While You Were Gambling

Well, the desert was fun, but I've missed so much while I was away! I had a nice break from obligations/reality in the City of Sin for the past weekend and now its time to get back to work. Though I did manage to see some incredible theatre in Las Vegas with Cirque du Soleil's "O". It was my first time seeing one of their shows live, and it's just unspeakably cool.  After the show finished, I found myself wishing it could be on Broadway so I could experience it again at home...but I would likely spend all my money on repeat trips, so perhaps its in my own best interest that it isn't located in Manhattan. Plus, with the drinking and general gluttony of Vegas, the bodies of the acrobats cause some serious gym guilt.

Speaking of Manhattan theatre: Broadway heard the first Tony rulings of the season this past week. The Tony Awards Administration Committee met for the first of four times and dished out rulings on Holler if Ya Hear Me, This is Our Youth, Love Letters, It's Only a Play, You Can't Take it With You, The Country House, and On the Town. Most decisions went as predicted, based on billing and precedent, with a few notable exceptions.

Saul Williams will be the sole Lead Actor candidate from Holler if Ya Hear Me, despite Christopher Jackson's rather central role. Tavi Gevinson will be considered in Featured Actress for her Broadway debut in This is Our Youth. It's Only a Play and On the Town will also have just one lead candidate within their large ensembles: Nathan Lane and Tony Yazbeck, respectively. 

The most surprising decision is that the entire cast of You Can't Take it With You will be eligible in the featured categories. It may help James Earl Jones' chances come nomination time (the lead actor category is plenty stacked), but may hurt the ladies. Kristine Nielsen will now have to compete against her scene stealing co-stars Annaleigh Ashford and Elizabeth Ashley. My Tony contenders pages have been updated to reflect the rulings. 

We've also seen several shows make their grand entrance recently, including the Hugh Jackman vehicle The River, and the much anticipated revival of Side Show. I'm dying to see the new "come look at the freaks" take on Side Show, but I likely wont be able to see anything for a week given my rehearsal schedule. 

Shameless plug alert: if you'd like to see your favorite blogger perform (and put his money where his mouth is) I'm singing in a concert at the Duplex this Saturday at 6:30pm. I'll be performing songs by my friend Timothy Mathis in an evening titled "If Only I'd Written it Down". He's an excellent composer and I can't wait to perform his material. I'll try to channel a little bit of "Who Will Love Me as I Am" in honor of Side Show.  

And as we head deeper into the Oscar race, I am continuing to update those contender pages with my latest thoughts. "Selma" has recently crashed the party and made such an impression I'm going to put it in the top five Best Picture candidates. Of course the race is ever shifting, but the MLK drama seems to check off every requirement for Oscar love. Could we have the first year with two female best director nominations? Ava DuVernay makes a strong case for nomination (though I'm probably putting too much faith in the "boys-club" director branch ). The film "Selma" kicks out is "Foxcatcher", in my opinion. It's a cold film, with a depressing ending. It will get a lot of support from actors, but I think too much competition has entered the fray for it to make Best Picture. 

I'm off to obsess over my rankings, rehearse some songs, and attempt to contain my excitement that I'm seeing Glenn Close in A Delicate Balance in just over a week. If you hear squeals of joy coming from the Golden...it's totally me.