The Perfect Gift for Any Broadway Fan!

If you’re searching for the perfect gift for your favorite Broadway fan this holiday season, this list is exactly what you need!  Trust me, I’m an expert; most of this list is copy-pasted from my letter to Santa.

This year’s hot items:

• The Be a Broadway Star board game: The perfect gift for anyone who practices their Tony Award speech in the shower with a shampoo bottle as a substitute Tony.  A description of the game, provided by the website: “You'll start out in acting school and work your way up to the top, buying pictures and resumes, earning your "Equity" card, getting an agent, going to auditions, going to more auditions, and maybe even winning a Tony Award!”  Cost: $35
• Stephen Sondheim’s Finishing the Hat: the book of the season for any fan of musical theater, particularly for the Sondheim fan in your life.  It’s the definitive book of Sondheim lyrics, annotated by the man himself, and includes tons of behind-the-scenes photos and information.  It’s sure to please even the pickiest Broadway fan.  Cost: $22.90 at Amazon
• Dance on Broadway game for Wii: This Wii game teaches you the choreography as players dance along to 20 of their favorite show tunes.  It’s great Broadway fun and an enjoyable workout all in one.  Note, if you’re getting this for someone like myself, you’re going to have to buy a Wii to go with it.  Cost: $16.73 on Amazon.
• Patti LuPone's Memoir: Chances are high that the Broadway fan in your life pre-ordered this and read it cover-to-cover the day it came out.  On the off chance that he or she has been holding out for the paperback edition, go ahead and give the gift of the life of one of Broadway’s biggest starts!  Cost: $14.38 at Amazon.

If money’s no object:

• For the Broadway fan who has everything, how about investing in his/her name in the Spring 2011 production of Godspell!  How cool would it be to be an actual Broadway producer?  This is a gift that’s sure to be a big hit – especially since all producers get their names on display in the theater.  Cost: $1,000 and up.

If you’re on a budget:

• Get crafty!  If you’re like me and you don’t have a whole lot of money to spend this holiday season, make something!  Use your imagination!
• If you want, you can borrow an idea I’ve used for decorating my apartment.  If you have a bunch of those flyers they hand out advertising Broadway shows, they make great collages!  Just buy a cheap frame at your local craft store, and arrange/glue the flyers.  You can make a collage with a bunch of shows, or choose your gift recipient’s favorite show.  I’ve included pictures of the ones in my apartment.  If you don’t have any of these flyers on hand, you can get a bunch pretty cheap on eBay.  There’s a whole section in theater memorabilia just for ads and flyers.  I was able to get a collection of about 75 flyers for about $5.  This is especially handy if you live far from New York City.

For the activist in your life:

• One of the great things about the Broadway community is the commitment to charity, from the biggest star right down to the fans.  A perfect holiday gift would be a donation in your loved one’s name to a Broadway charity.  Don’t know any?  Try these: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Broadway Impact, and Broadway Barks.
• Is your gift-ee a hardcore fan of a particular Broadway star?  Do a little research, find out what charity their favorite star loves, and make a donation to that charity.  For example, if your loved one is a huge Kristin Chenoweth fan, consider a donation in his/her name to the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
• If your loved one is already a proud supporter of one or more of these wonderful charities, give them a way to show their support and pride!  Try a BC/EFA tote bag or a Broadway Impact t-shirt?
• What better way to get in the spirit of the holidays than to sign up as a potential life-saver?!  Leukemia has been in the news around Broadway lately.  Go ahead and sign yourself and your gift-ee up as bone marrow donors.  It only takes a minute, you’ll feel great, you could save someone’s life, and best of all, it’s free!

For the collector:

• If you want to get the perfect piece of Broadway memorabilia for your Broadway fan, check out eBay!  You can find tons of good stuff on ebay.  My personal favorites are the BC/EFA auctions, which are always packed with great stuff.
• Don’t forget about the Playbill store!  They have Playbills from current and past seasons, and nifty Playbill storage and display options!
• There’s also lots of fun Broadway Christmas stuff out there.  My favorite?  The Chita Rivera ornament. 

