logblog

Yesterday has come and gone. I am quite a bit poorer money-wise, and yet I feel so much richer for owning these wonderful things.

I can only give a glowing review to 30 Rock Season 2. After all, having already seen Season 2 when it aired on television, I can tell you they really upped their game after completing their first successful season. The plots are crazier, the characters are funnier, and it’s all-in-all a better show. (That being said, I would highly recommend re-visiting Season 1, because it is also hilarious.) The DVD set doesn’t fail either. Unlike the last release, Season 2 features several attractive bonus features, such as a live-at-the-improv benefit performance of “Secrets and Lies,” several audio commentaries, and the table read for season finale “Cooter.” It also has backstage footage from when Tina Fey hosted SNL and a post-Emmy awards interview with some of the cast and creators of 30 Rock. Overall, a HIGHLY recommended DVD set.

I haven’t watched all of Sleeping Beauty yet, but I can tell you that it looks astonishingly beautiful. Blu-Ray is just such a fantastic format for animation, be it computer or hand drawn. If you don’t believe me, pick up the Blu-Ray and compare it with the included DVD. You will be SHOCKED. It also is chock-full of bonus features that I look forward to delving into.

I can’t say much for The Wordy Shipmates yet. I haven’t had a chance to listen to it much, but the little part that I did I enjoyed. Sarah Vowell is awesome, so my anticipatory review is that it’s amazing, interesting, and hilarious.

In other news, Into the Woods is almost ready to open this Friday! I started rehearsing with the orchestra over the weekend. They’re sounding great! We got new costumes last night, which is fantastic because before we had been using literally in-the-plastic-bag Halloween costumes for everything. The joys of community theatre, eh? Listen, I’m not complaining. Oddly enough, only a few of the cheapie costumes looked terrible. Hopefully by Friday we’ll have most of our kinks out, making us ready to give a wonderful weekend of performances.

OCTOBER 7th, 2008



It is upon us. Today, the triumvirate of entertainment is being released, namely 30 Rock Season 2, Sleeping Beauty on Blu-Ray, and Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates. Oh yes, my children. That magical day has arrived.

What I HAVEN’T talked about here that’s taking place today, though, only ADDS to the excitement. Today begins McDonald’s Monopoly Sweepstakes! Start collecting those properties that you’ll end up losing and never knowing if you were actually the big winner! More importantly, instant win can get you free fries! If that doesn’t make your life, I’m not quite sure what will.

Well, I’m gonna quit writing and get out to the shops. Later fools!

I didn’t really know what to post about today, so here’s a collection of some HILARIOUS SNL videos featuring Kristen Wiig, beginning with this fantastic sketch from this weekend’s episode!

The best 6 1/2 minutes of your life…

UPDATE: Apparently it was fake.

A testament to the fact that every thing’s bigger in Texas, I dedicate this post to one of my favorite items of my high school life, the 7-11 X-treme Gulp, renamed Debbie Gulp for reasons that will go unmentioned on this blog.

I know you’re thinking this X-treme Gulp [pictured here with a DVD case for size reference] is ridiculous, but if you haven’t partaken in it, you can’t understand. You see, my heart had a big hole in it at the age of 17, a hole that only a giant insulated soda cup could fill. This giant coke cup that keeps cold liquids cold and hot liquids hot filled that hole, and was only made better with its ability to be filled with the soda of my choice at any 7-11 for the price of only $1. That’s right folks, the deal was that good.

The X-treme gulp doesn’t judge. The X-treme gulp is only there to please. It doesn’t even mind that it has fallen into disuse recently due to Oklahoma 7-11s’ refusal to honor the Texas $1 refill deal. It knows it’s still loved and it still has love to give; 52 fluid ounces of love.

In truth, it is perhaps the X-treme gulp SOLELY that makes my childhood home town of Garland the 67th best city to live in despite all of its… less attractive qualities.

