Swedish pop-rock duo ROXETTE have been busy touring the globe in celebration of their 30th anniversary together. But, they took some time to record what one critic is calling quite a different yet incredible new album, which streets June 3rd. Take a listen to their new single, “It Just Happens” below. ROXETTE’s new album releases June 3rd from Warner Records and will be available at retailers nationwide and for digital download through iTunes:
The 2016 Annual Blackwell San Jose Oscars Party is coming! Come join your closest friends for the BEST annual Oscars Party on the planet! Walk the red carpet and enjoy some amazing fresh food and drinks while we critique the best and worst dressed, watch our favorite performers, and see who takes home an Academy Award! Check your email or FaceBook Events Page for your official invite to the PARTY OF THE YEAR!!!
Before I begin this review, let me preface it by revealing just how much I LOVED the original Broadway production of The Bridges of Madison County, the lush, lavish, and gorgeous musical that starred Steven Pasquale and Kelli O’Hara that heartbreakingly failed to gather enough traction to become the mega-hit it should’ve become. Musical genius Jason Robert Brown won the Tony Award for his score for Bridges; and both of its lead stars were Tony nominated for their performances (O’Hara would later go on to win for The King & I). When I heard the show was closing in NY back in May of 2014, I booked a flight to the final performance and sat in the theater in complete disbelief that this amazingly crafted and truly touching show was closing after such a short run. Of course, material that good can’t stay on the shelf forever; and a national tour was launched in the end of 2015.
In a nutshell, this tour has A LOT to live up to in-terms of its original Broadway predecessor; and I don’t envy the tall order the touring leads, Elizabeth Stanley (Francesca Johnson) and Andrew Samonsky (Robert Kincaid), must follow. And while no, their performances don’t eclipse the originals, they come awfully darn close. In fact, this entire production of Bridges comes awfully close! Creative decisions were wisely placed in the hands of almost all of the original members of the Broadway creative team. Bartlett Sher’s fantastic direction is mimicked perfectly by Tyne Rafaeli. Thus, what translates to the tour is essentially a carbon copy of what graced the stage of the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. The set pieces, background scenery, and props are duplicated, as is the stage movement of the cast throughout the show.
Bridges isn’t Wicked; there aren’t elaborate set pieces and special effects to distract the audience from the core of the story. Instead, the production must rely an that absolutely gorgeous score and orchestrations and performances from the actors to succeed. Luckily, this production does so on every level. The leads knock it out of the park! And the supportive cast is so strong that the story (authored by novelist Robert James Waller) shines so brightly that the true beauty of this show comes through. Elizabeth Stanley’s unique portrayal of Francesca is punctuated by her remarkable vocals; and while Andrew Samonsky’s vocals aren’t quite as rich or deep as Pasquale’s, he more than nails the part and brings the true love his character has for Francesca to life.
The supporting leads, played by David Hess and Mary Callanan (the married neighbors who share a close bond with the Johnson family) and Cullen R. Titmas (Bud, Francesca’s lovable husband) are incredibly strong. “Get Closer” is Callanan’s solo in the first act and allows her talent to be put on display front and center (as does the equally incredible Katie Claus’ first act solo “Another Life”). The second act’s “When I’m Gone,” serving as a transition of time in the story, sung by Titmas and Hess, sent chills down my spine. The accent Hess puts on his execution of several of the lyrics conveys the emotion and strength of the number, and the power it has in helping to conclude the story. “Before and After You/ One Second and a Million Miles” remains the showstopper number. Stanley and Samonsky perform the number beautifully with a perfect show of dynamics and tone control. The song is so incredibly moving. Its orchestrations feel almost immersive; the audience feels the same love and turmoil in their hearts as the characters on stage, thanks to the deeply lush combination of piano and strings Brown combined to chilling effect.
