Improving Wednesdays

There are a number of reasons I subscribe to The Washington Post (e.g., I worked on my college newspaper so have a soft spot for newspapers, someone has to support the people who are actually out there reporting, and so on), but even without those other reasons, I'd subscribe because the Post is what gets me through Wednesdays.

Oh, Wednesdays. It's the perfect storm. There's a new Carolyn Hax column, so I can peruse the comments. And then, the chats. WashingtonPost.com hosts multiple chats every day, most of which are weekly. And Wednesday is full of good ones: Tom Sietsema, the food critic. The Reliable Sources ladies for gossip. Monica Hesse, about Internet diversions. And, this spring, Liz and Jen dissecting the previous night's Lost. It's brilliant.

I tend to have one of those open throughout the afternoon, and I'll read a couple of questions every now and then as a distraction from work. It's a great way to take a momentary break from work.

Even if I decided to stop actually reading the paper, I'd still fork my money over just for the relief WaPo.com brings me on Wednesdays. It makes Hump Day a lot easier to get through. And you can't put a price on that.

Largest, gayest young adult fiction contest EVER*!

I don’t read a ton of young adult fiction, and when I do, it’s usually by Meg Cabot. (I did give up on the Princess Diaries series somewhere in the middle, though.) So when I received a book by two “superstar authors”—John Green and David Levithan—it wasn’t a huge shock that I hadn’t heard of either of them. (Levithan, it turns out, co-wrote Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist, the movie adaptation of which is in my Netflix queue, along with every other movie ever made. Seriously, my Netflix queue is its own infinite playlist.)

So I read the book with pretty much no expectations. And wound up really, really enjoying the book.

It’s the story of two high schoolers named Will Grayson who live nearish Chicago. It’s about their romances, their friendships, and Tiny Cooper, “the world’s largest person who is really, really gay and also the world’s gayest person who is really, really large.” And about the gayest musical ever, which is possibly also the most fabulous production ever put on by a high school.

The thing that impressed me the most about the book is how much I could relate to it. I wasn’t terribly fond of one of the Wills—too angry for me, really—but it all just felt incredibly real. There’s so much that the Wills deal with that I can remember all too vividly; some of it is stuff that I still deal with. And the character all were well fleshed-out; even the minor characters were fully formed. Angst of teen romance? Feeling unappreciated by friends? Thinking the best way to get through life is to shut up and keep your head down? It's in there.

Which is not to say that the book is perfect, of course. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending. I can’t tell if the focus is in the right place, and I keep veering back and forth on it. Plus, I realize that Schrodinger’s cat is not an uncommon experiment brought up in popular culture…but it’s not THAT popular. The way it was used in a storyline made me think of it on The Big Bang Theory. It made sense in both places, sure, but me thinking about Penny and Leonard brought me out of this story a bit.

I do highly recommend this book—the characterizations are spot on. And honestly, it really is all worth it for the big gay play. For which I want to see a whole script and hear the songs.

As I mentioned above, I received a copy of this…from the book’s publicists. Want to read Will Grayson, Will Grayson? Leave a comment below and I’ll randomly choose someone to get the copy I was sent. Contest ends 11:59 PM on Sunday, April 4.

*On this blog, at least.

And the winner is...Steve!

When worlds clash

In general, I don't like covers of songs I like. Sure, there are exceptions, but most of them? No. And covers of Beatles songs? That is just wrong, my friend. Seriously, there is no reason anyone other than the Beatles themselves should be performing Beatles songs. It's not like someone else is going to make the song better.

Naturally, I was conflicted to see this Glee promo:



I love Glee. I love the Beatles. I was already not fond of their version of "Imagine." I have similar concerns about the upcoming Madonna episode. I just need to accept that it's OK for me to not enjoy every song they do. I mean, there are songs on the CDs that I regularly skip.

(Hence my "Best of Season 1, Part 1" CD.)

