#A HAMILTON AND WICKED-ESQUE MUSICAL

[bybyefromurgirlodam]

maybe I don't want musicals turned into movies maybe I just want to watch a concert film of a musical over and over again

[raphaelesbian]

Ok ok ok so hear me out! Shush! I'm not crazy! Just....just....just....stop screaming.....LISTEN!!!

So we open with a song I'll call "Hamato vs Foot" which is very "Horse and The Infant" from Epic esque. War drums. Large powerful chorus of ninjas singing about the feud and how much they hate eachother. There is a big battle happening.

"The Hamatos are ending the Foot tonight."

Then we have a break/bridge/whatever that's very "Just A Man" from Epic and "Dear Theodosia" from Hamilton (but much dramatic, less domestic) for when Hamato Yutta finds baby Saki and debates killing him, but decides to take him in instead.

This part will be done with a specific motif that I'm calling "Miwa's Melody". (That's a surprise tool to help us later!)

"This child will not die for my cause. I'll take him home. Raise him as my own. He doesn't have to know who his father really was."

Time skip!!!

I'll call this "Brothers Song". I can't find anything with the right feel, but kinda "Two Player Game" from Be More Chill, but COMPLETELY different sound. (Video games just don't fit here, despite being set in Japan in the 80's and 90's.) For some reason "Two By Two" from Sofia The First is the closest song I can find to MATCH MY VISION!!!

I'm not crazy! Shut up!

Anyways. So the "Brothers Song" would jave either two or three time skips. Depending.Either, Toddler to Tweens to Young Men, or just Tweens to Young Men.

"Brother Song" would be a song aboit Saki and Yoshi being a team and promising to be there for eachother. Very cute. Very happy. Very hopeful. Bonus points for ever "Wizard And I" from Wicked lile wordplay. IE, lines that COMPLETELY change meaning when you know the ending and are suddenly twisting knives! (Think Saki saying something like "I'd follow you to the other side of the world!" although our story isn't showing that pay off.)

We end with two grown men.

Enter Shen.

IDK if I was to give her an intro song or not, but definitely something where Saki and Yoshi are singing over eachother with COMPETING melodies. (Do you see it!? DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE VISION!?!?!?)

Yoshi gets his own love song duet with Shen. Think "I Can Hear The Bells" from Hairspray or "Elephant Love Melody" from Moulin Rouge.

Let's face it. We all know we need a "I will love you until my dying day" like line here and why!

The Saki gets hisbown duet with Shen I'm calling the "Silver Medal Song". Shen is confirming that she loves him, but that Yoshi is her first choice. No amount of convincing from Saki is going to change that. He can't win because the fact Shen choose Yoshi first will never go away. Even if they got together. It would bother him forever and he would never be happy.

"Even if you get the prize. Will if truly make you happy if your medal is still silver?"

Shen leaves stage and we are left with Saki singing a solo I'm calling "Saki's Lament". Think "Pity The Child" from Chess with a touch of "Sally's Song" from Nightmare Before Christmas. "We're never to become. For I am not the one."

Basically it's Saki airing out that he's always felt lile second place to Yoshi. He loves his brother, but he doesn't know why it feels like Yoshi is always the favorite. (We may have a few musical hints at a later song at the end of this one)

End of Act One!

We open Act Two with a fully proper song arpund the previously established "Miwa's Melody". This is more domestic. Almoat unrecognizable. Miwa is born and her parents are blissfully. Even more "Dear Theodosia" and maybe a little "Everything Changes" from Waitress. Maybe a touch of "Thank Goodness" from Wicked.

I'm not sure if we end the song on it, or if Saki waits until the dialog section, but he RUINS the mood. He's not happy.

Maybe it's a few scenes, or this one goes on for a while, but I think the "Yoshi loses his temper" scene gpes here. Maybe an angry reprise of "Brothers Song"

Our next song is when Shen rips Saki aside to rip him a new one.

The cut song "Congratulations" from Hamilton". "Nobody's Side" and "Florence Quits" from Chess. "You want to lose your only friend well keep up you're doing fine!" is SUCH the vibe for this!

Shen tears into Saki for his misbehavior and warns him that he needs to get a grip.

"You'll destroy everything you have and hurt everyone you have to love! Me your friend, Yoshi your brother, and you yourself!"

Bad Sad. Maybe throw in some motifs from "Saki's Lament" Because Shen loves and understands him, even if he's not the man she choose to have romantically.

Then, while Saki is dealing with that Yutta reveals his true heritage.

We start the next song as a reprise of "Saki's Lament" but it morphs into the big bombastic villain descent song. "Shredder's Song" Kind of "No Good Deed" from Wicked. Kind of "Hell To Your Doorstep" from Count Of Monty Cristo. Lind of "Epiphany" from Sweeney Todd.

This is the moment Saki dies from heartbreak and The Shredder is born from that grave.

Now we cut away to what I'm calling the "Cassandra Song" from Shen. She's trying to warn Yoshi that things are about to go south. Yoshi ignores her and leaves part wau through the song, and she's left lamenting that bother men she loves are stupid and probably doomed.

Part "Sally's Song" From Nightmare Before Christmas. "What will become of my dear friend? Where will his actions lead us then?" and a lot "Someone Else's Story" from Chess with a dash of "I Know Him So Well". "Although the feelings run just as deep. The promise she made has grown impossible to keep."

So now. NOW!!! NOW WE HAVE THE CLIMAX!!!

A little diddy I would called "Foot vs Hamato." which is very "Horse and The Infant" from Epic esque. War drums. Large powerful chorus of ninjas singing about the feud and how much they hate eachother. There is a big battle happening.

"The Foot are ending the Hamatos tonight."

Sound familiar? Oh yeah baby!!!! SYMMETRY!!!!!

Only instead of the break wjere Hamato Yutta sang Miwa's Melody.

The Shredders is reprising hia hit new single.

Yoshi runs in to fight him singing another reprise of "Brothers Song". Maybe in a pleading manner, maybe another angry version.

It harmonizes of course.

The chorus is still going strong with "Foot vs Hamato"

Shen adds a layer of "Cassandra Song" as she sets Miwa down to jump in.

Then everything stops when Shen gets hit.

There's a sad reprise of Yoshi and Shen's duet. You KNOW this is where the "I will love you until my dying day" line comes back!

Screams, roof caves in. Shredder finds Miwa.

Shredder sings Hamato Yutta's part from "Hamato vs Foot" as he decides to take Miwa!

"This child will not die for my cause. I'll take her home. Raise her as my own. She doesn't have to know who her father really was."

