Harry hoopla

from the Today show this morning: A Harry Potter theme park within Universal Studios' Islands of Adventure in Florida! How about sleeping over at Hogwarts, breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron, shopping in Hogsmeade, a walk through the Forbidden Forest or a Quidditch ride? The possibilities are endless. It is set to open in 2009.

Get in touch with us!

We're always eager to hear news about any upcoming shows, off- or on-Broadway, new soundtracks, TV appearances, and events. E-mail us at stagenotes[at]gmail.com to help keep us updated!

Best-selling authors rock out

What do Stephen King, Dave Barry, Amy Tan, Matt Groening,James McBride and Mitch Albom have in common? They are some of the members of the Rock Bottom Remainders,a group of authors who turn rock stars once a year to raise funds for children's literacy programs. I saw them on Good Morning America today and they were not bad at all. Apparently Stephen King has the weirdest groupies but he wouldn't elaborate. This year they are calling their weeklong tour "Still Younger than Keith". They're performing June 1st in Webster Hall, with even Frank McCourt making an appearance. One of the charities they support is Get Caught Reading. May was Get Caught Reading month; Avenue Q's Kate Monster and Trekkie Monster joined the fun. Here's what the Monsters had to say, from the Get Caught Reading website:

AVENUE Q's Kate Monster -- whose busy life as a kindergarten teaching assistant and single young woman in the city would appear to preempt time with a good book - says, in fact, that she finds solace in reading: "There are only so many papers I can grade before I long to disappear into a little Jane Austen," she says. And Trekkie Monster, an avid investor who spends most days scrutinizing stock quotes, credits his love of reading to a monster aunt who turned him on to the works of Maurice Sendak. "I could have sworn WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE was written for me!" he adds.

divine Miss M

No, not THAT Miss M. My Chicago friends come to NY before the Tony awards for a Broadway extravaganza weekend.We watched Spring Awakening and Grey Gardens.We saw Wicked again so we can see Ms. Julia Murney's performance as Elphaba. I brought the April 2007 issue of Time Out New York so she can sign it.Too bad Kendra Kassebaum snuck out before we could get to the stagedoor. Julia was kind enough to sign autographs and take pictures despite the rain.We actually saw her right before the show on a coffee run.The theatre gods were smiling upon us that night.

phew!

After much head scratching, hair-pulling and teeth-gnashing, I finally started our team blog. You're likely to find celebrity news, stalkerazzi pictures from celebrity sightings and stagedoor encounters, perhaps even our own humble reviews of movies and broadway shows. Avid theatregoers, TV/film buffs, bookworms and music fans unite! A special Holla! to my genius sister, the web queen...thanks for your invaluable assistance:)