Whispering Voices: Who I'll Be

I've switched hotels today - I'm now at the Hilton New York, scores of floors up in the air and with a fabulous view of this crazily tall city. I'm only just getting to grips with the vast height of Manhattan, and remembering to look up just in case I miss anything (I nearly walked straight past the Chrysler building this morning, as I was too busy concentrating on heading straight down the road to Bloomingdale's).

I've seen more productions of Guys and Dolls than I care to count, and I've come to the conclusion that it's a show that simply can't be ruined - the book and score is just too strong to be sullied by poor performances, direction or production. Fortunately, in the new show at the Nederlander, the leads are incredibly good - Lauren Graham got the big plaudits because she's got the strongest TV career, but I was particularly taken with the clarity of Kate Jennings Grant's soprano range. On the down side, some of the staging was puzzling (the lack of dice and the imperative to mime the shaking was unpleasantly noticeable from the front of the stalls), and some of the arrangements made me cringe - particularly General Cartwright's unnecessary cadenza in Sit Down You're Rocking The Boat.

I may be the only person in the world not to have seen Shrek the movie, and I wasn't sure if I'd like the stage musical version. However, just as the leading ladies of 9 to 5 were a draw yesterday, Sutton Foster and Brian d'Arcy James were a good enough reason to see the show - and they did not disappoint. Foster in particular was impressive with charm, fine comic acting and stunningly swift costume changes.

Last show is booked for tomorrow night...not sure what I've got planned for the daytime - finding out that most shows are closed on Mondays and there was no chance of a matinee was a total shock to me...