March 2026 trip - 9 shows in a week- Page 2

[bear882]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 3:51am

OP here. I am done with advance purchases. Here’s where I stand:

Monday, March 16 - Giant

Tuesday - Just in Time

Wednesday matinee - Death of a Salesman

Wednesday night - open

Thursday - Ragtime

Friday - Cats: The Jellice Ball

Saturday night - The Wild Party

Sunday - open

[Merkin2]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 6:48am

What an excellent week of theater!  Something else you might like is a new musical called Mexodus. It’s off Broadway, they have Tuesday matinees, it’s in Union Square.  You can wait and hear what word of mouth is gonna be for Mexodus, Becky Shaw and then decide what you want to see. Heathers and Spelling Bee are good options too.  I’d skip Chess, and perhaps you can see Oh Mary and The Outsiders some other time.  

[inception]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 12:12pm

I do think Chess was the best thing I saw last November out of 10 shows.  I paid more to see Just in Time, but had a better time at Chess.

[bear882]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 3:34pm

inception said: "I do think Chess was the best thing I saw last November out of 10 shows. I paid more to see Justin Time, but had a better time at Chess."

While I will defer to my family on remaining shows, and there are discounts available, I have been less enthused about Chess because I don’t like the songs I know as much as other people do and because the book seems kind of silly. I gather that the best way to enjoy the show is not to take it too seriously. Is it just kind of fun, with terrific vocals? 

At the moment, the other shows we are likely to see are Heathers, Spelling Bee, and Oh, Mary! (assuming we see three). In the end, this will be up to my wife and daughter - but give me your best pro-Chess case.

You are correct that Just in Time is the show that is costing the most on this trip by a fair amount. It’s what we get for not seeing it for $99 in previews last year.

[Merkin2]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 8:17pm

Chess is absolutely not fun.  It’s just a mostly serious show that is too silly for words.  The songs aren’t even good and the chorus numbers are very wordy and mostly unintelligible.  I’d rush The Outsiders or get tix for Mexodus.  

[inception]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 11:36pm

bear882 said: 
While I will defer to my family on remaining shows, and there are discounts available, I have been less enthused aboutChessbecause I don’t like the songs I know as much as other people do and because the book seems kind of silly. I gather that the best way to enjoy the show is not to take it too seriously. Is it just kind of fun, with terrific vocals?

If you don't like the songs then I won't be able to sell you on it.    Have a great trip whatever you see!

[Jarethan]

Posted: 3/5/26 at 11:44pm

Merkin2 said: "Chess is absolutely not fun. It’s just a mostly serious show that is too silly for words. The songs aren’t even good and the chorus numbers are very wordy and mostly unintelligible. I’d rush The Outsiders or get tix for Mexodus."

Once a moron, always a moron.  The current production of Chess, flaws and all, is one of the most thrilling evenings in the theatre I have experienced in ages, probably decades.  The score is legendary for a reason; for anyone to say the songs are not even good, tells me that they are either tone deaf or just want to get a rise out of the group by saying something preposterous. 

Alas, it appears at this point that you do not need to purchase the tickets in advance.  Unless you are coming Easter week or something like that, I imagine that close checking of Telecharge once you are in NYC may reap some real benefits; if you can then buy those tickets at the theatre, better yet.  Failing that, the show -- which has generally been doing very well at the box office -- is normally available at TKTS.

 

[bear882]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 1:14am

I know the comment wasn’t directed at me, but I should clarify: I have never seen Chess in any incarnation and have not heard the entire score. I just don’t have as strong a feeling about the songs I have heard [although I do like ‘Where I Want To Be’] as others do and I have concerns about the book and what I gather is a lot of meta-commentary.

Jarethan, you are correct that the show is available at the TKTS booth and on discount if we saw it Wednesday night. I assume rush is available too.

In the end, I am leaving this decision to the rest of my family.

Updated On: 3/6/26 at 01:14 AM

[Merkin2]

Posted: 3/6/26 at 6:59am

Jarethan, you do realize you are in the small minority of people who believe Chess is a thrilling show.  The critics and most people agree with me on this one.  And most of the score is wordy almost patter songs that are mostly unintelligible.  Bangkok is a throw away pop song.  Someone Else’s story is a nice lullaby but it’s so vague it does nothing dramatically.
Thats fine, I loved The Queen of Versailles, you hated it. You loved Sunset Blvd, I hated it.  

[Joyce 9]

Posted: 3/17/26 at 1:41am

Are you seeing anything Wednesday night bear?

[bear882]

Posted: 3/17/26 at 1:57am

Yes, but my family will make the final call. And Sunday slots are still open too. (We are not seeing two shows on Saturday, barring an unlikely change of plans.)

While Heathers, Spelling Bee, and Oh, Mary! are leading candidates for the remaining slots, other shows like Chess or Becky Shaw could emerge as dark-horse possibilities. 

