January 19, 2023
The End of "How I Met Your Mother", or How To Make A Loyal Fan Angry: F That Noiseby Randi / April 1, 2014
Jukebox musicals have filled Broadway houses for the past decade or so, for better (“Jersey Boys”) or worse (“Mamma Mia!”) and in between (“Motown: The Musical”). (Also, if we are counting the West End, the so-bad-it’s-almost-good-nope-wait-it’s-the-worst-thing-mine-eyes-have-ever-seen Spice Girls musical “Viva Forever”). Apparently the way to make easy money, producers take a famous catalog of popular music and either force a story around it (“Mamma Mia” and the Spice Girls shittastrophe) or you take your cue from the Tony-winning “Jersey Boys” and tell the story of the music, of how it was written and how its writers lived what they sang about. Thankfully, “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical”, does indeed follow this latter, superior format, and it is absolutely beautiful.
Despite not having much drama save (some serious and heartbreaking) marital woes, “Beautiful” never drops its interesting narrative thread. The impressive book (impressive because it is still a jukebox musical) keeps you hooked, the songs keep you extremely happy, and Jessie Mueller as Carole King keeps you captivated. In Mueller’s presence, you witness Broadway history as she reinforces her status as the next big musical star. Manipulating her insane voice to evoke King without being an imitation, Mueller makes you love her. You never want to stop listening to her. With the show being entirely the famous songs written by King (and her ex-husband Gerry Goffin, as well as Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, all the main characters of the show), you’d assume you don’t need the cast recording. But you’d be wrong. I couldn’t wait to buy the recording as soon as the curtain fell because the interpretations of these beloved songs are that good. It’s pure magic on that stage.
The friendly rivalry between King and her husband-and-writing-partner-for-most-of-the-show Gerry Goffin, and Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, provided an enjoyable way to structure the show. I loved that the performances of the songs came about because they were writing them. It was never “Let’s break out into song here to express our feelings” it was “Listen I just wrote this song want to hear it?” The realism is a good way to win over musical theater haters, not that I care about such weirdos.
The friendly rivalry between King and her husband-and-writing-partner-for-most-of-the-show Gerry Goffin, and Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, provided an enjoyable way to structure the show. I loved that the performances of the songs came about because they were writing them. It was never “Let’s break out into song here to express our feelings” it was “Listen I just wrote this song want to hear it?” The realism is a good way to win over musical theater haters, not that I care about such weirdos.
Jarrod Spector and chorus member
Aside from Mueller, a standout actor is Anika Larsen as Weil. She’s always so darn pleasant, and is effervescent here. I think she is one of the most pleasant people to watch onstage. As her partner Mann, Jarrod Spector, a Philly native who is as nice as he is adorable (see pic at right), was as lovable as he was neurotic. I’m glad he found a great post-“Jersey Boys” role so he wouldn’t be pigeonholed. Jake Epstein as Gerry is very charming, as charming as one can be while portraying a pretty sad story. The catharsis felt when Carole finally leaves him is so strong, like it’s happening to you. That’s how immersed you get in this show, and also how proud you are of fake Carole for finally acting with sufficient gumption.
Mueller really is just perfect, as perfect as anyone besides the real-life figure could be in a role. She is heartbreaking and relatable, and it’s a special performance to witness. What she is doing with her voice, an homage more than an imitation of king, is so impressive. I asked her if it was hard and more importantly if it hurt, because doing a different voice for that many hours a week can’t be healthy. But she seemed fine and I’m sure is being coached well. She is the newest star of this generation and I am thrilled for her. She breaks your heart and then together you’re healed through the powerful music.
Even if you are a King fan, you will be surprised by just how prolific a songwriter she was before she started singing her own tales. Not only did she write “One Fine Day”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Some Kind Of Wonderful”, “Up On The Roof”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, but she also freaking wrote “The Loco-Motion”! Can you even believe that? And then of course you get a smattering of King’s more personal work that she sang herself: “Natural Woman”, “Too Late”, “I Feel the Earth Move”, “Beautiful”, &c. Damn she is brilliant. I can’t wait to see this show again.
