Last night The Fairy Princess had a somewhat humbling moment realizing that a show she was part of has been on the New York stages for 11 years.
That’s right 11 years!
So, nothing ‘political’, no ‘message’ this time, just a few words of thanks that I was ever included in that show, and I am thrilled that it is still running and bringing the world much needed laughter.
Congrats to the current Cast inhabiting Christmas Eve, Princeton, Rod, Trekkie, Brian, Lucy T. Slut, Kate Monster, Gary Coleman and Nicki – you all did a wonderful job, and they continue to do so over at New World Stages on 50th Street – go check them out!
Here is a photo from last night:
SM Beverly Jenkins, our Original Mistress of the Puppets – Singer/Songwriter Phoebe Kreutz, John Tartaglia, Erin Quill, and Carmen Ruby Floyd – all part of the Original Broadway Company
Realizing it has been 11 years, really does bring home the message in “Only for now….” If you would like to read some of the tweets, because the audience was invited to do so throughout the show, please go to #AvenueQLive or if you only want to read mine, they can be found at @Equill
And…the magic ‘surprise’ at the end of “Only For Now” – SELFIES…. because as the song goes….
“Except for death and paying taxes, everything in life is only for now”
Top L-R: John Tartaglia, Carmen Ruby Floyd, Beverly Jenkins, Producer Robyn Goodman, Erin Quill, Phoebe Kreutz, Producer Kevin McCollum Lower Left Photo: Star of MEMPHIS: J. Bernard Calloway Lower Rt Photo: Carmen Ruby Floyd & Erin Quill
After Midnight, the kickass Broadway show that takes the audience on a ride through the music of Harlem’s well known Cotton Club, has announced it is closing – far quicker than originally planned. Originally it was in August, and now, it is June 29th.
Shows close, that is the nature of the business, but one of the great things about After Midnight was that it brought some of the living legends of the African American singing community to Broadway – some for the first time…
Patti LaBelle & Dule Hill
some Broadway veterans who had been there before – and all were incredible.
Vanessa Williams
Fantasia & the men of After Midnight
However because of this early closing, there are some that were announced who will, sadly, not make their Broadway debuts….like Gladys Knight and Natalie Cole.
While it was fantastic that some of these Divas appeared on the TONYS…
not everyone did.
This, also, is very sad – both for those Artists and for their fans – but mostly for their fans because….wait for it –
There is no Cast Recording of AFTER MIDNIGHT!
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
Nor, apparently, are there solid plans to record one!
Which is a huge loss. Many of these artists did not, ’tis true, make their names singing the type of music that is in AFTER MIDNIGHT, but they grew up on it.
Which is to say they are making it their own in ways that is almost too delicious to contemplate, and which, given how often Broadway embraces the music of that era (Black & Blue, anyone?), may be the last time we get to see some of them sing it.
I mean, BLACK AND BLUE was celebrating the Renaissance in Paris!
AFTER MIDNIGHT is celebrating the Harlem Renaissance right here in New York City!
The women who are guest starring in the show, save for Fantasia, have a connection to this music that is visceral, because they are within one generation of being the first people to hear that music – and that kind of thing makes a difference.
The Fairy Princess feels lucky to have seen this show as soon as it arrived on Broadway, but now that it is closing – in part due to ticket sales, she wonders if enough of ‘the kids‘ have seen some of these Divas for it to be an inspiration?
She remembers how lucky she felt as a child, to live in New York, and to see some performances that stay with her to this day. However, being Eurasian
she did not have the opportunity to look at a show and say, “Not only do I love it, and I am inspired by it, but those people up there look like me, maybe I can do that too!”
Because there just…ummm….were no Eurasians actively starring in a Broadway musical back then. (Just as it is now, as a matter of fact. Hmmmm…..)
She wishes she could have had a moment to be THAT kind of inspired – she thinks everyone should have it at least once in their lives – to see one’s own people, all different ages, all different experiences, telling their stories through dance and song – come on, that has to be a magical thing.
From left, Desmond Richardson, Phillip Attmore, C. K. Edwards, Christopher Broughton and Daniel J. Watts
When The Fairy Princess saw AFTER MIDNIGHT she was juggling concerns of her day and thinking about other things, as one does, until the lights came down and the first notes of a bygone era started playing – The Jazz at Lincoln Center All Stars – on Broadway! Then she just sat back and enjoyed it all – forgot about everything, it is that good a show.
