Month: Oct 2019

Ben Platt – Radio City Music Hall

by melissay1, posted in Music, Theatre, travel

Still continuing on my theme of blog posts from when I went to New York last month comes todays post about Ben Platt’s concert at Radio City Music Hall. It was quite a while ago now but I love Ben Platt so I really feel like I still wanted to post this up.

I have been a fan of Ben Platt for a while now after joining the fan train from his role as Evan in Dear Evan Hansen. However, in the UK I don’t think he’s popular enough yet to do a countrywide tour and when he did come to London earlier in the year I had already tickets for another event at the other end of the country so I couldn’t go – gutted was an understatement. So it’s safe to say when he announced a one off date in New York and it fell when I happened to be on holiday there at the same time that I was thrilled to finally get the opportunity to see him perform.

Radio City Music Hall is one of those iconic American venues. so many shows and award ceremonies have taken place in that venue. It’s somewhere that each time I go to New York I think about going on the tour of the building but for various reasons it’s just never happened. If you’ve never been to Radio City Music Hall before from the moment you step into the lobby you’re in awe. It’s a pretty spectacular entrance hall and from the second you step foot through the door its clear why this venue was chosen for Ben Platt’s one off show. It was certainly more special than your average concert venue which was only fitting considering that Netflix was filming the entirety of Ben Platt’s concert that night.

I had such high expectations from the concert and Ben Platt didn’t disappoint in the slightest. I love the slight awkwardness that he has on stage, I love how he engages with the audience between songs and I could listen to him sing for hours. His voice is phenomenal and it’s so refreshing to go and see someone perform live and they sound just as incredible as they do on the album without needing any fancy dancing or set to distract you from his voice. Vocally, Ben Platt must be one of the best around at the moment and hearing him sing in person truly gives you chills at various points.

Truthfully, I believe Ben Platt to be a lot like marmite. He has quite a unique voice and I think that you’ll even really love his music or not be a fan. I obviously fall in the really love his music category so for me I absolutely loved the concert from start to finish. Ben Platt performed songs from his Sing To Me Instead album and even through in a performance of his newly released single, Rain. My personal favourite from the night was the song, If I Don’t Live Forever, which is my favourite song from the album and somehow manages to come across even more incredibly live.

The set was simple, it was a small rounded stage – nothing flashy in the slightest. I expected more of an over the top production with it being filmed for Netflix but to be honest, Ben Platt doesn’t need it. His voice is all that is needed for him to put on a great show and the simplicity somewhat reflects the scenes in his latest Netflix show, The Politician, in which he sings at various points throughout. What I liked about the stage was that it also highlighted the talents of the band and backing singers as they weren’t pushed at the back, they even had a moment to shine themselves which I found quite refreshing for a concert.

I still can’t quite believe that I was lucky enough to be in the audience for this concert. Ben Platt has one incredible voice and it was fantastic to be able to watch him perform. What’s even more exciting that sometime in the future we’ll be able to watch the show on Netflix and I know I for one cannot wait to sit through the show again!

Dear Evan Hansen

by melissay1, posted in Theatre

I’ve been waiting to see Dear Evan Hansen for so long. I absolutely adore every single song, I love the book and story, I just have never seen the musical on stage as it was only open in America. Sadly the last time I went to America it wasn’t open yet and currently (though not for much longer) it isn’t in the UK. Well, during my recent trip to New York I finally got to see the show! It completely and utterly met my high expectations that I had in my head for the show so naturally I have to write a post about it.

If you’ve never heard of Dear Evan Hansen, it revolves around a seventeen year old called Evan. Evan has really bad anxiety and in order to try and combat that, his doctor suggests writing letters to himself, hence the name Dear Evan Hansen! One day, Evan’s letter is discovered by his classmate and before he knows it he gets tangled up a web of lies that he just can’t get out of.

People seem to have a difference in opinion of Evan when you read reviews of this show. However, I really like the character as I feel like if I was in Evan’s position I would’ve done the exact same thing and I think that we can all relate to Evan’s longing to be accepted. For me personally, I find that the relatability of Evan gives me far too much of an emotional attachment to this show as at so many points I can imagine myself as Evan. However, the other point of view is that Evan is entirely at fault for lying so they struggle to feel sorry for him.

I have to admit that now Dear Evan Hansen is coming to London this month (and I do have tickets for it) that part of the reason I saw the show in New York instead of waiting a few weeks for my London show, was to see Andrew Barth Feldman playing Evan. Andrew Feldman is scarily exactly like how I imagined Evan to look like so I really wanted to see him do the role. However, the show I saw actually had one of the understudies, Josh Strobl playing Evan. Thankfully, my brief disappointment of missing Andrew Feldman was quickly forgotten! Josh Strobl was an unbelievable Evan and I do believe it was his Evan Broadway debut! I felt that he really captured Evan well and I felt so moved by his performance. If you live in the States and can catch one of Josh Strobl’s Evan shows I would highly recommend his performance! My show also had another understudy, Kaitlyn Santa Juana playing Zoe. Again, she was incredible for the role and I particularly enjoyed her version of Requiem. I felt like Josh Strobl and Kaitlyn Santa Juana had good on stage chemistry and I just can’t believe they’re both the understudies as I would never have known they weren’t the main cast actors.

