Anything Goes is thrilling for audiences of all ages!

               For the second show of our seven-show Broadway extravaganza, my parents and I saw a Wednesday matinee of Anything Goes at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.  I was so excited – I’ve been a fan of Sutton Foster’s for a long time, but this was my first time seeing her live.  And who couldn’t be thrilled to see a legend like Joel Grey?!  I think it’s safe to say that my excitement was appropriate for the situation.

                Wednesday matinees on Broadway are, as far as I can tell, a very specific crowd.  There were a lot of elderly folks there enjoying some mid-week theater fun.  I must say that I’m secretly looking forward to when I get to be an old matinee lady.  I’m probably as close to it as any 25-year-old can get.   

Our seats for Anything Goes were in the second-to-last row of the mezzanine, right next to a group of middle-schoolers on a field trip.  At first I was nervous that they would talk the whole show, but they really didn’t.  At one point the boys behind me were chatting, and I shot them a look, and one of the boys shushed his friends, but that was it.  Before the show, I overheard the group of middle school boys behind me discussing what they thought the show would be like, and I could tell that they were worried it would be boring.  However, I chuckled when one of them pointed out the picture of Sutton Foster in a sexy sailor outfit on the cover of the Playbill, and said “well, if the whole show’s like this, I’ll be okay with that.”  Ah, the priorities of 13-year-old boys.  But, hey, they paid attention and they enjoyed the show.  They, like myself, were in awe at the end of the first act, during the incredible (and very long!) tap number, “Anything Goes.”  If I ever meet Sutton Foster, remind me to ask her how in the world she can belt those notes after tap dancing that long!  My dad in particular was absolutely floored by her performance.  I told him she was awesome.  I told him she had just won the Astaire Award for best female dancer this year.  I told him she just got her fifth Tony nomination.  I guess he just had to see it to believe it.  I’m pretty sure he’s ready to sign up for a fan club.

                That’s not to say that the rest of the cast wasn’t also amazing – they certainly were!  It was such a joy for me to see Joel Grey live, and I thought the rest of the cast was spot-on in both serious and comic moments.   It was one of the most visually spectacular shows I’ve ever seen.  Anything Goes, which is from the 1930s, is a very traditional book musical, and I loved that.  Sure, there are shows that decidedly break with tradition which I enjoy very much, but there’s just something intangibly awesome about a well-executed old-school musical.  I can’t get over it.

                Even though the armrests of the seats at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre were very pointy and kept poking into my legs, I would recommend this show to absolutely everybody.  I loved it, my parents loved it, the middle school boys loved it, and you’ll love it.

A history lesson like no other at The Normal Heart

                Once my parents and I decided that, for our first family vacation in years, we would go to NYC to see a bunch of Broadway shows (seven, to be exact), I knew we had to see The Normal Heart.  I had heard so much buzz about it, and my parents were willing to go along, as well – my dad because I told him he had to and that it was groundbreaking theater, and my mom because she loves Jim Parsons.

                So, on that Tuesday, two days after arriving in New York City for the best vacation ever, we settled into our seats at the John Golden Theatre – in the center of the front row of the rear mezzanine, to see The Normal Heart, my first ever straight play on Broadway.  Though the seats at the Golden were slightly cramped, I was busy reading my Playbill and taking in the sights of the theater.  The theater walls were mostly white with some gold and blue emblems for decoration.  The relatively less ornate décor of the John Golden was a good companion to the set design.  Before the show began, the stage was completely empty, and the backdrop was solid white, with quotes etched out.  Once the play began, the white backdrop was used for well-designed projection.  The set pieces, which came out with the actors, were minimal and utilitarian.  I liked it.  It let the acting shine.

                No matter how someone feels about this play, it is undeniable that the acting is first-rate.  My particular acting shout-out has to go to Ellen Barkin.  She was simply stunning.  Her second-act monologue brought me to tears, simply from how committed she was to her character and how committed her character was to the cause.  It doesn’t get better than that, folks!  The ensemble cast was stunning – every single actor contributed nicely to the piece as a whole.

                As for the play itself, I found it moving.  There was a point when I was thinking it might be too focused on the anger of Ned, but when I thought about the people who aren’t in the play – everyone else in New York City at the time – and I realized that Ned is one of only a handful of people who were that furious, it made sense.  The context is important.  In addition, at the TalkOut afterward, Cynthia O’Neal said that the play shows exactly what it was like in the early 1980s: young men were dying, and no one really seemed to care at all.

                It was just pure good luck that the tickets we had for The Normal Heart fell on the night of the TalkOut with Anthony Rapp and Cynthia O’Neal, founder of Friends in Deed.  We bought the tickets before the TalkOut was announced, but I was pretty excited that I got to go to it.  My mom is still disappointed that she was never called on, even though she was raising her hand, but other than that, my family enjoyed it as well.  The topics discussed ranged from what it was really like in New York City in the early 1980s, particularly for the LGBT community to what is being done now to make sure stories like this don’t get pushed aside.  Aside from the fact that it was really cool to be sitting mere feet from Anthony Rapp (I have some friends who are totally jealous), it was great to put the show, which takes place in the early 1980s, into context and really see what it means to a current audience.

