Broadway Theatre Reports

I saw Dear Evan Hansen in Washington DC and thought it had tremendous potential. Glad you enjoyed it. I need to stop putting off buying tickets!

I'm booked to see She loves me, The Crucible and Fiddler on the roof (return visit) this month. Will probaby watch American Psycho too and maybe Bright Star. The rest of my theatre time will be spend at the McKittrick Hotel. :-)

I absolutely loved The Robber Bridegroom, Steven Pasquale and Leslie Kritzer were both outstanding! It is branded a "Mississippi fairytale" set in a barn with a live blue grass ensemble on stage. It is really the epitome of Alex Timbers in style. 

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Remember that Let the Right One in started life at the Royal Court, before transferring to the Apollo Theatre in the West End. Love to see it again, surprised it hasn't toured or done at somewhere like the Royal Exchange, Manchester etc.

Sure to see that great show off Broadway, that neither doesn't play Broadway or London and is very good is like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Last time I was in New York, I saw Sleep No More and all what I gained was sore feet, the only reason I saw this, was because it had a 11:00 show. if Off Broadway didn't always clash with the same show times as Broadway, I would see more, thinking a Tuesday or Thursday matinee here or early evening 17:00 shows.

Many small theatres, look at getting to Broadway and that I wholly include off West End theatres too, for instance The Normal Heart, a cracking show, but no mileage in doing it, as recently played Broadway and was Tony winning too.

Was in NY last weekend and saw The Crucible, The Colour Purple, She Loves Me, A Long Day's Journey into Night and Finding Neverland.

I have to disagree about She Loves Me - it seemed extremely dated to me, albeit charmingly performed by an excellent cast. The bit where someone hoped the female lead would get married because then she'd give up her job particularly stuck out, along with the incredibly stereotypical 2 dimensional characterisation and extremely convenient denouement. I also thought the music itself was quite dated when I was watching it, though I can't remember any of it now. I thought it was an interesting museum piece, though - a good antidote to the 'they don't make them like they used to'' golden-age fallacy.

I enjoyed Finding Neverland more, even though I'm not a huge fan of Alfie Boe and the music has also failed to stick in my head. I was lucky to catch Kelsey Grammer's last performance as he was excellent, the child cast was very strong, and it definitely has the visual inventiveness and spectacle you want from a family show. It's odd to watch it having seen Peter and Alice, though - the innocence and optimism of Finding Neverland gives Peter and Alice new poignancy in retrospect.

The Colour Purple I absolutely loved. Top-notch cast doing fine work, music I can actually recall, and I think it works particularly well with a vocal Broadway audience who respond to every 'Hell, no!' with cheers and applause. I could really feel the audience getting behind Celie's transformation, and it made for a wonderful atmosphere in the theatre.

It was the first time I'd seen A Long Day's Journey Into Night, and as it was first preview had no reviews to read, so went in completely cold. The only thing I knew was the running time - and at 3 hours 45 minutes I thought it was going to be a long haul. It actually flew by! Amazing cast - I'm ashamed to say I wasn't familiar with Jessica Lange beforehand, but I will rectify that because she absolutely blew me away. An incredible performance from her, and not a weak link in the rest of the cast. It can only get tighter and better during previews but it seemed like the finished product to me already.

The Crucible was my reason for booking this trip, and I was nervous that it would disappoint me m, but I needn't have worried. I was lucky to be row B central in the stalls and so to have a close-up view of the powerful and at times very subtle performances, and for the not-at-all subtle elements to have a strong impact. Obviously Ben Whishaw and Sophie Okenedo and Soairse Ronan were excellent, but the supporting cast were also very strong and Tavi Gevinson particularly stood out. Ivo van Hove's choice of setting and directorial flourishes seem to have confounded some critics - I think if you know Van Hove's work well enough to grasp that these are intended symbolically rather than literally then you will get on well with this production. If you're sitting in the audience wondering why a dog has just wandered through the schoolroom (and, **sigh**, laughed at it) then I suspect this production will not work for you. The themes of the misuse of authority and the damage incurred when the oppressed overthrow it were really brought out by this production, which made very clear that no-one was totally innocent or totally evil, and that failing to understand that is disastrous. I loved it - it was properly tense and I found myself leaning forward in my seat with my heart pounding at the end. It's the first time I have actually believed Proctor's decision at the end was right, and that's due to Ben Whishaw and Sophie Okenedo.

Has anyone seen Waitress.

Thanks for this. Great thread. I'm off to NYC next week for 10 ish days of theatre madness. So far I've booked The Crucible, Sleep No More, Eclipsed, American Psycho, A Streetcar Named Desire & the RSC's King & Country cycle final performances. Need to book Color Purple and maybe a couple more!

I'm now back from NYC and about to start my reviews for my blog so this is a good warm up! I saw a mix of shows I'd seen here in the UK and new shows and overall enjoyed everything I saw.

