On the Stage

I must say, I can't remember the last time I ate a Twinkie. That is to say, if I have ever eaten one before. I may never have, but I don't know for sure. It wouldn't surprise me if I haven't because I'm a chocolate fan, and there is no chocolate in Twinkies. So why even pick one up? Because everyone loves them so much, Jonathan sings about them in tick, tick...BOOM! and his obsession with sugar, so I thought I'd see what the facination is all about. Now I'm typing 3/4th of the way through a Twinkie and well...it's not all that great.

Here let me eat some more...

I mean, don't get me wrong, it's good, as I sit here with a mouth full of Twinkie. It's just missing that chocolate that you get in the cupcakes, in the zingers or the suzy Q's or my all-time favorite chocolate donuts...hell, any donut with chocolate, except the actual chocolate donuts. Now I know that doesn't make any sense, but give me a chance to explain.

The little chocolate donuts you buy in the box or in the little roll of 6 at your local convenience store, those things are damn good and damn addictive. The donuts that are cake donuts and are chocolate, those suck. The donuts that are normal white or yellow donuts that have chocolate ON them...yeah, that's the ticket! Caseys fresh cake donuts in the morning...to die for!

Well...now I know I don't have to try Twinkies again unless they do something different to them...it just doesn't do it for me. Sorry.


Hair was good. Lots of potential that they missed out on. My good buddy who is in it, he plays Claude, said the director wasn't all that good and it was a frustrating process. He also said he was bummed that I wasn't in it, which was nice of him! :-D Also, the guy who played Berger...man was he good! I just loved his voice so much and his acting was so good too! He just impressed the hell out of me, it was fantastic. So when it was all over and I was talking to my good buddy I told him how much I loved Berger and his voice and he said Berger's voice reminds him of my voice a lot. I got real happy with that comment, even though I had to disagree because Berger's voice just had this quality to it, it was awesome. But he and Veronica seemed to think it was a lot like mine. My good buddy said that Berger's voice can go high into the stratosphere just like mine and it was just unbelieveable...now while I can go pretty damn high, and although I didn't hear how high Berger can go, I would believe he could go higher than I, but it was a nice compliment for him to think highly of me :-) I always knew he did when it came to my voice, we sang right next to each other for 3 year at college and we were in Children of Eden together. He played Adam and I played Cain. My good buddy is a great guy, miss him too, I don't get to see him much anymore.

We start rehearsals Saturday for Murder at Cafe Noir and I read the script last night, my part rocks. I'm on for short times as Thursby and VanGilder, but as my third character, Rigfield, I'm on a fair amount as I solve the mystery of who the killer is. I was the main character, who happened to be the sheriff, last year, so I got to be the character that solved the murder last year too. Cool! The coolest thing though is, as Thursby I get to have a death tango and sing a death song called "It Was" as I die, whilst I tango with Rick. The song is basically me saying who killed me, but everytime I get to the chorus I sing the chorus then sing "it was...it was..." then I choke up, and everyone thinks I'm dead then I come back to life in Rick's arms and sing the second verse. Then I do the same thing at the chorus then a third verse, then chorus then I sing "it was...it was...it was..." then I really do die, and I think it will be hysterical!

Maybe I should stop now...damn that Berger was good...

First off, I'm excited because the two people's blogs that I found and liked a lot saw my comments and came and comment on mine and we got that whole thing going! AND, one is moving to Iowa, how weird is that, and the other one is really into theatre like myself! Sweet...it was SO fun to open my blog and see comments! Also comments from Jody and Doug are always welcome and good :-)

SICKNESS UPDATE:::: Still sick...however, it's mostly moved out of my throat (thank you God!) and it's wrecking hardcore havoc on my nose and ears and coughing! So...still sick...

Now on to theatre!

So...I'm fairly excited about a couple of theatre related things!

Check it out --> Phantom of the Opera -- The Movie . Yeah, it's coming out in the US about December 16thish, 2004. Not only do I love POTO, though not my favorite anymore...used to be, but starring as Raoul is none other than Patrick Wilson...anyone? Patrick Wilson...yeah? no? Ok! I'll tell you. He is the original Jerry from The Full Monty on Broadway, he's got a kick ass voice and he just rocks. Little side note...he also played Curly on broadway for a while and then was in "Angels in America." Now, about Gerard Butler and Emmy Rossum...well I don't know. Never seen them or heard them before. I read mixed reviews of their performances in other movies, etc.

This isn't new news to me, but it refreshed my excitment because on another site I post to about theatre someone submitted this link FULL of pictures for our perusal.

Phantom of the Opera -- The Movie Pictures

There are some really good pictures in there, and there are a LOT!

