Sara Ramirez

By now, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have amassed such a fund of goodwill with moviegoers that any new onscreen pairing brings nearly reflexive smiles. In You've Got Mail, the quintessential boy and girl next door repeat the tentative romantic crescendo that made Sleepless in Seattle, writer-director Nora Ephron's previous excursion with the duo, a massive hit. The prospective couple do actually meet face to face early on, but Mail otherwise repeats the earlier feature's gentle, extended tease of saving its romantic resolution until the final, gauzy shot. The underlying narrative is an even more old-fashioned romantic pas de deux that is casually hooked to a newfangled device. The script, cowritten by the director and her sister, Delia Ephron, updates and relocates the Ernst Lubitsch classic, The Shop Around the Corner, to contemporary Manhattan, where Joe Fox (Hanks) is a cheerfully rapacious merchant whose chain of book superstores is gobbling up smaller, more specialized shops such as the children's bookstore owned by Kathleen Kelly (Ryan). Their lives run in close parallel in the same idealized neighborhood, yet they first meet anonymously, online, where they gradually nurture a warm, even intimate correspondence. As they begin to wonder whether this e-mail flirtation might lead them to be soul mates, however, they meet and clash over their colliding business fortunes. It's no small testament to the two stars that we wind up liking and caring about them despite the inevitable (and highly manipulative) arc of the plot. Although their chemistry transcended the consciously improbable romantic premise of Sleepless, enabling director Ephron to attain a kind of amorous soufflé, this time around there's a slow leak that considerably deflates the affair. Less credulous viewers will challenge Joe's logic in prolonging the concealment of his online identity from Kathleen, and may shake their heads at Ephron's reinvention of Manhattan as a spotless, sun-dappled wonderland where everybody lives in million-dollar apartments and color coordinates their wardrobes for cocktail parties. --Sam Sutherland

By now, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan have amassed such a fund of goodwill with moviegoers that any new onscreen pairing brings nearly reflexive smiles. In You've Got Mail, the quintessential boy and girl next door repeat the tentative romantic crescendo that made Sleepless in Seattle, writer-director Nora Ephron's previous excursion with the duo, a massive hit. The prospective couple do actually meet face to face early on, but Mail otherwise repeats the earlier feature's gentle, extended tease of saving its romantic resolution until the final, gauzy shot. The underlying narrative is an even more old-fashioned romantic pas de deux that is casually hooked to a newfangled device. The script, cowritten by the director and her sister, Delia Ephron, updates and relocates the Ernst Lubitsch classic, The Shop Around the Corner, to contemporary Manhattan, where Joe Fox (Hanks) is a cheerfully rapacious merchant whose chain of book superstores is gobbling up smaller, more specialized shops such as the children's bookstore owned by Kathleen Kelly (Ryan). Their lives run in close parallel in the same idealized neighborhood, yet they first meet anonymously, online, where they gradually nurture a warm, even intimate correspondence. As they begin to wonder whether this e-mail flirtation might lead them to be soul mates, however, they meet and clash over their colliding business fortunes. It's no small testament to the two stars that we wind up liking and caring about them despite the inevitable (and highly manipulative) arc of the plot. Although their chemistry transcended the consciously improbable romantic premise of Sleepless, enabling director Ephron to attain a kind of amorous soufflé, this time around there's a slow leak that considerably deflates the affair. Less credulous viewers will challenge Joe's logic in prolonging the concealment of his online identity from Kathleen, and may shake their heads at Ephron's reinvention of Manhattan as a spotless, sun-dappled wonderland where everybody lives in million-dollar apartments and color coordinates their wardrobes for cocktail parties. --Sam Sutherland

Season seven of Grey's Anatomy breathes fresh life into the medical drama, with characters and connections suddenly coming alive again. There's romance, hospital backstabbing, heartbreak, and hope--and a lot of heart, as with the best seasons of Grey's. One of the running themes involves an important blind test designed by McDreamy (Patrick Dempsey) for a possible treatment for Alzheimer's, which tugs at both Meredith (Ellen Pompeo), whose mother died of the disease, and the chief (James Pickens Jr.), whose wife may be exhibiting symptoms. Meanwhile, Callie (Sara Ramirez, who really owns this season), heartbroken from the breakup with Arizona (Jessica Capshaw), finds out more news that sends her reeling. New characters are introduced, including Rachael Taylor as Lucy, a foxy new ob-gyn, whom Alex (Justin Chambers) has his eye on. The plots this season are the traditional Grey's cross of the dramatic (a horrible campus shooting fills the hospital with victims; a plane goes down in Puget Sound) and the deeply personal. After a couple of seasons of stability, Meredith and Derek find themselves at a horrifying crossroads. And death looks one of the cast members right in the eye. Season seven also includes the famed musical episode, which reminds the viewer why Ramirez was a Broadway star before she signed up with Grey's. Her solo on Brandi Carlile's "The Story" will give viewers goose bumps and maybe a few tears. It's a standout performance. The set includes a very funny gag reel, some interesting deleted scenes that seem worthy of having been included, and some singing outtakes of some of the songs most closely associated with Grey's Anatomy. Turns out the talented cast really does know how to save a life. --A.T. Hurley

