Crazytown

GIRAFFES...IN DANGER?!

A world without giraffes is hardly a world at all.
by Alex Syiek (Writer/Performer)

So my mother sent me this breaking news this week:

A world without giraffes is hardly a world at all.

If any of y'all reading this are close to me, you will know that I love giraffes. Favorite animal. Hands down. They are majestic, they are hilarious, they are survivors. So when I saw they were put on the endangered list, I was heartbroken. Of course, my enterprising mother suggested I put on a fundraiser performance of my musical, Giraffenstein and donate the proceeds to a wildlife rescue fund. I think it's a fabulous idea, and I will probably do it once I am back in the city after the holidays.

Giraffenstein was written for the 2014 Hollywood Fringe Festival, and I was lucky enough to have my brilliant sister and fellow Crazytown blogger, Joanna Syiek direct it. As the name suggests, the musical is the story of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as told by animals of the African Serengeti. So you can get a lil' taste of what it looked like, here's our promo:

And we're all giraffes.

It was a joyous time of my life putting the production up. The company felt like a family, and I got to be surrounded by my favorite animals as they sang and danced. What could be better?

But tragically, the musical could end up a relic of the past if giraffes are no longer around in our world. So I implore you to step back and recognize the devastating effects both poaching and climate change are having on some of the most incredible creatures on Earth, including the giraffe, the African elephant, and coral reefs. If you'd like to find out more about humanity's unfortunate effect on our global animal family tree, check out Vanishing, a CNN report, which, by the time you are reading this will have already aired. I'm sure you will be able to find it online.

Climate change is a real threat, no matter what certain administrations may posit. We can be the change we want to see in the world. Let's save those long tongued, cute-as-hell creatures and thousands of other endangered species.

PRETTY GOOD YEAR?

Even if 2016 wasn't the most awesome year on record, are we actually looking forward to 2017?
By Owen Panettieri (playwright, lyricist)

I've heard a lot of people complaining recently about 2016 and how overall it was an awful year that they can't wait to see in the rear view mirror. I don't share that opinion. I'm not looking for the year to be over. Personally, 2016 was pretty good to me. I did what I resolved to do back in January. I lost roughly 30 lbs, I traveled to places in Europe I'd always dreamed of visiting and I had a production of my latest play A Burial Place play in NYC that was as artistically enriching as anything I've ever done. I was seated in front of Anna Wintour at not one but TWO fancy events. I got to go on Mr. Toad's Wild Ride again - several times. I was surrounded by the love of family and friends. I ate good food. I slept comfortably in a nice home, I took lots of cute pictures of my dog sleeping ridiculously on our couch. I consider myself very fortunate, In a lot of ways, 2016 and I are cool with each other.

But I'll share with you one personal story that kinda sums up 2016's big problem. As I mentioned earlier, Josh and I went on a trip to Europe in July. It was a fantastic experience through Paris, Vienna, Salzburg, Munich and London. However, every single day we'd wake up to some sort of horrible international incident having happened either back home or nearby. There was the terrorist attack in Nice, the failed coup in Turkey, train attacks in Germany, mass shootings, police shootings, the creepy awfulness of the whole Republican convention. Very heavy shit happened every day and we felt it. It finally caught up with us head on in Munich, when there was a mass shooting not far from the Olympia shopping mall. Ten people, including the shooter, were killed and dozens were injured. The city went into lockdown during dinnertime. There was no public transportation. We were held inside our restaurant and under the impression there were as many as three active shooters still unaccounted for in the area. It was under those conditions we had to walk around the locked down area for an hour to get back to our hotel. The truth of the situation was that the lone shooter was dead and the threat was over, but we had to walk home believing that maybe we could be shot to death at anytime. It was scary. And it was very sad.

CAMP CLASSIC WATCH: ZOMBIE PROM THE MOVIE!!!!!

The delicious off-Broadway musical was made into a camp-classic movie that never saw the light of day...

by David Davila (Musical Theatre Writer) 

 

If you're a musical theatre obsessed weirdo like me, then you've loved ZOMBIE PROM the musical for quite some time. I was in a production back in 2007 and boy did we have a blast! It's a hysterical musical about a 1950's high school love affair gone dead; literally. I've always thought it would make a great movie, so you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that they already made it into a movie back in 2007 starring the legendary queen of camp, RuPaul.

It looks like they probably ran out of money during filming because the two and a half hour musical has been in turned into a short thirty-six minute film. Too bad the movie was made back in the days BEFORE Kickstarter and Drag Race. 

Still a short film is better than nothing... or is it just enough to make us long for a full version??? 

I can't decide! At least we have these glorious thirty-six minutes of RuPaul, rotting flesh, and poodle skirts!!!! Someone posted it on Youtube y'all... ENJOY!!!!!

 

WHAT'S HIS NAME, MAN?

Baby camel + hit Broadway show =______________
By Jennifer Anderson (Actor/Singer/Lover of animals and puns)

Crazytown, I know you've been engrossed in election coverage (on SNL and Full Frontal), but I wanted to make sure that a very important piece of news crossed your path that you may have previously missed. I know I did.

On May 9, the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago celebrated the birth of a Bactrian Camel. A little over a month later, on International Ungulate Day, the park debut the youngster under his new moniker: ALEXANDER CAMELTON.

Just like his country he's young scrappy and hungry.

What is not to love about this story? Adorable baby animals and hit Broadway shows go together like baked brie and Pinot Noir. Zoos of the nation, take note. If you need a little help coming up with names for your newborn animals, here are some starters:

Foxy Hart

The name on everybody's lips is gonna be...

Mama Crows

Here she is, boys! Here she is, world!

Miss Honey Badger

THIS IS MY HOUSE

El(e)ph(ant)ba

Okay, this one is a stretch, I know.

JENNIFER ANDERSON is an actor and singer living in Brooklyn. She hopes Alexander Camelton stays away from his sworn enemy in the Tiger pen, Aaron Purr. www.jenniferjanderson.com
EMAIL HIM/HER |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

IT COULD BE HIM

"I'm just gonna like cry."
By Joanna Syiek (Director/Producer/Blogger)

Has London Road hit your radar? The show was a bit of a smash over in the UK, where it picked up Best Musical at the 2011 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and four Olivier Award nominations in 2012. Originally a National Theatre production, was recently made into a film that follows a serial murder case in England.

The composer used all found text/interviews from the neighbors in the case. But perhaps most interestingly, matched people's speaking pitch to the notes he ultimately gave them in the composition. This clever approach makes for an incredibly interesting watch. Take a peak at "It Could Be Him," where young town residents explain the paranoia that's set in over the town following the murders:

(And if you've already seen that, catch these boys' silly reinterpretation of the catchy number.)

JOANNA SYIEK is currently an American in Paris with a penchant for original theatre work, clean graphic design, and really good Indian food. She directs around the City of Angels and writes about nourishing creativity, Broadway favorites, and talent obsessions over on her blogging home. www.thoughtsontheatre.wordpress.com
EMAIL HER |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

ON REPEAT: "LOST IN THE WAVES"

If my Beats could talk...they'd say "can we play the next damn song already?"
By Jennifer Anderson (Actor/Singer/Easily fixated)

Crazytown, I get obsessed easily. I fall hard. If it’s a TV show, I watch all the episodes I can find until I finish them all and then start again (I think I’ve seen every “Impractical Jokers” at least 3 times. And Bob’s Burgers? There’s no telling.) If it’s theater, I’ll rush it until I’m out of breath. And if it's music, it plays in my ears on repeat for days. Sometimes weeks.

So, I'm taking this opportunity to turn my obsessive tendencies into something to write about with a series I'll call "On Repeat." This week, we'll discuss Kooman and Dimond's "Lost in the Waves."

A SMALL HISTORY OF POST-MODERNISM IN MUSICALS

Let's take a look at some of the musicals that paved the way for HAMILTON...

by David Davila (musical theatre writer)

Most of you out there are sick of HAMILTON at this point? Right? No? Just me?

Okay... not even me... but some of you might be I suppose. Or maybe HAMILTON was the first musical that really made you feel like musicals could be something besides tap shoes and line kicks. Maybe you're looking for a new (old) musical to devour completely. Something you can memorize from beginning to end like HAMILTON... well... you're in luck, because I happened to compile a list of the musicals that have paved the way for HAMILTON by breaking the laws of modernism and creating something truly new; something post-modern.

Check em out and ENJOY!!!!

A SMALL HISTORY OF POST-MODERNISM IN MUSICALS:

HAIR - Many musicologists suggest that Post-Modernism in music can be measured in two stages... before HAIR, and after HAIR. This was pretty much the first rock musical.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - The first rock opera... If you think about it, this basically legitimized rock and roll and ensured it would still be performed centuries from now.

LES MISERABLES - Claude Michel Schonberg wanted to legitimize pop music and bring back big Romantic Operas. I'd say he was pretty successful at it, and created a whole new genre of pop-operas that people called "Mega-Musicals." 

