I've been feeling a bit under the weather these last several days, so I rested up and watched the parade on my DVR.
Aladdin — Michael James Scott sounded scruffy here with his Genie. Then again, when your show's been on Broadway for a decade now and you've been there for most of it, I guess he felt like he could play around a bit more, especially with this heavily ad-libbed role. Notable lyric change: "He's got slaves, he's got servants and flunkies" became "He's got ten thousand servants and flunkies." Also, wow, Michael Maliakel could very well be a giraffe!
A Beautiful Noise — The audience shots weren't wide enough for me to catch myself in the crowd. Still, the finished product came out pretty great, and Nick should have a nice, solid run as Diamond.
Chicago — A surprisingly decent performance from Keltie Knight in the Roxie track.
& Juliet — Lorna freakin' Courtney sounding amazing as always... and no "b*tch" (or "Yas, girl, yaaaas!"), no problem. Hinting at a fling between her Juliet and Philippe's François leaves a cliffhanger for those that haven't seen the show yet. Betsy, Melanie, and Paulo were missed though.
How to Dance in Ohio — The department store lyric change from "Dillard's" to "Macy's" in the beginning was a sweet yet obvious touch, and with all the energy exuded from this youthful cast, that's how you build momentum for a large-scale crowd. I saw the documentary recently (have not seen the musical yet, but I'd like to), but I don't remember anything about a "second chance dance," which does sound very much like the end of The Prom. I did read about the addition of a second act conflict for the show in the NYT and I'm curious to know what it is and how that second formal comes to be; can someone who's seen it please use the spoiler box?
Shucked — Whoever had the idea to link them with the Green Giant float deserves some props — but I'll admit that their Tony medley worked a little better than the one seen this morning, despite a few of Robert Horn's prime jokes sprinkled in there. Izzy looks like an adorable Maizy!
Spamalot — The coconuts making King Arthur's tap sounds will never get old, and neither will Leslie's fresh, slim body. All that Ozempic did the trick! IYKYK
Back to the Future — or, as I'll call it, Casey's Herald Square: the guy really is Marty McFly and carried the latter half of this performance. Roger sounds fine enough for a pop-rock score, and he may have even toned his Doc down a notch compared to the reports I've been hearing throughout the Broadway run. All the Doc and Marty outfit clones in the ensemble put a much-needed nice smile on my face. Why not end the Broadway slate of this year's parade with some style?
Special shoutout to Dee Tomasetta and Akina Kitazawa, who have Broadway credits under their belt and are both Rockettes this year. If there's anyone else I missed on this year's roster that has been on Broadway before, please chime in.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!!!
“I am furious, but I am sailing.”
