Broadway Banter--Summer of 2010 edition!

I'm glad you started this thread and am looking forward to the replies. My husband and I will be in NY Sept 12-19 and we're debating what shows to see. We've got tickets to A Little Night Music but would like to see at least one more and are wondering about West Side Stories (despite the lukewarm reviews) or else something completely different like Freud's Last Session or Mrs. Warren's Profession--

There are a lot of shows that haven't opened yet.

West Side Story is excellent!
You might also want to consider the revival of Driving Miss Daisy starring Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones.

Have to agree that West Side Story was great. Leonard Bernstein's score is a masterpeiece - you don't get Broadway musicals like this anymore.

Any ideas for current good broadway shows for a 10 yr old girl and her mom? She's not sheltered, lives in a city and has a teenage sister; so doesn't have to be too tame a show. West Side Story could work. Any other ideas? Thanks

Actually La Cage aux Folles could work fine, too, if it isn't too explicit. The topic is fine with us, I love a good farce and enjoyed the movies (French and American).

Just got back from our trip to NYC and other east coast cities. b We saw La Cage Aux Folles, and it was indeed excellent. Kelsey Grammar and Douglas Hodge were wonderful! Not sure a 10 year old would like it or get it. Rent the movie and see what you think, it is openly, heavily homosexually oriented.

I would recommend Billy Elliot; we though it was superb. The young men who do the lead [they rotate during the week] are absolutely amazing, as is the entire ensemble. I think your daughter would appreciate Billy Elliott way more than La Cage.

I bought La Cage tkts on line at discount; the Billy Elliott tkts were bought from a scalper outside the Times Square TKTS bldg.

"In the Heights" is excellent for a 10 yr old citu girl and mom. Wicked ofcourse is still the most popular show on Broadway but never discounted.

For a 10-year-older, I'd go with Billy Elliot or The Lion King.
Of course, there is Wicked, but since we didn't like it, I cannot in good faith recommend it. (Sorry, Starrs!)

We adored La Cage. Agree with Howard - Doug Hodge was beyond superb. He made me laugh and cry.

I think a 10 year old would like The Lion King (I enjoyed it too) I think she would love In The Heights (My fave musical until I saw La Cage). We liked Wicked, but not crazy about it as some. I liked Lion King better.

Yes Douglas Hodge was great as was the show but having said that I liked "In The Heights" even more . I think both you and the ten year old would love the dancing and singing.

I am getting very excited as I will be in NYC in December. I wonder what my chances are of getting tickets to see Al Pacino in the 'Merchant of Venice'. I have been a great fan of Al Pacino's ever since I saw him in ScarFace. And for me, seeing a play with actors that we only see on TV in Australia will be a absolutely terrific.

millie2112....Get the tickets now. Since he's only giving fewer than 100 performances), they'll be a scarce item soon. However, I'm not sure how you'd get them in Australia.

thanks HowardR, I have looked on Playbill and tickets go on sale on 21st of August. At the moment they are selling to American Express Card Holders. So I will check in a few days. I think I should just be able to go through one of the theatre sites - I will give it a go anyway.

millie, check to see whether the tickets will be sold through ticketmaster or telecharge. I recommend that way on the 21st, as the rates on the theater sites might be higher.

PS: My gut feeling is that there won't be any discounts available for that show on the theater sites (or anywhere else) that offer discounts.

I saw Memphis last month and really enjoyed it. Also, Rock of Ages is a lot of fun, but probably more for those who grew up in the 80's. And I loved Wicked!

What is "In the Heights" about?
We already saw Lion King here on the west coast.

(And seeing Al Pacino in Merchant in Venice sounds great for you. Get those tickets now!)

Any opinions out there on Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles? There are discounted tickets available for our upcoming trip in October; my husband is a huge Beatles fan, but I'd like some opinions before we commit that much money and one of our precious nights in NYC to the show. Is it just basically a concert or does it tell the story of the Beatles similar to Jersey Boys?

If you've seen it or know someone who has, I'd appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.

I saw seven shows during my time in NYC last month (July).
Here's what we saw:
* The Addams Family
* Lend Me A Tenor
* Next to Normal
* Promise, Promises
* Memphis
* Wicked

The best show, by far, was Memphis. I loved it so much that I bought the soundtrack, and I'm now planning a trip to see it again in December.

I didn't care much for Wicked, but it was okay. I liked Promises, Promises. Another one I would recommend is Next to Normal. Very weird, but thought provoking also.

Both playbill.com and broadwaybox.com have discount offers for Billy Elliot ($89 now through September 5 and all of October for orchestra and front mezzanine; $95 for the same seats Septmber 7-30; 79 for rear mezzanine the entire time of the offer).

