A Weekend With the Boys

Well, this was a very sad weekend. Not only did Xanadu close far earlier than its time, it was also time to say goodbye to one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, Paul Newman. He was a complete class act as well as a much underappreciated actor (really, one Oscar?). There will never be another like him.

Fortunately, I had the fantastic Boys From Syracuse to cheer me up Saturday night. It's too bad it ended the next day or else I'd be exhorting everyone to go see it. It was a top notch production, one under-miked performer notwithstanding and even that got fixed quickly. I do have to wonder though, exactly how they're going to pull off Miss Saigon. Obviously they cast the way the City of Chicago hires, through friends and family, giving every show a heavily Melrose Park-Italian feel. That might work here in a show with a classic Mediterranean setting, but I'm not sure where they're planning on finding the Asians for Miss Saigon. Anyways, the entire cast was fantastic, and it was nice to see Devin DeSantos, who was so great as Matthew in Altar Boyz and in The Most Happy Fella back on stage, although I do have to say that considering the weight he's put on since I saw him last November, it's obvious that Altar Boyz's choreography must be the best workout since the New York City Ballet copyrighted their workout routine and sold it on DVD. I'd love to get my hands on an Altar Boyz workout program. Anyways, he was fantastic, as was the rest of the cast. They did a great job with the classic songs, and finally seeing the show helps me understand the cast album a lot better. I can't wait to see what they do with Mame.

As I mentioned, today is Linda day, except I have to wait for tomorrow to go get the CD when I'm back out of the city and contributing to the corruption by paying sales tax. Of course I'll have my thoughts posted by the end of the day. Oh, and what in the world was Heather Locklear thinking? She's the last person I'd expect to pull something stupid like driving under the influence. And finally, the Sun Times gave Jennifer Hudson's CD a big, fat 1 star rating. Finally, someone else has seen through her bombast and called her on her lack of talent. Let's hope others follow suit quickly.

I Love The 80's!

Well, last night was certainly worth the 15 year wait. I've been dying to see Janet Jackson since her janet. CD in 1993, but have never been able to until last night. Despite putting out 3 crappy CD's in a row, she's still got it. At least the new one isn't all bad, Feedback is actually incredibly catchy, and 2nite and So Much Betta are also up there with her classics. Unfortunately, the boring title track inspired the worst section of the show, an S&M fantasty played out with audience members, that I really could have done with out. It brought the show to a screeching halt for about 10-15 minutes, and given that she had already done most of her hits, it sent a lot of people around me for the doors. However, once she finally got it out of her system, she came back for the finale and encore with a vengeance, rocking Black Cat and If, two of my favorites that I wasn't sure she'd do, with tons of pyrotechnics, which was everything I imagined her janet tour to be while sitting in my room on the night of that concert listening the the CD because my parents wouldn't let me go. Not only did she do them, she did about everything else, it was a 2 1/2 hour show, not bad considering she's supporting a failed CD and could easily have done a 90 minute montage of hits a la Whitney Houston's 1994 tour or Cher's Believe and Farewell tours. She did work in a couple of medleys which annoyed me, I'd really rather hear the entire song and either have the show be longer, or just have her pick a handful of her most meaningful songs and do them in their entirety, but I'm only really annoyed because it was Escapade and Love Will Never Do that she mixed together, and those are both my favorites and I really wanted her to do them in their entirety. However, she rocked a complete performance of Nasty as well as Together Again, which was the highlight of the night. Visually, the show was absolutely a celebration of her rise to fame in the 80's. Given that the opening act was LL Cool J (which was really sad, but he still looks pretty damn good), it would have been very easy to think we had stepped into a time warp and gone back 20 years, she had a huge faux-hawk and started in a a white sequened skin tight body stocking, and changed into an 80's style prom dress/evening gown, track suit, and a jungle-inspired ensemble. It was all a bit of a disconnect from the rocking music, but a reminder of the time we all loved her music, which really made the concert a make up for those of us too young to have been able to see her then. All in all, a great evening. Next up is Boys from Syracuse this weekend, Manon at the Lyric and then Jersey Boys next weekend, then Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde at Northlight, Duffy, Madonna, finally a break, and then Sarah Brightman, all over about the next 6 weeks.

