FREE Broadway tickets to Fela! (NYC)

I am very pleased to offer our NY readers TWO FREE TICKETS to the Broadway hit Fela! here in NYC. The vouchers are good for a number of dates in January and February, so you can pick the date yourself once you receive the voucher. To enter, please email us at info(at)gfpmusic(dot)com by 1pm tomorrow (Friday) with Fela! in the subject line and your name and mailing address in the body (so we can mail you the voucher). We will notify the winner by 5pm.

Last night, I had the privilege of seeing this show myself. It's a jubilant, vivacious, colorful musical that will literally get you up out of your seats, dancing to the afro-beats of Fela Kuti, singing and shouting "yeah yeah!" (yes, audience participation is part of the show, but don't worry, you don't have to get on stage or anything). First, I would like to give major props to the dancers who hardly ever stopped moving during the show - even when "Fela" was just talking, they would be dancing with really high energy in the background. Second, I want to give props to the costume people who designed costumes that made it impossible for you to tear your eyes away.

And of course, despite how joyful and frenetic most of the show is, it has some very serious moments too and I think the overall message is very relevant today in many countries. It's relevant in part here in the US because we have an African American president in office so, on the one hand, there have been great strides taken toward equality in this country. On the other hand, we still have a long way to go before we actually reach real equality in terms of race, gender, religion and sexual identity. Also, a key theme of the political and corporate corruption is laced throughout the show (sometimes more blatantly than others, as dancers cross the stage with signs reading the names of companies like AIG, Enron, the WTO, and many more). This anti-corporation feeling is something many of us can probably relate to right now, as the corporations who quite literally screwed up much of the world's economy get huge government bailouts while the citizens continue to get their homes foreclosed on, lose their jobs, etc.

All in all, Fela! is a great show and I definitely would recommend it. I think it has a wider appeal than some Broadway shows because in some ways it is set up to be more like a show at Fela's club, the Shrine, than a Broadway show and music is incredibly central to the story and is played almost throughout the entire show. I very much enjoyed myself.

Zombie [mp3]

If Life Were a Musical

Oh, what I would've given to have been a part of this.

Part of me sometimes wishes life were a musical - people breaking out into song and dance at random. Then I think about the fact that a lot of people can't sing, and then I'm glad life's not a musical. But thanks Improv Everywhere for giving us a little taste of what it might be like if it were.

P.S. Speaking of musicals, I saw Sunday In The Park With George this weekend and it was absolutely terrible. So boring! They did a few cool things with projection but mostly I just thought it looked silly and that they relied on "special effects" because the rest of the content was lacking. I highly recommend you don't waste your money on this show. Luckily I got to see it for free.

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Jerry Springer: The Opera

Last Thursday I saw Jerry Springer: The Opera. Now, you might be thinking "that sounds like a bad off off off broadway show." But this was legitimate. It was at Carnegie Hall and starring Harvey Keitel as Jerry Springer (the one and only speaking part). I even saw Neil Patrick Harris in line to pick up his tickets beforehand. It was performing only a two-night run here in New York City. Originating in the UK, it is a bit controversial and has not gotten much stage time here in the good ol' US of A.

The opera started off as everything it should've been. It was funny and campy. The songs were good. The singers were talented. After the chorus sang about wanting to be on TV, the audience warm-up guy came on and got them all psyched. He told them to "aaww" for the good guys and "boo" for the bad guys, which made really good back-up vocals for a lot of the numbers. Clever, very clever. Then the show began with Dwight and his wife Peaches. But Dwight had a secret - he was sleeping with Peaches' best friend, Zandra. Of course there was fighting. And the security guard did a funny little inner monologue song about how girl-fights are the hardest to break up. Then a new secret came out. Dwight was having another affair... with a transvestite! Classic. The transvestite was awesome. He could hit notes as high as Mariah Carey. He sang a sassy little song called "Talk to the Hand." Then there was the commercial break. They had some short little fake commercials that I don't really remember all that well. But they were funny.

Then they brought on a guy who has a diaper/baby/shitting-his-pants fetish. That whole part was a little weird, but very campy and still funny. It was this big black man wearing a giant diaper on stage. I mean, you can't not laugh at that. Next a hick couple comes on and the woman wants to be a pole dancer. Her husband had a great mullet but that's really all I remember about their scenes. The important thing is that it led up to this:

The Ku Klux Klan enters. They all line up in rows and then they start singing "This is My Jerry Springer Moment" and break out into a chorusline dance. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard in my life as when watching the KKK chorusline doing jazz hands and singing "so dip me in chocolate and throw me to the lesbians..."

And that was the end of the first act. Frankly, I wish the play would've ended right there. The first half was perfect except for random moments where a "valkyrie" (wearing a Minnesota Vikings sweatshirt... ggggrrr...) would sing as Jerry's "conscience" and he would get all "introspective." It just didn't work. It was like they were trying too hard to be deep and analyze right and wrong through the Jerry Springer show. Sadly, this is basically all the second half of the show was, as Jerry gets shot, dies and goes to Hell, where he puts on a Jerry Springer episode between the Devil, Jesus and God. There were a few good one-liners and song numbers, but most of the second half just plain sucked. They were so not subtle about the message they were trying to get across - that right and wrong isn't just black and white (oh my goodness! what?! what a revelation! I've never heard that one before!). In fact, they pretty much just stated it outright in really crappy unnatural dialogue.

