Crazytown

This Friday Greg says goodbye to Smash,

Geoff has final tour updates,

Rachel is talking Broadway commercials,

And Jaye thinks cancelling Happy Endings is some roof stoof. 

REQUIEM FOR “SMASH”

Or: More TV Shows About Live Theatre, Please.
By Gregory Jacobs-Roseman (Composer-Lyricist)

Well folks, it has happened. The long expected announcement has come: Smash is no more.

I have long been vocal in my support of the show. But I guess it simply couldn’t recover from its troubled first season. And whatever you may have thought about the show, it was employing a lot of artists in my industry who would not otherwise be employed, and for that I’m truly sad.

 

It got so much better this second season. I enjoyed the Hit List tunes as standalone pop songs. And The “Opening Night” episode for Bombshell was truly a thrill. Had the whole series been like that episode, I think they would have had something more lasting. The fact that the episode focused on real workplace drama -- for example, the real issues that arise between two musical theatre writing collaborators while working on a piece of theatre -- rather than love triangles or adoptions and the like was amazing. I really feel there’s an episodic television show in the business that we call show that Smash attempted to deliver on in its better moments.

If Happy Endings isn't picked up by USA I'm gonna hurt someone. I can't have another one of my stories cancelled this season.

So farewell to my beloved Smash. It was a brave experiment. I hope that our little industry of sweet lady theatre garners the eye of television again, and sometime soon.

GREGORY JACOBS-ROSEMAN is a composer/lyricist and theatrical sound designer. His musical Save The Date: A New Musical Wedding Comedy will premiere in the 2013 New York International Fringe Festival. www.gregjr.com
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

PLEASE WATCH HAPPY ENDINGS

The best show on television needs fans to save it. 

By Jaye Hunt (Happy Endings Promotional Team)

Happy Endings, one of my top 5 favorite TV shows of all time, has been cancelled. We all knew it was coming, but it's still some of the saddest news I've recieved in 2013. But there is still hope! USA has said that they may pick it up for another season, so I'm trying to convert as many people as possible to the cult that is this brilliant show so it will have a huge fanbase to keep it alive when it comes back. 

But Jaye, why should I watch Happy Endings?

Thanks for asking! 

MY LAST POST FROM THE BRAVE ENOUGH TOUR!

We're wrapping it up, folks.
By Geoffrey Kidwell (actor)

Hello my sweet little angel beagles.

Since the last time I updated you, I have been to Vancouver, Portland, Seattle, Eureka, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Ang gurrrrrl...I'm tired. But I look cute driving that bus. Let me tell you!!

That's me with the rest of the crew.

But alas, we are in our last week on The Brave Enough Tour.

Like all awesome things, this tour has flown by way too fast. It feels like only yesterday I was boarding the bus in beautiful Trenton, New Jersey, thinking to myself, "What the hell am I doing?"

I was scared - scared to do something I had never done before, scared to spend a month living on a bus with strangers, scared to leave my life in NY, scared I would fail.

But I went for it.

And, if I may say so, I'm really damn proud of myself. 

I've met all sorts of people:

1. Hippies in Portland
2. Brides-to-be in Milwaukee
3. Doctors in Boston
4. Fathers with their daughters in Philadelphia

All of these folks showed up to experience and be moved by Sara's music. I feel fortunate to have been able to witness, firsthand, the power of great art.

It's awesome.

COMMERCIAL BROADWAY

How do you sell live entertainment to a digital obsessed world?
By Rachel James (Treasurer/Writer) 

My roommate and I were watching TV the other night when the following commercial popped up:

 

We both had rather baffled looks on our face when it ended.  I saw this show in London last spring and absolutely loved it.  While I recognized certain scenes from the show, and I could hear “Revolting Children” playing in the background, it definitely did not convey the joy and heartbreak that makes Matilda so special (and a shoo-in for a bajillion Tony Awards).  And as my roommate said: “It looks like Spring Awakening and Wonderland had a baby.”

Totally Fucked

It got me thinking about television commercials for Broadway. As anyone who has ever tried to record a live performance knows, it’s very difficult to capture that “once in a lifetime” experience on screen.  The beauty of live theatre is that you, the audience member, are the camera.  You can point your lens at wherever you want and look at whomever or whatever you want.  

Therefore, I’ve decided to share with you some of my favorite television commercials for Broadway.

This Thursday, Melissa asks what is James Blake doing?

Leah experiences the kindness of a stranger...

Annissa continues her Bad Bitch series with Mindy Kaling...

and Erin has some city swimming dreams...

WHAT IS JAMES BLAKE DOING?

Genre-bending is so mainstream right now.
By Melissa Presti (Book Publisher) 

What is James Blake doing? Musically speaking, he's part of a weird experimental territory that cannot be easily defined. Infusing soul into electronic and R&B mash-ups is a one of a kind signature, and one that relies heavily upon his classically-trained piano skills and pitch-shifting vocals.

