#Valerie Vigoda

[jennaschererwrites]

Review: Ernest Shackleton Loves Me | Time Out New York

Sir Ernest Shackleton has gone down in history as the intrepid explorer who overcame impossible odds to get himself and his crew out of dire danger in a 1914 Antarctic expedition. Also, he played the banjo. Shackleton’s love of music is the tenuous string that ties him to a modern-day woman struggling with self-doubt in Ernest Shackleton Loves Me, a bighearted but very silly musical.

The high-tech two-hander stars GrooveLily’s Valerie Vigoda (who also wrote the lyrics) as Kat, an experimental composer who’s down on her luck: She has lost her only paying gig, her deadbeat musician boyfriend is away on tour, and she’s raising their baby alone. After posting a video on a dating website, she gets a response—don’t ask how—from Shackleton (Wade McCollum), summoned across time and space by the beauty of Kat’s compositions. The snow-dusted Irishman himself soon appears in Kat’s Brooklyn apartment, and the two reenact the events of his Endurance expedition while offering each other words of encouragement—or rather, sea chanteys of encouragement. So many sea chanteys.

Singing, climbing and accompanying themselves on banjo and electric violin in Lisa Peterson’s inventive staging, McCollum and Vigoda work their way through a series of rousing melodies about the power of optimism and the fierce beauty of Antarctica. Brendan Milburn’s music is lovely, and the two actors sound great performing it. (Vigoda also plays a mean electric fiddle.)

Still, there are only so many times you can hear a “Chin up, boys!” rouser before your chin starts to droop, and the painfully broad humor in Joe DiPietro’s script only heightens the feeling that we’re watching an after-school special for grown-ups. But Ernest Shackleton Loves Me is so clearly a labor of love that it’s hard to be too bothered by the cartoonishness, even as the show sails into shallow waters.

Tony Kiser Theater (Off Broadway). Book by Joe DiPietro. Music by Brendan Milburn. Lyrics by Valerie Vigoda. Directed by Lisa Peterson. With Vigoda, Wade McCollum. Running time: 1hr 30mins. No intermission. Through June 11.

[nerds-yearbook]

Appendix: some of the cameo appearances of Mike Nelson on MST3K

Rocketship X-M "Valerie"

The Sidehackers "J.C."

Jungle Goddess "Imperialistic Alien"

Rocket Attack USA "Sorri Andopoli"

Lost Continent "Hough Beaumont"

First Spaceship on Venus "Abe Vigoda"

Godzilla vs the Sea Monster "Mothra"

Gamera "Gamera"

Daddy-O "Bruce"

The Amazing Colossal Man "Glen Manning"

Fugitive Alien "Jack Perkins"

Gamera vs Guiron "Michael Feinstein"

Gamera vs Zigra "Kenny"

War of the Colossal Beast "Glen Manning"

The Giant Gila Monster "Hough Beaumont"

City Limits "Morrissey"

Being From Another Planet "Holo-Clown"

Attack of the Giant Leeches "Holo-Clown"

Hercules Unchained "Steve Reeves"

Indestructible Man "Officer Mike"

Manhunt in Space "Winky"

Crash of Moons "John Banner"

Attack of the Eye Creatures "Larry Buchanan"

The Human Duplicators "Hough Beaughmont"

Manos the Hands of Fate "Torgo"

Operation Double 007 "Torgo"

[frankterranella]

Awful people can make awfully good art

Recently I saw a 2019 Woody Allen movie called “A Rainy Day in New York” and loved it. And that led me to consider whether it’s morally acceptable to patronize artists who may be terrible human beings. Now I know that the evidence against Woody Allen is not of the same caliber as that against Harvey Weinstein, but many people find him as despicable and have cancelled him. But even assuming the worse, do we really have to stop enjoying artists who prove to be awful people in their private lives?

It’s a real issue now that so many popular people like Bill Cosby and Michael Jackson have been canceled for some horrible behavior in their private lives. Can we no longer enjoy listening to “Thriller”? Is “The Cosby Show” off limits?

