Grinchin Around- Creating a Character

When The Grinch arrived at the Charleston Christmas Parade last year towing a sled full of toys followed by a barrage of Nutcracker soldiers, little did the “Mean One” realize what a frenzy his presence would create in the Holy City. Days later the man who people wouldn’t touch “with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole”, was the main attraction on King Street, headlining a sold-out extended run of Charleston Ballet Theatre’s The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

Kicking off the ballet’s second season of their popular Children’s Series, the snow-filled family favorite arrives earlier this year opening on November 14 for a two weekend run at the Black Box Theatre. With all the nostalgia and magic of the original Dr. Seuss story and the classic holiday animated television special, CBT’s The Grinch Who Stole Christmas is back to spread the holiday cheer one more time this season with added performances of the family-friendly snow-filled cheerfest  that begin next week.  Meet Steve Boston ( The Mean Ole Mr. Grinch) and Jennifer Balcerzak Muller (Cindy Lou Who) .

I thought it would be fun to blog about creating a character. 

In Western theatre-dance traditions, notably ballet and modern dance, the most recurrent clash of principles has been over the question of expression. Theatre dance generally falls into two categories: that which is purely formal, or dedicated to the perfection of style and display of skill. George  Balanchine  created modern ballet, based on his deep knowledge of classical forms and techniques. He was a choreographer known for his musicality; he did not illustrate music but expressed it in dance and worked extensively with Igor Stravinsky, his contemporary.)   , and that which is dramatic, or dedicated to the expression of emotion, character, and narrative action.  Jean-Georges Noverre, the great French choreographer and ballet master,  argued that dance is meaningless unless it has some dramatic and expressive content and that movement should become more natural and accommodate a wider range of expression: “I think . . . this art has remained in its infancy only because its effects have been limited, like those of fireworks designed simply to gratify the eyes. . . . No one has suspected its power of speaking to the heart.

Creating characters is an art. In a dancers early training l, very few of us are exposed to the subtleties of acting. Instead we drill our exercises and try to master the newest, craziest trick that someone came across on YouTube. While it is important to focus on technique, it is just as important to think about how to portray a character. For example, how can physicality enhance your emotion? How can you suck the audience into your story and make them feel something?  No matter what sort of role you  dance, all through your dancing career you’re going to have to populate your experience with characters, and a lot of them, if not all of them, you’re going to have to create from scratch. Unfortunately — or maybe fortunately — there is no Betty Crocker Instant Character-In-A-Can that you can mix with water and pop into the oven for twenty minutes. There aren’t any quick and easy recipes, to do this.. It takes thought and time  otherwise you have.  A two-dimensional, hollow, clichéd character. A flat, meaningless character. A forgettable character. An expendable character you spit out and toss in the trash when you’re done. A character no one cares about. Not even you.

The craft of creating characters makes a difference. People want to get to know great characters, and well-developed characters are the foundation and the support of any good story. The famous Royal Ballet Ballerina, Lynn Seymour was a one-off. On her good nights she was glorious, and on nights when she wasn’t having a good time, it was extremely obvious. She threw herself into whatever role she was dancing with total commitment, and few dancers have left their mark so indelibly on their created roles. Most people associate her with the tragic heroines of Kenneth Macmillan, but she was much more than that – a brilliant comedian in Solitaire or Dances at a Gathering, and a dancer of melting, fluid beauty in the second act of Giselle, A Month in the Country, or Ashton’s Isadora Duncan waltzes.

So how to do it ?   Here are some suggestions

1. Study the pros

•Don’t start your character off with a name or a physical description.

•Do start developing your character by giving him a problem, a dramatic need, a compulsion.

•Don’t rely on crutches.

