What Gives a Girl Power and Punch? It's HAIRSPRAY LIVE!

UPDATE: First things first, I would like to apologize for the lateness of this post.  With both work and Christmas Traditions, I had difficulty finding the time to really sit and let the broadcast ruminate in my head.  However, I just took the time to watch the re-airing on NBC, and I believe I am now able to assess the show fairly

Hairspray holds a special place in my heart. I've had the pleasure to work on it twice, and have seen it multiple times.  When done well, Hairspray can be a non-stop evening of musical theatre excellence.  When done poorly, it is still a shitload of fun.  By this rationale, Hairspray Live could do little to no wrong in my eyes.  However, to me, this may have been one of the worst executed live broadcasts in the past several years.

As I already mentioned, I am a fan of Hairspray.  Long before the musical was ever written, I was a fan of the original John Waters film from 1988.  Ricki Lake as Tracey and Divine as Edna introduced me to the whacked out world of Waters, and my eventual love for the film/musical Cry-Baby.  I distinctly remember seeing the first national tour, starring Bruce Vilanch as Edna.  The energy coming off that stage could have powered the entire Fox on its own.

When NBC announced Hairspray, my biggest concern was that they do the stage show.  While the 2007 film had some amazing elements, it fell flat to me.  Bringing in Mr. Harvey Fierstein to adapt the script for NBC was potentially the smartest decision the producers could make, after casting him as Edna, of course.  Things could only go up from there, right?  WRONG!

Things I Disliked

•  Ariana Grande was positive shit as Penny Pingleton.  Honest to God, her casting was the one I was most apprehensive about, and I was justified in my thoughts.  Penny is the epitome of the dorky best friend, not some sexed up mumbler who overacts.  Even Grande's vocals seemed subpar at times.  Instead of saving the vocal pyrotechnics for the latter part of the show, Grande sang in her normal voice the entire time.  She was never Penny; instead, it was Ariana Grande in glasses.  For real Pennies, please watch the following video: https://youtu.be/VTO_Duist34
• I feel like a lot of issues could have been fixed had the direction been better.  Kenny Leon directed The Wiz Live last year, and it was incredibly well done.  I expected something along the same lines, and was pretty much disappointed.  A lot of my issues concerning performances really come down to things that Leon should have noticed.  

Things I'm On The Fence About

•  Garrett Clayton as Link Larkin.  He was a very competent Link Larkin, but nothing ever wowed me.  His performance was reminiscent of tapioca pudding: perfectly fine, but nothing exciting (unless of course you like tapioca pudding).
•  Kristen Chenoweth was good in spurts.  I just got very tired of all the high soprano business.  I'm perfectly aware she has the notes and the talent to back it up, but she didn't need to pull them out for every single one of her solo numbers.

 Things I Enjoyed

• Maddie Baillio
• Ephraim Sykes
• Andrea Martin, Sean Hayes, Paul Vogt, Rosie O'Donnell
• Derek Hough
• Dove Cameron
• Martin Short
• Jennifer Hudson
• Harvey Fierstein 

Overall, I enjoyed Hairspray Live, but I do not think it was a step forward with these live broadcasts.  NBC seems to have an issue trying to define what the broadcasts should be.  The Wiz Live was a step in the right direction, and I think they took a step back this year.  There were far too many errors, and a lot of the final product was downright sloppy at times. 

Whatsis, Whosis, Thesis! Part 3: The World of the Play

The World of the Play

            Damon Runyon wrote well over fifty short stories popularizing his exploits throughout New York.  However, only thirty-two of these stories are considered his “Guys and Dolls” collection.  That does not necessarily mean they were used for the musical.  Instead, the characters of the musical are the ones who appear in these stories. 

            Runyon writes of a dark seedy world, full of colorful characters and colorful situations.  You have the pleasantly rotund Nicely-Nicely Jones, who partakes in an amazing eating contest to find who the best eater is in the whole United States (“A Piece of Pie”, Runyon 40-54); Harry the Horse, who falls in love with a teetotaler during the waning days of Prohibition (“Delegates at Large”, Runyon 27-39); and Big Jule, the supposedly “hottest guy in the world”, wanted by every policeman from New York to San Francisco (“The Hottest Guy in the World”, Runyon 208-217).

All of the characters seem to be acquaintances of the nameless narrator, thought to be a stand-in for Runyon himself.  Through the narrator, we hear such awkward speech; Runyon wrote everything very stylized: there were no contractions used, but every character spoke with a certain elegance and in an educated manner, yet they were still capable of taking you out back, and fitting you with a pair of cement shoes.  These men were hoodlums, but they ran the city in a fair and just manner.

The Three Stories

Out of all of Runyon’s stories, the creative team were able to narrow down the ones that would be the story for their musical: “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown”, “Blood Pressure”, and “Pick the Winner”, which actually came from another one of Runyon’s collections. 

