Fame or Famine

“Company”
Last night’s presentation on Great Performances was as good as promised. Anyone who has ever liked Seinfeld or Sex and the City will appreciate it – in fact, you might think the play was a rip-off of those ouvres until you realized that Sondheim wrote it in the 70’s. The music is also melodic enough that I was able to appreciate it more than the wandering tunes of Sweeney Todd, and included one of my favorites: “Not Getting Married“, a hilarious patter song sung by a nervous bride on her wedding day.
Raul Azara had an understated elegance to being the …read more

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Lisa Borstein of the Rocky Mountain News reviewed the stage-to-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s Company in glowing terms. I’m not familiar with the musical, but I plan on catching it, since it won a Tony in 2007.
A difficult production because of the demands on the performers (who have to play instruments right there, live, on stage) I have to wonder if the move to television will take advantage of the medium and overdub the musical bits. I’d be disappointed if that were the case.
However, Raul Esparza, the lead in the broadway revival, is quite an interesting lead, as his own …read more

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I love being in the entertainment channel here at B5Media. However, sometimes I do feel a bit like the awkward cousin at the table; with a subject as broad, and yet as niche, as “performing arts”, I sometimes feel a little nerdy next to the cool kids over at 24 Headquarters or CSI Fanatic. What’s golden is when someone from one of those popular shows decides to go old-school and hit the floorboards again, or, of course, when one of the DanceWatcher shows comes up…
But what if we became proactive, and asked the question: what broadway show would the stars …read more

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