Our March trip to New York City and its August - and October - sequels- Page 3

[brodynky]

Posted: 3/14/23 at 3:25pm

I’m in the same boat. I get in tomorrow…staying until Sunday. Just canceled my Funny Girl tickets for tomorrow night as well. Would like to hear what you end up seeing/doing instead, as I now have two slots open tomorrow if flight goes as planned. Was considering Some Like it Hot for matinee.  Seeing Sweeney Thursday and Parade Friday. Kimberly Akimbo and Camelot on Saturday. Enjoy your trip! 

[inception]

Posted: 3/14/23 at 3:43pm

After mulling it over I also decided to cancel my Funny Girl ticket as well.  I had the matinee, so options for other shows were limited.  I called Telecharge & exchanged my Parade ticket from later in the week,  paying $20 more to change to a  rear orchestra seat from upper mezz.  Then for the date I originally booked Parade, I got a ticket to Kimberly Akimbo using the discount code for a $114 orchestra aisle seat.  I couldn't just get a seat to tomorrow's matinee of KA as it shows no seats available.   (Are they student performance or something?)

[bear88]

Posted: 3/14/23 at 5:39pm

Update:

Tonight: Shucked (it’s selling very well, had to pay more than I wanted but have good seats)

Wednesday matinee: Leopoldstadt 

The rest is the same: Sweeney Todd and Kimberly Akimbo

[inception]

Posted: 3/14/23 at 6:29pm

I made a joke about cosplay earlier....tonight at Lohengrin there is a fellow a few rows below me wearing a full swan on his head. He did take it off just now before it begins.

Edited missed words so this makes more sense 

Updated On: 3/15/23 at 06:29 PM

[yellibean2]

Posted: 3/15/23 at 12:33pm

I'm in a similar boat to some of the above posters - I'm going to be in New York this Friday through Monday and I haven't been since 2019, so I'd really like to load up on shows. On Friday I have a Broadway Roulette ticket, Saturday matinee I'm going to Leopoldstadt (my Broadway Roulette is musicals only, so I won't get that) and on Sunday night I'm going to Sleep No More. I'm going to wait until I find out what my Broadway Roulette show is to get tickets for Saturday night, but my best case scenario is it's either Shucked or Kimberly Akimbo and then I'll get tickets to the other one. Worst case scenario is I get either Bad Cinderella or Book of Mormon (which I've seen and have no desire to see again). 

If I get neither through Broadway Roulette, anyone have thoughts on Kimberly Akimbo vs. Shucked?

[inception]

Posted: 3/16/23 at 12:51am

I haven't seen either.  I recommend Parade after seeing it today. It has a digital lottery according to its page on the telecharge site    The Saturday evening performance looks close to being sold out.  I don't know when they sell standing room, or for how much, but there were people doing that at today's matinee.  If you are on a budget that may interest you.

[bear88]

Posted: 3/16/23 at 12:59am

I saw Shucked on Tuesday night. It’s a silly, joke-filled musical comedy that I didn’t think worked overall - but a number of people disagreed (see the Shucked preview thread) and  YMMV. I’m seeing Kimberly Akimbo tonight.

Updated On: 3/16/23 at 12:59 AM

[bear88]

Posted: 3/17/23 at 12:08am

yellibean2 said: "I'm in a similar boat to some of the above posters - I'm going to be in New York this Friday through Monday and I haven't been since 2019, so I'd really like to load up on shows. On Friday I have a Broadway Roulette ticket, Saturday matinee I'm going to Leopoldstadt (my Broadway Roulette is musicals only, so I won't get that) and on Sunday night I'm going to Sleep No More. I'm going to wait until I find out what my Broadway Roulette show is to get tickets for Saturday night, but my best case scenario is it's either Shucked or Kimberly Akimbo and then I'll get tickets to the other one. Worst case scenario is I get either Bad Cinderella or Book of Mormon (which I've seen and have no desire to see again).

If I get neither through Broadway Roulette, anyone have thoughts on Kimberly Akimbo vs. Shucked?"

I have seen both now (Shucked on Tuesday, Kimberly Akimbo on Thursday night) and probably am not the best person to ask because I was very surprised by how much I disliked Kimberly Akimbo - which, as I understand it, is the favorite for Best Musical and has a collection of favorable reviews and mostly positive comments here. I may just be an outlier, but flawed though I thought it was, I had a lot more fun at Shucked.

