Paul Mackie and Gordie Shaw: Bedroom Politics

Half of The Sprogs reunited last night at Eastern Village Cohousing's first Common Grounds coffee house cafe/club night. Gordie Shaw accompanied me on 10 songs (one of which I actually accompanied him on). I'll post several of the songs we played.

The above clip is "Bedroom Politics," the only song we played from the musical comedy I wrote with Dan Sullivan, Wiener Sausage: The Musical!

Gordie and I played after another former Sprogger, Tim Getman, played with Gordie and Phil in their bluegrass band.

Gordie and I played this set list, featuring two songs from my Edwardsville, Illinois-based group Monotremes (1997-1999):

Chocolate Kisses (Monotremes)

Drownin' (The Sprogs)

Seekers of the Truth and the Impossible (The Sprogs)

It Never Rains in Southern California (Albert Hammond)

The Tide is High (Blondie)

Future Rock Star (Paul Mackie)

We Refrain (The Sprogs)

A Horse With No Name (America)

Winter of My Youth (Monotremes)

Bedroom Politics (The Sprogs)

 

Silver Spring's Lumina proves you really can get kids to like Shakespeare

The theater industry has fallen onto some pretty hard times since the pandemic. And looking back through my blog, I can't believe my last "theater" entry was when I saw Hamilton in New York in 2018. I used to frequently post reviews from shows around Washington D.C., especially ones I used to like so much at the Woolly Mammoth.

But a lot of shows have not really caught my eye at the Woolly or other prime venues lately. Plus my actor buddy who was always in great shows around the city has moved to Oregon. And sometimes it's those connections that really help push people (at least me) over the edge towards getting out the door and into the seats. I wasn't expecting much when headed out tonight to see a reimagining of Shakespeare's As You Like It set in hippy times and featuring lots of local kids who my kids know. Not only was the band in the show led by one of my former bandmates in The Sprogs (so obviously the music was great, right?), but the show was really funny and I truly enjoyed it. 

Early into the play at Lumina Studio Theater in Silver Spring, I couldn't believe the script could have been written essentially by a bunch of elementary and high-school kids. Children are definitely not Shakespeare's key demographic and they certainly don't write and perform with such excellent comic timing in ther Bard's works, not even in Bard spoofs.

And when I looked at the program a little later, this As You Like It - actually titled As You Dig It - was indeed written back in 2002 by David Minton. But the cast and band worked really hard to put on a knock-out performance that had me laughing out loud constantly. 

Some of the highlight songs performed, as the characters set about trying to perform a play within the play ("all the world's a stage") and deal with themes of love, envy, gender, and more, include Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco," "Sugar, Sugar" by The Archies, "Reflections" by Diana Ross, and "Light My Fire" by The Doors. 

The stage was packed with the players most of the time, and there are actually two separate casts that have been performing different showtimes. Just about everyone in the cast gets their moments to shine and several have very promising thesbian careers ahead of them if they take that path.

That makes the future of the stage quite bit more promising than I had been giving it credit for lately.

Alma Tropicalia Hits a High Note

Word on the street has it that Saturday night's show at the funky Artisphere space in Arlington, Virginia was the last gig for the current lineup of Alma Tropicalia (pictured to the left). That's too bad because it seemed like most of the pieces were coming together for DC to have an excellent Brazilian tropicalia rock band firmly entrenched.

Nevertheless, it was a strong show in the long room in the Rosslyn neighborhood just across the Potomac River from Georgetown. The latin flavor was heightened by the 50-piece female drum band that opened and came on at the end of Alma Tropicalia's show as well. There was a lot of fun new music in the set, a killer background projection of Mad Men-like 1950s films, and all kinds of good vibes.

Too bad Alma Tropicalia, featuring my good friend Gordie (formerly in my last band, The Sprogs), seems to be making some changes to a pretty solid lineup.

Perhaps Gordie and I should reform The Sprogs or start a new band. I know I often say it, but I'm starting to get itchy to be motivated to writing lots of songs again. I've been on hiatus a little too long. With that thought, here is one of my favorite self-penned tunes that has yet to formally go into the recording studio. What do you think? Should I get a band to "rock it up," write a b-side to go with it, and release a new single?

