Kennedy Center to present SIDE SHOW! (abridge version) — Page 2

OOOOOOOh! I wanna see this!

---

Here's a little article with 2 pictures:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303536.html

I'm not a fan of the Side Show wigs but... I guess you do what you can when it's not a full out production.

---

I was there this afternoon (back in NYC now). The show was outstanding. Lisa Brescia and Jenn Colella stopped the show with "Who Will Love Me As I Am?" and "I Will Never Leave You." It was true brilliance on the stage. Each show was only 40 minutes long, but they did an incredible job shortening the shows...and they all worked.

I was the least familiar with Girl Crazy, but I did know some of the songs. Brooks Ashmankas was hilarious, and Max Von Essen has such a wonderful voice. I also loved Jen Colella in this. Randy Graff and Leslie Kritzer were the standouts though...wonderful.

Bye Bye Birdie was next. It is the show that turned me on to musical theater back in middle school, so I the show will always have a special place in my heart. That being said, I thought it was fabulous. Laura Osnes was a wonderful Kim Macafee and James Snyder (channeling Cry Baby Walker) was excellent as Conrad Birdie, and I told him he needs to do the revival on Broadway (if there is one soon). Highlights included "The Telephone Hour" and "A Lot Of Livin' To Do." Unfortunately, Kim's "How Lovely To Be A Woman" was cut...I would have liked to hear Laura's take on that song.

Side Show was brilliant. Lisa and Jenn were phenomenal. I didn't care much for Michael McElroy (Norm Lewis is hard to top), but I loved Max Von Essen and Bobby Steggart's takes on roles originally created by Jeff McCarthy and Hugh Panaro, respectively.

Overall a fantastic afternoon of theater, and well worth my day trip to Washington, DC.

PS; Shirley Jones did a fantastic job hosting the event...and she had FOUR costume changes! LOL.

Congrats to all involved.

Sounds like a great show! What songs and scenes got dropped from the Side Show portion?

---

I have to echo what listers have said about this lovely concert. Each act was done with great care, with SIDE SHOW getting the most lavish attention. I have to admit going "Ehhh" when I first heard that score, but the performance this afternoon made me go home and pull out the CD to give it another listen.

Jenn Colella was much stronger in SIDE SHOW than in GIRL CRAZY, but Lisa Brescia was the revelation for me. For a shortened concert version of the show, she was 100% engaged and brought all the emotion to life. I found it very interesting that they cast lookalike boys as the suitors also.

GIRL CRAZY got the next most lavish attention ... Randy Graff did a marvelous Merm imitation during "I Got Rhythm." BIRDIE seemed like the odd show out. The book was totally reduced to narration. But Brooks Ashmamskas did, for me the highlight number of the afternoon, "Put on a Happy Face."

And then that evening, also at the Kennedy Center, Betty Buckley in concert. Does it get better than that?

Glad you liked it miss pennywise. I thought you would...

---

How I really would have loved to hear Andrea McArdle belt those notes in, "I've Got Rhythm".

---

WOAH.

I went yesterday. It was nothing less that brilliant.

I loved Side Show most. SO captivating! Lisa Brescia was so fabulous, I also though Micheal McElroy was amazing, but could be biased becuase I saw him as Collins in RENT 7x.

Anyways, so worth my money, and Side Show is in my top 5 favorite shows!

Revival plz?

Updated On: 10/6/08 at 04:23 PM

I LOVE Lisa Brescia's voice. When I saw The Woman in White, she was on as Marian, and I fell in lover with her voice then.

And I can't even begin to explain my LOVE for Side Show.
Being in that show regionally was one of the highlights of my life. It SO beautiful. I can't wait to see what comes of the recent revised workshop, and hopefully it can find a life on Broadway again.

What was the 40-minute version like? What songs did they keep/cut?

I also wanted to give a small shout out to Laura Osenes. I hope she keeps continuing to find work, she really is a talent.

---

I was there on Sunday as well. Very much enjoyed every minute of it. Girl Crazy had me in stitches throughout, and Bye Bye Birdie was also extremely funny. I was moved to tears by Side Show. Fantastic performances all round.

Glad to hear everyone has such great things to say about that production. How I wish I were able to see it, Side Show definitely has one of my favorite scores ever.

Lonny Price directed all three shows (Girl CRazy, Bye Bye Birdie, and Side Show)