What bald guy fat ass team are you on?

Kathy Griffin's new stand up show is on at 9pm!! So everyone needs to watch it cuz she's hilarious. And House is the best show on tv. It's probably my new fave show. Here's a couple funny clips to make you smile...

Broadway is back!!

It's Over!: Labor Dispute Resolved as Stagehands Strike Ends Nov. 28

By Andrew Gans
28 Nov 2007

The marquee of Legally Blonde will light again.
photo by Matthew Blank

The strike initiated by Local One, the stagehands union, on Nov. 10 has come to an end. A tenative agreement was reached between the League of American Theatres and Producers and the union Nov. 28, the 19th day of the strike.

Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the League, addressed the press just before 11 PM with a short statement. St. Martin said, "We are pleased to announce that we have a tentative agreement with Local One of IATSE ending the Broadway strike, and we're happy about that. Performances for all shows will begin tomorrow night — once again, that's Thursday, Nov. 29 — and schedules for all productions will be posted on [the League's official website at www.ilovenytheater.com]. The agreement is a good compromise that serves our industry. What is most important is that Broadway's lights will once again be shining brightly with a diversity of productions that will delight all theatregoers during this holiday time. We look forward to celebrating the season and welcoming our talented stagehands and the theatregoing public back to Broadway."

James J. Claffey, the president of Local One, made a very brief statement: "Brothers and sisters of Local One, you've respresented yourselves and your families and your union proud. That's enough said right there." Bruce Cohen, the union's spokesperson, later told NY1, "All I can say is we're glad there's a deal, and everybody should go back to work, and the public should go see a Broadway show."

The union will now have ten days to approve the tentative agreement, although stagehands will return to work immediately. Union spokesperson Cohen explained, "We'll have a ratification vote and answer a lot of questions for our members in the next ten days."

Details of the final agreement have yet to be made public. For months prior to the strike and throughout the strike's duration, producers and the union have been hashing out issues of work assignments, setting of a production's run crew, load-in costs and labor minimums. Increase in wages was the subject of the final day of negotiations which lasted over 10 hours.

When all Broadway shows will resume their normal playing schedules has yet to be announced, although it is expected most productions will offer shows Thursday evening, Nov. 29.

Although the previous meetings between the League and the union had been unsuccessful, there was a great sense of optimism as members headed into the Nov. 28 meeting. Herschel Waxman, the Senior Vice President of the Nederlander Organization who is in charge of Labor Relations, told NY1, "As optimistic as I was the other day, I'm equally as optimistic we'll have it done today. I've been wrong, but I swear to you, I believe we will have a deal finished today." Bruce Cohen, a spokesperson for the union, said, "The tarps are off the field. The sun is shining. We're in the ninth inning of the seventh game of the World Series, and as Yogi Berra didn't say, 'It's not over until the fat lady sings.'"

The vast majority of Broadway shows have been closed since the strike began, and several shows have been forced to postpone their official opening nights. The lengthy dispute has also severely affected businesses in the theatre-district area. The City of New York estimates its loss at $2 million per each day of the strike.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the nation's leading industry based, not-for-profit AIDS fundraising and grant making organization, has also been adversely affected by the strike. It is during this time of the year when BC/EFA makes post-curtain call speeches asking for donating to the organization. The six weeks of fundraising leads up to the annual Gypsy of the Year competition, which has been postponed until Dec. 17 and 18.

Playbill.com will provide further information about the resolution of the strike as it is made available.

The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice

Everyone needs to go and buy the Hairspray dvd and soundtrack!! It's the most fun you will ever have watching a movie! Here's one of my fave songs "Run and Tell That." If Elijah Kelley ever sang like that to me, I'd probably faint too...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!! yeah yeah I know it's a day early, but whatever. I hope everyone has a great holiday! And for everyone, including my mom and sister, going shopping on Black Friday, good luck and may the schwartz be with you. Make sure you catch Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Xanadu and Young Frankenstein will be performing. Check it...and just because I love this video so much...

Broadway Shows Will Be Part of Macy's Parade

By Andrew Gans
19 Nov 2007

Kerry Butler in Xanadu
photo by Paul Kolnik

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will not be affected by the current stagehands strike. That is, the four Broadway shows originally scheduled to be part of the annual parade — Xanadu, Mary Poppins, Young Frankenstein and Legally Blonde — will perform as planned.

A Macy's spokesperson confirmed that the four shows will be part of the annual parade on Thursday, Nov. 22. Because the broadcast utilizes television stagehands, who are not striking, rather than theatre stagehands, the performances can go on as scheduled.

Cast members from Legally Blonde are scheduled to perform "What You Want," while the Mary Poppins company will offer "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Xanadu will perform a medley of tunes — including "All Over The World," "Magic" and "Xanadu" — and the cast of Young Frankenstein will sing "Transylvania Mania." The Radio City Rockettes will also perform.

