Broadway Loves Twitter

I've started writing articles for the Theatre Development Fund (TDF) site. My first article, about how Rock of Ages and other shows are utilizing Twitter, can be read here.

More Theater Awards

I love this time of the year-- theater award season. And this year, I actually got to vote in the first ever Independent Theater Bloggers Association Awards. I'm particularly excited that my fellow bloggers voted reasons to be pretty, which was by far my favorite new play of the season, best Broadway play over God of Carnage.

The complete list of winners:
Best Broadway Play: reasons to be pretty
Best Broadway Musical: Billy Elliot
Best Broadway Revival of a Musical: Hair
Best Broadway Revival of a Play: The Norman Conquests
Best Off-Broadway Musical: Fela!
Best Off-Broadway Play: Ruined
Best Off-Broadway Revival: Our Town
Best Off-Off Broadway Play: Universal Robots
Best Off-Off Broadway Unique Theatrical Experience: Suspicious Package
Citation for Excellence in Off-Off Broadway Theater: Flux Theatre Ensemble

Really Drama League?

You thought Blithe Spirit was a better revival than Our Town, The Seagull, Speed-the-Plow, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Norman Conquests, and Joe Turner's Come and Gone?

Tony Time

Back in January when a show was closing everyday, it seemed like a dark time for Broadway, but this season was pretty incredible, especially in terms of acting performances. I really wish the Tonys had a best ensemble award. This year has had some of the best ensemble work I've ever seen (Hair, God of Carnage), and I haven't even seen The Norman Conquests yet. A best replacement category would also be nice so Norbert Leo Butz and William H. Macy could be nominated for their fantastic work in Speed-the-Plow. I can't say I'm pleased with all the nominations, but read them here, as well as some early predictions and some unsolicited opinion:

Best Play
Dividing the Estate
God of Carnage
Reasons to be Pretty
33 Variations
I missed Dividing the Estate, but I've seen the other three. I loved reasons to be pretty and it would be really great if it could win, since it's not doing well at the box office, but I think God of Carnage might take it. I loved the acting, but wasn't so crazy about the play itself. 33 Variations is probably the weakest of the lot and I think the least likely to win.


Best Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical
Next to Normal
Rock of Ages
Shrek The Musical
What??? Rock of Ages got a nomination?! I'm outraged. This just shows what a weak year this was for new musicals. Rock of Ages is one of the worst musicals I've ever seen and the only thing that saves it is the supporting cast. I haven't seen 9 to 5 yet, but I refuse to believe it could be worse than Rock of Ages. Billy Elliot has 15 nominations, and I expect it will win best musical, which is fine with me, though I really liked Shrek.

Best Book of a Musical
Billy Elliot, The Musical
Lee Hall
Next to Normal
Brian Yorkey
Shrek The Musical
David Lindsay-Abaire
[Title of Show]
Hunter Bell
Yeah! Hunter Bell got nominated! I'm so excited for him! He probably wanted this more than anybody. If he won, it would be amazing, but I doubt it will happen. I'm guessing Billy Elliot or Next to Normal. I haven't seen the new and supposedly improved Next to Normal, but I hated the off-Broadway book.

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre
Billy Elliot, The Musical
Music: Elton John
Lyrics: Lee Hall
Next to Normal
Music: Tom Kitt
Lyrics: Brian Yorkey
9 to 5: The Musical
Music & Lyrics: Dolly Parton
Shrek The Musical
Music: Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire
I hope [title of shows]'s Jeff Bowen is happy for Hunter Bell and not too disappointed he didn't get nominated. 9 to 5 didn't get completely shut out. I love the Shrek score, but again, I'm not expecting it to win. It's a strange year when I'm more excited about the play categories than the musical categories.

Best Revival of a Play
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Mary Stuart
The Norman Conquests
Waiting for Godot
Way to completely forget about the first half of the season. The Seagull should have been nominated. I also loved Speed-the-Plow, but this was a crowded year. All four of these are on my must see list, but based on the reviews, it will go to The Norman Conquests or Joe Turner.

Best Revival of a Musical
Guys and Dolls
Hair
Pal Joey
West Side Story
Hair will and should win. Its only competition is West Side Story and that's barely competition.

