Fame or Famine

Everyone was happy and excited for Bailey Hanks, winner of MTV’s Legally Blonde reality competition. She beat out the other legal blondes and landed her leading role, which she premiered last Wednesday. The other contestants went home, heads hung low, bitter and defeated, right?
Well, not so much.
Surprise! You’ve Got Contracts!
As it turned out, the producers had jobs in mind for all four of the top contestants in the show.

Rhiannon Hansen will play Margot, Elle’s best friend, in the touring company of Legally Blonde
Autumn Hurlbert will join the Broadway cast as Elle’s understudy
Lauren Zakrin will not only join the touring company …read more

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One of the most prolific and amazing writers I know, who I am also lucky enough to have met a time or two, is Scott Sigler. He’s not, as far as I know, terribly musically inclined, even when he’s looking a lot like Elton John back in his feather-boa-and-big-glasses days. But he is also a writer for A&E online, specifically in their horror genre.
What does this have to do with the performing arts? Why, I’m glad you asked…
Everything’s Coming Up Musicals
I’ve written here before about the Creature From the Black Lagoon as a musical. But did you know there are …read more

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I wrote a while back about the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s version of Willy Wonka. Thankfully not anything like the Tim Burton version, this one not only borrows from the 1971 Gene Wilder oeuvre but also draws from the books by Roald Dahl himself for inspiration – which makes it a darker, more intense experience.
While the staging looks minimal, I suspect that the lighting and other designers will have made the entire theatre into a magical candyland before the night is out. I’d especially love to see how they shrink Mike Teevee on the stage. Click past the cut for a …read more

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Believe it or not, I do have a personal connection to this. You see, I’m not the only dancer in my family. My little sister Ti is a fantastic choreographer and dancer and, like me, a Star Wars geek (yes, our parents raised us well). So for one of her pieces she choreographed a ballet for storm troopers and Darth Vader (in black fishnets, of course). So I’m sure that she would love this bit. Watch it at least to the third dance. If you can do it without spitting out your coffee, I give you credit for immense self …read more

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Every once in a while it is the job of a blogger to grab the bull by the tail and face the situation, and this is one of those. I made a rather egregious error in a prior post, for which I apologize.
Haylie Duff, Not Hilary Duff
Yes, that’s right. Legally Blonde: The Search for Elle is not hosted by Hilary Duff, as I wrote, but by Haylie Duff, her sister and co-star for the movie Material Girls. Haylie has also appeared on Broadway in Hairspray, but her longest and most recognized role was on the long-running TV series 7th …read more

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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 connection to someone who auditioned for the show. Like me, that person didn’t make it past the preliminary stages – but in their case, she was able to stay the extra day to see the “individual round.”
Yes, that’s right. That “individual round” is not …read more

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Ever wanted a chance to ask a member of the High School Musical a question? You can have it now, over at the Mercury News . They will be hosting an online chat with the star of the touring company of the hit Disney Show.
Ariell Jacobs as Gabriella Montez
Though the role was originated on TV by Vanessa Hudgens, the nerdy star of the broadway show has been aptly originated by Arielle Jacobs. Considering how much HSM has become a worldwide phenomenon, in some ways her job as part of the touring company is even harder, bringing the show to a …read more

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I swear, I couldn’t make this stuff up.
In the category of “stage to screen” I could probably somewhat justify Al Gore’s famous slideshow, An Inconvenient Truth. After all, it went on to become not just a book but also a Nobel-Peace-Prize winning movie. Well, ok, Mr. Gore got the prize, but it wasn’t for his work as V.P.
Turning It Up to Eleven
Now, however, it’s going the other way, as Giorgio Battistelli of Milan’s La Scala opera house is going to undertake to turn it into an opera, set to debut in 2011. Yes, that’s right, an opera about global warming.
Battistelli …read more

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I’m very excited to read that the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis is going to host the premiere of the new musical Little House on the Prairie. Directed by Francesca Zambello, it’s a re-telling of the classic 70’s television show.
Melissa Gilbert: Typecasting or Resource?
I find myself questioning the casting of Melissa Gilbert in the role of “Ma Ingalls” – not because I doubt her abilities as an actress, but more because there is quite a difference between acting – even on a stage – and performing in a musical. She has more than enough cred with “straight plays”: A Shayna Maidel …read more

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“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 in answer to my entry about a “Multi-cultural High School Musical.”
Milia also directed me to the event profile on Facebook, which I have happily added to my profile (though I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, sorry). Theatre de Mazitou, the production house …read more

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