Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade: The CBS Performances

Not everyone knows this, but in addition to the Broadway performances that are (traditionally) performed on Harold Square and broadcast on NBC, CBS also has Broadway performances in their telecast of the parade. They apparently don't have access to the Harold Square footage, but they set up somewhere else along the route to catch the parade going by and have Broadway companies film performances from their own theaters. This year, since the parade is basically just crossing Harold Square, they didn't have anything to show, but I had kind of hoped that they were still going to get some unique broadway performances. However, it would appear what they're doing instead is just playing highlights from past years parades and that includes the broadway performances. While I am a little bummed, they have definitely picked some good ones. They captured the Come From Away performance from 2017 and the Dear Evan Hansen performance from 2018. Even after we realized what was happening, we had to watch them both again, and they both gave me chills again. I won't write a bunch of new stuff about these performances (you can see the old posts here and here), but I do want to just say that they each hit a little different this year. The Come From Away cast sang about the joys of coming home after beeing away for a long time, and Dear Evan Hansen reminded us how we are united even when we feel like we're isolated. These are messages that have grown even more timely this year and I think musical theater is exactly the medium to share them with the world.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Dr. Seuss's How The Grinch Stole Christmas

I wasn't prepared for this one, but what a fun surprise! I had heard about the NBC telecast of this show and wasn't, like, super excited for it (I don't love the show and I also don't love Matthew Morrison), but, like, I'm going to watch it. In general, my issue with this show is that the music was not super interesting. There was really only one particularly catchy original song as far as I'm concerned, but the good news is, they chose that one to perform. This song is a grand old time (which is why, if memory serves, it appears, like, 5 times throughout the show) and captures exactly what a Doctor Seuss musical should be. But the reason to watch this show has never been the music, it's the visuals and the nostalgia and the performances, and this production seems to have some of that working for them. I'm not going to lie, I don't support the Matthew Morrison pick (come on guys, he's a tenor), but the rest of the cast was a delight. The kids in this performance were a lot of fun, I'm excited about Denis O’Hare as Old Max, and the production quality here seems great (those costumes and sets were beautiful). So, like, I'm not expecting to be completely thrilled with this performance, but I'm excited it's happening, and confident it won't be NBC's worst live telecast musical.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Mean Girls

This will be the 3rd time Mean Girls has performed (to some degree) for the Macy's Parade. To be honest, I'm not sure any other Broadway show (we don't count the Radio City Rockettes, do we?) can boast that kind of track record. As you can see from past blogs, I was pretty pleased with their first year's performance of Fearless (one of my favorite songs from the show that I keep forgetting about) and pretty disappointed in last year's performance of Here's Where You Belong (one of the worst numbers in the show that they really should stop performing). However, I was thinking about what they might do this morning, and I started to get excited as I realized that they'd probably be insentivized to do a song without the whole cast (counter the normal Parade performances MO) and they'd probably want to show off Renee Rapp (a true American hero) as Regina. I had my money on World Burn, but I was equally excited to see Someone Gets Hurt.

Ok, so, in hindsight, I wasn't quite as thrilled with that performance choice as I thought I was going to be. I mean, I am thanking my Broadway stars that it wasn't Here's Where You Belong (AGAIN), but it was no Fearless. For one thing, it was less "socially distanced" than I kind of expected, but that's in line with the rest of the performances this year. But I also forgot how little this song had to do with...you know...anything. I know that I'm a bit weird in that I like the story songs more than anyone else, but I had forgotten how much of Mean Girls' music is the kind of "stop the story to sing" kind of stuff. However, if there's anyone I would stop the story to listen to, it's Renee Rapp. Man, she killed it. She is a true star and I'm so excited for the career she has ahead of her. Also, how fun is it that she and Anthony got to perform on the same parade? Man this is a fun industry!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times of the Temptations

Remember when I said I'm softening on Jukebox musicals? That doesn't include biomusicals like this. I still don't care. I don't care about the new Tina Turner musical. I don't care about the old Four Seasons Musical. And I don't care about this Temptations musical. To be fair, I recognize that this show isn't for me and several people I know (including my dearest father, oh delight of my eyes) are kind of into it.

