Review - RENT - 10/7/07

RENT

Nederlander Theatre

10/7/07 - 7:00 pm

This days seemed like it would never get here, but then seemed to come way too soon once it arrived. The last performance of Adam & Anthony in RENT (well so they say right now at least, lol, never rule anything out!). The theater was packed, and it was odd knowing so many people there. Everywhere I turned was a familiar face, whether I knew them personally or not. It really helped set to mood to see so many other exciting faces.

When Adam & Anthony first came out onto stage there was a few minute deafening standing ovation. It was so sweet to see them fighting back emotions, but I totally felt bad for how awkward it must have been. The show itself can't really be commented on any further than I already have in the last three reviews. They were just down right amazing. Performances that left me, of all people, speechless. The only difference in the flawless performance was the obvious emotional effect from it being the last show. A lot of added hugging, joking, and lots of tears. And I think for the first time ever, they had cast members bow by themselves. Usually it is a strict ensemble piece with no one being more important than the other. Well after the first cast bow, Adam & Anthony came out by themselves to more deafening cheering. They hugged and cried, and it was a really sweet moment I am glad I got to witness.

I am unlike others in my thinking of the future. I am so happy and blessed to have witnessed this return, having never seen the OBC in the mid 90's, and being a large fan of Adam's. But I don't feel like it is the close to my RENT chapter. I don't think anyone can live up to this, but I want to see them try. I want to eventually see the new Roger/Mark combo, and even if they suck, see the new interpretation.

Another interesting tidbit was that Christopher Hanke was sitting two rows ahead of me at the performance. Chris is the former Mark that left when Anthony returned. I unfortunately never caught his performance but I heard many good things about it. I couldn't help but study his reactions to the performance. I would love to know what was going on in his mind. Here he is watching the original play the part, two months after that was him on stage. At points in the show he was cheering probably the loudest in the audience, which was really cool to see him still care about the show/cast. I think experiences like this, and seeing the real Jerry at the closing performance of Grey Gardens, are my favorite parts of theater experience. It makes it real.

I had only seen RENT live once before this summer, and it was already deeply embedded into my heart, flaws and all. Now I saw it four (suprisingly only four, I am proud of myself) more times in two months, and I still love it as much if not more. Now though I can go back to seeing other shows.

Thank you boys for many great memories!

Oh and to comment on a few cast changes: Rodney Hicks as Benny is a great addition. D'Monroe grew on me by the third performance, but he was too rushed. Rodney adds a great fresh breath and more toned down approach to the role. Tonya Dixon is back in the role of Joanne. Maybe if I had seen her before Merle I would have enjoyed it more, but that role is forever tainted by Merle's amazingness! She wasn't bad, but no Merle. Troy Horne added a bit more to my Collins appreciation since the last time as well.

Review - Speech & Debate - 10/7/07

Speech & Debate

Black Box Theatre

10/7/07 – 2:30 pm

Speech & Debate was the introductory show for the new “Roundabout Underground” initiative. The goal is to “cultivate new works by emerging playwrights by giving them the opportunity to debut their plays as full scale productions the nurturing environment…”, as per the program. I didn’t know anything about the show, but was looking for something to do while waiting to see RENT in the evening.

You enter the theater via elevator and walk into a funky trendy lobby area. It has a small snack stand, a few couches, and tables. The theater itself is just a simple room. There are about 65 office type chairs assembled in rows and an aisle down the middle. There is no stage and the set is just a few feet away from you. Definitely an adjustment from seeing shows in large broadway houses. It was a simple classroom setting. It is a 4 person cast, and all scene changes are used with the same props, similar to how the tables in RENT are used for various scenes.

Essentially, the show is about a few different themes such as sexual abuse, personal acceptance, and social acceptance. It is the typical teen angst type show. There are three main students and an adult who serves as the teacher and reporter. The show starts showing a mock AIM conversation between the teenager on stage (later learned to be Howie played by Gideon Glick of Spring Awakening fame) and an obviously older man, trying to solicit a get together. Soloman is an uptight wannabe journalist. He starts out by vehemently trying to convince the student advisor to let him write on controversial issues such as abortion, and the recent scandal of the mayor propositioning young boys. He is turned down and seeks other avenues. Diwata is a teenage thespian who has a pod cast for her drunken gripes. Sarah Steele is definitely an up and comer after seeing this performance.