As previously announced, the parade will kick off with "Making Magic," a new tuned penned by Michael Feinstein with lyrics by Bill Schermerhorn, Macy's creative director. Members of Camp Broadway, the theatre arts education company, will perform the song.

Also of interest to theatre fans: Spring Awakening's Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff will belt out "Give My Regards to Broadway" atop the M&M's Chocolate Candies on Broadway float. That theatre-themed float will feature the M&M's characters taking lead roles in Broadway productions: Green is Elphaba in Wicked, Orange and Yellow star in A Chorus Line, Blue is the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera, and Red is Spamalot's King Arthur.

The original Christine Daae in London and Broadway's Phantom, Sarah Brightman, will be dressed as a Pirate Queen and will sing "The Journey Home" on the Jolly Polly Pirate Ship; "Hairspray" film star Nikki Blonsky will perform "You Can't Stop the Beat" on the American Classic Malt Shop float; The Drowsy Chaperone's Bob Saget will be interviewed high above Manhattan in a helicopter tracing the parade route for viewers; and Feinstein and Tony winner Anika Noni Rose will perform another Feinstein-Schermerhorn song, "Give Me the Key to This Wonderful City," aboard the History Channel's New York Tin Toy float.

The 81st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is set for Thursday, Nov. 22 from 9 AM-noon. The parade is broadcast nationally on NBC-TV.

The parade begins at 77th Street and Central Park West of Manhattan's Upper West Side. It will then make its way down Broadway through Times Square before taking final bows at Herald Square and ending at 7th Ave and 34th Street. For more information and a few helpful tips for those who are ready to brave the weather and crowds, visit www.macysparade.com or call the Macy's Parade Hotline at (212) 494-4495.

The show must go on...

Check it...here's a list of shows that are still playing. Yay for Xanadu and Young Frankenstein!!

Only eight Broadway shows will play Thursday, Nov. 15 due to the strike by Local One, the stagehands union. The remaining Broadway productions will be dark.
The eight Broadway shows that are running follow:

Cymbeline at the Vivian Beaumont Theater
Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theatre
Mauritius at the Biltmore Theatre
Pygmalion at the American Airlines Theatre
The Ritz at Studio 54
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at Circle in the Square
Xanadu at the Helen Hayes Theatre
Young Frankenstein at the Hilton Theatre

CITY Magazine

If you haven't picked up this month's issue, go get it right now! There's a great article about Sutton and some cool pics. This is on the CITY site...

'Young Frankenstein' Star Leads New Issue of CITY

'YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN' STAR LEADS NEW ISSUE OF CITY

"I've never been part of something so... big," says Broadway actress Sutton Foster of Mel Brooks' new mega-musical, Young Frankenstein, in the new issue of CITY magazine. "I've never done something so high-profile. It's terrifying and thrilling and sort like, how the hell did I get here?" How the 32-year-old actress got to star as the buxom, yodeling Inga in the biggest show of the season is the stuff of a high school theater geek's dreams, including a 42nd Street-style big break and three Tony Award nominations (including a win for Best actress). Young Frankenstein, which opens Thursday night at the Hilton Theatre, is vintage Brooks--bawdy, hilarious, and epic, with one show-stopper after another. Foster's "Roll in Ze Hay" early in act one is worth the (hefty) price of admission alone.

Foster headlines CITY's first ever Arts & Entertainment issue, which is on newsstands everywhere now. CITY enlisted the cast of the Roundabout Theatre Company's touring production of the classic jury room drama 12 Angry Men to star in one of our most dramatic fashion shoots ever. We also preview this year's Oscar race, focusing on the sudden surge of Hollywood films that are adaptations of highly acclaimed and serious literature. If you haven't read Atonement, No Country for Old Men, Life in the Time of Cholera, and The Kite Runner, you may want to head to the library before you hit the theaters. As if that's not enough, we chat up design guru Sir Terence Conran and taste CITY chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten's take on a traditional Thanksgiving feast. Go to www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com and www.city-magazine.com

Is this the end of entertainment?

Most of Broadway Goes Dark Nov. 10 as Stagehands Begin Strike

By Andrew Gans
and Adam Hetrick
10 Nov 2007

Outside the Broadhurst Theatre, home of Les Misérables, which will be dark until further notice.
photo by Andrew Ku

After months of negotiations between Local One, the stagehands union, and the League of American Theatres and Producers, the union announced Nov. 10 that its members will go on strike. The strike is effective immediately.

For months producers and the union have been hashing out issues of work assignments, setting of a production's run crew, load-in costs and labor minimums. Local One members have been working on Broadway without a contract since July 31.