I’ve seen some dancers creating your character by giving him a hook — some little device that characterizes the person. Nervous whistling, jangling car keys kept in the right front pocket, a complete wardrobe of blue shirts, the anxious stroking of a rabbit’s foot in moments of deep stress. It doesn’t hurt to do this, but I recommend that you do it later rather than sooner . And don’t mistake a few nervous tics and a jaunty saunter for characterization. Your own character is what’s inside of you — what you’re made of when things get ugly and hard; whether you’ll take something that doesn’t belong to you if no one is looking, whether you’ll tell the truth even if lying is easier, whether you’ll be faithful to you wife when presented with the perfect opportunity for a no-strings-attached one-nighter. Your character has nothing to do with whether you wipe your bangs out of your eyes with the back of your hand or always wear something yellow, and the same is true of the people you’ll be creating and writing.

•Do empathize with your character.

•Don’t sympathize with your characters.

•Finally, do write from your own life.

CHILDREN WILL LISTEN… A YOUNG LIFE CHOREOGRAPHED.

How do you say to your child in the night?

Nothing’s all black, but then nothing’s all white

How do you say it will all be all right

When you know that it might not be true?

What do you do?

 

Careful the things you say

Children will listen

Careful the things you do

Children will see and learn

Children may not obey, but children will listen

Children will look to you for which way to turn

To learn what to be

Careful before you say “Listen to me”

Children will listen

Stephen Sondheim  - “Into the Woods”

Stephen Sondheim does not give many interviews. Why should he? Now 79, Stephen Sondheim long ago cemented his reputation as Broadway’s most esteemed living composer and lyricist, and one of the American musical theater’s greatest visionaries. From “West Side Story” to “A Little Night Music” to “Sweeney Todd” and on, the eight-time Tony Award honoree has redefined and expanded the sonic and dramatic vocabulary of the Broadway musical, busting genre boundaries and nearly erasing the border between “serious” modern music and show tunes. But musical has been done the most?  “Probably ‘Into the Woods,’ because it has no four-letter words, and kids in grammar school can relate to the fairy-tale theme.” 

Thus… today’s blog post takes his beautiful song “Children will Listen ” to heart .

Poor listening, or “noncompliance”, is one of the most common concerns expressed by parents of toddlers and school-aged children. Parents often comment that they need to repeat requests or raise their voice to gain their child’s attention. A few simple changes in the way parents manage their child’s behavior can make a big difference.  I say:  PARENTS —  

Children WILL LISTEN if they are exposed to more live art.  !

The extra financial pressures that the misnamed “No Child Left Behind” act put upon schools resulted in many schools cutting whatever funding they already had toward teaching the arts. With the increased focus on drilling students in the “three r’s: reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic,” children who might one year have gone on a field trip to, for example, a children’s theatrical production, now find themselves practicing test taking during this time. 

Art is something which enriches our culture and allows us to experience the world and different cultures within it. It is important, therefore, to teach our children about the importance of art for our culture and our world. It is never too early to get children excited about the world of art, for teaching those to have an appreciation for the arts at an early age will help them to stay in tune with their creative side throughout their entire lives.

OKAY…. first the facts

•          Art stimulates both sides of the brain.

•          33% of kids are visual learners.

•          There are studies that show that kids, who experience performing arts, read better and get better grades in science and mathematics.

•          The kids learn by using their senses and art is ideal in this process

•          Dance develops hand and eye coordination.

•          Dance stimulates perception.

•          Dance  teaches that there is more than one solution for a problem.

•          Dance reaches kids to think creatively to solve problems.

Greater Charleston is fortunate to boast a wide repertory of the performing arts and art organizations; however, not everybody has the opportunity nor the financial means to attend live theater performances.  Charleston Ballet Theatre recognizes the importance of instilling an appreciation of all styles of dance at an early age.  One memorable experience can create a lifetime of devotion to dance.  Storybook ballets presented on-stage provide the opportunity for classroom teachers to present literary works in a new way that literally brings the pages to life.  Charleston Ballet Theatre understands the importance of challenging young minds to be creative and explore worlds never before considered.  CBT strives to do this by providing live theatre to children in the Low country through the CBT Matinee Series.

Children benefit greatly from participating, even in small ways, in dance. They gain poise, self-confidence, and the ability to speak in front of others. They learn patience while they are waiting for their cue. They learn to be supportive when they have a small role, and they learn that they can’t do it all alone when they have a bigger role. They learn to work as a team, take turns, and cooperate.