All three characters are strangers and have their own personal problem/agendas, but come together with the common goal of getting out the story of their predator drama teacher. While each is using it as personal gain, they end up caring for each others plights. They definitely tackle some common but still taboo topics, which is brave.

The show itself was very good for being a first production. It runs about two hours with no intermission. My body was achy and I want to stand by the middle, so an intermission is needed, but I can’t picture where they can safely stop the show for it, without taking you too far out of the story. But other than the achy feelings, I didn’t realize I was sitting there for two hours. It kept my attention. I can see some areas definitely needing work, but like I said, for a first time production it was very good. I hope it continues to be developed and moves ahead, along with the cast who were superb. I also look forward to seeing other initiatives from the Roundabout Underground program.

Review - Curtains - 9/21/07

Curtains

Al Hirschfeld Theatre

9/21/2007 – 8:00 PM

Curtains is a good old fashioned style feel good musical. Essentially a musical type “Clue” set backstage at an out of town musical tryout in the 1950’s. Lots of simple yet catchy songs with big chorus dance numbers. I have seen a lot of good shows recently, but this just made me smile like a child seeing something flashy. The story is very captivating and light hearted. A great evening out.

Disastrous leading lady Jessica Cranshaw is killed during curtain calls of ‘Robbin’ Hood”, and all cast members are locked in while a Boston detective tries to figure out who the murder is. Along the way, he helps the cast members rewrite and rework the show from a flop into a hit. And a lot more stuff, obviously but that would be giving too much away.

Debra Monk is a force to be reckoned with as Carmen Bernstein, the producer. She completely commands the stage. I think it is part due to her fame and past stage successes, but it is also that this role IS her! Karen Ziemba, playing Georgia Hendricks the song writer turned leading lady, is also a great talent. I have heard plenty of her dancing abilities, but she definitely wowed the audience during numbers like “Thataway”. It is especially impressive because she isn’t exactly a spring chicken anymore, but she still nailed it.

Aaron Fox, composer, was played by Jason Danieley, and he has a new fan in me. I came back and sought out his solo work because his classic broadway tenor voice was beautiful. I listen to “I Miss the Music” on the cast recording but it doesn’t live up to the emotional live performance. I know the song has a double meaning with the relationship of Kander & Ebb (the Composer/Lyricist of the show itself), which made it that much more touching. The rest of the supporting cast was also talented and brought a lot to the show. Only character I wasn’t overly thrilled with was Jill Paice as Niki Harris, the ingénue. I’m sure it was meant to be played like this, but I always want to take a shotgun to the naïve damsel in distress characters. Plus, oy, that high pitched voice was giving me a headache!

David Hyde Pierce (Niles from Frasier) is considered the ultimate star of the show, and he lived up to it. He played Lieutenant Frank Coffi, the detective in charge of the investigation and a budding thespian. His numbers are cute and his character is played with the right mixture of innocence and intelligence. His dance number is “A Tough Act to Follow” was very impressive.

I hopefully will get the chance to catch this show again. The material is good enough, in my opinion, to last on broadway a bit longer, but it all depends on how the eventual replacements of Pierce and Monk do. I sat in center front mezzanine and they were great seats. Not great leg room, but better then some other theaters. This is a big ensemble piece so sitting a bit further back helps you take in everything.

Review - Legally Blonde: The Musical - 9/18/2007

Legally Blonde: The Musical

Palace Theatre

9/18/2007 8:00pm

This outing started out more as a joke, but turned out to be pretty enjoyable. I saw the press release about free tickets to the MTV taping of a live Legally Blonde performance. I submitted an e-mail for me and a friend just for giggles, and we got tickets. They were in the upper right balcony which is essentially miles from the stage, but it was free. Having adored the movie, I always had the urge to see the musical but I part scared me away. So couldn’t beat a free chance.

One of the stipulations of the free tickets was we had to dress in pink, which sucked, but we soldiered forward. They had set up a “pink carpet” for arrivals of D-rated celebrities, and had the crowd stand outside almost taking over that corner of Times Square. A sea of pink, screaming, attention wanting fan girls and boys, I almost wanted to run for the hills. We finally entered and was instructed by a cute chorus boy for pre planned crowd shots, expected at a taping. We were in the country Balcony, so it really didn’t mean anything for us.

