Chess (Broadway)

I bought these tickets because Lea Michele was going to be out this week. My co-worker advised that so long as Nicholas Christopher is there, it's worth seeing. And with just our luck, forty minutes before curtain mom got an email saying he would be out for both Wednesday performances. We didn't see that email, and when Anatoly first comes on stage, from the balcony I squinted real hard and concluded that was not Christopher on stage. Too late for a refund at that point. The understudies did valiantly but Christopher has this incredible baritone that we missed out on. Waiting for a cast recording to hear him sing Anthem. It looks like all the television appearances they've done did not include arguably the best, most famous song. 

The re-write of the book for this production was actually pretty decent. The jokes don't land, and in fact are really cringey trying to make contemporary jokes about our current politics. The Arbbiter's fourth-wall breaking was weird. But I liked the recontextualization of the show amidst SALT II negotiations and Able Archer exercises. I thought that was actually quite clever, giving the Cold War context more heft and meaning. And it was actually believable. The Cold War is a game of chess, and chess is a game within the game. And so the CIA and KGB are really pulling the strings behind the scenes to drive macro outcomes more important than this championship, even though there are personal stakes for our heroes with life and love on the line. 

The show is almost completely lacking in set. But the lighting is pretty good. It also suffers a bit with The Queen's Gambit problem, which is that chess is not that interesting. Here, they don't even attempt to show us the chess board. They sing about chess, speaking their moves aloud with no board to follow. The costumes are kind of bland, like something out of American Utopia or they're dressed like schoolkids from Matilda. And for much of the show, they sit on stage for no particular reason. The band on stage is fun! 

The Wild Party (2026) (Encores!)

Almost immediately you see why this show isn't often revived. We're introduced to one of the main characters, Burr, in blackface doing a minstrel performance. I couldn't really tell from way up in the balcony but in this production both Queenie and Burr are played by black actors passing as white, in comparison to the original production when they were played by the very white Toni Collette and Mandy Patinkin. Oh and there's a black character named Black. So it kind of lost me. If you can get past all that, the show unfolds over the course of one debauched night of partying with Prohibition bathtub gin devolving into an orgy of sorts. The show actually might work as a Safdie brothers Jewish anxiety movie (the show actually features a Jewish producer seeking to change his name to hide his heritage). There's just so much happening on stage for 2 hours, no intermission--lots of blocking and background choreo. The whole first half of the show is one song after another introducing each character; I quickly lost track. I assumed the show actually had no plot because there was nothing happening for so long as partygoers just kept arriving. Almost the whole show is sung through, or sort of spoken-sung over background jazz music. The band was great, featuring just three violins, but a banjo and an extensive brass and percussion section. I liked the set, all laid out in front of us without walls but clearly featuring three distinct rooms (bedroom, bathroom, and the main living room/kitchen). 

High Spirits (2026) (Encores!)

At its core, Encores! at City Center is about reviving shows you've never heard of with big names on little rehearsal. High Spirits embodies this spirit. Almost everyone was on book, save for Rachel Dratch who hardly has any lines, though she is hilarious just moping around. Andrea Martin was not only on book, but she lost her spot and had to halt the show. Steven Pasquale kindly hustled over to help her find her line. That was the funniest part of the show because she's such a comedienne about it. The show is a musical adaptation of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. Coward's wry humor is light and British. It's like watching Downton Abbey; the latest Downton movie actually featured a visit from Mr Coward himself. Philippa Soo has the sensibility and mannerisms for it. She plays opposite her real life husband, Pasquale, playing his second wife. The plot is about a seance that brings back his first wife's ghost. None of the music is all that memorable, or good frankly, but Katrina Lenk has a couple songs as the first wife that suit her voice nicely. Overall, it's a weird show. It actually quite closely resembles the plot of Death Becomes Her. But it's not as funny or fun as Death Becomes Her. 