Oh my...so I'm perusing that site I go to post theatre related things and someone had posted this article from playbill.com. Interesting I hadn't seen that yet and I'm a frequenter of playbill.com. So read this with excitment!


Playbill : What's the secret to The Producers longevity?

MB: I think it's just a matter of right time, right place. There was a thing called video and then there was a thing called DVDs, then it became more successful, and so the time was right for it, ripe for it actually, to go to Broadway. Now, it's the right time for it to be made back into a movie.

Playbill : With Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane?

MB: Most definitely. There might be a few changes, for instance an Australian chap named Bert Newton plays Franz Leibkind in the show down under and he gives the performance of that role I've ever seen frankly. I'd love Newton to be involved. I'd also like Nicole Kidman to be involved, and apparently she's keen.

Playbill : Will you have a role in it?

MB : It's doubtful, but I'm writing myself back into the Spaceballs sequel that I'm now writing, so you haven't seen the last of my face. Why another Spaceballs? It wouldn't feel right have anyone else play Yoghurt and the first one was the best experience I've had making a movie since Blazing Saddles.

Playbill : When can we expect that?

MB : Best case scenario : a week before the new Star Wars opens. Worst Case Scenario : a year after the new star wars opens.


So, in a nutshell, SPACEBALLS 2!!! How cool is that?! Yeah, you bet it is! Ok...I sound a little childish, but it's Spaceballs 2! Also a little tid bit about The Producers which is always ok.

Let's talk about Hair...and I don't mean the hair on your head...or anywhere else! No, Hair the musical.

They just had an Actor's Fund Benefit Concert with a freakin' all-star cast and it rocked my socks off. I haven't heard it, yet, but the cast list and the reviews were enough to knock my socks off!

Check out this bit from an article from broadway.com...


"If you missed the show, don't fret. You can catch a video feature with performance clips and interviews right here on Broadway.com next week and rumor has it there's serious talk of reuniting the concert cast in the coming weeks for a recording on the Sh-K-Boom label!"

Ok...so there's going to be a cast recording of that stellar cast! Now I don't much care about Hair, but with a cast like that, I DO care.

Ok, let me post the cast list and what they sang for all of you who don't know!


The curtain then rose on the likeable Harris Doran (as Claude), standing centerstage clad in white T-shirt and jeans. While he burned his draft card, the stage also revealed the small onstage orchestra, which was divided into sections by three staircases. As Lillias White, decked out in a large afro and sixties-era attire, began belting out "Aquarius," members of the chorus — standing on chairs in the audience — rushed to the stage in a burst of energy. Two large screens were also part of the stage design and projected various timely images throughout the concert.

Lea DeLaria, who bemoaned having to follow the vocals of White, offered a few off-the-cuff remarks to the audience before launching into "Donna." "Queer Eye" co-star Jai Rodriguez, sporting a long wig, sang about the pleasures of "Sodomy" and was followed by Taboo's Euan Morton, who delivered a somewhat lyrically revised "Manchester, England." Chuck Cooper's "Colored Spade" preceded Ana Gasteyer's belty "Dead End," one of the many highlights of the first half of the evening. Other Act I high points included Harvey Fierstein, who drew cheers with his raspy-voiced version of "Air"; Laura Benanti, who morphed from a prim-and-proper teacher into an LSD induced free spirit while she wrapped her glorious soprano around "Initials"; John Tartaglia and Christopher Sieber, who had some fun with an American flag and "Don't Put It Down"; Adam Pascal, who sported a shirtless open vest and let his rock-flavored tenor soar on "I Got Life"; Raul Esparza, who scored with the title tune; former "American Idol" contestant Jennifer Hudson, who raised the roof with a thrilling "Easy to Be Hard"; and Julia Murney, who managed to dazzle even with a cold, as she brought down the first-act curtain with "Where Do I Go," which began with a touching sincerity and climaxed in a Janis Joplin-style crescendo.

The second half of the concert got off to a rousing start with Toxic Audio's solo on "Electric Blues." That was followed by the exciting pairing of "Black Boys" — featuring belters Kathy Brier, Orfeh and Ann Harada — and "White Boys," with the equally belty Ledisi, Brandi Chavonne Massey and Shayna Steele. Annie Golden charmed with the gentle ballad "Frank Mills," and members of the chorus bared all during "Walking in Space." Other second-act notables: Billy Porter's gospel-tinged "Four Score"; Darius de Haas and Paul Castree, whose pure tenors blended beautifully on "What a Piece of Work Is Man"; Liz Callaway, who added class and simple, gorgeous tones on "Good Morning Starshine"; and Norm Lewis, whose rich, vibrato-filled voice echoed throughout the theatre on "The Flesh Failure," which segued into the wonderful finale, "Let the Sun Shine In."


