Entertainment Addict in NYC

Moving to Chi-Town

2008-07-20T20:46:00.001-04:00

Friends of the blogosphere, I can no longer write Entertainment Addict in NYC as I am relocating to Chicago.

Exciting, Frightening and All of the Above.

Wish me luck finding entertainments, tidbits and celebrities in the windy city!

much love,
Millie

PS. I'm not deleting the blog, because .... well, you never know.

city center is 1 for 3

2008-05-11T00:22:00.001-04:00

i was about to declare the 2008 encores season a bust, but thank GAWD for 'no, no, nannette'. a delightful cast, coupled with tap dancing and a deadpan rosie o'donnell as the maid surely saved the day.

and may i just say, beth leavel: I LOVE YOU.

that is all.

flerff.

2008-04-13T13:41:00.003-04:00

i haven't a clue why i haven't posted anything since january, but since it is now april, i guess my springtime resolution will be to keep ya'll updated on 'the scene'.

on friday, my compadres and i made our broadway debut.

well, not really.

but, yeah, really.

we bought the onstage tickets for xanadu and got to be featured dancers at the end (with GLOWSTICKS!). i definitely had a moment with cheyenne jackson and jackie hoffman. for $40, you'd be hardpressed to find a better time at the theatre. seriously. because they're on skates, they all roll around all the time, so you don't even have to worry about having to deal with only looking at their backsides. and even more, cheyenne jackson has a nice backside.

huzzah. i wonder if i get a profile on ibdb.com?

***

in other news, the summer concert season is upon us. i have pre-purchased tickets for alicia keys (w/jordin sparks), counting crows (w/maroon5 and sara bareilles) and john mayer (w/colbie caillat). it was a freaking lot of cash, but i'm sure i'll be happy once the hot weather rolls around on jones beach. rock.

what have you all been up to?

le sigh

2008-01-14T22:21:00.001-05:00

boo.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/114224.html

spilt popcorn, cherry coke, 2 wet napkins and p.s. i love you

2008-01-08T00:21:00.000-05:00

mix this punch with me for a second, kids:
1/2 cup gerard butler
1/3 cup of denny duq...i mean, jeffrey dean morgan
3/4 cup of hilary swank
sprinkle of kathy bates
dash of lisa kudrow
pinches of sex, death and irish accents

what does that spell?

a mother-effin', tear jerker.

i don't think i have cried that much at a movie since the sci-fi-religious robin williams/anabella sciorra piece what dreams may come which grazed the box office in 1998.

seriously. romantic tragicomedy is so not what i needed last night, but i did it anyway because i've already seen juno twice, and i couldn't bring myself to spend another $11.75 on it (even though it is totally worth it) and i was already at the movie theatre. i had arrived with the full intention of seeing oscar contender no country for old men, but when i got there ... i opted instead for the completely un-nominated p.s. i love you, starring hilary swank, who i will plainly state was not made for romantic tragicomedies.

i'm going to go out a limb here and say the book is probably better than the movie was. and sure 1/2 of my brain & heart completely succumbed to the joy & tears of the unbelievably predictable romantic tragicomedy script. but at the end, my eyes were puffy, i was still single and i didn't have any irish men holding my hand.

damn you, tragicomedies!

here's what i did like ... and you other theatre enthusiasts will appreciate this:
-susan blackwell, 1/4 of the genius behind [title of show] in a delicious 2 minute scene about an apartment. favorite quote: "i am NOT living in BROOKLYN."
-sherie rene scott, tony nominee and star of aida and dirty rotten scoundrels and currently ursula in the little mermaid as a teary travel agent for 6.2 seconds.
-nellie mckay, recently in the useless revival of threepenny opera as hilary swank's eccentric sister. (did you know she's only 23????)

--------------
p.s. i love you
directed by richard lagravenese
starring hilary swank, gerard butler,
harry connick jr., jeffrey dean morgan,
kathy bates and lisa kudrow

not so h(e)ppy about depp(y)

2007-12-25T23:29:00.000-05:00

we all know that movie musicals are hit-or-miss. we have been treated to some pretty decent ones of late. dreamgirls, for one, is a standout in my mind as last year's xmas day opener. bonafide screen talent (jamie foxx, danny glover) coupled with REAL singers (jennifer hudson, anika noni rose and like maybe beyonce) made for a pretty decent screen adaptation of the broadway smash which starred jennifer holliday, back in the day.

a few years ago we had the rob marshall vehicle chicago, which was not my favorite. here we had bonafide screen stars that demonstrated their ability to sing. catherine zeta-jones had done play & musical work before hollywood, but renee zellwegger was really only decent. queen latifah was the beyonce of chicago...at that time her film work was really relegated to bit parts and she was probably more known for her recording artist work.

but as we talk about the success stories, lest we forget the floppity-flop-flops. the producers, starring nathan lane and matthew broderick, trying to re-create their roles and their chemistry from the tony-award cleaning up broadway show, were an utter mess on screen. uma thurman didn't make matters any better in her turn as the swedish receptionist/dancer.

