An Unexpected Musical (or Seeing A Show At A Different Theater)

Because I have my season tickets to the Pantages, I don’t usually look at what shows are happening at other theaters around LA. I know that from time to time I have looked at other seasons and sometimes I do buy tickets for a show if I really want to see it, but that’s pretty rare. It’s not that I don’t like other theaters, but I usually don’t have the money to buy more tickets and when I see shows I want to see it’s often at the end of the run and there are no more seats left. I could be more proactive about seeing what other shows I want to see, but it’s not a huge priority for me right now (if I had all the money I needed to see everything, I think it would be different).

But I do love seeing shows at other theaters when I get the chance to do so. And over the weekend a friend of mine posted online that they had an extra ticket to “Falsettos” at the Ahmanson and they wanted to know if anyone was interested in going. I replied and asked how much the ticket was, and they said that it would be free for me if I wanted to join them! Of course I said yes! I lucked out because the show was on Easter Sunday so a lot of people couldn’t go. But I had no plans so I was excited to have another show to get to see.

I knew nothing about “Falsettos” when I said I’d like the extra ticket. To me, I’m always down to see any musical because you never know what you will like. And I had seen a few friends post about going to see it earlier in the week and everyone was raving about it and encouraging others to go. But once I found out I’d be going, I decided to do a little bit of research on the show so I would have a little bit of an idea about what I was going to see.

I tried to avoid too much information about the plot because I didn’t want things to be spoiled for me. But fortunately there was a lot of information about the creation of the show so I was able to look at that more than plot information. I thought it sounded really interesting that this show was actually created from 3 different 1 act shows. The first act of the current show was based on the second 1 act play and the second act of the current show was based on the third 1 act play. It was a different way to create a show, but it sounded really fun and from the things I read online people enjoyed how each act of the show was a bit different. Even though I knew nothing about the show and I had no clue I was going to see it, I was so ready to see it when Sunday came!

My friends who had the tickets met me at the theater. Since it was a holiday and a weekend, I was able to get to downtown very quickly. I parked in their parking lot because it was just easier to pay the $9 to do that than to search all over downtown for a spot that might be ok to use. I let my friends know when I got there and waited for them by the will call booths.

They got there closer to the start time of the show (which is what we had agreed to) and we had a few minutes to chat and catch up before going inside to head to our seats. I’ve only been to the Ahmanson a few times so I am not as familiar with the seating there as I am with other theaters. But all the times I’ve been there the seats have been good no matter where we were sitting. This time, we were toward the back of the orchestra section near the side. But even the back of the orchestra is pretty close to the stage so we were able to see the actors just fine.

I don’t want to give away a ton about the plot since I think sometimes it’s better to go in knowing very little (and if you really want to know all of the plot you can find it other places online), but the main plot of the show involves a divorced couple, their child, and their new partners. The show does not have dialogue outside of the songs but the songs are clear and easy to follow. The plot isn’t too complicated so that helped with being able to follow it as well.

My quick review of the show is that it was really great! There were some incredible songs and the performances were awesome. I think all of us in the group preferred the second act to the first, which was surprising. There are a lot of times that I feel the second act of a musical goes too quickly to have a conclusion of everything that has happened so far. And when a second act is like that, I usually prefer the first act. But considering that both acts are based off of different 1 act shows it makes it make a bit more sense. And even though I preferred the second act, that doesn’t mean the first act was bad. There was one song I didn’t love, but it was still enjoyable.

I thanked my friends for inviting me to the show and I’m so glad I got to check out a new show. I wish I could do it more often (and that’s why I do my season tickets for the Pantages) and every time I get to see something extra it really is special. And getting to see another show at the Ahmanson was awesome as well since I rarely go there. Maybe one day I’ll have season tickets for there as well and then my life will be even more filled with musicals!

You Might Also Like

Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out) The End Of My Musical Season (or Finally Enjoying Phantom) Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way) Finding Neverland (or An Unexpected Musical Experience) Another Musical Season (or Enjoying A Repeat Musical) School Of Rock (or Just A Good Fun Musical)