Lists
The Theater Jerk Guide to New Releases on Netflix
Been a while since I did this, but I like to point out vague theatrical themes in films recently added to the vast repositories of Netflix. These are the types of flicks I personally seek out and plan to watch. Go figure. In no particular order… Carry On Cowboy and Carry on Cleo. A couple … Continue reading
Five Key Songs from Broadway Musicals Which Were Left Out of the Movie Versions of Those Musicals
Send in your own suggestions. We’re just getting started. 1. “Free” from A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. About half the songs from the stage musical didn’t make it into Richard Lester’s film version, but this is the most maddening omission. Zero Mostel says the word, then seems about to sing … Continue reading
The Alternative Music Man
Considering how The Beatles pointed a lot of people towards this particular show, I’ve always been surprised at how few pop-music acts have exploited The Music Man. The relatively few contemporary acts who’ve dipped into The Music Man’s score have done so far too timidly. This is a show that mocks parents’ consternation at the … Continue reading
Plays to Anticipate Hurricane Irene By
So how come nobody’s ever made Stormy Weather into a stage musical? No matter; here are ten stormy stage events for those in the path of the hurricane. Sturm und Drang by Friedrich Maximilian Klinger. It’s the work that coined that phrase, in 1776. The play’s actually about the American Revolution. Dynamo by Eugene O’Neill. … Continue reading
Half a Dozen Great Animated Broadway (or Broadway-style) Musicals
Oh, Streetcar—The Springfield Community Players. I’m one of those Simpsons fans who’s only conversant in the show’s first six or seven seasons. If they’ve ever done a better multi-part Broadway musical parody than this stellar takedown of A Streetcar Named Desire, I need to know about it. Runners-up (also from early seasons): The Planet of … Continue reading
Sci-Fi Shakespeare: Four novels
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth: The Graphic Novel Illustrated by Tony Leonard Tamai with Alex Nino. Script by Arthur Byron Cover. (Puffin Books 2005) Most graphic novels based on classic lit, whether the original source is play or book, are content to let the medium be the message. They refrain from adding new interpretive spins on the … Continue reading
15 Theater-related “New Arrivals” on Netflix
A random survey. All these “New” or “Recent” titles at www.netflix.com are in the “Watch Instantly” mode, so you don’t have to wait for days by the mailbox to find out that I’ve recommended sheer crap. Almighty Thor: A Norse-god-in-the-modern-world superhero epic released in 2011, yet it’s NOT the Kenneth Branagh Thor. This one is … Continue reading
Rock Bands Which Share Names With Theater Buildings
1. Le Grand Guignol 2. Theatre Royal 3. Pacific Theater OK, so the last one’s more like a battleground. I enjoy making these lists anyhow.
More Rock Bands Named After Plays
1. Dear Brutus: danceable modern rock band with punk roots from Manchester and Sheffield, England. The play Dear Brutus is a fantasy comedy by J.M. Barrie, a romance in which stuck-in-their-ways characters are offered alternative existences for a night. Much cooler than A Little Night Music/Smiles of a Summer Night. 2. Faust. I feel I … Continue reading
Bands Which Share Names with Sam Shepard Plays
1. Cowboy Mouth. This one could be genuinely confusing to clubgoers/theatergoers, since the play the band is named after is a rock-and-roll affair developed by Sam Shepard and Patti Smith that actually gets staged in rock clubs fairly often. That’s what inspired this list, actually. 2. Angel City: Australian rock band, aka The Angels. Known … Continue reading