Fall Break Post-mortem

I haven't blogged in a while on here, and that's basically because I've been very busy with school. It's a good busy, though. Regardless, Fall Break was this past weekend and I was very happy to have a break. So what did I do?

I drove to New York City. Yes, you read that correctly. I got up in the morning and drove my car to Manhattan. That is an awesome ability I have. There was no airport visit. There was no security line. There was Cody, me, my iPod and my car. Oh, and also--there's a Sonic in-between Ithaca and NYC. Perfection.

Aside from getting to spend some time with wonderful friends I haven't seen in a while, we also got to see some theatre. Now, usually I'd be bummed that we only got to see three things, but there is not much on Broadway exciting me these days. Actually, the only thing that I actively wanted to see was Roundabout's new revival of "Bye Bye Birdie," but more on that later. We also got to see the new musicals "Memphis" and "The Toymaker," the latter being part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival for new works.

I knew almost nothing about "Memphis" going in, which is my preference these days. I knew the story had something to do with a white DJ and a black singer and had also heard that it was pretty bad. Now, I'm not going to tell you it was amazing, because it wasn't--but it WAS entertaining. The story takes place in 1950's Memphis (who would have guessed) and concerns a white DJ obsessed with black music and his efforts to play it on the radio. He particularly enjoys a singer named Felicia (played by Montego Glover, who has an incredible voice) and even falls in love with her. But wait--it's the 1950s! You can't do that! Two hours of fun music and scary racism later, we've all learned a little something and have been moved.

The problem here is this has been done before, and other musicals with the same plot points have managed to do it with considerably less triteness and saccharine. What you get here is a very bubble gum version of racism and race relations. The other problem is the music ranges from downright terrible ("She's My Sister") to just completely unremarkable. That doesn't mean the music isn't nice to listen to, but it's just not special or memorable at all.

Despite all this, if you can go without any expectations, you will have a good time. Despite all the above problems, I enjoyed myself and the only real complaint I had walking out was that the choreography never really sizzled for me (parts of it inappropriately looked like it belonged more in West Side Story). I'm totally happy I saw the show and I wouldn't recommend rushing out to see it yourself, but if you have the opportunity, I wouldn't turn it down.

"The Toymaker," was most remarkable to me because of its dynamic leading lady: Miss Abby C Smith. Some of you may not think the role of "Ensemble" qualifies as leading, but clearly you have never seen Abby in a show. But seriously, now--the show is very new and needs work, sure, but it had some very nice tunes. The story is about a holocaust-era toymaker who makes toys for the kids in his town and has made toys for his own children only to be devastated when they are lost before they're born. Years later, a modern-era childless woman starts finding these toys on eBay and goes searching for more, feeling a connection to this man's story. The show goes back and forth between both stories trying to create a lot of mystery and intrigue as the toy maker's story unfolds. Now, this was a world premiere show so one can only expect that the work is much development left, but I found the music mostly angsty which got a little taxing after 130 minutes. I also think the story could use some work. At the end, they kept talking about what the modern woman had done and how she had been so courageous and life-changing, but it didn't appear to me that she actually did anything. I also thought the premise of her becoming fascinated with the toy maker's life was very thin. Essentially, the problem was that there were lots of dots being connected throughout the show that really came out of nowhere. For example, in one song, the modern woman (Sarah) and her acquaintance (a Czech street kid she enlists to be her tour guide of sorts) sing about their deep friendship even though we, as the audience, haven't really seen that develop at all. Right after, she requests that she go to this particular meeting alone, as if apologizing for leaving him out. This is odd, considering she's done every meeting alone up to this point.

I don't know if this show is going to go anywhere, but the writer clearly has talent. A lot of the music was very pretty, and I think with some further workshop and development, one could get a nice musical out of it.

