Newsies - Now With Cocktails

                 At the end of a whirlwind trip to NYC was Disney’s Newsies.  This was actually the first ticket we bought for the trip.  We had already been on quite an emotional roller coaster, going from NOW. HERE. THIS. to Sleep No More to Once to Carrie.  We were ready for some light-hearted awesomeness.

                The Newsies film was important to my childhood – I would assume this statement to be true for all folks who, like me, were born in the 1980s and grew up to be musical theater junkies.  I knew the songs, and my only lament was the fact that there weren’t any good girl parts.  Even when I was older, my summer camp friends and I watched the movie and sang along en masse – and by summer camp friends, I don’t mean childhood friends, I mean people I worked at camp with.  We were adults by then.  Upon hearing the news that Disney’s stage adaptation of Newsies was, indeed, transferring to Broadway after its run at the Paper Mill, I knew I had to be there.  It’s my childhood, come to life.

                As I sat down in my seat at the back of the orchestra with my windowcard (my collection is getting too big to handle, but still I buy one at every show), I had a moment of realization that not everybody was obsessed with Newsies as a child.  I can’t imagine a childhood without it, but a young lady in front of us turned around about ten minutes before curtain and said, “excuse me, but can either of you tell me what this show is about?”  Although I was shocked that there are people on this planet who don’t know Newsies, I must applaud her for going to a Broadway show that she didn’t even know anything about.  I filled her in, and I hope she loved it and is forever a convert.

                I must admit that I was a little bit nervous before the show.  I was worried that it would be like getting to meet your favorite celebrity and then finding out that they’re not really so wonderful in person.  It became clear after the opening number that I had little to worry about.  The new songs flowed in smoothly, and the classics were done to perfection.  The dancing was beyond ridiculous.  I, a 26-year-old grown-up was utterly mesmerized by a cast that is, largely, younger than me.  And, ten-year-old me would be delighted to know that they added a super awesome “girl part.”  I like the romance storyline – and would it really be Disney without it?  Another appreciated addition: Newsies-themed cocktails in the lobby.  I had a “Seize the Day;” it was delicious and came in a souvenir cup.  I’m a sucker for anything in a souvenir cup.  At intermission, we booked it to the merchandise booth to pre-order our cast recording (if you download it online, you won’t get the bonus tracks), and we got a complimentary poster with our pre-order.  Thanks, Disney!

                After an amazing show, I headed out to the stage door.  I usually like to visit the stage door, especially if I’ve seen a performer in something else (I saw Ben Fankhauser four times in Spring Awakening, and I was a fan of Jess LeProtto on SYTYCD), but this stage door was like nothing I’ve ever experienced.  The crowds were crazy.  Also, I’m pretty sure we were the only two people stage door-ing who were even alive when the film came out, much less old enough to watch it.  However, we managed to brave the crowds and meet the cast.  They were genuine, though hurried, doing as best they could to sign 80 billion Playbills (I counted, that’s accurate).  There was even a “news crew” from some Disney Channel show that I’m too old to recognize.  Maybe my students will see me on TV.

                Newsies was absolutely worth it.  But, if you don’t like crowds of 15-year-olds, perhaps skip the stage door.

Resurrecting a Flop: Carrie

                 After a Sunday matinee performance of Once, we headed downtown to Christopher Street for an evening performance of MCCTheater’s Carrie at the Lucille Lortel Theatre.  I managed to convince my hesitant friend to see it by insisting that Marin Mazzie is simply the best, and that there were some folks from the Spring Awakening tour who I loved and knew to be crazy talented.  Thankfully, he agreed, because it turned out to be a fantastic night of theatre.

                The Lortel was dim, but not dark, as we entered, and the set was appropriately creepy.  They did a good job of setting up the vibe for the show.  I’m not really into horror movies (as I am the jumpiest person on the planet), but I saw the film Carrie some years ago, and I felt like I knew sort of what to expect.  It wasn’t scary in the way that a haunted house is scary – nothing jumping out at unsuspecting patrons, but it was intense and suspenseful.

                So, here’s what I liked: the set, the music, the cast.  The set was set up in such a way that it could go from one place to another without a hitch – the use of projection was inspired and not over-the-top.  The music was, as we discussed after the show, appropriate for a high school musical without being High School Musical.  The pop-influenced songs were perfect for the teenage characters.  The casting was spot-on, with the possible exception of one or two gentlemen clearly being too old to play high school students (I’m classy, so I’m not naming names).  I especially loved Christy Altomare as Sue – she brought it from start to finish, and she was just so kind and gracious at the stage door.  Of course, I loved Marin, but I knew I would before I even got to my seat.  Her voice absolutely filled that small theatre.  Molly Ranson did an excellent job of being the quirky Carrie, and was convincingly timid.  I think it was the little things – her eyes darting, her lips pulled in – that truly made the character convincing.  The ensemble cast did a great job of capturing the spirit of high school, and each “minor” character was well-defined and funny.

