Happy Halloween!

Backstage at Billy

Gregory Jbara who plays Billy's dad in the musical Billy Elliot has a backstage behind the scenes video blog. In cooperation with Broadway.com the vlog is called Working Class Hero. There have been 4 videos so far........and my favorite has been the visit to the ballet girls' dressing room. It's quite amusing!

(photo from Broadway.com)

Joy Behar as Madame Morrible

The View's funny and outspoken Joy Behar at the one-night-only benefit performance of Wicked last Monday to celebrate 5 years on Broadway.

Holding out for a Hero

I hate to say it, but Heroes has lost its hold on me. The first season was very imaginative and engaging, with its XMen-like premise. Despite its anti-climatic finale, I still watched when season two rolled out. Struggling through its disjointed story-telling, too many new heroes and not enough of the heroes we cared about, I'm sure the writers' strike didn't help the show any.

Now season three is just unwatchable. I find myself watching the clock or once, even dozing off. The plot lines are even more convoluted. The heroes are villains, and the villains are heroes. Even murderous Sylar, the über-villain is getting a make-over. And he's Peter and Nathan's long-lost bro? C'mon...it's just creepy. Arthur Petrelli's the Big Bad, Peter's just always sneering and angry, Ali Larter is on her third personality, Hiro is getting irritating, Mohinder is turning into some insect and Claire I just stopped caring about. I keep watching in hopes that the writing will get better, but I'm not holding my breath.
Who will Save the Show?

(photo from AllPosters)

The Joys and Burden of Being Billy

NY Magazine did a very insightful article on the children who play Billy in Billy Elliot The Musical. To read the article please click here.

Edit (10/28 10:35 pm): Check out this Meet the Billies video (OMG these kids are amazing!)

(photos above from NY Magazine)

Emerald City

Tonight there is a one night only benefit at the Gershwin Theatre with an all star cast called "Yellow Brick Road Not Taken" to celebrate Wicked's 5th year on Broadway. Joining the festivities, the Empire State Building also turned green for one night only! Check out the photos below which were taken from Union Square. Thanks Lisa!






For more photos please click here.

Barack the Vote

More SNL fun. Not as funny as Tina Feylin though. Ba-rock on!

Ralph Rex

Ralph Fiennes is back on the London stage! The new version of Oedipus, translated by Frank McGuinness, premiered at the National Theatre on 15 October. As per his usual, he is getting rave reviews.

Directed by Jonathan Kent, the play will run until 04 January 2009.

(photos from Booth Theatre's stage door after a performance of Faith Healer in New York)

Playbill interviews the DIVAs of WICKED

Fr L to R: Jennifer Laura Thompson, Julia Murney, Eden Espinosa, Shoshana Bean, Annaleigh Ashford (photos from Playbill.com)

In honor of Wicked's upcoming 5th anniversary on Broadway, Playbill interviews the gals of Wicked. For the full interview of the Elphies and Glindas please click here.

Billy the Kids

Thank goodness for Youtube. I missed the 3 Billy Elliots the other day because I was on my way to work.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

Macy's selected Camp Broadway to perform this year's Thanksgiving Day Parade musical finale, "I Believe in Santa Claus". Kermit the Frog will be joining the kids. The 82nd edition of the annual parade will be telecast 27 November 2008 on NBC, starting at 9 AM EST.

The New TKTS Booth

The red glass steps of TKTS


TKTS booth and Duffy Square

The new TKTS booth was inaugurated with a lighting ceremony last Oct. 16, 2008. It featured Brian Stokes Mitchell, Sutton Foster, Julie Halston and John Leguizamo. But even more good news for theatre fans is that they now take credit cards! Yay!

So check out the new booth with this slide show from the NY Times. I'm sure sitting on those red steps is great for the sport of people watching.......well, it kinda reminds me of the Spanish steps of Rome......only more modern.

(photos above courtesy of the NY Times)

Nirvana on Earth?

There really are no coincidences. I received Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth from my friend Liza as I was planning to go out and buy a copy. If you read his first book, The Power of Now, the concepts he presents (mostly drawn from Buddhism) will not be new. He expounds on the Ego, and how we can end mankind's suffering by disidentifying from it and our mind.

