Laurence O'Keefe is the composer for my favorite musical: Legally Blonde the Musical. While most people who enjoy the movie Legally Blonde the movie are considered "uncultured" for enjoying that piece of 2000's pop culture, I would argue that the opposite is true of the musical. The movie emphasizes how blondes can do anything, while the musical emphasizes the same point but in an enjoyably sarcastic way. The key to the difference between the movie and musical is Laurence O'Keefe. If it wasn't for his witty lyrics and catchy tempos, I would not have looked twice at this musical. However, the storyline became much more enjoyable because of his songs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_O%27Keefe_(composer) This link provides his history in composing and musical theater.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjkscx9Osmw This is a link to watch his most popular and my favorite musical, Legally Blonde the Musical.

http://www.legallyblondethemusical.com/ This link has information about the musical, such as synopsis and songs.

http://stageagent.com/shows/musical/738/bat-boy This link has information about his first muscial, Bat Boy the Musical

Warren Zevon has 

always been apart of my life; he was and still is my mother’s favorite artist.  Zevon’s music has always been different from any other music to me emotionally.  I can listen to his songs closer to his death when I’m sad, or his funny songs like Lawyers, Guns, and Money when I’m in a good mood. The thing all his music has in common is that you have to really listen to the words and melody to appreciate the quality.  Some of my favorites are the ones with orchestral accompaniment because they are so intricate.  I find the fact that most of his music is in minor keys interesting since most popular music is in majors.  Zevon was diagnosed with an inoperable lung cancer and a year later died.  While I was too young at the time to appreciate it Zevon spent the last year of his life working on an album. 

Enjoy every sandwich. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warren_Zevon

Wikipedia has a comprehensive summary of Zevon’s life before and during his music career. 

http://www.warrenzevon.com/index.html

This website has a list of all of Zevon’s music, photos of him, and a board where fans can post about him.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/warren-zevon-dies-20030908

Rolling Stone wrote an article after Zevon had died.  They gave a basic summary of his life and gave information about what caused his death.  Also, they wrote of his latest released album The Wind. 

Banksy

Banksy

"Yellow Lines Flower Painter" by Banksy demonstrates the importance 

of breaking everyday norms to enhance personal growth and creativity.

Banksy is a graffiti and street artist that can be recognized world wide by his stencil and spray painted artwork. The subject matter of his art tends to be somewhat controversial with huge political and social influence. In the 1990's his edgy art work started showing up around England which caused his viewers to question current political and social movements. As his popularity spread, his pieces started spontaneously showing up around the globe including around Europe, North America, Australia, Africa, and the Middle-East. Possibly the most intriguing part about Banksy is that although widely famous, he chooses to remain anonymous and stay out of the spot light that his work has granted him. 

Complete biography about Banky's life and artwork.

His most famous pieces of art are pictured here.

Locations around the globe that you can view his street art in person.

I really enjoy his art because it uses simple imagery to create an impactful message. The symbolism he has developed causes everyday people who happen to stumble upon his art to think critically about how our society operates and what we could be doing differently. I believe an artist should cause people to think differently, critically, and expand our horizons. Banksy does just that. His art is successful because he uses ironic paintings to force us to question the world around us. I also really like the fact that he remains anonymous and does not want to reap the benefits of being a world renowned artist, but thinks that the message is more important than his personal fame.

Jody Wisternoff

Jody Wisternoff is growing more and more popular in the electronic community. If you want to know more about him, check out his biography! http://www.residentadvisor.net/dj/jodywisternoff/biography

Jody Wisternoff is an English electronic producer and DJ. He mixes a variety of musical styles such as deep house and progressive. His first break was in the 1980s when he collaborated with his brother Sam Wisternoff to create a successful mix. Since then he has been touring the world to expose his music to people all over. 

This is the link to Jody's Soundcloud page: 

https://soundcloud.com/jodywisternoff

Here, Jody posts his most recent mixes and songs. He likes to share other artists that he is inspired by as well. He is features in a lot of electronic podcasts that he shares to his page for his fans to view. 

Jody is signed to the Anjunadeep label:

http://www.anjunadeep.com/

At this link, you can find the albums he has released. If you click on the album, there is a a short description of it and it tells you how successful it was. For example, if it was on the top of the iTunes Dance Chart. 

I have been touched by Jody Wisternoff's music a lot in the past few years. His deep house progressions send chills up my spine. After hearing his music I decided to attend one of his shows. First of all, his set was incredible and second, he was such a nice guy and down to earth. I had the pleasure of hanging out with him in the VIP section all night. It forever changed my perspective of electronic music.

Art Spiegelman

I recently learned about Art Spiegelman. He is married to his designer and editor Francoise Mouly.  Spiegelman is a cartoonist, most well known for his graphic novel "Maus". 

Maus follows Siegelman's father's tale through The Holocaust in concentration camps. The different cultures are represented as different animals in this graphic novel. In the graphic novel, readers can experience the "realness" of hearing a firsthand story about concentration camps, while having the buffer of cartoon images to help digest the story.

Spiegelman also inadvertently discusses how being in concentration camps affected the psyche of his father, and how that affected his own upbringing. There are several instances in which he has trouble dealing with his identity.  

"Maus" is the first graphic novel to ever win the Pulitzer Prize.

If you're interested in Art Spiegelman's work here is a link to his facebook page

Here is a more extensive biography, including video interviews, and other works by Art. 

Here is the link to where you can buy and read "Maus"

Marina Abramović

I just discovered this talented female performer a few months ago when a video of her went viral on the Internet. After watching a few of her videos, I felt so intrigued to find out more about this "unusual" performer and what she does. It turns out that her way of approaching art was, indeed, unusual, since not everyone is able to understand why she does what she does.

Here's an example of one of her works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0Tg0IjCp4

In this video, Marina, as a performer, spends a minute of total silence with strangers. Each member in the audience gets to sit with Marina for one minute without talking. The guy in this clip is Ulay, Marina's co-performer and ex-boyfriend for a long time. This was the moment when they first met again after breaking up at the Great Wall of China (they started from the two ends of the Great Wall, met right in the middle, hugged, and both went separate ways from there!).

I find her interesting because of her weird way of making arts. Those who do not understand often condemn her of doing "pointless art." In fact, if you see her videos, it does not really make any sense at all. It is only until you sit down and really think about it that it starts to have meanings.

I invite you to find out more about Marina Abramović at these websites:

http://www.marinaabramovic.com/home.html - This is Marina's website.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marina-Abramovic/300806525911 - This is her Facebook page where you can find her latest updates.

youtube.com - If you go to Youtube and search for Marina Abramović, it will show a ton of videos of her projects with Ulay.

Charles Mingus - Jazz Bassist, Pianist, Composer, Activist

Charles Mingus was one of the boldest artists of his time. The virtuosity of his playing paired with the messages he had for his audiences were some of the highlights of the jazz frontier between the 1940’s and the 1970’s. His work is steeped in activism, and his work is constantly pushing against the grain of the white American norm. His work gives a glimpse into the life of a black man living in America, and his voice has educated and empowered audiences endlessly ever since.

For a quick biography on Charles Mingus:

http://mingusmingusmingus.com/mingus

Mingus on bass with his quintet - Flowers for a Lady:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkTEfrmqxws

Mingus on piano – Myself When I’m Real:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCK6Feqz7wY