Time Flies When You're...Busy!!!
Wow, I cannot believe it's been over two weeks since my last post. And to make matters worse, I left my day planner at my office, so now I have to try to remember everything I've seen! Well, as I said in my last post, I've got a ton to write about, so if I don't make it through everything, I'll have to write a "Part III" soon!
So, without further ado...Whoop-Up at the Duplex! I saw Whoop-Up on Thursday, July 12th, and boy am I glad I did. Part of the Opening Doors Theatre Company's Closing Notice Series, the musical was originally produced in 1958-1959 and played 56 performances oat the Shubert Theatre. Despite the short run, it's gathered a cult following over the years, and the Duplex was packed with people eager for a glimpse of the much-listened to but little-seen show. Having never been to one of the "Closing Notice" shows, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a fairly complete production. No scenery, of course (I'd challenge ANYONE to fit full scenery, a piano, and a cast of 11 on the stage of the Duplex), but costumes, choreography, and great staging. The musical was hilarious in its blatent un-political correctness, and director David Norman did a great job of playing up the camp value without compromising sincerity from his actors. Alison Renee Foster was absolutely fantastic as saloon-mistress Glenda, and Gretchen Reinhagen gave a terrific performance as Mama Champlain. The rest of the cast all turned in solid performances, and kudos must also be given to musical director Ray Bailey and choreographer Dawn Trautman. Congrats to Opening Doors Theatre Company on a great production. They're on hiatus until late fall, but whatever their next show is, I'll be there with bells on!
On Saturday, July 14th, I was back at my favorite haunt, the Metropolitan Room to catch Miles Phillips in The Unrest Inside Me. As with Specific Overtures, which he'd performed the week before, The Unrest Inside Me was a show which Miles had performed before (the debut was in October, 2003) but hadn't done in a while. And again, I'm so happy I caught it this time around. Centering on the theme of the trickiness of balancing art and love, the show struck many emotional chords, but managed to keep a little levity with such songs as "Goin' To The Dance With You" (during which he coaxed waitress and outstanding performer Lorinda Lisitza on stage to dance with him), and my personal favorite: the "V & V (Venom & Vitriol) medley." Now, I know I missed a few songs, but here are the songs in that medley that I managed to jot down: Who Wants To Buy This Diamond Ring, Ticket To Ride, Day Tripper, Just Gimme Some Kind Of Sign (is that the real title? hmmm...), Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Nowhere to Run, Where In The World, I Don't Remember Christmas, I Don't Care Much, Sunny Came Home, No More Tears, and Hit The Road, Jack. Whew! Don't get me wrong, though - while there were plenty of fun, upbeat moments, there were also plenty of poignant, reflective moments - one of my favorites being a medley of I'd Rather Be Sailing and Same Moon...and another of my favorites being I Wish It So (from whence the title of the show came!). Again, musical director Jason Wynn contributed great accompaniment, harmony, and easy banter with Miles, which only added to an already great show. Throughout the show, Miles' beautiful baritone did great justice to the lyrics he was singing, and made me all the more eager to catch his new show, Quiet Stars, which will be debuting at the Metropolitan Room in October!
Sunday, July 15th found me back at the Metropolitan Room to see Lennie Watts in Manilow '73-'83. Now, really, Lennie always puts on a great show, and when you add Barry Manilow on top of that, how can you miss?! Well, we'll never know, because Lennie sure didn't miss with this show. Like Lennie, I am an admitted "fanilow," having been brought up on his songs. In fact, my family has a tape of me singing (well, attempting to sing, anyway) "Can't Smile Without You" (which came out like "Ca' Sigh Ow Ooo") and "Copacabana" (which sounded like "Coh-ba-a") when I was only a year old! But I digress...anyway, Lennie put on a terrifically entertaining show. Backed by a fab band (musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano, Matt Wigton on bass, and Jerry Smith on drums) and the awesome "Lady Flash 2007" (Tanya Holt, Karen Mack, and Alisa Schiff), Lennie romped through a number of Manilow's biggest hits, modulations and all. He covered ALL of my favorites (except "One Voice," but he gives a very good reason for excluding that one...something to do with singing it into a hairbrush, tears streaming down his face, for an entire weekend when he was young and his parents were away for the weekend), and while they were, for the most part, very true to the way Manilow originally did them, Lennie did a great job of making them his. His enthusiasm for the material was infectious, and the packed room was swaying and clapping and singing along like nobody's business! I had SUCH a great time that I went back to see it again last Sunday, and then AGAIN tonight! Yes, I'm a "fanilow" but I'm also turning into a "fannilennie!" Fun, fun, fun!
