<p>Hi all - </p>
<p>I lived through my finals (!;)) and am in NYC to do a week of coaching here - I'm meeting up with some CC'ers here, in fact, to do audition prep (we have some very organized juniors!) and also teach some workshops. Although my schedule is fairly insane while here, I wanted to take the time to post about the show JERSEY BOYS, b/c I haven't seen any thoughts about it here. If you are here and can see it, I really recommend doing so! They have great student tickets for $26.50 (it's largely sold out for months otherwise) which they sell on the day of the show, and the line wasn't bad - I got there at 3:45 yesterday b/c they sell the rush from 4:30-5:30 on the days of 8 pm performances, and I was the second person in line. There is a lot of language (a lot of the f-word, a la THE SOPRANOS) and some sexual innuendo, parents - but there is also a great deal of amazing music and acting! It may pay for teens to read a little bit about the story before seeing the show, especially if they don't know the music of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, because it's all a true story, and a pretty incredible one at that. I think the show is an amazing experience for young performers to experience because of the strength of the performances and also because of the pure joy the audience exudes - people sing along, cheer at the references to New Jersey, and are truly moved by the humanity exhibited by these legendary stars (well, legendary to people of the Baby Boomer generation):). The book is wonderfully crafted in the way it conveys that humanity (and it's really funny, too!), and the show is also VERY well-directed. I see literally everything that is here, and so takes a lot to "impress" me - but I thought it was worth taking the time to encourage our budding performers, especially boys, to see this show, since the types of performances given are detailed in a really different way from anything else running right now - meaning each of the main characters built their performances around the vocal and physical mannerisms of a real person - 3 of the 4 Four Seasons are still living, and of course a great deal of video footage exists of even their earliest performances. You can get a sense of the show by listening to cast recording (a lot of the dialogue is preserved on it) and also by checking out the opening night and rehearsal videos at broadway.com Again, I think one of the most interesting parts of this show was to sit and feel the energy of the audience - THAT'S why our young readers here DO MT!!! :)</p>
<p>Links to broadway.com:
<a href="http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=520911%5B/url%5D">http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=520911</a>
<a href="http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=517679%5B/url%5D">http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Video.aspx?ci=517679</a></p>
<p>P.S. In the CRAZY way of the "small" NY theatre world - I wrote the first part of this post and then saved a draft to complete a bit later in my day - and in between, I literally ran into (walking up 8th Ave.) a young member of my coaching staff, a recent BFA MT grad from CMU, who JUST found out today that he is the new swing in JERSEY BOYS!!! I am sooooo proud of him!!! Now I have even more reason to encourage my students to see this show - one of their coaches is a part of it!!!!!</p>