As Allison mentioned in her review of last night's Glee, it was an awesome episode. The show featured some great songs, some great lines, and a few surprises about some of the students and faculty. If you haven't watched it yet, I won't give away too much.
My favorite song was "Defying Gravity," the ballad from Wicked, sung in a "diva off" by Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer), with each performance inter-cut with the other. They both have fantastic voices, and I'm in awe of Colfer's spot-on tone and intonation. Just gorgeous! But I have to agree with Allison that perhaps Rachel has the more Broadway-type voice that jumps off the stage and grabs you.
I don't know, though. It's a tough call as to which has the bigger diva voice. What do you think? If you were a Broadway casting director, who would you choose to sing this song -- Kurt or Rachel?
(Thanks to Rickey.org for posting the video.)
Wicked-related stories
Here's the Defying Gravity video from last night's Glee
Glee's "Don't Stop Believin'" goes gold
If you have any doubt about the power of television in the selling of music and making stars, this story should convince you that there is a definite correlation. Fox's Glee has produced a solid gold successful single. The Glee version of "Don't Stop Believin'" has been certified as Gold in digital sales of half-a-million downloads. That's 500,000 people who've heard the song on the TV show and wanted it on their iPod or cell phone or some music playing apparatus.
"Don't Stop Believin'" was the first big song from the pilot, but it's not the only song that has been popular. Seven songs from Glee now occupy spots in the top 200 of iTunes' Top Songs chart. On November 3, there will be a compilation CD of the best numbers from the show, called Glee: The Music, Volume 1.
Continue reading Glee's "Don't Stop Believin'" goes gold
Christmas with Kristin Chenoweth
I know it's only May and hardly the time to start thinking of egg nog and holly and Ebenezer Scrooge or any of the other Christmas standbys, but forgive me if I let out a whoop of happiness about the news that Kristin Chenoweth will star in The Twelve Men of Christmas TV movie. The romantic comedy is slated to be part of the Fa La La La La Lifetime lineup (try saying that three times fast!), and while another holiday film doesn't usually make me gleeful, this one does.Kristin Chenoweth is a gem. I'm still bereft that we'll probably never see her Olive Snook again because Pushing Daisies is gone unless there's a movie, and I was tiffed that the David E. Kelly NBC pilot Legally Mad was not picked up only because La Chenoweth was in it.
Continue reading Christmas with Kristin Chenoweth
Emmy nominee Kristen Chenoweth would love to be Wicked
A few thoughts about Kristin Chenoweth, if you don't mind. First, congratulations to the Pushing Daisies' actress --she plays Olive -- for snagging an Emmy nomination as Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. And kudos for the effervescent and spontaneous adlibs and asides she and Neil Patrick Harris -- another favorite of mine -- brought to the reading of the nominations Thursday morning. So often the reading of the nominations is as dull as dishwater, like the stars doing the announcing are simply trying to get through it without tripping over their tongues. Not so with Chenoweth and Harris; they were delightful together and added a kick to the nomination announcement.
Continue reading Emmy nominee Kristen Chenoweth would love to be Wicked
Broadway's Roger Bart lands ABC legal pilot
TV watchers probably know Roger Bart best as George Williams, the murderous pharmacist on Desperate Housewives. On Broadway, he's been a musical dog (Snoopy in You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown -- for which he won the Tony award), a sidekick (Carmen Ghia in The Producers) and a scientist (Young Frankenstein). Now, he's slotted for a return to the tube. Roger Bart will star as a lawyer in the untitled David Hemingson dramedy pilot for ABC. The project casts Bart as Cliff, a high-strung attorney in a fancy-schmancy L.A. law firm, where one of the partners is his spouse. Hemingson's pilot is getting a lot of attention, in part because of his pedigree. He's written for How I Met Your Mother, American Dad and Kitchen Confidential. Adding Roger Bart to the mix ups the likelihood of ABC finding a place in the schedule mid-season for this comedy. They start filming next month.
Continue reading Broadway's Roger Bart lands ABC legal pilot
Betty to bite the Big Apple?
I have to hand it to the producers of ABC's Ugly Betty; they've re-created the look of New York City and Queens so effectively in the first two seasons that I thought they did film the show in the Big Apple. Well, no. They filmed the pilot in Manhattan and inserted a real location or two here and there, but the bulk of the series has been filmed in Los Angeles. (Although the Wicked episode was clearly not a Broadway theater -- it was just too spacious!)Now comes words that the Ugly Betty production may actually pull up stakes and make New York its real home, complete with costumes, props, studio and stars. The ABC Studios are contemplating the relocation for financial reasons, including very lucrative tax credits. While that's good for the producers, it sucks for the crew. They won't be transported to the city; they'll be let go -- about 150 in all. But if you're a glass half-full kind of person, that's 150 new jobs for New York workers. As for the stars, this change isn't a big deal as most are from New York and aren't objecting to moving -- at least that's the word from ABC.
Continue reading Betty to bite the Big Apple?
Eight real world moments in reel TV
The world of primetime TV are primarily set in the real world. The real world based on the fiction they create. So, Law and Order -- in all its incarnations -- is set in New York City, but it's not the real five boroughs. The newspapers they read are not The New York Times, the Post or the Daily News. For contemporary TV fiction, reality is on the margins of the storytelling because you can't really set those characters in a real world. However, when the two worlds intersect, the results can be magic. Here's 8 big-time, primetime examples:1) Cowboy Up Time
Remember the episode of Lost when Ben wanted to convince Jack that he was in communication with the world outside the island? To prove that he was telling the truth, he showed Jack a video of the Boston Red Sox winning the world series in 2004. You can't get more real than that, right? And yet it was used in one of the most out of this world shows on the air. In fact, using Lost's own terminology, the Red Sox video is a constant truth in a universe that's a complete fiction.
Gallery: Fact in Fiction
Continue reading Eight real world moments in reel TV
Pushing Oscars - Kristin Chenoweth to sing at Academy Awards
The buzz about ABC's Oscar broadcast is starting in earnest, and yesterday it was announced that Kristin Chenoweth, the adorable Olive Snook on Pushing Daisies, has been tapped to sing one of the Academy Award nominated songs, "That's How You Know" from the film Enchanted, according to the Baltimore Sun. Kristin will be joined by Marlon Saunders, who played the Central Park Calypso singer in the movie. By the by, Enchanted's star, Amy Adams, will also be singing on the show. She's doing, "Happy Working Song," another nominated song from the Disney hit. FYI, that's the sing-along tune she did in the film with cockroaches, rats and other happy vermin. You can just imagine Walt Disney spinning in his grave, can't you?Continue reading Pushing Oscars - Kristin Chenoweth to sing at Academy Awards
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