BroadwayDave

Adding a few pictures, hope you enjoy them...
 
 

 

 

 

Saw “Hamilton” last night (July 20, 2018) while celebrating birthday #59 in Cleveland. This performance was by the Philip Cast, one of two cast currently touring, the other being the Angelica Cast.
 
This was AMAZING. From start to finish I loved, loved, LOVED this show. Well, most all of it.
 
Joseph Morales as Alexander Hamilton and Shoba Narayan as Eliza were simply wonderful, the latter by far being the best vocal of the cast, her singing was just beautiful. When she sang “Burn” is was heartbreaking, especially at the end. And her rendition of “Take a Break”, with Ta’rea Campbell as Angelica, was soaring. Morales is very comfortable in his role, and at times you’d have sworn you were watching Lin-Manuel Miranda up there, although he took the part of Alexander Hamilton and made it his own. His singing was also quite good, especially in “Hurricane”.
 
The hardest cast to warm up to was Nik Walker as Aaron Burr. At first I didn’t care for all the vocal ranges, switching, and higher pitches of his voice, however he was great in songs like “Wait For It”, and “Dear Theodosia” singing along with Joseph Morales, where they were both very touching.
 
The staged scenes and performances of: “Hopeless”; “Say No To This”; the first “Stay Alive with attack! retreat!; “Blow Us All Away” continuing along with “Stay Alive (reprise)”, and “Its Quiet Uptown”; “What Did I Miss?”; “Yorktown (The Work Turned Upside Down); and “My Shot” with it’s iconic finish, were some of my favorites. All were highlights of the show.
 
“You’ll Be Back” and “What Comes Next” with Jon Patrick Walker as King George were a wonderful comic relief, and the audience laughed heartily in their approval.
 
And at the beginning of “Yorktown” where Hamilton and Lafayette met up again and said “Immigrants, we get the job done”, this generated a nice round of applause from the audience.
 
As far as the audience around me they were all quite well behaved for the most part. The man and woman sitting to my left departed after the first act, where she had been basically bouncing and dancing in her seat for a few songs and pointing out some of the lyrics here and there to him. The lady to my right, and be gentleman in the row in front of me, couldn’t keep from checking there phones every few minutes during the first several songs.
 
Other than that, and the guy who kept kneeing the back of my chair toward the end of Act 1 because the rows are like six inches apart (not reall, but it felt like it), it was a good audience.
 
So many great songs, so many great ensemble and cast scenes, such great choreography.
 
The ending was dramatic, heartbreaking, and brilliantly played. I was quite emotional and teared up quite a bit, even though I knew it was coming.
 
As for as exterior posters or decor like what had been posted earlier in the thread that was in San Francisco, there really wasn’t anything like that in Cleveland except for large electronic billboards around the Playhouse Square area that occasionally flashed the Hamilton poster, along with ads from various sponsors and other upcoming musical arts performances.
 
Overall this was an impressive and superb show, and the BEST birthday in a very, very long time.
 
Can’t wait to see the Angelica cast in January.

Saw “Hamilton” last night (July 20, 2018) while celebrating birthday #59 in Cleveland. This performance was by the Philip Cast, one of two cast currently touring, the other being the Angelica Cast.
 
This was AMAZING. From start to finish I loved, loved, LOVED this show. Well, most all of it.
 
Joseph Morales as Alexander Hamilton and Shoba Narayan as Eliza were simply wonderful, the latter by far being the best vocal of the cast, her singing was just beautiful. When she sang “Burn” is was heartbreaking, especially at the end. And her rendition of “Take a Break”, with Ta’rea Campbell as Angelica, was soaring. Morales is very comfortable in his role, and at times you’d have sworn you were watching Lin-Manuel Miranda up there, although he took the part of Alexander Hamilton and made it his own. His singing was also quite good, especially in “Hurricane”.
 
