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Despite the Super Bowl and beautiful sunny weather yesterday afternoon, the Bagley Wright Theatre at Seattle Repertory Theatre was packed. Not surprising, because the closing performance of Bill Cain's HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE was playing. I was excited to get a rush seat, since the last Bill Cain play I saw at the Seattle Rep was EQUIVOCATION, which is one of my favorite plays of all time.
This production HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE, beautifully directed by Kent Nicholson, was a world premiere co-production with Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Everything about this production was amazing -- I laughed, I cried -- no really, I did! The play featured an awesome cast -- Linda Gehringer, Tyler Pierce, Aaron Blakely and Leo Marks (who deftly played a number of roles). Also fabulous scenic design by Scott Bradley and lighting design by Alexander V. Nichols.
From the website:
Writers are told to write what they know. But as Bill Cain discovers in writing about his own family, sometimes those we are closest to are the biggest mysteries of all. From the writer of Equivocation comes a beautiful new play taken from Cain’s own experiences caring for his dying mother. He asks the questions that speak to the heart of every family: What will never change…and what has to? A Jesuit priest as well as a playwright, Cain brings a fascinating view to this simple, powerful illustration of why the details of our lives and loves matter.
Hopefully it will be headed to Broadway in the future. If you get a chance to see this beautiful, touching, funny, true play, then run, don't walk to get tickets!
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I am thrilled to announce that Myrna Conn will be starring as Little Voice ("L.V.") in Artswest's Seattle premier of THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE by Jim Cartwright, running March 7 to March 31, 2012.
Rehearsals have finally started and ArtsWest has put together a stellar cast: Myrna Conn, Peggy Gannon, Pat Haines-Ainsworth, Daniel Reaume, Jesse Smith, and Travis Tingvall.
Christopher Zinovitch is directing, and Kim Dare is Music Directing.
From the Season Brochure:
Little Voice is a young woman with a hidden talent: she can emulate every chanteuse from Judy Garland to Edith Piaf. She hides in her room, crooning and dreaming of love, while her disheveled mother, Mari, mistakes a seedy talent agent's interest as affection rather than enthusiasm for the gold mine buried in her daughter's throat. An engaging fairy tale of despair, love, and hope as "L.V." finds a voice of her own.
I first fell in love with this story when I saw the 1998 movie starring Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks and Michael Caine.
I'm also excited for this production because I wrote the song that LV sings at the end of the show!
Stay tuned for more info, and get your tickets now before they sell out!
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I was so excited to see "Daly Chocolate", the third episode of The Daly Show! My new favorite webseries, written and directed by Ben Shelton and shot by Anthony C. Kuhnz, has topped itself! Not only do I get Tim Daly, but I also get Taye Diggs singing Broadway tunes! These are definitely a few of my favorite things!
And for the record, I bet he does taste like chocolate.
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The Daly Show, written and directed by Ben Shelton and shot by Anthony C. Kuhnz, stars film and tv star Tim Daly, and his son, Sam Daly.And thank goodness for that, because, after all, we could all use a little less douche! I've seen both episodes and can't wait for more!
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How do you make a perfect afternoon? Well, you end it with an early dinner at The Melting Pot and shopping at Bellevue Square. But it has to start with a family outing to see HUMOR ABUSE at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.
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I know where I'll be in October! At The New York Musical Theatre Festival watching The Broadway Dolls amazing show TOUR DE FIERCE!
And spoiler alert -- there might even be a song or two of mine in the show!
From the NYMF website:
TOUR DE FIERCE
GIRL GROUP MEETS BROADWAY
at 47th Street Theatre (304 West 47th Street)
Tuesday, Oct 11th, 2011 at 8:00 pmThursday, Oct 13th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Friday, Oct 14th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Friday, Oct 14th, 2011 at 11:00 pm
Saturday, Oct 15th, 2011 at 1:00 pm
Sunday, Oct 16th, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Girl Group meets Broadway in the event of the season, Tour de Fierce! This ambitious new stage production mixes elements of Broadway, Cabaret, Fashion, Performance Art and Film, in a non-stop song-and-dance concert. Starring The Broadway Dolls, a girl group featuring five of the most fiercely talented, sexy, and intelligent triple-threat ingénues of the Broadway Stage – accomplished and contemporary women who tell the stories of their road to Broadway in a surprising, moving and often hilarious evening of theatrical fabulousness. In a word, FIERCE.
