Live Entertainment Blog

Adam Lambert’s story has been a complicated one of late. He has been a popular artist, filling out venues like crazy and gaining fans quickly. But there is a problem that he has encountered. The artist did a bit of an edgy performance at the big AMA Award show this weekend, among various racy moves, he kissed his keyboardist. His orientation has been well known for awhile, and suspected even longer, but this has caused a surprising controversy. But for most people, he is just coming across as a whiny kid who doesn’t think he’s getting respect. But there are  lot of columnists who are saying “you’ve made your point, but you’re not helping anymore.” They want him to step back and let the controversy fade. Maybe even admit that some of his performance wasn’t fitting for the occasion? It’s complicated, but it’s dramatic, so people are paying attention!

Since we’ve been talking about older musicals for the last few weeks, I noticed right away when I saw the review for Showboat in Arlington Virginia. This is a show that has been well-loved for many years and we can certainly enjoy it still. The music is still beautiful and easy to recognize. This version even has a smaller cast than the earlier ones and they changed some things in the book and the music so that it would become a bit more modern and interesting. Showboat, however, is an old fashioned style piece, with songs and themes that a current audience won’t be touched by, it would appear. They aren’t as good with the racial inequality part of things as we might hope today. People still love this show, but it’s just a bit out of date, which is what will keep it from having a huge revival in its current form.

It is hard to imagine: the Sound of Music is now 50 years old. In 1959, this was a brand new theme in musicals. Usually, at that time, musicals weren’t as often going to address such big questions, so serious. Before that, you had things like Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie, Hello Dolly. They didn’t portray anything particularly serious. But after the Sound of Music, you had West Side Story and other such shows. People still weep at the Sound of Music, with those poor kids having to climb the mountains to freedom, to keep the Baron from having to join the Austrian navy for the Germans in World War 2. The music is still beautiful and it has become a classic musical since those days. It’s almost the holidays too, so you will certainly see this movie on television again and again over the next few weeks.

Mary Poppins has been one of the shows that people have come to rely upon when they want to see a great family-friendly show that will help you to enjoy top quality theater. The current production of the show running in LA has become one of the country’s best, including great performances and fantastic sets among other things. The reviewers practically say that the show is overdone, though they don’t go quite that far. The fact that the music and the sets and the actors have matched up so well for this company says much about the quality of direction. As a result, we expect the performances to be extended beyond the original run. No matter if you’ve seen this show on the pro stage before or not, this would be the production that you really want to see. I guarantee it!

This year’s installment of Disney on Ice has some special stories that they are aiming to tell. Mickey doesn’t really play a huge roll this time, because it’s the princesses that take precedence over the mouse. You will see Cinderella, Snow White, Mulan and a lot of others. Before the intermission has a lot of different princesses on ice meeting each other and having fun. It’s after the intermission where it really happens: there is a longer version of the Cinderella story and you can enjoy them dancing around. Disney on Ice tickets let you see a real skating event too. They are dancing and interacting on the ice, singing. This is a great show for families with children, or just anyone who really enjoys the Disney characters and music!

The newest Neil Simon production “Brighton Beach Memoirs” was one of the most anticipated non-musicals on Broadway this season. And it didn’t disappoint. But according to the reviews, it lacked the punch that they had been hoping for from a Neil Simon play. I was hoping to go see it, but I didn’t get the chance. It’s going to close next week, after a very short run, so I wont have the chance to catch it. But the New York Times suggests that the problem is with the changing of comedy styles. The highly verbal style of comedy isn’t nearly as much in style as it was back when Neil Simon was one of the most celebrated writers in theater and movies. Instead, Brighton Beach Memoirs will head out, another quality work from Neil Simon, but not one that could sell out theaters as much.