Monday, 7/16 found me at Cast Party, as usual, and then Tuesday, 7/17 I headed upstate after work to prepare for the next day's gig at Monticello Gaming and Raceway. Having grown up not too far from Monticello, I knew, of course, about the horse races, but I had no idea that this casino had sprung up! I'd been booked there since January, but had no idea what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly suprised on show day to find a nice performance space (with a great, big stage) and a PACKED house! I did my show, Shakin' The Blues Away, which is almost strictly standards, and the Wednesday afternoon audience really enjoyed it. We're currently in discussions now about doing a Saturday evening performance up there sometime early next year, which would be great fun - I'll be sure to keep you posted. After the show, my dad and I hopped in the car and zipped back to the city to grab our bleacher seats and watch the Yankees beat Toronto (and get our free caps - it was cap night at the stadium)!
The following night, it was back to the studio to do the final mixing on my cd. We are so near the end - it just needs to be mastered, and then the cd will be done! That just leaves finishing up the cover design, duplication, and all of those other fun things that need to get done. It's been a long process, but hey - the end is in sight and we're going to be having a big release party to celebrate! So mark your calendars for Monday, October 15th - we'll be at the Metropolitan Room at 7 p.m.
Well...much as I'd love to continue and get completely up-to-date, it's after midnight again, and I do need to get some sleep before beginning the work week. To be continued, as soon as I can!!
So, without further ado...Whoop-Up at the Duplex! I saw Whoop-Up on Thursday, July 12th, and boy am I glad I did. Part of the Opening Doors Theatre Company's Closing Notice Series, the musical was originally produced in 1958-1959 and played 56 performances oat the Shubert Theatre. Despite the short run, it's gathered a cult following over the years, and the Duplex was packed with people eager for a glimpse of the much-listened to but little-seen show. Having never been to one of the "Closing Notice" shows, I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was a fairly complete production. No scenery, of course (I'd challenge ANYONE to fit full scenery, a piano, and a cast of 11 on the stage of the Duplex), but costumes, choreography, and great staging. The musical was hilarious in its blatent un-political correctness, and director David Norman did a great job of playing up the camp value without compromising sincerity from his actors. Alison Renee Foster was absolutely fantastic as saloon-mistress Glenda, and Gretchen Reinhagen gave a terrific performance as Mama Champlain. The rest of the cast all turned in solid performances, and kudos must also be given to musical director Ray Bailey and choreographer Dawn Trautman. Congrats to Opening Doors Theatre Company on a great production. They're on hiatus until late fall, but whatever their next show is, I'll be there with bells on!