The cast includes Tracee Beazer (Memphis, Hairspray, Good Vibrations, The Wedding Singer), Hollie Howard (Mamma Mia, Hairspray, Anie Get Your Gun, A Chorus Line), Tracy Jai Edwards (Legally Blonde, Hairspray), Robyn Hurder (Grease, Chitty Chitty Bang, Bang, The Wedding Singer, Spamalot), Chelsea Morgan Stock (The Little Mermaid, Baby It's You) and Gabrielle Ruiz (In The Heights, A Chorus LIne).
Approximate Running Time: 2:00; with intermission
You can buy tickets here .
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SEE A SHOW ON BROADWAY
Recent Entries
- THE INVERSE OPERA PRESENTS LOCAL COMPOSERS CONCERT AT SECOND STORY REPERTORY THEATRE!
- THE INVERSE OPERA PRESENTS LOCAL COMPOSERS CONCERT AT SECOND STORY REPERTORY THEATRE
- BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE AT ARTSWEST
- THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE AT ARTSWEST IS ALMOST HERE!
- HOW TO WRITE A NEW BOOK FOR THE BIBLE AT SEATTLE REP
- THE RISE AND FALL OF LITTLE VOICE AT ARTSWEST
- DALY CHOCOLATE WITH TAYE DIGGS!
- THE DALY SHOW WEB SERIES ROCKS!
- HUMOR ABUSE AT SEATTLE REPERTORY THEATRE
- THE BROADWAY DOLLS TOUR DE FIERCE AT NYMF
Monthly Archives
- May 2012 (2)
- March 2012 (1)
- February 2012 (2)
- January 2012 (1)
- December 2011 (1)
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- January 2005 (55)
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Blogger bio
My name is Suzy Conn and I am a musical theatre composer, lyricist, and librettist. I make may home in Seattle (actually, Mercer Island to be specific) and I am a graduate of the Theatre Building Chicago, Musical Theatre Writers' Workshop.
I am in the writing and workshop process with a number of different musicals, including:
PLANE CRAZY: A Broadway-style musical about feminism set against the backdrop of glamour and innocent sex appeal of the swinging '60s Jet Age, where women learn to "Pilot Your Own Destiny™" (productions in New York, Toronto, Oklahoma City).
Beatrix Potter's THE TALE OF PIGLING BLAND (with Mitchell Kitz): A 45-minute children's musical based on the classic Beatrix Potter story (productions in Chicago and Toronto).
THE MERCER GIRLS (for The 5th Avenue Theatre's AMT program)
DAISY THE FIRECOW and LARRY GETS LOST IN SEATTLE (part of Northwest Bookshelf 2 for The 5th Avenue Theatre's AMT program)
FRANKENBOOGER (with Mitchell Kitz): The new tween musical that tells the cautionary tale of nose picking gone terribly, terribly wrong. Our heroine learns to "Pick Your Friends, Not Your Nose™".
Prior to focusing exclusively on musical theatre, I spent 10 years writing in Toronto and Nashville where I co-wrote or wrote hundreds of country and pop songs and commercial jingles. As a result, I have numerous U.S., international, and Canadian cuts, and several of my songs hit #1 on the international country charts. I have also won a number of songwriting awards, including the prestigious SOCAN Advanced Writer's Workshop Award.
I am a proud member of the Association of Canadian Librettists, Composers, and Lyricists (ACLCL), SOCAN, ACTRA, Toronto Musician's Association (Local 149, A.F. of M.), Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), Songwriters Guild of America (SGA), Dramatist's Guild of America, and the Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC).
Thanks for listening!
Suzy's Favorite Sites
Maximum Broadway Radio
This is a FANTASTIC Broadway site that broadcasts Live 365.com Internet Radio with 24/7 showtunes! It's a BROADWAY RADIO STATION! I've got it running on my laptop now, and forever. Also includes links to a library of songs, theaters across America and a News section, which includes yours truly...
