I'm breaking a two month silence (I could mention again my good intentions to blog more, but you know what they say about the pavement on the road to hell....) to rave about Neil Patrick Harris, Patti LuPone, and the cast of Company!
You may recall that about three months back I bemoaned the fact that I hadn't been able to see the three night only concert performance of Company starring Neil Patrick Harris, one of my favorite men on the planet, and Patti LuPone, of whom I've become a huge fan over the last few years.
At the time, the most I dared to hope for was a cast recording (which I'd still love!). I never thought that I'd actually be able to see the show. Then, during last week's Tony Awards, the cast did a number from Company and it was mentioned that a filmed version of the show would be playing in select theaters.
Which brings us to today, when I was able to see one of my favorite Sondheim shows up on the big screen. When I arrived, I was honestly expecting to find only a handful of other people there. After all, it's hardly a mainstream film and it's not like there was any press (that I saw, anyway) about it playing. I was pleasantly surprised, then, to find that the theater was about two thirds full. I do have to say, though, that I seemed to be one of the youngest people there by a decade or two at least!
The experience, though, was a great one. Most of the audience applauded at the end of each number, as if we were actually seeing the show on stage. Now, I don't go to the movies all that often these days, but I really can't remember the last time I was in a crowd that laughed and applauded and just enjoyed themselves so much!
Neil Patrick Harris was phenomenal in the role of Bobby. Yes, I'm predisposed to love him, it's true, but I can honestly say that it felt like he was born to play this role. He was funny, he nailed the many moments where he had to mix serious subtext into his performance, and of course it goes without saying that he sang beautifully. On a shallow note, he also looked incredibly hot.
What can I even say about Patti LuPone? She brought the house down with her version of 'The Ladies Who Lunch', both in real time on the stage and today in the movie theater I was seeing the show in. I mentioned that most of the people I was watching with applauded at the end of all the songs, but it was especially loud after that show stopper!
Which, I confess, was a bit of a relief to me. I bought the DVD of the concert for Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday last year and I was less than thrilled with her version of the song then. I love Patti, but it just felt like it was lacking something, especially compared with Elaine Stritch's iconic performance of the song in the original Broadway cast. I did, though, absolutely love her Sweeney Todd number with her two Sweeney's, George Hearn and Michael Cerveris!
Anyway, Patti's two performances of 'Ladies' were like night and day. Obviously during the Sondheim birthday concert Ms. LuPone was just singing the song (and she of course sounded great doing so!). Here, she was acting, and that made all the difference in the world! Joanne came alive in her hands and she did the song brilliantly. I want to see it again, just for that one performance alone! I really hope they put out a DVD.
The rest of the cast was pretty fantastic, too. I thought Stephen Colbert was hilarious, though his performance of 'Sorry-Grateful' was the weakest vocal moment of the show. Still, watching him and Martha Plimpton as Harry and Sarah during the hilarious Karate scene more than made up for that! I also really liked Katie Finneran as Amy, especially during her very funny performance of 'Getting Married Today'.
There wasn't anyone onstage that I didn't like, though. All of the roles were perfectly cast. I loved the show and I'm so glad I got to see it, even if it wasn't live and in person!
The atmosphere in the movie theater today was so appreciative that I was very surprised to find myself walking out behind two middle aged women who seemed less than impressed. It turned out, as I shamelessly listened to them talk, that they were Stephen Colbert fans who'd heard he was great in this, but were disappointed that his role more or less comes to an end early on and then there are "so many songs" afterward!
Since I'm on the topic of Broadway, I wanted to mention that I thought Neil Patrick Harris was once again fantastic as the host of this year's Tony Awards. Can we just make him host for life of any and all major award shows? I especially enjoyed his number with Hugh Jackman.
As for the performances on this year's Tonys, I was surprised by how much I liked the number from The Book of Mormon. I really didn't expect to, somehow, but I think I'd like to see the show if it ever comes my way.
The number from Anything Goes was also very good, but then how could you mess up Cole Porter? I enjoyed the performance from Catch Me If You Can, though I wasn't really impressed by the song itself. The number from How To Succeed in Business was all right. Daniel Radcliffe is incredibly likable and seems like such a great guy in real life, but I'm not sure singing is really his forte.
The Spider Man and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert numbers both left me completely cold. The Spider Man performance was just kind of boring and bland, while Priscilla is a 'jukebox musical' made up exclusively of pre-existing songs, which just seems like a cop out to me, somehow. Maybe the show, when you sit and watch the whole thing, is really good, but for me it was the weakest moment of the Tonys, performance wise.
Showing posts with label theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label theatre. Show all posts
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Monday, March 21, 2011
Stage Talk
At some point during my blogging hiatus I saw the news that Neil Patrick Harris and Patti LuPone were starring in a three night only concert production of one of my favorite Sondheim shows, Company. As you can imagine, I wanted to buy a ticket the minute I read the news, but sadly my recent move didn't take me any closer to the East Coast and I still can't afford to make the trip.
It seems strange to me that just a few years ago, I wouldn't have known a Sondheim show from a Lloyd Webber show, and if you'd showed me a picture of Patti LuPone I would have hazily recalled seeing her on TV in the early 90's, but would best have remembered her as the daughter-in-law in the film Driving Miss Daisy!
Well, what a difference a few years makes. I'm still far from being an expert on the Broadway musical, of course. I've now read all of Ethan Mordden's excellent books on the history of the genre and I've listened to many cast albums. I've even seen three Sondheim shows (the original productions of Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George and the 2006 revival of Company) and two Sondheim concert tributes on DVD, but can you really be an expert in something you've never experienced first hand?
Still, just listening to the original cast albums of Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music convinced me quite quickly that Sondheim was a genius. I'd love to see one of his shows in person and how incredible would it be if it also happened to star one of my favorite men on the planet, Neil Patrick Harris?
Then, of course, you throw Patti LuPone into the mix just to make me want to see it even more! In the past few years I've become a fan of Patti through the cast albums of her revivals of Gypsy and Sweeney Todd (she also worked with NPH on a concert version of the latter show, which is available on DVD), her own albums, and her new autobiography.
Alas, I'll have to live vicariously through those who see the new concert production of Company and share their opinions with the rest of us. I wonder if there's any chance that they'll release a cast recording?
Meanwhile, a bit closer to home but probably still far enough away to be out of my reach at the moment, there's a brand new musical that I'm dying to see. I'm talking about the Tales of the City musical, based on Armistead Maupin's wonderful books. It opens on May 18 in San Francisco and plays there through July. If I can scrape together enough money before then I'd love to not only see the show but also the city itself.
It seems strange to me that just a few years ago, I wouldn't have known a Sondheim show from a Lloyd Webber show, and if you'd showed me a picture of Patti LuPone I would have hazily recalled seeing her on TV in the early 90's, but would best have remembered her as the daughter-in-law in the film Driving Miss Daisy!
Well, what a difference a few years makes. I'm still far from being an expert on the Broadway musical, of course. I've now read all of Ethan Mordden's excellent books on the history of the genre and I've listened to many cast albums. I've even seen three Sondheim shows (the original productions of Into the Woods and Sunday in the Park with George and the 2006 revival of Company) and two Sondheim concert tributes on DVD, but can you really be an expert in something you've never experienced first hand?
Still, just listening to the original cast albums of Company, Follies, and A Little Night Music convinced me quite quickly that Sondheim was a genius. I'd love to see one of his shows in person and how incredible would it be if it also happened to star one of my favorite men on the planet, Neil Patrick Harris?
Then, of course, you throw Patti LuPone into the mix just to make me want to see it even more! In the past few years I've become a fan of Patti through the cast albums of her revivals of Gypsy and Sweeney Todd (she also worked with NPH on a concert version of the latter show, which is available on DVD), her own albums, and her new autobiography.
Alas, I'll have to live vicariously through those who see the new concert production of Company and share their opinions with the rest of us. I wonder if there's any chance that they'll release a cast recording?
Meanwhile, a bit closer to home but probably still far enough away to be out of my reach at the moment, there's a brand new musical that I'm dying to see. I'm talking about the Tales of the City musical, based on Armistead Maupin's wonderful books. It opens on May 18 in San Francisco and plays there through July. If I can scrape together enough money before then I'd love to not only see the show but also the city itself.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Year End Lists
It's that time of year again! Last night I made my list of the Guys Who Made 2010 and now I'm working on my retrospective look at the year.
While I work on that, I thought I'd share some lists put together by others. I always love these annual Best Of lists!
First up, The New Yorker's look at the best in film. Actually, I should say 'looks' since they have three critics weighing in: David Denby, Anthony Lane, and Richard Brody.
On the subject of film, Roger Ebert also offers his list of the top ten feature films and looking at all these combined lists makes me realize how few films I saw this year!
The New Yorker also has several writers commenting on the books they read in 2010.
Speaking of books, one of my favorite blogs, Band of Thebes, has a fantastic round up of 80 writers who choose their favorite LGBT books of the year. The list numbers 100 books and it's certainly enough to give anyone hope about the future of LGBT writing!
Oh, and be sure to check of Lambda Literary for several great articles on 2010.
Playbill.com has an excellent look at the year in theater , including a tribute to those who left us this year.
Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker has picked his top ten TV shows of the year, and then added another ten on top of that.
Even though I've more or less sworn off daytime soaps made in the United States, I can't help but check in on Michael Fairman's list of the Best and Worst in the year of daytime drama.
Fairman shows some love to One Life to Live, naming it best soap, but also calls out the shameful dumping of the Kish storyline as the most shocking moment of the year. He also names As the World Turns' Luke and Reid as the best new couple of the year and Reid's portrayer, Eric Sheffer Stevens, as giving the best overall performance by a supporting actor.
