AVENUE Q WINS BEST MUSICAL!

11:23 AM 6/7/2004
Okay, I know this site is about CHICAGO, but let us digress.

See AVENUE Q.

If you live in New York, just buy a ticket. Yes, it's too expensive, but at least it's not $100.
If you don't live in New York, buy the CD and hope that the show comes to your town on tour (Check AvenueQ.com for dates).
If you're so inclined, sing the songs yourself: pick up Avenue Q - Piano/vocal Selections. Even if you're not a diva belter, these are songs you can probably handle, which isn't to say they're not great, it's just that this isn't the PHANTOM OF THE OPERA loud crappy bombastic stuff.

Here's a video playlist of clips from the show:
Look at the titles. Not typical Broadway show fare. But it's not that far off either - that is, it's not so weird that it would alienate either traditional musical theater fans or people who think musicals are crappola. In that way, it's somewhat like CHICAGO, although CHICAGO has, of course, the old razzle-dazzle. But in it's own way, so does AVENUE Q.
Here's the thing: the show is very much targeted at a younger generation (people now in their 20's and 30's) who grew up with Sesame Street. (No one ever went broke preaching to the choir - and in AVENUE Q's case, that's a good thing.) But there's more to it than that. It's a solid, entertaining, and VERY VERY funny evening of theater. That's rarer than it should be.
WICKED, based on the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West, is bland as white bread. Idina Menzel won, and she's good. Kristin Chenoweth I could do without, but she's not AWFUL (well, a little annoying, but whatever). The music from the show is BORING. It sounds like McShowMusic - a calculated attempt to play to the masses. It's working; the show is a huge success, and more power to them. There's always room for a big splashy commercial hit or four on the Great White Way. But AVENUE Q is something a little different, and it's fantastic that the Tony voters agreed.

Okay, now time for slight sour grapes: How did CHICAGO not get a nomination for Best Score? Huh? Can anyone explain that?

5:05 PM 2/11/2003: Okay, someone did explain it - it's because the score isn't "new", that is, written specifically for the movie. Well, that's dumb!

Welcome to ChicagoTheMovie.com, a site about the new movie version of the great musical, CHICAGO.

3:10 PM 1/30/2003
So we've been thinking... Kander and Ebb are likely to be nominated for Best Original Song this year at the Oscars (see below for links to more of their work). Is this the first time in, well, awhile, that a real Broadway songwriting duo will be up for this prize? As opposed to, you know, Phil Collins or the guys from South Park (we loved the movie - and the show - don't get us wrong)? Discuss it the forums.

8:14 PM 1/25/2003
First of all, apologies for not updating the site more frequently.
By now you should know that CHICAGO THE MOVIE is open, and will soon hit the rest of the country (February 7, 2003). The film seems to have taken the public by storm so far, and we think this will continue come Oscar time.
Remember, you can post whatever you like - although we'd mostly like to know what you think of the movie - in our forums. Click here for more.

2:55 PM 11/15/2002
Richard Gere (aka Billy Flynn) gets marreid in secret
Was he trying to avoid publicity because of his upcoming movie? Read about it here. Also, his stalker was deported. Ouch! Hope that's not a comment on his singing voice. :-)

11:14 AM 11/7/2002
Still photos from the movie are here.
Plus, because so many people asked so nicely, here's a link to the trailer.

4:50 PM 11/5/2002
Thanks for this mention on the Fosse.com message board. It also turned us on to this site, which is pretty nice.

Ramblings about the entertainment industry:

9:32 PM 10/25/2002
Four of the most frightening words in the English language: "Drum Solo, Part One".

Past thoughts:

Garth Drabinsky, of LIVENT cooked books fame, is being charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which, although they are a major law enforcement body in Canada, just doesn't sound as theatening as being charged by the FBI. Here's the story, and here's something we did to commemorate the event.

A thought: Tommy Lee, of marrying-Pam-Anderson and Motley Crue fame, "has proposed settling his punishment for spousal abuse by performing concerts at military bases around the world." Isn't that punishment for everyone else? Just kidding, man.

Dude, you're out of a job - Steven, that annoying guy who says "Dude, you're getting a [name of major computer manufacturer withheld]" is, well, toast. In a bizarre statement, someone connected with the advertising campaign actually said, "We have an ongoing relationship with Ben Curtis and will continue to have that relationship in the near the future." Oookay.
Equally bizarre, a tribute site on angelfire is actually "Temporarily Unavailable. The Angelfire site you are trying to reach has been temporarily suspended due to excessive bandwidth consumption."
Although we think everyone who thinks about this sort of thing for any greater amount of time than it takes to ignore the commercial when it airs needs to get a life in a big way (and we include ourselves in this group), this page, which talks about the difference between the "ubiquitous, annoying, moronic Dell Dude" (we didn't say it) and Ellen Feiss, who is part of Apple's annoying (although not as annoying) "switch" campaign. Bottom line - do commercials really make anyone buy anything? We doubt it.
Now, how about going over to our Buy Stuff section and picking up some nifty CHICAGO merch? Hint, hint...

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