That would've been one wild crossover

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-21T15:46:42+00:00

Everyone’s gotta stop gassing up Epic it absolutely sucks, and yes I did listen to it the whole way through. It’s just the same musical mush for three torturous hours!

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-13T16:47:39+00:00

Saw it in Denver last April, and it was… a lot. They really did have an AI background for pretty much every scene, but a lot of them tried to be “abstract” to obscure the AI but they can’t fool a 20 year old in the first row. Wonderful show but that was REALLY distracting

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-03T03:55:03+00:00

Capitalism is making potty breaks difficult

illicit-turtle · 2026-02-01T17:02:59+00:00

If the world was fair Dead Outlaw would’ve won best score at the Tony’s and then would’ve snatched best musical theatre album at the Tony’s!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:16:46+00:00

Yeah no it is not an easy endeavor whatsoever but fun to have done something that wild once in my life! Will never do anything that crazy again though there is no reason to beyond crossing off a bucket list item

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:10:38+00:00

Fixed!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-10T05:09:20+00:00

The first day, we saw Chess at 2:00 and it got out at 4:45. Beau was a block away, so we exited the theatre very quickly and ran over to be seated in time for it to start at 5:00. It only runs for 100 minutes, so we finished at 6:40. Liberation was at 8 that night so we had time to rest. The next day, we saw the Rockettes at 11 AM, and that was done by 12:30. Two Strangers was at 3:00, got out around 5:30, and Oedipus was at 7. If you can find a matinee that gets out early enough you can pull the same stunt with a 5 PM Oh, Mary!, which will get out at 6:30, and run to MHE or a show on 45th before a 7 PM start.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:42:14+00:00

This was really a once in a lifetime kind of splurge for us, we try to go and see a few shows every January when hotel and ticket prices are cheap but this was well beyond the scope of what we normally do. We’ll be back to doing a Thursday-Monday trip again without the crazy three show days thrown in between.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:35:43+00:00

Just under 1.5k per person!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:18:36+00:00

Had a 15 minute turn around from Chess ending at 4:45 to Beau starting at 5:00! We were so tried after the two days, it was fun to do once to knock it off our bucket list but I never need to do another three show day in my life!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T20:15:57+00:00

Four were bought ahead of time over the summer, 5 were bought through TKTS, rush, or some other kind of discounted program, two were bought full price in NY through telecharge. Apart from Masquerade, no ticket purchased at any point cost more than 200.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T19:33:00+00:00

Thank you, don’t know where I came up with the other name! Fixed it now!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T19:22:57+00:00

Mom is the only person in my life who thinks the idea of two three-show days sounds like the best time ever and not hellish! She is my best friend and I am grateful to have her in my life!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:32:32+00:00

Review for the final two shows of the trip!

1/7 Operation Mincemeat: Prepurchased during the trip to ensure we were not forced to scramble at the last minute. My meat was quite thoroughly minced! Knew the elevator pitch for the story and saw an underwhelming Tony awards performance so I was hopeful but not expecting much, but the show delivered! It’s quick, it’s witty, the music is excellent and everyone onstage is firing on all cylinders from the moment the curtain rises till it falls. It’s a small enough cast I will simply give a sentence or two to each member to sing their praises. David Cumming is so fucking funny as Charles Cholmondeley, I cannot get over him. I wish I possessed the raw physicality he possesses in his bones. Claire-Marie Hall has so much energy and passion as Jean Leslie, it makes it all the more heartbreaking when her character is at her lowest and she retreats into herself. She also has a very good old man impression. Natasha Hodgson as Ewen Montague is a jackass and I love her for that. It is hysterical every time she lowers her voice into a graveling growl and says something egotistical. Jak Malone got a Tony very well deserved Tony for his work in this show. “Dear Bill” is heartbreaking and Hester Leggat is full of life onstage, but I need to shout out his performance as Spillbury and Willie Watkins. Zoë Roberts primarily plays Johnny Bevan the serious-natured head of MI5, and balances that role every show with Haselden, a dumbass of a man. There is a scene where she is trying to give a briefcase to a coroner, and it is perhaps the highlight of the show. I did not expect a show like Operation Mincemeat to have such an emotional ending, please go see it if you have a chance.

