Scarlett Johansson is Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

Last weekend my best broadway friend Jen came to visit so of course we had to fit in as many shows as we could!  We ended up getting tickets to Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and Breakfast at Tiffany's.  Two very different plays that both had celebrities.  I'm writing my review of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof first since there are only 3 performances left until it closes tomorrow Saturday 3/30!!

This revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is Scarlett Johansson's second time on Broadway after winning a TONY for her Broadway debut in a A View From the Bridge.  I don't think this performance was amazing enough to earn Scarlett her second TONY but I thought she was pretty good.


This was my first time seeing Cat so I had no expectations for how the role of Maggie should be played.  Scarlett definitely got the catty part of Maggie right, throughout most of the play she left me siding with her husband, Brick, played by Benjamin Walker.  There were a few times during the play when I did feel sympathy for Maggie but most of the time her weirdly manly sounding southern accent along with the distant self-righteous attitude she gave off left me she thinking she was a bitch that made her bed and now needed to sleep in it.

Scarlett Johansson as Maggie and Benjamin Walker as Brick

Benjamin Walker gave a good performance as Brick, although after a while his fake southern accent started getting on my nerves as well.  He portrayed Brick's anger scenes with rage that seemed real and unrestrained.  The rage, which was usually caused by Maggie's mention of his dead best friend Skipper who was hinted to have been more of a gay love, seemed to have real emotions behind it.

I'm glad I caught Cat on a Hot Tin Roof before the closing date.  As I always say, my favorite plays are the ones that leave you thinking afterwards.  Cat definitely lived up to this standard with its reoccurring them of "mendacity," Brick uses the word to discuss his disgust with all of the lies and liars in his life.  It makes you think about the fact that a lot of everyone's lives are fake.  How many relationships that we have in our own lives are full of lies?  However, the further you get into the play the more you realize that part of Brick's disgust with the lies and fakeness he sees in other people is the disgust he feels for himself after rejecting his best friend/gay love interest Skipper before his suicide.

If you have no plan for the Easter weekend I would definitely try to catch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof before it closes.  If you have a student ID the show has a student rush that begins 2 hours before the show starts.  However, the tickets will probably be slim pickins this weekend so I would get there early.

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.

War Horse and Grace - Broadway Reviews

It seems like the holidays were so long ago, when I returned to work last week everything went back to being busy right away.  Of course 3 shows that I really wanted to see had to be closing right after the holidays - War Horse, Grace and Chaplin.

The good news is I found time (and money) to squeeze in 2 out of the 3 shows, War Horse and Grace.  I'm sad I wasn't able to make it to Chaplin, I read some great things about Rob McClure. But I'm hoping I can at least find a couple videos of him performing on YouTube to make me feel a little better.

Here are my reviews of War Horse and Grace, both of which unfortunately played their last performances this past weekend on January 6th.

WAR HORSE
I thoroughly enjoyed War Horse.  The best way I can describe the show is it's the first time I've seen a play that made me feel like I was watching a movie.  The background music by the orchestra and the talented singers set a mood throughout the play that was similar to the way music sets your emotions throughout movies.

The show is famous for it's use of puppets and now I see why.  The puppeteers from Handspring Puppet Co. were AMAZING!  Their movements for the horses were extremely realistic and precise, down to even moving the ears and flicking the tail in accordance with the horse's movements.  Although seeing it live is really the only way to see how life like these puppets really were, the below video shows some great tidbits from the show.

I had high expectations for War Horse and it lived up to all of them; large and very talented cast, emotional story that made me cry more than once, great props and scenery and strong music to set the atmosphere that you weren't in a theater watching a play but that you were part of a real story.  Now that I caught the play before it closed I'll have to watch the movie to see how it compares.

GRACE
Grace was back to the type of Broadway play I'm used to seeing, the show depends on the performance of the actors as the main way to tell the story, the scenery is good but not over the top and a couple of celebrities are thrown in to raise ticket sales.

I'll admit my sole reason for seeing Grace was to check out Paul Rudd's first time on broadway.  I've always thought he was a cutie and wanted to see this show in case he never comes to broadway again.

I actually ended up liking the show much more than I originally thought I was going to.  The description on the web site makes it sound like the typical "What is religion and what is god" play.  It was more intriguing than I expected and like all good plays left me with some interesting concepts to think about afterwards.

Interestingly, Grace starts out by showing you the series of murders that take place at the end of the play and then goes into a rewind effect where the last moments of each person's life is replayed in reverse order.  At the end of the play we see the sequence again but in normal order.  Since you know what's ultimately going to happen throughout the play the question then becomes, why did this happen?