Best Special Theatrical Event
Liza's at The Palace
Slava's Snowshow
Soul of Shaolin
You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush
I've only seen You're Welcome America, which I really enjoyed, but I think Liza will take it, and I'm sure rightfully so.

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Jeff Daniels, God of Carnage
Raúl Esparza, Speed-the-Plow
James Gandolfini, God of Carnage
Geoffrey Rush, Exit the King
Thomas Sadoski, Reasons to Be Pretty
Finally a category I completely agree with. I loved all five of these performances. Rush will probably take it, but I wish they could give it to all of them. This was a competitive year, but I wish Daniel Radcliff could have been nominated as well. Equus was largely forgotten, and the excellent Seagull was completely shut out. Congrats to Raúl Esparza for being the only actor other than Boyd Gaines to be nominated in all four acting categories.


Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Hope Davis, God of Carnage
Jane Fonda, 33 Variations
Marcia Gay Harden, God of Carnage
Janet McTeer, Mary Stuart
Harriet Walter, Mary Stuart
Will the votes be split between the Mary Stuart ladies? Jane Fonda is a sentimental favorite and much as I love her, I don't think she deserves it for this show. Marcia Gay Harden has a good shot too. Congrats to the cast of God of Carnage for all earning nominations.


Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
David Alvarez, Trent Kowalik, and Kiril Kulish ‚ Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gavin Creel, Hair
Brian d'Arcy James, Shrek The Musical
Constantine Maroulis, Rock of Ages
J. Robert Spencer, Next to Normal
Seriously??? Constantine Maroulis? The guy has no personality on stage. There are some great actors in Rock of Ages and he is not one of them. Brian d'Arcy James should get a special award for having to get into that costume every night. I would love to see him or Gavin Creel win, but the Billy Elliot boys might take it. I saw David Alvarez and loved his dancing and his acting, but not so much his singing.


Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Stockard Channing, Pal Joey
Sutton Foster, Shrek The Musical
Allison Janney, 9 to 5: The Musical
Alice Ripley, Next to Normal
Josefina Scaglione, West Side Story
Alice Ripley is the favorite here and I'll refrain from commenting until I see Next to Normal on Broadway.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
John Glover, Waiting for Godot
Zach Grenier, 33 Variations
Stephen Mangan, The Norman Conquests
Paul Ritter, The Norman Conquests
Roger Robinson, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
I haven't seen enough of these to comment yet.

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Hallie Foote, Dividing the Estate
Jessica Hynes, The Norman Conquests
Marin Ireland, Reasons to Be Pretty
Angela Lansbury, Blithe Spirit
Amanda Root, The Norman Conquests
Angela Lansbury hasn't won a Tony in 30 years and everyone loves her, so she will probably win. She was delightful in Blithe Spirit. Carey Mulligan should have been nominated for The Seagull, but I'm happy that Marin Ireland was recognized.

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
David Bologna, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Gregory Jbara, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Marc Kudisch, 9 to 5: The Musical
Christopher Sieber, Shrek The Musical
Will Swenson, Hair
I love these guys. I was not expecting David Bologna to be nominated, but he deserves it for his performance as Michael. I think Will Swenson should win, but Christopher Sieber stole the show in Shrek and could easily take it. Nominations I wasn't expecting but would have loved to see: Bryce Ryness, Hair; Curtis Holbrook, West Side Story; Wesley Taylor, Rock of Ages (you heard right, I said something nice about Rock of Ages).

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Jennifer Damiano, Next to Normal
Haydn Gwynne, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo, West Side Story
Martha Plimpton, Pal Joey
Carole Shelley, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Karen Olivo should win for owning the stage in West Side Story. Jennifer Damiano is extremely talented and she's still a teenager. Martha Plimpton was the best thing about Pal Joey. I wouldn't rule out Haydn Gwynne.

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Rob Howell, The Norman Conquests
Derek McLane, 33 Variations
Michael Yeargan, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
I haven't seen these all yet, but didn't find the sets of 33 Variations or Exit the King particularly memorable.

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Robert Brill, Guys and Dolls
Ian MacNeil, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Scott Pask, Pal Joey
Mark Wendland, Next to Normal
Guys and Dolls, really? I thought it was an eyesore myself. Next to Normal should win. Shrek and 9 to 5 got ignored on this one.


