In the documentary Broadway: The Golden Age, Rex Reed names the performance of Kim Stanley in the film The Goddess as the best performance ever in film. Recommended viewing for anyone interested in the “Golden Age” of film and Broadway.
Broadway – The Golden Age
Broadway: The Golden Age is a film by Rick McKay. It asks the questions “Did Broadway have a Golden Age?” and “Did the Golden Age die?”. The retrospect is told by the actual Broadway performers that were the headliners, writers and musical directors from the 1940’s through the 1960’s.
How to Start a Career in the Arts
I get many emails from people asking variations of the question “How do I start a career in the arts?”. It comes from singers, writers, hip hop producers – all people who perform and create. They are starting out, they have a drive, they think they have what it takes but they are not sure of where the road is.
I will tell you the secret. And it’s very simple. I cannot tell you if you will succeed, or if you are any good, or even if you should. But here’s the secret:
Chapeaugraphy
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewsh9_ztKV0
Video: Short Version of Chapeaugraphy-Act Tabarin – Chapeau.
Have you ever heard of Chapeaugraphy? It’s the comedy act of taking a single piece of circular felt and twisting it to make many different types of hats. The roots go back to the streets of Paris, France almost 400 years ago.
The video above will give you a feel for the essence of the act.
ZAIA Celebrates 500 Shows
November 12, 2009 was the celebration for the 500th performance of the ZAIA show by Cirque Du Soleil in Macau, China. Cirque founder Guy Laliberte flew in for the performance and toasted the artists and crew. Family and friends were also invited for the occasion.
Conrad Askland (ZAIA keyboards and assistant bandleader) and Guy Laliberte.
Banana Shpeel
Banana Shpeel, the new Cirque Du Soleil show with vaudeville roots, opens Nov. 19. 2009 -Jan. 3, 2010 at the Chicago Theater (Chicago, USA). February 4, 2010 it will premiere in New York at the Beacon Theater. The production blends pseudo-vaudevillian-style comedy with tap, hip-hop and slapstick.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2BmzGzCHJA
DNS Updates or How Did I Get To This Website?
I recently updated DNS on websites that are not active to point here to my personal site. Thank you to the person who emailed me about that. Over the years I had many websites on different servers and I didn’t update DNS on websites I wasn’t using. When those old IP’s were reallocated, new owners would load their websites onto them. In plain english that means that when people would go to an old website of mine I wasn’t using any more they would end up on a different random site like “Norm’s Bait and Tackle Shop”.
Continue reading “DNS Updates or How Did I Get To This Website?”
Definition of Entertainment
Did you know that the latin root of “to entertain” means “to hold between”? (Official dictionary definition at the end of this blog post). When an audience is no longer held, they are no longer being entertained. The mighty brass ring for any theatrical production is to keep the audience engaged so they are not looking at their watches and counting the minutes until intermission.
Viva Elvis – New Cirque Show in Las Vegas
Viva Elvis is the name of the new Cirque resident show. It will open December 2009 at the Aria Resort&Casino at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter complex. Here’s a press release:
Continue reading “Viva Elvis – New Cirque Show in Las Vegas”
Lully and Molière: Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlMSnj6OEGY
Singers:
Francois-Nicolas Geslot (ten)
Arnaud Marzorati (bar)
Claire Lefilliâtre (sop)
Conductor: Vincent Dumestre
Ensemble: Le Poème Harmonique
Director: Benjamin Lazar
“Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme”, comédie-ballet in five acts, text by Molière, music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, first performed at the château of Chambord on October 14, 1670, before the court of Louis XIV. Molière played Monsieur Jourdain, and Lully was the mufti.