Theater Digest - April 14, 2024
New thoughts on Funny Girl on tour and Fat Ham at the Geffen.
Hello theater lovers! I’m Katie, and I see a lot of theater! Currently, I’m seeing 0-2 shows a week, depending on my schedule.
Since this newsletter is geared towards people in the entertainment industry, there's a good chance I won't like a show that you or someone you know was involved in. I'm sure that you/your friend put a lot of effort into your/their work! I've been in a few shows, I know how much work goes into putting on a show. But just as you're entitled to dislike TV shows your friends worked on, I'm allowed to dislike theater you/your friends may have worked on. I try not to be vindictive, but I also do make it clear when I don't think a show is worth the price of a ticket or the time spent watching it.
I won't be writing much/any synopsis in these blurbs, but feel free to check out other reviews for synopses! Or just check out other reviews in general! Keep theater journalism alive & well!
Worth seeing:
I don’t review student productions, but I went back to my alma mater yesterday, and I want to give a shoutout to director Anita Dashiell-Sparks and the cast and crew of Rent at USC, which closed today. They put on a very strong show that rivals professional productions I’ve seen in LA and elsewhere, and there were some very strong performers in the cast, especially Janina Colucci, who played Mimi. I look forward to seeing the work these young folks will do after graduation!
**Funny Girl at the Ahmanson [LA]. I come bearing a blasphemous revelation—I’m not a huge fan of Funny Girl. I’d only ever seen the movie, a while ago, and wasn’t blown away, though the songs and Barbra are both great. But wow, was I thrilled by Katerina McCrimmon’s performance in the titular role! She’s a tremendous talent. When you watch McCrimmon as Fanny Brice, you realize why it took 55 years to revive the show on Broadway; they were waiting for her. She’s a revelation, and it was a genuine joy to bask in the light of her performance. The show is not quite as good when she’s not onstage, but McCrimmon’s presence along with it being an old-fashioned musical with a huge cast and orchestra makes it a fun(ny) night at the theater.
Closes April 28 at the Ahmanson in downtown LA; will play at Segerstrom in Orange County May 28-June 9.
**Fat Ham at the Geffen [LA]. This is the Broadway/Public Theater production of 2022’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. It’s an adaptation of Hamlet, and a wonderful theatrical experience. James Ijames’ script is fun and fresh. The cast are a well-oiled machine by this point, never missing a beat, but Marcel Spears, who plays Juicy, this play’s Hamlet, is a breath of fresh air, breaking the fourth wall in the most delightful ways that feel entirely of-the-moment. This is a play that is a play, something Ijames consciously created as a shared theatrical experience, and it is that, in all the best ways. My only quibble is that it does drag a little, especially given that it’s advertised as 95 or 100 minutes, but we left the theater just shy of two hours after curtain.
Closes May 5 at the Geffen in Westwood.
Six on Broadway [NY], and on the West End [London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mac King Comedy Magic Show at Excalibur [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Magic Mike Live in Las Vegas and London [Vegas/London]. Read my thoughts on it here!
A Mixed Bag:
Back to the Future on the West End [London] and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Mad Apple at New York New York [Vegas]. Read my thoughts on it here!
Hadestown on tour and on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it here!
& Juliet on Broadway [NY]. Read my thoughts on it from when I saw it in London in 2019 here!
The Play That Goes Wrong off-Broadway and on the West End [NY/London]. Read my thoughts on the 2019 tour national tour here, or my full review for Stage Raw here.
On my radar:
Kimberly Akimbo on Broadway (closes Apr 28)
Mamma Mia: The Party in London
Cabaret on the West End and Broadway
Merrily We Roll Along on Broadway
Stereophonic on Broadway
Suffs on Broadway
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