Recapping my April trip - Page 2

[inception]

Posted: 3/29/25 at 10:05am

Mezz for Sunset is good for the view, but the legroom is horrible. 

[ChairinMain]

Posted: 3/29/25 at 3:11pm

If you can get in affordably, you have set up yourself up well for Oh Mary, actually. I LOVE this dumb show, and it's absolutely possible to be out of their with plenty of time to walk the few blocks to the longacre or whatever you end up seeing thursday night - When I saw Oh Mary at 5 I had plenty of time to grab dinner before an 8 pm Gypsy (even a 7:00 pm curtain is doable, if slightly tighter, but Oh Mary will get out before 6:30, in any case). I know two shows seem like a lot in an evening, but trust me, it is so worth it to see Cole Escola work magic in this absolutely absurd show. If you have any appreciation of Camp or gay culture, it's a can't miss.

[bear88]

Posted: 3/29/25 at 6:11pm

As for Oh, Mary - I am pretty much priced out of Saturday evening. Thursday is at least theoretically possible, but that still seems like a very tight squeeze (and a lot of shows in a short span of time with no time to eat). 

The Operation Mincemeat ticket options are rear orchestra, front row of rear mezzanine, or side orchestra if we splurge a bit. Any recommendations?

 

Updated On: 3/29/25 at 06:11 PM

[NYfanfromCA]

Posted: 3/29/25 at 10:51pm

bear88 said: "A question for anyone: I know you can buy tickets to matinee performances the day before at the TKTS booth, as I've done it. But what happens if the above-the-title star is out? Can you get a refund in such a case, or are you out of luck?"

No returns or exchanges on TKTS tickets for any reason, as far as I know.

Your line-up sounds great so far!  I fly out from California to see shows, so do exactly the same thing you do as far as planning, except I use all the two-show days, including Thursday matinee days, when possible.  And I have seen Oh, Mary! twice on Thursdays at 5:00 (which makes my Thursdays three-show days with Outsiders, Gatsby, Boop, or an off-Broadway matinee that day), and have had plenty of time to get to a 7:00 PM curtain of Death Becomes Her, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.

 

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 3/30/25 at 12:09am

Real Women Have Curves is a must see!

[bear88]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 11:15pm

Snagged surprisingly decent tickets for Operation Mincemeat today in the orchestra on the right side. Now we just have to get Sunset Blvd. tickets for the Wednesday matinee. I guess the mezzanine is the place to see that production, correct? Does it matter if you’re in the center or on one of the sides?

Here is next week’s lineup, pending a decision about Just in Time on Monday night and Sunset Blvd.:

Tuesday night: Gypsy

Wednesday night: Old Friends

Thursday night: Operation Mincemeat 

Friday night: Maybe Happy Ending 

Saturday night: Dead Outlaw

We will leave Saturday afternoon open, in case the stars are out when we’re planning to see Gypsy and Sunset Blvd. Hopefully, we’ll just do something outdoors that day.

This trip has been difficult to plan. There are plenty of shows, including plays - both on Broadway and off - that I have had to pass on. And Floyd Collins, which my daughter plans to catch after we leave.

Side note: We caught a terrific regional production of Fat Ham at the San Francisco Playhouse last weekend. Highly recommended for anyone in the Bay Area until April 19.

Updated On: 3/31/25 at 11:15 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 3/31/25 at 11:34pm

No Buena Vista?  Big mistake.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 9:51pm

After messing up my Sunset Blvd. tickets buy (by accidentally doing it twice), SeatGeek was able to cancel the stray purchase. So I have something nice to say about them.

Unless my wife and daughter decide to see Just in Time on Monday night, which I will leave to them, I am done with ticket purchases unless the Gypsy or Sunset Blvd. stars are out and we try to reschedule for a Saturday matinee. I know, I know. We could see a Thursday matinee or a Saturday matinee, but unless something weird happens, we will probably stop at six shows.

Tuesday night: Gypsy

Wednesday matinee: Sunset Blvd.

Wednesday evening: Old Friends

Thursday evening: Operation Mincemeat 

Friday evening: Maybe Happy Ending 

Saturday evening: Dead Outlaw

By the way, it’s too late to get tickets for Oh, Mary! without insane prices, even on Thursday. As I mentioned above, this has been a tough year to choose considering that we haven’t been to New York City since October 2023. There are definitely shows that interest me that I won’t be seeing on this trip.