and while we're talking about shows slamming into the pavement on their way to dvd purgatory, let's reminisce about rent, the travesty that sat in development hell for years while the larson estate battled back and forth on movie rights. director chris columbus probably thought he did a pretty good job, but seeing adam pascal's hairdo alone was enough to send me running the other way. (tidbit: someone told me that in the commentaries on the DVD, someone brings up the fact that the "what you own" scene imitates the britney video for "i'm not a girl (not yet a woman)", and apparently chris columbus is heard saying "what?" ... oh to have been a PA on that set to save the director from this terrible comparison...

so here we come to the latest on screen adaptation, sweeney todd -- sondheim's gruesome masterpiece, most recently embodied in a john-doyle-actors-are-musicians production starring michael cerveris and patti lupone. but here we ain't got voices like mikey and patti. no, no. we have actors who like, maybe, kinda could get away with singing in their cars with the windows down. but these kids did not go to camp. that's for darn sure.

the score is mostly in tact, due to delicious orchestral direction by paul gemingani, and no doubt, supervision by stephen himself. but, little bits and pieces were missing, and glaringly so to the trained showtune ear. i for one was wholly disappointed by the lack of chorus participation in the overture. they were running credits and street scenes so why not the prologue "attend the tale of sweeney todd" to open the movie?

i won't rag on it, but johnny depp is not a singer. i would even say calling him an actor who sings is a stretch. helena bonham carter absolutely does not sing well, but mrs. lovett's songs are far more talky-talky, so you don't notice as much. who you DO notice are the young actors playing johanna and anthony. "green finch and linnet bird", johanna's delightful soprano ditty was pure pain. "johanna", anthony's haunting melody that reappears throughout the show was also in the disaster category.

the blood and gore just ... was. knowing it was a tim burton film, i surely expected it to be pretty nasty, but there was just something about it that didn't feel like the sweeney todd vibe.

overall, considering it's almost an opera, or at least an operetta, the lack of decent singers is really what stole this show from my good graces. are johnny depp and helena bonham carter really enough of a box office draw to make it worth the risk? can tim burton possibly work with ANYONE else in this town?

did these two even get seen for the movie?

--------------
sweeney todd
directed by tim burton
music & lyrics by stephen sondheim
starring johnny depp, helena bonham carter,
sacha baron cohen, alan rickman

autumn, winter, spring and summer with juno

2007-12-22T16:50:00.000-05:00

my friend over at as little as possible has been raving about juno since they saw it at some film festival earlier this year. as an "arrested development" addict, i have been waiting and waiting and waiting for the reunion of michael cera and jason bateman on the big screen (not really though, since they have zero scenes together.)

diablo cody's super-smart screenplay whips around a minnesota teenage pregnancy, and our star character juno, played with absolute whimzy by ellen page (formerly of the x-men franchise).

an opening sequence between page and "the office" 's rainn wilson (whose appearance in the movie is so small, one must wonder if other delicious exchanges ended up on the editing room floor) which includes the dialogue "silencio, old man" lets you know exactly what type of film you are in for.

cera is also wonderful, playing his george-michael-esque character spot on. my favorite line? "i actually try really hard", when juno tells paulie she likes him because he is so cool without even trying.

buried in the film is a bizarre role for jason bateman, and a relationship that hasn't been trailered at all ... i won't spoil it for you, but it's kinda shiver-worthy.

and who can forget the delightful allison janney ("the west wing") and j.k. simmons, stepmom & dad respectively, whose conversation about their preggers little girl in minnesota (nearly fargo-esque) dialogue is simply a hoot.

it should be in wider release now. last weekend, it raked in nearly $54K a screen, on only a handful throughout the country. it's this year's sleeper hit for awards season. i personally would love to see page & cody pick up some loot.

--------------
juno
written by diablo cody
directed by jason reitman
starring ellen page, michael cera, jason bateman,
jennifer garner, j.k. simmons & allison janney
nominated for 3 golden globe awards

unhealthy addiction to marathons

2007-11-24T16:20:00.000-05:00

this thanksgiving weekend has lent itself to hours of languishing in front of the television, and the programming of the networks is NOT HELPING.

i am torn between the america's next top model marathon on mtv (seriously, do they play any music anymore on this channel?) and the real housewives of orange county marathon on bravo. both shows full of superficial bitching, fakey-mc-fakertons and pure d-r-a-m-a.

exactly how i like to spend a chilly saturday.

and i just filed all of my unopened mail from the past 2 months. what a holiday.

um, november?

