I love theatre. I love watching it, performing it, reading about it; I absolutely adore every aspect of the spectacle and stories they tell. It’s led me to my current job, which I think is one of the best on campus. I’m an usher for my university’s performing arts center, and one of the greatest perks is when I essentially get paid to watch wonderful shows. Broadways are uniquely busy, but they are among the best shows I have ever seen. So without further ado, here is a list of all the shows I’ve seen this year and my thoughts on them!
Les Misérables (October)
Pre-revolution France is ruthless. Take Jean Valjean for instance, who was imprisoned for 19 years just for stealing a loaf of bread. Upon his release, he is shunned by the surrounding community until a bishop takes him in. However, Valjean is still desperate and steals pieces of the bishop’s silver to sustain himself for a while. The bishop catches him but isn’t punitive like the rest. His benevolence inspires Valjean to take on a new identity and restart his life. He eventually becomes a rich man and adopts Cosette, who was recently orphaned when one of his employees passed. While Valjean tries to stay out of trouble, he eventually confesses his identity and past crimes in court when he discovers that another man is about to be detained in his place. A witch hunt then ensues from Inspector Javert, who insists that criminals like Valjean can never be reformed. Years later, Cosette falls in love with Marius, a revolutionary that rises to prominence after General Lamarque is killed. As civil unrest begins to unfold in France, Valjean must teeter between self-preservation and doing his duty as a father and ally. Les Misérables blurs the dichotomy of right and wrong to capture the full scope of the human experience in trying times.
Truthfully, I felt like a fake theatre kid for never having seen Les Misérables until now, and I can confirm that I was absolutely missing out. I tried to listen to the soundtracks online afterward to recreate the magic, but nothing beats hearing the show live. From the first time I saw the prisoners’ airtight formation and “Look down, look down,” boom through the theater, Les Misérables had me in a chokehold. Compared to the other shows I have yet to see, Les Misérables is by far the most emotionally charged. I felt a bit betrayed by how the first act familiarizes you with all the characters before the second act takes over to kill off almost all of them, one by one. The social and political commentary surrounding the story made the public policy student in me very happy to see. I didn’t know much about the French Revolution outside of what I had learned in school, so I loved how Les Misérables delivered a story about everyday people who carried it out and kept the spirit alive.
Final rating: 9/10
MJ (February)
June 1992. Michael Jackson is in Munich, Germany, preparing for his upcoming world tour; his biggest, most expensive, and most ambitious by far. Two days before the first show, MTV director Rachel begins filming a documentary to capture Jackson’s creative process and is determined to uncover every detail. MJ flips between the past and present, exhibiting his life struggles and how they have carried into his career as an artist.
While I wasn’t alive for most of Jackson’s career — and have mainly known him through video clips — the lead absolutely nailed his voice. Sometimes I felt that the story was dragging itself along, but I believe this was because the entire musical takes place over the course of two days. I preferred the second act because the first act is primarily anchored in Michael Jackson’s past, building a foundation to propel the other half forward.
As a jukebox musical, I was very curious about how inserting his songs would add to the show’s plot. Primarily, they executed the medleys and musical numbers to add commentary about his life. For instance, the writers transformed “Thriller” into an introspective piece about his childhood and relationship with his father. The zombies are past versions that haunt him in the present, and his father is the ringleader at the root of it all. I appreciated how “Thriller” was reworked into a confrontation between Jackson and his past, which made me see his struggles in a different light. This was MJ’s mission overall, and it deeply resonated with me throughout.
Final rating: 8/10
Life Of Pi (March)
When his journey from India to Canada is interrupted by a storm, Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel is stranded on a lifeboat with a few animals from his family’s zoo. This includes Richard Parker, a Bengal tiger he had previously condemned for killing a beloved goat. Over the course of 227 days at sea, they inevitably grow closer and are committed to surviving until they eventually wash up on Mexico’s shore. When he recounts this story in the hospital to officials from the Japanese Ministry of Transport, they contest the validity of his story. Deeply entrenched in religious allegories, Life of Pi is an adventure that tests the bounds of how people perceive their realities.
At first, I was bummed that it wasn’t a musical like the previous shows. However, that initial disappointment quickly faded as the story unfolded before me. Whether they were painting a tapestry of India’s vibrant atmosphere or plunging the viewer into the ocean with Pi, the lighting and sound direction truly made the show engaging. A unique facet that thoroughly impressed me was the puppetry. Richard Parker required three people to operate, but it did not hinder anyone from a seamless performance. The show’s non-linear narrative sometimes made it difficult to piece the complete story together, but I think that being familiar with the story, either with the book or movie, would have made it easier for me to follow. Either way, Life of Pi utilized its technical toolbox to the fullest to deliver an incredibly immersive experience for the audience.
Final rating: 7/10
Chicago (April)
Roxie Hart is lively, bodacious, and more recently, a murderer. In the backdrop of early 1920s Chicago, she kills Fred Casely after he tried to end their affair. She tries to play it off as self-defense in a burglary, but her husband Amos connects the dots and has her arrested. At Cook County Jail, she meets Velma Kelly, a vaudevillian actress making headlines for murdering her sister and husband after catching them in an affair. With assistance from Billy Flynn, Velma’s lawyer, Roxie becomes an overnight media sensation and overshadows Velma’s notoriety. And if there’s one thing Roxie has ever wanted in life, it’s fame. As the momentary limelight grows dimmer with each moment, she’s willing to do whatever it takes to preserve it.
This was the only show I’ve previously seen a production of, so I knew the plot and a few of the songs prior. Unlike the other shows, I had some expectations going into this one, and the company surpassed them. Like Les Misérables, the vocals completely blew me away, and I wished I could bottle them up to re-listen on the way home. This is an unpopular opinion among my coworkers, but I liked the set a lot. I believe that having the orchestra take center stage with the characters occasionally mingling with them adds to the magic. Additionally, it draws extra attention to the music itself. I was primarily an ensemble dancer during my time in theatre, so I was obsessed with the intricate choreography. During the larger numbers, my gaze was bouncing all over the stage to take in every detail. With its explosive storyline and stellar numbers, Chicago will never shy away from the good old razzle dazzle to put on a spectacular show.
Final rating: 10/10
Theatre is such a powerful medium that captures the human experience so well, and being able to see so many shows fills me with so much joy. I loved the Broadway lineup this season and I’m so excited for the next one (I might write a piece on that too). I hope that the shows I’ve discussed will propel you to look into them! Each one has a story for everyone to enjoy, you just have to find the right one.