ldyjocelyn

Now that a few other people have posted (so I'm not totally Miss Posty-ho *g*), I'm going to pick through this interview....just as I'm sure many others are doing right now. My answers will probably be different though. Considering that I heard over the weekend that one board was speculating that Mike Nichols had a role for him in his next movie....bubble burst number 1. {{{{{{{{{{Claytonic, ausdon and others affected by this}}}}}}}}}}}} Oh dear. Bwah! I'm actually quite happy for this news, both for Clay and me personally. I think he'll need the break, he's been working straight for 4 months (5 by the time you add May, filled with album promotion), and if I were him, I'd be really jonesing for a couple of days off. I'm personally happy about it because it gives my bank account time to fill up. I'd really love to know what he means by "fall" though. To me, that's October/November. Maybe he's finally at a place where there will be no Christmas tour this year? I kind of hate to even supposition on that, because I think he personally gets a lot out of the Christmas tours, but the timing that he's suggesting could be very tight. I'm also quite glad that he's still thinking about this, and I totally agree with couchie that there's got to be some channel out there somewhere that would love to work with him. Raise your hand if you could hear in your head him saying "NO!" Since I'm one who "likes to lie everything he does," I'm really curious about the album now. He's worded that so interestingly. How much of an uproar will there be on this album? It sounds as if he's bracing for something. Just curious what exactly. Still won't listen to the album until the release date though. *g* Especially after reading the paragraph following this one, I really think that his problems finding "rockin' songs" has more to do with lyrics than anything else. It sounds to me that he's not paying as much attention to the tempos and arrangements but the lyrics. If it's a fast song with lyrics that mean something to him, he'll do it. It will be interesting to see if the fandom can accept that. Not that I'm listening, but have we found a demo for this one? The lyrics? Well, there's a difference between he and I then. But that's OK. Still love him. I take two things out of this little section. One, I had flashbacks to that one blog of his, when he said to stop reading things into what he's written before! But the other thing is, I think the man is really trying to guard his privacy, and maybe even some of his feelings (not to get too psychoanalytical here). He definitely wants others to get the meaning out of the songs, whatever it may be. But I also just feel that, as much as some of the fandom wants him to be open with that kind of thing, he just isn't going to do it. And some of the fandom is going to have learn to deal with that. I'm cool with it.

USAWeekend.com Clay Aiken Talks Music, Acting, and Talk

luckiest1, I couldn't get your link to work, so I'm bringing the blog over here. Very interesting stuff...

playbiller, I remember when the rider was first discovered in 2004, and more than a few of us actually had to laugh at the whole thing. So, to me, the AI connection wasn't all that far-fetched. The Boy Bands thing, of course, was kind of silly -- but then Clay had pretty much gotten out of that "teen magazine" phase that they tried for a while with him. Besides -- I thought we wanted the teenies to be in the front row of his shows? Doesn't that make him cool? [/snerk]

From the CH: First of all, I "eeeeeeeeee" at the fact that Life cereal is one of the choices -- one of my favorites. Secondly -- backup band? Jesse and Sean are a backup band? OK, I suppose if you add Q&A to the mix as well. And finally, people are suggesting (and I think this might be true) that this is the way to keep everyone remembering what day it is -- if they are eating Cream of Wheat, it must be Saturday. Hee! ETA: I just went to The Smoking Gun, and this rider is actually the one from the NAT in 2004. I remember seeing it before, but never noticed the cereal demands. Heh. I was also actually hoping TSG had found a new rider....

See, I'm a total wimp when it comes to hot weather. It gets much past 75 degrees F and I'm DYING. I don't like really prolonged winters, but I'd much rather have winter than summer. And snow is great as long as there is a fireplace and hot chocolate involved. *staples Heidi to the board*

KAndre, you are me! I was laughing so hard during this performance, and then I was like "that was one ballsy performance." I loved every freakin' minute of it (OK, so it was only a minute and a half long, but still....).

