Something Rotten!

I bought my ticket on TodayTix and used a code, bringing the price to $37. Not bad. The only issue was that I'm not good with heights and the balcony at the St. James Theatre is pretty damn steep. Needless to say I spent the majority of the show trying not to freak out about the location of my seat. Despite the location of my seat, I had a fantastic time at Something Rotten! and I would highly recommend the show to anyone who is looking for a solid night at the theater.

I saw the show a week after Christian Borle won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, and the audience was living for his performance. He was fun to watch, as was the rest of the cast. There were a few members of the ensemble that were impossible not to watch during the dances -- Eric Sciotto was a total standout. This was my first time seeing Brian D'Arcy James, Christian Borle, and Heidi Blickenstaff in a show (I missed Borle in Starcatcher by just a few days), and all three are fantastic performers. John Cariani, who I last saw play Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing at Barrington Stage Company, was adorable and endearing. Really, I don't have anything all that exciting to say about any of the actors because they were all great and there wasn't one casting decision I didn't agree with or would've liked to change.

The show literally stopped a few times because of extended applause. There were two huge numbers that got the audience on their feet for a standing ovation in the middle of the show! It was exciting and crazy and even though it was the final show of a five-show weekend, the cast appeared to be having a great time. 

Was the show perfect? No. Brilliant? Eh, it had it's moments. Offensive? Definitely. A lot of fun? Yes.

Something Rotten! wasn't life changing, but I had a really great time. Also, I am loving listening to the cast recording. A musical that has music enjoyable enough to just listen to without watching the action is a hit with me.

2015 Tony Awards

For the last few (at least three) years I have live-Tweeted the Tony Awards. I'm a Broadway fanatic, so it's only fitting that the Tony Awards are the most exciting day of the year for me. This year, however, there was little fanfare. I attended a family wedding on Sunday evening, so for the first time in many years I had to record the Tonys and watch later. I think the situation caused me to feel very mehhhh about the awards this time around. Usually I'm hooting and hollering at the TV and wouldn't dare change the channel for the entire broadcast. This year I fast-forwarded through a lot of the show. It was late, I had to drive back to Jersey at 7:30 am the next morning, and I hadn't seen enough of the nominated shows to feel emotionally involved.

I haven't even gone back to check if any of my predictions were correct because, let's be honest, they're probably not. I really enjoyed the performances, although I don't think Gigi, Finding Neverland, or It Shoulda Been You should've been highlighted. For a year so full of dance-heavy shows, the award for Best Choreography belonged in the broadcast, not during a commercial break. Instead of showcasing shows that will be closing in a few weeks from lack of ticket sales, how about giving Christopher Wheeldon his time in the spotlight. I don't need to go any further into the debate about what awards should be shown because we all know it's already happening, and my opinions on the subject don't matter. I'll leave that to the bigwigs who actually have clout and might be able to enact change.

As for the hosts, I was indifferent. Like the rest of the night, they were enjoyable and had some cute moments. Nothing was shocking. The opening number was not a showstopper like it has been in the last few years. It just wasn't all that special.

None of the winners were surprising, which just meant the whole show was kind of a snooze-fest. Yeah, history was made with Fun Home's wins and Kelli O'Hara finally has a trophy after all this time. Kelli's win was the most exciting moment of the night and her speech was great. I enjoyed the majority of the speeches and each one had its own little quirks. But nothing made me jump up and want to shout with joy. (By the way, finishing the show with Jersey Boys was great. I'll probably catch some flack for saying that, but honestly, I just adore that show and it was so fun to watch.)

Broadway's biggest night is usually mine too. But this year it all just fell flat for me. Again, it was probably because of the way my evening turned out -- Sunday night wasn't the event it usually is for me, and that influenced how I felt about the actual award show.

WHO IS READY FOR TOMORROW?!

An Act of God

I've missed Jim Parsons in all his previous stints on Broadway, so I was pleased to be able to catch him this time.

I saw the show in previews, and walked out of the theater feeling confident that it would not get good reviews. Then this morning I went to the trusty http://www.didhelikeit.com/ and was shocked to see a thumbs up from the NY Times (along with other various news outlets). Isherwood LOVED this show.