The union and the League reconvened earlier this week, returning to the negotiating table for the first time in several weeks. Thomas C. Short, the president of I.A.T.S.E. — Local One's parent union — attended the Nov. 7 and 8 meetings, which proved unfruitful. Following the meetings, Short granted final strike authorization to the union.

The first show affected by the strike was the 11 AM performance of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Patrick Page, who stars in the title role of the limited Grinch engagement, told Playbill.com, "I'm heartbroken by the faces of all these kids. . . I've just gone around to give them a hug, maybe sing a little bit of a song for them, and make them feel a little better [about the show being canceled]." When asked about his opinion of the strike, Page said, "My only opinion is that these guys are the backbone of Broadway. I've worked with some of these guys on four or five Broadway shows, and they are amazing craftsmsen and workers, and I have absolutely no idea what goes on in those contract negotiations back and forth, but I do know that Actors' Equity Association supports Local One 100 percent, and I'm a member of [Equity]."

Most Broadway productions are affected by the strike; that is, the shows will not go on for August: Osage County, Avenue Q, A Bronx Tale, Chicago, A Chorus Line, The Color Purple, Curtains, Cyrano de Bergerac, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Drowsy Chaperone, Duran Duran, The Farnsworth Invention, Grease, Hairspray, Is He Dead?, Jersey Boys, Legally Blonde, Les Miserables, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, Mamma Mia!, Spamalot, The Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Rock 'n' Roll, The Seafarer, Spring Awakening, and Wicked.

The only Broadway productions still running are Xanadu, The Ritz, Mauritius, Cymbeline, Pygmalion, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Young Frankenstein and Mary Poppins. These productions are either presented by Broadway's nonprofit sector or are housed in theatres whose contracts with Local One are separate.

The Broadway shows that are up and running will more than likely benefit from the lack of options. In fact, Xanadu sold out its matinee and evening performances Nov. 10, and only standing room was available for Spelling Bee as of late afternoon. Off-Broadway shows are also seeing more customers. Three Mo' Tenors was completely sold out for its Saturday matinee, and a ticket seller at the TKTS booth said that although there are less people in line than normal, Off-Broadway shows are selling better than normal.

Charlotte St. Martin, the executive director of the League, posted this statement on the League's official website Nov. 10: "Local One has darkened most of Broadway. They have chosen to strike — without notifying us, rather than to continue negotiating. It is a sad day for Broadway, but we must remain committed to achieving a fair contract. Our goal is simple: To pay for workers we need and for work that is actually performed. Stagehands are highly skilled and highly paid. They are — and will remain — the highest paid stagehands in the theatrical world. We deplore the strike and the harm it does to the City, the industry, and the theatregoing public. Indeed, to all talented people who make Broadway the top tourist attraction in New York. A strike will have an economic impact of $17 million per day in direct and indirect costs. This could have been avoided had the union's leadership chosen to act responsibly at the bargaining table. We extend our sympathy for the inconvenience caused to the theatregoing public, and assure everyone who has purchased tickets that they will get an exchange or refund."

Although the union has not issued an official statement, picketers have been handing out flyers in front of several Broadway theatres. The flyer states, in part, "We truly regret that there is no show. . . Broadway is a billion dollar a year industry and has never been more profitable than now. Cuts in our jobs and wages will never result in a cut in ticket prices to benefit the public, but only an increase in the profits for producers. Unlike the producers, we are not fighting for our second or third homes: we are fighting to keep the one that we have."

Actors' Equity released a statement Nov. 10 at 11 AM ET in support of the union. In its statement, spokesperson Maria Somma said, "Actors' Equity Association strongly supports Local One/IATSE in their efforts to reach a fair and equitable contract. The responsibility for the shutdown of Broadway rests squarely with the League of American Theaters and Producers. The Equity Council, per the Union’s Broadway contract language, endorses and supports the strike, which has been sanctioned by Local One’s IATSE International President, and directs its members to honor the picket line. The men and women of Local One/IATSE deserve fair wages and working conditions and, most importantly, the respect of everyone who is part of the theatrical community."

It is unclear at this time how long the stagehands strike will last. Broadway was last darkened by a musicians strike in 2003, which ended after four days.

For information regarding refunds of tickets, click here.

Playbill.com will provide further information as it is made available.

Outside the St. James Theatre, home of The Grinch, which is also dark.
photo by Andrew Ku

Roll In Ze Hay!

Did anyone else watch SNL this past saturday? Barack Obama was on!! Yeah! It was just a cameo, but how awesome is that? Guess who was the musical guest? Feist!! Barack Obama and Feist on one show...so rad. Check out this clip. It's from the musical Young Frankenstein. This is Roger Bart and Sutton Foster (both are so awesome!) performing "Roll In Ze Hay!"