Saturday Special - Tonya and Nancy the Rock Opera and Ben's Fanked Up Broadway

We were given free tickets to Tonya and Nancy the Rock Opera for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Tonya and Nancy the Rock Opera

Where: Feinsteins/54 Below
              254 W. 54th St.
             New York, NY

When: February 13, 2018
           
Me - Tonya and Nancy the Rock Opera was not anything like you would expect. With a name like that,  how would you even know what to expect?  It was hilarious and would be even if you had limited knowledge of the Tonya and Nancy scandal. The acting and singing were amazing even though it was sometimes difficult to hear the lyrics over the instruments. I had never been to 54 Below before. It was a really interesting venue. There was not a bad seat in the house, and even though it was extremely crowded the postive vibes more than made up for it. All in all, this show was a great experience and if I had the opportunity I would definitely go see it again.*

*The above is guest post by older sister, Melia.

Mom - I recently had the opportunity to attend my first concert at Feinstein's/54 Below in New York City. I have always wanted to go there. The shows and events on their calendar always sound so amazing. The event we attended was Tonya and Nancy the Rock opera, and I was not disappointed. The show did not include the entire opera but rather selections from the opera. It was terrific! It was such an enjoyable show. The songs were incredibly fun, and the performances were wonderful. Margot Robbie may have been nominated for an Oscar for her performance as Tonya Harding in the film, I , Tonya, but Ashley Spencer's performance as the fiesty black sheep of the skating world was equally as good. Lauren Worsham shined a well in her role as  the perhaps not so sweet as she might seem ice princess, Nancy Kerrigan. Nancy Opel completed the triumvirate of first-rate leading ladies in this production in her duel role as LaVona Fay Golden and Brenda Kerrigan, the respective mothers of Tonya and Nancy. All in all the evening was a delight, and I hope to be able to see the opera in its entirety someday.
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What: Ben's Fanked Up Broadway

Where: Feinsteins/54 Below
             254 W. 54th St.
             New York, NY

When: February 25, 2018

Me - Ben Fankhauser is one of the most adorable people on the planet which is why the second I heard about his concert, I knew I needed to go and see it. It was even more amazing than I had expected it to be. His voice is like heaven. I will never tired of listening to it. After the show finished, we waited around, and for the second time, I had the opportunity to meet Ben. He is so sweet and humble, and he looks at everybody as if the things that they are saying are the most important things he has heard in his life. At that point, I was exhausted so I barely even remember what I said to him, but what I do remember is that I had an incredible night.* 

*The above is a guest post by older sister, Melia.

Mom - Shortly after I attended my first event at Feinstein's/54 Below, I had the opportunity to attend a second event. The second event was a concert given by Ben Fankhauser who is most well known for being one of the original stars of  Newsies the Musical in which he appeared as Davey. My daughter is obssessed with Newsies and anything  and anyone that has anything to do with it. I mostly went to the concert  to accompany her. However, I was pleasantly surprised. While I did not expect to dislike the concert, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I did either. The concert was charming. Ben has a really nice voice and his song choices were great. He put his own jazzy spin on a selection of familiar songs including several from shows in which he has previously appeared. He even dueted on a couple of songs with the lovely voiced Natalie Weiss. Afterwards, we had the opportunity to speak with Ben, and he was as charismatic off stage as he was on. Over all, it was just a completely engaging evening. If the two shows I have seen are indicative of the shows and events presented at Feinstein's/54 Below, I definitely hope to be able to attend many more events there in the future.

For information about upcoming shows and events at Feinstein's/54 Below and/or to purchase tickets, visit 54below.com/calendar.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for this week's Sunday Scoop.