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Fame or Famine

Archive for the ‘Backstage & Behind-the-Scenes’ Category

June 17th, 2008

“Thank God…I sucked in my gut!” Says Lin-Manuel Miranda

OK, the show is growing on me. And not only me, obviously other people like it as well - the cast recording of In the Heights debuted at #1, and, well, there is the whole Best Musical thing.
Visit the Heights
Broadway.com has a charming little video where Lin-Manuel Miranda takes you backstage of In the Heights […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

June 9th, 2008

Speaking of the Tony’s, Let’s Talk Avenue Q

Avenue Q (winner of the 2004 Tony for Best Musical) has been making the rounds of my friends of late. I confess to being kind of surprised that it took them so long; my friends, even the ones not from NYC, tend to be pretty aware of current issues and trends, and the Sesame Street […]

By Gray -- 1 comment

June 8th, 2008

Chicago BoHo Gives Jekyll-Hyde a Facelift

If you’re in the Chicago area, you could do a lot worse than to get to the Bohemian Theatre Ensemble’s rendition of Jekyll & Hyde. Now, some of you who have heard about this musical version of one of the more terrifying stories ever told might be sceptical, and rightly so. The original musical (with […]

By Gray -- 1 comment

June 2nd, 2008

Can It Be? Legally Blonde is Better Than SYTYCD?

I’ve been very interested in learning some of the behind-the-scenes aspects of everybody’s favorite reality dance competition, So You Think You Can Dance. I think it was getting Arielle’s perspective that got me interested. But something is rotten in the state of etc…
So You Thought You Could Dance?
Like me, the TV Grapevine had a personal […]

By Gray -- 1 comment

May 27th, 2008

Kudos for Rania Ayash & the rest of Lebanon’s High School Musical

We’ve had our own insight into the brave dedication of the cast of Beirut’s High School Musical, including the gracious input of Milia Ayache, whose sister Rania plays Sharpay Evans. But ABC news has also taken note, and draws a correlation between the theme of the performance and the fact that literally during the performance […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

May 25th, 2008

Revolutionary Reading: Ratmansky and Acosta

A couple of fascinating literary works have come out - one journalistic, one autobiographical - that serve to really highlight how much the world has moved on from the days of Rudolph Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov leaping over airport turnstiles to defect to the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Alexei Ratmansky
In […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

May 22nd, 2008

So You Think You Can Dance: Local Version

I had the distinct pleasure recently of dining at the Med Hookah lounge in Madison, WI, which aside from having great Mediterranean food also feature middle eastern dancers (aka bellydancers, though some don’t like that term).
Those Who Can, Teach
One of the performers there is Arielle, a teacher at the Madison Multicultural Dance Center with Mona […]

By Gray -- 4 comments

May 15th, 2008

Lebanese High School Musical: “Thrilling”

“I just saw the production; it premiered tonight after being postponed due to the recent hostilities in the county. My sister plays Sharpay Evans and it was thrilling to be able to watch it in the midst of such an ugly national crisis - very emotional.” That’s the comment that Milia Ayache, from Lebanon, left […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

April 20th, 2008

Mario Lopez: “…an actor who can move”

It always bugs me, as a professional dance instructor, when people walk up to me and say they can’t dance. In my opinion, dance is nothing but intentional movement; the level of intent and the focus determine the skill of the dance. This is why watching an 80 year old Merce Cunningham is more interesting […]

By Gray -- 0 comments

March 31st, 2008

“Enlightened Patronage:” Mr. Shen Shows How to Save the Arts

It worked for the Medicis & Michelangelo. It even worked for Laurie Anderson and Larry Ellison, I believe. It’s a system of supporting the arts that is not public-funded, and therefore not subject to the vagaries and whims of the hoi-polloi.
It’s the literal term “patron of the arts,” meaning not so much someone who just […]

By Gray -- 0 comments