The show itself is very flawed and rushes the story way to fast. Even If I had never seen the movie, I still would feel it was rushed. But the supporting cast made up for all of that with their performances. The Greek Chorus - Serena (Tracy Jai Edwards), Margot (Annaleigh Ashford), and Pilar (Asmeret Ghebremichael) were my favorites. They were completely perky and fun throughout the show. The characters in the movie actually annoyed me to no end, but they rocked the musical.

Richard H. Blake was cute as Warner played like a boy band member. Orfeh as Paulette was a real delight. I had never understood the fascination with her, but then she started singing and I was a believer. But no matter how great she sounded it was not the voice I imagined for the role of Paulette though. “Ireland” was a cute song, but didn’t thrill me. Andy Karl was obviously adorable as Kyle the UPS guy. Knowing they are married in real life made it that much cuter.

As for the lead, Laura Bell Bundy, she ruined the show for me. Don’t get me wrong, I respect the talent to get up there and sing and dance 8 times a week, etc. I could never dream of doing that, but she just didn’t do it for me. She tried too hard for a valley girl type voice and it sounded way too nasally. Plus, I didn’t feel anything for her character. I just wanted her to shut up and let everyone else talk. The very essence of the Elle character is being very strong willed and confident, and I just felt like she whined about everything. I gave consideration to the thought that this could be that they gave too much importance and character to the Greek Chorus, but still didn’t convince myself. She and Emmett (Christian Borle) had no romantic chemistry, which is a big part of the show. Christian was adorable given the material given to him.

During the show itself my eyebrow was raised many times in a “Really? I have to endure more of this?” fashion. “There! Right! There!” was pointless and borderline offensive. The gay pool boy scene in the movie was critical but very quick. There have drawn it out into a whole song with many stereotypes. Many shows have songs like that that are praised, but this was obviously going just for cheap laughs. By the end of the show, I felt a bit better just being happy with the actual performances. Whipped Into Shape” was impressively choreographed with a dance number done with jump ropes.

I waited a few days and listened to the cast recording and it grew on me, but I still won’t go gushing praises or anything. I may consider going back again if there is an understudy for Elle, but I won’t put it on the top of my To See list. But it was a fun, light show, so if that is what you are in the mood for, it can be enjoyable.

Review - Les Miserables - 8/29/07

Les Miserables
Broadhurst Theatre
Wednesday August 29, 2007 - 2:00pm

I was fortunate enough to have seen Les Miserables twice during it's original broadway run (1997 & 1999 I believe). Unfortunately, I don't remember too many specifics from those trips, but I do remember being in complete awe each time. "On My Own" can still make me tear up when listening to it. So when the revival opened I was interested in revisiting the show again, but now it a hurry, especially since the "limited engagement" has been extended with no end in sight.

A friend finally returned home to NYC and we decided to try student rush for a Wednesday matinee. We got decent left mezzanine seats. I was in shock over how small the theater is. That is a positive in the sense that anywhere you sit is a good seat, but bad because a production like Les Mis should be big! Honestly, I felt like I was watching a local community production. Don't get me wrong 90% of the actors were amazing, but the show was just, small. Maybe it was just because I was young, but the show always seemed massive and grand to me. This was like a few people and a couple of props.

The music was as beautiful as always, even though musically challenged as I am I could tell half the orchestra wasn't real. "Do Your Hear the People Sing" and "One Day More" still gave me goosebumps.

Drew Sarich gave a very impressive performance as Jean Valjean. His acting was excellent, and the slow but big transformation between ages was comical but still believable. His voice was beautiful and it didn't seem like he was straining to hit any notes. His "Bring Him Home" was fantastic. I had heard good things about him before hand and I will definitely look into his other works.

I would have loved to see Norm Lewis as Javert, but Robert Hunt did not disappoint. However, the staging for the suicide was stupid. Nikki Renee Daniels was on as Fantine and has an angelic voice. I was not disappointed one bit that Lea Salonga was not there. However, Idara Victor was horrible in the role of Cosette. I never really cared for the character, but her singing actually made me like it less. I don't know if she was nervous or what, but yikes. Megan McGinnis was impressive at Eponine, except during On My Own. Her voice was very generic and all she did was stand there in the middle of an empty set. As much as I love the song, I had trouble paying attention. Her and Adam Jacobs were wonderful in "A Little Fall of Rain". Adam really impressed me, and I totally swooned during "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". The rest of the cast was good, but nothing really stood out for me.