Phone call to Husband: "Can I move to ClayAikenville?" Hee. Warning....long recap to follow! ____ My Spamlicious weekend with Clay, or, I feel happy! [tm Not Dead Fred] I'm still on cloud nine from this past weekend. Everything went so well, and I accomplished everything I wanted -- seeing the show, getting an autograph, and spending time with so many cool people. Where to start? Well, I suppose the beginning. Friday was travel day -- up at 4:30 a.m., flight to Minneapolis, short delay there, but I still arrived in NYC by 2:00 or so. EEEEEEEEEEE! My first time there! The cab ride was uneventful to Long Island City, where muski was waiting for me in the hotel. We chatted and napped for a bit, and then we took the subway to Manhattan. We found a piece of pizza for dinner (yes, I folded it in half, like I've read you're supposed to do in NYC!) and then it was off to the show! My seat for the first night was in the center mezzanine, row C, right on the aisle. I purposefully chose mezzanine for my first show, as I wanted to get the overview of the entire proceedings on stage. It also gave me a chance to really appreciate ALL the performers, not just Clay (knowing full well that the rest of the weekend, I'd be watching Clay like crazy). I think this entire cast is masterful, they all enhabit their many roles so well. I have a small soft spot for Jonathan Hadary -- I think he does kingly quite well, it's just unfortunate that he's small in stature. Rick and Tom both make me start laughing almost as soon as they come on stage. Bradley Dean did quite well as Gallahad -- I love his "fake smile" (which is most evident to me during the slow-motion sequence). Hannah's voice is amazing, both in power and range. I would also kill for her body. But I think the person I fell in love with (besides Clay) was David Hibbard. His Patsy is a joy to behold during "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life," and I loved his reactions during "All Alone." As for Clay -- oh, wow [tm Dennis]. I was simply blown away by how much fun he seems to be having on stage. The camaraderie between the entire cast is palpable, even from the mezzanine. His nonchalance during the tower guard scene is perfectly done. His Brother Maynard has the timing of the reading down cold, as if he really was in church reading the Bible. I like how he hides his face during the entrance for that, it gives it a bit more of a surprise. His guard is so perfectly played as well -- at one point, it's like he FINALLY notices that there are flowers tied to his spear, and is suddenly fascinated by them, in a drunken sort of way. It's hysterical. Oh, and even from the mezzanine, Clay's profile in the prone position...uh...yeah. It's there. Sir Robin? I'd read so much about him having soiling his pants down to an art. Well, that's true. He's made it so PHYSICAL -- trying to get rid of the uncomfortableness of the entire thing by shifting his butt around. YWSOB really plays incredibly well to the entire theater; he got an amazing round of applause on Friday night. I think someone mentioned earlier that Clay now, as he is kneeling during this show, throwing his knees apart a bit to get his tunic out of the way (because he keeps tearing it at the crotch, natch). Well, needless to say, the crotch of everything else was also out there for a second too. Heh. As for his interpretation of Sir Robin -- I can see when it could be considered "overacting," but I personally see it as him (Robin) being so childlike about the whole adventure. Children just do that kind of thing when they are excited, or happy, or any strong emotion, and I see that as the way Clay is playing the role. I think it works marvelously. Friday night was when I noticed that during the finale, Robin, Patsy, and Bevedere had a whole little dance routine worked out. I hadn't read about that before, and that was cool. They tried to do a bit of it on Saturday, but by Sunday, that was abandoned. Also, I had thought before seeing the show that Clay would go back to his "I can't dance" schtick during the next tour -- but honestly, if he does that now, I'll kick his butt. He's got a shoulder roll thing during Find Your Grail that was super sexy, and very fluid. On Friday, as soon as the finale started, I had my jacket on. As soon as the curtain went down, I was a woman on a mission -- I think I made it down the steps and to the stage door before most of the audience had their coats on! Got a perfect spot right in front of the stage door, only one person in front of me. If you see the clack from HopelesslyDevoted from that night, you can see the back of my head, and my profile, early on. I was so happy to see Clay that close, and to get his autograph. He looked so gorgeous. I felt it wrong to have my camera out though, it just seemed rude to me to take his picture like that (meaning in