Sign Our Yearbook: Shotgun Wedding @Toronto Fringe

For once, I don’t really have anything to write.  (I’m a little speechless, so I’m asking YOU.)

My friends: Richie, Jeff, Belinda, Mickey, Tony and Arlene.

 If you loved Shotgun Wedding: The Musical, please tell us on this blog.  If you didn’t get to see it, tell us you want another chance!  

We want to hear from you!

#5 Follow Me – Aly-Us (Shotgun Wedding’s 1993 TOP TEN Countdown)

(SCROLL DOWN for Showtimes and Ticket Info!)

I’m hoping… to see a day.

Don’t lie. You KNOW the moves to this one. Even if you want to act like you don’t, your feet give you away. This is part of your heritage and this blood is coarsing through your veins. Try as you may — you end up doing THE ELECTRIC SLIDE when the DJ plays ‘Follow Me’ by Aly-Us.

You could be at a 18th birthday Debut, a semi-formal, a prom or a (shotgun) wedding but regardless the venue, the moves are the same. Four steps to the right, four steps to the left, four steps back and then rock back two times and dip two times… aaaaand repeat. Throw in some spins and a few floor kicks and you’re looking MINT. In 1993, if you didn’t know The Electric Slide you probably didn’t get invited to the party.

Director’s Blog #1: Why Len Chose Me

Hi folks!

If you didn’t know, the Director of Shotgun Wedding: The Musical is Catherine Hernandez.  I’m still finding the special words to tell you about Catherine from *MY* point of view but in the meantime, she’s taken a few moments out of her super-busy schedule to write *YOU* a note.  

– Len

Director Catherine is the pretty lady wearing violet down in the far right!

by Catherine Hernandez – Director, Shotgun Wedding

There are reasons why Len chose me to be the director for Shotgun Wedding: The Musical.  The main reason is because I am old.

Where Are They Now?: En Vogue

“I used to have a crush on Dawn from En Vogue”.
– Phife Dawg (from the song “Check the Rhime” by A Tribe Called Quest.)

I was more of a Cindy guy myself. I remember when “Hold On” first came out. The song was great but the interlude – that was amazing. The one where they do the “Whehehehehe-en I (whennnn I)… hahahahaaad youuuu (haddddd yoouuuu)” from the old Jackson 5 song? Girls harmonizing at a time when it was all guy groups doing it on the radio? Sexay.

Playlist: Bad Remakes of 90s r&b

WHAT THE HELL!?! (mildly NSFW)

I already talked about the best 90s r&b remakes of other songs *EVER* in my last post.  I think I’ve proven that no one did a remake better than the 90s r&b era — therefore, its ironic to note that remakes *of* 90s r&b songs are generally ill-advised, disrespectful and generally just not as good as the original.

But first — an UPDATE!

Shotgun Playlist: Top 5 90s r&b Remakes

Wasn’t 90s r&b the best time for remakes?  Usually when a remake of a song is done, we can all agree it’s probably a bad idea.  Not the case in the 90s, when most r&b song remakes were either as good or better than the original.

We even made a playlist to prove it!  But first…

Remember When: The Jays won their 2nd World Series

Ah, springtime.

Warmer weather, longer days… and the return of the “Boys of Summer”.  And no I don’t mean the ones in the Don Henley song — I mean the boys in blue.  And no, not the O.P.P. (yeah you know me).  I mean the Toronto Blue Jays.

U Will Know, Shotgun Reading, Kierscey Rand

Saturday March 12 was a *GREAT* day for Shotgun Wedding.

I got to hear the play for the first time since last summer. I’ve been plugging away ever since then, keeping true to my self-promise to never let this story go until I’ve told it.  The winter has been cold and lonely, so I was *very* excited to see Edsel, Veronica, Kate, Jerome, John Paul and Noel again.  Unfortunately for Ferben, it looks like he might get written out of the script.  We’ll have to see.

In any case, this was also the first time that we got to hear the original music for the play, which is all being done by a young and talented musician, Kierscey Rand.  Kierscey came to me via Nadine Villasin of Carlos Bulosan Theatre after I expressed the need to work with a musician for this play.  What I didn’t know was the Kierscey and I had met before…

Remember When: Jordan Pours In 64 pts over a Rookie Shaq

I’ll explain the clip in a second.  But first — the update:

Tomorrow at an undisclosed location (ok FINE, it’s Kapisanan) we’ll be doing a reading of Shotgun Wedding.  And, you’re NOT invited.

Sorry.

Where Are They Now?: The Fly Girls

Maybe you didn’t know that Shotgun Wedding had some awesome choreography last summer, courtesy of Director Catherine Hernandez.

(l-r): Belinda Corpuz, Jeff Yung

In honour of that, and in this episode of ‘Where Are They Now?’, we visit the ORIGINAL dance crew:

The Fly Girls from In Living Color.