Category Archives: Reviews

Entertainment: US Gymnastics Olympic Trials 2012

From June 28th through July 1st, San Jose has played host to the US Gymnastics Olympic Trials, it is here that 30 of the top gymnasts in artistic gymnastics will compete to prove and earn their place on the five-member US Gymnastics team squad for the London Olympics a month later.

In an earlier post I have touched upon some of the front runners for a spot on the gymnastics squad for both men and women teams, I also went in a little more detail as to the possibility of the veterans from last year’s squad making a return appearance for these Olympics.

US MENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TRIALS RESULTS
Today the Men’s Gymnastics competition went into full swing. If you remember from the previous post the top two guys after the Olympic Trials in San Jose will be guaranteed spots on the team:
– Danell Leyva: Placed 1st
– John Orozco: Placed 2nd

Not only does the selection committee need to decide who would fill in the last three spots, but as we saw in the 2008 Olympics, they would also need to figure in the alternates. In the 2008 Olympics the two alternates: Alexander Artemev and Raj Bhavsar ended up being a part of the Olympics team after the withdrawal of the Hamm brothers, and in the end became a major factor in the US Men’s Olympic Gymnastics team capturing the bronze medal.

Since only the top three scores will be counted during the Olympics, it comes down to who could bring in the top scores or has the potential to bring in the top scores in an effort to get the gold medal at the Olympics.

Based on the numbers this is one possible way for the Mens Gymnastics Olympic team with alternates would pan out:
– FE: Floor Exercise; PH: Pommel Horse; SR: Still Rings; V: Vault; PB: Parallel Bars; HB: High Bars; FINAL: All Around

NAME FE PH SR V PB HB FINAL
POSSIBLE OLYMPIC TEAM
Chris Brooks 5th 5th 5th 5th 7th 4th
Jake Dalton 1st 6th 1st 4th 5th
Sam Mikulak *7th 5th *2nd *2nd *5th *4th
* Sam Mikulak was injured towards the end of Prelims, so he opted to only compete on Pommel Horse
POSSIBLE ALTERNATES
Jonathan Horton 1st 2nd 5th 3rd
Paul Ruggeri 3rd 7th 7th 6th
CJ Maestas 6th 4th 7th

But one thing that Jonathan Horton would bring onto the table that most other athletes do not have: experience… and leadership, but would that be enough? It’s hard to say, if they choose to bring in Jonathan onto the Olympic team then I believe that Chris Brooks would be the one to become an alternate over Sam Mikulak due to Chris’ scores being lower than that of Sam’s in most apparati and Sam having a stronger score in the US Mens Gymnastics Team’s weakest event: pommel horse. All speculation to be sure, but still very difficult to decpiher what would win out the day.

US WOMENS GYMNASTICS OLYMPIC TRIALS RESULTS
Sunday, July 1st will be the finals for the US Women Gymnastics Olympic Trials and right now the top gymnast is Jordyn Wieber. But how would the other women fit it? Well let’s find out:
– V: Vault; UB: Uneven Bars; BB: Balance Beam; FE: Floor Exercise; FINAL: All Around

NAME V UB BB FE FINAL
POSSIBLE OLYMPIC TEAM
Gabrielle Douglas 3rd 5th 5th 2nd 2nd
Alexandra Raisman 4th 4th 1st 3rd
Kyla Ross 1st 5th 5th
McKayla Maroney 2nd 4th 7th
POSSIBLE ALTERNATES
Elizabeth Price 1st 6th 5th 4th
Alicia Sacremone 5th 3rd
Anna Li 1st
OTHER POSSIBILITIES
Sarah Finnegan 7th 1st 7th 6th
Rebecca Bross 4th
Nastia Liukin 7th

Since there are only four apparatus that is included in womens gymnastics and with one slot already tied up, trying to put the pieces together has proven to be a rather difficult process. Since the top three scores from each team will be counted in the team events out of either four or five possible gymnasts it would be ideal to have at least four gymnasts with strong scores in any apparatus. The same idea stands for the men as well, but in my opinion that was easier to put together. For the women, not so much. However, without knowing would happen during the womens gymnastics finals on Sunday there is no way to know how the final team will stack up.

