#Cirque Reviews

[themidnightcircusshow]

The Queen’s Choice by Anne O’Brien

The Queen’s Choice is a pretty average novel, with some good tidbits and some things that got under my skin. But it’s main problems aren’t bad history (though there is some of that), but bad writing. It has the same problem that a lot of historical fiction in the vein of Philippa Gregory has, where the heroine of the novel is not necessarily present at a lot of historically significant moments. The way to counteract this problem is by making her the focus of her own plot, so we aren’t left with nothing but a conspicuous absence. The Queen’s Choice goes in the opposite direction-- almost every important plot element happens off screen. Even the choice the novel is named for happens only in exposition. Joanna’s imprisonment happens after a six year time skip, so it truly comes out of nowhere. The battle of Shrewsbury, the execution of Archbishop Scrope, most of Henry and Joanna’s marriage takes place in letters or single sentences that get cast aside. It conveys, perhaps more than Anne O’Brien intended, that Joanna was a Queen with nothing to do and no importance. Which makes it increasingly laughable every time Joanna is praised for her political knowledge and ability to give good counsel, when we never see her express either attribute and she gets shot down whenever she tries. This Joanna is ironically far less active than any of the information about her indicates, and her characterisation is too flat to give her any other impact.

To put it frankly, it reads like fanfiction-- not just because it’s an easy read, but because it feels like a companion piece, the kind of fic you write about a side character you like but who isn’t very involved in the main plot. If you don’t already know this time period in depth, you won’t have any idea what is going on. 

Little Details I liked

Humphrey cheerfully recounting all the ways his father has nearly been murdered.

The concern about Joanna’s entourage and ties to Brittany is shown well. None of it relates at all to her imprisonment, so the foreshadowing and payoff are completely divorced from one another, but it’s nice to see an attempt.

Similarly, Joanna is shown to indulge in plenty of herbs, as does a lot of other characters. I just like when it’s shown a lot of people use potions and tinctures and the like, and how the line between that and witchcraft is essentially whether a person likes you or not.

We get to see a glimpse of Henry’s rising paranoia after taking the crown. It goes nowhere, and the most pressing examples of it are left aside, but again, an attempt was made. Sort of. 

Stuff that Irked Me

Blanche is referred to as dying in childbirth. Again. 

Henry is barely given a character. Their romance is never given enough detail to be convincing. Frankly, I wonder if the author was more interested in the storyline with Thomas than the one with Henry. 

Humphrey stands around listening to people call Hal selfish, greedy, and all sorts after Joanna’s imprisonment, and does nothing. Humphrey.

Henry Beaufort’s characterisation is neither consistent nor sensical. 

Henry IV supports the Burgundians in this book, but is reluctant to go to war. Still, he is determined to lead the invasion himself. This plot line is never resolved in a way that makes it historically accurate, it’s just dropped. 

Hal is seen on screen perhaps five times. The first is after the Battle of Shrewsbury, where Joanna offers him potions for his scar. The second is him being mentioned to be talking about violently quashing the Welsh. The third, him demanding Henry abdicate (and demand is the right word. Little argument is made, and none that would suggest Hal is concerned at all about Henry’s ill health, just that he wants the power for himself). The fourth is at Henry’s deathbed, wherein Joanna says Hal doesn’t like her very much. Based on these few scenes, and the final chapters in the book where every character on screen (except Humphrey, but he doesn’t say otherwise) is quick to call Hal various insults, I think that Hal is meant to simply be taken as evil. Hal is undoubtedly the villain of Joanna’s story, but as soon as we get Henry saying Hal doesn’t understand why you would want an outspoken wife and Joanna claiming Hal would never take the advice of a woman (forgetting, of course, that Joanna was very active in Hal’s court when he first became King, and Joan FitzAlan’s entire existence), there is no longer room for nuance and subtlety. He is sexist, and violent, and greedy, and he is either Evil or at the very least a real prick who not even his uncle and brother can defend. While wholly unintentional, considering Joanna shows sympathy towards Hal about it and it only, I’m still somewhat annoyed that one of the only times we get Hal with his scar, it’s when he is intended to be as unsympathetic as possible. 

[hallowraith]

Friendly reminder the CDF manga IS back in print (the omnibus edition!). They include some extra full color artwork pages from Arai and are 25% bigger print! Get your copies before they are gone.

[sweepseven]

Cirque du Soleil Bazzar review

Happy 24th Cirque show and 60th (!!) performance to me! I did not specifically plan to see Bazzar this year, but as these things weirdly tend to for me, it worked out anyway. I had been interested to see this show for some time, though not for my usual reasons: I was very taken by its development but distinctly disinterested in the show itself. There were some acts I was keen to see but nothing about the theme, costumes, or music ever really grabbed or even attracted me. But I was very drawn to the story of its unexpected post-pan revival: it did well where intended (smaller Asian audiences), and then it seemed to surge even further, potentially beyond anywhere Cirque initially expected. Good for the show, but... is it good for Cirque?

I am extremely glad I saw Bazzar, not because it rocked my world, but because I feel like Cirque has tipped its hand in a very weird way with this one. For the very first time I felt like the Cirque du Soleil brand actively harmed its own show. For the very first time I thought a tent show actually belonged anywhere but under a tent. And as with most shows that generate the densest reviews from me (and this one is dense), there were so many glaring areas for improvement that I want to take the entire creative team, shake them by the shoulders, and demand "why did you half-ass something with so much potential??"

But we know why. No one expected this show to see much of the world beyond Asia. This was their fun, low-cost experiment for small international markets. But suddenly Cirque is exiting the pandemic with a viciously public bankruptcy. Suddenly they have to face a stunning track record of recent failures (Paramour, RUN, Axel, Nysa's utter failure to launch). The only thing new on the docket is a disaster of a show in development that the pandemic probably did a favor to by ensuring it was scrapped and rebuilt (Under the Same Sky).

But they had Bazzar. And it was doing well. So off it goes on a traditional Grand Chapiteau tour whether one suits it or not.

Did I have fun at Bazzar? Categorically yes. This is a bright, energetic, honest show with stunning and unique acts deserving of very high praise. I smiled the whole time. But will this review focus more on what Bazzar reveals about Cirque as we know it today? Also yes. I'll include an act by act breakdown as usual, but not before we take a painfully close look at everything else, beginning with four key observations:

Bazzar does not belong under a Grand Chapiteau.

I want to be very clear that this is not the fault of the show. This is Cirque's misstep. They developed a smaller show meant to be presented under a smaller tent, then repackaged it inside a traditional GC and thought the audience wouldn't know the difference. We did. I knew it from the moment I noticed there were no spotlight operators ascending the pylons just before the top of the show. Simply put, Bazzar does not utilize its space. There is not an act, a moment, a set piece, or an interlude (there are actually basically no interludes at all - more on that later) that necessitates a 270 degree view. Every part of this show could be presented in a traditional theater.

And it would do so well in one. That's where this fucking gets me. Bazzar would work tremendously well touring in traditional theaters, and Cirque has never tried it before. I could see this show at the New Victory Theatre on Broadway so clearly it hurts. Bazzar has the spirit of a show that makes an impact in 72, maybe 96 hours and then moves on to the next stop arena-style, but without the gaping chasm of an arena format. It is an intimate show, it does embrace its audience. So why hasn't Cirque given Bazzar a single act that takes advantage of the space it's granted? It has aerial straps, but we don't want to fly the artist over the audience? It has slackline, but we don't want to do any sort of creative rigging? It has a huge emphasis on dance, but we don't want to bring that into the aisles even once?? Why are we here, people??

The truth is we don't need to be. We do not need to be in this tent. And it is immensely difficult for a show to capture the hearts of a 2,600+ seat tent when it was never designed to do so. We are better off with a traditional straight-on view and an orch/mezz/balc setup that will let the intent and staging of the show shine.

Bazzar would do well to distance itself from its parent company's name.

Bazzar does this really weird and uncomfortable thing where it reminds you like ten times over that you're at Cirque du Soleil. You're actually directed by the Maestro to respond "wowwwwww" whenever they say "Cirque du Soleil." Which is often.

But very little about the show says "Cirque" besides the tent and the acrobatics. I actually feel strongly that this show could have been put on - and to even better effect - by a company like Cirque Mechanics. They are small, scrappy, innovative as hell, and guess what! They tour traditional theaters!! They produce infectiously magical shows that marry movement and structure - they would be a splendid match for the spirit and content of Bazzar. Instead Cirque falls over itself in the effort of reminding you that you're at one of their shows, which ultimately evokes a response of "...aight." We know. We paid the ticket price. No one cares. It's strange and fourth wall breaking. Let Bazzar be Bazzar, which it is very good at doing. If you have to insist on your brand this overtly, maybe it's time to ask yourself whether your brand speaks for itself at all anymore.

Bazzar betrays a careless development.