The singers, and the dancers, and the costumes – it was 90 minutes of amazement, laughs, and pathos
Karine Plantadit
– and it has not been given a Cast Recording.
In an era where any ding dong can whip out a phone and launch embarrassing moments on to the Internet for all to see – how is this show, which has been the recipient of so much love from the Broadway Community and the vehicle for so much talent across the generations – how is it not going to have a Cast Album?
It’s criminal. It’s a crime against theater. If this Cast is not recorded, then you know who loses?
We all do. Young kids – who should be being bused in for the last dozen performances as a public service by the big record labels so that they get to see and hear their history – are going to lose.
We of the Broadway are going to lose – think about it – to NEVER be able to hear the sultry voiced Carmen Ruby Floyd sing “Creole Love Call” again in your life?
CRF in Carmen Marc Valvo at The TONYS
Not to hear the Master Class that is Adriane Lenox sing her numbers?
Adriane Lenox
Criminal.
Total loss.
Not to mention that Divas who were booked until the show was scheduled to close in August now will not be able to make their Broadway debuts. Which is a shame, because no matter how big a singer you are, no matter how many stages you have performed on in your life – there is nothing like stepping on a Broadway stage and singing for those crowds.
If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. Even if you have ‘made it’ somewhere before, it is still like nothing else.
The Fairy Princess does not know who to ‘talk to’ about getting AFTER MIDNIGHT recorded,
The Big O? Anyone have her number? Or her checkbook?
Clive Davis? Who could call Clive Davis?
but someone needs to start talking – because once a show closes, and the Cast scatters to new jobs….that will be that.
Truthfully, it should be a double album, because of the Guest Stars, singing, perhaps, not just what they sang in the show, but songs that perhaps were cut from the show or are ‘of that era’? That would, The Fairy Princess believes, be a huge seller – and, wouldn’t it make sense to record this cast if rumors are true, and there is a tour being talked about?
Just a thought.
Thank you, all the Cast of AFTER MIDNIGHT – you were breathtaking – and The Fairy Princess hopes you have sell out crowds and standing Ovations for the rest of your run – y’all danced and sang your butts off.
The Fairy Princess had a Broadway day the other day- dinner and a show. Magical, yes?
Actually, yes it was – she went to see IF/THEN and if one was looking for any indication of PTTS (Post Traumatic TONY Syndrome), you could not find it at this viewing. The audience gave standing ovations to the entire company, and no, jaded theater critics, the house was not full of 14 year old fans of FROZEN, it was an adult audience.
Because it’s written for adults. Adults who used to worry about rent, but who now worry about a lot more…like being alone.
Maybe the kids went to the matinee? Who cares? Let’s let it go.
When you see jaded New Yorkers overcome by a show, and hear them ‘ugly cry’ during some dramatic scenes in Act 2, and then seen what looked to be over 100 people waiting at the stage door for the leads, it makes it hard to walk away not feeling confused, given what happened this past awards show.
Though Hugh Jackman was ‘hopping’ as a host, and The Fairy Princess liked all the musical numbers coming where they did,
there seemed to be underlying tension throughout. If one did not follow the show on Twitter, one may not have known that there were some very cool things going on – people winning awards for the first time,
or for the second, or third because you were not seeing it on the small screen. There were oddly made decisions as to who warranted small screen time that made the show at times seem, well… petty.
Not to mention odd choices for ‘entertainment’
Meredith Wilson garnering accolades for being a rap composer, when they refused to televise the composer who won for a musical that was actually on Broadway this season was a time suck that The Fairy Princess could have done without.
Yes, BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY closed, we all knew that – but why wouldn’t BEST ORIGINAL SCORE or BEST ORCHESTRATION be televised? Aren’t BEST ORIGINAL SCORE and BEST ORCHESTRATION the cornerstones of Musical Theater?
Who can do a musical without scores or orchestrations?
No one.
