THE BEST OF THE DECADE
A look at the first 10 years of the 21st Century
by Jorge

For an addict in “best of” lists, the end of a decade is a challenge for me. So, I went through my memories of the last 10 years and I made three lists:
- The 10 Best CDs (the GYPSY revival starring Patti LuPone is my favorite)
- The 5 Best Shows I saw live on stage (the winner is the Broadway revival of 42ND STREET)
- The 10 Best Movies (Pixar’s RATATOUILLE is on top of the list)

To see the complete lists click here or in the poster.

posted January 17th, 2010

BEST CDs OF 2009 by Jorge

As we say hello to 2010, it’s time to look back at 2009 and do the usual “best of” lists.

In 2009 there were plenty of cast recordings to keep us entertained and there was something for everyone. New musicals, the usual reissues, new recordings of old musicals and even several cast albums that were never released on CD.

To read more about it and to know my choices of the year click here or in the CD cover.

posted January 3rd, 2010

LONDON 2009: 4 NIGHTS 4 SHOWS
by Jorge

Last month (from the 8th to the 12th of December) my boyfriend and I went on a holiday trip to London, one of our favorite places in the world (of the little part of the world we know), where we spent four nights and had a wonderful time.

This time we saw four shows, PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT, SWEET CHARITY, SISTER ACT and LEGALLY BLONDE. To know all about it and my opinion on those shows just click here or in the picture.

posted January 1st, 2010

EVERY LITTLE STEP - A Review by Jorge

At the time of it’s opening, A CHORUS LINE became the longest running show in the history of Broadway. In 2006 a new production arrived on Broadway and, although its run was shorter, it still was a very exciting and emotional show.

Now, with this amazing DVD, we are allowed to have an inside look at the casting process of the revival and believe me, this is really extraordinary. I always imagined that to find the perfect cast for a musical was a difficult task, but I never thought it was rewarding and painful at the same time. We all have our favorites and it breaks our hearts to see some of them not getting the jobs, but one thing is clear, all of them are very talented and deserved a chance.

My big surprise was to realize that even the likes of Charlotte d’Amboise and Deidre Goodwin had to fight for their roles and, trust me, the competition was tough. I thought, taking in consideration their careers, they had been invited for the roles. As for the girls, I cried with the excitement of Jessica Lee Goldyn when she got the role of Val. For her it must have been a wonderful shock.

But the big moment of this DVD is the audition of Jason Tam, who got the role of Paul. He’s simply breathtaking and I never imagined that someone could be that good and real in an audition. He cried, made the producers and creators of the show cry and brought tears to my eyes. He’s simple fabulous! As for the other male roles, it seems that the likes of Michael Berresse and Tony Yazbeck didn’t have to audition for their roles, since they hardly appear here.

The DVD also shows scenes from the original production and reveals part of the interviews that inspired Michael Bennett. To be able to see all of this is thrilling and I can’t recommend it enough. Please believe me, this DVD is a great piece of theatre history and its essential in every musical fan’s home.

Rate:

posted December 2nd, 2009 / For more Movie and DVD Reviews click here

NEW CD REVIEWS - I’ve to confess that I’m a very lazy guy and it has been a long time since I wrote my last CD review. Curiously, people never stop visiting my CD REVIEWS page, so I decide it was about time for me to start writing reviews again.

To begin with, I choose 10 CDs that were released this year: KITTY’S KISSES, SISTER ACT, ROSE MARIE, SHREK, CRY FOR US ALL, ILLYA DARLING, PETER PAN, ROAD SHOW, JIMMY and ALLEGRO. Some of them are great, others entertaining and a few aren’t that good.

I’m not a very talented writer, but I hope you’ll enjoy my reviews and maybe they’ll help you choose some of this years’ Christmas presents.

To read the reviews click here.

posted December 1st, 2009

FIRST ON STAGE: A Website Worth of Discovery - Did you ever wonder which was the first song by Cole Porter to be heard on a musical? Who wrote the song “Without a Song”? What was the first show staged at the Marquis Theatre? And so on.

Now you can have the answer to all those question and a million more others. All you have to do is visit FIRST ON STAGE, a new website devoted to the wonderful world of the Musical Theatre, where, like the name indicates “you’ll find first-time events associated with musicals.”

In the site’s creator, Wayne Hamilton, own words here is a little description of how this site began:
“Decades ago, while teaching a college course in the History of American Musical Theatre, my research exposed numerous instances of innovation in the art form (“this was the first time…”) as theatrical technologies, along with musical styles and forms, evolved. I began to “collect” such phrases and later included people, then other occasional oddities, into the collection.
After a year of putting the collection into chronological order, I gingerly sought literary agents and publishers who might be interested in helping me get a book published. The web site you are currently visiting is the result of the massive disinterest in that pursuit.”

This is a really useful and informative site and it deserves you attention. Go and visit it, just click here on in the image.

posted November 21st, 2009

NAKED BOYS SINGING: A Webpage - The Portuguese production of the Off-Broadway hit NAKED BOYS SINGING opened in Lisbon last September and it’s a lot of fun.

The Boys do a good job and I just finished building a little webpage about this production. To visit it click here.

I hope you'll enjoy it.

posted November 8th, 2009

BROADWAY SEASON: THE LAST TEN YEARS - A TRIBUTE IN IMAGES - As I was looking for information regarding musicals that opened on Broadway last seasons, I come to the conclusion that it wasn’t easy to find it all in just one place. I also realized that there were shows that I completely forgot about and of which it seems no one is talking about anymore.

So I built a small website where I give a quick look at Broadway last seasons, just the musicals, and I added the City Center Encores to it. I hope you’ll enjoy it. To visit it click here.

posted September 13th, 2009

2009: A BROADWAY TRIP - SEVEN SHOWS IN ONE WEEK - Last February, my longtime companion and I, flew one more time (our eight) to New York. We arrived on Sunday the 22nd, stayed there for a week and had a wonderful time... (read more)

AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH LUBA MASON - Singer/actress Luba Mason, under the name of Luba Gregus, started her career in musicals as one of the Ziegfeld Girls of THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES. But it was with her performance... (read more)

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)