2007-11-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

ok - so, apologies for being MIA for almost two months. your faithful entertainment addict has been working 80 hour weeks at the day job. not joyous at all.

in any case, i haven't been getting out much for entertainments, but i have a couple of things to report on...

recently saw, spain a new play by jim knable at mcc theater -- the first show of their subscription season. veanne cox (caroline, or change) and annabella sciorra (what dreams may come) were an absolute delight.

saw jump down at the theater in union square. a bunch of vignettes with ridiculous dance and acrobatics that make any exercise you actually do during the day seem completely insulting.

and, my personal weigh-in on the broadway strike. playbill.com has day-to-day coverage, but my gut feeling is this: you can't do a show without stagehands. it's a thankless job with little to no recognition. they don't get awards on TV, their bios aren't in the program and they don't make as much money as the actors. i say, give them what they want.

i have tickets for ingrid michaelson at bowery ballroom in december, speech & debate at roundabout in december, kathy griffin at msg in january and matchbox20/alanis morissette at msg in january.

and, i'm going to GREECE in december -- the birthplace of theatre. i cannot wait to take a picture at the theatre of dionysus.

ok, so i'm back-ish!

millie's fall tv preview

2007-09-23T00:03:00.000-04:00

DVRs, start your engines!

i just spent the last 20 minutes setting up my weekly DVR programs as the new fall tv season kicks into high gear this week. i then spent another 15 minutes "resolving conficts" of recording thanks to the punk-asses at nbc and abc who have their shows ending and/or starting at 10:01 PM. do you know what this does to those of us who watch shows on other networks that start at normal times? DVR MADNESS! but with my ew fall tv preview at my side, i believe that i made some informed choices for my television viewing this fall.

first, let's pay tribute to the summer season shows that tided me over:

flight of the conchords: ****
this hbo gem was truly the surprise sleeper hit of the summer. pegged as "new zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo", jemaine and bret lived through a summer of craziness in nyc neighborhoods like chinatown and the laguardia airport lounge (large enough to be a neighborhood?). their antics and random-acts-of-song were totally refreshing. with nyc based casting director cindy tolan (avenue q) at the helm, we can continue to expect superb guest appearances to best this season's visits by sutton foster and the like. kristen schaal is a gem as mel, their one and only fan/groupie/stalker. crossing fingers for a renewal here.

my boys: ****
it is an absolute tragedy that the my boys season was so short! jordana spiro once again led the amazing cast into relationship quabbles, debt counseling, marriage and suburban un-bliss and more. this continues to be my co-educational sex and the city alternative. catch re-runs on tbs or view on tbs.com. there are also some webisodes of andy's (jim gaffigan) commutes to the city.

entourage: ****
oh the boys were in full force this summer ending with a pitiful showing of the ficticious medellin bombing at cannes. can ari and eric save vince's career from the bidet? why oh why isn't this show on ALL THE TIME?

and now, the 2007 FALL TV SEASON (according to millie):

M O N D A Y
8:00 PM - chuck nbc
::not exactly sure, but i am intrigued. also a friend of mine auditioned for the lead role, so i feel somehow inclined to view.

10:00 PM - the bachelor abc
::once again, my trashy reality tv indulgences rear their ugly heads. this is like the umpteenth season, and though the couples rarely stay together (andy and tessa recently called off their engagement), i continue to suffer through and live vicariously through these unrealistic, crazy, drama-ridden, skinny females.

new shows i'm skipping: the big bang theory, journeyman, k-ville, aliens in america

T U E S D A Y
8:00 PM - cavemen abc (starting oct. 2nd)
::i have to see how bad it is just so i can participate in the non-water cooler conversation.

8:30 PM - carpoolers abc (starting oct. 2nd)
::again, not expecting rocket science, but anyone that has any type of commute can probably relate to these guys. and i've got a lot of "heavy" shit on my fall tv schedule, so why not lighten the air a little.

8:00 PM - the biggest loser nbc (started 9/11)
::my favorite show on tv. i have been watching this season's episodes as well as the three previous seasons which have been playing on a loop on the style network. i have my DVR set to record the show ANY time it is on - new or repeat. this season is especially dramatic with 3 teams and the return of uber-trainer/sargeant jillian michaels.

10:00 PM - cane cbs
::i am actually considering breaking my embargo on cbs to watch this show. (re the embargo: for some reason, i NEVER watch cbs shows ... i don't do CSI or any of that franchise, or anything of the like, so that has left me pretty out of it with cbs... so to watch this show is like forbidden territory. jimmy smits and i got pretty close as the west wing closed out, so i'm willing to ride with him into his new show about cuban sugar cane. mmm, i wonder if they make splenda too?

new shows i'm skipping: reaper

W E D N E S D A Y
8:00 PM - pushing daisies abc (staring oct. 3rd)
::love time-travel-return-from-dead thing.

8:00 PM - america's next top model the cw
::yeah, that reality thing from the bachelor applies here.

9:00 PM - private practice abc
::oh, addison. wherefore art thou? hanging out with taye diggs and audra mcdonald! go broadway-does-hollywood! kate walsh has had her stage time as well, so with the acting chops this cast is armed with, i expect great things. roll in a little tim daly and amy brenneman and shonda rhimes has got herself a big ball of goodness for the first (of potentiallly many) grey's spin-offs. is o'malley's next? a show where george opens a neighborhood bar because he can't figure out how to pass the doctor test?

10:00 PM - dirty sexy money abc
::peter krause. 'nuff said.