So, because of the very familiar music, and because so many adults grew up with this music, “Beautiful” is the kind of show that brings hundreds of middle-aged ladies out for ‘girls night’. If you can stand these perhaps slightly tipsy women pretty much announcing “OH I LOVE THIS SONG!” and “OH THIS IS SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL!’ when they hear the beginnings of each piece, then you’ll be fine. If, like me, the mere thought of this lack of decorum makes your blood run cold as if you were watching a Spice Girls musical, you should probably have a drink first. But you should absolutely still see the show. Here’s a sneak to enjoy while Telecharge.com loads.
Mueller really is just perfect, as perfect as anyone besides the real-life figure could be in a role. She is heartbreaking and relatable, and it’s a special performance to witness. What she is doing with her voice, an homage more than an imitation of king, is so impressive. I asked her if it was hard and more importantly if it hurt, because doing a different voice for that many hours a week can’t be healthy. But she seemed fine and I’m sure is being coached well. She is the newest star of this generation and I am thrilled for her. She breaks your heart and then together you’re healed through the powerful music.
Even if you are a King fan, you will be surprised by just how prolific a songwriter she was before she started singing her own tales. Not only did she write “One Fine Day”, “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”, “Some Kind Of Wonderful”, “Up On The Roof”, “Take Good Care of My Baby”, but she also freaking wrote “The Loco-Motion”! Can you even believe that? And then of course you get a smattering of King’s more personal work that she sang herself: “Natural Woman”, “Too Late”, “I Feel the Earth Move”, “Beautiful”, &c. Damn she is brilliant. I can’t wait to see this show again.
So, because of the very familiar music, and because so many adults grew up with this music, “Beautiful” is the kind of show that brings hundreds of middle-aged ladies out for ‘girls night’. If you can stand these perhaps slightly tipsy women pretty much announcing “OH I LOVE THIS SONG!” and “OH THIS IS SOME KIND OF WONDERFUL!’ when they hear the beginnings of each piece, then you’ll be fine. If, like me, the mere thought of this lack of decorum makes your blood run cold as if you were watching a Spice Girls musical, you should probably have a drink first. But you should absolutely still see the show. Here’s a sneak to enjoy while Telecharge.com loads.
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“The King and I” Transfers to London: More like The Queen and I
It’s Theatre Thursday! We’re talking about “The King and I”, which is now playing in the West End after transferring from Broadway!
Seeing “The King and I” at Lincoln Center Theatre three years ago (I remember because it was my birthday) was a magical theatrical experience, one that felt majestic and classic, as well as classy. From the opening scene with that enormous boat gliding into the orchestra, to the last moving moments, I was enraptured with its perfect direction and flawless performances. With that Broadway production’s transfer to London, complete with its top two stars, Kelli O’Hara finally gets to show the West End what incredible talent looks/sounds like and Ken Watanabe keeps getting to make audiences laugh. But the production feels like the final moments of “Pippin” when compared to the Broadway incarnation – like when everything is stripped away to show what the stage would be like without magic. Sure the lights and costumes and music are all there, but it feels like the magic is missing. The lackluster feel is partly due to the theatre it’s in (the Palladium), partly due to a West End cast that just isn’t as top notch, and partly due to the wackiness of the source material being exposed in this new light.
Don’t get me (too) wrong: it’s still one of the better productions currently on the West End, but it doesn’t hold a candle to the Broadway version. Something feels off, and the audience reaction (weird audience, btw) made me realize what it was: England is treating this show as if it were a pantomime. If you aren’t familiar, a panto is a beast native to England, a musical comedy extravaganza that is for families (i.e. little kids). Different from a musical that happens to be a comedy, a panto is more like commedia dell’arte (another thing I can’t stand) – silly and slapstick, with sight gags and over the top performances. And a big part of it is audience reaction – they cheer, they boo the bad guys, they hiss, they oooh at romance, they shout “he’s behind you!”. I avoid pantos because they are super annoying and I don’t want to explode at children. God just thinking about pantos is giving me a skin rash all of a sudden. My blood boils at the thought that someone might make me go to one. So you can see it’s a big problem with interpretation that London audiences are treating “The King and I”, this golden age classic, even a little bit like they treat pantos.
And you can’t really blame the audiences for reacting like they’re at one (well you can, and I will, but it’s a little understandable) because the show itself is kind of weird. I never noticed it before, and I’m not sure why it was so glaring now, especially since the director (Barlett Sher) is the same as on Broadway. Maybe it takes a familiarity with the source material to finally get to that point where you can focus on just how strange it is. But the starkness with how this is presented – with none of the glitz or grandeur or sumptuousness of the previous production – exposes the problems of the book.
