Our other sing along show returns, and heads for the wilds of Long Island…

THE XANADU SING ALONG!
The original 1980 film back on the big screen
With Audience Participation and more!
THIS Wednesday, October 1 @ 7:30pm
at the Cinema Arts Center, Huntington, New York
$12 regular price/$9 CAC members

Admission price includes goodie bag, pre-show activities, and of course the sing along version of the big-screen classic XANADU!

If you missed the NYC show, here’s your chance to catch a new sing along - to one of the worst films of all time. That’s what THEY say. We say it’s one of the BEST!!! Click here for more on what happens at the Xanadu Sing Along.

MTV News posted this article about the Xanadu Sing Along!

Nothing to report yet on sing alongs for Dr Horrible. However, you could join the Evil League of Evil yourself and make them happen. Buy you only have until October 11th! After that, you have to settle for being a bit less than evil. For instance:

Or maybe it was that name that turned someone from “naughty” to “evil”. More here.

Wish we could say more about the return of the Buffy Sing Along, but until Hollywood’s SAG negotiations are done we can’t even talk to anyone. So, the waiting continues.

In the meantime, we’re talking with Mutant Enemy about bringing Doctor Horrible to the theatres for a new Sing Along*. First they need to finalize the DVD release and some other loose ends, but we are already humming the songs and thinking up interactive moments. So, keep praying that this new uber-catchy musical production will hit big screen soon! Seriously, praying…

(From Spaced, a DVD set you need to own!)

* Note: despite the chatter at Whedonesque, this is still something we’re just talking about. Nothing has been determined yet!

Oh, and we are also giggling with anticipation to read the Shepherd Book story (finally the mystery will be solved!) and feeling weird, dirty, tingly feelings about Dawn.

Get them while they are hot:
THE XANADU SING ALONG!
The original 1980 film back on the big screen
With Audience Participation and more!
Friday & Saturday, July 18 & 19 @ midnight
at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, New York City
Now on sale!
Friday, July 18
Saturday, July 19
$13.50 regular price/$10.50 IFC Center members

Admission price includes goodie bag, pre-show activities, a chance to win tickets to Xanadu on Broadway, and of course the sing along version of the big-screen classic XANADU!

Also, big ups to the New York Magazine’s Culture Vulture Blog for a big shout out about the show. Could this mean we’ll be selling out? Why chance it.

And in related kismet, the latest issue of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Comic book not only brings the slayer to New York City, but also mentions the Broadway show of Xanadu!

UPDATE: MTV News posted this article about the Xanadu Sing Along! It includes a bit of background on the Xanadu mention in the Buffy comic as well.

Okay, first with the Whedony goodness - the official trailer for Joss’ new web series Doctor Horrible’s Sing Along Blog is out. No taste yet of the singing, but it’s still looking pretty awesome so far:

While you’re at it, become Doctor Horrible’s Facebook fiend, why dont’cah?

(Yes, I meant to type “fiend”).

In other, rather important news, if you’ve been thinking about coming to our Xanadu Sing Along in July, then you should know that the date moved a week later (I updated the original post). That’s actually good news for us, since we have a bit more time to work on promoting this amazingly fun event - which now will include a chance to win tickets to Xanadu on Broadway - and more fun stuff that we won’t tell you about until you come to the show!

THE XANADU SING ALONG!
The original 1980 film back on the big screen
With Audience Participation and more!
New date! Friday & Saturday, July 18 & 19 @ midnight
at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, New York City
Now on sale!
Friday, July 18
Saturday, July 19
$13.50 regular price/$10.50 IFC Center members

Admission price includes goodie bag, pre-show activities, a chance to win tickets to Xanadu on Broadway, and of course the sing along version of the big-screen classic XANADU!

While the Buffy Sing Along remains on hiatus (our latest stumbling block to getting back in theatres is the SAG negotiations), we’ve decided to stop waiting for our slayer to return from the dead (again), and start working with another mystical, super-powered icon: A MUSE! And so, we’re created a new sing along production for the NYC area…

THE XANADU SING ALONG!
The original 1980 film back on the big screen
With Audience Participation and more!

