St. Louis Muny Announces Summer Season

The St. Louis Muny's website reads as follows: "Although many stars have appeared on stage at The Muny, one essential truth has remained about the nation's oldest and largest outdoor theatre; its story is the story of St. Louis - and of St. Louisans. It is about the countless individuals who have contributed their time, money, and talent to make this magical place a truly unique American experience." "Muny" is short for the Municipal Opera Association of St. Louis, founded in 1914. It is the largest, outdoor ampitheatre in the country (seating 11,000 people). It produces seven shows each summer (prepared by a crew of 12 throughout the year.) Each show is given eleven days of rehearsal and a tech run before opening Monday and running through Sunday. This season shapes up as follows: Beauty and the Beast (June 21-27, additional performances through the 30) Titanic (July5-11) Damn Yankees (July 12-18) Cats (July 19-25) The Sound of Music (July 26-August 1) Footloose (August 2-8) Showboat (August 8-15) As an example of the star power on hand, Disney's Beauty and the Beast will be lead by James Clow (Assasins, Company, Wonderful Town) and Sarah Darling (Jersey Boys Nat. Tour), with Ken Page (Cats, Guys and Dolls, The Wiz) as Maurice, Leslie Denniston (Happy New Year, To Grandmother's House We Go) as Mrs. Potts, and Jeb Brown (Grease, Romantic Poetry) as Cogsworth. It's a dream season for a Pirate Queen fan as three members of that cast: Jeff McCarthy (as Rev. Moore in Footloose), William Youmans (as J. Bruce Ismay in Titanic), and Stephanie J. Block (as Grizabella in Cats) make Muny appearances. For a complete list of the announced casts, visit Playbill.com: http://www.playbill.com/news/article/138681-EXCLUSIVE-Muny-Season-to-Feature-Brown-Block-Hewitt-McCarthy-Hoty-Bell-Beach-Page And for tickets, the official website of the Muny: www.muny.com Jess

Billy Elliot in Chicago

Just got back from Chicago and had a fabulous time, even though it was raining and cold and being Chicago. I got to see Billy Elliot at the Oriental Theatre there, and heah are my adventures:

We got into the city, dropped mom at the pizza place, and dad and I set out to find a hard copy of something that Emily Skinner has recorded. Of course her duet albums with Alice Ripley were all out of print, but after an hour of running around, I miraculously found a hard copy of "Side Show." $10 at FYE. Then we had pizza and headed for the theatre.

We got mom situated at the theatre, and dad and I were going to walk over to Borders because the show wasn't starting for another 45 minutes. He goes, "Wait, Jess, we need to find the stage door." I love how trained he is. <3

The show had it's amazing points and... not so amazing points. Amazing points: Dancing. Obviously. The talent of the children in that show is incredible, as is the maturity and professionalism of them to take on and learn those roles, and to perform them everynight. Another thing I loved: the set. It's very economical. The set never changes- parts of it just twist around or exit. Very creative and it creates a world where metaphorical messages are possible through blocking. Not all space and time is literal and chronological throughout the show. Another obvious "amazing" aspect is Elton John's score. It is really beautiful music.

Not so amazing: first of all, sections were almost unintelligible because of the accents. I give the cast- especially the kids- props for being able to do it through the show, but, especially during chorus songs, it's very difficult to understand. Also- Michael, Billy's friend, is a cross dresser. At like... 12. No. And just a pointer- if you're going to make a big deal out of "expressing yourself" do it in a non-ridiculous way, say, leaving out the supersized, dancing wardrobe pieces: dresses, pants, etc.

There were touching moments, unintelligible moments, intense moments, ridiculous moments... quite a mixed bag. I was not thrilled with the ending, however. About half way through act 2 I thought, "Please don't be one of those 'we're not going to solve the problem, just sing a song about banding together and overcoming it in some vague way in the vague future' endings." Of course it was. But overall it was a thoughtful piece of theatre with enormous talent driving it. Dad summed it up: "It was ok. Didn't blow me away like anything we saw in New York." Dear Tonys, 9to5NexttoNormal whathappened? Love, Jessica.

Stage door: The set up was really casual. Most of the kids were just ducking under the "barricade" to get to their parents. Not too many fans. Two mini stories. 1) I was standing, talking with my father, waiting for Emily to come out, and Elijah Barker, who played the "little boy"- couldn't have been more than 6 or 7, came over to us. I didn't see him, so he said (politely), "Excuse me?" And held out his hands for my playbill and sharpie. SO CUTE. 2) Emily came out and totally skipped the "barricade", talking on her cell phone. Well, I had just run around Chicago to find a freaking hard copy of Side Show and was not leaving without it signed. Naturally, I followed her like a fan girl. (No one else recognized her/followed.) I asked her to sign my CD and playbill when she got off the phone. She did quickly and went, "Glad you liked the show, bye!" And ran off before I could ask for a picture. Haha- ah well. We had to get back to mother who had been kicked out of a coffee shop because apparently everything in Chicago closes at around 9 or 10?

Anyway, good trip, good show. Fun stuff.