Nonetheless, everyone is free to tell me what horrible mistakes I’ve made by leaving out Musical X or Play Y. I’m sure there will be shows I don’t enjoy as much as I hoped, but I am curious about and eager to see all of them.

And I still need to have backup plans, as I have had to scramble on two of our last three trips. 

Updated On: 4/2/25 at 09:51 PM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 10:06pm

Have a wonderful trip.  Have fun.  Stop stressing .  

[fray3]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 10:15pm

bear88 said: "
Nonetheless, everyone is free to tell me what horrible mistakes I’ve made by leaving out Musical X or Play Y. I’m sure there will be shows I don’t enjoy as much as I hoped, but I am curious about and eager to see all of them."

just cuz u gave me permission, you are totally missing out on not seeing redwood

[Play Esq.]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 10:15pm

DAME said: "No Buena Vista? Big mistake."

What Dame said.  This show features the best music on Broadway. 

[uncageg]

Posted: 4/2/25 at 10:48pm

mridl

ey2 said: "a few comments/suggestions. I'm not sure how often you visit NYC but a few things to consider.

Just In Time - We'll see how much Groff can sell tickets but I think this show is DOA. Who the F*** is Bobby Darin?
yes I now who he is but nobody else under the age of 50 does. This will not sell.

 

Yeah, well those over 50 people kept A BEAUTIFUL NOISE open for 2 years and it is currently on tour. 



"

 

[bear88]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 4:03am

Back from New York City. Again, I want to thank everyone for their recommendations, especially about the best places to sit on a non-insane budget. I was glad we saw everything we did, and we were fortunate that hardly anyone was out. The only understudy we did see in a major role, Shavey Brown as Max in Sunset Blvd., gave a terrific performance. I’ll get around to writing about the last three musicals of the trip - all new - in a subsequent post. But here are my completely subjective thoughts on the first three:

Gypsy - I have never seen this famous musical live before, so I don’t have countless Roses to compare her to, but Audra McDonald put on an acting clinic. I was glad to be sitting up close just to watch her rage, charm, cajole, delude herself, and lose her mind. It’s such a great musical theater role, and I understand the objections that her voice isn’t totally right for the part. But this is where my unfamiliarity with past Roses helped. I didn’t care. McDonald was doing some of the best musical theater acting I have seen. Danny Burstein was a wonderful Herbie. I was less enthused about Jordan Tyson (who seemed over the top) and Joy Woods. Maybe the play always goes like this, but Woods’ Louise goes so quickly from a drip with no apparent talent or interest in show business (aside from her dance along Tulsa) to a confident striptease artist that it felt jarring. Leslie Margherita is hilarious as Tessie Tura. 

Sunset Blvd. - Jamie Lloyd’s ‘look-at-me’ directing style just isn’t my thing. I felt like it undermined Nicole Scherzinger’s undeniable vocal talent. That was good enough for my wife and daughter, though they said later that it was only Scherzinger (and Shavey Brown as Max) they enjoyed. But I didn’t understand the purpose of Lloyd’s direction too much of the time. It’s played too silly in the first act, and the second act starts with Tom Francis’ whole ‘wander around backstage and onto the street’ bit. What was the point? The camera gimmicks only worked with Max. It was worth seeing, and ‘As If We Never Said Goodbye’ was a highlight of the trip despite all my other gripes.

Sondheim’s Old Friends - If I was writing a proper review, I would point out the many elements of this revue that don’t entirely work or feel cheesy. But who cares? Beth Leavel is great in ‘The Ladies Who Lunch’ and should have sang more. Bonnie Langford’s ‘I’m Still Here,’ though it uses an odd version, is fantastic. Lea Salonga does a nice job belting out a more traditional version of Everything’s Coming Up Roses,’ an interesting contrast from the previous evening. The young Maria Warries’ wonderful soprano is deployed throughout to great effect. (ETA: I forgot to mention Jeremy Secomb’s terrific Sweeney.) Bernadette Peters is technically the co-host, but she isn’t really. It’s very obvious who is in charge of the proceedings, and who provides its emotional core. She’s 77 and doesn’t have the vocal power she once did - and maybe she has bad nights. I may be biased, being enthused to finally see her in person, but I thought she was terrific even when her voice faltered a bit. Peters’ ability to act a song, to convey emotion, was wonderful to witness from the third row. Her ‘Send in the Clowns’ was especially moving. My wife, less biased than me, said it was the best version of the song she had ever heard. And then there were those moments when the years just fell away completely. Her one line in ‘Sunday’ - aside from being nostalgic for obvious reasons given that she originated the role - was perfect. And ‘Not a Day Goes By,’ which is partially a group number that is the most explicit tribute to Stephen Sondheim in the show, starts and ends with Peters at her absolute best. It was a thrill.

