Yes, "best ass" and "freshman class" DO rhyme. Good observation.

I'm reading this young adult book, Thirteen Reasons Why. It's the story of a high school boy listening to tapes made by a girl who committed suicide. It's a very good book--good characters, great plot. I'm about a third of the way through and have no idea where it's going.

I got the book out of the library, which is adding another layer to this experience, because someone who read this before me wrote notes in the margins. She's clearly a teenager, from the comments (and female from the handwriting). And I'm loving seeing her comments. Now I know how the target audience feels about it all.

It seems clear that she wanted other people to read this. I mean, first of all, writing in a library book. But this was hammered home by what I just ran across: She wrote something, and erased it. She'll write that Skye is a cute name, and that she had this "epic hang out" with someone, but she erased that a character who decided to stop wanting to be part of anything sounded kind of like her. And yet, having the entire school calling the main character a slut wasn't that bad--not bad enough to cause the character to kill herself ("I mean, what happened sucks, but life goes on...").

It's intriguing, and I'm looking forward to continuing reading this book with some company.

And yes, I'm bolting the door tonight

In Popular Crime: Reflections on the Celebration of Violence, Bill James (best known for his work in sabermetrics in baseball) integrates popular crime stories going back more than 200 years with his thoughts on popular crime itself--as a reflection of society, how it influences society, the problems with our judicial and penal systems, motivations of serial killers, what makes certain stories more fascinating than others, what it should take to convict someone of a crime.

He has a very personable way of writing that may turn some readers off, but I largely enjoyed it. My problems with the book were that it's too long and that he blows through so many cases that it's hard to keep up. At the end of the book he'll reference a story from 300 pages earlier; despite having gotten through the book quickly, I can't remember the details. He also sometimes assumes a level of familiarity with some of the larger cases (Sacco and Vanzetti, I'm looking at you) that the reader may not have.

James has a tendency to state things as facts that aren't, and he never fails to let his opinion be known. But his writing is good enough and he generally provides the backup that I don't really mind. His thoughts on the Kennedy assassination (one of the very few discussions of a political crime he gets into) were particularly interesting, as well as his theories on the social cycles of the country in the last 100 years or so.

And if you're interested in reading more about many of the crimes he discusses, James lists the books written particularly about that crime and gives his thoughts on them. And he doesn't hold back. For example, "Fatal Vision was a very successful book that a lot of people like, but the problem with it is that you could edit out 75% of the book without losing a single fact or insight" (p. 305).

I also can't help but be bemused by his rating system of crimes--categorizing it, then numbering its fame. The baseball stat geek crept through a bit.

So if you're interested in true crime, I definitely recommend picking this book up and giving it a go...but be prepared to skim through some bits.

$156.01 of iTunes (and more!)

I recently finished a large freelance project, and one of the things I did with the money was buy everything on my iTunes wish list. That's $156.01. For that, I got 172 songs--including 7 albums and a lot of songs from Glee. (By "a lot," I mean 47.) (Yes, 47. God help me.) (Interestingly, some are categorized as "pop" and others as "soundtrack." And that's not by songs from shows vs. songs not from shows.) And then I got a bunch of songs that either I ran across randomly or, more likely, I saw when I was looking at my tapes and was like, "OMG I HAVE TO HAVE THAT SONG RIGHT NOW!!!" (I'm also using some of my earnings to get a bunch of tapes converted to CD.)

Want the breakdown?

Albums
Newclear - Euan Morton
So Close - Daniel Boys
Barnum
Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
Blood Brothers
1776
The Fantasticks

