Weekend in Seattle
Sep. 4th, 2007 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jenn_unpluggedWe spent last weekend in Seattle, which was really fun. The weather there was gorgeous, cool (for us, anyway) and pleasant. We stayed at the Westin downtown, which is just a short walk from the waterfront and the park where the Space Needle is. Our main reason for going was that Mel Brooks's new Broadway musical Young Frankenstein (yes, based on the movie) was finishing up its pre-Broadway run in Seattle that weekend. We figured it would be fun to see it before it hit Broadway, so we decided to take our annual Labor Day mini-vacation there.
The weekend was generally pleasant and relaxing. I flew out on Friday morning, which was especially easy because American has a non-stop from Austin to Seattle. Doug didn't get in from New York until late that night, so I spent the afternoon relaxing in the hotel room. I had dinner with some friends that evening (Ethiopian, which I haven't had in ages) and generally had a great day.
On Saturday we went to see a regional theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which we were both disappointed by. It was a reworking of the show (setting it in a Casablanca-style Moroccan nightclub in the 1930s), and from my perspective, the heart and soul of it was dropped somewhere along the way. Still, it was fun to see it. It's always interesting to see new interpretations of shows you love, even if you don't like the direction it gets taken.
Young Frankenstein, by unfair contrast, was really fantastic. The cast was amazing: Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, Megan Mullaly, Shuler Hensley, and Andrea Martin. Bart's performance as Fred Frankenstein recalls Gene Wilder's from the film, but I wouldn't call it derivative. It's very original and funny. Megan Mullaly stands out as Elizabeth (the role played in the film by Madeline Khan), though there's an extent to which she's playing it as Karen from Will & Grace. It's funny, but I also wanted to her move beyond that. Andrea Martin as Frau Bucher was OMG hilarious and perfect. I always love to see Sutton Foster perform, so that was a highlight.
I was reminded more of Spamalot than of The Producers while watching it. YF is such a cult film, and there was definitely this sense in the theatre of the audience waiting to see how their favorite scenes would turn out. I wasn't disappointed, and in most cases I was pleasantly surprised. The music was forgettable (with the exception of the "Putting on the Ritz" number, which is so much better than I even expected) but somehow it doesn't matter. It all works in the show anyway. Another thing that surprised me was how strong the second act was. The film sort of drags in its second act, to the extent that I've only watched it all the way through a couple of times. But the stage version tightens up the ending a lot, and it works really well. The sets are amazing, and the special effects are very cool. The comic timing was perfect, even better than the film.
Overall, I really liked it, and I think it will be a big hit. I already want to find a way to get to New York and see it when it opens there!
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing. I had coffee with some friends I hadn't seen in years on Sunday morning, which was really nice. We ate Sunday's lunch down on the waterfront and went on a harbor cruise. Sunday evening's dinner was at a nice French restaurant, and the food was stunning. On Monday we rode the monorail to the Space Needle and spent some time wandering around the Pike Place market. I bought a string of colorful chiles to bring home -- they're hanging in the kitchen now. I let around 4:00 on Monday and Doug stayed that night, since he didn't fly out until first thing Tuesday morning (back to New York).
I got home about 10:30 last (Monday) night, and I definitely felt those two hours of jet lag when my alarm went off at 6:00 this morning! After a lovely weekend with Doug, it was sad to come home alone. He goes to Asia on Friday and will finally be home next Tuesday.
The weekend was generally pleasant and relaxing. I flew out on Friday morning, which was especially easy because American has a non-stop from Austin to Seattle. Doug didn't get in from New York until late that night, so I spent the afternoon relaxing in the hotel room. I had dinner with some friends that evening (Ethiopian, which I haven't had in ages) and generally had a great day.
On Saturday we went to see a regional theatre production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which we were both disappointed by. It was a reworking of the show (setting it in a Casablanca-style Moroccan nightclub in the 1930s), and from my perspective, the heart and soul of it was dropped somewhere along the way. Still, it was fun to see it. It's always interesting to see new interpretations of shows you love, even if you don't like the direction it gets taken.
Young Frankenstein, by unfair contrast, was really fantastic. The cast was amazing: Roger Bart, Sutton Foster, Megan Mullaly, Shuler Hensley, and Andrea Martin. Bart's performance as Fred Frankenstein recalls Gene Wilder's from the film, but I wouldn't call it derivative. It's very original and funny. Megan Mullaly stands out as Elizabeth (the role played in the film by Madeline Khan), though there's an extent to which she's playing it as Karen from Will & Grace. It's funny, but I also wanted to her move beyond that. Andrea Martin as Frau Bucher was OMG hilarious and perfect. I always love to see Sutton Foster perform, so that was a highlight.
I was reminded more of Spamalot than of The Producers while watching it. YF is such a cult film, and there was definitely this sense in the theatre of the audience waiting to see how their favorite scenes would turn out. I wasn't disappointed, and in most cases I was pleasantly surprised. The music was forgettable (with the exception of the "Putting on the Ritz" number, which is so much better than I even expected) but somehow it doesn't matter. It all works in the show anyway. Another thing that surprised me was how strong the second act was. The film sort of drags in its second act, to the extent that I've only watched it all the way through a couple of times. But the stage version tightens up the ending a lot, and it works really well. The sets are amazing, and the special effects are very cool. The comic timing was perfect, even better than the film.
Overall, I really liked it, and I think it will be a big hit. I already want to find a way to get to New York and see it when it opens there!
The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing. I had coffee with some friends I hadn't seen in years on Sunday morning, which was really nice. We ate Sunday's lunch down on the waterfront and went on a harbor cruise. Sunday evening's dinner was at a nice French restaurant, and the food was stunning. On Monday we rode the monorail to the Space Needle and spent some time wandering around the Pike Place market. I bought a string of colorful chiles to bring home -- they're hanging in the kitchen now. I let around 4:00 on Monday and Doug stayed that night, since he didn't fly out until first thing Tuesday morning (back to New York).
I got home about 10:30 last (Monday) night, and I definitely felt those two hours of jet lag when my alarm went off at 6:00 this morning! After a lovely weekend with Doug, it was sad to come home alone. He goes to Asia on Friday and will finally be home next Tuesday.
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Date: 2007-09-05 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 05:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-05 01:27 pm (UTC)Also, what restaurant did you go to on Sunday? Any place that gets a "stunning" review out of you is gonna get my attention, and this one's local to me! :D
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Date: 2007-09-05 03:33 pm (UTC)That restaurant was Chez Shea, and it's on the third floor of a building in the market area. It's tiny, with maybe ten tables and looks out over the water, and the food is French-inspired. It was just amazing! Doug read that it's not even the best French restaurant in Seattle, which is also pretty stunning. It wasn't as crazy expensive as we were expecting, with entrees in the $25 range.
If you go sometime, I'd love to know what you think!