3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 13:39:37 GMT
Managed to grab two full days in New York last week (Wednesday and Thursday) around other business and fit five shows in. Thought it would be worth sharing a few thoughts.
Bathtubs Over Broadway (Film)
Starting my thoughts with a documentary film I watched on the flight over. It's fairly recent and I hadn't come across before. Worth checking out.
This one is all about industrial musicals, popular in the past. These are musicals usually written to be performed at a trade show, often elaborate, some with cast recordings and usually only performed a handful of times. They tend to be promoting a particular product or motivating for staff working at a certain firm.
The documentary has interviews with writers and performers (some of whom are known Broadway stars and others who made a good living from this line of work). Fascinating really to see people who were able to compose a musical in a couple of weeks, just for it to be performed, thrown away and never heard of again.
I think you can also watch this on Netflix if you're located in the US (but not if you're located in the UK).
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 13:44:53 GMT
Oklahoma - Circle In The Square Theatre
Being a Rodgers and Hammerstein fan, I was hoping to see this and managed to win the Lottery for the Wednesday matinee.
All the leads were on, apart from for Curly, who was played by Denver Milord.
Still not too sure what I thought of it. I liked the arrangements of the music, but really wasn't a fan of being kept on edge all the time, particularly as the girl next to me was rather nervous about the whole thing. I had checked out where the gunshots were and been warned they were super loud, actually they were no worse than the standard bangs anywhere else. There were also a couple of (presumably) regulars sat behind talking about being mainly there to watch audience reactions, which didn't help.
The Lottery seat was way off at the far side from the entrance but had a good view. Decent value.
I did think quite a lot of the vocals were out of tune, particularly from Denver, but perhaps this was deliberate. But this is one where I was pleased to emerge and see the sunlight.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 13:48:20 GMT
Be More Chill - Lyceum Theatre
Booked this through TDF and got an excellent central Stalls aisle seat. It's a small theatre, so excellent views anyway for the Wednesday evening performance.
This was one I'd been looking forward to seeing and it didn't disappoint. It's a teen musical, so unfortunately attracts that fan base. Think the rowdy fans from Heathers or Mean Girls. But it has a great modern Sci-Fi twist to it.
Good music, performed well, perhaps a bit niche, but it could easily play in London at somewhere like the Union Theatre.
Being a Wednesday, they also had a guest performing a song immediately after the show, which was a nice bonus.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 13:57:01 GMT
Flying Lessons - Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
My visit coincided with the New York Musical Theatre Festival, meaning I had a choice of Thursday matinee shows (and didn't have to go see Phantom by default). And, in fact, I managed to fit in both 1pm and 5pm matinees.
These are all generally 90 minute shows performed without an interval. Both shows I saw ran longer than that and this one also had a talkback.
It's a good small theatre, comfortable, I had a front row side seat, which had an excellent view. The staging is simple. From the talkback, I found out each performing shows only has a tiny place to store costumes, set and props. This one did a good job with wooden cubes, which had pull out chairs to become desks.
Have you ever wondered what to write about in essay about the properties of greatness? No, nor have I, but this musical started out as an educational show for middle schoolers. Really, it packed in too many educational themes, including leadership qualities, famous Americans from diverse backgrounds and acceptance of others, performed by adults playing middle schoolers (although the fact that one guy was meant to be gay wasn't made explicit, which was rather a missed opportunity). The music for this one was good and I can see it having a future life. I also learned a bit about Amelia Earhart and Frederick Douglass.
The writer was there for the talkback and pointed out his elementary teacher in the audience. There were also some schools interested in adding this to be their schedule for next year. So something good came out of the performance.
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 14:05:29 GMT
Till - Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre
Something of a tragic musical, telling the story of Emmett Till, who was murdered in 1955, when he just 14. His murder was instrumental in the civil rights movement in the US gaining traction.
This show was even more poignant on the day I saw it, which would have been Emmett's 78th birthday (and also my birthday). It's not presented as a happy musical.
This was performed well by the cast of six black actors, who performed a wide range of roles, including wearing masks with white edging to performed the white parts. It worked, but who was playing whom did get confusing at some points, so this would benefit from a larger cast if it goes further.
This was highly professional with the small budget, with the background screen used well to make the scene locations clear. It is a small theatre and I had an aisle seat a few rows back with an excellent view. Challenging roles and harrowing scenes were performed with conviction.
This one ran closer to two hours than one hour and thirty minutes. I think it has a future life, although I don't know if it would be an easy sell. It did sometimes feel that they were looking for meaning in Emmett Till's wider life that unfortunately just wasn't there (although I do intend to read more about his story).
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3,349 posts
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Post by Dr Tom on Jul 29, 2019 14:11:04 GMT
The Prom - Longacre Theatre
This had passed me by as looking rather silly, but checked out more detail, found the reviews and saw it wasn't actually just about a high school prom. So booked it on a whim, probably overpaid as it's selling well in its closing weeks and found it to be a great feel good show. Got a good central Stalls aisle seat through TodayTix, with an excellent view.
All of the leads were on. This is to overacted to the tenth degree, but fits the piece. A group of Broadway actors who are past their best decide to try and get publicity by supporting a girl who had been banned from her high school prom after wanting to bring her girlfriend.
It's all timely and witty with decent songs. The first half is excellent. Second half feels a bit stretched, but everything holds together.
I can't see this coming to London as a big production, but it might work somewhere small. And, it got me to laugh out loud in a number of places, which is unusual.
A decent feel good musical to end my short trip to New York until the next time. And glad to have ticked a few shows I wanted to see off the list before they close.
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Post by xanady on Aug 7, 2019 14:43:11 GMT
Great series of reviews,Dr Tom...interesting reading😀
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5,056 posts
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Post by Phantom of London on Aug 8, 2019 19:59:27 GMT
Flying Lessons - Alice Griffin Jewel Box TheatreMy visit coincided with the New York Musical Theatre Festival, meaning I had a choice of Thursday matinee shows (and didn't have to go see Phantom by default). And, in fact, I managed to fit in both 1pm and 5pm matinees. These are all generally 90 minute shows performed without an interval. Both shows I saw ran longer than that and this one also had a talkback. It's a good small theatre, comfortable, I had a front row side seat, which had an excellent view. The staging is simple. From the talkback, I found out each performing shows only has a tiny place to store costumes, set and props. This one did a good job with wooden cubes, which had pull out chairs to become desks. Have you ever wondered what to write about in essay about the properties of greatness? No, nor have I, but this musical started out as an educational show for middle schoolers. Really, it packed in too many educational themes, including leadership qualities, famous Americans from diverse backgrounds and acceptance of others, performed by adults playing middle schoolers (although the fact that one guy was meant to be gay wasn't made explicit, which was rather a missed opportunity). The music for this one was good and I can see it having a future life. I also learned a bit about Amelia Earhart and Frederick Douglass. The writer was there for the talkback and pointed out his elementary teacher in the audience. There were also some schools interested in adding this to be their schedule for next year. So something good came out of the performance. I have seen Phantom several times because of the Thursday matinee. However great news Moulin Rouge is doing a Thursday matinee and is selling out, so next time I go over that will be the one I see. Hope a couple of other new shows will be encouraged to do the same, will bring in great business for mid-town restaurants. |
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