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Sam.
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And we're back. So to recap, we have at 42 left on 10th 41. McNeil number 40, Tammy Faye 39. Redwood 38. The Last Five Years 37. Romeo and Juliet 36. Home 35. Smoosh 34. All In 33. Othello 32. Glengarry Glen Ross 31. The Roommate 30. Our Town 29. A Wonderful World 28. Swept Away 27. Good Night Unt Good Luck 26. Pirates The Penzance Musical 25. Once Upon a Mattress 24. Job 23. Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends. And now at 22 is your base.
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You'll be great. Gonna have the whole world on a plate, starting here.
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Start.
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Honey, everything's coming up roses.
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Gypsy. Oh, no. I can feel everyone trying to cancel me now. Listen, you will not find a bigger Audra McDonald fan in me. You will not find a bigger millennial fan of George C. Wolfe than me. You will not find someone who loves Gypsy and yet is willing to accept new interpretations of it than me. I have wanted George C. Wolfe to direct this musical ever since, as I put it so eloquently in my Instagram review, ever since Arthur Lawrence finally gave in to peer pressure and died. Because that man held onto that show with both of his vicious, determined mittens. And I was ready for someone else who was just as smart as he was, bolder than he was, and a better director than he was to finally take on the show. Because I famously don't think that Arthur Lawrence was actually a good director. He understood Gypsy very well because he wrote it and was able to use the things he learned from watching Jerome Robbins and watching other directors of his pieces and incorporate all that into his Angela Lansbury Gypsy, where he was able to throw out all of the ideas that he wanted to do. And then he refined it and perfected it with the Tyne Daily revival, and then he continued it with the Patti LuPone revival. But if I'm being honest, I have made it very clear that that revival I found, while it had a lot of great components, Laura Benanti doing the strip is perfection in my mind. There was also a bit of an indulgence in that show. And part of that is because Arthur Lawrence hated the Sam Mandy's production so much that he wanted everyone to know that he was the main interpreter of Gypsy. He wrote the book of Gypsy. And the book of Gypsy is the best book ever written. And everyone who's in it must be a great actor. And you are actors, acting and acting, acting, acting. And now listen that Patti Le Plon Gypsy is important to a lot of people. I do not take that away from anyone. And it wasn't a bad production, but depending on when you saw it, it was either 2 hours and 45 or it was 5 hours long. I was very open minded about this Gypsy because that's because George Seawolf was finally directing it. Granted, in my dreams it was with Toni Collette as Rose. And when that didn't happen, I was like, you know what? I love my Audrey. And you Never underestimate Audra McDonald's. You never bet against her. Anytime people have, it's never worked out for those people. She's always come out on top. She is a six time ton winner for a reason, everybody. And so I went in towards the end of previews. It was like two or three days before they were freezing the show. And I was extremely underwhelmed. I write my review and everyone says, no, no, you got to go back. Especially because we got a lot of great reviews for the show, including say it with Me, a Jesse Green New York Times critics pick. So I go back about a month and a half after they open and ultimately the production did not necessarily improve. It was a bit tighter, it was five minutes shorter. And you could definitely feel that in Act 1. And Audra had improved in the role of Rose as well. She was belting a little bit more, but more on that in a second. But still, all of my major issues with the show were still there. They maybe were softened a bit, but they were still there. What I think is compelling about this production, I very much am on board with Jordan Tyson's Dainty June. Her. Dainty June is pissed the fuck off. And it comes through in her singing. It is the most in the pocket bell belted in the. In the mask belting. You'll hear for Dainty June, the famous story going. When I took my friend Kevin the second time, he just shouted out loud, Jesus Christ. And it's. People on the Discord Channel have been saying, like, they can't listen to that song now without hearing Jesus Christ. And it's true. You hear it and you're like, that's the first thing that comes to mind. I also enjoyed Melinda hall as Elektra and Ms. Cratchit. I think Danny Burstein does a perfectly fine Herbie. And I like a lot of what Audra is doing as Rose. I don't like all of it and I love not most of it. Audra is a smart and powerful actress on stage. It's impossible to take your eyes off of her because she just has that star quality, and she puts everything into what she does. It is almost Shakespearean, how she goes about performing on stage. And she has a powerful, gorgeous, strong instrument. A lot of people were hesitant about this Gypsy. A. There were people who I've had people reach, go into my DMs and be like roses and black. I'm like, first of all, the script of Gypsy bears little to no resemblance to the real Gypsy, Rose Lee's life. So, like, it's a musical fable. Let it be a musical fable, and let's see what they do. And this could have been a production of Gypsy where, yes, we have black performers playing these roles, and it doesn't matter, because ultimately their talent is so undeniable and they're just doing it similar to how, you know, we have, you know, racially inclusive production of Kiss Me Kate from 2000 or pajama game or into the Woods. And it's sort of the race both doesn't matter. While also what that performer brings to the role from their own journey as a person of color fleshes out their performance. And it's wonderful. But this is George C. Wolfer talking about who absolutely thinks about race in a multitude of ways, ways that none of us could ever really dream of. And also as a man who isn't afraid to go there. And so I was like, okay, let's see what this man do with Gypsy. And ultimately, I found that his work on it was just sort of fine. It was similar to another show we were talking about earlier. Like, this production kind of had two modes. It was either no decision or weird decision. And when he made no real decision on Gypsy, it was a perfectly fine if by the numbers production of Gypsy. And then he would make certain choices that were inspired by race or inspired by having Audra as the leading lady. And it would just be odd. I would understand it in theory, but not in practice. Things like Rose lightening up June and tinting her hair more blonde, or replacing the newsboys from black young men to white young men as they get older and are trying to get on the Orpheum circuit. All of that makes sense to me. In the actual practice of it. It is a little more sloppily executed and makes less when other elements of the show decide to ignore race. And so I was hoping that there was going to be a bit more of a punch with that, and I ultimately found that there wasn't. I've had people tell me that they see the connecting dots and if they do, fantastic. There are absolutely nuances that escape me because I am a white man. But also I am looking with the intent of finding those nuances and while knowing that there are certain lived in experiences that I can't relate to, I am looking at it from a dramaturgical perspective and an audience member and a lover of the art form. Audra's Rose. People were also anti the idea of her casting because Audra is a mezzo soprano and Rose has been primarily a belter. I don't necessarily care about Rose being belted so much as I need Rose to have power because there have been famous semi singers who've done the role to various degrees of success. Tyne Daly is my Rose and she's not a power. She's not an incredible singer, but she's a powerful singer. She has volume and she's got heft to her sound. And it also is integrated to her perspective on the role, which is her. Rose is a steamroller, Imelda Stun, not a great singer. And granted I hated her in the video production, the video presentation of her production, but everyone who saw her in London claims she was incredible. So it's just that Rose has to sing with power and Audra has power. But there are moments in the score where they would alter the key halfway through songs. Most importantly, everything's Coming Up Roses and Rose's turn. And I'm sure that in a lot of pre pro, everyone on the music team and Audra worked through all of these key changes to see what was sustainable for her. Eight times a week where they felt that it was the most compelling. And this is sort of where they landed on. But the problem is, and I've talked about it before, these last 45 seconds of these songs now sit in Audra's Passaggio. And someone tried to tell me that with Rose's turn, well, this makes sense. She's having a breakdown. It doesn't have to sound pretty. I'm like, I'm not asking for pretty, I'm asking for power. It can sound raw. It definitely sounds raw. And it sounds. But it sounds thin. And no matter what, your interpretation of the songs are acting wise musically, they end with momentum. They end with a bang. And you have to honor that because otherwise it just sounds underwhelming and no amount of acting can get you through that. And Audra is a powerful actress as well. I also say she does belt. People are like, oh, she has, you know, I don't want to hear a soprano play Rose. She belts like probably 75% of the score. Way more than I expected and way more than a lot of people would expect. The most exciting 45 seconds of this gypsy are the first 45 seconds of some people because Audra's doing it all in chess and everyone just sort of sits up and goes, oh, are we? We're getting a little bit of bell now from his outro. I'm like, yep, listen to give him to good Carrie from Carousel. She's belting a full on D. Still.
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Have room to rattle.
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The woman has a voice and she knows how to use it. So that aside, my issue with the acting with Audra's interpretation of this role is she plays a very earnest Rose, a Rose who leads with love. And for me, it makes a lot of the other decisions and a lot of admissions that Rose has in the show either make no sense or make her sound dumber. And I don't think Rose is dumb. Rose is blind. She's got blinders on, she's got tunnel vision, but she's not an idiot. She's very rigid, but she's not an idiot. And there were times in this production because Audra led with such open hearted earnesty, a lot of pockets of the show made Rose come off rather idiotic to me. Now because of this, her interpretation of Everything's Coming Up Rose's and Rose's turn makes sense with the character she's created because her interpretations of those songs are full on breakdowns with like tears coming down the face and like on the verge, like end of her rope, just like clawing at anything to keep her above water. And I, and I get that. I will also say what makes Audra worthwhile seeing this is if you've never seen Audra McDonald before on stage, and I had some listeners who had never seen her on stage and saw her in this show and were madly in love with her. And I get it. Because what Audra does better than anyone is she can be an exposed raw nerve on stage. And to do that in a musical is extremely hard, especially now that we are in the era of the Disney Channel acting. So I recommend if you want to see what actual rawness on stage looks like, and that is Audra, whether it's appropriate or whether it works all the time is another story. But that's also where direction has to come into play. So if you are looking for that, go for it. But for me, this is sort of a mixed bag and I've, I've spoken more negatively on this production after the fact just because I'VE been annoyed at people sort of coming for me, but ultimately I found this production extremely underwhelming. Audra is solid. I wanted more. And I've had other people tell me, oh, yeah, the production's underwhelming, but she's great. I don't even think she's great. I've seen her be great. And I think that she's got moments in this where she's great and moments where I still think it's kind of misguided. But that's also accountability and discernment. Right. My saying that does not take away from the fact that Audra McDonald is very important to me, that she has done some incredible work and I still listen to so much of what she does. And I will not disregard the effort of her doing this and the big swing that this is. I love that after six Tony Awards and being Audra fucking McDonald, she's like, and I'm gonna take my shot at Mama Rose. I'm gonna give it my best shot. I love that. Keep fucking doing that and everyone should be fucking doing that. I love it. I love that. Whether I think it succeeds or not. No, that's why it's at, you know, number 22 here. But ultimately, I will always give Audra McDonald the benefit of the doubt, and I will always come and be front row for whatever she does next because she's audra fucking MacDonald. Okay, that is 22, number 21. Ah, I'm disgusting. Stranger things, the first shadow. Okay, hear me out, hear me out. I am not saying that this play is a very good play. I will say the script is better than I was promised. Everyone told me that it was a garbage script and I watched it and I'm like, the script isn't total garbage. It is far too long. This is a two hour, 50 minute play. That should be two hours and 15. We don't need the subplot about the high schoolers doing Dark of the Moon. And like, are some of the performances bad? Yes. Is it fully theme park spectacle? Actually, not quite. It is. It has a little bit of a theme park element to it, but the actual stagecraft, the actual design and inventiveness and ingenuity of the production side of this show is very impressive. I really was expecting only jump scares and again, theme park thrills. I did not expect to have an actual theatrical endeavor take place on a production side of this, so that was a very impressive surprise for me. We also have Lewis McCartney as the lead of this show, giving an actual bravora performance. Just like fully putting his whole body, body, mind and soul into this show in a way that I'm like, how are you doing this eight times a week? This is where expectation can kind of sway how you think about stuff. Because I was like, do I want to put Stranger Things 1 above Gypsy? Because Stranger Things, objectively, material wise, is so much worse than Gypsy. I will also say that there are more bad performances in Stranger Things than there are in Gypsy. But I will also say that Lewis McCartney's performance for me is more successful than Audra's. I also think on a production side of things, this is far more successful than Gypsy. And ultimately I enjoyed my time at Stranger Things more than I enjoyed my time at Gypsy. If we're going solely off of I, you know, of what. If I were ranking this solely based off of Matt, where did you enjoy yourself the most? I would actually put Stranger Things higher. I was never really bored for this two hour, 50 minute show. When I say it should be 35 minutes shorter, I mean, just like on an artistic level, I can sit there and go like, I'm not necessarily bored, but I can tell you where to cut shit. But I also recognize the things about this show that are lacking, which is why it's a lot lower on the rankings than it might have been if I were just going purely off of the good times that I had because this was a good time, I enjoyed myself. But it's not exactly art. It's better than it should be. It could be better than it is. And that's all I really say about Stranger Things. I don't need to talk that much about it. Like, if you don't watch the TV show and have no interest, this isn't going to do anything for you. If you watch the TV show and have no interest, this isn't going to do anything for you. If you watch the TV show or don't watch the TV show and have slight interest, maybe this will do something for you. I will also say it's pretty easy to get tickets. It's not selling out like they hoped it would. I don't think this is going to be a long running hit for the marquee. Part of it is that it's simply too long. It's very depressing and Stranger Things for the phenomenon that it is. It's sort of a niche phenomenon. It's not a cultural pinpoint right now. Especially not after we just came off of White Lotus Season three with, you know, the incest threesome. But yeah, this is a sort of very how to put it? Wibbly, wobbly 21. I could easily put this up two or three more if I was feeling generous. I could easily knock it down two or three spots if I was to cave into peer press. But at 21, it is dead set in the middle, and I think that's an okay place to be. All right, moving on. Number 20.
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Okay, fellas. Key of G. Wait, you're saying. Who is she? Hey there, New York.
