HOME * CAST RECORDINGS * THE DVDs CORNER * THE SHOWS * SHOW PEOPLE * MUSICAL MOVIES
THE MUSICAL CHRONICLES * ALL ABOUT ME * USEFUL LINKS

Well, this isn't exactly a blog, just a place where I’ll post reviews of CDs, DVDs and movies. There will also be articles about Musical Theatre and other stuff that I hope might interest you. Nothing very boring, I expect.

As for me, I’m just a regular guy who fell in love with The Musical at a very early age and whose passion for it has been growing ever since. I don’t have any kind of academy degree regarding the subject and so everything you may read here it's just the humble opinion and thoughts of someone who loves Musicals. If you wish to know more about me go to All About Jorge. To get an idea about my tastes visit My Favorite Scores and My Favorite Movie Musicals.

Please feel free to email me at jorge@jorgeplace.com and give me your opinion about any of these subjects.

My reviews are rated from 1 (awful) to 5 (excellent) stars.
Last update: April 25th , 2008

 

JEREMY SHONFELD'S NEW ALBUM

37 NOTEBOOKS is the title of the upcoming album by singer and songwriter Jeremy Schonfeld, musical director and guest performer for Broadway Boot Camp as well as a contributing performer and musician for “Rockers on Broadway.”

This new album will feature a line-up of Broadway guest vocalists: Jarrod Emick, Lauren Kennedy, Julia Murney, Adam Pascal, Amy Spanger, Shoshana Bean, Donnie Kehr, Tracie Thoms, Julie Danao-Salkin, Kate Shindle and Luther Creek.

For more information visit www.jeremyschonfeld.com and www.myspace.com/jeremyschonfeld.

The official CD release party for 37 NOTEBOOKS will take place at the Birdland Jazz Club in NYC on May 5th at 7pm. A portion of the proceeds from this event will benefit the Broadway Dreams Foundation (www.mybroadwaydreams.com).

posted April 25th, 2008

 

SHARE WEST SIDE STORY MEMORIES

A few days ago I received an email from a Kathleen Carroll, whose daughter is going to take part on a school production of WEST SIDE STORY, and she would love for people who have performed this musical to take a moment and share their thoughts about it with her daughter.

So if you’re one of the lucky people who starred in any production of WEST SIDE STORY, take a moment, read Kathleen’s email and send her daughter a message. As for me I wish Maggie to “break-a-leg”.

“There’s a Place For Us,” so the lyric goes. On May 1-4, the Mahomet-Seymour High School Drama Club will lift their talented voices in search of that treasured place, that “Somewhere,” created by Leonard Bernstein in West Side Story. My daughter, Maggie Carroll has the role of “Anybodys.” She is thrilled! It is a role she fought for and she has worked hard to bring this pivotal character to life in their production.

We are very much aware of the honored tradition surrounding this musical. When it was first produced on Broadway in 1957, West Side Story dramatically changed musical theater. The focus on teenage gangs in New York City was decidedly darker than previous musicals in which the nice guy always got the girl and the understudy always got a lucky break and became the star of the show. There is tension between the gangs, tension between the lovers, and even tension in the music. The ending is heartbreaking but inspirational.

50 years later, West Side Story still speaks to the frustrations of teenagers growing up in a world they didn’t create and usually can’t control. More than star-crossed lovers, the themes so beautifully explored in West Side Story still have meaning for our culture. We are, and always will be, a nation of immigrants. There are, and always will be, insiders and outsiders. Teenagers still face the cruel realities of poverty, the challenge of growing up without parents, the shortcomings of our educational and professional institutions to meet their needs and the persistence of gang violence.

Through it all, West Side Story holds out the hope that we will all find our place … “Somewhere.”

As a surprise for my daughter, I am contacting other people who have performed this musical. Please take a moment and send her your thoughts on playing your character and wish her “break-a-leg.” You can either respond to this email or to our home address at 310 S. Windwood Court, Mahomet, IL, 61853.

Thank you so very much for your time and consideration!

Sincerely, Kathleen Carroll"

posted April 25th, 2008

 

A SPOONFUL OF STILES & DREWE

A few days ago I received an email about a one night only event that will take place at Her Majesty's Theatre in the West End on Sunday 6 July 2008, in support of Mercury Musical Developments.

