Merrily We Roll Along (Off-Broadway) (2019)

I didn't really like it while I was sitting in the Laura Pels Theater, but Merrily We Roll Along has grown on me as time has passed the more I think about it. The story is beautifully bittersweet. It makes you wonder what was going on in Sondheim's life at the height of his career that he wrote such a downer. He claims that Opening Doors was the only autobiographical song he ever wrote, but are we really to believe that a musical about composers isn't personal? Maybe he was longing for a collaborator. The music is very Sondheim and quite beautiful: Merrily We Roll Along, Opening Doors, Old Friends, Like It Was, Not a Day Goes By...but I hate the ending. Our Time is awfully cheesy.

This off-broadway production features just six actors in what appears to be a prop warehouse of a set. The small cast makes things a little confusing as all the actors play multiple roles, and sometimes you can't quite tell if they're playing the main character or a supporting character. The whole backwards structure can be a little difficult to follow but it is an innovative way to tell a story. If I had known from the beginning that that was how it was going to be, I might've paid closer attention to the opening scene, because by the time we got to the end I forgot what they had said.

A Star Is Born (2018)

Bradley Cooper can direct in this movie easily accessible to the masses! After multiple collaborations with actor's director David O. Russell, Cooper has learned the art of direction. The movie serves as an acting showcase for himself and Lady Gaga, who proved she can act. Part of the point of the movie is that Cooper's character, the fading Jackson Maine, hogs her spotlight out of jealousy, but at times the same goes for Cooper the actor (at the direction of Cooper the director?). Both performances are Oscar-level. Maine's voice is so deep (he emulates co-star Sam Elliot unironically, who is also very good), Cooper must have been in so much pain straining himself. When Lady Gaga gets to shine, the movie really shines. She is a star in every sense of the word. And her distinctive voice is powerful as ever. Dave Chappelle makes a curious appearance. I like Chappelle but his character sort of comes out of nowhere almost inexplicably. Is he just some friend that happens to live in Memphis? And I happen to quite like Anthony Ramos of Hamilton fame.

Lady Gaga can act, but can Bradley Cooper sing? He's actually pretty decent. He can act drunk and he can act drunkenly sing in tune AND he can act soberly sing out of tune. That's range. The original music sticks with you. Lady Gaga has been experimenting with different genres lately, and she makes it all work. Her new song Shallow is sure to win the Oscar. And of course Lady Gaga starts out singing in a drag bar. The cinematography is striking. I wonder how much Bradley Cooper had to do with the look of the movie. And the screenplay is strong. The first act of the script is actually perfect. It perfectly balances comedy, romance and drama. The initial courtship between Ally and Jackson is convincing and engaging. And the musical makes powerful use of silence.

Lastly, I want to ask what Cooper is trying to say? This is obviously a remake done no less than 3 times before. In 2018, why do we need more of this? What is the commentary on our times? Easy message number 1 is the music producer/manager is unequivocally bad. The music industry does things to you making it difficult to retain your unique authenticity. But more interestingly what about gender? Does she need him, or he-her? What is he saying about masculinity? About successful women? What are we to make of Ally's final sacrifice, the lie she tells for Jackson's sake? And what about Jackson's ultimate sacrifice, an act of love? I don't have all the answers, but he raises some interesting questions for our contemporary society.

The Girl from the North Country (Off-Broadway)

It's a NYT Critic's Pick and fresh off an acclaimed run in London, I was looking forward to this show. Rachel, always the lucky one, won two (out of four per performance) rush tickets to see the show. However, I must admit I was disappointed. I didn't really get it. The music is done in a totally different style than anything Bob Dylan has ever sang. And the arrangements are really well done (I love the double bass and fiddle, but why don't they use the piano at the front of the stage more, and is the drum really necessary?), but I'm unsure how any of the music tied into the play. Was I not paying close enough attention to the lyrics?

The story doesn't have a clear protagonist. Everyone plays support, which begs the question, who is the girl from the north country? There are several girls in the play. I felt like some of the scenes didn't play out. For example, there is a bit of blackmail that doesn't come back (unless I missed it when I dozed off a little?).  I don't really feel like we get a satisfying ending to anyone's story line. Or maybe that's the point. Depression era theater isn't exactly uplifting.

