Kerrigan & Lowdermilk

Some of the greatest composers and lyricist of our time have not yet hit the great white way, but that doesn't mean they aren't spectacular.  There are so many amazing artists out there who don't actually have a Broadway show under their belts.  One such song-writing team is Brian Lowdermilk (composer) and Kait Kerrigan (lyricist).  I had the extreme pleasure of seeing them in concert the other day.  I  actually got to talk with them after the show!!!!  I was so excited!  It was my second actual encounter with someone I've stalked on Youtube (the first being Colin Hanlon when he did Wicked at the Fox).  But I digress.  They were brilliant in concert and it just reminded me how much I love their music!  So I thought I'd introduce some of the greatest songs you've never heard to those of you who haven't had the pleasure of discovering Kerrigan & Lowdermilk's brilliance.  I'll try to keep this list relatively short, but if you like what you hear in this post I'd recommend checking out their Youtube account for more.

*since I know I have several young readers of this blog, each video will come with a brief disclaimer on the content.  If you have any questions to how "bad" a song is, I'd be happy to answer.

TALES FROM THE BAD YEARS
One of the things that Kerrigan and Lowdermilk excel at is capturing the spirit of the young adult.  This is evident in several of their shows, but is most prominent in Tales From The Bad Years a song cycle about those "20-something" years.

Twenty-Something

I'm not going to lie, I LOVE THIS SONG!  This might be my favorite song that they wrote!  I'm not even in the age range their describing yet but I relate to the song so much!  Since the first time I heard it, I began just waiting for my friends to turn 20 so that I could show them this song and let them experience it's brilliance.  What makes it even better is two of my Youtube obsessions combine.  The group singing this (and one other song here) is one of my favorite highschools: the kids at Newton North (they're in Massachusetts...where I've never been and I know absolutely nobody.....is that creepy?). Enjoy!

*BEWARE!: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS SOME BRIEF, RATHER EXTREME LANGUAGE.

Someone Else's Life

This is definitely one of the best male solo's that Kerrigan and Lowdermilk have written.  It honestly reminds me a lot of "Monticello" by Pasek and Paul (a group you may get to hear about in a future post).  It conveys this wonderful message about wanting to move on to do something important in life, while being hilarious in it's own way.  Steven Booth [Dogfight, Glory Days] sings this version (ironically the same guy who sung "Monticello") and he is pretty fantastic.

BEWARE: THIS VIDEO CONTAINS SOME BRIEF, MEDIUM LANGUAGE.

Not Her Way

This song is also pretty brilliant.  It has it's funny moments and has some crazy amazing vocals by the spectacular Kate Shindle [Legally Blonde, Wonderland].  It's probably my favorite female solo from this show.  I suggest this to a lot of strong belters for auditions because it's such a great powerhouse song.

BEWARE:  THIS VIDEO CONTAINS ONE RATHER EXTREME SWEAR WORD, BUT THAT'S ALL.

For the sake of keeping this post "relatively" short, that's all the videos I'm going to post.  But I would highly suggest you listen to "The Bad Years" (completely clean), "Not A Love Story" (completely clean), and "The Thanksgiving Plan" (very brief, medium language).  The whole show is really good, but these are my favorites

THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTO-BIOGRAPHY OF SAMANTHA BROWN

I was actually introduced to this show even before I knew who Kerrigan and Lowdermilk were.  The very first winner of the Jimmy Awards, Steven Mark (who you'll see in just a minute), performed a song from this show as his solo and it was breath-taking.  Although it isn't my favorite of their shows (mostly because of how great Tales From The Bad Years is), it is the one with what is probably their best songs.  The Unauthorized Biography of Samantha Brown is about (big surprise) a girl named Samantha Brown.  From what I can tell she's a highschool senior who decided one day that she was going to drive.  She goes on a journey of self discovery and I think has several flashbacks (most of which I think relates to her car).

Freedom

I really, really love this song (It makes my top 5 female duets).  Samantha remembers the time when her best friend Kelly went on a road trip with her.  It's a fun song about living life to the fullest and throwing caution to the wind.  It also features some of the incredibly talented students from Newton North singing with voices beyond their years.

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

Run Away With Me

My goodness.  This is a song that will take your breath away.  This is probably Kerrigan and Lowdermilk's most popular song (for good reason).  Everybody loves this song and for that reason there are SO MANY amazing versions of this song on Youtube.  Aaron Tveit [Next To Normal, Catch Me If You Can] has a brilliant version, Josh Young [Jesus Christ Superstar (2012 Revival) had a cool take on it, and Micheal Arden [Big River (2003 Revival)] also has a really great version, which can be found on Itunes.  But the first, and very possibly my favorite, version I've heard is by Jimmy Award Winner Steven Mark.  But whichever version you hear, the song is beautiful and awfully romantic.

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

The Girl Who Drove Away

This is a song that I had never bothered to listen to until the concert the other night, but for me it was one of the highlights of the evening.  This is probably my favorite female solo in the show, it's a wonderful opening of the show.  Once again it shows how good Kerrigan and Lowdermilk are at connecting with this age range and tapping into that raw energy mixed with indecision.  At the concert Kait Kerrigan herself gifted us with her performance of the song, but the best one I could find on Youtube is sung with excellence by Tony Nominee Laura Osnes [Bonnie & Clyde, Cinderella (2013 Revival)].

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

Once again I'm not going to post anymore videos of this for sake of time.  But I encourage you to listen to Laura sing "Say The Word" (clean) and perhaps watch some of the video clips from the Goodspeed production of "Samantha Brown" (there's actually a good bit of language in some of these).

...AND EVERYTHING ELSE
The thing I'm finding about young artists like these is they have a bounty of songs that don't necessarily belong to any one completed show.  They have a few shows in progress or songs cut from shows that don't really fit neatly into any one category.  So these are there "miscellaneous treasures" that I'm sure you'll enjoy.