Latah,

Jess

Erin Wilson on Touring With Wicked, Greenville, and Mishaps During the Show

Erin Wilson is currently performing on the 2nd national tour of Wicked in the ensemble and as an understudy for Madame Morrible. Regionally, she had done great shows like Grease (as Cha-Cha) and West Side Story (as Velma.) She answered a few questions for us on what life is like on tour and her theatrical journey so far. -When did you know you wanted to pursue acting? What training did you recieve? I was always a performer. Seriously, I'm pretty sure I came singing and dancing out of the womb! I started dancing at age 3 and never stopped training. I started singing in church and when I would play the piano and knew I had a knack for it which eventually led to finding good vocal teachers. I started acting in high school and received my BFA from BYU in Acting and Musical Theater. I have always searched for classes, teachers and training that helped me to grow and stretch myself beyond what I ever could have imagined as a kid who knew she wanted to be on Broadway. -What was the audition process like for Wicked? How many times did you have to audition/go to a callback? I went to an open equity dance call and Wayne Cilento [choreographer of Wicked] happened to be there. I made it past a few rounds and eventually was asked to sing. This is the ONLY audition I have ever not brought my audition book to {I was pretty sure I would get cut} and when they asked me to stay and sing I was freaking out. Luckily my friend was also kept and she SO kindly let me use her book. I flipped through the songs and realized the only song I knew well enough was "What I Did For Love" from A Chorus Line {coincidentally a show in which Wayne was an original cast member} and kind of nailed it. PURE LUCK and adrenaline because this isn't a song I sing, just one I know! This began my auditioning for Wicked--I was asked back later 2 more times to sing/dance/read for casting and creatives and finally booked it. -What is your favorite and least favorite thing about touring? My favorite thing is the first day in a new theater. So fresh, so exhilarating. My least favorite thing is packing and not getting to have a printer, a kitchen aid mixer, and a sewing machine at my disposal :) -Reaching back a little bit, what did you think of Greenville and what did find to do here? (I love this question. According to Carmen Cusack, we have good spas? ) Yes, you have a great spa right next to the Westin {can't recall the name right now}. You have a a great little downtown area with lots of fun shops and restaurants. I shared many meals at the Underground Coffee Shop and that fresh Mexican place. I thought the weather was beautiful, except when there was an ice storm! No one liked that!! -Can you recall any funny mishaps during your run? Machinery malfunctions, funny adlibs? Oh wow...well, the other day I was standing on stage to start the show and felt something at my feet. I looked down and my skirt had fallen off. I had a different costume underneath and had to run off and try to get it back on quickly. I missed a bit of the number but not too much. We had a roach fly onto the stage once. Let's just say I took care of it :) I don't really recall any funny adlibs, but I do remember the day that our old Fiyero mixed up his lyrics in Dancing Through Life. It worked out, it just made us giggle through the number. -What are some cool details about the sets, props, or costumes that people should look out for or know about? The costumes are INCREDIBLE. I mean, if you could see them up close you could see all of the gorgeous detail. One of my favorite costumes is the pirate-esque Emerald City costume worn by a male dancer swing. If you see it you'll know that a swing is on and get to see the brilliance of it! Elphaba's No Good Deed dress looks black from the audience but is actually woven with lots of gorgeous color. It is one of the most exquisite costumes in the show. All of our books we use in [What is This Feeling?] and [Dancing Through Life] are written in German. We have no idea what they say but during rehearsal and tech when we would have down time we had a competition to see who could find the longest word. I think I found a word with 36 letters in it. -What made you decide to start your blog? I actually started my blog as an outlet from auditioning. I was in kind of a limbo state with my career and needed something else to focus a few hours a day on that didn't have anything to do with musical theater or getting a job. It continues to be a wonderful creative outlet for me and a great place to journal my life and experiences I am now having on tour. -Finally, if you could dreamcast and star in a show of your choice, which show would you pick and who would you cast? Oh wow...that's hard! I would first want it to originate a role and build it from the ground up with a brilliant director like Joe Mantello or Des McAnuff. Such respect for them. Then I would want to cast it with my brilliant friends and colleagues who would kill it nightly. But I would like to play Fanny Brice {Funny Girl}, Mama Rose{Gypsy}, Lucille Frank {Parade}, Cathy {Last 5 Years}, Mrs. Lovett {Sweeny Todd} and a whole slew of other roles. Thanks for answering our questions, Erin! Check out Erin's blog here: http://www.erin-wilson.blogspot.com/ and go catch her in the 2nd national tour of Wicked, schedule here: www.wickedthemusical.com/page.php#WickedCitiesonTour

Chocolate or Peanut Butter?

chocolate. duh.

Ask me anything

formspring.me

questions! they calls us! http://formspring.me/philiplouis

formspring.me

ask me a question, my hookers! http://formspring.me/philiplouis

LADY GaGa is Too Fabulous For You Anyway...

Being a theatre lover herself, I felt like the mistress of GaGa deserves a post for what just happened.

A few minutes ago, Lady GaGa was up for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year...which she didn't win.

It was Taylor Swift. Not good.

Yes, Swift's songs are damn catchy when you listen to them, but who is the artist in that category to actually bring the originality of dance music to the forefront of pop, and have 5 #1 singles alone in their first year alone? Lady GaGa was a songwriter for many artists before she went solo, which made her very popular, very fast. Her songs are the songs are the songs of our generation, something we can hold on to, and dance while we're at it. Not to mention how she is able to morph all her songs with her piano performances, and bring such originality and talent to every part of her performances that she always has a huge part in creating.

Lady is a singer, songwriter, musician, theatrical performer, fashion designer, pioneer. Why not show her some recognition for it?

P
C