The obvious:

• I feel silly even mentioning this, because it seems obvious, but the best gift for any Broadway fan is, of course, tickets to a Broadway show!
• Not sure which show to see?  TKTS offers gift certificates, and a good old-fashioned home-made coupon saying “I’ll take you to the Broadway show of your choice” can’t possibly fail.
• Not in New York City?  A trip to NYC is always a great gift, but a less expensive option is a night of awesome regional theater or a national tour.  Most theaters around the country offer gift certificates, but many require you to purchase them in person at the box office.

Hopefully this told you everything you needed to know to get the perfect gift for your favorite theater nut.  Whatever you decide, don’t forget your Broadway wrapping paper!

Braving the Balcony for Billy Elliot - Twice!

                I have a confession to make: I despise sitting in the balcony and mezzanine.  I live for orchestra-level seats.  I guess I just like to be as close to the action as possible – I don’t like not being able to see facial expressions.  I know people who prefer balcony seating; they enjoy looking down onto the stage.  I suppose I just have expensive taste, which is particularly unfortunate considering I’m constantly in search of thrifty theater.  My mother once told me something to the effect of, “it would be a lot easier if you weren’t such a snob about it.”  Thanks, mom.  But realistically, she has a point.

                My budget recently forced me to decide between seeing the national tour of Billy Elliot at the Durham Performing Arts Center from the upper balcony or not seeing it at all.  I chose the upper balcony.

                Ever since sitting on stage at Spring Awakening and dancing on stage at Hair, no seat in the house is close enough for me.  I realize that I’m ridiculous.  Yet, sitting in the upper balcony was hardly the nightmare I had feared it would be.  Initially, when I sat down in row L of the balcony, my first thought was “Dear God, I’m going to hate this.  The actors will all look like ants!”  Thankfully, I was wrong.

                In fact, there are actually some benefits to having the “cheap” seats!  (I put “cheap” in quotation marks because my ticket was still $30.)  While there were a few times when I was frustrated that I couldn’t tell which actor was speaking, I found myself actually appreciating the balcony’s vantage point, especially for a show with so much dancing.  I loved watching the numbers with the ballet girls from up high, and I don’t think the profundity and emotional impact of the show (especially the “Angry Dance” and the part with the older Billy) were at all dampened by my distance from the stage.  Even though I couldn’t see the actors’ faces so well, I still bawled during Billy’s response to his mother’s letter.

                Don’t get the wrong idea here – I haven’t changed my ways or anything.  I still would so much rather be in row A than in any tier, mezzanine, or balcony.  But, I’ve opened my eyes to the fact that sitting up high doesn’t suck as much as I thought it would.

                I have another confession to make: I’m a repeat attender.  I like to see certain shows (cough, cough Spring Awakening) again and again.  I’m not sure why, but I think part if it may have to do with where I live.  Not living in or near NYC, I get limited opportunities to see kick-ass Broadway shows, and I don’t have much in the way of options.

                When a national tour comes to town: a) the dates of that engagement are pretty much my only chances to see that production (with the Broadway creative team, etc.), and b) it’s the only thing around – it’s not like in NYC where you could choose from 30 Broadway shows any given day.  I often feel like I have to really make it count.  If I like a show, I’m probably going to see it again.  Thus, I’ve been known to see the same show multiple times in one week.

                Thanks to DPAC’s student rush tickets, I was able to see the show a second time for $22.  Since the touring company of Billy Elliot has five actors who take turns playing Billy, I didn’t want to miss the chance to see another Billy.  It paid off.

                The first Billy I saw was good, but the second one was great!  He’s already been Billy on Broadway, and he was awesome.  Despite the fact that there were 98 stairs (I counted!) between the orchestra level and my seat in the very last row of the 2,800-seat venue, I was blown away.

