"What Good Is It, Being Pretty?"

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!
Today, I'm gonna try to create a post about a play and not a musical--don't get me wrong, I like plays but musicals are easier to find a clip for.

Anyway, as of my last school night a few weeks ago, I auditioned for and was casted in a ten-minute Directing I Final scene. At my school, there's this course called Directing I where students learn all of the tools to directing a production and the research that is done to prepare before casting even starts. For their final, each student had to choose a scene from an actual play, cast it, and direct it.

The scene I was casted into was from a play titled Picnic, written in 1953 by William Inge. It takes place on Labor Day, where the play focuses on gender norms during the 1950's, where being physically attractive was how you landed a spouse. The main action of the story is that Hall, Madge, and Millie desire to break away from those norms that are confining them, while Flo wants to keep everything the way it was. Here's a small synopsis of the play.

I have grown to appreciate this play, primarily because it takes place in a simple setting with regular, everyday people, but it is the action that really drives this play. Dealing with gender norms doesn't seem like such a big problem now, but the play highlights flaws with those stereotypes that are relatable to all that watch it.



The scene I was in was in the beginning of the show, when the initial conflicts are introduced between Millie and Madge's envy towards the other, Madge's doubt on marrying Alan, obvious attraction between Madge and Hal, and Flo's disproval of Hal.

Here's a trailer the Roundabout Theatre Company created for the play when it was on Off-Broadway last year, starring Maggie Grace (Taken) as Madge Owens, Sebastian Stan (Captain America movies, Once Upon a Time) as Hal Carter, Madeleine Martin (Californication) as Millie Owens, and Mare Winningham (St. Elmo's Fire, Amber Waves) as Flo Owens.

 

"It's A Helluva Town!"

Happy belated Christmas! Well, two days after Christmas--better late than never, I always say.

So I thought I'd post about a show I don't think I've ever posted about before due to my prior lack of knowledge of it; the musical On The Town, music written by Leonard Bernstein ( and book and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, based off of the 1944 ballet Fancy Free by Jerome Robbins. (A lot of  shows take place in New York City; I've mentioned that once, I think.)

"Every Wish Is A Command When We Find Ourselves In Never Neverland!"

I don't know about you guys, but I am not a big fan of finals!

Anyway, this past weekend, I was able to watch a performance from a certain production that is arriving on Broadway in March 2015 and will star Matthew Morrison as J.M. Barrie and Laura Michelle Kelly as Sylvia Llewlyn Davies. Yes, this show I am talking about is Finding Neverland.

The musical was based on the 2004 semi-biographical film of the same name, which chronicled Barrie (played by Johnny Depp) and the family he befriended that inspired the story Peter Pan. Fun facts: In the movie, Kate Winslet plays Sylvia (mother) and Freddie Highmore plays Peter (one of the sons). The film was a giant success, seeing how it was nominated for seven Academy Awards, which were:

• Best Picture [nominated]
• David Magee for Best Adapted Screenplay [nominated]
• Johnny Depp for Best Actor [nominated]
• Gemma Jackson and Trisha Edwards for Best Art Direction [nominated]
• Alexandra Byrne for Best Costume Design [nominated]
• Matt Cheese for Best Film Editing [nominated]
• Jan A.P. Kaczmarek for Best Original Score [won]

I would say the Tony nominations for this production but they haven't officially been announced--I will post those when they are announced! If I could guess right now, I would predict that Matthew Morrison will be nominated for Best Actor in a Musical, Laura Michelle Kelly for Best Actress in a Musical, Finding Neverland for Best Musical, either Best Book of a Musical or Best Original Score, and maybe Best Director.

Now, while I am glad that this show will be greatly looked at for the Tonys, it's not fair that Jeremy Jordan couldn't reprise his role as Barrie--he played Barrie when the production was at the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA its entire run, from late July to late September of 2014. The show won't be the same--Jeremy Jordan brought a certain energy to the role that I'm not sure can be imitated.

