I have one question about Something Rotten, a Broadway show that just celebrated its one year anniversary. What took me so long?????

The play celebrates everything I love more than life – Shakespeare, musicals, dancing, comedy and a superb cast that includes two of my favorite Broadway/screen actors, Brian d’Arcy James and Christian Borle. James is leaving in a few weeks, and I feel grateful to have seen him play Nick Bottom, Shakespeare’s nemesis who vows to keep up with this arch rival. He’s one of my favorite actors and he plays the role with grace….and so much humor. Between the two of them, it’s easy to see that they clearly loved this play as they both act and sing their hearts out. Ater all, James dropped out of Hamilton last spring after having helped bring it to the Public where I actually saw him play King George).

Something Rotten: The Birth of a Musical

Set during the Renaissance, the play, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, follows two brothers, Nick and Nigel Bottom, two struggling but brilliant playwrights in London who can’t seem to catch a break with Shakespeare as their competition. So Nick hires a muse, played by Brad Oscar, to help figure out the next best thing in theater. And that’s when the real fun begins as they start to conceptualize the first musical called..what else? Omelet. Meanwhile, Shakespeare, an arrogant local, goes incognito to the rehearsals for the show and stumbles into Nigel’s script that gets rejected by his brother. All I can say is plagiarism….Hamlet!

Yes, it is implied that Shakespeare was a cheater, and it does make you wonder. But the play is so much more than this accusation. It’s full of Broadway references to all our favorite musicals – from Fiddler to West Side Story to A Chorus Line to Les Mis. There are snappy one liners, sexual innuendos and lovely sonnet readings.

I took my tween (or teen? She’s 13.)  We both had big smiles on our faces throughout the show but it was me with the bigger grin. I’ll be downloading the soundtrack this weekend, and introducing her to the musicals she didn’t recognize during the course of the play.

Can’t get tix to Hamilton? Head to Something Rotten, that’s my best advice.

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Last week I was invited to see the new Broadway musical Tuck Everlasting and I jumped at the opportunity. I’m a huge fan of Claudia Shear and Tim Federle, co-writers of the new play, and the story’s tag line and premise intrigued me. After all, wouldn’t it appeal to you: If you could live forever, would you?

The play explores this theory in a the form of a musical fairytale. A beautiful set, expert choreography and memorable score aid and brilliant acting aid the storytelling, and it all adds to the play’s fantasy theme. The story revolves around the Tuck family, who after having drunk a particular batch of water, inherited the ability to live forever. Their physical beings remain the same, meaning they don’t age along with the rest of the world. As we encounter their world, we experience the painful realities of not living life like a normal person. The Tucks have watched loved ones die too soon and have had people walk away from them for no reason other than the fact that their lives are just too complicated and unusual to fathom.

The little girl who encounters them is called Winnie Foster, played by Sarah Charles Lewis, who happens upon the family and must make the choice of whether or not to drink the water and live forever. She falls in love with the family so it is a difficult choice. She also must spend time avoiding the play’s villain, played by Terrance Mann, who I adore having seen him in various revivals over the last few years including Pippin, who wants to expose the Tucks to the world. Lewis and Mann are excellent, as are the rest of the cast that includes Andrew Keenan-Bolger of “Newsies,”Carolee Carmello, Michael Park, Fred Applegate, Michael Wartella, Valerie Wright, Robert Lenzi and Pippa Pearthree.

The play ends with a ballet, depicting the future of Winnie, very much in the vein of the Six Feet Under finale. It wasn’t my favorite way to end the show, but I appreciate the interpretation, and I am sure any child over the age of 12 would appreciate the optimistic ending of this hopeful play.

Giveaway

Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary tickets to see Tuck Everlasting, but as always, all opinions are my own.

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This a guest post written by writer Lisa Gerstel-Zach: A diverse and seasoned executive who has spent her career in Children’s and Family Entertainment via Publishing, Live Events and Broadcast before stepping back to take a much earned reprieve from the Corporate world in order to reinvent herself and remember why she moved to New York. She lives in the latest hip neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

Did you ever think perhaps you were born to the wrong musical era…the music of my generation just doesn’t speak to me in the way the songs of Carole King’s era. Yes, often Carole and her husband Gerry Goffin’s collaborations were considered teen girl bop, but this bop had a soul and the evolution of Carole’s voice has a depth and honesty that pulls at my heartstrings.