                I don’t want to be negative about the first Billy I saw (and I’m not going to name names), but his cockney accent needed work (though it was clear he’d been working hard on it – keep it up!), and his singing was good but not great.  I don’t like saying bad things about anyone, especially young performers, especially since this “not as good” Billy was a squillion times more talented than I’ll ever be.  It’s just that Billy #2 was a little more seasoned as a performer, and it was noticeable.  To make a long story short, going back was quite worthwhile.  Except for the teenage boy and his mom next to me, who made plenty of comments quite loudly.

The Time I Danced On Stage At The Kennedy Center (Hair!)

                I have a confession to make: Hair makes me giddy.  Bouncing up and down, squealing like a pre-teen girl, willing to do anything for tickets giddy.  I've already confessed to owning six different recordings of Hair, to naming my cat Frank Mills, and to being an all-out Hair freak.  If you haven’t seen it yet, check out my Dos and Don'ts for seeing Hair.  To say I was excited about seeing the touring cast of Hair this past Saturday at the Kennedy Center would be the grossest of understatements.

                I saw the show last December in NYC with my mom.  We drove up from DC for a matinee.  It was magical.  It really got my musical theater flame going strong, and is almost singlehandedly responsible for my current musical theater junkie status.  When I left the Hirsschfeld Theatre, it had just begun to snow in Times Square (a magical continuation of the snow on stage at the end of the show), and I haven’t shut up about Hair since.

                I got a great deal on my ticket to Hair at the Kennedy Center: I got my mom to pay for them.  I went with both of my parents – it was my dad’s first time seeing the show!  Before the show, I walked up to the merchandise booth on a mission: love beads.  I bought the beads, put them on (the perfect complement to my “Let the Sun Shine In yellow” shirt), and proceeded to my seat.  As always, I read the playbill very carefully.  I love that the cast bios for Hair aren’t your typical playbill fare.  Many include the performer’s astrological sign, love for their tribe, and marriage equality enthusiasm.  Every playbill should be so cool.

                Highlights of the show: the really hot blonde guy tribe member with glorious abs, having a tribe member play with my hair during the title song, seeing an actress bump into a banister while running around the darkened house (the beauty of live performance, folks!), Berger needing to use his back-up lighter (seriously, live theater is the best!), getting goosebumps while the cast walked by me singing “Let the Sun Shine In” a capella while walking out the back of the theater, and dancing on stage with the tribe.

                It was so awesome being on stage at the Kennedy Center!  I loved it so much!  The cast members kept coming up to me, giving me hugs, dancing with me, and saying in-character things like “thanks for coming, sister.”  There was a really old man (at least 80 years old) who came on stage, which was surreal.  It was the perfect example of how Hair reaches all different people.  As I was leaving the stage after the dance party, I stopped for a moment, turned back toward the back of the stage, and soaked in the moment, just absorbing the sheer awesomeness of the experience.  One final tribe member gave me a big hug, chock-full of hippie love and said “thank you.”  To this, I quickly replied, “thank YOU!”  There simply aren’t words to describe the amazingness.

                I returned to my parents, waiting in row AA, both exclaiming how cool it was to see me on stage.  My dad said, “wow, you hugged the whole cast!”  I was still beaming.  I couldn’t stop squealing for at least the next hour.  My mom laughed when I asked “can we come back for tonight’s performance?”  She thought I was kidding.  While we didn’t go back that night, she and I are hoping to go again later this month.  I already have tickets to two performances when the tour rolls into Durham in May (and I’m buying a ticket to a third performance when I’m at the box office tonight), but the thought of waiting all the way until May to see Hair again makes me die a little inside.

An understated note of caution:

The cast:

Hair Tour Website - buy your tickets now!

The DOs and DON'Ts of Hair!

                As a self-proclaimed Hair enthusiast (come on, my cat’s name is Frank Mills), I took it upon myself to create this fun, yet informative, list of DOs and DON’Ts for seeing Hair when it rolls into your town.

DO splurge on orchestra-level seats, especially ones on the aisle to get the best possible interactions with the tribe.

DON’T French-braid your hair or get a fancy up-do.  If you wear your hair up, the tribe can’t mess with it during the title song!

