From Sixteen Candles to Sweet Charity

I'm not afraid to say it-I love Broadway musicals. A lot of guys would not admit that, but I enjoy the top-notch performers, and I like to see musicals whenever possible. I live a long way from New York, but luckily a local venue in my town has Broadway musicals several times per year. I have a lot of admiration for performers who have the guts and talent to work in the field of musical theatre. I know that the competition is cut throat. Some of my favorite Broadway musicals are Phantom of the Opera, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Little Shop of Horrors, Annie, and the one I saw most recently, Sweet Charity. I saw the touring production of Sweet Charity starring Molly Ringwald, best known for 1980s movies like Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, and Pretty in Pink. She was not the best singer or the best dancer on stage, but due to her name recognition, she was the star. The show is based on a Neil Simon book and it featured songs such as Big Spender and If My Friends Could See Me Now. Ringwald plays Charity Hope Valentine, an idealistic young woman looking for mister right, who works as a dance hostess in the Fandango Ballroom. The show is packed with great singing and dancing, quirky characters and it has funny and touching moments that made it a real treat that I would recommend checking out. In past performances the title role had been played by Christina Applegate from Married with Children.

Reign Over Me

Adam Sandler gives a great performance in Reign Over Me, where he plays a man devastated by losing his wife and kids on 9-11. Don Cheadle spots Sandler on the streets of New York and recognizes him as his old roommate from dental school. Sandler's character has shut himself off from the world and stays in his apartment, obsessed with video games, movies and music. He does not work and he has no contact with friends or family. He wears headphones all the time to shut everyone out and to escape his painful past. The Cheadle/Sandler friendship is rekindled and the movie takes many twists and turns. In the end it is about the power of friendship and the importance of facing life head-on, no matter how difficult it may be. Sandler's isolation is reminiscent of DeNiro's Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver. Cheadle is married with a family in the film, and he covets the freedom that Sandler has, but yet he sees his pain and loneliness as well. This film is a refreshing change of pace for Sandler who is a decent actor, but he has done too many childish, un-creative films like Happy Gilmore, Billy Madison, Mr. Deeds or Little Nicky. Reign Over Me along with Punch Drunk Love show that he can do more than play a sophomoric goofball. A serious role like this that challenged him will be good for his career, and it should open up doors for future roles. Reign Over Me also features Jada Pinkett Smith, Robert Klein and Liv Tyler. The title comes from a song by The Who, and I wish they had used the original in the film instead of the Pearl Jam cover version.

The Sweet Sounds of Music and Lyrics

If you are a fan of light hearted romantic comedies like The Wedding Singer or You've got Mail, check out Music and Lyrics. It stars Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), and Kristen Johnston (3rd Rock From the Sun).

It is similar to The Wedding Singer since it has many references to 1980s music and culture, it stars Drew Barrymore, and it's a sweet feel good romantic comedy.

Hugh Grant plays a washed up singer who peaked in the 80s. He was in a Wham-like group called Pop and is stuck singing his hits at amusement parks and high school reunions. Barrymore was hired to care for Grant's plants in the film, but she ends up teaming up with him as a lyricist. They are writing a song for a Christina Aguilera-type young singer whose career is on fire.

It's a refreshing, funny movie with quirky characters. You will leave the theatre smiling and humming the tunes. It won't win any Academy Awards, but it's a delightful film that I would recommend.

XM/Sirius merger will happen, probably, eventually...

Hopefully an XM/Sirius merger will make the 2 weak companies strong enough to turn a profit. In 2005 XM lost $863 million and Sirius lost $667 million. Since 2001 both companies have accumulated more subscribers, with 7.6 million for XM and 6 million for Sirius at the end of 2006. So the 2 combined would have 13.6 million listeners, and enemies Howard Stern and Opie and Anthony would work for the same employer. At $13 per month per subscriber, that is $169 million coming in per month. Hopefully the consolidation of facilities will work to their advantage, but there are many hurdles to overcome. XM is currently based out of Washington DC and Sirius has a home base of New York. They would need to produce a new receiver that could pick up all programming from the new combined service. The merger would give the new company a monopoly on the satellite radio market. Having no competition would be a bad thing in my mind, since they could raise subscription costs and they have no adversary to drive them to be better and attract the best programming. We have seen how a monopoly in the cable TV industry or the phone industry can detrimental. If there is no alternative, customer service is often poor. I think we will see more and more commercials on satellite radio unless they can attract more subscribers. The money has to come from somewhere. I would love to see the union be successful since I enjoy my XM and am also a shareholder. Regulatory agencies need to approve the merger still, but a timeline of when we will hear both services on one receiver is still unknown.

A favorite group of mine, Van Halen, was supposed to reunite with David Lee Roth and tour this summer. But as of this writing I have heard that the tour has been postponed. The lineup was to include Eddie Van Halen's son Wolfgang on bass in place of Michael Anthony. Anthony has been with the group since the beginning in the 70s, but he (and Roth), must have done something to upset Eddie and Alex Van Halen. David Lee Roth has worked as a New York paramedic and had a failed radio career, and was replaced by Opie and Anthony. Believe it or not he also did a bluegrass CD last year which had versions of Van Halen songs.

CBS started out the February sweeps period strong with the Super Bowl, which was viewed by a staggering 93.2 million viewers. American Idol is still strong for Fox, drawing 33.7 million viewers on Tuesday and 31.8 million viewers for Super Bowl week. Fox has other hits with House, 24, and Bones pulling in good numbers. CBS has done well with CSI, NCIS, Numbers, Criminal Minds, Shark, and 2 and 1/2 Men. Hits for NBC include Deal or No Deal, Heroes and ER. Grey's Anatomy and Ugly Betty are winners for ABC. The Grammys were watched by 20.1 million people on CBS, finishing 6th for that week.

*Some material from Entertainment Weekly and Associated Press.

An "old fogey" watches the Grammys

At age 37 I don't feel that old, but watching the Grammys made me feel ancient. I liked the reunion of the Police, and the tribute to the Eagles, and it was good to see The Dixie Chicks win several awards. But beyond that I could care less. I have no interest whatsoever in Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige or Gnarls Barkley. Grammys are given out for all types of music but only the most commercial artists are showcased on the program. Many people probably do not realize that awards are given out for jazz, classical and bluegrass music. You can have the music of today. I'll stick to the classics like Van Halen, Rush, Chicago, The Who, Led Zeppelin and others.

In her death Anna Nicole Smith has received more publicity than she ever received in her living years. It seems like after death celebrities are often glamorized ad nauseum. Shows like ET, The Insider, Access Hollywood and Extra have treated the story like it's the biggest development of the century. It may sound greusome, but they are probably glad that such an event happened during the all-important February sweeps period. Even "legitimate" news sources like CNN, Fox News and MSNBC have jumped on the bandwagon with endless tabloid type coverage. Smith's idol was Marilyn Monroe, and she died in her 30s, just like her. I'll bet that drugs had something to do with the death of Anna Nicole. Smith had an unhappy life, growing up with no father and with an estranged mother in poverty. She no doubt turned to her former elderly husband not only as a father figure but as a source of unlimited riches that she figured would fill the void of unhappiness. It did not, and neither did the drugs. Things like money, alcohol or drugs may mask feelings of emptiness temporarily, but they will cause more problems in the long run every time.