“Idyll” provided the basic storyline: The Sky, the highest betting man in the country, comes to New York, and sees a mission band playing on the street.  They are led by Miss Sarah Brown: “She is tall, and thin, and has a first-class shape, and her hair is a light brown, going on blond, and her eyes are one-hundred-percent eyes in every respect” (Runyon 18).  He is soon following the band around, and helping Sarah garner larger crowds for her services.  Everything is going peachy until it is revealed that he is a gambler, and she abhors the practice.  He lets her be, though he is not the same man he once was.  At a crap game one night, provided by Nathan Detroit, Sky has the idea to bet his fellow gamblers for their souls; then they would have to attend Sarah’s meetings.  However, he gets into a scuffle with Brandy Bottle Bates; the two of them are playing craps, and Bates dupes Sky into losing his cash by unsportsmanlike means: Bates has been rolling “loaded” dice the entire night.  This is important to note as it helps define Sky: he does not care that he has been losing all night.  He would rather be beaten by fair means, and Bates’s dice simply are not fair.  Just as Sky is preparing to do something awful, Sarah bursts in.  Without realizing, she has stopped Sky from shooting Bates point blank.  She claims to bet Sky for his soul.  Upon rolling the dice, she wins, saving Sky and Bates from certain death and from further loss of their dough.

The second story to flavor the script was “Blood Pressure.”  In this one, our narrator has come from the doctor, where he has found out that his “blood pressure is higher than a cat’s back” (Runyon 154).  Unfortunately, he runs into Rusty Charley, a most unfortunate fellow known for causing trouble and destruction.  Rusty soon grabs him and drags him off towards Nathan Detroit’s crap game, which is full of far too much excitement for a man like our narrator: “Now, of course, I do not wish to go to Nathan Detroit’s crap game; and if I do wish to go there I do not wish to go with Rusty Charley, because a guy is sometimes judged by the company he keeps, especially around crap games, and Rusty Charley is apt to be considered bad company” (Runyon 156).  After facing serious trouble at the game, and being dragged throughout the city for the rest of the night, the narrator finds his way home and collapses, praying that his blood pressure will drop.

As mentioned in the previous two stories, Nathan Detroit’s crap game is a massive part of the stories and of the script.  However, Nathan is not a large character in the world of Runyon.  He only appears in the background of a handful of stories.  When it came time to write the script, they knew Nathan needed to be there if they wanted to have the crap game.  Therefore, they went to another one of Runyon’s stories, “Pick the Winner”, and transplanted the tale of Hot Horse Herbie and Cutie Singleton over to Nathan and Adelaide. 

In “Pick the Winner”, we meet Hot Horse Herbie and his ever-loving fiancée Cutie Singleton.  Herbie is a race fiend, and is waiting to win big so that he can finally marry Cutie.  Sadly, they have been engaged for ten years, so no one knows when they will ever tie the knot.  They spend a good amount of time at the racetrack in Miami, and Herbie meets a professor.  Together, they figure out a system for the horses so they can make oodles of money.  It ends up working for them considerably well, but they eventually have a stinker of a day, and Herbie loses the money.  This sorrow is made worse once he receives a letter from Cutie:

“Dear Herbie,’ she says, ‘I do not believe in long engagements any more, so Professor Woodhead and I are going to Palm Beach to be married to-night [sic], and are leaving for Princeton, New Jersey, at once, where I am going to live in a little white house with green shutters and vines all around and about.  Good-by Herbie,’ the note says.  ‘Do not eat any bad fish.  Respectfully, Mrs. Professor Whitehead’” (Bentley 273). 

This story establishes so much in the Nathan/Adelaide relationship.  She has suffered for a long time, and he was never truly respectful of her.  Therefore, Cutie had to “pick the winner” when she found him.  The writers just altered the simplest of things to make the situation work for the musical, and it adds another layer to Nathan; he has to realize that he cannot take Adelaide for granted.  Otherwise, she may just leave him, and then he will suffer. 

Don't Dream It; Be It!: My Thoughts on THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: LET'S DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!

It's Astounding...

Time is Fleeting...

     The seminal cult classic, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, is forty-one years young this year, premiering in 1975.  In response to this anniversary, (among other reasons), FOX decided to jump on the televised musical train, and produce a remake.  Aptly titled The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again!, the remake is a different take on the recent string of televised musicals.  Instead of a capturing a live performance, it was completely filmed on location and on sound stages.  I consider this both a good thing and a bad thing, which I will get to later on.  

     With a cast full of Broadway veterans and some relative unknowns, FOX had a lot riding on this one.  Though NBC's musicals (The Sound of Music, Peter Pan, The Wiz) were well received, there were still plenty of things wrong with them, aka, no live audience.  Things took an upturn when Grease Live aired this past January.  FOX knew the problems that had plagued the other broadcasts, and gave a remarkable product.  There will always be complainers, but Grease Live was a step in the right direction.  Based on that success, Rocky should work out pretty damn well, and I personally believe it did turn out well.  Are there those that disagree with me?  Well, of course! There were problems, but overall, I enjoyed the broadcast immensely.  