The one more time skip to see a child Karai interactingnwith Shredder who sings a reprise, not of "Miwa's Melody" again, but "Brothers Song" symbolic of the fact Karai os not only a stand in for her mother, the woman Shredder lost, but also her father, the brother he misses. Also hinting that Shredder will destroyed her and their bond the same way he destroyed Yoshi and their brotherhood.

Alright. Thank you for your attention. You may all chew through the restrains now.

I am!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩 this is literally SO COOL OMG. I've read this whole thing through a few times, listening to each of the song examples you gave, and it's just. Augh you've put it together so well?? Like I can just SEE and HEAR it and I would kill someone for it to be real omfg.

Yoshi and Saki having a competing melody song fight over Shen??? I ABSOLUTELY see the vision it's FANTASTIC god it fits so well that would be so funnnn. And I'm just obsessed with the levity, considering this is kind of a turning point in their story. Going from that, to the duets, to Saki's LAMENT. Him always feeling second to Yoshi..... oh man.

Saki coming in to ruin the mood!! Like imagining coming back from intermission, the curtains draw back and it's so light and happy and peaceful, and then Saki's very presence rips that away. \

(CONGRATULATIONS MENTION. fucking love that one, can't believe they cut it)

The idea of Shen's "Cassandra Song" is so cool omg, like. God, imagining her trying so hard to convince Yoshi of the coming storm and him brushing her off, IMMEDIATELY following Shredder's big villain song (which OH MY GOD that would be so cool I'm shaking and biting. Epiphany is one of my fav songs I can just aaaaaaasdhgsdhg imagining his whole like. Breakdown, like I feel like Epiphany is a really good example of the singer so vividly SNAPPING as the song goes on. Just, imagining Saki starting mournful, then ending the song straight up snarling the lines).

The carry through of "Brothers Song," from the bright optimistic montage in the beginning, to the angry reprise when they fight, to a desperate, begging reprise during the climax. Absolute AGONY I love that kind of thing in a musical. A good reprise is AMAZING.

I love the idea of starting with Hamato vs Foot, and Yuuta finding Saki and audibly debating what to do before deciding to take him, and then ENDING with the inverse, and Saki repeating Yuuta's line about not allowing a child to day for your cause and keeping their heritage from them??? hsdkaghksdghsldgk !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! it's about the PARALLELS!!!!

AND THEN ENDING. WITH BROTHERS SONG. WITH SHREDDER AND KARAI. BITING YOU BITING YOU. OH I GOT CHILLS.

[amedetoiles]

1Anyway, I have been thinking about how glorious an Untamed musical could be. WWX could have an epically sad villain song at Nightless City. A fun, bouncy song for WWX when he was a student at CR, with LWJ interrupting every other line with a rule that he’s breaking. ALL THE DECISION SONGS!!! There are so many pivotal moments, like when WWX decides to do the core change (and having Jiang Cheng sing a reprise of the Core Change Song after the temple AAAgh)

Omfg, anon, what did I ever do to deserve your extraordinary galaxy brain gracing my lowly inbox?? I am not worthy. If someone turned mdzs/cql into a musical along the likes of some Hamilton, Wicked, and Anastasia combination, I would never stop screaming on the floor. THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING!!!

Imagine Wicked’s “No One Mourns The Wicked” but for Wei Wuxian as the first song. Good news! He’s dead! The Demon of Yiling is dead! The wickedest demon there ever was!

For extra angst and extra heartbreak, MXY and WWX should do a duet as the introduction where MXY’s verses weaves slowly into WWX’s verses to represent the complete destruction and sacrifice of his soul and being. It’s the only time in the entire musical we get to hear his voice. (Omg, the tragedy of Mo Xuanyu :( I’m weeping already.)

Flashback starts with a very sweet sibling ensemble introductory song. We meet all the sibling pairs! It involves happy lyrics about soup! In contrast to the Sunshot era sibling ensemble song that still involves soup lyrics but is much less joyful. Wei Wuxian is only there in the beginning and then doesn’t come back until the very end when he rises out of the Burial Mounds to go after the Wens.

BUT OMG WWX FEAT WQ GOLDEN CORE SONG AND THEN THE REPRISE BY JIANG CHENG AS HE’S STARING AT SUIBIAN IN ABSOLUTE DEVASTATION A DECADE AND A HALF LATER!!! This is literally everything I ever wanted. The sheer agony of this imaginary musical sequence already as me on the floor.

Wei Wuxian’s destructive grief-stricken villain / antihero solo at the Battle of Nightless City. It goes from coldly angry to complete grief. Just imagine as he falls from the cliff / dies in the Burial Mounds, his voice fading: I’m erasing myself from the narrative. </3

Every single song Jiang Cheng sings is furiously angry, but also excruciatingly sad. When he stands on the cliff (or attacking the Burial Mounds), we have these Hamilton lyrics: History obliterates / In every picture it paints, it paints me and all my mistakes / He may have been the first one to die / But I’m the one who paid for it / I survived but I paid for it

Third reprise of the golden core song when WWX and JC pine for each other like absolute morons across the courtyard at the end.

Important question though. Who is going to duet a Defying Gravity-esque song with Wei Wuxian when he rescues the Wens and breaks off with the cultivation word? I’m thinking some combination of Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji. Because these lyrics are just too good:

Why couldn't you have stayed calm for once? Instead of flying off the handle! I hope you're happy, I hope you're happy now I hope you're happy how you've hurt your cause forever I hope you think you're clever

I'm through with playing by the rules Of someone else's game Too late for second-guessing Too late to go back to sleep It's time to trust my instincts Close my eyes and leap!

I am absolutely here for Lan Wangji literally never actually singing for the the majority of the musical though. That is a HILARIOUS gag. He only sings at key points: (1) Wangxian in a cave, (2) Wangxian separation in the rain, (3) a very sweet one line song while standing on the stairs of Jinlintai about that single-plank bridge, and finally (4) Wangxian confession 2.0 dUETTTT

Also, also, please consider: the most awkward heterosexual confession song sung by Jin Zixuan to Jiang Yanli. IMAGINE THE HILARITY OF THAT HETEROSEXUAL SOUP DRAMA IN SUNSHOT ERA. Then, Wei Wuxian comes blazing into the tent with a very angry rock number.

ALSO ALSO ALL THE NIEBROS SONGS. Nie Huaisang in the flashback to Nie Mingjue’s death. Reprise of that song at the end when Jin Guangyao is dead and Nie Huaisang picks up his hat.

