TINY PLANE

I took this photo from the front step of my apartment in Harlem. I'm assuming this flight originated from LGA, which is only a few miles east. I used my Canon 60D and my NEW 70-300mm EF Ultrasonic lens using the Image Stabilizer.

SOLANGE DOES SELENA - "I Could Fall In Love"

Live at Webster Hall, New York City - February 25, 2013

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: BEAUTIFUL BOYS (& GIRLS) OF BROADWAY

On Thursday February 21, Ben Cameron presented Broadway Sessions - Beautiful Boys of Broadway featuring Will Taylor (A Chorus Line, La Cage Aux Folles), Frankie James Grande (Mamma Mia!), Jake Boyd (Rock of Ages, Carrie), and (my roommate) Alex Quiroga (Wicked, Taboo). 

Up-and-comer Zurin Villanueva, looking absolutely flawless in a bright red crop-top and pleated black leather mini-skirt, was also on hand to kick of the evening.

The battle of the sexes hit fever pitch when Frankie James Grande invited his little sister, Ariana Grande (www.arianagrande.info), on-stage for a incestuous version of "Suddenly Seymour/Frankie" that actually turned out to be very cute. 

However, when Cameron invited the younger Grande to remain in the spotlight for one more song, Whitney Houston's immortal classic "I Have Nothing", she completely won the audience over, proving perhaps that this 'boys' night out was really all about the girls after all.

Broadway Sessions Presenter and Host, Ben Cameron (L) asks Wicked's Alex Quiroga (R) five of the evening's 20 questions.

Zurin Villanueva starts the show with her killer versions of "Wizard and I" and "No Good Deed" from Wicked.  

CLICK HERE FOR A VIDEO TEASER

ABOUT LAST NIGHT: MKG's 10th Birthday Party

MKG (thisismkg.com) celebrates ten years of unprecedented success, and unforgettable memories with a carnival/carnaval themed 'birthday' party-- complete with fairground games, and a parade of conga drums with Brazilian dancers.

 

UPDATE: Things Get K-K-Kinky On Broadway

File this under "WTF Were They Thinking" :

Kinky Boots, the new musical from Cindi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein based on the 2005 indie film, recently moved into it's home on the great white way at the Al Hirschfeld theater on West 45th Street. Producers were quick to decorate the theater's facade with the show's marketing, but perhaps they were a little too quick. 

The show's branding is really cute-- the letter "K" formed by two knee-high booted legs. However, no one seemed to realize that the iconic logo created a different message all together.  When they wrapped these large columns, didn't anyone catch the giant "K-K-K" ?????

#inapproriate

Broadwayworld featured the show in their "Up On the Marquee" column, but were kind enough to leave this questionable shot out.


UPDATE: Apparently, the producers came to their senses. The day after I originally posted this, a change was made to the center column, eliminating the cultural faux pas.

BILLY MEETS MADGE

I absolutely LOVE this clip from The Conan O'Brien Show featuring everyone's favorite pedestrian lunatic Billy Eichner for a few reasons:

- He quiz's everyday New Yorkers about the upcoming election.... and the upcoming fall tv line up.
- When the crazy lady makes the inadvertent Jon Benet Ramsay reference at 3:05
- I agree with Billy that Honey Boo Boo is a TOTAL escape.
- The fierce New York City attitute at 3:54
- Yankee Stadium is like a stone's throw from my apt in Harlem.
- Billy gets on-stage during rehearsal to MEET MADONNA during sound-check. 
- "Vogue, Mother Fuckers!"
- All the awesome, behind-the-scenes shots of the totally awesome staging by Tait
- Rocco's cameo
- "Love you in Dick Tracy!"
- How generally excited he is to meet Madonna.

CHAPLIN: the musical

Had the chance to see an early preview of this new musical thanks to my friend Sunny Naughton at Camp Broadway. Didn't know much about the production going into the show, but was pleasantly surprised by the performance overall. Rob McClure is really, really impressive as the title character-- an iconic persona that we all (even us Millennials) have (at least) some reference on.

If you're into new musical theatre, than I suggest you check it out. If you like spectacle, hi-tech effects, and memorable pop music-- then I suggest you stick with Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark. 

PICTURE PERFECT

The first official shot from my fancy new iphone camera. I'm gonna love this thing. 

 

The view of Soho from the Broadway windows of www.thisismkg.com

Gordon Voidwell

I officially have a big crush on you, dude.

click here to read the story on KEEP COMPANY

My Run In with Occupy Wall Street

Saturday September 24 - New York City

 

My boyfriend and I had just had our hair cut in Astor Square, and after he headed back uptown to rehearsal I went south into SoHo for some light shopping. The sidewalks were crowded with the typical herds of tourists, but because I had no where else I needed to be I casually, patiently strolled among them.

The gentle din of urban life, the hum of food trucks, the bad euro dj music emerging from the nearest mega-chain retailer were all interrupted by the sudden roar of a large, angry crowd. My pedestrian haze was quickly jolted back real life as I turned to see what I would later come to know as the Occupy Wall Street group.

They were aggressively protesting in the middle of the street fighting against traffic up Broadway. There seemed to little-to-no police presence in what seemed to be a spontaneous, unorganized riot-in-the-making... save for a few sweaty looking cops tailing the group at a safe distance.

