What Gen X woman has not jammed to Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill album? It’s such a centerpiece of nineties music. This album always takes me back to the first time I heard it. I had this friend whom I would go on long car rides with in the summer between freshman and sophomore year of college. (And then we’d go to this really good Greek fast food place each time.) She had just bought the cassette and started playing it for me. I was hooked right away, as it was so good. Of course, “You Oughta Know” was the first song she wanted me to hear. I got the cassette when I went back to college and listened to it all the time. It definitely reminds me of being in college whenever I hear it. I especially love the hidden track, as it’s so melancholy and it’s great to sing a cappella. My favorites are some of the B-sides, like “Wake Up” and “Not the Doctor.”
When I first heard about the musical Jagged Little Pill, which featured the songs from that iconic album and a few others by Alanis, I knew I had to see it. I bought the original Broadway cast recording and listened to it often. My older son was also into the music and that got him liking Alanis Morissette. We could finally connect about my music the same way Rags to Riches and dining at Ed Debevic's made me appreciate my parents' music (but only a bit for that). So when it came on tour to DC, we got tickets and counted down the days. Showtime finally happened this past weekend!
We saw a Sunday matinee at the National Theater. The show was scheduled for 2:00, but it ended up starting at 2:30 due to some technical difficulties. Thankfully, they made an announcement or we would have been sitting there wondering what was going on. When the show finally started, it was well worth the 30 minute (and almost three-and-a-half year) wait. There was so much energy from the moment the ensemble started singing the opening number and it carried throughout the show.
While Heidi Blickenstaff was cast as Mary Jane in the National Tour, she was not performing when we saw it. However, Bligh Voth was so incredible in the role that I didn't even miss Heidi. (That also happened when I first saw Wicked and Shoshana Bean was playing Elphaba instead of Idina. Never underestimate an understudy!) She reminded me of Liz from Shrinking in some ways. And her voice was gorgeous. I was just completely impressed by her the entire time!
Everyone in the show, from leads to ensemble, was just amazing. Jade McLeod was so perfect as Jo and had such a powerhouse of a voice. They rocked "You Oughta Know". Lauren Chanel was great as Frankie and gave a powerful performance, as well. I really liked Allison Sheppard as Bella and Dillon Klena also stood out as Nick. His brother, Derek, played that role on Broadway. Rishi Golani did really well in the role of Phoenix. We even got to chat with him after the show and he was really nice.
I liked how everyone used the stage and props throughout the show. The furniture pieces were on wheels and the cast was able to move them around while performing. The set itself was mostly video screens that would move around to depict different scenery. I love how they worked it that way and sometimes it reminded me of the digital set in Mean Girls. The swing set that was occasionally brought on stage was cool and the actors could even sit on top of it.
The choreography was mostly interpretive as compared to most shows I've seen. Like the dancers were acting out what was happening in the story. The dancing overall was really good and definitely acrobatic. A lot of the time, there was so much happening onstage that I am glad I knew most of the songs already so I could focus more on the action and not have to worry about hearing the lyrics. Thankfully, they didn't change the lyrics from the cast recording and only shortened one song toward the end (which was more of a background song).
As for the story, I had no idea what this musical was going to be about. I heard bits and pieces here and there, but not enough to understand what was actually going to happen. The songs didn't give away any context aside from "You Oughta Know", which I knew that Jo was going to sing and that it was about Frankie leaving them for someone else. So I was completely surprised about everything that had happened and it wasn't predictable at all. I don't want to share much about it as to not spoil it for anyone else. If you're really that curious, you can look it up online. The show starts and ends with a Christmas card family update letter. That's all I will say. There is humor throughout the musical, even though the story is pretty heavy. I will share trigger warnings at the bottom of this post for anyone who wants to know what they are. Some aspects of this show made me think of Degrassi though.
There were some annoying audience behaviors that served as distractions. Like people getting up in the middle of the show to go to the bathroom. (We had thirty extra minutes before the show started and there was an intermission!) Or people talking and crinkling bags behind us. I noticed some people left halfway through and didn't come back. Perhaps the show was too woke for them?