Beautiful, The Carole King Musical on Broadway illuminates Carole’s early story as she juggles life as a struggling young mother, wife, collaborator and composer celebrating personal successes and failures. The audience was entranced as the wonderful cast, especially Chillina Kennedy, as Carole, embodied the Shireille’s, the Drifters, and other era notables and as we bore witness to Carole’s moving search for her own voice, culminating in a triumphant return home, home to Carnegie Hall. This show really provided all elements key to a successful musical, love, tears, relationships, friendships, and off course amazing music.

Source: Broadway.com

The show was a fantastic homage not only to a supremely talented individual but also to the spirit to forge ahead and follow a dream. Reminding us all that we must follow the music within us.

“Feh, what’s with the music of today?” I can almost hear my grandparents admonish my parents. While they weren’t exactly part of the beatnick generation or anything as shocking as Elvis’s hips, I wonder if I will use similar sentiments when I speak to my daughter as she explores the playlist of her life. Until that time I will try to influence it…

“You’ve got to get up every morning with a smile on your face, and show the world all the love in your heart, then people gonna treat you better. You’re gonna find, yes, you will, that you’re beautiful as you feel.”

― Carole King

Head to the show’s web site for ticket information and check it out at the Sondheim Theater 124 West 43^rd Street.

Disclosure: Lisa was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review. All opinions are her own.

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Every now and then comes along a Broadway show that takes me by surprise. I go in to the theater wondering how I will feel when I leave and whether I will recommend it to anyone. Will it sweep me up and transport me into another world where I can escape my daily routine and take me to that faraway dreamy place I hope to land whenever I take in a show?

My most recent Broadway experience, Bright Star, did all this but I must admit that it took time to get me there. Written by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, the show is a bit of a sureal piece of fiction based on reality. It has an explosive plot twist at the end of act one that left me reeling in my seat. Prior to that moment, I was ambivalent about the show and where it was taking me. But that one moment changed everything and during act 2, I was completely riveted.

And then I started to realize the power of what was going on before me….the music, the dancing, the talent on that stage. With the book written by Steve Martin and the songs written by Edie Brickell, there are banjos, guitars and violins playing the score, something I may not have been used to at first but I realized at the end that it all worked really, really well and set out to do what it meant to – tell a powerful story that left me and every audience member shedding a tear…or two…of three.

Set in North Carolina between the years of 1923 and 1945-1946, the show revolves around the experiences of two characters, both writers: Carmen Cusack’s Alice Murphy, an editor of a fictionalized magazine, the Asheville Southern Journal, and Billy Cane played by A.J. Shively, a young man back from World War II who dreams of having his stories published in her periodical. Through a series of flashbacks, their lives pivot and come crashing into each other’s and the results are electrifying. Along the way, we are treated with beautiful songs (Brickell’s lyrics are truly beautiful).

The music is played by an onstage bluegrass band conducted by Rob Berman, which brings the show even closer to our hearts with its interactive, up close and personal feel. The cast is also perfection, which aids the play at certain moments but cheers to Cusack who is marvelous – there is no other way to describe her. The set, designed by Eugene Lee, is also pretty spectacular, showcasing a wood cabin on wheels. The result puts audience members directly into the backwoods of North Carolina, a place I must admit I’ve never been to, despite the fact that I’m a Georgia girl.

If you want to see the show, please use this discount code when you book: BSBLOG303. Tickets are as low as $39 for performances thru June 12th here.

Disclosure: I was at the show as press. However, all opinions are my own.

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Today I witnessed a very special Broadway play. I use the word “witness” because I feel like I was privy to a story that demanded being told. It’s about a group of women in Africa undergoing a very private experience that we otherwise would perhaps never know about…or understand.

Danai Gurira’s original drama is about women’s suffering during the Liberian civil wars and it’s a one of a kind. It stars Lupita Nyong’o in her Broadway debut, but it’s truly an ensemble play in which every actress has a stand out performance playing a woman with her own unique experience during a dire situation. The play is edge of your seat suspenseful, yet beautiful, and directed by a South African director who obviously loves the play  – her name is Liesl Tommy. The staging, the set, the clothing all meshes into very powerful storytelling. The show also stars Pascale Armand, Akosua Busia, Zainab Jah and Saycon Sengbloh, who are, to be honest, all phenomenal.

