brak666: (Grey Gardens)
( Dec. 9th, 2007 10:08 pm)
So, last year when I went to New York I bought BC/EFA's annual Carols for a Cure CD. Included in the collection was a very amusing and really rather touching song by the cast of an off-Broadway musical called [title of Show]. I'd never heard of it, so when I got home I checked out the samples on itunes, bought it, and promptly forgot all about it. Well, I finally got around to listening to it and it is F-ing hilarious. It's truly the theater geek's musical (seriously. one of the songs is interrupted in the middle for an argument about whether or not you can rhyme 'sweeter' with 'theater'). It's a musical about two guys trying to write a musical about two guys writing a musical. So here's a link to the album: hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=M12RNJZT

Where you will hear lines like:

Broadway.com? Broadway.com can kneel down, open its online mouth, and suck my fucking cock.

and:

Are we writing for art?
And is art a springboard for fame?
And will fame get us a sitcom?
And will a sitcom get us on Ellen?
And will Ellen get folks to like us?


and:

Wow! So movies make good musicals?
Well, they make musicals.


and:

I can't decide if you're trying to be Ben Vereen or Randy Newman.
Shut up!


and:

Writing should be easy. Like a monkey driving a speedboat.

and:

But a Tony Award joke is too easy. It's like making a joke about Les Miz, or Phantom of the Opera.
Fine. We won't put it on the CD.


and:

At least I know that my nose could take her nose in a cage match of noses.

and:

There are some people in the world who say that writing stories or composing music, or dancing sparkly dances is easy for them. Nothing interferes with their ability to create. While I celebrate their creative freedom, a little part of me wants to punch those mother fuckers in the teeth.

and:

You have a story to tell.
A novel you keep in a drawer.
You have a painting to paint.
But you're lazy like an old French whore.


and:

And when Bock and Harnick wrote Tenderloin they were taking a risk to write a show about whores.

and many many more funny lines.
Music for [livejournal.com profile] lanchid and anyone else who might want it.

The OBC recording of Legally Blonde the musical
Tags:
brak666: (Queen Latifah)
( Jul. 20th, 2007 02:59 pm)
Turns out I didn't have to work today. I couldn't wait for [livejournal.com profile] caorann to get home from work so I went out to see Hairspray. And damn, that was a great movie! The singing, the dancing, the cast, everything was just perfect.

Saw a couple of trailers before the movie that look good.

Disney will apparently be spoofing itself in Enchanted:


(James Marsden is so freakin' cute)

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium looks like a cute little modern day romantic fantasy. Plus it has Natalie Portman (who I am completely in love with despite the fact that she's a vegetarian):


August Rush looks really sweet.

(Keri Russell's career isn't dead. Who knew?)

So I just had to turn off MSNBC because they've spent the last ten minutes talking about President Bush's upcoming colonoscopy. While I applaud Mr. Bush for promoting preventive medicine by example, and do consider it news whenever Dick Cheney is imbued with full executive authority (however temporarily), ten minutes is a really long time to spend creating the image of George W. Bush getting a colonoscopy.
brak666: (braknorm)
( Jun. 10th, 2007 08:19 pm)
Watching the Tonys on TV. Will be updating as results available.

And the winner is... )
Tags:
brak666: (Default)
( May. 15th, 2007 10:21 am)
The Tony nominations are out today. My pick for the winner in bold (musicals only):

ETA: My opinion based on cast recordings, youtube clips, and industry buzz

Best Musical

Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening

Best Book of a Musical

Curtains
Grey Gardens
Legally Blonde
Spring Awakening

Best Original Score (too close to call)

Curtains
Grey Gardens
Legally Blonde
Spring Awakening

Best Revival of a Musical

The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade

Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical

Michael Cerveris - LoveMusik
Raul Esparza - Company
Jonathan Groff - Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee - Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce - Curtains

Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical (seriously, why even bother nominating anyone else?)

