Broadway Binge 2025 Part 3
We weren’t really planning on a THIRD Broadway Binge this year. But when it was announced that Leslie Odom, Jr. would return to Hamilton for a limited run, we just couldn’t resist getting tickets for Amy’s birthday (as if we needed an excuse). After that, it was no surprise that other opportunities popped up for more shows. I guess one can never have too much Broadway.
We left Greece and arrived in New York City just in time to attend a group outing with our friends from Parent-Net. (Parent-Net, a Princeton alumni group, was the virtual village that helped raise our kids.) About 25 of us saw The Queen of Versailles, starring Kristin Chenoweth, with music by Stephen Schwartz. It was a musical with an odd choice of subject matter: a real-life couple building a preposterous mega-mansion in Orlando, Florida. Chenoweth really sparkled; she was perfect for the role of rags-to-riches Marie Antoinette wannabe. And it was fun to see F. Murray Abraham as the doting millionaire husband. But Schwartz’s new score was unremarkable, the plot was thin, and the characters were (mostly) unsympathetic. We later learned that - no surprise - the show will close in January, only two months after it opened.
Finally, seven long months after we’d bought the tickets, it was time to see Hamilton again! As we were seated, the ushers reminded everyone not to sing along (giggle). When the three-second overture played and Leslie Odom, Jr. walked onstage, the audience gave him a rock star welcome, shouting and screaming for several minutes. As always, the show was phenomenal, and I am thankful for every opportunity to experience Lin-Manuel Miranda’s genius. Seeing Hamilton on Broadway, with the OG Aaron Burr and the rest of the outstanding cast, was everything I had hoped for and more.
Our last show was This World of Tomorrow, a play co-written by and starring Tom Hanks. We just couldn’t resist an opportunity to see one of our favorite Hollywood actors up close, and as a bonus, it also starred one of our favorite Broadway legends, Kelli O’Hara. Hanks played a time traveler from 2089 who falls in love with O’Hara’s character at the 1939 New York World’s Fair. It reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day, with old-fashioned romance and dreams of a better future. I loved seeing Hanks and O’Hara together, and I agree with the New York Times reviewer who called it a “comfort-food experience” that could have been a musical. The magic continued after the show, as we exited The Shed and walked amidst the holiday lights at Hudson Yards.