I think that sticking to satire and poking fun at the absurdity that is the Jerry Springer show would've been a much more subtle commentary on society and "right vs. wrong." It certainly would've been funnier at the very least. Frankly, I wish that the show would've ended with the Ku Klux Klan chorusline.

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Xanadu

Last night I saw the Broadway musical Xanadu - you know, the one based off of the 1980 Olivia Newton-John roller disco movie. I haven't actually seen the movie, but my understanding is that the movie was pretty awful (now I fully intend to go see it too). But the play was a total blast and it is the the fact that the movie was so awful that makes the play so great - most of the play is spent just making fun of the movie.

For those of you who have never heard of the movie Xanadu, ONJ plays a roller-skating Greek muse named Clio (who, as a human, goes by the alias Kira, "which is good because that's her name") who inspires a guy named Sonny Malone in Venice Beach, California in 1980 to open a roller-disco called The Xanadu. However, she breaks the key muse rule of not falling in love with a mortal and she falls in love with Sonny.

Sadly, I didn't get to see star Kerry Butler in it, but her understudy Patti Murin was fabulous so it was still a riot. I loved her overdone Australian accent and I'm very impressed with her rollerskating skills. I suck at rollerskating, so I can't imagine having to wear rollerskates through in an entire play and do things like dance with them on.

The whole cast was awesome and they all looked like they were having the time of their lives. I would say my favorite was Jackie Hoffman as the muse Calliope. She was absolutely hilarious - so campy. The whole play was just so campy that I think even the most avid musical hater might enjoy themselves, because not only is it mocking the movie Xanadu, but it's almost (lovingly) mocking musical theater.

I highly highly recommend Xanadu if you want to go see a super fun Broadway show. Although don't sit too close to the stage - I was in the very front row (Row B on the left side of the auditorium) and it gets kind of hard to see sometimes. Plus they kept making fog, which nearly asphyxiated us a few times.

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The Horror

Happy Halloween everyone! My title is fitting for the day I suppose, but my post actually has little to do with the holiday. I know I don't write bad reviews often. I try to subscribe to that whole "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" mantra. But this was so bad I have to say something.

I saw Legally Blonde, the Broadway musical, the other night and they took one of my favorite movies of all time and completely destroyed it. Now, normally I try not to compare two things in different mediums because they are different mediums and therefore will be different. But change when it doesn't make it better or is completely unnecessary bothers me. And they changed way too much for no real reason other than so that it would be different from the movie (but yet it wasn't different enough to stand on its own).

The first and most important thing they changed/butchered was the main character. In the movie, Elle Woods is perky, ditzy and maybe a little materialistic, but she is a smart, strong, and most of all an extremely kind-hearted person. The Elle Woods in the play was perky, ditzy, materialistic, not very smart, not particularly nice and definitely not strong.

For example, the Elle in the play had to be coaxed into studying by Emmett. This is a retarded change for two reasons: 1. it was her resolve in the movie to prove herself that motivated her to study, which makes for a much stronger character. 2. Emmett is a much bigger part of her life in the play from the very beginning, which just doesn't really make sense for their love story.

They also changed Emmett's character a lot - who all of a sudden comes from the "other side of the tracks" and worked his way up, keeping two jobs and going to law school. This is a completely unnecessary change that doesn't add anything to the story at all. Another character they screwed up was Viviennne, who is a bitch in the beginning but slowly gets to see Elle's good qualities and realizes she herself can do better. I suppose, since they got rid of all of Elle's good qualities, they had to change Vivienne's character. But she just really had nothing redeeming about her, and when she was nice to Elle it was for no real reason other than that they got rid of the female professor/mentor character from the movie and had Vivienne serve both roles, which is just yet another example of them ridding the play of all strong female characters.

Sometimes they kept lines from the movie, but the actors - probably in an attempt to "make it their own" - would deliver the lines differently. And by differently I mean worse. Or sometimes they took out really good lines from the movie. Or kept them in but changed them so they weren't as good. It was very strange and annoying. One example of something that they changed that almost worked but then didn't because they ruined it was a line in the courthouse. When they're discussing if the pool boy is gay or not, someone says "or he could just be European." That was very funny. Had they left it off at that, it would've been one of the more memorable lines from the play (I don't think it's in the movie, though I suppose I could be wrong). The delivery of the line was even good. But no. They had to break out into an extremely pointless and actually rather offensive song about being "gay versus European." I thought it really helped perpetuate the American "we think we're better than everyone else because we're a bunch of tough cowboys" image, and I was actually quite upset by it.

Yet another thing that upset me: there was the "greek chorus" (greek meaning her sorority sisters in her imagination - how clever...) that followed Elle around breaking out into song. Now, I know it's a musical, but really? Really? It just didn't work. There were plenty of times that Elle could've just broken into song but instead they had to come in in all their annoying ditziness (which just made Elle's ditziness worse and worse). And then at one point other people could see them (during the "bend and snap" portion, which was also massacred), which is just inconsistent and stupid.

