my life...in, around and about the theatre | blogging at you since 200...

The opening night of Hair at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood was like attending the most energetic, love-filed performance in which there was nothing but mutual love between the cast and audience.  The cast led by the charismatic and uber-talented...

Merriam-Webster defines applause as:
approval publicly expressed (as by clapping the hands)
While applause is a commonly understood and used expression of approval, I was taught at a very early age that a standing ovation is different; the standing ovation is a special distinction to honor a stand-out performance or speaker and indicates a...

National Tour of West Side Story/credit: Joan Marcus
Arguably, there is nothing that exudes the essence of musical theatre more than West Side Story. From Lenny's (Bernstein) gorgeous score, Sondheim's unparalleled lyrics (though he sometimes begs to differ...see Finishing the Hat) to Jerry's (Robbins...

next to normal is easily one of the best contemporary musicals to date (and easily one of my personal favorites...ever).   It is everything a musical should be - moving, heartbreaking, haunting, thought provoking (with humorous moments), it has characters...