ROCKY HORROR SHOW

I'm stoked.
To keep with the flow of the blog, I'm still in bare rehearsals. Yeah, they're good. Last night the cast started to really come together as a family, and I honestly couldn't be any prouder of who I'm working with. This cast is amazing. Come see the show!

Back to now. Alright, so today I'm headed to Summerville, SC to see the Flowertown Players perform The Rocky Horror Show. I. Can't. Wait. I don't think that they're gonna have grab bags since this is the staged version or because of that, we won't be able to do the shout outs. Well, we might do those anyway. Oh, and my outfit is amazing. My friends (who also used to work at Flowertown, Sydney and dody) also have fabulous outfits. It's in general, fabulousness.

As for broadway, opening last night was the revival of Finian's Rainbow. The St. James Theatre is proud to host this revival of a classic. Boy, I wish I could see it.

Happy Halloween!

P
C

I didn't think to look at the tags. Haha.

So maybe I should come up w/ some legit news instead of just playing catch up w/ Philip. Well, lets see. New shows to check out on Broadway: Burn the Floor, Fela, Memphis, Superior Dougnuts, Oleanna, Bye Bye Birdie (revival), Wishful Drinking (not sure how long ago this opened, but we'll put it in the "new" category). I haven't been keeping up w/ these very well, so maybe more info later?

Movie talk for Jesus Christ Superstar (remake), Wicked, and Les Mis. Casting should be interesting...

Scott Alan just had a concert in London starring a bunch of people from the West End [and Stephanie J. block]. If you haven't checked out Scott's music yet, head to ScottAlan.net. He's got two cds out so far with an incredible amount of awesome people singing on them [Julia Murney, Megan Hilty, Eden Espinosa, Kerry Elllis, Sutton Foster, Heidi Blickenstaff, Norm Lewis, etc.] He's also working on a musical called "Piece", but he told me he's more focused on getting out album no. 3 right now. :)

Jess

Blog Tag

Yeah the show's called, Bare: a Pop Opera, technically. Haven't you seen my tags for my posts, Jess?

Anyway, character is named Lucas.

Sounds like an awesome play! And maybe one day this blog will no longer be a message board!

P
C

Shows shows shows

Bare: A Pop Opera?

And my show is about a spy that ends up falling, unknowingly, for the man she's trying to track down. Lol.

real quick

I'm in a show called Bare. Character of Lucas.

What's your play about, Jess?

P
C

Jason

I'm really excited right now because a show that I wrote is a getting a reading next Wed. so I can work out kinks before I send it in for a theatre conference's contest. Doesn't that sound so official? A reading? hahaha. It's a bunch of my friends chillin for half an hour to read it, but I'm still excited. :)

Glad the run went well Philip! What are you in now?

Jess

[Love how communicate over our blog. Haha.]

Opening Night...Closing Night...Added Show (spoilers haha)

The production came and went, and I have to say that my first college show is one that I will never forget, and could not trade with for anything. The show, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, was a student-directed production for the 2009-2010 season at WU, and did I mention that it was AMAZING?!?!

It was so different and crazy to actually be in a show where I come in knowing absolutely no one, and leaving with the feeling that I have known these people forever. The cast truly felt like a family where everyone has their souls poured into this show to make it an amazing experience for every audience. And the audience agreed. A few minutes before places was called the night of our second run, our director, David Hutto, told the cast and crew how the Dean of the Department of Theatre and Dance was so impressed, he asked us to extend our run. So, we added a Saturday matinee performance to calm down the ticket sales.

It didn't help much as few people came to see the newly added run time, but every audience left with a smile, a tear, and a thought about what they just saw. Was Beethoven gay? Was CB gay? Was Matt jealous or was their something else? What happens to the kids now? Their lives have been thrown for a loop by the death of a dear friend, and no one got to say goodbye. Though, hope comes to all in a letter of hope written by Charles Schultz.

Using the peanuts gang for this show seems necessary as much as it seems that it isn't. Try to imagine the show without the peanuts and just using the same characters but in a generic fashion. The point doesn't come across as hard. This is because the peanuts gang is a group of kids everyone grows up with, be it the newspaper every Sunday, or watching the Christmas special on CBS. To see these genuine hearts be torn into pieces in one fell swoop is shocking but makes the message that this happens. This message is something that the director was trying to stress. That these issues are faced all the time, and even in what we think is purest, the peanuts, its still there.

On a happy note, we sold out 5 of the 6 performances, with many returning audience members. It just shows how impacting this show can be. Especially for the actors, themselves. It was the first time I had played as the antagonist for any show, and I really had fun with it. I hope I don't get type-casted as the average douche-bag from now on.

All in all, a show so good, words can't fully describe.

At least I'm in another show right now.

P
C

Love Never Dies

So, the sequal to Phantom of the Opera is opening in London and on Broadway soon. I'm gonna refrain from making any opinions about it for now.

Here's a music video from the upcoming show starring Sierra Boggess as Christine, and Ramin Karimloo as the phantom.

http://www.broadway.com/buzz/sneak-peek-love-never-dies/

N2N Lotto

Uh oh... Next to Normal... lotto? *Sense some uber-fans that are gonna be TICKED.* Up till now, n2n has had a rush policy. First come first serve. On average, to make sure you got a ticket for that night, you had to show up at about 5/6 in the morning with the box office opening at 10 or 12 (on Sundays.) Then all you had to do was chill in line for 5/6 hours and you were guarenteed a ticket (or up to two) for $30...(ish? I don't know the exact amount.) Now, n2n is instituting a lottery like Wicked, Jersey Boys, Shrek, and most tourist-oriented, bigger shows. Basically, for lotto, you show up at certain time (usually an hour and a half/two hours before curtain) and put your name in a drawing. A certain number of names are pulled and those people get to buy discounted tickets.

This, some are arguing, is more fair and more people will get to see the show, because some people simply can't make it that early/can't be there that long. However, a lot of fans that see the show on a regular basis by rushing are very upset. First of all, now you are no longer guarenteed a ticket, and second- the rush experience can be a really fun one. Meeting new broadway crazies willing to spend 6 hours in line for a ticket to that night's show.

Personally, I think it's a good idea. As more people learn about n2n and it's not just the secret most epic show on broadway that only broadway repeat offenders know about, lotto is more practical. Also, back row seats are available in advance for $40- only ten bucks more. The only thing sacrificed is the rush experience. Shame, but we'll just soldier through.

Jess

opening night...thrilling!

Tomorrow is finally opening night for me. The first opening night for a college production. I'm in Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead. Would blog about it, but I'm uber-Mctired. As such, I'm going to bed. Go see it!

P
C