NYC Reviews + "Name the Show" Game
Hello, play-goers! I was in New York last weekend for my cousin’s wedding—a lovely affair on the Brooklyn waterfront! Between all the festivities, I still managed to squeeze in three shows :) Here are my reviews plus an overview of more shows opening on Broadway soon. But first…
Name the Show
A little game I like playing with fellow theatre lovers is “Name the Show”: I send a short video enacting a moment from a musical, and they have to guess what show it is! I thought y’all might enjoy trying it. So check out the videos at this link and email me your guesses! (No cheating by using Google—honor system!) The first person to get them all correct will get a shout-out in the next newsletter! And please send me your own “Name the Show” videos whenever inspiration strikes :)
New York Reviews
Fat Ham: The best of the three shows I saw was this Pulitzer-prize winning play by James Ijames, a retelling of “Hamlet” with a Black, southern family (including several queer characters) at a backyard barbecue. In some ways, it was a very conventional “living room” play, a common format wherein a family gathers and revelations and drama ensue. But in other ways it was entirely unconventional—riotously funny, very moving, and full of surprises. I really liked how it was self-aware about the “Hamlet” retelling: for example, towards the end, the Hamlet character (“Juicy”) said to the audience, “Oh, you think everyone’s going to die now.” I love when a show employs a “meta” element, that is, it is self-aware that we are in a theatre and there are actors performing a play. For this production, this “meta” element helped the play achieve a higher aim: encouraging the audience to challenge our expectations about what a play about a Black family should be and do. Hot take: I also think this retelling made a strong case that the original Hamlet may have been gay! DC audiences have a chance to catch another work from this playwright at Studio Theatre later this season: Good Bones. Here I am (left) with my partner Michael before the show:
White Girl in Danger: Another Pulitzer-prize winning Black queer playwright, Michael R. Jackson, wrote music, lyrics, and book for this brand new musical, which we saw in previews off Broadway at 2nd Stage. The show is a satire of soap operas, with a critical racial analysis overlaid on top. The soap opera in the show takes place in the town “Allwhite” where the “Blackground” characters are fighting for better storylines for themselves. If you like soap operas, you’ll appreciate the over-the-top, ridiculous plot points. For me, it was too much too-muchness: it was hard to find a unifying thread as the characters kept outdoing themselves with ever-more wacky situations. But the show came together at the end—powerfully—when it became clear it was a critique of which Black stories are told, and why. (Another “meta” show for sure!) But it took too long to get to this insight, and along the way it was—while constantly entertaining—not coherent. Still, I’m very glad I saw it: one of the joys of seeing a world premiere in previews is that it will keep evolving all the way until Opening Night, when the show is generally “frozen.” My cousin told me the third preview was 3 hr and 10 min, while ours was 2 hr and 50 min. I think with some further cuts and some refining/shaping, this musical will get better. It was scheduled to open tonight, so watch out for the reviews this week!
Dancin’: Bob Fosse is one of the most important choreographer/directors in the history of the theatre; I was doing his steps at a very young age in summer camp! So it was a real treat to see this revival of his plotless, all-dance show. What it lacked in an overall story arc or character development, it more than made up for in unbelievably fantastic dancing. Every single member of the ensemble was beautiful to watch—they are truly athletes! I love how sexy his movements are, and how they communicate so much all at once: style, period, character, mood, etc.
I love just being in the theatre district in New York. Walking down 8th Avenue and looking down the cross-streets, you see all the billboards where the shows are playing, and it feels so special to be right there, where all those performers and musicians are bringing stories to life!
This trip, I was reflecting on some neat connections among shows currently playing: The “Dancin’” director also choreographed “Wicked”; Andrew Lloyd Webber has two shows playing right now (“Phantom of the Opera” for a little while longer, and “Bad Cinderella” which just got scathing reviews); and one could see Fosse choreography at “Dancin’” or “Chicago,” just a few blocks apart. I could go on… :)
New York Upcoming Shows
There’s a lot of great stuff playing on Broadway right now! Check out my January and February editions for an overview of many of them. Here are some additional shows I’ve got my eye on:
Camelot: This is one of the great Lerner and Loewe’s musicals, well known because it was apparently President Kennedy’s favorite. Lincoln Center Theatre and director Bartlett Sher have, for several years, been reviving classic musicals from the “golden age” of musical theatre, to generally well-reviewed effect. This “Camelot” features a completely rewritten book by Aaron Sorkin. I’m intrigued and hope to see it soon.
Shucked: From what I’ve read about this show, if you take the con-man-comes-to-town storyline from “The Music Man,” the drought (and also con man) storyline from “110 in the Shade,” make it all about corn, write in a pun a minute, and set the whole thing to country-inspired music, you basically arrive at “Shucked.” The reviews have been generally positive, focusing on the joy and whimsy of the show, and giving a rave to Alex Newell (of “Glee” fame). This musical strikes me as entertaining but not very deep. I feel compelled to highlight it because it’s that rare breed: a new musical not based on a film or a recording artist’s catalogue.
Peter Pan Goes Wrong: From the creators of “The Play That Goes Wrong” (playing in New York for years) comes this slapstick, silly play in which a group of actors tries—very unsuccessfully—to perform “Peter Pan.” Check out this write up from the NY Times about how they get the physical humor precisely accurate.
Life of Pi: I have not read the book nor seen the film (I know!) but am super intrigued by this new interpretation of the story. I’ve heard the puppetry is incredible, and the play goes beyond the one story of boy and tiger in a lifeboat to “a broader tribute to human ingenuity and animal grace.”
The Thanksgiving Play: “When a troupe of really, really well-meaning theater artists attempt to put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving school pageant, things get messy.” Directed by the wonderful Rachel Chavkin (“Hadestown”), this play is supposed to be hilarious and skewer all things “woke” and “liberal.” Check out this feature about the show.
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Well, that’s it for now! Did you see one of these? Send me your review! Did I miss something? Send me that, too! Thanks so much for reading, and see you next time!