Show overload

Trish and I nearly OD-ed on musicals this weekend. With the unlikely triumvirate of Mamma Mia!, Toxic Avenger and Tin Pan Alley Rag (with an added viewing of last seasons La Cenerentola from The Met on Great Performances via DVR) our ears were confused and bleeding. Can one be musically bi-polar? Methinks “yes”!

I am almost embarrassed to admit that I actually enjoyed the movie version of Mamma Mia! Yeah, it ain’t gonna’ win any Oscars, but it was just so unapologetically stupid and cheesy that I couldn’t help but laugh along. I mean, Meryl must have known how ridiculous the script was, but she still committed to the role as if she were playing Lady Macbeth. Brava! Unfortunately, without the fun of Remington Steele belting out ABBA or Ms. Streep balancing in platform shoes and sequined-body suit, the stage show bores. The sole exception is the freakishly talented Carolee Carmello. Okay, I am bit obsessed with her, but she kicks ass. Her “Winner Takes it All” literally woke the sleeping audience just in time for the final scene of the show. Oy, and the chorus girls f*cking up the dance - and I use the term loosely as our high school kids could easily duplicate the Broadway choreography - during “Man After Midnight”? No joke, one girl messed up a step and then shrugged her shoulders at the audience. Really? Why not just flip us the bird and scream “Suckahs!” Oh well. At least I’ll be able to quench may obsession with Carolee’s crazy vibrato this spring when she is released from her Mamma-shackles to co-star in the upcoming The Addams Family musical on Broadway.

On paper it sounds iffy - a rock musical by Bon Jovi’s keyboardist based on an 80’s cult horror movie. Sometimes even the craziest idea just works. Hell, I’m sure Sondheim got an earful when he first pitched a musical version of Sweeney Todd. The Toxic Avenger ain’t Sweeney Todd, but it’s 100 intermission-less minutes of harmless camp fun with a five person cast ingeniously playing dozens of different characters. The score ranges from average to great, but always fun and often with clever lyrics. How can you not laugh during a show that includes songs titled “My Big French Boyfriend,” “Hot Toxic Love” and “Evil is Hot”? Granted, American Idol runner up Diana Degarmo is no actress, but girlfriend can certainly belt and riff with the best of ‘em. And for the three straight men who read my blog - mammary alert! You’ll get quite an eyeful of Ms. Degarmo’s ample bosoms straining to escape her very skimpy bra during one quite naughty blouse ripping scene. For the rest of us, there’s Nancy Opal’s show-stopping eleven o’ clock number, “Bitch/Slut/Liar/Whore.” And yes, it’s as good as the title implies. On a side note, I wish more shows had 4:00 PM matinees. You can enjoy a nice long brunch, throw in an extra mimosa or margarita and still sneak in a power nap before the show. Producers take note!

I honestly thought I’d be “musicaled-out” by Saturday night’s performance of Tin Pan Alley Rag. But hearing songs like “What’ll I Do” and “Blue Skies” after a weekend of ABBA and Bon Jovi only emphasized the lack of melodic, tuneful scores currently on musical stages. Not that I don’t appreciate a good pop/rock score, but there’s truly more complexity and emotional yearning in just that first upward chromatic phrase of “What’ll I Do” than in most current full musical scores. (Sigh) Oh well, fingers crossed that Sondheim still has another show left in his 79 year old bones. As for the show, it’s basically a musical theater version of an E! True Hollywood Story circa 1910’s. It was informative and entertaining but not necessarily very theatrically groundbreaking - this happened, then this happened and then I died. Now let’s shoehorn a song that fits the scene. Luckily, both Berlin and Joplin had interesting enough lives and a catalog of incredible music to carry this wisp of a concept along. Enjoyed it, but probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it as much had we paid full price. Thanks TDF!

Probably the best performance of the weekend was from our TV. Well, not literally, of course. Where the hell has Elina Garanča been hiding? I guess she hasn’t really been hiding, given she performs regularly in the world’s top opera houses and has had her performance in the title role of La Cenerentola transmitted internationally on TV. So more accurately, where the hell have I been hiding? Anyway, I now have another obsession. I'm usually not a sucker for mezzos (the notable exception being the goddess, Marilyn Horne), but Garanča's got the goods. Besides being friggin' gorgeous (straighties see below) she's got a machine-gun accurate bel canto and has an easy, natural acting style. The CD’s are already on their way from Amazon. Speaking of CD’s, I know I’m way behind the times, but I still can’t get myself to do the whole MP3 thing. Call me old fashioned, but I like leafing through a booklet. Somehow digital images and pixels aren’t the same as a having those glossy pages in your hand. (Extra big sigh)