Here’s the music video for Ricky Martin’s comeback single “The Best Thing About Me is You.” The video is pretty preachy and student film-esque but there’s something which I really enjoy about its simple aesthetic and I really enjoy the overall meaning of the song. I read Ricky’s autobiography a few months ago and you can really see how the themes of the book have made its way into the video and his music. He wants to use music and the arts as a way of bonding people together and educating the world. There’s always a fine line between educating a message and becoming too preachy. I am not sure why but I feel as though we shun artists when they go out on a whim and try and make a statement about a political or social issue. Is that not the entire point of art? Why is it that pop music is considered such a shallow medium that the idea that there is any form of expression in a song become ludicrous? I guess you can’t expect much when Britney Spears is still treated like a G-d with her award winning lyrics “Cuz you feel like paradise and I need a vacation tonight!”

I have always had this dream of seeing The Phantom of the Opera live and quite literally being blown away by it. What I mean by that statement is I have had this reoccurring dream of seeing a production of Phantom which really does justice to that legendary score. During the opening scene at the auction when you hear the words “Perhaps we can scare away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination, gentleman!’ DUNNNNNNNNN DUN DUN DUN DUNNNN That’s the cue to be blown away! However much I dreamed, I never one got to experience that feeling. Over the past two years, I have seen two less than stellar productions of Phantom which both left me disappointed.  At it’s core, Phantom is a spectacle. You can really only do it justice if you are going to go all out, the flimsy chandelier that the traveling Broadway touring production has been using is more embarrassing that anything. Both time I left the theater from Phantom, I was disappointment and all together underwhelmed.

When I bought 4 tickets for the front row to see Phantom in Las Vegas, my mom, Dave and Chelsey were not as excited as I had hoped for. Each had a bad taste in their mouth from the previous Phantom productions that had come to Los Angeles which left us all more curious than excited to see it in Vegas. The show is housed at the Venetian in a theater which was specifically built for the show, it is the actual Paris Opera House. When you walk into the elegant theater, there are murals in the hallways which have all been defaced by the Phantom. As we took our seats in the front row, we found ourselves right beneath Box 5 which is infamously left empty for the Phantom himself. As the lights went down, the Phantom makes a rather cheesy announcement to turn off your cellphones and refrain from talking. The entire theater is covered in old rusty sheets, the stage plain, and no chandelier in site.

As the auctioneer tries to get rid of the chandelier. He utters those words “‘Perhaps we can scare away the ghost of so many years ago with a little illumination, gentleman!’”

DUNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN DUNNN DUNN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Every hair on my body stood up as I broke out in goosebumps. All of a sudden 6 separate parts of the chandelier begin ascending up over the audience. The piece do an elegantly choreographed dancing over our heads. Slowly the chandelier assembles itself and before you know it, you are transformed to Paris. Those 5 minutes were probably one of the greatest live moments I have ever experience in theater, the power, the beauty and the magic of the moment was simply surreal. I was more than satisfied with the insanely high ticket prices after that moment.

The rest of the show was just as engaging as those five minutes, the stunt work in the show is phenomenal especially the bit in which the Phantom hangs from the chandelier dangling over the theater. Simply stunning! Another moment which took my breath away was when the Phantom hangs a man right in front of your eyes, the wire work is seamless. Everything about the production was over the top and extravagant which is exactly what the Phantom of the Opera demands. I highly recommend seeing the show the next time you’re in Vegas. It’s unmissable!

One of the musicals I got to see while in Vegas this past weekend was one of Broadway’s biggest blockbusters The Lion King. On top of that, I got to see it sitting in the front row which has always been a dream of mine ever seen Chelsey told me that the only way you can truly experience the musical is if you’re sitting in the front row. I cannot put into words the emotions that I felt during the opening number of “Circle of Life”, it is one of the theater’s greatest moments and to have that 360 like experience of the performance coming from you at all angles is quite emotional. I would say that the price of admission is worth that first 5 minutes alone, something that’s very unique about the Vegas production is how the two African drummers are stationed on both sides of the theater and are literally apart of the audience.

The rest of the show is just as incredible as that first 5 minutes though nothing quite captures that same magic. The last time I saw The Lion King which was last November, I was sitting in the nose bleeds and I had no idea how much of the show I had actually missed until I saw it again. The design of the costumes is so innovative and each piece is a work of art on its own. One of the costume elements which literally brought me to tears was when the female lions weep over the death of Mufasa. There hands are attached to their eyes and one by one they pulls piece of fabric out of their eyes symbolizing the tears they are shedding. The noise that it makes as it unravels is haunting to say the least.

The entire experience is one that I will remember for the rest of my life, the last 5 minutes of the musical I turned to look at my mom and she was sobbing. This production even made the woman made out of stone shed tears. The Lion King has withheld the test of time remarkably!

Pete Souza is the President Obama’s official photographer, his job is to follow the President Obama everywhere he goes and document every moment for his presidential legacy. He’s been able to develop such a close relationship with the President that many of his photos perfectly capture the intimate love shared between Michelle and Barack, other captures the stresses of the Oval Office while some are just a lot of fun. He has a job that any photographer would dream of.