                As for what I didn’t like?  I’m having trouble coming up with anything.  I know that’s a total cop-out, but I really enjoyed the show.  And this isn’t the New York Times, so I don’t feel too terrible about writing a one-sided review.

                It’s unfortunate that MCC Theater had to scale back their extension for Carrie, because more people need to see it.  I understand why it might be a hard sell, particularly since the show lasted only five performances on Broadway in the 1980s.  However, this isn’t that Carrie.  I mean, it is, but it’s updated for a contemporary audience, and it, frankly, rocks.  Also, whichever gods are responsible for such things, I’m ready and willing to sacrifice my left hand for a cast recording.

                Oh, I almost forgot to share this awesome story with you:  after the show, we were headed down Christopher Street to meet a friend at a bar, and we realize that we had been walking for several blocks right behind Brian Stokes Mitchell!  He came to the show to see Marin, and we happened to be walking in the same direction.  Only in New York.

The Simple Magic of Once

                My favorite thing about New York City is that you can wake up in the morning and have no idea what adventures await.  My traveling companion and I had planned go to the Book of Mormon lottery in hopes of getting tickets to the Sunday matinee, with our back-up plan being getting tickets to a different show at the TKTS booth.  Well, somehow we got wrong information about show times and missed the lottery completely, but it turned out to be a stroke of luck for us.  We headed into Times Square and got tickets for the matinee performance of Once – one of the best unplanned experiences I’ve had in quite some time.

Playbill with Autographs

                I am a true believer that theatergoing is an experience, not a passive activity.  The folks at Once clearly agree with me.  The show was truly an experience from the second we entered the doors of the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.  The stage at Once is (before the show and at intermission) a real bar, where audience members are invited to come and purchase a drink.  We went right up on stage and bought ourselves a beer each.  I’ve never actually been to Ireland (sigh!), but it felt like we were in an Irish pub, right down to chatting with the bartender (he heard us talking about Sleep No More, so we filled him in on that as best we could).  We hung out on stage for a while and then took our seats (I like to have ample time to read my Playbill before a show).  Cast members came out onto the stage while audience members were still buying and drinking their beverages, and started playing and singing traditional Irish and Czech songs.  It was organic, like music that would truly spring up in a pub.  Slowly and without much fuss, the audience was directed off the stage and to their seats as the cast continued to entertain us.  I hardly even noticed the stage clearing of bar patrons.  The transition into the beginning of the show was perfectly seamless as Steve Kazee (excuse me while I swoon) began singing.

                I don’t want to give too much away, especially for those who haven’t seen the movie, but I’m willing to take the (possibly controversial) stance that this show is better than the movie.  I know I’m not the only one who thinks so.  The show was hilarious and heartbreaking in all the right ways.  I loved how natural and organic the music was and that the band and the cast were one and the same.  We had the marvelous experience of seeing Andrea Goss, the understudy, go on for Girl.  She absolutely blew me away.  I love to see understudies go on, and this experience did not disappoint.  The show was so seamless and the transitions were tight and natural.  There wasn’t a whole lot in the way of sets and props, which worked as a big plus for the show – no distractions for the audience for big set changes, etc.  The main thoroughfare for the characters was the very same pub where we had gotten our pre-show beers.

                In all, the haunting/delicate/gorgeous/moving music, the perfect mix of simplicity and complexity, the phenomenal acting and singing, and the flow of the book all came together to create not just theatre, but an experience which will be on my mind for some time.  Well done, Once.

The Theatrical Experience of Sleep No More

                 Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More isn’t just theatre, it’s beyond that – it’s a theatrical experience.  The number one question I got/get when telling people about seeing Sleep No More on my trip to New York was/is “what is it?”  As much as I’d love to help those people out, there really isn’t an easy answer.  I think even those who know the show inside and out might have trouble coming up with a succinct yet sufficient answer.  Yes, there’s Macbeth, but there’s more to it than that.  What I can say, without giving away any crucial details, and without blowing any mystery is that it’s an experiential theatre event in which “guests” self-guide themselves around the performance as they see fit.  There’s a lot going on at once, and no right or wrong way to “do” it. 

