Friday 5ive- Catching Up

The Friday 5ive is a weekly blog post about five things that caught my attention that week. The last few posts have been about our trip to Italy, so I've got some catching up to do.

1) Our annual team trip to the San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy was in September. This year, we had a outing to see the Broadway Ain't Too Proud to Beg, about the R&B group The Temptations. It was a fantastic show! If you've ever seen The Jersey Boys, you must see Ain't Too Proud To Beg. There's so much about the evolution of the Temptations that I didn't know. Members came and went, drug abuse, dissension in the ranks about the direction of the group, it's all here. You'll know most of songs (and want to sing them, but please don't do that during the show) and the choreography is phenomenal. It was a thumbs-up from all seven of us. You can get more information and tickets here.

2) We had another guest visit us and we took the tour of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral in Little Italy. It was so interesting, our tour guide Mike was great.  We got to go upstairs and see behind the massive pipe organ that has over 2600 pipes. It is massive! The highlight of the tour is going into the catacombs where several bishops and wealthy patrons are buried. The tomb that caught my eye was for Countess Annie Leary, a wealthy heiress who, when she died in 1919, donated a great deal of her money to the Archdiocese of New York, including $200,000 to build the sacristy at the new St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Ave. She was supposed to be buried in a vault there, but for some reason it didn't happen.  She had fabulous parties at her Fifth Avenue townhouse and was reported to be a hoarder. There is a story in the New York Times about her here, I'm going to try to find a book about her. Tickets for the tour can be found here.

The catacombs

The view of Old St. Patrick's from the choir balcony

3) We took our visitor to Sant Ambroeus to get some gelato after dinner and when we came out of the restaurant, I spied Billy Joel sitting on a bench outside. If I had know he was there, we would have bought him a gelato too.

Billy Joel

4) Singer/actress/dynamo Kristin Chenoweth visited the Barnes & Noble Upper East Side to promote her new CD For The Girls. She was interviewed by Frank Dilello from NY1, and then signed copies of the CD. She talked about choosing the songs for the CD (so many had to be cut), the time when seven-year-old Ariana Grande came backstage when Kristin was in Wicked on Broadway (and now Ariana does a fabulous duet of Lesley Gore's You Don't Own Me on the CD), and how her father told her she forgot to wear pants on the cover of the CD. I play For The Girls constantly, I love all the songs on it.

5) I've been reading a great deal since we got back from Italy, and one of the best books I read is J. Ryan Stradal's The Lager Queen of Minnesota, about a young woman raised by her grandmother who, when she is at odds with her life, ends up working in a small craft brewery and becomes, yes, The Lager Queen of Minnesota. It's got great characters, (sisters who have a lifelong falling out), a terrific Midwest setting, and Stradal is a fabulous writer. Read this book, I'll post a review soon.

On Broadway- The Ferryman

A few years ago I saw a production of Jez Butterworth's Jersusalem, starring perhaps the best stage actor on the planet, Mark Rylance. It was amazing. This past October, I got to chat with actor Brian d'Arcy James, a three-time Tony nominee, and we both confessed to our admiration for Rylance. (I recounted that I met Rylance walking his dog outside the theater and almost passed out with excitement). Brian told me I should go see The Ferryman, Butterworth's brilliant new play that just opened on Broadway.

The Ferryman

Other people I respect had also told me to go see it, but I never got around to it. Then I heard that Brian d'Arcy James was going to be in the cast of The Ferryman starting in February and that sealed the deal for me.

The Ferryman tells the story of a  Northern Irish farming family in 1981, right around the time when Irish prisoners (including Bobby Sands) were on a hunger strike, asking to be recognized as political prisoners, something Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was unwilling to do. There was a lot of violence between the IRA and the British forces.

The Carney family is preparing for the harvest, and the annual celebration that goes along with that. The huge household consists of Quinn and his wife Mary, their seven children, two aunts, an uncle, a sister-in-law and nephew. There is much joy and merriment, singing and dancing, until the local priest shows up.

Father Horrigan (a great performance from Charles Dale) has some troubling news for Quinn, news that once it gets out turns everything in the household upside down.

The Ferryman has 21 speaking parts (and a baby!) and Butterworth manages to make each character distinct, a remarkable feat. Quinn holds his boisterous family together, with the help of his brother's wife Caitlin, who cooks and cleans, as Quinn's wife Mary appears to be fragile. She spends much of her time in her room. (To be fair, she has seven children.)

Uncle Pat recounts humorous stories to the children, while his serious sister Aunt Pat monitors the hunger strike situation on the radio. Aunt Maggie gets wheeled in to sit fairly motionless in the corner, waking occasionally to speak to the children, telling them of the futures she sees for them.

Neighbor Tom Kettle (wonderfully portrayed by Shuler Hensley) is a large man who lives nearby and spends time with the family. Because he is English, some people are suspicious of him. But he is gentle giant, prone to pulling a stray rabbit of his pocket as a gift to people.

As the harvest continues, the Carneys' young cousins come to help, and as young men sometimes do,  get caught up in the situations over their head. When the local IRA boss comes to visit, things begin to unravel.

As I sat in the audience, I was wondering how this play was going to end. I truly had no idea, and when the end came, the shock of it deeply affected the audience, their gasps proof of that. (That being said, there is one plot point that pretty much everyone can guess at.)