My Party Dress
This song comes from an adaptation they did of the children's book series Henry And Mudge.  Those who know me know that I don't bother to read books that aren't scripts, but my sister assures me that the book was quite good.  This song is sung neither by Henry, nor Mudge, but by Henry's self-absorbed cousin who comes to visit.  The song is absolutely hilarious and it's a joy to see actresses unleash their inner 4 year old to pull the song out.  Of course, nobody plays a better little girl than the impeccably adorable Celia Keenan-Bolger [25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Peter and the Starcatcher].  Here is her hilarious interpretation of the song:

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

Vegas

I almost feel bad for liking this song as much as I do because the content of it is....PG-13 at best.  BUT IT IS SO FUNNY!  I always kind of imagined it from Tales From The Bad Years (It certainly isn't from Henry & Mudge) but from what I decipher from the website it was written without a show in mind.  As one Youtube comment describes it: "it's like a male version of Freedom, only more comedic".  This is a song about two guys who decide to go driving down to Las Vegas and the wild things that happen to them....or do they?  Regardless of the show, this song is pretty dang hilarious!

BEWARE: THIS SONG HAS SEMI-FREQUENT EXTREME LANGUAGE.

Avalanche

To be perfectly honest, I might just like the people who sing this song more than the song itself.  I found the song as Kate Shindle (mentioned above) sang it and I was blown away.  More recently I found a video of Lindsey Mendez [Godspell (2011 Revival), Dogfight] singing the song and it is, again, SO EPIC!  But regardless, it's a really powerful song.    Although I might like Kate Shindle's version better, I feel like Lindsey Mendez tells the story better (I never really listened to the lyrics until I heard her sing it), so that's the one I'm posting.  But I would encourage you all to listen to Kate Shindle sing it too.

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

Conclusion

By now hopefully you are as astounded by these two young song writers as I am.  To be perfectly honest, I am excited about where theater is going and excited that new ORIGINAL works are being done (not that I don't love a good movie adaptation....but I like the freshness of a new plot).  I'm really excited about seeing them become ridiculously famous and counting myself as one of their earliest groupies (and then the autograph I got will be worth a ton!).  What I loved about the concert the most, and why I would recommend going to see them to anyone, is the chemistry between the two of them.  They just look like they have so much fun on stage and I wish I could just hang out with them all the time (they'd honestly make a fun reality show....I'd watch).  I am confident that the future of theater is safe in the hands of Kait Kerrigan and Brian Lowdermilk.  And now, I'm going to leave you in the same way they end all of their concerts.  The finale song to Tales From The Bad Years is this beautiful number called "Holding On" in which they taught us (the audience) how to sing the chorus and the entire theater resounded at the end.  And yes, those three lines are still stuck in my head.

THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETELY CLEAN

Luke's Top Ten: Broadway Duets

So those who know me know that I love making lists.  I have lists for everything!  Well, that's not completely true....I don't have lists for the important things in life, but I have lists for everything else.  I have a list of roles I want to play, I have lists of deaths I want to be informed of (I shall weep openly if Mandy Patinkin or Angela Lansbury finally dies), I have lists of my favorite villains, sidekicks, songs about mornings, songs about monsters (I'm completely serious on all of these), etc.  So since the summer is almost over and I feel like I haven't been blogging enough, I figured I'd start a new series and begin sharing some of these lists with you.  Now, in the same way that your favorite song changes day to day, many of my "favorites" lists are subject to change.  But I feel that this is ok, and if I get old it will be fun to look back and see what used to hold my fancy.  So that being said, LET THE LISTING BEGIN!!!!

DUETS:
I must say that duets are one of my favorite types of song.  Why?  Because Duets are the most likely to carry the story along.  Solos are for expressing emotion, and ensemble songs are for blowing the audience away, but duets show change.  They are some of the most dynamic types of song.  It also doesn't hurt that a good deal of battle songs, love songs, and just songs about strife in general come in the form of duets.  So although it is nearly impossible to limit my favorite duets to only 10, I shall try (but I may add an "honorable mention" section).  I shall also note that I'm only including BROADWAY duets.  There were several songs that I wanted to add on this list, but the shows they came from never actually appeared on Broadway (many of them were off-Broadway or West End only).

10 - When You're Home [In The Heights]
I tend to forget about this song because I don't really think of In The Heights for its duets (which is dumb because it has several good ones).  But I love this song for several reasons.  One, I am a huge fan of Benny's voice (all of his songs are awesome) and I just feel like this song does a great job of capturing the spirit of the show.  I love the energy behind it and the message.  I also find myself singing the bridge ALL the time!  It's not really amazing, but it's a well written song that I can really listen to in almost any mood.

9 - Dirty Rotten Number [Dirty Rotten Scoundrels]
Here's a fun one.  It's two extremely talented gentlemen singing a wonderfully written song.  I love the chemistry between these two characters (Freddy Benson and Lawrence Jameson) throughout the whole show and this song just brings so much closure to their relationship (there is more to the show, but it's really more of a "P.S." moment).  This song is only at 9 because there isn't a lot of emotional pull to the song, but it is a  good song that really sums up the whole show.  I'm sure I'll be singing this all the time once I retire.

8 - I Am The One (reprise) [Next To Normal]
This song is not fun.  It's not happy.  It's not even a full song, just a reprise.  But there is just SO MUCH emotion behind it.  I once saw a bootlegged video of the original cast doing this song (it was later taken down) and ever since I couldn't get enough of it.  For one thing I love N2N!  I can't tell you how many songs almost made the list (but a lot of them have 3-4 people).  This short song just oozes intensity (which is slightly less present in the recording as when you see it performed, but it's there).  **Beware: there is slight language in this song, but it's pretty minor.

7 - Color And Light [Sunday In The Park With George]
I really don't know why I love this song so much.  I didn't the first few times I heard it (I actually first got into it by clicking the wrong link on Youtube), but I've come to really love it.  Of course, that's the way I feel about this whole show.  I love Mandy Patinkin, Bernadette Peters, Sondheim, Lapine, and the fact that practically half of the cast was in Into the Woods.  But the show moves really slow and the music is not my usual style (which is why most of the people I recommend it to don't like it).  But for some reason "Sunday in the Park With George" is just so calming and beautiful that I listen to it all the time.  And no song is better than Color and Light.  The beauty of melody, the creativity in the lyrics (especially George's), and just the sheer rhythm of the song is enough to love it.  It's like a fight song, but soft and beautiful.  I also love how many times it changes tones (something Sondheim does really well).

