McNeal (2024) (Broadway)

In Robert Downey Jr.'s Broadway debut, he plays a writer using AI to write his new book. There's a confusing meta plot where he may be writing the play that we're watching unfold before our eyes. It's fine but the gimmick about AI isn't really saying anything new or meaningful about AI. And I bet AI technology improves so much over the next couple years that this will quickly feel outdated. And it's just kind of boring. I did fall asleep a bit in the scene at the agent's office. It's really unfortunate because I like Andrea Martin a lot. She's so funny but I missed half her scene and don't know if she landed any jokes.

There is a plot in here that is very similar to The Wife. McNeal wins the Nobel Prize in literature but he might have sold his wife's writing as his own. Or he might've adapted her story into his own, and does that make it his? There's some gender politics thrown in there. And much to everyone's surprise, he says multiple times that he admires Harvey Weinstein. Just wasn't on my bingo card this year. The character though is very much Iron Man. Robert Down Jr basically plays the same character, and I bet that's why he was cast. He's a macho man who is successful and brazen, fast-talking, generally dismissive of other people--not exactly likeable but on some level respectable? That plays out in real time to as his profiler from the newspaper starts our repulsed but is slowly converted to write a piece about him that's just about as good as it was going to get based on the garbage he's spewing at her.

The set was pretty cool. The sets at Lincoln Center Theater are always handsomely made. It makes use of screens to display the AI. There are some deepfakes that don't really add anything to the story.

Yellow Face (2024) (Broadway)

We came for Daniel Dae Kim and was pleasantly surprised when Ryan Eggold from The Blacklist and New Amsterdam came on stage. I thought he looked familiar but I couldn't quite place him. I thought he might've just been a generic looking white guy they cast. Alas he was but a famous one at that. Funnily, he plays a macho white guy pretending to be Asian. The plot is hilarious with some genuine laughs. It cleverly blurs the line between reality and fiction, drawing from David Henry Hwang's own life. I love that meta plot. David and his father are two of the main characters. Francis Jue reprises his role as the father from the Off-Broadway run in 2007. Some 15 years later, Jue is older, perhaps a more convincing elderly Chinese father. I thought he was excellent. I saw Jue play Hwang himself in Soft Power a few years ago. I think time has probably served this play well. The thorny topics the play tackles are more germane now than ever in a post-Crazy Rich Asians, post-#OscarsSoWhite, post-Shang-Chi, post-Hamilton world. The play does need a lot of background context on Hwang's life. The small cast of seven feature actors who play multiple parts without regard to race or gender, while commenting hilariously on race-conscious casting. They recite lines from real (or we're at least led to believe they're real) articles to place us in context. It's a bit of a cheap conceit but it works. We enjoyed this very much! Lastly, the curtain call was super short. The small cast took their bows and they were off the stage in probably a minute, definitely no more than two. And it's not because the audience wasn't applauding. They were just really brief.
 

Ripley (2024)

The Steven Zaillian miniseries adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley is stunning. Shot in crisp black and white, it looks unlike anything else Netflix has ever made. Cinematography Robert Elswit deserves his Emmy for this. He has an Oscar for There Will Be Blood, and was nominated for another black-and-white project Good Night, and Good Luck. Zaillian also won an Emmy for directing. He does an incredible job at building suspense. The interesting shots and the mise-en-scene say so much without words. And the production design (and location scouting) is phenomenal. From episode 1 in 1960s New York to Roma and Atrani and Napoli and Palermo and Venezia, we are completely transported.  Those palazzi are to die for. The old American Express travel offices take you to a past when international travel was limited to the wealthy--who knew all the random services they used to offer!

