Michael Jackson; 1958 - 2009

"If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and make a change. You gotta get it right while you got the time, 'cause when you close your heart you close your mind." - Michael Jackson, "Man in the Mirror" Bad

I truly can't believe that music has lost one of its greatest entertainers of all time. Michael Jackson is my generation's Elvis. There was no one like him out there. As far as I can remember MJ has been a huge influence in my life. I have all of his albums, I would always stop whatever I was doing to watch him perform on TV. His death is being mourned all around the world. Last night (instead of doing THE 30 FILMS OF JUNE) I watched a 2 hour documentary on MJ's life. Right now I am playing a MJ playlist and just marveling the genius of his music. This isn't somehing I'm just doing now though - at Leah's Awesome 80s Party a bunch of us rocked out to "Man in the Mirror" (which, if you haven't listened to this song in awhile, do so, it's BRILLIANT) and missed the old times.

When I listen to Dangerous it makes me think of being a kid. When I was in 7th grade I was in a group that won a dance competition using the music of MJ. We danced a medley using "They Don't Care About Us", "Remeber the Time", "Beat It", and a few others. We watched a bunch of MJ videos for inspiration and to steal some moves.

Remember awhile ago when I talked about that MJ blog post I found? I revisited it last night and watched the YouTube clips. It was so beautiful and inspiring to watch. I don't know when this will really sink in. My mother texted me last night and said something along the lines of, "You should do a MJ tribute", but I kindly declined. One, because some of those notes are NOT coming out. And two, I haven't mastered a moonwalk yet. Soon, though. Last night in the show we ALL had MJ dance moves going on onstage. Whenever there was an improv dance break, it was MJed out. Hee hee!

I see you watching me.

I was compelled to write this evening and that's what I'm going to do. I'll start with a link - Tony Winner Patti LuPone Responds to Times Blog.

Now, we've all heard this story (and if you haven't then you're clearly not a theater person), and this is actually the second time that LuPone has done this. Now, I commend LuPone for taking a stand on what she believes in. That takes guts and she sure does have them, we all know. Now, I don't know if I would go as far as to stop a show (your own is one thing [Lord knows I wanted to tell a few people off during the second performance of Sign o' the Times], but a full Broadway production is another). She could easily have just told stage management to handle it, and that would have sufficed. It's always a treat when people think they've gotten away with something, but then are stopped before they leave the theater and told to either delete the material, or the camera is taken away. But hey, that's not what she chose to do.

The reason I've decided to bring it us is this - tonight at the show we had 2 people in the first 2 rows of the theater recording the show. Now, I'm not gonna act like I don't have audio from The Wedding Singer and The Color Purple on Broadway. That's not the issue. And yes, it is illegal, but people have been doing it for years and it'll continue to be done. MY issue is that these people don't even have the sense to be slick about it. Don't hold your camera up in the air and record the show from the front row. That's just not smart. You know we can see you, right? Why do audience members think we can't see them when we're on stage? Where did this thought come from? This isn't a television folks, wake up! And it's insulting. It's like your taunting us with your video camera. Have some fucking sense and hide it.

So basically what it comes down to it this - I don't really know what my stance on the situation is. Yes, it's illegal to record shows when you go see them, but I've done it (only audio, not video). But I've never been stupid enough to wave the recorder around for all to see. It's just idiotic. So yeah, people please, keep it to yourself if you're going to record. We don't want to know about it. And on that note, see ya on YouTube!

Getting my life together, as usual.

So today I had one of my "Donell, get your life together" days - which, I've found to be never-ending, by the way. I say this to myself more often than not. These days aren't anything too strenuous, just little things I need to do. For example, if I forget to give an airline my frequent flyer number I have to find someway to get my miles. The sneaky airlines make it very difficult to do this online after the fact (it's really like trying to find a secret code in a haystack...wait...), which I don't understand. Why is this so difficult? Also, the idea of calling an airline and waiting for hours to actually speak to someone is not something I welcome with open arms. But today, I figured since I woke up early (11AM) I would brave the telephone waiting and try to speak to someone (Continental makes it EXTREMELY difficult to get past miles online). This wasn't as tricky as I thought it would be; I was only reconnected once. I was very happy about this.

Then it was time to rearrange my suitcases and figure out what stuff I wanted to send home. I have a problem with holding on to unnecessary things. The idea of unpacking and repacking is very daunting, but the task itself is not. I am actually quite good at it (I should enter some sort of contest) and got it done and got plenty of things to send home. Yay! My 2 suitcases are not longer unzipped to their fullest extent, and I can de-expand them. What a beautiful feeling.

I have lots of magazine reading to catch up on. The suitcases were being weighed down by unread material, and hopefully I will have some cool stuff to blog about. I found an awesome blog that I will definitely be obsessed with (I can already tell) and you should all check it out ASAP - Film Experience Blog. It's awesome and has some great stuff on there. I am particularly drawn to it because as you all know I am doing THE 30 FILMS OF JUNE. Also, check out Theatre Aficionado at Large for some cool theater and film stuff. Both awesome blogs that I checked out last night.

That's all for now, folks. Oh, and to touch quickly on the happenings in cyber space at the moment - I could give 2 shits about Jon & Kate or Perez Hilton. That's all.

I just might PEE myself.