Internet Broadway Database
IBDB provides a comprehensive database of shows produced on Broadway, including all "title page" information about each production. IBDB also offers historical information about theatres and various statistics and fun facts related to Broadway.
42nd Street Moon Blog
A GREAT musical theater blog, with a Blogway Baby-style fanatical devotion to Broadway. It's published by a theater company focused on "Classic Broadway in Concert", based in San Francisco. I wish I'd known about these guys when I lived in Palo Alto!
Mermaniac
Mermanic, "A Show Tunes Weblog", has an excellent blogroll which has been divided into the signs of the zodiac...Blogway Baby is under the sign of Cancer.
Jorge's Place
This seems like the ultimate Broadway fan site. Nicely designed too!
Yahoo! Entertainment
A fantastic movie musical link database: All the big stars are in here.
Playbill.com
The classic, the original, the only. Playbill: Following theater since there was theater...
Talkin' Broadway
Nice gossip site on Broadway. Interface is weird and difficult to use, but solid content.
Backstage Magazine
The actor's resource to upcoming audtions and casting sessions across the US of A.
Variety Magazine
The grandpappy of theater...check out the "Legit" section.
Broadway.com
The definitive resource on Broadway. Get your tickets, your hotels, and your Broadway plans at Broadway.com
Myrna's Page
My daughter's home page. Isn't she cute?
BoingBoing
The world's greatest blog, EVAR.
Broadwayworld.com
A great resource for Broadway and Off-Broadway reviews.
New York Musical Theatre Festival
The one, the only, New York Musical Theatre Festival: The world's premier musical theater event.
Northern River Arts and Entertainment
A great and comprehensive archive of Canadian musical theater history.
Musical Theater Giants
Richard Adler (b. 1923) Lyricist Richard Adler is best recalled as part of the team of composer Jerold Ross and Adler. Best known for The Pajama Game and Damn Yankees. Adler was unable to reproduce these successes after the death of Ross in 1955.Lionel Bart (b. 1930 / d. 1999) Composer/Lyricist Lionel Bart parlayed a massively successful '50s pop-song writing career into musical theater. He succeeded with Oliver! and Blitz!, and was personally and financially ruined by the flop Twang!.
Irving Berlin (b. 1888 / d. 1989)
Leslie Bricusse (b. 1931)
Cy Coleman (b. 1929 / d. 2004)
Betty Comden
Fred Ebb (b. 1933 / d. 2004)
Adolph Green (b. 1914 / d. 2002)
Jerry Herman (b. 1933)
John Kander (b. 1927)
Alan Jay Lerner (b. 1918 / d. 1986)
Frank Loesser (b. 1910 / d. 1969)
Frederick Loewe (b. 1901 / d. 1988)
Anthony Newley (b. 1931 / d. 1999)
Cole Porter (b. 1891 / d. 1964)
Gerry Ross (b. 1926 / d. 1955)
Arthur Schwartz (b. 1900 / d. 1984)
Stephen Schwartz (b. 1948)
Stephen Sondheim (b. 1930)
Charles Strouse (b. 1928)
Association Sites
Association of Canadian Librettists, Composers, and Lyricists (ACLCL)
Toronto Musician's Association (Local 149, A.F. of M.)
Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI)
Songwriters Guild of America (SGA)
From Hollywood to Broadway
They say it's the hot trend in musicals today -- adapting a popular movie to the stage -- but while The Producers (2001), adapted from The Producers (1968) and Hairspray (2002), adapted from Hairspray (1988) grab all the attention, the trend has actually been around for a while. Here's a sampling of a list that seems to grow every day.
