inventive. Even if you're not a Peter Pan fan, you can at least admire the imagination going on stage during this show. I took my husband and cousin (Aaron HATES Peter Pan with a passion and it literally took me all summer to get him to agree to come) for some fun theater. Even he had to agree that the prop-age on stage was amazing. Sometimes the props were in fact people and not things. This is my first time seeing the show after having read the book and it was nice to know exactly who the characters were this time. The first 20 minutes go by so fast, not to mention there are no microphones, the funny accents, and out of towner theater goers who insist on talking over the dialogue.

 The opener of act 2 (Starstuff Mermaid song) was so much easier to watch after reading the book. For some reason, the first time I saw the show, I just thought it was a fun mermaid number that the pirates decided to put on, not actual mermaids. Yeah, don't ask me why I thought that...

The only cast member that was different this time around was Black Stache, but he didn't disappoint. My cousin was laughing hysterically over all his antics, and the Smee continued to compliment his partner. Aaron pointed out that Peter is quite a boring part in this show, and that the writing just begs for you to side with Black Stache!

Bring It On

Wow, what a fun show. And what talent. I was really pleasantly surprised seeing this show. I really thought it was going to disappoint, but glad I took a chance. Not only does Bring it On give a fresh new story, but the stunts are incredible. You can tell that half of the cast are professional gymnasts and cheerleaders, while the other half are dancers who sing. There are no singers who move well. Even the one fat chick can pop and lock like no one else. The first 4 songs were "meh" at best. I was really concerned, thinking I had wasted $35 on rush tickets. But as soon as the urban characters showed up, the music got better. I also feel like as soon as Campbell moved to Jackson High School, the tone of the musical loosened up. Don't take yourself too seriously when you're a cheerleading musical.

I could not believe how high these girls were flying and managing to sing. My friend Teddy Toye is cast in this show as a swing and lucky for me, he was actually performing the day I went. I didn't really like the lead's voice, but she did a great job of not only singing her heart out, but also stepping up to the plate for some stunts. It's a huge cast!

 I got box seats and the sight lines were a little bad. At intermission I saw there were seats in the orchestra so I moved and scored.....3rd row, center section. They were almost too close. I've seen MANY shows in this theater and the sides are really bad. Previously, I've seen Leap of Faith, American Idiot, Gypsy, and The Producers here. So yeah, I've been in this theater AT LEAST 10 times.