BEST SHOW OF 2014: ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ is also one of the best Broadway dramas in the last decade. Photo: Joan Marcus

As 2014 winds down, it is that time of year again when we at StageZine list our Top 10 Best and Worst of Broadway and Off-Broadway Theater. We each list the shows we loved and those we hated.

David Nounou’s TOP 10 BEST OF 2014

1.  The Curious Incident Of the Dog in the Night-Time: Far and away the best play of the year. A brilliant must-see theatrical event.

2.  Cabaret: With Emma Stone it became a five-star show again. Best Sally Bowles yet.

3.  A Raisin In The Sun: Exciting revival; always great to see it when done to perfection.

4.  Aladdin: Best Disney musical since The Lion King.

5.  Sweeney Todd: Emma Thompson made this revival at Lincoln Center unforgettable.

6.  Heathers: Even with a small budget, a wonderful musical was created due to great imagination.

7.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Neil Patrick Harris made it indelible and unforgettable.

8.  Of Mice and Men: Steinbeck at his best, compelling revival with wonderful performances.

9.  Pageant: Always fun to see this takeoff on all beauty pageants, because it is spot-on.

10.  The Elephant Man: Bradley Cooper.  Need I say more?

ONE OF BEST REVIVALS OF 2014: ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ is the best African-American drama ever & this revival was sublime. Photo: Brigitte Lacombe

 THE WORST OF 2014 THEATER IN PICTURES…

MAKING BLUE MOVIES: (Left to right) Daniel Gerroll, Ella Dershowitz, Austin Cauldwell & Déa Julien in the silly porn comedy ‘Intimacy,’ one of 2014’s worst plays. Photo: Monique Carboni.

WORST OF 2014: Canned hip-hop music & every ghetto cliche in the ‘hood made ‘Holler If Ya Hear Me’ a dud. Photo: Joan Marcus

David Nounou’s TOP 10 WORST OF 2014

1.  Holler If Ya Hear Me: Definitely and by far the worst show of the year. Misguided conception for a Broadway musical, with inept direction by Kenny Leon.

2.  The Realistic Joneses: Usual Will Eno blatherfest.

3.  The Last Ship: With or without Sting, this turgid ship sank a long time ago.

4.  Bullets Over Broadway: Susan Stroman took a brilliant Woody Allen comedy and turned it into schlock at its worst.

5.  Rocky: A horrific and ill-conceived idea for a musical, courtesy of Sylvester Stallone.

6.  Bronx Bombers: Actually a stage bomb; the Bronx had nothing to do with it.

7.  The River: Thank God it was only half as long as Jez Butterworth’s previous outing Jerusalem, which made it bearable. Although one can watch Hugh Jackman read a phone book and make it interesting, he was miscast here.

8.  Under My Skin: Off-Broadway gender-switching concept (starring Kerry Butler) at its incompetent and unfunny worst.

9.  Intimacy: Inept and stupid Off-Broadway “porn in suburbia” button pusher from smut auteur Thomas Bradshaw.

10.  A Delicate Balance: Pam McKinnon took an Edward Albee snoozefest in which nothing really happens and sucked out any life out of it.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

The Velocity Of Autumn: Had no business being on Broadway and why did they even bother?

It’s Only A Play: Never has so much star power gone to waste and suffered from a basically one-note comedy.

THE BEST OF 2014 THEATER IN PICTURES…

PORTRAIT OF THE JAZZ ICON: Audra McDonald won a Tony for her outstanding portrayal of Billie Holiday in ‘Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill,’ one of the best shows of 2014. Photo: Evgenia Eliseeva

‘SO VERY’ BRILLIANT: The cast of Off-Broadway’s ‘Heathers The Musical,’ one of 2014’s best. Photo: Chad Batka

Scott Harrah’s TOP 10 BEST OF 2014

1.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time: This British import is a rare mix of a great script, outstanding acting and technical wizardry. One of the best shows of the past 10 years, with a Tony-worthy performance by Alex Sharp.

2.  Hedwig and the Angry Inch: Neil Patrick Harris helped make this revival a must-see. I liked the original back in the 1990s, but I totally flipped for this Broadway revival of Hedwig.

3.  Aladdin: Despite the lukewarm reaction from critics and the Tony Awards, this is a fun and colorful family musical from Disney.

4.  Heathers: A “so very” brilliant Off-Broadway adaptation of the 1980s cult film.

5. The Cripple of Inishmaan: This clever Irish play was misunderstood by most critics. Martin McDonagh’s wry Irish humor and Daniel Radcliffe made the show lots of fun.

6.  The Elephant Man: A brilliant revival of a play about acceptance, starring Bradley Cooper.

7.   Pageant: Great revival of the musical spoof on beauty pageants.

8.  A Raisin in the Sun: Outstanding revival of the best African-American drama of all time.

9.  Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill: Audra McDonald channeling Billie Holiday in one her best stage performances to date.

10. Ruthless: The Musical: Hilarious, shamelessly campy revival of the Off-Broadway musical satire that sends up everything from The Bad Seed to All About Eve.

AND THE WORST…

‘BULLETS’ ONLY SHOT BLANKS: The mind-numbingly lame & lifeless musical adaptation of Woody Allen’s ‘Bullets Over Broadway,’ haphazardly directly by Susan Stroman. Photo: Paul Kolnik

BIG TALENTS, CONFUSING SHOW: Toni Collette & Michael C. Hall in ‘The Realistic Joneses,’ one of the worst plays of 2014. Photo: Joan Marcus

Scott Harrah’s TOP 10 WORST OF 2014

1.  Holler If Ya Hear Me: A contrived musical with canned, pre-recorded hip-hop music, every half-baked ghetto cliche known in the ‘hood, and zero drama. An insult to Tupac Shakur’s memory. (And the play only featured his music. It wasn’t even about him!)

