So tired, so very tired.
After a semi-successful Pub Quiz last night (we came in second… horrors) I got home a little before midnight and did some clienty stuff, so that I'd be clear. Then I woke up at six, did some surprise clienty stuff, left a half hour late and picked up Bob Ingersoll to drive to New York.
Then I drove. And drove. And drove. And drove.
It's far. Really far. Pennsylvania, you are one long frakkin' state.
Bob and I got in to NYC, dropped by booth stuff off at the convention center and headed back to our hotel to freshen up before seeing the new production of Guys and Dolls.
I am tired, so I may gloss over things and come back to them later, but here are my initial thoughts on it:
It was in "previews", which I knew. That's how I saw Dance of the Vampires (and why I'm one of the few who did). No biggie there. What I hadn't realized that this was, essentially, opening night. It was their very first performance.
Guys and Dolls is one of my favorite musicals. There are a lot I like, but out of all the Broadway I know, Guys and Dolls may be the Broadwayist. It's a pretty traditional musical, with characters who talk and then will break into song rather than sing the whole thing. There are huge dance numbers and set pieces and so on. And I just dig it.
I saw the 90's revival, with Nathan Lane and Faith Prince, which was excellent. In fact, it was so good that I originally considered not seeing this one. When you've seen that performance, you know everything else is going to have a hard time competing.
But the cast included Oliver Platt, Lauren Graham, and Craig Bierko. Oliver Platt alone was enough to get me in the door. And the performance, in a much smaller and more intimate theatre than the one I saw the 90s version in, was just great. There was much more immediacy to the production.
Craig Bierko is great as Sky Masterson. He's got the charm and the confidence. He doesn't have quite the powerful voice as Peter Gallagher (who was the original revival lead) or even Tim Wopat (whom I saw in the role). But he more than makes up for it by being Sky Masterson. Boston Legal, you really wasted this guy.
And Lauren Graham is great as Adelie. Faith Prince had the voice and the charisma, to be sure. Graham brings just as much funny, but in a different way. I was impressed with how good a singer she was, too. Plus, she's the best-looking Adelie I've seen.
I don't really know Kate Jennings Brant, who played Sarah, but she did a great job. She played her strict character with a lot more warmth than I would have expected, and when she lets her guard down, it seems like it's the personality she's been hiding, not one grafted on.
Oliver Platt, though... Man, I love Oliver Platt. He was great in West Wing and Diggstown and so many other things that I feel weird saying "eh" about him. He plays a very affected version of Nathan Detroit, kind of a cross between Fat Tony and Comic Book Guy on The Simpsons. It just didn't sparkle the way everyone else did. Now, he certainly could be looking at Nathan Lane's performance which was so memorable and saying to himself "Whatever I do, I can't do that." Maybe people who didn't see the 90s version will like it better. It's not bad, it's just I was expecting him to blow me away and I wasn't.
Also, Tituss Burgess as Nicely-Nicely Johnson and Mary Testa as General Cartwright almost steal the show. Testa is funny all the time. And together, they vrought the house down with Sit Down You're Rockin' the Boat.
Okay, that's enough for now. More later.