“The King and I” tells the story of Anna Leonowens, real life English lady who traveled to Siam to serve as a schoolteacher to the children of King Mongkut in the 1860s. One of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved works, the show includes familiar song after familiar song, and is so well known for a reason. The score is gorgeous and for the most part sounds great here. But the book falls flat. Okay so Anna and her son (will he ever not be annoying?) arrive in Siam and ask the King’s men where her house is. They tell her she is to stay at the palace. But the King had promised her her own house! She needs privacy! No one argues with the King (not YET), so she stays in the palace while she waits to talk to him about his promise. Um then in the next line we learn that more than a YEAR has gone by, and she’s still waiting but she loves the kids and loves teaching them and so you’re like well fun I guess I don’t mind too much that we made a huge time jump and wow we’re going to keep on making them. Discussion about her house seems to be like most of the first act. I get that it’s one aspect chosen to be representative of the communication barriers and the fact that independent women were foreign to this culture, but it seems like a lame thing to focus on. The King is always frustrated with this woman who keeps combating him at every turn, and Ken wins the audience over with his song “Puzzlement” even though you can’t really understand what he’s saying when it’s sooo fast. It’s honestly more difficult to understand than it was before but eh he’s such a good actor and he’s so winning in most of his book scenes.
Then we watch the two lovers, Lun Tha (Dean-John Wilson, in freaking everything it seems) and Tuptim (Na-Young Jeon) sing about how much they love each other but how they can only meet in the shadows because, well, Lun Tha brought Tuptim over from Burma as a gift to the King, so she is like one of his slave-wives now. Why they didn’t just flee before he presented her as a gift to the king is beyond me. Also what is he still doing in town years after delivering her? They both sing the roles decently, although both cracked a few times. Their voices might not be 100% fitted to these parts. I think Jeon’s upper register is still a little too weak for 8 shows a week and not to be mean but I missed Ashley Park’s incredible voice.
Anna’s relationship with the King stresses you out most of the time, because she isn’t afraid to speak her mind but he’s the King and is like no one fights with me! Et cetera! Et cetera! Oh so in the beginning Anna uses the phrase ‘et cetera’ and the King is like WHAT IS THIS YOU SAY and she explains what it means and so then EVERY SINGLE FUCKING LINE from then on the King uses it and for the first few times it’s funny but then at the 10th time it is infuriating and by the 90th time he says it you are literally breathing fire. It is so annoying Hammerstein! Literally my least favorite decision Hams has ever made.
Anna also has a very tense relationship with his Wife #1, Lady Thiang (Naoko Mori) and strives to win her over even though Lady Thiang is intermittently jealous and encouraging Anna and the King to become closer. It’s never comprehensible why she would want that. Mori is fine as Thiang, but she doesn’t bring anything more to the role than how it is written. Which is fine – no one ever really can bring more to what’s written simply by using their acting and singing skills. No one except Ruthie Ann Miles, that is, the Lady Thiang from Broadway who won the Tony for her performance. She was supposed to be in this production – and the production itself refuses to say that she isn’t in it even though, well, she’s not (she’s still in the programme and the website and everything but she isn’t in it) – but she had to take time to herself due to her personal tragedy. It was an honor to see her performance on Broadway, and seeing this show again made me realize just how astonishing she is, turning what is usually just a whatever role into a fully fleshed out character whose motivations were clear and understandable for the first time.
So the big drama of Act II is that an English diplomat is going to visit from Singapore and bring other hoity Englishmen, and the Siamese have to use this visit to convince them how great they are SO THE ENGLISH DON’T TAKE THEM OVER. Yeah so England was threatening to take over Siam as a protectorate, and everyone, literally everyone, just accepts that the burden is on the Siamese to prove that they aren’t barbarians and so the British, um, shouldn’t take them over. It’s so f-ing weird, and no one even mentions the thought that decent people first have, which is, why is it on them to convince the whites that they are decent people so the whites don’t steal their land? If you were unfamiliar with the show, you would surely expect that Anna’s whole purpose as an intermediary between the two parties would be to take the opportunity to say ‘hey wait a minute old British friends. These people shouldn’t have to prove to you that they are worthy of KEEPING THEIR COUNTRY AND FREEDOM! And isn’t it patently obvious that the people threatening to takeover another land and their inhabitants would be the real barbarians?’ No, no one says any of this. They have to prove that they are western-friendly, and that’s that. I get that it’s old-fashioned but surely people have always been able to see that taking over other lands is wrong? no?