Oliver! (2025) (West End)

At the Gielgud Theatre, the seats at the back of the stalls/orchestra are sold as restricted view because of the deepest balcony overhang I've ever seen. For most of Act I, it's not really a problem. But in Act II, we do miss the climax which happens too high above the stage. The other British thing is that you don't get a Playbill on the West End like you do here. Not inherently a problem except the role of Oliver rotates between several kids and I'm not sure which one we saw. I also didn't realize that Oliver isn't technically the lead role. He wasn't even the second billed. Fagin and Nancy take their bows after Oliver. Nancy has the iconic As Long As He Needs Me which Ava Brennan sings powerfully, on Nicole Scherzinger level. I was expecting a showstopper standing ovation but she quickly left the stage to move onto the next thing. The orchestrations are beautiful. Oom Pah Pah and Consider Yourself are also fantastic high-energy scenes. This production by the way is directed by acclaimed choreographer Matthew Bourne. I wasn't all that familiar with the story of Oliver Twist but it's way darker than I expected. I knew he was an orphan but it's quite the downer. Who knew he lived in a funeral parlour and was trapped in a coffin? 

Floyd Collins (Broadway) (2025)

Floyd Collins is a bizarre show. It's not about a particularly exciting subject. Collins was a real life cave explorer in 1920s Kentucky who got pinned under a rock in a narrow section of the cave. His predicament became a news bonanza, attracting people from all over the country with ideas on how to get Collins out. It was a media circus that became a real  above ground carnival. Spoiler alert, he eventually dies there. Very oddly, in this production Collins remains on stage basically the whole way through, sitting on a chaise lounge, not especially stuck-looking. It's an odd-choice, and there isn't a whole lot to make you feel like you're in a cave. The stage design leaves much to be desired. 

The bluegrass music is kind of nice. The yodeling and echoes looping/harmonizing with itself are interesting. I think the best part actually is the score.  The piano and harmonica parts are playful, quite complex. Adam Guettel is the composer, and for being one of his earliest works I'm impressed by the complexity. Also, I just learned that Guettel is Richard Rodgers's grandson. 

Gypsy (Broadway) (2025)

The little I knew about Gypsy going into the latest revival was limited to a couple songs and an overbearing mother. Rose certainly is overbearing. No one else can barely get a word in. She's the original Dance Mom. It's sometimes painful to watch. As far as I know, Audra McDonald is the first black Rose on Broadway. And it adds a different dimension to the character, dreaming a delusional dream in the 1920s, dooming her children every time she denies them an opportunity to go to school. That both daughters eventually found success is a testament to their resilience. They humor their mother at their own cost. It's a tragedy, dressed (or undressed) in glitz at the end with a tinge of hope at reconciliation, but really tragic nonetheless. 

Audra McDonald is a treasure. She is capital-A acting in those book scenes, heavy accent, emphasizing words, throwing around her stage presence like no one else matters. I'm used to hearing her beautiful singing voice but here she strains her voice. It's not effortless. It's not pretty. It's pained. Her Rose's Turn and Everything's Coming Up Roses hit a register of her voice that's very uncomfortable. It's a tour de force. That's what musical theater is about--it's not just singing, it's acting singing. It's not about sounding good, it's about sounding a character. The power comes from her vision of who Rose is and her embodiment of the tragedy of her life. 

Wonderful Town (Encores!) (2025)

Wonderful Town is a lesser known Bernstein musical. It's no West Side Story.  It's no Candide. Or even On the Town. The music is fine. It's sort of all over the place. It spans multiple genres. It's not just the music, but the whole show that is sort of incoherent. And frankly, the show is kind of boring. It put me to sleep. Kind of like On the Town, it's a show about New York. Two sisters move to Greenwich Village from Ohio to live a "Bohemian" life and strike it big in the big city as an actress and writer. The plot doesn't really go anywhere though. Nothing special.