Musical Theatre Dictionary
I found this yesterday and I know it's making it's way around the MT world and I figured I would post it on here for your viewing pleasure. If you are a musical theatre person you will SHIT yourself when you read this. Someone brilliant compiled a dictionary of MT terms and such and it is hilarious. I am so glad these are all in one place and that someone was wise enough to make a blog out of it. I will be checking back for updates and you better too.

Some of my favorite words are: fiercey, belting and bleeding, nodesy, receipt, and 2 show day. Enjoy - I know you will!

UPDATED 6/21: They added my word: VIBRATRESS to the list. Check it out!

iLISTEN: "Obsessed"

"Obsessed" Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel Mariah Carey (July 6th, 2009) [r&b/pop]

Okay folks, I got some stuff to get off of my chest. Anyone that knows me knows that I am a FOREVER and ever Mariah Carey fan. Always have been and always will be. I owe finding my singing voice to MC; I had her first album on record when I was 1 year old. "Vision of Love", "Love Takes Time", and "Vanishing" are songs that taught me how to sing. She is my vocal hero so I have to support my girl to the death.

So this is the thing: yesterday at 4:00PM Mariah released her newest singing, "Obsessed" from her upcoming album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, set for a August 25th release. "Obsessed" is a hip-hop driven uptempo summer jam. On her Twitter Mariah said she wanted to release a ballad first, but decided to do a summer jam instead. "Obsessed" resembles every uptempo lead single Mariah has released since "It's Like That" from The Emancipation of Mimi. So what's the problem?

Listen, I am a Mariah Carey fan just like the next one, but I feel like we need to let go of the "Dreamlover", "Emotions", "Fantasy" Mariah Carey. She doesn't make music like that anymore. She doesn't sing like that anymore. Let's face it, she doesn't. Music isn't like that anymore either. Pop music is an ever changing genre so why do we keep hanging on to the old times? Now there is more air than note on melodies. Auto-tuned, breathy, and lyrically okay. We can't deny though that she is still an amazing artist and a pop icon.

I will compare her to Whitney Houston. Everyone misses the old Whitney, but we need to just accept the fact she will never be able to sing "I Will Always Love You" like she used to. She had that time and it's over. Just like Mariah will never be able to sing the way she used to. It was 20 years ago when she released her debut album and she's older. Very few people can remain at the same vocal quality all of their lives, and really, is there any need to? You release the music you do, when you do, and it's set in time. I don't NEED Mariah to sing like she did 20 years ago; that was then.

Why do we expect her to be the same artist she was 20 years ago? That is not exciting. No one asks Madonna to be the same, so why should other artists? I've pretty much said everything I need to say about this subject, so I'll wrap things up. I'm sure that Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel will be an album along the same lines as E=MC2 and The Emancipation of Mimi, I expect it and I accept it. It will NOT be Emotions, but hey, that's what we HAVE Emotions for. Bust out your compact discs and reminisce. One critique I have about the cover of the "Obsessed" single is that it reminds me of Janet's Discipline cover. The drowned rat look has already been done, MC. The girls look amazing though. I'm sure that "Obsessed" will be Mariah's 19th #1 single and keep her on the pedestal she's on.

ADDED 6/18: One more thing - yes, the song features auto-tune, but unlike most songs it's not used to help Mariah hits the notes; it's a stylistic choice. The effect that auto-tune has on the sound of the voice is what it is being used for in this song. Come on people, when has Mariah ever had pitch problems?

Late night/early morning bullet points.

• I don't plan on doing anything today besides going to coffee with MRM and doing my show at night, so I promise to bust out some of the overdue movie reviews. I promise.
• Since I did not bring my computer with me on my little trip to NYC, I just got finished catching up on all of my blogs. After months of convincing, I have finally set up my Google Reader and it is HEAVEN, let me tell you. Though, unfortunately, the people that introduced me to it aren't getting the full benefit. a thing of today doesn't allow their full blog entries to show, and since I am lazy, I just read the little blurb and move on. Sorry girls.
• I am trying to read more magazine, since this seems to be a new obsession of mine. I have tons in my suitcase that I need to catch up on. I don't know how stuff seems to pile up like it has been. I think I spend too much time on Facebook doing nothing. I also find that whenever I am doing something I am constantly looking at the time so see how much has passed. I do it when I watch movies and it really bothers me. I don't know where this form of neurosis came from, but I want it gone.
• I want more of my friends to get Twitter accounts. I am becoming more and more obsessed. Follow me here.
• Mariah Carey's new single, "Obsessed" comes out next Tuesday and I can't wait. Bring it on, MC.
• I forgot to write about some of the shows I saw in NYC when I was there for my vacation 2 months ago. Expect little blurbs about Rock of Ages, The Toxic Avenger, reasons to pretty, and Mary Stuart, 9 to 5: The Musical. I know I really didn't write about the Tonys, because I figured there were tons of other places to read about the awards. I left that one up to you guys.
• I am really going to work on getting this blog fully up to date on some things that have been missing. I will be back and better than ever very soon!

PHOTOS: Leah's Awesome 80s Birthday Party!

Last night the beautiful and talented Leah celebrated her birthday, 80s style. We all got decked out and hit up The Chocolate Bar for a night full of dancing, belting, and big hair. We had so much fun and we even got some random bar hoppers to join us in a little song and dance. It was a blast and a half and I am SO sore today because of it. Too much. More photos to come.