Man, I used to stalk that show hardcore when he was Roger. Used to brag to my friends how the guy in all the Rent posters knew who I was, and in addition to being superhot was also incredibly sweet and witty. (Well it makes sense, he is Canadian after all.) Ahhh stagedooring, the quickest way to becoming a full-blown stalker. Good times.

I remember I was dying to see her in the show but for some reason it never happened. By the time I got around to going, it was when Michelle Williams was in (lucky for me, I got to see her understudy, who was amazing.) I've heard Deborah Cox was very good as well - from the audios I have it sounds like she kicked ass on vocals but her acting kind of sucked. At any rate, er, feel free to PM me for mementos. Or YouTube it to relive the amazingly hot Pascal/Headley action.

I am so right there with you. Just the idea gives me the shivers.

So I saw Grease the other night and it was pretty much what I expected. The musical numbers were fun because they were familiar, and the performers were all talented, but aside from one or two of them, nobody was able to rise above the absolutely HORRENDOUS material. Holy crap. It was like a bad high school production. The costumes and scenery were hideous. Choreography was a joke, though I guess they couldn't do too much since the stage was way too tiny. The 'book' was a mess - Act 2 was just a series of WTF moments and the ending was insane. I feel so bad for the performers involved in this show, they're all so much better than this. (Even the reality show leads!) All I can say is, thank goodness I didn't pay for full price tickets or I would have been pissed. And also, 'family show' audiences are traumatizing - there were kids running around all through the show, messing with the curtains because they had those box seats. It was really distracting. My parents used to take me to shows when I was little but if I'd tried something like that I would have been smacked and taken out immediately (not in that order). What is wrong with people?

Yeah good luck with that. Everyone I told to watch Legally Blonde on MTV I pretty much warned about that first song. It's just so SHRILL. When I rewatch (yeah that's right I said it) I make sure to start the show with the second song - you really can't go wrong with Richard Blake, you know? (And to bring this post full circle, I must share that I just became MySpace friends with him. And his quote is, "If you've seen any show that has a jerk boyfriend in it...I'm that guy!" Hee!)

I am amused at how a bunch of people wrote under that Rent poster picture, "you're still famous!!" I'm guessing they mean famous in the sense of "Broadway famous." *g*

For some reason I love that Sutton Foster's husband is in that play. And adorable!

Yeah, Cary Shields got big buzz in Canada too, so he was talked about a lot when he was in Rent.

That quote is one of the ones on this page which psammead linked a few posts back. It cracked me up - so mean, but yeeowch. At least its creatively mean!

So I bought ShowBusiness today and I really liked it. It was informative and snarky, and all the performers seemed awesome. That being said, I wish they would have done something on some of the other musicals, Like the Assasins revival was controversial for many reasons, and Donna Murphy kept getting sick, and Hugh Jackman gave the performance of the year in a mediocre show.

Or even dealt a little with plays. Like they showed Ethan Hawke and Michael Hayden doing sword choreography for Henry IV and I would have liked to see more of that.

There was more of their swordfight in the deleted scenes, Kiran.

I enjoyed the doc, but I wished they'd showed a bit more of Taboo (of course) and Caroline, because I think they really did focus on the 2 more successful of the 4 shows. Loved the deleted scenes though. Raul putting on makeup and talking about his craft? I could watch that for hours.

I did kind of love the Avenue Q guys though...

No I checked that out but just more in general.

I actually thought they focused on Taboo a lot. I got the feeling that if they delved into the conflict of that show Rosie might have bitchslapped them.

But yeah, more Caroline or Change would have been nice. But I really liked the Wicked and Avenue Q parts too.

ETA: I watched all the bonus features and my favorite thing was the sense of community and genuine...admiration between the Broadway community. Like Alan Cumming looking kind of in awe of John Lithgow, or Liza talking about the Gypsy Robe or the cute story that Alan Cumming tells about Kristin Chenoweth (who hes clearly friends with) re: Popular, or the way everyone seems so impressed by Tonya Pinkins performance, or even their joined hatred of Michael Riehdal.

Anyone listen to Idina Menzel's single on i-tunes? I found it "meh." I think I need to hear more than those 30 seconds though.

So "Seize the Day" popped up on my i-tunes rotation, and someone should totally go to NYC and play that near the picket lines. *g*

Hahaha! That would rock my fuckin' world! They should also play "And the World Will Know" for added oomph.

I was just saying the other day how Newsies would make an awesome Broadway show, until my friend pointed out that there's no way they could pull it off with a whole cast full of kids. Too bad because I would stalk that sucker for sure. PATRIIIIIICK MY SONNNNNNNN!

It's actually:

"Patrick, darling,
Since you left me I am undone
Mother loves you!
GOD, SAVE MY SONNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

That part of the song always makes me wanna cry. It could be very productive in reducing the studio heads to tears.

I've been taking out some more CDs from the library and Love The Drowsy Chaperone, so-so about Avenue Q, and love Patty Lupone in Sweeney Todd-Excellent.

Not sure why I didn't love Avenue Q, but it was cute. Loved the Rod/Nick-Bert/Ernie near comparisons, though!

I don't think the music is that greato in its own (although the lyrics are good.) Music + the rest of the show is great though.

Yay, strike's over!

I can't even tell you how much I love that recording of Sweeney Todd, especially Michael Cerveris as Sweeney.