I Did It!

Well, this post has been a LONG time in coming. Sorry to keep you all waiting, out there in the dark, but things have been very busy. Fortunately, this is week 8 of 10 with the current school term, so in another couple of weeks I'll finally have time to take a breather and get current with my writing again. So, just to clarify, because I think I was a little unduly harsh and have been getting some questions about it, Idina was not awful. She was good, just not as good as I know she could have been, having seen her in Wicked. I know she's extremely excited about her first tour, especially after her aborted attempt at joining the music industry 10 years ago, but she tried to cram way too much in. It would have been much better had she either took an intermission (and HOB reopened the bar so that we could get something to drink in the 110 degree temperature inside) or if she had just focused on the music and saved the skits for a different show. If she can tighten up the show, I would love to see her as one of Ravinia's Martini's at the Martin performers next summer, even if I do have to pay for parking. Lastly, I think I forgot to mention, she looked fabulous, whatever she had in that cup, it hasn't affected her looks. Hopefully Nero will work out and we'll see her back on Broadway soon.

Now, as for the title of this post, I finally got Playbill Radio to work on my laptop, and I'm listening to it right now (Barbara Cook singing Nothing's Gonna Harm You from her Live at Carenegie CD). I wasn't able to get it to stream through Windows Media Player no matter what I did, but I finally got the other mp3 stream setting to work. For some reason, Nero (the burning program, not the Duncan Sheik musical with Idina) was trying to open it and kept freezing because I don't have Nero set as the default player. I finally downloaded the file instead of trying to open it and then manually set Yahoo Jukebox as the default player for that type of file, and then deleted the file, went back to the website, selected the mp3 stream, and clicked on Open, and right away Yahoo Jukebox opened and began playing it. I have never heard a more glorious sound in myself, except for maybe Linda Eder singing I Don't Know How To Love Him at Ravinia in 2000, why hasn't she sung it again?

Speaking of Linda Eder, at long last there is news about her CD that was supposed to come out earlier this year. I know this is old news now, but for the few of you that haven't heard, the CD will be out at the end of September. If I Could is on the playlist, but it otherwise promises a "new sound" for Linda. Appropriately, the CD is titled The Other Side of Me and is supposed to have more of a blue collar rock sound, a very interesting choice, but seeing as how she pulled off other pop music on Gold and even got me to enjoy Jazz on It's No Secret Anymore, if anyone can pull this off, it will be her. I can't wait!

Speaking of upcoming CD's, Tuesday is G day, or more appropriately, P day, when the Gypsy cast recording finally hits shelves. Unfortunately I'm working at our downtown office on Tuesdays now, and I refuse to buy anything in Chicago after the recent sales tax hike (thanks Todd!), so I have to wait until Wednesday when I'm back in the burbs and can run to Borders at lunch (in my nice new car). I've got my coupons all set, I can't wait.

Another CD I'm very excited about is John Barrowman's upcoming CD. Yes, I know I've mentioned this before, but Captain Jack can sing and is finally getting around to putting out a solo CD (maybe Cheyenne and Matt will take a cue, although Cheyenne at least is doing a cabaret show later this, too bad it's a one-night-only benefit, but so was Barbara's 1993 New Year's Eve Vegas concert and look what happened with that). It's supposed to be a mix of showtunes and pop music, and is being released in the UK in November. No word yet on a stateside release, but that's what the internet is for. If I could get the Rebecca cast recording, Capt. Jack will be no problem.

Lastly on the music theme, have you checked out emusic lately? I'm a little peeved about their price increase, although it's not too bad, and the silver lining is that is has enabled them to massively increase their catalog. About half the increase is wierd fluff stuff, like off-label cast recordings, but the other half is fabulous. They've got I Remember Mama, so that is up next month, as well as more London recordings, including Lady in the Dark with Maria Friedman, which will also be up soon, and more solo recordings, including Debbie Gravitte's Defying Gravity, which will also be up soon. When my downloads refreshed last week, I got Kerry Butler and Kelli O'Hara as I had planned, but did not have enough to get The Frogs, so I put that on hold until next month when I'll get that and Mama, and I got most of [Title of Show]'s Off-Broadway recording. I just have to get two more tracks when they refresh again next month. I've listened to a couple and especially love "Die Vampire Die." I've got my own Miss Johnson, and I subsitute his name (Mr. Betcher for anyone who cares) when I sing along, it's very empowering. I can't wait to go see the show, hopefully in October, along with August: OC, Equus, and finally South Pacific.

Speaking of August: OC, tonight I'm going to see Superior Donuts, I'll let you know how it is. I've also added another diva to the fall's lineup. I'm going to see Duffy on October 20 at the Riviera. The Sun Times didn't care too much for her Lollapalooza performance, but her CD, which I got last week, along with Barbara Cook's fablous Live at the Met CD, is wonderful. Like Amy W's, it's short and sweet, but it's just as musical, and while there are a lot of similarities, which is what attracted me to the CD, there are also a lot of differences that establish Duffy as her own person, kind of like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. They both appeal to the exact same audience but had their own unique styles and stories. Anyways, with all that, it's about time to go. My battery is running low, so I'd better get this submitted before it dies and I lose everything I wrote, I don't have time to do it all again. Look for a quick post tomorrow or Monday about Donuts.