I like the Anthony Minghella adaptation, but this is arguably better, perhaps with the lone exception of Dickie and Marge. I don't think Johnny Flynn nor Dakota Fanning are very compelling. They don't ooze the pretty boy allure of Jude Law. Andrew Scott makes the Ripley character his own. His Italian is very passable. I watched the first 6 episodes without subtitles, not realizing that there should've been subtitles. I thought I was supposed to be in Ripley's head not understanding the language, but as his Italian got a lot better, the subtitles still weren't appearing. I actually understood probably 75% of the Italian anyways; I at least got the gist of it. It wasn't until episode 6, which is almost entirely in Italian, that started to get more complex for my skill level. The real standout for me is Maurizio Lombardi, who plays Inspector Ravini. His Italian-accented English is so good. And his Italian is spoken so clearly, I could follow everything he was saying.

I think this version sort of de-emphasizes the themes of homosexuality and class and race. And I don't mind that. This is just a totally different standalone adaptation. It's slow, dragging out for 8 episodes whereas the movie runs just over 2 hours. It luxuriates in its slowness, building suspense and allowing all the consequences to unfold. It's funny at times, though subtle. And though it went over my head a little at first, I liked the Caravaggio analogy. His signature chiaroscuro is a clear inspiration for the look of the show. 

The Marriage of Figaro (Opera)

Anthony Roth Costanzo is a force of nature. He might be the biggest name in opera right now, surely the most famous countertenor.  The Little Island amphitheater is a perfect venue for him to experiment a little. It was my first time seeing a performance there, and I like that there is a cool outdoor space for avant garde work. Costanzo sings all the parts in this abridged Figaro; his tenor as powerful as his soprano. That doesn't mean he's the only person on stage. There are a handful of actors who mime and lip-sync but you can always see Costanzo somewhere on stage belting out the lyrics. Sometimes he's standing or sitting or lying or hiding--it's really impressive in every respect. And it is downright hilarious. Aside from it being a comedic, albeit confusing, opera, there is abundant physical comedy. I found myself, along with the rest of the crowd, actually laughing out loud...at the opera! There is a small 9-piece orchestra, with an interesting orchestration featuring instruments like guitar and saxophone that surely didn't exist in Mozart's time. There's even a circus element to the show. One of the actors is a circus guy, jumping up and down on a trampoline. There is a comedic interlude, allowing Costanzo a short break while the actors give us a ridiculous synopsis and recite the original French source material for the libretto. This show truly has everything.

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.
 

Merrily We Roll Along (2024) (Broadway)

The latest revival of Merrily We Roll Along is so much better than the production I saw 5 years ago off-broadway. What's so incredible is that it's basically exactly the same and yet the presentation makes so much more sense. The confusing story-telling that usually muddles Merrily came out perfectly cohesive under Maria Friedman's direction. The minor characters' storylines come through much more clearly. And the tone is much darker than I remember. It's not just a play that moves backwards, it's a man looking back on the critical choices he made in his life that lost him his soul. It's so deeply sad and poignant in a way that was not properly conveyed before. It's about losing your friends, losing your joie de vivre, lost potential, lost time and the defeat of art by commerce. The whole thing really resonated with me; I don't know if that's due to being at a different point of life 5 years later or simply being able to follow the plot and themes this time around. Not to mention that it features some of Sondheim's most beautiful and heartbreaking melodies. The universe has a funny way of finally realizing Sondheim's most personal show after his death, the show they never quite figured out how to work, the one that broke up Sondheim and Hal Prince. I think also being a little more familiar with the music and plot, I was able to follow better and hear new things in the music, like "we never go forward" and "saying yes when I should've said no".

One of the reasons this production works so well is its 3 leads, who we truly believe to be close friends. Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez have been making the rounds on the late shows and magazine videos and such. And when they appear together, they seem to genuinely like each other. Sure, they're actors and they could all be fooling us but I'd like to believe their friendship is legit. On stage they have excellent chemistry. And all 3 of them are so good. Lindsay Mendez especially stood out to me. And I feel like Daniel Radcliffe has grown a lot as a singer since we saw a decade ago in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. And Jonathan Groff is actually playing piano, you could see his hands in the reflection of the rear window at the angle we had from the balcony. 