Each performance in the Children’s Series simultaneously provides memorable and magical stories to children while presenting the various disciplines of dance -

HERE IS YOUR FIRST CHANCE-  THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS.   

Don’t Dream It – Be It.

I remember one particular Saturday morning about 15 years ago, we had a scheduled trip planned. It was pouring down rain, but instead of cancelling the trip and curling up with a good  novel,  we braved Mother Nature, and went to Tinseltown. We arrived on Hollywood Boulevard around nine, which meant that parking was no problem at all, but we had to search for a cup of coffee. We finally found one at a place that claimed to serve the best espresso in Hollywood, which I have no doubt is true. What they aren’t telling you, however, is that they may well serve the only espresso in Hollywood.

At ten, the rain had escalated from a drizzle to a downpour, and we made our way up the boulevard of stars, jumping from awning to awning until we reached our goal. There it was, Frederick’s of Hollywood, which is more than just a famous store. Frederick’s is home to the Lingerie Museum and Celebrity Lingerie Hall of Fame, and that’s what we’d come to see. If you want to get to know a movie star, what better way than to take a look at his underwear?   We walked inside under the pink and purple sign. A stunning array of nylon creations hung on the racks and walls. Mr. Frederick’s motto is, “Don’t dream it…live it,” and his store makes every attempt to provide you with the hardware to manifest your fantasies. Unless your fantasies revolve around a lot of net and feathers, though, you may need to look elsewhere. 

Don’t dream it. Be it.” Originally a line from a Frederick’s of Hollywood lingerie catalog, it now means something totally different to thousands of people in a very odd subculture. To them it is their motto. Every Friday and Saturday night at midnight all across the country, they live the dream. The dream of Rocky Horror.  What is Rocky Horror? Well, let’s go back to the beginning. . Let me explain a little bit. 

According to its creator O’Brien, “the movie is really an excuse for dressing up and having a party.”  So what’s the big deal? Take that insane story and add the fact that people dress up like the actors and perform in front of the screen while audience members yell and throw things and there you have it.  By 1991 RHPS, was sixteen years old and had spawned a participatory cult involving about 30,000 people Even now, on a weekly basis, in theaters across the United States and Europe people gather up their props, put on stage make-up, outfit themselves (often in drag) and attend a film at which they shout instructions, comments, requests, mockeries, rhetorical questions, and appreciative catcalls. Some of these people have seen the film more than 1,000 times. Many of the showings are prefaced by “pre-shows,” usually involving the initiation of “virgins,” and frequently involving costume competitions, trivia bowls, parodies of beauty contests, or skits incorporating material from other movie cults

People just don’t throw random things, everything has a specific meaning. There’s a wedding scene in the movie and everyone in the audience throws rice. When Frank proposes a toast, people throw toast. In one of the songs is a line that goes, “There’s a light over at the Frankenstein place,” and everyone lights matches. During the rain scene, people shoot squirt guns at each other. When Dr. Scott arrives, Brad yells, “Great Scott!” and toilet paper goes flying through the aisles. In one of Frank’s songs is a line, “cards for sorrow, cards for pain,” and people throw (what else?) playing cards.                But that’s not all. In the epitome of audience participation, people have it down to a science where what they yell at the screen makes it look like they are having a conversation with the actors.

So what does the future hold for Rocky Horror? Who knows? Popularity is growing all over the country. Lou Adler claims that he has no plans to make a sequel, and that’s just as well, because it’s impossible to purposely create a cult film, and nothing could compare to the king of the cults, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

And let O’Brien’s words guide you through your life. Don’t dream it.  Be it.”

Forever Warped. I even took Mom once to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show !

Rocky Horror Picture Show is at its finest — the glorification of fun, rock and roll, and an amusing show spoofing old horror flicks. CBT is throwing caution to the wind with its repeat presentation this Halloween Season.   Opening October 23rd just in time for Halloween, RHPS illustrates our flair for versatility and outrageousness.  Shedding  our now famous Decadent Diva images to trade them in for saucy fishnets, short shorts, stilettos and as much toast & rice as you can fill a movie screen with!    