DO have fun with fashion.  While not ignoring theater etiquette, feel free to throw on your hippie skirt, your love beads, your tie-dye.  Just try to keep it all on at the end of “Where Do I Go?”.

DON’T be inhibited or shy.  The cast thrives on an enthusiastic audience, especially those who aren’t afraid of a little good-natured mocking.

DO get to the theater on time – or you may be called out in front of a packed house.  Plus, it would be tragic to miss the opening number.

DON’T forget to buy a copy of the cast recording before you leave.  You’ll want to re-live the experience again and again.

DO dance on stage with the tribe.  The post-curtain call dance party is ridiculously fun, and you don’t want to miss it.  What other show lets you do that?

Have fun!

Website for Hair on tour  - get your tickets now!

The Ultimate Thrifty Theater: Fences for Free!

                Two straight plays in one week?  Is this a case of a musical theater junkie gone mad?  Fortunately not – I’m just getting back to my roots.  Oh, and taking advantage of a killer thrifty theater opportunity!  A friend said to me one night in class “Hey, you know about theater, right?  What do you know about this free night of theater thing?”  I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounded right up my alley.  I told her to email me a link, which led me to Free Night of Theater, which you must check out immediately.  Right then and there I signed up for a free ticket to Fences at the PlayMakers Repertory Company, a professional theater located on the campus of UNC in Chapel Hill.  When it comes to thrifty theater, there’s nothing better than free, especially for high quality productions like this one.

                As usual, I’d like to air my grievances first, just to get them out of the way.  The list is short, and they’re not actually about the production itself.

                Firstly, even if you are a college student, basketball shorts and a backwards ball cap do not constitute appropriate theater attire.  Just put on pants and take off the hat – am I asking too much?

                There were a lot of students at this performance, which is fine.  In fact, I think it’s beyond great.  However, I’m a little frustrated with whichever professor asked them to take notes during the performance.  They all used their cell phones as flashlights to see what they were writing while the performance was in progress.  Way distracting for those of us in the audience with ADHD.

                Whew!  Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can get to the good stuff – and there’s plenty of that!

                Right off the bat, I’d like to give the PlayMakers Rep an A+ for their late seating policy.  On the tickets, they’ve printed “No Late Seating.”  What’s even better is that they follow through on that.  I’ve had too many opening scenes ruined by latecomers.  At the PlayMakers Rep, they’ve got chairs along the back wall of the theater, and discreetly, during a blackout, they let latecomers enter through a rear entrance (the main entrance is in the front), and sit in these chairs.  No entire rows have to stand and hear 15 “excuse me”s as folks make their way to center seats five minutes into the show.  This makes me want to drop everything and write a really mushy love letter to the PlayMakers Rep immediately.

                Also, the production was fantastic!  I loved how the set (which was the outside of a Pittsburgh house) included a view into the kitchen so we could see Rose hard at work.  I was quite impressed by the cast’s resumes – plenty of New York actors doing spectacular work right here in North Carolina!  It was everything I could have hoped for, short of Denzel Washington.  I was particularly impressed by the actor playing Gabe – I was moved by his performance, to the point of tears in the final scene.  It’s such an intense role, which could have been portrayed any number of ways, but I’m immensely pleased with the acting and artistic choices which went into shaping this incarnation of Gabriel.

                This was my first August Wilson play – and I promise it won’t be my last!  I was consistently engaged intellectually with the text, and there were two things which are still on my mind, days later.  The first is Cory.  On an emotional level, I just wanted the kid to be able to play football, to enjoy his youth.  However, it’s hard to deny that Troy knows a harsher reality, and one can see why he’d want to protect his son from some of the world’s ugliest truths.  But still, it breaks my heart.

