British NY Theatre Trip Review (WARNING - LONG!!) :-) - PART ONE!

[jcdenton08]

Posted: 2/23/09 at 7:44am

Hi all!

Some of you may remember giving me advice before my trip about NYC and in particular ticketing. To all those who helped out, I just wanted to say thank you. Your advice proved valuable to us, and really helped us get the most out of our vacation.

Here is a long and detailed review of our holiday including all the shows we took in, and the casts etc. I am not biased to any actor or show (unless I say otherwise) so I guess you'll have to take me on my word at what I say. I do not mean to cause offence if I come across at any point as negative about your favourite actor/actress or your favourite show. I am just giving my (quite experienced) opinion. If you disagree with me, fair enough - but please don't try and "correct" my opinion - I am experienced enough to know what is quality to my taste!!


DAY ONE: - Saturday 14th February 2009

Scary cab ride in from JFK. We passed two enormous cemeteries which must've contained tens of thousands of graves - something very eerie about driving through all that death to get to a "holiday destination" - and definitely something we never read about in any guidebook. Also, the area directly around JFK isn't the most appealing for first impressions!

Arrived in Times Square at 2:45pm and headed to TKTS booth.. now.. here is part one of a tale of disorganisation and woe

Foolishly, I had images of TKTS in NYC being even slightly like TKTS in London. This is probably the most valuable and most important learning curve to all British theatre fans visiting NYC - BOOK IN ADVANCE!!

We deliberately didn't book anything for Saturday night in case of delays with flights etc, and thought we'd chance the TKTS booth for what we could get on the day... big mistake.

With it being Presidents Day holidays, and also Valentines Day, as well as a Saturday night, the lady marking the line at the back of the tickets booth told us it would be two and a half hours from that point to the front of the line, from when the booths open at 3.00pm.

The list of shows available looked okayish, only four musicals, being Pal Joey (50%), The Story of my Life (50%, Chicago (30%) and Guys And Dolls (40%) and a handful of plays.

We waited in line, and waited, and waited, along with what seemed like thousands and thousands of others (mostly native NYers) - finally, we reached the front at nearly 6.00pm - three and a quarter hours later - and were told that they had sold their last seats for anything at all thirty customers ago, but we were welcome to wait in a seperate line for any theatre releases... Screw that, we said, and went to take in some of Times Square.

On the way back to the hotel we picked up a "deal" by a street seller on stand up comedy tickets to Stand up NY, which we intended to go to that night but ended up staying in and catching up with sleep instead!


DAY TWO: - Sunday 15th February 2009

After an early breakfast and keen to put our bad start behind us we headed straight for the top of the Rock, which was great, then round to the stage door of the Lunt-Fontanne for a meeting where I had the pleasure of meeting Sierra Boggess. Had a photo and a chat, then it was time for the show;



The Little Mermaid - Lunt-Fontanne Theatre - 3.00pm

SEATS: Row O Orchestra

CAST:

Sierra Boggess (Ariel)
Sean Palmer (Prince Eric)
JC Montgomery (U/S King Triton)
Heidi Blickenstaff (Ursula)
Eddie Korbich (Scuttle)
Jonathan Freeman (Grimsby)
Rogelio Douglas JR (Sebastian)
Jason Snow (U/S Flotsam)
Eric LaJuan Summers (Jetsam)
Robert Creighton (Chef Louis)
Trevor Braun (Flounder)

All swings on. Cast two down in total including swings.


OPINION:

Our first ever Broadway show, and it was excellent. I really and truly don't understand why the critics and "in the know" theatregoers are so vehement in their criticism of this show. I think the name "Disney" sets off alarm bells, as does "blockbuster" - and generally when you add "family friendly" one can guarantee a snobbish review.

It was not perfect, and lots of the directional choices were frankly baffling - but as a fan of the material and growing up with Disney I was able/willing to overlook these and accept it for what it was - a wonderful piece of escapism, sung and acted brilliantly by a talented cast.

The theatre is very appropriate and the acoustics are good and well mixed. The few click tracked parts are noticable, though probably not to the average theatregoer and not so they detract.


First of all, having heard so much about the "crazy" Broadway audiences and how appreciative they are, this was not once my experience from any of the shows we saw during our stay. The audiences could've cared less at some shows, which I will come to. At this particular show, the "general" audience noise was extremely loud but to be expected at a family show - a lot of children's voices and candy wrappers, but I was too excited to be bothered!

As mentioned, some of the direction and visualisation choices are very strange (the heelies honestly don't work.. they should change this) also, quite a few people did laugh out loud when Triton is "introduced" in the first scene - and when I say introduced, he is sort of wheeled downstage in a quite gold painted wheelbarrow. A mite too cheesy, even for Disney, perhaps.

Also, all swings were on so we had I believe as many as three swings covered Triton's daughters, which might explain the slightly messy vocals in ensemble numbers (She's In Love, Daughter's of Triton).

Again, bizarre decision not to pause for applause after Part of your World (Reprise) - a scene which could, and should, be staged so much more dramatically to much bigger effect. As it happens, she simply sings the line and runs off stage, cutting straight into the next scene.