I saw the "someone takes the magic hat" show. It was called Quidam and it ruined my life. I saw the "conductor-like entity passes the torch" show. It was called Kooza and it ruined my life. I saw the "zany shit happens in a zany world" show. It was called Kurios and it didn't ruin my life, but god was it fun and memorable as hell. So again I ask Cirque, what are we doing here??

Bazzar could have been the "Fantasia" of CdS. Music made movement. It even says so right in the beginning (in English, I might add, so there is no missing it): "Everything is music." This is a unique and potentially beautiful theme. And there are moments in the show where it's illustrated quite vividly, usually in the form of the Maestro conducting the audience, who were more than willing to participate.

But I challenge someone on the creative team to tell me what any of the acts do to service this theme. The big emphasis on dance is an excellent value add, but apart from that and an excellent showcasing of the band, there is nothing that screams "music matters." There is only a confused "broken hat" throughline so pointless that it weakens both plot and theme at the same time. It is shocking to me that at no point during development did someone ask "what are we even doing with this hat."

(Conspiracy theory: they did ask. They asked and then they realized a broken baton would be 10x more meaningful to a conductor than a hat. But then they remembered that not only was Kooza the "pass the torch" show, it was also the "haywire baton" show. So. Better to retread the ground of three shows rather than the same show twice over, I guess.)

The best thing Bazzar could do is abandon all hints at a plot entirely. We don't need one. Sometimes the show just is "guy conducts" and that's perfect. Look at Corteo - "guy dies." Look at Zed - "guy explores." Look at Dralion - "there's elements." All fantastic, evocative shows. Instead Bazzar trips along in its effort to replicate Kurios' magic with none of the commitment to setting or theme. But hey, at least you know you're at Cirque du Soleil, right? ("Wowwwwww.")

Ultimately, Bazzar has solidified my belief that Cirque is closing in on ten straight years of unremarkable original shows.

I want to emphasize "original" here - I consider Alegria IANL a remake (and you know I think it's a work of art), and I consider Drawn to Life a collaboration (and you know I think it's adorable). Apart from those, it's time to admit that Cirque has been all emotional and thematic misses since Luzia. Believe me when I say I take absolutely no pleasure in this realization. But something about seeing Bazzar made me sit back and think, "Shit. The good old days really are behind us."

I watched this show and felt genuinely sorry for the people next to me that didn't return after intermission. They told me it was their first ever show. What if we'd been at Varekai instead? Would they have made it through? Would it have made lifelong fans out of them? And what about newer fans who came to Cirque even too recently to enjoy the Dragone arena era? They are here just in time to witness spectacular shows like LOVE close and yet may never understand the true depth this company is capable of delivering. More than fun, more than escapism, but true works of art that challenged emotion and left you a changed person when you exited the tent.

Fun and escapism are great. But tons of companies do that, and Cirque was so much more for a very, very long time. I am running out of ways to communicate that without sounding dismayed for newer fans or diminishing the enjoyment they derive from what shows they are able to see live. I can only encourage them to seek out IANL, Corteo, or Luzia (or if life takes them to Vegas - Mystere, O, or Ka). That is what we used to have. That was the standard and expectation, all of the time. That is what you deserve.

Anyway. Writing all this bummed me out. I really did have fun at Bazzar, too. I'm just so exhausted by the bar being set at "fun" and "neat" and "silly," both by the company and newer audiences. That actually isn't good enough. Your time, emotion, and money (especially at this price point) are worth so, so much more.

Act by act time ig. Actual placement of non-act elements might be a little out of order.

Preshow - Maestro and band collaborate in physically playing with beats (think imaginary ball dribbles and tosses to bass hits). Right away you can see that the Maestro is an excellent and infectious physical actor.

Opening - "Everything is music." I'll tell you what the fuck is music - the musician on tenor sax absolutely ripping it at center stage. Such high energy, and even the dancing and general acrobatics behind him couldn't pull focus. He was one of the highlights of the entire show - if it wasn't percussion and it wasn't keyboards, it was him. What a talent and what a powerhouse.

Unfortunately the singer was out tonight, so I didn't get to see her live. While I don't think her character would have done much to enhance the overall show, it did diminish the effect of the theme. "Everything is music... anyway here's a three piece band and some pre-recorded vocals." Bad luck.

Teeterboard - A relatively quick three-man act. Fun and high energy but otherwise pretty unremarkable.

Roller skating - Now we're talking. I was really really happy to see a roller skating act that leaned on some truly technically difficult tricks instead of the usual flashy ones. They had flash too, don't get me wrong, but I think this was particularly well balanced for a roller skating act.

Aerial straps - YES. SIR. I didn't know this show had aerial straps so I originally thought it might be in rotation for something, but about a minute in that theory was quickly refuted. I've never seen a man perform such a bendy straps act. He was a fantastic front bender, ridiculously strong, beautiful lines, and completely daring. This was a highlight of the night.

Acrobatic bicycle - This was cute and had the length of an act but somehow still felt like a bridge rather than a full act in its own right. It's hard to describe - the artist couldn't have had more fun, his stage presence was infectious, but I kept expecting it to end earlier than it did.

Mallakhamb - I was most excited to see this. I haven't seen anyone perform this act live since like.... 2016, and certainly never in Cirque. It wholly delivered. The success of this act alone should spur Cirque to seek out more unique, global disciplines. What a fantastic choice to feature a discipline straight out of the show's origin country. The four dancers (Pink, Yellow, Purple, and Red for this act) did a ton to heighten the energy, too.

Duo trapeze - This act at first made me think "Totem's Lovebirds Lite." It started out cute but a bit unpolished, and I think we could have gotten more emotional connection had the music stood out more. They really kicked it up at the end with some fun drops and a twisting of the trapeze you rarely see in static, much less duo. I really liked it in the end.

Vertical rope - D A M N. This artist absolutely killed it. Fierce, dynamic, and unrelenting. Press kit tells me this character is called the Floating Woman, but she was called what sounded like Rochambeau several times by the Maestro, particularly when she took off with the hat or broke it or whatever she did (or maybe she just took it and Mini Maestro later broke it... I promise you it does not matter either way). Since she was already established as a key enough character to name and to serve as a forward mover of our pointless plot, I admit I did expect this act to do more narrative work. Instead it's just her performing, which she does beautifully, but it doesn't add anything to the broader story in the way you might hope or expect given the way she was previously established. Regardless this was one of my favorite acts of the entire evening.

Slackline - Big fun. Happy to see another unique act for a touring show. The audience went wild for him.

Cyr wheel - This act was performed by someone that somewhat resembled Rochambeau rather than Mini Maestro, whom I understand used to perform it a while ago. Now it seems this act is in rotation but I can't for the life of me figure out what it was in for. Again, this act was solid but not really doing anything different from what we've seen before. But maybe my cyr opinions are forever tarnished after seeing Ghislain in Alegria so recently.

Hand to hand - Okay this one actually made me kind of angry. This act is doing something. There is real chemistry, there is excellent choreography, there are all the trappings of an act accomplishing something other than "looking cool." But not only does Bazzar outright refuse to let its acts have any meaningful impact on the show, it's given these three artists some of the worst wigs I've seen in all my Cirque days. I wanted this act to teach Ovo a thing or two. Hell, I wanted it to teach Alegria a thing or two. It's genuinely better than both! It screamed wasted potential and while I enjoyed it, I found myself aggravated on behalf of the artists. It felt like watching them get short-changed.

Fire - Fave of the night. Holy hell. The music alone. I'll get more into the music overall in a sec, but this was one of the few songs that stood out to me as distinctly unique from the rest of the soundtrack. We did have one drop but who the fuck caaaares, this guy absolutely rocked it. More often in Cirque you see this type of act performed specifically as "fire knife dance" with a tangible emphasis on the discipline's Polynesian origins. While it's clear that influence and training are present here, this act seemed to favor inspiration from the rave scene and flow arts. The music had a clear EDM edge to match, which of course I adored. Can't say enough good things about the entire experience of this act.

Finale/hair hang/juggling/hoops/cyr wheel (again?) - It seems like the finale was going for a charivari-style energy, but unfortunately it doesn't have the impact it could. Charivari makes a great opening in Kooza because it welcomes you into the thematic energy of the show. It also makes a fantastic finale for Zed, where it calls back to every single feat you saw up until the very end. Here we instead see some really cool stuff, but they're totally disconnected from the rest of the show and sharing the stage between so many disciplines robs the audience of a moment to appreciate any of them in full. The only un-disconnected moment was cyr wheel, but only because we'd already seen it, and at this point it feels even weirder because you're looking at the same thing twice when everything else onstage at the moment is new. It's just poor execution.

The show ends with the hat finally being fixed, which of course doesn't matter because the hat never had any impact on the world. Maestro hands it off to Mini Maestro, whom until this moment didn't appear to want, deserve, or otherwise have any sort of vested interest in it beyond "hat important." Rochambeau is there too and it's kind of like... should she be given a chance instead? Has she had some sort of redemption moment I blinked and missed, or is she just an impish lil scamp and we don't care that she kicked off this whole meaningless chain of events? Why do both of these characters exist when neither completes any sort of meaningful work? Whatever. Bazzar doesn't care so I guess I shouldn't either. All dance, all smiles, the end.

