Official blurb: Here’s a reason to be happy ever after… Direct from its sold-out New York City Center Encores! run, STEPHEN SONDHEIM and JAMES LAPINE’s Tony Award®-winning triumph INTO THE WOODS comes to Broadway’s St. James Theatre through August 21st. So don’t delay or be misled—this critically acclaimed new production is here just for a moment!
My take: Sara Bareilles is a queen and she can do no wrong. Yes that will be the start of this review and should be a life motto go to anything and hear everything that Sara Bareilles does (side note if you have not watched girls 5 Eva please do so!) Now onto the regularly scheduled programming. I might loose a lot of my musical theater cred with this comment but I am not a Sondheim no1. fan like most theater lovers are. I can appreciate his genius but some of his work hasn’t not been as enjoyable to me. It’s like the Oscar winning movie that you understand why it won you just suffered through part of the two hours. A slight tangent to say – I absolutely enjoyed and loved this revival. 2022 revivals have swayed my heart – between company and this I might start being a big Sondheim fan after all. Also this is how you make Sondheim appreciated on a large scale, bravo. This also shows that to make a great show you really only need a great cast and beautiful material. Everything else is wonderful – but magic can happen in simple settings with these two ingredients. This is because the staging here is slight to none, but man is the show fabulous.
Let’s talk shout the cast. I have already sang Sara Bareilles praises but just one more – her voice is just amazing. The fact that she can sound so wonderful in her pop albums and singing Sondheim is just wow. Also I just read an article about her performance and I loved that she named the bakers wife. I was a bit disappointed I couldn’t make it to the encores concert because this blog is a heather Headley stan account but Patina Miller did not disappoint – she was absolutely wonderful in her own right and it was great to see her back on the stage. Philippa Soo just sings the hell out of this role (as if that was in doubt) and is absolutely lovely. As for the men – just an embarrassment of richness. My only qualm is that I wanted more Joshua Henry singing!
As for the storyline, it hits quite close to home in these times, there is so much to unwind and Interpret here and much can be said about how we fight the giants and what truly is a happy ending. If you can go run to see this. If you can’t then be happy in the thought that They are recording a cast album!
Also this meme – we heart milky white!
Official Blurb: One 4-letter word is about to rock 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. When the President unwittingly spins a PR nightmare into a global crisis, the seven brilliant and beleaguered women he relies upon most will risk life, liberty, and the pursuit of sanity to keep the Commander in Chief out of trouble. An uproarious Broadway debut by playwright Selina Fillinger, directed by five-time Tony Award® winner Susan Stroman, POTUS is a riotous comedy about the women in charge of the man in charge of the free world.
My take: This is such a fun show, I was laughing out loud for the entirety of it! The whole cast is fabulous (even though Julie white and Rachel Dratch are standouts and it made total sense they were singled out for the Tony’s). This is irreverent and relevant and if you can, you should definitely try to see it before it closes in August. Some of the twists are obvious some truly come from left field but the entire show is hilarious. Also the staging is beautiful and Vanessa Williams stiletto crocs are a character in itself.
Side note: The curtain call was amazing and with the voices in this cast I kind of wanted it to go for longer. Also I’m sure there has to be a spotify playlist of the bitch beats – how does one access this?!
Official Blurb: Between the Lines is an empowering and enchanting new musical for any of us seeking to find our place in the world. An outsider in a new school, Delilah seeks comfort in the pages of her favorite book, where she feels heard and understood. But as the lines between the two worlds of reality and fantasy begin to blur in extraordinary and astonishing ways, Delilah has to confront whether she alone has the power to rewrite her own story.
My take: This was adorable. I went to the reading of this show a while ago and thought it was a super sweet show then- but it definitely shines much brighter staged. A really cute family show. As a theater and book lover (I mean you follow the blog you know those are two of the things I talk the most about) this show was a wonderful mix of these two loves. A musical about a girl getting lost in a book and written by Jodi Picoult (who has written one of my highest ranked books this year), of course it was going to be something I liked. But it was more than that. I felt seen in the show MULTIPLE times! Do I submerge myself in books to evade reality (mm maybe 😉 ) and also a whole song about how perfect Mr. Darcy is – I was sold! I loved the staging of book vs reality it was so beautifully but simply done.
Also the cast is excellent and highlights included of course Arielle Jacobs and the tap dance by Will Burton. The only cast member I wasn’t fully into was Hillary Fisher as Seraphina. She was still good just not my favorite.
This was an unexpected great night at the theater (wonderful things can happen when your expectations are low)
Tati's Tidbits 