Sketchy Details

Side by Side by Susan Blackwell

What is Side by Side by Susan Blackwell? It is an entertaining online talk show at Broadway.com wherein Susan Blackwell--star of the wonderful, sadly closed, but not forgotten, Broadway musical [Title of Show]--interviews Broadway stars in intimate locations, like a corner table at Hooters or the upper deck of a Times Square tourist bus. The joy comes from how off-beat the questions are and how willing Susan Blackwell is to invade their personal space (for fun, not malevolence) to hilariously awkward effect. Some of the stars really embrace, others are game but end up with a hundred yard stare as Susan licks them on the cheek. Yes, as in, her tongue to their cheek.

Susan has a great presence in person and on film and was the perfect choice to become a correspondent and host on Broadway.com. For fans of musicals, this show is a treasure chest of references to shows, well-known and obscure alike.

I have a feeling, even if you don't know who half these people are (though you might recognize some for playing a doctor, lawyer, hooker, drug addict, or murder victim on a Law & Order or CSI, as most working NYC actors are practically required to), you'll still find the show entertaining. It's almost like rediscovering reality TV for the first time. Your apprehensive about what is going to happen and why you should care about total strangers, then get sucked into how ridiculous the scenario is. Just bask in the beauty of an online talk show where a conversation can include diversions on "handj's" and Equus or breast pumps and Cher.

There are only two episodes so far, but with the amount of stars in the opening credits (including "Hey, wasn't that chick on CSI?" and "That's the music director from that Legally Blonde reality show, right?"), I don't see this going away anytime soon. I've embedded the first episode after the jump to give you a taste of how this works Hmmm...there's embed code that I've inserted properly, but the video says it's unavailable. Episode 1: Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff & Laura Benanti. You should watch the second episode to see the full potential.

The Revolving Doors of Broadway: January 2010 Edition

Initially, I planned on writing about the large amount of closings on Broadway set for this month. Not counting limited holiday engagements, we lost or soon will be losing:

• The 39 Steps
• Burn the Floor
• Ragtime
• Finian's Rainbow
• Shrek the Musical
• Superior Donuts
• Oleanna
• Bye Bye Birdie

Counting the genuine limited engagements, like White Christmas and Hamlet, there are many, many empty Broadway houses at the moment.

However, they are filling quickly, so I'm not as red flag about it as I thought I'd be. I'd put the threat level at orange, not red. Purchase advance tickets for spring and summer with caution. Twyla Tharp's new dance show Come Fly Away - based on the music of Frank Sinatra - is coming March, as is American Idiot - the Green Day musical based off the album of the same name. Promises Promises with Kristen Chenoweth is on its way just like The Addams Family with Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. There are waves and rumbles about other shows that could transfer from in town or out of town, revivals that could be hanging in the wings, off-Broadway shows that might make misguided jumps to Broadway, etc.

Still, it's unlikely that all the new shows (Promises Promises is a revival), some I haven't listed, are going to survive. Tharp's last show bombed, and it's no lock that a new modern rock musical or a TV franchise will bring in the box office. With the closings of well acclaimed revivals and originals in plays and musicals because everyone decided to throw money at Hugh Jackman and Jude Law the past few months, Broadway seems to be in a fast turnover period that always leaves theater fans nervous. On the one hand, more new shows is a good thing; on the other hand, it's the long running shows like Wicked, Phantom, and Mamma Mia! that seem to survive these tumultuous periods, the theater equivalent of cotton candy at the carnival - sweet at the time but ultimately forgettable when the next shiny object comes along.

So, what's going to happen in the coming months on Broadway? Expect lots of shows  to keep turning over. I'd also anticipate shows like Fela or Next to Normal that go beyond the standard conventions of musical theater to struggle, if not shutter, before the summer. Am I just being a big old pessimist for no reason? I don't think so. I'm normally optimistic about Broadway even at the year end/beginning shutter session. This just seems like a bunch of shows that announced extended runs or great standing just up and closed without warning. That's the worry.

The Twelve Days of Sketchies: Day Five: Outstanding Achievement in Writing

Writing is a broad category, and I will be addressing it that way. We write books, we write screenplays, we write teleplays, and we write music. All shall be represented here.