Those who gave this cult film gem a low score – Please! Crawl back in your cardboard life and stay there! This film bubbles with zest, wit, subtle humor, raw humor, strange scenes, great songs and a huge host of memorable characters.  Most of the characters are drawn as sharply as if a straight razor…well, not straight…as if a razor had been used. Not intended for the super straight part of our culture, which is why it usually plays at midnight shows, but you’ll notice that it’s been playing steadily for 30 years now, especially along the American coasts, which is a better record that almost anything else you can think of (excluding Gone With The Wind in Atlanta, a single town).

So have you ever seen the Rocky Horror Picture Show?  Here is your big chance to take part in this Halloween (and year round) cult classic, complete with live performers rice and toilet paper.  Costumes are encouraged. Charleston Ballet Theatre blends a massive twist with the regular cult classic midnight showing tradition by adding a dance interpretation of the film, accompanied from behind by the movie itself. Rocky Horror enthusiasts are encouraged to attend in full costume regalia and can expect all the bells and whistles that accompany a standard cult screening. As has been the tradition since its first midnight showing at the famed Waverly Theatre in NYC in 1976, audiences are expected to shout responses to the characters’ statements on the screen, including melodramatic abuse of the characters or actors, puns, and pop culture references.  The movie has become synonymous with audience interaction and can attribute its enduring success to its devoted interactive following.   CBT encourages audience members to come dressed as their favorite characters in the movie. This ballet performance is not just your regular show, it is a wild, uproarious celebration of an American cultural phenomenon. 

When I was in college, we used to pile into the car every Saturday night and head out to the midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was great fun – you sang along to the songs, yelled out key phrases, and in general had a blast without booze or drugs. What more could a parent want. Dracula forget it , Frankenstein not even these can’t even hold a candle to how many times Rocky Horror Picture Show has been viewed around the world it doesn’t matter what country you go to likely when you say ” The Time Warp ” this phenomenon will come to mind.

So Throw away all your problems and let your inhibitions take you , give yourself to ultimate pleasure with a mix of parody sci fi/horror and if you have not seen this legendary film then when you see Tim Curry (CBT’s Principal Dancer recreates the dance role)  as the alien transvestite Dr. Frank n Furter you will know why this has just about as big as a following as Star Trek.

This is not just a film is a form of , expression for its many legions of fans when fans come into a theatre to watch this film they know there not alone many others will follow dressed up as well. We are unlikely to witness anything like the Rocky Horror cult phenomenon again. In Western theater as well as mainstream movies the role of the audience is generally passive, isolated, private and voyeuristic. Only in the Dionysian theater of ancient Greece or the cult rituals described by Antonin Artaud in “Theater and Its Double” do we learn about a kind of theater that amounted to a communal celebration of the daemonic, a liturgical worship with the audience as active celebrants. But “Rocky Horror” rewrote the rules or, perhaps more accurately, the audiences themselves invented a new form of movie, in effect “producing” the 20-year-run of a happening known, for lack of a better title, as the “Rocky Horror Picture.

Hope to see you there!

Every other singer, male or female, if they’re lucky, they listen to Ella

ELLA-She needs no more introductions. My heart melts at the mention of her name.  No matter where your personal music taste lies, I promise that she is totally addictive, and you just can’t help but love her.  I have never played Ella Fitzgerald for anyone who didn’t rush right out and buy her CDs, and listen to them incessantly. She doesn’t interfere with your other musical tastes; she’s just a whole different thing that you never imagined until the first time you heard her voice. Her scat is simply superlative. She obviously made it up as she went along, but never tripped up, never repeated, and never, ever became tedious. Her grasp of beat and harmony was amazing, and these wordless songs of uncontaminated syllable and sound become simply supernatural as she creates them out of thin air.