We saw, in order of preference:

Promises, Promises - Great Revival and Great Seats

Billy Elliot - Enjoyed it more than we expected, good seats

Addams Family - Much better than the reviews, okay seats

Memphis - Previews, something new and enjoyable, bad seats

Come Fly Away - Not a show but a dance review, good seats

Million Dollar Quartet-90 minutes but seemed longer,bad seats

Bookmarking.

I've been seeing NYC Fringe shows. So far, I've seen Our Condolences which was very good and Jewwish which is excellent. The author/performer has perfectly nailed Jewish online dating. This one deserves a longer life than the festival.

I'm looking forward to seeing Just in Time about Judy Holiday on Friday.
www.fringenyc.org

I recently unearthed (cleaning my apartment) a 30 some odd year old essay from and old Playbill that should be read by anyone who loves musicals. I've posted it here:
http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/explorenyc/2010/08/broadway-musicals-and-the-mosque.html

Howard I just got tickets for Billy Elliot for $95 for October, Row k centre. I could have gotten Row A but I think that is too close for a musical.

SueNYC-I just saw a play about Judy Holiday at the Winnipeg Fringe. It was excellent, but I don't think it is the same play as the one I saw was a one woman show and centred on her involvement with the McCarthy Inquiry

ita, those are good seats. Happy that my info paid off for someone. You'll love the show.
Frank, I don't mean to be sarcastic or rude, but why do you mention the quality of your seats without any additional information? By itself, that information is meaningless. If you told us, however, how you obtained the tickets (i.e., full price, with a discount offer, at TKTS, etc.), then the information might be helpful.

Howard - thanks so much for resurrecting my thread - definitely time for a new season! Are you aware that Stephen Sondheim is doing a TimesTalk on Nov 22nd? I'm going; I think it will be interesting. I really enjoyed listening to his stories during Sondheim on Sondheim.

Stephen Sondheim & Frank Rich: An Onstage Conversation
6:30 – 8 PM
On the occasion of his 80th year and the publication of his new book, “Finishing the Hat: Volume One,” the winner of seven Tonys, seven Grammys, an Oscar and a Pulitzer Prize talks with Times columnist Frank Rich about his extraordinary work and life.

ita - doesn't sound like the same play but I'll let you know later. You might enjoy Zero hour - a one man show about Zero Mostel - a good bit of it has to do with his involvement in the McCarthy inquiry.

CP Girl - the Sondheim/Rich Times talk sounds great.

(I'll never forget going to a Rich talk at the 92Y about Carol Channing's last performance in the last revival of Hello Dolly.

During the Q & A, a few rows in front of me, I heard her inimitable voice say "Mr Rich" - up until then, I didn't know that SHE was in the audience.

Sue - that's funny about Carol Channing - what a voice! I really enjoyed Zero Hour.

cpg, yes I was aware of the upcoming program. You're in for a great evening. Rich is a superb interviewer (matching his great writing talent) and Sondheim is a wonderful conversationalist. We saw him and Barbara Cook together at a Times Talk session a few years ago and loved it. I urge you to get there early for a good seat.

I just added a blog post about the Fringe as well as a couple of film festivals between now and Labor Day. The Met HD festival is terrific.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/explorenyc/2010/08/august-festivals-fringe-cp-films-met-hd.html

Howard, all seats discounted except Billy E. I strongly believe the quality of the seat affects the enjoyment of the show.

Equally important, Frank, is that your experience shows that getting discount tickets can a crapshoot. You can get great seats or not-so-great seats! Still, whenever I get discounted tickets, I always go in knowing that my seats may not be great and consider myself lucky when they are! And, thus, I consider myself lucky when they are good ones.

Howard, we buy all of our seats online and we never buy bad seats. All the bad seats we get are when we leave the buying to others, like our theater group or alumni associations.

Forgot we also saw Everyday Rapture on opening night, great seats(free), great reception, forgettable show.

A great new offer for Next to Normal on playbill.com--$59 for orchestra and front mezzanine through November 24! It gets no better when it comes to non-TKTS discounts.
Frank, still it's a crapshoot. I infer that you reject seeing a show if you don't like what's available. I think, however, that most people may not have such high "standards" or "demands" and will accept "less-than-perfect" tickets. I might add that it's relative. What I consider good or excellent may not receive the same ratings from you.

Just got a few tickets for a January visit to Broadway -- Merchant of Venice and Spiderman. Does anyone know when tickets for Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown will go on sale to NON-LC-members? Members sales start on August 23 I believe.

Any guess if they will offer Am Ex pre-sale tickets?

