The Premium Life

New Yorkers have a love / hate relationship with Broadway.

The best shows quickly inspire frenzied ticket sales and endless opinions on their merits. Tickets that are in high demand seem impossible to find at times  — and can command a king’s ransom.

While some plays stick around for a while and some are quickly rejected by critical theatre-goers, the finest Broadway musicals have shown the ability to stand the test of time and seem like permanent fixtures in the heavily trafficked Theatre District…often justifiable.

Whether it’s the enchanting score of The Phantom of the Opera, the brilliant performances in Les Misérables or the sparkling stage arrangements of Wicked, these classics often deserve a second look, a re-initiation, if you will.

I recently decided to re-acquaint myself with The Phantom of The Opera, the longest running show in the history of Broadway.  (It has been fifteen years since my initial viewing.) Read more »

After hearing all the hype about  the play “God of Carnage” by Yasmina Reza and featuring James Gandolfini, Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harden, I finally had a chance to check out for myself what all the fuzz is about. I came in with low expectations and very little knowledge of what the show was all about.

One hour and a half later (no intermission) I came out with my stomach hurting from laughing so hard. I can honestly say that from the moment the show started until the very end, I did not stop laughing. 

The premise of the story is about two couples who meet to discuss a playground fight between two of their children. Gandolfini and Harden play the couple whose son was hit in the mouth by Daniels’ and Davis’ son with a stick after being called a snitch. The couples meet and try to rationally discuss the incident and what should happen next. What starts out as a civilized conversation quickly turns into a hysterical display of what happens when adults behave badly.  

Daniels in particular is amazingly funny when he continually picks up his cell phone to deal with an impending pharmaceutical pr crisis. I had heard from friends that Gandolfini was not that good in the show but I have to disagree. From the beginning he tries to play the nice calm husband who tries to act civilized but you can see him  biting his lip trying to remain as civil as possible. Eventually “the shit hits the fan” and he loses it displaying his animalistic persona we are familiar from his Sopranos days.

I highly recommend this play. It is a great way to spend 90 minutes before or after a nice dinner in NYC. One word of warning, the Bernard Jacobs Theatre does not allow you to drink alcohol at your seat, so you can either get there early and get drinks at the bar or got to a bar before hand. Of course, if you need help finding great seats feel free to contact us at  www.premiumlg.com