2.  The Realistic Joneses: Despite a great all-star cast, the show was merely more confusing twaddle from the consistently pretentious Will Eno.

3.  It’s Only a Play: Full of stars, but Terrence McNally’s smash hit is totally devoid of anything funny. It’s just not much of a play.

4.  A Delicate Balance: Edward Albee won the Pulitzer for this? Theater fans paid how much to see this confusing bore-a-thon?

5.  Rocky: This adaptation of the Sylvester Stallone classic film didn’t “fly” as a musical, and was a total snoozer until the final scene. Too little, too late. Sorry, Sly.

‘UNDER MY SKIN’: Like a parasite, that is. This unfunny Off-Broadway body-switching ‘comedy’ with Kerry Butler (left) & Matt Walton was like ‘Freaky Friday’ with bad sex jokes & terrible NY accents. One of the 2014’s worst plays. Photo: Broadway.com

6.  Under My Skin: Stupid, unfunny body-switching Off-Broadway “comedy” starring Kerry Butler. Like Freaky Friday with bad sex jokes and atrocious attempts at New York accents.

7.  Bronx Bombers: One foul baseball play that should have stayed Off Broadway. The Yankees deserved a much better stage bio-drama than this.

8.  Mothers and Sons: Another atrocity from Terrence McNally, despite Tyne Daly’s fine performance as a homophobic mother still grieving over her son’s death from AIDS. Dated and preachy drivel.

9.  Intimacy: For some reason, one-track-minded provocateur Thomas Bradshaw keeps getting his “porn with a message” Off-Broadway plays produced. Entertaining? Yes. But good theater? No.

10. Bullets Over Broadway: A puerile, pathetic adaptation of the hit Woody Allen film, with random vintage songs thrown in as a “score.” No bullets here–just blanks.

DISHONORABLE MENTION

If/Then: Poor Idina Menzel, a talented diva, playing a recently divorced woman in this hokey dud, depicting a sanitized New York and every bad New York stereotype (past and present) imaginable.

The Velocity of Autumn: Estelle Parsons deserved a much better “comeback” than this lame, pointless drama about an elderly Brooklyn woman and her troubled relationship with her son.

Edited by Scott Harrah
Published December 22, 2014

The post Top 10 Best & Worst of 2014 Theater appeared first on StageZine.

‘GMA’ STAR HOSTS SWISH BENEFIT: ‘Good Morning America’ & ABC News Correpspondent Sara Haines hosts Songs in the Key of Equality on May 19 at Le Poisson Rouge. Photo: ABCMedia.net

By Scott Harrah

Sara Haines, contributing correspondent for “Good Morning America” and ABC News, returns as emcee for this year’s Songs in the Key of Equality benefit for the Swish Ally Fund of the Stonewall Community Foundation on May 19, 2014 at Le Poisson Rouge (tickets available at  https://donate.swishpride.org/page/contribute/swish-concert-tickets). Anyone who was at last year’s event will tell you what a funny, vivacious host she was, but there’s much more to Sara Haines than a vibrant personality. Ms. Haines, a graduate of Smith College, is a strong advocate for LGBT causes because her brother is gay. She is also an outspoken nonconformist, and is currently planning a fall destination wedding with fiancé Max in the Bahamas.  As Sara herself will tell you, she is bucking nearly every wedding tradition imaginable to create a wedding that is as relaxed, unique and iconoclastic as she and Max are.

This is an exciting time of big changes for the Iowa native. Besides planning the big day, last summer she left NBC’s “Today Show” and friends Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford after many years to join ABC News and “Good Morning America” and such stellar “GMA” news anchors as Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, Amy Robach and Lara Spencer. Sara Haines is one of StageZine’s favorite TV personalities, and not simply because she’s great to interview and gives such complex, heady responses to every question. She is a straight woman who is not afraid to back the LGBT community however she can. We caught up with Sara Haines for the second time to chat about Swish, LGBT causes, her career and the reasons why she refuses to stand on ceremony as she and her fiancé plan their wedding.

STAGEZINE:  Sara, you’re hosting Songs in the Key of Equality once again. You were wonderful last year.  What do you love the most about being the emcee for this event?

SARA HAINES: I believe in this cause, the whole mission. I think the cherry on top is the product, an event you can believe in, from the people behind the scenes to the production that’s put on. It was my first time hosting Songs in the Key of Equality last year. I had no idea how above and beyond this event would go. Anyone who’s met Swish’s Executive Director, Sue Sena, knows that she’s truly an angel of change.  Just she alone makes you feel like you’re a part of something so massive.  But to see the faces, the names, the talent, the people that showed up to witness it, it’s bigger than you can describe. It’s truly an experience.

Swish is switching gears to become the Swish Ally Fund of the Stonewall Community Foundation.  Why do you think it’s important for everyone to support this cause?

There are so many organizations out there that are similar but are all scattered.  I think the idea of coming together as one just gives it more momentum and puts the support in a more direct way. Just by math alone, it shows the dollar goes further, the support goes further. That’s my understanding of why it’s such a big deal. It’s no longer a branch on the tree. It’s part of the trunk driving the tree. I think that’s huge because it’s such a graduation for a cause that’s built itself up over the last 11 years; it’s just making it stronger by joining the Stonewall community. My understanding is the support will go further with it standing behind the Stonewall Community Foundation because right now it’s a grassroots effort that’s grown and has its own momentum

Some people think LGBT nonprofits are losing focus and purpose because of all the progress that’s been made, but I feel it’s more important than ever to support these causes because the homophobia has not gone away and we can’t just be complacent.  What are your thoughts on this?