The music for the most part was fine. There were some catchy tunes. But frankly I was unimpressed by most of the singers. Paulette, played by Orfeh (what a name...), had one of the better voices. The other person I was impressed by was Vivienne (played by Kate Shindle), who hardly sang any solos until the very end when all of a sudden she belted out these crazy notes and was amazing. I was blown away and I was really upset that they didn't utilize her awesome voice more. Everyone else seemed to sing in that really nasily "I'm imitating Kristin Chenoweth because I don't actually have a very strong voice and she played a ditzy blonde too" voice that drives me crazy (I love Kristin Chenoweth. She has a very strong voice. But all these other nasily singers did not and it just sounded like they were trying to imitate her since she's popular so clearly, since they lack vocal skill, they can just get by sounding like someone successful).

So, overall, I hated the production. I am very disappointed that this show was made and has been as successful as it has been. Normally I would support any musical endeavor because I want the musical to be a successful genre again (although I suppose on Broadway it always has been and always will be). But this time I was dismayed by positive reactions from much of the audience while I was there. At least it didn't get a standing ovation (a few overly excited people stood, but it seems like every Broadway production I go to these days gets a standing ovation just because the audience is a little too easily impressed). But there were lots of cheers and I heard lots of people around me talking about how great it was. It really made me lose faith in humankind and their ability to think. At least Americans' ability to think. It was like throw on some glitzy hot girls dancing and smiling and everyone has a good time. Screw character development, screw plot, screw talent. Entertainment. It's all about mindless entertainment. And I like mindless entertainment as much as the next guy, but when they took something that was intelligent entertainment and dumbed it down like that... it's just too much for me. Anyway, before I rant any longer, I will bid you adieu. Tata dahlings.

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The Rockae

My friend Chris is playing guitar in a rock opera/musical that is part of the New York Musical Theater Festival - The Rockae. Kind of a cheesy title, yes. But it's a rock opera. What do you expect? It's based off of the Greek tragedy, The Bachae by Euripides.

To give you an idea about the play, the star's bio starts out "Michael Cunio is thrilled to be wearing such tight pants." And tight they were. The title doesn't even prepare you though for the amount of cheese they pour on in the musical. From the awesome glam rock costumes and makeup to the homoerotic sexual tension between Dionysus and Pentheus, the whole play is quite entertaining. Because even though it's cheesy, it acknowledges that it's cheesy and it kind of pokes fun at itself.

Michael Cunio outdid himself as the androgynous Dionysus, God of wine, mystery and intoxication. He has a really amazing voice and was quite funny as the cocky God. Although as the play went on he stopped seeming androgynous and started simply seeming feminine, which I didn't really like.

I know it is based off a tragedy, but the whole play is so much fun until the very end that I kind of wish they had stayed on that upbeat, comedic tone instead of switching, rather suddenly, to tragedy. I got kind of bored at the end.

Overall, though, I enjoyed myself a lot. Go see the show. It runs through October 14th I believe. Tata dahlings.

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Off Off Off Off Off Broadway

Normally I don't really write reviews about things I don't like. I choose to focus more on the positive and I tend to have the attitude that if I don't like it I don't want to give it any sort of attention (you know that saying "no publicity is bad publicity"?). But I think I need to stop being so freaking nice and trying to please everyone. So here it goes: my first official bad review.

Last night I got free tickets to an "off-broadway" play, "The Lady Swims Today." First off, that's a horrible name for a play. But the description I read made it sound alright: "Welcome to the Carney Hook Marina Motel, where three, desperate men are tempted to join the heist of a lifetime. It's summer, 1984, Eddie has a plan to steal two million dollars off a boat on the Chesapeake Bay, and he needs a crew to pull it off. When these schemers and dreamers come up against three women with plans of their own, the course to a fortune is threatened by more than bad weather. The Lady Swims Today, by Howard Brown, is a drama in the tradition of Key Largo and The Petrified Forest, with film noir shadows and flashes of comedy." And since the tickets were free, I went. I think my friend who saw the play with me said it best: "I felt like I was watching a rough draft."

Obviously heist storylines are never, you know, relatable to me or grounded in my version of reality. But they can still be believable and I can still follow the action and enjoy a good heist story, especially if I can relate to the characters. Throughout this whole play I rarely understood exactly what was going on, and I don't think I ever believed it. Half the acting was very over-the-top (which was the only thing film noir about the play besides maybe some of the terrible dialogue, so it just seemed out of place), although I mostly believe that was the director's fault because the actors seemed talented enough. But none of the characters were believable or relatable and none of their actions seemed to have any kind of logical motivation, which is a fault with both the writing and directing. Also, in terms of casting, if you're going to have a "charming, suave" character that all the ladies go for, he should actually be charming and suave instead of greasy and sleazy. The "used car salesman" cliche comes to mind. Not once did I believe that any of the women in the play would ever be attracted to him. And sadly, very little of the play was funny. Maybe the show could've worked as a kind of screwball comedy of sorts because every time I laughed (or well, the few times I laughed due to funny content rather than because the play was just so ridiculous) I felt a wave of hope that maybe the play would turn itself around. Plus, as a comedy, extreme characters and situations and randomness are much more fitting and the whole suspension of disbelief thing is usually easier with comedy.

