Liars and Saints

  My main reason for seeing "The Lost Boys" was Shoshana Bean. And I had a great time. It's a bad musical. In a way, that doesn't matter. People are up there taking big swings--it's difficult not to feel excited. Shoshana Bean invented her own career. After "Wicked," she did not wait for others to invite her to a recording studio; she figured out how to make her own pop album, and she did the work. It's strange how pop stardom is denied to some and not to others. Bean has the head voice, the belt, and the riffing capabilities of a new Whitney Houston. But--also--who cares? If the pop world doesn't want Shoshana Bean, then Broadway *does* want her. My favorite Bean song is "No One," by Alicia Keys. It is reimagined as a mother/child duet, and it makes me think of my own kids. I know people will search the world To find something like what we have. I know people will try -- try to divide Something so real -- So, till the end of time, I...

  "The Lost Boys" is a musical about Ronald Reagan. He appears on a TV screen, giving a lecture about family values; later, he takes the shape of Broadway star Paul Nolan, a nerdy guy in a suit who talks about what happens when the country is "overrun" with single moms. (You might think, why does Paul Nolan have such an apparently small role? Just you wait.) Pitted against Paul Nolan is Shoshana Bean, who just wants a job, a romance, an intact family, and a sense of instant community. Bean's desperation leads her to make questionable choices--should she really agree to work at a video rental outlet without anything like a basic "candidate interview"? If a new friend makes approving remarks about Goldwater, should Bean stick around? Bean becomes aware of her mistakes; before it's too late, she grabs a stake and murders a trickster vampire. This raises questions. Bean may have eliminated Ronald Reagan--but is she any closer to a job, a romance, an in...

I have a nominee for our next song of the summer. It is Shoshana Bean's cover of "I Wanna Dance with Somebody." Before reading on, please listen: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=A0geKYzIxdpc1eIAXUhXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyc2wxbzd0BGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDQjcwMTJfMQRzZWMDc2M-?p=shoshana+bean+i+wanna+dance+with&fr=spigot-chr-ffmac#id=1&vid=e646ef65c98ba09d92409f4f5e24b002&action=view I could listen over and over, and there are just a few things I have to point out: *If you're my age (or Ms. Bean's age), you grew up with this song, and your childhood sort of comes back when you hear it. Part of Ms. Bean's enthusiasm is clearly just the enthusiasm you may feel for certain things forever pinned to your own early years. *Obviously, "I Wanna Dance" is a song of yearning, and that's maybe slightly unclear in Whitney's upbeat version. Slow it down a bit, as Ms. Bean does, and it's suddenly a powerhouse opportunit...