In conclusion, there are really not enough positive adjectives to describe this touring production of Bridges. The acting, singing, and entire production closely rivals the quality of the original Broadway production. The show had such a short life in NY, odds are you probably missed it. If you miss the show now, you’ve only got yourself to blame. The show is touring across the US. It’s worth taking the time needed to dedicate yourself to seeing this show. If the show isn’t making a stop in your town, then pop on its Web site and plan to a trip out of it! You’ll be very grateful you did! Tour dates and tickets are available here: http://bridgesmusical.com/tickets/. Below, take a look at footage from the recording of the Bridges soundtrack, featuring the original Broadway leads Kelly O’Hara and Steven Pasquale:
So by now I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about The Material Girl’s bad reputation earned for her making of her fans wait an extended period of time before she decides to take the stage. And while that may certainly be a worthy criticism (and for my partner, a deal breaker to ever seeing her live again), it shouldn’t distract from her enormous talent and ability to put on one hell of a show. On Wednesday, I had the absolute pleasure of seeing MADONNA’s Rebel Heart Tour, which featured about a 65%/35% split between performances of tunes from her 2015 Grammy-less nominated album Rebel Heart and her classic defining hits at Philips Arena in Atlanta, GA
After a horrific opening by a DJ whose name I cannot nor wish to recall and about an hour break, Madonna finally took the stage around 11:05pm. Her opening number “Iconic,” featuring a guest appearance by former boxer Mike Tyson (yes—that Mike Tyson, whose collaboration has resulted in many women’s rights groups to hurl some shade Madge’s way), was energetic and fantastic! Surrounded by 15 dancers clad in Asian warrior uniforms flailing choreographed fight sequences using large cross-like staffs, Madonna made her way down from the ceiling in a cage, where she was ultimately “freed” by her enormously talented dance squad.
The show included essentially every number from Rebel Heart. Luckily for me, I find most of that album tolerable (unlike Madonna’s last album MDNA, 70% of which I disliked). But fans wishing to hear Madonna perform the older mega-hits from her catalog probably left the concert a little disappointed. But many of those classic and artist defining hits like “Material Girl,” “Like A Virgin,” and “La Isla Bonita” remained in the set list. The highlight of the performance of Madonna”s older material for me was definitely “True Blue.” The True Blue album spawned many of Madonna’s biggest hit singles (“Cherish” and “Express Yourself” for example) and was certainly nostalgic for her longest-term fans to hear. She performed the number bathed in a blue light, surrounded by her dancers. It was also different from the poppy original version, sung to a more acoustical arrangement of the music.
The staging of the show was truly amazing. Screens rose from the stage floor, shifted in the background, and complimented the performances perfectly. Large set pieces, including a three-story staircase descended mid show, providing a great set for Madonna to perform some of the more slower songs from Rebel Heart. Madonna also showed off her talent on the guitar, playing along with her band to several ballads, including the title track from Rebel Heart, which I believe is the strongest song on the album.
While Madonna was certainly the star of the show, her dancers weren’t far behind. Of all the Madonna tours I’ve seen (and I’ve seen about 6 now), I have never seen her dancers play such a prominent role in the staging. Countless numbers featured amazingly and well-choreographed sequences ranging from steamy HOTT simulated sex acts on several beds lining the stage to acrobatic stunts played out on poles that bent dancers down just feet in-front of audience members on the floor. And while the dancers were absolutely gorgeous (one female dancer even goes topless for most of the show), they are also dripping with talent! And the closing number, punctuated by “Holiday,” one of Madonna’s biggest hits, was so fun and full of energy that the entire arena remembered why their love for Madonna was worth the price of the $800 ticket.
Despite the three-hour delay, the crowd was raucous and enthusiastically supported Madonna throughout the performance of every number. And while Rebel Heart is not my favorite Madonna album, I do believe the music to be much stronger than her previous outing, MDNA. Consequently, I really enjoyed this concert more than her last concert tour, MDNA. This particular performance was also one in which Madonna interacted with the audience more than I’ve ever seen. She spoke candidly and joked about the mistakes she’d made in her life and marriages; and she really looked as if she was enjoying her time on stage and appreciated just how much her fans cherish her.
