Merrily We Roll Along - Lake Mary High School

 I really enjoyed seeing this production on YouTube. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qr2vEekoUkc&list=WL&index=3&t=0s

The students did a great job and this show was just really well put together. I had heard of "Merrily We Roll Along" years ago and I fell in love with the song "Old Friends" and was now happy to see how it came together in this show. I wish nothing but the best for the senior class as they take their talents out into a strange new world! And I look forward to more shows from Lake Mary High School in the future!

Hamilton (tv)

...I miss theater so much.

Chuck and I watched "Hamilton" tonight. My eyes were everywhere: the lights, the one-piece set, the orchestra pit, the wings, the choreography....I was watching everything, even timing the places where my ASMs backstage could run to the bathroom when needed. This was so well-done. It's very modern, as a history story goes, but Lin did a great job with this. History with a taste of modern. A story, well, several stories, in one tale around one man. I do wonder what happened to Hamilton's daughter, but that's something I can look up. My husband actually liked the show. He stayed awake the entire time, which was good. Me? My heart is thawing for being frozen from theater for so many years. I do miss it. So much work goes into this, and I'm glad Lin made a deal with Disney to air this. There are so many people around the world who couldn't afford tickets. Couldn't afford airplane flights and hotels to New York or Chicago or London to see it. And there's nothing in the world like a live audience and their applause. Ever.

Romeo and Juliet in Jupiter

We got to enjoy a wonderful evening of theater outside seeing Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival's Shakespeare by the Sea! They had a very entertaining performance of "Romeo and Juliet" that I just really, really enjoyed! Being an SM myself I had to smile as I walked past the booth with my chairs and dinner. We sat up on the audience left side of the grassy area and God Bless their SM they started exactly at 8p.m. I really enjoyed the character of Mercutio. The stereotypical male cousins were played by women in this show, but for me, the young lady playing Mercutio took the show! She had energy, wit, and great timing with her words! I was definitely sad when she died. The lovers, Romeo and Juilet, were quite real to my eyes. Their blocking on stage, including their pauses, arm and hand gestures and the mannerisms of the ages they were portraying were very real for me. I think the casting of these two was perfect. Props to the sound designer who chose music fitting of the mood of this production. And props to the lighting designer and lighting tech who didn't freak out when two birds landed on the wire in front of audience left lighting to the stage. The shadow they made was pretty funny but didn't take away from the mood of the second act of the show. Over-all, well done to the players and well done to the tech! The productions in this space are definitely to be enjoyed for years to come!

Wicked

I have been away from theater for too long. And perhaps I've gotten old, too. There were too many reasons for me NOT to attend theater in my current life than there are reasons TO  go to theater.

Saving up money for months to see "Wicked" at the Broward Center" was something I was really, really wanting to do. I wanted to see "Wicked." I knew the music already and had never seen the show. I wanted to know why most of the women who auditioned when I was in my 30's sang "Popular" or "Defying Gravity." I wanted to know why a lot of the men sang "Something Bad" or "Dancing Through Life". So, my husband agreed to go with me. I looked at tickets online at Ticketmaster and they were massively expensive depending on the exact SEAT you wanted on what day. My thought was to go directly downtown and buy tickets and I would save money. I was soooo wrong. The same two seats I saw online for one price was higher for the same night when I got to the Broward Center Box Office. Really?
Sigh.
So I had to change the seats on the night that worked for both my husband and I. Upset, I just went home with tickets, saved $5 for parking, which, I should have realized would be much higher on the night of the show, and went home. Last night, parking was $12 instead of the $1.25 per hour that garage is during the day. It wasn't really packed, which was nice, and we got to park on the 2nd level. We walked over to the Center and memories hit me...memories of walking up that steep hill to go inside the lobby. I remember that. I remember climbing the stairs up to the booth. I remember talking to house management and crossing paths with ushers and others that I might have known at the time.

Getting to our seats finally up in the balcony I was reminded about my husband's fear of heights. He really did not like being that high up. And he hated the seats: they were too small and not comfortable and it just really wasn't his thing. And the show hadn't started yet.

