Stage Rush TV: Episode 21
Talking points:
- Broadway in Bryant Park kicks off with In the Heights and Promises, Promises
- Seeing the play version of Spring Awakening off off Broadway at the Looking Glass Theatre
- Broadway grosses
What do you think, Rushers? Do you love the Broadway in Bryant Park concerts as much as I do? Do you think A-list stars should be obligated to perform at these concerts promoting theirs shows? Have you seen the original Wedekind Spring Awakening performed? How did it compare to your liking of the Sater/Sheik musical? Leave it in the comments!
Stage Rush TV: Episode 19
Talking points:
- Jonathan Groff at Joe’s Pub
- Talking with Afton C. Williamson, former understudy, current star of Race
- Stage Rush’s free ticket giveaway: Fela! and The 39 Steps
- Broadway grosses
Did you catch Jonathan Groff at Joe’s Pub, Rushers? What did you think of his set list? Have you seen Afton Williamson in Race yet? What do you think of her story? Have you entered the Fela!/39 Steps ticket giveaway yet? What are you waiting for, Rushers? Leave it in the comments!
Concert recap: Jonathan Groff at Joe’s Pub
It was obvious that Jonathan Groff was utilizing his newfound Jesse St. James moves at his solo concert Sunday night at Joe’s Pub. Coming off his hugely popular Glee guest role as the star singer of the fledgling club’s main competition, the Spring Awakening and Hair star channeled the cocky Jesse’s moves into his performance. With a set list of funk and R&B tunes, Groff got down in a playful, silly manor that he has seldom been able to display on stage.
The set list, Groff explained, was inspired by his time at Glee. While sitting in LA traffic on his way to and from the set, which he explained as a “blessing and a curse,” Groff said he immersed himself in music and the songs he chose to perform at the concert were those he sang at the top of his lungs in his car.
Opening with Stevie Wonder’s “You Haven’t Done Nothin’,” the song choice came as a surprise from the usual mellow rock Groff has sung in shows. The performances came across authentic, as Groff infuses a hefty amount of genuine emotion into his delivery. Over the course of the set, which lasted just shy of an hour, Groff sang with a huge grin and constantly reminded the audience how happy he was to be there.
This performance at Joe’s Pub marked Groff’s first ever solo concert. He told the audience that the day he moved to New York, he attended a concert at Joe’s Pub featuring Legally Blonde star Laura Bell Bundy, and that while sitting in the audience, he vowed the day would come that he would headline the stage as well. Read more 
Tribute: Patrick Lee, theater journalist
Theater journalist Patrick Lee, creator of Just Shows To Go You and Theater Mania contributor, passed away this week at age 47. The news brought great sadness to many in the theater community, myself included. When I think of Patrick, I think of the beginning of my passion for theater writing. Patrick was the first person I met when I set out on this journey.
It was April 2009. I had just created Stage Rush and had been invited by Broadway producer and Producer’s Perspective creator Ken Davenport to attend a theater blogger meet up. It was at the Planet Hollywood in Times Square and I arrived with such a pit in my stomach, I almost turned away at the entrance. Starting this site, this endeavor, felt like a huge risk to me and I didn’t carry myself with much confidence about it. Ken’s invitation to meet up with real, live theater writers who were already established in the field was incredibly intimidating. Who was I to talk to them? Everything out of my mouth was sure to sound stupid. They’d surely laugh when I told them my site was hosted by Blogger.
I sat down at a table with a platter of nachos on it. I picked at it with one hand and dug the nails of my other hand into my leg as the bloggers began to arrive, everyone schmoozing. They all knew each other—damn.
And then Patrick plopped himself in a chair next to me. I turned my head to him with a jolt, as I knew some social interaction was inevitable. He smiled, introduced himself, and I instantly began to feel at ease. It might sound corny, but Patrick seemed so jolly. That’s really the word to describe how he was. He asked me about my blog and as I talked, he continued to ask follow-up questions. He wasn’t looking at me with disgust—he was interested! I told him I was so proud of myself, because I hadn’t even lived in New York for a year yet and I had already seen 40 shows. Patrick looked at me with a big smile and said, “I see over 200 a year!” But he wasn’t mocking me; he was laughing at the hilarity of it. We both had a big laugh. As we talked, we discovered that we both loved Spring Awakening, John Gallagher Jr., and Passing Strange. He told me that he had tickets to a screening of the Passing Strange movie and I pretty much wanted to gouge his eyes out, I was so jealous. I went home that night feeling more confident about my new project, all thanks to Patrick.
That theater blogger meet up lead to the formation of the Independent Theater Bloggers Association (ITBA), for which Patrick served as awards director. When the ITBA was deciding on nominations for this year’s awards, we met at a Hell’s Kitchen pub to discuss candidates. It was a Broadway nerd’s dream—sitting at a table with a group of people with the same interests, discussing who gave the year’s best performances and arguing about them. Patrick was so funny that day. He kept inserting his humorous, sarcastic opinion, then pulling back, because he was moderating the meeting and it was obvious that he was trying to be democratic.
