Morgan Anderson: Full-throated wonder!

Oh my goodness. I have been meaning to write about this girl for a while now. You may know Morgan Anderson as the title role in the concert version of Carrie: The Musical that I appeared in two years ago as Carrie's mother, Margaret. I remember the first time I heard her sing was in a revue of Stephen Schwartz songs. Morgan sang the most full-throated, exciting rendition of "Defying Gravity" that I have EVER heard. Check out Morgan singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and "All the Wasted Time," with my good friend Zachary Altman, who also sounds terrific!







Oh, and if you haven't seen it, you should DEFINITELY check out Morgan and yours truly in Carrie!

Top 10 Mothers!

Hello, gorgeous ones! So, in honor of Mother's Day, I decided to put together a list of the Top 10 mothers of stage and screen in order of how entertaining they are going from least to greatest...even though the "least" are still VERY entertaining. Let's begin...

10. Diana in Next to Normal: Diana is a mother of two...well...sorta. She hallucinates, belts about her problems, and generally makes everyone's life miserable...in a fun, belted way. Alice Ripley won a Tony for her portrayal of this nutty character, making her likable, despite being the worst.

9. Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate: Angela Lansbury's character, Eleanor Iselin, in this fabulous movie from the 1960s, not only brainwashes her son, but then forces him to assassinate the president...but without revealing everything, not everything goes according to the plan!

8. Mildred in Mildred Pierce: Mildred Pierce is a book, and more famously, a movie, about a mother who works her ass off for her children...to a fault. Mildred is even willing to take the blame for a crime she didn't commit to protect her daughter. OY!

7. Amanda Wingfiled in Glass Menagerie: Amanda is an aging southern belle who can't seem to let go of the past. She is a phone salesperson and tirelessly tries to get her crippled, awkward daughter married off, while pushing her son further and further away until he has to no choice but to run away from home. What a fabulous play.

6. Margaret White in Carrie: Margaret, the mother of Carrie in Stephen King's novel/book/musical is the religious fanatic to end all religious fanatics. In the movie she is portrayed by the over the top amazing Piper Laurie, and in the Broadway musical by Betty Buckley, who gives one of the most thrilling musical performances of all time.

5. The Golden Girls: I couldn't choose just one. All these ladies are the coolest/cookiest moms on TV. They are a huge reminder that you can be a woman of a certain age, with kids and still be fun, sexy and independent...and really, really funny!

4. Eleanor in The Lion in Winter: Katharine Hepburn plays a few amazing mothers in different movies, but I think Eleanor takes the cake for being the most entertaining/ridiculous. Eleanor of Aquitaine is one of the most fascinating women in history, and when she's played by Katharine Hepburn she's a makes me think this movie/play should be called The Lioness in Winter. Eleanor pits her children against each other, breaks them our of prison, rebels against her husband, etc, etc. She is just over the top.

3. Scarlett in Gone With The Wind: I know Scarlett isn't usually thought of as a mother, but she DOES have a daughter in the movie, and in the BOOK she has two kids before she gets married to Rhett. Scarlett is just one of my favorite characters of all time. She starts as an impossible brat who transforms into a fighter. Scarlett is one tough mama!

2. Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest: Faye Dunaway's camptastic performance in this legendary camp classic is just over the top fun. Even though many questioned whether Christina Crawford's tales of her mothers insane behavior were true, you can't deny they make for wonderful entertainment. From wire hangers, to strangulation, Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford is one EPIC mommie.

1. Mama Rose in Gypsy: Rose has become theater's stage mother to end all stage mothers. Based on the real mother of Gypsy Rose Lee, she has been portrayed by SO many women: Ethel Merman, Patti LuPone and Angela Lansbury just to name a few. When you think of a difficult, crazy mother in theater, Rose is usually the first one that pops into all our minds. She gets to sing fabulous songs, chew the scenery and she gets the 11 o'clock number to end ALL 11 o'clock numbers. Rose is #1!

Julianne Moore OFFICIALLY offered Carrie

Hello, gorgeous ones. We were really unhappy to hear that they have decided to go with another actress and officially offered the role of Margaret White to Julianne Moore in the Carrie remake. .::sigh::. I mean, I are delighted for her, but you'd think after seeing my soul-shattering performance in the musical, the execs would have gone for it...oh well. Check out more here. Also, don't forget me...

Carrie the Musical: Gone forever?

