Last night, I (I’ll spare you the never funny but often-used “ease on down” reference) went to the City Center Encores! Summer Stars production of The Wiz.
I never saw the original, as I was just a sparkle in my mama’s eye when the show first stormed Broadway in 1975, or its ill-fated revival in the mid-80s. I did, however, wear out my VHS copy of the movie. You can watch the original trailer here: (more…)
I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for the notorious “good time” that is Broadway Bares. The ad features an Adonis of a man holding a strategically placed laptop with the words “click it” emblazoned on the clickable parts. And click it they did.
I grabbed a drink from one of the many underwear clad cocktail waiters and joined Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, to take a sneak peak of the Broadway Bares “dressing” area in the basement of the Roseland Theatre. It was more like a de-dressing area with 70 MAC makeup artists applying body paint, sparkle and pasties to the ridiculously ripped 200-plus performers. It was as much of a party downstairs as it was upstairs! (more…)
To say that last night was the biggest night for the Broadway community would be stating the obvious. From the second Brian d’Arcy James stepped onto the red carpet (yep, he was the first celeb to greet the press), the four blocks surrounding Radio City seemed almost electric with excitement. I was one of the lucky 6,200 people to score a seat inside the Hall and (no surprise here), I thought the show was fantastic…due, in no small part, to Neil Patrick Harris, who was phenomenal!
Here are some of my favorite moments from inside the 63rd Annual Tony Awards!
It’s 12:30 AM, and I am sitting in a bizarrely crowded Greenwich Village pizzeria. I am listening to Tom Kitt talk about getting ramped up/nervous for the Tony Awards this Sunday.
In between bites, I replay for him my first time seeing Next to Normal, the 11-time Tony-nominated stunner he penned with lyricist/librettist Brian Yorkey. I tried to explain, unfortunately, none too eloquently — it was close to 1 AM after all, and I did have a mouth full of pizza — how profound I thought the show was and how I wept openly (and perhaps over dramatically) to the dismay of the patrons sitting next to me. Sadly, that’s a true story.
