bostonman

Ha!

"Rise" has fallen - it's not being renewed. I guess you could say it was "totally fucked."

Yes, he did. And, as we Jews sing on Passover, "Dayeinu" - meaning, "that would have been enough." But... Three additional posts in which he insulted other posters. As if two wasn't enough. As if even one was necessary?

But he's not really attacking Cody - he's attacking me, and freecahill1965, and Reluctant Daddy. For comments made over 2 months ago. Why resurrect this all now? Hoping he can just let this go now.

What a needlessly sour individual you are. Time to ignore...

It's not Festivus. Why all the airing of grievances on a thread that hasn't been active in 2 months?

Or, "I Love Cecile," as I used to hear the title of the song back in the day lol. (cf. the term "mondegreen.") I was never a huge Go-Go's fan either, but they do write energetic dance tunes that stick in your head successfully. Their lyrics are usually very generic, which of course means they can easily be shoehorned into any story lol. But one could say the same for the ABBA songs in Mamma Mia (well, no - actually those lyrics and songs are far better, IMO)... But I do have friends in the biz who are very excited about this show - not that it's meant to be anything groundbreaking, but it does sound like it could be miles better than this season's Margaritaville and Summer. But - I would love it if the show had a character named Cecile - then I'd know that I had that misheard lyric correct after all.

Yes, but hasn't the calendar shifted a few days since then?

It's revealing to me that McAnuff has really only had 1 or 2 successes as a director of musicals - obviously Jersey Boys, and maybe Tommy. Which tends to make me wonder how much he himself really did to make Jersey Boys the successful production that it was. Most everything else he's directed has bombed - jukebox shows, new shows, and classic revivals (he managed to turn two of our greatest musicals - Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business - to mud - and in fact doing the same exact thing wrong in both productions, by upstaging the actors with too much projection work.) About jukebox shows - I'm truly surprised and frustrated that by this point in the "jukebox" era, that directors, producers, and writers haven't really come to terms with two simple realities. One, that the draw of such shows is really for audiences to hear those hit pop songs they (largely) already know, just in a different visual format. As a general rule, most jukebox shows' scores strive to recreate the sound of the original arrangements - familiarity is key - instead of finding new ways to hear the song (as Kyle Riabko, for instance, dared to do, and artistically successfully, in his Bert Bacharach piece). And two, that the "lives of the stars," when reduced down to a formulaic musical theatre book concept, are rarely interesting in the least. Again, Jersey Boys, with its smart and energetic book by Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, broke that mold - but I can't think of any other "bio" show that's been recognized for its solid book writing. And even then, it seems to me that the only jukebox musical to successfully use a book which tells a story NOT about the songwriters/performers is Mamma Mia. Others have come and gone without much staying power. I have no inherent problem with musicals created around pop song catalogues. The music is part of our history - why not? But I do think that the best way to do these shows is in a revue format. Let the music speak for itself, without a need to have to explain the songwriter's life (bo----ring) or even create a huge story around the songs (what we tend to call shoehorning). I still think that, truly jukebox or not, Ain't Misbehavin' is still the king of musical revues - celebrating Fats Waller's songs (and really just the songs) in the context of a Harlem nightclub cabaret, with 5 actors who relate to each other in ways that hint at their possible romantic histories without making that the focus of the show. In terms of a purely rock score, I think Smokey Joe's Cafe comes closest, with a "just the songs" approach to the wide-ranging careers of Lieber and Stoller - without having to "teach" us who they were. (Another similar revue, Five Guys Named Moe, is musically as successful, but gets bogged down in its attempt at a "storyline.") Anyway, I wish they'd learn to ditch the stories and biographies, and just give the audiences what they really come for - a chance to steep in nostalgia as they hear all the hit songs they remember from the radio or MTV. By now it should be clear that the other stuff just isn't necessary or wise.

Similarly, the NPR panel game show "Says You" lost its creator and host, Richard Sher, a few years ago, to cancer. The show is still being produced, with a new host, but often they'll play a segment with Sher, or run an entire repeat of one of his episodes. Which frankly is nice, because the show is really just not the same anymore without him, IMO.

This ultra-annoying Comcast ad needs to go away - NOW. It has WAY overstayed its welcome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZrWjSBJflc

Has she ever done a live stage musical before? Not to my knowledge... She never even took the opportunity to star in her own musical, the way such performers as Billie Joe Armstrong and Sara Bareilles have done in recent years. (And I tend to doubt we'll be seeing a major revival of 9 To 5 anytime in our lives...) It seems her only shot would be the upcoming national tour, or maybe a stock production somewhere, as once Peters finishes up, Midler is back in, and then it closes. And I assume that Buckley is contracted to stay in the tour for a significant amount of time. But if the tour does really well (as it should), they will definitely need another star name to take over for Buckley eventually...

