Taking a break from blogging

I have written this blog now for 5 years.  It's been a fun ride.  There are just too many interesting things to keep track of, so I'm going to take a break.  

The arts and music are things that make life worth living.   I am truly fortunate to be able to see amount of different shows.    Thanks for your readership!

Hamilton

Saw Hamilton last weekend.  Loved it.   Seeing the show definitely made the soundtrack more interesting.    It absolutely lives up to the hype.   It has references to both pop culture rap and musicals within the show.  I especially enjoy the leitmotifs employed for each character.   Even the part doubling has a good set of meanings to it.   If you have the opportunity, please go see it.

Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin

I saw Hershey Felder as Irving Berlin at the Cleveland Playhouse.  Amazing show about the history of the man behind the musicals and Christmas songs.  It details his life and his tragedies.   I highly recommend it.  An amazing one man show.

Bent

I saw Bent at the Beck Center this past Sunday.  It so affected me, I was not able to bring myself to write about it until now.   The play is from the 70s, and is about a gay man during World War 2.  He is captured by the Nazis and sent on a train to a concentration camp.   I cried at intermission.  I cried afterwards.  I felt really horrible for several days after viewing the show.   Death and horror.   It also coincided with Pride.  It's sad that the subject matter is relevant again.   It's a good play, but very difficult. 

I am including a link to the Wikipedia article with the whole plot.  I don't usually spoil shows in my write ups, but you need to steel yourself before seeing this one.  Bring tissues.  And have something cheerful planned for afterwards to soothe your aching heart.

Alice

Yesterday, I got to see the Cleveland Ballet's commissioned show, Alice.  This was truly a delight!   Clever staging, excellent combination of live and recorded music, and the plot was easy to follow.   I loved everything about it, but particularly liked the Tweedles, the Cheshire Cat, and the Caterpillar.  Also, the climax using the cards and Offenbach's Can Can from Orpheus in the Underworld. 

This was the end of their third season.   I wish I had known about them sooner.   Can't wait to see what's next.

The Royale

I went to see the Royale last Saturday performed by Cleveland Playhouse.   It is a historical fiction about boxing during the Jim Crow era.   Our protagonist is the black heavyweight champ and he wants to fight the white champ.  This is agreed to, but at a great financial cost which causes bodily fear and incidents in the black community.

The fighting was accomplished via dance moves, specifically krumping.   Timed claps, stomps, and inner monologue are able to produce an amazing fight.  Go see this.

Disney's Aladdin the Musical

Las Saturday, I got to see Disney's Aladdin musical on tour at Playhouse Square.   That was truly fun and I loved it more than the movie.    Abu is gone, and is replaced by Aladdin's 3 friends.  Iago is still there, but he's now a human.  The show was expanded by Alan Menkin originally for non-professional companies (high schools).   But it was so excellent that it was made part of the Disney stage family.

The magic carpet is an amazing illusion.  Also, the Genie steals the show.  4th wall breaking, pop culture referencing, and massively fun.   He's worth the price of the ticket.   Go see this show if you have the chance.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

On Sunday I saw the Cleveland Playhouse Production of the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.   I really enjoyed it a ton!   I left the theater with a sappy grin on my face.  I'd watch it again!   This production featured amazing choreography and the magnificent talents of Ali Stroker.  She was the first Broadway actress to perform on Broadway in a wheelchair.   Her Olive is bright, and inquisitive.   You just have to admire her.  Go see this show!

The Humans

Yesterday afternoon, we saw the play, The Humans at Playhouse Square.   It is about a family Thanksgiving post September 11.   It touches on the reality of the American dream and how things have changed since it emerged.  There is simultaneous conversations between the family members on the first and second levels of the apartment (one of the daughters' places).   It vaguely reminded me of observing characters in the Sims.   Each family member has a secret of his or her own too.   Dreams, anxiety, religion, and family are all touched upon.   I liked it more than I thought I would.   

My First Time

Last Friday, I saw My First Time at the Beck Center.   It is a play with many many stories first time sexual experiences collected from the My First Time blog.   Gay, straight, consensual, and coercion, all are told in the stories by 4 actors, 2 male and 2 female.   It was funny and sometimes very touching.   They also had surveys on the seats.   Those are optional, but they use the answers to show stats on the audience.   It was neat.

This was a good play, but it doesn't follow set people.   Everything is in flux.

Rent

Last Saturday, I saw Rent for the first time live since the 90s.  I own the DVD of the closing performance on Broadway and I have seen the movie version.  I know the lyrics by heart.   Seeing it live does heighten the emotional impact.   I found myself crying from "Without You" in the second act on.   

Interesting tidbit, near the end of act one, the police sing a jarring line "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas."  This time the word right was inserted after white.   Good nod to current events.

The Invisible Hand

Last week we saw the Invisible Hand at Cleveland Playhouse.  An American banker is kidnapped by Pakistani freedom fighters in the near future.   He agrees to make money for the group to pay his own ransom.   It was compelling.   I also learned quite a bit about the stock market and business that I didn't know before.   It asks about faith and what is good for one's people.

Hair

I finally got to see Hair!  I had missed it at Playhouse Square in 2012, but the Beck Center has a collaboration going on with the Baldwin Wallace school.   I really enjoyed it.   The students are amazing and the choreography and singing are strong.    It was nice have some context put to the music.  I wrongly assumed that it was from the 70s, but it's from the late 60s.   It was a neat use of modern protest signs and clips with the show.  The video editing game is strong with this show.  Go see it!

Marie and Rosetta

On Sunday we had the pleasure of seeing Marie and Rosetta, the true story of Rose Etta Tharp meeting Marie Knight, and bringing forth the music that would eventually become rock 'n roll.   This play has wonderful music, but I wouldn't call it a musical.   It's more of history featuring music.    It shows the painful realities of what it was like to be a black person traveling back before the Civil Rights movement.   Even though Sister Rosetta was famous, she couldn't stay in proper hotels because of discrimination (relying on the Green Book for safer travels).   In fact, the whole show (90 minutes without intermission) takes place in a funeral parlor. 

Cleveland Playhouse is only the second theater to present this show.  I highly recommend it.

Love Never Dies

Yesterday, we saw the sequel to the Phantom of the Opera, Love Never Dies.  I didn't have high expectations for another Andrew Lloyd Weber musical, but I was pleasantly surprised. 

The show takes place 10 years after the events in the Paris Opera House.   The Phantom has fled to Coney Island and sponsors the side shows there.  Christine and Raoul have a strained marriage, raising her son in considerable debt.   They come to New York to have Christine perform and earn some money (setup by Oscar Hammerstein), but the Phantom outbids Hammerstein and becomes the sponsoring patron.   Love triangles and plot twists.  It's interesting.  I do like the musical revisiting of themes from the original show.

I also must caution my readers that this is another example of a poor relationship.   Stalking and threats are never acceptable in a healthy relationship.   

The hope is that this touring show will lead to a run on Broadway.  I liked it more than I thought I would.