DRG's Reviews: GARDENS, 110, POPPINS, XANADU, DEUCE, & SPAMALOT!- Page 2

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 12:10am

oh yeah, and tomorrow I'm staying in the city for another day, and I'm seeing SPAMALOT for the first time with my Dad which will be cool. were seeing the 7 PM show and were sitting in Orch Row H.
and im pretty sure (im really going to try) and rush DEUCE tomorrow. any advise on time to get there and such?

thank you :)

EDIT:little_sally, i liked the tapping, i just didnt care for the actual song. but the tapping was cool, he did a really nice job

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 12:16am

DEUCE as far as I know doesn't have rush FYI just Standing Room

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 12:22am

And I seriously doubt you'll have trouble getting a ticket to Deuce ~ except it WON'T be sold out, so no standing room. They're mega strict at the Music Box.

[ThankstoPhantom]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 12:23am

I am so sorry you didn't like Poppins.

I do agree with you that Cass Morgan is way over the top. She was great in previews, but in April (the second time I went)she annoyed the hell out of me.

Your Jane was Kathryn Faughnan. I saw her in previewes and agree...she is an annoying Jane. There is nothing to love.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 1:04am

gustof and jordangirl, i actually stopped by the DEUCE box office and asked if they had student rush tickets, and they said yes. me being stupid, i didnt ask anything about what time to be there and such, but im assuming when the box office opens at 12. and yeah, i think i read somewhere on here about DEUCE having rush...

if not, ill do standing room or something for JERSEY BOYS

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 8:32am

I wasn't questioning whether they had it or not. I was saying that one way or another I didn't think you'd have a problem ~ except SRO ~ because ti's NOT selling out. People know it sucks. LOL.

So I think you could probably walk up at 2:55 and get a student rush ticket without problem.

Updated On: 7/8/07 at 08:32 AM

[James2]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 9:22am

What did you think of John Cullum in 110? I think you left him out of your review.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:44am

I thought John was very good- he had great chemistry with Audra, it was really sweet. He didnt have a whole lot to do, but he played the character so genuine, and you could really tell he cared for Lizzie.
Yeah, I thought he did a nice job. Didnt care much for his costume though, haha

Alright, well I'll be off in like 15 minutes to go wait and get a DEUCE ticket :) haha, ill report back later on that and SPAMALOT

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:01pm

I'm going to write real reviews later because I'm tired and am going to go to bed, but yeah, I saw DEUCE and SPAMALOT

Basically, DEUCE wasnt as bad as everyone says it is. It isnt great, kind of drags at times, but its interesting. The performances by Lansbury and Seldes are nice as well. My problem is, though, I left feeling nothing. I didnt love it, I didnt hate it, it was just...eh. I dont know, it doesnt leave any lasting impression whatsoever, you basically go in and hear these ladies talk about a variety of things. I wouldnt want to see this again, but I'm glad I saw it.

SPAMALOT was a good "last show of the trip" for me. The cast is fresh, and actually, with the exception of Marin Mazzie, is fantastic. It was quite funny, and this show had suprisingly great dancing. I loved all the Broadwayish references and such (especially seeing Eponine during "Run Away! haha), and yeah, it was a funny time at the theatre.

Again, I will write much more detailed reviews about cast members and all those other things tomorrow morning. And I will explain my stagedoor experiences which make me not so keen to stagedoor after shows anymore.

Goodnight for now :)

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:10pm

really?? Deuce has rush? I hope I didn't come off as annoyed or rude before it's just I had been told many times by many people both at the box office (this is in the spring mind you) and on here that there was no rush. my bad...but how was the line? Do you have any clue as to how many they give out. If you go two hours before will you be ok?

[jordangirl]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:13pm

I think you could probably go up to the box office at 5 minutes before the performance starts and get a ticket. :)

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:13pm

um, im not sure, I got to the box office at 12 when it opened because I was bored and had nothing to do, haha. i got a seat in Row G on the side. but yeah, im almost positive you could get a rush seat 2 hours before the show- I think they kind of give out whatever they got left.
and dont worry, you didnt come across as rude at all, gustof. the only reason i knew there was rush because i asked a person at the box office.
yeah, i probably wouldnt wanna pay more than $26.50 for this, haha

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:13pm

Uh-oh, what happened? Glad you enjoyed the shows anyway. And I have to ask... what didn't you like about Marin Mazzie?

