The Metrostar Final Five

Here --- alphabetically, of course! --- are the five amazing talents who made the cut Monday night. It's a tough call.

Stearns Matthews

His rhapsodic

"When It Happens to You"

made me swoon.

Clarice Mazanec

When she sang "Come to my Window", my hair stood on end for all the right reasons.

Anne Steele

Her "Smile" was rich and gorgeous and soaring.

Angela Schultz

Adorable. Oh, her "Mickey" was so fine...

Nesha Ward

She did "Get Here" one night with so much gorgeous longing and emotion I tingled.

What am I looking forward to most in New Orleans?

The Ghost Tour.

Smackdab in the middle of the trip the kids and other folks and I are meeting up at Rev. Zombie's Voodoo Shop (this is, of course, a church trip!) and skipping of on a haunted jaunt. In the French Quarter! Neato!

I am such a geek.

Rember

Michael John forwarded an article to me today about the effects of a drug called rember in an British Alzheimer's study. It could be the miracle I've been praying for. And isn't it interesting that the name of this drug incorporates all the letters of such a vital word for Alzheimer's sufferers and their loved ones: remember...

Here's the link to the article, complete with the British spelling of words like fibres, stabilise, levelled.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1039677/Daily-pill-halts-Alzheimers-hailed-biggest-breakthrough-disease-100-years.html

The photo is Alois Alzheimer, who discovered the protein tangles in the brain that cause the disease in 1907.

Monday at Metrostar

I've loved the Metorstar experience. Or, at least, up until the moment a few minutes into the show on Monday when a waiter dropped a tray of drinks on a friend. That's still being sorted through and the fallout has been bad.

Anyway, I didn't advance to the next round, but had a blast, networked, made new friends. The Metrostar Five are:

STEARNS MATTHEWS

(Cute young gay guy --- gorgeous legit voice)

CLARICE MAZANEC

(Dynamite blond --- can really rock out)

ANGELA SHULTZ

(Adorable comedic redhead with phenom voice)

ANNE STEELE

(Beautiful total pro with another breathtaking voice)

NEESHA WARD

(Charming young African American woman who makes you melt)

Secret: I have a favorite!!!

Wow! Another thousand!!!!

Last week I mentioned that the MySpace page for Sylvia So Far had reached 1,000 hits. I just noticed that sometime over the weekend this very blog passed 1,ooo views! Thank you!!!

In all truth, every time I post a new entry here it counts as a hit, so the reality is that I've had somewhat less than a thousand (MySpace doesn't count it when I log on to the SSF page), but I love the fact that you read me.

Again, thank you!!!

Tonight is Metrostar!!!

Okay, the Metrostar 11 perform two songs each, back to back, get a brief critique from the judges, then somewhere around midnight the club (the Metropolitan Room) posts the top 5, who return next week. My, that was a long sentence! I'm very excited about tonight and am doing "Twenty In My Pocket" and "As Much As The Next Guy".

The url for the room is http://metropolitanroom.com/. You can check out the rather elaborate details.

I'll let you know either way tomorrow!

Between New Orleans and Metrostar...

It was a pretty booked up weekend.

I am soooooo stoked now about the New Orleans trip. Meetings most of the weekend. On a quieter day I'll start to blog to you about the preparations. Suffice to say we're going on a ghost tour! In a cemetary!! IN THE FRENCH QUARTER!!!

I need to keep reminding myself that we are, indeed, there to build a house and such. You know, give back. Do good works... and eat beignets!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a ruckus!!!

I made a red velvet cake to take to Middle Collegiate Church tonight for our pre-New Orleans get together. I needed to house it all day in the fridge here at the seminary. My coworkers are now not speaking to me because I brought cake --- and they may not touch it. Goodness, these seminarians take their desserts so seriously!

Okay, I'm a Bible geek...

Big news for those of us with a penchant for Bible history! The oldest extant New Testament, called the Codex Sinaiticus and dating from the fourth century CE, is being photographed and assembled in its entirety for online viewing! The Greek text, discovered in an Egyptian monastery in the 1850s, was divvied up between various institutions in Britain, Russia, Egypt and Germany and access has been severely limited. I saw two pages from the Codex during my last trip to London, where the British Library displays it under bulletproof glass.

