The Broadway show thread where we discuss all things Broadway

[JenM]

Okay I thought I would post this in here cause I know that some of you Broadway aficionados may have seen this and I am interested in your opinions. Saw it last night (disclaimer... I had no interest in seeing this as I am sick of all things Annie but was convinced to join a group that was going. We all did a production of Annie a few years ago so it was kind of a "reunion" of sorts.) Yikes. Was so hard to watch. The cute little actress who played Annie was good. Plucky without being saccharine sweet. Jamie Foxx has a great voice but the music... ack. Didn't really love the twist on the classics (OMG what did they do to Little Girls and Easy Street) and didn't really enjoy the new original music either. Obnoxious worshipping of all things excessive too. I suppose the movies/stage versions do too but the "Daddy Warbucks" penthouse tech orgy was a bit too much to take!

Anybody out there love it? I'd love to hear what you liked!!

I am so torn on the new Annie. It's the first musical I ever obsessed over as a kid...and not the original Broadway version, which I never saw, but the 1982 movie, which came out when I was 8. The way my friends and I flipped out over that movie reminds me so much of how little girls flip out over Frozen today. I still have the record I got for my birthday that summer.

And it was only years later that I found out that the movie was critically-maligned, Razzie-nominated, and apparently considered something of a disaster by a sizeable chunk of the theater crowd. I've since seen the play, I've worked on the play, I like the play a lot, and I can see things that could have been adapted much better in the 1982 movie (like keeping Tomorrow in the right place, and including NYC and Something Was Missing...seriously, how did they cut those songs?).

But still, I don't care. The 1999 version may have been closer to the stage version, but it's boring. I have the 1982 version on blu-ray and I still love it.

That being said...I was totally rooting for the updated version, especially after Will Smith's kid dropped out. The new kid was adorable (and I loved her in Beasts of the Southern Wild), Jamie Foxx is perfect for Daddy Warbucks, and honestly, Annie could do with an update. I saw the recent revival on Broadway last year, and yes, it's a classic, but it looked like a dinosaur next to the likes of new shows like Matilda.

But the trailers just look so generic and bland. The soundtrack sounds like they just auto-tuned all of the songs to sound exactly the same. And the product placement is awful, I keep cringing at that "There's a picture of Annie on Twitter!" line in the trailers.

It just looks like they had such a good opportunity to do something special, and they didn't bother.

I'll catch up to it eventually, but definitely not in the theater.

 

[Missy1961]

My sister gave my dad & me tickets to The Lion King for Christmas. I've seen it already - and loved it - but dad never has, and when she offered to buy us tickets, I let him choose. We're going on Jan. 10 - I can't wait. Hope he loves it as much as I did.

 

[Newsies]

I saw Into the Woods yesterday. Into the Woods isn't my favorite musical in general, but it's my second favorite Sondheim work. I thought Anna Kendrick did a great job as Cinderella, she really exceeded my expectations. And I really liked the executive decision that made Jack a young kid, it suited his character well. Plus, Lilla was such a great Red. I really didn't like the woman who portrayed Jack's mother and James (who played the Baker) was only okay for me. Meryl was pretty good.

I didn't like the way they ended the movie. I thought the camera going into the sky during "Children will listen..." and reducing the second half of the finale to credit music was disappointing because that's always been my favorite part of the show. I think they could have done it differently, and I understand that they chose not too for a reason, but it was just a little bit of a let down for me.

In other news, I got Broadway tickets for Christmas! I'm going to be seeing Book of Mormon and Wicked the same week I see Aladdin with my masterclass in January I can't wait because this is going to be my first time seeing all three!

 

[elgerber]

I really didn't like the woman who portrayed Jack's mother and James (who played the Baker) was only okay for me.
I was thrilled to see Tracey Ullman, I have always liked her, and I haven't seen her in forever


In other news, I got Broadway tickets for Christmas! I'm going to be seeing Book of Mormon and Wicked the same week I see Aladdin with my masterclass in January I can't wait because this is going to be my first time seeing all three!

Congrats, that will be fantastic! I haven't seen Aladdin, but I have seen Wicked 5 times and Mormon twice, great shows!

 

[aprilgail2]

I saw Into the Woods yesterday. Into the Woods isn't my favorite musical in general, but it's my second favorite Sondheim work. I thought Anna Kendrick did a great job as Cinderella, she really exceeded my expectations. And I really liked the executive decision that made Jack a young kid, it suited his character well. Plus, Lilla was such a great Red. I really didn't like the woman who portrayed Jack's mother and James (who played the Baker) was only okay for me. Meryl was pretty good. I didn't like the way they ended the movie. I thought the camera going into the sky during "Children will listen..." and reducing the second half of the finale to credit music was disappointing because that's always been my favorite part of the show. I think they could have done it differently, and I understand that they chose not too for a reason, but it was just a little bit of a let down for me. In other news, I got Broadway tickets for Christmas! I'm going to be seeing Book of Mormon and Wicked the same week I see Aladdin with my masterclass in January I can't wait because this is going to be my first time seeing all three!