So they prepare for this important visit by dressing everyone in Western garb and singing the moooost racist song. But it works out because Tuptim reads her play based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, called ‘Small House of Uncle Thomas’, and they do a TWENTY MINUTE BALLET ABOUT IT and honestly it’s the best most amazing thing to have in a big musical because WHAAAT. It’s so f-ing random and amazing and we’ve been singing “Tricky little Topsy!” all day err day. SO RANDOM. Well it’s not too random, the story at least, because Tuptim is a slave and she’s narrating a play directly at the King about how bad slavery is and how evil King Simon of Legree (the best) was to poor Eliza (run Eliza run! run Eliza run! erma it’s amazing). But having this crazy 20 minute ballet about it is pretty damn ballsy to put in the middle of a musical and it’s so good. I’m obsessed. I love the choreography of this ballet, with Eliza running away by hopping on one foot. Anyway Buddha saves Eliza and then the lovers meet again and discuss how Anna always helped them meet by going out in the courtyard or whatever with them and you’re like huh we never saw that, that’s weird to just mention like that instead of ever showing I mean we’ve had three hours to do so. They decide to run away. And then Anna and the King have a beautiful dance (“Shall We Dance”) and seem to be friends and there’s also a weird spark there and you’re like holy crap that’s powerful but that’s kind of not the show I want to see and then the guards bring in Tuptim who escaped and they’re like we’re gonna kill her now and Anna is like no you’re a barbarian and everyone cries and Anna decides to leave Siam for good (but the veg fest…) but then the King has heart sadness and is dying from Anna calling him a barbarian so Anna decides to stay. What. Et cetera.
The book is kind of frustrating, as you could tell from my repeated stabbing of the capslock key, and the pacing feels off. At least a good twenty minutes could have and should have been cut (but not my Uncle Tom ballet! Never!). I don’t remember this show ever feeling as long, and unnecessarily so. It is a satisfactory production, but it isn’t the magical splendor I remember. Well, except for the performance of our Anna Leonowens. As Miss Anna, O’Hara’s performance seems like it has been marinating for the past three years because it’s even more nuanced, touching, and gorgeous than it was before – and she deservedly won a Tony for it before. I am not surprised, because she is the best working soprano in musical theatre today, but I didn’t even realize how much more realized her performance could be. It’s a marvel and it’s worth sitting through the three hours of sometimes-nonsense to witness her thrilling performance. Her “Hello Young Lovers” is the best sung moment I’ve ever heard in this city. Yep I said it and I will fight you on that. Truly, as much as I’m complaining about this production, and as horrible as the audience was, I will absolutely be returning to watch Kelli perform. She’s a triumph.
INFORMATION
The Palladium Theatre is a real POS. The toilets are near the entrance, on the other side of the huge lobby and bar area. And even though there are so many hallways and rooms and corners, everything feels squashed together. It’s a real claustrophobic place, outside the actual auditorium. The auditorium is at least airier, but it’s the wrong theatre from this show. I think it benefits from a thrust stage and this kind of shirty proscenium stage does nothing for this production.
AUDIENCE
Just expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed. Well you will be disappointed, in humanity, but you won’t be surprised. Aside from the panto reactions (oh I forgot, they also enjoyed clapping along to the music), we also had parents and children just flat-out talking, loudly, to each other the whole time. One 10-year-old ish girl in our row was having the worst time, and she kept asking her mother if they could leave. Instead of taking her out, which she should have done, the mother kept fishing around her bags to give her kid more and more food – all wrapped in the noisiest plastic you could imagine. Literally without even a moment’s pause, this happened for three straight hours. Aside from that kid, this was a different situation in that most of the trouble came from older people, when usually people our age are the worst. There was one older lady who was playing with paper the whole time, like balling it up, and it was actually so loud and she had no idea because she couldn’t really hear anyway. Omg there’s that skin rash.