Normally I would be wary of going to a play with a running time of three hours and fifteen minutes, but Butterworth has packed so much into this production I never once checked my watch. This is a show that I could imagine seeing more than once to go back and try and absorb things you missed the first time.

Brian d'Arcy James is perfection in the role of Quinn. He is a proud man, trying to keep all the balls in the air, keep everything together, all the while hinting at something simmering under the surface.

It is truly an ensemble production, and the young children in the cast are wonderful. They seem like young children, not actorly in any way. Emily Bergl (Mary), Holly Fain (Caitlin) and Fionnula Flanagan ( Aunt Maggie, who I fondly remember from TV's Rich Man, Poor Man) are particularly strong in their roles.

I think I would like to find the book of The Ferryman to truly get everything I can from this stunning play. It has rightly been lauded as one of the best plays of the year, and it will surely be up for many Tony awards in June, including for the brilliant direction of Sam Mendes. There are discount tickets available for this, including rush tickets. Go see it, this is a don't-miss play.

On Broadway- Come From Away

Last year on Broadway, the musical Come From Away drew crtitical praise and everyone who saw the show raved about it. It was nominated for Best Musical at last year's Tony Awards, and won many awards across the country.

The musical tells the true story of the small town of Gander, in the Newfoundland province of Canada. On September 11th, 2001, the town of less than 10,000 residents added over 7000 more people as planes flying from Europe to the United States were forced to land in Gander as all air traffic was grounded due to the terrorist attacks that day.

The twelve actors in the show play multiple roles- residents of Gander, (such as the mayor, the police chief, two teachers, a bus driver, a news reporter on her first day) and as travelers on the planes forced to land (such as a female American Airlines pilot, a gay couple, a woman whose son is a NYC firefighter and an Egyptian chef).

The ensemble nature of the play works beautifully, and the actors work so well together in their dual roles. The songs are terrific, and there are very few solos, adding to the ensemble nature of the show.

Come From Away shows us the best of humanity at a time when perhaps we need to be reminded of that. The residents of Gander took in these 7000 people, finding them shelter, food, and most importantly, giving them comfort in a frightening situation.

As we meet the people on the planes, and see their confusion and fear trying to understand why they have been forced to land (they are not told what is going on, and most people then didn't have smart phones), the feelings of that day all come rushing back to audience members as well. We all remember where we were and how we found out, and hugging our family members closer. These poor people didn't have that, many of them were alone.

As serious as the subject is, there is plenty of humor in Come From Away. The show pokes a little fun at the residents of Gander, with the people on the planes not quite understanding why these Canadians are so friendly and willing to go out of their way to help them.

Come From Away is a show that I wish everyone could see; I hope that PBS' Great Performances tapes it for future broadcast. It gives you faith that we can all come together when times require it.

The most interesting aspect of the show is that the stories of these characters are true stories- these people are real people, and that makes the show even more extraordinary. Your heart will be full after seeing Come From Away.

There are discount tickets available for Come From Away, but this one is worth paying full price. I would compare it to another Broadway show I absoultely loved- Once. The website for Come From Away is here.

Below is an interview that Tom Brokaw did with the cast of the show for the Today Show.

     

On Broadway- Hello, Dolly!

My sons and their girlfriends got me the most thoughtful gift for Christmas- a ticket to see my all-time favorite Bette Midler in Hello, Dolly! The tickets are hard to get, especially since Bette Midler, who won the Tony this year for her spectacular performance, recently announced she will be leaving the show in January.

I had read all the rave reviews and sometimes that makes me feel like it couldn't possibly live up to the hype. I'm happy to say that Hello, Dolly! is even better than you have heard. It's been said that this is the perfect show for these turbulent times, and I agree with that as well.

Everything about this show is glorious. The performances, the sets, the songs, the choreography, and the costumes (oh, those stunning costumes)- they all work together to create an unforgettable theatrical experience. You truly lose yourself in the show.

Bette Midler and Dolly Gallagher Levi are the perfect pairing of performer and role. You just can't imagine anyone else as Dolly. Midler is as hilarious, sly and even poignant as any Irish widowed matchmaker could be.

She has one scene where she is eating a huge turkey leg that just goes on and on, building in laughter until everyone, including actors on stage, can't help but giggle. It reminded me of Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in The Honeymooners. 

The highlight of the show is the title song, where Midler comes out in a radiant red dress, complete with headdress, and sings and dances with the men onstage with such joy, it brought tears to my eyes and gave me goosebumps. She earned a rare midshow standing ovation for that. (And I have found my Halloween costume for this year.)

Oh, that red dress! (Photo by Julia Cervantes- from Hello, Dolly website)

David Hyde Pierce is amazing as Horace Vandergelder, the Yonkers businessman looking for a wife who doesn't stand a chance against Dolly's machinations. Gavin Creel won a well-deserved Tony for his role as Cornelius Hackl, finding love and freedom. I've seen him in more a few shows, and I just think he is wonderful.

Beanie Feldstein turns in a star-making comedic performance in her first Broadway show as Minnie Fay, we will see her again for sure. Kate Baldwin was not performing the day that I went, and Analisa Leaming was terrific as Irene Malloy. Midler brought her out for a special bow at the end, which was so special. Jennifer Simard has a small but unforgettable role as Ernestina, I only wish we had seen more of her; she is comedic wonder.

