More of the Critic Debate - Now from Down Under

From Alison Croggon's (blogger of theatre notes) review of Jersey Boys in Australia:

"On the morning of the Australian premiere of Jersey Boys, I had an appointment with an osteopath to deal with the Gordian knots in my shoulders.

"My osteo is a young woman from Taylor's Lakes with the hands of a ministering angel. While she was busy with the medical equivalent of breaking rocks, she asked me if I was doing anything special that weekend. With a sigh, I said that I had to see Jersey Boys. Musicals, I explained, are just not my bag. And me, I'd prefer to stay home with a DVD, wearing my fluffiest bed socks.

"She clasped her hands to her breast. "Oh!" she said. "I'd love to see Jersey Boys! I wish I could afford to go! You're so lucky!"

"I felt properly chastened. The privileges of a critic shouldn't, after all, blind me to the naive pleasures of seeing a show."

It's an interesting way to start what turns out to be a positive, if not glowing, review of the production. You may find the exchange concerning her tone and critical assessment in her review (original article taken from The Australian) on Alison's blog to be quite engaging.

Taken from Avi's first comment on the blog:

"I've freely admitted how much I admire you as a reviewer but I cringed when I read the first paragraph of your Jersey Boys review in The Australian. If musicals are "just not your bag", why review them? Surely you're going to be watching music theatre shows with a bias that prevents you from being really objective about the piece?

"The fact that you gave Jersey Boys a favourable review doesn't change the fact that you opened the article by stating that you don't like musicals. Therefore, your review is tainted with your disdain for the form, and no amount of glitzy costumes and showy numbers is going to change that."

Avi goes on to mention her frustrations concerning a stigma against the musical theater art form in Australia among legit theater and artistic communities.

Alison chimes in respectfully. Here's a snippet:

"Aside from having a little fun at my own expense (and hopefully amusing one or two readers, rather than as is my wont enraging them)... there is a serious subtext to my playing about. Yes, I wasn't especially looking forward to it. Yes, I was coming from a place of privilege, and that little conversation made me realise that I was wrong to do so. Do you think that there isn't a divide between a reviewer who gets free tickets and goes to the swisho opening nights, and the punter who just loves musicals and saves up for the ticket? Isn't it better to acknowledge that gap (most reviewers don't but that doesn't mean that it's not operating), and to be reminded that there's a lot of point to what I said were the naive pleasures of seeing a show?"

The rest of the exchange is spirited and reminds me of that ever ongoing debate of the critic's role (see Chris' post What Are Critics Good For?). Thoughts readers?

See the entire theatre notes exchange here.

Note: Commentator Avi owns a blog called Life Upon the Wicked Stage which is invite only. I don't have access to it, but I am curious if any of my readers do.

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!

Wow, a new post!! or: how I got over being lazy

So, yes. I have been done with A Christmas Carol since the end of December. Here are a few pics from that wonderful show.






The show was quite a success, commercially and artistically. We sold out nearly every night (even during the week of Christmas) and the show was well received by the San Antonio critics. Michael E. Barrett of the San Antonio Express News wrote in his glowing review, "At the risk of gushing, there's nothing to say but that it's almost perfect." We also made the SA Express' end-of-year best-of list for 2008, citing the show once again as "the perfect holiday musical."

Playing Marley was a blast. Byrd Bonner, who contributed his Little House on the Prairie review here, was a delight to play against as Scrooge. What a generous actor.

I'm really happy I took part of this production. I met a lot of wonderful people who I still hang out with every week. It's been an amazing gift to be around people who are just as nutty as me.

And along the way, I started a new show which I am currently playing, Frankenstein's Creature in Love. The show opened at the Overtime Theater in San Antonio 2 weekends ago and so far has been a decent hit. The SA Express thoroughly enjoyed the screwball comedy. The show is a send up of Saved by the Bell, 90210, and bad 90s teen movies (with a bit of Halloween and The Goonies thrown in for mucho fun). With a little bit of effort, you can search my facebook page and find links to pics and the theater around there somewhere.

Alas, a lot has happened since I last posted. We got a new president (a black one at that), Broadway has experienced many closings, the Oscar nominations were announced (the subject of my next post), and a new year has begun.

