man-down-in-hatchet-town - Tumblr blog

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Joe Walker's back, baby!

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WORKIN' BOYS IS OUT HERES THE GIRLS' PLAYBILL BIOS !!

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This tweet makes me feel things, and I don’t know how to process it

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Okay now that's it out I just want to say that

SPY ANOTHER DAY SPOILERS AHEAD

Curt and Joey bursting out down by the audience for their final "One Step Ahead" entrance made me jump so hard it was one of my favorite parts.

Also I totally got chills when Curt came out in The Outfit(TM)

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Spy another day made me like Barb

GUYS SHES SO MS FRIZZLE

“Science rules :D”

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I'm not crying you're crying

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So I Spied Another Day...

You know it was a good show when you can’t decide whether your heart is so full from all the love and joy, or so empty because it's over.

Really do buckle up, because this is a long one.

So the show went a little like this. They played the Spies pro-shoot on a giant movie screen, but any time a song started, the audio changed to the instrumental track, the video typically faded to simple background graphics, and the cast came out to perform the number live in concert style. There were also a series of audience participation prompts up on the movie screen, such as standing to deliver a line in unison, giving Lauren a standing ovation for the Pay Attention! Reprise, enthusiastically booing Dr. Baron von Nazi and the still infuriatingly catchy Not So Bad (for anyone who’s curious, in addition to encouraging boos and yelled disagreements with von Nazi, they also cut the audience participation bit from the song).

The energy in the room was so electric and full of joy and warmth. People shouted out iconic lines, went wild for everyone’s entrances, and absolutely lost their damn minds over Curtwen at pretty much every opportunity. And the cast were clearly having just as much fun. Doing This has always been my favorite, and there was something so sweet about them singing it again all these years later. We finally got Joey performing Spies Are Forever (Evil Reprise) again and it was just as chilling and beautiful as you’d expect. And One Step Ahead was just on a whole new level. I don’t want to give anything away, but the details in that performance were INCREDIBLE.

It was simply so special seeing most of the original gang come back while also bringing some new friends along. Shout out to Mariah for coming out at the top of the show so ready to play, setting the tone for the whole evening. Shout out to James for putting his comedy chops on full display (LET JAMES BE FUNNY MORE) and dancing the hell out of One More Shot (another favorite number). And shoutout to Carlos Alazraqui (taking over the roles of Sergio and Vladimir Poopin) and Tommy Link for coming into this crazy part of our world with such enthusiasm and silliness. Brian deserves a medal for agreeing to once again play the most cringe-worthy character in all of Pulp-StarCanWrecked history, and for sounding so fucking good while doing it. Tessa was having a blast in full unhinged glory and I gladly worship at her altar. Lauren is maybe the funniest person alive and deserved her standing ovation, prompted or not. Seeing Joe Walker perform live has been Item Number One on my fandom bucket list since I moved to LA a couple of years ago, and I still can’t quite believe I managed it. I’d wondered if he’d be rusty, but honestly he sounded great; it was like no time had passed. Mary Kate still has one of my all-time favorite voices and her Tatiana remains forever engaging. Joey showed up dressed to slay as a gay evil genius Bond-movie supervillain and proceeded to thoroughly deliver on that promise. And Curt… every time I watch Spies I am increasingly blown away by what he does with this arrogant, broken mess of a character. He clearly loves Agent Mega as much as any of us, and to see a performance refined and powered by such clear and thoughtful passion is just a huge treat.

(And while he wasn’t in the cast, I can’t not mention Corey. Between his roles as director and co-writer, so much of what Spies is comes directly from him and we don’t appreciate that nearly enough. And shout out to Esther Fallick for her wonderful work as Susan and the Informant. She might not have been there in person, but her incredible performance was with us the whole time.)

I know this is preaching to the choir, but Spies Are Forever really is such a special show. It’s a story about recovery, and devastating as it can be, I think there’s also something deeply healing about it at its core. For one thing, I know it played a huge role in mending my relationship with my asexuality. I will forever be grateful to it for existing, to TCB, Talkfine, and the original cast for creating it, and to those same people for maintaining its legacy with the amount of love and care it deserves. It was a privilege to be in the room as so many people came to celebrate this miraculous little musical. There were a couple of minor tech glitches (I wonder if they’ll even include the “big one”—the projector jumping over most of the staircase scene before getting fixed—in the digital ticket version), but nothing that could even begin to damper the magic of the night.

We all know that spies never die (except for Owen and the Informant, oops). And at times like this concert, I think this special little show with its short run in 2016 will prove to be just as immortal.

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Casual reminder that you can get your Spy Another Day digital ticket now, and then watch it once it's available (from what I understand by the 30th?)

According to The Internet, One Step Ahead is "HUGE" and "Gayer than 54 Below," so you definitely don't want to miss out on the Spies!

Plus, y'know, if we want TCB to do more amazing things in the future, and (most importantly!) be able to pay people a living wage, we have to give them our money if at all possible. Independent theatre only exists if we fund it!

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When my brother went to Spy Another Day with me, he leaned over during intermission and said "I'd forgotten von Nazi existed."

So that was fun for him, I guess.

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starring as marge in the starlight theater's workin' girls , HAILEY DILMORE !

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these are MY workin’ boy

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Yesterday Spies, today Workin' Boys... the cosmos really decided to play ball with me this week.

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Me, walking through the airport, looking at my fellow man and thinking “They don’t know I’m listening to a song about Dirty Girl Soup.”

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Blinky Demands Your Thoughts!

(Since, you know, he's incapable of simply asking for help...)

Hi Sniggles, Nighthawks, and the occasionally Timberwolf! Blinky has asked to announce that we are coming up on our first Non-Hatchetfield Palate Cleanser Watch Party! For while we know that Blinky has an eye set on that Tiny Town in Michigan, he's by no means a one-world God. After all, we don't call him the Watcher With A Thousand Eyes for nothing!

Help us choose which world Blinky should put an eye on next!

This is a super-quick two question survey (only one question required) and no personal information or emails are collected.

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In all the Spies excitement, can't forget about Blinky!

YOUR APOTHEOSIS IS UPON YOU!!

JOIN THE HIVE!!!

Erm, uh, I mean, it's time for our first Hatchetfield-themed palate cleanser! No end of the world here, no sir, just a musical, though if you're a certain guy named Paul that may be an even worse fate...

That's right! Blinky's watching The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals this weekend! Get your sniggle on and please join us for a visit back to the incredibly special show that started it all.

Please note that the THE WATCH PARTIES WILL BE ON SUNDAY (NOT SATURDAY) due to the Pit Stop In Hatchetfield Livestream. And because TGWDLM is a full musical and the two timeslots are so close together, we will be starting right at the announced time, instead of allowing for the usual grace period for people to join. Have a La-Dee-Dah-Dah Time Letting It Out!

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Okay so I'll write more about the frankly stupid amount of fun I just had at Spies when I have a little more time, but for now I just want to say that it really is such a special musical, and there's something... so great and life-affirming seeing the original cast and creators treat it and its fan community with the love and fun and care that it deserves. I'm really grateful for every single of one of them and what they brought to the stage tonight.

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Time to buckle up, let’s go…