Pippin

Wednesday, May 15th (evening).

Need I reiterate how much I adore this show? So if you remember back to January, I saw this production at ART before it's Broadway transfer. There are some new and exciting things that have been added since moving (real fire, anyone?), but overall it's the same magical experience.

I cannot say enough good things. Really. I can't. It's perfect. I have quite a soft spot for this show. I love the plot and the characters and the music. But trust me, I would tell you if there was something that bothered me. And there's nothing. I'm just a huge fan of the way Diane Paulus re-imagined this musical that could so easily be stuck in the 70's and never come out. Yeah, it's still a musical that was written in the 70's and there's evidence of that, but it's been reinvented.

Rushing is pretty intense for Pippin these days. I was there at 6:30am. But my seat was great -- Row D on the side (house left).

GO SEE THIS SHOW. Especially if you've ever been in it (*cough cough CHS musical 2010*). 

I might have stage-doored this one...

Me & Rachel Bay Jones (Catherine).

Me & Patina Miller (Leading Player).

Me & Terrence Mann (Charles).

Me & Matthew James Thomas (Pippin).

Annie

Wednesday, May 15th (matinee).

Not a fan of this show. And it's not just how I felt about this production... I just don't like the show. The best song is the ballad Warbucks sings in Act II. There was just nothing special about this production. It was Annie done the same as Annie has been done for years. Nothing new. I found myself watching what was happening backstage in the wings more than what was happening onstage. And I was struggling to stay awake during Act I.

I saw Jane Lynch's second performance and was not impressed. She seemed uncomfortable with everything that was happening. Her eyes were darting all over the place, she didn't seem focused on what she was doing onstage, and it was just awkward. Yeah, I get that this was only her second performance but I wanted more professionalism. I can guarantee you that I was the only one in the audience that was thinking about that... but different strokes for different folks. My favorite number in the show is "Easy Street" but it was not good.

Lila Crawford as Annie was impressive. Her voice, mostly. There were some acting moments that were painfully presentational and just poorly done. But when she sang it was pretty darn magical. Daddy Warbucks stole the show in my opinion. He was just great. Very sympathetic. The best moment in the show was the meeting between Roosevelt, Warbucks, Annie, and the other staff when Annie gets them to sing "Tomorrow" -- the fact that I think this is the best moment proves that I like moments with adults rather than children in musicals.

I was sitting in row AA for the first act and that was pretty restricted because the stage was so high. I missed everything the dog did. I moved back a row for Act II and could see upstage a lot better.

Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of the classics?

Matilda

Tuesday, May 14th.

For the second time. This time I sat in the mezzanine so there was no restricted view, which was nice, but also proved that I really didn't miss anything when I sat in the box.

I saw a different girl play Matilda (Sophia), but she was so similar to the one I saw before (Bailey) that it didn't feel like a different person.

The only problem I have with Matilda is that I don't feel as though the sound system is loud enough. I wanted to feel the music more. I remember having that complaint in London, that the speakers never seemed to be as loud as I wanted them to be. Over there I came to the conclusion that it was a London Theater thing, but maybe it's just the kind of show. I don't know. I just know that I wanted the sound to be louder.

Overall this show is spectacular and I highly recommend it. Not much else to say.

Macbeth

Monday, May 13th.

I can say for sure that I don't think I heard one audience member utter the dreaded title of this play while in the theater.

I rushed the show that morning and had a seat in the box so I knew my view would be restricted. Unfortunately it was very restricted and I missed everything that happened on stage left both upstage and downstage.

Alan Cumming was unbelievable. Honestly, it was just amazing to watch him perform. I cannot even fathom what it takes to do what he did for an hour and forty-five minutes. Just unreal. I spent the entire show just wanting to hug him, which is probably not how I was supposed to feel, but he just seemed adorable.

The one issue I had with the show was towards the end when the nurse went down on one knee and replied as a solider. To me, that broke the entire concept and proved that it was flawed. Throughout the entire show you believe that Alan Cumming is acting out the story of Macbeth in his head and he's being monitored in an insane asylum/hospital by the two nurses. The nurses never respond to him, only coming to check him out when they think he has self-mutilated or needs sedating from working himself up. Then all of a sudden the male nurse is part of the play... why? That was really strange and not clear as to why it happened. The overall concept worked, but only up until that point.

I'm very glad I got to experience this production. Good stuff happening.

Murder Ballad

Saturday, May 11th.

Everyone has their reasons for picking certain shows, and sometimes they are based purely on the people in the cast. Of the four people in the cast, I had seen three in other shows -- Will Swenson in Hair and Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Caissie Levy in Hair and Ghost, and Rebecca Naomi Jones in American Idiot.

I knew nothing about the show going in, except what I learned from reading the quick blurb on the website. When I bought the tickets I was let in on the secret that the action did not take place in one location but rather throughout a playing space with some of the audience in the center.

The show was great. I had some problems with hearing words, diction issues here and there, but was able to follow the story easily. I don't always care about the plot, and for me Murder Ballad was almost like a concert -- four amazing singers coming together and rocking out. The plot was there, but I was content just to listen to them sing and interact with each other. The music was very moving and the ending was shocking. Yeah, there were plot holes here and there and some of it was odd and didn't make sense, but that didn't necessarily bother me because I liked the music so much.

My favorite musicals are gritty and uncomfortable rock operas and Murder Ballad was just that. It was 80 minutes of pure adrenaline. The story was not atypical, but the ending was surprising. If you know me and you know this show, you would for sure point to it as a show I would like. And you'd be right. I told my mother after the show that for me, this show was why I do theater. It took a typical story and contorted it into something almost unrecognizable and different and strange and thrilling. And then brought together these four singing geniuses who were clearly passionate about the work they were putting on.

I cannot wait for the cast recording to be released. It's one album I know for sure I will listen to very often.