Although, I Did See Chita Rivera & Brian Stokes Mitchell!

This past Sunday was one of those annual events the Broadway community eagerly looks forward to: the Broadway Care/Equity Fights AIDS Flea Market. The Broadway Flea Market is basically theatre geek heaven: tables upon tables of Playbills (ranging from rare and ancient to last season's); scripts; sheet music; t-shirts, hats, mugs, window cards, and any other show merchandise you can possibly think of; signs and props from recently closed shows; costumes; random backstage items (I now own a scale from someone's dressing room at Wicked); and of course, baked goods.

I missed last year's because I'd been out of state, but the year before had been my first time there, and I'd gone a little crazy. Did I really need the conductor's score of Ballroom from the original Broadway production? Considering I've never heard a song from that show...not really. Did that stop me from bidding $70 on it in a silent auction? Of course not. This year's Ridiculous Silent Auction Bid, by the way, was the Starlight Express Broadway Bear, which I put down $65 for (I lost...and I can't decide if I'm happy about that). Starlight Express aside (seriously though, there was no way I could have resisted that...it's STARLIGHT EXPRESS. The bear had ROLLER SKATES. And it was Dinah!), I was drastically more controlled this year, partly because I've been saving my money for my (rapidly approaching!) week in Grenada, and partly because there really wasn't much that grabbed me.

In all fairness, I didn't look that hard. Usually, the Broadway Flea Market is held outside, in Shubert Alley and I think on 45th Street (I never remember what theatres are on what streets; I function entirely by sight in that area). This year, due to the apparently 100% chance of rain, it took place indoors: specifically, Roseland Ballroom on 52nd St. I'm glad they moved it indoors instead of cancelling it, but I really didn't enjoy that very much. Outside, the Flea Market didn't feel nearly as crowded as it actually was; it was easy to get away from the mobbed areas, and more importantly, everything could breathe--people and items like. I felt like I had enough space to flip through boxes of Playbills for fifteen minutes, even though four other people were flipping through the exact same box. I was able to dart in and grab an item I could barely see but knew I had to have. I could find people I knew easily, and I could have conversations with them.

None of those things were true this year. I like Roseland a lot--it's got a kind of older feel to it that I respond to--but the lighting was horribly dark, making hunting through boxes more of a challenge. Since everything and everyone--including the non-silent auction--was confined to essentially one big room (there was barely anything in the downstairs area when I was there), making the place very loud and very cramped. It was difficult to find a place to stand and have a conversation without being in everyone's way, and it was hard to find people in general or keep from losing them in the crowd. The tables were spread out enough so they didn't feel like they were on top of each other, but the smaller space and poor lighting made browsing through items a less than pleasant experience. I think part of the problem was the nature of the flow of people, which really couldn't be helped due to the table setup, which was due in turn to the spacial limitations.

I've been to indoor ComicCons--one huge (New York) and one significantly smaller (Boston)--but both had far better lighting, and even Boston felt far more spacious. I'm almost positive that Boston ComicCon had more tables and items (and possibly people--I was at the Flea Market in the afternoon, when it had thinned out), but it didn't feel as cramped because there were multiple rooms, including ones with far fewer people. Honestly though, just having the space be brighter would have done a lot to make Roseland feel more open.

I don't want to sound ungrateful, because I'm not at all. I love the Broadway Flea Market, and I am always happy to give BC/EFA my money--it's an important cause and one that I particularly feel connected to, given that I write musicals for a career. It's pretty amazing the Flea Market staff was able to get everything moved to Roseland and set up on time when they literally had a day to do it, and as far as I could see, everything went smoothly. I'm glad I went, and I'm already looking forward to next year's. Only, can we please have it outdoors from now on? Or at least turn up the lights?

Lip Service

If you haven't seen FOX's new awkward musical series, Glee, I strongly urge you to do so. Immediately. The writing never once lets its specific comedic style get in the way of the characters' emotions, it's filled with all sorts of little details that are hilarious (like the pamphlets in the guidance counselor's office bearing titles such as Divorce: Why Your Parents Stopped Loving You and My Mom's Bipolar And She Won't Stop Yelling), and it's easily got the most diverse cast I've ever seen on network TV. In the second episode alone, there are four Asian characters! FOUR! And three are series regulars! Including a football coach! Amazing.

