Category Archives: musical

musical

Blast! – OCPAC

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Removed the chorale of Simple Gifts
Moved Tangerinamadidge to before Lemontech instead of before Marimba Spiritual/Earth Beat
Removed Officer Krupke

The band didn’t use all parts of the 2×3 wall – they just used the upper section and occasionally used the lower left and right sections….

I don’t remember the stool beating being on stage the last time I saw Blast! at OCPAC, but maybe it was.  No memory….

I don’t like Medea.  I think it’s because it has more of a visual impact than an artistic impact and the rest of the show has move of an artistic impact than a visual impact. 

The show is incredible as always and lots of fun. 

I Am Legend, Phantom (The Vegas SPECTACULAR) and Blue Man Group Live! At The Venitian

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I Am Legend
Having just watched a TV Guide special on it last night, it was quite fascinating to see the final product. The third re-telling of Richard Matheson’s The Last Man On Earth (1960′s The Last Man Standing with Vincent Price and 1970′s Omega Man with Charlton Heston) puts Will Smith in the titular role of one man’s struggle to cope with overwhelming loneliness in the face of some worldwide catastrophe that turns everyone else into dead or zombie/vampire thing*.

A little scarier than I like my thrillers, but still very enjoyable. Will Smith is absolutely phenomenal as he copes with loss, loneliness and mutated humans who love eating other living things. It was also an intriguing look at breaking down the psychology of the human mind. The mutants are led by an alpha male who (despite Will Smith’s theories) displays very-human like abilities of mimicry and plotting. It’s all VERY interesting and a lot of fun.

There’s a brilliant bit of photoshopping – at one point we’re panning through a deserted and overgrown New York City and we see a movie poster with the Superman logo embedded on the Batman logo (indicating a Batman/Superman story with the new characters portrayed in the restarted series (Christian Bale and Brandon Routh)) and I just sat and drooled at the very concept.

OH! And the movie starts with a prologue for The Dark Knight Returns in which we get to see Heath Ledger’s Joker pull off a bank heist. It’s absolutely incredible and gets me really excited.

* I can see elements of this concept being woven into Joss Whedon’s Reavers (Firefly/Serenity universe).

Phantom (The Vegas SPECTACULAR)
This show really highlights the best of Vegas show-stopping-ness. It’s a shortened version of Phantom (unless you’ve memorized every note, lyric and line of dialogue, you won’t notice the missing bits) that just blows the mind. For a very small sample, just look at the chandelier before the show and the ornateness of the theatre set (before the curtain even goes up!). It’s just as good as the national tour that stopped through Southern California some time ago (a couple of years? not sure) and remind me very much of the movie with it’s energy and vivacity. But it’s just an incredible show that you have to see if you’re in Vegas. Oh – and the conductor was right-handed…all is right with the world again ;)

Blue Man Group Live! At The Venetian
It’s always fun to see the Blue Man Group (I’m a fanatic). Pictures! I can’t even really describe how much fun I have seeing the show and participating in the art/live show experience that is Blue Man Group. I guess all I can say is that if you see two shows in Vegas, spend the night at the Venetian and see Blue Man Group and Phantom. Friggin’ incredible.

OH! And at one point they have a rock song tribute section. They played “It’s not unusual (to be loved by anyone”, “Whip It”, “Like A Virgin”, some other song they always play (duh nuh…..duh nuh…duh nuh…duh nuh…), and then someone in the audience shouted Free Bird and the Blue Men looked around and then the band broke into it which was hysterical. The Blue Men look around and then one of them lights the lighter and does the wave and the other pulls out the fire extinguisher and douses the lighter. Hilarious.

Spamalot (The Vegas Edition)

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To sum it all up, I was a little disappointed.  Yes I laughed out loud at a lot of points, but the show, on the whole, is…unsatisfying.  And it’s not just because I’m a Python geek and knew all the skits.  It’s just not that well written…which I guess places Eric Idle in the lower echelon of writers which to me is unsatisfying.  Maybe Python was so funny because of the collaboration…I don’t know.

The conductor was left handed (something you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t have a musical director sitting next to you) which meant that the strings are always placed on the side opposite the conductor’s baton (normally they’re located on the house left side of the pit, but here they were located on the house right side).

How quickly does seat D101 sell out for people seeing the show for the second time?  You get some pretty swank memories/souvenirs if you sit there (apparently – it doesn’t seem like the show changes THAT much between performances).

They use a butt-load of confetti for the grand finale.

Patsy is a tap-dancer…amusing and impressive.

