Reviews: The Wedding Singer (7/19 Mat) and Spelling Bee (7/19 Eve)

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:08pm

Woohoo! Day one of my New York trip has been completed! I started off the day with TKTS for The Wedding Singer, and then went to an evening showing of Spelling Bee, where I was a speller! Nice!

WEDDING SINGER
How can people trash this show? Honestly! It was just so much fun -- I caught myself smiling widely for no reason on so many occasions! The only understudy was Nicolette Hart as Linda (Where'd Felicia go?) and she was just awesome, as was the entire cast. There was so much chemistry between Laura and Stephen -- I really cant see where all the bad reviews come from. I can't say any more great things about the show -- only that the cast was so fantastic after the show. Amy Spanger and Kevin Cahoon, especially, were so nice, and Laura and I had a nice conversation about "Starved," a television pilot that she and my cousin starred in. Very cool. Anyways, Wedding Singer was amazing, and I love everything about it.

SPELLING BEE
Now for the cool part. So I got to the theatre at 7:00, and wasn't let in unil 7:20. Okay. So I went through the standard "Do you want to volunteer?" process, and hey! I got in! I was so excited to be sitting in that back room, I was smiling like crazy. The show in itself was amazing (particularly Jose and Josh), but being in it was just a completely new and amazing experience. I sat between Jesse and Jose up top (so cool!), and heard them mumble and burp and curse. Jesse offered me some sandwich, but I declined. Hah. Anyways, the first two spellers got out on their first words, so it was only myself and a little girl left for "Pandemonium," which I have to say is so embarassing but oh so funny. My first word was... mexican. And I thought I spelled it wrong. But alas, I passed that round, and made it long enough to get out on 'cenacle,' some Christian word. I spelled it senacle, and missed that first c, so I was pretty bummed. And I got Strawberry Kiwi juice, which wasn't very good. But still, the rest of the show was fantastic -- didn't really like Maurice Murphy as Mitch Mahoney, but still good. Afterwards, I got pictures with everyone, and got the standard well-wishing from fellow audience members. Surprisingly, though, I had full conversations (a good 5-10 minutes) with most cast members. Jesse and I talked about his last week of shows. Jose and I talked about cursing onstage. And Greg Stuhr, who is the friendliest person I've ever met out of a Broadway stage door, is... well, the friendliest person I've ever met out of a Broadway stage door. I almost ended the conversation -- he kept talking! He said I had come the closest he'd ever seen to spelling that word correctly, and that launched a conversation about writing comedy and plays and such. We were there till everyone left and the theater turned black. What a guy! Fantastic personality -- can't wait to meet him again!

And that was my first day in NYC (not ever, but this specific trip). Tomorrow: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, sans Norbie. Here's to tomorrow!

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/19/06 at 11:44pm

Volleyballer - you're VERY, VERY lucky. Tomorrow night is Keith and Brian's 1st performance.

For everyone - Yes, they were scheduled to start on Thursday.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:32am

Great choices for shows!!! I agree about The Wedding Singer, it is just fantastic!!! Did Laura come out after the matinee? Did you get to meet Stephen, he just comes out to sing. He is great! what a talented, generous person! Gotta love Stephen.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:35am

By the way, you went to the kid friendly Wedding Singer. It is usually sold out every Wednesday matinee. Was it packed?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:36am

"In the cenacle, Jesus said, 'I am a Jew. But tonight, one of you will betray me, so I'm ordering the shrimp.'"

[bwayondabrain]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:02am

are Celia, Sarah, and Deborah still in it? anyone know when they leave?

[dancingthrulife04]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:07am

Whaaat no Felicia again?

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 10:53am

Really? I figured Keith and Brian had started on Tuesday. Well, in that case, I suppose I'll give a great review for you guys.

Yep, Laura and Stephen and all came out. Stephen was especially nice, but overall, they were all just so fantastic. Matthew Saldivar poked his head out, and I cheered (I was alone), and he smiled and went back inside. And yeah, the show was PACKED. But I didn't even notice it was all that kid-friendly, except for the changes in "Somebody Kill Me Please" and a few Sammy lines. There was a woman and her children behind me and she looked kind of shocked at what was still in the show.

Celia, Deborah, and Sarah are all in the show. Deborah and Sarah didn't come out where everyone else came out, though, which surprised me, especially since Deborah's agent got me the tickets!

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:00am

laura and stephen do have wonderful chemistry and i dont see how anyone can trash the show either! It's so amazing! i cant wait to see it again!

i was supposed to see Spelling Bee in may but never got tickets. maybe the next time im in NY ill go. sounds pretty cool.

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:29am

Glad you had a good time! Can't wait to hear about DRS w/ Brian. How was Celia?

[gustof777]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:30am

oops my bad- double post

Updated On: 7/20/06 at 11:30 AM

[thevolleyballer]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 11:51am

Celia was fantastic as always, but Maurice Murphy (the u/s for Mitch) made "The I Love You Song" weaker than it should have been. Still, she was great.

OH! And I forgot to add! Hah, right after I got 'mexican,' Jose went up and said, "Didn't the boy with the holes in his pants get mexican?" Just thought I'd throw that out there, since I had a gigantic hole in my jeans. Ahh... I miss being in the show already!

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 12:04pm

Lucky. I'd kill to be an audience speller.

Glad you enjoyed the shows.

[mijofly19]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 12:07pm

Does anybody know who went on as Freddy & Lawrence for the Tues. & Wed. shows? Was it all Dennis & Jason or did they let Tom & Timothy do a show(s)?

[LeaGirl]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 12:17pm

Re: The above - I know Jason didn't go on Tuesday.

And re: the original poster. OH MY GOD who is your cousin? I'm a Starved junkie - I watch all 7 episodes pretty much on repeat constantly - I flipped out when it didn't get picked up again - that show was just a SCREAM and so well done - whoever he is, tell him the show still has many fans.

[theatergeek2]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 1:08pm

re: Maurice Murphy I think he is a really great Chip and Comfort Counselor too. He is different from Derrick but I really like his voice. I'm surprised you didn't see Sarah and Deborah. They are always friendly and they have to come out as there is no other exit. You must of missed them. They look really different out of costume and people miss them all the time. Who is Deborah's agent? What was Jesse's sandwich made of?

[mijofly19]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 1:09pm

I think that there is another exit at Circle in the Square. I believe its the one that Dan Fogler used.

[tmz814]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:35pm

I am pretty sure that there are a few different ways to exit from Circle in the Square (and the Gershwin), depending on how quickly you need to get somewhere. I remember Raul Esparza sometimes sneaking out of a different door (not the one where Dan Fogler used to come out of) when he wanted to avoid the rush. Daphne used to sneak out another door as well sometimes when she was doing Rocky. I also literally almost ran into Rob Sapp as he snuck out of one of the other doors after Wicked the other day. I am pretty sure that they can get out without anyone seeing them if they really want to.

[muscle23ftl]

Posted: 7/20/06 at 3:47pm

What kind of tix did Deborah's agent get you? Did you go to see the show for free? That's great!!!