IS THE AWARD SEASON OVER??

NOT BY A LONG SHOT! We still have the TONY AWARDS! That's Broadway, baby. I don't know which I love better, Broadway or Hollywood. We do have to wait a bit though, because the Tony Awards won't be on until June 15. The 62nd annual Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS, live from Radio City Music Hall.

Top Girls is playing in London, and in New York, we have A Catered Affair, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Boeing Boeing, The Country Girl, Cry Baby, Gypsy, In the Heights, Avenue Q, Chicago, Curtains, Passing Strange, South Pacific, Sunday in the Park with George, Come Back Little Sheba, Mama Mia!, Jersey Boys, Top Girls, Thurgood, Xanadu, and more!


I will be seeing Jersey Boys next month right here in Florida. I can't wait! If I could transport myself molecularly, I'd be going to New York every weekend. To me, there is nothing like LIVE theater. I think that's why so many people love to watch The Oscars, not only because of all the stars, but because it's LIVE. And the Tony's are LIVE. It's so exciting, you never know what will happen from one minute to the next.

OK, I saw it! I saw Jersey Boys in Tampa on March 12 at 7:30 PM. Absolutely knocked my socks off!
Here's a clip for all you JB lovers, it's a ten star show... I think the touring company is BRILLIANT !
http://youtube.com/watch?v=P1bI-P-93Is
That's from the Tony Awards... and I'm telling you, this show I saw last night was better. The energy level was 120% non stop. Dynamite show, received a five minute standing ovation. And two of the main parts were played by understudies! I can't say enough about this performance, it was truly truly amazing.


Here is a clip from my absolutely favorite Broadway Show, CRAZY FOR YOU, where we see wonderful Harry Groener dancing so beautifully. Musicals are energizing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO3QGo5om6w

And then, Broadway wouldn't be Broadway without the fabulous A CHORUS LINE, and here is a clip from the 1976 Tony Awards with the ORIGINAL Chorus Line!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5yIiG3ip4

All courtesy of YouTube

THE OSCARS !

I love the Academy Awards, I think I've been watching them ever since they first came on television! I was watching them when no one was watching them. I'd shut off the phone, fix some snacks and a drink, and settle down for a wonderful evening of red carpet arrivals, and all those excited winners and deflated losers. I loved trying to guess who would win, I'd root for my favorites and cheer them on, and become extremely agitated if they won, yelling YES YES! and even more so if they lost, as I'd be shouting at the screen, asking the academy how they could have voted for someone else. It was my favorite TV viewing night of the year.

And now it appears that the rest of the world has caught up with me, as now it is viewed by billions of people the world over, thanks to satellites and the prosperity of so many families that have TV's in their homes. Yes, the world is catching up to the United States in prosperity, thanks mostly to our exporting of democracy and captialism to other countries, they are enjoying the same benefits we enjoy.

The Oscars represent everything that is part of that great American Dream. It represents the best work of people who dream dreams, people who want to demonstrate what's possible. It's the people who create reality by creating fantasy, because not far behind these films comes the creation of similar ideas in life. Film is a medium so profound, it takes the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words, and translates into a film being worth a million words. Films can wake us up out of our complacent stupors. Films inspire, motivate, and create nostalgic looks back in time. Film is the art of the Twentieth Century, and hopefully, it will continue for another hundred fabulous years. The billions of people who watch The Oscars, they are dreamers too.



Jiva

WHAT HAPPENED ! ???

Wow, my last post was before Thanksgiving, and now it's the middle of February! I guess the holidays overwhelmed me! I had a wonderful Christmas in Maine, beautiful white snow, gently falling flakes every day, a winter wonderland as they say, especially for someone living in Florida. The secret as always is warm clothes!

Nothing much has changed, I'm still trying to decide whether it's a good idea to move up north, especially after finding people holding me up because they were so terrified I might slip and fall on the icy streets and roads because I'm not used to it, and my boots didn't have those nice "grippers" on them. I don't want to go through the rest of my life with people "going to get the car while I wait," worrying that my every step is fraught with danger, or that I might freeze trying to walk to the car. ha ha. Puleeeze!

I also took a short trip to Chicago, where the temperature was below zero with a nice icy wind every day. It's my home town, and I love Chicago, but who wants to live for months in that kind of weather? Ever since summer ended here in Florida, for the most part, we've had 75 to 80 degree days with sunshine. You have to admit, that sounds pretty good to you northerners. Yes, I do miss my lover who lives up north, but still, it's a difficult choice. I bought five lottery tickets hoping I'd win (does anyone buy them thinking they might not win)? but as usual, I won nothing. The hope being that I could have two places to live, one here in Florida, right where I am now, and one near my lover, who lives in a moderate climate, but nice and close to New York City, which is a place dear to my heart because I do love Broadway and all that culture.

I'm writing a column, and it's very successful, I'm hoping to have some syndication as soon as I get up to number twenty. Possibly west coast syndication, as it's a fairly "out there" type of column, meaning it's filled with references to "creating your own reality" and stuff like that.

Here's a wonderful video I found, all about how the kids discover a drawer in their parent's bedroom, and the contents lead them to believe that maybe mommy is really Santa !

See you next time.

Jiva