[inception]

Posted: 3/17/23 at 6:30am

I'll wait until I see it Saturday,  but I'm going in with trepidation. I gave a cursory listen to the cast recording when it was first released, and a more in depth listen after buying a ticket, and I really don't like the songs or what I can make of the plot from the recording. 

At least the very worst of my trip has  passed, and I didn't die from Salmonella.  I'm on the mend now.

I hope the majority of your trip went well Bear.  I've enjoyed reading your posts.  Also the ones before when you were helping your daughter get tickets.   I wish you safe travels home!

[bear88]

Posted: 3/17/23 at 10:45am

Don’t be too spooked by my negative response to Kimberly Akimbo. I am very much in the minority on that musical, which does have some nice performances. 
 

On my way home later today. Enjoy the rest of your trip!

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/17/23 at 10:46am

Sleep No More is still playing????  I had no idea!

[yellibean2]

Posted: 3/17/23 at 1:23pm

Yep, it's still playing and I've never seen it, so I'm super stoked to finally get the chance to.

Update on my end: I got Shucked on Broadway Roulette for tonight and won the lottery for Kimberly Akimbo for tomorrow! Feeling like maybe I should also buy some scratch tickets with all the luck I've been having 😊

[bear88]

Posted: 3/18/23 at 5:19pm

OP here. Back home after our first New York City trip in four years. My wife and I ended up seeing four shows after all, and switched from Funny Girl after Lea Michele called out, adding Shucked in its place and Leopoldstadt as a Wednesday matinee.  Our hotel was a block from the Times Square TKTS booth but we didn't actually use it. Bought our Leopoldstadt tickets at the Lincoln Center TKTS booth because we happened to be in the area Tuesday afternoon (the feature of being able to buy tickets for the next day's matinee is handy for jet-lagged West Coasters like us).

Tuesday night: Shucked. I've written more on this show on the thread for it, but a few extra thoughts that may not correspond with those of others: Robert Horn's joke-filled book had a lot more misses than hits for me, but the biggest problem was that he didn't do enough humor that was based on the characters in their deliberately ludicrous milieu. (When it's allowed to happen, the actors make that work.) It's a problem with the score by Brandy Clark and Shane McNally. Too many of the songs are serious, earnest ballads, and often fail to advance the story or tell us more about the characters. The best ones go to the most interesting characters in the show, Andrew Durand's Beau and Alex Newell's Lulu. Did no one notice that the main character, Maizy, and the outsider with less-than-honorable intentions, Gordy, are rather dull - especially with each other - in what's supposed to be a riotous, goofball show? Everyone else on stage is more fun. Newell's Lulu seems like she gets the short end of the romantic comedy stick at the end, and neither Horn nor the songwriters really bother to explain why that happened - or why we should be happy for Lulu. But the actors are having a grand old time when they're given a chance, and the show does manage to pull together a satisfying-enough climax. I had a better time at Shucked than I did at the other new musical I saw two days later.

Wednesday matinee: Leopoldstadt. I thought it was magnificent. While I knew not to get too caught up with who's related to whom, it's hard not to try at times. Human nature. That said, I had fourth row center orchestra seats that made you feel like you were eavesdropping on private, family conversations. I was very impressed with almost all of the actors - from Faye Castelow as Gretl (a veteran of the London cast) to a couple of actors in their second performances, Joshua Malina as Hermann and Dave Register as Fritz, who was chilling in their confrontation over the latter's affair with Gretl. From scenes like that one to casual mentions of Ludwig's inability to get tenure as a mathematics professor in Vienna, playwright Tom Stoppard shows that the roots of the horrors to come were already there - even when the Jewish families seemed quite comfortable - and diverse enough to have a Christmas tree. I disagree with New York Times critic Jesse Green's evaluation of the final scene. Leo, it's obvious enough, is a stand-in for Stoppard himself, but I didn't interpret it as some sort of "masochistic" self-indictment. Instead, despite sounding foolish about his pride in Great Britain and failing to read the room, Leo is a young man with no memory of what happened in that apartment 17 years ago even though he was there as a young child. Nathan, as played by Brandon Uranowitz, is simmering with frustration and anguish, bouncing his leg up and down, having experienced things that Leo was spared. I found the play very moving.

