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Unexpected Places to Find David Bowie
Weird confession: I find David Bowie endlessly fascinating. Somehow, over his long and impressive career, he’s managed to make himself into something more than just a guy who happens to make really good music: He’s actually become a concept. This is a terribly impressive feat; it’s the same reason I’m so interested in Lady Gaga and Freddie Mercury. But beyond his essential Bowieness, Bowie has the additional strange ability to pop up in places you’re not expecting him to be. I don’t know how he does it. It’s like magic. And you’d think I would have stopped being surprised by this by now, but I haven’t. It still gets me every time. Interested in going Bowie-hunting? Here’s a hand guide to the unexpected places you might be able to find him: More »
Even ‘Sesame Street’ Is Making Fun of ‘Spider Man Turn Off The Dark’
These days, it’s almost a cliche to snark on Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, the troubled Broadway musical that keeps putting its cast members in the hospital. But when beloved children show characters are mocking you? Bono, it’s time to put It’s A Beatiful Day on repeat, stare at your Grammy-laden shelves, and try not to cry. More »
Deciphering the ‘Ghost’ Musical Trailer As Someone Who’s Never Seen ‘Ghost’
Obviously I know what Ghost is about: Patrick Swayze gets killed in a mugging, but his spirit continues to linger around mourning girlfriend Demi Moore, who hires a medium played by Whoopi Goldberg to try and communicate with him. But I know nothing about the characters’ lives — aside from Moore’s predilection for pottery — or how the movie ends.
London’s Piccadilly Theatre is premiering Ghost The Musical, which looks to be a bit flashier than the 1990 movie. Going only by the newly-released trailer, and without peeking at Wikipedia, here are my predictions for the plot. More »
Tony Awards: The Broadway Shows to Look Forward to for Next Year’s Tonys
Some of last night’s Tony winners were going to sweep the awards from the start, like The Book of Mormon, while other shows’ wins were delightfully surprising: Catch Me If You Can, War Horse, and Anything Goes. But they all had major buzz leading up to the awards. Now, we’ve got the lowdown on some of the shows debuting in the new few weeks or months, all of which have Tony dreams of their own. More »
Tony Awards: Brooke Shields’ Tony Awards Fail
The opening number of last night’s Tony Awards was pretty darn memorable for a variety of reasons. One of them was Neil Patrick Harris’ purple tuxedo. One of them was Stephen Colbert’s delightful cameo. But the biggest one by far was Brooke Shields’ massive fail during HER cameo. I feel kind of bad for her, especially since she had to present later on; but at the same time, it was just so funny that I can’t help laughing. Check out the whole number after the jump– for the curious, the Brooke Shields Disaster is at the 3:10 mark. Happy Monday, everyone!
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Tony Awards: Neil Patrick Harris Tells as Many ‘Spider-Man’ Jokes as He Can in 30 Seconds
Let’s put 30 seconds on the clock; aaaaaaaaaaand GO! More »
Tony Awards: ‘Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark’ Performs For No Explicable Reason
Really. It wasn’t nominated. It wasn’t ELIGIBLE to be nominated. And it’s opening on Tuesday– FINALLY– which is sort of a big up-yours to the Broadway community. The weeks immediately following the Tonys are usually the times that audiences are flocking to see the shows that won (and sometimes, the ones that were nominated but didn’t win), giving those shows a big boost in ticket sales. By opening RIGHT AFTER the Tonys, Spider-Man could effectively steal a lot of the audience away from the Tony-winning shows, sooooo yeah. Not such a nice thing to do. Maybe they performed because they do, in fact, open so soon? Maybe? I don’t really know. Furthermore, the song they performed was REALLY. BORING. I’m not kidding. How boring, you ask? Find out here… More »
Tony Awards: Neil Patrick Harris and Hugh Jackman Duke It Out
Midway through the awards, a glorious thing happened: A wild Hugh Jackman appeared. And that wild Hugh Jackman proceeded to challenge Neil Patrick Harris to a duel of epic proportions. Epic, musical proportions. And this, my friends, is why the Tonys are the best awards show out of all of them. Witness the amazingness here! More »
Tony Awards: How’d Everyone Do On Those Predictions?
I may not have entered an awards pool, but I DID make a few predictions. How’d I do? How’d all of YOU do, Crushable readers? Let’s check out the final tally: More »
Tony Awards: The Best Substitution Presenters Used for ‘The Motherf**ker with the Hat’
There’s something really amusing about watching classy theater types navigate their way around a Broadway play with obscenity in the name. But while Alec Baldwin came up with a funny alternative to the tricky title, no one else followed suit. So, he wins this contest hands-down. More »
Tony Awards: The Tweets, the Tweets!