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:17pm

dancingthrulife- yeah, nothing bad happened at DEUCE, but it just isnt worth much more than a $27 dollar ticket. sure Lansbury and Seldes are amazing to watch, but yeah, not much really goes on except talking about lesbians and Czechs :P it was good, but not great
and I thought Marin did a nice job in the acting department, but not so much in the singing. She did a fair job with "Find Your Grail", but her voice isnt that strong, and her voice is kind of...operatic. I dont know, its just kind of hard to compete with Sara Ramirez's voice on the cd!

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:23pm

And I will explain my stagedoor experiences which make me not so keen to stagedoor after shows anymore.


That is what I was actually referring to. I will admit to MArin not being the first person I would think of for the role. You pretty much explained why.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:28pm

Ooooooh my stagedoor experiences

Basically, I stagedoored 2 out of 6 shows I saw this weekend (110 and DEUCE).

Why did I do this? Because people are frikkin annoying, haha. Maybe I never noticed it because I was also a crazed autograph fan, but yeah, I cant really stand stagedoors anymore. Think WICKED and SPRING fans are crazy? Go to DEUCE and meet the 60-70 year old women who wont stop talking about Angela and will literally push you into the walls of the theatre to meet her. I will go into more details when I feel like it. And at SPAMALOT when young kids (AND middle-aged people) have coconuts and are clopping around, while they all scream for the orchestra members.
Yeah, those are my 2 bad stage door experiences for TODAY, at least, haha

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/8/07 at 10:30pm

Whoa, scary.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 11:19am

Alright, well let me write "official reviews" now for DEUCE and SPAMALOT

Starting with DEUCE, I had a rush ticket on the Left Side Row G in the orchestra. I kind of saw the show from an odd angle, but its fine- it was cheap! Anyways, so the set was kind of screwy. You had the odd-looking bleachers with...no one in them, and then the 4 seats...2 of them occupied by Lansbury and Seldes. Then there were the odd projections of people in the bleachers, which was kind of distracting. I didnt like how the people in the projections, and how Angela and Marian did all those sudden movements when a tennis match was going on- you know, making really sudden movements left and right with their heads? Yeah, people dont do that...they look forward, and kind of watch by moving their eyes, haha. Anyways, I liked the random tennis ball sounds, but some of the groans and screams by the "tennis players" was odd. And I thought the little news updates by Ryan and Kelly (played by Brian Haley and Joanna Adler) was pretty dumb, and added really nothing. They werent even funny, it was just kind of cheesy. "Oh, we looked up on Google and found out all about Leona and Midge!" The character of the Admirer (played by Michael Mulheren) was really annoying- SOO CORNY...I wish I had a better word, but his dialogue was horribly ridiculous. And come on, why would Leona and Midge start flipping thru his autograph book for like 10 minutes? Sign it already! haha. Yeah, I hated the character of the Admirer, he served no purpose, and said the dumbest things. Now on to Ms. Lansbury and Ms. Seldes as Leona and Midge. I wish they were the only 2 people in the show, because the other 3 people were useless. Yes, some of the chatter was kind of pointless (like talking for 20 minutes about lesbians, and the whole nipple and streaker thing were just thrown in for laughs), but yeah, I enjoyed listening to most of what they were saying. I had a problem with how quickly they switched conversations, like Angela might be talking about ordering lobster, then suddenly Marian starts talking about her African-American lover. Just stuff like that, or they randomly ask each other a question. I dont know, but again, I enjoyed a good part of what they were saying- it was kind of like a "real" conversation, and had a few dramatic elements about death and growing old, which I enjoyed. And this play was suprisingly funny- Angela had most all of the funny bits, but Marian had her share too.
So, overall, the show isnt as bad as everyone says, but I definitely can see why people dont like it. I wouldnt see it again, and the show really leaves you with nothing except you saw 2 women talking for an hour and a half, but oh well, I'm glad I saw the show.

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 11:20am

It sounds kind of dumb.