So I am delighted. It goes online sometime next July (ah, I have to wait a whole year!!!). I'm particularly interested in the inclusion of a little known and non-canonical book called "The Shepherd of Hermas", which has been likened to collection of charming fairy tales.

Last night at Metrostar...

I returned to the Metropolitan Room last night to check out the last of the preliminary rounds of competition. Wow! Last night's was by far the strongest roster of talent. Three women made the cut and they are:

BEATRICE FORGIONE, CLARICE MAZANEC, & NEESHA WARD

Beatrice is a pretty brunette in the Edie Gorme tradition who did a medley of "I Fall In Love Too Easily" and "You Made Me Love You". Clarice did an excitingly personal take on "Come To My Window" and just thrilled me, as did Neesha with a gorgeously emotive rendition of "Get Here". These folks are good!

I am enjoying all of this tremendously!

A Thousand Hits!!!

Folks, I just checked out the Sylvia So Far MySpace page, which is part of my Monday routine. Since Abigail launched the page on September 18th of last year, we have received one thousand hits! I am flabbergasted. "When You Loved Me" has been played 411 times, "Lullaby" 292, and "Pay It No Mind" 208.

Wow!

If you haven't stopped by for a look and a listen, the address is http://www.myspace.com/sylviasofar.

Peter must have taken this one...

It's David far left, moi far right, and the lovely, vivacious, talented and drunken Marie Gouba center. We had such a great time.

I like this one too!

Okay, I'm sticking my tongue out, but I do that when I'm playing piano.

Nice pic

My darlin' Marie takes nice pictures. She sent this one of Peter and Me recently so I thought I'd post it. We were at the Stonewall soaking in ambiance (and vodka). Another pic of me baring my hairy but very nice chest has caused some disturbance on Facebook. I'll spare you that one.

Suburban Saturday

So I side-stepped the trip to DC. Good call, I think. Anyway, in its place, guess what I'm doing tomorrow (and I'm soooooooooo excited!)? I am going...

Outlet Malling in Paramus New Jersey!!!

Yes, those wacky Proctors are picking me up (in a real car!) and we will drive over the river into that vast unknown that is New Jersey. Once there we will explore the local customs, mingle with the aborigines, wander vast retail centers where we shall spend money on things we don't need. Can't wait!!!!

Then we're finding some multiplex showing Mamma Mia!, and on our way back into Manhattan we shall dine at... drumroll...

RED LOBSTER!!!

Why am I so excited about this? I guess it's just a silly change. People in Ohio and Kansas and Missouri do this all the time. And maybe it's just the relief of deciding not to go to DC. Anyway, bring on the Proctors. Bring on the bridge. Bring on the cheddar biscuits! Yeah!!!

I love Elizabeth London

She directs my play and she brings value to my day.

You know how you sometimes meet people who bring something perceptible but slightly intangible to your life? Elizabeth London is the director of Sylvia So Far. Great. She's talented out the wahzoo (sp?) and can dramatically justify virtually any mis-step I take.

But what is it she does that makes me want to be the best person/playwright/spirit-on-the-planet I can possibly be? Elizabeth London expects me to be something wonderful and I keep rising to the occasion in order not to let her down. That's okay, right?

Know what I made for tonight's dessert?

Key Lime Pie!

I crave it. It tastes like summer to me.

Key Lime Pie

1 graham cracker pie shell

1 can (about 15 ounces) sweetened condensed milk

4 egg yolks

4 ounces key lime juice

Dampen the crust with the discarded white of one of the eggs and bake for about 5 minutes in a 375 degree oven. While it's baking, whisk the yolks, one at a time, into the milk. Combine very thoroughly or you will have streaks in the finished pie. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce heat to 350 degrees. Gently fold the lime juice into the milk/egg mixture. The custard will start to thicken. Mix gently but, again, thoroughly. Pour into the crust and place in the oven for about 8 minutes. Remove, cool on a rack and refrigerate. Serve with a healthy dollop of real whipped cream (if you're going to go to the trouble of making the pie, why spoil it with RediWhip?).

