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I can’t believe 2006 is almost over! It’s been one hell of a year for me, and I know that I’ve missed a lot of it here on my blog. To catch everyone up, I’m going to try and recap some of the things to have happened to me this year (including the recent developments that have been completely OTB).

Let’s start with something of minor significance (if any at all), shall we?

Entertainment

Television

Arrested Development - While this year brought the end of Arrested Development on FOX, it also marked my first exposure to the ensemble comedy. Although I’d been avoiding the show over the past three years, I found myself an instant die-hard fan. After watching the first few episodes, I diligently tracked down the entire series, watching every episode of the series inside of two months. Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine life before the Bluths. As a result, I’m overjoyed that MSN is syndicating AD without charge over the internet. If you haven’t seen the show, stay tuned to arresteddevelopment.msn.com over the next year to watch one of the finest shows ever produced for free TV.

Scrubs - I had seen a few episodes of Scrubs throughout 2005, but had never really realized how entertaining the show was. Throughout a four month period, I tracked down every episode of Scrubs and watched them, each in broadcast order. Much like Arrested Development, Scrubs gets funnier when you watch it in order and see which jokes repeat. The first four seasons are available on DVD, and Season Six continues on NBC.

Lost - I had intentionally avoided Lost for the past two years. It was too big, too popular, and sounded a bit too much like Gilligan’s Island for me to devote my time to. This year, fortunately, curiosity killed the cat (or polar bear, I guess), and I downloaded the pilot episodes onto my computer. Before I knew it, I would become addicted, racing home every day to watch each episode of both seasons. I was losing sleep, I was running late to school — and I didn’t care. I fell in love with each of the show’s characters (well, except for Ana-Lucia… bitch got what she deserved), and continued to “get Lost” throughout the summer with the Lost Experience online game. I’m completely on the edge of my seat after the latest episode of the 3rd Series, and can’t wait for 2007 to continue the cliffhanger we were left with.

NBC’s Saturday Night - Just at the end of 2006, Broadway Video, in association with NBC Universal, finally released the first season of Saturday Night Live to DVD. I’d been dying to see these episodes for years… and I’ve finally witnessed the comic genius of Belushi, Akryod, Chase, Radner, Brooks, Henson, and a slew of special guests. Highly recommended.

Theatre

“The Drowsy Chaperone” - certainly one of the greatest Broadway shows I’ve ever seen, “The Drowsy Chaperone” will please any audience of any age. Furthermore, “Drowsy” marks the reclaiming of live musical theatre to new artists — as it’s one of the more prominent shows of the season, and it was created from scratch (not using pre-existing songs or movie storylines… which isn’t always a winning formula anymore — look at “All Shook Up”, “The Times They Are A-Changin’”, and “High Fidelity” for proof). Anyway, go see “Drowsy Chaperone!” It’s quick, entertaining, and you will most certainly leave the theatre with a song in your head.

“Disney’s Beauty & The Beast” - I had avoided seeing any Disney Theatrical productions until free tickets lured me to Beauty. Despite Donny Osmond, the show still managed to entertain. The show currently features “Avenue Q”’s John Tartaglia, among others. It’s worth it, if you can find a good discount.

“Lestat” - Elton John must have phoned this one in. One of the worst shows I’ve seen this year, “Lestat” managed to be both over and under written — generally confused and miscast. Way to go, Broadway!

“Burleigh Grime$” - If “Lestat” was pure shit, this shit was somewhat diluted. I would even call it an intriguing effort if I knew what the point was supposed to be. The dude from Mad Money was in it, though… and I guess that was supposed to distract, if not entertain.

Check back soon for the next installment of my self-indulgent 2006 wrap-up!

One thing that I’ve learned over the past few years is that there are only two topics that will get absolutely everyone completely incensed and involved in heated debate — politics and religion. A great majority of theatre delves into the political aspect of the world, although most playwrights pen scripts from a Democratic standpoint intended for a Democratic audience — it’s not really changing anyone’s life. Although political theatre has been highly popular in the past few years, religion has been generally avoided. If theatre does attempt a religious show, it’s normally in the form of a musical (e.g. Godspell, Jesus Christ Superstar), but let’s face it, those musical’s aren’t exactly happy-go-lucky musical comedies.