The choreography for "The Waiters' Gallop" must be mentioned as well. Choreographer Warren Carlyle created a take on Gower Champion's original choreography that left me breathless.

I could go on and on, but suffice to say that this production of Hello, Dolly! is one of the greatest joys to ever hit the Broadway stage and I hope that they will tape this production so that people all over the world have the opportunity to experience it for themselves.

Tickets for Midler's performances are scarce, but if you can find them, this is a must-see. And one final note- please don't take photos during the show. So many people were doing that, and it endangers the performers. The orchestra pit is downstage, so there is a hole in the floor that the performers must avoid. The flash from your cameras can distract them, and one misstep can cause an injury.

The website for Hello, Dolly! is here.

On Broadway- A Doll's House Part 2

Lucas Hnath's brilliant play, A Doll's House Part 2, is a sequel of sorts. It had the same characters as Henrik Ibsen's classic A Doll's House, and it picks up the action fifteen years after the end of Ibsen's play. But you need not have read or seen Ibsen's play to enjoy Hnath's work.

The action begins with insistent knocking on a door. Anne Marie, a servant, opens the door to find Nora standing on the other side. Nora, who left her husband and three young children fifteen years ago. We find out that Nora has not communicated with her family in the intervening years. They did not know if she was dead or alive.

Nora, played by Laurie Metcalf who won the Tony Award this year for her role, is a ball of fire. She is well dressed, and the intervening years have apparently been good to her. She asks Ann Marie, the women who was left to raise Nora's children to guess how she made her money.

Anne Marie, played by the fantastic Jayne Houdyshell, is curious but after guessing actress and model and maybe prostitute, Nora is miffed that Ann Marie only guesses stereotypical female-centered careers that rely on women's beauty. Nora proudly tells her that she is a writer, a successful writer, whose first book was a bestseller about a woman who leaves her family.

Anne Marie tells Nora she should leave before Torvald, Nora's husband returns home, but soon Torvald appears. Chris Cooper is hypnotic as Torvald, you cannot take your eyes off him when he is on stage, although at times he was difficult to hear.

The scene between Nora and Torvald is nothing short of astonishing. These are two actors at the height of the talents, and the stage crackles with tension and residual feelings between them. You could hear a pin drop during their big scene. I could have watched them talk for hours.

Condola Rashad (Showtime's Billions) plays Nora and Torvald's daughter Emmy. Emmy is curious to see her mother, who left her when she was three years old. Emmy is about to be married and she doesn't want her returning mother to ruin her life.

A Doll's House Part 2 has much to say about marriage and the role of women, which for some hasn't changed much in the years since the setting of the late 19th century. You could hear many in the audience audibly reacting to some of the more intriguing ideas.

All four of the actors, the entire cast, were nominated for Tony's this year, with Metcalf winning for Best Actress in a Play. They were all amazing, and the extended standing ovation at the end of the show reflected that. The show is funny and though-provoking and a must-see.

There are discount tickets available but A Doll's House is a show worth paying full price for. Note- Metcalf just announced she is leaving the show on July 23, and the equally talented Julie White will be replacing her.

A Doll's House Part 2's website is here.

On Broadway- Sweat

Sweat by Lynn Nottage

More than a few years ago, I saw a wonderful play by Lynn Nottage, By the Way, Meet Vera Stark. It was a remarkable play, one that I never forgot. When I saw the ads for another play by Nottage, Sweat, I knew I had to see it.

And when Nottage won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for drama for Sweat, I ran to get a ticket. Set in Reading, Pennsylvania in 2000 and 2008, Nottage takes on the topic of factories closing in small cities and what that does to the town and the people who worked there.

Most of the action takes place in a bar, where we meet Cynthia, Tracie and Jessie, celebrating a birthday in 2000. Times are pretty good, the ladies are having a good time, dancing and drinking until Cynthia's troubled estranged husband shows up. His union has been on strike for years, and it has turned him inside out.

Cynthia's son Chris and Tracie's son Jason also work at the factory, although Chris wants to save his money to go to college to become a teacher, which Chris and bar manager Stan scoff at. Why give up a steady job, good pay, health insurance and more to teach?

The good times don't last. There are rumblings that the factory may move to Mexico because of NAFTA, and that leaves these people without many options.

Nottage takes on class, race, immigration, friendship, loyalty and much more in this powerful, searing drama that left me shaken and shaking at the end. Although set in 2000 and 2008, and written well before the election of 2016, Sweat resonates like nothing I've seen since The Normal Heart.

She provokes thought and emotion in the rapt audience. You could literally hear people breathing, it was so quiet in the theater.

All the performances are astonishing, with Johanna Day, Michelle Wilson and Krhis Davis particular standouts. Alison Wright, who is having quite a career now, first as Martha in FX's The Americans and as Pauline in FX's Feud: Bette and Joan, has a smaller role as Jessie, but she makes the most of it.

Nottage brings these people to vivid life, and helps us to understand why people feel left behind in this economy. Things changed too fast for them, and caught them by surprise. Everything they thought would continue has gone away, for many different reasons.

I got a discount ticket to Sweat, but this is a show I would gladly pay full-price to see.

