'lil blogging break

Hi folks, as you might have noticed, posting is going to be light this summer - I have some professional stuff going on that's exciting but time consuming, and also some vacation plans that will hopefully untether me from my laptop. I'll continue to check in, and bring you stuff like this trailer for The Invention of Lying, Ricky Gervais's comedy about a world in which nobody lies, ever. All truth, all the time, for better or for worse - until one man (Gervais) discovers fibbing and all the power therein. A million fun cameos, and one of the funniest scripts I've ever read.

...and this, Michael Jackson's performance from the 1995 MTV Awards. Just a great mashup of his greatest hits. Sure, the lipsyching is plain as day, but his live performances were always about the moves, right? My first real attempts at "dance" were in first grade, in my best friends bedroom, listening to Michael Jackson and attempting what were probably some unwittingly perverse moves for a seven-year-old.



[via kottke]

the world is watching

Everybody's tuning in to Bravo's most watched program ever (really!) The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Here's a brilliant creative riff from MCC on the "notorious and immortal" book Cop Without a Badge. That's right, the book that started it all, revealing Beverly to be a "whooooore!!!":



(for background, see here)

it's coming

Countdown has us at 4 days, 3 hours, and 53 minutes from the Season 2 premiere of True Blood on HBO. True Blood follows the adventures of telepathic "fang-banger" (aka vampire lovah), Sookie Stackhouse, as she tries to balance her white trash waitress life with her forays into the exotic world of the supernatural. What will the second season bring? It looks like Sookie's (hot) brother Jason will be involved in some serious vampire-phobic evangelical christian action, and we'll likely see more from the shape-shifters. But the thing I'm looking forward to the most is Evan Rachel Wood's turn as the psycho queen of the vampires.

"She's 400 years old and she's the Vampire Queen of Louisiana. She's kind of a cross between Patrick Bateman and Paris Hilton. And she's crazy. She's supposed to be French but since she's 400 years old, they said you don't have to do an accent because they figured she can speak English perfectly well by now." — Evan Rachel Wood on her lesbian vampire on True Blood

Oh hell yes.

[via vulture]

Whoa, like, no way dude!

Zack Morris is back!?!

i want to go to there

SuckWatch: The Tony Awards

You know what sucks? The fact that Legally Blonde will be performing at the Tonys this Sunday sucks. It sucks that fluffy shows, shows that have been around for years, are getting substantial airtime when THIS YEAR'S nominees for awards like, oh, Best Revival of a Play aren't included in the broadcast at all.

Seriously?!??

Yes, seriously - awards for the design of Lighting, Costumes, and Sets, not to mention Choreography, and Book of a Musical will not be seen on CBS this Sunday. Instead, we'll be watching tired-ass numbers from Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia!, and Legally Fucking Blonde.

It's a disgrace. If it has to be moved to PBS in order to do the thing right, then for god's sake do it already. Don't let Les Moonves determine the proceedings of the biggest night in theater. Until then, Tony Awards, you're on SuckWatch.

Update: Kevin Spacey writes on twitter that "Tony Awards have reconsidered and Best Play Revival will now be on the telecast on CBS." Good.

Athens Park is your average gathering place for traditional Astorians to gather, and a typical Sunday afternoon would likely find groups of older men playing chess, couples with their dogs, and perhaps a skateboarder. The place was unrecognizable this Sunday - packed to the brim with folks of all backgrounds who had come together to demonstrate their support for marriage equality. There were speakers and performances, and stories that bring the issue vividly to life as a clear civil rights issue. The Broadway Boys sang "Imagine" in soaring a cappella. One speaker told the story of her mixed-race parents who were almost not allowed to marry. Another demonstrator spoke of a time when his wife was ill, and shared a hospital room with a lesbian woman whose partner was not allowed to visit after hours - they ended up sneaking her partner in as a part of their own family.

Marriage is a civil right. Click here to get involved.

“I would ask every man and every woman who’s had the blessing of having children, ‘Would you deny your son or your daughter the ecstasy of finding someone to love?' To love someone takes a lot of courage. So how much more is one challenged when the love is of the same sex and the laws say, ‘I forbid you from loving this person’?”
- Maya Angelou, phoning New York state Sen. Shirley L. Huntley (D-Queens) and asking that she support marriage equality.

[images via kempsternyc at flickr]

Just got my first-ever hate mail

Does this mean I've "made it" as a blogger? Reader Brian Cashman writes:

You are a snarky fucking idiot. Your blog is beyond annoying, and who ever told you that your opinion mattered or had any merit whatsoever. Your reviews, theatre especially, are so unintelligent as to be laughable.

Oh my goodness! Thank you for reading, Brian, and keep on spreading cheer throughout the internets!

Meet Eugene Jerome

Here's an utterly adorable video of Noah Robbins, who will star in Brighton Beach Memoirs on Broadway this fall. How cute is he?!?

Do you support marriage equality?

If you do, it's time to stand up and speak out. The bill to bring marriage equality to the state of New York has passed the State Assembly and is now headed to the State Senate.

Opponents of the bill are aligning from across the country, already pouring millions of dollars into efforts to stop this bill from passing. These people are bent on restricting the rights of our neighbors, daughters and sons, brothers and sisters, and they will work night and day to see that this bill does not pass. We must fight back and make our voices heard.

So listen up people: we have to act now. Click here to contact your state senator. It only takes a moment and a couple clicks to make a difference. Write a letter, send it along, and then tell your friends, your family, your colleagues, and everyone about how important is.

Equality is everyone's issue.