Overall, it was a great production. I could feel the beat of the music in my seat on the mezzanine level. It was hard not to mouth the words of the songs so I'm glad I had a mask on. :) I'm glad I went in not knowing the story and it was easy to follow overall. (Although I did have to ask my son why they performed one of the songs a certain way.) If you are local and get a chance to see it in DC before it leaves next weekend, definitely check it out. If it is coming to a city near you, be sure to get tickets!
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A couple of my friends had recommended Acapulco to me, so I decided to give it a try. I am SO glad I did since I totally loved all of it! Seasons one and two were so great and I'm excited for season three now. It can't get here fast enough!
Acapulco reminds me of a few other past favorites of mine (as they are no longer on or I am no longer watching them, in one case). The first is Jane the Virgin. It carries the campy telenovela feel that I always got from that show. And young Maximo's voice reminds me of Rogelio. Plus, it takes place at a hotel and a lot of Jane was set at a hotel too. Next is The Goldbergs, mostly because of all the eighties nostalgia. Maximo's nephew Hugo is precocious like Adam was back in the day. The present time narration of past events reminds me of How I Met Your Mother, especially in the quirky way that Maximo does it. He keeps trying to protect Hugo from having too much information by using other words to describe things, which is something that older Ted would do all the time. ("Stuff, kids. Stuff.") There is one aspect of this show that reminds me so much of Love, Victor. Maximo's sister Sara also reminds me of Victor's sister Pilar in some ways. Finally, the virtual vacation feel totally gives off White Lotus vibes, even though this show is lighter than White Lotus in most ways.
If that hasn't given you enough reason to watch Acapulco, here are some more:
1. All the characters are great. (Well, there are a couple who aren't so great but they're only in one episode.) Even the ones who aren't supposed to be likable change a lot by the end of season two.
2. The eighties music, and it's all performed in Spanish by these two fabulously entertaining singers.
3. There are some mystery elements involved. Not murder mystery, just secrets that get revealed in bits and pieces, if at all. (There are still some mysteries left to be solved by the time season two wraps up.)
4. The story has so much heart to it. Even with all the light and fun moments, there are some deeper things being explored, such as relationships, friendship, family, regret, morality, etc.
5. There's a lot of humor in each episode. It provides a great balance of comic relief from everything else going on.
6. I love the setting of the hotel. It's gorgeous and looks like it would be so much fun to visit. I wouldn't mind hanging out by the pool to watch the performers in their different costumes. (See #2.)
7. It's empowering. Watching Maximo try to work his way up the ladder was definitely a point of interest. I loved seeing him come up with ways to make things better for the hotel when he was put to the task.
8. It feels very authentic in terms of casting and culture. I only knew who two of the actors were going into this. One was Eugenio Derbez, who plays adult Maximo (and I liked him in this even more than I did in CODA). The other was Chord Overstreet (from Glee), who plays Chad. I liked that everyone else was virtually unknown to me. (There were some familiar faces in a couple episodes though, such as Wendie Malick as Diane's agent and Will Sasso as Maximo's assistant.) I also liked learning about different customs and traditions.
9. I love that it doesn't just focus on Maximo's story. I especially enjoyed seeing flashbacks for Don Pablo and Diane's lives in certain episodes. I'm glad Memo got his own storyline too. I'm hoping we'll continue to learn more about some of the other characters in season three.
10. It has an LGBTQ+ sub plot (hence the Love, Victor comparison). It's not all light and breezy either. Things were different in the eighties (even though it's still hard for some people nowadays, it was a lot harder back then).
If you still don't believe me, check out the trailer. (I'll be posting some spoilers afterward, so don't go any further than that if you're new to this show.)
Spoilers ahead...
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First of all, the season two ending....OMG!!! I am still reeling from that very last moment before the credits. Such a game changer with the reveal that Maximo has a daughter. Wow.
Brief thoughts on the characters:
Maximo: He is more of a complex character than I was expecting him to be. He had a lot of moments where he questioned his morality and whether or not he was doing the right thing. I love how he sacrificed getting credit for making Julia the dress in order to help his mom fix her vision. I also get why he went to certain lengths to get money. And I actually don't blame him for tipping off Espectacular about the tennis guy's wig. The tennis guy was such a jerk!
