What Live Event Did You See (Rate it)?

Stereophonic - Holy fuck! This was long and it was a hard slog to get through. The dialogue reminded me of Gilmore Girls, a lot of dialogue. The show was honest, finished well, and tells the story of a band on the verge of intense success and how hard it is to steer through it. The subject matter is difficult though. It isn't pleasant. Very well put together. I wouldn't want to watch this one again, think The Day of Wine and Roses. But it was very good. 3.5 of 4

Suffs - Brilliant! Harmonies were wonderful. Story telling was very good. Broadway shows have a tendency to be hamfisting minority stuff into shows. This show took the material of history and weaved together a respectful adaptation that was both honest and entertaining. One of the best shows I've seen. 4 of 4

Water for Elephants - About a young guy that runs away and joins the circus. Plot is been there / done that... at a circus. I think the final moments could have been worked up a bit more coherently.

Music is jazzy and different. The acrobatics are phenomenal! 4 guys and 2 gals are ripped! The elephant puppet was very well designed! The show is more of an experience with acrobatics and aggressive storytelling.

Best viewed live. 3.5 of 4.0 despite the unimaginative story.

I've been shouting myself a bit lately, and saw J C Superstar at a small town's AmDram.

It was not as good as the 2 other versions I've seen, but enjoyable for all that. Constantly surprised at the talent that exists in small country towns.

Then, 4 days later, I saw Come from Away in a different small town.

I'm embarrassed to say I thought it was dopey idea for a musical when I first heard about it. I had no ambition to see it.

I may have been wrong.

The show itself was zippy and very moving. Stage simple and effective. Cast supurb. I hadn't been to this town's theatre company before but I won't miss a production from now on.

I hope to go see Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues the end of the summer. He has a tour in the US around a bunch of small places near me. He does a solo show. Some stuff I don't know and some songs from the Moody Blues.

He's 79 years old. His Moody Blues music has been a big part of my life since about 1982. 44 Years of my life I've loved the Moody Blues music. Day of Future Passed - Nights In White Satin, so many other Moody Blues albums.

I don't know if I'll enjoy it much. But I feel that I owe it to myself and to him to go.

The Great Gatsby - I think the problem with The Great Gatsby is that it is like The Wire. There are almost no relatable or likeable characters. So sometimes that means going a different route. Effectively, the story about warring New v Old money types, wealth and the cost of attempting to acquire it, the sense of entitlement that comes with money, devolves into two people that could of, but didn't because of circumstance are stuck trying to obtain what they could of had. To make matters worse, they decide to take was it supposed to be a biting introspection of wealth in the US in the 20s, into a comedy and quite out of the blue. Now, don't get me wrong... in the right hands, The Great Gatsby could become a comedy. But it wasn't the place, wasn't the time, didn't belong in the plot. Yes, it got laughs, but what type of show are you trying to do?

I also didn't like the casting for Gatsby. The guy can sing, but when I think of Gatsby, I think of Redford level cool and dignified. Not this ridiculous mess they put on stage, who'd transition between calculated to buffoon.

2 of 4

I spent Sat. night and all of Sunday at Foster's One Act Play Festival.

Quality of acting, writing and production was enormously variable but I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

2026-27 season is upon us. I was hoping Tommy was going to be on the season slate (the nation tour opens in Cleveland), but it was a trade, so thank goodness I can get out of Phantom! Finally get to see Tommy live. It is the first show that I know everything. This year things are otherwise all new other than Mamma Mia, which I might let the MIL see.

Death Becomes Her
Tommy (traded out of The Phantom of the Opera)
Mamma Mia
Boop!
Maybe Happy Ending
Buena Vista Social Club
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

We are single letter season ticket people since last year. Been shifting up for a while now. Close to hitting the sweet spot. Sit too close and your aren't seeing the whole thing. Maybe move a few more rows up, but that'd be it.

