Who would’ve ever imagined an advertisement for a new Web browser could actually carry an inspirational and moving message? Well, leave it to Lady GaGa to do just that in her “Edge of Glory” inspired ad for Google Chrome, below:
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Lady GaGa’s Inspirational Ad for Google Chrome
Monday, June 20, 2011
ERASURE Announce New Album Tomorrow’s World and US Tour!
While we’ve known ERASURE’s Andy Bell and Vince Clark have been hard at work in the recording studio for the past several months, we didn’t know when their new album would be completed. Well–the wait is over! The band announced today that their new studio album, entitled Tomorrow’s World, will be released this Fall from Mute Records. Also this Fall, ERASURE will tour the US with their Tomorrow’s World Tour, which stops at Orlando’s House of Blues on September 2nd. According to ERASURE Information Service:ERASURE RETURNS WITH BRAND NEW ALBUM TOMORROW’S WORLD + ANNOUNCE FIRST US TOUR DATES IN 5 YEARS!
Synthpop pioneers Erasure are back with Tomorrow’s World, the band’s first album in more than four years. The new album is out Fall 2011 and is produced by one of the UK dance scene’s most exciting new talents, Frankmusik, whose remixing credits include Lady Gaga, Pet Shop Boys, Ellie Goulding and Far East Movement, and whose solo album Complete Me debuted at number 13 in the UK Albums Chart. Tomorrow’s World was mixed by Rob Orton.
After Erasure’s triumphant return to the stage for Short Circuit presents Mute at the Roundhouse, London – a one-off performance which saw Vince Clarke perform with very special guests Alison Moyet and Feargal Sharkey – plus a performance at 2011’s Ultra Music festival, Erasure is bringing the new album to the USA for their first tour in five years.
The 25-date US tour begins on August 31st in Tampa, continues through September, and finishes in Seattle on October 6th. Tickets go on sale on Friday June 24th. Venue presales (not the EIS presale!) – which will offer a chance to preorder the new album Tomorrow’s World – will start on Wednesday June 22nd, see the Erasure website for details.
Tomorrow’s World was written in New York, London, and at Vince Clarke’s cabin studio in Maine following a short break, which found Andy Bell recording and releasing his second solo album Non Stop, and Vince Clarke reuniting with former Yazoo partner Alison Moyet for a recent tour. It was recorded in Maine, London and Los Angeles between January and June 2011, with Vince using his vintage collection of analog synths for the final touch. The end result is a collection of electronic songs that sound totally contemporary and classic at the same time. All songs are written by Bell and Clarke.
Tomorrow’s World is set for release on Mute in Fall 2011.
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Lady GaGa Debuts Video for “Edge of Glory”
While “Edge of Glory” Lady GaGa’s third single from Born This Way peaked at the #3 spot on the Billboard Chart several weeks ago when it debuted, the pop superstar just released the video for the song on Thursday of this week. The video is a little less flashy than her previous ones. But the performer’s flare for the theatric is ever so present; and the quality of the song and its meaning (GaGa wrote the song about the death of her grandfather and the final moments she was able to spend with him prior to his death) shine through. This week, Born This Way finally fell from its #1 spot at the throne atop of the Billboard Albums Chart. It fell to #2 behind Adele’s new release 21. To date, Lady GaGa has sold over 1.5 million copies of Born This Way and the album has spawned 4 top-10 hits, with the title single (“Born This Way”) remaining in the #1 spot for a whopping 6 weeks! Born This Way is available at retail outlets nationwide and for digital download through iTunes from Interscope Records. Take a look at the video for “Edge of Glory” through VEVO below:
West End’s Love Never Dies Closing; Australian Production Gaining Momentum
Playbill is reporting today that Love Never Dies, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s sequel to The Phantom of the Opera is closing on the West End. The tumultuous West End production opened to mixed critical reception. Webber also intervened with the show and rearranged key elements of the original staging by replacing the director and creative team for the West End’s Love Never Dies. According to the article:
Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Love Never Dies, his continuation of The Phantom of the Opera story, will shutter at the West End’s Adelphi Theatre Aug. 27. It was previously booking through January 2012. No press statement has been issued, but the troubled musical, which originally opened in March 2010, had previously been revamped last December, after a brief hiatus for production changes to be implemented. Original director Jack O’Brien and choreographer Jerry Mitchell have long departed the project.
