My New Broadway Blog

http://greatwhiteway.wordpress.com/

Tell me what you guys think. I decided to start it because I'm sick of the Broadway Abridged guy never updating, so I'll be posting my own "short subjects" along with random Broadway and not-related thoughts. Go ahead and check out the "Shrek the Musical" one I posted. I'll be updating often!

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I'm glad someone else is doing those parodies: I've always wanted to, but never had the guts to "take that away" from Mr. Abridged.

So, thanks to you, here's my two-years-too-late, total-ripoff-take on THE TIMES THEY ARE A-CHANGIN':


Scene: a circus. Coyote (Michael Arden) is chummily leading a rendition of "Like a Rolling Stone."

COYOTE: You never turned around / To see the frowns / On the jugglers and the clowns / When they all did / Tricks for you!

TWYLA THARP: (in a serious tone) Get it, because it's a circus.

AUDIENCE: But why is Michael Arden singing THIS SONG about the girl he's in love with? How is that appropriate at all?

TWYLA THARP: (in a very serious tone) You'll find it in Beckett.

AUDIENCE: Excuse me for living, but-

COYOTE: -Go to him now, he calls you / You can't refuse / When you ain't got nothing / You got nothing to lose / You're invisible now / You got no secrets - come on now! - to conceal

(-and the Clowns begin to lead the audience-)

COYOTE: HOW DOES IT FEEL?!

(-in a clap-along.)

AUDIENCE: (gaping-mouthed)

TWYLA THARP: (seriously) You need to read more James Joyce.

AUDIENCE: What-have-you-done-to-Bob-Dylan?!?!

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Congratulations, these have to be the best versions of the songs I've ever heard.

AUDIENCE: Wha-wh-WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!?!

AUDIENCE MEMBER: My name is Bob Dylan.

AUDIENCE: (GAPING!!!)

BOB DYLAN: Stop that.

AUDIENCE: But- but- HOW CAN YOU LIKE THIS? THEY ARE RAPING YOUR SONGS!! THEY ARE RAPING YOUR WORDS!!! THEY ARE-

(pause)

AUDIENCE: Wait.

(pause)

AUDIENCE: Oooooooooooooohhhhhhhh, I get it. This is a trick. Like when you deliberately made Self-Portrait bad so that people would stop comparing you to God, or when you pissed off your folk fans by going electric-I get it. It's a trick.

BOB DYLAN: (geniuinly) I don't know, is it? Maybe.

AUDIENCE: Huh?

TWYLA THARP: (watching as the cast goes into her version of "Man Gave Names to All the Animals") I am a genius.

BEN BRANTLEY: (looks for something to throw at the stage)

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Updated On: 3/14/09 at 11:00 PM

A swing and a miss, sorry Piragua Guy. You're guilty of everything you accuse the show of being. Your parody is unoriginal, too long, sags in way too many places, and isn't very funny. You recycle every joke and put-down that's already been posted on this site. You rip-off Broadway Abridged (who does it SO much better) and you're just not very amusing. At least Shrek, as you acknowledge, has some high points. Your parody does not. It is just lame. You're like that kid in school who thinks he's really funny, but isn't at all. Major fail.

Die Vampires Die!!

Why the hate? It really isn't half bad - not going to win a Pulitzer but so what. Its funny, clever and original (if you ignore the never updated Broadway Abridged). PG2, keep writing :)

don't be such a bitch.

But it's not funny, clever OR original.

If he's going to spend so much time and energy ridiculing and tearing apart other people's work, then why shouldn't he be subjected to the same criticisms? He's obviously put himself out there to get some attention. He seems to think he's funny, and assumes others are going to bend over with laughter at how clever he is.

If he deliberately does that, then he needs to be ready for the negative reactions as well. That's part of being a writer. If he doesn't like it, then he shouldn't write. Sadly, his parody sucks. It's lame, and it's been done better. And to lie would only encourage him to do it again.

And to come down on those of us who voice their opinions about what he wrote is so beyond ironic. PiraguaGuy went on for paragraphs and paragraphs making fun of the creators and performers of Shrek, sparing no one. That's okay, but it's not okay to do it back at him? Gimme a break.

He has a funny way of showing it.

Meanwhile, over at the Booth Theater, Alice Ripley sings the first note of the show but is drowned out by the slapping of the closing notice upon the door. Apparently a musical with no recognizable names about a bipolar mom is not “recession-era escapism”.

That was pretty damn funny. :)

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you always rip on me for doing this "self promotion" and here you are with your blog...welcome

I really didn't find the Shrek parody very funny at all.

Mgc, if you haven't noticed, I'm done commenting when you post something new. I realized I was being a douche and stopped. Fine. I'm a hypocrite. Okay. You post a new thread every time something is updated. I wouldn't do that.

As for the "ripping off Broadway Abridged" comments...yes. YES I AM.
I decided to start it because I'm sick of the Broadway Abridged guy never updating.

If you'd like me to give him more credit, perhaps I should write "PROPERTY OF BROADWAY ABRIDGED GUY" underneath every line of the post. I'm not as good as him, nor do I claim to be.

I don't care about people being "mean" about my writing. Criticsm is criticsm, no matter what it's about. I didn't spend hours and hours working on this - I literally spent about 15 minutes writing it and decided to share it with you. I thought it was funny (and I'm not alone here), so fine.

Carol, I don't "comment on EVERY thread", and I am often constructive. I'm not the only one here who's snarky, and I'd like to think I'm not any more mean than anyone here.

Charlie, I'm not going to call you TDH this time. You have NO right to talk about hypocrisy. Shall I bring up the Adam Lambert fiasco? How about your (somewhat creepy) self-injection into any disagreement I find myself in?
It's getting a little creepy, buddy.

I would never post this blog under a fake name and shill it. That is something I would NEVER do, and be aware that there's a fine, fine, line between "I love you" and "goodbye" - I'm sorry, between self-promotion through deceit or honesty.

And yes, I liked Shrek. I just found it to be very, very flawed. I poked fun at those flaws, and was not particularly vitrolic. On the contrary, I praised all the performers, and only "bashed" the dragon number, "I Think I Got You Beat", the corporate-whorishness of the whole thing, and Jason Moore's slipshod direction. All of those things have been ripped to much smaller pieces by many other people on this board, so I don't see how anything I said was so horrificly awful.

I don't claim to be better than any of the people involved, but I don't spend every minute here instead of doing something with myself. In the time I'm not in school, I have rehearsals and I spend time writing. I come here when I have relaxation time.

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"I would never post this blog under a fake name and shill it."

So, wait, PiraguaGuy2 is your real name? If not, what IS your real name? I can't seem to find it on your "blog." Maybe I'm just being thick.

If Charlie doesn't like it, no one likes it.

I happen to like it.