Was it the funniest show I've ever seen? No. Was it the most creative/clever show I've ever seen? No. Does it rank in my top 10 shows I've seen? No. Was it an enjoyable afternoon on Broadway? Yes.

I had a good time. I wasn't blown away. The jokes made me laugh, and that's the point isn't it? Jim Parsons is endearing and adorable. His cute face could make any non-believer believe, if just for ninety minutes.

Onstage with Parsons was Christopher Fitzgerald (Michael) and Tim Kazurinsky (Gabriel). Fitzgerald walked around in the house with a microphone, feeding questions from the audience to God/Parsons. I'm assuming that nothing the three actors were saying or doing was improvisational. Everything felt very staged (it's theater, so that would make sense) and I couldn't help but feel that after a few weeks it would all feel a bit stale. You can't see this show more than once because once you've heard the jokes the first time, they're not funny anymore -- think end of Act 1 of "One Man, Two Guvnors" and how the first time you see the show you think it's a real audience member, but the second time you know the joke. But the cast of three certainly did their best to make, and Parsons' facial expressions made me feel at times that he really was getting a kick out of what he was saying. Probably not, but a girl can dream.

I don't think An Act of God made me think about theater differently, but it was certainly a creative way to discuss important topics. You're not going to see the world in a new light when you walk out of the theater, but you might say "Hey, that made me think about..."

All jokes and nonsense aside, Jim Parsons is a great stage actor and I hope to see him again.

Read Isherwood's review here. It's way more detailed than mine because he had more to say, but the last paragraph is really superb.

Tonys 2015 Noms (nom nom nom nom nom)

8:58 am: Playbill.com refuses to load for me.
8:59 am: Gave up on Playbill.com and switched over to Broadwayworld.com

Okay. So disclaimer, I didn't see a whole lot this season because 1) I don't live in NYC right now and 2) Broadway is expensive and I'm but a lowly college grad with no income (yet...) But I'm going to do my best and predict winners anyway, because although I haven't physically sat in the audience for all of them, I like to think I keep pretty well informed. If there's a category I really can't predict, it'll be notated.


Click here for list of nominations.

Best Play
I only saw one of the plays in this category, and it was honestly one of the best shows I've ever seen on Broadway. But I think it closed too soon to be remembered, and thus the race is really between Hand to God and Curious Incident. I've heard amazing things about both, and since I've seen neither I can't make a final prediction.

Best Musical
Again, I only saw one of these musicals, which is just depressing. Based on reviews alone, the race is between An American in Paris and Fun Home. My prediction is An American in Paris just because it's the one I saw and I absolutely adored every second.

Best Revival of a Play
Wow. I sucked at seeing shows this year. I only saw This is Our Youth, and as much as I love that show, it's not going to win. I can't make a prediction here.

Best Revival of a Musical
Oh how I wish I could be absolutely positively certain that On the Town is taking this category by storm. I'm going to predict On the Town just because I am in love with the production, the cast, and its journey from Pittsfield, MA.

Best Book of a Musical
Haven't seen it yet, but Fun Home will win here.

Best Original Score 
Can I be completely honest? I want The Last Ship to win here, but it won't. My guess is Fun Home.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play
What a crazy category this year -- and I'm saying that having seen none of these performances. Based on what I know, I think it'll be between Steven Boyer and Alex Sharp. But obviously the rest of the world is rooting for Bradley Cooper. Also, Cooper winning a Tony would be good press . . .

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play
I mean, Helen Mirren should probably win.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical
All five of these men deserve this award. My heart says Tony Yazbeck, but my head says Robert Fairchild. And the world says one of the other three. It's a toss up in my opinion.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical
Again, how could one possibly choose?! I think Kelli O'Hara will win, because she was totally snubbed last year, and gosh that woman is just amazing. But Fun Home . . .

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play
Absolutely no opinion/prediction here.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play
I'm guessing Sarah Stiles for Hand to God.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Max von Essen deserves this Tony. Christian Borle will win this Tony.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Judy Kuhn for Fun Home. If it's not her, it will be one of the other two women/girls from Fun Home.

Best Scenic Design of a Play

My bet is on Curious Incident.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

No clue, although An American in Paris had some pretty neat set stuff going on.

Best Costume Design of a Play

The costuming for Wolf Hall looked unbelievable. My money is on Wolf Hall.