I went to a matinee, having bought a discount ticket, which I feel lucky to have gotten – the line to get in was around the block. Clearly Nyong’o will bring in an audience for this show, which is so important as it clearly spells out the true dangers that exist today in certain African countries. This play is a clear reminder, a good one, that theater is an excellent way to share important stories from around the world.

The play revolves around a group of  “wives” (code word for sex slaves in this case) of a commanding officer of a Liberian rebel faction. The women must spend everyday awaiting his command. As they go one by one to him when called upon, the return taking a rag and dipping it in water before wiping their private parts. We never see him but we sense their fear. None of these women have names, they are known as wife #1, 2, etc. and they each one is stripped of all dignity. One is pregnant. One is only 15 years old. She reads to the women, she wants more from life. Funnily enough, the book she reads is about Bill Clinton and the women become obsessed with him and Monica Lewinsky. That story is eerily weaved throughout the play….but believe me, it works.

The wives try to protect the youngest from the officer but it’s only a matter of time before he starts to call on her. At the end of act one, when she relays how much she hates him laying his hands on her, we know her rebellion is just beginning.

The play is a look inside what it’s like to live in a war zone. It’s a look into a group of women who have been dehumanized. It’s intense, it’s wonderful. I hope that you see it while you have a chance. Get info about the show here: http://eclipsedbroadway.com.

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Every now and then, my tween and I take time out and head to NYC, a mere 15 miles away from where we live, for a bit of city life. A former urbanite and a Broadway junkie, I often crave the city and there is nothing more fun than experiencing a night in a hotel with my 12 year-old daughter. It gives us a chance to absorb a bit of culture, eat good food and literally take time out, away from our daily routines.

Our recent jaunt to the city included a stay at The Muse, A Kimpton Hotel, and it was pretty much perfection. The hotel is centrally located, just a block from the best shows on Broadway and Times Square. We took the train to Grand Central and just strolled a few blocks to get there, stopping for a quick bite at one of our favorite restaurants, Xian, for some of the best and cheapest Chinese food in the city.

We have had very good experiences with Kimpton Hotels, so we had nothing but good expectations about our visit. The Muse was bound to be nothing short of what we had experienced, having had stayed in Kimpton Hotels in Virginia, California and other American cities. The hotels always have a modern flare and amenities that make travel a little bit easier, ones that appeal to kids.

The Muse Welcome

Sure enough, when we walked into The Muse, they were preparing hot chocolate and wine for guests, available daily from 5-6pm. We were smitten with our hotel room, one of 181 guest rooms and 19 suites.The guest rooms are stylish, with bold pop art decorative pillows and silvery blue walls. They match the modern, upbeat spirit of NYC. We had a king-sized bed in a suite with a sitting room, Wifi access, a lovely bathroom with a rainwater shower head and pop-up reading lights. As a member of Kimpton’s member loyalty program, we had complimentary Wifi.

A Family-Friendly Hotel

The Muse just introduced two new programs to cater to its youngest guests.  The 2-night Inner Artist Package, an exclusive partnership with The Children’s Museum, offers museum admission for a family of four, private art lesson, and a kid-friendly clay set as an in-room amenity for kids to unleash their inner Basquiat or Picasso.  The “Mini Muse” amenity program accommodates kids with complimentary morning chocolate milk, nightly juice of sparkling cider, kid-sized animal print robes and an organized Scavenger Hunt!

Our Night on the Town

Our list of things to do was a mile long, but we managed to narrow it down. There’s so much to do right outside the hotel. We started our evening at Junior’s for a slice of real NYC cheesecake and then went shopping at the Disney store and Forever 21 (stores stay open REALLY late in Times Square). Then we ended up backstage at Hamilton, a show we’ve seen and loved, and met a few members of the cast. It was truly a great night, despite the fact that it was the coldest night of the year!

