Lea Michele and
Cory Monteith
It’s prom time again, and as usually happens, the idea is better than the execution. When Principle Figgins (Iqbal Theba) tells Brittany (Heather Morris) she must improve her feeble record as class president – or he will abolish the position – she decides to take on senior prom and make it the best one ever! In a wonderfully droll and deranged dialogue, written by Glee creator Ryan Murphy, we witness Brittany’s twister of a brainstorm. Her brilliant idea: Prom-asaurus. Everybody loves dinosaurs. And there will be prehistoric food and caveman costumes … but no hair gel, much to Blaine’s (Darren Criss) dismay, since it didn’t exist back then.
When Coach Sue (Jane Lynch) announces the nominees for prom king and queen, overlooked Becky (Lauren Potter) is overwrought – smashing every xylophone in sight, upturning every cafeteria tray – and her inner voice (the delicious Helen Mirren) vows revenge on prom. Of course, Becky isn’t the only one upset. Rachel is still verklempt over her choke last week, once again seeking consolation in a darkened auditorium. Blaine and Kurt (Chris Colfer) join to lift her spirits, but I remained unconvinced by their lackluster version of Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry.”
After such fun setups, the episode begins to unravel, despite the able direction of gleek veteran Eric Stoltz, who also helmed last year’s prom episode. When we finally get to prom night, I was expecting to hear the old skool “Walk the Dinosaur”
Next up is Santana (Naya Rivera), singing Selena Gomez’s bland “Love You Like a Love Song,”
While Joe leads the boys in an overly kinetic version of One Direction’s overly sentimental “What Makes You Beautiful,”
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, best known in its 
, opened last night Off-Broadway as part of City Center’s Encores! series. The reviews have been very positive, particularly for leading actress Megan Hilty. The creative team is Anita Loos and Joseph Fields (book), David Ives (book adaptation), Leo Robin (lyrics), Jule Styne (music), John Rando (direction), Randy Skinner (choreography), John Lee Beatty (sets), Peter Kaczorowski (lights), David Woolard (costumes), and Scott Lehrer (sound). The cast includes Stephen R. Buntrock (Josephus Gage), Megan Hilty (Lorelei Lee), Aaron Lazar (Henry Spofford), Deborah Rush (Mrs. Spofford), and Rachel York (Dorothy Shaw).
Top Hat opened last night in the West End. The reviews have been mixed but generally positive. The creative team is Matthew White and Howard Jacques (book), Irving Berlin (lyrics and music), Matthew White (direction), Bill Deamer (choreography), Hildegard Bechtler (sets), Jon Morrell (costumes), Peter Mumford (lights), Gareth Owen (sound), Chris Walker (orchestrations). The cast includes Tom Chambers (Jerry Travers), Summer Strallen (Dale Tremont), Martin Ball (Horace Hardwick), Vivien Parry (Madge Hardwick), Ricardo Afonso (Alberto Beddini), and Stephen Boswell (Bates).
) and Karen.
. Huston isn’t the belter Hilty is, but her Sprechstimme was graceful and deeply felt, not unusual considering her grandfather Walter made the song famous (and vice versa).
gets an existentialist spin coupled with a pounding hip-hop beat. … Although plenty of energy, ideas, and talent abound in this romp, the show, directed by Christopher Dippel, never sufficiently harnesses its considerable assets into anything more than a rowdy series of what feel like improvisational sketches. … Turning video game obstacles and challenges into a metaphor for the hurdles one has to overcome in life is a cunning idea, and when the show manages to zero in on this notion specifically it is at its most interesting. And at other moments, certain absurd flourishes can induce hearty laughs. … However, the enterprise is unbearably weighed down by trivial details, notably bouts of couch-fort building and other pre-pubescent game-playing.
, you’ll want to skip this one. … It’s all exceedingly silly, but done with enough good humor and antic wit to amuse nongaming aficionados. And there are genuinely funny metatheatrical touches, such as a late-stage meltdown by the hooded actor who says his character doesn’t have “enough of an arc.”
– minus the bed-hopping. … Musically, the pop-flavored tunes are fairly generic. But lyrically, they are terrific – snappy and irreverent in the main, yet thoughtful in a couple of introspective ballads. … It’s another mark in the show’s favor that it contains many swings of emotion, and an ending that’s more about new beginnings than happy-ever-afters. This is, after all, only a first date – but a very promising one.
and 
by Maltby and Shire. The shell of a book by Austin Winsberg makes us care a little about Aaron, it’s true, but not much about Casey, and not a whit about anyone else. That task is left to an extraordinary cast. … Though the whole cast does great, Ankrim is the best reason to see the show. … Re-reading my own review, I realize I had a moderately good time at First Date, despite the slim material. But I won’t be going back for a second.
(Bobby Darin): This 1960 Grammy-winning chart-topper proved that musical theater could be hip. Based on the song of the same name from Brecht & Weill’s 
, Dick Clark had advised Darin not to record it because opera wouldn’t appeal to a rock audience, but the track became Darin’s signature song and was named one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.
. Among the tracks on 
, which he released with an acoustic version of his classic “Space Oddity” on the flip side.
(Linda Clifford): This 1978 title track from Clifford’s sophomore album is based on the song of the same name from the 
score by Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields. While remaining true to the melody and lyrics, the track is the epitome of disco production. For five weeks, the song rested atop the Billboard dance charts and paved the way for disco remixes of innumerable other standards in the musical theater catalog, from 
to 
.
. It didn’t chart in the US and only reached #54 in the UK, despite being one of the band’s most famous and popular. It also is one of only three Dire Straits songs not credited to Mark Knopfler alone, since the opening instrumental is an arrangement of “Carousel Waltz” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 
.
, the song became a worldwide success. While the music and lyrics are original, the iconic video is based on Marilyn Monroe’s performance of “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the film version of 
(Jay-Z): This 1998 title track from the rapper’s third album is based on the song of the same name from 
. The single became Jay-Z’s most commercially successful at the time, peaking at #2 on the rap chart and earning a Grammy nomination for Best Rap Solo. VH1 named it as one of the 100 Greatest Songs of Hip-Hop.
(Debelah Morgan): Released in 2000 as the first single from Debelah Morgan’s third studio album of the same name, the song is based on “Hernando’s Hideaway” from Adler & Ross’s 
, featuring new lyrics and a different bridge. It remains her highest charting single, reaching the Top Ten on the pop and the dance charts.
, the song is based on “My Favorite Things” from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 
. Featuring a similar melody but several updated lyrics, the song received positive reviews and became the group’s third Top Ten hit and highest charting single in the UK.
, the song is based on “If I Were a Rich Man” from 
, with new musical and lyrical elements. The song received mixed reviews but was a commercial success, reaching the Top Ten and earning Stefani and rapper Eve a Grammy nomination for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.
. Panned by critics for Stefani’s yodeling parts of “The Lonely Goatherd” from 
, the single nevertheless hit the Top Ten in the US and other international markets.
the first compilation of songs (18 for those who purchase the CD at Target, 13 for those who purchase elsewhere) from its musical series Smash, and the album has received mixed reviews so far, with the original songs that Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman wrote for the fictional show Bombshell fairing better than the covers of pop songs.
composers Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. … Fans may well argue that the soundtrack producers haven’t necessarily picked the five best “bombshell” tunes to throw in here. … Perhaps the CD’s brevity is just a sign of the send-them-to-iTunes-to-buy-singles-in-bulk times. But it’s more of a liability here.