Crazytown

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.

HATERS GONNA HATE

In defense of new musical theatre composers.
By Michael Kras (Actor/Playwright/Director)

 

I am a huge supporter and advocate of new musical theatre. It is my firm belief that the future is in more than good hands, as long as said future has the support and back-up it needs. How do I support these new composers? I buy their albums, I pimp their work on my Facebook and Twitter to encourage people to check it all out, and I'm always looking for the latest and greatest. It's a win-win... I get to hear great new music, and I make a small but important contribution to said composers for them to continue doing their thing.

That said, I hate reading reviews on these new works by young up-and-comers. Why? Because, in so many cases, I find them just plain unfair.

So many old, jaded critics out there seem to love preying on fresh meat. They're so set in the golden age of musicals and they seem to approach new works with negative prejudice. Of course, I'm generalizing, but it's something I see enough that I think it's worth discussing. A lot of these critics tend to complain about the same basic things. I'll list a few of them, and then explain why each one is total bullshit.

HOW I MET A TONY NOMINEE

With the release of the Original Cast Recording of DOGFIGHT this week, I'm reminded of when I first decided I wanted to write for Musical Theater...

by Alexander Sage Oyen (Composer/Lyricist)

I started writing songs when I was twelve. I wanted to be John Mayer (and, yeah, I still kind of want to be John Mayer… maybe more like Ben Folds now) and I wanted to write pop tunes.

Actually, when I was twelve I was on a reality television show on VH1 called In Search of the Partridge Family.  It was a show about casting a show based on the fun 70’s show, The Partridge Family, which starred David Cassidy and Danny Bonaducci.  I got 3^rd for the role of Danny.

(Also...Emma Stone was on the show and she’s the coolest ever.  I’d give you video content, but I will never let the video content be released). 

My parents both come from a theatre background and I remember, after I lost on Partridge Family, being in the car with my father and him saying, “Why don’t you audition for a show? That could be fun!” My reply was sassy and curt- “Why would I ever do theatre? That’s lame.”

Well… fast forward five years. I’m seventeen now, and I’m in my junior year of high school. For the past three years I’ve been in the theatre division of my high school’s performing arts magnet program. Oh, how the tables had turned. And I had just started writing musicals. I had gone from a chump who thought that theatre had no business in my life to a chump who thought he had something to say about theatre.

That’s when I found some bootlegged demos from a new musical that had just opened and closed on Broadway.  The show was called GLORY DAYS  (Also, this was in the days of Myspace music pages and that’s where I found the stuff. I actually miss Myspace music. Or like… not really). GLORY DAYS is a wonderful show written by James Gardiner and Nick Blaemire about four high school friends who come back to find that not everything is exactly how they left it.  The score is so wonderful and so damn catchy.  I decided that I had to contact Nick, the composer/lyricist, and make him hear my stuff...

BROADWAY ALL STARS

By Rob Shapiro (musical theatre writer)

 With awards season in full swing, I’ve been thinking how Broadway is represented on the national level. Musicals have been getting more attention in the past few years in television (Glee and Smash) and film (Les Miserables, and the upcoming Into the Woods and The Last Five Years) and Hollywood continues to make adaptations of plays (Doubt, Frost/Nixon, Rabbit Hole and God of Carnage). However, Broadway stage productions only have the Tony Awards - one 3-hour block of time on the major networks in which to cram in a season's worth of entertainment, highlights and honors. 

I love the Tony Awards.  But the Tony Awards only captures a small segment of the Broadway season (not to mention off-Broadway). There are many events throughout the year that celebrates Broadway - Broadway on Broadway, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Easter Bonnet Competition and other Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids events.  Here's a great example of what Broadway can do: 

How awesome was that?!  Why can't we have more of that?

MORE TONY TALK

The Tony nominations are anounced tomorrow... here's a few more words from some crazy Broadway Queens...

by David Davila (playwright / songwriter)

Last week I shared some really terrible videos I made with two friends at 4am. Here are a few more. 

We were VERY messy... and it should be noted that the Tony committee has met since we filmed these and it has been ruled that the four Matildas are NOT eligible for Tony awards.

 

BEST MUSICAL

TONY TALK

Three drunk gay guys try to predict the Tony nominations... It's just like THE VIEW, but a lot more messy!

by David Davila (playwright / songwriter)

[Barbara Walters voice] I had an idea for a show... a bunch of gay guys sit around and talk about the Tony Awards. I call it TONY TALK.

Seriously though, I've been wanting to do a dumb talk show about the Tony Awards for several years now. Finally two friends and I were drunk enough, after a long night of celebrating a successful fundraising event, to pull out the webcam at four in the morning and start talking. There was a lot of vodka and pizza involved in this shoot. It was grueling.

What you are about to see are the drunken ramblings of a few queens who saw EVERYTHING on Broadway this season! ENJOY!

