I'm so freakin excited for this

Xanadu's Butler Will Sing Songs of Disney on Solo CD, "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust"

By Andrew Gans
28 Feb 2008

Kerry Butler

Kerry Butler, who plays Kira/Clio in Broadway's Xanadu and Reese on NBC's "Lipstick Jungle," will release her debut solo recording on the PS Classics label.

Entitled "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust," the new recording will feature songs from the Disney canon and is scheduled to arrive in stores May 13. Butler will head into the recording studio Feb. 29 under the supervision of music director Michael Kosarin, who is also producing the CD. The recording will feature orchestrations by Tony winner Michael Starobin and Spamalot's Larry Hochman.

In a statement Butler said, "I've wanted to do an album for a long time, and with the success of Xanadu, the timing seemed right. Recording the Xanadu recording for PS Classics was such a joyous experience, we decided to continue our relationship on my solo album. I knew I wanted to keep the album personal and intimate, and in thinking of songs that made me smile, or had a theme of hope or optimism that I felt was so important, I kept coming back to songs that were Disney-related. I love so many of the Disney themes – when I'm sad or stressed, I know I need a dose of Disney! The challenge for me was to see if I could rediscover the Disney catalog in a very personal way, because for me, Disney World isn't about the rides, it's about the message."

Among the songs that will be heard on "Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust" are "Baby Mine," "I'll Try" (from "Return to Neverland"), "This Only Happens in the Movies" (a song from a proposed sequel to "Roger Rabbit") and "God Help the Outcasts" (from "Hunchback of Notre Dame). The latter was suggested by several fans after Butler invited her admirers to help pick one song for the CD.

"Right now," Butler adds, "'I'll Try' may be my favorite song on the album. We even took the album title from a lyric in that song. Like a few other tracks on the album, 'I'll Try' is about losing faith, which I think is something everyone can relate to. I have always wanted to be childlike — which is different than childish. A child believes in magic. Anything can happen, they aren't jaded yet. To believe in good, even when you see evil in the world, is something I struggle with. That's what I love about 'I'll Try.' It recognizes that it's hard to have faith, and all you can do is make a choice to try."

Prior to Xanadu, Kerry Butler was most recently on Broadway as Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. She portrayed Penny Pingleton in the original Broadway cast of Hairspray, and her other Broadway credits include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Eponine in Les Misérables and Ms. Jones in Blood Brothers. Off-Broadway she was seen in Bat Boy The Musical, The "I" Word, Prodigal and The Folsom Head. She was also part of the cast of the musical The Opposite of Sex, which premiered in San Francisco.

For more information about PS Classics, visit www.psclassics.com.

Know what I sayin?

Steve Carell is the funniest man alive!!

Ho fo sho!

How funny is this t-shirt? I had to buy it when I saw it. Just in case anyone reading this has no idea what it means, it's from "The 40-Year Old Virgin." Funniest movie ever! "She was a ho...fo sho!" haha

I love zombie movies

Everyone needs to see a zombie movie called "Fido." It's about domesticated zombies and it takes place in the 1950's. It's so funny!! Carrie-Anne Moss is in it. That should be a good enough reason to see it! Here's the trailer, check it.

A place where nobody dared to go...

Check out the Xanadu commercial!

Watch Lipstick Jungle tonight!

Lipstick and Roller Disco: Chatting with Xanadu's Kerry Butler

Categories: broadway, television, music, families, chatting with

Kerry Butler is one busy Broadway babe.

Not only is she starring in the hit musical Xanadu, but the 36-year-old native Brooklynite is also recording her debut album. And she appears tomorrow night as a backstabbing assistant to fashion designer Victory Ford (Lindsay Price) on Lipstick Jungle. The new NBC dramedy is based on Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell’s bestseller, centering around three powerhouse women in New York City.

I caught up with Butler, who lives in New York with her actor hubby Joey Mazzarino and their two-year-old daughter, Segi, to talk Brooke Shields, Brooklyn accents and her very hot Xanadu costar.

You have a crazy schedule. How do you do it all?
Yeah, I am doing a lot of stuff. But I have to turn some stuff down. Somehow you manage. I mean, you have to do it while you’re hot, right? Next year, I’ll be like, “Why don’t I have anything?”

I watched your first episode of Lipstick Jungle. I didn't expect you to be a bad girl.
I love doing it, because it’s so not me, really. And it’s so much more fun, because I act like the good girl, but then there’s all this stuff underneath. The next episode gets really good. Lindsay and I totally have like a catfight. I even had a stunt double!

What's it like working with Brooke Shields?
She’s such a mom. Her daughter was there with her. She was just being really nice with her daughter. The atmosphere on the set is unbelievable. Everybody is having a great time. I’m not lying. It’s one of the nicest sets I’ve been on.