One little beam of light shining through this dark cloud of a play was Kelli K. Barnett. She played stripper/girlfriend Alice Bender. She was great as an obliviously naive but somehow at the same time jaded and wise stripper bimbo. I believed her performance most of the time and her character was, for the most part, likable. One thing I did not like was how her character had sex with her boyfriend's 17 year old son (not during the play but as part of her character history that was referenced a few times). I really just did not see how that moved the plot forward in any way, shape or form and it just made her character seem trampy and weak. But again, that's a problem with the writing and not the acting.

So there you have it folks. My first bad review. I will sum it up by saying I'm glad I didn't pay to see this show, though (because I'm not good at being mean) I will add that I don't necessarily feel like I wasted hours of my life or anything that extreme. Tata dahlings.

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Funky Town

Hello from Minneapolis, MN, where I am on vacation until September 5th. This means I may be a little flaky about updating until September 6th or so, although hopefully you'll forgive me since I've faithfully posted 48 out of the 51 days that this blog has existed. But to make it up to you guys, I'm going to do one super-duper Minneapolis-themed post - well, that and because I never like to miss an opportunity to promote Minneapolis.

Minneapolis is, in my opinion, the most under-appreciated/underrated city in the United States. Everyone refers to the Midwest as the "fly over states," with maybe the exception of Chicago. Maybe. Otherwise it's New York and Los Angeles with nothing in between. And it's true that, besides the Mall of America (*gags*), we don't really have many blatant tourist attractions. But that's what's so great about the city. It's not a tourist trap (Mall of America isn't even technically in Minneapolis...).

First off, we have a really great arts scene. We have the reknowned Walker Art Center and Guthrie Theater (though they are no longer in the same building), among many other theaters and museums/galleries. We have the infamous First Avenue, which thank goodness didn't close a few years ago. Everyone who's anyone has played at First Avenue. Prince (or the artist formerly known as...) filmed Purple Rain there. We have Garison Keilor's "A Prairie Home Companion," upon which the movie was based. We have the largest Fringe festival in the country with 164 shows in 2006 (sorry I don't know the 2007 numbers, but I'm sure they weren't that different). We have tons of independent movie theaters and we are one of the few states with our own public radio (for the longest time when I moved to NY I thought NPR was New York Public Radio because I just assumed all states had their own public radio like we do) - in fact, we have multiple public radio stations and just a few years ago they came out with The Current, a public indie rock station which I highly recommend. They play a really great variety of old and new. And the song Funky Town? That song is about Minneapolis and the guy who wrote it is a MN native. That's right. Minneapolis is Funky Town.

In fact, lots of famous people come from MN: Bob Dylan, Jimmy Jam, Judy Garland, Prince, Al Franken, Josh Hartnett, Jason Behr, Garison Keilor, Sinclair Lewis, F. Scott Fitzgerald, August Wilson, Winona Rider, Charles Schultz (there are freaking Peanuts statues everywhere in the Twin Cities because they were painted by local artists and auctioned off for charity), Kirby Puckett, Mitch Hedberg, the Coen brothers, Terry Gilliam, T. R. Knight, David Hyde Pierce (well, he's not from Minnesota but he lived there for a while and worked at The Guthrie), Jessica Lange, Steve Zahn, The Hold Steady, The Honeydogs, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, Atmosphere, Tapes 'n' Tapes, The Trashmen, The Suburbs, Semisonic, and I'm sure there's even more that I don't know about.

A few years ago, we were named the top tech city by Popular Science magazine because of cool things like the skyways, the lightrail, the fact that you can use credit cards pretty much everywhere - including cabs (unlike stupid New York where you have to carry cash with you at all times for everything, especially if you need to take a cab), and the stop lights that change depending on traffic or for emergency vehicles (also unlike NY where it takes emergency vehicles forever to get anywhere because they get stuck in traffic). We have a pretty awesome Science Museum. Not to mention we are a very industrial city. Tons of huge companies are based out of Minneapolis - Best Buy, Target, 3M (that's right, the post-it was invented in MN), Aveda, General Mills, Pillsbury, Caribou Coffee (which is way better than Starbucks), Sun Country Airlines (who are awesome!), Northwest Airlines (who suck), Land O'Lakes, Magnetic Poetry (yup random), Old Dutch Foods and Xcel Energy.

We also have lots of pleasant nature. We are the "land of 10,000 lakes" and I live within walking distance of the "chain of lakes," which are a bunch of interconnected lakes in Minneapolis. They're really nice to bike around. And pretty much where ever you live in MN, you're not going to be too far from a lake.

