A Boy Working on a Song, Ex-Wives, Shakespeare in Backstreet Boys style & More // Broadway Ramblings

Hey friends!

My previous experience and impression of Broadway only came from this movie, of course.

If you guys didn't know, I'm obsessed with stories in all shapes and sizes. I mean, hanging around this blog for any amount of time will demonstrate that. I've talked about books, movies, and tv shows, but something that I don't chat about a lot is my love for theatre. Whenever Shakespeare comes up I usually mention that I see plays all the time, but today we're going to full-on let loose for the wonder of theatre. This is because I've just had an incredible opportunity.

I saw shows on Broadway. 

It. Was. Amazing.

And no, this is not a late April fool's day joke.

I went with my school and got a credit to see 8 Broadway shows. Best spring break ever, am I right? I'm so grateful for everything that went into that, so we're going to do my favorite thing and analyze them briefly.

I don't know what I am going for here, so this post is more of a way for me to decompress than anything super organized. I'll probably run out of adjectives, so sorry if they repeat. This is spoiler free for the plays because the magic is all about seeing it for yourself! I'll just talk about my thoughts on the plot without giving away the plot. And I'm going to obsess about lights/sets/costumes, but I won't say what they are specifically. I'll give a quick one-sentence premise for each of these plays in case you haven't heard of them!

Because I'm not emotionally stable enough to rank them, these are listed in the order that I watched them. All these Playbills are from the website, and the lyrics are mostly just what I remember them, so they could be wrong. Paraphrase. Maybe some of you can sing along? Warning: this post is very long. I considered breaking it into two parts but decided that if I did that I would lose steam and never finish the second part.

Water for Elephants

Cool poster, right? Cool elephant? I won't admit how long it took me to see the people, but it was a while....

Premise: A man reflects on his life, how he found an escape from his grief working as a vet for a circus.

Y'all, what a show to be my first Broadway show. I wouldn't wish for any better.

This has only been open for a few weeks (I saw it while it was still in previews, it just opened actually a few days ago!) but I hope it's open for a long time because they have put so much work into this spectacle. It's circus meets Broadway, and if you thought The Greatest Showman was amazing, then try seeing insane tricks performed live.

But we need to backtrack for a quick sec. My roommate's favorite TV show is The Flash so I've been watching it for a little over a year. My thoughts there could take up a whole post so we won't go into it, but that's where I know Grant Gustin. And I had a slight obsession with all of Sebastian's (his character in Glee) songs this summer, so I knew he had an amazing voice. That's the sole reason I wanted to see this, but I didn't realize that I would start crying the second he came on stage and say his first few words. 

I quickly made myself stop so I could actually see the show.

Like, guys, we were really up high so I couldn't even see his face, but my brain had a reaction of its own when it heard him. So I did not expect to bawl, but it was only the first of several times.

The reprises in this show?? The music isn't on Spotify yet so I'm just guessing here, but I think it's called "Easy"? THAT theme was all I want in a musical. I want to do a whole post on musical themes sometimes, but that song in and of itself is a masterclass. There was a funny Richard III reference, but I also was reminded of Hamlet in one part.

This one isn't my top favorite when it comes to plot, though. Just because we can't condone cheating on a partner. This tries to throw lots of "BUT!--"s into this, however I still can't support it. This show is kind of the reverse of The Greatest Showman because it deals with issues inside instead of issues outside; that comes in the form of abuse. Especially animal abuse, but there is also abuse when it comes to the people running the circus. I admire their bravery to call this out! I just don't think it justifies a relationship coming about in that way. The fact that it took three people to hold Grant Gustin back, though? Loved that. I know you've got to get through a lot in a short show like this, but I think there could be a little tweaking. It's based on a book and also has a movie version, so the show probably dealt with the source material the best it could. I loved the show, these are just notes that I'm making as a wannabe writer for how I can tell stories.

        "Act surprised when you see the stars in her eyes

 As if you don't have them memorized."

Yet this is one of the most gorgeous lyrics ever and it took my breath away.

I have a hatred for "dream sequences" in musicals (thanks Rogers and Hammerstein), but there is a dream sequence here that is by far the best I've ever seen in a musical. It was horrifying but gorgeous and AAACCKK.

