Back from NYC: Rent, Curtains, Blonde, Purple & Spring! - plus Pictures!

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:34pm

Hey all!

Well we got back from NYC yesterday night so i thought i'd write up my mini review.

MONDAY / RENT
I got to the city early on Monday and had a choice between RENT and AVENUE Q. Had already seen AVE but had no interest in RENT... a little torn on what to see... then decided to go with RENT. I loved it! I remember when RENT came out on broadway. i was in high school and everyone was obsessed over it and i remember what a big deal it was... but i never wanted to see it... just didnt interest me... but i'm glad i saw it (especially now that we know its closing). The guy who played Roger (sorry dont have my playbill on me now so i dont remember his name) impressed me most. incredible voice. tamyra was also great. loved the music, the story was heartbreaking... just a shame the theater was barely half full.

TUESDAY / CURTAINS
We had incredible seats to Curtains! Overall we had a fun time, but i wasnt obsessed or anything. I thought the first act was weaker than the second act. It picked up much more after intermission and became more enjoyable. DHP was great, hilarious, but I enjoyed Deborah Monk most. My biggest peeve, Jill Paice (Niki)... jesus christ i kept hoping "the killer" would shoot her dead, but no such luck... we had to endure her thru-out the whole show... her extreme over acting, her annoying voice, everything about her performance made me want to jump right off that Mezz balcony. But i didnt let that spoil the show... we still had fun. Overall probably my least favorite of the shows we saw this week, but still enjoyable and a good time!

WEDNESDAY / LEGALLY BLONDE / THE COLOR PURPLE
LEGALLY: We started off with LEGALLY at a matinee performance. The Positive: LBB is great. Her voice wasnt the best (a little too nasally for my taste) but she has great comedic timing and definitely gives her all. The theater was once again pretty empty (not sure what was going on this week??) but that didnt stop any of the performers from giving it their all. Lots of energy from the cast. Christian Borle was also great. He really made you root for him. But without a doubt the star of the show was Orfeh. She had us in stitches. Even a crazy ridiculous song like "Ireland" was a blast because of her. And a great voice. The Cons: Richard Blake. I did not enjoy this guys singing at all... or acting... or anything. He sounded like a fallen member of "98 degrees" with absolutely no stage presence. He didnt ruin the show, but his role could have been cast better. Overall: A fun show... i knew this was a show that was really for the "tweens" out there, but i think they made it enjoyable enough that those of us over 14 could enjoy it too... not the greatest show on the great white way, but a fun time.

THE COLOR PURPLE: Finally! A show that really moved me. Before I get into my review let me say that I have always been a huge fan of the book. I've read it several times since I was a kid and the Spielberg film is a classic. But I was weary of the show since it was produced by Oprah. Oprah is great and all, but she has a tendency to produce stuff that is very very mediocre. While the show wasnt an A+ i had a great time and it really moved me. The Pros: No doubt about it the star of this show is newcomer Zonya Love. Everything about her performance WAS Celie. Her facial expressions, her acting, her singing, she just broke my heart the way Whoopi did more than 20 years ago. Other standouts were Withers as Shug (fantastic!) and White as Mister. Lakisha Jones also impressed with her small role as choir singer... and I loved the three ladies who played the gossiping church ladies. No doubt this cast can SANG.... not just "sing"... but they can SANG! Very glad we saw it... would love to see it again one day. The Cons: Chaka and Bebe... yeah they sang fine and they werent awful or anything but for all the hoopla made about them appearing in the show I was not impressed in the least. The one song I looked forward to the most was "hell no" and it came and went with little to no impact... Chaka cant act and her singing is more screechy yelling than anything. But no biggie... Zonya and Elisabeth were there to keep things great.

THURSDAY / SPRING AWAKENING
The show i had been hearing about for months! winner of a trillion tony awards and winner of best musical... i couldnt wait! The Pros: Fantastic cast. Great voices. All very committed to their roles. The music was incredible I thought... I was looking forward to picking up the cast album afterwards to give it another listen. The Cons: As great as the performances were and as great as the music was, the book just didnt impress me as much as i thought it would. it was good without being GREAT. Also, and maybe people will hate me for this, but i DID NOT enjoy Blake Bashoff as Moritz. God was he annoying... his singing was great, no doubt this guy has a great voice, but when he was acting and "trying" to be funny he just irked me to death. Not for one second did I believe him in the role... he stuck out like a sore thumb in the cast...