Not surprisingly, he 'honors' the ATWT writers with a well deserved nod for the worst writing of the year and mentions Reid's death as the most upsetting soap moment of 2010.
Fairman also offers photographic evidence of the 25 best and 25 worst soap moments of the year.
Well, I'll have my own retrospective on the year up later this evening.
While I work on that, I thought I'd share some lists put together by others. I always love these annual Best Of lists!
First up, The New Yorker's look at the best in film. Actually, I should say 'looks' since they have three critics weighing in: David Denby, Anthony Lane, and Richard Brody.
On the subject of film, Roger Ebert also offers his list of the top ten feature films and looking at all these combined lists makes me realize how few films I saw this year!
The New Yorker also has several writers commenting on the books they read in 2010.
Speaking of books, one of my favorite blogs, Band of Thebes, has a fantastic round up of 80 writers who choose their favorite LGBT books of the year. The list numbers 100 books and it's certainly enough to give anyone hope about the future of LGBT writing!
Oh, and be sure to check of Lambda Literary for several great articles on 2010.
Playbill.com has an excellent look at the year in theater , including a tribute to those who left us this year.
Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker has picked his top ten TV shows of the year, and then added another ten on top of that.
Even though I've more or less sworn off daytime soaps made in the United States, I can't help but check in on Michael Fairman's list of the Best and Worst in the year of daytime drama.
Fairman shows some love to One Life to Live, naming it best soap, but also calls out the shameful dumping of the Kish storyline as the most shocking moment of the year. He also names As the World Turns' Luke and Reid as the best new couple of the year and Reid's portrayer, Eric Sheffer Stevens, as giving the best overall performance by a supporting actor.
Not surprisingly, he 'honors' the ATWT writers with a well deserved nod for the worst writing of the year and mentions Reid's death as the most upsetting soap moment of 2010.
Fairman also offers photographic evidence of the 25 best and 25 worst soap moments of the year.
Well, I'll have my own retrospective on the year up later this evening.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Thoughts on the Tony Awards
I just finished watching my favorite of all award shows, the Tony Awards, and I thought I'd share some thoughts about the show.
I like Sean Hayes and he had a couple of amusing moments tonight while he was hosting the show, but I honestly wasn't very impressed overall by the job he did, especially during his opening monologue. In fairness to Sean, though, I have to say that Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the Tonys brilliantly last year, is a very tough act to follow.
I had to wonder why they hadn't asked his Promises, Promises co-star, Kristin Chenoweth, to host the show, or at the very least to co-host with Sean. Her bit tonight about not having been nominated was great, as was her appearance at the beginning to make out with Sean and demonstrate that they had plenty of on stage chemistry.
The show opened with a medley of performances from this year's new musicals, which I liked, but there were sound problems which really disappointed me, especially since the same thing happened last year, too, and you'd think that they would have learned from that!
The highlight of the medley for me was Kristen Chenoweth's song from Promises, Promises and the song from American Idiot, followed by a performance from Green Day.
I wasn't really rooting for anyone in particular tonight, so I don't have a lot to say about who won or didn't win, except in one instance: after watching all the performances from the nominated shows, I found myself hoping that American Idiot would win for Best Musical. Then again, I was probably already a bit biased since I've always loved the source material for that show.
Still, of everything I sampled tonight that is probably the show I'd be most likely to see if I had to pick just one.
In addition to loving the performance from American Idiot (and what a trio of hotties the leads are, by the way!) I liked what I saw from the casts of Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage Aux Folles, and Memphis (though there were some sound problems in that last one) and I thought Catherine Zeta Jones' rendition of 'Send in the Clowns' from A Little Night Music was incredibly beautiful.
My education in all things Musical Theater, which began early last year, has continued steadily ever since.While I still have a lot to learn and to experience, I have familiarized myself with most things Sondheim. I really love the original cast album of A Little Night Music and I've been wanting to check out the revival's cast album, with Zeta Jones and the incomparable Angela Lansbury, and tonight just gave me even more reason to do so.
I was just reading yesterday that Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch are taking over for Zeta Jones and Lansbury in the show this summer and I'd love to be able to hear their version, too! I haven't really experienced any of Bernadette's work yet, but Company is one of my favorite cast albums thus far and Elaine's 'The Ladies Who Lunch' is my favorite song from that show.
But back to tonight. The performances from Ragtime and Fela were the only two that I just couldn't get that into. That's not to say I thought they were bad, of course. I just didn't really connect with either of them.
What I did connect with were the special performances by Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele. I was a bit disappointed in one sense, I admit: I thought they'd be singing together, when in actuality they gave back to back solo performances.
That's a minor quibble, though, because they were both incredible. Matthew did 'All I Need is the Girl' from Gypsy and not only did he sound amazing, but he was as hot as I've ever seen him, and that's really saying something!
I felt a tiny bit let down when the music for Lea's number began and it was 'Don't Rain on My Parade'. I absolutely loved her rendition of the song on Glee, but my first thought tonight was that she should have sung something we all hadn't heard her do so recently.
That went right out the window, though, when she started singing. Hearing her do the song live, with so much more intensity than she brought to it as her character on Glee, was a totally different experience. She was phenomenal, there is no other word to describe it. What a voice, what a star!
I also loved when she sat on Jonathan Groff's armrest on the way up the aisle! The two of them, best friends in real life, are so adorable together! I was hoping that Jonathan, whom I kept catching glimpses of in the audience, would at least get to present an award, but no such luck.
By the way, Jonathan (whom if you hadn't already guessed is someone I've been crushing on in a major way since his time on Glee) is going to be starring in the revival of the play Deathtrap in London starting in August. It's bad enough that I'm forever longing to go to New York to see all of these shows, but now I'm wishing I could afford a trip to London, too!
Speaking of plays, I really want to see Next Fall! The little bit we got to see from it in the play montage looked pretty good, but it was the banter of the stars, Patrick Heusinger and Patrick Breen, as they described their nominated show that really caught my attention. Honestly, though, I thought all of the plays sounded very good.
I know the award show is already long, of course, but I do wish we could see more from the nominated plays, too. I guess seeing a full scene acted out from each one would be too much to ask for, but it really feels like they get the short end of the stick.
Last year, I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris' closing number at the end of the show, so I was hoping for something similar tonight. Instead, they had the cast of Memphis, who'd just won Best Musical, perform again. It just felt like it was all thrown together at the last minute and not really a great way to end the night. Maybe Neil Patrick Harris was just so good last year that he ruined all future Tony Awards for me?
All in all, though, I loved getting my annual taste of Broadway.
I like Sean Hayes and he had a couple of amusing moments tonight while he was hosting the show, but I honestly wasn't very impressed overall by the job he did, especially during his opening monologue. In fairness to Sean, though, I have to say that Neil Patrick Harris, who hosted the Tonys brilliantly last year, is a very tough act to follow.
I had to wonder why they hadn't asked his Promises, Promises co-star, Kristin Chenoweth, to host the show, or at the very least to co-host with Sean. Her bit tonight about not having been nominated was great, as was her appearance at the beginning to make out with Sean and demonstrate that they had plenty of on stage chemistry.
The show opened with a medley of performances from this year's new musicals, which I liked, but there were sound problems which really disappointed me, especially since the same thing happened last year, too, and you'd think that they would have learned from that!
The highlight of the medley for me was Kristen Chenoweth's song from Promises, Promises and the song from American Idiot, followed by a performance from Green Day.
I wasn't really rooting for anyone in particular tonight, so I don't have a lot to say about who won or didn't win, except in one instance: after watching all the performances from the nominated shows, I found myself hoping that American Idiot would win for Best Musical. Then again, I was probably already a bit biased since I've always loved the source material for that show.
Still, of everything I sampled tonight that is probably the show I'd be most likely to see if I had to pick just one.
In addition to loving the performance from American Idiot (and what a trio of hotties the leads are, by the way!) I liked what I saw from the casts of Million Dollar Quartet, La Cage Aux Folles, and Memphis (though there were some sound problems in that last one) and I thought Catherine Zeta Jones' rendition of 'Send in the Clowns' from A Little Night Music was incredibly beautiful.
My education in all things Musical Theater, which began early last year, has continued steadily ever since.While I still have a lot to learn and to experience, I have familiarized myself with most things Sondheim. I really love the original cast album of A Little Night Music and I've been wanting to check out the revival's cast album, with Zeta Jones and the incomparable Angela Lansbury, and tonight just gave me even more reason to do so.
I was just reading yesterday that Bernadette Peters and Elaine Stritch are taking over for Zeta Jones and Lansbury in the show this summer and I'd love to be able to hear their version, too! I haven't really experienced any of Bernadette's work yet, but Company is one of my favorite cast albums thus far and Elaine's 'The Ladies Who Lunch' is my favorite song from that show.
But back to tonight. The performances from Ragtime and Fela were the only two that I just couldn't get that into. That's not to say I thought they were bad, of course. I just didn't really connect with either of them.
What I did connect with were the special performances by Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele. I was a bit disappointed in one sense, I admit: I thought they'd be singing together, when in actuality they gave back to back solo performances.
That's a minor quibble, though, because they were both incredible. Matthew did 'All I Need is the Girl' from Gypsy and not only did he sound amazing, but he was as hot as I've ever seen him, and that's really saying something!
I felt a tiny bit let down when the music for Lea's number began and it was 'Don't Rain on My Parade'. I absolutely loved her rendition of the song on Glee, but my first thought tonight was that she should have sung something we all hadn't heard her do so recently.
