These Are a Few of My Favorite Things from 2013

It’s hard to believe that 2013 is coming to a close! Wasn’t it just yesterday we were all having major theatre nerd moments over Les Mis? So sit back and enjoy the end of the 525,600 minutes of the 2013 as I share my favorite shows of 2013!

Kinky Boots

Wonderful, uplifting show with the message of love and acceptance intertwined with some awesome Cyndi Lauper written tunes and Jerry Mitchell directing and choreography. The world saw the star in Annaleigh Ashford, some of those Angels can dance better in heels than me and Billy Porter is amazing ‘nuff said. Plus, I kinda love that finale wig that he wears that Annaleigh calls “Beyoncé magic hair!”

Bare

Yes, I know this show opened in 2012(that’s when I saw it) but it ran into 2013 and I feel like I should talk about it. This was one of the few shows that has really moved me. With a powerful message that is prevalent in todays society, this translated so well for people of all ages while making us more aware, open and loving of others all while realizing that we are all still a million miles from heaven! You can read my review of the show here.

Hands on a Hardbody

This show while incredibly short-lived really resonated with me. I loved everything about it-the music, the characters-it was all done in such a new and unique way that the theatre hadn’t seen before. And just so you all know-Keala Settle is gonna be a STAR! You can read about my experience at the show here.

The Last 5 Years

I love Jason Robert Brown. That’s all there is to it. I felt so many different emotions throughout the 90 minutes and by the end I was a blubbering idiot! Seriously cannot wait for the film version!

Matilda

How can I put this show into words? I don’t know how because it’s just that incredible. The music was fresh, the cast impeccable, the book was great and really honored the original, and the set, choreography gah it was all just phenomenal. All the kids blew my mind, Bertie is amazing and Gabe, Lesli and Taylor had me laughing I kid you not the entire show! It made me really think back and reflect on growing up as you can read in my post about the show here.

Pippin

All I have to say about it is just GO NOW! RUN DON’T WALK! Magic to Do is worth the ticket in and of itself-it left me completely entranced and amazed! Patina or Pa-tony as she’s called completely earned that sucker! It’s enchanting, entrancing, beautiful and any other positive adjective that you can think of. Also, I might have fangirled a little bit over Terrence Mann cause you know not only was he the original Javert in Les Mis BUT he was also the original Beast in Beauty and the Beast and I must have listened to that cast album on repeat hundreds of times as a little girl on my cassette player!

Big Fish

How to describe this show? I think soul feeding is the perfect term to use. I am completely devastated that this show has just closed. It was so bright and beautiful with an amazing cast. It made me feel all the feels that I was openly sobbing like I do when I cut onions by the end! It made me fall in love with theatre all over again while feeding the soul. I can’t wait for the cast album to come out next year so I can listen to this show all over again. You can read my review about it here.

The Glass Menagerie

Okay, so somebody needs to give Cherry Jones and Celia Kennan-Bolger their Tony’s NOW! This is my favorite play and I’ll tell you it does not disappoint. It was absolutely stunning and heartbreaking and just so beautiful all around! Cherry Jones is perfect as overbearing mother Amanda and Celia Keenan-Bolger’s performance as her painfully shy daughter Laura is just so heart-wrenching and brilliant that you need to see it for yourself. I thought Celia would win the Tony 2 years ago for Peter and the Starcatcher and I’m pegging this year to be her year! Also, Bernadette Peters was at the show when I was there-she walked out right next to me ahh!

There it is my top shows from 2013- stay tuned for my to see bucket list for 2014! Have a healthy and happy new year everyone!

XOXO

-Bwaygirl828

Motown, Janis and Carole Oh My!

Walking down the streets of New York City aka the mecca that is the theatre district you can’t help but notice that a number of the bright shining marquees have the names of some of the most well known artists and music genres with the word “musical” attached to it blaring right in front of you. From Janis Joplin to Carole King to the Motown music period it seems as if Broadway is now the hot spot for musicals based off of music icons.

            This isn’t the first time that a popular trend like this has hit the great white way. Back in the late nineties and early 2000’s Disney was the king of New York-no pun intended churning out massive hit after hit from Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King and Aida. A few years ago it seemed like every new musical was based off a movie from Legally Blonde, to Shrek to The Addams Family all opening in the later years of the last decade and two years ago Broadway was getting religious with revivals of Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar and new musical Leap of Faith all opening. Now the hot trend is musicals telling the stories of iconic artists.

This is not the only time that this type of show has taken a bow on Broadway.  The Tony-winning hit Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons opened in 2005 but that was eight years ago why is musical type so popular now? Theatre historian and producer Jennifer Ashley Tepper says that there are a few reasons. “First of all, while there have been many musicals in the past that use an icon’s music to tell their story, Jersey Boys, in 2005, made the genre successful in a new way. After every juggernaut musical come many musicals that play on the same trend in order to try to find the same success. Secondly, one of the reasons people go to musicals is to hear music they love. A lot of the time they don’t trust that they will love music they are hearing for the first time, so it’s an incentive when ticket buyers know they will hear the songbook of a writer they already like.”