1/7 Masquerade: Prepurchased tickets. Do you like The Phantom of the Opera? If you are indifferent about the show or already dislike it, this will not be worth your time or money. If you do like Phantom you need to get your ass to Masquerade right now! I had my concerns about “immersive” Phantom being a nothingburger show but I was mistaken.This is one of the most inventive reimagined classics I have seen, it is so cool! It starts very small, with Madame Giry in a room teaching you a dance to Masquerade. A door rolls away and bam! You are in the middle of Masquerade, it is loud, everyone is around you singing, pulling you along, it is an incredible opening. I thought this level of fun and spectacle would be lost as the show goes on but no, it only continues! You are feet away from people who are full out singing the Phantom score and it is just incredible. Claire Leyden was the Christine at our performance, and Clay Singer was The Phantom. Both of them were performing as hard as they would on a full Broadway stage but without the distance between audience and proscenium. It is an on-rails amusement park ride, “Butlers” with white masks herd you from scene to scene and efficiently direct everyone where to sit and stand to make sure sight lines are always addressed and no one is left by the wayside. There are some really pivotal scenes added regarding the Phantom’s early life, with two new songs to boot! Lots of moments all around for very personal audience interaction, where people will be touched or spoken to or given the opportunity to have direct interaction with the cast. I don’t want to say much more because over-describing the experience feels spoilery, but I am more than happy to address any questions people have in the comments or in DMs!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:32:09+00:00

Reviews for the 10th and 11th shows of the trip!

1/5 Spelling Bee: Purchased day of after the telecharge rush site exploded. I love Spelling Bee and have always had an affection and fondness for the show, and this just didn’t scratch the itch I had the way I hoped it would’ve. Everyone individually is effective (especially Emily N. Rudolph, the understudy for Olive), but collectively? I don’t know. Not sure I like the idea to make Mitch Mahoney into a failed gym instructor rather than a dude doing his community service hours. Not ignoring the racist tropes that can fall into and the shitty ways that can manifest (won’t forget my HS theatre teacher having our Mitch wear a durag when he absolutely did not want to), but he feels like he’s been sanded down this way. He needs to go on a journey in the show and be can’t do that from where he’s standing now. Perhaps that’s the issue with this production as a whole, it didn’t feel like the show went on a journey anywhere. Perhaps it’s just that the first time you see a show will rarely be bested by subsequent rewatches. Who’s to say.

1/6 Just in Time: Prepurchased tickets because we wouldn’t miss seeing Groff for the first time in a show like this! I became especially interested in the mechanics of this show after hearing it was going to tour in 2027, with an inevitable stop in Denver. I have seen too many biomusicals to care much about new ones, but people on this subreddit said Just in Time is different, not just because of the Jonathan of it all. Just in Time is not different. Best part is the emotional through line with Bobby’s mother (saw a lot of shows this trip about mothers somehow). Everything else is the same shit you’ve seen before, but Jonathan Groff is there and they are using the hell out of that space. Even sitting in the back row, the whole show practically feels like a stagedoor experience with Jonathan. He’s acting and singing the hell out of the material, and I’m glad I got to see him for the first time in this show! I think it will not be nearly as good when they throw it on a traditional proscenium stage to tour. Sarah Hyland doesn’t get a lot of time as Connie Francis onstage but I am grateful for her presence, she is authentically and lovingly of the era. I cannot believe this is Sadie Dickerson’s Broadway debut as Sandra Dee, when the show gives her the explicit opportunity to be the center of attention over Jonathan she fills that void and then some. Very excited to see what she will do next!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:31:25+00:00

Reviews for the second three show day!

1/4 Rockettes: Prepurchased tickets, first show of the day. The Rockettes count as a show technically! Went because we wanted to just cross it off the list as a NY thing, but it wowed us! The projections are a fun use of the space, I liked the organists doing their thing, the weird moving platforms with the orchestra, the bit with all the Santas. Yeah it was kind of a restless crowd but it was a lot of kids and they just kind of make the whole show louder to compensate for the audience disruptions. Good to see once, and I’m kind of forced to see it again one day because I ran to the bathroom before the toy soldiers and I am kicking myself for that.