While this staging of this show is closing, the Australian mounting of the production is garnering terrific reviews. Webber himself is delighted in the Australian version of the show and has been quoted as saying this is the version he wants to bring to Broadway sometime this year or next. As Playbill explains:In May, an entirely different production was launched in Melbourne, Australia. At the time, Lloyd Webber told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, “I would like this show to go everywhere because I think it’s just the best. This is the show that should go to Broadway without any question.”Webber is currently securing the financial backing the show needs to run on the Great White Way. The production closing on the West End had an opening budget of $9 million.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Research Accepted for Presentation at 2011 Conference of American Public Health Association
I received some GREAT news yesterday! My proposal to present my research:Blackwell, C.W. & Eden, C. (2011, April). Human papillomavirus and anorectal knowledge in men who have sex with men.was accepted for presentation at the 2011 Annual Conference of the American Public Health Association (APHA). APHA is the nation’s premier organization of public health professionals. Getting accepted to present at APHA is an incredible honor and it is by far my biggest accomplishment for a professional presentation in my career! I am very excited to be presenting in Washington, DC in November!
Born This Way Debuts and Stays at #1!
Not that it is of any real surprise, but Lady GaGa’s new album Born This Way debuted as the #1 best-selling album in the country and has remained there for the last two weeks! In addition, Billboard announced today it is projecting the album to remain #1 next week as well. It has already sold 1.1 million copies! The album is also #1 in Billboard’s Dance/ Electronica Chart and Digital Albums Chart. Born This Way also debuted and remains at #1 in the UK, Germany, and Canada! The album has already spawned 4 top-10 hits for GaGa, including “Born This Way” (which shattered records in its debut at #1 and remained the top single for 6 weeks!) “Judas,” “Edge of Glory,” and “Hair.” Born This Way is available in retail outlets nationwide from Interscope Records and from digital download from iTunes and Amazon.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Webber Wants Melbourne’s Love Never Dies to Bow on Broadway
Broadway World is reporting that Andrew Lloyd Webber is quite pleased with the Australian mounting of Love Never Dies, his long-anticipated sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. In fact, Webber is so pleased with the way this production is shaping-up, he wants this version to make its way to Broadway. Love Never Dies originally opened in London’s West End almost a year ago. But, that production was met with mixed reviews and was also plagued with problems with its director. Webber has always stated he would pick the version to appear on Broadway by assessing three competing productions of the show (UK, Australia, and Toronto). Below is the story from Broadway World: Andrew Lloyd Webber has let the world know what he thinks of the Melbourne version of LOVE NEVER DIES, his sequel to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA which opened last Thursday. The $9 million production has many differences from the LOVE NEVER DIES that has been playing in London for over a year.‘I would like this show to go everywhere because I think it’s just the best,’ Lloyd Webber told the Sydney Morning Herald of the Australian production, led by director Simon Phillips and designer Gabriela Tylesova. ‘This is the show that should go to Broadway without any question, but it depends on how it all goes.” Many financial negotiations will still be needed to open the show on the Great White Way. While in Melbourne, Lloyd Webber has attended previews and technical rehearsals while watching Phillips at work as well as writing new bits of music. Lloyd Webber has described the production as “extraordinary,” “fabulous,” “seamless,” and “bliss.”‘I have the great joy of being able to say that I think this production is probably the finest one I could ever, ever hope for. Three times in my career this has happened. The first time was when I saw Evita in rehearsals and I thought, ‘This design and production is absolutely perfect and what I want’, and again when I saw The Phantom, and this is the third time I can say it again. What Simon has done … he completely gets it. You wouldn’t recognise this from London.’This is a turnaround from his initial reaction to the London production, which opened to mixed reviews and not-so-great box office performance. After the London production opened, Lloyd Webber said he felt that show wasn’t “right,” and that the opening should have been postponed. Lloyd Webber also said that ‘At some point we will have to take a decision to let it [the London version] run, or whether it’s better to bring this [the Melbourne version] in, but that can’t be done tomorrow.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Lady GaGa Goes to Farmville and Other Updates