If I am making this for company, I always make it the day before because the lime flavor intensifies and richens.

So... that's tonight's dessert. Stop by for leftovers!

"Cirque Dreams" blew my mind...

Okay, I don't usually mention it when I go to the theatre. The last thing I want to become is a critic, so I keep my Broadway, off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway opinions mostly to myself.

That said, Cirque Dreams, now in previews at the Broadway Theatre, absolutely blew my mind. It isn't theatre pre se. It's an old-fashioned, hard core "how-the-hell-did-they-do-that???" entertainment with no aspirations of being art. In fact, when it occasionally aspires to be more than a sideshow, it becomes more than a little tacky (hideous set and costumes, by the way --- just hideous).

But the feats! I have always, since my Peter Pan preoccupation, adored seeing people fly onstage. And these folks soar! A butterfly act performed between a man and a woman is beyond gorgeous and a similar routine performed between two scantily clad men is unashamedly and pointedly homoerotic. The bods on these people -- male and female --- PLEASE!!! My favorite routine, late in the show, is a balancing act performed by two doofy middle-aged men that left my jaw somewhere on the floor.

It's hard to recommend a show like this because its' general tackiness is tough to overlook. But I had the benefit of seeing these amazing routines from the third row, where you practically get splashed with sweat. Is it art? No. Is it thrilling? Oh yes.

I made the cut!!!

So, last night was my preliminary appearance for the NYC Metro Star Talent Challenge... and I made the cut! A field of 22 singers was whittled down to 4 and yours truly is one of them! I am thrilled. I appear next on July 28th when the top 12 sing and are then reduced to 6.

The other winners from last night are Esther Beckman, Stearns Matthews, & Angela Shultz. Congrats, guys!

If you don't hear from me...

Folks, my week ahead is jammed one minute to the next, so if I seem remote, don't take it personally. Tonight is, of course, the Metro Star Talent Search at the Metropolitan Room. Cross your toes! Tomorrow I am seeing Cirque Dreams at the Broadway Theatre with Michael Santora. Speaking of, yesterday Michael went sky-diving!!! I am soooooooooo jealous. It sounds incredible. But I digress. Wednesday Johary Ramos (of the infamous tequila-tinged birthday party) is coming over to learn music. Thursday I meet with Elizabeth London regarding the development and such for Sylvia So Far and on Friday I meet with Jim Sterner of WECC to program the Fall semester there. Oi! On Saturday I was supposed to take the train to Washington DC to see a show, but I 've accepted an invitation instead to go Outlet Malling in Jersey with the Proctors followed by dinner at Red Lobster. We'll try to catch Mamma Mia! if we have the chance.

And on the seventh day...

I rewrite!

Equal Time

Poor Daddy Yay. My sister's husband, whose name is actually Jay (I am told), never gets in the picture because he's always behind the camera. Here at the Boston Pops concert on July 4, with Kevin on the left, Adam on the right...

Ladies and Gentlemen...

Daddy Yay!

Counting Down to New Orleans

All of the sudden it occurred to me that it's only a few very short weeks before I escort a dozen of my fabulous WECC kids to New Orleans. We've been talking for months about going, building a house, doing our part... and now we are actually going. I've thought of the trip only in the abstract, as in "We will do good works". Now I am wondering, what I will say to them when they cry? How do I buffer their horror and shock at what they see? Other folk have been called upon to make the arrangements. Where we will stay. What we will eat and when. How we get to the building site. Thank god someone else is handling that, because it is not my talent. I, on the suddenly daunting other hand, have been commissioned to see that they have a good time. Yikes! See that they have fun. Laugh. Feel good about what it is they are doing. I can do that --- it is what I am expected to do at WECC. But suddenly it feels a bit... huge.

We have a planning and information session tonight and I know I will feel more secure after that. I plan on an unforgettable experience. And, of course, there will be beignets.