I tried to find some video of Finding Neverland on YouTube (even the 2014 Tonys performance) but no such luck. So I will leave this audio performance of Jennifer Hudson singing the title song (J.M. Barrie typically sings this song).

"The Lovely Ladies Always Cheer Adolpho...."

"Wait, she's posting more than twice a month? Unspeakable!" Yes, I found the time to post again!

One show I want to talk about is one that my former high school is performing in January (and one I volunteered to help out with in costuming)― The Drowsy Chaperone.

 

 

The show made its début in 2006, telling the story of The Man in the Chair, an agoraphobic Broadway fan, as he listens to his favorite 1928 musical The Drowsy Chaperone. As the record continues, telling a story of a Broadway star and tycoon and the events on their wedding day, The Man in the Chair includes his personal footnotes and revels in the story that will aid his 'non-specific sadness'.

 

It's weird hearing of my younger friends being involved in it but I know the show will be great!

 

I don't know the soundtrack that well (yet) but I do know this song, "I Am Adolpho", for two reasons; a good friend of mine at the high school is Adolpho and a Musical Theatre senior that I know sang this song for his showcase. This song is flipping hilarious too and is a great audition song for a guy with a wide range. When I know the show better, I will post more about it!

 

 



"How, I Wonder, Does She Pee?"

So I've been in an unproductive mood today so I thought, 'Why shouldn't I post two posts today?' So I will!

 

 

 

Shrek The Musical landed on Broadway back in 2008 and lasted a little more than a year until it closed, maintaining the majority of its Seattle cast (one of the production's biggest roles, Donkey, changed actors in the transition to Broadway). The show (which follows the  plot of the 2001 film Shrek) tells the story of an ogre named Shrek as he embarks on a journey with a faithful Donkey to obtain his swamp back from the other fairy tale characters by rescuing Princess Fiona, who is the bride of Lord Farquaad (he also originally moved the other fairy tale creatures onto Shrek's swamp). The show discusses themes of self-acceptance and finding true love in the most unlikely of people.

 

"Shut Up Heather!"

Why do I have the tendency to post once a month―actually, around the same time every month? It's rather odd.

Anyway, Happy Black Friday! (Even though it started while it was still Thanksgiving but  who cares anymore, right? It's all about making money and  how early to start sales!

Anyway, recently I fell in love with a musical that opened on Off-Broadway in March 2014 and closed back in August. Well, at least I did with the music―the directing kinda sucked after watching it (I've only seen the first act but I thought it was okay).

"Isn't It Funny?"

Happy (almost) Halloween everyone!

So among my busy and hectic schedule for the next few weeks or so, I have also been kept up-to-date on some musicals, and I will be posting about the musical Dogfight, based on the 1991 film Dogfight starring Lili Taylor and River Phoenix.

The plot of this show involves a Marine named Eddie (nicknamed Birdlace) and a shy girl named Rose.  It takes place in San Francisco in the '60s--actually the day before JFK was assassinated--where Birdlace and a few of his Marine friends are docked for the night before shipping off to Vietnam the next day and plan on attending a "dogfight".  A "dogfight" is a party where, unbeknowst to the dates, Marines compete to bring the ugliest date.  After a few failed attempts to pick up some girls, Eddie finds Rose in a coffee shop and asks her to the party, to which she initially is suspicious but then decides to go.

After arriving at the party, Eddie has second thoughts and tries to talk Rose out of going in but ends up being hoodwinked by another Marine and his date.  The alcohol and dancing ends up making Rose sick and runs to the bathroom; there she runs into the winner of the "dogfight", a prostitute named Marcie brought by one of Eddie's friends Berstein, where Rose discovers the true nature of the party through Marcie. Rose slaps Eddie and runs back home, upset as to how she could be fooled so easily.



