The King and I

 WOW! I am SO glad I saw this show. After seeing the production in Paris, I wasn't sure if it was the show itself or that particular production that was tired. It was the latter. The costuming, acting, singing, orchestrations, sets....it was ALL amazing! Seeing Kelli O'hara perform in her Tony award winning performance was magic. I was also excited because a girl I went to school with (Minami) was on as a swing. My other friend, Ashley who plays Tuptim, was out....sad!

Seeing Ruthie Ann Miles play Lady Thiang was probably one of the best moments of theater for me in my life. No lie! I've never connected with that character and when you see the movie or another production, you may write her off. Ruth's potrayal was so deep and developed. My friend Diane nudged me and said that I NEED to play this role. It has now become a dream role for me.

Kelli was delightful and it's amazing to hear her sing the songs. It's effortless. The King was played by Jose Llana, who I thought had a lot of great moments, but the two of them didn't really have sexual tension. I would see the show again in a heartbeat! The orchestra was nearly 30 pieces large!

We sat in the front row on house right. I could hear the french horns using their spit valve! There were many times where the actors were past my seat so I was seeing the back of someone's head, but I got my seat for $30! You cannot beat that!

Hamilton

This is THE hottest show on broadway right now (move over, Book of Mormon). When I heard that my father in law wanted to see this one, I wasted no time and tried to find tickets. (The box office is swarmed with old people, btw) We had to purchase tickets via stub hub and there was a huge markup. Le sigh. 

It was worth it though. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. A musical about Alexander Hamilton that is told mostly through rap?! Are you kidding me?! It actually kicked ass. Not only was my Alexander Hamilton knowledge in short supply before attending, but my Aaron Burr knowledge was even less. He's gone down in history solely as the man who killed AH in that oh so famous duel. 

 Everyone was a powerhouse. The leads had pipes (though Lin-Manuel is not much of a singer) and Lin-Manuel has such a presence. It's really inspiring to see him perform his own work (I wouldn't have it any other way) Jonathan Groff was a huge sleeper for me. He had 1 song that he sang 3 times with different lyrics, and he barely moved, but his moments were SO good. I want to get the cast recording just so I can hear everyone's lyrics again (rap goes by fast). I also really enjoyed the choreography. Since it has an urban feel, all the chorus has to be great at hip hop as well as musical theater.

We sat in the rear mezz (3rd row) to the right. I could see everything fine. I would've liked to sit closer, but I wasn't going to pay over $200 for that. 

 One of my fave scenes (which happened twice) was a rap battle with AH vs Thomas Jefferson. It was literally a cabinet meeting/rap battle. I learned a lot as well as thoroughly enjoyed myself. Even my father in law liked it, though he said that the scenes with the women singers were the best and he didn't love the rapping.

Fun Home

Holy hell, I'm STILL thinking about this show like I saw it today! I haven't felt this moved by a piece in what feels like YEARS! Seriously. I cried throughout the entire thing (no intermission but still over an hour and a half long) The talent on the stage is STAGGERING; for starters, Michael Cervaris and Judy Kuhn are the parents in the story. The children in the show are 12 years old and 7 years old. The topic on which the story is about....I don't even understand how they found children that can possibly understand the emotions. Whoever cast this show needs a promotion/raise!

 Sydney Lucas (playing airplane with Michael) is probably the most phenomenal thing about the show. Aaron said she was marvelous. She performed at the Tony's BY HERSELF! The show is about Allison Bechtdal, a lesbian cartoonist and her homosexual father. It's based on a true story (so much more amazing on that fact) and the actual graphic novel is actually about her growing up and dealing with her father (he was closeted).

Watching the different stages of Allison (she's played by 3 different actresses of different ages; 40's college, and 12)was inspiring. I really connected with a lot of her issues, like not understanding your parents, exploring yourself, feeling like you finally get it. The songs I had heard on the radio were SO good to see live. 

 We  had AMAZING seats. Section 200 on house right second to last row. This was my first time sitting in this theater where it was actually done in the round.

 Aaron said that he was slightly uncomfortable watching scenes because he lived this musical. Having a gay father who wasn't out (though 10 years later than this show is presented) brought back memories. There's a scene where Allison is doing an art project for school and Bruce rips it out of her hand to show her how to do it properly. The audience of course gasps because it's an art project; there's no right or wrong way to do it. Aaron clearly remembers art projects and the lot having to be "perfect".

Hand To God

My father in law is in town, so let the marathon of great shows begin. Since we didn't have a game plan for his first night here, I went on tdf and was able to score some Hand to God tickets. I've been wanting to see this one for a while, since before the Tonys were announced actually. 

 The show is about a boy whose hand/puppet is possessed by the devil. It's deranged and says all kinds of vulgar things. It cusses, hurts people, and even has sex with another puppet. We happened to see the understudy and he was FLAWLESS. In fact, if I hadn't known ahead of time, I would've thought he was the regular guy. The whole cast really brought it. We were all laughing throughout the entire thing. I hope it stays open for a while but I think it will close soon as half the audience was empty.

 We sat in E all the way to the left, which was a little bit problematic when they did anything upstage right, though we were in luck in that there was a wall there so no one would be entering from that direction. At intermission, we were able to move over 2 seats and I could see everything.

I would see this show again. The message was pretty cool. The opening started with the invention of the devil and how humans invented the devil to excuse their behavior. The ending discussed the invention of God and it was pretty much identical. Makes you really think.