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.

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.

Shakespeare in Love

I saw the Cleveland Playhouse show, Shakespeare in Love yesterday.  I liked it so much better than the movie.  It had a wonderful plot and truly likable characters.   Also, the costuming was very rock 'n roll Ren faire.   I really recommend that you see it.  The last day is Sunday.

City of Angels

Got back from City of Angels at the Beck Center.  Interesting musical, the last of all our subscriptions for the season.   The story alternates between the detective story from an author (Stine) and the author's life as he writes his book into a screen play.  He has a micromanaging producer and this leads to conflict and metatheater situations.    Not my favorite genre, but a decent show.

An American in Paris

I wanted to like An American in Paris.  But I didn't.   I haven't seen the movie, so I came in to it with a fresh set of eyes.   I love George Gershwin's music.   This show was a great disappointment to me.

There are three Americans in this show, and I only liked the female, Ms. Davenport, the secondary love interest.   The two guys were former soldiers who decided to live in Paris after World War 2, as an artist and musician.  They fall in love with a French girl, who is poorly developed as a character but a fantastic ballet dancer.  She is already in a relationship with another guy, so we have this love triangle going on from the beginning.

I found the Americans' inability to say no to the pursuit of a relationship a real turnoff.   The staging, costumes, ballet, and projections are all wonderful.  The plot and relationships leave something to be desired.   If I was to produce this show, I'd make it a straight out ballet and cut all of the dialogue.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

 We saw Beautiful this past Saturday.   I didn't know what to expect.  Thankfully, I learned it was about the history of Carole King's music.  It's a bit like Jersey Boys in that respect.   I grew up listening to her music because of my mother.

I loved the show!   It's a jukebox musical in the vein of Mama Mia! and Jersey Boys, but the music is there because you see the writing process behind the songs.  It makes great sense, every single placement.

Lend Me a Tenor

Last Saturday, Steve and I went to go see Lend Me a Tenor at the Beck Center.  That was amazing!   I laughed so hard.   It's one of the best plays I've seen at the Beck in a while.  It takes place in Cleveland in the 1930s.   The opera company is putting on a production of Othello, and the Italian tenor is late.   Miscommunications occur, medications get overdosed, and it appears that the star has died.   This leads to mistaken identity, a non cast member fulfilling a dream of being on stage singing an opera, and lots of laughs.  

Seriously, go see this one.   You won't be disappointed.

Dirty Dancing: The Classic Story on Stage

Steve and I just got back from seeing Dirty Dancing.  Admittedly, I haven't seen the movie on which the play is based.  But I enjoyed it.  The year is 1963 and family vacations lasting the whole summer are a thing.   Girl meets noble dance instructor, romance ensues along with mistaken trust on the part of the family.

The dancing was really wonderful.   Excellent choreography.  I'm usually a bit skeptical of movies turned into plays, but Dirty Dancing was well executed.  I can see why people love the movie so much.

I call this a play with music because it's all about the dance.  There are only two vocalists (pictured above) and they sort of float in and out of scenes as needed.  It works.

If you love the movie, you will definitely enjoy this.  If you haven't, you still will.

Stomp

I saw Stomp for the first time Sunday.  I really thought I had seen it back in high school, but apparently not.  I would remember something like this.   I won't call Stomp a musical.  There is a wonderful plethora of percussion in tantalizing rhythms.   It's a performance of music.   I really enjoyed it.  

It's amazing how all of this sound is created.  No traditional instruments really except for drums.   The performers use everything from brooms, to pans, to basketballs, and cigarette lighters to make amazing patterns in ways you couldn't imagine stuff being used.  I'm a huge fan of traditional Japanese taiko drums and this really reminded me of them.  

Stomp is something that every arts fan should see at least once in their lifetime.   If loud noises disturb you, please bring earplugs.  But definitely go.

Jersey Boys

Hi everyone! Quick post today.   We saw Jersey Boys this afternoon.   This is actually my third time seeing it.   I consider it to be one of my favorite musicals of all time.  I grew up listening to Motown and the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.   Steve and I danced to to "Too Good to Be True" at our wedding as our first dance.   The first time I saw the show, it was a present for our seven year dating anniversary.  

It's truly a wonderful show.   Gives a nice history of the group.   I think they even tweak the delivery of lines to fit with the times.  It's good to see a favorite show again.

Rock of Ages

We saw Rock of Ages last night!   That was fun!  It's a jukebox musical, meaning that existing music (in this case 80s rock) is used in a storyline.  Classic musical convention storyline of moving to a new place and chasing your dreams.  However, the fourth wall is broken many times for hilarious effect!

I enjoyed it, but it is a lot louder than a traditional show.   Some audience members left early because of the great volume.   I recommend bringing ear plugs.   

Once

This afternoon, we saw Once.  I haven't seen the movie that it was based on, but I definitely will pick it up in the future.  This is a musical about creating music.   Simple story, a guy is a musician, but the girl in his life left, leaving a him with a case of writer's block.  Enter the new girl, who then becomes his muse, and they create great works together.   Now, the way that it's told is amazing.

There is no orchestra for this performance.  All of the actors on stage play the music.  There were probably only a dozen people on stage, playing everything from violin to drums.   The setting is an Irish pub, and the production creates intimacy with the audience by having it serve as a real bar before the show and during intermission.  I think they served whiskey and beer.  Most of the performers were on stage and playing Celtic music as audience members meandered around.

Once is the type of a new genre of musicals that scale things down, rather than the traditional humongous Broadway shows that have lots of flash and bang.  This production really does a wonderful job telling the story and demonstrating how the music really works with it.

33 Variations

We just got back from seeing 33 Variations at the Beck Center.  It isn't a musical, but music is prevalent throughout the play.  The first thing you see when entering the theater is the grand piano at the side of the stage.  The pianist stays there through both acts and illustrates the musical work in the show.

We see two parallel stories in this show.  A musicologist struggling with ALS studies Beethoven's variations on a waltz, while we see the composer's struggles with hearing loss.   It is extremely well interwoven.  We see the musicologist and her daughter and their strained relationship, and we see the composer and his servant and the person who commissioned the variations mull over deadlines and expectations.  In fact, a good comparison is drawn between the daughter (in varied career choices that her mother is unhappy with) and the original waltz, which the original composer fears that Beethoven is mocking through variations.

I enjoyed this show because it touches two very important facets of my life, music and medicine.   I highly recommend seeing it.