The play focuses on the question of if God exists and if so, how do we know?  Each character displays different situations that either are so terrible that God could not possibly exist or so perfect that it's hard to explain them happening without the presence of God.  The play is full of uncomfortable moments, however I don't think any of them were quite as shocking or unsettling as they were meant to be.  The play overall was done well but it left me wanting more.  It would have had to go farther to leave a real lasting effect on me.

The four person cast included Paul Rudd as main character Steve, Kate Arrington as his wife Sara, Michael Shannon in a wonderfully awkward performance as Sam and Ed Asner as the greatly entertaining exterminator Karl.  While the performances of the entire cast were great the outline of each character was not very deep.  Each character's story was very predictable, which kept me from getting too attached to any of them.

Sara (Kate Arrington), Steve (Paul Rudd) and Sam (Michael Shannon)

Michael Shannon's portrayal of Sam, a hurting man who's fiance recently died, was my favorite part of the play.  His hurting comes across without being too forced and throughout the play you want to learn more about him.

As someone who has always been up and down about if God is actually out there, Grace made a lot of points that I could relate to.  I especially liked a remark that Sara made referring to the relationship between her and Sam, "If we're here beside each other, we must be here for each other, right?"

Christmas in NYC: Happy/Crazy/Crowded/Angry Time

Christmas time in NYC is both my favorite and most loathed time of
the year.  It's hard not to love all the things that pop up in the city only during this time of year - outdoor christmas shopping booths that take over Bryant Park and Union Square like tent cities full of people tempting you to spend all your money, ice skating, Santa Con, decorations and of course the giant ass Christmas tree - every year I say I want to go see these things and every year I get mad at the crazy crowds that surround them.  But I think it's New Yorker tradition to celebrate the holidays by complaining as much as you can about tourists taking over the streets... Christmas just wouldn't be the same without all the anger.

Life during this time of year just seems to be on permanent fast-forward.  My biggest problem is that in the midst of all of the craziness this time of year is also filled with a whole bunch of awesome broadway charity concerts and broadway shows that either open only for this time of year or stay open to bring in some cash from the Christmas crowd and then schedule their closing date for early January right after the rush is over.  Of course I want to see all of them!  So if you're asking yourself right now, "what's her point?" Basically I'm just ranting to let you guys know that my life is super busy right now but I'm seeing lots of great theater and will try to keep you updated as often as I can.  (I know I still haven't posted my Assassins review but it's coming!!) Expect a big string of reviews after Christmas when things die down!

Now for those of you who are interested in catching the shows that will be closing soon here's a list:

Closing Sunday 12/16:

Murder Ballad - Seeing this tonight, I'll update everyone on how it is! It's by Jonathon Larson (the writer of Rent) so I had to make sure to see it.

The Anarchist -  Really wanted to see Patti Lupone in this but it looks like I probably won't have time.  For anyone with student IDs, the woman at the box office told me they are selling student rush tickets (1 per ID) on the day of the show.

Closing Sunday 12/30:

A Christmas Story - This looks intriguing, I love the movie but the show could ruin it. They have a general rush (2 per person) when the box office opens, so that could be a cheap way to check it out.

A Civil War Christmas - This is New York Theatre Workshop's Christmas show and I've heard great things about it. Hopefully I have time to check it out. NYTW has a bunch of discount deals including student rush that you can check out here

Bring It On The Musical - I already saw this and was hesitant but actually really enjoyed it. It was funny and some of the songs were pretty catchy. I'll post a full review soon. Anyway they have a general rush (2 per person) so I highly recommend you check it out if you can!

Closing Sunday 1/6:

Elf - This show seems to come back every year during Christmas and has no discounts so unless you're obsessed with the movie, I'd say skip it.

Grace - This limited run is Paul Rudd's Broadway debut.  I'm planning on trying to see it, unfortunately there are no discounts but it may be worth buying tickets to see Paul Rudd live.

Chaplin - A Broadway musical about a silent movie actor doesn't sound like the most exciting piece of theater to me but I'm going to try to reserve my judgement and see it before it closes. It has a general rush (2 per person).

War Horse - Good thing I wrote this blog post because it reminded me that I really want to see this play before it closes!  It has student rush (1 per person) and LincTix deals.

Assassins Benefit Concert Reading TONIGHT!

