REVIEW: BRING IT ON!

As today was its closing day, I thought it would be a good time to finally post my review of BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL. I'm gonna start with this: it was much better than one would expect from a musical version of Bring It On.

The true standout of the show was the cast, led by the amazing Taylor Louderman. Most of the cast, having come from the national tour, was making their Broadway debut in the show. And boy, this cast will produce some stars. The true standout: Taylor Louderman, the lead actress, who played Campbell. She is a true triple threat who really made the show. She was front and center for almost the entire show, so if she was bad, the show would be. But she was amazing, belting her face off, and holding her own with the cheer choreography. Another standout, mostly due to his vocals, was Jason Gotay. His song, "Enjoy the Trip," is my favorite in the show. They both will go far.

The show was well written in my opinion, considering what it is based on. It's not going to be the next Next to Normal, but the story was a lot less cheesy than I expected. And the music, as one would expect from Tom Kitt and Lin-Manuel Miranda was amazing. A lot of fun, with cute lyrics and some great belting.

Technically, I like the concept of a minimalist set, using projection that moved around. Was it groundbreaking, no. But did it fit the show? Yes. Also, the lighting. Literally EVERYWHERE you looked there was a million lights. It was almost distracting because of how many lights there were.

Lastly, the dancing. In a show that featured an ensemble of real cheerleaders, I expected a little more. Going into the experience, I expected the dancing to be the thing that blew me away, and I think, because the music and acting were a lot better than expected, it just didn't. That isn't to say it was bad. It just wasn't awe-inspiring.

I hope this show lives on on tour, and I highly recommend listening to the cast recording!

A Bad Week for Broadway

As you may remember, I wrote a post late this summer about how this season was shaping up to be a pretty boring one. It seems I was right. Just this week alone, three shows have announced closing dates: CHAPLIN (Jan 6th), SCANDALOUS (Dec. 9th), and THE ANARCHIST (Dec. 16th).

This comes right after THE PERFORMERS closed less than a week after it opened and BRING IT ON announced it was closing early after an announced extension.

What is going on? Are people not going to shows? Are the shows just that bad that no one wants to see them?

I think this is a much larger problem than quality of shows. I think people have more or less stopped going to see shows that aren't an adaptation of something they know or starring a huge Hollywood star.  I don't know how to fix this. I doubt anyone does. Which is why Broadway is in this current situation.

Here's to hoping that the spring is more successful (and if MATILDA and CINDERELLA are an indication, it should be)!

Any ideas? Thoughts? Comment below.

REVIEW: BRING IT ON Original Broadway Cast Recording

I was really excited for this recording (and the show, which I hope to see in December). I downloaded it as soon as it was available, and had listened to it in its entirety shortly thereafter. Overall, I agree with reviews of the shows: Its better than expected, good, but not great.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Tom Kitt, two of Broadway's biggest modern composers, teamed up for this fun, new musical. Unfortunately, this show's score doesn't come close to matching either of their prior successes (In the Heights and Next to Normal respectively). Their music is fun, which when push comes to shove is what this show needs, but it lacks the depth that truly fantastic Broadway scores. I see why this succeeded on the road and totally understand why its struggling on Broadway.

The vocals, for a cast that is almost across the board making their Broadway debuts, are outstanding. Even when they are belting some corny lyrics (i.e. "a castrating biotch"), their chops shine through on this extremely well produced recording.

Is it worth a listen? Yes. Is it worth $12? Yes. Did I run (or jump) to buy tickets to the show? Not so much.

BRING IT ON! Coming to Broadway!!!

BRING IT ON: THE MUSICAL will be coming to the St. James theatre this summer after its national tour for a limited engagement from August 1st through October 7th, now that LEAP OF FAITH has closed.

BRING IT ON features music by Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights). The production will star Taylor Louderman and Adrienne Warren.

Having heard the three track sampler Sh-K-Boom released and knowing the Miranda and Kitt's music, I have a feeling this will actually be a lot better than people would think and I would be excited to see it on Broadway.

BRING IT ON! Cast Recording Sampler to Be Released

Sh-K-Boom Records has announced that it will release a three track sampler of the original cast recording of BRING IT ON! THE MUSICAL, based on the movie of the same name. The sampler will be released digitally on April 24th.

BRING IT ON! features music from Lin-Manuel Miranda (In the Heights) and Tom Kitt (Next to Normal) and lyrics by Amanda Green. The three tracks to be featured are:

1. It's All Happening
2. Ain't No Thing
3. Enjoy The Trip

I'm interested to hear this because the composers are two of the best musical theatre composers out there right now. I wonder why they aren't releasing a full album though.