Pop superstar Lady GaGa new album Born This Way has already spawned one number one single (“Born This Way–which remained #1 for 6 weeks!), one top-5 single (“The Edge of Glory” debuted last week at #3!), and one top-ten single (“Judas”) and it hasn’t even been released yet! The album officially streets on Monday (May 23rd) from Interscope Records. The album is a bona fide “hit machine” and is certain to debut next week at #1. Chuck full of awesome music, Born This Way obviously didn’t need any more positive publicity. Yet, GaGa has entered the famous FaceBook game “Farmville.” Below, take a look at the hilarious promotional video “GaGa Goes to Farmville.” It will definitely provoke a few grins and chuckles. Below, take a listen to Lady GaGa’s newest single “Hair” and watch her amazing live performance this week of “The Edge of Glory.”
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Lady GaGa Releases “On The Edge of Glory”
Lady GaGa’s new album Born This Way (releases May 23rd from Interscope Records) has spawned two highly successful singles including “Born This Way” (which spent an astonishing 6 weeks at the #1 spot atop BIllboard’s Top 100) and “Judas” (which provided GaGa with her 9th Top 10 single!). If the early reviews of her latest release from the album “On The Edge of Glory” is any indicator, she is likely to have another. On the heels of “Judas,” “On The Edge of Glory” (released on Monday) continues to show GaGa’s unbelievably unique musical qualities and is distinctly different that anything she has ever done. VEVO has an audio playback on GaGa’s YouTube Channel of the new song and you can take a listen to it below. The song is superb and promises to deliver yet another hit for the new reigning Queen of Pop. “On The Edge of Glory” is available from Interscope Records at musical outlets nationwide and for digital download on iTunes.
Wonderland Closing on Broadway
Despite its successful runs at both the David A. Straz Center in Tampa, Florida and Houstons Ally Theater, Wonderland, the musical re-telling and modernization of the famous Lewis Carroll story Alice in Wonderland is closing on May 15th at Broadways Marquis Theatre. The cast was informed of the shows fate before the evening performance on Tuesday. The musical marks yet another Broadway flop for composer Frank Wildhorn, who has the dubious distinction of never having a successful show grace the stages of the Great White Way. A national tour of Wonderland is being planned; and despite the millions of dollars lost by investors and producers on the production, Wildhorn already has another show in the pipeline. Bonnie & Clyde is expected to hit the stage by years end. I was able to see Wonderland when it premiered at the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa in the end of 2009.
The show was riddled with plot holes and I was very surprised to see the two leads, Janet Dacal (Alice) and Darren Ritchie (White Knight) were selected to reprise their roles when the show transitioned to NYC. Both were weak in their performance and demonstrated a less than stellar vocal ability.Although the show underwent drastic rewrites and its score was enriched with new musical numbers, critics were not impressed. According to Playbill:
Critics did not embrace this modern riff on the fantastical world created by 19th-century British writer Lewis Carroll (Alices Adventures in Wonderland, 1865), who makes an appearance in Act Two of the show by Gregory Boyd (book and direction), Frank Wildhorn (music) and Jack Murphy (book and lyrics).”
I have to say that despite its shortcoming, I found Wonderland to be entertaining. And given the tremendous financial and artistic tasks and risks associated with mounting a Broadway production, I hate to see any musical flop. However, I must admit, I am not surprised in its early closing.