Plus, Jason Robert Brown gave good speech:
While JRB was ‘shouting out’ to women and acknowledging the relatively small number of women on Broadway in all the different aspects, The Fairy Princess would like to ‘shout out’ to him, that she appreciates that in what must have been a very bittersweet moment – accepting individual awards when your show has already closed – he took time to speak on the issue of representation and diversity.
That was classy.
However, having viewed JRB’s speech, and now seen IF/THEN, The Fairy Princess is truly wondering why some potential nominees were all but shut out of the process?
Mathematically, yes, it is explainable – there are 50 members on the Nominating Committee.
They have to see everything and then, of course, they vote. Their votes are tallied and then get turned over to the general TONY voting population of just under 900 people. Those under 900 vote by another secret ballot, which is how we get our winners.
They have, the Nominating Committee, certain instructions in the category of Best Show:
1. Where there are are 9 or more potential nominees, the NC must vote for 4 shows, and the 4 shows with the most votes are automatically in the BEST SHOW category.
2. If there are 5 or FEWER shows in the category, the NC must vote for 3 shows, and nominations are awarded accordingly.
Now HOW and WHO decides if there should be a FIFTH nomination? Or a FOURTH nomination in a year with less choices?
An Accounting firm.
SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
OH. Ohhhhhhhh.
The Accounting Firm that counts the secret ballots is the one who gets to decide – and there must be a difference of only 3 votes from the lowest ranking of the nominees.
It is not an Artistic Decision, which seems odd given that these awards are given to and given by Artistic People.
The Fairy Princess is not disagreeing with any of the Nominations, but what she is disagreeing with is that there is no ability for the Nominating Committee – not to take away, but to add, or for them to debate the use of that 5th spot.
Perhaps it is adding an additional level that the TONYS does not want to be bothered with, but in a season packed to the gills with talented people in excellent musicals – and with the amount of money a show brings to the New York economy, why could not there be an addendum vote?
Isn’t there room for an Executive Decision – not as to what show to put IN that last spot, but an Executive Decision to say yes, that last one should be used let’s keep our top four, and let’s vote again for the last one?
There was an additional spot open in the BEST MUSICAL category, and if only for the good of the New York Economy (and yes, there are plenty of other reasons), it should be filled if at all possible.
A BEST MUSICAL nomination can keep the doors open and keep people employed – and not just “people who need people‘ – there are dozens of people who make every Broadway show work every night from the ticket takers to the Teamsters, who, when they are working, are adding to the general prosperity of the theater district as well as pulling in a paycheck themselves. Broadwayand it’s denizens contributed $11.9 BILLION to the New York economy and 87,000 jobs.
87,000 jobs!
A TONY Nomination all but screams “IF YOU LOVE THEATER BUY A TICKET”.
Every day someone walks up to a ticket window who has never been to a Broadway show, and they buy their first ticket, and what usually makes them ‘jump’ to do so is the number of TONY Nominations or Wins a show has. Likewise when the show goes on an AEA Tour, the amount of Nominations or Awards helps with the pre-sale. Which one could argue, might have an impact in keeping shows on AEA Contracts? Worth a thought.
We of the theater should be invested in that theatergoer, because it is a cyclical thing – they have to love us to keep coming back. Giving them, as Sondheim once wrote “More to see….“, is a better business plan. Strict adherence to numbers – in short, strict counting of 50 votes, is limiting their ability to ‘fall in love’ with a new show.
The Tony Nominating Committee did their jobs, they voted – the numbers just did not add up, and now, shows are closing. Shows have closed.
Maybe a nomination would have made a difference to a particular shows fate? It is worth thinking about.
The Fairy Princess loved, loved, loved A GENTLEMEN’S GUIDE TO LOVE AND MURDER, and she was thrilled when it won BEST MUSICAL, but she also would have been thrilled to have seen the fifth spot used.
The choice to not revisit if the fifth spot should be used left Broadway with Casts feeling, oh HOW did Julie Andrews put it?
The Fairy Princess knows that ‘rules are rules’ and they are drafted for a reason, but this year was a very odd year, a very odd year, and she did not want to let it go by without remarking upon it.
It was damn passing strange. (Some people will get that joke)
In short, if Broadway is worth $11.9 Billion Dollars, but the Accountants do not ‘get’ that it is worth it to consider a fifth nomination….well, the idea of that makes The Fairy Princess as jumpy as a puppet on a string – and she knows from puppets.