It is rather unfortunate that the darling of the Womens Gymnastics Team of the Beijing Olympics 2008: Nastia Liukin, might not make it onto the team not placing as high as she could have in the prelims. Alicia would have a strong chance to at least be an alternate, but it would be rather difficult to see her any higher than that.

Knowing that the full Mens Gymnastics Olympic Team will be announced on Sunday and the Womens Gymnastics should be soon to follow, it will be rather interesting to see what happens. Well also to see how close or far I am with my predictions.

Literary Review: Dark Lover (Book 1) by J R Ward

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Title: Dark Lover
Author: J R Ward
Series: Book One
Format: Audiobook

So, I have been listening to another paranormal romance novel, well series really… in this case it is the start of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J R Ward. Currently in its 10th novel / 11th book, it was introduced to me by a friend of mine not long ago due to our love of paranormal romance / fantasy.

Since traditional romance novels tend to be very stale and bland for me nowadays I was needing something with a little bit of spice. Did I ever… with a well thought out mythology and background this series had so much that I could totally sink my teeth into (pun totally intended). The first six books in the series revolves around the six “Brothers” of a race of vampires, whose primary goal is to protect their race from prying eyes and extinction.

The first book in the series focuses on the point of view of Wrath, the leader of the “Brothers” and the reluctant king. He has long ignored his birthright in favor of being a warrior and had always felt comfortable in that role. Also nicknamed “The Blind King”, Wrath is a male vampire completely ill at ease with his birthright and has a lot of male pride.

When his friend’s (Darius) death wish was for Wrath to watch over Darius’ half-breed daughter Beth and ease her into the possible transition of becoming a vampire, Wrath does so reluctantly only for the wheels to turn him towards his destiny. Then again Beth was very reluctant when it came to Wrath:

Perfect date material. A vampire with the social equivalent of road rage.

Available Summary:

In the shadows of the night in Caldwell, New York, there’s a deadly turf war going on between vampires and their slayers. There also exists a secret band of brothers like no other – six vampire warriors, defenders of their race. Among them, none relishes killing their enemies more than Wrath, the leader of the Black Dagger Brotherhood…

The only purebred vampire left on the planet, Wrath has a score to settle with the slayers who murdered his parents centuries ago. But when one of his most trusted fighters is killed- orphaning a half-breed daughter unaware of her heritage or her fate – Wrath must usher the beautiful female into the world of the undead…

Racked by a restlessness in her body that wasn’t there before, Beth Randall is helpless against the dangerously sexy man who comes to her at night with shadows in his eyes. His tales of brotherhood and blood frighten her. But his touch ignites a dawning hunger that threatens to consume them both…

I could go on and on about the series and the mythology, but why repeat through the motions when others have already done so. You could find the links at my “Literary” page under “Entertainment“. I would suggest going to Book Thingo where they have actually supplied details about each of the individual books in the series as well as extra information from the rest of the series:

Book Thingo: Black Dagger Brotherhood Cheat Sheet Part 1
– The Scribe Virgin and her single act of creation
– What is the Black Dagger Brotherhood?
– Black Dagger Brotherhood: Wrath, son of Wrath
– Class Structure and Civil Unrest
– Wrath the Fair

There are nine Cheat Sheets at the moment, one for each novel in the series (minus the Dossier). What was really nice about the cheat sheets is that they tend to follow the series in order for the most part. Giving the reader a chance to follow along and understand the absolute necessary pieces from each Cheat Sheet and building them as you read through the series.

Since the cheat sheets do a really good job of not only talking about the individual novels but the storylines of the primary characters throughout the series… the most I’ll do is introduce my own thoughts and opinions of the book in question:

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Review and SPOILERS: Love Never Dies (Australian Cast)

If The Phantom of the Opera was considered a project of the composer’s love to his muse at the time, then Love Never Dies could be the composer’s desire to return to those glory days knowing full well it could never happen.

