Eight days, seven shows

[showprince2]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 9:01pm

Returned from New York on Sunday after a great stay in New York. The last time I was there was 5 years ago. This time I stayed with my son in a very nice part of Brooklyn which was only a 15 minute ride to the Theatre District. Got there late Friday night and decided to kick back Saturday and catch up on some sleep. I hate being on vacation and always feeling exhausted. Went to TKTS Kicked things off Sunday with the matinee of The Wedding Singer. Why I don't know, although I do kind of like the CD. Wow, this was the loudest and ugliest show I've ever seen.Beneath it all though there were touching performances by Stephen Lynch and Laura Benanti. I don't know why there were so many complaints about her performance. I found her to be very endearing and she had great chemistry with Lynch. Enjoyed Constantine too! This was not a great start to my vacation. Sunday night went to Mimi Le Duck. Got 4th row center at TKTS. It was an OK show with some good performances. I was very impressed with Eartha Kitt. I had seen her before as the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and she was a diaster! Really over the top! Was glad to see her again. She gave a very nice performance and certainly had star quality. It was a nice low key show for a Sunday night but nothing memorable. Forgot to mention that when I got off the subway Sunday afternoon - which is right next to the New Amsterdam - I went to the Mary Poppins BO and managed to get a center orchestra single for Wednesday night. I had decided I would pay full price for two shows and get the rest half price. Also got a 2nd row mezz seat for A Chorus Line. More about those later. Tuesday I went to Avenue Q which I loved. The new cast is amazing. Really excellent. I smiled away for a full two hours. Tuesday night I went to Grey Gardens which is really an astonishing show. Everything you've heard about how memorable Christine Ebersole is is true. A remarkable performance. The whole cast was superb and I loved every minute of it. Wednesday matinee I went to see Martin Short. I hate seeing two elaborate shows on the same day (was seeing Mary Poppins that night) so that's why I picked it. It was just OK. It got to be a little tedious but was beautifully produced and I enjoyed the supporting cast. Wednesday night was Mary Poppins. I've been going to theatre for 46 years - yes you read that right - so I've seen A LOT! but this ranks up there with the best of them. Truly a spectacular production - when was the last show that had a cast of 40 - phenomenal sets, gorgeous costumes, dazzling special effects, outstanding choreography - but more importantly it had heart. Not at all sugary and all the performances were excellent. It was nice that so much of the focus was on Mr. and Mrs. Banks beautifully played by Daniel Jenkins and Rebecca Luker (who I usually do not enjoy). I won't give it away but Step in Time has a bit of choreography which is simply breathtaking. Didn't look to me like it had been lightened up for Broadway. It was quite dark. I wasn't too impressed with Gavin Lee. He just left me cold, but Ashley Brown was practically perfect as Mary Poppins. A memorable night of theatre. This is a show that you must see in New York. It will have to be massively cut down to tour. I hope they won't ever downsize it in NY. Definately the best Disney show - including Lion King. Thursday night was A Chorus Line. It really has an outstanding cast but the whole thing left me cold. Maybe I'm just too familiar with it and still remember the original so well. Charlotte d'Amboise was a disappointment although I did like Michael Berresse's Zach which a lot of people didn't. Very enjoyable but I felt it never really took off. It was a nice trip and I'm glad I saw what I did. Had seen most of the other shows already but boy this sure is a slow time for new shows. I would have loved to have seen Spring Awakening and Suddenly, Last Summer. My grades for this trip are Wedding Singer C-, Mimi le Duck C, Avenue Q A-. Grey Gardens A, Martin Short C plus,Mary Poppins A plus, and Chorus Line B. For some strange reason it just ocurred to me that 4 of the seven were off Broadway or started off Broadway. I look forward to going again in the spring.

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 9:11pm

Thanks for the reviews.
Sorry you didn't like The Wedding Singer, but I hope your trip was fun.

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 9:12pm

Paragraphs are nice

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 9:18pm

WoW. I could not read that. My eyes hurt just trying.

Neddy is right, paragraphs are nice.