Sunset Blvd (Broadway) (2025)

Jamie Lloyd's revival of Sunset Blvd is extraordinary.  His stripped down play could be described only as live cinema, if there is such a thing. He makes use of high quality cameras to project on a big screen the action happening on-and-off stage. And so it's not just blocking on stage, but actually live cinematography. The framing is stunning. The camera rig is used to imitate a car, camera the steering wheel. And of course they take the action outside at the start of Act 2, singing Sunset Boulevard in Shubert Alley, halting traffic, rain or shine. There's one scene in particular that I loved, where Joe and Betty are talking to each other, and visually Norma separates them on camera, while on stage you see them actually standing in a triangular formation and they move around each other. There's a lot of staring pensively on camera fading to someone else staring. And lots of close-up head shots so clear you can see the pores on Nicole Scherzinger's face.  After the big opening number, there's actually opening credits and it's thrilling. After all, we're watching a cinematic adaptation of a classic movie. True to its noir roots, everyone wears black and white. The theater is very dark and foggy (and sleep-inducing). The lighting is only for the camera to shine on the actor's face, but it's otherwise so dark that you can't see any of the audience behind them. Film noir loves shadows. There is no set to speak of, occasionally a chair, that's it and yet we can still envision it perfectly.

Nicole Scherzinger is phenomenal.  Her voice is so powerful and haunting. I daresay her renditions of With One Look and As If We Never Said Goodbye are better than Glenn and Patti and all the rest. It's a little slower, she luxuriates in the melodies and takes her time. It's all the more spine tingling for it. I think she's too young to play Norma but she is so good. Tom Francis, too, is excellent. His voice is well suited for the title song. The music has grown on me. It's kind of weird that you have really dramatic orchestral music juxtaposed with more ridiculous circus-type music as if from a completely different show. The big group numbers though are kind of fun though. 

And then there's closing credits!

Redwood (Broadway) (2025)

Redwood has a marquee star at the helm, Idina Menzel, belting out song after song. I don't think the show does her a lot of favors unfortunately. The songs are mostly forgettable, many of them solos, but the best one is not even Menzel's number, but the son's. The sound in the Nederlander theater is dialed up way too loud to be able to understand any of the lyrics. I did kind of like the bare set. There are screens all along the back and sides of the stage, going all the way up to the boxes. The projections have the effect of transporting us to a forest, aided by the only setpiece: a giant tree trunk that rotates to reveal a screen on the opposite side. The stage is quite steep and for most of the show they're rigged up to climb up the tree. Menzel even gets a Defying Gravity-type solo as she ascends.

It's the musical equivalent of Wild, that Reese Witherspoon movie with the walking lady.  It's about connecting with nature in the face of personal strife and grief as a means of finding oneself. All to say, it's a little boring. And Menzel's protagonist Jesse can come off as a bit of a Karen. She is not qualified to climb Redwood trees. And she is incessant in insisting people break protocol for her sake. And ultimately she gets her way. 

Death Becomes Her (Broadway) (2025)

Death Becomes Her is camp dialed up to 11. The jokes come a mile a minute. The leads (Megan Hilty and Jessica Simard) are fabulous at belting out their numbers, though the music is kind of forgettable. Rather refreshing is that the book scenes are actually really good. They're funny and they're uncensored.  There is one scene in particular with some unbelievable slow-motion acrobatics that puts the magic of the theater on full display. I also like the tromp l'oeil depth of perspective in the set. The costumes and production design are lots of fun. 

And what a year for older stars in showbiz clinging to their youth. The plot heavily mirrors The Substance. And it's not exactly without body horror, as much as you can disfigure someone on stage. But what lengths will people go to for a chance to reclaim their glory days. The Last Showgirl, Sunset Boulevard, etc. None of those are comedies though, and that it takes this theme more lightly is all the better. Even tragedy doesn't have to end so tragically.