David Merrick, the legendary impressario, actually loved to adapt film material and he became famous with some of these productions:
42nd Street (1933) became 42nd Street (1980)
Marcel Pagnol's Marseilles Trilogy (1929) became Fanny: A New Musical (1954)
The Apartment (1960) became Promises, Promises (1968)
Some Like It Hot (1959) became Sugar (1972)
Destry Rides Again (1939) became Destry Rides Again (1959)
State Fair (1945) became State Fair (1996)
And here's a bunch more non-Merrick examples:
Mary Poppins (1964) became Mary Poppins (2004)
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968) became Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (2002)
Meet Me In St. Louis (1945) became Meet Me In St. Louis (1989)
Singin' in the Rain (1952) became Singin' In The Rain (1996)
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) became Seven Brides For Seven Brothers (1985)
The Wizard of Oz (1939) became The Wizard of Oz (1988)
High Society (1956) became High Society (1998)
Swing Time (1936) became Never Gonna Dance (2003)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) became Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002) (though little of the original score was used)
Beauty and the Beast (1991, Animated) became Beauty and the Beast (1994)
The Lion King (1994, Animated) became The Lion King (1997)
All About Eve (1950) became Applause (1970)
Woman of the Year (1942) became Woman Of The Year (1981)
Nights of Cabiria (1957) became Sweet Charity: A New Musical Comedy (1966)
Smiles Of A Summer Night (1957) became A Little Night Music (1973)
Sunset Boulevard (1950) became Sunset Boulevard (1994)
It (1927) became The It Girl (2001)
8 1/2 (1963) became Nine (1982)
Sweet Smell of Success (1957) became Sweet Smell of Success (2002)
The Captain's Paradise (1953) became Oh Captain (1958)
The Night of the Hunter (1955) became The Night Of The Hunter (1998 Concept Cast) (also a literary source but best known as a film)
Billy Elliot (2000) became Billy Elliot: The Musical on the West End (2005)
And continuing into the future, stay tuned for White Christmas, based on the 1954 movie of the same name.
Reader favorite posts
Here are some of Blogway Baby's favorite posts, as voted by Blogway Baby readers:
+ The Lyrics to Sarah Jessica Parker's GAP Ad, "I Enjoy Being A Girl"
+ Rosie O'Donnell's Haiku Blog
Nudie Musical Themes
+ More Nudie Musical Goodness
+ I Always Wondered About That Title
+ Playboy: The Musical
+ G-Spot: Canadian Sex in the City based in L.A.
+ The Pajama-less Game
+ It's Naked Week at Blogway Baby!
+ Bring Back Oh! Calcutta!
The "Ultimate Entertainment Niche" Series
+ Part II
+ Part I
The SF :: Broadway Connection
+ Part IV: Reader Contributions
+ Part III: How Could I Have Missed This One?
+ Part II
+ The SF :: Broadway Connection
+ SF / Musical Theater Mash-up
+ A Long Time Ago, In A Theater Far, Far Away
Flops I Missed
+ Part II: Nick & Nora
+ Part I: Carrie
The "Great Tortured Stephen Sondheim" Series
+ "Songs I Wish I'd Never Written"
+ Wall-to-wall Stephen Sondheim
+ Part III
+ Part II
+ Part I
Top Ten Movie Musicals
10: An American in Paris / Gigi because France in the '50s is simply irresistible;
9: There's No Business Like Show Business because of Ethel Merman...'nuff said?;
8: West Side Story, because even though they dubbed Natalie Wood they retained the energy of the original staging;
7: Guys and Dolls, and not everyone likes this one because of Brando's singing, but I just love the sets, the times, and Frank is simply perfect;
6: Flying Down to Rio / Gay Divorcee / Roberta / Top Hat / Follow the Fleet and Swing Time / Shall We Dance / Carefree / The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle / The Barkleys of Broadway because this list wouldn't be complete without Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, who kept me company afternoons that I used to skip out of school to watch these musicals on TV;
5: Oliver! because it had a huge impact on me as a child: It was the first time that I'd seen someone get killed in a musical. And each time I see it, I still think there's a chance she'll get away;
4: Funny Girl because of two words: Barbra Streisand;
3: Jesus Christ Superstar because of Norman Jewison's incredibly inventive filmography, the energy, the '70s...the closest thing I've ever had to a religious experience;
2: It's a tie between White Christmas because of "Sisters": One of the most important songs in my life and Holiday Inn because despite the cringe-worthy blackface routines and racist stereotyping, it has one of the best dance numbers ever with Fred Astaire and a pocketful of firecrackers;
...and most importantly...
1: Singin' in the Rain because of Donald O'Connor's "Make 'em Laugh" (even though it was blatantly ripped off of Cole Porter's "Be A Clown") and "Good Morning", our daily refrain in the Conn household.
