aradia22

Well, that was fast. Side Show is closing January 4. http://www.broadway.com/buzz/178547/say-goodbye-to-the-freak-show-side-show-broadway-reboot-to-close/ The people in the comments are going on and on about how no one wants to see theatre anymore and it's all star-driven shows and Disney and how the subject matter is too difficult but honestly, as I said after listening to the album, I just think the score is flawed and there are much better musicals out there.

I love this show. I'm so sad we're going to be losing it. It's rare for me to find a comedy I genuinely find funny... throughout the episode... and consistently through a season. But more than that, it's a show with a healthy number of female characters in addition to having a female protagonist. It has a feminist bent but it isn't locked into a particular mindset. I loved that Henry just came right out and told Ren he wasn't interested. That would make things so much easier in the real world. And he wasn't really that harsh. It stung because she was interested but he wasn't really insulting or anything. Also, it's a show that's bright and colorful and pleasant to watch. Yes, there are a few bumps but those would be smoothed over with time. They would have pulled back on the extremes and stereotypes as they found the voices of the characters. There are some stereotypes and caricatures (as there were in Suburgatory) but generally the humor itself is clever and referential and wonderfully silly. Reverse garbage Santa. Why can't I keep anything I like for long? This might be my new Pushing Daisies. I wish this had been on cable. It's not a perfect fit on Lifetime but with Drop Dead Diva and Devious Maids it might have gotten a bit more of a chance. I know there's an audience for this show.

I still find the show funny but I think they go too far with Henry sometimes. The conceit really holds the show back. On the one hand there's the social media angle and on the other hand there's the My Fair Lady/Pygmalion aspect. I wish they'd work a bit more subtly with both sometimes. I'm fine with Henry being a curmudgeon who is well-versed in rules and etiquette but fails to actually connect with people meaningful and who is rude though he should know better. It's him occasionally being as baffled as Eliza about how to proceed in the real world and using overly formal speech that bothers me. I know the show has already been cancelled but I don't need it to go into Bones "is Temperance Brennan on the autism spectrum" territory. It's better than that. I can't believe they cast the actress from Go On as his love interest. It's like they wanted to get cancelled. Bless them.

Can anyone confirm for me that this is only an eight episode season? I've seen it a couple of places but nowhere that official and now I can't find those links again. I can't be writing these recaps forever.

I finished listening to Do I Hear a Waltz. I loved "Someone Woke Up" and I liked "Stay." I could leave the rest of it. It wasn't terrible. It just wasn't... all that. Maybe it's better acted out but it doesn't stand alone very well as just music. I decided to follow it up by finally listening to The Bridges of Madison County. Kelli O'Hara's Italian accent is certainly... fluid (it sounded kind of Scottish at one point) but her vocals are gorgeous, especially whenever she gets a solo. I've heard Hunter Foster sound better but I think that's the character and not him as a singer. I can kind of see why it didn't work for some people. It seems operatic at times and almost sung through. And it lacks that "hummable melody." Quite possibly too much is verbalized in the music. There are some elegant lyrics and ideas but then there's... other stuff. My instinct would be to cut some of it but then some people enjoy that kind of a musical. It's just a lot of information dumping for me. It took me a while to figure out why I wasn't totally able to connect to Steven Pasquale. I got it during "Wondering." He's given a weird melody that's slightly unsettling at times and makes you unsure if he's singing properly. He is. Still not one of my favorite Broadway guys but he sounds good on the recording. It's a good listen though aside from being a little long. It has an interesting mix of styles making it feel ever so slightly disjointed. There are some beautiful songs in the score though. Speaking of baritones, Steven Pasquale has some low notes in his range but I can't tell if he's comfortable singing in that range because of the way the music is written. Also, I hear a lot of Brian D'Arcy James in Steven Pasquale's vocals.

At first I thought... WHAT!?! (in a good way) Then I read that it was just another replacement in the Chicago revival. Nevermind. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/grammy-winner-jennifer-nettles-will-make-broadway-debut-in-february-2015-336912 Aw. The idea of Stephen Sondheim sitting down and watching all those videos just makes me so happy. I'd like to believe he'd do it. Or at least watch a good number of them. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/sing-for-stephen-sondheim-composer-will-judge-woods-competition-for-advance-screening-access-337102 Educator discount at Honeymoon in Vegas. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/broadways-honeymoon-in-vegas-offering-discounted-tix-to-educators-talkbacks-planned-336985 Love Letters is closing early. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/love-letters-will-end-broadway-run-early-336922 Too much story. Who wants this complicated of a story when they're going to see the Rockettes? http://www.playbill.com/news/article/laura-benanti-will-headline-rockettes-spring-spectacular-show-at-radio-city-337030 http://www.playbill.com/news/article/sports-figures-business-moguls-rockettes-and-the-big-city-details-behind-radio-city-spring-spectaular-revealed-337075 One musical that would be fun to see performed by high school students. I still haven't gotten around to the cast album because I bought the CD and my laptop doesn't play CD's. Currently listening to Do I Hear a Waltz? An opera based on The Shining. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/songs-from-new-adam-guettel-musical-and-the-shining-opera-will-be-heard-in-nyc-337105 http://www.playbill.com/news/article/performance-rights-for-heathers-musical-based-on-cult-teen-film-now-available-337081 I wish I could somehow get you discount Hiptix tickets.