Whenever I go home, I have a huge list of things I like to do (although it changes depending on the time of year). For this trip, the list is as follows:

~Walker Art Center
~The Guthrie (I doubt I'll make it there, but I still haven't seen the new building and now my friend Emilie works there so maybe I can get her to show me around)
~Salsa Dancing at Famous Dave's in Uptown (or Loring Pasta Bar if I wanted to go multiple times each week but I'm not that good so I don't)
~Minnesota State Fair (best state fair in the country. People from other states come to our state fair. I realize most of you big city folk won't understand this and will think it's quaint or dorky, but it's not a "small town" kind of thing. Practically everyone from MN goes to the state fair. And I mean everyone.)
~Minnesota Renaissance Festival (maybe... although I kind of doubt it. Everything's so overpriced and I am going to blow a lot of money on the state fair.)
~Caribou Coffee as often as possible since it doesn't exist in NY - I had one in the airport literally right after I picked up my bags.
~Convention Grill - a very very delicious 50s-style diner (best grilled triple decker-grilled cheese and milkshakes that I've ever had)
~Davanni's - their white pizza is the best pizza around, with no nutritional value whatsoever
~If it hadn't closed... Sydney's - one of my favorite restaurants (*tear*)
~Drive around the lakes or bike if it's warm enough (I actually really enjoy driving since I only get to do it a few weeks a year now... Especially when it's warm out and I can just roll my windows down and blast some music and cruise).

And now some songs by Minnesotan artists:

1999 [mp3] - Prince - "Prince: The Hits 1" (iTunes)

Funkytown [mp3] - Lipps, Inc. - "Funkytown (iTunes)

Somebody to Shove [mp3] - Soul Asylum - Grave Dancer's Union (iTunes)

Test Tube Kid [mp3] - Honeydogs - "10,000 Years" (iTunes)

Closing Time [mp3] - Semisonic - "Feeling Strangely Fine" (iTunes)

Can't Hardly Wait [mp3] - The Replacements - "Pleased to Meet Me" (iTunes)

Like a Rolling Stone [mp3] - Bob Dylan - "Highway 61 Revisited" (iTunes)

One Of A Kind [mp3] - Atmosphere - "God Loves Ugly" (iTunes)

Ok, and now my vacation officially begins. See you all after September 5th. Tata dahlings.

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Theme Thursday - Masochism

A few things before I get to Theme Thursday. 1. Photos and a detailed description of The Mp3 Experiment 4 are up on Improv Everywhere's site. 2. I got to see a preview (or well, my friend called it a preview but according to their website, the play runs August 8th to September 9th, so I'm not sure why she called it a preview) of Shakespeare in the Park's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" last night. It was very enjoyable, despite the slightly chilly weather (but hey, it's no more chilly than most of the air conditioned theaters). And it didn't rain, so that's good. The second half of the play is definitely way better than the first half, so don't leave at intermission (I overheard a guy at a restaurant later saying he left at intermission because he was cold and I told him he missed out). I literally laughed so hard I cried. My favorite part (and I think everyone's favorite part) was the play-within-the-play. The only thing I didn't like was how much music they incorporated, particularly at the very end when they ended it with a boring song instead of just the monologues. The music seemed unnatural. It didn't quite fit and a lot of those actors aren't singers, so it didn't even really sound that great. For the most part the acting was great, although I didn't like the way Mireille Enos overplayed the role of Hermia. I'd have to say my favorites were the workers-turned-actors (who put on the play-within-the-play toward the end). They were all such characters and cracked me up every time they did anything. A word of warning to you if you go though, you have to get in line for tickets (because they're free) by about 7am even though the box office doesn't open until 1pm. I tried to go to Romeo and Juliet but I got there at like 9:30am and was already way behind the cut-off point. Luckily I got these tickets through a friend, so there was no waiting in line involved (I love theater but I am not about to stand in line - or "on line" as New Yorkers like to say - for 6 or so hours). Anyway, now on to Theme Thursday.

Since nobody gave me any suggestions, and since I did sadism last week, I thought I would make this week's theme masochism. Music for Masochists? Yay aliteration. This one should be a lot easier. As I said before, a lot of songs about unrequited love have a certain masochistic undertone.

Let's start with a classic 90s pop song: Love Fool [mp3] - The Cardigans - "First Band on the Moon" (iTunes). This song and I have a sordid (and masochistic) history and so it was the first one I thought of. It's so catchy and upbeat, despite it's rather depressing premise. Maybe this song doesn't seem masochistic to everyone else, but staying with someone you know doesn't really love you is pretty masochistic in my book.

Another upbeat-sounding song: Again and Again [mp3] - The Bird and The Bee - "The Bird and The Bee" (iTunes). This song's masochistic undertones are more subtle. But the lyrics have that sense of repeating mistakes because you just can't help yourself and it hurts but you can't get enough of it. Lyrics: "You're so stupid and perfect and stupid and perfect. I hate you, I want you, I hate you, I hate you. Again, again, again." I'd say it fits.

Mama Mia [mp3] - ABBA - "ABBA Gold" (iTunes). This song is the epitome of that whole "not letting go when you really should" thing I have been describing this whole entry. This one's pretty upbeat too. Why are all masochistic songs so upbeat? Strange, right?

