2010 Viewing Schedule (Subject to change due to budget)

Recap List of shows I saw in Summer and Fall 2009:
(Please page back in entries for reviews on specific shows)

• Grease Interlakes Theatre July 10th
• Oaklahoma Interlakes Theate August 2nd
• Anything Goes NLBP August 15th
• Woycyek September NEC Open Door
• Seasonal Help NEC Carriage Theatre Ensemble October 30th
• Importance of Being Earnest November 19th NEC Mainstage
• SHS Fall Plays November 18th
• My Fair Lady November 20th Riverbend Youth Company
• Judy's Scary Little Christmas December 13 Music and Drama Company
• Night of A Thousand Stars Dec 31st Peacock Players

2010 Shows I have seen so far

• Forbidden Broadway Peacock Players Feb 12
• Junie B Jones National Tour March 11th
• Baby With The Bathwater March 28th
• Bye Bye Biridie March 27th
• Falling An Evening of Movement And Dance May 8th
• Wizard of OZ Riverbend Youth Company May 15th
• Hatian Donation A Benefit Concert April 23rd
• The Wedding Singer Peacock Players May 23rd
• The Summer Theatre in Meredith Village Great American Song Book Condensed May 29th
  
  Due to budget Matt and I agreed to limit our viewing schedule to one show a month. There will be only on exception to this rule! :) There have many exceptions to the rule making it null in void.
  
  

Summer:

June

6-27 Wellsley College Summer Theatre Return To Bountiful

July

7-10 The Producers Arundel Barn Playhouse

7-31 Chicago Summer Theatre in Meredith Village

Performances that are pending

July 31st Charlotte's Web STMV Junior Interns

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Palace Theatre Youth Company

August 5-7 Almost Maine Peacock Players Young Company

Annie JR Bedford Youth Performing Company

Dick Tracy Andy's Summer Playhouse

Weekend of August 19-22 NYC Trip Come Fly With Me and Jersey Boys. Back Ups Billy Elliot, West Side Story, In The Heights

September NEC Open Door Show As You Like It
October NEC CTE PLAY
November Hello Dolly Majestic Theatre
December

Other College productions besides those @ NEC

The NEC , Plymouth and Clark fall shows have not been announced yet.

2011 NEC Shows I will be seeing: Hotel La Putts Movement Concert

RENT UNH Department of Theatre and Dance still waiting to find out times and dates from Samantha Ross

Question

To all my followers I have a question

Does the student rush ticket discount apply to college graduates?

My boyfriend and I are trying to save money on tickets in whatever way we can and we want to get to get student rush tickets if we're able to. I graduated in 2008 and he graduated in 2006.

Drama Desk Award Winners

For Complete List of Winners go here:

http://adaumbellesquest.com/2010/05/24/2010-drama-desk-winners/

Shows with multiple wins

• Memphis


• Fences


• La Cage Aux Folles

Shows I am planning to see in New York that won

• Come Fly With Me Best Chreography


• Promises Promises Best Featured Actress in A Musical


• American Idiot Outstanding Director of A Musical


• La Cage Aux Folles Outstanding Directon of A Musical, Outstanding Leading Actor in A Musical
  

So depending on how you look at it this makes my choices for shows to see in NY a little bit harder or little bit easier. Now I anxiously await June 13th to see which shows do well at the Tony's.

At the current moment here are the shows that me Matt and Rae are considering

• American Idiot
• Come Fly With Me (top choice between the three of us.. my second choice)
• West Side Story (My top choice. This show and In The Heights are currently tied for first place)
• Jersey Boys ( top choice between the three of us)
• In The Heights
• Billy Elliot (top choice of Rae and Matt)
• Lion King (my fifth choice)
• South Pacific (my third choice)
• La Cage Aux Folles (my fourth choice)

In people's opinon do you think it is better to get rush tickets or get tickets in advance?

Shows that have been eliminated

A Little Night Music- closes June 20th

Sondheim on Sondheim- closes June 13th.

Promises Promises- has gotten mixed reviews and doesn't seem like something I'd like to see despite the fact Kristin Chenoweth is in it.