A SPOONFUL OF STILES & DREWE it’s the name of the event and it celebrates 25 years of songwriting by the award-winning duo of musical theatre composer George Stiles and lyricist Anthony Drewe. This team wrote, among others, the scores for HONK!, JUST SO and the new songs for the stage production of MARY POPPINS.

The one night only celebration will star Olivier Award winners Joanna Riding, Clive Rowe and Leanne Jones, TV favourites Helena Blackman and Daniel Boys, the stars of "Wicked" James Gillan and Oliver Tompsett, "Mary Poppins" star Scarlett Strallen, Julie Atherton (who originated the roles of Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut in "Avenue Q"), Jerry Springer legend Alison Jiear and musical theatre stalwart Claire Moore.

Call the Box Office on 0844 412 4657 or click here to book your tickets online.

posted April 25th, 2008

 

JERRY BOCK'S 80TH BIRTHDAY GALA

If you like the work of composer Jerry Bock (FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, SHE LOVES ME, THE APPLE TREE, FIORELLO, TENDERLOIN, among others) you should save the date of Sunday, May 18th, at 6:00 P.M to attend Encompass New Opera Theatre (Brooklyn) celebration of Bock’s 80th birthday.

Although the cast list hasn’t been announced yet, the presence of Bock’s past collaborators Sheldon Harnick and Joseph Stein is expected.

To purchase tickets call: 718-398-4675 or email: encompassopera@yahoo.com.

posted April 24th, 2008

 

DAVID HENEKER: A FAN WEBSITE

I’ve been a fan of British composer & lyricist David Heneker since I heard his HALF A SIXPENCE score. That musical is currently enjoying a well reviewed production at Musical Tonight!, Goodspeed will have its own production next July and a new English production starring Gary Wilmot is touring the United Kingdom.

Since I wasn’t able to find much about Heneker in the internet, I decided to build a small website devoted to his work. You can visit it by cliking here.

posted April 13th, 2008

 

WORDS AND MUSIC BY JERRY HERMAN - A Review by Jorge

While I was watching this great documentary I couldn’t stop thinking that I wish there were more Jerry Herman musicals. For someone who began his career in the late 50s, we should have more shows by him; I’m sure the musical theatre would be a richer place.

But that doesn’t matter, what brings me here is the PBS television special WORDS AND MUSIC BY JERRY HERMAN. Created by Amber Edwards this is a Valentine to the great Jerry and a special treat for musical lovers all over the world.

A closer look at Jerry’s life and career, it has in Jerry himself the perfect storyteller. He simply loves his work and his enthusiasm and joy of living are contagious. A host of stars (Carol Channing, Angela Lansbury, Charles Nelson Reilly, Michael Feinstein, Fred Ebb, George Hearn and many others) talk about him and his shows, and they do it with affection and respect.

A special treat for us musical fans, are the excerpts from MACK & MABEL, HELLO, DOLLY!, MAME, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES and specially DEAR WORLD; they are enough reason to buy this unique DVD, but better than that is the opportunity to get to know Jerry in a more personal way. Unfortunately I don’t know Jerry personally, but it looks like the nicest and the most optimist man in the world.

By the end of the documentary, we perfectly understand why his music is always so up-lifting and we hope that a new Jerry musical will soon be available. I can imagine a couple of movies (A POCKTEFUL OF MIRACLES, MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS) that would be perfect for him to turn into musicals. I’m sure he must have a truck full of unreleased songs; I just hope that someday they will be available for al of us to enjoy.

Thank you Mr. Herman for all the joy and pleasure you have given us. Rate:

posted April 13th, 2008 / For more Movie and DVD Reviews click here

 

SWEENEY TODD - A Review by Miss Diva

I know I should have written this review early, but laziness is a thing that happens very often to middle aged women like me. But since this movie was recently release on DVD I think it’s about time for me to say what I think about it.

I love the scores of Mr. Stephen Sondheim and, although SWEENEY TODD isn’t my favorite (I always preferred FOLLIES), I think it’s a masterpiece of the genre. The idea of Tim Burton directing a movie version sounded good to me, after all Burton was responsible for the delicious dark musical THE NIGTHMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS. I could even imagine it as an animation movie (a great idea for a possible INTO THE WOODS movie adaptation, don’t you agree?).

The problem was when I heard that dear Johnny Depp and Helena Bonhman Carter were cast in the leading roles. Could they sing? Weren’t they too young for the roles? Would this movie be a terrible mistake? Well, my worst fears didn’t happen, but the end result was a little disappointing.

