Now That It's Gone

What a weekend this has been. Of course winter would come back in a big way the weekend I had Mauritius, Xanadu, and Music of the Baroque on consecutive days (although granted MOB isn't until tomorrow night and the snow should be gone by then). Fortunately, both Mauritius and Xanadu were A+ Fabulous. We saw Mauritius last night at Northlight, it's got one more week and I HIGHLY recommend running to see it before it disappears. It plays very well on the small stage, it's very intimate which increases the sense of forboding and makes it much more disturbing. The highly stylized dialogue took a few minutes to get used to, both in the first act and after intermission, but it really helped to highlight the fact that the real story was in what was not being said. I have a hard time seeing it as having been on Broadway given the very intimate nature of it, but regardless it was terrific.

Then today, in the middle of a blizzard was the second to last performance of Xanadu, with the last one starting in about half an hour. Shame on you Chicago for not stepping up to the plate and making this more of a hit. We finally regain our status as the coveted first stop for Broadway tours and get a fabulous production that, dare I say it (please forgive me Cheyenne) was even better than it was on Broadway, and we give it a collective yawn! No wonder we're dead last for Spring Awakening. However, the producers also deserve some blame for plopping it down in the middle of the second worst winter of the past 30 years (second only to last year) while promising that it would stay until July, which only encouraged ticket buyers such as myself, still sick of last year's winter and not wanting to deal with this one to wait to see it later in the spring when the weather gets better. Of course people were not going to show up right away. That being said, it's a terrific production, and if you had had the nerve to wait it out a couple of months and invest in more of an advertising campaign, you could have had an Alter Boyz, or maybe even a Spelling Bee sized hit. The cast was top notch, and I do have to say that Max Von Essen is far more gorgeous in person than he is in those ads. I'm not sure what kind of filter the photographer was using, but he looked old in those ads when in reality he looks almost just about as good as Cheyenne (and that's plenty good enough for me) when he's in his real costume on stage. The only difference between this production and the Broadway one, in addition to the lack of a balcony in the theatre, is that they got rid of the mirror and instead put the mural on a wall which then opened to allow the actors to come out, which was more effective than the mirror anyways. Everyone did a great job, and my eyes were partcularly drawn to Jason Michael Snow in the Curtis Holbrook chorus role (although due to casting constraints, the other male muse was the tap dancer for Whenever You're Away From Me). He is quite the cutie and I expect to see much more of him in the future (and BTW, he was in the pre-Broadway and workshop versions of Glory Days!). Lastly, while I do know that sufficient rehearsal was an issue for the Broadway production and I did see it in its first weekend, I felt that this production flowed much better and seemed much more of a whole than when I saw it on Bway when it was more of a series of sketches, although I did regret in this production Caliope's classic line was changed from "gay men" to "gay people" which doesn't quite has the same impact since lesbian's aren't really into theatre, and particularly not musical theatre. However, it's a minor quibble and the overall production was excellent. With the right stars lining up, there could be another movie in the Xanadu story, bringing it full circle and correcting a lot of wrongs. I'd be first in line for tickets.

Speaking of tickets, Ravinia announced its season and once again I'm a little underwhelmed. The highlight of couse is Patti's return, although just as it was with Gypsy, she's here the weekend of my mom's birthday which creates some scheduling conflicts. There'a also the concert version of Camelot which I'll be at, David Hyde Pierce doing Cole Porter songs which is intriguing, and Kelli O'Hara and Paulo Szot offering an evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein to close out the summer, so I'll probably do those and maybe one of Dmitri Hvoretovsky's performances. Other than Patti though, they are extremely light on the divas this year, and even the CSO is keeping it pretty safe, no Philip Glass (or appearances by Mr. Glass for that matter), or other interesting works. However, that can be a good thing as I'm shelling out small fortunes for tickets through the beginning of the summer, so buying less Ravinia tickets will give me more for Night Music, Art, and Once on this Island. Anyways, that's about all for now, I'm trying to keep this short so I can enjoy the rest of my Sunday with a few hours of nothing to do before it's back to work and my final week before classes start again and I'm overwhelmed for the next 10 weeks.