Young Terror

This wonderful picture of my brother Michael and sister Sally, causing trouble at an amusement park over the weekend, struck a terror memory in my soul. I am seven years old, assigned a bumper car against my better judgement at Indiana Beach in Monticello, Indiana. I am acutely aware, though the adults seem oblivious to this fact, that I don't drive. The bell rings, the cars begin to roll, I look left and see him: my older brother making a beeline for me, his mission to cause my untimely demise. My hands fly from the wheel, causing the car to simply spin, a sitting duck in dervish. I begin shrieking. Closer, closer, closer... we, crash, I cry, he howls with pleasure and speeds off for his next victim. Ah, memories...

Tonnage

First of all, are there two "n"s in tonnage? I'd have thought so, but it looks weird on the screen. We'll go with two. You're sure to correct me.

Second, a friend - someone I think of as extremely attractive - really surprised me yesterday by telling me that he is committed to a 30-day Weight Watchers program. In my head he is proportioned just perfectly --- neither thin nor chubby, with highly apparent muscles in all the right places. He claims his calves are camouflaging his middle.

Then I recalled that last week, a young buddy - someone I do not think of as extremely attractive, but as extremely hot - hugged me then pulled back and sheepishly said, "I know, I should lose ten pounds. Maybe twenty". The child is nuts.

So, last night I slept pretty well, except that I kept dreaming I was in rehearsals for some show, and people kept coming up to me and saying "You've let yourself go. You should lose some weight". Mind you, there were several pots accusing the kettle. But, post arising, I took a long, fully unclothed look in the huge mirror in my bedroom (I demand a bedroom with a huge mirror) and noted what my clothes have been telling me for months. I've let myself go! My middle is getting soft. My tone has gone atonal (and not in that interesting if slightly annoying Phillip Glass way). A rear that was once the envy of the Upper Westside has drifted decidedly South. And I think...

I don't care much!

Two years ago I looked like a refugee from some third world country that specialized in emaciated gay blondes. A doctor actually diagnosed me with malnutrition, an absolute sin in the country that orchestrates the world's food flow. A year ago, after some work, I had gained a bit of mass and managed to get marvelous little cuts between my pecs and around my torso. Yes, I was hot. I'd have asked me on a date if I hadn't thought I'd turn me down. And wow, was I miserable.

In a shift that happened very slowly over about six months, I became happy. Not blissful. Not giddy with the prospects of my day. Just happy. Glad to wake up in the morning. Excited about things like music and origami and children... and food. I started cooking for friends then, a little by a little, cooking for me. I've been living for two years on yellow rice and red beans (which I love) but last night I added steak and yams and potatoes. And, at the end, I had one of my roomie's homebaked chocolate chunk cookies.

And it shows. And I am happy. Thank you god. And if the weight is the by-product, the AMA's "possible side effects" warning on my label, or my "Ah well, my days of ultimate cuteness have passed. More fudge, please" moment… I am okay with that.

More fudge, please.

Wonderful Pic

My brother-in-law Jay sent me this picture today. I presume he took it since he isn't in it, but what I love is it is a great picture of four people I love: My brother Michael, sister Sally, and nephews Kevin and Adam. It's great of each of them and wonderful collectively.

My Favorite Couple

Every now and then you meet a couple who seem to do it --- meaning the couple thing --- right. Here are an awesome twosome I adore. Ah, it should only happen to me. Where is that damned dude reading Kafka on the train??? Anyway, Robert is on the left, John above.

Night One at the Metro Talent Challenge

Wow! 22 incredibly talented singers kicked off the event. The four advancing (there were only supposed to be 3, but evidently a tie occurred) and the songs they did are:

BILL BROOKS ("Taylor, the Latte Boy")

ROBERT FOWLER ("And The World Goes 'Round")

ANNE STEELE (I think the song is called "Landslide")

EJAYE TRACEY ("Blame It on my Youth")

Congrats!!! It was a fun night. For the umpteenth time, my night is next Monday, July 14th at 7pm.

Great News for Film Lovers!!!

They found it!

There are several versions of Fritz Lang's marvelous silent sci-fi epic Metropolis. I've seen 'em all. What no one has seen in 80 years is the complete 3-and-a-half hour directors cut. Folks started whacking away at Metropolis about 20 minutes after its initial 1927 release. The strange blond man? At last we shall know who he is! What he means!