In the same way where I thought Jagged Little Pill's performance had good content but perhaps some poor execution, while I don't care for this content, you have to give them props on execution. These men are definitely talented vocalists and dancers. It was fun to see the new castmembers, but in a group that's so definied by their synchronicity, it's hard to see if there were any new choices or if any of them were doing anything more than an impression. This is another one that I would say wasn't particularly well served by the outdoor venue, but it also wasn't too bad, because really all you need to see is those fellas. I don't know, to be perfectly honest, I can't have too many strong feelings about this one. It was...fine.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Jagged Little Pill

I know that I spend a lot of time hating on Jukebox musicals, but to be honest, Jagged Little Pill is starting to turn me around. Am I upset that 3 out of the 4 original musicals to open this year (AND, IN WHAT MIGHT BE THE MOST ANGER INDUCING TONY AWARDS SNUB EVER, THE ONLY ONES NOMINATED FOR ANYTHING!!!!) are jukebox musicals? Yes. However, I'd venture to say this may be the best Jukebox musical we've seen since American Idiot (That's right Moulin Rouge, I know what I said). I've enjoyed everything I've heard and seen from this show and it's my pick for the best new musical of the year, so I was excited to see what they have for us.

I'm a little bummed they picked this song, just because we already saw it on Good Morning America, but man, it's a good one. This song is a strong ending to the show and does a good job of showcasing the whole cast. Unforutnately, I didn't care for this performance as much as that one. I'm wondering if they were actually singing that live (they made a point to use conspicuous mics and the mixing didn't really sound the best). If that's the case, then I have to give them a little more respect, but it was still a little underwelming. Similarly, they didn't really "fill the space" as well as the Hamilton cast did, and the whole thing looked kind of awkwardly placed. That being said, I still had a great time. I love this show and it's message and the representation it promotes and I just hope it has all the success it can. If anyone else wants to see more, you can check out the benefit concert they're streaming on December 13th. Also, Lauren Patten is a superstar and I'm so proud of Antonio Cipriano and the great work he's doing in his Broadway debut (he's another Jimmy kid that I'm proud to have loved before he made it big), but the boy needs a hair cut.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: Hamilton

Crazy that Hamilton hasn't performed on the Parade yet, but what a way to start! This is undoubtedly one of the most important shows to come to Broadway this millenium and this summer, they reminded the world why they're so well beloved. As much as my inner hipster sometimes wants to turn up my nose at Hamilton, I do usually have a great time watching them perform, and this performance was no different.

I'll say it, I'm psyched about the way they are staging this year's performances, doubly psyched that we got to see Joshua Henry as Burr, and really excited to see this whole new cast. I think especially with the proshot on Disney+, so many people are going to have that original cast burned in thier mind, but there have been so many talented people singing this score over the past few yeras and we're going to see even more in the years to come, so it's exciting to see new performers and new choices captured like this. I thought their performance was great.The song choice was a solid one, and, weirdly, Hamilton works really well on the streets of New York. The set and lighting of the theater are beautiful and add a lot, but something seeing them perform outdoors just felt like the right kind of juxtaposition. It just adds a new layer to the whole "the story of yesterday as told by the people of today" concept and I thought it was really beautiful.

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade: 2020 Opening Number

So, there's been a trend in the past couple of years for the opening number to use Broadway casts/performers as their opening number. That trend broke this year and I'm not sure how I feel about it. In general, I'm supportive. It's not as good as Luca Padovan's number a few years back, but it is better than just using one of the Broadway casts to do a song from their own show. I appreciate the originality, but I continue to be surprised that somehow nobody has told Jimmy Fallon that he can't sing.

While I don't love Jimmy Fallon and the Roots, I thought this performance was alright. The concept was cute and he had the energy to start the parade in the rain and you have to give him that. I thought the dancing was kind of fun, the song choice was fine, and it did make me smile, so all in all, I'm supportive of this year's opening. Mostly, I'm just really supportive of a parade happening. I was really worried it wasn't going to happen this year and I am supremely thankful for the hard working men and women up there who are working so hard to keep those performers safe and keep us entertained.This has been a tough year, but I truly think it's going to be a great parade. I'm very happy and very thankful for this parade and looking forward to all of these performances.