Tony Nominations

Just last weekend at the beach, I was asking Seattle Rep Marketing Director Cynthia Fuhrman what's been hot on Broadway in the past year. I haven't been paying attention. Well the Tony nominations just came out, and apparently the toast of Broadway is "Spring Awakening," a rock musical about 19th century horny German teenagers, with 11 nominations. Tom Stoppard's trilogy "The Coast of Utopia" (also set in the 19th centruy) and the Jacquie Onassis musical "Grey Gardens" each received 10 nominations.

But the coolest thing about this year's nominations is the nod for Beaverton High School graduate Brooks Ashmanskas -- seen here as the very tall Tommy Tune in Martin Short's one-man musical (with a cast of four): "Fame Becomes Me."




Rob and I saw Brooks in the show in San Francisco last year, before it went to Broadway, and had a great time. (Although, ironically, we remember saying "this is silly and fun but isn't going to win any Tony awards.") We got to enjoy a few drinks with Brooks after the show, and heard that he was having a wonderful time hanging out with Marty. And just last week we had seen Brooks in All My Children, playing Susan Lucci's uptight TV show producer, but "Leon" was fired after expressing his frustration with the on-air interview of a transexual rock star who was having an affair with Lucci's lesbian daughter. They don't call them soap operas for nothin'!

But anyway. Hey Brooks, way to go! We'll be watching you on the Tonys on June 10th.

Star Wars Rocks

OK, totally stealing this from the Portland Mercury's great blog, but I had to share these rocker versions of John Williams' classic Star Wars tunes.

No Doubt - The Imperial March (live)

Ash - Cantina Band (Live)

(Links courtesy of Fong Songs, who remind us that May 25th is the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars. OMG!)

Final Four

Some of my friends are still surprised to hear that I'm a huge American Idol fan. Um, Hello. I've been watching since the first season! And throughout this year's competition I've expressed my ever-changing opinion that either Jordin, Melinda, Blake or LaKisha could be the next American Idol. So how fantastic for me that these four girls (ahem) have just made it to the final four.




Jordin -- The girl is frickin' amazing, how can she possibly be only 17? Total package. So cute. And humble without being as sickly surprisable as Melinda. Give this girl a record deal NOW because she's probably got the longest career in front of her, and I'm guessing that over time she'll sell more albums than the rest of them put together.

Melinda -- Once they figured out what to do with her hair, she looks more like the part. But honestly, have you ever heard someone as consistently amazing as she is? She interprets every song so fantastically, and the more she brings out her inner Tina Turner, the better she'll do. I love the storyline too, backup singer takes center stage.

Blake -- Fantastically original, although beat-boxing isn't exactly a fresh new art form, I know. And have you noticed his strange diction when the letter 'p' and certain vowel sounds are involved? Still, this boy is representin' the pacific northwest pretty nicely, and the girls like him.

LaKisha -- Kiki was my top choice early on when she blasted "I'm Not Going" out of the studio back in February. Then she fell out favor with me, seeming somewhat disinterested in the whole affair the way she'd chomp on her gum with her crooked lips en route to a mediocre performance. But this week she got hot again -- AND had a personality comeback -- so I'm back in her camp.


All four of these people have a career no matter what happens. Not sure that we'll hear much more from Phil and Chris, though, so it was time for them to go for sure. Although I must say I will miss seeing Chris on the show every week. How cute was his last little moment with Blake last night? "Best Friends 4Ever!" Dude.