2008 Tony Awards Summary/2009 Predictions

Found my commentary of the 08 Tony Awards in my livejournal decided to post it. I am going to attempt to make predictions for this years awards but judging from the fact that I haven't been to New York to see any shows in recent months it could be rather difficult. Also I suck at making predictions so there may not me too much of a chance that I'll get things correct.

2008 Summary

~ I think South Pacific won way too many awards that other shows should have one... Gypsy for instance got shafted.

~ I had no idea that Sunday in The Park With Gerogre was a musical

~ What was up with the acceptance speech for Boeing Boieng? I was so confused for it... for some reason analogies about getting lost in the woods have nothing to go with accepted an award for a play.

~ Patti Lupone is a goddess

~ August: Osage County and In The Heights= Two shows I want to see the next time I go to New York. It's going to be hard to choose one.

~ OMG OBC Rent performance I almost died of utter happiness



2009 Predictions ( the best I can do at the moment)

Best New Musical Billy Elliot

Best Book for A Musical: Title of Show

Best Chreography: Billy Elliot

Best Scenic Design: Shrek: The Musical

Best Coostume Design: Shrek: The Musical

Daniel Radcliffe will win some kind of award for being in Equiss

Best Orchestration for A Musical: Billy Elliot

Best Lighting Design: Billy Elliot

Haven't the slightest idea how well I will do with these predictions. We'll have to see what happens once June comes around.

Theatre Related New Years Resolutions and Top Rated Movie Musicals + Showtunes

I struggle coming up with New Years Resolutions and usually I have a hard time keeping track of them. I decided to come up with a few theatre related New Years Resolutions



1. See shows at theatres in New Hampshire I have never seen shows at before ( Andy's Summer Playhouse, Palace Theatre in Manchester)

2. Get technical experience in areas other than just props. I am hoping to help out with lighting or sound design for one of the Peacock Players shows.
3. Introduce myself to at least one new Broadway soundtrack. My itunes library needs some new blood in it.. i am getting kind of sick of listening to Annie Get Your Gun and Little Shop of Horrors all the time.
New soundtracks added to my ipod since the list was made
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown,In The Heights, Children Of Eden , Merrily We Roll Along (<3>Top Rated Movie Musicals

1.Crybaby

2. Grease

3. Sound of Music

4. West Side Story

5. Newsies

6. Little Shop of Horrors

7. RENT

8. Cabaret
9. Beauty and The Beast
10. A Chorus Line

Top Rated Showtunes on My IPOD listed by show
Updated Jan 6th
RENT
Seasons of Love
Take Me Or Leave Me
Out Tonight
Annie Get Your Gun
There's No Business Like Show Business
An Old Fashioned Wedding
I Got The Sun In The Morning
A Chorus Line
I Can Do That
What I Did For Love
Nothing
Oliver
Be Back Soon
Consider Yourself
I'd Do Anything
Oom Pah Pah
The Apple Tree
I Know
Little Shop of Horrors
Suddnely Seymour
Finale Ultimo/Don't Feed The Plants
We'll Have Tomorrow
You're A Good Man Charlie Brown
Happiness
My New Philosphy
CATS
Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer
Memory
The Rum Tum Tugger
Merrily We Roll Along
Our Time

List of shows that are closing

I got this list of Broadway Shows that are closing off of a post on BroadwaySpace. It's very depressing how many shows are closing. I hope the economy rebounds soon. I will put what commentary I have on the shows next to them, January 4th willl be an extremely sad day on Broadway.


LIMITED ENGAGEMENTS CLOSING


A Man For All Season - December 14th


The Seagull - December 21st


Liza At the Palace - December 28th I love Liza Minelli! She is one of my idols.. I would have loved to see this.


Dividing the Estate - January 4th


Slava's Snowshow - January 4th


White Christmas - January 4th


All My Sons -January 11th


Equus - February 8th The guy who is in the Harry Potter movies Daniel Radcliffe is in this.. I think the fact it's closing has something to do with filiming the next movies for Harry Potter. I would have loved to see him in a Broadway


Pal Joey - February 15th


Speed-the-Plow - February 22nd I really wanted to see this. Hopefully it will go on tour.


OPEN-RUNS CLOSING


13 - January 4th


Boeing-Boeing - January 4th


Grease - January 4th I was impressed with the performance from this show on the Tony awards in June. I am sad I will not get to see it. Grease is one of my favorite shows. I would love to see it on Broadway.


Hairspray - January 4th This is only show I'm not very disappointed after hearing the news that it closed. I saw it in 12th grade on a field trip to Boston and loved it. This show has had a long run and i'm sure it's pleased many audiences.


Young Frankenstein - January 4th


The 39 Steps - January 11th (transferring) This show is moving to a different theatre so there is still a possibility I may get to see it.


Monty Python's Spamalot - January 11th I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE Monty Python. I am very sad I won't get to see it. I think I already missed the tour in Boston too... so sad.


