NYC Oct 1 - Oct 4 - Updated w/ Bye Bye Birdie review

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/17/09 at 12:58pm

I'm starting this thread now because I ordered all of my tickets last night (err...actually at 3am this morning). But my schedule is set for my long weekend in NYC and I can't wait.

I'm staying at the Hampton Inn Manhattan/Times Square South on 39th Street and am leaving for a bit early on Thursday so that I have time to check in before the 8pm performance of South Pacific.

Friday evening is Wishful Drinking at Studio 54, Saturday afternoon is the Muts/Astros game at Citifield, and Saturday evening is Bye Bye Birdie at the Henry Miller.

Having seen South Pacific already I probably won't post too much about that but I will share my thoughts on WD and BBB.

Updated On: 10/4/09 at 12:58 PM

[TimesSquareRegular]

Posted: 9/17/09 at 8:19pm

You might also want to check out some of the shows at the NY Music Theatre Festival - they have performances all day long, and some late-night ones, too. All the venues are in the midtown theatre district.

Here's the link to the Friday Oct 2 schedule .... you can navigate around the site from there for more info.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 9/17/09 at 8:32pm

Thanks...I usually see a few NYMF shows every year. The last time I checked they didn't have anything for that weekend. I'll have to look again

Updated On: 9/17/09 at 08:32 PM

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:22pm

I've just got a feeling
Tonight's the night!
Let's tear down the ceiling --
Tonight's the night!
Take the chain and ball off,
For now on I'm free;
This is where I fall off
The family tree.
There's no fun in being an angel child --
I hear the call of the wild
If the worst should happen, it serves me right,
Tonight's the night.

I'm leaving work in about three hours and I'm very excited about finally being able to take a few days for myself. Even though I only live an hour and a half away from the city I've been saying I was going to have a long weekend for years. No worries about catching the last train or anything like that.

I didn't get to see Paulo the last time I saw the show. David was great but I am hoping to see Paulo this time.

[Blockhead24]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:27pm

I'm planning on rushing SP tonight! I, too, missed Paulo the last time I saw it so I hope he's on.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 12:48pm

I just checked weather.com. 6o% chance of scattered thunderstorms for Saturday. If the rain gets in the way of only chance to see Jason (my avatar) this year I'll cry.

Updated On: 10/1/09 at 12:48 PM

[WOSQ]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 1:48pm

If it does rain and the 'Muts' (a hysterical typo as ever was) game is rained out, take yourself to see The Royal Family.

It is in good shape, and you will want to be able to tell people 30-40 years from now that you saw Rosemary Harris on stage.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/1/09 at 2:48pm

A typo? I'll be there rooting for the other team

I just found out that Seth has the cast of Toxic Avenger tonight. I'll go if I have time

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 12:04am

I wasn't sure if I was going to make Chatterbox but at 5:45pm I decided to see if I could get there in time from my hotel on 39th. And I made it! Seth was as funny as ever. His guests were Diana DeGarmo, Demond Green and Jonathan Root. He has each of them talk about how they got their equity cards. Jonathan told some stories about doing Avenue Q in Vegas. Demond is just hysterical and should be a big star IMO.

I did get to see Paulo tonight and it's so easy to understand why he won the Tony. He's just fabulous. I honestly thought he was going to get a standing ovation for This Nearly was Mine. The audience loved him. And Laura is as beautiful as ever.

After intermission it was announced that George Merrick would not be performing the in the second act due to illness and Nick Mayo played Buzz. Hope he's okay! I've never witnessed anything like that before. I've seen shows stop because of technical difficulties but this was a first for me.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/2/09 at 10:57pm

I cannot say enough good things about Wishful Thinking. Carrie is wonderful and she recounts her life with warmth, wit, and laughter. Since the show has been reviewed countless times already on the board I won't go indepth but it was very well done.

