With a Z!

When Gypsy revived on Broadway, a friend of mine told me that the only reason he went to see it was because Patti LuPone was starring and he didn't want to miss that piece of Theatrical History...

And he was right -- seeing her live in the role of "Mama Rose" was truly a once in a lifetime performance that we absolutely could not have missed!

Well the first two weeks of December are bringing another iconic leading lady back to the Broadway Stage -- Liza Minelli!

Now, I'm fully aware that the woman is twelve shades of batshit crazy...

And more often than not she is standing in the spotlight as the butt of the joke...

But it's Liza. L-I-Z-A! I am pretty sure that it will be the only chance I have in my lifetime to buy a ticket and see this legend perform live in concert. And that is something that I absolutely will not be missing!

There are many that would say to me..."really? you're spending money on that? wow, what a loser" or "wow, how gay of you"...

And I get it. She falls into the same category as Judy, Joan, and Bette. She's someone that the young gays don't exactly flock to... And while I'm aware that I'm much younger than the majority of her fan base, I can appreciate why they exist. And I can't say anything too bad about those middle-aged queens because, let's be honest, I've been heading that direction since my first viewing of "The Wizard of Oz"... It's only a matter of time before we're all gaying out over a limited engagement concert featuring Idina or Sutton or Kristen or Lea, right??? Ya, that's right... my fandom is on a first name basis... deal with it.

And I'll be there at those concerts too. You can count on it!

But until then?

I'll be holding my breath for her to perform this classic...

Liza Minnelli - Maybe This Time
Uploaded by emmanuel365

I will die. D-I-E!

Who wants to go with me?!?!?

ShowMo stuff...

I'm totally unmotivated today.

Shocking, I know.

So to curb my boredom, I thought I'd do some ShowMo gossiping.

This fall, the theme park that is Broadway will welcome it's next big cartoon-to-stage adaptation, "Shrek".

I do not like these very much. "Beauty and the Beast" was alright. "The Little Mermaid" was painful to sit through. So "Shrek" naturally makes me a little nervous.

Except that the cast of this show is unbelievable. Brian d'Arcy James, Sutton Foster, and John Tartaglia -- um, okay! Sign me up! There's been a lot of speculation to how literal the design of this show was going to be, and based on a promo photo on USA Today it looks pretty literal...

One week from today, August 19, another new musical begins previews on Broadway -- "A Tale of Two Cities". Don't really know all that much about it except that it's based on the classic Dicken's tale. And a friend of mine is a swing in the production. Which kinda makes me feel bad that I don't know more about it.

You can catch a video of one of their vocal rehearsals here.

"Spring Awakening" is getting a new male lead -- Hunter Parrish from the Showtime series, "WEEDS"

I'm always a little leary of these TV folk that step in to headline shows. Especially a show like "Spring Awakening" where you really just can't call in your performance. It's an emotionally demanding show!

I think Hunter will be great though... Check out this video of him during a vocal rehearsal with the cast!

Alright, onward and upward.

Is it Friday yet?

Since my Outlook doesn't want to work...

My Outlook at work this morning was freaking out, so I took a moment to see what was going on in the theater world. First stop - BroadwayWorld.com!

This weekend was the opening of the hugely talked about and much anticipated Concert Staging of "Les Miserables" at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The cast is pretty much brilliant. It's like someone got to pick their fantasy cast and then some producer was like "Um, okay! Let's do that!"

Brian Stokes Mitchell as Javert?

John Lloyd Young as Marius?

LEA MICHELE as EPONINE?!?

I need a producer to say that to me.

There are some snippets of their rehearsals and what not on broadwayworld if you're interested. In this link, you get a little taste of the truly amazing Lea Michele's solo in "One Day More" -- gave me chills!

In other news…

Spent the weekend out on Long Island with some girlfriends for a little birthday celebration. Had an absolutely FANTASTIC time. I haven't laughed that much in a long while, so it was definitely needed.

I also got to get to know a lot of the girls much better, and I'm SO happy about that. You are all fabulous!

There are a bunch of photos from the weekend on my Facebook -- feel free to go check them out!

If you can't get to Facebook, here's a few to give you just a small sampling...

[title of show]

I don't even know what to say about this production. I really don't want to get all shmoopy and lame on ya'll and say things like "it really changed the way I look at my life" and "it means so very very much to me" -- cuz that would be lame. Except that it did, and it does. But I'm not going to say it...

So I'm just going to say this. Click on this link and watch the video.

Or better yet -- if you're in New York -- go see the show. There isn't a single thing I'd recommend before it at the moment.

And if you need a more impartial review, who better to ask than the New York Times?

And not that Heidi Blickenstaff would read this... but just in case, I would like to say this:

Dear Heidi --

I'm sorry for the awkward hug and peck on the cheek at the stage door. I realized right after that we've actually only met like twice, and you probably had no idea who I was. I haven't gotten to talk to you nearly as much as Hunter or Susan, so... ya. Sorry 'bout that.

Oh, and you're fierce and you should totally be in my musical once I get the freakin' thing done.

Ok, that's all.

Love,
Spencer

Glory Day, Singular

Tuesday night, the new musical "Glory Days" opened on Broadway. Kathy Lee Gifford showed up for the premiere.

Aaaand apparently she was the only one...

It was announced yesterday that "Glory Days" had given both it's opening AND closing night performance.

Producers John O’Boyle and Ricky Stevens said, “We adore the show and everyone connected with this production. Sadly, given the over-night reviews and our low advance sales, we believe it is prudent to close the show on Broadway immediately.” (source)

Tough break, guys...