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Boop, the Betty Boop musical. So the thing about Boop is that it is, in my humble opinion, objectively a mess. However, I did have a good deal of fun at it. This is another one that's been interesting because I had friends who had a fun time at Smash, but acknowledged it wasn't good and then saw Boop and hated Boop. And I'm like, see, I saw Boop, and I don't necessarily think it's objectively good, but I did have a blast. Whereas Smash, I was, like, getting angry. The thing about Boop is that when I say it's not good, I mean, like, again, similar to Swept Away. It's like, the script of Boop is not good. The script makes no sense. The script is funny. Ish. And a lot of the songs either feel like filler or they feel like they're the first draft. When Boop actually comes together. At its best moments, it's the opening. The opening number of Act 1. The opening number of Act 2 are. And maybe, I guess, the finale of Act 1, but the finale of Act 1, while it's a good song, is supposed to end on a. Should end on a twist of, like, Betty Boop being discovered as being Betty Boop, and that doesn't happen. We are told in the top of Act 2 that she's now been, like, exposed as being Betty Boop. But let's say those three numbers. Those three numbers are catchy. They are well staged, they are well performed, and they have an actual build in it, and that's exciting. First of all, we have fewer and fewer dance numbers on Broadway these days that actually have a structural build. They just sort of start in 11 and stay there so that when those things happen, you're like, oh, this is a show that knows what it is. Its tongue is firmly in its cheek, and it intelligently shows that to you. But just for those three numbers, the thing that is consistently phenomenal about Boop from start to finish is Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty Boop. This is a genuine Star is Born performance, one that I don't want to undersell because people use that term a lot these days. Anytime an understudy or a standby goes on, anytime somebody who's been in the ensemble in the past and finally gets a speaking role, people are like, oh, my God, star is born. I'm like, no, no, no. The person you want to fuck on Instagram is getting lines. There's a difference. Jasmine Amy Rogers is genuinely special. She's incredibly talented. She's very smart with wonderful instincts and has honed a beautiful performance in the title role that is funny, cartoonish, but also real, and has an actual arc, which is important because the script of BOOP does not give her one. They give her songs that imply that she has an arc, but the arc is not actually there. The book of this show is a combination of Barbie meets Pleasantville meets I Don't Know what. And it's a million different plot lines. All of them just sort of end abruptly with. They take forever to get going, and then they end just on the drop of a hat. And it's frustrating. I could go on for more and more, but if you want to listen to my BOOP review, I go into great detail and I go through bullet points of the ways in which BOOP could actually be fixed, because I would like this show show to have a life. I don't think in its current iteration, it will. I also don't think that the show is going to run much longer. They're not doing terribly well, and they didn't get a lot of nominations. And the truth is that if the show were better and if Jasmine were used a little bit more, because she's really only in about half of the show, but if she were used a little bit more and if the show were better, this would fully launch her in the way that Millie launched Sutton Foster. As it is, this is sort of like a Jesse Mueller in On a Clear Day situation where it's like, you are undeniable. The show is not great, but you are so undeniable that this is your blue chip and you now have leverage to start shopping around for projects. Maybe not as, like, the headliner just yet, but, like, you can start looking into other things, like use this wisely to build the rest of your career. And I hope that she does, because she is wonderful. That is my big thing with, with Boop is that it is the Jasmine Amy Rogers showcase, and she fucking nails it from start to finish, which is to say nothing of the rest of the cast. There are a lot of other good performances in there, a couple of odd ones. I was somebody who actually was kind of on board with Steven DeRosa's performance. And I had some Broadway actor friends who genuinely side eyed me when I said that. We were at a birthday party and I was like, oh, yeah, like Steven DeRosa. I thought he was kind of funny. And then like three of them just turned to me and then went, matthew, aren't you supposed to be a critic? And I went, well, fuck you guys and your drag. I liked it. So that's sort of what makes horse races, right? Also, I'll say. I'll say this as well. Former Broadway actor. He's not in the biz anymore, but I made a thing about a certain Tony nominated actress this season who I thought was amazing and I would vote for her. And he wrote to me and he was like, excuse you, she was off on that show. And I just went, well, I'm so sorry that you did not enjoy your time in the theater that day.
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But.
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But this is part of why, like, this ranking is fun, but also not Bible, right? Not gospel. I think that there's a lot of fun to be had at Boop. I can't give my whole heart in recommending it because I'm like, the number one reason to see it would be to watch Jasmine Amy Rogers star take off and to say that you saw her when otherwise you can always wait for the next project she has in hopes that that one's a little bit better and really does take her to the next level. There are some design elements that are strong. Everything that's in Boopland looks great. Whenever they're in New York is no good. Times Square looks bad. All the homes that take place in New York, the nightclubs in New York, that all looks bad. The Eric Bergen plotline could be cut. You could cut Faith Prince immediately and nothing would change. Give all of her lines to Grandpa and nothing would change. We don't need the random queer romance shoved in the last five minutes. It's just pandering and it makes me feel cheap. So either have it and flesh it out or don't have it. And there are like a solid five songs that are easily cuttable. The show has something there. There is a germ there. And every now and then it shows you its potential. But overall it's a bit of a mess. But again, it is a fun time and she is genuinely a star, so keep that in mind. But that's what keeps Boop here at number. Sorry, at number 20. All right, we'll do one more and then we'll Take a break at number 19. It's still my proudest moment. Of that I have no doubt. For some were born to follow, But I was born to find Trout. Operation Mincemeat. This is another West End transfer. I famously saw it last June with my mother on our London trip. It had just won the Olivier Award, but most of the original cast had left. I think there were two people who had stuck around at that point. And we famously saw it the day that we arrived in London, and I was so pumped because I'm a huge Anglophile. The style of comedy sounded right up my alley. I really knew nothing about it. I didn't even watch the Netflix documentary that sort of inspired the writers to write it, because it's based off of a true story during World War II. Get to that in a second, and we go see it. And part of it is the jet lag. Part of it was that I just was not enjoying the show. I was starting to nod off during most of Act 1. I kept having to wake myself up. I was fully awake for act two, and I just. I could not get into this show. When I saw it in London, I kind of fully hated it. And I was mad. I was mad. Similar to, you know, again, it's about expectations. Similar. When I saw Gypsy the first time when I walked out, and I was disappointed. Similar. When I walked out of Pirates, I walked out of Operation Mincemeat, and I went, how. How can I hate this? This was. This was written for me, it feels like. And why am I just not connecting with it? My mom also didn't really like it, and so I just kind of folded my arms and went, ugh, if it comes to Broadway, we'll see. And I had a few British friends who know the show, and they weren't big on it, but I have other British friends who really love it. And then I have American friends who really love it, and I have American friends who saw it and also didn't get it. So, like, it's just a big mess of a stew there, right? But it comes to Broadway and it's in the final week of previews, and I go, you know what? I couldn't get press seats for it. I tried, I tried, I tried. The press team kept leaving me on Red. Maybe they'd heard my London episode, I don't know. But I go see it. I go to the box office like, five minutes before the show, and I end up getting, like, a $90 seat for, like, dead Row Center Orchestra. And I was like, I want to See the entire original company, the people who wrote it, and you know, who it's sort of built off of and workshopped it and really kind of curated it because it's sort of like a. It's almost as if a UCB musical were made and then somehow went to Broadway. Right? And you want to see the people that it's built off of first and then see people sort of interpret it after that. And I kind of had to have the opposite reaction. So I watched the cast that it was built off of, Slash, you know who created the fucker. And I will say on second viewing with this company, I hated it less. I didn't. I can't say that I liked it more, but I hated it less. Now, why is it at 19, if I am so kind of on it? Well, I will say this on second viewing by hating it less. It's also me saying I don't. I used to think that this musical was bad. I no longer think this musical is bad. I can't rightfully tell you I think it's great. And I understand people who like it, who enjoy it. I'm a little. I'm a little kind of confused by the absolute adoration of it from some people. But listen, there are people who do not get the things that I fucking love. And they're gonna be things in my top 10 that you're gonna scream into your subway car like, matthew, what are you smoking? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? But there is a craft to this show. There is an intelligence to this show. The show is based off of a true story of British Naval intelligence towards the end of World War II. Coming up with a plan to misdirect Hitler and the Nazis out of a certain point in Italy where they intended to invade and take over by finding the corpse of a man, hopefully one that could be unidentified, creating a whole background for them and planting them in the ocean as a dead fighter pilot with top secret plans on them that were a lie in hopes that the Nazis would recover the body and try to use the plans to. For their own personal gain. And thus the British and the Allies would come in and take over a plan that ultimately worked. And the musical spends about two and a half hours over the course of two acts coming up with the plan, enacting the plan, and then the. And then the follow up after the plan, the fallout, and then the success of the plan, and then the fallout from the success of the plan. And it basically tries to go for high British farce because it is a. It's A. It's a very wild idea that somehow works, but it goes. It goes for Wild British Farce with reminders of what's at stake, of this being World War II, with fascism and with Hitler and evil and standing up for what's right. I still get tonal whiplash from this show for going so absurd sometimes and then demanding your respect and attention. And for some people, that works very well. And I. I will say I respect them for trying to blend the two, for not just trying to be cotton candy, for actually trying to have a point to make and not just trying to be a dirge of a musical, but actually have fun with the material. Right. Like, this is an on paper thing that I go, oh, fantastic. Let's. Yeah, let's. Let's try this. It's the execution for me that. That falters. It's just a lot of harsh turns back and forth from one to the other over the course of the two and a half hours. There is quite a bit of inventiveness in staging and actors playing multiple roles and sometimes multiple roles in one scene. And the way that they'll sort of go from costume to costume on stage, from one character to the other, there's a lot of inventiveness there. That's sort of the 39 steps element of the show. I think I was expecting a little bit more. It's not quite the adaptable set that I was expecting where, you know, a chair becomes an airplane and then a desk becomes a boat. They'll do things like that. It's mostly, mostly in the Act 1 finale, but it's actually rather literal of a set and not as creative of a staging as I was hoping. But, you know, first it sets out to do a specific thing and it fully lands with a specific group of people in a way that I am envious of. And as I said, I can find faults in tone. I can find faults in the fact that, like, for a show that's supposed to be funny, I just don't laugh very often. And there are very few things that I will point at and go, no, I just. I don't like that. And I don't find it successful at what it's trying to do, which is, for example, the Act 2 opener where they do sort of the House of Holbein, but with the Nazi Party. And I've had people try to defend it. And I hear you, and I'm sure that you find it funny. I personally don't find it funny. It's not Springtime for Hitler Enough to be commentary. And it's not, if you could see her, enough to be commentary. It's neither. It's trying to sort of be both, which I guess is a great microcosm of the show itself. It's trying to be both. If you could see her from Cabaret and Springtime for Hitler combined, and it's. For me, that's tonal dissonance. It's a scoop of strawberry ice cream on top of a filet mignon, and it's. That is what the flavoring is for me of this show. But I understand for other people, it doesn't feel that way. And as I said, even. Even if I find the tonal distance of the ice cream and the steak to clash, for me, I will acknowledge that the making of the ice cream and the cooking of the steak are not of amateur standing. So that's sort of where, like, if we're going off of my own personal enjoyment, I probably would put this around or like, I would put this either one above or one below Gypsy, maybe even one below Old Friends. But I do think Operation Mincemeat is more successful at executing its mission than the revival of Gypsy is, than the review of Old Friends is. I think Stranger Things is actually about on par with Operation Mincemeat in terms of executing its mission. It's just that Stranger Things is more subpar material. Yeah. And boop, I think, is sort of halfway of both. Like, it's not super great material. Sometimes the material is solid, but not always. I think the execution is sometimes really solid and not always. But that is where I'm allowing my enjoyment for Boop to bump it up in their rankings a bit more. So this is why it's like, it's not an exact science so much as I had to kind of keep going through this ranking over and over again and go, okay, but am I comfortable with this being below or above this other show? And I couldn't rightfully put Boop above Operation Mincemeat. I enjoyed my time at BOOP more, but Mincemeat is the better show. But because I did not enjoy my time at Mincemeat enough, either time I saw it, I can't put Mincemeat really any higher than this. So that's that. All right, so that's number 19. We will come back with number 18 after this break.
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Billy, I beg to differ with you.
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How do you mean?
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You're the top. Yeah. You're an Arrow collar. You're the top. You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the Nimble Trek. End of the feet.