6 - Dangerous Game [Jekyll & Hyde]
Remember earlier when I mentioned intensity?  WELL IT'S BACK!!!!  This song has that dark, sultry, even seductive sound that makes your hair stand on end.  I've legitimately had goosebumps when Lucy hits that very first note.  And then all that inward restrained energy comes raging out at the end of the song as they belt like there's no tomorrow.  Honestly, I would LOVE to get to perform this song one day (as long as I could find a "Lucy" ok with the creepiness).  It's just so powerful in every sense of the word.

5 - Devil Take The Hindmost [Love Never Dies]
Now, I know I'm going to get a lot of flack for including a song from Love Never Dies and not Phantom of the Opera, but rest assured I respect the classic.  The original Phantom is the better musical in every sense of the word, but Love Never Dies does have it's moments, and this is certainly one of them.  Mostly because it's one of the best fight songs I've ever heard.  A lot of the fight songs I wanted to include couldn't be on this list, but that's ok because I at least got to include Devil Take The Hindmost.  Now, this is another song that many of my compatriots haven't really taken a shining to, but I just love it.  I love the song itself, but the more I listen the more I love the complexities.  I love the way Raul's singing is quick and passionate as he is on the defensive and the Phantom sings it smoothly, menacingly, in a way that shows he knows he is in control.  This coupled with Andrew Lloyd Webber's music and the raw emotion behind each and every word makes it just a great song to listen to!  And, to be honest, it's nice to see Raul as a human being.  I always thought he was a bit too "perfect" in the original musical (not that I condone what they did to his character).

4 - A Little Priest [Sweeney Todd]
Sondheim never ceases to amaze me.  I'm a sucker for dark humor anyway, but I don't know if I've ever seen a piece of dark humor as brilliant as A Little Priest.  Now, there are some people (my parents included) who just don't get it.  And they have a point, for a lot of people the sheer subject matter of the entire show is so disturbing that it's hard to appreciate any of the comedy.  But I think that it's genius the way the writers took what is arguably the most morbid bit of the show and turned it into one of the show's few purely comedic songs (the other being "Down By The Seaside).  This is also a song I have a history with.  For one, it's one of my favorite songs to sing at home (my family had to lay ground rules for my sister and I: "No Sweeney Todd in the car or the dinner table"), but also it's one that I've taken a stand on.  And that stand is this: TIM BURTON RUINED THE SONG!!!!!!  Don't get me wrong, I'm actually a fan of the Tim Burton movie Sweeney Todd.  Johnny Depp did a good job, their Joanna did a good job not sounding obnoxious like so many Joanna's tend to do, and the kid they got to play Tobias Ragg was phenomenal.  But one of the things I was not happy with was the way Burton sucked all the joy out of the piece to make it simply a horror musical, which I don't believe it was intended to be.  For that reason I insist that everybody who listens to this song, although they can enjoy the Tim Burton version, must hear Angela Lansbury's brilliance!  And so, here is a TONY award winning performance, at it's finest:

3 - His Eyes [Jekyll & Hyde]
I do believe I can go on record saying that this is (and I expect forever shall be) my favorite female duet of all time.  There are lots of good ones out there (For Good [Wicked], Take Me of Leave Me [RENT], I Know Him So Well [Chess]), but there's something about this song that I just absolutely adore.  I expect part of the reason I love this song is because the two women they got for the Touring cast (the one you're about to see) are simply brilliant.  Their songs are honestly what stole the show (let's be honest, nobody wanted to see David Hasselhoff).  Don't believe me?  Listen to Colleen Sexton sing A New Life.  It's mind blowing!  Anyway....where was I?  Oh, that's right: His Eyes.  I love this song for a few reasons.  One is the amazing talent that sings it, another because I always love duets when two people are singing the same thing, but aren't in the same room.  You know what I mean?  When the exact same words apply to both of their lives I just think that it's really clever (the only thing I love more is when a character gets a reprise of a song that wasn't originally theirs).

2 - A Little Fall Of Rain [Les Miserables]
The thing about Les Miz (and there are only a few other shows like this), is practically half of the songs have been my favorite song of the show at one point or another.  One day it's Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, the next it's Master of the House.  E
ven the "little" songs like Valjean's Soliloquy and Dog Eat Dog have had their time in the honored spot.  But one of the songs that I always come back to is A Little Fall of Rain.  Not only does it star (at least in this version) Lea Salonga (who might have my favorite female voice EVER), but it's also one of the most emotionally charged songs of a ridiculously emotional show.  Because, let's face it, everybody's favorite character in the show is Eponine.  Sure Valjean's the main guy, and I have a soft spot for Thénardier, but on the whole, most people you ask (especially teen-aged girls) will answer Eponine.  And for good reason.  She has some of the best songs, she's almost always "in the right", and she's a character a lot of us can empathize with.  This connection the audience feels with her means her death is going to be a tear-jerker right off the bat, but compound that with the song that Claude-Michel Schönberg wrote for this moment and the theater begins to flood.  So get your tissue box ready and prepare to experience the beauty:

1 - What You Own [RENT]
This song might be my favorite song ever.  I love to sing it, I love to watch it, I love to listen to it, I love the writer, both of the actors, the show, the lyrics, the message, the melody, the harmonies, the tone, EVERY SINGLE THING ABOUT THIS SONG IS PERFECT!!!!!  Not only that, but this song has become my personal anthem.  If you could listen to what I say while I shuffle through the streets with my backpack on and hands shoved in my pockets, the most common thing you would hear would be the opening verse of What You Own.  But what I love about the song is I can sing it even when I'm not lamenting about the superficiality of every day life.  The song is so pliable that it's one of the first I reach to regardless of my emotion!  That and, as some of you know, Anthony Rapp is in the running for my favorite male Broadway actor in existence, and Adam Pascal is just inhumanly amazing!  I also love that this song is one of the few RENT songs with absolutely nothing even remotely "PG-13" about it.  I defy anyone to think of a single bad thing about this song (I've tried, none have come to me!)  So now, behold Jonathan Larson's masterpiece:

HONORABLE MENTION:

Muddy Water [Big River] (The video is kind of odd, but it's the only recording of this song on Youtube)

Please [Miss Saigon]

Two Nobodies In New York [Title of Show]

No More [Into the Woods]

Non-Broadway Duets
Think Big [John and Jen] (check the description on the video)
Are You There? [Bare]
Therapy [Tick...Tick...Boom]
One Big Adventure [Peter Pan] (I couldn't find a copy of this full song, but here's a clip)
Run and Hide [John and Jen]

Conclusion
So if you've been watching the videos and clicking on the links by now you've just been exposed to some of the greatest music every to grace the Broadway stage.  How does it feel?  Are you catching the "Duet fever"?  If so, feel free to leave some of your favorite duets in the comment section so I can listen to them too.  Did I miss any of your favorites?  Do you prefer the love duets, fight songs, or good old happy numbers? Make sure to check out the poll (top right of the page) and comment below.  Until next time...