Like I did with Grease Live, I'm going to go through the things I wasn't a fan of first, followed by where I'm on the fence, ending with elements I enjoyed.  

Things I Disliked

• Christina Milian as Magenta.  She did nothing for me, and tried too hard to be Patricia Quinn, the original film Magenta.  Even if this were not her intent, it is how she came across.  She wasn't bad, but she wasn't that good.  She was just meh. 
• How Eddie came on the scene.  It makes no sense for him to crash through the window of the castle on the motorcycle if half his brain is in Rocky.  He needs to be in a freezer or something similar, inside the castle.
• The sound editing/lip syncing.  There were a lot of strong voices and vocal choices.  That being said, Adam Lambert's lip syncing during "Hot Patootie" was abysmal.  Also, "Time Warp" backing vocals had no oomph.  Where was the energy when they recorded that, because Reeve Carney brought the house down.  
• The attempts to replicate the original film cast.  For the most part, I was a fan of Laverne Cox and Victoria Justice.  They were doing some great work, but Victoria seemed to be trying too hard to sound like Susan Sarandon.  By the end, she finally lets lose and uses the vocal power she has.  Same thing with Laverne Cox.  I wanted to see her take on Frank, but a lot of the time she seemed to be trying to emulate Tim Curry in her vocal delivery.  It just didn't work for me.  Once we got to "Planet Schmanet Janet," she was making her own choices and I was sucked in.  "Don't Dream It, Be It" and "I'm Going Home" were beautifully done.  

Things I'm On the Fence About

• Legitimately filming it instead of doing a live broadcast.  I loved all that they were able to do by filming it: shooting on exteriors, building these massive environmental sets that you can play on, just the sheer majesty that is needed to match the ludicrous elements of the script.  At the same time, there were a lot of moments where I felt the energy was lacking from the performance.  The addition of the movie house audience was great, but I felt they were vastly under-utilized, especially with the amount of interaction that normally happens.  
• Ben Vereen as Doctor Scott.  Really, I'm just not the biggest fan of Dr. Scott, unless he's doubled as Eddie.  Love "Eddy's Teddy", but Vereen seemed almost one note the entire time. Meh.

Things I Enjoyed

• Laverne Cox.  As I previously mentioned, there were a few things that I wasn't a huge fan of, but overall she killed it.  From that entrance that was almost reminiscent of Mame to her heartbreaking version of "I'm Going Home", I enjoyed her performance.  She was not afraid to get down and dirty with her portrayal, and she was one hell of a dancer.  I hope that she gets the chance to perform live much more.
•  Victoria Justice, when she wasn't trying to be Susan Sarandon.  
• Ryan McCartan as Brad.  Great voice, he wasn't afraid to play camp. 
• Staz Nair as Rocky.  To me, Rocky is one of the hardest parts of the show.  In terms of lines, there really isn't much there.  However, he is the title character.  He really needs to be the beefiest beefcake of all time, with "blonde hair and a tan".  In the original film, Peter Hinwood was fine as the character, but his singing was substantially sub par.  In fact, he was dubbed by Trevor White.  "The Sword of Damocles" is not necessarily an easy song, and Nair knocked it out of the park.  Vocals were amazing, and he was a perfect physical specimen.
• Ivy Levan as Trixie the Usherette.  Normally, Magenta doubles as Trixie and sings "Science Fiction Double Feature."  While that works well on stage, I loved seeing her working around the cinema: ushing, selling tickets and concessions, and enjoying her popcorn.  Beautiful vocals that warmly welcomed the audience to an evening of debauchery. 

• Addendum while I'm thinking of it: the use of the cinema as the Castle was genius.  I spent a good amount of time looking at the little differences that were made so that the viewer could recognize the theater we were welcomed to. 
•  The Phantoms.  I'm normally not a big fan of the ensemble in Rocky Horror because I just consider them set dressing in the movie: they're all dressed similarly and just mildly unsettling.  William Ivey Long made me pay even closer attention to them by making them individuals.  Each had a very distinct personality, but several also were Easter Eggs to the first film or the leads.  During "Wild and Untamed Thing", there is a phantom dancing by Dr. Scott, dressed like Ben Vereen as the Leading Player in Pippin.  Earlier, during "Hot Patootie", one of the phantoms above the stage is dressed like Meat Loaf, who played Eddie in the original film.  Like I said, the perfect acknowledgement to the source materials.   
• Adam Lambert as Eddie.  Let me be frank-n-furter (bad joke): "Hot Patootie" is my favorite song in the show.  I'm a fan of Meat Loaf and his performance, so I was a bit apprehensive when Adam Lambert was announced.  As I mention earlier, his lip syncing was kind of bad, but he had the vocals and made the part his own.  I couldn't really ask for more than that.  
• Reeve Carney as Riff Raff was absolutely brilliant.  He (and Columbia) were the best part of "Time Warp" to me.  This may go against what I've said about other characters, but I liked that he channeled original film Riff Raff, Richard O'Brien.  I'm aware I shouldn't have a double standard, but O'Brien wrote the show.  It is his baby, and there needs to be some homage to him in the performance.  That being said, Reeve Carney blew it out of the water, especially the vocals.  
• Annaleigh Ashford as Columbia is the highlight of the entire show.  Never once did I think she was trying to be Little Nell.  In fact, she was trying to be Cyndi Lauper, which I was really okay with.  Great dancing, amazing vocals, and delightful character choices.  Nothing more to say on that.
• Tim Curry, just because he's Tim Curry.  

