Meryl Streep singing = Fabulous!

Decca to Release "Mamma Mia!" Soundtrack in July

By Andrew Gans
30 Jun 2008

Dominic Cooper and Amanda Seyfried in "Mamma Mia!"
photo by Peter Mountain, ©Universal Pictures

The soundtrack for the film of "Mamma Mia!" — the new motion picture based on the international hit musical of the same name — will be released on the Decca label July 8.

The film, like the musical, features the songs of ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Andersson and Ulvaeus reunited in Stockholm with the musicians who played on the original ABBA songs to record the orchestrations in February 2007.

The film's actors recorded their vocals in London in April 2007 prior to the commencement of principal photography.

The complete track listing for "Mamma Mia!" follows:
"Honey, Honey" (Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Lilley & Rachel McDowall)
"Money, Money, Money" (Meryl Streep, Julie Walters & Christine Baranski)
"Mamma Mia" (Meryl Streep)
"Dancing Queen" (Meryl Streep, Julie Walters & Christine Baranski)
"Our Last Summer" (Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgǻrd, Amanda Seyfried & Meryl Streep)
"Lay All Your Love on Me" (Dominic Cooper & Amanda Seyfried)
"Super Trouper" (Meryl Streep, Julie Walters & Christine Baranski)
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" (A Man After Midnight) (Amanda Seyfried, Ashley Lilley & Rachel McDowall)
"The Name of the Game" (Amanda Seyfried)
"Voulez-Vous" (Full cast, Philip Michael, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters & Stellan Skarsgǻrd)
"SOS" (Pierce Brosnan & Meryl Streep)
"Does Your Mother Know" (Christine Baranski & Philip Michael)
"Slipping Through My Fingers" (Meryl Streep & Amanda Seyfried)
"The Winner Takes It All" (Meryl Streep)
"When All is Said and Done" (Pierce Brosnan & Meryl Streep)
"Take a Chance on Me" (Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgǻrd, Colin Firth, Philip Michael & Christine Baranski)
"I Have a Dream" (Amanda Seyfried)

The film, which stars Academy Award winner Meryl Streep as mom Donna Sheridan, will officially open in the U.K. July 4 and is scheduled to hit movie theatres in the U.S. July 18.

In addition to Streep, the cast also features Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Christine Baranski, Julie Walters, Stellan Skarsgard and Dominic Cooper. The film was directed by Phyllida Lloyd, who is making her feature-film debut. Lloyd helmed both the London and Broadway mountings of Mamma Mia!

Using the back catalogue of 70s pop group ABBA, Johnson's plot tells the story of bride-to-be Sophie Sheridan, who hopes to discover her father's identity on the eve of her wedding. She brings three men from her mother Donna's past back to the Greek island they last visited 20 years previously.

The show and film feature music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Since the original London production opened in 1999, the musical has grossed over $2 billion worldwide.

The film, according to the Universal Pictures website, is described as such: "An independent, single mother who owns a small hotel on an idyllic Greek island, Donna (Streep) is about to let go of Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the spirited daughter she's raised alone. For Sophie's wedding, Donna has invited her two lifelong best girlfriends-practical and no-nonsense Rosie (Julie Walters) and wealthy, multi-divorcee Tanya (Christine Baranski)-from her one-time backing band, Donna and the Dynamos. But Sophie has secretly invited three guests of her own.

"On a quest to find the identity of her father to walk her down the aisle, she brings back three men from Donna's past to the Mediterranean paradise they visited 20 years earlier. Over 24 chaotic, magical hours, new love will bloom and old romances will be rekindled on this lush island full of possibilities."

For more information visit www.universalpictures.com.

Julie Walters, Meryl Streep and Christine Baranski in "Mamma Mia!"
photo by Peter Mountain, ©Universal Pictures

Alli Mauzey rules!!

Here's a couple of vids...the first one is Alli singing "Screw Loose" from Cry-Baby the musical at the Tony preview concert. The second video is her singing "Popular" from Wicked at Broadway in Bryant Park. I so want to meet her!

No one mourns the wicked!

