The plot follows Johnny, the Jesus of Suburbia, as he and his friends try to escape their quiet lives. The show is set to songs from Green Day’s American Idiot and 21st Century Breakdown albums, all awesomely re-arranged into powerful, energized musical numbers. The cast is nothing short of AMAZING, and they do a great job at making the characters more realistic and relatable than those in most other shows. The vocals, dancing, and acting in this show are all phenomenal.

The performances are packed with the feelings of a generation: uncertainty, angst, passion, rage and love, and confusion, and are played with so much passion, you can feel the characters’ emotions. Though many people have gone in thinking the show will be a mix between RENT and Spring Awakening, those shows won’t even enter your mind during the show.

I dare say this should be a strong contender for Best New Musical this year at the Tonys (along with several other awards, hopefully). Even further, I may go so far as to say this may be the defining musical of a generation. Only time will tell.

If you have a chance, I highly recommend you go see American Idiot. There are plenty of opportunities for cheap tickets, and they’re worth every cent!

Many of you may know Corbin Bleu as one of the kids from Disney’s High School Musical franchise, but you just might forget about the big-haired basketball player altogether once you see him in In The Heights.

The show is excellently written and follows a close-knit community in Washington Heights through three days of drastic changes. The show is packed with passion, heat, and good beats. The role Corbin plays is Usnavi, the singing/rapping narrator of the story.

Corbin Bleu And The Cast Of In The Heights

Corbin’s performance is well executed. His rapping and singing are up to par, and his acting seems to fit the part well. If you have seen the show with Lin Manuel-Miranda, you may need a song or two to adjust to Corbin’s portrayl of Usnavi, but you won’t be disappointed.

In fact, even some sceptical fans were pleasantly surprised by his performance. According to Janice Ruiz, a fan who had seen the show with Lin, “Cobin’s performance was such a shock to me. I didn’t expect him to be that good, since I only knew him from High School Musical.”

If you get the chance, I highly recommend going to see In The Heights before Corbin’s departure in July 2010.

The show, which follows the family as Wednesday falls in love and begins to become “normal,” features a stellar cast that includes Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. However, its book and musical numbers seem to be lacking some of that classic creepy, kooky, mysterious spookiness audiences might expect.

That’s not to say there aren’t a slew of wonderful one-liners (most of which are delivered by Jackie Hoffman as Grandmama). They just don’t seem to be enough to hold up the rest of the show.

As a novelty piece, The Addams Family will keep you mildly entertained for two hours. However, if you’re looking for something more substantial than a piece of nostalgia, you may be let down.

Broadway Welcomes The Addams Family

It’s been some time, and we have a lot to catch up on, but soon to come are The Addams Family, Corbin Bleu joining the cast of In The Heights, and many other buzz-worthy live performances!

After quite a while, a trip to Spain and France, and a crashed computer, I have A LOT of catching up to do.

We’ve missed Grammys, The Monster’s Ball, New Year’s Eve, and many other performances. Not to worry, though, I’ll get you up to speed on everything that happened while I was away.

I’d like to begin by thanking those of you who have been reading my blog. It’s great to know that someone out there likes to read my babble.

This blog originated because of a course I was taking in my college’s journalism program. The semester has since ended, and I was thus left facing a choice: end the blog, or let it live on. I will be doing neither.

I have already begun the expansion of Stage Door Exclusive with the creation of On Screen Buzz, which is devoted to movies and television. I hope to eventually integrate my blogs into one large entertainment blog which gives you access to the latest news in film, music, television, live performances, gossip (not smutty gossip, but wholesome rumoured casting and whatnot), and most anything else entertainment-related.

Stick with me, and together we’ll see this vision become a (virtual) reality!

A few weeks ago, Lady Gaga gave (another) stellar performance at the American Music Awards, just in time to set up the release of her new album: The Fame Monster.

The First Lady of Pop performed her hit single Bad Romance and a new track, Speechless, live at the AMAs, and even impressed the crowd by playing a flaming piano.

In addition to wowing crowds, her new album dropped the next day, and fans couldn’t be more pleased. The eight-track Fame Monster album brings a new depth to Gaga’s music, and even critics seem to enjoy it.

What’s more is that this week, Lady Gaga received (get ready for this on, it’s big) a whopping 5 GRAMMY NOMINATIONS! Among these are song of the year and record of the year for Poker Face, and album of the year for The Fame.

Based on these nominations, it seems like Lady Gaga is becoming an even bigger force in the entertainment industry, and won’t be giving up her title of First Lady any time soon.

The famous drag comedienne played a house of students just before Thanksgiving, and they couldn’t have been more excited. In fact, many students delayed their trips home just to see her perform.

In general, the students loved the performance, which included her usual hilarious commentary and musical numbers. Even those she chose to comment on from the audience enjoyed the show, including Miss Julia Cervantes, who was praised for her choice of hooker shoes.

In all, the event, which was hosted by the campus’ GSA (PRIDE) was a great success for all who attended.

Tickets to her upcoming tour not only became rare, but pretty much disappeared altogether after just a couple days of being on sale. Her tour is one of the hottest topics in live entertainment, and with the release of her new album “The Fame Monster,” it’s only going to get hotter.

Now, how can you get tickets to see this amazingly SOLD OUT show? Your best bet is to listen to your local radio station. They have a surprising number of tickets to give out, and if you get them, they’re free!

Just off of Exit 13B, Tromaville is in trouble because of pollution. Out of the sludge, the Toxic Avenger is born. Along with his hilariously over-sexual, blind girlfriend (played by DeGarmo), “Toxie” fights the corrupt mayor of Tromaville, who insists that “Evil is hot.”

The stellar performance of Diana DeGarmo definitely brought the show up to par. While it is quite funny (at the expense of New Jersey, and Manhattan, and the blind), it seems to lack a certain something (perhaps an intermission?). Her acting chops definitely shone in this show, and her voice soared to amazing heights.

After the show, I had the chance to speak with Diana DeGarmo. She was quite enthused about being in Toxic Avenger. “It’s been great,” she said. “We get Hairspray fans, we get my fans, and we even get a lot of Avenue Q traffic. I love doing this, it’s a lot of fun.”

Diana DeGarmo and I