While her Re-Invention Tour will remain my favorite Madonna concert-going experience, this Rebel Heart experience isn’t far behind. Below, take a front row look at some fan-recorded footage of Madonna performing “Rebel Heart” from her show in Turin in November 2015:
The University of Central Florida (UCF) welcomed its 10th head football coach on Tuesday. The Knights, who went winless in 2015, announced that Oregon’s offensive coordinator, Scott Frost, had earned the football program’s top spot over multiple other candidates, including Bowling Green’s Dino Babbers and former Miami coach Randy Shannon. Marc Daniels, who hosts UCF’s weekly radio football broadcasts and games, gave the first interview with the new coach today. Take a look at the video below. Welcome to UCF Coach Frost and GO KNIGHTS!
After going winless this season (the Knights are 0-8; 0-4 AAC), UCF’s head football coach George O’Leary has announced his retirement. The news was reported today, just one day after UCF’s horrific 59-10 loss to #21 Houston. The retirement is effective immediately. The Orlando Sentinel reports:
UCF football coach George O’Leary is retiring effective immediately, wrapping up a 12-year tenure during which he helped put the school’s football program on the national radar, three sources with knowledge of the decision told the Orlando Sentinel. Quarterbacks coach Danny Barrett is being named the Knights’ interim coach. UCF President John Hitt and vice president Grant Heston confirmed the news and told the Sentinel the school will complete its athletics director search by early December and the new A.D. will help select the next head football coach from outside the program. “[Current UCF offensive coordinator] Brent Key has a clause in his contract that he will be paid $700,000 if he is not the next head coach. We will honor that agreement and the $700,000 will be payable over 24 months,” Heston said.
O’Leary, 69, finishes his career as the Knights’ second winningest coach in program history behind Gene McDowell. O’Leary needed to win just six games to surpass McDowell in the record books, but his team, so far, has been unable to secure even one victory in his final season. “I have tremendous professional and personal respect for George and all he has done for UCF,” Hitt said in a statement announcing the coach’s retirement. “We’ve been successful in the classroom and on the field under his watch, and his achievements have helped build the bonds that unite Knights everywhere.
“This season has been difficult, and I support George’s decision to retire now so our program can begin planning for the future.” O’Leary said in a statement he long planned to retire at the end of this season. “2014 was a rewarding season which culminated in our second consecutive AAC championship and third conference championship in five seasons. 2015, however, has been a disappointment to me and many despite the hard work of our coaches and players,” O’Leary said in the statement. “Many of the players are young but gaining valuable playing experience due to injuries and graduation. I am sure this will benefit them next season.
“In an effort to allow UCF to accelerate its search for my successor and clarify the facts regarding my future plans, I am retiring effective immediately.” O’Leary compiled an 81-68 record at UCF and led the team to seven bowl games. He has won three postseason games at UCF, including his crowning achievement in 2013 – an upset of No. 5 Baylor to win the Fiesta Bowl. Overall, O’Leary has compiled a 133-101 record and 11 bowl appearances as a college football head coach dating back to when he took over Georgia Tech’s program in 1995.
He entered 2015 as the longest tenured coach in the American Athletic Conference and seventh in college football, with Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer still leading the pack. While UCF didn’t make players or coaches available for interviews Sunday, defensive lineman Demetris Anderson told the Orlando Sentinel he was, “pretty sad because Coach O’Leary, he helped me out during my high school years and my college career. He’s a really good coach and I’m kind of sad that he’s leaving, but I wish all is well for him.”
After experiencing immense highs at UCF during the past two seasons that included winning back-to-back conference titles, this year has been tumultuous. Aside from the team’s struggle to maintain its place among the top of the American conference, O’Leary resigned as the school’s interim athletics director earlier this month. “Right now, I want to coach football and, again, I looked at the AD thing and put my time into it, but it’s not something that basically I’m gonna have a real interest in and that’s why I made that decision,” O’Leary said when he resigned from the interim athletics director job. “And again, I’ll say it, it was my decision alone in making that, and I’m fulfilling the contract in doing that.”
