Zip!

I'm back in Chicago now, back to a dreaded 8:30 am class on Mondays, and back to roommates. But Saturday night, I was in New York. Funny, to think in the last three days, I've gone from Philadelphia to New York back to Philadelphia and finally to Chicago.

I spent all of six hours in New York, after taking the train up with my friend Leslie to see a show. Which, of course, is typical. Aside from the theatre scene, New York means very little to me. The show we saw was Pal Joey, currently doing a limited run at Studio 54.

My thoughts on the show are quite mixed, though more on the favorable side. Both Martha Plimpton and Stockard Channing were fantastic, despite not being known for their musical talent, and Matt Risch, the newcomer who played Joey, was fine. Now, I adore Rodgers and Hart, and of course the music was absolutely sublime - but I think the problem was more with the libretto. Much of the time, the story felt incongruous with the music, as if the music had to reach in order to seem even vaguely in context with the content of the scene. Like one of those jukebox musicals - i.e. Mamma Mia! and Crazy for You. This detracted a lot from my enjoyment of the show, but not fortunately not entirely.

I would recommend seeing it, for the performances of Martha Plimpton and Stockard Channing, and for the experience of seeing the inside of the legendary Studio 54, which truly is a sight to be seen. But the music is the heart of Pal Joey, so if you can't see it, it's no extraordinary loss. Just run out and buy the wonderful 1995 recording starring Patti LuPone, Peter Gallagher, and Bebe Neuwirth.

The next shows are my list are, hopefully, The Seafarer at Steppenwolf, the Chicago leg of the Spamalot tour with Richard Chamberlain, and Our Town at Lookingglass. And over spring break, the epic-ness that is Jane Fonda on Broadway in 33 Variations followed by Susan Sarandon and Geoffrey Rush in Exit the King. Should be a good season.