Hello, gorgeous fans! Today, it came to my attention that the Off-Broadway revival of Carrie closed its doors two weeks early. An article in the New York Times accompanied the closing, talking about the revival's mixed reviews, the original production's failures, and also the creator's failures on many levels. I was lucky enough to make it to New York City and saw the revival of Carrie and honestly, I very much enjoyed it. In the moment, I was just so excited to see ANY staging of this musical in New York City, but after a few hours of reflection, I realized the revival had sort of missed the point and was just not very good. I don't think it had anything to do with the actual performers in the show, it was entirely the direction and the material.

One thing that the article discusses is that the creators of the musical, Michael Gore, Lawrence D. Cohen, and Dean Pitchford, felt that the reviews had treated the revival unfairly by comparing it to the original and expecting it to be something it wasn't. In this diva's not so humble opinion, the problem with these guys and the director, Stafford Arima, is that they were all forcing this musical to take itself too seriously. Stephen King's novel is a truly fantastic book, and what makes it appropriately serious and dark is how he originally wrote the two characters of Carrie and Margaret. They are like an insane Christian, telekinetic version of the mother and daughter in Precious, and part of what makes the book of Carrie so believable is that Stephen King writes her as being overweight and honestly unattractive. Margaret is also written as being equally unappealing and downright cruel. The movie makes Carrie into...Sissy Spacek...so...really, REALLY thin, but the performances by her and Piper Laurie are just so over the top and amazing that you just can't help but love it...for its campy, amazingness.

Taking this story, with these characters and trying to portray them as appealing and attractive is just wrong. The thing the original Broadway production of Carrie got RIGHT was making it a camptastic night of bizarreness. The reason we've all loved that show is because of how insanely staged it was, because of the ridiculous 80s music, which is honestly catchy and fun, and then the over the top, truly amazing performances of Betty Buckley and Linzi Hateley...mostly Betty Buckley though. The creators say they don't want Carrie to become a Rocky Horror type show that becomes a camp legend with costumes, the audience bringing props, etc...but honestly, they should be WISHING that they had the sense of humor and sense at all to let this musical be that. People carried a torch for this show for a reason, and I wish people would let it be what it really is: A campy, over the top, AMAZING show! Unless you're going to cast it with really appropriate people, similar to the way the characters are portrayed in the book, a show like this can't be "poignant."

On that note, please check out my appropriately campy performance of "Eve Was Weak!"

Veronica Garland: Living Legend?

Veronica Garland has been described as “full-throated ,” “a full figured Julianne Moore,” “frightening,” “loud,” and “frighteningly loud” by both her peers and the press. Miss Garland had her first taste of the musical theatre spotlight when she briefly understudied Patti LuPone in the Australian Production of Evita. She went on for an ailing Ms. LuPone one night and so wowed those in attendance that La LuPone demanded she be immediately removed from the production. While still in the blush of youth, she also secretly understudied other great leading ladies of the Broadway Stage, including Betty Buckley in the ill-fated Carrie, Judy Kuhn in the flop Broadway Production of Chess, Angela Lansbury in the short-lived revival of Mame, and both Alice Ripley and Emily Skinner in cult musical, Side Show. There was never a show in which Ms. Garland did not add a full throated, belted interpolation. Ms. Garland soon felt the glare of the spotlight was too much for her delicate complexion and all but retired from the musical stage. She has been residing in solitude in Los Angeles where her hobbies include painting her face, wishing her eye lashes were longer and YouTubing herself. A few years ago, she was tepidly approached by Zachary Altman (www.highbelting.com) to come out of retirement to do a concert version of Sweeney Todd. She reluctantly accepted and came to define the role of Mrs. Lovett. Never has a comeback been so intensely anticipated and never has an ovation been so richly deserved.

In 2010, Heyer- Anchel Productions mounted a production of Into The Woods specifically for her. Her interpretation of The Witch was acclaimed for its depth, pathos and interpolated belted “F.” Veronica continued to “wow” audiences in the Holiday Revue, The Private Life of Veronica Garland, which was an enormous success. She then scared everyone into hysterics making them think she was REALLY leaving the stage in As If We Never Said Goodbye: Veronica’s Farewell Tour of 2011. Following her farewell tour, La Garland starred in a staged concert performance of Carrie: The Musical as Margaret White, opposite Morgan Anderson as the title role. Veronica’s performance of “Eve Was Weak,” which has thousands of views, can be found here.

Recently, Christiana Little, a New York based singer, actress, songwriter and playwright, approached Veronica about starring in an original musical tailored to her special talents, and so this summer, Veronica will star in Bombshell Baby!