Shut your face!!!

That is my equivalent of  the “Get outta here” disbelief type shout!  In my readings of the webz, I have found a nifty little piece of news that made me squeal with glee like a precious piggy.

That bit of squeal inducing news was that Judy Craymer, producer for Mama Mia!, is currently working on a new show titled “Viva Forever.”

Does that title remind anyone of a particular song or album?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?  If this doesn’t sound familiar, then you must be unfamiliar with a little known girl group called THE SPICE GIRLS!!  Now before you roll your eyeballs back into their sockets, take heart that this isn’t a tribute show to the UK quintet.  Think of it along the same lines as Mamma Mia.  A show that focused a story around the songs of Abba.  This will be essentially the same thing.  The hope is for the show to premiere in the West End (of course!) in the next two or three years.  The story, at least what’s known so far, will focus on a group of women who exemplify the things that the Spice Girls stood for.  Things like being true to oneself, cultivating your friendships, and creating your own identity.  And don’t worry, you won’t be seeing an appearance from neither Posh, Sporty, Baby, Scary, nor Ginger Spice as the show will steer clear of the 90′ pop sensations.  According to Craymer, ‘We live in a world dominated by people wanting to be famous. What the Spice Girls did was before those shows became really what they are, and before the world become slightly obsessed by such shows. It has a glimpse of the underbelly of TV talent shows, an invented show, and a little bit of comedy romance.’ I am waiting on pins and needles to see the end result.

I am an unapologetic fan of pop music.  I have to admit that I love all kinds of music, except for hard core rap.  I just can’t identify with lyrics that have rely so much on profanity.  You can turn up your nose or whatever you do when you want to be a snob, please feel free.  It doesn’t bother me.  I understand that not everyone likes the same thing that I do, and I am fine with that.  What I love about pop is that it’s catchy.  And when it’s a really good song it will stick with you even when you don’t want it to be there.  In a time when I hear some people saying that some of the more modern musicals like Legally Blonde and Spring Awakening aren’t that good because the songs aren’t catchy, I am looking forward to seeing what happens with this show, because the Spice Girls never had a problem with getting songs stuck in people’s heads.

Yo,

I tell you what I want,

What I really really want…

 

I am really looking forward to this!

West Valley Light Opera has now announced it’s 2011/2012 season!!  And drumroll puh-lease!!!

Directly from the West Valley

“How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying”

Nov./Dec. 2011

Music & Lyrics by Frank Loesser, Book by Abe Burrows

Returning to this theater is this Pulitzer Prize-winning musical comedy; an irreverent satire about Corporate America, based on the book by Shepherd Mead in which J. Pierpont Finch owes his meteoric rise from window cleaner to Chairman of the Board of the World Wide Wicket Company. He accomplishes this not through hard work, but by his ability to make others work hard for him.

This musical opened on Broadway in 1981, receiving a Tony Award for Best Musical, starring Robert Morse and Rudy Vallee, who also repeated their roles in the movie.

A new production of this delightful musical opened on Broadway in 1996 and the National Tour appeared in San Francisco.

Memorable songs include “Coffee Break”, “The Company Way”, “A Secretary Is Not A Toy”, “I Believe In You”, and “Brotherhood of Man”.


 

“The Drowsy Chaperone”

Mar./Apr. 2012

Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison,
Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar

Coming to this theatre in its Saratoga premiere is this truly modern, original musical within a comedy. It pays tribute to the Jazz-age shows of the 1920’s and the power those shows held to transfer the audiences into a dazzling fantasy and lift their spirits in times of sadness.

The story is based on a diehard musical theatre fan who plays his favorite cast album and the music literally bursts to life in his living room telling the rambunctious tale of a brazen Broadway starlet trying to find and keep her true love. It offers a sentimental, sweet, hilarious and sometimes surprising look at the impact that musical theatre can have on a person and the pure, unbridled joy it can bring.

“The Drowsy Chaperone” opened in Toronto, Canada in 2001 and after a successful run, moved to New York in 2006.

Songs in the score include “Fancy Dress”, “As We Stumble Along”, “Message From A Nightingale”, “Love Is Always Love”, and “I Do I Do In The Sky”.


 

“Bells Are Ringing

June/July 2012

Music by Jule Styne, Lyrics & Book by Betty Comden and Adolph Green

Returning to this theatre after a long absence, this award-winning musical comedy is our final show of the season. “Bells Are Ringing” takes you back to a time before answering machines and high technology, when a real person answered your ringing telephone for you if you couldn’t do it yourself. Welcome to “Susanswerphone” where the lines are blurred between doing a job and eavesdropping.

This musical opened on Broadway in 1956 starring Judy Holliday and Sydney Chaplin and received solid reviews, received 4 Tony nominations and 2 Tony awards. It was revived on Broadway in 2001 with Faith Prince as Ella Peterson, the switchboard operator.

The story and musical numbers are delightful and uplifting and include “Just In Time”, “Better Than A Dream”, “Drop That Name” and “A Simple Little System” which keep the cast and audiences smiling.

SO close!!!

I wanted to get this up at least by 11pm on New Year’s Eve.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t find ANYWHERE in the space from Reno to Gardnerville at an hour before midnight that had a wi-fi connection that would load the podcast fast enough to get it up and running before the end of 2010!  I was standing outside of a place called Keva trying to piggyback off of their wi-fi as a last resort, but standing outside in 30 degree weather for 20 minutes and only getting to 51 percent complete really got me so mad!! Now that I am home, here it is:

Episode 15

(click to play)

Show notes will be up on Sunday afternoon.  I really need to sleep off the last two days!  Cheers.

Where did the week go?!?

 

Hey y’all, it’s been a crazy week!  I wanted to create a podcast, but it’s been a bit um, hard to do…

I couldn’t find a unifying theme for a short podcast, so I was kinda stuck.  And everything that I got inspired by was all wacky and stuff.

I already have a “future” episode in mind, so I couldn’t do the future before the past, so I didn’t want to jump the gun.

It’s been a crazy week full of lunar eclipses and Rock Band parties, and learning more about the gardening biz, I didn’t have time to be as depressed as I am normally am when a show ends.  I have been trying to write my rehearsals for “Bless Me, Ultima” and “Mack and Mabel” down in this nifty lil calendar so I can figure out if there is any way I can get more shows under my belt during 2011.  Oh, yeah, that’s the other thing…I really need to get my shtuff organized.  I am wickedly scatterbrained so this is gonna help me big, big time.

So until Friday…Talk to you then.

Oh, and big ass congrats to the amazing Adam Berry for being cast as Sonny Malone in The Retro Dome’s XANADU!!!!  I cannot wait to see it!!

Dealing with some things…

 

Episode 14

(click to play)

So much to deal with and to handle and to think about and to reorganize.  I am a mess.

Show notes will be up tomorrow I promise. I have the whole thing worked out in my head.  Stay tuned.