Tag Archives: broadway

My Fondness for Les Miserables

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To love another person is to see the face of God.

When I moved to the United States, I took a few months of high school to finish off my senior year and to take the SATs for university. I started in the beginning of the second quarter and choir was one of my electives.

The Music teacher was working at the school for four years, so he started with my class – then freshmen – and they all had a very close bond. I was the new comer and I definitely felt it.

He had us do a lot of Broadway music and a lot of latin songs, so in our final concert, he wanted the seniors in the choir to do One Day More from Les Miserables and he held auditions for solo parts. I remembered hesitating, after all I’d only been a senior for a few months, but, I liked the song so I tried out for a part. He was definitely hesitant about me being in it, I could tell by the way he treated me compared to the others. I had this stern faced man, waiting for me to riot, while all the others had this jovial, kind-looking man. Finally, he let me be a part of his senior choir’s solo piece, I sang a few lines of Cosette’s part as he wanted to “make sure everyone got a part.” Despite his hesitance, I fell in love with One Day More, the song stuck with me and even though the Broadway show closed while I was in college, I always held out the hope that it would play again.

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Newsies Seize The Day

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I’ve seen my fair share of broadway shows, but there was something special about Newsies. The set was simple; metal stairs and platforms that move around the stage and a few tables and chairs where the only props. The costumes were simple – newsboys garbs and fancy suits. What made it stand out was the singing and more importantly, the dancing.

It’s probably one of the few shows I have seen with a substantial script – compared to the number of songs. It follows the story of a group of newspaper boys who sell The World news for their bread and butter. After an unfair hike in the cost of the paper, the kids decide to go on strike. It’s a very heart warming and relatable story; it also has its share of humour. I must say, compared to the singing and the dancing, the acting didn’t shine as brightly, but it was still good.

Script and songs aside, the thing that was most appealing about the Newsies was the dancing. It was amazing to watch, I found myself smiling thought-out the entire thing. What I found fascinating as well, was the fact that Newsies had a mostly male cast. They had great chemistry between them, and the voices blended beautifully together and the dancing – oh the dancing – it was just brilliant.

One of my favourite dance sequence was Sieze the Day, it had me at the edge of my seat, especially the part with the newspaper pages! You can see them perform Sieze the Day on The View. Another favourite was the King of New York sequence.

Overall, this was a fast moving, high energy, excellent show! If you have the chance to go and see it, you should!

Baby It’s You

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Baby It’s You (showing at the Broadhurst Theater until September 4th) is a based on the true story of Florence Greenberg, creator of Sceptre Records and founder of The Shirelles – a 1960s American girl group (first to have a number one single on the Billboards Hot 100).

The story opens with Florence, a mother and housewife in New Jersey who wants to get into the music business. With help from a family friend – and much protesting from her husband – she starts Tiara Records with a four girl group her daughter, Mary Jane, found at school called the Shirelles.

The story continues, following Florence’s climb in the music industry, from her selling Tiara Record and the Shirelles’s contract to Decca Records to her founding Scepter Record and taking the Shirelles to the top with the help of her partner, singer/songwriter/producer Luther Dixon. With hit songs like Tonight’s the Night, Dedicated to the One I Love and Soldier Boy, the Shirelles hit the Billboard charts and at the height of their fame, hit number one on the charts.

There were quite a few hard relationship stories in the play; Florence’s relationship with her children – pretty strained since she was hardly at home. Her relationship with the Shirelles – who her husband said she treats better than her own daughter – and her relationship with her partner Luther, a relationship that did not remain a professional one.

The music, in the beginning it was choppy, but as the the play moved along there were some really stirring numbers. I really loved the voices of the ladies that played the Shirelles, they sounded amazing together; different than the original group – I think a different sound altogether – but still very girl group-esque.

the colourful costumes were fun! (via broadway.com)

I absolutely LOVED the costumes! Florence had a lot of dress changes and I loved pretty much all her dresses. I also loved the A-line skirts that the Shirelles wore in the beginning of the play! So fun, I wonder where I can get skirts like those! A very 50s/60s wardrobe, it was easy to see some of the influences on present day fashion.

In the beginning they projected a jukebox on the screen so that image was stuck in my head when I saw the set and the on-stage band sitting on lit tiers reminded me of a jukebox. There were four screens that served as digital backdrops; everything had a 50s/60s feel to it; definitely a fun set. With the band on-stage the show felt more like a concert, which was great because during the bows they played a couple of popular tunes, much to the audience’s joy – especially that older gentleman in the front row shimmying with the cast.

Baby It’s You isn’t a show I’d typically chose to go to, so I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it. It’s too bad that September 4th is its last day! Thanks to my pal Evie for the cheap ticket!

Florence and The Shirelles (via broadway.com)

How to Succeed on Broadway!

