Broadway Been and Gone

[Phantom of London]

After being delayed by 24 hours, as we had a little scattering of snow, so was put on a American Airlines instead of my intended British Airways flight.

So the delay meant I had to axe The Heiress and Golden Boy.

Saturday Night

Glengarry Glen Ross*** Legendary David Mamet play that was well acted by the WHOLE cast from top to bottom, but this play was about one person and that is the legendary Al Pacino who was very good, but as I said so was everybody else. The play seemed to be poorly directed.

Sunday Matinee

Picnic**** I hadn't really fancied this, but William Inge Pulitzer winning play turned out to be a real treat, again another play that was beautifully acted.

Sunday Night

Chicago** After queing for a cancellation line for a ticket to see Book of Mormon and failing (not too much on Broadway Sunday Night) I only had time to run across the road and get a SRO ticket for Chicago, which I am not a great lover of period, but the show does have several great songs, what it lacks in staging, it is made up by brilliant lighting and Christopher Sieber.

Monday Bonus Matinee (Federal holiday)

The Lion King**** Disney at its very best, everything about this show is great, but I prefered the production I saw on tour in the UK in Manchester a couple of months back I prefered, hece me kncking a star off my review.

Monday Evening

Mamma Mia**** Another night when not much goes on in New York City with only a handful of shows open. a jukebox show based on Abba back catalogue would normally have me running for the Sky-Scrappers, but Mamma Mia is well put together with an excellent upbeat book in a place where we all want to be and leave our mundane lives behind, this is probably ensured the longevity of this hit.

Tuesday Night

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woofe**** Graet play, great performances by the liquor ridden cast. Tracey Letts proves he is not just a great playwright but a great actor, when I spoke with him at the stagedoor he told me he didn't need to do Vriginia, as he isn't short of a few quid, joyous to see an actor act just for the pleasure of acting and he sure brought me joy.

Wednesday Matinee

The Other Place*** Enticed to see this as really enjoyed seeing Laurie Metcalf in Long Day's Journey Into Night which she gave a tour de force4 performance, in this one was not quite up there, but still very enjoyable.

Wednesday Night

Nice Work If You Can Get It** When I saw this in June last year I said to myself "no need to come back and see this one", I should of stuck to my mantra, the only reason I came back was Judy Kaye was out first time round and she is a good reason to come back for, the only good reason, Kelli O'Hara was delightful compared with the straight jacketed Mattew Broderick.

Thursday Matinee ) (Bonus Matinee Due to Cancelled Weekend performance, due to The Phantoms 25th Birtheday

The Phantom of the Opera**** Unexpected treat to see this, only found out by chance there was a bonus performance, great show, good to see Sierra Boggess ply Christine in the original role, sad to see Hugo Panaro out, but the replacement Phantom was terrific, so was Raoul.

Thursday Night

Annie**** Show terrificly acted by the young Lilla Crawford and a blinder played by the Australian Anthony Warlow, a musical I haven't seen before, but cerainly worth the wait.

Friday Night

Cat On A Hot Tin Roof*** Another spotlight which is thrust on to another star this time Tony winner Scarlett Johansson who was good in the title role of Cat, but the stand out for me was Ciaran Hands for me as Big Daddy, fabulous set by Christopher Oram, but I felr the direction by Rob Ashford was a bit more miss than hit.

Saturday Matinee

Cinderella**** The shoe does fit, but goes on with the aid of a shoe horn. Probably the most obscure Rodger and Hammerstein musical to hit Broadway, so obscure it hasn't played Broadway before, certainly watching this production I had to pinch myself it was a Rodger and Hammerstein musical it felf more like Disney.
Great performances by the three leads Laura Osnes, Santino Fontano and Tony winner Victoria Clark.

Saturday Night

Evita**** Last performance on Broadway, which just happens when I was in New York, which is good for me, can not get all the vittiol for Elena Roger who is superb in the title role of Eva, I said last time I saw this in June that Ricky Martin was very miscast and my view hasn't changed, he and Roger certainly gives the show that Latino feel. Michael Cerveris is pure class as General Peron.

Nice speeces given by the three leads at the end, 2 of them done partly in Spanish!

Sunday Matinee

The Mystery of Edwin Drood*** A musical that sounds a lot better than it actually is, however decent enough, this one didn't knock it out of the park for me.

Sunday Evening

Mary Poppins***** Less that 50 shows, befory Mary flys out and Aladdin flys in, a great musical that has been musicalised for the stage to perfection. Mary Poppins has all the hallmarks of Disney and Cameroon Mackintosh, which together they produce the perfrect musical. I will be sorry to see this one go, but felt I had to see it one last time.

Shows I missed.

Chaplin: The Musical, never really fancied this one.
Scandalous: What musical?
Dead Accounts: Wanted to see this for Norbert Leo Butz alone.
Bring It On: Really wanted to see this one, shame it moved it closing date forward, by a couple of weeks, meaning I miss this one. However I think this one will have life in the UK, something that ATG would bring over ala American Idiot.

[Stewart A]

I lost count of how many shows you saw during your trip but it is good to see as many shows as you have time for (or that the wallet will allow). Thanks for the reviews and glad you enjoyed a lot of the shows you saw.

[hotjohn]

Hey Phantom, I got to see Chaplin and Dead Accounts in December.

Chaplin was very good, not great. Music was instantly forgetable. Interesting design, right up until the finale it's pretty much all in black and white, very cleverly done.

Dead Accounts was completely awful, a non-starter of a play only slightly saved by Norbert Leo Butz but even he couldn't rescue this turkey. The only thing of note was the amount of food he managed to eat during the play!

Currently booking up everything that's available for my next trip in May!