[No Leg Room]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 8:13am

Oh Mary has been 50% at tbr TKTS booth lately. 

[bear882]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 11:27pm

Quick question from the OP, and apologies for not knowing this already: We’re looking to get 3 tickets for a Thursday matinee (Heathers) tomorrow. The TKTS booth opens at 11, both at Times Square and Lincoln Center. I am trying to get a sense of whether tickets for all evening shows are open at 11, meaning a longer line, and whether we are better off going to Lincoln Center. I already have Thursday night tickets to see Ragtime.

[Joyce 9]

Posted: 3/18/26 at 11:34pm

You didn’t tell us what you thought of just in time and death of a salesman.  Did you see anything tonight?

Yes, Tkts sells tickets for both evenings and matinees when it opens, they even sell next day tickets for matinees.  I would go to whichever ticket booth is closer to you, I’ve noticed the one on 62nd street is quite busy in recent years.  Since it’s a Thursday afternoon, I wouldn’t expect long lines though. 
 

there’s also a 1 o’clock performance of Outsiders tomorrow, they have rush and standing room you could do if interested. Box office opens at 10

[bear882]

Posted: 3/19/26 at 12:35am

We saw The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee on Wednesday night and it was a lot of fun. Two understudies (Brandon Armstrong as William Barfee, and Emily Rudolph as Olive) were excellent. 

It was interesting to see Death of a Salesman just a few weeks after seeing All My Sons at the Berkeley Rep. I will have more to write later, but Nathan Lane is terrific as Willy Loman. I wasn’t going in with expectations of how I expected Lane to play him, having never seen him on stage before, but he struck a fine balance. My issues with the production (aside from those unnecessary pillars) probably have more to do with one element of the play that I don’t think works as well as intended than with anything the actors or director Joe Mantello did wrong. It’s an affecting production and I’m glad I saw it.

One funny but expected contrast: I was the youngest person in my section at Death of a Salesman and the last arrival in my row even though I was 15 minutes early); I was the oldest at Spelling Bee.

No one at Death of a Salesman abided by the five-minute rule. There were takes at intermission about the occasional audience laughter, even more takes on the performances as people left the theater. I got a whole set of insta-reviews afterward before leaving the building.

Updated On: 3/20/26 at 12:35 AM

[bear882]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 4:35am

Back home after our trip to New York City (no drama on the flight home Monday night, though we arrived at JFK very early to be safe). We saw more shows than on any of our previous, shorter trips - despite some complications and obligations. It was an unusual set of shows for us, with no new musicals, three plays, our first Encores! show, three previews, and two musicals at New World Stages. I had never been there either. Here’s a summary, as my reaction to some shows surprised me:

Monday night: Giant - John Lithgow dominated the stage in Mark Rosenblatt’s play about Roald Dahl, Israel, war and antisemitism that is set in the early 1980s but could have been written yesterday. Lithgow portrays Dahl as a smart, childish internet troll (before the internet) who does his taunting to people’s faces. I think the critical consensus, that Lithgow is better than the play, is fair. But there was something thrilling about a play that inspires such passion (the audience response at the end of the first act, when the invented Jessie Stone, an American Jew who works on selling Dahl’s upcoming book, tells him off, went beyond the excellence of the performances by Lithgow and Aya Cash). The overall cast is strong, but the play revolves around Lithgow’s Dahl.

Tuesday night: Just in Time - We were there the night Jonathan Groff danced with and bowed down to Bernadette Peters. I know Groff does this, but it was still fun. Also striking: I know about Groff’s reputation for spitting, which he references in the musical, but I didn’t realize just how far his saliva went. The biomusical part runs out of steam in the second act but it was a fun evening watching Groff charm everyone.

Wednesday matinee: Death of a Salesman - The play is surrounded by gloom (and a couple of unnecessary pillars) from the start. It feels haunted before anything bad happens. Director Joe Mantello stages a very solid production of the classic play that moves quickly, in part by casting two Biffs and two Happys at different ages. Ben Ahlers is very good as the older Happy and Christopher Abbott rises to his big moments as Biff in the second act. Laurie Metcalf is very good as Linda, especially in her big scene in the first act - and I thought she sold the ending quite well from my fourth row seat. She has less to do during most of the second act, and her role is less interesting than the wife’s part in Arthur Miller’s previous play, All My Sons, which I had seen a few weeks before at the Berkeley Rep. Nathan Lane, who I had never seen on stage before, is fantastic as Willy Loman. The acting he does with his eyes and body language makes you feel both his delusions and his tragedy. It’s a special performance.

Wednesday night: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee - This was a much younger crowd than at Death of a Salesman and the first of two performances at New World Stages where I was very impressed with understudies in key roles. Emily Rudolph (filling in for Jasmine Amy Rogers, who I would see later in the week) and Brandon L. Armstrong were both terrific as Olive and William Barfee, respectively. It’s a light show that gives its actors plenty of opportunities to show their versatility and have fun. 

