Photo courtesy of Esplanade Theatres

So, what do a glass of chendol, a nose job, an invisible man, an NS boy and fireworks have in common? According to this year’s Five Foot Broadway Mini Musical showcase, the answer is “love”. On one hand, as clichéd as this sounds, this is what the musicals are all about. On the other hand, they aren’t, because they (here comes another cliché) so single-mindedly embrace the theme with such loving enthusiasm. From satires to happily-ever-afters, all probable angles at tackling the subject have been covered in the series of six short musicals.

Mushy as love seems, it is an excellent crowd pleaser, and gives great opportunities for song and dance sequences, duets, and monologues. The lightness of the subject is also an excellent opportunity to poke fun not only at itself but attending issues – The Tale of the Pretty, Pretty Princess mocks the superficiality of perfection in the pursuit of love while Now You See Me proves once again that it can remain triumphant in spite of appearances.

Featuring original works selected from entries to the Five Foot Broadway Project as well as a pre-selected work from a previous year, the fifteen minute long musicals are by no means lacking in terms of content or genre. However, given the time constraint, some of the works lack depth, though they do make up for this with an engaging and lively cast.

In particular, Jo Tan’s hilarious, puck-like performance of the nosey narrator in The Tale of the Pretty, Pretty Princess served as one of the pinnacle highlights of the show before the high spirited performance slows its tempo for a more sobering meditation on ageing and changing perspectives in Peter & Pierre. By the last piece though, the series, which had nearly lost momentum with the slow-going and irremediably stereotypical Sunset Bloom, ends on a high note with Singapore Boys, which contained a plethora of NS jokes that never fail to appeal to the appreciative audience.

Performed at the Esplanade Theatre Studio, the intimate setting allows a close-up view of the action on stage, even if you happen to be seated in the last row. The affair, which lasted slightly less than two hours, was a dizzying spectacle of non-stop action, with transitions from play to play seamlessly tied together by the subtle and effective crew that added and removed props methodically while music from each performance played in the background. Unfortunately, two hours is really too long without an intermission, and entertaining as the show was, laughing almost constantly for that length of time can be exhausting.

Having said that, humour seems to be the highlight of the performance, drawing on local colloquialisms and biting wit to add a much needed spark to the over-performed love story conventions in musicals. Directed by Christina Sergeant, whose well seasoned body of work includes the recent staging of Moliere’s The Hypochondriac, this year’s Five Foot Broadway showcase is also a gruelling exercise in physical theatre, where exaggerated movements and a nuanced sense of comic timing are the order of the day.

So yes, trill on to the strains of “as high as Bukit Timah, and steep as Dhoby Ghaut MRT…” and spread the love.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the show's opening, and it may come as some surprise that the Meredith Wilson's show actually pipped West Side Story to the Tony award for Best Musical back in 1958. I already have tickets booked to see West Side Story at Saddler's Wells in a few weeks' time, so I'll be able to make my own comparison between the shows! But in the meantime, what did I think about The Music Man?

The show's two leads are very different, both in background and perfoming style. Brian Conley is probably best known as a television personality, but I think of him as an old-fashioned all-round performer (a little like a latter-day Bruce Forsyth). In contrast, he plays opposite Scarlett Strallen, very much a stage performer, whose career to date has included two major West End roles - Truly Scrumptius in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and the title role in Mary Poppins. In fact, I've heard that she may well be reprising the latter role in the Broadway transfer later this year.

There's some evidence of their different backgrounds in their performances - Conley is a true entertainer and seems to relish every moment of his time on stage. The part of Professor Harold Hill lets him play to his strenghts - it would be almost impossible to over-act in this part. His voice is still good, and the only fault I could find was his relatively weak diction. There were a number of occasions when I couldn't pick out his words, although that didn't detract from my enjoyment that much.

