Dada Woof Papa Hot

My biggest regret is that I didn't see The Normal Heart back in 2012. Seriously. Missing that production is the one move I've made that I will regret for the rest of my life. So when I saw John Benjamin Hickey's name attached to Dada Woof Papa Hot obviously I bought a ticket. I missed him once, I wasn't going to miss him again.

Dada Woof Paper Hot illustrates what is seemingly the new normal onstage these days -- an affluent New York City gay couple with a couple of kids fighting over issues of fidelity and navigating the waters of middle age. These are themes most everyone can relate to. I was surprised how close to home the story hit for me, my being a by-product of a marriage that stayed together for the kids.

The story followed three couples, all married with kids, navigating the waters of staying faithful to their spouses while having their attention divided among work, family, and extramarital affairs. Pretty standard plot really.

I was most surprised by the set, as there seemed to be a constant stream of new locations from one scene to the next. Entire rooms moved in and out of the playing space, each one showing a different glimpse into the world of the main couple, Rob and Alan.

The one element of the show that really irked me was the use of a recorded voice for Rob and Alan's daughter. She called out during a dinner party from her bedroom, and her voice was so obviously coming from the speakers on either side of the stage that I almost wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness. There was no need for her voice to be heard at all -- or if it was really that necessary it should've been a live voice.

Simply put, John Benjamin Hickey was superb. Patrick Breen, playing Hickey's husband, was great and they were well cast together. I really really really disliked Alex Hurt as Jason, but it wasn't Mr. Hurt as an actor that I didn't like, it was the way he played the character of Jason. Jason was just a hateful (that might be too strong of a word) character to begin with, and his mannerisms and flippant tone frustrated me to no end. But each character had some redeeming quality, and those qualities centered around their love for the children. No matter how much trouble Alan (Hickey) had with the daughter, it was clear he just needed guidance on how to handle her and he was scared of how much he loved her.

Overall, Dada Woof Papa Hot was a heart-warming, enjoyable, family drama worth the $34.00 I payed for the ticket. 

The Bachelors

Unless you plan on giving me step by step directions over the phone, don't expect me to be able to find my way around the West Village. Finding Rattlestick Playwrights Theater was an adventure. Let's just say I might've called for backup and Amanda (I just assume at this point my "readers" are people who know who I'm talking about...) had to come rescue me. Really I'm making this all out to be more dramatic than necessary.

The Bachelors is a new play written by Caroline V. McGraw. This production was directed by Portia Krieger, the Associate Director of Fun Home, and starred Black DeLong, Quincy Dunn-Baker, and Babak Tafti. I was immediately interested in seeing the show after hearing that Babak had been cast as I'd seen (and loved) him in The North Pool and at Barrington Stage Company (the summer I was interning there) in Much Ado About Nothing. Also, I got a free ticket for volunteering to usher... so even more exciting.

I was told I would enjoy The Bachelors. I was told it was "my kind of thing" and yeah, it definitely was. An all-male cast, naturalistic/realistic, kind of gross, kind of sad, very dysfunctional. My kind of play. I enjoyed the show. I didn't love the theater itself, and I found the squeakiness of the chairs distracting. I know it sounds like a stupid complaint, but there were times when audience members moved around so much I was convinced the squeaking was playing on a track in the background of the play. All squeaking aside, the acting was quite good. Each of the three men had established personalities that were all different, but you could see how they kind of fell into this easy way of living together without really knowing each other. They're all scared of growing up. I hated each of them at different moments throughout for very different reasons.

The practically scathing review in the NY Times was, in my opinion (but really what does that matter), unjust. The script, while not perfect, is not the shit show the Times review makes it out to be. My biggest issue was the two times the play took a sharp turn away from the realistic world the characters were living in. For those of you who had the fortune of seeing the show, I'm talking about the door moments. If you haven't seen the show it doesn't matter -- just know there are two moments where the front door magically opens and the characters are like OMG A GHOST.

Good stuff happening at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. And a good foray into the work of Lesser America (the company that put the production on) for me.

On Your Feet!

This is long overdue.

I saw On Your Feet! during press performances, so right before it officially opened. I went into the show not knowing much about Gloria Estefan -- really I just knew all the words to "Get On Your Feet" (for reasons only a few of you trusty readers will understand). I had a fantastic seat -- H 115 right smack dab in the center of the orchestra. Once seated I settled in for an entertaining evening.

The second the curtain speech ended and the music and lights started I was transfixed. I don't think there's anything on Broadway right now quite as amazing as the band playing onstage at On Your Feet! (I understand that people will argue Hamilton, but please people I haven't seen it... want to buy me a ticket?) The first few minutes of On Your Feet! are IMPOSSIBLE not to smile through. Honestly, the music was just perfect and set the scene so well. Not a song went by that I wasn't impressed by the musicians -- some of which are original members of Miami Sound Machine.

Jukebox musicals are hard to get right. On Your Feet! didn't get it perfect, but let's be honest there can only be one perfect jukebox musical... Jersey Boys. Gloria Estefan puts up a good fight though. Unfortunately the book of the musical just can't compete with the Rick Elice's genius playing a few blocks away. Alexander Dinelaris' book just skims the surface of emotion, provides a basic outline of Gloria and Emilio's love story, and then puts you through a hellaciously slow second act. I had no idea there was a bus accident that almost killed Gloria Estefan, and while it was well done the whole recovery process was a tad too long.

My biggest problem with On Your Feet! is the timeline of events. I never really knew what year it was, or how much time passed between one scene and another. I needed some reference aside from clothing styles and quick quips from sassy music producers. Who knew the bus accident happened in 1990? I thought it was like 2005 at that point. Perhaps I should've realized the timeline on my own, but a little help would've been appreciated.