Best Costume Design of a Play
Dale Ferguson, Exit the King
Jane Greenwood, Waiting for Godot
Martin Pakledinaz, Blithe Spirit
Anthony Ward, Mary Stuart
Based on pictures and reviews, I think Waiting for Godot will win this one.

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregory Gale, Rock of Ages
Nicky Gillibrand, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Tim Hatley, Shrek The Musical
Michael McDonald, Hair
I love the Hair costumes. They are time-period appropriate without being too over the top. The Shrek costumes are the most show-y.


Best Lighting Design of a Play
David Hersey, Equus
David Lander, 33 Variations
Brian MacDevitt, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Hugh Vanstone, Mary Stuart
I can't really comment on this one.

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Hair
Kevin Adams, Next to Normal
Howell Binkley, West Side Story
Rick Fisher, Billy Elliot, The Musical
I hope Kevin Adams wins for Hair and not Next to Normal.


Best Sound Design of a Play
Paul Arditti, Mary Stuart
Gregory Clarke, Equus
Russell Goldsmith, Exit the King
Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
I can't really comment on this one either.

Best Sound Design of a Musical
Acme Sound Partners, Hair
Paul Arditti, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Peter Hylenski, Rock of Ages
Brian Ronan, Next to Normal
Or this one.


Best Direction of a Play
Phyllida Lloyd, Mary Stuart
Bartlett Sher, Joe Turner's Come and Gone
Matthew Warchus, God of Carnage
Matthew Warchus, The Norman Conquests
Matthew Warchus for The Norman Conquests or Bartlett Sher. Ian Rickson should have been nominated for The Seagull.

Best Direction of a Musical
Stephen Daldry, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Greif, Next to Normal
Kristin Hanggi, Rock of Ages
Diane Paulus, Hair
I'm really hoping Diane Paulus will win. Last year, Bartlett Sher won for his revival of South Pacific. That was the best possible revival of South Pacific and Diane Paulus is giving us the best possible revival of Hair. But will Billy Elliot sweep? Or will Michael Greif be rewarded for completely turning around his musical? I don't think Arthur Laurents deserved to get nominated for West Side Story, but I do kind of feel bad for him. He deserved it over Kristin Hanggi for Rock of Ages, anyway.

Best Choreography
Karole Armitage, Hair
Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 to 5: The Musical
Peter Darling, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Randy Skinner, Irving Berlin's White Christmas
White Christmas got some nominations. I think Peter Darling will win.

Best Orchestrations
Larry Blank, Irving Berlin's White Christmas
Martin Koch, Billy Elliot, The Musical
Michael Starobin and Tom Kitt, Next to Normal
Danny Troob and John Clancy, Shrek The Musical
I don't really understand award shows. Shouldn't the nominees for best score and best orchestrations be the same?

JONAS or the Poor Man's Monkees

In the Disney Channel vehicle for the Jonas Brothers, aptly titled JONAS, the brothers play pop stars who go to school, but don't hide their identity. I guess they didn't want the best of both worlds. The show borrows a lot from The Monkees in that the brothers live in a cool apartment and get into crazy situations and the scenes are interspersed with music videos. In the first episode, Nick falls hard for a girl in the way Davy Jones used to fall in love with a girl in every episode.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that the show is basically Monkees redux, but the quality of the show is not very good. I'm not saying that The Monkees was a masterpiece, but it was entertaining. The Jonas Brothers don't look very comfortable in front of the camera when they're not singing. I admire the decision not to use a laugh track, but it does create an awkward silence in certain points where you can imagine the laughs should be.

Given the fact that tweens will not watch anything that the Jonas Brothers are in, Disney better step its game up.

You know you're a theatre nerd when...

you walk by the Vitamin Water storefront in Soho and think to yourself, "I wonder if Kevin Adams did that lighting design."

Vitamin Water 10 store (It's not really a store, but they do have free Vitamin Water there. It's a pretty nice place.):



Kevin Adams's Passing Strange lighting:

Better Than Radiohead's Pay What You Want Strategy

My boss alerted me to a price menu for drummer Josh Freese's new album. The prices range from $7 to $75,000 and packages include anything from dinner at Sizzler to a trip to Disneyland (both with Freese, of course). The site assures that this is not a joke. Honestly, I hadn't heard of Josh Freese before today, but I think this is pretty awesome. I hope this catches on. I would definitely pay $50 to get a phone call from Paul McCartney or $250 to go on a lunch date with him. Not that Sir Paul would ever do this, but a girl can dream. Which musicians would you like to see adopt this pricing strategy?

