Freedom to Marry

We love one another more than anything in the world and want nothing more than to share that love with one another, and know that we are each protected and recognized as each others' spouse. We don't need the validation of the government to make our love or relationship real, but we do need the recognition of the government to protect our rights.
Jeffrey Brunelle
Boston

Today is Freedom to Marry Day. Freedom to Marry is a gay/straight partnership working for marriage equality across the United States. Every year, the organization holds a week of activities designed to engage Americans in the movement for fairness and equality. On its Web site you'll find stories from families relating how marriage discrimination affects their everyday lives.

On May 17, 2004, same-sex marriage became legal in Massachusetts. In the Bay State, MassEquality works to promote and defend marriage equality. On that organization's Web site you'll see the flip side. You'll find hundreds of stories from gay and lesbian Massachusetts residents, such as Jeffrey Brunelle, talking about what being able to marry has meant to their everyday lives.

Too often, the subject of gay marriage is used as a wedge issue by politicians to divide us, or as a way for hatemongers to stir up fear. We don't hear enough about the very real love stories of ordinary, everyday Americans, the men and women whose relationships truly embody family values.

As someone who lives next door to Massachusetts, knows many people there and goes there all the time, I can tell you that there is nothing to fear. No heterosexual marriages have been harmed. Nothing has changed in the state, except that having the right to marry has made our gay and lesbian friends, neighbors, coworkers and family members feel happier, more secure and better protected. And that only strengthens our society, just as the ending of legal discrimination against African-Americans did nearly 50 years ago.

There is nothing I could possibly write, no argument I could make, that would be as poignant, as clear, as eloquent, as these stories. So please take five minutes to read a few of them.

Three for three

So, a couple days ago I said I was salivating at the thought of seeing Hair in Central Park this summer. I wish I could say the same about these other projects, but my feelings are decidedly mixed. Here are my thoughts, along with some ideas for alternatives. Any producers reading this, you know where to find me.

Gone with the Wind: Am I the only one who thinks that a musical version of Gone with the Wind, which opens in London's West End in April, is a supremely bad idea? I'm sure director Trevor Nunn's intentions are good. But the depictions of black people in the 1939 movie are stereotypical and offensive, and I don't see how they'll be any better on stage. The thought of singing and dancing slaves makes me cringe. And casting Jill Paice as Scarlett O'Hara only confirms my queasiness. She was wonderful in Curtins as the sweet ingenue. But this article in Playbill refers to Scarlett as a "steely Southern belle." Paice just doesn't strike me as steely enough.

My alternative: You want to make a musical out of a classic movie, how about my favorite movie of all time: Casablanca. It's arguably just as well known and beloved as GWTW, and it has some of the same elements: a love story set against a wartime backdrop, strong male and female lead characters, memorable supporting roles. Plus, the 1942 film has an element of suspense and this time, our hero and heroine are on the right side of a moral issue.

Shrek: I'm kind of ambivalent about the musical version of the 2001 animated film centering around a large green ogre, which begins previews at The Broadway Theatre on Nov. 8. Although it probably doesn't matter what I think since I'm about 40 years older than the target audience and I don't have any small children to bring. On one hand, I think it's great that another movie, oops I mean musical, is opening on Broadway that's geared to young children and their parents. One of the great things about Broadway is the range of entertainment for all ages. On the other hand, I saw the first Shrek movie and I don't remember being all that bowled over by it. The only character I really liked was Eddie Murphy as the donkey. Now if he were going to be in the Broadway musical, I'd buy a ticket.

My alternative: Disney's One Hundred and One Dalmations. The 1961 classic has a love story, a great villain in the appropriately named Cruella De Vil, and a cute floppy-eared supporting cast. Plus, the male lead in the movie, Roger Radcliffe, is a professional songwriter. How perfect is that for a musical! I'm not sure how they'd get 101 dogs on stage. I admit that's a major stumbling block. Dancers in doggie suits probably wouldn't cut it. Maybe they could go the route of the horses in Equus and wear abstract wire Dalmation heads. Or maybe Julie Taymor could whip something up, a la The Lion King.