Visually, the movie is strong and very gothic. The tons of blood are really red and I wouldn’t recommend it to sensitive souls. It works as a piece of grand-guinol, but not entirely as a musical. I guess Burton’s hand was too heavy to handle the musical sequences and he misses the dark humor of the Broadway musical; a good example of what I’m saying is the “A Little Priest” sequence. That song is played with a straight face and its delicious humor doesn’t work and the same happens with “By the Sea”. I guess Burton wanted to do a serious musical and in that case it works, but that wasn’t what I expected.

As for the cast, Depp sings his role with a rocker voice and he looks the part (I wouldn’t mind seeing him in any part). Carter is a too normal Mrs. Lovett, but delivers a sweet voice in her numbers. The best singing comes from Ed Sanders, as the young Toby (Burton’s nicest touch is turn Toby into a very young kid), and the best surprise is a delicious Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli.

Some of the songs are missing; others were truncated, but as far as movie adaptations of musicals go, this one is rather interesting and thanks to it I guess many people will discover the genius of Mr. Sondheim. I enjoyed seeing it, but I prefer the television broadcast of the stage play starring the one and only Angela Lansbury. Rate:

posted April 13th, 2008 / For more Movie and DVD Reviews click here

 

BEST CDs OF 2007 - A List by Jorge

I guess 2007 was probably the year I bought less CDs. That doesn’t necessarily means it was a bad year for showtune fans. In fact, there were plenty of cast recordings and if your music tastes are broader than mine, there were a lot to buy.

For me, the big event was the return of John Kander & Fred Ebb (with the help of Rupert Holmes) with CURTAINS. Their last ... (read more)

posted January 16th, 2008

 

Best Movie of 2007: RATATOUILLE

Like 2006, 2007 was in my opinion a poor year at the movies. Thanks to the writers strike, the year end in trouble for Hollywood studios and the near future doesn’t look very bright, with many TV shows and movies on hold because of that continuous strike. Personally, I think they should give the writers what they are asking; on the other hand studios should demand better stories and shouldn’t be afraid of taking chances.

In 2007 a large number of films opened in Lisbon (not as many as in the States) and I saw more than 100, of those here are my 12 favorite titles. As a fan of horror movies I had a full day with 30 DAYS OF NIGHT and I was amazed by the visuals of 300. The movie adaptations of DREAMGIRLS and HAIRSPRAY (Tim Burton’s SWEENEY TODD will only open here by the end of this month) were better than I thought and I really enjoyed both. The funny and violent SHOOT’ EM UP took me by surprise and STRANGER THAN FICTION was the best comedy of the year. Another violent movie that grabbed my attention was BLOOD DIAMOND. On a more serious note I liked BREAKING AND ENTERING and THE BLACK BOOK (ZWARTBOEK). Two provocative and courageous titles, MYSTERIOUS SKIN and SHORTBUS, were really good. But the best was the fantastic RATATOUILE; once again the guys at Pixar delivered an amazing animated movie, with a delightful story and some genial touches. I loved it!

posted January 16th, 2008

 

LOVEMUZIK - A CD Review by Jorge

If there’s a composer that usually lives me cold is Kurt Weill. I like his score for LADY IN THE DARK and I love “Speak Low” from ONE TOUCH OF VENUS (I’m still waiting to have a full cast recording of this musical), but I hardly enjoy the rest of his work. So why did I bought this CD? The answer is Donna Murphy.

Here, Murphy plays the role of legendary Lotte Lenya and she is simply perfect. It’s amazing how versatile she is and how she easily transforms into

someone else. Her renditions of Weill’s classics like “Alabama Song”, “Surabaya Johnny” and “September Song” are reason more than enough to buy this cast recording. But there’s more to it than Murphy. The entire cast is very good, with Michael Cerveris delivering a convincing Weill. The orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick are effective, atmospheric and bring new life to the old songs.

As you probably may have guessed, my favorite tracks are, besides the lovely “Speak Low”, the less typical Weill’s songs. “Girl of the Moment” is great, “Wouldn’t You Like to Be on Broadway” a nice surprise that I think I never heard before and I can say the same about “It’s Never Too Late to Mendelssohn”. Another great song is “Buddy on the Night Shift” sung by Graham Rowat and I also enjoyed “The Illusion Wedding Show”.

