NYC 9.3.11 HAIR and Rock of Ages

I said I fell in love with Hair lol I was not joking! 3 times in 7 weeks! That's not bad! This time I went with Alaina, we tried lottery again and lost, but got student tickets for $37 for mezz. But we still had the entire experience, including going on stage at the end! It was great! We had several cast changes this time, my favorite being Marshal Kennedy Carolan as Claude. Not only is he incredibly adorable, his voice is AMAZING!!! It was a wonderful choice for Claude!! We also stage doored. Not a bad show for Alaina's first Broadway show AND first time to NYC! I will miss Hair when it closes next week :( Fingers crossed it comes to PVD for the 2012-2013 season!
Cast:
Dionne: Tanesha Ross(This show)
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Marshal Kennedy Carolan(This show)
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Cailan Rose(This show)
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Josh Lamon
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Josh Lamon
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett







After Hair, we walked next door to the Helen Hayes Theatre, where we snagged two student rush tickets @ $27. $64 for TWO shows is not bad at all! We had some time to kill, so we went to Madame Tussaud's for a couple hours before we went to the performance!











Then It was time for Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages is always a good time, and this time was no exception! Hysterical!!! (I have written a previous synopsis, so none will be included.)

Cast:
Lonny/Redord Company Man: MItchell Jarvis
Justice/Mother: Michele Mais
Dennis/Record Company Man: Adam Dannheisser
Drew: Dan Domenech
Sherrie: Rebecca Faulkenberry
Stacee Jaxx/Father: MiG Ayesa
Regina/Candy: Josephine Rose Roberts
Mayor/Ja Keith Gill/Strip Club DJ: Andre Ward
Hertz: Bret Tuomi
Franz: Cody Scott Lancaster
Waitress #1: Ericka Hunter
Reporter: Emily Williams
Sleazy Producer/Joey Primo: Jeremy Woodard
Young Groupie: Tessa Alves

NYC RENT and HAIR 8.20.11

Hayley, Kristin, and I went to see RENT revival(?) off Broadway at its new home at the New World Stages. I was excited to see RENT, as it closed after a 12 year run on Broadway in 2008. I was a little apprehensive though, because of the changes to the show: modernization, costume changes, technology, etc. I was MORE than happy with the changes! The costumes, though Mark's trademark scarf was gone and Maureen wore a skirt instead of jeans, and Angel was much more masculine,(and not comic relief anymore! I hated when they made her comic relief!) worked well. Mark's old video camera was replaced with a slightly more modern (albeit still old!) camera. The technology was added to include more video footage(including live footage at the end) and it snowed every time they sand "And it's beginning to snow." The cast was very talented, and young. The set was incredible, and modern.

Some people may miss the charm and the simplicity of the old RENT, but as a RENThead for at least 15 years now, I can't stop singing it's praises!

I am not going to include a synopsis, as I am sure I have done that already previously!

Cast:
Mark Cohen: Adam Chanler-Berat
Roger Davis: Matt Shingledecker
Mrs Cohen, Coat Vendor, Others: Morgan Weed
Tom Collins: Nicholas Christopher
Benjamin Coffin III: Ephraim Sykes
Joanne Jefferson: Corbin Reid
The Man, Mr Grey, Others: Ben Thompson
Angel Dumott Schunard: MJ Rodriguez
Mimi Marquez: Arianda Fernandez
Maureen Johnson: Annaleigh Ashford
Mr Jefferson, Paul, Others: Marcus Paul James
Mrs Jefferson, Homeless Woman, Others: Tamika Sonja Lawrence
Gordon, Waiter, Others: Michael Wartella
Alexi Darling, Mrs Davis, Others: Margot Bingham

Then, Kristin went to see Death Takes A Holiday, and Hayley and I went to try for the Hair lottery. We lost, but we got seats 3 rows from the front for $37 student rush! Can't beat that!

Hair was as fantastic as it was 3 weeks earlier! This time we had much more interaction because of our seats, and we got to go up on stage and dance with the cast after! Such a fun time! Fell a little more in love with Hair!

Cast:
Dionne: Phyre Hawkins
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Paris Remillard
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Kaitlin Kiyan
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett

NYC Hair 7.16.11

Kristin and I went to see Hair today. It was PERFECT that Hair had decided to do a ten-week run at the St James Theatre this summer! I had just gotten into Hair, and was DYING to see it, so we grabbed tickets!

Quick Synopsis:
Hair is the story of a group or friends, (The Tribe) who are hippies in the 60's, and protest war and fighting and promote love. That's essentially the show, though it is much much more than that!