But I am lucky that that was not my last meeting with Patrick. A few weeks ago, Patrick asked me if I would help him film the off-Broadway cast of The Kid reading the winners of this year’s ITBA Awards. We sat there at Theatre Row with Susan Blackwell and Ann Harada and Patrick just got along with them so well. I envied his ease and calming nature. After we filmed, we talked shop for a while outside the theater. He answered a lot of burning questions I had about the theater-writing field. I remember being so grateful to get that time with him. We shared laughs and had a really good time with that errand for the ITBA. We left that night saying we’d meet up for coffee soon, but we didn’t get the chance.
Patrick’s passing is a strong reminder to me that we all have to harness the joys of life while we still have it. Patrick loved theater and was passionate about LGBT rights. In his life, he made quite a mark in both worlds with his own theater site Just Shows To Go You, his bylines for Theater Mania and other sites, and by being a juror for the GLAAD Media Awards. Patrick is an example of following your passion—a lesson we all should learn from him.
On my Facebook homepage, there’s a notification that says “Patrick Lee has poked you. Poke back.” It’s from the night we first met. I never did “poke” him back. But I’m going to keep that message there as a reminder of what Patrick stood for. It just shows to go you the impact theater can have on a person’s life.
Concert recap: Duncan Sheik at City Winery, week 1
Duncan Sheik was definitely enjoying his quirkiness Thursday night at his concert at City Winery. In his first of two June shows at the SoHo restaurant and concert venue (the second is June 10), Sheik performed an album by the late British singer/songwriter Nick Drake—Pink Moon—in its entirety. Sheik repeatedly highlighted the music’s mellow, and sometimes vague, quality, of which the audience seemed unfamiliar with (as was I). Sheik humorously joked with the audience, thanking them for their cooperation with his indulgence throughout the album’s 11 songs.
Despite the album’s obscurity to most of the audience, Drake’s music shares many similar qualities to Sheik’s, overlapping in somberness, soft tones, and introspective lyrics. Accompanying Sheik was Gerry Leonard on lead guitar. In fact, these two shows at City Winery seem to be a split-up version of Sheik’s March concert at New Jersey’s South Orange Performing Arts Center. Leonard assisted Sheik there as well, as did Whisper House’s Holly Brook, who will be joining him at next week’s show. Sheik also added that during next week’s concert, he will be singing covers of songs from the 1980s from artists such as Tears For Fears and Depeche Mode—some of which he played at the SOPAC show.
Set list: Read more
Broadway Brain: Kevin Adams lights rock stars of Broadway
What do Spring Awakening, Passing Strange, and Next to Normal all have in common? Lighting designer Kevin Adams. Widely regarded as contributing factors to the evolution of the American musical, these shows all have creative teams that have collaborated on subsequent projects, but Adams is the only one to have worked on all three. The Tony-winning lighting designer brought revolutionary looks to these acclaimed productions with his use of bare light bulbs and fluorescent tubes—what he calls “electric objects.” Now Adams is nominated for his fifth Tony award (he won for Spring Awakening and The 39 Steps) for his work on American Idiot, which blends the creative teams of all three rock musicals.
Yet Adams, just shy of 48, says lighting was never a thought in his mind during his education. With an MFA in set design, Adams began working as a set designer in Los Angeles, when he was asked to do his own lighting. Local artists who had seen his work began asking him to light their pieces in galleries. A self-taught lighting designer, Adams then moved to New York to focus solely on that work. “I can’t believe I’m still doing this,” Adams said. “After I do a Broadway show, I think, ‘This will surely be the last one I ever do. No one’s going to come up with another Broadway show that suits what I do.’ But then American Idiot came along.”
The Tony winner (who keeps his two awards at his parents’ houses, claiming they make him nervous) invited Stage Rush into his Manhattan apartment to discuss Tony nominations, his style departure on American Idiot, and what happened when he first met Green Day in a cramped dressing room at Saturday Night Live.
This is your fifth Tony nomination and you’ve won twice. Is it still exciting to get nominated?
It is very exciting. It was exciting to be nominated twice last year. It’s exciting to be nominated for American Idiot. That first time [being nominated], you’re so excited to win and then once you win, then you feel you have to win again. You feel like, “I want to win!”
So you feel pressure to win?
I don’t feel pressure; it’s just that you become much more grotesquely competitive about it. [laughs] And I know other people who have won that agree and say, “Yeah, I’ve felt that way too!” It’s not that it’s competitive, it’s just that the first time you’re nominated, you’re like, “It would be cool to win,” and then the next time, you’re like, “I’ve got to win!”
Review: American Idiot
Stage Rush TV: Episode 5
- Duncan Sheik spills details on Spring Awakening movie
- Sheik in concert in South Orange, NJ
- Broadway double-header: rushing A Little Night Music and The Miracle Worker
- Broadway grosses