Howard: We consider Center Orchestra 3rd through 15th row, and the first 4 seats on the side aisles as our standard. If we can't get that, we wait and usually get what we want later. We live in midtown so we can pretty much go whenever we get the right seats. We just don't enjoy a show from the 20th row, way over on the side or the Mezz.

Frank, I'm sort of with you.....I'd add the first four rows of the front mezzanine. Actually, my first choice would be first or second row center in the mezzanine. I agree with not enjoying a show as much from the back of the orchestra. At the same time, I must add that there have been a few rare times when we had no choice, got less desirable seats and ended up enjoying the show more. I best remember when after seeing and loving the original production of Ragtime, we decided to take visiting relatives to see it. Unfortunately (I thought), the only seats available were up in the balcony. Okay, we thought, at least we'll save some money! Well, sitting up there gave us a better TOTAL view and appreciation of the show, especially the brilliant opening number. All in all, we enjoyed it more because we could see the grandeur of the whole production.

TC - Tickets for non-LCT members for 'Women, etc.' go on sale Monday August 30th (I think 10 am, but not certain.)

John Guare has a new play, a comedy, opening at LCT in the Beaumont called 'A Free Man of Color.' Tix to non-LCT members go on sale Tuesday 9/12.

CPG, Do you think that tix for "Women..." will be available on the internet through one of the standard outlets on the 30th?

TC, probably.

TC - I would go to www.lct.org and www.playbill.com on the 30th and you should get the right link. If you look on LCT's site now, you can see dates when Patti LuPone and Brian Stokes Mitchell are NOT performing.

Hi all, can I please ask a question
TC - and HowardR please help. I would like to buy Merchant of Venice Tickets, however they are very very expensive. So I can only afford Mezzanine for myself and 18yr old son. Are these seats ok, I would be looking at Mezanine A to G or H to J
what do you think.
thanks in advance

millie, I'm a little confused. You say you can only afford the mezzanine and then mention rows A to G and H to J. The price of the A to G tickets is exactly the same as the orchestra, which I infer were too expensive for you. Therefore, my obvious suggestion is that you have no choice but to get the seats in the H to J section if you want to spend less money.

Millie, I agree with Howard, your post is confusing. The mezzanine Row A overhangs the Orchestra Row K. Row A Mezz would be very good seats -- at least that is where I am sitting. Try not to be too far off to the side. I think its better to be back a row or two if you are in the middle. The sound on the sides isn't always good. I don't believe the pricing drops until Row D of the Mezz and then again at Row K for the lowest priced seats. Row D would be o.k.

The price doesn't drop until row H.

sorry to confuse HowardR and TC, I went to the "telecharge" site and was able to get very good seats. I managed the Mezzanine, row 'C'. so I am very very pleased with myself. I just needed to read the seating plan guide just a bit better.

When does the Broadway Fall Season officially start? Should we start a new thread for the Fall shows?

Here's WSJ's "Fall preview" article:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703369704575461622490601394.html?mod=rss_Arts_and_Entertainment

It was announced today that Brendan Fraser will star in Elling, which opens in Nov. I want to see that!

yk - sure...please go ahead and start a fall thread. Thanks for the link. Seeing 39 Steps this weekend - free seats, so why not?

On Tuesday (Aug 31) bought my tickets for "Women". We are going on Oct. 14. Second row mezzanine in the center section so was happy with my seats. Expensive when you are buying 5 seats but can't wait to see the show.

I, too, got good seats for "Women". We have a great little weekend booked right after New Year's Eve. $200 rate at The Muse, great seats for Merchant ..., Spiderman, and Women ..., so far. I love being in the city right after NYE. Everything is still festive, but cheaper -- much cheaper.

Just saw Scotsboro Boys at the Guthrie in Minneapolis prior to its opening on Broadway. Both DH and I were stunned. I will be very interested to see if this one flies in NY.

I had read quite a bit about the Scotsboro case prior to attending and I was very disappointed to see the story handled in what, to me, seems a very disrespectful treatment. It pained me most to see such a horrific miscarriage of justice treated in such a lighthearted way -- played for laughs. I just can't wrap my head around a song and dance (maybe the best performance in the evening) depicting inmates being electrocuted.

Sadly, the show really never allows one to get to know the central characters -- the boys. They are a complete aside to the antics of other characters played for laughs. I don't understand how anyone could look at the photos of those poor boys, read their story, and then laugh. While I get what Kander and Ebb thought they were doing -- using an entertainment vehicle of the period as they did in Cabaret and Chicago. This time they got it all wrong.

I just kept thinking the whole evening -- what would the real Scotsboro boys think if they could see their life stories told in such a heartless way?