10:00 PM - life nbc
::it's what's-his-face from hbo's band of brothers. i'm in!

new shows i'm skipping: bionic woman, kid nation (aka lord of the flies), kitchen nightmares, back to you, gossip girl

T H U R S D A Y
(this is the day that my DVR better fucking work it.)
8:00 PM - ugly betty abc
::oh, eric mabius. MARRY ME. emmy winning america ferrera leads a delicious cast of misfits through the underbellies of the fashion world. yum! [fun non-sequitor tidbit: here are the "plot keywords" listed for ugly betty on imdb: homosexual/sister/gay character/publishing /transsexual. a little general i think?]

8:30 PM - 30 rock nbc (starting oct. 4th)
::let's hope that this now emmy winning comedy does not go the way of arrested development: critical acclaim with not a damn nielsen family watching.

in the ULTIMATE TIME SLOT FACE OFF:
9:00 PM - grey's anatomy abc
::mc dreamy, mc steamy, mc lovin -- oh wait, that was superbad. addison's gone to LA ... can meredith and derek finally have some happiness or will we be disappointed with the trix rabbit syndrome. surely her half-sister showing up as a new intern is going to throw a wrench into things. bring on the DRAMA.

9:00 PM - the office nbc
::nbc is smoking crack for putting the office opposite grey's. the people who watch grey's are the same people who watch the office. i like my light comedy in the 8:00 hour and then i delve into my inners for realtionships and surgical gush, so this timeslot faceoff is total bullshit. but that my friends is a perfect case for buying a DVR. now hopefully they won't fuck too much with the starting and ending times so that my DVR will ACTUALLY record it. will jim and pam get together? no, probably not because again, trix rabbits. but now, ryan (b.j. novak) is at corporate with his MBA running the show. this should be interesting. his break up with kelly last season was in the top 5 tv moments all year, for sure.

9:30 PM - scrubs nbc
::it's on its last legs, but i adore zach braff.

10:00 PM - big shots abc
::josh malina, welcome back baby! the only new show to be introduced on thursdays has the powerhouse post-grey's timeslot ... let's hope the key demographics match up. we all know nielsen families go to bed early.

10:00 PM - er nbc
::i have been watching er since i was 11, so i sure as hell am not stopping now. i am a few episodes behind though, need me some dvds.

F R I D A Y
8:00 PM - the next great american band fox (starting oct. 19th)
::american idol isn't on until january. i need something to hold me over. besides, what else is on on fridays? nada.

new shows i'm skipping: women's murder club, moonlight, nashville

S A T U R D A Y
i don't watch TV on saturday. it is my day of rest-ish.

S U N D A Y
8:00 PM - extreme makeover: home edition abc
::tear-jerker galore, but i simply can't help myself.

new shows i'm skipping: viva laughlin, life is wild

PREMIUMS & DAILIES
no need for DVR, cause i'll just watch 'em on demand:
-californication (showtime)
-weeds (showtime)
-the colbert report (comedy central)

so, as you can see -- it's a busy season for this little addict. i will probably not watch any shows when they are due to air, because by watching them even just 30 minutes late means that i can SKIP ALL COMMERCIALS! join me friends, and tell me what you think and what you are watching!

the emmys: 2007 marks the dawn of a new era...

2007-09-16T23:16:00.000-04:00

...the era where free speech is selectively practiced?

ok. so here's the deal. like many other theatre, music & film mavens, i tuned into the 59th annual primetime emmys telecast -- hosted by ryan seacrest (ugh) and broadcast nationwide on our dear friends, the fox network.

the show seemed par for the course: boring, a few peppered surprises here and there and perhaps one or two enjoyable speeches in a river of "i'd like to thank my lawyer"-esque rallies. that was until fox decided to censor the show. they must have been playing the thing on a tape delay, in order to be able to prevent the american public from hearing whatever ghastly things these entertainers had to say. on two separate occasions, the camera immediately, and seemingly accidentally, cut away to a view of the emmy disco ball/globe with a panoramic view of the in-the-round audience with no real audio track attached, outside of some mingling noise. so the first time i believe it happened was while ray romano was talking about patricia heaton and kelsey grammar? not quite positive on that one. it seemed like the control room hit the wrong button for "go camera 2", or something of the like. bizarre. but then, during sally field's acceptance speech for her role on brothers & sisters, she began to talk about mothers and their role in "waiting for their children to come home" from the iraq war. as she continued on, the show again cut to the view of the globe and audience, completely losing the audio track of field's acceptance speech.

BULLSHIT.

at&t learned its lesson earlier this month with the whole pearl jam concert-webcast fiasco. an at&t vendor/affiliate chose to censor pearl jam's lyrics when they got political. at&t later admitted it was an error, but the damage was already done.

listen - i am all for the bleep when someone drops the f-bomb or other acutrements of profanity. but, outside of that, choosing what a television audience can and cannot hear is simply censorship. and it's simply bullshit.

i would really like to hear what fox has to say for itself. the republican engine continues to spin its turbines toward utter and complete totalitarian control of the american people, our money and our brains.

edit: the huffington post caught it.

gyration and beat boxing

2007-09-04T01:23:00.001-04:00

you must be living in a hole if you did not know that justin timberlake's concert futuresex/ loveshow was on hbo tonight at 9:00 pm. seriously -- they have been marketing this thing like it is the second coming of jesus, or, you know, like high school musical three or something ...

