From Movie to Musical

Today, the Oscar-winning Best Picture Rocky opens as a musical on Broadway.

I have to be honest here and say that I've never seen the movie (gasp!). In fact, really my only involvement with Rocky at all was when my college marching band got to play on the "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

The infamous "Rocky Steps" at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

The fact that I've never seen the movie won't keep me from seeing Rocky on Broadway... If you know me, you know that I'll see any musical at least once. But this got me thinking about movies that I have seen that I would love to see on stage. Here are two that I've thought for years would make great musicals:

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean  

Sure I love the traditional Disney musicals like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. And I really can't wait to take my boys to see Aladdin in a few months. And I really really hope that Frozen does make its way to Broadway because I think it would be amazing. But I think Disney has a gem here that they haven't yet realized. I'll call it buried treasure. Can you just imagine the costumes and effects for this one? So Disney - can you get on this?

 

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 

There have been plenty of holiday movies made into musicals, from A Christmas Story to Elf. But wouldn't it be epic to see the Griswold's holiday disasters unfold on stage? I'd sure pay to see that! I mean, can you just imagine watching the whole lights scene in person? I'm laughing just thinking about it!










Like I mentioned, I've thought for years that these two movies would make great musicals. I've even written to Disney to make the Pirates suggestion (though I'm sure my note never made it past the intern). In fact, if I had the money or the connections, I'd produce both of these shows myself! (Side note - if anyone reading this has any money or connections that they would like to share with me to make either of these shows happen, please let me know!) I don't mean to sound full of myself, but I think I have a pretty good sense of what would work on Broadway and what wouldn't. I can pretty much smell a Tony-winner before it even makes it to previews. But I've digressed; that's a post for another day...

So back to the topic at hand, what movies would you like to see made into musicals?

Who Is Adela Dazeem?

If you didn't see the Oscars last night, you probably don't have a clue who (or what) I'm talking about. Let me get you up to speed...

Have you ever heard of the movie Frozen? I thought so. How about the song "Let It Go" from Frozen? Thought so too. How about the name of the girl who sings the song "Let It Go" from Frozen (and I'm not talking about Demi Lovato)? Maybe. Well, if you don't know the name of the voice behind the song "Let It Go" from Frozen, I'll tell you. It's Idina Menzel.

So you might be wondering how this has anything to do with Adela Dazeem. Well, here is John Travolta to enlighten you:

Ummm...what?

That's right. Adela Dazeem is in fact the one and only Idina Menzel. At least according to good old John here.

So now that we have that straightened out, let me tell you a little bit more about Adela Dazeem (or should we just say Idina now?).

Yes, Idina Menzel is the incredible voice behind the now Oscar-winning song "Let It Go." Millions of families all over the world (especially those with young children) have been hearing Idina belt out this song for months now. Even weathermen are now resorting to doing parodies of this song in their weather reports...

But Idina is soooo much more than the voice behind Queen Elsa...

Have you ever heard of this little Broadway musical called Wicked? Guess who won a Tony Award for originating the role of Elphaba in Wicked? You guessed it...Idina.

Idina Menzel as Elphaba in Wicked (she looks a little, um, greener here)

And how about the Broadway hit Rent? Guess who starred as Maureen? You guessed right again... Idina.

Wicked and Rent are just two of many of her past successes before this whole Frozen/Let It Go Craze began.

And right now, she's working on a new musical called If/Then, which I have no doubt is going to be a huge success. I know it's at the top of my not-to-be-missed Broadway shows list. Here, take a quick listen for yourself:

You know, after John Travolta butchered her name last night, I think a lot of Idina fans were probably throwing some choice words at him. But I actually think he did her a favor. If just one more person has their eyes opened to musical theatre after his embarrassing mispronunciation, then it was worth it.

So I hope you now have a better idea of who Adela Dazeem is. And I hope that you also realize she's so much more than one song in one Disney movie.

REVIEW: Sister Act (Tour)

Ok, I'm going to go a little uncharicteristic here and single out one person right from the beginning. Ashley Moniz. Ashley played the role of Sister Mary Robert, the sweet, innocent little "goodie-two-shoes" nun. And she. Was. Awesome. I haven't heard a voice that good in a very very long time. And trust me, I've heard a lot of voices. Ashley had such a pleasantly crisp voice, and she hit every...single...note. Every one, right on. No sliding into a note. No using vibrato to cover up a missed note. No completely missing the note. Just pure, amazing pitch. And it wasn't just her pitch that was amazing. Everything about her voice was just spectacular. I'll say it again... She has the best voice I've heard in a long long time. This girl should never stop singing.

