Best Buy Is The Word

Well, this post may not be as timely as I had hoped when I first started composing it, but there has been a lot going on for your reading enjoyment.  To start with, Tuesday kicked off the fall CD release season with not one but two highly anticipated CD's (and by highly anticipated I mean that I rushed right out for them); Annie Lennox's Songs of Mass Destruction, and the Grease cast recording.  Even though I have some Borders certificates to use, I was hoping not to have to drive to the nearest Borders in Randhurst to get Grease.  So, Tuesday morning I went to Best Buy's website and of course they had Annie Lennox, but I was shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, when I did an inventory search for Grease and it showed that the Best Buy 5 minutes away from work actually had it in stock, although no other Best Buy's in northern Illinois apparently did (that last part not being shocking at all).  So at lunch I hopped into my car, with the sagging tire, and headed to Best Buy where I picked them both up.  I was expecting one, maybe two copies of Grease, but there actually about ten.  I don't know how they figured there would be that much demand for it, but I was very happy to see that.  Hopefully they will see that there is an audience for these CD's and not the weekly ghetto offerings cranked out by the major labels, and start stocking up more cast albums and Broadway vocalists.  I hurried back to work and popped them in the CD player.  As expected, Annie was fabulous.  It usually takes a few listens for her albums to really sink in, and I'm not quite there yet, but in a few more days I should be.  The first time I listened to Bare, the only song that stuck out was Pavement Cracks, but now I can't just listen to one song off the CD, if I start it, I have to listen to it all the way through, it works so well as a whole, and I know the same thing will happen here.  She's very much a fabulous acquired taste.  Then it was on to Grease.  I'm a little disappointed with the packaging.  The cover is the cheesiest cast album cover I have ever seen, period.  It's a mostly red background, transitioning to blue about 7/8 of the way down, has the Grease title logo at the bottom, and then a large picture of Max and Laura in the middle, in a pose reminiscent of  Howard Keel and what's her name at the end of Kiss Me Kate, the movie, where they're superimposed over the audience in the theatre.  Laura looks like Olivia N-J, but from the Xanadu poster, not Grease, and Max looks like he's well on his way to being stoned.  It's the oddest thing.  Opening the case up, there's a color photo on the back of the booklet with a scene from the show, but Max is kissing Laura, and from the angle the picture was taken, you really can't see either of their faces.  Opening up the booklet, all the rest of the pictures, including the inner cover pictures, are B&W, there are no other color pictures of Max except for one very small thumbnail on the back of the CD case.  The booklet contains the show and album credits, and the lyrics to all the songs, and that's it.  There's no plot synopsis (not that one is needed, but it's still a sign of quality), no essay or notes about the show itself, and not one word about the casting process.  It really comes across as being a half-assed effort (which is almost exactly what EW said about the show itself).  The CD itself is not too bad, considering the show.  The music isn't nearly as grating as the movie soundtrack and Max and Laura do very well, although I'm disappointed that Max only has one solo, the lead on one ensemble number, and co-lead on another ensemble number.  I guess a potential featured actor nomination is pretty accurate.

 

Now what do I mean by that last sentence you ask?  Well, I will tell you.  The Tony awards committee met for the first time this season on Tuesday and made two announcents.  One, for Xanadu, Tony Roberts will be considered for featured actor (a wise decision, with his name above the credits he normally would be up for lead even though his part is more supporting, the way Debra Monk was nominated for lead in Curtains, and he will have a better chance of winning in the featured category), and Cheyenne will be eligible for a leading actor nomination even though his name was not in the program on opening night due to his filling in at the last minute when James Carpinello was injured.  Then, they simply said that all other decisions are consistent with the opening night credits.  Well, looking at the Grease credits in the CD booklet, only the producer's names are above the title, Max and Laura's names are immediately below, and then everyone else's are below them.  That means barring any future petitions by the producers, they will be eligible for nomination in the featured categories even though their roles are essentially leads (the same thing happend to Chita Rivera with Bye Bye Birdie in I think 1956, although correct me if I'm wrong on that, since she was a newcomer, the producers but her name below the title and only Dick's above so she got nominated for featured performer and lost to someone who really did have a featured role).  So, Max and Cheyenne will not be competing against each other and we could potentially have two hotties taking home the awards, although my money right now would be on Tony over Max and Lin-Manuel Miranda from In The Heights for lead.  However, there's A LOT happening between now and then so stay tuned.  The fight has only just begun.  Then, the next day, the producers of Xanadu announced that James Carpinello will not return to the show and Cheyenne will take over permanently, although they will work around his filming schedule, which was what led him to decline the offer after he did the workshop and the casting of James in the first place.  They made a very vague statement that they hope to find "a place" for James on the tour.