Strallen's Marian Paroo is not so different from Mary Poppins her buttoned-up manner, but it provides a perfect counterpoint to Conley's exhuberence. She has a wonderful voice, although there was slightly more vibrato at the top of her voice than I would have liked. She's also a great dancer, and a strong actress - very much the all-rounder, and I'm sure she made a fantastic Mary Poppins.

I wouldn't want to forget the rest of the cast, particularly Andy Hockley as Hill's right-hand man Marcellus. He reminded me a lot of US Presidential helpful John McCain, but I doubt McCain would have been quite as witty. Singing isn't his strong point (not entirely surprising given a CV full of straight plays!), but he's a lot of fun.

The children were also a revelation - having children on-stage can sometimes be a recipe for disaster, but this group of children were exceptional, and you couldn't help falling in love with them.

Looking back at the show, I have absolutely no doubt that it is comfortably the cheesiest show I have ever had the pleasure of watching. However, that didn't diminish my enjoyment at all. The production is incredibly slick, with Director Rachel Kavanagh setting a relentless pace after the torpour of the opening train journey. The auditorium's layout (with audience on three sides), makes the staging more complex, but Kavanagh carried it off brillaintly. She is aided by a simple but effective set that never risks diverting attention from the action that matters. Stephen Mear's choreography is also an absolute delight. In fact, overall, there are barely any weakenesses!

This show may be too cheesy for people that don't like musical theatre, and if you're after a piece of serious, thought-provoking theatre, this show is not for you. However, if you're looking for some frivolous entertainment that is suitable for the whole family, I doubt there's anything out there that could beat The Music Man.

I've heard rumours that the show is looking for a London transfer later in the year, or early next year, and given the reviews it has already received, there's surely a good chance that Londoners will have their own chance to see the show soon. If you're not willing to risk waiting, a trip to Chichester seems like the sanswer.

In terms of other things, I don't listen to the radio (with iTunes, why?!) but I do use Pandora, and I also watch VH1's JumpStart most mornings, so I see a lot of videos and get exposed to whatever VH1 is deeming awesome at the moment. (At this moment it's Adele, Duffy, and Charlotte Sometimes; in the past it was Sara Bareilles and Ingrid Michaelson.)

Lately these are the CDs that have caught my attention and are sort of on repeat on iTunes:

• Sara Bareilles, Little Voice
• Katy Perry, One of the Boys
• Adele, 19
• Alanis Morissette, Flavors of Entanglement
• Ingrid Michaelson, Girls and Boys
• Tristan Prettyman, Hello...x
• Marie Digby, Unfold
• Missy Higgins, On a Clear Night
• Kate Nash, Made of Bricks
• Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, Once: Music from the Motion Picture

I have yet to listen to but I suspect I will enjoy:

• Duffy, Rockferry
• Kate Voegele, Don't Look Away
• Charlotte Sometimes, Waves and the Both of Us

Also, somewhat in regards to music but also to Broadway and random girlie things, I'm sort of addicted to Legally Blonde: The Musical: The Search for the New Elle Woods. It's on MTV and it's pretty interesting. And by interesting I mean that having seen Legally Blonde: The Musical on both MTV and Broadway, I didn't think that it was really, well, that much of a musical. (It's not a Sondheim musical, I suppose is what I'm saying.) It's a good show in its own right though. It's good, don't get me wrong -- I love a lot of the songs and its energy is amazing -- but it's no Wicked, you know? But in watching this show I have gained an entirely new appreciation for the triple-threat-ness of the best Broadway stars and how difficult it is. It's an entirely different playing field from the one I'm looking to dive into. Kudos to those who can do it; I'd rather buy the tickets and watch the performance at the end.

Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is one of the best musicals I have ever seen.  It is a good, old-fashioned revenge, gore-filled flick that turns irony into amusement and tragedy at the same time.  Thematically, Sweeney Todd is reminiscent of The Count of Monte Cristo due to the obsessive revenge motive of a man who has been punished for solely having a highly coveted woman.  This unjustness at the hands of a higher authority places both titular characters in prison for many years, destined for the day of reckoning with those who are responsible.

