Please Don't Go

Hmmm, if I were to do a "Song of the Week" type of thing here... then this week's song would probably be Mike Posner's "Please Don't Go".

It makes me wanna hit the clubs.

But... I don't have clubbing friends. So that kinda sucks.

Guess I'll just have a dance party in my room then.

"No pare, sigue, sigue!"

In my previous blog post, I stated that I may have a new favorite musical: "In the Heights".

Being such a bold statement, I'm not making it official yet. I mean, I've seen "Spring Awakening" six times over the last two years, and plan on seeing it at least once when it returns to LA this spring. Perhaps twice, if I can score on-stage seats - which is a completely different and amazing experience. (And if you're Ashley, you were sooooo spoiled that your first time seeing SA was from on stage.)

But this post is about the wonderful show that is "In the Heights".

ITH is a present-day musical set in a Latino suburb of Manhattan, chronicling three days in the lives of a close community as they pursue their dreams and grapple with this idea of "home" and what it means to them. The contemporary score is infused with Latin, salsa, and hip-hop influences, and the choreography reflects this as well.

If you want to know more about the show, there's a PBS documentary on YouTube (in six parts) that does a really amazing job of showcasing the original cast members and their journey to get this show off the ground. I saw this before seeing the show itself, and it made me care about these people and I was able to appreciate their efforts even more. If you have 10 minutes, watch this clip below, and if you're sucked in (like I was), watch the next 50 online as well.

Two reasons why I love "ITH":

The Story

Everyone has different preferences when it comes to storytelling. Take two of my favorite shows, for example. I know some friends who adore "Rent" and others who are kinda turned off by the plot. Same goes for "Spring Awakening" - they'll say the music is great, but aren't particularly impressed by the story. To each their own, of course. But I love "ITH" and these characters.

In my previous post there was the song called "Breathe", and I was quickly drawn to the character of Nina and able to relate to her. What do you do when you have all these hopes and expectations placed on you by your family and community, but you find yourself struggling to meet them and things don't go according to plan? I've been there. Nina had to find her way through her particular situation (dropping out of Stanford), and I could relate to her journey (though my school was different and I didn't drop out).

The other story themes I relate to concern how to maintain your cultural heritage when you're removed from the homeland. The lead character's (Usnavi) parents immigrated from the Dominican Republic (but he was born in NYC); similarly, I was born in SoCal but my parents came from the Philippines. And while they have strong ties still and aren't going to forget their native country, I'm thinking now about what being Filipino means to me - since I never really did - and what parts of my heritage will I carry on with me when I eventually start a family.

Finally, "ITH" has a good deal of humor and fun to it, and I was very pleased with the ending... it's not big and schmaltzy (which is something I could see being said about "Wicked") nor is it dark and bittersweet ("Rent" / "SA").

The Music

"SA" was rocking out to a Duncan Sheik soundtrack - jumping up and down with youthful exuberance (fitting, as the characters are teens)... And "ITH" is grooving to a score that's more at home on a dance floor. And I can roll with both styles. :) Both have their "typical musical" numbers (i.e. slow and sweeping with some emotional climax), but as a whole, their soundtracks are distinctly different. I really dig the freestyling that goes on too - that style doesn't take over the soundtrack either. It's balanced really well, and Lin-Manuel Miranda seems like such an awesome fun talented guy. Here he is, doing a parody of a song from "High School Musical 2" that cracked me up - and if you watch it, you'll see a neat little cameo from "Jesse St. James"...

Anyways - every time I saw "SA", I picked up something new that made me appreciate that show even more. So we'll see what happens when I see "ITH" again this week. I'll go by myself, but hopefully get some friends/family to come out and see it.

Potential Blasphemy Ahead

Ready? Here it goes.

I think I might have a new favorite musical.

Yes, that means even more than "Spring Awakening"...

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

More thoughts on this later, as it's time to sleep. But needless to say, I'm super stoked that I got to see this in Hollywood earlier this evening.

New favorite song from the show: "Breathe". This clip features original Broadway cast member Mandy Gonzalez, whose voice is phenomenal. Favorite part: the stretch of video starting after the 2:00 minute mark...

These are a few of my favorite things...

And no, I'm not talking about raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens either.

In the Heights

So I've known about this show for awhile now... it won the Tony Award for "Best Musical" the year after Spring Awakening took home the same honor. But all I really knew about it was that it took place in the barrio and had a modern soundtrack with hip-hop/salsa/samba orchestrations. Took me two years to finally see a performance of it on TV, and it was last night on "Lopez Tonight". And I was blown away. Looks like such a fun show! I did more research and found more YouTube videos about the creation of the show, as well as watching their Tony Awards performance. I love seeing the passion and joy in the performers, and I really wish I'd been blessed with those talents of being a triple threat (sing/dance/act). If I did, boy, a career in musical theatre is what I'd want to pursue.

Anyways - here's the video of their "Lopez Tonight" performance:

STELLLLAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

So, about two weeks ago, I traded in my trusted old Toyota Tundra truck for a new Hyundai Sonata SE. The truck wasn't dying on me quite yet, but was always having a new expensive issue whenever I brought it in for an oil change, had a lot of miles (130K) and was a killer on the MPGs. I started doing my research on 4 door sedans that had great MPG ratings and that had a good combo of price/features/looks... and I found it all in the car you see below. That's my sleek sexy Stella. :) Happy birthday to me!