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Rising before the sun, my friend and I headed into the New York City to stand in line at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre’s box office to get rush tickets. We were aiming for 8 a.m. but got there around 7:45 to find a 15 people queue – I asked the first in line, they were there since 6 a.m.).  I stayed until 9:30 and then left for work; 30 minutes later I got a text saying we got the tickets! yay! =)

If you want to try rush tickets, check the website for details. The show was definitely worth getting up before the sun!

The set was very simple, just a few coloured rises that moved on and off stage when necessary, the backdrops, office furniture and box designed to look like a lift. Very simple, but very well done.

Scene from Coffee Break (image via broadway.com)

The costumes were mostly business suits and dresses. I absolutely LOVED the colours, I would wear some of those styles to work! For some reason the costumes reminded me of Annie (the movie, I haven’t seen the Broadway show).

The story  follows a young and ambitious J. Pierrepont Finch (Daniel Radcliffe), a window washer at the beginning of the story, and his climb up the corporate ladder.

As J. Pierrepont Finch climbs the corporate ladder, a secretary Rosemary Pilkington, played by Rose Hemingway, has set her eyes on making him her husband. Meanwhile Biggley’s nephew, Bud Frump, played by Christopher J. Hanke, is trying to blackmail his uncle into giving him a higher position.

Daniel Radcliffe did a great job! It took me until Act 2 to remember that he English and was using an American accent, he blended in so well! Also, I was pleasantly surprised by his singing and dancing skills. I can see Daniel going a very long way with his acting career. John Larroquette who played J.B. Biggley, the head of World Wide Wickets, was one of my favourites in the show. His character was quite hilarious and probably the one that provided the most laughs for me. I also loved Christopher Hanke, he did a great job in portraying Bud Frump and adding more laughs to the show.

I listened to the songs before the show (on Spotify) and didn’t think I would get the soundtrack , but, after seeing the show, I think I’m going to getting it! Some of my favourite songs were Coffee Break (hilarious and great choreography), Paris Original (such a funny song!) and Brotherhood of Man – I think Daniel’s dancing skills shone through on this one, see video below from the Tony Awards.

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Great show, wonderful production. I had a fabulous time!

Unlimited; Together We’re Unlimited

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I’ve always loved The Wizard of Oz. I remember seeing the movie as a child and wanting to be a part of munchkin land, or wanting to skip down the yellow brick road. So naturally, when the show Wicked came to Broadway, I had to see it. Wicked, is based on a novel of the same name, by Gregory Maguire. It’s the untold story of the Wicked Witch of the West. I attended the show on a free ticket, a lucky break. It was a great experience; I remember leaving the theater with the songs playing through my head. I got the soundtrack the very next day and played all the songs on repeat for one entire week. At Karaoke places I would sing all the Wicked songs that were available. I declared Wicked my favourite Broadway show.

This past Saturday I got a chance to attend Behind the Emerald Curtain and take a peek at how Wicked came into existence.

Our tour was lead by Jerad Bortz (ensamble and understudy for Fiyero) and Anthony Galde (swing and understudy for Fiyero, Wizard and Father). They took us through all the stages an actor experiences from audition to the stage. One of the most interesting stories was the fitting. The actor spends the day going to different shops, standing in their underwear in a room of mirrors and getting their measurements taken while being observed by a group of people who are holding clipboard and talking about their body. Intimidating? I think so.

I was blown away by the effort and detail that goes into each costume. Every single costume is custom fitted for each actor who will be portraying that role and some costumes cost thousands of dollars.

Jerad and Tony explained the behind the scene choreography that goes on with the costume changes. There is a system off stage that’s just as detailed as the dancing happening on stage. With limited time between scenes the actors have to know exactly where to go, what they are taking off or putting on and how to move along the line to change. Sometimes they do all of this while STILL singing.

The spoke in detail on the setting up of the set, the masks and the sound (mic placements), then we got to sit in the theater’s orchestra section while they showed us a short film on the making of the musical as well as the jobs of the folks in the background who keep the show running. One thing that struck me was the amount of people behind the scenes that work on the show while there is an audience watching the performance. I believe they said that there were about 100+ people working backstage to make sure each show runs smoothly, this is not including orchestra or actors.

To say that I was impressed with the effort and money it takes to put on Wicked is an understatement. I was blown away by the hard work and many hours. I thought back to the time I saw the show; when I left the auditorium I wasn’t thinking of the people doing the sound or the light, I was remembering the spectacular closing scene of Act 1. I was not wondering about the wardrobe team or the stage team, I was enjoying the look of the stage and the gear-like props that added something different to the setting of Oz. I know that the next time I see Wicked – and there will be a next time – I will probably be engrossed in the show on stage again. However, in the back of my mind I will also remember this day and I am quite sure that I will have a greater appreciation for the hard work that 100s of “invisible” people do on a daily basis to allow me to enjoy the work of art that is Wicked, the Musical.