Once it did, I realized that balcony is not a bad place to see this show. I couldn't see any of the faces clearly, but the way the blocking was done all characters and sets and lights and everything was conveyed nicely. Props to the Stage Manager for starting the show 2 minutes after 8p.m. Well done! Also after intermission the 2nd act started 2 minutes after....I'm so proud!
I noted that the father character, played by Wayne Schroder, sang a little fast during the opening number. The music played on and there was a deep pause and the mother figure caught everyone back up to the beat of the music. There was a scene later in Act 1 where a bicycle was left in the back of the scene upstage of everyone and someone from the wings ran out, grabbed the bike and wheeled it off: nothing choreographed, just - removed.

Props to the set designer and the clock motif that my husband had to explain to me. Love the dragon, too. The sets on the pulleys just worked for me: easy to maneuver, yes there were sets repeated for different scenes but it didn't take away from the story and that magic just worked. I like the smart idea for Mary Kate Morrissey who played Elphaba to put her box on the set piece as she sang "The Wizard and I" and she moved downstage to sing and the set pieces moved into the wings removing the box that she didn't need for the next scene. Yup, that works for me!

The lights were magnificent and I wanna know how the lighting designer, Kenneth Posner, made it rain. And I wanna know how I missed it raining on Elphaba and she didn't melt.

It looked like an 8 to 10 piece orchestra in the pit with the conductor. They were so in rhythm and tune and yes, I watched them on and off and they moved with their music. It was so pretty to see. I saw a 15 person chorus who did everything necessary to fill in the world that we were seeing.

The choreography was only "eh". It wasn't spectacular but it was just "there."

Elphaba, played by Mary Kate Morrissey, was really the star of the show. She was the focus. Glinda, played by Ginna Claire Mason, was the co-star. She was also really breathy during "Popular" and you could clearly hear it. I thought she was gonna stop singing and pant for a bit. And the Wizard, played by Tom McGowan, was a delight. I really, really liked him in Act II with "Wonderful".

Most of the time I watched the booth. I miss it up there. Those, to me, will always be the best seats in the house. No old people above me on my right talking during the ENTIRE FIRST ACT. No one's bright screen from their cell phone as they record the show. I know, I know: cell phones are everywhere and you can't stop everyone from recording a show right after everyone is asked NOT to record a show. Although, I did see one patron walk down to a teenager and tell them to put their phone away..and that worked.

It was a very good musical, but for my future, I won't be sitting in the balcony with my husband. I will take in his concerns on being so high up and maybe we'll just wait for a great show to be live in tv.

Hamlet at PBSF

So, my darling Chuck took me to see "Hamlet" at Carlin Park. The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival was performing and it was all outside...people brought chairs and blankets and coolers and dogs...it was a nice evening.
Chuck and I brought our own table and chairs and I packed a picnic basket of food and drinks. The show started at 8 and we settled in fora  modern-day Hamlet. My props to the light and set designers...the stage was set in one place, no changes, and it totally worked for every place the play was set! The light changes really helped the different moods of the show.
Props to Kyle Schnack who played Hamlet. When his microphone was messing up on stage, he played it really well - he spoke into other actors' microphones and he projected into the audience. I'm glad that the stage managers, Liz Matos, Gladys Zola and Lindsey O'Neill switched out his mic during intermission. It's a headache for an actor to try to perform outside with a mic that goes out on them. But Klye was professional, and he did well.
My surprise came with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern....hilarious!!!! And women, at that! They were just too funny and played their parts well!
Although she was only in Act II, I really enjoyed Laertes, played by Krys Parker. I liked the pose of a strong woman, ready to avenge her father, and then her sister. She played that MORE than well!

The weather was hot and muggy but the show took a bit of that worry away. I did, however, wonder two things from the audience:

1. Why did the audience applaud at EVERY scene change??? Even the really, really short ones? My thought from my theater background is that applause is only needed when the scene is deserved. And especially no applause after a beloved character dies. It was just ...odd.