RENT - The greatest rock opera if you ask me, but maybe I'm biased. Jonathan Larson wanted Rock n Roll to have it's place in opera the way that Schonberg had done with Les Mis. Pop-operas were everywhere and all of a sudden this rock opera about HIV and gay love was on the cover of Newsweek. It was everywhere. It was the publicity from this musical that really helped push the gay rights movement into everyone's living rooms. 

SPRING AWAKENING - It was an alt-rock concert, or was it a serious play? Spring Awakening was the first musical to care less about the historical elements of time and place, and more about the mood that the lyrics and music created for the listener. The idea is that the use of contemporary rock n roll helped modern teens immediately connect with the plight of teens from over a hundred years ago... 

PASSING STRANGE: An epic spoken-word-poetry-rock-n-roll hybrid odyssey where black people played white and the various worlds our hero delved into were imagined and foretold by a meta-narrator that was both the star and the God-like commentator. 

IN THE HEIGHTS: The first hip hop musical? At least that's what people have been crediting it as... One of my faves. 

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON - Post modernism at it's finest. Let's mix country, and comedy, and musical theatre, and heavy metal, and folk and costumes from all kinds of different eras, and political satire, and push the boundaries of what a musical can be. 

NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 - One of the first immersive pieces of theatre to gain such mainstream attention, this musical based on WAR AND PEACE was actually a legit three hour long through-composed opera made up of mostly recitative mixed with electronic dance music, a Russian folk band, a rock band, and a small orchestra all led by a conductor who was also a DJ. Oh... and the action takes place around the audience who play some of the instruments themselves. It's coming to Broadway this year too so you can see it live!

HERE LIES LOVE - The first dance party musical. The audience not only witnessed a techno-opera led by a DJ instead of a conductor, they learned line dances and literally became part of the show interacting with the cast and even having some of the lines. It made for a trippy and fun night at the theatre. 

and of course that leads us to... a whole new genre!!

DAVID DAVILA is the composer of MANUEL VS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, VOX POP, #52SONGS and author of the Tex-Mex plays ADAN Y JULIO, MEN OF GOD, ABUELAS OR THE POVERTY CYCLE, CREDO, REQUERDOS OF MY LIFE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, and AZTEC PIRATES AND THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE ON MARS. He is a self proclaimed Voxist, a Diva enthusiast, and founder of Lone Star Theatre Co. Wanna talk about it? www.daviddavila.net
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

Let's take a look at some of the musicals that paved the way for HAMILTON...

by David Davila (musical theatre writer)

Most of you out there are sick of HAMILTON at this point? Right? No? Just me?

Okay... not even me... but some of you might be I suppose. Or maybe HAMILTON was the first musical that really made you feel like musicals could be something besides tap shoes and line kicks. Maybe you're looking for a new (old) musical to devour completely. Something you can memorize from beginning to end like HAMILTON... well... you're in luck, because I happened to compile a list of the musicals that have paved the way for HAMILTON by breaking the laws of modernism and creating something truly new; something post-modern.

Check em out and ENJOY!!!!

A SMALL HISTORY OF POST-MODERNISM IN MUSICALS:

HAIR - Many musicologists suggest that Post-Modernism in music can be measured in two stages... before HAIR, and after HAIR. This was pretty much the first rock musical.

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR - The first rock opera... If you think about it, this basically legitimized rock and roll and ensured it would still be performed centuries from now.

LES MISERABLES - Claude Michel Schonberg wanted to legitimize pop music and bring back big Romantic Operas. I'd say he was pretty successful at it, and created a whole new genre of pop-operas that people called "Mega-Musicals." 

RENT - The greatest rock opera if you ask me, but maybe I'm biased. Jonathan Larson wanted Rock n Roll to have it's place in opera the way that Schonberg had done with Les Mis. Pop-operas were everywhere and all of a sudden this rock opera about HIV and gay love was on the cover of Newsweek. It was everywhere. It was the publicity from this musical that really helped push the gay rights movement into everyone's living rooms. 

SPRING AWAKENING - It was an alt-rock concert, or was it a serious play? Spring Awakening was the first musical to care less about the historical elements of time and place, and more about the mood that the lyrics and music created for the listener. The idea is that the use of contemporary rock n roll helped modern teens immediately connect with the plight of teens from over a hundred years ago... 

PASSING STRANGE: An epic spoken-word-poetry-rock-n-roll hybrid odyssey where black people played white and the various worlds our hero delved into were imagined and foretold by a meta-narrator that was both the star and the God-like commentator. 

IN THE HEIGHTS: The first hip hop musical? At least that's what people have been crediting it as... One of my faves. 

BLOODY BLOODY ANDREW JACKSON - Post modernism at it's finest. Let's mix country, and comedy, and musical theatre, and heavy metal, and folk and costumes from all kinds of different eras, and political satire, and push the boundaries of what a musical can be. 

NATASHA, PIERRE, & THE GREAT COMET OF 1812 - One of the first immersive pieces of theatre to gain such mainstream attention, this musical based on WAR AND PEACE was actually a legit three hour long through-composed opera made up of mostly recitative mixed with electronic dance music, a Russian folk band, a rock band, and a small orchestra all led by a conductor who was also a DJ. Oh... and the action takes place around the audience who play some of the instruments themselves. It's coming to Broadway this year too so you can see it live!

HERE LIES LOVE - The first dance party musical. The audience not only witnessed a techno-opera led by a DJ instead of a conductor, they learned line dances and literally became part of the show interacting with the cast and even having some of the lines. It made for a trippy and fun night at the theatre. 

and of course that leads us to... a whole new genre!!

DAVID DAVILA is the composer of MANUEL VS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, VOX POP, #52SONGS and author of the Tex-Mex plays ADAN Y JULIO, MEN OF GOD, ABUELAS OR THE POVERTY CYCLE, CREDO, REQUERDOS OF MY LIFE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, and AZTEC PIRATES AND THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE ON MARS. He is a self proclaimed Voxist, a Diva enthusiast, and founder of Lone Star Theatre Co. Wanna talk about it? www.daviddavila.net
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

"PUTTING ON A SHOW..."

...is a lot of work!" - Karlan Judd's The Real Actors of NYC
By Jennifer Anderson (actor/singer/friend of new musicals)

Crazytown, some of you may remember my best week ever in March. During that artistically fulfilling week, I was part of a reading of a brand spanking new musical by Karlan Judd called The Real Actors of NYC.

Loosely based on the real life experiences of my friend Jake, Nick, and myself, The Real Actors of NYC is a satirical look at what actors have to face in the New York musical theater world. It's madcap, campy fun and I'm elated to announce that we have the opportunity to bring the show Off-Broadway!

THE BUZZIEST SHOWS AT NYC FRINGE (2016)

A guide to which shows you should see this year...

by David Davila (playwright / songwriter)

It's August in NYC, which means two things: gay guys wearing practically nothing, and experimental theatre. Yes sir, it's NYC's turn to host the Fringe, which means downtown NYC will be buzzing with the energy of over 200 shows night and day. Deciding which show to see this year can be a little daunting, so I thought I'd help you out by pointing out a few that everyone is talking about. 

WALKEN ON SUNSHINE

Writer: Dave Droxler, Music by James Rushin
Director: Marcus Stevens
An anxiety-ridden filmmaker accidentally lies to investors about having Christopher Walken in his movie and embarks on a ridiculous quest to get Walken. Neuroses, quirky love, bad guys and cowbells emerge to derail him. Will he ever find Walken??

LET THE DEVIL TAKE THE HINDMOST

Writer: Maya Contreras
Director: Lorca Peress
Set in 1969 Washington DC, Vera, an African American math teacher and her husband Pablo, a Latino Art Professor, attempt to make sense of a violent decade, their rocky marriage, and what the future holds for their politically active daughter.

ZUCCOTTI PARK

Writer: Catherine Hurd, Composer: Vatrena King
Director: Luis Salgado
Choreographer: Luis Salgado
What does it mean to be an American? After eight years of war, Sergeant Cooper visits childhood sweetheart, Kate, in NYC. They meet at Zuccotti Park, home of Occupy, where she and her friends protest the government he fought for.

THE ILLUSORY ADVENTURES OF A DREAMER

Writer: Michael Bradley
Director: Chris Goodrich
Inspired by Ibsen's "Peer Gynt," a young man goes on a fantastical journey to find himself. Peer must confront a crisis of sexual identity as he encounters gluttonous Trolls, a mischievous guardian, and his one true love. #WhoAmI?

DEBRIEFING

Writer: Maximillian Singh Gill
Director: Joan Kane
A young Pakistani-American activist has been recruited to infiltrate a militant group in the Middle East. When she disappears, her recruiter has to determine whether she has changed sides or been betrayed. He finds out the truth is more complicated.

THE SUTHERBY TRIPLETS

Writer: Kelly Barrett-Gibson
Director: Kelly Barrett-Gibson
Dueling divas, squirrel warfare, and a lifetime of skeletons dragged from the closet. A weekend with the Sutherbys is never dull! With so many egos under one roof, one thing is certain: "Everyone wants to be in the spotlight!"

THE MUSCLE IN QUESTION 

Writer: Samantha Stone
Director: Mariana Rose Benjamin
The Muscle in Question is a magical realism full length play in one act about how the technical structure of a human’s brain has an effect on their day to day well-being, experiences and existence. 

HELD

Writer: Kelly Maxwell, Music by Meghan Rose
Director: S.C. Lucier
Held is a musical set in a fantasy world. Korin, a dreamer. Mera, a warrior. Bardo, a baker. Piano, cello, and bass set a romantic score while the three struggle to escape a place where time stands still.

TARGET GOLDBERG (HELP! ROGUE GOVERNMENT AGENTS ARE TRYING TO FRAME ME!)

Writer: David J Goldberg
Director: Conrad Kluck
A civil war is unfolding today within the intelligence world, and David J Goldberg finds himself caught in the middle. With the help of disgruntled insiders, Goldberg tries to sabotage a rouge entrapment program by going public with his story.

For more info on all of these productions you can obviously google them or visit fringeNYC.org

DAVID DAVILA is the composer of MANUEL VS THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, VOX POP, #52SONGS and author of the Tex-Mex plays ADAN Y JULIO, MEN OF GOD, ABUELAS OR THE POVERTY CYCLE, CREDO, REQUERDOS OF MY LIFE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, and AZTEC PIRATES AND THE INSIGNIFICANCE OF LIFE ON MARS. He is a self proclaimed Voxist, a Diva enthusiast, and founder of Lone Star Theatre Co. Wanna talk about it? www.daviddavila.net
EMAIL HIM |  FACEBOOK | TWITTER | OTHER POSTS BY THIS AUTHOR

NATASHA AND PIERRE AND DAVE AND CLAUDIO

Are today's radical musicals reenacting the revolution of 1598?
By Eric Grunin

I saw Dave Malloy's Natasha and Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 back in 2013, and somewhere in Act 2 I had a tiny epiphany about where he's coming from, and perhaps where we're all headed. Since The Great Comet is coming back to town, and since the cast album is a good representation of the whole show (and can be heard in its entirely online), I'm going to talk this one out.

Let's start with some background.

Dave Malloy

I saw The Great Comet during the Meatpacking District run, the one in a pop-up tent. Phillipa Soo was terrific as Natasha, which none of you will find surprising. Malloy himself was Pierre, and presented as a cross between Elvis Costello and Vladimir Vysotsky (which I mean as high praise). And Tolstoy spins a great yarn when he puts aside his obsession with theories of history and gets on with his story.

Pierre (Dave Malloy) fights a drunken duel.

I found the show more consistently engaging than Malloy's 2010 Three Pianos, a hallucinatory fantasia on Schubert's song cycle Die Winterreise, whose energy level dropped considerably about two-thirds of the way through. I had a similarly uneven experience at last year's Preludes, a play with music (definitely not a 'musical') which digs deep into the dream-life of Rachmaninoff as he struggles against depression and despair. But all this work is on a very high conceptual level. Malloy is deeply engaged with the emotional processes of the so-called Romantic Era, a musical epoch for which Schubert and Rachmaninoff virtually delimit the beginning and end.

As it turns out, Malloy is very, very dissatisfied with the state of musical theater. He even wrote a kind of manifesto about it five years ago. I disagree with a lot of his analysis, but he's asking the right questions, and that's more important. Here's a short and less dyspeptic interview from 2014:

 

Now it's time to turn away from Mr. Malloy for a minute and go over a little recent history.

Lyrics and Music and Style and Idea

The way that music and story interact in what we call the American Musical has remained essentially unchanged since 1943. There's nothing wrong with that: using songs to advance the story and delineate character and subtext is a strategy that is far from exhaustion.

The harmonic and rhythmic vocabulary of the music has also remained much the same, which is much more problematic: English usage is in the middle of a revolution unlike anything seen since Shakespeare's time, and new linguistic tropes require new music to match. The way we talk, even in 'formal' settings, now incorporates informality, slang, new grammatical constructions, viral catchphrases, and the telegraphic speech of sitcom banter.

In the late 1950s, when this transition began to pick up speed, popular music was changing to accommodate it: you had to have a new kind of music if what you wanted to say was I wanna hold your hand, let alone Good golly Miss Molly, sure likes to ball.

 

No YouTube clips with lyrics - coincidence?