Ah, The Incredibles. Who doesn’t love it? It’s a fantastic movie that wasn’t outdone until this summer’s Wall-E. So assuming you love The Incredibles as much as I do, pop in disc 2 of the Incredibles DVD set I know you own. I can’t remember exactly what section it’s in, but somewhere there’s a feature called Vowelette and you should definitely watch it.

…but she was little and it was a camp production. Regardless, enjoy.

This is the third and final post in a series about Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. You can also read the first and second parts.

In the last section of my ponderings on Into the Woods, I thought it’d be nice to look at the recordings available of the show. The Original Broadway Cast gives a lively and entertaining (if slapstick and cartoony at times) performance on the taped version of the show available on DVD. What was going on when they recorded the cast recording? The tempos are slow as Christmas and the entire cast sounds like they have a gun to their head and are being forced to sing. Seeing the two recordings, you’d hardly think they were even the same cast. The OBCR is interesting though in the cut material it provides. We’re treated to an extended “A Very Nice Prince” that contains a section similar to the middle of “Agony.” I agree with this cut first and foremost because it’s nice, but not needed. It also makes “On the Steps of the Palace” a little redundant, in my opinion. I like that she doesn’t even really think about making a decision until that final evening. It makes the climax of the song a bigger deal for the character, and therefore more interesting for the audience. There’s also a longer version of the “Witch’s Lament,” in which there is more of a reprise of “Stay With Me,” and a few extra lines in “Any Moment.” Again, unnecessary and a happy cut. If you get the remastered print of the CD, you also get some bonus tracks, such as the “On the Steps…” precursor “Back to the Palace” and “Boom Crunch” which was eventually replaced by “Last Midnight.” Both are remarkably similar to the songs that later replaced them, and both are pretty inferior to their replacement as well. They’re still interesting to hear, though.

My favorite recording is the Original London Cast. The CD is excellently produced, the only recording to split up the Act 1 Finale into separate tracks. The orchestra sounds excellent and crisp, as do the performers. Not only do the British accents here really suit the story, there are so fantastic performances. The stand-out for me is Julia Mackenzie’s witch, which is much much better than Bernadette’s. She sounds like an old woman and a witch, and then still delivers the most terrifying rendition of “Last Midnight” I’ve ever heard. Imelda Staunton (now of Harry Potter fame, she was Prof. Umbridge) also gives an excellent performance as the Baker’s Wife, one that rivals Joanna Gleason Tony-winning turn. The narrator may not be able to sing on key in Ever After, but I find this recording to be the most satisfactory. The London production was clearly much darker than the original Broadway, and I would have loved to see it. The way they did their wolf is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. You can watch it below, though keep in mind this performance was taped for a television show and the set they’re on is not the set that was used in full production.

I barely even want to talk about the 2002 Broadway Revival recording. That production was actually the first Broadway show I ever saw, and at the time it was really exciting. With time, I kind of realized how terrible a production it was. I’ll start with the good. The physical production was really gorgeous. I loved the added choreography. I LOVED the cow. I also liked the “Oos” they added to the title number. Laura Benanti and Kerry O’Malley were both fantastic. That being said, WHAT were they thinking changing the ending to “On the Steps…” and the lyrics to “Last Midnight.” Both HORRIBLE choices. Also, WHY did they add pigs to “Hello, Little Girl?” Terrible. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.

The moral is, get the London cast recording if you need one.

That’s all I have to say about Into the Woods, at least for now. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. If not, stop reading. If you’d like to come see my production of Into the Woods, visit the Sooner Theatre’s website for performance and ticket information. Until next time!

Spoilers abound, so stop now if you don’t want to know!

It’s back and with a vengeance!!! After last season’s exciting and suspenseful finale, we got a taste of what our housewives were like 5 years in the future. Brie was a Martha Stewart-like cooking personality, Gabi was looking kind of rough and had two children, Lynette was frustrated with her twins who were now juvenile delinquents, Catherine was happy for her newly-engaged “daughter,” and Susan was mackin’ with someone other than Mike Delfino.

