Archive for musical theater
March 28, 2008 at 6:41 pm · Filed under dance, musical theater, broadway, MATTHEW
After a few months away from the cultural landscape of New York (while I was home in Montana) I’ve made my return to the city by devouring as much as possible. In the past two weeks alone, I’ve gone to four Broadway shows and am pleased to report that dance is thriving on Broadway.
Of the four shows I saw (In the Heights, Cry Baby, Young Frankenstein, and Rent), three are new this season and two in particular are worth high praise. First and foremost is the fantastic new musical “In the Heights.” Set up towards the top of the subway map in NYC’s Washington Heights, the musical is a joyous merging of Latin, Hip-Hop, and Broadway sensibilities.
There are many things to praise in the show, including the stellar cast (full of Broadway newcomers), and the music, which practically blows the roof off of the theater number after number. However, the thing that really blew me away was the choreography. Andy Blankenbuehler has given Broadway what it has so desperately needed over the past few years: character driven choreography that honors Broadway pizzazz but transplants it to the 21st century. From the moment the lights go down, the dancers (with six pack abs to rival Janet Jackson’s) immerse themselves in different styles to thrilling results. I can’t recommend this show highly enough. Check out my full review here.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/EAKTjmltvDo" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
(One of the biggest dance numbers from
In the Heights, called “96,000.”)
Last night I had the chance to catch a preview of the new musical “Cry Baby.” Adapted from the John Waters movie of the same name, it attempts to capitalize on the success of “Hairspray,” to mixed results.
The overwhelming thought I had while watching (from the front row) was “it’s cute.” The songs are mostly successful mergers of 50’s rock (the show is set in 1950’s Baltimore) with a healthy dose of John Waters’ twisted mind in the lyrics. Even though the show didn’t win me over entirely, there was no denying Rob Ashford’s fantastic choreography.
I knew that my friends Lisa Gajda and Nick Blaemire’s presence in the chorus signaled a dance heavy show, but I had no idea just how prevalent the dancing would be. In true John Waters fashion, it’s sexually charged, humorous choreography, but most of all it is technically demanding.
My first thought during one of the large dance numbers was that it was EVIL. Doing eight shows a week is hard enough, but with that choreography it must be hell on their bodies. At the same time, it must be so much fun to dance.
Ashford pulls out all the Broadway stops (even doing an entire tap number with license plates as taps on the boys’ feet at one point) and I was happy to see Broadway choreography that was both entertaining and challenging; I often feel like the audience gets one or the other.
Despite my reservations with parts of each show, I couldn’t be more pleased to return to New York and see dance thriving on the Broadway stage.
(Hanging out with my friend Nick afterward, who is not only making his Broadway debut in “Cry Baby,” but the show he wrote the music for “Glory Days,” is opening on Broadway next month! WHAT?! Blog interview coming soon!)
Recent Posts by matthew
January 14, 2008 at 1:36 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, musical theater, VERONICA, the STUDIO
This pas Wednesday we had a very fun Musical Theatre Master class with Amy Uhl, a former STEPS faculty member and recent transplant to Chicago. Speaking of Chicago, Amy gave the girls some original choreography from the musical as well as some interesting Fosse and Luigi history. It was nice to see everyone let loose and have a good time.
Recent Posts by veronica moretti niebuhr
July 15, 2007 at 6:44 am · Filed under backstage, travel, washington dc, friends, theatre, cities, SANDI, musical theater, performing, broadway
Posted by Sandi DeGeorge
We’re outside as well!
I can totally identify with the NYCB dancers’ experience at Saratoga as we are performing Camelot at Wolftrap center for the performing arts outside of Washington D.C. Here Rachel soundchecks.
This is my second time performing in an outdoor venue in a huge musical. We did Dr. Dolittle last summer at Kansas City Starlight. What do these two venues have in common? It’s HOT!
BUT, that said, it’s amazingly fun and cool to think your performance is just kinda going off into the universe. Today was the first time I did a matinee in daylight. That is so weird. It really made me appreciate lighting design! How the lights really help the audience focus- and how we are so used to blackouts to transition. So strange to just enter and exit new scenes in full light. The Audiences here have been so wonderful. We also got a tour of the capital building courtesy of Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas- whom one of our cast members met on the plane.
I had no idea that there were frescoes in the U.S. Capital building!And a handpainted italian marble floor worth about $50 Million!
Monica, Rachel and I (am I on Friends? ) took a walk to the Lincoln memorial after a show- so beautiful.
We also rented a canoe and went rowing on the Potomac.. FUN!
