♪ New York, New York, It's a Wonderful Town ... ♪

So I went to the Big Apple this past weekend to visit my friends Elisabeth & Tyler and to go to some shows. I have always enjoyed going to NY and in the last several years my visits have become more frequent and I seem to be taking annual trips now. I just love that city and I've become a little obsessed with trying to get to see the Original Broadway Casts of musicals. Elisabeth's sister Jordan came too and we had such a great time. Ty and Elisabeth moved to NY this past spring for Ty to do a year of Grad School at Columbia University and their apartment is right by the school.

We had some wind and rain the first couple of days, but it was mostly the perfect temperature and we were just moving the whole time. Jordan and I were on different airlines but both got in at 6pm on Thursday, hopped on the bus and met Ty at their apartment at 7pm to drop our stuff. Then we headed downtown and met up with Elisabeth, had dinner at a yummy restaurant called Cosi, walked around for a while and then went up the Empire State Building. It was a clear night, so we had a great view of the lights of the city, and it wasn't nearly as crowded as it can get up there. Jordan had never been to NY before, so it seemed like a good first-night-in-NY thing to do.

On Friday, while Ty was at school and Elisabeth was at work, Jordan and I headed down to South Street Seaport to get Saturday matinee tickets for something at the TKTS booth there. We ended up deciding to just wait until Saturday and wing it in the hopes of getting student or rush tickets. so then we walked around South Street, walked over to see the progress on Ground Zero and then walked over to Battery Park to get a view of Lady Liberty. Then we, a little awkwardly because I had never been before, made our way to China Town for lunch. We picked a place that looked pretty big and prominent presuming that would be a better chance of having waiters that spoke English. Not so much. It was this huge room of tables and they seat you wherever there is space so we were at this table with these two girls speaking purely Chinese. There were carts rolling around asking if you want any of the food on them and after about ten minutes of not really knowing what to do, we tried a couple things and then finally, with lots of apologetic smiles and hand gestures, sorted out how to order a chicken and noodle dish. It was all very good and quite the authentic experience ;)

After that we went uptown and browsed the Metropolitan Museum for a couple of hours and then met up with my friend Brian in Central Park. (Brian had just gotten engaged to his lovely Isa the day before! Yay! He got her a Tiffany's ring. Always the way to go if you can make it happen.) We then went to play in the amazing toy store FAO Schwartz for a while (made famous by the giant floor piano scene in the movie Big). I was excited to see that they have this new section that is like Build A Bear except its Muppets!! Then we headed to Times Square and met up with Ty & Elisabeth for pizza and went to The Lion King. Through all of my years of show-going, I had somehow never seen it. It wasn't the best-show-ever like some say, but the costumes and puppetry and the creativity of some of the scenes really is incredible and definitely worth seeing. I maybe cried during the opening sequence... and when Mufasa dies... and maybe again at the end.

On Saturday we went straight to Times Square and got tickets for the matinee of Burn the Floor, and then we headed up to my beloved Serendipity for lunch, which is one of my NY traditions. The Frrrozen Hot Chocolate (no, that is not a misspelling) is the main reason to go there, but the food is also extremely unique and delicious. We also stopped at the adorable little boutique Laila Rowe by Serendipity and got a couple of fun accessories. Then it was back to Times Square for Burn the Floor. Though the show is technically on Broadway, it isn't a storyline with a plot, it is a fast-paced dance show, mostly Latin and Ballroom. It was really good and I especially loved it because Pasha and Anya, who were contestants in Season 3 of my beloved So You Think You Can Dance, were in the show so it was fun to see them.

Then Ty came down to meet us and we went over and tried our luck to win tickets in the Wicked lottery they do every night because neither Ty or Jordan had seen it yet, but it is always sold out, so unless you buy your tickets months in advance for full price or want to pay like $250 for Premium tickets, this is the way to do it. Sadly, no such luck. So then we were sort of down to the wire with what shows still had tickets available, because we had been hoping on Wicked, so we frantically ran around to the box offices of different shows and ended up getting tickets to Shrek. We had dinner at Stardust, a burger place where the waiters sing and dance on the tables, and then hustled to the show. I sort of went into Shrek not expecting a lot, but it turned out to be very funny and the sets were really impressive.