Unlike the MTV Movie Awards, there weren’t a whole lot of celebs tweeting about the Tony Awards. There were, however, a whole bunch of very clever, normal people tweeting about the Tony Awards. Here are some of the best Tonys-related tweets: More »
Tony Awards: Andrew Rannells in ‘The Book of Mormon’
Acting nominees Josh Gad and Rory O’Malley told NY1 on the red carpet that they were really excited about the number that The Book of Mormon was going to perform– because they got to sit back and watch! Yep, the full burden of performance fell upon the shoulders of fellow nominee Andrew Rannells. As Elder Price, Rannells serenaded the Beacon Theatre with “I Believe,” during which he gamely reclaimed his faith… before going into a warlord’s den, book in hand. Too bad he doesn’t have the good sense to anticipate where that book might end up. Check it out in all is Mormonic glory here! More »
Tony Awards: George Takei Hijacks ‘Sister Act’
Okay, so strictly speaking, this didn’t happen AT the Tony Awards; but I kind of wish it had. It is, however, the same number the cast of Sister Act performed, and it’s a million times more awesome with the addition of Sister Mary Teriyaki. For reals. More »
Tony Awards: Neil Patrick Harris’ Tuxedo Is Not Just for Gays Anymore
Neil Patrick Harris‘ opening number “It’s Not Just for the Gays Anymore” celebrated the fact that “straights” and “heteros” from the red states are pouring money into Broadway — and yet he still managed to dance with shimmying sailors, saucy nuns, coy flight attendants, and bright-eyed Mormons. And sport this dazzling purple number, which he wore for only a few seconds before slipping back into his more respectable black tux. (Except that the canary yellow ascot stuck out, and for that we love NPH even more.)
Update! We’ve got the video of NPH’s opening number to go with his snazzy duds. Check it out after the jump. More »
Tony Awards: Norbert Leo Butz and Aaron Tveit in ‘Catch Me If You Can’
Next to Normal‘s Aaron Tveit introduces the Catch Me If You Can Tonys number, but it’s good that he ultimately deferred to co-star Norbert Leo Butz. While Tveit plays Frank Abagnale, Jr. — Leonardo DiCaprio‘s role in the 2002 film — the true star of this song-and-dance number was Butz.
You might recognize him for originating the role of Fiyero in Wicked, but he left the show in 2004. While some actors cycle in and out of Broadway, it seems that Butz has continued to grow on the stage. Only seven years ago he was playing a typical male lead, yet now he’s clearly showing his age — in the best way. Following Tom Hanks as FBI bank fraud agent Carl Hanratty, Butz is wonderfully nervous and stridently law-abiding. And boy, can he dance! Be sure to check out the video. More »
Tony Awards: Red Carpet Arrivals
The Tony Awards red carpet webcast was more something to be put on in the background instead of a front-and-center deal… well, except for the hundreds of people clustered in Times Square for the public viewing party. But if you missed the comings and goings of nominees and other random guests, check out our gallery.
Surprisingly, the hosts (we had no idea who they were, either) didn’t bombard the attendees with questions about who they were wearing.
Update: I’m adding more photos, primarily of good and bad gowns, as they get added. More »
Tony Awards: Daniel Radcliffe Is So Little!
He is. He’s really very tiny. But you know what? He’s also surprisingly adept at musical theatre! I haven’t seen the current revival of How to Succeed (for which Radcliffe was snubbed for an acting nomination), but I just caught the clip of the show, and I was rather pleasantly surprised! Ladies and gentlemen, not only can Harry Potter carry a tune, but also, he’s one helluva a dancer. For a number of years, when his physicality in the Harry Potter movies got particularly stiff, I kind of wanted to gently remind him that he has knees and that he can, in fact, bend them. Looks like he’s learned! Furthermore, he looks like he’s having a lot of fun up there, which is really half the performance. Check out the video here! More »
Tony Awards: Tony Nominees’ 6-Word Memoirs
At the luncheon for Tony nominees on May 31, the good folks of SMITH Magazine asked the nominees to describe how they felt in six words. My personal favorite comes from The Book of Mormon’s Rory O’Malley (“Mom said we should double check”), but there are some pretty choice ones throughout. Check out the video after the jump! More »
Tony Awards: What the Hell Happened to Sutton Foster and Christian Borle?
Sometimes, red carpets yield surprises, but not necessarily the nice kind. And now I’m kind of sad, and the awards haven’t even started yet!
Maybe I should back up a little. Here’s what happened: There I was, watching the Tony Awards red carpet webcast with Natalie and my roommate. Norbert Leo Butz, who had been nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for Catch Me If You Can, was being interviewed alongside his wife, actress Michelle Federer. Butz and Federer were discussing “showbiz romances,” of which theirs is one (they met when they were members of the original company of Wicked). And then Natalie, sitting beside me, mentioned something about Sutton Foster and Bobby Cannavale being the current big showbiz couple.
I choked on my sangria. “But… but… what happened to Sutton Foster and Christian Borle?” I spluttered. More »
Tony Awards: Behind-the-Scenes Sneak Peek Video!
Guess what? It’s Tony Awards Night, so break out the song-and-dance! Crushable Associate Editor Natalie Zutter and I will be covering the event for you all tonight; the telecast airs on CBS at 8pm. In the meantime, though, let’s start getting psyched up for it, shall we? Earlier this week, host Neil Patrick Harris gave CBS Early Show co-anchor Chris Wragge a backstage preview of the show, and guess what again? You can watch it on video here! I’m not entirely sure why Wragge seems so obsessed with the fact that this year’s venue, the Beacon Theatre, is a more “intimate” space than the show’s usual venue of Radio City Music Hall (count how many times he says it. I dare you. I DOUBLE dare you), but if this video is anything to go by, there’s going to be some fun stuff to look forward to this year. Now’s your time to get a sneak peek at a few moments in rehearsal, including a bit from the all-star production of Company (featuring NPH, Stephen Colbert, Jon Cryer, Christina Hendricks… the list goes on), a tidbit from Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, and a quick look at Best Musical and Best Revival of a Musical nominees Catch Me If You Can, Sister Act, How to Succeed, and The Book of Mormon. More »
