Robin Williams Review (and more)

When I got the e-mail a couple weeks back asking if I wanted to do the stage intro for Robin Williams at DPAC, that was an easy "yes".  What happened this past Saturday night turned out to be so much more.

At 7:35pm, I was escorted to the backstage area where I waited for instructions.  As I was talking to Emily Dahl from DPAC marketing about the previous night's Whoopi Goldberg show, we hear "Whoopi was here last night??" and the next thing we know Robin Williams is there talking with us about Whoopi and telling stories (already completely surreal).

Then, David Steinberg pops out of his dressing room, introduces himself to me, and invites me into the room where we review a stage intro script for me.  Steinberg was one of the biggest comedians of his generation, appearing on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" more than any other guest.  He recognized that most of the audience wouldn't know who he was, so my job was to let them know some of his accolades and then introduce a short film about Robin's career. While we're in the dressing room, Steinberg and I discussed his extensive writing and directing work on "Seinfeld" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm", two of my all-time favorite shows.  I found out he was the one who introduced Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld.

When it came time to do the stage intro, I was comfortable enough with the script to ad-lib a bit and the audience seemed genuinely impressed by Steinberg's career.  As I walked off stage, there is Steinberg to shake my hand and Robin Williams is jumping up and down, cheering my intro.  "Great job, bossman!", he says.  Is this really happening?

The show itself was amazing.  Although it was a "sit down" format, it was like stand-up comedy in a storytelling format.  Robin told tales of high school, "Mork and Mindy", how he had a hard time getting work after "Popeye", breaking Robert DeNiro's nose during the filming of "Awakenings", and on and on - all the while with the comedic timing and ad-libbing that is his genius.  Steinberg was also tremendous, as he told tales of Johnny Carson, Groucho Marx (he looks pretty darn good for a guy who knew Groucho Marx!!!), and how he got the Smothers Brothers fired from TV.

All in all, an extraordinary evening for all and personally one of the most rewarding (and surreal) nights of my life.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Bryan Adams Concert Review

The answer:

1. Hockey
2. This guy:

3. Maple Syrup

The question:

What are Canada's three most famous exports?

At one point during last night's two-hour "Bare Bones" tour stop at the intimate Meymandi Concert Hall in Raleigh, Bryan Adams told the crowd he was from Canada.  Really?  We had no idea (kidding), although the three women in the balcony waving the Canadian flag clued us in just a touch.

This was my first time seeing Bryan Adams in concert, and I will admit that I wish it had been a full band show.  Accompanied by only a pianist (no pianist jokes, please), the set was like seeing MTV Unplugged back in the day, which was his inspiration for the tour (he once played MTV Unplugged, he explained, it just took him all these years to get the courage to do it again. (he didn't use the word "courage").

I only say I wish I had seen him with a full band the first time because, although songs like "Heaven" and "Straight From The Heart" make an easy transition, you kinda want to be moving around and feeling the full mix of "Summer of 69" and "Run To You".  That being said, this was an excellent show.  Adams' voice is in outstanding form and songs like "Summer of 69" became crowd sing-a-longs.

Mostly, the advantage of seeing Bryan Adams in this setting (aside from the close up view) was the interaction only a small venue is conducive to.  He told many stories,  including thanking bands like Journey, Foreigner, and the Kinks for allowing him to open their shows when nobody knew who he was.  He played a song he wrote for Ray Charles that never got to Ray Charles.  He played a song he wrote for Joe Cocker (a huge 80's hit called "When the Night Comes").

The intimacy provided for uncomfortable moments, like when he rightfully scolded a woman in the front for staring at her phone all show ("I'm pouring out my soul here, staring at your phone is pretty shi___y").  At one point late in the set he beckoned some audience members in the back of the balcony to come take some extra seats in the front.  For the last few songs, he invited the crowd to move all the way to the front and fill the aisles.

These are moments rare in any concert, and Adams weaved them throughout in excellent fashion.  The music (and he played a whopping 25+ songs from his catalog) was pretty great as well.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Bryan Adams! Yessssss!

