Dark Monday • Working

In 1978, a show debuted on Broadway after a successful run at Chicago's Goodman Theater. The musical is based on the Studs Terkel book Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do from 1974, which has interviews with people from different regions and occupations. It had a book by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso, music by Schwartz, Craig Carnelia, Micki Grant, Mary Rodgers, and James Taylor, and lyrics by Schwartz, Carnelia, Grant, Taylor, and Susan Birkenhead. It was directed by Schwartz, and ran for 12 previews, and 24 performances. Well, I thought this was the perfect show to feature on Labor Day.



As this is a holiday to celebrate the working force, I thought I would pick three songs by singer/songwriter James Taylor, a Pop and Folk icon. He had three songs in the show, all of which fit perfectly into his Folky discography, and in fact appeared on his albums. Let's start with his Bluesy "Traffic Jam", sung by the cast at the open of the show, chronicles their drive to work.



"Traffic Jam" also appears on his 1977 album, JT. You can purchase JT from iTunes and Amazon. James also had to next to last song in the first act. It is a beautiful ballad telling the story of a "Millworker". There is a beauty and honesty in the song that is hard to miss.



The third and final song from James appears early in the second act. He returned to the Bluesy style for "Brother Trucker", celebrating the truck drivers with a driving beat that let's you know the scoop right away. There is an barroom quality that suits the song, as well as James' voice. There is such an earthiness, it just resonates as a song for the working man. Enjoy "Brother Trucker".



Both Millworker" and "Brother Trucker can be found on Taylor's 1979 album, Flag. You can find Flag on iTunes and Amazon. For more about James Taylor, visit his official website. For more about Working, visit the official fansite. You can also purchase the Original Broadway Cast Recording on iTunes and Amazon. Hope you had a great Labor Day Weekend!

Dark Monday - Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark

Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark is set to begin previews on November 14th, and the oft-delayed production has started revving up the publicity machine with a big push on Good Morning America last Friday. First there was the interviews with the men responsible for the music, Bono and The Edge of U2, and director Julie Taymor with George Stephanopoulos.



Also appearing on the show was the man cast as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Reeve Carney. Carney is a musician who heads up Reeve Carney & the Revolving Band. Here he is interviewed by Sam Champion.



He sang a song from the show, Boy Falling From The Sky.



Here is a clip about Carney and his band performing outside the show, singing the song Love Me Chase Me. I kinda enjoy the blend of rock and blues inherent in the music.



For more information about the show, check out their official website here. Will be interesting to hear about the show once it starts previews. I have to say, I am intrigued.

Good Friday - You Redeem Me

When he isn't working on Broadway in either Grease or the current revival of Hair on Broadway, Ace Young can often be found raising money for kids in need. He also has time to working in his own music, be it writing for himself and others, or interpreting the work of other writers, like the great Diane Warren. She wrote You Redeem Me, which appeared on his self-titled debut album. Here he sings it in 2008 when he worked as a co-host on the Muscular Dystrophy Telethon. And You Redeem Me sounded like a perfect song for Good Friday.



You can check out more of Ace's music at his website here. You can also find him on Twitter here. You can also go see him in the revival of Hair: An American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Visit their website here.

Hair Replacement on Broadway

Tuesday afternoon, the producers of the Broadway revival of Hair announced the replacement cast of the hit show, as covered by Broadway.Com. I am particularly interested in the casting of Ace Young and Diana DeGarmo, both former finalists on American Idol who have parlayed their talent into several Broadway roles. Catch up with them in this interview on the New York Fox Station after the announcement.



You can get all your Hair information on the official website, here. The following is courtesy of Broadway.Com.


DeGarmo in the center with the black vest, Young in white t-shirt on right.

Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of The Public Theater, has announced the Broadway cast of HAIR: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. The new Tribe will debut on Tuesday, March 9, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th Street, NYC). As previously announced, the original Broadway cast will be moving to the West End to open at London's Gilegud Theatre. Previews begin on April 1, 2010 with Opening Night set for April 14.

Eustis commented, "We've got a new Tribe- utterly unique, and just as talented and joyous as our first company. They are going through a full rehearsal period with Diane Paulus and her wonderful team, and when they burst out on the 9th of March, it's going to be an electric event."

The complete new Tribe of HAIR is as follows (in alphabetical order):
Annaleigh Ashford (Jeanie), Jeannette Bayardelle (Dionne). Diana DeGarmo (Sheila), Vanessa Ray (Crissy), Kyle Riabko (Claude), Wallace Smith (Hud), Jason Wooten (Woof) and Ace Young (Berger). Also announced were Justin Badger (Tribe), Nicholas Belton (Swing), Larkin Bogan (Tribe), Natalie Bradshaw (Tribe), Catherine Brookman (Tribe), Briana Carlson-Goodman (Swing), Antwayn Hopper (Tribe), Jay Armstrong Johnson (Swing), Rachel Bay Jones (Mom), Mykal Kilgore (Tribe), Josh Lamon (Margaret Mead/Dad), Nicole Lewis (Tribe), Anastacia McClesky (Tribe), Paris Remillard (Tribe), Arbender Robinson (Swing), Kate Rockwell (Tribe), Cailan Rose (Tribe), Rashidra Scott (Tribe), Jen Sese (Tribe), Lawrence Stallings (Tribe), Terrance Thomas (Tribe), Emma Zaks (Swing) and Lee Zarrett (Tribe).

Tickets for HAIR (starting at $37.00) are available via Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200. The schedule is as follows: Tuesday at 7:00 p.m., Wednesday at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m., Thursday - Friday at 8:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 & 8:00 p.m. and Sunday at 3:00.

HAIR also offers a pre-performance ticket lottery for box-seat tickets, aptly renamed "BE-IN BOXES." Those wishing to purchase these tickets are asked to show up at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre 2 1/2 hours before each performance for a drawing that will take place 2 hours before curtain. For every performance, a limited number of lucky audience members will receive $25 "be-in box" tickets, promising to make their experience of the show both affordable and unique. Limit one entry per person, and two tickets per entry. Winners must be present at the time of the drawing and show valid ID to purchase tickets. Tickets can be purchased from the box office in cash only.

Dark Monday - Rent

In 1996, a little musical opened that might very well have changed the landscape on Broadway forever. It was named 'Rent', starring a cast of relative unknowns, most of whom went on to much more. They were Taye Diggs, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Jesse L. Martin, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Daphne Rubin-Vega and Fredi Walker. The show ran for 12 years, until 2008.

To quote Wikipedia, "'Rent' is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera 'La Bohème'. It tells the story of a group of impoverished young artists and musicians struggling to survive and create in New York's Lower East Side in the thriving days of Bohemian Alphabet City, under the shadow of AIDS."

The first video clip is video of the opening night performance of "Today 4 U", featuring Wilson Jermaine Heredia, who won a Tony for his portrayal of Angel. The quality isn't great, but it was the opening night!

The second clip is when the entire original cast flew to Chicago for the 1996 Democratic National Convention to perform "Seasons Of Love", a truly great song. The lyrics are so beautiful I used them at my sister's wedding when I made the toast at the reception, as I was her 'maid of honor.'

Just amazing!