his face). As I said, it was also a thrill to see Eric Idle walk out just as Clay was finishing (you can see him in the clack too, toward the end -- short, darkish headed guy in a navy coat). Finally, at the stage door that night, I was standing next to a couple who had just been to A Chorus Line down the street. They knew about Clay though, and came over to see the hubub (and I would say it was a fairly small crowd that night). The only thing was, they only had a Playbill from Chorus Line -- so when he came to them, they handed it to him. He looked at it, made a funny face, and handed it right back. They said, "we'll be there tomorrow!" Clay said "You'd better be!" And then he signed their Chorus Line Playbill! Hee. I was a bit sad that Jerome wasn't there though...I like Jerome so very much. One more thing, and I've mentioned this before...this was the show where the high school group had to leave during the intermission, because one of the kids was offended. I find that incredibly sad. Knights of Ni report for Friday night: the 3:00 a.m. phone call bit, hanging out with $2000 call girls. And then Elliot Spitzer approved this message. The King laughed a bit, but not much. After the stage door, I went out with muski and some friends from a different board, and then muski and I took the subway back to our hotel. Coming from a fairly rural area, where things mostly shut down at about midnight, it was amazing to me the number of people who were on the subway at 1:00 a.m.! Saturday, muski and I split up. I went into by late morning, and basically wandered around Times Square. I met up with bigappleforclay from getclayaiken for cheesecake at Juniors, and then we camped out at the stage door. I froze -- I was stupid and only brought a light jacket and hoodie sweatshirt for a coat the weekend. And then, I neglected to wear the hoodie that day. Anyway, it was a weird situation. There was a car parked almost directly in front of the stage door. They finally got a barracade set up, but it was this odd circle, using the car as part of the barricade. Then, I saw Shannon come out and talk to the lead Shubert security guard. I could see it in the guard's face -- Clay wasn't coming out. And sure enough, the announcement was made. Oh well.... bigappleforclay and I went to dinner with Irishbookgal and her mother claysfayevorite from CV, and we had a marvelous time talking about our travels in search of Clay, and what he's going to be doing next, and all sorts of fun stuff. Saturday night, I had row C, Right Orchestra, right on the aisle. I was sitting next to a family who all came to show together, and they loved it. Before the show, I opened my Playbill and discovered the ad for the album. I must have made some gutteral sound when I saw it, for the Dad (who was right in front of me) said jokingly, "you're not going to do that sound all night?" Hee. I promised him I would be good. Very interesting viewpoint for the show -- I could see a bit of what was going on back stage. I was also across the aisle from the winning peasant, and it was cool to see Patsy "plant" the grail in the seat. The gentleman that night was a bit of a ham, saying his last name was "King Arthur," but the King shot him right down with "I'm the one who tells the jokes around here!" Clay was directly in front of me several times during this show -- the idol of my age, the hip bumps at the end of the finale with the one chorus girl. At this point, it was so incredibly hard NOT to look at Clay, he's so close! What I noticed from that point on were his eyes -- so very sparkly. I hate "seeing things in his eyes," but in this case, I swear I could see joy and happiness. Knights of Ni report for Saturday evening: the same thing as Friday night. BUT -- this time the King was prepared. He was cracking up a bit, and then he said, instead of the "formerly known as knights of Ni," he said "exonerated public official formerly known as client number 9." The Knight who says Ni then kind of cracked up a bit, and said something like "touche!" LOL! On Sunday, muski and I met up with CG and her lurker friend at diner for breakfast. Good food, but the service was....strange. We asked for water, next thing we knew, two glasses were being slid across our table! But it was so much fun catching up, and talking about Clay, that in many ways, we just didn't care! For the Sunday afternoon matinee, I had row B, center...almost dead center. I hear that Gibby had the same seat a few nights ago. So, when Clay was coming at me during YWSOB, I almost DIED. The tongue action during the slow motion segment of Find Your Grail was simply divine. Another moment I will never, ever forget. This is also when I started really hearing things -- the comments that Robin makes during the Spamalot scene for example. Leering at the girls, trying to figure out what they are