Eddie and his friends leave the party and go to an arcade, where they find a prostitute there. Feeling guilty and remorseful as to what he did to Rose, he leaves his friends and goes to her house.  There Eddie tries to persuade Rose that he is truly sorry as to what he did--at first Rose is hesistant but then realizes he is being genuine.

The two goes to a fancy restaurant where Rose begins picking at Eddie's tough exterior and tries to see the nice guy he is underneath and the two begin growing closer through understanding each other. They go to the Golden gate Bridge late at night where Rose reveals that although the dogfight was unpleasant, it gave her a new understanding of herself and more self-confidence. She then nervously invites him to her house, where the two share an awkward and romantic sexual experience.



The next day, Eddie returns to his friends and get ready to ship out to Vietnam. There, Eddie sees his friends Boland and Berstein killed in front of him in action, the memories that have plagued him as he returns home to San Francisco three years later broken, confused, and lost. Eddie makes his way and finds an older and wiser Rose, who welcomes him back with compassion.

This musical  actually sounds more intense than I originally thought, and I like it! The show premiered on Off-Broadway in 2012 starring Derek Klena [who played Tommy Ross in Carrie Off-Broadway] as Eddie Birdlace and Lindsay Mendez [Everyday Rapture and Godspell] as Rose Fenny. My college is going to have auditions for it in late-February and I'm excited to try and audition for it! Of course I'd like to be Rose but one can only hope!

My favorite song from the show has to be "Pretty Funny" because it's a song I can personally relate to and it's a really powerful song for understanding the character Rose Fenny. My second favorite is a tie between "Dogfight" (I love listening to Rose and Marcie's harmonies) and "Come Back" (the song is Birdlace's "aha!" song that is wicked powerful to listen to).

[Plus, I find it pretty funny that I try to put up a new entry a month and two days after my last one!]

"Be Mine Or You Will Burn!"

Before I talk about The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, I just want to remind people that tonight is the big night for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street! 

Tonight, PBS is showing a recording of Sweeney Todd from the New York Philharmonic company that stars Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel as Mrs. Lovett and Sweeney Todd! Look for it on the PBS channel at 9 PM eastern standard time. (Hint: it'll be during the TV program Live from Lincoln Center because it was shown there.) Don't miss it! 

Now onto The Hunchback of Notre-Dame....

Who Will Love Me As I Am?

Here is a little tip before you are auditioning for anything, whether it be for a musical or play or an a Capella group or comedy group or anything else, know well in advance what time to show up.

I'll use what just happened to me as an example.  So I'm auditioning for a comedy group on campus tonight and all of the flyers said that the tryouts started at 7.  I end up running late, showing up exactly at 7.  Well, I see the members of this group all sitting in there and no one else so I'm thinking, "Am I the first one here?" I knock on the door and ask if the auditions had started yet.  One of the members then told me that it started at 8 and that the flyers were misprinted.  Well great.

"Where's The Bloody [Wo]Man?"

Hello whoever has patiently waited for me to post for a month now--I know apologizing is pointless. It has just been a crazy....month getting everything ready for college! (Yes I am in college.) I'm actually in the college library now and I am here for two reasons; one, to print out a monologue I have to relearn for an audition for a straight play on Thursday and two, it's nice to get out of my insanely warm dorm room and into some AC.

 

I'm not kidding--I have been dressing sloppy for like two days because the temperature has been in the high '80s and very humid.

 

Anyway, I don't have a specific musical to play for you guys (I literally have had no time) but I have Les Miserables bloopers for you to enjoy until I am able to have a decent post ready for you!

 



"How the Scottish Invented Golf"

Well, a lot of things have been happening in the past two weeks! First off, Into the Woods Jr. went excellent--I still miss that show. Now I am getting ready to audition for Chicago in a few weeks--it is the first show my college is putting on for the school year and the audition is during the first week of classes! I hope I can make the Ensemble--it is not my favorite show but I like to be involved in various kinds of musicals.

Now I want to address the death of a particular comedian who committed suicide this past Monday; Robin Williams.

"I Will Be Doing The Hand Jive."