Now we move on to the show I really wanted to see. "Bye Bye Birdie" has the power to make anyone acquainted with High School musical theatre to run away or at least yawn. I don't blame them--I was once this way too. Then, I worked on an equally obnoxious production as the piano/conductor and was forced to listen to it every night for a while. My conclusion was that it's actually a very clever and funny show, but no one that I've seen perform it has gotten it. It's a satire, people! It's supposed to be stupid, not saccharine! And those movies don't help much either. You can't really satirize dumb 14 year olds when you cast mature sexy Ann Margaret. So, because of all of this, I was excited to see the show's first Broadway revival ever. I didn't know anything about Gina Gershon and I'd thought John Stamos was supposed to be good in "Nine" and "Cabaret," so I remained excited. I got even more excited when I saw that for ONCE in professional theatre they cast people as the kids that actually looked the ages they were supposed to play. Conrad (Nolan Gerard Funk from some Nickelodeon show) seemed a little too young, but I get it--it was as close to Zac Efron as they could afford. Excitement!

Then I saw the show and became embarrassed and enraged at the Roundabout theatre. Their production of "Bye Bye Birdie" was not only bad, it was so bad that I will probably never see a Roundabout production again unless it comes HIGHLY recommended from a friend who has seen it and whose opinion I trust. The set looked like a 60's stylized laboratory. The main pieces of the set were white and made of some Plexiglas looking material, and though the trucks with the other sets were more colorful, they all retained the bizarre Plexiglas composure. Did this designer not see "The Little Mermaid?" Plasticization is not a good choice, people! The costumes were no better, offering standard designs for the show but then coloring them in RIDICULOUS stylized colors, coordinated by family. And when I say coordinated by family, I don't mean each family had the same accent color. I mean that each family had one color and their costumes were all that color (the same shade even) and there was little else on their costumes. They looked like freaking citizens of Whoville.

Now lets talk about the performances. John Stamos had little to no character, little to no comic timing, and very little concept of good tuning. He was so flat at the beginning "Baby Talk to Me" that I seriously considering heckling him. However, he was like Renee Flemming compared to his co-star, Gina Gershon. Now, I understand stunt casting. It brings in money and hopefully the person is at least okay in the role. Gina Gershon isn't famous. I don't think there's a single person in the world who is seeing this production because she's in it, and if there is, they're probably the one devoted Gershon fan out there. This would all be fine if she was good in the role, but she's not. She can't sing. I don't mean her singing isn't the best--I mean she can't sing. Whenever she would complete a song the audience members around me would turn to their friends with faces of disgust because they couldn't believe that a theatre of any reputation would hire such a performer for a major singing role in a major musical. This might even be excuseable if she was acting the part really well or something, but she wasn't. I actually suspect that her voice was so bad as to be performance ruining even for a very good actress, but her non-singing performance as Rosie was mediocre at best, rendering the performance a complete failure in every way. Rounding out the "celebrity" cast (as we continue on our F-list tour) was Nolan Gerard Funk as Conrad. Yes, he's way too young. Yes, he looks far more Backstreet Boy than Elvis as Brantley put it. He actually has a pretty good voice, which was to be enjoyed with so much off-key nonsense going on elsewhere. Unfortunately he couldn't act his way through the scene work at all so it's hard to call him a bright spot. He was, however, immeasurably better than anyone else in the cast which is a sad remark on how much everyone else truly sucked. He also fell victim to some ridiculous and needless scenes of vulgarity in which the director apparantly found it appropriate to exploit his "hot bod" for no reason. For example, in the scene in which Conrad is supposed to come in for breakfast looking haggard and gross (despite having the teenagers of Sweet Apple still swooning over him, hence the joke), this production chose to have him come in with nothing on but tighty whiteys, showing off his chiseled pecs and abs. As per usual, he then pulls a beer out of the fridge and gulps it down, finishing with a burp. This production, though, had him drizzle the beer down his naked chest, after which he rubbed it into his stomach. Picture that for a second. Yes, that's right. It was "Bye Bye Birdie" and it looked like a scene from a freaking porn movie. RIDICULOUS.