Updated On: 4/16/25 at 04:03 AM

[DAME]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 7:34am

Oh Mr Bear.  I am so thrilled for you.  Sounds like a wonderful time was had .  

[inception]

Posted: 4/15/25 at 9:31am

Jamie Lloyd’s ‘look-at-me’ directing style just isn’t my thing

I agree.  I'm planning for the fall, and got the email yesterday about the pre-sale for Waiting for Godot.  At first I was all excited, but then thinking about I realized it's just going to be more handheld cameras & head microphones with Keanue Reeves barefoot in a black slip dress.  Easy pass.

[bear88]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 3:22am

I frontloaded the trip with revivals and revues that depended on the presence of a particular performer. The last three days were all new shows to me.

Operation Mincemeat - I went into this show with some trepidation, uncertain if the English humor would translate or if I would have trouble following the lyrics. While the opener, ‘Born to Lead,’ was easy to track, I did get a bit lost during some other rapid-fire group songs. (The ersatz Miranda rap didn’t help.) But I settled in soon enough, and the skill and wit of the show won me over pretty easily. Not everything worked, but a high percentage had me amused. And then, even though I knew ‘Dear Bill’ and Jak Malone had gotten awards and praise, I wasn’t prepared for it. The song is basically a one-act play, sung by Malone as an older female character who narrates a fake letter to a love interest that’s actually telling a painful story of her own past. It both departs from the musical’s manic and silly tone while enhancing it. It was one of my favorite performances of the week. The show, overall, is a lot of clever fun.

Maybe Happy Ending - This is such a lovely musical. I know it’s been criticized as too cute or derivative, and I understand those arguments, but the writers and creatives have put together an ambitious show that uses familiar tropes to wrestle with weighty topics like death and loneliness and loss in a sensitive - and often funny - way. Darren Criss is uncannily good as an older model robot but Helen Shen has in many ways the trickier role - a newer model robot that can pass for human. The staging is a marvel but it never gets in the way of the story. The musical about robots was the most humanistic show of our trip. 

Dead Outlaw - I planned our whole vacation around the first preview of this musical, so perhaps it’s not surprising that I was a bit disappointed. In theory, and often on stage, this story of twisted Americana was right up my alley. But despite the kickass score and a talented cast, the show ended up feeling like less than the sum of its parts - with a weird, repeated theme that seemed to border on nihilism. It’s in early previews, so changes and fixes will probably be made, but the show ended up feeling more like a curiosity - a musical revue that plays too much like a Wikipedia page that needs editing. What are David Yazbek, Erik Della Pinna, Itamar Moses, and David Cromer really trying to say here - at this time in American history? Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for anti-sentimental wiseassery. That said, the musical occasionally soars, and Thom Sesma’s bizarro song as Los Angeles County Coroner Thomas Noguchi was an unhinged highlight. The bandanas were a cool first preview giveaway.

Now I just have to figure out a fall trip…

Updated On: 4/16/25 at 03:22 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 5:45am

Sounds like a great trip! Great reviews. Thanks for sharing!

[Melissa25]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 6:03am

Glad that you had a successful trip. I loved your reviews and completely agree that Audra is putting on an acting clinic. 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 10:33am

Oh Mr Bear.  Sounds like you had a ball.  I totally agree with you on Dead Outlaw.  I enjoyed but was disappointed. 

[DAME]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 10:45am

I do disagree with you on Audra.  Maybe I was too close .  What I saw was not a acting masterclass.  But acting tricks .  But I did enjoy .  I go back for more theater  in September.

Updated On: 4/16/25 at 10:45 AM

[MasterThespian 2]

Posted: 4/16/25 at 8:27pm

Perhaps those under 50 need to put down their damn phones and educate themselves. Contrary to what they believe, the world didn’t start the day they were born. 

gibsons2 said: "mridley2 said:

Just In Time - We'll see how much Groff can sell tickets but I think this show is DOA. Who the F*** is Bobby Darin?
yes I now who he is but nobody else under the age of 50 does. This will not sell.


What are you going on about? This show is already selling very well with first preview sold out. Maybe check Telecharge before typing.

"