Third Broadway Show of 2015: "If/Then"

Over the weekend, my mom visited me in New York. And as we always do when she visits, we went to see a Broadway show! Back in November we tried seeing If/Then starring Idina Menzel. We had amazing seats and were so excited...but five minutes before the show started we found out Idina wasn't there. I'm sure her understudy was great too, but since the main reason we wanted to see the show was because of her, we decided to leave and exchange our tickets for This Is Our Youth starring Michael Cera (which was so good too!)  If/Then is about to end its run in about a week, so we knew we had to see it while we still could!

The show centers around Idina Menzel's character Elizabeth and shows how much little decisions can completely change the way your life turns out. After getting divorced and moving back to New York from Phoenix, Elizabeth isn't sure what her next steps in life should be. When she has to choose which of her two friends to hang out with one afternoon, that tiny decision completely changes the path of her life. "Liz" meets a guy and starts a family but doesn't have a career she's really happy with. On the other hand, "Beth" has her dream career but a rocky love life. Scenes switch off between the two characters and we can see how different their lives become.

I had never seen a show or read a book with a similar storyline, and I think it was so creative and original! You find yourself rooting for the two characters at different times, not sure which path is better for Elizabeth since both have their ups and downs. There were a lot of funny parts in the show and really touching parts too, so it was really the perfect variety. And of course, since Idina Menzel was the lead, there were lots of songs! They were fun and catchy, and a lot of the songs switched back and forth between being Liz or Beth, so it was really interesting! I really liked all the songs, and Idina Menzel was amazing live. Although I've heard she can be a bit of a diva, there's no denying she is so talented! The rest of the cast was so great too. Anthony Rapp, who costarred in the Rent Broadway show and movie with Idina, was in the show and really good. And the other stars LaChanze and James Snyder were really impressive too. If you are in New York City and have the opportunity to see If/Then before it ends, you definitely need to go see it!

Idina Menzel and Anthony Rapp in the show

To this date, I have seen ten Broadway shows and even though I have liked all of them, If/Then was one of my favourites! I would love to see Idina Menzel in another show someday, and seeing this has gotten me excited to see even more Broadway shows soon. The next ones I'm planning to see...Cabaret starring Emma Stone and The Heidi Chronicles which just started!

My mom and I both loved the show and had an amazing night!

Second Broadway Show of 2015: "Kinky Boots"

Thursday night, I went with my friend and her mom to see a Broadway show that I've been wanting to see for ages... Kinky Boots! After work, I braved the frigid cold New York City weather to walk over to the Al Hirschfield Theatre near Times Square to meet up with Kirsten and her mom. We originally had tickets for three seats that weren't together. (We wanted to sit in the orchestra section rather than the mezzanine, and the only seats available at the time were separate from each other.) But when we checked in, the man at the ticket booth ended up finding us three seats together that were even better than our original seats! We had an amazing view of the stage.

If you aren't familiar with the show Kinky Boots, I'll give you a quick recap of the plot. The show starts with two young boys in England. The father of the first boy owns a shoe factory, but the boy isn't really interested in following in his father's footsteps and taking over the family business when he gets older. The second boy opens the show by performing an impressive dance routine in a pair of red high heels before his father yells at him to take the shoes off. The show then fast forwards to when the boys are adults. The first boy, Charlie, moves to London with his girlfriend, but is forced to go back home to take over the family shoe factory after his father dies. The factory is struggling, and that's when he meets the other boy who is a drag queen and goes by the name of Lola. The two become friends, and Charlie realizes there's an under-served market in the shoe industry that could save his father's business—shoes for men who like to wear women's shoes. Charlie and Lola then go into business together developing a line of boots to showcase at Fashion Week in Milan. Some drama and lots of funny moments follow! The music for Kinky Boots was written by Cyndi Lauper, and the show won several Tony awards, including the award for "Best Musical" in 2013!

Every aspect of the show was just so impressive: the music, the choreography, the set design, the lighting, the costumes, the performers... As soon as we sat down, we saw that the set looked amazing. And that was just one of the many incredible sets in the show! When the lights went down and the show began, the entire theatre seemed to transform and everyone was in awe! The opening song was so catchy and fun, and as the show went on, I was amazed by how many awesome songs there were in the show. Everyone in the show was also a fantastic performer. They all had great voices and were really able to captivate the audience. I think my favourite songs in the show were "The History of Wrong Guys," "Sex is in the Heel," and "Land of Lola," but I really loved them all! If you are in New York City, I would highly recommend going to see Kinky Boots!