Glee
Nowadays / Hot Honey Rag [feat. Gwyneth Paltrow]
Don't Go Breaking My Heart
Lucky
Rolling In the Deep [feat. Jonathan Groff]
Like a Prayer (feat. Jonathan Groff)
Happy Days Are Here Again / Get Happy
Jar of Hearts
Marry You
Whatever Happened to Saturday Night?
Sing
I Feel Pretty / Unpretty
The Only Exception
Telephone
Fat Bottomed Girls
Dog Days Are Over
Born This Way
Damn It, Janet
Just the Way You Are
She's Not There
Animal
Silly Love Songs
What I Did for Love
Sway
Don't You Want Me
Friday
One Bourbon, One Scotch, One
Like a Virgin (feat. Jonathan Groff)
Need You Now
Bills, Bills, Bills
Marry You
Start Me Up / Livin' On a Prayer
Forget You [feat. Gwyneth Paltrow]
I've Gotta Be Me
Go Your Own Way
I Know What Boys Like
Empire State of Mind
Dancing Queen
Touch a Touch a Touch a Touch Me
Take Me or Leave Me
One Love
Make 'Em Laugh
Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?
Just the Way You Are
Tik Tok
When I Get You Alone
Firework
Blame It (On the Alcohol)

Random Songs
Two Princes - Spin Doctors (Mmm, it's high school all over again!)
Let's Go to the Mall (From How I Met Your Mother) - Robin Sparkles (YES!!!!)
The Glory of Love - Bette Midler
Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin' Daddies
Goody Two Shoes - Adam Ant
Shut Up and Dance - Aerosmith
Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
Rock the Casbah - The Clash
Come Out and Play - The Offspring
Fuck You - Cee Lo Green
The Gambler - Kenny Rogers (How did I not already have this song?)
I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers (Ditto!)
Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps - Mari Wilson (Theme to the British Coupling. This Wish List has been a long time in the making)
I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
Rock Me Amadeus - Falco
C'est La Vie - Bewitched (I had forgotten this song existed, then stumbled across it in the iTunes store and just about flipped out.)
Mutha (Don't Wanna Go to School Today) - Extreme
Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield (Thanks, Easy A!)
Come On Eileen - Dexy's Midnight Runners (No idea how I didn't already have this one.)
88 Lines About 44 Women - The Nails
Be My Yoko Ono - Barenaked Ladies
Soon We'll Be Found - Sia
The Lovers That Never Were - Paul McCartney
Oh My God - P!nk (I first heard this in a YouTube fanvid about David Tennant. Yum.)
How Bout Dem O's - Warning Track Power (A year or two old, but I don't care.)

AND I got Everclear's Songs From an American Movie, Vol. One: Learning How to Smile and No Doubt's "Just a Girl" from Amazon.

Brings a tear to the eye

I was chatting with another usher last night at Side by Side by Sondheim, discussing various shows. He mentioned seeing Signature's Les Mis and being surprised at the people crying. He was all, "But I guess I remember seeing it for the first time and crying." I told him that even though the number of times I've seen it has reached double digits, I still cry. I didn't mention that sometimes I tear up just listening to a recording of it. Or how I bawled numerous times when watching the 25th anniversary concert.

Some things just have that effect on me. For example, Apollo 13. I watch it every time I run across it on tv. And pretty much every single time, I wind up at least tearing up. It's always the moment when they're waiting for them to emerge after reentry. It's the moment with Lovell's kids, when they think the module burned up. The daughter has tears in her eyes, and looks down a bit, clearly thinking, "My dad is dead--it's real." The son, at school, looks up at the clock, to remember the time it happened. And me? I cry. It's like a switch.

And I can't resist it.

Year after year, older and older

I went to a "look-in" at the Kennedy Center with the lead cast members of Follies--basically, a discussion. The first half hour, the cast answered questions from the moderator; the second, they answered audience questions. One guy asked Bernadette Peters something like, "If someone isn't familiar with Sondheim, what song do you think would be the best example of him?" Response of the audience: "Oooooh."

Bernadette Peters couldn't answer it. Sondheim, of course, is too elusive. It's crazy when you look at his shows, when you listen to the incredible variety of music he writes. There's the pastiche in Follies, the journey through American songs in Assassins, the classical influence of A Little Night Music...It's crazy.

It reminds me of when I was talking to the two teenage guys in my tap class. I mentioned Sondheim, and they hadn't heard of him. (Maybe because they're European? ...Or teenage boys?) I was trying to think of something they might know, and came up with Sweeney Todd. Which they DID know. But that's the thing about Sondheim--this genius, yet so many of his shows flopped. Have most people heard of him? I don't even know.

