#encores!

[glimeres]

2024 - Ramin Karimloo and Alex Joseph Grayson sing a preview of The Proposal / The Night Was Alive from New York City Center Encores! TITANIC

bonus:

[turtle-down]

Kate Baldwin as Susan Cooper, in rehearsals for Love Life at Encores!

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

High Spirits

February 6, 2025 | NYCC | Encores! Series | Evening | Musical | Concert | 2H 20M

Katrina Lenk can haunt me whenever she wants. I don't even mind that she's blonde here. In a delightful return to form, High Spirits steps away from the big budget, heavily choreographed productions of the DeBessonet era. Actors are on-book for a good portion of the show and are instead given time to work on characterization and comedic timing rather than song and dance memorization. And frankly, it's a relief. The last four seasons have felt like desperate Broadway tryouts with limited success. This time, Encores! plucked an obscure musical from the sixties and actually followed its mission statement. And what a fun romp it turned out to be. I was familiar with the show, having seen a much smaller cabaret presentation of it early last year, so I knew that it was a fun, if not amazing adaptation of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit. It's sharper as a play, and the songs never quite rise to the occasion of the original language, but it's thoroughly entertaining.

I wouldn't have believed it, but the cast is perfection. Yes, it would have been funnier had Laura Benanti played Steven Pasquale's first wife, but this role was made for Katrina Lenk. Her unique style and cadence lends itself well to the ethereal and mischievous dead wife come back to seduce her husband into the afterlife with her. In many ways, she is Rebecca. There was no doubt that Andrea Martin would be perfect in her role of kooky medium--she's done it before. While there are two planned "breaks," she chooses when and where, which keeps the rest of the cast on its toes, and gives the audience a laugh well-deserved. She and Rachel Dratch are the comedic keystones in this light farce. But it's Philippa Soo who really blew me away with her comedic chops. I didn't know she had it in her, but she does high-strung prim and proper very well. And I wasn't as irritated by the wig as I feared. Pasquale is there. He's fine. Either I was so enthralled by Kelli O'Hara that I didn't notice during the Bridges concert, or else he really started balding in the last two months. The lights do not flatter it in the least. But I digress.

While I remain loyal to the straight play, this sultry evening is worth the trek out into the cold. I'll be back again on Friday. I hope to be on the right side of the audience. Some of the strongest numbers are staged badly for the extreme sides, and I'd hoped Jessica Stone would know better in her direction. While Katrina's blocking mostly comes out okay in "You'd Better Love Me While You May," what should be a tour-de-force in "Home Sweet Heaven" places her on the far stairs and landings that block a good chunk of the audience for much of the song. In fact, there's an awful lot of climbing up and down stairs for all the actors, perhaps to make up for the otherwise stagnant stand-and-script staging. And I just wish they'd put the orchestra back on level ground. The elevated platform does the sound mixing no favors. It's not bad in the front mezzanine, but I wouldn't want to be up in the balcony. Encores! should be geared towards shows that are unlikely to ever see a significant revival, and this fits the bill. Next season, let's do Drat! the Cat just to see what happens.

Verdict: Why I Love the Theatre

A Note on Ratings

[loustattruther]

freedom is RUNNING.

thank you jordan fisher for putting some soul into the already soulful bobby strong 🙂‍↕️

[notaseriousactor]

I don’t want to buy tickets to encores! Titanic just to witness Chip Zien onstage again. But the parasites the demons HAVE to

(/j i want to see titanic to see the show not just to see Chip Zien I promise)

[frontmezzjunkies]

Titanic is a Complete Triumph at NYCC Encores!

#frontmezzjunkies posts a review by #DennisW of #NYCC #Encores' #TitanicMusical m/l by #MauryYeston d: #AnneKauffman w/ #RaminKarimloo #AlexJosephGrayson #BrandonUranowitz #BonnieMilligan #CityCenterEncores @NYCityCenter

The cast of Encores’ Titanic at NYCC. Photo by Joan Marcus. The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: New York City Center Encores’ Titanic By Dennis W. Titanic sailed into New York City Center full speed ahead saved from a watery grave and stoked with a newfound energy that brought the house down. Encores! latest concert production dazzles, taking on the famed musical about the sinking of the largest,…

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[dorothy16]

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Stephen Sondheim in rehearsal for the Encores! production of MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG in 2012. *