[teamcharlotte]

When I say I wanted a better arc for Charlotte I mean like from a musical

She needed a Helpless, a beautiful moment celebrating someone's first love

She needed an On My Own moment, a beautifully tragic number of loving a person so dearly, and not even being a blip on their radar

She needed a Defying Gravity moment, where she realizes she doesn't have to keep trying to get approval from those who aren't gonna give it

She needed a Seventeen, pleading to just be the one chosen over whatever it is Lewis has going on

She needed a Waiting in the Wings and a Nothing Left to Lose moment, showcasing her insecurities about being ignored or forgotten, and then her choosing to embrace her worst qualities to get what she wants while Lewis pleads with her that this isn't the way

She needed a Queen of Mean moment, a teenage girl broken by her surroundings and drunk on power, relishing the hell she could rain on her enemies

She needed a You Ruined Everything, You Stupid Bitch moment, where she finally accepts she's on the wrong path and has just been hurting herself and others

[lesducks]

alright place your bets now will the canon steve rogers musical be more hamilton-like or wicked-esque

[anarcho-occultism]

WandaVision but Wanda was a musical theater nerd... I spent too much time thinking about this.

Episode 1-Operatic a la 19th century musicals or period pieces set in this timeframe. Think something out of Gilbert and Sullivan or Phantom of the Opera. May take cues from some period piece shows like Sweeney Todd or Les Miserables

Episode 2-Kinda jazzy, 1920’s/1930’s style. Humor is Cole Porter-esque, fashion is Gatsby-tier. Probably references Chicago or Guys and Dolls a lot too

Episode 3-1950’s/1960’s set shows. Things are a bit more rockin’, probably heavily references Grease, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie and Hairspray

Episode 4-This one takes cues from Little Shop of Horrors and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Here is where things become a bit more obviously off (as befitting horror-comedy musicals as a genre). The music seems 1970’s/1980’s but the vibes are still 50’s/60’s B Movie

Episode 5-Jump to the 1980’s/1990’s. Songs are more like the ones in Rent, Assassins or Into the Woods then your typical showtunes-longer, more complex, etc. Maybe some Wicked references even though it’s a bit on the nose.

Episode 6-This episode is just a Hamilton rip-off

Episode 7-This one is non-Hamilton 21st century musicals—Be More Chill, Dear Evan Hansen, In the Heights and so on. Maybe throw in some Team Starkid shout-outs if you wanna

As for Agatha’s villain song:

🎵 *Agatha, Oh Agatha, there's no one quite like Agatha

She's broken each and every rule, for her they are anathema

Her powers of levitation would make the best witch stare

And when you reach her basement your kids're no longer there!*🎵

[tiredlinguist]

presenting: the musicals i like ‘a normal amount’

hamilton - really good musical! some absolute fucking bangers in the soundtrack and i’m so glad they released a pro shot i’ve watched it two or three times it’s incredible. very grateful i wasn’t a part of the raging dumpster fire that was the 2016 hamilton fandom 

matilda - the kids r fuckin adorable and revolting children has no right being that good i loved this book as a kid (still do) and it was such a perfect way of bringing such an iconic story into another medium 

wicked - i absolutely love the storyline. i got to see this one live and it was fantastic, i’ll never forget what an amazing experience it was with like. the big ass glowin eyes n shit. defying gravity is. incredible

book of mormon - funny as hell, andrew rannells is v talented, love that man, super entertaining. also got to see this one live and i’m so glad i did, its funny and incredible. i live in utah and have mormon friends tho so i have to tread carefully lmao 

the lightning thief: okay, some of the songs aren’t great, but the ones that work REALLY work. ‘good kid’, ‘the campfire song’, ‘another terrible day’, all amazing

dear evan hansen: i used to be really obsessed with this one. it’s still a great musical and ben platt is mad talented, good for you is still the best fuckifgn song on the sountrack by far, but im just kinda over it 

and now: the musicals that i love so much i start breaking the laws of gravity every time i think about them 

beetlejuice: fucking STAN sophia anne caruso HOW DOES SHE BELT LIKE THAT its incredible also the way beetlejuice sings is absolutely MIND blowing it’s completely insane and amazing this show got fucking ROBBED of its tony for the lighting i cannot BELIEVE how quickly it went off broadway. fuck 

the music man: absolute fucking ICONIC musical. the first song. on the train n shit. i cannot BELIEVE how many times i have listened to that song it is absolutely a crime. it’s just the most bizarre plot, too—random fucker goes to a town, convinces residents a pool table is gonna corrupt their children, and that the only way they can save them is by??? starting a marching band??? and not actually learning anything about music whatsoever? what?????? I LOVE IT 

newsies: the way this musical is so disney-esque and corny as shit but some of the lines are just spitting straight anticapitalist FACTS is an absolutely spectacular dynamic. santa fe is incredible, jeremy jordan and ben fankhauser are..,,.,.,attractive,.,., the dancing is SO extra and SO wonderful and it’s literally the only reason i would ever want to learn how to dance 

spring awakening: askdjfns∆˚¬å˙∂˜åøˆ∑´¬ƒ¨å∂˚ i have ZERO idea how to explain this musical to anyone else without just being like “just watch a slime tutorial thats the only way you can really Get It” because listening to the soundtrack REALLY doesnt encapsulate the shit these kids go through. the deaf west production is absolutely fucking incredible, the way they use the characters’ ‘voices’ is so smart, the choreography infused with the signs.,.., the way the vineyard scene is actually romantic as fuck and not played for laughs like it is in the ob performance. just. god. i fucking love this musical. please let me play moritz at some point in my life please i desire nothing else 

[ask-martha-bessel]

So my lovely girlfriend, Anna, tagged me to do 15 shows soooo here we go;

The Color Purple: HOLY SMOKES IS THIS A GOOD ONE. The music is so breathtaking, I still get choked up while listening to “I’m Here.” It’s a pretty sad musical, but it ends relatively happy. Also queer WoC? I love it so much! 10/5 recommend.

Cabaret: I dont understand how I haven’t talked about this one that much but it’s absolutely one of my favorite musical. If a song literally nicknamed “The Pinapple Song” can make me cry, then you’ve exceeded in writing a musical! Also Alan Cumming? An👏icon👏 Also there’s a proshot Of the best revival on YouTube and that revival is perhaps the saddest musicals. That finale still gets me everytime. I might get some flack about this… but Sally Bowles is one of the most intriguing characters I think in theatre.. The EmmCee is pretty interesting too.

Hamilton: this one is pretty well known and loved but it deserves it! Wherever I see a post discovering another thing in the lyrics my mind actually gets so blown away (haha no pun intended) I do think the choreography lacks a little bit but everything is super well done!

