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| Photo Courtesy of Peter Gibbons |
Yes, It's True. It Was Me. I Was Susan Blackwell-ed!
But certainly the highlight for me, personally, was donating to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, an organization that is doing so much for so many. To that end, in addition to buying items from various tables, as well as ponying up ten dollars here and there for a chance to have my photo taken with a few of the assembled Broadway stars, my biggest donation came as a surprise even to me.
I had left the event to see a show, only to come back and find a live auction in high gear.
[title of show] star
Susan Blackwell was up on the stage -- with
Heidi Blickenstaff at her side -- auctioning off something. But I wasn't quite sure. It all seemed so very spirited when I arrived, and the bidding was already in the $200 range. I asked someone standing next to me what they were auctioning off. She told me it was a chance to get licked by Susan Blackwell.
"Of course!" I thought. I completely forgot that I had read on Broadway.com that
she would offer up one of her famous face-lickings to the highest bidder. I couldn't resist, especially since I knew I had wanted to make a real tangible donation to BC/EFA and had not yet had the opportunity that day.
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| Photo Courtesy of Peter Gibbons |
So I stuck my hand up. I'm not sure exactly when, but I think it was around the $450 mark. Each time I was outbid, I'd either nod or give a subtle signal to Susan Blackwell that I was still in it, and up the bidding went until she finally reached a threshold that seemed to surprise her where she asked the two highest bidders (including me) if we'd both donate that amount so both of us could be Susan Blackwelled.
We both eagerly agreed, and next thing I knew I was up on the stage. Proving why I'm not in entertainment, she asked me to state my name and I could hardly blurt it out. "My name is Steve." She asked me a quick question and I blurted out a reference to her
[title of show] character that seemed to be lost of the audience, and she asked me what I did so I could donate that amount. I told her I was in PR (a profession that has in fact been very good to me).
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| Photo Courtesy of Peter Gibbons |
Then Susan Blackwell proceeded to provide a nice and soft slow lick down the left side of my face. Then she got on my right side and did the same thing down my right cheek. But wait! There's more! She licked across my forehead and then down the ridge of my nose. Silly me, I know I had my eyes shut the entire time, but I was thinking, "My God! Susan Blackwell is licking my face." And you know what? I felt good!
It's my understanding that there were, in fact, lots of cameras capturing the moment, and a video will soon surface on Broadway.com as part of their regular "
Side By Side by Susan Blackwell" feature so you can see it all for yourself.
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| Photo Courtesy of Peter Gibbons |
Of all the donations I've ever made in my life, I have to say that this was the best one ever, and without a doubt the sweetest and most satisfying. Not only was I proud to part ways with my money for a little tongue action from the truly stellar Susan Blackwell (OK, it was actually a lot), but she was doing it for an incredibly vital and important cause in which I completely believe: Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.
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| Photo Courtesy of Peter Gibbons |
Thank you, Susan, for risking your tongue on my salty face in support of BC/EFA. We'll always have Shubert Alley. Talk about a perfect day!
If you weren't able to attend, but would still like to donate to Broadway Cares/Equity Fight AIDS, please click
here. No amount is too large or too small, but your support will be greatly appreciated.
This is
Steve On Broadway (SOB).
In keeping with the new that unfairly discriminate against bloggers, who are now required by law to disclose when they have received anything of value they might write about, please note that I have received nothing of value in exchange for this post.
Labels: [title of show], Broadway, Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Broadway Flea Market, Heidi Blickenstaff, Susan Blackwell
[notice of closing]Late Friday came word that Broadway's little tuner that could soon can't.
[title of show] is now set to close after its October 12 performance, which
ModFab duly notes is the same day that a more prodigious cult, camp hit
Xanadu will shutter. Helmed and choreographed by
Michael Berresse,
[title of show] is a musical starring co-creators
Hunter Bell and
Jeff Bowen, along with
Heidi Blickenstaff and
Susan Blackwell.
