Post by janetcatbird on Jan 10, 2006 19:22:56 GMT -5
Wow, it's been awhile. Isn't anyone watching the Mothership?
Anyways, some items of note. I mentioned on the "Faerie Tale Theatre" thread that in their episode Sleeping Beauty George Dzundza (Det. Max Greevey, 1st season) has a supporting role as the woodsman/narrator. Broad comedy, silly Russian accent, good interaction with Christopher Reeve and whoever played Squire Tuck.
Forbidden Broadway: two men, two women and a piano player sing parodies of anything and everything related to musical theatre. They lampoon the performers, the shows, whatever. Anyways, their latest album! The title alone, Forbidden Broadway Vol. 8: Special Victims Unit ought to give you a clue. (Just know, these are all the troupe members and not the actual celebrities.) As they sing themselves: "We're Broadway's singing wrecking crew--please don't sue!!" Here's a link to the page on Amazon: check out the cover!
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007W7HTS/qid=1136936531/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8095882-9272832?n=507846&s=music&v=glance
The first track involves the Forbidden Broadway favorite of a brassy woman belting out their version of Annie: "I'm thirty years old tomorrow, and I havne't worked since I played Annie, when I was ten!" Machine gun fire, screaming, and the piano starts the Law & Order theme! You hear a lady crying, only to hear a man with an overdone Brooklyn accent come up:
"Alright Ma'am, could you please try to tell me exactly what happened"
Lady: "Say, aren't you that guy from Law & Order? Jerry, Jerry--"
JO: "Jerry Orbach ma'am"
L: "Yeah, didn't you star in the flop version of Chicago?"
JO: " 'The flop version of Chicago', can you believe it? Yes! I did star in that flop for three years! But I'm retired from theatre now, I'm with Broadway's Special Victims Unit" actual CHUNG-CHUNG! Seargent BD Wong...
BD Wong: man with a flutey, feminate voice "We investigate homicides of a theatrical nature...
The theatre seeking bird
Finding no good show
Die like 'Pacific Overtures'*" each line fo the haiku was punctuated by a piano trill
JO: Right
It goes on like this for a while, including another CHUNG-CHUNG when Jerry Orbach declares that the "concealed orchestra" was actually Pre-Recorded. The lady tries to describe the "show" that killed Annie: (dark lighting, strange choreography, no real plot, British director), prompting BD Wong to make a statement about the psychological trauma theatregoers suffer after such horrible shows.
Finally Jerry Orbach tells the lady "Let's try not to jump to any conclusions ma'am. Now, we're gonna need you to go down to the TKTS booth and make a statement", and after the woman leaves Jerry Orbach and BD Wong launch into a parody of "On Broadway" (one of my favorite songs, but this is funny enough to tolerate). The guy playing BD Wong drops the effeminate affectation, and while "Jerry Orbach" overdoes the wobble in his voice they both have very powerful strong voices. The whole song is funny, talking about stealing scores form a jukebox and the loss of clever shows, but the final verse picks up on the whole law enforcement thing:
JO: They say that crime has gone way up on Broadway...
BDW back-up On Broadway...
Both The public's getting ripped off every day...
JO When will you people get enough?!
BDW Of all this vapid glitzy fluff?!
JO Take out a handcuff and get tough-
BDW And say...
JO No way!
Both Broadway!!!
Having gone through the good parts of the L&O tribute--it's the first track on the CD, I can make a limited reccomendation. If you know something about the shows and Broadway, it's hysterical, but if you're not familiar with it you're going to miss out on a lot of the humor. Still and all, "You Gotta Have a Puppet" and their bit on "Wicked" are fantastic. If you don't want to shell out the money for one track, try to find a theatre buff to borrow the CD from.
Enjoy!
--Catbird
*PS: "Pacific Overtures" was the play that BD Wong did last spring or the year before. It was an older show, a revival, but I don't know composer or original cast or anything, sorry. From what I heard it flopped bad.
Anyways, some items of note. I mentioned on the "Faerie Tale Theatre" thread that in their episode Sleeping Beauty George Dzundza (Det. Max Greevey, 1st season) has a supporting role as the woodsman/narrator. Broad comedy, silly Russian accent, good interaction with Christopher Reeve and whoever played Squire Tuck.
Forbidden Broadway: two men, two women and a piano player sing parodies of anything and everything related to musical theatre. They lampoon the performers, the shows, whatever. Anyways, their latest album! The title alone, Forbidden Broadway Vol. 8: Special Victims Unit ought to give you a clue. (Just know, these are all the troupe members and not the actual celebrities.) As they sing themselves: "We're Broadway's singing wrecking crew--please don't sue!!" Here's a link to the page on Amazon: check out the cover!
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007W7HTS/qid=1136936531/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-8095882-9272832?n=507846&s=music&v=glance
The first track involves the Forbidden Broadway favorite of a brassy woman belting out their version of Annie: "I'm thirty years old tomorrow, and I havne't worked since I played Annie, when I was ten!" Machine gun fire, screaming, and the piano starts the Law & Order theme! You hear a lady crying, only to hear a man with an overdone Brooklyn accent come up:
"Alright Ma'am, could you please try to tell me exactly what happened"
Lady: "Say, aren't you that guy from Law & Order? Jerry, Jerry--"
JO: "Jerry Orbach ma'am"
L: "Yeah, didn't you star in the flop version of Chicago?"
JO: " 'The flop version of Chicago', can you believe it? Yes! I did star in that flop for three years! But I'm retired from theatre now, I'm with Broadway's Special Victims Unit" actual CHUNG-CHUNG! Seargent BD Wong...
BD Wong: man with a flutey, feminate voice "We investigate homicides of a theatrical nature...
The theatre seeking bird
Finding no good show
Die like 'Pacific Overtures'*" each line fo the haiku was punctuated by a piano trill
JO: Right
It goes on like this for a while, including another CHUNG-CHUNG when Jerry Orbach declares that the "concealed orchestra" was actually Pre-Recorded. The lady tries to describe the "show" that killed Annie: (dark lighting, strange choreography, no real plot, British director), prompting BD Wong to make a statement about the psychological trauma theatregoers suffer after such horrible shows.
Finally Jerry Orbach tells the lady "Let's try not to jump to any conclusions ma'am. Now, we're gonna need you to go down to the TKTS booth and make a statement", and after the woman leaves Jerry Orbach and BD Wong launch into a parody of "On Broadway" (one of my favorite songs, but this is funny enough to tolerate). The guy playing BD Wong drops the effeminate affectation, and while "Jerry Orbach" overdoes the wobble in his voice they both have very powerful strong voices. The whole song is funny, talking about stealing scores form a jukebox and the loss of clever shows, but the final verse picks up on the whole law enforcement thing:
JO: They say that crime has gone way up on Broadway...
BDW back-up On Broadway...
Both The public's getting ripped off every day...
JO When will you people get enough?!
BDW Of all this vapid glitzy fluff?!
JO Take out a handcuff and get tough-
BDW And say...
JO No way!
Both Broadway!!!
Having gone through the good parts of the L&O tribute--it's the first track on the CD, I can make a limited reccomendation. If you know something about the shows and Broadway, it's hysterical, but if you're not familiar with it you're going to miss out on a lot of the humor. Still and all, "You Gotta Have a Puppet" and their bit on "Wicked" are fantastic. If you don't want to shell out the money for one track, try to find a theatre buff to borrow the CD from.
Enjoy!
--Catbird
*PS: "Pacific Overtures" was the play that BD Wong did last spring or the year before. It was an older show, a revival, but I don't know composer or original cast or anything, sorry. From what I heard it flopped bad.