|
Broadway Mini-Reviews
Presented by: Various
Venue: Various
Reviewer: Simon Parris
Date Reviewed: Dec 12 - 27, 2007
One of our most regular reviewers, Simon has appeared in more than
30 productions over the past twenty years. Recent roles include
Uncle Henry/Guard of the Gate in The Wizard of Oz (Catchment) and
Eugene Fodor in
Crazy for You (Whitehorse). Other favourite roles include Mr Fox in
Mack and Mabel, Max in The Sound of Music, Freddy in My Fair Lady,
Julio in Paint Your Wagon, Marcellus in The Music Man and Grantaire
in Les Miserables.
In 2005, Simon was nominated for a Guild Award in the category Best
Cameo Performance for his role as
the Judge in Hello, Dolly! (Whitehorse).
He is also a supremely keen audience member of all kinds of theatre,
travelling biannually to both New York and London to take in well
over 50 shows during the trip. This makes Simon the perfect advisor
on ‘What to See’ and ‘What Not to See’ on the world’s greatest
stages. During his latest sojourn, he prepared the following
Mini-Reviews for our reading pleasure and as tips and hints for
those about to set off to the Big Apple themselves.
Ratings
System
«««««
Book your plane ticket
««««
A
must see on your list
«««
Worth seeing
««
Not up to Broadway standards
«
If you get given a ticket, don’t go
Note:
Many of the productions listed below have been reviewed by this site
before. The following reviews take in the current casts of the
productions at December 2007
Curtains
(Kander & Ebb)
««««
Good old
fashioned musical fun with an all star Broadway cast - Tony winner
David Hyde-Pierce, Debra Monk, Karen Ziemba, Jason Danieley and
soon-to-be-‘Scarlett-O'Hara’, Jill Paice - all at the top of their
game. Will be great for amateur companies sometime soon.
 How
The Grinch Stole Christmas!
««
Fun for
kids. A one-act money-making machine that plays 15 times a week.
(Closed Jan 6)
 Wicked
«««««
Stephanie J
Block (‘Elphaba’) is brilliant. The audience nearly tore apart the
theatre when she did not come out for the bows - turned out someone
stepped on her hand in a slight change of blocking, very painful!
 The
Drowsy Chaperone
«««
So much fun
and so appropriate for me - hope I can play ‘Man in Chair’ one day -
if I don't play him already every day. Cindy Williams (‘Shirley’
from Laverne & Shirley) was under-rehearsed - that's my
polite term - as ‘Mrs Tottendale’. Bob Saget (Full House) was
ok as ‘Man in Chair’. Original ‘Man in Chair’, Bob Martin was there
and I got my photo with him! (Closed Dec 30)
Simon with Bob Martin
 A
Chorus Line
«««
Brilliant to
see this on Broadway. Loved how the audience reacted to where the
dancers where from - never thought of this angle before. Charlotte
d'Amboise brought the house down as ‘Cassie’.
 Make
Me A Song
««
Revue of
William Finn songs. No Spelling Bee songs but a great
Falsettos section. (Closed Dec 30)
 August:
Osage County
(by Tracy Letts)
«««««
Absolutely
brilliant three-act, three and a half hour play that will win the
Tony and probably the Pulitzer. An extended family reunites when the
patriarch goes missing. Edge of the seat drama with some necessary
laughs and amazing performances, it seems to go by in minutes. Just
extended 5 weeks to mid April.
 Young
Frankenstein
«
The combined
talents Mel Brooks, Susan Stroman, Roger Bart, Megan Mullaly, Sutton
Foster and many others cannot save this from being an embarrassing
turkey. Very few laughs, completely uninspired choreography and
hopelessly forgettable songs. Schuler Hensley (The Monster), Andrea
Martin (Frau Blucher), Christopher Fitzgerald (Igor) and Sutton
Foster (Inga) acquit themselves quite well. I will never again book
more than one ticket to a show before seeing it!
Simon with Sutton Foster
Legally Blonde
««««
More fun than
it should be *legally* possible to have in the theatre. Snappy pace,
catchy songs, fun chorey, cute designs. Laura Bell Bundy carries the
show like a megastar.