 

SEASON REVIEW: Drag Queens & Children

  

 BEST MIXING, BOOK, & ORCHESTRATIONS

INSTANT REPLAY

My favourite musical moments from amazing cast albums.
By Michael Kras (Actor/Playwright/Director)

We all have them. Those moments on ANY music album that just make us go 'Damn!' and have us reaching for the replay button. Oftentimes, they're over and done in like a second and we sit there compulsively going back and relistening dozens of times. Whether it's an eargasm-inducing high note, or wow-worthy orchestrations, I have my share of these moments. And thus, I present to you a few of my favourites.

The opening piano and strings of 'The Beauty Is' from The Light in the Piazza

This is one of my favourite songs from Adam Guettel's score for Piazza, but the thing about it that has given it such replay value for me is the opening few seconds. It starts with a great Guettel-esque piano melody and the strings get added on top of that, making for pure ear-candy. Give it a listen!

 

MARCH MUSICAL MADNESS

By Rob Shapiro (musical theatre writer)

If you follow sports, you know that the bracket for NCAA college basketball was released this week.  But since you're reading this blog, then you don't follow sports.  So here's the bracket for you!

ROB SHAPIRO is a musical theatre writer living in Brooklyn. www. thatrobshapiro.com
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IF I WERE A TONY VOTER: THE OTHER PLACE

Suddenly I found myself with nothing to do on Tuesday night... THANK THE LORD that I wandered by MTC and saw that THE OTHER PLACE was closing this Sunday...

by David Davila (playwright/songwriter)

Thankfully they sold me a rush ticket just in time for the show to begin at 7pm. I was out of the theatre by 8:30... but I was stuck in THE OTHER PLACE the rest of the night.

The other place, in the world of the play, is a summer home a family of doctors own on Cape Cod, but it represents so much more. The other place is a place full of terrible memories that they do not want to accept. I can't tell you anything more about the play without giving away the big twist, but I can tell you that I'm hoping that this play transfers to one of the seven empty theatres on Broadway this season.

It's closing at the Samuel Friedman Theater because another show opens soon. Manhattan Theater Club always schedules limited runs, though last year they transfered the hit play VENUS IN FUR to another theatre after its many extensions ended.

There is a VERY good chance that THE OTHER PLACE could take home several Tony awards in June. I have no doubt in my mind that the brilliant Emmy winning, Laurie Metcalf will finally win a Tony. There's a great chance that my favorite director, Joe Mantello could win another statue as well. In fact, unless something more amazing opens in the next two months THE OTHER PLACE has a great shot at winning BEST PLAY.

I haven't heard any buzz about any other plays opening this season so I'm having a hard time imagining something better opening in the next two months.

Do yourself a favor and RUN to see THE OTHER PLACE before it closes this Sunday. RUN. RUN. RUN!

DAVID DAVILA  is the guy behind those 52 SONGS concerts, and half of the song-writing duo Havrilla & Davila, author of the Tex-Mex plays ADAN Y JULIO, MEN OF GOD, CREDO, REQUERDOS OF MY LIFE, and AZTEC PIRATES AND THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE ON MARS. He is a self proclaimed Voxist, a Diva enthusiast, and founder of Lone Star Theatre Co. Wanna talk about it? www.daviddavila.net
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDY PATINKIN

A look at his theatrical roles.
By Gregory Jacobs-Roseman (Composer-Lyricist) 

I’ve recently begun watching Homeland, which before I referred to as “that show with Claire Danes that won all the Emmys.” As I often do with a show I’m getting into, I went to Wikipedia to research it a little. And as is often the way with Wikipedia, I jumped from link to link, until I landed on Homeland co-star Mandy Patinkin’s page and saw that today is the star of stage and screen’s 60th birthday! I’ve always loved Mr. Patikin’s work. While most people are first introduced to him in The Princess Bride, I first knew him as Georges Seurat in Sunday in the Park with George. Let’s take a look at his musical performances.

First things first:

Evita at the 1980 Tony Awards.

Now I’m no Lloyd Webber fan, but there’s something close to my heart about Evita. Possibly because it was the last show I did before moving away to college. As a dancer. Yeah, that’s right. I was cast in the dance ensemble of Evita, and if you know me well enough, you know that I don’t belong within 12 city blocks of a dance ensemble.

"The Day Off" from Sunday.

You may be wondering why this is the clip from Sunday that I chose. I chose it because it highlights what Mandy Patinkin does so amazingly onstage. That manic back and forth between the dogs is a stroke of genius. Sondheim writes in “Look, I Made A Hat” that he originally wanted George to use a vocoder to differentiate the voices for the dogs, but Patinkin said it wasn’t necessary then acted out 6 different dog voices for him, and that’s how the number came to be.

"Buddy's Blues"

This is from Follies in Concert. Patinkin is just a natural vaudevillian. I performed this song for a recital in college, and man does it take a lot out of you. Any actor who attempts it has got to have stamina.