Over at the Frankinstein Place

GET READY GLEE ROCKY HORROR IS ON ITS WAY!!! Check out some photo's of the cast below as well as scence from the movie with Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, and Meatloaf!

"Over at the Frankinstein Place "-song from Rocky Horror Picture Show

Never Never Land

Over at the Orang County Performing Arts Center there is amazing production in town: Peter Pan in 360!That's right the classic story we all grew up with has be reinvented in this production performed in a state-of-the-art 1350-seat theatre pavilion. You will get to experiance the worlds 1st 360-degree video projection for live theatre. Check out the videos below of the show! Click here to get more info!



"Never Never Land"-song from Peter Pan

Think of Me

LOVED!
SO I took my mother to see The Phantom Of The Opera at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and loved it. Its so magical, romantic, and filled with amazing talent! I had to keep myself from singing along :) The show runs now through October 31st 2010! Make sure you do not miss it. Here is a look backstage at the show


"Think of Me"-song from Phantom Of the Opera

To Life

Sorry girls Lin-Manuel Miranda is off the market! He married his long time girlfriend Vanessa. Check out his surprise for his bride at their lovely wedding. :)


"To Life"-song from Fiddler on the Roof

Rise Up

LEAP OF FAITH (Liked and Loved)
Last night I attended a preview performance of Leap of Faith at the Center Theatre Group's Ahmanson Theatre. I am a fan of Rob Ashford, Alan Menken, and Raul Esparaza so I went in with all the Faith in the world. BUT it did not deliver the way I had hopped.

Let me start by saying Raul Esparza is 100% amazing: that man can sing and make me weak in the knees. He truly is a Grade A Broadway peformer that should not be missed. His charm, wit and passion comes out in every move he makes. He is complelling to watch and you get lost in his world.

But the story itself is horrible! Leap of Faith is basically the Music Man but with religion. There was one serious part that I swear made me want to laugh out loud soo hard, that is always a bad sign. Rob Ashford is the director of Leap of Faith, and I have seen a couple of his productions over the years. My main problem with Ashfords work is that he always puts in these dance numbers that make no sense and are so repetitive which what i had a problem with at the last show. The last production I saw of his was Promises Promises on Broadway and I swear I wanted to yell cut it out with the dance numbers.

At the end of the day did I enjoy myself yes, did I love Raul yes, and would I see it again yes but only for Raul :) Only see it if you are a Raul Esparza fan. I want you to make your own decision but I don't want you to tell me I didn't warn you. So let me know:) We will have to wait and see if it makes it to Broadway or not.

"Rise Up"-song from Leap of Faith

Empire State of Mind

GLEE WEEKLY UPDATE!!! The GLEE Weekly Update is back. To get ready for this season check out the videos below!!!









"Empire State of Mind"-song peformed on GLEE

Suddenly

HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm next season will be coming to NYC. Cheyenne Jackson will be guest starring as well Rosie O'Donnell, Michael J. Fox and Wanda Sykes. Check out this 1st look!

Behind The Scenes of Season 8

"Suddenly"-song from Xanadu

Therapy

RAUL ESPARZA is in Town performing in Leap of Faith! He is an amazing singer/actor. Here are five reasons why you need to see this Broadway King while he is in Town!










"Therapy"-song from Tick Tick Boom

Lean On Me

The Cast of GLEE has partner with American Express Members Project. They teaming up to encourage people to give back to there communities for a chance to meet the cast. Click here to get more info!! Check out the video's below that cast made for the campaign:






"Lean On Me"-song peformed on GLEE

Blue Roses

So rave reviews are coming in about the Mark Taper Form's The Glass Menagerie. Click Here to read the LA Times Review.
Below you will find photos of the cast members Judith Ivey, Keira Keeley, Ben McKenzie and Patch Darragh as they celebrate Ben's birthday during the party for the opening night performance (Photo by Ryan Miller/Capture Imaging)




