All school year when I dream of summer vacation, I plan to attend heaps of theater and all of those Sunday/Monday evening events that I can't get to while working. I haven't seen much this summer. Maybe it's because summer is slow - there are no new Broadway shows and off-Broadway seems to be on vacation.
I spent the first week of July in San Francisco, which of course impacted my NYC theater schedule, but I caught three local shows in SF. You can read about them here.
As soon as I got back from San Francisco I headed to the Berkshire Theater Festival to see The Who's Tommy. Tommy is one of the first musicals I remember seeing as a child and really enjoying (along with Blood Brothers). I once proclaimed on this very blog my deep appreciation of all things James Barry. Well, he was playing Captain Walker to Randy Harrison's Tommy, so I was there, twice. I was going to love this production, no matter what. Both nights had audio problems (and this was not a preview), and the choreography was way overdone, but I loved every second of it. Can we please get these Brooklyn boys back on the New York stage?
The other major shows I saw were special visits with old favorites - Rent and Hair. Last time I saw Hair was in March on tour in Boston with my whole family. This time I went alone. Let me tell you, the best Broadway seats I've ever had have been at the St James. The last time I saw American Idiot and this trip to Hair, I was sitting center orchestra in row F or G. I'm shocked they're not premium seats. And this amazing seat to Hair cost me only $55. Why? Because the Public Theater rocks. Usually when you receive a discount code for a Broadway show the orchestra seats available to you are in the side orchestra or rear orchestra. Not for Hair - front and center. Anyways, the show is still great. The cast created a great energy with the audience on a sparse Tuesday night.
And then there was Rent. I think I would need to see it again with a notepad to tell you all of my thoughts. It felt bizarre. It was the same old, familiar Rent, but something was different. Mostly the set. I'll give you more thoughts later in the week post-opening.
Lastly, I saw a great movie called One Night Stand, part of New Fest, NYC's LGBT film festival. It is about the making of the 24 Hour Musicals. I went because I thought I would be interesting, but I was pleasantly surprised by how great it was. It was a documentary showing all of the actors, writers and composers coming together to write and produce a fifteen minute musical in 24 hours. The book writers and composer had from midnight until 6:00 am to write the musical. They became totally hysterical in the wee hours of the morning and still managed to come up with good stories and songs. Then the actors had the day to learn their lines, songs and choreography. Apparently it takes more than a day to learn to sing a song well, so it was also hysterical watching the music directors and the actors work through kinks. And it was deeply satisfying to watch it all come together, musicals on stage for an audience that same night. I've never been to the 24 Hour Musicals, but now I'm really looking for to the event next spring.
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