Music - This was interesting to me because the music is good, but it's also very rarely distinct. It has a similar feeling to Echo in that way, but comes away the stronger of the two because at least Bazzar's music is fun and energetic rather than Echo's "ethereal for ethereal's sake" style. For a show where "everything is music," you'd think they'd put forth some effort to distinguish most songs from one another.

Dance/general cast - LOVE. Love. Listen to me: love. Dance is this show's strength and it knows it, and it was such a treat to see it highlighted so deliberately and frequently. Some of the main dancers were highlighted less than others (Blue, where were you hiding so often? :(( ), but whenever they accompanied a proper act, they were ever a plus and never a distraction. This is also an excellent moment to note that this entire cast is incandescently happy to be there. Their energy is infectious and they are responsible for the smile that stuck to my face for the duration.

I do feel like the average age of the cast was like... 26. And it's only that high because Maestro was like in his fifties. I know this is a simpler show, but between the cast ages and general lack of thematic polish, a very snobby part of me was thinking "Circus Smirkus" at times. TO BE CLEAR: Circus Smirkus produces incredible performers and is a vital part of the American circus tradition. But Bazzar seems like the kind of show an artist starts at before "graduating" to something more serious and artistic within the company.

Costumes - Way better in action than they look in pictures! At times they really do look like sketches in motion. The dancers' costumes were pretty uneven in places - clearly someone loved Red but didn't care whether Green lived or died, for example - but I was continually and pleasantly surprised to see such structure affording so much movement.

Plot notes - I've mentioned it a couple times now but the broken hat doesn't mean a fucking thing. Maestro points at it, says it's important, it breaks, and there are a grand total of zero consequences from there on out. This colorful, musical world doesn't fall into discordance (hi Kooza). Other characters don't attempt to grab a piece of Maestro's apparent authority (hi Alegria). We all just carry on as normal, and when it's fixed, we're told this is good and a relief and we all celebrate Mini Maestro, a wholly pointless character whose inheritance of the hat is, you guessed it, also pointless. I'm telling you, this show would be orders of magnitude better without any of it. It truly deserves more than this less than half baked effort.

There were a grand total of two interludes: one where EMTs attempt to resuscitate the broken hat, and another frankly embarrassing one where the Maestro wanders around with some facsimile of a VR headset for like, way too long. The impact of this latter interlude is: VR is topical, right? The rest of the show is just act to act to act to act with no breaks in between, no moment to breathe or appreciate, no time to piece together a broader experience.

However there were also no clowns, which to me is often an advantage lol.

So that's it! My advice is see Bazzar if it comes near you, but I implore you not to spend more than $80 on a ticket. Be prepared to smile a lot and feel a little bit like Cirque thinks you're stupid. And if we make it to 2026 without some real improvement in Cirque's body of original work... I dunno, people. I don't know how many more times I can say "wowwwwww" without meaning it. Not at the level I invest my time, travel, and care into these shows.

[necromatador]

I know people aren't like...familiar with pronunciations of stuff from ancient Greek stuff all the time but there's a special frustration at hearing a name literally pronounced in a song and hearing the person reacting to/reviewing the song say it a completely different way.

[katnisshawkeye]

Il Circo della Notte

Scheda informativa

Titolo originale: Night Circus Autore: Erin Morgenstern Editore: Fazi Editore Prima edizione: luglio 2021 Pagine: 514 Prezzo: € 15,00

Trama

Il circolo si apre al crepuscolo e chiude all’aurora. Inaugurato nella Londra vittoriana di fine Ottocento, gira per tutto il mondo, con un seguito di sognatori conquistati per sempre dalle sue meraviglie. Ogni notte, nei tendoni a striscie bianche e nere vengono messi in scena spettacoli sofisticati e numeri incredibili, tanto da sembrare magici. In realtà, dietro le quinte del circo è in corso un duello di veri incantesimi, di cui solo pochi sono a conoscenza. Celia e Marco sono due giovani maghi addestrati fin dall’infanzia a combattere l’una contro l’altro dai loro rispettivi mentori, due misteriosi esperti dell’occulto, rivali fin dalla notte dei tempi. Mentre l’illusionista Celia incanta tutte le notti il pubblico nel suo tendone, il discreto Marco, ingaggiato come assistente del proprietario del circo, controbatte creando attrazione sempre più elaborate e potenti. Nessuno ha messo in conto, però, l’amore che quasi inevitabilmente sboccia tra i due; un sentimento così profondo e prodigioso che scatena pericolose scintille a ogni sguardo rubato e che travolge un’intera sala non appena le loro dita si sfiorano. Ma la sfida tra Celia e Marco non può durare in eterno e solo uno di loro ne dovrà essere il vincitore. Gli anni passano, il circo diventa sempre più celebre, ma il destino di tutti colori che hanno contribuito a rendere possibile questo meraviglioso luogo è in bilico, proprio come gli acrobati che volteggiano ogni notte nei tendoni.

Recensione

Il Circo della Notte è un romanzo dove c’è assenza di colore (nero) contrapposta alla luce (bianco), nel quale però si intromette con eleganza il carminio curioso e affascinato. Perché il Le Cirque des Rêves è un luogo che affascina e meraviglia, che ti fa venire voglia di tornare anche quando è definitivamente chiuso, e così è il libro che ne parla, facendoti scoprire l’impossibile, convincendoti che tutto è possibile, anche la cosa che si trova più assurda. La prosa è ricca ed evocativa, moderna e scorrevole, seppure parli di un mondo passato, che a volte si associa a pomposità e a pesantezza. È assolutamente consona, invece, al mondo che racconta, un mondo che spesso si associa tra gli anni a cavallo dell’Ottocento e del Novecento, itinerante non solo perché si sposta da una località all’altra ma, anche, perché arriva inaspettato e inaspettatamente se ne va, lasciandoti con la meraviglia ancora negli occhi, nella mente e nel cuore.

Il passaparola è più importante dell’inchiostro, o dei punti esclamativi su manifesti e locandine.

Ma il Le Cirque des Rêves non a bisogno né di manifesti né di passaparola, poiché già il suo arrivo è una garanzia:

[...] Eppure con l’approssimarsi del buio un folto gruppo è già in attesa, là fuori.  E tu sei fra loro, naturalmente. La tua curiosità ha avuto la meglio, come d’abitudine. [...]

La narrazione si rivolge direttamente al lettore, rompendo la quarta parete per coinvolgerti nella sua meraviglia, che tu accogli con gli occhi di un bambino, cercando di capire, esplorare, sempre di più di questo mondo che sembra essere incantato, magico, uscito da un’altra dimensione. Anche quando la narrazione non si rivolge direttamente al lettore, ma a uno dei personaggi della storia, è lì per te, per incoraggiarti e per accoglierti nel suo mondo.

[...] Non sei un predestinato, un prescelto. [...] Sei nel posto giusto al momento giusto, e te ne importa abbastanza per fare ciò che è necessario. A volte basta questo.

Valutazione

★★★★★ 5/5

Della stessa autrice

Il Mare Senza Stelle, Fazi Editore, 2020

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[emeto-film-critic]

Cirque Du Soleil Live Performances

Live performances may change. All reviews have the year the performance was viewed. Review is for the scripted performance only.

Kooza - 2023

SAFE/Caution - A,V•

•A,V• In the first portion during the performance as they are trying to choose a guest from the audience. As they go around, they make fun of the potential interactive helper. When they acknowledge a third possible choice, the "King" puffs his cheeks. The "King" and his subjects pretend to v* multiple times. Audio and body language may be triggering.

Kurious - 2022

SAFE/Caution - A,V•

In the first portion during the performance, as the audience guest is sitting on a couch on stage, the preformer is pretending to be a cat. He climbs onto the couch on all fours and pretends to cough up a hairball. Audio and body language may be triggering.

Crystal - 2017

SAFE

Ovo - 2016

SAFE

Echo - 2024

SAFE

[dargeereads]

White Lies by Skye Warren

 5 stars

Wow, I wasn’t sure where this was going to go, and it certainly took me on a wild ride! We left the last book with our heroine kidnapped, and our hero in a funk after sending her away. How the truths came out, unexpected. How the stories, seemingly separate, intertwined, unforeseen. How all things hopeless came together, unanticipated. How that ending took a twist, just when it seemed all things were worked out, unpredicted. Cannot wait for the third book in this trilogy, Black Sheep, and what else is in store for Sienna and Logan!

[adamwatchesmovies]

Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (2009)

While I didn't enjoy this film, that doesn't mean you won't. No matter what I say, the people involved in this project did it: they actually made a movie. That's something to be applauded. With that established...

