The Great Nph-James Corden Broadway Musical Showdown

I rarely watch TV. But if ever I had the chance to do so, one of the shows that I tune into is “The Late Late Show.” I mean, James Corden is a master entertainer. He is a pretty hilarious host AND a great singer. His show’s hit segment, Carpool Karaoke, is a testament to the guy’s talent. So, I am not surprised that Corden has become a hit among U.S. late night viewers.

Image source: billboard.com

And if there’s one a person who can rise to Corden’s hosting and singing skills, it has to be Neil Patrick Harris. Both Harris and Corden starred on Broadway and won a Tony for their performance. Both hosted the Tony Awards. So, if there would be a hosting or musical showdown between the two, it would definitely be legendary.

And the TV gods responded. NPH dropped by (or should I say gate-crashed) Corden’s Jan. 9 show to challenge him to a riff-off to settle once and for all “who is truly more Broadway.” Featuring the a cappella group The Filharmonic on backing vocals, NPH and Corden belted out “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” (Guys and Dolls), “Everything’s Coming Up Roses” (Gypsy), “Being Alive” (Company), “On My Own” (Les Misérables), “All That Jazz” (Chicago), and “Sugar Daddy” (Hedwig and the Angry Itch). Both NPH and Corden were flawless in their renditions of timeless Broadway tunes, and honestly, it was difficult to choose the winner of the battle. Especially after ending the epic duet some with “My Shot” (Hamilton).

Image source: cnn.com

Words are not enough to describe how gifted these two performers are. I hope someone (paging Lin Manuel-Miranda) would pen a play that will be headlined by these two. But for now, let’s be grateful that this video exists.

Hello, Bradley J. Sterling here. As a theater major, I can’t express how glad I was when I chanced upon the NPH-Corden Broadway showdown. We need more Showtunes sing-offs, right? Drop me a note on Twitter.

Worlds on Stage: The Different Genres of Stage Plays

Stage plays are magical things. They take people to different worlds, and they do it live, not pre-recorded. The worlds that the audience are transported to depend mainly though on the genre, or category of the play, which in turn, depend on its subject and theme.

Comedies, for example, showcase normal people in very amusing situations. The endings are usually joyous. Comedies tackle relationships among characters and how they feel. Sometimes the humor is slapstick, and these plays mainly play to the enjoyment of the viewers. On the opposite end, tragedies almost never end happily. These plays are oftentimes more serious than comedies and are marked by a death of a beloved or admirable character or characters.

Image source: vergecampus.com

Drama is also closely related to tragedy. The difference though is that characters in dramas are often the everyday variety, whereas tragedies usually have notable characters in the upper echelons of society for leads. Dramas deal with everyday trials and don’t necessarily end with a major character’s death. Conflict is a big part of drama plays.

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Satyr or satire is done between tragedy plays. The purpose of satyr plays is to show the funny and lighter side to an overly serious, and otherwise sad story. A satyr play mocks and mimics and is quite similar to comedies.

Bradley J. Sterling is studying theater at UCLA. His other passion aside from theater, is music. Learn more about theater arts by following Bradley on Twitter.

The real deal: A collector's guide to finding authentic memorabilia

Over the last couple of years, we've had some awesome ("Guardians of the Galaxy") and not-so-awesome ("Fantastic Four") superhero movies, and that's great for a fan like me. Now that we've seen movies about some of the comic book world's most popular heroes like Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Spiderman, and the Avengers, though, I think it's high time Hollywood started mining deeper into vaults for other more interesting though probably not as famous heroes.

Image source: dc.wikia.com

For instance, I think a movie focusing on DC's Teen Titans is a great idea. Not only is this team of mostly-sidekicks a formidable team of heroes, but they're also younger than the Justice League, so there's an opportunity for teen angst, romance, and hijinks. Plus, some of their regular villains are actually scary such as Deathstroke, the mercenary, and Trigon, who's basically the devil in the DC Universe. I'd also recommend a movie about the multi-generational team of Justice Society of America. I think crime-fighting and navigating relationships between old and novice superheroes can be fun.
On the Marvel side of things, it might be cheating since he's already been in a movie but I'd love to see Hawkeye in his own motion picture, especially as based on the Matt Fraction comics run. I don't know how they might translate the artwork onscreen if it's live action, but that's a great challenge – perhaps one only a superhero can solve. I also recommend a movie starring the perfect for all ages Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur. It has an adorable and super-smart lead, Moon Girl, and it has a powerful, intelligent red dinosaur, Devil Dinosaur. This has tremendous potential to be a fun holiday movie for the entire family.

Image source: sequart.org

Finally, for more serious fare, there's Darkhorse's Concrete. He's a superhero as much as a guy whose brain was transplanted by aliens into concrete-like body can be. He performs mundane and extraordinary tasks with varying levels of success while contemplating his humanity inside a concrete shell. If there ever was a philosophical superhero movie, it'd be this.
I'm Bradley J. Sterling, and if you couldn't already tell, I'm a big fan of superhero movies. Follow this blog for more of my thoughts on superhero movies and my other interests.