Blog Posts For: July 2011

Broadway has been recording and releasing cast recordings since 1931 when Fred and Adele Astaire recording a limited release of songs from the Band Wagon. This was the first step to tearing down the wall between the confines of the theatre and home entertainment and mass media. Spider Man: Turn Off the Dark new music video “Rise Above 1” may have torn down whatever remained standing of that wall.

America’s Got Talent is the televised summer talent competition that is dominating the ratings. The program has been doing this since it debuted in 2006 with Regis Philbin and pre-hamburger-episode David Hasselhoff, where-are-they-now candidate Brandy, and snide British personality Piers Morgan as the judges. That means the program has produced five headlining Las Vegas and has kept the Hoff and now Nick Cannon gainfully employed for the better part of a decade. Of these five previous winners (this season is not yet finished), only one has been able to remain a Las Vegas headlining act: Terry Fator.

Amy Winehouse’s passing marks the morbid perpetuation of the relationship between death, music and the age of 27. Jimi Hendrix died at the age of 27 after overdosing on particularly strong medication and a night of libations, Janis Joplin died at the age of 27 after overdosing on a combination of heroin and alcohol, and Jim Morrison died at the age of 27 after supposedly snorting heroin, which he believed to be cocaine. If there is some small solace, it is that drugs have not been identified as having any factor in her demise, as People.com reports.

Way back at the end of June a man in a red jacket walked across the Thames River in London. This was a stunt meant to promote his new BBC television show Dynamo: Magician Impossible. The stunt did not quite have the effect he (Dynamo) hoped though. The National, an English-language publication based in the Middle East, questioned whether or not the age of the illusionist, or at least the televised illusionist, is over.

Let us pretend for a second that up to this point your summer had been filled with weddings, home improvement projects, and countless hours of overtime. You have not had time to pay attention to America’s pastime and took a gander over at the MLB page on ESPN to catch up quickly. Would anything shock you?

No, Cirque’s Ka is not embarking on a journey in microeconomics. They are not rearranging their management style, though that would certainly be an interesting business model. Cirque du Soleil Ka tickets are still being sold for two shows a day, Tuesday through Saturday, at the Cirque du Soleil Theater in the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Taylor Swift made her glorious return to the stage this past week, playing the Bell Centre in Montreal on July 14th and the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on back to back nights July 15th and 16th. Those thousands of Canadian country fans were relieved when they heard their Taylor Swift tickets would not be rescheduled as four concerts in the Southern states were.

Cirque du Soleil: The Beatles – Love has now been featured at the Love Theatre in the Mirage Las Vegas for over five years. The incredible homage to the greatest rock and roll band of all time has been witnessed by more than 4 million people clutching Cirque du Soleil The Bealtes Love tickets close to their hearts over the course of more than 2,400 shows. The production has not only survived, but thrived despite the recession, becoming an annual pilgrimage for some and an once-in-a-lifetime trip worth sacrifice for many others.

In the post-Tony Award, post-Fourth of July haze of the humid summer days on the isle of Manhattan, where most producers are simply happy to report recouping investments, one dramatic production boasts an extension. Master Class, the Terrence McNally revival on stage at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, has had its limited run extended a second time, this time until September 4, 2011.

Sometimes I think Las Vegas needs another nickname, perhaps Cirque du Nevada, Soleil City, or the American Cirque du Soleil Consulate. Seriously, there are currently seven Cirque productions in residence in Vegas and they play no favorites with regards to casino and resort companies. These shows are works of contemporary live action decadence and they are a natural fit with the over-the-top motif that is Sin City. These shows have even helped push the limit on the Vegas strip, at least certainly Cirque du Soleil “O” has (which is quite a daunting task).

A Las Vegas residency requires performers to essentially embark on the tours they undertook at the beginning of their career, playing consecutive nights with some time off between the next set of gigs. However, one of the advantages is that during a residency there is much less travel, so there is far less jet, or bus, lag and the days off are far more restful and tranquil.

The New York Yankees are heading into the weekend trying to widen the gap between themselves and the Boston Red Sox at the top of the AL East with a pivotal four-game series with the third place Tampa Bay Rays from July 7th to July 10th. This is the first meeting between the two division rivals.