Here's the thing. Show Tune people. I am one. Its like meeting other Mormons random places or other Americans in a foreign country- there's an automatic kinship. Unlike other trips trips I have taken to see shows in NY (like when I went to see Thoroughly Modern Millie or Jekyll & Hyde or Wicked or The Light in the Piazza or In the Heights...) there wasn't one particular show that I was willing to give my left arm to see (and that is saying something, because I am left-handed, you understand ;). There were plenty of shows that I wanted to see, but nothing I was bursting my heart out about. This was a little disappointing because I love the anticipation of knowing that I am finally going to experience/witness/enjoy something that I have been looking forward to so much. On the other hand, it was kind of nice to not be so stressed out about making sure I got good (and always expensive) tickets to one thing especially.

That being said, after Lion King, Burn the Floor and Shrek, although they were all entertaining, I still hadn't been to something that really, really affected me. So, on Sunday (which was our first fully sunny day), we went to Sacrament at 11am with Ty & Elisabeth and then J and I went to Times Square and I got a ticket for the 7:30pm show for that night for Next to Normal. This is a show that came out early this year and won Best Actress and Best Score at the Tony's in June and I own the soundtrack of. I had really wanted to see it, but I didn't push that we all go because I wasn't sure that it would be for everyone. (Like Jersey Boys- completely incredible, but sort of a lot of language. call me desensitized ;)

We headed back to Ty & Elisabeth's apartment and met up with them and packed lunches and spend the afternoon strolling beautiful, ginormous Central Park. Then I split off from them and headed down to see Next to Normal. Wow. I mean, its really a pretty simple set and not fancy costumes or anything- its a family drama where the mother is bi-polar and has depression and hallucinations and how it affects her family. The music was rock style and there are only six people in the cast, with no ensemble, giving it a very intimate feel. the whole cast was so amazing and the story was so tragic and moving and hopeful. I don't know how these actors can handle doing it every day- it must be soooo emotionally draining! I was very glad I ended up going though, because it was my 'wow' show for the weekend. The one that stays with you after you exit the theater. I wish I had gotten to see Elisabeth more, but all in all the weekend was a great success!

* Too many pics to intersperse them within the post, so here they are in a slide show (and even these ones I narrowed down a bit ;) -

Now, of course, my head is whirling around with the potential of another NY trip next year!There are a few musicals starting in the next several months that interest me very much:

SPIDER-MAN Turn Off the Dark - For real. The music was written by Bono & The Edge and it is directer by crazy-yet-talented Julie Taymor who made the movie Across the Universe and the extremely affecting movie of a Shakespeare play Titus with Anthony Hopkins. (If you know me, you know I get a laugh from horror movies and I love thrillers, but that movie really got to me.)

The Addams Family - Well, I guess if they can make musicals of Young Frankenstein and Shrek, then why not? Plus, Gomez & Morticia are being played by Nathan Lane & Bebe Neuwirth, so that should be pretty entertaining ;)

Ragtime (Revival) - It will be a poor man's Ragtime without Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra MacDonald, but I've never seen it.

Dreamgirls (Revival) - You may not know that the 2006 movie was based off a 1981 Broadway musical that won six Tony Awards that year, including Best Musical. I would looooooove to here some of those belty ballads live. Maybe they can get Jennifer Hudson to reprise Academy Award winning movie role ;)

And then of course I would still like to get to Billy Elliot, but it is likely to stick around for a few years, and it isn't one that I feel strongly about needing to see the Original Broadway Cast of. I guess I'll have to get it sorted out and maybe this time it can be with the Mama cause the fam comes home this summer!

30 Rock... You Make Me Soooo Happy

30 Rock Season 4 premieres tonight and I just thought, in my joyful anticipation, that I would peruse the Top 5 reasons that I adore this show (though there are many more):

5: The Guest Stars- This could have said 'Salma Hayek' as she has definitely been my favorite of the guests so far. Who knew she had such amazing comic timing? Some of her lines, all the better for how she delivered them, were my favorite part of last season. Like when she comes into Jack's office wearing a tee shirt that says, 'What the frack?' (A Battlestar Galactica reference) and she is telling Jack about her sordid past and, in total seriousness, in her beautiful Mexican accent, says, “I am so sorry to tell you such a dark tale while wearing such a silly T-shirt." Ha! I'll admit that a couple of the guest stars storylines were a tad over-the-top, but part of 30 Rock's charm is it's outrageousness.