Now I need to talk about the ensemble. THEY WERE FANTASTIC. I lost count of the number of tricks they did. They flipped, threw each other, slide, swung, you name it. They were all I could talk about. And they didn't have any harnesses?? They were just doing those things?? I don't know how. I also love the way that the presented animals. The mixture of acting and puppetry was magnificent. I cannot stress this enough.

Just the movement in general was so well planned out. How Jacob (we're switching between character and actor names I guess) started out so stiff which was a stark contrast, then softened and became more like the ensemble? I adored it.

Quick shoutout to Camel and Walter for being dears, and the choice for the double casting for present and past!

I cannot recommend this show enough.

Tl;dr:

What I came for: Grant Gustin

What I stayed for: The brilliant acrobatics

(I'll be using this tl;dr format, but just to be clear, I also stayed for what I came for, because what I came for never let me down. I just want to credit the amazing surprises.)

Kimberly Akimbo

Premise: Having a disease that makes her age quickly is hard enough but Kimberly's moved to a new town on top of it all.

What I liked about this was the moving set. It just moves on its own! Which I now see is pretty standard for a Broadway show, but after having watched Water for Elephants where everything is moved by hand I thought it was cool. And it is also very systematic and streamlined which suits my math brain just fine.

Other than that, this was my least favorite of the whole trip. Some people on the trip really liked this, but by the time I watched this I'd experienced: a short night of sleep followed by two classes, two flights (one of the them overnight/a redeye and I don't sleep on planes well) and already seen one show that day. All without a break. So I may have been falling asleep in the first act...

I struggle with "modern" musicals, meaning those set in this time, slice of life, whatever you call it. Because why is everyone singing?? When I told my mom that, she compared me to my grandpa, and that made my day. I think I would have enjoyed this a lot more if there wasn't any singing? Because there wasn't really a reason for there to be singing? The vocals were impressive, I just didn't like the out-of-the-blue aspect of it. "Hello Darling" reminds me of a song about a camp something that starts "Hello mother, hello father." The disease song was the one that made me chuckle. The band being above the stage instead of having an orchestra pit was really cool! I kept watching them.

The relationships in this show were uncomfortable for me. The foursome all with crushes on each other was slightly amusing, I'll give them that. Both Seth and Kimberly were absolute sweethearts, I just didn't love the flow of their relationship. For so long I was vibing with it but not at the end. I know the character ages are the same, but knowing the actor ages was weird for me? It seemed unrealistic. Seth was my favorite and I will protect him, guys. Now that I think about it, I liked his song! 

Having been homeschooled my whole life, school stories also don't interest me? Almost all of the jokes fell flat for me. So that might be part of it. It does call out ableism which I thought was important!

There are a lot of untied ends in this show, which is part of "it's real life!", but it was unsatisfying because there weren't consequences. The message of this show is something I'm sure that my sister would adore. It's one of those premises of "I don't have long to live, so what am I going to do with it?" and I don't agree with the conclusion most often. It's just not what I view life to be, but others do and that's fine. There are a few exceptions to me liking this message, like Living (2022) (which I've already raved about twice so I won't bore you again) and Groundhog Day (1993) (which is the opposite "I have forever to live, so what am I going to do with it?" but comes to the same conclusion). The projections at the end were cute, though!

This isn't to say it's a bad show (it's still on Broadway for crying out loud), I just am not a fan. It's known for one aspect that I still can't figure out how they did. It was really cool, I just kept thinking, "That can't be good for the floor."

Tl;dr:

Not the message I'm looking for in a story, but it could be the one you are looking for! I will watch a good set movement.

Hadestown

I'm sure those of you who know this music realize that's one of the things I was referencing in the title. I'll just leave you to guess the others.

Premise: A retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.

Aka the show I've been waiting for. It was everything I wanted and more. So much so that I'm having a crisis right now about trying to reorganize my favorite musicals.

I can't remember if I've talked about this before on this blog, but I have quite the story to go with this musical, so I'll dive right into it. When we were little, my older sister LOVED Greek myths. She had this book called D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths by Edgar Parin d'Aulaire and Ingri Parin d'Aulaire that she read so many times. And as you do with obsessions, you try to get other people invested in them, too. So she convinced me to read it. I was a little weirded out the whole time until I got to one story and it traumatized me. The thing is, the illustrations in this book are gorgeous, but also grotesque in their beauty. I swore off Greek myths (and actually any myths) forever.