"Blue Roses"-lines from the Glass Menagerie

She plays her vinyl records singing songs on the eve of destruction

YOUR AMERICAN IDIOT VIDEO UPDATE!!!
Green Day Performs "Last of the American Girls" on Jimmy Kimmel Live


The Cast of American Idiot performing the song "St. Jimmy" for Broadway on Broadway 2010, September 12, Times Square, New York City


The Broadway cast of the TONY AWARD® nominated hit musical 'American Idiot' perform a medley of the songs "Letterbomb" and "American Idiot" live at America's Got Talent

"She plays her vinyl records singing songs on the eve of destruction"-lyrics from Last of the American Girls from American Idiot

You are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the present, the present becomes the past, and the past turns i

WANT TO SEE A FREE PLAY??? Thats right it's time for another one of Center Theatre Groups's famous Opening Night Standby Lines. The Glass Menagerie is set to open this Sunday September 12th at 7pm. All you need to do is arrive at the box office an hour and 1/2 or two hour before show time and join the line to the left of the box office. The Mark Taper Forum is located at the Music Center in downtown LA at 135 N Grand Avenue. Tickets become available due to cancellations and no-shows (FOR FREE). Seating is not guaranteed, but chances are very good. (I have done the line a few times and had great seats each time). Do not forget to dress up it is opening night after all!!!

Can not make it to opening night but still want to save a buck? click here to get details on hot tickets!


"You are the only young man that I know of who ignores the fact that the future becomes the present, the present becomes the past, and the past turns into everlasting regret if you don't plan for it!"-Part 3, Scene 5, pg. 45

Die, Vampire, Die!

[title of show] LOVED IT!!! This past Friday night I attended Celebration Theatre's production of [title of show] and kicked myself so not going to see this gem in LA Theatre sooner!!! From the minds of Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen the show tells the real life account of their writing of the show, an original musical about two guys writing an original musical, and the friends the bring along the way. Jeff (Jeffrey Landman) and Hunter (Micah McCain) are trying to write this original musical in just three weeks for the New York Musical Theatre Festival. The boys decide to enlisting Susan (Jennifer R. Blake) who is an actor by night and corporate employee by day, struggling Broadway starlight Heidi (Carey Peters), and often left out keyboardist (Gregory Nabours).

I have the soundtrack I have grown to love the original cast members and I was a bit worried to see other people play these characters I have grown to love, but I had nothing to worry about. This cast rocked it! Their comic timing was spot on and they flowed together so well. Each actor did an amazing job at making their character their own yet still keeping mannerisms that were true to the real life people; for instance Hunter's rambling, and Jeff's annoyance facial expressions towards Hunter' crazy ideas. As many of you who read my blog a lot you know my love of Susan Blackwell's work and I want to give BIG props to Jennifer R. Blake so bringing her to life. Blake rocked it during Die, Vampire, Die! There were many moments in the musicals that blew me away but Carey Peters performance of A Way Back To Then was flawless! Jeffery Landman's and Micah McCain performance of An Original Musical was exactly how I pictured it to be, AMAZING. What I loved about the theatre at Celebration is that it is a black box theatre that is really small. It meant you where close up and personal through out the whole show. For this show it worked soo well because you wanted to feel like you were in their apartment writing the show with them. Also because I happen own the cast soundtrack so I know all the lyrics to the show and found it extremely hard to not singalong, but I must admit I totally let out loud PARTY LINE!.

If the production itself was not enough, before the show even started I got the biggest surprise, THE REAL HUNTER AND JEFF were in the audience. Yes, that's right Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen just happened to be in Los Angeles and decided to see the show. It was an honor to be able to watch their reaction to there own material being performed by others. Hunter appeared to be emotional during certain scene and it was great to see his love of the show. After the show my friend Allyson and I meet them and got their autographs. They could not be any nicer.

