Memories and Tributes

[njr]

Cool Barbara! Yeah I used to go to ST cons all the time, but not any more. Now I'm into Beatles cruises & conventions!
I thought of something funny--a (female) orthopedic surgeon who I work with is also a ST fan. Remember "Seven of Nine" played by Jeri Ryan? She (the surgeon) and her husband used to call her "38 of D." ;D

Nancy

[Jamie]

Oh this is too funny. I've always claimed Hugh was a Tribble. Just being in the vicinity made normal humans happy.

[nevaeh777]

You guys are hilarious!! Jamie, "The Trouble with Tribbles" was one of my favourite episodes to watch! I remember that when they were filming several episodes after that one, that they kept finding tribbles still around on the set and they kept appearing in other scenes they were filming as a joke. They would open drawers, open hatches, pull something open...and there they would be! They were the cause of constant practical jokes on the set!

...And Hugh is the cutest, most cuddliest Tribble I've ever seen LOL!

Very funny episode...

[mamaleh]

My brother and I attended the Star Trek conventions at the Commodore Hotel in '72, '73 and '74. We were thrilled to see David Gerrold, author of the "Tribbles" episode; Harlan Ellison, famed sci-fi author and writer of "The City on the Edge of Forever" episode and of course Isaac Asimov and many of the cast of the original series. I remember the audience's getting antsy waiting for Leonard Nimoy to show up. David Gerrold got up, held his arms high in the air, and shouted, "The MAN is coming!"--as though the Anointed One was on his way, LOL Fascinating talks by one and all, but I hold a special fondness for the famous blooper reel, which I hope every Trek fan has seen. Fun times.

Ellen

[njr]

Oct 20, 2012 8:37:09 GMT -5 mamaleh said:

My brother and I attended the Star Trek conventions at the Commodore Hotel in '72, '73 and '74. We were thrilled to see David Gerrold, author of the "Tribbles" episode; Harlan Ellison, famed sci-fi author and writer of "The City on the Edge of Forever" episode and of course Isaac Asimov and many of the cast of the original series. I remember the audience's getting antsy waiting for Leonard Nimoy to show up. David Gerrold got up, held his arms high in the air, and shouted, "The MAN is coming!"--as though the Anointed One was on his way, LOL Fascinating talks by one and all, but I hold a special fondness for the famous blooper reel, which I hope every Trek fan has seen. Fun times.

Ellen

Oh yes, the bloopers are so funny! Like when Spock says, "The spores act as a suppository..." (instead of 'repository') ;D
I saw Gene Roddenberry many years ago at a big arena in Atlanta and he showed the famous blooper reel. I have a copy on VHS.

Nancy

[ocjackie]

Was there anyone who didn't love the "tribbles"? It really takes me back. It was the best!!!

[droverswoman]

I like the idea of Hugh being tribble-like, Jamie - having the "All be happy!" effect on everyone who comes close to him! ;D

So nice to find other Trek fans here!

[ocjackie]

Someone on Blueboard just reminded me that today is the 1 year anniversary for BOB. It's time to celebrate it's first birthday. A moment to remember those beautiful memories of that wonderful time!! >

[jo]

I missed Toronto, but I am glad I took the journey of the show from San Francisco to the Great White Way!!

The first tryout had some rough spots ...but once it came to Boadway, it was quite a show! First class entertainment!!

I wonder if the show will see an extended journey to other places ( like London and Sydney) as he had originally planned??

Jo

[JH4HJ]

Not since Peter himself have I seen anyone have SO much fun on stage...

[mamaleh]

Those of us who saw the first incarnations of Hugh's show in San Francisco and Toronto may remember one half of his two-woman chorus, Angel Reda, whom I still swear did the best "ooh, ooh, ahhh" sung introduction to "Over the Rainbow" of anybody since, and who famously whipped her long hair in Hugh's face to his amusement and surprise in Toronto during "Steppin' Out with My Baby." FYI, her current gig is a straight role in Lynn Nottage's INTIMATE APPAREL at the Pasadena Playhouse.

broadwayworld.com/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-Vanessa-Williams-Dawnn-Lewis-David-St-Louis-and-More-in-INTIMATE-APPAREL-20121107

Ellen

[JH4HJ]

Another one I hadn't seen before, from Gypsy of The Year.
I think the expression on the face of the girl dressed in black says it all. ;D

[JH4HJ]

I found this while looking for something else. I'm pretty sure we had it on the old Red Board and thought it deserved a link here too.

Hugh Jackman in 'Back on Broadway' and His Ozalot Fans

There's something about watching Hugh Jackman on Broadway that makes grown women (and a few men) behave like 13-year-olds at a Justin Bieber concert. They shriek. They hoot. They giggle. They create such an unruly mob outside his stage door that three cops push the crowds back. And it’s happening again with the recent arrival of Jackman’s one-man show Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway.