STAGE DOOR
Speaking of how much of a POS this theatre is, the security staff at stage door had NOOO idea what was happening. After everyone had lined up, the guards then brought out barriers and made everyone re-line up behind them. Why weren’t they out at the start of things, she asks not expecting anyone to ever have a good enough answer. Right away Ken came out, skipped the beginning of the line of course, where I was, signed a few programs, and left. Then the guards announced that that was it. They went through all that trouble just for Ken? Ughh I was so upset that no one else was coming out. The guards broke down the barriers and told everyone to go home. I waited a minute just to be sure, and literally one minute later the entire cast came out. What the actual fuck. These guards were SO DUMB. But I got to freak out Kelli again as I always do so that was fun/humiliating. Et cetera.
And you can’t really blame the audiences for reacting like they’re at one (well you can, and I will, but it’s a little understandable) because the show itself is kind of weird. I never noticed it before, and I’m not sure why it was so glaring now, especially since the director (Barlett Sher) is the same as on Broadway. Maybe it takes a familiarity with the source material to finally get to that point where you can focus on just how strange it is. But the starkness with how this is presented – with none of the glitz or grandeur or sumptuousness of the previous production – exposes the problems of the book.
“The King and I” tells the story of Anna Leonowens, real life English lady who traveled to Siam to serve as a schoolteacher to the children of King Mongkut in the 1860s. One of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s most beloved works, the show includes familiar song after familiar song, and is so well known for a reason. The score is gorgeous and for the most part sounds great here. But the book falls flat. Okay so Anna and her son (will he ever not be annoying?) arrive in Siam and ask the King’s men where her house is. They tell her she is to stay at the palace. But the King had promised her her own house! She needs privacy! No one argues with the King (not YET), so she stays in the palace while she waits to talk to him about his promise. Um then in the next line we learn that more than a YEAR has gone by, and she’s still waiting but she loves the kids and loves teaching them and so you’re like well fun I guess I don’t mind too much that we made a huge time jump and wow we’re going to keep on making them. Discussion about her house seems to be like most of the first act. I get that it’s one aspect chosen to be representative of the communication barriers and the fact that independent women were foreign to this culture, but it seems like a lame thing to focus on. The King is always frustrated with this woman who keeps combating him at every turn, and Ken wins the audience over with his song “Puzzlement” even though you can’t really understand what he’s saying when it’s sooo fast. It’s honestly more difficult to understand than it was before but eh he’s such a good actor and he’s so winning in most of his book scenes.
Then we watch the two lovers, Lun Tha (Dean-John Wilson, in freaking everything it seems) and Tuptim (Na-Young Jeon) sing about how much they love each other but how they can only meet in the shadows because, well, Lun Tha brought Tuptim over from Burma as a gift to the King, so she is like one of his slave-wives now. Why they didn’t just flee before he presented her as a gift to the king is beyond me. Also what is he still doing in town years after delivering her? They both sing the roles decently, although both cracked a few times. Their voices might not be 100% fitted to these parts. I think Jeon’s upper register is still a little too weak for 8 shows a week and not to be mean but I missed Ashley Park’s incredible voice.
Anna’s relationship with the King stresses you out most of the time, because she isn’t afraid to speak her mind but he’s the King and is like no one fights with me! Et cetera! Et cetera! Oh so in the beginning Anna uses the phrase ‘et cetera’ and the King is like WHAT IS THIS YOU SAY and she explains what it means and so then EVERY SINGLE FUCKING LINE from then on the King uses it and for the first few times it’s funny but then at the 10th time it is infuriating and by the 90th time he says it you are literally breathing fire. It is so annoying Hammerstein! Literally my least favorite decision Hams has ever made.
Anna also has a very tense relationship with his Wife #1, Lady Thiang (Naoko Mori) and strives to win her over even though Lady Thiang is intermittently jealous and encouraging Anna and the King to become closer. It’s never comprehensible why she would want that. Mori is fine as Thiang, but she doesn’t bring anything more to the role than how it is written. Which is fine – no one ever really can bring more to what’s written simply by using their acting and singing skills. No one except Ruthie Ann Miles, that is, the Lady Thiang from Broadway who won the Tony for her performance. She was supposed to be in this production – and the production itself refuses to say that she isn’t in it even though, well, she’s not (she’s still in the programme and the website and everything but she isn’t in it) – but she had to take time to herself due to her personal tragedy. It was an honor to see her performance on Broadway, and seeing this show again made me realize just how astonishing she is, turning what is usually just a whatever role into a fully fleshed out character whose motivations were clear and understandable for the first time.