GYPSY OF THE YEAR – Jodi Eichelberger, Aymee Garcia, Carmen Ruby Floyd & Erin Quill
They may be great at counting, but they seem not to see ‘value’, and in the musical theater, we like things…how shall I say, on an angle?
The Fairy Princess LOVES The Tony Awards – this is not a crack at the Awards themselves, but the process seemed…well anyway, NEXT year…she wants it BIGGER….apologies to Hugh….
I am writing an Open Letter, not to confess anything, or reveal shocking details, or even to kvetch about the weather, which of course, every New Yorker holds Al Roker personally responsible for….
Al Roker from The Today Show
Just kidding Mr. Roker, we love you…after all, The Fairy Princess knows (from having met you during a prank Matt Lauer pulled on you) that you are a huge afficianado of the show tunes! And anyone who loves Broadway musicals enough to sing a few bars while working on what turned out to be a fake photo shoot, is good enough for me!
Sparkly Jacket? CHECK!
But that is what this open letter is about, oh Today Show dwellers…because I have a quick question –
why when Il Divo comes to perform they get to do it here:
Oh where are they? oh right – INDOORS!
But when Broadway’s new musical, BEAUTIFUL, the Carole King Story came to The Today Show, they performed here:
?
This was yesterday, February 27, 2014. That’s right, and what was the weather like yesterday?
It was around 39 degrees Fahrenheit, on average. Which, can be considered fairly cold. It’s a bit cold for performers who do 8 shows a week, and have to maintain their health in order to continue to work to be singing and dancing in their show clothes OUTSIDE with NO COATS!
The Anchors are outside in down coats, hats, and gloves – they know it’s cold. We all know it’s cold. Even if you did NOT know it was cold because..well, who knows why you would not know it was cold outside if you were in NYC but hypothetically…I suppose it is possible. So even IF you did not know what the weather is outside…
Let’s face it, you could have asked this guy who, you know, works for you…
Is this thing on? The jacket? Yes.
You had the cast of AFTER MIDNIGHT out there in their scanties on January 21, 2014.
On January 21, 2014 it averaged 33 Degrees Fahrenheit!
But when Tony Bennett came to see you on October 9, 2013, he was here –
Legendary Tony Bennett on the TODAY Show
Inside.
When WICKED showed up on October 30, 2013 they were….
Now, it is obvious that Broadway and The Today Show go together like a time step and a glittery hat, but enough is enough! There is a polar vortex going on, and you have trained performers going out in this horrible weather almost nekkid for enough minutes that they could come down with some serious bronchitis – and that is not ok.
I know that lots of other performers sing outside – you have your Country stars, and your Rock stars, and so on – but they dress themselves, and in general, they seem to dress for the weather. (And if they don’t, that is their own damn fault because they have a choice).
Show People have no choice in what they wear because it is set – that is what it means when we say that the show is frozen – all costumes, lyrics, books, music is set into place for the run of the production. If they are promoting their show, which they ARE and THANK YOU, TODAY SHOW for that, it is really the best reason to tune in for me, when a Broadway show is going to be on – they have no choice in what they are wearing.
By the time they get to you, their show is frozen – now they are too.
It ain’t right, Today Show – it ain’t right!
The Fairy Princess is requesting that you move all these highly trained, beautiful people INSIDE until Spring. (And not just, you know, beginning of Spring, like WAY into Spring – LATE SPRING)
Please?
There is a room that’s full of heat, I want to go there when I sing….
You have the studio space – you let other people use it…..
Look, everyone from Broadway who performs for your TV audience and for your live crowd wants them to come see them in their theaters, and they want to give the best performances they can. Broadway people do not want to call out for illness, they want to hit the stage in their high heels and give y’all a fabulous damn show!
But how can they do that with viral pneumonia?
Whaddaya mean NO COATS?
The Fairy Princess finds it hard to concentrate on the performances being given when all she is thinking is ‘DAMN, they must be FREEZING!”.
You with me KINKY BOOTS? Say Yeah for moving The Broadway indoors in winter!
They were in June, look how happy they are!
