Cabaret

 Wilkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome! I'd never seen Cabaret on stage. I had a chance in 2000 to see it but decided instead to see The Producers. I'm still happy with the choice because I think the impact on the seriousness of this show would've been lost on me a bit. Alan Cumming returned to the show that won him the tony all those years ago and man, did he sell it!

We were both underwhelmed with Michelle Williams. She did all right for a film star, but she definitely didn't have the chops that we expected in this role. Granted, Sally Bowles is supposed to be annoying and slightly talentless, but Michelle couldn't act that well. I was very impressed with Danny Burstien's portrayal of Herr Shultz. Both the ending of act 1 and the finale made me feel eerie, sad, and uncomfortable. The show does such a good job of showing how the Nazi occupation started to affect the normal everyday German life and then bouncing into a fun ditty about having sex with lots of women, or living it up. 

 We had great seats at a cabaret table (thank you hip tix gold) sitting in the second to last row, and all the way to the side. The seating itself is a little odd (Aaron had to sit BEHIND me) but the sight lines were pretty good and the lighting with the table lights was so cool. We felt like we were in a real club.

 It was so nice to see it live. As a teenager I actually borrowed this cast recording (2000) from the library and I remember thinking it was so "cool" and "dangerous", but now seeing and hearing it as an adult had a different impact on me.

All The Way

The tony awards have just been announced this last week and so all of Broadway is abuzz about this show. My mother in law was visiting, and the best thing about visitors is that it's the best excuse to go to the theater. For 1, it's culture; 2, it's Broadway so it's super touristy and everyone expects you to see something; and 3, since you're seeing something with me, it's a better chance that it's good and it's at half off!

 Everyone loved this show. It was all about LBJ (Cranston is amazing and should win the tony this year for this role) and I don't really remember much about him except that he became president after Kennedy died. The show took place the minute Kennedy died to the 1 year mark, so pretty much LBJ's campaigning year to become president on his own, and the whole backstory of civil rights for black people, Martin Luther King Jr. being one of the main characters in this show.

 I had a hard time staying away but not because it was boring. I was exhausted, but I knew the show was special so after some candy and refreshments I was good. I learned a lot though I can't give you names as I've forgotten many of them. How sad that black people were being beaten up to register to vote. All in all, the show is a little too long, but the material is great and the acting is superb.

We had perfect seats. Row K center section of the mezz. Dead smack in the middle. The seats aren't sloped enough so people have bad sight lines and the seats are very narrow but I wasn't too large for them (I can't say the same for my neighbor who was using part of my seat and was annoyed when I would bump her)

Bullets Over Broadway

What a nice change of pace this show was. Well produced and enjoyable music. Susan Stroman is the director and choreographer, so you know it's going to be fun. I went with Aaron and my friend Voon. Being swing dancers, we were a little disappointed only in that the choreography for the Charleston was a little bland. Other than that, I loved it. I can never be in this show because I'm so short and not leggy….so sad.

The men's chorus and even the guy playing Cheech were HOT! Great voices and even better, amazing tap. I'm getting better at tap because I could do every step except the solos. The only weak link in this cast was Zach Braff but even he did a good job of playing the character that is obviously Woody Allen in a musical.

 We sat in row Q on the sides of the mezzanine, so pretty much the second to last row in the whole place. They were too far back to see facial expressions but since it's a funny and big musical, the facial expressions are large and over the top.

 There was a song all about wanting someone's hot dog which was a big crowd pleaser, and I loved the men coming out in their garters wearing hot dog outfits.

Heathers the Musical

 We ventured back to Off Broadway to check out what all the hype is surrounding Heathers the Musical. While I've seen the movie at least twice, both Aaron and Jaime had never seen it. I had forgotten it was all about teenage suicide and a toxic relationship.

 The show was refreshing and great. I had a wonderful time, laughing at all the iconic lines. The audience was definitely a cult movie group, wooting the actors. The girl playing Veronica became a little flat for me towards the end because she cried throughout the entire show rather than having another emotion. BUT I was happy to see a great new Asian role for me; Heather Duke. None of us particularly liked the actress as she overacted everything. The guy playing JD was HOT HOT HOT! And even hotter up close when people could take pictures with him. This musical has some great numbers, like Candy Store and Blue. I laughed very hard. Also, the guy playing Ram is from SLO apparently! Go Central Coast!

We had great seats (row E off to the side). Since it's off broadway, every seat is good. Nothing was partial view and the actresses could practically spit on us. We could see all emotion! I'd recommend it to people who love the movie or those who want a good laugh and to see the original Mean Girls!

After Midnight

I went with my friend Voon to see After Midnight, a revue of the 1930's in Harlem. We went specifically on this night because K.D. Lang was starting her 39 performance run and he's obsessed. The show was fun and hot, filled with great jazz songs, many of which I knew. Pat on the back! There was virtually no story line though a few characters came on and reprised their roles from previous skits. The dancing, specifically tap, was bomb! The lindy was a little "fake" and choreographed. All in all, a 90 minute show that was fun and family appropriate. 

 I loved many of the numbers including this one where all the men tried to stay in a line for the whole song.

 We were sitting in row E all the way off to the right and while we missed sight lines for entrances, we didn't miss anything else. Perfect! They were rush so I paid $37! Not bad! Also, Rosie O'Donnell was in the audience!

The show was electric and fun. My only issue would be is that there wasn't a story line and I prefer my shows to actually go somewhere, and to take me with them.

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

OMG what a treat this show was! I haven't laughed at such silly things in a long time, perhaps since seeing Peter and the Starcatcher. It's a British humor type show so if you don't like Spamalot/Monty Python you might want to skip this one. It's all about a man who finds out he's 9th in line to be Earl of a huge fortune, and realizes that if he "offs" the other 8 family members, he'll be rich. The kicker for this show is that all 8 family members are played by the same actor. What a feat this actor does in 2.5 hours! I was thoroughly impressed and he did the changes SO quickly.

The costuming was superb! Swoon! I loved Sibella's song about being dressed in pink. A character I'd love to play. She had so much sass and she was all about herself.

 Aunt Nancy and myself kept reenacting this ice skating scene, laughing the next day even. What a good time.

 And Aaron loved this charity woman that the multi actor portrayed. This was a hilarious scene.

I couldn't have asked for better seats. We were in row M, exactly center, and other than a tall man sitting slightly in front of me and Aunt Nancy, these felt like producer seats. I'd see this show again in a heartbeat and I think it's the front runner for best new musical so far!

Bridges of Madison County

This new Jason Robert Brown musical I had never heard of. I knew it was a movie and a book and the theater made sure you knew that too, pushing both products at the souvenir stands. I didn't know what to expect, only that the playbill had an article saying that this show was about an "affair to remember" so I had a feeling that the main characters were going to have an affair. Kelly O'hara played Francesca and I was happy to see her on stage again, this time not as an ingenue but as the adultress. The scenes were sexy and I remember saying to my friend at intermission "wow, now I want to go home and bone my husband." The show was slow, but the music WAS beautiful. My only real complaints were the people hired to play the children. I say people because the son kept saying he was 16 and he was clearly 36! lol

 I loved seeing Hunter Foster in a show again. He sounded great, looked sexy, and I felt bad for his character. The scenery was nice, but we both mentioned that the chorus has very little to do in this show. Not a bad gig, right?

We had perfect seats, sitting in row M of the orchestra. Nothing was blocked, we were in the center section, and other than the fidget monster in front of me, the people talking near us, and the fat woman eating candy and taking up a 1/4 of my seat, it was nice.