Weekend of Theatre Review

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 12:37am

So I treated myself to 4 days in NY this past weekend and managed to get in 4 shows in 2 days. I doubt anyone really cares about my opinion but I have used people's reviews on here in making my decisions so figured why not add my 2 cents...

So on Saturday afternoon I took in the matinee of You Can't Take It With You. I was really looking forward to this because, let's be honest, James Earl Jones is a legend and Annaleigh Ashford and Rose Byrne and pretty funny ladies. It was a really funny show but I didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. Annaleigh stole the show and was absolutely hysterical but I kinda left wanting more. They did a BC/EFA speech and had window posters for sale for $200. I waited at the stage door and was able to meet Annaleigh, Julie Halston, Fran Kranz, Kristine Nielsen, Mark Linn-Baker, Will Brill, and Joe Tapper, who all kindly signed my playbill. The door guy said James Earl Jones and Rose Byrne don't come out in between shows. I sat in row J of the orchestra which was a great seat with perfect sight of the whole stage.

That evening I went and saw Les Mis. Now I've seen Les Mis nearly a dozen times at various levels but decided to go because I really wanted to see it on Broadway with the revival cast and let me just say that I was not disappointed. The highlight for me had to be Caissie Levy. She was flawless, breathtaking, and her Fantine was perfect. The whole show was fabulous and that cast is something else. They were also incredible gracious at the stage door and actually chatted with people as they went. Most of the cast came out and I managed to chat with Andrew Kober, Will Swenson, Caissie Levy, Nikki M James, Cliff Saunders, Dennis Moench, and Jason Forbach who all signed my playbill. Nobody else came out the stage door. In terms of who was who, Andrew Kober was on for Bamatabois and Dennis Moench was on for Grantaire. I was in the front row of the front mezz and absolutely would recommend that seat to anyone. Nikki did the BC/EFA speech with a little help from Will and they were pretty funny, talking about how they didn't want to lose to Phantom for another year.

Sunday afternoon I went and saw Beautiful and am so thankful I did. To see Jessie Mueller in that role was a privilege. She completely deserved that Tony award and absolutely killed it. Her acting at the end of Act 1 left me speechless. The only person out was Anika, so the role of Cynthia Weil was played by Sara King who was really good (I don't have anything to compare it to but it was still a good performance). In terms of a stage door experience this was the best. This cast was so gracious. There weren't many people waiting, and it was the end of their week but they each took time to stop and talk with everyone and they were such a classy group of people. Pretty much every lead came out and Jessie Mueller chatted with everyone, such a down to earth lady who has managed to keep herself grounded even though she is becoming one of broadway's leading ladies. If you can't decide whether to see the show before she leaves I'm telling you, SEE THE SHOW!!! Paul Anthony Stewart did the BC/EFA speech. I had a seat in row J of the orchestra smack in the centre and it was perfect.

My last show was This is Our Youth. To be honest, the only reason why I originally got tickets to it was because it was one of the few shows that had a Sunday night performance. After reading some of the reviews on here and elsewhere I went into it with low expectations and I was actually pleasantly surprised. It was really good. Michael Cera was really funny as Warren and Kieran Culkin stole the show as Dennis. Tavi Gevinson did a fine job but was the weakest of the 3 however as the most inexperienced of the 3 that isn't something to be ashamed off. She did the BC/EFA speech and seemed slightly uncomfortable but got the message across. I was in the front row of the Mezz and had a great seat. All 3 came to the stage door with Michael first about 30 mins after curtain and Kieran last about 80 mins after the curtain.

Overall a great weekend, I'm already looking forward to planning my next trip in the spring.

[inception]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 2:24am

Thank-you, I always like to read other traveler's reviews and there are only a few other people who post on here from our area.

When planning my October trip this past summer I almost chose This Is Our Youth for the same reason, but then Hedwig extended and I chose that instead for the Sunday evening show.

There are only a couple direct flights from Vancouver, and I have a question regarding which airline you used, but if you don't want to answer that's fine, or if you would rather answer in a private message that is also fine.

I'm guessing you didn't take the Cathay Pacific red-eye flights since I don't think there would have been enough time to get to JFK after stage-dooring This Is Our Youth. Did you take the Air Canada direct flights from Newark? In October I took the direct Air Canada flight into Newark, but didn't want to have to get up so early to leave NY so I instead took an afternoon connecting flight out of La Guardia on their partner United, which ended up a total mess. It seemed like every single United flight going through Chicago that day was screwed up and a couple thousand people ended up stuck in O'Hare overnight.

[BwayinVan]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 2:39am

Normally I fly from seattle with JetBlue as I have family down there but this time I took the Cathay red eye and would do it again as it was such a pleasant flight. I came back yesterday so didn't have to race on Sunday and was able to enjoy a beautiful monday in the city.

[inception]

Posted: 11/26/14 at 9:03pm

Thanks for answering! Yes, that flight is really excellent, I did it last year and should have taken it again.