Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On

Million Dollar Quartet is a must see if you heaed to Broadway! I really want to see this show! My friend saw the show in NYC last year and love it. The show is still on Broadway but do not fear a national tour is headed to your town very shortly. Check out a set of reviews from Broadway.com's Word of Mouth:
"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On"-song from Million Dollar Quartet

Your Song

In honor for Valentines Day coming up, here is my top 14 list of Love songs from Musicals that tug at my heartstrings:

1. "I'll Live Is Here To Stay"- Gene Kelly from An American In Paris


2. "I'll Cover You (reprise)"- Jesse L. Martin from RENT


3. "Your Song"- Ewan McGregor from Moulin Rouge!


4. "Marry Me A Little"-Raul Esparza from Company


5. "The Trolly Song"- Judy Garland from Meet Me St. Louis


6. "All I Ask Of You"- Emmy Rossum and Patrick Wilson from Phantom Of The Opera (orginal Motion Picture soundtack)


7. "A Whole New World"- Brad Kane and Lea Salonga from Aladdin


8. "I Won't Say (I'm In Love)- Susan Egan from Hercules


9. "The Word Of Your Body"-Lea Michelle and Jonathan Groff Spring Awakening


10. "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You"- John Lloyd Young from Jersey Boys


11. "A Little Fall Of Rain"- Michael Ball and Frances Ruffelle from Les Miserables


12. "When Its Time"-John Gallagher Jr from American Idiot


13. "Maybe This Time"-Liza Minnelli from Cabaret


14. "They Can't Take That Away From Me"- Fred Astaire from Shall We Dance

"Your Song"-from Moulin Rouge

There's Only Now, There's Only Here

So at the end of last month I went to Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp's concert at UCI, Irvine CA. It was truly amazing! Being a HUGE RENT fan I was overjoyed to see these two artists perform their own music is such a small venue. Adam mainly performed his selections from his solo albums while Anthony performed songs he loved from all areas of music. Check out some videos I found online. :)



"There's Only Now, There's Only Here"-lyrics from Finale B from RENT

But isn't it a drag?

WTF?
I have stood behind the show American Idiot since its world premier up in Berkley in 2009 but the latest member to join the cast outrages me. Melissa Etherisge starts her run as St. Jimmy tonight February 1st making her Broadway debut. I personally can not stand her voice and I just don't see how her in the show makes sense. It seems like stunt casting merely aimed to sell tickets to an older audience. It really disappoints me that a show as good and as meaningful as American Idiot is bringing in stars to sell tickets so early on. Well people might say that Billy Joe Armstrong as St. Jimmy was also a stunt casting decision as well, I i think it made perfect sense for the show and is a gift for Green Day fans everywhere. Armstrong wrote the piece, he has a deeper connect to the material then anyone else, he originally sang all the songs as the head singer of Green Day and he physically embodies St. Jimmy to a T. So I am curious to see how audience received Mrs. Etherisge. I wish her luck, even though I do not agree with this move on the part of the creative team of AI.

Photo by Paul Kolnik
"Isn't it a drag?"-lyrics from Favorite Son from American Idiot

Sway

Calling all Gleeks! Matthew Morrison, will play a FREE show at the Grove on Saturday, January 29th at noon! Morrison will perform his first ever solo concert with songs from the show and his soon to be released solo album! The show is free and open to all ages!

The concert is brought to you by Oscar Mayer as they launch their Good Mood Mission. If you can’t attend in person, do not worry, the show will stream live at www.facebook.com/oscarmayer. The Good Mood Mission will also make a $50,000 donation to the Grammy Foundation to support music education.