Wiener Sausage Rises to iTunes! Episode #4 Show Notes: Independence Day Special Edition:

(These are show notes from my short-lived and perhaps ill-fated podcast with Dan Sullivan. May it always at least live on here. Sigh.)

We start with confusion by numbers. Although this is the fourth (or fifth, depending on who you ask) episode of Wiener Sausage: The Podcast!, it is the first we're posting to the big time: iTunes. You will now be able to subscribe to the show and listen to it with ease as you mow your lawn, drive to work, or enjoy your prescription meth.

We'll straighten all the numbers out eventually. Meanwhile, here are the show notes. Happy 4th of July!

0:00 - Dan and Paul open in stereotypically morbid fashion, with tales of near-death experiences involving funerals, ocean swimming, and automobiles.

7:00 - Life tip: You should never brake on the highway because it will cause massive delays for hundreds of cars behind you.

8:00 - Dan now owns a Fiat. He doesn't know much about it other than it looks like a little yellow bee. Car Talk this show isn't.

13:00 - A word from our latest sponsor. It couldn't be more fitting, especially in relation to the $500 million worth of hamburger meat that will be sold to Americans over the 4th of July holiday: Meatland!

16:30 - After a very long lead and intro into the word for our sponsor, here actually is where the ad begins.

18:30 - That ad just got Dan and Paul both hungry for some Vienna sausages.

19:00 - Wiener Sausage Pop Culture News presents a discussion on the beauty of obituary writing, the death of Stephen Furst of Animal House fame, and friends who have recently died.

26:00 - Dan and Paul relive some fun stories from college debauchery and academic intrigue at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and Washington University.

32:00 - Every time Dan asks whether a celebrity is dead already, they aren't but then they die days later. Let's hope this doesn't hold true after our discussion of the legendary Harrison Ford.

33:15 - "Free," one of the songs from Wiener Sausage: The Musical!, as played by Paul's former band The Sprogs.

38:00 - Paul secures an exclusive, exciting interview with Carl Everett Cunningham, who has allegedly stolen as much as $200,000 in Star Wars action figures from the Obi-Wan Ranch in California.

44:00 - Uh, the interview finally actually begins. If you hadn't noticed, Paul and Dan like long contextual setups.

53:00 - Because meats are about to be served for the holiday, our hosts run out of time. Dan gives Paul another shot at "signing out" after a miserably failed attempt during the last show. He does a tiny bit better this time.

Announcing the debut of Wiener Sausage: The Podcast!

(These are show notes from my short-lived and perhaps ill-fated podcast with Dan Sullivan. May it always at least live on here. Sigh.)

Episode #1 Show Notes - "A Trip Down Wiener Lane" 5/19/2017 0 Comments To continue on from my co-host's admirable ramblings in his first blog post at our new site, I've promised to publish the "show notes" - or podcast outline - for each of our shows. What you will find in this show, as we experiment with various recording technologies and ramp up to get these all posted more officially in the iTunes App store, is as follows: Opening: Dan uncovered some old Sprogs music to dress the show (Thanks, even if they didn't know they were going to be revived, to my old bandmates Paula Luxenberg, Gordie Shaw, and Tim Getman). We hope you like the show and the completely unauthorized use of your music. 1:00: Dan notes that "perfect is the enemy of the good." He surmises that waiting until we can make the perfect podcast would mean we would never do it, so we're just going for it, scars and all. Please bear with us as we grow to hopefully get good and entertaining some day. 3:00: We describe how we, as interlopers into the Washington D.C. theater community, produced Wiener Sausage: The Musical! nearly a decade ago. With much help from a fellow named Kenny. 8:00: The news of the day discussed is the increasingly polarized language of Twitterers on both sides of the love Trump and hate Trump divide. Are we becoming a psychotic nation? Discuss. 11:30: Our first-ever guest is Kathleen Sullivan Nelson, star of Wiener Sausage: The Musical! The interview somehow includes a fascinating advertisement for an Audio Technica microphone. But more importantly, Kathleen talks about (in a sort of Where Are They Now?-type segment) the corporate circus-like events she is now helping produce. Not much different, we surmise, from her gig as Jo, the musical comedy's hermaphrodite protagonist. The three also discuss how Wiener Sausage influenced Hamilton. 18:30 Kathleen plows through a version of one of her Wiener spotlight songs, "Not Cash or Check, Baby," despite Dan and Paul talking throughout her impromtu performance. 24:00: In summary, are Dan and Paul crazy, and only interested in talking about themselves and their fancy new microphone? Well, to our credit, they did end up letting Kathleen have the last word. And boy are those words inspiring. Don't miss them! And see you next time.

