Sunday, November 18, 2007

Have To Believe We Are Magic

The first thing I should tell you about Xanadu, the musical I saw last Saturday night on Broadway, is that the curtain speech was worth the price of admission. Many shows have these fund-raising speeches in which a cast member asks you to donate as you exit, the money going to a worthy charity called Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. At Xanadu, the pitch was delivered by a lady named Jackie Hoffman, who plays two roles in the show. Bookmark my words: Any day now, someone's going to star this lady in a sitcom or maybe even a talk show and make an indecent amount of money. She was pretty funny in the show, too.

I never saw the movie of the same name but the creators of the stage version apparently decided to take its best part (the songs, mostly) and mock its worst elements, and the whole thing is done with such an infectious energy that you kinda, sorta, have to love it. I did, anyway. There's a ten member cast and here, I'll list them all: Cheyenne Jackson, Curtis Holbrook, Anika Larsen, Kenita Miller, Annie Golden (subbing for Mary Testa), Jackie Hoffman, André Ward, Kerry Butler, Peter Samuel (understudy in for Tony Roberts) and Marty Thomas. Butler and Jackson are the stars, with the former filling the Olivia Newton-John role. One of the biggest laughs I've ever heard in a theater erupted at a point when Ms. Butler was singing at the edge of the stage in her roller skates — there's a lot of skating in the show — and she suddenly looked for all the world like the key art from the movie poster — windswept hair and all. Then you noticed a stagehand at the edge of the stage, deliberately visible and holding a large electric fan on her to produce that effect.

The plot is...oh, heck. The plot's the plot of the movie. You can look it up in Leonard's book — something to do with muses from ancient mythology and one muse falling in love with a guy who wants to open a roller disco. This is set in the early eighties and at one point, the muses bemoan that America is entering a period of bad art where even the theater will flounder with shows based on bad movies and vapid pop tunes. How can you not love a movie that says that about its own bloodline?

It all breezes along quickly...it's a short, intermissionless show that seems to be catching on, partly because almost everything else on Broadway is closed due to the strike, but also because it's just a great fun show. I can't help but note that with its lower budget and small cast, it's a nice counterpoint to Young Frankenstein. I liked that a lot, too but I think I have more admiration for Xanadu. It was just as entertaining but in terms of budget, they did just as much with so much less. Plus, unlike the Mel Brooks extravaganza, they started out with a movie that nobody really liked very much.

• Posted at 6:43 PM · LINK

Sunday Evening me

Hello...and sorry about the frantic game of Beat the Clock in the last posting. You'd think that in midtown Manhattan, you could get a decent Internet connection...and you can at all the local Burger Kings. But in the Hotel Pennsylvania, it's a bit more difficult.

Let me back up and go into more detail about some parts of my trip. This is my first time in New York since...well, I think since the last Mel Brooks musical opened. I'd forgotten the bustling foot traffic, the ubiquitous smell of honey-roasted nuts and chicken skewers on every corner, and the impossibly narrow and steep stairways one must occasionally handle. Apart from those things and wet weather, I like everything about the town. And even the bustling foot traffic can be enjoyable if you actually know where you're going and can bustle along with the rest of 'em.

I told you about Young Frankenstein and am about to tell you about Xanadu. Not much to add about Christine Pedi's wonderful cabaret act other than to lament there aren't more good rooms for folks like her. We could certainly use a few more of them in Los Angeles.

The comic convention was jammed. It sprawled over several floors of a once-proud hotel with the longest lines being for Hayden Panettiere and Kristen Bell, and you'll have to excuse me for being more excited at the presence of Soupy Sales and Larry Storch. Among those I talked with: Alan Kupperberg, Darwyn Cooke, Jimmy Palmiotti, Alan Weiss, Irwin Hasen, Kyle Baker, Robin and Elayne Riggs, Heidi MacDonald, Michael Netzer, Danny Fingeroth, Jim Salicrup, Ken Gale, Peter David, Peter Sanderson, Rich Johnston, Steve Saffel and Dave Shelton, plus we had a last minute surprise appearance from Don McGregor and some fine conversations with the folks who operate the online Jack Kirby Museum, Rand Hoppe and Richard Bensam. Forgive me, all those I omitted. It was especially great to see Dick Ayers, Joe Sinnott, Herb Trimpe and Gary Friedrich again.

A lot of folks asked me about my Jack Kirby book so here's the deal: It's done and I hope to see some proofs tomorrow morning before I get on a plane for Ohio. The official release date is now March of '08 but we may see copies before February is out.

Oh, you'll like this. Everyone who stays at the Hotel Pennsylvania receives a little pocket-size fold-out map of New York that also contains a big ad for the Broadway show, Hairspray. Here's what it looks like folded out, and you'll notice there's a pull quote from critic Clive Barnes that says, "A great big fat gorgeous hit!"

That's a great quote until you fold up the map. I noticed that when you fold it along the pre-existing creases (in other words, exactly the way you're supposed to fold it), it looks like this...

Someone owes Al Jaffee a royalty.

I think that's about everything for now. As I think of more things, you'll see them up here.

• Posted at 6:39 PM · LINK

Sunday Morning me

Good A.M. to you all and my apologies for not posting for a while. As I think I mentioned, I'm in a hotel with the kind of Internet connectivity you find in Amish country. I've also been more than a little busy. Here's a brief rundown on what I've been up to, and some of these warrant elaboration at a later date...

Thursday morning, it was raining. Sergio Aragonés and I hiked over to the offices of MAD magazine and DC Comics with H2O pelting us all the way. Later, I went out and did some rain-drenched bi-coastal picketing of the Viacom Building in Times Square. The WGAe members with whom I chatted were happy to have a West Coast guy in their midst and the mood on the line was upbeat and determined despite the weather.

A nice time at MAD, a nice time at DC Comics (more to come about both stops) and then Carolyn and I dined at one of our favorite restaurants, the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Station, and then it was off to Young Frankenstein.

Friday, we had dry but very cold weather in New York. I spent the day at the offices of Harry N. Abrams, Inc., the folks publishing my upcoming book on one Jack Kirby. Everything looks to be on schedule for a release in February, 2008. Again, more of this to come when I have a better 'net connection. Then I checked in at the National/Big Apple Convention for a few hours. In the evening, Carolyn and I dined with her friend Sue at Keen's Chop House, a venerable and fine institution. (Turned out, we missed running into the fine writer-artist Darwyn Cooke by about five minutes. He got there just after we left, as I found out chatting with him the next day.)

Later, we went to see my friend Christine Pedi (this person) doing her wonderful act at The Metropolitan Room. I'll have to tell you more about Christine soon, too. (I'm rushing through all this because I lose this Internet connection in six minutes.)

Saturday, I spent the day at the comic convention, including a fine panel with Joe Sinnott, Dick Ayers, Herb Trimpe, Gary Friedrich and a surprise e-mail appearance by Stan Lee. Stan chanced to e-mail me during the panel. I got it on my Blackberry and e-mailed him back to get a statement and...well, I'll tell you all about it when I have more than four minutes left. I'll tell you about all the other folks I talked to and things I saw and did.

Evening: Carolyn, Richard Howell and I had a fine time at a musical based on the movie, Xanadu. Leonard Maltin recommended it to me and once more, I've learned to trust Leonard.

I'm down to two minutes so will have to flesh this out with the next report. Sorry for the fast typing and any typos you see. I have one minute left so I'd better post this. Bye.

• Posted at 12:52 AM · LINK