Wednesday night: Sweeney Todd. I'll probably chime in on the main thread, but the revival - once you get past everyone's expectations and preconceptions for what Sweeney Todd ought to be (including mine) - is very enjoyable. Not everyone has seen every major production of this show in New York City. Some, like me, have only seen a local production. Entire main cast was in. I finally understood the commentary about Annaleigh Ashford, who I had never seen before. Yes, her vocals can get lost in the mix at times - a problem not shared by the other main cast members - but she is taking risks that pay off more often than not. This results in a flawed but brilliant performance that's a blast to watch. My main suggestion: Don't mess about with "A Little Priest." It's a wordplay song that gets funnier as it builds, but Wednesday night's show didn't really allow it to do that. I loved Josh Groban in Great Comet, but I also saw him months into the run. I don't know what he was like early in the third week of previews. He has the voice for the role and is very effective while singing; he doesn't quite manage what he says was his goal: watching a man turn into a monster. Jordan Fisher was fine - he doesn't make the show, but he's no disaster, and he certainly has an enthusiastic fan base. Gaten Matarazzo is excellent and provides a useful reminder that "Pirelli's Miracle Elixir" is an underrated song. Nicholas Christopher was very good as Pirelli, Ruthie Ann Miles is an excellent (if a bit underused) Beggar Woman, Jamie Jackson and John Rapson were good as Judge Turpin and the Beadle. I was worried that the movement would look silly, but it was fine and often effective. The orchestra, with a couple of quibbles about tempo on two songs, sounds great. By the way, my seats on the far right of Row O in the orchestra were excellent. I'd recommend them to anyone looking to pay a bit less. The audience was as raucous and enthusiastic as I expected. Watching the mad sprint to the restrooms after Act One was pretty funny. Also, it was the most diverse audience of any show I saw during the week.

Thursday night: Kimberly Akimbo. The biggest surprise of the week was the least pleasant. I hated the musical and now will have an answer when people ask questions about an acclaimed (likely Tony Award-winning) musical that they just couldn't stand. I'm not trying to persuade anyone else not to see it; I guess it just wasn't my thing. I got to the point where I was counting the "Awws" from the audience after a high school classmate said something insensitive to Kimberly or a parent said or did something terrible to the prematurely-aging 16-year-old girl, whose death is apparently imminent. The plot is as dumb as Shucked but tries to convince the audience it's saying something profound. There's a song in Act Two, "The Inevitable Turn," which was my favorite in the musical - a plausible tune about a screwed-up family trying but failing to hold things together for Kimberly during a meal - that ends with more stupid family revelations. I have no gripe with the actors - Victoria Clark does nice work, often with her eyes, as Kimberly, and Bonnie Milligan is her usual funny self - but nothing about the show made a lick of sense to me. Plus, I found it insufferably cloying. It's the perfect musical for people who justifiably hate their cruel, stupid and self-absorbed parents.

By the way, we skipped the Museum of Broadway, which is even more expensive than advertised once tax is added. It was going to be a way to kill time. Instead, we wisely had an early dinner between shows on Wednesday and beat the rush.

Updated On: 5/25/23 at 05:19 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 3/25/23 at 4:35am

One thing about going on a New York City vacation for the first time in years is that it's made my wife and I eager to go back as early as this fall if that's feasible (which depends on a variety of factors that aren't totally in our control).

So I'm already glancing uneasily at the Merrily We Roll Along ticket sales and prices and wondering how bad that's going to get. Is it really going to be tougher to get tickets for that revival than anything on this trip, planned about six weeks in advance? 

So I'll keep an eye on things, both current shows we considered but skipped last week and others that will be opening by fall and it hopefully won't be a purely intellectual exercise. 

 

[inception]

Posted: 3/25/23 at 9:37am

I have to get all my vacation days booked by the end of March, so maybe it is easier for me to plan.  Of course things happen to the best of plans.  Last year I had to cancel days in December due to a project that came up.  I had plenty of advance warning,  and was able to roll some of the days into this year- which were the days I used last week.

For this coming year I have a trip planned to SF & Yosemite that I was originally going to do in 2020.  Then I decided to do Las Vegas again in the fall. This left me days to use at X-mas, & despite that being a highly coveted time, my request got approved.