First, an honorable mention. This is another one of the no one really knows or cares so why bother recognitions, but I must say it. Stew, badass rockstar and composer of one of the best rock musicals of all time Passing Strange, composed an original score for an outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's beautiful. You can sample it at CDBaby. It's not what you would expect for Shakespeare, but I can hear how it would work.

Our first honoree in Outstanding Achievement in Writing is a book that apparently came and went with no one noticing: Homer & Langley by E.L. Doctorow. Based on the lives of the infamous Collyer Brothers, a pair of hoarders in NYC who literally died in their own filth, Doctorow captures the desperation the men must have felt and accepted before allowing their lives to become overrun with hoarded objects. It's funny, it's touching, and it's entertaining. The extension of their lives through the Vietnam War and beyond was a smart touch to allow for a more believable arc of destruction. Sometimes, reality is too weird to be captured in print and seem real.

Our next honoree in Outstanding Achievement in Writing is the score to a motion picture that I simply fell in love with: Karen O and Carter Burwell's original score to Where the Wild Things Are. This is certainly a polarizing score. I was charmed by the simple melodies, complex arrangements, alt/folk/rock/pop influences, and emotional content performed by Karen O and a group of children. Others can't get past Karen O's signature voice and repetition. Here's a sampling of the score:

I'm a sucker for an original vocal score and Karen O and Carter Burwell delivered here.

Speaking of great original scores, I would be mad at myself if I neglected to mention another of my favorites of the year: John Ottman's original score for Orphan. "Orphan," you ask, "isn't that the one where the little girl turns out to be a [removed for spoiler free post]? That movie's stupid." I'm not arguing the screenplay here. I'm arguing the score. Beautifully written, largely sustained horror scores play me like nothing else. This one just worked for the film. Samples are available at Amazon. It's a little Goblin (Argento's go-to composing band), a little Danny Elfman, and a whole lot of strange and ominous. Truly an Outstanding Achievement in Writing.

Back to more easily understood forms of writing, our next honoree for Outstanding Achievement in Writing is a screenplay: (500) Days of Summer written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber. What Neustadter and Weber did to the romantic comedy is to be praised. Who could imagine what an impact believable characters and genuine circumstances could make in this kind of film? The time-jumps are just the icing on the cake. Aside from a very strained board room scene, the dialog is natural to the characters and the story compelling. Yes, an architect working for a greeting card company is intended to be quirky just because, but it works beyond the wacky gimmick. It's certainly a film worth watching for the writing.

Our next honoree is an original song that will send people clicking away from my site in droves. That's ok. I can take it. Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." What happens when pop and/or dance music becomes totally self-aware? Lady Gaga happens. I've bought into the performance art hook, line, and sinker, and feel "Bad Romance" is easily the best new pop song of the year. It's disturbing, features half a verse dedicated to Hitchcock references, and only features a human voice as a real instrument (how modified is another matter of debate). So what's so great? It's a catchy pop song embracing the darker side of choosing a romantic partner, has a unique sonic identity, and stands out. See for yourself:

Freaky video, right? The song is even stranger. And I love it.

Now our winner. I struggled to pick a singular Outstanding Achievement in Writing since what I was drawn to this year was so weird. I opted for a mix of different writing elements combined to perfection in a television series. That would be the "Pilot" episode of Glee written by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, and Ian Brennan. The key moment of the episode is "Don't Stop Believing." The arrangement of the song is still the strongest written of any presented on the show. The lead up to this grand unveiling of the students actually being talented in all things Glee Club is predictable, but handled with so much charm and genuine enthusiasm that the scene works better than I could imagine. The super clean processed vocals and unrealistic rate of learning these characters demonstrate in every other episode is not a detriment in the pilot. Shoot, I'm willing to overlook the clearly orchestrated diversity of the Glee Club (which only expands) because the "Pilot" episode is so much fun. Having such clean elements and familiarity was the smartest way to launch a weekly musical series on American TV and that is why this wins Outstanding Achievement in Writing.

12 Days of Sketchies: Day 3: Outstanding Achievement in Musicals

I may be a horror fan now, but my love of musicals cannot be superseded. I remember growing up and having musical theater thrust upon me. I was forced to audition for my first show through a brilliant performance by my one grandmother (still kicking 18+ years later, she laid it on thick with the "I won't be here much longer and I would love to hear you sing on stage" schtick) in conjunction with a grand multi-generational conspiracy to get me out of the house. I then spent three years devouring every musical film I could get my hands on. I watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade for the Broadway performances (I can still playback Chita Rivera in Kiss of the Spiderwoman) and still sneak into NYC whenever I can for whatever live musical I can afford.

