Escaping to Margaritaville

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So I’m a Jimmy Buffet fan.    Back in 2009 I won tickets to his concert at Madison Square Garden, and had so much fun ... We saw him at Jones Beach the following summer, and the summer after that, and the one after that ...

We stopped going to the Jones Beach concerts, though, because ...well, the first time we went to Jones Beach, the tailgating was amusing.  But as the number of tailgaters increased, parking for the concert became an incredibly frustrating experience.

Well, Jimmy decided he wanted to expand his sphere of influence, and decided he wanted to try writing a musical for the Broadway stage.  Jukebox musicals are very popular right now.

We saw Escape to Margaritaville last night.  It was an enjoyable evening.







The show is playing at the Marquis Theater, the only Broadway theater that is actually inside a hotel (the Marriot Marquis). You enter the theater from the hotel’s second floor lobby.  The area in front of the theater entrance was decorated to look like a tiki bar.








The theme carries over to the bar inside the theater.





Had to have a pina colada in a souvenir cup.




The show is ...well...a bit contrived.  If you’ve read any of Jimmy’s fiction you’ll recognize the characters.  And it’s a simple boy meets girl plot.  But I often got the feeling that the dialogue was just a device to set up the next song.

I can see why the show didn’t get any Tony nominations.

Still, I love the music.  The singers and dancers were excellent.  Overall an enjoyable experience.

Comments

  1. Liz A.May 25, 2018 at 12:02 PM

    Isn't that the point of a jukebox musical? The popular songs? So, of course the plot isn't going to be much of one. Interesting place for a theater.

    ReplyDelete
  2. songbird's crazy worldMay 25, 2018 at 3:59 PM

    You’re right, Liz, but some jukebox musicals seem very contrived, while others overcome. My daughter saw “Beautiful “ and loved it, even though she wasn’t familiar with Carol King beforehand. This show feels like an ersatz Buffett concert. Not a bad thing, if you like his music, but still...

    ReplyDelete
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