Thursday matinee: Heathers The Musical - As a fan of the flawed but ahead-of-its-time film, I wasn’t really expecting to like this adaptation. And I had my quibbles, some significant. Both the leads were out, but we got Sara Al-Bazali as Veronica Sawyer, and she was so good that I overlooked everything else. (She is the standby for Veronica and Heather Chandler. Now I’m curious how she would handle the latter role.) Veronica’s role in the musical is challenging - she’s got to sing sexy rockers and sweet ballads while acting a tricky role and rarely leaving the stage. She’s terrific. Peyton List, who is known for roles in TV shows I have not seen, doesn’t have a great voice but she doesn’t need one as Heather Chandler. She handles the comedy quite well. I had a great time.

Thursday night: Ragtime - A revival with Joshua Henry belting out big ballads and Caissie Levy (coming off that wonderful Next to Normal performance in London) and Brandon Uranowitz at his most charming - not to mention Allison Blackwell belting out a moving first act closer - should not be my biggest disappointment of the trip. But it was, mostly because I just don’t like Ragtime even though I can’t fault some of the songs or any of the performances. The book is terrible and it has aged badly. I don’t want to antagonize anyone. It just wasn’t for me.

Friday night: Cats: The Jellicle Ball - I have never seen Cats in person (just once, on BroadwayHD). My knowledge of ballroom culture is limited to what I have learned on the internet. I am a cisgender male past 60. I tend to get frustrated if I miss out on lyrics or am surrounded by people who get all the jokes or love an unfamiliar (to me) show loudly and passionately. But I did two things right. I bought fifth row center mezzanine tickets and I didn’t try to use the restroom at intermission (described to me as a mosh pit). I really enjoyed the show. There are moments in this musical in which the choreography and staging are so fantastic that it will stick with me. 

Saturday night: The Wild Party - I guess I chose wisely in buying tickets for this Encores! production too, because I didn’t have any problem hearing the music or lyrics from our center orchestra seats. The Wild Party is a challenging, dark show and I can see why it failed on Broadway more than a quarter century ago - especially with a competing musical based on the same poem running at the same time. But I thought it was excellent, with a strong cast led by Jasmine Amy Rogers, Jordan Donica and Adrienne Warren - in a supporting role as Kate that oozes danger and sensuality. Rogers, as Queenie, and Donica, as Burrs, are both quite good as the dysfunctional show business couple who host the party. Rogers holds her own with Warren and sings a gorgeous ballad with Jelani Alladin, who plays Kate’s lover but is interested in Queenie too. There are a lot of characters and the show gets increasingly messy, but that felt like part of the point. 

Sunday evening: Oh, Mary! - We got rush tickets, with partial view, but we were close to the stage and got to see John Cameron Mitchell’s crazed, unhinged looks as Mary Todd Lincoln. I tend to be leery of silly comedies, but Cole Escola has written one that is an absolute meal for an actor willing to dive into it. I can’t compare casts, having never seen the play before, but my wife and I laughed a lot. It was a fun ending to a full week of theater.

Updated On: 3/25/26 at 04:35 AM

[inception]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 9:19am

Sounds like it was a great week!  Sounds to me like you saw the best of what's playing in New York right now.  You're not opera goers so the hottest ticket in the city wouldn't have interested you - Lise Davidsen's Isolde at the Met.  I made do listening the radio broadcast Saturday.

[Dale Sherman]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 3:26pm

I NEVER miss Metcalf or Lane!

[uncageg]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 4:08pm

Glad you had a great week of theater! And congrats on your first "Encores!" show. I have seen 3 and it just feels kind of special attending one. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 6:02pm

bear882 said: "inception said: "I do think Chess was the best thing I saw last November out of 10 shows. I paid more to see Justin Time, but had a better time at Chess."

While I will defer to my family on remaining shows, and there are discounts available, I have been less enthused aboutChessbecause I don’t like the songs I know as much as other people do and because the book seems kind of silly. I gather that the best way to enjoy the show is not to take it too seriously. Is it just kind of fun, with terrific vocals?

At the moment, the other shows we are likely to see areHeathers, Spelling Bee,andOh, Mary!(assumingwe see three). In the end, this will be up to my wife and daughter - but give me your best pro-Chesscase.

You are correct thatJust in Timeis the show that is costing the most on this trip by a fair amount.It’s what we get for not seeing it for $99 in previews last year."

Don’t listen to Merkin. She is a psychopath with about ten million screen names and has no idea what she is talking about. 

[Matt Rogers]

Posted: 3/25/26 at 6:11pm

Joyce 9 said: "Are you seeing anything Wednesday night bear?"

Oh look. It’s Merkin with a new screen name.