Nicole schreibt...

Once every few years I feel the lure of the Big Apple since nothing can really rival Broadway when it comes to the output of decent and interesting new musicals. London may be the tops for plays, much cheaper to get to and feel like my second home where I know every street corner in the West End, but Broadway and Manhattan do make a nice change once in a while. And a good season I had chosen, too, with some interesting and muchly hyped new shows.

But let's stay chronological here and start with the first show I saw and, ironically, the "oldest" of those I had come to see: Aladdin. The animated movie had been my favorite of the crop of new Disney productions in the early 90s and as soon as Disney put their first movie on stage ("Beauty and the Beast" in the mid-90s) I hoped that Aladdin would follow. The wait was much longer than anticipated and reviews hadn't been universally good but I was still prepared to fork over the ungodly sum of $187 for a ticket - my most expensive musical ever. Still, I think that overall it was pretty much worth it as I felt thoroughly entertained.

Perhaps it was because the "innovative" stagings of Tarzan and Little Mermaid on Broadway had flopped, but Disney took a very conservative approach in the staging of Aladdin and made it a classic family show with lots of singing, dancing, pretty stage sets and only a few special effects. The costumes glittered so much that global productions of Aladdin should keep Svarowski in business for some years alone. The only minor bug for me was that the chance for some "ethnic casting" has been missed here - there are so few juicy roles for Middle Eastern performers anyway, so I believe Aladdin and Jasmine should have been cast with people from that area, but instead we got typical Americans Adam Jacobs and Courtney Reed, who were decent enough though not outstanding in the charisma or singing departments. The whole show basically rests on the shoulders of James Monroe Inglehart as the Genie who quite rightly won a Tony for his performance. The man is pure energy and charisma and was truly wonderful to watch. Overall, the two-and-a-half-hours flew by easily and while there may have been room for some improvements (the iconic "A whole new world" magic carpet ride could have done with a nicer backdrop than twinkling stars on speed), I do think they did a fine job bringing Aladdin to life on stage. Oh and for all you can complain about Disney, I think they did a wonderful job renovating the gorgeous New Amsterdam Theatre, which probably cost them a pretty penny.

Next on the list, after a morning of shopping in Midtown-Manhattan (weak Euro be damned) , was the Wednesday matinee of "Finding Neverland, the story of how JM Barrie met the widowed Sylvia Llewellyn-Davies and her four sons who inspired him to create Peter Pan. While the original movie with Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet was "okay" at best, I could see how Barrie's flights of fancy would translate well to song and dance in a musical, so despite my general dislike for movie adaptations, this one made more sense than so many lame money-spinners of recent years (hello Rocky, hello Ghost).

The first production in Leicester was a dud though, so for Broadway it had been entirely rewritten by Gary Barlow of Take That fame, whose music I have always enjoyed. I was eager to see this anyway and then came the added bonus of Kelsey "Frasier" Grammer dropping out of the second male lead unexpectedly to be replaced by no one else but Australia's Anthony Warlow, whose voice I have enjoyed since the very first Jekyll & Hyde studio album in the early 90s and who I thought I'd never get to see live. Granted, his role wasn't too big and didn't include a big ballad to belt out, but even so it was great to see him. Barrie himself was played by Matthew "Glee" Morrison who was notably absent for my matinee, but I did like his understudy Kevin Kern quite a bit, so I didn't mind really. The Kate Winslet part was played by Laura Michelle Kelly, London's muchly hyped first Mary Poppins, who I had never seen live, so it was quite nice to see her at last and realize for myself that she is indeed a very fine performer.
While Finding Neverland didn't speed along as easily as Aladdin, I think it worked well enough with some really catchy Barlow tunes along the way such as "Neverland" and "When your feet don't touch the ground" and a truly stunning little special effect towards the end. On Broadway it felt like an "average" show of this year's crop, though considering the dire straits London has been in musical-wise recently, this would certainly be better than so many other recent efforts in the West End and I'd gladly see it again if/when it comes over.
Following in the evening was a show I don't think will make it: "Fun Home", the adaptation of Alison Bechdel's graphic novel of the same name, in which she tells her family's story, her own lesbian awakening and her complicated relationship with her father, who was really a closeted gay that never came out until he - perhaps - committed suicide. It sounds like the usual typically American family hand-wringing drama, but luckily Bechdel's wonderful sense of humour and warmth elevates it above that and the show managed to keep that sense of humour alive. The in-the-round-staging at Circle in the Square Theatre with the audience seated on four sides all around the stage was nice too and performances were great, but in the end nothing here said that it was worth forking out +100 dollars to see this live instead of just enjoying the wonderful graphic novel for $15 at home on the couch.