That being said, a few hours later as I was crossing University at 12th street just south of Union Square, less than a block away from my boss's loft, and literally in the epicenter of a collision between the #OccupyWallSt kids (who were now running full bore) and a much larger contingent of NYPD that had planted themselves in a barricade mid intersection.

Seconds after I cleared the cross walk, the two groups met. Elbows hooked into heads, necks were clothesline-clipped by extended forearms, bodies mounded on the black pavement in piles of wrestling.

I had honestly never seen anything like it. The small group of spectators that had joined me on the street corner watched in silent shock for a moment before quickly continuing west, away from the brawl.

I ran into a couple of hipster girls from the New School who looked totally clueless. Without stopping, I said "you'd better just turn around and go the other way."


Read the rest of the story here at NYDAILY

TWO THINGS

 

The building across the street from MKG at Broadway and Houston, Soho - New York City.

Danger sign on the sidewalk below.

Folles In Love All Over Again

La Cage aux Folles and it's new stars were featured on this week's episode of NY1 On Stage with Roma Torrey, who gave the show yet another glowing review:

"Seedier than ever!"

(and yes, that's a big compliment!)

Click here for the full story at ny1.com

MY NEW FAVORITE: LES MIZ EDITION

Far and way, this is my new favorite version of the uber-gay "On My Own" featuring @celiakb Celia Keenan-Bolger (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee).

This one's for you, @kellyambereng.



Please also reference Katie Holmes version below, #barf:

Susan and Hall In the Matrix.

 

The more things change... the more they stay the same. 

Compare the pose to a shot from the old days in the Flatiron Office:

Priceless. I heart you guys. 

CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

SPIDER-MAN: Turn Off the Dark - Part 1

Friday, December 3, 2010 - Foxwoods Theatre

The show had it's first real preview on Sunday, November 28th and I scored a ticket to a performance a few days later. Immediately after work I bolted through the crowded, cold streets of Times Square to make it in enough time to get a double-pinot-in-a-plastic-cup and get to my seat in the last row of the orchestra before the curtain went up.

Let's start with the curtain; it's big, bold, and sketchy just like the rest of the show. The abstracted, geometric lines splatter off the neon cherry red backdrop as Spidey lunges toward with a sinister Green Goblin with his spiked tongue nearly as sharp as the dagger in his claw, all the while as an curiously curvy Mary Jane plunges off the Brooklyn Bridge lumbering in the shadowy distance. The whole thing is framed by towering skyscrapers and metallic webbing as I'm sure you can imagine.

The house grows dark, and a piercing electric guitar chord cuts through the fading light to reveal an unforgettable interpretation of the same scene illustrated on the curtain-- our hero, villain, and victim in a dramatic tableaux of life and death. It looks daring and dangerous, and the Vegas-style hydraulics thrust silently at seemingly staggering heights. Within a few short moments, we're quickly transported 'through the Astral Plane' into the world of Arachne, the ferocious new super-villain created by the famously infamous director, Julie Taymor.

Attempting to dissect the intricacies of the plot would be annoying for me and you, so I'll save us both the hassle and just encourage you to SEE THIS SHOW. See it a couple of times if you can-- because trust me, there is a lot going on here. And I'm not only talking about the mind-blowing scenic and costume design, the crazy good music, the FUH-LYING, and the incredible sense of danger you feel watching them pull it off.... But I'm really mean to say that there is a LOT happening in the concept and the subtext of a narrative arc that Broadway has never seen before. Many have criticized the show's seemingly absent 'plot-line', failing to appreciate the many layers of storytelling operating across a catalog over nearly 50 years of material-- MOST TYPICALLY told one comic-frame at a time.

I also have to record the fact that the show ran from start-to-finish without stopping-- which at that stage of development on the third night of previews, despite lacking any semblance of a coherent ending, was a roaring success. There was a collective electricity among the audience-- we experience the insanity of the show together the way parents and siblings spectate a home-town high school football game, cheering for every small point the show scored along the way.

In the end, I was left stunned, confused and I knew I had to return to see the evolution of the preview process, to track the progression of both artistry and technicality. My next encounter with the show will be the subject of Part Two of this series-- but before I depart let me say this:

HOW TO ENJOY/GET SPIDER-MAN: TURN OFF THE DARK (without feeling like a total tool)-

• Get yourself a seat in the Flying Circle.
• Really READ the song titles and character names (especially the Geek Chorus).
• Forget about 'the book' and remember SPIDER-MAN has a heritage that is built of countless books-- so there.
• Don't worry about the fact that this shit jumps around what seems to be some sort of Time/Space Continuum, or something (ie The Astral Plane?).
• Right?
• PS - I'm writing this at 3am, watching 'Across The Universe' on DVD-- hey hey.

As I've mentioned-- I'm going back to the show this coming MONDAY FEBRUARY 7.... so be sure to check back for the rest of by reports coming soon.

Saturday

GOTHAM CITY

I snapped this photo on my way to drop an envelope off at Logan's stage door. Having just come back above ground from the subway station on 42nd Street, I stopped mid crosswalk at Broadway, and quickly grabbed the shot as the light of on-coming traffic turned green.

Then gothamist.com ran it HERE -- so, that was cool.

BOX OFFICE

I got my ticket to the very first preview coming up April 6, 2010....

You should get yours, too.

Tumbling Down

WFT


Why are things falling down all over the place here in New York City today?

First this.


And then, this.