Dubbed “The First Lady of Song,” Ella Fitzgerald was the most admired female jazz singer in the United States for more than half a century. In her lifetime, she won 13 Grammy awards and sold over 40 million albums. Her voice was elastic, sweeping, truthful and timeless. She could sing hot ballads, sugary jazz and imitate every instrument in an orchestra. She worked with all the jazz greats, from Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Nat King Cole, to Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. (Or rather, some might say all the jazz greats had the pleasure of working with Ella.) She performed at top venues all over the world, and packed them to the hilt. Her audiences were as diverse as her vocal range. They were rich and poor, made up of all races, all religions and all nationalities. In fact, many of them had just one binding factor in common – they all loved her. 

Her first dream was to be a dancer. Growing up in New York, she was inspired by “Snake Hips” Tucker, studying his serpentine moves and practicing them constantly with friends. Then, one fateful night at the Apollo Theater in 1934, the headlining Edwards Sisters brought down the house with their dancing. Amateur Hour began immediately after, and a 16-year-old Ella Fitzgerald stepped on stage, but was too intimidated to dance. Instead, she sang “Judy,” silenced the awestruck crowd, and won first prize. It was the beginning of one of the most celebrated careers in music history

In 1974, Ella spent a legendary two weeks performing in New York with Frank Sinatra and Count Basie. Still going strong five years later, she was inducted into the Down Beat magazine Hall of Fame, and received Kennedy Center Honors for her continuing contributions to the arts. In 1987, United States President Ronald Reagan awarded Ella the National Medal of Arts. It was one of her most prized moments. France followed suit several years later, presenting her with their Commander of Arts and Letters award, while Yale, Dartmouth and several other universities bestowed Ella with honorary doctorates.

No wonder she is the Godmother of All Divas.  Ella is the Glue that holds My Decadent Divas evening together.

Another Motor City Mama , My Neighbor MADONNA – the girl next door.

DIVA # 11

Madonna

What else do you say about Madonna? She might be known worldwide as the Material Girl, but there’s more than a little of the small-town Michigan girl left in Madonna. She was born in Michigan on August 16th in 1958. She´s fifty years old now.  Born in Bay City, Michigan, and raised in Rochester Hills, Michigan, She took ballet classes when she went to school and she always liked dancing, singing and acting. She moved to New York City in 1977, for a career in modern dance. After performing as a member of the pop musical groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her self-titled debut album Madonna in 1983 on Sire Records.

Madonna is ranked by the Recording Industry Association of America as the best-selling female rock artist of the 20th century and the second top-selling female artist in the United States with 63 million RIAA-certified albums; she has sold over 200 million albums worldwide In 2007, Guinness World Records listed her as the world’s most successful female recording artist of all time and she was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame the following year. Considered to be one of the most influential women in contemporary music, Madonna has been known for continually reinventing her music and image and for retaining a standard of anonymity within the recording industry; she is recognized as an influence among numerous music artists. She got married twice. Her first husband was the American actor SEAN PENN. Her second husband was the English film director GUY RITCHIE. She divorced Guy Ritchie last year. She has three children: one girl called Lourdes Maria and two boys called Rocco and David. As a singer she has released very famous albums and many of her songs became very popular all over the world, as for example: “Holiday”, “Material Girl”, “Papa don´t Preach”, “True Blue”, “La Isla Bonita”, “Like a Prayer”, “Vogue”…etc.

Hot off the presses Decadent Divas presents ‘Celebration”  Melissa Weber of Charleston Ballet Theatre  Photo Steve Lepre

She Never Been Cool and She Doesn’t Care.

“I looked in the audience. There were no strangers. Everybody was singing and cheering and hugging. That was a beautiful picture to look at”. Celine Dion

Diva # 10

Celine Dion

Celine Dion is a music artist with those types of melodies that have always been part of my life.  May it be a song that would be a song dedicated at a certain time of my relationship or a friend’s relationship to a song that just touched me (or annoyed me),.  I have treasured her music for years. Having seen her live in concert, on DVD and with her Vegas show, Dion comes across as truly humble and approachable.  She has a wicked sense of humor and real compassion for her hard-working staff and her fans.  It is a well know fact that Celine Dion is one of the most generous artists in music today. I have come to value the flair, attractiveness and polish that personifies Celine Dion.  

Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record. She comes from a large family, has a loving husband and son, and stays out of the tabloids. While she has taken a beating from the media and from detractors for being over-the-top in some of her vocals, a bit too dorky in her performances and in interviews, she has remained (sans the chest-beating) true to herself and to the music and fans that made her famous.

With her extraordinary tone and her naiveté, Dion conquered the province of Quebec, and her career experienced a meteoric rise. At 18, weary of her good-girl image, she disappeared for a year and a half, and reappeared sporting short hair and tight sequined dresses. Dion began to sing music with very upbeat rhythms for young audiences, winning in 1987 the Eurovision prize for ‘Ne partez pas sans moi,’ and selling 200 000 copies of that single in Europe in two days. Incognito, an LP recorded that year, sold over 200,000 copies in Quebec. With CBS (Sony) investing in her international career, Celine Dion cut (1990) her first record in English, Unison; it sold over 100,000 copies in Canada (and was released in 16 other countries including the US. She appeared several times on the American program The Tonight Show and rapidly became a darling of the US talk show circuit..

“My Heart Will Go On” is the theme song of the 1997 blockbuster film Titanic. With music by James Horner, lyrics by Will Jennings, and production by Walter Afanasieff, it was recorded by Celine Dion. Originally released in 1997 on Dion’s album Let’s Talk About Love, it went to number 1 all over the world, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia. My Heart Will Go On was released in Australia and Germany on December 8, 1997, and in the rest of the world in January and February of 1998It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, and was the world’s best selling single of 1998.  My Heart Will Go On” won the 1997 Academy Award for Best Original Song. It dominated the Grammy Awards of 1999, winning Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. “My Heart Will Go On” won also the Golden Globe Award in 1998. Other awards include: Billboard Music Award for the Soundtrack Single of the Year, Blockbuster Entertainment Award for the Favorite Song from a Movie, Billboard Latin Award for the First English-language Song to Top Billboard’s Hot Latin Tracks Chart, Japan Record Award for the Special Achievement and Japanese Gold Disc Award for the Song of the Year.

All in the Family – Mutual Weirdness

“We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.”  Whitney Houston

Diva # 9

Whitney Houston  

Born into a musical family on August 9, 1963, Whitney was born into a poor area of Newark, New Jersey, but was surrounded by loving family who took great pride in their faith and their gospel. Whitney’s success might’ve been foretold. Her legendary heritage is as familiar as America’s greatest icons: the daughter of famed singer Cissy Houston (who made her name in the Drinkards gospel quartet, and later the Sweet Inspirations vocal group of Aretha Franklin and Elvis Presley renown); and the cousin of singers Dee Dee Warwick (who introduced the original ’60s versions of “You’re No Good” and “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me”) and her sister, superstar Dionne Warwick. Whitney’s mother and cousins nurtured her passion for gospel music since birth. Whitney certainly had the pedigree to make it as a singer. And when the diminutive little starlet let loose in church, anyone within earshot (basically within five square blocks) knew she had the pipes to do it, too  So with flawless skin, 4% body fat and likely the best voice of all time, Whitney alway will bring  a lot  to the table.

The facts-  Houston is a mezzo-soprano.  She came in third on MTV’s 22 Greatest Voices , sixth on COVE’s list of the 100 Best Pop Vocalists with a score of 48.5/50, and thirty-fourth on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers list.  With over 170 million combined album, singles and videos sold worldwide during her career with Arista Records, Whitney Houston has established a benchmark for superstardom that will quite simply never be eclipsed in the modern era. She is a singer’s singer who has influenced countless other vocalists female and male.

I Will Always Love You,” the first single release, became the biggest selling commercial single in history, and reaped Grammys for Record Of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal. The Bodyguard soundtrack album, featuring six Whitney Houston songs in all, has sold more than 42 million copies worldwide.