Heathers : This Musical is so catchy! I also like how they characterized Veronica from her in the movie.

Wicked: …yes Anna is Glinda and I’m Elphaba in our impromptu proformances.

Rent: Iconic. Like “seasons of Love” is like the go to theatre song for any tv show.

Putnam County 25th Annual Spelling Bee: this Musical is so underrated. Like you can say A New Brain is underrated but like there’s barely any content for this one. It’s soooo good.

Falsettos: this production holds a spot in my heart, for being one of the best musicals. Everything from character development to costumes this musical succeeds in. The music is so Billy Finn-esque that you have to love it!

Cats: If I’m being honest this Webber one kind of freaked me out… humans dressing as cats… but now I dig it. The choreography is interesting and it’s a fun show to watch.

Ghost Quartet: Stick in my face anything that Dave Malloy has even touched and I’ll like it a lot. Malloy takes a weird concept and makes it amazing, case in point Ghost Quartet, but if you listen all the way through it’s a really great show.

Be More Chill: Honestly I’ve never really gotten into it. I’ve listened like half way through and called it a day. Is it even good?

The Prom: this musical is so good. Oh my gosh. Like it has gay representation and has an overall message of love conquers ignorance. It has bops and ballads and the fandom is not that toxic.

Hairspray: Hairspay is such a feel good musical. Like you can’t walk out of watching hairspray and not have “Without Love” stuck in your head.

Bare: give me Deaf West’s Bare or give me death. This holds so many feels for me. You have no idea how much it would mean to me to see a show that actually tries to bring the Deaf community in? I would do a lot. I’ve never actually gotten to enjoy anything without my hearing aids. Everything is so well done and I cry everytime.

Dear Evan Hansen: Dear Evan Hansen is really special to a lot of people so I respect it in that sense. I think it deserves the awards it got, I still feel robbed that Great Comet didn’t get that Tony; but that’s old news. Ben Platt and all the cast are super talented. I have a lot of respect because it’s one of the shows —like hamilton— that got a lot of people in theatre. Also I have a huge crush of Laura Dreyfus.

Yep so that’s the 15 musicals I’ve chose to talk about. I challenge anyone willing to do it, maybe Ilse or Georg if they’re up for it.

[takaraphoenix]

Hi Takara you said before that you love musicals. I was just wondering what your favorite musicals are? (I also love your story with the Mortal Cup musical)

Hello! Thank you for loving it, I hope Broadway loves it too and will listen to me on that one ;D

Nooow... Where do I start...?

I do count animated/Disney movies as musicals too. Because they are.

So, of course, my favorite movie of all times takes first spot - and I can’t even put into words how psyched I am that it’s getting an actual proper musical adaptation that I might one day see on stage depending on when it makes its way to Germany: Don Bluth’s Anastasia.

It’s just beautiful. The singing, the songs, the choreography, the scenery. I can not wait to see a live-action version on stage.

If we’re talking actual stage musicals that I have seen… Sadly not that many because there are just not many musicals available where I live.

Wicked is definitely number one though because I just… I love it so much even though it got nothing to do with the books? But it’s so beautiful.

Ludwig 2, definitely my number 2 now. So happy that I got to finally see it after I already listened to it so often.

Does… Hamilton count when I’ve only listened to it a roughish… 150 times now, but never got to see it? I mean. I’ve literally been listening to this musical on a loop for the past nine months. I love it.

A Very Potter Musical - I mean, A Very Potter Sequel is also very amazing, but AVPM got to be on like every respectable list in my eyes because it’s a masterpiece. God, it’s a genius thing, not just musical-wise but story-wise the way it ties together Harry Potter and parodies it but somehow respectfully? Damn.

Which also means I have to include Twisted on this list, because that is just awesome. Them doing a Wicked-esque turn on Aladdin is brilliant. StarKid for life.

Getting back to those animated movie musicals. I gotta include my favorite Disneys. Mulan. Hercules. The Lion King. But no, I have never seen the musical-version of Lion King on stage and… I don’t plan on. It just… can’t work for me. I’ve heard about how awesome it’s supposed to be, but like… the animal Disney movies I love them for their cute cartoon animals? I don’t want… humans…?

And I’m really sucking hard at narrowing this down, don’t I?

Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog has to come up here too though. Even though it’s just short, it’s just so… argh. Joss Whedon. Musical. Neil Patrick Harris. All the yes.

I have a very odd fondness for the High School Musical franchise. I didn’t like them when I was a teen and they got out because I thought they were cheesy. I came to really love the cheesy. Same goes now for the Descendants franchise. It’s really stereotypical and cheesy but it’s also kind of really lovable.

I have an odd sense of fondness for the Hairspray movie with John Travolta. I don’t know, it’s just kind of awesome to me.

And I can’t forget the Rocky Horror Picture Show, which was like the first non-Disney-movie musical I ever saw? With my mom and dad and like… with subtitles still and having to read them because I didn’t understand English back then and it was weird but also really cool?

Yeah, you can basically put every single animated Disney movie aside from fucking Frozen on this list too, if I’m being honest. I’m a giant sucker for animated movies especially when there’s singing.

And an honorary mention, because I don’t think that counts, but Once More With Feeling from season 5 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I even still got the CD of that one in my shelf, because I loved it so much.

[secondsofhappiness]

I know this isn't ed related but I know you've mentioned musical theatre and how you love it and I wondered what your favourites are. I need to see more but I don't trust official reviews! Lol

