.

Feeling in the mood to see a show tonight, I asked Derek Noel and Zoe Cooper if they’d wish to join me. Since both said yes, instead of trying our luck on the lottery lines for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels or The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, we chose a show with available student tickets, The Producers.

The Producers was the first Broadway show I’d ever seen (back in 2003 after my prom with Stacey), so I was already aware of what to expect when we walked in to the show. Derek had seen a touring version of the show — and although he didn’t love it, wanted to check out the Broadway version to see if it was any better. Zoe, on the other hand, being from jolly old England, had never seen the show.

Being so far off from the premiere of the show, it was interesting to see how the show was received. I mean, I saw the show in 2003 (2 years after its premiere), but we still had a bunch of people in the crowd (like myself and Stacey) who had never seen the show because of how impossible it was to get tickets when starts Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were in tow. Back then, ever Springtime For Hitler appearing in the Overture got an ovation. This was not the case on this night. In fact, it seemed as if the energy in the house was somewhat low, until the end of “We Can Do It”, really — but it really started picking up around “Keep it Gay.”

I was kind of interested to see how the leads were. Since Broderick and Lane, the producers of The Producers have been searching for suitable replacements that would lead ticket buyers back in the seats. The cast I had first seen was headed by Don Stephenson and Lewis J. Stadlen, and they were decent, but nothing special. Scratch that, Don Stephenson was allright, but I thought Lewis J. Stadlen was absolutely horrible as Max Bialystock. I was not a fan in the least.

This cast featured Richard Kind as Max Bialystock and Roger Bart as Leo Bloom. I was not impressed with Richard Kind, but he was better than Stadlen by a substantial amount. Roger Bart, on the other hand, was great. I thought he had a pitch-perfect perspective on the character created by Matthew Broderick (well, really by Gene Wilder, but the Broadway version is slightly different), and it was truly believable.

The show-stopper, however, was Brooks Ashmanskas (of Songs for a New World fame) as Carmen Ghia. First off, Carmen is a hilarious part — and Ashmanskas was absolutely fantastic — he completely shattered the walls of my high expectations.

All in all, The Producers is still a great show, over 4 years after its opening. If you’re a student, you can pick up $25 tickets at the box office on weekdays. It’s worth it!

Well, it’s quite sad that it’s about time to type up the last entry that directly relates to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Pizza party today. And… well… it wouldn’t be a drama school without a bit of drama, now would it?

Anyhow, after getting some free pizza, I realized the complete insanity of the party itself. We’ve got all the first year students (morning and afternoon), as well as some 2nd years, faculty, and members of the Alumni association, hanging out in the lobby. On a 90-degree day, everyone hanging out in there wasn’t quite the best idea. I got smart, and headed into the MM with Krystal Blackman (because, shit, it’s air conditioned!). A couple of other people joined us shortly thereafer, and some other intelligent students headed into the air conditioned Library. Anyway, the lobby is still jam-packed and, with the door open, we can hear the insanity from the lobby.

Almost suddenly, and without warning, the noise from the lobby stopped. I figured either (a) everyone had left the building, or (b) someone from the Alumni Association decided to make a speech. I got up from my cushy theater seat, and peeked my head out the door.

To make a long story short, a girl named Amber (morning student) had some sort of diabetic fit in the lobby and passed out. Three people really freaked out and all went to go call 911. The other 100+ people in the room instead chose to stare with their mouths agape. Well, I guess we didn’t go to drama school because we were geniuses. Someone finally has the sense to usher everyone away from the lobby — but, again, it wasn’t too smart. The intelligent thing would have been to bring the rest of the school inside the MM, where there’s more than enough room for the entire class (not to mention air conditioning) and we’d be out of the way of the ambulance when they got there.

Instead, we were told to leave the building, sending us all right outside the front entrance — effectively blocking any mode of transport to the ambulance, when it arrived. Additionally, since 3/4 of the first year class has a bad nicotine addiction, the ambulance would have to stretcher her out of the building through the clouds of cigarette smoke. Wonderful.

Oh, yeah, and — since three people called 911, three separate ambulances came. I don’t know who to blame for that — the individuals that made simultaneous calls or the 911 dispatcher.

*Sigh*

Well, at least we had a grand finale of sorts. Excellent.

I find out about second year next week!

Almost time for the very last day of school. And what do we hard-working acting students do for a final day of school?

Eat pizza. In great amounts, mind you.

The cool thing about these couple of days is that, ever since The Real Inspector Hound finished yesterday, we’ve all technically been alum of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. From now on, whenever we appear in something and the school knows about it, it goes in the alum newspaper, Americada.

I know that that doesn’t carry much weight, really… but it does when you weigh it with the fact that we’re in good company. Danny DeVito, Judd Hirsch, Robert Redford, Grace Kelly, Spencer Tracy, Anne Bancroft (whom recently died, and that depresses me greatly), and Kirk Douglas are all among the incredible list of American Academy alum. Oh, yeah, and now Richard Johnston III is on that list, as well.

On the subject of American Academy of Dramatic Arts students, check out this film made by a whole gaggle of them within the confines of the New Yorker Hotel — including Kyle S. Beaver and Josh Hunt, among others.
>>Click here for ‘Food’