The bottom line: The Muse is a great getaway for families. We loved enjoying NYC but we also loved hanging out in the room, which was comfortable and cozy with great appeal to a tween. The hotel staff was extremely helpful, the amenities were top notch and it’s a considered a value compared to other accommodations.

Disclosure: I received a complimentary stay at The Muse to facilitate this review and others, but all opinion are my own.

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In preparation for another story, I saw Beautiful: The Carole King Musical last night, and I have only one question: what took me so long?

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

In 2-1/2 hours, I learned so much about not only Carole King but also the history of rock and roll. Did you know that “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow”, penned with Gerry Goffin, was Carole’s first Number One hit, when she was just 17? I had no idea that she entered the music industry as a teenager after meeting the legendary songwriter Gerry Goffin and went on to produce hits like the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion,” and the Drifters’ “Some King of Wonderful”. Even better, each hit is sung by an impeccably talented cast, which brought the reality of her own legendary status even more to light with me.

The two songwriters had a loving but tumultuous personal and professional relationship. Perhaps they met too young (she got pregnant with their first child while still quite young), perhaps they were two artists navigating careers that catapulted too quickly, or perhaps it was her humble and modest sense of herself (hence the title of the show- it’s not until the show culminates at Carnegie Hall with King’s performance celebrating the release of her first solo album Tapestry that she truly accepts who she is).

Or, of course, it’s named after her hit called Beautiful where King sings:

When people are gonna treat you better, you’ll find, yes you will, you’re beautiful as you feel.

The show will make you sing – it may make you cry. It will easily make you dance in your seat, and like me, you’ll go home and download and listen to everything King ever wrote. Kudos to Chillina Kennedy, Scott L. Campbell, Anika Larsen, Jarrod Spector, Paul Anthony Stewart, Liz Larsen and the rest of the phenomenal cast of Beautiful.

Head to the show’s web site for ticket information.

Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate this review and others. As usual, all opinions are my own.

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A few months ago, guest writer Lisa Gerstel-Zach reviewed Finding Neverland here on this blog. It was a passionate review and her final words have always stayed with me:

Finding Neverland is the story of how sometimes it takes a band of “wild children” to allow yourself to dig deep and reconnect with the person you truly are…It is an inspirational departure from the bleakness of societal boundaries and expectations, overdone dinner parties and the insistence that we behave like adults just because…

My only reservation was that no fairy dust made it our way enabling us too to fly.

Still, this review did not prompt me to see Finding Neverland. I sat on the idea for several months while recovering from an accident. But then very recently, when my tween suggested we see it, and I felt Broadway-deprived after not having seen a show for several months, I jumped at the idea.

And I’m so glad I did. The show is an absolute treasure. Everything from the story to the cast to the set to the costumes – we were both riveted. I laughed, I cried. Matthew Morrison is so delightful in the role originated by Johnny Depp in the film, a semi-fictionalized account of J.M. Barrie‘s creation of Peter Pan. At first I was taken back by his Scottish accent – he lays it on thick, but I got used to the fact that I wasn’t watching Mr. Schue from Glee – as did my love-struck tween.

Directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus, the musical also stars  (everyone was so good that I feel compelled to list each and every one of them) Laura Michelle Kelly (who I took my daughter to see in Mary Poppins when she was 4 – she is a singing goddess), Carolee Carmello, Teal Wicks, Alex Dreier, Aidan Gemme, Jackson DeMott Hill, Noah Hinsdale, Sawyer Nunes, Christopher Paul Richards, Hayden Signoretti, Courtney Balan, Dana Costello, Colin Cunliffe, Rory Donovan, Chris Dwan, Kevin Kern, Josh Lamon, Melanie Moore, Mary Page Nance, Fred Odgaard, Emma Pfaeffle, Jonathan Ritter, Tyley Ross, Julius Anthony Rubio, Paul Slade Smith, Ron Todorowski, Jaime Verazin and Jessica Vosk. Terrance Mann recently joined the cast as Captain Hook, who he plays swiftly and skilfully.

The four young boys Barrie takes under his wing during the course of the show are magnificent. It was easy to see his inspiration as they dove into his play The Pirates of Kensington, clear inspiration for Peter Pan.

Much of the play takes place in Barrie’s imagination. The songs take us through to the finish line, which includes a very sad death scene with pixie dust and wind and it was so very moving.