Watching Sweat put me in mind of ABC's brilliant drama, John Ridley's American Crime, which this season deals with similiar themes- people who are in bad situations, often not of their doing. They feel disposable. If you haven't watched it, stream it. It is very sad, but must-see TV.

On Broadway- Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812

Does a musical based on a part of the Tolstoy classic novel War and Peace sound like a snooze? Well, Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 is anything but. With its innovative staging, large cast of mostly newcomers, no spoken dialogue (the show is entirely sung by the cast) and an almost unrecognizeable singer Josh Groban playing a schlubby, bookish Pierre, this is a show that must be seen to be fully appreciated. Describing it doesn't do it justice.

There is no real stage- there are tiers of tables and walkways where the cast sing, dance and play instruments around the tables. The opening number Prologue starts the show with an enthusiastic bang that let the audience know they are in for something fresh and exciting.

The cast is large, and periodically during the show they hand out pierogies to snack on, love letters, pages from the actual book War And Peace, and plastic eggs filled with rice to shake along with a song to audience members. They even sat next to audience members at certain points, involving them in the action.

My sisters-in-law and I sat at a table below the main walkway, and we had to pay attention to the various cast members who sang to us and whirled by us dancing. This is not a show where you can take a little snooze, nor would you want to.

Denee Benton usually plays Natasha, whose fiancee has gone off to war, but at our performance we saw Shoba Narayan, making her Broadway debut. Her role is the largest in the show, and she will be a star if this show is any indication. She played Natasha with a sense of wonder, joy and eventual sadness.

Josh Groban stops the show with his rendition of Dust and Ashes, showing us why he commands the stage at his concerts. It gave me goosebumps.  (You can hear him singing it on the show's website.) Other cast standouts include Brittain Ashford, Gelsey Bell and Lucas Steele.

The best way to describe this show is if you put Hamilton, Once, and Les Miserables in a blender, you'd come out with The Great Comet. This is a show that you will download the soundtrack (as I did) and play it on repeat to catch all of the things you missed at the theater.

Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 is the most inventive musical of the year,  with an amazing score, don't miss this one. Bravo to Dave Malloy who wrote the music, lyrics, book and did the orchestrations.

The website for The Great Comet is here.

On Broadway- Sunday In the Park With George

It takes a brave soul who is willing to take on a role so iconically identified with a Broadway legend. In the revival of Sunday in the Park With George, there are two- Jake Gyllenhaal, playing George, the role that Mandy Patinkin made famous, and Annaleigh Ashford, playing Dot and Dot's granddaughter Marie, roles that helped make Bernadette Peters a star.

I have seen Annaleigh Ashford in Kinky Boots, and her Tony Award-winning role in You Can't Take It With You (she was hilarious!), and she is the best thing about Showtime's Masters of Sex, playing Betty, the office manager who holds it all together amidst the chaos swirling around her. I adore her!

I knew she'd be fabulous as always, and she brings such a depth to the role of Dot, with her trademark humor and pathos. She is the definition of luminous in the role of Dot. As Marie, she gets to crack wise as the older woman who gets her chance to hold an audience for just a moment.

But it is Jake Gyllenhaal who was a surprise. As an actor, he has always chosen roles that stretch him- Brokeback Mountain, End of Watch, Nightcrawler and Donnie Darko spring to mind- and he does that again here. His George Seurat is an artist who is driven to create, and he plays him tightly coiled.

Sunday in the Park With George is a Sondheim musical, so the songs are no walk in the park to sing and Gyllenhaal has surprised everyone with his beautiful, powerful voice. (There is a video of him singing Finishing the Hat online that has everyone talking.)


The supporting cast is just as strong, including Robert Sean Leonard and Broadway vets Philip Boykin, Erin Davie, Ruthie Ann Miles and Brooks Ashmanskas.

The musical highlights of the show include the opeing number Sunday in the Park With George and its reprise at the end of Act II, and George and Dot's moving duet We Do Not Belong Together.

Sunday in the Park With George will bring you joy and tears, it is one show that I will always remember. The run ends April 23, and it is worth buying a full-price ticket for this one. It is a must-see, and it is playing in the newly restored Hudson Theatre, which is so lush and lovely.

The website for Sunday in the Park With George is here.

On Broadway- The Front Page

One of the hottest shows on Broadway this season is the revival of the play The Front Page. It has a powerhouse cast including Nathan Lane, John Slattery, and John Goodman. Set in 1928 Chicago, the comedic play takes place in the press room in the Criminal Courts Building and revolves around a group of newspaper reporters covering the upcoming hanging execution of an accused murderer.

Given that the feeling about today's media is not one of trust, this play certainly resonates with today's audiences. Truth isn't necessarily of the utmost importance, but getting the scoop is.

This is a show where for me the performances were more enjoyable than the show itself. Nathan Lane gives his usual larger-than-life performance as Walter Burns, the editor and boss of John Slattery's star reporter Hildy Johnson. Lane doesn't show up onstage until Act II, but he makes the most of his time.

The actors who really drew my attention included Tony Award-winner Jefferson Mays as a fussy, germaphobic reporter tormented by his fellow reporters, TV veteran Holland Taylor as Johnson's impatient future mother-in-law, Micah Stock as a police officer of German decent, and Sherie Rene Scott as the doomed man's girlfriend.

