I spend enough time procrastinating online that it seems rather inconceivable to me that I somehow missed this video, which manages to combine not just a few, but nearly all, of my favorite things: broadway, politics, CJ from the West Wing, and (last, but if you've been reading this blog, you know it's not least) Neil Patrick Harris!

Apparently Jack Black and various Hollywood friends got together to put on a little show about Prop 8 -- it's Godspell meets The Otto Titsling Story* (or whatever it's called) from Beaches:

</div>
--------
*Apologies for using a reference to a movie that likely dates back to before many of you were born (actually, apologies mostly to myself, because Monday is too early in the week to be feeling so OLD).  While it's a mostly mediocre movie -- albeit it one I've seen about 25 times -- I feel I now need to educate you to the horrifying awesomeness of Otto Titsling and the true history of the brassiere:


Yes. This is how some of us spent the 80s.

Whenever I come across a big Broadway fan, I always like to pin them down with the following question:
Which show do you most wish would return to Broadway?

For me, for many years, that was Assassins, which I first saw (and fell in love with) in a dinky local Princeton production when I was 16. But then I got my wish:



(You can't see his face, but fyi, that's object-of-my-affection Neil Patrick Harris sitting at center stage of the Assassins Broadway revival. This performance was what initially sparked the Love That Speaketh Its Name Way Too Often on This Blog.  And yes, this does mean I got there before the bandwagon.)

So I needed a new show to desperately wish for. (Aside from Oliver, that is, which I've been wanting to see on Broadway ever since I had an absurdly, soul-crushingly small part in a sort-of-if-you-squint-semi-professional production at age12. But it seems that show is never coming back.)

So I wished for Godspell.  I wished, and I wished, and finally, the universe delivered -- or so I thought.

Now it seems that the Broadway production of Godspell has been indefinitely postponed. Thanks to the flailing, failing economy.

Apparently, there's been a whole spate of postponements and cancellations this season (including "Nice Work if You Can Get It," which, as far as I can tell, is a bizarrely unnecessary remake of "Crazy for You" that's already been marred by some serious Broadway geek scandal -- feuding between star Harry Connick Jr's manager and agent, the latter of whom happened to be dating the now-former choreographer, and then there's former Amedeus star / current Broadway impresario, producer Tom Hulce, who -- no, no, don't go anywhere, I'll stop now, I promise!)

Anyway, my point: Godspell is no more. And I am sad.  Because it is awesome. (Except in movie form. Don't watch that. It's brain-scarring.)

Now I inevitably must ask: What do you (anyone out there who cares) wish would come back to Broadway? I need something new on which to pin my hopes.

At least it is if you've ever tried to create anything and been foiled by self-doubt, writer's block, underminers, paying the rent, sheer laziness, or the need to watch a General Hospital marathon just to dull the what-the-hell-do-I-write-next pain.

And now, courtesy of someone who I'm beginning to suspect may be the source of all things fabulous* (but who I will not name here because my current self-doubt goes by the name of "repeating private conversations on the internet or anywhere else without permission, even when they're innocuous, is a quick way to get yourself a nice fat black eye or at least a one-way ticket to social siberia"), I present to you the GREATEST SONG OF ALL TIME:


This show, [Title of Show], is on Broadway now and I plan to go see it ASAP. See you there?

While we're on the subject of musical theater (and really, when are we not), I feel it's necessary to once again raise the issue of my love for Neil Patrick Harris. Because, while I promise this blog is not turning into a 24/7 NPH love-athon (tempting as that may be), this picture requires comment:



And the comment is: NPH, I love you.

Also, I want that troll doll.

Have you guys done your duty and watched the shoe fairy video yet?

-----
*I don't think Fabulous Anonymous Lady actually reads this blog, but if she does, she should feel free to claim her latest fabulous find for herself. Because it is a good one.