Laura Bell Bundy
with Simon
Gypsy of the
Year
(unrated -
annual event)
Annual 'Red
Faces' for the chorus members of Broadway, plus announcement
of fundraising winners. The highlight was the 50 year reunion of the
original cast of West Side Story. Chita Rivera, Carol
Lawrence and many others (supplemented by a Follies-like younger
ensemble) performed ‘A Boy Like That’, ‘Dance at the Gym’,
‘America’
and more.
 Forbidden
Broadway: Rude Awakening
«««
Always
hilarious. Always heaps of new material.
The Homecoming
(by Harold Pinter)
«««
Not really my
cup of tea but I love Raul Esparza.
 The
Color Purple
«««
Always
heartwarming. Still doing solid business, although it will drop off
a bit now American Idol winner, Fantasia has left on Jan 6.
 The
Little Mermaid
«««
Really
gorgeous designs, great score, strong cast but the whole affair
falls strangely flat - there is no tension or drive to the story.
Will do well with families though. The only other new musical (along
with Young Frankenstein) to open in this half of the year so
the Best Musical section in the Tony Awards is looking a bit sparse
at this stage (Xanadu not withstanding.)
 Cyrano
de Bergerac
««««
Kevin Kline,
Jennifer Garner and Daniel Sunjata lead a large (by Broadway
standards) cast. Very enjoyable and ultimately quite moving. Jen
wore some gorgeous frocks!
Jennifer
Garner
 Spring
Awakening«««««
I loved this
show and was very glad to see it twice. Sensational young cast,
gorgeous score, moving story and the most beautiful lighting on
Broadway. I hope it comes to Australia.
Jonathan
Groff with Simon
 Xanadu
««««
More great
fun. One-act, tongue-in-cheek, non-stop action and addictive, retro
songs by ELO. Fabulous stars, Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson are
given brilliant comic support by Mary Testa and Jackie Hoffman.
 November
(by David Mamet)
««««
An absolutely hilarious new play with a tour de force performance
from Nathan Lane as a US President facing the prospect of not being
re-elected. How much money can he get from threatening to pardon all
the turkeys in America just before Thanksgiving, opening an Indian
casino or being Best Man at his lesbian assistants wedding?
Nathan Lane
with Simon
 Mary
Poppins
««««
Slightly
improved from the London production, so it's even more gorgeous and
magical than it already was. Ashley Brown was inexplicably replaced
as Mary in act two.
Also, if
you’re interested, the operas: (these shows are unrated due to the
difference in comparison with opera programmes)
Hansel & Gretel
Totally
inappropriate for the family market the advertising is aimed at.
Dark and spooky - even I was scared when the witch was burned alive
in the oven; I don't know how kiddies would cope!
A Masked Ball
The most
stunning event on stage I have ever seen. You could feel the force
of the strength of the singing. Amazing.
Coming soon...
West End Mini-Reviews
BROADWAY TIPS
by Mark Dooley
-
Use TKTS of course. There are 2 booths; one is usually in Times
Square, but has been relocated while Duffy Square (the island it’s
situated on) is being renovated. Temporarily it is in the Marriot
Marquis Hotel, which is on West 46th Street, between
Broadway and 8th Avenue. There’s also a TKTS at South
Street Seaport, which is in the Financial District of Lower
Manhattan. Tickets on the day of performance only. On Saturdays,
you can also book for Sunday matinees.
-
Sign up to
www.playbill.com - great discounts on most shows.
-
Lottery. You write your name down a couple of hours before a show,
and the names are drawn out half an hour later. Not all shows
offer this option. Wicked, Avenue Q and Jersey Boys
do though. Tickets are usually sold for no more than $25 cash and
seats are in the front row of the stalls. Bargain.
-
Book tickets before you leave home for the popular shows on the
weekend. You will have a better chance of getting great seats to
less popular shows, during weekdays.
-
Great Broadway hotels are St James Hotel or The Milford Plaza;
both half a block walk from Times Square.
-
Broadway CDs – J & R Music World located at Park Row across from
City Hall Park
www.jr.com. Ask the staff to match their internet
prices (thanks for the tip Simon Parris), and you will save a
fortune. Do your research before you leave. Note: J&R don’t ship
to Australia, so you’re still best off sticking with Amazon if you
can’t save on shipping by picking them up in person!
|