Ginger on Broadway

Going in, I was not at all familiar with either the 1950 movie or the 1993 original musical, but I knew who Nichole Scherzinger was, and I was familiar with the song “As If We Never Said Goodbye.” I was also familiar with director Jamie Lloyd’s polemic reputation for his minimalistic style and heavy use of video cameras and screens. However, this show was a critical darling in London, where it won every Oliver Award it was nominated for, so I was very excited when the transfer to Broadway was announced. Sunset Boulevard tells the story of a silent film star named Norma Desmond, who is well past her glory days but still yearns for fame. She crosses paths with a young and handsome struggling screenwriter named Joe, who she falls for while also using him to make her grand return to the big screen as she descends deeper into insanity.  When I went, sadly, Tom Francis, who plays Joe and won the Oliver Award in London, was out due to a vocal chord injury. I have since had the opportunity...

What do you get when you mix Pixar’s Wall.E, Black Mirror, Her, The Last Five Years, Hadestown, 50 First Dates, the set design from the 2022 revival of Company, and a jazz score? You get the six-time Tony award-winning, critical darling, epic musical, Maybe Happy Ending. Originally conceived in Korea in 2014, Maybe Happy Ending is an original musical that tells the story of two “Helperbots”—humanoid robots designed to serve humans, and fulfill their every need—named Oliver and Claire, living in a “retirement home” in a dystopian, futuristic Seoul, South Korea. The two meet and go on a road trip for Oliver to find his owner and for Claire to visit the last remaining firefly colony.   The musical asks the questions “why love? Why fall in love when we all have an expiration date? Why love when it will ultimately end in heartbreak when your partner either leaves you or dies? Is the joy of love worth the pain?”  Darren Criss, whom you may recognize as the charming Blane “Warbl...