Motown: The Musical

Good morning, ya'll! Last night we went to see the first musical in our SHN 2014-2015, Motown: The Musical. This was our second year with season tickets and we decided to pick up a set of 4 tickets this season so that we could share our musical experience with some of our friends and family. We tried to figure out which of our friends and family would enjoy this show the most and ultimately decided to bring hub's dad and girlfriend with us. It seems like we made the right decision as they reminisced about growing up with the music of Motown.

 The music for the show was great! I mean how could it not with all the super hits that came out of the Motown record label? With songs like Ain't to Proud to Beg, What's Going On, and ABC the music of this show definitely had the audience bopping along. The story follows the conception and life of Motown Records by legendary producer and song writer Berry Gordy.

For me the plot fell short, so much focus was put on the music of Motown which is great, but I still feel like they could've done more with the story. I understand that clearly the focus of the show would be the amazing music they made, but there are other similar musicals out there like Jersey Boys and Beautiful: The Carol King Musical that focus highly on the music and are still able to make time to tell a story. My final thoughts...go for the music, but don't expect much of a storyline.

NYC Musicals: Rocky

On the Thusday we were in New York we planned to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch starring Neal Patrick Harris. It was the musical that hubs bought tickets for as soon as we knew we'd be in New York because we love NPH. Needless to say we were super excited to see that show. However, it wasn't until we were on our way to pick up our tickets from will call that we realized we'd made a terrible mistake. Apparently we put Hedwig on  the wrong day in our calendar and booked A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder for the same day. We completely missed Hedwig without even knowing it! We hurried over to the box office to see if there was anything we could do to get tickets, but they informed us that tickets were sold out over a month in advanced are escorted Heartbreaking to say the least.

We sadly walked toward Times Square where I proceeded to get separated from hubs in the hoards of people when he crossed a street before I was able to. Thank goodness for cell phones! After being reunited we made our way over to the TKS booth to see if there was anything we wanted to see. Hubs had been pointing out the Rocky billboards everywhere we went in New York but I was less than excited to see a musical based on a movie I'd never seen. But since hubs was so forlorn about messing up our Hedwig tickets I suggested we see Rocky in hopes of cheering him up. The musical is up for a few Tony awards including best actor in a musical and best scenic design so I figured it couldn't be so bad.

Since I haven't seen the movie I can't attest to how true the musical is to the movie, but hubs says that they did a pretty good job. To me the story seems pretty depressing up until the big fight at the end, but again apparently that's how it's supposed to be. The actor who played Rocky definitely had the Sylvester Stallone voice down, but strangely had a very distinct country twang whenever he sang. I honestly wasn't very impressed with the lyrics throughout the musical. For some reason they seemed forced. But maybe that's just what happens when you're trying turn a non-musical movie into a musical.

Even though I wasn't blown away by the story or lyrics of Rocky I'm glad we saw it for it's production value alone. If this play doesn't win best scenic design I will be shocked. The stage design of this show is absolutely incredible. From the little things like the rain that trickles down the windows in scenes where it's raining to the cameras they use to put up live images so it looks like we're really watching the news coverage of Rocky training for the big fight. But most impressive is the boxing ring that moves seemlessly around the stage throughout the show. In fact for the fight scene between Rocky and Apollo Creed a regulation sized boxing ring slides out into the audience and a jumbo tron drops from the ceiling just like you'd see at a real boxing match. The audience members sitting in the center of the first 10-15 rows are escorted on stage to sit in bleachers to watch the big fight. It really makes you feel like you've been transported into the movie. I can't imagine how they would possibly take such a large production on the road so if you liked the movie I'd reccomend seeing the musical in New York just for the sheer amazingness of the set.

NYC Musicals: A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder

About 1-2 weeks before we left for New York the list of Tony nominations were released. Upon reviewing the list of nominees, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder clearly stoodout amongst the crowd with a whopping 10 nominations including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. Hubs insisted that we try to get tickets for this musical while I tried to convince him that if this musical was as good as it seemed that it would probably be in next years line up for us as SHN season ticket holders. As usual hubs won after arguing that the people nominated from the musical for best actor in a musical and best featured actress in a musical wouldn't be performing in the traveling version. We just lucked out and got some of the last tickets available for the week we were in New York.