Woe Is Me

WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!  WHY MUST I ENDURE SUCH AGONY?!?!?!  WHAT HAVE I DONE TO DESERVE SUCH PUNISHMENT????  OH THE AGONY, THE PAIN, THE MISERY!!!!!!!!!

In case you couldn't guess what induced the above lamentation, remember earlier in the year when I said "my next post will be about the Jimmy Awards"?  Well, I fully intended to stay true to that statement, but the powers that be felt otherwise.  The Jimmy Awards did take place on June 25th 2012 as scheduled.  Then the wait began.  I knew that it was only a matter of days before the videos of the performances were posted, so I figured the prudent thing to do would be to check Youtube every 4-5 hours until the these videos were posted and the minute they were, enjoy their splendor and then begin blogging.  The posted a nice "recap" video to wet our appetite  and get us even more excited for the performance videos.  Days past, then weeks, every morning I become more and more sure that today would be the day.  "Barricades come up and barricades come down" and each day I'm thinking "I Know It's Today!"  and each day I am crushed by disappointment.  Well, congratulations National Highschool Musical Theater Awards, you have officially crushed my spirit.  I now have no hope.  I only check Youtube twice a day, and I'm afraid that they may never take pity on me.  I've been to their website to look at all 955 pictures, I know who won and who else came close, I've sent messages via Facebook and Youtube to ask the administrators when we can expect the videos, but my soul will forever be without rest until those videos are posted.  If you want to join with me and nag the NHSMTA then be my guest.  They need to know we're suffering!!!

This would be the recap video I referenced above.  I invite you to watch it and then cry with me.

Comedies or Dramas?

Ahh the great thematic masks.  They represent the wonderful variety in live theater from comedies to dramas.  However, the Comedic mask is in front.  Is this coincidence?  Is one better than the other?

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Comedies don't win awards.  But as I reflected on this years Tony Award (yes, I lie in bed and think about the Tony's....doesn't everybody?) I began to realize that that wasn't necessarily true.  If One Man Two Governor's James Cordon beats Death of a Salesman's Philip Seymore Hoffman, then you know the nominators are giving some weight to comedic performances.  I saw the same thing as I realized that the majority of the nominees for featured actor's, led by the spectacular Christian Borle, were comedic.  But even if some of these actors were recognized for their comedic performances, it's the dramatic shows (Clybourne Park, Once, Porgy & Bess, Death of a Salesman) that won best show.  I began to wonder about this and I think that it makes sense.  I think people tend to attribute comedy to the actor and drama to the writer.  I don't know that this is accurate, I feel like the split would be the same, but nevertheless the we feel like it's the actor who makes us laugh and the writer who makes us cry.  But even if this is true, why do we like Comedies or Dramas better?  I'm going to try to look at this from all perspectives: The actor, the spectator, and the critic.

THE ACTOR:
Comedy is easy.  I can't imagine why people think otherwise.  I'll give you that it can be physically taxing, and takes hard work, but when you think about it anyone can be funny.  I bet that yesterday you made someone laugh.  You are probably funny!  See how easy that was?  And imagine how much funnier you'd be if you had a writer?  And what's more, people want to laugh.  They'll be happy to give you a pity laugh at the beginning of the show until they've been warmed up and they'll come back to the show again and again and still laugh at the exact same jokes.  And as an actor it is so nice to be in a comedy because you get instant gratification.  Right there on stage you can hear the audience roaring and it feeds your comedic fire.

Drama is real acting.  I think this statement goes hand in hand with "Comedy is easy".  I think Drama is so much more of a challenge, and therefore so much more fulfilling when done correctly.  This makes it the preferred genre of "real" actors.  Now I say this with some trepidation, for I myself am a predominantly comedic actor.  Not that I haven't had my fair share of heartbreaking emotional breakdowns or dramatic death scene's, but I am most known for my comedic roles.  But what I can say is, in many ways, my dramatic roles have been the most fulfilling.  When people come up to you after a comedy and say that you made them laugh you think, "thanks, but so did the lady at the Publix checkout", but when someone comes up to you telling them that you made them cry (only happened to me in one role) then you feel truly honored. That's why I think every actor, deep down, would love to sink their teeth in a good dramatic role.

THE SPECTATOR:
Comedy if fun.  You come to the theater (theatre?) to have a good time, and nothing brings a good time quite like a good comedy.  It's lines are so quotable that the best jokes ("I was raised to be charming, not sincere") will circulate through your conversations for years after the show has closed.  Going to a comedy is like going to an amusement park, you have a wonderful time and create a wonderful memory.  It is almost always worth the price of admission and appeals to people of all sorts.

Drama is life changing.  You come to the theatre (theater?) to appreciate art, and nothing is so artistic as a good drama.  When you leave the theatre you tend to be in a haze marveling at what you just saw.  You've been deeply moved and you might have a different view on life, or at least what life could be like.  If comedies are like a visit to an amusement park, then visiting a drama is like attending an art museum.  You take your time so as to get the full effect.  You marvel at the detail and precision of the artist (actor) and the genius of the inspiration.  You look hard for symbolism and try to understand all of the subtleties.

