Jaystarr's 10/10 Report on BOEING-BOEING.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:24pm

SPECIAL GUESTS:
thetinymagic2
frog_fans85
verynewyorkcurious
joe5
BenKaye
and luvtheEmcee


E41

Boeing-Boeing
Play Revival
Longacre Theater
May 25 3 pm matinee
2 hours and 45 minutes (with 1 intermission)
Tix Price : $59.00 (thru Playbill discount)

INTRO:

Memorial Day Weekend. So we finally got a chance to try this new BOLT Bus from Boston to NYC for $20.00 (one way) and what a great bus. The trip was 4 hours nonstop and this bus line is the Mercedes Benz or "BOEING" of the all bus services. They have the greatest features which includes an electric outlet and get this: a FREE WiFi service for your laptop computer..basically you can surf and post to BWW during your 4 hours trip to NYC from Boston or DC. The bus have lesser seats, so you'll have more leg room. The bathroom is very clean, cleaner than Delta Airlines bathroom and yes..it has air freshener too! The bus smells soo brand new like a brand new car! and they drop you off at West 34 Street on 8th Avenue..walking distance to the theaters..

And did I mentioned about the clientele?~mostly college students, and there was these two good looking hot boys from BU that we get to sit- next to them. (next row)~it comes with an eye candy for the 4 hours trip! Wow..what a great bus service. I stumbled into a GOLD MINE of bus ! lol!





more leg room, baby!


The bus dropped you at West 34 Street on 8th Avenue. If youre going to Boston or DC... this is where they pick you up...yup! on the street!


For those New Yorkers who are interested in making a day trip to Boston or DC or vice versa.. here's the link for more info.. I think if you book online, its cheaper $18.00 one way:
https://www.boltbus.com/default.aspx

NECN featured on Bolt Bus:
https://www.necn.com/Boston/Business/Bolt-Bus-competes-with-Chinatown-competitors/1209072993.html

So we arrived in NYC at 1:30 pm... fresh and happy! It only took us 20 mins to walk to West 34 St to Longacre Theater, besides it was a beautiful day to walk. Its was 70 degrees.

Another wow! for going to see a show to this newly renovated Longacre Theater. The theater is soo pretty inside. They did a fabulous job! The ceiling is mostly PEACH in color (in person) as opposed to very golden in the photos (per NYTIMES)



More on the Longacre Theater Renovations:
https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/05/03/theater/20080503_LONG_SLIDESHOW_index.html

Then we saw this white panel curtain with the a red silhoutte of the Eiffel Tower (left side) and three colored squares (red, blue & yellow) with a circle inside it that glows and listening to 60's go-go American & French music to set the mood for this trans-atlantic comedy.

Things I LIKE about the Play

Well first and foremost...I will say I like the show bec. of the actors:

1. Mary McCormack- as Gretchen (the German) she was my favorite bec. I love love over the top performance. Damn! she alone is WORTH THE PRICE of admission. sometimes when she delivered her lines.. I can even see her veins popping out of her neck.. she really gave her 110%! I love her so much!

2. Mark Rylance as Bernard- he is soo funny! soo over dramatic like scene where he is showing off his masculinity side. Sometimes, I feel like he is almost dancing.. his physical comedy is fantastic. I am glad that I saw him. I was very happy with him! I have so many favorite parts of the play with him- like while he was raising his hands for Gretchen, his make out scene with Gloria, his brawl fight with Robert that looks like they were making out.. I was really laughing so hard! He really handled farce very well.

3. Christine Baranski- as Berthe (the French maid) she is soo hilarious too, I really did not get bothered by her french accents...I understand everything she said.. I love the part where Gretchen first met her and kissed her in the mouth! I almost jumped out of my seat!

4. Gina Gershon- as Gabrielle (the Italian) she is very sexy, love her fake accents, did not get bothered by it too..If its thicker..I probably would not understand it...she is so funny too! I mean everyone was just great with this show!