So I finally saw Wicked on Sun and I have to admit, I absolutely loved it!! I've always thought that the show is overrated. I still think it's a little overrated, but it's definitely worth seeing. I saw 1 stand-by and 3 understudies on Sun. Yeah...the leads for Elphaba, Glinda, Fiyero and Nessarose were all out! Everyone was very good though. Donna Vivino was Elphaba and she was fuckin phenomenal!! She sounded a lot like Idina. She's amazing. She sang the shit out of "The Wizard and I." I wish I could see it again. Of course "Defying Gravity" was one of the best songs. I was like a little kid watching them perform that song. I was just like "wow!" Donna gave me chills at the end when she sings "It's me!! so if you care to find me look to the western sky..." yeah you know the rest lol Anyway, that's all I'm gonna write because I'm tired. I had the busiest weekend...crazy. Here's a video of Kristin and Idina singing "Defying Gravity." Enjoy!

Total bummer!

No More Tears: Cry-Baby to Close on Broadway June 22

By Adam Hetrick
18 Jun 2008

James Snyder and Elizabeth Stanley in Cry-Baby.
photo by Joan Marcus

Cry-Baby, the second Broadway musical based on a John Waters film, will play its final performance at the Marquis Theatre June 22. When it closes the musical will have played 45 previews and 68 regular performances.

Directed by Mark Brokaw, Cry-Baby arrived on Broadway following an out-of-town engagement at the La Jolla Playhouse this past fall. A 2008 Tony nominee for Best Musical, Cry-Baby began Broadway previews March 15 and officially opened April 24.

A national tour is expected to begin in fall 2009.

The new musical that boasted Broadway's first rockabilly score, earned four 2008 Tony nominations: Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical for Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell, Best Original Score for David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger, and Best Choreography for Rob Ashford.

Alli Mauzey, who portrays Cry-Baby's deranged stalker Lenora, earned a Theatre World Award for her performance. Mauzey's rendition of "Screw Loose" won the actress favorable mentions in numerous reviews. Ashford also picked up a Drama Desk Award for his athletic choreography that punctuates Cry-Baby's dueling worlds of the Drapes and the Squares.

For his second venture on the rialto, Waters teamed with the songwriting team of David Javerbaum ("The Daily Show") and Adam Schlesinger ("That Thing You Do"), who made their Broadway debuts with the new musical. Hairspray book writers Thomas Meehan and Mark O'Donnell repeated their duties for Cry-Baby.

Set in 1950's Baltimore, Cry-Baby, which is based on Waters' 1990 film of the same name, features Tony Award winner Harriet Harris as Mrs. Vernon-Williams; James Snyder as Cry-Baby, leader of the misfit Drapes; Elizabeth Stanley (Company) as Allison, one of the clean-cut Squares; Carly Jibson (Hairspray) as Pepper; Dwayne Clark (Tarzan) as Dupree; Christopher J. Hanke (In My Life) as Baldwin; Lacey Kohl as Wanda; Alli Mauzey (Wicked) as Lenora; Courtney Balan as Mona; and Richard Poe (Journey's End) as Judge Stone.

Rounding out the ensemble are Cameron Adams, Ashley Amber, Nick Blaemire, Michael Buchanan, Eric Christian, Colin Cunliffe, Lisa Gajda, Michael D. Jablonski, Laura Jordan, Brendan King, Marty Lawson, Courtney Laine Mazza, Spencer Liff, Mayumi Miguel, Tory Ross, Eric Sciotto, Peter Matthew Smith, Allison Spratt, Charlie Sutton and Stacey Todd Holt.

The creative team also features Lynne Shankel (music direction, incidental music and additional arrangements), Christopher Jahnke (orchestrations) and David Chase (dance arranger). The design team comprises Scott Pask (scenic), Catherine Zuber (costume), Howell Binkley (lighting), Peter Hylenski (sound), Tom Watson (hair and wig) and Randy Houston Mercer (makeup). Rick Sordelet serves as fight director. Rolt Smith is stage manager.