Speaking of casting, Glee is already a theatre geek's dream. Last night's episode saw Debra Monk and a bow-tied Victor Garber as Matthew Morrison's parents. Let's stop and look at that sentence again. Debra Monk. Victor Garber. Matthew Morrison. ALL RELATED. I would love to be at that dinner table. Of course, there was also Tony winner John Lloyd Young and Josh Groban. And series regular Lea Michele, whose character I keep hoping will say "This is my father, he speaks for both of us." I've also heard that Kristin Chenoweth will be on the show, if that happens, she really needs to sing. If she can sing a little bit of "My Funny Valentine" on The West Wing, she can certainly do a full number on Glee.

I have one reservation about the show, however: the lip-synching. I mean, really? Really? You have all that Broadway talent, and they're not singing live? I do understand that with television lip-synching can be necessary, especially because of all the choreography. And that choreography is why it doesn't bother me as much as it normally would; it's not like I'm distracted by their lips when they're running around the stage. But what does bother me is that at least with some numbers, I really don't think it's the actors singing. And these are performance numbers. If it were internal, fantasty musical number sequences--like Mercedes' inner production number, "Bust the Windows"--I'd be on board, no question. But when the characters are supposed to be singing in Glee's version of the real world? No way. The use of music throughout the show--which deserves its own (forthcoming!) post--is fascinating, and is a huge part of what makes that world so appealing for me. The excessive lip-synching--and lack of the actors' own singing, if that's in fact the case for at least some of the numbers--pulls me out of the show at the exact moments I should be most invested.

Lip-synching isn't enough to keep me away from such a smart show, especially when it puts musical theatre front and center. But for a lot of people who also prefer to see and hear things live--like the theatre fans who should be Glee's perfect audience--it may be.

Theatre Songs You CAN Hear On The Radio

I'm really excited that Green Day's 2004 album, American Idiot, now has a stage version--that's been generating a lot of buzz as it starts performances at Berkeley Rep. I admittedly haven't listened to the album, though I was mildly obsessed with Green Day in middle school (I still know all the words to all the songs on Dookie and Nimrod), but I'm just happy that a band that's so much a part of popular culture is taking musical theatre so seriously. Green Day's albums have always felt cohesive to me, and the juxtaposition between happy, upbeat music and lyrics ranging from bitter to angry to resigned has always been my favorite thing about the band. Letting the music say one thing and the lyrics another is also very characteristic of musical theatre. Between that and their use of specific imagery in very character-driven lyrics, a concept album like American Idiot seemed inevitable to me.

I also really like the idea that musical theatre is something that anyone with a story to tell can create. Having legitimate rock stars like Green Day and Bono, who's composing Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, put the time, energy, and hard work into musical theatre helps undermine the notion that musical theatre is exclusively jazz hands and overwrought ballads. (And I love jazz hands and overwrought ballads, but I would NOT love an art form that consisted of nothing else.) Even if American Idiot were a smash hit on Broadway, it won't make musical theatre as popular as it once was, and it won't make a nation of 16 year olds consider it cool. But it absolutely will make some people--adults as well as teenagers--give theatre a chance.

Most importantly, however, the Green Day guys all seem to have respect for the art form. It's not something they're doing just to be huge in another medium or a seemingly easy way to make some more cash. According to this New York Times article, lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong actually grew up with musicals--which is more than I can say, and I have musical theatre degree! The fact that American Idiot is a concept album, like The Who's Tommy, also makes me believe that they're doing this project because they have a story, and they feel this is the best way to tell it. I'd be more apprehensive if they were trying to make a musical out of their radio hits, say.

I'm going to listen to American Idiot as soon as I can get a copy, and I'm definitely excited to see what comes of the show. With Elton John currently having two musicals on Broadway, Duncan Sheik and Steven Slater's Spring Awakening practically sweeping the Tonys two years ago, and Regina Spektor working on a Broadway-bound musical, the term "theatre music" is beginning to expand. The rock Next to Normal and hip-hop infused In the Heights--both Tony winners for Best Score, both currently on Broadway, and both written by writers who are very much of the theatre--are evidence of that. As a former metalhead who can recite the score of Sunset Boulevard, contemporary rock and pop music on Broadway is something I'm thrilled to see. Just so long as artists from other genres give musical theatre the respect it deserves.

I Always Knew Deadpool Was A Disney Princess

I've waited to talk about Disney buying Marvel because I wanted to get all the freaking out over it out of my system before attempting to discuss it rationally. Even now that I've had the week to let it sink in, I feel extremely mixed about it. I think it has the potential to be really awesome, but it could easily be pretty horrendous.

