Thoughts from my NYC vacation - thoughts about the shows

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 1:31pm

Hey guys. Well I just got back from NYC late Sunday night. What can I say...eventful! The blackout killed about a 1/3 of our vaca but the rest was salvaged. During our truncated vaca we went to the Natural History Museum, did a little of Central Park/Little Italy/China Town, went on the NBC studio tour, saw the naked cowboy, went to the WTC site and of course saw some shows. I was very happy with the shows we saw.
AVENUE Q - Oh man! Better than I ever thought. I knew it was going to be good but not that amazing. I laughed so much. It was so entertaining. All the actors were amazing with the singing, puppeterring an acting. What a fun time all around. Could something as silly as this be a threat come Tony time? I hope so!

MAN OF LA MANCHA - After seeing AVEQ the night before my wife wanted to see a more stereotypical musical and we agreed upon Man of La Mancha. This show was so entertaining! Brian Stokes Mitchell is INCREDIBLE. I finally saw a showstopper and a standing O midway through a show...The Impossible Dream of course. Anyway...the music was great (love the Spanish guitar), the dancing was cool (I don't like dancing all that much but this coreography was fun to watch) and all the actors were wonderful. This was my first time seeing Man and I was so impressed!

HAIRSPRAY - I was lucky to be the fourth person chosen on Sunday for the lottery. I had high expectations and hopes for the show and unfotunately it didn't reach them all. The show was entertaining but a little to foo-fooish (I know...I made up that word) for me. Don't get me wrong I did enjoy it but it didn't live up to the hype. I also found many of the jokes to be bland and overdone. I did think the cast had a lot of spirit and most of the musical pieces were fun (I did not enjoy the Miss Crabs woman songs and Corny's pieces). I thought the new Tracy (Kathy - I think thats her name - from Bat Boy) was good and Harvy was fun to watch. Good show, not great, but certainly entertaining.

So there we go...my run down. Ya'll don't have to write back but if ya'lll want to talk about any of this I'll be happy to start a conversation. All in all a great weekend (minus the black out of course) with great entertainment!

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 1:34pm

Well, Hairspray has a lot of hype and certainly, it is hard for anything to meet mega hype. What would your thoughts on it have been if you wne in with no hype/expectations?? Also, anythoughts on teh rest of t he cast??

As far as Avenue Q goes, I really want to see this one. I have heard nothing but wonderful things about John Tartaglia.


Look at the blackout this way... you will have a good story to tell in several years when people talk about this one.

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 5:33pm

Well let's see... I did enjoy Hairspary and I'm certain I would have enjoyed it even more if it did not have all the hype surrounding it. I came in expecting the world and receiving less. My wife who is not into theatre as much as me came in thinking it would be dumb and thurougly enjoying it. Yes it was a good show but I have many others that I enjoy more (for example: I enjoyed Avenue Q and Man of La Mancha more on this trip alone). So specifics:
- Many jokes were period piece jokes which went over my head. I'm a month shy of 26 and I've got to say I know little about this period besides generalizations.
- Harvy's character was fun and he did a great job. The only problem I had with his character was that he did too many low voice type schtick voices (I hope this makes sense).
- "Tracy" was great. She had a lot of energy and played the part perfectly. You can tell she's sorta new because she had two line mess-ups (she had to repeat herself).
- I don't care for Miss Crabs charcter much. I think its the way it isn't written and not the actress' fault.
- Also I find Corny's and Miss Crabs' daughter's roles as very annoying. I dunno...it just doesn't work for me.
- I loved the big numbers like "Momma I'm a Big Girl Now" and of course the finale (so much fun).
- I saw the beginning of this movie a month ago and I thought the story was pretty silly. Going in I thought they would have made it not so silly and foo-fooish but you know what happens when you assume.

Overall...I think this show is the equivalent of a "popcorn movie". You'll get loads of fun but not much more. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with it but I guess I was expecting more coming from a show that is critically acclaimed had has tons of tropihes to back it up.

And broadway guy...get to Avenue Q as soon as you can. Wow...amazing!!! The whole cast is wonderful. John's character's are great. It's neat how he goes fom he loveable Princeton (lead) to the Republican closeted puppet. Also I have to say the same of Stephanie and her potrayls of Kate and Lucy...so lovable as Kate and seductive as Lucy T Slut. And Trekkie the monster is my favorite (got his window card). The humans were great too. You know everyone was great! They made those puppets seem human. And that book, music and lyrics...AWESOME. Hopefully I haven't hyped it up too much for you. Anyway...go see it as soon as you can. And by the way I saw a person from my favorite movie at the show. This guy played one of the friends from "Swingers" with Vince Vaughn and Jon Faverau who always said "This place is dead anyway". Anyway...sorry about that...I'm still excited about it!

[magruder]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 5:38pm

And DoubleDown, you didn't even mention the Bad Idea Bears.

[DoubleDown11]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 5:45pm

Magruder...those carebears gone mad were great too!!! There are WAY too many great things about this production to name them all.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/19/03 at 5:45pm

Yes, I think, for me at least, is the period specific jokes and such. They really paid attention to a lot of details to put those in. I am only 20, I and wether or not it is good, I got a lot of them. :)
yes, they do use Harvey's gravely voice every chance (just us girls in teh big dollhouse), and I am wondering how they will translate to other Edna's who aren't as gruff (example -- Bruce Vilanch)
Kathy Brier -- I haven't seen her full performance as Tracy, but I have heard several songs from the show as sung by her and I must say I like her more than Marissa. She has the 'sqeek' of Marissa, but not as nasaly and with a lot more control and power behind it. I describe her voice as a balnce between Marissa and that of Annie Golden from the demos.
I think the lack of enthusiasm for Velma Von Tussle might be due to Barbara Walsh. I have heard from several people who enjoyed the role as played by Linda, but not returning to see barbara and leaving with a less than favorable opinion of her portrayal of the character. I, personally, would enjoy Karen Mason taking on the role. :)
"You Can't Stop The Beat" is most definately a wonderful to end the show with a bang.... and a song that sticks in you rhead (same thing with "Good Morning, Baltimore")



Avenue Q ::
I enjoy watching puppeteers at work.. the way that they can bring a pile of nothing to life and make it believable as a real person is a true gift... and one that is often not recognized. Haveing heard several clips of John Tartaglia sings, I hope he will contue on Broadway even after Avenue Q.
In the short clips I have seen of the show featuring him.. yes, that face of his is great (to look at and in the way he uses it)