I completely agree.  As a woman, being part of a minority cause, I went to a women’s school.  Any time you get an organization that supports specific groups, you’re giving them a force they’re not getting naturally. Until 50 states have marriage equality, our mission is very clear and very big in front of us and it remains that way.  In the majority of states, LGBT people can’t even get married.  I disagree with people who say the LGBT cause is losing focus. Yes, progress has been made, but there’s so much further to go in regard to equality. Another thing is youth. We happen to be witnessing a time where maybe and hopefully young people who are coming out are having an easier time but that by no means says that we are standing on equal ground. It’s much further than it once was and it’s important to look at how much further it’s come. Yes, progress has been made but it’s also important to re avert your gaze and look at how much further we have to go. It’s at these times where people get comfortable and think the journey’s done.  This is definitely a marathon, not a sprint.

I think it’s similar to when civil rights first passed in the 1960s. That certainly did not mean that African Americans no longer encountered racism. They still do to this very day. I think it’s similar. Do you agree?

I totally agree. I think there’s a time where there was overt mistreatment.  Right now at the White House Correspondents’ Association 2014 Dinner, they were talking about the fact that it was originally a white male experience and women got in the door before blacks got in the door . We’re past segregation, bravo, that’s great, but now it’s more deceiving.  There was a joke made at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner that if Hillary Clinton became president, we’d only be able to pay her 30% less. Now there are so many battles being fought that it’s easier to identify than when there was violence or when it was blatant. Now those problems remain for women, blacks and gays, for everyone.  We’re at a great point where we can praise the movement for making some strides, but we’ve got a long way to go. So this is the time to push through.

You are a straight ally for LGBT causes.  Why do you think it’s so important for straight people to support the LGBT community?

At the end of the day, inequality is inequality. People are fighting every day for women to go further. I’m not someone who screams every day about inequality. I grew up in a generation where I don’t even realize sometimes that women are slighted. You don’t have to be the one being slighted to fight for a cause. If you see it, you have to do something, and be aware that inequalities are all around us. I hope we always fight for things that matter. To me, whether it’s about marriage equality or gays being treated equal, any group of people, we’re all the same when you strip it all down. So I think inequality is just not okay ever.  It’s that whole idea of it’s worse when you are aware of it and don’t do something than just not doing anything. We’re all aware of it. Once you’ve got your radar, there’s no forgiveness for not moving forward with that cause.

Let’s talk a bit about some of the exciting changes in your life.  You left NBC’s “Today Show” and moved to ABC’s “Good Morning America.”  Tell us about some of the great things you’re experiencing.

Oh, my gosh, I feel like my career is so different from what it once was. I miss every day the laughing and the occasional boozing on TV at NBC’s “Today Show.” Now I feel like, at ABC, I entered a boot camp of pre-season training. I never was trained to be a correspondent and the opportunity I’ve been given at ABC, in the trenches, learning on the job, I’ve had an amazing time and there are times when I come up for air and say, “What did I get myself into.” [Laughs.]

You recently got engaged.  Anything exciting you want to share with us about it?

We’ve bucked a lot of the traditions. We’re running a destination wedding and my brother is my man of honor.  If you want to make it philosophical, when you look at all these changes in the world and the very things we fight for at Swish and the fact that we’ve ripped down the whole tradition of marriage and what it should mean and what we want it to mean. Max [her fiancé] and I feel if you can’t explain why you do something, we don’t want to do it. The point has been that the traditions are outdated.  If there’s not a beautiful reason that makes sense or resonates with the couple, you shouldn’t do it.I’ve been laughing because every dress person I meet, every wedding planner, every bride’s magazine, everyone sits there with a dropped jaw when I say this. I didn’t realize how much I’d throw the whole traditions out.  I am the antithesis of a normal bride.  I don’t want to spend money on my dress.   Every process and tradition, if we can’t understand it, we don’t want to do it. The only thing we know is the two of us will be there.  The rest of the things we’re kind of writing like new authors. This journey has been interesting. At the end of the day, we’re thinking, “We really should have eloped.”  Because no one wants to be a part of this “eco-friendly, no-invitation, no bridal-party dresses” wedding. We don’t understand the point of buying an outfit that you only wear once.  You won’t be able to recognize it as a wedding by the time that we get done. Max and I were talking about how these traditions started. Some people are big on a veil.  Unless it’s a veil that you lift up and there’s supposed to be a revealing of the bride, if I’m not doing that, hanging stuff out of my hair, it’s weird to just have it there. It seems like one of the most pointless things I’ve ever heard of.  In all the years you daydream about a wedding, the best advice I got was someone said, “Throw a party you’d want to go to and call it a wedding.” I think that’s what Max and I have gotten right.  We’re throwing a party that we’d want to go to. It’s about as quirky and offbeat as I am and as cute and classic as he is, and you meet somewhere in the middle and swirl it together and you’ve got our wedding. We’re having fun but it is a big journey to get people on board as we do nothing that they did in their own wedding and they wonder why we have to be different.

How long have you been planning it?  When did you get engaged?