Laura Bell Bundy - Legally Blonde
Christine Ebersole - Grey Gardens
Audra McDonald - 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk - Curtains
Donna Murphy - LoveMusik

Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical (I'm thinking they'll give it to Cullum because of his reputation, but I'd much rather see it go to Gallagher)

Brooks Ashmanskas - Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle - Legally Blonde
John Cullum - 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher Jr. - Spring Awakening
David Pittu - LoveMusik

Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical (Capathia Jenkins totally got robbed. Her part in Fame Becomes Me brings down the house)

Charlotte d'Amboise - A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker - Mary Poppins
Orfeh - Legally Blonde
Mary Louise Wilson - Grey Gardens
Karen Ziemba - Curtains
Tags:
brak666: (braknorm)
( Mar. 12th, 2007 04:10 pm)
My flash drive is broken so I'm uploading some things to download to my laptop. Feel free to grab anything you want. And let me know what you think, I'd be interested to hear.

hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=YX8U1313
The complete OBC recording of Spring Awakening. [livejournal.com profile] lanchid, this is what I recced you on itunes. It's really beautiful. The singing is gorgeous. The show itself is very sad, so a lot of the music is rather melancholy, but it stands well on its own so you don't really need to know anything about the show. The music was written by Duncan Sheik so if anyone's been wondering where he's been since 1997, he's been trying to get this to Broadway.


hxxp://download.yousendit.com/25478EBF2BCB10A0
[livejournal.com profile] lanchid, this is the one you asked me for at Farpoint. It's the song that got cut from The Last 5 Years for too closely resembling the marriage the show was based on. Sung by its writer, Jason Robert Brown.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/24B9AF58024B2BE6
Another one by Jason Robert Brown. This time Stars and the Moon performed by Audra MacDonald.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/B4CF5D50566E2439 (Good-Bye Until Tomorrow)
hxxp://download.yousendit.com/867231A92E5BB0C0 (I Can Do Better Than That)
hxxp://download.yousendit.com/16C9F9AD6E93CE0B (When You Come Home To Me)
All by Lauren Kennedy, all from The Last 5 Years. I especially like this version of When You Come Home To Me. It's more of a soft jazz version. The song serves a very specific purpose in the show. Unfortunately that prevents most people from realizing what sweet romantic song it really is. This version is very pretty.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/C9745B423AA6E374 (Another Hundred People)
hxxp://download.yousendit.com/187076BC7E7642A7(Not Getting Married)
hxxp://download.yousendit.com/340326C53640ECD5 (Not Getting Married 2007)
Some stuff from Company. The first two from the original broadway cast, the one labeled 2007, obviously from the current revival.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/910FA87E3A037EEB
Hit Me With a Hot Note by Tammy Tappan-Damiano. A fun jazzy little number. Not a showtune.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/A79BA1FC562B6FB3
Back to the showtunes, but I think my sci-fi friends will enjoy this too. If I Can't Love Her from Beauty and the Beast performed by John Barrowmn. Hands down, my favorite version of this song.

hxxp://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=E6C9C77914EB6A60
Fix You by Coldplay

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/C11DDC0D5C1286BB
Half Acre by Hem. It's the song from the Liberty Mutual commerical where everyone is nice to each other.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/929BE2B75160F88C
Grey Street by Dave Matthews Band

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/9703124C39213189
Crash Into Me by Dave Matthews Band

hxxp://www.megaupload.com/?d=KJ9V5CE1
Several covers of Taylor the Latte Boy. I am obsessed with this song. I love it beyond all reason. It's just so cute. In this rar archive you'll find two versions by Kristin Chenoweth (one from her album As I Am and one from a live appearance on The Rosie O'Donnel Show), one by Susan Egan, one by Linda Foster, and one by the song's writers Marcy Heisler and Zina Goldrich. I'm forever in search of more versions of this song, so if anyone knows of any, please tell me.

hxxp://download.yousendit.com/26CB134B30EE3EE9
I Run For Life by Melissa Ethridge.
Tags:
So, I was in the car today listening to Broadway's Best (like you do), and I heard some news about the upcoming broadway production of The Little Mermaid. SHERIE RENE SCOTT IS PLAYING URSULA!!!!11one! When I heard that, I put my hand to my mouth and let out a girly squeal. Seriously. I'd have been very embarrassed if I wasn't in the car by myself.

I gotta see this show now.
brak666: (fanboy)
( Oct. 30th, 2006 04:14 am)
I sure picked the right weekend. Extra hour of sleep, yay! Also, have I mentioned that my favorite thing about my hotel room is that the radio has a jack to plug into my mp3 player? Because that's awesome.