In Cry-Baby, press notes state, "Everyone likes Ike, nobody likes communism, and Wade 'Cry-Baby' Walker is the coolest boy in town. He's a bad boy with a good cause — truth, justice, and the pursuit of rock 'n roll — and when he falls for a good girl who wants to be bad, her charm school world of bobby sox and barbershop quartets will never be the same. Wayward youth, juvenile delinquents, sexual repression, cool music, dirty lyrics, bizarre rejects...Finally, the 50's come to life! For real this time!"

For more information visit CryBabyOnBroadway.com.

The cast of Cry-Baby.
photo by Joan Marcus

Happy Birthday Kerry Butler!!

I hope you have a wonderful day and cheers to another great year! Here's a promo vid for her new cd =)

AM Squared

Ok so I totally didn't know that Alli Mauzey was in a band. It's just her and her brother, Alli and Andrew Mauzey = AM Squared! Pretty clever, right? Here's a vid of them performing "The Metro Blues" check it!

I know leave me alone!

So this video is Alli Mauzey singing "Screw Loose" from Cry-Baby on Regis & Kelly. Unfortunately, it's just the audio, but I'll post a video as soon as I find one.

I'm now a fan of Alli Mauzey

Alli Mauzey
by Kimberly Kaye

Fresh Face - Alli Mauzey - head shot

Age: “As Lenora would say, ‘It's hard to be 16 and schitzo.'”

Hometown: The O.C.: Anaheim Hills, California

Currently: Originating the role of lovable lunatic Lenora, a drapette who lusts for hunky Wade “Cry-Baby” Walker in the Broadway musical adaptation of John Waters' cult flick Cry-Baby.

It Started with a Cupcake: “Have you ever had a Magnolia Bakery cupcake?” Mauzey asks lustfully from a chair in her Marquis Theatre dressing room. “They make my mouth waaater,” she coos, explaining how she taps into her inner stalker. “I think Lenora might feel the same way about Cry-Baby, like she can just think about him and start salivating. So I like using that.” It's hard to imagine this laid-back California girl being anything like the mildly schizophrenic delinquent she plays onstage, which may be why she never planned to try for the role. “I came into town to audition for a different show, and my agent was like, ‘Why don't you go across the hall and audition for Cry-Baby while you're at it?'” With only a brief character description to guide her and little time to prepare, Mauzey thought fast—and came up with the image of that cupcake. It worked, landing the petite brunette the part and critical acclaim during Cry-Baby's pre-Broadway run at La Jolla Playhouse.

A Reluctant Star: A “super super shy” child, Mauzey fell into performing almost reluctantly. “I wasn't that kid who knew at a young age,” she says now, adding that her mother discovered her vocal talents. “She used to want me to sing for people and it scared the crap outta me!” Mauzey recalls. “I would only do it if I could go in the closet [and] shut the door. So I'd sing in the closet.” But she stresses that mom was no Momma Rose. “Part of it was she really wanted me to break out of my shell,” the actress says, which she did slowly by performing in local and high school productions. But when it came time for college and her parents suggested acting, the budding star hesitated again. “I wanted to be a professional soccer player. My mom and I would butt heads like crazy. She was like, ‘No, there isn't really a career in soccer!' And I'm thinking, ‘There's not necessarily a career in acting!'”

The Replacements: In the end, there was a career in acting: Mauzey graduated from NYU's competitive drama program and quickly made her Broadway debut as a replacement Brenda in Hairspray. “It was everything I thought it would be,” she says of her debut. “I remember working hard to learn all my stuff before I went on that first night because I just wanted to be able to enjoy it. And I really was able to enjoy it.” After a stint in the Hairspray national tour and several West Coast gigs, Mauzey was tapped as Glinda's standby in the Broadway company of Wicked.