THE CRITIC:
Comedy is cheap.  Although critics are human beings, and therefore love to laugh, they are likely human beings with "refined pallets" and therefore have a taste for "the nicer things in life".  If you want to have a successful comedy you have to give it a way to distinguish itself, to be set apart.  In the past decade only a handful of shows have won for Best Musical and even less have one Best Play, and each of them have a defining feature.  The most common of these trademarks tends to be shock value.  The Book of Mormon, Avenue Q, and The Producers all shocked their audiences and subsequently won Tony Awards.  Now, I'm not saying that these shows don't have value beyond their shock value, they all have good writing and some great songs, but I do think it's a trend too evident to be ignored.

Drama is refined.  When I picture critics I imagine the kinds of folks who appreciate operas, wear fine clothes and are generally refined.  In other words: "they drink champagne, entertain tourists at their fine hotels and tell their servants, 'polish up the Mercedes'!"  (Can anyone tell me what the quote is from?).  I think this is why they like Drama's so much.  Drama is so much more subtle, it can often be best enjoyed by the theatrical geniuses, not the uneducated masses.  Obviously, shows that win Tony's are generally popular, but there have been several instances (*cough Frank Wildhorn cough*) where fans thoroughly enjoy shows that critics seem to find "beneath them".  Of course, I don't want to generalize all critics as stuck up snobs, most of them have incredible insight and I trust their opinion.  But let's just say they aren't perfect representations of what the people like. (Don't believe me?  The Broadwayworld.com Audience Choice awards found that Godspell should've won best revival of a musical).

CONCLUSION:
So there it is.  Whether your an actor, a spectator, or a critic there are pros and cons to both comedies and dramas.  Personally I love both.  I can go from listening to Titanic: The Musical one moment to 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee the next without even batting an eye.  I think they both have their place in the theater and personally I shall do everything I can to be apart of both for as long as I am able.

Do you agree with me?  Do you prefer comedies or dramas?  Was I a bit unfair to the critics?  Should I finally let the Godspell thing go?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.  If you comment below I can absolutely promise you that I shall read it and probably respond.  Oh, and also, for those of you who participate in our polls:  It may interest you to know that you found Newsies the most snubbed at the Tony Awards (with Godspell and Bonnie & Clyde tying for second).  Apparently best Score and Choreography wasn't enough for you guys?

Tony Awards 2012 (Part V: Other Tony Moments)

Almost done.  I've done a complete wrap-up of the shows of the year, but there are some Tony-specific instances that I have not yet pointed out.  When I did the Tony series last year I intended to write a post for these extra moments, but never got around to it.  Lucky for you, this year I did.  So this is my fifth and final Tony Award post of the year:

Other Performances

Deja Vu

I want to hate it.  I do.  As happy as I am that Broadway is getting some Christian influence with Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell, I'm a bit dissapointed that they loose their audiences to the far more provocative The Book of Mormon (not because it's about Mormons and not Christians, but because it's a "R-rated" musical).  A lot of what is in this musical is extremely offensive, and therefore, I want to hate it.  Unfortunately, isolated parts of it are REALLY good!  Their performance last year was possibly the highlight of the night, and proved to the world that they probably did deserve best musical.  But winning once wasn't enough, they were brought back again to open the Tony Awards this year.  And, like last year, I wanted to hate them.  BUT THEY ARE JUST SO FUNNY!  The song is hilarious, their timing is perfect, and everything about it is just really....well.....clean.  And then adding stars to it?  GENIUS!  See for yourself:

That is SO true!!!
I'm not going to lie, I liked the medleys.   Back in the day they used to begin the Tony's with a medley from some of the most nominated shows.  However, when they discovered how well audiences were reacting to Neil Patrick Harris, they decided to let him sing an opening number written specifically for the occasion.  Last year's took some warming up to, but ended up being pretty funny.  This year's I loved from the start because it just defines my life!  Including guest star performances by Amanda Seyfried (Known for playing Sophie in the movie version of Mamma Mia and co-staring as Cosett in the upcoming Les Miz movie), Patti LuPone (A ledgend known for originating roles such as Eva Peron [Evita] and Reeno Sweeney [Anything Goes]), Jesse Tyler Fergurson (Original Leaf Conneybear ["Spelling Bee"] and co-staring as Leopold Bloom in the upcoming Hollywood Bowl production of The Producers), Lilla Crawford (Annie in the upcoming Broadway revival of Annie), and Mary Poppins herself (I couldn't figure out which actress).  Put all of these superstars in the same song as Neil Patrick Harris, and AMAZING things begin to happen!!!!!!! Trust me:

Now You See It, Now It's In Blue Light....

One of my favorite things about this years Tony Awards is that they let shows from THIS YEAR that weren't nominted for best Musical or Revival to perform at the Tony's.  THIS IS SUCH A GREAT IDEA!!!!!  I don't know why they never did it before, but I loved getting to see these shows perform.  One of my favorite performance of the entire night went to one of these "under-nominated" shows: Ghost.  If you read my previous posts, then you'll know that I like Ghost; not a lot, but some.  However, they did get on my good side by performing my favorite song from the show on the Tony Awards.  I'd like to draw special attention to how impressive the lighting is, and how evil the bad guy looks (his voice was better on the soundtrack...I don't know what happened there):

The Nicest Kids In To-.......The Ocean?

Ok, I only went on one cruise and didn't have that great a time (long story), but I've never had much desire to go on another one, until now.  Because now cruise lines have repaired the damage done by Titanic: The Musical by having full Broadway shows perform on their ships.  At the risk of sounding repetitive: THIS IS SUCH A GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!!  I love the fact that more people will be exposed to Broadway everywhere they turn.  To advertise this new venue, one of these sailing shows sent a video stream to the Tony Awards.  Unfortunately, that show was Hairspray.  Just kidding.  Although Hairspray isn't my favorite show, it is popular for a reason, and the fact that it's pioneering this new medium has moved it up on my list a bit.  However, their performance was....mediocre (compared to the rest).  In a poll I took part of, it was voted the worst performance of the night.  Do you agree?:

