VEGAS!
Came back from Vegas yesterday. Went there for CES (well my dad went there for CES; I went to enjoy his nice suite). Was quite a weekend! Ate good food! Won money in the slots! Then promptly lost it all. Sigh... Did some shopping. And watch some shows (Some good, some bad).
Saw Jersey Boys. It was AMAZING! I would see it again in the drop of a hat! In fact, I am scheming to go back to Vegas just so I can see it again! Our lead Frankie, Travis Cloer, was amazing! According to my dad, he sounded almost like the original Frankie Valli (though that might be the nostalgia talking)! Also, we got a free upgrade from the mezzanine to the orchestra level, so our seats were amazing! I loved all the songs, and the entire show was so engaging! Everyone kept teasing me that all the music is out of my league, that I'm too young for it. Even so, I loved each song; And since my dad is such an oldies buff, I knew most of the music. However, I didn't know that they were Four Seasons songs, so I was in awe of the Frankie Valli's discography! The biggest shocker was finding out that he sang "Can't take my eyes off of you", and that it almost wasn't released by the record company! Thank god it was, because that has to be one of the most covered songs ever! And its a classic!
Final grade? A++!! Definitely need to see this when you have a chance. So disappointed that I didn't know about this when I was in UCSD and they were previewing it in the La Jolla Playhouse.
Also, Saw the Vegas version of Phantom of the Opera. It was Horrible! The singing was awful! None of the main leads could sing. Christine sounded like she was a little kid imitating an opera singer. Raoul could not harmonize at all (which made all the love songs very painful). The Phantom was okay, until he tried to sing the higher notes. Then it just sounded like a screeching cat. And his acting was sooo overdramatic. Also, since Vegas needs to milk all the money they can from a big production like this and fit two performances in one night, they were performing an abridged version of it, and they basically cut all dialogue that didn't have to do with the plot. I hated how they cut the scene where Buquet tells the ballerina's about the Phantom, because later when he's killed, it just looks like the Phantom picked a random stage hand to kill and not the guy telling stories about him. And they basically cut Meg Giry's lines from the show and gave her an incredibly small part (which isn't smart because I believe she plays a pivotal role in the sequel). Also, they didn't drop the chandelier at the end of the first act, which made the Masquerade scene pretty pointless. Furthermore, near the end they put Raoul in a cage, instead of hanging him (which is the signature of the Phantom).
Overall, D+ if I had to grade it. One good thing I can say about it? Since it is a newer stage, the effects were good. Especially impressed with raising the chandelier at the beginning of the show. But it was downhill from there. My recommendation? See the full length original with actors who can sing aren't forced to perform two shows back to back.
So...who wants to go to Vegas? I'm down for a roadtrip!!
Saw Jersey Boys. It was AMAZING! I would see it again in the drop of a hat! In fact, I am scheming to go back to Vegas just so I can see it again! Our lead Frankie, Travis Cloer, was amazing! According to my dad, he sounded almost like the original Frankie Valli (though that might be the nostalgia talking)! Also, we got a free upgrade from the mezzanine to the orchestra level, so our seats were amazing! I loved all the songs, and the entire show was so engaging! Everyone kept teasing me that all the music is out of my league, that I'm too young for it. Even so, I loved each song; And since my dad is such an oldies buff, I knew most of the music. However, I didn't know that they were Four Seasons songs, so I was in awe of the Frankie Valli's discography! The biggest shocker was finding out that he sang "Can't take my eyes off of you", and that it almost wasn't released by the record company! Thank god it was, because that has to be one of the most covered songs ever! And its a classic!
Final grade? A++!! Definitely need to see this when you have a chance. So disappointed that I didn't know about this when I was in UCSD and they were previewing it in the La Jolla Playhouse.
Also, Saw the Vegas version of Phantom of the Opera. It was Horrible! The singing was awful! None of the main leads could sing. Christine sounded like she was a little kid imitating an opera singer. Raoul could not harmonize at all (which made all the love songs very painful). The Phantom was okay, until he tried to sing the higher notes. Then it just sounded like a screeching cat. And his acting was sooo overdramatic. Also, since Vegas needs to milk all the money they can from a big production like this and fit two performances in one night, they were performing an abridged version of it, and they basically cut all dialogue that didn't have to do with the plot. I hated how they cut the scene where Buquet tells the ballerina's about the Phantom, because later when he's killed, it just looks like the Phantom picked a random stage hand to kill and not the guy telling stories about him. And they basically cut Meg Giry's lines from the show and gave her an incredibly small part (which isn't smart because I believe she plays a pivotal role in the sequel). Also, they didn't drop the chandelier at the end of the first act, which made the Masquerade scene pretty pointless. Furthermore, near the end they put Raoul in a cage, instead of hanging him (which is the signature of the Phantom).
Overall, D+ if I had to grade it. One good thing I can say about it? Since it is a newer stage, the effects were good. Especially impressed with raising the chandelier at the beginning of the show. But it was downhill from there. My recommendation? See the full length original with actors who can sing aren't forced to perform two shows back to back.
So...who wants to go to Vegas? I'm down for a roadtrip!!