I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a little spring cleaning. I'll share an email, the answers to the last several contests, and last month's poll results.
First, let me answer the number one question I get from all of you:
Q: Do people actually win these contests you have?
A: Yes, they sure do!
Jeff,
That being said I am a huge Darren Criss fan so I think that did impact my thoughts on the show but I will try to give you my unbiased opinion. There were a few understudies the night we went to see the show and the biggest disappointment for me was not seeing Michael Urie as Bud Frump. I was really looking forward to seeing his performance and comparing it to Christopher Hanke's. That night in the show Charlie Williams came back to play the role for Michael, and I thought he was really good. He put his own perspective on the role and he has a really nice singing voice. He wasn't as funny as Christopher Hanke, and at some parts I almost felt like he was taking a meaner approach to the role.
We also saw Holly Ann Butler in the role of Smitty. I actually saw her both times I saw the show because the first time Mary Faber was out, so I really have no one to compare her to, but I really enjoyed her performance both times. I felt like the most improved from when I last saw it was Beau Bridges. He really found his niche and was just great. He and Nick Jonas had great chemistry and it seemed that he had finally gotten comfortable in the role.
Now onto Nick Jonas, like I said before I am a huge Darren Criss fan so I went into the show already saying that Darren was going to be better than Nick. I was very surprised with the maturity of Nick Jonas. He has really grown up since his days with the Jonas Brothers. His singing and dancing were very impressive and were on par with Darren's. I would give the award to Darren though for being the better dancer. The biggest difference that I noticed was how both portrayed the part of Finch. I felt as though Darren took the happy go-lucky option of Finch, because I felt that he was very happy and excited the whole time when he was playing Finch. With Nick Jonas I felt as though he took the part more seriously and was playing someone older than himself. While he did make some jokes, you just got the sense that he was the "serious" Finch. It was almost more believable than Darren's portrayal. I really did enjoy both Nick and Darren's performances, and I am a big fan of that show.
Thank you again for the tickets and I love reading your blog!
Brennan
THE CLYBOURNE PARK CONTEST
The Winners: B.D. of Spotswood, NJ and T.M. of New York, NY
The Questions and Answers:
1. Clybourne Park was written as a response to which of the following plays:
A. A Streetcar Named Desire
B. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
C. A Raisin in the Sun
D. Fences
2. The nominees for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama included all of the following EXCEPT:
A. Clybourne Park
B. The Scottsboro Boys
C. Detroit
D. A Free Man of Color
3. Clybourne Park takes place in a neighborhood of what city?
A. Chicago
B. Detroit
C. Baltimore
D. Atlanta
THE LEAP OF FAITH CONTEST
The Winners: S.P. of New York, NY and B.B. of Nutley, NJ
The Questions and Answers:
A. Company
B. Taboo
C. Speed-the-Plow
D. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
(Tuesday) 2. Jessica Phillips, star of LEAP OF FAITH, has appeared on Broadway in all of the following shows EXCEPT:
A. next to normal
B. The Scarlet Pimpernel
C. The Ladies Who Sing Sondheim
D. Priscilla Queen of the Desert
(Wednesday) 3. Alan Menken composed the score for which musical last season?
A. Sister Act
B. Catch Me If You Can
C. Priscilla Queen of the Desert
D. The People in the Picture
(Thursday) 4. Leap of Faith is based on a documentary about faith healers travelling in the American South.
A. True
B. False
(Friday) 5. Christopher Ashley, director of Leap of Faith, also directed all of the following on Broadway EXCEPT:
A. All Shook Up
B. Cry-Baby
C. Memphis
D. Xanadu
THE JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR CONTEST
The Winner: H.K. of New York, NY
The Questions and Answers:
A. True (ALW: The Phantom of the Opera, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita; TR: The Lion King, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita)
B. False
(Tuesday) 2. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice collaborated on all of the following EXCEPT:
A. AIDA - Tim Rice provided lyrics to Elton John's music
B. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
C. Evita
D. The Wizard of Oz
(Wednesday) 3. All of the following Biblical figures have their name in a song title in Jesus Christ Superstar EXCEPT:
A. Jesus of Nazareth
B. Judas Iscariot
C. Mary Magdalene
D. Simon Zealots
(Thursday) 4. Des McAnuff has directed all of the following shows on Broadway, EXCEPT:
A. How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
B. The Who's Tommy
C. Jersey Boys
D. Titanic: The Musical
(Friday) 5. This revival of Jesus Christ Superstar originated:
A. in New York.
B. in Canada.
C. in London.
D. in Australia.
The Winners: D.Q. from Brooklyn. NY and M.B. from Stockholm, NJ
The Questions and Answers:
(Monday) 1. Which Gershwin classic in the NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT songbook contains this lyric: "You like 'potato' and I like 'po-tah-to', You like 'tomato and I like 'to-mah-to'. 'Potato' - 'po-tah-to,' 'tomato' - 'to-mah-to'"?
A. "Someone to Watch Over Me"
B. "Delicious"
C. "Let's Call the Whole Thing Off"
D. "But Not For Me"
(Tuesday) 2. According to her cast biography, co-star Estelle Parsons won an Oscar for her performance in:
A. Bonnie and Clyde
B. Miss Margarita's Way
C. August: Osage County
D. Good People
(Wednesday) 3. Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse wrote the original material that NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT is based upon. They also provided the original material for which other currently running show?
A. The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess
B. Anything Goes
C. Memphis
D. Once
(Thursday) 4. How many Tony Awards has Matthew Broderick, star of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT, won?
A. None
B. 1
C. 2
D. 3
(Friday) 5. Kelli O'Hara (co-star) and Kathleen Marshall (director/choreographer) of NICE WORK IF YOU CAN GET IT have worked together previously on which Broadway show?
A. Anything Goes
B. The Light in the Piazza
C. South Pacific
D. The Pajama Game
The March Poll Results: 272 people voted, casting 739 votes (Thank you!)
Which new musicals are you most looking forward to this spring? (Choose up to three.)
- 56.7% - Once
- 43.3% - Disney's Newsies
- 23.3% - Ghost: The Musical
- 20.0% - Nice Work If You Can Get It
- 16.7% - Leap of Faith
- 3.3% - Not interested in any of these shows
Jeff
3.214
@jkstheatrescene (Twitter); jkstheatrescene@yahoo.com (email); Comment below (Blogger)
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