Every few years, America claims the musical has died. Then there's a resurgence and everyone gets excited that it's back. It's dizzying and unnecessary. The musical as we know it is a largely American invention that isn't going anywhere.

First, and honorable mention. I sure hope the Tony Awards learned not to invite non-theater performers up on stage in a techy broadcast after Bret Michaels was knocked out flat by showboating this year.

I knew nothing good could come from an 80's jukebox musical.

Our first honoree for Outstanding Achievement in Musicals is a long-gestating show that I first encountered years ago at the New York Musical Festival: Next to Normal. The whole thing is so far removed from typical musical territory I could pick any aspect of the show and be justified in honoring it. I refuse to choose between focusing on the entire cast (phenomenal) or the best song in the score (audition song in another four years if I can still pull off far, far younger than I am (if? I'm 24 and still get callbacks for mid-teen parts)), so I won't. Here are dueling videos of "Superboy and the Invisible Girl" and "I'm Alive," featuring Alice Ripley, Aaron Tveit, and Jennifer Damiano killing it outside of the show.

And "I Miss the Mountains" to show you how much Alice Ripley deserved her Tony.

Why yes, this is a show about a damaged family dealing with the mother's bipolar disorder and other major issues. Why do you ask? Stunning. The whole show is an Outstanding Achievement In Musicals.

Our next honoree is rather hit or miss in quality, which is expected since it's breaking new ground for television in America. Glee is an hour long musical-comedy series about a high school glee club. Once you get past the conceit that these are the most gifted musicians in the history of the world, perfectly capable of sight-reading complex musical arrangements every episode with flawless choreography and studio-magiced voices, it's entertaining. Jane Lynch is phenomenal as the cheerleading coach bent on destroying the glee club. Hopefully she gets her wish and has the opportunity to strut her own musical stuff on the show in 2010. For now, we have to settle for Broadway veterans clamoring to appear on the show, like Kristen Chenoweth. In one of the best episodes, Chenoweth is brought in as a ringer to compete with the seedier methods of rival schools. Apparently some schools like to fail students who are a bit too talented to lose. Chenoweth plays a former glee club member who dropped out of high school and comes back for another moment in the sun. Here's a Fox-created recap to demonstrate just what the show's like.

For being so funny, refreshing, and soon to be stuffed to the gills with Broadway veterans (Idina Menzel coming in 2010), Glee is clearly an Outstanding Achievement in Musicals.

Revivals made a big comeback on Broadway in recent years, and 2009 was no exception. West Side Story is our next honoree, for bringing a musical back to Broadway with a serious downer of an ending and not shuttering rapidly. The bilingual experimentation was interesting, but ultimately the production has gradually reduced the number of Spanish-language songs in the production to open the show up to a wider audience. If they stuck to their guns, they might have won this category. It's an honor just to be nominated. The true standouts were Karen Olivo as Anita, George Akram as Bernardo, and Josefina Scaglione as Maria, as well as the gorgeous lighting design by Howell Binkley. Here's "The Dance at the Gym" from the 2009 Tony Award performance.

The singing, the dancing, the acting, and the design are all top notch, making this production a natural honoree for Outstanding Achievement in Musicals.

The winner of the category is a show I never anticipated becoming a fan of. However, the musical was given a whole new life for a new generation thanks to the brilliant direction of Diane Paulus: Hair. The cast is tremendous. Their energy is infection. And the interaction with the audience is done well in this context.

 

It was the bonus points for actually using genuine smelly hippies that pushed this one over the edge. The cast gets the show, and for that, it is truly an Outstanding Achievement in Musicals.

Sketchy Recs: What to Do This Weekend: 6-8 November 2009

Write: Your NaNo: By the end of the day, those participating in the 2009 NaNoWriMo challenge should be at least 10,002 words into their novel. I know I'm not. This weekend is a great time to play catch-up in your free time. It's not like there are any decent movies opening wide enough to write about...

In Theaters: Except for Coco Before Chanel: Imagine, if you will, a biopic that is not about explosions in the person's life. A biopic wherein the focus is on how a person grew to become their more famous version. A biopic wherein the focus is on subtlety and nuance, and a gloriously understated performance by a wonderful young actress. Coco Before Chanel is that biopic. Sure, it's a subtle non-explosive biopic with subtitles. It's also an Audrey Tatou-starring feature that some are claiming is her best performance ever (I'm not sure how it could be better than her stellar work in A Very Long Engagement, but that's my bias popping up). 