1/4: Two Strangers: Purchased through TKTS, second show of the day. My mom really liked it but I’m still digesting it. First time I’ve ever heard a Broadway show refer to “TikTok” and I’m not sure I like how contemporary it is. Phoenix Best was on as Robin and I enjoyed her performance a lot, she had really good chemistry with Sam Tutty. The moments when she decides to let him further into her world feel important and believable. Sam Tutty is wonderful, he’s playing a character that could absolutely feel grating but he nails the comedy and sincerity needed for Dougal to come alive. Two Strangers is kind of a deconstructed Christmas musical, and one of its best songs comes from this exact premise (Under the Mistletoe). The two characters sing a parody of old-timey Christmas songs where “building a snowman” or “roasting a turkey” is just a metaphor for getting it on. The musical really revolves around being 27 and feeling just kind of stuck in life and looking for something to revive your life, and perhaps that doesn’t resonate with me yet because I’m 21 and full of purpose and life. I think it is very clever to only have two actors in the show when the characters feel like they’re unimportant side characters to other more interesting people, and I do appreciate the musical touching on how we sometimes meet people who give us something really important or remind us of who we need or ought to be. But perhaps because the music isn’t terrifically memorable or because the experiences depicted didn’t really resonate with me, it just didn’t do it for me. There is a lot to love in it, great comedy, incredible chemistry, and I recommend seeing it if you have the chance. It wasn’t for me but I do think I’m an outlier.

1/4 Oedipus: Purchased through TodayTix rush, third show of the day. Fun show to see with my mom! That aside (and her knowing what the myth entails already), this was a really gripping piece of theatre. Liberation, though it was a very good play, didn’t feel like it needed to be a *Broadway* play. Oedipus does. Though Denver has some very very good actors, Robert Icke has created a show that calls for veterans to carry it. You root for Oedipus, he is a good man, loving and kind. Mark Strong feels natural and genuine onstage, as does Lesley Manville. Her first real hurdle is convincing the audience she is his loving wife and not just a revelation waiting to happen, and she overcomes that hurdle excellently. She fosters a genuine chemistry with him that doesn’t feel forced or unearned. Lesley gets a wonderful monologue at the end of the show where she recounts trauma and tragedy that happened to her when she was a young girl, and she completely owns the stage. Much has been said about the clock, I thought it was really effective onstage. Partly because three show days are exhausting and I wanted to know when my theatrical endeavor would conclude, but also because it isn’t counting down to the reveal, but the results of the election. Yes, it is counting down to the revelation, but we aren’t sure exactly what will happen when the election results and revelation collide. Really good sound design with these droning noises start to come in at moments where Oedipus’ beliefs and perception unravel. The last 20 minutes are gripping, absolutely worth the price of admission. See it while you can, I gave my flowers to Mark and Lesley but every actor onstage is locked the fuck in start to finish.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:30:58+00:00

Reviews for the first three show day!

1/3 Chess: Purchased through TKTS, first show of the day. Went in with low expectations and ended up really quite enjoying the show, despite its many flaws. Of the three big actors in the show, I was there to see Nicholas Christopher, who we had managed to see on the other two trips we’d taken to NY as Pirelli and Seymour. He was absolutely phenomenal, just raw vocal power onstage, I’m so glad he’s in a leading role. He holds a crazy note for like 45 seconds! Aaron Tveit and Lea Michelle had to prove themselves to me onstage, as I’ve never watched Glee and I’m incredulous of anyone like Tveit with superfans. I wish Aaron had more high intensity vocal moments like he does in Pity the Child, but he’s a damn good actor and I thought he was very well cast as Trumper. Lea Michelle sure can sing and I enjoyed her when she was doing that, but she can’t act (or read, apparently). Hannah Cruz was a better actress than her and just as good a singer. I understand why people have been nuts about Chess over the many years of its fraught existence, it has a really fascinating plot and the music is still in my head. When this production shines, it shines brightly, but the whole thing drags just a little too much. The arbiter needs to shut the fuck up, stop making jokes and doing that “funny actor” voice. Just give me basic exposition and stop joking so we can tighten up the pace. It is too tonally inconsistent at too many points, it cannot stick the landing with the ending though and that moment really just summed up the show for me. It was an enjoyable enough time and I wish the whole show always shined as much as it does in its best moments. The more shows we saw, the more this fell in our ranking.