So the big drama of Act II is that an English diplomat is going to visit from Singapore and bring other hoity Englishmen, and the Siamese have to use this visit to convince them how great they are SO THE ENGLISH DON’T TAKE THEM OVER. Yeah so England was threatening to take over Siam as a protectorate, and everyone, literally everyone, just accepts that the burden is on the Siamese to prove that they aren’t barbarians and so the British, um, shouldn’t take them over. It’s so f-ing weird, and no one even mentions the thought that decent people first have, which is, why is it on them to convince the whites that they are decent people so the whites don’t steal their land? If you were unfamiliar with the show, you would surely expect that Anna’s whole purpose as an intermediary between the two parties would be to take the opportunity to say ‘hey wait a minute old British friends. These people shouldn’t have to prove to you that they are worthy of KEEPING THEIR COUNTRY AND FREEDOM! And isn’t it patently obvious that the people threatening to takeover another land and their inhabitants would be the real barbarians?’ No, no one says any of this. They have to prove that they are western-friendly, and that’s that. I get that it’s old-fashioned but surely people have always been able to see that taking over other lands is wrong? no?
So they prepare for this important visit by dressing everyone in Western garb and singing the moooost racist song. But it works out because Tuptim reads her play based on Uncle Tom’s Cabin, called ‘Small House of Uncle Thomas’, and they do a TWENTY MINUTE BALLET ABOUT IT and honestly it’s the best most amazing thing to have in a big musical because WHAAAT. It’s so f-ing random and amazing and we’ve been singing “Tricky little Topsy!” all day err day. SO RANDOM. Well it’s not too random, the story at least, because Tuptim is a slave and she’s narrating a play directly at the King about how bad slavery is and how evil King Simon of Legree (the best) was to poor Eliza (run Eliza run! run Eliza run! erma it’s amazing). But having this crazy 20 minute ballet about it is pretty damn ballsy to put in the middle of a musical and it’s so good. I’m obsessed. I love the choreography of this ballet, with Eliza running away by hopping on one foot. Anyway Buddha saves Eliza and then the lovers meet again and discuss how Anna always helped them meet by going out in the courtyard or whatever with them and you’re like huh we never saw that, that’s weird to just mention like that instead of ever showing I mean we’ve had three hours to do so. They decide to run away. And then Anna and the King have a beautiful dance (“Shall We Dance”) and seem to be friends and there’s also a weird spark there and you’re like holy crap that’s powerful but that’s kind of not the show I want to see and then the guards bring in Tuptim who escaped and they’re like we’re gonna kill her now and Anna is like no you’re a barbarian and everyone cries and Anna decides to leave Siam for good (but the veg fest…) but then the King has heart sadness and is dying from Anna calling him a barbarian so Anna decides to stay. What. Et cetera.
The book is kind of frustrating, as you could tell from my repeated stabbing of the capslock key, and the pacing feels off. At least a good twenty minutes could have and should have been cut (but not my Uncle Tom ballet! Never!). I don’t remember this show ever feeling as long, and unnecessarily so. It is a satisfactory production, but it isn’t the magical splendor I remember. Well, except for the performance of our Anna Leonowens. As Miss Anna, O’Hara’s performance seems like it has been marinating for the past three years because it’s even more nuanced, touching, and gorgeous than it was before – and she deservedly won a Tony for it before. I am not surprised, because she is the best working soprano in musical theatre today, but I didn’t even realize how much more realized her performance could be. It’s a marvel and it’s worth sitting through the three hours of sometimes-nonsense to witness her thrilling performance. Her “Hello Young Lovers” is the best sung moment I’ve ever heard in this city. Yep I said it and I will fight you on that. Truly, as much as I’m complaining about this production, and as horrible as the audience was, I will absolutely be returning to watch Kelli perform. She’s a triumph.
INFORMATION
The Palladium Theatre is a real POS. The toilets are near the entrance, on the other side of the huge lobby and bar area. And even though there are so many hallways and rooms and corners, everything feels squashed together. It’s a real claustrophobic place, outside the actual auditorium. The auditorium is at least airier, but it’s the wrong theatre from this show. I think it benefits from a thrust stage and this kind of shirty proscenium stage does nothing for this production.
