Lavish Rebellion [DOT COM]

Theatre is so back!

And what a treat to have seen a handful of shows already this year.

–Jaja’s African Hair Braiding

–Don’t Eat The Mangoes

–The Triumph of Love

As a theatre kid myself, it feels good to support the performing arts! As artists, we know not only how coveted it is to be a part of a a production, but the hard work that goes into putting it all together. Day after day, night after night, and rehearsal after rehearsal.

The last show I’ve seen was the revival of Sunset Boulevard. It was on my list to see alreayd and after Nicole Scherzinger won Best Leading Actress in a Musical, at The Tony Awards, for her turn as Norma Desmond, I was like say less!! And we got our tickets that week, following The Tonys.

And wow, Scherzinger was incredible. The entire play was quite exhilarating and by the end, I already had my favorite song from soundtrack.

Watching Nicole as Norma was also an emotional experience. Not just for the storyline, as she plays a fading movie star in the era of old Hollywood; I’ve been following Nicole’s career since she auditioned on the WB show PopStars for a chance to be in a pop music girl group. She was selected as one of five women to be in the eventually named Eden’s Crush, but sadly, they only lasted for one album after the record label they were on went bankrupt.

My fellow millennials may remember Eden’s Crush’s song “Get Over Yourself.” It was quite the bop and the girls could definitely sing and even opened for ‘N Sync and Jessica Simpson on tour.

Nicole would go to be in The Pussycat Dolls of course! And they were huge in Y2K pop music! But she’s had a lot of highs and lows in her career which she’ has’s been honest about. But she was always striving, always working, never giving up on her singing dreams.

To see her during the last weekend of Sunset Boulevard, post her Tonys win, was amazing and affirming. Dare I admit, I got emotional about it!

I so remember watching PopStars in my living room in the 2000s! What a journey and what a moment for Nicole! And so validating for all the dreamers. With happy tears, I say brava!

The entire cast and crew were fantastic and they should all be proud of what they achieved on that stage.

Earlier this summer, I saw Two Strangers Carry a Cake (Across New York), which I had never heard of! I saw ads for it around town and something about the title had me go, so what’s this about?

My friend and I went, barely knowing a stitch of music (the soundtrack was already available online, but I only had time to pay attention to the first four tracks). But we were in for a treat! And for being a smaller production, the house was packed at the American Repertory!

The stage was simple with the set mainly comprised of suitcases, as one of the leads, the male one, arrives from the U.K. to attend the wedding of his estranged father. And the bride-to-be sister is the one that greets him in America to make sure he gets to his hotel safely, and from there, the play takes off.

Similarly to the plays I saw earlier this year, some tough subjects, despite the sometimes cheery instrumentals and fun vibes here and there, were covered and explored as the characters did their best to navigate. I’ve been moved by these performances and dialogues and monologues.

Two Strangers Carry a Cake was so heartfelt! And two leads were wonderful.

I’m hopeful I’ll get to see at least three more shows before summer’s over!

So many songs yet to be sung

So many roads

Still unexplored

We gave the world new ways to dream

Somehow we found new ways to dream

“New Ways to Dream,” Sunset Boulevard