In the Jungle!

Good luck getting this out of your head now. ;)

Wipe Out!

WOMBAT! 

Hand Jive!

The ladies of On the Verge were born to hand jive.

Iko Iko!

Here's a little ditty inspired by the ladies of On the Verge.

Wikipedia has a pretty interesting story about the origins of the story: 

"Iko Iko" (/ˈaɪkoʊ ˈaɪkoʊ/) is a much-covered New Orleans song that tells of a parade collision between two "tribes" of Mardi Gras Indians and the traditional confrontation. The song, under the original title "Jock-A-Mo", was written and released as a single in 1953 by Sugar Boy and his Cane Cutters that failed to make the charts. The song first became popular in 1965 by the female popgroup The Dixie Cups, who scored an international hit with "Iko Iko". In 1967 as part of a lawsuit settlement between "Sugar Boy" James Crawford and the Dixie Cups, the trio were given part songwriting credit to the song. In 1972, Dr. John had a minor hit with his version of "Iko Iko". The most successful charting version in the UK was recorded by Scottish singer Natasha England who took her 1982 version into the top 10. "Iko Iko" became an international hit again twice more, the first being the Belle Stars in June 1982 and again with Captain Jack in 2001.

Iko!
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Billie Holliday and Too Much, Too Much, Too Many

Sometimes when working on a play you pick music that reflects the characters or themes for the story. For Too Much, Too Much, Too Many, one of those songs is sung by the always fabulous Billie Holiday.

The song is from the musical St. Louis Woman and was written by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. Arlen is probably best know for writing the song "Over the Rainbow" for the Wizard of Oz, while Jerry Mercer is known for such hits as "Jeepers Creepers" and "Hooray for Hollywood," among other songs. 

For our purposes, it's a good look into the relationship between Rose, and her dearly departed husband James, and harkens back to the beginnings of their romance. 

Digging In to After Ashley: Joe Jackson's "It's Different for GIrls"

Something that comes up in the first scene of After Ashley is a discussion between Ashley and her son Justin, about relationships. They reference the song "It's Different for Girls" by Joe Jackson. It's a song I wasn't familiar with so I had to look it up and thought that some of you might also need to hear it and see the lyrics so here we go!

What the hell is wrong with you tonight?
I can't seem to say or do the right thing
Wanted to be sure you're feeling right
Wanted to be sure we want the same thing
She said, I can't believe it
You can't, possibly mean it
Don't we, all want the same thing
Don't we
Well, who said anything about love?
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
(Don't give me love)
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
You're all the same
Mama always told me save yourself
Take a little time and find the right girl
Then again don't end up on the shelf
Logical advice gets you in a whirl
I know, a lot of things that you don't
You want to hear some?
She said, just give me something
Anything
Well give me all you got but not love
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
(Don't give me love)
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
Who said anything about love?
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
(Don't give me love)
No, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
(Don't give me love)
No, no, no, no, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
(Don't give me love)
No, no, no, no, no, not love she said
Don't you know that it's different for girls?
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same
You're all the same

That's kind of dark, but it does set the tone for After Ashley.  What do YOU think Joe's talking about in the song? 

Digging In to After Ashley: Eminem's Song "Stan"

In Act 1 of After Ashley the characters Justin and Julie meet at a bar in Florida while Julie is dancing to Eminem's song "Stan." Justin refers to it as "violent, misogynist rap" and Julie disagrees with the description. While reading the script I thought that the song was a savvy pick by author Gina Gionfriddo. I've embeedded the long form of the music video below so you can watch it if you're not familiar with it. The naughty words have been cut out so there are some weird blank spots on the audio track. 

Since there are so many bleeps you might also want to read the full text of the song here. 

I thought it was a savvy pick by Gionfriddo, not only because the song is probably the most critically acclaimed hit by Eminem and quite catchy, but because it's a brilliant thematic tie-in to After Ashley. I have to agree with Julie - the song's not about misogyny, but it's about an obsessed fan who becomes increasingly more unstrung when his hero, Eminem, fails to write him back. It's a sharp look at fandom and celebrity obsession. It's Eminem coming to grips with his own celebrity status, and the weirdness that comes along with it, but it's also a condemnation by the artist to his fans. He's saying "hey, sometimes I'm just running my mouth - I'm not to be taken all that seriously. Stop reading into it because sometimes a song is just a song and it's me venting my spleen in rhyme. I'm not someone you should try to emulate, find your own way."

What's your take on the song and/or video?

What a Wonderful World

Our latest play, Wonderful World, takes its title from Louis Armstrong's hit song, "What a Wonderful World." You'll have to see the show to see why, but I asked the Dragon interns to do some research on the famous song because they hadn't heard of it, and here's what they learned: 

• written by Bob Thiele (as "George Douglas") and George David Weiss

• It was first recorded by Louis Armstrong and released as a single in 1968

• Armstrong's recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999

• Intended as an antidote for the increasingly racially and politically charged climate of everyday life in the United States, the song also has a hopeful, optimistic tone with regard to the future, with reference to babies being born into the world and having much to look forward to.

• The song was not initially a hit in the United States, where it sold fewer than 1,000 copies because the head of ABC Records did not like the song and so did not promote it. It was a major success in the United Kingdom, reaching number one on the UK Singles Chart.

