Category Archives: Broadway

Latter days

Posted on June 23, 2011 | Leave a comment

There are a lot of things I expect to find in Times Square.

Tourists.  Jammed sidewalks.  Street vendors.  More tourists.  Theatres.  Traffic.  Hey look — more tourists.

But ads for the Mormons — not the musical, the church — on every surface?

That’s a bit surprising.

The ad campaign by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was launched last week in Times Square in an attempt to re-brand the Mormon faith as “normal.”

The ads feature photos of ethnically-diverse, regular people.  One guy is even riding a motorcycle.

Yep.  Looks pretty normal from here.

Why the LDS church chose now to launch their campaign can be debated.  Is it because of the upcoming presidential campaign, which includes a Mormon GOP candidate?  I don’t know; he’s run before without their intervention.

Or is the timing and location of the campaign in response to the wildly successful Broadway show The Book of Mormon, which won nine Tonys (including Best Musical) and will no doubt go on to do a national tour?

If so, Church Fathers, worry no more.  The Book of Mormon is one of the most positive things to happen to your religion since the golden plates.  Everyone who walks out of the theatre knows more about your faith and the commonalities it shares with their own.

The humor unites us.  The ads?

They’re just more traffic.

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Posted in Advertising, Broadway, Business, Commentary, Entertainment, Family, Friends, Humor, Life, Philosophy, Travel

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Here’s to love

Posted on June 14, 2011 | 1 Comment

I have discovered the next Broadway hit.

It happened last night, quite by accident, while I was still basking in the glow of Sunday’s incredibly entertaining Tony Awards.  (A lineup of stellar performances + The Book of Mormon’s awards domination + the incomparable Neil Patrick Harris = GREATNESS.)

I plopped down on the couch for an evening of sloth, and what did I find on HBO?

Down with Love

Did you see it?  This 2003 romantic comedy was an homage to the 1960′s sex comedies starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day.

In Down with Love, Renee Zellweger plays a bestselling author who advises her readers to ‘give up men,’ a credo much at odds with journalist Ewan McGregor’s playboy lifestyle.  The two get involved in a relationship that is not what it appears.  Hilarity ensues.

I love this movie.  The script is smart and funny and filled with double entendres.  (These are my people.)  In one scene, the two leads work out separately yet together via split-screen; the effect is very, very naughty.

The costumes and set design are amazing as well.  The characters live in a New York City that alternates between cotton candy pastels and race car brights, not unlike the world imagined in this year’s Broadway smash How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.

I imagine Down with Love as a musical; the movie was not, although Zellweger and McGregor did sing the title song over the movie credits.  And both can sing.

Oh, to have Ewan McGregor on Broadway.  Tony-winner David Hyde Pierce was in the movie version as well.

This may be my best idea to date.  Let’s bring Down with Love to the Great White Way!

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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Design, Entertainment, Fashion, Humor, Life, Movies

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Kiss and tail

Posted on June 12, 2011 | Leave a comment

The Tony Awards are tonight!

As excited as I am to see the incomparable Neil Patrick Harris host the festivities, and watch performances from the most exciting lineup of nominated shows in years…

I’m really psyched about the red carpet.

You see, the Tonys are in my ‘hood this year, at the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side.  You may remember it as the site of Comedy Central’s Night of Too Many Stars, A Benefit for Autism, hosted by Jon Stewart.

Rory and I happened upon that red carpet quite by accident.  A small crowd of people had gathered on the sidewalk across the street from the red carpet, so we stopped to see who we could see.

Most of the celebs got out of their cars and went straight into the media tent, but a few acknowledged the crowd.  Amy Poehler and Will Arnett waved.  Jack Black did a high energy running high-five.

And Jimmy Fallon kissed my dog.

I was holding Rory in the crush of people.  Jimmy was shaking hands and working the crowd — this was right before Late Night went on the air.  When he stepped in front of me, he said “Your dog is so cute,” and then kissed Rory right on the mouth.

Rory never heard from Jimmy again.

Success will do that to a person, I guess.

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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Dogs, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Television, Travel, TV, Walking

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One day more

Posted on June 5, 2011 | Leave a comment

Happy Birthday, Jean Valjean.

Not the character in Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables — the Jean Valjean that I have most often seen on stage, actor Colm Wilkinson.

