Tragic news

Well now I am in deep disappointment. My trip to New York next week is off. My companion was supposed to take a deposition in Newark and it got moved to a different office closer to the Pennsylvania state line and nowhere near a train line, making it too impractical for me to go and get to New York. So, no nude scene for me. At least I still have Liza to look forward to.

Viva Liza!

I booked the Vegas trip last night, Liza here I come!!! I'll be leaving Chicago at 9:20 pm on March 29th and staying at the Luxor, returning Sunday morning April 1. I'm going to be haunting every bar in that hotel until I get her autograph. In another exciting piece of news, it looks like I'll be in New York for about 36 hours next week. My companion has to go to Newark for work on Tuesday, so we'll fly out Monday night and I'll take the train into Manhattan Tuesday morning and spend the day shopping and going to museums, probably the Body exhibit at the South Street Seaport, and then we'll see The Little Dog laughed, have dinner at Aquavit, and take the train back to Newark, and then fly out first thing Wednesday morning. I'll be sure to post a review as soon as I get back, we're both very excited about David from Roseanne's nude scene. I'm glad we're able to catch the show before it closes.

Grease Update

Here we are, a little bit late. I intended to do this yesterday but a careless driver apparently plowed into a power grid somewhere, knocking out power throughout the northwest suburban Chicago area throughout most of the morning and afternoon. The 24 hour delay helped me clarify some of my feelings about Sunday night's show. The 2 hour format didn't really help the show. It seemed too long and padded, and I really felt quite let down by the end. Overall, for the first time the guys were better than the girls, but very few contestants really stood out. I have to wonder, considering that they're auditioning for a Broadway show, why does the stage look exactly like American Idol's, and why didn't I hear one Broadway song other than the opening and closing group numbers (and more on those later)? Also, who came up with the inane nicknames for each contestant? Seriously, hot Danny, spiritual Sandy, etc? In order for nicknames to stick they should come from the fans. Trying to stick these nicknames onto the contestants makes the show seem even more aggressively marketing-oriented than American Idol. So, on to the show:

The opening number was one of the most bizarre things I've seen since Lestat. I was extremely unhappy that Max, given the honor of singing the very first line on a live show totally blew it. He couldn't stay in tune and ended up cracking on a sustained note. The two guys that followed him also couldn't seem to sing in tune to save their lives. The choreography was extremely bizarre, did Kathleen choreograph this, and if so, is this what we have to look forward to in the actual show? Finally, the number ended and we got onto the business of seeing each contestant individually, although they were introduced in an odd way of pairing them up, making it seem as if they were competing against each other even though that's not the case.

First up was Derek, a cutie and fairly talented singer. He got the show off to a good start, but by the time the show finally limped to its conclusion, I have to wonder how many voters will remember him. His vocals were good and showcased a good range. My only qualm is his designation as the "wholesome" Danny. Danny is not a particularly wholesome character. Derek needs to work to shed that label if he wants to make it beyond the halfway point.

Next was Austin, my personal favorite. I have not been fond of anything to come out of Texas since 2000, but Austin may change that. He definitely had that extra something that made his performance come alive, and he's the only one that I can see on Broadway. After his performance, Billy Bush, channelling Ryan Seacrest, asked him what he could bring to the role that none of the other contestants could, and he rightly said experience. I'd take that a step further and say that he definitely has a level of professionalism that none of the other contestants, male or female, has. I also hope that his early placement won't hurt him in the voting.

Then, the show started to go downhill. Allie performed the Britney Spears version of I Love Rock and Roll and was the worst female performer, and second worst overall performer of the evening. What the hell was Kathleen Marshall taking that made her think this was a good performance??? It was like watching a bad Las Vegas celebrity impersonator. If she was auditioning for Danny, it might have worked, but not for Sandy.

She was followed by Kate, who was the best female performer of the night, but that's not saying much, and I have a feeling that a lot of the effusive praise she received only happened because she followed Allie and seemed like Linda Eder in comparison. I also find it interesting that while she more or less hit the high sustained note in the performance, the producers chose to use her rehearsal clip in the recap in which she did not hit the note at all. Will she suffer in the voting because of this?

Then we got a surprise that was hinted at last week. Two rejected contestants were brought back to seed the finalists and provide some drama. Matt Nolan and Ashley A were welcomed back but their performances must have left the judges wondering why they chose to bring these two back and not any of the thousands of other contestants that had auditioned.

Matt was the worst performer of the night. His amateur status truly showed and his performance was the worst throw-away of such a valuable gift since Leah LaBelle, after inexplicably being picked as a wild card by Paula after a horrid performance, gave an equally horrid performance the next week on the third season opener of American Idol and was the first one sent home. I think the same thing's going to happen here. I tend not to make predictions since the public usually does not have taste (see Tamyra Gray, Chris Daughtry, LaToya London, etc.), but I think Matt is going to be the one kicked off next week.

Ashley A. did not do much either to show that she was worthy of the incredible second chance she was given. In fact, 36 hours later, I really don't remember much of her at all. I don't think she'll be around much longer either.

