I've never been a fan of Hair. It was groundbreaking in its time, but I never really "felt" it all these years. I sang the title song once in some performancey thing I did and I thought it was all a little too before my time. I knew all of the songs that had become mainstream like "Aquarius," "Let the Sunshine In" and lesser known songs from the show (if any were considered "lesser known") like "Easy to Be Hard" and "Frank Mills" but the show as a whole never really did anything for me...until recently.
Hair has come back. It is in its second revival and now playing 8-shows-a week at the Al Hirshfield on Broadway and the cast is killing it! Wow. Gavin Creel is a personal favorite of mine and I've been loosely following the show since its Central Park revival last year and even more closely since Creel took over the role of Claude from Jonathan Groff. Cut to April 30, 2009 -- "the Tribe" from Hair appeared on the Letterman show recreating a 40-year-old performance from the original Broadway cast at the Ed Sullivan Theater. To say they were just fantastic is an understatement. I LOVED it and I've never loved Hair in any incarnation.
After seeing this performance, I turned the corner on my opinion of Hair. Yesterday, the album dropped (in digital release) on iTunes and I have been ob-sessed with it. For the first time, this show has a great energy and spunk to me...and I've never heard that from any recording or performance before. I've gotta say, there's nothing like Gavin Creel's voice - the man is amazing and his Tony nom is much deserved (as is Will Swenson's - LOVE him too)! This is how much I like Hair: I'm actually rooting for it over my old favorite West Side Story (in the best revival of a musical category) in this year's awards. If I can go there then it must be really special!
Welcome to a finally new and updated look here. This is what you get thanks to a few hours of procrastination.
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Not so long ago, I was concerned about the future of Broadway due to what seemed like a mass exodus as shows were closing right and left. Between September 28, 2008 - January 18, 2009, Broadway saw thirteen shows close. Though I knew some great new revivals were scheduled to open, I was concerned by the lack of a quality original piece. Would the Great White Way be deluged by yet another jukebox musical or another based on a movie, tv show? Though I loved seeing some of my favorite shows revived, I was still interested in seeing stories that new writers could create. Was it that tough to mount something original again and was our struggling economy to blame?
Thanks to next to normal, I am no longer questioning the future of the American musical. As excited as I was about my beloved [title of show] last season, I have to say I am even more thrilled about the spectacular musical, next to normal. [title of show] was a quirky, fun and in some ways a nostalgic show that reminded us of who we are and what it takes to achieve our dreams, but next to normal which is an entirely different kind of show and yet is one that just excites me!
next to normal shows the lengths to which two parents will go to keep themselves sane and their family’s world intact. With a provocative contemporary score of more than 30 original songs, this groundbreaking new musical explores how one suburban household copes with crisis.
From the producer of WICKED and the director of RENT, and starring Tony Award® nominee Alice Ripley, next to normal arrives on Broadway straight from its sold-out engagements at both NY’s Second Stage Theatre and DC’s Arena Stage.
The above blurb from the show's website doesn't give away anything plot-wise, nor does it come close to accurately describing what next to normal is about. What next to normal is, is an incredible small, story-driven show with electrifying talent and beautifully written music and lyrics. In an era when both Hollywood and Broadway are keen on big, over-the-top money making films and shows, it is always refreshing when success finds a film/show because it is a quality piece of work from all angles. Broadway (and Hollywood) are obviously businesses that need to make money in order to survive, but sometimes I am bothered when I think choices are made purely in terms of money instead of choosing something in which I wonder if artistic value was ever considered.
I first discovered next to normal in its workshopped form, when it was called "Feeling Electric" (2002) which later moved to the NY Musical Theater Festival in 2005. It was the 2002 workshop version that I fell in love with next to normal. Back then, the story was so different and the dynamics between the family members weren't as flushed out or solid but the concept and storyline were apparent and the music was still beautiful. A song I particularly appreciated -- Funny Love -- has since been cut from the Broadway version, but it was so beautiful and described the relationship between the couple, Dan & Diana (this was during a version of the show when I don't think the characters actually had names yet). As much as I appreciated the song & miss it from the final version of the show, it just doesn't fit into this incarnation of the show.
On April 15, next to normal opened to great reviews with (mostly) the same cast as the Arena Theatre production. Notably missing is Brian d'Arcy James (replaced by J. Robert Spencer) who had a previous engagement as the title role in Shrek the Musical. Personally, I think the characters in next to normal are so complex and meaty that it would be a shame to have to give up. Though I loveBrian d'Arcy James and was so sad to see him leave the role of Dan, I just love the casting of J. Robert Spencer and am more than pleased with his take on the role. The casting of the other roles I think were well chosen and I can only say so much about it having not actually seen the show yet. Having said that, I think it should be known that Alice Ripley undeniably deserves a Tony Award.
Alice Ripley is truly a force to be reckoned with. She plays such a challenging character with such complex emotions between two opposite ends of the spectrum every night. My god, just hearing her in the cast recording of this show not only moves me, but allows anyone to hear how powerful an actress she is. In every single song on the cast recording, her pain, struggle, joys, fears, sorrows, quirkiness are all more than apparent and well performed. If I can get this from the audio, imagine how powerful she is in person?! I've been a fan of her for years and to quote Hunter in [title of show] she really is "fierce!"
Need I say more? If you need more proof, see the video preview courtesy of BroadwayWorld.com and then get tickets.
