Hi friends, welcome back! I love seeing shows on Broadway but somehow it’s been two years since Jon and I last saw The Music Man with Hugh Jackman back in March 2022. This year we made up for it and unintentionally saw three shows in about three weeks. It was awesome being back at the theater and I loved how different each of the three shows were. Up first was Hadestown for a belated Valentine’s Day celebration. This show has been at the top of my list for a few years now and has won 8 Tony awards including best musical. It was guest starring Lola Tung from the show The Summer I Turned Pretty and Jordan Fisher who we were supposed to see in Dear Evan Hansen, but we had an understudy that night. Needless to say I was excited to make it back to the theater!
Little Shop of Horrors wasn’t on my radar, but my friend bought tickets for the wrong date and asked if we’d want to buy them off her. I looked up the show and saw it was starring Darren Criss and Evan Rachel Wood, so it was an easy yes! The show was technically off-Broadway but I was still surprised by how tiny the Westside Theater Upstairs was. The theater has a downstairs and upstairs stage and the upstairs seats 270, so it was an intimate performance for NYC. I’m happy to report that the seats were comfy.
The show runs roughly two hours including an intermission. I had a general idea of what the musical was about, but we sort of went in blind. I would describe it as hilariously unhinged in the best way possible. We were laughing out loud and the audience felt very lively and engaged compared to the more serious Hadestown. It was a very fun production and I was so happy my friend bought the wrong tickets!
The final show we saw recently was Enemy of the People starring Jeremy Strong (Kendall from Succession), Michael Imperioli (from White Lotus & Sopranos), and Victoria Andretti (from You & Haunting of Hill House). I had been targeted for the show through an Instagram ad and after seeing the all-star cast, I got on the email list and was able to get tickets right when they went on presale in November. The play is in the unique Circle in the Square theater and runs for a limited sixteen weeks. The stage is so interesting and I think this was the closest we’d ever been to the actors. Honestly there’s not a bad seat in the house because the actors moved around so much. I also liked that the aisles were raised so the people in front of you weren’t obstructing your view.
The play runs for two hours and includes a short break in the middle. During the five-ish minute break, they invited people on stage for a drink while they changed the set. We didn’t go up there because we were confused and seated in the middle of the row, but it was entertaining! There was also some audience participation right after intermission which was interesting. We weren’t one of the lucky people that got picked to go up there, probably because we didn’t have easy access to our seats, at least that’s what I’m telling myself.
Jon and I usually see musicals so it was weird how quiet the theater was. You could hear every little cough and throat clear from the audience. This play was the best acting I’ve seen and most distinguished cast with Strong & Imperioli. The play was outstanding and had quite a few laughs as well as being very relevant to the world today. A few days after we went the show was interrupted with climate protesters, but luckily the actors handled it well. If you can I definitely recommend seeing it before the run is over!
Jon and I waited after the show to see the cast come out and were able to get Strong & Imperioli’s autographs which is pretty cool! We’ve never waited around before but this was the time to do it. They were both very nice and took the time to chat even though they had two shows the next day.
It’s so great to be back in the theater! Our favorite shows so far in order: Hamilton, Enemy of the People, The Music Man, Dear Evan Hansen, Little Shop of Horrors, Hadestown, The Book of Mormon, Frozen, and Phantom of the Opera.