Flash forward a few years, I'd heard about the musical Hadestown and while I don't love Greek myths, I'd recently rewatched Hercules (1997) and had actually enjoyed it, so I wasn't opposed to the idea. It was amusing because in the same week I'd been singing something which my little sister didn't know I knew and she'd been singing Hadestown which I didn't know she knew. She got very exited and wanted me to listen to it, so we started. While playing cards, as you do. I'm terrible at multitasking when it comes to games because I am very competitive so I'd been very focused and hadn't listened at all. Until we got to "Wait for Me". I started paying attention (because how can you NOT with that song??) then started to get a sneaking suspicion that I knew this story even though I didn't recognize the names. I then determined it was the very story that put me off of myths, whoops. We didn't finish it then, but I never really picked it up again.

In 2021 I kept getting ads for Hadestown because it had recently reopened on Broadway. "Living it Up" was living it up in my head, so I started listening from the beginning and LOVED it. But didn't finish. I'm well versed in the first act, but just couldn't make it any farther and it was starting to be that I wanted to experience it one day for myself and didn't want to spoil the surprises, even though I knew the story. I was fully committed to loving it by Jan. 2023, but I just couldn't get myself to finish it yet because I was savoring it by that point.

My school announced this trip in May 2023 and I was interested but not fully committed until Oct 2023. Sometime between those dates I'd looked up what shows would be playing in Mar. 2023 but wasn't interested in any of them. Nov. 2023 rolled around and I looked shows up and WHOA there were a lot of amazing things. 

That's when I found out that Jordan Fisher was going to be Orpheus when I was there. 

You guys don't know how much I love Jordan Fisher. I watched him and loved him on Liv and Maddie, he's my favorite character in the To All the Boys series (John Ambrose forever!!), his version of "You're Welcome" with Lin-Manuel Miranda makes me incredibly happy, etc. You guys get the picture. I usually scream whenever he appears in something when I'm not expecting him. And now I loved Orpheus, so putting the two of them together was going to be dazzling. 

So I've been screaming about it to anyone and everyone ever since. And now I've finally seen Hadestown starring Jordan Fisher. Which I will start raving about once I find the right words.

"Once upon a time there was a railroad line..."

Wrong words, but we'll go with it.

I don't know why I didn't realize that the band is on the stage? They are so lively and really push the energy. I also didn't realize that the muses also always hang out and mostly live to bother Eurydice.

WHICH SPEAKING OF, LOLA TUNG.

I'd heard that Lola Tung was going to be Eurydice, so a few weeks ago I'd watched some of The Summer I Turned Pretty, but wasn't a fan. She was born for Eurydice. Her movements were phenomenal. You truly believed she was racked with hunger and understood every choice she made. Every time she said "Orpheus" broke my heart with all of the meaning piled behind it. She looked scared and desperate and fierce and wounded and resilient all at once. How is it possible to be all of those things at once?? Her singing was absolutely gorgeous and the chemistry with Jordan Fisher was incredible. They were the perfect embodiment of the two characters who have only been in my head until now.

I'm used to André De Shields from the recording but I got to see Lillias White as Hermes. And March 17th was her last day with the show. I was so close to missing her (and Lola Tung is now apparently gone, too?? FOR SHAME BROADWAY). I'm so relieved we got to see her because she. was. outstanding. She was such a sturdy presence to narrate while also being a little cheeky and having this energy that was paced so well. If anyone deserves the title "queen", it's her.

Both Persephone and Hades were incredible, too (I had such serious chills after just hearing Hades's voice). It's their fault I cried because I made it through so much but then after they got me started I couldn't stop.

The ensemble, again, was breathtaking. This is a very small group, only about 5, but they pack a punch. I was talking about this with one of my peers, but Hadestown is on another level. All Broadway shows make you go "wow, that's amazing!" but Hadestown makes you think "I want to do this." For me that was watching the ensemble and seeing what an impact they make being a living, breathing wall. They are the structure for this play and I was thinking that there could be no greater honor in my artistic life than being one of them.