Well, tonight we got to see a little bit of how they got there. The show opened with a bang as usual, depicting a violent car crash that [you think] leaves Susan alive mourning over Mike’s dead body. The rest of the episode dealt with her having a fling with a DOUCHEY looking house painter, with us, the audience, thinking all the while she won’t let herself have a relationship with him because she feels responsible for Mike’s death. Little do we know, Mike actually isn’t dead but the mother and child in the other car DID die. Apparently Susan was angry with Mike for not having the car in good working condition, and he got fed up with her and left her. I’m assuming she won’t let this douchey painter into her heart because she’s still in love with Mike. I’m also guessing we will spend the rest of this season watching them slowly get back together. Again. Hooray! [Note the sarcasm].

Gabi had a fantastic storyline that dealt with her overweight 4 year old (which how old is that child really, by the way) and Gabi’s efforts to encourage her weight loss. I really loved the “game” she played with her, driving forward to force Juanita to chase after her car. It was pretty funny, but also probably bought little Juanita (and possibly the actress portraying her) some time on the couch. In the end, we find out (shocker) that much of her obsession with Juanita’s weight is due to self-image problems Gabi has with her new physique. Awww

Lynette’s twins opened a casino in the pizza place and Tom was no help in reigning in their bad behavior, lifting their punishment and allowing them to go to the homecoming dance after all. He clearly is going through a mid-life crisis, because the twins’ “coolness” makes him not be a parent towards them and also he’s obsessed with this classic car he restored. Lynette retaliated by giving the twins the keys to his precious precious car to drive to the dance, and Tom totally came up to the plate as usual and punished them when they missed their curfew. Typical nice Sciavo storyline.

Brie was readying a cookbook for publication, and much to the dismay of her catering partner Catherine, ONLY Brie’s name was listed as the author of this cookbook filled with both of their recipes. They bickered the entire episode and they left it that way too, which kind of annoyed me because their friendship was a really fun part of the show in the past, and something that I was looking forward to being more the norm after last season’s finale. I guess we’ll see, eh?

The big mystery this season is with the infamous Edie Britt, who’s back in town with a super freaky husband, who apparently was charged with something that he had to go into anger [or something] therapy for. We left the episode knowing that he was supposed to be in contact with his doctor once a month and taking pills for his condition, and with the distinct suspicion that he is out to get somebody on Wisteria Lane, but who? Well my dear friends, we have a whole season left to figure THAT out.

I was overall pretty pleased with the episode. I really think they are taking the housewives to new, interesting and [mostly] unexpected places, which is really what a like this needs for a 5th season. Gabi’s plot was pretty hilarious. Tom may have a lot of wimpy moments, but he always comes through in the end, and that’s really nice to watch. Brie’s story was a little disheartening but I’m sure they’ll come around in the end there, too.

My big gripe is Susan. Are we really going to spend ANOTHER season of her and Mike playing hard to get? Isn’t that what the last 4 seasons were? I mean REALLY Marc Cherry, what are you thinking?

Regardless, the other housewives will I’m sure have lots of excellent plots this season to cover up any deficiency with Susan. I can’t wait for next Sunday!

Decca Broadway is re-issuing the original Broadway cast album of “Wicked” in a 2-disc “5th Anniversary” edition. The first of these discs is the same cast recording that was released in 2003. The second disc treats listeners to 8 bonus tracks, including a new recording of “For Good” sung by my hometown’s own Leann Rhymes and Delta Goodrem (bizarre) and Idina’s own dance mix of “Defying Gravity.” You also get two tracks from the German and Japanese cast recordings, which I’m sure are hilarious, but do we re-issue of the Wicked cast recording? If they insisted on commemorating the momentous 5th anniversary of the show, why not scrap together a bonus disc with something actually.. well.. interesting?

Then again, the normal cast recording went Platinum in 2006, and anyone who’s stood near the Wicked merchandise table knows that Wicked fans aren’t exactly discerning in their merchandise purchase choices, so maybe it’s a really smart choice.

If you’re interested, this one will set you back $19.99 and will be in stores October 28th. [Link]