In honor of Tony Nominations Day (yay!), I’ve decided to talk about my NYC trip from two weeks ago. These are in no order, because there is no way that I could choose any favorite in what I saw, but here’s a little bit that I loved about each of my last three shows.
- Sunset Boulevard – Glenn Close, a full orchestra, Norma Desmond onstage, Glenn Close, the British cast, the American cast (o hai Very Potter Musical alum), Glenn Close singing “As If We Never Said Goodbye,” the fact that I could not tell the difference between a dummy and a corpse, Glenn Close, the minimalist set somehow still giving me old Hollywood vibes, Glenn Close’s costumes, Glenn Close’s dog in the BCEFA speech at the end. And have I mentioned GLENN CLOSE? She’s brilliant.
- Sunday in the Park with George – Jake Gyllenhaal, Annaleigh Ashford, the entire ensemble, the projections, the CHROMOLUME, Jake Gyllenhaal pretending to be dogs, the SCORE (ugh I love that score), when they became the painting, sobbing from “Move On” until the end of the show, Jake Gyllenhaal’s singing and actual drawings, Jake and Annaleigh’s stunning chemistry, seeing a musical I love more and more every time I see it. I don’t think there’s any way to make Sunday less than good.
- The Play That Goes Wrong – The actors “setting up” before the show, the actors talking to us at intermission (“Have you seen a little dog?” “You CANNOT have M&Ms in costume!”), Dave Hearn, the whole brilliant cast, laughing until my stomach hurt, being genuinely terrified when the set fell down (seriously, it better win Best Set), slapstick and spit takes that never get old, how committed the whole cast was, the cute British BCEFA speech. Honestly, they need to make a “Best Comedy” Tony and nominate this and Oh Hello. Except I don’t know what I would pick.
Have you seen any good shows lately?