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B
And we're back. So to recap, at 42 we have left on 10th. At 41 we have McNeil. At 40 we have Tammy Faye 39. Redwood 38. The Last Five Years 37. Romeo and Juliet 36. Home 35. Smoosh 34. All In 33. Othello 32. Glengarry Glen Ross 31. The Roommate 30. Our Town 29. A Wonderful World 28. Swept Away 27. Good Night and Good Luck 26. Pirates The Penzance Musical 25. Once Upon a Mattress 24. Job 23. Old Friends 22. Gypsy 21. Stranger Things The First Shadow 20. Boop. 19. Operation Mincemeat which brings us to number 18, real women have Curves. This show was the very last musical to open on Broadway. Dead Outlaw opened on the same day, but dead, although everyone had seen not everyone, but a lot of people had seen off Broadway, myself included. So Real Women have Curves was sort of like the last curve ball, if you will, of the Broadway season. And it opened at the art with not a lot of fanfare. They announced it for Broadway and a lot of people really didn't think much of it. The marketing for it seems really lacking. The few pieces of music that they released didn't really catch fire on social media and so nobody was really thinking much of it. And then previews began and word of mouth for Real Women have Curves was genuinely high. Like it was. It wasn't. It didn't feel silly. It felt like people were genuinely excited about this musical. Oh, it's so fun, it's so sweet. It's such a good time and it's so powerful. It's got an important message. We really need this kind of show and I go see it really expecting to kind of be bowled over. I wanting to be bowled over because I love seeing new musicals that are my obsessions. And I was. It wasn't so much that I was expecting greatness as I was excited for the possibility of greatness. And there are things about the show that I think are very lovely. Not all of it, but a lot of it. And I went back a second time and my opinion improved a bit. I found it a little less clunky on second viewing, but I still found it to not be quite as fantastic as I wanted it to be. It tells the story of Ana, who is an 18 year old in 1987 Los Angeles, living with her parents and older sister, all three of whom are illegal immigrants from Mexico. And Ana wants to be a writer she's interning at a local newspaper while also helping out at her sister's dressmaking factory to help her sister fulfill a very important order that could make or break their career. She also has been accepted on a full ride scholarship to go to Colombia, which is across the country. Her mother does not approve of her going to Colombia. Her mother does not approve of her getting into writing. On top of that, her mother's also very negative about her body weight. And ultimately Ana and her mother finally kind of come to terms and accept each other and make peace with each other. Anna's sister Estella gets to fulfill the order, and she gets a huge break in her career as a dressmaker of the factory, while also wanting to become a designer herself. And on top of all this, there is a subplot with immigration, with one of the workers eventually being deported. And a business next door to there is having immigration come and raid and deport workers there as well. The threat of having to be deported from the country where you are an illegal immigrant and where only one person in your family is technically born is constantly peppered out throughout the show. The musical is based off of the play Real Women have Curves, which was also made into an HBO movie, which I had seen way back in the day because I'm an America Ferrera. Stan and America Ferrera played Anna in that. Had not seen the movie since, like 2005. And I go see the show and I go, oh, I don't remember anything of this. I should go watch the movie again. And I watched the movie, and the movie is very delightful in its own way, but also a lot drier and a lot more sardonic and actually has a bit more of cynicism about it because the mother character in the movie is much more of a domineering presence, whereas in the musical they keep a lot of the things she says and does, but with the intent of having her and Anna sort of redeem their relationship at the end. And also having a female empowerment body positivity message throughout. The musical is not really about body positivity, despite what the title and the marketing would suggest. I mean, you have every figure of woman on stage, which is phenomenal, but it's not really about that. There's one number, the title number, that is about that. And as I said in my review, it didn't really feel earned in the movie. It's based off of a scene in the movie where as they're making dresses and the air conditioning is broke, everyone is so hot, and Anna decides that she's going to take off her clothes and work in her underwear because she's just too hot. And her mother sort of shames her for this because, oh, Anna, you don't have a good body. But Anna just is like, I don't care. Like, I'm hot. I'm just. I'm going to do this, and I'm comfortable with my body. So you. And then other women in the factory do the same. And they, through the sheer necessity of having to take off their clothes in order to work, they, in their own way, appreciate and accept their bodies for what they are and admire each other's bodies. The musical, it's kind of a statement outright. And my issue with Real Women have Curves stems from this. But overall, with musical theater writing in general right now, which is that the musical of Real Women have Curves does a lot of things, technically speaking, correct. That you would do with a modern musical. The issue is that I think a lot of modern musical theater writing is kind of simple. It goes for. It doesn't go for nuance. It goes for message, and it goes for pandering. I hate. I keep using that word, but it's the only thing I can really think of. Like, it doesn't. It goes for wanting to invigorate an audience into enjoyment of themselves and feeling like they've done something by applauding something they already agree with. That's the kind of pandering that. I mean, it doesn't. Very few modern musicals lately have actually challenged audiences in the way that a lot of musicals in the past challenge audiences. We talk about Chorus Line being this huge hit, but like in 1975, when, you know, this huge hit comes across the country, going to different cities on national tours, the number of audiences who probably never heard of, you know, men going into drag for an actual profession and listening to Paul's Story, a lot of people, I'm sure, got. Got a great deal of not only joy, but empathy and catharsis through that moment for something that probably challenged them that they never thought they would have to listen to before. And Real Women have Curves wants to have that. It wants to have that challenge for an audience. But ultimately it's a little too complacent to be a traditional modern musical and a modern Broadway musical at that, that the moments that I think are the most interesting about it don't feel integrated to the rest of the show. Stuff like immigration, stuff like racism and being full figured and. And. And whatnot, and being a woman and working five jobs, all of these things are are very meaty subjects for a musical. And Real Women have Curves wants to have that while also kind of being its own version of Kinky Boots. And I think. And this is. This is me telling them how to write a musical, and I. They wrote the musical they wanted. But if I'm thinking in terms of why I have sort of a divide with this show, and I also know other people who super loved it, and I also know people kind of walked away kind of iffy about it. But I was talking to a dear friend of mine who wanted to know what part of the show I liked more because he also had friends who were up on one part of the show, but not the other. And he said to me, you know, it's interesting that it's all of my white friends who feel this way. And he asked me, okay, so, like, which did you find more interesting? I was like, oh, like the immigration stuff and, like. And the body positivity stuff. I think there's a lot more there, and I would like to see more of that. And he goes, oh, interesting. All My White Friends, really, it's just like the. The fun sitcom y stuff, and the fun sitcom stuff is good, and it. And it clearly, you know, lands with audiences. But I feel like it's sort of the easy go. And obviously, this is not a show that's trying to be Threepenny Opera, but I feel like if they. If modern musical writers could let go a little bit of the easy grab of the bold statement and the big empowering song for an audience to leap to their feet and rather challenge them instead of bolstering them, there might be a bit more of a payoff when they do. Eventually, if you challenge. If you start by settling an audience in and then challenging them, and then kind of continually challenging them, continually challenging them until you then bolster them, it keeps the element of surprise intact, but also it allows them to feel like they've earned the invigoration at the end. Right. And that's what makes musicals hard. It's what makes theater hard in general, but musicals in particular, a very hard art form. So I have Real Women Have Curves up here at 18, because ultimately, I do think I enjoyed my time there more than I enjoyed my time at Operation Mincemeat more than Gypsy or Stranger Things. And I think it's better than Stranger Things. I think it's objectively a better musical than Boop. But for me, Real Women have Curves is not quite able to land the plane for me. Another thing, I would also say this is A show that has a bit of the what we call now Disney Channel acting of the stylized earnestness. Remember, we said it's earnest, but it's not honest. And if there's one thing we'll say about Audra McDonald, she's always honest. And whether I like her performance in Gypsy or not, it's an honest performance. And you see that and it's hard to look at that and then look at, I won't say names but like a performance or two. And real women have curves and be like, oh, yes, it's the same level of genuine. Of genuine character work. It's not really, but it is solid. We are in the part of the rankings now where these are shows that I like with caveats. We are past dislike with pluses with Boop and Mincemeat. It's sort of this weird back and forth of like, Mincemeat is not something I necessarily like, but I have to acknowledge the things about it that are objectively well done. Whereas Boop I liked and I have to acknowledge all the things about it that are objectively poor. Right. Real Women have Curves I think is a strongly put together musical. I liked it. It's just not quite there yet. But now with this number with 18, we are now entering the ranks of Matt Liked it with caveats. And with each number going up for the next couple, my list of caveats decreases for the next couple of rankings. Okay, so that is number 18. Number 17, Buena Vista Social Club. This is an interesting one for me. Buena Vista Social Club. It's technically speaking a jukebox musical. It's technically speaking a bio jukebox musical. And this is similar to me of Swept Away, where it is a show that the script is the weakest thing about it. Everything else is much more impressive. And yet Buena Vista Social Club, I rank higher than Swept Away and I rank it actually a little bit higher than Real Women have Curves. And I rank it much higher than A Wonderful World. The reason why is when I Vista Social Club, I went in and again, expectations, I was told like, oh, the script is awful. And I watched it. I was like, the script isn't awful. It's flimsy, but it's not awful. The biggest problem with the script is, you know, this show, which is about the making of the cultural defining Grammy winning album. All of the album stuff, all the drama with the making of the album happens off stage. We watch the album being made on stage, which is fire and energy. And then anytime there's conflict, it happens off stage. And we're told about it later. All the conflict happens in flashback when Natalie Venetia Balcon's character Omara is remembering her youth in Cuba with her sister as they are trying to succeed as singers. And then her sister gets a contract with them, I think with Colombia to get them out of the country before. Before the government sort of gets into turmoil and overthrown. And she's remembering all of that. She's remembering her love affair and her and her exposure to the social clubs of Cuba. It's very dirty dancing that way. The thing about this show is that it is very much about energy, it's about vibes and there is a lot of creativity surrounding it with the music, with the. With the staging, with the choreography, with the performances. And there's a great deal of humor to the show which is exceptional. And again, the script is not bad. It actually has some powerful moments to it. The problem is that it is the weakest thing about it, but it does hold everything together in a way that the script for Swept Away does not. In a way that Swept Away is actually sinking down the rest of the elements of the production. Buena Vista Social Club's book is able to actually just sort of keep all of the dynamic elements floating together on one big buoy. And unlike A Wonderful World, it actually does delve into more complicated elements of some of these characters pasts. And unlike say real Women have Curves. It's not really going for sweet and it's not going for the self aggrandizing or for the empowerment. It is just simply going for. It sounds more esoteric than it is like truth. And if I were to give it any caveats outside the fact that the book is rather flimsy, again, not bad, but just flimsy. It does sort of end. The finale should have another workshop. It needs to be a bit longer. It needs to have a moment for Natalie Venetia Belkan as Amara to really just sort of set sail and stake her claim. But it is overall a good time and it has gravitas to has attitude and style, it has heat to it and it has a vibrancy that you can't replicate. Some shows are able to kind of get by on vibes and this is one that is able to do so pretty consistently. Is it perfect? No. But again, this is where we're in the stage of the rankings where we're talking about things that I liked with caveats. And the caveats are decreasing as we go up. That is Buena Visa Social Club next up at number 16.
- [48:26]
A
Someday I don't know how I hope you hear my plea Some way I don't know how she'll bring her love to me.
- [48:42]
B
Just in time the Bobby Darin Musical starring Jonathan Groff. This show is a lot of fun. It is not the gold standard for bio jukebox musicals. It owes a lot of its DNA to Jersey Boys, which, granted, if you're going to take DNA from something, take it from the absolute top of the genre. And it also, director Alex Timbers definitely kind of takes parts of his work from Here Lies Love and incorporates it into the show. Like, in terms of the staging and design, it's sort of like Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill meets Here Lies Love, where you're in this nightclub, sort of Copacabana coded, and all of the action is happening around you and above you and next to you. And it's a surefire way to get an audience on board with the energy and the temperature of your show. And they are willing to forgive a lot because they get swept up in it. It's sort of like when you get into a relationship with someone, a hot and heavy relationship, and you ignore a lot of the red flags because the highs you're getting from being with them, of being wrapped up in their energy and the dynamics of it is just so intoxicating and you can ignore a lot of the flaws. Same thing is true with a really fun musical, especially one that's like, oh, we're happening all around you. And it is very high risk, high reward, because if you're not on board with it, oh, boy, do you feel like a prisoner. But if you are on board with it, you know, the next two and a half hours can go by in a blink of an eye. And I will say, just in time. It has a lot of cheek about it. I think that the design elements of it are very strong. It's got a lot of precision. It's, you know, it really kind of goes all in on what it's trying to do. Not everything's trying to do, I think is very special, which is not everything has to be special. Some things can just be executed. Goodness. And I think that just in time as a Bobby Darin bio jukebox musical, the idea of sort of taking the energy and the point of view of a Jersey Boys with the aesthetic and the atmosphere of a Here Lies Love is not a bad combo to make. It's not the same tonal dissonance as a filet mignon with ice cream on top of it. But that also means that you can kind of get into a sensory overload with a show like this, and that definitely happens from time to time. I will also say that similar to any other bio jukebox musical we've seen like A Wonderful World or A Buena Vista Social Club, like, it will go there to an extent in terms of the drama, in terms of the complications of its characters, but it won't fully go there. And depending on who it's about, the characters around your central figure can sometimes come off as collateral damage. And there are certain tropes you start to find every time with these kind of shows. The family members who get left by the wayside because the fame and success of the main character becomes too much and over, over, they get overwhelmed by it. The romantic interest, where it starts off great, and then they become a bad partner or they become like the long lost love. The death of the character and their remembrance of their life and their career while in the afterlife. We saw it with Wonderful World, just like we're seeing it with Just In Time. What Just In Time also does is it has a little bit of the Alexander Hamilton of. Why do you act like you're running out of time? Why do you write like you're running out of time? Because with Bobby Darin, he was told that he was going to die young. He was a very sickly kid. I said it before, like, everything that Bobby Darin did, Frank Sinatra also did and just did it a little more famously better is subjective. But it was just ultimately more famous than Bobby Darin. And Bobby Darin lived a very interesting life. He was a very complicated person. He did a lot of really cool stuff with his music. He wasn't necessarily iconic in the sense that he was an individualist. Right. As I just said, he was, you know, in the Rat Pack era. And there were other men doing what he was doing just as well. Bobby Darin was very famous and very successful, and he had a lot of demons and a lot of fascinating things going on with him. And it's more the fact that he died so young that really adds the tragedy to his life. But the show really wants to embrace the joy of Bobby Darin's performance era, of being such a sucker for applause. And they try to tie that into Jonathan Groff as the lead by saying, well, Jonathan Groff is the same way. We have a Bourne performer who just like, like lives to be on stage in front of everyone, and it's what we all love about him. Jonathan Groff has become our new matinee idol, our new, like, Genuine, above the marquee. Broadway star sells tickets in a heartbeat. Like, this is someone who we need to keep around because he picks interesting projects. He picks projects that fit him well, and he sells tickets. And there's genuine joy coming from him on stage every single time. And he is doing a lovely job in this. He is a very captivating performer. As I said in my review, the one thing he doesn't do is actually capture Bobby Darin. And did I know Bobby Darin? No. He was before my time. But I did grow up with Bobby Darin's music, with all of his albums. My mom was obsessed with him. We listened to him in the car all the time. And this is a performance from Groff where it's basically, he is doing Jonathan Groff and saying, just imagine that this is Bobby Darin doing all of this. And you kind of have to take him on faith with that. And for some people, that's enough. For me, it's not quite enough, Especially when the rest of the show is. Feels a bit shallow and presentational in terms of how it's delving into Bobby Darin's life and those around him. And because he had such a fascinating and complicated life, it's kind of. I feel a little shortchanged when they go through the tropes of bio jukebox musicals and skip over a lot of really messy stuff or speed through it as quickly as possible to get to the highs of performances and the music. And granted, when you do bio musicals about performers, you want to hear the songs you love. And the question becomes, how can we blend the two together so you get the songs you love while also giving you a captivating and compelling story. And the truth is, you can't ever really do it ever again. Because ever since Jersey Boys, the estate of these artists are like, oh, there's money to be had. But you cannot undersell, you cannot shortchange the Persona of our artists. You have to make them seem awesome and just in time. Cannot deny the times when Bobby Darin was shitty, but they will not fully sell just how shitty. And they also will not give enough grace to the women around him. They give each of them a moment to say a little something and then walk away. And it's a shame, because a lot of the women in his life were actually really captivating, too. But that's sort of the problem when you're doing a whole life of a person in two and a half hours. You can't get everything. Sometimes you wonder, do you want to do a great comet Situation, take a slice and really find the nuance and the complexity of that slice of that person's life. But ultimately, just in time goes for energy and it goes for vibes over nuance and complexity. And I will say, to their credit, they do vibes and energy. Great. So this is a case of they had a target, they hit it, and I have to commend them for that. It's why it's currently at number 16. If they went a little further, it could go up to the top 10. But at 16 is not a bad place to be. So that is 16 out of 42. Next up, number 15. Your mom is dead.