If you for some reason have never seen the show at all, this production is definitely worth checking out. But if you have seen the original production, this may not be up your alley unless you are just having a Les Mis craving and need a quick fix.

Review - RENT - 8/7/07 & 8/25/07

I was blessed with seeing RENT again on 8/7/07 and 8/25/07.

8/7/07

Had Row C Center mezzanine seats, which were better than the prior week, but still high. Not much to comment on the performance that hasn't already been said. If anything they were so much better. They had over a week back in the roles and it showed. The cast really appeared to be gelling together. Stagedoor was still mad so we didn't stay. I don't think Adam came out anyway.

8/25/07
These were the tickets I had bought when they first announced the Adam/Anthony return. 8th row direct center baby! Well worth it! The mezzanine definitely holds it charms, but being so close you get to see the emotions on the actors faces. It was so great. The show as 10x better than 8/7, which was 10x better than 7/31. The entire cast is just on fire. Adam has made Roger come alive with his brooding anger yet vulnerability. Anthony is perfection as Mark. Most importantly, you can tell they are enjoying themselves. I actually stage doored afterwards since the new layout. I got a front spot without rushing and everyone was really cool and calm. D'Monroe (Benny), Nicolette Hart (Maureen), Anthony and Tamyra came out and signed. They were all very nice but you can tell really exhausted, especially Anthony. I was secretly bummed Adam didn't come out, but it's all good. I think he had family in town, and he should get to spend the time with them. Just when I thought I was cool with not seeing the show in September, I want to go back like today! :) Yesterday (8/26) marked exactly 8 years since the first time I saw the show, and it still makes me as giddy as a 12 year old.

Review - RENT - 7/31/07

Warning - VERY long!

RENT

Nederlander Theatre

Tuesday July 31, 2007 – 8:00 pm

I don’t think it came as much of a shock that I was more than excited when the announcement was made. Adam and Anthony are returning to RENT for a six week engagement. This was a dream come true for me. I, along with many others, never thought we would ever see them back on the stage at the Nederlander for anything other than a reunion. But oh what I would have done to have seen it happen. Dreams really do come true.

Well to start, the line was snaked all the way around to 7^th avenue just to get in. Once in, the place was packed, but you could sense the excitement in the room. It felt surreal to be back there, since I hadn’t seen it since 1999 when I was 16. Things have taken a bit of a different view now than they did then. The stage and scenery were more nostalgic than “innovative”, etc. But I will fully admit to resorting to a twelve year old girl and squealing with delight when Adam first walked on the stage, clad in those irresistible plaid pants! The crowd went nuts, but then Anthony walked out and they went even crazier. It was amazing and you could tell they were just soaking it all up. It took me a few seconds to actually believe I was actually seeing it all.

“RENT” was packed with power and angst. I will say this many times, but I swear they sounded like the stepped out of the cast recording, they were THAT on. Adam was jumping on and off things with ease, and just really getting into it, along with the rest of the cast. “One Song Glory” was raw and beautiful. I have heard him sing it at his solo shows, but nothing is like seeing it in its actual context. “Light My Candle” was adorable. He and Tamyra Gray had cute chemistry, but not great. She, however, is incredible, more on that later. They were more hands on than I remember the roles being, but it all worked! Adam did a cute little “shimmy” silly dance move when he sang “I’m Roger” and the crowd ate it up.

I was lucky to see Wilson (the original Angel) when I saw my first performance, and he is definitely someone hard to live up to. Justin Johnston really did a good job trying. He was adorable, heartfelt, and a damn good singer. He nailed “Today 4 U”. When Collins enters in the beginning and throws the items, the bag of bananas slipped through Adam’s hands and went straight to the floor. It was pretty funny, but they just kept going. Troy Horne was a decent Tom Collins, but he took some getting used to. He had the voice, but the acting was a bit odd in the beginning, very dry. “You’ll See” was adorable, but I am not very fond of D’Monroe as Benny, just very blah.

