hey hey! yesterday afternoon i went downtown to see the 8x tony award-winning musical spring awakening for the 2nd time at the ahmanson theatre - but this time - many thanks to jason - i secured stage seating which is pretty unconventional - i can't think of any other musical that featured such close seats to the action (except for the NYC broadway revival of cabaret with alan cumming which had dinner tables set-up) i've seen many musicals and plays in my time but i've NEVER been so damn close (i marked where my seat was below) i freakin' loved every moment of it (of course seeing mega canadian cutie kyle riabko's (who plays 'melchior gabor') naked butt up close & personal was awesome) although the view is a little obstructed at times - it didn't matter - it was simply amazing to see actors doing an excellent job from such a close vantage point! if you haven't seen the show you have until december 7th here in los angeles and then the show will continue to tour the country until next august when it wraps up in washington DC - it comes highly recommended! below are a couple of pictures from the national tour production along with two videos - popbytes over & out for now...xoxo
UPDATE! oh my goodness - i had a superb time tonight - the show was EXCELLENT - and although i knew a lot of the music i didn't know much about the actual plot and it was definitely different than i expected but in a suprising & refreshing way (and i did manage to shed a few tears) it's certainly not your mom's type of musical - gosh i can't wait to see it again! i also saw a few celebrities who were also in attendance this evening - including actress jane seymour (who is gorgeous in person), a bunch of cast members from 90210 (like lori laughlin who's a lot smaller than i imagined) and mega hottie kellan lutz (he's starring in the upcoming twilight movie) if you live in the los angeles area - i'd highly recommend checking out spring awakening before it closes on december 7th! popbytes over & out for tonight...xoxo
hey y'all! tonight i'm heading downtown for the official los angeles opening night of spring awakening at the ahmanson theatre (where 9 to 5 just wrapped up its LA production) the musical swept last year's tony awards - winning eight awards including best new musical (it's set in late-nineteenth century germany and concerns a group of teens discovering themselves alongside their blossoming sexuality) i already picked up a ticket to go see it at the end of november so i was super excited to get an invitation to come down for the opening! everyone i know who has seen NYC's broadway production has loved the show (although it's closing in january after a critically acclaimed two year run) plus the show was also recently featured on 90210 (it was the 'west beverly high' musical and in the end was directed by 'brenda walsh' played by shannen doherty) i've also been listening to the amazing soundtrack (the music was penned by cutie pie duncan sheik with book & lyrics by steven sater) so i already know i'm seriously going to enjoy seeing the show live on stage! i promise to write a quick update on this post when i return home later this evening - popbytes over & out for now...xoxo
hey kids! i'm heading downtown again this evening...after seeing 9 to 5 - the musical a few weeks ago (read my glowing review) i decided that i simply had to go one more time (especially being a hugedolly parton fan) before it closes here in los angeles on october 19th (the show will then head east to NYC's broadway where it will play at the marriott's marquis theatre next spring) last time i was in the 2nd row orchestra but on the left side - tonight i'm in the 2nd row again but smack dab in the center...woo hoo! check out the video below which contains a few small clips from the show (i'm very curious to see if i will notice anything different from the first time around...) popbytes over & out for now...xoxo
...that was the message delivered to scientology loud and clear earlier tonight in NYC by a bunch of anti-scientology protesters held up near the schoenfeld theatre where katie holmes was just hours away from making her broadway debut in arthur miller's classic play all my sons...people are calling for katie to be freed from the grip of her hubby tom cruise who has come under major fire over the past few years for his heavy involvement with the wacky & secretive cult 'religion' first formed by sci-fi writer l. ron hubbard! the two (aka tomkat) make such an odd & awkward couple (just look at these pictures from last night's dress rehearsal) i can't see them lasting forever - once they split she needs to write a book about her whole 'stepford' experience...unless that's clearly forbidden in the contract she probably signed with xenu...hopefully ms. holmes will receive decent reviews for her broadway performance - girlfriend seriously needs some small ray of hope to hold onto like those flowers from joshua jackson or her adorable daughter suri! popbytes over & out for tonight...xoxo
UPDATE! oh my word - i had the best time tonight...i was blown away...get ready broadway - you have one hot show coming your way! i was so very impressed and being a huge fan of the movie i was worried it might get lost in musical translation but dolly parton did an INCREDIBLE job with the all the music & lyrics (plus the plot remains completely intact - props to patricia resnick for the book) dolly is totally going to win a tony award for best original score and i can see 9 to 5 winning best new musical - it's that good! (trust me on this - i'm a huge musical theater guru) kudos to the entire ensemble but i must give specific shout outs to the three main gals allison janney, stephanie j. block and megan hilty (who i saw in wicked here in LA) and last but not least marc kudisch who plays their nasty sexist boss franklin hart jr. (a role originated by dabney coleman) i can't wait to buy the cast recording (the music was so good) tonight i picked up a cute orange t-shirt, a key chain, a magnet, and a souvenir program - i simply couldn't help myself - i loved every minute of the show and the sets were awesome (i thought the show might be a bit unpolished since it just started playing but it was super tight except one small mix-up with a phone cord that was supposed to be plugged in and the actors just rolled with it!) i highly recommend seeing it while it's playing here in los angeles (now through october 19th) i think i'll need to go to NYC when this show opens up on broadway in the spring! popbytes over & out for tonight - thank heavens tomorrow is friday - xoxo
