That Time of the Year

My friend Michael took me to see this musical review put on by the York Theatre Company last Thursday night. I had no idea what to expect. After entering this off-Broadway theater, which is below a Lutheran Church on the East side of Manhattan, the first thing I noticed is that the theatre is an intimate 250 seats and a great little space. I later learned that this York Theatre Company only does 'new' musicals. Great I thought. This is my year of new musicals both on & off-Broadway. First off I have to tell you that the show was a solid 2 hours with an intermission. I personally feel that if they shaved off 3o minutes and made this a one act it would have been stupendous. But alas, there were a few too many ballads with words that went on and on. Cut, cut, cut. They also could have cut a few of the dumber numbers specifically one that comes to mind is a number done by a very talented man dressed as a dreidel. Really stupid, bad song. Poor guy - he really, really tried to sell it. But it was just not a good number. The remainder of this show was really good. Some funny, funny numbers and some really touching songs. I liked this show allot. I liked the cast allot as well (2 men / 3 women). They were a super talented groups of adults who worked their asses off. They all had really great voices. But one thing I did notice is that the director hired 3 very different, yet highly talented women who during their solos were outstanding - yet when they sang together - their voiced didn't blend at all. They almost grated against each other. Very dissonant, yet it wasn't any one's fault. Well, maybe the director's. The show celebrated the Holidays with songs both of Christmas and Hanukkah. No one was left out. Not a must see, but it sure will do well in dinner theaters next year.