Sierra Boggess looks and sounds perfect in the role, but it does feel like despite having the title role, everybody around her gets to "do" more with their more meatier parts. Heidi Blickenstaff is SUPERB as Ursula and I much prefer her to what I have seen and heard of her predecessor. She has a fantastic time, as did Flotsam and Jetsam - the understudy covering Flotsam in particular standing out.

JC Montgomery didn't really impress covering King Triton, he appeared to be doing a kind of phoney "deep" voice which was neither comic or serious, it was just.. present. His singing was not too strong either. He was also wearing an amusing body suit as I don't believe he has the required physique for the role.

Eddie Korbich was great as Scuttle, and added a few ad-libs here and there (much to the producers annoyance, no doubt). Sean Palmer is very wooden as Prince Eric, and also seems to have the two slowest and weakest numbers in the show - "Her Voice" and "One Step Closer". Robert Creighton does fine as Chef Louis, with an amusing three or so minutes stage time. Trevor Braun on as Flounder is popular with the kids and women, and does a good job. Experienced Disney man Jonathan Freeman does a good turn as Grimsby.

The best number on stage though without any shadow of a doubt is "Under the Sea". It is an absolute joy and is sung to perfection by new Sebastian Rogelio Douglas Jr, who is also a fully trained classical dancer, having toured as a principal dancer in Riverdance.

He stole the show with his performance all the way through - I personally had not thought it possible for an actor to display "range" while wearing a giant red crab costume, glued on boggly eyes and adopting a Caribbean accent but this guy proved it. He gives a fantastic performance. Funny, moving and wonderfully sung he is definitely the one who steals the show (this from a *huge* Sierra Boggess fan). "Kiss The Girl" is also excellent but the staging is more mediocre.

The dancing and choreography in "Under The Sea" is so tight it puts some of the things we saw later in the vacation to shame.
The finale is cheesy and a bit stupid, but it's Disney and that is what we did expect. It finished to a standing ovation.



Then back to the hotel, to get changed, then a cab later that night over to "Stand Up NY" comedy club for an evening on good (and bad) comedy! My partners highlight was Caroline Rhea (known to most for Sabrina the Teenage Witch) showing up and doing that evening's set. The usual mix of loud hormonal women, clever jewish guys and obnoxious black men that seems to infiltrate the comedy circuit in the UK is the same on NYC. Still, for $65 (2x entry + 6 beers) it was a cheap night!



Part two to follow on request

[mormonophobic]

Posted: 2/23/09 at 2:20pm

I am so glad that you seem to have enjoyed (at least the first part of) your trip. I too had The Little Mermaid as my first Broadway show for this trip (though I have been here before) and was just as pleasantly surprised. And about TKTS, it's a mixture of it being a horrible weekend to try and get to any show (I even had trouble doing student rush and trying to use discount codes at the box offices) and TKTS just not being the best idea in the world. Usually if you go to a site like playbill.com, broadwaybox.com, etc. you can get just as good discounts without the line.

I for one would be interested in hearing the rest. :)

[afaye11]

Posted: 2/23/09 at 3:24pm

I would love a part 2!

[feline0favenueQ]

Posted: 2/23/09 at 3:26pm

Tell me more! :)

[Weez]

Posted: 2/23/09 at 5:42pm

something very eerie about driving through all that death to get to a "holiday destination"

I always found it creepy that airports are full of terminals. It's okay when you land, but if you're a nervous flier, it's gotta add a sinister edge to taking off. XD

[jcdenton08]

Posted: 2/24/09 at 11:18am

Thanks for the replies

DAY THREE: - Monday 16th February 2009

Headed for the Statue of Liberty on the "1" train.. arrived at 9.15am and was told all tickets for the Statue and museum had been sold for the day, and there would be a two and a half hour wait for a ferry to the island. We left.

We paid our respects at Ground Zero, and I spent a full hour in tears in the museum. Harrowing.

The day was centered around our evening entertainment which was;



Katie Thompson + Special Guests, Birdland Jazz Club, 7.00pm

SEATS: Left orchestra table

CAST:

Katie Thompson (Piano, Vocals)
Lisa Brescia
Shoshana Bean
Ann Harada
Morgan James
Carly Jibson
Carrie Manolakos
Julia Murney
Molly Pope
Julie Reiber
Kate Shindle
Natalie Weiss
Hilary Kole

MUSICIANS:

Mairi Dorman-Phaneuf
Allison Seidner
Billy Miller
Sean Driscoll


I did make a note of the full set list and who sung what but I don't have the info on me. It was an evening of tribute to the upcoming star and writer of "R.R.R.E.D - The Redhead Musical Manifesto". For those who don't know, Katie writes a mix of comic and power ballad songs (see Youtube for (endorsed) examples).

As you can see from the cast list - an amazing array of Broadway talent, everybody was incredible. Highlights were Lisa Brescia, Julie Reiber and Morgan James. Well worth the $25.00 cover!


For those who "know" Birdland, Monday night is Jim Caruso's Cast Party night, an open mic evening where Broadway stars can sing on their night off in an informal setting, and try new things. Way too many "names" to list here, but included some of the above stars from the main feature, Sarah Rice, original Johanna in Sweeney Todd, and a few others who requested to have their appearance not mentioned!

An amazing night, and a must do in Broadway more so than any of the shows. This is something you really and truly don't get in London. Bravo Birdland!!!!