I Heart (TO)NY

I'm really enjoying Time Out New York's theatre coverage of late. First, the critics made a really silly video called "Chekhov 101". I love it when critics have a sense of humor. Then, David Cote had a genius casting idea for the upcoming Spider-Man musical. Sure beats Jim Sturgess, who is rumored for the role.

I know I'm probably in the minority of people who read this kind of thing (Entertainment Weekly's theatre column lasted about a week), but I hope that more publications will expand their theatre coverage beyond reviews and have some fun. New York Magazine is doing a pretty good job as well.

Glory, Glory: Pippin at the Mark Taper Forum

In 2003, Center Theatre Group and Deaf West Theatre's production of Big River with hearing-impaired and hearing actors transferred from Los Angeles to Broadway, and one hopes that their production of Pippin, at the Mark Taper Forum through March 15, will have a similar fate. There hasn't been a revival of Pippin on Broadway since its original production in 1972 and this refreshing take suggests that it might be time (with a few minor tweaks).

In the show, with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Roger O. Hirson, the "players" are performing the story of Pippin, the son of King Charlemagne (his name has been updated to Charles), trying to find his purpose. In this production, directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun, some of the characters are played by a single actor, who sings and signs, while others are played by a hearing-impaired actor and voiced by a hearing actor. Only Pippin is double cast, and this is where the production works best. Tyrone Giordano is first presented as our Pippin for the night, but when he starts to sign, Ty Taylor as the Leading Player brings out Michael Arden to provide his voice. Pippin is a character struggling with his identity, and the two actors play different sides of his personality, often at odds with each other. Giordano and Arden work very well together and Arden's lovely voice combined with Giordano's charm and innocence make for a likable leading man.

Hands are obviously very important to a show where everything is signed, and hands appear from the stage at various points in the show. During the song "With You," when Pippin explores sex, the two Pippins are first seduced by these hands, then they make their way to a bed, where men and women appear and disappear through the sheets in one of the best, and most seductive, moments of the show.

Spoilers are to follow, so if you're not familiar with the story, you may want to stop reading. At the end of the show, Pippin veers from the script and chooses love instead of the grand finale. He is stripped of his clothes, make-up, all the "magic." What makes this moment all the more powerful is when Arden is taken away from him as well, so he is left with no voice. Who knew that even in moments of silence, a musical could be so powerful.

Not Exactly What I Had In Mind

Although I've been lamenting the fact that so few new musicals are opening this spring, that doesn't mean I'm happy about the sudden announcement that Next to Normal is transferring to Broadway. In my initial review, I wrote that if many changes were made to the show, a Broadway transfer wouldn't be the worst thing in the world, but now I have to say, I was actually angry when I read this news. Maybe it's because of the fans and critics who think this show is genius, maybe it's because there are so many better off-Broadway shows that never see the light of day again (How about Slug Bearers on Broadway. Anyone?). Now I'm angry because this seems to be a rush to get the show on Broadway before the Tonys, since there is not much competition this year. This is an interesting season because with the economy being what it is, many shows closed or were canceled or postponed, but at the same time, more risks are being made because there is more room for shows that wouldn't normally make it. I don't know how much work was done when it recently played in Virginia, but I hope that the producers respect their audience enough to give them the best product possible and really think it's the best it could be before bringing it to the Broadway stage.

Initial Oscar Reactions

With all the excitement about the new President and inauguration activities (I even watched the Kids Inaugural, which was pretty cute), I almost forgot about the Oscars. You can read the nominations here. I'm a little disappointed that Wall-E wasn't nominated for best picture, a little surprised that Dark Knight wasn't either, and a lot excited that Robert Downey, Jr. was nominated for best supporting actor, even though he won't win.