The musical is a comedy about a gentleman who finds out that his late mother was from a very prestigious family, but was disowned after marrying her less than prestigious husband for love. He learns that he is actually 9th in line to inherit earldom. With that knowledge in handhe sets forth to eliminate the 9 relatives (all which are played by a single actor) ahead of him in order to earn his rightful spot as an earl.

I am sooo glad hubs convinced me that it was absolutely imperative that we see this musical while in New York. The musical was spectacular and absolutely hilarious. Jefferson Mays, who plays all 9 of the relatives who are eventually off'd was absolutely brilliant. In fact the entire cast is quite sensational. I'm so happy that we had an opportunity to see this musical and I hope to see it in line up for next years SHN season.

NYC Musicals: Avenue Q

While in New York we went to see Avenue Q at an off-Broadway theater. I had heard great things about Avenue Q and it won Tony's in 2004 for best musical, best book, and best original score so I figured why not. I'd say this is like a very grown up version of Sesame Street with muppets and everything. The play is essentially about a typical Gen Y yuppie  who's fresh out of college with a BA in English and trying to muddle through the beginnings of true adulthood. It's a story that I think really resonates with my generation and their desire to find a meaningful and fulfilling job that gives their life a purpose. This musical is full of hilarious grown up topics ranging from racisim to using the internet for porn.

I really didn't know what to expect in terms of the caliber of the performance for an off-Broadway show so being the true pessimist I am I braced myself for the worst. Thankfully I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome the actors were. There are several actors who play multiple characters absolutely seamlessly and the singing was fantastic.  I think the most impressive part for me was how well animated the actors made their muppets. It's really easy to let them fade to the background and just focus on the muppets. While this musical might not be for everyone, I'd definitely recommend it for the lighthearted who (spoiler alert) aren't easily offended by things like simulated muppet sex.

NYC Musicals: Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella

On our first day in NYC hubs and I started our day with a traditional upper west side brunch at Good Enough to Eat. After we'd had our fill we made our way back to Times Square so we could check out what was available for a matinee at the TKTS booth. Hubs was so excited to see that tickets were available for Cinderella since it's featuring Carly Rae Jepsen and Fran Drescher for a limited time. I, on the other hand, was a bit apprehensive about sa musical with Carly Rae Jepsen as the primary actress.  Don't get me wrong, I get all teeny bopper when Call Me Maybe comes on the radio, I was just a little concerned with how her singing would be sans studio post-production and even more concerned with her acting abilities. Never the less, tickets were 50% off original matinee prices so I figured even if it was terrible at least it'd be cheap.

 I've never actually read the original Cinderella story and only know Disney's Cinderella story from the movie so I'm not sure how close the musical was too the original story, but it was quite different from Disney's version. Because the plot was so different from what I know the story to be it was a lot more interesting to me.  As much as I've enjoyed Disney's adaptations of Beauty and the Beast or Mary Poppins as musicals there's always a little bit of excitement missing for me since I already know what's going to happen.

Unfortunately, Fran Drescher wasn't performing at our show. Even though the actress playing the evil stepmother was great I think that it would've been awesome to see Fran Drescher do it. But I must say I was surprised at how good Carly Rae Jepsen's performance as Cinderella was. She did a great job singing and her acting didn't induce cringing like I thought it would. I must say I have a lot more respect for her as s singer now... if only she would sing some songs with substance in them.

Overall,  I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed this musical and would definitely recommend it to people who were looking to see something fun and light to watch.

Venus in Fur: A Review

I can't believe it's been over 2 months since my last post. I can't even honestly say my mini hiatus has been because we've been crazy busy or anything. I think it's mostly because we've been going through a little bit of a challenging situation on the home front which has left my mind preoccupied with other things besides blogging. Hopefully getting back into blogging will help keep my mind off of things outside of my control.

A couple weekends ago hubs and I went to see Venus in Fur, which was a nominee for best play at the 2013 Tony Awards. It was our first non-musical play and we were a little aprehensive that we might not enjoy it as much as a musical. Luckily the Tony's have yet to steer us wrong.