I don't quite understand how it got to be Friday, since last time I poked my head up to check, it was Monday, but here we are.  A few end of week remainders:

1. Screech (aka Dustin Diamond, although it's best not to think of him like that, because then you have to confront the skeeziness factor) is writing a Saved By the Bell tell-all! I want it now.

2. I've been posting a million youtube videos this week, so I'll spare you another one, but if you know what's good for you,  you'll follow this link to Neil Patrick Harris playing the Shoe Fairy on Sesame Street. He SINGS!

3. My life can be characterized as a determined search for the perfect mentor. And whenever I find someone who temporarily fits the bill, I'm not shy about pouring on the gratitude. (Suffice it to say that in much the same way television can be considered just a delivery system for ads, my books may just be delivery systems for dedications.) Which is why I so enjoyed this post about what happens when you're confronted with the reality that your mentor looms rather larger in your imagination than you do in his.

4. Speaking of blogs, I'm not going to link to this random kid I came across (thanks, google alerts!) who's reading Cat's Cradle for the first time, but I will quote him: "I read about Kurt Vonnegut in a book called Hacking Harvard, and I think I'll like this book." Forget what I said above. This is why I write.

5. Apparently Joss Whedon's getting a lot of flack for Act III of Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. I can't defend it in detail without giving away crucial plot points. But I will just say that I think it's brilliant, and that people who think he's repeating himself are ignoring the meaning of the ending. Yes, the plot twists are reminiscent of old shows, but their context and import are completely different. (Sorry to be so vague. But it's your own fault for not watching it yet -- what are you waiting for?)

Updated to add:

6. I almost forgot -- have you guys seen the new JC Penney's commercial that pays (let me pause to throw up before writing this word) "homage" to the Breakfast Club? Could there be anything more repulsive -- at least to those of us lucky enough to grow up in the John Hughes era -- than recreating the pivotal scenes of this movie with a bunch of moronically grinning teenagers moronically delighted to start their school day? (With a disgustingly jaunty cover of "Don't You Forget About Me" playing in the background.) I'm not even going to link to it, because I don't want to contribute to any kind of buzz campaign. But know this, JC Penney: you have incurred my WRATH.

How much do I love this fan-crafted trailer for the Seven Deadly Sins?   Who knew the series lent itself so perfectly to anime? (But then, what doesn't?)

You know what else I love? The fact that when you search for "Robin Wasserman" on YouTube, one of the first videos that pops up the Robin Sparkles "Let's Go to the Mall" video. If you don't know what this is, it means you foolishly haven't been watching How I Met Your Mother (starring current crush Neil Patrick Harris). And this, I assure you, is a serious mistake.

I've been spending an embarrassing amount of time lately poking around the internet in search of myself, or at least online reviews of my books -- mostly because I'm currently going insane over some massive deadlines and it's an tempting way to procrastinate.*

Not because I'm some kind of raging egomaniac who needs to track down every single mention of my name in print.

I swear.

Um, anyways...it's very cool to see what real, live teenagers think of my books. (Thanks, Facebook.) I especially enjoy reading their reactions to the Seven Deadly Sins series, because everyone seems to have a different favorite.  But I can't help noticing that they all have a common least favorite. 

Poor Sloth seems to be that kid at camp no one likes.  No one will eat lunch at his table, because he smells. He can't go swimming because he has an inner ear problem, and he can't go in the woods because he's allergic to mosquitos. Plus he's always tattling on his bunkmates, and when they get in trouble, he sits in the corner, picking his nose and snickering.

He is a total loser.

And yet he is by far my favorite.  When it comes to this kind of thing, I'm pretty willing to believe in the wisdom of the crowd, and I get that it's entirely likely that Sloth kind of, well, sucks.  (Or -- because I'm experimenting with the glass is half full thing this week -- at least is slightly less staggeringly brilliant than my other masterpieces.)

But I still love it.  Nose-picking and all.



--------
*Speaking of procrastination, did everyone watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog? (You can still watch it for free, but time's running out.) Was it not the height of awesomeness, despite the ending? I heart Neil Patrick Harris.