I can’t say that I’ve surrender to Weill’s work, but this album was a nice addition to my CD library. I guess I discovered a side of Weill that I haven’t listen before, but I believe it’s the terrific cast that convinced me. Congratulations to them all. Rate:

posted January 9th, 2008 / for more CD reviews by click here

 

NAKED BOYS SINGING - A Review by Jorge

Oh, this is fun! I never thought this would be so fun.

The stage show opened in New York in 1999 and become an instant hit and I always thought it was because there were all those naked guys on stage. Although I think I wasn’t totally wrong, I had a preconceived opinion. Anyway, in all my trips to New York I never went to see it and if it wasn’t for this movie adaptation, I probably would never see it.

I can’t make comparisons with the stage show, but I guess directors Robert Schrock (who directed and conceived the stage play) and Troy Christian managed to get the spirit of it intact. There’s no doubt that the target audience is a gay one and I confess I didn’t knew this was so gay in content (I thought it was only gay because of all the naked boys), but I believe everyone can have a good time with it. Unless you are shy of male genitals (I am not, for the contrary) there’s nothing shocking here. Everything is done in the best of tastes, the music is pleasant, the lyrics are sometimes hilarious (“Perky Little Porn Star” and “Jack’s Song”), the choreography is funny and the sense of seeing a live show is here. In fact, this movie is basically the shooting of the stage play, with some cinematic effects to rich the events.

As for the naked boys, they surprised me with their strong voices, good dance movements, acting abilities and the way they easily face their nudity performances. The big moments were “Jack’s Song”, with choreography that would make Tommy Tune proud, Kevin Stea as “The Naked Maid” and the opening number. Not every number is a comic one, so there’s the tender “Window to Window” or the sad “Kris, Look What You’ve Missed”. Snooty performer Jason Currie has the worst moment of the movie with the “Robert Mitchum” song, but he redeems himself with “The Entertainer”. In fact, although each one of us will have his favorites (mines are Kevin Stea, Joe Souza and Joseph Keane) I believe everyone gives their best and they work perfectly as a team.

This musical revue is a good piece of entertainment and the fact that it has a few guys in the nude also contributes to the party. In fact it’s perfect to be shown among a friends, or even family, party. Don’t miss the DVD extras. Rate:

posted January 6th, 2008 / For more Movie and DVD Reviews click here

 

FOLLIES on the Silver Screen

Recently The New York Times reported that Stephen Sondheim’s FOLLIES is currently in development to become a movie. It seems that director Sam Mendes and writer Aaron Sorkin are attached to the project. Not very long ago, there were rumors that Rob Marshall and Bill Condon were interested in bringing FOLLIES to the big screen, but since Sam Menders is also a great director with strong roots in the musical theatre I guess the movie adaptation will be in good hands.

According to the Times, Sondheim is “willing to allow his score to be altered for the film” and he also suggested that COMPANY could work as a movie.

There’ still no word of when the shoot begins and who’ll be cast in the parts. Here is my idea of a possible cast: Meryl Streep and Barbra Streisand for the roles of Sally and Phyllis respectively, Richard Gere could be Benjamin Stone and Kevin Kline sounds perfect as Buddy, Liza Minnelli singing “I’m Still Here” would be a nice touch and I'm sure Shirley MacLaine would be great as Stella ("Who's That Woman?"). For sentimental reasons Mickey Rooney and Debbie Reynolds could sing "Rain on the Roof", Leslie Caron "Ah, Paris!" and, last but not least, Shirley Jones for "Broadway Baby".

posted December 30th, 2007

 

BROADWAY 2006 / 2007 SEASON: A Tribute in Images - A small webpage with images of all those musicals. To visit it just click here.

I WANNA BE A PRODUCER: PART 1 - Since I was a child I always dreamt of being a stage or cinema actor, two things for which you need to have talent. I don’t have a good singing voice, my ... (read more)

2001: AN AFTERMATH VISIT TO NEW YORK - Unless you're a witch, no one can ever predict the future. So when my longime companion and I started planning our next New York trip we ... (read more)

THE FIRST TIME IT HAPPENED - I was 24 years old the first time it happened to me and I'm not talking about sex, but about something much more exciting. (read more)

A MOMENT WITH KAREN ZIEMBA - It was on 1998 New Year's Eve that I met her. First, I saw her dancing and singing her way through the stage on the Broadway musical "Chicago"... (read more)