I just bought discounted tickets for "Gentlemen's Guide" in January. Glad to hear everyone like it so much. Ours are mezzanine also, not quite the back row but close, so Ninasdream, I'm glad to hear you could see well from back there.

Now to confer with my mom and decide what else we will see that weekend. Probably will try for Opera tickets. Maybe we can fit in a Sunday matinee as well....

We sat in the mid-mezzanine for Gentleman's Guide and the seats were fine.

Neo & China cat- I know I sound nutty, but I could see really well. Of course, the show is so over-the-top and the gestures are exaggerated, that went a long way. Did either of you see The Drowsy Chaperone? I liken it to that in terms of silliness and fun.

Neo -Thanks for the reply on Dule Hill and the cast. I was actually going to go last weekend, but saw KD Lang was coming on board, so I waited for her. I have been a big fan of her voice ever since I heard "Full Moon Full of Love" on her first LP. I hadn't heard such a lush voice in a long time Thought she'd be the next Patsy Kline. Was consequently caught offguard by her androgenous persona, & path she chose on bucking the music machine. Anyway...

How long do you have to wait on TKTS lines nowadays? Like on a non-holiday? I have a bad knee and can't really stand for long, like an hour might get tricky. I was thinking about seeing Matilda. I actually went into the box office and was asking about tickets for a future date, ready to buy when the man at the window turned to a coworker and begain chatting about an incident with a child earlier that week. When I couldn't get his attention after 5 minutes, I just left. I'm from the city and still found that outrageous. Maybe I'll just try TKTS.

If you go to TKTS around 5 or 6 p.m. or later, there's usually little or no line. Sometimes you luck in at that time or later when unsold tickets are sent over there as curtain time gets closer. At other times, however, you may have missed out on tickets that were available earlier that day. It's often just the luck of the draw.
One thing for sure, however, is that if you go earlier (like around 2 or 3 for an evening performance or 10:30-11:30 for a matinee) you're likely to have to wait in line for a while.

I didn't mean to imply that seats in the back of the mezzanine for Gentleman's Guide wouldn't be good. But I honestly can't imagine anyone -- no matter how good their eyes are -- being able to see "every facial expression". Even a raised eyebrow or a curled lip? That truly is amazing!

Howard - thanks, exactly what I was looking for, I haven't used tickets since they moved to new location. SO it's been a while!
Neo - I think the campimess helped telegraph it all. But maybe it's like how much French I think I spoke on my last trip to Paris, part reality, part rosy gloss-imbued memory trick!

My husband and I managed some very cheap tickets to "Peter and the Starcatcher", which is off-Broadway, three weeks ago. It was very enjoyable, and I'd see it again if I had the chance. It sounds like it is closing soon, though.

We also saw "Waiting for Godot" from the front row. Seeing some of what went on on stage that "up close and personal" was sometimes a bit hard to take, LOL, but we were a little off to the side and the sight lines were actually very good. Patrick Stewart was fun to watch, but it was Ian McKellen who really amazed me.

I just returned from some stunning off off Broadway. Finian's Rainbow and Flahooley at the Harlem Repertory Theatre. Will return with a longer post but for now, see it if you can before the 12th.

http://www.harlemrepertorytheatre.co...nt_season.html

I'm just back from seeing Motown and Gentleman's Guide last weekend, both of which I loved.

Ninasdream, I understand what you meant when you said you could see every expression. Of course, you can't really...but the cast did such a good job of projecting, and playing even to the upper part of the theater, that it did feel like you were closer than you really were. In particular, Bryce Pinkham who plays Monty Navarro makes the best faces, and he is so expressive you can really see them from far away.

I thought Gentleman's guide was one of the funniest things I've seen and I definitely recommend it. The sets are very clever, the death scenes are hilarious. the whole ice skating bit had me in stitches. Also, the various attempts to kill the great aunt, culminating in the use of an axe...you don't even see those, and its funny.