No Rest For You Know Who

What a few weeks its been since my last post. I had intended to have this up on Monday, but I've been flat on my back with a horrible cold since almost the end of the opera tour on Sunday. I think my body put up with so much stress about whether or not that was going to happen, and if it did, how smoothly it was going to go, that as soon as it was over (and without too many actual problems thank god!), it just relaxed its defenses and now I'm being ravaged by all the bugs that my companion has been plagued with all winter. Fortunately classes are done and I have a couple of weeks to just rest and recoup with nothing at all to do. For the first time between terms I don't even have to study for the LPC exam, it really is nothing at all to do (and BTW, I got the confirmation from the testing company in the mail on Wednesday confirming that I passed and that my scores were sent to the state and that I should have my license within 2-3 weeks. Of course that means that I'll get the registration packet with more forms to fill out and another check to write in 2-3 and then I'll get my license a few weeks after that, the state does need all the money it can get). I've been fiddling with my mp3 player, finally updating it with all the new music I got and let pile up while I was studying and getting my music. With my most recent emusic allotment I finished up the Kander & Ebb compilation, got Sean McDermott's newer CD, A Piece of Sky (which is just ok, half the songs are good, but half are rather lackluster, he's got the voice but there doesn't seem to be much passion or conviction in his singing, I'm debating about whether or not I want the older one), Linda Hwang playing violin concerts by Grieg, Saint-Saens, and Janacek, John Barrowman's Aspects of Lloyd Webber (much better than Sean, you can tell that he loves singing what he does), and started on a recording of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations (which does have a Broadway connection as the Variations are the subjects of Jane Fonda's new play). The next allotment will be just enough to finish up the Variations and then I'll probably start on some of the older recordings that I've had in my Froogle list forever like Babes in Arms or A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine. The other good news is that apparently someone important is reading my blog as a couple of days after my last post, it was announced that there will indeed be a cast recording of The Story of my Life!!! It was recorded last week and will be released on June 2. It's on the Ghostlight label so it should be available on emusic and I can get it when my downloads refresh about a week later. I love it when things work out like that!

In addition to OD'ing once again on music, I've been quite busy finally getting back to seeing things. We did Miss Saigon a few weeks ago, the third to last performance and it was fabulous, and then last Sunday we had the opera backstage tour. We did get our picture taken on the stage, so when I get it in the mail I'll get it scanned and posted (and BTW, I know I said I'd post some Aladdin pics, but given Disney's litigious history, I've decided against that, the last thing I need is a court order demanding that I take them down and pay royalties for using their images without permission, so if you want to see them, you'll need to come visit me). Yesterday I finally got tickets for Xanadu (March 29 matinee, the second to last performance), A Chorus Line (April 21) and La Clemenza di Tito at Chicago Opera Theatre (May 1). Once those are done and a new credit card billing cycle has begun (extra important now that I've just renewed the Lyric and Music of the Baroque subscriptions and need to book my next colloquium within the next few weeks), we'll look at Pacific Overtures and Theo Ubique's highly acclaimed production of Evita. They did such a great job with Flora, I'm excited to see how they pull this one off. It is very operatic though, so I'm sure the stripped down staging probably works very well since it lets the characters come through easier without all the stage distractions, and it can't be worse than that horrible touring version that came through the Auditorium a couple years ago. New York appears to be permanently on hold right now, but there is so much to see here at home for a lot cheaper that I'm not too distraught about that right now. In addition to these great shows, the Art Institute has that Edvard Munch retrospective which is far more interesting than anything the Met, MOMA, or Guggenheim have going right now. That's also a lot more fiscally responsible right now too and keeps my money at home where it has more of a chance to come back and benefit me more directly. However, in a concession to the economy, we will not be renewing Northlight. We only really subscribed this season because we wanted to see everything they were doing, and next season is not so exciting, I really only want to see Souvenier, so we'll just get individual tickets.