Before it became a Tony-award nominated Broadway smash, XANADU was one of the most notorious bombs in Hollywood history. But what a glorious failure! Featuring a slew of classic tunes from Olivia Newton John and The Electric Light Orchestra, there isn’t a moment of this campy cinematic mess that isn’t a toe-tapping delight. So, for this special big screen presentation of the “classic” 1980 film, we’re inviting the audience to do more than just watch their jaws hit the floor (typical reaction: “Um, did the main characters really just turn into fish?”) — we are encouraging all the Xana-fans sing and dance along with their favorite songs!!!

At the XANADU SING ALONG we’re not only screening the movie, but providing the lyrics to sing along, as well as a grab bag of props and list of audience interactive moments to coincide with what’s happening on the screen. And yes, we will all get on the stage and dance. Before the film we’ll also be presenting some extra special Xanadu trivia, Olivia Newton John video clips, and other Xana-fun.

Filled with hilarious moments (often unintentional) pouring off the screen, there is nothing about XANADU that is not resplendently insane! 80s icon Olivia Newton John plays Kira, a muse of the Greek god Zeus disguised in leg warmers and roller skates. She is summoned to Earth to inspire lonely album cover artist Sonny Malone (The Warriors star Michael Beck) and retired big-band musician Danny McGuire (Gene Kelley!) to team up and build a giant roller disco named Xanadu. No, really. The film is directed with neon music-video panache by Robert Greenwald, the same guy who now makes incendiary political documentaries about Fox News and Wal-Mart.

Produced by the creators of last year’s smash interactive cinema hit, The Buffy The Vampire Slayer Sing Along, this interactive big-screen sing along XANADU screening is a cinematic celebration that is not to be missed!

ONCE MORE WITH FEELING screens before
PaleyFest BUFFY REUNION PANEL
This Friday, Apr 25
It all starts @ 6:00pm
At the Paley Center for Media, New York City
Tickets $10.00 - Buy tickets now, seating limited

Didn’t get a chance to make it to Los Angeles to see the Buffy event of the freaking century - The PaleyFest Buffy Cast Reunion? Well, neither did we, dangit. Luckily, the fine folks at the New York City Paley Center were sorry to miss it as well, so they are screening the whole panel in its entirety for this one special occasion. Not only that, they are also pulling out the finest episode of the series (in our humble opinion) as a warm up: Once More with Feeling!

Try as we might, we couldn’t make this into a full-on Sing Along version, because the situation with Fox is still a bit dicey (ie, the Buffy Sing Along and Fox haven’t made an official agreement yet. Our lawyer is working on it, we swear!). However, most of us from the New York Buffy cast will be there, and we will indeed be sitting in our seats and singing like crazy - and maybe sneaking in a few surprises. I hope all of our NYC fans will find this a great opportunity to gather again as well. Heck, haven’t you been jonesing to see this on the big screen again and let out a little of your pent up vocal talents? Join us!

And hey, bonus, you do finally get to see all your favorite Buffy cast members (the real ones!) rubbing elbows again. Man, I wish we’d been able to catch that panel in L.A. in person…still green with envy.

CLICK CRITICS: THE POWER OF FAN WEBSITES
Mon, May 19 @ 6:00
At the Paley Center for Media, New York City
Tickets $10.00 - Buy yours today

Also of interest to Buffy fans at the Paley is this upcoming panel about fan sites and their impact of today’s television programs. You know what show started all this internet fan power, right? Hear insights on these passionate, informed, unfiltered audience responses with this panel featuring creators and contributors from Whedonesque and Television Without Pity, as well as non-Whedon fans like Lostpedia, Ugly Is In, Galactica Sitrep, and OfficeTally.

C’mon, you know you’ve been wanting one, and Buffy Sing Along Home Kits are still available! It’s a great way to get your kumbaya-yas out with a group of friends in the privacy of your own home - or, with springtime looming, in the privacy of your own backyard fiesta! What an awesome idea, but for Spike’s sake, better make it a nighttime gathering.

Here’s what one satisfied buyer had to say about her recent Buffy Sing Along home kit when it arrived:

“I received my kits in the mail today, and opened them while giggling like Xander talking to a pretty girl. I love my kits, and the bonus gift was great as well. Actually, it felt like more than just one bonus gift, as there are just so many great things in there! Now it’s time to schedule my sing-along night. My only regret is that I never saw the real thing to base mine on…Ahhh, someday!”