Some people might dismiss these kinds of books as New Age fluff, but don't we say that when the student is ready, the teacher will appear? We could all use a shift in consciousness. Given the year that I've had, I can attest to the benefits of meditation and yoga, witnessing your life, being present and living consciously, appreciating Now. Like its predecessor, this new book is meant to be read slowly, to be savored fully. I learned a new mantra: "I don't mind what happens." I wish we could all live in surrender...no struggle, no resistance, no pain.

An Evening with Julia Murney

I first got wind of this concert through the Sh-K-Boom online newsletter but couldn't post until it's confirmed. But now.........it is!

Sh-k-Boom Records has a concert series with their artists called the Joe's Pub Series. On November 24, 2008 they have Julia Murney on their stage! Lani, Dawn and I enjoyed her last Birdland concert so this one is sure to be a fun night!

(photo fr. BWW)

Ellen's Video of the Day

Kristin Chenoweth joins Ellen in playing a prank. It's hilarious!

Look who's turning 5!

This October 30, Wicked is celebrating its fifth anniversary on Broadway! In honor of this momentous occasion, some special events have been lined up. For the first time ever, Playbill is changing its logo's trademark yellow color...to green of course. You can pre-order a copy here. They're also re-releasing the original cast album, with a bonus second CD, on the 28th of this month. Even the lights of the Empire State Building will turn green on 27 October.

Broadwayworld gives us a run-down of the other festivities.

[Title of Show] Babies

These kids are amusing!

Nine People's Favorite Thing

It's another masterpiece from the geniuses at [Title of Show]. Check out the numerous people (including tons of Broadway cameos) who love this show! It makes me miss it even more!

edit (10/20 5 pm): To see all the pictures of those who participated in the video click here.

At this performance...

The role of Governor Sarah Palin will be played by Amy Poehler. Kudos to the guv for sitting through this.



I wonder if she's been to the Russian Tea Room while in NYC.

More W.

SNL alum Will Ferrell is Broadway-bound! According to the New York Times, he will star in his own one-man show entitled "You're Welcome America. A Final Night with George W. Bush". Previews begin 20 January 2009 at the Cort Theatre, opening on the 1st of February. It is scheduled to run until 15 March.

It's in the blood

Although there are many possible causes of cancer, the alarming rise in cancer cases in the last century gives credence to the theory that it is mainly a disease of modern living. In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, watch this eye-opening presentation from the Environmental Working Group President Ken Cook, and take steps to protect you and your family.

Are you ready to rumble?

Tickets for the 2009 revival of West Side Story go on sale today. The show is scheduled to begin previews on 23 February at the Palace Theatre, with opening night on the 19th of March. It will have an out of town engagement at the National Theatre in Washington D.C. (where the original production premiered in 1957) from 15 December 2008 to 17 January 2009.

Directed by Arthur Laurents, they will retain Jerome Robbins' original choreography. According to this blog, Mr. Laurents "intends to give the show more verisimilitude, including making the kids more realistically bloodthirsty, and the central lovers Maria and Tony more sexually driven. He also plans to weave Spanish throughout more of the dialog and lyrics."

The cast hasn't been announced yet, although Argentina's La Nacion newspaper reported that Josefina Scaglione will portray Maria.

Seth Deconstructs The Murney

Finally! It's Raise the Roof from Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party. And who doesn't love that Yaya ya ya ya yaya at the start and the SA-moking Gunnn-nah!

LOL on the "liquid u on the word do"!

In relation to this, here he deconstructs the beauty of the vibrato with Gavin Creel as the example:

Alfred E. Smith dinner

At last some levity during this brutal presidential campaign! Great speech writers for both candidates. They can give SNL writers a run for their money.

McCain on Obama



Part un: Obama on McCain



Part deux

An Enchanting Evening Indeed

This is so overdue!

So last Oct. 2, 2008 I saw South Pacific with Mike and Tom at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre of Lincoln Center. It's the second production of the show that I had seen (the first one was from Repertory Philippines with a very young Lea Salonga as Liat). It is a very exquisite production of the show. The music is so beautiful specially when you hear it with the original orchestrations and that 30 piece orchestra! In fact the most thrilling part for me during the night was when *** spoilers *** the overture played and the thrust stage was retracted revealing the orchestra. The audience that night exploded with applause at that moment (I have heard though that, that happens every night). It is so refreshing to hear that full rich music in that theatre.