It turned up at a film research institute in Buenos Aires. Wouldn't you think you'd keep track of a little thing like the only known director's cut of one of the greatest films ever made?

Anyway, this is as exciting as when the only directors cut of Falconetti in The Passion of Joan turned up in the closet of a Danish Insane Asylum. You just never know where these things are going to show up. Note to self: Check under bed for only known directors cut of Thelma Ritter as Hedda Gabler.

Something that will forever make me roar with glee? The memory of David Johnston doing his reenactment of Robot Maria's Dance of Debauchery (see photo above). It works every time. Thank you for that, David.

I felt unfaithful...

Okay, I posted a photo of Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina and felt like I was cheating on Deborah Kerr. And that is a faithlessness that never shall transpire...

Update on SSF

As you know, the reading of Sylvia So Far went splendidly and I spent a goodly portion of the weekend at the computer incorporating rewrites. As it stands now, the throwaway bit of musical material, "Hot Ass, Sticky, Bye Bye Judy Night" has been expanded, with all of the characters getting a verse. I anticipate it extending into a dance that is ultimately broken up my the cops. Plus, Caesar brought a really cute chorographer to the show last week and we'd love to have a reason to have him around. I am, finally finally finally, tackling the STAR house sequence and making it into a number that incorporates themes from other pieces and new material. The song is currently titled "Lady for a Day" and should be fun. I am fiddling with making the context clearer. Not easy. Is Holland just rattling on? Does it all take place in a moment? Is Teddy having some kind of jabbering meltdown? Is Sylvia there or not? Blah blah blah.

Anyway, that's my Syl above, speaking at the Stonewall during Pride Week of 2001. It would be her last, but we didn't know that then.

Has anyone noticed...

...that I have appalling punctuational skills? Hmmm. Need to fix that.

Metrostar Talent Challenge begins tonight!

Though I don't sing until next week, the Metrostar Talent Challenge begins tonight at the Metropolitan Room, 34 West 22nd St. at 7pm. I'm going to get the lay of the land and see how it all happens. In that, there seems to be an advantage to not singing the first week. So, if anybody wants to join me tonight, I shall be cabareting it. And after I might pop in Musicals Mondays at Splash since it's only a couple of blocks away.

It feels so right...

I don't as a rule identify with Audrey Hepburn. I mean, I think she's rapturously beautiful and all that and she stars in a few of my favorite movies, but I've never actually said "Oh that Audrey. She knows me so well". That connection was reserved for Deborah Kerr.

But I watched an Audrey trilogy over the weekend and one moment shot right through me and I thought "Exactly!". But more on that.

First, I spent the long weekend rewriting Sylvia So Far (another blog), recovering from Mr. Ramos' birthday party (another blog), and watching movies I've seen a thousand times before. Five, to be exact. And they were (in order of appearance): Sabrina, Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Music Man, 1776, and Roman Holiday.

Wow!

A few favorite moments:

Shirley Jones: "Mrs. Shinn, The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam is a classic." Hermione Gingold: "It's a smutty book."

Audrey perched on the fire escape, guitar in hand, warbling about her Huckleberry friend.

An exquisitely young Blythe Danner waltzing with William Daniels to a single violin and Howard da Silva's delighted observation: "Oh John! You can dance!".

"Rome!"

"I know there have been many ports of call and there will be many more. One can't expect a traveling salesman to stay put."

But it was an unremembered moment that lingers for me. Something I heard for the first time. It articulated something I have been feeling of late. For whatever reasons, I have been acutely aware that the universe seems to be converging in my favor right now. Everything is going right and I am the happiest I've been in a very long time. Some of it is my doing and some of it is... who knows? But there is a beautiful moment in Sabrina, when Audrey's chauffeur father says, "Oh Sabrina, you're reaching for the moon again". And Audrey says "No father..."

"The moon is reaching for me."

Johary's Birthday Party

I don't recall which one it was, but at 3am some insane friend of Johary's decided it was time to start doing tequila shots. This is the routine --- you lick the cup in your hand between the thumb and index finger and apply salt. Then you lick the salt, immediately shoot the tequila, then jam a wedge of lime in your mouth. It's a little bit of heaven!!! And you never do just one.

