Life in the Theatre

Okay so I’m sorry I haven’t posted in a while. I have some announcements!

First off, I just started a new website called the Broadway Lexicon. It’s located at www.freewebs.com/broadwaylexicon . It will have general/important information about every show that’s open soon. I would love an assistant webmaster/mistress. Please e-mail broadwayforcharity@yahoo.com if you are interested.

Next, I decided to make a schedule for this week’s posts:

Sunday- Announcements/Website of the Week

Monday- Top 5 Songs in a Show

Tuesday- News Stuff

Wednesday- NO POST

Thursday- NO POST

Friday- Actor and Actress of the Week

Saturday- NO POST

The schedule will be different every week and will include a variety of topics.

That’s all for today!

I never finished the March 8th review, but whatever.

This time I am just reviewing the actors.

Jed Resnick (Mark): He was very good. Good vocals, good acting.

Heinz Winckler (Roger): Better acting than the last time I saw him. He has definately improved.

Anwar Robinson (Collins): His voice is unique for Collins, but I really enjoyed him. His “When your heart has expired” in I’ll Cover You Reprise was a standout of the evening.

John Watson (Benny): His voice is really good. I  found myself watching him during Contact, due to his dancing.

Onyie Nwachukwu (Joanne): Her lisp bothered me more this time. She is a very talented vocalist though, especially during Take Me or Leave Me.

Kristen-Alexzander Griffith (Angel): Not very good. I didn’t particulary enjoy his voice, but he was a good dancer.

Jennifer Colby Talton (Mimi): She was good. Her voice is very clear and she is a good actress.

Christine Dwyer (Maureen): Stand-out! I love her Take Me or Leave Me and Over the Moon!!!

Some other stuff:

*I think the SOList/Mrs. Jefferson was sick. Her voice sounded awful during Seasons of Love last night. She was much better last time I saw her.

*The Richmond audience applauded at everything, which was good.

I’m really bad at writing reviews so I’ll stop now…

ALSO: I have decided to write at least one Broadway-related post every day, so please read and comment!

Is anyone interested in me doing a daily post? Because I could if you want me to.

Post in the comments if you would like daily posts!

Okay so I still haven’t finished my RENT review but it will be up by next Saturday.

but the other Shrek leads have been announced.

The previously rumored Paul Vogt as Shrek is not true. Shrek will be portrayed by Brian D’arcy James, Chester Gregory II will play Donkey, and John Tartaglia will be Gingy. I have not been previously introduced to the performances of James or Gregory, but I am looking forward to Tartaglia’s performance. He was quite amazing in Beauty and the Beast and Avenue Q, and I have heard how fabulous he is on Johny and the Sprites. I have also heard of James and Gregory’s greatness. I am very excited for this all-star cast but I did want Paul Vogt as Shrek. Oh well. Here is a list of the currently-announced cast.

Shrek…Brian D’arcy James

Fiona…Sutton Foster

Donkey…Chester Gregory II

Lord Farquad…Christopher Sieber

Dragon…Kecia Lewis-Evans

Gingy…John Tartaglia

This cast sounds quite good!

I’m so sorry I haven’t posted act 2’s review yet. I’m really busy finishing up my 3rd quarter at school. It might be a few more days until I post it.

Okay so the RENT act two review will be posted tomorrow.

There is a new forum dedicated to RENT, specifically the Broadway and touring productions.

It is located at www.rentnationaltour.brightforums.com

Please join!

Okay! I’m back and the show was amazing. Here is my review! It was my first time seeing RENT.

Cast:

Roger: Heinz Winckler

Mark: Jed Resnick

Collins: Aswad? (It was an understudy and I think it was him)

Benny: John Watson

Joanne: Onyie Nwachukwu

Angel: Kristen-Alexzander Griffith

Mimi: Jennifer Colby Talton

Maureen: Christine Dwyer

Mark’s Mom/ Others: Hannah Shankman

Mr. Jefferson/Others: Devon Settles, Jr.