The evening is a throwback of sorts. Jackman tap-dances and sings his favorite standards like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Luck Be a Lady,” backed by an 18-piece orchestra. Many movie stars who head to the Great White Way are diminished by the bright lights. For Jackman, the opposite is true. “Nothing beats live theater,” he says. “I love getting to interact with the audience.” On a recent night, he yanked two unsuspecting men onstage for an impromptu twirl with his showgirls. When he belts out “Over the Rainbow,” he feels like Broadway’s last great superstar.

His successful stage run started in 2003, when Jackman took on the role of Australian singer Peter Allen in The Boy From Oz. Critics dis-missed the show as “indis-putably bogus,” but he won the Tony for best actor in a musical. Oz sold out for a year because of his devoted fans, who call themselves “the Ozalots.”

“No one has ever grabbed me the way he has,” says Ellen Dweck, of East Brunswick, N.J., as she huddled with other Ozalots at his stage door after his first New York performance. Dweck had already traveled to San Francisco and Toronto for previews, and saw The Boy From Oz 24 times. How much does a crush on Jackman cost? “I don’t want to say because I don’t want my husband to read it,” she says. “He was my winter vacation.”

Sue Berlin, says she’s waited outside so many Jackman events over the years that he recognizes her. “It’s nice to see familiar faces,” Jackman says. “When I was performing in San Francisco, one Ozalot threw furry leopard-skin handcuffs onstage.”

Judging by the crowds, Back on Broadway is poised to be one of the season’s bigger hits. But Jackman’s not overstaying his welcome. After a 10-week run, he’s off to shoot a big-screen version of a little Broadway show called Les Misérables.

Ellen - I'm still contemplating the mental image of Hugh "grabbing" you. :o :-[

[OT - found in the same "Google" --]
I also had no idea that someone was "merchandising" us.
www.cafepress.com/+ozalots+gifts
www.cafepress.com/+ozalots+t-shirts

[JH4HJ]

This (old) rehearsal clip turned up in the "Latest Videos" section of B'way.com - no idea why, but it's worth watching again. I'm pretty sure I included in the compilation of clips when he did the show.
I can't embed it; click here to view

[mamaleh]

Thanks so much, Valerie. So great to see that wonderful footage again. I do hope he returns in another version of that fabulous show someday.

Ellen

[foxie]

Thanks Val-such joy -what a natural flirt he is-wouldn't it be wonderful to see it in person again!!!

[jo]

Great memories!! Thanks,Val!

That was pre-Les Miserables! Somehow, I think that the filming of the movie was such a harrowing experience(although artistically-fulfilling in every sense) for him -- it took everything out of him as an actor and as a performer! Physically, mentally, and emotionally, and everything in him that he had to give so Jean Valjean can live in people's minds as intended by Victor Hugo!  I think of Valjean's Soliloquy and I once again appreciate how much of Hugh's artistic resources have been tapped to produce such a memorable scene!

How innocent he looked in the rehearsal video, when he had not yet realized how Les Miserables is going to be his performance of a lifetime!

Jo

[jo]

I was looking for a photo of Hugh wearing the gold lame shirt and pants he wore as Peter Allen in BACK ON BROADWAY ( to post in a thread on BWW re sexiest male/female costumes) -- did not find one( I know Valerie shared her photos here, but I am not sure if I am allowed to repost them) -- but came across this coverage from PopWatch/EW.com. Great memories, from the feature writer and the fans whom she invited to share their memories of the show --

popwatch.ew.com/2011/12/13/hugh-jackman-back-on-broadway-share-your-memories-here/

'Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway' -- Share your memories here!

by Mandi Bierly


On Jan. 1, Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway will end its 10-week run, and the only thing those lucky enough to have seen it will have left is their souvenir coffee mugs. Actually, that’s not true. The coffee mugs are already sold out. It’s fitting that Jackman closes the show with Peter Allen’s “Once Before I Go,” which includes the lyric “But unless I spread my wings again, I’m afraid I’ll never soar, so hang on to the memories and hold me close once more,” because that’s exactly what you want to do it’s the memories you take with you. Memories like him making his entrance singing “Oh What a Beautiful Morning’” and your mother letting out an audible, enraptured “Oh” groan heard by at least three rows. I saw the show twice last week. I’ll share my favorite memories if you share yours.

– His strolling entrance really is something, isn’t it? It’s like he knows some people in the audience will need a good 60 seconds to adjust to his presence, tell the grinning person sitting beside them “You should see your face right now,” deal with their own adrenaline rush by punching the arm of that person, and/or remember to breathe. What was your reaction when he walked out?

– Despite there not being a song list in the program, most of the show is the same night-to-night, save, of course, the audience interaction, which is what Jackman does better than anyone. During a steamy rendition of “Fever” in which he rubs his thighs (that memory will keep me warm this winter), he ventures down into the crowd to mix and mingle. Both times I saw him he found a man, dragged there by his wife, to torture onstage. Last Tuesday, it was a guy whose friends insisted he didn’t dance, so just getting him to click along was triumph enough. But on Friday night, it was a man who works in human resources at Home Depot in Atlanta who did a little soft shoe with two of Hugh’s Dream Girls (his backup singers) while Hugh sat next to the man’s wife of 17 years in their seats and cracked jokes like, “Were you upset with his choice of jeans?”