                The other thing which has been on my mind is Rose.  There’s a line which is still echoing in my head: “What about me?  When’s my time to enjoy life?”  Sure, Troy’s been dealt a tough hand, but Rose had the added pressure of being a woman.  I don’t think Rose gets nearly enough credit for how she lives her life.  Save for little Raynell, Rose is the only female character.  I think what’s most important in understanding Rose is what we don’t see.  We’re privileged to a lot of Troy’s personal life, discussions with friends and so on.  The social structure is clearly depicted as a man’s world.  The character of Rose doesn’t get to chat with friends, drink gin, or ask for a promotion.  In fact, when she left to take the cakes to the church for the bake sale, it suddenly occurred to me that that was the only time she’s even left the house!  I’m going to continue to ponder August Wilson’s social commentary on the intersection of race, class, and gender as presented through Rose.  I’ll let you know if I make any breakthroughs.

                Overall, I give this theater experience a big thumbs up.  PlayMakers Rep, you can expect my call for tickets to Angels in America – I’m even going to pay!

The Musical Theater Junkie Takes in a Straight Play - and Loves It!

          I have a confession to make: it’s been a long time since I’ve seen a straight play.  The last one I saw was Twelfth Night over a year ago!  The last non-Shakespeare play I saw was Shaw’s Major Barbara several years ago at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in DC.  I’m not sure why it’s been so long.  I mean, clearly my passion is in musicals, but I love theater in all its forms.  For crying out loud, my senior seminar as an English major in college was restoration and 18^th century British drama.  It had been far too long sing I partook of a straight play.

                Cut to yesterday, and me at the Sunday matinee of the Triad Stage’s production of Educating Rita.  There are three reasons why I decided to see this production:

1)      The Triad Stage was recently named by the American Theatre Wing as one of America’s top ten most promising regional theaters.  That’s no small feat!

2)      When I went to the Triad Stage website, there was a discount code on the front page for $10 of tickets to Educating Rita.  For someone in constant search of thrifty theater, that was the golden ticket.

3)      There was a talk-back after this performance with a professor from Wake Forest University, and I really miss the academic side of theater.

Not to mention, my best friend lives in Greensboro, so dinner with her would make the 90-minute drive each way all the more worthwhile.

                To quote Janice from Friends, “Oh. My. God.”  The play was brilliant!  I loved it!  Upon entering the theater, there’s a sign that warns patrons that this production contains adult language and many books.  I’ve found heaven.  At first, I was a little worried that the books they referenced would be books I hadn’t read and didn’t know anything about.  Luckily, it just so happens that all of the books they discussed at length were ones I had been assigned as an undergrad, even Rubyfruit Jungle, believe it or not!

                I don’t think I’ve ever before seen a play which only had two actors, and these two were phenomenal.  I was engaged for every single second they were onstage.  I cared so much about the characters, and even more, I was developing all kinds of ideas and theories about the characters and the story as the play went on.  I was in full-on “English major mode” and loving it!  I don’t want to ruin the plot for anyone, but I will say that I have some well-developed theories about the role of Rubyfruit Jungle in the play and why I think that literary allusion is, in fact, far more significant than any of the high-brow English literature which Rita studies.  Especially since Frank, her tutor, reads (and enjoys) the Rita Mae Brown novel.  I’d love to just sit down over a cup of tea and just talk about the play for hours.

                That’s why I’m so glad that I attended the talk-back afterward.  It was so wonderful to be around people who cared as much about the play as I did and had the chance to talk about it!  Needless to say, I’m buying a season pass for the rest of the season, and I’m getting all my tickets on the day of the talk-backs!  If you’ve never attended an event like that, do it now!  It was so rewarding.

                I’ve been rambling.  But amazing theater does that to me.  I think the American Theatre Wing was right on the money picking the Triad Stage as one of America’s most promising theaters!

 The Triad Stage Website

Going Outside My Comfort Zone

                I have a confession to make: I’m not much of a risk-taker when it comes to theater.  Especially with a budget like mine, I tend to buy tickets to shows I know I’m going to like.  I tend to stick to musicals that have been on Broadway or theaters which I know produce awesome stuff.  However, given the right invitation and the right price, I have been known to venture out of my comfort zone.  Usually, it’s a good decision.  The time I ventured outside of my comfort zone to see a death-metal rock production of Titus Andronicus was the only time I think leaving my zone of familiarity was a terrible decision.