      Much like with Grease Live, social media opinions have been erratic. People wanted Tim Curry and Susan Sarandon.  They wanted what they were comfortable with.  Like I said with my post on Grease Live,

They wanted what was familiar to them, and got hostile when that didn't
happen.  But I consider them morons for expecting that.  The film happened in
1978, and it is archived.  We have those wonderful performances on tape/dvd/etc. 
I went into this not wanting a recreation of the film.  That's not original, nor is
it beneficial to the art form.  Theatre (and film) are constantly changing and
evolving.  What was powerful in the 70's wouldn't have the same impact today. 
That's why I consider Grease: Live a success.  I loved it, I will be buying it on
DVD, and I will gladly watch it again and again 

     I will be buying The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again, and I will gladly do the Time Warp again.

We Go Together: My Thoughts on GREASE: LIVE

I love Grease.

I love Grease in all forms.

Each form it takes makes sense for that form: the Broadway production led to the movie, which led to revivals, which led to a reality show, and now we have Grease: Live on FOX.  The show is moving forward linearly.  Jacobs and Casey wrote this show; Woodard and Carr took that play and added on to make the film.  In that same vein, Grease: Live took what came before it, and added on to make a brand new Grease.

Do I necessarily want to see the movie changes on stage?  Not at all.  I understand why you would add the movie songs, but it still irks me.  You can't just throw "Hopelessly Devoted To You" in there randomly; there are only a handful of spots that make sense; and "Grease is the Word" makes no sense at all and musically does not fit within the realm of the show.  "You're the One That I Want" has the same problem, though the 2007 revival made it work better with different orchestrations.

All this being said, I absolutely enjoyed Grease: Live.  There were changes made that I wasn't the biggest fan of, but for the most part, I loved it.  It upped the game for what these live, televised musicals need to be.  The biggest reason: A LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE!  Stage acting and film acting are two very different worlds, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.  You saw this with Peter Pan: Live and Christopher Walken and Carrie Underwood in The Sound of Music: Live.

Let's take care of the things I didn't like, so I can spend more time focusing on the good.

• Joe Jonas and DNCE as Johnny Casino and the Gamblers.  The cameras never spent more than a second or two on them.  You could have hired a better band, and more engaging singers that would have known the lyrics to "Mooning", even if it was only a second.  
• The new songs.  The two new songs written for the dance scene were mediocre at best, and just random ("Cake by the Ocean"?  WTF?).  I loved the idea of giving a Frenchy a song, but "All I Need Is An Angel" did not mesh with the rest of the show at all, and Jepsen was a bit lackluster compared to how she sounds on the Soundtrack recording (yes, I already have it, don't judge). 
• Mario Lopez was just bleh.  He wasn't charismatic enough to play Vince Fontaine, and was almost too creepy with Marty.  
• Tom Chisum looked older than Danny, so I don't want to hear bitching about Tveit being too old.
• Making Sandy from Utah, and changing her last name.  If anything, they should have kept Olson from the movie if they weren't going to use Dombrowski.  I kept wondering if the reason she was so buttoned up was she might've been Mormon. 
• Other minor things that escape me right now.

Things I'm on the fence about

• Keke Palmer as Marty.  At times she appeared to be doing an Eartha Kitt impression, and a lot of her dialogue felt forced and trivial.  I adored "Freddy My Love" and the costume change that accompanied it (velcro sounds and all), but her character was rough to me.
• Boyz II Men just didn't wow me like I thought they would.  Wonderful job, but the song needed more punch than they were able to give.   

Now, the longer list of things I enjoyed.

• I love that they fleshed out Patty and Eugene even more.  They are often treated as throwaway characters, and played as caricatures.  While that still happened to an extent, there was a much richer inner life I was witnessing.  Also, HILARIOUS!!!
• Kether Donohue and David Del Rio as Jan and Putzie.  Wonderful chemistry, great humor both individually and together.  If they had kept "Mooning" in, I know they would have killed it.
• Andrew Call killed it as Sonny: funny, smarmy, yet still able to get the girl.