Sweeney Todd largely differs from The Count of Monte Cristo in two separate ways.  First of all, it is a musical; and secondly, the Demon Barber wants to punish all of London for his castigation from society and his wife.  He does this with the help of Mrs. Lovett, who uses the victims of Sweeney's scissors to make the most desired meat pies in all of London.

The film itself is a dark portrayal of London, taking place in the 19th century.  Tim Burton has mastered the art of presenting grungy looking sets with a good balance of night in almost every shot.  Sweeney Todd is beautifully acted and sung as well, with the always excellent Johnny Depp in the nominal role, Alan Rickman as the "evil" judge, and Helena Bonham Carter as the lonely Mrs. Lovett.

The only thing that puzzles me about this movie is which demographic it appeals to.  Stereotypically, most theater enthusiasts don't like horror/gory movies, and most horror/gore aficionados don't appreciate or like musical numbers.  I guess that doesn't matter, the movie did well at the box office, and was nominated for a few awards.  Like the movie indicates, "desperate times call for desperate measures".

My Reel Review:  4 out of 5 Reels

Entrevista de ayer sobre "Cinderella the Musical" con Ai Takahashi y Risa Niigaki. Incluye también pequeñas escenas del ensayo para el Musical.

Isaura.Tsuji

Every time I feel sad, or just not in the mood for anything. I always pop this movie in my DVD player, sit back and watch till all the gloominess goes out of my system. This is my ultimate feel good movie. I has comedy, drama, great locations and it's a musical! Julie Andrews at her best here folks! No doubt about it.

Funny thing is I love this movie so much that I did some research on it. Here are some facts that I had learned through the years of research. This list can be found on moviemistakes.com since this is where I found most of the trivia, I believe the site deserves to be mentioned.

- The opening song where Julie Andrews sung "The Sound of Music" has to be shot several times because the helicopter that they use to film the scene keeps blowing Julie Andrews down every time the chopper goes around.

-When the Von Trapp family is hiding in the Abbey to avoid the Nazis, they are hiding behind some headstones. In reality, these headstones are flush against the wall and no one would be able to fit behind them.

- The Real Maria Von Trapp was actually on the movie, but her shot was a bit far. She appears in the scene where Maria (Julie Andrews) is singing "I have Confidence" the real Maria is standing in the tunnel to Julie's left.

- When Julie Andrews is singing "I Have Confidence" she trips. The trip was completely accidental, and not choreographed, but the director felt it was in character, so he left it in.

- Christopher Plummer who plays the Baron, met the real Maria von Trapp when he was a child. He used to ski and had met her at the Von Trapp Lodge which the family owned and operated.

- In the end when the family is climbing over the hills to safety, it is not really Gretl on the shoulders of Captain Von Trapp. On the DVD, it's revealed that while in Austria, Kym Karath gained a lot of weight. This was one of the last shots filmed and so she was a bit too heavy to be carried on Christopher Plummer's back, so he requested a lighter double.

- The real Maria was the one who was very strict with the children, while Captain von Trapp was friendly and relaxed.

- When Liesl is dancing with Rolf in the gazebo, he holds her hand as she skips lightly from bench to bench. Look closely at her ankles: one of them is wrapped with a bandage because it went through the glass during the rehearsal of that scene.

- Nicholas Hammond who played Friedrich von Trapp. Starred in the short lived "The Amazing Spider-Man" TV series (19770 he played "Peter Parker"

I fell in love with this movie when I was a kid. My mom introduced it to me and I was hook. I'm starting to show this to my son. Hopefully he'll like it as well.

Allerdings war es das dann auch schon. Es ist dreckig und vor allem SEHR laut. Es gab nicht eine einzige Minute, in der es auch nur ansatzweise ruhig war.

