Theater Thursday - Backbeard, Really Rosie and Songbook Summit: Cole Porter

We were given free tickets to Backbeard for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here our own.

What: Backbeard

Where: The Acorn Theatre
             Theatre Row
              42nd St.
              New York, NY

Who: All ages especially children under 10

When: Backbeard was part of the New York Musical Festival and its run has concluded.
 
 
Me - Backbeard was entertaining. It was the story of a pirate named Backbeard who had to get a new outfit and a new pet because of a birthday party gone wrong. Then, because of his choice of clothes and pet, the pirate council would not let him be a pirate anymore, so he had to find a different job. The story was interesting. The characters were funny. The characters had really strange names aside from Backbeard there were names like Sweaty, Mad Garlic Jack and Captain Kidney. The songs were fun and enjoyable. Some of the songs were about things like how to serve tea and how pirates act according to the pirate book. The set looked kind of like a circus. It was cool. Some of the costumes were really nice and colorful. The acting, singing and dancing were all swell. It's a great show for little kids, but it can definitely be enjoyed by older kids and adults too. Over all,  Backbeard is a very good show.
 
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We were given tickets to Really Rosie for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Really Rosie

Where: Encores Off Center
             City Center
            131 W. 55th St.
            New York, NY

Who: All ages

When: Really Rosie was part of City Center's Encores Off Center Summer 2017 season and has concluded its run.
  
 
Me & Mom - Really Rosie was a fun show. It is about a girl named Rosie and the people who live in her neighborhood. Rosie was pretending to make a movie about her life and she made all the other kids audition for parts. They sang songs and some of them danced. The songs in the show were very entertaining. They were based on poems by Maurice Sendak with music by Carole King.The songs included such famous Maurice Sendak poems as One Was Johnny which is about counting, Pierre which is about a boy who always says "I don't care.", and Chicken Soup With Rice which is about the months in a year. The entire cast was made up of children except one man who played various parts both male and female. Although he was actually on stage too he was mostly a voice actor. He didn't really do anything in the show. Also, there was a person who played an alligator who just danced. Most of the kids in the show had previously been in Broadway shows like School of Rock, On Your Feet and Falsettos. They were all really talented and acted, sang and danced really well. All in all, the show was a delight. The show marks the end of City Center Encores Off Center Season, they will return with their next regular City Center Encores season next Winter and Spring when the shows will include Hey Look Me Over, Grand Hotel and Me and My Girl.        
 

For more about City Center Encores go to www.nycitycenter.org/Home/On-Stage/Encores!
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We were given free tickets to Songbook Summit: Cole Porter for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Songbook Summit: Cole Porter

Where: 59E59 Theatre
             59 E. 59th St.
             New York, NY

Who: Recommended for Ages 16 and up

When: Songbook Summit: Cole Porter the first in a series that will cover four different composers has concluded its run.

Mom's view: Broadway Playhouse is a series where Children learn about different Broadway Composer's through songs, games and skits. Songbook Summit is sort of the same thing for adults minus the games and skits. The first part of the four part series was devoted to Cole Porter. In this series instead of games and skits, there are pictures and film clips. In the children's series a lot of parts of songs are sung, but hardly any whole songs. In this series, however, many of the composer's best known songs are fully played by the talented Anderson twins and their band along with singer, Molly Ryan. All are very accomplished and it is truly a pleasure to listen to them play. The series is a great and fun way to learn more about some of our famous composers. After all, why should kids have all the fun? Next up in the series is Harold Arlen, followed by George Gershwin, and then Richard Rodgers.

For more information on the series go to www.59e59.org/moreinfo.

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

 Photo credits: All Backbeard production photos by Tamara Hansen      
                        All Really Rosie production photos by Joan Marcus