Airfares are ridiculously high this year, with no one optimistic that they will come down.  I think it is too early to book a flight for X-mas,  but right now the same Jetblue direct flights I just took last week are  $200CAN more for X-mas.

Even though plans could change in 9 months, I booked a ticket to Merrily on Thursday.

My biggest hope is that the rumored revival of Pal Joey opens in the Fall - but they might be smarter to wait until next Spring.

 

[bear88]

Posted: 5/25/23 at 5:23am

Yes, we're going back - and sooner than expected, because a friend is getting married at the end of August.

We'll have time to catch a couple of shows before the wedding. From the time I read The Great Gatsby in high school, I have had the impression that everyone who can get out of town does so because the weather is hot and humid. I'm sure this is an exaggeration, but past box office numbers suggest that the departure of most tourists (school starts in August in other parts of the country) leads to a box office slump just before Labor Day.

There will undoubtedly be exceptions. Funny Girl, which we cancelled on seeing in March when Lea Michele called out, will be in its last week - and ticket prices for late August are in the stratosphere as of now. Here Lies Love sounds intriguing, though I want to wait for reactions to the Broadway version to try to persuade myself (much less my skeptical wife) to see it. I would love it if Parade extends through Labor Day weekend but am not counting on that. There are a few splashy shows that will open this summer along with the ones still going (or about to close). We have seen Shucked, Sweeney Todd, and Kimberly Akimbo.

This will be an unusual trip for us, as our original plan (which we hopefully will still do)  was to visit New York City in the fall and catch Merrily We Roll Along and whatever else struck our fancy. 

With the possible exceptions of Funny Girl, if prices drop to something non-insane (yeah, probably not), and Parade if it somehow stays open four extra weeks, this will be bargain-hunting time for shows that we don't necessarily feel strongly about. That's not necessarily so bad. My wife is a fan of just going to New York City and picking shows when she's there. We had to do that in March to a degree and ended up seeing Shucked and Leopoldstadt, which worked out well. 

Updated On: 5/26/23 at 05:23 AM

[inception]

Posted: 5/25/23 at 9:59am

Just checked listings for August, and so much is closing before then. How do you feel about the actors from Will & Grace? They both will have plays running.  I haven't looked at how crazy Funny Girl tickets are.

Next week I'm heading down to the Bay area.  I had planned on going to Yosemite,  but the flooding forecast got me worried,  so I changed my plans & will spend more time in Big Sur & Monterey Bay area.  In San Francisco itself I'll be knocking War Memorial Opera Hous off my bucket list, & also seeing a modern opera  (Adriana Mater) directed by Peter Sellars at SF Symphony. 

[bear88]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 3:45am

A few plans are taking shape for the unexpected New York City trips separated by less than two months. We bought tickets for Funny Girl during its final week and might have acted too quickly - but I decided better safe than sorry by getting partial view orchestra seats in Row F for about $190 each, including fees. I’m guessing that there will be a final flurry of demand following last month’s price drop from insane levels that will at least keep prices close to where they are as of Thursday’s purchase. If I’m wrong, so be it.

For our October trip, we have tickets for Merrily We Roll Along. Didn’t get the best price, probably, especially with the extension most likely depressing prices going forward, but them’s the breaks. We couldn’t plan far enough ahead to get tickets during the pre-sale. 

Beyond that, we will play things by ear, which is kind of refreshing - and my wife’s preference anyway. We’ll probably see three other shows between the two trips, but we won’t get tickets until arriving in New York City. 

Updated On: 7/14/23 at 03:45 AM

[inception]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 9:48am

Would you re-watch shows you have seen before, or do you just want to see new shows?

I'm planning on going at Xmas for an extended long weekend.  On the Friday before the holiday there are matinee options, but mostly shows I have seen before like Hamilton, Hadestown, & Six.  I'm not sure if I want to see something I've already seen (or already seen a few times like Hamilton).  Maybe instead there will be an exhibit at one of the museums to go to instead of seeing a show just for the sake of seeing a show?  MJ has a matinee that day, & I haven't seen it, but I'm not sure I feel the need to see it?

Right now I've got tickets to Merrily, Harmony, & Gutenberg.  I also plan on seeing Tannhauser at the Met which I've never seen anywhere before - when I saw it on their schedule that is what made me decide on Xmas.  I just hope it is a milder winter this year without all the flight disruptions that happened last year.  Last year there were a few days when no flights left Vancouver, & thousands of people's vacations were wrecked.