Oh boy, this week has definitely been a rough one for me. Don't get me wrong, I love working in Into the Woods Jr but it's so stressful for the Narrators, figuring out what to say when (and with the correct music cue). Oy vey!

So, while I tackle the end of tech week, I hope you enjoy a mashup of the Original Broadway Cast of Spring Awakening "auditioning" for Grease. (This video is not for younger viewers.)

".....That I Can Tell You In One Word: Tradition!"

I'm upset that my theatre adventures of the summer (aka working at the local theatre company) is coming to an end this week! Ahhh!

We just finished Fiddler on the Roof Jr and I must say it was a success.

For some odd reason, I was very excited for this show to occur--more excited than I currently am for Into The Woods Jr--but now I am completely in love with it.

"Impossible Things Are Happening Everyday!"

Very rarely will I post twice a day, but yet here I am.

Since I did not post about Cinderella this week, I shall do it now!

So Cinderella takes a twist from the 1950 cartoon Disney version. Yes, the basic story line is the same, but  there are some interesting changes.

The Costume Assistant Diary

Well, Cinderella Jr is done! Now (or tomorrow, actually) the crew will begin working on Fiddler On The Roof Jr! 

(These were some of the costumes that were worn in Cinderella Jr.)

This show wasn't necessarily my favorite. Why?

"You're Fat And Old, But Baby Boring You Ain't!"

Happy July! I cannot believe we are already halfway through vacation (in the US at least). As usual, a lot has changed since my last post--for starters, I started working at my local theatre company yesterday as the Assistant Costumer and I am pretty excited about that! (Advertisement moment; anyone that happens to be in or near Concord, NH this weekend, go see Cinderella Jr.! Tickets are $12 and you can see the show either Friday @ 7 PM or Saturday @ 2 PM or 7 PM.)

I will post more about my costuming later in the week, when I have actually done more with it than one day.

Anyway, this weekend I saw the Junior version of Hairspray, performed by the teen cast of the local theatre company I am working at (which, alas, I could not work on).

"....On This Humid Monday Morning In This Congressional Incubator!"

Happy Independence Day, America! In honor of our nation's 238th birthday, I am going to post about a musical that (inaccurately) shows the audience an insight as to what happened while our Founding Fathers were discussing American Independence and signing the Declaration of Independence, with the approval of both strongly encouraged by John Adams, in seven scenes--the first five scenes are Act 1, and the last two are Act 2. Yes, I am talking about 1776. 

There's not really a whole lot to explain in the plot of the musical.....I mean, the representatives from each state gathered in Philadelphia discussed and debated with each other on whether or not to separate from England, who should write the Declaration that physically documents their separation, and any edits that are needed on this parchment (the Slavery clause). Spoiler: they signed it in the end and the colonies broke away from England. 

Nevertheless, the 1969 Broadway performed musical won three Tony Awards which are Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical [Ron Holgate--Richard Henry Lee], Best Direction of a Musical [Peter Hunt} and Best Musical. Despite the show being highly inaccurate (the Declaration was actually officially signed on August 2), it holds the record for the longest time in a musical (at least 30 minutes) where no music is played or sung. There is no kind of music played or song sung between the end of Scene 2 ("The Lees of Old Virginia") to at least midway through Scene 3 ("But Mr. Adams"), where the men are debating independence from England.

 

Fun fact: It was argued that the musical should have been formatted as a play because of the amount of dialogue but Peter Stone (the book writer) believed that the musical numbers helped bring the historical characters to life and made the story more interesting to the audience.

Here is the song called "The Egg", where Adams (man with black hair), Franklin, and Jefferson (and Congress) compare the writing of the Declaration and the creation of a new nation to an egg hatching an Eagle (as proposed by Adams). (Fun fact: the guy that plays John Adams in the 1972 film version of 1776 is William Daniels, who also played Dustin Hoffman's father in the film The Graduate and George Feeny in the '90s TV show Boy Meets World.)