Funny - I feel just the opposite. I'm not so much into his look, but I found his ad text refreshing, lol. (Obviously it would be much more helpful if he actually went into some detail about himself, but at least he's showing a healthy sense of humor, lol - something I don't always get from an escort's ad.)

I just found out that one of my former students has a sizable role in the creative/production staff for this show. Which leaves me with very conflicted feelings...

I don’t see a fault with those lyrics. Hammerstein is writing for character, and I believe these words coming out of Billy’s mouth.

Agreed. I know it's the habit of some athletes to shave their body hair (swimmers, for instance, because of the theory that hair gets in the way of speed), but I assume that those that do that are mostly left to their own grooming. Same with male dancers who may shave their pits, etc. (I think that used to a common aesthetic choice, but not so much anymore.) It sounds like the "brother" in charge of these productions wasn't exactly thinking with his aesthetic head... I remember doing a (quite good) youth theatre production of The King And I some years back. I remember the rehearsal where the teen playing the King decided to rip his shirt off during the (attempted) flogging scene - which made for a striking dramatic choice, but the director being rather conservative, he wasn't allowed to do that in the actual show. Which ultimately was probably a better choice in context of the production.

Seems to me that has happened before as well.

And...I've never been a dog person, but any of us with cats know that THEY own US, not the other way around.

This is something I don't often talk about because it does seem very taboo - but I definitely enjoy having a guy spit at me. It's not the "humiliation" aspect that lures me in - it's really mostly that I find it very erotic - the warm wetness, etc - combined with knowing that it does seem very forbidden in a way - and also kind of playful. And yes, of course there is a bit of a power dynamic in there too, depending on who's doing the spitting lol. It started when I realized I found it hot to watch baseball players spitting all the time during games, and wondered what it would be like to be the recipient of that...and I dared myself to try it out with a friend, and found it even sexier than I expected it to be. Some may consider it crude - I get that. Some may consider it unsanitary, which I don't get as much, given the "spit swapping" we do when kissing etc. I also always find it interesting when guys who are into w/s (which I'm not) conversely find spitting too gross, lol. But it just goes to show you - to each our own... And someday, I'm going to find myself a genuine baseball jock who'd really show me what it's all about lol...

Go find it - it is a truly wonderful routine. Not just because of the "adult humor" side of it, but also because it's really a perfectly crafted piece. I'm sure it's on youtube - maybe someone can post a link.

Ha - your last sentence reminds me of the classic George Carlin "7 words you can't say on TV" routine, where at one point (as I recall) he opines "twat's twat and that's that." "Scat" is derived from "scatological," with the c. I have seen at least one published instance (in a musical score) where jazz improv singing was called "skat" (including the quotes), but that too is usually spelled with a c. But yes, include me in the "no scat play as part of sex" club. Not that I would judge anyone who was into it - but it's definitely not my thing. And that's ok - we all have our fetishes, kinks, and our limits. And all of those should be respected.

I suppose they may feel more in danger because of the rentboy.com disaster earlier. Though, their homepage still says rentboy.pro - you think by now they would have changed that too.

It's not you. Somehow his ad is not directly available through the Boston listings. I have him on my buddy list (I have yet to meet him, but have been hoping to for some time) and can access his profile that way, but somehow he's not showing up in searches. Since you already have a rapport with him, I don't know if you would feel comfortable asking him about this. And maybe tell him that others out here are interested in him too lol. (I'd be glad to ask as well, but I wonder if it makes more sense for someone who already knows him to ask him?)

The contracts always say that no cuts or changes are allowed without permission. Now, obviously, especially in the case of school productions, the companies are quite aware that cuts and changes will happen. And I doubt anyone's ever been fined for minor cuts - those can be expected. But larger alterations are supposed to be cleared with the company - and of course this doesn't always happen. Schools and theatres with higher visibility certainly need to be more careful. And of course things do happen in the professional world as well. There's an infamous example of a New England regional theatre doing a production of Annie with a changed ending - in this concept, the final scene wasn't the expected happy ending, but a scene that showed Annie back at the orphanage, with the whole show having been just a dream. They got a cease-and-desist order and were ordered to perform the show as written. But - I once participated in a production of Once Upon A Mattress where the director wanted to make Winnifred (the Carol Burnett role) a gay male and turn the sexuality of the show on its head a little. He asked for permission, and was told he could do it, as long as none of the text (lyrics or book) were changed in order to make this happen. It was a very clever production, and worked very well. I'm glad the director was given the chance to try this. But I guarantee you, had he not asked for permission, the production could have been in danger of being shut down.

For your post, sure. But the Eeyore Chorus is real. For theatre, for opera, for classical music, for the arts in general. And though yes, more exposure to all of that is sorely needed, none