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June 12, 2010 -- Summertime and the Living's NOT Easy... The Seth Ledger In summary: Please watch my new videos (youtube.com/sethbh42) and donate a few dollars to Broadway Meows (sethbh.com/broadwaymeows). Yes, that's right - I put the summary up front now b/c I know a lot of you are reading these via smart phones now! So just in case you only read the tippy top - voila - those are the most important things to take away from this ledger! And now the usual beginning: Ah, the dog days of summer... alas, I miss those dog days of spring, in particular the days spent w/ the dogs going to Stanley's Party. More on that in a bit... It was the best of times, it was the rest of times... It was a very busy spring, and things are finally starting to become manageable. I took out the garbage finally... I vacuumed the carpet... though, there is already cat hair on it again... In any case, I am finally free enough to compose a ledger, so here goes: WATCH MY VIDEOS PLEASE http://youtube.com/sethbh42 First off, there are SIX new videos on my youtube page. Please watch them all if you missed Stanley's Party and/ or I'll Relax When I'm Dead. Btw, speaking of Stanley's Party -- THE WORLD PREMIERE "STANLEY'S PARTY" CAST RECORDING IS AVAILABLE FOR SALE ON SETHBH.COM !!!!! A quick run down of the new videos: 1. The best of Stanley's Party - see highlights from the show in 7 minutes! 2. MY NEW COMPUTER - a delightful 10 minute musical about switching to Mac - a must see for ALL APPLE users - I've been trying to get the video to go viral, with limited success so far - so please forward to all the APPLE ADDICTS you know!!! 3. "Waiting for the 1" -- a glimpse of my new musical "What If...?" 4. "Can You Believe?" -- hilarious new cabaret comedy song, which is already proving to be popular... 5. "Um, Yeah..." -- another hilarious new cabaret comedy song about okcupid dating... 6. "To My Grandparents" -- touching tearjerker dedicated to my 4 still living grandparents. Also, speaking of vidoes, check out my interview for the Glamorous Life at: http://www.broadwayblogspot.com I was interviewed about the showcases mostly, but then about my own work, the benefit concerts, playing auditions, etc, etc - it is a must see interview - therefore you MUST SEE it!!! JINGLE ALL THE WAY And the final video to check out is only 30 seconds: http://www.poptent.net/media/17161 Yes, you read the heading right - I sold my FIRST JINGLE!! One of my friends entered Moe's Southwest Grill's "I Love Queso" contest, and hired me to create a catchy jingle. It was a fantastic experience, and I'm hoping it opens up more opportunities in the jingle writing world for me. RAVES, NOTHING BUT RAVES And while we're having links - here are some rave reviews from Stanley's Party and I'll Relax When I'm Dead with some highlights: "It's a lovable, quick-moving romp that kept the very small kids in the theatre attentive and involved throughout, yet offers enough sophistication and variety to keep their accompanying grown-ups diverted as well." "The story unfolds speedily and mostly to the bright and chipper music of Bisen-Hersh...Among the highlights: the show-stopping title tune, which features more complex harmonies than you'd expect to find in a kids' musical, and "Do the Doggy Dance," a high-energy number that the littlest members of the audience seemed to get a big kick out of." -- Martin Denton, Editor/ Producer, nytheatre.com, http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/showpage.php?t=stan10037 "Run on two feet or all fours down to Manhattan Children’s Theater. Stanley’s Party...is a rollicking, high-spirited adventure that doesn’t let up." "What is most impressive is the catchy, clever score by Seth Bisen-Hersh. The music and lyrics are reminiscent of the Disney cartoons of the 1990’s; that is to say, sophisticated while still audience-appropriate. Bisen-Hersh could be the rightful heir to the Disney throne, this generation’s Alan Menken, if he wanted to be. Every tune is hummable, enjoyable, and leaves plenty of Easter eggs for the careful listener. It takes a considerable amount of energy not to sing along, or jump on stage and join the show." "With this effort, the creative team has built itself a timeless work. It succeeds on a whole in entertaining all ages, and will surely have a long life, not just in dog years, after its run at MCT." -- Lori Chandler, TheaterOnline.com, http://www.theateronline.com/reviewShow.xzc?PK=24285&Action=Review "This was truly a delight for the whole family!" -- Eva Heinemann, HI! DRAMA FOR I'LL RELAX WHEN I'M DEAD: "Rising star Seth Bisen-Hersh shows off his ability to convey a myriad of emotions...the multi-talented cast breezes through each with refreshing ingenuity...While some may lament the state of cabaret, with Bisen-Hersh on the scene no one needs to worry." -- Lori Chandler, TheaterOnline.com, http://www.theateronline.com/reviewShow.xzc?PK=24360&Action=Review BROADWAY MEOWS LOUDER But enough about the past - let's talk about the FUTURE. The 2nd Annual Broadway Meows concert, raising money for the Humane Society with my songs, will take place on MONDAY, JULY 19th at 7PM at Don't Tell Mama, with a $20 cover + 2 drink min. We already have a dozen stars lined up with more to come (check out sethbh.com/broadwaymeows), and we really want to do a grand job with publicity and marketing this time to sell out, so we are endeavoring to raise $100 -- there are 600 of you on this list --- not that I think you all read everything, and I'm sure at least 50 of the email addresses are dead -- but if 500 of you gave 20 cents, we would have our $100. While that is probably unlikely, if 5 of you give $20, we would have our $100, if 100 of you gave $1 or if 10 of you gave $10, etc. The point is, PLEASE visit sethbh.com/broadwaymeows and donate as much or as little $$ as you can so that all of the proceeds from the evening can go straight to the kitties!! They will all be immensely appreciative!!! LOVE QUIRKS: a song cycle of unconventional devotion "What's next," you ask? (Yes, I have time traveling psychic powers and can read your mind as you're reading this in the future... mwhahahaha!) Well, I have been trying for a few years to figure out the best way to package my cabaret songs - I mean I have 120 at this point, but as they are, all 7 of my acts center around myself - which is fine for cabaret b/c that is what it's supposed to be, but not fine if I want other people to be able to do my songs. I tried to put a revue together a few years ago, and it didn't fly - it was too long, and didn't really have a plot. I was hoping eventually someone might do an Off-Broadway show with skits and use my songs in it, as well, but relying on other people is never a good idea... Therefore, since nowadays SONG CYCLES are all the rage - that is what I have decided to do. I came up with the title LOVE QUIRKS: a song cycle of unconventional devotion and will be putting 20 of my quirky love songs in a little over an hour long evening without talking - a cycle of songs, as it were. I will then license the show for colleges and black box theaters, and hope that people will jump at the opportunity to put a show with minimal set, etc. And that's funny! Almost 3/4 of the songs are going to be my comedy songs. I have to write a new catchy opening number, that will reprise through the evening, and I have one new duet I'm planning, but the 18 other songs are all in my cabarets, and only a few need a little lyric fine-tuning. The show is a 4 person cast, but they all sing 5 songs, so you can quintuple cast for a 20 person cast -- or any number in between. All 4 characters have a journey through the show, which I think is very important for any good theater to have. Through their 5 songs, they rant and rave, but eventually evolve to accept their love quirks. And now you're saying: "that sounds great, when can I see it?" One night only -- Friday, September 24th at 9-something (TBD!). I will have a cast of 20 launch the show before I have it emailed all over the country hoping people will start to perform it! Other than that, this summer, we will continue adapting What If...? into a full length musical, and I am currently pondering ideas for other projects, which I do not want to divulge to the world at this point... INCOMING INCOME Other than selling a jingle, it's been the usual - auditions, coachings and showcases. This Tuesday is Showcase #114, and I have them almost fully booked through the first week of August at this point - which will be Showcase #120. That's another 30 to go until the big 150th Showcase Celebration - which will most likely be another 3 night concert of my work with showcase regulars in the spring! Not that I really want to plan the spring of 2011 yet, so I will refrain from pontificating so far in advance... VACATING THE CITY I left the city for a weekend. I did what? I left for a weekend to go to my first cousin's son's bar mitzvah - he's technically my first cousin