Show #1: Hand to God
In line with my expected reaction: really liked it, very very funny, surprisingly dark at times (darker than expected, even when forewarned), and appreciated that there was more going on than just a foul-mouthed puppet. Had not expected to laugh quite so much.
Yes, it slightly runs out of steam in Act Two, but only in comparison to Act One (which is ALL steam all the time), not in comparison to othe plays. Impressive performances from the entire cast, and the sets (which I don't remember hearing about) were just terrific. Easy to see why this garnered the reviews it did. 4.5/5 stars.
Show #2: Finding Neverland
About 1,000 times better than I was expecting based on comments here and reviews (and I'm no pushover for dreck: I can recognize that Lestat was horrible, Wonderland aimless and bombastic, and Bullets Over Broadway wasteful and inert.) Was it perfect? No, but I'm not about to limit my theatre-going to perfect--I like going to the theatre more than once a year!
I laughed, I cried--so it worked for me on an emotional level. I thought the sets/projections/effects were marvelous and moving (in both senses), particularly the incredible dream/nightmare, and the penultimate scene--amazing. I felt the Mia Michaels choreography was not a good fit for the time period (the initial number of dancing Victorian party-goers particularly did not sit well) but worked better in later numbers, and was pleased to see the return of the Dream Ballet! Performers did a good job, and the score was serviceable throughout, and better than that a few times--not up to Wicked's level, which is sort of the gold standard for the critically-maligned popular favourite.
Ultimately it was about 3.5/5 stars for me, which isn't bad. Sort of a Newsies level of generally entertaining throughout, with some one thing standing out as even better (visual effects for Neverland, aggressively dynamic young dancers for Newsies).
Of course, now I have my fingers crossed that Dr Zhivago may not be the nadir of civilization after all, so expect great disappointment on Tuesday.
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