                So, a friend of mine from school asked me if I would be interested in a Bollywood-themed musical stage show thing.  Exactly where it fits in the genre is a little vague, but whatevs.  The clincher was that the theater wasn’t selling many tickets ahead of time, and the student rush policy was that an hour before the show, whatever seats were left were $20.  Score, I’m in.  Our seats were in row D.  $20 for row D?  That kind of opportunity doesn’t come along every day!

                So, the basic gist of Merchants of Bollywood is that a girl leaves home to pursue a career in Bollywood, and there’s lots of dancing.  I mean lots of dancing.  The dancing was by far the best part of the show.  I’m not going to skirt around this – the plot sucked and the acting sucked.  There’s just no more eloquent way to put it.  The dancing did not suck.  Whatever the opposite of sucking is, that’s how good the dancing was.  The costumes were fabulous.  The set was basic, but whatever.  It did have some things which made a musical theater junkie like myself feel right at home: big dance numbers, a man in drag, a ridiculously over-the-top gay character, and enough glitter to put even the most lavish production of La Cage Aux Folles to shame.  However, as a stickler for musical theater authenticity, I was disappointed by the fact that the music wasn’t live and that the actors didn’t actually sing.  I do realize that a lot of that last bit was because most of the show was a spoof on Bollywood films, in which lip-synching is the norm.

                There was also a cultural gap between me and a deep understanding of what was going on.  There were countless occasions when the audience would burst into applause or laughter and I had absolutely no clue what they were reacting to.

                All in all, I’m definitely glad I went.  I was able to experience a culture other than my own, and I was reminded of the power of live performance.  There was a middle-aged man in front of me who was cheering and clapping and so unbelievably enthusiastic about the show.  There’s something about sitting in a darkened theater with live people doing what they do best right there, in the moment, which is almost always exhilarating (death metal Titus Andronicus obviously not included).

 Merchants of Bollywood Wikipedia page

Even Theater Fanatics Won't Like EVERY Show!

                I have a confession to make: I don’t think I like Little Shop of Horrors.  Hopefully this blog article will give both you and I some more insight into this personal anomaly.  As someone who fancies myself a musical theater fanatic, it’s a little alarming when I realize that there are shows I don’t like.  I mean, there aren’t a whole lot of shows on that list.  But I thought I liked Little Shop.  It had been awhile since I saw it.

                Okay, so a few weeks ago I went to the NC Theatre’s production of Little Shop of Horrors.  I mentioned in a “Thrifty Theater” post that I had bought the ticket on Groupon.  I got a half price (just $23!) front mezzanine ticket.  The theater is pretty big, and the orchestra section was about 1/3 full.  The mezzanines weren’t much better.  I should have taken BroadwayGirlNYC's Advice and gotten myself a free upgrade.  Oh, well.  Nonetheless, the production itself was actually pretty good.  The actor playing Seymour is a Raleigh native, but the other actors were pretty seasoned.  The man playing Mushnik had a New York resume a mile long.  The actress playing Audrey was in Les Miserables on Broadway, an understudy who went on for Eponine.  Not too shabby.  The actor who voiced the plant actually did that on Broadway.  One of the girls on the street was in Avenue Q when it transferred from Broadway back to off-Broadway.  The sets were good.  The music was good.  The sound could have been better – the microphones were occasionally overpowered by the orchestra.  But that’s really neither here nor there.  Let’s get to the meat of this.

                I know I’ve seen Little Shop before.  I don’t really remember when or where, but it must have been some time in adolescence.  I know I’ve seen the movie with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin.  I remembered the sadistic dentist quite clearly.  I personally think going to the dentist is one of the most miserable ways to spend time, so that certainly resonated with me.  I thought I remembered the story really well.  Yet, somehow, I managed to completely forget that the plant eats people.  That’s pretty fundamental to the plot, but for some reason, I did not remember that at all.  And I didn’t find it amusing.