That went right out the window, though, when she started singing. Hearing her do the song live, with so much more intensity than she brought to it as her character on Glee, was a totally different experience. She was phenomenal, there is no other word to describe it. What a voice, what a star!
I also loved when she sat on Jonathan Groff's armrest on the way up the aisle! The two of them, best friends in real life, are so adorable together! I was hoping that Jonathan, whom I kept catching glimpses of in the audience, would at least get to present an award, but no such luck.
By the way, Jonathan (whom if you hadn't already guessed is someone I've been crushing on in a major way since his time on Glee) is going to be starring in the revival of the play Deathtrap in London starting in August. It's bad enough that I'm forever longing to go to New York to see all of these shows, but now I'm wishing I could afford a trip to London, too!
Speaking of plays, I really want to see Next Fall! The little bit we got to see from it in the play montage looked pretty good, but it was the banter of the stars, Patrick Heusinger and Patrick Breen, as they described their nominated show that really caught my attention. Honestly, though, I thought all of the plays sounded very good.
I know the award show is already long, of course, but I do wish we could see more from the nominated plays, too. I guess seeing a full scene acted out from each one would be too much to ask for, but it really feels like they get the short end of the stick.
Last year, I really enjoyed Neil Patrick Harris' closing number at the end of the show, so I was hoping for something similar tonight. Instead, they had the cast of Memphis, who'd just won Best Musical, perform again. It just felt like it was all thrown together at the last minute and not really a great way to end the night. Maybe Neil Patrick Harris was just so good last year that he ruined all future Tony Awards for me?
All in all, though, I loved getting my annual taste of Broadway.
Friday, June 04, 2010
Quinto Off Broadway
This fall, Zachary Quinto will be starring as Louis in an Off Broadway revival of Angels in America in New York. The Signature Theater Company is doing a whole season dedicated to the works of Tony Kushner.
If I haven't mentioned it before, I think Zachary Quinto is incredibly hot. In fact, the chance to watch him in action was the only reason that I stuck with Heroes right up to the bitter end. Evil had truly never been sexier.
I also love Angels in America, it's a brilliant work of art and, I think, a very important one. I really enjoyed the HBO Mini-series version but I've never been able to see a performance of the play itself, though I have read it.
I'd love to be able to go to New York this fall and fulfill two wishes at once: finally seeing a production of the play, and being in the same room as Zachary Quinto! It would be especially interesting to see him as the sardonic Louis.
Why, oh why, must I be on the opposite side of the country and completely broke?
If I haven't mentioned it before, I think Zachary Quinto is incredibly hot. In fact, the chance to watch him in action was the only reason that I stuck with Heroes right up to the bitter end. Evil had truly never been sexier.
I also love Angels in America, it's a brilliant work of art and, I think, a very important one. I really enjoyed the HBO Mini-series version but I've never been able to see a performance of the play itself, though I have read it.
I'd love to be able to go to New York this fall and fulfill two wishes at once: finally seeing a production of the play, and being in the same room as Zachary Quinto! It would be especially interesting to see him as the sardonic Louis.
Why, oh why, must I be on the opposite side of the country and completely broke?
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Tony Nominations and a Bit of Homophobia
The nominees for the 64th Annual Tony Awards were announced yesterday. Over the past few years, I've really come to love watching this particular award show and getting a taste of what's going on in the theater world. Seeing songs performed from the musicals and scenes acted out from the plays during the Tonys is as close as I've managed to come to Broadway.
It can be a bit hard to get all that excited about the nominees in advance when you haven't seen any of the shows, of course, but there are usually one or two people on the list that I'm already a fan of.
I was hoping to see Kristin Chenoweth's name among the nominees this year, but it was not to be. Her co-stars Sean Hayes and Katie Finneran were both nominated, but she was not. The reviews of Promises, Promises haven't been all that great, sadly, but I was still keeping my fingers crossed for her. I have to admit that when I first heard she was doing the show I got the cast album for the original production and it honestly seemed like an odd fit for her. The original seemed to be Jerry Orbach's show, first and foremost.
Speaking of those bad reviews, one I should mention is the rather homophobic review by Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh, who just couldn't get past the fact that an openly gay man was playing a straight role. In fact, he incorporated the review into a larger piece posing the question: "Heterosexual actors play gay all the time. Why doesn't it work in reverse?" Are you kidding me?! It's been working in reverse for centuries, pal.
Here's what he said about Sean Hayes:
It can be a bit hard to get all that excited about the nominees in advance when you haven't seen any of the shows, of course, but there are usually one or two people on the list that I'm already a fan of.
I was hoping to see Kristin Chenoweth's name among the nominees this year, but it was not to be. Her co-stars Sean Hayes and Katie Finneran were both nominated, but she was not. The reviews of Promises, Promises haven't been all that great, sadly, but I was still keeping my fingers crossed for her. I have to admit that when I first heard she was doing the show I got the cast album for the original production and it honestly seemed like an odd fit for her. The original seemed to be Jerry Orbach's show, first and foremost.
Speaking of those bad reviews, one I should mention is the rather homophobic review by Newsweek's Ramin Setoodeh, who just couldn't get past the fact that an openly gay man was playing a straight role. In fact, he incorporated the review into a larger piece posing the question: "Heterosexual actors play gay all the time. Why doesn't it work in reverse?" Are you kidding me?! It's been working in reverse for centuries, pal.
Here's what he said about Sean Hayes:
'The reviews for the Broadway revival of Promises, Promises were negative enough, even though most of the critics ignored the real problem—the big pink elephant in the room. The leading man of this musical-romantic comedy is supposed to be a single advertising peon named Chuck who is madly in love with a co-worker (Kristin Chenoweth). When the play opened on Broadway in 1968, Jerry Orbach, an actor with enough macho swagger to later fuel years and years of Law and Order, was the star. The revival hands the lead over to Sean Hayes, best known as the queeny Jack on Will & Grace. Hayes is among Hollywood's best verbal slapstickers, but his sexual orientation is part of who he is, and also part of his charm. (The fact that he only came out of the closet just before Promises was another one of those Ricky Martin-duh moments.) But frankly, it's weird seeing Hayes play straight. He comes off as wooden and insincere, like he's trying to hide something, which of course he is. Even the play's most hilarious scene, when Chuck tries to pick up a drunk woman at a bar, devolves into unintentional camp. Is it funny because of all the '60s-era one-liners, or because the woman is so drunk (and clueless) that she agrees to go home with a guy we all know is gay?'
Setoodah also goes on to critique Jonathan Groff's performance on Glee in much the same fashion. I think the real problem lies with Setoodah and those like him who just can't seem to focus on anything else beyond an out performer's real life sexuality.
It's called acting, people. Would they get hung up on the fact that a married actor was playing a single ladies man, for instance? No. They wouldn't let the his personal life affect the believability of the performance in the least. But if an actor is openly gay and playing straight, it's all these guys can think about!
With Setoodah freely admitting that straight actors can successfully play gay, the issue seems to come down with his own perceptions of masculinity and what it means to be straight. In other words, manly heteros can play act at being gay just fine, but queers can't possibly fool anyone into thinking they're 'real' men. Give me a break!
At any rate, here are this year's Tony nominations for performances:
It's called acting, people. Would they get hung up on the fact that a married actor was playing a single ladies man, for instance? No. They wouldn't let the his personal life affect the believability of the performance in the least. But if an actor is openly gay and playing straight, it's all these guys can think about!
With Setoodah freely admitting that straight actors can successfully play gay, the issue seems to come down with his own perceptions of masculinity and what it means to be straight. In other words, manly heteros can play act at being gay just fine, but queers can't possibly fool anyone into thinking they're 'real' men. Give me a break!
At any rate, here are this year's Tony nominations for performances:
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Viola Davis, Fences
Valerie Harper, Looped
Linda Lavin, Collected Stories
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
David Alan Grier, Race
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts
Stephen Kunken, Enron
Eddie Redmayne, Red
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family
Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!
Jude Law, Hamlet
Alfred Molina, Red
Liev Schreiber, A View from the Bridge
Christopher Walken, A Behanding in Spokane
Denzel Washington, Fences
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Viola Davis, Fences
Valerie Harper, Looped
Linda Lavin, Collected Stories
Laura Linney, Time Stands Still
Jan Maxwell, The Royal Family
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Kelsey Grammer, La Cage aux Folles
Sean Hayes, Promises, Promises
Douglas Hodge, La Cage aux Folles
Chad Kimball, Memphis
Sahr Ngaujah, Fela!
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Kate Baldwin, Finian's Rainbow
Montego Glover, Memphis
Christiane Noll, Ragtime
Sherie Rene Scott, Everyday Rapture
Catherine Zeta-Jones, A Little Night Music
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
David Alan Grier, Race
Stephen McKinley Henderson, Fences
Jon Michael Hill, Superior Donuts
Stephen Kunken, Enron
Eddie Redmayne, Red
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Maria Dizzia, In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Rosemary Harris, The Royal Family
Jessica Hecht, A View from the Bridge
Scarlett Johansson, A View from the Bridge
Jan Maxwell, Lend Me a Tenor
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Kevin Chamberlin, The Addams Family
Robin De Jesús, La Cage aux Folles
Christopher Fitzgerald, Finian's Rainbow
Levi Kreis, Million Dollar Quartet
Bobby Steggert, Ragtime
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Barbara Cook, Sondheim on Sondheim
Katie Finneran, Promises, Promises
Angela Lansbury, A Little Night Music
Karine Plantadit, Come Fly Away
Lillias White, Fela!