He turns 67 today.

Colm originated the role of Jean Valjean in London’s West End and again on Broadway.

When the show transferred to New York City in 1987, Actors’ Equity wouldn’t allow Wilkinson to play the role because he wasn’t American.  So producer Cameron Mackintosh refused to open the show.

Luckily for all of us, Actors’ Equity quickly changed their minds.

Les Mis is one of the reasons I love Broadway today. I’ve seen the show an unprecedented 13 times, most recently a couple of years ago at an anniversary performance here in New York City.

The theatre was smaller, and the show scaled down from its original glory.  But the story was just as moving, the music still thrilled.  And as I sang each word, albeit under my breath…

I could hear Colm Wilkinson singing.

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He’s afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

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Posted in Books, Broadway, Celebrities, Commentary, Entertainment, Life, Music, Travel

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Soaring profits

Posted on May 21, 2011 | Leave a comment

Survived the rapture, did you?

Don’t think of it as ‘being passed over.’  You’re an American – make money from your rejection!

There’s even a common sense guide to help you get started.

Written before the last regularly scheduled rapture, “How to Profit from the Coming Rapture” offers sound — if tongue-in-cheek — financial guidance for those of us left on Earth to fend for ourselves.  (If you’re reading this, that means you.)

The writers, while having a bit of fun with the whole notion, apparently quote actual Bible verses and legends to support their economic theories.  It all sounds a bit Book of Mormon to me.  And since I love that Broadway show, I’m guessing this book will be fun, too!

What, you say?  I haven’t read the book yet?  Of course not!  I had to wait and see if I got called aboard the mothership!

Now…let’s all get RICH!!!

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Posted in Astrology, Books, Broadway, Comedy, Commentary, Death, Entertainment, Humor, Life, News, Philosophy

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What he said

Posted on May 15, 2011 | Leave a comment

Females of the world, take note.

If you’ve ever wondered what would capture the attention of men young or old, married or single, here’s your answer:

BAZINGA t-shirt

I’ll explain.

I attended the matinee performance of the revival of The Normal Heart on Broadway yesterday.  Jim Parsons — Dr. Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory — makes his Broadway debut in the play.  That’s why I went.  That’s why I wore the tee (with a black leather jacket).  Girl’s gotta represent.

I certainly didn’t expect to get smiles and hellos from every guy I passed — some with their wives and girlfriends in tow.

I also never expected to be mesmerized by this play.

The Normal Heart takes place during the rise of the AIDS crisis in New York City, centering around the experience of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay Jewish founder of a prominent HIV advocacy group.

Joe Mantello, who plays Ned, gives a master class in acting.  Joe normally spends his time behind the scenes, directing award-winning Broadway productions.  Assassins.  Wicked.  Take Me Out.  Angels in America: Millennium Approaches.

Yep.  Those were all Joe.

He is surrounded by an amazing ensemble cast in The Normal Heart. John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C), who plays Ned’s lover Felix,  is the heart of the play, and Ellen Barkin, as the doctor fighting this new unknown disease, is its backbone, strong and sure.  (All three are nominated for Tony Awards, deservedly so.)

The Normal Heart is shades of light and dark, funny and sad, bitter and sweet.  I learned a lot about New York City and its response — or lack there of — to the AIDS crisis.  I saw some incredible performances.  I shed a tear or two.

And I learned the power of a tee.  Not a bad afternoon.


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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Commentary, Education, Entertainment, Health, History, Humor, Life, Love, Television, TV

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In the spotlight

Posted on May 10, 2011 | 1 Comment

What makes a good celebrity?

Perhaps someone who is comfortable with the spotlight, but doesn’t court it too much.  Can talk to people intelligently, with a sense of humor, but knows when to shut up.  Is self-deprecating, so they beat people to any insult or slight.  And is not so much of a party person that they end their career in a gutter or on a tabloid page.

That’s the kind of celebrity that I would want to be…the kind of celebrity that Daniel Radcliffe is.

Daniel aka Harry Potter appeared last night at the 92Y on Manhattan’s Upper West Side.  He was interviewed by Jordan Roth, President of Jujamcyn Theaters, whose current productions include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Book of Mormon, and The House of Blue Leaves.

So they are both having a really good year.

