Dark Monday • Nick Adams Sings

Sometimes, I surprise myself. It has been far too long since I have included the handsome and talented Nick Adams on this blog. He is a true triple threat, being an excellent dancer, as well as a strong singer, and an excellent actor. And man, is he gorgeous. In fact, he is so nice to look at, it is easy to forget just how talented he is. So I thought I would start with him singing a classic song, one everyone knows. That would be "On The Street Where You Live" from 'My Fair Lady', written by the great team of Frederick Loewe and Alan Jay Lerner. The musical debuted on Broadway in 1956, and starred Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. He has sung it a couple of times, and I just love it. This is Nick Adams singing "On The Street Where You Live".

Nick has an impressive resume, starring on Broadway in the revivals of great musicals like 'Chicago', A Chorus Line', and 'Guys and Dolls'. HE was also a member of the original Broadway cast of 'The Pirate Queen' and 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. He played the role of Adam/Felicia, the younger of the trio who take a bus trip together. He had several numbers in the show, including his version of "Like A Prayer", written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. The song was, of course, the title cut of her 1989 album, and a big hit. The Broadway version was a bit different, but very special in it's own way. This is Nick Adams singing "Like A Prayer" with the Divas from 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'.

Currently, Nick is on tour with the music 'Wicked', with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz. Adams is playing Fiyero Tiggular, the prince of the Arjiki tribe. He had a bit of a romance with Elphaba, the Wicked Witch, while at college. There was an attempt on his life, only to be saved by former love. It is through her saving spell that he is transformed into a scarecrow. But before all that happens, he sings "Dancing Through Life". This is a clip of Nick singing the song as part of the National Touring Company.

You can find Nick Adams' music online, as a featured performer on Original Broadway Cast Recording of 'Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'. You can purchase it on iTunes and Amazon. To learn more about Nick Adams, visit his official website. You can also 'follow' him on Twitter, and 'like' him on Facebook. He is still on tour, so you can see when he will be in a town near you. You can check out the schedule at the official 'Wicked' website.

Dark Monday • Kristin Chenoweth & Anna Kendrick

As we come up on New Year's Eve, I was thinking of what music might be right for the occasion. It was through this process that I decided there might not be too many songs from Broadway shows that might say for me what I'd like to say to all who stop by this blog than "For Good" from the musical 'Wicked'. The show had music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman, based on a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire. It is a prequel to 'The Wizard of Oz', giving insight into the was the relationship between the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good. The song I feature here talks about how people (or witches) touch out lives, and change us "For Good". This is Kristin Chenoweth, Broadway's original Glinda, and Anna Kendrick, performing at a 'TrevorLIVE', raising funds for the Trevor Project. This is Kristin and Anna winging "For Good".

'TrevorLIVE' is a signature semi-annual event of The Trevor Project, the nation’s leading provider of crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. TrevorLIVE brings together top entertainers and corporate leaders to support Trevor’s life-saving, life-affirming work for LGBTQ youth in crisis. For more about the Trevor Project, visit the official website. You can also 'like' them on Facebook, and 'follow' them on Twitter.

Stephen Schwartz & San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus • Testimony

Composer Stephen Schwartz has quite the healthy resume, although any time a list of shows can include the likes of Godspell, Pippin and Wicked, you are pretty much given the royalty card on Broadway. However, he recently concluded another collaboration, one that is very important, and so very moving. He wrote the music for the San Fransisco Gay Men's Chorus, and worked with Dan Savage to compile the words from many of the It's Gets Better project videos, and made a truly heartfelt and moving piece that was given a world premiere by the talented men of the San Fransisco Gay Men's Chorus. It is called Testimony, capturing the feelings of disenchantment and despair, as well the feelings of joy and self-acceptance one feels when they come through the other side, when if finally does start to get better.

Not only is it wonderful to hear those words set to music, it is also great to see the tapestry of faces who sing them, a great cross-section of the community. The lyrics are:

I don’t want to be like this.
I don’t want to be who I am.
Every day that I don’t change I blame myself.
I am not trying hard enough.

I don’t want to be how I am.
When they find out, no one will love me,
I’ll lose my family and all of my friends.
I’m trapped like a fish with a hook in its mouth.

I am impersonating the person I show as me.
I am an imposter. I am a spy behind enemy lines.
I pack my feelings so deep inside me, they turn to concrete.

Every night I ask God to end my life.
I am an abomination.
God, take this away or take me away.

Today, I’m going to hang myself. I’m trapped.
Today, I’m going to slit my wrists. I’m stuck.
Today, I’m going to jump off my building.

Take me away. Take me away. Take me away.

Hang in. Hang on. Wait just a little longer.