Finally, Altar Boyz brings humorous light to the subject religion in a (mostly) non-offensive manner. The Altar Boyz themselves are a Catholic boy band (with one Jewish member) intent on spreading the message of God through music, and saving the souls of their fans in concerts. The Off-Broadway staging of the show is their final concert in their national tour, and the first time the Boyz are playing New York City.

The music of the show is perfectly written in the style of the late-90s boy band explosion (most notably the Backstreet Boys and N’Sync), and is absolutely hilarious. I had a copy of the cast album in my possession before I went to Dodger Stages to actually see the show, and I fell in love with the music immediately. “Something About You” and “Epiphany” made me crack up the first time that I heard them, and I gave the rest of the album a listen. There was only one song that I didn’t think was all that funny when I heard it… and watching the show changed all that.

Often times when I go to see a musical, I get a little bit upset with myself for having listened to the CD beforehand, thus “ruining” the surprises. Altar Boyz didn’t make me feel this way. The staging of each one of these numbers, combined with the stellar performances of the incredibly talented cast brought new life to these songs that I had already committed to memory, and made me realize new, hilarious things about them. It was a unique musical theatre experience.

I was extremely impressed with the cast. Although only one member from the original Off-Broadway cast played when I saw the show (with another set to return in a few short days), they managed to sound exactly like (if not better than) the cast recording. Even more impressive was the fact that the entire show is dance intensive, and I think that I would pass out a half hour through the show if I were to attempt the same feat.

Not only is Altar Boyz a hilarious 90 minutes filled with hilarious music that manages to poke fun at the boy band craze and, in some ways, religion, it succeeds in actually being an uplifting show. I didn’t see one disappointed face in the house — and since the Downstairs Bar’s 2-for-1 Happy Hour doesn’t start until after the show, I think it was all the Altar Boyz. Rush down to Dodger Stages as soon as you can and pick up tickets for Altar Boyz… you won’t be disappointed.

It’s not often that I go to see one man shows. There’s something about them that usually seems masturbatory (read: Whoopi, 700 Sundays, or Laugh Whore) and turns me off as a theatregoer. Fortunately, there is a one man show that has absolutely nothing to do with the aforementioned “one man” performing: The One Man Star Wars Trilogy.

For the ticket price, you get exactly what the title promises… all three Star Wars films, acted out by one man in the course of an hour. But remember, this is no ordinary man — he’s a Canadian.

Nationalities aside, he breezes through each film in about twenty minutes. When he finished A New Hope, I was completely amazed that he had managed to accomplish such a feat while including so much of the plot and managing to throw in his own jokes in the middle. His impersonations of all the characters, while not exactly always dead-on, are close enough to be scary — his Alec Guinness was hilarious.

There’s not much more to say about it, other than the fact that you’ll laugh your ass off for the entire show. I’m still chuckling in my seat at home thinking of his Jabba.

Unfortunately, it seems as if this show is a limited engagement, as Charles Ross (the writer / performer) is taking the show on the road for the remainder of the year. So, if you happen to be reading this review in the next three days, looking for something interesting to do in New York City — which, admittedly, is rather unlikely — go see One Man Star Wars Trilogy… it’s one hell of a good time. If not, try and catch it on tour… you’ll love it!

One day, I post a review on The Musical of Musicals, bashing its predominantly over-the-hill and overweight cast.

Two days later, the show announces that it will close next week.

Does this mean I have power? I’d like to think so, but… probably not.

It just means that my review was dead on.

I first heard of this show about a year ago, and grew increasingly excited about it. After all, it has an amazing premise: the same story told several times over in the styles of different famous musical theatre composers. Furthermore, it was reportedly pretty funny (which makes it a successful spoof show… or the opposite of Forbidden Broadway — by the way, don’t see Forbidden Broadway).

Unfortunately, I started hearing reviews from actual humans about the show (read: not what was regurgitated from the press packets) and became slightly disinterested. Apparently, the show wasn’t as good as advertised. I wasn’t exactly rushing to purchase the $60+ tickets that are up for sale nowadays at Dodger Stages.

The asking price of a ticket being the only major drawback to the show, I grew excited to see free tickets up for grabs in my school’s lobby. That being the case, I found myself later that night inside Dodger Stages — hands down my favorite Off-Broadway theatre space — ready to see Musical of Musicals.

