I almost forgot tonight is Tony Award night what is WRONG with me? My theatre-geekiness has been replaced by virtual adoptable animal geekiness. Oh, and the fading Queen of Broadway is in Australia so it’s highly unlikely she’ll be on the show. Damn her! What was she thinking scheduling a concert far, far away on Tony night? Who is her booking manager? I wanna have a little word with him … Of course, maybe if she actually DID A NEW BROADWAY SHOW SOMETIME THIS DECADE it might help her be invited to the Tonys. OK I’m done now, I hope there’s at least one decent new musical on Broadway, I have to admit I’m so outta the loop I don’t even know what’s playing on Broadway right now. Although if this job continues I might actually be able to afford a trip to New York, it’s been a very, very long time (1993 was the last time I went there.)

More comments later as I watch the show.

Pal Joey … wasn’t that a show Bernadette was up for? As much as I hate revivals … and “Let Your Freak Flag Fly” LOL OK maybe Broadway isn’t quite dead yet. But good grief, can someone, please, please, please write a musical that’s not based on a movie? And oh, Liza, my dear, well, she’s a legend so I’ll just hold my comments on that one. And WTF there’s a revival of Hair on Broadway?

Egads the costumes from Shrek are … interesting LOL and hehee a little Wicked nod there.

Am I the only one who hates the musical “Mamma Mia!”?

Yay, an actual original musical won an award (Next to Normal.) I don’t know anything about the show though, but maybe I’ll have to check it out.

OK I hate revivals on Broadway but I’ll let “West Side Story” pass cuz it’s such a great show. And Sondheim is awesome for being willing to rework stuff.

LOL Liza a freak machine. Hehe. Cheesy rock musical (Rock of Ages) looks kinda lame but kinda fun too.

Yannow I never realized how stupid some of the lyrics to “Hair” are LOL.

OK this is the first part of overly long commentary about the new Sondheim CD set “The Story So Far” cuz I’m bored and I’m listening to it and I am somewhat compulsive about expressing my opinion. Lucky you.

First, after importing all the songs from the four (!) CDs into iTunes, I had to put them in chronological order because that’s how my brain knows the material and I get confused easily in my peri-menopausal old age. So the order in my review isn’t quite the same as on the CDs but it’s pretty close. Mostly I just interspersed CD 4 into the other stuff where it belonged historically.

Just to annoy you I’m gonna do a show by show kinda commentary only some songs I might not comment on because I don’t want to bore you all too much so just ignore the stuff you don’t know/care about. OK, here goes:

I Must Be Dreaming (1948 All That Glitters) OK, not much to say about this except it’s from his college days and I gotta say the boy was quite accomplished even back then.

The Two of You (1952 Kukla, Fran and Ollie TV show) They rejected it, too bad, cuz I used to watch this show as a young kiddie and mighta become a Sondheim fanatic at age 3 instead of age 13 or so. Except I wasn’t born yet when this song was written. Oh well.

Saturday Night (1954) Not really all that impressed, but it’s “lost” stuff, although one of my old CDs had at least one song from this show, but I forget which one and I’m too lazy to dig out the disks to find out. Too bad I wasn’t compulsive when I imported those into iTunes.

They Ask Me Why I Believe in You (1956) From a TV script that never got produced. Bernadette Peters recorded this and it’s on her Sondheim, etc, etc CD but I like Steve’s version better just cuz he’s so cute when he sings his own stuff.

West Side Story (1957) Wow flashback, this was my first Sondheim show, only I didn’t know it at the time. But I loved this show. A lot. This show and Gypsy were my first favorite musicals. And they were both touched by Sondheim. Coincidence? I think not!

Gypsy (1959) The other early fave. As a small kiddie I was dragged to rehearsals of musicals (my divorced mom was a violinist and musicals were easy to play for quick money) and I vividly remember sitting in the empty theater of this show during show rehearsals and watching everyone up there on stage and thinking “Wow, I wish I could do that!” I fell in love with the show and got bitten by the theatre bug all at the same time. And I learned every song and every line by heart and recited them in the car on the way home every night. Much to my mother’s dismay (her personal “favorite” was “You Gotta Have a Gimmick” that I did, complete with hip gestures, which embarrassed her to no end which of course just encouraged me more.) The recording on the CD is from the original Broadway cast featuring The Merm herself (I have the vinyl of this album somewhere too ….)

