Paul’s Sunday Brunch Buffet: The Big Gay Superbowl LXIV Edition
June 13, 2010
Tonight, it’s the 64th Annual Tony Awards! Can I get a huzzah up in here? Growing up in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin, the Tony Awards represented the very closest I ever got to seeing new Broadway shows. And, frankly, as someone who doesn’t really get out to New York all that much (umm, like, once… ever), it still is the very closest thing I ever get to seeing new Broadway shows. Moreover, in recent years, musicals seem to be making a comeback. It’s not necessarily a new golden age, but at least it’s not the like 90s when virtually every new musical that got produced got nominated – a nadir being the 94-95 season which only saw two new musicals hit Broadway, Andrew Lloyd Weber’s torpid adaptation of Sunset Boulevard, and a theme-park-calibre revue of Lieber & Stoller rock ‘n’ roll songs called Smokey Joe’s Cafe.
Thankfully, things started looking up almost immediately when the late Jonathan Larson’s Rent opened the following year; and with the sleak, minimalist revival of Kander & Ebb’s Chicago. Musicals just feel cooler, more relevant, now than they did 20 years ago, and a new generation of musical composers – Jeanine Tesori, Adam Guettel, Andrew Lippa, Tom Kitt and Jason Robert Brown, to name a few – seem to finally be coming out of their predecessors’ long shadows, re-creating the musical in their own images. Meanwhile pop songwriters like Duncan Sheik and Elton John are taking more than a vanity interest in musical theater as a form, and both have been rewarded for their efforts. Sheik’s Spring Awakening won Best Musical in 2007, and Elton’s scored two Best Musicals in The Lion King and last year’s winner Billy Elliot.
This year’s batch of nominees has a lot to offer fans of pop and rock music – most obviously, Green Day‘s American Idiot, a stage adaptation of the band’s 2004 masterpiece, which the band previewed with their performance of “21 Guns” at this year’s Grammy Awards.
This isn’t the first time a rock album has been adapted as Broadway musical. In 1993, The Who’s Tommy became a huge hit. It’s general lack of coherent plotting not only didn’t hinder it – it actually became a sort of selling point. It was a colorful rock spectacle no-brainer. Here’s a performance from that year’s Tony Awards, introduced by (of course) Liza Minnelli – only slightly more coherent than Pete Townshend’s story.
Another rocker who’s taken more than a passing interest in musical theater is Bon Jovi keyboardist David Bryan, who wrote the score for this year’s Best Musical nominee Memphis, which originated as an Off-Broadway show 8 years ago.
Though the arrival of Memphis on Broadway has been a long time coming, Bryan continues to play in Bon Jovi and he’s most recently co-written another show, Toxic Avenger – The Musical, based on the horror film of the same name.
This year’s top Tony contender is the musical Fela!, based on the life of Nigerian composer, bandleader, and activist Fela Kuti, and set to his music. The show coincides with the Knitting Factory label’s recent Fela Kuti reissue campaign, and is notable not only for its 11 nominations, but for the fact that it could very possibly make Jay-Z – along with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, one of the show’s producers – a Tony Award winner.
Of course, Jay-Z signalled early on in his career that he might have a soft spot for Broadway musicals. Long before Gwen Stefani’s update on Fiddler on the Roof, Jay-Z was channeling the orphans from the 1977 Broadway musical Annie in “Hard Knock Life (Ghetto Anthem)” – a sample which, for me, established him as one of the smartest and ballsiest rappers to come out of the 90s. All of which makes me wonder: How long until “The Blueprint Trilogy: The Musical” hits the stage?
Zac Brown Band Shreds All-Stars – Grammys 2010
January 31, 2010
CBS shills The Big Bang Theory during Best Comedy Album. Six nominees and Colbert wins for a cute skit that turned into a record. And for this we’ve given up a Kings of Leon or a jazz or a blues performance? Or maybe even that, whaddya call it? Classical.
Off of commercial, Norah Jones and Ringo Starr. Remember, Norah’s dad and Ringo go way back. Bobby Darin gets a Lifetime Achievement Award as Mack The Knife plays. Ringo pumps up the audience for Norah.
Beyonce’s Halo, I Gotta Feeling by the Peas, Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, Gaga’s Poker Face and Taylor Swift’s You Belong With Me are the nominees. Kings of Leon pull off another huge upset. Peas and Swift were safe here. Good for the Academy voters.
Robert Downey, Jr. is introduced as the most self-important actor of his generation which is a joke gone bad or a horrible intro. He is Sue’s at Movie Rewind’s main dude. Gotta give it to Jamie Foxx who can make an intro. Autotune at The Grammys is a big no-no in my book especially when we all know Jamie can sing. Some weirdness when Jamie’s mic seemed to cut in and a different timbre was heard. I’m just saying… T-Pain who is never losing AutoTune regardless of venue prances a bit. The whole thing is a bit muddy for stars this talented.
It’s the big jam as Slash enters with hat and blazing guitar.
Katy Perry, kind of looking like his daughter, shows up with Alice Cooper. They give Florence Greenberg a posthumous Trustee Award and start naming Best Rock Album nominees.
Best Rock (Kid Rock? Rock of Ages?) whatever that means anymore, goes to Green Day. That’s a strange choice with Dave Matthews and the album I thought had won, AC/DC’s Black Ice. Insiders Butch Vig and Chris Lord-Alge get name checked by Billie Joe Armstrong who doesn’t let anyone else talk. He writes great hooks, but I’m getting bored with Billie Joe again. This happened after Dookie too.
Chris O’Donnell shills one of the NCIS shows. He throws a lifetime award to Harold Bradley. He then gives way for Zac Brown Band and Leon Russell. I would say Leon looks great, but between the shades, big white hat and beard, I couldn’t say.
He sounded great though as did the protracted acapella version of America that opened the segment. Brilliant, brilliant band. Harmony. Lyrics. America. Shredding acoustic guitar solo. These guys will be around on a decade.
Fergie Vs. The Censors – Grammys 2010
January 31, 2010
S
eal brought the crowd to life with a Lifetime Achievement Award for Leonard Cohen. Then he opens up with another performance. No boring awards here.
Roll out the songs.
Here’s Pink, doing herself proud in front of the industry and a worldwide television artist. Her outfit is a cross between nun’s habit and none habit. She is glamour and spins through the track without blemish eveas she disrobed into truly none. If Jerry Falwell hadn’t died, this would have killed him. Our girl spins as though in a circus, looking sexier by the minute until she is drenched in water and hit every note while spinning above the crowd in fabric.
Amazing.
Miranda Lambert and Keith Urban, both beautiful, look pretty pedestrian after that. They announce Loretta Lynn’s Lifetime Achievement Award and a Trustee Award for long-timer producer Walter Miller.
Best New Artist, the Kiss of Death Grammy, that Gaga should have been eligible for rolls up. I told Money Mike that Hilson was the safe Academy choice although The Ting Tings or MGMT should win. Zac Brown Band pulls the well-deserved upset! The boys look happy, yet even though they are performing later, they get played off.
Miley Cyrus, all growed up, introduces the Peas. Fergie gets “mother-father” in place instead of the lyric and CBS reacted too late for the delay. CBS began experiencing audio difficulties. Language. After watching Pink spin above the crowd, dripping water and dressed in ribbons, do we really need to worry about some lyric. BEP does their typical strong musical theater performance. I’ve Got A Feeling brought everyone out, robots included.
Welcome to the Future, they exhort the crowd. Except, you know, for the censorship part.
Loretta Lynn photo: Scott Schram http://schram.net/