This is my favourite thing in the world to talk about! Oh god it's like choosing kids but I do have 5 ultimate favourites...1. Once the Musical2. Hamilton3. She Loves Me4. Les Miserables5. Kiss Me KateI love so many but these are the special ones. Once is just the most precious and special show. It is so dear to me and I adore it. I saw it so many times in the West End and the music means the world to me. It's intimate, sweet but angsty, bitter sweet and endlessly quirky. The format with no orchestra but the cast playing the instruments makes it so unique. The first time I saw it, I think I cried from start to finish. I am such a loser...!Hamilton. Well, I mean need I say more?! It's utter genius. Lin Manuel is a god. I have tickets for the West End run for two nights and I am so excited I can't even describe. It's an absolute work of art and despite the subject being alien to most people outside of the US, it's relatable, diverse and effortlessly cool. She Loves Me is a new one added recently! I fell head over heels for this gorgeous little show. It's a perfect little rom com filled with charm, wit and oodles of heart. It's funny and ridiculous but just absolutely delightful. Each character brings something so different and by the end I felt like they were friends. Some of the songs are just such WONDERFUL numbers, distinct and fun and filled with gorgeous melodies and clever one liners. It's such a joy.Les Mis is another that needs no introduction really! The first time I saw it, I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. I couldn't stop crying. It is an emotionally manipulative epic, the music is sweeping and gets you right in the heart. It's truly a special show and there's little wonder it has remained so popular for so long. I'll never forget the first time I saw this show because I felt like I'd been wrung out and needed a cuppa and a cuddle to sort me out!!Kiss Me Kate. Ah my little gem. It's old school and brilliant. I ALWAYS wanted to play Bianca. The song "Always True to You" is one of my all time favourite musical theatre numbers. It's a delightful show based on the Taming of the Shrew and the nods to Shakespeare are woven in so beautifully. It's a special one for me that I discovered when I was a kid and I've adored it ever since. (Seems there's a theme of rom com Esque shows that feature people who initially argue but who secretly love each other hahahaha I clearly have a type!)There are honourable mentions such as Gypsy, The Wedding Singer, Waitress, Funny Girl, Half a Sixpence, My Fair Lady, Avenue Q, Singin in the Rain, Wicked (teenage Megan was obsessed), Blood Brothers... and anything Sondheim and Cole Porter.I hope that helps, love! ❤️

[mastcomm]

Where Broadway Fans Wear the Crowns and the Tentacles

On any other weekend, a gaggle of teenagers belting songs from “Hadestown” in the hallway of the New York Hilton Midtown would raise some eyebrows.

But for three days that ended Sunday, they were in the right place. More than 5,000 others — including several Beetlejuices, a handful of Heathers and the rare Dolly — made the pilgrimage to New York for the fifth annual BroadwayCon, a haven for the most passionate musical theater fans.

Some arrived in full character for the event, where attendees can meet and take photos with the stars of their favorite shows. Passes range from $80 for one day to $1,000 for a full weekend platinum pass with extra perks.

When fans weren’t doing their own dramatic hallway renditions of musical numbers, here’s what they were up to.

Which witch will win?

For Nyssa Sara Lee, dressing up as Ursula — the evil sea witch from “The Little Mermaid” — wasn’t just about putting on a costume. It was a test of endurance.

What was it like to waltz through the convention in a 35-pound ensemble, hefting aloft a web of tentacles 15 1/2 feet wide?

Two words: “It hurts.”

“I almost passed out yesterday because I got super hot,” added the 26-year-old cosplayer from Salt Lake City. “If I’m running, or if I lift it up too much — I even have ice packs to put on my spine on the base of my neck, because it’s a workout.”

But the four months she spent creating the costume, and the physical hurdles it took to wear it, were worth the effort, she said. Cosplay — dressing up in character, a big component of fan conventions like BroadwayCon and others — brings her joy. Wowing other admirers doesn’t hurt, either. Nyssa Sara Lee (a name she uses on everything but legal documents, she said) strapped on the tentacles both Saturday and Sunday and spent much of the weekend posing for photos.

And Sunday afternoon was her chance to show it off on the main stage at the convention’s annual cosplay contest. The competition was tough: Nyssa Sara Lee was up against another Ursula, a tiny Angel Schunard from “Rent” and all four gods from “Once on this Island.”

A Deer Evan Hansen was also in the running — a centaur-esque play on “Dear Evan Hansen,” with the title character’s signature blue polo for a torso and a rear end of the woodland animal.

“I’m not in it to win it,” Nyssa Sara Lee said in an interview before the contest. “I would love the recognition. But my payout is literally just having people say, ‘Thank you for doing this.’”

The judges, including Fredi Walker-Browne of the original “Rent” cast, agreed. Nyssa Sara Lee took first place, winning a pass for next year’s BroadwayCon.

‘Six’ gets the royal treatment

The screams at BroadwayCon’s “Six” singalong weren’t typical theater cheers. This wasn’t the raucous standing ovation a cast gets on opening night. These were full Beyoncé-at-Coachella screams. The screams you hear when a queen of pop — or six — steps onstage before several hundred superfans.

“Six” doesn’t begin performances on Broadway for another month, but the girl-power British musical about the wives of Henry VIII had an outsize presence at the convention, including a dance workshop led by the show’s choreographer, Carrie-Anne Ingrouille.

Tanya Heath, 31, arrived on Saturday as Catherine of Aragon, wearing a black and gold dress a friend lent her for New Year’s Eve and a spiked crown she made at 2 a.m. that morning.

She was a royal army of one compared to the six high school seniors from New Jersey, who held a sleepover Friday night to finalize the outfits for their group cosplay. They became obsessed with the show thanks to its cast album.

“They have the lovability of a jukebox musical,” said Rachael Mishkind, the group’s Jane Seymour, “but with the originality of a regular Broadway show.”

Young women inspired by the show’s feminist message are at the heart of its fan base, but Aisling Kruger, the group’s Anna of Cleves, thinks the audience may be expanding.

“My dad’s really into British history,” she said. “He’ll hear it and be like, ‘Oh! Jane Seymour!’ and get really into it.”

All business at the swap

Jayda Lipstein, 15, knew she had a jewel in her hands, and she wasn’t going to part with it easily.

She was holding court with fellow Playbill collectors in a small conference room on Saturday afternoon. And her 2008 “In the Heights” program, featuring the full original Broadway cast listed inside, was in high demand.

One girl wanted to swap a “Come From Away” signed by the original cast. Another offered to throw in 20 bucks and a “Beetlejuice.” When that didn’t work, she upped the ante: How about her whole stack? A “Jersey Boys”? A “Mean Girls”?

Lipstein stood firm. But around her, sentimentality reigned. Jarod Engle, 19, was on the lookout for special colorful editions of the Playbill for “Beetlejuice,” a show he hasn’t seen yet. Brianna Boucher, 17, sitting in the fluffy pink tulle of her “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” Veruca Salt costume, said she would trade anything for a “Bring It On,” a musical she loves but also never got to see.

Back at Lipstein’s table, Claudia Emanuele, a 21-year-old writer from Connecticut, joked that she would “trade you my whole soul” for the “In the Heights.” She shares a name with the musical’s treasured abuela character — and when Emanuele saw the show, she said, it marked the first time she heard her name pronounced correctly onstage.

In a room packed with fans who barter for nostalgia, Lipstein’s all-business mentality was an outlier.

As other collectors learned, to their chagrin, she doesn’t even have any emotional connection to “In the Heights.” She acquired the program by pure luck, hidden in a box in her grandparents’ basement.