I briefly touched upon Forbidden Broadway earlier in this post. I find it extremely hard to talk about this show without talking about its predecessor, as they have very similar concepts. As I’d soon found out, they had more than that in common. One of the defining characteristics of my Forbidden Broadway experience was a cast of mostly overweight aging actors, which immediately disconnected me from the material. The cast of Musical of Musicals is more of the same. I know it’s ridiculously shallow, but I really don’t immediately connect with a cast of older and less attractive actors than I do with younger, prettier ones.

Anyway, forget about the cast’s relative age and lack of sex appeal. The show should be the most important thing, after all.

That having been said, I found the premise of this show exciting. I liked the selection of composers that were parodied (although I would have argued the order in which they were parodied). I even liked the somewhat pathetic storyline that each of the five mini-musicals were based on.

However, due to my highly critical nature, I have a couple of gripes about the show. Despite being a fan of musical theatre, I found that at least 50% of the jokes contained in this musical went way over my head. In order to fully enjoy Musical…, you need to be familiar with every work that Kander & Ebb, Rodgers & Hammerstien, Jerry Herman, Webber, and Sondheim have ever done. Like most of the general public, I am not in this show’s target demographic (which the show itself even makes fun of — an intelligent strategy, no doubt).

Other than that, I’m always upset that most Off-Broadway shows are extremely lacking in orchestration. By that, I mean that the only “pit musician” was a piano player… who was also an actor. The only song with a bit more “oomph” (for lack of a better term) to it was the pre-recorded finale, which left a bad taste in my mouth.

Allright, I’ll stop bashing the show long enough to throw some praise in there. Joanne Bogart (one of the show’s co-writers) delivers some amazing performances throughout the show. Eric Rockwell (the other writer) also shines as the evil landlord / pianist. I’ll even say nice things about Craig Fols (on the other hand, Lovette George, the remaining cast member, needs to learn how to sing correctly).

In short — is the Musical of Musicals worth it? Definitely not… they’re charging far too much. On the other hand, if you’re getting a deep discount on tickets and there’s nothing good on TV, you may want to check it out. It’ll give you a few laughs (4 out of every 10 jokes… which are all clearly telegraphed and overacted as such… will make you laugh) and you’ll get to visit Dodger Stages (which now has a bar conveniently located every 10 feet).

- I want to send a belated bit of congratulations to T. Ryder Smith for his taking over the lead role in Thom Pain (based on nothing) this past Monday. I saw T in this show back in June, and I’ve got to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Grab your tickets while you can, folks!

- Also, congratulations to Sarah Edwards for scoring a part in the new I Network series Palmetto Pointe. As a matter of principle, I never, eeeeeever watch the PAX network in any way, shape, or form… but I checked it out this past week to catch Sarah. Sundays at 8.

In my senior year of high school, I was exposed to a musical based on Shakespeare’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona” by performing the part of Valentine in my last show on the TZHS stage. I did not know of this musical before production began, despite its winning the Tony award for Best Musical back in the 1970s. Since performing in the show, I have absolutely adored it — I even grabbed a friends and attended the Guggenheim Museum’s concert version of the show (featuring updated orchestrations by the composer, Galt MacDermot).

Naturally, I geeked out when I found out that “Two Gentlemen of Verona (The Musical)” was added to this year’s line up for Central Park’s free “Shakespeare in the Park” series. This means that not only will I be able to see a full-fledged, professionally-staged version of the show, I’ll be able to see it for free.

This past Tuesday, I finally made it out to the Delacourte theatre to see the show.

First off, in my ‘review’ of sorts, I want to make it perfectly clear that I had an amazing time. The show is just as fun as it seemed to me every time I read the script before we started the show in high school — and the production values behind it were great. In fact, I think that (with a bit of re-casting) the show could head from Central Park to Broadway again (it won’t happen — but one can hope).

Although I had first objected to the set (they painted it baby blue, yellow, and bright pink), it really didn’t detract at all. In fact, I had thought the cast would be hindered by the set, due to its enormous size, but it wasn’t really an issue.