Life on Standby: “I loved working on that role,” Mauzey gushes of Wicked's bubbly blonde witch. “When I started singing I had a classical background, so to get to play a role like Glinda where it's a really fun character but she sings all these wonderful high notes—that's like a dream for me.” A standby's life could be surreal, however. “One time, I hadn't been on in like a month, and I came down in the bubble and started to sing. And I look over and there's a girl onstage I've never met before,” Mauzey says with a laugh. “It took everything in me to stay focused because I was like, ‘Who is that?!' That's how it was for me there—I didn't have to be there all that often, so I focused on making sure I got out of the way of the scenery.”

Finally An Original: After years of stepping into roles, Mauzey loves building Lenora from scratch. “It's nice because I had a full-on rehearsal process,” she says, “and they were great about letting me come up with whatever!” Like Lenora's eerie habit of talking to herself? “One day in rehearsal I just started talking to somebody and they weren't there—it kind of worked and I kept it.” Mauzey has also been careful to make her Lenora different from the one film fans saw in the movie. “I stayed away from the stereotypical vixen,” she explains of her portrayal. “I go back to thinking like a true high schooler. I wouldn't necessarily be good at throwing myself at a man at 16, so there's something awkward and not perfect about it. My Lenora's not real smooth.”

W.W.J.D.? While Cry-Baby Walker may not love Lenora, the man who created them both, John Waters, certainly does. “He says he relates to my character the most,” Mauzey says. “I have a song called ‘Screw Loose,' and he says that could be his anthem or a song sung at his funeral! So whenever I'm thinking of new things to try, I go, ‘What would John do?'” she jokes. The actress also owes the filmmaker a debt of gratitude. “John hooked me up with my manager. I was thanking him one day, and he said, ‘Well, I'm your pimp.'” Mauzey begins laughing. “Not many people can say ‘John Waters is my pimp,' but I can. He said it, from his lips!”

You got me beggin you for mercy

I found this awesome new Huddy video. Check it!

I want to see this!

Paper Mill's Little Shop of Horrors, with Fellner and Gertner, Begins June 4

By Andrew Gans
04 Jun 2008

Jenny Fellner

The Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman's Little Shop of Horrors begins performances at the New Jersey theatre June 4.

Directed by Mark Waldrop, Little Shop will officially open June 8 and play a limited engagement through July 6.

The cast features Jared Gertner (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) as Seymour and Jenny Fellner (Sophie in Mamma Mia!) as Audrey with Stephen Berger (Mushnik), Darin DePaul, Badia Farha (Crystal), Montego Glover (Chiffon), Angela Grovey (Ronnette), Stacey Harris, Michael Latini, Michael James Leslie (Voice of Audrey 2), Asa Somers (Orin) and Tally Sessions.

The creative team also includes Vince Pesce (choreographer), Bruce Coyle (musical direction), Adam Koch (scenic coordination), Matthew Hemesath (costume design), Ben Stanton (lighting design), Randy Hansen (sound design) and Charles LaPointe (hair and wig design). Production stage manager is Brian Meister.

"Seymour is just a down-and-out clerk in a downtown flower shop," read Little Shop press notes, "but things start to look up when he discovers an unusual plant...with an even more unusual appetite."

The original production of Little Shop of Horrors — starring Ellen Greene and Lee Wilkof — opened at the old WPA Theatre in Chelsea and then transferred to the Orpheum Theatre in 1982, where it stayed for 2,209 performances. Ashman, who died on March 14, 1991, directed the piece. Edie Cowan was choreographer. The musical, which boasts such tunes as "Suddenly Seymour," "Downtown" and "Somewhere That's Green," was made into a 1986 film starring Greene as Audrey, Rick Moranis as Seymour, Vincent Gardenia as Mushnik and Steve Martin as Orin, the dentist. The musical's Broadway bow co-starred Kerry Butler and Hunter Foster.

The Paper Mill Playhouse is located on Brookside Drive in Millburn, NJ. For more information or to purchase tickets call (973) 376-4343 or visit www.papermill.org.

Barack Obama for president!

Long primary season ends with Obama set to clinch

By TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 5 minutes ago

History within his reach, Barack Obama was primed to claim the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday or soon after as voters in Montana and South Dakota bring his months-long contest with dogged rival Hillary Rodham Clinton to a close. Clinton appeared ready to bow to the inevitable and spare the party an even more protracted fight.

