MUSICALS
CHICAGO, RAGTIME AND JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
MUSICALS
CHICAGO, RAGTIME AND JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT
Chicago is conidered the drop-dead Broadway musical. The plot is that Roxie Hart, married to Amos Hart, dating Fred Casely, kills her lover in a jealous fit of rage. She tries to get Amos to take the rap, but he rats her out and she goes to jail, where she meets Velma Kelly and the Merry Murderesses of the Cook County Jail. Roxy believes that this could be her ticket to stardom. She hires herself a lawyer, Billy Flynn. With Flynn's help Roxie makes it to the top only to be brought down by a new girl on the market. In the end Roxie and Velma team up as the two sintilating sinners in a Chicago night club. The musical was written by Kander and Ebb, also known for Cabaret. It originally starred Chita Rivera and Gwen Verdon, but recently a revival of the show has been put on starring Bebe Neuwirth (Cheers Lillith) and Ann Reinking (from Annie.) The new show has won numerous awards including Tonys, Grammys and Laurence Olivier Awards.
The reason I enjoy this show so much, and I haven't even seen it, is because of the music. It's very catchy. I got the CD after viewing the cast numerous times on the Rosie O'Donnell Show. Some of my favourite songs include All I Care About (is love), Mr. Cellophane, Roxie and of course, All That Jazz. I enjoy almost all the songs, I can't stand Funny Honey, and I also enjoy the Cell Block Tango, it's hilarious! Bebe Neuwirth does so well on the CD as does the rest of the cast. I think that the story line is also very well-written and I hope I get a chance to see it soon. It is playing in 
Seattle (about 10 hours away) and I may go and see it, but it is doubtful. However the CD remains one of my favourites and I will continue to listen to it often. Also on a side note, I enjoy MCing numerous concerts and other events at our school and am already planning one of my opening numbers for next year to the tune of Roxie. Can we say "The name on everybody's lips is gonna be, Ryan?" :) I only have one request and that is if it does happen to come here please have some good people in the parts! :) For those of you who have not heard the CD I suggest you go and buy it, it is one of the greatest musical CD's of all time!
Isn't this a cool picture??? I though I'd put some more about the show on here... Marilu Henner has recently taken over the role of Roxie in the Broadway cast. Also Joel Grey and Marcia Lewis are both still receiving rave reviews in their roles as Amos and Matron Mama Morton. I heard that they may be making a movie of Chicago, and I say go for it! I know that it may be distorted, but if people truly love the show, it won't matter! :) I think that they should get Bebe Neuwirth to play Velma, and definiteley (I heard this as a rumor) they should get Rosie O'Donnell to play Mama Morton. That'd definiteley be cool. Anyways, I have included some links to other Chicago pages on this page and if you happen to know of a Chicago site that should be on here I suggest you e-mail it to me that way I can add it. I am also part of the Chicago and All That Jazz webring, so check that out too, but make sure you come back here, ok? Got it? Ok? Cool.
 This Chicago. . . And All That Jazz site is owned byRyan Mooney. Want to join the ring?Click HERE.
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Ragtime is one of the newest Broadway shows. It is written by Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Arens who also composed the music for the animated film, Anastatia. The plot centers around three very opposite character groups, one an upper-class white family, one a African American couple and the other a Jewish immigrant man and his daughter. The paths of these three groups of people continue to cross throughout the story. One, the upper class white family includes characters simply called Mother, Father, Mother's Younger Brother, Grandfather and the Little Boy, who serves as a narrator throughout the show. The African American couple includes Coalhouse Walker Jr., a Harlem pianist of the new music, Ragtime, Sarah, Coalhouse's fiancee, and their baby, who is never named. The Jewish Immigrant is named "Tateh" and his daughter, simply "The Little Girl." The show takes place in the early 1900s and includes several historical characters, the anarchist, Emma Goldman, Harry Houdini, Master Escapist and Evelyn Nesbitt, the girl on the swing. The show includes many show stopping numbers including Wheels of a Dream, Our Children, Make Them Hear You, and the opening number, Ragtime. One of my favourite numbers was What A Game! Which occured when Father took the Little Boy to his first baseball game, only to find that his game was not his game anymore. The music to this show is enough to give you goosebumps. The show is based on the book Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow
Well, I went to see this show on Friday June 19, 1998 and it was the best show I have seen. I am planning to go see it at least one more time before it's desparture at the end of August. It was the best show I have seen. From when I first entered the theatre the show had me entrhalled, there is a huge "ViewMaster" type thing and I kept asking my date, Alena, how are they going to get rid of it? Soon enough my question was answered, it was raised and so was the curtin on a three hour epic journey through a time i've only ever heard about. The stage came alive in song and dance through ages and such issues as racism, death and the American Dream. Although I am not American, at the end of this show, and please don't tell anyone, but I wanted to stand up and sing the Star Spangled banner. Throughout the show horrible stuff happened, but in the end it was a happy ending,
I know this musical sounds dark, gloomy and depressing, and believe me parts are, but there are the funny parts. One of my favourite characters was Evelyn Nesbitt, the girl on the swing. The Crime of the Century was definiteley one of my favourite numbers. It was hilarious. Another one of my favourite numbers was at the end of Act One *IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW AND ARE PLANNING TO AND DO NOT WANT IT RUINED SKIP THIS PART!* It happens when they sing about the death of Sarah, I felt like in the short 1 1/2 I had known the character Sarah that she had made an impact on my life. Her death was a senseless murder, and I do believe that things like this happened in those days. *YOU CAN READ AGAIN NOW* Not to mention the technical aspect of this show which was also astounding. I mean, one little part and the ball park, how did that ball get into the kid's glove? WOW! When Coalhouse fires shots into the audience and the words "THREE FIREMEN DEAD" appear, just little things like that, I remember from this phenomenal show. I could go on forever, but I think I should probably move on.
