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It's Thanksgiving Eve, and I am loving all the photos you're publishing of beautifully appointed dinner tables and yummy-looking pies and cheese balls. I love picturing you all in your aprons, filling up the house with your kitchen aromas while Lifetime Christmas movies or Leslie Odom Jr's Simply Christmas plays in the background. (My review: 5/5 Stars)
Our plans for Thanksgiving are of the emptynester-sort. We're eating out at John Besh's in New Orleans and then going to the Saints-Falcons game. I know it's not what any of you imagine for yourselves but it works for us. I have what my niece Belle calls a "one-butt kitchen" so, while I would enjoy cooking a traditional Thanksgiving feast for the three of us, it can be a challenge in that small space. When it comes right down to it, I enjoy watching the Saints play more. Especially this year, which has been one h*ck of a ride so far and doesn't look to be pulling into the station any time soon!
So when you dust the flour from your hands and finally plop down on the sofa with a glass of eggnog or mug of peppermint hot chocolate, I'll give you a little something to read. I wanted to tell you about a couple other shows we saw in New York!
Frozen was on the agenda because my husband loves him some Disney musicals. And let me just say, this one was not a waste of money. We've seen a lot of staged Disney musicals - Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Lion King. And while the opening scene of Lion King remains the most beautiful thing I've ever experienced in a theater -- maybe anywhere -- on the whole, Frozen is the very best Disney show yet.
The special effects range from jaw-dropping to simply beautiful. The puppetry of both Sven and Olaf is fun and creative. And while Elsa gets the showstopper (there is literally an insert in the Playbill requesting that the audience not sing), Anna is the real role - fun and funny with more stage time and more numbers. I suspect Patti Murin is the name you're going to see when Tony nods come around.
If this show travels, or if you find yourself in New York, and especially if you have children, make time to see this show.
The other fairy tale we saw was Once on This Island. This one doesn't have the Disney name or branding or marketing behind it, but it did win the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical. It's staged in the round, which you don't usually get on Broadway. You don't usually get it anywhere, tbh.
This is a one-act show set on a Caribbean island, where the island's four gods of Water, Earth, Love and Death, tell the story of an orphan girl named Ti Moune, who they've saved from a flood by placing her in a tree. When she's grown, Ti Moune falls in love with a grand homme from the other side of the island in a Romeo-and-Juliet story line that brings together the people of the island's different classes.
The music is moving; the performances are powerful; and the story is beautiful. Chip admitted he might've had a tear in his eye and I get it.
It's hard for smaller shows like this (without the Disney name, etc etc) to get the visibility that they deserve, and it can be hard to keep shows like this alive. If you're considering a Broadway show, consider this one.