One of the actors made a comment in the look-in about Sondheim's songs. There was a discussion about singing his songs on their own, in concerts and so forth. Bernadette Peters said that she wouldn't sing "Send in the Clowns" outside of Night Music, because for her, it's too much part of the story. Another of the actors then pointed out that the great thing about Sondheim is that the songs work both perfectly in the shows...but their lyrics are so universal that a lot of the time, they don't need the show. I knew "Clowns" and "Losing My Mind" and "Broadway Baby" and "Putting It Together" and "Side by Side" before I knew the shows they came from. They mean more now...but they were pretty great before, too.

Between the look-in today and reactions to the show I was reading on message boards, there is a LOT of love for the original production of Follies. Gushing about the music, the staging. People gushing about it affecting them, lingering with them for the 40 years since the show premiered.

It didn't have that effect on me. Of the Sondheim shows I've seen, it's probably my least favorite. Random, extraneous songs; too many characters. There are some really fantastic numbers--really. fantastic. But, it didn't touch me. Maybe I'm still too young for it?

And that's what it comes down to. In trying to decide my favorite Sondheim, it comes down to that emotional connection for me. Emotionally, Company is my favorite; objectively, Sunday in the Park With George probably is. But Bobby is a character I can relate to only too much. "Move On" from Sunday very well may be my favorite song, but I am Bobby. Company is My Sondheim.

(Side note: I totally want to go have drinks with Elaine Paige. She seems fantastic. I feel like she would be awesomely gossipy about everyone in British theatre.)

Hoping for triumph of romanticism over cynicism

When I studied abroad in England, one of the first things I wanted to do in London was find Dress Circle, a shop in London that specialized in musical theater merchandise. I had ordered things from them already; in those days, before the Internet was as huge as it's become, it was hard to find certain things--for example, Michael Ball CDs in the United States. So I ordered from them. I was on their mailing list. When I finally made it there, it was like Mecca. I couldn't have been happier.

So of course I was bummed to see an article about its fight to stay open. Long gone are the days when every production of a show got a cast recording. And now there's the Internet, the bane of small, specialized shops. The combination is a deadly one.

I can only hope for its survival. I haven't been there in a decade, but it brings me back to my teenage years, when I lived for musical theater. Dress Circle meant a lot to me then. And the thought of it closing is an incredibly sad one.

I love when my interests collide

Of course I saw The Conspirator. A movie about the Lincoln assassination starring James McAvoy? Yes, please! I quite enjoyed it. I thought it did a great job portraying the events of the night of the assassination accurately. (Except for one major piece: For some reason, they had Booth shoot Lincoln during Harry Hawk's line. This makes no sense; many people know that he shot during the laughs that ensued. The confusion created by this was an important part of the plan.) I learned after seeing it that the American Film Company, who produced it, is all about historical accuracy. I know less about Frederick Aiken, the lawyer who represented Mary Surratt in her trial, and I spent chunks of the movie wondering how much of the script was actually taken from the transcripts of the Surratt trial.

The thing that's gotten me in the reviews of the movie are the comments of its overt politicalness. The choice of the movie--the desire to tell this story at this moment in time--is definitely political. The decision to try the conspirators in a military tribunal, not a civilian court; the use of the war to take away civil liberties--yes, Robert Redford and the AFC knew what they were doing. The subject matter speaks for itself.

But I've read numerous reviews that mention certain details in the movie as being political, like showing the fact that the conspirators were held in jail while wearing hoods makes the movie political. No, it makes the movie accurate. If anything, the movie didn't include enough of how rough the prisoners had it. They wore those hoods almost 24 hours a day. They were only allowed outside when Lewis Powell (I think--it maybe was someone else) tried to kill himself and a doctor basically said, "Hey, you need to let these people out a little." So the prisoners got an hour a day in the yard. Yay?

