Murder For Two - Perfect for Halloween!

If you're planning to get last minute tickets to a show for Halloween tonight I can't think of a show that would fit the theme better than Murder for Two.  The spoof musical is playing right now at New World Stages, they might even have rush tickets available for tonight, since I know they usually have rush for Avenue Q and Peter and the Starcatcher.

I saw Murder back when it was playing at the Second Stage Uptown theater.  I didn't know very much about it going in and ended up having an amazing time watching it.  The show is hilarious from the very beginning and extremely clever.

Brett Ryback and Jeff Blumenkrantz

The two person show features Brett Ryback as a police officer investigating a murder and Jeff Blumenkrantz as all of the suspects.  It's amazing how full the stage feels with only these two on it.  Not only do they portray over a dozen characters they also provide their own orchestra music by taking turns playing the piano together and apart throughout the show.

I loved them both!  Brett is extremely cute in this show, you can't help but enjoy his performance and laugh at all of his lines.  Jeff is an outright physical theater genius.  He's able to portray a dozen different characters in the span of 90 minutes and somehow make each one distinct and memorable.  Jeff's switch to a new character is usually indicated by a small prop or hat he puts on but even without those props Jeff does an amazing job of changing his physical pose and voice to nail each character.  I especially loved his portrayal of a group of 9 year old boys in which he constantly switches back and forth from boy to boy while on his knees.  I also loved his portrayal of Steph, an annoying and overwhelming college girl who has a crush on the police officer.

There was nothing about this show I didn't like.  If you're looking for a reasonably priced show where you can have a good time, laugh a lot and see some amazing acting skills check this out.  It's currently in previews at New World Stages with an official opening date of November 6th and a closing date of January 5th.

Oh and also, HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (I couldn't resist sharing the piggies!)

Les Miserables Back on Broadway in 2014

That's right, Les Miz is planning another Broadway revival in March 2014.  To everyone out there who saw the movie this winter and all of a sudden became a die-hard Les Miz fan, you're in luck! This will be the second Broadway revival of Les Miz.  The first was in 2006, which was my first time seeing the show when I was a freshman in college.  

This new revival of the show will take a fresh approach to the classic musical with new scenic elements and even some updated orchestrations.  Producer Cameron Macintosh has said that the "re-imagined" scenery is inspired by paintings of Victor Hugo (the author of the 19th century Les Miserables novel).

The production has already been performed in the U.K. and the U.S. in a tour that is also slated to open in Japan, Canada, Australia and Brazil in the near future.

The original London production of Les Miz is the longest running musical of all time, still running after 27 years!  To date, it is the fourth longest-running Broadway show (beat by Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Chicago).

Truth be told I've always liked the classic Les Miz songs (On My Own, At The End of the Day, Bring Him Home, Empty Chairs and Empty Tables, etc.) but I found the Broadway revival in 2006 to be a snooze-fest.  Apart from the famous songs the rest of the show was pretty boring.  For that reason I was skeptical of the movie when it came out, but was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved it!  My favorite performances were by Anne Hathaway (Of course! Who didn't love her??), who gave the most emotionally intense rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" that I have ever encountered, Aaron Tveit, who I've been a huge fan of since Next to Normal, and Samantha Barks, who's subtle performance of "On My Own" was extremely refreshing after hearing the song over sung by so many Broadway wanna-bes (including those from my high school choir) that it's almost ruined the song for me.

I don't know if this revival will be much more exciting overall than the last was but I'll definitely give it a chance, that is if the popularity of the movie doesn't cause the prices to sky rocket.