New music.

Looking for a new artist? Right now I'm really getting into Yael Naim. How did I come across her? Well...I'll be honest...the Macbook Air spot. You know? The one where they pull the ridiculous computer out of the inner-office envelope?

Well, the song on the commercial is called "New Soul." It's great, but so is the album it's from. She's Paris born, Israeli-raised...Her music is rich with culture, heart, and well...soul. Check out her self-titled debut album.

Take your vitamins!!!

Hanschen

I have recieved many messages asking me when I will be playing the role of Hanschen lately. I am on for Hanschen the 11th through the 20th.

Happy January.

Matt

Covers.

I had this music recommendation thing on here for a while that shamefully faded away. So here goes: Listen to Prince's cover of "A Case of You." I'm listening to it right now...It makes me smile and admire his wonderful absurdity.

The cover is very Prince. It was one of the few tracks from the Tribute to Joni Mitchell album that I thought really soared. It's a hard thing to listen to covers sometimes. Occasionally you come across one that just works. The song has a new spark, a fresh take, but it's still respectful to the original piece. What unfortunately happens to many covers (including those on the Tribute Album) is that they are either so far from the original that you wonder what the point was...or they sound so close to the original that you also wonder what the point was.

I record covers and often come across this problem. I think covers are best when they revive a dead song. Songs from those like Joni Mitchell and say...The Beatles...are the hardest to cover. Their classics are never dead, and are played in the bedrooms of most teenagers today. All this being said, I still admire the Tribute album, and have obsessed my fair share over almost every artist on it. Emmylou has mean cover on it as well...still don't know what Sufjan was thinking. Haha.

Tribute albums are trouble...they frustrate me. Don't get me started on Queen's.

Check out Ingrid Michaelson as well when you have the time. She's a charming singer/songwriter who is suddenly taking off thanks to the help of a little music phenomenon called "Grey's Anatomy." Remember that really gorgeous and emotional song that played at the end of last year’s finale when Sandra Oh was stealing the entire show again? That was hers..."Keep Breathing." I discovered her when Ben, the irreplaceable and insanely talented cellist at Spring Awakening, told me he plays with her. Borders is also promoting one of her albums right now. Her song "The way I am" is getting a lot of radio play right now.

http://www.ingridmichaelson.com/

Happy New Year

Okay, so I think it's time to get this blog going again. Because, the truth is, it clears my head and I have had the wildest time looking back on old posts. If anyone were considering keeping a journal of any sort I would really recommend it. Make it a goal this year. ;)

New years was great. Had dinner with my sister and I still managed to meet up with some friends and head to a great New Years Party...avoiding Times Square like a plague.

As I did at the Tony after party...I played it very safe, knowing that the possibility of me going for a role the next day was HIGHLY likely.

And of course I was right. Tonight I played the role of Ernst. Again, swinging always keeps you on your toes. I got a few phone calls back and forth before I knew what role I'd really be on for...all male swings were on tonight! It was understudy insanity to say the least. Not really anyone’s comfort level of male understudies, but of course we pulled it off. It was actually a great show.

I loved the sudden holiday tourist burst. It was fantastic! Honestly, all last week I had at least one person sitting next to my ensemble chair on stage that DIDN'T know I was in the show. Hahaha! We had many first timers last week, and hearing the gasp of horror/surprise when I stood up to sing during touch me reminded me of the days closer to the opening of the show. But I shouldn't be in my ensemble chair too much this week. I'll most likely be back in Bitch during the weekend shows. Tis the season. It's a nice change. I went almost 3 weeks not having gone on for a role. THAT is record shattering...considering that fact that I covered all 5 of my tracks in the month of September...and have been on pretty non-stop otherwise.

Looking forward to the New Year.