Thanks to Songbird for inviting me to come up with a RGBP Friday Five on theatre and musical theatre. It was hard to come up with only five. Here's my part...

1. Describe the last play or musical you saw. (At least provide the what, when, where, and why). What was your opinion of it?

Three weeks ago, I saw “Seduction,” a play touring the Midwest from a theatre company in Great Britain. It was very well acted, though I did not think it was very well written. A part of the Pride Series of plays at the Bailiwick, one of our renowned theatres here in Chicago, the play at first appears to be a series of barely connected scenes about men in different sexual situations. Ultimately it’s about how open we are to being vulnerable in love and how many men use sex as a way to avoid true intimacy.

The last Broadway show I saw in NYC was "Mamma Mia" on New Year's Eve 2000-2001--fun.

2. All time favorite play? Musical?

Play: Angels in America, both parts together. Absolute brilliance. My second favorite would be “Love, Valour, Compassion.”

Musical: This is virtually impossible for me. For combination of music, story, and enjoyment of the experience, I’d have to say “Kiss Me Kate.” The Cole Porter songs are brilliant, the ‘play within a play’ aspect linking the backstage stories of the cast with the an onstage musicalization of “Taming of the Shrew.”

3. “The Producers,” “The Philadelphia Story,” “Hairspray,” “The Wedding Singer”…all were movies before they were musicals (okay “The Philadelphia Story” was a play and then a movie, and they changed its name when it became a musical, but whatever). What non-musical movie do you think should next get the musical treatment?

Though his estate would likely never approve it, I think the plays/movies of Tennessee Williams are prime for musicalization. In the old days, you couldn’t do a musical that wasn’t a romance or that didn’t have a happy ending. I think those days have passed. I would love to see what someone like John Bucchino or Adam Guettel could do with “Suddenly Last Summer.”

4. Favorite song from a musical? Why?

Again, this is almost impossible for me, because it changes so often. At the moment, I’d say “I Won’t Send Roses” from “Mack and Mabel” because I’m preparing it for a concert later this month. This wonderfully simple ballad hides Mack’s love for Mabel behind bravado and macho posturing. I love singing it. Long-term, I think it would be “Nothin’s Gonna Harm You” from “Sweeney Todd,” because it is the most human moment in a brilliant, disturbing show—a chance to breathe and have a bit of hope.

5. The most recent trend in Broadway musical revues is to construct a show around the oeuvre of a particular super-group or composer, where existing songs are woven together with some kind of through story. The most successful of these (“Jersey Boys” (The Four Seasons), “Mamma Mia” (ABBA), “Movin’ Out” (Billy Joel)) have made a mint, but many (“All Shook Up” (Elvis), “Hot Feet” (Earth, Wind and Fire)) have bombed. What great pop/rock singer/composer or super-group should be the next to be featured, and what might the story-line be for such a show?

I’ve been thinking about this for a while. First, let me say that I think the trend is a bad idea…it means good composers are losing out to rehashes in the limited number of available theatres. That being said, I think that the music of the Carpenters opens a world of opportunities. As far as a story goes, I’d suggest that they build a “That Girl”meets “Emma” type romance of a young woman who falls in love over and over again with the wrong kind of guy and then ends up with someone she’s known her whole life. It could be called “Close to You.”

Bonus question for singer/actors. Favorite part you’ve ever played/sung.

Sethi I in the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus production of “The Ten Commandments: The Musical,” April 2006—a fun part, three great songs, a death scene, and the chance to prove to myself that at least to some degree, I can still do this.