SO RUN AND GET YOU TICKETS TODAY TO SEE [title of show]!!! There are only a few performances left and trust me you do not want to miss it. click here for more info!

[title of show] Los Angeles - Webisode 1 'Awkward Photo Shoot' from Erick Long on Vimeo.

*photo thanks to Celebration Theatre facebook

"Die, Vampire, Die!"-song from [title of show]

Gotta, Gotta, Step into the Light

CENTER THEATRE GROUP just released this new video from Leap of Faith!!!

"Gotta, Gotta, Step into the Light"-lyrics from Step into the Light from Leap of Faith

She went away and then I took a different path

Check out the following videos from Sessions with the cast of American Idiot!

For More videos click here

"She went away and then I took a different path"-lyrics from Whatshername from American Idiot

Faithfully

GLEE -EMMY Update: The GLEE Club won sectionals(The Golden Globes), and they did win the funk battle with vocal adrenaline (SAG Award) but they lost regionals (The Emmys). Though the show did not win, they did have a rockin opening number. Check it out below in case you missed it.



"faithfully"-song performed on GLEE

If He Really Knew Me

Get Ready for Reprise Theatre Company's first production of the 2010-11 season "They're Playing Our Song". The musical will star Stephanie J. Block and Jason Alexander (who is the artistic director of Reprise). Marvin Hamlisch, who wrote the score for the musical, is said to be penning a new song alongside Carole Bayer Sager for the Reprise production. "They're Playing Our Song," directed by Lonny Price, and is set to officially open Sept. 29 at the Freud Playhouse at UCLA.

Click Here to get your tickets today!

"If He Really Knew Me"song from They're Playing Our Song

You have to commission an artist while his rate is still good!

Resident Broadway.com artist Squigs created the piece below to welcome In the Heights' Jordin Sparks and Kyle Beltran to the "Hood".
"You have to commission an artist while his rate is still good!"-lyrics from Finale from In The Heights

I wanna be on the show glee so frickin bad

OMG I LOVE THIS: A Billionaire parody, inspired by the show GLEE. Performed by Trevor Shand. Directed by Anderson Cowan


Check out the Lyrics below:

I wanna be on the show glee so frickin bad
I love it when sue sylvester gets mad
I wan be doin covers of everybodys favorite songs
With jenna uskowitz and fins mom

Oh mr schuster hear my cries
Ill show up every
Tuesday night
Ill take Mark Salling out and buy him fries I see
Oh we, really love to see
our favorite show Glee

yo I would probably sing a
little chorus with that Heather Morris
pushing Artie's wheelchair, makin fun of Williams hair you could write me in as Rachel Barry s boyfriend like
Jesse never happened and she aint never had Finn
let Mercedes have a solo like, here diva have this
and take a spot behind her just singin and dancin
it would be a blast to be a Cheerio so
lovin that Santana Matt and Mike
are my bros so haha
got ocd like Emma Pilsbury
hit Bloomies with Kurt
Hummel and my boy Cory Monteith
yeah..because I never stop believin
everywhere I go yeah I sing the glee theme music

Oh mr schuster hear my cries
Ill show up every Tuesday night
Ill take Mark Salling out and
buy him fries I see
Oh we, really love to see
our favorite show Glee

oh whoah oh whaoh
our favorite show Glee
oh whoah oh whoah

I'll be playin football with the Titans, man
Hate vocal adrenaline
Watchin screeners with
Idena, Theba and Coach Ken
Learn the moves to single ladies, me and Quinn will have some babies
Rock Mckinley High like
they aint never heard of music maybe
So what if we didn't place at regionals
the New Directions never stop
They're multi seasonal
Signed up for three
to be exact they'll never give it up and all the cast and the creators gonna get
a couple bucks

Yo...I'm Popular like Ryan Murphy
Pope'in like
Carlita, Mary Cherry and Mcqueen
I know we all have a similar dream
Cue the bearded guy with the piano, everybody yell glee

