What shouldn't we miss on our May trip? (And how it went - see Page 2)- Page 2

[bear88]

Posted: 5/13/19 at 9:32pm

Everyone is right, of course, that all of this is hopelessly subjective.

My family does prefer musicals, but they would like a really good play instead of a mediocre musical. I just don't want to recommend too many plays. And they're not just interested in light fare. Favorite musicals of theirs (and mine) include West Side Story, Hamilton, Fun Home, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

I have concluded, from reading the various threads, that The Prom is almost as divisive as the Oklahoma! revival. Tootsie isn't too far behind, although there is more of a consensus. Our Oklahoma! decision, assuming tickets are available, will affect other choices.

I've got 5 or 6 potential slots. Two have been purchased already (Hadestown, Frankie & Johnny). Another will be, barring a change of heart (My Fair Lady). That leaves 2 or 3 shows, depending on whether we arrive in time to see a show the first night. (If we make it in time, after a cross-country flight and race to our hotel, I want to see something light.)

The most likely choices for the 2 (or 3) slots are: Tootsie, The Prom, The Ferryman, Ink, Oklahoma! Even then, I'm leaving out some shows that have have received a lot of praise or sound interesting for one reason or another.

At times like this, I wish I could visit New York City more often.

Updated On: 5/14/19 at 09:32 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 3:39pm

Back home. First off, I wanted to thank everyone who chimed in, both on this thread and on all the other threads I read as I tried to figure out what shows to see, possible deals, and other advice.

We ended up seeing 6 shows, as we arrived in time to see a show last Friday (despite my ignoring good advice and taking a cab). My biggest regret is not seeing The Ferryman and to a lesser extent, Ink, but my family likes musicals and there were plenty of worthwhile ones to see.

A quick rundown of what we saw, how we got tickets, what I thought, in case this helps anyone:

Tootsie (Friday, TKTS booth Times Square, left mezzanine): I tend to be leery of adaptions of popular films, but this musical comedy is really very funny. The performances, from Santino Fontana through the entire cast, are all quite good. Sarah Stiles makes the most of her part as Michael's ex-girlfriend and gets the best song/performance, "What's Gonna Happen," early in the show. It's an old-fashioned show with some terrific production numbers, and it has some issues, but they are (mostly) handled deftly. More than any other musical I've seen, Tootsie felt like a really good network sitcom, just with songs. The score isn't great, but it works well enough and certainly doesn't sink the show. Book writer Robert Horn packs the show with one-liners and other jokes. Many of them fall flat, but a strikingly high percentage land. Horn does write himself into a corner in Act 2, and doesn't really escape it as hilariously or pointedly as I would have hoped. The climax of the show is a misfire, although the coda was fine. But I liked Tootsie a lot more than I expected. To everyone who said I would laugh, you were right.

My Fair Lady (Saturday, TKTS booth, South Street Seaport, near-center orchestra): We got a sharp ticket seller at the TKTS booth (where we bought tickets for Saturday night and the Sunday matinee), who got us marvelous 8th row seats on the aisle just outside of the middle row. I had never seen My Fair Lady in person. My wife, who grew up on the cast recording, and daughter hadn't either. For me, it was almost like seeing a new show. The production is fascinating to watch, and seeing it at Lincoln Center with its whirling, moving sets reminded me of why I wanted to see the revival in New York City rather than on tour. I know there's been some dissension over Laura Benanti's performance, and I don't have a comparison, but I thought she was terrific and in fine voice. Christian Dante White makes the most of his role, and his "On the Street Where You Live" is great (his character is underwritten, but that's another story). Rosemary Harris is wonderful. There was a lot to love about the show, and the whole family enjoyed it. We had a debate about the ending afterward, but I'll put that in the thread devoted to the conclusion.

Oklahoma! (Sunday, TKTS booth, South Street Seaport, bottom of the "U" in the 4th row): I didn't think all of Daniel Fish's experiments paid off, and the ending probably deserves a thread of its own, but I loved this production. The show was, in many ways, a lot more conventional than I was expecting. Fish does a terrific job heightening what's already in the material. One of my favorite Rodgers-Hammerstein songs, "Surrey With The Fringe on Top," is transformed - quite logically, by the end - into a seduction song. The effect of the lighting when Damon Daunno sings the song's slow conclusion to Rebecca Naomi Jones is perfect, and Daunno and Jones achieve what is critical - they have real chemistry. I had seen Ali Stroker sing, "I Cain't Say No," on her many promotional appearances on television. But even with her facing away from us during the first part of the song, it didn't prepare me for how great her performance would be. When she slams her arms on the tables and stares at a man in the audience, it's hilarious and memorable. She was wonderful throughout. James Davis is also terrific and funny as Will Parker. Our family debated Jones' performance after the show (I liked it a lot, but there was some dissent), but we agreed she was very good in the clever staging of "Many a New Day." Special mention should go to Mallory Portnoy, who is hilarious in her small role.) The set design was smart. The band was just so terrific, taking a great score and transforming it into something I like even better. And Daunno turned in my favorite male lead performance of the trip.

Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune (Monday, bought tickets in advance, mezzanine): I've written more about this in the preview thread, so I won't belabor things. This play was disappointing to me, although for $25 I can't complain much. Terrence McNally's play has some funny and interesting moments, but in this revival anyway, I couldn't stop thinking that Michael Shannon's Johnny was a weird, obsessive creep who Audra McDonald's Frankie should get a restraining order to force him to stay away. It's hard to watch the play in 2019 and avoid this conclusion. (My wife and daughter had the same reaction.) McDonald fares better as Frankie, who has less dialogue but is able to craft a sympathetic portrayal of a woman who is desperately lonely but understandably cautious in her relationships with men. 

The Prom (Tuesday, TodayTix, orchestra house left on the aisle): We ended up getting very good seats even though the show was sold out at the TKTS booth on a Tuesday. It's a show that tries to have its cake and eat it, by mocking out-of-touch Broadway stars and then having one of them successfully persuade homophobic teens in an Indiana town to change their views about same-sex relationships. It's a funny song but a bit of a cheat. The show is entertaining enough, fun because of its stars - Beth Leavel and Brooks Ashmanskas - and touching because of Caitlin Kinnunen as the gay teen caught in a battle she didn't expect. The funniest thing, for me, is that the Broadway fan/high principal is played by Michael Potts, who I know best as Brother Mouzone from The Wire. I hadn't realized it until my wife pointed it out during intermission. It's a charming, feel-good comedy that is a little too smug and safely self-righteous for my taste. The songs all whooshed out of my head quickly, but I enjoyed them at the time.  

Hadestown (Wednesday, bought tickets in advance, rear orchestra center): This is another musical where my lack of past exposure to it may have helped. I wasn't comparing the performances at the Walter Kerr Theatre to past incarnations of the show. I didn't bother reading much about it at all, or listening or anything more than snippets of a few songs. While I didn't love the score quite as much as many people do, at least in one evening, it was easily the best score of the new shows I saw, and the cumulative effect of Rachel Chavkin's direction, the creative set design, and the performances by the entire cast added up to a wonderful evening of theater. Andre De Shields is the coolest man on stage as Hermes. Patrick Page's voice as Hades could win best sound design by himself. Eva Noblezada was excellent as Eurydice (my daughter was particularly impressed) and Amber Gray is, well, Amber Gray as Persephone. But the actor who I felt has been unfairly criticized is Reeve Carney. It's not his fault that Anais Mitchell and Chavkin have made changes to Orpheus' character, and I'm not sure I loved having him be so 'touched.' But he plays the part as written well, and he does the one thing that the show would fail without: He delivers on "Epic III," the centerpiece of the underrated second act. Hadestown also concludes beautifully, in a way I should have seen coming but is executed perfectly. It was my favorite show of the trip, overall. By the way, I had no complaints about my center orchestra seats, which were terrific, but I can understand why people would prefer the mezzanine, at least for some of the staging in a few songs. If I see it again there, I would probably see it upstairs to get a different perspective.

Updated On: 6/1/19 at 03:39 PM

[Skip23]

Posted: 5/25/19 at 9:08pm

DIDNT SEE YOUR LAST POST BEFORE I POSTED THIS. I LOVE HOW EVERYONE SEES THINGS IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS. AND HALF THE FUN IS DISSECTING SHOWS AFTERWARD!  GLAD YOU HAD SUCH A GOOD TIME. AND GLAD YOU FINALLY SAW MY FAIR LADY!!!. AND LUCKY YOU FOR BEING ABLE TO AFFORD SUCH A TRIP!!!

 

 My faves are:

Beetlejuice - crazy, snarky, well done
The Prom - solid
Be More Chill - surprisingly well done for a teen show
Constitution - easential
Ink - solid
Aint Too Proud - also solid, if a bit staid
Cher Show - pure entertainment and an amazing Cher in Stephanie Bloch

Stay away from
Hadestown. - Boring but nice set
Ferryman - well done but movie of the week
Kate - badly cast and directed
Oklahoma - juvenile and gimmicky
Tootsie - a lost opportunity
Gary - huh?
Mockingbird - the movie is WAY better


You really should see My Fair Lady if you’ve never seen it. See it on Tuesday. The understudy is in that night. Better than Laura.

But you’ve probably come and gone. Hope you had a great time!

Updated On: 5/25/19 at 09:08 PM

[bear88]

Posted: 5/26/19 at 1:23am

Debating the merits of shows is one reason why this message board exists. (It was funny when waiting for Frankie and Johnny to start, in the $25 seats, to see a guy in the row in front of me - also in the bargain seats - scanning this message board.)

You didn't like my two favorite shows on the trip. Which is legit. The Oklahoma! revival is one of the more divisive shows of the season, and one that was a subject of family discussion about whether to attend. Hadestown got panned by Peter Marks in the Washington Post along with several posters here. But hey, we agree about My Fair Lady (even if I didn't see Kerstin Anderson) and The Prom - and I enjoyed the choreography and performances in Ain't Too Proud in its first tryout (even if I didn't love the show overall).