About 15 years ago I saw an off-Broadway musical called “Striking 12.” It was based on a telling of Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl.” The show was written and performed by members of a group called GrooveLily that consisted of Valerie Vigoda on violin, Brendan Millburn on piano and Gene Lewin on drums. The show comments on Hans Christian Anderson’s tortured life that prompted him to write such a tragic story as “The Little Match Girl.” The group sings a great song called “Screwed-Up People Make Great Art.”

The song makes the point that great artists tend to be abnormal human beings. It has lines like “Screwed-up people make great art. Imagination off the chart. Screwed-up people send us postcards from a world apart.” The song even used Mozart as an example of a screwed-up person. You can see a performance of “Screwed-Up People Make Great Art” from “Striking 12” on YouTube at https://YouTube.be/IHUOK6JSoiQ.

Anyway, I was thinking of this song and wondering whether an artist’s personal life is ever relevant to being able to love their art. I don’t think it is. We don’t examine the personal lives of the other people we patronize with our business, like doctors, barbers or plumbers. All we care about are the results. The same should be true of patronizing artists. If they produce great art, that is all that should matter.

So I will be listening to Michael Jackson and laughing to Bill Cosby for years to come. And if you haven’t seen Woody Allen’s “A Rainy Day in New York,” I strongly recommend it, especially if you love New York. It has even more of the unique New York State of mind than Allen’s classic “Manhattan.” And the soundtrack is also superb. I am not going to let the credits of any film keep me away (even a Miramax film). And by the way, I’m sure Shakespeare was a pretty screwed-up person too.

[kevintumbles]

Theatre Review: Striking 12 at BlackRock Center

“Striking 12” presented by Free Range Humans is helping to ring in the holidays at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown, Maryland.  Striking 12 is an offbeat musical with music and Lyrics by Brendan Milburn, Valerie Vigoda and Rachel Sheinkin with book by Milburn and Vigoda.  It contains a little rock, a little […] See original article at: https://mdtheatreguide.com/2018/12/theatre-review-striking-12-at-blackrock-center/

[broadwayworld]

ERNEST SHACKLETON LOVES ME is the epic musical adventure starring GrooveLily's fierce and funny electro-violinist Valerie Vigoda (Striking 12), and the courageous and charismatic Wade McCollum (Priscilla Queen of the Desert). This innovative, high-tech adventure tells the story of a sleep-deprived single mom who struggles to work as a video game music composer. Unexpectedly, she is contacted across time by the famous polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton. Inspired by her music, he shares his epic Antarctic journey with her in video and song. Against all odds, they discover that their greatest inspiration lies within each other.

[rushing-to-slay-that-darn-dragon]

30. three songs you really want your followers to know (for reasons other than all those above) or any reasons really all the music :D

Awesome! Thanks for the ask!!

I’m going to throw out some indie artists that need some recognition! I could go on and on about unknown/indie people that I listen to These people are amazing and put some high quality music, and I highly recommend these three songs:

1. We are the Dreamers by Merry Ellen Kirk (amazing singer, she puts a unique spin on indie pop and romantic songwriting.)2. Isle of the Sky Spirits by Master Sword (they are a zelda heavy metal tribute band! So good! Even if you don’t listen to zelda their songs are very creative and branch out from the original game themes)3. Level Up by Val Vigoda (this is actually a cover originally by Vienna Teng which is beautiful by the way, but Val Vigoda brings so much happiness and life to this song. She is the woman who inspired me to live loop electric violin, and I was so happy to learn from her at the annual MWROC camp last year. She is so inspirational to me!!)

[papermoonstheatricaldiary]

STRIKING 12

December 31, 2006

STRIKING 12 is a musical written by Brendan Milburn, Rachel Sheinkin and Valerie Vigoda based in part upon “The Little Match Girl” by Hans Christian Andersen.  The show weaves three stories and settings: contemporary New York City, 19th century Denmark, and the very room in which the show is presented. The show was written to be performed concert-style by the group GrooveLily, which includes Vigoda, Milburn, and Gene Lewin.  

The show was originally presented in Philadelphia and subsequently in San Diego.  It was presented off-Broadway in 2004 and 2006 (see below). A recording was released in 2004.  