• This is the one a lot of people will disagree with me on, but I loved Carly Rae Jepsen.  I didn't like her song, but I really thought she did a good job as Frenchy.  Her scene with Didi Conn made me shed a tear, and she didn't try to emulate Conn.
• DIDI CONN AND BARRY PEARL.  I was doing fine until they came out to bow, and had their original T-Bird and Pink Ladies jackets on.  Then, I was a mess.  No clue why, but that one little thing just made the whole show for me. 
• Ana Gasteyer and Blanche.  Hilarious, and knew how to work the crowds.
• Jordan Fisher as Doody.  "Those Magic Changes" is my song, and I had extremely high expectations when it was announced it was included in the broadcast.  Character wise, fantastic.  Performance wise, exquisite.  The song wasn't overproduced nor oversung.  It was kept simple, and effectively used to further the story.  He was absolutely wonderful.
• Carlos PenaVega, Julianne Hough, and Aaron Tveit were all on the same level here.  Wonderful work, great singing, strong characters, and, most importantly, they made these characters their own.  I didn't want to see Jeff Conaway, Olivia Newton-John, and Travolta up there.
• Last, and certainly not least, was the one who surprised me: Vanessa Hudgens.  I was apprehensive about her from the very start because she seemed more of a Sandy than a Rizzo.  High School Musical and Gigi didn't do her any favors in making her seem bad-ass.  She made this part her own, and made Rizzo the feisty, sensual, bad-ass bitch we all wanted and never knew we needed.  The fact that she delivered after her father dying less than 24 hours before broadcast is both brave and heartbreaking.

I've listed the good, the mediocre, and the bad.  But there was one thing that made this entire show for me tonight.  Thomas Kail, of Hamilton fame, actually understood what the show was about and made it work.  You may ask what Grease really is about, if not Danny and Sandy.  Morons.  The show is about this community of friends/classmates/gang members/what have you.  They don't come from great homes, they aren't good students necessarily, and who knows what the future may have in store for them.  All they have is each other and the time they have together.  ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY said it very simply in their review tonight:
            
             It helps, I think, that Grease: Live clearly understands that this platonic saga of basically
             good badasses and basically nice mean girls is an ensemble piece.

I'm tired of watching productions where all the focus is on Danny and Sandy while the rest of the BPBs and Pink Ladies are just set dressing.  If you really read the script, Sandy is really quite boring until the end.  All the other characters are much more interesting to follow, and really have the better songs.  

In following posts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, the most common complaint about the broadcast was portrayals of the characters: people wanted to see Stockard Channing, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, etc.  They wanted what was familiar to them, and got hostile when that didn't happen.  But I consider them morons for expecting that.  The film happened in 1978, and it is archived.  We have those wonderful performances on tape/dvd/etc.  I went into this not wanting a recreation of the film.  That's not original, nor is it beneficial to the art form.  Theatre (and film) are constantly changing and evolving.  What was powerful in the 70's wouldn't have the same impact today.  That's why I consider Grease: Live a success.  I loved it, I will be buying it on DVD, and I will gladly watch it again and again.

This is the Moment/Week!

We are in the throes of tech/hell week currently; cue-2-cue rehearsal yesterday and sitzprobe today.  More often than not I loathe these rehearsals.  They tend to be tedious, and I always get antsy since there is so much stopping and starting.  However, I must say that I always enjoy New Line tech weekends.  Let's break this down real quick:

• Cue-2-Cue: 
• Started at 1ish in the afternoon; finished around 6:30.  
• That 5.5 hours included 
• excessive gunfights, 
• one 10 minute break for stretching/use of facilities
• over 200 light cues.
• random Charlestoning    
• Sitzprobe: 
• Actors required to arrive no later than 12:30, with intent to start at 1.  I wasn't looking at my clock, but I do believe we started on time.   
• Finished in probably 2.5-3 hours, which is a beautiful thing
• 16 body microphones, with occasional feedback
• 7 musicians that sounded amazing (especially the reeds and guitars)
• The most eclectic choreography and staging you are apt to see anywhere

New Line tech weekends seldom seem like work.  Instead, I find myself seeing the show through a brand new set of eyes (especially with how the lights illuminate this set, it's almost surreal).  Plus, THE NEW LINE BAND KICKS ASS!  Bonnie & Clyde is my fourth show with New Line, and the band always varies from show to show depending on what is required by the score.  Nevertheless, all 7 pieces were on point today.  Let's break down the band too!

• Jeffrey Carter, Music Director and First Keyboard
• Sue Goldford, Second Keyboard
• D. Mike Bauer, Guitars (fun fact: the man loves Little Shop of Horrors)
• Andrew Gurney, Bass
• Nikki Glenn, Violin (fun fact: has performed on stage with New Line as well)
• Robert Vinson, Reeds (fun fact: has played three of my four shows: Evita, Cry-Baby, and B&C)
• Clarence Newell, Percussion

We preview on Thursday, and Opening Night Party on Friday. For more information, visit http://www.newlinetheatre.com/bonniepage.html

StrawPun Out!