- [56:14]
A
Your dad is dead. Your brother's dead and so are you.
- [56:19]
B
Abe Lincoln's dead.
- [56:20]
A
Frank James, dead.
- [56:22]
B
Your mom is dead and so are you dead. Outlaw. This is, along with Real Women have Curves, the last Broadway show of the season and the last show I saw of the Broadway season. Granted, I did see it downtown at the Minetta Lane Theatre, where I really, really loved it, and then spent the better part of a year waiting for its Broadway transfer, watching it win all of its Off Broadway awards and going, oh, this thing is going to be a major competitor. And I'm so glad we have it coming because so many musicals this season underwhelmed me. And then I did finally see it again at the Longacre Theater, and I still really, really liked it. I can't say I love it anymore. There are things about it that I love. This is a very intelligent musical. This is a musical with a lot of creativity on its back. I mean, we have a score by David Yazbeck, co written with Eric Dellapena, but Yazbec is one of my absolute favorite modern musical theater writers. This is a man who might be the best lyricist we have right now. Can really write for character and story, but also creative. And I say creative a lot, but. But with super intelligent and fucking just like on point lyrics with precise rhymes that are so. He also is a funny lyricist. He can write jokes. Just listen to, you know, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. It's so funny. I mean, also Full Monty. Full Monty has jokes upon jokes and I highly recommend you listen to both of those women on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Really lovely score of a messy show. And Band's Visit is a beautiful show. He's a very versatile writer as well. And this is like Bonnie and Clyde esque. You wouldn't listen to this and think it's the same man who wrote Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or Women on the verge. So I was very happy to have another score of his back on Broadway. And it's a good score and it's a smart show based on the true story of Elmer McCurdy, who was an outlaw who got shot down by the police. And because no one was able to claim his body, the. The funeral home undertaker shot arsenic into his embalming fluid to preserve his body a little bit longer till someone could claim him. And no one ever did. And his body remained preserved for a very, very long time. And while that was happening, different persons of this country would buy him and use him for their own personal gain, whether it was a sideshow attraction or to be part of PR for a movie. And then eventually he was discovered, I believe, in a warehouse in, like, 1977, like, almost 60 years after he had died. And finally was laid to rest after one final autopsy. This is a really strong ensemble. Andrew Durand is an actor, a singing actor that I think everyone should be paying attention to. He's got a great voice. He is a very raw actor. Like, does the kind of acting in musicals that you usually only see in plays. And by that I mean just like, messy. And you're not sure how he's able to do it eight times a week and maintain himself while also singing the way he does. And Tom Sesma has just always been a secret weapon in musicals. And Julian Idol is really lovely. And then Jeb Brown is the narrator or bandleader, I should say, as well as Jarrett. The head of the outlaw gang that Andrew Durant finds himself a part of is also really good. And again, it's a really strong ensemble. David Cromer's work is very specific and fine tuned. I had some people see it and tell me that it was the worst sound design they've ever heard on a Broadway stage. I don't understand that because I actually thought the sound design was very good. I heard everything clearly. It's very ASMR for a lot of it, which is similar to Sunset Boulevard, and actually has just sort of been a trend with musicals and plays lately of just ASMR sound design. The thing with Dead Outlaw between Off Broadway and Broadway is I forgot that there are stretches of it that are actually kind of slow and a little dry. And it's a very, very weird musical. So I can't recommend it with my whole heart and soul and tell you, like, oh, you'll love this, and if you don't love it, something's wrong with you. I absolutely understand why people don't like it. I still really gravitated towards a lot of it, but there were things about it that didn't vibe with me as much as off Broadway. And it could be that I built it so much in my head over the last year after seeing it and really loving the vibe I got from it that first time, that I built it into something it wasn't on a second viewing. And a second viewing gave me a little more of a clear head of what this show actually is and what it's trying to do. But I cannot sit here and lie to you and say that this musical is bad, because it's not. And I can't sit here and lie to you and say that I didn't enjoy it at all, because I did. I enjoyed so much of it. Is it top 10 of the year for me? No. But it is a very smart, very, very theatrical show in the weirdest of ways, and one that I found very compelling and liked a great deal. Moments of it that I fully loved, while also having some moments of it that I thought were a little slow and a little cold. But that is that. Is that on Dead Outlaw. So that is Dead outlaw at number 15, right above just in time. Okay, number 14. And when people see us walking, they'll be Google eyed and gawking at Buddy and the world's great greatest dad. We'll spend mornings holding hands. Holding hands and making plans on whether to play jacks or kick the can. Then for lunch, a ginger snack. Else. Okay, When I tell you that this show took me absolutely by surprise, I mean, it took me absolutely by surprise. Now, is it possible that because I went in with low expectations, because I had never thought much of this musical before, I never thought it was a bad musical, but it was never one that I thought of highly in terms of, like, movies adapted into stage shows. So that on top of the fact that coming into the show right off of, you know, a certain election, as well as coming off of the live stream reading of my play, I was sad, I was tired, and I didn't know what to make of this show. But I will also say word had been that this production was better than it had any right to be. And I was like, yeah, we'll see about that. And I go, and let me tell you, this production was better than it had any right to be. Starting with the number one thing, which is that Gray Henson as Buddy the elf, it was such a phenomenal performance. And one of those things where you want. You want to, like, shout at people and explain to them how Comedy is so fucking hard. And how if you don't feel like you're seeing the work, that's actually even more impressive and really hard to do. But people think of turning yourself inside out as the ultimate height of performance, and that's just simply not the case. And people will also say, oh, well, it was so clearly meant to tour. It was done cheap. And, oh, well, it's just Elf the Musical, and what good can come from it? Yeah, like, this was not done with a hundred million dollar budget. This was done, economically speaking, and probably was done as a rebrand. So it could maybe tour with this, you know, version of a production. But that doesn't take away from the fact that the director, Philip William McKinley and the choreographer, Liam Steele, really honed a delightful and tone consistent production of this musical. Again, starting with Gray, who understands how to do earnest comedy with a light touch. When we were talking about. When we're talking about this with the Wonderful Town at Encores, right, of you have to make your character believe everything that they're saying or doing, but you, the actor, have to understand that this ultimately is played for laughs. So you don't do it with uber dramatic flair, but you also can't really comment on it because the audience might laugh, but it's a cheap laugh. The best laughs come from genuinely investing in a story and a character. And that's what Grey, as Buddy did so brilliantly, as well as, you know, singing beautifully because he's got a very smooth, you know, caramelly voice. And I've told Gray this that, you know, up until about a month ago, he was who I would have voted for best actor, knowing he wasn't gonna get in, and he knew he wasn't gonna get in. But he was my number one for Best actor in a musical for so long. Even after seeing other, you know, major contenders, I was like, I'm sorry. What Gray is doing is so hard and so special and so unique to his talents. Like, no one else is as successful in this role as he is. And we've seen it happen, right? We've had other buddies before. And with Gray, it all just sort of clicks into place. And it made you sort of realize, oh, like, this show is a very solid musical. And this production was, I thought, so inventive. With the economy of its production value, it didn't have a lot that it could go with, but they used the most of what they had. I know a lot of people are off on projections, and I'm sort of the same way, but I thought that this production really blended intelligently tangible sets with projections. I thought Liam Steele's choreography was very well done. Again, it had character and point of view and a sense of humor about it. And once again, this seems like such a low bar to have and yet we have so many choreographers who don't do it. His numbers genuinely built to a thrilling conclusion which is so rare these days. And I hate it. I hate it, I hate it. I hate that that's like not the norm anymore. But we did have it here and that's so wonderful to me. This is not to say anything else of the rest of the company. Ashley. Ashley Brown. Kayla Davion. Michael Hayden. Our beloved Michael Hayden. It was, it was a. It's a very, it was a very strong ensemble of performers, all of whom were on the same page, all of whom delivered with the right amount of energy and zest. And it all just culminates in Gray as Buddy delivering a genuinely special comedic performance. This has been a year of really solid comedic performances and this was ultimately one of the more special surprises of the season for me. And sometimes, you know, quality can come from anywhere and have that be listened to. All of you, just because it's Elf the musical doesn't mean it can't be good. And you can say that something like Elf the musical is a high point of your season. There's no shame in it. Good is good. Quality is quality. So remember that. Alright, so that's elf at number 14. Let us take a quick break and then we will get back to the more rankings. And we're back. So to recap at number 42 left on 10th 41. McNeil 40. Tammy Faye 39. Redwood 38. The Last Five Years 37. Romeo and Juliet 36. Home 35. Smoosh 34. All In 33. Othello 32. Glengarry Glen Ross 31. The Roommate 30. Our Town 29. A Wonderful World 28. Swept Away 27. Good Night and Good Luck 26. Pirates The Penzance Musical 25. Once Upon a Mattress 24. 23. Old Friends 22. Gypsy 21. Stranger Things 20. Boop. 19. Operation Mincemeat 18. Real Women Have Curves 17. Buena Vista Social Club 16. Just in Time 15. Dead Outlaw 14. Elf. Which Leads Us to 13.
- [67:54]
A
I'm Just so thrilled that you both.
- [68:13]
B
Death becomes her. I saw this musical in November right before it opened and I enjoyed myself but I did not have the best time of my life, which I really was hoping to have, especially because the word was that it was incredibly Funny. Oh, my God. It's like the most expensive drag show you've ever seen. You will live, you will die, you will tell your story. And I saw it and I thought, okay, this is. This is a fun time. Jen Simard is absolutely mopping the floor with everybody. But other. And it's very elaborately designed, and I laughed, but I did not get my life. And I sort of left it at that. And the cast album came out, I want to say, like, first week of April. Someone corrects me on this. They had released a couple of tracks early and then would sort of tease other tracks later on. And then the full album came out a couple weeks before nominations happened. And I started listening to it with and Gunkle of the Pod. Adam Elsbury and I would sort of go back and forth about it, and we were sort of talking about certain songs that we. We were talking about certain songs that we were really enjoying and lyrics that we really liked and orchestrations we really loved. And I was like, huh? I think I might want to see this show again. I think I want to see how I feel about it on a second go round. And it's rare that I do that. Like Gypsy, I was kind of pressured into. I saw Mincemeat again because I wanted to see if the original company would change my mind. And real. Real Women have Curves was a case of I was invited and then I got my own press seats. And I was like, well, I'm not going to not turn it down. Death Becomes her was a case where I bought an $80 ticket the first time and then was able to get a TDF seat the second time on the night that so happened to be the night that they got all their Tony nominations. So it was a huge rock concert of an evening, so that energy already helped. But I was also looking at it with a discerning eye of is this better than I thought it was the first time or that I remember it being. And the short answer is that yes. Part of it is that the whole company has definitely been finding more things to do within the show as it continues. And the show is a marathon. It's no joke. It's got a whole bunch of logistics about it that I'm sure makes it a very tense show to do. But that doesn't mean that the cast isn't. I wouldn't say relaxing, but, like, definitely living in it a bit more, that they are able to make weirder and more interesting choices and funnier choices over the run and finding where more pockets of laughs could Be. And that's especially true of Megan Hilty as Madeline Ashton, who I liked in November, but I definitely thought needed more time to allow herself to find her freak. Because I feel that Megan Hilty is a super talented, super smart comedic actress, but she's not quite a freak in the way that Jen Simard is. The word I often said is faggot. Like Jennifer Simard is a faggot. And Megan Hilty is a very, very talented, smart comedic actress. And something like Death becomes her, which is ultimately a Broadway drag show. You need faggoty freaks in it. And Meghan still isn't really naturally that. But over the last six months has gotten weirder and more interesting in the role. She was good to start, but she's now finding her weirdness. And she went from being an 8 out of 10 to me for like, to like a 9.5 out of 10 to me, and it's definitely boosted the show. Michelle Williams as well has improved a lot, and Chris Seber has been finding a lot more laughs in a role that I find pretty thankless. And then Jen Samar just keeps on annihilating and mopping the floor with everyone and their husbands. So that already has boosted up the show. Knowing the score a bit better has also helped. Not because people say, like, oh, well, can't you enjoy a score in the theater? Shouldn't that be a testament to how good it is? And the answer is yes. But also I think that people always have this expectation that you're going to walk out humming a score, which just really isn't the case. Only with multiple reprises do you get that. Or if your melody is getting regurgitated over and over again. It's why Les Mis and Andrew Lloyd Webber shows tend to have songs that you hum when you walk out, because there are like five melodies that get repeated 10 different times. And repetition is ultimately what gets in your ear. Not one time hearing a song, people always said, oh, Sondheim, you can't hum it. And then it wasn't until you listened to it after the fact and you dissect it that you find all the nuances and the brilliance of Sondheim. Same thing with Janine Tesori. People were not high on the Kimberly Akimbo score until they were listening to the cast album. So Death becomes her. For a musical that is ultimately a drag show. Comedy has a score that's actually quite similar to that, and it's various genres melded into one. It's got very dense, very intelligent lyrics and performances that set sail even higher on the cast album. Because if there's one thing that the show has issues with, with that, with the songs, is because the songs are so dense, but also because for a show like this, comedy needs to live in the. In the physical. A lot of numbers are staged in the way where the lyrics can get lost with an audience because they're paying more attention to the physical than the lyrics. And so there are some lines that on a cast recording you're like, oh, that's hilarious. That's amazing. And then on stage you're like, why is nobody laughing? It's. Well, because there's a lot of things. There are a lot of things going on right now and some things get sort of not neglected, but sort of thrown away for the sake of a bigger joke or a more integral joke, a more important joke. And so listening to the cast album has definitely helped me appreciate a lot more of the craft of the score than I did on the first listen. And I also think that the script, which is not just a joke machine, I also think it does a lot of really clever ways of honoring the original structure of the movie while also having a little bends and curves throughout to have a little more fun with it on the stage. And I mean, I don't think the movie is great. I'm a homosexual who doesn't love the movie. I love all the Meryl and Goldie stuff, but I think a lot of the rest of the movie kind of falls apart. And I think the musical, while the second act definitely is weaker than the first, it also improves on a lot of elements from the movie and tightens things up and has a lot of. Takes a lot of jokes that you know from the movie and then has like its own bent on that. And that's a really clever way of not just doing a copy paste job, which a lot of musicals based off of movies have done, especially ones that are ip, that are very well known and established. And I appreciate the Team of Death becomes her, not just relying on that, but really trying to make it special as a musical theater piece. And I think that they do. And if I'm not enough of a judge of character of that, the fact that so many clips from the score on the cast recording have gone viral on social media should be enough to tell you and listen. I love Tell Me Ernest, but I also love let's Run Away Together. I've come much more fully on board for the gays. I really like falling apart. I love if you want perfection. I've even Come around on the Ernest Menville number. I think it's called the Plan. And of course, everybody really likes. What's it called? The Fight or the Brawl or whatever it is with the. That was rude. That was really fucking rude. I don't know. I just think this show is a whole bunch of fun. A whole bunch of fun. And I'm glad that they are finding success with it. I hope that other women can go into the show as Madeline and Helen and find their freak now that Titanique is closing, I would love to have more shows that allow musical theater performers to find their freak again, because we need more mess, we need more chaos, and we need more aliens in this business because we can't just have clean, presentable, nice. I want messy awesomeness. And this is a show that allows for that. So brava. All right, next up, number 12.