Best Costume Design of a Musical

How is one to choose?! They're all so different, but all so good. 

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Curious Incident.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Fun Home.

Best Direction of a Play

Hand to God.

Best Direction of a Musical

Oh this is a tough one. Big names here. My money is on John Rando, but really it could be any of the five.

Best Choreography

Josh Bergasse deserves it, Christopher Wheeldon will win. Or in a total upset, Scott Graham & Steven Hoggett for Frantic Assembly (Curious Incident) will come out on top.

Best Orchestrations

Wow. This is some tough competition. I'm just going to say Fun Home.

So there's my predictions, or at least some of them. I probably won't be very accurate, but it's still fun to predict. Do a little looking around this blog if you haven't read reviews on the shows I did see this season. They're all here. And tune in June 7th!

An American in Paris

I've been waiting to read the reviews until I wrote this blog post, because I don't want my thoughts to be influenced by what's written in the New York Times.

While I haven't read any reviews yet, I have checked http://www.didhelikeit.com/ just to see which way the thumb was pointing (check out the site and you'll understand what I mean if you don't already).

Here's a hint . . . the thumb is pointing up.

Deservedly so, in my opinion, because "An American in Paris" is stunningly gorgeous in every way. From the set to the costumes to the lighting to the projections to the acting to the dancing . . . it's all beautiful.

You might be thinking, "But Emily doesn't like old-timey musicals! How could she have such great things to say about this one?!" Over the last few seasons, I've learned that it takes two things to get me really into a classic musical -- an unbelievable cast and unbelievable dancing. "On the Town" for example, has both. "An American in Paris" has both.

Usually it's the music that gets me, but that wasn't the case here. Yeah, the songs are nice and pretty and classic, but it's the dancing that pulled me in here. The dancing left me awestruck. I swear to you my mouth was hanging open in shock half the time. Everything else that happened during the two and a half hours on the stage of the Palace Theater was secondary to the dancing, and only served to enhance the beauty of movement.

I don't even feel the need to single anyone out to discuss their performance, because the entire ensemble as a whole was just that good. Obviously there were moments when my eye was drawn to certain actors over others -- Charlie Sutton was just too perfect not to watch at times -- but everyone was on the same level.

The three men -- Robert Fairchild, Max von Essen, and Brandon Uranowitz -- all steal your heart at different moments throughout. They each brought something different to the show as a whole. Fairchild, obviously, is the dancer, von Essen is the singer, and Uranowitz is the actor. But Fairchild and Uranowitz could sing and act when called upon, von Essen and Uranowitz could act and dance, and Fairchild and von Essen could act. It just worked.

Shocker: Leanne Cope was fantastic. You couldn't help but root for her and hope she got the happy ending alluded to throughout. The costumes added to the float-y feel of the whole show. Also, all set pieces (except for what was flown) was brought in by the ensemble, or rather danced in. I thought that was a lovely touch.

Don't you wish your family was as fantastically amazing as the Fairchild family? (Figure out who Robert's sister is you didn't understand that reference.)

"An American in Paris" comes highly recommended from me and Charles Isherwood. So you really must go see this show.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Paper Mill Playhouse

Disclaimer: I hope you have a few minutes to sit down and actually read, because this one is quite long. Just a friendly warning to bookmark the page and come back if you're interested but don't have time!

Sunday night was my first time at Paper Mill Playhouse. I will definitely go back.

First, I have to say that I did not pay for my ticket. New Jersey Theater Alliance has a reciprocal ticket program, where if you work at a theater that is part of the organization, you can call the box office and get free tickets when available. I truly believe that seeing a show for free can alter (in a good or bad way) how I feel walking out the theater. A comp ticket is always exciting, but it was especially exciting because I've heard a rumor that Disney and Paper Mill pulled the plug on reciprocal tickets just a few days after I got mine.

Needless to say, I would've been happy sitting anywhere, so we -- two other interns, Jenny and Kim, took the trek to Millburn with me -- were shocked to be seated in Orchestra Row O. The usher sat us in row Q and about ten minutes before the show started we had one of those awkward "you're in our seats!" run ins and had to be moved. In the end we were closer to the stage, but the guy in front of me was tall and I didn't have a clear view of the stage at all. But again, I paid nothing for the seat, so I was able to enjoy myself even though I was constantly shifting to get a better view.