The hardest cast to warm up to was Nik Walker as Aaron Burr. At first I didn’t care for all the vocal ranges, switching, and higher pitches of his voice, however he was great in songs like “Wait For It”, and “Dear Theodosia” singing along with Joseph Morales, where they were both very touching.
 
The staged scenes and performances of: “Hopeless”; “Say No To This”; the first “Stay Alive with attack! retreat!; “Blow Us All Away” continuing along with “Stay Alive (reprise)”, and “Its Quiet Uptown”; “What Did I Miss?”; “Yorktown (The Work Turned Upside Down); and “My Shot” with it’s iconic finish, were some of my favorites. All were highlights of the show.
 
“You’ll Be Back” and “What Comes Next” with Jon Patrick Walker as King George were a wonderful comic relief, and the audience laughed heartily in their approval.
 
And at the beginning of “Yorktown” where Hamilton and Lafayette met up again and said “Immigrants, we get the job done”, this generated a nice round of applause from the audience.
 
As far as the audience around me they were all quite well behaved for the most part. The man and woman sitting to my left departed after the first act, where she had been basically bouncing and dancing in her seat for a few songs and pointing out some of the lyrics here and there to him. The lady to my right, and be gentleman in the row in front of me, couldn’t keep from checking there phones every few minutes during the first several songs.
 
Other than that, and the guy who kept kneeing the back of my chair toward the end of Act 1 because the rows are like six inches apart (not reall, but it felt like it), it was a good audience.
 
So many great songs, so many great ensemble and cast scenes, such great choreography.
 
The ending was dramatic, heartbreaking, and brilliantly played. I was quite emotional and teared up quite a bit, even though I knew it was coming.
 
As for as exterior posters or decor like what had been posted earlier in the thread that was in San Francisco, there really wasn’t anything like that in Cleveland except for large electronic billboards around the Playhouse Square area that occasionally flashed the Hamilton poster, along with ads from various sponsors and other upcoming musical arts performances.
 
Overall this was an impressive and superb show, and the BEST birthday in a very, very long time.
 
Can’t wait to see the Angelica cast in January.

Saw “Hamilton” last night (July 20, 2018) while celebrating birthday #59 in Cleveland. This performance was by the Philip Cast, one of two cast currently touring, the other being the Angelica Cast.
 
This was AMAZING. From start to finish I loved, loved, LOVED this show. Well, most all of it.
 
Joseph Morales as Alexander Hamilton and Shoba Narayan as Eliza were simply wonderful, the latter by far being the best vocal of the cast, her singing was just beautiful. When she sang “Burn” is was heartbreaking, especially at the end. And her rendition of “Take a Break”, with Ta’rea Campbell as Angelica, was soaring. Morales is very comfortable in his role, and at times you’d have sworn you were watching Lin-Manuel Miranda up there, although he took the part of Alexander Hamilton and made it his own. His singing was also quite good, especially in “Hurricane”.
 
The hardest cast to warm up to was Nik Walker as Aaron Burr. At first I didn’t care for all the vocal ranges, switching, and higher pitches of his voice, however he was great in songs like “Wait For It”, and “Dear Theodosia” singing along with Joseph Morales, where they were both very touching.
 
The staged scenes and performances of: “Hopeless”; “Say No To This”; the first “Stay Alive with attack! retreat!; “Blow Us All Away” continuing along with “Stay Alive (reprise)”, and “Its Quiet Uptown”; “What Did I Miss?”; “Yorktown (The Work Turned Upside Down); and “My Shot” with it’s iconic finish, were some of my favorites. All were highlights of the show.
 
“You’ll Be Back” and “What Comes Next” with Jon Patrick Walker as King George were a wonderful comic relief, and the audience laughed heartily in their approval.
 
And at the beginning of “Yorktown” where Hamilton and Lafayette met up again and said “Immigrants, we get the job done”, this generated a nice round of applause from the audience.
 
As far as the audience around me they were all quite well behaved for the most part. The man and woman sitting to my left departed after the first act, where she had been basically bouncing and dancing in her seat for a few songs and pointing out some of the lyrics here and there to him. The lady to my right, and be gentleman in the row in front of me, couldn’t keep from checking there phones every few minutes during the first several songs.
 
