Veronica Garland sings "Let it Go" from Frozen

Check out my music video of the Disney hit "Let It Go," from the movie Frozen.

Game of Thrones Rant (Spoilers)

So, I recently discovered the magic that is HBO'S series, Game of Thrones. I don't know why I put it off for so long. I think it might be because I like to wait a few seasons, see if a show lasts and then watch a lot of seasons in a row. That's what I did with True Blood and it was awesome. The thing about some of these HBO shows with lots of characters and different locations with different story-lines is that sometimes not that much will happen to a character over the course of the season, so I find that watching a whole season in a row makes it seem like more happens because you're not waiting a week to see what happens. 

Anyway, I am loving this season of Game of Thrones. I love the addition of Natalie Dormer as a more prominent presence (I went wild for her as Anne Boleyn on The Tudors), I love how Daenarys keeps getting stronger and more badass. I'm actually really intrigued by what's going on with Bran and think Osha is a very cool character and like their relationship. I'm also WAY into Lady Brienne and Jaime and love their sort of "unspoken" respect and love for each other. When she was in the bear pit this week and he saved her I totally got choked up. I'm always into Lord Rob Stark, King of the North, who is just so sexy. I wasn't initially into John Snow's story up North, but I like his new ginger girlfriend and think they're cute together. Most of all, I really just want Sansa, Arya and Bran to be reunited with Catelyn and Rob, but it looks like that won't be happening for a while.

I'm very happy with this season, but the one thing that's been really bothering me is the Theon storyline. It finally just became too much for me this week when he was psychologically tortured by whores and then it looks like his peeper cut chopped off at the end of his scene. I have never been into this character and have always resented the amount of screen time he got. This episode particularly pissed me off because HBO thought we needed to be shocked by nudity, and torture rather than actual character development. I mean, Cersei didn't even have a scene this episode and Catelyn has been turned into cranky mother sitting in the corner. I'd even prefer more scenes of Joffrey or even....dare I say...Samwell. I'd rather watch Samwell sing badly to that incest baby than watch Theon. I'm also just not into the actor, never have been. ANYWAY, that is all, would love to hear any thoughts you all have 

Veronica sings Lana Del Rey's "Young and Beautiful"

Witches of Eastwick Videos!

Behind the Scenes of Witches of Eastwick

Come see Veronica Garland in The Witches of Eastwick: The Musical! April 5th at 8pm at Ensemble Studio Theater 549 W. 52nd st 6th Floor. $10 admission 2 free drinks.

Shirley is still the best!

So, I don't know if anything could have made me happier than Dame Shirley Bassey performing at the Oscars. Not only did she sound great, but she looked great and she's 76 YEARS OLD!!! UM....She's almost 80!!! I thought Adele and Barbra did a great job at the Oscars, but Shirley stole the show for me. I also LOVE how tickled she is by the standing ovation at the end. She is just a miracle. CONGRATS! THE DAME REIGNS!

Veronica's Best Dressed from the Oscars

Hello, my gorgeous, adoring fans! It's been a while, but I couldn't stop myself from posting about my favorite red carpet fashions. Well, here we go...

Jessica Chastain's hair, makeup, dress and accessories all make up for some not so great red carpet moments she's had this year. The Armani dress is just stunning. The color and the pattern, it's just amazing. Jessica may not have won the award tonight, but she wins my pick for best dressed of the evening.

Some others I loved...Halle Berry looked gorgeous in her stripey dress. She looks amazing. 

Nicole Kidman's dress was wild and crazy, but I kind of love it. 

I bet not everyone loved this...but I don't care. Jane Fonda looks terrific.

Naomi Watts looked like a futuristic goddess in her dress. Her hubby isn't looking so bad either.

Charlize did some gorgeous dancing at the Oscars, she also rocked out the red carpet. I thought this dress was pretty similar to the one that Anne Hathaway wore to the Globes, but actually think Charlize looks better....duh....

Um..CZJ looked incredible in her gold, sequins. She also did some great dancing and lip synching during the award show.

Jennifer Lawrence looked really, really lovely....I just feel like she dressed in preparation to win, which rubbed me the wrong way, but whatever.

Kerry Washington could wear a garbage bag and look gorgeous. I love her Prada dress, but I wish her hair had been different. She's always gorgeous though. 

Reese looked great. The blue is a little much for me, but the styling and overall look is gorgeous and classic. 

Some dresses I didn't like. I hated Anne Hathaway's dress. The back looked slutty and the front was weird to me. Also, the pointy nipples were weird. The necklace also threw me off a little. I think her hair and makeup looking lovely though. 

I normally love Adele's fashion choices, but I am over her not showing any skin at all. She is a gorgeous woman and could stand to wear something with a V-neck...or SOMETHING. Maybe some fabulous, colorful accent jewelry would have brightened this look up? I don't know. 

Didn't like this one either and her hair looked messy.

DON'T DO MESSY HAIR FOR THE OSCARS KRISTEN STEWART! UGH!

False Alarm: Britney's Vegas Stint is a no go!!!