Flashback to the 80s

I feel the need to make it known that The Wedding Singer is one of my favorite movies starring NH native Adam Sandler. When I first heard it was going to be made into a Broadway Musical I was very excited. I was diappointed I didn't get to go New York to go see it so natuarally when I first heard Peacock Players was doing it as one of their mainstage shows I immediately jumped at the chance to go see it. When I saw it featured on NH Chronicle last week it made me even more excited to go see it. This show did not disappoint me in the least bit.

For those not familiar with the movie the basic plot is a wedding singer named Robbie Hart ( Michael Morrissey) is set to get married to his fiance Linda (Jenna Enos) but is left standing at the altar on his wedding day. He then falls in love with waitress Julia Sullivan (Danielle Lussier) who is engaged to Wall Street tycoon Glenn Guila (Kaleb Wells). This provides for a complicated love triangle as Julia falls in love with Robbie and realizes she isn't as in love with Glenn as she originally. For those who didn't get to see the play or have not seen the movie I will not spoil the ending all I will say is that it's very happy.
This show provided a lot of energetic dance numbers and equal amounts of 80s nostalgia with cameo appearance from such 80s music artists as Cyndi Lauper (Caitlin Donohue) and Billy Idol (Tony Travagalini) The cast had a diverse amount of local talent which included Morrissey, Lussier, Enos, Wells, Alyssa Dumas (Holly) Andrew Barrett Cox (George) and Rachel Ihde (Rosie). Favorite musical numbers included A Note From Grandma, Saturday Night In The City,If I Told You and Grow Old With You.

Great job to the cast and crew of Wedding Singer on an amazing performance!


Coming Up:

• Benefit Concert for Summer Theatre in Meredith Village The Summer Theatre's Great American Musical Song Book (Condenced) May 29th
• The Drowsy Chaperone Ogunquit Playhouse June 19 or June 26th Haven't decided when we're going yet.
• Fiddler on The Roof Summer Theatre in Meredith Village. If we plan things accordingly what I'm hoping to do is go see a JI show in the morning and see Fiddler at night. It will depend on time and budget.
• Chicago Summer Theatre in Meredith Village July 30th

Summer Stock Theatre Article

Below is my aticle on Summer Stock Theatre which will appear in the July issue of NH To Do Magazine. I am very excited about my first magazine piece being published!

Curtain Up for NH Summer Stock 2010 Season
By Janine Leffler

The 2010 Summer Stock Theatre season is in full swing. Many local theatres look forward to putting on great performances for summer audiences.


It’s a special season for Andy’s Summer Playhouse in Wilton as they celebrate their 40th Anniversary. This season they are remounting favorite shows from the past decade which include Dick Tracy, The Swiss Family Robinson and The Day The Earth Stood Still. For Mark Healy, the Managing Director of Andy’s the most important thing about summer stock theatre is that all of their participants are children. “Andy’s gives them an amazing artistic outlet for the summer months. Many of our participants are active in their school theater groups, and the summers that they spend at Andy’s are an extension of their education in theater. Andy’s creates a creative experience for children who may otherwise be unable to express themselves artistically.” When it comes to what show he looks forward to working on this season he went on to say, “Because each of our shows represents a decade in Andy’s history and the season as a whole is such an important milestone for us, it is impossible to select one over another.” Andy’s Summer Playhouse is located at 582 Isaac Frye Highway in Wilton. For more information go to www.andysummerplayhouse.org.



This summer the Palace Theatre Youth Company is putting on Annie and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Thirteen year old Savannah Baynum from Methuen, Massachusetts has been a member of the youth company since September. “Summer Stock is important because it teaches technique in dance, vocals, and acting,” says Baymum. “It is also a fun program and you meet a lot of new friends as well as seeing old friends. The Palace puts on fantastic shows and we all work so hard to put them together.” Baynum is very excited about being in Annie. “At auditions I saw some friends I haven't seen in a while. I am excited to be apart of another show at the Palace and I am always amazed at the talent that the kids who perform there have. It's an amazing experience!” When asked what sets the program at the Palace apart from other youth programs in the area Savannah and her father Rob stated “The Palace Youth Program teaches its students just like a real production. They get training in dance, singing and acting to help improve their performance skills. You get to watch the professional shows either in Boston or at the Palace Theater and see the gap in skill levels and where your child may need to improve. Other programs Savannah has attended focus on thinking out of the box and being creative. This of course is a very important skill but does not provide a gauge to measure improvement. Savannah has a real sense of accomplishment when she performs a play at the Palace Theater and she feels apart of a real production program.” The Palace Theatre is located at 80 Hanover St in Manchester. For more information go to www.palacetheatre.org.