On Saturday, July 14th, I was back at my favorite haunt, the Metropolitan Room to catch Miles Phillips in The Unrest Inside Me. As with Specific Overtures, which he'd performed the week before, The Unrest Inside Me was a show which Miles had performed before (the debut was in October, 2003) but hadn't done in a while. And again, I'm so happy I caught it this time around. Centering on the theme of the trickiness of balancing art and love, the show struck many emotional chords, but managed to keep a little levity with such songs as "Goin' To The Dance With You" (during which he coaxed waitress and outstanding performer Lorinda Lisitza on stage to dance with him), and my personal favorite: the "V & V (Venom & Vitriol) medley." Now, I know I missed a few songs, but here are the songs in that medley that I managed to jot down: Who Wants To Buy This Diamond Ring, Ticket To Ride, Day Tripper, Just Gimme Some Kind Of Sign (is that the real title? hmmm...), Another Suitcase In Another Hall, Nowhere to Run, Where In The World, I Don't Remember Christmas, I Don't Care Much, Sunny Came Home, No More Tears, and Hit The Road, Jack. Whew! Don't get me wrong, though - while there were plenty of fun, upbeat moments, there were also plenty of poignant, reflective moments - one of my favorites being a medley of I'd Rather Be Sailing and Same Moon...and another of my favorites being I Wish It So (from whence the title of the show came!). Again, musical director Jason Wynn contributed great accompaniment, harmony, and easy banter with Miles, which only added to an already great show. Throughout the show, Miles' beautiful baritone did great justice to the lyrics he was singing, and made me all the more eager to catch his new show, Quiet Stars, which will be debuting at the Metropolitan Room in October!
Sunday, July 15th found me back at the Metropolitan Room to see Lennie Watts in Manilow '73-'83. Now, really, Lennie always puts on a great show, and when you add Barry Manilow on top of that, how can you miss?! Well, we'll never know, because Lennie sure didn't miss with this show. Like Lennie, I am an admitted "fanilow," having been brought up on his songs. In fact, my family has a tape of me singing (well, attempting to sing, anyway) "Can't Smile Without You" (which came out like "Ca' Sigh Ow Ooo") and "Copacabana" (which sounded like "Coh-ba-a") when I was only a year old! But I digress...anyway, Lennie put on a terrifically entertaining show. Backed by a fab band (musical director Steven Ray Watkins on piano, Matt Wigton on bass, and Jerry Smith on drums) and the awesome "Lady Flash 2007" (Tanya Holt, Karen Mack, and Alisa Schiff), Lennie romped through a number of Manilow's biggest hits, modulations and all. He covered ALL of my favorites (except "One Voice," but he gives a very good reason for excluding that one...something to do with singing it into a hairbrush, tears streaming down his face, for an entire weekend when he was young and his parents were away for the weekend), and while they were, for the most part, very true to the way Manilow originally did them, Lennie did a great job of making them his. His enthusiasm for the material was infectious, and the packed room was swaying and clapping and singing along like nobody's business! I had SUCH a great time that I went back to see it again last Sunday, and then AGAIN tonight! Yes, I'm a "fanilow" but I'm also turning into a "fannilennie!" Fun, fun, fun!
Monday, 7/16 found me at Cast Party, as usual, and then Tuesday, 7/17 I headed upstate after work to prepare for the next day's gig at Monticello Gaming and Raceway. Having grown up not too far from Monticello, I knew, of course, about the horse races, but I had no idea that this casino had sprung up! I'd been booked there since January, but had no idea what to expect. Well, I was pleasantly suprised on show day to find a nice performance space (with a great, big stage) and a PACKED house! I did my show, Shakin' The Blues Away, which is almost strictly standards, and the Wednesday afternoon audience really enjoyed it. We're currently in discussions now about doing a Saturday evening performance up there sometime early next year, which would be great fun - I'll be sure to keep you posted. After the show, my dad and I hopped in the car and zipped back to the city to grab our bleacher seats and watch the Yankees beat Toronto (and get our free caps - it was cap night at the stadium)!
The following night, it was back to the studio to do the final mixing on my cd. We are so near the end - it just needs to be mastered, and then the cd will be done! That just leaves finishing up the cover design, duplication, and all of those other fun things that need to get done. It's been a long process, but hey - the end is in sight and we're going to be having a big release party to celebrate! So mark your calendars for Monday, October 15th - we'll be at the Metropolitan Room at 7 p.m.
Well...much as I'd love to continue and get completely up-to-date, it's after midnight again, and I do need to get some sleep before beginning the work week. To be continued, as soon as I can!!
posted by Jenna @ 9:47 PM
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