In the summer of 1985, when I was 12, I was introduced to the ultimate power ballad.

You know it.  You know you've sung along to it.  And it's the one song that made me fall in love with Bryan Adams.

Maybe it's cheesy now, but Heaven is part of an entire year that I spent discovering music because my parents had gotten me a stereo for Christmas the year before.  I remember the window air conditioner blasting, my friend Aisha and I singing along to that Bryan Adams powerhouse and wondering: would I ever get to fall in love the way Bryan Adams must certainly have been when he wrote that song?  OMG!

After that, I really got into his album, Reckless, which is one of two on which that song appears.  I also got into some other really BAD 80s bands, but none of those guys bring back a great memory like a Bryan Adams song does for me.  That's why I'm beyond jacked to see him next Tuesday night with a super small amount of people at Progress Energy Center's Meymandi Concert Hall.  It's going to be acoustic, the setlist has been about 26 songs, and he plays EVERYTHING.  If it's on a soundtrack, he's playing it.  If it was a gigantic hit, he's playing it.  Don't believe me?  Check out the setlist from one of his shows before Christmas, right here.

I'm so excited, because seeing an artist in a room with just 1500 people is a really fun, unique experience.  I can't wait.


If you wanna go, you can get tickets now at Ticketmaster.  I hope I see you there!

Alli

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Let It Snow!!!

Let it snow!

Not that I need to see any more snow in my life. Having lived in Syracuse, Buffalo, and Detroit, I've seen enough snow for five lifetimes.

It is always comical how freaked out people get about the snow here, especially if you've lived up north.  Believe me, I love the fact that I don't have to shovel my driveway every day all winter and sometimes get blocked in by the plow. And warm up my car for 15 minutes in the morning.  And freeze my tail off while I'm scraping ice off the car.  And hoping the car door lock hasn't frozen.  And falling on the ice in the parking lot at work.

Nope, don't miss any of that.

But getting one nice snowfall so I can watch my kids play and sled down the street?  That is priceless.

So...let it snow!!!!

Foster
Radio 96.1

Working the NC Inaugural Ball

It was a great honor to be asked to work the North Carolina Governor's Inaugural Ball.

It is the kind of event that I believe you should say "yes" to regardless of your politics, because it's a celebration of our state that we love and share together.

Last Thursday, I attended a rehearsal and found my little booth, which was directly behind a curtain at the center of the stage.  I was the voice the crowd heard over the loudspeakers and my title was "Voice of God".

Now, I don't have the kind of voice I envision God having, but I figured the best thing I could do if I was going to carry that title around was not mess up.  So, in the hour leading up to the start of the gala ceremony, I gave warnings ("The gala will start in 10 minutes.  In respect of the person sitting near you, please turn off all cell phones").  I thanked sponsors as a video scroll played ("Rock The Ball sponsors.  Anheuser-Busch...").  Then, I introduced the MC's for the evening, Tisha Powell and Steve Daniels from ABC-11.

Tisha Powell and Steve Daniels from ABC-11 getting ready to rehearse

I think I did well - didn't trip over any words or mispronounce anything, which is about all you can hope for.

Congratulations to Deep South Entertainment and The Junior League for a terrifically produced event and thanks again for the honor.

Foster

Radio 96.1

Zero Dark Thirty Review

I'm going to have nightmares for at least three weeks.

"There's no way this movie could possibly live up to the hype", I said.  "No way it's as disturbing as they say", I told myself.  "I'll be fine".  Despite the fact that most critics have already screened "Zero Dark Thirty" well ahead of it's release this Friday, I was convinced it was overhyped - and let's face it, it is very difficult to go in to a movie that's garnered so much early hype and Oscar buzz and not be disappointed.

Wrong, wrong, and wrong.

Watching "Zero Dark Thirty" made me realize just how detached we've become from the "war on terror".  We spend our days going about our daily business with our short-term memories of what we were told on the news.  Of course you remember everything about September 11th, but the film is filled with bombings you'll likely have forgotten about that jerk you out of your seat because you don't see them coming.  There are assasinations (and assasination attempts) you never heard about.  There are torture scenes that will have you squeamishly squirming in your seat.  And there is Maya.