 

Also on Wednesay, I FINALLY got my car taken care of at Car-X.  I was at our downtown office all day so I dropped it off on the way and took the bus, which worked out fine, and I got there in about 25 minutes.  However, it took just over an hour and a half to get back after work.  The CTA is so fucking ridiculous I can't believe they even have the gall to be asking for more money than they already get.  I took the Madison bus to Ashland, which was not a problem, but then waited forever for an Ashland bus.  After about 20 minutes and one bug bite later, an express bus showed up.  The sign at the bus stop said it made "limited stops" but did not indicate where and the sign on the front said it was going to the Sheridan Red Line station, so I figured it was a straight run and did not get on, figuring I'd wait for a local, which is what I had taken down that morning.  Well, another 20 minutes go by and another express bus pulls up, so I figure I'll at least give it a shot, and got on and asked the driver how close he got to Fullerton & Ashland which is the nearest intersection to the Car-X and he said that he did stop there.  However, he made every single stop between Madison and Fullerton, calling that bus an express was blatant false advertising.  If that really was an express, I am so glad I didn't get on a local, I'd still be on it now.  Then, about a mile away from Fullerton, this woman gets on pushing the largest stroller in baby history.  People on the side had to pull their legs up so she could push it past.  How fucking inconsiderate, and she had the nerve to act like she was frazzled and annoyed.  If you don't want to be annoyed, leave the kid at home or take a regular sized stroller onto the bus, especially if you're going to be on it at rush hour.  Finally, finally, we got to Fullerton and I got off and walked to Car-X and got my car.  The new tire is still full of air and the check engine light has stayed off.  Here's hoping nothing else needs to be done before June when I can trade it in and get my Yaris.

 

Lastly, can I just say, the Cubs fucking suck.  I'm walking a friend's dog while she's out of town, and they live at Roscoe and Southport.  So, mindful that the Cubs are starting their (hopefully last) playoff game at home at 5:00 pm, I went over right after my last appointment this afternoon, and got there around 2:30, thinking that I could still find a space, after all, I don't show up to the Lyric three hours before curtain so that I can sit at the bar and guzzle wine.  Boy was I wrong.  I spent more time circling around looking for a spot than I spent walking the dog.  I finally, just as I was about to give up and call her boyfriend to have him do it, found a spot on Racine just before Roscoe.  I pulled up, put my blinker on, and as soon as I shifted into reverse, this suburban white trash bitch all decked out in Cubs apparel, flies up and stops right behind me.  Where the hell did she think she was, New York?  No matter how bad I have ever had to deal with parking, Chicago drivers at least have an unspoken code, that as inconsiderate and awful as they may be while actually driving, if a person finds a spot, it's theirs, no harrasment or intimidation, everyone else just keeps looking.  Fortunately, the bitch got the message after about two minutes and backed up and pulled around and went on her way and I got the spot.  Had she been more polite, I would have let her know that I was only going to need it for 15 minutes and if she wanted to wait she could take it when I got back, but she made her bed.  I hope she's still circling.  I just don't understand this sports fan mentality that they have to get there half a day early and then sit around and get hammered to the point they aren't going to remember the game they spent a buttload of money on tickets for.  Hopefully tonight it will all end, at least for another year.