My sons and I went to see Justin Hayward, Sept 5, last surviving member of the Progressive rock band the Moody Blues at Plymouth MA. Lots of people older than me and I'm 65. My sons were probably the youngest in the room. About 1500 capacity.

It was nice. Not super great but nice. He played mainly Moody Blues songs.

I'm glad we went. I owed it to him.

We saw Plymouth Rock. What a loser. No way that the original Plymouth pilgrims would have steered their wooden boat at a rock when there was plenty of nice sandy beach around to land their row boat.

I think it was 1991. My daughter was 15 and I took her to see a triple bill of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins. My daughter called it a "venue", but I recognized it as a defunct Krogers. The stage was set against the back wall. There were no seats and a steel pole every 30 feet. Beer was on sale and as the night went on, I watched several people walk into the poles. By the time Pearl Jam came on, the floor was slick with sweat, beer, and beer that wouldn't stay down. All in all, a great show.

Red Rocks is a Mecca for concerts. An a amazing place as I can tell. I have lots of concert recording from Red Rocks. A natural ampitheatre. Sorry you had a bad experience. Maybe it was the bands and their audiences.

BB King. Mid 90's, I think. At the city Centennial Hall in Juneau, AK.
Snowstorm delayed the show for over an hour.
They told us if we could wait, he would play.
He did an extra set "'cause I ain't going anywhere".

Death Becomes Her - It is a thing... remaking movies (1980/90s movies) into musicals. Beetlejuice, Back to the Future, Pretty Woman, Mrs. Doubtfire. In general, these seem to be an idea that gets reworked and we get to see the best they were willing to work to produce. Some ups, some downs, but generally it didn't need to happen. And this time around, we get Death Becomes Her. Here we go again.

I'm quite happy to say the result this time around was remarkable. Completely organic, well crafted, music and songs not feeling like they stuffed it in there to pad the run time. The show was typically on a high note the entire time with the occasional higher note involved. This would be the second show I've seen with someone I knew of (first time being Eddie George in Chicago), Ken Marino of Veronica Mars (but most likely a bunch of other stuff I haven't seen) co-stars as the guy in the middle. I really had no expectations walking into this one, but I walked out thoroughly entertained.

3.5 of 4.0

crazyfingers said:

My sons and I went to see Justin Hayward, Sept 5, last surviving member of the Progressive rock band the Moody Blues at Plymouth MA. Lots of people older than me and I'm 65. My sons were probably the youngest in the room. About 1500 capacity.

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I graduated from high school in that building. I think I saw a play there once. Hard to think Hayward would play there. I would think the Melody Tent could be better, though not larger.

crazyfingers said:

We saw Plymouth Rock. What a loser.

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Yes. The Plymouth Rock is perhaps the most disappointing tourist "attraction" in the United States. The whole story is very doubtful. The Plimoth Plantation is nice (and the boat isn't bad either), Myles Standish is nice. Burial Hill, which isn't far from Memorial Building, is an unexpected "high"light with some really old markers. Great view of the harbor, and it is one of the oldest cemeteries in the nation. I think it is the oldest but with an asterisk or two (oldest Anglo-cemetery that isn't near Jamestown).

crazyfingers said:

No way that the original Plymouth pilgrims would have steered their wooden boat at a rock when there was plenty of nice sandy beach around to land their row boat.

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I believe they landed near what is Marshfield now (after P-Town). Then they headed down a bit. Plymouth Harbor has the really nice natural sandbar that helps protect-ish "downtown".

Tommy - Finally got to see this show! Only show I knew most of the content from memory, including the score. I lost the CDs a while ago, but it was going through my head while waiting for the show to start, though The Sea was also going through my head too, which... wrong album! Show was very good. Not much of an orchestra through. The music sounded a little small as a result except in larger ensemble singing parts. The did the show in a single run through, no intermission. Young cast, I think a few locals as well. Enjoyed it a lot!