Here’s a little musical interlude to brighten your day… now taking on a slightly different message than it did back in 1980 when The Police first released it. Enjoy… and don’t stand so close to me… SIX FEET PLEASE!!!

One of the benefits of “self-isolating” in my studio tonight was that I could sing out loud… and there’s no one there to tell me to keep it down!!! Watched “OKLAHOMA” tonight for free streaming online with Hugh Jackman… long before his Wolverine days!

Last night was the last day… the last chance… the last dance… the last performance of SUMMER – The Donna Summer Musical here in Chicago. It was a fun flashback “jukebox musical” where I was surprised that I knew more of the songs, but less of the story! Even better as we scored some spontaneous last-minute half price tickets on the main floor!!!

A wonderful evening of musical theater to finish off the year. A beautiful rendition of the classic THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. Lots of great voices, incredible performances and some really innovative & intriguing set designs & lighting effects… like the magical staircase that kind of appeared out of nowhere!!! Brilliant.

A wonderfully impromptu evening at Marriott Lincolnshire last night with my niece Taylor and her parents to see “SOMETHING ROTTEN.” A wonderfully wacky, witty, pun-filled show… packed with references of Shakespeare & Broadway shows! Very fun night… nothing rotten here… especially with the yummy cheesecake that followed!

Click here to see a quick scene from “SOMETHING ROTTEN.”

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This past week my LILLSTREET THROWDOWN students rocked my word!!!
They were challenged to make Salt & Pepper Shakers… with a theme!
THE BEATLES.

I gave them a list of some of the most popular Beatles songs.
And then the TOP TWO winners of the first in-class challenge got to choose their own song title. The the second TOP TWO winners from the second in-class challenge got to “assign” the rest of the themes to everyone else in class! So they left class with a classic Beatles song on which they had to base their salt & pepper shaker set on… with a thematic tray to hold them all together.

So how well do YOU know your Beatles Songs? See if you can figure these out…

CLAIRE

JON

TERESA

DAVID

But I especially loved how the holes “unintentionally” lined-up to become eyes!!!

RYAN

SUSAN

TAYLOR

JACOB

MOLLY

And our TOP TWO WINNERS for the week…

DONNA

TATIANA

So there they are… a bunch of AMAZING salt & pepper shakers!!!
They definitely stepped up to the challenge!!!

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Need a few answers to the Beatles Trivia S&P Challenge???

CLAIRE -         Blackbird
JON -                Rocky Raccoon
TERESA -         I Am The Walrus
DAVID -           While My Guitar Gently Weeps
RYAN -             Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band
SUSAN -           Yellow Submarine
TAYLOR -        Across The Universe
JACOB -           Norwegian Wood
MOLLY -          Octopus’s Garden
DONNA -         Strawberry Fields
TATIANA -      Paperback Writer

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Another wonderful evening of musical theater! One of my all-time favorites “A Gentleman’s Guide To Love & Murder.“ A murderously witty & wonderful way to celebrate Pam’s birthday… okay, sure… so not everybody lives till the end?! But still great fun at the Porchlight Theatre.

Another great show at the Cadillac Palace Theater… FIDDLER ON THE ROOF
just in time for the holidays?! Well-played with so many classic songs…
I tried my best to not sing too loudly… as I already knew the lyrics
from when we did the show in high school!

Thanks to my friend Pam for the wonderful Christmas gift surprise!!!

And we all know how much I LOVE a good “Sunrise, Sunset”!!!       … get it???

A wonderful night kicking off the holidays with a movie double-feature holiday sing-a-long at the Music Box Theater. Two Christmas movie classics, buttery popcorn, plenty of caroling, ugly sweaters (not me) and even Santa leading the sing-a-long!!!

Oh yeah…. “White Christmas” and “It’s A Wonderful Life” in case you were wondering!

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Another wonderful evening of musical theater last night at The Cadillac Palace Theatre. One of my all-time favorite shows with two of my favorite friends. Thanks for a magical night. Hard to believe that “MISS SAIGON” has been around for over twenty-five years now!!!

Sure, it might not be the most up-beat of shows…
but I’ve now seen it a couple times now and I love it more every time!
Even this revival with a few changes of lyrics & new songs.

The evening in the theater starts with this dramatic image on the the stage curtain to set the mood for the amazing show to come.

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