Because I'd heard so many of the songs before I was so curious to see what is happening during those songs. The context explains a lot, but what really sells everything is THE LIGHTING. I don't have words for the power of the lighting in the show. While listening to the soundtrack I'd thought "I wonder how the do XYZ" but I couldn't fathom the show-stoppers that they put forth in the lighting. You have to see it to understand but it is a masterpiece. I want to be a writer, but from seeing the lighting in this show it made me want to create stories that have a visual aspect, not just words on a page.

If I could create something half as good as Hadestown, my heart will be content. The message is an anthem for storytelling and I could talk about it forever, but I'll wrap it up.

Tl;dr:

What I came for: Jordan Fisher

What I stayed for: Lola Tung and Lillias White

Six

This cover is fine, but it's not the cast I saw which is a shame because the cast I saw was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Premise: The six wives of King Henry VIII battle it out to see who was worst treated and should lead this group.

Hmm, an almost better premise would just be the opening lyrics: 

"Divorced, Beheaded, Died. 

Divorced, Beheaded, Survived."

Talk about epic. This is so much stinking fun.

During the trip I was trying---instead of ranking them---to give each musical a "Best" category, kind of like the Oscars. But then they kept overlapping so I can't really decide. Anyway, Six gets some credit for lighting and costumes. And how I was grinning the entire time. Well, there's one song that breaks you a little bit, but besides that I was so happy.

I've wanted to see this forever and it goes with the list of not letting me down.

I saw 7 musicals last week but only three songs have been living rent-free in my head. "Chant" and "Wait for Me" from Hadestown and "Don't Lose Your Head" from Six. Which I wouldn't have expected.

What can I say, I think Anne Boleyn is adorable. Sorry, not sorry. Her song gives such a bubblegum pop sound and I adore it. She reminds me of Paper-Star from Carmen Sandiego, but not as feral. Maybe mixed with Snow White? That combination doesn't even make sense to me but you just have to see her to understand. She's the most Enneagram 7 character I've ever seen in my life and I want a doll that's her in her costume and also tell her gently that there are other ways to have fun.

"Sorry, not sorry 'bout what I said

I'm just tryna have some fun

Don't worry, don't worry, don't lose your head

I didn't mean to hurt anyone"

But she's not my favorite ex-wife, because I don't have one. I love them all equally. So that means you guys get to read my thoughts on all of them.

Catherine of Aragon is such a boss. I have mixed feelings on her inspiration being Beyoncé and Shakira. Beyoncé is perfect, it's Shakira that is the interesting choice. I get that they wanted to use Shakira so they could use Spanish because Catherine of Aragon is from Spain so yay it all works out! Umm, Shakira is from Colombia which speaks Spanish but is not Spain. I don't think it's a bad thing, it's just something to be aware of! Anyway, I loved Catherine of Aragon for her no-nonsense attitude and commanding presence. She's got a "come at me, bro" attitude.

Jane Seymour was splendid (the Little Shop of Horrors reference was funny and I don't even know that show) and I love her softness. She's got a huge claim to back up and she is so graceful. I love that she takes a well-known phrase and COMPLETELY flips the meaning. She is stunning. For the gal I saw portraying her I think it was her debut? She was perfect.

The gal who played Anna of Cleves was so giggly and it made me giggly, too. She could be tough when she wanted to be, then would dissolve into laughs and that resulted in being who my roommates and I talked about the most. She was a joy to watch and lived it up despite being rejected. She seemed to be having the time of her life and I was right there with her.

Kate Howard is the one who broke me and all of that was due to her performance and the choreography. She'd been kind of quiet the whole show and then her song seems like another pop song until it starts it hit when all the emotions change. It really shows you the importance in perspective and the nuance she delivered was so well down. I also just love how she flips her pink ponytail around.

Catherine Parr wears blue so of course I was going love her. She's so delicate and strong at the same time and I can't figure out how she does it. She portrays another internal struggle and you cheer until you realize it's just a song. It's a break from reality in the suspended disbelief and, long story short, it's glorious. Both bookends for the queens do such a good job of commanding attention and the way Catherine Parr deals with the others? She's fantastic.

This show was a party and goes on the list of how I nearly lost my voice from cheering.

