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Greetings yet again from an airplane. I called American Airlines this morning and they said I could have a window seat on the four-hour flight to Dallas. I guess by "window" they meant near a window because they booked me a middle seat. Wonderful. Hopefully, on my next big plane flight, I'll have a real window seat because it's going to be a lot longer than flying to Texas since it'll be transatlantic. What's that? Where am I flying? I'll tell ya; I'm taking my first trip to England!!! That's right. I just booked a British reality TV series and I'm leaving on a jet plane at the end of this week. They offered to fly me Business Class and I traded in the tickets for three coach seats so James and Juli can come along. The show is called "School Musical" and it features a high school that's putting on a classic musical. The creative team is made up of all London professionals and they put the show together. Then, right before the final performance, in comes a Broadway "expert" to give them the final je ne sais quoi…me! I'm there to put the finishing touches on all the aspects of the show whether choreography, music or acting. It's actually a dream come true, because I'm always wanting to pipe up during rehearsals but usually I'm the music director and I'm not allowed to give choreographic or acting notes. But, now I can finally break all professional boundaries! Yay! I was so thrilled when I got this job because it would mean a week in London seeing all the sights I've only seen in "Mary Poppins" and "28 Days Later." I then read the fine print and found out that the high school is not exactly in London…it's in Liverpool. Oh well, I thought, I can spend the day in Liverpool and take a cab to London every night. It's worth it to spend a few pounds every night if it means soaking in sights like Big Ben, Picadilly Square and Harrods. James then looked at a map of England while he was on the phone with me and this was the conversation:

James: Ooh, I see here that Liverpool is right near Scotland.
Seth: Cool!
James: And…it's right near Ireland!
Seth: Wow!
James: Hmm….the only thing it's not near is London.
Seth: Silence and frantic dialing of my agent.

And now, let's talk of U.S. events. This week began with my yearly duties as host and music director for Broadway Stands Up For Freedom, an NYCLU benefit. Todd Buonopane performs every year and this time he sang a hilarious rendition of "To Excess" by Michael Kooman and Chris Dimond. We were chitty-chatting before the show and he made my laugh by talking about a famous Broadway/TV star he recently ran into (name withheld for fear reprisals). To appreciate this story, first look at the picture of Todd. OK? Now, Todd was working on Angels which was a Broadway–bound musical that lost its funding. The Broadway/TV star asked him what he was up to and he said:

Todd: Oh, I was just working on a show that was supposed to come to Broadway, but we got cancelled.
Broadway/TV Star: Oh. (pause) For Colored Girls?

Wow. That kind of question merits the response, "Um…no," while backing away. The only adjective in that title that applies to Todd is "For" and, quite frankly, it's a preposition, not an adjective.

My favorite number of the night was Stephen Bogardus and Michael Rupert doing "What Would I Do" from Falsettoland. How cool to have the original two stars singing it…in the original key FYI. They still got it! It's the song that Marvin sings to Whizzer right after Whizzer dies from AIDS. I love how the lyrics are so moving yet still have the humor of a couple who've been together for a long time.

"What would I do if I had not met you? Who would I blame my life on?" Brava! If you don't have that CD, get it ASAP.  Continued...