Happy Sweensday to Me!
My birthday was yesterday. I always feel so awkward whenever it comes around because I feel some obligation to remind people. And it just kind of loses any momentum at that point.
If not for nothing, it did merit an obligatory "birthday thread" on the IRC message boards. Albeit a collectively shared, anonymous one. Leading me to believe that either the improvisers of the world truly have big, generous hearts...or I'm but one of the butt of a cruel and ironic joke.
Also, I get the feeling that people may be reading this blog. People other than my mom. The thing that really gets me is that I've also attraced a lot of spammers. If you didn't just give this blog a passing reference during the one or two times I've mentioned contemporary elitist musical theatre, I should let you know that I'm just going to delete whatever mass email about your latest one-man show I get this week before I read it.
Now, that I've gotten that out of the way, here are some things I should recommend - because I haven't done so in a long while:
Broadway Dance Center: Get in on the ground floor while you can on this one. According to All That Chat (which has become my foremost source of news and reviews on the theatre front - sorry, Playbill), the official closing date of the old site is December 17. Which, incidentally, may be my last class date there. Or until they find a new space.
Do it on a whim. It's a great place to get some cardio and un-tense your muscles without having to wait for the elliptical. The only caveat is that you may be partnered to dance with someone who just beat you for a great role. The plus is that she'll probably have to leave a half-hour into the class anyway, because of call time.
I'm taking a theatre dance class there now. Best $18 I ever spent. Yesterday, we learned a routine from the forgotten Cy Coleman musical The Life. I don't think there's anything better to hear on a lazy Saturday evening than, "These are some real seedy characters you're going to be playing - so, all of the guys are going to be pimps, and the girls are going to be their whores!" Fan-tastic.
When we weren't dancing, the instructor gave us dollar bills to wave at the "prostitutes," so we could "solicit" them. I didn't feel any need to look good or get the steps right. Most of the dance moves I tend to get right are by accident ninety percent of the time anyway, and it wasn't too difficult to learn.
The other great thing about the location is that it's by a couple of art and stationary stores. Do yourself a favor: Get there early, sign up for a class, and, if you're so inclined to the creative impulse, go shopping for writing and illustration supplies like I did.
Holiday non-dairy creamers: I usually only use liquid Coffee-Mate, but this was too good a deal to pass up. Mostly for the discount. There's no better way to ring in the cold, cold winter than by drinking a fresh morning cup of joe that tastes like Mocha Peppermint, Eggnog Spice, or Pumpkin Pie. Sure beats the chalky aftertaste of most regular creamers.
"Titey": Last night I watched The Best of Saturday T.V. Funhouse on DVD. Most people don't get why I always answer "Robert Smigel" as the one Not Ready for Prime Time Player whose career I'd most like to emulate. Now they can.
Also, it's a headache whenever I say "George Coe" instead, and I have to explain to them why he mysteriously disappeared, Cousin Oliver-like, after the first episode of "SNL." He was also the guy who sang "Sorry-Grateful" in the original Company. And I'd probably link to that video of Brooks Ashmanskas essaying his role in a one-night-only revival of On the Twentieth Century right now, but AEA has removed it from YouTube. Partly because it infringed on a number of copyrights, and probably because "I Rise Again" really is one of the weaker numbers in that show and doesn't show off much of Brooks' awesome range.
Anyway, if it wasn't for this DVD, I would have totally forgotten about one of my favorite "Funhouse" cartoons ever: "Titey." Basically, on the heels of the movie and musical Titanic, Smigel responded to the hype by creating a Disney-perfect parody that's half Beauty and the Beast, half The Little Mermaid (with a cameo by Flounder!), and all brilliance. Featuring dancing lifeboats, celebrity voices, a plucky talking ship that won't sink, and...Anne Frank? Anachronism, thy name is Disney.
All of the best non-Titanic parodies are included here, by the way: "The Disney Vault," the eerily prophetic "Bambi 2002," and the long-banned "Conspiracy Theory ROCK!" There are also some great holiday 'toons ("Peanuts Christmas," "The Narrator That Ruined Christmas," "Santa and the States" - with a commentary by the real Al Franken! - and my personal fave, "Christmastime for the Jews"). I've been singing "Why did they take Norm MacDonald away? 'Cause he made too many jokes about O.J." all weekend long.
Me and My Girl: Nobody remembers this musical, and it's only so rare they revive it in summer stock (and we see tons of Southern and Midwest teenagers attempt middle-upper-crust Brit accents - hi-larious), but it's still a knee-slapping show with a great, funny soundtrack. Monty Python meets Max Fleischer meets the roaring twenties.
The original cast reunited recently. Almost all of them. Send Jane Connell your prayers and wishes.
And, also, listen to the CD.
If not for nothing, it did merit an obligatory "birthday thread" on the IRC message boards. Albeit a collectively shared, anonymous one. Leading me to believe that either the improvisers of the world truly have big, generous hearts...or I'm but one of the butt of a cruel and ironic joke.
