FORBIDDEN ZONE

The awesome blog Dangerous Minds (which is fast becoming indispensable) turned me on to this insanely catchy song from Forbidden Zone, a 1980 mondo musical - mondo beyondo, by the looks of it - by the Mystic Knights of Oingo Boingo - better known today as Richard Elfman and his brother Danny, film-score maestro extraordinaire. I have always heard of this movie, but had no idea it was on DVD. I will need to track it down. And oh, look, there's Hervé Villechaize smoking one of his trademark cigars.

Just when you thought you'd seen everything, here comes Susan Tyrrell with "Witch's Egg."



I, for one, had no idea witches were oviparous.

UPDATE: The Sacred Fools Theater Company will be producing a stage version in May, 2010. Sounds like fun!

UPDATE II: Here's a trailer:



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CINDERELLA 2000: Tomorrow's Sexiest Comedy - Today!

Tip of the hat to the excellent Dangerous Minds blog, which has turned me on to the sexploitation musical Cinderella 2000. The trailer is a sheer delight. Nobody did sleaze like the late '70s.

"Welcome to the future, in the hopes that it will suit ya!" Might be a bit NSFW.

Addams with a Twist

Avant-garde puppeteer Basil Twist has joined the creative team of the new Addams Family musical, set to open at the Lunt-Fontaine in April 2010.

Basil Twist is a true genius of puppetry, whose water-tank abstractions set to Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique was an unexpected smash, and whose collaboration with drag chanteuse Joey Arias was renowned for its trippy inventiveness. Twist will no doubt be bringing life to Thing, Cousin It and who knows what other grotesques in the show.

Though I was originally trepidatious, with Twist on board, plus Nathan Lane, Bebe Neuwirth and Terrance Mann in the cast and music by The Wild Party's Andrew Lippa, I have to say it's shaping up quite well.

Here's a great feature on Twist's work.

SCHADENFREUDE ALERT - Turn Off the Dark

Well, it looks like the Spider Man musical, with songs by U2, is kaput. The NY Post says it's the biggest Broadway fiasco of all time, with millions disappearing down the hole.

I was never a fan of this idea anyway, so I am not sorry to see it go. Still, we can likely expect a U2 album of Spidey songs someday. Joy.

MAN ON THE MOON

Did you know that Andy Warhol produced a space-themed musical with songs by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas? Neither did I, and by the looks of the clip below, it had a "grown-ups doing a school play" vibe that's pretty charming.

Plastic Bouquets-Man on the Moon from DANGEROUS MINDS on Vimeo.

I won't say that much about it, because the excellent blog Dangerous Minds has a long and fascinating post about it.
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A VERY POTTER MUSICAL

I haven't seen Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince yet, but until I do, this unauthorized spoof musical is keeping me tickled.



An interview with the creators is over at io9.

DESTINO: Disney & Dali

I have always heard of the Walt Disney / Salvador Dali collaboration Destino. It's not a musical, though as with everything Disney touched, music plays a vital role. Apparently this short project (which I thought was lost/abandoned) was released in 2003 and will make its DVD debut in 2010. Read more about the fascinating history of Destino on Wikipedia.


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