A lot has happened personally, too. I've been a 'victim of the economic crisis' and am now officially unemployed. Which sucks ass, but I'm still young and hopefully can get back on my feet again. Not the end of the world. But it is one contributing reason to my blogging absence. Blogging has just not been a top priority for me the past month. Which is really a shame, since I enjoy it so much. Had I kept it up, I probably could have dealt with a lot of the crises with much more emotional stability than I did. But everything kinda got turned upside down, and as they say, when it rains, it pours.

But I am here now. Writing again. And if feels great. Thank you to all the bloggers who emailed me and/or left comments here asking about my MIA status, even as recently as last week. If it weren't for you, I probably would have just left this blog alone and had it fade into obscurity. Thank goodness I didn't. And thanks to those bloggers who I read everyday (SarahB, Esther, Steve, Chris, ModFab, Vance, Alicia, TAAL) who keep a consistent number of interesting and well written posts daily. Believe me, I feel I haven't missed anything over the past month due to your exemplary work on your blogs.

So what was it that made me want to pick up and start posting again? The end of the year movie awards season. Look forward to lots of posts over the next week dealing with film. And of course, you can start expecting all the wonderful theatre news and announcements as usual too. Can't wait to start interacting with all of you again.

Special shout out to Broadway & Me, Joie to the Max, Loves Mind Travel, The Resident Artist, and Theatreisms for all the quirky posts in the past month. Yous guys rock.

Nine Cast Promo, or: Fergie and Hudson are not in the same league

Thanks to Vance over at Tapeworthy for this.

Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Stacy Ferguson, Nicole Kidman, Kate Hudson and Guido himself, Daniel Day-Lewis in a promo shot for the upcoming film apatation of the Tony-winning musical Nine.

I had no idea Kate Hudson was in the cast. And Fergie seems out of place in the pic. But really, what a cast. I love Nicole Kidman and I'm glad to see her in anything really. Cruz looks beautiful and if her singing in Volver (not dubbed!) is any indication of what she is capable of, well then I look forward to seeing what she can do with this material.



I'm a big fan of Day-Lewis also. No telling what his musical talents are, but his workmanship and dedication always serve him well. And I doubt he will disappoint here.

The concept of Nine seems to work well for the film medium. With the announced plans for In the Heights and talks of a Spring Awakening film, I got thinking of other shows that would lend themselves nicely to the film medium.

The one that immediately pops into my head is Stephen Sondheim's and George Furth's Company. The 'concept' musical is already in a format that's just as innovative and compelling today as it was in 1972.

Sondheim's Assassins also would seem to lend itself well to a movie adaptation.

And of course, those talks of Follies had me creaming my pants.

Maybe I'm biased (i.e. I am), but Sondheim just seems to be a genius and ahead of his time. Not only do his shows work extremely well as their intended stage platforms, but because the material is so well crafted, it easily can transfer from one medium to another.

Here's to hoping.

Heidi Blickenstaff to Play Ursula, or: some happy news for [tos]sers

[title of show] gave me the opportunity to be able to feel connected to its creators and cast by way of its innovative book, creation process, and truly moving production. As a result, whenever I hear great news for anyone involved with the now-closed tuner, my heart skips a beat and I feel compelled to let more people know.

So my congratulations to Heidi Blickenstaff for nabbing the juicy role of Ursula (replacing Sherie Rene Scott) in the Broadway production of The Little Mermaid. As is well known and referenced in [title of show], Blickenstaff was part of the original cast of the Disney musical which lead to some minor complications in the Broadway bow of [tos]. Now with [tos] closed (for now - more on that in a bit!), she is given the opportunity to return as a major principle character in Mermaid. She begins performances January 27, 2009 and is currently scheduled through April 5.

Just goes to show how a little bit of success can alter your future for the better.

And for further [title of show] talk, look over to Chris' latest post and his profile of Hunter Bell and his goals for the Spring of 2009 and a return of [title of show] to the Great White Way.

Today, my heart smiles with joy. I am elated. Tell 9 people!!

Roger Ebert's Thoughts On the Election, or: and yet another reason to love the movie answer man (and America)

If ever there is a great modern media writer, that man is Roger Ebert. He understands technology and knows how to use it to for purposeful enlightenment. He is perhaps the greatest blog writer today. He knows his audience. He knows his nation. He knows himself.

