jgesteve

Point the first, I totally had a "g'nerd"¹-gasm when after I sent her a quick note on Facebook, I received a friend request for La Blickenstaff.

Point the second, it's totally crappy quality as it was taken using the Voice Note recorder on my Blackberry, but here's the cover of We Belong that I was telling y'all about in my last post:

And Now This is Happening - We Belong - Heidi Blickenstaff and Susan Blackwell

g'nerd – Gay + Nerd = G'Nerd in [tos]speak

My weekend escapade in NYC/NJ, let me show/tell it to you:

Took the 'hound up Friday night and made decent time. Pissed a bunch of people off because I had been willing to shell out the extra $5 for priority boarding so skipped to the head of the line. Got up there and was starving because I hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I struck off to find a pizza stand before heading to meet my sister. Had been hanging out for a few minutes with my sister and her friend at a bar, when someone that was also in the friend's show stopped by and within 15 seconds had lived up to the stereotype of the "pretentious actress who name drops Uta Hagen." Headed home to Jersey and showed my sister this year's Broadway Bares 19: Click It! since it starred Heidi who we'd be seeing on Sunday night.

Saturday, we headed into the city. Sis had a rehearsal on the Upper West Side, so I walked down Columbus Avenue towards Times Square shopping all the way: Kiehl's, Express (to get a shirt to hide the dorkiness that was my Die, Vampire, Die T-shirt on Sunday night), the 2 for $10 Sunglass vendor at the Broadway market (wearing sunglasses on a sunny day in NYC is an exercise in extremes), and finally Colony Records (where my hopes of ever finding a karaoke version of Bosom Buddies were dashed). By this time my sister's rehearsal was finishing up and the line at TKTS was forming up for the evening performances.

In the TKTS line, I had to crush the dreams of the Spanish tourist behind me in line who asked: "Which is better: Phantom of the Opera or Billy Elliot?" To which I responded that there's not a chance in hell that Billy Elliot is going to be on the board tonight. Started to talk to the guy in front of me, whose family left him to hold their place. He was trying for Shrek since he had the kids, and when I mentioned that Hair was on our list he mentioned he'd recently seen it. To which I raised my eyebrows and laughingly asked, "With the kids?" Ironically, there was an article in the Playbill by Seth Rudetsky discussing the family friendliness of various non-Disney shows up to and including Hair. We got ourselves some Orchestra tix to Next to Normal, and then headed off to the Discovery Times Square Titanic Exhibit.

I was having major flashbacks the whole time we were at the Titanic exhibit. First there were the flashbacks to my days at Nature Company because a) it was Discovery, b) it was the Titanic which was big when I was working there, and c) the first part of the exhibit was playing the music from Riverdance in the background which was also huge when I was at NatCo. Then, we rounded the corner to come upon the large placard with the schematics of the Titanic and I had a major flashback to 7th (or was it 8th) grade when I did a GATE project on the Titanic. As part of the project, my grandfather (if you ever wondered where I get the anal-retentiveness from, this would be it) had used his jigsaw to cut out a side elevation of the Titanic to which I'd pasted the schematic. Also, as part of the project I'd printed out the survivor and deceased lists, one name per line in about 24pt font (on our good old dot-matrix printer), rolled them up, and then unrolled them during the presentation. Needless to say the deceased list reached the back of the classroom, and then some. There wasn't much in the way of new information for me, but the presentation was awesome. Not sure if it was $24.50 awesome, but perhaps if you also wanted to do the Lucy exhibit, it'd be $17 awesome (the aforementioned grandfather would be the one I got the frugalness genetics from too ;-)

Killed some time by hitting up Drama Book Shop where I picked up Built of Books (a biography of Oscar Wilde focusing on how the literature he read shapped him) and Sis and I headed to the Times Square bandstand to chill out for a bit and read. Best overheard moment while there: Two people were discussing how to get somewhere, here's the setup: Person A said that it was like 20 minutes by car. Person B asked if they could walk there. Person A said they could but it'd be like hours but they could take the Subway.