I knew I would get emotional but I was not prepared for just how much I did. I had a few (and by a few I mean alot…) weepy moments throughout but my throat felt like it was burning as I tried to hold back the tears during You Will Be Found before I completely just broke down in uncontrollable crying. You Will Be Found comes across so strongly on stage. For me, that song on stage is one of my favourite end of act 1 scenes in any musical I’ve seen. That moment came as such a heartbreaking surprise for me as I hoped I would make it to Act 2 without having an emotional breakdown in a theatre but when you see the whole of act 1 on stage and this is the moment that even despite his lies Evan started to make a real difference and some of the words and performance just really affected me.

Dear Evan Hansen is such a simple concept for a musical but it provides so many story elements people can relate to which is why personally I get so attached to Evan. The waiting to be accepted, Evan’s longing to have friends, his need to help make people happy when given the opportunity, Evan’s dad leaving him and his mum working so hard to make a good life for Evan, Zoe’s reluctance to accept her brother was anything but a monster, a grieving family…I think every single person in the audience will manage to connect with at least one part of this story which is what I feel helps contribute to its success.

The set is quite interesting too. On the one hand it’s very basic, at the most you might just have a bed or table on stage. However, the screens permanently on stage play a massive part of the show frequently showing social media messages on them. The so heavy inclusion of social media is quite unique still in shows and I think Dear Evan Hansen uses it effectively. I think the heavy inclusion of social media completely makes it relevant to today’s society and it’s interesting to see how it can be used both for positive reasons and then flip for negative in the same breath. I’m sure everyone has had some degree of experience in the good / bad effects of social media and that really helps to connect the show to the audience.

Dear Evan Hansen is the first show that I’ve seen where I’ve been completely obsessed with everything around it but have never seen the show, normally I’ll know the odd thing or have casually listened to a couple of the songs then see the show and become obsessed that way. I’m so thrilled that it was every bit as good as I imagined it to be. Now, listening to the songs gives a whole new element of enjoyment as I can imagine them being performed on stage. I can completely see why Dear Evan Hansen gets all the hype as despite getting so upset watching it (and I wasn’t the only one as I certainly heard other people crying!) I enjoyed every single second and would see it again tomorrow in a heartbeat.

Have you seen the show? Would love to know what you thought!

Broadway Roulette

by melissay1, posted in Theatre

I’ve had a bit of a small blogging hiatus as I’ve been on holiday! Now I’m sat on the way home it seems like the best time to start my posts of exciting things I’ve done in New York this week. This first is something I did called Broadway Roulette.

Broadway Roulette is a really interesting concept and from the minute I read about it I knew I had to do it. You basically pick a day you want to see a show, chose if you want to see a musical, play or both, then rule out, if any, a couple of shows that you don’t want to see, pay the fee (which is extremely reasonable for a Broadway show) of either $49 or $59 depending on date, and then you’ll get a text and email on the day of your show telling you what show you’ve spun on the wheel!

I have seen a lot of Broadway / West End shows so for me putting control onto someone else to decide what I would be seeing was a great idea! I was completely open to seeing anything the roulette spun for me even if I’d seen it prior and I think if you chose to take part you have to be like this. If you have your heart set on seeing a particular show I don’t really think Broadway Roulette is for you.

As advised I got an email and a text in the morning telling me what show that I’d won and the ticket pick up instructions. Being overseas meant that I had very limited use of my phone unless I was connected to the WiFi so I was very apprehensive about pick up particularly as it stated if I had any issues to ring a number which obviously I couldn’t do without it costing me my phone bill twice over. However, the Broadway Roulette representative was waiting in the prearranged location as planned and he was very friendly and helpful in guiding us the best way to get to the theatre which added to the experience of the roulette.

The show that the roulette spun for me was Waitress! I was absolutely thrilled to get that show! I’ve been meaning to go see the show in London but every time I go to book it I see something else that I really want to see and book that instead. Getting the show on my Broadway Roulette spin meant that I finally had the excuse I needed to see this show.

To be perfectly honest I wasn’t expecting anything too great from Broadway Roulette when it came to the seats as the price was so cheap! I figured I’d just end up being back row so I was pleasantly surprised with how good the seats were! The seats were around half way back in the mezzanine and smack in the centre, I really couldn’t have asked for any better seats and if I was booking the seats myself I would’ve probably chosen those myself which proves how good the roulette service is.

Waitress Seats From Broadway Roulette

Now onto the show! Waitress is about Jenna who lives to make pies and she’s pretty good at making them too! She is stuck in an awkward situation at home and in order to escape to a new life she enters a pie making competition but of course things never work out as smoothly as people plan.

I enjoyed every single second and the songs were great (and I was actually surprised at how many of them I actually did know), the performers were fantastic especially given the amount of understudies that were on and they served amazing pie in the interval – my recommendation is the Cookies and Cream, delicious! It was also a nice added bonus to see Jordin Sparks staring as Jenna too. I’m so glad that Broadway Roulette gave me the opportunity to see the show as I really enjoyed it and I don’t think that I would’ve ever got around to seeing it myself.

I really wished Broadway Roulette existed in England as it is such a fantastic service. I love going to see Broadway shows but the element of not actually knowing what show you’re going to see until the morning of the day you’re seeing the show adds a whole new level of excitement. As mentioned earlier, if you really have your heart on seeing a particular show maybe don’t go for Broadway Roulette as it’s highly unlikely the show you want will be spun. However, if you’re open to seeing anything the roulette may throw at you then I would absolutely recommend Broadway Roulette. The price was incredible for a Broadway show, the seats gave a perfect, unrestricted view and I cant fault the service from start to finish! I know for my next trip to America I will definitely be spinning again!