Shows from September 2011 to Present Part 11

21. Nice Work if You Can Get it – July 8, 2012

            Sometimes, things can happen unexpected.  I expected to be sitting at home relaxing looking through Facebook.  I see a post from someone who had a pair of comp tickets to the Tony Nominated musical Nice Work if You Can Get it.  This someone was a friend of my uncle who is a trombone player in many Broadway Shows.  He previously played at the Imperial Theater during Billy Elliot and now he is back for Nice Work if You Can Get it.  So, I called him up and told him and I will take them.  He actually told me he had a feeling it was going to be me calling him (if anyone knows how much I am a Broadway fanatic I am, I would jump at a chance for anything cheap or free). 

          Set in the 1920s, Nice Work If You Can Get It is the story of charming and wealthy playboy Jimmy Winter (Matthew Broderick), who meets rough female bootlegger Billie Bendix (Kelli O’Hara) the weekend of his wedding. Jimmy, who has been married three (or is it four?) times before, is preparing to marry Eileen Evergreen (Jennifer Laura Thompson), a self-obsessed modern dancer. Thinking Jimmy and Eileen will be out of town, Billie and her gang hide cases of alcohol the basement of Jimmy’s Long Island mansion. But when Jimmy, his wife-to-be and her prohibitionist family show up at the mansion for the wedding, Billie and her cohorts pose as servants, causing hijinks galore. 

            I wanted to see this show for a long time and thank god I got to see it with the original cast.  However, the day I went was also coincidentally the same day as the announcement came of the show’s costume designer Martin Pakledinaz who passed away that day too.  During the show it looked like beads from costumes were falling off and cast members had to throw them offstage which got a good laugh from the audience.  It happened twice.  Once when Matthew Broderick and Tony Winner Michael McGrath, who plays the bootlegger disguised as a butler, Cookie McGee during a scene.  The second time it happened was with Kelli O’Hara and McGrath.  “What’s this?” she said as she tossed it off the stage to the delight of audience members.  McGrath adlibbed “I might as well clean up” which made the whole audience laugh and applaud.  I did see a cast member take a spill at the curtain call.  That’s live theater ladies and gentleman and the show must go on even if costumes are falling apart. 

            The set and choreography is very representative of the twenties that was fun.  The score even though was songs from my mother’s or grandparent’s generation but I enjoyed it.  I guess that is the old soul in me.  The cast I have to say is outrageously funny.  Some of the standouts include Matthew Broderick, Kelli O’Hara, Michael McGrath, Jennifer Laura Thompson, Robyn Hurder as chorus girl, Jeannie Muldoon, and Tony Winner Judy Kaye as Duchess Estonia Dulworth (a big highlight was seeing her sing “Looking for a Boy” while swinging on a chandelier.  I think it’s a theme for her since she won her 1^st tony that involved a chandelier (Phantom of the Opera). 

            Over all, I thought this was a wonderful show, with a wonderful, plot that is funny, and happy and this cast is talented enough to bring it together. 

22. Memphis – July 14, 2012

        It’s my birthday!  Well…Technically it’s the day AFTER my birthday.  What do I want to do to celebrate my birthday and to celebrate another year older?  Obviously, I’m not going to give my actual age on the internet.  I wanted to go try for a show.  I went with a friend whose birthday was that day after mine.  She brought her friend as well.  We waited on a rush line to get rush tickets and we got them for the Tony award winning musical, Memphis.  We had two reasons to see it: 1. Adam Pascal (who I saw in Rent) and 2. The most important was we had to see it one more time as they were closing in August.  It’s a celebratory moment to celebrate our birthdays and say goodbye to Memphis (This was my third time seeing it). 

            Memphis is set in the places where rock and roll was born in the 1950s: the seedy nightclubs, radio stations and recording studios of the musically-rich Tennessee city. With an original score, it tells the fictional story of DJ Huey Calhoun (Adam Pascal), a good ole’ local boy with a passion for R&B music and Felicia Farrell (Tony Nominee Montego Glover), an up-and-coming black singer that he meets one fateful night on Beale Street. Despite the objections of their loved ones (Huey’s close-minded mama (Nancy Opel) and Felicia’s cautious brother, a club owner (J. Bernard Calloway)), they embark on a dangerous affair. As their careers rise, the relationship is challenged by personal ambition and the pressures of an outside world unable to accept their love. 

            Third and possibly last time seeing it, I have to say it was alright.  It was a matinee and some people are tired and there is an event happening outside their theatre.  On this day, the event Broadway Barks (the Broadway Cares event towards adoption of dogs and cats) was happening outside of their theater in Shubert Alley.  The music and choreography are still in good shape. 

            The cast I have more to expand on.  Adam Pascal as the new Huey Calhoun, I thought he brought his rocker style to the role.  He brought something different.  I was not sure if I like it.  It may have been from all the times I saw Chad Kimball.  I’m sure if I saw him again, I would get used to it.  Montego Glover who usually blew me away, I could tell she was tired in her voice.  I am understanding: end of the week and Broadway Barks.  J. Bernard Calloway, James Monroe Iglehart as janitor Bobby, and Derrick Baskin as shy Gator are still in tip top shape.  New to the cast is Nancy Opel who joined as Huey’s Mama who was a standout with her, Calloway, Iglehart and Baskin in the song “Change Don’t Come Easy”.  Semi – new to the cast is John Jellison, an original cast member who started out in the ensemble and graduated to the role of Mr. Simmons.  Its nice to see an ensemble member graduate to a principle role especially one that I saw the first time around when the show just opened back in 2009. 

I think the show is still is in great shape and what a way to celebrate a birthday.  In case I don’t see Memphis before its closing, congrats to everyone (cast, crew, alumni, creative team, etc.) on a wonderful run.  If you have not seen Memphis, see it before they close on August 5, 2012.