As I always do at Broadway shows, I had an amazing night and didn't want the show to end! I am so glad I got the chance to see Kinky Boots since I had been wanting to see it for so long. I'm also really happy that I've already been able to see two Broadway shows so far in 2015! (I set a goal for myself to see six this year, so I'm already 1/3 of the way to reaching my goal!) The next Broadway show I want to see... If/Then starring Idina Menzel which ends its run on March 22nd.

Spending the Night with Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and New Politics

I think everyone has a few singers or bands who have had a significant impact on them, and for me, one of those bands is Fall Out Boy. I first became a fan of them in 2005, and in 2007 after their album Infinity on High came out, they quickly took over the role as my favourite band. Throughout high school, my love for Fall Out Boy stayed strong, and if I was ever having a bad day, I knew that listening to their music would cheer me up. I even saw them in concert twice, in 2007 and 2009. (Of course, they were amazing!) I was so sad when FOB broke up in 2009, but was so excited when they got back together last year. They quickly returned to being one of my favourite bands, and I grew to love their new music just as much, if not more, than their previous albums.

So needless to say, I was so happy when my sister told me that Fall Out Boy was going on tour this summer and would be playing a show near us! And to make it even more awesome, Paramore was joining them on tour! Paramore is another band I loved since high school, but had never seen in concert. At first, we didn't think we would be able to go, since the lawn seats and cheap seats were all sold out, and the only ones left cost hundreds of dollars a piece. But then, after checking one last time on eBay, we found tickets in a great spot for $75 a piece. Score!

The concert was on June 22, which ended up being such a nice day! My sister Lexi and I headed out early to park and get some dinner before the show. Of course we jammed to my FOB CDs the whole ride! After finding parking (that was free!!), we went to a little Italian place nearby for dinner. The restaurant was having a special where pizzas were half-price that night. Everything was going perfectly for us! :)

Lexi and I all ready for the concert!

When it got closer to the time doors would open, we headed back to the concert venue and got t-shirts. (I have a Fall Out Boy t-shirt that I got seven years ago when we saw them perform for the first time, but unfortunately it doesn't fit any more!) 

The first band to perform was a newer band called New Politics, which Pete Wentz just signed to his record label. I had only known one of their songs before seeing them perform, but they were really good and I enjoyed their set a lot! I've been listening to a bunch of their songs since the concert, and definitely want to buy their CD.

Next up: Paramore! Before the concert, I hadn't bought Paramore's latest CD yet, and didn't know most of their newer songs, but I was so excited when they ended up playing a ton of their older songs! Hayley Williams has so much energy and was so great to watch. It's amazing she can run around on stage as much as she does and still sound so good singing! My favourite song they performed was probably Misery Business, because that was the song that made me originally fall in love with Paramore when I heard it on TRL. (Any other 00's girls miss that show as much as I do? ;) ) The entire crowd seemed to know that song, so the whole venue was singing along with the band. They even brought two girls up on stage to sing the end bit of the song with Hayley. Paramore is a band I had wanted to see for years, so I was so happy to finally get to experience them perform live. (And seeing them perform inspired me to buy their newest CD that I have been absolutely loving!)

And then it was time for the performance I had been anticipating most: Fall Out Boy! As I expected, they opened up with Phoenix from their latest album, and from the very beginning, their set was full of energy and excitement. It's amazing how many hit songs they have had over the years. I did not stop singing and smiling the entire time they played! Something about seeing them perform live just makes me feel happy because they have had a pretty big impact on me growing up. I can't even pick a favourite song because they were all so good, but one thing I loved was how they ended the show with their song Saturday. I know it used to be their tradition to end all of their shows with this song because it was one of the first ones they ever recorded together, but I wasn't sure if they would continue that tradition after returning form their hiatus. But they continued the tradition, and I sung along with the other die-hard fans who have been fans of theirs ever since their early years.

I had such an amazing time at the concert, and seeing the three bands perform live made me love them even more and made me so excited to (hopefully) see them again in the near future!