Profile for jrb

It's been ages since I've posted on here but I felt inspired to add my two cents! I saw this last night and have to agree with a lot of what has already been said: it's undercooked, awkwardly staged, and worst of all (the cardinal sin of theater) boring. At the risk of being rude/blunt, this could have just as easily been titled, "Cynthia Erivo memorizes a large number of lines and says them back to you in a variety of accents, as quickly as she can". This might well have been forgiven to som...

I stand corrected. You'd know better than I would. With this cleared up...it doesn't seem like they have much of a leg to stand on. Will be interesting to see how this pans out.

Personally, I'm too ignorant of this subject to comment on whether or not a raise is warranted. However, I feel like Nasty is making a very valid point in citing the difference in hours between theatre workers and other full-time workers in the city. People seem to be attacking this pay increase by using a faulty argument. These folks aren't working full 40-hour weeks, so one cannot compare their situation to others making $16 an hour. A more solid argument would seem to be their lack of leve...

I can't speak for anyone else but I came to theatre, as a gay male, because it offered me a place to express myself and to be celebrated for it. Far too many young gay men feel the need to hide who they are - this is all too obvious. For heaven's sake, we call the act of declaring our sexuality as, "coming out" as if to say we've been locked away somewhere. Theater offered me a place to be myself, to explore characters and try on different skins in a way that I couldn't (or felt I couldn't) i...

Hey All, Didn't see anything on this. Figured I would post the link. Eric Whitacre's Paradise Lost just came out with a demo recording. He's put it on his facebook page. Enjoy.

I was just having a conversation about this subject with some friends of mine. It was pointed out that in times of depression there is often an increased need for escapism and art. True, this is somewhat obvious, but I had assumed that this fact would be outweighed by the tightening of America's belt. I think, if nothing else, this will change the way in which things are produced and selected. It may only be temporary and I'm not saying that it will be for the best but I am interested to see ...

Best post of this thread. Dead on GatorNY. I had school notebooks filled with hundreds of renderings of, "No day but today". It hit me despite any flaws. Now, I'm a little less freakishly obsessed. I respect the show and enjoy it, but am far less a fan of the actual production than I was of the overall concept back when I was 14.

Of course some of Rent's wild fame was due to Larson's passing. Public interest was fueled by the tragedy. Would it have been nearly as popular had Larson survived, or would it have been considered one of his early, less mature works? As much as I loved it, there are major holes and weaknesses. I think part of its mark in history will come from the fact that its writer was due to carry on the Sondheim torch. Larson was the hope for B-way and his death (martyrdom) ensured Rent's legacy. I say ...

Well, in a sense that was my point. Being original isn't always necessary for art. Much of what we consider to be quality isn't ground-breaking and that fact shouldn't matter. As for definitions..."ground-breaking" pretty clearly defines itself without any help. I don't think semantics play into it all that much. How else can you read into "ground-breaking"? You are literally breaking new ground and thus doing something completely new. As for Star Wars - I don't think that the inovation in th...

We're also forgetting that there is a key difference in definition between "watershed" and "ground-breaking". The former implies a division between two phases or periods (in this case, time) while the latter implies literally the breaking of new ground or the creation of something utterly new. Very few pieces of art actually break new ground. If we go by strict definition, then Rent is most definitely a watershed piece. It brought about (or at least marked) a reinvigoration of broadway via a ...

Ignore that puerile little response. People tell you that grammar and spelling and such don't matter on forums like this. At the same time, folks with little else to say will jump down your throat if you don't scan your messages before daring to hit "post message". No worries. You were lucid - which is more than can be said of a lot of folks. In any event, you might also want to check out Cincinnati (though that might not be viable), Ithaca College, and Syracuse University.

I enjoy the fact that both of the guys who are being discussed for this role (on BWW, at least) are Ithaca College grads. Makes me smile.

Not particularly enamoured with it, but "Who will buy" from Oliver certainly counts.

The balcony was fine. Decent view and I was in the last possible row so no worries about sight lines and such. As for the show *possible spoilers* : I wanted to enjoy it - I really did. And before I go into the production itself, let me make it clear that Alan Cumming was very good. Granted, it seemed like an easy job for him. He was playing one of his androgynous stock characters, but it worked well. Actually, let me say that all of the actors were good. Nothing stand out, but solid work. Th...

It's not quite the same thing as when a muscle gets tired. Jaw tension shows up in some folks as soon as they start to sing, so fatigue doesn't cause it, per se. Fatigue-induced shaking is an example of tremoring - when one muscle loses strength and fights with another one for dominance. Fatigue causes the body to allocate effort to a second muscle (ie: the biceps try to give over to the triceps or other less prominent muscles nearby). Since the second muscle isn't designed to handle the thin...

They aren't linked. A person could riff without any flapping of the jaw (though jaw movement might help to color the notes in a riff). Her jaw is probably moving due to some excess tension. But it really doesn't matter. She's too busy tearing up the stage to give a damn about jaw tension and I'm too busy being amazed to worry about it. Tension in the jaw is pretty psychosomatic. There is no real use for it other than to relocate useless tension built up when we try to control the voice. Some ...

Ah...the Lina Eder "situation". A woman who claims to have never taken a single voice lesson and yet, is considered by most to be far more singer than actress (poor woman can't act her way out of a carboad box, imho). Linda is a perfect example of someone with natural technique (or lack thereof, depending on how you see it). Personally, I'm no fan but she has made a career for herself and does some relatively impressive things with little to no training. More power to her. Ultimately, no matt...

Ding ding ding ding. We have a winner. Thank you bialy!

Let's see if this helps to answer your question: I think people enjoy the use of more popular song forms. ITH chooses to use a modern vernacular which almost always makes something seem fresh - it escapes "feeling like a musical" which is something people seem to want to avoid these days. Couple this with the use of an english-spanish hybrid that has become commonplace in NYC (among other places nation and worldwide) and you've begun to include a whole new demographic in musical theater. That...

Yes...you are correct. Perhaps I shouldn't have used a cello. I just wanted to make it clear that the voice is an instrument and that the vibration of the chords creates the pitch, not the virbato. Vibrations in the larynx cause that. Your cricothyroid and arytenoid muslces don't shake up and down. All they do is adjust the length of the fold. There aren't any muscles attached to the folds that have the physical ability to create virbato. I think another mistake of mine might have been using ...