Normally I wouldn't open a review in this fashion, but I feel so strongly about Ashley's talent that I just had to put it first. I could go on and on (and on) about how great she was, but I think you get the idea. Plus, there's a whole lot more show to cover!

So the gist of the show is this: Diva sees boyfriend kill someone. Diva runs to police. Police officer is high school acquaintance who had crush on diva in high school. In order to keep diva safe, police officer decides to hide her where boyfriend would never think to look for her - in a convent. Diva is obviously is not used to convent life and causes some trouble. Diva ends up helping nun choir and turns them into a sensation, which brings in lots of money for the struggling church. Boyfriend finds out where diva is hiding and goes to find her. Police officer goes to try to save diva. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll let you guess which guy wins.

This was one of the better touring shows I've seen in a long time. Some of the tours I've seen in the past few years just seem to be lacking in overall quality and talent. But Sister Act had both.

What really impressed me was the talent of the entire cast, not just one or two leads. A lot of people needed to sing well in order for this show to work. And a lot of people did just that.

So here's something kind of amusing... At first, the nuns are supposed to be terrible singers. They're basically a bunch of nuns who couldn't carry a tune if their life depended on it. What I found amusing was this group of professional singers "trying" to sound bad. I'm guessing these "bad singing" scenes were some of the hardest scenes for them to perform. It goes against every grain in a performer's body to sing off key, and I could tell that these singers really had to work at this! But that just goes to show the quality of the vocals in this show.

Vocals aside, the acting was another strong point in the show. In many musicals I've seen recently, it seems like you either get good singing or good acting, but not both (and sometimes you don't even get one of them). Sister Act again had both. Each role was perfectly cast.

Ta'Rea Campbell, who played Deloris Van Cartier / Sister Mary Clarence, was another shining star in the show. (And she was literally shining in some of her outfits! I don't think I've ever seen a show with such a shiny and sparkly wardrobe. And I mean this in a good way... The costumes were simply dazzling.) I could tell right from the start that Ta'Rea was perfect for this role. Her acting was spot-on, as was her singing.

Chestor Gregory put on a great performance as (Sweaty) Eddie. When he started the song "I Could Be That Guy," I wasn't quite sure what to think. Was he being funny? Was he really not a good singer? To be honest, it was a little awkward. But as the song went on, I started to feel more comfortable with his performance. By the end of the song, when he was hitting those falsetto notes, I had completely forgotten about the awkwardness from the beginning of the song. The rest of his performance throughout the show proved to be more like the end of the song than the beginning.

Hollis Resnik, who played the role of Mother Superior, was a powerful actress and singer. She had a good voice, but her pitch was off more than once. Because her voice was so strong, and because she was on pitch most of the time, it was an unpleasant surprise when she slipped off pitch and was very noticeable. She also had a unique way of pronouncing some words, which was a bit distracting. Maybe she was just having an off night. I'm going to go with that because I think most people would describe her as extremely talented.

The rest of the cast, from Melvin Abston as Curtis (the boyfriend) to the rest of the nuns, and even TJ and Pablo (Curtis's comic sidekicks), did a great job pulling the show together for an amazing production.

Another aspect of the show that I enjoyed was the humor. While I expected the show to be amusing, I was pleasantly surprised with how often I found myself laughing. Hard. And out loud. And I'm not even Catholic. While the basic religion jokes were pretty funny, I could tell there were some Catholic jokes thrown in there that just went over my head. But judging by the laughter from the rest of the audience, those jokes were pretty funny as well.

Overall I give this show 9 out of 10 standing ovations! 

 (This review is based on the February 25, 2014 performance at Hershey Theatre.)

Which Broadway Musical Are You?

Have you noticed that the Internet is currently flooded with all sorts of online quizzes? Yeah, I've noticed that too.

Want to know which Disney princess you are? There's a quiz for that. Want to kmow what kind of drink you are? Yep, there's a quiz for that too. (In case you're wondering, I'm a fine glass of wine.) Want to know what city you should live in? Well, if for some reason you can't figure that out on your own, there's a quiz that will help you. And I'm guessing there's even a quiz to tell you which quizzes you should take.

