Post-Christmas report

Christmas came and went. I found the actual day to be rather anti-climactic. It seems that as I get older, the actual day is not nearly as exciting as the events, gigs and get-togethers that build up to it. Maybe I’ve been emotionally numbed by the rotten December I’ve had. I really don’t know.

Christmas Day and its surrounding times weren’t all bad. I have plenty of happier things to dwell upon:

• Christmas Eve service at Union Avenue; singing “O Holy Night”
• The party at Scott & Anthony’s place
• Giving Snuggies™ to the niece & nephew and getting one from my sister
• Taking Mom to see Up in the Air; enjoying the film more for all the St. Louis landmarks than for the actual plot
• Splurging on an iPod (more on that later)
• Going to see NINE at the Tivoli (worth seeing for Marion Cotillard and Fergie alone!!!)
• Returning an age-inappropriate book to exchange it for the Kathy Griffin memoir on audiobook
• Cookies...nummy cookies...
• Calling my Uncle in DC and discovering that I’m not the only schmuck having a rotten December

Yes, folks, as you read earlier, I splurged and got myself an iPod to replace the one stolen earlier this month. It’s the black iPod nano 5^th generation. I’m very satisfied to have all the portable music I want in ONE place rather than lugging a CD wallet around with me. Aside from the obvious daily uses, this new iPod has all kinds of new bells-n-whistles. I dig the FM tuner…it lets me enjoy 99.1 more often. Love the cover-flow feature. The video feature looks pretty cool, but I don’t know if I’ll use it much though.

The funniest new feature on this iPod hands down is the VoiceOver technology—chiefly designed for the iPod shuffle, but available on all new incarnations. Basically, you can prompt the iPod to speak the song title and artist of whatever you’re currently listening to. The default synthesized voice is a woman speaking English. However, if you have a song in a foreign language, the VoiceOver technology attempts (emphasis on attempts) to detect the language and assign the appropriate synthesized voice. My album of Salome (an opera in German) prompts a deep-voiced male German-speaker—but for only the first two tracks!!! For some odd reason, all following tracks go back to the default English-speaker…and she has some AWFUL German diction ;) I’ve also noticed that for another unexplainable reason, one of the titles on my Porgy & Bess highlights album (“My Man’s Gone Now”) is read by the iPod’s Italian synthesized voice!! Very random. Very funny.

Ok, that’s all I got for now. Will definitely post a year-end retrospective on Thursday. Can’t believe we’re about to exit the Aughts!

Escape from New York (or St. Louis?)

St. Louis has never been known as a popular destination for moviemaking. As such, us St. Louisans cherish the moments when we do get a little attention from Hollywood. The crew of Up In The Air, an upcoming George Clooney flick, was here a few months ago to film some scenes...some of which took place in a church right here in Maplewood! Also utilized: some downtown buildings, the Cheshire Inn and the now-unused C-concourse at Lambert Airport.

However, no matter how successful Up in the Air may be, the circumstances of its filming in our fair city may never top that of the wildly popular 1981 cult classic Escape from New York. The premise of this John Carpenter film borders on the ridiculous: in 1988 the crime rate in America spiked 400% and as a result, all of Manhattan island has been turned into a maximum security prison walled off from the outside world...once you go in, you never leave (or you can opt to "terminate" yourself before entering the prison for good). Now, in 1997, Air Force One has crashed into NYC, and it's up to a new convict (Kurt Russell) to rescue the president from the roving gangs within the prison.

The story goes that John Carpenter needed to create a destroyed, post-apocalyptic New York City on a shoestring budget. After some location scouting, Carpenter settled on East St. Louis and St. Louis, both of which had been in a state of abject decay. The filming took place in the summers of 1979 and 1980. I assume that East St. Louis (which was far worse off than St. Louis) was used in a lot of driving shots. However, some St. Louis landmarks were used in the film.

Last night, I sat down to watch the film for the first time. I was able to spot the following places quite easily:

1. FOX Theatre

The FOX's facade was used as a dilapidated theatre where Kurt Russell character tracks down a homing device presumably shackled to the president. (Appropriately enough, 1979/80 was a period in which the FOX had been closed due to its failure as a movie theatre. It would be renovated into a live venue a few years later.) There's a blatant wide-angle shot of the theatre's facade. Boy, did that place look sad. I don't believe the interior was used, as the theatre interiors in the film look nothing like the FOX's architecture. The film crew makes the FOX appear to be an old Broadway theatre, but if one looks closely, there is some graffiti that clearly says "FOX THEATRE" right by the ticket booth.