                As someone who wasn’t born until 1986, what I took away from my experience at The Normal Heart was an understanding of what happened to the generation before me, from an uncensored source, depicted honestly and beautifully.

Hair continues to be an experience like no other

                I love Hair.  It’s no secret.  I’ve seen it twice before – once on Broadway at the Al Hirschfeld, and once on tour at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.  I can’t get enough of that show.  A number of songs from the cast recording are on my top played songs on my ipod.  My cat is named Frank Mills.  It’s safe to say I’m at least slightly obsessed with Hair.

                Needless to say, I was more than pleased when I found out that the national tour of Hair would be making a stop in North Carolina at the Durham Performing Arts Center.  I bought tickets to see it – twice.  I actually had a third ticket as well, but I had to leave for NYC that day, so the ticket went to a very deserving friend.  I saw it two nights in a row, and it was awesome.  This was one of the times that I was particularly glad that I enjoy going to the theater alone, because I met some awesome people.

                The first night I went, I was sitting near two sets of mother and daughter, who were some of the coolest people I've met at DPAC.  I chatted with them a lot about the show, about favorite songs, about what the experience of this production was like – they hadn’t seen it before, but were very familiar with it through press stuff and the cast recording.  We danced on stage together after the show.  At intermission, I chatted with an Elon musical theater student who grew up in the same area as me, and who is excited about Elon doing Hair next year.  I might even go see it.  I just love being around other theatergoers who are just as passionate about theater as I am, who react to me telling them that I’m about to go to NYC for a week and see seven Broadway shows with awe and envy rather than a diagnosis of insanity.  These are my people.

                The show was just as thrilling as ever, except even more so, because I was sitting right at the bottom of the steps that lead to the stage.  The actors were interacting with me so much, and I loved it!  During “White Boys,” one of the actors came and sat down on the floor right in front of me, leaning against my legs, wrapping his arm around my leg and kissing it.  What other show provides its audience with crazy experiences like that?  But the best part of those experiences is that they add to the authenticity of the show.  They make us, the audience, really become a part of the tribe, an integral piece of the action.  I don’t think if one of the actors in, say, Guys and Dolls, started kissing my leg, I would feel like it added to the show – I would wonder who let this actor stop taking his meds.  But Hair is so unique in the way that the audience is really an active part of the success of the show.  I love it.  One of the actors untied the shoes of the gentleman sitting next to me, and sitting so close, it was like that was part of the show that was just for the few of us who could see it.

                The second night, I was sitting in much the same seat, just on the opposite side of the row, the other side of the stage.  It was equally great.  It turns out that I was sitting next to the mother of one of the cast members.  That was so cool, to see a proud parent witness her child living out a dream.  Oh, and she had these awesome peace sign sandals, of which I am quite jealous.

                Some people I know were a little worried that seeing this production of Hair so many times might spoil the magic of it for me.  In fact, the opposite is true.  It just keeps getting better and better.  For one thing, the show is never the same twice.  There’s always new ad-libbing, new audience members, and something new to discover about the material.  This show is so rich and so deep, that I don’t think I could get to the bottom of it if I were to see it two hundred times.  So, if you haven’t seen it, so.  If you’ve already seen it, revisit it.  It’s like hanging out with an old friend – who happens to do drugs and get naked.

Venturing UpStage for The America Play at Triad Stage

I apologize that this is a very late post, which has become an unfortunate trend for me.  However, I was in NYC doing my theater addict thing for eight days (I saw seven Broadway shows, which I will, of course, be writing about), and didn’t get around to writing this until now.

Since seeing Educating Rita late last fall, I’ve been enamored with Triad Stage.  I love their main stage productions.  However, I became increasingly curious about their UpStage Cabaret, and decided to buy a ticket to see their newest UpStage Cabaret production, The America Play, having no idea what to expect of the space or the work.

                Immediately upon entering the space, I realized that it was the Triad Stage that I know and love, just… a little more intimate.  I’m not used to seeing theater from regular chairs, sitting at a table.  I am, however, used to Triad Stage’s amazing and innovative sets.  I felt right at home sitting mere feet from a large dirt mound with trees, two old televisions, political posters from throughout America’s racially-charged history, and a big hole.  No, it wasn’t an accident – it was the awesome, though small, set, in the middle of the room, surrounded by cute little tables and mismatched chairs.

                I’m not used to being that close to the actors.  I am, however, used to Triad Stage casting incredibly talented performers to populate their productions.  I was mesmerized by the actors.  While I wasn’t always entirely sure exactly what the characters were talking about (the play tended toward the abstract), I was never unsure of how the characters felt or who they were.

                As a fan of great theater, and a not-so-secret admirer of Triad Stage’s work, I must say that this show did not disappoint.  I was moved, I was challenged, I was entertained.