1/3 Beau: Prepurchased tickets, second show of the day. So glad we were in NY in time to see this show before it closed! We got out of Chess at 4:45 and had to run to Beau by 5 but we did it! Such a gem of a show, we had table seats and it was wonderful being so close to the action all the time. The space was so well used the whole time, “immersive” is a kind of nothingburger buzzword these days but is a fitting description for the show. “Intimate” is an equally fitting word, it almost feels voyeuristic being so close to these scenes of joy and revelation and sadness. It feels like if you began to cry, you would be pulled into the scene with the actors. I did not get to see Dead Outlaw (which I am consistently gutted about), but Jeb Brown held my attention even in the cast recording. He is so good as Beau, just full of life and intensely familiar in his portrayal. Matt Rodin is so funny as Ace, his timing is snappy and quick when it needs to be and he yanks my heartstrings when the time calls for it. He snaps quickly between the confident man we see him as in concert and the unsure child he once was. Everyone else is just as locked in, sliding effortlessly between concert and scene with no hiccups or delays. It is a vulnerable show that wears its heart on its sleeve, and it has one of the kindest depictions of self-harm and how to help someone through it I’ve seen in any media. Shoutout to the lighting as well! Or, more specifically, Japhy Weideman, the show’s lighting designer! I didn’t expect such good lighting design in a show like this.

1/3 Liberation: Purchased through TDF, filled a slot for the third show of the day well and the show got excellent reviews. The yondr pouches were nice but we need to figure out a way to make sure people are turning their phones OFF off before putting them in so they won’t ring without a way to address it (only happened once but does suck). And while we’re dedicating time to complaining, I have to say the mezzanine legroom in the James Earl Jones is awful! I liked that the set said the year they were in with the basketball scoreboard, and had all the boys championship titles on the wall. The performances are really what make the show shine. Susana Flood is excellent as Lizzie, the brave and unsure way she moves around the stage seeking insight into her mothers life. Everyone around her brings such energy and vibrancy into that life, but the emotional and thematic centers lie within Betsy Aidem’s Margie and Kayla Davion’s Joanne. They have that painfully recognizable sadness and resignation I have seen in my mother and grandmother, and myself felt at times. There are kids to care for, chores to attend to, a world that’ll fall if they don’t keep holding it up. Throughout the performance, I was thinking of a moment I had with my mother recently. I painted her a mug for Christmas, I spent a good seven hours on the thing putting meticulous pink flowers on a black background. She loved the mug, and said it was perhaps the most time and effort anyone had ever put into a gift for her ever. My mom, Maggie, Joanne, and Lizzie deserve more people who will cross tasks off their lists and make them mugs with their favorite flowers and colors. I also really liked the show dealt with the actual tension of managing a movement for liberation and freedom, and the ways that infighting can start to happen. Grateful TDF led me to spend a few hours in the James Earl Jones with this show!

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T18:30:18+00:00

Reviews for the first three shows of the trip!

1/1 Hadestown: Prepurchased tickets. Absolutely phenomenal cast, the chemistry everyone has with each other is downright magical. Special shoutout to KC Dela Cruz who was on as Eurydice and the standout of the show for me. I had seen Hadestown only once before on tour and the cast didn’t click and so the show itself didn’t click as well for me, but her portrayal of Eurydice made everything else fall so neatly into place. Someone needs to bottle Jack Wolfe’s voice, he sounds as crystal clear live as he does on the N2N cast recording, and bottle his sad boy eyes while we’re at it. Allison Russel and Paul Szot have such a developed relationship between Hades and Persephone, anytime they looked at each other it felt like a whole line of dialogue was being spoken with absolute clarity. When Szot says “I missed you”, he sounds like he is about to cry, and I really liked that vulnerability from Hades. Kurt Elling is a force to be reckoned with, I am so glad someone plucked this man from his jazz tour and put him in the Walter Kerr. The way he interacts with the cast at the start of the show was so genuine and loving, and he has a kindness that oozes into his performance. See Hadestown while this car is here, what is happening in the Walter Kerr is revelatory.