once removed, but b/c of the wacky way cousins are derived, that could also mean it was one of my parents' first cousins. Though, as you may guess, my parents' first cousins are older than 13. So perhaps, just saying my first cousin once removed's bar mitzvah would've sufficed b/c of the context? Anyway, I went down to DC first to see a college friend, and we had a lovely evening playing Scrabble and going to a Lebanese restaurant. Note: if you ever go to DC, you have to KEEP YOUR SUBWAY CARD b/c you need it to get out!! Good thing I don't throw anything away ever... The next morning, he drove me 35 minutes to Rockville, MD -- I wasn't singing "get me to the temple on time" but I could've been since we got there a little late. But it's fine - I missed a few minutes of a 2 hour ceremony - I am not mourning those minutes. Then, it was a delicious brunch with bagels and egg salad and rugula and fruit. And since my first cousin once removed didn't want to have a dance party, instead, at night, it was an Olympic event with many games - like potato sack jumping and balloon tossing and the tug of war. The tug of war is the reason my team placed 3rd and not 2nd. One team was all the 13 year old's fathers, and let's just say a lot of them were very strong. We got dragged across the grass very quickly. We also might've placed 2nd if we had been a little stricter in not allowing the littler kids on our team to participate in certain events -- however, we realized that we should probably let them enjoy themselves. Therefore, if you graphed it, you would see our chance of winning would go up as our meanness towards allowing the kids to have fun went up. Very correlated. Thus, we opted for some balance, and came in 3rd instead of 2nd. Furthermore, we would've tied if one of my first cousin's once removed (the bar mitzvah boy's younger brother) hadn't disappeared after completing one of the events b/c we accidentally sent an eleventh person (we needed only 10, but when counting who went, he had disappeared, and no one recalled he had done it) ... thus, we came in 5th instead of 3rd, which would've made up the 20 points we needed to tie in 2nd. (Though, I don't known where their team had placed, we might've bumped 10 points off of them, as well, and then been in 2nd by 10 points?) But in the end, it was a good time had by all - and really does it matter in the long run if we came in 3rd instead of 2nd at my first cousin once removed's bar mitzvah party when all we got were really cheap medals, mine of which is now in Smee's toy pile? Probably not. THE SMEESTER Speaking of... Smee survived my weekend away, although he was none too happy about it. It took me 4 cat sitters, and while it wasn't the ideal situation, I thank them all profusely, and am happy to report Smee is still alive. Which is more than I can say for one of my VCRs... yes, I have 2 vcrs - how else do you copy vhs tapes? However, one is dead; and the last time I copied a VHS tape was probably 5 years ago, so I'm not mourning it too much. What happened, you asked? A blackout! There was a fire on 43rd St, and the power in half of my apartment went POOF 10 minutes before I was leaving for DC. I started freaking out, but I had to leave... Then I thought on my way there that I could've jury rigged 2 extension cords from the kitchen which still had power to the cable box so it would DVR my Friday night ScyFy shows... but it was too late. So I left my first cat sitter a really long message on how to do that, but he called me when I was in the Metro in DC, and by the time I got out, he was gone, and didn't set up the extension cords -- so I emailed the cat sitter for Saturday AM, and she assured me she would set it all up - but then texted me the next day she forgot! But then the 3rd cat sitter for Sat PM texted me the power was back on... However, it turns out the power was on the entire time or at least came on before 9pm b/c Stargate Universe did tape!!!! The first 2 had thought the power was still off b/c the lights in the hallway were flickering b/c they are fluorescent lights -- they just needed adjusting - when I got back, I was able to get them all working regularly in 2 minutes... however, if either had checked the cable box, they would've seen there was power, and I would've freaked out a lot less while trying to relax on vacation... But anyway, I was saved the trouble of figuring out what I needed to find online or when things were re-airing, etc, but my VCR is dead (poor VCR is dead, poor old