The thumbnail images of books and albums on this site connect you to Amazon.com -- but that's because Amazon and my web service provider have a partnership, so it's extremely easy to put images on my site. However, I don't get any kind of kickback if you buy any of these items and I don't endorse any particular bookstore over any other.
Even though Marc Acito claims, below, that no one else has written books about theater geeks
(Ha! and since I know you've already read my Dramarama, go right now and read Maryrose Wood's My Life The Musical),
I love him and his video (below) anyway.
Have you busted into song lately?
Shouldn't you?
This morning, I sang on the street: "I'm quick on the trigger. With targets not much bigger than a pinpoint, I'm number one! But I lose all my luster when I'm with a bronco buster. No, you can't get a man with a gun!"
It was a good way to start the morning, though possibly embarrassing to my companion.
Sing it out, people. No shame.
(Dramarama comes out in paperback this May, by the way. And Acito's Attack of the Theater People is the sequel to How I Paid for College, a truly awesome theater geektastic reading experience, though full of many ADULT situations, for those of you not yet old enough to join the army).
Sadly, we saw a cast of almost all understudies and some of the sex appeal was lacking. No Jonathan Groff or Lea Michele. But it was still made of awesome. The choreography was phenomenal. And it was such an emotional story. I also loved how the creators fearlessly mixed two time periods: it was a 19th-century story with contemporary music, and basically as long as they were singing, they spoke as contemporary teenagers would do -- and when it was just dialog, they spoke as if in the 19th century.
When people say Young Adult content is only interesting to people under 18, that's ridiculous. This show couldn't be more YA.
Also, publishers sometimes suggest YA books should avoid overt sex so as to retain a large market by being inoffensive. But Spring Awakening (winner of 8 Tony awards) has underage intercourse performed twice onstage. I admired its bravery.
(Of course, someone DIES as a result of the intercourse, so it's a cautionary tale, but the blame is straight-up on the parents, who refuse to discuss sexuality with their children, leaving them woefully ignorant and desperately curious.)
Anyway, that could be a whole essay and I am supposed to be writing something else. But go see it if you have the chance.
By request from a Dramarama reader -- "Skid Row" from the movie version Little Shop of Horrors.
This is the show Candie stars in.
If you search on YouTube you can also dig up some badly filmed clips from the Broadway revival with Hunter Foster, which I saw. Actually, I saw the original production off-Broadway, too. Shows you how old I am.
More Marc Acito news. Attack of the Theater People is due for release April 15, 2008, which is why I haven't read it yet. Somehow I failed to understand this from his website.
But now I have discovered his blog, in which he has just set himself a task to have a new experience every single day and to blog about it.
Very good reading. With pix! and Sweatin' to the Oldies! and strange fruit!
I have a fantasy in which Acito reads Dramarama and writes me an email saying "you are my kin!" -- but I know it's not gonna happen. Probably he would read it and say, "Not enough sex in there! Also, I am way funnier than you on very much the same topic!" But a girl can dream...
OMG how did I miss Attack of the Theater People! It's the sequel to Marc Acito's amazing How I Paid for College.
Must. Get. Right. Now.
All you Dramarama people, these books are for you! But only if you are ready to read about some adult-type situations involving sex and creative vandalism.
It's been a while since I gave you a Dramarama tidbit. Here's "Somewhere That's Green" -- from Little Shop of Horrors, the movie, sung by Ellen Green, who is made of awesome. I saw her off Broadway! Which shows that I am quite old, indeed.
This is the big number Candie sings in her lead role in Little Shop at Wildewood.
this is the number Sadye and Demi and all the Wildewood students do their "meat market" dance auditions to:
It's All That Jazz followed by Hot Honey Rag, Bebe Neuwirth (LOVE) and Ann Reinking. From the revival of Chicago. A performance from the 51st annual Tony awards.
emilylockhart.com The official E. Lockhart website includes videos, games, book excerpts, teacher and book club resources, a little-read Ruby Oliver short story, and more.
