Who's going tomorrow? I'll be up in the Mezz. Very excited as it is my first BC/EFA event.
I attended the first performance this past afternoon, this marking my second year seeing the Easter Bonnet competition.
Highlights for me:
-Billy Elliot's touching presentation of "The Stars Look Down" sung by three of the male ensemble members while dancers portrayed the story of one of the miners who died in West Virginia.
-The South Pacific children talking about what they learned from Broadway. Many great laughs at the expense of Addams Family, Lupone, and Spiderman.
-The In The Heights cast doing a semi-parody of their opening number all about Corbin.
-Wicked's 'Let's Recycle' number with Andy Karl as some sort of recycle superhero.
-The Lion King's presentation about a former young Simba's life in an iPhone like commercial.
-The GAGAlicious opening number.
A highlight that happens every year is the appearance of the 106 years old Follies dancer, who is just truly an inspiration and always leaves my heart high.
I don't think I've ever laughed harder than I did watching the South Pacific kids, Leslie Jordan, and the brilliant Next Fall presentation.
Edit to add: I also liked the ones Clumsy mentioned, except for the In the Heights one. It might have helped if I could understand a word they were saying (though perhaps the sound board operator is the person to blame for that).
Updated On: 4/27/10 at 01:08 AM
I also attended this afternoon. While the skits ClumsyDude mentioned were my faves, I didn't feel like there was one stand-out amazing piece. In past years when I've gone, there's been at least one or two that make the audience just roar with applause until the performers come back out from the wings. (Like CHICAGO's take on WEST SIDE STORY last year, or SUNDAY IN THE PARK's skit the year before that.)
It was still a lot of fun, and I enjoyed it very much.
bjh: That South Pacific skit was the most hilarious thing. I was laughing so hard at each one of their little things they said, and how adorable those little kids were. I completely forgot about the hilarious sketches by Next Fall and Leslie Jordan.
I completely agree, Cape Twirl. Nothing will compare with last year's wonderful skits.
I also found the end of the South Pacific one to be incredibly touching when the little boy said "When I grow up, marriage will be for everyone." That presentation was fantastic.
Again, bjh: I completely agree. The funny moments were hilarious, but those sincere moments (like that one) were perfection. I truly hope it gets honored today.
Yes. The miner scene was brilliant and touching.
We, from Zero Hour, had a blast doing our take-off on "Tradition" singing, instead, "The Bonnet," but we had a slight delay in starting because the keyboard went dead. The previous pianist had hit a wrong button, but Mark Janas, our musical director, discovered the problem and fixed it.
ZERO HOUR, nominated by Outer Critics Circle
Was the WICKED 'Let's Recycle' number poking fun at the fact that they frequently recycle cast members, or was it more of 'go green' thing?
Just got back. My favorites were BILLY ELLIOT, MEMPHIS, and the Broadway Touring dance number. Oh yes, and those three SOUTH PACIFIC kids STOLE THE SHOW with that list of one-liners.
I'm glad so much money was raised for such a great cause!
WICKED recycle number was about going green, not about cast rotation, though that would have been funny.
Personal highlights, in no particular order:
(1) "You don't have to be gay to work (on Broadway), but you do have to be faaaabulous." -Luka Kain (SOUTH PACIFIC);
(2) Patrick Heusinger's (NEXT FALL) ass;
(3) "Trust me, I'm a good dancer." -Bebe Neuwirth (THE ADDAMS FAMILY) after misreading some dollar figures;
(4) The running gag brought by the cast of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA; and,
(5) Some sniffling and wiping because of the heartfelt BILLY ELLIOT number (and nice to see Stephen Hanna).
Because Karen Olivo cant dance...
Sorry, I couldn't resist PJ.
Because they don't want to be written in Arthur's next autobiography?
(That was a joke this afternoon, too.)
Chorus Member Joined: 4/16/10
I thought it was par for the course...
So funny some not so funny,,,,
I loved the South Pacific kids and
"Sarah Palin is pissed because she did not get the lead
in AMerican Idiot!"
Wish I could have gone! I was invited by a friend who's show had a bonnet one year and it was so much fun!
I'm not exactly sure why West Side Story did not participate, but I know many of the cast members were in attendance on Monday, also a few were in the opening number.
The Arthur Laurents joke was hilarious! One of the cast members of West Side Story was sitting not too far from me and they laughed themselves silly when that was said.
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