Venus in Fur is a play made up soley of 2 actors. The premise of the play is a playwright/director who is trying to cast the lead female in his play based on the famous book Venus in Furs by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. If his last name sounds a little familiar it's because the term sadomasochism was derived from this guys name. If that doesn't give you a hint about what this play is like take a look above at the play's banner and hopefully you'll get it. As if the sensuality of the play weren't riveting enough there are plot twists throughout the play that keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

This was the first time we had seen anything in the American Conservatory Theater and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this theater. We've only been in the theaters that feature musicals (Golden Gate Theatere, Curran Theatere, and Orpheum Theatere), but the ACT is much smaller then those. It was definitely a much more intimate feel which I enjoyed. And even though the theater itself is much smaller they have a large open lower level with a bar and lots of seating which was a nice change from the cramped standing room only bar areas of the other theaters we've been to.

Overall I'd definitely recommend this play to first timers or newbies. I think it was a great way of dipping our toes into plays without drowning in something that would surely be over our heads like Macbeth. However, I must warn (as if it isn't obvious enough) this play is not for the prudish at heart. The play is oozing with sensuality and even a bit of gender play. But if you go into it with an open mind I'm sure you'll find it just as enjoyable as we did.

Peter and the Starcatcher

On Black Friday hubs and I had our season tickets to see Peter and the Starcatcher after I finished work. Unfortunately due to some food poisoning which was probably from the sliders a food truck near work were giving away for free we weren't able to go. But thanks to the very kind people at SHN we were able to reschedule our show for matinee on Saturday. In hindsight we probably should've chosen the evening show on Saturday as the matinee was plagued with children who like to kick the seats in front of them.

The show is based on the book, which is a prequel to the Peter Pan story. Everything about this play is minimalist from the set and props are minimal as they invite you to use your imagination and the small cast that of people playing multiple characters. With that being said they do an amazing job using what few props and costumes they have to create an amazing story.

Although this is primarily a very kid-oriented play there were a lot of very adult jokes that had us lol-ing. Disney has put their name on a lot of different musicals, but this is probably the most grown-up friendly one we've seen so far. Highly recommend!

Porgy and Bess

The next show hubs and I saw this theater season was The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess, which won an award at the last Tony's for Best Revival of a Musical. As season ticket holders we were invited to a special behind the scenes event where the director, Diane Paulus, discussed some of the background and history of the play and we got to watch some of the tech rehearsal.

Porgy and Bess started off as a novel by DuBose Heyward, which was then translated into a play and then later an opera, before being made into a musical. As a whole I thought the show was very good. Since the musical was adapted from the opera there was a lot of operatic singing, especially by the female cast. which at times made it very difficult for me to fully understand what was going on. Granted that is no fault of the musical...my ears just aren't used to that style and I found it hard to follow at times. Even with the operatic singing I still understood the main storyline, I may have just missed some of the underlying nuances.

Most notably the actors were amazing! In fact they were so convincing that the actors who played the villains literally got booed during the final curtain call. I don't know what was better...the fact that the audience booed them or that the actors loved it. LOL

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

I must've been a good person in my former life to end up with such a great man as my husband. A guy who is willing and never disgruntled to take me to a musical. In fact, he's so great that he actually purchased us season tickets to all the musicals stopping in San Francisco this year.

The first show for us this season was a musical making a pre-Broadway debut in San Francisco, Beautiful. The musical is about Carole King and follows her career as a young song writer and then as a Grammy winning singer/song writer. If Jersey Boys is a musical for my grandparents generation, Beautiful is a musical for my parents generation. I wonder who a musical of my generation would be about...probably Justin Timberlake. LOL

We didn't really know what to expect for this show, but I was surprised to find that I recognized so many of the early songs she wrote as well as a lot of the songs from her Tapestry album. (Thanks, mom and dad). The first half covered a lot of the songs she and her husband wrote together, but fell a little short in the plot development. As a whole, the play was really great and the actress who played Carole King was a superb singer. Looking at the program, we did notice a lot of songs were cut from the second act which was probably a good idea to keep the plot rolling along. It will be interesting to see what the final production looks like once it reaches Broadway.

On a totally unrelated note, we'll be taking off for a super quick getaway with our friends for a Las Vegas getaway. I am so excited to get away even for just a weekend. Wish me luck on the craps tables!