Annie, You're Okay

Last Friday I, Elyse, had the pleasure of seeing Annie at the "Historic Empire Theater." I'm kind of jealous that whenever anyone mentions the Empire Theater they have to put the word Historic in front of it. I wish whenever people said my name they had to put a really awesome capitalized adjective in front of it. I'll let you guys come up with some suggestions for said adjective because right now all that's coming to mind is "Unsinkable." Anyway, onto the show!

• The set was great in a slanty kind of way. I was a little nauseated at first but then I got used to it and actually thought it was incredibly cool. And then this Saturday when I was staying in New York for a couple of nights I actually realized that all of New York is actually on a slant. Who knew?
• The second the show started I started crying and I didn't stop until 13 minutes into intermission when I decided that if I didn't pull it together for Act 2 then Annie would get mad at me that I looked disheveled for the barbecue reception afterwards. Annie the orphan, not Annie my sister. The show is just too good and the music for some reason makes my heart break into 12565 pieces.
• Gordon Bass was incredibly impressive as Daddy Warbucks, Sarah Day was adorable and incredibly talented as Annie, Joy Williams was absolutely hilarious as Miss Hannigan, Rachel Abrams was heart-warming as Grace, Rooster and Lily were an outstanding duo, Robin Harris-Jones nailed her star-to-be solo, and Annie Steingold was an incredible Boylan sister/Hoorvervillian/maid - your eye was drawn to her perhaps because she is ridiculously talented or perhaps because her wigs on her were ridiculous.
• Cody, Cody, Cody. I don't even know what to say. He was too much. Let's just say that during the reception afterwards I walked away from Bruce Miller mid-sentence when I saw that Cody was in the lobby. Priorities.

I could write 12 blog posts about how great I thought the show was. It makes you laugh, it makes me cry, it's a spectacular show that Robin Arthur has done a fantastic job on. Everyone should go see this! A Steingold is on the Richmond Theatre Stage!! Who knew this would ever happen? I sure didn't. Especially not after my audition for Big. Ha. But it looks like after 13 years, Annie has broken the Steingold curse (similar to Princess Fiona's but minus the ogre part. Or maybe not...?).

I went and saw Rooms: A Rock Romance this past Sunday off-Broadway and it was incredible so some kind of something will be on the blog about that soon. And as a sign off, I (and by I I mean my mom) made up a song to the tune of "It's a Hard Knock Life" when I was in elementary school to help me learn how many feet and yards were in a mile for a test. So here goes...

fifty-two eighty feet go 

in a mile don't you know

if you walk five-two-eight-oh

your feet'll get there don't you know

fifty-two eighty

(and then this next part goes with the don't you feel like the wind is always howlin' part)

seventeen-sixty yards are in a mile

seventeen-sixty yards are very far

seventeen-sixty yards'll make me smile

when I get a hundred on my test tomorr-

This verse tells a lot about me as a third grader. Number 1: I don't start studying for things until the night before. And Number 2: I half-assed rhymes.

We Will Never Be Hip

Nothing too interesting has happened in the Steingold Sisters' lives since that gem of an iMovie was released of the Annie cast. So we're going to have to pass the time with some bullets. They always brighten our day.

• Elyse recently bought the Next to Normal CD, which she LOVES. But she was really curious as to what the plot was so she Googled the synopsis. What came up? "An Asian-American rock star looks back on his family history." Seriously. So I guess Alice Ripley really IS that good of an actress. From Siamese twin to Asian-American rock star? What's next, Juan in Altar Boyz?
• Has anyone on earth besides us seen Teen Witch? It was this crazy 80's movie about this nerdy girl who turns out to have magical powers and she makes herself popular. And it's a musical. And it's AMAZING. Here's a number from the movie just to prove how awesome it is. We wish our best friend had the powers to make us brave enough to get involved in a rap battle with the guy we have a crush on. We just wonder whether or not Michael Hawke would be up for the challenge...
• Elyse used to be OBSESSED with The Swan Princess which was one of those not-quite-Disney-movies where the songs were just as good and there were just as many jokes for adult audiences, but all of the characters' eyes were slightly crossed. Anyway, our favorite song from the movie is "This is My Idea of Fun" and we watched it the other day and never realized how ridiculous the lyrics get at 3:15. If you're too lazy to watch this whole song (which would really be a shame because you're missing out on some amazingness), the whole thing is about how these two kids from two different royal families knew they were going to get married eventually and they keep playing tricks on one another and not wanting to get married and it shows them through the years growing up and still being annoyed with one another. THEN, right in the middle it cuts to all of the townspeople and these are literally the lyrics:

We need a royal wedding

I'd love to be invited

At least we'd get a holiday to rest our plows and axes

Someday these two will marry

Two lands will be united

And with some luck their marriage will result in lower taxes!

Seriously. Those are the lyrics. We wonder what parents thought when they watched this movie with their kids? Honestly, what was the first draft?

