Carolyn's Comments

I can just see in my head Dave Steakley and Abe Reybold saying to themselves “well that’s not a surprise”.   I didn’t like Angels in America... Made me angry that we put so many people through this horrible disease before anyone would take it seriously and fight back.  How many amazing human beings died before someone like Elizabeth Taylor put a stake in the ground and said Enough.  Why can’t we have empathy for our fellow humans.   I didn’t like that it was loud with actors screaming at each other.  It was dark and scary.  I know Broadway is crazy about the Angel.  I thought she was awkward and ugly.  Scene changes were disturbing because they had the crew dressed in black camo and instead of walking out to move a prop they slithered around looking snakelike and evil.  There was one woman actor who played the parts of Ethel Rosenberg and a mother as well as a rabbi and a Russian general.  When she was female I liked her very much but wh...

Oh my gosh I almost forgot about Jimmy Buffett’s play. Was nice to pretend you are on a tropical island when it’s windy and 30 degrees outside. Think the best way to describe it is like an Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon beach movie with overt drinking and more hinted at sex.   Entertaining...not bad just not great. And songs you have been carrying around in your head for years. Girl meets boy on an island, boy falls hard, girl has other fish to fry, girl goes back to USA, boy stays on island till volcano erupts, goes to find girl, girl still more interested in career, boy goes back to island, girl works hard get what she thinks she wants, discovers she misses him, goes back to island, They kiss and get married and thats pretty much it. Second banana couple were good.   Marc, who has been reading up on what makes for success, tells me all these stories especially musicals need a second couple story.   Big beach balls thrown into t...

For those FB folks who are also ZACH employees, had dinner with Jessie Pitluck and her associate and went on with them to the Vineyard Theatre where Jessie works.  I really like this non profit theatre.  It’s small and supports new works and in some cases pushes them on to larger theatres after a buzz has been created. The Amateurs was very interesting.  Starts with  6 characters on Stage representing the 7 deadly sins in these grotesque masks...one of the 6 has to turn his mask upside down to be the seventh sin.  Anyway, they are traveling thespians during Mediveal times trying to outrun the Black Death and establish the importance of the Arts.  Very well done...thoroughly enjoyed it.  Always amazes me how much actors can do with minimal props.  Good acting will win out. This is one I would actually like to see again some time.  Doubt that will happen though. The Vineyard is going to be the theatre for our most recent investment.  Get t...

Hamilton had been first choice on Maya’s list of what she wanted to see.  However, of the three she saw it was her least favorite. Honestly, it didn’t hold up for me the third time.  I felt guilty taking up a seat knowing so many people want to see it.  The newness of the production and the music has worn off for me.  It currently has one of the best ensembles.  Those kids really work and their dances and movements are so synchronized it’s a joy to watch. If it weren’t for our lemon drops both Maya and I might have nodded off.  Like a lot of other kids she knows every song on the soundtrack so she would perk up when a favorite came along.  Subject is a little deep for kids...Maya might say boring. She is a good theatre goer though...no fidgeting and no whining.  And now she can say she has seen it...bragging rights you know. Lin-Manuel Miranda was there that afternoon and came out on stage which was a crowd pleaser.  It will be a long time be...

While Marc goes to see Anastasia with friends from Marble Falls and Austin, I am here in bed with what is starting to look more and more like a broken toe. If it is, I did it well over a week ago and have been hobbling around on it which is probably why it still hurts.  Happened on its own do not remember any trauma.  So Anastasia and Maya...,I wish I could get across to you all how incredibly special this whole experience with being a producer on the Broadway show Anastasia has been for us.  Every single person we come in contact with has been a plus in our lives. This one adventure is leading us into more productions and some thrilling theatre.  It has also made me even prouder of what I see happening at Zach.   Anyway, of the three shows Maya saw while she was here Anastasia was her favorite.  And why not, especially when we took her back stage to meet Christie, Derek, and John who treated her like she was Anastasia.  Derek took her on stage, John f...

Okay for those of you who think I have disappeared I am here I am just lazy and Marc is doing a really good job reporting on the shows. However, I do have some opinions.  Once on This Island...oh my gosh it’s not to be missed.  There’s a dance sequence in this play that I love.  I am really excited that we are taking some Austin friends this weekend so I get to see it one more time.  When I was 9 years old, I saw a movie called King Solomon’s Mine with Stewart Granger and Deborah Kerr shot in Africa.  That was a lot of years ago and I don’t quite remember the whole story line but somewhere in that movie there was a dance performed byWatusi tribesmen that I thought at the age of 9 was the most exciting thing I had ever seen.  Their way of moving and dancing with such force was something I had never seen before. There’s lots of bending and  swaying and foot stomping very physical.  And that experience came to mind watching this voodoo dance in the p...

Many of you know that Marc and our granddaughter Maya are very close.  And Jason and Liz brought Maya to visit us in NYC for Spring Break.  Tonight we took them to see Anastasia and of course, they sat next to each other in the theatre.  She was enjoying the show which made Marc very happy and he has been schooling her on his favorite song which is titled In A Crowd of Thousands. She has learned the words so she can sing it and plays it on the piano...anyway when they sang it in the show she leaned over and put her head on Marc’s shoulder and grandpa melted.

Good idea for a song don’t you think?  Got a durn old cold so I was pretty pitiful and raggedy looking there for a couple of days but I laid low and I am almost back to normal.  I did miss out on the Edward Albee plays Thursday night but Marc called a friend so he didn’t have to go alone.  Also missed the Producer classes we came here to go to. I did get to walk in the snow however on Wednesday and see both shows before giving in to a DayQuil/nightQuil routine.  Strangest snow storm ever.  Up to now, a thunder and lightning snow storm was the strangest from my days in DC. Literally this one all day Wednesday was a white out.  When we went to the theatre at 2 in the afternoon it was snowing so hard you couldn’t look straight ahead for the snow was blowing these big wet flakes in your face.  You had to look down at your feet and just hope you didn’t run into anyone.  People had given up on umbrellas because the wind was just turning them inside out....

Went to a reading of a play that didn’t do particularly well on Broadway back in 2015.  It lasted like 5 months so not a flop nor a success.  For whatever reason David Hyde Pierce who directed it pulled as many of the original cast that he could get and they did a reading at the 92nd St. Y.  I am not sure why it wasn’t more popular because its very funny.  Moves right along with good dialogue.  There’s a great part in it for the theatres version of a stereotypical Jewish Mother. In the Broadway show it was Tyne Daly and we were lucky enough to see her playing the role again for this one night.  Of course, I remember watching her on Cagney and Lacey and Judging Amy but this was my first time to see her on stage and I hope it’s not my last.  She can deliver a line and a look with the best. Fan of her brother Tim Daly currently on Madam Secretary..,from time to time there’s talk about them doing something together I hope I am in New York when they do. ...

We’re back in New York and ready to restart our comments on theater, food and anything else we come up with. To make it a little easier to follow us this year, we’re going to use a pair of blogs instead of just Facebook status updates. You can find the blogs at: Carolyn’s blog -  carolynseriff.blogspot.com Marc’s blog -  mssthoughts.blogspot.com All of our posts will remain on the blog so you can look at older ones, too.  Each time one of us posts, the new post will pop up on our Facebook page within an hour or so. Alternatively, you can go to one or both of the blogs and use the “Subscribe” button to give us your email address. Once a day, you’ll receive an email with anything we’ve posted that day. If there aren’t any new posts, you won’t receive an email.  We’re still working on streamlining this process so let us know if something doesn’t work.