4: The Shameless Plugs & Societal Cliches- It has sort of become a joke on 30 Rock to make fun of other shows, and themselves, by having very obvious plugs for their sponsors, like Snapple. Dialogue example:

Pete: Wow! This is Diet Snapple?
Liz : I know, it tastes just like regular Snapple doesn’t it?
Frank: You should try 'Plumagranate'. It’s amazing...
Cerie (the token hot girl, while looking directly into the camera): I only date guys who drink Snapple.

One episode was entitled MILF Island, which is the name of a (fake, obviously) reality show that is cougars (aka, hot older ladies who dig younger men (in case you didn't know, Mom ;)) and underage teens stuck on an island together and pushed into situations where hanky panky will inevitably ensue. Of course there is no way that this show would ever be approved in real live, but I love that they make fun of our society's obsession with reality TV and how far networks push the boundaries for the sake of 'entertainment.'

3: The Witty/Intelligent Writing- Majority of contemporary comics, please watch this show and see that you don't have to go for the bathroom/racy jokes to get a laugh. Quit being so lazy! Watch 30 Rock or watch old episodes of The Carol Burnett Show or The Cosby Show and come up with something original. There are so many clever jokes in this show that you really have to be paying attention to even catch them all. There is a lot of random humor as well, which I love. Most things are predictable these days and so a sure way to stay interesting is to come out of nowhere. Also, I love how many geeky references there are, since I get them all ;)

2: The Cast- The whole ensemble is fantastic, but major kudos to the four main leads, Jane Krakowski in particular, who plays crazy diva Jenna: I first fell in love with her because I was a huge fan of the quirky lawyer show Ally McBeal that she was in. Now she of course is best known for 30 Rock and I have to say, I think she is the funniest part of the show. The way she just throws herself into the most insane and slapsticky situations and can be so vain and insecure and horrible and likable at the same time is just amazing. In 30 Rock they sort of make a joke out of Jane's singing because she is such an attention hog, (Like when Kenneth the pageboy is making everyone laugh in the elevator and she hates the the attention is away from her so she starts singing Wind Beneath My Wings really loud in everyones face! Ha! Also, awkward) but the girl really can sing and has theater credits to her name, which makes me like her all the more. Tracy Morgan is also amazing- it has got to be real talent to act that random and idiotic, and there is no one in the world who can deadpan like Alec Baldwin. As for Tina, she is just plain likable and for starting out a writer, not an actress, I think she gets better as the seasons go on. (Also, in real life her husband is a composer and wrote the goofy/catchy 30 Rock theme music which is one of my favorite ring tones.) Way to be a sexy geek, Tina.

1: The Bromance (sort of)- 30 Rock reminds me a lot of its brilliant predecessors Seinfeld and Arrested Development in that unlike some other funny sitcoms (Friends, The Office, How I Met Your Mother...) you don't get too emotionally attached to the romances of the characters. It stays unsentimental and there aren't ever really any big aaaaahh moments and you don't get really anxious for people to be together, but not so much that you don't care. The main couple of the show is Jack and Liz, though they will never ever really hook up romantically and I wouldn't want them to. Liz may technically be a woman, but what she has with Jack is a beautiful bromance.

So, basically, best said in the words of Liz Lemon... I want to go to there.

Happy Birthday T

Today is my big sister Torry’s birthday. It's the perfect time of the year for it because she loves the Fall and loves Halloween. T is the Christopher Robin to my Winnie the Pooh. I don't mean in an I’m-her-fat-stuffed-animal-friend-who-only-comes-to-life-in-her-imagination-because-she’s-actually-a-repressed-British-schoolboy sort of way. No, no, no. I mean that to me, T has always brought the world to life. I know that sounds melodramatic, and certainly I don't revere here in the way I did when I was younger, but a part of me still retains this idyllic sense about T- she is the person to be like, and a person who's opinion matters sooooo much to me. She is creative and motivated and good, and probably shaking her head at my praise right now. (So I guess she's humble too, snicker snicker ;P)

Here's T & I: The Beginning:

I miss this blanket. Mom, what happened to this blanket? Also, I am glad I only have memories of cute, all-animal stuffed toys, and not of this oddly creepy monkey-human baby thing T is clutching.

