Profile for FightTheDragons

I actually thought this was pretty well done.As someone whose first and only exposure to La Cage Aux Folles was the dumpster fire that was Sam Pinkleton's production at Pasadena Playhouse, I went into this with a certain level of dread knowing my last experience with the show and Billy Porter's history (both as a person and a performer) could combine to make this a dreadful night at the theater. I must say, however, that it (almost) completely won me over. This is a very beautiful and simple ...

I saw this too, and found it to be well put together and sweet, if not doing anything new from a storytelling perspective.The score is solid, the book is funny, and it's really really great to see this kind of representation onstage. For those reasons alone, it's worth visiting -- all of the actors are giving very good performances, and we should be supporting this kind of theater. I almost wished, though, that there was a little less Cyrano -- the story ends up feeling derivative because we ...

I liked this one, but I did not love it — for precisely the same reasons I expect many others do love it.From a technical perspective, Kenrex is a knockout. The lighting and sound are sensational, the set is impressively well thought out and utilized, and Jack Holden is very good in the leading role (if not quite as show-stoppingly brilliant as he’d been made out to me to be beforehand). He admirably imbues this frenetic story with a great sense of stakes and pace, and only gets the many char...

Caught the latest cast of this one. This production is, in my opinion, a perfect production of a perfect show. I'm hard pressed to find anything I'd change about it, and I'm always delighted to revisit this one.This is a solid enough cast, but Nikki M James is the standout of the night. It's the best she's maybe ever sounded, she looks stunning, and she's acting her face off. A truly fantastic Audrey. Jordan is.. fine. As somebody who loved his Orpheus (he's the definitive interpretation to m...

well, at least the material's good this time...The best I can say about Thomas Kail's production of Proof is that he doesn't actively ruin the material. Unfortunately, that's about all I can say about this production of Proof. As someone that saw the catastrophic first preview of Anna Christie, and who has been generally unimpressed with Kail's work, I regretfully say that this is yet another miss from him. It's the standard Kail affair -- which is nothing. There is no damn direction here. Th...

I thought this was good, but not great.The performances are all around solid, with Anika and Richard being the standouts among the cast (Marylouise was out), and the material is funny and interesting. But it's mostly retreading talking points I'm well familiar with, and in my opinion it "all-sides"-es its issues a little too much. I wonder if MTC was the right place to put this on -- the audience the night I went was laughing and clapping at some rather clearly inappropriate points, seeming t...

Finally got the chance to see it, and must say... folks, however good you've heard this is, it's better. As a complete newbie to Cats, but someone who understood what the concept was (and heavily disliked it), I was encouraged to no end to see this. I thought that it surely was overblown, that they couldn't fix a concept I fundamentally hated. I was so, so, so wrong.The thing is -- I wasn't hooked immediately. For the first 15-20 minutes, I was enjoying myself, but I was thinking "I don't kno...

lala3 said: "I just hope that the director can reignAriana in from her performative approach and bring forward in her real integrity to the role. I do think she can do it both vocally and authentically with the right direction. However, her performative approach to talk shows and press circuits during the Wicked press tour makes me doubtful. I just feel that someone in her circle has convinced her that more is more at the expense of her being really authentic."I'll be honest, this makes very ...

As someone who saw this new production at East West Players, I feel obliged to comment.I hadn't seen any previous iterations of Flower Drum Song, and found the show to be... fine. It's a solid enough score, but the show is overly long and there's not much plot to be had. The representation is commendable and I'm glad it's being produced, but I can't help but feel as though these types of efforts should be being put towards championing better and more interesting new works that have the same l...

I listened to the first few songs a couple of months ago and turned it off. I’m genuinely unsure as to why this is so popular online — it’s very poor lyrically and uninteresting musically. It seems to be one for the crowd that doesn’t know musical theater very well. If they enjoy it, I’m glad; I found no value in listening.

Personally, I think Tveit absolutely shines on this album. I've been "meh" on him for a long time, but his performance in Chess is by far and away my favorite in the production, and I think he sounds actually pretty brilliant here. His "Pity the Child" is definitely the weakest vocal moment for him, but I think it's still quite thrilling and especially so when you see him act the hell out of it in the theater. A random moment that stood out to me for him was "The Interview" -- he spits out th...

I saw Joy in Gypsy in early previews and was thoroughly unimpressed, which disappointed me as a huge fan of hers, having seen her in Six and The Notebook. I then watched her again a few weeks from closing and was astonished at how good she was. She completely grew into that role and became quite the stunning Louise. I think she's possibly the most exciting up-and-coming actress in all of New York right now, and she'll be a fantastic Sally. She's still learning and growing so much and I think ...

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Are we getting reviews tonight for this one?"Embargo at midnight according to Feldman.

Pretty fantastic season for CTG after a disappointing start for Snehal Desai as the Artistic Director. It seems he's starting to dial in what is actually interesting for the company. This is the first season since he's taken over where there's more good offerings than not, and the first where there are consistently great shows on the schedule.

I'll preface this with the fact that I haven't seen Wanted -- I found Paddington to be a cute and fun show, but overly long and without much depth. I enjoyed it but wouldn't pay the insane prices they're charging now (I paid 70 pounds, or 100 USD, and that seemed correct). Regarding the rest of the season, given the current lineup (and assuming Warriors doesn't come in as I imagine they'll want to workshop it first) I'd be giving best musical to Regency Girls, which is apparently coming in ne...

It's interesting because I actually thought Pasadena's Night Music was rather mediocre, though it was my first and only exposure to the material so the show may just not be for me. Dandridge was phenomenal (loved her in Hadestown, too), but the rest of it fell flat for me storyline wise.I also had not seen La Cage before, and have not seen it since -- I want to experience another production again eventually, but I need more time to clear what I witnessed out of my brain or the next production...

Having seen this tonight, I must add to the chorus of praise. Pasadena Playhouse's Amadeus is a brilliant piece of theater. Having had no familiarity with the material going in, I was blown away by the writing, thematic depth, and intrigue -- but most of all by Jefferson Mays as Antonio Salieri.Yes, Mays is giving a performance for the ages in this one. Reuniting with Tresnjak, who uses Mays' ability to seamlessly shift between characters mid-scene to thrilling effect here by having him effor...

Saw this tonight. It’s a very cute and quite delightful show that I hope has a future life after some fine tuning. Kristen Bell is always wonderful and she turns in a fantastic leading performance here. For a one weekend run, it’s surprisingly well put together — a couple of mic issues here and there but nothing major. The material is utterly hilarious. There’s a gag near the end of the show that has me laughing so hard that I could barely breathe. The opening is a little slow and the side ch...

I saw the Berkeley out of town tryout in May of 2024. I quite enjoyed it, and Raúl is giving a Tony-worthy performance as Galileo. It definitely had things to tighten up, especially lyrically, but it has a real message and a purpose behind the story -- if they can polish it for Broadway, it will be a real treat. Very excited for this to come to Broadway.

A few things to note.From a tech perspective, it went off pretty seamlessly. I didn't notice any major problems with the cameras or anything like that -- it was all timing and lines that were the problem with the preview (aside from the form itself, but that is auxiliary to preview issues). This may be, as GirlFromOz68 noted, due to the fact that this show has had a run in Australia prior to this. I acknowledge that while these shows may not have started as celebrity plays, clearly they have ...