A few shots from New York

While I'm on the subject of Flickr and stuff, here are my favorite photos that I took in New York (between June 11 and June 16).  Taken with my little pocket Nikon point-'n'-shoot and my iPhone.  

Too bad the Bethesda fountain was being cleaned that day.  And too bad the cellist was out of tune, too.

Before you click on either of the last two pictures, you should know that they are actually large-ish files.  They're panoramas spliced together from several separate photos.

Be afraid.

Playbill lists the following plays and musicals as being in the works for future presentation on Broadway (to be fair, some sound like they might be pretty decent, but most sound pretty horrifyingly bad -- remember, these aren't just ideas, they're actually projects that have progressed far enough that they are considered to be "in the works"): 

Angels (musical based on Milton's Paradise Lost) 

Betty Boop (musical based on the 1930s cartoon) 

Big Time (musical about "down-on-their-luck lounge singers on a U.N. cruise ship that is held hostage by terrorists") 

Bring It On: The Musical (based on the movie about competitive cheerleading) 

Bruce Lee: Journey To the West (biographical musical about Bruce Lee, book being written by David Henry Hwang, music by David Yazbeck, both of whom I respect, but Bruce Lee?  Srsly?) 

Father Of the Bride (musical based on the Spencer Tracy film) 

Houdini (biographical musical by David Yazbeck, Danny Elfman and Kurt Anderson)

Liberace: The Man, the Music And the Memories (biographical musical) 

Merry-Go-Round ("New musical about a troubled young man whose estranged father helps him travels back in time on the magical title device," music and lyrics by Richard and Robert Sherman) 

Nerds://A Musical Software Satire (musical about Bill Gates and Steve Jobs) 

The Nutty Professor (musical based on the Disney movie, music by Marvin Hamlisch, book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes, directed by Jerry Lewis, which might actually mean that this one could work.) 

Once (stage adaptation of the Irish movie) 

"Untitled Mandela/Apartheid Musical"

"Untitled Woodstock Musical"

TKTS booth reopens

Just like all construction projects, it took longer than the original estimates ("eight years later and nine times costlier than originally estimated").

But the Theatre Development Fund's TKTS booth in Duffy Square (the place to get reduced price day-of-show tickets to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows) is back open for business again.

The improvements: More windows; A huge set of steps for people to sit while their friends and family stand in line; Credit cards now accepted.

The NYTimes article has lots of pictures, as well as an interactive graphic showing just how complex the structure actually is.

And the webcam that shows Times Square/Duffy Square can be found here.

Forbidden Broadway closing?

According to an article in the New York Times, Forbidden Broadway is taking a break in January with no immediate plans to start back up again.

"'When I look at the seasons coming up, I don’t particularly think we’ll have a great opportunity to have really funny numbers about "Shrek" or another "Guys and Dolls" revival or some of the stuff that’s coming out,' [creator Gerard] Alessandrini said by phone . . .'When Broadway becomes too theme-park-like, it makes it difficult, and it just looks like it’s becoming overly commercial the next couple of years,' he said. . . .

"Mr. Alessandrini said that 'Forbidden Broadway' might return to New York one day, but that, if so, it would be with a new format. 'We may think about doing "Forbidden Broadway: in the future, but not on an open-ended basis, but with one edition at a time,' he said."

I also looked at http://www.forbiddenbroadway.com/, but most of the pages return "not found on this server" errors.

"13" by Jason Robert Brown

Okie dokie.

Jason Robert Brown has written the first ever "all-teenage cast" musical, which starts previews on September 16 and opens officially on October 5 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York.

My question is this: Will this be (as the "13" website says) "a hilarious, high-energy musical for all ages about discovering that cool is where you find it, and sometimes where you least expect it," or will it turn out to be a Disney Channel movie waiting to happen, a successor to "High School Musical"?

In other words, is its target audience really everyone from 8 to 80, or everyone from 12 to 16?

Personally, I would hope for the former, but, just judging by this video, I would guess the latter.

I like Brown's writing very much, so I'm hoping for good things for and from this show.

Improv Everywhere - Human Mirror

This time Improv Everywhere sent 15 pairs of twins into a New York subway car and had them mirror each other -- sit opposite each other in the car, sit at the same time, stand, move, eat at the same time, just generally mirror each other's expressions, gestures, movements, everything.

This is closer to actual improv than Improv Everywhere usually does. More often than not, they perform flash mob pranks (e.g., sending a group of men with no shirts into Abercrombie and Fitch, having a bunch of people freeze simultaneously in Grand Central Station, showing up at the gig of an unknown indie rock band and acting like mega-fans and singing along to every song). But this one involves things that more closely resemble theater games -- impulsively acting and reacting to each other in a mirror game. Go here to read a much more detailed description of how they arranged this and carried it off.

As always, the reaction of the bystanders is the most entertaining part.

Overheard in New York

Or Potentially "Holy Moley"

Guy: Yeah... I don't know what key they're singing it in.

Girl: Well if she's singing it in the Betty Buckley key... that's like in the key of whoa.

--Queens-bound N Train
Overheard by: cwazy nooh yawkerr
via Overheard in New York, Jun 7, 2008


(Sorry, I wouldn't ordinarily quote from "Overheard," but "the key of whoa" is just too good not to pass along.)

Virgin Megastore in Times Square to close

via Joe.My.God.

After announcing a few months ago their plans to close the Virgin Megastore in Union Square in Manhattan (not Union Square San Francisco), Vornado Realty Trust has now also announced that they will close the Virgin Megastore in Times Square in the first quarter of 2009.

I hope this doesn't mean bad things for the San Francisco Union Square Megastore (or, for that matter, the Virgin Megastore on Hollywood Boulevard, or for the chain as a whole).

It seems possible that this move will have no effect on any other stores. It sounds from the article as if it is not Virgin that is closing the Times Square Megastore, but rather the Megacompany that owns the Megabuilding -- the Powers That Be seem to have bigger and better plans for the Megaspace.

Our having lost Tower Records/Video at Market and Noe was a mixed blessing: on the one hand, I miss having a store with a freakin' huge selection of obscure things in stock and within walking distance of our apartment; on the other hand, since Tower is gone, I'm less likely to go shopping out of boredom, so I spend less money on impulse items.

Anyway, keep your fingers crossed. I'm not madly in love with Virgin Megastore, but I wouldn't like to see it go away, either. I mean, when you're backed in a corner and desperately need a CD by an obscure Cuban band from the 1930's, can you count on the smaller stores to have it in stock?

I think not.

Well, maybe Amoeba....

[UPDATE: Again with the synchronicity? Immediately after posting this, I went to Boing Boing and found this video about real estate and advertising and Times Square. The building at One Times Square is, in fact, empty. The LED-screen advertisements on the building bring in enough revenue to the owners that they don't need no stinkin' tenants. An interesting four-minute video.]

[UPDATE 1/15/2009: The NY Post reported today that "The Virgin Megastore in Times Square - the nation's highest-volume music store - is shutting down in three months, it was learned yesterday." They don't say how they learned it, and there is currently no more specific date than "April."]