The movie certainly did its job in making me think. It never takes a firm stand on whether Surratt is guilty or not; the theme of the movie is really, "They should've gotten civilian trials." I will say that it's pretty sympathetic toward her. Now, volunteering at Ford's Theatre, there are certain questions you get a lot, and the relative guilt of Mary Surratt is one of them. My general thought has always been, "Well, she took those guns out to the tavern the day of the assassination; she probably knew about it, and therefore should've said something." (Would she deserve to die for that? Even if we knew 100% that she knew? Another debate.)

But now...I don't know. The arguments about the testimony in the trial resonated with me. I don't know how good those arguments actually are; Aiken, the guy making the arguments, is the movie's hero, so obviously they come off well. Naturally, I need to read more about this to clarify my thoughts.

Overall, the movie is definitely worth your time, even if it's just to stare at dreamy James McAvoy for 2 hours.

Related, I actually attended the premiere for this movie. It was at Ford's and I was lucky enough to asked to usher. So yes, I came into close contact with James McAvoy and Robert Redford and Robin Wright. AND I managed to avoid looking like an idiot. Triumph! I only wish I could've gotten closer to Kevin Kline. Ah well.

Also, I realized that this is the one time that it makes sense to applaud at the end of a movie. The credits rolled, we clapped...and the actors were there! They heard! It made sense to clap! Huzzah!

How to succeed...in life

There's a lot about Daniel Radcliffe that's impressive. He really seems to have a good head on his shoulders; he gives awesome, amusing interviews; and he really seems to have done a great job thinking about his life post-Potter. Doing Equus, and following it up with the musical comedy How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway...and then a period scary movie, The Woman in Black. Really smart--here's a guy who's obviously thinking long-term. And he has the chops to pull it off. I've been impressed with his work in the Potter movies.

He works in How to Succeed, too. I went up to New York yesterday and caught the matinee. Overall, the show was a lot of fun. There's something incredibly enjoyable about seeing a show with a lot of dancing that makes you feel good (I imagine the current Anything Goes revival is similarly fun--I mean, Sutton Foster!). The show isn't perfect by any means--for one thing, there are a songs that just do not advance the plot ("Coffee Break"? "Paris Original"? Why?). And then there's J. Pierrepont Finch, our "hero". We follow his journey through the ranks of the World Wide Wicket Company, from window washer to the executive boardroom. This is a character we know NOTHING about. Quite literally, all we know is that he's ambitious. He wants to succeed in business. And...that's all. Dude is a blank slate. Of the characters in the show, he's probably the least developed. Which is saying something.

It makes a perfect role for casting a celebrity. Daniel Radcliffe is someone that a majority of the audience already sympathizes with; we walk into the theater rooting for him. And he's clearly having a good time. He doesn't have a strong singing voice, but the role doesn't require one. His American accent is fantastic; late in the show, he has a line about World Wide Wickets being all American, causing the audience to laugh. It actually took me a minute to realize why everyone was laughing. Me: [pause] "Oh yeah! He's British!" I do admit that I kept thinking he should be wearing glasses, and a few of his gestures struck me as very Harry Potter, but that's probably because I've spent, what, 10 years watching him play the same role. It's not that the gestures are Harry Potter; it's that Potter is the only thing I've seen him in. He manages to keep up with the other dancers--I particularly enjoyed the "Old Ivy" sequence and his chipmunk impression. Bottom line: He manages to carry the show.

Naturally, the audience was full of fangirls. The cheers for Radcliffe's entrance were ENORMOUS. I was happy to discover, though, that the audience was that enthusiastic about everything. They gave John Laroquette a similar cheer at his entrance (though I refuse to believe many of them ever saw Night Court), and there was a lot of laughing and applause throughout the show. The screams during the curtain were kind of crazy--but they were coming from an audience that was standing before the curtain call even began. I can't imagine what it must be like for the other actors to be in this show, but if the audience is always that enthusiastic, I bet it's a fun job.