“Everyone wants it,” she said, coolly appraising the room. She concluded that she might be better off just selling it to the highest bidder on eBay.

‘Mary Paw-Pins’ and more

Amid the Playbill handbags, the crocheted Broadway character dolls, the paintings on sheet music and the pink-painted “Mean Girl” shoes, there was Melissa Crabtree, at a table lined with cats.

Not “Cats,” the show, but images of her own gray-striped cat, Mabel, turned into souvenirs that commemorate a whole array of Broadway shows.

It was Crabtree’s first time in New York, and her first time at BroadwayCon — where the maze of vendor booths stretched across two floors.

At Crabtree’s table, there were stickers of cats dressed as characters from “Hamilton” and “Hadestown.” Enamel pins depicting stage manager cats with tiny feline headsets. Miniature buttons with frazzled cats announcing a dire warning: “It’s tech week.”

Mabel “doesn’t let me dress her up,” Crabtree said. Instead, she started illustrating a round, cartoon Mabel, happily clad in Broadway costumes. Mabel appears as all six wives of Henry VIII from “Six” and dons the flowery island garb of “Once on This Island.” There are even Lighting Crew Mabel and Sound Crew Mabel, who each sport an ensemble fit for running the show behind the scenes.

Crabtree, a Chicago-based actor, started drawing theater-centric stickers three years ago to put in her planner, and the shop grew from there, her husband, Jon, said. While she interacted with customers, he sat nearby, using a button maker to quickly craft reinforcements.

Every sticker set even has its own Mabel-inspired pun, from “Mary Paw-Pins” to “Licked” — pronounced, of course, with two syllables, like “Wicked.”

from WordPress https://mastcomm.com/where-broadway-fans-wear-the-crowns-and-the-tentacles/

[newyorktheater]

  Check out:

Favorite stage performances in 2019.

Top 10 Lists of Top 10 Theater in 2019.

Best Broadway Cast Recording of 2019.

Top 10 Theater of the Decade.

Worst Theater of the Decade.

  People who engaged with the arts frequently had a 31 percent lower risk of dying, according to a new study from the British Medical Journal. This was independent of demographic, socioeconomic, health related, behavioral, and social factors. Even those who were infrequent consumers of culture had 14 percent lower risk of dying than shoe who never engaged.

The Journal’s editors observe:”The data show that the very people who have the most to gain from participating in cultural activities are least likely to do so. More than 40% of patients with lung disease, depression, or loneliness reported never engaging with the arts despite robust evidence of the potential benefits. Over 40% of participants in the least wealthy group also reported that they never accessed cultural activities. Work must now be done to ensure that the health benefits of these activities are accessible to those who would benefit most.”

The Week in NY Theater Previews and Reviews

The Sorceress The Sorceress (Di Kishefmakherin), the first work of Yiddish theatre ever presented in America, is back on stage in New York 136 years after its U.S. premiere. In my article for TDF Stages, Yiddish Culture Is Alive and Well and Playing in New York, I talk to Motl and Mikhl, the director of the play and the star, who portrays the wicked witch, Bobe Yakhne, in drag. Though Babe is the villain, she is the title character.

The Sorceress, by the same company that put together the acclaimed “Fiddler on the Roof” in Yiddish, is just one of three events this month that demonstrate a resurgence in interest in Yiddish language and culture.

Luke Kirby as stationmaster Thomas Hudetz in “Judgment Day” at the Park Avenue Armory

Judgment Day with Luke Kirby Luke Kirby, who portrayed a movie star hired to play “Hamlet” in the cult TV comedy “Slings & Arrows” 16 years ago, is now on stage for real, as Thomas Hudetz, a murderer in Ödön von Horváth’s 1937 drama “Judgement Day” at the Park Avenue Armory.

Kirby has lived in New York for some two decades now, but has only appeared in a handful of plays, spending most of his time in television — currently as the real-life comic Lenny Bruce in Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” for which he won an Emmy earlier this year, and as closeted civil servant Gene Goldman on HBO’s “The Deuce.” Why so few stage roles…and why this one now?

Those are the questions I put to him in an interview for TDF Stages.

Ian McKellen as Gus the Theatre Cat in “Cats,” co-written and directed by Tom Hooper.

Cats the movie – pics and reviews Cats” isn’t for everyone – much of it is a cheesy, B-grade affair seemingly crafted solely to take over midnight-movie slots from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,’ Those with an open mind, though, as well as little kids and the T-Swift posse, might find it somewhat pawesome.” Brian Truitt writes in USA Today, in the most positive review I could find. He’s enchanted by Taylor Swift, but turned off by the “nightmare fuel…when human faces are put on tiny mice and Rockette-esque cockroaches.”

More typical is Manohla Dargis in the New York Times: “It is tough to pinpoint when the kitschapalooza called “Cats” reaches its zenith or its nadir, which are one and the same. The choices are legion…

Sing Street

“Sing Street” is a stage musical based on the sweet, funny “happy-sad” 2016 Irish movie by writer/director John Carney about a teenager named Conor growing up in Dublin during the economically depressed but musically vibrant 1980s, who forms a band to impress a girl name Raphina. The musical has its pleasures, especially for those nostalgic for the era of made-for-MTV, New Wave synthesized tunes. A talented group of young adult actor-musicians, ages 16 to 25, perform mostly original pastiche songs by Carney and Scottish singer-songwriter Gary Clark, who was part of the 80s scene and continues his hit-making now. But “Sing Street” the stage musical is likely to disappoint anybody who has seen “Sing Street” the movie (which is currently available for viewing online, through IMDB TV, for free.)

  The Week in New York Theater News

The opening of West Side Story has been pushed from from February 6 to February 20 due to a knee injury that left the show’s star Isaac Powell unable to perform. The show began preview peformancs on December 10

.@mockingbirdbway will be the first-ever Broadway show to perform at @TheGarden on February 26, 2020, in front of some 18,000 New York City public school students. Here’s playwright Aaron Sorkin and the new cast posing at the arena. pic.twitter.com/txrecILSJm

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) December 18, 2019

..@TheCrownNetflix stars Claire Foy and Matt Smith will perform in @SleeveNotes‘ “Lungs” at @BAM_Brooklyn March 25-April 19 2020. The play is about a couple wrestling with the morality of having kids in an overpopulated planet. pic.twitter.com/96r9elP5hB

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) December 18, 2019

View of the Shed from The Highline

The Shed’s Second Season

Claudia Rankine, “Help”

Arinzé Kene, “Misty”

Tomas Saraceno, “Particular Matter (s)”

Meet at the Shed, January 11,2020

A free, daylong, building-wide takeover with exhibitions, performances, food

  Help March 10 – April 5,2020

An inquiry into white male privilege by Claudia Rankine

Tomás Saraceno: Particular Matter(s) May 6 – August 9, 2020;

A visual art installation that is intended to be neither seen nor heard, but felt.

