Theater Thursday - Stone Soup and Funny Face

Starting this week we are introducing our new Theater Thursday posts which will be replacing our Thursday Talking Topics posts. All theater reviews will be found here as well as occasionally other posts about theater. We may still occasionally write about theater in one of our other weekly posts as well. We will continue to provide information regarding current and upcoming shows in our weekly Sunday Scoop posts.

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We were given free tickets to Stone Soup at Literally Alive Theater  for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are own based on our experience attending a performance of the show.

What: Stone Soup

Where: Players Theatre
             115 MacDougal St.
             New York, NY

Who: All ages

When: Through November 13

Me- Stone Soup at the Literally Alive Theater is a musical based on the famous children's story of the same name. The show was good. Before, I saw the show I didn't know how they were going to do a whole show based on Stone Soup since the story is so short. They expanded on the book by giving the townspeople names and problems that they were dealing with and that were resolved in the show. The soldiers didn't have names though because they said that soldiers don't have names. There were only two soldiers. They were the only men in the show. All of the townspeople were women and girls. I did not have a favorite character in the show. All the characters were good.  The songs were good too, but I don't really remember them that much. The acting was great and the singing voices were nice . It was the second show in a row where Literally Alive regular, Eric Fletcher, did not play a funny role. That was disappointing. He is hilarious and really good in those kind of roles. In the Spring Literally Alive Theater will be doing The Little Mermaid, and I hope Eric Fletcher will be playing the Fish Witch again because it is one of the funniest roles I have ever seen him or anyone do. It was hilarious! Also, the Fish Witch's song Misunderstood is the best song I ever heard in a Literally Alive Show. Stone Soup was a very entertaining show and kids and parents will both enjoy it and you won't want to miss The Little Mermaid in the Spring.

 

Mom - Literally Alive Theater's production of Stone Soup was very entertaining. They expanded on the book nicely and really developed the characters of the townspeople. The soldiers characters, on the other hand, were not as well developed. They didn't even have names. Some of the storylines in the show were a little heavy for a children's show like one about a woman who didn't think she could be happy because her brother had died in battle. The others were very amusing. There was one woman who had to learn to stand up for herself and another who had to learn not to be so controlling and literally let her hair down. The upbeat songs in the show were fun including one called Magical Stones and one called Take A Chance. They were not songs that stuck in my mind after the show was over though. The slower songs seemed a little bit dark for a children's show and slowed down the plot a little. However, over all the musical was mostly light, upbeat, and happy. While it is always fun to see Literally Alive Theater's take on familiar fairytales that have been done before, it was nice to be able to see a show that was for the most part completely original. Over all, we would definitely recommend this fun show. For more information or to to order tickets go to http://literallyalive.com/shows/stonesoup.html. The show will be running weekends through November 13.

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We were given free tickets to Funny Face for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own based on our experience attending a performance of the show.

What: Funny Face

Where: Lion Theatre

            410 W. 42nd St.

            New York, NY

Who: Recommended for 13 and up

When: Through October 30, 2016

Me - Funny Face was a great show. It was about three sisters and their guardian. One of them had made up wild stories in her diary and their guardian was afraid it would get out and people would believe it so he put the diary in his safe. Meanwhile, thieves were trying to break into his safe and steal jewels. The show was very old fashioned. It was from 1927. I liked the songs in the show, but I didn't already know any of them. My favorites were "Funny Face" and "S'Wonderful". I don't get why the show is called Funny Face. Even though they had the song Funny Face, the words of the song didn't have a lot to do with the plot of the show. I liked the dances in the show. They were nice. I especially liked all the tap dancing. I love tap dancing. The story was entertaining. A lot of it was funny. It was one of my two favorite shows I have seen at Musicals Tonight so far. I liked all the characters. The way the character of Frankie was always getting into trouble reminded me of what I heard about my Dad when he was a little kid and a teenager. I really liked the show, but it will only be open through Sunday so go see it as soon as possible.

Mom - Funny Face was a mostly a charming show. It is not only set in the 1920s. It is actually from that era. If you like the songs and dances from that era, you will love this show. There is a lot of the Charleston and a lot of tap dancing in the show. The costumes are full of pretty colorful flapper outfits. The plot of the show is amusing but light having a lot to do with misunderstandings and mix-ups.  However, in this day and age when so many musicals have heavy plots, a true musical comedy is nice every once in a while. It can be a bit sappy the way everything wraps up so perfectly in this type of show. There is always exactly the right number of women for the number of men so that in the end everyone has somebody and no one is left out. However, again in this crazy world where you don't know what is going to happen next, sometimes it is nice to see a show where everything can be wrapped in two hours and everybody can end up happily. The show is recommended  for children 13 and up. However, there is not really sex, violence, bad language or anything like that so if your children are  a bit younger and really enjoy musical theater they might like it. I wouldn't recommend it for very young children who would probably be bored. If you are on a budget, Musicals Tonight shows are a great choice because all tickets are under $30.00. For more information or to order tickets go to http://www.musicalstonight.org/. Funny Face will only be running through this Sunday October 30, 2016 only.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Funtivity Friday.

Photo credits: All Stone Soup photos by Teri Brennan

                       All Funny Face photos supplied by Musicals Tonight