- [75:54]
A
This time I'm staying I'm staying for good I'll be back where I was born to be with one look. Pile me now.
- [76:21]
B
Sunset Boulevard, the West End import that swept the Olivier's last year. I went into this apprehensive. I hate, hate, hate this musical, but I love, love, love the movie. And I didn't know how I was going to feel because generally with revivals like this, which is Jamie Lloyd, you know, bare bones, everyone's in black, everyone's doing a lot of presentational facing out front while they talk to each other. And on top of that, a lot of screen work, which I'm not always the biggest fan of, on the stage, I went, okay, we'll see how this goes. And Nicole Scherzinger is not who I imagine for Norma. But ultimately, the meta commentary of Nicole as a former pop star who got discarded by the industry and then kind of had to claw her way back, allows this production to resonate even more fully than it would on its own merits. And its own merits are actually not bad. The thing I will say about this production is I can't rightfully tell you everything that Jamie Lloyd and his team are doing and why they're doing it. What I can tell you is that now, having seen this production twice, I was fully engaged the entire time. It is wild, it is often bonkers, but it never dulled me, it never bored me. If I had major caveats to say, it's, you know, I still think that Norma Desmond's tempos are fucking infuriatingly slow. And I understand that when it's Norma time, everything slows down. But it's like, come on, dude, pick up the pace. Especially when so many other things are really on the money in terms of tempos. Because you cannot suck the life out of your musical. You need to keep everything going at a specific pace, and then the pace can change based on, you know, where your story is at. But if you feel like you are testing an audience's patience, you probably are. And you need to be a little more giving sometimes. You can't stick to your guns all the time. You have to see if there's any give to have in your show. Right. So that's that. I will also say that, you know, I don't know if this has actually changed my mind on the musical. I don't think it has. What I liked about this production was that they leaned into the camp and comedy and noir of the film, whereas the musical took itself very seriously from the operatic quality. Because Billy Wilder famously told Sondheim, it's an opera. Sunset Boulevard, it's about a dethroned queen. And whoever took that literally and then fancied this musical to be his most serious adult musical. And for some people, they feel that way. They genuinely like, oh, this is absolutely the best Andrew Lloyd Webber musical ever. And not only is it his best, it's actually a great musical. And I don't think it's a great musical. I think it's a bad musical and doesn't really understand the movie. But I think that this revival weirdly does understand the movie and doesn't have a lot of respect for the musical, which goes against my way of thinking. For every revival, I'm always saying, if you like the show, then revive it. If you don't like the show, don't revive it. This is the anomaly. This is not how I want people to approach revivals, usually ever. And I'm telling you, I'm probably going to roll my eyes at Jamie Lloyd's Evita, because you can only do what he does with this aesthetic for so long before you just say, okay, thank you. Next, we have the same thing happen with John Doyle and his actors playing, you know, all of the instruments for his shows. But for now, in this moment, this is a really exciting revival for me. Again, it does not change my mind on the show, but it does hold my attention the entire time. And Nicole is the linchpin that holds it all together. Because in so many ways, this revival is up its own ass. In so many ways, this revival is a departure from everything that you're supposed to do, and yet somehow, in a weird miracle, it still works and is still compelling. And again, at the center of it is Nicole. Other people in the show are also very good. David Thaxton as Max, who is unfortunately not Tony nominated for this is pretty fucking fantastic. Tom Francis is very dreamy as Joe. And of course, there is the infamous actual opener where they go through the entire theater and then out into the street and then back through the lobby up on stage. And it is absolutely a coup de theatre. What it means, I couldn't tell you. Some people have said, oh, it's about the shallowness of the entertainment industry and how it's all just for show. And I go, okay, yeah, sure, maybe, but I only sort of buy that. So that's it on Sunset Boulevard. Very much, very much, very much like this. Didn't expect to, but yet here we are. This is the weirdness of the season, is it not? Okay, moving on. Number 11. I'm disgusting. Yellowface. Yellowface is the technically speaking Broadway debut of David Henry Huang's. Sorry, David Henry Huang's play, Pulitzer Prize nominated play, Yellowface. But it is, technically speaking, a revival because it's been around for about 20 years now. And it is both a true depiction of the fallout of his protesting against the casting of Miss aigon, and just the existence of Miss the Musical, as well as his own backstage tales with a famous flop. He had the most expensive straight play to flop in previews, I think, on Broadway called Face Value, while also including a fictitious account of casting and his own personal life at that time. And the play is, in my opinion, a far more successful satirical depiction of the entertainment industry and creatives in the industry and actors in the industry, as well as how audiences respond to controversy and lack of subtlety in works and just sort of what we might find offensive that someone else may not. The running joke is that Daniel Dae Kim, as the David Henry Huang character, is protesting Miss Saigon. But his father, who's an immigrant and has become a success in America, keeps calling him, asking him, can you get me and my friends tickets to Miss Saigon? And it looks so amazing. And he's like, dad, that shows offensive to us. He's like, but it looks so beautiful. He's like, and you have a Tony Award now so you can get us tickets, right? And he's like, dad, I'm the face. I'm the public face of the protest against this show. No, they will not give me tickets. So that's the kind of humor of the show. They sort of like, ah, parents, am I right? And what I will say is that if I were to give any caveats, to the show is that ultimately I wish it had been in the Booth. The David Haymes Theater, while not a large theater by any means, it was still a bit too big for this kind of show, but they were able to fill the space rather well. Daniel Dae Kim in the main role, while I thought he did a very nice job, I did ultimately find him to be one of the weaker people in the cast, which is not, you know, it's not that he was bad. It's just that when other people around you are kind of hitting a remarkable level of accuracy and you are 20% under them, it tends to stick out. And we'll talk about that in a second with a later show. I also think that the play, while the first, it's about an hour and 45 minutes, and the first hour and 20, I find kind of perfect. And then the last 25, it all slowly starts to fall apart. It's still engaging and compelling, but it's a lot messier and loses a bit of its narrative thread. But overall, the director, Leigh Silverman, and her company are able to hold it all together. And even if the last 25 minutes are not quite as strong as the rest of it, it's not a pirate situation where it makes you angry at the show and thus you start to lose your positivity on the previous material that you just witnessed. For this, it did not ruin it for me. It was still fascinating, if maybe not quite as tightly constructed as the rest of it, and ultimately was a major high point of the season for me. And I would not trade Francis Chu's performance for the world. And I'm glad that it's now going to be available on PBS for people to watch. I hope that people enjoy it as much as I did, and I hope that Francis Zhu is really a contender for the Tony for featured actor in a play this year because he really had the audience in the palm of his hand. Granted, it was a wonderful role that he played as Daniel Dae Kim's father, but just really, really phenomenal work of specificity, naturalism, while also filling the space and just having genuine character work, but also a showmanship that allows you to play an audience like a fiddle. And that's sort of kind of the point of yellowface in general, of asking these really tough questions and also exploring the idea of double standards, all within the idea of a satirical farce in the industry of what if this Asian playwright, who is the face of a protest against yellowface in a major Broadway musical, accidentally cast a white actor in his play about an Asian character. And thus it has to do yellowface, because he can't publicly say, hey, I made a mistake here. And no one's willing to question this actor's ethnicity because that's considered problematic. So when every time people ask him about his background, he kind of dodges the question, and other people dodge the question because no one has the guts to say outright, are you Asian or not? And so it's, it's, it's. I think it's a very interesting and funny depiction of the double standard and the sort of lack of gumption sometimes this industry has when it comes to taking accountability as well as willing to ask the tougher questions to do the. Do the work and, and have the results that we claim we want to have. And, yeah, that's me for yellowface. That's. That's number 11. Okay, we are now entering in the top 10. Everybody ready? Okay. Number 10. I'm disgusting. Eureka Day. This is by Jonathan Spector and was produced by Manhattan Theater Club. It is about the board of a. Let's I guess we would call it, like, progressive charter school in California taking place in 2019. And it's, you know, very hippie, dippy. You know, they don't really believe in rules, and it's very progressive. And, oh, we teach about racism and the patriarchy and all these things, but there are no real mandates in terms of the student body. And this is all well and good until there is, I believe, it's a mumps outbreak happens and the student body starts to get infected because they realize that there's no vaccine mandate at the school. And some students are getting incredibly sick. Some students are totally fine. But there becomes this worry on the board of, well, we might need to enforce a mandate on vaccinations to keep the students healthy. And then there becomes a question of, well, is that inflicting on people's rights, on people's beliefs? And then you have vaccine deniers who are saying, well, actually, vaccines don't help, and they are unhealthy, and they've led to plenty of complications. And it turns out that Jessica Hecht, whose character, Suzanne, has always been sort of like the unofficial co. Lead of the. Of the board of this school, who's had both of her children at this school. She's not a nasty person, but she is a very controlling person and a very stubborn person. And you watch in these meetings, especially with Amber Heard's Karina, who's a new parent at the school, not really understanding the dynamics and how Things are done and you watch them, you know, sort of butt heads at the beginning in a very polite and not trying to get each other canceled sort of way. And then when shit gets real with this outbreak and they start having genuine conversations about vaccines and Karina, who is, I believe, a lawyer and doing as much research as she can on the validity of vaccination positives and minuses and whether vaccine deniers are actually dealing with truth or if they're dealing with their own warped narrative. That's when Jessica Hecht kind of shows her true colors as Suzanne and really proves to be the Karen that she is. Because she comes out and says, and basically is saying, I don't approve of vaccinations and I'm not going to tell people not to do them, but you cannot tell me and my children that we have to have them, that we have to be here, happen if we want to be at this school. And eventually she tells a story to Amber Gray about her own child many years ago who passed away when she got vaccinated and blames the vaccines for it and talks about all these other things. And then Amber Gray is sympathetic and then kind of comes back at her with proof of, you know, of probably most likely having pre existing conditions with her daughter that the vaccine did not affect and that was most likely what killed her daughter and not the vaccines. And what I like about this play, this play is not perfect. Similar to Yellowface, it's a little messy. But what Eureka Day does is that it asks a lot of questions in a comical way and is ultimately the major highlight is the community. I think it's the community activation call the cac. Basically, it's like a town hall that the board does on a Zoom in the library with all of the parents while all the kids are sort of in lockdown while they try to wait for this outbreak to die down. And as Bill Irwin is trying to, you know, run this town hall, we get a projection screen showing all of the comments from the parents. And it starts off sweet enough, oh, we all love you, we're here, we're safe, blah, blah, blah. How's everything going over there? When's the school going to reopen? My kid loves this teacher. And it's. And it's funny and it's relatable. And then eventually the conversation in the chat box for the Zoom devolves when it becomes revealed that some parents don't trust vaccines and don't want vaccines. And then all of a sudden other parents are like, wait, how can you not Believe in vaccines. What's wrong with you? And then it goes back and forth and talks about, you know, Nazi Germany and like, oh, well, here it is right on time. And then, of course, I almost positive there's like a 911 reference in there. And it all blows up in everyone's face on this zoom. And that's when the board realizes, oh, this is bigger than us. Oh, and things are far more tense than we ever could have imagined it to be. And that's when this school that thrives off of individuality and not necessarily implementing structure and strict rules on its students and on its parents has to kind of make a trolley decision similar to, you know, in job. But the idea of, well, we don't want to force a mentality that not everyone agrees to, but at the same time, we can't keep going on like this because then the school will eventually shut down because kids are going to keep getting sick from not being vaccinated, so what do we do? And they keep trying to find ways to make everybody happy because they want everyone to feel welcome and everyone to feel heard, but at the same time, not in order to implement change that's for good and people. You know, terms like greater good has been corrupted by truly evil forces. But the idea of, in order for us to reach a place where we have progress, we have to break a few eggs in order to make this omelet. And you watch these people who've never had to tighten their belt before, start to have to grow a spine and fight each other. And everyone has points, and some people who have the best points are people you don't like very much. And people who are on the wrong side are people who you care about and totally want to support, but at the same time, they're wrong. And the way that the committee ends up deciding and how they deal with Jessica Hecht, who becomes the one dissenting vote, is both very comical and also not scary. But. But shows you how there's no side of the aisle that is immune, immune to mutiny, to corruption, to turning a blind eye to misdeeds, again, for the sake of what they think is the right decision, the correct decision. And I think that that is something to appreciate in a play like this, to use humor and an anthropological viewpoint on society and culture and ask questions. It does not give you any answers, nor should it. And I find that the most exciting thing about it. So yay on Eureka Day. And on top of that, it is a very strong cast with Jessica Hecht once again turning in a brilliant performance. This might be the most perfect casting of her yet. And if there's any justice, she will win the Tony this year. She may not. She is up against Kara Young and Kara Young tends to do well with these things. But if ever there was a year where Jessica Hecht could win the Tony, it would be this for Eureka Day. So that's Eureka day at number 10. Number nine. I'm disgusting. Purpose by Brandon Jacobs Jenkins. This just won the Pulitzer for drama and you can still see it if you haven't yet. I believe it plays until July at the Hayes Theater. This is similar to me as Eureka Day and Yellowface, a play that is not perfect, but what does work about it works so well and will remain with you that you kind of have to give itself props, you know. And this is a very tight ensemble, very well directed by Philippe Rashad, a beautiful set. And it's less that similar, it's more that the second act of this play, which is about a prominent African American family living in D.C. dealing with their own controversies and drama, with a son who just came back from prison, a daughter in law who's about to go to prison, a father who has his own scandals, and a father who was a major civil rights icon and a noble figure of the black community who's revealing himself to be far more conservative in his older age and resentful of his younger generations than you would expect. And the idea of what is it that we owe our kin? What is it that we owe our elders? What is it to make history? Why do we make history? Why are we trying to make history all the time when there's no history to be made sometimes? What is our actual purpose on this earth and our obligations to each other? What is it exactly that is family? And what does it mean to just be a supportive person to another in this world, whether it's family, whether it's a friend, whether it's an enemy. And the first act of Purpose sets up all of these questions very well. The first act is almost perfect. A little heavy on narration from John Michael Hill, but overall pretty much perfect. The second act is where things get a little sloppy. They don't fall apart like in the last 20 minutes of yellowface. And they continually ask the questions like in Eureka Day. And overall, because the first act is so strong in purpose, I will I give it the edge over Eureka Day. The thing about the second act is more that it is, in my humble opinion, still a little too fatty. Everything that's in that second act is integral to the. To the Plot and the themes of this show. It could easily get 15 minutes shaved off just within each scene of going through with a scalpel and a discerning eye and shaving off anything that could be remotely considered fat. And then watch that play take off like a rocket because so much of it already is really hot and spicy and bubbling. And then the second act is like, oh, now we're gonna just sort of bathe in this for a while. And it hasn't really earned. The first act doesn't earn the right for the second act to just luxuriate. There's still too much unresolved and too much tension for the second act to relax as much as it does. But it does still hold a compelling place with that second act. And again, the company is phenomenal. And as we all know, I love Alana Arenas in this play. She has the smallest role, but she made the biggest impact for me again, probably because she was the biggest surprise. But I am obsessed with her. I will watch her forever now, and I look forward to seeing anything else she does. I'm glad to see Glen Davis on Broadway and Tony nominated after loving him in Downstate. You know, Jenkins is just. He is a playwright who really enjoys the kitchen sink element of drama while discussing the larger elements of the world, which I think is what the best playwrights of yore used to do. Brandon Jacobs. Jenkins is, in his own way, kind of a modern day Arthur Lawrence. Not Arthur Lawrence. Fuck Arthur Lawrence. A modern day Arthur Miller, but with a far keener comedic eye, I think, because of the development that Appropriate has gone through. I would like to see Purpose go through a similar development. Where it's at is wholly effective. And I think part of the reason why that is is even though the second act is as fatty as it is, the overall ensemble work is so strong that. And act one sets the table so perfectly that we are willing to forgive a lot of the air that's in that second act. But that doesn't stop the fact that it is there and worth taking some to suck out. But this is overall a really wonderful play and I highly recommend it with some phenomenal acting all over the place. All right, we are going to get to our top eight in just a second. But first, let's take one last break.