2009’s Cirque du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant strove to be another Harry Potter before the YA novel thing really became a big Hollywood trend. It’s easy to see why it didn’t become a series. Its baffling choices make this feel like a mish-mash of ideas, most of which go nowhere.

15-year-old Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia) and his troublemaker best friend Steve Leonard (Josh Hutcherson, who went on to play Peeta in The Hunger Games series) visit the Cirque du Freak freak show. While Steve is terrified by the vampire Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly), Darren succumbs to his curiosity and steals Crepsley's spider. When the arachnid’s bite mortally wounds Steve, Darren barters his life for a cure. Now, he is Crepsley’s half-vampire assistant and on his way to becoming a member of the Cirque du Freak.

Based on the first three books of Darren Shan’s Vampire Blood series, this film moves very quickly yet somehow feels slow and dull. The first mark against Vampire's Assistant is Chris Massoglia, who has absolutely zero charisma or screen presence. To be fair, the material he’s working with is weak. The character’s fascination with spiders has little bearing on the plot following the theft and he under-reacts to what happens afterward. Not all the blame can be placed on the young performer but he sure doesn’t help. It’s an early sign of director Chris Weitz was having an off-week.

Anyone looking at the film can immediately spot what’s wrong with it. This is a very silly production that has no idea how silly it is. Willem Dafoe has a tiny role as a vampire and his costume/makeup makes him look like an amateur crossdresser. It gets even worse when we're told about the vampire’s secret, decades-old enemies: the Vampaneze. You see, vampires are the good ones. They don’t kill people to drink their blood. The Vampaneze though, they’re the bad ones. "Vampaneze"? You couldn’t dig through the books of mythology to find ANYTHING more intimidating? You already have Michael Servers as this effeminate Uncle Fester-lookalike grinning through the whole film, attempting desperately to seem sinister with his gleeful looks whenever people drop dead. Now we have yet another reason to laugh?

You could throw many more criticisms towards The Vampire's Assistant. I’ll toss just one more before letting you go. Ultimately, this story is about acceptance. The freaks at the circus may look weird but as Darren learns, they're just like everyone else. Unfortunately, a few details make you question this statement. There’s a werewolf in the troupe. They keep him in a cage, he wears no clothes and wallows in his own straw-covered filth. Is he a person or a monster? Nothing about Corma Limbs (Jane Krakowski) should make her an outcast. When she loses a limb, it grows back. Cool. Not so cool is her chopping off her fingers and feeding them to people! Then we have the film’s love interests. Salma Hayek plays a prophetic bearded lady who smooches Crepsley. Conveniently, she can will her beard to grow. Similarly, Darren starts getting sweet towards Rebecca (Jessica Carlson), an attractive teen with a monkey tail… and no other “freaky” characteristics. You can't promote this idea that the inside of what matters most when the male leads fall for conventionally attractive women.

Some of the film’s worst moments, such as the lame climax, the over-the-top characters or the loosely-explained world could be overlooked on their own. Combined, you can’t. Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is a tonally uneven, poorly written would-be franchise starter with lousy performances made worse by the director's choices. It arrived on the scene already dead and buried. (On DVD, December 28, 2018)

[janesadek]

Big Night at the Bellagio

Hold on to your seats! The amazing O by Cirque du Soleil is about to begin!

There’s nothing quite like the Bellagio. She stands back from the hustle and bustle of the Strip, protected by the waving arms of her fountains. When you step into her looby, which by the way, is free of gaming tables, the Chihullys on the ceiling let you know you’ve enter the Queen of the Strip. We were in a bit of a hurry, not only to make it in time for the Cirque du Soleil show, but we had…

[sandythereadingcafe]

REVIEW TOUR

LA PETITE MORTE (Cirque Diabolique) by Crimson Syn at The Reading Cafe:

‘dark and haunting’

http://www.thereadingcafe.com/la-petite-morte-cirque-diabolique-1-by-crimson-syn-review-tour/

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

I could literally write a generic hallmark romcom set in the circus so good ok she's an aerialist because pressure from her parents and Society (she's uptight and a perfectionist), he's a contortionist (flexible and goes with the flow). She worked at a super fancy circus like Cirque but lost her job due to circumstances out of her control and has to go back to a small family circus which she thinks she's better than. He reminds her that her dreams as a child were actually to be a clown. They have a step it up style clown-contortion combo act practice scene set to circus by Britney Spears. The circus starts struggling financially and she thinks he betrays her by taking a different job at a bigger fancier circus, but he then realises sometimes you can't just go with the flow, you have to stand and fight for something. He comes back. They perform their new routine to rave reviews and make enough money to save the circus. They kiss in the Globe of Death. You see my vision.

[godzilla-reads]

10 Most-Read Authors

Thanks for the tag @fluencylevelfrench and @the-forest-library

what are your ten most most read authors? and how many books have you read by them? also tag someone who you would like to do this!

instructions: scroll to the bottom of your goodreads shelves and most read authors is listed underneath.

I couldn’t figure out the Goodreads thing but here’s my list by approximation!

Neil Gaiman (23)

I have read A LOT of Neil Gaiman books because I’m trying to read everything he’s ever published and there’s a lot.

Holly Black (15)

My partner got me into Holly Black’s writing and I’ve read almost all her fairy books, minus The Stolen Heir duology.

Darren Shan (12)

I read the whole Cirque du Freak series in like 2 months while I was in high school- I was OBSESSED.

Gerald Durrell (7)

My high school biology teacher recommended “My Family and Other Animals” to me and then I was hooked.

Seanan McGuire (6)

Such an amazing author- I’ve been gradually reading their books and loving them.

Rick Riordan (6)

Percy Jackson, need I say more?

Kate DiCamillo (5)

One of my childhood favorite authors right here!

Tillie Walden (4)

A lovely bookseller, when I asked for gay graphic novels, promptly handed me a bunch of Tillie Walden books and I love them for that.

R.D. Henham (4)

A pen name covering the Dragon Codecies series which I’m still reading and enjoy a lot!

T. Kingfisher (3)

I’m getting there, y’all!

Tagging: @balaenabooks @princess-peregrine @introvertedbookworm24 @tea-intheworld @stefito0o @storytime-reviews

[sweepseven]

Cirque du Soleil Alegría In a New Light review

So far the kindest thing I've done for myself in 2024 was go all the way to London to see this show. What a lovely, desperately needed reset. No need to linger on the preamble because team: this show continues to be damn near perfect. It felt like a true gift to be there. There are three total changes I would make if it were to suit me perfectly. Just three. That's insane. For comparison I love Ka with all my heart but I'd make probably fifty changes if given the opportunity. The three I'd make are:

Less clown time (though I swear the reason is different from my usual clown complaints)

Replace duo adagio

Reinstate Valsajoïa, the single greatest original song Cirque has produced since probably 2016. Possibly even 2008.

So let's talk about those three, and also the other one million reasons this is Cirque's greatest show in nearly 20 years.

Preshow animation: My friend and I had a time getting to Royal Albert Hall on time so I didn't get to soak in everything to quite the extent that I prefer to before a show starts, but the moment I walked in my guess that this show in this setting was the most perfect pair imaginable was validated. I don't think I'm even being biased because it's so recent - I genuinely think the only set that could maybe suit this theatre better is Quidam. The crown of the stage disappeared into the darkness above, creating an astounding sense of immersion and scale, and even the iconic mushroom acoustic diffusers look like they belonged to the set. The rigging was a delight to see too - I'm always fascinated by how they adapt the rigging to adjust for the lack of pylons. It wasn't as cozy as a Grand Chapiteau, of course, but the audience is so dense and extends so high, and the entire setting is so elegant, that the size and scope were a perfect match.

The animation itself was Fleur messing around with the Old Birds. Pretty unremarkable. He didn't shout Alegria! like in the original show, but then again I'm not sure I remember him doing it back in 2019 either. Bring it baaaack, it's iconiiiic.

Opening: Gonna confess up front that I was in tears for the duration of Mirko. The current singer duo, Sarah Menesse and Cassía Raquel, are incredible in every way. I'll talk more about them further down but it bears stating now that I was in shambles within the first five seconds. Details I never want to forget: the silhouette of the Nymphs' wings behind the curtain; the sharp, prim, yet commanding presence of the White Singer on the right side. I was completely taken by her in four notes.

Acro poles: This was a strong act five years ago and I think it's only grown tighter with time! This show wastes no time on ceremony and dives right into the action, which is a fun contrast between the old and new versions. The original made a grand show of parading and presenting the different factions. Here it's more bam here are the Aristocrats, bam here are the Bronx real quick, now everyone out of the way, we're getting right to it. Where the original was the story of forcibly overthrowing an old order, this one respects the structure of the past while willingly - if cautiously - making way for the future. This act does a very good job of illustrating that. The Aristocrats look like a fun, if slightly catty bunch! You almost want to be one... until you meet the Bronx.