Doubt (Broadway) (2024)

I've been to many Broadway shows, but this has never happened before. Liev Schreiber came out on stage in his priest garb and started his opening monologue. He got about a minute in and then paused. He repeated his last line, and it looked like he might've forgotten the lines. He then apologized to the audience and walked off stage. The house lights came up and we waited for ten minutes before the announcer said they were bringing in an understudy because Schreiber was ill. The play ended up starting 45 minutes late, fortunately it's only 90 minutes. The understudy Chris McGarry played Father Flynn in the original Broadway run. He knows the role, and has played in many John Patrick Shanley plays. And he was very good but I bought these tickets to see Liev Schreiber and Tyne Daly, neither of whom we ended up seeing. Tyne Daly. Tyne Daly had to withdraw from the production for health reasons before they even opened. I thought Amy Ryan was anyways good as Sister Aloysius but she is some 20 years younger than Tyne Daly, so probably plays the role very differently. Zoe Kazan is perfectly cast as the naive younger nun.

Doubt is an excellent play. I thought the movie, also directed by Shanley, was fabulous. And the stageplay has the same tensions and intensity. It's very tightly written, no wasted scenes, just four actors, just a few settings, a couple interiors and one exterior. What I think is really interesting about this play written in 2004 is that it takes place in the 1960s. In the 60s, we might see the play a certain way, but today we bring to it added context about the Catholic Church and its well-known sex abuse problem. The teaching artists kept saying it's a show about uncertainty but I disagree. Because of what we know about Catholic priests, we assume that Sister Aloysius is right. She has no doubts and neither do we about Father Flynn. The most tragic scene is the one with Mrs. Muller, who knows it too. But as a black woman in the 60s in the Bronx, she has other problems to worry about. She has to overlook it because she has no other choice. The scene hits harder if we think that she knows. Come the final scene, when Sister Aloysius says she has doubts, she's not talking about Father Flynn, she's talking about her faith. A play about a nun and a priest called Doubt must be referring to a crisis of faith. And yes, the absurdity of the Catholic Church is enough to shake a nun's faith.

There was an artist talkback after the show with the set designer David Rockwell--who apparently also has a career as an architect of high-end restaurants. I thought the set was fantastic.
 

96th Academy Awards (2024)

In the year of Barbenheimer, I think it's safe to say the movies are back. Barbie was indisputably the short-term victor, but Oppenheimer will have the last laugh. And this was in a year Hollywood shut down thanks to twin strikes by WGA and SAG. Shawn Fain may be the face of labor in America, but Fran Drescher's rousing speech that made the rounds on social media is the defining image of the labor movement. She has the advantage of being an actor of course, but I was genuinely moved by her advocacy for the cause. And even more than The Nanny, this will be her legacy. A note to Jimmy Kimmel; in reference to Anatomy of a Fall, he should deliver his monologue with an instrumental version of 50 Cent's P.I.M.P. blasting over him. 

My Top 10:

1. A Thousand and One
2. Past Lives
3. The Boy and the Heron
4. The Holdovers
5. American Fiction
6. Oppenheimer
7. Monster
8. Asteroid City
9. How to Blow Up a Pipeline
10. Killers of the Flower Moon
11. Poor Things
12. All of Us Strangers

Honorable Mentions: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Are You There God? It's Me Margaret, Blackberry, You Hurt My Feelings, The Promised Land, Dicks: The Musical

Best Picture:

1. Oppenheimer
2. Barbie
3. Killers of the Flower Moon
4. Poor Things
5. The Holdovers
6. Anatomy of a Fall
7. Past Lives
8. The Zone of Interest
   
9. American Fiction
10. Maestro

Best Director:
Will Win/Should Win: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

Best Actress:
Will Win/Should Win: Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Honorable Mention: Teyana Taylor, A Thousand and One

Best Actor:
Will Win: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Should Win: Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Honorable Mention: Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Supporting Actress:
Will Win/Should Win: Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Supporting Actor:
Will Win: Robert Downey Jr, Oppenheimer
Should Win: Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Honorable Mention: Charles Melton, May December

