My March madness...or seven plays in eight days :-)

[April Saul]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 11:55pm

I get a little theater-crazy this time of year...so exciting, so many new productions, so many general rushes...so carried away! So just caught Waiting for Godot, Cabaret, The Open House at Signature, Of Mice and Men, Violet, Lady Day, and Hand to God. I emerged from this spree a little over $200 poorer--thank you, volunteer ushering, Roundabout's ACCESS10 tix, rush ticketing, and the investment banker who sold me her Mice and Men ticket at a loss!--and honestly enjoyed all of them.

So here are some observations: Godot was great, loved McKellen and Stewart although truth be told, I liked the Roundabout revival with Irwin, Lane and John Goodman just as much. It could also be that I was tired, having spent too much time in the rush line too early on a freezing morning.

Cabaret was fine, but I'm old enough to have seen the original Joel Grey/Jill Haworth version and though I loved Cumming, was not crazy about Williams' performance though can't put my finger on exactly why; may try to revisit later in the run.

Open House was fun, but then again, I enjoy the twisted domestic scenarios that are Will Eno's specialty...which is a good thing, because I am holding tickets to The Realistic Joneses!

I agreed with Whizzer on Of Mice and Men, I found it to be a solid, impressive production, I thought Franco was good, O'Dowd was even better, and I always love Jim Norton.

Violet was lovely. I missed the one-night City Center incarnation, so if this version was less poignant than that one, I wouldn't know. I was in the mezz, and will try to revisit later in the run, and closer. I want to hear that score again!

Paging Lady Day! Wow, Audra was as good as everyone said. It was almost more like watching a magic act than a Broadway show, in the sense that you sit there marveling at her ability to transform herself, more than you were amazed by a great script. Waited far longer on the rush line (I was first) than was necessary but didn't want to miss out...and actually asked them for different seats than the extreme end of the side row they offered me. The ticket seller was annoyed, but I was rewarded with much better seats directly across from Audra, near where the bar is located, but that didn't get in the way.

Damn, Hand to God! After everything I'd read, I was happy to get in at all. The guy at the Lortel helped me out, selling me a $69 front row ticket for a handicapped seat that I never would have felt comfortable purchasing online, laughed my butt off, and loved every minute of it.

You all are going to think I'm nuts, but my favorite of all of them was Hand to God! It was the last show I saw, and I was at the point of feeling too exhausted to see anything...and yet, it was pure pleasure. Really hope it transfers so many more folks can experience what I did!

Next stop, the Belasco Theater for Hedwig next weekend