Thank you, Lori from Arcadia, California for the nice words. Hopefully we’ll be back on the road soon and near Arcadia. Wait, were is that, anyway? I need to brush up on my West Coast geography. Let’s see…I’ll pull out this map and start with someplace I know… Hmm, Sunnydale is supposed to be not far from Santa Barbara, near several acres of woods, close to the Pacific Ocean (or on it…where are those docks?), has an old rock quarry and a hydroelectric dam and a state college, and is within a day’s drive from the desert.

Dammit! This map is no good!

Ooooh, how I dreamed of being at the Paley Center Buffy reunion yesterday, but with it being all the way on the other side of the country (and sold out in about 20 seconds), I guess it wasn’t in the cards. Still, reviews of the Q&A with almost all the Buffy core cast (Willow, Giles, and Angel were the only ones MIA) have been pouring in.

The whole evening began with a screening of Once More With Feeling, though not in sing along format. Being a Paley Center gala, that isn’t a snub, as this was definitely a more formal evening. That said, we still got a little shout out via an introduction by Marti Noxon:

“Joss and I had a really amazing and remarkable experience recently which was that we snuck into the back of a Buffy Sing Along. Never in my dreams as a writer did I think I would see people throw their underwear at me on a screen. That happened among other crazy and wonderful things!”

Thanks for remembering the show, Marti. Needless to say it was an especially awesome evening for us as well.

So far, the most complete recap is from The Futon Critic, which will have to do until the Paley Center puts some video up on their website (which they usually do a few weeks after an event). You can also listen to an audience recording at Strangely Literal (and thanks for noting the difference in watching the musical without the audience participation). Links to many more Paley Fest reviews via Whedonesque, as well as their own recaps.

While the Buffy Sing Along is still waiting for the powers that be to let us back in the theatres, the internet will soon be offering the next best (or maybe even better best) thing.

In other words, big news today from Joss Whedon himself as posted on Whedonesque:

During the strike I started writing a musical intended as a limited internet series, 3 episodes of approximately 10 minutes each. Writing with me was my brother Jed, his fiancee Maurissa, and my other brother Zack. To my shock and surprise, we finished it. To my greater shock and surprise, we managed (with the help of many people I’ll be praising at length soon) to drag it into preproduction (yes, just as DOLLHOUSE was given a start date two months away and all my comics were due.) And today, after a grueling week of writing everything ever while trying to be a producer, I got to start shooting. A musical.

This much I will say: It’s the story of a low-rent super-villain, the hero who keeps beating him up, and the cute girl from the laundromat he’s too shy to talk to. And I’m having the time of my life.

“DOCTOR HORRIBLE’S SING-ALONG BLOG”

Neil Patrick Harris…..as Dr. Horrible
Nathan Fillion……….as Captain Hammer
Felicia Day………….as Penny
And a cast of Dozens!

So, not only do we get more musical action, but we also get Nathan Fillion letting go with his singing voice, my favorite potential back in action, and, holy crap, Neil Patrick Harris!

And wait a minute….THIS is a sing along blog! Could I…could I possibly be turning into NPH? Oh, to dream a little dream.

PS - I am also quite excited about the new Harold and Kumar film. I just can’t help it. The red line trailer is beyond funny and wrong.

Look, all I’m saying is that this is normal teen stuff. You join chat rooms, you write poetry, you post Doogie Howser fan-fic. It’s all normal, right? - Willow (from “Help”)

It was a little over a year ago that the Buffy Sing Along started making waves thanks to this piece from MTV News…which they now allow embedding for (almost). And so, here it is…

Speaking of embedding, how about the latest issue of the comic, hmmm? I love that Buffy’s sex drive is now being played with a bit more comedy! I am actually working on a little piece about all the Whedon comics - and how they have managed to suck me back into the comic book store - for this very spot sometime next week. So stay tuned.

And as for the return of our Buffy Musical shows…nothing I can say yet. But now that the strike is over, we’re starting to open the door. So stay tuned for that as well.

A super cute little Sarah Michelle Gellar temps Santa with Little Debbies.