They Are The Light Of The World
Now, this might come as a surprise to some of you, because I don't advertise it much but I LOVE GODSPELL!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was crushed when they weren't nominated but thrilled when I learned they were going to get to perform anyway.  As expected, they did a medley of some of their more popular songs ("Day By Day" and "Light of the World") and performed with their usual energy and gusto.  Unfortunately, this cast wasn't given as much time as they should've been.  The whole thing had come and gone really fast when I could've watched them all night.  That being said, this wasn't their best performance I had seen.  Two of their strongest cast members (Lindesey Mendez and Hunter Parrish) were out of the cast and the songs they chose weren't my favorites.  Don't get me wrong, it was one of the better performance of the night, but I just don't feel like it sufficiently captured the awesomeness of Godspell.  See what you think:

Something Was Missing.....
Did you catch it?  I didn't even notice until a few days later when I was watching videos from old Tony Awards, but something was missing this year.  Something was cut.  Still don't remember?  I'll give you a hint. The finale song of The Fantasticks. The iconic ballad from CATS. Christine's solo in The Phantom of the Opera directly preceding "Stranger Than You Dreamt it".  Still nothing?  Fine I'll tell you.  This year there was no "in Memoriam" video.  Every year they have one (like at the Oscars) to honor the Broadway vets who died this year, and this year they didn't.  This is really a shame because although it wasn't as exciting as some of the other performances, it's a nice way of honoring people.  And I was excited because I finally knew a few of the names this year: Peter Falk (who I know as the Grandfather in The Princess Bride movie, but had an accomplished stage career as well) and Thomas Aldredge (who the world knows for his work in 12 Angry Men but I know as the Narrator/Mysterious Old Man in Into the Woods).  Well, at least here, on this blog, I pay homage to you Mr. Falk, Mr. Aldredge, and all of the other people even remotely associated with the amazing Broadway stages who aren't with us today.

52 shows in 120 seconds?  No Problem!
Ok, This was actually one of my favorite parts of the night.  It was a chance to hear Neil sing, and feel vindicated as a Broadway geek in one fell stroke.  In honor of all of the Award for Best Score, they composed a medley of songs from each show to ever win.  I'm proud to say that I caught almost all of them (missed maybe 5-6) .  See how many you can get:

.........TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As always, the show ended with Neil singing a song written during the broadcast about the events of the night (I found a video of them writing last year's which I thought was pretty fun to watch).  This year was no different, but it had an exciting twist.  They pulled a "Title of Show" and wrote a song about how they couldn't write the song.  This, coupled with Neils already expert timing", made it for one of the best closing numbers they've ever done (even beating the "Tonight Spoof" of 2009).  However, the ending was a bit....well....polarizing (and will explain this title).  Check it out:

Notable Speeches

Historically, the acceptance speeches make up the boring part of the evening.  Some people are funny to watch, but the vast majority of them are just boring lists of thanking people.  There are always one or two a year though (usually delivered by the performers) that are somewhat amusing, and some that are down right amazing *cough Mark Rylance cough* and this year had it's moments.

Hanging Out With Angella Lansbury

You Only Get A Mother ONCE

Hilights Include Doing Drugs, Getting Abused, And Having A Daughter

"She's My Baby Mama!"

Nina's First Crush

Conclusion

And thus another Tony season has come and gone.  It was a good one, and certainly the one I've been most involved in.  It's been really great!  I hope you've enjoyed these posts as much as I have.  If you have any questions about any shows or anything else vaguely Tony related shoot me a comment and I'd be happy to answer them.  Thank you so much for reading.  Stay tuned for a Jimmy Award post as soon as Youtube catches up with the times (they're not quite as prompt in posting the videos as the Tony Awards).

Tony Awards 2012 (Part IV: Other Notable Shows)

So I've already talked about most of the big shows of the year (the top 8 musicals and all of the plays that were nominated for anything), but as usually happens, the nominators didn't get everything right.  There were some really good shows that didn't make the "top couple" and those I thought should get recognition here.  This won't be every other show to appear on Broadway, but I'll try to hit the good (or notably bad) ones.

I'll start with the musicals, because I have more to say about them.

OTHER NOTABLE MUSICALS

Bonnie & Clyde is a victim of the Frank Wildhorn Curse.  For those of you who don't know, Frank Wildhorn is one of my favorite composers on Broadway (and the subject of one of my first blog posts).  The man is a genius and has written the music for fan favorites such as Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Wonderland.  Now, I maintain that Jekyll & Hyde is Wildhorn's best work, but many give that title to his newest piece: Bonnie & Clyde.  It is definitely in the running.  For one thing it has an incredible cast including TONY nominated Jeremy Jordan (Newies) and Laura Ones(Bonnie & Clyde), and several others that weren't nominated such as Mellissa Van De Gaffe and the little boy you got to see at the end of Leap of Faith's TONY performance.  This is definitely one of the most engaging stories of the his, with heros you really learn to love and respect.  They're love for each other is beautiful, and even their occasional murderous tendencies can be overlooked.  As for the score, it's really good.  The very first song (not counting the overture/prolouge) is actually one of my favorites (Picture Show *minor language)when we get to see where young bonnie and clyde came from, and later the two leads show off their stuff in some of the highest energy songs I've ever heard with Laura's sultry crooning (How 'Bout a Dance) to Jordan's powerhouse rock voice (Raise A Little Hell *minor language).  On that note, I honestly believe that the soundtrack to Bonnie & Clyde suited Jeremy Jordan's voice even better than Newsies did; it would've been kind of cool to see him nominated for both.  They say that the show closed because audiences had trouble connecting with such violent characters, but the stats I've seen tell me that the show was selling out every night, so I believe that it was just New York's general unfair bias against Frank Wildhorn.  Although Bonnie & Clyde was nominated for 2 Awards (Leading Actress and Score),  the real tragedy is how quickly it closed (less than a month).

Godspell (2011 Revival) is possibly my favorite revival to come out in the past decade.  It has been a long time that I was as excited about a show as I was about Godspell.  I had heard of the show before (seen it live once, and learned a dance in a Musical Theater class once), but I never really felt like it had the energy or the heart that it needed.  This revival got it right.  Every number was reinvented to ad zest to it and it is just perfection from begining to end.  I love the costumes, the staging, the flawless ensemble (specifically Wallace Shawn, Lindesy Mendez and Nick Blaemire), the choreography, the marketing (they were full of promotional fun), heck, even the behind the scenes videos are the best I've ever seen.  But mostly the music.  It's no secret that Broadway is dominated by secular shows (where Book of Mormon, Spring Awakening, and Avenue Q are the big winners), but I didn't realize how much I missed a Godly voice until I started listening to the Godspell soundtrack.  Every single number is so amazing and so uplifting in a way that very few other Broadway shows can ever be.  I would specifically suggest "We Beseech Thee", "Tower of Babble", and the show's Finale.  I was crushed when I saw that it wasn't nominated for any TONY Awards (and my sister and I may have deafened the neighboors with our lamentations) because they deserved to be nominated in practically every category!!!!  What makes it even sadder is because of the lack of TONY hype, Godspell was forced to close earlier this week, so now the world won't be able to bask in it's brilliance in the way they could before.

