Upcoming broadway season overview
2018 promises an exciting season with several new shows that are already generating buzz. Today, we’re going to talk about a few of the front runners for a high gross.
This season has 3 highly anticipated shows on the horizon: “Spongebob Squarepants: the Musical”, a revival of “Once on this Island” (Starring Merle Dandridge, who taught a masterclass for the cast of OLu’s “Tarzan” a few years ago), and, coming from the West End, “King Kong”. In addition to this, a play starring Chris Evans and Michael Cera has announced, as well as another play with another star-studded cast featuring Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannels, and Jim Parsons, as well as “Angels in America” starring Andrew Garfield.
Easily the biggest blockbuster out of these is “Spongebob Squarepants”, combining a nostalgiac property with a list of famous songwriters. Broadway.com says “The new show based on Nickelodeon's celebrated cartoon saw big numbers in its first week. In just seven performances, the musical featuring original music by Cyndi Lauper, Sara Bareilles, The Flaming Lips and Panic at the Disco took in a gross of $615,879.00 and filled the Palace Theatre to 85.81% capacity.”
Love it or hate it, Spongebob is going to be on broadway for a while, and could potentially be a front runner for the Tony Awards this year.
There’s something very exciting about every show coming in the new season, and it looks to be a monetarily promising season for the great white way.
Why Bandstand was a gem
Recently, the short-lived Bandstand left broadway to much sadness. The show, while it didn’t make enough money to stay on broadway, was very well-received and beloved by many fans.
Starting fan favorites Laura Osnes (Cinderella, Bonnie and Clyde) and Corey Cott (Newsies), and directed and choreographed by the tony winning director and choreographer of Hamilton, the show wasn’t the biggest critical hit, and was a bit of a box office bomb.
“Bandstand offers plenty to entertain in the moment, but despite its weighty theme, little lingers.” says Entertainment Weekly.
I got to see the show myself when I went to Manhattan back in June, and I was able to get regular-priced orchestra tickets on the day. The show itself was fantastic, while nothing necessarily special or revolutionary. I would’ve absolutely recommended it if it had continued its run.
I wouldn’t say that this is anywhere near one of my favorite shows, but it does a great job at tackling an important subject, and it’s a very entertaining and heartfelt 2 hours, including the ability to see two broadway legends live.
Why is Amy Schumer on Broadway right now?
It was recently announced that Amy Schumer will be starring in Steve Martin’s “Meteor Shower” on Broadway alongside broadway legend Laura Benanti and television favorite Keegan Michael Key. It sounds like a recipe for success, except for one ingredient: Amy Schumer.
Amy is a widely controversial comedian. Some plebeians genuinely see, to enjoy her comedy, others realize how poorly written and delivered her jokes are. But what most people do seem to agree on, is her terrible acting career.
Broadway.com writes an article outlining so,e rehearsal highlights from her broadway debut in their article titled See Amy Schumer Shake Things Up on Broadway with This First Look at Steve Martin's Meteor Shower
The solution to this issue seems quite simple: don’t cast her in things.
Amy Schumer is a widely disliked actress, and a controversial comedian. Sure, she has star power, but so does Keegan Michael Key, and he’s enough to bring money in for this show (because he’s actually great). Amy Schumer shouldn’t be on broadway at all, but she especially didn’t need to be in this show.
Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway review
This past summer, in June (the week before the Tony Awards), I got the opportunity to see the highly acclaimed broadway hit, Dear Evan Hansen. At the time it was a clear front runner for the Tony Awards, and, after having seen it, it’s not hard to see why it ended up sweeping the awards show.
This show is a stunning contemporary piece about a shy teenager with extreme social anxiety named Evan. He lives with a single mother, Heidi, and goes to a therapist for his anxiety. His therapist orders him to write letters to himself (hence the title, Dear Evan Hansen and the title of one of the most popular songs, Sincerely, Me) in which he outlines why today will be a great day. On his first day of school as a senior, he is printing out a very angry and tempered letter in the computer lab to turn in, but Connor Murphy, a mean and depressed senior (who happens to be the brother of Evan’s crush, Zoe) grabs it, pushes Evan, and runs away with it. Later that day, Connor is found dead in his room, with that letter in his pocket. His parents believe that it was his suicide letter, meant for Evan, the friend they didn’t think that they knew he had. Evan’s anxiety and lack of ability to handle pressure cause him to accidentally lie about the situation and say he was friends with Connor, leading him down a spiral of lies and deceit that turn him into a social media sensation, and someone who is fixing a broken family.