When
[title of show] departs Broadway's
Lyceum Theatre, it will have played 102 regular performances there. Given the
wildly mixed critical response, which -- with all due apologies to
A Tale Of Two Cities -- really
was the best and worst of times, the closing notice is not surprising when you factor in the overall sinking fortunes of the Great White Way during these softening economic times.
Indeed, as Chris Caggiano has so adeptly described over at
Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals, "I've been watching the
weekly grosses for
[title of show] since it opened in July, and frankly I've been cringing." Last week, the show only managed to attract a capacity of 30.4%, down 1.5% from the week before.
Personally, I have not seen the current mounting (I took in one of its last performances at the Vineyard Theatre two years ago) and am not certain I'll have an opportunity to take in Bell and Bowen's latest installment of their chronicles of mounting a musical. As much as I enjoyed the show two years ago, I've been ambivalent about plunking down my money for a ticket, especially in light of rising ticket prices coinciding with an economic downturn. Sad to say, like others in the vast Broadway audience, I'm being a bit more judicious in my selections.
Had
[title of show] been my favorite musical of 2006 as opposed to, oh, say my ninth favorite, perhaps I'd have already gone. Still, I'm sad to see this chapter come to an end so quickly.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Labels: Box Office, Broadway, Closing Notices, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Michael Berresse, Musical, Susan Blackwell, title of show
What Did Critics [tos] At Title Of Show?Last evening, the Broadway incarnation of that downtown favorite
[title of show] opened at Broadway's
Lyceum Theatre.
Helmed and choreographed by
Michael Berresse,
[title of show] is a musical starring co-creators
Hunter Bell and
Jeff Bowen as Hunter and Jeff, respectively. The duo are reteamed yet again with their original castmates
Heidi Blickenstaff (as Heidi) and the handsome
Susan Blackwell (as Susan).
Theatre critics' reviews spanned from huggable huzzahs to visceral boos.
Toasting
[tos] as a "peculiar and quite adorable musical,"
The New York Times'
Charles Isherwood glows yet again: "[A]s performed by Mr. Bowen, Mr. Bell, and Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff, the talented girlfriends they rope into their makeshift, make-it-up-as-we-go-along opus, it is genial, unpretentious and far funnier than many of the more expensively manufactured musicals that make it to Broadway these days. Consider
[title of show] the class clown of Broadway.... But like all class clowns, it wins you over by making fun of the big shots and bursting with its own distinctive personality."
Praising
[tos] as "a sweet, raunchy, and just about irresistible portrait of how and why we tell stories,"
The New York Sun's
Eric Grode is largely enthusiastic: "But Mr. Bell's book and Mr. Bowen's lyrics, along with Michael Berresse's empathic but relatively inconspicuous direction, have worked hard to make the writers-in-a-room dialogue palatable to everyone.... Best of all, the totemic significance of maybe — just maybe — making it to Broadway gives audiences the feeling of being present at not just a very funny musical comedy but at the triumphant end of a fraught and fulfilling road."
Calling
[tos] "a clever and often adorable little invention about writing a musical,"
Newsday's
Linda Winer ultimately, reluctantly laments: "Everyone in Michael Berresse's production is quick and charming.... How I wish I could love the show. I wish I didn't feel that I was being manipulated by long-struggling talented people on a guilt trip. Most of all, considering the risk, I wish the offbeat and low-budget show belonged on Broadway -- not incidentally, at the same ticket price as the magnificent and massive
South Pacific."
Concluding that "much of its offbeat appeal ('not that there's anything wrong with fluff') has evaporated in the move uptown,"
Variety's
Marilyn Stasio is negative: "
[title of show] stands pathetically naked on Broadway.... [S]tripped of satirical edge for its heavy Broadway date, the backstage show by Hunter Bell (book) and Jeff Bowen (score) is revealed in all its narcissism, flaunting its shallow aesthetic values and taking unseemly pride in its inflated ambitions.... [O]n a fresh viewing, the substance of the musical emerges with far greater clarity -- and loses whatever charm sustained it downtown."
