Taking in the Sites of the City

College Student // 20 // Broadway // New York // Gene Kelly // Photography // More than likely getting emotional over musical theatre.

[evan-hansen]

DEAR EVAN HANSEN at Arena Stage |  7.10.15 - 8.23.15

[cdotjepsen]

Favorite People: Lin Manuel Miranda

“There is a particular genius of teenagers who break out into song spontaneously, know all the words to Rent and/or Wicked, and will do anything for a taste of being onstage in front of an audience. They’re called theater geeks and I’m a card-carrying member of their ranks.”

[classic-and-timeless]

[mona-kent]

I’ve been trying to see as much theatre as possible lately, especially because the spring season is always packed with so many shows trying to get in before the Tonys. Beyond Broadway, though, I’ve been going to more off-Broadway shows lately, and there were a few that blew me away. First off, The Robber Bridegroom at the Laura Pels Theatre is Alex Timbers at his finest. His direction always has its own unique stamp on any show that he does; it always feels high quality on a low budget, which to be honest I prefer over many of the huge blockbusters productions that have come out in the last few years. This show in particular felt a lot like Peter and the Starcatcher, in that the cast is mostly on stage together the whole time using small props to make the story feel big. It’s so interesting and feels very homespun, which is really fitting seeing that the story is set in the woods of Mississippi. Performance wise, the whole cast is phenomenal. Steve Pasquale’s voice is always incredible, and he doesn’t disappoint here. Also, Leslie Kritzer is incredibly hysterical.

On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is Dear Evan Hansen. This show made me cry multiple times, and yet it is also incredibly joyous. Pasek and Paul have written and incredibly catchy but also intricate score. Waving Through a Window has been in my head nonstop since I saw it. While sounding simple at first, the lyrics have so much meaning behind them. It really connects with the feeling of being alone, especially in high school, but without falling into the normal tropes of corny teenager storylines. Also, Ben Platt is giving a Tony-worthy performance. The way that he portrays anxiety reminded me a lot of Alex Sharp in Curious Incident, in that it feels incredibly true and realistic and is captivating to watch. Also, his voice is absolutely insane! I’m really hoping that the show extends or transfers to Broadway because it really deserves it. If you can get a ticket, don’t even hesitate. Just go; this is a story that everyone needs to hear.

[mona-kent]

The other night when I saw Tuck Everlasting, I was reminded of why I love the theatre. The show overall is quite emotional because of its focus on living forever versus living a full life, but especially in the last fifteen minutes or so, people (including me) were losing it. I could hear sniffles throughout the mezzanine, and I saw my friend sitting next to me wiping away tears. It just further goes to show me why I want to be in this business in the first place. Theatre can move hearts and minds and change lives. Not every show is meant to pull at your heart strings, but also not every show is meant to be a blockbuster that tourists will flock to. The medium has such a range which always stuns me. I think a lot of what makes it this way is the audience response. Unlike other forms of entertainment like film or television, there is a bond between the actors and the audience. Seeing something play out right there in front of your eyes makes the experience so much more visceral. It makes every emotion stronger, every joke more genuine, and every tearjerking moment cut deeper. Over the years, I’ve had the pleasure of having theatre experiences like this that have made a huge impact on my life, and I will never be able to repay the companies of these shows for shaping my life forever. When I saw the revival of Hair in 2009, I was so impacted by its themes of love, and the ending really touched me. I had loved musicals up until that point, but that show really made me realize that shows don’t have to just be big dance numbers with jazz hands (though I still do love a good dance break). Experiences like these are the reason that I am pursuing a career and life in this field, and I hope that others are as impacted by their experiences inside the walls of a theatre as I was.

[weird-fictions]

Lin-Manuel Miranda at BroadwayCon 2016 [x]

[thedairyqueer-deactivated201709]

Pictures of the set of La Jolla Playhouse’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame. 

Source: Alexander Dodge Design

[standbytogo]

Gagging on the eleganza

[phantomtoilets]

holy SHIT

[stagemanagerssaygo]

I LOVE this set. Mostly because they spent the majority of their set budget on those bells. They weren’t fake, they were the real deal; they could even be operated by the actors. Each one rang out a specific note but could be adjusted to ring a different note within its range.

So sad this didn’t go to Broadway.

[zaryv]

[sweetcharity-archive-deactivate]

Laura Benanti as Amalia Balash in She Loves Me (2016)

[mona-kent]

I saw the other day that Jen Tepper tweeted about how this Broadway season is the best one ever, and it really made me think about everything that I’ve seen in the past year, and to be honest, I think she is completely right. I don’t think there is a season that I can remember where I’ve liked almost everything I’ve seen. I tend to enjoy a lot of show, but there’s always some in there that just don’t hit the mark. This time around, there’s only a very small handful that fit into this category. Everything else, though, has been fantastic, whether Broadway, Off-Broadway, or out of town.

In terms of what was in the summer/fall, of course the thing that comes to mind is Hamilton. I’m glad that I went so early in the run so I could go into without any preconceived notions and just be blown away, but there are a bunch of other shows that I loved. Dames at Sea and Sylvia gave me so much joy, Spring Awakening took my breath away, and School of Rock made me cheer. I cried over Mark Strong in A View from the Bridge, Cynthia Erivo in The Color Purple, and Danny Burstein in Fiddler. Noises Off made me laugh until I cried. She Loves Me was about as perfect as a revival can get while Bright Star shined bright as a new original work. Shuffle Along gave some of the best choreography I’ve seen in a long time, and Waitress gave me one of my new favorite scores (and a show that I’m gonna obsess over for quite some time). American Psycho messed with my head in the best way possible while Fully Committed put me in awe of Jesse Tyler Ferguson. And there are still a few I need to see, like Tuck Everlasting, A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, and Paramour.

