Agust to close; Chess and Hair reviews postponed; around the theatre blogosphere

Sad news: Agust: Osage County will be closing June 28th. Major bummer.

I was originally planning on posting full reviews today of Chess in Concert (CD & DVD) and the new cast recording of Hair. Looks like things are changing a bit.

I've been listening to Chess now for the past hour and still am bored out of my mind. Early thoughts: Idina Menzel is no Elaine Paige. Adam Pascal has ruined his voice. Josh Groban is giving a good effort with a strong "Anthem." The live mixing and producing isn't as high a quality as other live shows. And this disc has done nothing to change my opinion on the show itself: Chess is still a failure; still a product of its creators and their time. I'm gonna stop listening now and spend the rest of my afternoon/evening enjoying other recordings. I'll tune into the broadcast of the "live" show tonight on PBS and just supply a brief capsule review of the DVD/CD package. Sorry guys, I don't get paid to write here. And I have a pretty strong feeling that most of my readers will understand my case.

As for my upcoming Hair review, well I decided to hold off on it until June 23, the day the hard copy is available in stores, for my official review. The recording is available via downloads right now - and believe me, it's fantastic. However, no matter how enthusiastic I may feel about the recording, I feel I should wait for the entire package - jewel case, booklet, etc. - to dish out a full fledged reccomendation. The quality of the tracks themselves is superb, but the tracks of Spring Awakening were too and as anyone who owns that album can attest, the overall packaging was dissapointing at best (of all things there was no plot synopsis. Really?!?!?). So to be fair, I'll gestate over my digital copy in the mean time. It'll allow me to write more in depth too.

If I get around to it tonight, expect a Chess review and if not, I'll post it tomorrow with a second review that is long overdue - the [title of show] original cast recording.

Now in the meantime, take a look around at the rest of the theatre blogosphere to catch some pretty interesting thoughts. Here's the callboard...

Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals: Chris has a couple of important things to say about file sharing and its effects on the musical recording industry. And the role of the theatre critic seems to be up for debate again. Plus he has a review of the newly restored Criterion DVD release of 1931 film version of The Threepenny Opera.

Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertaiment: SarahB recently caught a production of High Spirits in Mufti at the York and fills us in on the Met's Summer HD Festival calendar of 10 screenings of "live" opera performances.

Steve on Broadway (SOB): While Steve has been taking it easy, he still finds time to post blogs and fill us in on his recent trip to Chicago and tell us the effect a certain pointillisitc painting had on him.

Gratuitous Violins: Esther voices her opinion on a recent New York Times article discussing the DOMA and catches up on her Playbill Radio podcasts with Carole Shelly and Oskar Eustis.

Broadway & Me: Jan gives us her reviews of The Amish Project and Dov and Ali.

Theatre Aficionado at Large: Kevin brings up the MPAA-like ratings of the theatre world and even quotes my personal fave Roger Ebert. We are also treated to some classic "Honeymooners" with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney.

Happy blogging readers!