Live Entertainment Blog

One of the most beloved musicals of all time is called West Side Story. The moment this show hit the stage, it revolutionized the way that we look at musicals for all times. Some parts seem trite nowadays, but it’s still as fun as most people think. And it’s still quite relevant, with the themes of street gangs based on ethnic groups still very modern in our country. They have brought back the musical with some changes in the music and the texts. They have changed some of the songs into Spanish, which seems more realistic. Don’t worry, if you can’t speak Spanish, you probably know most of the songs already and the acting makes it clear what the music is about too. It’s a great show, so don’t miss it.

I’m not sure if I wrote about this before, a play called “God of Carnage.” This is one of the newest plays on American Broadway and it’s very interesting to read about it. It’s not a very typical play, as it comes from France, and the critics do have some trouble explaining what it is and why they’re intrigued by it. The play is about these two couples whose children got into a fight, resulting in the loss of two teeth by the one kid. They are gathering ostensibly to discuss this issue, but it devolves into a battle of different kinds of couples with very different ideas of the world. It’s witty, acerbic and a whole lot of fun. Apparently it can get repetitive and it’s not subtle at all. But it’s a fun production and it’s not Shaw-like pedantry either. Check it out!

The industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails has been one of the most popular for many years already. The band was part of the grunge revolution of the early 90s and was popular among the punk world during that time. The group was popular with Marilyn Manson and SkinnyPuppy fans as well. But over the years, the band has changed quite a bit over these two decades, becoming more philosophical in many ways. At the very least, they are more reflective than they were. Their last album featured lots of “alternate reality” elements, including parts of their albums on USB sticks found in venues where they performed. Their newest albums Ghosts I-IV and The Slip are some of the best of their career and are also very interesting. You can hear them in person if you buy Nine Inch Nails tickets today. I would never miss this and you shouldn’t either.

David Hyde Pierce has been cast in the first ever revival of “Accent on Youth”. The play was written in the 1930s and it’s about a lazy playwright who doesn’t have any ideas of what kind of show he wants to product next and is stuck in a rut. But he gets some inspiration about what he should write from his assistant and he is able to write it and start production. He is, however, disappointed to learn that the lead actor in the play is also be inspired by his assistant. Clearly there is some romance going on in this show and it becomes a fun farce. Pierce will be playing opposite Mary Catherine Garrison in this play and it’s one of the best ensembles assembled right now.

What is your favorite kind of entertainment? I keep forgetting that you might like to see sports too! And what is the sport that’s coming up and will give us entertainment throughout the year, all the way to the beginning of November: Baseball! It’s going to be a great season. The Yankees and the Red Sox are generally the leaders of the last several seasons. But this year, we can’t be so sure; there are plenty of teams that could be really successful this year. The Chicago Cubs seem to be on the way up. The Phillies might be able to hold themselves up again. How about the Rays? In other words, you can get a whole lot of different teams that will be winning. Many players have shifted over the offseason and it will be very exciting to see whether CC Sabbathia, for example, will be as successful as last year, or whether Milton Bradley will be a help for Chicago. Watch the MLB site for continuing updates!

There is another version of Kaspar Hauser out there, it turns out. This character has inspired a myriad of different works, in a host of different media. You may know the movie by Werner Herzog. You may know some other versions too, including several books as well. For those who don’t know, Hauser was a child who showed up in Nuremberg, Germany in the 19th century with a piece of paper. He claimed at least to have been locked in a dark basement for his entire life up until that time. For a long time, he was one of the biggest public figures of the era, with clergy, doctors and scientists interviewing him and learning about him. Find out about the new stage version of Kaspar Hauser on this site.

Poor Rihanna is really having a tough time these days. She was apparently actually harmed by her boyfriend, Chris Brown, a few weeks ago just before the Grammy Awards. She hasn’t been seen in public since and he has been in and out of court. Rihanna’s picture purportedly was released on accident which is illegal. Brown has been charged with harming her. What are we to think? It sounds like they had a battle of some kind and she got hurt fairly badly. He turned himself in to police and his arraignment was postponed until April. Many stations refuse to play his music right now and it may stay that way for a little while. It’s a bit unfortunate for them, because they were looked at as a successful music couple. Well they’re staying together, so at least they wont be lonely during all this.

The Chicago-based Red Eye newspaper has an interesting story today about how Madonna’s ex-husband refers to her as an “it” rather than “she”. For example, if he were to tell us that Madonna’s coming, he might say “Hey, it’s coming!” Guy Ritchie, the ex-husband, has clearly a long history with Madonna, and much of it of late has not been good. Madonna’s representative has responded that she is actually a person, not deserving to be called “it.” The rep said “It hasn’t been in a bad mood since the divorce was finalized.” And then they all had a good chuckle over it.