that girl allison

A few weeks ago I’d bought a ticket from TDF for an early preview of Leap of Faith.  I had no idea what to expect, having never seen the movie, but I wanted to see Kendra Kassebaum and Raul Esparza onstage again so how bad could it be?

Leap of Faith is about a traveling con artist who parades around as a reverend with his “angels” and sister “saving” small towns of people by robbing them for all their worth until they hit a town called Sweet Water and he’s changed forever.

By all means, Leap of Faith is a well-written musical. I found that the book was written well, and the music was upbeat at the highs and depressing at the lows. For all it’s worth, there’s nothing actually wrong with Leap of Faith. I just found it to be dull, like Memphis. I know not every new musical has to be groundbreaking, but is it so bad that I’d like them to be? I know there are only so many “new” things that a writer can propose to be done onstage before they’re called crazy. Anyways, there are a few songs here and there that I really enjoyed and there’s an effect at the end that you can’t help but smile at too.

The cast is all around fantastic. They’re strong actors, singers, and dancers. Leslie Odom Jr. steals the show more than once.  Kendra Kassebaum is funny, charming, and as always, has a voice to die for. Raul Esparza didn’t amaze me until the second to last song, his “soliloquy.”  That song was really unbelievable, but he never amazed me during the rest of the show. 

If you’re looking to see this movie brought to life onstage, or just a fun night at the theatre, Leap of Faith is for you.

I took a handful of pictures after the matinee of Death of a Salesman today (which was amazing) and this is by far my favorite photo. How adorable is Andrew Garfield?  

Magic/Bird, the great love story in basketball about Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, started previews recently and I saw it last Sunday and last Saturday (yes, there were straight male friends who needed to be taken). I really enjoyed it on Sunday night, so it was no burden to go back on Saturday.

Playing the title characters respectively are Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker. I will never know where they found such tall actors who could shoot baskets easily, but somehow, they did, and these guys were great.

The play started began in 1991, flashed back to 1979 (when both of them were in college), and worked it’s way back to the present. The ending was a lot smoother when I saw it on Saturday. On Sunday, it ended with a wrap-up of “where are they now” for the characters, which was mildly boring, while on Saturday, the play ended with their goodbyes at the airport after winning for America in the Olympics. It felt a lot more clean cut than the ending the prior weekend.

I can safely say that all of my straight guy friends with whom I watched this show thoroughly enjoyed it (“I didn’t know what to expect, but I really enjoyed it!” is what they said), so Magic/Bird just might be the play to take your best guy friend/boyfriend/husband to see this season.

On Tuesday afternoon, I saw tickets pop up on TDF for a few nights last week for Once and after seeing the way the rush lines were, I knew this was probably my best chance to see the show for under $140 (or you know, getting up at 4am on a Saturday - no, thank you!). I bought a ticket for Thursday night and quietly anticipated the night to come. I loved Once at New York Theatre Workshop three months ago but had no idea if they’d be able to translate it well to a Broadway house. Well… luckily, it did and it’s still brilliant.

From what I remember, the show is the same as what you would’ve seen downtown as is the gorgeous score, and the brilliant cast. The set looks exactly the same, and you can still venture onstage before the show starts and at intermission to buy a $13 glass of wine! While the price of the wine might not be smile-inducing, the standing on the stage certainly is. (And yes, you can go up without any intention of buying a drink.)

Once tells the story about a week between two strangers in which one (a character called Girl) changes the others’ (called Guy) life, for the better. It’s far from a love story, as the ‘girl’ is trying to reconcile things with her distant husband but there’s definitely an instant connection between these two after the ‘guy’ lets himself be taken along on her ride. There are bits of comic relief interspersed too provided by Girl’s zany Czech family and flatmates.

Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti, as Guy and Girl, are both from the original downtown cast and are both inexplicably beautiful and touching in their roles. Other standouts in the cast are David Patrick Kelly (as Guy’s calm and supportive ‘Da’), Elizabeth A. Davis, Will Connolly, David Abeles, and Andy Taylor (the banker who moonlights as a musician).  The entire cast is inundated with expect musicians as well, since they provide the orchestrations themselves (and unlike any of Doyle’s productions, it works and feels natural).

It’s all about being in the right place at the right time, having the courage to go after your dreams, and also letting yourself go when you know you should. Everyone can relate to some aspect of this show and it will most likely make you shed a tear at the end (as myself and many of my fellow theatre goers were). 