Last night was historical. And Roger Ebert once again is able to so eloquently put in words what so many of us feel.

Read his latest blog post.

Tag! I'm It, or: I hated being it as the little fat kid

Oh SarahB. I heart you. Even if it means I'm it. As a child, there was nothing worse than being picked last for the football team, or being the first one out of a cruel game of dodgeball, or (not to say the least) being 'it.'

But there was also nothing better than being an All-State tenor in the ridiculously competitive Texas high school UIL contests, or getting the biggest applause while taking my bows at my first school musical (where I wasn't the lead), or being selected as Thespian of the Year for my alum's local International Thespian Society chapter.

And I imagine, in some other life, if SarahB and I were to be in grade school together, we probably would have been happily married on the playground during recess.

So due to the binding commitment of marriage (not to mention my utter affection for the NYC/TX diva), I will not only happily play along, but I will with great enthusiasm bear the title of 'it' proudly.

The Rules

1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog. My tagger was SarahB at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog - some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
5. If you don't have 7 blog friends, or if someone else already took dibs, then tag some unsuspecting strangers.

The Facts

1. I am a world karate champion. In 1996, I won the title of World Sparring Champion - Novice Division for ages 10 to 11 in Washington D.C. at the Sport Karate International (SKIL) Super Grands World Games 7. Yeah, I know. I'm a badass
2. I own over 300 DVDs. And I haven't actively bought movies (I hate being poor) for about 2 years. I am also overly compulsive about them being in alphabetical order.
   
3. Although I am not necessarily a devout (or even active) churchgoer, I have a very high respect for Catholicism and will probably always refer to myself as a Catholic (even though I haven't attended Mass in years and don't agree/believe a lot of the teachings).
   
4. I've never owned a DVR (eek!). This will be remedied on Halloween morning. I will have three. Woot woot.
   
5. My 2 best friends now live in New York, New York. Michael has been there for 2 years and Adrianna just moved there yesterday. When is it my turn?!
6. I am an only child from a single parent home. My mother effing rocks. Like uber hard. Just writing that made me get teary-eyed.
7. Will Parker (Oklahoma!) and the Cat (Honk!) are my favorite roles that I've played.
   

The Tagged Bloggers

1. The up and coming Jess at The Resident Artist
2. The always fabulous Joie at So Much To Deal With
   
3. The always reliable (and I know he doesn't have the time for it becasue he's too busy saving the world) Steve at Steve On Broadway (SOB)
   
4. The young and ambitious Katie at Theatreisms
   
5. The uber intelligent (and I know he doesn't have the time for it because he's too busy educating the world - Jekyll does blow hard) Chris at Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals
6. The sorely missed Eric at Man In Chair (please come back to the blog world when you're done being a human being)
7. My Vex and SPP fellow castmate Allsion at The Latest Happenings of the Great You-Know-Who
   

Vice-Presidential Debate as Theatre, or: reason number 5,983,746,510 why I love the movie answer man

I love Roger Ebert for many reasons. His most recent blog entry is one of them. He talks of the vice-presidential debate last night and analyzes it based as theater and not as a political event.

He opens with this:

I have some observations about what we observed Thursday night. They are not political. They involve such matters as body language, facial expression and vocal tone. These are legitimate subjects for a film critic. As Patrick Goldstein wrote recently in the Los Angeles Times: "In some ways film critics are probably better equipped to assess the political theater of today's presidential campaigns, since our campaigns are -- as has surely been obvious for some time -- far more about theater and image creation than politics." I would like to discuss the vice presidential debate as theater.

He goes on to mention how Palin was, based on a theatrical point of view again, "understandably nervous," citing her rapid rate of speech and quite eloquently stating,

Listening to her voice, you could also sense when she felt she'd survived the deep waters of improvisation and was climbing onto the shore of talking points. When she was on familiar ground, she perked up, winked at the audience two of three times, and settled with relief into the folksiness that reminds me strangely of the characters in Fargo.

Palin is best in that persona. You want to smile with her and wink back[...]Palin was persuasive. But I felt a brightness that was not always convincing.

Ebert claims that "she wins high marks for emerging from the debate still standing and still smiling."