– On Friday night, a man and woman in the front row wore gold sequined jackets, which Hugh naturally had fun with when he began the second act as Peter Allen wearing gold lame. He tried on the man’s jacket, and it fit him like a bolero. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get it off himself, so he came down and had them help him out of it as he shimmied his shoulders. What happened at your show?
– According to my notes, on Friday night, I wanted to lick the vein popping in his neck when he was singing “Don’t Cry Out Loud.” Why would I put that in print (twice)? I was sober that night, unlike on Tuesday when a friend and I had a “pre-soak” before the 7 p.m. show and cocktails afterwards. I thought it would be funny to tape our review. I can’t bring myself to listen to it now, but I remember us discussing how his Peter Allen shirt fit nicely on abs but his Peter Allen pants could have been tighter and how he really should do ladies’ night for charity. And this was before we saw the must-see video of him below giving a bride-to-be a lapdance at a tune-up show in Toronto. (Sure, he starts Act II sitting on the lap of someone in a box seat at every show on Broadway, but there’s not enough room to work it like that, sadly.)

What number drove you wild? When he squatted and did hip circles for an eternity, or just shook his hips at any point really, he got me. I enjoyed staring at his chest when he tied his shirt up for “I Go to Rio.” Watching him tap to “Singin’ in the Rain” was also a turn-on. On Tuesday night, before a showstopping song-and-dance medley paying homage to the movie musicals he loved watching on TV growing up, he had to pause to remove something slippery from his shoe or else, he said, he would end up in the lap of someone in the front row. “Yeah, that wouldn’t be so bad,” a woman said back to him. All in all, the audiences I saw were surprisingly tame and respectful. What’s the rowdiest anyone got at your show?



– Speaking of charity, for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Hugh has been auctioning off the white tank tops he wears each night along with the belt he dons as Allen. On Tuesday night, the tank tops (which come with a meet-and-greet) went for $7,000 each. On Friday night? $25,000 apiece. For $2,000 (Tuesday) or $3,000 (Friday) he would take a photo with you. After seeing him point out Oprah Winfrey in the audience Tuesday night, presumably so everyone could gawk at her during intermission, a part of me thought it might actually be worth it because Hugh is that much of an entertainer, he would make sure you got your money’s worth. (Oh, and yes, it’s for charity.) How much did the tank tops go for at your show?

Your turn!

Do check out the feedbacks from fans - bravos everywhere smiley-happy096


Jo

[JH4HJ]

Jun 5, 2013 23:31:53 GMT -5 jo said:

I was looking for a photo of Hugh wearing the gold lame shirt and pants he wore as Peter Allen in BACK ON BROADWAY ( to post in a thread on BWW re sexiest male/female costumes) -- did not find one( I know Valerie shared her photos here, but I am not sure if I am allowed to repost them). Jo

Jo (and ALL) - I prefer that photos I share here not be re-posted on any other website. [You are all welcome to have them on your computer. I have a large folder of (Hugh and Peter) pix I use as my screensaver.] I don't want these particular pix re-posted because: 1. they have my screen name on them and 2. they are technically not photographs, but "freeze frames" from the bootleg video.
Enjoy the pictures, and thank you for respecting my wishes.

[jo]

Thanks for clarifying the issue, Valerie

Will keep them safe in my computer album!

Jo

[JH4HJ]

While looking for something else, I came across a book-blogger who happened to see the show in San Francisco.

. . . It would be an understatement to say we had an awesome time. I could barely sleep last night I was so jazzed!

Indulge me for a moment... of Hugh
More of her impressions here.

[mamaleh]

Nice find, Valerie. I'd never read that blog. I love learning of newbies' rhapsodic reactions to the force of nature that is Hugh.

Ellen

[njr]

Oct 18, 2012 23:11:40 GMT -5 droverswoman said:

Oh, my goodness, Neveah and Nancy - I can't believe you're Star Trek fans, too!!! So was I, of the original show!! Oh, we have to talk about this, too! I used to go to conventions, write and publish fan fic, the whole nine yards! LOL!

I started watching Star Trek from the very beginning, in 1966 at age 11! I've seen every episode of every series (and all the movies too--loved the most recent 2)

Edited to add: I'm a huge Paul McCartney fan, as I've mentioned, so I LOVE this:



Nancy

[mamaleh]

Nancy, that's hilarious. Love it!

Ellen

[JH4HJ]

Not really sure where to put this (I think it's actually publicity for a previous X-Men/Wolverine film) but because Hugh sings and talks about bringing "Back on Broadway" to London, I'll put it here.