            While these shows are interesting to producers and creative team members as it gives them the ability to form and shape the story they want to tell around a certain artists or genre of music and how the music fits in as Tepper points out “working on a show like Beautiful or A Night With Janis Joplin requires research into real-life events and a concept for how to integrate those with the artist’s music.”  However, they are also incredibly popular with audiences. Jersey Boys has broken many ticket sale records and it’s almost impossible to get a ticket to Motown. But why do people want to come see these shows if they can just listen to artists music on their Macs and watch vintage performances on YouTube or an E! True Hollywood Story? Tepper says, “audience members want to learn more about people who really existed, when they already know that they enjoy their music.”  

            It seems as if that this particular jukebox musical subgenre has become one of the most attempted but one of the most growing and popular forms of musical. Tepper says that this subgenre “has come to be interpreted by many as the most genuine, artistically ambitious one. Jukebox musicals have become so popular because more and more audiences want to hear songs they already know at the theatre.”

            Currently on Broadway, besides Jersey Boys there are three new jukebox musicals playing, You can go back to the time of Berry Gordy and the creation of Motown music in Motown, the 60’s with Beautiful: The Carole King Musical or with Janis in A Night With Janis Joplin. They all tell compelling true stories through music that make you wanna get up and dance which is where the heart and soul lies in this new wave of musicals that are taking Broadway by storm.

Live, Love and Dream Bigger

            Live, love and dream bigger is the tagline for the new Broadway musical Big Fish based off the film and book of the same name now playing at the Neil Simon Theatre. The show proves to be just as inspirational and comforting as its tagline for any adult that is pining for a show that leaves you with a warm feeling inside.

            The feel-good musical tells the story of Edward Bloom (Norbert Leo Butz) a traveling salesman on the verge of death who always tells tall tales in a way to makeup for many years of family neglect and lousy parenting. The show boasts a starry creative team who are no strangers to the theatre. Susan Stroman directs and choreographs the imaginative and dreamy piece, book writer John August adapts his screenplay from the film to the stage with the perfect balance of romance and seriousness and Andrew Lippa provides the upbeat music and lyrics that will have everyone singing on the way to a post-show dessert at Juniors.

            Norbert Leo Butz once again plays a character whose moral flaws are outwardly present and wins over the audience by solving their problems and fixing the flaws with an awakening Ebenezer Scrooge style While the role of Edward Bloom appears to be similar to that of Butz’s Tony Award winning performances in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Catch Me If You Can, it is evident that these are the roles the Butz was meant to create. His brilliant voice and performance is as bright as the countless daffodils that cover the stage at the end of Act 1. He makes you laugh, cry and cheer for him as he and the rest of characters discover his inner-goodness through his series of mythical flashbacks. Kate Baldwin, who plays his loving wife Sandra compliments Mr.Butzs’ performance nicely while still getting her moment in the sun with the heartbreaking number “I Don’t Need a Roof” as she says goodbye to her husband on his deathbed. Rising Broadway star Bobby Steggert does his absolute best in the only major flaw in the show in the under developed role of Will, Edwards only child who even in adulthood refuses to play into his fathers far-fetched world of stories.

            While the storyline is fun and emotion filled-seriously get your Kleenexes ready, it is one that you are going to have to invest the two and a half hours in to watch and listen. It is not like The Lion King where you can tune out for a little bit and easily find your way back into the story. It is more like a Wicked or Rent in which you cannot leave the story as it can be tough to find your way back in, but once you get sucked in after the introductory twenty minute hump you can barely look away and your heart sinks to your stomach once the final curtain goes down cause you don’t want it to end.

            While the show is an invest in time-it brings on onion-chopping induced tears, it proves to be endearing for adults and bright and easy enough for the kiddies to sit through while loosely grasping the plotline. However, it is the stories effect that is lasting. As Edward Bloom says to young Will “When you teach a man to fish you feed them for the rest of their life, but you teach a man the Alabama stomp you feed their soul.” That is what Big Fish does-it feeds the soul.

2013 Tony Awards Predictions

Hello my lovely readers! So one of my favorite nights of the year is tomorrow night- the Tony Awards!!! With Neil Patrick Harris hosting for the third year in a row, many tight categories and with from what I’m hearing some spectacular performances  it’s making me giddy and excited just thinking about it! So here they are my 2013 Tony predictions! Please note that these are my views and opinions and do not reflect those of the Tony voters.

Best Play

Who will win: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. It is one of the funniest and wittiest productions to hit Broadway. With the incredible cast garnering nominations in each acting category for a play such as the incredible and brilliant Kirsten Nielson. With the rave reviews and the humor of Christopher Durang who took on a challenge by tackling Chekov and producing an incredible piece of theatre a Tony win is definitely deserved!

Who I think should win: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. While I felt The Nance deserved a nomination and awarding the prize to Lucky Guy is a great way to honor the last work of the late Nora Ephron Vayna quite frankly I feel is the strongest and the best in the category.