AUDIENCE
Just expect the worst and you won’t be disappointed. Well you will be disappointed, in humanity, but you won’t be surprised. Aside from the panto reactions (oh I forgot, they also enjoyed clapping along to the music), we also had parents and children just flat-out talking, loudly, to each other the whole time. One 10-year-old ish girl in our row was having the worst time, and she kept asking her mother if they could leave. Instead of taking her out, which she should have done, the mother kept fishing around her bags to give her kid more and more food – all wrapped in the noisiest plastic you could imagine. Literally without even a moment’s pause, this happened for three straight hours. Aside from that kid, this was a different situation in that most of the trouble came from older people, when usually people our age are the worst. There was one older lady who was playing with paper the whole time, like balling it up, and it was actually so loud and she had no idea because she couldn’t really hear anyway. Omg there’s that skin rash.
STAGE DOOR
Speaking of how much of a POS this theatre is, the security staff at stage door had NOOO idea what was happening. After everyone had lined up, the guards then brought out barriers and made everyone re-line up behind them. Why weren’t they out at the start of things, she asks not expecting anyone to ever have a good enough answer. Right away Ken came out, skipped the beginning of the line of course, where I was, signed a few programs, and left. Then the guards announced that that was it. They went through all that trouble just for Ken? Ughh I was so upset that no one else was coming out. The guards broke down the barriers and told everyone to go home. I waited a minute just to be sure, and literally one minute later the entire cast came out. What the actual fuck. These guards were SO DUMB. But I got to freak out Kelli again as I always do so that was fun/humiliating. Et cetera.
Thoughts on: In The Heights, at the Walnut St. Theatre
Lights up on Washington Heights
Up at the break of day
I wake up and I got this little punk I gotta chase away
Pop the grate at the crack of dawn
Sing while I wipe down the awning
Hey y’all, Good morning!
Up at the break of day
I wake up and I got this little punk I gotta chase away
Pop the grate at the crack of dawn
Sing while I wipe down the awning
Hey y’all, Good morning!
So begins “In The Heights”, the 2008 Tony-winning Broadway musical, gingerly but decisively setting the scene and bringing the audience into its world. It’s a bold open for this groundbreaking show, since many audience members are surprised by the nakedness – the main character, Usnavi, is talking directly to us, rapping to very little music, and it’s a bit startling. But by the time the music builds and more characters join in verse, you’re there with them in Washington Heights. It’s one of those opening numbers that actually gives you chills, if done well.
Luckily, the new production at Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre (WST) is indeed done well. With a cast of mainly Latino actors (thank goodness), this regional production of “In The Heights” impressed me in many ways, and almost made me stop thinking about the Broadway production.
The show tells the story of a tight-knit community in the Washington Heights-section of way-northern Manhattan, in a neighborhood primarily composed of Dominican immigrants. Those in the neighborhood all work hard and struggle to make ends meet, but they would do anything for their friends and neighbors, who are more like family. The local abuela is the neighborhood abuela, and when one of them suffers, they all suffer.
“In the heights
I flip the lights
And start my day
There are fights
And endless debts
And bills to pay”
“In The Heights”, written by the dream team of Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegria Hudes, was a game changer when it debuted, like “Rent” was in its day. The style reflected modern times, with a score of rap and hip-hop, subverting what we took for granted about musical theatre while also paying tribute to it. If you were lucky enough to see the show on Broadway, especially with Miranda in the lead role, you know how hard it is to forget that experience, and the magic Miranda brought to it.
While I reminisced about Miranda’s unlimited charisma and talent a few times, the Walnut Street’s Usnavi, Perry Young, took over the role with aplomb. You miss some lines, as few people can spit out so many words as clearly as Miranda, but Young did an impressive job overall with the challenging role.
A few actors in the WST cast stunned me with their superb performances. Two supporting male characters, Benny and Sonny, respectively provide heart and comedy in the show, and it’s really important to cast actors who understand their characters’ sometimes unpleasant behavior. Rhett George as Benny was one of my favorite parts of this production, with his gorgeous voice and likability. You root for him even when he’s being kind of a jerk. Matthew J. Harris as Sonny was hilarious, and a few of his lines elicited the most laughter from the audience, thanks to his great comedic timing. The adorable Robin de Jesus played Sonny in the Broadway production, and while I love Robin, I don’t remember loving his Sonny as much as I did Harris’s.
While I reminisced about Miranda’s unlimited charisma and talent a few times, the Walnut Street’s Usnavi, Perry Young, took over the role with aplomb. You miss some lines, as few people can spit out so many words as clearly as Miranda, but Young did an impressive job overall with the challenging role.
A few actors in the WST cast stunned me with their superb performances. Two supporting male characters, Benny and Sonny, respectively provide heart and comedy in the show, and it’s really important to cast actors who understand their characters’ sometimes unpleasant behavior. Rhett George as Benny was one of my favorite parts of this production, with his gorgeous voice and likability. You root for him even when he’s being kind of a jerk. Matthew J. Harris as Sonny was hilarious, and a few of his lines elicited the most laughter from the audience, thanks to his great comedic timing. The adorable Robin de Jesus played Sonny in the Broadway production, and while I love Robin, I don’t remember loving his Sonny as much as I did Harris’s.
The wonderful set, plus heads in front of me (you can’t take pictures in the theatre; I had to be surreptitious!).
Rayanne Gonzales as Abuela Claudia was another standout, fully bringing the audience along on her character’s emotional arc. By the second act’s plot development, you feel, as the other characters do, as if she’s your abuela. My other favorite female character in this production was Nina, the smart girl who made it out of the barrio, played by Julia Hunter apparently in her professional debut. She is giving some performance as her debut! The Broadway cast featured the wonderful Mandy Gonzalez as Nina, and while you cannot really compare the two, I think Julia’s innocent take on the role affected me more.
One actor that stood out to me in a negative way was in the role of Daniela, because every time I looked at her she seemed to be making the same face – a big, wide-eyed smile. It just seemed off. Maybe this was the one case when original Broadway performer, the incredible Andrea Burns, was too much on my mind, but I think it’s at least in part a misstep in direction.
The real gripe I have with this production, that I wish they would work on ASAP, was that the sound seemed off! For a show that won the Tony for Best Orchestrations, the orchestrations for this production sometimes got in the way, and sometimes were lacking. For example, my favorite musical number in the show, “96,000”, features the characters taking turns in the first half rapping about what they’d do if they won the lottery, and then in the second half the backbeat builds behind the verses and then the full chorus belts into song. This climax gives legitimate chills even on the cast recording. However, in the WST production, I didn’t even realize this section had started until the song was over. You couldn’t hear the beat, you couldn’t hear Usnavi’s continued rap, and you somehow couldn’t hear the entire ensemble of the show singing the chorus. There are some serious sound issues if twenty-odd people singing the same thing couldn’t break through this strange din of confusion.
Even with these issues, the WST production is solid and definitely recommended. The overwhelmingly white, senior audience seemed to enjoy every moment of it, which pleased me to no end. “In The Heights” is a fresh, thrillingly modern show, enjoyed by anyone and everyone, and the WST is doing some fabulous work.
One actor that stood out to me in a negative way was in the role of Daniela, because every time I looked at her she seemed to be making the same face – a big, wide-eyed smile. It just seemed off. Maybe this was the one case when original Broadway performer, the incredible Andrea Burns, was too much on my mind, but I think it’s at least in part a misstep in direction.
The real gripe I have with this production, that I wish they would work on ASAP, was that the sound seemed off! For a show that won the Tony for Best Orchestrations, the orchestrations for this production sometimes got in the way, and sometimes were lacking. For example, my favorite musical number in the show, “96,000”, features the characters taking turns in the first half rapping about what they’d do if they won the lottery, and then in the second half the backbeat builds behind the verses and then the full chorus belts into song. This climax gives legitimate chills even on the cast recording. However, in the WST production, I didn’t even realize this section had started until the song was over. You couldn’t hear the beat, you couldn’t hear Usnavi’s continued rap, and you somehow couldn’t hear the entire ensemble of the show singing the chorus. There are some serious sound issues if twenty-odd people singing the same thing couldn’t break through this strange din of confusion.
Even with these issues, the WST production is solid and definitely recommended. The overwhelmingly white, senior audience seemed to enjoy every moment of it, which pleased me to no end. “In The Heights” is a fresh, thrillingly modern show, enjoyed by anyone and everyone, and the WST is doing some fabulous work.
Correction: The original version of this review named Karen Olivo as the original Nina, when it was Mandy Gonzalez. No more writing at midnight!
