What a day! While I'm preparing dinner last night for some Broadway pals in my little suburban home in lovely Henderson, Nevada, just blocks away, two wackos have a enough Anthrax to kill the entire state of Nevada! And to think I almost ran into them where they were nabbed, but as fate would have it, my piano lesson was cancelled. My lessons are exactly where they were caught! Mon Dieu!

One of the theories going around is that the Anthrax was heading for New York to be placed in the subway system. Well, Goodbye New York and Goodbye Broadway! What a crazy world we live in where anyone can have access to this type of chemical or bacteria, whatever it is. New York is always a target because of its dense population, but no matter where you live, we all live with terrorism each and every day. Anthrax is a chemical/bacteria that kills. It doesn't blow anything up. Still, there are other things that people use to blow things up like in Oklahoma City, or on the stage of the Ford Center where Coalhouse Walker and Brother are getting ready to blow up the Morgan Library. And to think we were only laughing recently when Christina D'Angelo went out and bought a gas mask!

Remember the Kingston Trio? Sure you do. They sang "Tom Dooley" about 40 years ago and it was a big hit. On one of their albums, they did a wonderfully funny song with the opening lyric: "They're rioting in Africa..." and the closing line was: "...someone will set the spark off and we will all be blown away!" Funny? It was then, but I don't know about today. Maybe it was a premonition of things to come. Obviously, music and theater only reflect the society we live in.

Tidbits: Let's lighten up here. Let's talk G-Strings. As in Gypsy Rose Lee G-Strings. Her collection of memorabilia will open at the Lincoln Center Library but you'll need to make an appointment to see the letters, diaries and other Gypsy stuff.

Davis Gaines fans on the West Coast will get to see Davis perform his night club act at the Cinegrill next week. I'll be there on Thursday with a few other Talkin' Broadway friends. Why not join us! Or simply call 213-466-7000 and make a reservation. The Cinegrill is located in the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. The hotel is famous for hosting the first Academy Awards ever!

Did you read Michael Riedel, the Daily News Staff Writer's article called "The Show Must Go On"? He talks all about current shows on Broadway he considers flops and his opening line is, "By all rights, "The Capeman" should be dead and buried." He mentions many others and he certainly makes some strong points. Broadway is much different than just five years ago!

People ask me about London all the time, and I have to admit that I'm not up on the West End as I should be. Oh, I head to London once a year, but really don't follow the theater there thoroughly. Years ago, it meant buying expensive Newspapers to keep abreast of things, but now with the internet, you can find out anything with the click of a mouse. Still, to write about it when you're not there is, well, difficult at best. I spend six months of the year in New York in the theater district so that's easy to get the feel of the street. Yet, I've always wanted to know more about plays and musicals across the pond. Don't you? Well, the wait will be over as I have found a writer who will be joining our staff very soon. He'll be writing a mirror column to this one called "What's New In The West End?" I just took a look at his first column and it's exactly what I love to read. Stay tuned. Oh, and welcome aboard Alex J. Bayley. Alex lives in England and is always haunting the West End. Now, all we need is someone from Australia to pen "What's New Down Under?"

Anyone watching ticket prices? Oh, they do it ever so quietly. When buying a ticket for Ragtime, I noticed an odd price of $76.00, well that was a one dollar surcharge for theater maintenance and the 42nd Street project. Okay, a buck. Didn't like paying that dollar, but, what can you do? $75.00 is a lot of money for a show, but now try digging just a bit deeper as Phantom paves the way with an $80.00 top price for orchestra seats. Yikes! When will it end? Probably when someone sets the spark off and we will all be blown away! ;)

See you Sunday!

Wanna' talk to others about this column or anything else theatre related? Check out All That Chat