Posts

THEATRE REVIEW: "The Lion King" at the Minskoff Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
      On the afternoon of July 18th, 2026, in the midst of air quality alerts and inclement weather, I made my way to Broadway's Minskoff Theatre and saw the first act of "The Lion King."  The day before I won the ticket lottery for the July 18th matinee and was eager to go see "The Lion King" again.  The first, and only other time, I saw the Broadway musical was in July of 2009.  I had intended to stay for the entire show (even though the opening number is the best part of the musical, in my opinion), but I had a change of heart during intermission.  But the cast was amazing during the first act, as was the show itself.       At the performance I saw, the cast of "The Lion King" included Ntsepa Pitjeng-Molebatsi (Rafiki), Gavin Lee (Scar), L. Steven Taylor (Mufasa), Cameron Pow (Zazu), Ben Jeffrey (Pumbaa), Fred Berman (Timon), Mduduzi Madela (Simba), Pearl Khwezi (Nala), James Brown-Orleans (Banzai), Bonita J. Hamilton (Shenzi), S...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "The Fear of 13" at the James Earl Jones Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
      On the afternoon of June 7th, 2026, I saw a performance of the Lindsey Ferrentino play "The Fear of 13" at the James Earl Jones Theatre (formerly the Cort Theatre) in New York City.  This play, based on a true story, is about Nick Yarris and his 22-year wrongful imprisonment on death row.  More specifically, the play is based on a documentary by David Sington.  Along with the agony of being on death row for such a long time, Nick Yarris became well-read during that time.  Among the various terms he learned from reading while on death row was triskaidekaphobia, which is the fear of the number 13.   That is just one way the play got its title.  Yarris was eventually exonerated thanks to DNA evidence.        At the performance I saw, Nick Yarris was portrayed by Adrien Brody.  While he has been in several movies and won two Academy Awards, this role is his Broadway debut.  Tessa Thompson, who played ...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "The Lost Boys" at the Palace Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
       On the afternoon of May 27th, 2026, I saw a performance of the Broadway musical "The Lost Boys" at the Palace Theatre in New York City.  "The Lost Boys" began previews on March 27th (exactly two months prior to me seeing it), and officially opened April 26th.  I had won the ticket lottery for "The Lost Boys" a few weeks back, but saw "Chess" instead.  When I won again this time, I was determined to see it.  I only saw parts of the movie years back, but never in its entirety.  I will probably watch the entire movie now that I saw the musical.        As I write this blog post, the 2026 Tony Awards haven't happened yet.  But "The Lost Boys" has been nominated for 12 of them.  I think it most likely earned every one of them.  This musical had moments of terror, humor, sadness, and sometimes all three at once.  There was even a love story intertwined throughout the plot.  All this occurred i...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "Chess" at the Imperial Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
      On April 22nd, 2026 I saw the matinee performance of the Broadway Musical Revival "Chess" at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.  "Chess" features lyrics by Tim Rice; and Music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson.  This revival of "Chess" features a new book by Danny Strong.  Richard Nelson wrote the book for the Original 1988 Broadway Production; Tim Rice wrote the Book for the 1986 London Production.  The 1990 National Tour, and 1990 Chicagoland Production (in Lincolnshire, IL), utilized Richard Nelson's book, eventhough the Original Broadway Production closed after a couple months, while the Original London Production ran for about three years.  While Danny Strong made significant changes to "Chess," all versions of the musical use the game of chess to symbolize the Cold War.      At the performance of "Chess" that I saw, the cast included Aaron Tveit (Freddie Trumper), Lea Michele (Florence Vassy), Nicholas Christopher...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "Death of a Salesman" at the Winter Garden Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
      On March 11th, 2026, I saw a matinee performance of the Arthur Miller play "Death of a Salesman" at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City.  This was not the first Broadway Revival of the play, nor will it be the last.  But it was my first time seeing the play.  I never read the written version for school before either.  So this was a new experience for me.  I do, however, know some obscure theatre trivia about the play.  For instance, the 1949 Premiere Broadway Production, 1949 Premiere Detroit Engagement, 1949 Premiere Chicago Engagement, and 1950 Premiere Los Angeles Engagement of "Death of a Salesman" all performed at theatres which have since been demolished.  Interesting, huh?      "Death of a Salesman"  is about a man named Willy Loman, a traveling salesman who becomes disillusioned as he grows older.  He struggles with inner turmoil and painful reminders of past failures, while also falling shor...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "Aladdin" at the New Amsterdam Theatre (New York, NY)

Image
      On March 4th, 2026, I saw the matinee performance of the Broadway musical "Aladdin" at the New Amsterdam Theatre in New York City.  While this was the fourth Disney stage musical I've seen, it took me about twelve years to see it.  Coincidentally,  I didn't see the Broadway Production of "The Lion King" until twelve years after it opened.  In Chicago, I saw the First National Tours of "Beauty and the Beast" (in 1997) and "Newsies" (in 2016).  I never saw the stage adaptations of "Aida," "Tarzan," or "Mary Poppins."  While the touring production of "Beauty and the Beast" was probably the most jaw-dropping Disney stage adaptation I've seen to this date (which had a $12 million production cost), "Aladdin" was one incredible spectacle--but more about that later.          Based on the 1992 animated film, the musical is about poverty-stricken Aladdin and how he becomes enamored with th...
Post a Comment
Read more

THEATRE REVIEW: "A Few Good Men" at the Falls Theatre (Wappingers Falls, NY)

Image
      On February 21st, 2026, my family and I saw a matinee performance of the Aaron Sorkin play "A Few Good Men" at the Falls Theatre in Wappingers Falls, New York.  It was presented by County Players.  Unfortunately, I was still healing from throwing my back out several days ago, and left during intermission.  But my mom and a friend stayed for the second act, so I was filled in enough to write this blog post.       "A Few Good Men" had its Broadway Premiere at the end of 1989, shortly before becoming a movie in 1992.  By that time, the National Tour of the play had performed in several cities throughout the country.  Yet the movie is far more well-known than the play.  While the line "you can't handle the truth" pre-existed the film, Jack Nicholson made the line famous.  In the play, that line is said in act two, so I regretfully missed it.  But my mom said the actor who played Col. Jessup (which was Michael A...
Post a Comment
Read more