- [98:42]
A
Billy, I beg to differ with you.
- [98:43]
B
How do you mean?
- [98:44]
A
You're the top. Yeah, you're an arrow caller. You're the top. You're a Coolidge dollar. You're the nimble tread of the feet of Fred Astaire.
- [98:59]
B
And we're back. So to catch us back up, for those of you just joining us at number 42 of the rankings this season, we have left on 10th 41 is McNeil 40 is Tammy Faye 39 is Redwood 38 is the Last Five Years 37 is Romeo and Juliet 36. Home 35. Smoosh 34. All In 33. Othello 32. Glengarry Glen Ross 31. The Roommate 30. Our Town 29. A Wonderful World 28. Swept Away 27. Good Night and Good Luck 26. Pirates The Penzance Musical 25. Once Upon a Mattress 24. Job 23. Old Friends 22. Gypsy 21. Stranger Things 20. Boop 19. Operation Mincemeat 18. Real Women have Curves 17. Buena Vista Social Club 16. Just in Time The Bobby Darin Musical 15. Dead Outlaw 14. Elf 13. Death Becomes Her 12. Sunset Boulevard 11. Yellowface 10. Eureka Day 9. Purpose and Now 8. I'm Disgusting Cult of Love by Leslie Headland unfortunately, this play did not receive any Tony nominations this year, which is a shame because it was another one of my favorite ensemble pieces of the year and a really, really strong play. I would argue that Eureka Day is better at asking questions without a strawman argument, and Purpose, while maybe a little fattier than Cult of Love, ultimately goes a little deeper. But Cult of Love is a tighter play than Purpose. It is a tighter play and better constructed play than Eureka Day and like those two also has a phenomenal ensemble. I mean with these three you're basically just playing with house money of good shows. But Cult of Love for me was a little more enjoyable because it was a little tighter and better constructed. Again with amazing acting all around. Shout outs to Shailene Woodley who is making her Broadway debut in this Molly Barnard who gave my favorite performance in Cult of Love. Cult of Love tells the story of a family celebrating Christmas Eve at the parents home. The youngest daughter is living there with her husband while she's pregnant with her second child and we've learned that she has chemical mental chemical imbalance, most likely depression and bipolar and is known for hysterics and actually is normally on medication but she and her husband are not having her go on them which is making her mental capacity even worse these days. From her mental faculties I should say There are two other siblings. Three other siblings. There is Zachary Quinto who's the oldest brother. There is the oldest sister played by I believe it's Rebecca Henderson. And then there is the youngest brother which is Bill. No, no, Bill is the father who is the youngest Brother. The youngest brother is Johnny. No. Yes, Johnny. Christopher Sears as Johnny Doll. That's the youngest brother. And Johnny shows up with Barbie Ferreira, who we know from Euphoria on hbo. Cult of Love ultimately asks the questions about, you know, is family something that you are beholden to? Is family simply just a group of people who you have too many shared experiences with that you can't really quit them? What, like, do you love them? Or is it a biological connection that you can't forego? Because a lot of people talk about how family is. You know, someone is a group of people that you are beholden to. But what is family? Because a lot of people have chosen family because their birth family rejected them, sometimes for reasons you may not know or reasons they tell you, or sometimes they abuse them and they run away. Cult of Love is about a family that ultimately abuses each other in all of the most emotional ways and sometimes in the mental ways. But when things get really bad, when Shailene Woodley's Diana has a major episode, they are there, and they are, and they know what to do to help and to support her. And same with everyone else in that family. But there's also the question of what happens when your children start living lives different from yours and lives that maybe you grew up and told you shouldn't agree with? Do you have to rethink your whole existence and your whole way of thinking so you can show your child that you support them? What about your other children? Because the thing about Cult of Love is that the family, the Dolls, is a very religious family, but they have two children, a son who was going to be a priest who left to go to law school, and then a daughter who came out as gay. And they sort of feel like the lone wolves of this family. And then they have a younger son who loves his family but is absolutely aware of their dysfunction and kind of lives, this bohemian, vagabond lifestyle. And then Diana, who is the most religious of all of them and yet she has the most mental issues of all of them and is the most infantilized by the parents. And when the show ends without giving too much away, it ultimately shows, in the case of this family, the Doll family, that people will say that they will break off, that they will leave, that they will go off and do their own thing, but there's really no such thing as that anymore, not with how technology works, how even if you are still connected to one person in that family, you are connected to the rest of them, no matter how hard you pretend otherwise, no matter how much they hurt you, they betray you. And you can say that you're done, you're never really done. And that can either be heartwarming or that can be terrifying. Cult of Love is almost like a cynical, harsh, semi horror movie version of the TV show Parenthood. Another story of a very tight knit unit that treats their family like a club. And what's the difference between a club and a cult really? There's an ideology that you sort of implement for no reason. A loyalty that almost becomes your identity and an exclusiveness that one wonders is, is it because you love each other so much or is it because you're afraid if an outsider comes in, what they might show you, what they might reveal to you about your relationships with each other. And Cult of Love does not answer any of these questions, but it does explore them. The one thing that Cult of Love does that I can't super support is it is a very strawman argument kind of show. Not in terms of family but in terms of other ideologies, religion, sexuality. You know, they have a son who's become atheist and a daughter who's gay. And they do a lot of straw man arguments where they have the parents or they have the sister who are very much more religious and more conservative, say these things that are so simplistic and obtuse. And granted there are of course people in the world who feel this way, but they say these things not because the writer is looking to get into the minds of these characters, but because they want the other siblings to say the speeches that the audience feels and wants to cheer on with. Right. It's the only part of the show that is not as nuanced and complicated as the rest of it. And it happens every now and then. And it's not that it's bad writing, it's just a little simple. And for a show that has a lot more meat on the bone, it's a little disappointing that these are the moments that still exist. But overall the piece is so effective that I. It's not that I ignore it, but I can forgive it when the other highs are so good. Which actually leads us next to number seven. This is it, Floyd Collins. The first Broadway production of Adam Gettles debut New York City musical about the true story of Floyd Collins, a cave explorer and enthusiast who was looking to make his fortune by finding a new cave in his homeland and you know, turned into an attraction so he and his family would no longer have their money woes and then only to get stuck in the cave and then A rescue team trying to save him and being unable to. And while all of this is happening, the media circus surrounding the attempts at his rescue. An odd idea for a musical, no? And yet another New York Times critics pick. Here we actually have. I didn't even mention all the other critics picks we've had, but that's because we're now in the section where I think the critics picks me more sense. Floyd Collins is a weird musical. I never saw it live, but I am a child of the early 2000s. I'm a teenager of the early 2000s, and I am friends with a lot of straight musical theater boys. And so this was a show that a lot of straight musical theater boys very much loved. This and last five years are like the two big ends for them. And I was aware of it and I didn't really listen to the music until I got to college. I did a whole paper on the call and then I did the Riddle Song my senior year, senior year of college, I think. But I never got to see the show live. And I'd always heard about the beauty of it and the simplicity of the original production. And, oh, Ben Brantley didn't understand the show back in the day. And, oh, we've matured so much now. We should really do it. And then they announced they're doing it at the Vivienne Beaumont, which is such a large theater for such a small show, and everyone's just sort of waiting to see what happens with it. And early reports from previews were not good. But I must say then the reviews come out, which were mostly positive, including critics pick from the New York Times. And I go see it. And I understand criticisms for the show. Floyd Collins as a musical has its bumps. It is a two actor that probably should be an hour and 45, no intermission. Not enough happens in the first act to warrant the length that this show is. It is Tina Landau as the book writer and director, trying to spread out the tension of whether Floyd will be rescued or not as long as she possibly can. And ultimately, I think proves that there is just so long an audience is willing to wait before something happens. Judging from the number of walkouts that the show has been having, on top of that, it is ultimately too large of a stage for this musical. The expansiveness of the theater works in some respects and the simplicity of the design works in some respects. As I said before, the second number of the show, Jeremy Jordan's intro number, the Call, is, in my humble opinion, perfect. I have no notes on it. There are other Times when the space swallows this musical whole and it's hard to have it reach past the sixth or seventh row. But the highs of Floyd Collins for me are so high that I can't be too bothered about the times when it's a little less good because there's nothing in it that's awful. There are. It has two performances that I think are weaker than everybody else. But musically speaking, the show is perfect. The design, I think, is very effective. For as simple, as deceptively simple as it may seem, Jeremy Jordan is officially now my pick for best actor in a musical. Not that I predict he's gonna win, but that's who I would vote for. Gray in alpha is now my number two. Even though, you know, he's not nominated, whatever. But Floyd Collins, it is not a perfect musical and this is not a perfect production. But in a time when there is so much shrink wrapped, perfectly pleasant. I am so happy when I see something, even if it's not consistent, that has such incredible highs that I am not angry about it. And this is a personal thing for me. Right. I'm sure there are people who would put Floyd Collins in their bottom five this year. I have a couple of friends who texted me after seeing it and super hated it. But also I have friends who, you know, saw, I don't know, like, Our Town and were like, oh, my God, what a beautiful production. Like, okay. Happy you enjoyed your time in the theater. I enjoyed my time in the theater of Floyd Collins, very much so. And I will continue to sing this revival's praises and I look forward to its cast album because, my God, is that going to be a phenomenal recording. Beautiful voices all around, an expanded orchestration of a wonderful Adam Gettles score. Is it as good as Piazza? Not quite. It's a little more dissonant, a little more plucky, twangy. But songs like the Call, I just can't get over How Glory Goes, the Riddle Song. It's just. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. When you have something as beautiful and complex, yet also simple and weird, but cathartic and emotional, some things can just sort of reach you in a weird, weird way and you can't define it other than just how you feel. And this was something where I understand that a lot of people don't have the same response to it, but I do think it's a worthwhile thing to see. I really do. Over a lot of mediocre to negative shows I've seen this season. So that's my number seven, which is Floyd Collins. Okay, moving on. Number six. I'm disgusting. The Picture of Dorian Gray starring Sarah Snook written and directed by Kip Williams, based on the novel by Oscar Wilde. This is perhaps the best usage and most creative and surprising usage of screen on stage this season. I can't say that it is as integral to the plot as Goodnight and good luck. It makes less sense. But this is a modern presentation. It's not a retelling because it is ultimately the novel recited verbatim by Sarah Snook with some, you know, cuts made to condense the material. But this is a one woman show. Sarah Snook playing every single part in this gothic horror story about the cost of vanity and putting all of your faith in beauty and youth. There's a lot of humor to it. There's a lot of theatricality to it, which I appreciate. The humor sometimes undercuts the biting message of the piece and sometimes the great loss and the cutting effect of the evil that Dorian Gray starts to lean into over time by going for humor more often and for a coy, arching eyebrow than a bloody sneer. You know, And I can't say that I was necessarily moved by this production. I didn't feel emotionally charged by it. What I felt was intellectually stimulated and artistically fascinated, which is nothing to sneeze at. This is a very, very smart, very, very. I don't say avant garde, but this uses every resource you could think of. In live performance, there is obviously the screen of it all. And most of Sarah Snook's performance is viewed on a screen as she is being filmed by an ensemble of videographers throughout the show. But there is also a live component to her performance and also there are surprises done within the screen. Spoiler alert if you aren't. If you want to see the show and are worried about spoilers, there comes a moment about 20 or so minutes in when you start to understand that that Snoop is not just going to be acting on her own, but she will be acting opposite herself on screen. As in there are pre records of her performance that she has to act opposite of, timed down to the millisecond, which is incredibly, incredibly impressive. It's not necessarily what I would vote for, for best when it comes to acting, but that's also why art is subjective, right? It is absolutely a tour de force of a performance and one that you cannot sneeze at because it is in addition to the multitude of characters she is playing, the text she has to always keep in her head, the physical exhaustion she must have from running not only all over the stage, but all throughout the backstage and through the theater. And then on top of that timing with pre records of herself. This is a mental gymnastic the likes of which I do not envy. If the fact that I am maybe less emotionally charged by it is a ding against it, that's also probably true of the novel. Oscar Wilde, I would not say, is a writer who's ever made me cry, but he isn't a writer who's made me think. And this production makes you think. But there's also a bit of an exhaustion you can get in the last 20 or so minutes of the show by being breakneck speed for so long, by constantly overwhelming your senses with every facet of theatricality you could use. There gets to be a moment where some people in the audience might plateau. I kind of did. And if I did, that means somebody else did as well. And I do also know some people who walked out and were not disappointed, but I think maybe expected a bit more of an emotional charge from it than they got. But it is a piece that is worth discussing and worth seeing. And I can't say that I want people to continually use screens on stage and videography on screen on stage. But this is a case of, oh, it's not similar to Sunset Boulevard. The videography is another character of the show and has a point to be made while doing it. Whether you agree with the point, whether you