Scrappy Travels

The most shocking thing about New York City Center's production of Evita isn't the incredible cast and the stunning sets (I've been to NYCC before, their work is always impeccable), it's an offhand comment uttered by the character of Che towards the end of the show. Let me be clear, I've never seen  Evita (somehow) and I can't say I know much about Eva Peron either. So when Che says (spoiler alert!) without further explanation, "and her body went missing for 17 years", I was a little taken aback.  I had more than a few questions. How does such an important figure's body just disappear? Also, how did I not know this? Granted, I had never seen the show, but I do read. I feel this is something I would have seen in some random article I decided to peruse. Nope - this was definitely news to me. Thankfully, I was able to look into it, as well as lots more about the Perons. (Yay Google!) And I have to say, while Evita the show is beautiful if ...

When all the wonderful Broadway shows from this season closed suddenly this summer, I and I'm sure lots of other Broadway fans were bummed. It's usual for a few to shutter after the Tony Awards if they don't receive any awards love, but it just seemed the onslaught of closing notices was especially harsh. From The Cher Show to Be More Chill and everything in between. In all, six shows closed within just a few weeks. This included my love, The Prom , which broke my heart.  While none were blockbusters the size of Hamilton or Hadestown , they all drew in steady crowds and decent reviews. Though we may never know exactly what brought the shows to a halt, we do know for a fact that with every closing comes a brand new opening. While many of these announcements are straight plays, a few musical openings are finally peeking through. Now that we have a clearer picture of what 2019-2020 will look like, here's what I'm most excited about. * Tina: The Tina ...

On September 11, 2001, in Gander New Foundland, it was a day like any other. That is until US airspace closed because of the terror attacks in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington DC. When that happened, 38 planes diverted to the largest airport in Canada. Thousands of people from all over the world, made Gander Newfoundland - a town of about 7000 - home for almost a week until the airspace reopened. During that time, the people of Gander and the surrounding counties opened their hearts and their doors to those that were stranded. Ganderites provided a safe haven by feeding the passengers, and allowing the strangers to sleep and wash in their homes. In a remarkable outpouring of kindness, those in Gander shared comfort, love and hope to many who just wanted to be home with their own families.  The story of September 12 and beyond in Gander is portrayed in the blockbuster musical Come From Away , which just so happens to be one of my most favorite shows ever. The fact that ...

A few weeks ago, I saw Dave at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. To say that I loved it would be an understatement. I had my doubts going into it that the creatives behind it could do one of my favorite movies justice. But after seeing what Tina Landau did to Spongebob , I had faith that she could turn Dave into something magical. By hiring Drew Gehling to play Dave - the high school history teacher turned Presidential stand-in - they perfectly captured the awkward loveliness Kevin Kline played so well in the original. Gehling not only has a beautiful voice, but he's also a fantastic actor who played every note - whether it was nervousness, or utter confusion perfectly. I had wanted to see the musical before he was cast, but the minute he got the job, I knew he'd be perfect and I knew I'd be in the audience to see him. Added to the perfect leading man, the creative flourishes were mind-boggling. It turns out crafty set design is Tina Landau's specialty. Gone was t...

We REALLY liked the Bubbles! After telling everyone I know how incredibly amazing Spongebob on Broadway is, I feel it’s finally the perfect time to share my feelings with you all.  In short, it is by far the most creative bombshell of a production I've ever seen. I’ve been trying to nail down my feelings on it for a while, and I’m not sure what I can say to make you understand just how much I adored every thing about this piece. I’ve been listening to people say almost the exact thing, for months but thought they were being overly excited. After the first number, I was on the same very happy train with every other reviewer that's seen the show. In the words of Maria, Let’s start at the very beginning… The moment I walked into the Palace theater, I could tell Spongebob would be an entirely different show than I’d ever seen. From the neon-lit flowers hanging from the ceiling, to the netting and other scraps that were covering almost every visible surface, I was plun...

The Play That Goes Wrong Set Because I'm not so great at planning, I somehow managed to book two trips to New York within 5 days of each other. During these trips, I saw four fantastic and fabulous Broadway shows (one of which is so awesome, it deserves its own post which will be up later this week...) It was a pretty wonderful theatre week if I do say so myself. The Play that Goes Wrong I've been dying to see this mad-cap farce for months now but for one reason or another, I never got around to it. But when they announced that they were closing, it became required viewing. The show is as funny - probably funnier - as all the reviews say. When you enter a theater, and the main actors are wandering the theater asking the audience if they’ve seen “a small dog named Winston” and welcoming them to “Cornley College”, you know you’re in for a good time. From start to finish, every single portion of the show is fabulously choreographed to bring the maximum number of laug...

The cast of The Waves - Powerhouse Theater As a big fan of both Alice Ripley and Raul Esparza, I was excited to learn that they'd be starring alongside each other in The Waves at Powerhouse Theater (also known as Hamilton ’s workshop venue before it went off to the Public.) I figured the field trip would be a fun way to see something brand new that may never make it to New York, while visiting a Hamilton landmark. The weekend - while maybe not as chock-full of fabulousness as I'd hoped - provided one beautiful evening of theatre. The Waves is based on the Virginia Woolf novel of the same name. It follows 6 friends throughout their lives - which may or may not take place in a single day. Almost every word from the novel is set to music by composers David Bucknam and Lisa Peterson. The original piece played a short engagement in New York in the 90s. It closed quickly and sat on a shelf for many years after the death of Bucknam. Thanks to a meeting of talents, The Wa...

May Reads The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle: I'm not a huge fan of his "Better Nate than Ever" series, so I wasn't sure how I'd feel about this one. But I loved it!  I raced my way through it and was super sad when it was over. I believe it's meant for young adults too so that's my young adult pick for the month of May. Hello NY by Julia Rothman: This book is a New York City lover's dream. It's an illustrated guide to the best parts of the city - according to the author. I finished it in about an hour, but I just loved it. And that right there is all I read in the month of May - super sad!  Though if we're counting, I bought the equivalent of a metric ton in books to read this summer. Does that count? May Travels May was spent mostly in Maryland with two side trips to New York City. The plan was to only take one overnight side trip, but when you manage to get tickets to The Boys in the Band AND Me and My Girl , you ...

There's been a lot of chatter about The Boys in the Band over the last few months. Late last year, it played in London starring Mark Gatiss in a production I would have loved to have seen. And this year it opened on Broadway with a cast of 9 openly gay, hugely talented actors. The cast was definitely the biggest draw for me, as it usually is.   Seeing these men together was thrilling. Let's get this out of the way. Each actor is perfectly cast to his role. I read a few reviews that mentioned Jim Parsons, as maybe not quite well-suited for the role of Michael, the hostile has-been throwing the party. However, I find him perfectly cast. I've seen him on stage ( An Act of God ) and as Sheldon ( Big Bang Theory ) and this Jim Parsons is a completely different person. His wit is there, but the charm is all gone. He definitely shines. Matt Bomer, in his debut, while not having much to do, is stellar as the quiet Donald - seemingly the only one that truly understands (and pos...

In terms of classic versus new theatre, I'm of the mindset that something brand new is always better. That of course is not always the case, but you can't argue with the likes of Hamilton or Dear, Evan Hansen . Those completely new and different shows have taken off in ways that have never been seen before, and in doing so have brought new audiences to theaters in droves. On the other hand, one of my very favorite evenings of theatre in the past year was seeing Bette Midler in the revival of Hello, Dolly . It's a classic in every way, and yet I found myself unconsciously smiling throughout the entire show.  That's the thing about good drama, you just never know what's going to excite. And for this very reason, I recently found myself sitting at New York City Center grinning from ear to ear as I watched Christian Borle and Laura Michelle Kelly command the stage in the Encores! production of Me & My Girl. The show was originally written in the 1940s and ha...

All the veggies at Reading Terminal Market In a lot of ways, April seems like it lasted for about 60 days. It was by far the longest and busiest month I've had in a very, very long time. In the span of 30 days, I celebrated Easter, 4 birthdays and an anniversary, had a mid-life crisis about my own birthday, traveled to 2 different cities, saw 10 shows (and reviewed 9 of them), saw and wrote about the Kennedy Center's new season and totaled my car (so I bought a new one).  In all of this time I was also working full time and attempting to have a life as well. Many, many parts of the month were fun, but stress creeps in after a while. And let's just say I'm very much looking forward to a more laid-back May (fingers crossed...) Birthday fun at Reading Terminal Market April Reads Oslo by JT Rogers : I loved this play!  I wanted very much to see it at Lincoln Center last season, but never got around to it. I have high hopes that some small theatre in Maryland wil...