(I would shout the amazing actors but my Playbill is in my room where my roommate is on the phone and I don't want to disturb her)

Tl;dr:

All six queens are legends.

&Juliet

Premise: William Shakespeare's wife Anne Hathaway doesn't like the ending to his newest play, so they work on rewriting Romeo and Juliet together with modern jukebox twists.

Being the Shakespeare nerd that I am, I was stoked that I got to see something connected to the Bard.

I didn't realize that this was a jukebox musical? When the started the first song I thought it was a joke until it kept going. I loved that they flipped the meaning on so many of these songs either in tone or the context! In the first half there weren't as many songs as I knew but I was bopping along a lot in the second half.

The ensemble here was one of the biggest I saw! I loved all of their street moves! And speaking of them, the costumes in this show were SO FUN. I loved the Shakespearean influences with modern take. Basically, I want all of these costumes to be my wardrobe.

The little details like May's crown? I loved that they would play with it and it conveyed their feelings.

Which speaking of, I loved May and with all of Shakespeare's cross dressing, gender fluidity feels right. I did not like the going behind the back and the usual "but it's love!" aspect of miscommunication because SO MUCH could've been solved by just talking about it. And I already gave the spiel about how I feel about cheating on a partner once in this post. For this one, yes, you just met that "partner" today, which maybe grants you a little flexibility because everything was going so quickly? And while I thought the song timing was perfect for May, I didn't love everything that was happening.

François was DARLING and he needs the biggest hug. I will give him that he was really, really, REALLY trying to do his best, so I don't fault him at all. People just keep throwing themselves at him and I was like "Give him some space!"

As I mentioned before, there were things that I didn't like about this, for sure, but every complaint I come up with I think if Shakespeare was alive today, then yeah, he'd probably write this story. He's famous for misunderstandings and miscommunication. And he's known for being bawdy and rowdy. Which explains Angelique and Vance's relationship but I could've done without it (and Vance's costume was not my favorite at all). I didn't love the clubbing being the solution to all of the problems but I appreciate that they changed Juliet's age. And the calling it out was HILARIOUS.

In contrast, my absolute favorite relationship was Shakespeare and Anne. They were the heart of this show with figuring out which way it should go. And when I say that I mean, one of them was figuring it out. Shakespeare is such a plotter he knows exactly where he wants it to go while Anne was such a panster and seeing them interact and struggle with each others styles was PERFECT. Ode to writers, my friends. And cowriting. (He also kept quoting himself which was a MOOD. Egotistical mood, yes, but when you're Shakespeare I'll go with it.) And as my sister and I are trying to cowrite something Shakespearean and musical I just wanted to watch it with her.

Speaking of writing, THE PLOT TWISTS. You could probably see them coming if you tried (again, it all felt like Shakespeare would really do it) but I was vibing too much to do that. So I was blown away. There were little things that I'd connected that I'd just felt very satisfied about (being a plotter I could see where Shakespeare was trying to hint at things) but the one caught me completely off guard.

I loved the references to the play itself like acknowledging Rosalind. Though I wanted more Benevolio because the two seconds we had of her was not enough but was brilliant.

One of my favorite parts, too, was listening to one of my companions laugh behind me because he laughed at all the places I wouldn't have expected.

Tl;dr:

I won't argue about the Shakespearean approval because I'm so amused by Will and Anne themselves. And I now want to breakdance and hang off of a chandelier all while keeping an eye on François. 

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Premise: The descendants of the original series struggle with living up to their parents reputations and Albus and Scoripus alarm everyone by becoming friends.

IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR MAGIC, THIS IS IT.

If Water for Elephants is "Circus meets Broadway", then this is "Magic show meets Broadway". The engineering that went into this show to do everything blows. my. mind. I don't know if it was light or projection but they made the air vibrate. VIBRATE. Have y'all ever made the air vibrate? They also made some of the most realistic looking natural light that I've ever seen?? How?? They had fire, water, you name it.

All I want to do is scream about every detail, but you have to see it yourself to believe it.

I mean, it's not like I hadn't been warned. I really had been. My advisor actually went on this trip two years ago and when I brought up that I was thinking about it she insisted that I go and see this show. That's how much she enjoyed it. And I'd read the script itself (and talked about it here on the blog!) and enjoyed it enough, but it's really meant to be seen live. Reading the script I'd often rolled my eyes because "You can't do that on stage". It was simply too ridiculous.

