Happy 70th

I wish I had been older than 2 when he died. I wish the world could've known what John Lennon would have done with the past 30 years.



And also...just because I love this scene from Hard Day's Night

Also, great songs for my "Angst" playlist

I always wind up in something of a funk after I see a show I really like. I'm not sure why; maybe it's that because it’s a play, I can't have that experience again (much as I inevitably want to see the show multiple more times). If I don't stop myself, I wind up listening to the songs over and over...which really doesn't help. I ran into a problem with Arcadia--because it's a straight play, I had no cast recording. I did have the script, but reading the scene multiple times doesn't really help. And I wonder if I'm more affected by shows I don't know incredibly well; on the one hand, I remember this vividly from the first time I saw Miss Saigon (surprisingly, no, I wasn't familiar with it beforehand; at that point, I didn't even know Les Mis, if you can imagine); on the other, familiarity didn't stop my obsession with Jesus Christ Superstar (which was aided by the fact that it was videotaped, so I could watch over and over and over and over).

I saw Chess at the Signature the other night and it was phenomenal. I was vaguely familiar with the story, and I knew a few of the songs quite well ("I Know Him So Well" is one of my absolute favorites; I have multiple versions of "Pity the Child" and "Anthem", and of course everyone knows "One Night in Bangkok") and had watched the preview video and listened to the concept album to have an idea of what to expect. Plus, it was a show at the Signature. I knew it would be great.

And wow, it didn't let me down. Chess is the story of a chess match between an American, Freddie (Jeremy Kushnier), and a Soviet, Anatoly (Euan Morton). Each has a second; for Anatoly, it's Molokov (Christopher Bloch), a KGB agent; for Freddie, it's Florence (Jill Paice), a Hungarian who grew up in the U.S. after the 1956 uprising. Freddie is clearly based on Bobby Fischer; he's loud, brash, doesn't care about the rules. Anatoly is quiet, controlled. And Florence is being pushed to the limit by Freddie's antics. So when she meets the level-headed Anatoly, there's an instant attraction.

The music is by the B's of ABBA and the lyrics are Tim Rice (whose bio in the program alone is worth the price of admission), so there's a definite rock edge to it. Kushnier winds up with the majority of the rock songs, and does them fabulously. Paice has to balance ballads and rock numbers—sometimes in the same song ("Nobody’s Side" has elements of both, and she absolutely kills on it; she practically got a standing ovation at the end of the number). Morton gets mostly quieter numbers and does them wonderfully; honestly, the cast as a whole were great. A friend commented that he found Chris Sizemore as the Arbiter a bit too "musical theater" but I didn't have that problem at all.

And the acting. Oh, the acting. Kushnier is just absolutely riveting. Freddie is a character who's hard to like; throughout the show, he's amusing, but doesn't do anything likeable. At all. To anyone. And yet, I wanted him to be on stage the entire time. Kushnier was great when strutting around stage for photographers, but probably my favorite moment of his was near the end of the play, while waiting for Anatoly to arrive for the final chess game. He's just sitting in a chair, staring at a chess board...but it was fabulous.

Anatoly, more than the other characters, goes through a real journey, particularly in the second act. Florence is the character screwed over at the end, but Act 2 is a methodical crushing of Anatoly. Morton goes from happy at the top of the act to being completely broken at the end--and the transformation is clearly visible. The whole range of emotions he has to portray come across perfectly. If Kushnier's moment was waiting for Anatoly at the final game, Morton's moment is at the end of the reprise of "You and I" when he grabs Florence and kisses her. There's a desperation there that was undoubtedly part of the reason that half the women in the ladies’ room at the end of the show were in tears.

Florence is really the heart of this version of Chess. I had expected the two men to be the leads--which they are, of course, but Florence is the glue and gets the last curtain call. As well she should. Jill Paice's vocals just absolutely blew me away (for serious, watch the preview video and listen through to the end).

Which is not to say that the show is perfect. I'm still not sure of some of the characters' motivations (including a fairly large plot point), and though I enjoyed the choreography for the most part, there were moments when it felt a bit off. I'm still not sure how I feel about the sort of goth look for the ensemble, though the show did come off otherwise as wonderfully 80s.

