I want to believe in the story that is Susan Boyle.

Lots of people feel exactly this way. She's tapped into something. And that's why she's an internet sensation.

Y'know, I just begged off writing a preview of Mandy Patinkin, because the one time I saw him live he was so abysmally bad that, at the intermission, my theater professor had to assure us all that it really was Patinkin, and not some last-minute stand in. He was terrible.

Mind, I've hear recordings of Patinkin where he's been great. But that one bad performance has scarred me. Which, I suppose, is the big gamble of live theater.

I think it was her age, for one -- the teen in the audience rolling her eyes clearly though a woman her age had no business dreaming of being a singer anymore.

That's another thing about that video! The girl rolling her eyes could have been doing so at any point in the taping (like, say, when Boyle did a weird dance). It seems a little weird that an audience member who is there to watch the auditions of people who think they have talent would have such a rude reaction, right? But if I remember the video right, that's one of two colorably negative reactions displayed -- it's very memorable, and everyone seems to believe the audience is against her. Clever editing. Isn't the whole point of the show undiscovered, unpolished talent? I don't understand the presumption that the audience just KNOWS that this unpolished woman is a bad singer. It's a voice, could happen to anyone.

I saw Lupone in Sunset Blvd and then due to an odd set of circumstances saw the same show a week later with her understudy.

The understudy blew her away.

Mind, I've hear recordings of Patinkin where he's been great.

See, Patinkin has never done it for me as a stage actor voice. I've seen him perform his one-man show which is more cabaret, and it's wonderful. But, for example, everyone goes on about him being the definitive Che in Evita and I can't stand that recording. His voice is too... pretty, for lack of a better term. It's too sweet to really convey the anger and cynicism of that character.

I didn't like Bernadette Peters or Pantinkin until Sunday in the Park with George, but then I loved them.

But if I remember the video right, that's one of two colorably negative reactions displayed -- it's very memorable, and everyone seems to believe the audience is against her. Clever editing.

I guess ... I don't care? I liked hearing her perform and the audience respond, just like I liked the story about pilot landing in the Hudson and the firefighter giving water to the baby koala. I've got enough cynicism all on my own on a daily basis, so I like to embrace the unexpectedly sweet and good once in a while, and this did it for me.

Hear hear!!

I've got enough cynicism all on my own on a daily basis, so I like to embrace the unexpectedly sweet and good once in a while, and this did it for me.

Yep. This is me too. If it makes me a sucker, then so be it.

Got my Federal refund and it is already gone, 90% went to credit cards and 10% went to medical bills. That was fast.

I've got a lead on a neighborhood flea market in 3 weeks. If I can still get a table, I already have one other mom friend who will watch mac for part of the time and will give me things from her to sell. One more mom to call if I get in and I should be all set. Then I'll have to figure out how to fit all I want to sell into 6'x3.5' of space.