5. Kathryn Hahn- as Gloria (the American) -now she really suprised me bec. i thought she was the weakest, until the second ACT- oh boy! she really shines very well.. I love her mouth to mouth..tongue to tongue ...throat to throat scene with Bernard...wow! it puts CRY-BABY'S Girl, Can I Kiss You with Tongue to shame...
Now this is FUNNY , people! Love the part where she flashes herself to Bernard-that was soo unexpected!

6. Bradley Whitford as Bernard- I did not realize he can do physical comedy so good! gosh that constant jumping, yelling and bean bag smacking to his face could be soo funny!

NOTE : Gosh! I love all of the actors, they are soo good with over the top physical comedy that you forget youre wtaching a 2 hours and 45 minutes play.

7. The Blocking and the timing of the farce: Damn! how do they do that? the entrance and exits of each character in those seven doors- soo perfectly synched! it really highten the comedic punch of the play! It really keep the audience on the edge of the seat.

8. The Scenic design: I love the design...half circular white clean wall that almost extends to the top of the stage with 3 doors and each sides and one main doors. I love the three globe like colored chandlier (red, blue and yellow)~these are the ones that glows at the beginning too (behind the white panel curtain) I love the carpet too and the minimalistic James Bond-ish 60's furniture.

9. Costume Design by Rob Howell- love the three stewardess uniform. it looks so sexy and fitting, but you wonder at the same time, How do they EVER manage to bounch like a cartoon characters in those tight fitting clothes?

10. Curtain Call choreographed by Kathleen Marshall- I love it like THE RITZ's curtain call (by Chris Gatelli)

- the curtain lifted and you see these three gorgeous women in their uniforms shaking their behinds, then the two guys came out to join them and lastly Christine Baranski thru the main door with a lolipop and caracas!

Things I DID NOT LIKE about the Play

1. Just one thing though, the beginning ~1st 30 mins was kinda slow till the part where Gina Gershon came- it picked up then from when Mary McCormark entered-its a riot till the end. (maybe its just me..but I got bored at the 1st 30 mins of the show)

In Summary:

Overall, I love the show! The Actors are worth the price of admission. I have a felling that this will win the TONYS for Best Play Revival, well bec. its good! and also two of the other nominated plays were already closed (just my guess?) by the time of the Tonys and I dont really see LES LIAISONS winning it neither. We did not stage door bec. I still have to meet some of my fellow Passing Strange's fans at 5;50 pm, though we did not stay long but I was to finally meet thetinymagic2 (thank you soo much for your "suprised" gift-you know what I mean! ) joe5, BenKaye, veryneworkcurious, frog_fans85 (we met a while back) and one of my favorite girl here- lovetheEmcee. Sorry guys...that we did not have ample time to hang-out but I was glad that you guys met me and Chris but there's always a next time!

Wow! What a great weekend we had! We saw two of the BEST SHOWS that are playing in to different cities- SHE LOVES ME (Boston) and BOEING-BOEING (NYC) Can't complain!

and HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY to everyone and Happy 'unofficial' start of the summer too!

PS. We catched the 7 pm bus and the trip back home was only 3 hours and 30 mins. bec. there was no traffic on Stamford to New Haven. Yup! non-stop. The trip was as long as the entire AUGUST : OSAGE COUNTY play!

me & Chris with Joe5 and frog_fans85 during the Scaryotype get together.



me & Chris


Score 10/1- HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!



Longacre Theater














THE MERCHANDISE:




Production Photos
(per Playbill)
https://www.playbill.com/multimedia/search/14341.html











ADDITIONAL PHOTOS from Boeing-Boeing website:
https://www.boeingonbroadway.com/media.html

The Playbill






The Stage Door
We did not stage door bec. we have to meet the Scaryotypes at 5:50 pm. So I did not stay around, besides there were too many fans at the stage door.




COMING SOON : the two remaining reports:

1. My 10/10 Report on Rent.
2. THE SEASON FINALE : My 10/10 Report on IN THE HEIGHTS (includes the list & links to all the 43 Reports)





Updated On: 5/26/08 at 04:24 PM

[Testing1232]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:29pm

Glad you liked it, Jay !!!! LOVE THIS SHOW !!!