Invitation to a March (1960) Never heard this before that I know of, it’s kind of pretty, although out of context so it doesn’t make much sense since it’s just cue music.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1962) My least favorite Sondheim show, although the movie is pretty funny, I had to watch it again in college in my Comic Spirit class which was a class where we “studied” humor (we really just watched funny movies and cartoons, and did a bit of reading from things like “The Decameron” but hey it counted for GE credit and the teacher told dumb jokes only he thought were funny.)

Truly Content (1962 Passionella) Another one with The Master himself singing. Was later part of the show The Apple Tree which in a later revival starred one of my favorite musical theatre performers Kristin Chenoweth. So I guess it’s OK.

Don’t Laugh (1963 Hot Spot) Another one I’ve never heard, from a show I never heard of. I kind of like this song. And it’s sung by Sondheim on the CD. Did I mention he sounds cute when he sings?

Anyone Can Whistle (1964) It’s nice to have yet another recording of some of the songs from this show. I already have the concert version thingie that came out uhm … 10 years or so ago with Bernadette Peters, Angela Lansbury, Madeline Kahn, Scott Bakula and a bunch other great peeps, but I don’t have the original cast album. Maybe I should get it. The show is a bit wacky and hard to follow but it has some great songs, including the title song that I used to use as an audition song.

Do I Hear a Waltz? (1965) Oh man, this stuff is great. A show I’d forgotten about. And a couple of the songs on the CD are previously unreleased songs from the demo recording!

The Mad Show (1966) I swear I remember hearing Linda Lavin singing this song on TV long, long ago. What the hell ever happened to her? She did that TV show Alice and her career died or something. This may be the only recording I ever get of her singing.

Evening Primrose (1966) Who knew Tony Perkins could sing? I like the versions from Mandy Patinkin’s Dress Casual album better, but who knew Tony Perkins could sing? Worth it just for that!

No, Mary Ann (1969 The Thing Of It Is) I don’t like this one much. Steve doesn’t sound cute on this one. And it’s kind of generic in a Sondheimy way.

Another Hundred People (1970 Company) I really like this song, I’m not sure why. It also makes a great audition song if you can pull it off. This recording is from the original cast I think, with Pamela Myers, who, if I’m not mistaken, I saw in the touring production of Sunday in the Park with George (with the original sets and costumes from the Broadway production, so close, yet so very far ….)

The Ladies Who Lunch (1970 Company) Elaine Stritch at her classic best. This is a gotta have it.

Being Alive (1970 Company) This is from one of my top three Sondheim musicals ever. And every time I see it I “get it” more and more (probably because I mature a bit between viewings.) In my opinion probably the deepest show Sondheim’s ever written in regards to his understanding of people. The song “Being Alive” is probably the best song he’s ever written. I’ve heard several performers sing it, both within and out of the context of the show. It’s nice to hear another recording of it. My personal favorite rendition though is Raul Esparza from the recent revival but maybe I should buy the original cast recording too.

Happily Ever After (1970 Company) I like this song, too bad it was cut from the show. I also have another recording of this from the Collector’s Sondheim CD (performed by Craig Lucas) but this one is sung by Sondheim himself.

Follies (1971) This show isn’t one of my favorites but it has some great songs. Most notably the fabulous Elaine Stritch singing Broadway Baby (which I like a whole lot better than the Bernadette Peters’ cutesy version.) Add in other performances from the Follies in Concert recording by Carol Burnett (I’m Still Here) and Barbara Cook (Losing My Mind) and others and it’s a hit. My only complaint is there isn’t anything from the original cast. But maybe it was never recorded? The concert version is a great recording though.

OK I’m gonna end here because I’m tired of typing. Part two later, starting with A Little Night Music. Gads and I’m only halfway through CD 2 ….

Or else Broadway is deeper in the poo-hole than I’d realized. What passes for a musical nowadays … I guess if it sells tickets, musicality and meaningful lyrics don’t matter? I dunno, are these shows actually making money? I thought it was sad years ago when revivals made a comeback with a vengeance. But seriously, I think I’d rather have revivals of good shows than this new stuff. I am so glad I didn’t continue to pursue my dream of being a Broadway actress (not that I had a chance in Hell haha) because I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be an actor who’s worked years to get to Broadway only to lose a lead role to some reality TV “star” or perform in some crapass show. But hey, at least Patti LuPone is great as Rose. Comparatively speaking that is. Manically, breathlessly “acting” that role like it was meant to be played. Is she drunk? Or channeling Ethel Merman? I can’t quite tell. (I love Patti, but uhm … take the marbles outta yer mouth will ya?)

And is it just me or is just about everyone singing off key?

