Les Liaisons Dangereuses

Wow, what a sexy show. I went into the theater not knowing much other than Liev Schreiber was in it, and this story is what Cruel Intentions was based on. Knowing that movie made all the difference. I went to see this with my husband, and my two uncles and I was the only one who really knew what was going on. 

 The story isn't simple, but the main undertone is that the rich and bored social elites in Paris are using sex as a weapon for fun to humiliate others for a laugh. The acting was quite good, though I didn't believe the love between Le Vicomte de Valmont and Madame de Tourvel. The Vicomte was literally going around "grabbing women by the pussy" which was very unsettling, but also very steamy. You could hear the uncomfortableness throughout the audience.

 The costuming was divine and the lead, La Marquise de Merteuil wore the most amazing hats, dresses, and shoes. She was definitely the most evil. The play ended in a way that leads me to believe that the worst is yet to come for her. The play is also based off a novel that came out in 17th century France, which is absolutely scandalous to think they were doing this at that time.

I sat in row C of the mezzanine at the Booth theater and they were spectacular seats! I'd recommend this to someone who wants to see classic broadway theater. It was a little hard to pay attention a times, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It got mixed reviews and I didn't agree with them.

Waitress

This was the second time I got to see this show, and I brought my friend from high school who had never seen a Bway show. I knew this one would be a good choice for her. It's witty, smart, funny, pulls at your heart strings, and the music is amazing.

 Since seeing it last time, most of the cast has changed. Jessie Meuller and Christopher Fitzgerald were both out (damn it) so they had understudies on, and the secondary cast has also gone through a change, so it really felt like a whole different show for me. One of the things that didn't work that well for me was that Becky has now been cast as a black lady, and I thought she was amazing, but there are a few beats on stage where the character Joe "shoos" her off, and says "I don't want YOU" and it felt way more racist than the last time when it was a hispanic woman. Made me feel uncomfortable.

We loved seeing the show, and my friend LOVED "It Only Takes a Taste." 

 The understudy for Jessie Meuller actually came from the ensemble and plays the doctor's wife every night, so I was able to explain to my friend about "tracks" and seeing who in the ensemble would cover the leads. We loved it and had great seats in the 4th to last row in the orchestra on the side. We missed maybe 1 entrance, but nothing huge.

Something Rotten

I bought tickets for Aaron and myself to see Something Rotten because we've been wanting to see a comedy, and I had loved it the first time I saw it. The cast has changed (Brian Darcy James and Christian Borle have left) but it was still entertaining as ever.  I got my tickets through TDF and when we arrived, the box office couldn't find my tickets. I was able to show them my confirmation email so they gave us two random tickets, which were dead center in the second to last row in the orchestra. They were perfect seats.

 Brad Oscar is the only real original cast member still remaining and he commands the stage whenever he is there. "A Musical" was a huge crowd favorite, and Aaron enjoyed it thoroughly. I didn't care too much for the romantic stories; they felt stale and forced.

 The dance numbers were of course what I remember the most about the show. Specifically, the tap dancing. Some people complain that not everyone is wearing tap shoes, but I don't care because I can tell that everyone is still doing the steps. The costuming always makes me gag too, as it's so colorful and beautiful!

 And of course, I loved the story line. What a silly story, to have Shakespeare be the equivalent of a rock star with back up dancers!

Again, we had amazing seats. I would have loved to have sat closer.

School of Rock

What a fun night of theater! We went to TKTS today and got these seats to enjoy ourselves. We loved the movie and hadn't seen it in a long time, and our main concern with the show was that the lead might try too hard to be "Jack Black" instead of "Dewey!"

The most impressive thing about his performance was that he made the character of Dewey his own. I enjoyed watching him reacting with the kids and I saw a change in his character, going from deadbeat to someone that cared deeply for the kids. And the kids! They were so talented. They all sang extremely well, and played their own instruments. That fact alone would be enough for me to send people to see this show. They weren't annoying kids like on a disney channel show.

The show was full of high energy! And the songs were fun to tap your toes to. I even saved some of the songs to my spotify playlist. 

We had seats in the orchestra off to the side on house right, and we didn't really miss anything. The theater is extremely wide and shallow, so the sight lines have potential to be bad. I would definitely not buy tickets all the way on the ends. I sat in O32 and would not want to sit closer to the edge.

She Loves Me

I've been waiting a very long time to see this show. Every girl at my college sang songs from this show because it is super charming, lesser known than the Rogers and Hammerstein shows, and it made Barbara Cook into a legend and household name.  I took Aaron and had to convince him by saying that it is the story that You've Got Mail is based on (not a lie).

 The sets were gorgeous and the orchestra was great. I hated how everyone was talking during the overture in the audience....hey people, I paid to hear the music, not you.  It's set in 1930's Budapest, but all the actors and characters are white which I found silly to be even be in Budapest then. But they wrote it in the 50's.