I think that is the problem I had with into the woods-I hate just about everything Sondheim did. Sweeney Todd was just ok but everything else I don't like- I saw Sunday in the park with George last year and I swear if anyone wanted to torture information out of me the thing to do would be making me sit through that mess again!

 

[elgerber]

Curious, has anyone seen Motown? We saw it last week, and my dd and I both thought it was awful! The crowd loved it, and we couldn't wait for it to be over. Wondering what anyone else has thought about it.

 

[SingingMom]

I saw Into the Woods yesterday. Into the Woods isn't my favorite musical in general, but it's my second favorite Sondheim work. I thought Anna Kendrick did a great job as Cinderella, she really exceeded my expectations. And I really liked the executive decision that made Jack a young kid, it suited his character well. Plus, Lilla was such a great Red. I really didn't like the woman who portrayed Jack's mother and James (who played the Baker) was only okay for me. Meryl was pretty good. I didn't like the way they ended the movie. I thought the camera going into the sky during "Children will listen..." and reducing the second half of the finale to credit music was disappointing because that's always been my favorite part of the show. I think they could have done it differently, and I understand that they chose not too for a reason, but it was just a little bit of a let down for me. In other news, I got Broadway tickets for Christmas! I'm going to be seeing Book of Mormon and Wicked the same week I see Aladdin with my masterclass in January I can't wait because this is going to be my first time seeing all three!

I thought the cast of Into the Woods did a good job, but I didn't like the changes. The Wolf and Cinderella's Prince are played by the same actor for a reason. I adore "Agony", so was disappointed the reprise was cut. Rapunzel's storyline change doesn't work with the Witch's at the end. Oh well. Lol. Still nice to see people be introduced to musicals.

When you see a Wicked, give Kara Lindsay our love!! So happy she's back on Broadway! We may go back (saw it twice) just to see her. Aladdin was wonderful. Can't help but smile when you are sitting there. Adam Jacobs does a gorgeous job on "Proud of Your Boy"! I LOVE it!!!

We saw Honeymoon in Vegas before Christmas. Fun show. Rob McClure & Bryn O'Malley are great.

Our next tickets are for Parade in Lincoln Center with Jeremy Jordan, Laura Benanti!! Very excited!!!

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

For any of you theatre fans who like reading plays would be gland to send free kindle version of my play for critique. If you are interested just message me.

 

[Newsies]

Congrats, that will be fantastic! I haven't seen Aladdin, but I have seen Wicked 5 times and Mormon twice, great shows!

I LOOOVE the soundtrack to Wicked and BoM. I can't wait to finally see them live!!!

I think that is the problem I had with into the woods-I hate just about everything Sondheim did. Sweeney Todd was just ok but everything else I don't like- I saw Sunday in the park with George last year and I swear if anyone wanted to torture information out of me the thing to do would be making me sit through that mess again!

Aww, Sunday is my favorite Sondheim work! I can see why it's not too popular, though. The score is gorgeous but the plot is... uh... dull? I don't know how to describe it but I had trouble sitting through it the first time, too.

I thought the cast of Into the Woods did a good job, but I didn't like the changes. The Wolf and Cinderella's Prince are played by the same actor for a reason. I adore "Agony", so was disappointed the reprise was cut. Rapunzel's storyline change doesn't work with the Witch's at the end. Oh well. Lol. Still nice to see people be introduced to musicals.

When you see a Wicked, give Kara Lindsay our love!! So happy she's back on Broadway! We may go back (saw it twice) just to see her. Aladdin was wonderful. Can't help but smile when you are sitting there. Adam Jacobs does a gorgeous job on "Proud of Your Boy"! I LOVE it!!!

We saw Honeymoon in Vegas before Christmas. Fun show. Rob McClure & Bryn O'Malley are great.

Our next tickets are for Parade in Lincoln Center with Jeremy Jordan, Laura Benanti!! Very excited!!!

KARA!!!! My favorite person!!! I can't wait to see Aladdin. I've never seen Wicked, Aladdin, or BoM and I'm so glad I get to watch such great casts perform.

Didn't get to see Honeymoon when it was at Papermill, and given that it's taken over the theater where Newsies was, I can't see myself stepping into the Nederlander and NOT crying, so I might pass on Honeymoon for a while

JEALOUS!!! LOVE Jordan and Benanti.

