Broadway Blizzard Bash at the Belasco (or, the time I saw Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown)

          So, I was entirely certain that our tickets for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown were for 8 pm this past Sunday night. The musical theater gods must really love me, because my friend Cliff and I got to the Belasco Theatre at 6:55, thinking that we were there plenty early and would be able to walk around outside in the snow for awhile before the show started. When I picked up my tickets at will call, I realized that the house was open and people were seated. That’s when I noticed that the show was actually at seven, and we had made it just in time. Phew!
          It also happened to be incredibly fortunate for us that we were seeing the show at the height of the snowfall and wind right in the middle of the blizzard. We got an incredible price for tickets – balcony seats for $36.50! When we showed the usher our tickets, she said they were moving everyone down to the mezzanine, so we sat in the fourth or fifth row of the mezzanine, just left of center. Thanks, snow!
          The first thing I noticed was that the Belasco is absolutely gorgeous. It was by far the most beautiful theater I’ve ever been to, and that’s saying something. I absolutely loved the murals on the wall, the plaster work, and the light fixtures, which were recently restored. I really felt like I was somewhere truly elegant.

          There were several people out of the show (I think there were four inserts in my Playbill), but that was totally understandable considering the weather and the fact that it was the day after Christmas. However, out of all the “stars” we wanted to see, the only one who was out was Sherie Rene Scott. Sure, we were a little bummed, but her understudy was really great, and there were still plenty of other big names there: Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti, Brian Stokes Mitchell, and Justin Guarini.
          So, my two favorite things about Women on the Verge… were Laura Benanti and the scenic design, in that order. Laura Benanti made that show, period. She was so amazing. Absolutely everything about her performance from her acting and singing right down to her walk were absolute perfection. She was hilarious and still believable. The show itself was good, but Laura Benanti was great! Hers was far and away the best performance of the show. I also enjoyed Danny Burstein, who was charming and hilarious. Cliff and I were pleasantly surprised by Justin Guarini. I mean, we knew he could sing, but he far exceeded our expectations.
          I can imagine that it’s difficult, in terms of the set, to translate something which was originally a movie onto the stage. Movies go back and forth between different locations all the time, whereas musicals tend to stay on the same set for longer. However, I was ridiculously impressed with the set design of Women on the Verge…, which used a lot of projection onto the back wall and three conveyer belts (or “moving sidewalks”) to move set pieces into and out of scenes. I loved the way the sets moved in and out and how the movement of the sets was reflected in the blocking of scenes and transitions.

          So, Cliff and I were the only two people who stayed at the stage door to meet the cast, which is understandable considering the blizzard conditions. However, we're huge Laura Benanti fans and she was so great that we just had to meet her and tell her how awesome she was. We got several comments about how we were nuts for waiting out there. They were probably right, but we didn’t care. We met Justin Guarini, who was so incredibly sweet. The inserts fell out of my Playbill, and he picked them up for me, and he was happy to autograph our Playbills for us. Laura Benanti couldn’t believe we waited in the snow, but we told her we just had to see her to tell her how much we loved her. She couldn’t have been nicer! She seemed to be genuinely flattered that we were there and that we loved her so much. Had conditions been better, we would have loved to have gotten pictures and chatted a little more, but it was so miserable out that we were just delighted to see her.