Stop complaining if you haven't seen the show. I saw the show last night. Jim Dale IS a treasure. I thought it was very entertaining. I could only imagine how amazing he must have been in his youth. BUT... he still is. Super Talented. I saw him outside the theatre as he entered... he had a skip in his step. He was only five feet from me. I said "Mr. Dale I am coming to see you tonight!" He came over and shook my hand and I told him to have a good show.
As for Roundabout. They have hits and misses. Overall they have made a HUGE contribution to theatre in NYC.
As for the Laurel Pels. It's always been one of my favorite venues. Every seat is great. Very comfortable. Versatile. It's hardly a cave.
If you have tickets for the show, you will have a lovely evening in the theatre.
I saw the show over the weekend and found it absolutely delightful. Plus, the staff upgraded my last-row seat to front row, and Mr. Dale played a number of lines to me. Great fun!
"Grease," the fourth revival of the season, is the worst show in the history of theater and represents an unparalleled assault on Western civilization and its values. - Michael Reidel
Yes: if you wait for him outside (someone will direct you). When I met him after seeing the show, he was very pleasant, but understandably quite brief.
This show was a delight from start to finish, so very much more fleshed out than his Paley Center version a few years ago. I'm just glad he didn't stick to ballet!
Jim Dale is a talented and energetic performer. Dancing as he does at 78 is quite impressive.
That being said, I found this production very superficial. It didn't tell me how he got the show Me and My Girl or Scapino or Barnum; how he got to Broadway; if he was married; if he had kids. It told me very little. He sang songs from Barnum, Me and my Girl and a monologue from Joe Egg. Basically a retrospective of greatest hits. I found myself bored and looking at my watch.
It was autobiographical in that it told that the first show he was was Me and my Girl when he was 8 or 9 and he had to be on stage. He told for his love of English musical hall and any insights into Jim Dale stopped right there.
If you like autobiographical shows like Elaine Stritch where you saw her larynx.. this one just doesn't bare very much.
Saw it last night and really enjoyed it. Goldenboy he mentioned his son and sang a song for his wife. Im a subscriber and when I heard they were doing this I wasn't thrilled but its a fun 95 minutes.
'Take me out tonight where's there's music and there's people and they're young and alive.'
I saw the show this afternoon and boy did I not like it. I was bored to death!
I'll admit that I'm not a big fan of Mr Dale's but do enjoy Pete's Dragon. This show tells me absolutely nothing about it and trudges along at a pace slower than molasses. He seems like a nice enough guy but I just don't get the point of this show. One thing I really don't care to see is a long ass out of context monologue from a Noël Coward play or the opening portion of a play he did 30 years ago.
I thought maybe I was bored being the youngest person in the audience by 30 years but a few elderly women around me were asleep throughout the 100 mins. I would skip this unless you want some cheap A/C but it hasn't been hot enough this summer to make me suffer through something that boring.
ETA: RippedMan asked about the design of which there is none. There's a backdrop of the Music Hall(?) which was apparently blown up from a thumbnail because it looked pixelated as sh!t. There's an occasional projection of childhood photos or theatrical billings. And some man at a piano. Pretty much as uninteresting as the show itself.
"Pardon my prior Mcfee slip. I know how to spell her name. I just don't know how to type it." -Talulah