I wonder Bob Dylan would say about this. In his Nobel lecture, he talks about how Shakespeare didn't consider his works literature. He was writing plays, thinking about casting and staging. In a similar vein, Dylan doesn't consider his work literature. He writes songs, and readily acknowledges that, but maybe in the future we will study Dylan as literature. Here, his lyrics are considered in yet another context. And new context demonstrates its versatility, really highlighting his skills not as a musician, but dare I say, as a writer.

My Fair Lady (Broadway) (2018)

What a luscious revival of My Fair Lady. We got incredibly close seats in the far right second row. It was in fact, a little too close. The Vivian Beaumont theater is in the 75% round, so in theory all seats should be in full view, but sometimes the furniture or other characters block the action of the scene from view. The set is gorgeous. There is a rotating set piece that rotates so much faster than you expect. There is a cute vignette with the maid and constable that you'd only see from our side of the theater because it rotates counter-clockwise. Just a happy coincidence.

There is quite a bit of filler in My Fair Lady. Mr. Doolittle serves little purpose. Colonel Pickering is sort of just there. I'm still trying to figure out Freddy too. I think his purpose is to show how far Eliza has come, that she passes off as posh while he does not. The music is beautiful. I think Jordan Donica, as Freddy, has a wonderful voice. The cast is fabulous all around. I was pleasantly surprised how genuinely funny the show was.

The show generally gets criticism for blatant misogyny. And it is certainly there. The new ending supposedly redeems some of the misogyny by giving Eliza some agency. Some of the misogyny is masked in classism, which I suppose is more acceptable. I could imagine a transposition of the show to an American setting, trying to drop a Bronx accent, or a southern drawl. I think that could be quite funny too, albeit a little controversial.

Carousel (Broadway) (2018)

I love Carousel. I think the music is beautiful and the story as well. Seeing this now a second time, on a Broadway this time, it doesn't hold up as well as I remember. There is a lot less plot than I remember. Most of the songs are kind of filler. And the second act that I remembered being so imaginative was actually very ambiguous. There are a number of seeming plot holes. Billy doesn't actually do anything to earn his ticket into heaven. Did grown people in the early 1900s really ride carousels? Multiple times in a single day? Was carousel barker a real job? Do clam bakes always involve scavenger hunts? The costumes are appropriately ugly. It's so site-specific to New England, it's almost too bizarre. The accents were sort of all over the place. Jessie Mueller's accent was fine but she doesn't have all that many lines for a lead. I took most issue with Joshua Henry's accent, which didn't quite sound New England. I think perhaps as a whole cast, they should have made a decision to just drop the accents, cause it was kind of inconsistent. Billy Bigelow is perhaps one of the meatiest male roles in musical theater--his acting is excellent (of which there is a lot) but I do not prefer his singing. Henry's voice has a lot of heft, it's very deep. His head voice sounds like it's coming from a completely different person. If I Loved You was delightful, but I didn't love his rendition of Soliloquy. Maybe it's just one of those songs you're so used to hearing one way that when other people try to do something a little different, it doesn't sound quite right. The absolute best part of the show is Justin Peck's choreography. The dance sequences are mesmerizing. Blow High, Blow Low--one of those filler songs--is so much fun. They even forgo the eponymous carousel in order to leave space for the dancers to do their thing.

I think Amar Ramasar is fabulous as Jigger (what an awfully racist name). I think he should've gotten a Tony nomination for a role arguably bigger than Mr. Snow. Speaking of racism, there is certainly a different dynamic with an African-American Billy, making an interracial leading couple. I actually sympathize with Billy more as an African-American. Who are the characters of color? Billy, the policeman, the Starkeeper, and Jigger. That is the two "criminals" (and the wife beater), the man charged with fighting the criminals, and the God-figure/low-level-afterlife-magistrate. Make of that what you will.

The criticism most often levied against Carousel is that it condones domestic violence, but I don't read it quite the same way. I don't think it condones anything (because Billy's redemption is really ambiguous), but I do think they try to rationalize why victims of domestic abuse stay. "He's your fella and you love him" and that's about it.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Why is this movie so boring? I like a good musical but it's just really uninteresting. The music is drab. I don't know what everyone sees in "This Is Me." Pasek and Paul are responsible for La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen; they can't all be good, I guess. I get that it's a family movie, but it feels like a kids movie. There are so many good family movies nowadays that are not so kiddy. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it is not made for us. There was so much opportunity to develop some of these characters, but they never really do. Zendaya, for example, doesn't have enough lines. The opening is the glitziest part of the movie. You expect the circus to have more spectacle.

