Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: King Kong

First of all, nobody told me King Kong was performing, somehow that missed all the lists that I read so I was not prepared. Secondly, I have a lot of thoughts on this show. I remember when it was shooting for a spot on Broadway a few years ago but got pushed out by Spiderman (apparently there are only so many Broadway theaters big enough to support a show of this scale) and so it had to make it's away to Australia and keep finessing a little bit. This was right around when I was really getting into stage automation and so I was totally digging the animatronic work they've done with Kong. I would say this is hands down the coolest prop ever used on Broadway (Take that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) and I would definitely pay just to see that big guy move around, but most of what I've heard (including this scathing review) says that there really isn't many reasons to see the show besides the spectacle of Kong himself. So I was interested to see this performance to see what the show had to offer content wise.

Bad news, the critics were right. I mean, Kong is awesome, really awesome! Almost too awesome? Like, I'm not sure how much detail folks will be able to see from the back of the Broadway Theater, but even in these super closeups he looks really, really good! Unfortunately, I still can't find any other reason to like the show. This song was pretty boring and kind of trite and I'm still not entirely sure what it was saying. I don't particularly care about Christiani Pitt's character, and her singing didn't blow me away either. King Kong has a great puppet, and this video did inform viewers that it's a cool puppet, but I'm afraid it actually made me want to see the show less. Do you suppose they'd just sell tickets to a character meet & greet?

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Dear Evan Hansen

People like to talk about "decade defining musicals." RENT categorized the 90's, Hair had the 60's, etc. Despite the fact that Hamilton is probably be the most influential/important/groundbreaking musical to come out this decade, I stand pretty resolute that Dear Evan Hansen is the musical that has defined the 2010's. This is a very powerful show talking about some very current and important things and I'm so excited by the way the world has embraced it. Even though Ben Platt never got to sing Evan Hansen on the parade, Noah Gavin was on the Macy's Star last year to tug on our heart strings and now Taylor Trench is here to do the same (before we usher in the incredibly awesome and AGE APPROPRIATE Andrew Feldmen to the role).

In general, I've been a bit disappointed by the lack of variety in the songs DEH has chosen to share with us. We hear a lot of "Waving Through A Window" and a fair bit of "You Will Be Found," but hardly anything else. Therefore, I was pretty bummed to see that they were performing You Will Be Found, especially because it's the exact same song they performed on last year's parade. That being said, the moment the song started I remembered that I've actually always wanted to see this song live because I was really curious as to what it looked like visually. Turns out, it was actually really different from what I expected, but I really liked it. Maybe it's just this video, but the audio seemed a little off, it almost felt like the cast was lip synching (which I don't think is the truth) and it is still kind of weird to me how the "social media voices" are a track (I had kind of hoped they were live ensemble members). That being said, the visuals were really moving. The projection wasn't as "on the nose" as I was expecting and while that was a surprise, I think it did a lot to invoke the haze that social media can create. It was also incredibly moving to see all of the performers reacting to what they were seeing, I mean, who knew that Michael Park would be the one to make me cry in this song, I DIDN'T KNOW HE WAS IN IT!!! So, while there is a part of me that would've liked to see a more obscure song, I'm really glad that I got to see this one the way it's done in the show. And I'll maintain that this song should be heard by as many people as possible for what it says and what it stands for. Good work Broadway!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Head Over Heels

I know I'm a little late, but I didn't get a chance to watch the CBS performances on Thanksgiving day proper, but I figured better late than never. For those who don't know, since CBS doesn't have the same access to the Harold Square star, they fill the beginning hours of their parade by showing previously filmed performances by Broadway shows inside their theaters. One of this year's performances came from Head Over Heels, which tells the story of Philip Sidney's Arcadia (not to be confused with Tom Stoppard's Arcadia) set to the music of The Go Go Dolls. It's no secret that I'm not a fan of jukebox musicals, but I do think they're more fun when they tell an original story instead of the band's biopic (say what you will about Mamma Mia, but it was more "fun" than Jersey Boys), and so I've been cautiously interested in this show for a while, but this would be my first time seeing a number performed.