Listen: Gutenberg! The Musical - Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording: Not all great shows get to Broadway. Not all producers are dumb enough to believe that every successful Off-Broadway/out of town engagement merits a Broadway production. Gutenberg! The Musical is most likely one of those shows that would have shuttered on opening night. It's tiny, wildly creative, funny, and a completely false recreation of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Who doesn't want to enjoy a raucous musical about literacy and publication?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Have You Had Your Greek Drama Lately?

When I was in high school, I was taught the alpha and the omega of Greek drama was Oedipus Rex. The sun rose and set on Sophocles and that was that. Onto [awful modern novel to meet racial/sexual/cultural sensitivity issues].

When I took other general Lit courses in college, I was taught that once you've read Sophocles, you've read all there is to read in Greek drama. It's just variations of the same things. Onto "The Yellow Wallpaper"* or Leaves of Grass.

Then I signed up for a Greek drama class to meet a pre-1800s requirement that apparently wasn't satisfied by any of the other pre-1800s Lit courses I took at my current and previous schools. Eye opening experience to say the least.

From the bizarre and disturbing imagery of Aeschylus to the rapid-patter pace of Euripides, there's clearly a lot to be explored. YouTube, of all places, is a wealth of resources on the matter.

For example, there are plenty of filmed adaptations of various plays that never really received a release in the US and are available online. Legal issues aside, it's brilliant to watch, say, Irene Papas play Euripides's Electra in a gorgeous black and white from 1962.

Or what of the scariest filmed adaptation of a stageplay I've ever seen, Aeschylus's Oresteia set to music by the National Theatre of Great Britain, complete with unmoving masks and period-esque costuming?

Even educational material is made more interesting by YouTube, with slightly more legal projects like History of Theatre.

So have you experienced some Greek drama today? Or recently? Or anything not named Oedipus Rex? Isn't about time?

*Oh goodie! I can embed Google Books now. Allegedly. I just saw it as an option and have to test it eventually. You've been warned.

Pro/Con: Memphis: A New Musical

Apologies. I don't know where my Where the Wild Things Are review went. I really don't. I posted it late afternoon yesterday and...nothing. I'll get up a new one some time this week.

Onto more pressing matters.

The new musical Memphis opened on Broadway last night and I'm really torn. To help me through this conundrum, I figured I can analyze its potential in a series of pro and con points.

Pro: If nothing else, book writer Joe DiPietro is extremely thoughtful. I mean, he based All Shook Up on an amalgam of Shakespeare and 80s Rock films.

Con: Joe DiPietro wrote the book of All Shook Up. You know, that Elvis jukebox groaner that limped onto Broadway a few years ago.

Pro: David Bryan of Bon Jovi wrote the music. He also worked with Joe DiPietro on the raucous Toxic Avenger musical still running strong Off-Broadway.

Con: Lots of people hate the Toxic Avenger musical because of the book, and score, and cast, and content...

Pro: An original rock musical on Broadway not adapted from an existing play/film/novel/painting/poem/memoir or culled together from ASCAP's discount file? How novel.

Con: An original rock musical that treads on all the same ground as Hairspray and All Shook Up and countless films: popular music and Civil Rights.

Pro: Seth Rudetsky claims the show is a stunner thanks to the cast of able dancers and excellent singers.

Con: The NYTimes hates it. HATES it.

Pro: Everyone else seems to love it.

Ok. So maybe we can give the creator of All Shook Up another chance, yes?

Just check out the Word of Mouth review from Broadway.com.

I hope it lasts long enough to get a cast recording. I'm still not as sold as I probably should be. I need to hear more of the music to get a better handle on the approach of the show before putting up the money for tickets.

NYMF Membership Option

It's August already. That can only mean one thing: we're mere weeks from the New York Musical Theatre Festival beginning. NYMF is dedicated to showcasing new original works of musical theater that might otherwise never be seen. Alumni include [title of show] and Next to Normal (then Feeling Electric), as well as popular Off-Broadway fare Altar Boyz, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Gutenberg! The Musical, and Rooms.