I love Laura Linney and Angela Lansbury (who won a Tony last year), and of course Jude Law is always incredibly sexy, so I'm glad to see their names on the list.
Here are the show nominations:
Here are the show nominations:
Best Play
In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Next Fall
Red
Time Stands Still
Best Musical
American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet
Best Revival of a Play
Fences
Lend Me a Tenor
The Royal Family
A View from the Bridge
Best Revival of a Musical
Finian's Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime
Of all of these, I think La Cage aux Folles and American Idiot intrigue me the most. I've seen the original French film of La Cage aux Folles (I won't even mention seeing The Birdcage!), but never the musical. I'm not a big Kelsey Grammer fan, though.
As for American Idiot, a musical based on my favorite Green Day album just sounds like the definition of awesome!
In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play
Next Fall
Red
Time Stands Still
Best Musical
American Idiot
Fela!
Memphis
Million Dollar Quartet
Best Revival of a Play
Fences
Lend Me a Tenor
The Royal Family
A View from the Bridge
Best Revival of a Musical
Finian's Rainbow
La Cage aux Folles
A Little Night Music
Ragtime
Of all of these, I think La Cage aux Folles and American Idiot intrigue me the most. I've seen the original French film of La Cage aux Folles (I won't even mention seeing The Birdcage!), but never the musical. I'm not a big Kelsey Grammer fan, though.
As for American Idiot, a musical based on my favorite Green Day album just sounds like the definition of awesome!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
NYC Longing
There have been countless times when I've found myself wishing that I lived in or near New York City. There is just so much I'd love to see and do there- theater, music, museums, life!- and I've always told myself that one of these days I'd move there. My entire life (family, friends, etc) is based on the West Coast, though, so at this point I think I'll have to settle for being a tourist, if I can ever manage to actually save some money for a trip in this economy.
I wish I could be there a few days from now, though. Next Sunday night Michael Urie and Becki Newton (who of course play Marc and Amanda on Ugly Betty) will be doing a show together at Feinsteins at Loew's Regency called Becki and Michael IS Broadway.
The two of them are so hilarious together, I know it's going to be a fun night for those who are able to attend. I love the video from their appearance at last year's Broadway Backwards, where they performed 'Getting Married Today' from Company. There is also an amateur video on YouTube that I've watched at least three times of their very funny TV theme song performance from a 2008 show called Broadway Loves the 80's.
Which all adds up to me being a huge fan of these two and wishing I could be at this Sunday's show! Michael gave an interview to Theatre Mania which was mostly about his show The Temperamentals (which also sounds fantastic and like something I'd want to see!) and mentioned the show:
'TM: You're also doing this show at Feinstein's with your good friend and co-star Becki Newton, who plays Amanda on Ugly Betty. Can you tell us more about that?
MU: It's called Becki and Michael IS Broadway, and it's going to be hilarious. Early in the first season of Ugly Betty, Becki and I were asked to sing a song at a benefit and so dressed up like Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond and we sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And we loved it so much, that we became addicted to it, and since then, we've done so many appearances together that we finally decided, let's just do our own show. It's sort of a like a cabaret show that you might see at Feinstein's, but it's also off-the-wall funny. I don't want to give it away, but there are versions of songs from shows like Phantom of the Opera, A Chorus Line and Gypsy that you haven't heard before. We're shamelessly attacking everything and anything musical theater. Hopefully, it will move to Broadway. Actually, I think it would be fun to do Becki and Michael IS Broadway Off-Broadway.'
As if Becki and Michael IS Broadway weren't tempting enough, the very next day is the latest edition of Broadway Backwards, the annual show benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This is the show where the male performers sing the female parts, and vice versa. It always looks like such a fun time!
Well, maybe next year, though I seem to say that each year! Thank God for the bits and pieces that show up on YouTube!
I wish I could be there a few days from now, though. Next Sunday night Michael Urie and Becki Newton (who of course play Marc and Amanda on Ugly Betty) will be doing a show together at Feinsteins at Loew's Regency called Becki and Michael IS Broadway.
The two of them are so hilarious together, I know it's going to be a fun night for those who are able to attend. I love the video from their appearance at last year's Broadway Backwards, where they performed 'Getting Married Today' from Company. There is also an amateur video on YouTube that I've watched at least three times of their very funny TV theme song performance from a 2008 show called Broadway Loves the 80's.
Which all adds up to me being a huge fan of these two and wishing I could be at this Sunday's show! Michael gave an interview to Theatre Mania which was mostly about his show The Temperamentals (which also sounds fantastic and like something I'd want to see!) and mentioned the show:
'TM: You're also doing this show at Feinstein's with your good friend and co-star Becki Newton, who plays Amanda on Ugly Betty. Can you tell us more about that?
MU: It's called Becki and Michael IS Broadway, and it's going to be hilarious. Early in the first season of Ugly Betty, Becki and I were asked to sing a song at a benefit and so dressed up like Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond and we sang "You Don't Bring Me Flowers." And we loved it so much, that we became addicted to it, and since then, we've done so many appearances together that we finally decided, let's just do our own show. It's sort of a like a cabaret show that you might see at Feinstein's, but it's also off-the-wall funny. I don't want to give it away, but there are versions of songs from shows like Phantom of the Opera, A Chorus Line and Gypsy that you haven't heard before. We're shamelessly attacking everything and anything musical theater. Hopefully, it will move to Broadway. Actually, I think it would be fun to do Becki and Michael IS Broadway Off-Broadway.'
Maybe it will become a regular show and I'll be able to see it when I finally get to NYC! I was hoping I could manage a trip this spring or summer to see Kristin Chenoweth in Promises, Promises, but now I'm hoping that the show will have a good long run so I have the chance to see Kristin in it later on.
As if Becki and Michael IS Broadway weren't tempting enough, the very next day is the latest edition of Broadway Backwards, the annual show benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. This is the show where the male performers sing the female parts, and vice versa. It always looks like such a fun time!
Well, maybe next year, though I seem to say that each year! Thank God for the bits and pieces that show up on YouTube!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Year End Lists
I'm a sucker for all of the year end lists that take a reflective look back on the past twelve months, so I thought I'd share some links with you.
First up, the critics at The New Yorker.
Anthony Lane, Richard Brody, and David Denby each took a look back at the best films of the year. Among his top ten, Denby selected Adventureland, a film that I really loved and meant to write about when I first saw it, but which I somehow never managed to get around to mentioning!
Last year, I seem to recall that I'd only seen one of the films picked by these guys, so I'm doing better this time around since I also saw Up, another of Denby's selections, and Star Trek, which Lane mentions.
Nancy Franklin has a look back at the year in TV. While discussing everything from President Obama's inaguration to Tom Delay on Dancing With the Stars, Franklin also mentions the over the top reaction to Adam Lambert's AMA performance:
James Wood covers the year in books, none of which I've read. But then, I don't tend to read all that many books the year they come out. I think the only books I've read in 2009 that actually came out this year were Judy Shepard's moving book, The Meaning of Matthew and The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's follow up to Shadow of the Wind. The latter only counts as a 2009 book in its English translation, of course.
Hilton Als has a look at the year's best in theatre and Claudia Roth Pierpoint has a list of the top ten cultural events of the year, which includes a range of things from short story collections to ballet performances.
There is a comprehensive list of all the year end picks in many other categories if you'd like to check that out.
Playbill has a list of the Top Theatre Stories of the year as well as a look back on the Broadway stars who left us this year.
Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello picks his Best Of in Television for the year, including Glee's Jane Lynch as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Ken Tucker made his picks for the ten best shows on TV this year (Glee was at number 9, while Modern Family was at number 3) and also the five worst shows.
Roger Ebert picks the year's best films, and once again I've seen none of them! What was I doing all year?
If you're a soap fan, Daytime Confidential has their picks of this years 10 Best Soap Couples (with LGBT couples leading the pack, Kish at number 2 and Guiding Light's Otalia at number 1) and 10 Worst Soap Couples. Semi-LGBT couple Rafe and Adam from The Young and the Restless made this list as the number 1 worst soap couple of the year.
Michael Fairman picked the year's 20 Worst Soap Moments and they included several LGBT related stories. Coming in as the number one worst soap moment of the year? The Z Twins on As the World Turns. Also making the list was the much bemoaned Bianca and Reese storyline on All My Children and the badly executed Rafe and Adam storyline on The Young and the Restless. Y&R also made the list for the botched return of Philip Chancellor III.
Fairman also picked the 20 Best Soap Moments, of course. Number 2 on that list was Olivia confessing her love to Natalia on Guiding Light, while Kyle telling Fish he loved him at the gay group wedding on One Life to Live made number 12. Philip's initial return and revelation that he was gay on The Young and the Restless made number 17 on Fairman's best of list, even though the subsequent story made the Worst of list.
That's probably enough list-mania for now!
First up, the critics at The New Yorker.
Anthony Lane, Richard Brody, and David Denby each took a look back at the best films of the year. Among his top ten, Denby selected Adventureland, a film that I really loved and meant to write about when I first saw it, but which I somehow never managed to get around to mentioning!
Last year, I seem to recall that I'd only seen one of the films picked by these guys, so I'm doing better this time around since I also saw Up, another of Denby's selections, and Star Trek, which Lane mentions.
