| Eight Shows in Five Days: My Two Cents | |
| Posted by: downtownlw 10:42 am EST 11/25/24 | |
|
|
|
| Yellow Face: I really liked this play. Daniel Dae Kim was excellent as was Francis Jue. I loved the way David Henry Hwang tackled the issue of personal identity. Ryan Eggold was perfect as the white guy that went along for the ride. It was well directed and staged and everyone in the cast handled their multiple roles well. It made me laugh and think at the same time. Maybe Happy Ending: This was probably the most creative and touching original musical I’ve seen in a long time. Darren Criss and Helen J Shen were the perfect couple. I never thought I would get teary eyed over two robots falling in love, but I did. The score was very good and it is a technical masterpiece. The firefly scene was pure magic! Sunset Blvd: I don’t know if it was sublime or ridiculous. As a staged concert it was wonderful, but it certainly didn’t honor the original movie or the art of film making for that matter. Tom Francis was perfect as Joe Gillis and while Nicole Scherzinger sings the hell out of those songs, she is a far cry from Gloria Swanson. For me the ironic/iconic magic that was created by Swanson and Erich von Strohiem was lost in this production. Tammy Faye: Heavy sigh! Did they even have a table read? Katie Braybern was very good. Christian Borle was terribly miscast and Michael Cerveris deserved his own musical about Jerry Falwell. The score was pretty good but there were way too many “come to Jesus” songs. Another poster said that it would have been better off as an hour and a half, one act musical, and I agree. As it is, it totally lacks focus and point of view. It will be well remembered as a show card on the wall at Joe Allen’s. Death Becomes Her: While not the best Broadway musical, it is a lot of fun and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. It’s big, brassy and very sexy. The score is basically one comedy song after another and if it lacked anything, it was that one heart felt moment. Megan Hilty, Jennifer Simard and Christopher Simard were top notch. I enjoyed it. Shit Meet Fan: This is basically the millennial version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf with many comic and sober twists. Yes, they play “hump the hostess” and “get the guests.” While the entire celebrity cast was terrific, Debra Messing stood out. She skillfully allowed the liquor to gradually take over and then displayed the comic chops she’s known for. I will avoid spoilers and not give away the ending. Oh, Mary!: I don’t get it. It seemed like one very long Carol Burnett sketch. For what it's worth, from the last row of the very scary balcony of the Lyceum, I could see and hear everything, but I’m not sure that it was worth the four story climb or the obligatory standing ovation. Hells Kitchen: While not my kind of show, I can see that it has its place on Broadway. There are many good songs buried in all those obligatos and wailing. I didn’t find the central story of a defiant 17 year old as interesting or compelling as that of Miss Liza Jane, maybe I was just tired at the end of a three show day, but still, it was entertaining. |
|
| reply | |
|
|
|
| Previous: | I tell you it's a whole another seex! - sc2 11:37 am EST 11/25/24 |
| Next: | your schedule please! - bobby2 04:44 pm EST 11/25/24 |
| Thread: |
|
Time to render: 0.045384 seconds.