Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
Music, Lyrics, Book and Orchestration by Dave Malloy
Directed by Rachel Chavkin
Imperial Theatre
June 10, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
This musical was like a full exotic dinner with course after course of food that you could never imagine, served in a way you couldn’t anticipate, with a flavor that was both familiar and exotic. That is my best shot at describing the “experience” of seeing the Great Comet. The entire theatre had been gutted and made into a Russian beer hall. A similar attempt was made by Broadway’s Cabaret a few years ago – but this TRULY took the idea and ran with it, Food was served (or rather tossed) at the show’s beginning and much of the audience sat at candle lit tables. Continue reading Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812→
The Play That Goes Wrong
Written by Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields
Directed by Mark Bell
Lyceum Theatre
June 10, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
One of my most favorite guilty pleasures in the theatre is British farce! There is something about such a proper, well-speaking group like the Brits suffer hilariously in front of an audience – – and deliciously suffer they do in this play. In the vain of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off we have the classic comedy about the farce making fun of making farces. It may sound like an inside joke to theatre people, but it was not. EVERYONE sitting around me was laughing from the start to the finish. Continue reading The Play That Goes Wrong→
Six Degrees of Separation
Written by John Guare
Directed by Trip Cullman
Starring Allison Janney, John Hickey, and Corey Hawkins
Barrymore Theatre
April 14, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
“For each of our dysfunctions, there is someone out there eager to meet us.” This is NOT a line from the play but a line I have learned from my life – – the hard way. I saw Six Degrees of Separation almost 30 years ago and all I could remember was the nudity and the reckless inclusion of gay hustlers. Beyond that I am not sure I could tell you the plot. But I am some 30 years older and now able to focus on those things beyond the scintillating and grab more of the story. Continue reading Six Degrees of Separation→
Miss Saigon
Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg
Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Fr & Alain Boublil
Choreography by Geoffrey Garratt
Directed by Laurence Connnor
Broadway Theatre
March 20, 2017 Production website
💉💉💉 out of 5.
It has been 20 years since I saw Miss Saigon and the show feels quite different. The show still has that wonderful anti-war bite of spinning embassy gates, marching followers of Ho Chi Minh storming through the rice fields, and helicopters (now more realistically then EVER) pulling out all of the American forces from Saigon and leaving all of the natives with lots of empty promises and fatherless children. The exploitation of the women into sexual slavery and trafficking remains the same – perhaps made even more painfully blunt as this cast has no inhibitions about touching the breasts, butts, and crotches of women at will. This production truly takes the objectification of women to a new level of inappropriateness. It is NOT for the faint of heart.Continue reading Miss Saigon→
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical Book by Douglas McGrath Written by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur Words and Music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Directed by Marc Bruni Choreography by Josh Prince Stephen Sondheim Theatre March 19, 2017 Production website 💉💉💉💉 out of 5.
Beautiful: The Carole King Musical was such a warm and satisfying return to seeing shows after an unfortunate 3 month break due to something called “a job”. This was not my first time seeing Beautiful. I was there in the very early days of the show in late October 2013 with the outrageous debut of Jessie Mueller as Carole King. I so remember that first moment the light catches her out on stage at the grand piano simply singing one of many hit songs by Carole King – – my jaw dropped. How could any actress catch that oh, so unique voice of Carole King – – and how could any singer step into all of those high school memories I have with these songs and bring them all to life and let me relive the 1970’s all over again. Jessie Mueller was magical! Simply magical.
Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812
