Fashion Night’s Out will be held in 13 different countries, so if you’re not in the U.S., hopefully you can catch it where you are.

Check out the PSA for NYC’s Fashion’s Night Out below. My favorite part: “Let’s make shopping fun again.” I’m sorry, shopping is and has always been fun. I don’t know what they’re talking about. Now go shop!

After the show, we went to dinner at Angus McIndoe Restaurant which was delicious. The restaurant is three levels, and we had the third floor almost to ourselves. I love talking about shows right after a group has seen it together. What did you love? What did you hate? What could they have changed? I’ll spare you the details, but I do have one tip: listen to the soundtrack before you see the show! I only listened to it twice but that was enough to help with the storyline and fast lyrics.

Read about Billy Elliot and Broadway Cares after the jump!

Next up was Billy Elliot the musical. Oh, Billy Elliot. I was so excited to see you, but you were not as good as In The Heights. Some might say that it’s not fair to compare a musical based on a movie with an original musical (listen to track 3). I tend to agree, but I also think Billy Elliot had the potential to be better. There were too many unnecessary awkward pauses, and there were two dance scenes that made no sense. If you’ve seen the show, think: giant dancing dresses (reminded me of “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast the musical on steroids) and Billy’s ballet duet during the second half (beautiful ballet but such a random scene). It’s not a good sign when your audience is thinking “uhh, what is going on?” This is Broadway, not experimental theatre. Our Billy, 15-year-old Kiril Kulish (there are three boys who play the part of Billy) is a good actor and a very impressive ballet and tap dancer (hmm, since when does Billy tap dance?). However,13-year-old David Bologna, who played Billy’s best friend Michael, was my favorite. I was thrilled to see that Michael’s character was more developed than in the movie, and Bologna’s talent and enthusiasm moved him up to #1 for my Broadway stars to watch. Much like In The Heights reminded me of Rent, Billy Elliot reminded me of Les Misérables the musical. Cute little kids who sing, the creative moving set (though no set will ever compare to that of Les Mis), the booming, masculine voices of the chorus (in Les Mis it was the soldiers, in Billy Elliot it was the coal miners), and a story based on a critical timeperiod in European history. Watching the movie ahead of time clarified the scenes in the musical when the miners’ strike and the ballet class were intertwined (very cool staging technique!). Overall, very well done and enjoyable show, and clearly many people agree. The show only opened in fall 2008 (opened in London in 2005), but it has somehow managed to succeed while charging $150 (outrageous!) per ticket during Broadway’s current struggle in ticket sales.

By now, I’m use to the post-show plug for Broadway Cares, but this time it was different. In addition to the usual autographed poster or Playbill, each show added an item that had an even more personal touch. The cast of In The Heights was selling handmade earrings and scarves that they knit backstage, and the cast of Billy Elliot was selling cookbooks with recipes from the cast! So, of course, I bought five cookbooks. I bought one for myself and four for friends who love both Broadway and cooking. What a creative fundraising idea! It’s a fantastic gift, and it supports a great organization!

As much as I enjoyed my Broadway double feature, I think I would have liked Billy Elliot more had I not seen the phenomenal original musical In The Heights just a few hours prior. It’s hard not to compare the two when you see them in the same day. That being said, I had an awesome day surrounded by fun people and great theatre, and I’m sure I will go back for another double feature very soon. In fact, I’m already planning to see Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 the musical this summer! So excited! Any suggestions for a second musical for that day? I leave you with Stephanie Block’s “Get Out and Stay Out” from 9 to 5. “Defying Gravity” from Wicked, anyone? Hooray for Broadway!