#amy louise whittle

[white-cat-of-doom]

A two show Caturday in Taichung City, Taiwan for Asia Tour 2022-2023 (15 July 2023).

We finally get a Griddlebone photo from the tour of Francesca Benton-Stace.

Il mio amore è importante 🤍.

Francesca as provides me with some Jellydots with Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots.

We are not done with Jelly quite yet, with a nice mirror photo of Francesca.

Francesca also manages to sneak in with Katie Hutton as Rumpleteazer and Taryn Donna as Cassandra and their usual photo! Katie is back as Rumpleteazer after a two day break.

Gabrielle Parker covered Victoria both shows today, with Oliver Ramsdale as Admetus performing the lift.

A throwback to South Korea with Lydia Gerrard covering Grizabella and Quinlan Kelly covering Old Deuteronomy.

[odettecarotte]

Louise Glück, NYT

Louise Glück, photo by Charles S. Hertz

b. 1943

The Nobel-winning poet was pitiless to herself, yet fiercely generous toward her students.

By Amy X. Wang The New York Times

She stood barely five feet tall — slight, unassuming, you had to stoop low to kiss her cheek — but whenever Louise Glück stepped into a classroom, she shot a current through it. Students stiffened their spines, though what they feared was not wrath but her searing rigor: Even in her late 70s, after she won the Pulitzer and the National Humanities Medal and the Nobel, she always spoke to young writers with complete seriousness, as if they were her equals. “My first poem, she ripped apart,” says Sun Paik, who took Glück’s poetry class as a Stanford undergraduate. “She’s the first person whom I ever received such a brutal critique from.” Mark Doty, a National Book Award-winning poet who studied under Glück in the 1970s at Goddard College, felt that she “represented total authenticity and complete honesty.” This, he recalls, “pretty much scared me half to death.”

Spare, merciless, laser-precise: Glück’s signature style as a writer. It was there from an early age. Born in 1943 to a New York family of tactile pragmatists (her father helped invent the X-Acto knife), Glück, a preternaturally self-competitive child, was constantly trying to whittle away at her own perceived shortcomings. When she was a teenager, she developed anorexia — that pulverizing, paradoxical battle with both helplessness and self-control — and dropped to 75 pounds at 16. The disorder prevented her from completing a college degree. Many of the poems Glück wrote in her early 20s flog her own obsessions with, and failures in, control and exactitude. Her narrators are habitués of a kind of limitless wanting; her language, a study in ruthless austerity. (A piano-wire-taut line tucked in her 1968 debut, “Firstborn”: “Today my meatman turns his trained knife/On veal, your favorite. I pay with my life.”) In her late 20s, Glück grew frustrated with writing and was prepared to renounce it entirely.

So she took, in 1971, a teaching job at Goddard College. To her astonishment, being a teacher unwrapped the world — it bloomed anew with possibility. “The minute I started teaching — the minute I had obligations in the world — I started to write again,” Glück would confess in a 2014 interview. Working with young minds quickly became a sort of nourishment. “She was profoundly interested in people,” says Anita Sokolsky, a friend and colleague from Williams College, where Glück began teaching in 1984. “She had a vivid and unstinting interest in others’ lives that teaching helped focus for her. Teaching was very generative to her writing, but it was also a kind of counter to the intensity and isolation of her writing.”

Glück’s own poems became funnier and more colloquial, marrying the control she earlier perfected with a new, unexpected levity (in her 1996 poem “Parable of the Hostages”: “What if war/is just a male version of dressing up”), and it is her later books, like the lauded “The Wild Iris” from 1992, that made her a landmark literary figure. Teaching also coaxed out a new facet in Glück herself: that of a devoutly unselfish mentor, a tutor of unbridled kindness.

A less fastidious writer and thinker may have made their teaching duties rote — proffering uniformly encouraging feedback or reheating a syllabus year after year. Glück, though, threw herself into guiding pupils with the same care and intimacy she gave to her own verses. “There was just this voraciousness, this generosity,” says Sally Ball, who met Glück while studying with her at Williams and remained close with her for the three decades until her death. “Every time I moved, she put me in touch with people in that new place. She enjoyed bringing people to know each other and sharing the things she loved.” And as a teacher, Ball says, “Louise was really clear that you have to make yourself change. You can’t just keep doing the same things over and over again.” In that spirit of boundless self-advancement, Glück also taught herself to love cooking and eating. She once hand-annotated a Marcella Hazan recipe and mailed it to Ball, with sprawling commentary on how best to prepare rosemary. “She’s very beautiful and elegant, right,” Ball says, but “we’d go to Chez Panisse and sit down and she eats with gusto. It’s messy, she’s mopping her hands around on the plate.”