STRIKING 12 was presented off-Broadway at the Daryl Roth Theatre from November 6 to December 31, 2006.  It was directed by Ted Sperling, with scenic design by David Korins, costumes by Jennifer Caprio, and lighting design by Michael Gilliam.  It was performed by GrooveLily: Gene Lewin (Party Host / drums), Brendan Milburn (The Man Who's Had Enough / keyboards), and Valerie Vigoda (SAD Light Seller / violin). The show was nominated for Outstanding Musical at the 2007 Lucille Lortel Awards.  

I first became a fan of GrooveLily with the first ever co-production between Paper Mill Playhouse and McCarter Theatre, A Midsummer Night's Dream. They not only provided the music for the Shakespeare play, but were integral characters in it.  I audio described their next show at McCarter, Sleeping Beauty Wakes. They returned to New Jersey to present another show, Ernest Shackleton Loves Me.  I reviewed it, and was honored that a quote from my review was used in the promotion of the show.  So when STRIKING 12 returned to the metropolitan area for the 2006 holiday season, I had to be there.  

If you haven't heard or seen GrooveLily it is hard to explain their appeal. But they are extremely appealing – like something I had never heard or experienced before, but something very familiar all at the same time.  You don't need to know “The Little Match Girl” to enjoy STRIKING 12. There's a hysterical song about Hans Christian Andersen embedded in the show called “Screwed-up People Make Great Art.”  So true!  Although there are a ton of Christmas-themed musicals, this one is a New Year's Eve musical – a holiday show that sees past Andersen's sad fable and also lives in a SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) modern world as well.  As for the future – I look forward to GrooveLily's next project – it's bound to be striking.

Happy New Year!  

STRIKING 12 rates 4 Paper Moons out of 5

[robinsonaden]

Today in visually stunning.

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

Get your tickets before this show is gone! bit.ly/1qM62AP

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

Workshop Performances at ACT Theatre

What an amazing weekend! Great talk backs, lively audiences, awesome feedback, and a win for the Seahawks! We love you, Seattle.

Here are some shots from the show, and more live here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.497451387050933.1073741830.489625831166822&type=3&uploaded=1

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

The Importance of Being 'Ernest'

Ernest has become such a wonderful and pivotal role in our show. And we have taken great strides to make sure that we cast the perfect actor that's up for the challenge. 

On Jan. 15, 2014, we still did not have an Ernest.

The first actor that we thought would play the role had to back out of the production. Then he was back in. Then he got cast in Les Miz. So, back to the drawing board.

We started reviewing audition videos from Seattle. We had casting directors sourcing NY talent. Valerie and Brandon were working their connections in LA. All of the options were being funneled to Lisa, the writers, and our producers, trying to find that perfect fit.

After rounds and rounds of phone calls and emails, the choice became so clear: we offered the role to Wade McCollum and he accepted!

In a matter of days, he was whisked down to LA for our Jan. 18th rehearsal start date with Val, Brandon and Lisa.

And in a true bit of comedy, we lost our recording studio in LA. (Ah comedy, why must you always come in threes?)

But what matters now is putting fingers to the keyboard/piano and rehearsing for our upcoming workshop performances!

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

First Day of Rehearsals at ACT Theatre

We're in Seattle. We've got Wade cast as our Ernest Shackleton. Now it's time to get this show rockin'!

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

First Workshop in NYC

Alright, the time is finally here. It’s time to start really working on this one-woman show!

For our first rehearsal, we decided to do this pretty bare bones.  We just focused on the script and tried to make sure that the story and character of Kat is clearly and vividly making it’s way on the page. So, no audience this time around (but everyone will get their chance soon enough!).

And we’re so excited that director Lisa Peterson joined us for the first time! Having her on board is a real treat and we’re excited to be on this new-work journey with her.

Catch a snippet from one of the songs here.

Pictured below: Lisa Peterson, Valerie Vigoda and Brendan Milburn.

[ernestshackletonlovesme-blog]

See "Shackleton" first, before NYC gets ahold of it

How to describe #ESLovesMe? Maybe... "Tour de force performance" "Vigoda is a wonder" "surprising and empowering"

Read the full review here!