CHORUS

I wanna be on the show glee so frickin bad
I love it when sue sylvester gets mad
I wan be doin covers of everybodys favorite songs
With jenna uskowitz and fins mom
Oh mr schuster hear my cries
Ill show up every
Tuesday night
Ill take Mark Salling out and by him fries I see
Oh we,
really love to see
our favorite show Glee

oh whoah oh whoah
our favorite show Glee
oh whoah oh whoah

I wanna be on the show Glee,
sooooo frickin badddd

"I wanna be on the show Glee, so frickin bad"-lyrics from Billionaire Parody

Gonna Take That Leap Of Faith

Check out the commerical for the brand new musical LEAP OF FAITH! Previews begin September 11th at the CTG's Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. click here for more info!


"Gonna Take That Leap Of Faith"-lyrics from title track from Leap Of Faith

I wouldn't change one thing about you

CHECK OUT THE NEW GLEE LINE AT MACYS!!! (Also check out Macy's window displays across the USA highlighting the new line launch alongside original cast wardrobe from the show)I already got my GLEE shirt and I love it!
"I wouldn't change one thing about you" -lyrics from Don't Make Me Over a song performed on GLEE

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again

Did you hear that the Phantom of the Opera run at the Pantages Theatre just got extended!!! WANT PRIORITY TICKETS FOR EXTENDED WEEKS? - Use Code PREFB and CLICK HERE. Code will provide you priority access to added performances between October 19th and 31st!

"Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again"-song from Phantom of the Opera

They're Playing Our Song

Sutton Foster and Seth Rudetsky will join up on August 30 at the Gerald W. Lynch Theatre at John Jay College for a concert presentation of the musical They're Playing Our Song. Check out the video below from Broadway.com as they get a backstage look at the performance!

"They're Playing Our Song"- self-titled track from They're Playing Our Song

Step Into The Light

LEAP OF FAITH BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOS JUST RELEASED!!!NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? WANT TO HEAR A TRACK FROM THE NEW MUSICAL? CLICK HERE TO HEAR Step Into The Light!
"Step into the light"-song from Leap of Faith

I might be lazy, a loner, a bit of a stoner, it's true

Just because I have this song in my head :) Enjoy Perfect for You from Next to Normal! Don't forget tickets to see the 1st stop of Next to Normal in Los Angeles at the Ahmanson Theatre go on sale September 7th!!!

“I might be lazy, a loner, a bit of a stoner, it's true”

Last Name

DO NOT MISS GLEE AT MACY'S!!!

"Last Name"-song performed on GLEE

Bali Ha'i

CLICK HERE to find what local PBS station in your area will be broadcasting "Live from Lincoln Center" series South Pacific, TOMORROW Aug. 18!!! The Rodgers and Hammerstein's WWII musical won Tony Award for best revival and stars Tony winner Paulo Szot and Tony nominee Kelli O'Hara. The "Live from Lincoln Center" show will capture revival’s final days before the show concludes its Broadway run Aug. 22.
"Bali Ha'i"-song from South Pacific

There's no 9 train now

Christopher Jackson just left the In The Heights family after being part of the project since 2002! Jackson originated the role of Benny in early readings, was with the show for it's 2007 off-Broadway debut, as well as its transfer to Broadway itself! Watch the video below made by Lin-Manuel Miranda with help from Radical Media as a goodbye send off.


"There's no 9 train now"-lyrics from When You're Home from In The Heights

Ice Ice Baby

GLEE UPDATE: check out the new print promo for GLEE"Ice Ice Baby"-song performed on GLEE

Light My Candle

RENT AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL!!!
Really really liked it but did not LOVE it. Skyler Astin and Aaron Tveit rocked it as Mark and Rodger!!! Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal will always be those characters for me but Astin and Tveit did an amazing job at bringing these characters to life. Vanessa Hudgens was bad as I expected. She just tried tooooo hard and it showed. She started off weak and great stronger with each song.The stand out performance came from Nicole Scherzinger. If the Hollywood Bowl would have had a roof she would have blown it away. She brought her A game to the table and killed it as Maureen. By far the best performance of Over The Moon I have EVER seen.