Misty September 24 – October 24

Fusing live music, spoken word, and absurdist comedy, Misty is a journey through the dark alleyways of a city in flux and a genre-defying excavation of the pressures and expectations that come with being an artist in our time

Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino

Live Nation Entertainment Inc.reached an agreement with the Justice Department to resolve government concerns that the company violated a 2010 antitrust settlement that allowed it to merge with Ticketmaster, according to the Wall Street Journal. Under the original agreement, known as a consent decree, the companies were allowed to combine but had to agree to conditions designed to help preserve competition in the live-events industry.

Dear Evan Hansen

Kerry Butler (Mrs. George), Erika Henningsen (Cady Heron)

Scene from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Palace Theater in London.

Isabelle McCalla and Caitlin Kinnunen as high school girlfriends in The Prom

(l-r) Nicholas L. Ashe, Jonathan Burke, J. Quinton Johnson, Jeremy Pope, Caleb Eberhardt, John Clay III, Gerald Caesar

The problem with teen musicals on Broadway by critic Christian Lewis in American Theatre Magazine.

When it comes to teenagers and Broadway, 2016’s Dear Evan Hansen changed the game. The Tony-winning Pasek and Paul musical was certainly not the first Broadway show about—or beloved by—teens. That credit might go to Spring Awakening (2006) or 13 (2008) or Runaways (1978), or much further back to Babes in Arms (1937), considered the first musical with an entire cast of teenage characters. In the wake of Dear Evan Hansen’s success, Broadway quickly saw a sweep of major productions with teenage protagonists: Mean Girls (2018), Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (2018), The Prom (2018), Choir Boy (2019), Be More Chill (2019), and the latest installation, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical (2019).

….The genre deserves a larger critique, but not the one critics are making. Yes, Young Adult Theatre can seem angsty, the pop score/lyrics can feel basic and the plots contrived. But the central problem with Dear Evan Hansen, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Be More Chill, and The Lightning Thief is that they’re all about straight, white, cisgender teenage boys. The supporting casts are often diverse, but the main characters don’t deviate from this norm. Not only are these protagonists about as privileged as they come; worse, each of these pieces is about its hero’s search for his identity. Compared to a person of color, a queer person, a transgender person (let alone any intersection of these), how much do Evan, Harry, Jeremy, or Percy have to figure out about themselves?….We need more shows like The Prom or Choir Boy:

The movie is a wreck, the musical is a joke. Why, then, will we always have ‘Cats’?

By Charles McNulty (who doesn’t really answer the question posed in the headline)

“Cats,” Andrew Lloyd Webber’s blockbuster spun from the light verse of T.S. Eliot’s “Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats,” is a paradox and a puzzle illustrating the disconnect between theatrical success and respect. The fourth-longest-running show in Broadway history, it is the consummate tourist musical. (“Broadway’s first show for the tired Japanese businessman,” according to Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik’s indispensable “Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time.”)

Theater people resent “Cats” not just because it made Broadway uncool until “Hamilton” finally rescued it from the pop cultural stocks. What really infuriates buffs is that “Cats” ushered in an era of grandiose spectacle, the vacuous parade of shows from the 1980s and early ’90s that made it seem as if a musical had to have a helicopter or a crashing chandelier to be worth the rapidly rising ticket price.

Ed Harris and Kyle Scatliffe, center, in “To Kill A Mockingbird”

Q and A about To Kill A Mockingbird with Aaron Sorkin and Ed Harris, its new Atticus

Aaron Sorkin: How did Harper Lee get away with having a protagonist who doesn’t change? Because Atticus isn’t the protagonist in the book or the movie; Scout is—her flaw is that she’s young, and the change is that she loses some of her innocence. While I wanted to explore Scout, I absolutely wanted Atticus to be a traditional protagonist, so he needed to change and have a flaw … It turned out that Harper Lee had [already] given him one; it’s just that when we all learned the book, it was taught as a virtue. It’s that Atticus believes that goodness can be found in everyone….

Ed Harris: I love the film. I think Peck’s portrayal in terms of that story and that script is just indelible. There are little things that happen on the stage even now, just a head move or something, that feels like Gregory Peck! But the inner life of this man I’m playing is so different [from Peck’s character]. He’s trying to hold on to a belief that’s being eroded slowly but surely. It’s really interesting to play.

The Trojan Women’s Project at La MaMa: The artists discuss

I got asked for an end-of-the-decade quote on “emerging trends” and the editors rejected it, so here it is so that it doesn’t go to waste. Happy holidays! pic.twitter.com/b5YBglbJBL

— Young Jean Lee (@YoungJean_Lee) December 24, 2019

Best and Worst Theater of The Decade, and of 2019. See a show, live longer. #Stageworthy News of the Week Check out: Favorite stage performances in 2019. Top 10 Lists of Top 10 Theater in 2019.

[protozoass]

Sorry in Advance

SO! I’ve been gushing over Anastasia these past few days, and now that I’ve (kind of) calmed down, I’m going to write about it. 

Ok so I’m not a huge fan of musicals. I consider Hamilton a gateway to my broadways endeavors, also like.....87% of my friends are theater nerds. I was exposed to a whole bunch of cast recordings for quite some time now, and I began to like them as time progressed. 

Most of these musicals, though, were modern. I wasn’t into the Disney-esque music from shows like Wicked or Phantom. So I surprised myself when I actually bought the tickets to see Anastasia. Not a Disney movie, but similar. 

I mean, the movie was good. I watched it in January and thought ‘yah I can get into this’.

I guess I had expectations going into the show. According to my friend, some critics felt the show was bland, but people seemed to like it. I was drawn to it since, as I said, I enjoyed the movie, and I’m a slut(TM) for Russian history. 

The stage was beautifully decorated and I was freaking out over the Romanov crest hanging center stage for some reason I don’t know why I’m like this. 

And then I watched the show. AND I 

LOVED IT. 

The acting, the setting, the props, the effects were all so....hngg GOOD. They were able to draw the audience in with lights that made you feel you were actually there. Like you were actually in St. Petersburg...

The plot was paced nicely and the magical-ness of it made you feel all happy and shit. I’m honestly shocked. I really don’t like this kind of music, but I WAS IN IT TO WIN IT. BEAUTIFUL 10/10. When they bowed I was legit crying. Not a few tears - I’m talking about stifling sobs. it was one of those shows that made you frustrated with your senses’ limitations. I wanted to fully immerse myself in just....all of it...my ears and eyes alone were not cutting it. 

