Evita

 I'm so glad we got a chance to see this show on Broadway before it closes next week. We arrived at the theater all excited to see Ricky Martin on stage and we learned in the will call line that he had just called out. You should've seen the disappointment in that line. So many people were refunding their tickets. Poor understudy! No matter. I would've liked to have seen him (even though I heard he was horrible and the understudy is actually better) but I wasn't about to go home because he wasn't in it.  I'm glad we stayed. The Evita was very powerful, though she was a terrible dancer. I could only focus on her crappy footwork whenever she did a tango. Peron was wonderful (Michael Cervaris) and yes, the Che was good as well. The cast didn't really wake up until act 2 but when they were awake, they were great.

 We had excellent seats (row J in orchestra) so we were close yet far enough away that I couldn't see any lace fronts on those wigs.

I like getting a history lesson whenever I go to the theater and promptly after leaving, looked up Evita's wikipedia page. So sad that she died at 33 years old. Previous to this show, we saw Follies, Wonderland, Crybaby, and Thoroughly Modern Millie here.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

Wow, what a magnificent show! I laughed my ass off and was pleasantly surprised at how this show works. This is the show where the audience chooses the ending. Based on Charles Dicken's last novel (he never finished because he died and they make sure to point that out in the show) with the same name, the show comes to a halt when it becomes the audience's responsibility to pick out 3 things; who is the mysterious man that's been lurking about, who killed Edwin Drood, and who should the lovers of the show be? The night we went, Bazzard (the man who wants a bigger part) was awarded the role of mystery man. The killer was Helena Landless. And the lovers (ah my favorite part of the night) were Princess Puffer (Chita Rivera) and Neville Landless who upon hearing this news, stared at each other and it became very apparent that Neville forgot his lines and just said "we don't do this very often."

 We had excellent seats in the mezzanine. Row C in the house left side. Aaron was supposed to go with me but he got sick last minute so I took Lauren instead, which just means that I have to go again because I had a marvelous time!

New York Philharmonic

2 1/2 hours. That's how long Handel's Messiah runs. Yup. It was beautiful. But long.

The girl next to me thought it was long too. She kept updating Facebook. The women behind me also thought it was long. They kept talking and after the Hallelujah chorus, they left.

I would've liked it more had it been 45 minutes shorter.

We had great seats (somewhere in the first alphabet) before row U. I guess seats here are not so important because the acoustics are so good and we're not watching anything in particular.

The Philharmonic seems to be something Aaron prefers more than I do.

NYC Ballet Nutcracker

The Nutcracker is something that always comes at Christmas. I remember loving the music as a kid. We went to see this production with my cousin and her beau. He had never seen a ballet and Aaron didn't like ABT's version a couple years back. We weren't starting off good. Lo and behold, what a great production. Balanchine's choreography was so much better than ABT. The snowflake waltz was magnificent. SO much fake snow was on the stage. I know many people don't think about how hard it is for the ballerinas. The kids were great, though we should always remember that the Nutcracker is heavily for kids. The first act is almost ALL children's choreography. 

 These seats were an experiment. We sat in the 4th ring. We were WAY up there. We could see, but you couldn't really see any facial expressions. Lucky for us, ballet acting is always over the top.  I always forget to bring my opera glasses. I don't think I'd buy seats up there again. Aaron even mentioned that the 5th ring (side seats) would be better because they're closer and they are lower in the theater than our seats were.

I appreciated that NYC Ballet had Clara (or Marie as she was listed in the playbill) not be on pointe. If she's on pointe, it means she's around 15 years old and honestly, the love for a doll at that age is just not accepted in our society. It is much more endearing and believable from a little 10 year old girl.

Glengarry Glen Ross

I wanted to not love this show. There's not a single female role in it and from what I've read, there's only one minor walk on role for women in the film. But alas, the show is a great show. Entertaining, powerful, humorous. I can't wait to see the movie since Al Pacino switched roles, taking on the older big shot role this time. In the film, he was the hot shot that ran the place. Pacino was pretty good though at times, his timing was pretty much begging the audience to applaud him more like a clap whore. Bobby Cannavale really stole the show. I hope he gets a tony nomination for this role. Unfortunately, it's a limited Broadway engagement which means that the voters will not get another chance to see it. Also, ticket prices have been outrageous (Ive heard they're going for over $200, but luckily,  I got them for $110 on stubhub!)

 We had GREAT seats, second row mezz, center section right on the aisle. The only bad part about these seats was the Pacino fanatic sitting in front of us who hadn't showered in days, was the size of a boulder, and had crack for days. Everytime he stood up we got a whiff of him greasy locks and ominous crevice.

I can't say enough about this show that's great. I'm sorry that it's going to close so soon. Previous to this show, we've seen Bonnie and Clyde, The Motherfucker with the Hat, and A Chorus Line here.

Cyrano De Bergerac

I got free tickets from a friend to see Cyrano the day before it closed. I never knew that this play is what Roxanne is based off of. I went in literally knowing nothing about the story. It was a little slow, taking nearly an hour to get to anything good about the show. Cyrano is a poet and is in love with his cousin Roxanne. However, a young boy named Christian also loves Roxanne and he's gorgeous. Cyrano, afraid that he looks awful because of his enormous nose, woos Roxanne while playing as Christian so that at least one of them can have happiness.

 We sat in the rear of the orchestra and the seats were perfect. I notice that whenever I see a show at the American Airlines theater, I'm one of the youngest patrons in attendance. Roundabout should work on that.

Douglas Hodge was great and Clemence Poesy was fun to watch on stage. It's nice to know that Harry Potter isn't the only thing she can do.

A Christmas Story

 Wow, what a fun Christmas show. It's been a while since I've seen something new on Broadway that made me want to see it again! First off, the children's chorus in this ensemble is out of this world, including a 9 year old tapper that may very well be the greatest tapper I've ever seen.

All the comedy (minus the Little Orphan Annie) from the movie is thrown in for your enjoyment. The kid who played Ralphie was stellar. 

 I found the parents to be great as well. The "old man" really got those father moments where as a kid, you would've thought your dad would really kill you! The show had all the pizzazz of being a tourist trap but it wasn't 42nd Street.

I got a rush ticket to sit in the rear mezz row D. It was a little far back but the show was so BIG that you can sit father back and still see everything.