THEY PROVED ME WRONG.

THEY FULL ON DID IT. 

There's this scene in particular with a bookcase and they pulled it off. Against every odd in the universe, the pulled it off?? SO COOL.

It seemed to start so casually for how epic it would build too? It was like, oh a train station. Then only later committed to knocking the socks off of every audience member. Such a deceiving little show and I adore. I adore.

Also there is a giant nest on the building next to the theatre. A. Giant. Nest. So this theatre and Walter Kerr for Hadestown get props best outside decorations.

The only non-musical I saw yet it holds up just as well as any of the showtune show-stoppers.

I mean, the sheer dramatics of the ensemble. It was so Extra (TM) and I was there for it. Every single movement is followed or preceded by a dramatic cape swirl and while that has a double purpose for hiding interactions for set and prop placement, it is also so over the top in the best way. When my friends on the trip asked what role out of any of the shows I would want to be, I said I just want to swoosh my cloak.

With that, too, set movements and representing the passage of time (IYKYK) was genius. Moving staircases make you feel like you are in Hogwarts. And it could've gotten boring so quickly, but the emotions of the actors SOLD IT.

Scoripius was my favorite as we all expected but Albus also needs a hug. Albus was played so much angrier than I'd read him and it worked so well! I remember being really mad at Harry in the script, but while his actions are not right, the actor we saw portrayed the stress so well? You just want Harry and Albus to see each other's perspectives and it hurts. Stories that hurt are the best. The double casting was so ironic in parts. I also got to talk to one of the actors which was amazing...

It's been a couple of years since I read the script, so I didn't remember a lot of it? More than I thought! And they did such a good job of keeping it engaging whether or not you knew the story!

Speaking of, they also changed some things. Added some nuance. And I was here. for. it. I appreciate both versions and because of that appreciated the changes that went into this. It's okay to have different versions of a story and to let a story develop on its own to reach different people.

Tl:dr:

Hollywood could never. Movie magic is no match for Broadway and theatre magic.

Wicked

Premise: Giving the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz a backstory where she and Glinda were in school together.

I finally know what this is about! It's only been around for 20 years, so it's about time.

I'd known very few things about this show, but what I thought was the big finale was apparently only the finale of the first act? Everything in the second act was a huge surprise and I did not think they would go there.

There are so many fascinating themes of prejudice, whether about skin color or race that you wouldn't expect in the wonderful world of Oz, and that's the whole point, it's breaking the wonder to make you question what's really going on. It has themes of the horrors of colonization and for some reason I didn't see that coming? I did not realize that these were the messages of this show.

Elphaba's desperation to stop everything being her motivation? Such a unique take! I'm sure people have talked about this in a way that is much more eloquent than I can do. And I didn't expect her relationship with her sister to hurt so much. She's so relatable and I usually get annoyed with characters who lose their tempers quickly, but I always understood why she'd been pushed too far. Maybe part of it is she's always sorry, too, so she takes that responsibility but never just blames it on "well, I have a temper". Her connection with the one professor? That was so sweet! I also have been that student so many times, so it made me quite happy.

It makes you think about morally-grey vs. morally-green vs. what if we're all just color blind? The line "no one mourns the wicked" BROKE ME early on.

Glinda was such an interesting character and I can imagine her being played in so many different ways. The stereotypical blonde, but she can lie which is her asset and her disadvantage? She fits the role of politician so well but she feels deeper than just being "popular". I can't place my finger on what it is. She seemed aware but also clueless? She is the embodiment of having a perfect world broken and realizing it was never perfect at all.

I'm not sure what I think of Fiyero. He doesn't get a ton of time on the stage, but he always was carrying nuance. I think he symbolizes being who people want you to be, and I hadn't thought of those pressures for his circumstances before?

I called one (1) of the twists within the first second that it appeared, so I'm proud of that. One of my friends on the trip called what I felt like was the biggest surprise and when she pointed out the foreshadowing I couldn't believe that I missed it.