But the non-celebrity performers were good, right? Nope. Allie Trimm was apparantly in "13" and now she's in "Bye Bye Birdie." She also clearly has no concept of comic timing or the role of Kim at all. She has a very weak voice and little to no personality in her role. In fact, the entire [VERY young] kids chorus was almost across the board terrible. Their singing was muddled and the dancing... well let's just say I can't even comment on the choreography because the performance of it was so sloppy.

Maybe casting actual youngsters as opposed to adults who look like youngsters was just a mistep. I'm sure the adult cast knew what they were doing. In all fairness, most of the adult cast was unnoticeable in a good way. Dee Hoty gave a fine if seeming apologetic at times performance as Mrs. MacAfee, but her husband, played by Bill Irwin, was bizarre. He was trying very hard, and I'll give him that. It just never worked for me. His hijinks and crazy voices never seemed to mesh with the production as a whole, which could be partially because everyone around him was performing like blabbering idiots. Unfortunatly, Mr. Irwin also falls into the "can't-sing-to-save-his-life" camp. It's not a singing role or anything, but his "Kids" was bizarre at best, and... well let's just say I wish he'd only mouthed "Hymn for a Sunday Evening."

All in all a terrible production that Roundabout should be ashamed to be accepting money for. Don't go see it. I spent only $20 on my ticket and it was far too much.

The trip, however, was in total a complete success. I'm glad to know now that I can drive to Manhattan with no problem, something I definitely plan to do a lot so I can see all the wonderful people who live there!

Overheard in the staff lunchroom...

From the lunchroom I chose to eat lunch in today, up here in New York State. On the East Coast, yes, but still...

Girl 1: Ya I tried to watch the NASA launch today but I didn't see it
Girl 2: Oh, they launched something today? From where?
Girl 1: Earth!

... it gets better ...

Girl 2: No, but like where on Earth?
Girl 1: Oh, I think Florida.
Girl 2: Well of COURSE you couldn't see it from Florida. That's really far away.
Girl 1: .....they were supposed to show it on TV but I missed it....


So glad I chose to eat lunch here today.

Andrew Lloyd Webber thinks he can improve The Wizard of Oz

Remember that "You're the One That I Want" reality show that cast the leads in the Broadway revival of "Grease!"?

Well, the idea for those shows started in Britain, where, apparently, its a much more successful venture. They've done it with "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", "The Sound of Music", and they're currently preparing to do it for a new revival of "The Wizard of Oz." I mean, everyone loves that movie and its a bonafide classic. I don't know about you, but I'd MUCH rather fork over $300 to see random people mimic the classic performances of Judy Garland and company, performances I could own on DVD and watch thousands of time for one easy payment of $20. That's just common sense.

But wait, there's more. Andrew Lloyd Webber, who was involved with all of these reality programs, has announced he's writing not one, not two, but six new songs for the revival. I can't even begin to explain how messed up this is. There is not anything that needs to be expanded in "The Wizard of Oz," and certainly nothing Webber, a pretty blah composer, is going to add to enhance it. He probably saw dollar signs out in the distance and jumped at the chance. After all, he is also working on a sequel to "Phantom of the Opera."

Seriously, Andrew--it's getting embarassing.

By the way, is it just me, or am I seeing something here...

 

Left: Andrew Lloyd Webber, composer of The Phantom of the Opera
Right: The Phantom of the Opera, as depicted in the 1925 silent film of the same name

..or maybe it's the other way around...

To fix the line breaks in Mac Word...

I don't know if everyone was having this problem, but since getting the new Mac Office on my computer, I was very aggrivated by the default setting for line breaking. It would put a space like

this every time I pressed "enter," instead of a space like
this as I expected and wanted.

Well, I figured out the problem, and here it is! You have to edit the default template. How do you do that, you say? Well, I'll tell you.

Go to open a file. Go to your home directory (it should be there on the left with an icon of a house next to it) and then click Library-->Application Support-->Microsoft-->Office-->User Templates. In this folder you'll find a file called Normal.docm. Open it! It'll bring up a blank Word document.