Doch fand ich unsere Reise dennoch toll. Wir, d.h. Mariana, Alicia, Katja und ich, waren am ersten Tag viel zu müde um noch irgendetwas anderes zu machen, als immer wieder irgendwo einzunicken.

Am zweiten Tag waren wir dann vormittags und nachmittags shoppen, wobei wir uns auf den Alexanderplatz beschränkt haben in dem festen Glauben, das sei in irgendeiner Weise die "Innenstadt" von Berlin. Abends war dann der Höhepunkt unserer Reise, denn wir sind zum "Theater des Westens" gefahren und haben uns dort das Musical "Elisabeth" angeguckt. Und stellt euch vor...sowohl Pia Douwes (Elisabeth) als auch Uwe Kröger (der Tod) haben mitgespielt!!!!! Das war so toll, vor allem, weil ich ja ganz vernarrt in Uwe Kröger alias den Tod bin! Seine Stimme ist so einzigartig und schön, zumindest in meinen Augen bzw. meinen Ohren, dass ich jedes Mal dahinschmelze, wenn ich ihn live sehe! (Zu meinem Glück durfte ich ihn ja schon einmal vor über 5 Jahren in Essen als den Tod im selben Musical bewundern, und auch damals war ich schon total vernarrt in ihn, denn er singt auch auf der CD des Musicals!!) Doch auch Pia Douwes war einfach überweltigend! Die beiden konnten die Lautstärke ihrer Stimmen und ihre Mimik so vollendet einsetzen und im richtigen Moment hervorheben, dass ich total hin und weg war. Seitdem ich die CD vor fast 6 Jahren bekommen habe, hatte ich den großen Traum die beiden zusammen auf der Bühne in genau diesem Musical zu sehen und zu hören. Zwar habe ich das niemandem erzählt, aber so war es. Ihr könnt euch gar nicht vorstellen wie viel mir das bedeutet hat! Als Pia dann auch noch "Ich gehör nur mir" gesungen hat, genau so schön, oder sogar noch viel besser und schöner als auf der CD, da sind mir regelrecht die Tränen gekommen. Mein einziger Gedanke war: Mein Gott, Katharina, jetzt ist dein Traum in Erfüllung gegangen und du sitzt hier und lauscht Pia Douwes und Uwe Kröger wirklich wie sie genau die Lieder singen, die dir schon immer am besten gefallen haben! Niemand kann dir das wegnehmen! Und dann sitzt du auch noch in der 7. Reihe, was bedeutet du kannst wirklich ALLES sehen!!" Es war total genial.

Was allerdings etwas befremdlich war war, dass der Tod am Ende, und darüber machen wir vier uns immer noch lustig, Elisabeth einen so "rießigen" Kuss gegeben hat, dass wir dachten er wolle entweder ihre Nase auffressen, oder sie mit seiner Zunge ersticken! Achja, ganz zu schweigen davon, dass der Tod auch noch Elisabeths Sohn, den dreißigjähirgen Rudolph, mit einem Zungenkuss begegnet ist! Wir waren alle etwas...irritiert. Und zum Ende hin, als sich alle verbeugten, knutschten Pia und Uwe fleißig weiter, so als würde es ihnen einen heiden Spaß machen. Mariana und ich lagen schon fast am Boden vor Lachen!!! Ihr merkt, ich kann einfach nicht aufhören darüber zu reden! Tja, so bin ich nun einmal.

Die restlichen drei Tage verbrachten wir dann eigentlich nur noch mit Shoppen. Wobei ich noch etwas ganz fantastisches erlebt habe. Nämlich habe ich Martin, einen Jungen, den ich damals in Neuseeland kennengelernt hatte und mit dem ich seither e-Mail Kontakt habe, wiedergetroffen!! Das war so toll sich über die alten Zeiten unterhalten zu können! Ist total schön gewesen, dich wiederzusehen, Martin!! (Falls du das hier lesen solltest!)