So I got a new CD that I just love! I've been aware of Victoria Clark's work (Titanic) but became even more interested in her career following her Tony Award winning performance of Margaret Johnson in The Light in the Piazza. Actually, if you keep up with NY theatre, then you of course know of Clark's work and thank god she was finally recognized...right? While I'm completely disappointed that I never got to see her said performance live, I did catch the broadcast of Piazzaon PBS and have played the bejeezus out of my CD of the cast recording.
I knew she had an album coming out, I knew she was touring but for some reason never felt totally compelled to purchase the new album. I read nice reviews (ok just one, but then again that's the only review of her album I read) but again never got around to the album. Well the other day as I was cleaning out my iPod, it finally dawned on me that I didn't have it, so I downloaded it on iTunes (I really wanted to purchase a hard copy, but at the same time I had a severe case of needing some immediate gratification). Lets just say its been two days and her album hasn't stopped playing. I just love it! This is the best solo album I've heard in a long time. Often times I'll listen to a solo album and not love it, but love the artist so I listen to it and find tracks to appreciate while loving few of the other ones. This was so not the case with Clark's album, Fifteen Minutes of Grace. The only downside of the immediate gratification of getting an album from iTunes...NO LINER NOTES! I rather love reading liner notes and obsessively reading the lryics and now I have to search for said lyrics on the internet instead.
iTunes is the best and worst creation ever. I'm just hyper because I bought a certain album by a certain member of a now-defunct boy-band. For people like me who thrive from immediate gratification, woo hoo, it's fantastic! On the flip side, it feeds into my immediate gratification needs. Comme ce, comme sa. You hear a song you like? Go to iTunes and you can download the song for an affordable $0.99 (or $9.99 per album). No tax, no handling fee. Like I need to "sell" iTunes to anyone reading this. If you're reading this blog, you're "with it" enough to use the internet and iTunes and have probably spent more money than I have buying songs you just can't live without. Who am I kidding, it really is the best (not the worst) creation ever. Simple, easy, and oh-so-satisfying.
Last week, Playbill.com had an article indicating "Seasons of Love" (from Rent of course) debuting at #68 on the Billboard Top 100 singles (as a "hot shot debut"). All this buzz almost three months before the film's release -- how exciting! I'm both surprised and not that the song is also among the top downloaded songs on iTunes. I mean, it's a hit Broadway show and everything...but it's not the most "mainstream" thing out there...or is it? Obviously I'm a tad incorrect because look at the buzz, look at the Billboard chart! Access Hollywood even has a link on their homepage: Access Rent: Behind the Scenes -- 'Rent' the Movie. They've even teased a show with a "first look" at Rent a few months back. Haha, this film has a stellar publicist and a great marketing strategy!
Is it so hard for me to believe that other people might actually be excited about this too? Am I being a theatre snob? Look at how successful Chicago was -- Academy Award winner for best picture, best actress in a supporting role (amongst others) and a Golden Globe for best musical/comedy film. Besides being a great film period, this is a musical. Mind you, musicals used to be a part of the Golden Age of Hollywood -- look at popular films like Oklahoma! and Carousel! These once common, popular film genres were almost a thing of the past. ..until Chicago.
It has been said that Chicago singlehandedly, is bringing back the musical genre in the film industry. Since Chicago, the only other mainstream "musical" film released has been Phantom of the Opera (I'm not counting Reefer Madness since it's a TV movie). Though Phantom of the Opera created buzz -- A.) because it was finally produced and B.) critics questioned how it would do in the box office -- overall, the film failed to surpass or even meet expectation. Despite Phantom's box office failure, film companies continued on with their musical films. In production currently, we have of course, Rent & The Producers with Sunset Blvd.and Aspects of Love in pre-production. Of course this is only seven that have either been released, are in production or pre-production -- but this is seven more than a few years ago. Again, I don't know if this is a good thing. Chicago set a precedence, but the failure of Phantom of the Opera made people stop and question the genre. I think Rent & The Producers hopefully will cause more positive buzz (and successful results at the box office) while Sunset Blvd.and Aspects of Love might slow things down again.
What are the "facts" behind my reasoning? The movie musicals on trial are as follows:
What do these films have in common? Any true musical theatre fan will instantly know they were written by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. While all are hits on the stage (with Phantom of the Opera set to surpass Cats as the longest running musical on Broadway, Monday, January 9, 2006), his films failed to turn a big commercial profit (a la Chicago). On a personal level, as much as I wanted to lovePhantom of the Opera, I just couldn't. Some musicals just don't seem to translate well from stage to screen and Sir Andrew's just...don't. Not to say that Sunset Blvd. and Aspects of Love will fail, but if you look at the history of Sir Andrew's successful films, things just don't look too good for him.
Ok, I went on a huge tangent. What I really wanted to write about was Rent and what I thought about the excerpts from the soundtrack, but I'm too tired, so I'll save it for another day.
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I've never been a fan of Hair. It was groundbreaking in its time, but I never really "felt" it all these years. I sang the title song once in some performancey thing I did and I thought it was all a little too before my time. I knew all of the songs that had become mainstream like "Aquarius," "Let the Sunshine In" and lesser known songs from the show (if any were considered "lesser known") like "Easy to Be Hard" and "Frank Mills" but the show as a whole never really did anything for me...until recently.