Next stop is Pittsburgh- and our closing!!! I won’t be re-joining the tour when it starts again in September. Back to the grind in NY for me! I will miss my tour friends so much. Unlike NYCB, I don’t know if I’ll ever get to work with these people again. And almost our entire cast is based out of LA, with me in NY.
Recent Posts by sandi degeorge
Recent Posts by sandi degeorge
June 11, 2007 at 1:16 am · Filed under backstage, SANDI, musical theater, mobile, camelot
Bye Philly!
Recent Posts by sandi degeorge
June 10, 2007 at 10:57 am · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, dance event, directors, SUSAN, dance and technology, musical theater, specialevents, awards, los angeles, modern dance, music video, youtube, hollywood, choreography, dancing with the stars, contemporary dance, california
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| Susan Kim
On Thursday night, I attended the inaugural Choreography Media Honors at the Director’s Guild of America. The entire extravaganza was presented in association with the Dance Camera West Film Festival. Hopefully, the night’s event will mark the first of many more to come.
It’s purpose: To honor the craft of choreography in and on the film media. As eloquently stated in the evening’s program of events, “Tonight we come together to celebrate the legacy of dance in media over the past two years–dance in all its various forms of expression. We have dance created to sell products, dance to tell stories, dance to make us laugh, dance to make us cry, dance created for no reason beyond that of pure self expression and artistry, exploring its relationship to film and video.”
So, continuing the work of the American Choreography Awards, the event honoured two year’s worth of choreography featured in commercials, television episodes, television variety shoes, music videos, short films, documentaries and feature films. About two hundred stand-out works created from 2004 to 2006 were nominated for recognition. Over the course of the evening, sixty-six of those nominees were revealed as the cream of the crop. Among them were some very familiar names: Fatima Robinson (”Dreamgirls“), Michael Rooney (”Jackass Number 2 Unrated,” “Think,” a Halifax commercial, “Saving Celebration,” a Target commercial, and “Flawless,” a George Michael music video), Marty Kudelka (Justin Timberlake at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, “Transformer,” a Citroen C4 commercial, and “My Love,” a Justin Timberlake music video), Kenny Ortega (”High School Musical“), Mia Michaels (”Calling You,” from So You Think You Can Dance), Tyce Diorio (”Cell Block Tango,” from So You Think You Can Dance), Shane Sparks (”Tranjie,” from So You Think You Can Dance, and “Push It To The Limit,” a Corbin Bleu music video), Wade Robson (”Ramalama,” from So You Think You Can Dance), John DeLuca (”Tony Bennett: An American Classic“), Rob Marshall (”Tony Bennett: An American Classic“), Travis Payne (”Product People,” a Target commercial, and “Commercial Break,” from Suite Life of Zack & Cody), Robin Antin (”Buttons,” a Pussycat Dolls music video) and Michael Minden (”Buttons“). A full list of all honorees is available below.
My favourite clip of the evening was a Nike commercial, choreographed by Luther Brown and Teresa Espinosa.
I couldn’t help but notice that almost every genre of dance but mine own dominated the ninety minute film presentation. Of those ninety minutes, perhaps thirty or forty-five seconds featured ballet, when “Ballet Russe” received an honorable mention under the documentary category. Even now, many days after the function, the thoughts inside my head are unsettled and my mind has yet to be made up as to how I feel about this. In the meantime, I’d love to hear–er, read–what anyone else might think…
For me, the best part of the entire evening had to do with the format of its presentation. The night’s honorees were not asked to approach the stage one at a time, but were asked to stand and be recognized at the beginning and end of the viewing. Adam Shankman, one of the evening’s speakers, said it best: “This is a true celebration. None of us are here to compete with anyone else to win a specific award. We’re all here to simply honor–and, celebrate–the work of all the honorees here today. (Isn’t this so much better than sitting at home in front of the television, patting ourselves on the back while watching our best works on repeat? It’s so much more fun to do it together in this theatre and cheer for each other, instead.)”
Of course, the night was even more noteworthy because I was sitting in the company of celebrities, some of whom have very recognizable names in the Hollywood community. After the special film presentation, the “real” celebration began and I met and schmoozed with Paula Abdul, Carrie Ann Inaba and Dan Karaty, along with the evening’s honorees.
Good thing I don’t get star struck!
Read the rest of this entry »
Recent Posts by susan kim
May 2, 2007 at 6:43 pm · Filed under tour, chicago, SANDI, musical theater, mobile, broadway
Wicked in Chicago! We get to see them and they see us Sunday!
Recent Posts by sandi degeorge
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