hey kids! right now i'm heading downtown (for the second night in a row) to the ahmanson theatre to see the brand new musical 9 to 5 based upon the much beloved 1980 movie (the trailer for the film is posted below) i am totally beside myself with sheer excitement - not only is '9 to 5' one of my favorite movies of all-time but the legendary dolly parton (who you know i adore to no end and starred in the movie as doralee rhodes) wrote all of the music/lyrics for this new musical stage version (plus the book was penned by patricia resnick who wrote the original screenplay) tonight will be the third public performance so i'm expecting there still might be some kinks to work out (this past tuesday during the show's debut ms. parton was sitting in the audience and somthing went wrong but dolly entertained the crowd while the small technical issue was fixed) yet by the time the show heads to NYC's broadway in the spring - i'm quite sure it'll be a smash hit! when i get back home later this evening i will do a quick update with some of my thoughts on the show - popbytes over & out for now...xoxo
good morning! legendary comedian, entertainer and businesswoman joan rivers just made her london acting debut (at age 75) in a self-penned autobiographical play called a work in progress by a life in progress which is playing now at leicester square theatre through september 18th (ms. rivers will do another run in december & january - i'm so freakin' bummed i missed her play during its los angeles run) i know a lot of people like to take cheap shots at joan and her many plastic surgeries (making her look less than natural...) but she has done so much in her lifetime - which has been filled with many up and downs and thankfully she's still carrying on today - ms. rivers is a trooper and she's probably way more qualified to be vice president than alaska lady sarah palin! i seriously miss seeing her doing red carpet arrival interviews (with her daughter melissa rivers in tow) ms. rivers always added a wacky & unpredictable element to every event she covered (i'm sorry but watching lisa rinna & joey fatone doing red carpet interviews is not nearly as fun...and ryan seacrest is a bore) everybody seriously needs to appreciate joan more (just look at her below giving the one-fingered victory salute) she's not going to be around forever and i for one will miss her sassiness & spunk when she's gone - long live ms. rivers! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo
A four-handed, part-confession, part-performance comedy drama based on Joan Rivers own larger-than-life rollercoaster life. While it presents the Joan that we know, from her biographies, TV appearance and live stand-up shows, it also reveals the woman behind the public face that the public have never seen before. Set in Joan's dressing room backstage at the Oscars ceremony, Joan is preparing for one of her legendary annual TV catwalk commentaries on the fashion hits and disasters at Hollywood's biggest night of the year. But all is not well... her dressing room is B, not A!!; her complimentary cheese is puny, not plentiful; and her producer is the bigwig's nephew, not the bigwig! The tension and drama are the catalyst for an introspective look at aging, going through life's ups and downs and being a woman in Hollywood.
hey kids! oh yes - today was one of those lazy days - recently i've been completely addicted to playing lego indiana jones adventures on xbox - i finally finished all the chapters - it's such a well-crafted game and super fun but now it's time for me to jump back into grand theft auto IV (yet i do feel guilty sometimes playing video games since it's such a big waste of time but i can't help myself...) anyways i had to go pick up an audio cable at frys over in burbank (which turned out to be the wrong cable...) but i stopped by the DVD section for a hot second and company on blu-ray caught my eye - it's a filmed performance (the revival) of the 1970 broadway musical which ended up taking home the 2007 best musical revival tony award!
since i'm a huge fan of composer/lyricist stephen sondheim (now age 78) i've loved the music from the show for ages (there's a number of famous songs including being alive & the ladies who lunch) but i never saw it performed...when i got home i instantly tossed it on - i was hooked right away plus it got me all misty about new york city (as much as i miss the big apple sometimes - i don't think i could bear to leave los angeles - i truly love it here) where the story of single 'bobby' (played by tony nominated raul esparza who is amazing) is played out - if you told me this morning i'd be posting about this tonight i'd have said you're nuts but oh my gosh i do like to keep things random here on popbytes - company was incredibly smart & entertaining (plus the show is almost forty years old and still feels very relevant and modern - i could go on & on...) if you're a fan of musical theater at all - this is a total must-see - i wish i had taken my ass to new york to have seen it in person! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo
PS there's a great video below of angel desai singing 'another hundred people' - one of the best songs from the show - watch more clips here!