find it effective, is up to you, but it's not just for the sake of impressiveness. Although the show is impressive, and that is something that I appreciate, especially because unlike Sunset Boulevard, there are actual tangible set pieces to Picture of Dorian Gray. Again, while it is often a film that you're watching, there's also the excitement of seeing where things hide within the walls of the stage. There's a full apartment that they show and various doors and a theater and a puppet show and a forest. And it's just. It's not just relying on technology. It is truly using every square inch of that theater to tell the story. And for that, I think we should absolutely commend it. And if I, again, if I maybe wasn't moved, I was wholly impressed and I will remember it. And that is ultimately, you know, the. The biggest compliment I can give it. Next up at number five. We're getting down to it now, guys. Number five. I'm disgusting. John Proctor is the villain. This is absolutely the number one. I'm eating my hat. Show of the season for me. This was something that I went on mic and said. I feel like this is my worst nightmare come to life. A bunch of gen zers sit in a room and talk about how the Crucible is problematic now. That is not what the play is, although that is how some of the marketing promoted it. So I cannot be blamed for what was said in bylines and put in articles and said in commercials and whatnot. But the play by Kimberly Bellflower is much more complicated and much more empathetic than that. And pragmatic too. I appreciate a play where no one is fully right and no one is fully wrong. And that is the case for the first half of John Proctor is the villain. Everyone has stuff that they are going through, everyone is doing wrong by someone somehow and everyone is just trying to make it to tomorrow. Even the shitty boys of the school. Because this is a high school in, I believe it's Alabama. I can't remember the state anymore. It's been so long and I've been talking for so long. This episode is forever. But the play, obviously, it takes place around 2018, during the rise of the second wave of MeToo, and these high school juniors are coming to terms with their own femininity, independence, what it means to be a feminist and how the world is changing, and how to view sexuality, sexual advances, the opposite sex, and the culture in which they are coming of age in and each girl finds themselves independent in some way and not in others, and confused about their independence in so many ways. While all this is happening, their old friend comes back after being away for a few months and hurting her best friend in the process. This is Amalia Yu's Raelyn. Her best friend Shelby, played by Sadie Sink, comes back after being away for a few months and Shelby basically slept with Raylan's boyfriend, which was, you know, that's a huge violation as friends, on top of the fact that Raylan is religious and part of the reason why her boyfriend cheated on her was because he wanted to finally have sex after years of being together and she wasn't ready. But then also there's the question of will Raelyn ever be ready? Because Raelyn doesn't seem to find boys sexually attractive, but that doesn't. But she's unclear if she's even queer. She just finds the idea of women taking men down far more exciting than actually being intimate with the man. Plus, on top of that, she's having the realization that being with one person since you're like 12 is maybe not the healthiest thing, and that maybe you're forever person you don't always find when you're 16. 16. On top of all this, men in their town, fathers and teachers of girls in their school, are getting accusations left and right from women who worked with them, who were alone with them. And the question becomes, well, I want to support other women and I want to support the MeToo movement. These girls want to start a feminism club. But when it comes, when it comes to your own home and starts affecting people you care about, how willing are you to believe victims? Because sometimes the easier thing to do is not the right thing. And sometimes the person who you like the least in the world is actually a victim. And if you say you believe victims, you believe victims. And supporting women does not mean tearing another woman down to show another woman that you care. It's showing empathy when it. When it's deserved, when it needs it. And sometimes you have to do really hard work on yourself and your priorities in order to show up and be an advocate for someone else who needs you. And that sometimes predators are not people who come out and seem evil. They are people who maybe have done really right by you and then have done really wrong by someone else. If there's one flaw I find with the show, well, one is that when I saw the show and they granted, they were still in the second half of their preview period, but I found that Sadie Sinkhe Shelby was probably the weakest person in the show and she wasn't. She wasn't bad. I want to make that perfectly clear. It's that everyone else was operating at such a high level and Sadie Sink has not been on stage in a while, so she was definitely getting her sea legs back. She was still figuring out how to physically be in the moment while also presenting outwards to 700 plus people, whereas everyone else in the company was really able to do that. Of course I mentioned Finestrasa as Beth Powell. The Tracy Enid flick of the group who is coming is also grappling with her own issues with me too, and the people in her life who might be coming under the thumb of the rise of the movement. And I'm glad that she got a Tony nomination. I was so fucking thrilled for her. The other thing I have is that when the shit hits the fan and Gabriel Ebert's character, Carter Smith, their teacher that they all love, especially Finestrasa, when it's revealed that Sadie sings Shelby had an affair with him when a few months prior. And that is why she slept with her best friend's boyfriend. Because she needed something to break her out of this feeling of disgustingness, her words, and then has her own sort of like little mental break and has to go away for a while. She comes back and she comes back and sort of hunts him down during a class dissertation about the Crucible, specifically the character of John Proctor and how he is not a hero, he is a villain in respect to how he treats Abigail Williams, a character who is treated as a villain in the play, but actually is a victim herself. And the play goes a little similar to Cult of Love with its strawman arguments. Similar to something like Yellowface that kind of falls apart in the third act of itself or in. I know when I'm saying like with Cult of Love, but like the simplicity of the strawman arguments, right? There gets to be a bit of a simplicity in the last 20 minutes of John Proctor as the villain that I don't dislike so much as that I'm a little disappointed because up until those last 20 minutes, the play is really good at finding humor in the complexities of human nature and the satire of our own not two facedness, but our own hypocrisy. And I understand that there's a catharsis to the last 20 minutes that I maybe don't get as a woman, but I do get as someone who is a sexual abuse survivor who will never really get a chance to confront his abuser as that abuser died. But I always kind of feel like it's an easy out when a character who maybe has to challenge an audience to grapple with their own feelings about them then takes a heel turn to make it just a little easier for them. I don't believe in letting an audience fully off the hook. I believe an audience should walk away with a million questions and really kind of fight for their opinion. And for much of John Proctor as the villain, that is the case. And it's not that the last 20 minutes fall apart. It's not that they're bad. It's that they're just a little less complex than the previous hour and 20. And for a show that up until then really kind of I thought was nailing it over and over and over again. It just sort of disappointed me that that's where it chose to go. But. But it does end in a way that really brings it all together. And so we forgive. And it's not my place to say do better because they are doing really, really well. This is a personal thing for me when it comes to plays, especially when the play did so much work and did so well in asking those questions. And then to go a little more simple towards the end, I found to be just sort of. I found that to be an out rather than conclusion of what we had seen. So that's just my only thing about John Proctor as the villain. Otherwise this was such a wonderful surprise and I happily ate my hat, as I put it at number five. Number four, I'm disgusting. English yet another Pulitzer winner of this season and another best play nominee, very deservedly so, with two Tony nominations for its cast. One for Tala Ash, which I love, one of my favorite performances of the year. And the other one is Marjeanne Marchette, I believe that is the name of the actress. Yes, yes, let me say Marjane Nechette. Sorry. The play is the Broadway debut of Sanaz Toussi and she's a very young writer and so fucking talented and I am very angry and jealous of how good she is. So God damn it, Sanaz. This is a piece that I found so delightful, so endearing, so engaging and with so many pitch perfect performances, a great ensemble piece and not one that this is one where actually when it ends, it does not end with your comfort, it ends with what is true, which is that this is mostly taking place over the course of many English classes for a group of people looking to gain visas or amnesty in English speaking countries where and going from Farsi to English and the teacher teaching them, who is fluent and lives in London for many years and is now back in her home country of Pakistan, of Iran circa 2008. And the different students in her class, one who's more combative, that's Tala Ash because she's very smart and she wants to be a doctor and study in Australia, but she's having trouble with English. She doesn't like the language, she finds it ugly, she finds it confusing and which is why she's also struggling with it so much. And then another student goalie, who's 18 and is actually really flourishing in the class and that's because she actually really enjoys the English language and has this really phenomenal presentation, this oral report on Ricky Martin's song she bangs where she analyzes the lyrics in English and talks about what they mean in English and it's so, it's so sweet and she's so fun and she means so well and she's a smart kid and she doesn't let the negativity of Tala Ash's Alem get to her. She allows herself to succeed in this language because she likes it and because it shows that she's good at things and that she is smart and she's allowed to enjoy stuff. There's no harm in enjoying something if it doesn't harm anyone else. And then, of course, there are other characters. There's Roya, who doesn't even really want to be there. She's learning English to appease her son and then sort of backtracks and reclaims her Iranian identity and her love of Farsi and saying, like, I'm not going to bend to my child, who I love, but is hurting me with this. I'm going to stick with what I know and what I like. Which, you know, that is, I would say, a more positive spin on the mentality that has definitely done a lot of harm in this world of I'm going to stick with what I know and what I like and not challenge myself. I think the difference is that with Roya, Roya is challenging herself to learn English for the appeasement of someone else who is trying to erase their heritage as Iranian or Iranian. And for that, Roya sort of reclaims the identity rather than reject, challenge, reclaim something that's trying to be erased. And that is what makes that positive. And then on top of that, there's also Omid, who is, you know, the savant of the class, only to reveal that he's actually got dual citizenship and has learned known English his whole life. That's a whole other storyline you don't have to get into. And no one really cares about Omid anyway. It's really about the women in the show. But this is a engaging, fun, sweet play, perfectly acted. I loved it so much. I could watch it two more times. I just. I could not get enough of it. It was so wonderful and deals with themes of identity and representation and acclamation and when you're learning something new, especially something as difficult as a new language, what if you. What of your personage? Are you giving up to learn this new thing? Is there room for both? Is there space for two identities? Or do you have to let go of one a little bit to make room for another? Because what's the difference between growing up and, you know, code switching when it comes to something like a language, right? Are you progressing or are you altering yourself? And the show, again, doesn't give you answers. It just sort of wants to question it with different perspectives from different characters as they have different success with this language. And then the final few minutes is the characters of Elimination and Marjane speaking in Farsi with no subtitles. And just for about two minutes. And all you have to do is just sit in the moment of knowing that you don't fully understand what they're saying, putting you in their shoes as they're learning the English language, but also knowing these characters as well as you do now and absorbing the emotional context of how they are feeling in that moment. You have an idea of what they are saying. You maybe don't know it for sure, but you can feel it. And that's a beautiful thing. And I love it so much, and I'm so glad that it came to Broadway and that it's been so recognized by the Tonys. And that's English at number four. All right, number three. Today the air in Seoul is very clear and warm. Today the smiles, too, are warmer than the norm. Though the change is not maybe happy ending, ending. What can I say about this show that I haven't already said in my review in my ranking from December, and that hasn't already been said on the Internet? This show is exceptionally lovely and again, was a major surprise, really. No one had any stake in it. No one really thought anything was gonna happen with this show and then had a lot of bad press because it was having trouble with money and coming in at the wrong time. They were delayed a month. And the premise was something that a lot of people felt wasn't really worth it. And then the moment it started, the word of mouth was like, no, this is a special show and should be seen. And the reviews came out and they were also saying like, no, this is a special show and it needs to be seen. And the producers of this show, God bless them, really invested extra money and extra time in getting people to see this. This is a true successor of Gentleman's Guide to Love and murder from 11 years ago. A show that really struggled coming out the gate, but had the reviews, had the word of mouth and had the foresight to know that if we can just get to the Tonys, we might have a shot. And they were able, unlike Gentleman's Guide, they were actually able to turn their fortunes around relatively quickly. It took about all of previews and, let's say, three, four weeks of performances before their grosses got to a place that were looking good. But they kept increasing because, again, word of. Again, because word of mouth was so strong on this, and we as a community fought for everyone to see it. That's the thing is, like, when a show really is special and people cannot, like, maybe happy ending, that's fine. But it proves that there is something about this show when its fortunes turn around like this because it shows that people really do not only love it in the theater, but they go out and they yell at people that they have to see it. And this is an intimate chamber musical with the production value of an actual blockbuster. It's not, you know, I know Darren Crisman said, like, oh, my God, not since Phantom have you seen spectacle like this. Like, it is a spectacle. It projections up the wazoo and a turntable and multiple beautiful lighting cues and an early set that gives off very, like, futuristic Korean company, like the Bunny Christie Company set. But it's a very elaborate production. It's not overwhelming, though. It all feels authentic to the piece. And I think this is