Sunset Boulevard (Nicole’s Version) ★★★★★ / Redwood ★★★ / Buena Vista Social Club: The Musical ★★★½ / Gypsy (Audra’s Version) ★★★½
Enough of “slumming it downtown with the poor” and seeing Off-Broadway shows (jokes—most of them were in the theatre district anyway). I was hankering for some big Broadway pizzazz, and I got it.
Sunset Boulevard (Nicole’s Version – for the third time) ★★★★★
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Book and Lyrics by Don Black & Christopher Hampton. St James Theatre.
Yes, I’m addicted to this production. It’s perfection. This time, after seeing it twice from the mezzanine, I got a seat as close to the stage as I could in the side-orchestra. I was surrounded by theatre kids who were all there for the third or fourth time too. As the twenty-something girl in front of me said, “You get it, I know you totally get it.”
I’d actually hoped to see the show when Mandy Gonzalez was on instead of Nicole Scherzinger, because I wanted to see how it landed with an alternate, but I just wasn’t in town on the right day. So this time, I got an up-close look at all the blood and camera work. Poor Tom Francis had to do his outdoor oner in the rain, which was a new wrinkle.
And I still haven’t grown tired of it. I could see it again and again and again. It’s the best thing Jamie Lloyd has ever done, and one of the best theatre productions I’ve ever seen. If it doesn’t hoover up Tony Awards I’ll be angry.
Redwood ★★★
Book & Lyrics by Tina Landau. Music & Lyrics by Kate Diaz. Nederlander Theatre.
The third part of my inadvertent Jonathan Larson/Rent marathon (after The Jonathan Larson Project and seeing Adam Pascal in Drag: The Musical), I got to see Idina Menzel in the new, original musical Redwood.
It’s so refreshing to see a completely original show on Broadway. Not a remake, not a revival, not a jukebox, not based on some existing IP—an actual goddamn original show. I just wish it was… better.
Redwood has taken a bit of a kicking from critics (and received an inexplicable rave from Jesse Green in The New York Times—though frankly, I’ve lost faith in his reviews recently after he dismissed both The Picture of Dorian Gray and Operation Mincemeat. I think he just dislikes popular imports from London). And it’s clear Redwood is not your typical blockbuster Broadway fare.
In fact, it probably shouldn’t be on Broadway at all. It’s a rather melancholic, fairly static show about a middle-aged woman who climbs a tree to process her grief. Normally, this would belong in a smaller theatre—but in order to truly visualise the majesty of centuries-old redwoods, it requires the space and budget of a Broadway-sized production.
If I had to pinpoint what the show is lacking, I’d say it’s as simple as “more money”. The staging is both stunning and expansive, but the reliance on projections over a physical set makes it feel a bit cheap. The projection work is gorgeous and immersive, and the show’s gigantic central tree trunk is impressive—but it needs more: more set, more props, more components to fill out the empty space.
The result is a show that sometimes feels very two-dimensional. That’s not helped by the fact that, once Menzel climbs the tree, she’s physically stuck on a small platform—so there’s not much movement or visual variety. The “vertical dance” sequence is less impressive than the creative team seem to think it is.
As for the show itself, I liked it. A meditation on grief and healing through nature, it has some beautiful moments. The cast are also fantastic—especially Khaila Wilcoxon, who almost steals the show. But is it something I’ll be rushing to rewatch, or to listen to on cast recording, or hoping for a transfer? Probably not.
Buena Vista Social Club: The Musical ★★★½
Book by Marco Ramirez. Featuring music recorded by the ensemble musician group Buena Vista Social Club. Schoenfeld Theatre.
If you were alive in the ’90s, it was impossible to escape the album and the film Buena Vista Social Club. It was an explosion of Cuban music that drove what was then called “World Music”, and became a mega-hit documentary by Wim Wenders. Now the music and history of that album have been turned into a Broadway musical, framed around the recording sessions with some added fictional elements.
The storyline is very simple. A young record producer is trying to reunite the original Buena Vista Social Club members to capture the “old music” while everyone is still alive. But one holdout—singer Omara Portuondo (Natalie Venetia Belcon)—doesn’t want to revisit the past, as it dredges up memories of her youth and a tragedy under Castro. In flashback, we see the young Omara performing with her sister, but as Castro’s regime takes over, one sister flees to America while the other stays.
This wasn’t high on my “too see” list, but a chat with a friend-of-a-friend who is a Broadway producer recommended it. This show is a bright, warm hug on a cold New York day. The music is as rich and layered as ever, and the live performance is rapturous—it’s hard not to smile when you’re enveloped in those rhythms. As none of the lyrics are in English and there are no surtitles, it makes sense to keep the story clean and easy to follow.
The result is a show that’s pure joy without any guilt. This isn’t just fluff (unlike a few other shows on Broadway right now); this has history, legacy, and a whole lot of heart.
Gypsy (Audra’s Version) ★★★½
Music by Jule Styne. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by Arthur Laurents. Majestic Theatre.
This was the big one—the real reason for the trip. I’ve seen three major productions of Gypsy over the years, each led by a superstar (2003: Bernadette Peters, 2007: Patti LuPone, 2015: Imelda Staunton), but the draw of seeing Audra McDonald in the role, with a majority African-American cast, directed by George C. Wolfe, was too strong to resist.
Here’s a bombshell—I don’t like Gypsy.
It’s fine, but it’s not particularly moving. It is, however, one of the great roles for musical theatre leading ladies, so it always attracts top talent I want to see. It’s the Hamlet of musicals.
I booked Gypsy as the middle show in a ridiculous three-show day (sandwiched between The Jonothan Larson Project and Drag: The Musical – hey, my tastes are broad). I had an early matinee downtown, giving me just thirty minutes to get from the East Village to Times Square. I deliberately booked an aisle seat so I could sneak in quietly if I was late, and figured the first few numbers are fairly average anyway—Act Two is where all the good stuff is.
But I made it in time, and away we went.
And… the production is fine. Which is kind of disappointing, to be honest. Audra McDonald acts the hell out of Mama Rose, but her vocals don’t sit comfortably with the score. The new staging works well but isn’t remarkable.
All in all, a bit of a letdown.
Cultural Binge 
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