Peacock Players in Nashua has a summer theatre intensive for students age 14-18 called Young Company. Thirteen Year Old Kait Mail looks forward to being a part of Young Company this summer. “Young Company is overall a learning experience, and that is what I am so grateful for in the program. I’m the youngest, only 13, and now I get to spend my summer learning about how to break into theater. As a plus, the people who are going to be teaching me are people who I have looked up to since I was little.” Mail continued by saying, “I look forward to the whole process and sense of gratification at producing our own show. The Young Company this year, because we get to direct and produce a whole show by ourselves, is going to be a process of trial and error… but with friends! As a group of friends, we can have fun and goof off while still doing something awesome that not many people our age get the opportunity to do.” For Mail the goal of summer stock theatre is “It brings Broadway to us, people who appreciate it and want to learn from it. We can be relaxed and have fun, but we get to experience a sense of professionalism; we immerse ourselves in the process, and make sort of a career out of it. In the summer, we have more time and less distractions, so we can just get down to business and put together a great show. Sumer Stock brings a professional theater environment to people who want to be involved off Broadway.”
The Peacock Players Young Company will put on two performances this summer Almost Maine which runs August 6-August 8th and The Wiz which runs August 20th-22nd. Peacock Players is located at 14 Court St in Nashua. For more information on these shows go to www.peacockplayers.org




Nancy Barry, Artistic Director at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village in Meredith, NH looks forward to the upcoming season. This summer’s season at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village includes My Way A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, Fiddler on The Roof, Chicago, Camelot and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. “The most important part of summer stock is that it teaches the company how to do a show in 10 days...period...there are no delays, no extensions...the show always opens. She sated “My greatest joy is to know that I have gathered all of these talented people together and then I watch the magic happen.” Barry continued by saying “This summer I am going to perform in Fiddler on the Roof. I have played all three daughters and Yente, but never played 'Golde" and now I will and what is even cooler, my Goddaughter Maya, who is 8 years old will be here again and will play one of my younger daughters. I also think many people are excited about Chicago. I love it because it is really well written. And I think 25th Annual Putnam County Bee will be a new show that folks will really respond to!” The youth theatre at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village is performing original musical adaptations of childhood favorites Peter Pan, Charlotte’s Web and Winnie the Pooh. Christina Giordano is excited about spending her first summer at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village “I'm looking forward to working on musicals and finding a deeper connection to my craft and creativity.” She is most excited about working on Fiddler on The Roof. “The goal of summer stock is a chance for the bulk of America to experience theater!” says Giordano, “It’s especially exciting to know that some stock houses produce current theatre that came from Broadway a short time ago. Stock also gives up and coming artists the chance to work on their technique.” Summer Theatre in Meredith Village is located at 1 Laker Lane in Meredith. For more information go to www.interlakestheatre.com/aboutus.

For a non-traditional summer stock experience head to Henniker for the New England College Open Door Theatre production of William Shakespeare’s As You Like It. What sets Open Door apart from other summer stock theatre groups is that they only do one show a summer and is comprised of alumni and current students of the New England College Theatre Department as well as community members. The show will feature Alex Picard as Rosalind and Michael Tucker as Orlando. Both Picard and Tucker are graduated of the NEC theatre program and have received their masters degrees, Tucker from The Actors Studio in NYC and Picard from University of Chicago Urbana Champagin. Picard is currently an associate professor of theatre at NEC. As You Like It runs July 16-18 at the Mainstage Theatre located in the Science Building on the New England College campus. Evening shows are at 7:30pm and there is a 2pm matinee on Sunday.
There is a variety of options of shows to see this summer. Get out there and support your local thespians!