Yentl: A musical version of the 1983 Barbra Streisand movie about a girl who disguises herself as a boy to study in an Eastern European yeshiva is being considered by husband-and-wife songwriters Marilyn and Alan Bergman. I guess this is more in the Shrek category. I'm not opposed to it, I'm just not all that excited about it. And haven't we seen this before? It's like Fiddler on the Roof meets Shakespeare in Love. But do we need another Fiddler when the first one is still perfectly fit?

My alternative: What I'd really like to see is a musical that looks at contemporary Jewish life. So I'm recommending the very funny 2006 chick-lit novel by Laurie Gwen Shapiro called The Matzo Ball Heiress. The heroine, Heather Greenblotz, of Greenblotz Matzo, tries to save the ailing family business by pulling her quirky, far-flung and emphatically secular relatives together for a Passover seder to be broadcast on the Food Channel. Complications ensue, but needless to say, by the end she finds the kosher man of her dreams.

The A to Z of me

Modern Fabulousity did this meme first, and then Steve on Broadway. They were both interesting and fun to read, so I figured I'd add my 2 cents. Without further ado, here are the ABCs of Gratuitous Violins:

A - Age: Approximately two months younger than Kevin Spacey - if he's telling the truth about his age.
B - Band listening to right now: Original Broadway cast recording of Hairspray. What can I say? I just can't stop the beat.
C - Career future: Hopefully, to continue having a career.
D - Dad’s name: Herbert.
E - Easiest person to talk to: Steve, of course!
F - Favorite type of shoe: Mizuno running shoes. I'm breaking in a new pair right now. While I don't run, I do walk a lot, and I overpronate. Mizuno shoes have a thick, sturdy sole and they're very comfy.
G – Grapes or Grapefruit: Grapefruit, definitely. White, not pink, with a sprinkling of sugar.
H – Hometown: Providence, Rhode Island. But my spiritual home is Manhattan.
I – Instrumental talent: Uploading songs to my iPod. That's really my only musical talent.
J – Juice of choice: Orange, with or without pulp.
K – Koala Bear or Panda Bear: Koalas are cute, but there's something about pandas. Plus, I've never seen a koala, but I saw a panda once, at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C., and it was adorable. I remember it was sitting up straight, just like a little furry person.
L - Longest car ride ever: Providence to Syracuse, N.Y. (I'm obviously not one for long car rides).
M – Middle name: Iris.
N - Number of jobs you’ve had: 11. Including: Babysitter (I'm a girl after all), library aide, jewelry factory piecework, assistant in the public affairs office of an agency of the Defense Department, selling newspaper subscriptions over the telephone, work/study in the history department in college, news editor in college, yearbook editor in college, English teacher in an elementary school in Israel, reporter, copy editor. Best: Current job. Worst: Tie between jewelry piecework and selling newspaper subscriptions over the phone.
O - OCD traits: Reading over my blog posts to check for typos.
P - Phobias: Heights, although I'm fine in airplanes. Also, mice. I'm not afraid of them in the abstract, only in the concrete.
Q - Quote: "Someday we'll look back on this and it will all seem funny," from "Rosalita," by Bruce Springsteen
R - Reason to smile: My first trip to Broadway in 2008 is coming up next month!
S - Song you sang last: "Manchester, England" from Hair.
T - Time you wake up: 7.5 to 8 hours after I go to sleep.
U - Unknown fact about me: I'm physically incapable of snapping my fingers. I can't carry a tune, either. I'm not sure about this, but the two things might be related. I guess I'll never get cast in West Side Story.
V - Vegetable you hate: Peas. Although lima beans would be a close second.
W - Worst habit: Checking my statcounter to see how many more hits I have now than I did five minutes ago.
X - X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, foot, little toe, ankle. But there have been some occasions when I've thought I should have my head examined.
Y - Yummiest food my belly likes: Mmmm, carbs.
Z - Zodiac sign: Taurus.

I'll still drink to that

I love honesty and I love Honest Tea. But my favorite independent beverage maker is going corporate. The Coca-Cola Co. has bought a 40-percent stake in Honest Tea for $43 million, and after three years, it has an option to buy the rest of the company.

