Haven’t blogged for a while.  Just a stready stream of hits are keeping me busy these days.

Too bad really.  I would have liked to chimed in on Imus (who cares), Schilling’s pitching (yay, it’s back), various machinations going on in our nation’s capital (shorter version: Republicans suck)…

But mostly, I would have liked to have written a timely kudos to Emily and Gray for their simply amazing performances in Beuaty and the Beast, which I saw last Thursday.  It was a bit shocking at first to see/hear Gray speaking and singing in a course low register, striding the stage with a gruff gait.  Lately, his roles have gravitated to — shall we say — his softer side, i.e., he played Frankenfurter in Rocky Horror, Mrs. Strict in Zombie Prom, and repeated appearances as Brother Boy/Tammy Wynette in various Del Shores plays.  So it was great to see this side of him — it’s too easy to forget his versitility.  He was fantastic.

Emily was — oh are there proper words?  She was spot on.  She was Belle.  Her powerful voice soared (my only regret was that the orchestra couldn’t match her Broadway belt).  Her delivery and coming timing were impeccable.  She also looked like a million bucks.  When she matriculates (no, that’s not a dirty word) at UNCG this fall, we’re going to miss her.  Fortunately, she can be seen in Hair soon, although — sadly — she’s decided to limit how much of her will be seen, if you catch my drift.

I’ve seen Beauty and the Beast three times now (in the past two years) in various local productions, and this was the first time I really enjoyed it.  Craig Faircloth was terrifically over-the-top, and the Barnhardt sisters — my God, the Barnhardt sisters.  I wish they would bring back vaudeville, because those girls could put together an act!

Anyway, back to work/life, and (hopefully) some light blogging….