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/13/2011 Run time: 946 minutes

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 09/14/2010 Run time: 1032 minutes

If Grey's Anatomy has sometimes foundered over its lifetime, season 6 gets the story lines back on track and keeps the action moving, and engaging, in every single episode. The cast changes are small but extremely effective: the growing focus on Owen (Kevin McKidd) and his relationship with Cristina (Sandra Oh), and the departure of one of the main doctors of Seattle Grace. The season focuses on several new world orders at the hospital, including the merger with another hospital and the subsequent jockeying for position by the two groups of doctors, and the battle of the chief, Dr. Webber (the amazingly talented James Pickens Jr., never better), with alcohol, and the resulting shift in power on the staff. The personal lives of the doctors are involving and sometimes surprising--the relationship of Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) and Callie (Sara Ramirez) takes on new importance and complications as the season plays out. For once, the coupledom of Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and McDreamy, Derek (Patrick Dempsey), is not in question, yet the writers manage to focus on making their challenges seem very real against the backdrop of turmoil in the workplace. This season of Grey's Anatomy also features one of the most intense, memorable, and elegantly executed season finales in recent memory. A former patient's family member, carrying an apparently bottomless grudge against Seattle Grace, affects the whole staff--the whole city--in a final episode that requires at least a couple of hankies. Yet the Grey's writers and directors never fall into melodrama, which gives this season its added layer of impact and involvement. Extras include more than 20 additional minutes of that season finale, a must-see for any Grey's Anatomy fan. There is also a cute bloopers feature, several excellent unaired scenes, and a lovely featurette on the Emmy-winning actress Chandra Wilson, who plays Dr. Amanda Bailey. Grey's Anatomy may be named for Pompeo's Dr. Grey, but it's Dr. Bailey who provides the soul of the series. An absolute must for any Grey's Anatomy fan. --A.T. Hurley

Studio: Buena Vista Home Video Release Date: 12/26/2008

In the third season of Grey's Anatomy, one medical intern will get married to a superior while another is left standing at the altar. Two interns will lose their parents. And one main character will try to commit suicide--or not fight very hard to save her own life. There will be multiple hook-ups, infidelity, and trust issues. In between the soap opera-style drama that attracts millions of viewers each week, interns Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Cristina Yang (Sandra Oh), Izzie Stevens (Katherine Heigl), Alex Karev (Justin Chambers), and George O'Malley (T.R. Knight) will also perform some medical miracles. At the end of season 2, Izzie was distraught over the death of her fiancé, Denny. Now she finds that her very rich boyfriend has left her millions of dollars. Instead of putting the money into the bank and allowing it to accrue interest until she decides what she wants to do with it--as sensible Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) suggests--Izzie mopes around the house in an irritating stupor. Actually, irritating is an apt description for several of the main characters. It takes a leap of faith to believe that sexy, spectacular, and rich orthopedic surgeon Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez) would be even vaguely interested in wishy-washy George. Previously, he'd convinced himself that he was in love with Meredith. Now he's pining for his other roommate, Izzie, even though he's already got Callie. And rather than welcoming her into their fold, Izzie and Meredith (and to a lesser extent Cristina) give Callie the mean-girls treatment. They may have rebuffed him at one point, but they don't want Callie to have him, either. There is something very needy about this group of interns who have no one to turn to but each other when a crisis occurs. Viewers get some insight into "dark and twisty" Meredith's upbringing, as she spends more time with her cold and demanding mother, who is suffering from Alzheimer's, and her milquetoast father, who didn't fight very hard to have contact with her as a child after her mom kicked him out of their house. It's no wonder Meredith ended up emotionally damaged and unwilling to completely open up to Derek Shepherd (Patrick Dempsey) ... a.k.a. McDreamy. Though the show's title implies that Meredith is the most important character, it's not true. The ensemble cast, which also includes James Pickens Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber (who had a long and complicated affair with Meredith's mother) and Kate Walsh as Derek's ex-wife Addison, is fantastic. And it's difficult to outshine Oh, who has some of this season's funniest and emotional moments as she navigates a relationship with Preston Burke (Isaiah Washington), who is far more romantic and traditional than she is. Though not as compelling as the show's debut season, this third year still packs a strong emotional punch. --Jae-Ha Kim

Synthetic Costume Wig: Sara Ramirez style wig, from the cast of "Grey’s Anatomy"