Sorry if I let anyone down by not updating last week. I was really working on it. To make up for it, this week you'll get TWO updates.

Yaaaaay!

This morning I was bored watching TV. There is never anything on at eight in the morning on a weekday. Usually around this time Nickolodeon would be showing SpongeBob (episodes from back when it was good), but for some reason they didn't show it today. Instead they were showing Wonder Pets! That exclamation point is part of the title, by the way. I guess it just wasn't enough of a cheery show already without it.

Anyway, from what I could gather, the premise is that the Wonder Pets! consist of a Guinea Pig (Linny), Turtle (Tuck), and Duck (Ming-Ming), all of them classroom pets for a kidnergarten classroom. After the class has gone they leap from their tanks and answer a "call" on their "phone", which is a weird rusty can with a wire or something attached.

The call always tells them of the current situation they must resolve, and the situation is usually some baby (and just so you know, in this show, as well as in the vocabulary of anyone stupid, any distinctly young animal is automatically a "baby") animal is in mortal danger for whatever reason. Apparently their phone has a psychic uplink to any distressed animal. With that, the Wonder Pets leap into action by assembling their flying boat made out of random classroom objects. For some reason they never quite seem to get it down after 36 episodes, because there's always something that they must do to get all the proper pieces of their flying boat thing. Once it's all gathered, though, they fly off singing their theme song:

Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming, too!
We're Wonder Pets and we'll help you!
What's gonna work?
Teeeam work!
What's gonna work?
TEAAAAA--

Sorry. It's catchy.

The Wonder Pets arrive at their destination and rescue the baby animal using the same technique they used to find the supplies to their flying boat earlier. Then the single parent of the rescued animal arrives just as its child has escaped mortal danger, and puts on a show of thanking for the Wonder Pets while secretly fuming about the failure of their scheme to end child support payments. All of the Wonder Pets celebrate their victory by cheerily eating celery, then cheerily entering their cheerful little flying boat while singing their cheery, cheery song again, having effectively taught cheery little children the cheery little lesson of how team work and loads of cheeriness can solve any problem, at all, ever, just like they have taught them every morning invariably. You'd think they'd try to teach some other lesson along the way at some point, but it doesn't look like it.

There is a point to all of this, really. The one thing I neglected to mention about the show is that the Wonder Pets are singing constantly. I do not mean they sometimes sing little jingles about the important things they do. I mean almost every bit of dialogue is sung and rhymed. There is an orchestra that is playing in the background CONSTANTLY throughout the entire adventure. Music Man, eat your heart out! THESE guys are singing EVERY LINE!

Now, wouldn't it be awesome if real life was like that? That every person was born with the automatic ability to improvise singing, dancing, and music that everyone automatically knew how to flawlessly go around with it? You know how in musicals people can just start singing, the band starts up in the background, and before you know it everyone's joining in on the chorus while prancing about everywhere with brilliant choreography? I want that to happen in real life! In this society, people who suddenly leap into song about mundane things while prancing around the street are regarded as psychotic and to be avoided. The only chance you'd have at getting anyone to join in song with you would be if you were singing an already-made popular song. Even then, it's highly unlikely you could get the whole block to join in, and it's even more unlikely that there will just happen to be a nearby band playing the background music.

How do we solve this? There was a scene in The Music Man where the barbershop quartet is walking down the street doing their usual barbershop quartet thing, and as they pass by some woman they suddenly start singing a greeting to her, just like that!

This is my idea, then, to make that happen in real life: If you're in a barbershop quartet, start making up songs to sing about mundane things just in case one of said mundane things happens. Make up a song about how sorry you are that some person tripped just in case somebody near you trips while you're in the group, for instance. Eventually you'll have a barbershop quartet that can travel around singing about EVERYTHING going on!

That would be so freakin' AWESOME!

Uh, nevermind...