Cyr wheel: I completely forgot Rinalto Vera is back for this act. I had only just recovered from Mirko and then this fucking song starts and I'm beside myself all over again. This is the kind of thing that makes me hold onto faith that the old Cirque is still in there somewhere - this, the musical refs to La Nouba in Drawn to Life... they know how to respect their old shows! When they bother, they do it beautifully! I only wish they treated their new creations with the same respect and care they pay to their golden era.

Anyway Ghislain Ramage is the only person I want to see on a cyr wheel ever again. I saw him work magic in Kooza and that was without the deliberate weight that comes from a non-rotational act. Something about him seems impossible - like he's too tall to be that lithe and fluid, or that you couldn't possibly evoke so much emotion from a cyr wheel act. He does. Every moment of it was mesmerizing.

It's the nitpickiest thing I could possibly say, but I do think something is lost in not having this act performed by an Old Bird or Aristocrat. Though since the mirror imagery of the original wasn't brought over to IANL, I suppose it's not completely necessary. Still. That was an element that really brought an inimitable quality to the original act and I wished there was an analog in this version. It could very well have made it the best act in the entire show. Yes, the entire show, which is crazy because you already know how I feel about.......

Duo trapeze: Fuck me, people. This act. It's a wonder I can be relied upon to behave rationally because it. is. utter. perfection. The only thing that holds me in my seat is the fear that if I move or blink I'll miss a split-second. I forgot the White Singer was onstage because I was too busy watching. That is fucking unheard of. My hands were clasped over my heart. I was beaming in awe the entire time. No other artist has had the particular effect Nicolai Kuntz has on me. Fucking this?? That relaxed, cross-legged on a goddamn trapeze gazing in admiration? That is shit designed to kill me. That is fucking lethal.

Anyway the skill level in this act is exquisite from both Nicolai and Roxane - another perfect act that has somehow grown more perfect with time. And what I love most about it is that though although they're a duo, although the song is called Querer, although the entire point is that they're impossibly aligned, it still feels just shy of romantic. The love being expressed here is not specifically for one another, but for flight itself, and the joy of sharing it with someone who understands. I might be projecting, since this act feels like a live illustration of my personal love for trapeze, but they have never seemed like lovers to me. More perfectly kindred spirits, and it serves the act beautifully.

Fire knife dance: Excellent! Impossibly high energy! The crowd adored it! We had one drop, which I've never seen in a fire act, but the artist handled it with fun and grace. There is nothing negative to be said for this act, but I can't not mention how exceptional Tuione Tovo was. Holding that against this artist feels like a teacher never giving A+s because "there's always something better." But there really was something undefinable in Tuione's energy and smile that isn't quite here.

Aerial straps: How many times can I say "a perfect act has become yet more perfect"? I've seen a lot of straps acts, people. Like, too many. I have immense respect for the discipline so it's not hard to impress me, but it's quite difficult to surprise me. There is a drop to ankles in this act that surprised me. I gasped. This act looks at every other romantic straps duo act and says "ok amateurs." The little smooch had the audience in raptures. The snow is used to better effect than the world deserves. It's just exquisite.

Hoops: I know Elena Lev is the queen, but I think this artist might actually be better! And she's so young! She's got her whole career ahead of her! This is probably the best hoops act Cirque has going for it right now, and that's really saying something. She does the "spin like fifteen hoops" thing better than I think I've ever seen anyone do it. Her control over her apparatus is unmatched.

Powertrack: OOO-EE! POWERTRAAAAACK. Top five act in the show right here, and it would earn that position through energy alone. And it's got a fuck ton going on for it besides. Every trick is massive. Every one is executed with fierce, tangible joy. Fleur has an excellent highlight moment that's indicative of a character adjustment in the new version (see below) that I really loved. I wanted to see Lucie Colebeck's triple bad (the first and so far only female triple tuck in Cirque history!!) but it was performed by another artist tonight. Still amazing. Watching this act makes you feel like you can run a marathon.

Duo adagio: The one and only let down of the whole show. I just do not like these Nymphs. I don't like their wings, I never have, and I can't believe Cirque is so opposed to returning to something just a notch closer to the luxurious feathers of the original. Their wings feel like a symbol of their overall impact on the show: kinda just there and we don't really know why. This act was the same. And it's a goddamn shame because Cassía's Vai Vedrai is power made musical. Slotting this act so late in the show makes it feel like a rotational act and it's just not fair to the artists or the song, probably the second most famous in Alegria's history. Last time I got handbalancing in instead and it was a gorgeous story of an Angel supported by a Bronx that was reiterated in high bar. Any sort of connection to the broader show is unfortunately missing in this act, which seems to only exist to remind you that the Nymphs are characters. I'd prefer to see this replaced with a return to the slow, luxurious contortion style of the 90s. Or imagine Dralion's ballet on lights here!! Or ribbon manipulation from the early days. Maybe a little too similar to hoops, but don't forget this is the show that has swinging trapeze and aerials traps and...

Flying trapeze: My light, my love, my delight. The Flying Tunizianis are immaculate. This is perfect flying trapeze act construction imo: some swings to let the audience know what's happening, an easy trick or two (planches) to prime them, then flips and twists galore to show what the fuck it's really all about. And! Importantly! A pause in the middle with a few styles and splits to bring back some grace and remind you trapeze is more than just guessing what the fuck you just saw. It is so, so good. For myriad stupid reasons I haven't flown in a month, and I'm so excited and inspired to get back at it after seeing this act. iirc the biggest tricks were triples and a double double (or full out? it all happened so fast!!). Either way, difficulty level second only to Mystere and I would argue better act composition overall.

However. I felt the removal of Valsajoïa acutely. It was nice to hear a little Icare, but if we didn't need it for aerial high bar's comeback, we certainly don't need it here. I suppose they were going for a more "daring" sound, but tbh I don't think it does a lot to enhance the act further, especially with the way the Tunizianis have choreographed it. The result isn't as graceful nor as impactful, even with the (tragic! teasing!) snatches of Valsapena and Valsajoïa still left in there.

I spent the whole act praying for some kind of suicide dismount and the very last was a reverse one and lost my fucking mind. My inspiration trick, my signature, my beloved!!! I gotta learn a reverse one bad.

Finale: What is there left to say? It's brief, it's gorgeous, it's effective: just like the transition from opening to acro pole, the transition from flying trapeze to finale is quick and honest, and the whole thing is over before you know it. It feels like a real thank you for joining the cast in the journey of the show. A joyous, magical feeling.

Music: I leaned back and scrubbed my face with my hands just now. That's what it's like trying to summarize what the fuck was going on vocally and instrumentally in this show.

It. Was. Splendid. I was utterly convinced that no one could do an IANL White Singer like Irene Lombard, and then here's comes Sarah with a flavor and characterization all her own. Where Irene was an angel, Sarah was a witch. She was sharp, she annunciated, every note was a call to action that drove the plot forward. Some songs were her strength (like Mirko), and some I prefer Irene (like Querer). At all times both singers' presences were impossible to ignore, and for a show with such a reputation for well-recognized, highly awarded music, the legacy is not lost.

This is also a very mobile band, which I always love. Accordion and cello parade around at times, sometimes even to emphasize character arcs (like the accordion following one clown after he's cast out of court to highlight his sorrow to both comical and emotional effect). Drums have a fantastic, well deserved Kooza-esque highlight moment during fire knife dance. Though you don't see them every moment, there's no point in the show that you can miss the fact that the music is live. They've struck an exceptional balance between highlighted and unobtrusive.

If anyone would like a recording of this performance's audio, drop me an ask and I'll be glad to share.

Clowns: My primary critique. Listen: they are so good. But I think Cirque noticed that and responded by giving them too much time. Their every act is strong but maybe 2-3 minutes too long, and it has the effect of pulling focus from the theme of the show and settling it on their shoulders instead. The result weakens both: they are not highlighted enough to carry a show like the Luzia clown main character does, and they take up too much time for the audience to realize they are meant to be one story among many.

Taken as they are though, the clown acts really are excellent. They are not tedious in the moment, only when held up against the broader landscape of the show. Their relationship still feels a little transgressive in a beautiful, comforting, validating way. Muted though the love story is, something about that adds to the honesty as much as the bravery. It deserves a ton of praise for that. Everyone in the room was fully invested in them. Snowstorm was beautiful and the music does so much to enhance the storytelling they give us.

(I did not remember the extended gun cleaning/masturbation gag from 2019 but that was the only part where I was like okay, let's move it along, boys.)

Misc.

Fleur doesn't seem like much of a bad guy anymore, and though I miss his old ornery edge, I'm not bothered by his current phase. He helps paint a picture not of a broken kingdom, but of a confused one, which leaves room for collaboration and acceptance reinforced by acts like acro pole and powertrack. There is room for both regimes in this new future. When it comes time to hand the crystal over to the White Singer, he does so without an ounce of reluctance or apprehension. It's a gesture of "let's do this together," not "you take the lead." It's very warm and effective.

