Randomosity

Time for a post about musical theater.

I have noticed that Broadway is less about producing unknown works and more about shows that will make money. Not that there is anything wrong with this because theater costs a lot of money to produce, takes longer to recoup it’s investment, and why risk that money if you’re going to produce someone’s musical with an unfamiliar title.

Anyway, I saw this article on playbill.com and saw a familiar pattern. Patti LuPone did Gypsy at Ravina, and then from that performance she went on to do the City Center Encores Summer Series production of Gypsy, and then took the show to Broadway. Less than 5 years after Bernadette Peters brought her take on Gypsy to the Broadway stage. Now I seem to sense that this is happening again. So my guess is they will take this production of Annie Get Your Gun to Broadway less than 10 years after Bernadette Peters brought her Tony winning portrayal to the stage. I could be totally retarded and wrong, but the coincidences are uncanny. Anyway. That’s my theory, so we’ll see if I’m right or not.

-end theater post-

I am on the plane coming back from LA, where I performed in the LA Fringe Festival with 8Bits - A Sketch Show About Video Games at iO West. I must say the vibe in LA is completely different than the one in NYC. The improv and comedy scene is a lot better than in NYC though. 

I went to see Opening Night The Improvised Musical at iO West. Totally amazing show. The energy and commitment that everyone had on stage made we want to get back into the rehearsal room with Dumpster Tequila and commit 100% always. I think that even though our SPANK may not have been our best show, you can’t base your whole improv experiences on your bad shows. Like our coach says “Improv is toilet paper” you use it then flush it. You just have to give everything your all all the time.

I also saw a show at Second City LA, I was not really impressed. It felt like I was watching a class warm-up. Norm McDonald ended up being in the show I saw though, so that was interesting. He also left after like 10 minutes of performing.

So while Second City didn’t really impress me as far as improv goes I was pretty impressed with iO West’s Theater, Performers, and staff.

While I still kind of hate LA, I would go back.

Yesterday at work was a bit of a ridiculous situation. I had to stuff 500 gift bags for an event that we’re having on Tuesday. No one likes to stuff gift bags, but I was trying to make it a fun thing, and most people ended up helping out and the job went by super fast. There was however one woman whom I work with that was resisting the effort to help anyone but herself.

She was asked politely by my manager, and she refused, claiming that she would have to check with her manager to see if she could do it because her manager was out and she was busy. Uh alright, usually at my place of employment, when a Director asks you to do something, you do it. So the woman(I’ll call her V) kept refusing, so the executive directors assistant politely asked her to help out. V kept resisting, even talking back and giving sass mouth. V, said that people were harassing her too much. V got written up for not cooperating.

V finally comes in to help with the gift bags, all the while sassing everyone and being very unpleasant, even sarcastically saying to the executive directors assistant “Thanks for writing me up.” I was playing Pollyanna and telling her that this is a positive room and there’s no negativity in here! And trying to squash any negative vibes from my gift bag stuffing party.

V kept giving people sass and acting unprofessional. V got suspended from work for two days! Eeep this is the first time that that has ever happened here.

Then this morning the executive director came over to my desk and said “I would like to thank you for the way you handled yourself  yesterday, it showed real class.” Which was nice, but weird, how do you respond to something like that? If you’re me and you’re awkward, you say “Thank you?” and then stare at her awkwardly for 10 seconds before she leaves.

I am by no means the most talented person in the world. I consider myself average. When I see people that are amazing at something, it kind of makes wish I was focused enough to do one thing for a long enough time to be great at it.

I could have been amazing at the Viola if I practiced like I was supposed to. But I always got distracted and ended up watching TV for 45 min instead of practicing.

I could have been a great artist if I had the patience to sit and pour over something for longer than 15 min without getting bored.

I am glad that I have stuck with improv for as long as I have. I guess when you find something you’re truly passionate about, for me, performing, you find a way to focus on it. I guess I just wish that I had been more focused in other aspects of my life.

Maybe I have ADD. Oh what’s that it’s a scrap of paper floating in the wind, I have to go stare at it until something else catches my eye and I get distracted …

I have an weird fascination with Justin Bieber. Not like in a “Oh he’s so talented” or “Oh he’s so adorable” way, but more in a “What the fuck is happening, why is this allowed to happen *silent scream*” way. The teenage girl mind fascinates me to no end. Why is it when presented with some kid who looks like a gender queer(lesbians who don’t want to be identified as women but rather gender neutral, so they dress up like boys and bind their breasts), do these girls lose their prepubescent shit?

In my head this is how artist marketing meetings go.

Exec1: Okay so we have this little Canadian boy who looks like a lesbian.

Exec2: Go on.

Exec1: Okay so he looks like a lesbian, he dances like Usher except more white.

Exec3: I don’t get it.

Exec1: Just wait … we tell little girls that he’s attractive and talented.

Exec2: Okay I like where this is going.

Exec3:  … oh just like the Bobby Sherman effect, and the Aaron Carter effect.

Exec1: Yes only more successful.

Exec2: Alright I like this I like this, oh and be sure to put subliminal messages into his music that only affect the brains of teen girls, oh we also just signed a deal with gogurt so try to put something in his song about how “Girl your love is not like gogurt that I can grab on the go, your love is so real, it fills me head to toe” or something.

Exec3:  … Gogurt?

Exex2: Oh you …

Yep it always ends with someone saying “Oh you” like in an 80’s sitcom.

So like most people with self-diagnosed ADD, I found myself putting things off to the last minute, this included my first stand-up set that I have to perform tonight. Whoops. 

I think I am going to play it up Kathy Griffin style and go out there with a notebook(even though this is usually only reserved for people who have been doing it a long time.) Which is fine, it’s a low pressure gig with a group of first time stand-ups.

Although I consider this my first time doing stand-up seriously, I did it a couple of times when I was in college, but I don’t count that, because it was basically me riffing on how gross my roommate was and how sorority girls are stupid. It was kind of a hot mess disaster. So it’s all good. Anyway, this time I have actually written jokes so we will try to attempt to make people laugh.

If any of you people who read this blog are interested, here’s the information for the show.

8:00pm - 9:30pm
Cellar 58 
58 2nd Ave (btw 3rd & 4th Sts)

Who knows maybe I’ll panic and take my friend Sara’s suggestion of doing Carol Channing impressions and farting! Who knows!

Since LaLa is gone forever, I am listening to Pandora, and I happened to pick a station that plays a lot of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. And with the news that Phantom of the Opera is now available to be licensed by high schools and colleges now, it had me reflecting. 

Phantom should never be done, ever! It’s a overblown critical disaster that has been running on Broadway for 20 years. No! High Schools should stick to doing small musicals or musicals that are within their reach. Unless you have 4 people who are trained in opera, there is no way you’re going to pull off Phantom, and no one likes shitty HS musicals.

So note to all you retarded drama teachers who think that Phantom is going to be a good idea, it’s not! So don’t even think about it! Same goes to Les Miserables: School Edition.

*end rant*