here's what i don't understand ... there is no ad sales on HBO and it's not pay-per-view, so why the obsessive marketing? what do they have to gain by having millions of people tune in? justin's selling plenty of records without hbo's help and i have not seen one preview for a new hbo show for the fall season.

i don't get it. someone enlighten me?

but, the main point of this post is to comment on watching a concert on tv. it's utterly unsatisfying and boring. you get no vibe, the sound quality on my hotel tv leaves something to be desired and their camera angles throughout this thing have just sucked.

i guess this works for kids out in the heartland who do not have the opportunity to see live acts very often -- and i guess maybe i am spoiled, but a live concert is a live concert is a live concert.

even still...i AM bringing sexy back.

august's filmy tidbits and other idle thoughts

2007-08-13T23:50:00.000-04:00

i am in buffalo on business and therefore have been seeing movies and watching television as my exclusive form of entertainment. thusly -- idle thoughts:

i have been watching so you think you can dance? religiously. you know me and my reality tv obsessions ... but, these kids are good. you can't like fake dancing the way you can kinda be a good singer on american idol. plus i have a hometown connection with one of the cats who made the finale, so woo, neil haskell, woo!
my boys has been so stellar. the season i think is half over, which blows, but the story lines have been excellent, with no trace of trix rabbit syndrome anywhere. that means more plot twisties. delish!
the simpsons movie was disappointing i thought. for something that was 16 years in the making, i really would have expected more. two points for the scene where grandpa is reading the magazine "oatmeal enthusiast". also, for a featured realization: yeardley smith, who does the voice of lisa simpson, was a guest star on mathnet the dragnet-wanna be show on square one tv -- straight outta my pbs childhood. anyone else remember the archimedes song?
the style network is playing the biggest loser on a loop ... with re-runs from season 1, season 2 and season 3. i have been DVRing all of them and watching them over and over again. i'm not sure why watching fat people struggle on tv motivates me to work out, but it does. 45 minutes of TBL while on my exercise bike seem to fly by.
the subscription people hunted me down. i renewed entertainment weekly, people and shape. i canceled the new yorker ... criminal behavior from a city liberal, but i just didn't read it every week and it's freaking expensive compared to the trash entertainment mags i read. in other subscription news, i renewed my city center encores! subscription as well as my mcc theater season subscription. thought about renewing merkin concert hall, but nothing on the bill wowed me.
i saw becoming jane at a dying movie theater with about 12 other people on its opening night in limited release. the following applies: british guys in period costumes are hot, anne hathaway is adorable but needs a better dialect coach and jane austen didn't have that rambunctious a life prior to becoming a published author, as stories go. i still teared up at the end, which in my rule book makes the movie an official success.

and that is all she wrote. today, anyway.

ruminations on city center's gypsy

2007-07-31T22:28:00.000-04:00

everything's coming up ... patti.

the city center summer encores "summer stars" presentation of gypsy starring patti lupone, laura benanti and boyd gaines, posed a good question -- is 22 performances enough? the run was the definition of limited -- a finite number of performances in a gargantuan, cavernous theatre, with the stars ready to bop off to previously made engagements when the show closed. so, why? in every other city in the world, theatre is not quite as open-ended as it is in new york. but, who's got it right? a city like buffalo, denver, atlanta, washington d.c. would announce a run for a show like gypsy as 1, 2, 3 or even 4 weeks. rarely would they extend, and no one would be disappointed when it closed, because it did what it was supposed to do. why then is everything in new york either a staged reading or a colossal commercial investment? what happened to the planned run of a musical?

picture this ... scores of rarely produced shows (the shows that are somewhere in between wicked and the musicals that encores! normal season "exhumes" for recreation) seen for 12-25 performances by new york audiences. i guess we would have to pose the following questions:

1. are the runs designed for commercial profit or theatrical value?

if profit, therein lies the answer.

2. why does it have to be all or nothing?

3. would stars take huge paycuts, knowing that they only had to do 22 performances and they could play a role they dreamed to play (a la patti takes on rose)?

4. could we get a little sense of seasonalities back on broadway?

straight plays are more often to be played for a limited engagement, but even then, we're talking 3 months at minimum.

the show was fabulous -- well designed, well rehearsed and well executed. better than half the stuff that took $10 million dollars+ worth of capitalization (cough::timestheyareachangin::cough).

think about it friends.

if they didn't want to pay rent then, i would hate to see the cost of their unfurnished industrial LES loft today!

2007-07-31T00:24:00.001-04:00

december 25th, 11 am, eastern standard time
from here on in i'm laying on my bed
see if anything comes from it
instead of my usual gifts

first shot, millie, listening to the rent soundtrack
she's never played before
it's all new
so we hear, ha

she's just coming upstairs
from a 1/2 hour of present opening
good stuff?
not at all

are you ready
hold that boombox steady
tell the folks at home, what you're listening to
it's just one great musical before i ...