Best Adapted Screenplay:
Will Win: Barbie
Should Win: Oppenheimer

Best Original Screenplay:
Will Win/Should Win: Past Lives

Best Cinematography:
Will Win/Should Win: Oppenheimer

Best Costume Design:
Will Win/Should Win: Barbie

Best Editing:
Will Win/Should Win: Oppenheimer

Best Makeup and Hairstyling:
Will Win/Should Win: Maestro

Best Production Design:
Will Win: Barbie
Should Win: Poor Things
Honorable Mention: Asteroid City

Best Score:
Will Win/Should Win: Oppenheimer
Honorable Mention: The Boy and the Heron

Best Song:
Will Win/Should Win: What Was I Made For? by Billie Eilish, Barbie

Best Sound:
Will Win/Should Win: The Zone of Interest

Best Visual Effects:
Will Win/Should Win: The Creator

Best Animated Feature:
Will Win/Should Win: The Boy and the Heron

Best Documentary Feature:
Will Win/Should Win: 20 Days in Mariupol

Best International Film:
Will Win: The Zone of Interest
Should Win: Perfect Days

Best Animated Short:
Will Win: WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Should Win: Ninety-Five Senses

Best Documentary Short:
Will Win: The ABC of Book Banning
Should Win: The Last Repair Shop

Best Live Action Short:
Will Win/Should Win: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Result: I scored a paltry 15/23, placing seventh in my Oscars pool (congrats to Stephen with 20!). Emma Stone ended up breaking the 3-way tie. I'm not mad though about my errors because I loved the American Fiction screenplay, and the Poor Things production design and costume design and makeup/hairstyles and The Last Repair Shop and the Godzilla Minus One VFX. Also kind of hilarious that Hayao Miyazaki and WEs Anderon didn't show up.

I think it is notable that five distinct foreign language features won Oscars outside the International category: Anatomy of a Fall (screenplay), The Zone of Interest (sound), The Boy and the Heron (animation), 20 Days in Mariupol (documentary) and Godzilla: Minus One (VFX), reflecting the real impact the internationalization of the voting body over the last several years has had. Love that Justine Triet walked up to P.I.M.P in her Nicky-Kidman-at-an-AMC-getup.

I think the other story here is the non-story that Barbie's snubs became. Though there was much uproar over the snubs of Greta Gerwig for director and Margot Robbie for lead actor at the time nominations came out, it did not result in voters trying to make up for it in the final voting. Even Jimmy Kimmel noted that it was only the fault of the folks in the room. In the below-the-line craft categories where I had predicted Barbie victories, they lost all of them to Poor Things (probably an early indicator that Emma would topple Lily). The lone category Gerwig was nominated for in adapted screenplay ended up going to American Fiction, something of an upset, but a clear indication that the voters were not going for Barbie.  

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).

The Curse (2022-3)

Nathan Fielder's first scripted project defies description. Sure, Nathan For You and  The Rehearsal also fit that category, but The Curse takes cringe comedy to another level. And I wouldn't necessarily say I outright enjoyed it the way I did The Rehearsal or Nathan For You. I genuinely laughed at episodes 5 and 9. But I found myself totally baffled by most episodes, and made awkwardly uncomfortable by some. Yes, I understand that's the point but this was even much for me. The finale is the craziest hour of television ever.--opening with a spot-on recreation of a Rachael Ray segment. It was totally unpredictable, very difficult to interpret, and I have no idea how they managed to film those scenes. I have now read many an article deconstructing the finale and it's still beyond me. Fielder plays his signature deadpan self, the butt of many self-deprecating jokes. Benny Safdie is also a master of uncomfortable filmmaking, known for high anxiety movies like Good Time and Uncut Gems. As an actor, he plays out of his usual character as a sleazy reality show director--nothing like the wholesome dad or physicist he played last year. And most notably is Emma Stone, who can literally play anything. She has never been better.

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.