Paik recalls spending hours each week decoding Glück’s dense, cursive comments on her work. “I was 19 or 20,” she says, “writing these scrappy, honestly pretty bad poems, and to have them be received with such care and detail — it pushed me to become a better writer because it set a standard of respect.”

“She was 78, and whenever she talked about poetry, it felt like the first time she’d encountered poetry,” says Shangyang Fang, who met Glück when he was at Stanford on a writing fellowship. Glück offered to edit his first poetry collection, and the pair became close friends. “She would talk about a single word in my poem for 10 minutes with me,” Fang says. Evenings would go late. They cooked for each other sometimes, spending hours talking vegetables and spices, poetry and idle gossip. “By the end, I couldn’t thank her enough, and she said: ‘Stop thanking me! I am a predator, feeding on your brain!’”

[kiki-de-la-petite-flaque]

Louise

Glück

b. 1943

The Nobel-winning poet was pitiless to herself, yet fiercely generous toward her students.

By Amy X. Wang The New York Times

She stood barely five feet tall — slight, unassuming, you had to stoop low to kiss her cheek — but whenever Louise Glück stepped into a classroom, she shot a current through it. Students stiffened their spines, though what they feared was not wrath but her searing rigor: Even in her late 70s, after she won the Pulitzer and the National Humanities Medal and the Nobel, she always spoke to young writers with complete seriousness, as if they were her equals. “My first poem, she ripped apart,” says Sun Paik, who took Glück’s poetry class as a Stanford undergraduate. “She’s the first person whom I ever received such a brutal critique from.” Mark Doty, a National Book Award-winning poet who studied under Glück in the 1970s at Goddard College, felt that she “represented total authenticity and complete honesty.” This, he recalls, “pretty much scared me half to death.”

Spare, merciless, laser-precise: Glück’s signature style as a writer. It was there from an early age. Born in 1943 to a New York family of tactile pragmatists (her father helped invent the X-Acto knife), Glück, a preternaturally self-competitive child, was constantly trying to whittle away at her own perceived shortcomings. When she was a teenager, she developed anorexia — that pulverizing, paradoxical battle with both helplessness and self-control — and dropped to 75 pounds at 16. The disorder prevented her from completing a college degree. Many of the poems Glück wrote in her early 20s flog her own obsessions with, and failures in, control and exactitude. Her narrators are habitués of a kind of limitless wanting; her language, a study in ruthless austerity. (A piano-wire-taut line tucked in her 1968 debut, “Firstborn”: “Today my meatman turns his trained knife/On veal, your favorite. I pay with my life.”) In her late 20s, Glück grew frustrated with writing and was prepared to renounce it entirely.

So she took, in 1971, a teaching job at Goddard College. To her astonishment, being a teacher unwrapped the world — it bloomed anew with possibility. “The minute I started teaching — the minute I had obligations in the world — I started to write again,” Glück would confess in a 2014 interview. Working with young minds quickly became a sort of nourishment. “She was profoundly interested in people,” says Anita Sokolsky, a friend and colleague from Williams College, where Glück began teaching in 1984. “She had a vivid and unstinting interest in others’ lives that teaching helped focus for her. Teaching was very generative to her writing, but it was also a kind of counter to the intensity and isolation of her writing.”

Glück’s own poems became funnier and more colloquial, marrying the control she earlier perfected with a new, unexpected levity (in her 1996 poem “Parable of the Hostages”: “What if war/is just a male version of dressing up”), and it is her later books, like the lauded “The Wild Iris” from 1992, that made her a landmark literary figure. Teaching also coaxed out a new facet in Glück herself: that of a devoutly unselfish mentor, a tutor of unbridled kindness.