a show that could work in a black box. It also works as well at this stage of spectacle. The only two notes I really have are a. As everyone knows, there are sightline issues with this show, but it's a Michael Arden production, and there tend to be sightline issues with it. But I will also say Michael Arden, just as a director on Broadway, gets better with each production of his that I've seen. I loved his work on Parade. I love his work on this. I think the musical itself is so good, it shows that he's able to work on new material, not just revivals. And my only other really complaint is that the last 20 minutes are kind of. Last 20 minutes have been a theme for shows this season. But, like, with maybe happy ending, it's not that things go bad in quality or anything like that. It's just that it kind of ends a few different times. You think we're wrapping things up and then there's like, another little bit to go and then another little bit. And an audience can get a little resentful if they feel like we're prolonging a conclusion. And luckily, when it ends, it ends very sweetly and everyone's very happy. But that is sort of my. Those are my only two real caveats. But I don't want anyone to think that that detracts from the fact that this show is just gorgeous. And I don't want anyone to also think, because it's, on the surface, simplistic, seemingly, that it is a simplistic show. What this show has to say about connection and loneliness and usefulness and, you know, what our society deems useful and what it does when something is no longer considered useful and the importance of. Of being connected to somebody in this world and what you do with the bittersweet feelings you have of when something you loved is over or someone you love is gone. Better to, you know, to have loved and lived than to not love or live at all. It tackles all of these things in a way that isn't heavy handed, that is genuinely sweet, but not in a sticky kind of way. It holds you in its embrace with both arms without crushing you and it sweeps you up in its loveliness without overwhelming you. It has a very good balance of humor and heart without pushing either too much and never goes for an easy joke, never goes for an easy gasp or an easy cry. It's just a dropped in lovely musical that luckily it seems that the public has caught on with. And it has two central performances by Darren Criss and Helen Jae Shen that are spectacular and their chemistry is phenomenal. Their balance with each other is beautiful and and I'm looking. I know people have been up in arms about Helen J. Shen's lack of a Tony nomination. If you listened to our last Tony predictions before the nominations came out, you would have been mentally prepared for it because we talked about how these things would work. But let's be very clear. Helen J. Shen is very young. I think she's like 25 and she has made her Broadway debut above the title, starring opposite Darren Criss in the front runner for best musical. Girl has a nice career ahead of her. She's not going anywhere. She's got many Tony nominations and most likely a few wins to come because she is a smart, engaging dropped in actress with a beautiful voice, star quality, a maturity that you don't often see in young performers and one of the few people I've seen graduate from musical theater programs in the last 15 years to actually have an individuality that were a voice that you can clock as hers and a spirit that you can clock is hers. And that is no Tony nomination can take that away or lack of Tony nomination. She's got like seven more coming down the pike in the next 10 years. Just you watch. And bravo to Darren Criss for taking a chance on a new musical, for building up his street cred on Broadway with other shows and now cashing in on this highly recommend. That's it for maybe happy ending. Moving on number two. I'm disgusting. Oh Barry. Oh Mary Cola Scola's masterwork. The biggest hit of the season. It's a front runner for best play. A front runner for best actor in a play could win featured actor in a play. If it's not Francis Chu could win costumes, could win director. I think that this is a show that could go 5 for 5 at the Tonys this year. That would it would be the carousel of 94 of this year and I would not be mad about it. What else is there to say about Omari? Nothing. Everything's been said. I said it, you said it, everyone said it. We are, we have hit the five hour mark here at least of my recordings and I'm tired and I have one last thing to to cover so and I know you guys know that this is coming, but just to wrap things up, let us say number 42 was left on 10th 41 was McNeil 40 was Tammy Faye 39 was Redwood 38 was the Last Five Years 37 was Romeo and Juliet 36. Home 35. Smoosh 34. All In 33. Othello 32. Glengarry Glen Ross 31. The Roommate 30. Our Town 29. A Wonderful World 28. Swept Away 27. Good Night and Good Luck 26. Pirates The Penzance Musical 25. Once Upon a Mattress 24. Job 23. Old Friends, Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends 22. Gypsy 21. Stranger Things 20. Boop 19. Operation Mincemeat 18. Real Women Have Curves Number 17. Buena Vista Social Club 16. Just in Time, The Bobby Darin Musicale 15. Dead Outlaw 14. Elf 13. Death Becomes Her 12. Sunset Boulevard 11. Yellowface 10. Eureka Day 9. Purpose 8. Cult of Love 7. Floyd Collins 6. The Picture of Dorian Gray 5. John Proctor Is the Villain 4. English 3. Maybe Happy Ending 2. Oh Mary. And of course, at number one for the 2024, 2025 season, in my humble opinion, is I'm disgusting. The Hills of California, written by Jez Butterworth, starring Sam Mendes. And as the hills of California, Ms. Laura Donnelly, giving my favorite performance of the season. Sorry, Sarah Snooks. Sorry, Cola Scola. Sorry, Jeremy Jordan. Sorry, Jonathan Groff. It is Laura Donnelly and the Hills of California, baby. As those of you who listened to last year's London episode know my mother and I saw the Hills of California on our very last night in London last June. It was a last minute decision and all we knew was that it was coming to Broadway. It was one of the few things that was playing that Monday night and the reviews were solid, they weren't amazing and I had two friends who had seen it and they weren't super into it and so I did not expect much and it was three hours long and I went, oh God, this is we're really gonna do this on our final night. But we go and act one happens and it goes by in a flash. Act two happens, it goes by in a flash and My mom were like, Jesus titty fucking Christ, this is good. And then Act 3 happens. And Act 3 was definitely the most Jezz Butterworthy of all the Jez Butterworths acts. But it was messy and it was long and it was a little unfocused, but still, we enjoyed it and we didn't let that distract from the fact that Act 1 and 2 were so good and that Laura Donnelly especially was incredible, both as their mother and then as Joan in, you know, present day, which was a huge coup, by the way, because in the playbill in London. Sorry, the program in London, because they don't give you free playbills. You have to pay for a program. On the front of the program, Laura Donnelly's photo with the other three sisters, it only showed her photo as the mother. And inside the program, there was no one listed to play Older Joan. And so when she came out as Older Joan in present day, because those of you who don't know, you can listen to my review of it either in the London episode or in, I think October is when I did my recording episode review of it, as well as the rankings of it. It is about four sisters living in northern England in the 1950s and then flashing forward into the 1970s. Their mother is dying. Their older sister Joan, ran off to America when they were kids back in the 60s, in the 50s, and they don't know exactly what happened. And what you learn is that the mother who was trying to turn these four sisters into a famous singing girl group similar to the Andrews Sisters, because their mother loved the Andrews Sisters and she was training her daughters, like, with almost a military regiment attitude, into becoming this singing group. And she loved her daughters, but she was very strict. She also ran this hotel called the Sea View Hotel, even though you couldn't see the Ocean View Hotel, but you couldn't see the ocean. And then what ended up happening was the agent who came to check them out basically propositioned the mom to be alone with the oldest daughter, Joan, who he thought had the most talented. So he claims, and she probably did. But Joan takes him upstairs to one of the lone rooms with both Joan and the mother, knowing that this man most likely wants sex. And of course he did. And things got complicated from there, and Joan eventually ran away to America to pursue a career in singing. She even made a record. And when she comes back to visit their mother when she's dying, all the sisters hash it out and they talk about the past and they talk about the present, and they talk about what Joan has been up to and what all these daughters have been up to as well, and what's going on with Mother and whether they can forgive her, whether they can't. When Laura Donnelly showed up as older Joan In Act 3, my mom and I lost our shit. Now, in America, I'm assuming, because of Equity rules, they had to list her in the playbill as both the mom and as older Joan. Plus, they also had her photo out front as older Joan. So I was pissed off that that reveal was spoiled, but it didn't take away from the fact that the show was still good. And in fact, it was better because I would tell people, well, the first two acts are amazing. The third act is a little rough. And then, if you recall Friend of the Robbie Roselle, Robbie, if you made it this far, hallelujah, baby. He had told me that the word he heard was that Jez Butterworth went back and did a revision on the third act, and oh, boy, did he. There's very little genuine rewrites. There's not a major overhaul of the third act. What he mostly did was he cut out about 20 minutes of stuff, including two major plot lines that are revealed in the third act that ultimately go nowhere. But he cuts them, and he adds little pieces to connect the dots of scenes in the third act that now have giant holes in between them, and he adds little connective tissue to them. So the arc is a lot clearer and it's a lot tighter. And then two major moments that I don't really want to spoil, but they're about coming to terms with the past and acknowledging that your memory may not always be accurate. What you remember is not what someone else remembers. Because everyone wants to be the hero of their own story. We're all the main character. Nobody thinks of themselves as the villain. We really don't want to think of ourselves as the victim. And if we do, it ends up becoming our identity. And you see Joan, later on in life doing everything in her willpower and her mental compartmentalization to not be the victim of her assault as a teenager while also being unable to overcome the ghosts of the past. Even with the years gone by and the thousands of miles of distance, she can't bring herself to go upstairs and see their mother knowing what happened with her and that agent. The girl who went upstairs never came back down. And Joan, for all of her metamorphosis, is still that girl in a lot of ways. And she and her sisters have a lot of closure, have a lot of questions, have a lot of love, have a lot of Resentment and resolvement. And with all done on a stunning set, phenomenal ensemble work, beautiful, funny, dynamic writing. God, this was just my absolute favorite thing of the season. And it's less that nothing else can measure up to it and more that this just stuck with me so hard that I will not forget it. I will not forget the surprise of seeing it in London and enjoying it as much as I did. And then the joy of seeing it on Broadway and it being even better. I gotta give props to Jez and to Sam Mendes of you had a show that was working in London that people liked a lot, but you knew you could do better. You knew you could take another crack at it and make it even better. And my fucking God, did you everyone take a fucking note at that. You want to be number one of my rankings? Don't be precious about your work. Don't be sensitive. Go back and say, no, no, no, I can make this tighter. I can make this clearer. Let's go for it. Let's do it. And they did. And it gives me joy, it gives me hope. It replenishes my crops and makes my skin clear. It makes me fertile all over again. It makes my hair thick. I love it. I love it so much. Thank you for giving me a waist and thick hair and straight teeth. My God. Hills of California. You did it. You did it. We did it together. To quote Jennifer Simard, I did it. You did it. YouTube better not do it. That is our ranking, everyone. Hills of California, numero uno. Thank you so much for making it this far. This is absolutely the longest episode of Broadway Breakdown to date. I hope it never gets gets this long again. But we had 42 shows to cover. This is 308 minutes long. We are averaging what like eight and a half minutes per show here? Honestly, really more like eight minutes. When you take into account the reviews that I had to cover and then the musical interludes. This is more like averaging eight minutes per show, which isn't that long when you think about it considering how often I can talk. This was a marathon of an episode. But I feel like I kept it concise, I kept it compact and if you made it this far, congrats. Hopefully not in all one sitting, unless you have a cross country bus ride to get on. So anyway, that's it for now guys. If you're listening to this on the day it comes out or for the few days afterwards, I am in London right now with my mom and my sister, seeing a whole bunch of stuff, enjoying my time, enjoying my leisure the episode about London will probably be coming out a week from this episode, so look out for that. And then there will be at least one Tony retrospective episode, a Tony prediction episode, and then a Tony reaction episode. And then we're gonna take a bit of a break for the month of June and July and there will be one announcement episode coming out after that. But it's both an announcement of the shows we'll be covering in our deep dives as well as a bit of a shakeup in terms of the structure of how we are going to be releasing episodes for Broadway Breakdown. Nothing crazy, nothing you guys haven't heard already, but just a little different in terms of how we're going to be releasing it. In what sort of order? The month, Our monthly. I think there'll be more episodes on a consistent basis, but how those episodes work will change in terms of order is all. We're working with a team right now that's helping us expand our outreach for Broadway Breakdown and then also sort of figuring out how to just make everything go even more smoother, more smoother, more smooth than it has in the past. Because while this has been a banner year for the podcast. Thank you guys. We've had many episodes of the podcast reach number one on Broadway Podcast Network's trending list. We can always go bigger, we can always go better. We're taking a lesson from Jez and Sam and with that in mind, I think I would like to close us out with what diva would like to close us out with today? Fuck it. I'm gonna close this out with Ms. Barbara Harris because I love Barbara Harris and I earned it. I deserve it, baby. And she's being lip synced to eight times a week in the Picture of Dorian Gray. If you know, you know. So that'll be it for today. I'll see you guys in about a week for the London episode. Thank you for all your reviews and make sure to review and give us a five star rating if you can. I love reading your guys reviews. You've been killing it lately. Join the Discord Channel if you haven't yet, where you can talk about the Tonys, you can talk about shows you're seeing, shows you're doing, get ticket advice, ask me questions after listening to the podcast, correct me if I'm wrong on anything I say in the podcast. And yeah, that's about it. So follow me on Instagram at mycoplickusualspelling if you like. Take it away, Ms. Harris. Bye.
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Look at me. I am gorgeous. I am absolutely gorgeous. There's this avalanche of beauty in one woman, and I'm it. I look at the way all of the parts fit together. See the way my nose. Stop running.