Just go see it if you can. Please. Do it. I, a person who swore off Disney musicals for 21 years, loved it more than most things. 

PS - Vlad is the best you cannot change my mind.

[moonlit--wonders]

7, 8 (Top Ten Musicals?), 10, 12

7. Biggest turn off(s)

I have two rules in my classroom: No bosses, and no whiners. And while those qualities are annoying in my school children, they’re even more off-putting in adults. In general, an abundance of negativity and just general rudeness are turn offs for me

8. Top 5 (insert subject)

Since you said 10...

1. Dear Evan Hansen

2. Newsies

3. Be More Chill

4. RENT

5. Hamilton

6. If/Then

7. In the Heights

8. Into the Woods

9. Sweeney Todd

10. Wicked

Honorable mentions go to Fiddler on the Roof and Crazy For You 

10. Biggest turn on(s)

If we’re talking physical, I really like long hair, and vibrant eyes. And glasses. However, emotionally, I’m very attracted to passion- People who are very clearly excited about what they’re talking about. I also really like having my hair played with. 

Vulnerability and being able to open up and show emotions is also really attractive to me.

12. Ideas of a perfect date

For me, a perfect date would be getting coffe-esque beverages (Starbucks Double Chocolaty Chip Frappiccihno OWNS me) and watching John Mulaney (Or Steven Universe, or The Office, heck, even Queer Eye) on Netflix while giggling like children. I’m easy to please.

[apple-cinnamon-roll]

raspberry truffle

raspberry truffle: favorite kind of music?(Lowkey the entire JoJo's Bizarre Adventure collection of endings and openings ATM) I like a lot of showtunes (especially from Hamilton, In the Heights, Wicked, and Les Mis) I also like a lot of vocaloid-esque songs (rn my favorite is My R) and I love the whole Mekakucity Actors collection. I also like a lot of more classic music. A whole mix of things!

[londontheatre]

Wicked London Willemijn Verkaik Photo by Matt Crockett

I’ve sat through eight Whatsonstage Awards Concerts and Presentations (they never, ever officially use the word ‘ceremony’) including this one, and it’s been a privilege to see it grow and grow. Previous presentations were, looking back, comparatively painful, albeit with the benefit of hindsight: projections didn’t function properly, such that a winner would be written large on the screen before the hosts had a chance to finish reading out the nominations. In fact, in the early days, the nominations weren’t even read out at all, which I always found slightly bizarre. It has also become gradually more glitzy and glamorous, with a casually dressed James Corden, picking up an award in 2012 for Best Actor in a Play for One Man, Two Guvnors, looking out at the audience and declaring that he “did not get the memo” about the smarter dress code.

It remains a tad disappointing that the ‘Wossies’ still do not have (in line with the Olivier Awards) a category for Best Musical Director. I read with interest that the Tony Awards did once have a category called ‘Best Conductor and Musical Director’, but this was discontinued in 1964, so Shephard Coleman (1924-1998) remains the winner, for conducting Hello, Dolly!, in perpetuity. But, as evidenced by the conducting talent of Alex Parker and, later, for ‘Flash, Bang, Wallop’ from Half A Sixpence, Graham Hurman (that show’s resident musical director), leading a 14-strong band, without MDs, musicals simply do not happen.

Emma Williams, in accepting the award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical, went even further, paying tribute to backstage staff such as stage managers, wardrobe supervisors, wig and make-up artists and dressers. I note, for example, the Unsung Hero award category for The Stage Awards, which this year when to Old Vic stage door manager Ned Seago, though it may be rather more difficult for awards decided by online ballot to draw up a truly egalitarian shortlist of such vital theatre personnel. There was, I hasten to add, one category not subject to the online ballot, for what the presentation’s programme called the Equity Award for Services to Theatre, but ended up being called the Equity Award for Lifetime Achievement (So Far), given to Sir Cameron Mackintosh. I have no qualms with Mackintosh being bestowed with such an award, particularly in his fiftieth year as a theatre producer, though it would have been nice to have better understood how the award is decided, and precisely by whom.

A previous member of staff at Whatsonstage, who shall remain nameless expressed puzzlement to me in conversation, because of a joint award given in the Best New Dance Production category at the 2015 Olivier Awards. Less than two years later, the Wossies found themselves doing something similar, giving a joint award in the category of Best West End Show, a category strictly limited to long-running shows, awarded to both Les Miserables and Wicked.

As has been widely reported, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two pretty much cleaned up in various categories at this year’s Wossies. The biggest cheers of the night were reserved, aside from the Equity Award given to Sir Cameron, for Best Actress in a Play, Amber Riley (Dreamgirls) and Best Actor in a Play, Charlie Stemp (Half A Sixpence). Riley had a rough Christmas and New Year, having contracted pneumonia; her duet with Liisi LaFontaine that closed the first half of the presentation saw her vocals in finer shape than ever. Stemp paid tribute to many people, but reserved his heartiest thanks to his mother Lianne for her unwavering support; having sat almost directly behind her in the audience at a performance of Half A Sixpence I can testify first-hand that she not only fully supports Charlie but every single person in that large cast.

This year’s hosts, Simon Lipkin and Vicki Stone, did a sterling job, and even themselves performed musical numbers. One of these was a spoof cast announcement, in which Neil and Christine Hamilton were to star in the London production of the Broadway musical that bears their surname. The other one served partly as a tongue-in- cheek summary of key events in the London theatre scene over the past year, and partly as a sort of Gilbert and Sullivan-esque patter-song, in which, quite impressively, every single nominated performer was name-dropped. Elsewhere, the Trump Administration took yet another bashing from the entertainment industry, firstly by Trevor Dion Nicholas (Aladdin) picking up Best Supporting Actor in a Musical emphasising diversity, and then by John Tiffany (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: Parts One and Two) picking up Best Director, who drew parallels between the President and Voldemort.

All things considered, there were a lot of worthy winners amongst the nominees, whether they were presented with an award or not. I genuinely didn’t disagree with any of the awards given out, even when I had voted for someone else in that category. Lord Fellowes, collecting the Best New Musical award on behalf of School of Rock, had it right when he remarked that the theatre industry is very strong. I’d say the ever increasing slickness and professionalism of the Whatsonstage Awards presentations parallel the continuing ascendancy of British theatre.

By Chris Omaweng

http://ift.tt/2mdcSlI LondonTheatre1.com