Other than that, and the guy who kept kneeing the back of my chair toward the end of Act 1 because the rows are like six inches apart (not reall, but it felt like it), it was a good audience.
 
So many great songs, so many great ensemble and cast scenes, such great choreography.
 
The ending was dramatic, heartbreaking, and brilliantly played. I was quite emotional and teared up quite a bit, even though I knew it was coming.
 
As for as exterior posters or decor like what had been posted earlier in the thread that was in San Francisco, there really wasn’t anything like that in Cleveland except for large electronic billboards around the Playhouse Square area that occasionally flashed the Hamilton poster, along with ads from various sponsors and other upcoming musical arts performances.
 
Overall this was an impressive and superb show, and the BEST birthday in a very, very long time.
 
Can’t wait to see the Angelica cast in January.

Saw “Hamilton” last night (July 20, 2018) while celebrating birthday #59 in Cleveland. This performance was by the Philip Cast, one of two cast currently touring, the other being the Angelica Cast.
 
This was AMAZING. From start to finish I loved, loved, LOVED this show. Well, most all of it.
 
Joseph Morales as Alexander Hamilton and Shoba Narayan as Eliza were simply wonderful, the latter by far being the best vocal of the cast, her singing was just beautiful. When she sang “Burn” is was heartbreaking, especially at the end. And her rendition of “Take a Break”, with Ta’rea Campbell as Angelica, was soaring. Morales is very comfortable in his role, and at times you’d have sworn you were watching Lin-Manuel Miranda up there, although he took the part of Alexander Hamilton and made it his own. His singing was also quite good, especially in “Hurricane”.
 
The hardest cast to warm up to was Nik Walker as Aaron Burr. At first I didn’t care for all the vocal ranges, switching, and higher pitches of his voice, however he was great in songs like “Wait For It”, and “Dear Theodosia” singing along with Joseph Morales, where they were both very touching.
 
The staged scenes and performances of: “Hopeless”; “Say No To This”; the first “Stay Alive with attack! retreat!; “Blow Us All Away” continuing along with “Stay Alive (reprise)”, and “Its Quiet Uptown”; “What Did I Miss?”; “Yorktown (The Work Turned Upside Down); and “My Shot” with it’s iconic finish, were some of my favorites. All were highlights of the show.
 
“You’ll Be Back” and “What Comes Next” with Jon Patrick Walker as King George were a wonderful comic relief, and the audience laughed heartily in their approval.
 
And at the beginning of “Yorktown” where Hamilton and Lafayette met up again and said “Immigrants, we get the job done”, this generated a nice round of applause from the audience.
 
As far as the audience around me they were all quite well behaved for the most part. The man and woman sitting to my left departed after the first act, where she had been basically bouncing and dancing in her seat for a few songs and pointing out some of the lyrics here and there to him. The lady to my right, and be gentleman in the row in front of me, couldn’t keep from checking there phones every few minutes during the first several songs.
 
Other than that, and the guy who kept kneeing the back of my chair toward the end of Act 1 because the rows are like six inches apart (not reall, but it felt like it), it was a good audience.
 
So many great songs, so many great ensemble and cast scenes, such great choreography.
 
The ending was dramatic, heartbreaking, and brilliantly played. I was quite emotional and teared up quite a bit, even though I knew it was coming.
 
As for as exterior posters or decor like what had been posted earlier in the thread that was in San Francisco, there really wasn’t anything like that in Cleveland except for large electronic billboards around the Playhouse Square area that occasionally flashed the Hamilton poster, along with ads from various sponsors and other upcoming musical arts performances.
 
Overall this was an impressive and superb show, and the BEST birthday in a very, very long time.
 
Can’t wait to see the Angelica cast in January.

