3-25-10

In case you missed it...

SPRING BREAK, DISNEY WORLD, AND DYING IN A FIERY PLANE CRASH
Today Rosie started the show with an enthusiastic spoken word style theme song interpretation. Every day it's something different! It totally makes me laugh. She then played tapes of the the American Idol judges critiquing her.

The Rosie Radio show staff will be on vacation next week (the week of March 29th-April 2nd) AND THAT MEANS SO IS KELLY!!! YAHOO!! Deirdre is renovating her house next week and fixing it up since the rain damage that occurred. Bobby is going down to Miami to see his family and then he's going to Walt Disney World! Bobby said that he and a friend are going to act like big kids running around Disney World having fun and riding the rides. Sounds fantastic to me! Rosie said she didn't go to Disney World until she was 35 years old for the first time and she said she was a little disappointed. Deirdre asked Rosie if she remembers when they did the show from Disney World and of course she does! Rosie found there was a "mildly cult-like atmosphere" amongst the staff members but they were all very nice and accommodating. She mentioned a documentary she had once seen on Walt Disney (perhaps Walt- The Man Behind the Myth?) and Disney's original idea was that the park should be free for children. They mentioned the following story about Disney giving away a ticket to the theme park for one day of volunteerism. Disney recently reached it's goal of giving away 1million free tickets! HERE is an article about that. Rosie seemed to have a problem with how expensive it is to go and how much pressure they put on the families to buy the things in the gift shops by letting you off of the rides right into a gift shop.

A listener called in to tell Rosie that her daughter, who works at Disney World, got colored braces, Disney didn't fire her but they re-wrote the policy because of it. Rosie and the caller discussed the strict appearance standards for the staff. A woman with a family member who has autism called in to discuss how wonderful Disney is when they go. Her nephew is 9 years old and they allow them to skip ahead of the lines. He has no language and she said he giggles, he laughs and it's the best week of his life. Rosie said she's also seen that reaction with kids with autism and dolphins and mentioned a therapy with Dolphins and kids with autism. I found an article about that HERE. She also mentioned a documentary entitled A Mother's Courage: Talking Back to Autism. Rosie ended the call talking about how autism fascinates her. Janette thinks it touches something in Rosie and perhaps, she's a little autistic. Rosie quoted Temple Grandin who says that "If there weren't Autistic people in this world we wouldn't be in the world we're in" and talked about how much she adores Temple. Temple Grandin is going to be on the show the Wednesday they come back from break (April 7th!)!

Rosie said she will be in Miami for Spring Break and she WILL come back with a savage tan. She explained that if you grew up on Long Island, one of the main goals was to have a savage tan. She also said that all the "skin cancer people" yell at her. She said she uses Neutrogena sunscreen so nobody needs to panic. Deirdre said she can't tan because once she gets a taste of it, she gets obsessed with it. On the last vacation Cindy (Berger), Jackie (Rosie's BFF) and Tracy (Rosie's girlfriend) and ALL the kids went down to Miami. All Cindy, Jackie and Rosie wanted to do was lay out and Tracy couldn't understand what was going on! She said it's a Long Island thing. Rosie said she has to bribe her kids to go on the boat with her now because she tends to keep everyone out there for hours. Blake, Rosie's 10 year old, also said he prefers the private plane to JetBlue. And when they were little they always wanted to go on the big plane! Rosie sang "You Can't Always Get What You Want."

Here's the Glee version of the song. Just cause it makes me happy...

Janette said she hates flying and she needs a pill to get on a plane now. She said it's the fear of dying that gets her. Rosie said that her girlfriend Tracy is also a little afraid of flying and told a story about when they hit turbulence recently. Rosie said there is no need to be scared unless the flight attendants look scared. Deirdre is afraid of flying too and has to take a Xanax every time she flies. Rosie said that she heard that the good part about dying in a plane crash is that you die quickly. Janette said "that's no comfort! she doesn't want to DIE!" Rosie said "You're gonna." LOL Deirdre told a story about the time she was on tour with Bon Jovi (OMG, don't tell my sister) and the plane had to make a scary emergency landing. Pete said, you mean you were "Living On A Prayer?" ba dump bump. Rosie told a story about how she was headed to Oprah in 1996 and there was such bad turbulence on the plane the flight attendant was crying! They had to make an emergency landing and had to drive 3 hours to make it to Chicago. Another time she was going from LA to Phoenix and the plane dropped hundreds of feet in the air and the airmasks came down! Scary!

