Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog on DVD

Okay, I admit that I am way behind the curve on getting into this Internet serial musical. Over the weekend I saw the whole 40-minute story of Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog on DVD with its plethora of DVD extras. I was surprised to find it among the PBS and BBC DVDs at my local library.


This is a warped and wonderful story, that never hesitates to make the most obvious joke or poke fun at its own genre, itself or anything else--just as Joss Whedon did with the musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer years before. The music is all very hummable, even if the structure of it is flawed. I like my songs to be verse-chorus-verse-chorus numbers.

The best singing is by Neil Patrick Harris. Nathan Fillion lets his bravado overcome any vocal deficiencies. Felicia Day has a light soubrettish voice that was only slightly annoying at times.

What struck me about this musical was that it would never work on stage. The array of musical styles and the tremendous vocal ranges required would tax any performer in an eight-shows-a-week set-up, and the quick changes between singing to another character versus singing about another character would be confusing without the camera focus to direct our attention.

Still it's another new and entertaining way to tell a musical story. I hope the format catches on.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-along Blog
Music, Lyrics and book by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen, Zack Whedon
Cast: Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day

Rosemary Clooney and Friends--Live performance by Chicago Cabaret Professionals

Rosemary Clooney did not personally appear in the cabaret performance. She died more than 7 years ago. I've never read her autobiography, Girl Singer, but after seeing Rosemary Clooney and Friends by the Chicago Cabaret Professionals, I want to. Rosie didn't have an easy or happy life.

Roughly once a month, the Chicago Cabaret Professionals have been producing one-night-only events at the Drury Lane Water Tower Theater. There is usually a theme or composer-focus for the music included and a different cast of singers participates each time. RC and Friends was the first one I've attended.

I was pleased by the differences in the styles and voices of the five women and one man who made up the cast of this evening. Ranging from a legit soprano voice through all variants of cabaret singer style to a "smoke and gravel" sound--each voice had its place and was suited to the music they were asked to sing.

Some of the music from Clooney's catalogue was familiar to me, but a lot was not. I could have wished for a couple additional uptempo songs, but given the show included more than 24 songs, that's a minor complaint.

Highlights for me were the Marlene Dietrich/Clooney duet between Suzanne Petri and Bob Moreen and two of Rosie's biggest hits "Mambo Italiano" and "Come-on-a My House" both performed by Heather Moran (who had fantastic shoes, too).

Rosemary Clooney and Friends

Created and performed by Chicago Cabaret Professionals

Performed Monday, July 27, 2009 at the Drury Lane Water Tower Theater

Cast: Suzanne Petri, Bob Moreen, Heather Moran, Ava Logan, Spider Saloff, Jeanne

Shrek the Musical--OBC album

I am not the target market for this show. I'm not a kid. I don't have a kid. I don't want to be around kids. And I've never seen the movie that is the basis for this show. That said I was actually looking forward to listening to the cast album of Shrek the Musical. I've liked the previous Jeanine Tesori scores I've encountered. I've like the singing voices of both Brian D'Arcy James and Sutton Foster. So how about the latest endeavour from all of them? Uninspiring.

There were many times when I thought "Alright, this song/premise/title seems promising" and an initial musical introduction would perk up my ears, but in every case the song would fizzle for me before it ended. In many cases I felt the lyrics were rather too casual and not poetic enough to inspire a character to sing. Isn't that why a character sings? Because the emotions and message they have to convey is too strong to just put into words? Some songs had poetic titles--like "When Words Fail" or "Who I'd Be" but in each song even the refrain would lack any more poetry than the title.

The performances all seem hampered by something--a heavy costume, having to be on your knees the whole time, a thick speaking accent, actually being off stage while your character is represented by some kind of puppet on stage. I was particularly disappointed in Brian D'Arcy James; granted he has to perform through a put-on accent and a heavy costume, but nothing on this disc led me to feel any compassion for the leading man, um, ogre. Princess Fiona seems rather passive--at least as represented by her songs.