Also, I get the feeling that people may be reading this blog. People other than my mom. The thing that really gets me is that I've also attraced a lot of spammers. If you didn't just give this blog a passing reference during the one or two times I've mentioned contemporary elitist musical theatre, I should let you know that I'm just going to delete whatever mass email about your latest one-man show I get this week before I read it.
Now, that I've gotten that out of the way, here are some things I should recommend - because I haven't done so in a long while:
Broadway Dance Center: Get in on the ground floor while you can on this one. According to All That Chat (which has become my foremost source of news and reviews on the theatre front - sorry, Playbill), the official closing date of the old site is December 17. Which, incidentally, may be my last class date there. Or until they find a new space.
Do it on a whim. It's a great place to get some cardio and un-tense your muscles without having to wait for the elliptical. The only caveat is that you may be partnered to dance with someone who just beat you for a great role. The plus is that she'll probably have to leave a half-hour into the class anyway, because of call time.
I'm taking a theatre dance class there now. Best $18 I ever spent. Yesterday, we learned a routine from the forgotten Cy Coleman musical The Life. I don't think there's anything better to hear on a lazy Saturday evening than, "These are some real seedy characters you're going to be playing - so, all of the guys are going to be pimps, and the girls are going to be their whores!" Fan-tastic.
When we weren't dancing, the instructor gave us dollar bills to wave at the "prostitutes," so we could "solicit" them. I didn't feel any need to look good or get the steps right. Most of the dance moves I tend to get right are by accident ninety percent of the time anyway, and it wasn't too difficult to learn.
The other great thing about the location is that it's by a couple of art and stationary stores. Do yourself a favor: Get there early, sign up for a class, and, if you're so inclined to the creative impulse, go shopping for writing and illustration supplies like I did.
Holiday non-dairy creamers: I usually only use liquid Coffee-Mate, but this was too good a deal to pass up. Mostly for the discount. There's no better way to ring in the cold, cold winter than by drinking a fresh morning cup of joe that tastes like Mocha Peppermint, Eggnog Spice, or Pumpkin Pie. Sure beats the chalky aftertaste of most regular creamers.
"Titey": Last night I watched The Best of Saturday T.V. Funhouse on DVD. Most people don't get why I always answer "Robert Smigel" as the one Not Ready for Prime Time Player whose career I'd most like to emulate. Now they can.
Also, it's a headache whenever I say "George Coe" instead, and I have to explain to them why he mysteriously disappeared, Cousin Oliver-like, after the first episode of "SNL." He was also the guy who sang "Sorry-Grateful" in the original Company. And I'd probably link to that video of Brooks Ashmanskas essaying his role in a one-night-only revival of On the Twentieth Century right now, but AEA has removed it from YouTube. Partly because it infringed on a number of copyrights, and probably because "I Rise Again" really is one of the weaker numbers in that show and doesn't show off much of Brooks' awesome range.
Anyway, if it wasn't for this DVD, I would have totally forgotten about one of my favorite "Funhouse" cartoons ever: "Titey." Basically, on the heels of the movie and musical Titanic, Smigel responded to the hype by creating a Disney-perfect parody that's half Beauty and the Beast, half The Little Mermaid (with a cameo by Flounder!), and all brilliance. Featuring dancing lifeboats, celebrity voices, a plucky talking ship that won't sink, and...Anne Frank? Anachronism, thy name is Disney.
All of the best non-Titanic parodies are included here, by the way: "The Disney Vault," the eerily prophetic "Bambi 2002," and the long-banned "Conspiracy Theory ROCK!" There are also some great holiday 'toons ("Peanuts Christmas," "The Narrator That Ruined Christmas," "Santa and the States" - with a commentary by the real Al Franken! - and my personal fave, "Christmastime for the Jews"). I've been singing "Why did they take Norm MacDonald away? 'Cause he made too many jokes about O.J." all weekend long.
Me and My Girl: Nobody remembers this musical, and it's only so rare they revive it in summer stock (and we see tons of Southern and Midwest teenagers attempt middle-upper-crust Brit accents - hi-larious), but it's still a knee-slapping show with a great, funny soundtrack. Monty Python meets Max Fleischer meets the roaring twenties.
The original cast reunited recently. Almost all of them. Send Jane Connell your prayers and wishes.
And, also, listen to the CD.
Do the Lambeth Walk on the Comments board!
Do it!
A minor side note: I may actually have to remove that Comments board. I was going through some of my old posts last night, and, besides realizing how much I've developed from an otherwise perpetually happy blogger into a total crank, I've discovered that, apparently, someone didn't find my review of the soundtrack to Bernarda Alba very funny.
And something bad happens when people don't think I'm funny (cue theme music from "The Hulk").
posted by Gypsy at 12:06 PM
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