Female Empowerment? I Think Not.

    Nathaniel Blake wrote an excellent article contrasting Eve Ensler (of The Vagina Monologues fame) and the impeccable Jane Austen.  Well done.

Goodbye Andrew Lloyd Webber, Hello Sutton Foster!

    Due (mainly) to cast health problems, Andrew Lloyd Webber's umpteenth mediocre show failed to fill the 1,600 seat Marquis Theatre.  As a result, The Women in White will take it's final bow on February 19th.
    With the line of shows waiting to make the transfer to Broadway, it was unclear what lucky show would get to hedge its bets at The Great White Way's second-largest theatre.
    No longer.
    Broadway is saved with the return of a light-hearted, adult (read: non-Disney) show and the ever-luminous Sutton Foster.



    The Drowsy Chaperone will move into the Marquis Theatre and previews will begin April 3rd, with opening night scheduled for the 1st of May.
    I can't wait.

Character face!

[enter the melodramatic personage that exists within every actor]

    Manna from heaven! *faints*

The Lord of the Rings: The Musical/Stage Show/Thing

    I think everyone here knows that I hate Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings movies.  The reasons being he added to, subtracted from, and so generally twisted the tale that his movies leave me with a bad taste in my mouth (especially the last two).
    What many of you probably don't know is that for the past few months a company of ambitious men and women have been working on transforming The Lord of the Rings into a theatrical event more or less like a musical.
    Since I first heard about the idea (from it's first press release) I have been griping and complaining about it -- and with good reason, I think.  I mean, how does one bring such an epic story to the stage when it didn't even fit into three three-hour films?  I don't think you can and that's why I fought it every step of the way, despite casting choices and news on how well rehearsals were going.
    Then I saw this and it changed my mind . . . I think.  The difference between Jackson's self-glorifying films and the forthcoming stage adaptation seems to be that Jackson had the ability to fit it all in, but chose not to, while this production team knows there is no WAY they can fit is all in and are taking steps to capture the essence of the story.  Whether they will or not, we have yet to see.
    The show was supposed to have had its first preview last night, but that was pushed back until tomorrow night because the producers felt it wasn't yet ready for an audience.  Still, I have high hopes for it.

More End of the Spear

    Well, I was going to write up my fully-formed opinion on the End of the Spear controversy this afternoon, but it seems this person already did it for me.