He continues with observations on unanticipated moments and improvisation:

One thing a critic of a live performance is sensitive to is any unanticipated moment. There was a famous moment at the National Theater in London when an actor pulled out an automatic pencil to make some notes. It contained no lead. He should have pretended it did. Instead, he said, "There is no lead in my pencil." Then, fatally, he paused to listen to what he had said, and the audience roared with laughter when they were certainly not intended to.

A very different sort of unanticipated moment took place during the debate. Biden said, "I know what it's like to be a single parent raising two children." He did not know if his sons would survive the auto accident that took his wife and daughter. For a moment, he lost his composure. Looking at the moment again I believe, as I did at the time, that it was genuine emotion, and not stagecraft.

Watch the clip and decide for yourself:



Ebert mentions:

It could not have been anticipated by Palin. The next camera angle was above and behind her. She paused. The silence seemed to anticipate words of sympathy and identification from her. But Biden had ended in a sentence using the word "change," and her response, reflecting no emotion at all, cued off that word and became a talking point about McCain. This felt to me, at worst, insensitive and callous. At best, that she had not fully heard Biden. In either event, her response troubled me. If a man had responded in that way to such a statement from a women, he would be called a heartless brute.

Interesting observations. And, like always, very eloquent in his writing. Read his whole post here.

The Last Movie Star, or: how Newman's death represents the impending close to a great era

From James over at ReelThoughts:

With Paul Newman's death, they're almost all gone. By "they," I am referring to the movie stars - the legends of the silver screen whose images lit up the darkness for decades in movie palaces, drive-ins, and multiplexes across the country and around the world. Their names are legendary: Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Steve McQueen, Bette Davis, Marlon Brando, Spencer Tracy, Ingrid Bergman, Gene Kelly, Paul Newman. There are, of course, many others, but a need for brevity demands that I stop somewhere. Newman's death is another reminder how few of these "great ones" remain among us, their memories living capsules to a fading era. Kirk Douglas, Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Lauren Bacall, Sidney Poitier� Are there others? (Of course, but not as many as you might think.)

We don't have movie stars anymore. At least not in the way there once were movie stars. Today, the biggest names in cinema are media stars. The mystique is gone. Film has become just another form of disposable entertainment. In 2008, we have Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, and countless here-today-gone-tomorrow flavors of the month. All are photogenic and capable, but none has the luminescence we associate with a true star. It's not their fault. Time moves on and eras change. Movies are not what they were in the '40s or '50s or '60s or even '70s. The capacity of a performer to become a star in the truest sense of the word no longer exists. People still love movies, but they don't treasure them the way they once did. Norma Desmond said it's the pictures that got small. Now, the magnitude of the stars has downsized to keep pace.

Read more here.

I'm not much for writing goodbyes. There are many others out there who are infinitely more knowledgeable about Paul Newman's career and his influence on the American cinema. But Mr. Berardinelli manages to write a fitting epitaph not to Paul Newman, but to all the movie stars of a far gone era.

And thanks to Steve for being more eloquent and classy than I could ever hope to be.

Sketch Comedy Masters, or: the lost comedy stylings of Palin & McCain

Over at the Chicago Sun-Times scanners blog, Jim Emerson illustrates just how easy Palin makes it for Tina Fey to show her genius. Palin and McCain are indeed masters of comedy in their own right. They were making comedy gold way before SNL, MadTV, and Fox News. Thanks Jim.



Mr. Sondheim,

Can you please make this into a musical? Thank you.

Some favorite shows...

I like lists. I find that kind of funny considering I hate them, too. There's something appealing to me to see a clear and focused objective. It has the illusion of being definite. Final.

The truth of the matter is that lists are anything but final or definitive. Countless individuals and organizations have created an infinite amount of Top 10 and Greatest of All Time lists of such varying topics as film, theater, books, coffee shops, art, tourist attractions, actors, directors, dancers, etc. The list (no pun intended) goes on and on. And even with established groups and titles like "American Film Institute's 100 Years... 100 Greatest Films," the lists still manage to not be 100% final. AFI's 100 Years... series just refreshed its 'definitive' list this year - adding, shifting, eliminating numerous films to/within/from its list. (I can't describe the heartache and anger I felt when CASABLANCA, my favorite movie, moved down the totem pole to number 3 from its previous perch at number 2 - switching spots with THE GODFATHER.)