Perhaps you will not listen to The Fairy Princess…(after all, I’m just a blogger with over 55,000 views) but you do have ONE person on staff who may advocate for showtunes and those who dwell there –
From you to me, Kathie Lee
C’mon Kathie Lee! Would you want YOUR show out there with no coats on? I think not.
These are people I know, these are people I admire, and these are people who deserve a little respect…and, heat.
Finally, I thank you TODAY SHOW for shining the light on amazing performances all year around, you do a fantastic job that lends credit to your Staff and your show – it is seeing Broadway performances on your show that brings people to New York and puts their tushes in theaters!
Doing all you do it can not be easy, but it CAN be indoors….just till Spring.
The Fairy Princess has been doing a lot of reading lately….for example she is absolutely obsessed with this book
SO obsessed with it that she has done her OWN Casting Breakdown for it, in case, you know, big Hollywood Producers who changed Katniss into a Caucasian should get confused and need some help remembering that ASIAN in in the title of the book, and that it is not supposed to be a book about whatever K-Pop star is hot right now, it is supposed to be a book about 30-somethings and their Parents, in SINGAPORE!
Dear Hollywood Producers should you get STUCK and think this would be a way better film called CRAZY, RICH because you think it is going to be too hard to cast – I double dog dare you to call The Fairy Princess -she will have the Casting Breakdown and options at the ready!
(OMG Hollywood Producers, you should TOTALLY call me – I would knock that Casting OUT OF THE PARK!)
(And when I say PARK, I’m not saying it in a “that is one of the very popular surnames for Korean Americans, way)
Crazy, Rich Asians has provided COPIOUS amounts of hilarity for The Fairy Princess, and she is pretty sure that she and Kevin Kwan should have Kiki’s on a regular basis, because HER OWN GRANDMA was actually a part of this kind of Social Circle in China, and actually gave The Fairy Princess her middle name, after one of the SOONG Sisters. (Kevin Kwan will know what that means).
The Fairy Princess and Kevin Kwan could totes be BFF’s! Or at LEAST we could go some piano bar in the Village and have too many drinks and sing too many showtunes – he mentioned karaoke in the book, Dear Mr. Kwan…The Fairy Princess will ROCK your WORLD with her MAD Karaoke skillz….
But that was not the ONLY thing that she read this week – and now, we are going to get into what is putting a dent in her wand….let’s digress…
As you may know, The Fairy Princess has done the show, FLOWER DRUM SONG.
Now, in FLOWER DRUM SONG there is a nightclub and it is based on a real nightclub that was in San Francisco where the only performers were Asian and the Customers were…well, they were mainly Caucasian. It was called…The Forbidden City, and it was owned by a businessman, Charlie Low.
And they had ‘Superstars”
And they had Fan Dancers….like Noel Toy
And in general, they were kind of kick ass….and once The Fairy Princess found out about The Forbidden City when she was younger, she found out it was like the Chinese West Coast version of The Cotton Club, she became equally obsessed with both nightclubs. But the Asian performers from The Forbidden City could never seem to jump to any sort of mainstream recognition – even though the novel about the nightclub by C.Y. Lee did very well – the performers themselves did not seem to continue on and get work or recognition in mainstream America.
The Forbidden City was not The Cotton Club.
The Cotton Club began in 1923, during The Harlem Renaissance. (Oh sure, I know ALL about it, I told you I was obsessed!) It was where, as my great friend who has now passed, Anderson Jones, used to tell me, “The 1920’s was where Black Men invented Men’s Fashion, Erin Quill”
Zoot suits and jazz and well…The Cotton Club.
It predated The Forbidden City and actually launched a heck of a lot of performers whose work we still, to this day, sing, hum, and generally think of when we see a beaded gown. People like…well….
And who can forget….Ms. Lena Horne? Or Cab Calloway? Or any of the other breathtaking performers that got their start, or made their careers bigger, by singing in The Cotton Club?
Now, The Fairy Princess does not condone the segregation that either The Forbidden City or The Cotton Club practiced, in terms of it’s audience being Caucasian and it’s performers being…ummmm…non-Caucasian. Because…let’s face it, it was racist. It was clearly racism, and it was clearly…not kosher. Not by today’s standards, but it is part of the history of America, and part of the history of the music of that era.
