Cecilia Paluch's blog

The Wicked witch is dead! This weekend’s Broadway grosses have been released, and according to Playbill.com, for the first time in many months Wicked has been supplanted by another musical. Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas raked in over $1.5 million for its weekly gross from Dec. 4 to 10th, while Wicked only brought in $1.45.

The long-time number one selling theatre ticket, Wicked, the adapted Gregory Maguire novel gives us the back-story of the witches of Oz. Its themes of friendship, courage against oppression and living with marginalization strike a chord with theater-goers of all ages.
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Clapton is back. Not only on the road, as tour dates starting in February were recently announced, but Slowhand has regained some of this youthful energy along with the appreciation of audiences across the U.K.

Lucky for the US, Clapton is headed this way and his blues power is stronger than ever. Reviews of his current tour have been stellar, despite the lukewarm reception his most recent album, “Back Home.”

The London Times wrote of his Glasgow show that “he still sang in his sleepy, soulful drawl, but played guitar with a rediscovered energy and urgency. … Clapton remains a supremely gifted performer…. there was some of the old fire here as well.”
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Mary J. Blige has seen her share of accolades lately, as she is dominating awards ceremonies across the globe.

This week Billboard was the first to fill her arms with nine awards for “The Breakthrough.” And then on Tuesday, her eight Grammy nods almost matched her winning Billboard total. She is leading with plenty more than any other artist for 2007.

Mary's already secured three Grammys over her career since her first which she received with Method Man for their compilation on “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By.”

“The Breakthrough” debuted at number one, selling 727,000 copies in its first week. That was the biggest first week of sales for an R&B solo female artist in Sound Scan history. And the fifth largest for a female artist overall.
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Christmas and New Year’s Day are one time of year that everyone wants time off. This applies to Broadway performers as well, whose grueling daily schedules leave little time for breaks. Tourists are commonly in the city to see shows during the same time that entertainers are relaxing.

To accommodate the needs of both sides of the Broadway equation, the Christmas and New Year’s week schedule is adjusted by a shifting of performances. Evening shows or extra matinees are commonly added to make up for cancelled events on Christmas and New Year’s days.

This year’s schedule shouldn’t change too drastically as both holidays are on Mondays. The Drowsy Chaperone is the only show with an 8 p.m. showing Christmas night. There have only been 8 added shows, which can all be found on the Playbill Website: http://www.playbill.com/celebritybuzz/article/103324.html.
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There inevitably will come a time in your life that the obligation of the season will prompt the dreaded, but necessary, gift for someone you can’t stand. It may happen every holiday, because that person could be your mother-in-law, your boss, your sister, your college buddy’s obnoxious kids or your best friend’s wife.

Don’t fear, you can use this opportunity to your advantage. All it takes is a little creativity and some fore-thought. Think about what you would give to someone you care for, and then do the exact opposite. Focus on what they love - to hate.

1) For repeated pleasure, the gift that keeps on giving is the magazine subscription – to whatever they hate the most. If your father-in-law’s favorite holiday rant is about how all those g*d-damn [insert racial category here]’s are ruining the g*d-damned neighborhood, make sure he’s on the mailing list for whatever group supports them wholeheartedly. Donations in his name to The American Association for Affirmative Action would go over well, or the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) could do the trick. Don’t forget the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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Jay-Z and Beyonce have built a duo that has the hip-hop world begging for more. And according to Page Six, we all may just get what we want. Rumors of a weekend wedding abound, as Beyonce is planning a four-day 37th birthday celebration for her beau, which many believe is really a union in disguise.
Perhaps each day represents a year that the couple has been dating. Insiders say that the wedding may take place in Anguilla at a five-star resort with Moorish villas, Page Six reported.
Jay-Z’s newest album may need all the press it can get, as reviews have been less than stellar. So a wedding right about now would get the two the coverage Jay needs to push “Kingdom Come” up the charts. Since its release on Nov. 21, reports have bubbled up in all the celeb mags that a November wedding was set to go.
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From the left to the right, The Daily Show to Bill O’Reilly, The White House to your neighborhood school and church, Christmas is under attack. Maybe it all started with cutting God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, but this country that was founded on a Judeo-Christian tradition is moving farther from its roots. But, thankfully, maybe people are starting to realize that this country was also founded on the values of religious freedom.

Of course a heathen is always the person that doesn’t subscribe to exactly the same ideology as you do. So this year, avoid all the dogma and ceremonialism that abounds this time of year and stay out of the debate. Find something to do that doesn’t tie into the same belief system that 77 percent of the country does, and maybe you can just enjoy the season instead of worrying about why.
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I’m the first to admit it; I’m clueless about football. I used to think the Orange Bowl, Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl were something you kept in the china cabinet. But in recent years, come New Year’s Day somehow I’ve ended up sitting in front of the TV watching these games with whomever I’m dating. Well, in between trips to the kitchen for more snacks and Gatorade to recover from the night before.
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I’d love to say this is from “News of the Weird,” but I don’t mean to say the participants are weird, just the event itself. The Blind World Cup is just that, the best of the world’s blind players competing for the Cup. Unbelieveable. Deadspin.com has included a photo of some of the players vying for the ball, and though it may look normal, it’s filled with small pieces of metal so the players can hear it.

The BBC reports that the normal rules of football have been adapted for the blind version of the game. Instead of 11, there’s five players on each side. So for those that thought the normal game of soccer was getting too many by the goalie, this version of the game allows them to see. Cheaters.
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This week’s news has been full of stories of woe from celebrities, most notably those named Michael. The reigning favorite would have to be Michael Richard’s racist rant at the Laugh Factory last week, reported by TMZ. But let us not forget Michael Vick gave a bunch of fans the finger Sunday. And Michael Jackson? Well, he’s always drawing some kind of negative attention to himself.

So what’s happened over the years with a Hebrew name that stood for “he who is like God?” Or is that the problem, have we deified celebrities with so much star power that they are really starting to believe that they resemble the omnipotent?
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