Chris, over at Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals, has his own list of the 100 Best Musicals. It's one of my most frequently visited pages on the web. He's very clear about the purpose of his list and precedes it with a focused disclaimer of sorts essentially stating that the list is a gimmick, a cop-out, a lazy way of throwing out some quick information to satisfy the needs of his readers. And so it does. It provides us with a profile of Chris' taste in musicals, albeit with little to no explanation. But that's what reviews ans essays are for, in-depth thoughts, analysis, and opinions on specific subjects. Chris even knows that his last isn't definitive as is evidenced in his current contemplation of the musical "Hair."

Chris seems to follow the philosophy that his list is more of a living, breathing list - one that changes over time and grows with his growing taste. The same can be said of James Berardinelli's list of the Top 100 Movies. James takes this approach to a bit more comprehensive level. Every movie on James' list links to his review from his database of thousands of reviews, built up over 10+ years of online writing. In addition, he adds a brief capsule summarizing his thoughts on the film and the influence it's had on him, the film industry, and the impact it contributed to the art of film.

It was an almost 2 year project. Every week, Mr. Berardinelli revealed a new film on his list, starting with #100 and subsequently proceeding in a reverse chronological order for the next 100 weeks.

His list has changed multiple times over the years - adding new films to the list which he considers to be of the finest mold.

I wish to do the same with my own lists of musicals and movies. WISH. I am not a dedicated enough blogger to promise such a project. I also don't consider myself a fine writer. And my insecurities as a writer lead to me spending large amounts of time on even trivial posts. It's all very time consuming; and a lot of my time is spent on doing other things (just refer to the name of my blog). I really love the idea of having more hours in the day in order to support all my creative endeavors.

But I think if I start with a list similar to Chris' (much, much shorter length for now), it'll get my creative juices flowing and perhaps help to motivate my left hand to pick up a pencil and just write (or, more appropriately, my ten fingers to grace the keyboard and post). Not a definitive list int he least bit, but a living, breathing reference that will grow and modify with time. Not comprehensive (I know a lot, but not enough to consider myself an expert. At all.). Mainly, I'm posting some shows just for the hell of it. Hopefully as my knowledge expands, as my tastes grow, as my time stretches, I'll be able to provide a more in-depth perspective. Hopefully.

Some of my fav musicals of ever. No thought put into this. Compiled this list in 10 seconds. Maybe seven:

Cabaret
Carousel
Company
Guys and Dolls
Gypsy
My Fair Lady
Oklahoma!
Porgy and Bess
She Loves Me
Sunday in the Park with George
Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street (my numero uno)
West Side Story

Things I've Learned to Love About Obama

"Despite the emergence of the Brown-Lippa-LaChiusa triptych and younger, DIY voices like Lopez/Marx and Joe Iconis and in the post-Larson era, no one writing today even approaches the emotional depth, harmonic complexity and the spiritual clarity evident in the work of the still-living legend Stephen Sondheim. Maybe Adam Guettel, but he supports drilling."

Barack Obama on the late-period musical theatre.

Thanks to Alicia for this tidbit.

Days Gone By

So years ago, I had a blog entitled Joseph's Thoughts. It was a personal blog that was read by my close family and friends and then after a HUGE DEBACLE, was soon read by EVERYONE IN THE UNIVERSE. It was a ginormous source of therapy for me. Very funny. Perhaps a little mean-spirited, but always managed to make me laugh out loud. It also is responsible for some of the better things to happen in my life (although they seemed disastrous at the time) i.e. contributing to me finally leaving the retail industry.

My first post was written on Wednesday, January 28, 2004 at 12:59AM and my last post was written on Wednesday, December 28, 2005 at 7:12PM. Not very long, but I updated multiple times everyday. There are a LOT of posts.

I've since removed the blog from the internet but have kept a word document file on my personal hard drive for personal reasons. Every now and then, I like to go back and read a few posts that make me laugh and smile.

