It Gets Better...

Take a listen to this beautiful new song, available today on iTunes... Please pass this along to everyone you know, even those you think may not need it.  Maybe they can pass it along to someone else who does...

Broadway stars rock out in a celebration of life, in the wake of LGBT suicides across the nation. Please SHARE this original song and video to help send a message of hope and support. Available October 19th on iTunes, with all download proceeds benefiting The Trevor Project. www.thetrevorproject.org (c) 2010 Jay Kuo & Blair Shepard. Inquiries: jay@singoutlouiseproductions.com

Your vote could help make a star

(Images courtesy of Ronnie Nelson Photography)

Your vote could help Astoria-based singer-guitarist-composer Travis Morin win his own solo show, co-presented by the New York Musical Theater Festival (NYMF) and Grammy Award winning record producer, Sh-K-Boom Records.

Far more than just your typical sing-off, NYMF's Next Broadway Sensation is a series of three weekly concerts, where ten skilled contestants compete for a celebrity panel of judges and audience votes to win the chance to have their own solo show produced at New World Stages.

Beginning this Sunday, September 26th, the three performances begin at 9:45 p.m., with doors opening at 9:30 p.m. at New World Stages in Midtown on 50th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues.

A graduate of The Boston Conservatory, Travis has starred in regional productions of Altar Boyz and The Who's Tommy, and can be seen playing the role of Rocky in ReVision Theatre's upcoming production of The Rocky Horror Show.

Travis can also be heard weekly at Mix Cafe + Lounge, as the host of Open Mic Night each Monday, where he performs alongside several local artists, including a handful of current Broadway stars.  A rock tenor and exquisite guitarist, Travis is known for tackling a ridiculously broad array of songs, from Kings of Leon to Pink.

Extremely proud to call him one of my dear friends, Travis brilliantly maintains the rarely-achieved balance between gorgeous vocals, a face that gets a bar swooning, yet a refreshingly humble and grateful personality, which makes it all the easier to simply and completely adore him.

I personally cannot think of a more deserving winner of such a prestigious competition, but alas, my opinion doesn't determine the outcome.  Please stop by the next three Sundays to throw your support for one of Astoria and New York City's hottest up-and-coming talents.

Tickets are just $10, and may be purchased in advance here.  For the nominal fee, you get not only the evening of rehearsed performances, but also a mini-master class at the end when each of the judges offer their feedback.

The following is a clip I recorded of Travis singing Pink's "Glitter in the Air" at open mic night.  To learn more about Travis, visit his website.  You can also show your support for him by voting each Wednesday evening at the Stonewall Sensation competition.

(Images courtesy of Ronnie Nelson Photography)

Musical Monday with Laura Bell Bundy...

What do you get when you combine vodka + a disco ball + the one night of the week that most Broadway theaters are dark?  You guessed it... a room full of chorus boys crooning show tunes. Add to that a 2,000 square-foot dance floor lined with industrial cabaret tables, surrounded by enormous video screens playing every musical theater clip imaginable, and it doesn't get much campier on a Monday.

Every Monday is Musical Monday at Splash, the famous nightclub in the heart of Chelsea.  If you arrive before 10pm, there's no cover charge.  And the downstairs bar features two-for-one drink specials, as well as smaller video screens... 

Musical theater videos begin playing at 7pm.  Be sure to look around as you enjoy the tunes, because when someone nearby is doing the full choreography to a particular number, it's most likely because they are in the actual cast.  On past Mondays, we've seen Patti LuPone, the casts of [title of show], Rent, The Little Mermaid, even the cast of Ugly Betty.  

Last night, for example, a spunky little blonde bombshell was spotted shaking her hips to "So Much Better" from Legally Blonde.  As soon as the video ended, the DJ introduced Laura Bell Bundy to the stage.  

Having recently left Broadway (Legally Blonde, Hairspray, and Wicked) to pursue a country music career in Nashville, she was here to promote her new single, "Giddy On Up."  She took a moment to express gratitude for the support she has received from the gay community, and then introduced her new single.

Take a pause to watch her video.  It's silly, incredibly sexy, and downright infectious...

Afterwards, she stayed at the club and mingled with the audience for a few hours.  Laura Bell Bundy was every bit as adorable and approachable as you could hope for her to be.  It was a real pleasure to meet her, and a refreshing surprise to see a Broadway star before the live Curtain Call actually began.  Click here (and use code "LBBCOOTR" in all caps) for a free download of her single, Giddy On Up.