Dying Ain't So Bad

Bonnie and Clyde are the Tinker Bell and Peter Pan of Crime

Sounds crazy, no?  But here, in our little village of West Dallas.....
Sorry, wrong show (though Stages St. Louis is doing Fiddler on the Roof right now)

We attempted our first full run-thru the other night, and though there is still room for improvement, no one died that wasn't supposed to.  Therefore, it was a success.  Plus, I didn't hurt myself, which I always consider a plus.

Anyway, back to my initial statement: I was sitting in the audience during the beginning of Act 1, and for the first time I just watched Larissa and Matt do their meeting scenes.  They have been doing wonderfully, but it was a different show than what I had been listening to for the past month.  Without scripts in their hands, they had to rely on each other more.  There were some great moments between them, and a remarkable childishness seemed to evolve.  You could see in his eyes just how much she mattered to him, and it was apparent just how much she wanted his approval during her poem.  It was similar to watching two kids meeting on a playground and innocently flirting.

Now, I'm not saying that Bonnie and Clyde were innocent by any means, but they were incredibly young; Clyde was twenty-four and Bonnie was twenty-three when they were gunned down.  They had no problem laughing in the face of adult society.  They even had their own group of "lost boys", fellow criminals aiding the fearless couple in crime sprees.

I realize this entire idea may be far-fetched, and I could potentially be grasping for connections, but after reading about Bonnie and Clyde, you get under the impression that these two were ready to die at any time.  Hell, Bonnie has a song called "Dying Ain't So Bad" in the show where she remarks that the only problem she would have with dying is if Clyde died before her; she would rather go first so that she wouldn't have to live without him.

In Peter Pan, when facing imminent death at the hands of Captain Jas. Hook, Peter spits in his face "To die would be an awfully big adventure."  Pan is not afraid to die.  To him, death is just the next great thing that he can conquer.  He has no true sense of right or wrong, and was prone to killing off the Lost Boys whenever he felt that they had grown too old.

In other news, we open in two weeks.  The show is looking good, but I'm so glad that we have several more run-thru rehearsals.  I am facing my eternal problem: not being big enough.  I always think I'm making a strong difference between the characters I play, but I never make the differences big enough.  I am prone to feeling awkward about going over the top (BAD ACTOR!).  Oh well, it just means I have to lose myself in the show a bit more.

Two weeks to go!  Make sure to check out Bonnie & Clyde at New Line Theatre!

StrawPun Out

Catching Everyone Up/Research

Time to give this blogging thing another shot, since I only seem to do it when I'm in a New Line show (otherwise my life isn't so eventful)

Rehearsals started last week for my newest theatrical endeavor, Bonnie & Clyde the Musical at New Line.  Much like my past three New Line shows, I will be portraying multiple characters in the ensemble*, and, much like Bukowsical, I'll be portraying real characters again.  Personally, I find this quite challenging, and I relish in it.  It just means I get to spend time in the library doing research, trying to find out as much as I can about the gentlemen I am depicting.  I really haven't had a big chance to do research with New Line, but that, of course, is my own fault.  I was too nervous I'd mess something up during Evita, Cry-Baby never really seemed right for proper research (The Whiffles were living in this musical comedy world, so I had issues gauging just how grounded I could be without sacrificing that John Waters vibe), and I spent most of Bukowsical reading all of Bukowski's poetry novels and Burrough's works just so I could make sense of whatever we were putting on that stage.

However, this show is going to be another Women of Lockerbie for me.  For my (few) readers that may not understand the reference, I had the privilege (it really was) to appear in The Women of Lockerbie this past February.  The play concerns the survivors and parents of those that passed during the Pan Am 103 bombing from 1988.  I spent the entire month of January enmeshed in accident reports, interview footage, documentaries, and articles about the bombing itself and about dealing with loss and grief of a loved one.  It was difficult for me to break out of the funk that the show put me in every night; it was such a heavy subject matter, and I essentially was on stage the entire show.

I'm prepared to enter that realm again with Bonnie & Clyde, and I've already immersed myself in research.  I spend the majority of the show as Deputy Bud Russell.  While Bud Russell was a real lawman during the 30's and had several run-ins with Clyde, I am 99.9% sure that the writers only used his name for the show.  There are no real similarities between "Uncle" Bud Russell and Deputy Bud Russell besides name.  "Uncle" Bud Russell (the person) was the chief transit officer for the Texas State Prison System, meaning he spent his entire career delivering 115,000 men and women to serve their sentences in his "One-Way Wagon."

Uncle Bud with his "One-Way Wagon"

 The "One-Way Wagon" is what I find most interesting about this man.  Bud made it himself, welding the sides up with grating and adding an extremely thick door to the back with two solid locks.  Riding in the back of this had to be a nightmare during the bright summer days in Texas: almost no protection from the elements, and all the prisoners were changed to one another at the neck.  It had to be a nightmare back then.