We need a royal wedding

I'd love to be invited

But if I'm not invited then they better make abortion legal!

Daddy Warbucks Dances Hip Hop

Come see Annie. With a cast this cool, you're sure to have a good time.

Altar Boyz Rulez... and so does Shari Lewis

Friday night, Annie, the non-redhead, and her family, minus the redhead, drove out to Colonial Heights, passed the Beary Crafts Store, and went to see Altar Boyz at Swift Creek Mill Theatre. Now, let's preface this "review" with a few things. First, as soon as we left the theatre, our dad said, "Now we don't go to 'the Mill' that often, but every time we do, I love what we see." And that's so true! We've only seen six shows there- the first one being 1776 starring Duke Laffoon as Thomas Jefferson (nice), but literally every time we have a ball. If it wasn't an hour away we'd definitely make it out there more often. 

Second, this review might be a little biased because Annie and Elyse are, in actuality, huge fans of boy bands. Funny story: Annie and her friend Erin were, in cough *the beginning of high school* cough kind of obsessed with *NSync. So much so that they decided to learn all the choreography to "Dirty Pop," record themselves dancing to it, and send it into TRL- when the show was still popular and Carson Daly was the host. And guess what? On the season premiere, their video was played on the closing credits! Very cool. So bragging about that claim-to-fame aside, no matter what, Annie will like a show with boy bands.

And OH. MY. GOSH. What an AMAZING SHOW! Even someone who doesn't know who *NSync is would love the show. If only you could have seen the 80-year-old man clapping to the beat in the second row. Incredible lighting. Really great and fitting choreography. And really talented guys who danced so hard and strong, the floor literally shook. Kid you not. Annie looked over at one point and her parents were bouncing a little bit.

"Everybody Fits" was our favorite number in the show, and it also was when we saw the show in NYC. However, in Swift Creek's production, they added a hilarious touch that we didn't see in New York. All the guys were just too cute. Brandon Becker as the lead is an amazing dancer, and we've actually always thought that he looked like JC Chasez of *NSync, so that's a nice touch. Sean Williams as Abraham had a really great voice, Eric Stallings as Luke was hilarious and able to hold himself up in the air for a really long time, and David Janeski was so cute and sweet as Mark. Finally, even if Brett Ambler was playing Aida, as long as he opened his mouth to sing, we would have loved him. Awesome voice, and funny. Nice :).... remember that? ;)

In short, just go see this show. We're not kidding, it's worth it. It appeals to just about everyone and will put you in a great mood. We only wish we had been able to see the other Richmond production of it. Anyone have it so we can watch it? Good. So grab some bear arts and crafts, attempt the buffet or just skip that part, and see a really fun, high-energy, and impressive show at Swift Creek Mill Theatre!

Buddy's Rebuttal. Rebuddal?

All right, so after that last post that raved about Cody (the talented actor who is playing "Sandy" in Annie), our dog Buddy got seriously upset. If you blog readers thought Annie and Elyse were the only performers in the Steingold family (besides our mom at Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp, but that's another story for another long-winded blog...), you were wrong. Buddy had a lead role in Godwin High School's production of Steel Magnolias. Seriously. Elyse didn't make the show but her dog was in it. He played M'Lynn. Sally Field, watch out. Below is the picture that was showcased on stage. You happy, Buddy? 

We Think You're Gonna Like It Here

Just Annie here! Alright, so Dave T. recently called us out and questioned how it was that we have nothing to talk about. He suggested we talk about Annie rehearsals then used a big word. So, I don't want to get annoying and ALWAYS talk about this show, but here's the first update. Number one, please check out this incredibly adorable picture of Sarah Day, who's playing Annie, and Cody, who's playing Daddy Warbucks.

Not sure how anyone could avoid seeing the show after having looked at this picture. Well, okay you're excused if you're allergic to dogs and gingers. But again, this is probably one of the cutest pictures we've ever seen. 

The cast of this show is pretty awesome, and Robin Arthur, the director/choreographer, is pretty kick-ass. Obviously Annie is biased, but we're thinking that this show is going to be REALLY good. Gordon Bass as Warbucks is so endearing, I wish he would adopt me. And he's so funny, too. Love a man with comic timing. Rachel Abrams as Grace is just so talented and such a loving character. Unfortunately I haven't seen any of Hannigan's scenes, but if the other scenes are any indication, Hannigan's are sure to be just as good. 

Also, I can't leave out Jason Marks, especially since he told me how hilarious he thinks our blog is and admitted to being a Muppet fan. NICE. Wait until you see me doing fancy dancing with him Upstage Left. We're kind of the best. Jason as Drake honestly is so funny that everytime he says a line I laugh. Oh, and Jason? 1,236. That is all.

So go ahead and buy your ticket to see this amazing show and to support a really great cast and an awesome director.