Jayar2 said: "I was in the first row of the balcony, center, and the view was perfect. Closer that I expected, and the light show was amazing from that angle. It was hot up there (ha!)-- I felt like I wanted to die it was so hot. The water fountains do not work, and they ran out of bottled water quickly-- prepare for that.
The show itself was wonderful. I loved Ashford's modern take on Dot, and that she was willing to slip out of the Bernadette Peters mold (that was amazing, but you can't replicate that). Her gestures and facial expressions made the role interesting in a new way. Gyllenhaal is not the singer that Patinkin was (duh!), but he was quite good nevertheless. I especially enjoyed him when he transformed into the dog for a whatever song that was. (What song is that?) The audience loved him.
People were scrounging up Playbills like mad after the show-- a lot of people didn't get the ones with the stickers on the cover but somehow I got two.
Unfortunately, i will not be able to see the performance, as I will not be within 1,000 miles of NYC during the run. The biggest reason I am disappointed is the recent recording of Jake Gyllenhaal singing Finishing the Hat. I was absolutely flabbergasted at how beautiful I felt his performance was. I was surprised at the quality of his voice, and loved the performance itself. I did see Mandy Patikin when the show first opened from the second row of the Booth,and have played the album / CD / digital recordings of the show ever since, and I like Gyllenhaal's version of Finishing the Hat better. Patinkin may have a stronger voice, but his historic tendency to turn up the histrionics has always hindered my enjoyment of his performances. While it is not evident on the album, it was at least one of the two evenings that I saw there original production.
