I went to see one of my new favorite musical acts last night at Joe’s Pub. I ordered a salad. It was three pieces of asparagus, three silces of tomato, and three chunks of mozzarella. I was angry but the music made up for it. The Dresden Dolls are an amazing two person band from Boston. The singer/songwriter/keyboardist and the drummer. Their music is not easily categorized but I would loosely call it feminist goth rock. They dress in spooky Halloween garb. She wears black with stripey stockings, and they both paint their faces in a design that makes them look like living dolls of the undead. Love the makeup design.

Their musicianship and songwriting are where they really shine; their stage personas are just an added plus and do not detract from the fact that they are amazing. The songs are mostly dark and extrememly personal. The lyrics are biting, witty, cynical, analytical, and tortured. But not in a trite goth way, “oh boo hoo i’m so sad and lonely.” Not like that at all. Beautiful and poetic and full of rage. Amanda, the singer, has the rage of Courtney Love with the piano and poetry skills of Tori Amos. “Girl Anacronism” is a song about a girl who is sick in the head. An exploration of how medication effects her and her family’s need to ignore her because the attention just encourages her behavior. “Miss Me” is a bitter little tune about men. At the beginning you think its a simple break up song, then you realize the man in the song was kissing a little girl and is now in the County Penn. The end of the song rages about how she is sure he misses her as he rots in jail. Their most popular song is clearly “Coin Operated Boy,” a funny little jem about how she wants a boy made of plastic and elastic to fulfill her needs and dreams. Thats the A and C section of the song; the B section is a flowing, melodious exploration of lonliness and pain (having to deal with actual living men) and then jumps back into the happy world of the coin operated boy.
The Dresden Dolls make music that is definitely not for the mainstream. Their musicianship is incredible. Both members have clearly been playing their instruments since birth. Their live shows are vivid, intense, and theatrical. It seems they have had a great deal of theatre training as well. Her annunciation sounds like she’s had acting lessons. She spits her words out clear as day so they are extra sharp and you don’t miss any. In addition, she has a stage light rigged under her keyboard that hits her face from underneath, giving her a ghastly horrid glow throughout the show. Despite their good qualities, they are too savant guarde and will never be mainstream. But then again, most acts that deserve to be, never get there. C’mon, masses! Support creative indie musicians! Stop buying those Britney albums! No offense to her but she has enough of your money already!!!

Ah, David. 56 years old and still the hottest man in show biz. This was my second time seeing the living legend, the previous being far superior. This time, he was playing Madison Square Garden so I had to share him with 15 thousand others. The last time I saw him was in a tiny club in London with about 300 people. For a third of the price as well. Goddamn it, NY. Anyway, he puts on an amazing show, I highly recommend even for non-fans. His set list didn’t disappoint anyone. He didn’t do the dreaded no-oldies-just-new-crap routine. He did three or four from the new album (”Reality:” it is excellent) and a lot of crowd pleasers. “Rebel rebel,” “Gene Genie,” “Suffregette City,” “Ziggy Stardust,” “Life on Mars,” “Ashes to Ashes,” “Fame,” “Fashion,” “All the Young Dudes,” “Under Pressure,” “The Man who Sold the World,” “Little China Girl,” “Changes,” etc. I was thrilled that he did “I’m afraid of Americans” from 1997’s “Earthling.” He prefaced that one with, “When i wrote this song, it was kind of a joke. Now, its the absolute truth.” Well, David, I hear you on that one. I was also surprised and happy to here “Hello Spaceboy” from 1994’s “Outside.”

I couldn’t help but notice the obvious parallel in instrumentation to that of Radiohead. The ambient, otherworldly synthesized high pitched sounding stuff sounded just like their latest record. Its fascinating to think that someone who is such an innovater is still influenced by newer artists. On the other side of things, Radiohead is obviously influenced by Bowie as well. Then again, who isn’t. He has made such an indelible mark on pop music and culture. And has looked damn good while doing it. Unlike other grandaddy rockers, I don’t think he’s doing this for the money. He truly looks like he’s having the time of his life. And he speaks to the crowd as if we are all his best buddies; cracking jokes, telling stories, and being honest about song origins. He makes us fall in love with him over and over again. I hope he continues to write music and tour for another century.

He should run for president of the world.

Dec. 10th, 2003, I saw Wicked with my boyfriend Chris. We went in honor of his birthday. I got the tickets 2 weeks ago online with a discount code, so I paid 75 instead of 100. Goddamn it Broadway, get cheaper. I can say that this show is definitely worth the steep price, however. It was wonderful. Two big ol’ thumbs up. First of all, technically, it was beautiful. Particularly the lighting design. The world was awash with green gels when we entered the emerald city. The colors of the lighting plot were dazzling throughout the show. Good job, Kenneth Posner. Costumes were great too, specifically Glinda’s gowns, dazzling whites and glittering sliver. Pretty pretty, thank you Susan Hilferty. That kind of rhymed. The set was a monstrous achievement as well, specifically the giant dragon hanging over the stage that had glowing, flashing red eyes. It would fly around and blow smoke whenever the Wicked Witch got mad. Not sure if it was necessary but damn it was cool. Good job, Eugene Lee.

Now, on to performances. I will say definitively that I will be shocked if Idina Menzel does not win the Tony for this role. She absolutely steals the show as “Elphaba,” aka the Wicked Witch of the West. She brought such complexity and realism to a role that could have been campy or over the top. She was perfect. And her clear, powerful belt that we remember her for in “Rent” has matured and gotten even better. I am glad she has been given the opportunity to originate such a fantastic role; she has solidified her position among the all-time great Broadway Divas.
Kristen Chenowith as Glinda was amazing as well, but in an extremely different part. The character of Glinda is written almost identically to that of Reese Witherspoon’s character in the “Legally Blonde” films. Again, however, she brought depth and sincerety to the role. And she is hilarious! Her physical comedy skills as well as her perfect comedic timing gave her a bunch of “one-liners” that were almost all very funny.

Joel Grey had a small role as the Wizard. Good to see a living legend, but I’m pretty sure he went up on his lines a few times. I forgive him, he’s old.

Carole Shelley was also notable as the evil old Madame Morrible. Such a presence. Not a great singer, just one hell of a character actress.

The weakest part of the show was the music. There were some great show stoppers, and the music definitely showed off the vocal talents of the two leads. For the most part, the music always helped the story progress in some way. But some of the numbers were too musical-theatery for me. You know what I mean. It didn’t sound like Steven Schwartz at all. Stylistically he used to be so much more original, this music sounded far more generic than what I expected. The book was great, the way they intertwined all the characters we know from “The Wizard of Oz” and showed them to us in a different way was very original. I wish the music had followed suit.

In general, I also wish the show had had more of a sense of darkness too it. I know that the only way a show can survive on Bway these days is if it is somewhat “Disneyfied.” If tourists don’t like it, it won’t stick around. But we’re dealing with Witches and sourcery, here. There needed to be more tragedy. Regardless, I think it is a remarkable achievement, and it makes me think maybe there is hope for new musicals.