I recently spent 2 weeks in New York City to feed my nostalgia and revisit this place that I kind of grew up with. I used to stay with a relative here on my past visits, who sadly passed away a few years ago. But what I did a few times with her was to go to TKTS and get discounted same-day tickets for a show. That way, I saw The Producers and Wicked, for example. However, it was usually not so easy to go to plays, because we had to go deep into New Jersey afterwards – which late at night is just not possible with public transportation^, leaving only matinées as an option.

Going to New York, I knew I was gonna go to TKTS a couple of times and watch a few shows, because why not? Money, you might say, but TKTS tickets are generally half-price, so it wasn’t too crazy. Also, if you’re already on vacation in a place like New York – JUST DO IT!

I ended up seeing not one, not two, but a mildly insane SEVEN Broadway shows! That might sounds like a lot, but is that really so much though? About 15 years ago I did an excursion with the uni to Stratford-upon-Avon and saw just as many Shakespeare plays within a single week. So this wasn’t an entirely new experience for me.

Arguably Broadway and Shakespeare are very different things but the experience was similar. Without further ado, here are my thoughts on all of them:

#1 Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes

The only play I actually pre-booked, I booked it solely because it had Hugh Jackman (I’m not a fan or anything, but I always enjoy seeing big names on stage). It generally also appealed to me because it was off-off Broadway and a small production (it didn’t even have a Playbill!). Aside from the title, I went in pretty much blind.

The story was surprisingly good, it was about a university professor who starts an affair with a student. Well acted by the only two actors of this show, and personally I found it a bit funny that the play portrayed it as such a strong taboo. It definitely should be, but I know two professors who did just that… even got married and had a kid.

#2 Hadestown

My first same day half price TKTS pick was a good one. I had a great seat very close to the stage. I heard a lot about this show, specifically that it’s a retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, which I’m very familiar with.

As the show started I was a bit surprised that it’s all singing all the time, like a modern opera. So far I had only seen shows that had acting with occasional bursts into singing. So that was interesting, and also a bit challenging for me because sometimes I had a hard time understanding what was going on in the plot (even though I know the story). Singing + some actors with heavy dialect + loud music made this a challenge, and I wish I had had subtitles.

Aside from that minor thing, it was a very enjoyable show. The cast was brilliant and everyone fit their roles absolutely perfectly. Especially Orpheus (Brandon Cameron), Eurydice (Jordan Tyson) and Hades (Gary Dourdan) were brilliant. The whole ensemble was great too, and the choreography had interesting usage of props. The set was beautiful, and I loved what they did for the underworld. I also really liked that the musicians were part of the set, unlike in other shows I’ve seen where they were hidden.

Hadestown is a really cool, very interesting adaptation of a classic myth, and I think it’s definitely worth seeing.

#3 The Play That Goes Wrong

This off-broadway play is originally from London and very British. It’s a bit meta in that it’s about a play… and as the title suggests, everything goes wrong.

This was very silly, lots of slapstick and Monty Python-esque jokes, with an intentionally thin plot. It was really fun, allover an evening well spend, but obviously not a masterpiece. But if you have other plays on the list you want to see, I would prioritize those over this one.

#4 Operation Mincemeat

Another British export, this musical tells the story of a British MI5 operation during WW2. The special thing about it was that there were 5 actors, which played multiple roles each (even though they all had a main role).

Interestingly (and very Shakespearean), some of the roles were genderbent, so female characters were played by male characters or vice versa. I felt that this worked better for some of the actors/roles than others. The actress for Montagu (Julia Knitel) for example came off very androgynous and did this very well, whereas I think it worked less well for the actor in the role of Hester (Jeff Kready). It’s a nice gimmick, but sometimes I found it distracting and wondered why they didn’t just swap roles. Another minor complaint I have is that is felt a bit dragged out with some of the musical numbers.

Altogether a really fun and enjoyable play, with great music, a downright phenomenal finale, and a moving, true story.

#5 Maybe Happy Ending

This musical is originally Korean and tells the story of two discarded robots living out their remaining (battery) life isolated in the far future, until one day they cross paths and go on a journey together.

It was an amazing play in all aspects. The acting was phenomenal, especially of Darren Criss, who made moving like a robot look so effortless and natural. The plot was always moving forward, and none of the musical numbers ever felt like filler.

Absolutely amazing were also the sets and the usage of projectors. Both robots had their own little apartment, and they looked really cozy and realistic, unlike most more minimal sets in other shows. The usage of curtain screens was awesome and gave the whole show a sci-fi feeling, just like the way projections were used.

This was unexpectedly probably my favorite of all the plays that I saw, as it was the most well-rounded experience!

#6 Two Strangers (Carry a cake across New York)

After the previous night’s highlight, I think this play just couldn’t hold up. It’s another British export, about a dorky guy visiting New York for the first time to go to the wedding of a rich father he never met. He is picked up by the bride’s sister, a struggling waitress.

Already the plot of this musical didn’t make sense to me. Meeting your father the first time at his wedding? After never having had contact?He’s rich, and the guy is poor? No resentment, nothing? It makes absolutely no sense.

The show had some really funny jokes and is often said to be a love letter to New York. But that’s where it ends. I was actively bored watching this play, the plot was bad and both main characters were a bit cringe. The musical numbers also did nothing to advance the plot. Very meh, and IMHO not worth the money. Why was this nominated for 8 Tony Awards??

#7 Ragtime

I was discouraged after the previous night’s disappointment to see more shows, but still kinda wanted to finish on a high note. Ragtime was universally praised, and thematically very interesting for me after focusing my visit on New York history. It’s about 3 social groups in 1906 – white high society, African Americans and poor (Jewish) immigrants. Rags to riches is part of the story.

The first act told the story primarily though musical numbers (similar to Hadestown) and sometimes was a bit hard to follow, also because they seemed disconnected. In the second act it all came together beautifully though, and the story was downright shocking (but honestly not surprising).

What was most dazzling about this play was the ensemble of about 30 people. That’s the biggest I’ve seen in any show, and it was fantastic when they’re all on stage, singing.

My only complaint with the play is that some of the characters didn’t have names and were only referred to as “mother”, “father”, etc. which I found super confusing. They should have just given them names. Also, the sets were a bit minimal, but altogether, this was a really great musical, and I enjoyed it a lot also because that time period was one of my major points of interest during this visit to New York.

Conclusion

If I had to rank these 7 plays, I think my order would be Maybe Happy Ending, Ragtime, Hadestown, Operation Mincemeat, Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes,The Play That Goes Wrong, and (long pause) Two Strangers. I’d definitely use an opportunity to see my top 3 from this list again, if it should arise, they were all great shows in their own unique way.

Going to a show almost every night was really awesome, and I’m glad I had a hotel that was easy to reach to make this possible. I will definitely do this again when I have the opportunity, no matter if in New York, London or elsewhere.