You grew up in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn. I grew up in Howard Beach in Queens.
You have a lot of Mafia there, don’t you?

It was John Gotti country.
Me, too! There were shootings like a block from me. As I was growing up, I hated being from Brooklyn. I would go into the city [Manhattan] and see how open-minded people were. I sort of made up my own accent. When I was in college, people were like, “You have the strangest accent,” because I just made it up by watching things like Beverly Hills 90210.

You perform on roller skates in Xanadu. So...any roller-skating on Lipstick Jungle?
No one has mentioned anything to me, and thank goodness. I do enough of it already.

Okay, we have to talk about how hot your Xanadu costar Cheyenne Jackson is.
I know. Everybody loves him. During one of our first shows, I was kissing him and some guy screamed from the back of the house, “Oh, you are lucky!” When you get to New York, come see the show. I’ll introduce you.

Yes, please! One last thing, does your daughter want to be in show business?
Well, she’s only two, but she actually does. I took her to see Annie the other day, and then I let her watch the kids singing “Tomorrow” on YouTube. She was like, “I want to be onstage like those kids.”

Did I already mention that Kerry Butler rules?

Feature

The Butler Does It!

Xanadu star Kerry Butler takes a walk on the wild side as part of NBC's Lipstick Jungle.

By: Brian Scott Lipton · Feb 11, 2008

Lipstick Jungle (© NBC)" border="0">

Kerry Butler in Lipstick Jungle (© NBC)

Kerry Butler must have an advanced degree in juggling she's never told anyone about. The popular actress is not only balancing being the star of the hit Broadway musical Xanadu with being mother to toddler Segi, whom she adopted from Ethiopia, but she's also getting ready to record her first solo CD and recently finished filming a recurring role on NBC's new series Lipstick Jungle (based on the novel by Sex and the City scribe Candace Bushnell). Butler phoned TheaterMania while undergoing some physical therapy to talk about her various projects.

THEATERMANIA: Tell me a little about your character on the series.
KERRY BUTLER: Her name is Reese, and she's the assistant to Lindsay Price's character, Victory, who is a fashion designer. When you first see her, she seems like this sweet girl from Wisconsin, but she eventually turns evil and steals her boss' designs, like Eve Harrington. I don't want to give too much away, but I even had to have a stunt double.

TM: How did you get the part? Did you know Lindsay beforehand?
KB: No. I knew of Lindsay, because I was a huge Beverly Hills 90210 fan. I told her I loved her from that show when we met, and she laughed. She's really fun on the show, and we connected instantly. But I originally auditioned for the director Tim Busfield, who had seen me in Hairspray (where Butler originated the role of Penny) and he told me he wanted to use me ever since then. Tim walked me through the scenes at the audition and was a huge help once we filmed. He told me to do much less. Primetime is very different from daytime in some ways (Butler starred on One Life to Live) in that you wait longer for the set-ups; but you still don't get lots of takes.

TM: Right now, you're working on putting together your first solo CD. Can you tell us what to expect?
KB: It's definitely going to be songs that you know, but done in a very acoustic way. I wanted completely different arrangements from the originals. The selection process has been hard; there are some songs I always wanted to do, but we're about to go into the studio and I'm still on the fence about a bunch of others.

TM: You asked your fans, via an online contest, to make suggestions -- and you said you'd record one of them. How did that go?
KB: We got hundreds of suggestions. I knew a lot of the songs people suggested already -- some were on my list -- so we may put more than one on. But there were some songs I didn't think of, and people were very smart about it. Like in one interview, I said I love Liz Phair, so someone sent me songs of hers I didn't know.

TM: How are you juggling a CD, a TV show, and Xanadu, not to mention being a mother!
KB: It is very hard to do all this with motherhood. So we're not going to record the whole CD at once, just a few hours at a time when I can. But I try to do nothing before noon, so I have the whole morning to play with my daughter. Sometimes it doesn't work out.

in Xanadu (© Paul Kolnik)" border="0">

Kerry Butler and Cheyenne Jackson in Xanadu (© Paul Kolnik)

TM: Is she aware yet that Mommy is a Broadway star? Does she want to be one too?
KB: She does know Mommy performs on stage. Right now, I am introducing her to Annie, so I let her watch Andrea McArdle on Youtube, and now she's telling me: "I want to sing on stage like those kids. I want mommy to take me on stage in Xanadu." That is not happening! At home, she does my vocal warm-ups with me. And I do take her with me to sound checks; and she is as good as can be while I'm singing -- if I'm holding her. But if she goes to see me at an event, then she screams and wants me to hold her.

