BWW Blog:Alex Urdiales SISTER ACT Top NotchJune 30, 2014Oh SISTER ACT you were a lot more fun then I wanted to admit. So I must be honest I've never seen the first SISTER ACT movie but I did watch the 2nd one a ton in grade school it was always something that was put on during movie days. So I walked into the Majestic Theatre where SISTER ACT was playing knowing very little. I knew that the main character, Deloris, beautifully played by Ta'rea Campbell, wants nothing more than to be disco singer looking up to the queen of disco, Donna Summers. But of course, in a very 70's disco matter, she falls in with a nightclub owner/mobster, Curtis, which of course as nightclub owner/mobsters often do, Curtis kills the one of his men labeled a rat and either by destiny or dumb luck or maybe both, Deloris walks out and sees the murder.
BWW Blog: Alex Urdiales - What IF?June 25, 2014
'What if?' That's a question I often finding myself reflecting upon. There are a ton of times in my life where two roads were open and I could only go down one and I ask, 'What road do I take? And what happens to the roads I didn't take?' Well, I would like to cite as reference, a song from the musical FOLLIES which of course was written by the legend and my personal hero Sondheim called 'The Road You Didn't Take.' At this point in the show an Older Ben is now is reflecting back upon his life is simply wondering The roads I didn't take would they really have changed much?
BWW Blog: ROCKY is a KnockoutApril 29, 2014Let me say first that my mom loves ROCKY all of the movies, from the first, though, however many they have now. So growing up and even now we'll have marathon watching of all the movies. When I heard about the German production of ROCKY DAS MUSICAL, I was interested enough to dig deeper asking the same question that everyone was asking, 'How can they turn, ROCKY, THE MOVIE, into what would become ROCKY, THE MUSICAL?' I'm happy to see, Alex Timbers would be directing, but even more, I was excited to see that the Music would be done by Stephen Flaherty, and lyrics would be done by Lynn Ahrens. I had just fallen in love with their work with the musical RAGTIME, after the great production of the show, 'The Playhouse' had put on at the Empire Theater last summer. They really had the right thing going for them. I remember seeing show footage of the production not understanding any of it since it was in German but even then you could tell that their was always Broadway plans in the works. So it came as no surprise to me the day I saw the news that ROCKY was coming to Broadway. Some excitement but mainly curiosity that question still in the back of my head how do you turn ROCKY, THE MOVIE into ROCKY, THE MUSICAL?
BWW Blog: Alex Urdiales - Lessons from WICKEDApril 14, 2014'Good News! She's Dead!!' Just after the curtain opens, those are the first lyrics that jump out at the audience, as the, 'Citizens Of Oz.' decked out in various shades of green, including emerald, rush onto the stage to celebrate the death of the 'Wicked Old Witch Of The West!' Oh how little 'They' know. And what I mean by 'They,' is not only the people of Oz, but the audience as well. By the time the first song has ended to thunderous applause, nothing in the world we know about Oz has changed. I smile as I watch from the back of the House, and I know that, for about the next 2 hours, the audience will find that the Land of Oz, they thought they knew, will change, 'for good.'