Nancy Franklin has a look back at the year in TV. While discussing everything from President Obama's inaguration to Tom Delay on Dancing With the Stars, Franklin also mentions the over the top reaction to Adam Lambert's AMA performance:
The “American Idol” runner-up, not the first gay contestant but the first to “do” anything gay, performed on the American Music Awards, on ABC, and went a little over the top, kissing a male dancer and mimicking oral sex. Then, on CBS’s “Early Show,” a replay of the kiss was fuzzed out (as was the oral-sex bit), as if this were 1909 and not 2009. Then ABC disinvited Lambert from Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night talk show (sorry if I’m laughing at the idea that Kimmel’s show upholds any standard other than mediocrity) and “Good Morning America,” and a tentative booking on “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” was scotched. No one knows exactly where the line is anymore when it comes to what you can say and show on TV, but, wherever it is, it’s already been a crossed many times in recent years by headline-hungry heterosexuals acting in terrible taste. There’s a word for CBS’s and ABC’s hot-potato treatment of Lambert, and it’s either “hypocrisy” or “homophobia.”
James Wood covers the year in books, none of which I've read. But then, I don't tend to read all that many books the year they come out. I think the only books I've read in 2009 that actually came out this year were Judy Shepard's moving book, The Meaning of Matthew and The Angel's Game, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's follow up to Shadow of the Wind. The latter only counts as a 2009 book in its English translation, of course.
Hilton Als has a look at the year's best in theatre and Claudia Roth Pierpoint has a list of the top ten cultural events of the year, which includes a range of things from short story collections to ballet performances.
There is a comprehensive list of all the year end picks in many other categories if you'd like to check that out.
Playbill has a list of the Top Theatre Stories of the year as well as a look back on the Broadway stars who left us this year.
Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello picks his Best Of in Television for the year, including Glee's Jane Lynch as Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy. Ken Tucker made his picks for the ten best shows on TV this year (Glee was at number 9, while Modern Family was at number 3) and also the five worst shows.
Roger Ebert picks the year's best films, and once again I've seen none of them! What was I doing all year?
If you're a soap fan, Daytime Confidential has their picks of this years 10 Best Soap Couples (with LGBT couples leading the pack, Kish at number 2 and Guiding Light's Otalia at number 1) and 10 Worst Soap Couples. Semi-LGBT couple Rafe and Adam from The Young and the Restless made this list as the number 1 worst soap couple of the year.
Michael Fairman picked the year's 20 Worst Soap Moments and they included several LGBT related stories. Coming in as the number one worst soap moment of the year? The Z Twins on As the World Turns. Also making the list was the much bemoaned Bianca and Reese storyline on All My Children and the badly executed Rafe and Adam storyline on The Young and the Restless. Y&R also made the list for the botched return of Philip Chancellor III.
Fairman also picked the 20 Best Soap Moments, of course. Number 2 on that list was Olivia confessing her love to Natalia on Guiding Light, while Kyle telling Fish he loved him at the gay group wedding on One Life to Live made number 12. Philip's initial return and revelation that he was gay on The Young and the Restless made number 17 on Fairman's best of list, even though the subsequent story made the Worst of list.
That's probably enough list-mania for now!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
WTC View
If you're in NYC next Sunday, you may want to check out the reading of the play WTC View at Player's Theatre in Greenwich Village.
Michael Urie, who plays Marc on Ugly Betty and who originated the lead role in the play back in 2003 and starred in the film version a few years after that, will be reprising his character. Jason Tam, who plays Markko on One Life to Live and who completely blew me away with his audition for the role of Paul in the revival of A Chorus Line and who went on to win that role, will also be in the cast.
I saw the film version on DVD a couple of years back and I thought that Urie was very good in it. It revolves around a traumatized New Yorker trying to find a new roommate in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
I'd love to see what Jason Tam could do in this play, even in a reading. It looks like they're planning to mount a new stage production in 2011 as well, so maybe this weekend he'll be reading a role that he could end up playing in a full production.
Michael Urie, who plays Marc on Ugly Betty and who originated the lead role in the play back in 2003 and starred in the film version a few years after that, will be reprising his character. Jason Tam, who plays Markko on One Life to Live and who completely blew me away with his audition for the role of Paul in the revival of A Chorus Line and who went on to win that role, will also be in the cast.
I saw the film version on DVD a couple of years back and I thought that Urie was very good in it. It revolves around a traumatized New Yorker trying to find a new roommate in the immediate aftermath of 9/11.
I'd love to see what Jason Tam could do in this play, even in a reading. It looks like they're planning to mount a new stage production in 2011 as well, so maybe this weekend he'll be reading a role that he could end up playing in a full production.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Chenoweth Returns to Broadway
I was just reading the news that Kristin Cheoweth, who as you probably know by now is one of my most favorite individuals on the planet, is returning to Broadway next Spring in a revival of Promises, Promises. The musical will also star Sean Hayes, best known as Jack on Will & Grace.
Still being a Broadway neophyte, I know absolutely nothing about the show, but this will be Kristin's first time back on Broadway post-Wicked. I've already vowed to myself that I'll be going to New York at last, even if I have to starve myself to save the money to do so!
How amazing would it be to see Cheno on Broadway? I know countless people already have, of course, but I'd like to be one of them. I've been planning a trip to NYC for a very long time now, there are so many places and things I'd like to see. Maybe this will give me the kick start I need to stop daydreaming and actually make it happen.
In the meantime, I guess I'd better find myself a copy of the original cast album for the 1960's production of Promises, Promises and find out what it's all about.
Still being a Broadway neophyte, I know absolutely nothing about the show, but this will be Kristin's first time back on Broadway post-Wicked. I've already vowed to myself that I'll be going to New York at last, even if I have to starve myself to save the money to do so!
How amazing would it be to see Cheno on Broadway? I know countless people already have, of course, but I'd like to be one of them. I've been planning a trip to NYC for a very long time now, there are so many places and things I'd like to see. Maybe this will give me the kick start I need to stop daydreaming and actually make it happen.
In the meantime, I guess I'd better find myself a copy of the original cast album for the 1960's production of Promises, Promises and find out what it's all about.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Every Little Step
I just finished watching Every Little Step, a documentary that follows the casting process for the Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, and I found it fascinating. I'd been waiting for this to come out of DVD for months now and it really didn't disappoint.
I've more or less fallen in love with the original cast album of the show over the past two or three months and I'm only sorry that I didn't discover it in time to see the revival's touring company last year when they performed in my neck of the woods.
Watching the documentary, I now have a new regret: that I didn't get to see this cast perform on Broadway! Is it too much to ask that Broadway plays and musicals be recorded and released on DVD for those of us poor souls who don't get to live anywhere near NYC? They did it quite well for the final Broadway performance of Rent, so I know it can be done. Why can't the mountain just come to Mohammad already?!
The biggest surprise of the whole documentary was Jason Tam, though truthfully it wasn't a surprise tonight, but rather several months ago when I saw the clip online. That was actually before the documentary was even released on DVD and before I ever listened to the music or even really knew what the show was about.
I've been watching Tam as Markko on One Life to Live for nearly two years now and while I've found him to be a likable young actor I can't say that he's ever impressed me on the show the way he did in his audition for the role of Paul. He was just astonishingly good and I had tears rolling down my face by the end, both while watching it online a few months back and again tonight on the DVD.
I was hardly the only one who was impressed, either, since he moved the casting people in exactly the same way. Bob Avian, the director, even commented that it was the first time in thirty years that he'd cried watching the scene where Paul talks about a pivotal moment with his parents.
If only I could have seen Jason playing Paul on Broadway! It also would have been nice if he'd been featured more in the film, since aside from the one shining moment that is really the emotional high point of the entire film, we don't see anything else about him at all. Maybe he just didn't want to participate in the documentary?
The movie actually focused mostly on the casting of the female parts, which was a bit disappointing, though not enough to seriously detract from my enjoyment. I just wish we could have seen them casting all the roles, but I suppose there were time constraints to consider.
I'd recommend Every Little Step to anyone who is interested in the workings of show business and/or musical theater. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the feature film version of A Chorus Line, which sadly is as close as I've come so far to seeing a production!
Rent is my favorite musical ever, but A Chorus Line has become a very close second. If I ever actually do manage to see a real production, I may even find that I can't choose between the two shows.
I've more or less fallen in love with the original cast album of the show over the past two or three months and I'm only sorry that I didn't discover it in time to see the revival's touring company last year when they performed in my neck of the woods.
Watching the documentary, I now have a new regret: that I didn't get to see this cast perform on Broadway! Is it too much to ask that Broadway plays and musicals be recorded and released on DVD for those of us poor souls who don't get to live anywhere near NYC? They did it quite well for the final Broadway performance of Rent, so I know it can be done. Why can't the mountain just come to Mohammad already?!
The biggest surprise of the whole documentary was Jason Tam, though truthfully it wasn't a surprise tonight, but rather several months ago when I saw the clip online. That was actually before the documentary was even released on DVD and before I ever listened to the music or even really knew what the show was about.
I've been watching Tam as Markko on One Life to Live for nearly two years now and while I've found him to be a likable young actor I can't say that he's ever impressed me on the show the way he did in his audition for the role of Paul. He was just astonishingly good and I had tears rolling down my face by the end, both while watching it online a few months back and again tonight on the DVD.
I was hardly the only one who was impressed, either, since he moved the casting people in exactly the same way. Bob Avian, the director, even commented that it was the first time in thirty years that he'd cried watching the scene where Paul talks about a pivotal moment with his parents.
If only I could have seen Jason playing Paul on Broadway! It also would have been nice if he'd been featured more in the film, since aside from the one shining moment that is really the emotional high point of the entire film, we don't see anything else about him at all. Maybe he just didn't want to participate in the documentary?
