First Date
Jan. 2nd, 2014 08:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
next_to_normalI mentioned in an earlier post that I took a little trip to NYC to see First Date. Sometime back in November, it was announced that the show was closing, so I had to get there before the end of the year to make sure I had a chance to see it (and my bbs, Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez).
I went up on the train (by myself, sinceper_aspera_ad_astra bailed at the last minute because her car apparently needed a new muffler and brakes - pffft, I once drove home from Trenton DRAGGING MY MUFFLER BEHIND ME and it was just fine) the Saturday after Christmas in order to get same-day tickets from the TKTS booth, aka God's (or the Theater Development Fund's) gift to poor theater lovers. Fortunately, my fellow Broadway addict Christi was able to meet up with me so I didn't have to go to the show by myself, and she was very tolerant of my need to stalk and get photos with the stars at the stage door. :)
Anyway, First Date follows an unlikely couple on a blind date. In one corner, we have uptight, nebbishy, recently-left-at-the-altar investment banker and "blind date virgin" Aaron (Zachary Levi). In the other corner: artsy, bad-boy-loving, "sorta hostile" serial dater Casey (Krysta Rodriguez). Needless to say, they clash early and often, but they both like Quantum Leap, so that's something, right? The show unfolds almost in real time, through drinks, dinner, and perpetual scolding by Aaron and Casey's inner critics, who take the form of best friends, relatives, and exes.
I'm not surprised it didn't have a long run, which is not to say it wasn't good. It was, but it truly lives up to its tagline - "Broadway's romantic comedy" - and romantic comedies seem to be out of fashion lately because they're cheesy and predictable. This one has two excellent leads who elevate what might otherwise be too many cliches and not enough substance. It's frequently funny, especially as Aaron and Casey's banter veers from painfully awkward to playfully flirtatious and back again. In fact, just about every song that included one of the two leads was great, and there are several I'm still singing several days later.
But whenever the show goes to the "hey, broad stereotypes are funny!" well with the supporting cast, it tends to fall flat. Like, for example, "The Girl For You," in which Aaron's dead grandmother comes back to haunt him because he's dating a non-Jew - okay, the Fiddler on the Roof references were funny, but we get the point. We did not need Casey's "very Christian" father making the same point, and then Aaron and Casey's imaginary, theologically-confused future son starts rapping and it's just like OH MY GOD WHEN WILL THIS SONG END.
(Oddly enough, Casey's gay BFF Reggie works the opposite way. His repeated "bail out" calls lean uncomfortably hard on gay stereotypes, but by the third unreturned phone call when he's freaking out that her date has kidnapped her and "OH MY GOD YOU'RE TOTALLY DEAD AND HE'S MAKING A DRESS OUT OF YOUR SKIN AT THIS VERY MOMENT," it's totally fucking hilarious. I confess, I laugh out loud at that line every time I listen to the soundtrack. Every. Single. Time.)
So, here are the highlights. I love the song "First Impression" (here's the whole thing) and this clip also gives you a hint of some of the funny bits of dialogue. (And also totally spoils the ending, but we all knew how it ended anyway, right? It's a romantic comedy!)
My new "belt it out in the shower" song, "Safer." God, Krysta has an amazing voice. SO WASTED ON SMASH. (I am still not over that.)
And you absolutely need to see "In Love with You," the song Aaron sings when Casey encourages him to get over his ex-fiancee. BEST SONG EVER. Angry!Zac is truly the best Zac. And of course, this was filmed earlier in the run, so by the time I saw him, he was totally letting loose and having the time of his fucking life with this song. And, not that I wasn't expecting it, because he's done theater and Tangled, but if you only knew him from Chuck, you might be surprised that he has the pipes for Broadway. MY BOY CAN SING, Y'ALL.
More odds and ends:
Krysta did Kiss & Tell, a Broadway.com behind the scenes web series (starts here, there are eight episodes in all), and I can attest that they still do the stage door dance party, even months later.
Also, an interview with Krysta about the show ending, which I meant to include in my linkspam and then forgot.
BIG FINISH! So after the show, obvs, we stage doored it. I have stalked many stars at the stage door, and I have never seen anyone as gracious to their fans as Zachary Levi. Krysta was awesome, too, but Zac stayed until every single person had gotten an autograph and/or photo with him. Like, we went to a Saturday matinee, and I would not have been surprised if he was out there taking pictures until call time for the evening show. (And it's a 90-minute show with no intermission, so that's a LONG time between shows.)