LAtest Milford Cabinet Article

Haitian Benefit Concert Raised Funds For Earth Quake Victims
By Janine Leffler




On April 23rd the Souhegan High School Theatre was alive with sounds of lively music. Many bands performed in a Haitian Donation Benefit Concert. The concert was organized by Souhegan senior Kelly Dubois, featured the bands: The Undertow, The Fitted Shirt, The Yellow Team and The Sea Captains.


Overall the event took four months to plan and organize. Dubois said that the challenge she faced when planning the event was raising awareness. “You need to do A LOT of advertising and get the word out...and it isn't easy.” When it came to contacting the bands and promoting the event, Dubois used Facebook to spread the word. “Most of them (bands) actually contacted me when they heard that I had contacted the Sea Captains.”

Marty Morrissey, member of the Sea Captains, enjoyed the opportunity to both give to a good cause and give back to the school at which he got his musical beginnings. “There was a lot of variety in genre that night, and when you can bring four bands with such different approaches to creating music, it really lets the students know that they can find their own musical voice. Carl Benevides had a big impact on my musical life and it's great to see that he's still contributing so much to high school music. We were really very excited to be a part of this event, and hope to come back to Souhegan in the near future.”


The concert was well attended and raised $880 for victims of the January earthquake in Port Au Prince Haiti. Dubois provided the following advice to anyone who would like to plan a similar event in future years, “Advertise, Advertise, Advertise! Get the word out! People will come if you advertise well.”

American Idol/Glee Weekly Update

American Idol/Glee Weekly Update

May 18th 2010

(posted May 26th ..sorry it's a week late)

What I liked about this week's Glee Episode

• 
  
  
  The emotional moments between Artie and Tina when they were talking about Artie walking again. Why are they not a couple yet?



• 
  
  
  Dream On Duet Matthew Morrison and Neil Patrick Harris



• 
  
  
  When Rachel finds out who her mom is.



• 
  
  
  The dream sequence where Artie gets out of his wheelchair



• 
  
  
  Best Quote " I have boxes of playbills in my basement Will. It's like porn,"

What I didn't like

• 
  
  
  Neil Patrick Harris's character and how he seemed to be living in the past



• 
  
  
  How Sue rubbed it in Bryan Ryan's face about him getting the smaller part in Les Mis. Thought it was nice of Will to give up the role even though I knew the underlying reason was because Glee was going to end up being cut.



• 
  
  
  How Sue and Brian hinted toward having sex... sketchy

Overall one of the more tolerable Glee episodes so far and the second episode I've watched all the way through.

Top 3 Contestant Choices and Judges Choices

Top 3 Casey Crystal Lee

The finale in my honest opinion is very predictable. I will be surprised if Casey makes it to the next round but chance are he probably won't unless his fans really come through and vote like crazy for him. He had no connection with either of the songs he chose nor did he seem to have a good connection with the audience. I do not know how he managed to survive the cut last week. Big Mike is much more vocally talented then him. I honestly can't believe the judges chose Halleujuah for Lee. That song has already been done once this season by Tim and was muatilated horredously. Lee did slightly better with his version but not by much. Crystal is definitley in it to win it. She once again gave two stellar performances of Melissa Ehteridge's Come To My Window and Maybe I'm Amazed.

Ratings

Rating Scale 1-10 1 Horrible 10 Amazing

Casey His Choice 3 Judges Choice 5.5 Overall 8.5

Crystal Her Choice 7 Judges Choice 8 Overall 15

Lee His Choice 7 Judges Choice 5.5 Overall 12.5

Overall my ratings for Crystal and Lee have been consistant. Casey not so much.

Results Casey went home. The top 2 was pretty predicatable. I missed the performance show last night due to being at a family function til 9:15. It could really be anyone's game.

