First up, it’s Honeymoon in Vegas, the latest Jason Robert Brown-scored Broadway production. Tony Danza, Bryn O’Malley and Rob McClure star. Tyson enjoyed the show despite some flaws, and it’s clear that McClure is a huge talent. Some discussion of the weekly Broadway grosses follows, and we learn that Tyson has them bookmarked on his computer, as any serious theatregoer should.

Then we cut to an old review that never got published from last year, of Red Stitch’s production of Grounded by George Brant. This production is currently being remounted in Sydney at the Seymour Centre, so consider this a belated critique! Kate Cole performs it solo, with direction from Kirsten von Bibra, brilliant set and lighting design by Matthew Adey and spooky compositions by Elizabeth Drake. There is also a production of Grounded currently playing at the Public Theatre with Anne Hathaway, so if you’re in New York it’s a must-see.

Next up, Big Love! Not the Morman tv show, sadly, but Tyson did see the excellent Charles Mee play directed by Tina Landau. It also starred Rebecca Naomi Jones who is heading into Hedwig in the role of Yitzhak.

Finally, The King and I. In 2014, Jelly saw the Opera Australia production starring Lisa McCune and Lou Diamond Phillips, which also saw Teddy Tahu Rhodes perform as the King in some cities. Tyson has just seen Kelli O’Hara and Ken Watanabe in the Bartlett Sher-directed revival at Lincoln Centre in NYC. We compare notes on the two productions and Jelly does a lot of somewhat incoherent ranting about the weird race stuff in that show. Is it time to send The King and I to the garden of disappointingly racist musicals?

Additional Notes
Dee Jefferson: Is the King and I racist, and is it time it was put to rest?
Rebecca Naomi Jones talks about going into Hedwig.
That time when Tony Danza became a high school english teacher.
The Broadway grosses, for your perusal.

Hosts: Tyson (@tysonarmstrong) and Jelly (@jellyjellyfish)
File size: 30MB
Duration: 49 minutes