Strollerderby : musicals

Steve Martin Funds Banned High School Production of his Play

Brett Singer — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 03:40:00 GMT

I always liked Steve Martin. One of my first R-rated movies was "The Jerk," and I listened to his comedy albums "Comedy Is Not Pretty" and "A Wild and Crazy Guy" over and over again. (Two words - cat juggling.)

More recently, Steve (he lets me call him Steve - well, we've never met, but I think he'd let me call him Steve. Maybe.) has written a few plays, including "Picasso at the Lapin Agile", which ran Off-Broadway for awhile and has since had many productions around the world. Students at LaGrande High School in Oregon were rehearsing the play when 137 people signed a petition protesting the show. In a bold move, the school stopped the rehearsals.

So Steve (for now, I'll just call him Steve, OK?) offered to pay for a production off campus, far from the reach of the long arm of the educational law.

What was the perceived problem with the show? It features "people drinking in bars, and treating women as sex objects." Now, far be it from me to tell a local high school what they should and should not allow on their stages. But any Shakespearean tragedy features murder. Does that mean it can't be performed? How about the perennial high school musical favorite "The Pajama Game"? Unions. And we all know that "union" is code for "communism."

Steve wrote a letter to the local paper defending his work.

"Because of the controversy, I recently reread the play, and, frankly, I could understand how some parents might object to certain lines if they were to be delivered by a 16- or 17-year-old. Yet I do believe that the spirit of the play and its endorsement of the arts and sciences are appropriate for young eyes and minds.
"So while the question of whether students should perform the play at their high school remains something to be determined by the community, I firmly believe that seeing the play will bring no harm to them and might well uplift them — and acting in the play, if they are permitted by their parents, would also bring them no harm, and may help them to understand the potency, power and beauty of the arts and sciences."

The fact that he decided to go the extra mile and go all "Hamlet 2" and rent a theater off campus is kind of amazing. On the one hand, why should he care? On the other hand, if he believes in freedom of expression, why not put his money where his mouth is?

I bet the students are pretty excited. I know I would be.

Source: The Onion AV Club

GMA Tweets Details On Levi Johnston And Son

Oprah Gets It Right On Chris Brown

Letting Kids See Watchmen

RENT Too Risqué For Some Schools

Brett Singer — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:30:00 GMT

"Milk" may have won two Oscars (Sean Penn for Best Actor, Dustin Lance Black for Best Original Screenplay) but homosexuality is still a taboo topic at many U.S. schools. Case in point: "RENT: School Edition", a toned down version of the hit Broadway musical that closed last September. Three productions have been canceled due to "objections about the show’s morality, its portrayals of homosexuality and theft, and its frank discussions of drug use and H.I.V." In other words, gay people still make folks uncomfortable.

Growing up in New York City and attending the High School of Performing Arts, my view of the world was a bit skewed. It's easy to forget how intolerant some parts of the country can be. What, pray tell, is everyone so afraid of?

Then there is the question of artistic merit. Do these people really want to sit through an amateur production of "High School Musical" at their local high school? The real thing is unbearable. Imagine "Getcha Head In The Game" sung by squeaky voiced adolescents who are just entering puberty. At least "RENT" has some terrific music. And they already toned down the naughty bits! C'mon folks. It's a new age. Give "RENT" a chance.

Source: NY Times

Image: Amazon

Cookie Monster Cupcake

Kid Forced To Stand In Public Square For Bad Grades

Free song from Shrek the Musical

Brett Singer — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

DreamWorks seems to have decided that they will try and squeeze every last stinking dollar out of their mega-popular "Shrek" franchise. Coming next month: a Broadway musical. If you want to get an idea of what it will sound like, here's a free track.

Called "I Know It's Today", it is sung by Leah Greenhaus, Marissa O'Donnell & Sutton Foster.

Count me among the people who don't really get the fascination with the entire "Shrek" enterprise. The first move was all right, I guess, but hardly the brilliant satire that audiences and critics seemed to think it was. (Oooo! They made fun of "The Matrix"! How edgy!) The next two films felt very slapped together, and the fourth is unlikely to be better.

Judging by the photo of Brian D'Arcy James as the titular ogre, it looks like the makeup will be good.

How's the song? Fairly standard Broadway fare. I'd say below average. But maybe you'll feel differently.

Source: shrekthemusical.com

image: BroadwayWorld

Woman changes her name to Cutout Dissection.com

Have you ever told your kids to shut up? (only when they say "Dad, can we see 'Shrek the Musical'?")

Magic Garden out on DVD

Scrooge McDuck explains inflation

Banned Books Week: Where's Waldo?

The unhealthiest food ever

Night Out: Boeing-Boeing on Broadway

Brett Singer — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Every now and then the wife and I actually get to leave the house while its still dark out, leaving the kids behind for an evening out. This is what happens.