We got engaged December 3, 2013 but we had already started some of our planning before that. One way we bucked the constraints of what everyone else expected is taking them out of the environment they’re used to. The pressures of the amount of people that you have to invite, what it should look like, the awkward New York wedding—I didn’t want to deal with any of that.  We knew we were going away and we even had a working list of who we needed to invite before we got engaged, so we’ve been planning for awhile but once we got engaged, we made some cost decisions right away. We’re getting married in the Bahamas on Harbour Island and we jumped on that right away.  Our families said, “You’re going to make us all fly.” We said, “Already done.” Because we knew we’d overthink it if we let ourselves flounder too much.  One thing we’re both in line with is we want to have a party. We want to have lots of drinking and eating in a few days with our favorite people and the rest is really the part we’re screen-dooring. I don’t care what people wear at the wedding.  One by one, we’re hacking it out.   I feel that everyone in the wedding should be a special person.  The important thing for us is the meaning behind it.  It’s been one of the most critically broken-apart events for as little as I care about the details.  It’s amazing how much work we’ve put into it for what we call low maintenance.  We’re getting married on November 22.  We wanted to do it sooner but everyone got knocked up.  My sister had a baby. My best adult friend had a baby and so did my best childhood friend so three of the people who will be standing up with me got pregnant at the same time. So we had to wait for “Baby Nation” to work itself out.

You’re having the wedding on Harbour Island in the Bahamas. That’s beautiful from what I’ve heard.

We went there in March. We chose it because it’s the only time in your life that you can make your friends and family vacation with you, if you have your wedding somewhere at a destination.  We just want a few days out of everyone.  It will fly by fast, but we’ll get about three days’ worth, whereas most people get four or five hours’ worth.

What else about the event or anything we’ve talked about would you like to add?

Swish and Sue Sena—I would follow her into the Mists of Avalon.  Sue is an amazing person and Swish is a reflection of that. I know there are more people involved that I’m not mentioning, but Sue is such a figurehead for me.  This event was one of the coolest events I’ve ever done in New York.  Period. I’ve said that to people ever since doing it.  Why it was such a big deal and why it was such a treat is I remember walking away from there and thinking that only in New York can you find such a concentrated amount of talent. In order to put this show on, that talent can’t be in other shows. So the fact that you have enough talent at Songs in the Key of Equality to put on a Broadway-level production with so many people that are actually not working right at that moment is beyond me.  It was so cool because of the relaxed atmosphere.  The people I saw perform; I would pay anything to see them.  To see them all in one place with that vibe of “we all join together in the name of love and people close to us” was such a perfect combination.  I’m a big believer in this event.

Are you excited about the list of performers?

It’s amazing when you see the names roll out of who’s been booked. It shows you the level of this particular cause and how many lives it touches and how you can get such an elite group of people that will drop anything to be a part of it.  The cause alone had me involved last year.  I was excited to be a part of it.  Now it’s like that whole dedication to the cause combined with that amazing force of people I witnessed and met and stood next to last year that blew my mind.  Now, I’m even more invested in what this magical evening is all about.

To purchase tickets for Songs in the Key of Equality on May 19, 2014 (VIP cocktail reception at 7pm; show 8pm) at Le Poisson Rouge, visit https://donate.swishpride.org/page/contribute/swish-concert-tickets  and note that all proceeds benefit the Swish Ally Fund of the Stonewall Community Foundation.

Published May 12, 2014

The post ‘GMA’ & ABC News Star Sara Haines on Why She’s Emcee of Songs in the Key of Equality Again appeared first on StageZine.

BROADWAY SWISHER: ‘Pippin’ star Molly Tynes performs at ‘Songs in the Key of Equality’ on May 20, 2013 at Le Poisson Rouge

By Scott Harrah

Molly Tynes is currently in the cast of the must-see revival of Pippin on Broadway. The show has been nominated for 10 Tony nominations (and received 5 stars from StageZine).

We first met the talented Ms. Tynes at the kickoff party for Swish’s “Songs in the Key of Equality,” where she’ll be performing May 20, 2013 at 7:00pm.  As I was leaving, I mentioned to this gorgeous, sweet-natured woman that StageZine was reviewing Pippin a couple nights later and she insisted that I, along with StageZine’s co-publisher, David NouNou, come visit her backstage after seeing the show. Going to see Molly Tynes backstage at the Music Box (and seeing Pippin itself) was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

She previously appeared in the American Repertory Theatre’s production of the show as well. Ms. Tynes has also appeared in Legally Blonde at the Arvada Center (Brooke Wyndham); the first National Tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang; and Curtains at the Paper Mill Playhouse. Molly Tynes is also an aerialist and an instructor at the Goodspeed Musicals Audition Intensive and at Broadway Bodies in New York.

StageZine spoke with Molly Tynes about why she is performing at “Songs in the Key of Equality,” a benefit concert for straight LGBT alliance Swish on May 20, 2013 at 7:00pm at Le Poisson Rouge. Be sure to get tickets to see her and many Broadway and off-Broadway stars performing for a great cause. This is the eighth installment in our series of features on the cast and team behind the show to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the nonprofit Swish.

What inspires/moves you to lend your time to Swish and the LGBT rights movement in this way? 



This is a country that values equality. Throughout our history, there have been great moments when we have acknowledged the mistakes of our past and resolved to achieve a more total equality for all:  the abolition of slavery, women’s suffrage, the end of segregation laws, etc. One such moment is happening right now. It is very exciting. Now is a very important time for us as a nation. We have the chance to take a huge step forward and recognize marriage equality federally. Now, more than ever, we need to raise awareness about this important issue so that we may affect necessary change and help progress this country towards “equality for all.”

What are the current creative projects you are working on?



I am currently in the cast of Pippin on Broadway, and at the moment that occupies pretty much every waking hour of my life! This show is truly a dream job for me though, so I couldn’t be happier.

Tell me what equality means to you.

Merriam-Webster defines equality as, “an ideal of uniformity in treatment or status by those in a position to affect either.” The second part of that definition really speaks to me: “… by those in a position to affect either.” That means equality is a conscious act. It doesn’t just happen on its own; it requires a choice. We actively decide to treat people equally. And we must continue to make this choice daily by evaluating our behavior and by reminding ourselves that all people deserve to share the same rights and freedoms.