DEATH DREAMS, FLAT STANLEY BABIES, AND THE SKETCHY POPE

Rosie asked the staff if they ever had a dream about being dead? Rosie said she once had a dream she was dead and hovering over her lifeless body in the bed. And in the dream she was thinking "Oh crap, I'm dead!" and then she woke up. Deirdre said she has a lot of birthing dreams. Rosie said she had a dream she gave birth to a Flat Stanley baby and she would keep it in her wallet and then take him out and it would inflate into a real baby. Typing this blog at the OT today. This last sentence made me burst out in hysterical laughter in the waiting room. Thank you very much O'Donnell, now everyone thinks I'm nuts (little do they know, right?). Rosie asked if this show actually has any real content?? Janette said it definitely does. That's coming from Janette, I'm just sayin.

Bobby and Pete talked about how on April 3rd the Apple IPad comes out. Rosie asked "What's the big whoop about the Ipad?" They explained it is the "Apple version of Kindle" with so much more. You can read more about the Apple Ipad HERE. Deirdre said her friend experienced 3DTV. And Rosie talked about how technology frustrates her. Timmy (Rosie's younger brother) got her a new Blu-ray DVD player and it wasn't compatible with her TV. Rosie imitated how she yelled at all her assistants because she just wanted to watch a DVD with her kids and didn't understand why it had to be so hard!

They tried to play the Rhoda theme song since Valerie Harper was in the studio but that started a heated debate about the theme song. It turns out it differed from year to year. Here is the first season's theme song.

Pete and Rosie then discussed how the Pope may have to resign. They discussed the sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic church and how this Pope moved the pedophile priests around without notifying their next parishes, asking for their resignations, or reporting them to the police. Janette said what is really sad is there are a "whole crap-load of people who will defend him" and what he has done is "indefensible, inexcusable and gives that religion a bad name." Pete read from an article about the situation.

VALERIE HARPER

Valerie Harper was in the studio today! Valerie is currently starring in Looped on Broadway and getting great reviews! Looped "takes place in the summer of 1965, when an inebriated Tallulah Bankhead stumbles into a sound studio to rerecord (or ‘loop’) one line of dialogue for her last movie --Die, Die, My Darling. Ms. Bankhead was known for her wild partying and convention-defying exploits that surpassed even today’s celebrity bad girls. Given her intoxicated state and inability to loop the line properly, what ensues is an uproarious showdown between an uptight film editor, Danny Miller,

and the outrageous legend." [source: loopedonbroadway.com]

Rosie and Valerie talked about the play, the actors, and the life and stories of Tallulah Bankhead. Valerie complimented Rosie for her brilliant performance in Fiddler on the Roof. They laughed about the time that Valerie came to see Rosie in the play and Rosie told the front desk, "If you take her (Valerie's) money (for the tickets), I'm quitting." Rosie talked about what a fabulous time she had in the play and how being on Broadway was everything she dreamed it would be.

Valerie's and her husband, who is producing the play, were originally sent the script from it's playwright Matthew Lombardo. They fell in love with it right away. They first performed it at the Pasadena playhouse, then in West Palm Beach and then they moved it to Washington D.C. - each time tweaking it along the way. Rosie said the play is getting stellar reviews and it's a "not to miss night of theater." Valerie's hope is that audience members go home with sore ribs from laughing so much. She said the true message of the play is about being yourself and about not living life having to hide who you truly are.

Valerie and Rosie talked about many topics including gay marriage, feminism and women's equality. Valerie said she started out wanting to be a ballet dancer and then she did the play Little Abner in 1959. She said it was the first Broadway show to go to Vegas and she remembers traveling with the cast out to Vegas on a train. She was intrigued by acting and changed her goals from ballet dancer to actor. She then did 5 more Broadway shows. Valerie is very well known for her role of Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the spinoff Rhoda. Rosie and Valerie talked about how they love the art of improvisation and how practicing it allows you to seem more spontaneous when working with a script. Rosie asked Valerie if she's ever seen Curb Your Enthusiasm and they both agreed on how brilliant Larry David is.

Rosie and Valerie made plans to go to Joe Allen's for the Cajun Chicken Sandwich (Rosie's fave!) when she comes back from vacation and she comes to see Valerie in the show. Rosie and Valerie then took callers who were HUGE fans of Rhoda. One caller was such a fan he dressed like Rhoda the day he came out to his parents! They gave both callers tickets and backstage passes to the show! Valerie talked about the magic of live theater and how the audience is different every night. They also talked about the importance of having an expressive face when you're an actress and how too many actresses today are having plastic surgery.

Rosie closed the show singing Together (Wherever We Go) from the musical Gypsy! A Broadway sendoff for a Broadway inspired show! Fantastic!

Valerie as Tallulah in Looped!

and that's what you missed - kw