Damning it as "a piece of -- oh, let's call it garbage,"
New York Post's
Clive Barnes musters up only one half star: "Originality isn't what it used to be. Take
[title of show], a Broadway musical -- 95 minutes long, top ticket price $111.50 -- about people writing about people writing a Broadway musical. These [people] -- who doubtless love [people] -- must be the luckiest [people] in the [world]. Let me set the scene for you. Well, actually, there's not much of a scene to set: This is minimalism shoved down to the vanishing point.... [T]he self-conscious and terminally cute and the pixie-like fey are all mixed up with self-congratulatory smugness..."
Panning the show as "proving that if you have a feel for the lowest common denominator, you can scale unmerited heights," Bloomberg's
John Simon is so downright nasty, he even criticizes the audience as having "zero taste" and digs deep: "Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen, who upon dubious credentials fancy themselves book-and-song writers, decide to write a musical about two self-proclaimed gay men trying to write a musical. They enlist the help of `all our friends'' (two, actually): the equally unappealing Susan Blackwell and Heidi Blickenstaff (everyone here uses real names on stage). Together they proceed to the parturition of 90 minutes' worth of unremitting torture for anyone with a shred of good taste, discernment and normal eardrums."
Can Isherwood's review do for
[title of show] what
his did for
Xanadu? Well, his positive notice, plus lots of enthusiasm from the blogosphere, along with younger audiences dismissing decidedly old school critics like Barnes and Simon, may just provide this
[show] with a future.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Opening Night: On With The [show] (July 17, 2008)
Broadway Preview: [title of show] (June 24, 2008)
[title of show] To Headline Broadway (April 4, 2008)
[title of show] (The SOB Review) (October 2, 2006)
Making a Name for Itself: [title of show] Extends (August 16, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Critics' Capsule, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Michael Berresse, Musical, Susan Blackwell, title of show
Opening Night: On With The [show]Attention all [tos]sers! Tonight is your night!
After four long years of gestating, the little
[show] that could is proving its ongoing magnificent metamorphosis by opening this evening at Broadway's
Lyceum Theatre. After
having seen its last incarnation, I can tell you that
[title of show] is a truly original, unique theatrical experience unlike any other.
But don't just take my word for it. Here's how the official
[title of show] site describes the ever-evolving work:
You're reading the official blurb, or short summary, of [title of show]. Blurb. That's a funny word. We spent a lot of time on this blurb so please read the whole blurb. [title of show] is a musical about two nobodies named Hunter and Jeff who decide to write a completely original musical starring themselves and their attractive and talented ladyfriends, Susan and Heidi. Their musical, [title of show], gets into the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and becomes a hit. Then it gets an off-Broadway production at the Vineyard Theatre, and wins three Obie Awards! Then (drumroll if you've got a drum) it's announced that their musical is going to Broadway (hooray!) and people start seeing this blurb everywhere! They read that The New York Times called [title of show] "DELECTABLE ENTERTAINMENT! A postmodern homage to the grand tradition of backstage musicals like Babes in Arms, Kiss Me, Kate and A Chorus Line." Fully intrigued, those people snatch up tickets and help make Hunter and Jeff's life-long dream come true!
Once again directed and choreographed by
Michael Berresse,
[title of show] stars co-creators
Hunter Bell and
Jeff Bowen as Hunter and Jeff, respectively. The duo are reteamed yet again with their original castmates
Heidi Blickenstaff (as Heidi) and the handsome
Susan Blackwell (as Susan).
How will this ultimate little show fare with the critics?
At this point, who cares?
The blogosphere has already been abounding with outright raves, including from Sarah B. at
Adventures In The Endless Pursuit Of Entertainment (she's now seen the Broadway show
twice and met
The New York Times' Charles Isherwood, who will be providing the Grey Lady's official review tomorrow), Chris Caggiano at
Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals and Gabriel at
Modern Fabulousity.
(I'll be providing the critical response tomorrow anyway.)
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Broadway Preview: [title of show] (June 24, 2008)
[title of show] To Headline Broadway (April 4, 2008)
[title of show] (The SOB Review) (October 2, 2006)
Making a Name for Itself: [title of show] Extends (August 16, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Michael Berresse, Musical, Opening Night, Susan Blackwell, title of show, Transfer
Broadway Preview: [title of show]
OK, all you [tos]sers!
