It was announced this morning that Next to Normal will be back in DC during the next season at the Kennedy Center. I remember getting the demo CD at Arena Stage and falling in LOVE with this show. It was also my last show with Arena and I still went back to see it many time.
If you are in NYC or one of the many stops on the upcoming tour I hope you go see this production. From the producer of Wicked and the director of Rent this show is truly amazing.
If you didn’t get the chance to see it you can see it at The Kennedy Center.
I get asked all the time about what I think about movies that get made into musicals...often with comments about how bad they are. So here is my two cents about movies being turned into Broadway musicals.
We all love the original musical, and recently there have been some great ones, like In the Heights and Next to Normal. But I also have some favorites that came from movies. In fact, I think one of the most imaginative productions I have ever seen came from the movie The Lion King, and look how long it has run. And now it has over 15 companies worldwide, grossing over 4 billion dollars. I mean, really, can all movies be that bad? Even the best musical of this year, Billy Elliot, was a movie first. In fact, 7 out of the last 11 Best Musical winners were movies turned into musicals.
So while we have a lot of flops from musicals, we have a lot of successes too. I think people probably used to say the same about turning books into musicals, but now our storytelling comes more from movies to the masses. Plus, there is that secure feeling of having a known title to comfort you as you pour several million dollars into your project.
What are your thoughts about movie musicals? Think about your recent favorites and see how many came from movies.
So I have decided to make Wednesdays an “Ask my friends” segment of my blog. I have the best friends all over and they are so smart and have so much to share. So why not have them share on my blog. I have lined up a couple of people but how fitting is this first post. It is from my friend Jackie Carl at the Tony winning Signature Theatre. I asked Jackie to tell me all about being at the Awards. Jackie wears many hats at Signature including Special Events and Rentals. I met her a couple of months ago and was very impressed and LOVED her sense of humor. Here is what she said about the Tony night …
“Ever since Eric [Schaeffer, Signature’s Artistic Director] announced to us that we were receiving the Regional Theatre Tony Award, Signature’s offices have been completely abuzz with excitement. We have been super busy with press and praises – we even were sent an entire chocolate leg (yes you read that right!) which we gnawed on in the office for about a week! Like Jared mentioned, a bunch of our board members chipped in and bought about 20 tickets for staff members. Eric just took names of people who wanted to go and pulled from a hat about every hour during the day and announced over email who was the proud winner! I was one of the first ones picked! And not to have anyone left out, our company manager, again with funds donated by our board, planned a great Tony Party at Capital City Brewing Company down the street for staff and other theater friends here. They even had a red carpet laid out!
Now I know just being in NYC is an ongoing party, and Signature wanted to make sure it stayed that way. Saturday Night we all got together at INC Lounge at The Time Hotel. Staff, Board Members and other friends from the Industry were there. I don’t know if I got to see everyone, but know that Mark Kudish, Flo Lacey and some of the cast of our last show, Giant were there. The next day, after a morning Bloody Mary and lox and some shopping on the lower east side, it was time to start primping! Doors were closing at 7 and I was NOT going to be late.
I WAS GOING TO THE TONYS! I could write for pages about my excitement, disbelief and pride that were beaming from every inch of my soul… but I won’t. I will just tell you that I cried like a baby through the entire performance. Cried. Thank God my purse was big enough for some emergency make-up.
Despite my emotional upheaval, the show went on. Our tickets were in a block in the orchestra left around rows L-R- not too far back. It was pretty cool seeing the celebrities getting in and out of their seats to announce/accept the awards. At one point, I just turned to my co-worker to say something and saw Liza Minelli walking up the far aisle! Again, I had to pinch myself. Our award was the first to be given out. They played a little film tribute to Signature then Eric and Maggie went up to receive it. Eric’s speech was short and very sweet.
I have to brag a bit for Maggie [Boland, Signature’s Managing Director]. She is old friends with Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear, and he had a team of people dress her for the night! I sat next to her husband and he said there was about 10 dressers, make up artists, and hairstylists in her room! Every woman’s dream! Of course she is lovely and doesn’t need all of that attention – but she looked fantastic!
After an hour of awards, we were going into the telecast. That’s where the real fun began. I’m sure if you’re reading this blog, you probably watched it live or at least YouTubed it by now. I re-watched the opening number on YouTube yesterday to see the treacherous Bret Michaels setFAIL.org. I didn’t catch it live because I was enraptured by the great Stockard Channing. However my phone blew up with texts from friends and family watching concerned over his collision. I heard he fractured his nose and cut his chin, but I’m sure he’s still “smoking hot.”
Other things missed by viewers at home were NPH doing some hilarious magic tricks during the TV breaks. He’s totally converted me to watching his sitcom. Million Dollar Quartet also performed… and talk about “smoking hot!” The one actor was the spitting image of Jerry Lee Lewis. They had an amazing energy and had everyone dancing in their seats. One “take away” we got from the performance were plastic Rock of Ages lights that were shaped like lighters. That’s what they had us wave during Constantine’s number. Also there was a great advertisement for The Addams Family coming to Broadway in spring of 2010 with Nathan Lane and Bebe Newerth!