I know it now, I know it now.
If I had made myself not exist,
there is so much I would have missed.

I would have missed so many travels and adventures,
more wonders than I knew could be.

So many friends with jokes and secrets not to mention,
the joy of living in authenticity.

Sometimes I cry, life can still be hard,
but there’s no part of me still crying “Hide me.”

I would have missed the chance to sing out like this
with people I love beside me.

I have been brave.
I grew, and so did those around me.
And now look what a life I’ve earned.

It gets more than better.
It gets amazing and astounding.

If I could reach my past, I’d tell him what I’ve learned.
I was more loved than I dared to know.
There were open arms I could not see.

And when I die and when it’s my time to go,
I want to come back as me.

I want to come back as me.

You can purchase the song from the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus online store by clicking here. You can purchase the single for download, offer a donation to the chorus, or order any number of other musical selections.

Dark Monday - Kristin Chenoweth

With a talent for being cute as a button or sexy as any woman living, Kristin Chenoweth has the vocal abilities that far outshine even her electric smile. Currently on Broadway in the show Promises Promises, Chenoweth first came to be known as five-year-old Sally Brown in the musical You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1999.

My New Philosophy


For that performance, she won her first Tony Award. It is certainly not the last of those that have or will come to her. In October of 2003, she opened in a musical few knew too much about, an interesting take on the Wizard of Oz called Wicked. She co-starred with the magnificent Idina Menzel and together they blew the audience away night after night. Both Kristin and Idina were nominated for the Tony Award, with Idina taking home the trophy that night.



In 2007 she costarred in the whimsical and quirky Pushing Daisies, once again wowing audiences with her impeccable comic timing and astonishing voice. Her portrayal of Olive Snook brought her acclaim as well as the 2009 Emmy Award despite the fact ABC had canceled the show. Here she sings Hopelessly Devoted To You, originally from the musical Grease.



This year, the producers of GLEE were smart enough to snatch her up and give her a recurring character, April Rhodes. Although in her last appearance, she left with a rather determined attitude to make it on her own, I certainly hope she returns, for the enormity of her talent shone so bright in ever minute of her time on the screen, but perhaps never as greatly as when she and Will [Matthew Morrison] performed One Less Bell To Answer/A House Is Not A Home.



As I said in the opening, she is now appearing on Broadway opposite Sean Hayes in the Burt Bacharach/Hal David musical Promises, Promises. She also received attention when she wrote a response to a deplorable Newsweek article about gays not being able to 'play straight', using Hayes as an example. Her words, written by strong Christian woman sounded as clear and strong as any song she had sung to date, being a clarion bell for human rights. Here she is with an excerpt from the show, singing I Say A Little Prayer.



To learn more about Kristin Chenoweth, check out her official website here. You can also go to the official website for Promises Promises here, and maybe order your tickets to catch her live! You can also purchase her 2001 album release, Let Yourself Go, on iTunes here.

Dark Monday -Wicked

Idina Menzel and Kristin Chenoweth starred in the Broadway musical Wicked. They were both beyond spectacular. Wicked essentially gives you the backstory to The Wizard of Oz. But it is much more than that, for it is about being different, not fitting in, and how the majority can injure the minorities.



Idina Menzel play Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, and shows how a green young girl goes from innocence to wicked through life's trials. Idina must have really had to act here, since that lucky woman is beautiful, has a gorgeous voice, and is married to Taye Diggs, who she met while both were in the original cast of Rent on Broadway. She gave girth to a son in September. Here she sings the amazing song Defying Gravity.



Kristin Chenoweth played Glinda, the Good Witch. Glinda's path is one of redemption, as she starts out a rather shallow and self-involved character and grows to become so much more. Kristin is immensely talented, as could be seen on both Pushing Daisies and Glee. She won the Emmy this season, and just went to Washington, DC, to participate on the March for Equality. In this clip, she sings Popular.



The show is an incredible show, and has opened throughout the world. In the Melbourne production, Anthony Callea [a favorite of mine] played Boq, the munchkin in love with Glinda, the same role American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert played in the American touring company. It is still running on Broadway, as well as touring. To find out if it might be playing near you, you can check out the official website here.

Dark Monday - Avenue Q meets Wicked

At a special appearance by London's West End cast of Avenue Q in 2007, Simon Lipkin and Julie Atherton perform the song Popular from the musical Wicked. This is part of Luurvefest. Avenue Q is still running in London, featuring Daniel Boys, a favorite of mine.



So, I really couldn't let the moment pass without posting a video with Daniel, right? So here he is singing For Now with Julie Atherton and the rest of the cast at West End Live, an event to promote live theater.