Fame or Famine

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I’ve got a love affair with the musical Passing Strange. I was entranced by the free downloads at the site, I thought that Stew was one of the more fascinating characters I’ve ever heard of, and I thought the multi-nominated musical was screwed over with just “Best Book” at the Tony’s.
I wasn’t able to swing a ticket during my recent trip to NYC, so imagine my crestfallen look when I read that I’m partly to blame for the show closing on July 20th. However, Spike Lee to the rescue! He’s going to be …read more

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I’m currently on the road on a 3-week business trip, and it’s not very easy for me to catch episodes of the shows, or see the dance performances. Frustrating, let me tell you – but usually I can catch them on YouTube in several places, sometimes just the dances, sometimes with the montages at the beginning as well.
ABDC, on the other hand, has just the performances available, one after the other, and uncluttered with the filler material that goes into the full episodes. That’s not to say that I won’t go watch it – want to hear what those judges …read more

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I have a bone to pick, I’m afraid, with Mia Michaels.
It’s not a big bone, it’s just a little one, an accusation of hyperbole and misleading compliments. It’s simply this: she recently compared Will’s rendition of Tyce Diorio’s contemporary dance piece to something approaching the skill of Desmond Richardson.
I almost hesitate to bring it up, simply because it seems a bit like sour grapes. It’s not, really; it’s more a cautionary word to people who may think that because they watch shows such as SYTYCD, they aren’t missing anything when they fail to buy tickets for their local ballet or …read more

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This smoking ban thing becomes more and more interesting…Chicago seems pretty much set in its ways, with no hope in the near future of th Jersey Boys getting to light up again.
The problem lies in the fact that there is both a state law in Illinois and a city of Chicago law, and the latter is forbidden from making the former any weaker. This means that an exemption for theater can be tricky – lest Chicago fall to the thespian hedonism currently infesting Minneapolis.
Before the Ban, With a Cast of Thousands
Thanks to a comment by Karl, I learned that in …read more

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From the same city that banned foie gras recently (and then suddenly repealed it) comes the news that even in theatrical productions where cigarettes and other smoking is an “integral part” of the play – it’s not allowed.
That’s right. Jersey Boys, currently playing in Chicago, had portrayed the doo-wop singers accurately – that is, singing on the street corners with cigarettes hanging out of the their mouths. But since Chicago has a city-wide smoking ban, an “irate theatre goer” complained to…well, to someone, but no one seems to know who, or where the complaint originated. However, the play has removed …read more

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As Kourtni Lind and Matt Dorame leave So You Think You Can Dance, I’m noticing how the thing that really seemed to knock them out is chemistry. Over and over again, the judges came back to it.

Mary Murphy: “Even though it’s slow, it still has to make us feel something. I didn’t,”
Nigel Lythgoe: “It didn’t grab me. It was a bit like hip-hop on sleeping pills.”
Napoleon D’Umo: “…you’ve just got to get down and grimy a little bit.”

Notice how they didn’t say anything bad about the technique, or the costumes, or the pacing, or really anything about the dance …read more

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As I’m sure you may all suspect, the life of a B5Media entertainment blogger is filled with fast cars, loose women, and free high-class sushi at the finest restaurants in Vegas.
OK, now that you’re done chuckling, I have to say that that last part is actually true, and it’s part of why I like working here: the people are great. But then occasionally an email comes to my inbox with a more unusual sponsorship tie-in to a show that I cover.
Like, So You Think You Can Dance. Which, of course, leads the mind naturally to…fabric softener.
Snuggle Up to Your Happy …read more

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Poor Chelsea Traille, put to the bottom three in the last episode and then ousted by the judges. You can see her solo below; I can see why the judges might not have liked her – in my opinion, while her technique and energy are great, there’s not a real coherence to the solo – instead of having a definable theme or beginning, middle, and end, she just sort of strung a bunch of fairly standard dance forms – flawlessly executed, mind you, but still standard – into a solo. And for the judges in the third season, that’s just …read more

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This just in: Tango is useful to help people battle depression.
Apparently researchers in Australia’s University of New England are exploring whether tango can “boost people’s emotions.”
“While you’re doing tango you can only be in the present — you really have to focus, concentrate, and it doesn’t allow your thoughts to drive into your mind,” says Rosa Pinniger, who is heading up the research. “If people can have a break from their negative thoughts for three minutes, which is the time of the tango, they can realize that… this is what it is, nothing else. So all their problems and their …read more

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Milia comments: I’m 18 turning 19 and I feel so behind in dancing. I do know I’m not up to date in movements nor technique. But you will see me again – from today on I will practice, practice, and practice.
I feel that – it warms my heart, actually. At age 18 I started on what I thought was going to be a career in musical theatre, but got a bit sidetracked, and didn’t end up getting my degree in dance until the venerable age of 29. Ten years later, I have taught ballet to three year olds and the …read more

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