Dark comedy and DARK comedy

I've recently seen Little Shop of Horrors (at Ford's Theatre) and Sweeney Todd (at the Signature). Both were quite good, and I got to think how both are dark comedies...only Little Shop has more of an emphasis on "comedy" and Sweeney is definitely more on the "dark."

Little Shop was really quite good. Plus Audrey and Seymour were played by Jenna Coker-Jones and Christopher Kale Jones, who are married in real life, which makes it super cute. (Also, they made these fun videos about preparing for the show--Road to Skid Row One and Two.) It also had my girl crush Felicia Curry; seriously, I love her. She's so, so talented and is cute as a little button. And the dentist? Evan Casey, who I raved about as Mordred in Camelot earlier this year. He also rocked this.

The stage version of Little Shop is quite different from the movie version with Rick Moranis and Steve Martin and Ellen Greene. Of the 18 songs in the stage version, there are maybe 9 or 10 that I remember from the movie. (Admittedly, it's been a long time since I've seen the movie.) And the stage version is much darker--there's a lot more death. Though some of those deaths--the more moving ones, even--are played for laughs. It was almost confusing.

Credit to Jenna Coker-Jones. In the early part of the show, I felt like she was too much trying to imitate Ellen Greene's voice, but that faded by the end of the night. I'm not sure whether that was intentional or I just got used to it, but she was fabulous. They all were, honestly. It really is a fun show.

Sweeney Todd is NOT a fun show. I absolutely loved it. But it also totally freaked me out. Edward Gero's Sweeney had a tendency to stare out into the audience and it was like he was looking right at me and I kind of wanted to run away. I was sitting in the back row of the audience, in front of a passage that actors use to make certain entrances; at times I could hear them walking behind me and I was totally on edge. But in a good way.

Gregory Maheu was Anthony--and let me take a moment here on the name "Anthony." I had a flatmate when I studied in England named Anthony, and it's pronounced almost "Antony", but not quite. They did the same thing here. I could never quite get the sound right, so always misprounced it. Sorry!--and he was absolutely adorable. Seriously, he looks like Jude Law. He also could sing and act well.

My main problem, acting-wise, with the show was the Judge, played by Chris Van Cleave. There's a scene where he sings "Johanna" and is literally whipping himself for impure thoughts and it just did not work. I never felt that he was worked up to the point that whipping would be necessary. He was good in other parts--the "Pretty Women" duet with Sweeney was great--but that early misstep bothered me throughout the night.

I also want to compliment Sam Ludwig's Toby. I'm not sure why his hair had to be all weird, but it was a great performance. Sherri Edelman's Mrs. Lovett was also great.

I'd be more specific, but it's been a month since the show. I do highly recommend it--really, ignore the Post's review. Totally off the mark.

Edit. The Post just reviewed Little Shop. Ignore that review, too.

It's really not all about fashion...thankfully

I’m not big into fashion. (If you saw the way I normally dress, this would be readily apparent.) I’m not even that interested in celebrity fashion. Sure, I’ll look at the “Best Dressed” list for the Oscars and whatnot, but I don’t watch all the red carpet stuff.

Yet I am addicted to Go Fug Yourself. Less for the fashion, more for their awesome commentary. And for the fact that they have George Clooney as an intern. (I now exclusively think of him as “Intern George.”) I love the descriptions of soap opera plots and memories of tv plots from the early 90s.

And even though my love for that site was long ago cemented, they post an entry that includes the video of the big dance scene in She’s All That, which I love, to the point that if I see that SAT is on tv, I will make sure I am watching at the right time to see that scene. That scene really does make me happy.

No Superman

Tonight was the finale of Scrubs. Well, sort of. The real finale, I think, for most people was a year ago. (I mean, really. It was called "My Finale." And the hallway scene? The final montage? Plus, after a season or two of the show getting weaker, the last season came through in a BIG way. The characters returned to form and it all gelled.)