There truly is no place like the Amato

"Well, I - I think that it - it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em - and it's that - if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right?" Wizard of Oz


I just got back from the Riverbend School of Theatre's Spring Production of Wizard of Oz. Once again the talent of the members of this acting company continues to impress me. Wizard of Oz was never one of my top rated favorite muscals but it's up there. This show was double cast so tonight I saw the Blue Team. Good luck to everyone in the Red Team!! :) The show was great. It brought me back to 2002 when the PTA did it and Ashley Hughes and Brady Lynch were Dorothy respectively. Everyone in the cast was talented but those who specifcially stood out as phenominal were Emily Butler (Dorothy) Isaiah Silvia-Chandley ( Cowardly Lion) Meghan Bedard (Wicked Witch of The West) and Emily Getchell Lacey (Glinda The Good Witch) Favorite musical numbers included Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead, Somewhere Over The Rainbow, If I Only Had A Brain and Merry Old Land of Oz.

Great job to cast and crew on a fabulous show!

Latest Milford Cabinet Article

There’s No Place like the Amato Center
Riverbend Youth Company to perform Wizard of Oz
By Janine Leffler

The Riverbend School of Theatre Arts will transport their audiences to the magical land of Oz. The show has been double cast and has 200 local area youth performing. The cast is excited about the upcoming performances and looks forward to putting on the show for audiences. Director Tom Partridge said of the production “This show has many scenes and is going to be full of surprises, not one to miss. This is very close to the movie version and will be one to remember for years to come.”


For both Aly McKnight who plays Dorothy and Choreographer Ashley Hughes being in this show has come full circle. Both McKnight and Hughes were in the 2002 production of Wizard of Oz. Hughes played the role of Dorothy and McKnight was a munchkin. For Hughes it has been fulfilling to work with Tom Partridge, the same director who directed her as Dorothy. “It has been incredible to see how time flies and thinking it’s been almost a decade since I played that role and seeing the same people. It makes me want to do it all over again.” McKnight looked up to Ashley Hughes when she played Dorothy in the PTA Play. “When I was younger I always wanted to be just like Ashley, now I am playing Dorothy and Ashley is my choreographer. Aside from the awesome cast and how well we all get along, this has been the most fulfilling thing for me about working on this show.”


Cast members have various methods for getting into character. Patrick Quinn studies the back story of his character the Tin Man. Patrick McKnight who is playing the Scarecrow gets some tips from his father Mike McKnight who played the same role in the PTA play in 2002. Aly McKnight who is playing Dorothy, Emily Getchell Lacey who is playing Glinda and Patrick O’Mara the Cowardly Lion study the mannerisms of the actors in the original 1939 film.



Patrick O’Mara, a junior at Souhegan High School stated that the overall challenge for him in this particular production is “This is definitely a very demanding show - there are some new parts and lines that were not in the movie. Also, the directors’ expectations are extremely high, as they should be. With school and other commitments, I have to work extremely hard to meet their standards but I know that going the extra mile will pay off at show time!” For Emily Getchell Lacey it’s a matter of getting the younger children to focus during the munchkin land scene. Peter Benoit struggles memorizing the lines for his monologue. Ally McKnight ‘s struggle is finding a balance between Dorothy’s child like innocence and adult like spunk. Despite all these challenges the cast members look forward to the performances.



From a technical standpoint the size of the cast has been the biggest challenge for costume designer Michelle Withers. While this is the largest show Withers has had to costume what makes things simpler for her is that various costume pieces can be worn by each group of kids. “There are 11 Winkie Guards in each cast. The costume is made up of a spear, fur hat, skirt and two sashes with the actor supplying their own black pants and gray shirt. I only have to make 11 costumes as the pieces are versatile and can be worn by both casts.” Cast size is also a struggle for Choreographer Ashley Hughes. “It is nearly impossible to get everyone together under the same roof, so when I teach a dance, its really challenging to come back the next time and have a handful who are ready to review, and a handful who are needing to learn it for the first time, but everyone is wonderful and helps out as much as they possibly can! This is obviously something I didn’t come up against being Dorothy, but I know that it IS a very similar challenge to what MY choreographer did as well.”


Choreographer Ashley Hughes said that she is looking forward to the upcoming performances “I am more excited as they approach! They are ready to rock out an amazing show! All they need is an audience!!!”
The Wizard of Oz will be performed at the Souhegan Valley Boys and Girls Club May 14-23. Evening shows are 7:30 and matinee shows are at 2:00. Come see a show that will truly defy gravity

I'll gather up my past and make some sense at last

For some reason I have this song I sang in choir in high school stuck in my head. The song is called Reach by Gloria Estefan and we sang it one year for graduation. I can think of a ton of other good songs that fit the theme of graduation..though none of those songs can really fit what I am going to talk about in this entry.