Kill! Kill! Kill! [mp3] - The Pierces - "Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge" (iTunes). I don't know if this song is so much masochistic as just about not being able to get over someone. But I'm totally obsessed with The Pierces and have been looking for a excuses to post about them again. Seriously people, "Thirteen Tales..." is definitely on my list for best albums of 2007. Listen to it. Love it.

My Man (Medley) [mp3] - Regina Spektor - "Live at Bull Moose" (iTunes unavailable). I'd say this one fits the theme best so far. "My man don't treat me right... but he loves me, he loves me, he really really loves me..." And hey, this one's not so upbeat either.

Ok, that's all for today. Leave theme ideas for next Theme Thursday! Tata dahlings.

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Mp3 Experiment 4

Yesterday I discovered, rather last minute, the Mp3 Experiment 4 and so I decided to go. I've always wanted to go to something "mysterious" like this. Created by Improv Everwhere, this is an annual event (different each year) in which you download an mp3 from their website and go to a specified location with specified things at a specified time and once you get there, you (and everyone else there for the same purpose) listen to the mp3 and follow the instructions.

Here were the directions for this mp3 experiment:
Date: Saturday, August 18
Location: The World Financial Center Plaza by the North Cove Yacht Harbor
Time: The event will begin at exactly 4:00 PM. Arrive early and remember to budget time for weekend subway service delays. The event will be over at 4:36.
Wear: A Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green t-shirt.
Bring: A watch with a second hand; a digital camera or camera phone (if you own one.)
Instructions:
1. Download the Mp3: Click Here to Download (you can listen to it if you want to see what you missed for those of you who didn't go).
2. Load the track onto your mp3 player (iPod, etc) or burn to a CD for use with a “Discman.”
3. Do not listen to the track.
4. On Saturday, wear a t-shirt that is one of the following colors: Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green. (I wore blue)
5. Pack a digital camera or camera phone, if you have one. Keep it stowed away until directed to use.
6. Bring a watch with a second hand (or use your cell phone if it displays seconds.) Before you leave, sync it up to this atomic clock. (I had no clock with seconds or even a watch I could sink up to the atomic clock, which became problematic).

7. Anytime before 4:00 PM, arrive at World Financial Center Plaza and find a seat. Sit anywhere one would normally sit - park bench, concrete seating area, steps, etc. Spread out and don’t sit too close to others who look like they might be a part of it.
8. At exactly 4:00 PM, press play.

Some of the highlights of the various things we were instructed to do were play twister on the tiles of the plaza, find and skip around the "German tourist," parade to a park giving strangers thumbs up and high fives (the people there who didn't know about the mp3 experiment were SO confused...), play human darts (form a dart board shape with our various colors and then yellow were the darts who had to push their way to the center) and played freeze tag.

It was silly and the basic point was to make a fool out of yourself and be ok with it since there were so many other people doing it too, but it's always nice to have an excuse to be a little silly and I had lots of fun and I'm so glad I went. It was such a beautiful day too, I was so happy to be outside. It was 70 and sunny, and there was a nice breeze since we were by the water. I spent the rest of the day walking around because I just couldn't stand being inside. And now some photos:

The parade of colors as we went from the harbor to the park area

We were instructed to photograph a person in blue standing next to person in red.

We were instructed to photograph as many people as possible with nobody in yellow in the picture. I almost did it but people were moving as I took the picture, so there's a sliver of a guy in yellow in the background.

There's no one in yellow in this picture, but there's not that many people in this picture either.

People chilling out afterwards.

Maybe I will post more pictures later, once they put some up of the various activities (I couldn't take pictures while engaging in most of the activities). I went and looked at the stuff they did in previous years, and I have to say the past years actually looked even more fun (they had more crazy characters and stuff), but it was still plenty of fun, and I will definitely go next year if I can.

Oh, and while I was on my way there I saw that fire on Liberty Street and tons of firetrucks racing for it. Craziness. Tata dahlings.

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Theme Thursday - Sadism

Today's theme is (drum roll please): songs for sadists. That has a good ring to it. Should be an album title. If I hadn't just changed my blog name, maybe I'd consider it. No, it wouldn't really fit with most of the stuff I post.

It's already kind of a song title: Songs for Sadists Without a Place to Sit Down, by Charles Bukowski from "70 Minutes in Hell." Too bad I can't find a working sample of the song to listen to anywhere, so I have no idea what this song actually sounds like...

The bands that came up when I Googled "songs for sadists" were unimpressive so I'm not going to put them on here. If you're that curious, you can Google them yourself.

But the point of this theme is not to find songs that have sadism in the title. The point is that some songs just have a sadistic nature. This is actually surprisingly hard. There are tons of songs about masochism out there (hell, every song about unrequited love but the person just can't stop loving them and keeps going back for more rejection has a hint of masochism in it), but not as many on the sadistic side - I suppose those are more controversial if you're talking about getting pleasure out of other people's pain.

