Thursday, October 25, 2012

I Do Believe I Have Been Changed For the Better

Guess what I'm seeing today!



It's round one of Wicked with Byron, Sara and Jared.

The first time I saw Wicked was September 24th, 2009.  I didn't know the show, and I wasn't really familiar with the music.  All I knew was that I hated the book (that's another story) but I had faith that the musical was going to be fantastic.

It didn't disappoint.

Interestingly, Wicked was the first musical that I saw twice in the same run.  I had promised two different groups that I would go see it - I was really trusting that it would be a good show.  I LOVED seeing the same cast twice and so close together.  I loved the chance to watch different people and see different things during the show.  One of my favorite things that happened between the shows a prop malfunction.  During One Short Day, there was a suitcase that didn't open.  It was obvious, but handled well.  When I went back to the show a few days later, it did open - there were sunglasses inside.

I know that doesn't sound thrilling, but it was a whole new level of live theatre for me - being able to make those types of observations.  It was certainly one of the things I enjoyed most during my Spring Awakening tour of 2011.

It's fitting that this time around, I'll be seeing Wicked twice again.  Next week I'll be going with Jill and Lindsay as part of our first season at the Paramount.  I'm so grateful that we were able to subscribe to both the 5th Avenue and the Paramount Theatre this year.  I really can't even put into words how much I value live musical theatre, and I hope I can continue to support it for years to come.

**Update on 10/29**

The show was amazing!  I was super impressed - there wasn't a single cast member we were disappointed with (although we joked that the midwife could've been stronger - because an understudy was on - but really...she was fine).  I wanted to add this picture of Sara and me from after the show.  I love everything about it - even that it's blurry.  What I love most is that it's almost perfect by accident.  I sort of threw my hand up and said "this is my hat!"  I was joking - but it actually translates!  And Sara is lined up perfectly with Glinda.  I feel like if actually went back and tried to recreate this again it would NEVER work. :-)



I'm thrilled to be able to see this production again - I go tomorrow night with Jill and Lindsay!


Monday, October 15, 2012

Pitch Slapped

I rarely go see movies in the movie theatre.  Mostly because I'm cheap and movies are expensive!  It has to be something I really want to see on the big screen, otherwise I'm perfectly happy waiting until something is available on cable or Netflix.

However, today I went and saw Pitch Perfect.  I first saw the preview for Pitch Perfect when we went to see Step Up 4 Revolution (Hey, don't judge!  That movie totally needed to be seen on a big screen, am I right???)  I was SO excited for this movie.  Not just because it was about a capella singing, but also because it was starring Anna Kendrick.  Having been a fan of hers since CAMP, the first thing I thought when I saw the preview was "Awwww, she gets to sing again!!"

A capella singing has always fascinated me.  I'm insanely jealous of the people who can do it for a start.  When Lindsay and I went to Chicago to see Spring Awakening, we took an impromptu train ride up to Northwestern to see Emma Hunton sing at a Broadway in South Africa benefit.  (We were fans of Emma Hunton since seeing her as Natalie in the national tour of Next to Normal.  It was a coincidence that Next to Normal was in Chicago at the same time we were.)  The benefit was being hosted by Adam Kantor - the last Mark of Rent on Broadway, who was also a Northwestern Alum and the founder of Broadway in South Africa.

This is my extremely long way of telling you that a few a capella groups sang at the benefit that night and it was amazing!  Taping most of their songs was the best decision EVER because I listen to them all the time!

I recommend listening to Happy Ending to hear Adam sing with THUNK...but really you should just listen to everything on my playlist:



Oh, right - the movie.  Loved it.

I love most movies that promote the arts in schools, so it already had that going for it.  It was full of fun music, great voices, and of course it was hilarious.  I don't always love Elizabeth Banks (who produced this movie and had a role as one of the announcers at the a capella competition), but she was perfect in this film.  There were other familiar faces too - Rebel Wilson, who's line about meth is STILL making me laugh out loud; Brittany Snow, who did a lovely job and it was very fun to see her without blonde hair; and look who it is!  Skylar Astin as our romantic male lead, proving that all [singing] roads DO lead to/from Spring Awakening:

 

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