How can theater and the performing arts promote tolerance, love and acceptance of the LGBT community?



We have access to a lot of people as performers. We can use that visibility to help raise awareness and to show the humanity of all different types of people. So much of prejudice and intolerance is based on ignorance. If we use ourselves as examples to show people that those different from them are human too, perhaps they will re-evaluate their ideas about how others should be treated.

Tickets for “Songs in the Key of Equality” on May 20, 2013 at Le Poisson Rouge are available online at https://donate.swishpride.org/page/contribute/cabaret2013

Published May 17, 2013

The post ‘Pippin’ star Molly Tynes talks about her Tony-nominated hit & Songs in the Key of Equality benefit appeared first on StageZine.

STRAIGHT ALLY: NBC ‘Today Show’ host Sara Haines supports LGBT equality because her brother is gay. Photo: NBC Universal

By Scott Harrah

Sara Haines, contributing correspondent for NBC’s “Today Show,” earned the nickname “Sara Sage” from her iconic on-air colleague Kathie Lee Gifford.  After speaking to her for more than half an hour, it is easy to understand why Ms. Haines was given the moniker.  Ms. Haines is witty and bubbly, but she is also insightful, intelligent, and comes across as a down-to-earth intellectual. Ms. Haines, a graduate of Smith College, is a strong advocate for LGBT causes because her brother is gay.

Ms. Haines hails from Iowa and grew up in a loving but conservative family, and left her home state for the East Coast, but remembers how different things are between the coasts, and how hard it is for families everywhere to first cope with finding out a brother, sister, son or daughter is gay.

Ms. Haines is the host of the upcoming “Songs in the Key of Equality” benefit concert for the straight LGBT alliance Swish on May 20, 2012 at 7:00 pm at Le Poisson Rouge.  I recently spoke to this incredible woman about why she wanted to emcee this important event. This is the fifth installment in StageZine’s 10-part series on the cast and team behind “Songs in the Key of Equality.”

What inspires/moves you to lend your time to Swish and the LGBT rights movement in this way?

My brother’s gay.  I went to a women’s school, and I was a female athlete, so many of my friends were gay once I got to college.  And since then, as my brother said, I’m with the gays more than he is.  I think it’s crazy that we’re in 2013 and these things are still an issue.  How are we still having a dialogue over who it’s okay to marry?  It’s a huge issue and very close to my heart.  My brother is with someone that we think he’ll end up marrying and we love.  I think love’s hard enough to find, so you can’t really put parameters on it.  Finding it is the gift and the journey.

You work in the media, and we strive to be ethical, balanced and fair. What can the media do to make life easier for the LGBT community?

Keep telling the stories.  I don’t know if I’m somewhat jaded because I am coming up in at time where people on the air are coming out…it isn’t such an issue.  LGBT stories are lauded.  It’s not like, “Oh, that was so bold of you guys to do that.”  It’s like, “Of course it is, and it’s an amazing story.”  I don’t know if I’m not seeing it clearly or if I’m too “in it” to separate myself.  The people I sit next to are the same ones on the camera but also writing and behind the scenes and it doesn’t faze us.  I don’t know if it’s because we’re in New York City or if it’s the age we’re in.  I don’t feel any disparaging follow-up.  I think the media, or at least where I am, we do lend our voice to that [LGBT causes].  We’re like kids who grew up in it.

I know NBC is very supportive of LGBT causes.

Oh, yeah! The LGBT event for NBC every year is one of the biggest.  We always squabble over who gets to go because Javier Morgado, who’s now at CNN, is a dear friend of mine and he has been a huge voice in the gay community.  He would wrangle us all up and we’d laugh because it was a cause that we all clearly support but it was also an excuse for us all to hang out together.

Tell me what equality means to you, Sara.

I would say equality is when there aren’t special rules for different people. There’s a general sense of sameness.

How can theater and the performing arts promote tolerance, love and acceptance of the LGBT community?

I think the theater world is doing the best.  It’s kind of the pioneer of what to do. Artists in general have always embraced change.  In many ways, they have led change so I think continuing to do what they do.  I’m from Iowa, and aside from the fact that I saw so many of these things before my brother came out to me; this was not a cause I actually needed a personal connection to, although that makes it run deeper.  I think the idea that the community lives it, supports it and continues to put out such amazing work.  There is such a strong support of the gay community in the theater and the arts in general.

We all live in bubbles.  For me, being in New York City is its own bubble.  Being in the arts is its own bubble.  The theater community is amazing.  Whenever you take the talent from within the community, people are so eager to support it.

Let’s go to a more personal question because we’re both former Midwesterners and I think we both know firsthand what things are like for gays in that region of America. Where are you from in Iowa? I’m from Nebraska.

I’m from Newton, Iowa. It’s about 30 miles from Des Moines.  My parents have since left Iowa.  When I was back home, the attitude was there aren’t gay people in Iowa.  That’s the time I grew up in.  Looking back, I think times have changed.  I think in my time, everyone came out once you went to college.  Watching the people in my life over the years, they’ve all evolved.  I’d say it’s not where you start but where you finish that matters.  Even if they didn’t quite get it or it wasn’t what they understood, they got there.  A part of me feels this particular issue is so overdue. Let’s get past this; we’ve got bigger things.

There will always be ignorant people everywhere. I haven’t spent a lot of time back in the Midwest lately.  I just went back last summer and had not been in four years.  I think it’s even changed out there. Of course, it’s not New York.  I hope in the middle part of the country that things are better than they used to be.