Jason then gave us the last truly good performance of the night. His bio stated that he was in Altar Boyz and it struck me that I actually saw him and he was really good. I have to wonder why he didn't stick out more in previous weeks. He brought it Sunday night though and while I agree with the judges that he does seem a little too contemporary for the role of Danny (a quality that served him oh so well in Altar Boyz), he could go far based on his talent.

Max was probably the biggest disappointment of the night. He just didn't sell the song, and compared to Austin, who has that extra something, Max just seemed to be missing something that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I think Jason may have replaced him on my favorites list.

Laura was not good. She had this affectation of giving a little laugh at the end of each line that made me homicidal. Thank god no one walked in the room while she was on.

Kathleen was ok. She had by far the most interesting song of the night, and I enjoyed the irony of the "spiritual" Sandy having the one song that repeated the word "hell" five thousand times. Otherwise though, while she was ok, she really didn't do it for me either.

Kevin did an ok job with a bizarre song choice. I'm not fond of Walking in Memphis, although Cher has a decent dance mix of it out there somewhere. His vocals were good, but not great. He needs to get stronger.

Chad was another disappointment. He is by far the cutest in the competition, which counts a lot for this queen, and his bio indicated that he was in a band, but his stage presence was lacking and he just didn't sell the song. It didn't help that Fantasia gave probably the definitive reality show audition rendition of the song a few years ago on Idol and he just couldn't compete.

Juliana's voice was way too thin. She had no confidence and couldn't seem to cut it. By this point, I was so sick of blah performers that I was really tuning out.

Ashley S. ended the show with a whimper. She seems to be the favorite, but she rubs me the wrong way, possibly because something about her eyes and the shape of her face give her an uncanny physical resemblance to Lindsay Lohan and it makes me want to run screaming from the room whenever I see her. Thousands of contestants on Idol have performed the Shoop Shoop song so much better than she did. I really can't see any of the girls on Broadway based on Sunday night's performances.

We then still had about 20 minutes to fill, oh the pitfalls of live tv. We got more thoughts from the judges who all seemed too nice based on the mediocrity we had just seen throughout the past hour and 40 minutes. They have got to be nervous. The show finally came to an end with another group number and this time Matt and Ashley were included. Unfortunately, the song was We Go Together, which drives me nuts. The lyrics are so lame-ass and inane they make me cringe and while the choreography was marginally better than the opening number and the performers sounded much better togehter than individually, I was so glad when the show came to an end. Hopefully next week it was be back to an hour and they can tighten it up. At this point everyone except Austin needs to get a lot better if this show is going to sustain my interest.

Devine Dreamgirls

Well, the worst happened and I have (barely) lived to tell. I got dragged to Dreamgirls last night and I am able to say it wasn't a complete disaster. For about 45 seconds we got to see Loretta Devine (the original Lorrell) on screen talking and slightly singing. Of course, the scene was not in the original Broadway production, it was a throw-away to us theatre queens, but it was a fabulous throw-away and a whole half minute more screen time than Chita Rivera got in Chicago. As for the rest of the movie, pure crap as expected. First of all, if Beyonce seriously thought she was going get a leading nomination for her part, she is even more deluded than I thought. Deena was firmly a supporting character and Effie was the lead character, which makes me hope even more that Abigail Breslin's name is announced when the envelope is opened. No matter what the category though, Jennifer Hudson does not deserve an award. Granted, I'm not her biggest fan, but she truly underwhelmed me. All I can say is, if Jennifer Holiday was dead, she'd have rolled over in her grave. For about the first half of the movie, it appeared that Billy Condon took his cues from Joel Schumacher's awful cinematic adaptation of Phantom and was turning it into a long music video, with all the singing being done by characters on stage and by offscreen voices to narrate the action on screen. A true musical has characters bursting into song walking down the street, and it wasn't until the We Are A Family number that the characters spontaneously broke into song. Also, what's all the fuss about Eddie Murphy? I didn't think it was that big of a stretch for him, and while I haven't seen the stage production and can't compare, his character was completely non-essential to the plot. The whole movie could have been made without his character and would not have suffered, and would have had the added benefit of being shorter. I can say a few good things; the new songs were not bad, although I wish they had been song by other people, and the set/production design was dead on. It's too bad there's no Oscar for production design, it would be the one category Dreamgirls would deserve to win in. So, to restore my faith in musicals, I spent this afternoon watching Call Me Madam, and was delighted. Definitely one of Merman's best celluloid performances, the director should have won an Oscar for getting her to act to the camera instead of her usual acting to the balcony. Great music, great sets and costumes, and a wonderful cast, that is what movie musicals should be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get to Grease YTOTIW. See you tomorrow.

Why?

In a puzzling piece of news, Les Miz creators Boublil and Schonberg announced that they are already at work on a new musical, before The Pirate Queen has even had a chance to ground itself on Broadway. This begs the question, why? I would think they would want to see how PQ is going to play out before trying again. After Martin Guerre and now PQ, it's obvious they need to rethink their creation process. Interestingly, both of them will be tackling the book and lyrics with a new collaborator writing the music. I would think it should be the other way around. The music has always been their strong point, lyrics not so much. Working in their favor though is a return to their bread and butter by updating a classic. It looks like they're updating La Traviata to WWII. I'm skeptical but intrigued. Hopefully it won't take another 18 years to get this one up and running.