Just The Bitch Of Living

I've never really understood why fans get so upset when shows close. I never like to see people lose their jobs and I certainly don’t like to see so many shows closing at once, but everything has to close sometime (except maybe Phantom), and if shows didn't close, there wouldn't be room for new shows to come in. So I'm surprised at myself for how I'm feeling today, the day of Spring Awakening's closing on Broadway. Yesterday, "The Mirror-Blue Night" (one of my favorite scenes in the show) came up on my iPod, and I got a little emotional. Of all the shows closing this month, it's the only one I feel compelled to write about. Two Sundays ago (January 4), nine shows closed on Broadway. Last Sunday, three more closed. Some were limited runs like White Christmas and All My Sons. Some, though I was surprised to see them go, had pretty healthy runs, like Hairspray and Spamalot. And some, though I’m sorry for all those that lost their jobs, didn’t really deserve to be on Broadway in the first place, like 13 and Young Frankenstein. But Spring Awakening lasted only two years, which is a pretty good run for a show that seemed risky to bring to Broadway, but after all its critical success, it should have lasted longer. In my opinion, it's one of the best new musicals in recent years, and I wish there was still a place for it on Broadway. There will always be teenagers who were too young to see the show before who may not get a chance to see it, depending on how long the tour runs.

I wouldn’t say Spring Awakening is my favorite show, not that I have one, different shows affect me for different reasons, and I don’t think it’s a perfect show by any means, but somehow I’ve seen it more times than any other show on Broadway. Somewhat unintentionally (not that anyone forced me, but I usually try to see everything once, twice at the most), I ended up seeing it six times.

I saw it for the first time a few months after it opened on Broadway. The glowing reviews had already come out, but it wasn’t at the height of its popularity. I had an internship in the city at the time, and one day after work, I walked up to the box office at around 6:30 p.m. and was still able to get a rush ticket (this was before students started camping out at 6 in the morning, and I heard for tonight's show, they started camping out at 5 p.m. last night). I avoid reading reviews before I see a show, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I just sat that in my little box seat and fell in love with the music. The moment that sticks out most in my mind is when John Gallagher Jr. took out his microphone to sing the first words of the rocking anthem of teenage boys "The Bitch of Living." It was a similar experience to the first time I heard RENT, the score was just electric. The choreography was unlike anything I'd seen before--it seemed so representative of what teenagers go through, bursting with energy to experience something, to get out, to grow up. I was also impressed by the cast. When I got back to Syracuse, I read some articles on them and couldn't believe how young they were. I was so excited when I left the theatre that I called my sister to tell her I just saw a new musical that she was going to love and that she would be crushing on some of the actors (she was 15 at the time). I was right on both counts. The second time I saw the show, my mom and sister were visiting for my sister's 16th birthday. It was still as good as I remembered it, but this time I knew what to expect. Seeing it through my sister's eyes was almost as thrilling as seeing it for the first time, in a way, even more so, because she is the right age to really connect with the material. Though I remember what it was like to be a teenager, and am sure that Spring Awakening would have really spoke to me at that time, I have a little bit of a distance from that stage of my life.

As I said, it's a flawed show. There are some cheesy moments, especially when Moritz and Wendla come back and start singing to Melchior. "The Song of Purple Summer" is tacked on as if they didn't know how to end the show. Some of the original Wedekind has been toned down to market the show as more of a love story when it's really a lust story, but then again, the ambiguity of some of the scenes allows for discussion and disagreement, which is a good thing.

My third viewing of the show was about a year after it opened. Some friends were going, so I decided to join them, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. The cast seemed to be growing tired and I didn't find myself as drawn in. But a few months later, we surprised my sister with onstage seats for her birthday, and seeing the show from a different angle brought back that same excitement as the initial viewing. I thought I would feel self-conscious sitting onstage, but seeing the cast jump around, especially during numbers like "Totally Fucked," is an exhilarating experience. Because the cast sits onstage as well, I noticed that the cast, who I thought seemed so tired of the show just a few months earlier, seemed genuinely involved in the material, still crying and laughing even during some of the scenes that they weren't in.

I thought that would be my last visit to the show, until I won a contest to interview Hunter Parrish. Although it was strange to see a new cast, I loved the dynamic between Hunter Parrish and Alexandra Socha and seeing the different interpretations of the characters made it almost like seeing a new show.

I saw the show one last time a few weeks ago, again with my sister, who was visiting (yeah, she's spoiled) and wanted to see it one last time. We got standing room, which actually turned out to offer yet another new perspective. I've never had such a centered view and even noticed some aspects of the set I hadn't before (like a full moon).