Le Bal isn't quite as fun as it was in 2019. It wasn't positioned as a joking funeral march but rather just further hijinks between Fleur and the Old Birds. Like the lack of mirrors in cyr wheel, this wasn't a detriment to the show as it exists today, but it was a simplification of something that was once a little more dynamic.

Overall: As always I am exhausted just writing this. I beg you: see Alegria. Travel as far and as long as you can to make it happen. It is worth it. I live in fear that it'll never come back to do a full and proper North American tour (NYC deserves it, god damn it, it's been over six years), but if it never does, I'll know I made every effort, and I'll know it paid off in droves.

[bitterwaters]

Lacquer Brands

so one day I went to a fugue and wrote a 2000 word essay on nail polish brands

We got four tiers of nail polish brands: overpriced luxury bullshit, drugstore, boutique, and indie. 

Overpriced Luxury Bullshit

Don’t buy these! Just don’t! You’re paying for name, not quality. Chanel charges $32 for an 11 ml creme, the second cheapest polish type there is. That’s ludicrous. Every review I’ve seen of a “high-brand” from a real swatcher has been negative. Fuck ‘em all.

Drugstore

This is every other mainstream brand, whether it’s from CVS, Walmart, or Ulta. Wide range of price and quality. In general, you’ll probably get what you pay for. Sally Hensen Insta-Dry is classic and Acceptably Okay; if you don’t have the patience for a full manicure, just slap some of that on. Look for brands that are 3-free or 5-free--that means that won’t have a few nasty chemicals. Anything over 5 is fake and doesn’t matter.

My preferred drugstore brands:

Zoya: Jellies, glitters, shimmers. Tends to have a very thin formula--leave the cap off for a few minutes to thicken it up.

Orly: Cremes! The absolute best, well-pigmented, buttery smooth cremes. Persistent Memory is my perfect dark red. The bottles are generously sized, they have a nice paddle brush, and I love the big rubberized cap. They’re just really pleasant!

OPI: I only use their matte top coat but I use a lot of it. It’s the best! Get their matte top coat! I’ve seen recs to use their polishes over Essie’s, but I’ve never tried either.

Boutique

Now we’re getting into the Good Shit. There’s a price jump here, but there’s also a huge jump in quality. These are small- to medium-sized online-only businesses with semi-industrial production and ample stock. They’re big enough to ship within a few days. They use a LOT more pigment and glitter than drugstore brands, and have far more variety in finishes.

You might see them on Amazon or Etsy--skip it and go order from their sites instead. Shipping costs the same and you can save up reward points.

Charmed Lacquer: Brand new, recently announced, will open in a week or two. Started by a streamer named Janixa. I’m not familiar, but her followers seem excited enough to check it out.

Cirque Colors: CONTROVERSY! I like Cirque. I have a ton of their polishes. A little pricey, but they have frequent small sales and are high-quality. Best known for the jellies and some really stunning magnetics like Mood Ring and Black Swan (which have since been rampantly duped). So why the controversy?

Mystery bags: idk people get het up about ‘em. I kind of feel like if you gamble on a bunch of polishes you don’t choose, you risk pruglies.

Coronation: This is a purple polish with a red-green shift shimmer pigment called, I shit you not, Unicorn Pee. UP was made unavailable for public sale years ago (the suspicion is that it’s now used in some currency). Cirque keeps finding stashes and re-releasing Coronation. There have been complaints that it’s not the same shade as the original, that it’s over-priced ($18.50 is a LOT for a polish), and the FOMO marketing. It always sells out fast. I have a bottle. It’s okay.

Jaritos: The current teapot tempest. Cirque just put out a Jarito-themed line of jellies that’s FOURTEEN FUCKIN FIFTY a bottle. Their regular jellies are two bucks less because JELLIES ARE CHEAP. They have less pigment than other finishes. Cirque has also been caught editing pics from swatchers. Some of the Jaritos shades are outright dupes of existing Cirque colors--but when Cirque reposted swatcher pics that compared them, they changed things to make them look different. Little shady!

I still got Mxcn Cola

Holo Taco: I don’t go to this school. It seems fine. Owned by a YouTuber with a pretty big following, Simply Nailogical. The brand has devoted followers, but I’ve never been real impressed. I feel like I can get everything they do somewhere else for a buck or two cheaper. Lots of limited-time bundles.

ILNP: MY LOVE! Shimmers, glitters, holos. Their formulas are just fantastic. If you follow lacquer reddits you’ll see a TON of posts featuring Flower Child and Fairy Dust; they aren’t for me but I see why people love them. They’re really good with shimmers--Flicker glows like a candle in a dark window. I also like their flakie toppers and magnetics. You really can’t go wrong with anything from ILNP. 

One of the rare lacquer companies that doesn’t do FOMO. They never remove anything from their line-up. New collections get a 10% discount for a week at release, and they have an annual Black Friday sale.

KBShimmer: They’re pretty good! They don’t get as much love as I think they deserve--probably because they aren’t quite as flashy and highly-marketed as other brands. They also aren’t as heavily pigmented/glittered. Still pretty good though! I really love All Fired Up. They have big 15 ml bottles for only $12, no matter what finish. KBShimmer is a great place to start if you’re just dipping your toe beyond drugstore brands. Pick up their polish thinner (suitable for every brand except Orly) and glitter smoothing top coat. 

Lights Lacquer: Don’t. They have some nice shades, though they tend to be as subdued as drugstore polishes. I was really disappointed by their cremes--the formula isn’t at all self-leveling. That’s just weird in this day and age. And then I found out that black swatchers refuse to work with them because the owner has been openly racist. Her non-apologies did not improve relations. Skip it.

Mooncat: CONTROVERSY! I have over a dozen Mooncat polishes and do love most of them, but it's getting harder to recommend the brand. They specialize in intense shimmer/glitter/holo/flakie/magnetics--all the fancy stuff. They have a few unique polishes that I haven’t seen duped elsewhere. Their formula can be gloopy, especially their flakies; easily fixed by a few drops of thinner. Why controversy?

they’re fukkin expensive bro. Like $15 a bottle. I do feel that you get what you pay for--it’s good stuff. I’ve never been disappointed by a Mooncat. But part of what you’re paying for is brand aesthetic.

they’re fukkin annoying bro. Their site, marketing, and even customer service emails are all lower-case dramatic gothy stuff. Never “nails,” always “claws.”

Their bottles keep shattering. This has happened occasionally in the past, then become more frequent starting in April. Seems like there was some supply change that thinned the glass. Mooncat was also filling about 14 ml instead of the promised 12 ml. Temperature and air pressure changes during shipping started to cause a lot of bottles to break. One person ended up in urgent care to get her hand stitched. Mooncat has promised to make changes and has been quick to refund/replace broken bottles, but there’s still a lot of ill-will simmering in the community. I think we’re past the tipping point--I’m no longer seeing broken bottle posts, just love for their new Power Puff Girls collab--but if you like something, I would wish list and wait another month. That should be enough time to make sure the bottles are safe and the weather has cooled.

Indies

Every single indie nail polish company is one or two people working out of their basement. That is not a joke. They hand-makes every small batch, fill the bottles, pack, and ship by themselves. That’s in addition to designing and testing polishes, and just living their lives. 

That means that if you order from an indie, expect to wait. Most list a turn-around time of up to a month (they usually say 7-21 business days--people read three weeks but it’s a month). That’s padded to give them safety--nearly all will ship within a week, maybe two. But if they get hit with life stuff or a ton of orders, it really can take a while. My longest order took over a month arrive. It was entirely worth it.

Indies tend to have a big focus on fancy finishes. The biggest trend right now is sheer lacquers that are loaded with aurora shimmer. They’re color-shifty and glowy, and a lot of fun. That’s starting to stagnate a bit--every base color/shimmer combination has been done, so a lot of dupes are emerging--but it’s also starting to evolve. I’m seeing more and more shimmers that also have holo, flakes, or reflective glitter. I’m betting we’ll get some thermal shimmers as fall rolls in and temperatures drop.

Indies have some phenomenal variety and creativity. They’re doing the coolest stuff with the most love. Many also rely heavily on FOMO, and some are just plain not open much of the time. Instead, they have monthly or seasonal release windows. They usually drop a new collection and may retire old ones.

How do you keep track? The Reddit Laquerists (sic) Nail Polish Release Calendar. You can also subscribe to brand newsletters--most give a small coupon on your first order. A lot are on Instagram and Facebook.

There are at least two dozen indie brands, and it’s hard to know where to start. I highly recommend Lyn B. Designs. I love her lacquers, absolutely flawless formula. She has big bottles, fast turn-around, and lots of variety. Get her top coat! It’s the best. But most importantly, she has a 50% off code for ALL products every time she launches a new collection. You can get top-quality lacquers for $6 each, and the big top coat refill for $12.50. No brand of any size can match that value. You can either follow her on Facebook for the code or check the calendar on launch day.