Stench removal

It looks like the producers of the real Dreamgirls are taking action to remove the stench of the movie. There are tentative plans for a Broadway revival sometime soon. Of course, "soon" could mean 5 years or more, or never at all. We'll have to see. Hopefully they'll get the casting right. The anniversary concert a few years ago had an excellent cast, despite a lot of ill-will from the original cast, but I'm not sure they'd be right for the parts in a staged production, although it's certainly about time Heather Headley got back to Broadway and quit turning out this R&B crap she's suddenly infatuated with. On a related note, there is a chance I may be dragged, very unwillingly mind you, to the Dreamgirls movie tomorrow night. I have registered my opposition to this plan, but my companion and houseguests are rather insistent. If I'm dragged, anyone in the Tri-State area should be able to hear my complaints as I leave the theater. Listen in, it should be interesting.

Fabulous News

After several uneventful days, I have some fabulous news. Liza Minnelli is going to be in concert at the Luxor in Las Vegas at the end of March, and guess who's going to be there? That's right, it's time for a royal road trip. Miss Minnelli will be performing at the Luxor on March 29, 30, and 31st, and I will be there on the 31st. I'm stuck in the balcony due to tickets going on sale at an inconvenient time and an inflexible travelling partner, but I will be there. My plan, which still needs to be finalized, is to fly out of Chicago the evening of the 29th (which is a Thursday), see Phantom at the Venetian on Friday night the 30th, see Liza on the 31st, and fly back the morning of April 1st. I'm hoping to stay at the Luxor so that I can hopefully catch of glimpse of Miss Minnelli walking around, possibly at McDonald's or the hotel bar. I'll have my Cabaret DVD and a pen with me at all times just in case. Plans should be finalized early next week, the available flights are already fairly limited and the hotels are not cheap, even on Orbitz. Finally something to look forward to before the Tony awards.

No Best Picture For Dreamgirls

Once again, God is doing a fabulous job imposing her taste on the rest of us. While Dreamgirls regretably leads the Oscar nominees in number of nominations, it did not get nominated for Best Picture or Best Director (sorry Bill, I loved Chicago, Kinsey, and Gods and Monsters, but you really could have done much better with this one), and fucking Beyonce did not get her expected Best Actress nomination(honey, if Madonna couldn't do it, there was no way you were going to). YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The downside to all this is that Jennifer Hudson is now virtually guaranteed a win. The voters are going to feel that they have to give Dreamgirls something and since she's the media darling with her fabricated Cinderella story, it will make the most sense to give it to her. Hopefully they can then hold off on awarding Eddie Murphy and limit the damage. I was disappointed that Notes on a Scandal wasn't nominated either, but at least Judi and Cate got their nominations, and it would be so nice if Judi could score an upset. I did like Kate, but Abigail Breslin needs to win that category. Any 10 year old girl that can pull off that dance deserves an Oscar. Here's hoping Peter O'Toole finally gets his due (and good to the Academy for recognizing Ryan Gosling). And finally, while this is the first year in a long time that I've only seen one of the Best Picture nominees, I am fully behind Little Miss Sunshine for Best Picture and Paul Greengrass for Best Director (United 93 really should have been nominated instead of Iwo Jima). Little Miss was a surprise winner at the Producer's Guild awards, let's hope that gives it the momentum it needs to pull a Crash, except this time the upset will truly deserve the award and the Academy can get back some of its relevance.

Grease Update

So I settled into Grease: You're the One That I Want last night for the Grease Academy and selection of the 12 finalists. I was pleased for the most part with the final choices, particularly now that Dominick is gone. Seriously, seeing him in the same room with the girls auditioning for Sandy was so creepy. However, the producers still have a problem with the guys. The only two that really jump out are Max and Austin, and Austin looks a little old for the part himself, but he's by far the most talented. If those two end up getting voted off before the end of the show, the producers should just fire the rest of the guys and call up Matt Morrison and ask him what he's doing. The girls though are all amazing. It's going to be hard to select a winner. The producers really did meet their goal of selecting 6 girls, any of which they could be happy with if she wins the show. The guys are gonna be a nail-biter though. Next week it's a 2 hour episode, Idol-style, and I can start providing more critiques of each individual contestant now that opinions finally start to matter.

No Doubt About It

Well, I saw Doubt Saturday night and I have to say that all the hype is completely justified. Doubt is the kind of show that reaffirms my love of theatre. I was glad to see that the theater was very full and the sound problems I noticed with Golda's Balcony were resolved. All the actors were very easy to hear, and not just when they were shouting. The show deserves all its accolades and awards, particularly Cherry Jones. She, and Sister Aloysius, is a force and nothing stands in her way. The other three performers all held their own though. It was truly an ensemble effort. The script reminded me of Shanley's Moonstruck in the way that it deftly wove humor into the early scenes, particularly in the way that the characters were so true to their roots (the 1906's Irish Catholic Nun at a parochial school in the Bronx, etc.) and then slowly stripped away the stereotypes to reveal the humans at their core. Unlike Moonstruck though, there was no love in these characters, other than possibly Mrs. Muller, and I don't think there's any child that would want her kind of love. This is truly the show to see at the first opportunity. It will stay with you for a lifetime.