Carrie did come out after the show thought it took some waiting and a few people gave up. But the people who did wait got a treat because when Carrie did come out she had Dustin Hoffman with her. Wow! To even be that close to an acting icon is something to remember. No one made a fuss over him and he said his goodbyes to Carrie and walked away. When he walked by me I smiled and said "Hello". I didn't get all giddy and ask for a picture or autograph. Just acknowledged him. He looked at me and said hello back.

When I recounted the story for someone later I was informed that you should never acknowlege someone of his status. Just ignore them. Is that some rule that I missed? I can understand not making a spectacle of yourself but I just don't see any harm in saying hello to a person.

Anyway, tomorrow is the Muts/Astros game. I simply cannot wait to see Jason (my avatar).

Updated On: 10/2/09 at 10:57 PM

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 10/3/09 at 2:00am

"When I recounted the story for someone later I was informed that you should never acknowlege someone of his status. Just ignore them. Is that some rule that I missed? I can understand not making a spectacle of yourself but I just don't see any harm in saying hello to a person."

I don't see anything wrong with it. It's not like you were poking his eyes out with a Sharpie for an autograph lol.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/3/09 at 6:23am

His STATUS? He's an actor. (Yes, a very successful and well known one but still.)

There is no rule that you cannot be friendly toward someone you recognize. If he didn't want to be recognized he wouldn't have been or he would have just ignored you.

You did nothing wrong in your story...except for calling her show Wishful Thinking instead of Drinking.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 1:00am

I cannot believe I made such a dumb mistake, Mama. Must be that Steinert education

This is the first time I've been able sit down all day to recount the last night in the city.

The day started off fairly early since I wanted to be at Citifield early enough for batting practice. The day started out nice enough and I even grabbed my sunglasses on my way out the door. I saw Jackie Hoffman at Penn Station. She looked like she was in a hurry so I didn't say anything.

I was wearing my Astros jersey which scored me some good natured teasing once I got to the ballpark. But I can take it and I can dish it out

I did get to see Jason (yay) but he didn't play (boo). We got in five full innings before the rains came. And boy did they come. I felt like I should have been looking for an ark. They covered the field and I was watching the clock. My friend and I were supposed to meet someone else for dinner at 5 and I still had to get back to my room to get changed before going to see Birdie. So I did the unthinkable - I left a baseball game early. Luckily Jason never got into the game. I'd have been so disappointed had I missed him.

So after dinner at Stout I hurried back to my hotel. Now as for the actual show - spoilers within.

I went into this show with much trepidation due to the GMA videos and what other posters said. While I didn't think it was the greatest thing ever staged it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.

The kids really made the show. Their enthusiasm was so wonderful and they looked like they were having a blast.

While watching Gina Gershon I was reminded of a recent conversation on this board about how people can be weak singers and great actors. Her acting was great but her singing was just not right for this show. She tried her best to use inflection to cover up her vocal shortcomings. Her dancing was so nonexistent it was hard to judge her on it. She did a few twists and turns during Spanish Rose but not enough to say "she's a bad dancer". Though she did step on her shawl during the number and I was so sure she was going down. Thankfully she kept her balance and didn't fall.

I can't decide what I think of Bill Irwin. There were times when I was utterly charmed by him and others where I was totally annoyed. He was precious during One Last Kiss but I didn't care for his rendition of Kids.

Nolan Funk was just plain bad. I've stated before on this board that I don't like to say a person gave a poor performance. But there's just nothing else to say. He was bland and boring. I couldn't understand at all why these girls would be swooning over him. He had no charisma at all. His Honestly Sincere was totally stolen away by Jake Evan Schewencke (Randolph) and the other kids. He did better with One Last Kiss but fell flat on his face with Lot of Livin.

Allie Trimm was the cutest and I can't really find anything to pick on with her performance.

John Stamos wasn't bad. He doesn't give a Tony worthy performance but he didn't stink up the joint.