Obviously, this was a fabulous production. I've heard rumors that higher-ups in the theater world watched how it fared--a Broadway revival in the works? One can only hope. And, if so, please bring this cast.




Photos by Scott Suchman

Making someone's day

The last time I volunteered at Ford's Theater, I was working the outside line, meaning that I answer questions ("Where's the Spy Museum?") and make sure that everyone has the correct ticket. I noticed a guy's t-shirt as he walked into the lobby--"Rogue Demon Hunter." I looked at him and asked, "You hunt rogue demons?" He and his girlfriend stopped and looked at me. I was like, "Angel, right?" They grinned and said that I was the first person to get the reference. It was awesome.

So glad my brain retains this stuff

I was at work the other day when a guy walked by. I asked a coworker who it was, and she said, "Oh, that's Gordon." And out of nowhere, my mind went here:




I cannot remember the last time I thought of Mother Goose Rock 'n' Rhyme, a Disney movie that first aired in 1990. I recorded it and watched it approximately a million times. Depite it being at least, oh, 15 years since I've seen that, I can sing along to that song. And I totally had a crush on Dan Gilroy, who played Gordon. (Though I liked him in the outfit he wears through most of the movie; less so the new jacket and hat from the end of the movie.)

Naturally, I immediately had to see whether there were any clips on YouTube. And the whole thing is on there! I have never been so happy!* And at some point, I'm going to rewatch. Because I'm sure it'll hold up! It's only been 20 years. I'm sure I'll still like everything I liked when I was 11.

* This may be an exaggeration.

A is for awesome

I saw Easy A yesterday. If you've managed to avoid the trailer (which is apparently possible; when I suggested it, Steve had to pull up the trailer online), it's about a girl, Olive, who pretends to have sex with guys after a rumor spreads around school that she had sex with a college boy. She becomes ostracized and basically says "Screw it!" and wears a red A on sexy corsets.

I'd put it up there with Bring It On and 10 Things I Hate About You in the category of teen movies. It references 80s teen movies and the need for random musical numbers (Yesss!!!), which I totally appreciate. And though I like (as in, compulsively watch every time I see it on tv) She's All That, Easy A has a lot more intelligence in it. The writing's great, the main characters are relatable, and the acting is fab. Amanda Bynes's character, the uptight Christian chick, is a total stereotype, but she's the exception to the rule.

Olive's parents are a lot of fun--the whole quirky, caring type. It could've gotten old if they were in more of the movie than they were. I kind of wished they took a bit more of an interest in what was going on with their daughter. In that way, I compare them to Mr. Bennett from Pride & Prejudice. (And you know who appreciates that analogy? Boys.)

What I really appreciated was how realistic Olive's journey was. I didn't feel like any of her actions felt wrong. The only thing that felt particularly off to me was how the rumor of Olive's devirginization spread. Do kids really care that much? Particularly about someone who's on the edges of the crowd?

I was suprised to find that it was only rated PG-13--there was a lot of swearing. But I don't remember any F-bombs, which probably explains that. I only hope that this means it'll do well. It's a lot of fun and a very well-made movie.

Looking for lighter fare

Naturally I watched the Emmys last night--I love award shows and I love television. It's a can't miss. And the opening was just a complete win.



And John Hodgman is also awesome. The show started off well enough; I was hoping for an NPH win, but Eric Stonestreet is great on Modern Family. Jim Parsons is fabulous in Big Bang Theory, so I was psyched for him. I'm not the biggest Sue Sylvester fan, but Jane Lynch gave a fantastic acceptance speech.

As the night went on, though, I realized something. I don't watch dramas on tv. I watched Lost, but it's done. I have the entire second season of The Mentalist on my DVR, and the second half of Flash Forward. I couldn't get into The Good Wife and don't watch House for some unknown reason (yes, I know that Hugh Laurie is fantastic). Breaking Bad? The Wire? Mad Men? Nope, nope, nope. I watched part of the first season of Mad Men, but didn't care enough to keep going.