The best thing that came out of The Cotton Club was the music and the launching of careers for people who became the “game changers’. They became trailblazers – being on stage at The Cotton Club is what helped a lot of people become the legends they are today.
So The Fairy Princess was really, really excited to hear about the NEW Broadway show – AFTER MIDNIGHT – which IS, according to it’s website..
“This thrilling experience puts you at the center of one of Harlem’s legendary nightclubs, in a hotbed of Jazz–its intoxicating rhythms, its innovative style, its unpredictable danger and fun. Award-winning fashion designer Isabel Toledo reinvents the distinctive looks of the era with dazzling, one-of-a-kind costumes. And, as directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, AFTER MIDNIGHT blurs the line between past and present to prove that Jazz is more than music–it’s a state of mind.”
Well…I mean, they are talking about THE COTTON CLUB! The music OF The Cotton Club!
Oh. Mah. Goodness, The Fairy Princess is BEYOND excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because the Cotton Club was a launching pad for all kinds of talented folks, and she is hoping that After Midnight will give us a whole new bunch of folks to sing along with and look up to….some we have been missing a bit on The Broadway….like Adriane Lenox…
Or people we might know more from television at this point in their careers…like Dule Hill
He’s going to be The Host
And, as The Fairy Princess said….people whose work she is excited to get to know, like…let’s look at the cast list:
This is Monique Smith, she seems nice. Actually there is a whole BUNCH of people in this show whose work The Fairy Princess does not know, and THAT is exciting, because THAT is Broadway…it’s discovering new people!
AND in KEEPING with the tradition OF The Cotton Club, they are going to rotate ‘Celebrities!” What a great gimmick. OK, so the FIRST Celebrity is….
Awesome! How great was she in The Color Purple, the musical?
But of course, Fantasia has other commitments too, she can’t be the “Celebrity” all the time! I wonder WHO they are going to get to replace her, you know in case she goes on vacation….Who, could it be? Oh you KNOW who would be GREAT?
Who doesn’t love a legend?
Who else could they get? Wait….Toni Braxton has done Broadway –
Who else…who ELSE is like, SUPER Famous and has done Broadway…..
Ushh Usshhh USHER – and he would bring the Kids
Or you…oh WAIT A MINUTE, THIS would be RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!
She’s even PLAYED Billie Holiday!!!!!!!
But here’s what was just announced….
Is this when The Fairy Princess yells “Stop the world, I want to get off?”
But it was only for a night….it was never, you know….an extended run in a show that celebrates the music of The Harlem Renaissance.
So that is not, technically, in the tradition of “The Celebrity Guest” night now, is it?
I don’t know, I’m guessing The Nicholas Brothers are probably breaking a hip in Heaven about this one….
What would Billie Holiday sing about this particular choice, I wonder –
You know that The Fairy Princess is all for Equality in Casting, but this seems wrong.
It seems wrong to put a Caucasian in this show and here’s why…because it is a celebration of the music and the people of The Cotton Club.
We can all agree to disagree, but WHO WERE the people OF The Cotton Club…..NOT THE AUDIENCE...THE PEOPLE?
I see.
Of course there WERE Caucasians IN The Cotton Club….you can see them RIGHT THERE….
Mary Lou Williams on the ivories
But since I cannot find any photos from those Celebrity Guest Nights….I’m guessing that Caucasians on the stage was not actually the draw AT The Cotton Club.
I’m guessing.
The Fairy Princess finds it….an odd choice.She also finds it a bit insensitive and well…while she respects that KD Lang is a wonderful performer, she is not the type of performer who would have been seen regularly in The Cotton Club.
I mean, it would be different if the entire cast was mixed and it was all peoples performing the music of The Cotton Club – but it’s not.
As The Fairy Princess has said before, multi-racial casting is not supposed to be used because people do not want to expend the effort to cast it in the manner which is most respectful of the struggle and the time period and the tone of the show.
Choosing KD Lang for some reason, (not her talent), is, to me, a ‘low-percentage choice”.
The Fairy Princess is not African American….and she’s not trying to co-opt that experience, but IF I WERE, I would take a video clip that I like to use a lot and tell the Producers of this show that casting KD Lang to represent the music and times of The Cotton Club is wrong and that they should….KISS MY FAN TAN FANNIE!!!!!!!!!!!
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