 

Next, click Format up at the top and then Paragraph.

 

See that thing that says "Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style"? Make sure the little check box next to it has a check in it. Click "OK" and then save your changes. DONE!

If you were like me, you'd now be jumping for joy.

Thoughts on Glee

It's not the worst thing I've ever seen, but... I just don't understand why this show is getting the buzz it's getting.

The lip syncing is really fake looking. It all looks fake, but there was even a scene in which two back-up-singing cheerleaders (one white, one black) were supposed to have the sound of at least three black girls. Isn't the show supposed to be about singing? Very odd choice.

Also, in general, it's just not that funny. They seem to be focusing on the dramatic aspects of the plot lines which is another incredibly odd choice to me.

Last, but not least, I don't understand why they think we are going to want to watch Matthew Morrison be married to a bitch for however long he is before he gets together with the guidance counselor.

Anyways... someone tell me what I'm missing and why this show is getting the buzz it's getting, because I'm lost.

Lightning Review: Official Book Club Selection

I'm only a couple of chapters into Kathy Griffin's new book/memoir, "Official Book Club Selection," but I can already recommend it! Not only is it funny (as can be expected), it's also pretty interesting. I wasn't aware of how memoir-y it was going to be, but I'm glad it's like that. The audio book is abridged, which kind of pisses me off, because I would really like to hear her reading these things, but I guess everyone has their cross to bear.

By the way--did you know she also has a new CD out? It's called "Suckin' it for the Holidays" and it's only available digitally. I haven't exactly listened to it yet, but I'm sure it'll be as good as her previous specials and CD. I think this release was a little haphazard and mainly an attempt to get another Grammy nod. Either way, I'm happy to have another hour and a half of Griffin hilarity for $9.99. Actually, it was free. God bless going away parties!

As for the rest of my life, I have been incredibly busy. It turns out that free graduate school comes with a lot of stuff to do. I'm not complaining, don't get me wrong. I am loving the program and my classes have been wonderful so far. I also love the experience I'm getting. I always thought I'd be a good assistant after reading The Devil Wears Prada, and now I'm putting my money where my mouth is, so to say. Although, the demands made of me are a little more normal and mundane then, say, obtaining the next Harry Potter novel prior to publication.

By the way, not that this has anything to do with anything, but if you haven't already done so, I suggest reading the transcript of the speech Obama gave to school children this morning. You can read it here. Now, let me tell you I am not a big Obama fan. I don't hate him, but I don't think he's Jesus or anything. However, I am BAFFLED by the controversy on this thing. The speech is FANTASTIC and for once in my life I agree with every word of it! Not only that, but I found myself reading it thinking my Dad, my very conservative Dad, would LOVE this. What are people freaking out about?

SlingCatcher

So one of the other unfortunate things about my Ithaca apartment is the only room wired for cable is the living room. Because I didn't feel like dealing with having another outlet put in, I decided to get a SlingCatcher, a device that lets you watch whatever you have connected to your Slingbox on a TV. I got it with trepidation, thinking it wouldn't work well and I'd have to take it back.

This was not the case! The video quality looks fantastic and I couldn't be happier with it. The remote works really well for everything I need it for, and if there's a not a button on the remote for something you need, you can press the options key and every other remote option for your device will come up on the screen.

Now I should say that I am using my SlingCatcher on a 4:3 tube projection TV output at 480i, so I'm sure it wouldn't look as good on, say, an HDTV or perhaps even a larger SD TV. However, alls I knows is that it's doing the job that I need it to do, and wonderfully to boot.

A word to the wise for those using or looking to use this with a TiVo: fast-forwarding and rewinding can be a little bit tricky as there is a delay in your remote command actually getting to the TiVo and streamed back to the SlingCatcher as it is being streamed over your home network. What I have figured out (and this has yet to fail me) is do two fast-forward clicks, and then when you see the program you're watching come back on, click play and then instant replay 4 times. Works like a charm.