For over two decades, Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber (he was knighted in 1992 and became a life peer in 1997 with the title of Baron Lloyd-Webber, of Sydmonton in the County of Hampshire and sits in the House of Lords) had mentioned the possibility of creating a sequel for the beloved musical Phantom of the Opera that he created in 1986. He started working on the sequel as early as 1990 but did not start composing until over a decade and half later, but lost the score in an announced cat-astrophe, convenient and suspect to be sure.

Three years later the production, Love Never Dies, opened in the West End in London to mixed/negative reviews. During the previews the production was tooled and retooled and retooled again in hopes to garner positive reviews from critics and/or audiences but closed in 2011 after a mere eighteen month run.

The production team, taking what they learned from the West End, redesigned the musical and opened in Melbourne, Australia in May 2011. This time the musical garnered much more positive reviews, it was at Melbourne that they taped the show for DVD and eventually the production moved to Sydney for a limited engagement.

Over the course of the past couple of years there was much hype leading into the opening production with Katherine Jenkins singing her rendition of the title track:

Ramin Karimloo also created a music video of the Phantom’s opening solo of the production featuring the original Christine of Love Never Dies Sierra Boggess:

The original intent of opening Love Never Dies simultaneously at the West End, New York, Shanghai never really materialized with the production in New York to be delayed indefinitely and the Shanghai development ending in favor of opening an Australian production. However, some of us Phantom Phanatics wanted to see the production: Love Never Dies, and were granted a reprieve when a DVD version of the show was to be aired on PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) just a day or two after the DVD officially released in the U.S.

A week or two ago I finally found the time to sit down and watch this DVD… after having heard the soundtrack within months after the initial released I was curious enough to see what the production entailed. Curious to see why it worked in some places and not in others.
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Entertainment: Viet Nam Gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics

Viet Nam’s gymnasts have been making a strong splash in the past couple of years. During the Beijing 2008 Olympics the only gymnast from Viet Nam was Đỗ Thị Ngân Thương (names are reversed in Viet Nam as opposed to English so her family name is Đỗ while her given name is Thương) who was invited via the Tripartite Invitation. This invitation is a collective effort between the International Olympic Committee and the International Federations to develop systems that would allow the best athletes to compete but also adhere to the principle of universal representation. She did not pass the preliminary round and ended up being disqualified due to a banned substance found in her system. After a year or two she came back to competition stronger and wiser, as thus she was granted a place in the London 2012 Olympics via the Olympic Test Event (placing 72nd overall) in January due to injuries to many of the world’s top gymnasts.

The other female gymnast that qualified for the London 2012 Olympics is Phan Thị Hà Thanh (again Phan being the family name while Thanh is the given name) earned her ticket to the London 2012 Olympics via her vault score at the 2011 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tokyo, Japan. She received the bronze medal for the following vaults:

The final gymnast that qualified from Viet Nam is Phạm Phước Hưng (Phạm being the family name and Hưng being his given name). Much like Thương in the female gymnastics competition, Hưng also qualified via the Olympic Test Event. Not only that, a rising star in Vietnamese gymnastics, Hung showed his prowess by winning the gold medal in men’s parallel bars at the Challengers Cup 2012 International Gymnastics Tournament in Belgium (placing 43rd overall).

With only two medals total in the Summer Olympic games, both silver in Taekwondo (Trần Hiếu Ngân for the Women’s 57kg event at Sydney 2000) and Weightlifting (Hoàng Anh Tuấn for the Men’s 56kg event at Beijing 2008) it is difficult to say how the gymnasts would ultimately place… but I am fairly confident that as the gymnastics program in Viet Nam strengthens so will the talent pool and I would not be surprised to see their gymnasts stand on the podium in future Olympics if not for the upcoming one.

Entertainment: US Gymnastics at the London 2012 Olympics

The 2008 U.S. Olympics Gymnastics Team had a very strong showing in Beijing 2008 with the Women’s team getting the silver medal and the Men’s team (largely considered underdogs at the time) sneaking in for the bronze.

For 2012, the only veterans from the 2008 team that have returned for the 2012 Olympic trials include:
– Jonathan Horton
– Nastia Liukin
– Alicia Sacramone
– Bridget Sloan

Of the four… going into the Olympic trials in San Jose, Jonathan Horton appears to be the most likely to return with Alicia Sacramone as a possibility.