I probably shouldn't have watched this the same day that I saw Harry Potter because I was having trouble suspending my disbelief for the stage magic. I had seen real magic happen, so a metal bubble was not convincing. But after the first scene I was able to slip into the right amount of letting the magic come to life.

Continuing with the theme of Extra (TM), why was there a dragon on top of the stage? A dragon THAT MOVES? But is never ever part of the story?? Like, everything starts with "at the hour ---- of the dragon clock", but that is the only time it was ever mentioned? Don't get me wrong, I'm here for it. I just wanted to know why. I guess that's what Broadway does for you.

And now to get to my big comment about this show. I struggled with this show because I always struggle with villain backstories. There's something about knowing the ending that makes me feel hopeless about the characters because you know where it's going to end up. I don't mean that I can't watch or read stories where I know the ending (y'all I LOVE Anna Karenina and I knew the ending going into that), but that the author has to force the characters to reach a predetermined fate. You know that everything they choose will lead back to the end. And I don't like that. I don't like feeling trapped like that (and it's why I struggle with the Star Wars prequels).

BUT, this is all to say that Wicked is one of the best villain backstories I've EVER experienced. I didn't realize I was anxious about it until everything ended and I thought "WAIT A MINUTE, that was sooooooo well done." I was very content on that score.

Another place that I was struggling is that I'm too much of a fan of the universe to take alterations lightly. It's hard because it takes so much inspiration from the OG book, but at the same time, I was like "that isn't cannon!" when they incorporated characters but gave them different trajections? And yes, I know that's the point of retellings. It felt weird that they were in college? I ADORE the movie Oz the Great and Powerful (2013), which gives a different origin story for the Wicked Witch of the West, so it was hard to get beyond that. I probably shouldn't love that movie as much as I do, but it's true.

Sorry, guys, I don't usually get this perplexed about changes.

I really did enjoy it, it's making me rethink a lot of things! And I think I'd like it better on a rewatch because I'd be able to understand where it's going and pick up a lot more things.

"Defying Gravity" is hyped for a reason. It's amazing.

My chest felt empty when the show finished, and that's what the best stories do to you.

Tl;dr:

Thought-provoking about the meaning of the word "wicked", but I also love Oz the Great and Powerful (2013) so it's okay to have different versions of the same story.

Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Premise: Returned from being wrongly imprisoned, newly named Sweeney Todd vows revenge in this cautionary tale.

I SAW AARON TVEIT.

GUYS. HE WAS IN FRONT OF ME SINGING.

*dies*

Footage of how I felt.

Ahem.

My mom has sung the line "Sweeney Todd the Demon! Barber! of Fleet! Street!" for about as long as I can remember and I knew the premise (even deeper than I gave above) but (or because of that) I wasn't that interested in it. But it was around the same time that I learned Jordan Fisher was going to be Orpheus I learned Aaron Tveit was going to be Sweeney Todd for a limited run right when I was going to be in NYC. And my one hope is that I would see both of them. I'm so grateful to my professor that I did.

Do you guys know how much I love Aaron Tveit? (Editing MC realizes I said almost the exact same thing for Jordan Fisher...) Probably not because I don't think I've talked about this, but Enjolras, and more specifically Aaron Tveit's portrayal of Enjolras, is my favorite part of Les Mis. His energy is what I aim to be in all aspects of my life, especially schoolwork. It's become a tradition that by the end of the semester I start to listen to "Paris / Look Down" on repeat to listen to him yelling about when the barricades will arise. So yeah, I'm a fan.

Seeing him live was incredible because he was so growly with his singing. One of my fellow students on the trip didn't love the idea of him, a famous tenor, taking the role of a famous baritone, but I loved it. He was so creepy. So. Incredibly. Creepy. His glare??

The lighting also contributed to this because, hello, it was FANTASTIC. The red lights. That's all that needs to be said. The other red stuff was a little toooooo real for me, so I had to stop looking after awhile when that would happen.

This isn't a show that you enjoy because it's a cautionary tale, but it was one of the best quality shows that I saw. It's Broadway, so the quality for all of them is out of this world, but the strings they pulled with the singing and orchestra and lighting and everything being so exactly on time. For example, with one song Aaron was singing and it was so lovely vocally and then I realized a song about knives shouldn't be this pretty. As opposed to Kimberly Akimbo, maybe I could get behind this because it's a period piece. To clarify, I do not get behind the actions but that's the point--no one does!--but can appreciate the story that's being told.

