Theatre Talk: In Our Own Little Corner

[aradia22]

I had a good time at the Hamilton CD signing. Lin Manuel Miranda is very charming and very funny. I never know what to say to Jonathan Groff.

 

Dames at Sea was a fun night out. I'll have more to say soon.

[aradia22]

I saw Trip of Love tonight. I had a lot of fun and laughed a lot. I enjoyed it for some of the right reasons and a lot of the wrong ones. Still, I did have a good time. I'll tell you more about it another night. But if you go in not expecting a story and just expecting spectacle and energetic dancing and some of the biggest hits of the 60's I think you can have a fun time too. The director compares it to "revue-style shows like Bubbling Brown Sugar, Sophisticated Ladies, Dancin', Sugar Babies, and Ain't Misbehavin' but any plot it has makes no sense whatsover and I wouldn't even compare it to something like After Midnight. It's more like a concert with costumes and sets. And lots of dancing. The music even sounds more like a concert. They blast it a little too loud. The drums are too loud (out of balance, I mean). It just has a concert sound that I forgive during concerts because they usually don't have a lot of time to put them together. For the most part the singing was great though. There were some times when I would have rather heard the originals. Like, it's really difficult to beat Grace Slick or Connie Francis.

[aradia22]

Oh, and I walked by a theatre playing Gershwin's "Oh, Kay!" Anyone have any opinions on the quality of the show (obviously not this production but the show itself) and whether I should give it a shot?

[Rinaldo]

Coincidentally I saw a rare production of Oh, Kay! at Ohio Light Opera last summer. It's a classic title in history of musicals because the Gershwins wrote it for Gertrude Lawrence and it's the source of immortal songs like "Someone To Watch Over Me," "Clap Yo' Hands," "Maybe," "Do Do Do," and more; AND it's never performed because it's one of those silly 20s farce plots where everyone is pretending to be someone else for insufficient reason and then it's all suddenly resolved when it's gone on long enough. (Amazingly OLO brought off this aspect of it very well.) It's the distant source behind the recent show Nice Work If You Can Get It -- the bootlegging element and the crooks impersonating servants in the Long Island mansion -- although that changed all the characters and added a ton of Gershwin songs from other sources.

 

Impossible to predict whether this will be worth seeing. It'll undoubtedly be very small-scale given the venue, but that might still work. The songs are great, in their daffy tuneful period way; the style of performing the libretto is a hard one to capture (but I've seen it done). If a dozen Gershwin gems done in period style (i.e., not extended or belted) are enough, then it might be worth a look. But it could be unbearable too, if they don't have the knack....

[aradia22]

Thanks, Rinaldo. I probably won't see it since it's only running for another week. Also, apparently I have to buy a subscription to the whole series (it's through Musicals Tonight).

[aradia22]

Forgot to post this... Heads up that Daddy Long Legs, The Other Mozart, and The King and I are now all on Goldstar. I think The King and I is the only one with a significant discount but still.

[aradia22]

Sigh... so I pretty much always go to things regardless of what I paid and regardless of the weather but I just wasn't feeling it tonight. It's cold out. I can't find my winter coat. I had a very stressful day. And so I'm not using my ticket for The Scheherazade Initiative concert at Carnegie Hall that's going to start in about 5 minutes even though I love that piece after that one episode of Leverage. Part of me wishes I could livestream it or something. I know it could have cheered me up but I also didn't need the stress of getting ready and getting there on time and running around in the cold without a proper coat. I don't know what kind of response I want to this. I think I'm just venting.

[aradia22]

TNR is up.

• Trip of Love opens
• Allegiance lottery/rush
• David Oyelowo/Daniel Craig Othello
• A New Brain album

[aradia22]

Sorry for the lack of TNR's. Was at a concert tonight. Interminable wait for the opener and then through the TERRIBLE opener but the one hour with the headliner was amazing. So much fun. But I don't think I'm cut out for all the pushing and plastic cups of beer being thrown about.

 

[aradia22]

The TNR is coming tonight. Well, technically tomorrow by the time I get it up. I was out again seeing the Company XIV Cinderella. It was a great night out. I'm not sure if it's for everyone here but if it appeals to you, I'd take a chance on it. It's advertised as burlesque though people aren't really removing their clothes. They're mainly already wandering around in lingerie. I'd say it has more in common with vaudeville in a great way. I got a strong Cabaret revival vibe. The dancing didn't grab me at first. It was more like miming. But after the first few numbers I think they eased into it with more ballet and jazz/musical theatre and modern dance and it was brilliant. You almost forget what they're wearing because it's just like traditional dance. You're watching beautiful bodies do incredible things. Like a sexier version of Dames at Sea. The singing is fantastic. It's a mix of pop (but like indie pop like Lana del Ray and Sia) and opera and pop music arranged and in high key so it sounds like opera. The entire company is super athletic and flawless.