This show is fantastic! This was my first time seeing it(but not my last, as you will see!) There was much audience interaction, with the characters running through the aisles and playing with you hair and handing out flowers and Be-In posters, and dancing over your seats. We were in the Mezzanine for this show, and it was not nearly as fun as orchestra. I totally recommend orchestra seats for this show! One of the things I LOVE is they let you come on stage after curtain call and dance with them! It's super fun(didn't do that this time because I didn't know about it!) The whole atmosphere is very relaxed and just happy! You can't come out of this show not smiling! We did stage door for this show, but I put all the pics in my hard drive and I can't find them!

Cast:
Dionne: Phyre Hawkins
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Paris Remillard
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Kaitlin Kiyan
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett

NYC, House of Blue Leaves 6.25.11

Today Kristin and I split up and saw two different shows, Baby It's You for her, and House of Blue Leaves, my second play, for me.

House of Blue Leaves is about a man who is married to a woman who is crazy, and he would like to leave her for the woman he has been seeing on the side. He has a son who is in the military, who we find out is MIA and is planning to blow up the Pope tonight when he comes to visit NYC(That plan gets foiled, and the son gets taken away to prison.) At the end, he doesn't end up leaving his wife, his fling ends up going off with his friend, and he finally puts his wife out of her (his?) misery by suffocating her.

I toyed a lot over what show to see. This show(Starring Ben Stiller), Chris Rock's the Motherf****r With The Hat, and Robin Williams' Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo were all plays that had the same close date. Originally, I was going to see Bengal Tiger, because I love Robin Williams, but then I read the synopsis and decided it wasn't for me. Same for Chris Rock's show, even though people promised it was hilarious, the synopsis just didn't appeal. So Blue Leaves won. I love Ben Stiller, so I was excited for it. The show was very good, it did not bore me in any way, so I made a great choice!

Cast:
Artie Shaughnessy: Ben Stiller
Ronnie Shaughnessy: Christopher Abbott
Bunny Flingus: Jennifer Jason Leigh
Bananas Shaughnessy: Edie Falco
Corrinna Stroller: Alison Pill
Head Nun: Mary Beth Hurt
Second Nun: Susan Bennett
Little Nun: Halley Feiffer
Policeman: Jimmy Davis
White Man: Tally Sessions
Billy Einhorn: Thomas Sadoski

NYC 5.28.11-People In The Picture

Originally, we wanted to see People in the Picture--or I wanted to see People in the Picture at least--because of the very gorgeous Louis Hobson, who I fell in love with in Next To Normal. I wasn't expecting to like the show much, but I went in open minded.

The People in the Picture is a show that switches back and forth between NYC in 1977 and Warsaw, Poland, in 1935-1946. It centers around a Jewish woman named Raisel(Bubbie to her granddaughter) who used to be in a performing circuit with a troupe of people before WWII hit. When WWII arrived, she had had a baby, and like most of the Jewish people in Warsaw, were sent to a ghetto. She managed to save her baby's life by sending her to live with the woman who had been nanny to the baby before they were sent away. Many of her friends were killed during this time, but she survived, and went back to find her baby and take her back. This was a hard thing to do, as her baby was now 6 and had known no other parents except the ones who had been raising her. Raisel gets her baby(Red) and moves to NYC.

In 1977, Red's daughter, Jenny, is interviewing Raisel to find out about her family history. Raisel tells her all about "The People In The Picture," and the stories they had. Jenny is fascinated by her family history, and listens intently. Red thinks her mother has Alzheimers, and worries that she "sees" the people who are no longer living. Raisel ends up dying at the end, but Red finally sees the spirits of the people now too, and realizes her mother wasn't crazy after all.

This was a great show! I have done a lot of studying on the Holocaust and WWII, and this in musical form was right up my alley. The music was phenomenal, as well as the acting. It was a tear jerker, too.

Cast:
Doovie Feldman: Hal Robinson
Moishe Rosenwald: Alexander Gemignani
Chayesel Fisher: Joyce Van Patten
Yossie Pinsker: Chip Zien
Avram Krinsky: Lewis J Stadlen
Chaim Bradovsky: Christopher Innvar
Jenny: Rachel Resheff
Bubbie/Raisel: Donna Murphy
Peasant: Jeffrey Schecter
Red: Nicole Parker
Hoodlums: Jeremy Davis, Jeffrey Schecter
Hollywood Girls: Emilee Dupree, Shannon Lewis, Jessica Lea Patty, Megan Reinking
Rabbi Velvel: Hal Robinson
Dobrisch: Megan Reinking
Dr Goldblum: Louis Hobson
Young Red: Andie Mechanic
Shmuel: Jeffrey Schecter
Jerzy: Paul Anthony Stewart
Rachel: Maya Goldman