Mythological Mondays is a feature I created to spotlight books brimming with--you guessed it--mythology! I adore this sub-genre and can't wait to share my love with all of my fellow bookworms! This feature isn't just focused on novel reviews; it may also include interviews, looks at original mythological tales, etc. Please feel free to do this with me! If you guys ever do a mythological feature and want to join this and snag my lovely mermaid, I would LOVE to see the feature. I’ve even included a Linkbox for you. It doesn’t have to be Greek mythology, or even mythology per say. It can be mermaids, unicorns, or heck, even fairy tales (because I’m too lazy to do a separate fairy tale feature…). It doesn’t even have to be every Monday. I’m sure there will be Mondays when I skip, too. ^_^
So I’m postponing the review of Meg Cabot’s ABANDON again. Poor book must REALLY feel abandoned now. ^^; And it shouldn’t, because I really enjoyed it! I even have the review written. But since I’ve already posted a review for today’s blog tour event, I figured two might be overkill. I don’t want to wear you guys out!
For those who follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that last night I was geeking out as I watched the Tony Awards. I *love* musicals. One of my favorites has mythological elements in it, so today, we’ll focus on that instead.
But did anyone else see the Tonys? Allow me a second to spaz out on you. ^_^ For me, the Top 3 Moments of the Night were:
1) Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris breaking out into a medley of various Broadway songs and trying to outdo each other in spectacular “Anything You Can Do” (from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN) fashion. Two of my favorite actors together on stage? Yes, please! I’ve been lucky enough to see both men live on Broadway. So I can die happy, yes? Check out the video if you missed the performance (or just want to watch again)!
2) Sutton Foster winning her second Tony Award for her performance in ANYTHING GOES (which I MUST see this summer, since I was unable to go in March at the last minute). I’ve been a fan of Sutton’s since the very beginning and been lucky enough to see her THREE times on Broadway already (LITTLE WOMEN, SHREK, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE). Was it a coincidence that when I shuffled iTunes this morning, the second song to play was “Gimme, Gimme” from her first Tony Award-winning performance in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE? I didn’t think so either. [Clip from the Tonys here!]
3) Norbert Leo Butz winning for his performance in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. I’ve been wavering over seeing this one, but I’ve loved NLB ever since falling in love with the musical THE LAST 5 YEARS. I’ve been lucky enough to see him twice on stage, in both DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (which netted him his first Tony win) and the original cast of WICKED (before it got, you know, super famous). [Clip from the Tonys here!]
/end fangirling …Anyone else have some favorite moments from last night?
For those who follow me on Twitter, you’ll know that last night I was geeking out as I watched the Tony Awards. I *love* musicals. One of my favorites has mythological elements in it, so today, we’ll focus on that instead.
But did anyone else see the Tonys? Allow me a second to spaz out on you. ^_^ For me, the Top 3 Moments of the Night were:
1) Hugh Jackman and Neil Patrick Harris breaking out into a medley of various Broadway songs and trying to outdo each other in spectacular “Anything You Can Do” (from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN) fashion. Two of my favorite actors together on stage? Yes, please! I’ve been lucky enough to see both men live on Broadway. So I can die happy, yes? Check out the video if you missed the performance (or just want to watch again)!2) Sutton Foster winning her second Tony Award for her performance in ANYTHING GOES (which I MUST see this summer, since I was unable to go in March at the last minute). I’ve been a fan of Sutton’s since the very beginning and been lucky enough to see her THREE times on Broadway already (LITTLE WOMEN, SHREK, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE). Was it a coincidence that when I shuffled iTunes this morning, the second song to play was “Gimme, Gimme” from her first Tony Award-winning performance in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE? I didn’t think so either. [Clip from the Tonys here!]
3) Norbert Leo Butz winning for his performance in CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. I’ve been wavering over seeing this one, but I’ve loved NLB ever since falling in love with the musical THE LAST 5 YEARS. I’ve been lucky enough to see him twice on stage, in both DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS (which netted him his first Tony win) and the original cast of WICKED (before it got, you know, super famous). [Clip from the Tonys here!]
/end fangirling …Anyone else have some favorite moments from last night?
Now, to bring this post where it belongs…to MYTHOLOGY!
One of my favorite musicals has always been AIDA, which was produced by Disney and features music and lyrics from powerhouse team Elton John and Tim Rice. The musical AIDA is based on Giuseppe Verdi’s opera of the same name. Disney has talked about turning this into an animated movie. I wish they would. Love, love, love! AIDA was the first show I ever saw live on Broadway and it was magical. I only wish I had seen the original cast (esp. another favorite of mine, leading actor Adam Pascal).AIDA isn’t a retelling of a mythological tale, per say, but it feels like one. It’s basically an Egyptian ROMEO AND JULIET. It’s about Princess Aida of Nubia, who is captured by her enemy Egypt’s army and brought to their territory by Captain Radames of the Egyptian army. Radames gives Aida to his bethrothed, Princess Amneris, the Egyptian Pharoh’s daughter, as a present, but winds up falling in love with her. AIDA is full of love and war, lust and deceit. The music is stunning; this is one album where I never skip a song when I listen. Check out some performances on YouTube; “Written in the Stars” is an especially beautiful ballad.
With all the Egyptian mythology starting to make its way into the bookstores, now would be a perfect time for Disney to start working on an animated movie again. Besides, Disney-Hyperion publishes Rick Riordan’s best-selling KANE CHRONICLES trilogy. Why wouldn’t they want to line their pockets even more while still bringing us good Egyptian stories?