I know I've been MIA lately, but I've been lost in the Land of Snow - both physically (this is a Chicago winter like we have not seen in some time. Why? Why? And again Why?) as well as metaphorically, with the opening of our beautiful Nutcracker on Thursday.
Anyway, I'm not done reliving last weekend yet - what a difference a week makes, huh? At this time last week, I was standing outside the St. James Theater (yes, again. Shut up.) waiting to see Gypsy (#12). This week, I am hiding out inside my house and wearing a million layers. Anyway, last Saturday was a double feature - Billy Elliot matinee and Road Show in the evening. I started my day with another fortifying waffle from Nice Matin and then needed to make an emergency trek to the Skechers store on 42nd Street because the new boots I'd just bought on my birthday? Were not made for walking and my feet were KILLING me. The things are little black ankle boots with no heel - I thought they'd be perfect, but alas, no. KILLING me. So it was off to skechers to buy some cute shoes, flat, but with an athletic sole, so I could walk and be comfy and still match all my outfits. So much better! It was like walking on pillows (but I tell you, it's about a week later, and my feet STILL kind of hurt. Stupid black boots of death.)
I got to the BE theater really early, so I wandered around a little, saw John Lithgow walking along on his way to the All My Sons matinee, did a little browsing in the Broadway book shop, and through Shubert Alley, caught a little of a protest outside a Scientology Center, then ended up back at the theater STILL really early. I ended up just hanging out until doors opened. The BE theater is the same one I saw August: Osage County in before its move to the Music Box, and I had almost exactly the same crappy seat. I was a few rows from the back of the house (enigmatically called "Rear Mezz" by telecharge. Rear Mezz to me means in the back of the mezzanine, not 2 rows from the back of the house! But maybe that's just me?) I was also smack in the middle of the row, which made any intermission escape pretty much impossible. Arrgh.
But anyway - the show was WONDERFUL! The Billy I saw was Kyril Kulish - he was an ok singer, but oh, could that boy dance! I'd seen the movie when it came out and loved it, and I loved the show, too. It made me cry - a lot. I was up there laughing and cheering and applauding and bawling my eyes out. Everyone kind of goes in thinking it's a show about a little boy wanting to do ballet, but it's definitely got an edge to it, with the miners' strike always in the background. There's a really powerful sequence "Solidarity" with the little girls in their tutus dancing among the striking miners and the police. And I also loved the opening to Act 2 with "Merry Christmas, Maggie Thatcher" Billy's dad singing "He Could Go and He Could Shine" and Billy's song "Electricity." Very powerful stuff, but a lot of fun, too. Well played, Sir Elton! Well played!
After that, it was out for a quick dinner and two trains to the Public Theater for Road Show. I got a little bit lost, since I'd very helpfully written down the wrong address for the theater. Finally, I saw a sign that said "Public" and I kind of followed that. Voila. Yeah, I totally meant to do that!!! I was in the front row for Road Show, and can I tell you that I don't remember doing that on purpose? I remember buying my tickets for Gypsy as close as possible, and even remembered the whole Rear Mezz nonsense when I was ordering my ticket for BE, but I don't remember buying the Road Show ticket and selecting the front row. Weird. I wasn't sure what to expect from Road Show. I know it started its life as "Bounce" and was in Chicago at the Goodman. It got some rewrites, I think, and re-emerged as "Wise Guys" more re-writes and now exists in its current 1 hour 40 minute no intermission incarnation. So yeah, not sure what to expect, but as someone sitting behind me pointed out, "Even second rate Sondheim is still Sondheim..." and therefore, better than pretty much anything else running. Aside from that, I really wanted to see Michael Cerveris (with hair!) and Alex Gemignani on stage together again.
So it was, yeah. I enjoyed it. There was no uncontrollable sobbing, or anything, but it was enjoyable. I laughed. I got covered in the fake money that both brothers and several other of the show's characters were flinging around the stage. The music was filled with the slight echoes of earlier works, but there were some really beautiful songs in there, a few that I wish I could hear again. The final line of the show maybe says it all - it is something to the effect of "sooner or later we're bound to get it right!"
On my way back to the UWS, I stopped by a local Crumbs and procured a bedtime snack. It was much easier getting back than it had been getting down there... but now I know how to get to the Public!
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