'Zero time for nostalgia'

I loved this interview with Laurie Anderson in the NYT magazine on Sunday. Genuine artists are so straightforward and ready for the next thing. Asked if she would like to bring her work to Broadway, she answers, "I have never seen more than four minutes of a Broadway musical. I went to see 'Cats,' and that is the closest I have ever come to a nervous breakdown."

I enjoy the music as a form, and never having seen "Cats" I can't agree or disagree about that case, but I have the feeling the kind of musical she's talking about -- little more than a theme park ride, with the audience sitting in place while everything else moves -- is not my bag. The closest I've ever come to something like that was "Urinetown," and that was actually pretty traditional as far as the form was concerned, nothing like "Cats." I think those A.L. Weber shows are scary.