Though Houston was seen as a “good girl”with a perfect image in the ’80s and early ’90s, during the late ’90s her behavior changed. For a while there, it seemed Whitney Houston was like Midas everything she touched turned to gold or platinum. But like that mythical character, Whitney’s power eventually overwhelmed her and nearly destroyed her life. Bad news for her, but fun, juicy news for celebrity bloggers.. At first things started off decently.  then she was often hours late for interviews, photo shoots and rehearsals, and canceling concerts and talk-show appearances. With the missed performances and weight loss, rumors about Houston using drugs with her husband circulated. On January 11, 2000, airport security guards discovered marijuana in both Houston’s and husband Bobby Brown’s luggage at a Hawaiian airport, but the two boarded the plane and departed before authorities could arrive. Charges were later dropped against her and Brown, but rumors of drug usage among the couple would continue to surface.  

Shortly thereafter, Houston was scheduled to perform at the Academy Awards but was fired from the event by musical director and long time friend Burt Bacharach. Though her publicist cited throat problems as the reason for the cancellation, many speculated it was drugs. In his book The Big Show: High Times And Dirty Dealings Backstage At The Academy Awards, author Steve Pond revealed that “Houston’s voice was shaky, she seemed distracted and jittery, and her attitude was casual, almost defiant,” and that while Houston was to sing “Over The Rainbow”, she would start singing a different song.  Houston later admitted to having been fired.

Step two was to get Whitney back where she belonged. Clive Davis took the frail singer back under his wing and ushered her back into the studio in 2007. That record-setting team clearly meant business this time, because they have been recording ever since. On August 31, 2009, the album, I Look to You, was released.  It was the final piece of her comeback puzzle. ,

True to her church upbringing, the Whitney Houston Foundation For Children Inc. was established in 1989 as a non-profit organization that cares for such problems as homelessness, children with cancer and AIDS, and other issues of self-empowerment. In June 1995, the Foundation was awarded a VH1 Honor for its charitable work. Funds have been raised for numerous causes involving children around the world, from South Africa to Newark, and generated over $300,000 for the Children’s Defense Fund as a result of a 1997 HBO concert.

Whitney’s tireless efforts have earned recognition from such organizations as St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the United Negro College Fund, and the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, all of whom have benefited from the heart and soul of a great artist and humanitarian. Singing to audiences on every continent, Whitney has won her worldwide following the old-fashioned way, digging deep down into her soul and finding common threads with her millions of fans.

Here’s to Whitney making it all the way back, because a world with her silky voice is a superior place!

Blindly I imagined I could keep you under a glass…

 

Now I understand to hold you I must open my hand and watch you rise – Mariah Carey

DIVA#8  

Mariah Carey  

It was April 3 2008- -  This week on the Billboard charts, Mariah Carey and Madonna both nudged past Elvis Presley for historical standings on the singles chart.  Decadent Divas is now getting down to the true 20th century divas.. Welcome the likes of Carey, Houston,  Dion and Madonna.. plus the Godmother  of them all - who glues them all together . 

In a week busy with new albums, the all-male Day26 reached No. 1 with its self-titled debut, selling 190,000 copies, Nielsen SoundScan reported, bumping Danity Kane — the all-female ”Making the Band” group that topped last week’s chart — to No. 4, with 89,000. (Both were released by Bad Boy/Atlantic.) Panic at the Disco’s ”Pretty. Odd.” (Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic) moved 139,000 to reach No. 2. Counting Crows’ ”Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings” (Geffen) is No. 3 with 106,000, and the Raconteurs sold 42,000 copies of ”Consolers of the Lonely” (Third Man/Warner Brothers) for No. 7. … Ms. Carey’s ”Touch My Body” becomes her 18th No. 1 single; only the Beatles have more, with 20. Madonna’s new ”4 Minutes,” at No. 3, becomes her 37th single in the Top 10, beating Presley’s record for the most Top 10 songs

Mariah Carey is known for her voice, of course: she can hit high notes that barely sound human, and few singers soar around the octaves as gracefully as she does. Her secret weapon may be her versatility: Ms. Carey also knows how to make a hip-hop hit by holding back and letting the beat shine.  One of the things that make her music appealing — and sometimes infuriating — is her commitment to frivolity. She has a whim of iron, an almost perverse attraction to sentimentality in its most visible forms. Even hardcore fans probably have trouble taking some of her album titles seriously: ”Butterfly,” ”Rainbow,” ”Glitter,” ”Charmbracelet.” The imagery doesn’t seem to fit her music, which can be sublime, or her voice, which is invariably astonishing, or her approach to her career, which is decidedly unsentimental.