Today’s the day!!! Celebrating birthday #59 today in the Playhouse Square theater district of beautiful downtown Cleveland - staying just steps away from the State Theater - and the evening performance of the Philip Cast in “Hamilton”. Yeah! This is only the fourth performance of the show in Cleveland since it started on July 17th, and it’ll be here until August 26th.
 
Had the opportunity to tour the very large, ornate, and gorgeous lobby of the State Theater and saw tonight’s listing of performers: very glad to see Jospeh Morales playing! Also, standing in as Charles Lee will be Phil Colgan, and as Philip Schuyler/James Reynold/Doctor will be Julian Ramos, with swing Camden Gonzales performing.
 
Looking forward to the show!!!

In case anyone missed this...
 

 
Seeing this clip of her last curtain call and bow brought back the most amazing memories, a HUGE smile on my face, and tears to my eyes. Soooo amazing. Glad to have seen her perform. Absolutely fabulous!!!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Gimignano
 
A walled city with towers! Sounds nice.

San Gimignano sounds really great. Have you ever been back?

In case anyone missed this...
 

 
Seeing this clip of her last curtain call and bow brought back the most amazing memories, a HUGE smile on my face, and tears to my eyes. Soooo amazing. Glad to have seen her perform. Absolutely fabulous!!!

I'm impatiently awaiting the demise of the ZZ Top beard trend.

My seat is beneath the windmill. I sure hope it's more secure than the beam that fell above the Colonial stage.

I'd make sure your life insurance premiums are paid up... Just in case
 
But what a hell of a way to go. He was crushed by the musical Moulin Rouge!

On younger and (some) middle-aged guys, when it is darker hair against a nice skin and a good jawline, and maybe not so much on gingers, yes some can pull it off quite well. On others it just looks unkempt. And I agree on older men, as myself, it just makes us look older with the gray stubble, so I shave every day except on weekends when I’m just staying in.

When I was in the USN and stationed in Naples, Italy (1988-1990) I travelled a LOT, practically going somewhere every weekend even if it was just to Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi coast, or Rome. On longer weekends we’d head up to Florence and Venice. Coolest city I ever visited was San Gimignano.
 
At the beginning and end of my four year tour of duty in Italy I took the train around on a long Eurail Pass hitting a few of the major cities - Viennna, Amsterdam, etc., and once spending five days in Paris. While there I spent the entire day at Versailles and enjoyed it immensely, as others have said the gardens probably more so than the palace. The grounds are expansive, the palace quite stunning, especially the famous Hall of Mirrors. All in all is was a grand adventure to be sure.

When I was in the USN and stationed in Naples, Italy (1988-1990) I travelled a LOT, practically going somewhere every weekend even if it was just to Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi coast, or Rome. On longer weekends we’d head up to Florence and Venice. Coolest city I ever visited was San Gimignano.
 
At the beginning and end of my four year tour of duty in Italy I took the train around on a long Eurail Pass hitting a few of the major cities - Viennna, Amsterdam, etc., and once spending five days in Paris. While there I spent the entire day at Versailles and enjoyed it immensely, as others have said the gardens probably more so than the palace. The grounds are expansive, the palace quite stunning, especially the famous Hall of Mirrors. All in all is was a grand adventure to be sure.

When I was in the USN and stationed in Naples, Italy (1988-1990) I travelled a LOT, practically going somewhere every weekend even if it was just to Pompeii, Capri, the Amalfi coast, or Rome. On longer weekends we’d head up to Florence and Venice. Coolest city I ever visited was San Gimignano.
 
At the beginning and end of my four year tour of duty in Italy I took the train around on a long Eurail Pass hitting a few of the major cities - Viennna, Amsterdam, etc., and once spending five days in Paris. While there I spent the entire day at Versailles and enjoyed it immensely, as others have said the gardens probably more so than the palace. The grounds are expansive, the palace quite stunning, especially the famous Hall of Mirrors. All in all is was a grand adventure to be sure.

My birthdays as an adult (17 & up) have been awesome. Usually its a bday week or two with a couple of parties and dinners each night accompianed by hockey games and football with friends. One year we went to Chicago and another to LA...my bday is around Thanksgiving so the trips are a little harder to plan.

