Crazytown

This Tuesday,

Melissa orders Chinese and already wants seconds on New Years,

Brett has fun with celebrity names,

and Tony goes all fortune cookie in this week's MONKEY BUSINESS!

MONK HAY FAT CHOY!!!

When western approaches to medicine, religion, and diet don't quite cut the proverbial mustard, the monkey has turned to the east.  Never has this been more true than with astrology.  HAPPY YEAR OF THE BLACK WATER DRAGON!
MONKEY BUSINESS by Tony Asaro (Composer/Librettist)

I have friends that are Scorpios.  Their horoscopes always read like a trashy romance novel.  Being a capricorn, mine typically go something like this:

Little clouds of anxiety sail in your mind today, however, it is on you to control your feelings. On a professional front you will be left worrying on account of various matters that lower your productivity at work. You will be disappointed to find a disturbed atmosphere at home along with work. Maintain your cool and you will feel better. You are suggested to reschedule your important meetings for a comparatively favorable day. 

Gee, thanks…

See, Capricorns are described as "practical and prudent
, ambitious and disciplined
, patient and careful
, humorous and reserved, pessimistic and fatalistic
, miserly and grudging."  Oh, it's loads of fun.

But having been born in January in 1977, in Chinese astrology, I am a RED FIRE DRAGON!

FUN WITH CELEBRITY NAMES!

By Brett Ryback (Actor-Writer)

BRETT RYBACK wrote the music for Liberty Inn (Ovation Nominee, Best Music/Lyrics), the book music and lyrics for The Tavern Keeper’s Daughter, and the book for Darling. He also acts on stage and TV. www.btryback.wordpress.com
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

HAPPY NEW YEAR! AGAIN!

The Chinese will totally let you have New Years resolution do-overs.
By Melissa Presti (Book Publisher)

A couple weeks ago I found myself walking into a sketch apartment building in Chinatown, up a flight of stairs, and into a hidden karaoke bar where song choices did not extend beyond 1999. Which is why we were belting Boyz II Men’s On Bended Knee while video of a ballet dancer played in the background with doves flying in slow motion. Totally normal. Love the Chinese and their whacky establishments.

Which is why this past weekend I was back in Chinatown action for the 13^th Annual Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade and Festival. It’s the Year of the Dragon! Also the year where I bought my first party snappers to bomb the sidewalks, NYPD cars, my friend’s feet, and random children’s pathways. Nothing like a firecracker pop to jolt some joy into my day (I still have 2 boxes, watch yo back).

                     My box helpfully cautions DO NOT PUT IN MOUTH.

This Monday, RSO explains what being gay is with the help of the GOP...

Loren reveals the best way to speed up your creativity is... to slow down ...

And Gena wants you to Civil War her (part II).

BEING GAY IS...

By RSO

Being gay is...

Just like paganism!

Really all about eating da poo poo!

Obvious very similar to polygamy!

Flexible, and gay people can easily be talked out of getting married, and if they're liberal, are just angry at their fathers!

 
The cause of AIDS.  Well-- that, and fucking monkeys!

Totally undesirable; if liberals find the "gay gene," gay babies will be aborted!

 

Something you should just, ya know... stop.

RYAN SCOTT OLIVER wrote the music and lyrics for Darling, Mrs. Sharp, 35mm, Jasper in Deadland and is currently at work on Freaky Friday for Disney Theatricals. www.ryanscottoliver.com
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | YOUTUBE | FANSITE | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON CREATIVITY. NOW STOP.

Modern science is telling us what the mystics have been saying throughout the ages: if you want to tap more of your own creativity, slow down.
by Loren A. Roberts (guru of multi-hyphenate media)

In spite of all of the totally downer things about our specific time here on earth (wars, poverty, hatred, injustice, The Bachelor), I believe this is one of the most incredible times to be alive in all of human history. Why? Because scientific understanding is finally catching up with our bodies. I remember, back in the 60s and 70s, how different our simplistic discussions of things like genetics and cosmology and gravity and memory were from those same discussions today. In college, I took a bunch of cognitive science courses, because it fascinated me what was going on inside our own brains.

But we still don’t know that much. Sorry.

Now, scientists are getting much better at observing our brains, and the discoveries are both rather amazing and completely common sense.

Here are the scientific headlines from this past week that got me thinking about the creative process:

CIVIL WAR ME PART II

Gena revisits ancient history via Youtube...                                      By Gena Oppenheim

Recently I wrote about my experiences reenacting the Civil War for an ill-fated cable reality show. While the show never aired, a fellow contestant recently wrote to me that five minute edited clips were on Youtube. Of course I immediately went to observe.

In one clip what I found were not just ridiculously low-budget images of  “The Civil War. In. Action” (featuring a girl in a black tank-top, who might just be me, smiling uncomfortably as another contestant described the Confederate Army as “Rock & Roll")  but also that odd modern phenomenon that reality TV has introduced of having people you don’t know dissecting you when you are not there. In this case a member of the "Confederate team", when noting  the "Union team's" competition, stated in regards to moi: “You got the little girl from New York who’s so fragile she’s like a tulip!”   It's too bad they didn’t feature the clip where I learned to load an ancient rifle 30 seconds faster then all those Confederate boys. Booya! Enjoy…

 

GENA OPPENHEIM Gena is a fourth generation New Yorker who teaches second-grade in Brooklyn. She is a graduate of Barnard College and received her MFA from NYU Tisch's Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program. http://twitter.com/#!/genabeans

This Sunday, Steven Jamail hates American Idol...

and Shoshana Greenberg takes you through five hours of engrossing theater.

I HATE AMERICAN IDOL

By Steven Jamail (Composer and MD)

Or at least I’m told I should. Listen, I’ll join the chorus of folks that bemoan the idol take over of theater - or theater related television for that matter (though there certainly have been some inspired performances - think Fantastia). It also bumped up the use of pitchy in the vernacular - which is NOT OK. Then again, idol in so many ways is the definition of theater. Simon was never Broadway’s champion but he certainly served up plenty of drama that was often far better than what was happening on the stage. It also gave us Kelly Clarkson. She’s never graced a Broadway stage but if you’ve seen her live, you’ve seen some truly great theater. This is not from her new album (which is insanely good) but it's one of my favorite performances. I was in the audience for this and no video could really do it justice.

 

Steven Jamail is a Composer and Music Director in New York City. www.stevenjamail.com