This week I watched two musicals on Broadway.  And, in my opinion, they couldn’t have been more different.

First I saw Spiderman, Turn Off the Dark.  I think it should have been called Spiderman, Take me out of the Dark.  It was soooo boring that my sister and I decided not to finish the play.  We left at intermission.  Thankfully, we got a great discount on the tickets so it didn’t really hurt that much.  But when I think of the $100 I spent, I can’t help but think of all the goodies I could have bought in Sephora.  The music was just ok.  For the first act at least, there was no memorable song.  And there was something very elementary about the production.  I guess the intention was a comic book treatment but I think it could have been done better.  That big inflatable giant he wrestled with just looked kinda sad.  And there was something cloying about the voice of Mary Jane.   It was so bad, I didn’t even bother to take any pictures.

The last play of my mini-Broadway season was thankfully, a masterpiece, Pippin.  My sisters had seen Pippin during the previews and they already told me that it was a must-see show.  And when my friend went to New York a few weeks before I did, she also said that I had to see it.  So I made sure it was on my list.  The tickets were a bit pricey because it was such a hit show, but thanks to another sister’s discount, we managed to get a good deal on our tickets.  And so it was set.  We found out that Andrea Martin, who had won a Tony for her performance as Berthe was ending her run.  I was a disappointed because I knew she was so good in the play.  But when I found out that Tovah Feldshuh I was a little less so.  I knew her from her performances in Holocaust and as a recurring character on Law and Order so I was also looking forward to seeing how she would tackle the role.

From the moment the first not of the first song played, I got goosebumps.  The familiar play, one that we had seen many times on TV and stage, was transformed into a truly magical experience.  Patina Miller’s invited us to “join us and leave the fields to flower” almost made me want to go on stage and be part of the magic.  Her interpretation of a character that made Ben Vereen famous was mesmerizing.  When Matthew James Thomas told us about that Corner of the Sky he was looking for, you wanted to help him find it.

And when Tovah Feldshuh asked us to join in and tell Pippin it was time to start living, you believed every moment of it.  This was truly the best way to cap my mini-season.

Overall, this was a great mini-season for me.  The only disappointment was Spiderman.  But the other three plays I saw, Romeo and Juliet, First Date and Pippin were clear winners.  Not to mention the benefits of being thisclose to Orlando Bloom and Zachary Levy.

Now it’s time to start living, find my own corner of the sky and hopefully go on that elusive perfect first date.

That’s all for now…bow.