When I read about it, I felt kind of sad. I've been a huge fan of Honest Tea and its line of lightly sweetened drinks almost since the company's inception 10 years ago, and I don't want this deal to change things. Moroccan Mint is my favorite, but I've tried and loved many of the other flavors, including First Nation Peppermint and the sadly discontinued Gold Rush Cinnamon. I like the fact that they're low calorie, not loaded with sugar or artificial sweeteners, and they actually taste like tea.

Cofounder Seth Goldman writes on the company's Web site that he was always searching for the perfect thirst quencher after a run or a game of basketball. But most drinks he tried were either too sweet or too tasteless. During a Coke vs. Pepsi case study in business school, he found out that he shared a passion for the idea of a less sweet yet still flavorful beverage with one of his professors, Barry Nalebuff. Together, they started Honest Tea in Bethesda, Md., in February 1998, to fill the niche between overly sweetened drinks and bottled water.

On his blog, Goldman explains his rationale for partnering with Coca-Cola. The company has reached a point where it needs Coke's nationwide distribution network if it's going to continue to grow. "Despite our 66% annual compound growth rate (70% in 2007), we still aren’t reaching all the people we want to reach."

Goldman pledges that the company will remain true to its efforts to support sustainable agriculture, use suppliers that respect individual workers and their families, and promote better-tasting, healthier beverages. The partnership with Coke, he argues will help further those goals.

"When we buy 2.5 million pounds of organic ingredients, as we did in 2007, we help create demand for a more sustainable system of agriculture, one that doesn’t rely on chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

"But when we buy ten times that amount, we help create a market that multiplies far beyond our own purchases. When we sell 32 million bottles and drink pouches with less than half the calories of mainstream alternatives, as we did in 2007, we help displace 2,400,000,000 empty calories. That’s important, but when we sell ten times that number, we help lead a national shift toward healthier diets."

There's a pretty interesting discussion about the deal at Seth's blog. I'm a little surprised by some of the reactions. While most of the comments are supportive, some customers have mixed feelings. They fear that a small company will lose its soul when it's swallowed up by a behemoth. Some people are angry, and a few have even said they won't be drinking Honest Tea anymore.

Since Seth and Barry are still going to be running the company, I trust that Honest Tea will be the same great-tasting beverage it's always been and remain true to its corporate values. I don't have a knee-jerk reaction that big corporations are intrinsically bad. I'm hoping Coke's distribution network will help make my favorite beverage more widely available. And who knows, maybe some of Seth and Barry's philosophy will rub off.

I agree with this comment from Ian: "The POINT of being a company like Honest Tea isn’t to only reach the people that already think like you - it’s to change the minds and behavior of those people that DON’T think like you."

I believe in Claude

I've rarely felt this excited about a movie or a television program, but I'm pretty much salivating at the thought of seeing Hair this summer in Central Park with Spring Awakening's Jonathan Groff. It runs from July 22-Aug. 17 as part of the free Shakespeare in the Park program.

Groff will be reprising his role as Claude from last summer, when Hair played for three nights in Central Park's Delacorte Theater to commemorate the musical's 40th anniversary. The show premiered at the Public Theater on Oct. 17, 1967, before moving to Broadway's Biltmore Theater on April 29, 1968. The original "tribe" included Diane Keaton, costar of Annie Hall, one of my favorite films of all time.

I've never seen a show in Central Park, I've never seen a show from the legendary Public Theater, I loved Spring Awakening when I saw it last summer, and for some reason, I've always loved Hair.

Maybe it's my inner flower child speaking, or the fact that although I lived through the 1960s, I was too young to enjoy them. So I've always had to experience the decade vicariously, through music, theater, movies and literature.

I saw a touring production of Hair in Syracuse, N.Y., many years ago, I've seen the movie, I've even been to Manchester, England, and I was excited to be in the very same Biltmore last April, to see LoveMusik. (Ok, maybe LoveMusik wasn't so thrilling, but to be in the same theater where Hair played was a thrill!)