sweeping all the major theater awards for best revival of a musical, this beloved stephen sondheim-george furth classic is more relevant today than ever before. far ahead of its time with its unconventional look at love and commitment in modern manhattan, company is an honest, funny and sophisticated portrayal of the pros and cons of marriage as seen through a 35-year-old confirmed bachelor and his enthusiastically married, slightly envious friends. with a wise and witty score including "another hundred people," "side by side by side," "the ladies who lunch" and "being alive," this broadway production of company offers musical comedy at its finest.
UPDATE! oh my gosh - the show was freakin' amazing - i loved it! everything was way cool and trippy - my pal joey thought it was very 'twin peaks' - many thanks to ms. brenda for hooking a blog up! i will try and get my hands on some production photos - i would highly recommend checking the show out if you happen to be in los angeles! right now i feel all inspired to learn as much as i can about edie sedgwick - popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
hey hey! tonight i'm dining out with my awesome pal joey and then we're heading down to the met theatre to catch a brand new musical/play called silver for gold (the odyssey of edie sedgwick) which just opened last night and was written and directed by david j (of bauhaus and love & rockets fame) it sounds highly interesting and off-beat and besides anything that relates to andy warhol and edie sedgwick is right up my alley! when i return home later this evening i will try and update this post with my initial thoughts on the show! i hope everyone else has themselves a truly kick-ass friday night (and is able to sleep late tomorrow - don't forget this weekend daylight savings time kicks in - so unfortunately we'll be losing an hour of sleep but at least it'll be lighter outside in the evening) popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
David J writes and directs the world premiere production of Silver For Gold (The Odyssey Of Edie Sedgwick) at The Met Theatre in Hollywood, CA, beginning an exclusive two-week engagement on March 6th, 2008. Based on the life of Edie Sedgwick - Andy Warhol's brilliant muse - the stage production explores one of the most charismatic yet misunderstood figures in popular culture. Starring multifaceted performer Monique Jenkinson ( aka Fauxnique ) as Edie and Steven Oliver Price ( founder of the Ronin Ensemble ) as Norich, the wounded healer, Silver For Gold traces the heroine's dazzling rise and eventual downward spiral in a mythological theatrical experience that is part one-woman show, part chamber rock concert replete with avant-garde minimalist staging and video imagery.
hey kids - happy friday evening - can you believe tomorrow is december already?!? although the writers' strike is still on with sadly no real end in sight (there was some bad news earlier today for the staff of the tonight show w/ jay leno) there's one strike that came to a fairly quick ending - the stagehands of broadway are back to business! this evening at the marriott marquis theatre a bunch of broadway's best & brightest came together for a celebration called broadway's back and featured a number of cast members from shows currently playing on the great white way (such as wicked, legally blonde, avenue q and a few more) along with legends angela lansbury & bernadette peters! i seriously miss going to broadway shows in NYC - i was all excited to see the color purple when it lands in los angeles in a few weeks but tickets were way expensive - for a decent seats - they are running over $300 each - that's a bit out of my budget although i'm still going to try and see it - even if it's not the best seat in the house! right now i'm just laying low - i feel ok but i do have a case of the sniffles which i hope doesn't get worse! i'll check you all tomorrow - much love to all as always - popbytes over & out...xxoo!
UPDATE oh my word - why the hell did i wait so long to see wicked?!? of course i loved it! i've heard from so many people how much they enjoyed it and now i can totally see why - it's not my favorite musical ever but i really enjoyed it - plus i didn't know the entire story so there were some surprising plot twists - and damn let me just say that eden espinosa who plays 'elphaba' (the wicked witch of the west) kicked some serious ass - she was awesome! i'll probably do a more in-depth post on the show soon - i highly recommend seeing it if you haven't already - i'm ready to go and buy another ticket! popbytes over & out for tonight...xxoo!
hey y'all! i'm beyond super excited to finally go see wicked tonight which is playing here in los angeles at the pantages theater which is quite close to my apartment - i've been wanting to see 'the untold story of the witches of oz' for such a long time so i finally broke down and bought myself a ticket - an excellent 4th row orchestra seat! plus coincidentally the smash musical hit is also being featured on my favorite show tonight - ugly betty - gosh i love how 'betty' and i will both be 'defying gravity' on the very same night! i'll update this post when i return home later! popbytes over & out for now...xxoo!