Happy Wednesday. Enjoy.

Oh, it's not that I have a problem with people finding parts of the movie funny. It's just that I feel like the energy of the audience can influence you too much. Laughter is a big one because I'm much less likely to (for example) cry if someone next to me is crying.

For me, Gone Girl is not the kind of movie I'd see in the theaters, especially hearing that people are laughing. I'm very particular about which movies I'll see with an audience. I'm interested in assessing the character for myself. I haven't read the book but I've read/heard things from people who have either read the book or seen the movie or both and opinions are divided about whether her character is positive or negative as far as female characters are concerned. I wonder if that will affect the voting at all. I think it's easier to get everyone behind a popular performance like Reese Witherspoon in Walk the Line or (somehow) Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side but it's harder to get that consensus around something more complicated that divides popular opinion or has a bunch of critics. Not that there aren't always critics of everything but you know what I mean.

It also spells out "romantic leading man" in my brain. ;)

Like, normal cat size? Or human-sized anthropomorphised cats? Now I'm morbidly curious too. Though still not into ALW enough to care that much. Except imagine all the snark! It would be glorious...

Look, I know they were cute at the Oscars but when did we have the vote where we decided that Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway would be our representatives in all future musicals? If I can't have Broadway talent (and really, why can't I?) then can we at least have different talent? The idea of them doing The Drowsy Chaperone isn't that appealing. Sutton manages to do those kinds of roles (Millie, Janet, Fiona) in a way that's so charming when in the hands of someone else it would incredibly annoying. She knows how to walk that line. One of Anne Hathaway's biggest problems is that she doesn't. I also feel like this is a musical that would suffer being adapted to the screen becoming neutered and closed off so that people would wonder why anyone liked it in the first place. That is, unless they could somehow make it into Clue for a new generation. No new Little Shop of Horrors! Why!?! I used to love Miss Saigon because Lea Salonga and also... nope, that's about it. It didn't take me long to find it, well, let's say... questionable. I think a really magical Wicked without boundaries (but also not just relying on a ton of CGI) could be interesting. If they committed to making it a movie and adapting accordingly I think there's a lot of room to have fun. I don't know if it would be worth trying to bring in more of the book as the two properties are very different but some parts of the story could be more fleshed out. Also, I'm sure Wicked purists would be horrified but cuts could be made. Dear Old Shiz? Dancing Through Life? Why is Fiyero's song so terrible? Maybe Stephen Schwartz could write him a new one.

The only South Pacific I could see working would be an earnest prestige-y period piece. You've got to be careful managing the tone in a movie. While there are still racial issues, it would be very easy to mishandle the messages in the musical and make the whole thing appear, well, less than sophisticated. This is one of my blasphemous classic movie opinions but I would like a new West Side Story. With fantastic singers...and no dubbing. And actual Puerto Ricans. And less rubbing of grease on people's faces. I'm with you on Gypsy. I love Gypsy. But we don't need another one.

When it comes to male singers, I like warm-sounding tenors (kind of that Disney/Glee vibe... Matt Doyle or Brian D'Arcy James come to mind) because what I'm really after is that beautiful baritone or bass-baritone sound. I agree that Jackman doesn't count. Even if he can somewhat sing in that range the vowels ruin it for me. There's more to being a certain category of singer than hitting the notes. I've only listened to Hey There from The Pajama Game but I'm planning to listen to more John Raitt when I'm next in the mood for more Broadway albums. Howard Keel is who I think of as well so he definitely deserves a mention. I think I heard John Barrowman describe himself as a tenor/baritone but I haven't heard him sing enough. There's enough high pitched male singing in popular music. I'm ready for the baritones and bass-baritones to make a comeback in theatre.

http://playbill.com/news/article/schedule-of-upcoming-movie-musical-adaptations-216487 I thought this article might wake up this thread a little. At the beginning is a list of the upcoming musicals that I'm sure we all know about.. Into the Woods, Annie, etc. but most of the list is made up of rumored musicals and projects that are always said to be in production in some way or another (e.g. Wicked). Which ones would you be most excited to see? Which ones do you think would transfer well to a movie adaptation? Which ideas need to be abandoned as soon as possible. Chime in with your thoughts!