Mrs. Jefferson/SOL Soloist/Others: Natalie R. Perkins

Gordon/Mr. Grey/Others: Corey Joseph Mach

Steve/Waiter/Squeegee Man/Others: Dustin Brayley

Paul/Others: Tim Erlich

Alexi Darling/Roger’s Mom/Others: Jade Hicks

Now onto the show.

Tune Up: Wow…Jed is a great Mark. He has great stage presence. They didn’t turn off the house lights until after the description of their apartment. Is it supposed to be like that?

Voice Mail #1: I loved it! Hannah made it amazing!

Rent: SO MUCH ENERGY! It was like the end of a Tune Up and then BAM! I was watching Hannah pretty much the whole song. She’s fun to watch.

You Okay Honey?: Kristen-Alexzander was really good. He sang really high which was perfect for Angel.

One Song Glory: Heinz is great at singing. I don’t like that Roger is turned away from the audience at the beginning of the song.

Light My Candle: Jennifer is amazing! She can sing very good. And I loved her “Is it on the floor?” thing where she moves closer to Roger.

Voice Mail #2: I don’t really remember that part very well.

Today 4 U: Angel’s entrance was great. She was the only character that got entrance applause. I love Kristen-Alexzander’s dancing!!

You’ll See: John is a really good Benny. He reminded me of Taye a little bit.

Tango: Maureen: Onyie has a lisp which was kind of annoying. but she sings great. She and Jed were good at the tango-ing part.

Life Support:  its kind of a sad song. but i do love the line “I’m a New Yorker. Fear’s my life!”

Out Tonight: JENNIFER IS LOVE!!!! She is so great at singing and playing Mimi. okay so when Mimi yelled “Meow HA!”, the elderly people next to me all left. I don’t think they liked Mimi.

Another Day: Great vocals.

Will I?: This song is sad. Once again, amazing vocals.

On the Street: The ensemble is great. Blanket Woman had a great voice.

Santa Fe: Whoever played Collins was quite a good singer!

I’ll Cover You: I love this song. Angel and Collins have great chemistry.

We’re Okay: I never knew people could call a pay phone. haha.

Christmas Bells: This shows off the talented ensemble.

Over the Moon: Christine is soooooo funny. She is awesome

La Vie Boheme:  Amazing ensemble cast. I love this song. Especially Christine slapping her butt a bunch of times and Jed crawling on the floor during the Dorothy and Toto line.

I Should Tell You: Once again Heinz and Jennifer were amazing. They have great chemistry!

La Vie Boheme B:  Joanne is finally with everyone! Great singing again! The cast looks so happy together.

Act 2 will be in a separate post.

I will be attending a matinee of the RENT national tour in Baltimore today. I will have a review up tomorrow!

As any Hairspray fans would know, the 2007 film added ten new council members to the Corny Collins Show. My favorites were the awesome twins named Noreen and Doreen played by Brooke and Tiffany Engen. Those actresses are now swings in two amazing shows on Broadway.

I have to interrupt myself really quick. Sorry! Sketch was not in the council on the original film. He was added for Broadway.

Anyways let me get back to Brooke and Tiffany.

Brooke played Doreen in the film. She’s now a swing in the Broadway production of Hairspray. She also understudies the Female Authority Figure (Prudy, Gym Teacher, and Jail Matron) and she is one of the dance captains. A swing understudies all of the ensemble tracks. (Well all the ensemble tracks of their gender) The job of the dance captains are to teach new cast members all the dances of the show.

Now onto Tiffany. Tiffany played Doreen in the film. Tiffany replaced Cara Cooper as a swing in Legally Blonde just last week. Tiffany has been very busy, as the flu and injuries are going through the cast.

So that’s pretty much all I would like to say right now.

Thanks for reading!

Who doesn’t love Edna Turnblad? She’s awesome!!

I was searching for photos of Paul Vogt of Hairspray on Google Images and I found a picture from an article about John Waters, the director of the original film, and his opinions of all the Ednas through Paul Vogt.

I will be referring to parts of the article throughout this post.

