Reality blog.

Bravo.
My latest favorite television show is "Project Runway," on Bravo (which is also home to Kathy "Where my gays at?" Griffin, whose "My Life on the D-List" is pretty fun to watch, too.) I'm not big into "reality" TV, when that "reality" is putting pretty people together to see them pretend to have catfights and hook up with each other. But I'm a huge fan of real reality, even if it's polished up a bit. COPS - can't get enough of that show. (And what's with the families featured on "My Super Sweet 16" [theme song by Hilary, BTW]... how is it that they do not realize that the producers, in celebrating the ludicrous excess, are not-very-subtly ridiculing them at the same time? Who would ever deign to be featured on that show anyhow?)

But "Project Runway" is something special, at least based on the three episodes I've watched so far. It's a fairly simple premise - a bunch of fashion designers are competing for a modest $100,000 contract, representation, a car and various other goodies. I think I love it because it takes me back to art school - the designers live or die based on their creations, and they are required to defend them to the judges. The process and situations are not similar to school in any way, but speaking for myself, the familiar gut-feeling of defending design decisions that the show captures is spot-on. Add the familiar "reality" of backstabbing and human frailty, and you get a pretty tight show. Check it out.

JCS review.
"Jesus Christ Superstar" turned out to be praise-worthy. The 99-seat theater that City Lights performs in is actually more accurately described as a small nightclub, with three tiny sections of movie theater stadium seating facing the stage and a catwalk that surrounds the seating sections, effectively placing the audience within the staging area. The night we watched was right in the midst of San Jose's record-breaking heat wave, and true to its amenity-free nightclub roots, it had to be at least a sweltering 88 degrees in the theater. I'm not sure if the temperature had an effect on either Jen's or the Wisselinks' enjoyment of the show, but it was another blast from the past for me - very reminiscent of the shows the Recruits would play downtown in similar venues: dark smoky clubs with blazing hot stages from all the lights and activity. But I digress.

A couple surprises - one was Tim Reynolds as a spittling Third-Reich Pontius Pilate who doesn't recognize how deep his troubles are until it's too late. Jen and I both recognized Reynolds immediately from Brigadoon, where he was co-lead with Michele last year. Another impressive innovation was using the lead guitar as a visual symbol of Judas' inner-demons, as opposed to the vixens that are commonly used. Playing directly to the clubby atmosphere, the lead guitarist would take the spotlight at stage left, pushing his wild '70s-style licks straight into Judas' face. I don't think this would have worked as well on a large stage. Speaking of the band, they handled the difficult score handily, if a little loosely, staying true to the '70s progressive rock style music (except the keyboardist, who would often toss some intriguing new jazz movement into the softer moments.) The Merc gave the company a great review - and as the review notes, the theater is so intimate that you literally had to walk through Jesus' spilled blood to exit. Powerful show.

So here's something I bought on eBay a couple months ago: an early-'70s 45 Columbia Records promotional single in which Al Capps funks up a quick medley of JCS hooks. Click here to listen.

That's it for now... more pictures of Baby B and tales of an Ikea office to follow another time. I'm not entirely moved back in yet, but the carpet is in, the workstation is up and running, and the furniture is assembled and in place. Have a nice day, friends!