Mays gets a laugh every time he opens his mouth and his physicality is spot-on as always. Taylor owns the stage whenever she bursts into the scene. I saw Stock last year in his Broadway debut in It's Only A Play, where he earned a Tony nomination and also starred with Nathan Lane. Once again he upstages veteran performers with his impeccable timing and comedic instincts. He has a bright future indeed.

Scott plays a more serious role and you might think that would be jarring in a comedy, but she pulls it off beautifully. Although she is more dramatic than comedic, you cannot take your eyes off her when she is on the stage.

It was fun to see Robert Morse and John Slattery, two stars of TV's Mad Men, reunited.

The Front Page has a limited run, and it is difficult to find discounted tickets, but this is a show worth seeing for the performances of so many talented actors. You can find more information about the show here.

On Broadway- Falsettos

The performances in the revival of the Broadway musical Falsettos are fantastic. Christian Borle once again shows why he is the recipient of two recent Tony awards in his role of Marvin, a man who has left his wife and young son for another man.

That man, Whizzer, is beautifully played by Andrew Rannells, who people will know from his role in The Book Of Mormon and on HBO's Girls. Marvin wants to have his family and Whizzer too, something Marvin's wife Trina is struggling with. The luminous and amazingly talented Stephanie J. Block shines as Trina, and in a show that is nearly all music (like Les Miserables), she has the showstopper of a song I'm Breaking Down, which she performs with such a gusto the audience rewards her with sustained applause.

Young Anthony Rosenthal plays tween son Jason in his Broadway debut and he has a huge career ahead of him. He matches the adults with his acting, singing and dancing, and his poise is shocking for someone so young.

I saw Falsettos the day after the election and there is one song, titled Trina's Song, sung by Stephanie J. Block. When she sang the line "I'm tired of all the childish, frightened men who have all the power", the audience began to applaud, which Block clearly did not expect. The applause started slowly and then built until she had to take a moment before continuing. Theater can create empathy and bring people together in a very specific way, and I witnessed it on this day.

I can't say that the show was my favorite, but the performances were spectacular. The harmony of voices blending together was stunning and filled my heart with joy, even in a show that brings the audience to tears.

There are discount tickets available for Falsettos, and I highly recommend it for the performances by some of Broadway's best actors working on the stage today. The website for Falsettos is here.

On Broadway- Bright Star

I was disappointed to hear that Steve Martin and Edie Brickell's Broadway show, Bright Star, was closing so soon. I had heard many good things about the show and about lead actress Carmen Cusack in particular.

Last Sunday I saw a matinee of the show and I am confounded as to why it is closing. Everything about this show works- the story, the Americana music, the performances- I just can't explain it. It's a wonderful show.

The opening number, If You Knew My Story, which was performed by the cast on the Tony Awards, is the perfect way to set the stage for this story. Alice Murphy has a sad tale to tell, one we will soon discover. 

In 1945, young Billy returns home from the war to find that his mother had died. He decides to leave his small town home in North Carolina to pursue his dream of being a published writer. Margo, who works at my dream job in a bookstore, encourages his writing and copy edits for him. She is in love with him, but he has not come to the same conclusion yet.

Billy travels to Asheville to a bring his writing to a prestigious literary journal where he meets Alice Murphy, the tough-as-nails publisher. She likes what she sees and encourages him to try again.

As we flashback to a young Alice, she is a teen living in a small North Carolina town, in love with Jimmy Ray, the scion of the town's wealthy businessman. When she gets pregnant, Jimmy Ray and Alice plan to marry. But Jimmy Ray's father intervenes and plans change.

As I said, this show is wonderful. There is humor, pathos, and emotional scenes; the closer of Act I causes gasps in the audience. There is a terrific six piece band that plays in a cabin on stage that moves as necessary. The band got well deserved huge applause at the end of the show.

The star of the show is Carmen Cusack, who convincingly plays Alice as a smart, joyful teenager and as a buttoned up, all business forty-something publisher. Her voice is clear and lovely and strong and she will be a big star on Broadway in years to come, ala Jessie Mueller.

Emily Padgett and Jeff Blumenkratz give terrific comedic performances as Alice's employees at the journal, and Hannah Elless is wonderful as Margo.

The show closes Sunday, June 26th but I'd be willing to bet it may make it as a touring show. What NYC audiences don't appreciate, the rest of the country just might enjoy.

On Broadway- She Loves Me

I was so pleased to see that the Broadway revival of the musical She Loves Me is nominated for eight Tony awards this year, including Best Actress (musical) for Laura Benanti, Best Actor (musical) for Zachary Levi, Best Supporting Actress (musical) for Jane Krakowski and Best Revival of a Musical.

The show is just such a lovely production, and the performances from all are just spot-on. Benanti and Krakowsi are previous Tony winners, but this is only Levi's second Broadway musical and he is a marvel. Those who only know him from his NBC TV show Chuck will be pleasantly surprised by his terrific singing voice.

The show is based on 1937's Parfumerie, and the story has been retold in other forms, such as The Shop Around the Corner and You've Got Mail. Set in a perfume store in 1930's Budapest it tells the story of Georg, who is a salesman in  Maraczek's perfume shop.

Georg (Levi) has a Lonely Hearts correspondence (think Tinder of yore) with a lovely woman who calls him "Dear Friend" in her letters to him. Although they haven't met, Georg is deeply enamored of her.