 I was most excited to see Laura Benanti perform on the stage. She's broadway royalty at this point for me. She was costarred by Zachary Levi, the voice of Flynn Rider, and also the lead in First Date (maybe he shouldn't mention that). They had good chemistry. Though Aaron nudged me in the middle of act 2 to tell me that she was outshining him (DUH) He was very lax and almost didn't appear to give a damn until his epiphany song "She Loves Me". Laura totally commanded every moment she was on stage.

Other noteworthy performances were by Jane Krakowski whom which I've never seen live, but adored. She was playing Ilona, the role I'd want to play. Her romantic lead was played by Gavin Creel whom I first saw in Thoroughly Modern Millie playing Jimmy.....he won a tony for that, and that was over 13 years ago! It was amazing to see him doing his thing on stage again! Also, the costuming was DROOL WORTHY! Not only was the female costuming divine, the mens' belt backed jackets and suits were insane!

The weak link in the cast was Mr. Levi, but he wasn't bad. He was just outshined by all his costars.

We had decent seats (thanks to hip tix) but unfortunately, there was a GIANT sitting in front of us, making it so Aaron couldn't see half the stage all at once. We sat house left in row M. I'd see it again.

Noises Off!

 I've always loved this show. I first saw it in 2002 starring Patti Lupone as Dotty, but didn't love her in it. This time around, I'm much older, wiser, and have been around the block a couple of times so all the stage jokes are that much more funny. I took Aaron and we had great seats (thanks hiptix) The cast had Andrea Martin who I know mostly from My Big Fat Greek Wedding (I'll make lamb) but Aaron knows her most from Pippin as the Grandma who sang from a freakin' trapeze. Is there anything that woman can't do?! Also, Megan Hilty was playing Brooke so I was excited to see her acting chops live. There were many understudies tonight though....

 As I said, our seats were great. The sight lines were wonderful (in fact we only missed the demi floor bathroom door which barely anything is done there)and we sat in row M of the orchestra all the way to the end house left....It was easy to escape for the bathroom.

 My favorite parts are the first act and the second act. The third becomes so stressful for me as an actor. We saw it closing week so unfortunately I can't tell more people about it. Very well done!

Fiddler on the Roof

 Danny Bernstein returned to Broadway playing Tevye, one of the most tony award winning roles ever! So naturally, I had to see this. He's one of my favorite performers ever! I bought tickets as part of the Broadway week promotion, and we sat in the first row of the rear mezz for $50 a piece! You cannot beat that!

I'd seen Fiddler the last time it was on Broadway with Alfred Molina in the lead role. This was much different. The show started with a bare stage and a man dressed in current period. So the scene was already a change. The first couple of minutes were tedious. The Yente was probably one of the worst I've ever seen (her lines were so slow and like she was trying too hard for those laughs that were not coming) and Matchmaker Matchmaker made me want to slit my wrists. I was very concerned at this point. How can you have a bad Matchmaker song?! Eventually the show DID become magical. But I was still extremely disappointed in all the daughters. There are HOW many girls in NYC looking for work and these are the actresses you settled on?! 

The thing that probably made me cry the most was the choreography during To Life! It was a mixture of the Jewish men in town and the Russian soldiers' dancing. It was so different, yet mixed so well. I couldn't even explain how beautiful it was. 

Our seats were excellent and I'd totally sit there again for a big show. If it was a smaller show/story, I'd go for closer to the front.

Allegiance

 I bought tickets to see this new musical with my husband, and 2 best friends. We are all into 1930-40's fashion and knew that this show would be filled to the brim with some amazing prints, shoes, etc. Also, we are all pro swing dancers and knew that there would be some swing (though we already went in with low expectations on that end)Based on the childhood of George Takei of Star Trek fan, it's the story about a family that gets put into an internment camp during the Second World War. It's a story that not even our history books spend much time on as it's an embarrassing time in our country where racism took the helm. It also feels very familiar with the current events of Donald Trump saying we should not let ANY Muslims into our country (disgusting that people should utter something so racist and moronic)

I wanted to love this show. I wanted it to make me feel, and for me to leave the theater singing the songs. While I felt like I could cry a number of times (very strong imagery and directing choices), the music often brought me out of it. The writing of certain scenes were disjointed. For instance, the subject matter is very heavy, and most scenes would involve a heavy topic, and then Takei would say a funny laugh line to end the scene. It was very formulaic. The music wasn't memorable, safe for a few numbers. The dancing made me cringe and not just the lindy hop. I found the basic choreography to be disjointed and unwarranted. It was trying to be something it wasn't. But I am glad I saw the show. It is important to support new pieces of theater, to support new stories being told, and I left the theater knowing more than I had before going in. 

 We had the most amazing seats (row 3 center orchestra), so pretty much the actors could SPIT on us if they chose. Seeing Lea Salonga this close was so special. She truly is a theater gem.

The fashion was so good and we found ourselves drooling throughout. A lot of the shoes were Remix Shoes (I spotted the Aviators), and many of the prints were authentic on the dresses. If they ever sell them, I WANT IT ALL!