Let's start with the song that inspired me to pick this theme -

Smile [mp3] - Lily Allen - "Alright, Still" (iTunes). Now, this jolly-sounding tune may not strike you as sadistic sounding, and it is a song about smiling and recovering from being dumped, but listen to the lyrics: "at first, when I see you cry, yeah, it makes me smile." Definitely a little sadistic. Or at least full of schadenfreude. So maybe our theme is sadism/ schadenfreude because sadism has that kinky sexual undertone, and I'm not sure how many songs I could/would want to find about that.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) [mp3] - Eurythmics - "Greatest Hits" (iTunes). I know I already used this song for the first Theme Thursday, but with lyrics like "some of them want to abuse you, some of them want to be abused," how could I not use this song? And it's a great song. It deserves to be used twice.

I Can't Decide [mp3] - Scissors Sisters - "Ta-Dah" (iTunes). Another song I've already posted... Damnit, I should've thought of this theme earlier so I wouldn't be reposting these songs for this theme. Oh well. Choice lyrics: "I could bury you alive but you might crawl out with a knife and kill me when I'm sleeping that's why I can't decide whether you should live or die..."

The Cell Block Tango [mp3] - Chicago, the Motion Picture Soundtrack (iTunes). Ah yes, a song every girl loves and every guy gets uncomfortable listening to. Very fitting. Very fitting indeed. "You know some guys just can't hold their arsenic." He definitely had it coming... *evil laugh*

Schadenfreude [mp3] - the original broadway cast of Avenue Q (iTunes). Yet another musical. Not my favorite number from Avenue Q, but still a good number nonetheless. And obviously it fits with the theme.

Enjoy. And, as always, feel free to leave me ideas for next week's Theme Thursday. Tata dahlings.

Give My Regards to Broadway

Tonight (or well, technically last night now) I went and saw Spring Awakening for the second time, only this time I had stage seats. That's right. I was sitting on the stage with the actors. It was so cool.

Those of you who know me know that I'm a huge theater geek - particularly musical theater. If I had any talent whatsoever and lacked a certain terror of being on stage, I would've pursued musical theater in a heart beat. So it was pretty cool to sit on the stage and feel like a part of the play and see the audience and see the goings on on the stage.

We were sitting way in the back, stage right, which is not so ideal for seeing the actors' faces when they're performing, but is very ideal for being right in the middle of the action. So much happened right in front of us (like the hilariousness that ensues with the piano teacher during The Bitch of Living). The chair next to me was empty, meaning that it was to be occupied by actors. 3 different actors sat next to me. One who's name I don't know because he was an understudy and I lost my slip of paper, and the other two were Gideon Glick (Ernst) and Jonathan B. Wright (Hanschen). I have a massive crush on Jonathan B. Wright and Hanschen is my favorite character, so I was giddy with excitement when he came and plopped down right next to me. I felt bad for him though because I think he was sick (he kept coughing and pulling out a handkerchief). It was cool to hear him sing so close. And at one point he started laughing at something and he snorted and it was so cute. Wow, I'm a dork. After the show, we waited briefly by the stage door and I did get a chance to get JBW's autograph. I told him he was my favorite and I think he's very talented. I thought that would go over better than "I have a huge crush on you..."

Anyway, so the first time I saw Spring Awakening in March, I was really far away. It was great because I got to see everything that was going on. But what was really cool about being so close was that I noticed so much more detail. Like the fact that Moritz is wearing Converse-like shoes. And during the upbeat intense songs, I could feel the stage shaking with their stomps. SO COOL. It was hard for me not to sing along, but I managed. Although, I have to say I think maybe I saw a little too much of Lea Michele (Wendla)... haha. Another cool thing was seeing the actors' faces when they were facing away from the audience and maybe sending each other various looks or kind of goofing around. It was rare, because they are aware of the audience on all sides and keep really good concentration, but every now and then you'd see them break character a little and get a glimpse of how much fun they, as an actor, were having. And to watch them watch the show - you'd think they wouldn't laugh anymore because they see the show every night, but they still do. That's how good it is :-).

Random - one of the first things I noticed on stage, and I kept almost laughing about it at first, is how much the actors - particularly Jonathan Groff (Malchior) - spit. With the lights hitting them at just the right angle, you could see every little droplet. And Jonathan Groff? Oh man, that guy is like a fountain. I don't know how even had that much saliva. It just never stopped. At least it means they're projecting though... Haha. I felt kinda bad for the audience in the very front row though at times.

One really cool moment was when all the little blue lights came floating down right before the sex scene and the platform rises up. That felt pretty magical to be on stage while that was happening. Like a fairytale. (Unfortunately you can't see the little blue lights in this picture). And another really cool moment: at the end, we got to see what a standing ovation in a Broadway theater looks like, which is not something I ever anticipated being able to say.

The downside of sitting on the stage (which is why I don't recommend it if you haven't already seen the show from the audience) is that it is really hard to see the actors' faces at times and sometimes the sound is not so great because you're right by the orchestra pit, so that can be overpowering. If you know the show though, you can pick out the vocal parts more easily because your ear will find them instinctively. But I have to say, one of my favorite moments - the scene with Hanschen and Ernst where they make out - was just not quite as good from where I was sitting. I mean, the making out part was awesome. I had a really good view for that. But when they start singing The Word of Your Body (Reprise), I love when Hanschen hands Ernst the microphone and then takes it away again and takes over Ernst's solo. Both of their faces were just so priceless in that scene when I saw it from the audience and I couldn't see their faces at all from where I was.

