RANDY DROPS THE BOMB IN ATOMIC
A few months ago I was arranging a trip to New York with some friends to see Neil Patrick Harris in Hedwig and the Angry Inch and was looking around for some other plays to see while there. I had wanted to see Tyne Daly in Mothers and Sons but we had settled on July 22-25 for our trip and her show closed in early July. During this time, the news broke that Randy would be in Atomic during that same time so, of course, that was going to be one of the plays we would see. We also chose Beautiful, the Carole King Musical.
As it turned out in addition to my three friends and me, four other fans from the New York area who are also friends decided to go the same night to Atomic and the eight of us were in the second row.
The show about the Manhattan Project and the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was an interesting look into history with the added benefit of seeing Randy play two roles, that of Edward Teller, one of the scientists on the project and Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay who dropped the bomb. Randy’s parts were not that big though he did get to shine in a musical number "Stars and Stripes" and had another solo on "Only Numbers" where he sat high above the stage in his pilot costume as he readied to drop the bomb. He was part of several other ensemble numbers and his voice is one that is easily recognizable particularly if you have heard him sing in other productions. I found the play to be overly long and though I usually see his plays two or three times, I was not sorry to only sit through this one once. If he had a larger presence in the play, I may have felt differently but this is not even close to the great performances he has done over the years.
After the play the elusive and quick-footed Mr. Harrison made his fast getaway without coming out to even receive the marvelous and unique tee shirts that his #1 fan had made for him even though he knew he was there with them. No matter. Our gang of eight had drinks and a debrief of the play and reminisced about the early days in the QAF fandom at the Heartland Brewery and a good time was had by all.
Neil Patrick Harris was phenomenal in Hedwig and Jesse Mueller was a perfect Carole King and I loved both of those shows so the trip was a resounding success.
As it turned out in addition to my three friends and me, four other fans from the New York area who are also friends decided to go the same night to Atomic and the eight of us were in the second row.
The show about the Manhattan Project and the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima was an interesting look into history with the added benefit of seeing Randy play two roles, that of Edward Teller, one of the scientists on the project and Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the Enola Gay who dropped the bomb. Randy’s parts were not that big though he did get to shine in a musical number "Stars and Stripes" and had another solo on "Only Numbers" where he sat high above the stage in his pilot costume as he readied to drop the bomb. He was part of several other ensemble numbers and his voice is one that is easily recognizable particularly if you have heard him sing in other productions. I found the play to be overly long and though I usually see his plays two or three times, I was not sorry to only sit through this one once. If he had a larger presence in the play, I may have felt differently but this is not even close to the great performances he has done over the years.
After the play the elusive and quick-footed Mr. Harrison made his fast getaway without coming out to even receive the marvelous and unique tee shirts that his #1 fan had made for him even though he knew he was there with them. No matter. Our gang of eight had drinks and a debrief of the play and reminisced about the early days in the QAF fandom at the Heartland Brewery and a good time was had by all.
Neil Patrick Harris was phenomenal in Hedwig and Jesse Mueller was a perfect Carole King and I loved both of those shows so the trip was a resounding success.