If there was one show that was worth of a 5am call time to stand in line for tickets, this would be it and you would not be disappointed. 

In 2000, family friends took me to see the revival of Jesus Christ Superstar for my birthday. Tony Vincent and Maya Days were in it (as Judas and Mary, respectively), and being a Renthead at the time, I had to see it. Vincent and Days were the only redeeming qualities of that production. Though JCS has a fantastic score, the show, or at least that staging of it, left a ton to be desired.  It could’ve been my lack of enthusiasm for Christianity, the bible, or Jesus in general that left me cold too (it should be noted that I still share that lack of enthusiasm).

When I’d heard that the production at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival was great and transferring, I shook my head and silently wondered to myself, Why, oh, why are bringing this back? Hasn’t Broadway suffered enough recently? But thankfully, I can eat my hat, because I saw this most recent revival tonight and I really enjoyed it.

This production is incredibly different from the last revival which was basically glam rock. This production, though still heavy in electric guitar, the voices are much less hard and more pure musical theatre. The set is simple, and looks like the remnants of the set from Taboo plus a giant shining cross and two moveable staircases, but it works. There are a fair amount of projections (that set the day, time, place, etc) but they all work and add to the production in a positive way. The choreography is original and fitting (except for the erratic and distracting movement in What’s the Buzz - that should be fixed ASAP). The costumes are all appropriate to the time during which the show is set - unlike Vincent’s black leather jacket and jeans in the 2000 revival (for example).  The whipping scene is much LESS bloody than in 2000 and the song Superstar is staged incredibly differently - but it’s really, really fun to watch.  

But like I originally stated, every single voice on the stage of the Neil Simon Theatre is incredibly strong and gorgeous. Josh Young (Judas) sings (and looks like) Josh Groban but with a slight edge, and he is absolutely fantastic. He doesn’t rip a high note before the final verse of Superstar but I got over that (forward to 2:29 on this video to see what I mean - oh, hell, just watch the whole thing - it was the only reason to see the last revival). Paul Nolan (as jesus) may have had an even stronger voice the Glenn Carter did in 2000 and he looked a bit younger, which I thought added to the idea that Jesus was naive, because he was young.  Chilina Kennedy (Mary) had a beautiful voice and I thought she acted the role quite well.  

Other stand-outs in the cast include Tom Hewitt as Pontius Pilate - he doesn’t do much in the first act but he has tons of attitude and wears a crushed purple velvet suit in the second act which more than makes up for his lack of presence in the first act. Bruce Dow as King Herod is a totally different type of flamboyancy from his 2000 counterpart Paul Kandel but it works just as well, if not better. I also really enjoyed Mike Nadajewski as Peter.

What else can I say? Jesus Christ Superstar has an amazing score (probably my favorite of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s). The first act flies by in 55 minutes, and the second act is a tad shorter (although it feels a bit longer) and you’re out by 10pm. This newest revival is definitely worth seeing, even if you didn’t particularly enjoy the last revival (ahem). They have (student) rush tickets for $27 available the day-of, so you really have no excuse not to see it.

(photo credit: joan marcus)

I think Seminar is among my top three favorite new plays that I’ve seen on Broadway so far this season. It’s got a killer cast, it’s one act, and it’s interesting and funny. There are no lighting effects, special effects, cool sets, or anything else to engage you - just great actors and a great script.

Alan Rickman plays Leonard, a famous writer-turned-writing-teacher who is teaching a pricey writing seminar to four young aspiring writers, Douglas (Jerry O’Connell), Martin (Hamish Linklater), Kate (Lily Rabe), and Izzy (Hettienne Park). Leonard is painfully truthful about their work and gives a few (especially Kate) a reality check. Izzy turns out to be the group slut (who sleeps with Leonard). And Martin turns out to be the most talented one in the bunch. 

In a surprising turn, Seminar turns out to be Martin’s show as much as it is Leonard’s. Rickman is fantastic and does his usual schtick, but I’ll go as far to say that I liked Linklater even more.  He embodies this scattered, nervous writer so believably onstage. I know, that’s what he’s paid to do, that’s what they’re all paid to do. There are so many crap actors out there that I’m surprised nowadays when one actually can act, I suppose.

All I’m trying to say is that Seminar is quick-witted, funny, and a great afternoon at the theatre. 

(photo credit: playbill)