Pics:
I went up on the train (by myself, since
per_aspera_ad_astra bailed at the last minute because her car apparently needed a new muffler and brakes - pffft, I once drove home from Trenton DRAGGING MY MUFFLER BEHIND ME and it was just fine) the Saturday after Christmas in order to get same-day tickets from the TKTS booth, aka God's (or the Theater Development Fund's) gift to poor theater lovers. Fortunately, my fellow Broadway addict Christi was able to meet up with me so I didn't have to go to the show by myself, and she was very tolerant of my need to stalk and get photos with the stars at the stage door. :)Anyway, First Date follows an unlikely couple on a blind date. In one corner, we have uptight, nebbishy, recently-left-at-the-altar investment banker and "blind date virgin" Aaron (Zachary Levi). In the other corner: artsy, bad-boy-loving, "sorta hostile" serial dater Casey (Krysta Rodriguez). Needless to say, they clash early and often, but they both like Quantum Leap, so that's something, right? The show unfolds almost in real time, through drinks, dinner, and perpetual scolding by Aaron and Casey's inner critics, who take the form of best friends, relatives, and exes.
I'm not surprised it didn't have a long run, which is not to say it wasn't good. It was, but it truly lives up to its tagline - "Broadway's romantic comedy" - and romantic comedies seem to be out of fashion lately because they're cheesy and predictable. This one has two excellent leads who elevate what might otherwise be too many cliches and not enough substance. It's frequently funny, especially as Aaron and Casey's banter veers from painfully awkward to playfully flirtatious and back again. In fact, just about every song that included one of the two leads was great, and there are several I'm still singing several days later.
But whenever the show goes to the "hey, broad stereotypes are funny!" well with the supporting cast, it tends to fall flat. Like, for example, "The Girl For You," in which Aaron's dead grandmother comes back to haunt him because he's dating a non-Jew - okay, the Fiddler on the Roof references were funny, but we get the point. We did not need Casey's "very Christian" father making the same point, and then Aaron and Casey's imaginary, theologically-confused future son starts rapping and it's just like OH MY GOD WHEN WILL THIS SONG END.
(Oddly enough, Casey's gay BFF Reggie works the opposite way. His repeated "bail out" calls lean uncomfortably hard on gay stereotypes, but by the third unreturned phone call when he's freaking out that her date has kidnapped her and "OH MY GOD YOU'RE TOTALLY DEAD AND HE'S MAKING A DRESS OUT OF YOUR SKIN AT THIS VERY MOMENT," it's totally fucking hilarious. I confess, I laugh out loud at that line every time I listen to the soundtrack. Every. Single. Time.)
So, here are the highlights. I love the song "First Impression" (here's the whole thing) and this clip also gives you a hint of some of the funny bits of dialogue. (And also totally spoils the ending, but we all knew how it ended anyway, right? It's a romantic comedy!)
My new "belt it out in the shower" song, "Safer." God, Krysta has an amazing voice. SO WASTED ON SMASH. (I am still not over that.)
And you absolutely need to see "In Love with You," the song Aaron sings when Casey encourages him to get over his ex-fiancee. BEST SONG EVER. Angry!Zac is truly the best Zac. And of course, this was filmed earlier in the run, so by the time I saw him, he was totally letting loose and having the time of his fucking life with this song. And, not that I wasn't expecting it, because he's done theater and Tangled, but if you only knew him from Chuck, you might be surprised that he has the pipes for Broadway. MY BOY CAN SING, Y'ALL.
More odds and ends:
Krysta did Kiss & Tell, a Broadway.com behind the scenes web series (starts here, there are eight episodes in all), and I can attest that they still do the stage door dance party, even months later.
Also, an interview with Krysta about the show ending, which I meant to include in my linkspam and then forgot.
BIG FINISH! So after the show, obvs, we stage doored it. I have stalked many stars at the stage door, and I have never seen anyone as gracious to their fans as Zachary Levi. Krysta was awesome, too, but Zac stayed until every single person had gotten an autograph and/or photo with him. Like, we went to a Saturday matinee, and I would not have been surprised if he was out there taking pictures until call time for the evening show. (And it's a 90-minute show with no intermission, so that's a LONG time between shows.)
Pics:
