I’m certain the reason Stephen Colbert attended Northwestern University was because it’s in Evanston, Illinois, where I was born. That’s what I told Colbert when I saw him in New York in 2007, and he agreed with me.
Colbert gave this year’s commencement speech at Northwestern. Here are edited highlights…
Alumnus Stephen Colbert Addresses the Class of 2011 from Northwestern News on Vimeo.
… and this is the whole thing.
Slept late, french toast for breakfast, afternoon nap, now going for a run.
http://youtu.be/g1_pJL5GfG0
Thursday night we were in an audience of 10-12, who saw a “special event” at the movies — Stephen Sondheim’s Company, featuring Stephen Colbert, Neil Patrick Harris, and Christina Hendricks. I would hope the showings at theaters closer to cities have been better attended.
Company is 40 years old, and although the show’s themes may be timeless I think its age shows, and I could tell it was written by members of my parents’ generation. Considering that Sondheim was probably working on Company while Woodstock was happening, it’s an interesting contrast to the musicals of the day that have a more obvious hippie influence, such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell.
Although I may not be taken with the show itself, the cast obviously had a great time and their enthusiastic performances are what make Company worth seeing. Harris seems to have taken over from Nathan Lane as Broadway’s standard bearer, and he carries his lead role with ease, but Colbert and Hendricks are also excellent. Chryssie Whitehead, who is adorable as Kathy and dynamic in a stand-out dance number, merits special recognition.
Colbert was on Fresh Air with Terry Gross this week to talk about Company, among other things. It’s always fun to hear Stephen conversing when he’s out of character.
There are hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, but until a mile-wide meteor hits and wipes us out we will persist, thanks to the most powerful force in the world.
I’m not a hockey fan, but the Boston Bruins are playing a wicked good game in Vancouver. They’re in the lead, 3-0, and I’m switching between watching that and Turner Classic Movies, where Chris Isaak is tonight’s guest programmer.
I haven’t seen Isaak live in a few years, but I’m a fan of his and these are exactly the movies I would have expected him to pick. They’re in keeping with the tone of his best known song, Wicked Game.
Well, now I’m sure that Anthony Weiner should quit. He must not have enough blood to supply both of his favorite organs, because he was exchanging messages with a porn star but she wasn’t in the XXX Batman TV show parody.