The best-selling female performer of the 1990s, Mariah Carey rose to superstardom on the strength of her stunning five-octave voice; an elastic talent who moved easily from glossy ballads to hip-hop-inspired dance-pop, she earned frequent comparison to rivals Whitney Houston and Celine Dion, but did them both one better by composing all of her own material.  Mariah’s gift  just to hear things in the air and to start developing songs out of them was essential to her huge stardom.   

Born in Long Island, NY, on March 27, 1970, Carey moved to New York City at the age of 17 — just one day after graduating high school — to pursue a music career; there she befriended keyboardist Ben Margulies, with whom she began writing songs.  Although she was exposed to opera while growing up, Ms. Carey said she was never drawn to it, preferring ”freer music.” Her influences included her mother’s Billie Holiday records and her brother and sister’s Al Green, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder albums.

Mariah Carey grew up in a broken home, poor and with no friends. Singing was her salvation. One day, at a music industry party, another musician slips executive Tommy Mottola a demo tape of Mariah. In the limo on his way home Mottola is bored, so he listens to the tape. Mariah’s voice is like liquid gold. He goes back to look for her. But just like in the Cinderella story, she has slipped away. Mottola follows the tracks of Carey’s slipper and immediately signs her on. In 1990, at 21, she becomes an instant star. Her debut album sells more than seven million copies in the U.S. And she ends up marrying Mottola, her Prince Charming

 Following her marriage to Mottola in 1993, a series of hit records established her position as Columbia’s highest-selling act. According to Billboard magazine, she was the most successful artist of the 1990s in the United States. Following her separation from Mottola in 1997, Carey introduced elements of hip hop into her album work,  to much initial success, but her popularity was in decline when she left Columbia in 2001. She signed to Virgin Records but was paid to leave the label the following year after a highly publicized physical and emotional breakdown, as well as the poor reception given to Glitter, her film and soundtrack project .

Gloria Estefan certainly puts in much more “SALSA” !

The sad truth is that opportunity doesn’t knock twice.  Gloria Estefan

DIVA # 7 

Gloria Estefan. 

First let me say that I adore Gloria Estefan. She’s a wonderful philanthropist and role model for ALL people. I have been listening to her music since “Dr. Beat” and love the fact that each CD seems to take a different direction than the last one. After showing us her Cuban background with the album “mi tierra,” Gloria took a classic disco hit and added to it a little something…more Latin flavor! This updated version of “Turn the beat around” is a hit! As one of the biggest new stars to emerge during the mid-’80s, singer Gloria Estefan predated the coming Latin pop explosion by a decade, scoring a series of propulsive dance hits rooted in the rhythms of her native Cuba before shifting her focus to softer, more ballad-oriented fare. Gloria continually proves why she is the Undisputed Queen of Latin Pop.

Born Gloria Fajardo in Havana on September 1, 1957, she was raised primarily in Miami, FL, after her father, a bodyguard in the employ of Cuban president Fulgencio Batista, was forced to flee the island following the 1959 coup helmed by Fidel Castro. In the fall of 1975, Fajardo and her cousin Merci Murciano auditioned for the Miami Latin Boys, a local wedding band headed by keyboardist Emilio Estefan. With their addition, the group was rechristened Miami Sound Machine and four years later, Fajardo and Estefan were wed. As Miami Sound Machine began composing their own original material, their fusion of pop, disco, and salsa earned a devoted local following, and in 1979 the group issued their first Spanish-language LP on CBS International. Despite a growing Hispanic fan base, they did not cross over to non-Latin audiences until “Dr. Beat” topped European dance charts in 1984.

Estefan is currently working on two new albums to be released soon: The first is a Christmas album which is not known yet if would be a Spanish or English-language Christmas album, the second is a new studio-album which is a collection of American-standards as she is continuing to write songs for other artists. .