[tgn915]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:32pm

Glad you loved the show, Jay!
Can't wait for the next two fabulous reports.

[shh282]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:33pm

I agree with you 100% on the show - I'm glad you enjoyed it!

[folkyboy]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:38pm

i LOVED this show so much! i really hope it wins best revival and i'm pulling for Mary McCormack.

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:44pm

What a brilliant production, I'm glad you liked it.

As great as Mary McCormack is, I enjoyed Hahn a bit more. Perfection.

I felt that the only weak part was Whitford. While not bad at all, he gets in way over his head when he tries to equal Rylance on the physical comedy.

[Steve2]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:52pm

Thanks for the excellent report, I am glad you enjoyed the show.

[thetinymagic2]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:56pm

Why can't Brantley write a lucid, 10 point review like you, J*?
Excellent review....NOW, I'm gonna go see it!

[CapnHook]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 4:59pm

I wish I would have seen this over THE 39 STEPS but it wasn't on TKTS.

[frogs_fan85]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 5:02pm

Great review as always, and I'm quite glad you enjoyed the show. Good seeing you again yesterday.

[nmartin]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 5:04pm

Great report, Jay!

[BenKaye]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 5:05pm

Glad you enjoyed the show, and so glad to have met you yesterday.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 7:46pm

As usual, this was a GREAT, well thought out and worded, honest review.

Glad to hear it's good overall

I adore Bradley Whitford and Christine Baranski.

Updated On: 5/27/08 at 07:46 PM

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 8:58pm

Haha, I was also there for the mat yesterday, rear balc. It was slow at the beginning, but still very funny!

[Chris1973]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:25pm

I liked it but I didn't love it. The cast was good, but sometimes I thought the material was slow. I never did care for British humour all that much, so it is probably just me. It was a nice day, and fun to people watch in NYC, though. It was cool to meet Steve again, as well as some new people.

[Glory]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:42pm

jay, this new bus, does it only leave the city early? or how did you get a round trip out of it?

[TomMonster]

Posted: 5/26/08 at 10:49pm

I equate the first 30 minutes as taxing on the runway...once the play lifts off...it soars.

I loved this show.

Great review, Jay, as always. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

[thatgirl712]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 2:46am

Great report Jay, glad you enjoyed it!

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 7:13am

Glad you enjoyed it...McCormack is, in my opinion, the best thing about this production. She is hilarious.

[broadwaybaby086]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:49am

Chris, it's okay that you don't like British comedy, because Boeing-Boeing is a French play. :o)

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:55am

Loved this here in the UK, so glad it's doing well over there

[MethodActor]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 11:59am

1. Glad to hear the Bolt Bus went well. Already have it booked for a few trips.

2. Thanks to your great reveiw, I am more torn than ever about an upcoming choice! Argh.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 1:15pm

Ryan- No there's alot of trip from Boston to NYC and you can book either online which is cheaper $18.00 (one way) or pay there at South Station or NYC- the driver has this machine for credit card like a hand held scanner. Yeah~definitely take this bus to NYC- the best trip Ive had...even better than riding a plane, which might take you same time (3 hours & 30 mins) by just going to the airport and security. The bus service is really good! great clientele (which mostly students) very clean, nice cold aircondition and FREE WiFI service, specially if you have a laptop computer-you wont get bored. I saw two movies and watch two episodes of America's Top Model. (via Itunes)

Yeah~to everyone- try this once in your lifetime. Go to Boston, or Go to NYC or DC..
oh! Did I mention that if you book it online on your 1st time.. its only $1.00!!

How can anyone go wrong with that? $1.00 trip to NYC! or $2.00 roundtrip. If you have a bad experience. I will gladly reimburse your $ 2.00

J*


Updated On: 5/27/08 at 01:15 PM

[CyCoSpAz2]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 1:17pm

Glad you enjoyed the show!

[NYCboy2]

Posted: 5/27/08 at 10:37pm

Jay-You are my favorite poster on the site. I appreciate your passion for theater, your willingness to travel often and far to feed it, your detailed reviews, advice, and the photos.


Updated On: 5/27/08 at 10:37 PM