Urinetown (Encores!) (2025)

Urinetown is quite the strange musical, but in its own way it's very funny and incisive. The show opens and closes with a narrator breaking the fourth wall, joking about musical tropes and hitting us over the head with the moral of the story in case you missed it. It is kind of a downer and so they use that sarcastic humor to lighten things up a bit. The show is perhaps even more relevant now than it was when it premiered a quarter century ago. It decries corporate greed and the degradation of our planet. The plot doesn't really make a whole lot of sense--the narrator addresses that too--but if you don't think about it too hard and just focus on the immediate concerns at hand, it does tidily deliver the metaphor. The music isn't especially memorable. Jordan Fisher is alright. He has a cool gospel number that he knocks out of the park. Tiffany Mann is an understudy for some reason, but she filled in for the role of Miss Pennywise and killed it. Rainn Wilson from The Office sings, who knew, and he plays a diabolical villain.

Next to Normal (Regional) (2024)

I was not familiar with Next to Normal. I'm pretty well-versed in musical theater but this one had sort of slipped my attention. But it's one of those that's a big fan favorite of real theater nerds. We did come all the way out to the Berkshires because Aglaia is a fan. And the guy sitting in front of me (who might have gotten the tickets through work, since his co-worker also came but separately) feels similarly to Aglaia about the play. It's emotionally very powerful, quite a downer of a show. It deals with very heavy topics of mental health. And frankly, I don't see the appeal of the music, not very memorable melodies to me. And I kind of dozed off in the first act. The second act is stronger on the whole. But the big reveal in Act I is revelatory. It makes you rethink everything you've seen before, all the blocking, the dialogue, the acting choices.  That's really well done. The set is fairly simple with two levels. The second level is notable for the circular sliding door, with a step that I thought for sure someone would trip over. The production also uses projections on the white wall of live footage of the characters we're seeing on stage. The theater is small enough that you don't exactly need the magnification. If anything, I thought the projections were kind of distracting. The actors in this regional production at the Barrington Stage Company are all great, especially Natalie Joy Johnson in the lead role of Diana. And Joseph Morales who plays Dr Madden kind of reminded me of my own therapist; something about the way he dresses and talks.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball (2024) (Off-Broadway)

The cherry on top of the inaugural season at PAC NYC, Cats: The Jellicle Ball may just be the gayest thing I've ever seen. I mean that in the best way. It's a fun time, honestly to the credit of the audience. The audience was very into it, cheering and hollering and dancing along. There was the guy to my left kneeling on his high stool at the cabaret table, yelling "Bitch!" at every cat to strut down the runway.  There were no fewer than 2 standing ovations in the middle of the show, including a showstopping Memory. And the curtain call was a wonderfully energetic party. There is a lot of crowd interaction at the cabaret tables; I gladly sat a little further back in the orchestra. The stage is a catwalk, with seating on either side as at a fashion show, and then cabaret seating around the front part of the stage. All good seats with unique perspectives on the show.

On it's face, it's not an obvious combination, the camp of Cats and the Ballroom culture of New York in the 80s. But there's a message in there about belonging, and embracing being yourself, and finding your community. There isn't exactly a plot to Cats, not a sensible one anyways. And that sort of lends itself to Ballroom competitions, running category by category, introducing new cats who aren't necessarily dressed as cats but as whatever extravagant outfit suits them. Junior LaBeija from Paris is Burning plays Gus as the emcee. He is fantastic, co-leading with Andre DeShields, a cast that comes half from the theater world and half from Ball culture.

Despite all the excitement, I did doze off a little in the first act, because again there is no plot. There is a little bit of plot in the second act with Old Deuteronomy taking the fall for the stunting (robbery) Macavity is responsible for. Andre DeShields plays the wizened regal old cat, with a fabulous wig and a luxuriously slow gait. Magical Mr Mistoffelees brings Old Deuteronomy back. And finally the old washed up queen Grizabella, a former champion carrying around her old trophy, who gets no respect from the new cats who don't know their history about those that came before them, belts out Memory and becomes The Jellicle Choice, whatever the heck that means. She either dies or attains enlightenment in cat heaven or god knows. Cats as a show is still nonsense but this is stylish nonsense that somehow manages to be as life-giving as The Jellicle Choice and ballroom itself.

