Hercules (Paper Mill Playhouse) (2023)

We weren't able to get tickets to the one-week run at the Delacorte Theater back in 2019, but now Hercules is back at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ. It's a quaint town about an hour from Manhattan driving, though NJT also goes there for future reference. 

I realize that I've never actually seen the movie Hercules, though we probably have it somewhere on VHS. I kind of know the broad strokes just because it's Hercules. Plot wise, the beginning is kind of slow. It's a lot of exposition. I found myself resting my eyes a bit. And we don't even meet teenage Hercules nor Meg nor Phil until pretty far into the show. I think it's actually one of Alan Menken's best soundtracks. I like the gospel-y, motown-y touches. It of course has no business in ancient Greece, nor do the Roman jokes, but it's super catchy, even Hades's songs. I Won't Say (I'm in Love) needs to be higher up the Disney rankings. The first time I heard that song was when Ariana Grande did the ABC sing-a-long during the pandemic and slayed all the parts herself. It's a great song, but unfortunately Isabelle McCalla's singing voice as Meg was a little thin. Alan Menken also wrote some new music for the stage, and To Be Human, sung by Hercules at the climax of the show is totally wrong. All the music had been so upbeat and fun, and at the climax for some reason he wrote a downbeat song. I liked Bradley Gibson as Hercules. He kind of hams up the acting, in a way that could be annoying but screams Disney musical. The costumes and the sets were delightful. The muses really steal the show. I lost count at how many costume changes they had, but every outfit was fabulous. The puppets are also really cool, I wish we got to see more of them. The titans are pretty far back on the stage, but they really should be center stage to showcase their artistry.
 

Little Shop of Horrors (Off-Broadway) (2022)

Aglaia and Rachel both won lottery tickets to the same performance of Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theater Upstairs. Did not realize until we got there that both Seymour and Audrey were being played by understudies in their Off-Broadway debuts. I guess that's why they both won. Josh Daniel stepped in for Conrad Ricamora and did admirably. Chelsea Turbin was a little weaker for Tammy Blanchard. She usually plays the puppet, which is not a singing role, so this is a pretty major step up. Her accent for Audrey is very thick, which Aglaia said was typical for Audrey. Christian Borle plays multiple roles (Orin and others), and he is very funny and versatile. He's probably the biggest name in the cast, even when Ricamora is there, so I was surprised it wasn't the lead. 

The puppet is scary as hell. In the medium Audrey II puppet, you can see the legs in the vines, but only one pair. In the program, there are three names for the puppet, including Turbin. At the bows, only two people came out of the large puppet. So maybe the third person is optional? Or maybe the two of them need to operate with more limbs. The plot is way out there. I didn't really know what to expect, but man-eating plant is wild. And the ending is very bleak. 

Maybe we were sitting too close to the stage, or too close to the wall (second row, far right) or underneath the speaker but I had a hard time understanding most of the actors, with the notable exception of Christian Borle who enunciates clearly. Was it the way they were mic-ed?  So I felt like I was missing jokes. Even though the rest of the audience was laughing really hard. I like the Motown sound Alan Menken was going for. Skid Row is pretty great, but the rest of the music is just ok.