Amalia (Benanti) comes into the shop looking for a job and shows Georg up in front of the store owner. She is hired and Georg and Amalia spend their time circling each other and clashing.

Amalia also has a Lonely Hearts correspondence with a lovely man she calls "Dear Friend". Yes, unbeknownst to the other, Georg and Amalia are sweethearts by night and competitors by day.

Ilona (Krakowski) is having a relationship with Steven (Gavin Creel), a lothario who juggles more than one woman. Krakowski and Benanti sparkle in this delightful, sweet show and one of the many highlights is their duet of "I Don't Know His Name". Their gorgeous voices blend together in a way that gave me goosebumps.

Levi and Benanti have a fantastic chemistry, whether they are fighting at work or unknowingly falling in love with each other. The audience waits impatiently for them to realize what we already know- they are perfect for each other.

If you are looking for a show that bring a smile to your face, with lots of laughs and wonderful performances, She Loves Me is just the ticket. Discount tickets are available for this show and I highly recommend it.

The website for She Loves Me is here.

On Broadway- Misery

One of my husband's favorite movies is Misery, based on Stephen King's novel and starring Kathy Bates as crazed fan Annie Wilkes. It was the movie that made her a star and she is unforgettable in that role.

When I heard that they were working on a Broadway adaptation of Misery, I thought that no one could be so good in that iconic role and that maybe it wasn't a smart idea. Elizabeth Marvel, a Broadway vet, was slated to play Annie Wilkes, and I thought that was a great choice. Unfortunately, she had to drop out, but Laurie Metcalf took on the role and was brilliant.

Many people know Metcalf from her role as Roseanne's sister Jackie in TV's groundbreaking sitcom Roseanne. I have seen her on Broadway and know how good she is on the stage, and I knew she'd be terrific. I also loved her on the HBO comedy Getting On, where she played a tightly-wound doctor in a long-term care ward of a hospital. How she hasn't gotten an Emmy for that is a head-scratcher.

Metcalf astounds as writer Paul Sheldon's "number one fan". Sheldon writes her favorite series of books, historical romances about a strong female character named Misery. The show opens with Sheldon incapacitated by a serious car accident, with two broken legs, waking up in a bed in nurse Annie Wilkes home.

At first we think Annie is just a good Samaritan, caring for the injured man. Then we come to realize that she is little bit crazy and maybe she ran him off the road herself. Paul's newest Misery book is publishing soon, and Annie is so excited to read it....until she does.

Paul kills off Misery in the latest book and that sets Annie off the edge of sanity. She holds Paul hostage, and forces him to write a new Misery book, one where Misery lives happily every after.

A basically two-person show requires that both actors be on the same page, and unfortunately, Metcalf is much stronger in her role than Bruce Willis is in his. To be fair, he spends most of the show in bed, and this is his Broadway debut, so that plays into it. But Laurie Metcalf is just on another plane here. She shows us how Annie descends into madness and we almost feel compassionate towards her.

Misery ended its run this past week, and while I wouldn't have recommended it wholeheartedly, I did really enjoy Laurie Metcalf's performance and was glad I saw it.

On Broadway- Hamilton

The hottest ticket in entertainment is Broadway's Hamilton. Created by writer/director/composer/actor/genius (yes, he won a McArthur Genius Grant so he is an actual genius) Lin-Manuel Miranda, who won a Tony for Best Musical for his In the Heights, it is the most creative, amazing piece of theater I've ever seen.

Miranda read historian Ron Chernow's biography Hamilton while on vacation and thought that it would make a great hip-hop Broadway musical. Some people may have thought he had sunstroke, but his creative mind set to work and the result is a brilliant show that is sure to sweep this year's Tony awards. and go down in history as a game-changer in theater.

Miranda brings to vivid life the historical people most of us barely know much about at the time of the American Revolution. Alexander Hamilton was an intelligent, ambitious young orphan from the Caribbean island of Nevis when he came to America.

He graduated from King's College in New York and became a lawyer. But he was passionate about the coming revolution and after writing many pamphlets and tracts encouraging revolution, he became General George Washington's right-hand man and eventual first Secretary of the Treasury.

In addition to his many accomplishments, we see Hamilton's personal life. He married Eliza Schuyler, the daughter of a wealthy, prominent man, and he had a close relationship with her sister Angelica.

The story is narrated by his frenemy Aaron Burr, whom we know eventually killed Hamilton in a duel.

The cast is amazing, from Miranda as Hamilton to Leslie Odom Jr. as Burr. (He has a stunning voice.) Angelica is portrayed by a luminescent Renee Elise Goldsberry, who captures the stage whenever she is on it. Phillipa Soo stands out as Hamilton's loyal wife Eliza.

Christopher Jackson plays George Washington as we know him- a large presence and a strong leader who depended on Hamilton and at the same time called him out when Hamilton needed it. Daveed Diggs is fantastic as both LaFayette and has a memorable turn as a Thomas Jefferson who is not as stuffy here as history books make him out to be.

Jonathan Groff should order his tux now for the Tonys as his performance as a petulant King George II brought down the house in each of his four short scenes. He is a shoo-in for Best Supporting Actor and is sure to be up against many of his co-stars.