Jeanine Tesori's music is so-so with too much "heard it all before" and only one song really touched me, grown up Alison's "Maps" in which she describes her father's little life in provincial America without ever getting out and living his true life. I really didn't get the hype around "Ring of Keys" for example, which has neither great melody nor lyrics and while 11-year old Sydney Lucas (as youngest Alison) has a fine voice for her age, the role certainly can't hold a candle to what the little Matilda actresses do in that show or the Billy Elliots. So while I didn't mind seeing Fun Home (and seeing Ex-Tommy Michael Cerveris again after so many years), I was glad I had only spent $75 on it. It does seem to be one of those small oh-so-worthy shows beloved by critics and a certain breed of fan who like to turn their noses at simple entertainment, but which I'd only want to see in a small fringe theatre at fringe princes (much like previous Tony Winners like Spring Awakening and Once).
If Fun Home experienced a tiny hype thanks to winning the most important Tonys of the season, the huge hype of the year in the way only America can do hype is "Hamilton", Lin-Manuel Miranda's hip hop musical about Alexander Hamilton, one of the founding fathers of the United States which only just transferred from Off-Broadway to Broadway. The real Hamilton, despite all he did for the budding USA, has been pretty much lost in the mist of time, but Miranda dug him up again, drawing parallels between how Hamilton, as an orphaned penniless immigrant from the Caribbean arrived in New York City in the 1780's and worked his way up to becoming George Washington's most trusted aide, respected lawyer and first Treasurer of the State, to today's Latino immigrants arriving from the same area.

Political arguments between Hamilton and Jefferson are done as rap battles and Washington himself is a really cool black bro here. I'm sure the show is even more interesting for Americans who've learned about their oh so staid respected founding fathers at school, but even so, it was a genius idea to breach the 200 year gap in this way and to make history such a fun romp. The cast was utterly excellent, not least Lin Manuel Miranda himself as Hamilton (of course) but also hyper Daveed Diggs as Lafayette and later Jefferson, the hilariously funny Jonathan Groff as King George III. and Leslie Odom Jr. as Hamilton's nemesis, Vice President Aaron Burr, who killed Hamilton in a duel at the age of 49 (!). The women were okayish, with Philippa Soo's Eliza Hamilton being more of the typical musical theatre pretty wallpaper and Renee Elise Goldsberry as her much sassier sister Angelica. I don't think Hamilton will "redefine musical theatre" as some hyped it up, but I do think it's a genuine fresh breath of air in this genre with its modern hip hop and rap music, smart lyrics and the innovative approach to history. So I can see how people are flocking to see this as something new and different to what's done normally and nothing will take the arm full of Tonys away from it next spring.
Hamilton should have been the last icing on the Broadway cake, but since we were heading into Manhattan one more time anyway, it did make sense to catch another show. And luckily, just when I had least expected it, 40% discounts cropped up for "An American in Paris", the stage adaptation of the classic movie with Gene Kelly which had been hyped for its dancing (casting the two leads with classical ballet dancers). It had actually premiered at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris last year before moving on to Broadway, starring NYC Ballet star Robert Fairchild as Jerry. Since I love dancing, I had been curious about this and wasn't disappointed. The choreographies, especially the big second act ballet, were stunning all around and I savoured every second of them, though the rest was pretty much a typical bland love story (or three) and a rehash of Gershwin tunes that had cropped up in other shows before. For $90 it was well worth seeing, though I'm glad I hadn't succumbed to the temptation of buying fullprice.

Overall, Broadway showed once more why it has the edge (by a mile and a half) over London when it comes to musicals and there wasn't a show I did not enjoy. But considering the cost to just get to New York, the exorbitant ticket prices on Broadway (without the lovely dayseat option in London where £15-20 get you the front row) and the general mayhem in overcrowded crazy Times Square, it just isn't something I could do more than once every 3-4 years, whereas London feels like my happy place, where I can always skip to for a long weekend, enjoy a mix of musicals and plays and feel far more at home.