The movie actually focused mostly on the casting of the female parts, which was a bit disappointing, though not enough to seriously detract from my enjoyment. I just wish we could have seen them casting all the roles, but I suppose there were time constraints to consider.
I'd recommend Every Little Step to anyone who is interested in the workings of show business and/or musical theater. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the feature film version of A Chorus Line, which sadly is as close as I've come so far to seeing a production!
Rent is my favorite musical ever, but A Chorus Line has become a very close second. If I ever actually do manage to see a real production, I may even find that I can't choose between the two shows.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Out of the Closet and into the Glee Club
So, last week I read an interview on We Love the Soaps with Jonathan Groff, an actor who'd been nominated for a Tony for playing the lead in Spring Awakening. The interview was about his stint on One Life to Live a few years back.
I remember hearing about his story on the soap (which featured him as a school shooter and which was rewritten after it had been filmed, due to the events at Virginia Tech right around the same time it would have aired), but it was before I'd started watching OLTL.
Reading the brief interview, I thought Jonathan came across well and that he looked really cute in the picture. I regretted a bit that I'd missed his time on the show, but I didn't give it much more thought than that.
Now, just a few days later, Jonathan Groff is suddenly very much on my radar. First came the announcement that Jonathan would be joining Glee for a five episode run as the male lead in rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, reuniting with his Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele, who of course plays Rachel on Glee.
As exciting as that bit of news is, things get even better: I just read on AfterElton that Jonathan was at the National Equality March last week, and that the cutie took that opportunity to publicly come out of the closet as gay!
By the way, the article in which Broadway.com casually mentions Groff's coming out also highlights the many Broadway connections to the National Equality March.
An openly gay Tony nominee with a past connection to One Life to Live doing a multiple episode story arc on Glee? The fates couldn't have designed a person for me to be more interested in if they'd tried!
The only thing I'd like better is if his character was a new love interest for Kurt, rather than Rachel. But, hey, you can't have everything!
In the meantime, I'll settle for this picture from the Equality March, borrowed from AfterElton, of Jonathan with another Broadway favorite of mine, Gavin Creel.
I remember hearing about his story on the soap (which featured him as a school shooter and which was rewritten after it had been filmed, due to the events at Virginia Tech right around the same time it would have aired), but it was before I'd started watching OLTL.
Reading the brief interview, I thought Jonathan came across well and that he looked really cute in the picture. I regretted a bit that I'd missed his time on the show, but I didn't give it much more thought than that.
Now, just a few days later, Jonathan Groff is suddenly very much on my radar. First came the announcement that Jonathan would be joining Glee for a five episode run as the male lead in rival glee club Vocal Adrenaline, reuniting with his Spring Awakening co-star Lea Michele, who of course plays Rachel on Glee.
As exciting as that bit of news is, things get even better: I just read on AfterElton that Jonathan was at the National Equality March last week, and that the cutie took that opportunity to publicly come out of the closet as gay!
By the way, the article in which Broadway.com casually mentions Groff's coming out also highlights the many Broadway connections to the National Equality March.
An openly gay Tony nominee with a past connection to One Life to Live doing a multiple episode story arc on Glee? The fates couldn't have designed a person for me to be more interested in if they'd tried!
The only thing I'd like better is if his character was a new love interest for Kurt, rather than Rachel. But, hey, you can't have everything!
In the meantime, I'll settle for this picture from the Equality March, borrowed from AfterElton, of Jonathan with another Broadway favorite of mine, Gavin Creel.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
A New Hepburn Exhibit
I don't know if I've ever mentioned it here before or not, but I'm a huge Katharine Hepburn fan. It all started when I was pretty young, maybe 10 or 11, and I saw Bringing Up Baby on American Movie Classics (which actually used to show bona fide classics back then, without commercial interruption! I knew times had changed when I tuned in one evening four or five years ago and they were showing one of the sequels from the Halloween franchise!).
As soon as I saw her in Bringing Up Baby, I became a lifelong fan of Ms. Hepburn, and there were still so many treasures waiting in store for me: The Philadelphia Story, Holiday, and Desk Set, my favorite of her films with Spencer Tracy. That's just the tip of the iceberg, of course. I could probably write all night about which of her films I loved.
Hepburn has been gone for just over six years now, but her work and her legend will likely never die.
The reason I'm bringing her up tonight is that I just read Judy Samelson's article in Playbill about the new exhibit at The New York Library for the Performing Arts. Hepburn's estate turned over all of her papers relating to her work on the stage to the Library and they're now on display there through October 10th.
It sounds like a really interesting exhibit, one that I'd love to see. I'm enough of a fan that I've read just about every biography written about Hepburn and I even bought a second hand copy of the Sotheby's Catalogue for the auction of her estate.
Even if I wasn't such a fan, though, I think an exhibit on her stage career would be fascinating. The films are still accessible, always there to be discovered by new generations of fans, but it's not like there are DVDs out there of her performances on Broadway. They're lost to memory and belong to history, like most of the magic that happens on the stage.
As soon as I saw her in Bringing Up Baby, I became a lifelong fan of Ms. Hepburn, and there were still so many treasures waiting in store for me: The Philadelphia Story, Holiday, and Desk Set, my favorite of her films with Spencer Tracy. That's just the tip of the iceberg, of course. I could probably write all night about which of her films I loved.
Hepburn has been gone for just over six years now, but her work and her legend will likely never die.
The reason I'm bringing her up tonight is that I just read Judy Samelson's article in Playbill about the new exhibit at The New York Library for the Performing Arts. Hepburn's estate turned over all of her papers relating to her work on the stage to the Library and they're now on display there through October 10th.
It sounds like a really interesting exhibit, one that I'd love to see. I'm enough of a fan that I've read just about every biography written about Hepburn and I even bought a second hand copy of the Sotheby's Catalogue for the auction of her estate.
Even if I wasn't such a fan, though, I think an exhibit on her stage career would be fascinating. The films are still accessible, always there to be discovered by new generations of fans, but it's not like there are DVDs out there of her performances on Broadway. They're lost to memory and belong to history, like most of the magic that happens on the stage.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Rent!
I just got back from seeing Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal in Rent and it was just so incredibly good! Ever since I fell in love with the show, I've felt so sad that I never got a chance to see the original cast do it on stage. The feature film is great, of course, but it's just not the same thing. This was such an amazing chance, to see Anthony and Adam performing live as Mark and Roger.
They were fantastic, as was the rest of the cast, some of whom I'd seen on the DVD of the last Broadway cast in the final performance.
Adam Pascal is a beautiful man and he looks damn sexy in the sleeveless shirt he wears for part of the show. The power of his voice, and the raw emotion that he manages to bring to Roger, even after all this time, just blew me away.
I found myself more drawn to Anthony Rapp, though. Maybe it's because I feel more of a connection with his character, Mark, or maybe it's because I read his memoir, Without You, fairly recently. Or maybe it's just because he's completely adorable, I don't know. Whatever it was, I totally have a crush on him. I've always liked his character a lot (three of my four favorite songs are at least partially his: La Vie Boheme, Tango Maureen, and What You Own; my other favorite is Take Me or Leave Me), but tonight I just fell for Anthony!
He brings so much to Mark, even after all of these years, it amazes me. I'm fairly sure this will be the only time I'll ever see him do Rent live, but if it's at all possible, I hope to see him again, in something else. Maybe it will be on an actual Broadway stage! I'd love that.
We had great seats tonight, quite close to the stage, since I decided that if I was going to pay to see the show live I wasn't going to be way the hell up in the second balcony. Seeing it play out right in front of me, this show that I've come to know so well through the film version, the DVD of the last Broadway performance, and from listening to the original cast album, was almost surreal. It was also just downright incredible.
I wish I could see it again! I know there are hardcore Rent fans out there who have seen the show countless times, but for me, this one night will remain a very special moment in my life.
I may write more about this in the next few days. I just felt I had to say something tonight, while I was still on my Rent high!
I'll be writing about this week's gay soap character happenings on Sunday, when I've had a chance to sit down and catch up.
They were fantastic, as was the rest of the cast, some of whom I'd seen on the DVD of the last Broadway cast in the final performance.
Adam Pascal is a beautiful man and he looks damn sexy in the sleeveless shirt he wears for part of the show. The power of his voice, and the raw emotion that he manages to bring to Roger, even after all this time, just blew me away.
I found myself more drawn to Anthony Rapp, though. Maybe it's because I feel more of a connection with his character, Mark, or maybe it's because I read his memoir, Without You, fairly recently. Or maybe it's just because he's completely adorable, I don't know. Whatever it was, I totally have a crush on him. I've always liked his character a lot (three of my four favorite songs are at least partially his: La Vie Boheme, Tango Maureen, and What You Own; my other favorite is Take Me or Leave Me), but tonight I just fell for Anthony!
He brings so much to Mark, even after all of these years, it amazes me. I'm fairly sure this will be the only time I'll ever see him do Rent live, but if it's at all possible, I hope to see him again, in something else. Maybe it will be on an actual Broadway stage! I'd love that.
We had great seats tonight, quite close to the stage, since I decided that if I was going to pay to see the show live I wasn't going to be way the hell up in the second balcony. Seeing it play out right in front of me, this show that I've come to know so well through the film version, the DVD of the last Broadway performance, and from listening to the original cast album, was almost surreal. It was also just downright incredible.
I wish I could see it again! I know there are hardcore Rent fans out there who have seen the show countless times, but for me, this one night will remain a very special moment in my life.
I may write more about this in the next few days. I just felt I had to say something tonight, while I was still on my Rent high!