I'd call Hamilton a hip-hop opera, as it feels like it could be at home at the Met. The subject matter is operatic, and this may well be the future of opera. The show is mostly sung, and the lyrics, using phrases we remember from history class, are ingenious. The performers in this show get quite a vocal workout. (Owning the soundtrack is a must so you can truly appreciate the words. Oh, those words.)

The choreography, costumes and staging perfectly complement this groundbreaking show. Tickets are extremely hard to come by (they are putting a new set of tickets on sale next week for November 2016- January 2017) but I cannot tell you much I loved this show. I loved history class in high school, and Miranda and company bring it to new, exciting, accessible life in Hamilton. If you see only one show on Broadway, this is the one to see.

The website for Hamilton is here.
For more Hamilton fun, check out #Ham4Ham videos posted on YouTube.

On Broadway- A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

I tried two times to see the 2014 Tony Award-winning musical A Gentlemen's Guide to Love and Murder. The first time I bought a ticket, the brilliant Jefferson Mays, who plays nine roles in the show was out with a back injury. The second time I tried to buy a ticket, I found that the regular Wednesday matinee was cancelled because they added an extra Sunday evening show on Columbus Day weekend.

Just when I thought I wouldn't get a chance to see it, I saw that the Actor's Fund was selling tickets to the show a few days before it closed. I guess the third time is the charm.

The show was fabulous, so funny and charming, and the performances were fantastic. Bryce Pinkham plays Monty, a young destitute man in 1909 who discovers that he is 9th in line to be an heir to a fortune. If only the eight ahead of him were dead...

The rest of the show is Monty scheming to murder the eight, all played brilliantly by Jefferson Mays in a phenomenally physical performance. He is just a comic genius!

Pinkham is fabulous as well, and what a wonderful singing voice he has. The musical highlight of the show is a song he sings as he strives to keep his mistress and fiancee from discovering each other. Scarlett Strallen as the mistress has the showier role and she makes the most of it. Catherine Walker also shines as the fiancee.

Pinkham and Mays were both nominated for Tonys and it is clear why. I loved this show, it was a perfect anecdote to the winter blues and it was clear that the rest of the audience agreed with me.

If A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder comes to your town on tour, go see it. You won't regret it.


Here is the video from their Tony performance.

On Broadway- The King and I

You know you are in for something special in the new Broadway production of The King and I as it opens as a huge ship moves along the stage and out into the audience.

Kelli O'Hara has finally won a Tony for her role as Anna, the English widow who brings her son to Siam when she takes a job as a teacher to the King of Siam's many children in the 1860s. O'Hara is simply stunning as Anna, letting us see how steely Anna must be to hold her own in a land where women are relegated to an inferior role.

Jose Llana played the King in the performance I saw (the role has seen two Kings since he departed), and he did a masterful job in a very demanding and dialogue-heavy role. He and O'Hara had a wonderful chemistry, especially in the audience pleasing song and dance of "Shall We Dance?", one of the highlights of the show.

I'd never seen the show, and was so impressed with this glorious production. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the music and choreography were perfectly done.

The young actors who play the King's children are delightful, and O'Hara clearly enjoys her scenes with them. Her interactions with the wives is interesting too. As hard as it seems, Ruthie Ann Miles steals the scene from O'Hara as she leaves the audience breathless when she sings "Something Wonderful". She received a standing ovation in the middle of the show for it.

It is a very long show, but you are so absorbed in this amazing production, you will jump to your feet at the end of the show to applaud this pitch-perfect production. The King and I is a show worth seeing, even if you have to pay full price for a ticket. You will get you money's worth.

More information about the show is here.

On Broadway- Sylvia

Annaleigh Ashford follows up her Tony-winning performance in You Can't Take It With You with another comedic tour-de-force in Sylvia.

She plays a dog that Greg, a man who seems bored with his job and his life played by Matthew Broderick, finds wandering in Central Park. Greg names the dog Sylvia and brings her home to his New York City apartment much to the dismay of his wife Kate, wonderfully played by Julie White.

Kate and Greg are now empty nesters, and Kate has gone back to school and found a job that she loves. She and Greg seem to be in a different place in life. He is bored with his job, looking for something fulfilling, and after years of raising children and caring for her husband, Kate is ready to dive into her career, and caring for a dog is not in the picture for her.

Anyone who has ever owned a dog will be charmed by Ashford's fantastic performance (and judging by the roaring laughter from the audience, most of them owned dogs). She is sassy and funny, and when she curses other dogs at the park, I laughed so hard because I imagined my dog used to think the same things.

Ashford has said that to prepare for her role she took dog obedience lessons with her own beloved dog, and her commitment shines through in her performance. She even managed the wet dog eyes. (I absolutely love her in Showtime's Master of Sex as office manager Betty, another award-winning worthy performance.)

Robert Sella steals the scenes he is in as three different characters, especially as Leslie, the therapist and Phyllis, the socialite. Broderick is very low-key in his performance, and I guess that is because Greg is so low-key.

I wasn't crazy about the ending to the show. You can't compromise when it comes to dog ownership, and someone has to give in. Let me just say that it's clear the author of the play is a man.

This is a show worth seeing for Ashford's performance, and I would recommend it as you can find discount tickets. It is a limited run show, so if you want to see it, more information is here.

On Broadway- Fool For Love

Nina Arianda & Sam Rockwell

Sam Shepard's Pulitzer prize-winning play Fool For Love has finally come to Broadway, with two powerhouse performances from Sam Rockwell and Tony winner Nina Arianda at the center of it.