This past season's hybrid was just strange. I understand why they brought Zach Braff in for a few episodes, but it was handled incredibly oddly. Why was J.D. leaving after a few classes? He was there, they talked about the fact that he was leaving, but never why, really. And it was odd seeing Turk and having him talk about Carla, but never seeing her.

I will say that the Med School season got stronger as it went on. Braff leaving helped, I think. The characters became more complete, though I think it would've been better to have Drew as the narrator instead of the girl--who obviously is so incredibly memorable that a mere hour after watching the show, I can't remember her name. (Lucy! Got it.) We don't need a J.D.-lite, particularly when they made her as crazy as J.D. was in later seasons. Early J.D. was odd, admittedly, but the absurdity didn't take over until the middle seasons.

(That having been said, I did love Lucy's horse obsession.)

And by tonight's episode, I found myself enjoying the characters. I wouldn't mind spending more time with them, but I can't imagine how long this show could've gone on. I'm not particularly sad to see it go--it did end strong. Except the coda, with Turk. I wish they would've acknowledged the end of the show better. Or used it to acknowledge the end of the show at all.

(I'm also a bit disturbed that I only found out in passing that it was the "series finale." I didn't see an announcement anywhere. Which means that I'm afraid Better Off Ted--which is AWESOME--has been dropped as well, and I just don't have confirmation. Oh, BOT. You deserved so much more.)

Just me and the GWB

I first encountered In the Heights at the Tony Awards, and then saw a special about it on PBS, which caused me to rush out and get the cast recording.



I finally got a chance to see it on Tuesday, in Baltimore. It's always odd seeing a show when you're just familiar with the cast recording; there's a fear of being let down after getting to know those voices. (Particularly in this case; Lin-Manuel Miranda, who starred as Usnavi in the original cast, also wrote the music. His performance and the interviews with him that I've run across are just amazing. He's awesome.) (Seriously, go watch his acceptance for when he won the Tony for Best Score.)

There was an insert in the program at the theater; it looks like I saw the show just after it switched casts--or, at least, part of the cast. Most notable: I'd be seeing a new Usnavi (or, in fact, someone who had been understudying the part). (Maybe he still is an understudy, but printing a whole new cast sheet seems a little excessive for a short-term thing. But what do I know?)

Anyway, any qualms I may have had disappeared pretty much instantly. Joseph Morales was phenomenal as Usnavi; I just totally loved him. I loved everyone, in fact, to the point that there were some actors who I liked better than their soundtrack counterparts.

What's fantastic about the show--other than the great dancing and phenomenal rhythms--is how much I, a 31-year-old white chick from the suburbs, could relate to it. It's one of those shows that illustrate that no matter how different people may seem, we're more alike than we think. The story itself isn't anything particularly new or different, but it's just a great, great show.

Phantom of Coney Island

There have been rumblings about Andrew Lloyd Webber doing a sequel to Phantom of the Opera for years. I tried to convince myself that it wouldn't happen; he wasn't that crazy. Unfortunately, he is. I kept getting alerts about something called Love Never Dies from Andrew Lloyd Webber, and, firmly in denial, was convinced that it was another compilation album. I can only wish.

And then a friend sent me a link to the official Love Never Dies website. A website that includes the video for the song "Till I Hear You Sing." I'll ignore the fact that apparently Lord Lloyd Webber has forgotten the fact that the Phantom is an insane serial killer. No, what got me was the fact that they made a cheesy video in the first place. I didn't realize they still did that!

Confession time: In the early 90s, I owned a video of the ALW Premiere Collection Encore, which had videos of a number of ALW songs, including "Phantom of the Opera" and "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again." I think Sarah Brightman was on about half the songs on the video. I owned the video because of one person: Michael Ball. He created the role of Alex in Aspects of Love and I am was totally in love with him. I created a whole story based on the video of "Love Changes Everything." And, bless you, Internet!, I found another one of the videos he was in:



I may need to go kill myself now, having watched that and remembering how obsessed I was with that video. I don't think I can, in good conscience, make any more comments about teenagers and Twilight.