The Great Gatsby (Broadway) (2024)

We chose to see The Great Gatsby for Eva Noblezada, who I saw absolutely kill it in Hadestown. Unfortunately, Noblezada (along with 4 others) was out yesterday. Her understudy Traci Elaine Lee was pretty good anyhow, but it's just our typical luck. Jeremy Jordan plays the enigmatic Gatsby and he's fine; the songs suit his voice. The songs are mostly forgettable though. They sound like pop showtunes, a bit too much belting. They missed an opportunity to lean more into jazz for the period. The songs don't really advance the plot at all. And I feel like there was more plot in the book I've forgotten. The best part of the production is the design. The set is incredibly ornate. And the projections are so lifelike; they move and they appear indistinguishable from the physical set so as to appear in three dimensions. The jazz age costumes are also fantastic.   

Hell's Kitchen (Broadway) (2024)

Alicia Keys is a big star with an extensive back catalog. I'm not familiar with all of her songs, but I'm a little more familiar since going to her concert last year. And you could kind of expect that a plot contrived off of existing songs would be corny. Corny writing in contemporary Broadway musicals is not so uncommon though. I could look past it because Maleah Joi Moon has enough charisma to project her New York attitude all the way up to the balcony. Kecia Lewis, as her piano teacher, and Shoshana Bean as her mother, also have ample opportunities to belt it out. Keys chose some lesser known numbers that nonetheless have a bit of Broadway flair. And other songs are re-contextualized, given new life through  different rhythms and harmonies, most notably Fallin'. We got an understudy for Davis, who gets some of the most recognizable songs, but the understudy Desmond Sean Ellington was quite good too. They all manage to channel Alicia Keys in their own unique ways. They're all fantastic, with a special shout out to Kecia Lewis. I appreciated that the audience was really into it, responding well to the jokes and high notes and emotional moments. Always more fun to experience with an audience enjoying themselves. It is fun, I give you that. Plot is a little thin but there's enough there for a satisfying coming-of-age mother-daughter story.

Titanic (Encores!) (2024)

No, it's not Celine Dion but the music in this Titanic by Maury Yeston is pretty. There's a big lush orchestra on stage. The orchestrations are great but the music isn't especially memorable. The cast is enormous so there are a lot of grand choral numbers. The opening introducing all of the characters is surprisingly long. With so many characters though, we don't really get to know any of them all that well. And what little plot there is in the first act, is basically irrelevant come the second act since we know they're all going to die anyways, not fulfilling any of their dreams. There's something about class in there, but after a certain point we don't see much of the third class passengers anymore. To be honest, I dozed off in the first act. And when they finally do strike the iceberg, it mostly happens without fanfare. Everyone stays fairly calm. It's nothing like the chaos and spectacle of James Cameron's Titanic. 

My first year at Encores! I saw all 3 productions, and this one was my least favorite. Once Upon a Mattress and Jelly's Last Jam were both fantastic. This one a bit of a letdown in comparison.
 

Jelly's Last Jam (Encores!) (2024)

I was blown away by Jelly's Last Jam. The plot is a little muddy but every single song is a showstopper. The music is infectious, the dancing is energetic and the cast is on fire. The first half is a little more exciting than the second half. The tap dance numbers are mesmerizing, the large ensemble really carrying their weight. The supporting cast each get their moment in the spotlight, and they make the most of it, commanding the stage with authority. Tiffany Mann and Okieriete Onaodowan steal their scenes. Leslie Uggams and Joaquina Kalukango too are incredible. Billy Porter's grim reaper-esque character suits him. And Nicholas Christopher as the leading man is fabulous. The Hunnies look amazing considering the three of them are returning to the role some 32-years later. It's a huge production for a two-week run (we caught the last show). Though the set is sparse, it's very handsome with the band onstage. The music is Jelly Roll Morton's himself. I loved the big band orchestrations. 

 There is a complex story about race. Jelly Roll Morton was a light-skinned Creole man who struggled to fit-in with both white and black people. He alienated his friends for it and was left lonely. His superiority complex and insistence that he invented jazz not only damaged his reputation (which needed no burnishing as his accomplishments were nevertheless vast), but also was an insult to the other black forefathers of jazz. There is a paradox that he didn't see himself as black but thought himself the inventor of a quintessentially black genre. And it is this that haunts him in purgatory in the final moments of his life that make up the show.