I'll be writing about this week's gay soap character happenings on Sunday, when I've had a chance to sit down and catch up.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Broadway & Vacation
AfterElton has some exclusive pictures of last weekend's Broadway Bares extravaganza, the annual show that benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and features some of the hottest guys on Broadway in next to nothing.
In other words, yet another reason I wish I lived in NYC! It looks like such a fun show. This year, in addition to the numerous hot guys of Broadway, the show featured Allison Janney, Michael Urie, and Mo Rocca.
But the men... oh the men! In addition to AfterElton's pictures, you can also visit the official site for more hotness, including video snippets of the annual shows.
One of my current crushes, Gavin Creel from Hair, was there as well, though I only see him in one photo on AfterElton. Ever since his performance at the Tonys, I've been wanting to see more from Gavin.
I bought the title song from the new version of Hair (I don't really know the rest of the show, but I liked that number) and I noticed that he'd put out an album a few years ago called Goodtimenation. Needless to say, I bought it from iTunes and I've been listening to it a lot lately. There's not a song on the CD that I don't enjoy. I love the slower, more serious songs that he pours so much emotion into, and I love the upbeat, catchy songs that are just a lot of fun to sing along to.
If I had the money, I would be going to New York this summer, just so I could see him in Hair! Alas, it will have to wait until some other time. I'm sure he'll be in plenty of shows in the future.
Well, posting may be a bit light here for the next week. I'm on vacation and even though I'm not really going anywhere specific, I have a ton of things planned, including seeing Rent with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal! I've been looking forward to it for months, so I'm really excited about that.
It'll be as close to Broadway as I've ever been and as close as I'm likely to get for the next year or two, at least.
I will write about anything that happens with gay soap characters this week (and there should be some good stuff!) but it may not be on the day the episode airs.
In other words, yet another reason I wish I lived in NYC! It looks like such a fun show. This year, in addition to the numerous hot guys of Broadway, the show featured Allison Janney, Michael Urie, and Mo Rocca.
But the men... oh the men! In addition to AfterElton's pictures, you can also visit the official site for more hotness, including video snippets of the annual shows.
One of my current crushes, Gavin Creel from Hair, was there as well, though I only see him in one photo on AfterElton. Ever since his performance at the Tonys, I've been wanting to see more from Gavin.
I bought the title song from the new version of Hair (I don't really know the rest of the show, but I liked that number) and I noticed that he'd put out an album a few years ago called Goodtimenation. Needless to say, I bought it from iTunes and I've been listening to it a lot lately. There's not a song on the CD that I don't enjoy. I love the slower, more serious songs that he pours so much emotion into, and I love the upbeat, catchy songs that are just a lot of fun to sing along to.
If I had the money, I would be going to New York this summer, just so I could see him in Hair! Alas, it will have to wait until some other time. I'm sure he'll be in plenty of shows in the future.
Well, posting may be a bit light here for the next week. I'm on vacation and even though I'm not really going anywhere specific, I have a ton of things planned, including seeing Rent with Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal! I've been looking forward to it for months, so I'm really excited about that.
It'll be as close to Broadway as I've ever been and as close as I'm likely to get for the next year or two, at least.
I will write about anything that happens with gay soap characters this week (and there should be some good stuff!) but it may not be on the day the episode airs.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Tony Nominations
Until a few years ago, the Tonys were the one major televised award show that I paid no attention to, probably because it felt like there was no way to really root for any of the nominees when I hadn't seen the work. As my love of musicals has slowly been developing over the past couple of years, though, I've started tuning in and this year I'm especially looking forward to doing so because several of my favorite people are nominated.
Jane Fonda received a nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, while Allison Janney and Stockard Channing are nominated against each other for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Angela Lansbury is nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and Dolly Parton is nominated for Best Original Score for writing the music to the musical 9 to 5. Those are five women I really admire, so I'm excited for them all.
Here's the list of the major nominations:
BEST PLAY:
"Dividing the Estate"
"God of Carnage"
"reasons to be pretty"
"33 Variations"
BEST MUSICAL:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"Rock of Ages"
"Shrek The Musical"
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"Shrek The Musical"
"(Title of Show)"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"9 to 5: The Musical"
"Shrek The Musical"
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY:
"Joe Turner's Come and Gone"
"Mary Stuart"
"The Norman Conquests"
"Waiting for Godot"
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL:
"Guys and Dolls"
"Hair"
"Pal Joey"
"West Side Story"
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"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY:
Jeff Daniels,"God of Carnage"
Raul Esparza, "Speed-the-Plow"
James Gandolfini, "God of Carnage"
Geoffrey Rush, "Exit the King"
Thomas Sadoski, "Reasons to Be Pretty"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
Jane Fonda received a nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, while Allison Janney and Stockard Channing are nominated against each other for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. Angela Lansbury is nominated for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and Dolly Parton is nominated for Best Original Score for writing the music to the musical 9 to 5. Those are five women I really admire, so I'm excited for them all.
Here's the list of the major nominations:
BEST PLAY:
"Dividing the Estate"
"God of Carnage"
"reasons to be pretty"
"33 Variations"
BEST MUSICAL:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"Rock of Ages"
"Shrek The Musical"
BEST BOOK OF A MUSICAL:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"Shrek The Musical"
"(Title of Show)"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE (MUSIC AND/OR LYRICS) WRITTEN FOR THE THEATRE:
"Billy Elliot, The Musical"
"Next to Normal"
"9 to 5: The Musical"
"Shrek The Musical"
BEST REVIVAL OF A PLAY:
"Joe Turner's Come and Gone"
"Mary Stuart"
"The Norman Conquests"
"Waiting for Godot"
BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL:
"Guys and Dolls"
"Hair"
"Pal Joey"
"West Side Story"
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"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY A LEADING ACTOR IN A PLAY:
Jeff Daniels,"God of Carnage"
Raul Esparza, "Speed-the-Plow"
James Gandolfini, "God of Carnage"
Geoffrey Rush, "Exit the King"
Thomas Sadoski, "Reasons to Be Pretty"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
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"
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A Few Reasons Why I Love AfterElton.com
There are a couple of things I want to share from AfterElton. First off, they have their readers vote each year for the Hot 100, a list of the hottest guys in the world, as selected by gay & bisexual men. This is my second year voting in the poll (which closes this Friday, so go vote if you haven't!) and I can't wait to see the results.
The reason I mention this is that today they shared Cheyenne Jackson's personal top 10 list for the poll. Cheyenne is one of my favorite guys (in fact, I do believe he was in my own top ten this year), so it's very interesting to see who he finds to be the hottest guys around.
The best part? Adam Lambert is Cheyenne's number 7 pick! You have to love that. Adam is the only guy that Cheyenne & I had in common on our lists, but I'm hoping that Adam is someone a lot of guys are voting for this year.
As if that wasn't enough of a treat, AfterElton also had some behind the scenes photos of Adam from last night's elimination on American Idol, one of which I'm borrowing, but all of which you should check out if you're a fan of Adam's. I think the best part is their picture of all the contestants mailboxes. Adam, unlike the others, needs two for all the fan mail.
Finally, they had an update on the upcoming Tales of the City musical, which I really want to see. As you know, I'm a huge fan of the books and given some of the people involved in the musical- Armistead Maupin himself, Jeff Whitty, and Jake Shears & John Garden of the Scissor Sisters- I think it's going to be incredible. It opens in July in New Haven, Connecticut, but will hopefully make it to Broadway. Maybe I'll finally make a trip to NYC and get a chance to see this.
Is it any wonder that AfterElton is usually the first place I go when I get online?
The reason I mention this is that today they shared Cheyenne Jackson's personal top 10 list for the poll. Cheyenne is one of my favorite guys (in fact, I do believe he was in my own top ten this year), so it's very interesting to see who he finds to be the hottest guys around.
The best part? Adam Lambert is Cheyenne's number 7 pick! You have to love that. Adam is the only guy that Cheyenne & I had in common on our lists, but I'm hoping that Adam is someone a lot of guys are voting for this year.
As if that wasn't enough of a treat, AfterElton also had some behind the scenes photos of Adam from last night's elimination on American Idol, one of which I'm borrowing, but all of which you should check out if you're a fan of Adam's. I think the best part is their picture of all the contestants mailboxes. Adam, unlike the others, needs two for all the fan mail.
Finally, they had an update on the upcoming Tales of the City musical, which I really want to see. As you know, I'm a huge fan of the books and given some of the people involved in the musical- Armistead Maupin himself, Jeff Whitty, and Jake Shears & John Garden of the Scissor Sisters- I think it's going to be incredible. It opens in July in New Haven, Connecticut, but will hopefully make it to Broadway. Maybe I'll finally make a trip to NYC and get a chance to see this.
Is it any wonder that AfterElton is usually the first place I go when I get online?
Friday, March 13, 2009
Broadway On Lambert
I just came across this Broadway.com article on Adam Lambert, in which several of his former stage co-stars talk about the Adam they know. I just thought I'd share it because as you all know by now, I'm totally enthralled by all things Adam and feel that everyone else should be as well!
Megan Hilty, who was in Wicked with Adam and is currently on Broadway in the new musical 9 to 5 as Doralee, the Dolly Parton character, was one of Adam's co-stars who spoke about him:
Check out the whole article if you're interested in Adam at all, there is some really cool stuff about him.
Speaking of 9 to 5, by the way, this is another show I really wish I could see, not only because I love the film version and think Dolly Parton (who wrote the songs for the musical) is amazing, but because one of my favorite actresses, Allison Janney, is starring in it as Violet, the Lily Tomlin character.
I really need to just plan a trip to New York, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it any time soon!