I had a limited knowledge of the boyish Brit when I agreed to see his show at Terminal 5 last week. What is James Blake doing? The eclectic crowd was feeling the vibe and went to church with this man - swaying, hands-raised praising, and crying throughout the entire set. He was simultaneously channeling Jesus Christ and flipping his hair like some kind of heartthrob hero. The man posts up at a station of keyboards and a laptop, grinds in his seat to the delight of everyone, and makes it all appear effortless and normal.

Blake's sophomore album Overgrown released in April and set the stage with the breakthrough single "Retrograde" exuding the omnipresent ache of solitude, and featuring the soul of his songwriting. From there, the album moves gently through seductive song textures that produce a range of tracks balanced on grit and tranquility. His music mixing isn't for everyone, and for the unfamiliar, "Retrograde" is the proper introduction.  

 

What is James Blake doing? This piano man is clearly in transition from a fixture among indie cult circles and quietly infiltrating mainstream approval, whatever "mainstream" is these days. He's tapped into a void, and an obvious American fanbase.

Among the fans worshipping every note, my experience was a continuous string of reactions to each musical shift in his setlist, to the crowd response, to the vibrations that rose from the floor to the tip of my nose.

I'm still half-confused and half-amazed at the unpredictable nature of Blake's highly conceptualized vision; it's dub without step, it's music without house, robotically repetitive, beautifully anamolous, and emotionally exploitative of all of my senses.

What is James Blake doing? Everything right, apparently.

 

MELISSA PRESTI works in book publishing at Penguin Group (USA). www.us.penguingroup.com
EMAIL HER |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

KINDNESS

Courtesy and thoughtfulness, even the simplest gesture of humanity, can make the whole world seem good again.
-By Leah Bonnema (Stand Up Comic) 

It was one of those days where everything was going wrong. I was running late to a spot because I'd spent obscene hours trying to get a claim processed through my insurance and as I darted down the subway stairs I remembered it was the day my weekly MTA pass expired. 

My train station no longer has an attendant so I walked up to the first of three machines to purchase a new MTA pass for the week. I soon found out that the vending machine was no longer accepting credit cards, debit cards OR bills. It was only accepting COINS. Now being that I did not have $30 in change on me I moved to the next machine. At this point I hear the loud speaker announce that my train was here, It's ok I tell myself There are more trains..

MINDY KALING IS BAD BITCH

Why Mindy Kaling is a wonderful role model and everyone should want to be like her when they grow up.
By Annissa Omran (Writer/College Student)

This is the second installment in the "Bad Bitch" series I started in March with an ode to the wonderful Angela Lansbury. This series puts the spotlight on women with great talent you might have forgotten about or overlooked. 

(This woman is my spirit animal ^[source])

If you, like me, are a fan of the show The Mindy Project, you might be wondering how Mindy Kaling meets the "forgotten or overlooked" criteria. On the show she's plays a sassy partner in a gynecological practice dealing with the highs and lows of love and life in New York city. And while her character might be navigating daily ups and downs, you as the viewer will always be left sideways. On the couch. Laughing hysterically while concerned friends and family members in other rooms yell at you to remember to breathe.

Ok, that might just be my personal experience.

But even so, The Mindy Project is some seriously underrated TV. I place series creator Mindy Kaling in the "forgotten or overlooked" category simply because I don't hear people talking about her and I think they SHOULD.

 I know that some people aren't sure how they feel about her humor. I was originally one of those people. But then I actually paid attention to her work and now I'm definitely a Kaling-convert. 

IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE

Brace yourselves: it's gonna be a scorcher
Erin Sjostrom (Actress) 

As a Californian, one of the most frustrating things about living in New York City is the inability to jump into a body of water at one's will. (Also on that list: the lack of city-distributed compost bins, but that's another post for another day, I guess.) 

As the temperature starts to creep up (and then slide back down… Is it May or not, Mother Nature?), my anxiety about my inability to submerge myself in water has grown. (My life-long wish is that we could actually swim in The Hudson. I know, I know…That's why it's a dream and not a goal.) That anxiety is only aided by the questionable state of The Rockaways, which has been my spiritual home for the last two summers. 

In an effort to alleviate said anxiety, I've brainstormed a few options for gettin' wet when the spirit moves you (without having to haul your ass to Long Island). 

10. Fancy-Pants Hotel Pools - If I just so happen to be walking down the street on one oppressively humid day and, lo and behold, encounter a crisp one hundred dollar bill laying there (oh good fortune!), begging me to pick it up, you had better believe that I would head straight to Le Parker Meridien. (Incidentally, does Le Parker Meridien make everyone else think of the Rosie O'Donnell show? "Le Parker Meridien - uptown, not uptight." Maybe I would bring a Koosh ball slingshot in her honor.) 

9. Friends with Rooftop Pools - I don't know anyone with a pool on the top of their building, but if I DID, they would be my BEST FRIEND for the summer. (Listen. I would bring things to the relationship, too, like… um…. I would DEFINITELY pick us up some People's Pops on my way over… Or, some wine coolers or something.) What I'm saying here is twofold: a. If you have a friend with a pool on top of their building, you had better use that to your advantage. AND b. if YOU have a pool on the roof of your building, what flavor People's Pops would you like?

8. Friends with Roof Access and a Blow-Up Pool - Listen. It doesn't have to be fancy. It just has to have water.