I made a little list of all the Edna’s so you know who I’m talking about:

Divine (1988 Film Version)

Harvey Fierstein [OBC Edna (July 2002 - May 2004)]

Michael McKean (May 2004-October 2004)

Bruce Vilanch (October 2004-September 2005)

John Pinette (September 2005-May 2006)

Blake Hammond (May 2006-January 2007)

Paul Vogt (January 2007-October 2007)

John Travolta (2007 Film)

George Wendt (October 2007-Present)

So I’m going to talk a little bit about Fierstein, Vogt, and Travolta’s interpretations of the role.

Harvey:

“Harvey Fierstein made the role his own. God only knows, his voice is his own. And he sings! You have to sing it out. Everything has to be bigger onstage. Harvey, though, always played it as a real woman.”

-John Waters

I just don’t like his voice. It’s very… different. But he’s a good actor. No offense to Harvey but I can’t listen to any of his songs on the OBCR because I hate his voice so much.

Paul:

He’s awesome. The best Edna ever!! Who else has his awesomeness? I heard once he had a really funny ad-lib. During You Can’t Stop the Beat, his dress got stuck to the Hairspray can so he sang:

You can’t stop my happiness

Cause I like the way I am

And you just can’t stop my knife and fork

When I see a Christmas ham

So If You Don’t Like the way I look

Well it seems I’m stuck to the can!

I bet it got lots of laughter.  You have to love his Edna!

John Travolta:

“John Travolta plays Edna as someone who had been young and very hot, but now is stay-at-home and embarrassed to go out of the house. He had been the Russ Meyer girl when he was young. And Russ Meyer girls do get larger in life. It’s like muscle men who don’t work out. They turn into bears.”

-John Waters

Okay John (Travolta) is great in Grease, but bad in Hairspray. I hate his Edna voice and I just don’t know why but I don’t like him in the part.

Okay so that is my post about 3 of the many Edna Turnblads. If you’d like to read about John Waters’ opinions on all of the actors (except for Paul Vogt and George Wendt), read this article: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117969969.html?categoryid=15&cs=1

Oh and if you haven’t seen Hairspray, go see it! Its a great show.

I’ll list the other many talented actors along with the roles they have played that have been leads in this great show:

Tracy:

Marissa Jaret Winoker

Kathy Brier

Carly Jibson

Shannon Durig

Marissa Perry (Starting April 15, 200

Corny Collins:

Clarke Thorell

Jonathan Dokuchitz

Michael Cunio

Lance Bass

Clark Thorell has returned to the show as Corny.

Amber von Tussle:

Laura Bell Bundy

Tracy Jai Edwards

Jordan Ballard

Becky Gulsvig

Hayley Duff

Tara Macri

Brynn O’Malley

Ashley Spencer

Link Larkin:

Matthew Morrison

Richard H. Blake

Andrew Rannels

Aaron Tveit

Ashley Parker Angel

Female Authority Figure:

Jackie Hoffman

Liz Larsen

Julie Halston

Joanna Glushak

Lisa Jolley

Susan Mosher

Male Authority Figure:

Joel Vig

Blake Hammond

Jim J. Bullock

Kevin Meaney

Wilbur Turnblad:

Dick Latessa

Peter Scolari

Todd Susman

Stephen DeRosa

Jere  Burns

Jerry Mathers

Jim J. Bullock

Tom Rooney

Seaweed Stubbs:

Corey Reynolds

Chester Gregory II

Terron Brooks

Tevin Campbell

Penny Pingleton:

Kerry Butler

Jenn Gambatese

Brooke Tansley

Tracy Miller

Diana DeGarmo

Caissie Levy

Alexa Vega

Niki Scalera

Velma von Tussle:

Linda Hart

Liz Larsen

Barbara Walsh

Joanna Glushak

Leah Hawking

Isabel Keating

Michele Pawk

Mary Birdsong

Motormouth Maybelle:

Mary Bond Davis

Darlene Love

Jenifer Lewis (Starting in Spring 200

Little Inez:

Danelle Eugenia Wilson

Aja Maria

Sabrina Reitman

Nia Imani Soyemi

Chloe Smith

Naturi Naughton

I hope you didn’t get bored! I just wanted you to see who has been in the show!

Thanks for reading!