Solitary Solidarity: Theatre Reviews from the Present to the Past

      On the afternoon of July 15th, 2023, I saw a performance of "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street" at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in New York City.  "Sweeney Todd"  features a book by Hugh Wheeler, as well as music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.  This production is a Broadway Revival of the musical.  While there have been revivals of "Sweeney Todd" in the past, this is the first one that is accompanied by a 26-piece orchestra, much like the 1979 Broadway Production.  But unlike the Original Broadway Production, which starred Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, this production stars Annaleigh Ashford and Josh Groban.        While I never saw the Original Broadway Production of "Sweeney Todd," I saw the professionally filmed performance of the First National Tour, where Angela Lansbury reprised her role as Mrs. Lovett and George Hearn replaced Len Cariou in the title role.  Besides that, both of those product...

      On Sunday, May 28th, 2023, I saw the 2pm performance of the play "Grey House" at the Lyceum Theatre in New York City.  "Grey House" was written by Levi Holloway, who presented the World Premiere of this play in 2019 at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago, IL, with Shade Murray as director.  The Red Orchid production ran from October 10th through December 1st of that year.  I was living in Chicago at the time, but was completely unaware that the show was running.  Also, I had no idea of the favorable reviews it received.  When it opened for previews on Broadway this year, with a new cast and director, I wanted badly to see it.  I entered the ticket lottery for "Grey House,"  not winning until the May 28th performance of Memorial Day Weekend.  Not only that, but my ticket was front row, and nearly center.        While "Grey House" is without a doubt a brilliant play, it could have used an intermission. ...

     On May 20th, 2023, I saw the 2pm performance of the County Players production of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at the Falls Theatre in Wappingers Falls, New York.  The musical features a book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart, and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim.  This production of "Forum" featured scenic design by Bill Peckham, and was directed by David J. Ringwood.  This was the first regional production of a show I've seen in years.  But it was also my first time seeing "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."  I thought it was a cleverly written show with an intricate score that I've come to associate with Sondheim musicals.  I'm glad I got to see this classic.            The cast of this production included Robert Yarnall (Prologus I, an actor / Pseudolus, slave to Hero); Lisa Delia, Mark Moody, Eero Vaitkus (The Proteans); Philip Corso (Miles Gloriosus, a warrior); A...

      On May 17th, 2023, I saw the 2pm performance of the musical "Kimberly Akimbo" at the Booth Theatre in New York City.  "Kimberly Akimbo" opened for previews on Broadway on October 12th, 2022.  Prior to that, the musical had a successful off-Broadway run at the Linda Gross Theatre, where the production began previews on November 6th, 2021 and ran until January 15th, 2022.  The off-Broadway Production of "Kimberly Akimbo" won three Lucille Lortel Awards, one Clive Barnes Award, one Drama Desk Award, four Outer Critic Circle Awards, and one Theatre World Award.  The Broadway Production of "Kimberly Akimbo" has been nominated for eight Tony Awards.  As emotionally charged as this musical is, it fell short of "Some Like it Hot," which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards.              The cast of "Kimberly Akimbo" includes Victoria Clark (Kimberly), Justin Cooley (Seth), Olivia Elease Hardy (Delia), Fernel...

      On April 19th, 2023, I saw the 2pm performance of the play "Life of Pi" at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City after winning the Telecharge ticket lottery.  "Life of Pi" is based on the novel by Yann Martel (which I recently finished reading), and was adapted for the stage by Lolita Chakrabarti.  The play made its World Premiere debut at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, where it ran from June 28th through July 20th, 2019.  The West-End Production ran at the Wyndham's Theatre from November 15th, 2021 through January 15th, 2023.  The North American Premiere of "Life of Pi" ran from December 6th, 2022 through January 29th, 2023 at the Loeb Drama Center (of the American Repertory Theater) in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  Previews for the Broadway Production began on March 9th, 2023.  The Broadway Production of "Life of Pi" officially opened on March 30th, 2023.       The cast of "Life of Pi" included, but w...

      On the afternoon of March 12th of 2023, I saw the 3pm performance of "A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond Musical" at the Broadhurst Theatre in New York City.  The jukebox musical began previews on November 2nd, 2022.  The production officially premiered on December 4th of that year.  I won the ticket lottery for the March 12th performance of this show.  While my theatre ticket for "The Phantom of the Opera" wasn't won through the ticket lottery, my ticket for "Some Like It Hot" was.  What sets this theatre ticket apart from the past two excursions was that my seat was in the orchestra level, and not in the mezzanine or the balcony level.  Don't get me wrong.  Those were great vantage points for "Some Like it Hot" and "Phantom."  But an orchestra level seat for "A Beautiful Noise" was great too--maybe even better.  Although, the mezzanine was the ideal place to sit when seeing "Phantom"--particularly wh...

      On January 8th, 2023, I saw the 3pm performance of the musical "Some Like it Hot" at the Sam S. Shubert Theatre in New York City.  "Some Like it Hot" features a book by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, with music by Marc Shaiman.  The musical features lyrics by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman.  "Some Like it Hot" was directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw.  The production features scenic design by Scott Pask.  He also designed the scenery for "The Book of Mormon," "The Band's Visit," and "Finding Neverland," which I've also seen.  I was critical of the scenic design during the show.  But, looking back, it was actually kind of neat.        "Some Like it Hot" was supposed to have its World Premiere engagement in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre from March 2nd through April 4th, 2021, but the theatres were still unexpectedly shut down due to the pandemic by that time.  I am not sure if there was...