The music is very piece-meal. If you don't like a particular style of music, wait three minutes, it'll change. There will be a couple styles at least in one song alone. I think that is part of the reason the show didn't work for me. The structure of the songs doesn't allow for a build toward a climax. Several songs do involve clever quod-libet sections (where two melodies--or even three--are sung on top of one another), but the initial melodies seem uninspired, so you end up with layers of uninspired.

Never having seen the animated film, I was struck by the similarity in Shrek's plot to The Island of Misfit Toys from the Rankin and Bass television Rudolph special from my youth. I'm all for letting your freak flag wave, but you'd better have something really special to share. None of these freaks did.

Shrek the Musical
Music by Jeanine Tesori
Lyrics and book by David Lindsay-Abaire
Opened December 2008
Cast: Brian D'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, Christopher Sieber, Daniel Breaker

Forbidden Broadway--The First and the Latest

It's a two-fer today. Two incarnations of the Forbidden Broadway franchise: the first album from 1983, and the latest 25th anniversary version from 2008. I figured, at a year into my listening project, I might know enough to get the jokes from these spoofs. Others may disagree about me knowing anything.

I was surprised that I had heard so few of the songs from the original 1983 album. After all, I was hot and heavy into musical theater at the time, and would have embraced anything that so effectively poked fun at the institution without doing anyone any harm. I had heard the "Don't Cry for me Barbra Streisand" and it was funny to think that 25 years ago, while everyone knew Patti LuPone wouldn't be asked to star in the movie version of Evita, no one had probably even heard of Madonna.

I had also heard the Dolly Levi sequence with its funny "Dolly is a Girl's Best Friend." I had no idea though that Chloe Webb was in the company of the show. I know her only from her television work. She sings well when asked, and mimics even better.

From the most recent version of the show is Rude Awakening. I laughed out loud at some of the lyrics pointed to recent shows such as Mary Poppins, Spring Awakening, and Little Mermaid. The satire in the Forbidden franchise seems to work best when pointed at a specific show, performer or kind of show. There are two songs on this album that poke fun at the tourist audiences that lap up shows like Curtains, while dismissing shows like Grey Gardens; I felt they were a little mean spirited, although if I were a New Yorker perhaps I would feel differently. Lord knows, I make enough jokes about the tourists in Chicago.

Forbidden Broadway
Opened in 1983
Music by anyone willing to not sue
Lyrics by Gerard Alessandrini
Cast: Chloe Webb, Gerard Alessandrini, Nora Mae Lyng, Bill Carmichael, Fred Barton

Forbidden Broadway: Rude Awakening
Opening in 2008
Music again by the non-litigious
Lyrics by Gerard Alessandrini
Cast: Jared Bradshaw, David Caldwell, Janet Dickinson, James Donegan, Valerie Fagan, Gina Kreiezmar

3 Mo' Divas--stage show edited for television broadcast

Why did I make a point of saying this stage show was edited for television broadcast? Well, apparently some songs were cut out from the broadcast of the stage version, but included on the cast album and DVD of the stage version which were used as "bait" for donations to my local PBS station which used the broadcast of 3 Mo' Divas as a pledge drive.


The frequent and lengthy pledge drive interuptions of the broadcast didn't prevent me from mostly enjoying this show, though. I like the idea of performers not being confined to one musical idiom, and that's part of the point of these Divas. I could have used a little more classical to balance the pop, gospel, rock, and blues, but the two classical arias included were well done.


Laurice Lanier, the mezzo of the trio is Juilliard trained, which she talked about during the pledge drive segments. She possesses a beautiful, dark voice that never descends to huskiness. Her good training shows. The other two Divas, Nova Y. Payton (why the middle initial--were there other Nova Paytons?) and Jamet Pittman also have lovely voices, and good training which shows in all the genres they are asked to sing. If there is any message that young people need to learn, it is that nothing surpasses the need for good vocal traing--whether you are singing opera a on American Idol.


I'm waiting now for the next 3 Mo' in the franchise. I suggest 3 Mo' 'Mos. I'm available.