Speculation about O’Leary’s retirement started to gain momentum last season when multiple reports emerged he would step down after the Knights’ game against Penn State game in Ireland. He denied those reports, but over time admitted that he struggled with the decision of when to step down, noting he loved to coach football and wasn’t very good at golf. He told the Orlando Sentinel he recently signed a contract extension through 2020, but he has declined to make the terms of the contract public. This became another sore point for UCF fans who wondered if O’Leary himself or the school promised in writing to make Key, a first-year offensive coordinator, the Knights’ next head coach.
Key, a former Georgia Tech offensive lineman, has served as an assistant to O’Leary for 17 seasons. While this year has been tough, O’Leary is widely respected by his peers in the American Athletic Conference. During the league’s spring meetings, UConn coach Bob Diaco praised the veteran coach and eventually manufactured to a rivalry between the schools as a sign of respect.
“There’s integrity, his players are class acts. They are put together, there’s discipline and detail in the games, they protect the football, they do some of the small things that create winning. “They’re not overly penalized,” Diaco said. “They just don’t play what would be considered losing football. … They’re tough, tough teams and they fight until the end. You know you’re gonna be in a four quarter slug-fest with his teams.” O’Leary has seen the school through two conference transitions from Conference USA to the Big East, which ultimately was renamed the American Athletic Conference, and was a key figure in helping the school build its first on-campus football stadium.
UCF lost a close 35-32 contest to then-No. 6 ranked Texas in its inaugural game at Bright House Networks Stadium in 2007. The writing seemed to be on the wall for O’Leary, who once joked during a press conference that it looked like he would leave the same way he came in – with a winless record. His winless 2004 squad rebounded to appear in the school’s first bowl game in 2005 and included two high-profile draft picks in receivers Brandon Marshall and Mike Sims-Walker.
UCF developed a reputation among NFL scouts for preparing college players for the NFL during O’Leary’s tenure, with successful athletes like Kemal Ishmael, Bruce Miller and Josh Robinson to name a few. One of O’Leary’s proudest accomplishments was the career of running back Kevin Smith. The consensus All-American tailback returned to UCF to complete his degree last year after his NFL career ended. Smith currently is an intern on the UCF football staff and has aspirations to coach one day.
Education was one of O’Leary’s chief points of emphasis, with players saying he’d always promise them the opportunity to get a college degree and was clear just how difficult it could be play in the NFL. UCF’s 90 percent graduation success rate in 2014 was third among public institutions and first in the state of Florida and in the American conference. It was also the eighth consecutive year the football program improved its GSR.
If the video released today to promote the upcoming Andrew Lloyd Webber Broadway musical School of Rock is any indication, this show, based on the beloved 2003 movie of the same name, is going to be a TON of fun! The video features the show number, “You’re in the Band” and is filmed in what is billed by Playbill as an “immersive” 360-degree format. As Playbill’s Andrew Gans points out: “Shot in a real NYC classroom, the video was designed by Lloyd Webber and School of Rock book writer Julian Fellowes to take full advantage of new 360° technology. The video will accompany a new single of “You’re in the Band,” produced by Lloyd Webber and music producer Rob Cavallo, to be released by Warner Bros. Records.” Take a look at the video below. School of Rock officially opens December 6th at the Winter Garden Theatre. Previews begin November 9th.