Highly Stupid Musical

I was very glad to see this review in today's Sun Times trashing High School Musical. The concert version is playing an inexplicably sold out show tonight, so unfortunately this review won't prevent it from being a box office hit, but at least it got the truth out there.

Like most people, I never heard of High School Musical (or HSM) until after its Disney Channel debut. I'm not much for following hype but the fact that a musical of all things was suddenly so cool piqued my interested and I ended up renting the HSM DVD. What a mistake. Not counting Footloose: The Musical, it was the stupidest thing I have ever seen. Did anyone involved in making this ever actually go to high school? Grease is more realistic, and that's sad. I'm all for suspension of disbelief, especially since it's essential for watching a musical, but it can only be taken so far, and HSM didn't just strain believability, it whacked it over the head with a shovel, cut it into pieces in the bathtub, and buried the parts under the newly sodded football field. Really, in any high school other than the one from Fame, does anyone in the "in-crowd" want to be in the musical or even care about who makes it? Not in my high school. Then, by the time the end of the movie rolls around, nothing has happened. They all sing about how they "did it together," but as any high school theatre nerd knows, the real blood-letting doesn't begin until rehearsals. There's still plenty of time for the diva to arrange an accident for the leading lady. In no world would the diva acquiese her leading lady status so easily. The post-audition drama would have made a far more entertaining show, but instead they mistakenly think that the hard part's over once the cast list is posted. That would be like ending Grease: You're the One That I Want with the selection of the 50 finalists going to Grease Academy. It just rings false.

Now, there are plenty of musicals out there that found success despite having a horrible book. In almost all of these cases, success can be attributed to the gloriousness of the score. Such is not the case with HSM. The songs were all bland, limp, insipid, pop-wannabe confections. The fact that Zac Effron's voice had to be dubbed does not bode well for Hairspray. I can't believe the soundtrack is the top selling album of the year. For a real high school musical experience, get the Camp soundtrack instead, and rent the movie for that matter. That was a show that really rang true and had a glorious soundtrack to boot, yet in typical fashion was almost completely ignored by mainstream media while crap like HSM reigns supreme in popular consciousness. It's no wonder in this kind of atmosphere that Jersey Boys beat Drowsy Chaperone for best musical.

However, not everything related to HSM is worthy of scorn. About 5 minutes after the DVD ended, I turned on Mad TV and saw one of their funniest skits in years; a parody of HSM. Now if that was released on DVD, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Intriguing Anon

I'm very intrigued by this upcoming show, Anon. It's a great cast and it sounds like an interesting plot. Hopefully more will come of it after this too-brief initial run.

Disney-fied Broadway

On a sadder note, Beauty and the Beast will be closing this summer. I was a little skeptical of this one at first, but it certainly has stood the test of time, perhaps more so than Passion, the show that trounced it at the 1994 Tony Awards. It'll be sad to see it go. On the plus side, it's replacement at the Lunt-Fontanne looks to be The Little Mermaid, one of my favorite Disney movies. Hopefully it will extend Disney's track record and be worthy of it's cinematic source material. While we're at it, how about another original Disney musical? Aida was great, and with all the creative talent at Disney's disposal, surely it can come up with something more than recycling its greatest movies?

Life After Broadway

Speaking of inexplicably overlooked musicals, the revival of Sweeney Todd will be touring later this year. I caught this on Broadway last spring, with Michael, Patty, and Manoel, and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. Sweeney is one of my all-time favorite shows to start with (although the Lyric Opera's dismal 2002 production reinforces my point about Broadway and Opera being mutually exclusive genres). The concept, far from being gimicky, really worked very well, and the show deserved much more love from the Tony's than it got (again,The Pajama Game, really??? and again, LaChanze??? WTF?) This one is another must-see at the first opportunity.

Injustice

What the hell is wrong with London? Olivier Award nominations were announced today, and not only was Wicked almost completely ignored, fucking Spamalot was the top nomination recipient??? I consider myself fairly sophisticated and intelligent, but I cannot for the life of me find any humor in the vast majority of Monty Python's material. I thought the Holy Grail movie was dull, pointless, and completely absurd, so unless the humor and point are in the
absurdity (and I'm generally not fond of those kind of movies), I just don't see what the attraction is. On top of that, the Spamalot score does nothing for me. I don't find it clever and the music is nothing special. How the hell did this get seven nods? Contrast this with Wicked, the smartest and most entertaining musical since Kiss of the Spider Woman, which only received four nominations, one for director Joe Mantello, who deserves to win, and three technical awards. How the hell did Idina Menzel get ignored? She won a fucking Tony for Christ's sake. Here's hopeing Avenue Q pulls a repeat and ends up the dark horse winner again.

Catching Up

It seems an eternity since my last posting on Friday. A lot has happened since then that I've been dying to post. However, the royal palace is currently being re-painted, and my computer is not only surrounded by brain-killing paint fumes if I go anywhere near the room it's in, it's also hidden under layers of plastic sheeting. So, I've had to wait until getting to work this morning to update my readers on my eventful weekend. I've never looked so forward to getting back to work.