Person B: Where's the subway?
Person A: (not sarcastically) I dunno... down?

Grabbed our usual dinner at Juniors, then mosied across Shubert Alley to the Booth for Next to Normal.

"Valium is my favorite color":
For those who didn't watch the Tony Awards, here's the performance from the cast. You often hear the phrase "powerhouse of emotion" in reviews, but this is truly the case for Next to Normal. There are no emotionally dead moments in this show. My one complaint, and this goes for pretty much all of Broadway, get your sound house in order. If you insist on miking actors and putting the orchestra in weird places you owe it to your audience to make sure that the balance works for the entire audience. Thankfully, I'd heard the cast album before so I knew what was going on during those instances when the band overpowered the actors. Perhaps [title of show] had it right, just 4 chairs and a keyboard. It'd be pretty hard for even the best keyboardist to overpower the singers. When in doubt, the balance should always be in favor of the actors (sorry musicians and composers, but I've gotta side with the lyricists and actors here). The set was amazingly inventive given the rather pedestrian setting (in essence a suburban house) and the costumes were equally intriguing (Gabe's panoply of colored T-shirts that match Diana's outfits, Diana's finale outfit mirroring Gabe's opening outfit). I was at first disappointed to see that Mr. Ripley's daughter Alice would be out, but her understudy, Jessica Phillips did an admirable job though her voice had a slight twanginess that I wasn't fond of. Kyle Dean Massey, covering the role of Gabe while Aaron is in Seattle for Catch Me If You Can, was excellent (I seem destined to see KDM every time he covers a role-- for Curtis Holbrooke in Xanadu when he was off doing Saved!, for Aaron Tveit in this-- I hope he gets a chance to originate a role soon). J. Robert Spencer, Jennifer Damiano, Adam Chanler-Berat, and Louis Hobson rounded out the stellar cast. The crime of the century ("Goldman knew it was only [2009]... and there were ninety-[one] years to go!") is that Billy Elliot beat this for Best Musical. In the end though, I think that this will be the musical from 2008-2009 that stands the test of time. I can see this being the next leading lady revival vehicle (after all, not to betray my god Sondheim, but Gypsy requires way too many other cast members ;-)

Sunday it was up for brunch with my mother. Well, I suggested brunch, it turned into 10am breakfast with her and Sis at IHOP. Then it was off to visit my Aunt at Hackensack Hospital. I'd not been there since probably my Grandfather's passing which was when I was in 10th Grade, so I was shocked to see how polished and ornate the lobby was now. After a visit with the Aunt, we headed over to my other Aunt's place to visit with her, and my "nieces" Kayla and Olivia. I promptly oohed and aahed over their artwork, and then crushed them in a game of Froggie Boggie. As future spinmeister Kayla put it, she didn't lose, or come in second, but we (me and her) beat our sisters. Then it was off to pick up Sis's friend J, and begin the trek northward to the O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, CT. Trip was mostly uneventful save for the momentary panic when the GPS informed us we'd arrived and we hadn't.

The event we went to see was a double-feature of cabaret works. Beginning with Better: The Songs of Edward Kleban during which I fell a little bit in love with Harris Doran (during his performance of "Do It Yourself" which is quite likely the best masturbation song ever). There was perhaps a bit too much self-congratulatory rambling during this piece, but for the most part the songs were good and well-performed, and I'd be interested to see Gallery if it ever comes to full fruition. Then came the reason for this entire weekend...

We Belong
The gang from [title of show] had put together a work-in-progress that had received its title only that day: And Now This is Happening. Some wonderful autobiographical sharing as well as a melding of original and pre-existing works including a wonderful rendition of "We Belong" by Heidi with Susan narrating Heidi's inner monologue. It was hilarious and beautiful at the same time, so in grand [tos] tradition, I guess that would be "hileautiful"? The evening also featured, as I'd hoped, a rendition of My First Time first seen at the 2008 Gypsy of the Year. Afterwards, Sis's friend J happens to be with Heidi and Hunter's agency, so we got to chat with them a little bit (though I forgot to tell Hunter about my Tony Cupcakes) and got some autographs and pics (Heidi & I 1,2; Hunter & I). Then, we began the trek back to Jersey.