                The one thing I really missed was a talk-back.  My season pass tickets are for the main stage performances which include Triad Stage’s InSight talk-back series.  These talk-backs are a great way for me to unwind from a show, figure out what I just saw, and understand and appreciate the work and the playwright even more.  With The America Play, I was desperate to talk about it!  I was at the show by myself, so I didn’t have anyone to bounce crazy theories off of, or a scholar grounding me into the context of the play.  I very much enjoyed the show – it was an intense play, and I wanted to delve even deeper into the hole – both literally and metaphorically.

                I can’t wait to see what will be at the UpStage Cabaret next season!

Conducting a social experiment at Avenue Q... sort of

              When it was announced that the national touring company of Avenue Q would be making its way into Durham for a brief, two-show stint at the Durham Performing Arts Center, I knew I had to be there.  I had seen the show once before, with my mom, when the national tour came to the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington DC.  When I bought the ticket this time, it was right before I swore off the balcony forever.  I bought a balcony seat.  I went the first night of the two-night engagement, and I enjoyed it well enough – it’s an amazing show after all.  However, I wanted to be closer.  Being the hopeless musical theater junkie I am, I went home from the satisfactory balcony experience of Avenue Q and immediately booked one of the few remaining seats in the orchestra for the following night’s performance.  I justified the purchase to myself under the guise of a social experiment – I wanted to see if there was a difference in audience reaction to a show like Avenue Q between those in the cheap seats and those in the orchestra.  To be honest, this was a relatively thin cover for the fact that I just wanted to see the show again.

                On my second night at Avenue Q, my seat was in row K of the orchestra, way far too the right of the house.  I was so far right that the tower which holds the TV and speakers was blocking the entire staircase and most of Princeton’s apartment.  However, a kind gentlemen who, I’m assuming, is the house manager or something similar, offered me and another patron who was attending alone, seats in row K right smack dab in the middle of the theater.  Attending the theater alone definitely has its perks.  This seat was so much more enjoyable for me than in the balcony.  Now, I know that some people really like sitting in the balcony, and they prefer that vantage point at the theater.  I’m not trying to hurt the balcony’s feelings – I just don’t care to sit there.  That seat in the middle of row K was utter perfection.  Although, in the interest in sharing pros and cons, I feel the need to mention that the gentleman sitting next to me was far too excited, and his mid-show fist-pumps were a little much.

                And the social experiment?  Turns out, there’s not much of a difference between the cheap seats and the orchestra seats, in terms of audience reaction to Avenue Q.  That just goes to show that funny is funny.  The show is relatable for college students and forty-somethings alike.  My little fake-y experiment just proves what I already figured: Avenue Q rocks.

Seeing Big River at the Triangle's Most Exciting Theater

                It’s a good thing I’m an amateur blogger, and not a professional journalist – I’m so far behind schedule on this blog post that it’s borderline embarrassing.  I could very easily have just skipped writing this post altogether to save myself from publicly admitting to having the world’s most finely honed procrastination skills.  Yet, here I am, owning up to it – but not for nothing.  I have something to write about which happens to be worth it: Playmaker’s Repertory Company’s recent production of Big River.  Even if I wrote this the second I saw it, you wouldn’t have been able to get tickets anyway, as the production was sold out – for good reason.

                It was great to see all the seats in the theater filled.  It pains me so much to see houses sparsely populated when I know that there is meaningful and powerful theater to be seen (the recent touring production of Spring Awakening comes to mind – less than half the seats were sold; that’s a lot of lives which could have been affected, but weren’t).  I’m so glad that so many people had the chance to see this production of Big River.

                This was my first time seeing Big River.  I knew about it, but only superficially: I knew it was the story of Huckleberry Finn and Jim, the runaway slave; I wasn’t familiar with the music, and I didn’t know the finer points of the plot.  I’m glad that it was Playmakers Rep which provided my introduction to this Tony-winning musical.  I saw their productions of Fences and Angels in America, which I thought were brilliantly done, and I was excited to see them do a musical.  I was not disappointed!

                In the lobby before the show, I was reading a book (which I highly recommend, by the way) called The Playwright’s Guidebook, and I happened to be reading a section about how actors talking directly to the audience often just doesn’t work when done for an extended amount of time.  It was funny because Huck talks to the audience throughout the entirety of Big River.  It reminded me that the magic of the musical is that it gives you permission to break all the rules.

                Big River is a thought-provoking period piece that made me reflect on a dark spot in American history – slavery.  I was quite moved by the character (and the absolutely enchanting singing voice) of Jim, and some of the things Huck said.  The whole internal-but-spoken-aloud conflict Huck had about taking property, which was wrong, but that property happened to be his friend was troublesome for me.  I cringed whenever he referred to Jim as property.  I was moved and heartbroken by Jim’s dream of buying his own family out of slavery (which was more common than people realize).  These troublesome elements made Huck’s narration to the audience all the more powerful, I think – we were able to see more of the picture that way.  I loved how Playmaker’s Rep kept the set relatively minimal – I was amazed how much of the “feel” of a house can be conveyed by just a window.  The basic set really allowed the story to shine and not be hampered by a more literal set.  I found it a great canvas for effective theater.

                So, even though you, my devoted readers, cannot go see Big River, I want to encourage everyone in (or near) the triangle to make it a priority to get to Playmakers Rep next season – I assure you, you won’t regret it.