One of the other reasons I rushed to see the show so soon was because on top of Adam and Anthony, Merle Dandridge was returning for a quick stint as Joanne. I missed her when I saw Tarzan and was very upset. She was just as awesome and I expected. I love her take on Joanne best out of all I have seen via youtube, etc. “Tango Maureen” was enjoyable and she and Anthony danced the hell out of it. Tamyra definitely is my favorite Mimi. I wasn’t fond of the look, she was a bit too small and skinny, and really didn’t dig the short hair. In the “Out Tonight” outfit and the hair, it kind of looked like she belonged in Rainbow Brite. Don’t get me wrong, she herself looked amazing, just didn’t fit the show. I would love to have my legs look like that in tight blue leather! However, she wowed me with the vocals. I was never a big fan of Daphne or any others take really. She really made me love it. She rocked out and nailed all of the banister dancing. I was not a fan of the pulling the glitter out of her shirt and releasing it. Since she couldn’t do it from her hair, they should just cut it completely. “Another Day” was emotional. Adam remembered all of his lines, and he and Tamyra really got into it.

“La Vie Boheme” was energetic and spot on. Even Adam actually looked like he was enjoying the beginning dance moves. As an obsessed fan, I couldn’t stop giggling just because it was uncoordinated Adam doing it. I also totally fangirled it when he stripped to the black cut off tank, I will admit it proudly! With Anthony, it felt like I was watching a bootleg from 1996, he was just that perfect - movements, singing, everything! There were some added movements and little things from when I last saw it, especially Adam’s graphic and hilarious motions for “hold an erection on the high holy days”. “I Should Tell You” was touching and mushy. Like stated above, they were very “gropey” during it.

I got all jittery when they came out for Act II and lined up for “Seasons of Love”. It is such simple staging but still just tugs at your heartstrings. However, it was short lived for me because I thought the female soloist just butchered it. It’s similar to people butchering the National Anthem. I don’t understand why people just can’t sing it, but have to add all weird “riffs” (I’m musically challenged) and ruin it. Back to point, I LOVED “Happy New Year”. It was one of three songs I was most excited to see. Adam even nailed the simple little lines I loved (going higher at the end of door in “they padlocked the door”, bad british accent “That’s shaken not stirred”, etc.) Wasn’t too fond of the actress playing Maureen, but she did look really good in the cat suit! “Take Me or Leave Me” was good, but mainly because Merle rocked it. “Without You” started my tear ducts. It was beautifully sung by Tamyra and Adam, and it is the start of Angel’s death. I forgot how “wow” “Contact” was, and “I’ll Cover You(Reprise)” did me in. But I didn’t cry as much as I do when I hear Jesse sing it, sorry. I know I am not supposed to compare, but that is one song that I cannot bare to depart from the original. Troy did it justice for the moment though.

Move on to the moment I was most anticipating, “Goodbye Love”. Amazing! I don’t know how to elaborate on it. It was just perfectly done. I was speechless. And then they kept me that way with “What You Own”. Once again, it was like I was listening to the recording, they were just that on. And it was nice to have new images and get the movie Bon Jovi/Britney Spears video images out of my head! “Your Eyes” was the third song I was looking forward to, and big surprise, I loved it. As much as I love it though, I do still get a sarcastic laugh thinking that he goes and gets his freakin guitar when the chick is sitting there dying, but what can you do! “Finale” was powerful and moving. The projection images were the only things I couldn’t really see from our seats though.

Everyone jumped to their feet the minute the stage went black and cheered passionately through curtain calls. I really like that they bow as a cast, and not one single person gets an individual bow. We went outside and it was pandemonium! People were just swarmed around the barricades. I was just speechless. We had walked down to the corner by 7^th Ave, and when you looked down, it was a mob scene. Cars couldn’t get down the street because everyone flooded out into. Out of no where you heard a roar of screams (Anthony coming out), and it was so loud it stopped everyone walking down 7^th! If they didn’t have egos before, I am sure they have them now! I couldn’t really see but it looked like they were signing and smiling. Once the girls started crying and screaming we made our retreat. I would have loved to have gotten close, but I am not that obsessed that I would brave the mob. People were on top of each others shoulders it was that crazy.

All in all the night was better than I could have imagined. They definitely proved all of the cynics wrong and came back with fury. I am glad to be seeing it again because I was focused solely on Adam tonight, so I really didn’t take in the full show. Now that I have gotten some of it out of my system, I can sit back and enjoy.

A lot of people are saying that RENT should close because it is outdated. Yes, it is no longer 1996, but so what. It isn’t the early 1900’s but you still go to watch Phantom. The underlying themes and messages are still relevant. I honestly can’t see it staying open too much longer, but I hope it still has another year or so left. But Nederlander, please fix up the theater. I love that is mostly decorated to fit the theme, but the cracks in the ceilings and stuff need to go. Ok, I can’t believe how much I just wrote and will stop rambling!