6/26/08

It is the 26th, right? Oh what ever. With school out I've been forgetting a lot of stuff. Who cares right? "Nothing matters, and knowing nothing matters is just life, so keep dancing through!" That was a quote from the song 'Dancing Through Life" from the hit Broadway musical, Wicked. Why do I bring this up you ask? Well it brings us to todays TMTS theme: BROADWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love Broadway! Who doesn't? Well, I know a few people but personally I do not understand them. Last Sunday night I saw Wicked at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and it was absolutley amazing. I thought everyone was exagerrating when they said how good it was, but no, it was that good. It is "the untold tale of the witches of Oz." As many of you know The Wizard of Oz is my favorite move and in my opinion a work if sheer genius, so of course I was intrigued by this title. I had heard the plot before and I simply couldn't beleive that some where deep down the Wicked Witch of the West could be good. But the play really mad me beleive it, and that my friend, is the making of a good Broadway show.

After the show I walked around the corner and waited outside the dressing room door to meet: THE CAST OF WICKED! They were all so nice and they signed my playbill! Except Briana Yacavic (I think that's how you spell her last name) who played Nessarose because I didn't see her and apparently she just left really fast before we got there. When Derrick Williams, who played Fiyero, came out my friend, let's call her Chives the 2nd, went, "You're handsome. No wonder Elphaba liked you!" To which he replied, "I'd be turning red if I could!" It was hysterical! Also when John Rubenstein (the Wizard) came out, my dad had this whole conversation with him about this Broadway show he was in, Pippin, and discussing the cast and stuff. They were all really nice and I got pictures with Derrick Williams, Teal Wicks (Elphaba), and Laura Woyasz (Glinda). And like I've said in previous entrires, I'd put them on this website but I'm an honor student, and honestly I don't have the pictures...

On the topic of Broadway shows, I think you should a breif (okay, not so breif) history of why I love Broadway. When I was little, I absolutley loved the made for TV movie version of Annie (with Kathy Bates as Ms. Hannigan and Kristin Chenoweth as Lily St. Regis). So, when I was five my dad took me to see Annie at our local theatre (the same theatre where I performed Annie Get Your Gun except this theatre has two rooms and all the shows I've seen were in the big room, and I perform in the small room.) I remember being disappointed because it was kind of condensed and the sets weren't very good. But none the less, I still loved the experience.

When I was 7 I started really loving everything about theatre. I had always loved it, but now I really wanted to take it seriously and become an actress. I still think it would be amazing to act proffesionly, but I know what it takes and I've realized that yeah, it would be fun, but it's more of a dream then a goal. I still take every chance I get to act, because it is extremely fun and rewarding.

My 6th grade year I saw more Broadway shows then ever in my entire life. In the fall, I saw A Chorus Line. It is the best musical. Ever. Really, it is! I was amazed by it. It has no plot, but it is amazing! The entire thing is just an audtition to be in the chorus of a Broadway play. The songs and acting are absolutley stunning, but really that's all you pay attention too. There isn't a plot besides auditioning, and then getting or not getting the part, every character only has 2 costumes (one for the audition and one for the grand finale) and there is no set because the entire thing takes places on a stage. Some of the songs are hysterical! My personal favorite is "Hello 12, Hello 13, Hello Love" which is all the auditioners talking about there adolesence. Really, it is four different songs put together to make one big scene because so much dialouge interupts it, but it's a very magical part of the show. Another funny one is "Dance 10, Looks 3" which is sung by Val (who the director of the show I was in played on Broadway!) and she is talking about how after she got plastic surgery she suddenly started getting jobs. Of course, the most famous songs are probably "One," "What I Did for Love," and "The Music and the Mirror." I did notice a difference between the music of Wicked and Chorus Line that I found intriguing, since I love the music of both shows so much. Wicked is composed by Stephen Schwartz, and I've found that in his compositions he puts a lot of focus into the lyrics. But in Chorus Line, with music by Marvin Hamlish and lyrics by Edward Kleban, I found that the main focus was on the music, considering it is a show about dancers and every songs has at least one dance break. Both of the shows have amazing scores.

The winter break after I saw Chorus Line I saw The Lion King, which I liked for the exact opposite reasons I liked Chorus Line. The best thing about this show is the sets and costumes that recreate the African savannah in such a unique way. All the songs have the familiarity of a true Disney classic, but with a different twist. In that time pretty much every animated Disney movie's music was composed by Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. But in The Lion King the team was made up of Elton John, Tim Rice, and Hans Zimmer. These men have a similar style of the others, but it still has a more modern twist that makes it so special.

Later that year I saw the Mel Brooks musical, The Producers. With Mel Brooks, you know you are getting a spoon full of comedy through out the entire performance. The songs, sets, costumes, and acting were all so eccentric and hysterical, that it looses all seriousness, even though they are singing about Hitler and his Nazis at various times during the play. With Bialistock and Bloom, you know you are in for dozens of laughs for every song. My personal favorites are "Betrayed" which Bialistock sings from his jail cell, basically reviewing how he got there, and "If You've Got It, Flaunt It" which Ula the secretary/receptionist signs as an attempt to get her job as secretary/receptionist. Both of these songs made me laugh harder then most of the others in the play. I also like "I Want to be a Producer" because that's just a really really good song.

Wow, I'm practically getting blisters on my fingers from typing so much! And that's not even every show I've seen. I've also seen Sunset Boulevard at the Hollywood Bowl. When I saw that though, I saw the movie version on stage with the full score of the movie being played in the pit. But the entire cast was using scripts and there weren't any sets or costume changes. Basically, it was like a table read except they did blocking. It was still a great experience. I also have seen an off-Broadway production called Mermaids based on the movie of the same title. That was really funny and the cast was amazing (wink wink you know who you are wink wink).

I am done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My fingers are sore! Bye for now. Oh wait, I forgot to announce my new policy: If you don't review, I don't update! Now I'm done. Bye!