The John Cleese look-a-like (played Lancelot, one of the Frenchman, Tim the Enchanter)’s accent kept slipping from English to French which was a little annoying.

A lot of the characters had striking similarities to their Python (Eric Idle look-a-like for the Historian, John Cleese look-a-like for Lancelot, Michael Palin look-a-like for Herbert’s father) which was very cool (obviously why they were cast I guess).

Brave, brave Sir Robin didn’t have a mustache.  Boo!

The Black Knight/death with pointy teeth moments (limb losing and beheading) were very well done.

Arms for the poor!  Arms for the poor!  Tee hee hee.

And the ultimate line from the show.

Spoiler Alert! (place and hold your mouse over the bar to see)

Patsy: I'm Jewish. On my mother's side. Arthur: Patsy...I never knew! Patsy: Well, it's not something you tell a heavily armored Christian.

The Rat Pack: Live At The Sands

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Last night, Laura, my dad and I headed up to Wilshire Blvd. to see The Rat Pack: Live at the Sands. Drinks at the bar – I had a Sailor Jerry & Coke (they didn’t have any Captain) and Dad and Laura had a Malibu Pineapple. Before the show, Laura and I got some lindy bombing in at the very front of the theatre and it was INCREDIBLE. I mean we’d lindy bombed theatres on two previous occasions (Jersey Boys and Pajama Game), but this time there was more room (even if it was on carpet). The last song, I finished with a frog(with a long hold)-tuck-turn-dip that was SOOO clean and smooth. :D We also experimented with a balboa cross-break/salsa transition that works REALLY well. We got applause after our first dance and at the very end. Then on with the show.

Frankie was dead-on (voice and look). Sammy was decent voice, decent look (was Mr. Bojangles ever exaggerated THAT much?). Dean was the most off of the three – his voice was too high (all songs were raised a third) and his look was alright, but not as close as the others. Beyond that, the show was absolutely incredible. While this wasn’t my first experience with a Rat Pack Trio (see The Atomic Gig story), it was the first time I’d sat and gotten to watch the entire show. I was REALLY happy when they did a joke that I’ve loved since I first saw it (during the reprise of “Me and My Shadow”, Dean and Frankie sing, “We are Italian and you are a Jew” to Sammy…hysterical). I missed Sam’s Song, which is a fun duet between Dean and Sammy.

What else was fun…Dean did an incredible prat fall down stairs – saved his drink by covering it….very funny.

Dean: These are phosisticated people.

Dean: *while holding Sammy* I’d like to thank the NAACP for this award.

Frankie and Dean did a High Society reference. *giddy*
Dean: Is this your drink Frankie?
Frankie: Yeah, you drank it.
Dean: Well did you evah.
Frankie: What a swell party THIS is.

Sammy did a great Louis Armstrong impression instead of singing “That Old Black Magic”. He has the perfect eyes for it!

Dean: *to audience members who didn’t get the joke* Go home and think about it, you’ll be howling later.

Jersey Boys, Across the Universe, Misbehavin’ Nightly, Pajama Game and Enchanted (i.e. The Past Three Weeks In Entertainment)

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Jersey Boys
The show is a lot of fun. The story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, it’s definitely rated R (they’re from f*ckin’ Jersey after all), but a lot of fun. It’s a biopic musical! Well then again, all biopics about music stars are musicals…I just don’t think I’ve seen the jukebox musical format applied as a biopic and I love it!

Across the Universe
Wow, two jukebox musicals in one week? You’d think I’d be sick of it, but I’m actually having a heck of a time. Across the Universe is the jukebox movie-musical (has that been done before?) starring the Beatles and an incredibly talented cast (definitely triple threats). Directed by Julie Taymor (the “person” responsible for The Lion King musical), the movie is very enjoyable and taught me a lot of Beatles music. The soundtrack is amazing! It’s chock full of musical goodies and I’ve had a 7-song playlist on loop for days of my favorites (I’ve Just Seen A Face, I Am The Walrus, I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends, Hey Jude, Dear Prudence, All You Need Is Love and Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite) and it hasn’t gotten old yet!

Misbehavin’ Nightly feat. The Pacific Symphony Pops and Byron Stripling
It’s Flat Foot FLOOGIE, not flujie. Aside from that, Byron is an incredibly talented musician. About the only sad parts about this performance was that:
a) I couldn’t dance to any of the tunes (even though I brought my dance partner) because it’s a concert hall and that isn’t “appropriate”
b) I actually bothered the people in the seat next to me with my boisterous attitude (they didn’t come back after intermission – at least not to their assigned seats…)
Other than that I had an incredibly enjoyable time. Lots of incredible music.

