This is one of many posts in my NYC List series, in an effort to keep myself exploring the city. See where it started, and keep an eye on this tag for more posts.
Let me be totally honest here: if I could afford it, I’d be at a new show every night of the week. It kills me that tickets run anywhere from $80 – $175 for a major production, because my budget cannot handle that mess once a month, let alone once a week or something. I’ve only seen a few shows since moving here, and seeing how it’d be impossible to check out every show I want to, I’ve narrowed down the list. A bit.
My rule for seeing any of the shows listed here is that I can only get a ticket if it’s less than $50. More than that, and I have to pass. A budget that restrictive may have me sitting in the nose-bleed section with an obstructed view, but at least I’d be there!
Waiting for Godot – starring Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan (who I totally saw at the corner of 57th & 8th one morning!), this show is one-half of a two-show series the two are starring in. I’ve managed to make it 3 decades being totally oblivious to the storyline, and this production seems like a good way to discover it. Plus, some balcony seats are just $40!
Les Miserables – Because obviously.
Cabaret – though I’m not as enamored with the music as the likes of Les Mis, I’m terribly intrigued by its role in stage history and its unaplogetic brassiness. This new production – directed by Sam Mendes and starring Alan Cumming and Michelle Williams – has impressive written all over it.
Book Of Mormon – I still haven’t seen this. Everyone and their brother has seen it, and I have still not seen it. I have the soundtrack all but memorized, and I still have not seen it. I will see it. I will.
If/Then – Before there was Let It Go and her star turn in Frozen; before there was the green witch and her star turn in Wicked; before all of that, some of us knew Idina Menzel from her powerhouse delivery in Rent. I don’t really need to know anything else about this contemporary new show other than she’s starring, and I’m game.
Of Mice and Men – not gonna lie, it’s not senior year English Lit that has me interested in seeing this. It’s James Franco.
Aladdin – Can Disney keep up their winning streak on Broadway? Has anything come close to The Lion King? Inquiring minds want to know (and relive their childhoods).
Hedwig and the Angry Inch – What can I say? I’m a sucker for famous people in shows. They cast known entities for a reason, and I am that reason. Neil Patrick Harris is easily one of the most talented quadruple-bajillion threats out there, and I have no doubt he’ll deliver in this new production, too.
Pippin – the only thing I really know about Pippin is that it won some Tonys (maybe just one?), and it’s a pretty high-value, acrobatic production. I don’t know the storyline, I don’t know the music, and I’m Ok with that. I would love to just jump in, uninitiated, and let the awesome wash over me.
Once – this is one of those shows I want to see just to be able to say I’ve experienced it. I can’t say I expect it to impress with its staging or songs, but the film was sweet enough, and the fact that it’s still running would indicate there’s something worth checking out in the stage version!
Bullets Over Broadway – again with the stunt casting! Zach Braff’s follow-up to his Garden State follow-up that flopped (right? That’s over now?) is a Broadway debut. In a Woody Allen show. Not a bad follow up to a follow up. Not bad at all.
