Saturday, May 31, 2008
The BradLands at 10
Photo thanks to Claudecf and Creative Commons
Ten years. Ten years! There are very few things in my life that have lasted 10 years. A few friendships, certainly, and surprisingly after an early life spent apartment- and house-hopping, my current residence. No romantic relationship got anywhere near that long, no professional gig, either (although the current one is creeping up on a decade).
But this website turns 10 today, published continually and more or less regularly since
June 1, 1998.
The BradLands had been around, in various forms and at various addresses, for a few years before that, but the registration of this domain marks the official birthday. I couldn't have imagined then how many wonderful opportunities, how many delightful diversions and how many cherished friendships would grow from my decision to publish a personal website would grow when I posted those first few words. I am constantly amazed and humbled by the good it has brought into my life.
I selfishly do this just for me—The BradLands have been my playground to read, learn, link and grow—but I do rather hope you've had a bit of enjoyment as well. If you stop by regularly or just stumbled in occasionally, thank you for spending a little of your time reading over my shoulder.
The second decade begins today.
Birth of blog
It's been ten years, more or less, since
Peter Merholz published a little squib in the sidebar of his Petermemes personal website and made a permanent dent in the worldwide lexicon.
Although the post was undated,
I first noted its appearance here on May 23, 1999, earning me a citation alongside Peter in the Oxford English Dictionary entry tracing the lineage of the word "blog". Just three months later, on August 23, 1999, a San Francisco start-up called
Pyra Labs launched
Blogger, a public version of their internal weblogging tool (at one time billed as "Amphetamines For Your Website"), and...well, you probably know the rest.
Ah well. Happy birthday, you awkward, uneuphonious little word. I'm chuffed to say I knew you when you were but a wee blog.
May 23, 2008 at 10:11 AM
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
The Tony Awards: If I were voting
The
nominations for the 62nd Annual Tony Awards were announced this morning and,
like last year, I'm going to go ahead and weigh in with my picks. Please note that these are
not predictions. I'm awful at those. These are the people and productions for which I'd vote given an opportunity.
Update, June 16: It's the morning after, and I've added the actual winners from the Tony Award's telecast in brackets below.
Choreography: Andy Blankenbuehler gave
In the Heights some really nice moments, and Rob Ashford's work on
Cry-Baby was the best thing about the show, but my nod goes to Dan Knechtges for
Xanadu. +1 difficulty for skates and a tiny stage. [Andy Blankenbuehler,
In the Heights]
Orchestrations: A Catered Affair is a really sweet, gentle musical and Jonathan Tunick's orchestrations were lovely, but I'd vote for Jason Carr, whose work on
Sunday in the Park with George let me hear a familiar, brilliant score in a refreshing new way. [Alex Lacamoire and Bill Sherman,
In the Heights]
Book of a Musical: Not a strong year for the new book musical. Points to Douglas Carter Beane for making soup from the bones of
Xanadu, but my vote goes to Quiara Alegria Hudesa for
In the Heights. [Stew,
Passing Strange]
Original Score: A close one here, with Lin-Manuel Miranda's
In the Heights a strong favorite. Ultimately, though, I'll go with the surprising serendipity of
Passing Strange by Heidi Rodewald and Stew. [
In the Heights, Music & Lyrics: Lin-Manuel Miranda]
Scenic Design: (play) Todd Rosenthal's ginormous house and environs for
August: Osage County was spectacular; (musical) I left
Young Frankenstein humming Robin Wagner's scenery, but would vote for
Sunday in the Park with George. The only misfire: Calling down the lights before we get a good look at the completed painting at the end of Act One. [Play: Todd Rosenthal,
August: Osage County; Musical: Micheal Yeargan,
South Pacific]
Costume Design: (play) Katrina Lindsay's gorgeous work for
Les Liaisons Dangereuses was tops in my book, although I didn't get to see
Cyrano de Bergerac, which is usually a playground for a costumer; (musical) David Farley,
Sunday in the Park with George. (Yes, I tend to favor showy period productions in this category.) [Play: Katrina Lindsay,
Les Liaisons Dangereuses; Musical: Catherine Zuber,
South Pacific]
Lighting Design: Tough choice this year, in which nothing really jumped out at me among the noms. Most everything seemed fine and workmanlike. (play) Howard Harrison's work on
Macbeth was quite lovely; (musical) Howell Binkley,
In the Heights. [Play: Kevin Adams,
The 39 Steps; Musical: Donald Holder,
South Pacific]
Sound Design: Same here. (play) Mic Pool,
The 39 Steps; (musical) Acme Sound Partners,
In the Heights. [Play: Mic Pool,
The 39 Steps; Musical: Scott Lehrer,
South Pacific]
Direction: (play) No question about this one: Anna Shapiro for
August: Osage County. I enjoyed all four nominated productions, although I generally feel playwrights shouldn't direct their own work. Conor McPherson's guidance of his own script for
The Seafarer was okay, but the play would have benefitted from a second voice. (musical) I'm kind of torn here between Sam Buntrock for
Sunday in the Park with George and Bart Sher for
South Pacific. Both helmed exquisite revival productions, but I'll give it to
South Pacific by a hair. (Sorry Mr. Laurents.