1. The Color Purple - I thought this was fantastic and after missing it in London I'm pleased I was able to see it on Broadway. Cynthia was more incredible than I'd imagined and the atmosphere in the US theatre with all the audience response was wonderful. I had to buy the soundtrack too, which is a good sign for a musical.

2. Blackbird - I enjoyed Blackbird although I thought some of the writing / dialogue was a bit dull. Michelle Williams was fantastic though and her long speech where she is describing the fateful night from years ago was very powerful indeed. Not the best play I saw over there, but still pretty good.

3. The Jersey Boys - I've never fancied this in London, but we went along seeing as we were in America and I think the experience of seeing it there added to the enjoyment. It was a lot of fun and as the box office sold us tickets at reduced price on the day, I had a great seat for much less than I think I'd pay here.

4. American Psycho - I'd loved the Almeida show and was curious to see what changes had been made for Broadway. There were more than I expected. The whole opening song and a few others have a different musical arrangement, meaning they sounded quite different from the UK cast (as proved correct on listening again to the cast recording). I'm pleased the Oh Africa song has gone and I liked how there was more of a dream-like atmosphere in later scenes, with Patrick covered in blood, seemingly only visible to us, enhancing the idea then perhaps none of it is real after all. In my view most of the cast were weaker vocally than London (I was especially disappointed by the actress playing Joan), but Benjamin Walker was excellent in the lead. Lots of charm, charisma but also menace when needed too.

5. Sleep No More - I enjoyed The Drowned Man and I think that meant I took more from my 2nd Punchdrunk experience, being braver and more open to the experience (achieving one of the one on ones too). There's nothing quite like these shows and I loved the feeling of freedom of walking around what felt part nightmare and part video game. The Macbeth link wasn't hugely obvious from the bits I saw, as I seemed to spend most of my time with characters in a whole different story, but I'd go again if I could.

6. Eclipsed - Probably my favourite show of the trip. I loved everything about it. The script is very sharp; one moment it's dark and unsettling and the next its light and funny and charming. All five actresses are excellent, but especially Lupita (who looked so young in this role) and Pascale (who brings so much humour and laughter to the play). It was genuinely moving and is a very powerful piece of theatre. If you go to NYC and can only see one thing, go and see this.

7. A Streetcar Named Desire - I had to revisit Gillian Anderson's Young Vic Streetcar and it was just as good a second time. The warehouse theatre recreates the interior staging of the Young Vic and the location of the theatre itself (right under Brooklyn Bridge) was beautiful.

8. The Crucible - I'd been intrigued to see Ben Whishaw as John Proctor, a role I always imagine with more physical actors (such as Rishard Armitage who I loved in the role). I really did enjoy the production. It captured the eerie mood and the horror of suspicion and the sense of powerlessness to stop injustice very well. Ben was very good indeed. His was a Proctor able to play certain moments with a quieter intensity. Saoirse Ronan was very good and I was left wanting more of her on the stage. You had no difficulty understanding why the other girls were scared of her. Also for me personally the reality of her past with Proctor was much clearer and their chemistry was very good. I wasn't convinced about Sophie Okonedo's relationship with Whishaw until the final few scenes, which proved to be very moving and emotional.

9-12. RSC King & Country plays (RII, Henry IV & Henry V) - The trip was planned around the final cycle of the RSC's plays so it was lovely to see Richard II (and yes Mr Tennant) again. It's a production that has only grown stronger over time and I really loved Jasper Britton's Bolingbroke. Antony Sher has also grown as Falstaff and this NY performance was my favourite. He spoke at a book signing in NYC about how he found the US audience responding better and listening more to the words and I think he had a point. The reactions of the audience clearly made him really enjoy it and that came across on stage. Then being at the last Henry V, marking the end for this company (some of whom started in 2013) was quite special and seeing how much they were loved by the NYC audience was lovely to see.

That's made me want to go and do it all again. Time to start looking at the autumn offerings (and saving some money)!

Steffi - where can I discuss Sleep No More. I'd love to understand more about who the characters I was following were. IS that strand totally separate from the Macbeth piece? I think I took more from it than Drowned Man as I had more courage to really explore and I hope it runs long enough for me to go again.

I've seen Jersey Boys in London, Melbourne, and various parts of the US, but seeing it in such proximity to the actual Jersey brings it a little edge. The first time I saw it here, I felt like they were almost trying too hard, but I don't feel that way anymore.

I've done Sleep No More twice, but am not that familiar with Macbeth. Had a great time anyway, and took candy both times!
Does this help? sleepnomore.wikia.com/wiki/Sleep_No_More_Wiki

You thought Jennifer Damiano was vocally weak in American Psycho? I'm shocked. Did you see her in Next To Normal? She has a great voice!

In case you want to read up on Sleep No More in detail this is a good list of links to info sources: behindawhitemask.tumblr.com/resources