Oh well. Looks like the strike situation keeps getting worse...and weirder. Has the media totally forgotten the big picture? Are we so fascinated by the stuff happening to THE GRINCH? What about WICKED? JERSEY BOYS? LITTLE MERMAID? SPRING AWAKENING? What ever happened to those shows?
Well, let's take a brief break from talking about the strike stuff to go over some recent other stuff I've seen:
Barbara Cook's 80th B-Day Celebration at the Philharmonic - how totally amazing to see Cook, always a masterclass in how to act a song, alongside a super-sized orchestra? We typically see her only with piano, bass and drums. And I will admit that seeing her in a small setting like the Mitzi Newhouse Theater or a nightclub allows an intimacy that one didn't find at Avery Fisher Hall. But this was quite an occasion, apparently the first time she performed with the Philharmonic since the 1985 Follies concert. Saw Frank Rich in the row in front of me. Couldn't help but wonder whether he caught Cook in SHE LOVES ME, THE GAY LIFE or even CANDIDE.
1776 at St. Bart's Players - I haven't seen a show done by this community theater troupe in three years since they did FIORELLO!, which was not too great. I was surprised to learn that 1776 was being performed not in the small auditorium where they do most of their shows, but in the huge St. Bart's Church itself. Unfortunately, since 1776 needs a very techical set design, they had to add a kind of small dome over the church pulpit, rather than utilize the entire space, which would have been really cool. The cast was pretty great overall, but one thing I'd mention - the wigs. Their costumes looked perfect (could they have been the ones used in the revival, in fact?), but the wigs were extraordinarily cheap looking in comparison. Why not just go without them? The orchestra of 6 players (program credited 8, but I saw the last performance, so maybe the rest were gone) were all individually great, adding to a very rich sound.
Broadway Unplugged - I usually sit in the orchestra on the aisle at these Scott Siegel-Broadway By the Year events. Yet I was surprised to learn that I had been placed in the first row of the mezz for Broadway Unplugged. (Was it some kind of mistake? Not only that, my seats weren't even together...) But in the end, I'm glad. The sound is somewhat richer atop. And what a perfect show to be there. What really is the difference between singing off-mic here than say at a small off-Broadway theater like the York? In a bigger house, they truly need to belt and be on their best vocal behavior.
Here is the song list:
ACT I
"Something's Comin'" – Aaron Lazar
"Everybody Says Don't" – Andrea McArdle
"Were Thine That Special Face" – Paul Schoeffler
"Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat" – Bill Daugherty
"Anthem" – Michael Winther
"Patterns" – Barbara Walsh
"Winning" – Marc Kudisch
"Somewhere" – Sarah Uriarte Berry
"This Nearly Was Mine" – Martin Vidnovic
"Tonight" – Sarah Jane McMahon and Max von Essen
ACT II
"Heaven on their Minds" – Darius DeHaas
"Magic Moment" – Sarah Jane McMahon
"Free at Last" – Michael McElroy
"Surabaya Johnny" – Lorinda Lisitza
"Bring Him Home" – Willy Falk
"Nobody Breaks My Heart" – Beth Leavel
"If Ever I Would Leave You" – William Michals
"Who Will Love Me As I Am?" – David Burnham and Max von Essen
"More Than You Know" – Emily Skinner
"I Was Here" – Marc Kudisch
Finale: "With a Song in My Heart" - Company