It's not all good news though, right after I posted on Tuesday about Xanadu's imminent closing, I went to playbill.com and the lead story was an update that the producers decided to close it even earlier, and pull the plug after this Sunday's performance. However, the article then went on to explain that it has nothing to do with the quality of the show or the lack of an audience, the economic climate has sapped the producer's investments, and they don't have enough cash on hand to cover costs during the traditionally slow October, so they decided to lock in their profit and close the show, which is also what appears to be happening with [title of show]. So, it sucks that they're going, but at least they're going out winners. However, I forgot to mention a piece of good news, and that is that Shrek very abruptly left Seattle after only running not even 2 weeks. The press release made it sound like it was planned to get it ready for it's Broadway opening in early November, which is coming up, but reading between the lines, the abruptness of the announcement, and the fact that it played almost 5 times more preview performances than regular performances all indicate that it's a show in trouble. Why even bother with the Broadway opening? Just close the damn thing now, learn a lesson, and be done with it. In other good news, Legally Blonde announced yesterday that it is also smelling the burnt toast and will be closing in a few weeks. It kind of sucks for the girl that just got cast via that MTV reality show, but that's what she gets for joining a crappy musical. Next generation of Wicked my ass, good riddance!

Lastly, we all know that the long overdue release of the recording of Patti's 1980 cabaret show is almost here, but did you know that the recording of her late 1980's London show The Cradle Will Rock (her follow up show from Les Miz, prior to the Sunset Blvd. debacle) is also available? I did a search for her name on emusic to see if they had the cabaret show pre-listed, which they did not, but Cradle came up instead, so I'm putting Guys & Dolls on the backburner and will be getting Cradle in a couple of weeks when my downloads refresh, and then I'll get more of Guys with the leftovers and then finish Guys with my November downloads.

So, that I think brings us up to date. I've got one more week before school starts again, so I should get something about Boys up early next week.

Sad Days

Well, this is old news by now, but when I heard it a week ago I became so depressed that I just couldn't write. The end is here, Cheyenne's biceps are leaving Broadway on October 12 when Xanadu will close. It's a sad day for fans of quality musical theatre. However, they had a great run considering the almost unprecedented negativity they had deal with prior to opening, and at least Passing Strange bit it first. Plus, the guy they got for Cheyenne's part on the tour (and no, they didn't go with Carpinello, I guess he's even more depressed than I am and wants nothing more to do with the show), is really hot, so I can't wait for it to get to Chicago in January.

Just a couple days after Xanadu's closing was announced, it was announced that [title of show] will be joining it in the great hereafter on the same day, which was even more of a shock. Xanadu at least had over a year-long run on a show no one thought would last 7 performances, but the buzz on [tos] has been formidable. I'm pissed that I won't be able to see it, but I've got the cast recording. It does sound like something that will work well for local and community theatres, so hopefully it'll find its way to Porchlight, Bailiwick, or Light Opera Works sometime in the not too distant future.

Looking ahead to better times, one week from today is Linda day, the new CD will finally be here. Of course, as with Gypsy, I'll have to wait until the next day to go get it since I'm stuck downtown on Tuesdays and refuse to buy anything in the city after the recent sales tax hikes, but I'm sure she will be more than worth the wait. It already looks like she's got some tour dates lined up, let's hope she gets back here soon, maybe finally getting her own headlining concert at Ravinia next summer.

So, that's about it. There's a lot coming up between now and the end of the year, it seems like almost all my weekends are already booked. On top of Caroline or Change, Candide, and Boys from Syracuse, we've now got Mame, replacing Boys at Drury Lane Oakbrook in 3 weeks, followed by Miss Saigon in January (which I'm not sure I can ever see again after the fantabulous production I saw in Prague 3 years ago that put all other productions to shame). There's so much to do and so little time, I've already missed out on The Full Monty, although Marriott's schedule next season is truly superb, with Hairspray, Spelling Bee, and most importantly, Light in the Piazza, which you can bet I will be front and center at. In the immediate future, I've got Janet Jackson on Thursday (after a 15 year wait, it's so about time), and then the first opera of the season (Manon) next Saturday, followed by Jersey Boys (also finally) on Sunday. Then the new round of classes starts, so god only know when I'll actually get my reviews up, but it should be sometime before the end of the year. That's it for now, see you all later.

Finally

I don't have one of Lucille yet, but here's my refrigerator door at work. A fridge fit for a queen!