There's some great footage in the series Broadway: The American Musical of Hair on the Great White Way. After seeing the actors coming out into the middle of the startled audience, I decided that if I could go back in time and see one show during its original run, I would choose Hair. It just looked like so much fun.

Sure, the book, by James Rado and Gerome Ragni, about a tribe of hippies living a bohemian life in New York in the 1960s and opposing the war in Vietnam, is hopelessly dated. And long hair isn't exactly a sign of political rebellion anymore. But the songs, with lyrics by Rado and music by Galt McDermot, are terrific. "Aquarius," "Manchester, England," "Hair," "Let the Sunshine In." Need I go on? Here's an interview with McDermot that aired on the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center program in which he reminisces a little about the show.

I didn't realize this, but Hair was the first off-Broadway show to transfer to Broadway. It seems almost impossible to believe that there was a time when that didn't happen. Now, shows seem to do it routinely. Last year, it was Spring Awakening and Grey Gardens. This year, In the Heights and Passing Strange are making the leap.

It's only fitting that one of the stars of Spring Awakening will be starring in this production of Hair. Like Spring Awakening, Hair has a rock 'n' roll score, a youthful cast and yes, nudity. While those things don't have have the same capacity to shock audiences as they did 40 years ago, I actually think the two shows have the same vitality, the same sense of electricity.

When I saw Spring Awakening in July, I immediately thought, this is what it must have been like to see Hair in the '60s, when it was new and fresh and unlike anything a Broadway audience had seen before.

Empty seats

Chris Caggiano at Everything I Know I Learned from Musicals follows the Broadway box office the way baseball fans follow box scores, so I can count on him to keep me updated on the latest trends.

I was shocked to read on Chris' blog that attendance at my beloved Curtains fell below 50 percent last week. David Hyde Pierce playing in a half-filled theater? Oh the unfairness! What happened to the other half of the audience? Even more puzzling was the fact that the same week, Mamma Mia! played to nearly 70 percent capacity. Sounds like a case for the character he plays in Curtains, Boston police Lt. Frank Cioffi.

On one level, I guess I understand. As Chris points out, February is the cruelest month on Broadway. It's not a great month for tourism, and tourists fill most of the theater seats. Mamma Mia! has an international reach. It's played all over the world, so the story and music are more familiar to visitors who come from other countries.

I loved Mamma Mia! but Curtains stars Hyde Pierce in his Tony-winning role, and the show still has most of its terrific original cast. It's got a fun murder mystery plot, memorable characters, wonderful songs and great choreography. It deserves a bigger audience, even in the depths of winter.

So to get you in the mood, here's a sweet video interview of David Hyde Pierce answering questions from fans, including the one on everyone's mind: which musical would be the perfect vehicle for him and his Frasier costars Kelsey Grammer and John Mahoney?

I'm it!

Ok, Sarah's done it, Steve's done it. Even though I'm nowhere near as knowledgeable about musical theater as my blogbuddies, and I've only seen a small fraction of the shows they've seen, I'll give this meme a try. I think by the end, I'll have mentioned just about every musical I've ever seen on Broadway!

1. The first musical I ever saw on Broadway was: Whew, glad we're starting off with an easy question. It was Curtains, on April 13, 2007. Who says Friday the 13th isn't a lucky day! The first Broadway musical I ever saw was A Chorus Line, in Boston. I don't remember the year, but I was in college, so it was the late '70s or early '80s.

2. The musical I would most like to see again is: I wish I'd been able to see Spring Awakening from the on-stage seats, sitting right next to John Gallagher Jr. I've only seen Wicked and Hairspray on tour, so I'd really like to see both of them on Broadway someday.

3. The musical I never want to see again is: Probably the one I saw on Sunday, the touring production of Spamalot. Perhaps I've just outgrown Monty Python. Or maybe it's just that I've seen so many musicals over the past year, I have a much better idea of what I like and what I don't like. And I've seen so many that are just so much better than Spamalot.

4. The best performance in a Broadway musical by a woman I've ever seen is There's no way I can pick just one. I loved Patti LuPone in Gypsy at City Center last summer, and Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade. They have amazing voices. Honorable mentions: Christine Ebersole in Grey Gardens, Laura Benanti in Gypsy and Saycon Sengbloh in The Color Purple. Each one took me on a memorable journey through the course of an evening. Can I go on? Debra Monk's brilliant comic turn in Curtains. I love listening to her in "It's a Business" on the cast recording.