 

[SingingMom]

I LOOOVE the soundtrack to Wicked and BoM. I can't wait to finally see them live!!! Aww, Sunday is my favorite Sondheim work! I can see why it's not too popular, though. The score is gorgeous but the plot is... uh... dull? I don't know how to describe it but I had trouble sitting through it the first time, too. KARA!!!! My favorite person!!! I can't wait to see Aladdin. I've never seen Wicked, Aladdin, or BoM and I'm so glad I get to watch such great casts perform. Didn't get to see Honeymoon when it was at Papermill, and given that it's taken over the theater where Newsies was, I can't see myself stepping into the Nederlander and NOT crying, so I might pass on Honeymoon for a while JEALOUS!!! LOVE Jordan and Benanti.

Yes, it was difficult entering the Nederlander after seeing Newsies six times!! But DH & I enjoyed Honeymoon at Papermill but DD was studying in London at the time & we wanted to bring her to see it! Lol

During Spring Break we are planning to see King & I and Gigi!

 

[LBIJim]

Saw "The Last Ship" with Sting last night. It was one of only about half a dozen Broadway shows that had discount seats available at the TKTS booth about 715pm.

Overall both the show and Sting's performance were mediocre at best. Some of the other performers were better. Not horrible, just eh. I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone except hard-core Sting fans, and even then it might be a disappointment.

It will probably close soon after Sting leaves the cast later in January.

Got to see the revival of Side Show a week before Christmas. That was much more enjoyable, but, just like the original, proved to be a bust at the box office. It's closing tomorrow.

 

[SingingMom]

Saw "The Last Ship" with Sting last night. It was one of only about half a dozen Broadway shows that had discount seats available at the TKTS booth about 715pm. Overall both the show and Sting's performance were mediocre at best. Some of the other performers were better. Not horrible, just eh. I wouldn't recommend this show to anyone except hard-core Sting fans, and even then it might be a disappointment. It will probably close soon after Sting leaves the cast later in January. Got to see the revival of Side Show a week before Christmas. That was much more enjoyable, but, just like the original, proved to be a bust at the box office. It's closing tomorrow.

It's a shame about Side Show. Our friends thought the venue was too large for the show to be a success. All about the revenue, unfortunately. We didn't get in to see it.

Just purchased tickets for The King & I and On the 20th Century. Most people go to the beach for Spring Break; we go to Broadway!

 

[JenM]

I saw The River with Hugh Jackman today. It’s a very small, very intimate play, and you’re not really sure where it’s going until the end, but I enjoyed it. I think I actually liked it better than the play he did with Daniel Craig a few years back. And Hugh looked gorgeous, as usual.

I’m hoping to catch Hedwig this week or next to see Michael C. Hall before he leaves, and I already have tickets to see it with John Cameron Mitchell next month.

 

[JenM]

Didn't get to see Honeymoon when it was at Papermill, and given that it's taken over the theater where Newsies was, I can't see myself stepping into the Nederlander and NOT crying, so I might pass on Honeymoon for a while

Take it from someone who saw Rent more than 30 times at the Nederlander, and who’s been back there for several shows since it closed...go back in, you’ll be fine.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Buying Wicked tickets for my mom for her 70th birthday and I would like to use AmEx points. I can't find out anywhere how many points they use for tickets/cash-point exchange rate. Has anyone every purchased tickets using AmEx points? If so, can you tell me how many points/per ticket, etc?

Thanks!

 

[elphaba91]

I thought I'd do a mini-trip report here about my Broadway experiences during my recent New York trip. I ended up seeing 6 shows in 6 nights! Considering that earlier this year there was a big celebration in Melbourne because we had 4 professional musicals filling our 4 'east end' theatres, it was amazing to see so many shows in the one city, and so many people in work! However, while Australia mightn't have as much as Broadway when it comes to quantity of shows, I feel we match or if not better them when it comes to quality!

My first Broadway show was Book of Mormon. It was brilliant, as expected. Ben Platt as Arnold Cunningham and Nikki Renee Daniels as Nabulungi were definitely standouts. However, I actually wished that I hadn't listened to the cast recording before seeing it as it meant that I knew all of the storyline, jokes, etc. and there weren't really any surprises (which wasn't the case with other shows).

The next night we saw If/Then, the show that was the impetus for the New York leg of our trip. It was my favourite show of the trip! Idina has been my favourite singer since I became obsessed with Wicked in 2008 and it was so incredible to see her in a full Broadway show (I'd previously only seen her live in concert). The poor thing was quite sick and had a coughing fit onstage (but struggled with her head voice rather than her belt) but was still amazing.