doing. Oh, and during the King's tap dancing, Robin now mimics his hand gestures in a circle. It's really cute. But then, besides the "in character" comments...well, I couldn't HEAR things, but I could see a lot of Clay catching another cast member's eye and kind of nodding somewhere. The communication that they all have while they are on stage was in action. For this show, there was a very good reason for this type of communication. Directly in front of me was a Dad and two kids, a girl probably about 7-8, and a boy about 5-6, so they were in the front row. The cast caught on to that rather quickly, and totally played to them. At the finale, the entire cast was waving at them, and Hannah tossed the bouquet to the little girl. The other thing that was so cute about this was that anytime anyone on stage said the word "shit," the little boy and the Dad would look at each other -- and then break out laughing, "they said a dirty word, ha ha!" It just made me smile so much. Knights of Ni report for Sunday afternoon: "If I was invisible!" YAY! I was glad to heard that one. I wondered if maybe Rick picked that one because of the kids in the front row. They wouldn't get the Elliot Spitzer joke! OK, then -- at this point CG, her lurker friend, and I said our goodbyes to muski who had a flight out of town that night, and then we wandered around until we finally found Better Burger! It was quite good, but a bit pricey for a burger joint. But hey, the stuff was all organic, so I guess that adds to the price. Then we walked back to the theater, where I said my goodbyes to them and waited for playbiller who was getting my ticket for that night. She arrived at the theater with about 20 minutes to spare. I'll tell you, when you see people who entering the theater, and you don't have a ticket at that moment, it's a bit weird. OTOH, while I was waiting, I saw Brad Oscar talking on his cellphone in Shubert Alley. No one bothered him. Hee. Final show -- again row B, but on closer to the left aisle. This was the one show that I don't think was sold out. During intermission, I went to use the rest room upstairs at the mezzanine level (less crowded), and I could see that most of the side areas were not full. I think that may be fairly normal for a Sunday evening show. Again, at this close level, I could see all the non-verbal cues the cast were giving each other. I also had Clay in front of me during several key moments -- his introduction as Sir Robin, for example, and also at the finale, with him and Patsy and Bevedere. This was also my one time to get a sung "Amen" from Brother Maynard. WOOHOO! And then, the rest of the knights sing their Amen too! Hee. I think this might have been the show during the Knights of Ni, when Robin soils his armor, that the Knights of Ni fanned their faces to get the smell away from them. That was a good addition. playbiller and I sat next to a woman who I think was a "theater" person. I think she was really freaked out that she was surrounded on both sides by Clay fans, and couldn't believe that we had the money to just follow him. (Well, some of us don't, but that's another story). Knights of Ni report for Sunday evening: Love client number 9, approved by Elliott Spitzer. I had to pick up my bag from coat check after the show, so I was not in a good position for the stage door that night. I tried to take a few pictures, but my old, slow camera couldn't catch Mr. Quicksign. After the crowd dispersed though, and the barricades came down, play and I were chatting with a few other Clay friends when Rick Holmes came out, so I got his autograph. He's a sweetheart. Someone asked him how he keeps his energy up, and he says, "well, in another 5 minutes, I'm going home and collapsing into bed!" And then, not after another 5 minutes, Hannah Waddingham came out, so I got her to sign as well. I complimented her on her singing. Someone asked her what she was going to do "after leaving on May 4" (?), and she said that she was with the show until the middle of June. playbiller then graciously opened her house to me for the night, and I got to meet Holly the dog. I'm not a dog person, but Holly is a sweetie! After breakfast the next morning, play and Holly got me to LaGuardia with plenty of time to spare, and I had a fairly uneventful flight home, except for the landing on the final flight. Lots of wind, the plane was swaying, and I was having "Lost" flashbacks. *g* I know, I know...this recap goes on too long [tm Gallahad and the Lady of the Lake]. So I will close by saying that I enjoyed every minute of this adventure, and I'm so happy that Clay is happy with this little adventure of his. This was a once-of-a-lifetime experience for me, and I'm glad I got the chance to do it. I know that many have not, but I hope you'll let me say that I blew Clay a kiss for all of you who can't make a show.

