Willkommen! This is the official blog of The Diary of a Theatre Kid. This is where it all started. On this blog, we talk about everything from Broadway to regional to live TV musicals! Feel free to send feedback or leave comments on my posts. Don't forget to check us out on Twitter and Tumblr for exclusive content!
In case you don't know I am a huge Miss Saigon fan! I absolutely love this show. I love the score, sets, actors, actresses, story, costumes and everything else. I am a huge fan of the 2014 West End Revival. Anyway before I have this huge long rant about why I love Miss Saigon let's just focus on this one song. "I'd Give My Life For You" is the act 1 finale of Miss Saigon. Kim sings this song to her son Tam. What I love about this song (as well as the role of Kim) is that it can be sung/interpreted so many different ways. You have Lea Salonga's (The original Kim on West End and Broadway) approach where she uses a more soft spoken voice when portraying Kim. Then you have Eva Noblezada's (The Kim in the 2014 West End Revival and upcoming 2017 Broadway Revival) where she uses her beautiful belt in the role of Kim and lets her voice fill up the theatre. This song is so beautiful and it is such a meaningful song.
Eva Noblezada- Performed this song at the Olivier Awards. I think Cameron did this as sort of a "Fuck You" to the voters for snubbing Eva for a nomination. Let me remind you that she has so much emotion in this song for it being performed at the Olivier Awards. Few actors can do that and have this much emotion. Just saying that Eva is a gem.
Heeya Kim performed the role of Kim in Miss Saigon at The Broadway Theatre of Pitman. I had the great opportunity of seeing her perform. She was absolutely amazing and this video does not do her justice. She is an amazing actress. Her portrayal of Kim was just mesmerizing. She brought something to this role. I can't put my finger on it but she brought something new to this role and it was beautiful. She was beautiful. I hope we see more of her soon. I personally would like to see her continue on the Miss Saigon road. Fun fact: This was her first production EVER. As in this is the first time she has ever done theatre!
Lea Salonga (West End, Broadway, Manila) Here Is Lea performing the song at her concert The Legends and the Classics Encore. This isn't her singing it as a lullaby like I had hoped, but I can't find the video of her singing it that way anywhere.
Rachelle Ann Go was one of the 5 women to be considered for the role of Kim. She was eventually given the role of Gigi in the 2014 West End Revival. She sang this song for close friends and family. I hope she one day portrays Kim. I would love to see that. Especially after seeing how much she has grown throughout her whole experience in the West End.
Tanya Manalang (The Kim Alternate in the 2014 West End Revival) sings this song at a concert of sorts. I don't know much about Miss Manalang, but she has such a beautiful voice.
One day a few years ago I went to the dark side of Youtube theatre I found this exciting series from 2008. I'm not sure what these are from, but I wish someone would bring this back. If you don't know how Madlibs works I shall explain it. "A Mad Lib is a story that has been strategically edited so that designated words are replaced with random words during a game with two or more people. How fun or funny it can be is as limited only as the imagination of your group, which makes it a fun party game. It can also be used as a learning tool in the classroom because the different missing words break down the eight parts of basic sentence structure. Flex your creative muscle by writing your own or use one of several online Mad Lib generators." Thanks eHow. For Musical Madlibs it's the same thing except they use theatre songs. An added bonus they normally had someone from the show sing the madlibbed song. Anyway here are my favorite Musical Madlibs.
I believe I already made a post about her, but I don't care. This woman is amazing. She brings such a beautiful, stunningness (Yay making up words) to Andrew Lloyd Webber's music. She has such a beautiful voice. Below are videos of her singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" from Evita, "The Phantom of the Opera" from The Phantom of the Opera and "Memory" from Cats *Which she was nominated an Olivier Award for (British equivalent of a Tony)* Here's a fun fact for you: Nicole worked closely with Andrew during the creation of Love Never Dies.
This rendition of Defying Gravity from Wicked! It is absolutely amazing! It features Brandi Chavonne Massey as Elphaba. She is one of only 5 (give or take I might have miscounted) African-American women to portray Elphaba in any production. She was only an understudy though. I hope that since Broadway is becoming more diverse that we will see more African-American Elphabas, who knows maybe even an African-American Glinda.
Hello fellow thespians! I will be away starting June 30th and will be gone until July 11th. During this 12 day recess I will NOT be updating my blog. I am going to Europe and will spend all my time experiencing the life of an American in Paris. I am going to try and see an opera while I'm there or some sort of theatre experience and I will write all about it. Even if I won't understand a word they are saying.