Spring Awakening - January 18th So very bummed about this. A girl from Nashua who did shows at the theatre I am working at now is currently in the cast and I am sad I won't get to New York to see the show. :*(


Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab - March 1st


Gypsy - March 1st





Shows that already closed that I am totally disappointed about not being able to see


Xanadu


Legally Blonde: The Musical


Title of Show


A Catered Affair

Passing Strange

A Chorus Line I'm soooo disappointed I missed the national tour when it came to Boston in September but it's a perk that I know someone in the cast and they're sending me a poster signed by everyone in the cast I <3> Jay! :)
A Tale Of Two Cities I had a friend from the Barn Playhouse who did tech work for this show and she said it was awesome. It would have been interesting to see the Charles Dickens book put to music.

THANK GOD I GOT TO SEE RENT before it closed! What a blessing in disguise for a graduation present.

Based on the above list it doesn't really seem like many of the shows that won Tony Awards in June fared very well. I haven't heard anything about In The Heights or August: Osage County closing yet so hopefully those will still be on my list of shows to see. The problem is I don't know when I am going to go back to New York yet and I'm hoping the shows I want to see won't be closed by then. On the bright side Spring Awakening won a Tony in 2007 and it did pretty damn good. RENT did pretty good too... though it was never nominated for a Tony it should have been.
This is my list... who knows how many times it could be revised before I actually go back to New York. Hopefully the economy will improve soon. I'm planning on going back in the spring though I am not sure exactly when.
West Side Story
Billy Elliot
August: Osage County
The 39 Steps
Shrek
In The Heights
9 To 5: The Musical
Avenue Q

Billy Elliot is my top choice folllowed by an off broadway show my friend Colleen from the Barn Playhouse is in called Pinkalicious. Who knows what could open between now and then. Though the date of then is undertermined at this time. I need a job so I can get money for bus fare, hotel rooms and naturally show tickets.

Time for bed... or some late night harnessing of my muse to write more poetry.
Love
Janine

So excited!

This article will be published in the Milford Cabinet next Thursday December 18th. I am so pumped!!


The Best Christmas Pageant Ever : The true meaning of Christmas
By Janine Leffler
Get ready for a hilarious family Christmas theatre event as the Milford Area Players and Riverbend Community Players put on their joint performance of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. This play is based on the best selling children’s book by Barbara Robinson which tells the story of how the troublemaking Herdman children get involved in the annual church Christmas pageant. The townspeople, knowing the Herdman clan, brace for a disastrous play. In the end they find the true meaning of Christmas. According to her website biography Robinson’s book was inspired by her small town community of Portsmouth, Ohio. Both her family as well as the local people in her town, including, children, school teachers and local heroes all helped spurred her imagination for the story.
The show is directed by Vick Bennison and Robin Lacroix. Their reason for selecting this show was the size of the cast and the fact that it combines adults and children. The cast consists of local area actors from the Souhegan Valley Area. They combine their talents to put on a heartwarming and funny performance which includes a lot of holiday music.
Nine year old Natalie Petersen, a fourth grader at Wilkins Elementary School in Amherst plays Gladys Herdman. This is her first show with Riverbend Youth Company and she finds the most challenging parts to be memorizing lines and blocking. She looks forward to having all her friends come see the show. Her mother Meg Petersen, also performing in the show, has enjoyed seeing her daughter’s character grow.
For Michelle Emmond the most fulfilling thing about this show has been getting to work with people she has worked with on previous shows as well as acting with students she directs in Amherst Middle School.
The show runs Dec 19-21st at the Amato Center for The Performing Arts at the Boys and Girls Club in Milford. Shows are at Dec 19 and 20th at 8pm and December 20th and 21st at 2pm. Tickets are $7.00 for students and seniors and $12.00 for adults.

Looking Back/Looking Ahead

So since the summer I have seen quite a few theatre performances. 6 in total. Since the holiday season tends to get hectic for my family and I I figured I would post a reflection now of the shows I've seen and look foward to shows I look foward to seeing or working on.

