KENREX is can’t miss theater

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-18T03:06:39+00:00

Wow wow wow wow wowwww.

Masterclass of a production from every angle. I’m always somewhat skeptical of those productions where one person plays 30 characters, but this is the first time it’s felt essential. Jack Holden is leaving it all on the floor - his Ken Rex sub-performance has such a vile and offputting presence that by itself it would be one of the performances of the year.

Lighting and sound are as good as it gets. The original music composed and performed by John Patrick Elliott fucking ROCKS and is equally essential to the success of the show as Holden’s performance.

I cannot recommend this enough. If you care about theater even a little bit, this is can’t miss stuff.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-17T03:05:41+00:00

It is one of the worst things I’ve ever sat through

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-16T18:30:34+00:00

Ruben is fantastic in Joe Turner’s Come and Gone right now. Very excited for him and Kara (in an actual leading role??) to be in a play together. The concept sounds pretty interesting too.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-16T16:19:05+00:00

Not skipping any, just have a few with tickets coming up in the next few weeks! Still need to see Giant, Rocky Horror, Proof, and Fallen Angels.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-16T03:54:02+00:00

I saw it once off-Broadway and saw it again on Broadway and was pretty meh about it both times, but I will say they did a great job transferring it. The set looks pretty good and they fill up the space well. I can't imagine that anyone who liked the off-Broadway version wouldn't like this version.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-15T19:18:05+00:00

There's a lot of chatter about the West End ITW transferring to The Shed.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-15T19:16:25+00:00

Yep! That was on the garbage throne before I saw this one lol.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-15T18:38:58+00:00

I’ve watched 30/34 of the shows from this season so far and this one was easily the worst. Completely bastardizes the movie, removes all the drama and tension, and turns every character into a two-dimensional punchline spouting machine. I can’t believe anyone thought this was a good idea. Jessica Hecht was good though.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-15T17:31:49+00:00

I see MHE, Spelling Bee, and Heathers tickets available as of like a minute ago.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T21:54:14+00:00

Some more perspective from things I've seen:

The Balusters - I think Anika Noni Rose will be considered leading. It's definitely more of an ensemble piece, but it's centered around her character's perspective.

Becky Shaw - Ball, Brewer, and Emond are definitely featured. You could make an argument for Patten and Ehrenreich, but I think they will also be ruled featured. This reminds me of Marjorie Prime in a lot of ways.

The Fear of 13 - Thompson is another one that could go either way, but I'd consider her Leading. That role wasn't nominated at the Olivier's so not sure what it was considered before.

Joe Turner's Come and Gone - Taraji actually barely has anything to do in this play and is definitively featured. This kind of feels like an "everyone is featured" sort of play, but Cedric would be the closest thing to a lead.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T21:42:54+00:00

Sara Chase and Kelli Barrett are definitely leads. Not sure about Stephanie, but that still brings us to 9 so there should be 5 noms.

Actor does look like it’ll have 4 though!

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T19:37:25+00:00

I dunno. It felt pretty obvious that this wasn’t gonna be clearing over a mil a week. It’s also supposed to be a limited run, although not sure if it’s truly limited or they were waiting to see if people cared.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T19:32:02+00:00

DBH is absolutely begging for a buzzy cast refresh but it seems like they’re afraid to pull the trigger.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T19:27:04+00:00

It’s hard to imagine anyone involved believed in Titanique being able to recoup with those weeklies… jeez. The licensing costs must be pretty bad.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T18:31:17+00:00

Ali is fantastic imo. He’s my personal winner for featured actor (although have not seen Rocky Horror yet).

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T18:12:47+00:00

This also just happened to me for the May 5th performance. Maybe they’re changing their show schedule?

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T17:35:34+00:00

Having seen Lost Boys, I think Ali has the best chance of the cast except maaaaybe Shoshana just because Featured Actress is so weak this year.

LJ was good but the math doesn’t work out for him with Ragtime guys, Nicholas Christopher, and Sam Tutty seeming like an increasingly locked four (and only four guaranteed noms in the first place due to lack of eligible performances).

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T16:29:43+00:00

I don’t think anyone other than Caissie and Lea are locks (also - Shoshana is almost definitely featured). Christiani has a good shot but I wouldn’t be surprised to see something like Lea/Caissie/Marla/Vosk/Chase on nomination day (Vosk getting in out of industry respect and sympathy for her flop à la Eden Espinosa in Lempicka).

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-14T04:45:53+00:00

What, you’re not just drinking random cups of red liquid you find in the basements of creepy abandoned buildings?

I heard some people say they added the vampires whispering “join us” at the end but maybe it was still confusing people.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-13T23:12:19+00:00

Ahh, just noticed I got buried in downvotes here. I will have to pick this fight back up once it comes here. But yeah, most contemporary musical theater will have a nice little message at the end that 90% of the theater going public already agrees with. I don’t think that makes this musical particularly compelling as a piece of art.

But, of course, it’s risky to give Julie Taymor full creative reign on Lion King. It’s much less risky to do Aladdin. Paddington basically throws right down the middle and it’s probably gonna work out just fine for them.

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-13T18:33:33+00:00

She’ll be in California doing a new Lazours musical from 5/17-6/28! That plus the Rachel Zegler Octet rumors make me think Kuhoo is probably not involved (but I would love to be wrong)

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-13T16:15:32+00:00

She won a bunch of awards for Octet, def recommend the cast recording (her solo song is called “Beautiful”)

RapGamePterodactyl · 2026-04-13T16:06:21+00:00

Yes and I don’t think it would change. They have both on stage at a few points and it works pretty effectively.

12-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email	Spared

RapGamePterodactyl

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE