NEW CDS REVIEWS BY JORGE / posted August 12, 2010

Finally I was able to fight my natural laziness and got the time to write reviews to a few CDs I recently bought.

From the pleasant surprise of LIFE BEGINS AT 8:40 to MEMPHIS, that doesn’t have nothing to do with my tastes, this has been an interesting year. THE ADDAMS FAMILY is almost dull but I found a couple of songs that I like, and MY VAUDEVILLE MAN could benefit from better orchestrations and a big band. As for revivals, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC isn’t as good as it could be, but PROMISES PROMISES is better than the original.

Anyway, to read my reviews of these and other CDs all you have to do is click here or in the image.

JANE KRAKOWSKI: THE LAZIEST GIRL IN TOWN - A CD Review by Jorge / posted August 12, 2010

Recorded live at Feinstein’s, Jane’s solo album is a great surprise and makes for a perfectly enjoyable listening.

Mainly know for her work in the television series “Ally McBeal” and “30 Rock”; Jane is in fact a Broadway baby in every sense. She can act, sing and dance, and does it all with talent. I was lucky to see her live on stage in NINE and GUYS AND DOLLS and she was terrific in both roles. She also had a warm quality that embrace us, making us fall in love with her.

It’s that warm quality that makes this CD so special. She delivers all her numbers and conducts the act like she was among friends and I’m sure that by the end of the evening every member of the audience wishes to be her friend.

She excels with a hilarious version of “Zip” (with lyrics written specially for her by Marc Shaiman & Scott Wittman) and gives us the strangest version of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” I’ve ever listened. We can feel the love she puts in her renditions of the title song, “My Handy Man” and “Thirteen Men”” among others, she even makes Eartha Kitt’s “Old Fashioned Girl” her own. And her encore number, “Rubber Duckie” is truly delicious.

I strongly recommend everyone to meet “The Laziest Gal in Town”; in fact, Jane is the nicest girl (with a naughty sexy side that made her irresistible) in town and it’s a pleasure to meet her. One of the CDs of the year.

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IMAGINE THIS - A DVD Review by Jorge / posted August 12, 2010

This new musical flopped in its London opening, lasting only a few weeks. Surprisingly someone decided to do a live recording of it and release it on DVD. I didn’t see it live on stage, but I felt compelled to buy the DVD (it’s my way to show DVD producers that there are people out there willing to buy stage musicals on DVD).

What can I say? This is a very boring show, with a monotonous score, terrible choreography and a moral message to make you cry. Well, I didn’t cry and only thanks to a couple of cast members I survived until the end of it.

It’s true that the opening number isn’t bad and there’re one or two good moments of stage direction, but that’s not enough to save it and even its unfunny attempts at humor don’t work. Maybe with a better score it might work, but that would be a different show.

As someone who defends that stage musicals should be released on DVD (where are the television broadcasts of CRAZY FOR YOU, CONTACT, 42ND STREET, THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES and others?) I would love to say that you should buy this one, but I can’t. This is a poor show, that wouldn’t do much for the future of musicals on DVD.

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A LOOK AT THE LAST BROADWAY SEASON / posted June 30, 2010

According to The Broadway League, Broadway shows grossed approximately $1.02 billion during the 2009-2010 theatre season.

It seems (there’s no report on how much YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN did on the previous season) grosses were up 1.5 percent, but attendance (11.89 million) was down three percent from the 2008–2009 season.

Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, said, "We are thrilled that even in this current economic climate, our numbers are strong thanks to the vibrancy of this season’s offerings."

During the 2009-2010 season — which began May 25, 2009, and ended May 23, 2010 — 39 shows opened, including 11 new musicals, 14 new plays, 6 musical revivals, and 8 play revivals.

To visit my quick look at all the musicals that opened during the season, just click here. I Hope you’ll enjoy it.

by Jorge and in Playbill On-Line by Andrew Gans

GLEN OR GLENDA - A MUSICAL COMEDY WITH FILM MUSIC AND LYRICS BY MICHAEL PENNY / posted June 19, 2010

Michael Penny is raising funds for GLEN OR GLENDA - A New Musical on Kickstarter! An outrageous new musical version of Ed Wood's notorious cross-dressing epic, GLEN OR GLENDA, seeks angels for its premiere production!

