Nicholas Tamagna, Countertenor

Nick is an old friend of mine from high school whom all of us admired for his gifted ability with music. Whether it be instrumental or vocal, the range of his talent seemed to know no bounds and he went off to college to study music and then specifically, opera. I've been lucky enough to know Nick and to have worked with him on several occasions, academically and otherwise. We appeared together in high school in Funny Girl and Carousel (he was our Nick Arnstein & Billy Bigelow). I also worked on his incredibly amusing concept album - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - the Musical; his final project for AP English. I would actually love to hear the latter, it's been eight years since I last gave it a spin. He also was one of the most accessible and gracious people I've ever known, with a considerable sense of humor and the most unique infectious laugh I think I've ever heard in my life. All around, a really great friend.

Anyway, he's just launched his updated website which introduces him for the first time as a countertenor. The countertenor is a male singer who can sing in the alto/mezzo-soprano range (some of the more flexible and rare venture up into soprano territory), either by use of a good falsetto or a ridiculous extension of the tenor range. He's trained at UNCG, the Manhattan School of Music and most recently at Hunter College. A lot of years, kids, a lot of years. I wish him all the best.

Nicholas Tamagna, Countertenor

Harvey Korman (1927-2008)

For fans of television, he'll always be fondly remembered for the hilarious contributions he made on The Carol Burnett Show. For film fans, there was his tenure as a Mel Brooks favorite, most notably as Hedley Lamarr in Blazing Saddles.

Korman was a comic legend who left our world today at the age of 81. He had been suffering for several months as a result of an abdominal aortic aneurysm. His wide-ranging comic ability helped get him started on TV in bit parts, eventually landing on The Danny Kaye Show. He also was the voice of the Great Gazoo on The Flintstones (I never knew that!)

It was working with Carol Burnett that he would achieve his most lasting legacy. Her variety show ran from 1967-1978 and was among the most popular TV shows of the decade. Korman's work as a comic foil was immense, most notably opposite the hilarious Tim Conway, who had the unstoppable ability to crack up the cast (but most especially Korman) in their scene work.

Here's one of them:



And some bloopers:

"It's an honor just to be... wait, I'm not?"

In light of A Catered Affair and John Bucchino being slighted for a Best Score nomination from the Tony voters, Peter Filichia has dedicated a column to the fifty scores he feels were slighted a nomination from the Tony voters over the years. You'll recognize many of these as scores over which I've obsessed and/or gushed repeatedly.

*Please take special notice of number one on his list*

Young@Heart

This could be either the most hilarious or most adorable thing I'll see this year...

Quote of the Day

"And the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical goes to....Patricia Routledge"

-Roxie