The show is perfectly casted Kelli O'Hara is wonderful as Nellie Forbush with her crystal clear soprano while Paulo Szot is commanding as Emile De Becque. Loretta Ables Sayre (Bloody Mary) and Danny Burstein (Luther Billis) were both funny and good in their roles. Even the ensemble of guys and gals were excellent. Our Lt. Cable that night was Andrew Samonsky who had the privilege of singing my favorite song in the show.....Younger Than Springtime. He has a very beautiful voice that will make you fall in love ha ha ha! I should say though that we were sitting on the last row of the balcony and the actors didn't seem to be mic'd (which was nice to hear a more natural sound) but I could still hear every note of a song and every word of the dialogue......just unbelievable!

The set is amazing! Now I know why it won the Tony for set design beating Sunday In The Park with George. The set really does transport you to an island.....with a beach, an army camp, army trucks and an airplane....it could very well give the helicopter from Miss Saigon a run for it's money.

If you get a chance don't pass this up. It's amazing to see one of the classic pieces of musical theatre done very well.

I didn't go to the stagedoor but here are some pictures I took that night:


The front of the Vivian Beaumont Theatre


The wall by the box office


the Understudy board


the lobby before the show started


there was so much construction at the site but this is the marquee

Legally Brown

Why didn't I hear about this earlier? In the Heights star and writer Lin-Manuel Miranda created and directed Legally Brown: The Search for the Next Piragua Guy, a web series take-off of the MTV reality series "Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods". You can also watch it on Youtube's Usnavi channel.

Contestants include Norm Lewis (pictured on the right with Julia Murney), hunky-sexy-Cheyenne Jackson, Allison Janney (you go and shatter that glass ceiling Allison!), rico suave Matthew Morrison, Noah Weisberg, [Title of Show's] Hunter Bell, Derrick Baskin, Telly Leung(hey if Lea Salonga can be French, he can be New Yorican!), and defending Piragua guy Eliseo Roman. The hilarious Seth Rudetsky is one of the judges. Find out who the winner is on 19 October.

This brilliant parody is hosted by Asmeret Ghebremichael, definitely channeling Haylie Duff. It's as refreshing as fruit-flavored shaved ice on a hot summer day.

Once was enough?

I'm not sure yet how I feel about this. I hope they don't ruin it.

Julia Murney on the Today Show

Julia Murney was on the Today Show this morning and sang Shadow Woman (@ 5:30) written by Kathy Lee Gifford and David Friedman. The song was for Anca Wass. Read about her story here.

Make Poverty History

Today is Blog Action Day, and this year's subject, appropriately enough, is poverty. During these times of economic uncertainty, it is even harder to think about the rest of the world's needy people. What can one person do? Help make poverty history. Here's a video from Australia's Micah Project:

Dubya

I saw this bumper sticker the other day: January 20, 2009---The End of an Error. No truer words were said. I say we all celebrate by watching Oliver Stone's new movie, W this Friday, 17 October.

Religulous

I enjoyed watching Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, and I was sad when it was canceled after his controversial post 9-11 remarks. I don't have HBO and haven't been able to see Real Time with Bill Maher so I was excited to see his documentary Religulous. He mainly focuses on the 3 major religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam but manages to sideswipe other religions as well. Mr. Maher is as irreverent, provocative and hilarious as ever. If you are quickly offended, this film is not for you. But you'll be missing out on a hell of a good time.

Bill shows us in a humorous yet thought-provoking way how religion has become such a divisive force in our world. It is a commentary on faith, dogma, fundamentalism and how religiosity has come to mean fanatically sticking to a belief system where "I'm-right-you're-wrong-so-that-means-I-can-kill-you". When one is too rigid, unbending and unyielding, one can only break. And the world is breaking. May God help us all.

Les Misbarack

Brilliant!
(thanks to the Dionisios for this)

Electrifying Billy Elliot

As Lani mentioned earlier, we saw the preview of Billy Elliot The Musical last Saturday night (10/4). It's the second time I've seen the show.....the other time was in 2005 in London with George Maguire, one of the original Billies. There were numerous set malfunctions during the first act but the show was as exhilarating as I remembered it. Our Billy is the amazing phenom, Kiril Kulish. He was grace mixed with strength and had exquisite lines and commanding carriage. I also must say that he did a spot on Geordie accent and maintained it throughout the performance! Frank Dolce who played Michael was a ham and a scene stealer. And what a great tap dancer! Greg Jbara played Billy's father was heartbreaking. Haydn Gynne who played Mrs. Wilkinson, reprising her fabulous London performance, was wonderful as the dance teacher. Even Thommie Retter who played Mr. Braithwaite, the accompanist was a dancing surprise doing The Worm (very lithe indeed!). Carole Shelley (yes Madam Morrible herself) was hilarious as Billy's grandma. The whole ensemble (cops, miners and the ballet girls) were energetic and really seemed to enjoy being onstage.