Best part? When Clyde Barrow was arrested in 1930, he wrote several letters to Bonnie Parker admitting his apprehension of ever meeting Bud Russell.  That is how feared the man was.  Bud also proved to outlive both Bonnie and Clyde; Bud didn't pass away until February 2, 1955.

Uncle Bud's Obituary

I'm still in the process of watching some History Channel documentaries and reading several books about Bonnie and Clyde, including Blanch Barrow's memoir of her years with the Barrow Gang.  More information in the future, and have a good night.

StrawPun

*I never really thought about it, but every show I've done has had me playing several different parts

1. Evita: Audience Member, Eva's Brother, Resident of Buenos Aires, Military Official, Secret Police Officer
2. Cry-Baby: Bradley (Whiffle), Terrence (Drape), Hugh (Prisoner)
3. Bukowsical: William S. Burroughs, A Lawyer, Swifty Lazar, Norman Mailer, Sean Penn
4. Bonnie & Clyde: Deputy Bud Russell, Archie (A Customer)

Nothing is an accident, We are free to have it all...

     Hope everyone is doing well.  It's been a while since my last real post (the last one was actually written in late March).  Since we've hit the halfway point of the summer, I should probably catch you up on what's been going on.
    Most of April and the beginning of May was devoted to Little Shop of Horrors at KTK Productions, and finishing up the semester.  Thankfully, for the third semester in a row, I maintained my 4.0 for grad school, even with my finals being tech week for the show.  The show actually ended up turning out okay, though I still think we didn't have enough rehearsals, at least for me.  Hopefully some good things come from it; aka, Arts for Life nominations.  I knew we had a few people there for the show, but I'm not sure they actually reviewed us for consideration.  Keep your fingers crossed.
     After that, I spent most of my time in rehearsal for the Arts for Life Best Performance Awards.  The production of Hairspray that I did last summer ended up getting 14 nominations, and Take Two proceeded to win 6 awards, I believe; among them, we had Best Choreography, Best Costumes, Best Supporting Actor, Best Director, and Best Large Musical...yeah...that's right...we won Best Musical.  One of the greatest feelings I've had in a while.  I know for a fact our performance kicked serious ass.  Really, how can an audience not like "You Can't Stop the Beat"? 
     It was while we were rehearsing for the awards ceremony that I got roped into Take Two's show this summer, Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida, a show I'd seen and enjoyed, but never really had the chance to do.  So far, it's been a very interesting experience.  We're only a few weeks away from opening, and I feel we are just really behind schedule, though we aren't.  In any case, this cast is going to be great.  The ensemble sounds fantastic on all the big numbers, and our leads are great.  I'm actually a little surprised by them, a bit.  I mean, Evan has played more difficult parts in his sleep, including Valjean and the Phantom.  At the same time, Anissa has already played Aida, so it isn't as hard for her to get into everything.  But Melissa keeps blowing me away from time to time.  She did great in Hairspray last year, but she was just a Council Member.  We didn't get to see her do a lot.  That's definitely changing this year.  She has a ridiculously powerful voice for "Strongest Suit" and the other big power ballads.  But she's finding the perfect balance between Princess Amneris and Queen Amneris, which may be the only real character development in the entire darn show.
     While Aida may be a good show, it's really just about your Aida and your Radames.  They sing the majority of the score (13 songs to Amneris's 6), and never really get a good chance to leave the stage.  From an analytical sense, however, Amneris is the only one of the three who has a real arc.  Radames just falls in love, and gets lucky with a Nubian, something he's probably done countless times before.  Yes, he's in love, but it didn't change his attitude towards the rest of the Nubians he's captured.  While he treats them well, he never forgets that he is Egyptian, and therefore, better than them.  He has no major change from the beginning of the show to the end.  Instead, he only changes his tactics as a way to gain Aida's love.
     The same thing can be said of Aida.  Again, she falls in love with someone she shouldn't.  Her change is a bit deeper than that of Radames, though.  She has her Nubian identity that she cannot deny, though she tries awfully hard at the beginning.  She's led a group of woman to the shores where they are captured by Egyptian soldiers.  From her sheer carelessness, she leaves her nation open to attack, and the kidnapping of her father.  She does have an inner struggle over her feelings for Radames, but the only change Aida goes through is finally accepting the leadership of Nubia. That's nothing compared to what Amneris deals with.
     Whoever plays Amneris may have the hardest part in the show.  Not only is it a vocally demanding part, with a large amount of strong belting, but you have to convey her change from Princess to Queen, and all the levels in-between.  She starts the show as a self-absorbed, shallow princess...or so we're led to believe.  Amneris may be very fashion conscious, but there are good reasons behind it.  She has been betrothed to Radames for longer than one cares to remember, and he doesn't seem to notice her at all, or not in a very romantic way.  Therefore, she tries to appeal to him the one way she knows how: appearing as attractive as physically possible.  The rest of the palace has coddled her, and she knows very little of the outdoor world, or the important matters that would affect the rest of the kingdom.  Amneris is aware of how sad it is she focuses so much on the material things:
                    "I feel better when beguiling, Find that fashion keeps me smiling, But in my heart I know it's
                    rather sad" (My Strongest Suit (Reprise))
I truly believe that Radames had feelings for Amneris when they were much younger, but he eventually grew away from them on his conquering travels.  If the princess had left the palace more often, she might've had a change of heart as well.  However, it seems that the Pharaoh kept her in the palace, giving her anything she wanted.  She has groomed herself to be the ideal woman for Radames, and will do anything for him.  When he goes to her room after Pharaoh's feast, she's ready and willing to consummate their relationship without very little thought.  In addition, she tries to better herself to get him back by going to Zoser so she can understand all of the conquests that have been planned.  It still doesn't get Radames to notice her, and it's really quite heartbreaking.
     The problem area for Amneris occurs after "Written in the Stars".  She's overheard everything between Radames and Aida, and knows that she'll never have a chance with Radames now.  He doesn't love her at all, and will only marry her so that Aida will be safe in her escape.  This just makes her song "I Know the Truth" even more poignant. She knows Radames doesn't love her, that he is going to marry her against his will, but she still wants him.  She's willing to do anything to get him out of prison and his death sentence.  It isn't until she asks Pharaoh to bury the lovers together that she finally changes.  Amneris will be leading soon, and needs to mature in order to keep control.  Otherwise, she could fall under the guidance of the next Zoser. 
     I realize it's not the most climactic character arc in the show, but Amneris is just so sad.  I end up feeling more for her than any other character.  Her and Mereb never gain their unrequited loves.  They either learn and change for the better (Amneris) or they stay the same and must be removed from the world of the play (Mereb).
     Anyway, for those that read this, come on out and support a wonderful production for a wonderful cause.  Til next time, this is Chris.
    