Sad news! While a residency for Britney in Vegas is not out of the question, it sounds like the deal at Caesar's Palace fell through. I AM SO SAD! BUT, let's not worry too much about our pop princess. Her music video of "Scream & Shout" reached over 100,000,000 views on youtube, she's working on her new album and I'm sure it's going to be amazing. Also, it sounds like there is still a definite possibility of Britney going to Vegas...we can ONLY hope!

Young Anna Kendrick performing!

I recently realized that the little girl singing with the girls from Cabaret on the Carnegie Hall Divas of Broadway DVD is Anna Kendrick...WEIRD! Remember when she was nominated for a Tony at the age of 12?! Crazy! She was SO CUTE! I hope the rumors about her playing Cinderella in the Into the Woods movie are true!

Britney for the win!

So, I have been enormously worried about Britney for the past week or so. The pop princess has had a hard time of it: quitting/getting fired from X Factor, and her relationship with Jason Trawick fizzling, I was worried Britney might fall back into a major downward spiral, but don't worry, Britney always comes out on top! La Spears has signed a two year contract with Caesar's Palace and will be making about $200 million!!! Um...that is way more money than she made doing X Factor, and I bet the hard work will be good for Britney. Lip syncing is NO JOKE HARD :)! 

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!

Gay Broadway Day Episode #2!

Check out my two favorite men talking about their favorite belters...I'm honored to be included!

Golden Globes: The Dresses!

Hello, my gorgeous fans! I hope everyone enjoyed the Golden Globes, I know I did. I thought Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were absolutely hilarious and underused, AND they looked gorgeous! None of the winners were big surprises to me, although I was sad that Jessica Lange didn't win for American Horror Story, but I hear Julianne Moore was terrific as Sarah Palin and I am definitely going to check out that movie. I was very happy that Jessica Chastain won for her performance in Zero Dark Thirty. She gave a fabulous, subtle performance and I loved the film. Anne Hathaway's win was no surprise, and I was happy for her since I loved her in the film, but I wanted to punch her in the face when she added to her acceptance speech when Les Miserables won for best musical/comedy picture...you had your time...go away. Also, Jodie Foster's speech was bizarre. A lot of people were saying it was inspiring, and I guess it was, but it also made me enormously uncomfortable.

ANYWAY! Onto the dresses. Here are some of my faves...

Kate Hudson looked AMAZING in her Alexander McQueen dress! LOVE IT!

Adele looked lovely in Burberry and her hair and makeup were fabulous as usual! Hope she sings her song live at the Oscars!

Jessica Alba looked gorgeous in her peach Oscar de la Renta dress. Great hair, makeup, jewelry, she looked gorgeous.

Naomi Watts wore a dramatic Zac Posen dress and I really liked it!

Anne Hathaway, as annoying as she is, looked lovely in her white Chanel dress.

Jennifer Lopez looked stunning in her Zuhair Muhad dress. I don't LOVE the dress, but her hair and makeup are stunning and she looks amazing.

I don't really like this Rachel Weisz's Louis Vuitton dress, but her hairy and makeup are just a dream and she's just a stunning lady.

I thought Nicole Kidman's Alexander McQueen dress was really chic and interesting looking. Not my FAVORITE, but she definitely pulled it off. 

Julianne Moore looked elegant in her Tom Ford dress. The back is a little weird, but she looked amazing.

Here are some dresses I didn't like....

Jessica Chastain was AMAZING in Zero Dark Thirty, but her look for the Golden Globes was lackluster. Her Calvin Klein dress was unflattering and her hairstyle aged her...it almost looked like she had a bald spot...and she's GORGEOUS! She got some bad advice on this look.

Thought Halle Berry's whole look was a miss. She's always gorgeous, just wasn't into it.

Lucy Liu's dress and hair and entire look was puzzling.

Oscar Nominations Released

The Oscar nominations have been announced! tAKE A LOOK AT THE MAJOR AWARDS!

BEST PICTURE

• "Amour" Nominees to be determined
• "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
• "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
• "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
• "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

DIRECTOR

• "Amour" Michael Haneke
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
• "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell

LEAD ACTOR

• Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
• Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
• Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
• Denzel Washington in "Flight"

LEAD ACTRESS

• Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
• Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
• Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
• Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

AWARDS: OSCARS 2013 | PLAY-AT-HOME BALLOT

SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Alan Arkin in "Argo"
• Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
• Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
• Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Amy Adams in "The Master"
• Sally Field in "Lincoln"
• Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
• Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
• Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Britney Quits X-Factor :(!

Sad news! My favorite pop princess and yours will NOT return for another season of X Factor! It's reported that she loved working with Simon and Demi, etc, but that she is going to focus on her next album. I guess walking away from $15 million is easier than it sounds? It sounds like she wasn't going to be asked back and she stepped away from the show before she was sacked...or maybe they're making it seem like she quit, but they already told her her contract wouldn't be renewed...oh well! Needless to say, I will not be watching this show next season. 

Gay Broadway Day with Matt and Zach Episode #1

Hello, my gorgeous fans! Two of my dearest friends, Matt and Zach, have made a fun video centered around the new Les Miserables movie. They discuss the performances in the movie and their favorites from other productions and recordings from this iconic show. Check it out and stay tuned for more webisodes!