But what happened to the rest of the 2008 team?
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Review: The Jersey Boys Tour – Chicago Stop

Jersey Boys came to Chicago in early April for a two month stay. I finally found the time to go and watch this production with a friend. Though I generally enjoyed the music from the Four Seasons, I wasn’t really a huge fan, so when a musical based on the rise and fall of the Four Seasons came out I was skeptical. To me it seemed to fall into the world of the “Jukebox Musical”.

What is a “Jukebox Musical”? Well I suppose the most basic definition would be a stage or film musical that uses previously released popular songs as its musical score.

Some of the more known / popular jukebox musicals include:
– Mamma Mia
– American Idiot
– Million Dollar Quartet
– Rock of Ages

But we’re talking about The Jersey Boys and as apprehensive as I was coming in, I enjoyed this show more than I thought I would. The cast, the staging, the music… and I heard the music soundtrack ahead of time and enjoyed that. When looking at The Jersey Boys Tour website, I noticed that there were two tours going on simultaneously. Of the two tours, Chicago got the “Tour 1” cast which included:
– Preston Truman Boyd as Bob Gaudio
– Joseph Leo Bwarie as Frankie Valli
– John Gardiner as Tommy DeVito
– Michael Lomenda as Nick Massi
And man… don’t they look pretty. 😛

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Review: The Avengers

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First… before anything else a silent film parody of arguably the scene stealer of the movie:

That in and of itself is more than worth the price of admission. That scene of watching the Hulk tossing Loki around like a ragdoll stole the movie for me. Probably my favorite scene in the whole movie, especially since the previous Hulk movies had the Hulk doing a lot of sulking and a lot of drama. Whileas in this movie, the Hulk had a little bit of that sulkiness, but in the end did a lot of “Hulk Smash!” which was what a lot of people loved about the Hulk. But I am getting ahead of myself.

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Literary Review: Blameless by Gail Carriger

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Title: Blameless
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Book Three
Format: Audiobook

Technically, I listened to this audiobook a few weeks ago, I have just been so damn busy lately with theatre that I haven’t had the chance to write my thoughts about this particular book in the series. Ah well, better late than never. 🙂

If you’re curious, this is the third in the five book series:
– Book 1: Soulless
– Book 2: Changeless
– Book 3: Blameless
– Book 4: Heartless
– Book 5: Timeless
In any case, I found myself rather intrigued with the third book of the Parasol Protectorate series.

Let me get this out in the open and out of the way, as much as I understand Lord Maccon’s emotions and reasoning for doing what he did, that doesn’t excuse his behavior at all. I am really ticked off with him, the way he treated Alexia and his lack of desire to understand her point of view until his Beta verbally whacks him over the head and even then. *SIGHS* Except I know of a few guys that would react the same way, and it still ticked me off. In fact I was so upset with Lord Maccon’s conduct that even though I knew what he did over the course of the book and how he was somewhat regretful of his actions, I found myself wanting to scream at him over and over again. Granted reading about Lord Maccon’s inebriation was rather comedic at times and when his Gamma disappeared I knew almost instantly why, but seriously if it were me I would have made it hard for Lord Maccon to get back into my good graces. But then being a woman that was once in love, it wouldn’t take much more than Alexia because dammit, I’d still love him too, it is infinitely easier to forgive someone that you are in love with, because you can’t help but think nothing but the best of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lady Maccon had actually forgiven him while they were still apart and she knew that he wanted her. *sighs* In fact, this is best summed up by Lady Maccon herself:

You mean while I’ve been running across Europe pregnant, escaping ladybugs, flying in onithopters, landing in mud, and drinking coffee, you have been inebriated?

