Fame or Famine

February 29th, 2008

RENT Heads Up: Adam Pascal & Anthony Rapp Coming Your Way

It’s the end of an era: RENT is scheduled to end its Broadway run on June 1 of this year (though at least one extension of the run is almost inevitable.
However, happily, you can get just a taste of what my kids call the “OBC” - Original Broadway Cast - because Adam Pascal and Anthony […]

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February 28th, 2008

Summer Glau, Terpsichorean Terminator

I’ve written before about how the real training for an action star should be in dance. The new Batman? Christian Bale, a trained dancer. Jackie Chan? Dancer in the Chinese Opera. And if, like me, you were in love with Joss Whedon’s Firefly, you thrilled to see Serenity, where Summer Glau gave more than a […]

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February 27th, 2008

Sarah Jessica Parker: Will She or Won’t She Boeing Boeing on Broadway?

In looking over my various Google Alerts, I was pleased to see yet another celebrity apparently heading to Broadway: Sarah Jessica Parker, of Sex & the City fame, was slated to appear in the U.S. version of Boeing Boeing, a comedy about three airline attendants who get engaged to the same man.
Currently playing in London, […]

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February 25th, 2008

Survivor: 50 Performances You Should See LIVE

As part of a competition here at B5Media, we’re trying to come up with lists - namely, lists of 50 that fit the theme of our blog. I think I’ve got the easiest one of all: my beat is the performing arts, so I can come up with lots of things. 50 Best Plays; 50 […]

By Gray -- 9 comments

February 25th, 2008

P Diddy’s Raisin in the Sun - A Journey by a New Renaissance Man

I confess, I have as much trouble as anyone taking seriously someone named P Diddy - but Sean Combs seems to be the king of re-invention, going from rapper to clothing designer to yes, Broadway actor.
In 2004 he starred in the revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic, Raisin in the Sun, which garnered Tony awards for […]

By Gray -- 2 comments

February 25th, 2008

Fear No Art: A Tale of Two Universities

How to Do Something Right
Let me beam with pride at being a citizen of the fine city of Madison.
Last night there was a disturbance - worried neighbors called the police to say that they could see people with guns silhouetted through a window. The police responded as they would to any hostage situation, with multiple […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

February 24th, 2008

Five Reasons I Wish I Lived in NYC This Year

Actually, they are five people, stars that you’ve seen on stage and screen but who are coming instead to Broadway to show that they’re not just pretty faces in edited footage - they have the chops to get on a stage and command your attention.

Stephen Rea in Sam Shepard’s “Kicking a Dead Horse,” a one-man, […]

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February 23rd, 2008

Catching up and Errata

What would I do without loyal readers to point out to me the error of my ways (or, at least, my writing):
Danica’s not the first.
“…actually, Janet Guthrie was the first woman to compete in Indy car races, back in the 1970s. See: http://www.janetguthrie.com/biofr.htm”
Thanks, Sandy, for pointing that out. My daughter and I talked about […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

February 22nd, 2008

Performance Pressure: Danica Patrick says “No” to Dancing with the Stars

Just an amusing little sidenote to set off the morning - Danica Patrick has been a bit of a family hero since she has the same name as my 16 year old daughter. So when she popped up on the Dancing with the Stars radar, I had to take notice.
“It won’t be enough to do […]

By Gray -- 1 comment

February 21st, 2008

Disney’s Conquest of Broadway

It’s getting scary.
I was fine - excited, even - when the Lion King came out. Even though it took until last month for me to actually see it, the fact that it was directed and designed by Julie Taymor was more than enough to make me forgive Disney for taking a cartoon and using up […]

By Gray -- 2 comments