Updated On: 7/14/23 at 09:48 AM

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 11:41am

So, did you end up seeing Funny Girl with LEA? I think it's the best show in town. I hated it with Beanie though. But the LEA, Tovah, Ramin, Jared chemistry is very good and fixed the show completely to have a talented singer like LEA. I hated Kimberly Akimboo, and wasn't crazy about Shucked, so we may have a similar taste sometimes.

[rubytuesday]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 1:23pm

inception said: "Would you re-watch shows you have seen before, or do you just want to see new shows?

I'm planning on going at Xmas for an extended long weekend. On the Friday before the holiday there are matinee options, but mostly shows I have seen before like Hamilton, Hadestown, & Six. I'm not sure if I want to see something I've already seen (or already seen a few times like Hamilton). Maybe instead there will be an exhibit at one of the museums to go to instead of seeing a show just for the sake of seeing a show? MJ has a matinee that day, & I haven't seen it, but I'm not sure I feel the need to see it?

Right now I've got tickets to Merrily, Harmony, & Gutenberg. I also plan on seeing Tannhauser at the Met which I've never seen anywhere before - when I saw it on their schedule that is what made me decide on Xmas. I just hope it is a milder winter this year without all the flight disruptions that happened last year. Last year there were a few days when no flights left Vancouver, & thousands of people's vacations were wrecked."

Those are the three I'm coming in to see, plus Purlie Victorious.

[BETTY22]

Posted: 7/14/23 at 1:38pm

Harmony, Merrily and Gutenberg are the quality new show opening.

Also, Here Lies Love and Back To The Future are opening - if you are looking for pure entertainment. 

Updated On: 7/16/23 at 01:38 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 7/15/23 at 12:25am

Answers to queries: muscle23ftl, No, I haven’t seen Funny Girl on stage or screen. We canceled in March due to Lea Michele’s absence, will try again during the August trip. I must have been in an especially sour mood when I wrote that March trip summary. Shucked was enjoyable for what it was. I’ve discussed my issues with Kimberly Akimbo more eloquently on another thread so I won’t repeat all that. The performances were excellent; the score fit the musical.

inception, I have only made a repeat visit to a Broadway show once, and that was Phantom of the Opera, which my wife and I saw 26 years apart. It was our second choice on a Monday, and we couldn’t get tickets together with one of our daughters for our first choice. Given that it just closed, I’m glad we saw the original version one last time. The same daughter just saw Hadestown again on her trip. She was introducing it to her friend, and they really enjoyed the musical at the Walter Kerr. I have certainly seen shows I have enjoyed at home multiple times if I can get a good deal or just really liked it. The great thing about live theater is that it’s never the same. 

Updated On: 7/15/23 at 12:25 AM

[bear88]

Posted: 7/20/23 at 4:48am

The ‘playing it by ear’ plan to improvise most of the October trip didn’t last long, as my internal debate about whether to see Here We Are was resolved in favor of buying $129 tickets Wednesday morning - with the $10 Mover membership I got a day earlier. My wife is very indulgent.

I am approaching the show as a bit of a mystery box, but with an impressive cast. We actually saw Tracie Bennett in the 1994 London revival of She Loves Me on our honeymoon. I’ve never really been in that part of Manhattan, so it will be an area for my wife and I to explore beforehand.

So two of our three slots on the October trip are filled with Sondheim musicals. We also have an open slot for the August trip. We’re not going to buy any more tickets in advance. I mean it this time. My wife needs some day-of-show purchases to make the theater part of the trips complete.

Updated On: 7/20/23 at 04:48 AM

[bear88]

Posted: 8/27/23 at 2:12pm

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to push back our departure date for the August trip. So it will be a very brief excursion, primarily to see a friend’s wedding on Long Island. I’ve never been there.

We do have tickets to see Funny Girl the night before, but that will be it as far as theater in New York City this time around. (I am seeing The Hippest Trip, the out-of-town tryout of the Soul Train musical, on Sunday after our return to the San Francisco Bay Area.) Scanning through old recommendations for things to check out during the day. Except for the night of our arrival, the weather looks good.

If all goes well, we’ll be back in October.