2. Grand Hall, Union Station

Just like the FOX, this location was also dilapidated but would later be renovated. Carpenter uses the Grand Hall to represent Madison Square Garden for a gladiator-style fight. My uncle was one of the extras in this scene...though I cannot spot him at all. :)

3. Old Chain of Rocks Bridge

This old bridge--functioning as the "69th Street Bridge" during a climactic getaway sequence--was bought from the government for $1--for liability protection--then sold back.

Places I didn't spot in the film, but read about later:

• 21st & Locust -- site of Air Force One wreckage


• Civil Courts Building -- site of a minor character's hideout


• Masonic Temple on Lindell....which I assume is now the Moolah Theater??

And now for something zany! At the very end of the credits, there is a list of organizations to be thanked, and it looked just this:

The Crew Would Like To Thank:
THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES
THE MISSOURI COAST GUARD
PT's -- CENTREVILLE

I laughed out loud at that last one. For those not in the know, PT's is an infamous strip joint on the "East Side" that, according to one of the bartenders at Dressel's Pub, the film crew frequented to "blow off steam" and pay the strippers for more than just a strip show, if you get my drift.

Am I a dork to want to rent the version that has a director's commentary track????

Prodigal Blogger Vol. 1

Woah, where have I been this month?!?

*cue cheesy baptist church organ music*

I’m a bonafied certified blog-backslider!!!  I am a lost sheep!!  But I—the Prodigal Blogger—have come home to beg your forgiveness!!!

Ok… now that that part is over with…lemme fill you in on what’s up…

WILLIAM TURNS FIVE!

My nephew William turned 5 years old at the top of the month.  His parents threw him a Cowboy-themed party, and the kid just had a ball!  Was glad to have been a part of it.  I have learned that one of his birthday presents was Tae Kwon Do lessons…though I think they are less a “wheee! fun!!” present and more a “we need to harness this kid’s energy so he doesn’t drive us nuts at home” present.  Either way, I’m wearing a cup next time I visit him in case he wants to practice any kicks when I walk in the door.

MOVIES

So I decided to catch up on a couple Oscar films, albeit retroactively.  I spent a Saturday afternoon at the Chase Park Plaza seeing two films in a row: The Reader and Frost/Nixon.  The Reader was quite amazing and prompted a lot of moral questions, but for reasons of plot spoilage, I cannot comment why I feel that way.  Nonetheless, Kate Winslet proved once again why she’s one of the best working film actresses today…and I actually feel this role to be Oscar worthy, even though I feel like the Academy pulled a “Scorcese” on her.  Frost/Nixon made me feel as if Frank Langella was robbed—and I loved Sean Penn in Milk.  Now I want to see the actual Frost/Nixon interviews.

GIGS, GIGS, GIGS

Got cast at Union Avenue for the coming season.  They’re doing Il trovatore, The Merry Widow (in German), Lakmé and a Christmastime production of Amahl and the Night Visitors.  I’ll be appearing in the Verdi and Lehár, the latter of which I’m most excited…because any chance to flex my german muscles is worth taking!  We have yet to hear how Amahl will be cast, but I am not necessarily holding my breath.

(Oh, and I entered the Crapshoot Olympics® but didn’t even get the Bronze.  However, I did get a compliment from the judge.)

Last weekend, I solo-ed with the St. Louis Women’s Chorale.  Got to sing some Lehár and Weill, one of which I can sing at parties; the other I can add to my aria list…SWELL!!

As if all that weren’t enough, I got hired at the last minute for a chorus gig in New Opera St. Louis’ season-closer Don Pasquale.  Great director, great conductor, fun colleagues... To quote the great Ethel Merman: who could ask for anything more? 

Oscar Observations

Before I get to the Oscar observations, I thought I'd say that given how late it is, I will have to put off a review of Abe for a day or two...so check back for that soon!

Last night, I joined friends for an Oscar Viewing Party at Doug's.  As the show went on, we all partook of some yummy veggie lasagna followed by key lime pie.  The show itself was quite enjoyable, especially with the company I kept.  So, without further ado, here are my Oscar Observations!