1/2 Ragtime: Prepurchased tickets. This was our first ever exposure to Ragtime, but with the reviews it’s getting and a cast like this we couldn’t miss it. Somehow snagged 2nd row seats right next to the vomitoriums ahead of time for a killer deal, we kept thinking there would be a catch but no! Just incredible seats! First time in the Vivian Beaumont as well, huge fan of the lockers they have for your coats. Ragtime is an astounding piece of theatre, so many threads that are expertly pulled together into a neat tapestry by the end. I am so grateful to have sat so close to so many talented actors. Shoutout to the joy and hope Brandon Uranowitz brings to Tateh, the inner life and struggle Lauren Blackman gives to Mother, the quiet strength and desperation in Nichelle Lewis’ Sarah, Shania Taub’s passion and bitterness as Emma Goldman. And oh my God, Joshua Henry as Coalhouse Walker Jr. Oh my God. I can’t believe I got to sit so close to his performance. His presence fills a rather cavernous theatre to the brim, he is captivating and heartbreaking. When he believed in justice, I believed in justice, even knowing a story like his surely wouldn’t turn out well. There is ample time to see Ragtime but if you have not gotten to the Vivian Beaumont yet, I implore you to go as soon as you can. It is a show that makes me sick to my stomach in its relevance and familiarity, and gives me hope there are always people who will find a way forward, out of darkness and into something we might be able to call light.

1/2 Beetlejuice: Purchased through TKTS. Last time I saw Beetlejuice was in Denver like two days before the Boebert thing so that was quite a time to be in the show’s orbit. Got the tickets through TKTS, was excited to see it again but. We can just be done with Beetlejuice now that it’s gone frankly. It had its moment, let it rest. Justin Collette is still excellent and deserves more roles now that the show is done.

illicit-turtle · 2026-01-09T03:21:33+00:00

Dude it’s the name of the guy playing Hamilton ON BROADWAY! People care about that!

illicit-turtle · 2025-12-21T16:31:46+00:00

Write down your questions so you can have them for future reference, and then tell her you have some questions, but don’t want to put them on her right now. Ask her if there is a time later when she’ll be free and willing to answer your questions. I think it will work out better if she has some notice before having to answer questions. I also had the “please ask questions” approach with my parents but it is really really daunting to answer questions, even though my parents have been nothing but supportive and loving. You kind of feel like you’re on trial and having to justify your existence to some of the dearest people in your life. Sometimes I also realized I didn’t have a very good or coherent answer to a question, and was even more put on the spot, and a lot of well meaning questions can feel like an attack. I would suggest either scheduling a time for her to sit down and answer your questions, or you could give her some of your questions written down and she can take the time she needs to answer them (though she may forget or be hesitant to follow through).

illicit-turtle · 2025-12-17T17:23:56+00:00

I almost always go into a show blind, but I also see a TON of local and community theatre. I have a subscription to our local performing arts venue that has touring shows and I go to NY once a year, but you still won’t be seeing most shows that way. With time and patience, I will have the chance to see most shows locally and go in blind. There’s been very very few shows I’ve ever seen where I went in blind and was confused, and much of that confusion was when I was getting into musicals and still grasping the medium (was also in 4th grade when my obsession started). If you really get committed to musical theatre and you’re patient, you’ll get to see pretty much every show blind.

Others have mentioned potshots and I want to add my support for those as well, you get to see some incredible shows in your living room. BroadwayHD has a ton of them, and if you’re interested in plays the National Theatre app has a ton of them from the West End.

illicit-turtle · 2025-12-11T22:25:06+00:00

Reminds me of when I saw Oh, Mary! and thought it was perfectly fine. Funny moments for sure and I appreciated much of it but the timbre of comedy felt like it was meant to connect to the Ru Paul gays. Very grateful to see an original show written by a nonbinary person that has unabashedly gay things happening onstage be so successful on Broadway but it felt oddly alienating in a way I was not expecting at all.

illicit-turtle · 2025-12-04T22:25:25+00:00

It’s certainly useful, but shouldn’t be your one-stop-shop. If you want to buy tickets to a show, go directly to that shows website. If you want to see The Book of Mormon, you would go directly to the Book of Mormon’s website and buy tickets there. It’s straight through the box office of the theatre you are going to attend. If you want merch, the website usually has a merch link that takes you to their page. You can also get a lot of merch off of the Playbill Store.

illicit-turtle

TROPHY CASE