Shortly after meeting Laura Bell, we ordered a refresher round from one of the newest members of the Splash bar staff, Scott.  It's hard to believe he was my baby brother's college housemate in Indiana, and in just a year has already tackled an off-Broadway role, and is now shaking things up at one of Manhattan's biggest clubs.  If you stop in on a Monday, be sure to say hello to Scott.

Beyond the celebrity appearances and the buff bartenders, the fun of musical Mondays is watching a roomful of Broadway fans singing and dancing to the most random compilation of songs.  The drunken syncopated clapping during West Side Story is hilarious, and Wicked always inspires some booze-loosened theater fanatic to mount a table and impersonate Elphaba or Glinda.

The climax of the night begins at the conclusion of the Dreamgirls montage.  When Jennifer Holliday begins her emotionally-charged origination of "And I Am Telling You,"  you know that a live performance is next. 

Hosted by the absolutely hilarious and insanely talented Emily McNamara, the Curtain Call portion of the evening features authentic Broadway talent performing usually five or six songs.  If you are fortunate enough, you'll even hit the occasional night that features the astounding vocal and comedic acrobatics of Emily McNamara herself.

Curtain Call alone makes the $10 cover charge worthwhile if you don't make it before 10pm.  Last night was one of my absolute favorites, and fairly frequent regular to Musical Mondays at Splash...  Shayna Steele (Rent, as well as Bette Midler's show in Vegas).  There's a bit of annoying banter at the beginning of the clip I captured, but once she settles into the song... watch out.  This woman can holler something insane. I hope you enjoy!

Musical Mondays is a weekly party at Splash in New York City, produced (and occasionally still hosted) by the exceedingly charming, handsome, and talented Scott Nevins.  Though his numerous NYC fans unfortunately now have to settle for regular visits (since his move to the west coast), he can be seen each Thursday on "The Smoking Gun Presents" on TruTV.  For Los Angeles musical theater fanatics, he now co-hosts and co-produces "The Star Spot" during Musical Mondays at the Eleven Nightclub.

The Grammys Go Broadway

If you watched the Grammys this past Sunday night, you were undoubtedly wowed by a daintily dressed, drenched Pink dangling and dripping from the ceiling, and GaGa and Elton crooning at a baby hand... I mean, ummm, baby grand (what were those arms sprouting from the piano?)  But one of the performances getting the least buzz is one that, upon closer inspection, really excites me... the Broadway cast of American Idiot singing "21 Guns" with Green Day.

In anticipation of the show's arrival on Broadway this March, Green Day recently re-recorded their current hit with the Broadway cast.  Look closely, and you will notice the likes of John Gallagher, Jr. (Spring Awakening), Alysha Umphress (check her out on my YouTube videos from Musical Mondays at Splash), and Andrew Call (yes, the former bartender from our regular watering hole, The Ritz).

If you are currently on the fence about Green Day's album being morphed "into a high-octane rock opera about war, drugs, dreams and reality" (Playbill), watch the new video below.  I think this could be really exciting.  Give the whole video a watch, but it really gets my heart thumping after the three-minute mark...

Crazy-Addictive Crooning: Matisyahu

Daymion recently photographed Matisyahu (Hebrew for Matthew), and suggested I give his music a listen.  It's certainly unlike anything I've heard before, and I can't seem to keep it out of my head (in a wonderful way...)

Matisyahu is a Pennsylvania-born Hasidic Jew, known for blending Jewish themes with reggae, hip-hop, and rock.  If that description confuses the H out of you, as it did me, then just give it a try.  Because I think you're gonna love it...

Put another dime in the jukebox, baby...

I downloaded Melanie Penn's debut indie album, Wake Up Love, nearly a week ago... and I literally play it first thing in the morning, then fall asleep to it every night.

In some whimsical way, her album reminds me of an elementary school best friend.  One minute you're giggling, chasing her down a well-worn path, another minute you're on the playground sitting atop the jungle gym catching your breath and feeling the breeze both on your face and underneath you, until finally you are leaning in to a whispered secret intended just specially for you.

Throughout track after track, Melanie maintains a level of intense beauty that keeps you leaning forward, carefully listening to every single word.  It's that rare balance of not only an angelic voice, provoking lyrics,  masterful production value, and utterly dynamic composition... but more than anything... there is spirit in this music.

Click here to buy the album now...