Claire and the Amazing Technicolor Radio Show

Ok, so for the past two and a half weeks I've been rehearsing like mad with a bunch of super-talented interns at the Sondheim Center for the musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I've never done a show on a summerstock schedule before where we have rehearsal essentially from 9am to 9:30pm every day and the whole rehearsal process happens in a little less than three weeks! Other than being highly intimidated by all the talent and totally exhausted by the brutal dance rehearsals, I've got colors on the brain!

Lucky for me there are a bunch of great songs by female singer-songwriters that have to do with color that my online buddies helped me find. (Thanks Gayla, Jana and Ananda!) Lucky for me our tech rehearsal doesn't start tomorrow until 10am, so I can do my radio show live this week! Lucky for you it turns out that one of those intimidatingly talented interns I just mentioned is also a songwriter, and she's agreed to come on the show and sing us a song! Claire Wellin (half of the jazzy folk duo Rainy Day Lasagna) plays the part of the Narrator (on alternating performances) so you'll get to hear a preview of her gorgeous voice before you come see the show this weekend. Because you're coming right? :)

We open July 11th! That's THIS FRIDAY! OMG!!

July 11, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27
Evening Performances are at 7:30 (Thurs-Sat)
Matinee Performances are at 2:00 (Sat & Sun)

Either way, tune in Tuesday at 9am to kruufm.com online or 100.1 here in town for some great tunes about color!

P.S. Oh, and did I mention the Cowboy from the Village People (Randy Jones) has come to Iowa to play the role of the Pharaoh? For reals people. He's really nice. He has an iPhone. And he came to our first rehearsal with the orchestra in a cowboy hat, boots and bolero tie with a scorpion on it. Sweet.

Highlights from Anaïs Mitchell's Hadestown

I've been hearing about Anaïs Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown in bits and pieces for quite a while now - starting from the last time she came to Cafe Paradiso and then in subsequent email and website updates. Folk music, theatre AND a reworked myth (Orpheus) all in one? Sounds like my kind of heaven, and I've been wanting SO BADLY to see it. Since I live in the Midwest and she's been performing it in the New England area, well, chances are slim. So I was super excited when I noticed she updated her MySpace profile to include this little 10 minute highlight reel from the show:


Feed and email readers may need to come to the blog to see the video

Banjos? Steampunk costuming and sets? Ok, I think that only made me want to see it even more! I'm hoping this video means that the whole thing was taped and therefore viewable sometime in the future. I'd SO buy the DVD.

Here's a clip of "The Wall". She did this solo when she came through, and it has a very different feeling to it when the questions and answers are split:


Yeah, ok, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to see this. I realize I may be completely geeking out here and have lost all of you, but please don't let that stop you from listening to Anaïs' amazing music, because it truly is amazing.

Here's a link to a great article about Anais and her signing to Ani DiFranco's label Righteous Babe Records.

And here is a gorgeous little four and a half minute interview she did before a show in Ann Arbor, Michigan:


Anaïs is the kind of people we want more of in the world.

Personal, political and passionate, her album The Brightness was one of my favorite albums of 2007. I highly recommend it. Of course the best place to buy The Brightness is direct from the source, but here are the links to it on iTunes and Amazon if you are so inclined.



(Special thanks to Professor K for providing a link to the Steampunk resource last month so I had a name for it when I saw it in the videos.)

Want to know when I find more great stuff by and about women in music? Subscribe to Lyrical Venus by Email or by RSS Feed and have the updates come straight to you!

I NEED To See This Movie

Unfortunately the closest showing I can find is 2 hours away. Hmmmmmmmm...

Music video of the song Falling Slowly with scenes from the movie Once, plus studio footage:



I guess in the meantime I could get the whole Soundtrack on Amazon...
Or just Falling Slowly on iTunes.



UPDATE: My lovely husband drove me up to see the movie, and I did indeed love it! Very sweet and real. And the music, oh wow. Incredible!!