Pre-Show Baba Wawa Special:

- Skeezy Mickey Rourke had his left hand down his pants for nearly all of the interview...when I said "he's a hot mess," a fellow viewer said "No, he's just a mess."

- Baba Wawa requested a lap-dance from Hugh Jackman (a la The Boy from OZ) at the end of his interview; he obliged.  (What a horny old broad!)

Fashion:

- Sarah Jessica Parker's dress grew her some boobs.

- Josh Brolin needs to lose the moustache.

- Meryl Streep, looking not so good in that grey sackcloth, was definitely out-glammed by her daughter.

- Penelope Cruz mistook the Oscars for her wedding.

- Kate Winslet was dressed to kill...and win an Oscar.

- Tilda Swinton?  Still lookin' like an alien.

Miscellaneous Stuff:

- The camerawork on the Death Montage was quite frustrating and made a fellow viewer seasick.  (On the plus side, Queen Latifah's vocals were sweet and classy.)

- Bombed overall presentation of the evening?  Jack Black & Jennifer Aniston.

- Ben Stiller KILLED as Joaquin Phoenix.

- LOVED the inclusion of Braveheart when they showed clips of Milk interspersed with other films dealing with freedom and resistance! (I would like to believe that it was an intentional swipe at Gibson...)

Musical Numbers:

- Hugh Jackman is a real showman...I'm not a huge fan, but his opening number was camp-licious.

- What is the point of a big movie-musical medley in a year that produced only Mamma Mia and the third installment of High School Musical?  And the dancing lacked OOMPH.

- Do they seriously need to trot out Beyoncé every single year?  Seriously?

- Glad to see the Best Song Nominees condensed into one segment...because they were grossly unmemorable to begin with.

AWARDS:

- Sup. Actress-- uh, yay for Penelope Cruz??

- Sup. Actor-- we all saw that one coming; classy to let Heath's family accept it

- Actress-- Yay Kate!!!  It's about time!!!  Martin Scorcese & Susan Lucci welcome you!!!

- Actor-- Good for Sean Penn.  His performance in Milk was uplifting and heartbreaking.  Plus, maybe he'll lighten up a bit now...before he won, he looked so red as if he may burst into fiery anger if he didn't win ;)  So glad Mickey Rourke didn't get it.  You shouldn't win an Oscar just for showing up clean & sober to a movie set.  (These may be harsh observations, but I stand by them.)

- Director & Picture-- Whatever.  Not that jazzed about Slumdog...but I will Netflix it out of obligatory curiosity.

(In fact, I've got to Netflix a whole lotta movies now!)

STAGES audition

OK, so I had the STAGES audition about two hours ago.  Here's how things happened...  I entered the room to notice the accompanist (whom I know from WU, and she was tickled to see me, so that put me a little bit at ease) and the one-man audition panel.  I announced my song, "Mr. Cellophane" from Chicago, sang it pretty damn well (it's so ingrained by now), and the panel thus asked me to sing those 32 bars once more in my most 'new-york-gangster' manner.  I had a bit of a memory lapse this second time around...partly due to nerves, but mostly because I overthought another directive from the panel.  Nevertheless, they seemed to like my 'gangster' characterization, even if I felt my nerves didn't allow me to go "full out," as it were.

I was asked if I had anything else, and proceeded to sing "The Desert Song."  My high A-flat at the end was stellar on first approach, but my second approach...a little squally, perhaps?  Should have just done a portamento down to the F.  Urrgh!  No re-sing of this one, but the panel did thank me for singing.

Overall, I give this audition a B.

What I can gather?  Not a whole lot.  Word is that STAGES is looking to hire more locals as they are in the red after their December production of Little Women...so that doesn't necessarily give me hope, but is at least a little encouraging.  If I get a call from the company on Saturday night, that means they want me at Call Backs the next day.  Judging from the 'gangster' directive, I deduce that if anything, I might have been considered for the ensemble of Guys and Dolls--but that's a mere assumption.

In other audition-y type news, I might go with my friend Jason out to Crestwood Mall on Saturday afternoon to be considered as an "extra" in the soon-to-be-filmed-in-St.-Louis movie Up in the Air (with George Clooney).  Production needs types to play travelers, airline employees, TSA personnel, etc.  I'd only have to set aside one day, and I'd probably end up in a scene filmed at Lambert Airport's recently closed D concourse.  We'll see.