But I gotta say, the dude puts Mandy Patinkin’s falsetto to shame.

And speaking of rainbows …

California’s Supreme Court overturned the previous ban on gay marriage. ‘Bout damn time. I dunno why people can’t get that making laws that take away people’s constitutional rights are OK. And that the law has no business dictating the “sanctity” of marriage (the word itself implies divine authority, and forcing “god” via legislation is in and of itself unconstitutional.)

Besides, any “sanctity” marriage ever had was long ago destroyed by heterosexuals anyway. Just look at the rates of divorce, infidelity, spousal abuse, marriage for a Green Card, “living in sin” and a whole host of other reasons people mock “traditional” marriage. Marriage in this country is a contract, nothing more, nothing less under the law. People can individually personalize the their cultural/religious definition of marriage all they want for themselves, but shouldn’t dictate to others that they must follow their definition. The law only applies to the contract. Everything else is beyond the authority of legislation.

I figure if gay people wanna get married, let ‘em, and if straight people don’t wanna support gay marriage then they shouldn’t marry someone of the same gender.

Food Court Musical

Even silly, goofy, stupid ones. But I kinda dig what this group is doing. Sorta like performance art for the masses.

My NetFlix choices for this week have been episodes of the 80′s TV show Fame which I used to watch religiously in my youth, back when I still had “the dream” but not “the guts.” And the kids on the show were about the same age as me (well the characters were.) I went to high school in the 80′s, so did they. Only my high school was a suburban middle-class high school near LA and theirs was a gloriously run-down and gritty but magical High School of the Performing Arts in NYC. I remember the first time I went to NY, I took one of those cheesy bus tours aimed at tourists, and one of the “landmarks” was the place where they’d filmed the exterior shots for that show. Only by then it was a condemned windowless building in a not so great neighborhood. Ah, New York.

Anyway, I had fantasies of attending a school like that, and when I went to college (the second time) I was away from home in another state, and every Thursday night (I think it was Thursday) a bunch of us in the dorm would go downstairs to the one TV and gather around and watch Fame. Most of the other kids were music majors, or dance majors and stuff, but I was, at that time, Pre-Veterinary, but in my heart I was a musical theatre major. I just didn’t have the guts to actually take an acting class, because they required an audition and OMG I couldn’t do that. So I lived my dream vicariously.

The show did manage, however, to keep the dream alive long enough, so that 10 years later I did have the guts to take an acting class, and I actually was a theatre major for about a year and a half, at a local community college … until I realized I had no talent. Well, maybe a teeny bit of talent. But not enough to make a career outta performing, and I found out I really didn’t want it as much as I had thought I did, so I went on to other things. But I learned a lot, about acting, singing, dancing (two left feet doesn’t even begin to describe me.) I learned about life,  and how to dig deep into myself to find how I really felt about things. And I also gained a lot more respect for those who do perform for a living. But most of all, I learned to challenge myself, to overcome my fears, and to learn to face the truth about my abilities, that sometimes the things we want, we can’t have, but along the way we might discover other qualities about ourselves that we never knew. And the best part is, I won’t grow into a bitter old lady, always wondering “what if.” It’s a lot easier to let go of a dream you’ve actually reached for, than one for which you never tried.

I just finished watching “Company” on PBS and I’d forgotten how much I love this show. I know it’s one of my most favorite Sondheim shows, and it was my “first” favorite, long before “Sunday in the Park with George” but damn it’s good. I saw a production of it maybe 15 or so years ago, with Patrick Cassidy as Bobby and Carol Burnett as Joanne, but I definitely liked this one better.

I’m still not sure about the whole musical instruments on stage thing (what is it with John Doyle and musical instruments? – He did the same kinda thing with his recent “Sweeney Todd.”) It was distracting at first, but after awhile it sorta almost worked for me. I kept thinking “gimmick” though. But the cast was great, and Raúl Esparza’s “Being Alive” was awesome, even, dare I say, better than Bernadette Peters’ rendition. Of course this time it was in the context of the show, so the impact was greater. In any case it was more powerful than when he did it on the Tony Awards.

One thing I’d forgotten about this show though is how many great songs are in it, true Sondheim songs, from his prime, before he got all weird with his subject matter. This show is full of the kind of songs Sondheim is best at, they don’t need elaborate sets and costumes (in fact too much staging would weaken them I think.) They’re just pure humanity and emotion and angst and pain and love and all the crap that makes us human. They’re about how people go through life putting up walls and living behind facades, desperately hoping they’ll be accepted but frantically trying to avoid being found out, fearing loneliness but afraid of being suffocated. Wonderful songs like “Sorry, Grateful” and “Marry Me a Little” and of course the showstopper “Being Alive.” Which really, is what the show is all about. Being and living. And marriage. Or not.

