courtesy of Keith by way of etc.

1. Describe the last play or musical you saw. (At least provide the what, when, where, and why). What was your opinion of it?
Alas, I can't remember which means it's been a while. We went to see a local (very local, the theater is in my neighborhood) performance of "Busman's Honeymoon" by Sayers in something like 1998 or 1999. We went to see "Anything Goes" in late 2000 at the downtown Fifth Avenue Theater; that might have been the last. It's money; it's just been too hard to afford it.

I'm not a huge "Anything Goes" fan but as it was written in part by PG Wodehouse, Stu really wanted to go so , yeah, okay. It does have music by Cole Porter which is a huge plus: "It's Delovely", the title song, "You're the Top" and Bronson Pinchot is really quite talented. I've told Stu that when "Spamalot" tours we really gotta go. I grew up going to theater, occasionally Broadway (I remember maybe 3 Broadway shows I saw) and as a kid ushered at the Hartford Stage Company so it's not like I don't like going - just anoather thing that's had to bite the dust with the disability hassles.

2. All time favorite play? Musical?
Eep, I'm SO bad at picking ONE anything.
Play: "Moon for the Misbegotten" Eugene O'Neill
"Uncommon Women and Others" Wendy Wasserstein
Something by Tennessee Williams
I'm sure i'm missing some huge names

Musical? Even worse. I'm a huge fan of what I think of as the 50s musicals - they're not the film versions are what I know but Rogers and Hammerstein, Lerner & Loewe, Cole Porter. The list is endless but hugely dated. With one early exception, I've never liked Sondheim, I don't get Andrew Lloyd Webber and am stuck in a time warp with my taste here. Probably the absolutely top ones
"West Side Story"
"The King and I"
"Showboat"
"Kiss Me Kate"
"South Pacific"
"My Fair Lady"
"Threepenny Opera" (grew up listening to a cast recording and have it memorized, never have seen it)
There are lots of almosts like "Man of La Mancha", "Camelot", "Cabaret", "Oklahoma".


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?

I don't think ANY should. I'm tired of the utter lack of originality that has spawned far too many musicals and led both the Disneyfication of Broadway and the lack of stories we haven't seen yet. I don't like movies being made into musicals; yes, "High Society" was a fun film with a couple good songs, but the original was 10 times better. Bing Crosby, right.

4. Favorite song from a musical? Why?
WAY harder than "fave musical!"
this second?
"So In Love" (from "Kiss Me, Kate")
five seconds from now?
"You've Got to be Taught"("South Pacific")
five seconds from then?
"Something Wonderful" ("King and I")
and on and on. The why is impossible to answer; sometimes it's the voice, sometimes it's the lyrics, sometimes it's just the feeling it brings. I'll have 14 more in the next few hours, I know.


Bonus question for singer/actors. Favorite part you’ve ever played/sung.
I've done plays and musicals, even if you can't exactly call me a singer/actor. I did several shows and had small parts; my biggest part was in "The Music Man" which you note I have not listed above. I had parts in "Oliver", "The Sound of Music" (just chorus), a play by Garcia Lorca (anything to act, I swear). My favorite part might have been as the assistant prosecuting attorney in an adaptation we did of the trial of the Chicago Seven when I was in college. Using verbatim transcripts we re-enacted the trial.

Anyone else a musical junkie?