In my six viewings, I rarely saw understudies. I went to see the show, and didn't pick dates based on who would be in that day. Spring Awakening fans LOVE their understudies and sometimes camp out if they hear a certain cast member will go on. I'm a little old to be obsessing over cast members, so I never really cared who I saw, but today I find myself regretting not seeing different casts. I wonder whether Matt Doyle's (who was terrific in both the ensemble and as Hanschen) Melchior was really that good or what it would have been like to see Zach Reiner-Harris and Morgan Karr (who I loved at the Spring Awakening holiday show) in any role. But then I realize I don't really need to see every interpretation of every role--I'm sure these cast members will have bright futures ahead and I'll get to see them in other roles. So yes, I'm ready to let the show go personally, but it is too soon for it to close, and will leave the new musical selection on Broadway sadly underwhelming. Looking at the new shows coming in, there are so few new musicals. Shrek was actually much better than I expected and I enjoyed Billy Elliot, but I don't remember much about either score. The Story of My Life, which I don't expect to last very long, and 9 to 5 are coming in, but that's about it. Everything else will be revivals. Avenue Q and In The Heights are just about the only original musicals left (I know Spring Awakening wasn't truly original being based on a centuries-old play, but it did break new ground in other ways). I'm left thinking about the teenager who never liked musical theatre, who might have seen Spring Awakening and loved it, and been tempted to discover other theatre, who now might not get that chance.

It's A Christmas Miracle

I exaggerate a little about the miracle part, but Norbert Leo Butz and Raul Esparza are going to be on the same Broadway stage. Sadly, neither of them will be singing, but I'll take what I can get. Jeremy Piven had to leave Speed-the-Plow due to illness and Butz is now taking over. Speed-the-Plow was one of my favorite shows of the year, but this will undoubtedly make it even better. I must get back to the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and hope for a technical difficulty.

My Year in Lists

I have no idea where the year went, but I do know that I lasted a year in New York City. Here are some of my favorites of 2008.

Top 5 Movies:
1) Wall-E: Pixar consistently makes the best and most original movies today. Wall-E is visually stunning and told a very sweet story. Plus, Wall-E and Eve are just so darn adorable.
2) Iron Man: I know Dark Knight was the superhero movie this summer, but Iron Man was more enjoyable. Robert Downey Jr. is my kind of superhero.
3) Milk: Not a weak link in the cast (I was especially impressed by James Franco) and very timely.
4) Prince Caspian: Though not as good as The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it remains faithful to the series, except for that ridiculous Susan/Caspian romance.
5) Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist: Though the book was better, I was pleasantly surprised by the movie, which is that rare teenage film where most of the teenagers are not annoying, yet still realistic.

Top 5 Albums:
1) 5to Piso, Ricardo Arjona: He's one of the few artists that I can buy a new album without hearing any of the songs and know I won't be disappointed, and so far, I haven't been. He's a brilliant storyteller as well as musician.
2) goddammed, Jay Brannan: His lyrics range from clever and biting to poignant, sometimes all in one song.
3) Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific, The New Broadway Cast: Just because a show is great, doesn't necessarily mean the cast album will hold up, but this is one of the most well-done cast albums I own, perfectly capturing the magnificent orchestra and cast.
4) Hold On Now, Youngster..., Los Campesinos!: So much fun. And still better than We Are Beautiful, We Are Doomed, also released this year. The title of this blog post is taken from a song off this album.
5) Volume One, She & Him: I've loved Zooey Deschanel since Elf, and now I love M. Ward too.

Top 5 Concerts:
1) Ray Davies, Hammerstein Ballroom, Dec. 12: I actually saw him for the first time on March 29 at the Wiltern in Los Angeles, but this concert slightly topped that one because I was closer to the stage and he played three songs from The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society, as well as "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," "Apeman," and "Father Christmas."
2) The Swell Season, Rumsey Playfield, Sept. 18: Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova seem to love playing together and for an audience. Were it not for the strict rules in Central Park, they might have played all night.
3) REM with The National and Modest Mouse, Madison Square Garden, June 19: Not one, but two good opening acts, plus REM. Good deal. Although I would have liked a bit more variation in the set list from the 2004 show I saw, also at MSG.
4) Jay Brannan, Highline Ballroom, July 16: I wasn't too familiar with his work beforehand, but I loved everything he played. Plus, he had good stage banter, which I always enjoyed. After seeing him live, I bought his album, which as you can see, made my top album list as well.
5) A Spring Awakening Holiday Concert to Benefit SafePlace, Joe's Pub, December 15: I was debating whether to include this since I already come across enough as a Broadway fangirl without admitting that I went to this, but it really was amazing, especially the arrangements of classic Christmas songs done by Spring Awakening vocal arranger Ann Marie Milazzo. I loved the haunting harmonies in the big group numbers, but the highlight was this number (even though it's more of a Passover song), which showcased two ensemble members of the current cast, Morgan Karr and Zach Reiner-Harris:


Top 5 Broadway:
To narrow it down, I took this list from shows that opened this calendar year (not Broadway season) and am therefore excluding shows that I saw this year that opened last year, such as Xanadu and August: Osage County.
1) Rodgers and Hammerstein's South Pacific: Beautiful production. A full orchestra. Perfect cast. Amazing score. This is the only show in recent memory for which I paid full price, and it was worth every penny.
2) Gypsy: Patti LuPone, Boyd Gaines, and Laura Benanti deserved their Tony's. I know it's all about Lupone, but Benanti's transformation during the show is incredible to watch. It's really a shame that it's selling so poorly and will be closing in January (along with everything else on Broadway).
3) In The Heights: Although the book isn't perfect, the innovative rap/hip-hop infused score and dancing make up for it. Extra points for the best YouTube channel ever, usnavi.
4) Boeing Boeing: One of the funniest shows I've ever seen, thanks in large part to Mark Rylance, and I don't usually like farce.
5) Speed-the-Plow: It's hard to narrow down my favorites to 5. Maybe I should have included The Seagull instead or even [title of show], but I love Mamet, especially this one, and if Raul Esparza doesn't finally get a Tony, there is no justice.

Top 5 Off-Broadway:
Same rules as above, which is why I'm not including Speech and Debate.
1) Hair at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park: If you didn't know I was going to pick this, you haven't been paying attention, as this was one of my favorite productions ever. I just hope the Broadway production is able to capture at least some of what was created in the park last summer.
2) Black Watch at St. Anne's Warehouse: Didn't think it could live up to the hype, but it did.
3) The Slug Bearers of Kayrol Island at The Vineyard: Talk about an original musical. The story was weird and the sets were made up of Ben Katchor's animation. I wish more people would have seen this or that there would have been a recording of some kind.
4) On The Town at New York City Centers: I'd never seen a City Center's Encores! production, but even from my awful seats, I loved it. I'm a sucker for big orchestras, dancing, Bernstein, and Tony Yazbeck.
5) Fifty Words at MCC Theater at the Lucille Lortel Theatre: Norbert Leo Butz and Elizabeth Marvel gave two of the best and most realistic performances of the year in this two-person show about marriage.

Top 5 Books:
I have to cheat on this one because I don't know if I even read 5 books that came out this year, so I'm going to choose from the books I read this year. I'm currently reading What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell and The Rest is Noise by Alex Ross, which are both very good, but since I haven't finished them, won't make the list.
1) A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens: Although Dickens is my favorite author, I hadn't read it yet, but I'm glad I finally got around to it. I hadn't read Dickens in a while and he had the ability to write descriptions and characters like nobody else.
2) Attack of The Theatre People by Marc Acito: The sequel to How I Paid For College and just as funny. I don't think you'd need to be a theatre nerd to enjoy the crazy situations Edward Zanni gets himself into, though you'd probably miss some of the references.
3) Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan: For such a short book, it's pretty substantive, and Cohn and Levithan do an excellent job of getting into the mind of a teen.
4) Unaccostumed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri: I usually prefer novels to short stories, but these stories were so well-crafted and each one fit together to form a larger picture.
5) Twilight by Stephenie Meyer: O.K. I've since become disenchanted with the series and the fans kind of scare me, but when I read the first one, I was totally engrossed in the love story. Meyer is a repetitive writer, but she can weave a nice fairy tale.

A Razzle Dazzle Episode of Pushing Daisies

Pushing Daisies's writers apparently love the underappreciated 1977 Disney movie Pete's Dragon as much as I do. Wednesday's episode, "The Legend of Merle McQuoddy," featured numerous references to the movie. At first I thought maybe it was just a coincidence that the lighthouse keeper's name was Nora like in the movie and her last name McQuoddy which sounds a lot like the town name Passamaquoddy. But then her son's name was Elliot, as in the name of the dragon. Plus they wore the same cute yellow raincoats and hats and then there was that a capella rendition of "Candle on the Water." Awesome. I'm glad I watched the movie when I was home over Thanksgiving, or I'd be really in the mood to watch it now.