Spiderman:  Turn Off The Dark unfortunately fizzled too quickly last year.  Of course, it's still playing, having run for a full year, but the nominators didn't seem impressed.  They were nominated for best Costumes and Set (I honestly think they should've won both), but not any of the big awards.  It definitely wasn't quite the musical spectacle that they promised while it was in development, but it's not a bad show.  It would be fun to see, but it definitely wasn't the best show out there.  What gets me is that the music was just....bad.  They had some real talent in their cast, but Bono & The Edge just didn't write good songs for the story.  There were a couple good ones, notably "Rise Above", "No More", and "The Boy Falls From The Sky".  The show had potential, and all of the hype is what continues to fill the seats, but I was honestly a bit dissapointed.

Ghost: The Musical  is the other show that everyone thought would clean up at the Awards.  It was immensely  popular in London and all the hype before the show really made me think it was going to be huge....but it really wasn't.  Like with "Spiderman", the show's strength did not lie in it's soundtrack.  There were some good songs (Here Right Now, Suspend My Disbelief/I Had a Life, and Are You A Believer?) but mostly just average in my opinion (*WARNING, THESE SONGS DO HAVE SOME LANGUAGE SO LISTEN WITH CAUTION).  Now, it did have some really impressive effects playing with Lighting and Set Design (with both garnered Tony nominations but not victories).  It too is still running, and I imagine it would be cool to see, but I question whether or not it will make back all of the money that was spent on the production.


Musical Conclusion 
That's all I have to say about the other musicals.  There were others that came out this year (On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, and Lyristata Jones come to mind), but they weren't interesting enough to earn a major spot here.  These are the imporant ones, some treated fairly, others abused by the cold harsh, inhumanly indecent critics.  But all a part of Broadway, and thereby, awesome.

OTHER NOTABLE PLAYS

The Mountain Top was huge when it was comming out and I was pretty shocked that it wasn't nominated for best play.  Even during last years Tony Awards were people gearing up for Samuel Jackson in this biographical work about Martin Luthor King Jr.  It was supposed to be an incredibly moving and historically important work......but it wasn't.  After it opened I really didn't hear from it at all.  And come TONY nominations morning it wasn't even nominated.  I guess it couldn't live up to it's own hype.

Seminar was possibly the witiest show on Broadway this year (yes, even beating Wit).  It starred The hillariously dry wit of Allen Rickman (known for playing in various Tim Burton films, and for playing Severus Snape in the Harry Potter saga.) and a collection of bright young actors.  The story is about a group of young writers who are being taught by the toughest teacher ever.  What I love about the show is that it's so relatable.  Everyone has had a teacher that they've kind of hated a little, but realized later that they wre the best teacher ever because they got the job done.  Although Rickman's character continuously insults all of them ruthlessly throughout the entire show, you can tell that they respect him and that he truly cares about raising talented writers.  I was pretty shocked that the show wasn't nominated for anything this year (had it been any other year I think Rickman would've gotten at least a nomination), because it was a briliant show.  I believe it might have closed recently, which is sad, I am genuinely dissapointed because I think this show is what Broadway is all about.  A play that you can go and see and laugh, and enjoy yourself, but connect to and empathize with.  It's truly a great work and if anyone has the chance to go see it locally I would recommend you jump on it.

Magic/Bird might just have been a bit too ambitious for it's own good.  It's intentions were good, but it tried to pull off an effect that is really difficult to visualize:  A Basketball Game.  Now, there have been sports musiacls before (D*** Yankees comes to mind) and I've even seen one show that had a basketball sequence (Saved!: The Musical [Off Broadway]), but never before have they tried to have a show about basketball players on Broadway.  What they found is that these two guys just weren't that interesting.  I mean, they were rivals, but it isn't like they hated each other.  Off the court they were civil and relatively friendly, and on the court...well, it's just hard to show "on the court" on stage.  When I first heard about the show it was marketed as "Finally a Broadway show for strait guys" showing how "manly-men" could get back at their girlfriends for dragging them to Wicked.  I was insulted by this (although I did chuckle).  As I said, I'm all for "manly" theater, but this show just didn't work.

Play Conclusion

The plays this year were good.  Most of the really good ones got their nominations (with the possible exception of Seminar) so there really wasn't much to report in this post.  There are of course other plays I didn't talk about, but that's because I just didn't find them terribly interesting.

GENERAL CONCLUSION

All in all I think this was a good year for Broadway.  I think they really had a couple of very strong contenders in every category (except maybe Play revival) and we got to see some big stars on the stage, and some really great shows.  If the quality of Broadway shows remains this strong in the coming years, then I think Broadway will do alright.  What do you think?  Did I miss any shows worth mentioning?  Did you like Magic/Bird?  Can you explain to me why nobody likes Wildhorn?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments below.  And stay tuned for the fifth and final installment of this years TONY posts.

