REO Speedwagon and AC/DC, Soap Opera-style

Call me naive, but Friday's musical episode was a hell of a lot of fun.  Was I drunk?  I had a giant smile on my face the whole time, because that is the kind of cheese I can get into.  Would I want to see it every day?  Certainly not.  Am I psyched for two more days?  Oh hell yes.  I mentioned before that I never saw their first musical, and that is fine with me.  It sounds like that was jumping on the High School Musical bandwagon, while this one is more a jukebox musical ala Rock of Ages (and if you haven't seen it and you like your cheese this way, I highly recommend it) or Glee.  And sure enough, the number from the actual musical-within-the-show was easily the least interesting of the episode.  It also had some.... interesting choreography.

The performers were terrific, to be fair.  They looked like they were having a great time, despite it being the only number I watched just once.  It's the former drama teacher in me that makes my heart swell watching kids sing and dance, what can I say.

And what don't I understand?  Are we ever going to see this musical in its entirety, or are they just doing a handful of numbers from it as part of the three musical episodes?  I'm willing to suspend disbelief for whatever it is they're putting out there, I'm just a little confused about what that is.

They did a nice job using songs that would appeal to a pretty broad age range, showcasing singles that have had either a popular cover version or a second life in hipster-kitsch-land in more recent years, but originate from decades ago.  And -- y'all are going to learn way more about me than you ever wanted to know, but context is context -- you can't go wrong with the Go-Go's.  I have been obsessed with them much of my life; I'm not kidding when I say my most prized possession is a recording of their early works (back when they were still a punk band) on colored vinyl.  But what I loved most was getting to see characters who would never have scenes together get to sing and dance at each other... Roxy and Destiny!  Jess and Langston!  Layla and Roxy!  And my favorite, of course, was the little water ballet moment that happened during the bridge:

You can never go wrong with water ballet emulation.  Can you?

Then they decided to kill us.

Most of this storyline I've wanted Brody to just forget about Jess and move on, but sucker that I am, they drew me right back in.  I think I've had a recurring dream in which a beautiful man in his military dress whites sings REO Speedwagon to me with total earnestness.  This is my favorite dream.  This is every girl's dream, right?  And was that really Mark Lawson's voice?  I could definitely detect the auto-tune on some of these actors, but I wasn't quite noticing it here and he sounded great.  Is this for real?  How much more adorable can this man get?  And how can Bree Williamson continue to play disinterest?  For that alone, Emmy!

I don't know what the song was that Blair sang, but my love for Blair is well-documented, so obviously it was a good time.  I got all misty-eyed that Kassie DePaiva was singing this song to Kristen Alderson, who has played Blair's daughter for almost her entire life.  It was a little funny that Jessica was part of this "aw, my munchkin's growing up!" montage of the prom rite of passage (and lord was her dress awful), but the rest of the treacle was rewarding.  Also, who knew all these actors still had jobs with the show?  The Evans family!  The Rivera family!  Carlotta -- played by the actress who was hired after the last one wasn't willing to play Catholic-and-accepting-of-the-gays-but-the-gays-got-canned... is this irony?

Also, awww....

 

So apparently someone covered "We Belong" a few years ago, which is basically the greatest thing to ever happen.  "We Belong" should get covered by someone every time it starts to fade from the national consciousness.  We also got a little bit of Meghann Fahy (Hannah) singing, and her voice is dynamite (I mentioned before that I'd seen her on Broadway and she is sensational), so I hope they'll utilize her more during the musical episode trifecta.

So what was missing from the musical?  KYLE AND FISH.  One day I'll get over it.  Maybe.

In "other works" news, last night I went to see Done Dirt Cheap, the AC/DC cover band in part populated by Mike Lowry (ex-Ross).  

 

They were stellar, as always, and it was a great show (actually, they'd started another show when we left around 2am... rock stars!).  What's it going to take to get Ross back on our screens?  I can tell you one thing, his band-mates are all for it.  I'm not sure how aware any of them are that he has such an online contingency of folks longing for his return.  But seriously, if you're in or near NYC, go check out the band if you are part of our special demographic of soap opera and AC/DC fans, because they are pretty damn bad-ass.