                It’s not that I don’t think eating people is appropriate for theater – I saw Sweeney Todd, and I absolutely loved it.  However, Sweeney Todd is not lighthearted – it doesn’t pretend that the subject matter isn’t heavy.  I think that’s what bothered me about Little Shop – what was the point of it?  Why would Seymour and Audrey fall in love if they’re just going to be eaten by the plant anyway?  And why would there be a comedy number at the end?  I guess I just don’t like the lighthearted death.  Perhaps I’m way overanalyzing Little Shop.  But plain and simple, I’m not amused by it.

                This is a critical point in the life of every musical theater fanatic – the realization that not all shows (not even all Tony nominated shows) are going to be our cup of tea.  Just because it’s a musical doesn’t mean I have to love it.  I think it’s great that there are people who love this show.  But in the same way that I don’t understand how any human being could be anything but floored by the awesomeness of Spring Awakening, I know that there are people who cannot fathom why I’m not in love with Little Shop of Horrors.  That’s just what makes the world go round.  And I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Thrifty Theater - Hasty Decisions

     I have a confession to make: I make terrible financial decisions before 8 AM.  Many eBay auctions have been won by me because of decisions made that early in the morning, and I once even paid for a short-lived eHarmony subscription at 6:30 AM.  This morning was no exception. 
     I found a good deal today.  Sort of.  I get emails from Groupon all the time with pretty good deals in the Triangle area.  I've never actually done it though, because they are usually for things I don't care about like spa treatments or childcare.  However, today it was 50% off theater tickets - to NC Theatre's upcoming production of Little Shop of Horrors, which I had been thinking very seriously about seeing.  To cut to the chase, I bought the Groupon thing - a center mezzanine ticket for $23.  Not too shabby.  After spending the money, I notice that it's good for one of three nights.  Two of those nights, I have class.  The other, I promised I would babysit.  Ugh.  I should have looked beforehand.  Nonetheless, the money has been spent and I will be deciding which class to skip.

And since YouTube is always free, I'm including these two videos just for fun.  I'm currently completely obsessed with them!

Chess at Signature Theatre

     I've been remiss about posting lately.  I apologize.  Several weekends ago, I saw Chess at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA.   The Signature, as you may know, is one of my favorite haunts and is an amazing part of the DC theater scene, having won the 2009 regional theater Tony award!  I get a little giddy every time I see the Tony in a display case in the lobby.  I went with my parents to see Chess, and I knew very little about the show prior to seeing it.  All I knew was that it was a rock musical about rival chess players and the woman they love.  This production included some big names, like Euan Morton and Jill Paice.  Needless to say, I was excited to see it.
     And how do I feel about it afterward?  In short, I loved it!  It was amazing!  And I'm not the only one who feels that way.  The audiences are loving it so much that they've extended the run a week.  I'm not sure how common that is in regional theater, but I can definitely see why they chose to do it.  The small theater was packed for the Sunday matinee I saw with my parents.  We got our tickets half-price at Signature's Target family fun day, which was amazing and worthy of a blog post in and of itself.  We sat in the third row, almost center.  Perfect seats.  The set was amazing!  I loved the use of lighting, the use of television screens, and the plexiglass in the set pieces.  The songs were phenomenal!  For days afterward I was singing "Nobody's on Nobody's Side," much to the chagrin of those around me, and I also really loved the one that Freddie sings at the end about his childhood.  It was so touching.  Confession: I cried.  Euan Morton's performance was heartbreakingly amazing.  I'm definitely going to try to see it again before it closes, if it's not all sold out and I can get up to DC.  It really made me think about rock musicals (which I love), but more about the ways rock musicals are powerful in the way they can and can't adhere to the traditional standards of musical theater.
   Additionally, it got me thinking about how cool regional theater is, especially when you can see the same actors playing different parts on a consistent basis.  I know that people on Broadway and elsewhere perform in plenty of different roles, but it just seems cool at the regional theater.  During Chess, I was thinking about how interesting it was that I saw Hunter from their production of [title of show] and Anthony from their production of Sweeney Todd in the ensemble.  It's fun to kind of "know" a group of actors like that and get to see them in very different shows.
    Here's BroadwayWorldTV's video about Signature's Chess.  You'll see what I mean about the set.