Over the past three years I have had a significant struggle with moving on from things related to the theatre I worked at three summers ago the New London Barn Playhouse. At this stage I reaching a point where I feel I can finally put all that stuff behind me. I had an eppiphany a few weeks ago when I was up in New London for chocolate fest and talking to Danielle one of the junior interns from my intern company who works at a pizza place that I went to lunch at. This eppiphany involved relaizing that in all the time I thought I could change what was going on at the Barn and how much I want things to stay the same as when I was there I realize that I should have did what so many others did long ago moved on. But I didn't... instead I let things I could not control bother me and affect me in ways I should not have. I wanted to stay connected to the Barn because I thought that things from that season were going to be forgotten.
People from my intern company have gone on to live their lives and make thier own careers. I took this to mean that I was going to be forgotten about by everyone and that people were going to stop being friends with me... that isn't the case and never was. I had the mindset that the way I was acting was going to affect relationships with people over the the long term but there are slim chances that it has. Everyone from my intern company is still friends with me but they were frusturated because I kept bringing up stuff related to the Barn so much and so often when it was honestly clear they had moved on.

So with this epipphany lies the honest truth that the Barn will never be the same as it was when I worked there and while some of the changes have gone on there have not made me too happy there is little I can do to change them. I can't be stuck in the past. The Barn has moved forward and changed for the better of the instiution. The memories I have of that summer are amazing but I can't let the past drag me down anymore. Time to look foward to the future.. something I should have started doing long ago. That way so many relationships with people from my intern company would not be so fractured.

American Idol/Glee Weekly Update

Glee wins this week!! Best episode of the season so far. Because of play rehearsal I missed the first 15 minutes of the episode. In this episode Rachel got laryngitis and Finn took him to see his paralyzed friend (Cool thng was... he's from Boston) One touching moment was between the two of them when they sang their duet. The second touching moment was between Kurt and his dad after he sang his rendition of Rose's Turn from Gyspy. In the last couple episode the realtionship between Kurt and his dad has been struggling ever since Kurt's dad started to date Finn's mom. I think their relationship could finally to get back on track though. Can't wait for next week.



Amercian Idol was very dull this week...even watching it the morning after. I felt totally put to sleep by Casey's performance of Mrs. Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel to me he showed no emotion at all while singing that song and made no connection with the song at all. Crystal was really the only outsanding performance of the night (isn't she naturally outstanding) Big Mike was not good and not bad.. just okay.. Casey should have gone home instead of him in my honest opinion. Lee kind of butcherd Seal's Kiss From A Rose. I was so turned off by the quality of the performances except for Crystal's and Crystal and Lee's duet that I didn't even finish
watching.

Performance Ratings
Duet: Crystal and Lee 10

Solos
Big Mike 5.5
Casey 4.5
Lee 4.5
Crystal 7

Dance til your diva is through

Two dance performances in two days... with a movie in between. The movie was The Back Up Plan and it gets a B-. Highly reccommendable and very hillarious.


Thursday I went to Evening of Dance at Souhegan. It was enjoyable as always. The first half of the show as Jenny Alperin's Senior Project applied piece and I for one thought she did an amazing job. The theme of which was Can you help friends in need when you are dealing with struggles yourself? Some very powerful and emotionally moving dance numbers including Still Attached pefromed by Nicole Ford and Colin Cray, Stuck In The Shadows pefromed by Elizabeth Wilson, Rebecca Wilson, Evelyn French and Nicole Ford and Let Go performed by the whole company. The second half was a collection of dances from through year. Favorite numbers included Skeltons and Stomp The Bleachers peformed by the SHS Dance Team. Jupiter performed by the SHS Dance Company, Ballroom Blitz performed by Aidan Tatar, Sean Tatar, Becca Noyotitz Caitlin Silvia, Ellie Flaum, Kellie Dickerson and Alexandria Lafrenaye amd Valia La Pena by Shaylin Bautista and Johnny Gonzalzez. Congrats to all on an amazing show and all seniors on your final dance performance. Best of luck in college!