I particularly enjoyed Rose Hemingway making her Broadway debut as Rosemary Pilkington, Ponty's love interest. She was adorable. Tammy Blanchard as Hedy La Rue was not the vamp I expected her to be; honestly, when she made her big entrance, I was like, "What? She's wearing basically the same thing as the rest of the secretaries and doesn't seem that much more endowed than them." Her performance was fine, but...eh. I wasn't blown away. And couldn't really see what made the men fall all over themselves, other than it was in the script.

I also didn't like "A Secretary Is Not a Toy" as much as I do on the 1995 revival recording. I was sad they cut the bit with the men typing, and one of my favorite lines ("A pad is to write in, not spend the night in") was sort of glossed over. I also think I like the "How to Succeed" reprise used in the '95 revival at the top of Act Two more than "Cinderella Darling", which apparently was in the original. It did have tap dancing, though, which I appreciated.

Also appreciated were the adorable boys in the cast. Even the villain--Christopher J. Hanke as Bud Frump--was super cute. It didn't hurt that they were all wearing those early 60's-style suits, and a bunch were in glasses. Sexy!

In general, the staging was great. I loved how "Company Way" was done, incorporating the mail into the choreography in fun ways. (Plus, that's one of my favorite numbers.) And shoving more and more people into the elevator in "It's Been a Long Day" was a great move--playing it for more laughs than I would have thought.

I highly recommend the show. Part of me felt weird about blowing the money in this ticket--like, I should see something serious. Or more out-there, like Book of Mormon. But there are times that you just want to have fun. And this pulled that off.

(You can get a great feel for it through the preview footage, available here.)

Reevaluating Pradon

A good 10 years ago or so, I became obsessed with the most recent Jesus Christ Superstar, the one recorded for DVD. Glenn Carter was Jesus; Jérôme Pradon was Judas. I found Pradon captivating, but I wasn't blown away by his voice. And by that, I mean that I liked his performance despite his voice. (Witness his performance of "Superstar," which perfectly illustrates my point. The moments that he interacts with Jesus are very layered.)

Recently, I found out that he played Javert in Les Mis in the West End back in the early 2000s. I knew that he had been in the show in France, and he was in the 10th anniversary concert (as one of the students).

(Side note: He was in Assassins in France?! WHAT? What role? Wikipedia, help a girl out! He has the charisma to pull off Booth, but I need this information!)

(Huh. Czolgosz. Interesting.)

I was intrigued immediately. Thank God for YouTube, because I immediately pulled up clips of him in the role. And I was really pleasantly surprised. Here he performs "Javert's Suicide":



I'm impressed. He's not the best Javert I've heard, but he definitely pulls it off. Watching "The Confrontation", I think it's that Javert is much more suited to Pradon's voice than Judas is. Judas is too high; clearly, Pradon excels in a lower register.

It's always fun to find somewhat random actors to follow. Apparently Pradon is currently performing in Mamma Mia, as Sam. It would be interesting to hear him do ABBA.

Behind the chocolate

For an authorized biography, Storyteller: The Authorized Biography of Roald Dahl does a good job of showing both the good and the not-so-good sides of its subject. Even had Dahl not become a bestselling, beloved children's author, his life would have been a fascinating one. Poor in Britain to Norwegian parents, he flew a fighter pilot in the early days of World War II, was a spy in Washington for the remainder, married a famous actress, and helped pioneer medical advances after tragedy struck his own family.

Author Donald Sturrock doesn't hesitate to show the darker Dahl--misanthropic, touchy, hard to work with, grudge-holding, outspoken, prone to picking fights. There were a LOT of times when I felt that Dahl wasn't someone I'd want to know. Sturrock doesn't delve too much into the books and stories themselves, but provides enough information that in reading Dahl's work after this biography, I feel I have new insight into his books.

(Some of that, of course, might be because I'm reading them as a 30-something, not a 10-year-old.)

And it is impressive reading Dahl's stories. The style is just phenomenal. The books read as though he's talking to you. The books are clearly meant for children, and that's the voice of them, but in no way are they condescending. His language, his rhythm, his cadence...it's just so impressive.

Also, dude was a hottie. Seriously, it's no wonder he was seducing women all over the place during WWII. And I NEED to visit his house the next time I'm in England.