Here She Is Boys!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I realize this post is way overdue, but when I went to see Superior Donuts, it was the last weekend, so there really wasn't much of a rush to get a review up, and I've been so busy with school stuff that I just put it by the wayside. But, we're now down to the last week of school, most of the major projects are done, and I've just got a couple small things to wrap up this week, so finally I have some time to get my thoughts down.

First of all, Superior Donuts was excellent. It was great seeing Michael McKeon, and everyone else in the cast was excellent. It was kind of a weird story, and I'm not quite sure how realistic (there's no Russian mafia in Uptown, only the Southeast Asians, I'd imagine the Russian mafia would be in Ukranian Village), but they did get the Uptown vibe right on. It was very entertaining and just the right length. Because it is so Chicago specific, I can't see it having the kind of extended life that August has had, but you never know, he's in demand right now so anything could happen.

As expected, the Gypsy cast recording is FABULOUS!!!! Every day at work I feel like Jessica Walter in Arrested Developement, dancing around the office belting out Rose's Turn at the top of my lungs. Unfortunately I don't have the glass of wine (stupid sober workplace polices), but it still makes the workday so much more entertaining. I'm sure the interns in the office next to mine are thrilled that I got the CD. Once I'm done with all of school next week I'll rip the beginning section of Rose's Turn for my ringtone. No new CD's to look forward to until Linda's in a few weeks, although I got my bonus 10 emusic downloads and finished up [title of show] and started The Frogs. My regular downloads refresh on Sunday and I'll finish the Frogs and get I Remember Mama, and then start Guys and Dolls with what I've got left.

In show news, it turns out a green skin color may be more symbolic of illness rather than being flush with money. After only about 2 weeks of previews in Seattle, Shrek has already called in show doctors. Not a good sign. Most shows that need a doctor are completely incapable of being fixed (Kelly, Golden Boy, Subways are for Sleeping all come to mind), but every so often there's a show that just needs a new perspective and goes on despite all initial naysayers to be a smash (Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, and My One and Only come to mind in this category). Let's hope Shrek is in the former category, although the doctor is Jason Roberts, director of Avenue Q and Curtains, so they certainly went for the best.

Now, saving the best for last, have you ever wondered what Baby Jane's stage show would have been like had she actually gotten it to the stage and not gone completely bonkers on that beach? Well, Ravinia presented it Thursday night when Carol Lawrence (after a long delay) took to the stage. To set the scene, it had rained all fucking day since 9:30 in the morning, without stopping for even 2 minutes. I really was not in the mood to pay over $50 for a buffet dinner in the indoor restaurant, and it was so gross that the foodcourt was not going to be an option, so I stayed at work until about 6:30 just killing time and then drove to Ravinia, figuring I'd just run in, see the show, and then pick something up on my way home. I got there around 7, and sat in my car in the parking lot until 7:30. It almost brought back PTSD from the Deborah Voigt concert last year, except fortunately we did not have the apocalyptic thunder and lightening, it was just constant rain. I had decided that I didn't care about paying for parking, it was so disgusting there was no way I was going to hike down that forrest trail between the remote parking and the gate, and was pleasantly surprised when I pulled in, $20 in hand, that apparently Ravinia staff had decided it was too gross and just opened up the parking to anyone who wanted to pull in. So, I did get one more free parking for a Martin Theatre concert after all. I was worried I was going to come back and find my car under water, or at least so sunk in mud that I wouldn't get any traction to move, but I found a nice spot on a more gravel-covered section of the parking lot and that turned out not to be the case. I just left all my shit sitting in the car and grabbed the umbrella and made a run for it. I still got completely soaked, although not as bad as in New York, and got into the theatre. There were actually more people in there than I was expecting, especially given the lack of cars in the lot. 8:00 came, 8:05 came, 8:15 came, and still no Carol. At 8:20, this big queen walked onto the stage, and I was not expecting good news, and he said that he was Carol's son and she was still getting ready downstairs and begged us to be patient. He got off the stage and 8:25 came, 8:30 came, and finally, about 8:35 the lights went down and a video montage was projected onto the back of the stage of scenes of Carol in WWS and then over the years, accompanied by a fabulously 70's Love Boat-styled remix of a medley of WWS songs, obviouly pre-taped but fully orchestrated, and she came out in an over the top high necked, long sleeved, floor length dress in a weird salmon color, with a completely bedazzled torso and pleated skirt, with sunburst diamond earrings and a blinding diamond necklace. She did a medley of WWS, accompanied by the same taped disco mix, and Billy Cox came out and sat at the piano. Apparently his job was to turn the tape recorder on and off, he played very little piano, which is kind of a waste for a man of his talent and experience. She then launched into another very 70's Love Boat styled song, accompanied again by a recorded track, and then went into a very long monologue for about 10 minutes about nothing in particular. Idina and Heather take note, this is what happens to your career if you don't get a tighter stage banter down. It was definitely interesting in just how loopy she was, but I was also hungry, wet, tired, and cranky, and not fully in the mood. She did a couple more songs, a costume change into a hideously inappropriate at her age red dress with a skirt made of red streamers, and then went out into the audience and got 8 old men to come up on stage with her, spent 10 minutes teaching them a dance, then did a 30 second number in which they did the dance and then picked her up and carried her offstage. She then did another 1 minute long number and then brought out a special guest, LeRoy Reemes (I think that's spelled right, fresh off the Producers national tour) and had him do several numbers while she was offstage, which begged the question, if she had him on the program, how come once she realized she wasn't going to be ready by 8 (and there's no excuse why she shouldn't have been, she lives in Melrose Park for god's sake and the traffic wasn't that awful even with the torrential rain), why didn't she send him on as an opening act and have him do some of the songs? When she joined him after about 5 songs (all very well done), she was still in the same costume, she obviously didn't need him to buy her time to do a costume change. She then did a couple songs with him and again left, leaving him on his own, and after only about 2 songs, came back in another high necked salmon colored, very 70's dress and did 42nd street with him and then they both left and it was intermission. By that time it was 9:45 and I was so tired, but I was curious to see if the second half would get even more over the top, so unlike about 90% of the audience, I stayed. Seriously, almost the entire theatre cleared out like they couldn't get out of there fast enough. I do understand that there was a 10:08 train and then not another one until almost 11:30 so some people may have had to go, but come on, after all that, you're not going to stay and get your money's worth, especially at $75 a ticket? I was a little concerned that she'd take another 2 hours for her intermission, but she did stick to 15 minutes and came out promptly at 10, coming from the side stage door and walked around the audience. I was in the 4th row, square in the middle, so I never got any attention from her any of the times she came wandering in to the audience, but that's fine because I was not in the mood. It's not like she was Liza, Barbra, Patti, or Diana Ross, the only 4 woman that I would put up with that behavior from, and even Liza and Barbra both managed to start within about 10 minutes of the start time printed on the tickets. The second half was much tighter. She did a lot of tap dancing and then brought LeRoy out again for several Gershwin songs, then she left him to do Hello Dolly, impersonating all the people (except for Babs) who have played the part before, and then came out in the best dress yet. LeRoy said goodnight and she did Embraceable You (which seems to be the theme of the diva season thus far-Embraceable You and poorly conducted stage chatter), and then the most fabulous schmaltzy 70's disco remix medley of several light rock songs, the most noteworthy being Through The Eyes of Love. Then, that was it, no encore, although that may have been because the audience got up and left before the lights even came back on. They probably realized it was better just to cut it there and let everyone go. So, it was very fun and for the most part worth seeing, although the massive stage chatter in the first half did kind of get bogged down and went from Baby Jane campy fun to kind of dull, but overall it was such a sadly fabulous display of a faded star firmly stuck in the 30 years ago past. It was still raining when I left, although not quite as heavily, and I headed home, forgoing picking something up because I do not want my new car to smell like Taco Bell or McDonald's. The rule is no eating, drinking, smoking, or transporting of smelly foods or people. The new car smell is almost completely gone, so I would like to try to at least keep it non-smelling.

So, I think that gets me all caught up. There's nothing definite although I'm finally getting my companion talking about Boys From Syracuse, although we don't have much time left. I think The Full Monty is out, but when there's a glut of things to see, the shows I haven't seen before generally take priority over those I have unless it's Kander & Ebb or Sondheim (except for last fall's Passion, which I'm still kicking myself for not seeing), and even then I still don't get all of them, such as I Do I Do. Drury Lane Oakbrook is doing Mame starting next month, so my priorities are Boys, Mame, and Court Theatre's production of Caroline or Change, which is a real long shot with my companion. Anyways, that's it for now.