There were some revisions to the original script (which, for those interested, can be found in a slightly screwed-up form here), but I thought that these changes were topical ( “Bring All The Boys Back Home,” specifically) and (in certain places) helped the pacing. I also like the edits made to the choral part in “What A Nice Idea”, because it removed from the stage everything that wasn’t absolutely necessary.

The way that I felt about the cast was very divided… but, for the most part, the cast really turned out an excellent performance — whether they were good actors or not.

The roles of Launce (David Constabile) and Speed (John Cariani) were played adequately enough for what was written. Sure, at points, I felt like Cariani was a stereotypical bad musical theatre actor — but really you don’t need that much emotional investment for the part of Speed. What kind of creeped me out was his similarity to “Conky”, the person who played that role in the production I was in.

Another creepy similarity came between Kyle Taylor and Don Stephenson, in their interpretations of Thurio. They were almost the same, and if you would have given Kyle a monocle, I’m sure he would have moved about on stage the same way as well. Stephenson, whom I had seen before in “The Producers”, is able to turn out a ‘character’ performance in a somewhat believable fashion. John Cariani should take notes.

Renée Elise Goldsberry is absolutely amazing. Enough said.

I repeat that same sentiment for Oscar Issac. He added a human element to Proteus that I had never really seen performed before. I could only hope that I would play the role as beautifully as he did one day. I can’t wait to see what this man does next.

Something was missing from Norm Lewis’ Valentine. It’s not that he’s a bad actor (because he’s not a bad actor), and it’s not that he’s a bad singer (because he’s not a bad singer) — I just don’t think that his style really meshed with the rest of the production. “Two Gentlemen” is, at heart, a 70’s rock musical — and you almost have to walk an acting tightrope of performing in a manner consistent with Shakespeare and “Hair” at the same time. Norm Lewis would have fallen off the tightrope.

Speaking of falling off the tightrope — how about that Rosario Dawson, huh? I wasn’t really nervous about how she’d be in the “Rent” movie until I saw “Two Gentlemen.” During her first song, “I Am Not Interested In Love,” I thought she might have been sick. By her next song, “Thou Proteus, Thou Hast Metamorphosed Me,” I realized the truth — she’s just plain bad.

This performance was taped to add to the theatre archives in the New York Public Library. For all those who want to see a woman with the acting ability of a slice of cheese tackle a musical theatre role — give this tape a try. In fact, you’ll probably chuckle as she comes in too early on a singing cue in “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” or when the helicopter flies overhead during a scene between her and Oscar Issac. Absolutely wonderful!

Well, at least Rosario had Megan Lawrence on-stage as Lucetta to carry her through the show. I never really cared much for the role of Lucetta during my first contact with this play — especially the song “Land of Betrayal” (it’s undoubtedly the worst one on the CD) — but Megan Lawrence made me applaud wildly during the song. She’s just an amazing talent.

Plus, I’m not even mentioning the dog, Eglamour (the Jedi), the Duke, or the guy in the chorus who looks like Napoleon Dynamite.

Go see this show. It’s free. You have no excuse.

When first coming to New York City, I took notice of a lot of the Off-Broadway internet buzz. Many shows were highlighted on Playbill.com, Broadway.com, etc. — including Altar Boyz, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Musical of Musicals: The Musical!, Newsical, and others. One of the non-musical shows that kept coming up was Will Eno’s Thom Pain (based on nothing)

T Ryder Smith, director of The Real Inspector Hound and fellow TZ alum, will apparently be taking over the one-man show from James Urbaniak this summer. As a result, he’s been doing a series of dress rehearsals, available to an invited audience for free.

So, this morning, a group of us from the Academy (Dominic, Steph, Ambr, Clemen, Cary, and Adam) took the trip to the DR2 theatre on 15th Street to check T out in performance.

The show’s amazing. Besides being exceptionally well-written, T was absolutely fantastic, able to conjure up the nature of every human sexual relationship with a twenty-second gesture — among other things that I’m only assuming every human can connect with (I mean, shit, I’m only 20, and I believe I understood the complicated show in its entirety).

The show’s absolutely amazing, in an intimate environment, and if T does get a chance to take over, I would suggest getting tickets.

In fact, it was so good, I’m considering going back to the DR2 so that I can catch James Urbaniak, just to see how different the two actors are.

Good show, T. Good Show.

For more information on Thom Pain, click here to visit the show’s website.