Today was a bitter/sweet kind of day for me.
Today I went to the Closing of All Shook Up. I’ve written about the show on several occasions. It was just a fun, feel-good musical. I think I saw it four or five times. There were folks at the Closing who had seen it upwards of 40+ times. Though panned by critics and snubbed by the TONY’s…it remains a favorite of mine.
The cast was all in great voice and best form. Every principle actor was greeted by warm, thunderous applause. By the end of the show the cast became very emotional. They knew it was ending. Several cast members broke character as their emotions got the best of them and they lost their lines. Other cast mates helped them out and allowed the show to limp on. After the curtain call Cheyenne Jackson addressed the audience and thanked everyone for their love and support of the show.
I remember that feeling. I remember both times I was in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Both experiences were so powerful and life changing. I remember thinking, in the middle of the show, that I just wanted to stay in the show for as long as possible. But…with each song you sing you have no choice but to move toward the finale. I remember during both productions I was in, singing the last couple of songs in the show with a lump in my throat and by the time I bowed I was crying.
I know All Shook Up wasn’t a powerhouse of a show or deep, cathartic piece – but it was fun and positive. And if you ask me…we need some of that right now.
So…this has been a weekend of Closings…which isn’t unusual this time of year. Theater traffic is down and the cost of producing and running a show is incredibly expensive. With every “dark” theater you see you can’t help but wonder what will be there next…
Visit: www.cheyennejackson.com and www.allshookup.com
Elizabeth met up with me after All Shook Up and we walked through the annual Broadway Flea Market which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. There were great auctions going on for walk-on roles in Wicked and Sweet Charity, just to name a few. Different memorabilia tables we manned by the casts of different Broadway shows. It was our first time taking part in the Flea Market and it was really a lot of fun.
As Elizabeth and I browsed around we got to see many rare Broadway items up for sale while we strolled next to Harvey Fierstein who was shopping after his matinee performance in Fiddler on the Roof.
Visit: www.bcefa.org
Then we made our way uptown a few blocks to see The Great American Trailer Park Musical (my 3rd and Elizabeth’s 2nd visit to Armadillo Acres). I had just seen it a few nights before (having been given tickets as thank you for volunteering recently at a charity event) but I was still excited about seeing it again with Elizabeth. We gotten really, really, REALLY cheap tickets thanks to a theatre group we’d joined. It’s a great show no matter HOW you slice it but it’s even BETTER when you’re seeing it for a couple of bucks (literally!).
The show has just gotten better and better. The show opens next week and each time that we’ve seen it you’ve can feel and tell that it had gotten stronger and tighter…not to mention funnier. We LOVE it…it will be interesting to see what the critics have to say when it opens officially.
Visit: www.trailerparkmusical.com