There was also a bunch of noteworthy material Off-Broadway. Invisible Thread was super interesting and moving, and Once Upon a Mattress was super fun with a great performance by Jackie Hoffman. American Dance Machine had some of my favorite dancers performing some of my favorite choreography from some of my favorite classics. The Wildness was different from anything I had ever seen, and it really made for a fun and moving night. The Robber Bridegroom was so creative and made me laugh until my sides burst. The production of West Side Story that was mounted at the Knockdown Center in Queens was such a full experience, and it made me appreciate the show on a whole other level. The concert of The Secret Garden at Lincoln Center sent chills down my spine, and A Bronx Tale at Paper Mill gave me such immense joy. I could go on for days talking about these phenomenal shows, but what I will say is that seasons like this remind me about why I wanted to be involved in this community in the first place. The feeling of walking out of a theatre with such a huge feeling of joy is like nothing else, and these shows have proven to me that this feeling can still be found all around Broadway.

[mona-kent]

This past week, I had the pleasure of seeing Tony Yazbeck in Finding Neverland. I had seen the show right when it started previews, but this was my first time going back since then, and I have to say that I loved Tony as J.M. Barrie. He really embodied the character, and his voice is unbelievable. Some of the notes that he hit during “Neverland” gave me chills; that made me think about the stigma about Broadway replacements. A lot of people seem to think that the original cast of a show is always the best because they were the originals. While this can be true sometimes, it is not necessarily always the case. People need to be more open to new interpretations of a character. What the original cast member chose in his or her portrayal of a role is not the end-all be-all choice. Some of my favorite performances that I’ve seen on Broadway have been done by replacements. One of the biggest cases of this is Gavin Creel in Book of Mormon. As much as I loved Andrew Rannells as Elder Price, I think I liked Gavin’s version just a bit more. He added little things to the role that I had never seen any other Elder Price do before. Just little head turns that he did were making me roll in the aisles. His comedic timing was just so perfect and made a show that I had already seen a bunch of times seem so fresh. Another big case of this was Corey Cott in Newsies. I went into it quite skeptical after loving Jeremy Jordan’s performance as Jack Kelly, but Corey blew me away. His voice was incredible, but I have to say that what really sold it to me were the emotional moments. Especially by the end of the run, he was literally crying on stage during the scab scene and “Santa Fe.” He was so emotionally invested into every moment, and it, once again, made the show seem fresher every time. The same thing goes for understudies and standbys. There is no one right way of interpreting a part; every actor who comes into a role has to make it his own, so of course they’re all gonna be a bit different. You just can’t assume, though, that the line readings done by the original lead are the definitive version. It might not be what you’re used to, but you have to understand that theatre is a medium that’s constantly changing and, therefore, needs new ideas from new people. Just some food for thought.

[mikeyfrieds]

Matilda the Musical #broadway #nyc #matilda (at Shubert Theatre)

[florencvassy]

Natalie Daradich as Glinda

[peterquill]

“Let us die facing our foes! Make them bleed while we can!”

[fyeahshelovesme]

Pictures from last month’s She Loves Me press preview event.

[fortheland]

check out the gorgeous new television commercial for an american in paris!

[mona-kent]

In the past few weeks, I have come to the realization that all three women that inspired me to be involved in the theatre growing up are back in New York doing shows, and that’s crazy to me. Laura Benanti, who’s currently in She Loves Me, was in Gypsy when I first met her, and she was one of the kindest people I had ever met. I told her at the Broadway Flea Market that year that I was coming to see her show (which in retrospect, was not the smartest idea seeing that I was a twelve year old and it was a show about Gypsy Rose Lee). She was so warm and gracious and even stopped to say hi before the show since she was gonna have to leave quick afterwards. In seeing her again a few weeks ago, she still remembered me and was as kind and lovely as ever. Even with all of her success, she is still the same amazing person that I looked up to eight years ago.

Kerry Butler, currently in Disaster, was one of my other inspirations as a little girl. At that same Broadway Flea Market, I met Kerry, who was in Xanadu at the time, and told her that I was seeing the show again for a second time that day and was going to be in the onstage seats, and she said she would look for me. She did, in fact, find me as she was roller-skating across the stage, and during the finale, she waved to me. Being the little budding theatre geek that I was, this meant the world to me. I said hi to her again after the show, and she immediately said, “I told you I’d find you!” That little act meant so much more than she ever knew.

The other big inspiration for me was Montego Glover, who’s currently in The Royale at Lincoln Center. I first saw her in Memphis, which quickly became one of my favorite shows. I ended up seeing it five times over the course of its run, and through this, Montego started recognizing me and even remembering my name. The first time this happened, I was in utter shock. The fact that she was one of my favorite actresses and she knew me was mindblowing. Even today, I’ll run into her every once in a while and she’ll remember the awkward little girl that she met all those years ago. She is always so genuine with so much heart, and I’ll never forget the moments I had with her growing up.

Seeing these three women back on the New York stage at the same time has really made me look at how far I’ve come. I’ve gone from a nerdy, brace-faced, awkward middle-schooler who was super nervous around Broadway stars to a college kid who has connected with so many people in the theatre community and is pursuing a life in the theatre herself. The love that I received from these three ladies growing up led me to this path, and I cannot thank them enough for everything they’ve done. Their kindness is what led me to the path I’m on today.