Why annabear, I wouldn't know what you are talking about at ALL! New banner courtesy of cha cha trusty! YUMMY!!!

And if you're on the right hand side aisle (facing the stage), you're in a good position for the stage door. Just sayin'.

Totally depends on how far to the side you are. If you're in Row B Right Mezzanine, but seat number 20, you're going to miss a lot of stuff on the right hand side of the stage. You want to be as close to center as entirely possible. The difference between row B and row D is minimal. Any further back in the mezzanine than row F, though, and I'd probably shoot for front of the balcony because the balcony floor would be in your way.

It's not just on Clay boards either.... Those of you who use gmail and run late all the time will like this one: http://mail.google.com/mail/help/customtime/index.html And regular Google's entry for April 1: http://www.google.com/virgle/index.html

aikim, I don't think you have to worry about that here -- two of the three admins are still in jet lag mode, and who knows what kind of trouble the third can do (especially after the thread title poll debacle this weekend *g*). I just wanted to say that I'm home, and I had a blast in NYC! I accomplished all I set out to do this weekend: take a cab, ride the subway (once alone even!), see Clay several times (he was fantastic -- more on that later), and get an autograph from Clay. Bonus attractions: seeing Eric Idle at the stage door Friday night; getting autgraphs and to talk to both Rick Holmes and Hannah Waddingham Sunday night; sitting directly behind the two young children in the front row for the Sunday afternoon performance and watching the entire cast play to them; and getting a copy of both the March and April Playbill. Yeah, it was a fantastic weekend. And now, reality comes crashing back, as in I must be at work in a few minutes. Sigh. I'll try to work on a recap and have it posted by tonight. I'll also reply to everyone as I try to backtrack!

Greetings again! I'm still trying to process everything from last night, but I'll try... First of all, couchie did report that Eric Idle was there last night. He came out of the stage door just as Clay was finishing the autograph lines. I think only me and one other person recognized him. If I had thought fast enough, I would have pulled out my program and called out his name for an autograph! I sat in row C center mezzanine, on the right hand aisle (facing the stage). Really a great seat, for a couple of reasons. One, you really do get an entire view of the stage, and it's so cool to be able to see how Clay interacts with the rest of the cast, and the rest of the cast with each other. I think my favorite example of this is Find Your Grail, the slow motion scene. Everyone is hysterical -- Clay trying to hold on to his horse for dear life, Rick spitting into the wind, and the new Gallahad (can't remember his real name at the moment) holding his hair out of his face and smiling like crazy. Plus the signs in the back held by the chorus -- "Support the Troups," "I :::heart::: Arthur," etc. I need to be quick here, so I'll post the "weird" experience of the night. As I said, I was in the mezzanine, and there were two rows of high schoolers behind me. Several guys in particular were really getting into the show during the first half. During intermission, all of a sudden, they were gone -- I heard the one of the guys say something like "all the rest of you in the theater, have a great time." I heard later that ONE student in the group was offended by the play...so the entire group had to leave! Man, does that suck. OTOH, probably just as well that they left before the "His Name is Lancelot" song.... The other thing that was funny as the the rest of the entire mezzanine then moved up two rows! The other reason the seat I had was great -- I was able to zoom out and get to the stage door really, really quickly! I had a perfect view, literally right in front of the stage door. The funny thing that I saw was that I was next to a couple of people who joined the crowd, but who had come from A Chorus Line, and were coming to the show today. They didn't have a Spamalot playbill...but they had the one for A Chorus Line. So, when Clay came through, they handed it to him. He looked at it, and handed it immediately back to them. They said "we'll be here tomorrow!" and he kind of rolled his eyes and said "You'd better be!" And then he signed the Chorus Line program! It was funny! OK, gotta run, others are waiting for the computer. See ya later. :F_05BL17blowkiss: to playbiller -- see ya tomorrow!