Before I went on vacation to Italy I saw Carosuel at Lakes Region Summer Theatre with my boyfriend Matt. I was very impressed by the show and was suprised at how much I enjoyed seeing as how I fell asleep during the movie version. I also went to the Barn Playhouse to go see the junior intern production of Tea For Three based on my mother's children's book What A Pest. It was a really awesome and cute show and I really enjoyed it especially the song in the beginng that had West Side Story-like cherography in it. I do not have the program handy so I can't look up the title of the song. In September when I went up to Henniker to celebrate my birthday I saw the Open Door Theatre Production of Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare. I am a big fan of Shakespeare and this play was very lighthearted and funny. It was hard to pick a favorite part.. it was all so good. On Halloween weekend I went to Henniker again to see the CTE Production of Kennedy's Children by Robert Patrick directed by Emma Laing. I didn't think I would like it at first but I ended up really liking it a lot. It was very powerful and thought provoking. My high school theatre department's fall show Broadway Babylon was hillarious. I haven't laughed so hard in awhile. This was an a-la carte murder mystery in which a Broadway star gets murdered. It was fun to be part of an interactive murder mystery. Finally I saw High School Musical at Interlakes Theatre in Meredith with my boyfriend and his cousin Jackie. This was another case in which I underestimated the stage version because I didn't like the film version. I didn't think I was going to like play as much as I did but I ended up really enjoying it. My favorite songs were Breaking Free, Getcha Head In The Game and naturally We're All In This Together. A couple of entries down there is a sample review I wrote of HSM feel free to read it and tell me what you think. It's proabably too late to send it in to the newspaper in Meredith.
Now it's time to look to the future.. what does 2009 hold for such the avid theatre goer that I am?
After the Christmas holidays I will be doing publicity work for my town's community production of Peter Pan which will be performed the first week in April at Souhegan High School in Amherst. I don't know times yet. Peter Pan has always been one of my favorite movies... I could never decide if I liked the version with Mary Martin or the Disney version of it better. I am also hoping to do tech work for the upcoming production of Godspell at the theatre i am doing publicity for in Nashua. Show dates for that show are Feb 5-15th. Godspell is one of my favorite musicals ever. The soundtrack is top rated on my ipod with my favorite song being Day by Day followed by Bless The Lord. This year my high school's musical is Gilbert and Sullivan'[s Pirates of Penzannce. I haven't heard of this play before so I look foward to seeing it. Other shows that are going to be performed at the theatre i am interning at are Jungle Book Kids in March and RENT in May. I saw RENT last year on Broadway in New York and I was blown away by it. I definitley plan on seeing it when Peacock Players does it.

I sometimes wish I had a lot of money so I could go to New York and see like four or five different Broadway Shows all in the same trip. There are so many shows I want to see.
Billy Elliot
Shrek
The 39 Steps (it's being transferred to another theatre)
9 to 5
Mamma Mia
Jersey Boys
West Side Story (when it opens in March)
Pinkalicious (offbroadway show that my friend Colleen from the Barn Playhouse is in)

I am also in the process of deciding wheather I want to go see shows at the Barn Playhouse or Interlakes Theatre this summer. It's kind of a hard decision because they both have really goood line ups.
NLBP is doing for Junior Interns: Really Rosie, Captain Bree and Her Lady Pirates, High School Musical,Pocahontas for Mainstage: Straw Hat Revue, She Loves Me, Art,Leading Ladies, South Pacific, Anything Goes ,The Producers, The Fantastiks,SUDS
Interlakes Theatre is doing: Man of La Mancha, Grease,Forever Plaid, I Love You You're Perfect Now Change and CATS.

Good variety of shows in both line ups. The Barn Playhouse has a better variety of shows I haven't heard of or seen previously. Interlakes Theatre also has a good variety though except for Man of La Mancha and Forever Plaid I've seen most of those shows done by other theatres. I wouldn't mind seeing Grease again because that is one of my favorite plays ever. I saw I Love You You're Perfect Now Change @ the Arundel Barn Playhouse in Maine about 6 summers ago when I was on vacation with my family. I enjoyed that play a lot too. However I refuse to ever see CATS again. I've seen it at three other theatres including NLBP and I have never been the hugest fan of that play. The musical score has it's good points including Memory which I have always really loved. The play itself has no real plot to it and it really bores me. Out of the three performances I have seen of it I liked the one the Barn Playhouse did because the director gave it a plot line that made at least a little bit of sense. I have a love/hate relationship with Andrew Llyod Webber musicals. While I like the music in them most of the time I find the plots really boring... though other than CATS the only other ALW play I've seen is Phantom of The Opera which I saw on a choir compettion field trip my freshman year in high school. Didn't care much for the play but love the music especially Think of Me. I think out of all the shows the Barn Playhouse is doing the shows I look the most foward to seeing are South Pacific, Anything Goes and The Fantastiks.


So much to look foward to in the upcoming year theatre wise. Also the student directed and mainstage performances at my colllege as well as thier annual movement concert the week before graduation.

Viva La Vie Boheme!
Janine

High School Musical

2 weekends ago I went to see High School Musical at Interlakes Theatre with my boyfriend and his cousin at Interlakes Theatre in Meredith New Hampshire. I haven't decided if I am going to send it into the newspapers in Meredith yet.

Bop Til You Drop with High School Musical

Interlakes Theatre in Meredith had a one weekend only performace of High School Musical. The play which is very much a modern day version of the musical Grease is based on the Disney Channell original movie of the same name. The show features such upbeat numbers as Bop Til You Drop, Stick To The Status Quo Getcha Head In The Game and We're All In This Together.The cast featured a very talented cast of performers including Caitlin Kent as Sharpey Evans, Sal Mannino as Troy Bolton and Virigina Cavaliere as Gabriella Montez.It was hard not fall into the temptation to sing along to such catchy tunes as Stick To The Staus Quo,Bop Til You Drop and We're All In This Together. However, the best song of the show was Breaking Free which showcased Mannino's and Cavaliere's talents. The cherography which was done by Brian Feehan was amazing.Oveerall, this show was energetic and very much enjoyed by everyone who went... including me.

Hello

Hey Everyone-
This is my blog where I will be posting examples of my reviews of local theatre performances that I see. Enjoy!
For personal ranting please go to http:/heyitsj9.blogspot.com
Janine