I've grown up a little now. And a lot of what I wrote still does make me laugh. Although I'm a bit more aware now of some of the offensiveness that some took to heart. I'm still not sorry for what I wrote. I stand by it. For even if it's not the way I feel anymore, it's an accurate barometer for the way I felt at the time.

I'll probably be posting some old posts here. FYI. Just because I can. For the hell of it.

Back and Reinvigorated

So I've totally been outty. And I miss this whole blog thing. And the people. Nothing motivates me more than some praise. And someone left a comment saying they loved to read my blog. Thanks Joie!

Now time for some bullet posting!!!

• New York city trip!!!! WOOT WOOT!! I can't wait. I'll be in NYC Aug. 11-15 and I am planning on taking in as much theatre as possible. Thanks to SarahB for being my unofficial guide to non-boredomness. Shows I'm seeing? [title of show], Gypsy, Hair, In the Heights, August: Osage County, and probably Spring Awakening.
• I'm really gonna try and get to Don't Tell Mama for Seth Rudetsky's Chatterbox. That would be so radish. Him and Kristin Chenoweth are the only people in the world guaranteed to make me laugh out loud.
• [tos] stage door. Yeah. I'm gonna try it. Crazy.
• Gypsy stage door. Yeah. I'm gonna try it. Craaaaaaazy.
• I hope Jonathan Groff pulls me onstage to dance with him. Even if he doesn't, I'll make sure to bump wenises with him.

I'm not gonna lie - it feels great to be back. I'm gonna blog everything while I'm in NYC so that I can share my experience with you all. Pictures posts!! YAY!! I'm gonna be there with 3 of my best friends of all time - Adrianna, Olivia, and Michael. What a blessing. And I'm making sure that I'm gonna be really intoxicated a bit of the time while I'm there.

A few other things: totally on a break from my own shows. I've done 5 since the beginning of the year and have been extremely proud of the work I've done. I've accomplished a lot and have grown so much and have realized a lot personally. I deserve a break. What does that mean for you?? More blog posts!!! YAY!! More Joseph for the world!!

Here I am world!!!! (How theater-queenish was that?!?)

YOU ROCK MY SOCKS OFF

SarahB, you're awesome! Thanks!!

ok, ok... hi. my name is joseph. and i'm a smart ass.

The only reason I'm posting this (other than for my own entertainment) is because I feel my blog still has a lot to grow into. It's pretty darn new. And besides my general layout and my title, there's very little I like design wise. My subtitle is lame-icious, unoriginal, and forced. My 'about me' section uses 'much appreciative' in a completely wrong way for the English language (let alone grammatically). My sidebar is cluttered and sometimes just acts really weird. In some internet browsers my header doubles up on itself and creates an awkward tiering effect that wouldn't look out of place in a 7-layer bean dip or a creative, overpriced shot of alcohol.


All these things I'm well aware of. And quite frankly, they bug the crap outta me. But I have a life. And I'll get to them when I can. But while I have attracted a few theatre-bloggers to my site, there is still very little content here to compete with them. Well, I'm not here to compete. I'm here to share. Share my thoughts on theatre-related subjects. Yet I have not really given an apt description of my blog anywhere. Or my credentials (or lack thereof). Or anything that would offer at least a glimpse into what i have to offer that is unique and substantial to the world of theatre blogdom. So here you go bloggers:

I'm not a professional writer. As a matter of fact, I'm not a professional anything. I act (unprofessionally). I sing (unprofessionally). I blog (unprofessionally). But I do have opinions. And I like to share them with other people who like to read them. Hopefully I present them in an entertaining or informative or creative or unique voice. I'd like to think I'm hit and miss. But I crack myself up and philosophically speaking, isn't that what blogging is all about? Self-indulgence? Giving prolific viewership to un-prolific thoughts/events/opinions? Maybe, maybe not.

I write when I am given motiviation to write. And nothing motivates me more sometimes than a bit of self-defense. anonymous left a comment on my previous post stating that I should consider using spell-check or a proofreader more often. I wasn't offended. But I feel as if though this mysterious anonymous wasn't a regular reader of mine. Even if they are, I feel like they weren't. All other comments that I have had are of the "i agree/disagree" or "thanks for the mention" variety. And I heart them. They are what they are. But this one was different. And made me want to write. Soooooo... I wrote. A reply-comment. And I decided to post it here. Maybe it would offer a little more insight into the kind of person I am to my readers. And maybe it would give a little more voice to a blogger who hasn't been around as much as others have. I enjoy reading SarahB, and Steve, and Esther, and the dude who's (whose?) name escapes me at the moment over at Modern Fabulousity. Just to name a few. And I do so becasue I feel each one offers a unique take on what we all love. I hope to do the same.