Ragtime, like Chicago, has won numerous Awards for example best Lyrics, Music and Orchestration Tony Awards and a Tony for Best Feautured Actress which went to the Broadway Sarah, Audra McDonald. It also won the Drama Desk Award for Best Musical. Ragtime will stay in Vancouver until August 30th. It has also won the Outer Critic's Best Musical Award, and I give it my best Musical award, and heck, what is better than that? There are Ragtime links below, but I am sure there are a lot more out there, so if you have one, please e-mail it to me!
This Ragtime The Musical
site is owned by Ryan Mooney.
Joseph is a bible story of Joseph and his eleven brothers who sell him into slavery. It is an excellent musical, definitely wouldn't have known it was a bible story. Joseph is the 11th brother of twelve and has a special place in his father(Jacob)'s heart. He is despised by his brothers because of this. His father buys him a coat of many colors and the brothers go over the top and sell him to some Ishmaelites. Joseph is bouth in Egypt by Potiphar while his brothers tell Jacob that "There's one More Angel In Heaven." Potiphar finds Joseph "fooling around" with his wife and sends him to jail. Joseph's luck looks as though it has run out, but a few street passers tell him to not give up, Go Go Go Joseph, they tell him and intermission arrives with a good feeling. Joseph becomes the right hand man of the KING of Egypt, one of the funniest scenes in the show, and, as if by fate, there is a famine in the land. Flashback to Caanan and Joseph's brothers. It seems they have run out of food. They go to Joseph to beg, grovel, stoop and bow, however they do not recognize him. Joseph sets a small 
trap for his brothers and then realises that they are truly changed men. He reveals himself and begs the brothers to go fetch his aging father. Jacob comes to Egypt and peace comes to the land. Happily Ever After Time for everyone. Joseph was Andrew Lloyd Webber's first musical written, and I believe one of his best. It has starred such famous people as Donny Osmond, Sam Harris and Johnny Seaton. It is one of the best musicals I have seen, but you can read further down about that!
Joseph was my first musical and because of this always had a special place in my heart as my favourite. The first time I saw it was grade 6 with Donny Osmond. At that age I thought this was the coolest thing in the world. I took an instant liking to the show and ran out and bought the tape and later the CD. It stuck in my head for weeks after and I even dreamnt about it. Donny did well in his role and I really liked the Pharoah. I wanted to be part of the children's choir and asked my music teacher, why we hadn't auditioned, she never did answer me. I went into grade 7 and we did a lypsynch to, believe it or not, the entire show, and I wanted to be Joseph, but no, I got the narrator, not only was I a guy lypsycnhing to a musical, I was lypsynching a girl's part, whatever! Anyways, we practiced and although we may not have had the success of the actual show
but we did darn well for kids. It was a lot of fun. I later saw the show with David Burnham, this was five years later, and I thought that David was a much better Joseph. In fact everything about this production I felt was better than the first one I saw. Anyways, I really enjoy this show, and is my second favourite. Not that it's bad, but I still think Ragtime was better.
Although I do believe that David Burnham did a better job than Donny, I must give kudos to Donny as he was my mentor for a long time. It was really cool to see a guy who enjoyed singing and dancing and acting as much as I did. Below is a small list of Joseph links, I am sure there are more out there, so if you have one and I have not listed it, please send me e-mail and I will add it as soon as I can!
{ Includes Titanic, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera } { Includes Sunset Boulevard, ShowBoat and Miss Saigon }