First of all, on Friday, my shipment from BMG arrived. I've now added
to my collection:
The Likes Of Us

Funny Girl (Broadway Cast Recording)

The Sound Of Music (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

The Music Man (Motion Picture Soundtrack)

Build A Bridge - Audra McDonald

Selections from all of these will find their way onto my internet radio
station when I get it up and running, hopefully soon.

On Saturday, I went to the Library and picked up a few more CD's:
Marie Christine

South Pacific (1986 Studio Cast Recording)

Tovarich

As usual, with most library CD's, they are all extremely scratched, but seem to be mostly useable. I was hoping to pick up a few additional CD's, but as usual, the CD section at the Harold Washington Library is so disorganized that even though their electronic card catalog may say that a CD is not checked out, that is no guarantee that it can be found. Hopefully when I return these ones I can find the additional ones I wanted. One other note, about the South Pacific recording, I'm usually not a fan of opera singers attempting to do Broadway, although Bryn Terfel and Renee Fleming's Under the Stars CD is a glorious exception. I love both opera and showtunes, but they tend to be mutually exclusive genres. However, the Broadway recording of South Pacific was one of the CD's that was supposed to be on the shelf but was nowhere to be found. So, I picked this one up as a consolation prize and actually enjoyed it. The opera singers (Kiri Te Kanawa and Jose Carreras) were not too over the top and affected, which usually happens when an opera singer tackles Broadway, and the addition of Mandy Patinkin to the cast helped provide balance.

On Sunday, I saw Die Fledermaus at the Lyric Opera and it was absolutely fantastic. I saw the 1999-2000 production, and while this one uses mostly the same sets (with some changes to the 3rd act set), this production was all in the original German, while the earlier production was all English. I think this actually added to my enjoyment of this wonderful operetta. Operas in English tend to come across as contrived and trite, and foreign language productions easily overcome this since even with the supertitles the mundaneness of the lyrics is hidden behind the incomprehensibility of the original language. This production is certainly worth braving the rain, snow, ice, and freezing temperatures for. Anyone in the Chicago area should make every effort to catch this while there's still time. Any opera that ends with a praise to champagne is worth seeing.

Sunday night (the opera was a matinee) I caught Grease: You're the One That I Want, and was much more impressed. I now have my eye on a few contestants, although I still feel the choices for Danny are fairly weak, with Austin (the guy from Hairspray) and Matt (the guy whose bitch girlfriend dumped him when he made it and she didn't even though with the mix of men to women, his odds of getting chosen were better than hers even though she was the better performer) being the most promising. They finally gave us some contestants to root for that actually made it through, and the talent in New York was much better than Chicago. New York is actually opposite of Chicago when it comes to talent and opportunity. While Chicago has far more opportunities than available talent, New York, despite the Broadway industry, has far more talent than available opportunities. Broadway is such a high-stakes industry anymore that producers don't really want unknowns and won't take chances on them. Then, once you get past Off-Broadway, there isn't much of a local theatre scene. People go to New York for Broadway, they're not going to trek to the middle of Queens for a local troupe's production, while audiences in Chicago are willing to travel around the city, and the layout of the city is more conducive to being able to do so. So, there are always more hopefuls in New York than there are opportunities, which worked to Grease's benefit. I'm actually looking forward to next week. And, while I probably won't see the final show, I'll at least buy the cast album.

On Monday, to get away from the painting drama, I saw Notes on a Scandal (excellent all around, I highly recommend it) and then went to the Borders across the street and using yet another emailed coupon (what a great marketing idea) picked up the CD of Singin' in the Rain, the original movie soundtrack.

Then, unfortunately, the holiday weekend ended with a big downer, the Golden Globes. Other than wins for Ugly Betty and America Ferrara, and to a lesser extent Meryl Streep (she was good and I love her, but Toni Collette deserved it more), there were no bright spots in the entire ceremony, and that is all I'm going to say on that subject.

Lastly, back at work, I checked Playbill's website and got the biggest thrill I've had in weeks. Avenue Q is finally going to tour!!! I saw the Vegas Production last March and LOVED it. Of course, I was familiar with the cast recording, but finally seeing it live was such a thrill. Idragged my brother to it, with the help of his wife, and while he is not a fan of musicals (it was his first Broadway musical), he ended up liking it. Don't get me wrong, Wicked is still the better show and deserved the Tony, but Avenue Q is still one of the best shows in years, and in a year with two great shows, it's hard to fault Tony voters, and after years of movie adaptations, it was nice to see a completely original show win. So, when Avenue Q comes to your town, don't hesitate, it's a must see, guaranteed to give you a good time, and it's got the best second to last line of any show ever (it got rousing applause from a strongly red-state audience). Don't miss it.
So, I think that brings us up to date. Until the next post-worthy event, Happy Theatre!

But can she sing?

First thing this morning, as with just about every morning, I went to Playbill's website to check out the day's news and was greated by a heart stopping headline announcing that Meryl Streep will star in the movie version of Mammia Mia!! One of my favorite actresses in one of my favorite musicals! It's a pairing I never thought of but it totally makes sense. Donna Sheridan is exactly the kind of character Meryl has made her career out of playing. The article mentions that she has sung before in two other movies, although I haven't had the desire to see either one of them, but for now I'll take their word and hope for the best. It certainly doesn't hurt that the original stage director is directing the film. I imagine she'd want what's best for the production as well. Now there's two movie musicals to look forward to, it's like the 60's all over again!