 

As for the storytelling, I had some issues. I think it was smart to use Cinderella because it's so simple and familiar but it also meant that they got to cheat some of the storytelling and didn't have to fill in the blanks. The beginning makes a big deal of the relationship between the stepmother and Cinderella but that's a bit opaque and it gets abandoned in the second/third act which is a lot funnier and sillier. I think the stepmother does most of the talking and she has some very funny moments when she shouts in the third act. But I think there was too much of her maniacal laughter throughout. There aren't many spoken parts (it's more like a sentence or two) but I wish they were all shouted or avoided completely. It's both difficult to hear unmiked and it pulls you out of the drama. The show is very heightened and it makes things feel small.

 

I think every time the Prince and Cinderella danced together it was gorgeous and I feel like they communicated the sense of romance very well. There was an energy and excitement in their first meeting that's missing from even my beloved R&H waltz. Their second dance is also beautiful but it gets a little confusing with other dancers and it goes on a little long. Their reunion dance/circus act is captivating though. So elegant. I had no idea where the fairy godmother/Cinderella relationship was going. It was kind of sexual and a little antagonistic but it don't think it ended up having any weight.

 

The stepsisters actually do a lot of singing and they both have beautiful voices. They're occasionally played for laughs (awkward dancing lesson) but they do come across as very accomplished. This plays a little off with a Cinderella who doesn't sing.

 

The ending/frame also threw me off a little.

Cinderella is off in the wings in the beginning and I could see them playing the story as a performance where Cinderella is more of an assistant who never gets to dance and then does.

But that's not carried through the whole show. Sometimes they're performing and sometimes they're not. You can't completely lose yourself in the story because it never establishes a clear world.

The prince also leaves at the end and the end with a title card that says "All dreams must end" or something like that. I missed most of that interaction.

There are moments like that when there are so many bodies on stage that little story moments like that get lost.

Also, going back to the framing device, I couldn't tell whether or not the entire thing was supposed to be a dream. The curtain goes up and every gets up like it's the end of a party. But I wasn't sure if she never had a stepmother at all and it was all just a show. Or not. I feel like in a real show this would be clearer.

 

I don't think you go for the story though. You go for the dancing and you go to be entertained and I got that in spades. Oddly, it makes you appreciate the dancing in the most basic, visceral way. Some of those actors/dancers are just gorgeous. It's like Greek statues have come to life and started dancing. Their bodies are also different from typical ballet dancers (besides Cinderella, who is a little pixie). Some of the guys are more muscular and bulky like modern dancers. And a lot of the women are more shapely. There was one dancer I loved. She was like an Amazon. Statuesque and stunning. Waif-like dancers have their place but I just found her captivating.

[Charlie Baker]

I recommend the Great Performances showing of Billy Elliot Live, which was first shown in movie theaters.  A pretty decent  record of the show from London, with the added bonus of a post-finale finale with past Billys filling the stage. It was a little disconcerting to have "naughty" language edited and middle figure salutes blurred.  If the NYC PBS outlet did it, I assume it's network-wide. There's also a pretty ingratiating behind the scenes tour with the Billy from the video, Elliott Hanna. 

Edited October 24, 2015 by Charlie Baker

[aradia22]

It took AGES but the TNR is finally up. Here are your highlights.

• Lincoln Center livestream 10/26 and 10/27!!!
• Futurity, First Daughter Suite, and Dames at Sea open. (Loved it. Haven't seen it. Enjoyed it.)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda has the flu. Javier taking over in Hamilton.
• She Loves Me pushes back dates two weeks, thus extending. (SO ANNOYED. I bought a ticket for the last performance which is no longer the last performance so now I'm just taking off from work in the middle of the afternoon for no reason. I'm going to try to figure it out.)
• Eclipsed transfers to Broadway for limited run.
• Daddy Long Legs $25 student rush (Go see it, students! Or sell me your ticket.)
• Casting for Bright Star (It includes Paul Alexander Nolan so you know I'm going to see it.)
• Chita Rivera Cafe Carlyle January
• King Liz being developed as a Showtime TV show (Super interesting because I thought it was more of a TV show. It didn't quite work as a play.)