Anyway, I digress…
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Review: Lemont High School’s production of Chicago

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Normally it would take a lot for me to think about going to see a high school production. Not only that but I’m not really a fan of the Chicago musical either, but what brought me ultimately to see this particular high school production was because one of the students I tutored in mathematics was a part of it. What makes this student different from most anyone else is the fact that for someone as cerebral as she is, auditioning for a play, let alone a musical is a huge step away from her norm. It was a risk, but when it came out that she was called back for the part of Velma Kelly (mind you this is her first audition), but ultimately cast in ensemble… it meant a great deal for her, and I vowed to do what I can to see her in it.

Fortunately time was by my side, with rehearsal over by five, I had enough time to relax and then ultimately head over to Lemont High School to see her production, what I didn’t expect to see was her not only in the ensemble, but also w/ lines as the Bailiff in the trial of Roxie Hart. As her math tutor I was more than proud for her, she did something that was completely and totally out of her comfort zone and not only did she find that she enjoyed it, she actually caught the acting bug as well.

What caught my attention from the get go was the actress that played Roxie Hart. Roxie, to me, was suppose to be this annoying little chit while Velma Kelly should be the starlet that needed a real breakthrough. Instead the girl that played Roxie totally stole the show while the girl that played Velma bored me half to death.

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Review: Emursive presents Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More

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Early in April (the first weekend of April) I made a trip to New York City to watch a couple of theatre productions for one of the blogs that I write for. While there I saw Disney’s the Newsies the Musical and Once the Musical… in fact my impressions of those particular shows have been posted on my blog already.

There is one show – if it can be considered a “show” – that I also went to that went beyond all words and description that it literally took me a few months to truly comprehend what I had experienced and realized that when I go back to New York, I would be more than willing to plop down more to see the production a few more times. Yes, a few… and I’ve already “seen” it twice.

British Theatre Company: Punchdrunk made the trip over the ocean to introduce the Americans to a new kind of theatre experience with the presentation of Sleep No More. They first made their debut in Brookline, Massachusetts, when they took over an abandoned school and transformed it into a variety of scenes that delve into the world of Shakespeare’s Macbeth and tying this Shakespearan tragedy into the world of the Speakeasy / Film Noir.

Even now I am having difficulty organizing my thoughts on this fantastical production. I’ll see what I can do though:
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Literary Review: Changeless by Gail Carriger

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Title: Changeless
Author: Gail Carriger
Series: Book Two
Format: Audiobook

So here we are, the second audio book of the Parasol Protectorate series by Gail Carriger: Changeless. I don’t know where to begin… well I guess I’ll start with the technical aspect of the audiobook. I rather enjoy listening to Emily Gray’s interpretation of the variety of characters in Changeless.

Part of the reason I never mentioned Emily Gray during my review of Soulless was simply because I wasn’t entirely sold on a female voice emulating so many male voices. I loved Emily as she interpreted Alexia, her sisters, her friend Ivy and even Lord Akeldama… however. So I chose to wait and give it another audiobook to see if my feelings have changed, and in honestly because Changeless has so many female characters taking center stage, this made the listening experience much more pleasurable.

While in the first novel we were introduced into Gail Carriger’s interpretation of the supernatural world and how they are integrated with society at the time. This second novel delves more into the unknown of the supernatural… primarily the preternatural.

Alexia is as witty and stubborn as always, and while her husband has run off to Scotland to take care of a “family problem”, she is trying to figure out what is causing the mass exorcism of the ghosts in the London area and the humanization of the vampires and werewolves. After a little digging around, Alexia believes that the solution involves following her husband up north, into Scotland.

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Fleeting: Sense and Sensibility the Musical by Jeffrey Haddow and Neal Hampton

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Back in late-September of 2011, I went to New York City to watch the up and coming musical: Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice via the New York Musical Festival.

When I first listened to the music for Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice created by Lindsay Warren Baker and Amanda Jacobs, I would admit, as much as I enjoyed pieces of the music I wasn’t completely sold. Until I went to see this production live on stage… seeing everything put together did the music come to life to me. Not necessarily a good thing, but it does bring the audience goer deeper into the story.

The music of Sense & Sensibility by Jeffrey Haddow and Neal Hampton is very similar to that for me. When listening to the music, I was intrigued, but very few songs drew me in. One of these being “I Must Have Sense” that Elinor sings to Marianne in an attempt to prevent herself from breaking down in the possibility of losing her sister.

