Chinglish

A couple of nights ago, we saw Chinglish, a new play about translations and how they can often be turned into whole different phrases. I imagine it's very close to my father's experiences while on business in China. It was very entertaining, most of the show actually being in Mandarin with English subtitles. Very early on in the play, you see how Chinese translations are VERY different from English counterpoints.

We sat in the orchestra....row H off to the right. The seats were PERFECT. I had no trouble seeing any of the actors' faces. The set was AMAZING! It revolved, having 2 sides that switched. The pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.

It's closing already (one week left) and definitely has its weak points, but I think someone like my dad would like it. It was also nice to see so many Asians at the theater....(you get the same audience at Miss Saigon)

Relatively Speaking

A nice change up for us was to see 1 act plays on broadway, and how nice of the theater gods to place 3 under one roof in one night of theater. The night was very fun, Woody Allen's show being our favorite. The first one was actually not that memorable in my opinion.
This theater is TINY, and not just in the capacity sense. The seats are small. So small, that you are uncomfortable. You're practically ON TOP of your neighbor. I don't see them renovating and changing the seats anytime soon as I think they're getting more money with the crampiness.Both of these plays were ridiculously funny!

The Mountaintop

Wow, what a piece of theater! 2 greats on 1 stage! Angela Bassett will receive a tony nomination for best female in a lead role for sure! (If she doesn't, I will be SHOCKED!) Samuel L. Jackson was good as well, but he was playing Martin Luther King Jr., no easy feat. It's a limited run, so there isn't much more time to see it.
This theater is GREAT for seeing shows. It's super intimate and small. We sat in row E in the orchestra all the way against the wall. Though it MIGHT be considered partial view (we couldn't see stage left which they rarely stood in) they were GREAT seats! We were literally 20 feet away from the actors. You could see every facial expression. I don't think I'll ever dislike seeing a show in this theater. Previously, we've seen Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and God of Carnage here. For BBAJ, they really transformed the theater so that it was covered in red christmas lights and even had a horse hanging upside down from the ceiling....Aaron was a little shocked that this was the same theater.
I will say that this was one of my least have theater experiences as of late. Not because of the theater or the performers, but because of the audiences members sitting next to me. They showed up late, talked, texted, and even answered the phone TWICE! My blood was boiling! I missed some important plot points and Aaron had to explain it later.

Peter Pan

I'm a HUGE Peter Pan fan. Not only the actual musical, but just the story in general. I always enjoyed Disney's version, Hook, Finding Neverland, and EVEN the erotic child one that came out in 2003. My parents even took me to see a production of it back when I was 3 and they said I was just so happy with glee at seeing Peter fly.

Unfortunately, this show was NOT that wonderful. Cathy is just too OLD. She's 59. She can still do the tricks which is great. I'd love to be able to do half the acrobatics at her age. But her vocals were strained sounding. Aaron said it best.

"Peter Pan sounded like Lucille 2." He's referring to Liza Minelli on Arrested Development. Yikes! The wires that helped them fly were great though. You couldn't even really see them. At the curtain call, however, she flies out over the audience and you can totally see her harness, the wires, and the freakin machine moving her over the audience. Not cool!

Our seats were HORRENDOUS! I bought the cheapest section (301) which came to $35 a person. But the actors were SO small. We couldn't even see facial expressions. At times, you couldn't even tell who was talking. Also, the costumes were horrible. You couldn't tell who was an indian, who was a lost boy, and who was a pirate. You should never have trouble figuring out those 3 types of characters.
In the end, Aaron didn't like it because it was a kid's show....and he was right. It IS a kid's show. But we both enjoyed the music and Aaron enjoyed Captain Hook!

Bonnie and Clyde

WOW! I actually REALLY liked Bonnie and Clyde! For real, I want the soundtrack! It had a few issues (it was lengthy) but for the most part, I thought that it was a great addition to the musical theater world. Too bad it's closing at the end of the month! The costumes were great, the music and lyrics I enjoyed, and Jeremy Jordan is smoking' hot! I didn't like all the gunfire though. Hopefully, word of mouth can save the show! It really deserves to stay open.
We sat in the mezz....row F on the house right side. Nothing was partial view. We've previously seen the Motherfucker With the Hat and A Chorus Line here, both in the orchestra. After seeing something in the mezz, the theater feels very small.
This show really is beautiful and what's more is that they use real pictures from the real Bonnie and Clyde. Makes it feel more real.

An Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin

How exciting it was to see this show, not just because I was witnessing the Broadway MAGIC that is Patti Lupone, but also because I was popping my Ethel Barrymore theater cherry. (I only have one more theater to go before I can say that Ive been in every broadway house!) The house is great. It's not too large so a two person show is nice to have here. It feels very intimate. It was a little cold in there though.
I was in row N on the aisle. We were under the mezzanine but nothing was obstructed (unless you want to consider the HOT mess of a hairstyle the old lady in front of me was sporting.)
These two are theatrical geniuses!

The New York Philharmonic

We went to see the NY Philharmonic the other night. It was a night of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven. The music was beautiful and neither of us fell asleep. It was amazing to see all those strings in perfect unison.
We had great seats. Row R, off to the right(or left if you're looking at the photo) We could've been closer, but it wasn't like we were watching a play and needed to see facial expressions. We did notice that the conductor/pianist was using an iPad as his sheet music. He was so good that he was actually adjusting his piano bench DURING the song.
It's a wonderful space. Very good acoustics and LOTS of seating. Since I bought the tickets through TDF, they were only $27 which is a steal considering the orchestra seats are normally in the $70 range while the top level is $35.