BWayFanatic's Easter in NYC (LB and JB reviews)

[BWayFanatic]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:19pm

I spent this past weekend in the city, worried that I'd have a tough time getting a ticket due to Easter, and even though the crowds were CRAZY I got ahold of a ticket to Jersey Boys on Saturday and Legally Blonde on Sunday.

Jersey Boys: This was my first time seeing this show, and I got to the box office at 11:45 and was lucky to snag the last SRO ticket. The view was just fine, aside from missing the people's heads on the upper level and the video footage. This show deserved every bit of that Tony! The show really had every aspect perfect. The cast was phenominal. John Lloyd Young was obviously not in, it was a Sat. Matinee, and Michael Longoria was on and did a wonderful job. His falsetto was just beautiful and at many points, I couldn't even tell it was him instead of JLY. His "Can't Take my Eyes off of You" got a wonderful applause. Christian Hoff deserved every bit of that Tony, his character was very believable and he truly commanded the stage. J. Robert Spencer is a wonderful bass and really makeshis character memorable with the whole "Ringo Star" persona. Daniel Reichard was also out and was replaced by swing Matthew Scott who has a GORGEOUS voice and did wonders with "December 1963." The amazing cast was backed up by wonderful lighting and scenic design that kept up with the fast pace of the show. All in all, the show provided non-stop fun but also took the audience on a whirl-wind adventure. The stage door afterwards was quite nice, as there were only about 7 people there and the entire cast was extremely gracious and nice!

Legally Blonde: I was really sure what to expect with this, and I've never seen a show in previews. Let me start off by saying that this show is already gaining tons of buzz, each time I walked by the theater, there was a huge line at the BO. I got a great seat thanks to BroadwayBox 4th row center. I was sitting right in front of one of the shows main producers who was very interesting to listen to talking about her producing endeavours. This show had a TON of energy. The cast was just fabulous, Laura Bell Bundy absolutely has every ounce of star power and really leads the show. Christian Borle finally proves he can be the leading man, he is AMAZING in this role, his voice is just wonderful. Orfeh does a great job as Paulette, but as other have said, I wish they had ended "Ireland" different than throwing it away with a lost one-liner. Richard H. Blake had his role down pretty well, except his voice seemed rather weak in "Serious," a little too airy to go with his character. The greek choir was also always refreshing and very funny. I felt as though Michael Rupert was given some not so great music with "Blood in the Water," definitely one of the weaker points of the show. Annaleigh Ashford was wonderful and turned out to be more pivotal that I imagined. Nikki Snelson along with the ensemble made the "Whipped into Shape," a very fun number, they must have GREAT stamina to sing and jump rope for such a long time. The dogs and Andy Karl also proved audience favorites. All in all this show is just FUN, the sets are definitely Tony worthy as are the costumes. This show will defintiely run for a long time, as the younger audiences really seemed to make up a majority of the audience. Elle is the Barbie of Broadway, except there is so much more to her, and girls will LOVE her. One of my favorite moments was meeting Jerry Mitchell at intermission. I went up to him and praised him for all his work and we spoke for a while talking about theater and school and such. He is such a sweet man, it's not every day you can walk up to a great broadway director such as him at an intermission and just have a regular conversation.

All in all the trip was fabulous, two shows that proved to be a TON of fun and both will be on the great white way for a long time!

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:27pm

loved your reviews. could not agree more. met jerry also. so nice and it was so amazing meeting him.

Updated On: 4/9/07 at 11:27 PM

[popular_elphie]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:36pm

Glad you had a good time! And glad you enjoyed Michael and Matt on at JB. They're wonderful understudies.

[BWayFanatic]

Posted: 4/9/07 at 11:37pm

also wanted to add, if you plan on Stage dooring Legally Blonde, make sure to get there quick, because the entire cast comes out and signs, but they came out VERY quick when I was there.

They are all so nice, and spent time asking everyone questions and such, (where are you from, how were your seats, when did you buy them?) Laura Bell Bundy told me I looked just like her best friend from High School. I don't think I'd mind being her best friend