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 11:26am

It was kind of, haha

Oh and let me write quickly about the DEUCE stagedoor. I got a spot at the very front of the barricade, and I was standing to this annoying like...teen who had Marian sign 5 playbills! It was ridiculous, he had a big bag of playbills, and yeah...she was kind of mad, but still really sweet. She sure likes to touch and kiss people, haha. Anyways, but behind me was a group of about 6 or 7 elderly women who had seen the show I think 3 times, and were going to see it again. They were very pushy, and asked all these people to move because they were taller than them, haha. And they DID NOT stop talking, and they were talking about how amazing Angela was, and how hard she works, and that the show shouldnt be closing. The best thing they said was "Angela enjoys meeting us just as much as we enjoy meeting her". Wow, haha. Anyways, so they ended up pushing me aside literally into the wall of the Music Box so they could meet Marian and Angela. haha, it wasnt anything bad, but I mean really, they can wait their turns like normal people.

I'll write the SPAMALOT review pretty soon...

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 11:56am

Okay, now a quick review for SPAMALOT. I had a nice time- the set is really cool, and I loved the kind of cartoony aspects of it. I didnt care much for the use of the projections, but oh well, it wasnt that big of a deal. The music is really great, actually, and has a variety of different rhythyms and styles, which is good. But yeah, I knew all the songs before I saw the show. Anyways, the cast was in top shape, but as I said before, except for Marin. She just doesnt seem to have the voice for this role, but again, I'm probably comparing her too much to Sara Ramirez. "Diva's Lament" was way sped up, and yeah, she kind of talked-sung a good part of the time. Jonathan Hadary was a good King Arthur- looks and sounds very similar to Tim Curry. Rick Holmes was a fantastic Lancelot (as well as Knight of Ni, haha)- he had a nice voice, was kind of cheesy, and was funny dancing in "His Name is Lancelot". Um, Jeffrey Kuhn did a nice job as Dennis's Mother- I mean, yeah, pretty much everyone was funny. David Hibbard and Lewis Cleale also were very much like David Hyde Pierce and Christopher Seiber looks-wise and voice-wise (except both of them had slightly weaker voices than the originals, judging from the OBCR). The stand-out, though, was definitely Tom Deckman as the Historian and Other Characters. HILARIOUS- his facial expressions were pricelss(he had this really funny blank stare), and the ways he would use his voice were great. I think my favorite role of his was Not Dead Fred. And he looks very similar to Christian Borle up onstage! Anyways, great show, a little bit long in the 2nd act, but I think that was because the 1st act was so short. It was a tad bit crude- I didnt mind it, but I was suprised to see such young kids in there. Oh well. Yeah, an overall enjoyable show to end my trip. And I didnt stage-door because of annoying kids and people in general.
---------------------------------------------------------------
Overall, great trip, I saw 6 shows in total, which brings up my total of Broadway shows I've seen up to... 42 SHOWS. I find that pretty good for an out-of-towner.
Anyways, so I'll just rank the shows I saw (1 being my favorite I saw this trip, 6...not)

1.) GREY GARDENS (of course)
2.) XANADU
3.) 110 IN THE SHADE
4.) SPAMALOT
5.) DEUCE
6.) MARY POPPINS

Cant wait to go back in November :)

By the way, just wanted to add I pay for the majority of shows I see, haha. Just want to clarify so I dont seem like a little brat who has my parents pay for everything... :P

Updated On: 7/9/07 at 11:56 AM

[little_sally]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 11:56am

I had a similar stage door experience with Ralph Fiennes in Faith Healer. Blech.

[bwaylvsong]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 2:58pm

I am shocked that you don't think Marin sings the role well. I haven't seen her in it, so I can't comment, but she was amazing in Kiss Me, Kate and on the Ragtime recording. I just can't imagine being underwhelmed by her voice.

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/9/07 at 3:04pm

Dirty Rotten Guy did you happen to see if Marian or Angela took pictures w/ anyone? thanks!

[Dirty_Rotten_Guy]

Posted: 7/10/07 at 9:23am

Both of them did, yes
They were both really sweet

and bwaylvsong, she has a nice voice, just not suited for the SPAMALOT score (not right for the role, really)