Waitress

The all female dynamo creative team of Sara Bareilles (Music & Lyrics), Jessie Nelson (Book), and Diane Paulus (Director) have turned Adrenne Shelly's (Motion Picture) work into a divine Broadway chic-flick with something for everyone to enjoy.

Broadway darling Jessie Mueller (Jenna) tackles the downtrodden role with gusto and aplomb, bringing life to Ms. Bareilles' music.  But what may be more important is that the supporting cast brings life to the show itself.  Understudy Stephanie Torns (and presumably Kimko Glenn too) bring a quirky, funny, and lovable geekiness to life in Dawn.  Keala Settle brings a bold, sassy, brash waitress to live in Becky.  The adorable tall drink of doctor water, Drew Gehling, brings a hopeless romantic and lovable married lunk to life in Dr. Pomatter.  And perhaps the most underrated and hysterical - scene stealing Christopher Fitzgerald brings geek to life in the adorable Ogie.

A perfect blend of soulful music, funny dialogue and a quirky cast of characters forms the basis for quite an enjoyable evening in the theatre.  The term chic flick does come to mind to describe the overall show but once the first bar of the show is played I think there's a little something for everyone in this delightful summer story that continues to pull in box office receipts to keep it afloat.

Billy & Ray

This play had good intentions. I wanted to like it.  I really did.  Especially starting the uber adorable Vincent Kartheiser (Billy Wilder).  But it wasn't.  And he wasn't either.  Maybe it was the bad haircut?  More likely it was the fake accent.  Since it's required for the plot of the show, I suspect that casting may have been the problem at its core.  After a thorough review of the show with my theater-going friend afterwards, we came to the conclusion that not only was casting off, but so was directing.  Garry Marshall - legend in the world of television - turns out that he's not so good in the theater.   So many missed theatrical opportunities.

It was a play about a movie.  But much of the play was spent telling us the story rather than acting the story.  It all added up to a disappointment.  Larry Pine (Raymond Chandler) did an admirable job and had some good lines, but once again, he needs to learn his lines.

Drew Gehling (Joe Sistrom) and Sophie Von Haselberg (Helen Hernendez) rounded out the cast, however I found Helen Hernandez to be a rather pointless character (except for one notable scene where she comes up with an idea).

Overall a disappointment.  But they certainly deserve credit for trying.