Next, it looks like South Pacific is finally heading back to Broadway for the first time since it's original run. I'm a little torn about this one. The score is certainly one of Roger & Hammerstein's best, up there with The Sound Of Music and Oklahoma. In the hands of the right singers, Some Enchanted Evening, Nothing Like A Dame, A Wonderful Guy, Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair, A Cockeyed Optimist, This Nearly Was Mine, and Bali'Hai are classics, a count greater than most musicals can muster. However, the plot leaves much to be desired. I saw a touring production in Chicago in 2001 and wasn't that impressed. Most of the important action in the second act occurs off-stage, and Nellie's hang up about the kids is so pre-Civil Rights era. The book will definitely have to be re-written in order to make this one fly again. With Peter Stone's death, the only possibility that immediately comes to mind is Richard Maltby, and we'll have to see how well he does with The Pirate Queen. At the very least, we can hope for a gorgeous new cast recording with true Broadway performers chosen for their talent and not their name value (I'm talking about you Reba).

On a sadder note, Yvonne De Carlo has passed away. She was part of the creation of a legend and will be missed.

Lastly, the reviews are in and Doubt in Chicago is a hit! Both the Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune raved about the production, with the Trib being a little more uniformly generous in its praise. Nine more days until I see it and I'll let you know if they were right. Happy Theatre!

Not so sure I want it after all

So, as promised, I'm completing my thoughts about the first episode of Grease: You're The One That I Want. The last half hour that I finally saw last night was a big let down after the first hour. In my last post, I mentioned that there was one contestant that I loved. That contestant was Rebecca Cuts, the pharmaceutical sales rep. She had a gorgeous voice and was the only one that I felt actually connected with the lyrics as she sang them. Too many of the girls tried to be Idina Menzel and since they're not, they ended up screaching out their songs and failing to make an emotional connection. Unfortunately, Rebecca's last name proved too apt, and in true American Idol/America's Next Top Model/Tony Awards fashion, being the best was enough to ensure that she wouldn't get any further, and she was cut after the dance auditions. Seeing as how none of the other contestants really grabbed my attention, there isn't much incentive to keep watching. However, I think Max Crumb (the slacker who was asked to make himself over) has some potential, although he may not be ready for Broadway just yet. I do still think Patricia (the tap-dancing cupcake) should have made it through with an eye on re-casting Danny's role as a lesbian. She was by far more talented than any of the guys that were shown. Speaking of showing contestants, was it just me, or was more time spent showing contestants that ultimately got kicked off than on contestants that made it through? I don't see how the producers expect us to get invested in the show if the only people we're allowed to bond with get cut right off the bat, a la Rebecca. I think that's what's contributing to my feelings of let-down after watching the end of the episode. I don't really have a reason to watch again. However, there is one more city to audition, so there's a possibility that we'll get some true talent there to root for, and once we see the ones who actually make it to Grease Academy and then make it to the final round we should have some people to get invested in. BTW, the contestant that made me wonder if she was really Martin Short trying out a new persona was the second contestant, Robin Rosenswag (not sure if I'm spelling it right but that's how it was pronounced), the one who was hard of hearing but still thought she had what it took to be Sandy. That's the kind of oblivious character Short excels at, and she did kind of look like him in a costume. I still think they should consider casting Sandy as a drag queen if they're not going to cast Danny as a lesbian. However, when the auditions got to Chicago, the producers apparently decided to go for another unusual twist by casting Danny as a pedophile. Seriously, what's up with that Dominick guy? He looks older than even John Travolta did in the movie. Just imagine if they cast him with Ashley or Carrie, the ick factor would be through the roof. Lastly, did the producers learn nothing from American Idol's attempts to cast in Chicago? Chicago has never yielded gold for Idol, Jennifer Hudson notwithstanding (and don't get me started on her again). The only other major contestant to come out of Chicago was season 1's Jim Verraros, and is that really want they want to emulate? Part of the problem is that Chicago has such a solid local theatre and music scene that anyone with any talent already has plenty of opportunities. The unsigned population has been pretty picked over. They would have been better off casting in Topeka or Minneapolis. Hopefully New York yields better results. Only time will tell. Hopefully, the producers will allow us to get to see talent that makes it through and give people a reason to watch the show. The more people that tune in and see attractive, talented people trying their hardest to get to Broadway, the cooler Broadway will be. Until next week, Happy theatre!

Monday's News: Grease and Dreamgirls

In a strange twist of events, I'm about to write something good relating to a musical I hate, and something scathing about a musical I love. First, I watched the first hour of Grease: I'm the One That I Want last night. I'm going to wait until Wednesday when I've seen the final half hour to give my full analysis, but some things just can't wait. First of all, even though I hate Grease, I really loved last night's show, and it looks like I'm not totally alone.