Jason Robert Brown, the two-time Tony-Award winning composer of such amazingly beautiful scores as The Bridges of Madison County and Parade has been brought on-board to overhaul the score of the Broadway-bound KING KONG: The Musical. Kong originally premiered in June of 2013 at the Regent Theatre in Melbourne, Australia, the same theater where Andrew Lloyd Webber’s re-worked Phantom of the Opera sequel, Love Never Dies, enjoyed a healthy run back in 2011. The Australian production of KING KONG was scored by composer and arranger Marius de Vries, whose credits include the soundtracks for Moulin Rouge and Romeo + Juliet. He created a score that featured revamped versions of 1930s Broadway classics like “Get Happy,” “I Wanna Be Loved By You” and “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” as well as new and existing songs from a mix of contemporary artists: Robert Del Naja from Massive Attack, Sarah McLachlan, Justice, Guy Garvey from Elbow and The Avalanches. Brown will partner with de Vries in revamping the score for NY. In addition to Brown, Bridges director Marsha Normon has been tapped to write the book and lyrics. No timeline for the show has been set. Watch highlights from the Australia production below:
The UCF Knights (0-2; 0-0 AAC) ventured to Stanford, California this past weekend to play the Cardinal. Unfortunately, starting quarterback Justin Holman suffered a compound fracture of a finger on his throwing arm on the first drive, leaving backup quarterback Bo Schneider to take the offensive reigns for the rest of the contest. Without any type of effective offensive game plan and having to rely on play from five true freshman, the Knights sputtered for the entire game. While the defensive unit remained strong during the first half, holding Stanford to just 10 points despite multiple trips to the UCF end zone, they eventually wore out in the second half, allowing the Cardinal to score 21 points to UCF’s paltry 7. The final score was 31-7.
Along with Holman, UCF’s starting center Joey Grant was also significantly injured. Head Coach George O’Leary informed the press on Monday that Grant will remain out for the rest of the season while Holman will need 2-4 weeks to recuperate. O’Leary also apologized to the 1,200 fans who attended the game for the embarrassing performance by his team: “I thought it was great they were there. I’m sorry we didn’t help them out more and give them something to cheer about.” The Knights now move on to a matchup against IAA Furman on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6pm and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN3.
The UCF Knights (0-1; 0-0 AAC) fell to the Panthers of Florida International Thursday in an embarrassing loss that marks just the second time UCF has lost a home opener since the opening of their on-campus Bright House Networks Stadium in 2007. The Thursday night, 6pm game, was televised live on CBS Sports Network and was attended by close to 40,000 spectators. Says Shannon Greene of the Orlando Sentinel:
The Knights rushed for just 46 yards compared to the Panthers’ 131 and were largely unable to move the ball in the second half, during which starter Dontravious Wilson was sidelined due to a leg injury. Last season’s leading rusher, Will Stanback, rushed for just 12 yards and averaged less than a yard per carry.
Despite the earlier adversity, UCF relied on the run during its final drive with the hope it could help the Knights overcome a 15-14 deficit with less than a minute to play. A personal foul by FIU helped advance UCF into scoring range on the 23-yard line, but a stalled rushing attack and ill-timed penalty left the game in the hands of freshman kicker Matt Wright. His 47-yard field goal attempt was blocked and the Knights lost.
Unfortunately, the national media has climbed on the bandwagon criticizing the loss. Yahoo Sports listed UCF as its #2 loser of the week, saying, “”UCF: What the heck, Knights? This isn’t how coach George O’Leary’s tenure as interim athletic director was supposed to start. Central Florida lost at home to Florida International 15-14 on Thursday night. Yes, a program just two years removed from a Fiesta Bowl win lost at home to a team that has two winning seasons in its history. FIU got the win as Matthew Wright’s late field goal attempt was blocked. Next up for UCF is a trip to Stanford, which will be looking to regroup from an embarrassing performance against Northwestern — 0-2 seems more likely than not.”
UCF travels to Stanford, California to face the Cardinal on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 10:30pm (Eastern Time) and the game will be televised live on Fox Sports 1 Network. The UCF Alumni Association is hosting a tailgating event prior to the game on the Stanford campus. More information regarding tickets to the UCF @ Stanford Tailgate can be found at: UCF Tailgate @ Stanford.
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