NPH did a great job of trying to keep in tact the overall feel of the orginal production but he did make many small changes. I missed the extra phone calls and homeless songs between the big numbers that were cut down for the show. Overall it was a fun rendition of the show but the orginial with the orginal cast is the BEST!!! The highlight for me was seeing Mr. and Mrs. Larson after the show at stage door. It was an amazing!!! God Bless those parents for being so supportive of the RENT community:)

CHECK OUT HIGHTLIGHTS FROM THE SHOW

"light my candle"-song from RENT

You Made Me Love You

The season finale of Kathy Griffin reality series My Life on the D-List featured private singing lesson conducted by Tony winner Kristin Chenoweth? IT WAS AMAZING!!! Chenoweth joined musical director Seth Rudetsky to train Griffin how to sing “You Made Me Love You”. Griffin was learning the song for a performance at her mom’s assisted living talent show. Check it out!!!


"You Made Me Love You"- song from Broadway Melody of 1938

Over the Moon

ARE YOU READY FOR A MIRACLE?

Center Theatre Group says that "You'll be dancing in the aisles when con man Jonas Nightingale brings his gospel-charged tent revival to rain-starved Kansas. Four-time Tony Award-nominee Raúl Esparza and Golden Globe Award-nominee Brooke Shields will star in this world premiere Broadway-bound new musical."

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!!!
Want to save a buck? ALL PERFORMANCES Sept 11 - 19 are only $49 Rear Orchestra Seats** (Reg. $80 - $95) CLICK HERE and Use Code: MIRACLE!!!

"Over the Moon"-RENT

The Glass Menagerie

Center Theatre Group has a great offer to see my favorite play of all time The Glass Menagerie for just $25!*

Valid for all performances September 1 - 8

CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR TICKETS TODAY
*Subject to availability. Offer not available on previously purchased tickets.

"The Glass Menagerie"-line from play

Single Ladies

So while I was at Young Frankenstein next store at the Music Box in Hollywood was the cast of GLEE. They were there to showcase the 1st season fo GLEE for Emmy Voters! Check out these highlights:

"Single Ladies"-song perfromed on GLEE

Puttin' On The Ritz

LOVED/LIKED IT: On Tuesday night I attended the opening night of Young Frankenstein. The show was sooo much fun. Being the HUGE Mel Brooks fan I was I could not wait for this show to make it to LA, AND boy was it worth it! Though I really had a great time seeing this story come to life on stage it does not even come close to the classic 1974 movie. On hand at the opening was none other than Mel Brooks himself (AHHH I SAW MEL). Check out the photos I snapped of him on the red carpet. Cloris Leachman who was in the original film was also on hand for the festivities.

The tour stars straight from Broadway Roger Bart as Frederick Frankenstein (AKA Frahnken-STEEN) and Shuler Hensley as the monster. And let me tell you these two guys are amazing. You might know Bart from his guest roles in Despart House Wives, 30 Rock, or as Carmen Ghia in the Producers (Broadway & Movie). Bart is one of the funniest stage actors out there and it was an honor to see him on stage. Plus the man can SING. The Broadway vet Hensley, was LMAO funny as the monster. They truly make each character their own bringing there own twist to these iconic characters. Cory English who also did the Broadway run played Igor. He hit every mark and brought down the house with his dance moves, facial expressions, and lovely hump. Although the stars are straight from Broadway they did scale down the production from its original run on Broadway. I am curious to if the bigger scaled show would have been better or not?

The show runs through August 8th so hurry to the Pantages Theatre!!!

