The Band's Visit

Season tickets to Broadway in Atlanta shows at the Fox Theater were a condition of moving here. Broadway is one of my greatest loves and it's painful not to be able to just hop on the Subway and go see the latest hit show. Instead I'm stuck seeing a random assortment of shows years after release with a second rate cast at a theater too large for decent viewing. Nevertheless, the chance to see this caliber of musical theater is a blessing. Last year I finally saw Hamilton and it was actually easier to get tickets here than in New York.

The Fox Theater is one of the most beautiful I've ever seen and also the most enormous. For reference there are 1232 seats in the Nederlander Theater where I saw Rent eight times on Broadway. The theater here has 4665 seats. That means that approximately 25 percent of the seats are great to decent. The other 75 percent are too far to see anything without binoculars.

Last week we saw The Band's Visit for C's birthday. It was a solid show that I would not have picked out of all that Broadway has to offer. The musicians were spectacular. The acting and singing was good. The story was ho hum. The entire show takes place over one night and there is not enough character development to make you care much about any of the characters. It was enjoyable and that's about it.

Atlanta requires a positive attitude. Low standards also help.