Wow. I tell you what wow. There was so much going on in this number. But you know what? It might've been awesome! This show is a very weird show doing some very weird things and I expect this number just scratches the surface of the weirdness, but I'm pretty into it. The cast had a great energy and probably burned almost as many calories as the stage manager who called all of those lighting cues. The design of this show looks pretty incredible, the choreography was impressive and engaging, and everyone on that stage just looked like they were having a blast. I'm not sure that this is high art (and I'm not sure that it wants to be) but this performance definitely left me wanting to look into the show more. What a wild ride!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Mean Girls

I might be in the minority, but I honestly really liked the Mean Girls musical (even if it did set a record for the most Tony Award nominations without a win). To be fair I wasn't super attached to the source material and I set the bar pretty low on movie adaptations, but I think the show does a good job at being distinct from the movie while still keeping some of the big memorable moments. The producers have done a pretty good job of showing us a variety of songs from the show between this, the Tony's, and the talk shows, so I was excited to see if this continued that trend, and as far as I'm concerned it delivers!

There are plenty of good group numbers in Mean Girls, but Fearless is honestly one of my favorites. To be honest, I'm not sure how well it fits in the context of the show, but it's fun to listen to! I was a bit bummed not to see Kyle Selig or Taylor Louderman, but the cast that we did see killed it. The choreography is a little trite in my opinion (I think I remember a review that talked about how many cafeteria group numbers we're seeing in musicals set in high schools and now I can't see anything else), but aside from that, no complaints. I'll maintain that this is a fun show and I think this performance was a great choice for them! Wonderful close to this year's parade performances!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: The Prom

I had the opportunity to see this show during the Atlanta tryouts a few years ago and I have to say I didn't particularly care for it (In my opinion they over simplify some complicated topics and there's some tonal discrepancies and some entire moments that don't fit and are just there to be "zazzy"). That being said, I think it's an interesting show and I'm interested to see how it's received. Whether they planned it or not, it's coming in hot on the heels of shows like Dear Evan Hansen and Be More Chill that also tackled similar themes of surviving high school in the modern age of social media (but those guys did it a little better than The Prom) and I'm interested to see if that will help it or hurt it. But that's definitely the audience they need to play to, so I was interested to see how they appealed to them with this number.

The song was a great choice! The lyrics were sufficiently cheesy ("It's time to build a prom/A prom for everyone" is a little on the nose to me) but there was lots of energy. The kids did a great job and it looks like they were having fun and brought the hype. I'll be honest, I'm a little surprised they ended with the kiss (especially considering the flack they got from the Kinky Boots number a few years ago), but I'm proud of them for the choice. I think this song really is a great representation of what the show is: kinda cheesy, pretty energetic, and quite gay. I still don't think I'd want to see the show, but this number was a good time and I think the producers made some smart choices. So good on ya.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Summer: The Donna Summer Musical

For those of you who don't already know, it is very difficult for me to have many positive feelings towards Jukebox musicals, and even harder for me to care about biopic jukebox musicals (the only thing I care about less than old pop songs is old pop singers) so I honestly can't say I have much excitement for Summer. This means I hadn't seen much from the show prior to this morning so I went in with few expectations...which I guess were meant?

The song was about what I expected. To be honest, I kind of want to put it right next to the On Your Feet song from a few years ago because it looks like the exact same thing. I mean, I guess it appealed to the audience it needed to. People who like Donna Summers and that style of music will probably like this song and thus will probably like this show. But it's not for me.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parde: My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady has never done too much for me. It's got a nice history and you have to appreciate Lerner & Lowe, Julie Andrews, and everyone that makes the original production show special, but I thought this revival was nice enough. Lauren Ambrose did a great job, but I was REALLY excited when they announced Laura Benanti taking over. I was psyched for this performance because it was my first time to see how she did in the role.

The song itself was ok. When "Eliza Dolittle" first came on screen, the guy sitting next to me said "Oh, is this the new Mary Poppins?" which was honestly not too far from the truth. The song they did was nice, but perhaps a bit low energy. Nevertheless, I think it was a good choice. They didn't want to pull out all the stops with something like "Get Me To The Church on Time" so I think this was a good balance of choreography and ensemble but still with the star power of their new leading lady. All in all, this is as good as I could expect from the show. Well done.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Opening Number

There have been a couple of ups and downs with the opening numbers over the past couple of years. However, I think we can all agree that the Broadway themed ones have been the best. This year they did a good job in centering around Luca Padovan (who it took me forever to recognize but I finally got there. He's the little boy who wants to be the fashion designer in The School of Rock on Broadway). He was spectacular and reminded us all why kids are killing it on Broadway these years! The song itself (Don't Rain on My Parade from Funny Girl) is kinda "eh" for me, but it's delightful when Luca does it. It wasn't particularly special, but it was a nice "loveletter to new york" type of thing which I think is a good way to start it. So yeah, it didn't blow my socks off, but it was pleasant, and I would say a great way to start the morning!