It was a great party. For those who don't know, I am the slightly inebriated blond in the red shirt and Johary is the ridiculously goodlooking birthday boy. So much alcohol was so effortlessly consumed that I have forbidden Johary to have another birthday for at least a year.

My new favorite store:

Actually, my friend Johary turned me on to it. It's called ConQuete and the shirts are gorgeous: amazing fabrics, highly tailored for thinner (slighter?), sexy guys like me. Pants that actually flatter. Hats hats hats! Wildly patterned bathing suits and date underwear. I plan to drop an embarassing amount of cash there in months to come.

ConQuete

257 West 23rd Street

Speaking of...

Yesterday I mentioned in my blog one of the amazing dance sequences in the film version of Sweet Charity. The movie flopped when it was released, which is surprising because it is one of the best transfers of a stage musical to the screen. Shirley MacLaine (one of my fave actresses anyway --- I mean The Apartment??? --- she steals my breath) is so vulnerable and real it hurts. I find most musical theater people have never seen it. If you haven't do yourselves a favor.

Musical Mondays at SPLASH!

When exactly was it the go-go boys stopped showering in those elevated stalls at SPLASH!? How old am I? I found myself there last night explaining on my way out to a table of very young men that, when it opened in the late 80s (?) that was the draw --- go-go boys showering and toweling off for the assemblage.

Good god. Anyway, Jimmy and I met down there last night for a wonderful weekly treat: Musicals Mondays. Come 7pm they show scenes from Broadway musicals, outstanding filmed numbers, TV specialty pieces, AND IT IS DIVINE!!! I stayed about an hour and saw Glenn do "As If We Never Said Goodbye". Babs doing "Parade". A truly thrilling dance number (introduced by Billy Joel) from Movin' On. An absolutely hilarious high camp mix of the big tunes from Joseph/Dreamcoat. Beyonce, Jennifer and Anika bein' the dreamgirls they are. Patti scaring the beejesus out of Laura Benanti in Gypsy. The finale from "Baryshnikov on Broadway". Shirley MacLaine et al doing "There's Gotta be Something Better Than This", which remains, for my taste, one of the best dance sequences from any movie.

The place was packed in a happy way. As the phantom says... "Go!"

Details...

Metro Talent Challenge

Monday evenings from July 7 – August 18

7pm

The Metropolitan Room

34 West 22nd Street between 5th and 6th Avenues

(212)206-0440

Trial Rounds July 7, 14, 21

20 singers a night perform a single number, 3 are chosen (by combined judges scores and audience vote) to advance to the Quarter Finals. My night is July 14.

Quarter Finals July 28

The 9 finalists perform 2 songs each. 5 advance to the Semi Finals.

Semi Finals August 4

5 finalists do three new songs. 3 advance to the Finals.

Finals Round 1 August 11

3 finalists do two songs from their repertoire and one common song picked by the judges done in their own arrangement. Patter is introduced.

Finals Round 2 August 18

3 finalists do a three number set with patter. Judges pick two of the songs, performer picks the other. Winner announced.

I don't know the cover charge. I assume there is a two drink minimum. Every audience member gets two ballots and receives another for every additional drink or dessert ordered.

The winner gets a one-week engagement at the Metropolitan Room and a recording as well as other perks. The runners up are offered the opportunity to open for the winner.

I'm Ba-ack...

I am delighted to report that the reading of Sylvia So Far was a tremendous success last Wednesday. I think it is largely due to the insight and beautiful sensitivity of Elizabeth London, our director. I adore her.

But, other news. The First Annual NYC MetroStar Competition is about to launch and yours truly has been selected to perform. It's a singing competition for the cabaret set modeled on the American Idol template. I read about it in The Times a few weeks ago and applied with "The Man Reading Kafka on the Train", which I consider my lucky song. So, my first night is July 14 at the Metropolitan Room and you're all invited to drop by and VOTE FOR ME!!! The winner gets a weeks engagement, a professional recording, a promotional package and hopefully a professional dye job and botox.

Life is really lovely just now. I hope that is true for you too.