Theatergoing has gotten so expensive ($100+ per ticket for a full-price Broadway show) that it can be tough to justify the purchase. "Macbeth", which we paid close to full price for, was not even remotely worth the money, sadly. "Jersey Boys" was so much fun that I would go back and pay full price a second time (really, it's great.) "Boeing-Boeing", now playing at the Longacre (220 West 48th Street), isn't quite as good as "Jersey Boys" but it was a lot of fun, especially at the relative bargain price I found using a discount code from BroadwayBox.com (similar codes can be found at nytheatre.com, Theatermania, Playbill and BroadwayWorld.)

This is a revival of a play from the 1960's; the pre-show music, featuring popular 60's pop songs sung in French, is a nice bonus. Refreshingly, there is no revising of the attitudes, which are playfully retrograde and yes, sexist -- but that's how they wrote 'em back then. It's impossible to take anything that happens in the play seriously, which is a good thing. The plot deals with an American living in Paris and juggling three women, all of whom are his fiancée. How does he physically accomplish this feat? Because all are "air hostesses" for different airlines. He consults a timetable like the Bible, marking his calendar and tightly scheduling visits from each lovely airborne lass.

The cast is a big reason why the show works: Bradley Whitford ('West Wing', 'Studio 60') is probably the weakest link, but he's more than good enough. Mark Rylance is brilliant as the friend who arrives unexpectedly. Gina Gershon is funny and sexy as Whitford's Italian bride-to-be, and Kathryn Hahn is your basic loud-mouthed Ugly American who has a sequence in the second act that almost steals the show. That honor, though, goes to Mary McCormack (aka Howard Stern's Movie Wife), playing a German Lufthansa "hostess". McCormack plays everything for broad laughs, and the stage lights up every time she's on it. Hopefully she'll do more comedy in the future because she's the funniest thing in a very funny show. (She received a well-deserved Tony nomination.) Christine Baranski has the smallest role as the long-suffering French housekeeper. She's brilliant as always whenever she's on stage but it's not really her play.

"Boeing-Boeing" runs a little bit long at 2 hours and 40 minutes, but for a light-hearted evening out of adult entertainment, it fits the bill. Highly recommended.

image: boeingonbroadway.com

Breaking News: Tori Spelling and Other Non-Famous Women in Labor

Top 5 Kick-Ass Movies for Girls (No Princesses Allowed)

Marvel's greatest sh*t

Harry Potter and the Schlong of Broadway

Queen Latifah and Jeannette Jenkins Will Marry, Adopt Child (she was in the movie version of 'Chicago'. OK, it's a stretch.)

Suri Cruise Gives "Hairspray" Two Teeny Thumbs-Up

My Fair Spidey: Spiderman musical coming to Broadway

Brett Singer — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

You are all aware by now that I love me some super hero movies. But a musical? Based on... Spider-Man? The mind, as it attempts to crawl out of my ear, boggles.

I mean, what possible reason is there to create a musical based on Spider-Man? And lest you think this is some sort of macho "theater sucks" thing, rest assured that I saw a Broadway show last weekend ("Macbeth" with Patick Stewart, shockingly horrible) and will be seeing another in two weeks ("Boeing Boeing"). So I don't hate Broadway, or even musicals, as an art form. This particular one, however, can't possibly be good.

Or could it? The creative team is as follows: Julie Taymor, who directed the wildly successful Disney stage adaptation of "The Lion King", and for music, you have -- wait for it -- Bono and The Edge. Now, I suppose some would be excited about this. How could a musical with songs from the two main parts of U2 be bad? Well, Paul Simon had a Broadway show ("The Capeman") which was, by all accounts, hideously bad. Numerous jukebox musicals (shows based on existing songs) have flopped, and many were based on good material (Bob Dylan, John Lennon and The Beach Boys, to name a few). In other words, success in one medium is no guarantee of success in another. And Taymor's only other Broadway credit was "The Green Bird", which nobody really liked very much.

This article has nothing but good things to say about Spidey's prospects on Broadway, but even with this potentially potent team of Peter Parker interpreters, I am not at all optimistic. Supposedly the show is due in NY in 2009. So we'll just have to see. "To be continued..."

image: Amazon.com

When The Little Mermaid Attacks

Brett Singer — Sun, 18 May 2008 13:00:00 GMT

An actor in the Broadway production of "A Little Mermaid" has asked for a court order to "preserve a 'certain show prop sailing ship'" from the show, according to the New York Times. Why? He was injured on stage and might be suing the Mouse House, so that piece of Disney stage magic could be evidence.

So what happened? Actor Adrian Bailey "fell through a trap door on the sailing ship and landed on the stage 30 to 40 feet below." Yow. His injuries? "Fractured wrists, a broken back, a shattered pelvis, a fractured sternum, several fractured ribs and a fractured foot."