Realizing that we wouldn't be getting home until after 2am, and that in order to make the 7am bus to DC I'd need to get up at 5am, I decided that sleep wasn't happening, and if it wasn't happening I might as well take the 3:45am bus back. So grabbed my stuff, got dropped off at Port Authority by Sis, and proceeded to attempt to sleep through the crazy driver's crazy driving. Went straight from the bus station to work, managed to make it through the day, got home, and crashed big time.

Via an old high school friend on Facebook:


Via gnumoose:

In honor of Neil Patrick Harris being selected to host the Tony Awards, an internet video retrospective:

Stayed home from work today 'cause I was feeling like crap. I just saw that Heroes has definitely been picked up by NBC for renewal while Chuck still remains in limbo, and I'm sorry but that's bullshit. I swear NBC is like a battered wife or something when it comes to Heroes. It consistently lets them down but they stick with it. Anyway, I was watching the season finale of Chuck and realizing that while Morgan Fairchild is excellent as Awesome's mom, I'm realy wishing they'd cast Kate Jackson in her role so that Awesome's parents would have been Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

In other news, I am so over this rainy crappy weather, for serious. Also, I saw Wolverine over the weekend with fafou and M. Overall, not bad. Plenty of sexy Hugh Jackman to watch. Not enough sexy Ryan Reynolds. Some issues: ( spoilers )

Hey, darthfox, did you see this: Chess in Concert, with Menzel, Pascal and Groban, to Air on PBS in June. I'm fairly certain that you were a fan of Chess, or am I just getting you confused with Nick.

In other random bits from the day so far:

This is kinda fun in a vaguely NSFW sort of way.

Star Wars MacGyver:


For reference, the original opening:

My addition to the Amazon Rank hullabaloo.
( Amazon Email )

76 Ho-mos led the big parade...

So, what the heck, you're welcome,
Glad to have you with us.
Even though we may not ever mention it again.

Ok, enough with the Music Man references, Iowa court upholds gay marriage! Yay!

Producers Want to Move Encores! Finian's Rainbow to Broadway: I was bummed I hadn't a chance to see it during it's run recently. I'd be happy to see it for both the Cheyenne-y goodness and because it holds a special place in my theatrical upbringing: My high school theatre director, Mr. "Duck" Donald, told us at least once per production the story of how he played Og, the Leprechaun, and was violently ill during one performance of the show. So, he had buckets off-stage left and right and would dance across the stage, puke, dance back across the stage, puke, etc.

Thanks, brewergnome, this really brightened my day:


Also, last night I finished Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies a wonderful book by Ted Chapin, current president of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization, past Production Assistant on the musical, chronicling the entire development cycle of the original production of Hal Prince and Stephen Sondheim's musical Follies. If you have any interest in the musical theatre, Stephen Sondheim, or just want a better understanding of how Broadway has changed from the era of Rodgers & Hammerstein standards through the Prince & Sondheim innovations to the current Lloyd-Webber & Disney marketable commodities, this is the book for you.

So, over the weekend my mother, sister (neato72), and I went to see a couple shows:
Blithe Spirit
Angela Lansbury stole the show as eccentric Madame Arcati, though I will say she had some stiff competition from Susan Louise O'Connor making her Broadway debut as the maid, Edith. Jayne Atkinson and Christine Ebersole were wonderful in the roles of Charles' duelling wives living (mostly) and dead (mostly) respectively. Rupert Everett was excellent as Charles, though by now he's played that same basic role in a variety of historical periods: Elizabethan, Victorian, post-World War, post-Cold War, etc. Overall, I would say the only problems with the productions was the perhaps too long gap between scenes (the use of the Noel Coward songs sung by Ms. Ebersole, was nice, but seemed to force extra time onto the show where none was truly needed) and the fact that the major plot device was never truly well explained (I shan't spoil it here).