[aradia22]

2:15 Chills

[Rinaldo]

She Loves Me pushes back dates two weeks, thus extending. (SO ANNOYED. I bought a ticket for the last performance which is no longer the last performance so now I'm just taking off from work in the middle of the afternoon for no reason. I'm going to try to figure it out.)

If it helps (and it probably doesn't), that was never likely to remain the last performance in any case. If a revival like this is at all well received (and this is pretty sure to be, as the show is inevitably and rightly greeted by critics as "the perfect musical" and it's been given dream-level casting), its run will be extended, first a few weeks at a time, then maybe open-ended. This is what happened the last time Roundabout did She Loves Me (which I saw three times).

[aradia22]

Thanks, Rinaldo. I actually got tickets for two performances through Hiptix. And I'm sure I'll enjoy seeing it twice. It's just that I'd rather not take off from work if I don't have a good reason.

[JustaPerson]

She Loves Me sounds like it'll be wonderful! My one quibble is that while I love Zachary Levi, why isn't Gavin Creel playing the lead? I mean it's Gavin Creel. I'm not biased, not at all ;)

 

Irrelevant but:

Edited October 27, 2015 by JustaPerson

[Rick Kitchen]

A new online streaming service for Broadway productions (and other stage productions) has been started.  Although there is some free content, it charges for most productions, generally $8 per performance.  BroadwayHD is created by Stewart F. Lane and Bonnie Comley.

 

https://www.broadwayhd.com/

[aradia22]

Megan Hilty was a fantastic Annie Oakley. And my stage door experience tonight was crazy. I'll tell you about it soon.

[JustaPerson]

So I finally caved and listened to the Hamilton soundtrack last night and WOW. I'm obsessed. 

 

ETA: I mean cast album of course ;) I even correct myself in my own head!

Edited October 30, 2015 by JustaPerson

[calliope1975]

So I finally caved and listened to the Hamilton soundtrack last night and WOW. I'm obsessed. 

 

Welcome to the club! I tried to go back to my regular podcasts/music yesterday and only lasted half a day. I cannot wait to see the show.

[JustaPerson]

You got tickets? Lucky! I'm going to be in NY during Thanksgiving but the show was sold out (officially) until December. So I'm seeing An American in Paris instead. Looking forward to it, but man what a show to miss!

Edited October 30, 2015 by JustaPerson

[Rinaldo]

soundtrack

Ahem. See previous discussion....

 

(I'm delighted someone has discovered Hamilton and enjoys it so much, though.)

[calliope1975]

You got tickets? Lucky! I'm going to be in NY during Thanksgiving but the show was sold out (officially) until December. So I'm seeing An American in Paris instead. Looking forward to it, but man what a show to miss!

 

I did - for March. And they're last row orchestra, partial view, but I don't care cuz I'm gonna be in the room where it happens. :D

[aradia22]

I have been busy lately but in short here are some thoughts on the shows I've been seeing.

 

Annie Get Your Gun- Didn't love the production around her, unlike a lot of people, I found Andy Karl bland and missed the depth and gravitas of Howard Keel, but Megan Hilty was incredible. Give her more time (more than 6 days at least) to find the depth in her longing and sadness and Annie could be a Tony-winning role for her. Orchestra sounded great as always. Glad they cut I'm An Indian too but it made Sitting Bull's role feel unnecessary... or maybe it was just rushed pacing. Glad they have a sense of humor but they had too much fun with "reprises."

Songbird- Kate Baldwin is very believable as a country music star because she was without question the star of this show. Excellent vocals, captivating performance. The book is terrible. The rest of the acting is mediocre to really poor. I didn't care about anyone. As a country music concert, it was great. As a show, it was a failure.

Tosca- I'm starting to think I will never find a good seat up in the family circle. Putting all that aside, Angela Gheorghiu sounded beautiful but I prefer Netrebko. She was appropriately flirty in act 1 and did well with the dramatic scene later on. I did not like the staging though. It just felt too grand for what seems like a small story. I know it's not right for opera but I'd like to see this staged like a small play with the focus on acting. Otherwise the story is too simple to have much depth and the music, while fine, did not really do much for me.