TM: Let's talk a little about Xanadu. Are you happy with the CD that recently came out? And are you surprised the show is still running?
KB: I am happy with the CD, because they got the humor on it. We had to kind of fight for that. Originally, they wanted us to be more straight, and maybe not have some of the dialogue. As for the show, before we opened, I wasn't sure what kind of run we'd have. The good reviews were a big surprise; we were screaming when we read them. Our fear was that with jukebox musicals, some people will get it, and some won't. I think now, at least, 75 percent of the people who see the show get it -- even if not everyone gets how smart Douglas Carter Beane's book really is. And now that people in the cast aren't getting hurt every day, it's a lot more fun to be there.

TM: I know the plan is to keep the show open through Tony Awards time, which means you might get your first nomination. How do you feel about the whole awards process?
KB: It's fun and it's nerve-racking. Of course, I've always wanted to win a Tony; I think every person in musical theater dreams of being up there or being nominated. But I'm at a place in my life where I've had a daughter, so I'm not consumed by it all the way I might have been once. At the end of the day, I want to give a great performance in a great show, and if that leads to a nomination, that's great. While I was working on the TV show, I realized I am truly meant to do theater. Those actors live there on TV, and I live in theater.

This is so cool!

Tony Winner Sutton Foster to Star in Broadway's Shrek

By Andrew Gans
08 Feb 2008

Sutton Foster
photo by Aubrey Reuben

Tony Award winner Sutton Foster will be part of the cast of Shrek The Musical, which is based on the William Steig book and the DreamWorks film and is scheduled to arrive on Broadway in November following an out-of-town tryout.

The New York Post reports that the current star of Young Frankenstein will play Fiona in the stage musical. Playbill.com previously reported that Christopher Sieber (Spamalot, The Triumph of Love) will also be part of the Shrek cast. No official casting has been announced.

Shrek, as previously announced, will make its world premiere at The 5th Avenue Theatre: The musical will play the Seattle venue August 14-Sept. 21. The production will then head to Broadway for a November debut at a theatre to be announced.

The musical features book and lyrics by Pulitzer Prize winner David Lindsay-Abaire and music by Jeanine Tesori. Avenue Q's Jason Moore will direct. The creative team will also include set and costume designer Tim Hatley, lighting designer Hugh Vanstone, choreographer Josh Prince and music director Tim Weil.

Shrek The Musical, DreamWorks Animation's first venture in legitimate theatre, is being produced by DreamWorks Theatricals (Bill Damaschke, president) and Neal Street Productions, Ltd. (principals Sam Mendes and Caro Newling).

Sutton Foster received a Tony nomination for her work in the hit musical The Drowsy Chaperone at the Marquis Theatre. The singing actress starred in the title role of Thoroughly Modern Millie and received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Astaire awards for that performance. She also received a Tony nomination for her performance in Little Women, and her other Broadway credits include roles in Les Misérables, Annie, The Scarlet Pimpernel and Grease!. Foster's regional and tour credits include What the World Needs Now, Dorian, Three Musketeers, South Pacific and The Will Rogers Follies. Foster currently plays Inga in the new Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein at the Hilton Theatre.

I had a feeling this happened...

(CNN) -- Heath Ledger died from an accidental overdose of prescription medications including painkillers, anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills, the New York City medical examiner's office said Wednesday.

Actor Heath Ledger, 28, died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan.

more photos »

"Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine," the office said in a short statement.

"We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescription medications."

Hydrocodone and oxycodone are painkillers. Diazepam is an anti-anxiety drug commonly sold under the brand name Valium; alprazolam is also an anti-anxiety drug sold under such names as Xanax. Temazepam, sold under such names as Restoril and Euhypnos, is a sleeping agent. Doxylamine, an antihistamine, can be obtained over the counter as a sleep aid.

Ledger died January 22 at an apartment in Lower Manhattan. The Oscar-nominated Australian actor, best known for his role as a stoic, closeted cowboy in the 2005 film "Brokeback Mountain," was 28.

Vote!

Frozen

A new episode of House titled "Frozen" airs right after the Super Bowl so everyone needs to watch it! It looks really good and Mira Sorvino is a guest star. Oh yeah and Across the Universe comes out on dvd on Tues so everyone should go buy it because it's fucking amazing! Jodie Foster's movie "The Brave One" also comes out on dvd Tues, so go buy that one too haha Anyway, lately I've been obsessed with Muddy Waters and A Fine Frenzy. That's all I've been listening to. Muddy Waters is some good shit! Blues doesn't get much better than him. Alison Sudol is a musical genius. I love her! Check out some vids...

Dodge this

So I was watching "The Matrix" on tv a few days ago and I completely forgot how much I love that movie. Carrie-Anne Moss is so badass!! Here's the coolest scene of the movie, check it!