So, you think YOU can?

I just have to brag a second about my lovely friend, Katie Thompson, who just completed her run of "Giant" in DC (before it goes to Broadway!!) and is amazingly talented and wonderful in many ways... and THEN last night, one of the contestants (Paris Torres) on So You Think You Can Dance did her solo performance to Katie's song "It Doesn't Hurt" -- how cool is that?


[link in case the embedded video doesn't work. Total play time: 38 seconds]

KT rocks it

I am so ultra super proud of my friend Katie who is amazingly talented. She's in rehearsals for Giant, which is coming to Broadway later this year (!) and the rehearsals are in Washington DC. So, guess who calls to have her come sing? Michelle - friggin - Obama. Yup. You read that right. First Lady of the Free World has been crooned to by my dear KT. I could not be happier for Katie -- no one deserves the accolades more, I assure you. She is this fiery redhead with a deep soulful voice that makes you want to die of envy. Ok, that's just me, but STILL!

Katie had a very successful show at Birdland in NY that I was very sorry to miss. All the Broadway superstars came out to sing original Katie Thompson songs which was beautiful and often hilarious. You can watch the concert on YouTube via Katie's channel.

One of my favorite songs "I'm Not Pregnant (Just Fat)" was sung lovingly by Carly Jibson, who you'll recognize as the lead from Hairspray. Although my all-time favorite version was from Kate D. (different from KT!), Carly does a fun performance too.



So congrats to Miss Thompson for yet again, knocking my socks off.

award weiners

Hey, do you remember (how could you forget?!) when my best of friendlies put on a second run of R.R.R.E.D. the Musical? And it was super awesome and totally rad? WELL. I am not the only person who thinks so!

LA Weekly has nominated R.R.R.E.D. for four awards in three categories!

Best Musical Performance - Patrick Livingston
Best Musical Performance - Katie Thompson
these are separate nominations in the same category. Boys v. girls!
Best Musical Direction - Kevin Cochran
Best Direction of a Musical - Kevin Cochran

In case you want to see it again, here it is:



The REAL winner here is me, of course, in the category of Best Picture of a Funny Face in a Musical.

R.R.R.E.D.

This week the show officially opens and ho ho ho - what a site to see!! I'm telling you that there is no time better spent than listening to Katie Thompson belt it out from the stage. Hands-down. And fer realz, this could be the last time that you will get to see her in an intimate venue before Broadway snaps her up and makes her into one of those "I knew her when" people.

Besides, the show is a HELLUVA lot of fun. If you have means to get to LA (hey! We have an airport!) I highly recommend it. Discount tickets are available and I know people on the inside (hint hint!) that can save you even more -- but it's a steal at thrice the price.

If you don't love me enough to come all the way to Californiee, do it for the celebs, onstage and in the crowd. It's your chance to share a Coke with renowned redheads from the stage and screen and low-rung celebrity ranking lists (hint!).

a weak end to the weekend

I packed way too much awesome into a single weekend (yet again) so I have a lot of stuff to cram into a single post.

Thursday - The Taint played at Alex's Bar in Long Beach and they sounded great. Unfortunately, the small crowd was a mish-mash of people (who I am guessing were there to see a friend's band that was playing later, judging by the looks of obligation on their faces) who just weren't into being out. So it was kind of bad vibes and the Dudes took it kind of hard. But it was an okay show.

Friday - I took the day off of work and started out with a massage to help unkink the kink that is living in the middle of my back. I have this idiotic muscle spasm that is in one of those impossible-to-stretch places and it causes me grief now and then. Fortunately, massage helps. And if I can make a recommendation to everyone: waking up to a massage is one of the Best. Things. Ever. After that, I met my mom at the beach for some sunburning. The dolphins were swimming really close to shore and it was so cool to see them clearly, playing in the (small) waves. There must have been a school of fish, because they stayed and played directly in front of us for a long time. I blame them for the sunburn on my shins because, obviously, I would have remembered to put sunblock on my ankles if I wasn't laughing at dolphins. Obviously.

Ryan got slammed with a bunch of extra work, which was kinda sucky, and then I got in from the beach later than expected so we didn't make it to see R.R.R.E.D. that night. Which was a bummer. But to make it up to ourselves, we did take a late night excursion to the Dollar Discount Movies and saw Hancock. I didn't really want to see it, but Ryan did, and for $1.50 I figured 'what the hell' and gave in. And actually I really liked it. Much better than the ads/trailers made it seem. Very funny and OMG does Jason Bateman steal the show (and how!). Plus, there were more than a few Arrested Development jokes/homages thrown in. So that was hilarious.

Saturday - The Taint played again, but at Canter's in LA in the Kibitz Room. It's a pretty small bar space, but there was a decent sized audience crammed in. Lots of regulars and locals and a few friends. Zach's comedy buddies from UCB came out and it was fun. I forgot my camera at home and all I had was ye olde cell phone cam, so the pictures aren't great. Although I do really like the one of Mimi. All of the booths are covered in blacklights so she and I were glowing like nuclear waste. It was pretty hilarious.



Sunday - we had a pretty relaxed day and I am pretty sure that we slept until 2pm. Then we got up and got out and went out to Burbank to see R.R.R.E.D.. We got there early (first time ever! Make note of this date!) and the cast was still warming up and doing all that preparation stuff, so Ryan and I headed over to Downtown Burbank to toodle around a bit and kill some time. We had no trouble, seeing as how there is a conveniently located comic book shop (ahem) and - AND! - a book store where everything is $1. EVERYTHING IS ONE DOLLAR. So we loaded up on books and comics and books and comics. And then dragged our treasures back to the theater.

The show was AWESOME. And I don't say that because I like these people, or because the trip was sponsored by the Kate Danley Fan Club™ but sincerely because the show is great. It sounds like an underhanded compliment, but like I told them after the show, I was glad to see that it wasn't a giant theater where the vocals had to be miked, because my brain would have melted. Katie Thompson's voice is so powerful... and lovely... it gives me goosebumps just to hear it. If she had been amplified, I am 100% certain that my hair would have been standing on end. Totally. Completely. Amazing. Everything was top notch, start to finish. Patrick does a fantastic job at reprising his role as GJ Crockett who longs only to be her assistant. The testimonials were fabulous, including sweet Laura Silverman who made her stage debut that night, singing about unrequited love. I know! Of course, Kate was phenomenal. Adam gave a heart-wrenching testimonial as Levi, who just wants to find a way to tell you that he likes you. It breaks my heart every time. This show is SO fun and silly and sweet and it also cures herpes so you should totally see it. And tell all your friends to see it.

Use this link (click the logo) to buy your tickets and use the promo code "SPREAD" to save $10!



For more nerdishness, check out Ryan O'Connor's vlog in the recording studio (red hair starts at the 2 minute mark)