Frosty the snow Manilow?
Reb
Dawn
> http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/hollywood_wrap&id=7164262
I had heard about this, but this is the first video I've seen of it.
Oy vay.
Dawn
Diane
OMG, I think that is about as cute as cute can be. Some people come
up with the funniest ideas.
JAZZ4JEFF
> http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/hollywood_wrap&id=7164262
I have seen several plays by the Troubies and they are hysterical!.
They take classic stories and add popular music. Their past plays
include "It's a Steve-wonderful life", Edipus Rex the king (with Elvis
Tunes), "Alice in one hit wonderland (with all one hit wonders).
I have tickets on January 3rd, so I'll be sure and tell you all about
it. Don't worry about Barry bashing, these guys will do it right.
Jeff
Scooter
They've got a Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Troubies
Plus there are several more clips uploaded. Just search for Troubies or
Troudadour Theater Company. I really liked this trailer for "Fleetwood
MacBeth" where they're performing "Tusk." The gal dressed as Stevie Nicks is
a hoot!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptT_EkvIUzA
Very funny. :-)
--
Scooter
Tin@
Jeff, where do you get tickets?
JAZZ4JEFF
Tickets are available from the Falcon Theater in Burbank.
Jackie
I LOVE IT! What a neat deal. It looks like it will be alot of fun.
The cast looks like they are having a great time too. :-)
Jackie
Scooter
Theatre Mania
December 13, 2009
REVIEW
Frosty the Snow Manilow
Reviewed By: Jonas Schwartz � Dec 13, 2009 � Los Angeles
It will be a blazing hot day in the North Pole when the Troubadours can't
come up with a laugh-out loud spoof, and with Frosty the Snow Manilow, now
at the Falcon Theatre, the temperature is happily well below zero.
Defiling the beloved Bass & Rankin television special, the irreverent show
recasts the title character as a randy, irascible pile of snow who likes
kids about as much as W.C. Fields. Once a magical hat animates the
snowman, he joins a rabbit and a precocious little girl on a sojourn to
the North Pole. Meanwhile, a selfish magician hopes to steal the hat that
once belonged to him, and turn Frosty back into frozen water.
The much improvised script pokes fun at the holidays, children's
programming, and even TV's MacGyver, while snarky topical jabs at Tiger
Woods and the White House crashers produce loving groans from the
audience. The Troubies delight in low humor and relish departing from the
script, particularly when a laugh falls flat. They not only remove the
fourth wall, they bulldoze it.
As the title suggests, the musical motif comes from the songs of Barry
Manilow, and the Troubies parody such hits as "Mandy," "I Write The
Songs," and "Ready to Take a Chance Again." (They save "Copacabana" for a
big production number.) Knowing that the crooner began his career as a
successful jingle writer, the cast also uses his popular tunes for
McDonalds, Band-AIDS, and Budweiser as commercial breaks.
Paul C. Vogt is hilarious as he mocks the jovial title character. Feeling
saddled with a bratty blonde girl and a rabbit that humps everything in
sight, he appears ready to pound them at any moment. Lorin Shapiro
delights as the charade-loving horny rabbit. Christine Lakin is wonderful
as she flip-flops between an innocent eight-year-old and a knowing woman.
Rick Batalla does a spot-on Barry Manilow, sounding so much like the
crooner on his 1977 live album that you almost expect to find the real
Manilow hiding behind a scrim like Debbie Reynolds in Singin' in the Rain.
Casting character actor Jack McGee as the narrator is an unfortunate
choice. He's a bit too dry for the silliness of his role and only slightly
unwrinkles to play a streetwise Santa Claus. And there's not enough of
scene-stealer Beth Kennedy in this production. Entering the story late in
the evening as the high-pitched Winter Warlock, she delights in her short
scenes, with asides and friendly insults towards McGee and his roller-
coaster career.
As in previous Troubadour shows, Eric Heinly's superlative band fills the
theater with a toe-tapping sound. Choreographers Nadine Ellis and Ameenah
Kaplan make even the squarest Manilow tunes feel hip. Sherry Santillano
creates a fitting two-dimensional set and Sharon McGunigle has fun with
the costumes, particularly the Winter Warlock, with two-foot long
fingernails, a ghastly white face, and a shimmering long robe hiding
stilts, all of which camouflages but never hinders the dynamic Kennedy.
...............
--
Scooter
Tin@
Thanks
Scooter
run-on sentence.
...............
LA Weekly Los Angeles Art Blog
December 14, 2009
Stage Raw
By Steven Leigh Morris in Stage News
[snip to]
NEW REVIEW GO FROSTY THE SNOW MANILOW Take one measure of maudlin, '70s TV
holiday kitsch; add a dozen, inappropriate pop melodies from the same
decade's premiere, adult-contemporary hit maker; fold in generous helpings
of sardonically retooled lyrics and camped-up choreography; season to
taste with puerile puns, off-color double entendres and relentlessly self-
mocking ad libs; and half-bake for an hour with an ensemble of crack
clowning parodists. This, in a roasted chestnut shell, is the winning
recipe for the Troubadour Theater Company's annual, off-kilter Christmas
confections. To their diehard fans, it is immaterial that this year's
musically mashed-up targets are the treacly, 1969 cartoon special, Frosty
the Snowman, or the sentimental mewling of the Barry Manilow songbook.
With top chef/director Matt Walker again at the controls of the comedy
Cuisinart, all that matters is that the resulting puree is flavored with
his peerless timing and mischievously wry sensibility. Paul C. Vogt fills
designer Sharon McGunigle's appropriately ludicrous Frosty costume as the
magically animated snowman who hates kids but is nonetheless resigned to
being saved from melting by the cloyingly effusive schoolgirl, Karen
(Christine Lakin). Walker is the evil magician, Hinkle, who throws plot
complications and one-liners in their path. Standouts include Beth
Kennedy, who literally stops the show to perform insult stand-up as the
Winter Warlock (think Juliette Lewis on stilts); Rick Batalla as the
Station Master with Vegas ambitions; Jack McGee as the cantankerous
narrator and a jive-talking Santa; and the always remarkable musical
director, Eric Heinly, and his Troubadour band. Falcon Theatre, 4252
Riverside Dr., Burbank; Wed.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 4 & 8 p.m. (no perfs Dec.
24, 25, 31, or Jan. 1); thru Jan. 17. (818) 955-8101. A Troubadour Theater
Company prduction. (Bill Raden)
[snip]
--
Scooter