Saturday, March 30, 2013

Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

Holy hell, was this show ever funny! I bought the tickets on a whim for my cousin, my mom, and myself. They had a "Youth rush" so I got the tickets for $37 a piece. I had to ask some kind Canadien man on the street to assist me in buying them as I was only allowed 2 tickets. Yeah for him, whoever he was. This show had everything you could ever want from a Christopher Durang play; outrageous characters and scenarios, and a HOT ass actor half naked for the entire show! Sigourney Weaver was hilarious as a selfish Masha, David Hyde Pierce was great as a tired and angry Vanya, Kristine Nielson was superb as Sonia (not to mention Maggie Smith), and Billy Magnussen was the best eye candy on stage since Nick Adams! 

 We sat LAST row mezzanine which was fine. Sure we were far back, but the Golden is one of the smallest broadway theaters and therefore gives off a super intimate feel. For the price you can't beat it. I've sat in this theater many times now and never had a bad seat.
 One of the best scenarios on stage was deciding on what costumes to wear to a costume party. As the picture shows, there's a lot of Snow White theme going on. I loved every character and I'm planning on going back in less than a month.

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Cinderella

A Lovely Night, A Lovely Night...Yes, I had a great time at Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella. But oh, has it changed. Yes it has. So much in fact that I left a little disappointed. The changes that were made to this musical were the book and a few songs to include new characters and their motivations. They added a revolutionary character and I COULD.NOT.STAND.HIM! He had a lame ass song DURING "The Prince is Giving a Ball", a song that I normally detest, but I LOVED this version and every time he sang I wanted him to shut up because he was legit ruining the song! Also, it is no longer about Cinderella vs her stepmother and 2 evil stepsisters. Oh no! One of them is sweet to her and actually finds love. WTF, whoever wrote the book?! No one gives two shits over whether or not the stepsisters find love. Ann Harada played the only evil stepsister and her one liners were HILARIOUS! (I hope she gets a tony nomination for this role) Laura Osnes was magical as Cinderella.  But again, the changes to the book were my only complaint. They changed her name to "Ella" and it was "Prince Topher" instead of Christopher. The best part of this show hands down was the costume changes. Whoever did costumes for this show is definitely getting a nomination and very well may win.

Seriously, the costume changes were flawless. Victoria Clark as the fairy godmother had a wonderful quick change and Laura Osnes did not 1, but 3 quick changes. The chorus was WORKING it out! I loved every big choral number! LOTS and LOTS of high kicks and pirouettes! Just what I like.
 I sat in row K of the mezzanine and it was a bit far away. I brought my binoculars for once and I was all good. At intermission, I moved up to row F of the rear mezz and it made somewhat of a difference. I tried to move to the right box which was CRAZY close, but the usher said no. I noticed that she let some other people move down there after me. How lame!

All in all, I'd see it again, but I would be cringing with the book. The music is really just so good and now that I know what to expect with the costume changes, I'll be sure to keep my eyes wide open.