Company

I really find amusing the posts about LuPone's diva behavior. Met her many moons ago when she was in Sunset Boulevard. I was working front of house at the Adelphi and she was nothing but pleasant to everybody, a really nice lady. I still have her autographed picture.

I'm sure she enjoys playing the diva, but I think deep down she's just a down to earth kind of girl.

Yes, According to pics I saw on social media

Don’t tickets for first previews often go to friends and family ?

Can anyone report back of the view the front stalls ? Please and ta

The view from the front row - got lucky at the Rush game yesterday - is amazing.  The stage is lower than average, which means you really don't miss a thing - plus, the show is almost entirely staged very much downstage, so you're really close to the action. 

I have to say I adored it, and yes of course there was that buzzy excited feeling coming with us being the first ones to see it, which added to it, but mostly I was thrilled by how well the show worked, how I enjoyed the consequences of the gender swap and just in general how well written the score and book are, so much so that it felt much fresher than your average 50-year-old show. 

As ali973 mentioned, there was perhaps more than a nod to the recent NT production of 'Angels in America'.  Having found certain choices very effective there, I thought they worked very nicely here, too, but of course they may not be to everybody's taste. 

For a first preview - and one coming after a single dress run - I thought it was pretty sleek and everyone on stage dealt with the few, small glitches very professionally and used them for comedy, which clearly worked with the general mood and energy of the evening. 

The performances were great across the board, and one can only commend the cast for navigating through some of those manic ensemble choreos - I very rapidly lost count of the times chairs, tables and other props were moved on specific syllables - but some just have to be singled out for their sheer brilliance!  Rosalie Craig did a truly amazing job, she sang beautifully throughout and gave life to a richly multi-layered Bobbie... her vulnerability and tears at a number of moments during her solos will sure stay with me for a while.  Patti Lupone was certainly "luponesque" in her take on Joanne, and this was perhaps somehow predictable, but I thought it worked really well (and yes, I can see the Karen-Walker-like bitchiness there, but by bringing it a good, safe pair of octaves lower than the real thing, she gives her a different edge...).  And last but certainly not least, Jonny Bailey did bring the house down, not just because of how successfully he tamed the torrential lyrics of his solo, but because of how effectively he brought Jamie and his hilarious nervous breakdown to life (on a related note: where does one get a pair of those wedding day pink shoes?) 

   

One asks @ryan, of course!

Maybe Karen Walker is the offspring of Joanne rather than the other way round. And Suzanne Pleshette who played Karen's mother would've been been a terrific Joanne in her day.

I'll wait for your report after you see the show, Ryan!  These shoes are probably the type Paul would wear, I'd say Jamie would go for something slightly less conventional.   

Rosalie and Patti took almost 90 minutes, but during previews they get notes, plus they had drinks with Sondheim.

Sounds like a reasonable excuse!

Oh no you didn't.

My memory may be playing tricks, but do I remember seeing a couple of versions of this played without an interval?