So with all these quizzes floating around the Internet, I figure what's one more? That's right... In addition to blogging, playing the vibra-slap, and touching my nose with my tongue, I can now add "quiz making" to my résumé of incredibly useful skills that I'm sure will help me succeed in life.

Without further ado, I present to you the "Which Broadway Musical Are You?" quiz. Whether you've lost countless hours of precious sleep pondering this very question, or whether you're just trying to pass some time at work, this quiz will help you out. Happy quizzing!



Ok, admit it... you tried to touch your nose with your tongue. (And yes, I really can do it.)

All I Ask of You

This past weekend, the college theatre department where I work part time was putting on a production. During one of the performances, our house manager had to ask a patron to stop playing games on his phone. Twice. Ummmm....maybe he just forgot that he was in a theatre watching a live performance. Twice.

With this recent experience still fresh in my mind, I decided to come up with a list of things not to do during a theatre performance. I thought most of these were common sense, but just in case anyone is looking for a crash course in theatre etiquette, this should give you a pretty good overview.

1. Don't play Flappy Bird on your phone. Or Angry Birds. Or any kind of birds game. Or candy game. Or farm game. Or pets game. Ok, you get the idea...just put the phone down for a few hours. What's going on onstage is a million times better than any game on your phone anyway.

I know the birds are addicting, but Flappy Bird can wait a few hours.

2. Don't sleep during the show. Yes, I have actually seen this happen before. The performers are probably even more tired than you are, but they're up there performing their butts off, so the least you can do is stay awake to watch them. Plus, your snoring is bothering the other people around you who are actually watching the show.

They're called "cat naps" for a reason. Please save yours for before or after the show, not during.

3. And speaking of the people around you, please don't sing along to the songs. I wish I could list this one more than once. This may come as a shock, but the other audience members are here to hear the people on stage...not you. I realize you love the music to the show and that you've memorized every song. But this isn't your shower. Or your car. I'm sure there is a nice karaoke bar just around the corner where you can showcase your amazing rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" after the show. 

Don't be that person. You know, the second one from the right. And yes, humming counts as singing, too.

4. Don't unwrap 50 candies during the show. I appreciate that you're trying to avoid bad breath. Really, I do. But since you won't be singing during the show you probably don't need to worry about it right now. If you're really that worried about it, then there's this wonderful thing called intermission that is the perfect time to unwrap candies, mints, gum, cheeseburgers, birthday presents or whatever else you managed to bring into the theatre in your purse.

They might be little, but those tiny crinkly wrappers sure make a lot of noise, especially in a quiet theatre!

I really don't think I'm asking too much with these four simple requests. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap and then play some games on my phone BEFORE I head out to the theatre...

Tell Me on a Thursday

If you live anywhere in the Northeast U.S., like I do, I'm guessing you have a few choice words you'd like to say to Mother Nature. After weeks of extreme cold, snowstorms and ice on top of it all, she's not exactly on my list of favorites right now. I don't think my kids have had a full week of school since before Christmas, and as much as I love them, we're all ready for some spring weather.

With today being the second snow day of the week (and it's only Wednesday), I gave in and let the boys play video games, watch movies and beat each other up for most of the day. While the boys were occupied with wrestling matches, crushing candies and watching cheeseburgers and meatballs fall out of the TV sky, I was busy putting some final touches on a fun Facebook idea that I've been working on.

I'm excited to announce the launch of "Thursday Theatre Thoughts," an interactive weekly series that will contemplate a different theatre topic each Thursday. Some topics will be fun, while others may be controversial. Whatever the topic, I'd love to hear your thoughts each week!

If you haven't "liked" row L seat 1 on Facebook yet, make sure to do so so that you don't miss out on the fun! Make sure to check in each Thursday to share your Theatre Thoughts!

Let's talk theatre!

The Name of the (Blog) Game

A few years ago, my husband Chad and I took a "vacation" to New York City. We've both been to NYC plenty of times, but usually it's just a quick train ride in to see a show, have dinner, maybe spend the night and then head home. This time we decided to go and "live" in the city for a whole week.

We didn't want to do the touristy things. We didn't want to eat at the popular restaurants. We just wanted to spend some time there and enjoy the city as if we lived there (which I would love to do). We saw a few shows, had dinner at little restaurants, and just enjoyed being there without having to rush back home. We had a great time, and that week in New York still ranks up there with a Mediterranean cruise as one of my all-time favorite vacations.