The Grove: 189 The Grove Drive Los Angeles, CA 90036

"Sway"-song peformed on Glee season 2

Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road

As you might have heard, Billy Joe Armstrong is currently starring on Broadway as St. Jimmy in the Broadway production of America Idiot, but last night he was not the only cast member to be on the stage. Mike Dirrnt joined the cast to sing the final number of the show "Good Riddance". My co-worker is going to see the show in a couple of weeks. I will get the run down if they show is better with Billie in tghe show.
Check out the video below from the show:

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road"-lyrics from American Idiot's Good Riddance

The rest is silence

HAIR HAIR HAIR!!! That’s right that 60’s hippie loving musical is in town!!! I stopped by the Pantages theatre last week to see the hit musical revival of HAIR and I LOVED IT! From start to finish the music of Hair will blow you away. I have the soundtrack (as I am a huge Gavin Creel Fan) but listening to the soundtrack does not even compare to hearing it performed LIVE in person.

The energy of the theatre kicks off with Aquarius the hit song from the show and it only get's better from there. The production features many Broadway cast members including: Steel Burkhardt playing Berger, Darius Nichols playing Hud, Paris Remilard playing Claude, and Kacie Sheik playing Jeanie. Through the storyline centers around Claude as he struggles with the decision to stay with this tribe or part with them to enter the draft, the piece is really shines as an ensemble cast. Each member has their own solo and giving more insight to the culture of the time. By far my favorite number is still the chilling end, The Flesh Failures / Let the Sun Shine in. When the cast exists at the end the stage is bare with just one remaining cast member and the haunting cast members voices in the background brought me to tears.

Hair plays at the Pantages Theatre now through January 23rd and then at the OCPAC January 25th through February 6th!


"The rest is silence"-lyrics from The Flesh Failures / Let the Sun Shine in from Hair

Wait for us... Somewhere

Many Broadway shows have or are coming to end this monbth. Here is to some of my favorites:





"Wait for us... Somewhere"-lyrics from Somewhere from West Side Story

Take a train to the top the world…

I'M HOME!

So…
It’s been a while. Sometimes life gets the best of you and you have to regroup and find yourself again, what you want, and what you are meant to do. Over the past three months that I am been silent on this blog, I have missed writing, missing being part of the theatre community, missing connection. Though over these past few months I have continued to see shows when I could and keep up-to-date as I could with the world of theatre, but something was still missing. I promise you that I am back! AND I am passionate as ever to share all that I can with all of you.

It’s surreal that my 1st post back is about finding HOME, it being the night of the final curtain for the Broadway production of In The Heights. My home screen on my laptop is a photo I took of the marquee for the show from my last trip to NYC where I saw the production for the 1st time. Seeing that image each day that I did not get to write an entry for the blog remainded me of how much I miss the arts.

Seeing that show was a life changing experience. It was a show I had been dying to see ever since I 1st heard about it. I mean a show about Latin people, created by Latin, starring Latin people; it was too good to be true. I then caught the PBS special about the creation of the show and was moved to tears, longing to see the show even more. Then getting the soundtrack, learning every lyric, watching every youtube clip I could find; being in awe of the mastermind behind the show Lin-Manuel Miranda. So when I found myself in NYC last year, I walked up to the Richard Rodgers Theatre and bought myself a ticket for that afternoon’s show. I cried THREE times, 1st time when the song Breathe was performed, during 96,000 and lastly during Alabanza. When the show came to LA with Mr. Lin-Manuel Miranda, I made sure to take my whole family to see this. By taking my parents in particular to see the show, I wanted them to see a play about 2nd 3rd generation Latinos in the media, not as stereotypes but as themselves, just people.
For me these past few months have really tested me and my idea of what believe I can achieve. The soundtrack to In The Heights was very reflective of how I felt inside. From Nina doing all she can to seek her parents approval, to Benny just trying to earn the respect of his boss, to Usnavi trying to deal with loss, and lastly Vanessa trying to get out and start living her life. This show might be the closest piece of art that reflects who I am as a person. Thank you cast and crew of In The Heights for inspiring me to have “Paciencia y Fe”, to “Just Breathe”, and to “Take a train to the top the world… and I'm there I'm Home!”



"Take a train to the top the world"- lyrics from In The Heights

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