This afternoon I saw White's Lies, a new play starring Tuc Watkins (David Vickers).  I wish I could say it was a great show, but I can at least say that he himself did a great job in it.  And for those of you who love it when I mention these things (!), he was shirtless.  A lot.  

So what did you think of the musical episode?  A waste of time?  Fun?  Looking forward to the rest of it?

Well, ladies and gentlemen, I can't wait till tomorrow to find out what musical morsels are in store for us.  Until then, of course...

Destiny out!

Comments

[Andrea]

Seriously, Brody is the perfect package. He's good looking, loves you completely, and is always there for you. I don't get why Teen Mess keeps rejecting him. If I had amnesia and he was there waiting for me, I'd completely forget about the other guy.

Blair singing to Starr and Starr singing were also really good parts. I'm interested to see how the rest of this plays out.

[Ciny]

No matter the state (or un-state) of my mind and memory, I don't think there would be anyway I could resist Brody. I still tingle when I think of the scenes when he found her (as Tess) at the Brennan home. *sighs with pleasure* I'm so glad I decided to watch it.

[Lisa]

So you mean Jess/Bree deserves an emmy when she manages to resist to Brody/Mark ? LOL
maybe...Brody/Mark is a cutie (yes he can sing, it's really him ! the guy has lot's of talents) and he manages to play a good guy without being boring.

[Dandesun]

There it is! I knew I could count on you to give us the ever delectable Mark Lawson belting out the REO Speedwagon in dress whites.

And yes that is his real voice. I believe he went to the Boston Conservatory for the whole singing thing.

The 'Starr X'd Lovers' theme song is a damned earworm. I had to go to the pub after work to drink it out of my head. I still say it's some awful leftover that Howard Jones threw out 20 years ago. But it's still catchy.

I think the 'Our Lips Are Sealed' number was my least favorite due to the over-abundance of pink and the fact that there was a Go-Go's song that did not include raccoon tails braided into hair, sparkling guitar straps and vintage dresses that look like they've been worn for three weeks straight.

I like my Go-Go's the way nature intended. Awesomely trashy.

I did really like Blair's song. If I recall, her song to Starr in the last musical was the only one that actually resonated with me... because it involved characters that I actually gave a crap about as opposed to everyone else.

And 'We Belong' was very well done. La Benatar is a national treasure. And the song did well to serve up the 'Hannah is crazy obsessed with Cole' plot point. And now Cole joins the ranks of 'Soap Guys Who Are Inexplicably Irresistible to Soap Women.'

While there's Brody... pining alone for Jessica while she acts like he's covered with open sores. What. In. The. Hell.

This musical is already light years ahead of the last one. I'm enjoying it!

[John]

Thank Lavery I'm not the only one loving the musical!

I'd like to send the first line of Andrea's post. Brody is the perfect package. Plus, he'd fit in your pocket.

I mean, really, if a hot man in dress whites started singing just about anything to me, he wouldn't be able to get the first line out without me jumping him. I'm just sayin'...

And, Dandesun, that damn Starr X'ed Lovers theme song is an earworm. There'll be moments during the day where it'll start playing in my head. And then I'll want to bash my head against a wall. (And also, totally off topic, but I lurk on TWOP, and love your posts there!)

[Tiffany]

Okay let me start by saying this had/has everything going for it- hot!Brody in uniform, ROXY in any capacity, Blair singing, people running around singing and dancing for no reason, and plots galore!

Why don't we get the bad news out of the way? Brody needs to learn to lipsync. It distracted me from his pretty! I don't know what happened but during the Starr X'ed Lovers, the music overpowered they singers, which is odd since it wasn't live. Also in that and Our Lips are Sealed, no voices stood out and was rather monotoned. Meh.

Now the good...
Brody can sing! Seriously boy, Jessica is not worthy!
The girl who plays Dani is just too gorgeous. Unfair.
Blair's song- d'aaawwwww! That's all I can say.
Starr (and Hannah) singing We Belong was just the best thing ever about this musical. Awesome song + ppl who can sing = happy
Roxy! Do I even need to say anything else?

