I've got chills

Today was a big day for Broadway... and, let's face it, America. Today was the day it was announced whether the people of America (or at least the small number that cares about Grease: You're The One That I Want) wanted miscast Danny or talent-free gay Danny to be their Danny on Broadway. And the winner was... miscast Danny! I was happy Max defeated Austin Miller, but, more than that, I was happy this stupid show was over. I had felt a responsibility to watch it, but each week i questioned why. Now I can put it behind me and go back to watching better trashy television. (I mean--that big deal Billy Bush made last week about the fans buying Ashley's sister a ticket to come... There are fans? And, more importantly, NBC couldn't splurge on an Ohio to LA voyage?)

But, before I let You're The One That I Want go, I want to comment on the appearance of the actual Grease supporting cast at the end of the show. Umm.... Does the camera age? A lot? Or did Kathleen Marshall not understand the age range involved in high school when she approved their looks? Of course, almost all high schools shows are cast with actors who are a lot older than high school age. But they typically are young-looking and are made to look even younger. In this case, I've seen most of those people look a lot younger. For instance, I've never thought Jenny Powers looked like she was in her mid-30s, but, here she looked like a school teacher trying to get wild. And I can't even start on the guys. I'm hoping it was just an odd look for the cameras. Yeah. Because I can't invest anymore time on that show, I'm going with that.

OK, I have to address the "white coats" mentioned in the last post. I did not know Jamie was writing that and I wasn't thrilled when I found out he had. It totally makes me sound like I was institutionalized. I'm sure people who know me well thought: "They finally got smart and took her away..." In fact, I, who have always been prone to accidents, was the victim of a renegade skateboarder (really). The police caught him in a chase (really), but I was left with head trauma and a lovely wrist-band from the hospital. In other words, the mental institution is still to come.

While I am mainly okay, I am having some trouble seeing and thus I'm not really up on Broadway news. So, instead of writing about something that just happened, I am going to talk a little bit about the strategic announcement of VH1 Classic's involvement in Rock of Ages a couple of weeks ago. First of all, lets realize that this is VH1 Classic, not VH1 or MTV. I don't even know where VH1 Classic is in my channel guide. But, of course, their advertising will certainly be a boon to this show regardless. It's a great thing. It is not however new news in many senses. The people at the network had been involved in Rock of Ages for a while--it's just that they chose to announce it a few weeks ago. Why? Every time I read a story I think "Why is this coming out now?" Because, in theater, there are very few reporters going out and uncovering things. The vast majority of what you read is purposely released at a given time.

Rock of Ages has not had a smooth path to New York. As originally planned, the show would be playing right now at the Daryl Roth, but it lost its funding. Then, for a while, it seemed it had it back. Then I found out the show had no money again. A couple of weeks ago there were backers auditions for the show held at New World Stages. The announcement in Variety that VH1 Classic--and possibly other Viacom networks--would be supporting the show came a week before these backers auditions. Now that is good planning! What the announcement did was put some real force behind the show right as backers were going to be considering it. So, it wasn't just about making the announcement, it was about raising money for the show. If they had announced the VH1 Classic thing a week before previews, it still would have made the pages of Variety, but that's it. This way, it helped raise money for the show and considering the producers need about $2 million for an off-Broadway hair metal musical, they need all the help they can get. I myself am still not confident about its arrival, but I hope it does come. I would almost always rather see a ridiculous musical than another pretentious one-person play.

OK, that tired me out for the day. Special note to anyone who is considering going to the SPF theater panel I am speaking on tomorrow: I am on a lot of pain killers, so, you may want to attend just to see me in sort of a trippy state.