Elsie Fest '18

[DramaTeach]

Posted: 10/8/18 at 6:23pm

As much as Darren Criss sometimes drives me nuts with his hipster enthusiasm, you have to hand it to the guy for working his hardest to make theater "cool."  Here's my take on the evening:

1)  Alex Newell - overall it was enjoyable with a couple of fun performances, but "Poor Unfortunate Souls" with a screeching mess.

2) Anna and the Apocalypse - this won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it seems to be mine.  It's a fun campy cross between Grease and Rocky Horror.

3) Joshua Henry - the man needs an album of his covers.  "Summertime," "Feelin' Good" and Cee Lo's "Fool for You" were the highlights.

4) The Prom - seems ripe for schools to license with some catchy tunes and two female belting leads.  Not really sure why this is coming to Broadway after that performance other than to make it more marketable.  Kudos to the hardworking cast though.

5)  Sutton Foster - she has Tonys and she has a hit TV show, but when I see the lady live, it always falls flat.  She was fine.

6) Be More Chill - clearly geared toward a young audience like "The Prom," but that audience is eating it up, so congrats to that cast and crew.  

7) Casey Cott - his brother's voice he does not have.  Seems like a really sweet guy, and he can carry a tune, but not much else there.

8) Grant Gustin - he sang together with Will Roland and Darren Criss on "Sincerely, Me" and it was a lot of fun.  Pasek and Paul introduced them, and they all let loose and got silly.  Then he did the song that Pasek and Paul wrote from The Flash.  The audience was a little too disruptive during what should be a sweet, quiet song.

9) Jodi Benson - a literal princess.  She sang "Part of Your World" and got emotional thinking about being back where she started her career in New York with Ashman and Menken.  Then she sang "Disneyland."

10) Matthew Morrison - he's never my favorite, but the guy works his behind off.  He did a Hairspray medley complete with the dance moves from the show.

11) Zachary Levi - was in NY at Comic Con, so he reluctantly came and performed at the last minute.  He said he was nervous and seemed it, but he sounded beautiful singing "Fly Me to the Moon" with Criss.

12) Nick Jonas - another surprise, and he was in good voice singing a stripped down version of "Brotherhood of Man" with Criss.  Nice to see another "big name" showing his support to theater.

13) Rufus Wainwright - his voice really is special, and I'm not sure why he hasn't done theater yet.  He sang one of his own and then did "Tomorrow" from Annie for his daughter.

14) Darren Criss - "Hopelessly Devoted" and Bradley Cooper's song from "A Star is Born" were the highlights of his solo set.  He also basically played guitar or sang with the last 7 people listed.  Busy man.  The night ended with a medley of famous songwriters who've had Broadway shows - Paul Simon, Cher, Green Day etc.

It really was a great night, and Darren Criss should be commended.