Determined to go to the theater as much as possible since I now live in New York, and also pressured to see shows that are closing at the end of the 2016, I saw nine Broadway shows this semester! Here are my thoughts and recommendations as I look back on all the shows I saw. (listed in chronological order of me seeing it)
Show #1: Fun Home
1 sentence summary: A middle-aged lesbian cartoonist recalls her childhood and teenage years in her home with a gay father in the funeral business who ends up killing himself.
Written and composed by: Jeanine Tesori and Lisa Kron
Theater: Circle in the Square
Best song: Come to the Fun Home, Changing my Major
Who to take to it: Your cousin or sibling who goes to a liberal arts college and is preferably majoring in Women’s and Gender’s Studies
Rating: 9/10 aneurysm hooks
Show #2: Matilda the Musical
1 sentence summary: Little girl Matilda is extremely bright and loves to read but has terrible and idiotic parents and she learns more about herself and others when starting school
Written and composed by: Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly
Theater: Shubert Theatre
Best song: When I Grow Up, Naughty
Who to take to it: Your little sister or the young at heart
Rating: 5/10 Chokies
Show #3: Waitress
1 sentence summary: When Jenna, a baker/waitress is an abusive marriage and gets pregnant, she decides to enter a pie-baking contest to win $20000 and leave her husband (she also encounters a cute doctor and her friends/co-workers have their own love storylines as well)
Written and composed by: Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson
Theater: Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Best song: She Used to Be Mine
Who to take to it: Your friend who doesn’t necessarily love musical theater but loves romantic comedies and pop music
Rating: 10/10 Deep Shit Blueberry Bacon Pies
Show #4: Oh, Hello
1 sentence summary: Basically just Nick Kroll and John Mulaney making strange jokes while dressed as old men. Also there is always a celebrity guest!
Written by: Nick Kroll and John Mulaney
Theater: Lyceum Theatre
Best song: N/A
Who to take to it: Your friend who watches way too much stand up comedy and is basically an old man
Rating: 7/10 Tuna Sandwiches
Show #5: Dear Evan Hansen
1 sentence summary: Awkward high schooler Evan Hansen gets put in a difficult situation when his classmate Connor kills himself and his parents think a note Evan wrote to himself is Connor’s suicide note
Written and composed by: Benj Pasek, Justin Paul and Steven Levenson
Theater: Music Box Theater
Best song: Waving Through a Window
Who to take to it: People who say “I don’t really like showtunes” and post on their snapchat stories too much
Rating: 9/10 casts with the name “Connor” on them
Show #6: Falsettos
1 sentence summary: The story of a dysfunctional family of divorced parents (one gay), their son, the father’s lover/boyfriend and the mother’s new husband (who is also the therapist)
Written and composed by: James Lapine and William Finn
Theater: Walter Kerr Theatre
Best song: Trina’s Song
Who to take to it: Whoever you watched “Milk” or “Rent” or “Philadelphia” with
Rating: 6/10 Jews in a room bitching
Show #7: The Humans
1 sentence summary: A family gathers for Thanksgiving in their younger daughter’s new apartment and they discuss a lot of issues they all have been facing
Written by: Stephen Karam
Theater: Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
Best song: N/A
Who to take to it: Your cousin who used to go to a liberal arts college and is now getting a masters in Sociology or something
Rating: 8/10 Virgin Mary Statues
Show #8: Something Rotten
1 sentence summary: The Bottom Brothers, playwrights who rival Shakespeare, seek to find a new idea for a play and end up creating the world’s first musical, which features many references to contemporary musicals.
Written and composed by: Wayne Kirkpatrick, Karey Kirkpatrick and John O'Farrell
Theater: St. James Theatre
Best song: A Musical
Who to take to it: That person you know who always goes to the stage door after they see a Broadway show
Rating: 7/10 Omelettes
Show #9: The Color Purple
1 sentence summary: Celie, a young woman growing up in the early 20th century, learns about herself through her relationship with an abusive husband, his old lover Shug Avery and her sister who fled and went to Africa.
Written and composed by: Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Marsha Norman (based on the novel by Alice Walker)
Theater: Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
Best song: The Color Purple
Who to take to it: Your AP Lit Teacher
Rating: 8/10 Pairs of Miss Celie’s pants