...well, in this story, the tagline is not "die". fall into the abyss of musical theatre, maybe, but not death.

it was a sunny christmas morning circa 1997 (a year after the musical debuted on broadway) that i did in fact receive the 2-disc rent soundtrack from "santa claus." i remember opening the packaging and seeing the two bright orange cds glowing back at me, with a full booklet libretto (with color pictures!) so that i could adequately learn all the parts in the group numbers. Thereby rendering myself un-castable forever, because the show is forever ingrained in my memory, the way i wrote it for me ... which, coincidentally, does not follow any one specific character from jonathan larson's tony-winning, pulitzer prize-winning, all-award-winning musical rent which is, to put it mildly, on its last legs at the nederlander theater.

but, wait! hark, says i! it's almost as if the weissler's stumbled drunk out of the ambassador theater, where their behemoth revival of chicago is STILL running, to lend their casting advice to the people running rent. granted, rent has had its share of pop-stars, but is not known for churning useless celebrity the way chicago has in the past ... (rita wilson, harry hamlin, usher, wayne brady -- to name a few, and now, apparently, kelly osbourne on the west end. yick). right, so rent saw the likes of two boy band stars (joey fatone, drew lachey), an axed american idol contestant, suspected of porn work (frenchie davis), and now pure-ish american idol contestant (tamyra gray as mimi).

but, the show is not about the stars it has, rather, the stars it made. the two brightest bulbs being adam pascal and anthony rapp. sure, the show launched the likes of taye diggs, idina menzel and daphne rubin-vega, but it is pascal and rapp, as roger and mark, that are so deeply woven into rent's 11 year broadway fabric.

maybe their 2007 one-month return to the show is merely a stunt to sell more tickets in what promises to be rent's last summer on broadway. but, based on what i saw at the neaderlander tonight, i have to believe that the magic of rent, circa 1996, was still alive and breathing in their newest incarnations of roger and mark.

i would be lying if i said i didn't squeal with delight when i read on playbill.com that this return was imminent. we booked our tickets immediately for their opening night, knowing the crowd would be filled with crazy rent-heads who argue on the talkinbroadway.com message boards about who loves rent more or who has the most autographed paraphenalia. regardless, the energy in the house was undeniable.

the second that pascal appeared on stage, the crowd absolutely erupted into screams not normally heard inside a broadway house. pandemonium broke out when rapp came on with the camera. they held the opening positions for a good 2 minutes while the orchestra and balcony stood to welcome them home. and for the next 2 1/2 hours, it was like they had never left.

every knee lift, every pointing finger, every angry rock strain brought to life the magic for me that i have already seen 6 times previously live and in person -- 2 times on broadway, and 4 times on tour. it's hard to imagine that i could get anything out of seeing the show again, especially considering my familiarity with the material ... put it this way -- i had to buy a second set of CDs circa 2002 because i totally wore out the original christmas present.

after the movie was an utter disgrace (if you listen to the dvd commentary, you will learn that director chris columbus had no idea that he re-created the britney spears music video "not a girl (not yet a woman)" with his arizona-big-hair-sweeping-camera-angled version of "what you own"), ticket sales and press steadily declined for the show. at a summer event, the artistic director of the new york theatre workshop, which originally brought rent to life admitted that the show was "waning." so, maybe, just maybe, this is the last hurrah. maybe it's come full circle. and what better way to go out on top than with the two men who helped make this show the icon that it is today. we cannot forget that rent revolutionized musical theatre. it made it ok to talk about gay people, aids, relationships, and fuck-all on stage. it made electric guitars more ok than they were before. it invented the broadway lottery policies and the idea of a student rush and/or general rush ticket. and it brought a new generation to broadway, absolutely paving the way for a show like spring awakening to sweep the 2007 tony awards. and - i've always wanted to see them sing "what you own" live and together, and i certainly was not disappointed.

to anthony and adam: i cannot thank you enough for choosing to do this run together. for all of us who weren't living in new york city during the original cast's performance of the show, tonight i witnessed a little piece of theatre history that my collection was definitely missing.

"...just play the game. you're living in america -- at the end of the millennium. you're living in america, leave your conscience at the tone ... "

--------------
rent
nederlander theater
w 41st street btw 7th and 8th
currently starring adam pascal and anthony rapp

first the celeb sightings, then the review!

2007-07-22T10:03:00.000-04:00

ok, so last night at gypsy at city center, the celebrities were out in FULL FORCE supporting their cohorts. observe the following sightings.

sitting directly next to me at the show: marc shaiman and scott wittman, the genius writing team behind hairspray (a la stage and screen).

and, two rows back on the aisle, claire danes and hugh dancy. hugh was clearly out supporting boyd gaines, playing herbie, his former journey's end castmate.

and, i didn't get the memo, but apparently it was ugly betty night at city center! becki newton, who stars as the bitchy amanda was in the row behind me. then one more row back, america ferrera and michael urie (marc the uber-assistant) were enjoying the show.

my seatmate michael also spotted a newly-married rebecca romijn and jerry o'connell on his way to the bathroom. they apparently also must have gotten the memo about buying tickets for the cast-night-out because they were seated in the mezzanine! then, i put two and two together and remembered that gypsy star, patti lupone, played marc's mother on the show this season! what support for their guest stars!

yeah, and the show was good too. but, more about that later!

my boys is back! WOO!!!

