Posts Categorized: Shows

BodyGuard The Musical Reviews – What did we think? Tickets on Sale Here!

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Last week I was in London so I had to go to the West End and see a show.  Oddly enough we went planning on seeing one thing, but ended up going to see The BodyGuard the Musical in the West End instead.  So what is our opinion or what are our thoughts on this show?  The BodyGuard the musical reviews are that it is 100% worth going to, but only for the second act.  Here’s why we hated the first act, thought the lead fell short for part of the performance and why it is still a must see show!

The Body Guard the Musical stays almost exactly accurate to the movie they took it from.  You have the same characters, I think the songs were out of order though and you have all of the major scenes.  You have the lead Diva Rachel whose sister Nicki is the real star, but is always in her shadows.  You have the really hot, but creepy stalker and killer, Rachel’s son, her Publicist, the rest of her group and of course, her BodyGuard Frank.  Here’s what my friend and I thought character by character.

Rachel Marron – Heather Headly – She is always freaking amazing.  Unfortunately she tried to take the songs and make them her own and sort of killed all but two or three of them.  She finished the first act by blowing us away with her incredible voice, but the rest of the act was spent watching the person who played her sister, Nicki.  Heather did an awesome job, but she needs to work on adding emotion and acting back into the songs and also not let the other cast members trump her incredible voice.  Heather, we love you!!!!, however we want to hear you belt out some amazing music like you can do.  Don’t try to make it your own, redo it, add in your ability to act and then add in your own voice and we’ll all still love it!  Don’t stop on notes and sing through your teeth…you are better than that!

Frank Farmer – Lloyd Owen – I thought he did great.  My friends thought he was trying to hard to be a 1920′s cop.  His voice and accent weren’t very good and although he did pretend to be a 1920′s cop, he did his part well, the acting was great and he kept in character during the entire show.  Good for him!

Nicki Marron – Debbie Kurup – You were f*cking amazing!  You took some of the hardest songs to sing, trumped the lead and then also added in your own acting, facial expresions and made them your own.  You stole the show and everyone was commenting about you.  Holy sh*t…you are incredible.  I will happily go to any other show you star in!

The rest of the cast had a couple of good actors.  The creepy stalker – Mark Letheren – Your acting scared the crap out of us, you got us on pins and needles and we were all scared to death of you!  Amazing!   I don’t know who played Fletcher the night we went, but that kid is amazing as well.  He could sing, dance and keep up with everyone else!

Unfortunately the first act will put you to sleep, but in the second act you will be going crazy.  When the cabin turns around and you expect the Stalker to be in there, you won’t be able to stop gripping your chair.  When Rachel sings I will always love you, you’ll be tearing.  When Frank gets shot, you’re mouth will drop.  The show takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions and one that you will want to ride again.  I have never been in a theatre where I felt like I was watching a movie that makes you jump out of your chair, scream, sing, dance and have fun.  This show was amazing in the second half and one that you need to see.  The BodyGuard the Musical Reviews are amazing and I highly recommend seeing the show.  You can buy tickets to bodyguard the musical on sale by going through any of the banners to the right of this post.  The Bodyguard the Musical reviews gets 4 out of 5 stars because of the second act.  If the second act was like the first one, the show would have gotten 1 out of 5 at best.

I Touch Myself from Austin Powers – Is it still actually funny?

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If we all remember the movie version, we fell in love with the theme song sung by Madonna for one of the Austin Powers movies and the video of her riding in his car singing.  She then also had a song for an actual James Bond movie that completely kicked ass.  However, another song which Ryan wanted to write about is I Touch Myself from Austin Powers.

I wasn’t sure if I should let him write about I Touch Myself from Austin Powers the movie, but they are producing a musical version of it and it is a kind of popular song.  When reading about what he thought when he first saw it and what he thinks now, I decided to let him post it.  Here is Ryan’s overall thoughts on I Touch Myself from Autism Powers.

Growing up I seriously believed that I Touch Myself from Austin Powers was the funniest musical sequence to ever occur in film. I just watched it again for the first time in about 15 years, and while I no longer would defend that position, I do think that I had a pretty decent sense of humor for an eight year old. After all, what is this scene lacking? I Touch Myself from Austin Powers has it all; sexiness, dance moves, robots, explosions, a fun soundtrack, and even adult stars (the “fem bots” are played by Jenna Jameson). Sure, some parts are a bit slapstick and immature, but the movie is about a cryogenically frozen secret agent who comes back to fight Dr. Evil. You can’t take such a ridiculous plot seriously, and neither can the movie itself.