In the meantime while reading my RSS Feed I found out that one Marcia Milgrom Dodge (Tony nominee for Best Direction of a Musical of the 2009’s revival of Ragtime) was tapped to direct the production at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for their 2012-2013 season.

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Literary Reviews: Blink vs. Think (Part Two of Three) by Malcolm Gladwell

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Title: Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
Author: Malcolm Gladwell
Format: Audiobook

So in part one of this series I wrote about how I balance decision making between logic / reasoning and gut instinct / intuition. Also noted was the self-awareness that I was using logic and reasoning far too much in my life and the active shift towards integrating gut instinct / intuition into my conscious thought.

In the last post, I also mentioned two books that I have read that also lead into those trains of thought. I don’t believe in going down just one road or the other, but rather finding a balance of both. So this particular post will be my thoughts / review on the book Blink: The Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. While the third post in this series would be about the rebuttal book Think!: Why Crucial Decisions Can’t be Made in the Blink of an Eye by Michael LeGault.

Blink dives into the hypothesis that “quick judgment” decisions work just as well if not better than decisions based off of extensive analysis. The author also talks about how one’s likes and dislikes, prejudices and stereotypes, and biases can color their gut instinct / intuition. But how can one tell if they have an unconscious bias?

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Entertainment News: The Voice is coming back in the Fall

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Why am I not surprised? The Voice, NBC’s summer smash hit in 2011, and made new waves in spring of 2012 is going to come back in the fall 2012 lineup.

Not only that they are planning to cycle in additional judges to the panel. Not necessarily because of the chemistry of the current panel, but on the contrary TPTB (The Powers That Be) feel that since the judges are all working musicians, to ask them to schedule time for the show would be asking too much as it is.

To say that I’m excited is an understatement. What I am most worried about is whom they would bring on as coaches, after all the chemistry between the judges panel now (CeeLo Green, Adam Levine, Blake Shelton and Christina Aguilera) was a total unknown when the show premiere last summer and it soon became such a massive hit. I mean take a look at the Superbowl promo they filmed:

Anyway, I’m getting off the point. I think the only way that the Voice can sell in the Fall is if they make just as huge of a knockout with the judging panel as they currently have. But who to bring?

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Personal Endeavors: Stage Musical “Wish List”

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Ask any actor/actress that enjoys being a part of theatre, chances are they probably have a short list of shows and/or roles they’d love to play. I’m no different despite this being more of a hobby for me than anything. Although I don’t have a stage play short list (I am usually game to most anything) I do have a musical theatre short list… two of those musicals I have either already done or am doing, so what do I have left?

Well let’s start with what I have already done:
– City of Angels
Yes, I was even willing to grow a beard for a show. =) I loved the musical: City of Angels ever since I first heard “The Tennis Song”, so when I read up on the synopsis of the show and started listening to more of the music I knew that this was a production I just HAD to be a part of. Little did I know what the director at Theatre-on-the-Hill had in store for me…

City of Angels is NOT based off the Nicholas Cage movie of the same name. Instead it is about a writer whose is hired to adapt a popular book of his for the big screen. As we follow the writer go through the perils of working in Hollywood we are also watching scenes from his movie unfold concurrently. Changes he has made in the script are seen live on the stage as it happens.

What I love about this particular show is how two seemingly separate storylines are intertwined. There are particular moments in the shows where you see only one story or the other, and sometimes you see them both happening concurrently. Sure it forces you to think more than the average show, but once you get it, it makes the whole thing even funnier and worthwhile.

There was one conversation I had with a friend whose career is in the performing arts and we agreed that if someone is truly serious about acting and performing they better damn well be willing to make a fool of themself on stage. Pride, image, ego, etc goes right out the door, there is simply no room for it. If you’re not willing to “look ugly” on stage, then you’re not really serious about acting.

I swallowed my pride for my art and to this day people still remember that role. That’s making an impression. People don’t always remember the leads or the straight forward roles, they tend to remember the crazy, off beat, quirky characters. Plus you have fun along the way. =)

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