I'm beyond excited that tonight I'll be seeing Roundabout Theatre's one-night-only benefit concert reading of Assassins!!!  I've always wanted to see this show and now the original cast (including my favorite Neil Patrick Harris) is coming back for one night.

I'll admit I spent way way too much money on these tickets, but hey if I don't spend money on something like this that only comes along once in a lifetime then there's no point in saving it, right?

The original cast that will return for tonight's show includes:

Michael Cerveris (John Wilkes Booth)
Becky Ann Baker (Sara Jane Moore)
James Barbour (Leon Czolgosz)
Mario Cantone (Samuel Byck)
Mary Catherine Garrison (Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme)
Alexander Gemignani (John Hinckley)
Neil Patrick Harris (Balladeer/Lee Harvey Oswald)
Marc Kudisch (Proprietor)
Jeffrey Kuhn (Giuseppe Zangara)
Denis O’Hare (Charles Guiteau)

Stay tuned for my review of the event tomorrow!

"George & Martha: Sad Sad Sad" - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?

This week I had my first encounter with the well-known play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe," and what an encounter it was.  Not sure what to expect, but knowing the show is a classic that I must see, I got last minute tickets to the show after work.  The show was one of the most suspenseful and intense plays I've seen.  Throughout the three-hour play the audience is in a constant state of discomfort as the honest truth of the relationship between the characters is revealed and an anxious feeling in the pit of your stomach telling you something bigger is coming grows and grows as the tension builds.  You can't help but feel emotionally drained at the end of the play.  

Not to say that the play is void of humor, on the contrary, mixed in with the brutal verbal battle and heart ache is a lot of hilarious moments.  The playwright, Edward Albee, has really created something unique by telling the story of a drunken night of marital discord by combining tragedy, comedy and creepy uneasiness.

To me strong emotions are the backbone of any good piece of theater and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe" definitely provides more than enough.

Tracy Letts as George, Amy Morton as Martha and Madison Dirks as Nick

Tracy Letts, as the lead male role George is completely amazing.  Mr. Letts' expertise at alternating between vicious, loud and aggressive to an old husband who seems to have endless funny one liners to being a battered victim to being a calm and in control mental manipulator is mesmerizing to watch.  George is the leader of the tension you feel throughout the play and it is he who at the end seems to have been the master of the night all along.

Amy Morton, as the lead female role Martha gives a talented and intriguing performance as well.  Throughout the play you can't decide if she is a bitch that you should hate or a wounded woman that you should feel sorry for.  Ms. Morton does a great job at subtly revealing her internal grief from a life she wanted but never had amid her merciless  and aggressive outbursts.

In the midst of all of the attacks and pain there is a weird feeling of a dependent and deep love that despite everything thrives between George and Martha.

Carrie Coon as Honey

Madison Dirks as Nick and Carrie Coon as Honey round out the strong cast of the show as the audience of George and Martha's battle.  Each is less memorable than Letts or Morton but still gives a strong performance as their more subdued characters.  I particularly loved Coon's portrayal of the drunken Honey, especially her interpretive dance!

"Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe" was without a doubt money well spent.  I now see why it is so popular and think it is a show all theater lovers should try to see at least once.  The revival by Steppenwolf Theatre Company now playing at the Booth Theater on West 45th street is scheduled to close on February 24.  The theater was almost packed when I saw it on a Thursday so I would try to get tickets sooner rather than later if you want to catch it before it closes.

If you have a current student ID the show has student rush tickets available for $37 on a first-come, first-serve basis.

I'm back

I know it's been a while since I've updated this blog.  The last few months have been very busy to say the least.  To give a little update I'm now a Hoboken resident.  I know I know... ewww New Jersey.  But it's clean, has a lot to do and is only a 15 minute Path ride from the city so I'm enjoying myself.  That is it was only a 15 minute Path ride from the city, Sandy did a good job of destroying the Hoboken station and shutting it down for the last month or so but hopefully it will be up and running again soon!

Anyway, I'm back and ready to dedicate time to make this blog a valuable and fun place for people to come for Broadway information, show reviews (from me of course), updates on openings/closings and advice for cheap tickets and discounts.

Please feel free to leave comments along the way on any of my posts, let me know if there is a certain topic you want to hear about, if you agree/disagree with my reviews or if you just have a random comment.  I want this blog to be fun.  I know there is no shortage of Broadway show reviews from all of the major newspapers so I want this to be a different perspective.  Broadway from the view of a 24 year old theater lover, on a budget, trying to make it in the city.