This morning I went to NBC and took the tour. It was much better than the CNN tour. At CNN we looked into the studios from windows a floor above. At NBC they actually took us into them. Not far enough that we could touch anything, but we did actually get to go into the Nightly News studio and we sat in the audience section in Conan O'Briens studio. We didn't actually get to go into 8H because they were striking the sets from SNL, but we did get a good view inside. After the tour I went up to the Gershwin to check out this block party thing they were doing for Wicked (money to charity). It was mostly kiddie stuff, but Derrick Williams was posing for pictures. I thought about getting one, but it was cold and windy, and there were all these people bustling around and I was feeling a little claustrophobic. I get that way with people. So I dropped off the stuff I got at the NBC store (Heroes T-shirt for me and a Meet the Press coffee mug for my dad) and took the subway uptown.

Way uptown. There is a possibility I got on the wrong train. Twice. Anyway, I went to The Cloisters. And boy is it weird getting in the subway at midtown and getting out at the entrance to a park. I could hardly believe I was in the same city. Even the builiding that houses the elevator to the subway terminal is all made of old stone and fits perfectly well with the park. And there were all these trees and places to stop and sit and look out at the river. And it was windy and there were leaves blowing everywhere and my trench coat was billowing dramatically behind me. I could've just walked in that park all day. Except it was cold and my feet hurt. So, I finally got to see The Cloisters which is something I've been wanting to do since the late 90's when it was featured in an episode of Gargoyles. It was all so beautiful. The Unicorn tapestries alone are worth the price of admission, but everything was just lovely.

I got Chinese take out for lunch and ate in the hotel and by the time I finished it was about time to head out for Avenue Q. What a great show! The set is so clever. The puppet sex was hysterical. And a funny thing about the puppets. Even though the performers are onstage with them and no attempts are made to hide them (there are literally people walking around the stage with puppets on their arms), you really feel like the puppets are the characters. Your eye is always drawn to them rather than to the performer. A lot of times the actors would upstage themselves with the puppets, but even when they didn't your focus was always on the puppet. And that was no mean feat when you consider that the guy currently playing Princeton/Rod is one of the cutest boys in the whole wide world. Also Rick Lyon who designed all the puppets and orignated the roles of Nicky and Trekkie Monster gave his last show today. I'm glad I got to see it. He gave a very heartfelt speech at the end of the show. I waited by the stage door and had a wonderful conversation about theater with a guy named Jeff (Geoff?). I got to meet Howie Michael Smith (afore mentioned cute boy) and Rick Lyon as well as Evan Harrington who played Brian and Mary Faber who played Kate Monster/Lucy the Slut.

After the show I had a late dinner at Ellen's Stardust Diner (cute singing waiters) and headed back to the hotel. Did some preliminary packing :( There's so many more shows I want to see. The new Les Miz with Daphne Rubin-Vega, A Chorus Line, Company. So many shows, so little money time money time.
brak666: (Wicked)
( Oct. 28th, 2006 11:05 pm)
I'm spending entirely too much money. But I suppose that's what vacations are for. Breakfast this morning was Starbucks coffee. At ten I took the Wicked Behind the Emerald Curtain tour. One of the things I learned was that Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth are both tiny people. Well, the tour guides didn't say that, but they have to be if they fit into those costumes they had on display. Joel Grey is a tiny person too, but I knew that already. Anyway, our tour guides: Sean McCourt who played Elphaba's father in the original cast and eventually went on to play Dr. Dillamond. He's currently in Mary Poppins but still does the tour, probably because the whole thing was his idea. Our other tour guide was a member of the chorus, a very cute, very sweet gay man named Anthony Galde. After the tour it was brunch across the street at The Palms. Then I headed back to the hotel to drop off the souvenir poster I bought, then to the August Wilson to get Jersey Boys tickets for my aunt's birthday (not counting this as money spent today because I was getting them for my mother to give to my aunt and will be reimbursed.). Then it was time for the matinee of Wicked. Oh, I forgot! Just as the tour was letting out the matinee lotto for the front row seats was getting underway. I already had a ticket, but it was all the way in the back of the orchestra (row zz), so I figured 'what the hell?' and put my name down. And I won! From the last row to the second! I paid the good karma forward and gave my ticket to someone who didn't have one.