Duke Ellington The Essential Ellington
Various Sounds of New Orleans
Rodney Red Arrow
Delange/Alter Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans
Handy St. Louis Blues
Pinkard Sweet Georgia Brown
Duke Ellington Caravan
Irving Berlin Alexander’s Ragtime Band
Cab Calloway Minnie The Moocher (not listed in program)
Fats Waller Honeysuckle Rose (actually a two-song melody with a mystery song and Honeysuckle Rose)
Brooks Ain’t Misbehavin’
Slim Gaillard Flat Foot Floogie
Various Louis Armstrong Tribute

Pajama Game
Featuring the choreographic style that later became known as “Fosse, Fosse, Fosse”, the music of Adler and Ross (Damn Yankees) under the supervision of Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls, How To Succeed) and a very talented cast, this musical actually reminds me of Urinetown if I think hard enough…because it focuses on one big issue rather than a lot of little things (the audience is happier that way). It’s about a labor contention in a pajama factory. The music is very fun and quirky, the story is good and the performance was very enjoyable. Oh – and I HATE Hernando’s Hideaway (olé). The lyrics just annoy me because I recognize the music as something more classical and I’m just pissy about it. Meh.

Enchanted
This is a phenomenal movie. It is the ultimate Disney geek-out (featuring 3 Disney “princesses” cameos – Jodi Benson/Ariel, Paige O’Hara/Belle and Judy Kuhn/Pocahontas) with music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

[sidebar src="Walden Media"]
The Walden Media production company is behind The Chronicles of Narnia movies, but they forced Disney to push Prince Caspian to a Summer 2008 release so that it wouldn’t compete with Waterhorse this Christmas.
[/sidebar]

Nunsense and [tap] The Mystery [tap tap] of Edwin DROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD

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Nunsense – Torrance Theatre Company
It’s like Altar Boyz but with “better music”. It’s a comedy routine by nuns that has heart and some poignant points to make about religion. If you get a chance, go check out Torrance’s production (CLOSING THIS WEEKEND – GET TICKETS NOW!) because it’s got (for my money at least) the funniest nuns ever to hit the comedy circuit!

The Mystery of Edwin DROOOOOOOOOOOOOD
The show is a play within a play based on an unfinished work by Charles Dickens. The meta-play providing the structure for The Mystery of Edwin Drood is that of an English performing troupe which was very fun…especially when you have the cast willing to get you a beer (unfortunately you have to reimburse them) and play cribbage with you (or at least pretend to play and asking how to play). Because it is an unfinished work, the performance troupe offers to the audience a voting system that lets YOU decide on the ending you want to see based on information presented so far. The cast decides whether Edwin Drood is dead or not (they always pick dead because the actress portraying Drood is a prima donna), and then the audience decides who is: the detective, the murderer and the lovers (cause every good story has lovers). If you ever get a chance to see Edwin Drood, I highly recommend it because it is very funny.

Last night’s ending:
Detective – Neville Landless
Murderer – Princess Puffer
Lovers – Bazzard and Helena Loveless
This was absolutely hysterical because NOBODY likes Bazzard and Helena made this quite clear.

And check this out! The narrator/M.C. of the show was played by Tim Thorn, who was involved in MYART productions back when I was in middle school. Unfortunately we didn’t get a chance to talk to him after the show, mores the loss.

The Rocky Horror Show at the Maverick

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The best part of Rocky Horror Show (on stage) is audience participation.  While they were selling “Prop Bags” which added some audience element, it’s the callbacks that really do it.  According to one of the box office girls, there are enough in existence callbacks that you can just talk throughout the entire show (which is just annoying).  Luckily last night’s callbacks were just the tasteful fun ones. 

Anytime Brad mentions the castle and its “phone”, say “Castles don’t have phones, asshole”

Anytime Brad says, “Brad Majors”, say “Asshole”
    If Brad takes off his glasses, say “Super asshole”

Anytime Janet says, “Janet Weiss”, say “Slut”

When Frank-n-furter pauses on the word anticipation during “Sweet Transvestite”, shout “Say it!” 

Ask Frank-n-furter: 
    “What’s your favorite color?” (Act 1)
        Last night’s response:  Magenta
    “Where do you get your drugs?” (Act 1)
        Last night’s response:  Columbia
    “What do you put on your cornflakes?” (Act 2)
        Last night’s response:  Cum

Frank-n-furter:  It’s not easy having fun! 
Callback:  Try Disneyland! 
    Last night’s response:  I work there! 

The Narrator is very funny, especially since at the Maverick, he’s the bartender.  So he stood behind the bar the entire time, mixing drinks.  Beautiful. 

Also, last night’s audience included a family of five.  That’s right!  Mom and Dad took their three 9-year-olds to see Rocky Horror.  WTF is wrong with this country? 

In conclusion, if you’re a Rocky virgin and are at all amused by graphic…well everything, definitely try and check out Rocky Horror Show at the Maverick Theatre in Fullerton. 

Jekyll and Hyde and Why I’m Pathetic

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Jekyll and Hyde is a fascinating musical adaptation of the classic Robert Louis Stevenson novel featuring the schizophrenic, “chemical”-addicted Victorian doctor trying to destroy the “Duality of Man”.  I don’t remember ever reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, but somehow the concept has always been present in popular culture.  Anyone know why?  I mean it can’t just be The Pagemaster (featuring Leonard Nimoy as Jekyll and Hyde), can it?  Anyways.  T. Eric Hart did a fascinating job as the aforementioned Doctor, but the real star of the show is the music.  Frank Wildhorn is an incredible composer.  His music has this indelible movie-soundtrack quality that makes it so much fun to listen to.

Yesterday at my singing lesson, I briefly talked with my vocal coach about the upcoming Sweeney Todd adaptation and I voiced my opinion how in the beginning of the trailer, Johnny Depp sounds a LOT like Jack Sparrow, and how I hoped that that was just his generic English accent.  But then today I’m watching the trailer again and it hits me why I think that.  Something my coach had mentioned was that they started out with generic trailer music (before transitioning to Stephen Sondheim’s delicious treatment of Stephen Sondheim’s music), and guess what?  It’s the music from the Black Pearl trailer.  Therefore I conclude that by tying the two together, they are not only saturating our conscious mind (as if all the Pirate lovers aren’t already going to see Sweeney JUST because of Johnny), but also our sub-conscious mind with the thought that if you loved Pirates, you’ll love Sweeney Todd.  Which reminds me of how after Wicked became popular, when Rent the movie came out, all the teeny-boppers who loved Wicked became Rent-heads because of Idina Menzel, despite the fact that they had NO CLUE what being a Rent-head is about (then again, neither do I since I’ll never be a true artist working in New York…I just hit puberty while singing along to the soundtrack).  I guess I don’t mind since it’s a sound marketing strategy…maybe I’ll just have to make sure that I either catch a midnight showing of Sweeney or at a time when I won’t be surrounded by swooning girls who don’t get it or think it’s too violent.

Good Luck Chuck and Ragtime

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So I was supposed to drive to Riverside for West Side Story (Performance Riverside) and then down to San Diego (Starlight Theatre) for Ragtime. But when I woke up at 1:17pm, I decided against rushing out of the house to WSS (I feel a bit like a heel though, since I knew folks from Torrance’s WSS were in it) and decided instead to head down to San Diego early and catch a flick.

Good Luck Chuck
This movie fits in the same vein as Wedding Crashers…rated R, lots of sex, lots of jokes. Great fun if you don’t mind a little crudity. The premise is that Dane Cook gets hexed by a Wiccan girl he refuses to have sex with as a child. Every girl he sleeps with will marry the next man they date. Then he meets Jessica Alba, an accident prone girl whom he really likes. Chaos ensues, confused romances evolve, happy endings persist, etc. Jessica Alba was really willing to “take one for the team” as it were…I’ve never seen someone more accident prone….so funny. Dane Cook was very funny, but also very empathic…I really felt for his character as he went through the movie. Definitely a good flick if you can get past the raunchiness.

Ragtime
While not my number 1 favorite show, I am definitely a huge fan of it. It’s an untainted picture of American history with authentic language. Tracking a family as their lives are thrown into chaos by the great American melting plot at the turn of the 20th century, the challenging experiences are paralleled by the seemingly unstructured chaos of the music known as ragtime.

I’m not even sure what I just said. I’m trying to sound like a theatre critic, but I don’t really know what I’m talking about. I just love this show because it’s classic Americana. The performances were all fantastic. Just wonderfully top notch and lots of fun to watch. But it’s closed now, so sorry you missed it!

A Weekend In The Country

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[Bonus points if you understand the title reference]

So here it is…Labor Day Weekend 2007. I spent the weekend at the King Frederick Best Western in Solvang. The whole purpose of the trip was to see PCPA’s Urinetown, but I also ended up finishing Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen. The theatre ended up being less than a 1/10 of a mile from our hotel, and it felt really fun to walk to the theatre, see the show and then walk back to the hotel. I’ll have to make this Solvang trip more of a regular thing to see more theatre and walk back to my room. ;)

Urinetown…Not
the Place, The Musical

The Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts (PCPA) presents Urinetown in Santa Maria and at Solvang’s TheatreFest.