I think it can’t do anything but get better. I do believe in people. I think every time I go back [to the Midwest], I’m more impressed. It has changed. It’s gotten better. I think part of this goes back to your media question. Did you ask specifically about news or media?

I meant just media in general, Sara.

I think there was a huge boom, and my brother and I can argue about this forever.  When TV shows started to have gay friends, it really started to hit home.  People fall in love with character on shows.  When you make it personal, although that’s probably the farthest thing from personal, our experience with TV and media is very personal.  It’s in our home.  It’s in our hands.  About the time we had “Will and Grace,” “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy,” you had all these TV shows coming out (pun intended, ha, ha). That was the beginning where media made probably its biggest impact. My brother’s argument [about these TV shows] is, “You’re perpetuating stereotypes.” I said, “You’ve got to start with that.  Before they had the fight for civil rights, they had white people in blackface and people painted black, making jokes about blacks.”  I said, “You’ve got to start with something that’s digestible for everyone, because it is new.”  Now, jump to the fact that it’s no longer the one character that’s thrown in.  [Now], it’s actually just stories about people.  And with people, there’s a lot of diversity.  I think the one thing the media can do to continue to help is to continue writing real-life stories, which will involve all sorts of characters. In news, there’s so much frigging news that [people] aren’t missing anything. Since we are on 24/7 [in the news world], we’re getting extra stuff we don’t even need.  I think [the word about LGBT people] is getting out there with these events [like Swish’s “Songs in the Key of Equality”].  It’s moving people and pulling on their heartstrings because when you make an issue personal, you’ve got their attention.

One of the reasons StageZine.com wanted to get involved with Swish is because it’s straight allies for LGBT people. There were not any straight nonprofits rallying for gays when I was younger.  We need straight people getting other straights to speak up for the LGBT community because there must be more of this.  There have always been gay organizations but there needs to be straight people telling others, “You know what? This is cool. This is okay. There’s nothing wrong with LGBT people.” I think it’s a wonderful mission that Swish has.

Swish co-founder Sue Sena says it best. She says, “Straight people have to come out. They have to come out and support LGBT people.” I thought that was the most beautiful way.  We’re all going to face adversity at some point in our lives. I’d better be surrounded by people that would pick me up if I was running into something, a hurdle or an injustice, and I wouldn’t be anything less, and so that’s what this movement is.

Let’s go back to talking about your brother.  Did he officially come out to you or did you always know?

No, I definitely didn’t know. People always ask that, and none of the family knew. My mom used to say, “I guess I kind of knew.” She was in denial for the first four years. He’d be at a party and someone would hang all over him and my mom would say, “Do you think he’s changing his mind?” I’d go, “Probably not. That’s a safe bet.” None of us knew. My brother came out to me first. I was at Smith in western Massachusetts [Northampton], and he was at Boston University. He called me about a book that was in our library. [He was working] on an assigned paper topic about coming out for a class. I was telling my volleyball team and saying that he was so forward thinking? I mean, we grew up in Iowa.  They were like, “Oh, he’s gay.” I was like, “No, no, no, he’s writing a paper that’s been assigned.” They said, “We all start by writing papers.”

So did you have any idea or ever think he was gay when you were growing up?

No. I think he’s grown and matured into himself. Now he’s 34 and Joe’s very much himself.  I used to call him the straightest gay guy you’ll ever meet.  He’s been in a relationship for years now.  When he came out, the confusing part for me was [the way we were raised].  We were all good kids.  We didn’t drink.   We did well in school.  We knew we weren’t supposed to do certain things. So when I watched all of us [siblings] pass that test and then Joe did, what I didn’t realize is that the biology of a dude is different so the odds of having a guy be abstinent are really slim. I just thought, “Oh. my God, my brother is such a good boy.”  I didn’t wonder why he wasn’t jumping everything in sight.  He’d go to prom. He’s a really good-looking guy.  He had cute girlfriends.  Not long love relationships; just girlfriends.  He kind of denied big parts of himself.  He was a beautiful all-state vocalist.  He used to sing from our balcony at our house, like [songs from] Les Miz. That should have been a big sign.

That should have been a big sign right there, Sara. [We both laugh.]

As I describe him I’m like, wow, maybe there were signs actually. But my parents would take us to plays in Chicago. We’d go to Phantom of the Opera and he’d sing in the car.  He also loved the symphony, so in my mind I thought he was just this appreciator of music. We really did not see this coming.  But then it was funny because my whole family went through the growing pains of any family. I remember when my sister had kids; my oldest sister, and she’s the most conservative of all of us.  She said, “Well, I don’t know if I should tell the kids.” She said, “Should I tell them their uncle is gay?” I said, “They know I have a boyfriend. Let them know Joe has a boyfriend, too.”

So we kind of learned together.  Questions were asked, but we were all so willing to say, “What do I do here?”  I was kind of the lesbian wannabe.  My parents thought I might be gay. They were wrong.  I got my hair cut off, had no boyfriend, and studied. I think they thought they had a gay child, but they had pegged the wrong one.  I’ve always been my brother’s biggest advocate, ally, friend, and protector. So before I even realized on a conscious level that my brother was gay, I always took on the cause.  My parents, if they had friends with kids who were gay, they weren’t addressed at all.  It just was a nonissue, and swept under the rug. Then I got to college and discovered some gay people had been subjected to violence. People had been beaten up for who they were, and then I got angry. I started to mature and I let the anger come out more productively through words and actions. So it’s been a growing pain but it’s always been a part of my heart.  It’s an issue of love and if you feel love, it should be close to your heart.

I’m glad we’ve talked about your brother because I think it’s so important to talk about families. I think it’s the hardest telling your family you’re gay, but once the family is okay with it, everything else is easier. You can then just tell the whole world.