The biggest thing I notice now that I did not as a child is how confusingly dated everything seems. In this scene, there is a Canadian actor, playing a 1960’s Brit, exploding 1990’s porn star robots with his sex appeal. Austin has the retro-sci-fi outfit (though admittedly not for long), the Fem Bots have ridiculous nineties haircuts, and everyone is smoking on screen. Thinking about how weird all of this is almost makes the scene seem as surreal as it is over the top. There is just a whole lot going on that has no business in this decade – or any other for that matter.
But the scene is more than comedic relief. I Touch Myself from Austin Powers is the one time the hairy chested protagonist’s oversexed personality does not get him in trouble — rather it saves his life. After watching about an hour of the immensely likeable character’s libido shoot him in the foot, I was really rooting for his sex drive to do something good for him. And in this scene it does! Earlier in the film the Fem Bots are displayed as this cutting edge, death inducing technology. They are like lady Terminators that use their seduction instead of strength. However, Austin Powers also uses his seduction instead of strength (or skill, or intelligence… seduction is pretty much all he has) and when he dances to I Touch Myself they literally short circuit from how awesome he is.

I think that there is an almost humanist appeal to this success. Everyone wants to think that the thing they keep doing that gets them in trouble or others call a waste of time will come in handy. Maybe you will end up in some sadistic trivia game and being able to recite all of the dinosaurs from the Jurassic period will save your life. Or maybe one day all the cup stacking you have been practicing will help when you need to… ok, the cup stacking will probably never take you further then winning cup stacking competitions. Still, throughout the movie, Austin tries seducing many people with the best intentions. Time and time again, this only leads to him hurting himself and others. After all of this, I Touch Myself from Austin Powers was a breath of fresh air and a victory for the underdog.

I will not argue that the sound effects aren’t annoying. And I agree that or that the whole premise isn’t abundantly absurd if not stupid. However, this movie seemed like pure comedic genius when I was in second grade, and even if you hate it, at least it is a catchy song.

Everybody Wants to Be a Cat from Disney’s Aristocats

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On my way home today, I remembered the song Everybody Wants to Be a Cat from The Aristocats, and as I started to whistle it, it struck a chord with me. You see I work in an office with a cat. While I am sending out hundreds of emails, the cat is sleeping. While I am getting yelled at by my boss, the cat warily opens its eyes to stare at us, then goes back to sleep. When I leave my desk, I come back to find the cat with its whole head submerged in my glass of water — if it decided to stop sleeping that is. While I don’t get angry, I do sometimes get jealous. Everybody Wants to Be a Cat from The Aristocats perfectly summarized why I feel this way. Cats don’t work hard. They lounge around, being cool with humans at their beck and call. If they want some excitement in their day they just have to try to catch a laser pointer or taunt the neighbor’s dog. A lot of cats are living a life of complete indulgence and luxury. The Aristocats are smart enough to recognize this, so they know that everyone else is jealous and that everybody wants to be cat.

Asides from the envy I feel towards felines in the work place, I also like Everybody Wants to Be a Cat from the Aristocats because it is one of the best Disney songs I know of. It has some of the cutest cartoon singing and dancing I have ever seen — check out the kitten brothers falling into the basket and the sister kitten singing the “rikki-tikki-tikki” part if you don’t believe me. I love how it starts off smooth and jazzy, but then ends up as a crazy and raucous song with psychedelic lighting. Another thing I think is awesome are all of the incredible instrumental bits. For example, the pounding drum solo at 2:25, or the kitten who absolutely shreds the piano at 4:47. Speaking of the piano solo, you can completely tell that this song predates Disney getting politically correct by the ostensibly Chinese cat that sings “Shanghai Hong Kong Egg Fu Young/ Fortune cookie always wrong.” That bit definitely would no be OK in a G-rated movie today.

The part where Duchess starts playing the harp always annoyed me a bit when I watched Everybody Wants to be a Cat from The Aristocats as a child, and to be honest it still does now. My siblings and I were all in agreement that the alley cats were the cool ones — not those ritzy house cats. Who is she to come into their cool and hip pad with her lavish harp, trying to serenade them while they are singing a swinging song? However, the alley cats seem to become enamored by it though, so I probably shouldn’t judge. Anyway, the swinger cats regain control for the end of the song, and they certainly go out with a very big bang.

Growing up, my little sister and I would often get told off by my mother as the song was coming to an end. We both found it almost impossible to watch the entire ensemble of philharmonic felines pile drive through abandoned tenement without jumping and stomping around in the living room. Even after they arrive at the bottom of the floor, they keep going, taking their self-congratulatory cause to the streets. And why wouldn’t they? Like I said earlier, being a cat seems like an amazing life. You just lounge around getting petted, you have retractable claws and can sleep whenever you want. I’m sure life is a little rougher for the alley cats, but they just take advantage of these hardships by channeling them into their music. Even if I hadn’t already been jealous of cats, I would after watching Everybody Wants to be a Cat from the Aristocats.

