Group Trip to "Hadestown" & NY Reviews

Hello, play-goers! I’m back with a recap of our first newsletter event and some reviews from Broadway shows…

Group trip “way down, Hadestown, way down under the ground!”

It was thrilling to take 13 newsletter subscribers to see the touring cast of “Hadestown” perform at the National Theatre in DC! This cast was very good and everyone loved the show. Even though it was my fifth (!) time seeing it, I found myself so wrapped up in the story, cheering for Orpheus to succeed and almost forgetting that I know the ending. I cried as much as I did the first time I saw it, if not more! Maybe it was that I was sharing it with friends, maybe it was just the power of this moving show, but I absolutely loved it.

After the show, we all came back to my house for a discussion. We analyzed the story, the performances, the lyrics, the costume/set/lighting choices, etc. Then we split into small groups to dissect the themes of the show. It was a rich discussion—all along the way, I learned new things from my fellow play-goers! With great art, you really can’t engage with it too much, because each time you do, you find something new. And hearing the perspectives of these smart, perceptive folks also really enriched my understanding.

We will definitely do something similar again with another musical, stay tuned!

Curtain call at “Hadestown” at the National Theatre in DC.

New York Reviews

I’m just back from my final New York trip of the 22-23 theatre season. I saw a personal-record FIVE shows on this trip, plus celebrating Pride! This one was also special for another reason: my good friend Joel joined me from his home in Oakland, CA. We met when I lived out there and used to see shows all the time together! It was so special to go to the “theater mecca” together! Here we are after seeing “Parade.”

The theme of this trip was revivals! I saw four of them, three musicals and one play, plus a brand new musical. Here are my reviews…

Sweeney Todd

We are so lucky to be alive right now, at at time when Thomas Kail (director of “Hamilton”) took it upon himself to revive this Sondheim masterpiece in a BIG way: the 26-piece orchestra (rare on Broadway) soared and the huge cast brought to vivid life Victorian London. The show is so many things: a parable about the dangers of pursuing revenge; an indictment of the way the industrial revolution and capitalism has mechanized the oppression of the lower classes through factory and other work; a musical masterpiece; and at once scary, thrilling, and hilarious. I appreciated that most of the directorial and design choices were straightforward and meant to present the show as written without some new “concept” or twist.

The set and lighting design stood out for the way they captured the darkness of the story: The entire stage was never fully lit, and a brilliant backdrop evoking the face of the moon lit up in different areas behind the action. The effect was to bathe the stage in darkness, ratcheting up the scary factor. I also loved the industrial set pieces, in particular a large crane (at right in the photo below) that delivered Sweeney’s fancy chair and also swung out over the audience at one climactic point.

The performances were across the board stellar. Josh Groban’s beautiful, rich voice perfectly captured Sondheim’s gorgeous melodies; Annaleigh Ashford displayed her comedic brilliance with a downright raunchy portrayal of Mrs. Lovett and her unrequited affections for Sweeney. It was a wonderful interpretation of the role.

As we left the theatre, Joel said, “Now that was a full meal!” and I couldn’t agree more—beautiful music, incredible performances, funny, thrilling, and with a sharp commentary at its core. Do not miss this magical theater experience!

The cast giving an extra ovation to music director Alex Lacamoire (also from the “Hamilton” team), who was conducting for the final time at our performance. We learned this from a clarinetist in the orchestra we chatted with on the train ride home. He said Lacamoire knows every single orchestra member’s name—rare in his years of experience playing on Broadway. Isn’t that just lovely?

Parade

Another musical revival not to miss is “Parade,” which depicts the true story of the wrongful conviction and lynching of a Jewish man for the murder of a girl in Atlanta in 1913. I have liked this show for many years and was so excited to see a really stellar production of it. The score is wonderful, employing several musical styles from the period, and was sung powerfully and beautifully by the cast. Ben Platt and Micaela Diamond were terrific in the lead roles.

