Given the fact that Obama is our first black president, and that this country has its fair share of gun-toting wingnuts who hate him, it's one thing to pay a visit to Ford's Theater (site of the Lincoln assassination). But does he have to go and mention "MacBeth" while in the theater?
Wasteful Spending On The Arts?
The folks at the NRO's The Corner don't care for the stimulus bill. Not surprising. In this NRO article, they outlined 50 “of the most outrageous items in the stimulus package”. Number one on the list? $50 million for the NEA. Here's what those "serious" critics of the stimulus package had to say: The easiest targets in the stimulus bill are the ones that were … Read More
Thrill Me
Good local theatre this weekend and next: By Mary Martin Niepold SPECIAL TO THE JOURNAL Published: February 8, 2009 Putting a murder to music may not be new, but it does curl the brain somehow. Sweeney Todd did it, and Oklahoma! to a lesser degree. Kurt Weill is famous on the subject. Now, "The Murder of the Century" is the … Read More
They’re Out To Get You
Spare me. They're making a Broadway musical out of Michael Jackson's Thriller: According to the press release, the musical take its plot from the actual music video, a “horror film spoof in which a young couple are out on a date on a beautiful full moon evening, when suddenly the young man, played by Jackson, turns into a werewolf.” This … Read More
A Conservative On “Rent”
By the conservative pundit, Stage Right: And then, I made the same mistake I made with most of the actresses I was foolish enough to date. I made a seemingly innocuous remark which unveiled me as insensitive, mean, unfeeling and…. a conservative!. I said: “Why are these punks spending all their time playing with their camera and guitar. They should … Read More
Theater Talk
It's on at weird times around here — mostly used as filler — so you should just set your TIVO to automatically record "Theater Talk", if you haven't done so already.
Neil Patrick Harris And The Death Of Broadway
From SNL (click here if viewer doesn't show): By the way, is there anything NPH doesn't do? NPH's Most Amazing Musical Moments NPH sings Rent! NPH does magic! NPH juggles! NPH wishes that he were your lover! NPH conducts orchestras!
“Bye Bye Birdie” Musical To Be (Re)made Into Movie
I'll keep an open mind, but the first one was pretty good:
Looks Like “Pal Joey” Isn’t Going To Save Broadway Either
And I had high hopes. But when the New York Times review says something like this: When Ms. [Stockard] Channing, as the alcoholic society matron Vera Simpson, sings the show’s most famous song, “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” it might as well be titled “Benumbed, Bummed Out and Bored Silly.” *** I’m assuming the numbness in this “Pal Joey” is deliberate, … Read More
Shrek Reviews
With Broadway slowing drying up under the bad economic times, many wondered if "Shrek: The Musical", recently transported from the west coast, would fare well. It opened last night to "eeehh" reviews, but time will tell if the latest Disney (actually "Dreamworks") venture will be recession-proof. I'm thinking "no". New York Times: “Shrek” does not avoid the watery fate that … Read More
Doubt And Frost/Nixon
The early buzz on these to Broadway-to-big screen movies? Frost/Nixon, directed by Ron Howard, and starring Frank Langella, is good. Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, sucks and blows. The reason, the buzz says, is because John Patrick Shanley (the author) insisted on directing. Or "overdirecting" according to one critic. Another critic, after spending paragraphs about … Read More
“Fame” Lives Forever
A remake of the 1980 movie musical "Fame" is coming out September 2009. This is a remake of the film, and not a film version of the stage musical adaption based on the original film. Nor is it a sequel to the original film, nor a sequel to the stage musical which is based on the original film. Nor is … Read More
Turkey Lurkey Time
The original, from the 1968 Tony Award Show (with Donna McKechnie): The same, as dissected by Seth Rudetsky: Same song, but with different choreography, except for the wicked neck shit at the end, as performed by the University of Michigan musical theater majors: The same, with the original choreography again, as done by the cast of "Camp": This is also … Read More
Rent: The Stage Musical
A DVD of the final live Broadway performance will be out February 9, 2009. And there's yet another Rent tour. But this one might be worth attending, even if you're getting a little sick of Rent: it stars original cast members Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal. With heavy make-up and canes. That starts in January 2009. (Coming to Charlotte, January 27- … Read More