13 the Musical – A Little More Homework to Do – An Awesome Song!

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13 the Musical is one that most people don’t remember or forgot about.  It was actually a really good show, especially if you have kids that are around that age and trying to figure out life.  The entire cast was made up of teenagers so it was an easy show for them to be able to relate to.  The show is also about issues and problems that the teenagers are going through.  It could be stress, being bullied, moving to a new city, making friends and avoiding drama.  That’s why I like the song A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical.  It brings together all of the themes, the issues and story lines from the show and even adults can relate to it with their own lives.

During the song the main characters is being bullied by the Football player, being ignored by his best friend and the weird kid is trying to blackmail him.  It’s a song about what he needs to do and how he needs to try harder and also what he did wrong that could have helped to prevent him from being in that position.  Almost all of us have felt like we had no friends, we screwed something up or like the entire world is against us.

At work you could feel like everyone is out to get you.  In a relationship you could feel like you did something dumb and that is why your partner won’t speak to you.  In a social group, you could say the wrong thing, or because someone doesn’t like you they can start rumors or cause issues for you.  The song is about issues that teenagers face, but most adults can relate to it as well.

A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical is an awesome showtune that helps you to get motivated and also gets you to think about how you can do things better.  It is sort of inspirational because you can use the characters singing to help you pull out of a depression and start fixing whatever is causing you to feel down.  A Little More Homework to Do from 13 the Musical can help you with anything from eating disorders to making up with friends or even just help you motivate to get through a work day where you know you are falling behind.  A Little More Homework is an awesome showtune and if you haven’t heard it before, it is a great one to listen to.  Here is A Little More Homework from 13 the Musical.

We Just Had Sex – Well We Didn’t – From Passing Strange the Musical

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This is a guest post from a friend.

Here in DC we seem to have skipped spring and jumped straight to summer. When I came across We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange, I knew right away that I had found a perfectly steamy Broadway song match the weather here. The song is so warm and surreal I that it captivated me right away and made me think of how this weekend I would finally be able to walk around out in the sun without being bundled up. We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange sounds just as dreamy and happy as I feel about the sun coming out and bringing along beautiful weather after the long winter.

Right off the bat, We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange is warm, spicy and inviting, yet at the same time cool and relaxing. The jazzy and tangy intro lets you know that it is going to be fun, funky, and saucy. No time is wasted diving right into the subject matter – people that just had sex and are totally ok with it. I don’t think I have ever heard a song that is so innocent, non-chalant, and even cute about such a sensitive subject. It is this lackadaisical attitude that makes We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange so hilarious.

As soon as the girl kicked off the song with the statement, “we just had sex” I found it impossible not to grin. Her wide-eyed eagerness and frankness in sharing what she had just done, along with her bedhead hair style was just too much for me to watch and keep a straight face. When a song is titled “We Just Had Sex” and opens up with the same lines, you have to wonder where they will take it from there. I was a little worried that they had peaked too early and the humor would fizzle out, but my fears were relieved as soon as the next verse launched with “We just had sex / that’s right all three of us.” While the song becomes increasingly kinky, it always maintains the innocent, unashamed, and non-graphic tone that it opened with. This is because the whole piece seemed to be arguing that sex is natural and not a big deal. As the cast makes clear, they don’t need any feelings of guilt or to make a big deal of it — except for how much fun it was. They just had sex and even though “you might think it’s quite risqué / It’s the European way!”

My favorite part, other than the tune (which is enraging everyone else in the apartment as I keep humming it) was the guitar player who gets caught stroking his instrument’s neck up and down. Yes, I know I said the song was non-graphic…. it is also called “We just had sex” so I was speaking in relative terms. The other highlight of it for me was watching the younger man at center stage in the button up shirt. To give a little context, he is a young American man from 1970’s Los Angeles on his first trip to Europe — and in this song he seems to be blown away with the culture and absolutely loving it. I thought it was great how he was so ecstatic and excited, especially considering how he contrasts with everyone else’s cool and casual attitudes.

We Just Had Sex from Passing Strange had me cracking up intermittently for almost an hour after I saw it. I feel like this is quite a noble achievement, especially considering that the song is less than two minutes long. With its funny lyrics and cool, surreal groove, I am seriously looking forward to putting it on my iPod and going for a stroll under the capital’s cherry blossoms while singing along to the lalala part.