Day 108 - April 18

Today I headed down to the Hippodrome to see the touring cast of Phantom.  I saw it on Broadway 17 years ago, and I was shocked at exactly how little I remembered of the story.  The cast was great and I was impressed with the amount of special effects that they have on the tour.  However, I think I'm just not an Andrew Lloyd Webber fan.  Or maybe it's the era the show comes from, I don't know.  I feel like the production is great but the storyline kinda lagged for me.  Also, I'm not into the falsetto opera style singing that most of the show entails.  But everyone definitely impressed me with their skills.  Especially because the Phantom guy has done the show literally thousands of times.  (Well, as Raoul, but still. Thousands. Of. Times.) And the girl that played Carlotta has played that particular role something like 5,000 times.  It's gotta take some serious stamina to achieve that. 

(To get a grasp - I'll have to teach almost 28 years to say that I've gone to work 5000 times.  Yowza.)

I remember being impressed with just being at a Broadway show back in 1993, but I have always remembered so little of the show that I was curious to know if I'd like it as an adult.  So I'm glad I went.

Shows I want to see right now:
-Memphis
-American Idiot (from Green Day, but getting great pre-reviews)
-Next to Normal (Music is great, and it just won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama)
-In The Heights (It came to Baltimore but I couldn't make my schedule work)
-Promises, Promises (Mostly because of the cast)
-Addams Family (I've never been a fan of the actual storyline of the Addams Family, but the cast sounds great)
-La Cage (When it opens with Kelsey Grammer)
-Enron (A play - because Norbert's in it and I really want to see Norbert in something at some point)
-Rock of Ages (it's coming to Baltimore next year)
-Les Mis (for the 2nd time - because it's coming to Baltimore)
-Jersey Boys (for the 3rd time - again in Baltimore)