Tony Awards 2012 (Part II: Musical Revivals)

The revivals this year all though more numerous, weren't as impressive as last years in my opinion.  They were chalked full of fabulous actors, but the shows themselves (content and staging) didn't do much for me.  However, they gave some great performances TONY night and helped create some of the best moments of the night, so I shall try to give them their due.  So, without further ado:

BEST REVIVAL OF A MUSICAL NOMINEES

Follies

I honestly just don't understand the hype that has surrounded this show.  It was called by many one of the best revivals to hit Broadway stages in years, it had a talented star-studded cast (including Bernadette Peters), it was big and elaborate and flashy and..........boring.  To be fair, I don't know much about it, but that's because what I have read/seen just didn't interest me at all.  As I've said before, revivals have a bit of a disadvantage to me because I would much rather see a modern work than an old one, but often times revivals are some of my favorites because they find a way to make them new and relevant.  Follies was nominated quite a bit (8 times) and in my opinion stole their win and several of their nominations from more deserving shows (*cough Godspell cough*).  Even their performance was just boring.  It wasn't bad, but after hearing about all the glitz and glamour of the show, I was shocked to see them just throw out one balding man doing an average vaudeville number.  Not that he didn't perform it well, he did excellent, but the material was just hard to follow and (in case I haven't said it enough) boring.  Don't believe me?  See for yourself:

Follies was nominated for 8 Awards and won 1:

• Best Revival of a Musical - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Ron Raines) - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Danny Burnstein) - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Jan Maxwell) - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical (Jayne Houdyshell) - nominated
• Best Costume Design of a Musical - WINNER
• Best Lighting Design of a Musical - nominated
• Best Sound Design of a Musical - nominated

I was really disappointed to see Follies clogging up the nominations for their actors and actresses especially when people like my buddy Raul Esperanza  deserved it more.  The one award they did win (Costumes) I was convinced was going to Spiderman, and I'm honestly pretty shocked that it didn't.  Follies has closed already showing that it probably wasn't as popular with the fans as many of the others, which begs the question, did the TONY committee get it wrong?  I think so.

Jesus Christ Superstar

Now this show I feel exactly opposite as I do about Follies.  I felt like the material was good (Webber rarely makes a bad show) and it had the potential to be really great, but something about the actors and creative team just didn't click with me.  Their use of the video screen was pretty confusing (and a bit creepy) and their entire modern take on the show just didn't really work (for me at least).  Even their performance was a disappointment.  Judas obviously had a good voice, but he sounded too refined to play the role.  Some of the best Judas's (namely Carl Anderson and Ben Vereen) had this edge to their voice that let you hear Judas's passion, and this guy just seemed too....in control.  I kind of liked the choreography of the backup singers, but catchy hand motions isn't enough to make the song successful.  I applaud their boldness in taking a classic show and putting a new spin on it, but unfortunately it just didn't work for me.  But maybe you'll feel differently, check out the performance:

Jesus Christ Superstar was nominated for 2 Awards and did not win either of them:

• Best Revival of a Musical - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role (Josh Young) - nominated

I'm glad that this show is being shown to a new generation, but I'm also glad that it didn't win either of its awards, because I don't think it deserved them.

The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess

This show was strangely appealing to me.  Being based off old music, an opera no less, I didn't really want to like it very much.  And, at first I didn't, and then I saw Norm Lewis.  I saw how much he was putting into his character from the limp, to the singing, to the emotional acting and it made me want to pay attention.  Even Audra McDonald, although I couldn't understand a word of her singing, I felt the emotion and the power of the score.  The more I looked the more I began to love the entire cast with the comical David Allen Grier and the terrifying Philip Boykin.  Even though I find Opera a bit repelling, I still found a way to enjoy the show and the TONY performance.  If nothing else, there's nothing like seeing Audra McDonald deafen another child on stage (for those of you who don't get it, go watch a video of Audra in "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime). The costumes, choreography, talent, and subject matter all became so engaging and I truly enjoyed myself.  Let's see if it draws you in as much as it did me:

The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was nominated for 10 Awards and won 2:

• Best Revival of a Musical - WINNER
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical (Norm Lewis) - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical (Audra McDonald) - WINNER
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (Phillip Boykin) - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical (David Alan Grier) - nominated
• Best Direction of a Musical - nominated
• Best Orchestrations - nominated
• Best Costume Design of a Musical - nominated
• Best Lighting Design of a Musial - nominated
• Best Sound Design of a Musical - nominated

I am so glad that Audra won for best leading actress.  She now ties Julie Harris and Angela Lansbury for most Tony's held by an actress and none could be more deserving.  I'm certainly glad that Norm was nominated, and I feel like in another season he would've had a good chance, but I'm afraid the competition was just too great this year.  All of the other nominees I kind of understand (I don't like the fact that "Nice Work" won best Featured Actor, but I'm assuming McGrath deserved it).  So I think Porgy and Bess has plenty to be proud of and I'm pretty happy with its results.

Evita
I don't know why, but this has been one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's shows that I really don't know much about.  I've vaguely liked every song I've heard from it, but I've just never taken the time to really look into it much.  For that reason, I was excited to see the revival performance; it wasn't quite what I expected.  For one thing, Ricky Martin did a pretty good job, he had to follow some big names and I was worried about his movie star status landing him an undeserved role. But he actually did really good.  I felt that Evita really did deserve its nomination, and it was probably my second favorite (after Porgy and Bess) revival.  Despite my relative ambivalence towards the actual show, I got the impression that this was a really good production.  And a fantastic production of an ok show still makes for a great night on Broadway.  As for their TONY performance, I didn't really get the point of the song they did, but I suppose that's the hazard of listening to the music before learning the plot.  I would've liked to see Micheal Cerveris perform, just because I like most of what he's done before (He's known for playing Sweeney Todd and John Wilkes Booth in the Sweeney and Assassins revivals), or at least see Evita sing SOMETHING, but c'est la vie.  Here's the performance:

Evita was nominated for 3 Awards and did not win any of them:

• Best Revival - nominated
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Roll in a Musical (Michael Cerveris) - nominated
• Best Choreography - nominated

I feel like this show deserved all of its nominations, and was probably in the top two or three in all of them, but just couldn't quite take it home.  I feel like the TONY committee actually gave Evita exactly what it deserved.

Conclusion

So, not much of a year for the Revival's in my opinion.  They weren't horrible, but there was nothing there that really caught my eye.  A couple of fantastic actors, but not a lot of really good material in my opinion.  Next year I know we're getting Annie, Jekyll and Hyde (which might get snubbed because it's Wildhorn), and certainly a few other good shows, so I'm staying optimistic.
Do you think I was fair?  Did you like JC Superstar?  Can you explain to me the appeal to Follies?  Feel free to comment below.  And make sure you check out the poll in the top left and keep your eyes open for the rest of this year's TONY posts.