Whatever it does or doesn't say about me and my character is up for debate. But now that I've been building up to it over a ridiculous amount of web-time, I might as well not live up to your anticipated expectations now than later. Kinda like Borat. Oh, hype.

Anonymous said at 8:25 AM...
You might want to consider using your spell-check or a proofreader. As a professional, it is not good form to publish articles with misspelled words.

Joseph Gomez said at 1:25 PM...
anonymous,

if this sounds vindictive or battle-ish, please forgive me. not my intention. i do use spell-check, and i proofread, but sometimes i'm just posting and don't even notice the mistakes until after the post. i use an unnecessary amount of exclamation points, the word 'uber' so much so that it really loses its effectiveness, and I add '-ish' and '-ness' to the end of exaggerated adjectives to make them a new noun. i like to think of it as my 'author's voice.' or something like that. really, honestly, i'm no professional, nor do i claim to be one. i'm a blogger from podunk texas who just happens to like theater. maybe it's quirkiness that i can use as an excuse for my sloppiness. whatever the case may be, i do agree that misspelled words are the most annoying things to find in a blog post (besides inside jokes that nobody gets [oh, i'm guilty of that too]). i do make an effort to re-read my own posts and edit details as i see fit. but quite frankly, i just don't give a damn enough. if i were to make this blog-thing into a lucrative career, then i might consider having a proofreader and double spell-check everything. but for now, i'm too self-absorbed with entertaining myself to put too much time into this bloggy-thing. but once again, thank you for your comment. it gave me motivation to write. so much so, that i think i'm gonna post this.

it made me laugh.

Comments? Thoughts? No. Ok. :-)

Shout Out!

To SarahB over at Adventures in the Endless Pursuit of Entertainment for providing the first external link to my blog! On the right sidebar I'm cozily placed between Jan at Broadway & Me and Lani Anderson's The Drama Girl.

I'm familiar with Broadway & Me; however, The Drama Girl was new to me. Turns out, Lani is from a small town in Texas - just like me! Very cool. And that's what I love about social blogging. You always find new and interesting people with the help of other fellow bloggers.

So thank you SarahB for thinking my blog is worthy enough for a link to your much more consistent site. Means a lot. And thank you, too, for helping me to find new theater going lovers!

"Ghostlight! Oooh... Spooky!"

Thanks to Man in Chair, I've been spending sometime at The Singing Stage.

What a great selection!! From the fun ones to announce outloud - El Show De Terror De Rocky (2001 Peruvian Cast) - to the WTFs - Spider Man: the Musical (Demo CD), this site offers links to download full albums of cast recordings you never even knew existed. It's all too much for a musical theater geek who lives in Texas. I peed my pants in pure delight after discovering this site. And I'm gonna admit it: I feel a little guilty that this is so easy. But don't get me wrong - I bought the new South Pacific recording yesterday at Borders (expect a review tomorrow). And I still have pre-ordered copies of most of this year's new stuff on the way pretty soon. So support the artists. Buy the albums. But use this site too. IT'S FREAKING UNBELIEVABLE. I HEART IT.

Oh, and it updates like a million times in a day. So check back frequently. Ooooh... Gypsy tracks!!

Is that Vasoline in his hair?

Anyone else think this Cubby Bernstein kid is ugly? I'm not trying to be mean - I just happen to think that he is not the most attractive 13-year old kid out there, that is all. It doesn't help that I don't think he is very funny. In correspondence with my friend Walter, I mentioned Cubby was "lame and spectacularly unfunny." Via text message, I continued my rant as I proceeded to call Cubby a "prepubescent Conan O'Brien without the humor and bad(der) hair. Like Ellen."

Whatever. Maybe I'm jealous that this kid is getting more attention than I am. But it doesn't change the fact that he's ugly. And that his choice (Xanadu) for Best Musical this year is all wrong.