Clinton campaign chairman Terry McAuliffe said Tuesday that once Obama gets the majority of convention delegates, "I think Hillary Clinton will congratulate him and call him the nominee."

The outcome could come by the end of the day with some choreography by the party's superdelegates. The party insiders were lining up behind Obama at a rate that could seal the nomination once results are in from Montana and South Dakota — or even before.

Two more superdelegates endorsed him Tuesday morning, from Michigan and Missouri, leaving him just 40 delegates short of the 2,118 needed to put him over the top and make him the nation's first black presidential nominee from a major party.

Clinton, once seen as a sure bet in her historic quest to become the first female president, was still pressing the superdelegates to support her fading candidacy. But McAuliffe indicated she was not inclined to drag out a dispute over delegates from the unsanctioned Michigan primary despite feeling shortchanged by a weekend compromise by the party's rules committee that she could still appeal to a higher level.

"I don't think she's going to go to the credentials committee," he said on NBC's "Today" show. Taking the matter to that committee would essentially extend the dispute into the convention and deny Democrats the unity they sorely want to achieve against Republican John McCain.

Seeing the cards fall into place for his November rival, McCain planned a prime time speech Tuesday night in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner, La., in what is essentially a kickoff of the fall campaign.

Obama told The Associated Press on Monday that "we've got a lot of work to do in terms of bringing the party together" with the convention approaching.

"Once the last votes are cast, then it's in everybody's interest to resolve this quickly so we can pivot," he said.

Obama said there were a lot of superdelegates who have been private supporters of his but wanted to respect the process by not endorsing until the final primaries were done.

"We're still working the phones and we're still talking to people ... so we'll certainly have to wait until a little later tonight to see what the final tally is, but we certainly feel good waking up this morning," Robert Gibbs, Obama's spokesman, told CNN on Tuesday.

In a defiant shot across the GOP bow, Obama, who returned to hometown Chicago late Monday, planned to hold his wrap-up rally in St. Paul, Minn., at the arena that will be the site of the Republican National Convention in September.

Clinton returned to New York, the state she represents in the Senate, planning an end-of-primary evening rally in Manhattan after a grueling campaign finale as she pushed through South Dakota on Monday.

"I'm just very grateful we kept this campaign going until South Dakota would have the last word," she said at a restaurant in Rapid City in one of her final campaign stops. Polls suggested Obama would win both South Dakota and Montana.

She still sounded buoyant. Her biggest booster and most tireless campaigner, husband Bill Clinton, didn't. "This may be the last day I'm ever involved in a campaign of this kind," the former president said somberly as he stumped for her in South Dakota.

Ahead of Tuesday's concluding primaries, Obama sought to set the stage for reconciliation, praising Clinton's endurance and determination and offering to meet with her — on her terms — "once the dust settles" from their race.

"The sooner we can bring the party together, the sooner we can start focusing on McCain in November," Obama told reporters in Michigan. He said he spoke with Clinton on Sunday when he called to congratulate her on winning the Puerto Rico primary, most likely her last hurrah.

That fueled speculation for a "dream ticket" in which Clinton would become Obama's running mate — but neither camp was suggesting that was much of a possibility.

In the AP interview, Obama was asked when he would start looking for a running mate.

"The day after I have gotten that last delegate needed to officially claim the nomination, I'll start thinking about vice presidential nominees," he said. "It's a very important decision, and it's one where I'm going to have to take some time."

Clinton finished a whirlwind four days of campaigning that took her from New York to Puerto Rico to South Dakota and back. For a campaign pushing against long odds, it was a show of determination.

The former first lady, suffering from a recurrent cough, had to cede the microphone to her daughter Chelsea twice Monday as she struggled to recover her voice. Chelsea promptly took the opportunity — to discuss health care.

__

Associated Press writers Kathy Hoffman, Kim Hefling, Beth Fouhy, Nedra Pickler, Jim Kuhnhenn, Stephen Ohlemacher and Jim Davenport contributed to this report.