P.S. i know i'm not the only one who has to have said this before... but jesus christ someone get these poor kids umbrellas for when they need to act opposite Jonathan Groff. The guy was like a geyser of spit. Even when he was just talking it was a shower of spit that would make it from one end of the stage to the next. Several times the spit was so much that it was dripping off his chin... it was disgusting. The guy was great in the role, great singer, good actor, but jesus, lol, the spit was so distracting... very distracting... just a little side note... :)

A great week at the theater. Looking forward to going back...

UPDATE: I've just uploaded a few photos from the week
http://www.flickr.com/photos/monandpab/sets/72157603755111211/

Updated On: 1/19/08 at 12:34 PM

[RyToast1]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:39pm

Glad you enjoyed the city! I really need to see The Color Purple, I've heard Zonya is fantastic!

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 12:49pm

Oprah really didn't have anything to do with The Color Purple except to put out a million dollars to become a producer so they could use her name to sell the show. They already had producers and the money for the show when she "came on board". I saw the original cast and enjoyed it. The only thing I didn't care for much was the opening to the second act. It seemed to go on a bit too long. (We call it the Lion King segment of the show). But I actually love listening to that part of the show on the CD.

Funny about the spit in Spring Awakening. I saw it at the Atlantic, second row and there was spit flying everywhere the evening we saw it.

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:06pm

uncageg - good to know about oprah! i agree completely about the opening to ACT II. It was the only part of the show I did not enjoy either... it went on way too long and really wasnt very good...

[Pascal/Menzel/Bundy]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 1:57pm

Refresh my memory; How does Act II begin?

[broadwayfan7]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:00pm

So glad you and Michelle had a great time! Thanks for your reviews! Hope you two get to go back to the city again!

[uncageg]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:01pm

Pascal, Act II opens in Africa with Nettie writing the letters to Celie.

[Pascal/Menzel/Bundy]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:11pm

Oh! Wow, I completely forgot about that part. I remember thinking, "I don't want to watch these people. Let's get back to Celie!" I guess I just blocked it out as it was the only part I (like you guys) didn't enjoy.

[Becky]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 2:16pm

The guy who played Roger (sorry dont have my playbill on me now so i dont remember his name) impressed me most. incredible voice.

His name is Declan Bennett - and I'm glad you liked him - he's one of the most impressive "Rogers" I've seen.

(counting down till RentBoy86 jumps in and posts how much he doesn't like him............)

I'm disappointed to hear that about Blake in SA. I'm seeing it next week and I'm hoping for the best....

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 3:07pm

becky - yes Declan was incredible. I went into the show only knowing who tamyra was, but Declan stole the show... as well as the young man who played Angel (again sorry for not knowing his name... shoot!)

As far as Blake in SA - its a matter of personal taste i guess... i'm sure others love him in the role... for me tho, i did not enjoy him. at all.

[Elphaba]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 4:02pm

THE COLOR PURPLE: Finally! A show that really moved me.


you said it. We saw it in LA a few weeks ago and I cried......one of the only shows that has moved me in a long while

[PlayhouseBeauty]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 6:13pm

Angel is played buy Justin Johnston and every time I see the show he always impresses me...He makes Angel so funny and loveable...It sounds that you guys had a great time and thats great! :)

[fbueller]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 6:33pm

cubanpab--

Where did you end up staying? I remember you were having a hard time findind a reasonable place.

[jordangirl]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 6:37pm

i know i'm not the only one who has to have said this before... but jesus christ someone get these poor kids umbrellas for when they need to act opposite Jonathan Groff. The guy was like a geyser of spit. Even when he was just talking it was a shower of spit that would make it from one end of the stage to the next. Several times the spit was so much that it was dripping off his chin... it was disgusting. The guy was great in the role, great singer, good actor, but jesus, lol, the spit was so distracting... very distracting... just a little side note... :)

I was talking with a friend last night about that very thing ~ the spitting ~ and we were thinking how funny it would be if they started handing out ponchos to the front row. Or else some of the people in the front row came in with ponchos and face screens. :P