Grease is really not a good musical (and an even worse movie). The plot is lame, the characters stereotyped, the music insipid, and the ending is the worst ending to a show since My Fair Lady (seriously, Danny may as well just come out and ask Sandy where the hell his slippers are). If I had my way, I would have picked a better show to cast using a reality TV show. However, there's no denying the cultural impact that Grease has had, and even though it was just revived a few years ago and really not in need of a new revival, especially by Kathleen Marshall (seriously, The Pajama Game over Sweeney Todd??? The Tony Awards are now as irrelevant as the Oscars), it really is the logical choice for a reality TV show. It's got the built in audience that will keep the ratings up and keep the show on the air. As exciting of an idea as it may be, there just isn't the same built-in mass audience for something like Darling of the Day: Not on your Nellie. While the bulk of my comments are reserved for Wednesday, I can say now that after the first hour last night, there is one contestant I LOVE and a couple more that I've got my eye on, although they have a ways to go before they're ready to make this their Broadway debut. There was also one contestant that made me laugh and got me wondering if Martin Short was trying out a new persona prior to his nationwide tour. However, that got me thinking that if they really want to update this show for 2007, why not make Sandy a drag queen, or Danny a lesbian? Seriously, the tap-dancing cupcake would make an excellent Danny. So, it looks like I'll be sticking with the TV show despite my hatred of the show they're trying to cast. Who knows, if they go with my favorites, I might just actually buy a ticket. Hopefully, if this season is successful, it will give the producers some freedom to go with a more adventerous choice of show to cast next season, like maybe Carrie?

It looks like Dreamgirls is still holding it's own and as much as I love and support movie musicals, that's not a good thing. To start with, I love Dreamgirls, the Broadway show. It was groundbreaking in its time and the score holds up well. However, why did they have to cast this movie with fucking Beyonce as the lead? I cannot begin to tell you how much I HATE Beyonce. She can't sing, her diva attitude is unwarranted given her lack of talent, and her acting isn't any better. I'm sorry, but name value alone cannot excuse this egregious casting. What about Heather Headley, Audra McDonald, Brenda Braxton, or any other number of unknown yet vastly more talented actresses waiting in the wings? Then, there's Jennifer Hudson. In the media's race to create a Cinderella story, everyone seems to have forgotten how awful she was on American Idol (and incidentally, although much has been made of how she beat out Idol winner Fantasia for the part of Effie, as much as I love Fantasia, I don't think she would have been right for the part either). Her first audition as a semi-finalist was a disaster. She had a major out-of-it meltdown and didn't make it past the first round. She was brought back as a wild card and this time managed to sing without the hysterics, but still didn't get the audience vote. She only made it into the finalists as a judge's choice (and let's face it, none of the judges and definitely not the audience made good wild card choices that year). She was consistently in the bottom three, and only managed one decent performance before she got kicked off, none too soon despite the national howl that went up minutes after the announcement. Fame should have left her in the dust then and there. Again, there are vastly more talented people out there that could have done this movie justice. So, no Dreamgirls for this queen. I'll cherish my cast recording and wait for the Hairspray movie instead. Until Wednesday, Happy Theatre!

The Color Never

So the Chicago Tribune listed their top 10 picks for noteworthy upcoming theatre events in 2007. While I am extremely exicted about Doubt (January 20, 8:00 pm, main floor) and a chamber-style Oklahoma!, it was their pick for #4 that really brough my royal temper to a brawl. I know that Chicago is Oprah's city, so it would make sense that it would debut here, but I for one plan to have nothing to do with The Color Purple in any production for the rest of my life unless the Tony Awards Committee comes to its senses and revokes that bitch's Tony and retroactively awards it to the true winner, Patti LuPone for Sweeney Todd. I urge everyone with a sense of fairness, integrity, and good taste to join me in boycotting this truly insipid and musically uninspired show.

On another note, tonight is the season premiere of Grease: You're The One That I Want. However, since it is an hour and a half, the end will overlap with Desperate Housewives, which the Theatre Queen NEVER misses. Bravo is re-running it all week, so I'll have a post on Wednesday with my thoughts after I've seen the entire episode.

Today's News

There were three major events of interest to the Theatre Queen today. First, it was sadly announced that the Vegas production of Mamma Mia! will be closing next summer. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104642.html No reason was given, but 5 years is an extraordinarily long time for a Broadway show to run in Vegas, and Mamma Mia! certainly deserves all the success it has had.

In happier news, it was also announced the Celine Dion's show will be closing in December. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16475570/ There is a god and she has taste!

Lastly, Megan Mullally's talk show has been cancelled. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/104655.html Frankly, I'm not surprised. The show was nowhere near worthy of her. I Tivo'd it for about two weeks and just couldn't watch any more. From the very cheap-looking sets, poorly written opening segments, and F-list guests (really, Will Ferrell? Naked? Again?), the show just did not have the flair that one would expect from the woman who played Karen Walker for 8 years. Pick up a copy of hers CD (Big as a Berry!) and listen to what can happen when her talent isn't suppressed.

Until the next big event, Happy Theatre!

Another Acquisition

I was pleasantly surprised when I checked my email this morning and found a coupon from Border's for 30% off a CD. So, on my lunch I went and picked up Grey Gardens. I'm listening to it as I type and am greatly enjoying it. It's going to be a tough race between this and Spring Awakening at the Tony's. Until my internet radio is up and running, check out: http://www.accuradio.com/broadway/

In another pleasant surprise, BMG is running a great promotion: Buy 1, get 4 free. I just placed an order for:
The Likes of Us
Funny Girl (Broadway Recording)
The Sound of Music (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
The Music Man (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Build A Bridge - Audra McDonald

A queen can never have too many showtune CD's. Happy theatre!