"Viva The Beautiful Game!"

I love being let go from work early!

Anyway, in commemoration of the FIFA World Cup Soccer 2014 tournament, I decided to try and look up musicals about soccer or relating to it.....and sure enough, there is!

(I was born having a soccer-crazed family and a few of my theatre friends follow the Cup tournaments like I do!)

So this particular musical comes from Andrew Lloyd Webber (I know, not my favorite composer) and it is now called The Boys in the Photograph (its original name that is still used now is The Beautiful Game).

The story takes in Northern Ireland during the 1960's and 1970's, when the country is on the brink of a cultural war (known as the Troubles) and the youth can only rely on their love for soccer. Some of the boys on a soccer team led by Father O'Donnell are introduced and the audience follows the lives of the next mentioned; John Kelly, the star player on the team who is more focused on girls (particularly Mary) than on practicing seriously; Thomas Malloy, John's more driven best friend, a passionate Catholic who wears glasses that have to be taped to his head and believes violence is the key for Catholics to succeed; Del Copeland, the only Protestant on the team (but swears he's Athiest); and Ginger O'Shaughnessy, who wants the tension between Protestants and Catholics to cease and to be called by his real name, which is Gregory. 

Off on the sidelines, the girls are also introduced; Mary, an out-spoken and bright young woman who believes that the conflicts can be resolved through peaceful protests; Bernadette, an overly-religious and prudent girl who has been in love with Ginger since they were kids; and Christine, who is constantly defying her Catholic-upbringing by having relationships with several boys.

John and Mary, although repulsed one another at first, become a steady couple and end up getting married; John wants to become a famous soccer star and Mary is more focused on the conflicts in Ireland. Thomas and Mary often clash with their approaches of improving the position of Catholics in Ireland (Thomas thinks violence and bombs are the key, while Mary thinks peaceful protests are the way).

As the musical progresses, Ginger is mortally wounded by a gang of Protestant boys. Thomas vows for revenge but is quickly talked out of by John. John's friendship with Thomas is tested when on John's wedding night with Mary, Thomas calls and tells John about how he is wanted for IRA activities and lost his glasses while locating the safe house--John finds Thomas and drives him there. Del and Christine marry and have a child named Hendrix and moved overseas. As Mary says goodbye, she informs Christine she herself is pregnant and planned on telling John after the soccer tryouts.

Meanwhile John tries out for a national soccer team and impresses the team scouts. However, right after tryouts John is arrested for helping Thomas reach the safe house and escaping police. John is sent to prison and tries to explain that he is not an IRA volunteer despite the other inmates pretending that John was one of them. While John waits to be released, he laments on how the outside world has failed him and bonds with the IRA volunteer prison mates and soon starts to think like them.

Mary has her child, a boy named Sean, which John almost had no conversation with since his birth. After John was released from prison, he becomes involved with the IRA and plans on going to England for an IRA mission. Mary reminds John of the photograph from his soccer team coached by Father O'Donnell that his own self was the first true victim. 

John, remembering how he never saw Thomas in prison with the other IRA members, goes to Thomas' home and plans on shooting him. Thomas told him that in exchange for not being put in prison himself, he reports others and that he doesn't care if he dies because the cycle of violence will never end. John poises his gun at Thomas. However, after he recalls the comment Mary said before he left, John does not have the heart to kill him. Thomas bids a last farewell to John--as John leaves, a gunshot is heard, assuming Thomas committed suicide. John went back home to Mary and realized what kind of person he really wants to be. (The End)

I am not an ALW fan, but I cannot say I dislike this show--it has a good message and the music is powerful and  The only thing I don't like about it is I cannot find a full soundtrack to it!

This video below is one of the opening numbers for the show titled "The Beautiful Game" (this was put in the rewritten version). I think this is the ultimate song for anyone that loves the sport soccer because these guys sing about how Saturdays are only for soccer and that it's better than sex and beer.