We were always dressing up. T was such a damsel poser, just like her daughter Eva is now. Look at my face in the green dress. Not happy. I'm like, 'Where is my eye patch? Where are my chaps? Why am I wearing a costume that suggests I need rescuing? Give me a flippin' whip and a fedora!'

Funny how fashion comes full circle. Like, if I could find it in my size, I would totally wear that jacket now. Maybe not in that color so much.

First trip (of many) to The Happiest Place on Earth. I was so happy I guess it tuckered me right out.

T, I love this picture because it is the only one where its you who kinda looks like a boy instead of me ALWAYS looking like Boo Radley or something while you look like an exotic princess. In this one you look like a little Indian boy. From India ;)

Aaah, we love each other. And I guess this proves that we were style trend-setters from the start.

Though anyone who knows us well could tell you I am the one in the family who tends to play the typical protective mother hen role, even to my elder sibling T, she has always been a great big sister. Neither of us were really girly girls, but I was a major tomboy and did a lot of playing with G. I. Joe’s and geeky comic book role-playing with my brothers while Torry was off doing her own thing in her eldest child way. Nevertheless, when I got to that scary, Middle School/High School age, and Torry was already the perfect, popular girl, she never ignored me and always invited me to things. We had rooms that were connected by a bathroom and I remember many a night of tiptoeing through to her room and chatting on her bed into the wee small hours. She would tell me about the boys in her life, boys whose names I still remember though she doesn’t, and every secret she told me, however unimportant or silly it was, I cherished.

I remember having friends with older siblings that were two years apart like T and I and they were relieved and excited when their siblings went off to college and they got to inherit their room or something. I was devastated and missed her something awful and visited her at College a lot her Freshman year. Her Sophomore year of college was my Senior year of high school when my whole family was in Zimbabwe. I did correspondence to finish up for graduation and T sorted out doing correspondence through BYU for a year so that she could come over with us. After the year T and I headed back to the States for college while the rest of my family stayed in Zim for another year, so the only place that made sense for me to apply was BYU, because that was where T would be. She has since married an amazing guy who it feels like has always been my older brother, (believe me, he would have known if I didn't approve of him- I was the scary one to meet when it came to T, not my dad ;), and has provided for me a sassy, beautiful niece and a jovial, mischievous nephew, though they have all selfishly moved away from me ;P

I suppose that its inevitable that T will be demoted to a slightly lower pedestal one day when I have a husband and family of my own, but its awfully hard to imagine. T is someone I would be in awe of and want to be friends with, related or not. T is someone who I can spend hours of doing nothing with and the time happily flies by like minutes. T is someone who I can have a meaningful conversation with in a single expression or glance. T is the person I have more inside jokes with than anyone (seriously T, why is that test tube wearing a mustache and glasses?) When T is sad then I am sad, and nothing makes me happier than her happiness. Not even Fred & Ginger movies, and that's saying something.

Now T, don't be getting a big head and thinking you are going to be getting a post like this every year. My goodness, how spoiled you are. Nobody loves you like I do. Happy birthday.

If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.

Show Tunes: The Duets

Well I leave for New York a week from tomorrow, so here is the final edition of Show Tunes! Okay, so, Broadway shows are full of big show-stopper numbers, but they are usually solos or ensemble pieces. Every once in a while though, as if a Broadway ballad wasn't already powerful enough with just one clear incredible voice, the story calls for the harmony of a duet. When I started compiling a list of these I had like forty on it and, sigh, with much difficulty, I cut it back to my Top 15. These aren't all classic romantic duets, and all of them aren't necessarily the most well-known Broadway duets of all time, but for various reasons they are my personal favorites. It's a countdown, though only roughly in order of my least to most favorite, because that would be impossible to decide as it changes frequently ;)

15- Aaah, classic. The smitten and confused young man and the older woman with the hindsight to explain it to him:

You're Just in Love (Call Me Madam- Donald O'Connor & Ethel Merman)


14- If I didn't know the context of this story and the song placement in the show I might find some of these lyrics childish, but as a fanciful farewell to a dying sister, its touching and wonderful:

Some Things Are Meant To Be (Little Women- Sutton Foster & Meg McGinnis)


13- I grew up watching a lot of old movies but I distinctly remember watching this one more than others (though always fast forwarding through the long dream sequence scene- nice on stage, boring on screen) This is fun and flirtatious and the lyrics and the scene are light and charming:

People Will Say We're In Love (Oklahoma- Gordon MacRae & Shirly Jones)


12- I don't think an explanation is necessary. I can't imagine a childhood without running around singing this song running across benches:

Sixteen Going on Seventeen (The Sound of Music- Charmian Carr & Daniel Truhitte)


11- I'm a woman. Of course I enjoy a man singing about his passionate love. This one is two men singing about their passion for the same woman. Also, said woman has passed away so the song is even more infused with frustrated regret and the elevated ardor of haunting memories, all inspired by something as simple as seeing a pair of eyes like hers. 'Nuff said:

Lily's Eyes (The Secret Garden- Mandy Patinkin & Robert Westenberg)


10- This is the lesser-known musical version of the story of the Phantom of the Opera. This one came out around the same time as the Andrew Lloyd Webber version but was sort of ignored I guess because Webber was so huge at the time, coming off of Cats and Evita and such. If I absolutely had to pick a favorite it would be Webber's- I grew up with it and it has such a bittersweet mysteriousness about it, but this Maury Yeston version has some fabulous songs. Like this one:

Home (Phantom- Robert Cuccioli & Laura Benanti)


9- This song is two men inspiring and comforting a woman that it will be alright as they plan to assist her to flee the kingdom- in a TV version they did a few years ago they turned this into a love duet (which you can watch in my Zooey D. post) which I actually prefer since its such a pretty song, but I couldn't track down a recording of that version. I think I like this song so much because I love to travel and I love the dream of adventure and escape and that is what 'Normandy' represents in this song:

Normandy (Once Upon a Mattress- Harry Snow & Matt Maddox)


8- Such a great contemporary show. I love the originality of the bilingual lyrics and the sweetness of the characters dialogue:

Sunrise (In the Heights- Christopher Jackson & Mandy Gonzalez)


7- Anything with these two singing together would be on my list by default, but even without them this is such a hopeful and inspiring tune:

The Wheels of a Dream (Ragtime- Brian Stokes Mitchell & Audra McDonald)


6- This isn't the only musical duet between two women about the same man (I Still Believe from Miss Saigon, In His Eyes from Jekyll & Hyde...) but what I like about this one is that it isn't, 'I'm nothing without you,' or, 'choose me not her.' It's simply reflective that things didn't go perfectly but not necessarily in a regretful way, just in a retrospective way:

I Know Him So Well (Chess- Idina Menzel & Kerry Ellis)


5- Jennifer is awesome- she replaced Kristin Chenoweth as Glinda in Wicked so she is who I saw with Idina Menzel. More trivia- Hunter is brother to Sutton Foster. If you aren't aware of the synopsis of this show, well, it's kind of a dark satire. This song is a fabulous combination of goofy and tender:

Follow Your Heart (Urinetown- Hunter Foster & Jennifer Laura Thompson)


4- This show jumps around to different emotional moments in a five year relationship. I love the sincere, conversational tone of this song, set in the joy of the beginnings of love:

The Next Ten Minutes (The Last Five Years- Leo Norbert Butz & Sherie Rene Scott)


3- This is a twisted love song that start out very humble and ardent and then the lyrics get quite dramatic. This whole play is from the point of view of people who have attempted (and sometimes succeeded) to assassinate US Presidents throughout history. In this songs case, these two were both obsessively 'in love' with someone leading them to their drastic deed. Leave it to Stephen Sondheim to make sinister passion into something beautiful. (Sweeney Todd anyone?):

Unworthy of Your Love (Assassins- Alexander Gemignani & Mary Catherine Garrison)


2- If you haven't seen it, this show really is as great as everyone says. The enigmatic 'everyone' has it right. Also, with the many themes that this story includes- love, confidence, faith, independence, peer pressure, prejudice... when you break it down it is really a story about friendship, and this song wraps it up perfectly:

For Good (Wicked- Idina Menzel & Kristin Chenoweth)


1- This will forever be, to me, the most sweepingly romantic song ever written:

All I Ask of You (The Phantom of the Opera- Steve Barton & Sarah Brightman)