South Pacific
I've never been a huge fan of South Pacific (or Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals in general), but this production converted me. Firstly, let me say that, for her sake, I hope that this production removes any lingering taint Laura Osnes' name has as a result of having been cast in Grease via a reality show. Ms. Osnes' did an admirable job in the role of Knucklehead Nellie Forbush deftly balancing the "corny" and the "cock-eyed" with the conflicted. Opera singer David Pittsinger was a moving Emile in glorious voice (if a little bit too stiff at some points, specifically the final lines of "This Nearly was Mine"). Loretta Ables Sayre was an alternatingly amusing and menacing Bloody Mary. One, I hesitate to say low, maybe odd, point was Andrew Samonsky's portrayal of Lt. Joe Cable. He seemed to be affecting a voice and bravado in his book scenes that didn't fully work for me, and seemed at odds with his singing voice (beautiful) and the scenes of him on the radio. And, of course, one can't discount the most important cast member, the sumptuous 30-piece orchestra which truly deserved the attention that was lavished upon it.

Via The New Gay (they're useful for some things):

Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders, the brains behind Ab Fab, will always crack me up. Their sketch comedy is just as funny as Ab Fab in its prime and this one is my favorite (opera nerd alert!). My roomie Josh and I just about died the first time we saw it at JRs on showtunes night and, thankfully, he found it online a short time later.

French and Saunders deliver perfect operatic send-ups, but what makes this music spoof so great is the details. First off, “I Should Be So Lucky” is a Kylie Minogue song from 1987 (this to the Brits is our “Like a Virgin”). Second off, that third singer, the one that can actually sing, is famous British opera singer Sarah Walker.

Via email from B:


Also, I'm quite glad that darthfox drives to work and therefore does not likely read the Washington Post Express which today featured a sidebar with questions from the Going Out Gurus' chat one of which stated that "dinner alludes us." I like to have friends with heads in a non-exploded state ;-)

OMG, my love for Neil Gaiman just went up another notch... he, too, disliked Tom Bombadil in Lord of the Rings... I've always felt like such an outsider when it came to LotR because I was ecstatic that TB was left out of the movies!

So, last night B had gotten us tickets to see The Heavens are Hung with Black at Ford's Theatre. This was a world premier piece commissioned for the reopening of the theatre and Lincoln's Bicentennial. It chronicles the months between the death of his son William and his writing of the Emancipation Proclamation. It was certainly different than I was expecting. This is no Shakespeare history play by any means (though the Henry's are mentioned at one point). It was very bizarre both textually and in presentation at times. Overall, it was an enjoyable evening of theatre in a historically apropos setting, but I can't see this ever being produced elsewhere with any regularity. David Selby is an excellent Lincoln playing him with an almost Mark Twain-like wit. The actors playing John Hay, Secretary of State Seward, and the ghost of Stephen Douglas were also quite good. Among the other ghosts making an appearance, because apparently Lincoln "sees dead people": John Brown, Dred Scott, Willie Lincoln, Uncle Tom, and a dream-time visit with Jefferson Davis.

Some of these spectral visits work well (as in the scene with John Brown, Stephen Douglas, and Dred Scott all verbally sparring with Lincoln) some of these not so well (The whole scene with Uncle Tom was a bit confusing). Also, given the tiny nature of the Ford's Theatre's stage, I think some of the staging choices were a bit bad. For instance, for the opening of the second act, the "Oval Office" set's walls fly out showing a river of light (the Potomac that McClelland was taking his sweet time crossing to attack Richmond) separating the sleeping forms of Abe and Jeff Davis, as the scene transitions back to the Oval Office, the rear wall comes only about halfway back down. My immediate thought was that the set malfunctioned. It remained that way for a goodly sum of time and only was explained when Dred Scott entered from upstage center. It just seemed weird and unnecessary to have this wall half flown in for a good 20 minutes just to facilitate this one entrance.