My Friend: The Next Laurence Olivier

The Washington Post's photo (right) and a glowing article accompany the opening of Pulitzer-nominated The Pavilion at Northern Virginia's new Hub Theatre.

One of my best friends and fellow bandmate in The Sprogs, Tim Getman, has been churning out powerful performances for a long time on the DC (and some on the Chicago) scene. So it was nice to see his photo looming large on the top of Page C5 yesterday. The photo caption says he "gives a superb performance as a man attending his 20th high school reunion."

The article notes that writer Craig "Wright has surrounded his long-estranged couple, Kari (Niki Jacobsen) and Peter (the terrific Tim Getman), with amusingly quirky characters, from a paranoid, pot-smoking small-town mayor to the star employee of a for-profit suicide hotline. When these former Minnesota classmates convene for their 20th reunion at a lakeside dance hall, gossip swirls and blood-alcohol levels climb -- while, on the sidelines, Peter attempts to reconcile with Kari, whom he dumped during senior year in exceptionally brutal fashion."

The Post's reviewer, Celia Wren, ends her article with one last glowing comment about Tim. "Getman's quietly desperate Peter [is] the production's ace card. The actor packs emotion into his deceptively low-key, overeducated-Joe-Six-Pack intonations. And he wrings so much suspense and anguish from silences, you'd think muteness were an actor's key tool."

Overeducated-Joe-Six-Pack? Tim, are you even really acting?

Well, I tried to get Tim to do a guest blog about this show but he sorta blew it off. I can see why. Perhaps a little too big for Monotremeindc ...

The Sprogs Will Soon Reconquer D.C.

I was very excited when I got the news recently that Paula Wertheim Luxenberg, my cousin, is moving back to D.C. after her two-year hiatus at the University of North Carolina MBA program. Her drumming is the ingredient that makes The Sprogs go. So it looks like we'll be reforming with bass player Gordie Shaw and guitar player Tim Getman. That means I need to get to work writing songs. Hopefully we'll all write songs. And Paula got a head start by sending us some lyrics for a kids song called "Anything That You Want." I never write songs that are this long, so I'm glad she's volunteered to sing most of it (which means I don't have to memorize the words, yay). See what you think of this sketch of the tune. Should it be in the set list?

It Never Rains in Southern California

I always thought this was a great song from the bin of 1970s soft-rock goodness. Albert Hammond (right) claims it was the miniature story of his life. He's got some other good stuff, but this is definitely his best song. Incidentally, he is the father of the renowned guitarist for The Strokes and solo artist Albert Hammond Jr. I've been playing this for a few years now, mostly with my last band, The Sprogs.

First Gig in Years is Fun, at Park(ing) Day

Had a blast playing my first ever "busking" gig at Park(ing) Day at Courthouse Metro yesterday. It was for the international event, which encourages people to think about how we use our public spaces and turns parking spaces into small parks.

Crowd favorites included The Mary Tyler Moore Theme ("You're Gonna Make It After All") and some originals of mine, including "Seekers of the Truth and the Impossible," "Faces Shine Back," and "Winter of My Youth." I played a mix of greatest hits from my old bands Monotremes, Funny Boy, and The Sprogs.

The Sprogs Set to Relaunch as Kid/Adult Band

Paula, you said last night you wanted a song about books that works for both kids and adults. Well here you go. It's called "Books About Monsters" and lasts a little less than two minutes. Hope you like it!

Who's the Freak With That High Voice? Paul Mackie, Of Course

Here's what waking up at 7 a.m. on Sunday with a kid will do for one's creativity. It's a song I wrote and recorded this morning. Don't usually sing in such a high register. But once you get past the shock of that, I think it's going to rock with a fully amplified band effort. What do you think, Sprogs, should we add it to our set list when we reform in a month or so?

It's called "Someone Else's Girl."