$25 STUDENT RUSH TICKETS! - For this engagement of YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN, the Pantages is making available $25 Student Rush Tickets. Must show valid full-time student ID. Rush tickets are available beginning 2 hours prior to each performance. Ticket must be purchased in cash at the box office window only.

"Puttin' On The Ritz"-song from Young Frankenstein

Another one bits the dust

CHECK OUT: Obsessed!: Jonathan Groff's Night of Crime, Part One: “Jonathan Groff talks about a secret and spooky night he spent with Spring Awakening (and later "Glee") co-star Lea Michele, as well as going to London for Deathtrap and getting buffed up for a triathlon. Part One of a two-part interview.”

"Another one bites the dust"-song peformed on GLEE

I Don't Care

AMERICAN IDIOT PART 1 & 2 from their interview with Playbill.com!!!

“I Don't Care”-song from American Idiot

Song of Forgetting

MEET THE NEW CAST OF NEXT TO NORMAL ON BROADWAY!!! Marin Mazzie as Diana and Jason Danieley as Dan Goodman, and Meghann Fahy as Natalie.The newcomers are joined by original cast members Adam Chanler-Berat and Louis Hobson, and Kyle Dean Massey.
"Song of Forgetting"-song from Next to Normal

Loser

GLEE UPDATE!!! The cast and producers @ Comic-Con 2010! Check out the videos below for TONS of details about the new SEASON!!!

"Loser"-song peformed on GLEE

Roll In The Hay

Check out the wonderful Sutton Foster on Playbill Video’s Q& A! (she is the best!)

"Roll In the Hay"-song from Young Frankenstein

I'm Not That Smart

DID YOU KNOW? That Jesse Tyler Ferguson of ABC's Modern Family was a theatre actor before hitting it big on TV? Check ou the video below as he discusses the importance of Theatreworks USA for both emerging artists and families.

"I'm Not That Smart"-song from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee

If You Could See Her

I do not know how I missed this on TV but LIZA was on HSN. That’s right she has her own line!!! Here are highlights for her appearance!

"If You Could See Her"-Song from Cabaret

Tell me something I don't know

THERE IS ONLY 1 WEEK LEFT FOR THE LA RUN OF IN THE HEIGHTS!!!
So you better hurry and go see this show before its GONE.
Check out the video below of Lin Manuel Miranda being interviewed by Ryan Seacrest's team!

"Tell me something I don't know" -lyrics from No Me Diga from In The Heights

Letterbomb

Check out the cast of American Idiot on Good Morning America!

"Letterbomb"-song from American Idiot

Can't Touch This

GLEE UPDATE!!!

This past Monday GLEE writers Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan sat down at the Paley Center for the Media Arts for their Inside the writers room. I was lucky enough to attend this event and had an amazing time! They reflected on the season 1 and gave lots of scoop on season two. Season Two starts filming at the end of this month!!! The season premier has been set for September 21! They will explore Finn and Rachel as a couple through out the season and they say they plan on not breaking them up through out the season. Also Terri will be back! They are exploring love interest for her that will drive Will crazy and she will of course try to win him back. They plan to have 4 to 5 musical number each episode, they feel 8 was TOOO many.

Ian writes most of Sue's lines and told the group that he did not realize he was such an asshole until his words can out of Jane Lynch's mouth. Brad broke down who writes what like this... If you laugh then Ian wrote it, if you cry Brad wrote it, and if you go WTF did that just happen? then Ryan wrote it. It is truly amazing that this very closet net group of guys write this AMAZING piece of art. Though they are only three now they plan to bring on two or four more writers to help out.

As far as new people on GLEE goes... they plan on waiting until the 2nd 1/2 of season 2 to introduce them in depth. They really want to explore the characters we do have and let characters from season one who did not get a chance to shine do so in season 2. That means that Brittney will SING! The search for new cast member for GLEE will be extended through September and new people will be selected and brought on later in the season.

Check this video below from Givememyremote.

"Can't Touch This"- song performed on GLEE