When we returned, our son Alec (who was three at the time) immediately started asking when he could go to New York City. I don't think he had a clue what New York City was, but he knew that Mom and Dad had just gone there and had a great time, so he wanted to go too. We told him that when he turned five we would take him.

As the months went by, he didn't forget about this. Every time he heard any mention of NYC, he would light up and ask about going. As his fifth birthday started getting closer, Chad and I decided that we would give him his trip to NYC for his birthday.

So the planning started. Where would we stay? What would we do? I was used to planning trips around adults, not a 5-year-old boy!

We knew that we wanted to take him to a show, so the obvious choice for a 5-year-old boy was The Lion King. He'd seen the movie; he likes the music; and he's been to local theatres before, so I had no worries about him sitting still during the show. After the tickets were purchased, the rest of our activities fell right into place: a train ride, some street cart food, the show, some dinner and ice cream, a night in a hotel (a big deal for little boy!), and stops at F.A.O. Schwarz, the M&M store, Rockefeller Center, and the Ferris wheel at Toys R Us.

I was so excited! I was counting down the days until his birthday so that I could tell him all about our big plans. I had to keep reminding myself that this trip was for Alec, not me! Finally the day came. He was very excited to hear about his special birthday trip! He was especially excited to know that this was just for him and that his little brother wasn't going to be coming with us.

Alec trying to figure out why we gave him a piece of paper for his birthday

 We just had to wait a few more weekends until it was time to go (his birthday is in January, but our tickets were for February). Finally we were just days away from the trip. Everyone was excited. We were all talking about all the fun things we would be doing in just a few short days.

And then it came. Nemo. No, not Nemo like "Finding Nemo." Nemo as in the big winter storm that shut down the entire northeast for a weekend. Our weekend.

Trains were stopped. NYC was a big snowy mess. We were snowed in in PA with somewhere to go and no way to get there. Alec was so disappointed that we couldn't get there, and honestly I was pretty heart-broken myself (more so because Alec was disappointed, but I had really been looking forward to our weekend too).

Mother Nature was NOT my friend this weekend

Fortunately we were able to trade in our show tickets for a different date. We also were able to switch our train tickets and our hotel room. But the different date was three months away in May. See, I could have gotten tickets for a closer date, but I had fallen in love with the seats that we were supposed to have in February. I wanted to get those same seats, and the next time those seats were available wasn't until May. (The seats were about 10 rows back, on the left side, right on the aisle so that Alec would have a great view and no one's head right in front of him. Plus, since I'd seen the show before, I knew it was right where the giraffe walked by, so I knew that would be a really cool experience for him.)

So the waiting began again. The weeks went by, and finally May came. Again we were a few days away from the big trip. Again everyone was excited. Again we were talking about all the fun things we would be doing in just a few short days.

And then it came. Dumbo. No, not Dumbo as in the elephant with big ears. Dumbo as in the nasty virus that Alec decided to come down with. (Hey, if we're naming winter storms here, I figured I could name childhood illnesses too.) So we could either take our sick little boy and make him trudge around the city with no energy and not enjoying himself at all. Or we could reschedule everything. Again. We chose the second option.

My sick little boy would not have had a good time in NYC like this

Again we were very lucky that we could exchange everything. But again I wanted those same seats, and again it was a few more months until I could get them again. So again the waiting began. Third time has to be a charm, right?

Finally the weekend was almost here. The big trip was a few days away. And then it... Ok, just kidding. This time everything went perfectly.

Right off the subway, seeing Times Square for the first time

Getting ready to see his first Broadway musical!

Even though it was five months later than we had planned, we made it to New York, and Alec couldn't have had a better time. He loved everything about the weekend, right down to the big "ice hunt" he went on with Chad in the hotel. To this day he still talks about everything he got to do, and he loves to look through the photo book that I made him of our adventures in NYC.

This Friday, that little 5-year-old turns six! While we didn't plan another big trip for him, I know this year will be filled with lots of fun things for him with some theatre thrown in there for sure.

Oh, and what was his seat for his very first Broadway musical? The one that I just wasn't willing to give up? You guessed it... row L seat1! :)

Enjoying the "Big" piano at F.A.O. Schwarz

No, E.T. is not giving us the finger on the Toys R Us Ferris wheel

The ice hunt was a highlight of the trip