Best Musical

Who will win: Matilda or Kinky Boots. In the past few years I feel like it has been a clear choice of who will take home the top prize this year I feel that it can swing either way. Back in march, Matilda seemed to be the clear favorite but Kinky Boots came in and really gave Matilda some competition. Both shows are just as amazing and brilliant as the other and people seemed to be divided on who will take it this year.

Who I think should win: Matilda or Kinky Boots see above.

Best Book of a Musical

Who will win: Dennis Kelly for Matilda. What Dennis Kelly did is extraordinary. Based of the classic novel by Roald Dahl the book is written so well that you cannot tell what is Dahl and what is him because it just blends together so well and beautifully making it seem seamless and not forced or overdone. However, you can never count Harvey Fierstein out of a Tony race!

Who I think should win: Dennis Kelly for Matilda see above.

Best Original Score

Who will win: Tim Minchin for Matilda. The score is beautiful and just sheer utter brilliance. I absolutely love listening to the songs on a daily basis and it seems that the voters are very fond of the more classic Broadway-esque style and sound of the music.

Who I think should win: While I want to give some love to Hands on a Hardbody(I really felt that they deserved a Best musical nod) as well as the other two nominees, Kinky Boots and A Christmas Story who all had incredible scores I liked Matilda’s score just slightly better.

Best Revival of a Play

Who will win: Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf. This production was absolutely incredible! This show is one that requires so much stamina each time and clocking in at almost 3 hours per performance those four actors brought it each and every night. While The Trip to Bountiful could sneak up on them given Cicely Tysons brilliant performance, Virginia Woolf will most likely take home the medallion.

Who I think should win: Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf see above.

Best Revival of a Musical

Who will win: Pippin. I think that it goes without saying that this show will win. With its incredible performances, breathtaking sets, costumes and choreography and direction by Diane Paulus it feels like this is the shoo-in to win

Who I think should win: Pippin see above.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

Who will win: Tom Hanks for Lucky Guy because he is Tom Hanks and also because of the late, great Nora Ephron who wrote this incredible part.

Who I think should win: Tracy Letts for Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf. It’s a terribly demanding role, which he pulled off every single night and it was just incredible to watch!

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play

Who will win: Cicely Tyson for The Trip to Bountiful. Amazing, incredible performance she deserves the Tony!

Who I think should win: While I think that Kirsten Nielson would have won if she was placed in featured either Cicely Tyson or Amy Morton for Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf I think should win. Both are incredible performances!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Who will win: This is the race of the year. With so many incredible performances that I wish they could all get one but I think that Bertie Carvel for Matilda will win.

Who I think should win: Bertie Carvel for Matilda. He brought the Trunchable to life in a way that I absolutely loved but if he does not win I would love to see the fabulous and equally deserving Billy Porter for Kinky Boots win.

 Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Who will win: Patina Miller for Pippin because she is just so fierce and downright phenomenal as the Leading Player.

Who I think should win: While I think that Stephanie J. Block definitely deserves a Tony, Patina I feel will take the trophy.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play

Who will win: While Richard Kind is definitely the one to watch, Danny Burstein for Golden Boy will ultimately win because he is Danny Burstein and he is incredible done!

Who I think should win: Danny Burstein see above.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play

Who will win: It’s a toss up between Shailta Grant for Vanya and Judith Light for The Assembled Parties. Shalita is hysterical and Judith is a Broadway favorite. Both gave incredible and different performances that it seems that there is no clear favorite to win.

Who I think should win: Shailta Grant or Judith Light see above.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical

Who will win: Terrence Mann for Pippin. He is not only incredible but is bringing something different to the role and the show that I feel that it is finally his time to win a Tony!

Who I think should win: Terrence Mann for Pippin see above.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical

Who will win: Andrea Martin for Pippin because she is Andrea Martin and she gets a standing ovation every night mid-show. That right there screams Tony win!

Who I think should win: While I would love to see Annaleigh Ashford, Andrea Martin definitely deserves it!

Best Direction of a Musical

Who will win: Diane Paulus for Pippin. What she is doing is so different and so groundbreaking and I along with the rest of the community is in love with it! However, I would not be surprised to see Matthew Warchus for Matilda or Jerry Mitchell for Kinky Boots take it!

Who I think should win: Diane Paulus see above.

Best Direction of a Play

Who will win: Nicholas Martin for Vanya. The show is great, and he did a fabulous job putting together this wonderful piece of theatre.

Who I think should win: George C. Wolfe for the Lucky Guy. He is brilliant, he is amazing just give him the Tony!

Best Choreography

Who will win: I go back and forth with this a lot and I always seem to come down to Peter Darling for Matilda and Chet Walker for Pippin. Both are amazing and incredibly creative in their own way appealing to the entire theatre community so we’ll just have to see!

Who I think should win: Any of them!

Best Orchestrations

Who will win: Chris Nightingale for Matilda or Stephen Oremus for Kinky Boots. Both are equally good but it’s hard to tell.

Who I think should win: Chris Nightingale for Matilda because I just love it and can’t stop listening to it!

The Tony’s air live on Sunday June 9^th at 8pm on CBS! I’ll be live tweeting throughout the night so follow me on twitter @bwaygirl828 for updates during the live ceremony!