Yesterday was a huge fail overall.
I went to see Anything Goes. And this is what I saw when I looked in the playbill.
Laura Osnes had already left back in September (I think), so that was disappointing. But then to see that Sutton Foster wasn't going to be playing Reno for that performance and Joel Grey was MIA...I was a little upset. I quickly got over it though because Tari Kelly was amazing as Reno and Robert Creighton had such great comedic timing, he was perfect as Moonface.
Also, while I'm talking about Robert Creighton, I'd just like to point out that in the playbill, it says, "Co-author and star of CAGNEY!, the award-winning new musical about film legend James Cagney." So right away, I fell in love with this man. Anyone who would make a musical about James Cagney is okay with me. The musical has a website with the script and some songs on it.
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| Outside the Stephen Sondheim Theatre |
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| Souvenir book and playbill |
I feel like I need a separate paragraph to discuss how incredible Colin Donnell was, since all I've done for months is go on and on about how excited I was to see him. And he was definitely incredible. When he came out disguised and in a wheel-chair for "It's De-lovely" and started singing in that weird old-woman voice, I lost it. It took me at least a minute to regain my composure because it was so funny.
That being said...Colin Donnell was not my favorite part of the show. No one was. With a musical like Anything Goes, it's hard to choose a favorite actor or character. Because they're all so talented and the characters are all well written and VERY funny. I actually forgot just how funny this musical was until yesterday. All the actors did a fantastic job.
Anything Goes, for those of you who don't already know, has a soundtrack comprised of some of Cole Porter's best songs. So aside from the great script, it also has a lot of fun music to go along with it. Add in the beautiful costumes and the extraordinary choreography, and you get a pretty great Broadway experience. The only complaint I have is that the first act is stronger than the second, but that's a very minor complaint.
Anything Goes was everything I could have hoped for. It was everything that came after that made the day a failure.
As soon as we left the theatre, we were surrounded by Occupy Wall Street protesters. I don't mind that they're protesting. If you truly believe in your cause, and you know WHY you're there and what you stand for, and you're going to be level-headed and have a peaceful protest, then by all means, go for it. But the people who are doing it and don't understand why, or are doing it because they have nothing better to do on a Saturday night...You guys suck. And this is why.
Times Square was insane last night. There were barricades all over the place, it was almost impossible to navigate. I literally walked around an entire block trying to find a way out, and then realized that the only way out was the way I came in. We had to go all over the place, completely out of the way of our destination, because everything was barricaded. I've never seen anything like it. There were more police out than I've EVER seen in my life. On every block. These people basically shut down Times Square. How the hell do you accomplish something like that? It's Times Square. That doesn't happen. Again, it doesn't bother me that people are protesting for what they believe in, but it's the other people who don't even know WHY they're protesting...You guys stay home next time. Maybe then Times Square won't be closed off and people won't have to go through a maze of barricades to find their way out.
When Anything Goes was over, we had a choice. We could either go to Comic Con, or we could go to Ellen's and then to the Majestic to meet Hugh Panaro. We chose the latter.
After we finally found our way to Ellen's, which wasn't easy when we weren't allowed through Times Square, we walked in and one of the waitresses was singing "Good Morning Baltimore" from Hairspray. That's always a good way to start things off. AND! They were decorated for Halloween. I was excited about that, I love Halloween.
We walked around until 7:00...Doing nothing, because really...There's nothing to do other than shop (which is boring to begin with) and all the stores are in Times Square...It was not worth even attempting to try to get to them with a protest going on.
So from 7:00 until 10:20, we sat in a hotel lobby. I'm not kidding. I don't get bored, but let me tell you...I was bored. I thought about leaving several times because as much as I like Hugh Panaro, that just didn't seem worth it to me. But, of course, we waited it out.
I brought my playbill from Phantom of the Opera with me, but then I thought...There's a lot of black on the cover, I don't know if this will work. So, not paying attention, I bought the souvenir book from Phantom...
...Thinking that maybe the inside of the cover was white. No. It's all black. (The rose came with it.) I don't mind, it's a really nice book.
Here's the front of the Majestic (the cast does not come out here, they come out of the back of the theatre):
We waited outside the back entrance for a half hour. I had asked one of the girls who works at the Majestic if the cast members come out after the show, she said yes, every night. I asked if Hugh was there, she said yes. This was earlier in the night, mind you, because I wanted to make sure we didn't stay all night for no reason. Anyway...We waited a half hour, and then one of the cast members came out and said Hugh left through the side door. Ohhhh really.
I wasn't even upset or disappointed. I was relieved. I already made a post on Tumblr about this. I feel very awkward meeting people. The only times I haven't felt awkward were the four times I met the cast of Legally Blonde with Lori. If my cousin had been there last night, I would have been fine, but she wasn't, so I really didn't want to do it. It's one of those things that's fun for us to do together, but is horrible to do with anyone else.
The only thing that bothered me was that we could have left right after dinner at Ellen's instead of staying in the city and being bored to death. That was unfortunate.
I wanted to mention that there were only about eight other people waiting for the cast to come out last night, which surprised me. Every time I was waiting outside for the cast of Legally Blonde, there was a huge crowd of people waiting in line, too. I don't know if people don't bother with Phantom because it's been on Broadway so long, or if it's because they don't know where the cast comes out.
When we were trying to find our way back to Penn Station, I saw this.
Never heard of it, not sure if it's new this October, but there are hands coming out of the doors.
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