Thursday, September 27, 2007

The Hill is En Vogue

Tonight, I went to see "Off the Record VII: Blogged to Death" at the Byham Theater and found it to be rather funny. They parodied the bus transit situation, the smoking ban, Joe Hardy's marriage/s, Dan and Luke, Art Rooney (Steelers), Don Barden (Majestic Star Casino) and Bob Nutting (Pirates). And, although I hear the actor who played Don Barden is in this show every year, I find it amazing how much he resembled Barden. Plus, they did him justice in the writing:

Up yours! That's the new North Shore!

I really appreciate the lack of racism, folks. It's so refreshing, especially in Pittsburgh. I also enjoyed the satirical take on appealing to Dan Onorato on behalf of the Hill District community. I think, perhaps, I enjoyed it so much because, well, I had already done this near-exact act in my own show, "Dr. Goddess Goes to Jail, a spoken word, musical comedy (unfortunately) based on a true story". I read in the program that none other than the P-G's Casino Journalist, Bill Toland, was a lyricist for this show; and I like his writing but he and P-G Theater Critic and OTR Producer, Chris Rawson, owe me royalties, big time.

Why?

Because Rawson reviewed my show and said:

In the play, Dr. Goddess is an incarnation of the Hill -- imposing, angry, funny and smart . . . . Some [skits] have the bite of George Wolfe's famous satire, "Colored Museum." I loved the "Evita" and "Dreamgirls" parodies.

In "Off the Record VII", the Hill was a Black woman named "Shaniqua" who was, you guessed it, 'an incarnation of the Hill --- imposing, angry, funny and smart', who engaged in a "Dreamgirls" parody---singing the exact, same song. Now, I don't know if Toland witnessed 'Dr. Goddess Goes to Jail' but he wrote about me and my work for a while and I'm 99.9% certain that he read Rawson's review, don'tcha think? In the Hip Hop world, that's called "bitin'". And together, I suppose, we owe the creator of "Dreamgirls". But, my show is still touring and I'm glad that this one was 'one night only'. Otherwise, it would be extremely unfair to me and my work, thankyouverymuch.

Still, the actress/singer did a fine job as both Jennifers (Hudson and Holiday) and Toland's lyrics were both hilarious and meaningful---just like in my show. By the way, Bill, I missed you last night. It would have been nice to (finally) meet you. Great seeing you, Chris and thanks again! Overall, I enjoyed the entire production. See you all next year!

On another note:

My first response to Republican Mayoral Candidate, Mark DeSantis' publicity stunt in the Hill District is, "oh, please" but why shouldn't he join in on the "The Hill is En Vogue!" routine right about now. Everybody has leapt to their feet to "assist" in the Hill's notoriety but don't be surprised when we question your timing. Where were you last year, Mark? Where were you even six months ago? Heck, where were you last week? What you can do for us, Mark, is get your fellow Republican Presidential Candidates to be respectful enough to appear at the RPC forum in Baltimore with Tavis Smiley.

That way, you can truly be ahead of the curve instead of scrambling to catch up on the fashion trend.

Speaking of, that forum occurred last night but you all get my point.

Can't You Feel A Brand New Day?

Dr. Goddess is blogging! ;-)

Everybody look around
'Cause there's a reason to rejoice you see
Everybody come out
And let's commence to singing joyfully
Everybody look up
And feel the hope that we've been waiting for

Everybody's glad
Because our silent fear and dread is gone
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?

Everybody be glad
Because the sun is shining just for us
Everybody wake up
Into the morning into happiness

Hello world
It's like a different way of living now
And thank you world
We always knew that we'd be free somehow
In harmony
And show the world that we've got liberty

It's such a change
For us to live so independently
Freedom, you see, has got our hearts singing so joyfully
Just look about
You owe it to yourself to check it out
Can't you feel a brand new day?
Can't you feel a brand new day?