One of my fellow cast members in HomeGroan Sketch Comedy is also playing "Sally Bowles" in the musical CABARET. It's at a small college up in New Rochelle, about a 45 minute train ride from NYC. A few of the sketch group and I went to go see her in the show last night. I'm not really going to review it so much as make fun of people. Oh, wait. That's what I always do. Moving on.
First, the reason I titled the post the way I did was because of the in house orchestra. They were so inaudible that I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs just to let them know we can't hear them. No, that's not right. The actors had to scream and sing at the top of their lungs because the orchestra was SO FUCKING LOUD!!! It was a very small space and small stage. The band (it's shorter to type than orchestra...sue me.) was placed on a platform above behind the stage. Throughout most of the show, it was really hard to hear the singers. They didn't use mic's because of the small size of the stage. And really didn't need them if the band would TONE IT DOWN! My poor friend, Lara, was screaming her lungs out during some of her solos. And she's got some nice big lungs. It seemed to be one of those things where the small town, small college production band just wanted to blow the house out. LOOK AT US! WE'RE PLAYING INSTRUMENTS! WHEEEEEE!!!! And, they were the only ones getting paid. So, take it down a notch and cash your checks, ya punks!
It's always hard going to see a friend in a show. What if they suck? What if you want to leave? What if you do leave, go down the street to the bar, get drunk, come back wasted, act like you saw it all and then vomit on them? Or do I just do that? Hmmm.... Something to think about. I have worked with Lara for a year in the sketch group. She's frickin funny as hell on stage and a really good writer of sketches as well. I hadn't seen her in anything else. Gotta say, it was nice. She rocked in the lead role! Thank goodness. Because, if you remember from a previous post, I suck at lying about that. Well done, LB!
There were a few others that stood out. And a few more that stood out in not a good way. The annoying girl who kept hamming up every scene. The annoying guy who seemed so stiff and robotic with weird facial expressions. The girls who looked very uncomfortable trying to be sexy Kit Kat girls. Speaking of...if you are familiar with the show or not, The Kit Kat Club is the setting for most of the show. A dive-y speakeasy in pre-WWII Berlin. 
Scantily clad dance hall girls all over. The Kit Kat girls. There were a few hotties in the bunch. I had a hard time trying to figure out where to look at times. However, there were some not so attractive and didn't know how to be sexy. But, the ones that did know how to move, let me just say, I could get them a job at Hustler Club. The above pic is from some random cast I found on Google. Not the show I saw. You get the idea though.
Honestly, I really didn't want to go see this last night. If some other friend was in it, I might not have. Sure, it's about 4 hours I'll never get back. But, I'm glad I got to see my friend rock it out in the lead.
And, seeing several half-naked college girls helped as well. Helped A LOT.
I played the role of "Weston Hurley" in Lanford Wilson's Fifth of July way back in 1992 in Jacksonville, Florida. It was a fun role and I had to learn more chords on the guitar as my character sang a song and played guitar at the end. It was no musical, but "Wes" was a musician. One of my favorite scenes each night was at the end during a picnic of sorts. Each night, the prop mistress ran over to McDonald's and bought a ton of hamburgers for the scene. I had to scarf a few down during the scene as my character was really "voracious". Free dinner every night! 
But, I didn't get my Bada Bing! club fix though. That David Chase is an asshole. What? You think I watch for any other reason? Silvio owns the club and we know the boys like the strippers. Bring it on, you bastards! Or watch your back in dark alleys. Capish?