The week we went all the shows were raising money for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids (which is a great cause, but it was a bit annoying hearing the spiel every night!) and doing bucket collections and selling special items. One of the items If/Then was selling were the dogtags worn by James Snyder's character, Josh, who is in the army. He had been saving them up from each performance for quite awhile and signing them all, so I think there were quite a few available, but they could be from any show. Anyway, my mum announced that she was going to buy me a set, which I was thrilled by. While she was buying a random set, James himself came out and asked if anyone wanted the set from that show! The spirit of Hermione Granger possessed me and my hand shot up in the air. So now I own a Broadway prop, from one of my favourite musicals, starring my favourite singer, presented to me by the actor who wore it!

On Thanksgiving night we saw The Phantom of the Opera. While I've seen the movie and the 25th Anniversary filmed version, I have never seen Phantom live! So in 2014 I was able to check off my two ultimate bucket-list musicals (the other was Les Mis, which I saw twice in Melbourne with the best cast possible). Norm Lewis was absolutely amazing, and I couldn't imagine a better Phantom (although my Mum assures me that Anthony Warlow may have given him a run for his money).

Our next show was Matilda. I had really high expectations for this show which, unfortunately, were not met. I think the biggest problem was that it was really hard to understand the little girl playing Matilda; her accent was a weird mix of English, American and Irish. I gather early audiences struggled with the English accents and so they've tried to dilute them, but I just don't think it works. I think it would be better to stick with American accents (which were used in the movie, so I don't think it would be a problem). It is opening in Sydney later this year and will hopefully come to Melbourne at some stage, so I hope I will like the Aussie production better.

On Saturday we saw Kinky Boots, which was a very close runner-up for favourite musical of the trip! It was such a fun show and Billy Porter is absolutely fabulous.

Finally, we booked tickets for Mamma Mia! on the TodayTix app (which I would highly recommend - I have 1 promo code for it, so if anyone would like it PM me). It was a lot of fun, although poor theatre etiquette did put a bit of a dampener on things (quite literally for my poor sister who had a drink spilled down her back). I think the best thing about the show is getting up to dance at the end, and luckily the people sitting next to us were equally enthusiastic, so that was great!

All in all, it was a fantastic lot of shows - and to think, I only saw a fraction of what was available! Up next for me in Melbourne is Strictly Ballroom (a new musical) followed by The Lion King!

 

[LOVETHATMOUSE]

No shows for my dd and I this Christmas break, but I did manage to get tix to Book of Mormon for her spring break (her big Christmas gift - did you hear her scream when she opened them up lol). I have been trying for years to get them and am so happy we are FINALLY going!

 

[DisneyFan13US]

Elphaba,

Sounds like you had an amazing time. I'm sorry you were let down by Matilda. My wife and I were able to see it last Christmas when the original four girls were playing her and it was amazing. Hopefully it gets down under soon.

 

[SingingMom]

Elphaba- great trip for you!!! James Synder is a wonderful guy! DD21 had a wonderful conversation with him after her second time seeing If/Then. We also saw him at Michael Mott's debut album concert. He sang the song Zachary Levi did on the album and was terrific!

 

[Newsies]

Elphaba:

-I'm SO GLAD mormon was your first show. Ben unfortunately left Book of Mormon today, along with Nic Roleau I'm seeing it for the first time a week from today! I agree with you on listening to the cast recording, it can ruin some of the jokes in the show that happened with me and Avenue Q.

-I'm glad you enjoyed If/Then! I probably won't be seeing it until Idina leaves- ticket prices are super high and I want to see how the show does without her. I LOVE THE BCEFA! Because of BCEFA I got a signed Daniel Radcliffe playbill from How To Succeed, and I got a bunch of Newsies props from the BCEFA flea market. Next time you fly out to the states, I highly recommend flying out during the last week of September- BCEFA hosts a Broadway Flea Market on the last Sunday of every September. You can buy a bunch of authentic props, sold to you BY your favorite actors for cheap! It's a ton of fun.

-Norm Lewis is a stunning Phantom. I love his voice. Phantom is such a beautiful show!

-AWWW, YOU SAW LITTLE ELIZA!!!! Eliza was my second Matilda (the first time I saw the show, I saw Gabrielle). She's Irish and because she's so young, it's hard for her to put on any kind of accent that doesn't have a hint of Irish in it. She's very cute but I couldn't understand her well, either.

-I still need to see Kinky Boots. It seems very razzle-dazzley, and I love Billy Porter.

-I had the same problem you had at Mamma Mia when I saw Rock of Ages a couple of years ago. There was a lot of drinking in the audience and some people got a little out of hand. I think one had to be escorted out of the theater I know the same kind of thing happens at Jersey Boys sometimes, too. I think it's a problem that happens primarily with jukebox musicals- they're advertised like a party, so people treat it like a party