The movie version of Kander and Ebb's Chicago was long in the making, but it's well worth the wait. Director Rob Marshall's main change was to turn the classic musical numbers into fantasy sequences, but of course this isn't obvious on CD. Most importantly, the arrangements are bursting with life while being true to the show's spirit, and the casting is simply inspired. Catherine Zeta-Jones actually started her career on the British boards (she was in The Pajama Game and 42nd Street), so her turn as slinky Velma Kelly isn't that surprising; Renée Zellweger as Roxie Hart is more of a leftfield choice, but she shows she can handle the singing demands with pizzazz. The real revelation may well be rapper Queen Latifah, who belts out "When You're Good to Mama" with a marvelous affinity for the material. OK, so the R&B reprise of "Cell Block Tango/He Had It Coming" by Queen Latifah, Macy Gray, and Lil' Kim fails to convince, while Anastacia's "Love Is a Crime" is just blah (rest easy, purists, it's over the end credits). On the other hand, the CD provides two bonuses: "Class," which was cut from the movie, and "I Move On," a great duet written by Kander and Ebb for the final cut. It's really easy to mess up film adaptations of Broadway shows. Happily, Chicago proves it can be done right. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

As gleefully silly yet wickedly smart as the beloved British comedy troupe and their 1975 cinematic savaging of the Arthurian legend that inspired it, this adaptation of Monty Python and the Holy Grail by MP's Eric Idle and longtime musical co-conspirator John Du Prez has much more on its feverish agenda than merely trashing King Arthur and firmly upending his Round Table. The film's plot remains largely intact, but its core songs ("Knights of the Round Table," "Brave Sir Robin") and comic thrust have been both expanded and satirically redirected, a musical comedy shotgun that takes dizzy aim at pop culture in general, and Broadway in particular. After typically Pythonesque distractions that somehow find us in "Finland..," stars David Hyde-Pierce, Tim Curry, Hank Azaria and company get busy conjuring the Lady of the Lake with the unlikely help of "Laker Girls..," while cast members Sara Ramirez and Christopher Sieber deliciously skewer contemporary Broadway cliches via the loopy showstopper "The Song That Goes Like This," a tune whose reprise also deliciously sends up every overwrought stage diva from Merman to Minelli. Idle has shrewdly ripped off--well, interpolated--Life of Brian's "Always Look On the Bright Side" for the new show, and even a snatch of "The Lumberjack Song" in "He Is Not Dead Yet." "You Won't Succeed on Broadway" reveals the frankly Semitic secret to stage success, and the French get can-canned on "Run Away!" Meanwhile, our bravest knight is de-closeted on the Manilow-mauling "His Name is Lancelot" before the familiar sound of clomping coconut shells brings down the curtain on the season's goofiest if satirically dead-on comic delight. --Jerry McCulley Have Fun with More Irreverent Musicals Urinetown The Rocky Horror Picture Show The Frogs Zanna Don't Hedwig and the Angry Inch Avenue Q

Monty Python's Spamalot (2005 Original Broadway Cast Recording)

Many know Georgia Stitt as the vocal coach on the primetime reality series Grease: You're the One That I Want, but she has a thriving "side" business as an arranger, conductor, musical director, pianist and songwriter. It's the latter aspect that gets showcased on this album, in which Stitt's songs are performed by a collection of topnotch Broadway pros. The overall mood is one of thoughtful longing, emphasized by largely acoustic arrangements, mostly by either Stitt or her husband, Jason Robert Brown (The Last 5 Years). While perfectly crafted, the songs quickly blend into each other; their share a certain polite, "beige" elegance that also lacks inner fire. This makes the tracks breaking from that mold stand out even more: Jenn Colella brings a nice twang to the rollicking "Big Wings;" Faith Prince sounds positively delighted on the jaunty "I Get to Show You the Ocean;" and Kelli O'Hara demonstrates why she's one of the finest interpreters on Broadway on the sepia-tinted "Perfect Summer," which sometimes sounds like something cut from a 1940s musical (Stitt herself plays the piano on all three songs). --Elisabeth Vincentelli

THIS ORDINARY THURSDAY, the extraordinary debut album of songs by Georgia Stitt, features vocals by some of Broadway's brightest stars, including Sara Ramirez (Tony Award-winner for Spamalot, currently starring on TV's Grey's Anatomy), Faith Prince (Tony Award-winner for Guys and Dolls), Susan Egan (Broadway's original Belle in Beauty and the Beast), Kelli O'Hara (Tony nominee for Pajama Game, opposite Harry Connick), and Matthew Morrison (Tony nominee for Light in the Piazza). Seen by millions each week as the vocal coach on NBC's primetime series, GREASE: You're the One That I Want, Georgia Stitt is known as a composer-lyricist with a style and sensibility all her own. Clever, sophisticated, and memorably melodic, THIS ORDINARY THURSDAY is one debut album not to be missed.

The Story"" is the first single from Brandi Carlile's 2007 album of the same name. Embraced by radio stations, it has since been featured in numerous television advertisements and prime-time shows like Grey's Anatomy, including the March 2011 episode in which it was sung by actress Sara Ramirez. With compelling lyrics and a distinctly original melody, ""The Story"" is now available as an official sheet music edition release.

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