Sessions

The other night my friend Geri and I went to see the new musical "Sessions" at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater here in NYC.

Both of us agree that this is a must see, and not just because one of the producers is a friend of mine.

The one thing that we both commented on was this was a musical where you really cared about the characters and what happened to them. There were some great funny moments and a couple moments that made each of us cry (different points I might add - more on that later) .

The music was VERY good and most of the songs though very much a part of the story telling and moving ahead the plot could be sung outside the show which is rather a rare occurance these days.

Now some details:

Matthew Shepard who played Dr. Peterson was perfect for the Psychatrist. Great voice, great timing and you really felt his dilema and CARED.

Leila played by Amy Bodnar. Well let me just say that both Geri and I would like to look like her or at least be able to wear those clothes as well as she does. Needless to say, again perfect casting.

Mrs. Murphy played by Bertilla Baker. Now I have to admit that I tried out for this role so I must admit that on this one I was particularly curious to see who got cast. Well, she gets no argument from me. She did a wonderful job and though I would love to play the role at a future date she is a great choice that I will happily follow.

The rest of the cast was also great and very distinct three dimentional characters that you cared about.

One of my teary eyed moments (no won't give away and spoilers) was between Al Bundonis as Baxter and Matthew Shepard as Dr. Peterson in the second half. George talks about an incident with his father that was a mirror image of one that I had with my own father when I was in high school. Real cudos to Scott that he played it so well that he took me right into his feelings and I FELT them too.

So I do encourage everyone who can to go see the show. This is one that really will be going places. (Well if I have anything to say about it.)