The Theatre Enthusiast

On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. Our final show of the trip was the highly anticipated but highly disappointing Be More Chill. I am so sorry, you guys. I really was excited to see this show and then come on here and write a glowing review. Unfortunately, I'm not going to be able to do that with a clear conscience. As much as it pains me to say it, I would like to recommend any self-proclaimed #Squips (the name Be More Chill  fans have given themselves) to close this page and continue to celebrate and support the show that you clearly love a lot more than I do. After spending four hours sitting on the sidewalk outside the Lyceum Theatre on a rainy Sunday morning, I scored rush tickets to Be More Chill . I was ecstatic.  The buzz coming off the s...

photo by Jan Versweyveld On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. Next up to review is Network . We took our seats in the balcony of the theatre, and before our butts even hit our seats there was already so much to look at. I immediately spotted Bryan Cranston far upstage right getting his makeup done. There were people doing yoga center stage. On stage left, in our blind spots, the audience members who paid premium prices for stage seating were enjoying their complimentary food and drink. On the screens located all through the theatre, a giant countdown to the start of the show was ticking down. Immediately we were swept up into the world of the play, and I knew with great certainty that we were about to see something incredibly unique. Once the countdown h...

photo by Joan Marcus On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. The second show we saw was The Ferryman , a new play taking Broadway by storm. I first found out about The Ferryman when my mom and I were visiting New York City in January of this year. As we were walking to our hotel, we walked past the marquee and studied it briefly. "What's The Ferryman ?" "I dunno... new play I guess?" "Huh, I guess we should look into it." "Yeah." The next day I was waiting in a rush line for another show and chatting with the girl sitting behind me in line. She had just seen The Ferryman and told me it was a must-see! She told me it was a long show but the acting was superb and there was a real baby in the cast! Okay, an actual infant c...

On the weekend of February 22nd, I took advantage of my President's Day floating holiday from work and traveled to New York City with my family to catch four Broadway shows. I intend to post my reviews over the next couple weeks for each show we saw. First up is the Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate! Roundabout Theatre Company's latest production has been highly-anticipated (at least by me) for many months, and I was extremely excited that we were able to score tickets during the show's second week of previews. For those unfamiliar with the term, previews are regular performances with a paying audience, but are prior to the official opening night. During previews, the cast and creative team can gauge audience response and figure out any changes that need to be made to costumes, choreography, staging, etc. Once opening night arrives, the show is considered "frozen" and no more changes can be made. Anyway, back to Kiss Me, Kate! This production is full of imm...

photo by Jeremy Daniel  Last week I had the pleasure of attending the Kennedy Center's newest Broadway Center Stage production. For those of you unaware of the series, Broadway Center Stage puts on strictly limited engagement, semi-staged concerts featuring the best performers Broadway has to offer at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Since their inaugural season last year, the Kennedy Center has put on some fabulous BCS performances, including Chess, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,  and Little Shop of Horrors , starring well-known Broadway veterans such as Ramin Karimloo, Raul Esparza, Karen Olivo, Betsy Wolfe, Josh Radnor, Megan Hilty, and more! To kick off the 2019 BCS season, The Kennedy Center presented The Music Man , starring Broadway royalty Norm Lewis and Jessie Mueller. I attended the final performance of  The Music Man  on February 11th (a performance date that was added due to popular ...