I already had plans but this sounds interesting. I hope they revisit it. http://playbill.com/news/article/arriving-in-asian-america-hosted-by-ann-harada-presented-free-of-charge-at-symphony-space-tonight-336730 I will also bring this over to the somewhat dormant Movie Musicals thread. Most of the projects in development are somewhat rumor-ish but it could be fun to talk about. http://playbill.com/news/article/schedule-of-upcoming-movie-musical-adaptations-216487 I think I might have still qualified as a toddler when this premiered. Any opinions on whether it's worth keeping an eye on? http://playbill.com/news/article/kate-baldwin-will-reunite-with-andrew-lippa-in-rare-revival-of-john-jen-336831 I don't know anything about Beaches except that Bette Midler was in it. Is anyone excited for this? http://playbill.com/news/article/beaches-is-broadway-bound-musical-will-continue-development-in-chicago-336896 I have never even heard of this movie and I generally dislike most Sheryl Crow songs. http://playbill.com/news/article/sheryl-crow-musical-diner-makes-world-premiere-tonight-kathleen-marshall-directs-336736 Another fun topic. A list of Broadway bass-baritones. Anyone who shouldn't be on the list? Anyone left out? Who are your favorites? http://playbill.com/news/article/make-them-hear-you-broadways-best-bass-baritones-336749

I haven't seen the episodes yet because I had more important things to fill the DVR with but this is kind of a disappointing result. On the one hand, what else was going to happen? Lennox is too bland and Will and Adam aren't credible models even if I do like them both. But Keith? Tyra's been pushing him from the beginning. Which means I could have saved all these weeks of my life! There's something supremely unsatisfying about this result.

Why didn't they read the clue??? Anyway, I'm glad they were able to secure a second place finish. The tasks didn't seem to take very long this week but still I think their ability to move up in the ranks the way they did points to strong racing. I'm worried about Amy next week. I hope the editors are just being dramatic and that she isn't seriously hurt. Also, I'm a bit surprised that the pain from the massages last episode didn't come up at all, especially with this team.

There wasn't really an opportunity for them to dominate this week. They're kind of boring when they're not racing through tasks. It makes sense. Most normal people are not ready to perform for the cameras. But it doesn't make them very interesting to watch. They seemed to pile on with the others about the condition of the areas they were passing through and I was not thrilled with Bethany's gender/ability correlation comments this week.

I knew it was going to be a NEL but in my heart I was hoping we could just pretend it wasn't. We were so close to getting rid of them! That said, in spite of the almost constant complaining (from both of them this time) they did power through and complete the tasks. But I'd like to see them go next week.

were in the sing off. went home. The judges made the call. could actually win this thing.

I like Lily Allen's music but she needs to sit down. I don't really care if they snuck Fleur in to be their winner. I know she used to be in Addictiv Ladies. It's not like they were forcing us to listen to Luke Friend every week. I vaguely remember that this may have happened once or twice back in the days when I still watched Idol. I think Haley Reinhart performed You and I from Lady Gaga before it had been released. Besides, I'm not that interested in what she has to say outside of her music since she said she wasn't a feminist.

My guess is that the episodes have not been aired in the order they were filmed and they added and took away elements throughout the season as they saw how well something was or was not working. They were clearly making it up as they went along.

I get it. The phrasing was "I want to kill myself" which is different. It reminds me about how when I was much younger we had to start policing ourselves when it came to anything that could be construed as a threat. Suicide and threats of violence should be taken seriously but overreacting to out of context hyperbole creates needless drama. Maybe they're saving the fallout for later in the season. His grades will slip or he'll get called in for missing too many classes. He's too young for "you don't have a sufficient number of credits to graduate" to be an issue but there are other ways to address it. Maybe they'll finally also address Miles' need for codependent relationships. They could fix it with just a few lines of dialogue. Something about how Tristan is tired of being supportive of Maya's drama. Make it more about built up resentment and not just Teacher Creeper. Something about how he's insulted that she thinks Miles is super messed up and just going through a phase with Tristan which was insinuated when Zig and Tiny were teasing her. Yeah, everything isn't right with Miles but starting a relationship with Tristan isn't necessarily a symptom of it.

I kind of like that at least one of these teenagers is not ready to jump to "I love you." Are they really teaching kids coding and computer science now in high school? Imogen is adorable. But she does not know who Phyllis Diller is. Oh, this is the Imogen I remember. The one who conforms to whoever she's interested in at the moment. Zig doing Tai Chi was adorable. The writers are so silly sometimes. What teenagers are these characters based on? I'm fine with Maya being crazy if we admit that Maya is being crazy. Can we have Eli hang around to just talk to Imogen and not be involved in the baby drama? Heck, I wouldn't mind it if he just doled out wisdom like exposition fairy Grace since he was giving off a seen-it-all bartender vibe in this episode. The comic plot wasn't bad. It was a decent way of addressing the issue of loner kids who are into violent comics, video games, music, etc. More Hunter, please. It's not that I find him the most sympathetic but I think they could do much more interesting things with his character than with the others. From the Becky plotline to this one, he feels much more specific and much more real. The polyamory thing was mishandled. And damn them for another "I love you." Degrassi teens fall in "love" way too easily. I never thought I'd say this back when they were doing the play but Imogen and Eli are the best. What? Frankie's attempt at setting up Hunter and Arlene was crazy. There is no way that would have actually worked. But hey, we need to end the episode so why not? Oh, Degrassi.