Something Rotten- Worth it for the actors (Brian D'Arcy James, Christian Borle, Heidi Blickenstaff, Brad Oscar). Jarring lack of diversity. A Musical and the number from Omelette the musical are fun and high energy and genuinely funny. Right Hand Man is a good song. I could do without the rest of it. I had no feeling for the characters or their plight. And it felt very long for such a slight story. I also now understand why people had a problem with Brooks Ashmankas' character. I did too. He was as one note as John Cariani but in a more offensive/meaner way. The dancing was great (though at a few moments it was too chaotic for me) but I didn't feel like all the dancers/ensemble were giving the same level of energy. I never advocate turning your brain off but before I went a friend told me to try and it helped.

Ripcord: Holland Taylor and Mary Louise Burke are good but there's nothing to this play and it needed stronger direction and tone. It was an amusing afternoon but safe, conventional, and predictable. I saw the reveal coming from a mile away.

Edited November 1, 2015 by aradia22

[aradia22]

TNR is finally up. Here are your highlights. Given the recent posting schedule, I've been considering making it weekly.

• Openings/previews: The Humans, Songbird, Invisible Thread, Therese Raquin, etc.
• Closings: Amazing Grace
• TICKETS!!! Halloween discounts, Steven Pasquale Robber Bridegroom, American Songbook at Lincoln Center, Hughie, Kids' Night on Broadway, Winter Rhythms
• Casting: Andrew Rannells in Hamilton, replacement at Eclipsed, new Javert in January, Villain: DeBlanks, These Paper Bullets!
• Daisy Egan joins Rebecca Luker Secret Garden benefit concert
• Albums: First Daughter Suite, Clinton the musical, Be More Chill
• Wicked celebrated its 5,000th performance 10/28
• REMINDERS: John Patrick Shanley Reading Festival 11/2, The Making of The Wiz Live 11/25 8pm

 

Re: Secret Garden concert. I bought a ticket for the one with Sydney Lucas that is now having Equity problems. This concert is $50 which is A LOT for me but it's going to a good cause and this one doesn't seem to have any issues getting its cast together. What do you think? Should I get a ticket for this instead? I can still get a decent-ish mezzanine ticket as of now.

[aradia22]

Oh, I forgot to add that a friend took me to see Tannhauser (I've been pronouncing it wrong this whole time!) at the movies. I loved all the singers. No one was bad. I enjoyed the music. I'm interested to hear more Wagner. BUT I was not a fan of sitting there for almost 5 hours. If they know it's Wagner and it's going to be very long anyway, why would they insist on having those long intermissions for movie broadcasts? I have no idea. Even though I thought I could have gotten the story in a much shorter amount of time and I ended up having to take the whole day off from work (really, 5 hours?) and I did close my eyes from time to time (not sleep but drift a little) in acts 2 and 3 it did sound very beautiful. I think I prefer this full out singing to whatever bel canto is supposed to be. Or maybe I just didn't like Cenerentola. I still don't know.

[Rick Kitchen]

I'd love to go to one (or several) of those Met operas at the theater, but being in California, they start WAY too early for me on a Saturday morning.  :)

[Rinaldo]

If they know it's Wagner and it's going to be very long anyway, why would they insist on having those long intermissions for movie broadcasts?

Because it's also a live performance back at the Metropolitan Opera House and the stagehands need time to shift the scenery, while the singers need to recover their stamina and the audience needs a break (sometimes it needs the whole intermission just to give everyone who needs a restroom a chance to use it).

 

I prefer Wagner to bel canto myself, so I'm with you there -- the music is just more to my taste in every way.

Edited November 1, 2015 by Rinaldo

[aradia22]

 

Because it's also a live performance back at the Metropolitan Opera House and the stagehands need time to shift the scenery, while the singers need to recover their stamina and the audience needs a break (sometimes it needs the whole intermission just to give everyone who needs a restroom a chance to use it).

I thought the showing I was watching was an encore but maybe I have that backwards. I can never remember if the afternoon or evening showings are the encores. Anyway, good point about the bathrooms though the old biddies in my aisle were not in the mood to move so I stayed seated for 5 hours. 

[JustaPerson]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/obama-and-democrats-to-fundraise-at-a-showing-of-hamilton#.vxrkDjYWrR

[Rinaldo]

Saturday afternoons are the live-as-it-happens airings. I think they may shorten the intermissions for the midweek evening encores, but I haven't seen enough of those to be sure.

[aradia22]

TNR is up. Highlights as follows.

• Openings: King Charles III, On Your Feet!
• 39 Steps will close 1/3/16
• Jersey Boys 10th anniversary
• Disaster! is coming to the Nederlander with Rachel York, Faith Prince, Adam Pascal, Roger Bart, Kerry Butler, etc. in February (MUST SEE THIS CAST)
• The Bandstand Broadway transfer. Really?
• Sparkle holiday concert (I really want to get a ticket. But it would blow my budget apart. I now have tickets to both Secret Garden concerts.)
• 12/1 concert with Sara Bareilles to support New Alternatives
• Carols For a Cure on sale

 

Update from me. Went to see Sylvia. I don't recommend it. I thought the play was dated and not that good to begin with putting those elements aside. The set was pretty. Annaleigh was cute but the material weighed her down. Julie White did the best she could. Matthew Broderick was barely trying to be anyone other than Leo Bloom. Robert Sella was good as Phyllis but very broad for me. I also listened through the Aida album for the first time. Adam Pascal sounded good but it made zero impact on me.

[Sara2009]

What's wrong with " Bandstand" transferring? I don't know anything about the show.

[Rinaldo]

Matthew Broderick has been a lost cause for a decade now, alas. I don't know what happened -- he used to be a gifted and charming actor. A glimpse of that returned on his one-episode appearance on 30 Rock. But onstage (though I know that it can't be that simple) The Producers seems to have wrecked him somehow, and all his appearances are as... I say "robot," my friend says "dead fish," but it's the same idea. His appearance in Roundabout's The Foreigner (which I've seen half a dozen times over the years, and had previously thought it couldn't miss) is absolutely on my short list of "most unforgivable professional performances ever," and he sucked the life out of Nice Work If You Can Get It whenever he joined a scene. I don't get it.

[Milburn Stone]

Matthew Broderick has been a lost cause for a decade now, alas. I don't know what happened -- he used to be a gifted and charming actor. A glimpse of that returned on his one-episode appearance on 30 Rock. But onstage (though I know that it can't be that simple) The Producers seems to have wrecked him somehow, and all his appearances are as... I say "robot," my friend says "dead fish," but it's the same idea. His appearance in Roundabout's The Foreigner (which I've seen half a dozen times over the years, and had previously thought it couldn't miss) is absolutely on my short list of "most unforgivable professional performances ever," and he sucked the life out of Nice Work If You Can Get It whenever he joined a scene. I don't get it.

 

I think he must think he's bringing something "Matthew Broderick-esque" to his parts and that this is why people hire him. That's more plausible to me than his thinking "I'll just walk through this without even trying." It's more like, "Well, they hired me and are paying me good money for something. It must be that they like whatever this shtick is that I've been doing through the sheer display of whatever is this patented persona I've got going. So I'll keep my end of the bargain by doing that." It's obviously not enough, but since he keeps getting rewarded for it, he must regard it as a living.

 

I wonder if he now imagines himself a "character actor" along the lines of a Victor Moore or Edward Everett Horton, whom audiences want to see do the same thing every time.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Milburn Stone

[aradia22]

 

What's wrong with " Bandstand" transferring? I don't know anything about the show.

Nothing. It's just surprising since word of mouth has NOT been good. I'm doubtful it's actually going to make it (at least knowing what I know now) with all the other shows on the horizon.

 

I'm with you, Milburn. It was a very odd performance. Not a lot of real "choices" or acting connected to emotions... or the dialogue. And yet it felt like he was playing that Leo Bloom character. It didn't seem like just normal bad acting, like dead eyes or strange line readings. He said everything in the same cadence and with the same lilt regardless of what the line actually was. If there was a point to the play (something about "real" jobs, or marriages, or midlife crises, or how a dog is like a romantic relationship) a lot of it got lost in his flat/out of sync performance.

[Paws]

I saw the Lion King last week, my second time seeing it...last time I saw it was in 2005.  Ten years later, it still holds up. I was BAWLING at the end,  and my kids were completely enthralled.  Say what you want about Disney, but that show is just magical.   My only minor nitpick--in 2005 it was still at New Amsterdam theater, now it's at the Minskoff. One difference I remember is that at the NA theater, at the end of Circle of Life a screen came down with the title "The Lion King" just like in the movie, and again at the end. This didn't happen at the Minskoff. Is my memory flawed, is it because of the theater change, or was it maybe just a technical glitch the night i saw it?

 

In other news, I am completely obsessed with Hamilton. We were able to see it about a month ago, and though the seats were crappy the show was awesome.

L-MM wil be on 60 minutes tomorrow to talk about it (and he was on Fallon last night)

[LADreamr]

I'm thrilled that Hamilton is extending, because I have to plan a trip from California to see it, but has LMM confirmed that he will still be starring in it at that point? (Pretty much, this time next year). Thanks.

[ebk57]

After watching LMM on 60 Minutes, I just ponied up the cash to see Hamilton...in August.  I'm giving myself a birthday present!!

 

I'm thrilled!  And I don't really want to wait that long!

[aradia22]

TNR is up. I listened to The Light in the Piazza for the first time while writing it. I'm a little disappointed I never saw it and yet I think it's challenging in a way I wouldn't have been ready for before hearing Sondheim and maybe even Bridges of Madison County and also being exposed to opera. It may take a few more listens to really absorb it and I might have to find a bootleg of the Live From Lincoln Center to really get what's going on with the plot. My question right now is did they translate the Italian lyrics at all when it was performed?

• Allegiance opens
• A new block of Hamilton tickets on sale (Have fun, ebk57! Tell us how it is!)
• Changes on Happy Trails musicals
• School of Rock lottery and SRO
• New Musicals at 54

[JustaPerson]

I watched the Live from Lincoln center broadcast (on youtube) which might not be the same but no, there didn't seem to be any translation whatsoever. Except in specific songs like Aiutami. But that was different of course.

Edited November 9, 2015 by JustaPerson

[Rinaldo]

My question right now is did they translate the Italian lyrics at all when it was performed?

I saw it during previews, and no, there was no translation of any of the Italian.

[aradia22]

Hmn, I can see the value in translating the lyrics and not translating them. Anyway, I will try to look up that broadcast on youtube and maybe revisit the album in a month or so. 

[aradia22]

TNR is up. I decided to listen to Jekyll and Hyde for the first time today while writing it. I already knew most of the songs because we performed selections from the show in chorus one year. There are some songs I genuinely enjoy like "Someone Like You" but overall this album is just kind of overdone and cheesy. I can see the Doctor Zhivago comparison more now but I still think Zhivago is better. It has some of the same elements but cleaned up and improved.

• Megan McGinnis will be joined in Daddy Long Legs by her husband Adam Halpin. (On the one hand, I'm a little disappointed I won't be able to hear Paul Nolan sing this live again. But I'm going to get the CD anyway. Also, I'm not ruling out going back because I think a couple performing this small two-person musical could be quite sweet.)
• Bright Star has booked the Cort Theatre. Previews start February 25 with opening night scheduled for March 24. (Speaking of Paul Nolan...)
• China Doll delays opening 2 weeks
• Sylvia $32 digital lottery; The Color Purple $35 in person rush
• Alice Ripley, Jennifer Damiano, and Helene Yorke cast in American Psycho. Ripley will star as Patrick's Mother/Mrs. Wolfe, with Damiano as Bateman's secretary Jean, and Yorke as his trophy girlfriend Evelyn Williams.
• 60 minutes Hamilton coverage
• SET YOUR DVR for Sinatra concert

[Rick Kitchen]

Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson performing "All I Ask of You" (from Josh's album "Stages").  I love Kelly, but I don't think Broadway is her forte.

 

 

Josh will be performing the album on PBS sometime later this month.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Rick Kitchen

[LADreamr]

Does anyone know if Lin-Manuel Miranda is staying with Hamilton through the new dates next year? I can't find anything that says either way. Thanks.

[Amello]

Josh Groban and Kelly Clarkson performing "All I Ask of You" (from Josh's album "Stages").  I love Kelly, but I don't think Broadway is her forte.

 

 

Josh will be performing the album on PBS sometime later this month.

 

Listening, I happily surprised my novice self when I realized I knew this song. Except, now it's going to gnaw at my craw figuring out where I've heard it before.

Edited November 10, 2015 by Amello

[JustaPerson]

Do you need help with that haha? It's from

Phantom of the Opera.

Edited November 10, 2015 by JustaPerson

[Rick Kitchen]

Ken Jennings made some ridiculous comments about theater goers and got taken to task for it.

[aradia22]

The coughing criticism is valid (and something I complain about myself) but Ken Jennings' comments were nasty and unwarranted. Yes, the majority of frequent theatre goers (people who can afford to see a lot of shows) are older. But that doesn't mean that it isn't a valid art form and that great work isn't being done all the time. And it doesn't mean that theatre doesn't have younger fans. And it doesn't mean that those older fans perspective is invalid because they're older. Newsflash, Jennings. You are also aging. And as Jeopardy embraces the theatre (the many musical theatre questions often help me out), Jennings would have had to memorize quite a bit about shows and such to do well, even if he didn't see them himself.