There was way more use of the N-word than I was expecting and I suspect that is partly why the show is not oft revived. But surely this production must be Broadway bound. They've spent lavishly on it and it deserves a Broadway run.

Once Upon a Mattress (Encores!) (2024)

What a cast they've assembled for Encores! now in its 30th year. Honestly, it's a shame it's only going to run for two weeks, though even that is long by City Center (beautiful ornate theater) standards. Everyone is perfectly cast to type. I'd say special standouts are J Harrison Ghee whose beautiful singing voice and singular stage presence is readily apparent, Sutton Foster good as always, Harriet Harris as the overbearing mother/queen with a regal British accent, Michael Urie as the naive princeling, and Cheyenne Jackson as the dimwitted knight really into his spurs. Sutton Foster's entrance about thirty minutes in is greeted with a huge applause and her big number Shy is a showstopper. I didn't really have any familiarity with the show but I was pleasantly surprised to find a very funny script and catchy songs. There is a lot of physical comedy too, probably not written in, such as Foster re-adjusting atop the mattresses and Urie rolling up the stairs. It's a fun show I recommend, a steal really for $28. The balcony is super far and high (at 5 flights up), but you can still pretty much see everything save for the back of the orchestra (and one scene of smaller physical comedy that I couldn't make out what Foster was doing).

Days of Wine and Roses (Broadway) (2024)

I had never heard of the film Days of Wine and Roses. I went in without knowing anything. And let's say it was much more of a downer than I was expecting. It's a depressing downward spiral into alcoholism. Kelli O'Hara and Brian d'Arcy James are both very good but it's unlike anything I've seen them in before. Every number is sung by one or the other or both of them. There are no ensemble songs. And even using the word songs is kind of a stretch. They're almost singing a sort of jazzy opera. It lacks melody and is atonal. But they're singing through dialogue moreso than singing lyrics. There is a pretty complex piano part, and you can see the pianist sitting above the stage with the rest of the orchestra on the second level of the stage. But yeah, I don't necessarily recommend it. It's a bit of a challenge.

Here We Are (The Shed) (2023)

Here We Are is Stephen Sondheim's final unfinished work. It is a long gestating adaptation of Luis Bunuel's The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (they can't eat) and The Exterminating Angel (they can't leave), a combination of two brilliant surrealist fantasies.  I think Sondheim knew he wasn't going to finish it. You can see it in Act II. There are scenes that clearly left room for a song. There's a little bit of under-scoring. But Act II is virtually a straight play. And supposedly the cop out is that the nature of The Exterminating Angel doesn't call for music because they're trapped in a room, but I don't really buy that excuse. He just didn't finish it and they left it that way. Act II though has a phenomenal set. And I actually quite like the simpler set in Act I too with the banquette/signs that descend from the ceiling to form makeshift restaurants, along with the cool virtual grass on the sides of the stage.

I don't remember such an explicit eat-the-rich bent to the movie, but it works here and I think makes it relevant and modern. The music in Act I is extremely Sondheim. The wordplay, rhythm, and music are all reminiscent of his classics. I think my favorite was the patter song sung by a fantastic Denis O'Hare at the first restaurant. I didn't know his name but I recognized him from The Good Wife/Fight, though not until I saw him up close. Before the play actually starts, O'Hare and Tracie Bennette in their maid and butler outfits tidy the immaculate stage walls and mirrors. The other standout for me was David Hyde Pierce who essentially plays Niles form Frasier and has just the type of one-liners. It's a star-studded cast of theater vets paying homage to the legend. 

Aside, in a rather quiet moment of Act II there was a loud disruptive noise coming from what I can only guess was the HVAC system. I thought maybe it was part of the show at first, as the actors briefly paused but the show went cause they're professionals. Though the sound went on for quite a while.