3 Mo' Divas
Concert stage show taped for television
Cast: Laurice Lanier, Nova Y. Payton, Jamet Pittman

A Catered Affair Original Broadway Cast on CD

Well, they say the wedding is never really about the bride or groom, but rather about the bride's mother, and that seems to hold true in this musical story, where the primary character is the Mother-of-the-Bride at A Catered Affair.

There is a nostalgia that is very attractive about this score, even if the music falls into the category of tuneful passages that never really make melodies. Faith Prince as mother Aggie adds much to the reflective nature of the story of a working class Bronx family learning that their only daughter is getting married. Ms. Prince gives a nuanced musical performance.

Set in 1953, the story tries to bridge a couple of generations in the changing and expanding world of the 50s. Daughter Janey (Leslie Kritzer) is anxious to start her new life with fiance Ralph (Matt Cavenaugh), while Aggie and her husband (Tom Wopat) look back on the course of their marriage. "Bachelor" Uncle Winston, who is a family fixture, is portrayed by Harvey Fierstein.

There are some likable moments in this score, coming more often from the lyrics than the music. "Immediate Family" has funny lines about how we all have to put up with our families. "I Stayed" captures the frustration of a working man's life feeling unappreciated. The big number from the score is "Coney Island" which offers a poetic comparison between riding the roller coaster and embracing life. Musically, the number never reaches it's full bloom, and that may be due to Mr. Fierstein's presentation; while I can be a fan of some voices outside the norm, Mr. Fierstein's musical abilities are lost on me.

This is another show that feels very intimate to me, and I wonder if that may be the reason it only lasted three months on Broadway. In a 200-300 seat theater, this could be a lovely show. Perhaps a local Chicago company will produce it soon, so I can see if that assessment is true.

A Catered Affair
Music and Lyrics by John Bucchino
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Cast: Faith Prince, Tom Wopat, Matt Cavanaugh, Leslie Kritzer, Harvey Fierstein

Turn of the Century live performance at the Goodman Theatre

The last live musical performance I saw at the Goodman Theatre was Ain't Misbehavin', which I very much liked, so I was looking forward to a new musical play from the Goodman, featuring selections from the Great American Songbook in a production directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, starring Broadway veteran Rachel York and film good-guy Jeff Daniels. But Turn of the Century was a disappointment from beginning to end when I saw it over the weekend.

This is basically a show that gets in the way of a lot of good music. The show tells the story of a pianist and a singer who get sent back one hundred years and make a name for themselves by "writing" many of the song standards that have yet to be written. We hear many of the most recognizable songs of the last one hundred years, usually in snippets.

Rather than a love story for the ages, this is a love story that takes ages. As my theater-going companion pointed out, there is no chemistry between Mr. Daniels and Ms. York, and while the later sings admirably in the several full songs she is given, often-times the over-blown arrangements get in the way. Mr. Daniels displays little of the charm that is his trademark on film. And while he is often very animated (particularly while miming playing the piano), he seems to just be being himself most of the time, which doesn't really reach very strongly across the footlights.

Joining these two on stage is an ensemble of 16 Chicago-based actors who back-up the two leads, but are given very little time in the spotlight themselves. One of the few times an ensemble member steps front and center is when Kevin Gudahl, as Harry Van Deusen the leading songwriter of 1900, sings one of the few original songs in the score--about Mr. Daniels getting his comeuppance and being outed as a fraud. Mr. Gudahl is an accomplished Chicago actor whom I have seen in mostly classical plays at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. He can really sell it when called for--something Mr. Daniels should learn.

With the star-studded cast (well at least studded with two), a brand-name director, and a book by Brickman and Elice (of Jersey Boys fame), I'm sure this was pegged to transfer to Broadway following this try-out in Chicago. Dare I say without a much better book, better musical arrangements, and perhaps even a new lead to two, I think this show will not see the light of day after is goes dark in Chicago.

Turn of the Century

Music by everyone from Irving Berlin to Barry Manilow
Lyrics by the same
Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice
Directed by Tommy Tune
Presented at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago through November 2
Cast: Jeff Daniels, Rachel York, Ron Orbach, Rachel de Benedet, Kevin Gudahl, Rebecca Finnegan, Johah Rawitz