I could probably get into some of them, but there are a lot that I just can't get motivated for. I can't cope with dark, dark, dark, and it seems like a lot of the dramas on tv these days tend to be very dark. I'm sure these are good shows with great acting, etc. I just think that right now in my life, I prefer entertainment that makes me happy.

We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all.

I love living near the AFI Silver. They always have great independent films and rotate through classics. And by that, I mean that they're having an 80s fest. On Saturday, they showed The Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, and Weird Science. I can't resist that much John Hughes, so I went to The Breakfast Club. It was actually really impressive. There's something different about seeing a movie in the theater versus catching it on tv. You pay a lot more attention. Even knowing so much of it by heart, I still found new things.

For one thing, the acting is really impressive. Judd Nelson, particularly, is great, but all of the actors have moments where they shine. Their facial expressions are just dead on. And there are times when you look at these guys, and it's like...They're so young. Which, duh, but it really struck me at times.

There was a fair bit of "Oh, you are such teenagers," which is to be expected. If that weren't there, we wouldn't have related to it back then. (Obviously, as a 6-year-old when it was released, I totally got where they were coming from.) But really, that is how John Hughes related. But, "I think when we grow up, our hearts die"? Please.

What I really noticed was the focus on the characters' virginity. They talk about it a LOT. And though sex was important in high school, I don't think it was that huge a deal to be a virgin. At least, not among people I was friends with. It didn't ring false, really--I could see there being curiousity about Claire, and Brian lying about it also makes sense. But it really stood out to me.

It really stood up to time, I think. It wouldn't have to be changed much if it were made today, I think. I guess a lot of issues really are timeless.

Actually, Yoshi's my favorite

My family knows me pretty well by this point (after all, they've known me for 31 years), so when I told them that I'd be seeing a musical based on a video game, they were like, "Oh. Sounds good."

Super Claudio Bros. follows the story of Claudio and Player #2, his brother Luis. Once again, Claudio has rescued Princess Tangerine from Bruiser. But instead of a musical just riffing on old Nintendo games (which, trust me, there's a lot of that), the show gets into the characters--what's it like to be Player #2? What motivates Bruiser? How is life for Princess Fish (Princess Tangerine's sister)? Luis is really the main character, and his conflicting feelings about his brother are the focus of the show.

It was an incredibly entertaining show, but it wasn't perfect. At times it was hard to hear the actors (who were sans microphones)--the synthesized music sometimes drowned them out (particularly Gia Mora as Princess Tangerine). The music was good for the most part; the lyrics maybe could've used a little work. It actually reminded me of the musical episode of Scrubs; one of the songs made me think of "What's Going to Happen?" from that episode (so that I wound up with that in my head, mostly because I'm more familiar with that song than the music from Super Claudio).

I had high expectations, because the show stars Sam Ludwig (Luis) and Stephen Gregory Smith (Claudio), and I'm a big fan of both of those guys. And they didn't disappoint. The acting all around was very well done. Ludwig has really impressed me since his turn as Tobias in Sweeney Todd and he brought a real depth to this role. Lauren Williams was super fun as Princess Fish. I realized that I had seen her as Little Red in Into the Woods, and ...yes. It totally makes sense. The two characters are similar and she brings a real likability to the role. Matthew A. Anderson as Bruiser was hilarious. And Smith? I can't say anything bad about the guy. He's just a very consistently good singer and actor. I particularly enjoyed his dancing in a number toward the end of the show.

It was such a fun time out. Really, you can't ask for more from a show than fun music, good acting, an incredibly funny script, and nerdy in-jokes.

Cure for the blues

I was feeling a bit cranky tonight and knew I shouldn't go to bed in that mood. So, I hit YouTube. And gave myself an early Christmas present.

Just think of the stories!

Great story in the Post the other day about George Austin Hay, who balanced working for the federal government and acting in the theater and movies. He sounds fascinating--he knew Gene Kelly, Alfred Hitchcock, Paul Newman, met Marilyn Monroe, and made promo films for the military.

Here's a man you just want to sit down and talk to for a long time.

Tangentially related, here's a fun video of Julie Andrews and Gene Kelly! Man, talk about people you want to hang around with. (If you haven't read Julie Andrews's book, go read it. Fascinating, really.)