HUBBY?!?!?!? Why on earth did you think I was bringing my hubby? Actually, I would have brought him if we could have afforded it. *g* I'm in the hotel lobby, using the hotel's business center, to say "HI!" from me and muski! muski is actually snoozing at the moment in the room, but we'll be out the door shortly to catch the subway for Times Square, the Shubert, and CLAY!!!!! muski says that she had a fabulous time with Gibby the other night, and had a blast at her virginal time with Spamalot. Meanwhile, I break my Spamalot cherry tonight. I'm so excited I can't contain myself. Although, I do need food first! FromClaygary, sorry to hear about your surgery....hope you are feeling better soon!

{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{{keepingfaith}}}}}}}}}}}}}}} Take care of that family....and take care of yourself too! My flight leaves in exactly two hours! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! See ya'll!

I think I'm going to try going to bed now. As if I can sleep. Heh. As far as I know, everything is packed. I'm not taking the laptop, but will confiscate muski's for a few times, and I can post from my PDA too. CG, see how close that Better Burger place is from the theater. I thought that menu sounded great, and would love to go there if you and muski are agreeable! See you Sunday! And I get to see playbiller Sunday too! EEEEEEEEEEE!

Oh couchie, how cool. I'd do that in a heartbeat too.... "Daddy always gets the big piece of chicken" is still one of the funniest comedy lines for me ever. *watches the clock tick to get out of work* Boyfriend is waiting for me! Nope, I'm not excited. Not at all. :manynanas:

*nudges 00lsee out of the way* That smile is MINE, darn it! Hee. Glad you have a new avatar. (And I'm surprised that my avatar, from the picture discovered the other day, ISN'T Clay smiling....Hmmm....what's wrong with me?) The March 26 Stage Door video from Austenfan (last night's show) is worth it for the 2:15-2:30 segment of the clip. I would love to know what made him laugh like that. (If anyone sees that on a different board, please post it!)

24 hours from now....I'll be on a plane to Minneapolis! Which will then take me to NYC! Which will allow me to see my boyfriend! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Tons of recaps (I pull these from getclayaiken, thanks footloose and laughn!): canuck2010 at CV wrote: regaled by clay at CV wrote: AustenFan at CB wrote: ClayIzzaQT at CV wrote: AustenFan at CB wrote: bbandit31 at CB wrote: LOVE THE GRIN PICTURE!!! Glad to hear muskie and Gibby had a great time last night!

And I think I'm the only one who skips Clay's "Alone."

Yes, that's the one. Here's a blog that has a link to all the performances from last night.... Top 10 Performance Recap

keepingfaith, you and your family will be in my prayers. Have you had a chance to talk to your sister? Didn't she see Spamalot last night? I'd love to hear her recap! I'm loving the discussion this morning, unfortunately, I don't have time right now to add to it. Maybe later today....

I'm not really watching the show this season, but I did get to hear a snippet of Billie Jean last night (during a commercial break from Keith Olberman). I was impressed, if nothing else, because it took me almost the entire time to figure out what the song was. So, the arrangement got me. Thing is....didn't AI go through this a few seasons back with DAUGHTRY!!!!!1!!1!! ? Except that they didn't credit the arrangement.... At least it sounds like they learned their lesson.

CG, that actually is a very good question, and honestly, it's one I can't answer. But it leads me to a story -- something my semi-musician husband and I go around and around about all the time. I was telling my husband that OMWH was coming out soon, and it was all "originals." He said, "so Clay wrote the songs?" To him, "originals" means something that the singer wrote; something written for Clay, or something selected by Clay, isn't an original, it's just "songs chosen by Clay." TOA was a bonus track, if I remember correctly. And yes, the song suggested by Kipper, "Everything I Don't Need," left-of-center, sounds fascinating to me. Didn't Clay say in the WRAL clip that it had an R&B vibe? Sounds cool to me. YSRN, you're amazing. And you have good eyes too. *g*