By the way, I was reading online that next week is going to be Grand Ole Opry week on American Idol. I can't quite picture any of these 11 contestants singing country music, so that's going to be interesting, to say the least.
Megan Hilty, who was in Wicked with Adam and is currently on Broadway in the new musical 9 to 5 as Doralee, the Dolly Parton character, was one of Adam's co-stars who spoke about him:
How did you meet?
We met on tour with Wicked, and then worked together again in the L.A. company [of the show]. Since he was the Fiyero understudy we got to have our little moments together onstage, whenever I was lucky enough.
We met on tour with Wicked, and then worked together again in the L.A. company [of the show]. Since he was the Fiyero understudy we got to have our little moments together onstage, whenever I was lucky enough.
What did you think the first time you heard him sing?
The first time he went on as Fiyero, I couldn’t believe it. I was warned before how amazing he was, but you can only be prepared for so much. It’s funny because we’d go out and do karaoke for fun, and the whole party would stop when he got up to sing. It was kind of, like, ‘He’s too good, I can’t go after that!’ He’s a joy to be around, so they’re very lucky to be around him out there in Hollywood.
Favorite performance of his?
It was always during karaoke. There’s a DVD of it somewhere. Oh, God. It was some rock song I’ll never remember the name of, but the whole bar—people we didn’t even know—just stopped. No one could believe what they were hearing. His voice is in a different stratosphere.
Favorite memory?
Oh, gosh. We were always doing silly things. What I can say is he’s an excellent board game player, and we always wanted him on our team. He always won everything.
What kind of artist do you see him as?
One of the great things about Adam is I can’t say he’s the next so-and-so. He’s so unique, and has such a special talent that I think he’s going to be the next Adam Lambert.
What do you think when people say he is too “theatrical” for Idol?
I think saying someone’s too musical theater is b.s.! Frankly, that’s offensive. It’s the easy way out to try and find something wrong with him when there’s nothing wrong. It also gives a stigma about who “Broadway” people are. I mean, we’re not people that overly indicate and put on a show wherever we go. I’m tired of people putting the “Broadway label” on someone as if it were a bad thing.
Personal Song Request: He’s done so much rock stuff, I’d love him to show off any slow tunes in general. People think they’ve seen what he can do, but you haven’t seen anything yet. I think he’ll show it off. He’s a smart cookie!
Check out the whole article if you're interested in Adam at all, there is some really cool stuff about him.
Speaking of 9 to 5, by the way, this is another show I really wish I could see, not only because I love the film version and think Dolly Parton (who wrote the songs for the musical) is amazing, but because one of my favorite actresses, Allison Janney, is starring in it as Violet, the Lily Tomlin character.
I really need to just plan a trip to New York, but I don't think I'll be able to afford it any time soon!
By the way, I was reading online that next week is going to be Grand Ole Opry week on American Idol. I can't quite picture any of these 11 contestants singing country music, so that's going to be interesting, to say the least.
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Lambert and Fonda and Hansis (oh my!)
First of all, I'm sure if you read any gay blogs online you've probably seen the pictures that have surfaced of American Idol's Adam Lambert kissing another guy.
There wasn't any real doubt for most people that he was gay, of course. I've been hoping he'd be the first American Idol contestant to be out while on the show (and hopefully the first openly gay winner!) and I'd say that these pictures have taken a step in that direction. Some of the comments I've read are speculating the the pictures will turn people against him and he'll be voted out early. I think that even before the pictures came up, people had to strongly suspect he was gay and he still made it in to the top 12.
Besides, you can't be a fan of Luke & Noah on As the World Turns without realizing just how many women and teenage girls love the idea of gay men! I think the only people who'd be alienated by this would be those of the religious right, and they weren't likely to vote for him anyway.
I'm not foolish enough to think that this show is actually all about talent, but I think it does play a large part and Adam certainly has plenty of it. I'll be voting for him and I'm sure many both in and out of the gay community will, too.
I debated posting the pictures or not, but in the end I decided that Adam is clearly out and proud in his life outside of Idol and I honestly don't think he's going to trying and pretend to be straight while on the show, so why not?
Vote Adam! Vote Often!
Towleroad has an exclusive conversation between Kevin Sessums (whose memoir, Mississippi Sissy, I read last month and really enjoyed), the incomparable Jane Fonda, and playwright/director Moises Kaufman. Fonda will be starring in Kaufman's new Broadway play, 33 Variations, which opens on March 9th. The whole conversation is excellent, covering both the play and a variety of other topics, including Harvey Milk, Prop 8, and Fonda's lack of status as a gay Icon:
There wasn't any real doubt for most people that he was gay, of course. I've been hoping he'd be the first American Idol contestant to be out while on the show (and hopefully the first openly gay winner!) and I'd say that these pictures have taken a step in that direction. Some of the comments I've read are speculating the the pictures will turn people against him and he'll be voted out early. I think that even before the pictures came up, people had to strongly suspect he was gay and he still made it in to the top 12.
Besides, you can't be a fan of Luke & Noah on As the World Turns without realizing just how many women and teenage girls love the idea of gay men! I think the only people who'd be alienated by this would be those of the religious right, and they weren't likely to vote for him anyway.
I'm not foolish enough to think that this show is actually all about talent, but I think it does play a large part and Adam certainly has plenty of it. I'll be voting for him and I'm sure many both in and out of the gay community will, too.
I debated posting the pictures or not, but in the end I decided that Adam is clearly out and proud in his life outside of Idol and I honestly don't think he's going to trying and pretend to be straight while on the show, so why not?
Vote Adam! Vote Often!
Towleroad has an exclusive conversation between Kevin Sessums (whose memoir, Mississippi Sissy, I read last month and really enjoyed), the incomparable Jane Fonda, and playwright/director Moises Kaufman. Fonda will be starring in Kaufman's new Broadway play, 33 Variations, which opens on March 9th. The whole conversation is excellent, covering both the play and a variety of other topics, including Harvey Milk, Prop 8, and Fonda's lack of status as a gay Icon:
KS: And yet, Jane, you never in your amazing career ever became a gay icon like many actresses.
JF: No. I didn’t. I haven’t. And I know why. It’s because I have never been conscious of my presence. All the gay icons have very, very strong physical and emotional presences. Katharine Hepburn didn’t like this about me. When we were filming On Golden Pond she used to take my cheek in her hand and say, “This is your box. What do you want to say with it?” I never really gave a fuzzy rat’s ass about that aspect of it all. I never had that kind of persona. I was never confident enough. I just didn’t look the right way.
KS: But you always came off — in all your evolved selves — as a confident person. Many gay icons have a heightened vulnerability about them. You’ve never seemed vulnerable as part of your public persona. Well, maybe you had a Klute-like vulnerability to you at times.
JF: (laughs) I know what you’re saying. But it’s just not my style to be a gay icon. I wish it were. I think it would be a hoot because most of my friends are gay.
I've always loved Jane Fonda, ever since I adored the movie 9 to 5 as a kid, even though most of the issues it was highlighting went way over my head. To me it was just a fun movie with all sorts of crazy action sequences and even a bit of animation! Watching it as an adult, I appreciate it even more.
I really wish I could see her on stage! From reading this conversation, 33 Variations sounds like a fascinating play.
Finally, I forgot to mention yesterday that Van Hansis has been pre-nominated for a Daytime Emmy for his portrayal of Luke on As the World Turns. Each show's cast and crew vote amongst themselves to put forward two actors or actresses in each category for pre-noms and then the actual Emmy Nominees are selected from among those people.
If you'll recall, Van has been nominated for a Daytime Emmy the last two years in a row, each time in the Outstanding Younger Actor category for those under the age of 25. This year, Van is no longer eligible for that award but the cast & crew have put him forward in the Best Supporting Actor category, which is an even bigger honor, especially coming from the people he works with.
It remains to be seen, of course, if he'll receive an actual nomination, but I think that they'd be foolish not to recognize his work. As bad as the writing usually is, Van manages to spin gold from it all the time.
Congratulations, Van! I hope the third time proves to be the charm.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
V Day
I just finished watching Rent: Filmed Live on Broadway which I not surprisingly enjoyed. I wish that someone had filmed the original Broadway cast when they were still performing, but the final cast was really good. Adam Kantor as Mark, Will Chase as Roger & especially Tracie Thoms (who was also in the feature film version) as Joanne were all standouts for me.
I totally have a crush now on Adam Kantor, he was just completely adorable and sexy all at once as Mark. At one point, you could see some chest hair peaking out of the top of his shirt, which I found totally hot. Why didn't he make AfterElton's Hottest 37 Guys in Theatre list like his co-star Will Chase?! I mean, look at him:
Anyway, I enjoyed the film even though it was hard to see anyone else but Jessie L. Martin and Wilson Heredia as Collins & Angel.
Well, I have a friend coming for the weekend (nothing romantic, alas!) so I'd better wrap this up. Happy Valentines Day, or Singles Awareness Day, whichever you're celebrating this year!
I totally have a crush now on Adam Kantor, he was just completely adorable and sexy all at once as Mark. At one point, you could see some chest hair peaking out of the top of his shirt, which I found totally hot. Why didn't he make AfterElton's Hottest 37 Guys in Theatre list like his co-star Will Chase?! I mean, look at him:
Anyway, I enjoyed the film even though it was hard to see anyone else but Jessie L. Martin and Wilson Heredia as Collins & Angel.
Well, I have a friend coming for the weekend (nothing romantic, alas!) so I'd better wrap this up. Happy Valentines Day, or Singles Awareness Day, whichever you're celebrating this year!
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