You’ve been wonderful to interview, Sara. Anything else you want to add about the Swish concert or something we haven’t covered?

I’m just honored to be a part of this Swish event. I heard about Swish the first time I met [co-founder] Sue Sena. When I heard about the history of how it started, I was so excited when they asked me to be even the littlest part of the event.  The show they put on; I’m honored to be on the stage. Clearly they are not going to let me sing or play the piano or dance, but I’ll take just being the emcee.

SARA SAGE: Sara Haines on NBC’s ‘Today Show.’ Kathie Lee Gifford nicknamed her ‘Sara Sage’. Photo: NBC Universal

Published May 14, 2013

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‘THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN’: Photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures & Columbia Pictures

THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN
Produced by Peter Jackson
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Starring (voice and motion capture): Jamie Bell (Tintin), Andy Serkis (Captain Haddock), Daniel Craig (Sakharine)
Based on the characters created by Hergé
Paramount Pictures & Columbia Pictures
Now playing in the USA and Canada
http://www.us.movie.tintin.com/

By Frank Cavanagh

Who’s that boy?
 Twenty years after discovering Tintin, Steven Spielberg has finally realized his dream: to bring one of the world’s most famous comic-book characters to the big screen, and to American audiences.

 Tintin was created in 1929 by Belgian illustrator Georges Rémi, aka Hergé, as the hero of a comic series in the children’s supplement of a Brussels daily. (Tintin has been translated into several languages and has always been immensely popular throughout Europe, the United Kingdom, and Canada.)

Tintin is a Boy Scout (as was Hergé) who has grown up to become a world-famous reporter. Through his adventures he does his good deeds. The opening credits and the framed newspaper first pages in Tintin’s apartment at the beginning of the movie give the newcomer to the series an idea that Tintin is famous, despite being just 18 or 19.

Tintin is an unlikely hero. He has no name, really. His powers are his luck, his instinct, his intelligence, and his good heart.

The Tintin books are best described as graphic novels. Dialogue is sophisticated, though accessible.

Many were written in the 1930s. It is fitting that the movie be set in that era of famous correspondents and their astounding endeavors. Though young, Tintin already has a broad encyclopedic knowledge, as the solution to the location of Red Rackham’s treasure shows.

This is why Tintin has charmed so many, as it did Spielberg. The guiding principle of The Adventures of Tintin is, “For young people from ages 7 to 77.” One can read the books many times in one’s life and still be delighted. Spielberg and Jackson are almost successful.

This film is revolutionary for Jackson and Spielberg’s idea of making a 100 % motion capture film to try to remain true to Hergé’s style of clear lines, but gain the third dimension.
 The actors were finally only there to give voice and realistic body movements.

In computer animation, the camera need not be “grounded.” The spectator is like a fly, always in movement and changing point of view. At first, one can feel like in a whirlwind. One eventually comes to appreciate it.

The background is gentle “Old Europe,” but the pace is as relentless as any American film. The look and the way the characters move in the film are like in computer gaming. One could quibble, but who can say that, if Hergé had been born 50 years later, he wouldn’t have created Tintin in this way?

The film is a complete reworking of three Tintin books: The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham’s Treasure.

Tintin finds a parchment hidden in the model of an old galleon he bought. But from the outset, Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine is on his tail, also wanting to get that model, matching the other he already has. Tintin realizes this parchment is the key to a treasure.

What follows are the mad chases as Sakarine and Tintin seek to solve the mystery of the location of Red Rackham’s treasure.  Along the way, Tintin meets Captain Haddock, who is to become his unlikely sidekick, a vociferous, cantankerous drunk, but with a good heart.

Tintin and Haddock solve the mystery, which opens up to them teaming up for more adventures.

Tintin is a cult series, the most successful of the dozens of French graphic novel series. As usual, purists have decried the adaptation, particularly in Britain. But the film is true to the conclusion in the book, and moving the story ideas around was Hergé’s own creative process for a book.

One drawback is the Hollywood-style dialogue. A character saying that Tintin is “in whole mess of danger” is not in the style of the author in French, or its British English translation.

This is probably why the British critics were disappointed, or even dismayed.
 French and Belgian critics were more forgiving. The French version’s dialogue is less trite. And they accept that a great classic can be given new life, and can withstand revolutionary adaptation. Shakespeare can be set in New York or Los Angeles; the Pet Shop Boys can do a disco version of a U2 song.

Tintin: the Secret of the Unicorn is an exciting event for the whole family. It is respectful of the stories of Hergé, his style, his ideals, and his wonderful characters, but at a 21st century pace. The plethora of details in this film makes one recommend to also buy the DVD. 

This movie is a worldwide event, bringing all of us together.  That was the spirit of Tintin, and that’s what Christmas is all about.

Go see it. Enjoy the movie. Then discover the books.

Frank Cavanagh is a freelance writer and lifelong Tintin fan, based in Montreal, Canada.

Published December 21, 2011

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WORSHIP AT THE ALTAR OF THE POP GODDESS: Kylie Minogue in ‘Aphrodite: Les Folies [Live in London]’, a DVD of her amazing show. Photo: Parlophone

APHRODITE: LES FOLIES [LIVE IN LONDON]
Performed by Kylie Minogue
Directed by William Baker & Marcus Viner
Choreography by Anthony Testa
Released in the USA by Astralwerks/Parlophone/EMI
On DVD, Blu-Ray, & 3D versions
NTSC North American version available from Amazon.com

By Scott Harrah

Australian superstar Kylie Minogue showcases and celebrates nearly 25 years of pop in the DVD of her Aphrodite: Les Folies concert.  (This DVD was filmed at London’s 02 Arena, but she has toured it all over Europe, Australia, and Asia.)