Eclipsed Opened: March 6, 2016 Closing: June 19, 2016 Tony Awards:
Best Costume Design of a Play for Clint Ramos
The Father Opened: April 14, 2016 Closing: June 19, 2016 Tony Awards:
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for Frank Langella as Andre
Long Day's Journey into Night Opened: April 27, 2016 Closing: June 26, 2016 Tony Awards:
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Jessica Lange as Mary Tyrone
Best Lighting Design of a Play for Natasha Katz
Bright Star Opened: March 24, 2016 Closing: June 26, 2016 Tony Awards: N/A
The King and I Opened: April 16, 2015 Closing: June 26, 2016 Tony Awards:
Best Revival of a Musical
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for Kelli O'Hara as Anna Leonowens
Best Performance by a Feautured Actress in a Play for Ruthie Ann Miles as Lady Thiang
Best Costume Design of a Musical for Catherine Zuber
I believe most of you know that Paul Wontorek hosts Show People a talk show that is updated about once a month. You can find all of these episodes on Broadway.Com's Youtube channel. Show People involves interview with actors and actresses that are on Broadway or Broadway veterans these people range from Marin Mazzie, Audra McDonald, Meghan Hilty, Billy Porter, Patina Miller, Andy Karl and Michael Cerveris. Here are just a few of my favorite episodes of Show People. I will say who is being interviewed and what show they were currently in at that time (If they aren't currently working on a show, I just put shows they are known for working on.)
Marin Mazzie
Carrie (2012 Off-Broadway Revival)
Audra McDonald
Porgy and Bess
Audra McDonald
Lady Day at Emmerson's Bar and Grill
I just came out with my page I Can Hear the Bells, but I have another page on it's way. This page will be dedicated for musicals/plays I only have clips of not the whole show. For example: I have every single song from the 1984 Broadway revival of The Wiz. I do not have a single dialogue scene though. That is what this page will be used for. I'm finally getting back into the groove of this again. Thanks for being patient with me!
TONY AWARDS ARE IN LESS THEN 12 HOURS!!!!! However, if I am being completely honest I am not that excited for them this year. We all know that Hamilton will sweep all of the categories. Even if we don't want it to, but considering the fact that Hamilton has multiple people nominated in the same category that is going to split the vote and will probably cause another show to take that award home. Anyway here are my predictions (As well as own personal hopes) for who will win at tonight's 70th Annual Tony Awards. The people who won are in red.
Best Play
Eclipsed
The Father
The Humans
King Charles III
Best Musical
Bright Star
Hamilton
School of Rock
Shuffle Along
Waitress
Best Revival of a Play
Blackbird
The Crucible
Long Day's Journey into Night
Noises Off
A View from the Bridge
Best Revival of a Musical
The Color Purple
Fiddler on the Roof
She Loves Me
Spring Awakening
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Gabriel Byrne- Long Day's Journey into Night as James Tyrone
Jeff Daniels- Blackbird as Smith
Frank Langella- The Father as Andre
Tom Pigott-Smith- King Charles III as Charles
Mark Strong- A View from the Bridge as Eddie Carbone
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Jessica Lange- Long Day's Journey into Night as Mary Cavan Tyrone
Laurie Metcalf- Misery as Annie Wilkes
Lupita Nyong'o- Eclipsed as The Girl Sophie Okonedo- The Crucible as Elizabeth Proctor
Michelle Williams- Blackbird as Una Spencer
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Alex Brightman- School of Rock as Dewey Finn
Danny Burstein- Fiddler on the Roof as Tevye
Zachary Levi- She Loves Me as Georg Nowack
Lin-Manuel Miranda- Hamilton as Alexander Hamilton
Leslie Odom Jr.- Hamilton as Aaron Burr
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Laura Benanti- She Loves Me as Amalia Balash
Carmen Cusack- Bright Star as Alice Murphy
Cynthia Erivo- The Color Purple as Celie Harris Johnson
Jessie Mueller- Waitress as Jenna Hunterson
Phillipa Soo- Hamilton as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Reed Birney- The Humans as Erik Blake
Bill Camp- The Crucible as Reverand John Hale
David Furr- Noises Off as Gary Lejeune
Richard Goulding- King Charles III as Prince Harry
Michael Shannon- Long Day's Journey into Night as James Tyrone Jr.