5. The best performance in a Broadway musical by a man I've ever seen is: No contest here. My main man, Tony winner David Hyde Pierce, in Curtains. The singing, the dancing, the deft comic touch. A genuinely talented actor and a genuinely nice person. I loved the casts of Spring Awakening and 110 in the Shade, but there's just something so special about David Hyde Pierce and Curtains. Thinking about his performance as Boston police Lt. Frank Cioffi still makes me smile.

6. The person I wish they never cast was: Roger Bart in Young Frankenstein. It's too bad, because I liked him on Desperate Housewives. But he never made me forget Gene Wilder.

7. The person they should have cast was: I really don't know, but I'm open to suggestions. Matthew Broderick?

8. My favorite Broadway choreography was in the show: Wow, hard to pick just one. Of course, I loved Rob Ashford's work in Curtains and Tony winner Bill T. Jones in Spring Awakening, especially for "The Bitch of Living." But I'm a big fan of Matthew Bourne's choreography in Mary Poppins. I loved what he did with numbers like "Step in Time." And if you've never seen his Swan Lake, rent it on DVD. Such athletic, agile, hunky swans.

9. The lyric/line that always brings a lump to my throat is: There's only one. "For Good" from Wicked always makes me cry. Especially these lines: "It well may be that we'll never meet again in this lifetime. So let me say before we part, so much of me is made of what I learned from you. You'll be with me like a handprint on my heart. And now whatever way our stories end, I know you have rewritten mine by being my friend."

10. The stupidest lyric/line I've ever heard is: Since I've just seen Spamalot, those are the lyrics that are freshest in my mind. Probably something from "You Won't Succeed on Broadway." There are so many to choose from. How about this: "There's a very small percentile who enjoys a dancing gentile." Granted, it makes me chuckle. But it is stupid.

11. The first musical I had to go back and see twice was: Haven't done it yet, but I will next month when I see Gypsy with Patti LuPone. I can't wait!

12. The first musical I ever walked out of was: I've never walked out and I probably never would. I'd be much too self-conscious, unless I were sitting way in the back on the aisle, and I could get up and leave discreetly, without causing a disturbance.

13. The most underpraised and overly deserving show in my opinion is: Ok, these aren't underpraised, but how did Wicked lose out to Avenue Q and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee lose to Spamalot for the Best Musical Tony?

14. The most overly praised and under deserving show in my opinion is: Spamalot. Although I haven't seen Avenue Q. Or Cats.

15. The show tune song I'm most likely to sing while dancing around the house is: Something from Oklahoma or Hair. Even though I don't always feel like it's such a beautiful morning or a beautiful day, I do like singing those lines.

16. If I could recast any role in a current Broadway musical with a performer of the past it would be: Wow, this is a tough one. No one really comes to mind immediately. There are so many actors from the past that I wish I'd had a chance to see on stage, like Marlon Brando. I wonder what Brando would have done with Edna Turnblad from Hairspray, or Jack Lemmon with Lt. Frank Cioffi from Curtains. (Ok, I'm really just kidding about Brando in Hairspray and I don't even know whether Jack Lemmon could sing.)

17. If I could recast a current actor in a Broadway musical that was before their time it would be: Ditto. But since I loved Kevin Spacey's singing and dancing in Beyond the Sea, I'd love to see him do a Broadway musical - past, present or future.

18. The show they should never change a word of because it is already perfect is: Hairspray and Wicked. While I've never actually seen them on Broadway, yet, they're two of the musicals I've enjoyed the most. I wouldn't change anything in either one. And I can't argue with the perfection of Gypsy either.

19. The show I'd most like to get my hands on and rewrite is: Spamalot.

20. The role I was born to play on Broadway is: Wow, I've never thought about it. Perhaps, in a bit of nontraditional casting, Hildy Johnson in The Front Page? There hasn't been a revival since 1987. Get me rewrite!