Les Miserables Review

So, tonight I saw the new film version of Les Miserables, featuring an all-star cast of Hugh Jackman....Russell Crowe....Anne Hathaway....Amanda Seyfried? ...anyway. I had been hearing a lot of stuff about the movie through friends and via facebook. There are camps that love it and camps that hate it. Those who hate it seem to have enormous issues with the singing and then film acting and talking that happens within the songs that we are used to seeing "performed" on a grand stage with costumes and sets, selling it to an audience much further away.

I remember when I saw the film version of Sweeney Todd, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, I remember there were many different opinions as well. Some people hated the singing, some people liked it, etc. I very much liked it. I thought the way the music and the singing was handled really fit the vision of the film on a whole, and that show has a complicated book with complicated characters who are scheming and plotting and doing all sorts of awful things. The songs were almost seamless through the movie and worked perfectly with the plot.

Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd are probably the most opposite musicals ever. While Sweeney is driven by the complicated plot and book, Les Miserables is a sung-through musical. It is all about hit tunes, exciting singing and a few moving characters. In my opinion, the characters in Les Miz that you care about are Jean Valjean, Fantine and Eponine. Those are the characters I relate to most. They have real human feelings and superior songs to show them.

Fantine was played brilliantly by Anne Hathaway. Fantine is the perfect gem of a part. You come on, sing a great song, everyone loves you, and then you die in the middle of the first act. I was surprised and disappointed that they cut a bunch of Fantine's music in the movie, considering Anne Hathway is the highlight, I would have liked to see more of her. Her performance of "I Dreamed a Dream" was well sung and made me cry. It was the only time the concept of the live singing with movie style acting really, really worked for me, and the fact that it was done in one take is impressive. You could sing a song great in one take, hundreds of performers do that daily, but doing a performance for the camera without playing to a big house, crying and still hitting all the notes is no easy task, and Anne rose to the occasion. There were moments in her other parts I thought she was too much too soon or a little self indulgent, but I'd be surprised if that song didn't win her an Oscar. It worked for Jennifer Hudson.

The two male leads, Russell Crowe and Hugh Jackman were a mixed bag. It's so funny to me that Hugh Jackman has been on Broadway, won a Tony, sung legit musical theater, and sang so terribly for most of the film. His vocal production physically hurt me at moments, and it's unfortunate because he actually acted beautifully, but his rendition of "Bring Him Home" was horrific. Bad singing from Hugh and bad musical direction from whoever didn't tell him not to scream that song. Mr. Jackman clearly has a great voice, he's just gotten some bad information on how to use it. Russell Crowe has been most people's choice for the worst singer in the movie, but at least he didn't have me grabbing for my throat. The only time I found his singing truly silly was during "Stars," where he made some interesting choices.

Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Cohen were enjoyable as the Thenardiers, althought Mr. Cohen's performance was a little subdued and his choice of accent was strange, Madame Carter/Burton came off much better. Eddie Redmayne wins 2nd place for worst singing after Hugh Jackman. His kermit the frog impression made him so unattractive that I couldn't believe he had two women after him. Also, they should have cut "Empty Chairs and Empty Tables." I know people like the song, but it adds nothing to the plot and stopped the movie dead in its tracks towards the end when everyone wants to go home. Samantha Barks was lovely as Eponine, but her singing suffered when she did quiet singing. It seemed as if someone told her she couldn't sound so "Broadway" and she took it too far. Also, she was a wobbly mess in "Heart Full of Love." That duet/trio was almost unlistenable. Amanda Seyfried was very pretty and her autotuned flutter only added to her allure...oy. To be honest, she offended me less than Eddie Redmayne though.

Broadway actor, Aaron Tveit, was great as Enjolras. A little too boyish for the part, but he sang well and looked handsome. Hadley Fraser, who had one line in the movie, "You at the barricade listen to this, etc" did the best singing of the movie in maybe 20 seconds. Check him out singing Marius in the clip bellow.

All in all I enjoyed the movie, I was moved by it and thought there were great performances. I even liked the added "Action scenes" that added more to Javert's chase for Valjean. I commend the director and sound people for trying this new way to do the movie musical. It'll be interesting to see if it'll become common practice in the future. I thought the production design was good, I especially like/was upset by how awful, dirty and creepy the docks were with the prostitutes. Anyway, definitely go see this movie!

Kim Kardashian is pregnant with WHOSE child?!

Why, with Kanye West's baby, OF COURSE! Kanye supposedly announced to a few hundred fans at his concert this past week that Kim is expecting, and now the family is coming out with the big news as well! What a wonderful NYE surprise! I mean, maybe this explains why Kim's been looking a little tired lately. There have been a lot of pictures of her being caught out and about without any makeup on....SHOCKER! Well, I am sending good vibes all the way to her uterus. That baby is in for a whole lot of surprises.

More videos from Veronica's Xmas Bash!

Bette Davis buys war bonds for christmas

This clip just played on TCM and I found it so hilarious. Bette Davis was an enormous supporter of the troops during WWII, which is commendable and awesome, but come on...this clip is just hilarious. Check it out!