Dear Evan Hansen is, quite frankly, a masterpiece. I would be very surprised to find that anyone could point out even a single flaw within the storytelling, songwriting, or the performance by the lead actor/fan favorite, Ben Platt. Platt is easily the standout of the show for most people, and I was lucky enough to catch one of his last performances before a several-day long vocal rest period for the Tony Awards. And I must say, I’ve never seen a performance like that from any actor, ever. The way Platt throws himself into this raw and deep character is truly remarkable, and it’s very clear why he won the Tony Award for “best actor”. Having to sing for such a vocally demanding role 8 times a week while hunched over and crying, and incorporating fantastically directed mannerisms is incredible, and can be credited to his talent as an actor, and the talent of the director, broadway legend Michael Grief (Rent, Next to Normal). The supporting cast is not to be overlooked, either. Each one of them delivers a performance that helps carry the show, and Rachel Bay Jones (Heidi Hansen) even took home the Tony Award for “best supporting actress”.
There were three definite highlights throughout the 2 and a half hours of non stop euphoria. The first was very early on, only the second song, in fact, the now-classic Waving Through a Window. This song has touched so many people (including myself), and become so popular since it was first performed on Late Night with Seth Myers (which is where I first discovered the show), and because of that, the energy in the room was crazy (something that the actors
themselves have acknowledged in an interview and talks fondly about). The applause that erupted just afterwards made it such an incredible crowd to be a part of, and that was the point where the guy next to me whipped out his box of tissues, and he didn’t stop crying until after he’d left the theater. The other was my personal favorite song, If I Could Tell Her, which comes in shout halfway through act one. This song was released fairly early and had also gained a lot of love, though not nearly as much as Waving Through a Window. Naturally, however, I loved it since it was my personal favorite. The third was one of the last songs, “Words Fail”, a heart breaking ballad in which Evan confesses his wrong-doings. Because of how excited I was for this show, and because I got my tickets before the cats recording was released, I made it a point to steer clear of the last 5 or so songs, so that I could be surprised by something, and, boy, was this a pleasant surprise. Ben Platt was really allowed to shine as an actor in this song, and his performance was one of the most moving things I’ve ever seen, which is sort of ironic, since the song is about the character professing his disdain for what he’s just admitted to doing.
And don’t just take my word for it, critics haven’t stopped raving about this show since it opened on Broadway (and it’s been garnering extremely positive buzz since it first premiered almost 3 years ago in Washington D.C.). Broadway.com outlines it’s success, saying “The show officially opened at the Music Box Theatre on December 4, 2016 and took home six 2017 Tony Awards, including Best Musical.”. Broadwayworld speaks to the success of the cast recording in saying “The Original Broadway Cast Recording of Dear Evan Hansen, produced by Atlantic Records, was released in February 2017, making an extraordinary debut on the Billboard 200 and entering the chart at #8 - the highest charting debut position for an original cast album since 1961.”. And, lastly, Variety raves about the show, saying “In song after song, the lyrics go beyond the spoken thought and reach for the unspoken feelings hiding behind the words”, “The insightful lyrics in the score by Pasek and Paul seamlessly merge with the dialogue of Steven Levenson’s book”, and “Under the thoughtful direction of Greif (“Rent,” “Grey Gardens,” “Next to Normal”), Platt goes beyond physical specificity to get under Evan’s itchy skin and into his unsettled mind. And the introspective, gentle score becomes the language of his troubled thoughts and unspoken yearnings.”
Something that truly speaks to how fantastic this show is is my personal experience. I can’t recall ever having higher expectations for anything, and yet, this show managed to far exceed every expectation I had. I’d seen the reviews, heard the Tony buzz, and knew and loved the composer’s previous work (such as Dogfight and La La Land), as well as the director’s. I’d also seen a bootleg of Ben Platt as Elder Cunningham in the other hit musical, The Book of Mormon, to which he brought a depth to that character that I didn’t even know was possible. Basically, there was almost no way I should’ve liked this show with how high my expectations were. Yet, still, I bought tickets months in advance and flew to New York for a week just to see it, and I don’t really think the show could be any better if it tried (save for including a cut song that’s achieved a following but enough to get it a professional demo, In the Bedroom Down the Hall). Everything about this show from Ben Platt’s incredible performance, to the stunning music, to the tragically overlooked orchestrations, and the phenomenal storytelling genuinely makes this the best live experience I’ve ever had, and I don’t think that I’ll ever experience a period of 2.5 hours that’s even close to as good as this again. I saw it in June and I still think about it very fondly on a daily basis. I feel like this review doesn’t even properly express my love for this show, and I could probably surpass a couple of pages just rambling about it. I can not recommend this musical enough to anyone and everyone.