Brian d'Arcy James, Debra Messing & Emory Cohen on "Smash". Photo by Will Hart/NBC.
Tonight marks the season finale of the Broadway-themed TV show Smash. I’ll admit it; I’m a few episodes behind at the moment so I can’t comment on what will or won’t happen when Bombshell, the Marilyn Monroe show within the show, opens. However, my overall opinion hasn’t changed much since my premiere post: kicky production numbers, fairly accurate backstage fun, juicy Megan Hilty & Christian Borle, some frustrating storytelling and an often vanilla take on a wildly colorful world. I’ll keep watching, particularly to see what new show runner (Gossip Girl‘s Joshua Safran) will bring to the mix in Season Two.
One unequivocal bummer is that one of the best voices on Broadway (and “nicest man in Show Business”) Brian d’Arcy James has only gotten to sing on the show for a total of 10 seconds…and once with a guitar hero game. But fear not, those d’Arcy d’addicts who want to hear him sing on TV, I’m here to give you d’all you’ve been d’asking for. This has to be one of my favorite TV clips featuring Brian; meet The Late Show with David Letterman‘s “singing cop”…
I thought I already loved Sherie Rene Scott as much as was humanly possible . I thought that there was no way I could be further enamored of her big voice, witty stage presence and all-around star quality. Then I saw this:
That girl is rocking a power ballad about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! She must have turned at least half the kids in the audience into show queens with that display of Broadway diva belting. And, let me tell you, it ain’t easy to hold the attention of a huge theater full of kids — particularly kids who came expecting Turtles kickboxing and instead got some be-wigged redhead singing a Pat Benetar B-side — but Ms. Scott can do it. Someone give this woman the Tony-winning role she deserves, already.
Now, if you think I’m in any way, shape or form mocking Ms. Scott by posting this “embarrassing” moment from her early career, well then you just don’t know me well enough. And you clearly don’t know that I once did this…
Stockard Channing in "Other Desert Cities". Photo by Joan Marcus.
Celebrities must hate youtube. All it takes is a few clicks and we can see video proof of their most embarrassing moments. (To understand, imagine someone followed you around high school with a camera and then posted it online. Shudder…)
Someone has kindly edited together a montage of her “best” moments for the second effort in which she played an investigative reporter, going undercover each week in a new wacky (and often un-PC) disguise. Watch (I recommend skimming lightly) and discover what being in the blockbuster film Grease can do for your career… Read more…
I haven’t seen the Stratford Festival/La Jolla Jesus Christ Superstar that is due to hit Broadway this spring, but I kind of hope it looks something like this. (If you’re in a rush, cut to 1:50 and watch for a minute…but really, don’t you want to savor this savior goodness?)
Dutch people rock. And don’t you know that somewhere, right now, John Doyle is trying to figure out if he can do a production of A Little Night Music with actors who play instruments AND ride unicycles. I’m just saying…
Barbra Streisand is Funny Girl. That’s not just a tagline but an inviolable truth. At least you would think so based on the gnashing of teeth in response to casting anyone else in the role of Fanny Brice for the recently cancelled revival. How can someone compete with the memory of Babs singing “Don’t Rain on My Parade”?
Bea can. Bea Arthur can grab that song by the throat and pound it into a basso profundo submission. Bea can not only make you forget anyone else sang the song, but she can obliterate the fact that it IS a song. In fact, her rendition in the video clip below is more incensed poetry slam, more Alanis Morissette threatening to set fire to her ex in a blaze of proto-feminist glory than music theater show stopper. And yet, my show is stopped. Witness the wonder that is Bea…
Maine State Music Theatre "Annie". Photo by Annie Rose.
It’s December 4, 1977. The freshly fallen snow glimmers with rainbow hues reflected from golf ball sized outdoor Christmas lights. Little Tommy, all snug in his footie pajamas, is nuzzled into a mustard yellow bean bag, visions of Star Warscharacters dancing in his head. And what should appear on the wood paneled TV to warm his tiny show queen burgeoning heart? NBC is airing a holiday special based on the biggest smash to hit Broadway in years, Annie.
Is it a tale of the curly redhead bringing Warbucks-backed cheer to orphans on Christmas morn? A scrappy story of outwitting Miss Hannigan’s nefarious plot to stop Santa? Nope. It turns out that The Annie Christmas Showis a fourth wall breaking look behind the scenes of the stage show (yeah, kids, there’s no real Annie; she’s an actress) involving child labor laws, cheap producers and pesky union rules. And people wonder why it hasn’t become a perennial like It’s a Wonderful Life.
Don’t believe me? Watch the first ten minutes of this jaw-dropping wonder starring much of the original Broadway cast; it’s my gift to you…
What do you get when you combine great musical star Debbie Reynolds with Shelley Winters, Teri Garr, Dionne Warwick, some spandex and a few golden oldies on the soundtrack? A very special episode of The Love Boat? No, you get Reynolds’ entry in the 80′s fitness video craze Do It Debbie’s Way.
And what, per chance, is Debbie’s way? It seems that her exercise regime consists of barely coherent low impact aerobics punctuated by sassy innuendos, much complaining about which “bulges are supposed to hurt”, and, one presumes, a water bottle filled with an adult beverage. Feel the burn, girls.
As Debbie herself says, “If I only had a hit record, I wouldn’t have to do this.” Ah, but if she had a hit record, we wouldn’t have this gorgeously bizarre yet brazenly honest attempt at selling out. Fall in love with Ms. Reynolds all over again by watching for yourself…
Angela Landsbury in "Positive Moves". Image via YouTube.
Let’s see. So far in our survey of odd Broadway-themed workouts we’ve discovered that: Shirley Jones clenches when she drives, Bonnie Franklin does it one day at a timestep and this guy likes to storm the Les Miz barricade to build his guns. Well, now we can add the delightful knowledge that Angela Lansbury keeps in shape by touching herself.
Yeah, you read that right. It would seem that Angela Lansbury, one of the greatest and most beloved musical theater actresses of all time, released an exercise video in the 80′s with a decidedly sensual spin. If reading that sentence alone has you covering your eyes for fear of catching even a glimpse of her Bedknobs and Broomsticks, I’d suggest you move along and pretend this never happened.
For those who bravely wish to be a Lansbury completist, may I suggest you watch the following excerpts from Positive Moves (goodness, even the title sounds like a Cinemax film starring Shannon Tweed as a public defender by day, stripper by night). I’ve provided a little time code commentary to highlight “the good parts”. You’ve been warned…
So, how exactly do you say “personable” and “coercin’ a bull” in Swedish? Well, someone has to figure it out (and make it rhyme) if they perform Companyin Sweden.
For the recent Broadway revival of West Side Story, much was made of Lin Manuel Miranda’s translation of some Sondheim lyrics into Spanish. Fair enough; the Sharks would speak Spanish. Miranda is a Tony-winning writer in his own right and one would assume Mr. Sondheim was hovering nearby with, I like to imagine, a rhyming dictionary and a watchful eye.
But it did make me wonder. Surely Sondheim’s shows have been translated into other languages for productions in non-English speaking countries. Who does it? How do they capture his genius level of word play? And will I, the terribly provincial (and giggle prone) American, be able to keep a straight face when I hear it?
At last, I can say unequivocally the answer to the last question is “no”. Watch these videos and try it for yourself…