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:11pm

fbueller - we stayed at "The Wellington"... and it was a nightmare. The location was fantastic, and we got it for a super cheap price, but the hotel was horrible. I have stayed in some really crappy Motel 6 places before, and nothing was like the wellington. We switched rooms 3 times (something we have never done before... switch rooms... never done it!) First time because our shower would not give us hot water, the second time because we heard rats in the A/C unit... we complained to management and they ignored us... then one night a huge Rat came out and ran across the floor. My wife went hysterical. I let management have it... i have never been so angry... lol. they gave us free breakfast and upgraded us to a big room. it was decent enough so we stopped complaining... but i beg everyone... spare yourselves the pain... dont even stay there...

jordangirl... we were in the second row and we almost got hit a few times... the old lady in front of me in the 1st row, i heard her complaining to her husband during intermission... so i think she was actually hit!
Updated On: 1/19/08 at 08:11 PM

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:11pm

P.S. I just uploaded a few photos!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/monandpab/sets/72157603755111211/

[pushdabutton]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:15pm

Good to hear you had a great trip cubanpab.

Your photos of the trip are outstanding! I have never seen photos of Times Square at night as focused and sharp as yours. Great job. If you don't mind me asking, what camera do you use?

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:21pm

pushdabutton - thanks! The camera body I use is a Canon 40D, and the lens I used for most of those shots was the Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L Lens.

I didnt take very many pictures on this trip... we were too busy having fun and I kept forgetting my camera in the hotel... oh well... next time I hope. I had to snap a few pictures with my iPhone which sucked! lol

[bestfreakinshoes]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:43pm

The photos are amazing! They got me all excited for my trip in a couple weeks.

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:44pm

I'm so glad that you 2 had a great time in NYC. I had posted a few suggestions on an earlier thread that you guys had.

Interesting how you really liked Orpeh in LEGALLY BLONDE. My thoughts were the complete opposite of yours. I thought she was really, really bad.

I'm really sorry and ticked off about your problems with The Wellington Hotel. That's completely unacceptable. Your entire stay should have been comped. Live rodents in a hotel room........there's NO excuse for that.


Updated On: 1/19/08 at 08:44 PM

[cubanpab]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:52pm

bestfreakinshoes - nice! when are you going? what do you plan to see?

nealb1 - it was horrible... but... neither of us like to complain or cause problems... so we didnt know what to do really... the first night we tried to overlook the cold shower thing but it was impossible to shower... so we asked politely and they moved us... then the second night we kept hearing scratching and gnawing and squeaking behind the A/C unit and we were like "um... *gulp*... is that a rat???" LOL! So we called management and they pretty much ignored us... then later that night Monica was looking for her slippers under the bed and the little sucker came flying out! and ran across the room... she suffered a mild heart attack! lol lol... i of course got pissed and called management screaming at the top of my lungs... this was at 2:30AM... and they were very apologetic and moved us again and gave us comp breakfast in the morning... i should have demanded to see the manager in the morning and asked for our whole stay to be reimbursed, but i didnt want to be difficult so we just forgot about it and tried to not let it ruin our trip...

what can you do i guess? thats what i get for trying to save money by staying at a cheaper hotel...

Updated On: 1/19/08 at 08:52 PM

[nealb1]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 8:57pm

Please don't think that you were being difficult or complaining. Not at all. The bottom line is.......you are the paying guest. People will tolerate a lumpy mattress....stains on the carpet, drapes, etc.

But, no hot water............and, then a nightly visitor. That's totally and completely unacceptable.

There's a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things.

You should have received a refund for your entire stay.

I saw THE COLOR PURPLE in Chicago last summer and I really, really enjoyed it. The ending scene was so moving.......so inspiring!!!


Updated On: 1/19/08 at 08:57 PM

[iluvcioffiiluvtea]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:48pm

Awww, David looks just so adorable in that sweater...

Great review, cubanpab! I'm going to see CURTAINS sometime this year, but I don't know when. I really love the cast album, and I put it in my iPod a couple of weeks ago.

[bestfreakinshoes]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:53pm

I'm only going to be there for a couple days, but I'm seeing Rock n Roll, Xanadu (or Curtains), and Legally Blonde (which I've seen before, but it's my fun show.)

And your hotel sounds horrible. I'm so sorry you both had to put up with that.

[lovelyspotlight]

Posted: 1/19/08 at 9:54pm

Ah! Zonya was in "Children of Eden" in my hometown when the local theater did it for its annual summerstage. She is so sweet and OS talented. My mom, brother, and I are flying to NYC to see her in TCP. I'm glad to hear that she's wonderful!

(She was Eve in "Children of Eden"...of course.)