I liked Motown too, it was fun and well done. Was this show Berry Gordy's rebuttal to Dreamgirls though? I kept thinking it was...as if he was trying to say "I did it because I loved the music, the artists were family...i'm really not a money grubbing, controlling, soul sucking SOB like they made me out to be, i swear!" Even so, it was a lot of fun, and the music and dancing were great. I should ignore what little plot there was.

I hope to catch this play: Tracy Letts will be starring in "The Realistic Joneses" by Will Eno with Michael C. Hall, Toni Collette, and Marisa Tomei. Previews are set to begin in mid-March and opening April 6th, but theater is not yet announced.

And beginning April 1, the wonderful Estelle Parsons (along with Stephen Spinella) in Velocity of Autumn at The Booth. I'd go anywhere to listen to Estelle Parsons read the phone book.
Discounts available till June 8, using code VADML1 on Broadwayoffers.com (telecharge). "Wickedly funny and touching".

Partner sat next to Marsha Norman at Jason Robert Brown's Bridges of Madison County...they both seemed thrilled with the production. Opens Feb 20. TDF tix were available.

On Off Off Broadway - I just saw the Olmsted piece at the Gilded Age festival. Great. It plays 2 more times this week but it needs a longer life.

http://metropolitanplayhouse.org/gildedstage

And the current run of shows at the Harlem Repertory Theatre have been extended through second week in February. Finian's Rainbow and Flahooley were gems.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...y-theatre.html

And way off Broadway - movie Palace not theatre - The United Palace of Cultural Arts will be showing West Side Story next month.

http://thestarryeye.typepad.com/expl...f-culture.html

ekscrunchy, I'm hoping Marsha Norman and your partner are among the majority, but the early blogs I'm reading are suggesting that Bridges. . . is pretty dull. Particularly people are talking about how slow the second act is how it "just doesn't work" -- particularly for those who know the book or the movie. The one positive I'm hearing over and over though is Kelli O'Hara may have the best voice on Broadway, and apparently her songs are really beautiful (if not memorable).

China Cat - wasn't that ice skating scene a riot? Glad you enjoyed it, and thank you for corroborating that the facila expressions are so exaggerated, that you feel you are seeing it close-up! I feel vindicated!
CHgogal - thanks for the word on "The Realistic Joneses - what a cast!
Neo - I love Estelle Parsons voice and her wonderfully expressive face, and her range from straight man to zany. I will look for that one.

Gee, ninasdream, no need to feel vindicated -- I assume you are referring to my questioning your statement before that "I sat in a back Mezzanine row, and I could see every facial expression."

It may be a minor point, but I never would have questioned your later statements about the exaggeration and telegraphing so that "you feel you are seeing it close up". Yes, I totally agree with that and certainly always would have, but it has little to do with what you first said about actually SEEING every facial expression". The point is that they physically show so much with their exaggerated body language that you really don't need to see their actual expressions.

Speaking of Estelle Parsons, did anyone else see her do August: Osage County on Broadway? There's another wonderful performance that perhaps made me appreciate Meryl Streep's performance of the same role just a little bit less than I might have otherwise.

I did see Estelle Parson's every facial expression on Broadway - from a front row seat at Grace and Glory. That was when I fell in love with sitting up (ultra) close, even when I might miss something else going during the performance.

We saw Estelle Parson in the role in Toronto - when she came flying down the stairs at 81 it was an extraordinary sight.

(didn't like the play though)

Hey Patrick, yes I saw Estelle Parsons in August: Osage County. I remember agonizing over whether I wanted to go see that play because it was 3 hours long. And then I was so happy I did, because it was soooo good. I haven;t seen Meryl Streep in the movie yet, I think I feel like you...I'll appreciate it a little less.

Mark me on the other side of this discussion. We saw Estelle Parsons in the show on Broadway, and we still marveled (as usual) at Meryl Streep's interpretation in the movie.