Others I like, in no particular order:

Bee’s Knees, Dam, Polished for Days, Great Lakes Lacquers for fantastic shimmers and reflectives. Garden Path and Rogue Lacquers have great flakies. Lurid Lacquer is pretty new, and she’s doing some really interesting things with intense shimmers and color-shifty chromes. Sassy Sauce keeps a small, tidy line-up, but it’s all quality and creative stuff. She’ll also have some nice thermals once October hits--she doesn’t ship them during summer, which I respect. 

Cupcake is kind of a workhorse brand like KBShimmer: nothing too spectacular, but everything is solid and reasonably priced. Likewise, Glisten & Glow isn't too exciting but IS cheap and high-quality. Emily de Molly is Just Good. Drunk Fairy has really nice jellies and cremes. Wildflower Lacquers is closed for rebranding, back 09/06; I don’t have any from her yet but I gotta give props for big bottles, a fan brush, and surviving in Oklahoma. 

Death Valley Nails is a little pricey but they’re doing the weirdest, most absolutely unique shit out there. They’re making polish out of rocks and wildflowers. One looks like the sink after your boyfriend shaves. It’s great.

Clionadh gets some hype but IMO they’re overpriced and overrated. They definitely up the saturation on swatch pics. I’m unimpressed by Femme Fatale’s formula and teeny 9 ml size. Shleee polishes don’t self level at all. Stella Chroma still sells Harry Potter themed polishes and I'm very over that.

But really, the best way to check out indie brands is…

Indie Preorders

There are two big indie collabs every month that work on a pre-order basis: Polish Pickup and Hella Handmade Creations. They open for a week each month and feature unique, one-time only products from a ton of indie brands. They can cause major FOMO. If you feel that might not be healthy for you, stay away! But if you’re okay with the possibility that you may never be able to replace a bottle you finish off, you’ll find some great stuff. They’re an excellent way to explore new brands, and creators get to be a little experimental. PPU has fun monthly themes; HHC doesn’t have a general theme, but many creators do a series of fandom-themed designed. Indie polish creators tend to be pretty nerdy.

If you want to try non-US brands, go to Color4Nails.They’re a stockist that carries several brands, drugstore, boutique, and indie. They also have monthly pre-orders for a few Brazilian brands like Phoenix Indie Polish and Penelope Luz. I find the Brazilian brands to be a little pricey, with smallish bottles and fairly thin consistency, but they’re doing some interesting stuff. I’m pretty consistently impressed with Phoenix; PL less so.

[runningwithfangs]

Vampire Chronicles Book Review/Rant #2

The Vampire Lestat

I think we can all agree, what a turnaround! So completely different from IWTV. I’m not sure what I was expecting, probably something more like a Midnight Sun (Twilight from Edwards’ perspective) or a Slayer Chronicles (to the Vladimir Tod series) Turned out to be more of The Saga of Larten Crepsley (to the CIrque du Freak series)(I was raised by vampire books, apparently).

Anyway, what a ride! About halfway through I was feeling a little frustrated that we hadn’t gotten to when he met Louis yet, but I was also having so much fun reading about this Chaos BisexualTM. So much happens, so many dumb Lestat adventures, Nicki, Lestat’s turning, Gabrielle, Armand and his coven, Marius, Akasha and Enkil, Louis and Claudia, Rockstar music video films, vampires ablaze out of nowhere! 10/10 Romp, I had so much fun reading this.

Lestat is so many things, he’s cheery and determined to brighten the day of those he loves, he’s been beaten and abused by his own family, he hopes and dreams like any young person, yet also deeply fears the meaninglessness of life itself. I can for sure relate. 

I also enjoyed the way it was written, easy and lighthearted, even in darker parts Lestat describes things with humor to mask the pain.

Favorites:

I appreciate when Lestat takes the time to describe the wonders of the modern world, what stands out to him, what doesn’t. He’s blown away by film, excited by women in bare arms, that even poor people could eat meat. In later books he’s so excited by pens that can write forever. Super interesting to think about, and the though experiment of “what would a vampire think of world through the ages” is one of my favorite things about vampire media.

Lestat and Nicki’s relationship is so cute! Their drunken afternoons in “the conversation,” they take turns comforting each other from their familial demands and expectations. They go to Paris and live in a shitty apartment while they work their asses off in the theater trying to pay rent. It’s almost like a CBS sitcom, but like, in a good way. It’s so devastating to me that Vampire Nicki ended up like he did.

Gabrielle, my love! What a queer icon. She cuts her hair, wears men’s clothes, even Lestat gets in on it, trying to find her the manliest jewelry. I think about the freedom female vampires must experience in this series a lot. Gabrielle clearly hated being a mom and wife and living in a crumbling castle. And now she is finally free, freer than any of her wildest fantasies.

When Lestat asks her if she had become a vampire first, wouldn’t she also send money and gifts to the family and keep caring for them, and she’s just like, oh psssh yeah, of course 😂 

Armand/Lestat being worsties.

Marius spending eons hiding Those Who Must Be Kept only to pick up Lestat, go: I like ya kid, you got spunk, let me spill all the vampire secrets. Only for the Most Special BoyTM

When we FINALLY get the 3 whole paragraphs about Louis and Claudia at the end of the book, it’s not enough, but what is there is lovely. “Even in his crudest moments, Louis touched the tenderness in me” “But I loved him, plain and simple” UGH, Anne PLEASE. 

Least Favorites:

Why did Lestat slip his mom the tongue 😭

Not enough Louis 😡 (Little did I know there would only be crumbs of him from then on)

Vampire Nicki 😣 He hated Lestat in the end and then Armand cut his hands off! He deserved better. 

Smutt:

Nicki and Lestat getting drunk and making out at the tavern! Love that for them.

I am NOT counting Lestat/Gabrielle kisses.

If I missed something maybe y’all can let me know.

Nonsense Meter:

Medium nonsense, I think. Especially considering the books to come. 

Lestat flying and SCREAMING at the Theater. Lestat showing up to the catacombs to utterly destroy the cult with facts and logic and “New evil for a new era.” Lestat giving into the intrusive thoughts to kiss Akasha and play her the violin only to nearly get killed by Enkil, and OF COUSE, the whole Rockstar Lestat thing, with the music videos and the song lyrics and the Halloween concert. 

Misc:

It was Marius’s fault for sending Lestat to go live a human life! Thank you/goddamn you.

I am confused by how at the start of the book Lestat is interested in rock, he goes to jam with Satan’s Night out and loves the attention that would come with being a rockstar, but it’s only after he reads IWTV and gets all upset about it that he decides he’s going to get Louis’s attention by becoming a world-famous rockstar. “I ached for him, ached for his romantic illusions [...] his physical presence.” But once Louis does find Lestat, not much happens.

I was so excited for the reunion once Louis find’s Lestat and his band chilling before the concert, would they fight?! Would they make out?! And it was. . .ok, Louis tries to warn Lestat, and they dance around their feelings, and that’s kind of it. Lestat doesn’t even ask about the book!

Then I was excited that Gabrielle (post-concert disaster rescue) got to meet her shit son’s ex-husband! Was she going to be disapproving (no one is good enough for her boy), furious about the release of IWTV, or maybe try to convince them to give up mortal world shenanigans and go climb waterfalls with her? Nope, we got nothing, just wondering if it was Marius setting all the fledglings on fire. Anne . . . I don’t get it.

[dwsavideos]

My WATER FOR ELEPHANTS Opinion • The Big Top on Broadway!

Going into this show, I already liked the songs, but I didn’t know the story at all because I haven’t read the book or seen the movie (I just knew there was a circus lol). I went into it fairly blind, and what I saw on that stage for two and a half hours was nothing short of whimsical. I’ve gotta give a review of my experience without giving too much of the plot away- so this is gonna be kind of informal. I’m basically just gonna talk about what I love about this show because it definitely has flaws like any show does, but I genuinely think people are being too hard on this show. It has so much potential, so much insane superhuman talent, and it is so well designed. Just because there aren’t 50 Cirque du Soleil-esque acts or Grammy winning pop songs in it doesn’t make it bad. Not to mention that the original source material was difficult to work with for sure! I think that while this show is far from mainstream, it still has that classic flashy Broadway show vibe- and what a relief that is. I could talk about this show and the talented people in it for ages. My messages and asks are always open, so if you want to share an opinion or experience, or wanna chat about the show, I’m here for it! Okay, time to dive in:

For some background information, Water For Elephants is set in America during the 1930s, (I think 1931) and of course, at a traveling circus called Benzini Brother’s Circus which is in great financial trouble and is definitely not the most spectacular circus during that time. They manage to stay afloat under the management of the ringmaster, August played by Paul Alexander Nolan. Throughout the show, we see signs that the circus performers and workers (Kinkers and Rousts), and the animals are not treated fairly by August.