Who ya been lovin' since I been gone?

Good Day Everyone!  I hope that everyone who reads this is doing well.


I realize that it's been a while since I last posted.  Every time I've tried, something has come up.  Therefore, here I am now, and I have a lot to catch ya up on.


We have finished blocking the entire first act as of last night, and let me just say...this show is going to rock and/or roll the entire evening.  Everyone sounds amazing, and seeing the designs for the set has made this whole experience even more real for me.  I'm going to be the second person ever to play the bass Whiffle (he doesn't have a name in the script, but you can call me Brad).  As we block and rehearse each scene, everyone is bringing their own little tweaks and perks to the material.  We are essentially creating a new(ish) work the minute we step out on the stage, and I wish I could just watch it happen.  Happily, though, I am a part of it. :D  


A few of my favorite bits about this show (so far)
     5. Ryan and Taylor killing it every time they do "I'm Infected"
     4. Ari singing "Jukebox Jamboree".  He hits it, rubs some funk on it, then hits it again.  
     3. Singing that awesome doo-wop background to "Girl, Can I Kiss You?"  Still my favorite song to sing in the entire show.
     2. The Teardrops...period.  I honestly think they are going to stop the show several times in the first act alone.
     1. Being a Whiffle.  That's the simplest way to put it.  It's been a long while since I sang some honest-to-goodness 4-part harmonies.  This is what I was raised on; what made me want to join St. Matthias Choir (and be the only boy for the longest time); what made my 4 years at DeSmet worth it: being able to sing barbershop/doo-wop/4-part anything.  It's my destiny, much like Lenora is Cry-Baby's destiny.
     .5. Terrie singing "Screw Loose"/just being Lenora.  She's that good.


As I said before, my Whiffle name is Bradley.  That's not all though.  My prisoner name is Hugh, and my Drape name is Terrence (many thanks to Dupree for the name).  More on this to come.


Along with the blocking rehearsals, Robin has been teaching us some killer choreography.  I know for a fact that it nearly killed me the first time...'ahem'... Bad joke aside, I haven't danced this hard in the longest time.  I would greatly advise everyone to invest in Bayer aspirin til the end of March.  Their stock might be rising some.  After watching myself in the mirror, and some of the dance videos, I don't know how the hell my body is doing some of the things it's doing, fucked up knees and all.  (For those that haven't noticed it before, my natural stance is first/second position.  I like to think I'm a little duck-footed).  Now all that needs to be done is to practice til the cows come home.

Well, I must get going, so I leave you with my new favorite rockabilly song.  Have a great night.

PS: I thought of this earlier last week, but Terrie put this song on her blog earlier, reminding me of it.  One of the all-time great doo-wop songs from the 50's. First, what Terrie posted

This is what the Squares would listen to.  Perfectly acceptable in its own way.  Now the next version, the original version from 1954 by the Chords.  I believe this would be the Drape version.  Your thoughts?