2007-07-17T21:02:00.000-04:00

sing it through the streets! after a too-long hiatus (in my humble opinion), my boys the runaway winter original series hit for tbs returns on july 30th with new episodes!

what will happen with pj and brendo? after that kiss? *GASP*

as you will recall, i loved the show and am a complete devotee.

jordana spiro is fabulous as the central character, pj. the show has a great sex and the city vibe, but for all us single girls out there, there's a whole ton of BOY in this show for your viewing pleasure. WOO.

and, well -- reid scott is certainly worth shaking a stick at. he's so HOT. he rocks the whole moody-emo-disheveled-mid-twenties- i-wish-i-wasn't-so-cool-that-i'm-not- cool-but-i'm-cooler-than-you SO well.

and comedy fans will relish in jim gaffigan playing pj's brother andy, who we learned is not actually chained to the kitchen table by his wife, wendy and their daughter savannah ... he just likes being a family man. even if that makes him a pussy in the eyes of his poker buddies.

oh, i love Love LOVE this show and i am so glad it was renewed for another season! ONWARD!

xanadu for me and you!

2007-07-14T17:10:00.000-04:00

i won't crazy-go-nuts here, but i am currently enjoying a large heap of "i told you so." and charles isherwood totally agrees with me.

i saw xanadu in previews with several of my frequent theatre-going peeps, and as we walked out after the brisk 90 minute show, we were grinning ear to ear. did the musical change our lives? no. is it destined to be as iconic as phantom, les mis, miss saigon, cats, or other famous non-british shows? no. was it so awfully bad that it was laughable? no. it was just -- well, it ... is what it is.

for once, a group of producers, writers and composers didn't try to make something into something that it isn't. in an eternal age of movie-musicals-movies, jukebox shows and other incarnations of non-art, xanadu was hilariously refreshing.

a spoof on the 80s (calling a cult classic is kind) wreck by the same name, the quick book by douglas carter beane (little dog laughed) makes for an entirely enjoyable evening. the show and actors poke fun at the original movie, their staunchy broadway counterparts ("wait...the show's over? they haven't even gotten to the BARRICADES across the street yet!") and more importantly themselves. it's 90 minutes of pure hilarity and joy. and it's on skates. what's better than things on skates?

kerry butler as kira, the olivia newton john role, is very enjoyable. her sweet soprano and swishy blond hair are perfect. at the performance i saw, andre ward was understudying a then injured james carpinello. the show recently opened with uber-hunk cheyenne jackson (all shook up) in the title role while carpinello's ankle heals. (the danger of SKATES!) other memorable moments were with mary testa and jackie hoffman as the evil sisters. body language was never so enjoyable. also look for marty thomas (wicked and former star of the duplex's mostly sondheim) as the featured skater. this kid is so flexible it's scary and the stage is not that big!

seriously. get to the theatre and get a ticket. there are very few things operating in this world right now that serve absolutely no purpose and are totally delicious.

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xanadu
book by douglas carter beane
music & lyrics by jeff lynne, john farrar
starring kerry butler, cheyenne jackson, mary testa,
jackie hoffman, tony roberts and marty thomas
the helen hayes theater
w 44th street btw broadway & 8th

eurydice ... still in the underworld

2007-06-20T22:12:00.000-04:00

i would like to start by admitting that i am an extremely sensitive person. sensitive meaning that it does not take a lot to make me well up with tears. my best example of this happened circa 1997 while i was flipping channels and stopped for a moment on that great-hit-tv-show, moesha starring hit-and-run brandy. i was not a regular fan of moesha nor had i ever watched an episode prior to this day. i observed 45 seconds or so of dialogue, just long enough for brandy to kneel down in front of her brother and say "just because i'm running away doesn't mean i'm not your sister anymore." cue waterworks. yeah, yeah, i know, pathetic -- but that gives you a little slice of your addict's psyche, here.

that being said, things have gotten better over the years. i'm not quite as gun shy when it comes to melodrama and tragedy. but for every ounce i have ever overcome, eurydice, sarah ruhl's new telling of the classic greek myth left me in utter shambles. i honestly do not remember the last time i was so utterly moved, shaken and disturbed (in a good way) by a piece of straight american theatre. it was shockingly good. tears streamed down my face repeatedly towards the end of the show and i didn't wipe them away. i just let them draw tracks down my cheeks and pile up on my thigh. and p.s.: i should not have been shocked or surprised by anything that happened in the play. i know my edith hamilton greek mythology. i knew how the story was going to end going into it. so despite me having all the facts, i was still emotionally wrecked by the end of this show.