The Telephone Hour worked better on stage. I didn't care for the GMA video at all but I did enjoy seeing it live. I think one of the girls may have missed her cue because when all of the other kids were lined up and in their "freeze" at the end of the show there was a space and then all of sudden she popped into it.

As I said Nolan Funk totally gets Honestly Sincere stolen right out from under him. I didn't care for the GMA video on this one either but I loved seeing it on stage. Especially Randolph thrusting his hips as he imitates Birdie. He's so little in his blue suit and white fedora that it's hard not to just love him. The kids just made the number. They were so fun and energetic as they went wild for their idol while their parents tried to control them.

I was so excited to see the gold suit in One Last Kiss but it was really Irwin's hijinks that made that number work. Nolan was serviceable but the comedy that's going on around him outshines him.

Lot of Livin to do is usually one of my favorite numbers in the show but in this production it went on a bit too long. They added Gina into the number and the dance interlude from the film.

All in all there are things to like about the show and I found myself laughing many times. It's a fun two hours but it can be hard to overlook Gina's singing and Nolan's everything.

Everyone came out afterward except for Gina who seems to have a problem with a stalker. A guard at the door told some people that she'd been assaulted. I don't know how recent that is but I wouldn't come out after a show either if I were her. John signed and schmoozed but skipped me and when I pointed that out to him he said "Okay" and kept moving. It was a "uh" moment for me.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 9:04am

Eris0303, you missed a great opportunity to speak to a movie icon. Dustin Hoffman is one of the nicest people in the business and would have engaged you in a conversation about whatever you wanted to speak about. Ironically, the bigger the star sometimes the sweetest and down to earth they are. Tom Hanks and John Travolta (especially Travolta) are two more examples.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 10:13am

We said hello to each other and he hurried off. I suspect he didn't want to get caught up with the huge crowd or maybe he had somewhere to be. But he didn't seem to want to loiter.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 2:32pm

"Dustin Hoffman is one of the nicest people in the business and would have engaged you in a conversation about whatever you wanted to speak about. Ironically, the bigger the star sometimes the sweetest and down to earth they are. Tom Hanks and John Travolta (especially Travolta) are two more examples"

I will add Brooke Shields, Jessica Simpson, Sarah Brightman and Rosie O'Donnell to that list of very friendly A-listers.

Updated On: 10/4/09 at 02:32 PM

[wendilin622]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 4:05pm

Eris--great review! Thanks! Glad that you enjoyed your weekend. And "Muts..." tee hee.

And Jessica Simpson? Since when is she an A-lister? Does she even do anything now? And I don't even know who Sarah Brightman is...

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 4:13pm

Sarah is a Grammy-nominated singer and has 160 Gold and Platinum awards in 34 countries and is the only artist to hold #1 spots on the Billboard Classical and Dance charts simultaneously, her other achievements feature her ranking by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female classical artist of the twenty-first century, and a Guinness World Record for “Time to Say Goodbye,” the best-selling single in German recording history.

She has established herself as the world's biggest selling soprano of all time, with worldwide sales of more than 26 million albums and over two million DVDs.

She also created the role of Christine Daae in Phantom both on Broadway and London, Jemima in Cats in London(prior to getting married to ALW), she was in some musicals and plays, such as Nightingale, Aspects of Love, I and Albert, Requiem, The Merry Widow, Dangerous Obsession, The Innocents, etc.

About Jessica, she might not be an A-list, but she is very well known, and probably Rosie and Brooke aren't really A-list anymore. So I will rephrase it with saying they are "stars", deal?

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 11:08pm

I forgot to ask...does Kim have a Bear in the Big Blue House in her room? From my seat it totally looked like a copyrighted character.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 11:17pm

I'm sure she doesn't as that didn't exist at that time.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 10/4/09 at 11:20pm

lol, I know...but the bear in her room looked like Big Bear to me

[bybubble]

Posted: 10/5/09 at 10:31pm

LOL Eris - I noticed that bear too! and I totally agree with your review. Funk was boring with a capital B.