Show Tunes: The Divas

I just went to a production of A Chorus Line last night, so I am pumped up for my second Show Tunes segment! the show is full of wannabe divas, so that is a perfect segue. Now what, may I ask, would a Broadway show be without a diva? (Or, in Glee terms, a "stunning young ingenue everyone roots for"). Not much, that's what. Here are some of my favorite standouts, from old-school Broadway stars down to the more recent up-and-comers:

Ethel Merman- The original Mama Rose in the frequently-revived Gypsy. The Merm could belt. The Merm didn't need a mic. The Merm is classic:

Everything's Coming Up Roses (Gypsy)


Mary Martin- When I think of MM I think wholesome. I think J. M. Barrie and I think Rodgers & Hammerstein:

Cockeyed Optimist (South Pacific)


Julie Andrews - Though possibly most well-known as Maria in film version of The Sound of Music (played by Mary Martin on Broadway) she was the original Eliza Doolittle on Broadway. Audrey Hepburn is one of my all-time favorite people (of all time ;), but she didn't do her own singing in the film version of My Fair Lady. Julie was upset by not being cast in the film after being with Rex Harrison in the Broadway cast, but that same year another little film called Mary Poppins was also released for which Julie won an Oscar. Now that's what I call Karma people:

I Could Have Danced All Night (My Fair Lady)


Patti LuPone- The epitome of diva, right here. Never was there more perfect casting than Miss LuPone as Eva Perone in Evita. What could be more fitting than a diva playing a diva? She was also the original Fantine and a year ago won a Tony for the the most recent revival of Gypsy as a Mama Rose to rival The Merman. (check out this video of her Gypsy acceptance speech. Oh. My. Diva):

I Dreamed a Dream (Les Miserables)


Bernadette Peters- She is phenomenal and I swear the woman doesn't age. I got to see her in a revival of Annie Get Your Gun and also as Mama Rose in Gypsy, and she just has so much humor and charisma (not to mention incredible hair):

Happiness (Sunday in the Park with George)


Elaine Paige- How could we leave out the woman who originated the role with the most overplayed song in Broadway history (Well, this is actually the Original London cast version which I grew up with- on Broadway it was Betty Buckley in the role). She's done plenty of other things too, but she will always be Grizabella to me:

Memory (Cats)


Audra McDonald- Love her. So beautiful and soooo talented. She won three Tony awards by the time she was 28! I would have killed to see her in Ragtime with Brian Stokes Mitchell who is maybe one of the only leading men who can match her musically:

Simple Little Things (110 in the Shade)

Lea Salonga- Ahh, our resident Disney princess. To be honest, I grew up listening to the Original London Cast recording of Les Miserables and I think that Lea's voice (from the Broadway Cast version) is too... pretty, I guess, for Eponine. I prefer the grittier Frances Ruffelle version from the London Cast. Gotta love Lea though, since she is the singing voice of both Jasmine and Mulan and was the heartbreaking Kim in Miss Saigon:

I Would Give My Life For You (Miss Saigon)


Sherie Rene Scott- Such a unique voice and some extremely varied roles:

Here I Am (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels)


Sutton Foster- Saw her in Thoroughly Modern Millie and again in Little Women. She is so high energy and physical comedy and entertainment. Plus, extra points for her guest spot in Season One of Flight of the Conchords as Bret's girlfriend Coco:

Gimmee Gimmee (Thoroughly Modern Millie)


Kristin Chenoweth- She is so fantastic. How in the world does that huge voice and all of that bubbly energy come out of that tiny little body? Though I loved all of the characters, she was possibly my very favorite, or at least the funniest, part of Pushing Daisies:

Goodnight, My Someone (The Music Man)


Idina Menzel- Saw her in Wicked. Twice. Amazing. I think a lot of her appeal is that her voice is so edgy and not a traditional Broadway sound. Girl can go all over the place with her vocals. I have seen Wicked a couple of other times with other leads whose voices were just as good, but seeing her live, it was obviously not just her voice but her personality that won her the role. She has amazing comic timing and this loveable-ness and you really feel like she is the character (Plus, way to bag hottie Taye Diggs (costars in the original cast of Rent) as your husband in real life):

The Life of the Party (The Wild Party)

Kelli O'Hara- I got to see her in The Light in the Piazza and she was incredible. All of the people that I have gotten to see live were of course incredible, that's why they get picked for leading roles in eight times a week live performances, but with Kelli, after her solo numbers, there was literally a ripple throughout the audience of everyone releasing the breath that they had been holding in a unanimous sigh of 'wow.' I would have loved to have seen her in the recent revival of South Pacific. I've no doubt we'll be seeing more of her:

The Light in the Piazza (The Light in the Piazza)


Laura Benanti- Also won a Tony for the recent revival of Gypsy with Patti LuPone. I adore her voice and her character range- she can go from 80s valley girl to opera star:

Unusual Way (Nine)


Karen Olivo- I got to see her as Vanessa in In the Heights a year ago, and this past summer she won a Tony for playing Anita in the revival of West Side Story. I hope she will be in more shows. Great voice, great attitude. We need a Latina Disney princess so that she can play her:

It Won't Be Long Now (In the Heights)


Honorary Mentions:

Barbara Streisand- as Fanny Brice in Funny Girl on Broadway, preceding the movie version:

Don't Rain On My Parade (Funny Girl)

Sara Brightman - though she may not have quite as impressive of a resume as the others as far as Broadway shows go, I could hardly leave out the original Christine Daae. (Plus, she was the muse for the composer, Andrew Lloyd Webber, who became her husband. Er, for a while):

Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again (The Phantom of the Opera)

Linda Eder- though she has done recordings for multiple Broadway shows/songs, she has only starred in one. It's one to remember though (She was also the influence for the composer, Frank Wildhorn who also became her husband. Ummm, but also not anymore):

Someone Like You (Jekyll & Hyde)


There are several others who I considered as well: Liza Minnelli, Angela Lansbury, Marin Mazzie, Stephanie J. Block, Lea Michele ... but these are my standouts. I hope I didn't leave anyone crucial out- other theatre dorks (I know who you are) please correct me if I overlooked someone!

The Lost Symbol: Book Review

This is the third in author Dan Brown's Robert Langton series: #1- Angels & Demons and #2- The DaVinci Code. Let's just say, if you liked the first two, you will like this one as well:

It follows the same successful formula as the other two books: mild-mannered professor Langton gets caught up up in an ancient and dangerous conspiracy that only his symbolic wisdom can solve, along with the help of a beautiful and scientifically brilliant female who gets caught up in the drama due to a close male friend or relation who has been murdered and/or is in danger. The pace is a little quicker than DaVinci and the action is not quite as over-the-top as Angels, so I think that Dan Brown has finally met his stride as far as pace goes. That being said, it still falls into the same pattern as the others of dragging on a bit after the explosive finale- you keep thinking its ending but it sort of just keeps going. Not that it gets boring, just a little wordy.

For me the plot felt a little less epic than the other two, perhaps partly because it takes place in the US instead of in an exciting foreign city. Still, I love DC, and with the genre of these stories and how much history is there, it really is a fitting location for a Langton novel. If there is a next one, I hope it's set somewhere really exotic like Istanbul (not Constantinople). All of the books do a good job of letting us into the minds of the characters, even the villain, but this story was even more intimate to Langton's life and I felt even more emotionally involved than usual. The action began in the first few pages, and I was hooked from start to finish.

Par usual, Dan Brown has really done his research (a process that I greatly admire with authors like himself and the brilliant Jeffrey Deaver) and touches on some very interesting and potentially controversial religious and historical topics. For those of you who heard rumors and were concerned, yes the book does, very briefly, mention Mormons in two different places, but both times it is really just sort of in passing and not major to the plot, and I found neither disrespectful. The science is fascinating and the history is nonjudgmental and eye-opening. Also, he once again found a way to bond science and faith together in an honest and moving way.

On a side note... I sort of hope they don't make it a movie. I was excited about both of the previous adaptations, and though it is a given that movie versions of stories are never as good as the book, I was disappointed with them both. I thought they were beautifully filmed and I really liked the supporting casts in both of them, but I absolutely can't stand Tom Hanks as Robert Langton. I never thought I would have 'can't stand' and 'Tom Hanks' in the same sentence, but there it is. He just plays the character so whiny and self-righteous. Also, I can understand when changes have to be made and things have to be cut out for time reasons when adapting a book to film, but they made unnecessary plot and character changes that made the stories... less than they are with the books. Let's be honest, if they made a movie version of The Lost Symbol I would likely go to it out of curiosity and as a fan of the book, but it's my hope that from here on out Robert Langton will remain in words, and that this isn't the last we've seen of him.