• The song made Louis Armstrong the oldest male to top the chart, at sixty-six years and ten months old. Armstrong's record was broken in 2009 when a cover version of "Islands in the Stream" recorded for Comic Relief — which included 68-year-old Tom Jones — reached number one.

• The song gradually became something of a standard and reached a new level of popularity. In 1988, Louis Armstrong's 1968 recording was featured in the film Good Morning, Vietnam and was re-released as a single, hitting #32 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart in February 1988. 

And here he is, Mr. Louis Armstrong!

The Music of Cat's-Paw

That title is kind of deceptive because, unlike many show, Cat's-Paw only has music for the actors' curtain call. A deliberate decision was made by the director to eliminate all pre-show and intermission music and replace it with some ambient noise and water drips to intensify the feeling that you're sitting in the rusty old water tank with the characters in the show.

But the curtain call music IS pretty great so I figured I'd share it. Since the play takes place in the 1980s, a nice anthemic song was picked. It's "Land of Confusion" by Genesis. Enjoy the creepy puppet show!

Marvin's Music: Sonny & Cher

The one song, more than any, that gets the Marvin's Room audience singing every night is definitely this one.

Marvin's Music: Dia Frampton

A song that we really like for Marvin's Room is by female vocalist Dia Frampton (no relation to guitar legend Peter). It's called "Broken Ones" and it really sums up the characters of the show. Plus, it's just a pretty pretty song.

Marvin's Music: Eddie Izzard

When we were talking about a scene that happened at Disney World and then got a little strange, director Laura Jane Bailey mentioned wanting some weird carnival type music and then mentioned the song by the Beatles, Mister Kite. To which I replied "Done! Two birds with one stone!" So here's Eddie Izzard doing his rendition of "Mister Kite" from the movie Across the Universe.



If you're not familiar with Eddie Izzard, he's a brilliant British comedian. He's been known to refer to himself as an "executive transvestite" and he makes all kinds of crazy awesome historical references. To wit (this clip is not safe for work because of some language, but it's pretty hilarious):

Happy Friday!

Marvin's Music: Pete Yorn & Scarlet Johansson

Another song we are digging is a surprising combination - Pete Yorn and actress Scarlet Johansson teamed up to release an album a while back and they turned out a song that's pretty darn good. And catchy. It gets wedged in my head, all the time now.

Here's "Relator" to get us back into the groove of Marvin's Room for weekend number 3.



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Marvin's Music: Goyte

I am currently slightly obsessed with a new album by New Zealand artist Goyte. On his new album, Making Mirrors, there's a song that's totally Marvin's Room, and it blows me away that it was made in 2011. Because I love this album so much, you get a Saturday Goyte twofer.

"I Feel Better"

"Somebody That I Used to Know" (featuring Kimbra)

Marvin's Music: Etta James

We had talked about wanting to select music that Bessie and Marvin might be familiar with, and since neither of them is exactly current, we talked about artists like Etta James. Etta, sadly, just passed away after a long battle with leukemia, making the addition of her music extra poignant for us. There's an excellent interview with Etta here.

Here's "My Dearest Darling" by the always fabulous Etta James.

The Music of Marvin's Room

One thing Laura Jane Bailey (the director) and Jeffrey Lo (the sound designer) talked a lot about when coming up with the concepts for Marvin's Room was the music to play before, during, and after the show. With the wall rotations we knew early on that we'd need to fill some time in blue light with some music, and that the music in these scene transitions would really be instrumental to setting the tone of the show. Laura Jane had some requests and generally thought that the show should be influenced by the music of the 1960/1970s - upbeat but with some occasionally darker lyrics. She shouted out artists like The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Sonny and Cher, and the like as examples. Jeffrey did an amazing job of coming up with some songs that really captured the flavor of the show. We'll highlight a few songs and artists over the next few weeks - some that we used in discussion to really shape the show.

First off is a song by singer Diane Birch called "Rise Up" that we all really dig. This girl can SING.

One thing I love about doing a show with Jeffrey is that I always learn about some female vocalist that I'd never heard of - for Private Eyes last year it was Adele - right before she blew up with her monster hit "Rolling in the Deep." So far everything I've heard from Ms. Birch makes me want to go run and buy her stuff. I did enjoy a comment on iTunes though as I was researching her: "Diane Birch is to Carol King as Oasis is to the Beatles." This is hilarious as we referenced both Oasis and the Beatles for this show, but more on that later. Enjoy the bluesy voice of Ms. Birch!

See you at the theatre!

--Kim

The Music of Private Eyes

One of the things I like about Private Eyes is the music. Steven Dietz was fairly specific throughout the script and had very specific songs (and sometimes specific verses of the songs) to play during and between the scenes. Our sound designer, Jeffrey Lo, supplemented these choices throughout the play and I really dig the overall sound of the show.

One of my favorite pieces is kind of hard to find but here's a recording from YouTube. It's Tom Waits and the song is called "I Want You."

The other piece that I love (as does the audience some nights as evidenced by their singing and/or snapping along) is Peggy Lee's classic song "Fever."



See you at the show!