Weekend in NYC--Part Two!

Although the rest of our weekend in NYC pales next to the excitement surrounding Spring Awakening, in true CB fashion, we managed to see four plays over the two days we were in town. On Saturday afternoon, we went right from the bus at Port Authority to Playwrights Horizon, a cool small theatre just slightly outside of Times Square. After a liquid lunch of Cosmos (hey, we have to celebrate being in the city!), we saw a new musical, Saved. It was pretty good, and definitely has potential. The cast is strong, the choreography is fun, and a couple of the musical numbers were great. We found the lyrics to be pretty pedestrian and predictable, as was the plot (based on the 2004 movie), but we still enjoyed ourselves. One of the things the CBs love to do is to chat up the people around us wherever we are. On this afternoon, we were lucky enough to sit next to a handsome young man who had graduated from a drama program in Michigan in the fall and is trying to make it as an actor. He has been cast as an understudy for a new Broadway revival of Godspell. We will be following what we hope is a long career for him!

Saturday night we took the subway out to Brooklyn to see Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). It was quite the happening place, as the show has received rave reviews and it closed this weekend. We soon saw why the reviews were so great--from the minute he set foot on stage in the role of Clov, the young actor Max Casella owned the stage. It's a complicated, repetitive role, and Casella never once missed a beat--he embodied Clov with an incredible, consistent physicality that was truly mesmerizing. The rest of the cast was equally as good, and it was a wonderful night of theatre.

Sunday afternoon, we had tickets to the new revival of Caryl Churchill's 1982 play, Top Girls. It has an amazing cast of powerful female actors, and we were really looking forward to this one. We were, however, disappointed. We found it dated, rather obvious, and a little dull (and long--clocking in at three+ hours). This is one we would not recommend. All in all, though, another outstanding weekend of theatre in NYC--we look forward to our longer trip in June!

Sunday in the City with The CultureBuddies

The CultureBuddies were at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Sunday night for the last performance of Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff in Spring Awakening. What a night it was. It was a total EVENT!

As soon as Saturday night’s show ended, students began waiting in line to get the Student Rush tickets for Sunday night’s show. Kids formed a long line in front of the theater, and some even brought sleeping bags and tents. Of course, the CBs had tickets--we had raced to the ticket office back in February as soon as we saw read the announcement that Lea and Jonathan were leaving the show.

We had great seats and were seated only 2 rows away from the proud parents of Steven Sater who wrote the book and the lyrics for the show. We spoke to them about the show and learned a lot about their remarkable son. The audience was full of the show's producers, the proud parents of both Jonathan and Lea, a busload of people from Jonathan’s hometown of Lancaster PA, and many, many young fans. One of the most wonderful things about this show is how it has brought young people back to Broadway in droves. Kids see the show again and again. The theater was full of the kids who are truly devoted to the show.

When the lights went up and Lea entered the stage to begin her song "Mama Who Bore Me" the audience exploded with what became a 10 minute standing ovation before she could sing a single note. Lea never broke character, but tears were running down her cheeks. When she finally began singing, we both commented on how much her voice has improved. Always beautiful, it is even finer now. The CB’s are hoping she has a long and wonderful career. What a talented young lady. The show was wonderfully over the top with lots of hamming it up by the cast. The love they feel for each other was so apparent. When Jonathan sang his anthem, "Totally F***ed", the theater just exploded and the standing ovation seemed to last forever.

I had a chance to speak to Jonathan’s proud parents. I told them what a fine, polite, talented young man they had raised. They seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the hubbub. They are from Lancaster PA, and his mom is a teacher. Lots of Lancaster folks came to see Jonathan’s last
performance.

After the show, we met our friends, Casey and Ben, for Ben’s 21st Birthday Dinner at a very nice small Italian restaurant, Maria Pia’s on 51st Street between 8th and 9th Ave. We sat outside and had a wonderful time. The food was delicious, and we regaled the boys with CB stories. Ben got a lovely birthday serenade from the waiters, and we had a great night. Meeting with our boys (who we like to refer to as the Boyz) is a trip requirement. They are just the greatest guys. The next morning we had breakfast at the Galaxy Diner and took the bus home. Another great CultureBuddies weekend in our favorite city!