Month: August 2023

Elevator Thoughts (aka Tweet): “A Night of Broadway Hits” concert by Non-Stop Seattle band at Benaroya Hall featuring Bethanie/Madison Willis, Nalica Hennings (my favorite!), Po Leapai, & Charles Simmons. Been meaning to see this band for a while! Proud to have known all songs in their large repertoire except one. #musicals #musicalTheatre

Synopsis from the Theatre: Don’t throw away your shot to see Non-Stop at Benaroya Hall this summer! This musical group performs songs from hit Broadway shows including Wicked, Rent, Hamilton, Little Shop of Horrors, In the Heights, Spamalot, Waitress, The Little Mermaid and many others! Non-Stop’s band members have performed at Washington’s favorite musical theater houses, such as The 5th Avenue Theatre, Village Theatre, Seattle Opera and Taproot Theatre! With five top vocalists and a large band, Non-Stop is sure to make you want to dance and sing along to some of your favorite Broadway and Disney tunes. If you see it once, we promise you’ll be back!

Reviewed Performance: 7/29/23

Type: Concert

Prior Exposure/Knowledge Required: You should be familiar with popular mainstream modern musicals like Wicked, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, In the Heights, Spamalot, Waitress, The Little Mermaid and ESPECIALLY Hamilton.

Live Band/Orchestra: Violin, Drums, Guitar, and Piano

Recommendation: See it if you like modern Broadway musicals especially those written by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Was This the First Time I Attended a Production of this Show: Yes

Would I See It Again 3 Years from Now: Yes, if they have a new song list

Rating Compared to Other Shows with the Same Production Value:
4.5 stars (Out of 5 Stars)

Perceived Pace of the Show: Medium to fast

Length (Including Any Intermission): 2 hours

Intermission Included: Yes, which I thought was strange for a concert but fitting for a concert of musical theatre songs. I wish more non-Broadway concerts contain an intermission.

Other Rave(s) Not Mentioned in Elevator Thoughts

• “Choral-ography”: Most of the performers were not stiff and incorporated fun “background singer moves” … in a good way!

Rant(s)

• Transitions: There were no transitional spiels between songs. Like small talk, song transitions offer no substance but are so important to avoid awkward pauses.

Other Musing(s) and Observation(s)

• Set List: The repertoire contained too much Lin-Manuel Miranda (especially Hamilton). Some may argue there can never be too much Hamilton, but it’s honestly not one of my top 10 musicals … blasphemy I know! Other than the Hamilton songs, the rest of the set list was diverse and well-selected. In future Broadway-themed concerts, I suggest they only perform 1-2 songs max from a single musical. Maybe replace a couple Hamilton songs with portions of The Book of Mormon, Kinky Boots, Hairspray, and Dreamgirls. Maybe throw in a classic musical like The Wiz.

  Song	Musical	Comments
  Zero to Hero	Disney’s Hercules Movie
  Wait for It	Hamilton
  When You’re Home	In the Heights	Fun Choral-ography
  My Strongest Suit	Aida	Great lead by Nalica Hennings
  Make Them Hear You(?)	Ragtime(?)
  Suddenly Seymor	Little Shop of Horrors
  My Shot	Hamilton
  Satisfied	Hamilton
  Bend and Snap	Legally Blonde
  Seasons of Love	Rent
  You’ll Be Back	Hamilton	Transitioned to intermission
  Opening Up	Waitress
  Mama Will Provide	Once on This Island
  Wait for Me	Hadestown
  Take Me or Leave Me	Rent
  Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)	Hamilton	Nice violin solo
  The Song That Goes Like This	Spamalot
  Part of Your World	Disney’s The Little Mermaid
  Guns and Ships	Hamilton
  Defying Gravity	Wicked
  Waving Through A Window	Dear Evan Hansen
  96,000	In the Heights
  Schuyler Sisters	Hamilton	Encore

Theatre Company: Non-stop Seattle Band

Venue: Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall

Venue Physical Address: 200 University St, Seattle, WA 98101

Price: Cheap to Medium

Dates: July 29, 2023 – There was only one show, but they frequently perform various places in Puget Sound.

Seating: Assigned Seating

Parking: I usually walk or transit here especially since the light rail station is directly underneath Benaroya Hall. Other than that, there’s obviously paid garage/street parking since this venue is in downtown. I think the cheapest garage lot is generally the Russell Investments Center garage (1301 2nd Ave #1950, Seattle, WA 98101). I don’t recommend parking in the Benaroya Hall garage since it’s really expensive and I imagine it takes a long time to exit after a performance.

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Buy a Ticket or Learn More:

• https://www.seattlesymphony.org/en/benaroyahall/bh-calendar/2022-2023/23nonstop
• https://nonstopband.weebly.com/

Band: See after video below

@showsiveseen "A Night of #Broadway Hits" #concert by @Non-Stop Seattle Band at @Seattle Symphony #Benaroya Hall featuring Bethanie/Samantha Willis, Nalica Hennings (my favorite!), Po Leapai, & Charles Simmons. Been meaning to see this band for a while! Proud to have known all songs in their large repertoire except one. Review: showsiveseen.com/6275 #musicals #musicalTheatre #theatre #showsiveseen ♬ Give My Regards to Broadway – Judy Garland