I was hesitant to take my 12 year old – I had heard she’d be bored or that it wouldn’t be appropriate, but it was. It’s a more serious story than the original Peter Pan – there is not a lot of flying, but my daughter took it all in and laughed and cried at the right times. The music is memorable (I’m still singing “If the World Turned Upside Down” – a good sign when I can remember the tune the day after the show). There were plenty of kids in the audience, but I’d suffice to say that the show is for kids around 12 or 13 and up. There were a few things my daughter just didn’t understand (like the fact that people thought there was something not natural going on between Barrie and the boys), but most of it went over her head.

If you get a chance, see Finding Neverland. Morrison is in the cast until February and apparently Kelsey Grammar will return sometime in the near future to reprise his role.

Disclosure: I was provided with complimentary tickets to facilitate my review but all opinions are my own.

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This a guest post written by writer Lisa Gerstel-Zach: A diverse and seasoned executive who has spent her career in Children’s and Family Entertainment via Publishing, Live Events and Broadcast before stepping back to take a much earned reprieve from the Corporate world in order to reinvent herself and remember why she moved to New York. She lives in the latest hip neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.

We seem to be in the midst of, or maybe just emerging, from an overload of reconstructed/deconstructed children’s fairytales being retold and reimagined for the screen, hence the timing of Finding Neverland is perfect, intentionally or not. As for me, I’ve been entertaining visitors non-stop since the beginning of May and, therefore, non-stop theater going. Strangely, all the stories have been based in England.

Finding Neverland is based in the London of 1904. Though it feels surprisingly modern, it is a refreshing reminder to step back, step away from the seriousness that surrounds us and join a band of pirates, chase a fairy, or just let our imaginations soar.

The show centers around the Author behind the tale of the boy who never wanted to grow up, Peter Pan. J.M. Barrie finds himself a celebrated playwright in London with all the trappings, yet none of the joy. He hasn’t composed a unique show in years, his marriage is lackluster, his creativity seems spent, and his Producer is threatening to bring in new talent…

Fortuitously, a troop of “lost” boys turns Mr. Barrie’s world upside down along with that of the theater’s full-of-themselves stuffy actors and an ulcer-ridden producer, all of whom have forgotten the true meaning of the word PLAY.

Matthew Morrison’s, (J.M Barrie) mere entrance on stage in the opening scene is enough to cause more than half the audience to applaud wildly. Fortunately, he deserves it. His voice is wonderful and his stage presence strong as be battles with internal conflicts. His portrayal of a “lost” man is complete, especially in the standout song “Circus of Your Mind” in which the entire cast participates.

Kelsy Grammer is terrific as the Producer and even more so as Captain Hook (was he channeling Captain Jack??). Regardless, the role suits him perfectly, so much so I wish we could have seen more of him as the Captain. He is always a pleasure to watch.

Laura Michelle Kelly (Sylvia) was lovely; she has a great voice and projected the “strength” of a heartbroken, overwhelmed and yet dedicated mother. Although I found a few of her lines a bit sappy, her death scene was amazing. In fact, much of the staging was “First Rate” (as they would say) – backdrops of row houses popped, swirling lights emulated the seas and of course pixie dust floated through the air in abundance.

Finding Neverland is the story of how sometimes it takes a band of “wild children” to allow yourself to dig deep and reconnect with the person you truly are…It is an inspirational departure from the bleakness of societal boundaries and expectations, overdone dinner parties and the insistence that we behave like adults just because…

My only reservation was that no fairy dust made it our way enabling us too to fly.

Finding Neverland plays at the Lunt-Fontanne Theater (205 West 46th Street). The schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7:30pm, Wednesday at 2pm & 7:30pm, Thursday at 7:30pm, Friday at 8pm, Saturday at 2pm & 8pm, Sunday at 3pm. Tickets can be arranged online or by calling Ticketmaster at (877) 250-2929 or in person at the Lunt-Fontanne box office, located at 205 West 46th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenues. For more information, please visit www.FindingNeverlandTheMusical.com.

Disclosure: Lisa received complimentary tickets to Finding Neverland to facilitate her review but all opinions are her own.

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