Now on to the good stuff . . .

I cannot remember when I last watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Honestly, I probably saw it once in my youth and was so terrified I repressed all memories of that viewing. So I kind of felt like I was walking into the theater not knowing anything, which was nice. Usually when you walk into the theater to see a Disney show, you know everything about the plot and the characters and the overall feel. That was not the case for me with Hunchback. I didn't know any of the music and I only knew a few basics about the story.

I've read a lot of the reviews, and there are parts of each that I definitely agree with. No review has been stellar and I understand why. There are several inconsistencies with the show. The biggest, most jarring one, in my opinion, is that the show doesn't know if it's a dark tragedy or a Disney musical with some dark themes. The musical has not been marketed by kids. It's really Hugo's novel onstage with the Disney name attached to the project. But Disney's name attached means parents will bring children. The show is incredibly dark. The girl in front of Jenny was gasping and covering her eyes quite often. There's a whole lot of death in Hunchback. There's also heavy themes such as rape and prostitution. In the car on the ride home I told my peers I wish the creators had stayed to one side. For example, when Frollo propositions Esmeralda, telling her that he will let her free if she just gives herself to him. This scene was unnecessarily long and they were just jumping around certain themes -- instead of outright telling her that she could have sex with him or die (not really, but basically), Frollo kept talking and talking about how he was going to set her free and she just had to give herself over. I truly don't know if kids understand the underlying themes of what's going on here. To them maybe Frollo is just a bad guy that doesn't like Esmeralda because she's a gypsy. Right? Like, what kid under the age of twelve can understand that he is propositioning her for sex to save the man she loves?

Putting Disney onstage has definite perks, money and success, for one. But, the successful Disney musicals are very obviously Disney-fied. This production takes the Disney out of Hunchback, bringing out more of the adult themes in Victor Hugo's novel. The most Disney-esque element of the whole production was the ensemble narrating the story -- certain plot points were narrated in a simple story-telling manner, such as "And then Quasimodo rang the bells..." (That's not a real moment of narration, but you know what I mean.)

I liked this narration, at least I liked it a lot more than most of the reviewers. Because to me, yeah it was helping kids understand the story, but it was engaging the ensemble in different ways. I don't want to give away too many spoilers, but the ensemble is a huge part of this show -- the portrayal of the gargoyles especially. The narration didn't take away anything for me, and it just added a little here and there. It wasn't a deal breaker, but it wasn't the most inventive story-telling technique either.

The production elements were on point. I am in love with the set. I don't have a whole lot more to say about it other than it was breathtaking and everything space of the stage was used quite a bit. Lighting design was gorgeous. The lights really captured the feeling of every moment, and I was impressed at how perfectly many of the light changes fit with sound q's.

For me, the draw was Michael Arden. I'd never seen him onstage before, but his voice has always been like a knee to the solar plexus. It's so stunningly beautiful that I want to catch it and put it in a jar like Ursula did with Ariel's voice. Arden is very involved in the deaf community, having directed a production of Spring Awakening with Deaf West Theatre last year. Arden's Quasimodo was hard of hearing, using bursts of sign language to communicate and express himself. When he sang his voice was unaffected and strong. Arden's Quasimodo had two sides -- he was one person when he was alone in the bell tower singing out to the audience, and another when around other humans. He brought a real youthful humanity to the character, and Quasimodo felt real.

I have no qualms about the casting. All the voices were perfect. I would've liked more intense choreography -- Esmeralda is supposed to be a dancer, right? Patrick Page's Frollo was just as spine chilling as expected, bordering on flat out disgusting in his advances of Esmeralda and his treatment of Quasimodo.

For me, the music was the most important aspect of this musical (shouldn't it always be?), and did not disappoint. I was mesmerized by the music, and to me that means the show was successful.

Many wonderful choices were made -- most notably having Quasimodo walk out for the first time without any deformity and transforming into the hunchback before our eyes. I really don't want to give too much away, so if you're absolutely intent on knowing what was done, feel free to reach out to me and I'll go into detail. Otherwise, just know that the transformation was simple, effective, and important.

The show was lovely. I truly enjoyed my evening at Paper Mill. I hope the show has a future, but I do think it still needs some tightening and tweaking. It'll be interesting to see what happens next.