                My friend and I had tickets to the Saturday late-night performance of the show, which was actually perfect.  Somehow, just the fact that it was midnight seemed to add to the suspense.   I’m not used to being up that late – my day job is as a public school teacher, and I had traveled a long way to be in NYC, without a whole lot of sleep – and I think the actors must have wondered why I was yawning, but I was engaged and intrigued the whole time.  It’s truly a captivating experience, even when the actors aren’t actually in the same room as you.  There’s always something to discover.  Before the show, we went to an 8 pm performance of NOW. HERE. THIS. at the Vineyard Theatre.  We got some advice from the one and only Susan Blackwell, after mentioning to her that our next stop was Sleep No More.  She gave us two solid pieces of wisdom.  The first was that, while suspenseful, it’s not like a haunted house – no monster is going to jump out at you.  That was reassuring, because I happen to be one of the jumpiest people on the planet.  Her second piece of advice was to look up a Gawker article detailing how to see all the nudity in the show.  I won’t link directly to the article here, because certain people who read my blog happen to find me wholesome, and I’d like to keep it that way, but it’s easy enough to Google, if you’re so inclined.  We found the article to be hilarious (and true), but it also gave us a little heads-up (without giving too much plot away) about what we were about to see.  It’s a safe bet that if you’re not comfortable being mere feet from a naked stranger, then this might not be the place for you.

                    I’m going to be purposefully vague about what I saw during the show, but let me just say that it was honestly one of the most intense experiences of my life.  The experience begins right when you enter, and continues long after you’re done.  I was inside there for two and a half hours, and I can’t remember a time when my brain has been truly “on” for that long.  I was really thinking about what I was seeing, and it was fascinating.  I don’t want to make it seem like I actually understood half the stuff I saw, because the task of trying to piece it all together is half the battle and all the fun.  My friend and I went together, but we split up and explored on our own.  That’s definitely the best way to do it – we apparently saw almost two completely different shows, and we had a lot to discuss later.  He and I literally discussed it the whole walk back to our hotel on East 42^nd, and all the way through Sunday brunch.  We are both aching to go back.  I’m willing to sacrifice a good deal of time and money for the opportunity to return.  I think it goes without saying that I cannot recommend Sleep No More highly enough.  It’s too difficult to explain, you really just have to experience it, so go!

The Amazingly Awesome Emotional Roller Coaster of NOW. HERE. THIS.

                My journey to NOW. HERE. THIS. began over a year ago, when my friend and I saw [title of show] at Virginia’s SignatureTheatre.  We absolutely loved it, and became obsessed – we now know every word to the cast recording, and do the whole show on road trips, fighting over who gets to be Susan.  I never miss an episode of Side by Side by SusanBlackwell on Broadway.com, and I’m a self-admitted Susan fangirl.  The woman is, quite honestly, an idol of mine – I respect her so much, and I think she’s such an asset to the Broadway community in general.  So, when I saw that the [tos] foursome’s new show, NOW. HERE. THIS., would be playing the Vineyard Theatre, I convinced my friend that we needed to see it.  Well, perhaps “convinced,” is too strong of a word – I think it went more like this:

                Me: Hey, they’re doing NOW. HERE. THIS. at the Vineyard Theatre.

                Him: We are so going.

Now that plans were in place, we were ready.

Photo credit: Broadway.com

                This was, believe it or not, my first venture into an Off-Broadway theatre.  It’s strange, since I travel to New York several times a year, and I see so much Brodway stuff.  But, as we arrived at the Vineyard and took our seats in the second row (squeal!), I found that the Off-Broadway vibe really suits me.  I like the smaller house and the intimate feel.  As the show started, I had a lot of trouble containing my excitement – I’m pretty sure the cast could see me grinning and wiggling in my seat, not knowing what to do in the presence of four of the coolest people on the planet.  My excitement was certainly merited – the show was amazing!  We loved it so much. 

The show is less linear than [title of show], but delves deeper into the idea of finding the intersection of now, here, and this.  The basic premise is that the four are in the natural history museum trying to find how they can live in the moment.  The cast made me laugh at their hilarious stories and anecdotes, cry with them about touching personal and family moments, and laugh again.  I’m pretty sure there were several times when I was laughing and crying at the same time.  More importantly, the show made me think about my life and my creative endeavors.  Those four made me stop and think about what’s important, and how a person gets to the point in which they feel fulfilled.  It’s been on my mind a lot in the few days since seeing the show.  I’m also thinking, “God, I hope there’s a cast recording in the works.”

  The two of us (my friend and I) waited in the lobby to meet the cast after the show, and it was one of the coolest experiences of my life.  I got to meet all of them, and they seemed so genuine.  We had a real conversation with Susan about seeing Sleep No More, which we were seeing later that evening - more on that in my next article.  They seem to really care about the people for whom they create, and that didn't go unnoticed.  I love when I meet people who I imagine to be really cool and I'm not disappointed.  They really are classy and awesome.

              In short, the odds of anyone not loving NOW. HERE. THIS. are about an Ann Jillian to one.