David Cote asks bloggers for "more arguments, more dirt," but can we deliver?

Time Out's David Cote has proposed Nine Wishes for NYC Theater, with a list that varies from a plea for better scores of Broadway musicals (amen!) to an entreaty to bloggers to "engage/enrage" with "more arguments, more dirt, more bloody knock-down-drag-out fights." Hmm.

The responses to Cote's wish list make an interesting read - one fairly well-known theater actor even weighs in in the comments with, "Eek! To want to give bloggers more power seems not only a frightening prospect, but a downright dangerous one. I am an actor who has admittedly scoured the internet for bloggers' "reviews" and "dirt" and have found them to be more often than not dangerous, cruel, irrational, and from an uneducated POV!" Eek, indeed - the old saying springs to mind, don't ask the question if you don't want to know the answer. Or in this case, don't google if you don't want to read the review, whether it's from All That Chat, a bitchy blog, or the New York Times.

Meanwhile, a lengthier discussion of theater blogging and the Engage/Enrage concept is raging here, stemming from David Cote's cyber-evisceration of blogger (and playwright) George Hunka. Many theater bloggers make appearances in the comments section, including Surplus's Jaime, who questions how realistic it is for us to be the provacateurs of the entertainment industry when we ourselves have careers within that industry to consider. I've had my fair share of uncomfortable professional moments due to stuff I’ve posted. Even as an anonymous blogger, I have to be pretty thoughtful about what I post and who it might engage/enrage, and while it would be cool to be the Nikki Finke of the NYC theater scene, not getting fired is nice, too.

So how to proceed in being my gossipmongering self? Well, let's start here: I can't post most of the insider dirt I learn at work, but I sure can post yours. Got a tip? Why not drop me a line at moxiethemaven@yahoo.com.

forever on the dance floor

This is the best thing I've seen all week - one couple's nontraditional choice of wedding entrance music makes for the coolest freakin wedding ever.



(thanks Clint!)

Update: New York Magazine's own Dan Kois has a piece on the now-famous Minnesota Wedding Dance Video, and why it might be "the best theater you'll see all year". It's a great read so go check it out.

What a setup, holy cow!

Gotta love the Post's headlines - today they feature a story called "Broadway Invades Time Warner Center". Check out this great video of a spontaneous eruption of musical theater in front of Williams Sonoma. One passerby said "It's spontaneous, it's spectacular, it's New York." Amen!

hot

This is why So You Think You Can Dance is unmissable television!

Totes Fierce and Brills

The Musical Theatre Dictionary will school you in the linguistic idiosyncrasies of Brooaaadwaaaay. Here are just a few gems:

"On That Stage" -saying- When you don't want to be mean about an obviously terrible performance, but the person being "on that stage" is the ONLY nice thing you can say.
Meg: How was KiKi in H.M.S. Pinafore?
Abby: Um...she was... on that stage.

"Jawbrato" -noun/verb- Describes a belter-screamer who chooses to accent their vibrato by visibly shaking their jaw up and down.
Morty: Babe, who is that singer friend of yours, the one who shakes when she sings? you know, the one with turrets or something?
Rosie:Oh, Morty, that's Cheryl, the gal who sings at the JCC. She doesn't have Tourret's Syndrome , you asshole, she just has a heavy jawbrato.

"Effie We All Got Pain" -saying- Response to a costar when he/she is throwing tons of diva comments your way. A reference to the musical Dreamgirls when Effie White's laundry-lists of excuses are met with this statement. The point being: you have struggles, so do we.
Diva: My Laduca Strap broke, I'm not warm yet, and if they make me wear this bullshit costume I'm going to flip.
Smart Actor: Effie, we all got pain.

(Thanks Isaac!)

Constantine: What a Pro

"SW kickin ass...unlike some people did. Oh well.. Movin on."

-Rock of Ages star Constantine Maroulis, on Amy Spanger's replacement Savannah Wise. Spanger recently departed the show for "personal reasons." (Via Twitter.)

Also, this is not Constantine's twitter page.

Dear Kalpen Modi,

Wanna get married? I don't mind that you're looking a bit plumper now that you're formally employed by the White House. I think it's sexy that you've moved on from your stoner past. I even saw that cool indie you did, and I have to say, you were really really good. And I dig that you changed your name back from the SAG-approved Kal Penn. So, whaddaya think? Wanna get hitched?

__ Yes
__ No

hopefully yours,
Moxie

'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!