Yesterday Cooper Matt and I went to NEC to go see the annual Dance Department Spring Concert. Each year they have a theme and this year's theme was Falling. The progam notes states "The works you willl see tonight explore phyiscal and emotional aspects of falling,falling down, falling in love,falling apart, tripping and falling, rising and falling and falling into the abandoment of the moment." A thing they did this year that they have never done in previous movment concert was using aspects of circus tricks such as trapeeze. The numbers which exhibited these feats were Carsouel which featured special guest dancers Sara Greene and Molly Baechtold and Shine which featured Rachel Buck 09',Jacci Drummond 10' Elliot Greer 10' Elise Hinton 08',Kelly Merrick 12',Joe Paredez 10, Christina Vasta 11' and Diana Lewis. Another favorite dance of mine was In The Bag which featured Alex Picard, Rachel Buck, Jacci Drumond, Elliot Greer, Kelly Merrick and Christina Vasta. Each dance had its own sense of poweful emotion and overall it was a great show! Congrats to the cast and crew!

Radio show

My radio show went very very well. I was a little nervous at first but then the nerves eventually cleared. I had a very good experience. Best part is I got invited back. My next time being on the show will be sometime in the summer. Don't know exactly when yet.

Postponed

Due to technical glitches the radio show I was going to be on at UMASS Lowell on Friday has been postponed to a later date. Stay tuned for furthur information.


Update!!!
The show has finally be rescheduled for Friday at 9:30 am! Be sure to tune in. The link to the website you can download the podcast from is in the entry with the original announcement.

American Idol/Glee Weekly Update

American Idol/Glee Weekly Update

Wednesday May 5th 2010

Glee is beginning to become less and less appealing to me with every episode since the second half of the season began. The only postivie thing about this week's episode was that Olivia Newton John guest starred. I understand sex sells but must they use so many sexual references in each episode. This show is supposed to appeal to multiple age levels not just adults. Some of the material they are using the plots of the shows is not suitable for all ages.

I didn't like this episode for many reasons

• The whole issue with Sue's video being posted on the internet and the torment she had go through. Though I typically don't care for Sue's character I felt bad for her in this episode
• How they turned Will into a manwhore and how Sue used Emma as her pawn. This could mean thier relationship is over.
• They need to STOP using hip hop songs on this show. The redone versions are often horrendous.
• The Glist I mean come on. That sounds like something middle schoolers would do.

Generally speaking i am starting to like Kurt's character less and less. He seems to be an instiagator of drama and seems to use his detest of Rachel to his advantage. I didn't like how he was the one who orechestrated the Glist and did not come clean about it to Mr. Shue.

American Idol Week 10

Theme: Sinatra Mentor Harry Connick Jr

In the mentor department the only way the producers have failed is when they got Miley Cyrus to mentor. Since that week I have generally liked their selection of mentors. I think Harry Connick Jr was my favorite mentor of this season. He was laid back and gave the mentors some of the best advice. I really liked how he brought his band with him though they drowned out Casey and that was part of what made his performance so weak.

Bottom Casey and Aaron

Both of these contestant's strong suit is country so they may slip in the votes this week. Their performances were not as strong as they typically are. Primarily Casey's. He was pitchy throught out most of his song and the band drowned him out in a few spots. The theme of Sinatra was probably too mature for Aaron as he is a pretty young singer.

Ratings Casey 6.5 Aaron 7

Songs They Sang: Fly Me To The Moon and Blue Skies

Middle Lee

Lee is finally starting to come out of his shell and show confidenece and good stage prescence. Last night he sang That's Life, a song I am not really familiar with. He did really good with it. I think he can easily soar into the top 3.

Rating:8

Top Big Mike and Crystal

Songs They Sang: The Way You Look Tonight and Summer Wind

They have given very few performances out of their element all season long and have had limited struggle with song choice selection in opposition to other contestants. Crystal always puts a unique spin on what ever song she gets and Mike gave a truly captivating performance of The Way You Look Tonight.