Like all Brits, Daniel is more articulate than most of us.  His answers to Jordan’s questions were thoughtful, a bit rambling, and very funny.  For someone who has been involved in the most successful movie franchise of all time, he is surprisingly grounded and humble about his role in it.

I’ve seen How to Succeed twice on Broadway, and he was as charming last night as Daniel as he was on stage as J. Pierrepont Finch.  Only Daniel could get a crowd filled with kids, teens, parents and grandparents to cheer the fact that he is an atheist.  The real gasps of horror came when he slipped and said he had a girlfriend back in London (which he tried to treat as a joke).

Jordan covered everything from Daniel’s career, politics, religion, the economy, poetry and cricket.  Daniel didn’t shy away from any question, or from audience member’s occasional outbursts.

He was, as he put it, ‘just a 5’5″ nerdy guy who likes to watch History Channel International.”

Well, then…that’s who I want to be when I grow up.

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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Commentary, Entertainment, Family, Humor, Life, Movies, Travel

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F’ing hilarious

Posted on April 20, 2011 | 2 Comments

A lot of TV and movie stars are treading the Broadway boards this year.

Daniel Radcliffe.  Chris Noth.  Frances McDormand.  Keifer Sutherland.  Edie Falco.  Chris Rock.

That’s right — Chris Rock.

His name kinda jumps right off of the list….or it did for me.  I never expected to see Chris Rock on Broadway.  But once it was announced, I knew I would attend his show, regardless.  It was a must see.

Last night was the night.  The play?  The Motherf’ker in the Hat.

Yep….that kinda sounds like a play Chris Rock would be in.  And it is as funny as you would expect, too.

The subject matter is dark.  Chris and Bobby Cannavale are addicts in recovery.  Chris has been clean for 15 years and is Bobby’s sponsor.  Both men are in relationships that intertwine in complex, hilarious and often dangerous ways.

Bobby is brilliant on stage, a comic dynamo that drives the play.  Elizabeth Rodriguez, who portrays Bobby’s girlfriend — also an addict — meets him beat for beat.  When the two of them go at it — and, boy, do they go at it — it’s an amazing thing to watch.

Chris, in his stage debut, is a bit wooden.  You can see him thinking really hard about what he is doing.  A fight between he and Bobby is particularly funny because the choreography is so exacting. [Hit him here.  Roll over.   Grab the gun.  Sit up.  Look stage right.]

But Chris is still funny in the show because he is Chris — a strong stage presence that holds his own amongst his more experienced castmates.  He is more successful on Broadway than most first-time TV and movie stars because he is big and sure and boldly himself.

Who is the motherf’ker in the hat?

Oh, I can’t tell you that.  It’s so much fun finding out for yourself.

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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Movies, Television, Travel, TV

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What the?

Posted on April 12, 2011 | 2 Comments

Look, up in the sky! 

It‘s a bird!

It‘s a plane!

It’s one of the cast members of Spiderman: Turn on the Dark crashing to earth!!!!  (Sorry…I couldn’t resist.)

Happy ‘Look Up in the Sky’ Day everyone!

Stand on a street corner and look up into the sky in awe.  See how many people you can get to look up, too.

It’s fun for the entire family.

(Bonus points if it’s raining.)

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Posted in Beauty, Broadway, Entertainment, Family, Holiday, Humor, Life, Movies, Walking

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Come again

Posted on April 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

I saw “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying” again last night. ( I’ve seen “The Book of Mormon” twice, too…and it only officially opened March 24th.)

What can I say.  I like reruns.

I’m the same with books and movies and TV shows:  if I like something, I can watch it again and again and again.

It’s not that I don’t like new things…quite the contrary.  But let’s face it.  The first time you see anything, you’re busy absorbing the plot and the characters and — if it’s a musical like “Mormon” or “How to Succeed” — the score, and deciding if you like it.

In subsequent readings or viewings, you already know you like it.  Now you can take the time to notice all the little nuances that make you like it.

You can peek behind the curtain.  Get a glimpse of the wizard in books or shows that you love.  (It’s not a wizard in ones that you hate — more like a troll.)

Wizards.  Trolls.  Hey — it might be a good time to re-watch the “Harry Potter” films!

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Posted in Books, Broadway, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Movies, Television, TV

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