Julia: She's definitely girlcrush worthy. I appreciate her kindness, especially when she took Sara in after Sara ran away from home and told her why. The on-again, off-again attention toward Maximo was frustrating sometimes. I'm glad she finally took ownership of what she wanted for herself. And I love her dress designs!
Memo: One of the greatest characters on this show. You'd think he's there for comic relief, but he's a sensitive soul too. I felt so bad for him when Lupe was keeping him from seeing Lorena and then when Lorena told him she wasn't able to come back to the resort for the summer. I also like that he was the voice of reason for Maximo.
Esteban: He is just so lovable. I love how he dotes upon Nora. He reminds me of Miguel from This is Us in some ways. I felt so bad for him when his mom was picking on him and then comparing him to Don Pablo. And I loved how he saved the day when Sara tried going away with Roberta.
Hugo: Maximo's nephew is so much fun. I love how he always calls Maximo out on stuff and he knows more than Maximo thinks he does. "Why were you playing dominoes when you could be having sex?" Too funny!
Sara: I love how eighties-centric she is with how she dresses and dances around. I also like how she figured out that she really is a lesbian, even though I felt bad for the guy who was interested in her. I'm glad she decided to come home and that things got better between her and Nora.
Nora: I found Nora really frustrating for a while with how uptight she was with her religious beliefs. I'm glad she loosened up more, even though it took a while for that to happen. I did feel bad for her that Sara ran away from home, but I also was angry with her for not being supportive of Sara and hiding behind her religion instead. She and Esteban were really cute together though.
Don Pablo: I liked him a lot throughout the series, but I was annoyed that he didn't push back more in order to get time with his family. I was glad when he finally resigned, even though I could tell that his son wasn't so happy to have him around all the time. I love how he took Maximo under his wing to help him succeed at the hotel.
Diane: I liked her a lot more after learning her backstory and why she hated tabloids so much. I didn't appreciate her trying to mess things up for Chad and Julia. She should have just been more straightforward with them to begin with. She reminded me a bit of Jennifer Coolidge sometimes. I also thought it was funny how no one appreciated her attempts at humor.
Chad: He can come off as a douche, but I also like that he has a good heart overall. His stupidity could be amusing though. I love when Maximo tricked him into thinking his one friend was dangerous. I love how he became friends with Memo and how Memo was imitating him in front of all the other "Chads." I also thought it was cute how he learned to salsa dance because of the change in wedding music plans and then learned something about himself in the process.
Lupe: She reminds me of Selma from Reboot with her dry humor. She's so much fun to watch and full of interesting surprises. She can sing! Who knew? I really love what she did for Memo and Lorena in the season two finale, even though she put a condition on it afterward...
Hector: Hector can be a pain to deal with, but he grew on me after a while and I felt bad for him when Diane ended their affair. I didn't even want to see him potentially take the fall for Maximo's press leak.
Isabel: I liked her in general, but not as a girlfriend for Maximo. There was just no chemistry. Maybe I was biased toward him being with Julia though. Isabel has a good head on her shoulders even if she steals little things from the hotel.
Some of the side characters, such as Beto, the singing duo, and a few others were also really good. I really liked Lorena a lot, as well. I wasn't so fond of Fabian, but I'm glad he was willing to cooperate with Diane at the end.
Other notes:
The older version of Memo was cast perfectly. I also love that young Memo was playing his son, Memito. He took on such a different personality for that too.
On a similar note, I didn't think young Maximo and adult Maximo looked anything alike.
I did some math in the episode about the decades and figured out that Maximo was about 17 when he started at Las Colinas. He was born in 1967, based on the show's timeline, and the story takes place in 1984. (Unless I'm mistaken and that was Sara who Nora was holding when Don Pablo came by, but I'm pretty sure it was Maximo.) Isn't Julia in her twenties though?
I hope they will reveal who Chad's father is in season three. That's definitely a lingering mystery.
I love how everyone came together to throw a party for Esteban and Nora's wedding. That was just so sweet and touching.
Since you've come this far, it means you've watched the show. I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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