Lastly, our hearts do go out to the Redgrave and Neeson families. It still hasn't fully sunk in that Natasha Richardson actually died, it was such a freak accident. I totally loved her 10 years ago when she was in Cabaret and came this close to naming my new car (at that time) after her, although I ended up settling on Bebe, after the star of the other huge K&E revival of the time since the white color of the car seemed to be more fitting. I would have loved to have seen what else she could have accomplished. RIP Natasha.

Keeping in Touch

Well, as I promised, it hasn't been another 6 weeks between posts, although it still has been way too long. No rest for the wicked, it's been papers and postings for the past several weeks with only two more weeks to go and then a short break! Obviously, I am not in New York, but will hopefully be there towards the end of March, which is nice because I'll be between classes and won't have to take time out to do anything, which is always a plus. I do wish Cheyenne the best with his cabaret debut tomorrow and hope with all my heart that it is the first step towards ultimately releasing a solo CD.

Cav/Pag was excellent, and we've only got one more opera this season, Abduction from the Seraglio on the 22nd. We're doing the backstage tour on the 15th, which I'm very excited about, although I've been told they don't allow cameras, which is somewhat disappointing. Still, the premium package includes getting our picture taken on stage, so hopefully I will get that scanned and posted.

I've got Miss Saigon at Drury Lane next Saturday, and that's all that's on the immediate tap. We've got Mauritius at Northlight on the 28th and we're looking at Xanadu sometime in April, it is getting extended piecemeal, and then I must get tickets for Chorus Line (can you seriously believe that I've never had a chance to see it in my ## years on this planet?).

In music news, Liza's CD is fabulous, although it kind of threw me that it was actually a studio recording instead of live like Liza's Back was. I can just imagine all the applause she must have gotten at various points, so I can understand how a studio recording may have been preferrable, the listener can actually hear her instead of only getting the audience. Plus, it's nice to have studio versions of My Own Best Friend and New York, New York. I've listened to John Barrowman (Fabulous), as well as finally the Guys & Dolls and Lady in the Dark Recordings. For an anonymous company, the G&D recording is excellent and is really making me rethink my stance on that show. Yeah, the movie isn't all that great, but I'm really looking forward to getting to see the new revival when we go to New York. Lady in the Dark is also quite stellar, much more musical than I'd expect a Weill show to be. I just wish I could figure out even just a tiny bit of what the plot is actually about! But, that's what Wikipedia is for, I just need to find a few minutes somewhere. I've still got Once on this Island (the London one, in order to avoid that Bitch, although speaking of her, I also listened to The Secret Garden, which I copied from the library, and that is a truly fabulous score, it's too bad the creative team hasn't done much since, I'd love to see what else they could come up with, and Daisy Egan totally deserved her Tony, it's also too bad that she hasn't done much else since), and Sondheim: The Story so Far on my mp3 disc in my car and should hopefully get through them in about the next week and a half, which will then be just in time to download a new allotment of emusic and create a new disc for the car. Up next is finishing the Musicality of Kander & Ebb and then getting Sean McDermott's newer CD, John Barrowman's older CD, and then starting on Barbara Cook's new CD with any remaining allotments. I'm hoping they'll get Next to Normal once that's recorded. I'm thinking they'll release it before the Broadway opening because it's free publicity, but we'll see. After hearing so much about it, I'm very excited to finally get to hear it. Something else I'm also excited to hear but probably never will is The Story of my Life. I was not interested at all from the pre-opening publicity (I really don't care for Malcolm Gets), but when they announced that it was closing right after it opened, they finally spilled the beans and the plot sounded really interesting. It's a murder mystery!!! That is not at all what the pre-publicity made it sound like, and I can understand the lack of interest. Hopefully with the small cast, it'll be a natural pick up for local companies (I'm thinking Bailiwick, but since they're currently homeless that's kind of a long shot. About Face would also be good, but seeing as how they've cancelled the rest of their season due to massive debt, I don't think that will happen either. Ironically it's probably too small for Porchlight, although there's still a good chance, or maybe BoHo, which did such a fabulous job with Sideshow on a shoestring). We'll see. I doubt there'll be a cast recording, but you never know. Anyways, time to get back to work. I'm not making any promises, but hopefully I'll get a posting up after the opera tour.