the play is based on the myth of orpheus and eurydice, sometimes titled "orpheus and eurydice in the underworld" as in the symphony by the same name. (the famous "can can" music sequence comes from one of its movements.) basic plot: (spoilers ahead for non-mythy peeps) orpheus is a musican. orpheus and eurydice get married. eurydice dies. she goes to hades. orpheus laments. orpheus goes to hades to find her. god of the underworld says "sure. you can take her back up with you. but while you're heading back up, you cannot look back at her. you have to trust that she's there." orpheus goes up. eurydice follows. orpheus exits the underworld. with one foot out and one foot in, eurydice calls his name and orpheus turns around. eurydice dies again.

so there's your basic plot. now. what sarah ruhl has done with the rudimentary myth is quite remarkable. she comments on life and death and what each means for their inhabitants. she talks about relationships - those between fathers and daughters, husbands and wives. the story is also carried forward by a greek chorus of "stones", three dead folks in victorian garb with pea-green faces. one's a loud stone, a tall stone and a short stone. they rudely try to get eurydice to accept her fate and keep dying a little death.

eurydice's father, played with true elegance by charles shaw robinson, is dead already and has some of the best, unspoken moments in the play. one particular touching scene is where he mimes walking eurydice down the aisle on her wedding day.

maria dizzia is the titular character, eurydice. she lives in the world of the play with a warm embrace. her mastery of ruhl's language coupled with the timbre of her voice and embodiment of girlish innocene resonate through each stilted scene.

joseph parks as orpheus is tragically intense. every time he is on stage after eurydice passes away he is wrought with agony, confusion and aggression -- a particularly interesting cocktail. certainly a worthy new york debut. parks is awaiting his mfa - expected in 2008.

the sets are a marvel at second stage theater. scott bradley has tilted the stage on a bizarre rake that becomes necessarily clear as the water starts to fall. there is even a working pump on stage that represents the great river styx.

whatever i write here is simply not going to do justice to this brilliant, brilliant production. the language, the visuals, the acting -- everything was stellar. eurydice is arguably the best straight play i have ever seen in manhattan.

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eurydice
by sarah ruhl
directed by les waters
starring maria dizzia, gian-murray gianino,
carla harting, ramiz monsef, joseph parks,
charles shaw robinson and mark zeisler
second stage theatre
w 43rd street @ 8th avenue

looking for something to watch on TV?

2007-06-17T03:50:00.000-04:00

the summer is so not my season when it comes to tv, but hbo is dishing up a delightful comedy entitled flight of the conchords. the subway ads tout these guys as "new zealand's 4th most popular folk parody duo."

and new zealand is not that big of a place.

if you have hbo on demand, swirl over to the series tab and check out their 29 minute comedy special ... it is h-i-larious.

the new series is not-so-loosely based on their lives as they try to make it in new york. (ah, who isn't these days?)

their enjoyable accents and spoofy demeanor are exactly what we need to escape the summer heat and the lack of regular programming on the first 79 channels on my cable box.

celebrity trifecta!

2007-06-17T03:07:00.000-04:00

holy cow, friends! today was a celebrity sighting trifecta!

circa 1pm: nancy anderson, broadway star extraordinaire on 8th avenue!

circa 2pm: camryn manheim, emmy winning star of the practice on the subway!

circa 10pm: jake gyllenhaal, everyone's favorite brokeback star being hounded by a photog on 8th avenue ... then shoved into a cab by his publicist. he was wearing a t-shirt and jeans. mmm, nummie nums.

a little sjp goes a long way!

2007-06-14T23:47:00.000-04:00

notice the addition of sjp to the celebrity tracker! she was taking in a preview performance of xanadu the musical at the helen hayes theater on 44th street.

she's so small! but, she's so cute!

half of the theaters on broadway are dark this summer...

2007-06-12T23:07:00.000-04:00

...and add another two to the list. it was just announced that on july 1st radio golf (didn't like it) and company (liked it and it won the tony for best revival) will be vacating the cort theater and the barrymore theater, respectively.

dismal box office sales again are to blame.

did i mention that the hilton theatre is also free and clear because the pirate queen (hated it) is closing this month?

anyone want to rent a broadway house?

extended until july 7th

2007-06-12T18:43:00.001-04:00

after ben brantley's glowing review in the new york times, in a dark dark house has extended until july 7th.

hurrah for mcc theatre!

"it was cool. you know, like ... the other side of the pillow."

2007-06-12T08:27:00.000-04:00

the quote in the title was my favorite line from beyond glory, the new one-man show playing at the laura pels theatre. the roundabout theatre company has brought stephen lang's vibrant creation to life.

the show take lang through several different heroes throughout the history of america's wars - world war I, world war II, korea and vietnam. notice the absence of any of the current conflicts fought on sand.

he lives each character, of varying ethnicities, locations and ages. each of them received some honor or "glory" for their participation in their conflict. many of them have different feelings about wars -- not all of them were pure patriots. my favorite character was an italian-esque man from a state like new jersey. he was the one who uttered the pillow quote. he reminded me of many people that i know in my life.

without saying anything about the iraq war, stephen lang was able to make a very powerful statement about it. and he didn't need to say anything. the images and stories of all past conflicts said plenty.

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beyond glory
written and performed by stephen lang
from the book by larry smith
directed by robert falls
laura pels theatre
46th btw 6th & 7th