You’re still a youngin’, so don’t grow too old too fast.
 
Break the chain and go to a great concert, a fabulous musical, or plan a weekend road-trip. If there’s a cool museum, Hall of Fame, or attraction/theme park nearby, go there. Even if it’s to an underground scenic cavern, amazing waterfall, or National Park, plan a trip. Even if it’s just a day trip.
 
I’ve been doing things by myself for decades. It’s never boring. Next Friday I turn 59 and will be seeing “Hamilton” on my birthday. So excited!
 
And treat yourself to a free birthday stack of pancakes at IHOP or breakfast at Denny’s - sign up at one of dozens of places that will give you a freebie on your birthday. I get quite a few emails now for free stuff. Check the link I attached. You could literally eat all day for free.
 
https://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/free-birthday-meals
 
And for your big #40, do something really special. Take a few days off and go to Chicago or NYC. Plan all sorts of 1st’s that will make it memorable.
 
Life is too short and too precious. Celebrate!

I turn 60 next year, another milestone birthday. Already looking at things to do to make it ‘special’.
 
One thing I had been looking at was a cruise to Bermuda, having never been there. But for a single occupancy cabin it’s rather pricey, plus when you add in all the extras it gets expensive.
 
So I just may hit Broadway again for a few shows, especially the iconic “Phantom of the Opera” which I’ve seen on the National Tour, but that one is a re-imagined version and quite different in staging than the one at the Majestic Theater in NYC. I’ll have to see what else is still showing when I book the airline tickets and hotel.
 
Always a treat now to plan what I want to do for my next birthday!

This Spring, just before my 70th, I treated myself to time with Legendary Dave when I discovered he was in Atlanta as I was passing through during my travels - It was a very SPECIAL B'day gift to myself:)

Several years ago I saw 'Hamilton' in New York with a friend. Good time.
But, we missed President Obama at the previous performance.
 
I met a future hire at Rounds in New York on my birthday, but we did not meet in bed until ten days later.

I turn 60 next year, another milestone birthday. Already looking at things to do to make it ‘special’.
 
One thing I had been looking at was a cruise to Bermuda, having never been there. But for a single occupancy cabin it’s rather pricey, plus when you add in all the extras it gets expensive.
 
So I just may hit Broadway again for a few shows, especially the iconic “Phantom of the Opera” which I’ve seen on the National Tour, but that one is a re-imagined version and quite different in staging than the one at the Majestic Theater in NYC. I’ll have to see what else is still showing when I book the airline tickets and hotel.
 
Always a treat now to plan what I want to do for my next birthday!

You’re still a youngin’, so don’t grow too old too fast.
 
Break the chain and go to a great concert, a fabulous musical, or plan a weekend road-trip. If there’s a cool museum, Hall of Fame, or attraction/theme park nearby, go there. Even if it’s to an underground scenic cavern, amazing waterfall, or National Park, plan a trip. Even if it’s just a day trip.
 
I’ve been doing things by myself for decades. It’s never boring. Next Friday I turn 59 and will be seeing “Hamilton” on my birthday. So excited!
 
And treat yourself to a free birthday stack of pancakes at IHOP or breakfast at Denny’s - sign up at one of dozens of places that will give you a freebie on your birthday. I get quite a few emails now for free stuff. Check the link I attached. You could literally eat all day for free.
 
https://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/free-birthday-meals
 
And for your big #40, do something really special. Take a few days off and go to Chicago or NYC. Plan all sorts of 1st’s that will make it memorable.
 
Life is too short and too precious. Celebrate!

I generally like to have a low key catered dinner at home
with 10-12 close friends. No presents. No crazy cakes
or balloons. Just a civilized dinner.
 
The milestones are another thing....I usually celebrate them
with casts of thousands (ok....hundreds). I think people should
commemorate birthdays more....fuck it....we survived a fucking
plague folks....be thankful and celebrate life!