You know what was weird about that episode of Wonder Pets I saw? They enlisted the help of a friendly moose to help save some young birds. I am worried that this will send children the wrong message about moose as a species, because in reality moose are huge, mean, and extremely dangerous. The last thing I want is for some small child to be out in the woods with his or her family, see a moose, and run up to it to give it a hug while it shifts into Kill Mode. Yes, moose are so evil that they operate in Modes. They also all come from Turkey. So, if you happen to have a young child, please be sure to teach them the dangers of moose.

There! With one paragraph I have given this post meaning. Time to close for today. Have a good day, and remember that bird nests do not belong in large antlers.

Warmup
200m jog - 15 Air Squats
200m jog - 15 Sit Ups
200m jog - 15 Push Ups
Repeat all with 50 Jump Rope Steps in place of jogging

WOD
4 Rounds
16 Thrusters
16 Upright Rows
16 Lunges (each leg)
16 Woodchops (total)

Musical Medicine Ball Game
Core Work

Going to the cinema results in an immobilization of the body. Not much gets in the way of one's perception. All one can do is look and listen. One forgets where one is sitting. The luminous screen spreads a murky light through-out the darkness. Making a film is one thing, viewing a film another. Impassive, mute, still the viewer sits. The outside world fades as the eyes probe the screen.

- Robert Smithson, "A Cinematic Atopia"

[wp_caption id="attachment_16" align="alignnone" width="467" caption="Disembodied perceptions: Pennies from Heaven"][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_20" align="alignnone" width="433" caption="Deco settings, dismal lives"][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_21" align="alignnone" width="443" caption="My baby says Yes, Yes..."][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_22" align="alignnone" width="458" caption="Pennies From Heaven, singing in the rain"][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_23" align="alignnone" width="437" caption="Arthur and Eileen"][/wp_caption]

This narrative dissonance is one of the more disturbing and perfectly calibrated aspects of Pennies, as the film reveals itself as a series of paradoxes which highlight the brutality of the characters' situation with a pronounced unsentimentality; fantasy and actuality, light and dark, fulfillment and desperation, imagination and substance. The device of tableaux is deliberately referential to specific American artists like Hopper and Reginal Marsh, artists whose work examined social and spiritual displacement of characters in relation to their environments.

Dislocation and ambivalence course through the film as each successive narrative strand creates a greater separation between character and corporeal actuality; the validity of the musical number as a "true" demarcation of spatial existence for the characters grows stronger as the film progresses the need for escapism mounts, even as the visual space of musical fantasy grows less logical and relevant to the narrative proper.

Pennies From Heaven is a horror film, in which expectations of genre are cleanly subverted like a straight razor running through soft flesh. It's a cruel narrative trope designed for disruption of expectations and displacement of narrative convention, where dreams and fantasies are eviscerated instead of bodies and disappointment and tragedy await after that big happy dance number. In that sense it's just as painful, and horrifying to watch, as that other kind of scary movie.

*****     *****     *****

Well, it's time for pie.

"Mock Apple Pie", one of the standard bearers of "mock" or substitute foods, was not actually invented in the Thirties. It originated from American Pioneer days when soda crackers were used to make pies in times when apples were scarce. Nabisco introduced it as a Ritz Cracker recipe in 1935 and it was a huge hit. Since this post is all about delusions, escapism and sustaining our psyches with chicanery and lies, Mock Apple Pie seems like a perfect Depression-era complement.

Mock Apple Pie

1 3⁄4 cups flour, plus more as needed
1 tbsp. plus 2 cups sugar
1 tsp. fine salt
12 tbsp. plus 2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
and chilled
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. lemon zest
1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cups coarsely broken Ritz, saltine,
or soda crackers (about 36 crackers)
1 egg, beaten

1. Combine flour, 1 tbsp. sugar, and salt in a food processor; pulse to combine. Add 12 tbsp. butter; pulse until pea-size pieces have formed. Drizzle in 3–4 tbsp. ice water; continue pulsing until dough just comes together. Turn dough onto a floured surface; knead briefly into a ball. Divide dough in half, form into 2 disks, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill for at least 1 hour or overnight.