I also saw Joe Locke for a fraction of a second (okay, it was probably 10 seconds) and instead of the crying reaction I got from Grant Gustin I was squirming in my chair and shaking and squealing on the inside because he's so precious. I don't know what happened because the next time the character appeared it was Joe Locke's understudy and Joe never came back. So best wishes for him! But I was kind of relieved as the show went on because his character Tobias was so complex but I wouldn't want to watch my darling Joe make those same decisions. It would wreck me. I don't doubt that Joe does it wonderfully well, I just wouldn't be able to handle my sweet Charlie (his character on Heartstopper) doing that.

Though it would've been cool to hear him sing "Not While I'm Around" because that goes into the category of one of the most gorgeous songs in existence. While watching it I was thinking that it was so pretty, but also very concerned. Concerned because the relationships in this show are so iffy. We'd already gotten a weird guardian/ward relationship and I did not want that to happen again with Toby just being the other way around. Upon consideration, I don't think it's like that. This song is a sincere pure love. *goes to research types of love* I'm no expert from my quick Google search but I think this is pragma or storge? Anyway, it's soul wrenching and I love it. Keep it on repeat, please and thank you. (at least until I start to cry...)

Speaking of Les Mis, has there ever been such a Marius-like character as Anthony? At first Anthony was reminding me of Antonio from Twelfth Night (basically the same name and a captain? Hmm...) but then the Marius aspect really took over. And I stan a sweetheart like him but I will also say, hun, you. just. saw. her. so. help. me. But then I sigh deeply and see what we can do for him. In an adorable grand gesture he got her a bird. The symbolism of the bird in the cage was so interesting and I kind of wanted more of it!

But guys, the solution to "but I don't want to get married!" is not "get married to someone else."

Speaking of those gross relationships, I have a story about watching it. I'd known this one guy was a slime ball and snake but then he went too far. And I was horrified. At the same time one of the girls on the trip who was sitting right behind me started softly laughing and giggling and losing it. I was doubly horrified because how could you laugh at that?? I confronted her about this later and the reason she was laughing? Me. Apparently I had gasped in disgust and as she knew the story already, my reaction was so extreme that it sent her into stitches. 

One big plot twist I saw coming because I know Sondheim. But the rest of it, how in the world did he come up with such a bizarre plot?? Mr. Sondheim, RIP, but were you okay? Do I even want to know?

Now for the pièce de résistance: Sutton Foster.

I can honestly say I have never seen an actress like Sutton Foster. The way that she committed was so over the top and so brilliant. My biggest role that I've been in (which I keep meaning to write a post about, sheesh) is a character that people laugh at. While, as P. T. Barnum is credited for saying, "The noblest art is that of making others happy.", it can be very humbling to be the character that is only there to be made a fool. So I get what it's like to be in that headspace. And as far as characters go, I do not know an equivalent for Mrs. Lovett. I have no clue what she knows and what she doesn't know? She can accept horrible events in the blink of an eye; she comes up with demonic ideas; she wines that her pies are too dusty; and she can say "eat up, Deary" and make you wonder how much she cares? She is SUCH a fascinating character who could be one-dimensional but Sutton's commitment to the bit, if you will, made me question everything I know.

Sutton was phenomenal.

She also made Aaron break. Yes, I've heard people say that's planned, but I don't think so. She just is so radiant that you can't help but laugh when she commands you laugh. Still, you don't get breaks in character like that in a movie, so that's what live theater is for.

Tl;dr:

What I came for: Aaron Tveit and Joe Locke

What I stayed for: Sutton Foster

That's all folks! 

Thank you so much for reading if you made it this far! How many of these shows do you know, whether by music or movie version? Have you ever seen anything on Broadway? What's your favorite theatre experience you've had? What do you guys think my ranking of these is? Based on my thoughts can you guess which are my favorites?

What are your thoughts on prequels, backstories, or retellings? Thoughts on a tenor playing a baritone? Do you know any of these actors I've raved about? Tell me anything that stuck out to you in this post because I'd love to chat!

Hope you guys are having a great start to April!

Chloe the MovieCritic