https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ2bpVrH6_w

1 & 6. At The Broward Center For the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale

2. At the Adrienne Arsht Center of the Performing Arts  in Miami

3 & 16. “Big Fish” by the Slow Burn Theatre in Fort Lauderdale

4, 8, 11 & 12.  “How The Grinch Stole Christmas”

5 & 6. “Once” with the latter of the cast taking their final bow

9 & 10. “The Book Of Mormon” returning for the 3^rd time

13, 14 & 15. “Newsies” my favorite show from the 2014-2015 season returned

17 & 18. A new tour of “The Sound of Music”

19. The Arsht Center

20. The Broward Performing Arts Center.

The 2015-2016 theatre season started with the opening of “Once” at the Broward Performing Arts Center,  continued with “Big Fish” at the Amaturo Theatre, and was followed by at least 12 more shows in Fort Lauderdale and Miami!

Of the 16 shows I saw my favorite was “Beautiful The Carol King Musical” because of the score and the cast and was closely followed by “Newsies” which has some of the most exuberant dances and dancers I have seen in years. For sheer fun and entertainment there was “Kinky Boots” which became part of my 20^th Leap Year birthday celebration.

I have a ‘hate-love’ situation with “Cabaret” loving the movie, hating the musical play. I went to the first preview of the show on Broadway in 1966 and said it wouldn’t last a week! In 1972 I saw the movie version and fell in love with it. This past season I saw the latest revival of the Broadway show, the first time since 1966 and, sorry, I still feel the same way!

It was good seeing the revival of “The Sound of Music” and “Phantom of the Opera”, as always, is pure theatre. The biggest surprise of the season, for me, was the closing show “Beauty and the Beast”. I had seen it 3 times before, had always enjoyed it, especially seeing the reaction of the kids in the audience, and really didn’t know whether I could sit through it for a fourth time but I did not only, again, because of the kids in the audience but that ‘something’ that only happens on the stage, the magic of forgetting the outside world and getting involved with what you are seeing and hearing, feeling like it is the first time you are hearing the story and, in this case, seeing the show.

The 2016-2017 theatre season starts with “The Illusionists” on October 11 and I can’t wait!! It will be interesting comparing notes with Maria, who saw it in Perth, Australia, last year.

Some more theatre

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIkGFXGY42g