High's and Low's

The final two shows of our Broadway and Beyond trips were War Horse and Spider Man. I have two very polar opposite, strong opinions about the two performances.

War Horse was the highpoint of the day! It was a powerful, beautifully captivating show. It won the Tony Award for best play and it most definitely deserved that title. This show has to be the most exhausting, challenging acting to undertake, physically and mentally, in regards to the actors who played the horses. They put their bodies through a severe workout in terms of the upright, bent leg, positioning they have to be strapped into the entire performance and the mentally they have to portray as being a horse. They have to produce sound affects, emotion and chemistry with their team players in order to make the horses come alive and be successful. The beauty of this show was through the mechanical engineering that turned into a story that had emotion that pulled the audience into the show. Bravo to War Horse and the magic they created on stage that Broadway has never seen before!

Spider Man on the other hand, was the low end of the night. It was the most disappointing Broadway show I have ever seen in my life. I have never wanted to leave a theater as much as I did that night--and I have been to my fair share of good and bad Broadway shows. This show to me was a blockbuster hit, that was a franchise out to get money. I felt like it had nothing to do with high, artistic quality, or talent on stage, or the telling of a story. It simply had to do with special effects and entertaining the crowd with the twenty flying spiderman's they had. The music was not tasteful and they singing done by the two leads was mediocre in quality. I was extremely disappointed and even more disappointed by the fact that it is still on Broadway and filling the house every night.

I am sad to see the trips to NYC come to an end, but I have enjoyed every trip whether I thought the show was wonderful or below my expectations. I have learned a great deal about the city, how to navigate my way through it and where all the theatre's are located. I will miss this luxury of going to see a Broadway performance every weekend, but all good things must come to an end at some point, but the memories can still be valuable and looked back on with fondness.