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Pascale Armand- Eclipsed as Bessie
Meghan Hilty- Noises Off as Brooke Ashton
Andrea Martin- Noises Off as Dotty Otley
Saycon Sengbloh- Eclipsed as Helena Best
Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Daveed Diggs- Hamilton as Marquis de Lafayette / Thomas Jefferson
Brandon Victor Dixon- Shuffle Along as Eubie Blake
Christopher Fitzgerald- Waitress as Ogie
Jonathan Groff- Hamilton as King George III
Christopher Jackson- Hamilton as George Washington
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
7- Hamilton
5- A View From the Bridge
3- The Color Purple
2- American Psycho, Long Day's Journey Into Night
1- Eclipsed, Fiddler on the Roof, King Charles III, Noises Off, She Loves Me
It's time for some change on this blog. This is a somewhat revised segment. It used to be called "I Dreamed a Dream" and it was about my dream casts for certain shows and I would explain why I thought certain people should play certain roles. This time it is going to be more short and to the point. I figured why don't we start off with a racially diverse Mamma Mia. Here goes...
Shanice Williams as Sophie Sheridan (The Wiz, The Wiz Live)
Stephanie Mills as Donna Sheridan
(The Wiz, The Wiz Live, Children of Eden)
I really want to see more of this mother-daughter dynamic that they have. It is amazing with how natural their chemistry is. They both have such beautiful voices. They're voices blend so well too. I would love to hear them duet on "Slipping Through My Fingers"
Queen Latifah as Rosie
(Chicago, Bessie, The Wiz Live)
Dolly Parton as Tanya (9 to 5, Joyful Noise)
I had a very difficult time casting these two characters. There are so many wonderful women who could portray these roles. Whenever I would think of Tanya I thought about Dolly Parton. Dolly is what I imagine Tanya would look like in real life. I am not trying to insult Dolly Parton in anyway. I love Dolly she is such an amazing woman. I think her southern voice would bring something unique to the role of Tanya. Queen Latifah would put a nice sassy twist on the role of Rosie plus it's Queen Latifah she can do no wrong.
Will Swenson as Sam Carmichael
(Les Miserables, Hair)
Jon Jon Briones as Hary Bright
(Miss Saigon)
Norm Lewis as Bill Austin
(Porgy and Bess, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera)
These roles were also difficult to cast. These roles are absolutely crucial you have to believe that Donna would fall in love with all three of these men. The actress portraying Donna has to be able to fall in love with these three men. That is why I chose Will Swenson, Jon Jon Briones and Norm Lewis. All three of these men are such sweethearts and I would love to have anyone of these three be my potential dad if I were Sophie.
I know I said that I was originally not excited for Hairspray Live!, but I love Kenny Leon and I also love Derek Hough and I am beyond excited to see what changes they will make to adapt this for live television. Any way here goes. For the different filming locations this is how I believe they will be broken down 1) City Streets- For "Good Morning Baltimore" and "Welcome to the 60's" and "Run and Tell That" as well as some other scenes. 2) Corny Collin's Show- For obviously the Corny Collin's show and they will probably do something like the movie where the Miss Hairspray Pageant is also in the studio.
We have all heard by now that Fox will remake The Rocky Horror Picture. The even (Which will not be recorded live) is set to air in October. Right in time for Halloween. The cast features Emmy Award Nominee Laverne Cox (Orange is the New Black) as the Sweet Transvetite Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Victoria Justice (Victorious) and Ryan McCartan (Heathers: The Musical) as the newly engaged couple Janet Weiss and Brad Majors. Reeve Carney (Spiderman: Turn off the Dark) and two time Grammy Nominee and Emmy Award Winner Christina Milian (The Voice) will star as the brother/sister duo Riff-Raff and Magenta. The cast also features Tony Award Winners Annaleigh Ashford (Kinky Boots, Wicked, You Can't Take It With You) and Ben Vereen (Pippin, Jesus Christ Superstar) as Columbia and Dr. Everett von Scott. Rounding out the cast we have Grammy Award Nominee Adam Lambert as motor bike riding Eddie, Staz Nair as Dr. Frank-N-Furter's muscular creation Rocky, and three time Tony Nominee, two time Olivier Award Nominee, Grammy Award Nominee and Emmy Award Winner Tim Curry (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Spamalot) as the Criminologist. I am a huge fan of the original movie and I don't have a problem with them remaking it, but what I do have a problem with is how they have redesigned the show. I absolutely hate some of the costume changes they have made. I specifically despise the costume changes made for Riff-Raff and Magenta. They look over the top and ridiculous. I absolutely hate what they did to Riff-Raff and Magenta, they look like something out of a bad 90's movie. I mean the type that stays bad, not one where you look back now and say "Oh my god it's so bad it's good!" I mean it's so bad it makes you want to burn down Hollywood for ever making it. On the left are pictures from the original movie and on the right are pictures of what the remake is going to look like.