2. Put remaining sugar, cream of tartar, and 1 3⁄4 cups water into a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat; add lemon juice, lemon zest, and cinnamon. Let syrup cool to room temperature.

3. Heat oven to 400°. On a floured surface, roll 1 dough disk into a 12" circle, transfer to a 9" pie pan, fill with crackers, and pour syrup over top. Dot mixture with remaining butter. Roll out remaining dough into an 11" circle and place on top of pie; trim dough, leaving a 1⁄2" overhang. Fold edges up over rim; press to seal. Decorate edge of the pie dough with the tines of a fork. Cut 6 slits in the top of the pie, brush with the egg, and bake until crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let pie cool completely before slicing.

One of the goals I set was to learn a musical instrument.  I didn't think it would be that hard.  The guitar seemed cool, so I bought a guitar and learned three chords (I believe that made me eligible to join the Ramones!), but primarily earned sore fingers and gained a new appreciation for the flexibility of guitarist's hands.  I've picked up my guitar on and off over the years, but have never really had the passion or dedication to excell at guitar.  I have thought about piano too, since we have had one sitting in our living room (nice decoration) for several years waiting for one of our kids to learn (I'm not much of a musical example to them).

I think one of the things I am learning from this goal is that I must be passionate (or at least interested) about a goal in order to achieve some measure of success.  I believe I really set this goal with a thought to impress others, rather than having pursued self improvement - another good lesson.

Panhandle, though a musical comedy of sorts (it's more of a "play with songs"), is more about showcasing Daniels's original music (which is tuneful, but not exactly essential to developing plot or character) than it is about making anyone laugh.  It tells the simple story of a wayward outlaw who provokes the wrong cowpoke, thus getting himself shot, tied up, and left to die an amazingly slow death under the sweltering prairie sun (a sun which the audience can practically feel thanks to lighting designer Reid Johnson's warm, glowing tones).  Luckily for Slim (and for us), a singing cowboy saunters onto the scene, wielding a guitar instead of a gun, and proceeds to sporadically humor us for the seemingly long remainder of the ninety minute show.  Thanks to his Monty Python-styled giddy-up and his impeccable comic timing, John Seibert's Oklahoma Kid is a shining advert for living unconcernedly and reveling in a happy-go-lucky attitude. Unfortunately, Daniels's play and Guy Sanville's direction allow too few opportunities for Seibert to really shine, and instead waste too much time on strange flashback sequences in which we are introduced to Slim's would-be love (if only he would learn to be good!), played by Jessica Garrett with a lovely lilt to her vocal lines, and the man he wronged (Phil Powers).

Panhandle Slim perpetually repeats jokes that aren't all that funny in the first place and does so in between not-exactly-profound discussions of the meaning of life.  It's an odd mix that doesn't work effectively because the play only touches on those deeper themes, never delving into them, and the comedic portions aren't nearly light and charming enough to seamlessly transition between and infiltrate the philosophical discussions.  While Daniels's past efforts with comedy and not-so-usual settings (I can't imagine there exists many plays set in Michigan's Upper Peninsula) and styles worked in his favor, it's no wonder that this production represents the sixth draft of a play for which he claims "th characters led the way."  Could anyone expect more than a few stale jokes and halfhearted attempts at serious discussion from a balladeering broncobuster and a feckless fugitive?  Maybe not, but based on the many unamused faces I observed during the show, I don't think I was the only one assuming things.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/surreyleader/entertainment/23125974.html

I have some pretty stiff competition in my category though, so I guess I'll just stick with the "It's just an honour to be nominated" line.

Really, I want to win, win, WIN!

But it's all done by committee so I can't even ask you to vote for me.

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Saiba como é o filme 'Mamma mia!', musical visto por 30 milhões no teatro - O Globo Online