So what's the big deal about the NYMF? Simple: cheap tickets for brave new shows that might just make it to Broadway. We're not quite at Fringe Festival level here with weirdness or Broadway success yet, but it's only going into its fifth year. There are more shows than ever and a new option to purchase tickets in advance: memberships.

A $100 membership gets first choice tickets a month before everyone else to 4 shows as well as access to some exclusive nighttime events. $200 (my choice) gets eight first choice tickets and access to all exclusive events, plus 25% off night time events to be announced later. $300 is the biggest package, giving twelve first choice tickets and access to all readings during the festival.

Just imagine: a two week glut of new musicals ranging from vampire romances to ginger-revenge plots, autism to fat camps, nerds to normals, for $25 a ticket with a membership.

And guess what: the shows sell out fast. You might not get to see Anjou, A Tale of Horror after the Times sinks its teeth into it. Fat Camp: The Musical could turn out to be really funny and touching even if the casting call wanted a young Jack Black type for the lead. And R.R.R.E.D: A Secret Musical will surely be talked about for jumping on the extinction of Gingers and a solution for revival that might make Eric Cartman applaud.

I'll be seeing two of those, and only not three for petty reasons. I don't care if my friends were joking or not, I don't believe it's funny to send me the casting notice calling for plus-size gals and larger guys who can sing and dance when they know damn well what I look like right now.

Runaways Musical

Runaways, an original musical by Elizabeth Swados which bowed on Broadway in 1978, presents an interesting paradox. The show, adapted from the true stories of teenage runaways (more on that in a bit), most likely could not be developed in the way Swados worked now because of red tape; she literally interviewed thousands of children in NYC, asking them questions about their personal lives to find just the right inspiration for the songs in the show. Furthermore, Swados almost did everything: she directed, she choreographed, she led the pit orchestra, she cast the show, she wrote the book, and she composed the score. It's rare to find a one-person score/book combination that makes it to Broadway nowadays; it's inconceivable to think that person, shy of a one-man show, would be allowed to do everything.

However, the show itself, featuring an inventive score and serious subject matter, was way ahead of its time. I could see the show being a massive critical and commercial hit on Broadway today. Even if the critic/awards groups thought another show was better, the sheer ambition of the effort would have guaranteed Swados a Tony Award for something (perhaps even a Special Tony Award for artistic contribution to the theater community). Not to trivialize the musicals of the 77-78 season, but the competition was Ain't Misbehavin' (which won everything), On The Twentieth Century, and dance show Dancin'. None of these are exactly the most serious shows to bow on Broadway, yet all were considerably more successful than Runaways.

Perhaps some show material would help with understanding just what exactly Runaways is:

More after the jump:

Metro: A Musical, or Why Do I Do This To Myself

It's evident that my tastes tend to go toward the unusual. But why do I constantly search this stuff out when I know it will just bring me pain and suffering? Do I really need another obsession that no one else will understand?

I do it because I'm a fan of many things. One of these things is well-written show scores. Which, often times, means unsuccessful musicals that routinely just disappear off the face of the earth (and by earth, I obviously mean America): Amour, Brooklyn, that Frankenstein musical I saw during the first NYMF, that Caligula musical I also saw there, the British version of Taboo, the British version of Bombay Dreams - you get it. Most of these have readily available soundtracks, so I can be satisfied.

But no. That's not enough for me. I'll subject myself to random research, like "Hey, my dog just woke me up at 5:15 in the morning by pouncing on my genitals and then falling asleep on my head. I know: I'll look up all the nominees for Best Original Score throughout the history of the Tony Awards. That will be fun way to pass the time till my scheduled rehearsal time for today." So I did.

Which is why I found out about the most successful musical in the history of Poland, that quickly turned into one of the most spectacular flops in the history of Broadway: Metro.

With an original pop/rock/hiphop/europop/wizard score by Janusz Stokłosa (music) and Agata and Maryna Miklaszewsk (lyrics) and inventive hiphop/jazz/tap/ballet/unicorn choreography and direction by Janusz Józefowicz, from my best understanding the show is a slightly more angsty version of those classic American musicals where a group of kids decide to come together and put on a show. For one thing, it's about a group of teenagers who just happen to live in the subway system and have years of jazz, ballet, and modern training, as well as stunning pop/rock voices. For another, the production company apparently still brags about the incorporation of lasers in the show.

More after the jump.