The Wiz (Ford's Theater) (2018)

I wasn't really expecting much from the regional theater best known for a production of Our American Cousin 150 years ago. But Ford's Theater put on a spectacular production of The Wiz. The black re-imagining of The Wizard of Oz is actually quite funny. There were a few tweaks to the script to incorporate the times, references to Wakanda required. The all-black cast is full of excellent performances, particularly from the expressive Ines Nassara (Dorothy) and the phenomenal Hasani Allen (Scarecrow) in his Ford's debut doing his best Michael Jackson. The Wiz is full of catchy music in different traditionally black styles, some gospel, funk, soul, and R&B. The small 8-piece band nails them all.

The design of the show is lots of fun. The costumes are way over the top, which is really kind of perfect for Oz. The Wiz dressed as and acted as Prince was an interesting choice. The theater makes extensive use of projections on the walls and on a circular screen at the back of the stage (that later brilliantly converts into the balloon). The projections work particularly well for the Wiz, whose uncanny Prince-face in multitude is quite intimidating.

Chicago (2002)

I thought the movie was much better than the play. The movie's style does not replicate the revival's minimalist sets and costumes. It is much more extravagant, thankfully. What is so brilliant about the movie, though, is that it is theatrical. The musical numbers are staged, performed on a vaudeville stage with an audience rather than in the context of the story. It gives it an almost dreamlike quality that is just mesmerizing on the screen. The movie is all the better for it--praise for Rob Marshall's direction. The best numbers in the movie are still the best ones from the musical: All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango.   (I admittedly thought Nowadays was very good in the movie too). Cell Block Tango would've been very different if filmed in the prison. Catherine Zeta-Jones and Renee Zellweger are both phenomenal. In a musical you're obviously looking at the singing and dancing, but in the non-musical scenes as well, they are acting. Their desperation (for fame) comes through.

Evita (UK Touring Production) (2017)

I didn't love Evita. I saw it at the Edinburgh Playhouse on a weekend trip. We happened to pass by and saw it was the last night of Evita. It was great for 20 pounds, but the theater wasn't full for a reason. Mostly because the music isn't that recognizable or good, other than Don't Cry For Me Argentina. But also, the story is kind of boring and the story isn't very clear in Act I. Act II plays out more traditionally, but Act I was a little all over the place. It portrays Eva Peron in a rather negative light, which I didn't know about the show. I don't quite understand the symbolism of Che, the narrator. Apparently, he's not Che Guevara, but the name and mannerism is not a coincidence.

The actress that played Evita was actually pretty good. And the set was well done, including the iconic balcony. In this production, it is in three parts, and it moves, being repurposed in different scenes. My biggest problem with this production was that the sound was way too loud. I couldn't actually understand what they were saying because the speakers were overpowering. 

La La Land (2016)

La La Land is exactly the masterpiece I hoped it would be. I have been waiting to see this film ever since they announced casting of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling for a jazz musical (two things I love) directed by Damien Chazelle, hot off of Whiplash. He is perhaps our finest young director today. It did not disappoint; it was so beautiful. How do you know you're watching something special? I literally had goosebumps, and there were moments in the film that just brushed over me. It's when you can physically feel the euphoria take your breath away. Only film and classical music do that to me.

Let's start with the plot. It's simple but it's classic a la Golden Age Hollywood. I have to admit, their first encounter in the restaurant tricked me. It was the seen that we're fooled into thinking we knew already from the trailer, but it's not that scene. At first you're taken aback, but then you understand that their courtship is a little more complex than that. Amidst the dream-like sequences, the plot and dialogue is actually extremely realistic. The dialogue is perfectly natural. The movie is so emotionally affecting because it is so well written.

This is a contemporary musical nostalgic for a time gone by. That theme is played out through Seb's infatuation with traditional jazz. It makes a plethora of references to the classic musicals of yore, but it looks forward. It includes the requisite pas de deux, and the big numbers, and the recurring musical themes. It moves towards a wistful ending, not necessarily the happy one you expect from old Hollywood (the ending actually sort of coincidentally reminded me of Once). This movie has depth the way song-and-dance used to be able to get away without.

Chazelle's love letter to Hollywood is necessarily a love-letter to movies (the tone is reminiscent of Cinema Paradiso). You know I love movies about movies. But it's more than that. Because Los Angeles is a unique city. He captures the spirit of a town full of dreamers. Briefly about the ending--I think it's perfect. It reminds us that the essence of the film is not simply their love for each other, but for their high hopes and dreams. The film, after all, is named for the city that will make or break you.

This review is going to get a lot longer than I intended but I'm going to keep going cause there's a lot of ground to cover.

The look: the colors are perhaps a little too obvious. And by that I mean, they pop so much that we're not used to such bold un-patterned primary color coordination. But I think that adds to the dreaminess of the film. The ten-minute balletic epilogue is just stunning. The cinematography is just stunning. Los Angeles has never looked so good. La La Land is not the first film to do the long takes, but it does it very impressively. Someone in the Crowd requires some fancy camera navigation and a well-placed mirror. The opening sequence was all filmed in one shot. I think we've entered a period (maybe starting a few years ago with Gravity) in which the expectation is for contemporary films to go big and do the long single takes. It is becoming normal. But that is not to underscore the massive achievement of getting it all at once perfectly.

Jazz: The soundtrack is phenomenal. I've been playing it on repeat nonstop. Also, looking at the lyrics more closely, they're appropriately fitting. Justin Hurwitz has two Oscars coming his way, for sure. I think jazz is very fitting for Los Angeles. LA is not a jazz town, but the music really captures that trying spirit. Everyone is a constant struggle to make it and what is jazz if not about improvising your own path. As Sebastian points out, it is conflict and compromise.

Acting: I saw Emma Stone in Cabaret on Broadway and she was great. She's not the best singer and neither is Ryan Gosling. But if they could sing, then they wouldn't be struggling artists. The whole point is that they are talented in their own right, but that's not always enough in LA. The parts don't call for excellent singers. They were correctly cast. The leading lady and man are our new Hollywood couple. They've acted together before and I imagine they will continue. They have the look. I love the scene when they're singing City of Stars together. Whereas some scenes look like the actors are singing to a track, this one is unequivocally live. You hear and see it in the imperfect tone and the quavers in their voices. It is vulnerable and human. And it pulls us down from dream world (or la la land). Ryan Gosling plays piano very convincingly. Even if he can only play those couple of pieces, that is pretty impressive. Emma Stone carries the film though. We may focus more on Sebastian's story line, but Emma Stone gives her character dimension and emotion more interesting than Gosling's. I do think John Legend was a weird choice; he's a little too smooth for jazz. I kept thinking Jamie Foxx would've been great.

So if you couldn't tell, I loved everything about this movie. To people that say they liked it but didn't love it, just look and hear and moreover feel how beautiful this movie is. Don't confuse it for a shallow musical. It is more complex than it may let on. 

Sing Street (2016)

John Carney is really just magical. He knows how to make charming musicals about making music. They're always really touching. His depiction of love is beautiful and real. It's about hope and joy and taking chances and being young.  And the original music is genuinely good. "Drive It Like You Stole It" is in my playlist now. The cast is lovable, their 80s Dublin costumes are hilarious, and you really root for them. At the end, I found myself inexplicably attached to these characters. I must admit that I wasn't even really paying much attention while watching this movie, but somehow they still hooked me. 

Singin' in the Rain (1952)

I love musicals. Why? Because they're just so fun. And that's why I am so excitedly looking forward to Damien Chazelle's upcoming La La Land. To prepare, I watched Singin' in the Rain, the legendary movie musical. The music is iconic: Good Morning, Singin' in the Rain, Make Em Laugh.  And of course, Gene Kelly was a dancer. There is that gorgeous dance scene in the rain with the umbrella. Now that is iconic.

The plot is quite light. It is about the transition from silent movies to the talkies, a classic story that has been told many times since Singin' in the Rain, such as in Best Picture winner The Artist. I love the depiction of Old Hollywood.  It is really a magical period for a movie lover. But it's not about the plot. Good old song and dance are all you need. 

On Your Feet! (Broadway) (2015)

On Your Feet! Is full of concert-level energy. And much of the play is reminiscent of a concert. From the very beginning, the lights surrounding the stage frame shoot out into the audience in different colors. The curtain has silhouettes of fans in the concert pit lining its bottom. Then the curtain is swiftly pulled away to reveal the band on stage banging away at their instruments, sitting on an interesting moving platform that is sometimes in view and sometimes moved behind a wall towards the back of the stage. They come and go throughout the performance.

The first scene is probably one of the strongest from a staging perspective (not so much from a story perspective). We are introduced to the intricacies of the set, including a changing Miami backdrop, moving panels that simultaneously serve as location indicators and places to hide. The first scene is full of characters moving in and out as if by magic, appearing and disappearing behind curtains and walls (and presumably down a trapdoor) And the set pieces move surprisingly quickly.

Newcomer Ana Villafane brings great energy to the role of Gloria and I think she sounded remarkably similar to Estefan. Josh Segarra plays Emilio with a heavy accent that is so good that it is borderline offensive and at times indecipherable. Alma Cuervo as Gloria’s abuela brings some comedy to the show. And the children in the cast are lots of fun. They have quick moving little feet and the little girl has quite a voice.

The story is somewhat lacking. The first act and second acts are polar opposites. The second half takes a more somber tone to depict Estefan’s 1990 accident. The accident is depicted with more bright lights shined at the audience, but I think they could have come up with something more creative (especially after seeing Curious Incident’s take on the London metro system). But I think the show’s greatest strength was in its energy as depicted through fun electric Latin dancing by choreographer Sergio Trujillo, which was unsurprisingly lacking from act two. The story jumps around a lot. It does not dwell on anything quite long enough for it to be impactful, and it skips over plot points and then infers them in hindsight. Though there isn’t too much plot to speak of. At times, it even comes off a little self-indulgent. The message of the story is basically “you’re so great, Gloria” (there’s a whole set piece devoted to it)—well, there’s not much modesty.

It ends like Mamma Mia does (though ABBA does a better job of integrating the songs into the plot) with a medley of energetic songs. These are songs that they couldn’t find a place for in the show, so they’re all sort of just thrown at us in snippets all at once. The song list doesn’t appear in the playbill where it usually does opposite the cast. Instead the songs are listed in alphabetical, not chronological, order after all the cast bios. This, too, contributed to the feeling that it plays more like a concert than a musical.

An American in Paris (Broadway) (2015)

This is a gorgeous stage adaptation of the classic Gene Kelly film. Much like the movie, the focus of this production is dance.  I have a great appreciation for dance. It is mostly ballet, but there are brilliant infusions of jazz and contemporary dance (and maybe a bit of Fosse). The choreography is so beautifully elegant and intricate. Director-choreographer Christopher Wheeldon makes an extraordinary Broadway debut. The opening number is a gorgeous dance to Gershwin's Piano Concerto in F.  It is these lyric-less moments in which the production shines brightest.  George Gershwin's jazz inspired score is great but personally I prefer the pieces without words to the songs with (no offense to Ira). The beautiful jazzy theme from the second movement of the Concerto in F recurs throughout the production. The film is well known for its 17 minute ballet sequence to the piece of the same name.  The climax of the play is a similar ballet that is simply mesmerizing.

Robert Fairchild, brother of Megan Fairchild from On the Town, plays the male lead. He is a fine singer, but a fantastic ballet dancer. We did not see the Tony-nominated Leanne Cope because we have terrible luck but her understudy was a gorgeous dancer, too. And from a distance, they actually look very similar.

The design of the musical, that is the sets and costumes, are brilliant. Fittingly, the protagonist designs a ballet. Bob Crowley designs a rather minimalist set, leaving the floor mostly open for the dancers. As you enter the theater, you see a lone piano at the center of the stage (this image comes back at the end). A projection of the Arc di Triomphe on a sheet on the back wall transforms into the French flag from which the principal dancer emerges.  The background is made of cutouts drawn at an angle for perspective, and the projections fill in the details slowly in digital pencil. One of the best scenes features a sophisticated, animated hand-drawn ballerina on the moving set pieces that have angled tops, and ballet bars for manual movement. The masquerade costumes in the Cuban Overture are delightful, and the chromatic geometric design of the ballet sets and costumes are highly original. 

The Wiz Live! (2015)

NBC stepped up its game, finally putting some real production into its live musical event this year.  There area few things that really made this production stand out.  The first is a set of fantastic performances from a star studded cast plus a newcomer who fully proved herself.  Stepping into Diana Ross's role of Dorothy was Shanice Williams, who belted out 'Home' with such power, nailing the big number.    David Alan Grier is just brilliant as the Cowardly Lion. His purr sounded so cat-like it was a little freaky.  Common has a very small part as an Emerald City gatekeeper, but he is hilarious. Queen Latifah plays the eponymous Wiz, and she plays it up with attitude.  Amber Riley graduated from Glee and put her singing chops to use as the Good Witch of the North.  Elijah Kelley stepped into Michael Jackson's shoes to play the Scarecrow. But I think this production was really defined by the Tin Man Ne-Yo, as much a dancer as he is a singer.  And this production shined thanks to excellent, energetic choreography by Fatima Robinson.  Unlike the previous NBC productions, there was some genuinely complex and entertaining dancing, which is what will really push it over the top when it makes the transition to the Broadway stage.

Finally, the set design and costumes had some really effort put into them.  The Wiz looked like a green Cruella de Vil.  The munchkins all had a distinctive look, as did the denizens of the Emerald City--they looked like something out of the Capital from The Hunger Games.  The Emerald City "club" had some great choreography too. The infamous maelstrom of a tornado that whisks Dorothy away was so incredibly well done that it seemed real with Dorothy flying through the air.  And I appreciated that the production came full circle, featuring the original Broadway Dorothy Stephanie Mills as Auntie Em.  Here's to hoping that NBC keeps up this high quality of live musical events.

Gigi (1958)

This movie musical won the Oscar for Best Picture back in 1958, along with all eight other awards for which it was nominated, which was a record at the time. Ben-Hur won eleven the next year.  And in 1987, The Last Emperor tied Gigi for most wins in every category for which it was nominated for (until The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King swept the 2003 Oscars with eleven statues).  The Last Emperor would also be the next film to win Best Picture without any acting nominations.

My first critique has to be about the music.  Andre Previn's instrumental score is gorgeous.  But as far as Lerner and Loewe music goes, it falls short.  The singing is mostly rhythmic talking.  While the underlying instrumentals have a melody, most of the lyrics are not melodic.  The title song "Gigi" is probably the best one but the opening number "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" is underwhelming and the lyrics are a little creepy sung by the aging Maurice Chevalier.  The framing is a little awkward too, with Chevalier smack in the center of the shot sitting still just staring into the camera.  His is the only character that breaks the fourth wall at the beginning and end of the film to introduce the scene and to close the story.

The actors all put on French-ish accents, but to me they all sound quite different. Chevalier's accent sounds the most traditionally French.  Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan both sound kind of stuffy and maybe a little more British than French.  And they all live a stereotypical French lifestyle.  Caron plays a quirky, awkward, and naive girl that sort of flails around.  The premise is that her grandmother and great aunt have the immense task of taming her and transforming the clumsy Gigi into a lady.  It happens in the end rather suddenly, seemingly missing something in the middle.  The movie is also pretty blatantly sexist to a modern viewer, reinforcing gender roles and subverting Gigi's sense of freedom.  There's not too much depth to the story; it's rather light and predictable.

Lastly, what the film does best is in the art.  The movie makes great use of the French scenery. And the lavish sets and costumes are beautifully extravagant, notably Gigi's red themed apartment.    

A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder (Broadway) (2013)

This is a very strange musical.  The far-fetched plot: a man discovers that he is a member of the very rich D'ysquith family, except there are eight relatives ahead of him for the earldom of Highhurst.  These eight relatives all with different personas, ages, and genders are played by the same actor (Tony-nominated Jefferson Mays was off but his understudy was excellent in his own right).  Each murder is more ridiculous than the last and you sort of just have to go with it.  The opening number is sung by mourners who warn the audience that the play will be disturbing.

This show benefits from some very creative and clever staging. There is a smaller stage with an elegant red curtain that sits front and center atop the actual stage.  The smaller stage extends out from time to time to accommodate the actors, who at times exit the smaller stage to act on the main stage.  The main stage has a semicircle that protrudes above and around the pit. The back of the stage has a moving LED screen that enhances some of the murder scenes.  The best scene is "I've Decided to Marry You," in which Monty moves between two rooms separated by a corridor.  This is depicted by two doorways facing perpendicular to the audience so the audience can see both rooms.  And there is some excellent, fun counterpoint between Monty, Phoebe and Sibella in this scene.

In all its ridiculousness, the play is actually very funny.  The actor who plays the D'ysquith family enunciates all of his lines very clearly, leading to some very visible spit.  then in Act II, this is acknowledged in a very comical scene that involves a spitting battle of sorts.  

