Tuesday, April 19, 2005

My life in the musical theatre

One day early in my college career I wanted something new to listen to while I wrote a paper. Off to the music library I went. Now, I had never been a fan of musicals - the whole bursting out in song thing just seems silly to me (Disclosure: I was a Nazi/party guest with one line in my high school production of The Sound of Music, which is the easiest way to develop a dislike of musicals). But for some reason, I checked out the original Broadway cast recording of South Pacific on a whim and ended up really liking it. From then on into law school, whenever I had a writing assignment, this was the soundtrack.

Currently, I still don't care much for musicals, but there are a few that I like: Guys & Dolls (c'mon, it's got Frank and Brando!), The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, Don't Stop the Carnival, Pink Floyd The Wall (if that counts)...uh, that may be it. But again, on a whim, the other day I checked out the soundtrack of a new one (to me) from the library: Avenue Q.


Photo courtesy of AvenueQ.com

Although I have yet to actually see the play, I am totally loving the soundtrack. It's like an adult version of Sesame Street. My favorite songs so far: "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist," "Schadenfreude," "The Internet Is For Porn," "Mix Tape," "There's a Fine, Fine Line," "My Girlfriend, Who Lives in Canada," and "I Wish I Could Go Back To College." Very funny stuff. This fall the show is forgoing a touring production and will take up a permanent residence at Steve Wynn's new Las Vegas hotel and casino. Like I need another excuse to visit Sin City.

After a little internet research, I found out that the "There's a place for us..." song used in the TIAA-CREF commercials that I like so much is actually "Somewhere" from West Side Story. There's no escaping it!

Being the geek that I am, I'd love to check out Monty Python's SpamAlot.

And I'm really looking forward to seeing the upcoming movie adaption of Mel Brooks' The Producers, since I never got to see a production of it. How can you not like a song called "Springtime For Hitler?"

Lest these admissions hurt my hetero street cred, let me just emphasize that I still love big boobies.

7 comments:

Law Fairy said...

Oooo musicals. I'm a fan. I'm dying to see Avenue Q. We changed the lyrics to "It Sucks To Be Me" and adapted it to the law school's musical this year.

Spamalot is AWESOME. I bought tickets WAAAAAAY in advance for the brief Chicago stint, which got me nosebleed seats on a Tuesday night, and I could still tell that it was hilarious. A must-see if you're in NY.

And tonight, I'm headed to Les Mis with some friends. That will make it the THIRD time I've seen this one.

Micah said...

SC - And thanks for reciprocating!

LF - I remember you posting something about SpamAlot on your blog some time ago and I was a little jealous. And then a few weeks ago I learned that it stars Hank Azaria, Tim Curry, and David Hyde Pierce and now I'm extremely jealous. I doubt that I'll ever see the play with this line-up (like I'll never catch The Producers with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick). I'm dying to see Avenue Q.

Enjoy Les Mis. An Andrew Lloyd Webber fan, I'm not.

Kate The Great said...

I've always been a big fan of the art form. I firmly believe musicals are in a separate catagory from real life "theatre".

That said, musicals are still cool in my book.

In a former life, I was quite the little musician. I was an understudy for "Frenchie" in Grease my sophomore year. And my audition song for years: Don't Cry For Me Argentina.

Considering my profession, it kills me that I haven't seen the Producers yet.

Hasselback said...

A few more funny ones...

Into The Woods: a take on what happens to the cheracters from your favorite Brother's Grimm stories, after the "happily ever after"

Pippin: a better show to see than to listen to, but the music is good once you've seen the show, and it's got FIRE

Five Guys Named Mo: some simply awsome jazz music, and frankly the only audience participation song (outside of RHPS) that is worth a damn

OK, have fun with these, and by the way, I like boobies too, AND I own a Harley.

No worries here. :)

PS Have you bought your ticket yet?

Micah said...

George - Your comments make me flashback to the time you told us that you had to spoon your fellow male students. Are you going to ship your Harley over?

No ticket just yet. That costs money.

Panthergirl said...

ok, you HAVE seen the original movie of The Producers, right?

I love theater, even some musical theater (still want to see Avenue Q and Spamalot).

Lucky me, my 2nd husband was a stagehand on Broadway, so my daughter and i spent every single night downstairs at Les Mis. He and i are still good friends, so he gets us 'house seats' to stuff.

We sat in the first row for The Lion King, and it was astounding.

Micah said...

Wow. It's good to know people.

And I hate to admit that I haven't seen all of the original Producers movie. But I did see Mel Brooks' production of the musical within Curb Your Enthusiasm.