Like I said I could go on, but it’s been about 20 minutes since I last looked at my pictures. All in all, it was probably one of the best nights of my life – seeing so many inspiring and talented artists. And indeed what a proud moment for the DC Theater community! Next to Normal looked great and Alice was well-deserving! We are so lucky to live and work in a community that understands the importance of theater. And it’s obviously paying off. The actual award will sit on everyone’s desk here in the office and then end up as a permanent fixture in our lobby. Stop by and see it!” In the photo John Hance, Sarah Valente, Maggie Boland, Jayson Raitt, Karma Camp, Eric Schaeffer
Okay, I have now gotten over the sound issues. Now I move on to my other issue. It is not with the Tonys but with theatres around the country. I think we should not have performances on Tony night. It is a time to celebrate the art. Why not say we are closed Sunday night because of the Tony Awards. Move the schedule around and have a student matinee. Imagine how the viewership would grow if they did that. So if you have the power to adjust the schedule, remember to move your schedule next year to accommodate the Tonys.
The second part of today is about Washington DC. What a night to shine. Several shows on the Awards had ties to DC. And after Glory Days we needed that. Next to Normal made a stop in DC at Arena Stage which is also where 33 Variations started. West Side Story had its out of town try outs in DC. And if you have been reading my blog you know Signature Theatre won the regional Tony Award.
Stay tuned for tomorrows blog. I have decided to have guest bloggers on Wednesdays. Just to shake it up a little. We will call it “Ask My Friends.” So don’t miss it.
Hear are my thoughts on the Awards. First off, we had another great party this year. People from three different local theatres were represented and there were even four non-theatre people present.
The sound! I twittered it last night and I will say it again. If you work in sound you should send you resume to the Tony Awards NOW! It was awful. I realize this it can’t be easy with 100 plus live performers especially in the opening number . But it was bad from the very beginning. The camera shots were not that great either. It is time to take a serious look at the Awards. This is as close as most of America ever gets to Broadway and is suppose to help boost sales. Is this really what you want everyone to think of when they think of Broadway? All I could think of was sound problems.
Moving on; Shrek. What a shame. Okay I didn’t like the show when I saw it in NYC, but there are some good numbers, but from the song they picked last night you couldn’t tell. And the number they choose didn’t even have Shrek in it. If I was watching that show I wouldn’t go see it and with 65% attendance last week one would think they would want a better song.
Next to Normal was great. They did their best number and it came off really well.
Billy was okay. Most people didn’t like the number they choose but I thought it was okay. There are no great numbers from the CD that I thought would be better.
My last thought about the show for today. Cut the large screen behind them. It doesn’t look good on camera and didn’t feel the stage. Take the money spent on that and put it toward sound.
I just wanted to write a little bit about the Tony Awards. I have a Tony Party every year and I gather with great friends and watch the Awards. I hope you all do the same. Gather with your colleagues and friends and enjoy the show that celebrates what we all do.
I wish Next to Normal the best of luck! And send out good wishes to the Signature folks. Maybe I can get one of them to write a special blog about the Awards.
Yesterday I talked about a couple of ways to use Twitter. Now let’s focus on Twitter and Broadway. There are four specific examples of Twitter on Broadway that I know of and I am sure there are more.
1) ROCK OF AGES – An Off-Broadway musical that moved to Broadway and now is nominated for the Best Musical Tony Award. They use Twitter to show off ads and discounts. Nothing was of interest to me. I “un-followed” them pretty fast. Maybe if you live in NYC and love the show you would be interested in following them but I found the information useless.
2) NEXT TO NORMAL – Again a Best Musical nominee that started Off-Broadway then came to Washington to return to the Great White Way. They have used Twitter in a whole new way. They have the characters Tweeting their inner thoughts in order of the show and it is lasting several weeks. I think this is an interesting way to use Twitter but I really don’t get much out of it. It is being drug out so long that I am not sure where we left off and would have to go their site to see the whole story. I personally would rather just listen to the CD.
3) TONY AWARDS – This I find be a better use of Social Media. I think I like it more because it covers all the Broadway shows with focusing on the Tony Awards. I think it could go a step further with talking about when shows are going to be on TV. Like the Next to Normal cast being on the View.
4) KEN DAVENPORT – I saved the best for last. I love his tweets. He uses Twitter to talk about his day. Meetings he goes to and thoughts he has about certain issues with theatre and he posts articles. The brilliant part is he slips in things about his shows. So you don’t even realize you are getting ads sometimes. He doesn’t just send you ad after ad but slips them so you don’t even notice.
How could you use Twitter to best promote yourself or your show. Why would people want to follow you and I mean REALLY follow you. Make it interesting.
It was announced this morning that Next to Normal will be back in DC during the next season at the Kennedy Center. I remember getting the demo CD at Arena Stage and falling in LOVE with this show. It was also my last show with Arena and I still went back to see it many time.