What Is New Line Thinking?

Playbill reports that New Line bought the screen rights to Rock of Ages, an off-Broadway musical playing at the New World Stages. I'm not in the film business, but this doesn't seem like a great idea, especially in these troubled times. This musical has a fan base, but it is by no means a well-known hit. It's also not very good, a weak and unoriginal story that's basically filler to showcase '80s songs. The audience members that enjoyed the show when I saw it seemed to be more into the alcohol (which can be ordered during the show right to your seat) than anything else. It's also a show that encourages audience participation, so I can't see how these aspects will be brought to the big screen.

Sad News Friday

I've been in a good mood lately. It's almost Thanksgiving. It's time for gingerbread and eggnog. But I'm sad about two things today:

Sorry for yet another post about Hair, but Playbill reports that Jonathan Groff will not be making the move with the show to Broadway. He was replaced during the extensions at the Delacorte run (due to a prior commitment) by Christopher J. Hanke. Hanke was good in the role, but I didn't think he connected to the material or cast the way Groff did. The real shame is that there wasn't a Delacorte cast recording. No casting announcements have been made yet, but I'm sure this will still be a production worth seeing.

I also read that the television show Pushing Daisies has been canceled, which is a real shame because it was an original concept with a good cast and endearing characters.

Of course, there are worse things that could happen, and I'm sure the cast and crew of Pushing Daisies will find other projects. Also, I think my blog has become too theatre-dominant since I moved to New York and I'll try to change that soon. In the meantime, here is something that I wrote that has nothing to do with theatre (unless Conor Oberst was in a regional production of West Side Story that I don't know about).

3 War Shows, Just In Time For Veteran's Day

I didn't plan this, but in the 4 days before Veteran's Day, I saw 3 shows related to wars and military--The Roundabout Theatre production of Streamers, The National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch, and a York Theatre Company reading of Yank!.

This season, both on and off Broadway is all about the testosterone, with two Mamet shows and Billy Elliot, to name a few. Perhaps this is a reaction to last year's season of women, with shows like August: Osage County and Top Girls. The only woman in any of the three shows I saw was Nancy Anderson in Yank!, who played all the female roles. It's a boy's life, indeed.


Though very different in their approach, the three shows deal with questions about what it means to be a man. Streamers, directed by Scott Ellis and written by David Rabe in 1976, takes place during the Vietnam War. Though it is the only one in which the characters are not actually fighting, but waiting to go to go to war, it is the goriest of the three. Black Watch, directed by John Tiffany and Gregory Burke, is about members of the Black Watch regiment of the Scottish Army during the Iraq War. Although it is not a musical, the whole piece is beautifully choreographed. Yank!, directed by Igor Goldin with music by Joseph Zellnik and book and lyrics by David Zellnik, mostly focuses on the relationship between two men in the army during World War II.


It's sad how little has changed in the over 60-year time span during which the three shows take place. We're in a war with many similarities to Vietman. In Yank!, the main character wants homosexuality to become acceptable and makes a comment about how things will change probably by 1949 or 1950, which gets a laugh from the audience. In light of the passage of Proposition 8, there is still a long way to go.

I'm looking forward to seeing what change President-elect Barack Obama will bring in the future. For now, I think I'll take a break from all this heavy war stuff, at least until Prayer for My Enemy opens at Playwrights Horizons next month.

Happy Election Day

Out of all the election-related videos on YouTube, I think this is my favorite because Mr. McFeely is awesome. Enjoy.

By the way, my polling station still used the lever machines and they did not have any "I Voted" stickers, which I'm still a little bitter about.

High School Musical Too

Nickelodeon is releasing its own teen musical movie, Spectacular!, to be released sometime in 2009. It sounds a lot like Disney's High School Musical, except instead of a basketball player who reluctantly joins the musical, it's about a rock star who reluctantly joins the show choir. It doesn't look very good, but I'm kind of hoping it does well, if only so I don't have to hear about those HSM kids anymore.