There we GO, now you're excited just like me!

Now the other part of Hair to talk about...Veronica and I are going to see Hair tonight at Stagewest, for free! One of our good friends is playing Claude. The frustrating thing about this, and Taba if you read this I"m sure you'll understand, is that I could have been in this show. They needed more guys and asked me to come back for more auditions, but Veronica was in a show already and it was in Des Moines, which I drive to every day already, and there was just nothing convenient about doing it. Which pisses me off royally because it would have been my IN to Des Moines theatre and I could have been NAKED on stage, which I've always wanted to do. Grrrr....so I'm going to be frustrated while I watch this show tonight, but I'll be a good boy and take my medicine and realize it just wasn't meant to be...grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! So frustrating...but I'm ok...but so frustrating!! Oh well...I'm being a good boy.

I need my throat for too many things! I decided that today while I was dreading my cold and my throat hurting and wishing it could quickly progress on to just my nose and leave my throat alone.

I need my throat to TALK - I'm a big talker and I like to interact and when my throat hurts I don't want to talk.

I need my throat to EAT - Oooooh man, I don't think you quite know how much I love to eat. I eat constantly and I love food food food. Luckily I have one of my fav. dinners right before I got sick, so that's good at least!

I need my throat to SING - Dammit, singing is my thing. I sing every day of my life, I sing in musicals, I'm singing in this play I just got cast in...and the song is freakin' great. It's a death tango. I'm tangoing with the main guy and singing about dying and that I know who killed me, but I keep saying "it was...it was..." then I break into another verse, then finally after we tango and all the verses are done I sing "It was...it was...it was..." then I do a choking noise, and die. It's hysterical.

I need my throat to DRINK - Ok, not alcohol, I don't dont drink alcohol. But water...hello, when you're sick you're suppose to stay hydrated, but it hurts to drink so you dont stay hydrated. Weird...plus you're suppose to stay hydrated anyway.

Hello all (I say hello all, like there's more than about 3 people that read this yet...oh and I say yet, I will have a following! oh yes, a following I will have)...a big pile of sickness over here.

Man, I've got the runny nose, the stuffy nose (why is it possible to have both?), stuffy ears, drainage in the back of my throat, sore throat and massively tired. I was proud of myself for going to bed at 11 p.m. last night. I got close to eight hours of sleep! I very much did not want to come to work today, but I know I am not sick enough not to, well, I am, but I'm trying to save my PTO.

On Saturday night I got to see Veronica in Bleacher Bums and I actually quite enjoyed it. When Veronica got cast I read the script and man does the script suck! The play has no plot whatsoever. It's, I guess, about a group of people who go to Cubs games and are die-hard fans. Yeah..that's it. The play just revolves around them at the game and their reaction to the game and what they do to help the Cubbies win and their addiction to betting on everything.

But it was fun! There was some solid acting, and then there was some ok acting too. I thought my wife did a fantastic job. She was playing Rose, a 50 something year old wife of Zig who is there at the game with ihs buddies betting as usual. She is a closet Cubs fan, and when she shows up to the game she actually knows more than most of the guys, she just slyly throws the comments and the facts in. She doesn't want her husband to bet anymore, yadda yadda yadda.

There was a characte, Greg, who is blind and is a nice guy. I thought that the guy playing Greg did an excellent job. Veronica informs me after the show that he's actually a diva offstage and doesn't take criticism well, etc. That's too bad...

It sure does suck to be sick, just let me throw that in there.

So politics and TV...some of you will get a kick out of this. I have some sort of an interest in this years election, I've been doing some reading, doing some talking politics at work, etc. so I halfway feel like I might know what I'm talking about.

Well, so the debates interest me and I was wanting to watch them, except for one thing. It's on during TV shows I want to watch! And you know what? I'm probably going to watch the TV show instead. See...I have a TiVo , the greatest invention ever. And so it can record shows for me without me having to worry, so I could go into the other TV to watch the debates while I'm taping my TV, except for that on Thursday's TiVo is already taping something I want to watch and then I go into the bedroom at 7 p.m. and watch Survivor. Well, if Survivor and the debates are on at the same time...I think I'm going to be watching Survivor, sorry...because I can't TiVo Survivor because some other TV show is already TiVo-ing, get it? TV junkie :-) Oh well...I'm not ashamed. I have many other interests, that's why I have a TiVo, because I'm a junkie and because then I can watch the TV shows whenever I want to instead of having to be at the TV when that TV show is on!

I'm going to be done for now because the sickness makes me tired and my break is over...I might be back

If you want to see some good political talks, even though he is not only leaning to the right, he fell over ;-) go to Iowa Geek