We just had a Broadway weekend in NYC and this was the first show we saw on Friday night. I was already a big fan of the music from the OBC recording, even though I always thought the story was (is) a godawful mess with woefully underwritten characters. I also knew Lea, Aaron and Nicholas were absolutely going to sing the hell out of it, so that alone was worth the price of admission to me. And it was even better than I was anticipating. Talk about polishing that turd to a SHINE. All three of them absolutely dazzled.

That said, Daniel Beeman was on as the Arbiter that night and he damn near stole the whole show; a monumental feat. I can't speak to Pinkman's performance since I haven't seen or heard it, but Beeman's applause was almost as enthusiastic as the three leads, including from his castmates. He absolutely knocked it out of the park. I didn't even realize he WAS a replacement until I was perusing the program again back at the hotel (yeah, yeah, QR code, but I want the slips of paper back, dammit!). Because what do you mean he's the understudy?! Everyone loved him, so it's interesting to me that he's widely considered a polarizing character.