So, I had an awesome seat for what I think was the best show of Wicked I have ever seen (my fourth). Ana Gasteyer just started as Elphaba and she's wonderful. Seriously, the best I've ever seen and that's including the bootlegs with Stephanie Block and Eden Espinosa. Carol Kane played Madame Morrible and did a fantastic job as well. During the show I thought to myself that the next person they should get to play the Wizard is Richard Kind. He'd be awesome. The man playing him now (a fellow named David Garrison) sort of comes off as a Richard Kind knock off. Not that he wasn't entertaining. I just kept thinking how Kind would be better. And now I want to talk about the man who played Fiyero. His name is Derrick Williams and he is OMG HOT!!!!! He looks very good with an open shirt which unfortunately, I couldn't find a picture of. He's also an amazing singer.

As I said, the show was awesome. Very moving especially considering I'd seen it three times already. Afterwards I went to NBC to see if I had time to take the tour but I didn't. I looked around the store a bit and noticed they have Heroes shirts. I'll have to pick one up when I go tomorrow. I had a quick dinner at a little restraunt with good soup then headed back to the hotel to rest my feet for a bit before heading over to the Marriot Marquis to see The Drowsy Chaperone.

When I first thought of coming to New York I really wanted to stay at the Marriot Marquis, but it's over $400 a night and while I might have been able to rationalize a one-night stay, there was no way I could do the same for three nights. I totally see why they can charge that much. Quite a fancified hotel, that. Anyway before going in, I went into my favorite Broadway gift shop (conveniently located under the theater) and picked up the OBC of Evita and the new cast recording of A Chorus line (which I need to see).

The Drowsy Chaperone is the best show I have seen in a long long time. It's fucking hysterical. A laugh riot from beginning to end with awesome performances by the whole cast. The opening monologue said in a completely dark house is the funniest thing I've ever heard (please, God keep the actors out of the audience. There's nothing worse than paying a hundred dollars just to have the fourth wall come crashing down on top of you). I had a really great seat too. I was looking at the wrong part of the ticket. I thought I was in row J, but I was actually in row F. Toward the center too. It was perfect. I could see everyone's face clearly, but wasn't so close that I had to turn my head. And the guy sitting next to me was hot.

This is the time of year that Broadway companies get together to raise money for Broadway Cares: Equity Fights AIDS. They collect donations (I gave some at Wicked also), and also sell special items for charity like autographed posters and such. They also sell the Carols for a Cure CD (with holiday songs by various Broadway casts). Some companies do more than others. At the Drowsy Chaperone Bob Martin (bookwriter who also plays the Man in Chair) stood for pictures and they also sold greeting cards with art by Sutton Foster (who plays Janet Van De Graaf in the show). They're so cute. It's drawings of various Broadway shows as snowmen (The Drowsy Chaperone, Wicked, Les Miz, and Phantom).

Such an awesome day! I believe in the power of the theater!
brak666: (braknorm)
( Oct. 28th, 2006 12:58 pm)
Day one was yesterday. I got here before noon and found the hotel easily enough. Then I walked around mid-town for a while before deciding to go on the CNN tour. The problem arose when I found that CNN wasn't where I remembered it. I waited a bit too long to go back to the hotel and find the new location online. But I eventually found it and took the tour, which was nice, but not quite as in depth as I would've liked. I did get an Anderson Cooper t-shirt and am still debating on whether or not I should go back for the AC 360 messenger bag. I probably shouldn't. I do have to take the bus home after all. I had dinner at Planet Hollywood (very cute waiter) then browsed at the Virgin megastore for a bit before heading back to the hotel to rest my aching feet. There may also have been a stop off somewhere to buy pornography.
Tags:
Ah, youtube. Me love you long time.

Lea Salonga singing 'Defying Gravity'

ETA

Julia Murney and Sebastian Arcelus singing 'As Long as You're Mine'*squee* Sebastian!

Now I'll admit to having done this. Several times, actually. But, I can't think of any circumstances short of a gun to my head, that would ever have me putting it on youtube. I mean, really. I'm just not that gay.

Double Squee! Sutton Foster singing 'On My Own'!
.

Profile

brak666: (Default)
brak666

Syndicate

RSS Atom

Most Popular Tags

Powered by Dreamwidth Studios

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags