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.