No, not the Super Bowl … it’s animal shelter fund-raising season! I took a chance and bid on an item being sold by someone with ZERO feedback on ebay (normally I don’t do that) but it was being sold by the same peeps who ran the Broadway Barks auctions last summer. I know this because I checked, cuz, you know, I’m paranoid. And it’s pretty easy to put up fake auctions on ebay claiming you’re legit, and well, new account, no feedback is a red flag. But I emailed the BARC shelter and asked if it was legit and they said yes, and I also checked PayPal and noticed all my old transactions from last summer were now called BARC instead of Broadway Barks which seems to indicate they’d changed over. And there was a similarity to the uhm … writing style of these auctions to those of last summer. I had a wee bit o’trouble paying though, but that was resolved quickly. I would have linked to the auctions sooner (seems they’re about over now) but I wasn’t totally sure it was legit and I didn’t wanna lead someone astray. But now that I got my item, I guess it’s safe to talk about it. And I got to leave their very first feedback, so it’s no longer zero.

The item is pretty nice, it’s a denim Tony Jacket from the 50th anniversary of the Tony Awards, and it’s not signed by Bernadette Peters so I can actually wear it. It’s a size medium but it’s a large medium, and actually fits over my uhm … voluptuous figure. It seems to be brand new, and it’s lined too, so it’s pretty nice. The only thing I don’t like is the arms are not blue like the rest of the jacket, but that’s a small thing. It’s a collectible in any case, how often does the 50th anniversary of the Tony Awards happen anyway? Hehe.

The sleeves are a bit long though but that’s OK cuz that way I can hide stuff up ‘em. Anyway, it’s a nice item, probably worth at least what I paid for it, and the money went to a good cause, even if it is in New York. Maybe they should set up a “Hollywood Howls” charity or something so I could help out animals more local to where I live. Or maybe I should just get off my lazy ass and go volunteer at the shelter right down the street from where I live. But then I’d wanna take all the kitties home with me. I’m a sucker for cats.

I went to see Sweeney Todd today (finally felt well enough to see it, even with compromised hearing, but I was afraid it might not be playing tomorrow seeing as it’s been out awhile.)

All I can say is it’s definitely a different take on the show than the old Broadway production with Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou. Very dark, very bloody. Made me wanna move to the slums of London and eat meat pies. Well, OK not quite.

I did have a couple minor problems with it, one was the singing, Depp did fine in my opinion but Bonham Carter was just too weak, I kept thinking that Bernadette Peters would have been better in the role, why oh why didn’t she get to do it? It woulda been a perfect stretch for her (she never does dark, twisted, demented roles and I’d love to see her do that.) Plus, Helena just looked so much like Bernadette in some scenes (red ringlets, bursting bosom, pallid complexion) it made me think she was a second choice. But maybe they decided Bernadette was too old (or ::gasp:: Bernadette turned the role down, which I truly hope is not the case.) Anyway, Helena just didn’t have the passion and connection to the songs I would have liked to have seen, she’s fantastic in her acting though, as is Depp. And a pleasant surprise was seeing Alan Rickman (Professor Snape from the Potter films) and Sacha Baron Cohen as a wickedly delicious competitor of Todd’s.

The only other problem I had with it was the blood was a wee bit too fake looking, but I’d heard the film was in danger of not getting an R rating, so maybe they had to fake it up a bit. I’d rather have fake and graphic than realistic and implied. This film is definitely not for the kiddies. It was rather fun too watching the reaction (and hearing the gasps) of some of the older women in the audience. That alone was worth the ticket price.

I’ll have to re-watch the original Broadway version now that I’ve seen the movie, and compare. I was gonna do it before I saw the movie but I’m glad I waited. I didn’t want to spoil the surprises, so to speak (it’s been a good 10 years at least since I’ve seen the video of the original Sweeney.)

The best thing though is it was a musical made into a movie, and I love it when that happens. Especially if it combines two of my favorites, Sondheim and Burton. And Johnny Depp ain’t bad either.

Harvey F***ing Fierstein! And his blog is actually interesting to read! And he’s a trained artist! Who knew? Why are all the cool men gay? No wonder I hardly ever date, it’s tough finding a musical theatre geek who likes art and small furry animals who’s straight and male.