[jbj]

I enjoyed clips of his performance for Broadway Cares, so I know Mark Lawson has a good voice. However, I could definitely detect a subtle use of autotune in his performance. I can't stand autotune, unless it's for intentionally artistic or comedic purposes (Jimmy Fallon at the Emmys and Rihanna & Lonely Planet on SNL are my favorite uses). So it really irks me when they use it on people who can actually sing well, like on Lea Michele in Glee. It takes away from their performance because, like, all of a sudden they become possessed by alien robots.

[Louise]

Good to know Mark Lawson's voice was real! He does seem musical-theatre-trained in his acting style sometimes.

I hear those of you complaining about the bad lip-synching. I've only seen one episode of Glee but I thought the bad lip-synching made it hard to tolerate. KdP was probably the best at it in this episode, but that's no surprise (and I should've mentioned her singing the old theme song during the credits!).

I kind of can't wait for today's episode. Though after Friday's finale, it's going to be tough to top it.

[Dandesun]

Oh, if you liked KDP's rendition of the old Peabo theme song, you'll get two more versions for the rest of the musical days.

Jason Tam/Britney Underwood will be singing one. And our ever delectable Mark Lawson will be singing one, too.

I must be the only one who didn't notice the lip synch during REO... but it's possible I was just swooning too much to notice.

[Bourgeois Nerd]

"It also had some.... interesting choreography."

What WAS with that... thing that guy was doing in front of her face/on her head? Also, those dancers were gayer than Fish and Kyle getting mani-pedis in gold lame short-shorts. And yet they weren't "mainstream" enough? (Yes, we'll get over it, Louise. Some day.)

I've have "Our Lips Are Sealed" and REO Speedwagon in my head all weekend, so they did something right.

Of all the implausible things I've ever seen on a soap, Jess just totally rejecting Brody takes the cake. It makes Eterna look like Soviet realism. I mean COME ON! I was disappointed in the lip-synching from ML, especially since his voice was so good.

I thought EA, with his total inability to dance and slicked hair and tux, was just the most adorable thing ever! I loved all the family photo montage stuff, even if Jess was in them.

Those prom dresses were... well, let's not mince words: ATROCIOUS! There's no one I really liked. Now I think Jess's was supposed to be 90s fashion disaster, but what's the excuse for the rest of them?

[Dandesun]

I also have to make a comment that I love seeing your updates on Mike Lowry's band whenever you see them.

A man who can play the axe is terribly sexy, indeed.

[Louise]

Dandesun, thanks for saying that -- I never know whether folks find that stuff interesting or are just wondering, "Why the hell does Louise think we care what she did with her weekend?" But I do know a lot of the readers here are Ross fans!

Bourgeois Nerd, you're so right about Eddie Alderson. I will definitely be addressing his wondrousness in my wrap-up of Days 2 and 3 of OLTL The Musical!

[Tess]

If only Mark Lawson could lipsync, I'd be in heaven. But as it was, I couldn't watch his song, because I kept focusing on how his mouth wasn't really working with the words. I mean, I've been in choir for over six years now, and I know that for over half of the song, if it was sung as shown on the tv, it would have sucked, because his mouth wasn't open to get those notes out.

[Judy]

I totally agree about "We Belong" being the best part - I was in tears, Kristen Alderson did it so beautifully! And OMG, Hannah! What an amazing voice.

I am surprised at how good this was - the last musical was pretty much blah. Maybe it's cuz of all the songs I knew, but whatever the reason, I'm really glad I watched. Thanks for posting about it, Louise, I would never have bothered otherwise.

[Armil@les miserables tickets]

Oh in speaking of Glee, well it is very entertaining and terrific musical. The characters, they portray very well in terms of their drama but lots and lots of news right now about Glee, that they are not deserving about their rule because they are just so liberated in reality.

[iserve pharmacy]

What great information !! I would like to learn to dance in a good way!
I am agree with all the comments posted in this blog!