Results:

Bottom 2 Big Mike and Aaron. This is the third time Big Mike has been in the Bottom 3 and could spell doom for him if he does not give a stellar performance that will rock the votes next week. Aaron went home and I was relieved. His perfomance was not as bad as Casey's but in the long run of the show he has had much better performances.

Next Week's Theme Songs from The Movies. I won't be watching for the next two weeks because of tech work for Wizard of Oz. Hopefully I can get my parents to tape it.

Tony Award Predicitons

2010 Tony Awards Predictions

(listed by show)

Note: I have not seen any of this shows. Therefore most of these predictions are based on hearsay. Let's see how well I do with these. I am listing the shows with multiple predictions.

For the complete nominee list go to htpp://www.tonyawards.com

. Make your own predicitions then post your list.

Musicals

A Little Night Music

• Best Revival of A Musical
• Best Leading Actress- Catherine Zeta Jones
• Best Featured Actress Angela Lansbury
• Best Sound Design

Million Dollar Quartet

• Best New Musical
• Best Book of A Musical

La Cage Aux Folles

• Best Leading Actor- Kelsey Grammer
• Best Featured Actor- Robin DeJesus
• Best Direction Terry Johnson
• Best Orchestrations
• Best Scenic Design
• Best Lighting Design

Plays

A View From The Bridge

• Best Sound Design
• Best Featured Actress- Scarlett Johannsen
• Best Direction- Gregory Mosher

The Royal Family

• Best Costume Design
• Best Revial of A Play

Fences

• Best Leading Actor- Denzel Washington
• Best Lighting Design

The April Vacation Entertainment Review

April Vacation Entertainment Review

Books

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  Vanishing Acts Jodi Piccout C I found this book to be really boring. Usually I like Jodi Piccout's books but nothing particulary grabbed me about this one.






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  The Bright Side of Disaster Katherine Center B- A mixture of happy and sad moments. Overall a good read.






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  Outliers Malcom Gladwell D Did not really find anything about this book very interesting.






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  When Autumn Leaves Amy Foster B- Very intersting book.

Movies

Key X= home viewing xx= theatre ^=previously viewed

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  ^x Fever Pitch A- A Must see movie for any Red Sox Fan






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  ^x Little Manhatten B






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  x Autism The Musical B- A very insightful documentary that follows four families that have children with Autism and the hardships they go through. It is manily focussed around the children putting together a musical based on what is like to have the disability. Highly reccommended.






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  x Broadway The American Musical A- A PBS Documentary series which highlights the history of the Broadway Musical from the early 1900s- the present. Very interesting and insightful. You may learn stuff you never knew about your favorite musicals and the people who produced them . I sure did.






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  xx Hot Tub Time Machine D-
The tittle of the movie struck me as a little strange to begin with, That was actually the hook that lead me to go see the movie in the first place. I would think a good subtitle for the this movie would be Drunken Night leads to a blast to the past. Basically three guy friends who are in their forties accompanied by a young teenager go to a place where they partied together in high school to relive the past. The whole idea of the hot tub being used a a time portal to blast them back to 1986 is VERY unrealistic. Way too much crude humor and swearing in this film for my liking. I found the plot to be very boring and while this is supposed to be a comedy movie I found very few parts of it to be remotely funny. The sexual overtones were way too overdominant and that took away from the humor.





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  x The Secret D One of the most boring and uninteresting movies I have. The book it was based on was better. Self-help books should not be made into movies.






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  x Shrek The Third B-
• Annie Get Your Gun A- This movie was really good. It made me really miss being in the play but I noticed a couple of differences between the play in the movie mostly that Dolly Tate and Annie's siblings Jessie,Minnie Nellie and Little Jake are only in two or three scenes throughout the whole movie while they seem to be in the play in more scenes. I still laugh during the ballroom scene when Annie is shaking hands with all the society ladis and there's one society lady who says delighted instead of charmed and Annie says "You gotta be charmed or chanted." I also found the historical feutuette at the beginning of the film to be interesting.

Upcoming Movies I plan on seeing *Iron Man 2 Release date May 7th *Date Night *Sex and The City 2 Release Date May 22nd *Eclipse Release Date June 30th *Eat Pray Love release date late summer Shrek The Final Chapter Release Date May 21st