Profile for NYFINCH2

The new musical (if you can call it that) Lennon, which opened for previews at The Broadhurst last night, is, one would think, yet another foray into the jukebox musical format so popular of late. In fact, other than it’s central conceit of featuring previously recorded and well-known music, Lennon couldn’t be more dissimilar to Mamma Mia! and All Shook Up. In many ways Lennon has more in common with the Boy from Oz than any other recent Broadway show, and yet stylistically the comparison the...

Fans of serious composition in Musical Theatre have had little reason to rejoice in the past ten years with Broadway showcasing musicals with songs that are either little more than charming novelty numbers or recycled pop-hits. The results from this kind of musical can range from admittedly excellent (The Producers) to abysmal (Good Vibrations) but in either case a true musical theatre aficionado is left lamenting the drought of new “serious” (which doesn’t mean unfunny) composition for the t...

I was lucky enough to catch Jesse Tyler Ferguson solo Cabaret show at Joe's Pub last night and I recommend that if you haven't seen it yet, get tickets for the 4th of July show. I very much enjoyed Mr. Ferguson in "Spelling Bee" and (particularly) in "Where Do We Live?" so I figured I'd give his Cabaret a shot. With it, I think, Ferguson cements himself as one of New York's most likable young actors. Mr. Ferguson's unique vocal style and impeccable emotional connection with the material-wheth...

I thought Brooks was great as Leo and I personally was dissapointed in Hunter Foster. Out of the four I've seen, Matthew was the best (but of course) but Brooks was definetly #2. Hunter was my least favorite (and I usually like him) and Roger was great but kept taking all the optional low notes...what's that about? Brooks was the only actor other than Matthew to invest in Leo's constant awkwardness and terror, which is of course why the character is so hilarious.

Everyone hates John Simon, myself included. It's understandable. He is mean, stubborn, stuck in his ways and, as has been mentioned before in the thread, misogynistic. But he has become a fixture of the critical scene. While I personally rarely agree with him and am often furious about his vituperative darts at specific performers, he nevertheless is a good writer (much more so than Barnes or Kissel) and that to me is the only way to really judge a critic. I can't say that his opinions aren't...

I have never actaully seen Sugar but I have read the book and love the cast album. While the score is not as good as Styne's Gypsy, Funny Girl or maybe even Gentleman Prefer Blondes I always enjoy the music and Merrill's lyrics are fine and sometimes very witty. The book, I think, works very well; Peter Stone knew what he was doing. With a script as good as Billy Wilder's there is not much need for change. Plus I can tell from the album alone that Bobby Morse and Cyril Richard's performances ...