Gypsy was not your best work, and certainly not the best of the season.) [Play: Anna D. Shapiro,
August: Osage County; Musical: Bartlett Sher,
South Pacific]
Featured Actor, Play: I loved Bobby Cannavale in
Mauritius, and that's about all I loved there, but my vote's with Conleth Hill for
The Seafarer. [Jim Norton,
The Seafarer]
Featured Actress, Play: An extremely strong field this year. Rondi Reed, Sinead Cusack and Martha Plimpton were all great, but the always-marvelous Laurie Metcalf stood out in the otherwise mediocre
November. She gets my vote. [Rondi Reed,
August: Osage County]
Featured Actor, Musical: All gave fine performances, but Christopher Fitzgerald was the only actor on stage in
Young Frankenstein who seemed to remember he was in a musical
comedy and thus rescued the otherwise dishwater evening for me. Nice to see him in a meatier role than
Wicked's Boq, that's for sure. [Boyd Gaines,
Gypsy]
Featured Actress, Musical: No doubt here, I give my nod to Laura Benanti in
Gypsy, the best Louise I've ever seen on stage. [Laura Benanti,
Gypsy]
Actor, Play: Patrick Stewart in
Macbeth. Absolutely riveting. Make it so. [Mark Rylance,
Boeing-Boeing]
Actress, Play: I missed
Come Back, Little Sheba, but really, my choice comes down to the two leading ladies of
August: Osage County. Deanna Dunagan was just fierce as the gritty matriarch, but in a squeaker, I'd vote for Amy Morton, whose work I've admired for years, as the suffering sister. [Deanna Dunagan,
August: Osage County]
Actor, Musical: Tough one! Paulo Szot gave one hell of a performance in
South Pacific, but I was charmed by Lin-Manuel Miranda's Usnavi in
In the Heights. He certainly wrote himself one hell of a Broadway debut role, then played it to the hilt. [Paulo Szot,
South Pacific]
Actress, Musical: Another rough decision, really, and so I'm cheating with two votes. Patti LuPone in
Gypsy and Kelli O'Hara in
South Pacific. As far as I'm concerned, these two are tied for the most thrilling female performances on Broadway this year. (I do think Ms. LuPone will go home with the statuette, however.) [Patti LuPone,
Gypsy]
Revival of a Play: Macbeth. The whole production was just perfect. [
Boeing-Boeing]
Revival of a Musical: South Pacific. Ditto. Although the plane was a little much. Just because it's in the budget, Bart... [
South Pacific]
Best Play: Tracy Letts'
August: Osage County. Honorable mention to
Rock 'n' Roll, which I kind of loved, but this isn't Stoppard's year. Mr. Letts deserves every accolade he's gotten for this grueling, gorgeous soaper. [
August: Osage County]
Best Musical: Fresh but strangely conventional, my nod has to go to
In the Heights. I had the best time overall here of the four nominated shows. [
In the Heights]
I guess we'll see how tuned in to the Broadway pulse I am. The Tony Awards will be broadcast on CBS next month, June 15.
May 13, 2008 at 9:10 AM
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Tony Awards
Park peeve
I think that I shall scream if I read one more travel article that refers to my fair city's beautiful
Forest Park as "a smaller version of New York City's Central Park" or "like Central Park in miniature" or "in many ways comparable to giants such as New York's Central Park". Let's get this straight once and for all:
- Central Park, New York City, NY: 843 acres
- Forest Park, St. Louis, MO: 1,293 acres
Now, please do not misunderstand: Central Park is
lovely, and I have passed many a happy hour there. And I am aware that size isn't everything; certainly in terms of the sheer number of things crammed into it, Central Park would take the biscuit for its variety of activities. Both, of course, are beautiful and free for the use of the public, as it should be.
But Forest Park is neither an upstart (opened just three years after Central Park, during a period in the late 19th century that saw many cities develop massive urban parklands) nor a pipsqueak (approximately 50 percent more spacious than its East Coast cousin). So please, travel writers, spend a few seconds with Google or a decent encyclopedia and get it right.
And since you asked, some of my very favorite spring and summer activities are centered in the Park: strolling through our (free!)
Zoo to visit the fauna at lunch time, taking a picnic to the
Shakespeare Festival (presenting
Richard III later this month), seeing a show at
The Muny or having drinks by Post-Dispatch Lake at
The Boathouse. Care to join me?
, edited by the lady Rebecca Blood. And for me, it is as true today as it was then.
Ah, a dog's life. That's one of Annie Leibovitz' photos of Mark Wahlberg for Vanity Fair in 1993. Here's a piece from CBS' 48 Hours from around that time about Marky Mark and the photo shoot.
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Brad L. Graham is a writer, editor, riverboat gambler, fashion consultant, softshoe dancer, professional assassin, freelance factotum and singer of sentimental ballads.The BradLands is his home on the web. 
Find Brad elsewhere on the web.
