Spiderman Turn Off The Dark

 Wow, I needed an entire week to get the bad taste out of my mouth from this show. It shouldn't have ever been an idea for a show. Aaron and I actually laughed to each other during the show because it was THAT ridiculous! With a budget of 60 Million and with collaborators like Bono and The Edge, you would think that they could've done SOMETHING with the story. The show started out OK. I'm not saying it was even like Rock of Ages (which I hated as well). YOu can see where Julie Taymor barely touched this production. The production team fired her and got rid of most of her artistic ideas for a broader audience and ended up with crap.

 See, right about now, the show was still good. It was all about Arachne weaving a tapestry. There were 7 aerialists swinging on silks to make an awesome design. I was thoroughly enjoying the vision....Then enter this!

Card board cut outs. Okay, they're not card board. But they could've been. Rather than have the actors go on stage, they would bring out these weird pieces to "further the story." Yeah, no! Not buying it. I don't even know if an 8 year old boy would fully enjoy this show. It was disjointed and weird. The illusion of Peter Parker being Spiderman was shot as well, since they actually showed a Spiderman on stage at the same time that Reeve Carney was on stage. Also, the flying aspect that everyone was excited for was so boring. We were under the mezzanine so we couldn't see where he was landing on the balcony, but I don't think the extra fly time would've saved it for me.

Oh yeah, there were weird minions in comic book type masks. The show couldn't figure out if it was in the 60's or modern times, a comic book, or simply mocking one, and what vocal style it was supposed to be. Mary Jane was boring and Peter sounded like he had to shit for every song (pretty much just sounded like a bad Bono) I get that you want to sound like Bono, but I would've bought the character more had he started the show with a  "wimpy" voice and then gotten this awesome rock voice after the spider bite.

We sat in YY which was pretty good. We didn't miss anything except for when Peter swung above the mezzanine. Do not go see this show. I hate feeling like I wasted time and that's exactly what will happen if you see this show.

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.

Ghost

What a disappointment. I wanted to like this show going in, but it was just bad. The lyrics were so trite, the screens were distracting, and the choreography was probably the worst we've ever seen for an ensemble. Ensemble dance parts were SO bad that we found ourselves chuckling. The ensemble was pretty much unnecessary. We felt like the production team spent the whole budget on special effects (San walking through walls and moving things without touching them was very cool) so there was only enough money to use cheap clip art for the backgrounds.

During the love scene, they actually showed a short movie that included some close ups of Sam's butt. It made me feel very uncomfortable as an audience member. I was also shocked at how bad some of the actors were being on stage. The understudy playing the bad guy actually broke character during a freak out scene to pick up a prop that dropped, completely out of character. The actors playing Sam, Oda Mae, and Molly were great. It's too bad they couldn't save the show. 

 Both times I've ever been in this theater, I've been seated in the rear mezz. I need to sit closer. This theater was meant for HUGE productions like Beauty and the Beast.

Les Miserables

 Our second show in London was Les Miserables because Aaron hadn't seen it since he was a child and I hadn't seen it since 2006. Okay, 6 years isn't that long, but I love this show. The London cast was great. Aaron was confused as to why Jean Val Jean's songs are so high. I have no answer for it except that it was written that way. I hated the Cosette. She sounded like a balloon that was deflating with a flattened neck. Other than her, it was great. This was probably the best Gavroche I've ever seen.

One thing I really didn't like was when Javert killed himself. Rather than jumping into fog, he was on the ground and the bridge piece flew UP to look like he jumped.

Matilda

 What a sweet ingenious choice for a musical. Matilda is one of my favorite books from my adolescence. So when I heard it was being made into a musical, I had to get tickets. Oh, and go to London to see it because I am NOT waiting a whole year to see it in NYC. The music was great, though listening to it without the visual is harder. In London, they don't give you playbills (you have to pay 5 pounds to get one) so I don't actually know who was performing. I quite regret not buying one now. The Matilda that night was great, and we found out later that Matilda's boyfriend was sitting next to us. The Trunchbull character was great because it's cast list Edna in Hairspray, by a man.

We actually saw part of the set fall off and nearly hit Matilda and Miss Honey. Everyone in the cast really worked hard. Aaron and myself found that the large children's cast songs were the best.