Another thing that didn't quite make sense was the use of Walt Whitman as a Greek chorus/narrator/commentator. For those that know Ragtime, think of the way that Emma, Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, et al. were used, but way less effective.

Long and the short of it, if you've got a yen for Lincolnalia, or want to see a show at the historic theatre, go see it. If you're looking for good theatre, take a pass.

...as an FYI and a minor request, having been bitten one too many times by the Fox Network Execs, I'm holding off on watching Dollhouse's episode 1 until such time as I know that it will be around for a bit. I did my duty by buying the episode on iTunes (voting with my dollars), but until it makes it past like episode 3, I'm asking that people be kind on my flist and cut any major spoilers ;-)

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO! is all I have to say!

So, the Helen Hayes Awards (DC Theatre's Tonys) nominations have been announced. I was happy to see some people on the list, not so happy about others. Though it was nice to see that I wasn't the only one who didn't care for Javert in Signature's Les Miserables as he was the only major male role who DIDN'T get a nom (Valjean got an undeserved, I feel, nod in the lead category, while Thenardier, Enjolras, and my boy Marius got supporting nods). I agree with Will Chase getting a nod for Kiss of the Spiderwoman, disagree with Hunter Foster's same nod. Also, not sure that Ace deserved a nod as Best Resident Musical, then again most of my issues were with the lyrics. Signature Theatre is bound to walk away with at least one win since all the noms for Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Musical are from Signature shows. And wouldn't it suck for Eric Schaeffer to lose the directing award because he split his own vote three ways.

Listening to the Equus kick-line number from this past year's Gypsy of the Year makes me glad that Harry Potter is not a musical. Daniel, you're pretty, but don't sing dear ;-)

This story on DCist:

The Washington Post's Paul Schwartzman reports from the Old Georgetown Board meeting today, and says that the board has indeed rejected Apple's storefront design for a fourth time. While insisting they are eager for the store to open on Wisconsin Ave., the board expressed frustration with Apple for again submitting a design that included a wide, all-glass entryway. Deputy mayor for planning and economic development Neil Albert didn't mince words: "We're extremely disappointed with today's decision." For it's part, Apple says it is still committed to making the Georgetown location work and will once again go back to the drawing board.

drew this comment which is utterly pricelss:

For its part, Apple says it is still committed to making the Georgetown location work and will once again go back to the drawing board.

Christ, Apple, you dweebs! Let me make this clear to you: the Old Georgetown Board is committed to not having Apple in this location. If you travel back in time to 1800 and get Pierre L'Enfant to design your building for you, they will still not approve it. If during your time travel, you get George Washington to change his farewell address to include the passage "I dream of a day, as all Americans so dream, when in Georgetowne shall open a store that sells marvelous inventions of a most clever nature, by which one may communicate at a distance without aid of post or signal-flag, whilst moving freely about one's business unencumbered, and by means of which one can both fix one's longitude and latitude within an accuracy of several feet and watch moving images of one Miss Feist, a comely young lady singer from Nova Scotia," they'll argue that she moved to Alberta before she hit it big.

Stop acting like a battered spouse and move on. Go to Penn Quarter or Dupont Circle or Chinatown; they'd be glad to have you, they're just as hoity as Georgetown while being much less toity, and unlike Georgetown your District-based customers will easily be able to get there. (Seriously -- if you open a store in Georgetown, I for one will be looking forward to still having to schlep out to Pentagon City or Clarendon to get my iPhone fix.)

Returned home safely from Miami and have now filed my taxes (getting back about $700 total from state and Fed).

Have a good weekend y'all. I'm off to DCA to catch a flight to Miami. Talk to y'all when I get back!