I also have to say kudos to director Stephen Daldry who came out during intermission to explain the mishaps but also gave us free tickets to see the show again! Yay! But last but not the least I have to mention the wonderful choreography of Peter Darling! It was crisp, funky, refined, elegant and breathtaking. I would love to see the show a third time! (Maybe even more!)

Here are some photos from the night:


The Billy Doors




The Billy board


Our Billy: Kiril Kulish.....I asked him how long has he been doing tap and he said only 3 months! You can't tell from the way he tapped that he just learned it!




Matthew Mindler who played the Small Boy....isn't he adorable?


Our Debbie (Mrs. Wilkinson's daughter): Erin Whyland....oh she's a Red Sox fan


The very funny Frank Dolce as Michael


the ballet girls


Carole Shelley (Madame Morrible herself as Grandma)


we were walking back to the subway....Kiril was in front of us walking home with his mom. Then someone asked him to pose in front of the doors......so I took the chance to snap this shot!


The Playbill signed (top to bottom) by Carole Shelley, Frank Dolce and Kiril Kulish

And lastly, here's a behind the scenes video including the search for Billy:

Green and greener

I saw Matt Lauer interview Sloan Barrett on the Today show last week. She was promoting her book, Green goes with Everything: Simple Steps to a Healthier Life and a Cleaner Planet. It is on my must-read list. Protect you and your family from diseases. It is scary how toxic everything is.
All profits go to charity.

It's Electric!

Most of the Stagenotes team (+ Tom) trooped to the Imperial Theatre last Saturday to catch Billy Elliot the Musical, which started previews 01 October. It is based on the popular film about a boy who discovers his love for ballet during the UK coal miners' strike in 1984.

Our Billy was the multi-talented Kiril Kulish (two other boys, David Alvarez and Trent Kowalik, play Billy) His friend Michael was played by the scene-stealing Frank Dolce. London cast hold-over Haydn Gwynne is Mrs. Wilkinson, the ballet teacher who encourages the aspiring dancer to follow his heart despite his macho family's objections. Carole Shelley as his wacky grandmother gets to sing this fun song.

For the first time in my theatre-going history, the show was stopped a couple of times during the first act due to problems with the set. It is very intricate and complicated, and of course, computer-controlled. Most people were understanding but there were a few "boos", grumblings and walk-outs. This is live theatre, people...deal with it. Plus for the safety of the performers, they had no choice but to stop and fix it. I felt worse for the cast, having to stop and start all over again. Director Stephen Daldry spoke during intermission to explain the problems, and offered us all free tickets to see the show again. The second act went off without a hitch.

Suffice it to say, technical malfunctions didn't take away from my enjoyment of the show. The plot is timely and relevant: a community in flux, a boy in need of self-expression, a family in mourning. The music and lyrics are very moving, the dance sequences spectacular (the ballet juxtaposed with the clash between striking miners and the police was jarring yet poetic). But the biggest thrill was seeing these amazing kids onstage, especially Kiril. The show was...how should I put it? ELECTRIC.

"I can't really explain it,
I haven't got the words
It's a feeling that you can't control
I suppose it's like forgetting, losing who you are
And at the same time something makes you whole
It's like that there's a music playing in your ear
And I'm listening, and I'm listening and then I disappear

And then I feel a change
Like a fire deep inside
Something bursting me wide open impossible to hide
And suddenly I'm flying, flying like a bird
Like electricity, electricity
Sparks inside of me
And I'm free I'm free"

(photo from Broadwayworld)

Maverick Maverick Maverick

Maybe if you say Maverick five times in front of a mirror, Tina Fey will show up.

NBCAM

In honor of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Olivia Newton-John and the cast of Grease will distribute LIV-AID kits to female audience members after the October 7th performance. The kit is a device that helps women perform their BSE (breast self exam) properly and comfortably.