The show opens in a small hotel room, an elderly man sitting off to the side of the stage, a man in cowboy hat in a chair and woman sitting on the edge of the bed, her hair covering her face, not moving. The scene is silent for more than a few minutes, making some in the audience uncomfortable.

Finally, the cowboy Eddie speaks, asking the woman May if she needs a glass of water. We find that Eddie has found May here, claiming that he has been searching for her. She doesn't believe him, and we slowly discover that he left her behind, running off with another, wealthier, woman.

Over the course of the 75 minute show, these two spar verbally and physically, and the emotions are tense and intense. They circle each other, pushing each other away, yet seemingly unable to pull away from each other. There is clearly something in their past.

May tells him that she has a date coming to pick her up, and he refuses to leave, wanting to meet the man. The poor guy, Martin, shows up, and while totally confused by what is going on, he tries to follow the action. Tom Pelphrey gives a terrific, winning performance as the confused Martin.

Eventually we find out what the deal is with Eddie and May and the old man. It's a stunning revelation, and when it happens, you can audibly hear the audience takes in its collective breath.

Fool For Love is a testament to great writing and brilliant acting by Rockwell and Arianda. It is a not-to-be-missed show, even at full price, but you'd better hurry, its run ends December 13th.

I saw Nina Arianda in her Tony-winning performance in Venus in Fur, and she proves here that she is a talent to be reckoned with.

You can find more information here.

Broadway's Something Rotten at Barnes & Noble

The cast of the fabulous Broadway show, Something Rotten, made an appearance at Barnes & Noble on the Upper East Side in NYC to promote the CD release of the cast recording of the show. They sang three fantastic songs from this amazing show, and then signed CDs.

The cast of Something Rotten

I saw the show last month and it is the one show I would recommend to everyone. The premise is that Nigel (John Cariani) and Nick (Brian d'Arcy James) Bottom are brothers who are playwrights in England at the same time as Shakespeare. Nick doesn't understand why everyone thinks Shakespeare is so great, and Nigel worships the man.

The Bottom brothers need a hit, and Nick goes to visit Nostradamus (the fabulous Tony-nominated Brad Oscar) to see if he can find out what kind of show he needs to write to have a hit show. This results in the show-stopping tune A Musical that contains snippets of songs from some of the most iconic Broadway musicals of all time (Annie, Rent, Sweet Charity, Chicago, Phantom of the Opera-you get the idea). The audience gave this number a middle-of-the-show standing ovation, something I've only seen once, for the Genie in Aladdin, played by Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart.

Shakespeare in the show is portrayed by the brilliant Christian Borle, who won the Tony for his portrayal of Shakespeare as a combination of Prince/James Brown/Mick Jagger. He was born to play this role, similar to his other Tony-winning performance as Black Stache in Peter and the Star Catcher. (He's  a nice guy too. And Brian d'Arcy James has the most beautiful eyes and the kindest smile.)


Other standouts in the cast include Heidi Blickenstaff as Nick's wife Bea, Michael James Scott as Minstrel and Brooks Ashmanskas as Brother Jeremiah.

At Barnes and Noble, they opened with another great number, God, I Hate Shakespeare, which highlights the terrific talents of Brian d'Arcy James (Nick) and John Cariani (Nigel). These guys have a great brotherly chemistry.


Cariani and Kate Reinders sang the next song, the sweetly comedic I Love the Way.


Christian Borle finished the performances with the Queen-sounding Hard to Be the Bard, which is also a favorite from the show.


This is the perfect show- funny, great songs, and a fantastic cast- and it is a must-see even at full price.
The Something Rotten website is here.

On Broadway- On The 20th Century

Everyone was excited to hear that Kristin Chenoweth was playing the role of movie star Lily Garland in the Broadway revival of On The 20th Century, a role that was tailor-made for her, and she definitely delivers on that promise. Lily Garland is a star and so is Kristin Chenoweth.

But the surprise for me was how great Peter Gallagher is in the role of Oscar, Lily's former mentor, a producer who desperately needs Lily to star in his next stage production or he will lose everything. Gallagher is a wonderful actor and he goes all-out in this role. He sings fabulously and his comedic chops are honed to perfection.

The cast of On The 20th Century is an ensemble that blends seamlessly together, from the four porters who vigorously open the show with a energetic tap dance that mimics the sound of a train to Tony-nominated Andy Karl, who steals the show with his physical comedy and hunky looks as the beefcake but intelligence-challenged Bruce Granit (my favorite performance) to Mark Linn-Baker and Michael McGrath, Oscar's right-hand men who are trying to make Oscar's plan work to Mary Louise Wilson as Leticia Peabody Primrose, the pious possible savior of Oscar's dream.

Everything in this production works here, from the staging to the costumes to the singing, dancing and acting, it all comes together to create an evening of fun and entertainment for the entire audience. It is an energetic show, with lots of moving parts and set changes and it all depends on everyone to play their part to make it work. Chenoweth and Karl have a great chemistry, and both earned their Tony nominations that in another year they would have won easily.

On The 20th Century is a limited run production, it ends July 19th, and if you can, go see it before it closes. It is a classic American show and this is a joyous production with a fantastic cast. Discount tickets are available.

 On The 20th Century's website is here.