CIA agent "Maya", played by Jessica Chastain

I'm guessing "Maya Zero Dark Thirty" will be a popular Google search after the film opens on Friday because you've never heard of her.  Maya's not her real name, but she is the CIA agent the film depicts as the primary reason we got Bin Laden.  In fact, we learn that her ruthlessness and single-minded goal of getting him is perhaps the only reason we did.  It's further enlightening that the two of the top agents leading the hunt in the field were women.  Which maybe shouldn't be a big deal, but it is.

The step by step search for Bin Laden that encompasses the first 90 minutes of the film- with its missed leads, leads gone awry, death, torture, back-stabbing, disappointment and fury that we still haven't got him - is the kind of drama that is so good, you almost couldn't imagine Hollywood writing it.  It's too good.  But it is a testament to the greatness of this film that it tops itself with the part you probably know the most about.  The actual Seal Team 6 capture and killing of Osama Bin Laden has been written about, documented on newsmagazine specials, and has been described in detail.  You know what the compound looks like.  You know one of the helicopters crashed.  You know that Bin Laden was the last one they got inside, up on the third floor.  But it plays out like you don't know a thing.

It sounds ridiculous to say I feel emotionally damaged after having seen this movie.  It is...a movie, after all.  But I do.  I can't stop thinking about it.  I swear I cannot possibly imagine what our brave men and women protecting us emotionally go through every minute of every day.

I mean...this was just a movie.

Foster
Radio 96.1

Jekyll & Hyde at DPAC Preview

A few months ago, I had the pleasure of joining a few of the ladies from the Durham Performing Arts Center on a trip to see Jekyll & Hyde in Charlotte. It was a little preview show so that I and another fellow radio friend could see the awesomeness that is coming to Durham.

The show, is, duh, about Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  That part's self explanatory.  So, I was ready to watch Dr. Jekyll become a mean, mean man.  You've probably already heard of it if you're a rock fan or if, at the very least, you once watched MTV's Cribs back in the day.  Sebastian Bach played the title role on Broadway back in the day, and then proudly showed off his costume framed in his hallway during an episode of MTV Cribs. 

What I didn't realize was that I would be blown away by it.

The show stars former American Idol contestant Constantine Maroulis, who is no stranger to Broadway shows.  He was Tony-nominated for his role in Rock of Ages in 2009.  The night that I saw it, unfortunately, Constantine was ill and was unable to perform so his understudy stepped in.  While I was disappointed that I was missing out on what the ladies from DPAC assured me was a tour-de-force performance, his understudy didn't let me down. The story follows a conflicted man, and draws you in.  The entire time Dr. Jekyll was talking to his fiancee, I felt guilty--because...he's about to turn into a very bad guy.  And Emma seems nice.  But, you know, I spent most of the show wanting him to be with with Lucy.  Because she wasn't Emma.  And because I was all about seeing Jekyll become Hyde. 

Deborah Cox, the Canadian pop singer, stars with Constantine as Lucy Harris, a prostitute and main attraction at the "Red Rat."  I loved her.  Her voice is amazing, she looks great in that skimpy outfit that she has to wear all the time and just exudes sex appeal.  Yes, Jekyll's fiancee loves him and comes from a good family, but you know Lucy is where it's at for him. 

That's a good thing, 'cuz ladies...this is a sexy show.  It's not 50 Shades of Grey (thankfully, if you ask me!) but it IS the sexiest thing I've seen on stage in quite a while. Yes!  Singing, dancing and sex.  Do all of those things go together?  Well, they do here. 

Clearly, I'm not the only one to recognize the chemistry and sexiness this show brings--after Jekyll & Hyde finishes its 25 city North America run, it's headed back to Broadway this April through August.  Why trip all the way to NYC when all you have to do is hit up DPAC's website and get tickets for the same EXACT show here?

Jekyll and Hyde opens for eight shows at DPAC on January 8.  Singing, Dancing, Sex:  do it! You won't be sorry, you will be amazed.  I swear.


Alli


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