I know there's plenty of you out there who are every bit as anxious as I am to see how well
[title of show] translates to the Broadway stage, the very place this littlest of little shows has always aspired to be.
This July 5, many theatre lovers' favorite show (as opposed to their ninth favorite show) will finally begin previews for its Great White Way run at the cozy
Lyceum Theatre. The tuner is set to open there July 17.
Helmed by
Michael Berresse,
[title of show] chronicles every conceivable thought (including this one? yes, including this one) that goes into putting on this very show. Co-creators
Hunter Bell and
Jeff Bowen will once again reprise their roles as Hunter and Jeff, respectively, and will once again be joined with their Off-Broadway castmates
Heidi Blickenstaff (as Heidi) and the handsome
Susan Blackwell (as Susan).
No doubt, if you don't count the lack of scenery, there will be much more to this gem of a show than what
I saw back in September of 2006, which was immediately before its celebrated run at New York's Vineyard Theatre came to an end. That's because this is a musical that builds and builds, quite literally with each charted step it takes toward potential Tony recognition.
And that, my friends, is a show worth looking forward to.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Click here for tickets.Related Stories:Broadway: What's Next (June 20, 2008)
[title of show] To Headline Broadway (April 4, 2008)
[title of show] (The SOB Review) (October 2, 2006)
Making a Name for Itself: [title of show] Extends (August 16, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Michael Berresse, Musical, Off-Broadway, Susan Blackwell, title of show, Transfer
[title of show] To Headline BroadwayHuge tip of the hat this morning to
Modern Fabulousity for being the first (last night) to herald the exciting news that Off-Broadway favorite
[title of show] is headed to the Great White Way! According to
Playbill, the show will open this July 17 at the
Lyceum Theatre.
Even better, for anyone who has already come under the considerable spell of this little musical about co-creators
Hunter Bell (
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) and
Jeff Bowen's attempts to put on a show, they'll be joined by original cast members
Heidi Blickenstaff (
The Little Mermaid) and
Susan Blackwell, while
Michael Berresse will once again direct.
By the time I first caught it, the
little tuner that could was nearing the end of its Vineyard Theatre run. But boy was I glad I had a chance to see it.
Here's what
I had to say about it then:
...I so thoroughly enjoyed such a delightful, decidedly small tuner with an enormous heart.
[title of show] is ostensibly about two friends who embark on writing a musical to enter into the New York Musical Theatre Fest in just under a month and then succeed in bringing it to life exactly as they wrote it against all odds. The engaging and endearing Hunter Bell and Jeff Bowen essentially play themselves (and true to its premise, they wrote the actual book, music and lyrics, too). Along the way, they invite two female friends -- the effervescent Heidi Blickenstaff and the "handsome" Susan Blackwell -- to help shape the show.
Clever dialogue and a terrific score -- along with Michael Berresse's lovingly precise direction -- keep the 90+ minute show moving at a quick pace that's never dull and largely entertaining, particularly when they're dishing on some of Broadway's most renowned guilty pleasures or being interrupted via voicemail by some of the Great White Way's most acclaimed female stars. Best of all, they remain true to themselves and their vision.
In re-reading my original review, I stunned myself that I had the foresight to even take note (based on hope) that something bigger would be afoot for the show:
...something tells me this is not last we'll see of this earnest show, particularly since I'll bet that this musical likely rates as the favorite of at least nine people.... If it reopens, one can only hope that each of these talented actors will reprise their roles. [title of show] deserves a much wider audience.
This gets a major "Yay!" from me.
This is Steve On Broadway (SOB).
Related Stories:[title of show] (The SOB Review) (October 2, 2006)
Making a Name for Itself: [title of show] Extends (August 16, 2006)
Labels: Broadway, First Word On New Show, Heidi Blickenstaff, Hunter Bell, Jeff Bowen, Michael Berresse, Musical, Off-Broadway, Susan Blackwell, title of show, Transfer