Some say Kylie relies too heavily on visuals in this spectacular show, as one misinformed newspaper critic noted when the scaled-down-for-the-colonies North American version (staged for smaller U.S. venues), Aphrodite 2011, came to New York City for three nights this past May. These are the same people who have never understood Kylie as a recording artist, particularly here in the USA.

Shows of this nature are staples in Europe and the United Kingdom, where Kylie has reached a level of fame comparable only to Madonna’s. She has been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II for “Services to Music,” an Order des Arts et des Lettres in France (where she is as respected as French pop icon Mylène Farmer), and this autumn was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from a UK university for her tireless campaign to promote breast cancer awareness after a long battle with the disease. In addition, last month she was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in her native Australia.

The acrobats, scantily clad male and female dancers, water fountains, laser projections, and high-tech, onstage antics compliment the music without overshadowing the 43-year-old Kylie performing her arsenal of hits from the Aphrodite album, plus many golden oldies stretching way back to the Stock Aitken Waterman British pop for which she first made a name for herself decades earlier. The pint-sized Diva from Down Under sports an endless array of Dolce & Gabbana fashions and ultra-high heels. The Italian couture design duo christened her la piccola principessa (“the little princess” in Italian), and she looks gorgeous throughout the show, but it is her bubbly energy, spunky audience repartee, and perfect-pitch live singing that all win over her many generations of fans.

From the show’s opener, when she enters the stage on a giant, golden clam shell while sporting her Greek goddess costume and sings “Aphrodite,” to “The One” and “Wow,” Kylie is intent on pleasing newer fans with material from her discography in the 21st century. Her countless costume changes are usually preceded by techno-pop preludes to her hits, such as “Illusion” (from the Aphrodite album). Women dance around in gossamer gowns and scarves to Middle Eastern-tinged music while we watch video projections of Kylie in an Arabic half-veil, with her piercing eyes poking out (looking like a modern-day, blonde Barbara Eden in “I Dream of Jeannie”), and soon Kylie ascends the stage atop the golden, winged horse Pegasus (straight out of Greek mythology) to sing the song.

The cheers and screaming from the crowd in London, just like the fans at her New York show, never subside as she changes into a crinkled Dolce & Gabbana metallic gown and performs hits such as “Spinning Around,” “Get Outta My Way,” and her massive U.S. hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” complete with heavy-metal-style guitars that give the track a sound that will certainly silence all the critics who claim Kylie cannot perform rock-and-roll. Yes, Kylie, Princess of Pop, can sing guitar-oriented music as good as any hard-boiled female rocker in the States. However, she quickly reverts to her dance-pop roots with the Stock Aitken Waterman classic “What Do I Have to Do?”

One of the highlights in the first half of the concert is an electronica version of her 1994 hit “Confide in Me,” featuring an intro of video projections of Kylie in a black bang wig, with crimson lips, Cleopatra eye liner and white pancake makeup. Male chorus boys dance around in skimpy, body-baring outfits as the hypnotic beats go wild, and soon Kylie enters the stage to sing the vintage track, and she has never sounded better.

The second half of Les Folies is even more spectacular. Opening with “Looking for an Angel,” Kylie soon jumps on back of a winged man modeled after the Greek myth of Icarus and ascends the stage, flying over the audience (in a high-tech harness) while singing “Closer” before coming back down to earth to one of this reviewer’s favorite parts of the concert: An ethereal cover of Annie Lennox’s “There Must Be An Angel.” As an angelic chorus trills harmoniously, Kylie, clad in an ultra-mini Greek princess dress, delivers a beautiful rendition of the song. Any foolish critic who has ever claimed La Minogue cannot sing need look no further than this portion of the concert.  As Kylie seamlessly performs the cherished Lennox hit, a chorus of gospel-inspired singers joins her in harmonious, Motown-inspired unison. It literally brings down the proverbial house in London (as it did at the New York show). Who would have ever thought this cute little Aussie had as much “soul” as some of the USA’s R&B music legends?

What follows are oldies from both the 2000s and the 1990s, such as “Love at First Sight” and a tribal, percussion-heavy, African dance-club style version of “Better the Devil You Know” to a breathy cover of Prefab Sprout’s “If You Don’t Love Me” to “Put Your Hands Up” from the Aphrodite album (the Pete Hammond remix of the latter song was a huge club hit in the USA last summer).

The finale is also an ode to Americana, Kylie-style, as the instrumental “Million Dollar Mermaid” flashes Esther Williams-style swimmers on video screens, like something straight out of Williams’ old Hollywood films. Kylie eventually takes the stage in a gold Esther Williams get-up, complete with a Dolce & Gabbana swim cap.  Kylie sings one of her best hits of all time, “On a Night Like This,” dancing around the stage and strutting down the O2 Arena’s runways like a Paris supermodel as “Splash Zone” fountains squirt water in expertly timed precision. In no time, the song segues into one of the biggest American hits from Aphrodite, the universal love anthem “All the Lovers.” Kylie, on a circular platform with a pool, sings as acrobats twirl in the air and the fountains squirt water and the dancers writhe around.

It is a beautiful closing to Kylie’s most lavish and expertly designed concert ever, cementing her status as one of the world’s greatest entertainers. All hail the Princess of Pop. We hope she will keep “Spinning Around” for years to come, and return to this side of the Atlantic soon.

Our review of Kylie Minogue’s Aphrodite 2011 concert in New York City in May remains the most-read, non-theater article in StageZine.com’s nearly two-year history, according to Google.

Published December 7, 2011

SCENE FROM THE CONCERT

YouTube video clips from Kylie’s Aphrodite: Les Folies

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