R.R.R.E.D.

for those of you who are new to LA, i've found that this city lacks some serious CULTURE. talk about a place that seems completely VACUOUS. ugh!

ok ok, maybe it's not THAT bad, but being the new york snob that i am, nothing (and i mean NOTHING) beats the big apple.

nevertheless, i'm stuck here until this heinous dissertation gets finished, so i might as well take advantage of what i can, right?

so i went to see my friend's friend's musical this weekend. i know. totally random. (btw, i think random is my usual state of mind, in case you haven't figured that out yet.) in any case, the musical is called R.R.E.D. and it's about how the recessive gene for red hair is going to disappear by the year 2100 and how redheads must sleep with as many other redheads as possible in order to save red hair from becoming extinct. a random (there it goes again!) concept indeed, but who wants boring and prosaic, y'know?

check it: http://www.rrredthemusical.com/

in any case, the voices were AMAZING. i've heard my friend's friend katie thompson (who wrote and starred in the show) sing at her own gigs before and she's AMAZING. she actually moved out to new york to do the music thing. and has OBVIOUSLY been very successful, having performed R.R.E.D. in new york before coming back to LA for just a two-week run.

you must seek her out: http://www.katiethompson.com/katiehome.html

the best part about seeing a show at a small venue (the mccadden place theatre) on the last night of a limited run with less than 60 people is that you get to hang with the likes of jenna leigh green (of "wicked" fame and who sat in the front row) and ryan gosling (who is AMAZING in "lars and the real girl" and who sat in the row behind me).

ok ok, so sue me for liking my star sightings. but at least i didn't OGLE them or anything. it was just cool, ok?

either way, the show in and of itself was fabulous. again, there were some parts that i was just scratching my head over. (is that my M.O. or what? that and the constant asking of the questions, of course.) thankfully, they didn't take away from the show. they just made it that much more quirky and memorable.

and FYI that patrick livingston (katie's co-star) was absolutely spectacular. great voice and totally adorable. *sigh* if only a cute boy would sing to me like that!

before i forget, i must mention the duplex! it's a great piano bar and cabaret in new york, and it's the second place i heard katie sing. it's also the first place i heard jenna leigh green and eden espinosa sing -- all up close and personal. it was AWESOME. totally different than seeing them from hundreds of rows away.

you gotta do it: http://www.theduplex.com/index.shtml