Year End Roundup

It seems to be a tradition at the end of a year to review significant events that happened, and the Theatre Queen is no exception. So here, in a somewhat descending order of importance are the top theatre stories of 2006.

1. Mercury Theatre producers get Urinetown:

• While this story seems to be getting only ho-hum treatment in the press, I think it is probably the most important story of the year because of the possible far-reaching consequences if the Broadway Urinetown producers win this one. For those in the dark, in May, the Mercury Theatre did a production of Urinetown that they hoped would be a long-running sitdown. It wasn't, and it folded very quickly. Around the same time, a dinner theatre in Ohio did a production, directed by Hunter Foster (the Broadway production's star)'s girlfriend. In November, the producers of the Broadway production sent producers of both productions a nasty letter accusing them of plagarizing the Broadway production and demanding more money, even though both shows had closed months before. The producers of both shows are suing the Broadway producers, and the producer of the original Fringe Festival production has also jumped into the fray, accusing the Broadway producers of plagarizing his production. If the Broadway producers win this, it could hamstring regional companies across the country, severely limiting their artistic choices, and decreasing the quality of productions availble to theatre-goers who can't afford a trip to New York and Broadway ticket prices. The Theatre Queen will be actively following this story and reporting on any new developments.

2. The Schubert Theatre becomes the LaSalle Bank Theatre

• The Theatre Queen is normally opposed to willy-nilly naming of theatres after corporate behemoths, but after seeing the fabulous renovation of the drab Schubert theatre, I'd willing call it the Enron-Halliburton-Bush Theatre if they so named it. The theatre is now gorgeous, inviting, and much easier to get around, making for a much more pleasant theatre-going experience. My only quibble is that for the inaugural production, Golda's Balcony, we sat in the balcony and had a hard time hearing Valerie Harper. The incidental gunfire, bombs, and other noises were extremely loud and effective, but for some reason, Ms. Harper's mic didn't carry her voice as far as it should have. Hopefully this was a drawback of the production and not of the theatre itself. I'll be seeing Doubt in a few weeks and will report on the sound afterwards.

3. Babs Returns

• After 40 years, Barbra Streisand finally returned to Chicago, giving a performance worth every penny of the $374.26 the Theatre Queen paid to see her. The performance focused mostly on her 60's and 80's output, with only The Way We Were, Evergreen, and Stony End representing the 70's (which is the TQ's favorite period of La Babs), and only Music of the Night, Children Will Listen, and Smile representing her post-80's career. Still, she was onstage for over 2 and a half hours, earning a standing ovation for each song. As she was performing on election night, the much reported on Bush segment was not included. However, she still did perform Happy Days are Here Again and gave the audience a bonus, performing Stony End, a song she said she normally doesn't do on the nights that Bush was present. It was a night that will never be forgotten. Babs has said that this tour has helped her get over her stage fright. How about a return to the Broadway stage as her next project? A queen can dream.

4. The Pirate Queen

• Oh, where to begin on this one. Chicago has become a major pre-Broadway testing ground over the past 6-7 years (if only Andrew Lloyd Webber had realized this, The Woman in White may have had a better experience). Excitement was high when it was announced that after more than 10 years, the creators of Les Miz and Miss Saigon were finally going to premiere a new musical (let's not talk about Martin Guerre), and it would take place in Chicago. Unfortunately, the show was not good and was roundly panned. Apparently, they need to go back to their Les-Miz model and write the show in their native language, French, and then hire a top-notch lyricist to translate and modify. Les Miz was such a good show, but Miss Saigon's lyrics were so trite (without the helicopter, there's not much of a show), and the Pirate Queen was even worse. Hopefully, Richard Maltby can provide some needed CPR and get the show ready for Broadway. Less than 4 months and counting.

5. Flora, The Red Menace

• This often-forgotten show got a superb revival by the Heartland Theatre Company in Roger's Park. They used the Off-Broadway revival, which incorporated several new songs and provided a more realistic ending. Performances all around were first-rate. How about a revival of Carrie for next summer?

So there they are, the Theatre Queen's top five theatre stories of 2006. 2007 looks to be even better. Happy theatre!

Recent Acquisitions and Upcoming Events

As I mentioned earlier, I hope to set up an internet radio station. Being a good theatre queen, this queen has amassed quite a collection of showtune-related CD's. Recent acquisitions are:

Grand Hotel, The Musical
Redhead
Spring Awakening
West Side Story (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Oliver! (Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Urinetown

Upcoming events for the Theatre Queen include:
January 14, Die Fledermaus at the Lyric Opera
January 20, Doubt at the LaSalle Bank Theatre

Hello Darlings

Hello Darlings, and welcome to the Theatre Queen's blog. I will be reporting and commenting on all things theatre-related. This blog will have a Chicago focus as that is my home city and therefore I am most familiar with theatre happenings in the Windy City. Of course, any event anywhere worth reporting will be covered. Eventually I plan to have an internet radio station as well, and I'll keep you updated on the progress towards making it happen. For now, happy theatre!