Supporting Show Tunes on TV

I am watching the PBS presentation of the concert version of Chess, filmed in London and staring Adam Pascal, Josh Groban and the remarkable Idina Menzel. Concert version of Broadway / West end shows like everything in the entertainment business have gotten bigger. They used to be concerts, now they have huge, yet simple sets, dancers, costumes and big staging.

Chess was written at the height of the cold war and uses a chess matches as the pretext to show the rivalry between the US and USSR. It was also one of the greatest flops of all time. I have always loved the music of this show. The book/story line is a little forced but the songs oh the songs. They soar! Even if you are not familiar with this show many of you will know some of the songs, even Whitney Houston has covered one.

I am not familiar with many of the supporting players but everyone knows Josh Groban and some should know Adam Pascal and everyone needs to know Idina Menzel.

I am a big fan of Josh Groban for many reasons his voice is so clear and distinct. The man can really sing. Though he sounds the same in everyone of these songs they all sound like Josh Groban songs.

Adam Pascal a star of Rent and the star of Aida has a great rock and roll Broadway voice, which works well for this show.

But, Idina Menzel is the real scene stealer. She owns every song and she out sings her costars. She is an awesome talent and the real star of this outing. She should be more famous than she is. She has an album out and it is pretty good, I have to go back and really listen it, if only for her remarkable voice. Oh yeah, she is also married to Taye Diggs.

Programs like this are why I love PBS and why PBS & NPR need to be supported. Every year at budget time the conservatives try to cut funding. Did you know that the US government spends less per capita on the arts and culture than any industrialized country and even some emerging countries.

And, now in PA the assault on PBS/NPR is coming from our very on liberal governor. The budget currently under consideration has cut all grant funding for these two important institutions. I know many believe that the market should take of these things and believe me the private sector and fund drives are the true financial back bone of PBS/NPR. It costs each taxpayer in PA $.83 a year, yes you read that correctly EIGHTY THREE CENTS a year to support this.

Surely we can afford such an extravagance even in these tough times.