All the songs from Dramarama are here, on an iMix. You click on the link above and iTunes will open straight to the mix. Listen before you read Dramarama to make sure you get every little musical reference. Listen afterwards to get a sense of Sadye and Demi's musical world. In any case, these are some of my favorite showtunes of all time. Songs from Rent, Wicked, Guys & Dolls, Cabaret, Chicago, Bye Bye Birdie, Oliver!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Jersey Boys, Grease, Fame, Sweet Charity, Little Shop of Horrors, and more.
True and Embarassing Things about E.
I had a frizzy perm for several years.
I was voted worst driver in my senior class.
I wore light blue eyeshadow in high school.
Like Roo, I once let a boy feel my boob in a movie theater for the duration of an entire movie. The movie was "Tarzan: The Legend of Greystoke."
I went to two different high schools; at one I was unpopular and friendless; at the other, just the opposite.
I have two cats and one of them is a big barfer.
Orthodonture history includes three years of braces, headgear, rubber bands. And I've still got an overbite.
My first kiss was at the age of sixteen.
The first record I bought was a 45 of AC/DC singing "You Shook Me All Night Long"
Alan Gratz Gratz wrote Samurai Shortstop, The Brooklyn Nine, Something Wicked. He has a video blog!
Ally Carter Author of the Gallagher Series. A very fun blog.
Bennett Madison Madison wrote Lulu Dark Can See Through Walls and I promise you his blog is very very amusing.
Holly Black Black wrote Tithe and the Spiderwick Chronicles. She updates her journal pretty regularly.
Jaclyn Moriarty Moriarty wrote Feeling Sorry for Celia, The Murder of Bindy Mackenzie, The Spell Book of Listen Taylor and The Year of Secret Assignments.
Jennifer Anne Kogler Ruby Tuesday's author, on what she ate for breakfast and writing updates.
Jody Gehrman She wrote Confessions of a Triple-shot Betty.
John Green Green wrote Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns etc. and blogs about his life and updates with questionable regularity and considerable humor. Also an extensive videoblog together with his brother Hank -- worth checking out.
Julie Anne Peters The author of Luna and other books blogs every few days about current events and her life.
Justine Larbalastier Justine wrote Magic or Madness and How to Ditch Your Fairy. Her blog's about publishing and Australia and fiction and fantasy.
Lara M. Zeises The author of Contents Under Pressure and Bringing Up the Bones has a live journal, updated all the time, mainly about YA literature and the publishing biz.
Lauren Myracle Myracle wrote TTYL, TTFN etc, plus Bliss, Rhymes with Witches... blog is very funny and she is one of the most banned writers in America.
Laurie Halse Anderson She wrote Prom and Speak, among others. Her blog includes tour pictures and stuff about her personal life. Updated nearly every day.
Libba Bray Bray wrote Rebel Angels and A Great and Terrible Beauty. She writes every now and then about her writing process and daily life.
Mary E. Pearson Pearson wrote A Room on Lorelei Street, Scribbler of Dreams and David V. God. The blog covers teen books and publishing.
Maureen Johnson Johnson wrote Suite Scarlett, Devilish, Girl at Sea, etc. A most hilarious blog.
Megan McCafferty McCafferty wrote Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings etc. She has a "retroblog" of journal entries from long ago.
Mitali Perkins Perkins, who wrote Monsoon Summer etc., talks about books and life between cultures.
Sarah Dessen The author of That Summer, Someone Like You, Dreamland, etc. keeps a constantly updated web journal with a huge following.
Sarah Mlynowski Bras & Broomsticks author updates every now and then with photos, publishing news and other fun stuff.
Scott Westerfeld The man wrote Peeps, Midnighters, Pretties, and other stuff. His blog gets a million comments and it's always thought-provoking.
Suzanne Young Author of The Naughty List and So Many Boys.
Tanya Lee Stone Stone wrote A Bad Boy Can Be Good for a Girl and lots of other books, too.
Tracy Lynn, also known as Celia Thompson Lynn (author of Snow), aka Thompson (author of the Chloe King series), aka Liz Braswell, blogs about gaming, her family, the writing process, and more.
Zoe Trope The author of Please Don't Kill The Freshman puts up pictures of her laundry and details her doctor's visits. Not for the faint of heart.