The good stuff first:

• THINK OF THE CROSSOVERS. The idea of two huge, deeply developed universes being united is filled with endless exciting creative possibilities. You've seen the mashups by now, but I think they're more than just an excercise in hilarious and unlikely juxtaposition. They're a glimpse into how we as a society try to make sense of colliding and seemingly contradictory mythologies. I think it's fascinating that something like Darkwing Duck teaming up with Daredevil is nearly universally considered to be amazing when normally when childhood images and associations merge with adult ones, it's generally kind of creepy and unsettling at the least. I think the difference is that comics--especially superheroes--have always lived comfortably on the barrier between being for kids and being intensely adult. There have been X-Men cartoons and video games designed for kids, for example, and the movies are definitely appropriate for middle schoolers, but the recent Wolverine vs. Hulk (which this female thoroughly enjoyed) seems specifically for the 18-30 male demographic.

• Marvel animated/Pixar movies. I'm really excited about this. I'm a big fan of hand-drawn, 2D animation, so while I love many of the Pixar films, I don't think that animation style should be the default--I think you need to let the story determine its form. Comics, though, lend themselves to that very well, in my opinion, particularly superheroes. I think a title like Runaways (careful, that summary has spoilers!) would be perfect for Pixar. And maybe finally we'd get a Pixar movie with female leads for once!
  
  
• Speaking of female characters, Alyssa suggests that Disney could use its influence with young girls to promote Marvel female characters. That was actually one of my first thoughts on this whole issue, and I think that could be a really positive counter to the overwhelming Disney Princesses push. I'm not sure how likely this is when possibly the most active, gender-stereotype breaking female Disney lead, Mulan, is virtually nonexistent in Disney merchandising. I spent an entire weekend at Disney World searching for Mulan merchandise, and all I found was Mulan cell phone jewlery. If that's the respect Disney pays to its own ass-kicking heroine--the girl practically saved China herself!--it's a pretty discouraging precedent. However, there are smaller titles that Disney could easily get behind, such as the aforementioned Runaways and of course Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane (can we please have an animated movie of this title?!). Even Spectacular Spider-Man is pretty "girl-friendly," and Disney is now in a great position to ensure the future of that show.

Now here's what I'm afraid of:

• Disney exercising creative control. A title like the violent and foul-mouthed NEXTWAVE doesn't exactly jive with the Disney image. I'm also worried that writers, such as NEXTWAVE and Astonishing X-Men's Warren Ellis, will refuse to write for Marvel out of fear of (or the reality of) censorship. The main Marvel universe is a fairly terrifying place in many ways: Norman Osborne is President, for one thing. I'm all for having family-friendly titles, but Marvel properties have a long history of being rooted in the world we know; their villians are in real places, like Los Angeles and New York. There's a hopefulness in DC comics--and a feeling that there are people out there, taking care of you--that doesn't exist in Marvel. And as much as I love Batman and Green Lantern, I'm glad there's the Marvel universe as an alternative. (Not that Batman is rainbows and fuzzy bunnies...and not that the Gaurdians aren't jerkfaces.) Disney, as far as I know, is pretty good about being hands off; that's how they are with Pixar, and as I understand it, the stage adaptations of their animated films. Disney also recognizes talented people when they have them, as anyone who's seen Julie Taymor's work on The Lion King can attest. So while I don't seriously think Disney will force Norman Osborne's insanity to simply be the result of unresolved daddy issues, I'll need time to be completely reassured.

• The death of smaller, less commercially viable titles. I promise I know titles that are not Runaways, but that's been such a great example for much of this post, and I really cannot mention it enough because of how brilliant it is. Anyway, that's an example of a title that didn't seem that it'd make any money, and it was actually cancelled at one point (it was brought back, luckly). Now, it's doing pretty well, and is generally considered to be very, very well written; Joss Whedon has even written for it. With Disney now owning Marvel, I'm worried there's an even greater chance that titles like Runaways won't get any support, if they're even published in the first place. It's hard enough to get new titles featuring new characters done; when you have a huge corporation in control--one that owns many other companies, in addition to yours--it'll only get more difficult. I think I'm most concerned about this. It's the most likely to happen, and I think it has the worst consequences. New voices are crucial in any art form, and nobody benefits--not audiences, not other writers, and certainly not the art form--when those voices are shut out.

I'm curious to see how this will shake out. As I've said, this has the potential for a ridiculous amount of creativity, and it could change Marvel--and Disney--for the better. Especially if it enables Marvel characters to sing in animated features or onstage. Are you listening, Disney Theatricals?