Three plays to start a 6 show spring break weekend
Play That Goes Wrong: A choice for my younger daughter who I thought would like it. She did. Most of the crowd laughed hard the whole way through. I didn’t care for a lot of the prop related humor but I enjoyed several of the actors and the more situation-related silliness. This seems like one that whether you think you’ll like it or not, you’re probably right.
Fallen Angels: the kids went to see Chess again. Wife and I liked Chess but not enough to see it again. Chose this over The Balusters based on familiarity with the cast. It started slowly, so slowly that we started to think we’d made a mistake, but once it got going thing really snowballed and by the end we’d had a ball. The actors all clearly had a great time, which I like to see. Fun and forgettable, but a lovely night at a show.
Every Brilliant Thing: All four of us loved Merrily and had to come see Daniel Radcliffe again. It was so very worth it. It was funny and sad and sweet in the right balance. Daniel brought a lot of subtlety and his audience interactions somewhat genuine even though they were obviously part of his work. He has become one of my favorite actors, and my daughter the singer commented that his singing had improved too. I feel like it’s like Just In Time - it’s a good little show but putting the right person in it, who connects with it, elevates it to art. It felt very intimate, like a truly shared experience.
Happily, no bad audience behavior so far. The EBT stagedoor was pretty terrible to watch though. I hope at some point in his life he gets free of Harry Potter fans.
That’s enough plays though, now it’s time for some musicals! Still to come this trip: Heathers, Ragtime and Two Strangers. Two Strangers is the one I’m most looking forward to, I like them small and quirky.