Jacob Jankowski played by Grant Gustin is a young man on the run from his personal troubles and jumps onto the nearest train, not knowing or caring where it was going. He meets some dodgy characters who reveal themselves as Rousts or circus stagehand workers (Wade being the main, scariest one, played by Wade McCollum). Jacob soon meets an older Roust named Camel, played by Stan Brown. Camel convinces Jacob to stay at least one day. Jacob doesn’t love the idea, and neither does Wade. They come to an agreement and all parties reluctantly decide to work together for one day only. One day turns into a lot longer- and now the fun begins.

The ensemble had great dancers and amazing circus artists (who also all danced). The circus artists in this show are unnamed ensemble characters, so I will call them by their actual names (There were a few swings on the night I saw the show): Antoine Boissereau, Gabriel Olivera, Isabella Diaz, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, Nicolas Jelmoni, Harley McLeish, Sam Renaud, and Alex Royer.

The ensemble of dancers who play Kinkers and Rousts were: Brandon Block, Paul Castree, Caroline Kane, Marissa Rosen, Charles South, Sean Stack, Matthew Varvar, and Michelle West.

The understudies and swings who were on as leads and featured characters for this performance were: Samantha Gershman as Marlena, Taylor Colleton as Barbara, and Michael Mendez as Walter. The ensemble and circus swings were Brandon Block, Michelle West, and Harley McLeish. As usual, Gregg Edelman played Mr. Jankowski. Almost every single one of these performers was a puppeteer at some point in the show.

The great circus stunts start right off the bat in the second number “The Road Don’t Make You Young” when the cast sets up the big top tent. Needless to say, their Tony Performance of this song does not do this cast justice at all. Seeing this live was awesome. Especially Gabriel Olivera, Isabella Diaz, Keaton Hentoff-Killian, and Alex Royer doing impressive (and kinda scary) tricks on the Chinese Pole and then also singing and dancing with the rest of the company like it was nothing. The number also included many hand to hand tricks where Alex and Isabella were thrown and flipped and caught by their porters. They made it look effortless. Some other big circus numbers were “The Lion Has Got No Teeth”, “The Grand Spec”, and “Zostań”. In the span of these numbers, there were flips, hand to hand tricks, aerial acrobatics, juggling, Chinese pole, Cyr wheel, hula hoops, and more! There were even several quick scenes that was just a few circus performs on stage doing their thing!

Also, I have to say that Grant Gustin was great! He has a great voice and he portrayed Jacob brilliantly considering his character is pretty bland. Paul Alexander Nolan stole the show as many good villains tend to do. Samantha Gershman didn’t miss a beat as Marlena, and her voice was stunning! Wade McCollum as Wade was one of my favorite performances as far as acting goes (plus he has one hell of a voice). And the ensemble of both the dancers and circus performers were out of this world. The choreography was so fun to watch and the way it was mixed perfectly with the circus tricks had me on the edge of my seat every time there was a big group number.

My favorite three moments in the show:

3: The Stampede: For a show with lots of fun tricks, colorful costumes, and flashy numbers, things got pretty dark towards the end. I won’t get into the really dark part, but one scene near the end that was really well done was a scene without any singing or dancing- the Stampede. This scene was staged incredibly, and it was very haunting. The cast turned into puppeteers and their movements along with the lighting design, sound design, and Gregg Edelman’s narration caused it to be impossible to even blink during this scene. In particular, Caroline Kane did a fantastic job portraying Rosie the Elephant for this scene and throughout the show. She was one of the six people who puppeteered Rosie. Caroline controlled Rosie’s trunk and also conveyed Rosie’s emotions with her facial expressions. At times, she was the sole person responsible for making us believe there was an elephant on stage- and she was brilliant. She portrayed Rosie’s joy, pain, fear, and anger so so well!

2: The Dream/“Go Home”: This moment was before the stampede scene, and it was so cool to watch. Once again, the lighting design and staging was very well done, and Grant Gustin was excellent in this scene as he grappled with his inner thoughts. In Theatre, a dream sequence scene could sometimes be corny, but this one was necessary. Another very haunting moment in the show, this dream sequence came at a pivotal time in the plot, and gave us a deeper look into Jacob’s mind, along with a major choice that he had to make. The beginning of the scene was like something out of the 2013 Pippin revival, with the circus performers nightmarishly taunting Jacob on a dimly lit stage. August made an appearance too, also taunting Jacob- who’s conscience was trying to tell him to murder August. During this dream, the circus performers become an ensemble of Jacob’s fears and desires. They do daring stunts, walking and sliding backwards on tightropes, twirl in aerial hoops, two performers juggle knives- tossing them back and forth while Jacob stands still in between them. Jacob grabs a knife from midair and contemplates if he should use it. August cracks his whip at the lion, puppeteered by Gabriel. Soon Marlena and Rosie appear in Jacob’s dream as his only two comforting companions. During this nightmare, things start to get real for Jacob. The opening guitar of “Go Home” begins, and Jacob stands by and watches helplessly as his parents parish in a car accident. The way this car accident is staged is not loud or gruesome, but kind of peaceful- maybe since Jacob didn’t witness it when it happened, it’s how he imagined it or hoped it was like. There is no car at all, but it was easy to tell what’s happening due to the blocking and great choreography. Jacob’s parents are portrayed by Keaton and Alex- Keaton pretends to hold on to the wheel until blaring headlights flash in their faces and disaster strikes in slow motion. The other circus performers are assembled behind Jacob’s parents, staged as if they’re pushing them into their demise. After impact, Keaton and Alex are physically pulled out from that reality by the others, and back into the circus troupe. The movement and choreography in this scene is what carries the story as Jacob sings the song “Go Home”. The song ends with the ensemble softly singing “there’s nothing you won’t do/there’s nothing you can do” over and over as Jacob holds a knife, hovered over a sleeping August. The song ends with the characters back in reality. All in all, this scene was a great mesh of musical theatre, physical theatre, and circus.

1: “Easy”: When Jacob and the audience first meets Marlena. Here, she’s caring for her beloved injured horse Silver Star, puppeteered by two circus performers Antoine and Keaton. The horse puppet timidly approaches Marlena, limping. As Keaton left the scene, Antoine smoothly handed off the Silver Star puppet (head) to Marlena, who sang as she simultaneously soothed and controlled the horse’s head while it rested on her lap in pain. Then Antoine’s aerial silk act began. It was an outstanding and elegant thing to watch. He perfectly portrayed the spirit of Silver Star longing to be healthy and free. He swung over the audience in an aerial dance, and at one point, he swung out as the silks held him by his neck. His skills during that beautiful routine along with the emotional song that Samantha Gershman sang perfectly was a highlight for sure. Antoine was a standout circus artist and dancer, and was really fun to watch the whole show. If you haven’t gotten the chance, listen to “Easy” on the cast recording- it’s the best song in the album.

Some details I enjoyed:

One of the things I noticed while reading the playbill was the amount of Non-Binary performers in this show! There are five NB performers in W4E. (Let me know of you want to know who they are, because I don’t necessarily name drop here). Interestingly I noticed that every costume that one of the female presenting NB performers wore could be considered gender-neutral such as pants and overalls which looked just like the outfits the men and male presenting cast members wore in the show. I just thought that it was a nice touch that one of the NB performers got to wear gender-neutral costumes in a show that takes place in an era when those who were female presenting rarely wore pants or overalls (especially as a performer). Even the leotard they wore in circus scenes was the same as the male presenting circus performers! I’d love to think that this was a conscious choice by the costume designer and director to put the cast in costumes that they are comfortable in regardless of gender.

Every puppet was so intricate and beautifully designed. I sat fairly close but not too close, and I was able to see so many details of the puppets. They were so colorful, lively, and still so different from puppets in shows like the Lion King or Frozen. But like the Lion King, the actors controlling the puppets are very much included in the puppet’s identity. Their facial expressions and physical movements of their entire body, and even their costume colors play a huge part in each animal’s portrayal. However, in Lion King, many of the puppets are more costume than puppet. In W4E, the only animal that is worn as a costume is an Orangutan played by Alex. Overall, I think this was such a cool and original take on animal puppets on stage.

References to other songs in “Go Home” lyrics: Listening to the cast recording over and over, I realized that there are many melodic and lyrical references to other key songs in “Go Home” which I guess can be considered as the 11 o’clock number of W4E. In the song, there are melodic and lyrical references to the following songs: “Anywhere”, “Easy”, and “What Do You Do?” (GO LISTEN!!) I just love when songs that aren’t a Reprise have references to other songs in musicals. It’s very classic Broadway and great storytelling!

Personally, I loved Water For Elephants! The circus parts were the most fun to watch, and everyone in the cast was so amazing and seemed to be super tight-knit. You’re not going to W4E to delve into some deep subject in a contemporary musical and leave with a bitter sweet feeling and a great message, but does every new musical have to be like that nowadays?? I definitely recommend this show, especially for families or people who love the circus, puppets, or depression-era shows! Water for Elephants is a whimsical spectacle with so many fun moments. I think Broadway needs more of that.

If you’re still here, thank you for reading this entire thing lol!