Gordon and I spent the last two nights being entertained. Tuesday, we went to the Ahmanson Theater to see & Juliet. We knew it was a juke box musical because a large juke box sat in the center of the stage. I appreciated the humor. The play is told from the viewpoint of Shakespeare’s wife, Anne Hathaway, who thinks Romeo and Juliet is a downer. She decides that, as his wife and partner, she will write what really happened. And in her play Juliet doesn’t die. She refuses to stab herself to death or marry anybody else. She’s only 13 years old, for God’s sake. Anne writes that Juliet and her nurse run away to Paris to have fun. And Will argues about the plot. The songs are all pop hits like “Oops I did it again”, “I kissed a Girl”, and “Roar”. It’s silly and irreverent and lots of fun. Rachael Webb plays Juliet and she’s terrific. Her production numbers are staged like the pop performances they are. But my favorite was Shelby Griswold playing Anne. At least I think that’s who played Anne. Teal Wicks was listed in the program but the picture looked more like Shelby. It’s nice when an understudy does such a good job. She’s a terrific comedic actress with a belter voice. But I can’t leave the men out. Corey Mach was a gas as Will. I think we got another understudy playing Romeo, Christopher Robert Hanford. Anyway, that’s what I’m guessing. His picture matches. There’s a note inside the program stating that understudies will always be announced but it didn’t happen this time. But I enjoyed the songs, the staging, the performances…it was fun. The audience went wild.
Last night we drove over to Hollywood to see Shucks at the Pantages. It’s placed in a small town that lives on growing corn. And, of course, a city slicker tries to take advantage of the locals. He’s outsmarted, everybody gets married, and the corn is saved. I didn’t know what to expect from the show. Basically, it was Hee Haw; one-liners with great music. I laughed out loud at the silliness and appreciated the singers. For a good time, go see it. Huh, my blog has become a bathroom wall.