Ben Platt sat on stage throughout the entire 15 minute intermission, showing how his character sat in prison for years after being wrongfully convicted. I felt so sad and angry as I looked at him while I waited in line for the bathroom. This was a great directorial choice.

The show was written in 1998, but feels especially relevant today as anti-Semitism is on the rise, a sensationalist media is going strong, and politicians use prejudice to advance their own careers—all of which were components of the show. I think it makes a powerful case for empathizing with people of all backgrounds who are wrongfully convicted of a crime: when the lead characters learn that the governor is re-opening the investigation into the crime and sing the powerful “This Is Not Over Yet,” I thought about all the people wrongfully imprisoned right now, and how they would probably feel similarly if they were granted a second look into their convictions.

The show employed projections to great effect. As each new character was introduced, a photo of the real person and their name was projected. Dates and locations were also projected, sometimes down to the hour of the event. This helped establish the performance as “documentary theatre”—constantly reminding the audience that this horrible tragedy really happened.

Here Lies Love

I had a BLAST at “Here Lies Love!” This new musical tells the story of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos, the Filipino president/dictator and first lady who ruled from 1965-1986. Consistent with Imelda’s rollicking lifestyle, the show is set in a discotheque and some audience members’ “seat” was just to stand up and dance on the “dance floor” while the actors moved among us and on raised platforms. Immersive theater like this is powerful, especially when it fits the story so well. I felt the events portrayed in my body as I danced along with the show; when bombs go off at a protest at one point, I felt as if it was really happening right next to me.

I saw the show in previews, and enjoyed filling out a survey afterwards, which mostly focused on intelligibility of the lyrics and storyline. How cool to be a part of the design team’s fine-tuning process! I followed the story, but I wonder if the nightclub vibe will be distracting for some patrons. One review I read of an off-Broadway production of the show noted that audience members were being made to feel complicit in the Marcos’ rise as dictator-rulers, since we were there dancing along with them the whole time. I think the show was so much pure fun, I’m not sure how clearly that message came across.

This was my view throughout the show as I stood and danced on the floor and actors performed on platforms right next to me! I highly recommend seeing this and getting dance floor tickets.

The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window

I had more mixed feelings about this revival of the 1964 Lorraine Hansberry play. The performances—Oscar Isaac and Rachel Brosnahan in the lead roles—were fantastic, but the play felt over-stuffed, full of ideas but without a clear narrative arc. Still, this is a rarely performed play from one of our best 20th century playwrights, so I was grateful to have the chance to see it.

The Light in the Piazza (& celeb sightings!)

We planned our trip around this City Centers Encores short-run production. In a word: It was absolutely brilliant. The music was sublime; the simple direction worked perfectly for the story; and I loved the choice to cast the main roles (a mother and daughter on vacation in Florence, Italy) with Asian American actresses. This deepened the show’s themes of how influential a cross-cultural experience can be, as the American tourists are profoundly changed by an experience with an Italian family. Ruthie Ann Miles, who played the mother, is an incredible talent—I hope she is given many more chances to lead a cast.

I have tons more to say about this performance, but I will leave all that out to spill the tea with you about what was happening in the audience! There were many Broadway actors in attendance: Sitting three rows directly behind me? Eva Noblezada and Reeve Carney—the original Eurydice and Orpheus in “Hadestown” (and also a couple! That’s a whole other blog post…) Five rows in front of me? Victoria Clark, who originated the show’s lead role in 2005. My friend Joel had just—90 minutes before—seen her in “Kimberly Akimbo,” and now here she was watching this show with us! Magic! In the bathroom, I saw Jose Llana check his teeth in the mirror; I had just seen him days before in “Here Lies Love.” And I clocked playwright-performer Ryan J Haddad in the lobby. I was positively giddy—the beautiful performance plus seeing some of my favorite actors, all at once? Just fabulous!! It was a wonderful way to close out the weekend.

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That’s it for now! Thanks so much for reading. As always, I welcome your ideas and reactions!