I have to say I was saddened by Lilli Cooper's (Martha) absence. She has a very strong voice. The girl who was her understudy was pretty good too, but it just wasn't quite the same. Luckily though, my three favorites were there: JBW (as I've already said), John Gallagher, Jr. (Moritz), and Lauren Pritchard (Ilse). Lauren Pritchard has pretty much one of the most amazing voices I've ever heard. It has this richness to it that just astounds me. And even though her character is minor in terms of actual plot time, she has a great deal of vocal solos, which is awesome. As you can see below, 2 of my 3 favorite songs from the show feature her. And as for John Gallagher, Jr., well, he won a Tony, so obviously he's great. But beyond that, he's also so nice. I have a bit of a crush on him too. Both times that I've gone and waited outside the stage door, he's always stayed the longest, signing everyone's everything and taking pictures - sometimes twice - with anyone who asks. And he thanks every single person so sincerely and talks to them and seems like he really is listening to what they are saying. Most of the cast seems pretty nice too though, and they're all extremely talented. So don't be outraged if I neglected one of your faves. They're all great!

So, in conclusion, it was an amazing experience. I'd like to go again, but you have to buy tickets so far in advance (I bought tickets for tonight back in May) that I'm not sure who would be in the cast at that point, so I dunno if I will. I would also like to see it from the audience once more. Maybe I will student rush it. Although I feel like there are so many other plays I should spend my money on that I haven't already seen (twice)... But it's just so good!

And now my three favorite songs from Spring Awakening (although it's so hard to pick! There are so many amazing songs!):

Touch Me [mp3]
Don't Do Sadness/Blue Wind [mp3]
The Song of Purple Summer [mp3]

I'm so giddy with excitement still that I don't think I'm going to sleep very well tonight. Tata dahlings.

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Music of the Night

I guess maybe I'm stressed out or something because I've had some crazy dreams/nightmares over the past few nights. On the plus side, I don't know if they were in my dreams or what, but I woke up with two really awesome songs stuck in my head.

The first, which is still stuck in my head (but that's a good thing) is It Bleeds by The Hard Lessons, from their EP "Wise up!" It's a really chill rock song. Since I've already written about them, I'm just gonna say another quick "check them out" because they're awesome. And now you have an mp3 to keep, because I know last time I didn't post any mp3s. I only said to go to their myspace and listen to some of their songs that haven't been released on disc yet, which you should still do by the way.

The second song that was stuck in my head when I woke up this morning is the total opposite of the first song. It's upbeat and poppy. Or, playful. That's a good word for it. It's Dirty Laundry, by Bitter:Sweet, from their album "The Mating Game." I love how the song is basically just like "I'm bad and it's more fun that way." I first heard Bitter:Sweet on The Current, and I thought they sounded familiar. It's because they've been used in the show "Grey's Anatomy," which I used to love (although not so much anymore). I really like the variety of sounds they use - mixing orchestral instruments (on top of the lovely strings that are in most of the songs, some songs have wind and brass instruments too) with electronic sounds. Some of their songs sound as if there's a full orchestra backing them up. My other playful favorites of theirs include The Mating Game and Salty Air. Most of their songs are playful but the ones that slow it down, like Moving Forward or Don't Forget to Breathe, are very relaxed, but still have a funky beat and are kind of echoey, which gives the songs an interesting sense of space. It kind of makes them feel slower than they actually are, but not in a bad way. Does that make any sense? Probably not. I need to work on that whole "putting my thoughts into words" thing. Haha. I guess what I'm kind of trying to say is that they have a very visual/cinematic feel to their music. They've been used on a lot of soundtracks, not just Grey's Anatomy. They are coming to NY on August 23rd... Maybe I will go see them.

It Bleeds (mp3) - The Hard Lessons ("Wise Up!" EP) - iTunes

Dirty Laundry (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes
The Mating Game (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes
Don't Forget To Breath (mp3) - Bitter:Sweet ("The Mating Game") - iTunes

In other quick news, I went to "Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind" last night. It's 30 (original) "plays" in one hour... if they can get through them all. It was great. I thought they would all be funny but some of them were really serious, so it was an interesting roller coaster of emotions to go through in one hour. The sudden serious play here or there was very sobering amongst all the hilarity. There were also a few very experimental moments. My favorite "plays" were the musical numbers (surprise surprise). There's lots of audience participation, but don't sit on the narrow side because you will get left out (there was one "play" - maybe I should start calling them sketches or skits or something - called "Communicable Dis-Ease" where they just went into the audience and played Telephone, but we were sitting on the wrong side, so we didn't get to play). They made it through almost all 30, with the exception of one that they couldn't remember half way through and one that the timer went off half way through. Each week they roll dice to see how many new plays they're going to be doing next week, so if you wait a few weeks in between shows, you will see a completely different show each time.

Ok, lunch time. Tata dahlings.

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