On the Town (Broadway) (2014)

On the Town might not be as classic as West Side Story, but Bernstein's musical about WWII-era Fleet Week before it was Fleet Week (ironically, this week is Fleet Week) is excellent.  The music is very diverse, at times jazzy, other times operatic.  It makes use of a wide variety of instruments.  In place of the usual overture, the play opens with an energetic rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and the audience rises to its feet in a show of patriotism.  The music adapts to the scene, transforming flawlessly from purely romantic to raucously funny. However, as far as show tunes go, besides "New York, New York," the music is not very memorable or catchy.

In terms of plot, there really isn't much.  The story is quite simple: three Navy men have 24 hours in New York City.  This is a showcase for our great city, and it at least mentions almost every borough (besides the best one: Queens).  The play is pure fun because there is a lot of comedy, but none of it really advances the primary romance between Gabey and Ivy.  The set design is excellent. The actors stand in an imaginary box and hang on imaginary straps to simulate an imaginary subway car.  A mechanical bench that sways back and forth simulates a crazy taxi.  A large moving background captures the hustle and bustle of the city. And a large dinosaur puppet (not quite War Horse-style) brings the Museum of Natural History to life.

This Broadway musical has a lot of ballet, descended from Jerome Robbins.  The dream ballet sequences are gorgeous, especially the Coney Island scene complete with color lighting on the bare back wall.  Joshua Bergasse's choreography is mesmerizing.  The three leads dance in perfect unison, led by Tony Yazbeck as Gabey.  He dances, sings, and deserves his Tony nomination.  Megan Fairchild plays the female lead, though she does not have nearly enough stage time.  She is from the New York City Ballet making her Broadway debut.  She is beautifully majestic in every scene she is in.

Chicago (North American Touring Production) (2014)

I won a raffle to see Chicago yesterday at the Hippodrome.  This is my second Kander and Ebb musical since November, and I have to admit that I liked Cabaret better.  First, Chicago does not have much in the way of plot; it is not nearly as deep as some of the great Broadway musicals.  There is more development in the second act than in the first.  The ending draws conflicting emotions, as it is happy but devastating for Roxie.  The story is very female driven. Though they are not portrayed in a particularly positive light, it is refreshing.

The set is nonexistent.  I am not sure whether that is because it is a touring production or if that is simply how the production plays. Instead, the pit orchestra is front and center on stage.  The conductor actually gets a lot of attention from the actors, playing a character of sorts.  The company sits in chairs lining the sides of stage instead of going backstage.  Another stylistic choice, they wait in the shadows until it is their time to act.  The production attempts to make up for a lack of set by introducing some fancy lighting.  The lighting creates the illusion of prison cell bars.  Further there are no costume changes at all, not even between acts.  They are dressed not in prison uniforms but as if they are in a Cabaret.  This makes for an awkward courtroom scene, in which the prosecuting attorney is quite unconvincing.

The dancing is very Fosse-style.  The opening number, "All That Jazz" and the classic "Cell Block Tango" are the best scenes in my opinion.  They are stylish, catchy and flashy.

Also, the ventilation in the Hippodrome is awful.  I could hardly breathe throughout the entire second act.  It was so hot and the air was just not circulating.  Kudos to the dancers on stage--I don't know how they did it.

Jersey Boys (2014)

I have not seen the acclaimed Broadway musical, but I imagine it must be better than the film adaptation.  One of the distinctive features of the stage version is that the play is divided into four "seasons" each telling the story from a different point of view.  There are, of course, conflicting accounts of how the famed Four Seasons rose to and fell from fame.  The innovative Rashomon-effect in the stage version gets lost in the movie.

The movie features Tony-winner John Lloyd Young from the original Broadway cast reprising his role as Frankie Valli.  He nails that legendary falsetto, hitting all the high notes.  Christopher Walken provides some comic moments and looks much more comfortable in this movie with music as opposed to the NBC live musical Peter Pan.  Jersey Boys does come off as movie with music, not featuring enough of the great music to really be called a musical.  It has its high moments of musical excitement, but there are too much dramatics in between (in thick Jersey accents).  Clint Eastwood does a good job of capturing an old feel of 1950s/60s New Jersey.  And he makes a cameo appearance in the movie (see if you can spot him).