At first Officer Lockstock seemed a bit too over the top with his gay act, but after a while, I grew to enjoy it.

An Asian Bobby Strong with a white Old Man Strong? I didn’t know the people who cast Disney’s Cinderella (with Brandi) was still working!*

One of the Equity cast members who played Mr. McQueen (Mr. Cladwell’s assistant, third from the right) looked exactly like Steven Spielberg. Creepy cool!

The program for this show was actually quite informative (if not a little too commercial for my taste). It contained liner notes for all the shows for the Summer 2007 billing (makes sense – cheaper on printing and I can’t imagine the amphitheatre doing many shows during the possible rainy season). One of the most interesting things I learned from the notes highlights an old (I don’t want to call it a maxim, but I can’t think of another word for it) maxim of mine that the more times you watch something, the more you will get from it***. Robert Malthus wrote the “Essay on Population” which is referenced and even cited in the play. Hence, Officer Lockstock at the climax of the finale cries, “Hail Malthus!” While I’m talking about that maxim, I also finally decoded another line from the show that I never really comprehended (leave me alone…I have hearing problems when there are multiple sound inputs). It’s during the song “Snuff that Girl”.

“Nuts, they fall close
So they say, to the tree
Looky here, here’s an a-
Corn from Cladwell I see
I say, she is the nut
and of course, we’re the squirrel!
She is what we saved for winter
So let’s snuff that girl!”

Speaking of “Snuff that Girl”, the program said that the show paid homage to West Side Story and Cabaret. I was a little puzzled by this because I had never thought about those shows as being even remotely close to anything in the show. But then not only did Officer Lockstock do the Jet jump randomly, the entire “Snuff That Girl” song is practically inspired by West Side Story’s “Cool”. Nothing familiarizes you with a show like doing it (West Side Story that is). Oh and I can’t forget the Fiddler on the Roof reference that totally topped the song “What Is Urinetown”. I mean the thing is already a classic Russian folk song, but then they went and added the bloody bottle dance to it. Love it! Oh and I can’t forget the Will Rogers’ “Favorite Son” choreography that inspired a moment in the show…I could have sworn it was during “Run Freedom Run”, but without choreography notes, I couldn’t tell you.

Another problem with outdoor amphitheatres? Bats. Several times during the show, a bat (couldn’t tell if it was the same one or another from the flock – what is a group of bats called? A gaggle?**) swooped in and out of the lights above the stage. Kind of distracting, but what can you do. Also, it’s Solvang, so all silences throughout the performance were punctuated by monster cricket chirps.

All in all, a fantastic performance. Quick! Check it out before it disappears.

Pearl Harbor

I have several issues with what I would consider print issues in the book. After a decent-sized preface that details the problems with telling a story containing Asian culture that tries to remain historically accurate, they don’t make up their minds. The biggest issue about that was they said they would call it Nanking and Peking instead of the modern Nanjing and Bangkok and then they call it both things! Frustrating. Also, despite the book being subtitled “A Novel of December 8th”, I KNOW their intention was just to approach it from the Japanese perspective: the morning of Sunday December 7th, 1941 was the morning of Monday December 8th, 1941 in Tokyo. And they totally screw that up because the little date index that appears above the section where the battle actually takes place says it’s December 8th Hawaii time and December 9th Tokyo time. But then they go and talk about how the weekend crew at Pearl Harbor is more lax than the week crew. So it’s a simple little print error, fine. So I’m obsessing, fine. I still think that a book of this quality deserves better than that.

I’ve been raving about this book for a while now, so there’s not really much more I can say. It’s a phenomenal read with characters through whom you can really feel the conflict and emotions that lead up to the attack on Pearl Harbor. And as I keep saying it’s a fascinating insight into Asian culture that I am just blown away by.

* You know, how the Prince was Asian, his father the King was white (Victor Garber) and his mother the Queen was black (Whoopi Goldberg).

** It’s actually a colony. http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/jul99/932000898.Gb.r.html

*** The most popular example I have of this is the now-extinct Country Bear Vacation Hoedown. The three stuffed heads on the wall (Max the deer, Buff the buffalo and Melvin the moose) are arguing.

“Buff: The way you’re always hibernatin’, you must be part bear.

Melvin: Aw heck, I’m only part moose as it is!”