According to Penny’s words “Though I might like to claim that this musical version of GLEN OR GLENDA was conceived in some teriffic flash of inspiration, it wouldn't be true. I had originally thought up the project some years ago. At that time I had planned to adapt the film into something of a traditional sort of musical comedy, wrote a number of songs for this version, but all of this work, contained within a single composition book, disappeared. This misfortune and what seemed like the unsolvable problems in attempting to create this piece in a traditional form compelled me to accept what seemed like destiny's verdict and abandon the project, though not without some regret.

Then, this past year I learned about a troupe in Portland that performs newly commissioned scores for films that are played live accompanying a screening. This suggested to me a similar approach to my GLEN OR GLENDA project, yet as it evolved in my mind it became clear to me that the piece could be much more interesting, even extraordinary, as something of an amalgam of film, theatre, music, dance, all of the arts. This, to me, was a very exciting concept and as I began writing it my creativity went into overdrive. I was becoming aware that this was a once in a lifetime project and I gave it everything within me.”

To know more about this project and to become one of its angels just click here.

BROADWAY MASTERWORKS: AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH DAVID FOIL / posted May 8, 2010

With, among other things, its interesting podcasts, its irresistible photo gallery and its unique blog, the new Masterworks Broadway website is a must for every musical fan.

A few weeks ago I received an email from Cinemedia Promotions asking me if I would be interested in interviewing one of the guys responsible for this new website and I couldn’t resist it. The only problem was the fact that I live in Portugal and those guys are in the United States, but thanks to the miracles of the internet I was able to interview David Foil, Senior Director at Sony Masterworks.

So, although we never seated together in the same room, here is my exclusive interview with David Foil. I hope you’ll enjoy it. All you have to do is click here or in the photo.

FLYING DOWN TO... / posted March, 2010

A small website about our travels around the world, where you can find personals tips and a few of our photos about the visited places. Among others, there’s New York, London, Venice, Norway and Berlin. To visit it click here.

SWEET CHARITY: A WEBPAGE / posted March, 2010

On my last visit to London I had the pleasure of seeing a lovely and lively production of SWEET CHARITY at the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory. That show will now be transfer to the West End, where I hope it’ll have a long run. Meanwhile you can have a look at my webpage about it, just click here.

A SINGLE MAN - A Movie Review by Jorge / posted March, 2010

Sometimes comes a film that makes us believe in the magic of the movies. This is one of these times.

This simple story of man, George, who lost his lover and decides to say goodbye to life, is in fact a hymn to life. Some people may call it “artsy” and in fact this is a beautiful piece of art, but one that is never boring, lifeless or pretentious.

Director Tom Ford, in his directorial debut, delivers a fascinating movie, where each scene is perfectly designed and where nothing is left by chance. Don’t expect a cold film, this is a really emotional drama, done with heart and soul. And, like life, is colorful with the right dose of humor. I never read the Christopher Isherwood book in which this movie is based, but in the hands of Ford, the characters fully come to life and we can easily fall in love with them. Of course the fact that those characters are played by a talented cast helps a lot.

Colin Firth delivers the performance of his life and he really deserves the Oscar. Julianne Moore is amazing as his decadent but beautiful friend (in a perfect world she would be nominated for the Oscar of Best Supporting Actress), in fact she steals all the scenes she appears. A young Nicholas Hoult, with his incredible blue yes, is perfect as George’s student and finally I enjoyed seeing Matthew Goode (the dead lover) on the screen.

Everything in here is beautiful. The cinematography is beautiful, the sets are beautiful, the music is beautiful, the costumes are beautiful, even the supporting cast is beautiful. A true object of beauty, this is without any doubt one of the movies of the year and I can hardly believe that only Firth got Oscar recognition. Don’t miss it!

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