Double musical Sunday!
Broadway Show #6 – Jersey Boys
Where: August Wilson Theatre
Seats: Centre Mezzanine
Favourite number: Dawn (go away)
Rating: 7/10
Tickets purchased with contributions from: The Long Family, Sally & Alex, Bruce & Michelle Commerer
We know this musical so well and it is one of our absolute favourites so this was like seeing an old friend. Having seen it twice in Auckland when the Auzzie tour came to NZ the year before last, we were really looking forward to seeing it on Broadway! Of course being from the original production, the show’s choreo, lighting and staging was exactly as the show at home and we were able to just sit back and enjoy it. One thing we did notice was the jersey accents came much easier to the American actors and didn’t seem as accentuated, I guess because they didn’t need to try as hard as the Australians. All in all, this is such a fun musical and a great one for our first matinee in NY!
A quick dinner before moving to our next theatre for…
Broadway Show #7 – Chicago
Where: The Ambassador Theatre
Seats: Centre Mezzanine
Favourite number: All That Jazz (opening number)
Rating: 7/10
Tickets purchased with contributions from: Samantha Molyneux
This one was interesting for us because our last experience of this show was when Chels worked with ATC last year on Michael Hurst’s production. So of course we couldn’t help but compare everything to that show. But first, some thoughts on the Broadway version –
The show has been in this theatre since 2001 so it felt very at home although thankfully, not tired. The staging was very traditional and focused on the choreography more than character (and sometimes more than story..) which was cool because we got to see all the original Fosse moves which are great. We’d never seen such a traditional show so that was pretty special and we really enjoyed it. The Velma was played by an older woman who has been in the role since 2000 and has played all over the world including performing in Japan in Japanese! She was awesome and a real highlight! And the other cool thing was having the band on display the whole time and seeing them as a feature of the show.
It was an enjoyable evening but we’ve concluded that although it was educational and exciting to experience the original and traditional Fosse version of this show, we both place the ATC version higher up on the scale of our ranking system: if this is a 7, then ATC’s Chicago is a 9. We think the Auckland cast were sexier and sassier (which I was really expecting from this show but it was all SO tame outside of the costume design…) and worked much harder for the show in keeping it exciting and enthralling throughout. So high-fives to the Auckland Chicago 2013 team for proving that Broadway doesn’t necessarily mean better and at home we can be just as good (or in this case, better than..)!
After a big theatre day, we got home and waited for Elaine to arrive! The Bridal party is all officially in New York and we have the NYC Hens’ Party tonight!
Wedding Week begins. Geronimo!!
Tx
Run away with us 