It sounds like a freak accident, but a really, really bad one. Mr. Bailey has had four surgeries already.

Broadway musicals have become extremely complex technically. When "Lion King" first opened, a number of actors had back and neck problems stemming from the large, heavy, and, I must admit, very cool looking costumes. The union, Actors Equity, worked things out with Disney (I think on-staff massage therapists were involved) so that performance-related injuries were kept to a minimum. (Note: this is mostly conjecture, but it's conjecture based on what I recall happening at the time.)

Whenever I hear about something like this, I wonder if maybe the technical aspects of Broadway have started to overshadow the shows themselves. "Mermaid," despite lavish sets and costumes, received some pretty bad reviews. Ben Brantley of the Times said that the show "burdens its performers with ungainly guess-what-I-am costumes and a distracting set awash in pastels gone sour and unidentifiable giant tchotchkes that suggest a Luau Lounge whipped up by an acid-head heiress in the 1960s." Sometimes big is good – "Lion King" is a great example. But sometimes big is just… big. And while I realize this is probably just a freak accident, maybe it's time to re-consider this whole "more more more!" philosophy of Broadway shows.

image: NYTimes.com

Goodnight Moon: The Musical

Amy Kuras — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 16:17:00 GMT

I have to admit I am torn on this one between Awww and Oh Hell Naw: "Goodnight Moon: The Musical. "
On the one hand, awww. It's such a sweet book, and yes it can drive you up the wall when your little one says "Read again?" for the fourth time in a row. But the simple rhymes and gentle look of the illustrations are soothing to tired babies and exhausted parents alike –and have been working their magic for 60 years. Plus, you can totally zone out and think about how you're only minutes from blessed bedtime freedom when you read it because after about the 10th time you’ve got the thing memorized (oh, don’t look at me like that, you know you've done it).
On the other, a musical? Really? The book: 125 words, total (this post is longer). The musical: An hour and fifteen minutes. And apparently the red balloon has gas. Helium. Sigh.
Playwright Chad Henry said he wanted to stay true to the "whimsical and strange" character of the book. Apparently the mittens and socks do a softshoe and the rabbit and the little white mouse that creeps around the room are best friends.

If you want to check it out, it's at the Manhattan Children's Theatre through Dec. 9. http://www.mctny.org/

Addams Family Becomes a Musical. Hooray!

Kelly Mills — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:02:00 GMT

Producers have announced they'll turn the Addams Family into a musical. While some might feel this is a Hair-brained idea, that it will make a Miserables show, and that any commercial version of the Charles Addams drawings is only a Phantom of the great cartoonist's work, I was happier than a bag of Cats to hear about this. I even made my special Funny Face, the one I make when I get really good news. Too bad this one won't come out until 2009 or so.

Nope, no need to slap me. I'll just go calm myself. Mommy needs a little sleep.

Okay, back. I'm thrilled about this, because I love a good musical, and I bet Addams Family will lend itself better to the musical format than so many of the stories I hear about, like, "We're going to make a musical out of Sophie's Choice." The macabre always makes for a good song-and-dance number: the Buffy musical, anyone? By the way, in case you have a love of Addams Family things, the movies are not so good for little kids (or adults, despite the fact that I heart Raul Julia) but the board game rocks. We play it constantly.

Strollerderby : musicals

Steve Martin Funds Banned High School Production of his Play

RENT Too Risqué For Some Schools

GMA Tweets Details On Levi Johnston And Son

Oprah Gets It Right On Chris Brown

Letting Kids See Watchmen

RENT Too Risqué For Some Schools

Heath Ledger's Daughter Gets His Oscar

Cookie Monster Cupcake

Kid Forced To Stand In Public Square For Bad Grades

Free song from Shrek the Musical

Best political shirt ever - Everyone Poops

Woman changes her name to Cutout Dissection.com

Have you ever told your kids to shut up? (only when they say "Dad, can we see 'Shrek the Musical'?")

Magic Garden out on DVD

Scrooge McDuck explains inflation

Banned Books Week: Where's Waldo?

The unhealthiest food ever

Night Out: Boeing-Boeing on Broadway

Rich or Rehab: Whatever Happened to Haley Joel Osment?

Breaking News: Tori Spelling and Other Non-Famous Women in Labor

Top 5 Kick-Ass Movies for Girls (No Princesses Allowed)

Marvel's greatest sh*t

Harry Potter and the Schlong of Broadway

Queen Latifah and Jeannette Jenkins Will Marry, Adopt Child (she was in the movie version of 'Chicago'. OK, it's a stretch.)

Suri Cruise Gives "Hairspray" Two Teeny Thumbs-Up

My Fair Spidey: Spiderman musical coming to Broadway

When The Little Mermaid Attacks

Goodnight Moon: The Musical

Addams Family Becomes a Musical. Hooray!