Fame or Famine

They come to the Overture at some point, I wonder if I could afford tickets…or even an interview. It would be worth it…
And the cruel, artificial suspense is put further…Goodbye, Lauren. Lacey is safe, and we KNOW everybody loves Sabra, so…sorry, Lauren.
and time for more commercials (thank goodness for TiVo) and here come the guys…
Why does anybody bother doing pirouettes, when Danny just does them like he invented them?
Now one more person is headed into the finale…hey, guess what…more suspense…Oh, Danny? WOW! That’s such a surprise! I never would have though DANNY!
Sorry. Did I mention I was tired? Oh, …read more

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I love B5Media, and it’s not only because they actually pay me to sit here and read and talk about the stuff I love (or rant about stuff I don’t love, which is just as much fun). No, it’s also just fun to be part of a growing company, and a company that seems to be concerned not only with being ethical and providing good content for their readers ("Gray, more on SYTYCD! Sylvie Guillem is wonderful, but you need to pay attention to more than that!") but also in finding new content.
So I was really glad to see that …read more

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On the road right now, which makes it kind of difficult to post, but this caught my eye: the new trailer for HAIRSPRAY:
http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.cfm?colid=17651
“Hairspray to hit the big screen! Click now to watch this hot trailer featuring all the stars including John Travolta, Nikki Blonsky, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Brittany Snow, Zac Efron, Amanda Bynes and more! “
[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

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In my day job, I am covering a public hearing. Parents are upset because of arts funding cut in our district. One made a very practical argument, and I honestly think it’s the only argument that has any hope of actually making a difference: that is, we live in a visual and storytelling world. Our country more and more is becoming (sometimes, admittedly, to our embarrassment) the world’s entertainer. So why not accept that? Make our kids the greatest artisans and performers, and reap the benefits?
[Posted with hblogger 2.0 http://www.normsoft.com/hblogger/]

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While I am, admittedly, really excited about seeing the Madison Opera’s rendition of the Pearl Fishers (even in nosebleed seats, the thought of Bizet that I’m not familiar with is like knowing that your favorite band just released a new album), this other event caught my eye via a very informative artist’s blog:
OH, FORTUNA

Inspiration for this exhibition stems from the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s scheduled performance of Carmina Burana in May. Orff’s music provides cohesion for the variety of art photography, printmaking, mixed media, sculpture and painting that comprises the exhibition. The symphony’s themes of fate, color, sensuality, balance, lust, hedonism, …read more

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Happy birthday to me!

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While we’re on the subject of cool performing arts, an online friend is working  the show “The Four Horsemen Project” which opens in Toronto on my birthday, February 15.
“Five years in the making, The Four Horsemen Project is a multi-disciplinary extravaganza conceived and co-directed by Toronto’s dance-theatre dynamic duo, Ross Manson and Kate Alton, in collaboration with Vancouver animation studio Global Mechanic. Live, on-stage, swirling animation and sonic hi-jinx make the poetry of Canada’s 1970s avant-garde scene leap off the page and onto the stage.”
My source tells me it’s VERY good. I bet it just sizzles with energy, and hope it …read more

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And by "movie musical" I mean the retro-trend of making musicals out of movies. Disney flicks aside (and Grease doesn’t count because it was a musical first) the tendency to make stage shows out of big budget movies is interesting. How do you scale it down? And more importantly, why does it always have to be a musical?
I mean, Dirty Dancing, Footloose, they were already pretty much musicals. My prior post about Evil Dead, that’s stretching it, but they had Rocky Horror and Sweeney Todd as precursors. But Legally Blonde? I’m sure it’s a great vehicle (perhaps someone just …read more

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This post is dedicated to my friend Deadcat, who may or may not have been aware that his idol, Bruce Campbell, was NOT in fact picked to star in “Evil Dead: the Musical.” No, it’s a real actor–whups, sorry, I really meant to say “another” actor (cough) by the name of Ryan Ward.
Still, it sounds like a sort of “Sweeney Todd” meets “Blue Man Group”:
When the audience enters Stage One at the New World Stages complex to attend EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL, they are greeted with an unusual sight: the first three rows of seats are carefully covered …read more

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Well, we’re an hour from the third episode of Grease: You’re the One. And judging from what I heard about week two…well, let’s just say I’m looking at it with some trepidation.
And some beer. Maybe that will help.

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