Ana Villafane's performance as Gloria Estefan was just stunning. Truly she was amazing and hard to take your eyes off of. She was a triple threat up there and a joy to watch. I can only imagine how satisfied Gloria must be to know that her story is being portrayed by such a talent. Josh Segarra, portraying Emilio Estefan, was absolutely charming but I felt his thick accent got in the way of his singing voice. The supporting cast was great and I had a lot of fun watching them throughout the show. The one shock of the night was the father's voice -- Eliseo Roman. He has a couple of solo moments and his voice SHOCKED me it was so beautiful.

Long story short, I was thoroughly entertained and truly had a great time.

Allegiance

I, with my stone-cold bitch-face, shed a tear twice during the two and a half hours I spent inside the Longacre Theatre. The first tear fell during the opening number -- Lea Salonga's voice live is just astounding. The second tear fell during the last few moments of the musical, when everything is wrapping up and the story comes full circle.

So great, I cried a couple of times. But those two moments were the only two times I felt anything during the show. There's so much there -- the story is interesting, moving, and deep. Unfortunately Allegiance did not live up to expectations. George Takei, the man behind the story, making his Broadway debut, was barely a supporting character. The characters were two-dimensional. The story dragged. The romances were anything buy romantic.

I had a huge problem with the lighting and projection design. It was all too dark. I expressed my feelings about blackouts in my last post -- blackouts take me out of the performance, make my mind start to wander. The most creative part of the musical was the recreation of the Atom bomb dropping on Hiroshima. The lighting design at that moment was gorgeous and evoked emotion, which is what was lacking during every other moment.

The standout performance was Michael K. Lee. Although I wasn't necessarily on his side (the resistance), Lee's character, Frankie, was the most fleshed out and three-dimensional. Telly Leung's voice has grown since Godspell, but his character was undeveloped. There was so much heart put into the musical, but poor direction killed it. If the book of a musical is bad but the music, characters, story itself, direction, etc works... who cares how lame the book is. In the case of Allegiance, the music isn't memorable enough and the characters aren't fleshed out enough.

Overall I had a good time, but was underwhelmed. Go see the show if only to see George Takei onstage and experience his story. There's a lot of heart behind the production, but the execution left me wanting more.

Catch The Butcher

(I'M SO BEHIND! I saw this show a few weeks ago...)

My mind wasn't blown, but I had an enjoyable time. This show didn't leave me with too much to think about -- other than why in the word someone thought it was a good idea to have seating be general admission.

I was a die-hard fan of the television show Dexter up until the last two seasons when it just imploded on itself and was too shitty to stomach. Lauren Luna Velez who played Lt. Maria LaGuerta on Dexter was once again thrust into the world of a serial killer in "Catch The Butcher" at the Cherry Lane Theatre. I never really cared for her on TV and I didn't really care for onstage. She wasn't bad, just okay. Jonathan Walker, playing the serial killer, was just fabulous. Absolutely perfect for the role and I enjoyed all of his moments. The third character (played by Angelina Fiordellisi, who is the Producing Artistic Director of Cherry Lane Theatre) added a bit of comic relief and was very good, if not slightly annoying.

My biggest issue with the production was the lighting. There were so many blackouts to indicate the passage of time. But blackouts just make me want to take a nap, and they totally throw me off and take me out of the world of the play. I totally understand what the production was trying to get across with the blackouts but I wish the stage didn't go dark as often as it did. I found my mind wandering during every blackout, and there were so many that basically my mind was constantly wandering. 

Aside from ridiculous audience behavior, it was an enjoyable evening at the theater. I got to experience a new (well, new to me) Off-Broadway theater. 

China Doll

Until I have words to describe this disaster, please check out what others are saying... here.

*Note: I saw final dress rehearsal on Tuesday 10/20.

The Haunted Train

I went to see this show because my roommate was the music director/the band -- I say "the band" because there was only a piano. First of all, I'd never been to Theater For A New City on the Lower East Side before. It was... not the nicest space ever. There are a bunch of theaters in the building, and "The Haunted Train" was in a small basement theater. I guess you could call the theater a black box since it's literally a room made of cinder blocks that is painted black. The theater space itself was perfect for this particular show.

There were two moments of this new musical that were so preachy I wanted to get up and walk out. A show about mental illness is bound to have preachy moments, and "The Haunted Train" was no exception. Let's start a revolution so patients locked up in psych wards aren't taken advantage of! Here here! Interestingly enough, the few times the script was weakest were the times the music died down the most.

The songs were the most entertaining part of the show -- partly because the voices of the five actors were incredible. We all know it takes an amazing voice to get me really into a musical. The main character, Cloyd, played by Jarrad Biron Green was just a total delight to watch and listen to. Everyone else sang beautifully, but Green could act and sing (often at the same time).

Overall, I was impressed by this musical. It wasn't perfect, but it wasn't the worst thing I've seen in the last few weeks by far. Did it feel a bit like a rip-off of "Next to Normal" once in a while? Yes. But it was original enough that I wasn't totally bothered by the last song ending on the word "light" a la the finale of N2N (okay fine, that one ends on "dark" but you know what I mean). My biggest problem was the length -- 100 minutes with no intermission. Cut out the two preachy parts and it would've cut down the show and been a much more reasonable length. But having no intermission in a musical that deals with mental health and being locked up was very smart, as it gave off an air of danger. While it was obvious you weren't locked in and unable to get out during the duration of the piece (we were told we could get out if necessary through a VERY loud door), once the lights went out it was clear you were supposed to feel as though you were in the hospital right along with Cloyd.

I was told by someone I went to college with who happened to see the show the night before I did that a giant rat scurried across the stage at one point... did I mention the theater itself was janky?