2. The little girl with the pig-tails sitting in front of us video-recording the show on her phone. Really?? I thought her friends might have poked her or something since they looked at each other and shook their heads at one point. So, i video-taped her each time she video-taped the show. I'd love to find her one day and ask her how in the world she could applaud after the show since her hands were on her phone.
smh
Maybe it's the generation...that's possible.

But for the actors, the people who put the work in...congrats. You did a great job on Saturday night and you all should be commended.

I recommend this troupe to all my friends in Palm Beach County!

Motown

I got a chance to see a wonderful Broadway show called "Motown the Musical" today. I thought it was a celebration of all kinds of Motown hits, but it turned out to be the story of Berry Gordy, or "Junior", as he was called by family members, and "Black" as he was called by his ex-wife, Diana Ross. The Broward Center for the Arts was host to this fantastic show that started 3 minutes late (much props to Production Stage Manager Anna R. Kaltenbach for that one) and lasted roughly 2 and 1/2 hours. It was fun, it was lively and it was what this very lazy Sunday needed.

Clifton Oliver did a great job at Berry Gordy - showing his struggles from the very beginning, always dealing with money problems that balanced out the top hits of the day and his relationship with Diana Ross, whom, I had No Idea he had married. Very good voices of Jarran Muse as Marvin Gaye and Leon Outlaw or Reed Shannon (whichever one sang this afternoon) for singing as the wonderfully talented Michael Jackson.

I have to compliment the Design team for working together for this production. It was obvious that the Lighting Designer listened to the Costume Designer who listened to the Set Designer. It was true harmony to a set that can travel very easily.

The second act was much more lively than the first act, and mad props to Allison Semmes, the lovely lady who portrayed Diana Ross! She got the audience going with participation and laughter and smiles!

I was re-introduced to some fantastic music from Jackie Wilson, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves, Gladys Knight, Teena Marie, the Contours, the Commadores, Mary Wilson, the Four Tops and the Marvelettes. It was a fun time for all and definitely a history lesson worth seeing again!

The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild

I attended Bucks Theatre last night at Deerfield Beach High. The show itself is delightful as the audience is taken into the wacky and wonderful world of Mildred Wild. Unfortunately, her husband has diabetes, the bakery is being shut down and the bulldozers are coming to tear her apartment building down. But that doesn't stop her from her Hollywood dreams of being a starlet.
Coming into the theater I really, really liked the auditorium; the proscenium arch of the stage, the slant of the audience to the stage, and the memories that the booth in the back brought me. Good times.
The show started and I couldn't really hear the two stars in the beginning. I was hoping the acoustics would give us something, as I was sitting close to the middle/back area of the audience. Perhaps diction on the actors' part would have helped. Not sure. Then the show introduced us to Helen - played by Sofia Delgado. Her voice was crystal clear, full of intent, diction was perfect - and I heard every word she said. She was, by far, the best in the show. The over-bearing sister-in-law to Mildred, which, in my present life, I can DEFINITELY relate to Mildred's problem with her.
The landlord, played by either Zynora Lowery or Fatou Jackson (I'm not sure whom), was not real strong in her entrance. I wasn't sure what she was doing with the yelling at Mildred. Later in the show she proved that no words at all make a strong statement as she exited the scene in sexy lingerie. Well done.
There was a photographer in the crowd during the show - might I say, "several photographers." I got up at one point to ask Mr. Floyd Nash about the photographers (me, coming from a background where audience hands are for applause and not for holding ipods and iphones and taking pictures of actors while they hone their craft on stage), and Mr. Nash informed me that yes, parents and audience are allowed to take non-flash pictures during the show.

I miss the good ol' days.

Must give props to the set designer - the King Kong hand was amazing! That kept me laughing for a long time thereafter! The whole set is to be commended. Every angle, every entrance, every small set piece - well detailed, well done. Then there was the corded phone - without the cord. Which played well until Mildred picked up the phone and came downstage with it. Now, I know the younger generation wouldn't think twice about it, but period-wise, it should probably have a cord on it unless we are in Mildred's fantasy world again - which we weren't at that time.
All in all, it was a well-done show and the actors looked like they were excited to be on stage. May they continue to have that excitement!