VCR is dead...) -- and the printer was giving me a weird error message, which I didn't realize till 20 minutes before I had to leave for showcase #113 Tuesday night... and that took me 20 minutes of googling, but I finally figured out that it was b/c of the power surge, and was able to reset the fusion temperature after following 20 intense steps... But anyway, Smee is fine. SUMMER TV STINKS Gosh, there is so little to watch -- however, after having a DVR so full it didn't have room for the 24 series finale (don't worry, I watched it online - and I was more satisfied w/ the last 5 minutes of 24 than of LOST = discuss), it is nice to be back down to 78%. And as the weeks go by, I am lowering that slowly but surely. The show this summer I am truly looking forward to is TRUE BLOOD. I am VERY excited that it is back! Other than that, I am watching The Good Guys, which is cute, Neighbors from Hell which is okay... Persons Unknown, which has serious potential and Late Night Liars - a new GAME SHOW starring MUPPETS! Upcoming new shows that I will be trying - Hot in Cleveland starring BETTY WHITE, Scoundrels, Haven, Rubicon and the Big C. And old shows returning for new seasons: Futurama (which is back from cancellation!), Hung, Warehouse 13, Eureka, Psych, Mad Men, and Weeds... In terms of catching up on series, by the end of this summer, I intend to watch CASTLE and PARENTHOOD in time to add them to my fall schedule. Other possibilities (besides reading novels, which is my priority) include Doctor Who/ Torchwood, Babylon 5, Stargate/ Stargate: Atlantis. Oh, and I'm still watching THE WIRE on HBO on demand - halfway through season 3 - I get half a season every 4 weeks, which is about as much wire as I could take anyway... that show is intense!! SUMMER MOVIES ALSO STINK The reviews of Sex and the City 2 were so bad, that I have decided to wait till it's on HBO. I have not seen a single new movie in the theatre since Alice in Wonderland and don't have any immediate plans to see a thing till Harry Potter 7 comes out in November... BOOKING A NOVEL OR NOVELING A BOOK Well, I haven't really been reading either - I have been so busy with my 2 shows, and then I was out of town, and then I've had a lot of early mornings... so that's my excuse. I paused reading A Tale of 2 Cities, b/c I found this book at the Strand I thought might make a good musical, but there hasn't been much plot so far, so I don't know... but I am still keeping it under wraps in case there is more plot in the 2nd half, and I decide it will be my new project... THE THEATRE Sondheim on Sondheim - went opening night to this incredible show about Sondheim's work with many interviews by him... Let My People Come - saw a revival of this classic 70s off-broadway musical... Sondheim Birthday Concert at City Center - many stars singing Sondheim songs... Fragments - Rori Nogee's wonderful cabaret about unrequited love... Stanley's Party - Yes, I saw my own show 15 times, so I feel like it deserves a spot on this list... Broadway by the Year: 1966 - concert at town hall with songs from 1966... Burnt Part Boys - new musical at Playwrights Horizons... The Story Collider - Dorky science story telling evening created by Ben Lillie... Barrier Island - saw one my 15 year old clients off-off-Bway b/c when someone who looks up to me asks ME to see a show, I actually go... Lend Me a Tenor - Broadway farce starring Monk, which I've never watched... 12th Night (Theater1010) - new adaptation of the Shakespeare classic... White's Lies - funny comedy off-Bway starring Betty Buckley, which is sadly closing tomorrow, so this plug won't help much... Other than that, it's the Broadway by the Year 10th Anniversary Concert Monday... and I'm going to try to see both The Winter's Tale and the Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare in the Park... and I will definitely be seeing A Little Night Music on Broadway again b/c Bernadette is going into it... CLOSING THOUGHTS Well, that was a long one - but the last few have been short, so I feel good to finally be in an elaborative mood on a day when I have nothing to do till sundown when my fangs come out... I hope you are all having adventurous summers. Please send me a note to let me know what you have been up to! And PLEASE watch my VIDEOS and if you can find it in the kindness of your heart to support the pets - please donate some $$ to Broadway Meows!!!!!! (Paypal $$ to broadwaymeows@gmail.com) Always, Seth |
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