A less fastidious writer and thinker may have made their teaching duties rote — proffering uniformly encouraging feedback or reheating a syllabus year after year. Glück, though, threw herself into guiding pupils with the same care and intimacy she gave to her own verses. “There was just this voraciousness, this generosity,” says Sally Ball, who met Glück while studying with her at Williams and remained close with her for the three decades until her death. “Every time I moved, she put me in touch with people in that new place. She enjoyed bringing people to know each other and sharing the things she loved.” And as a teacher, Ball says, “Louise was really clear that you have to make yourself change. You can’t just keep doing the same things over and over again.” In that spirit of boundless self-advancement, Glück also taught herself to love cooking and eating. She once hand-annotated a Marcella Hazan recipe and mailed it to Ball, with sprawling commentary on how best to prepare rosemary. “She’s very beautiful and elegant, right,” Ball says, but “we’d go to Chez Panisse and sit down and she eats with gusto. It’s messy, she’s mopping her hands around on the plate.”

Paik recalls spending hours each week decoding Glück’s dense, cursive comments on her work. “I was 19 or 20,” she says, “writing these scrappy, honestly pretty bad poems, and to have them be received with such care and detail — it pushed me to become a better writer because it set a standard of respect.”

“She was 78, and whenever she talked about poetry, it felt like the first time she’d encountered poetry,” says Shangyang Fang, who met Glück when he was at Stanford on a writing fellowship. Glück offered to edit his first poetry collection, and the pair became close friends. “She would talk about a single word in my poem for 10 minutes with me,” Fang says. Evenings would go late. They cooked for each other sometimes, spending hours talking vegetables and spices, poetry and idle gossip. “By the end, I couldn’t thank her enough, and she said: ‘Stop thanking me! I am a predator, feeding on your brain!’”

Photograph by Charles S. Hertz

[junkyard-gifs]

Suggestion for the nameless female swing character in the international tour (currently Anna Campkin's character)—baby Jenny. That is, she is to adult Jenny as baby Griz is to Grizabella. Whether that means you think of them as the actual younger versions of the characters, or a young relative of theirs, or the character reborn.

Here's Nell Martin as this character in 2017 (second from the left):

Here's Amy Louise Whittle in 2018:

And here's Anna Campkin today:

The unitard isn't exactly Jenny's, and the wig and makeup are different—Amy's in particular looks more like Jelly than Jenny—but the overall look is something like a toned-down kittenish version of Jenny, made to blend in a little more with the ensemble. Rather like baby Griz!

So informally for now, I'm going to call her baby Jen, rather than 'you know, that unnamed female swing who looks kind of like Jenny and kind of like Electra'.

[callicopat]

Featuring Cian Hughes as Carbucketty and Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots (UK Tour 2019). 

[femmesfollesnebraska]

Announcement: Feminist Connect Exhibition & Artists Talk!

Announcing:

Les Femmes Folles Presents: Feminists Connect

A Curated Online Exhibition

Launched March 1, 2021: https://www.les-femmes-folles-feminist-connect.com/

Link & Virtual Program: March 29, 2021, 6pm via Zoom Info Below

Co-curators: Sally Brown & Leslie C. Sotomayor

Exhibition will include work by 40 international artists, artist statement and bios and a curators’ statement.

Exhibiting Artists: Olga Alexander, Wendy Jane Bantam, Rachelle Beaudoin, Marie Bergstedt, Gracyn Bird, Phyllis Bramson, Shaktima Michele Brien, Veronica Ceci, Amy Chaiklin, Pauline Chernichaw, Nayda A Cuevas, Laurence de Valmy, Kimberly Faith Devaney, NIMISHA DOONGARWAL, Virginie Foloppe, Ghislaine (“Ghi”) Fremaux, Judith Gattermayr, Kathleen Greco, Katie Hovencamp, Michael Hubbard, Sara Ishii, Dorian Katz, Elena Knox, Josephine Langbehn, Donna Lowson, Melanie Ludwig, Maryalice Orito, Luciana Padilha, Re Phillips, Eve Picher, Carol Radsprecher, Lauren Selden, Jody Servon, Roma Madan Soni, Erin Louise Stafford, Karen Starrett, Evelin Stermitz, Brenda Stumpf, Tricia Townes, Kaitlin Whittle and and Xiang Xinying.

Les Femmes Folles: Feminist Connect virtual art exhibit Conversations with Artists & Curators

Artists: Nayda A. Cuevas, Sara Ishii and Brenda Stumpf.

Curators: Sally Brown & Leslie C. Sotomayor

Time: Mar 29, 2021 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada) Join Zoom Meeting

Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/les-femmes-folles-feminist-connect-artists-curators-discussion-tickets-142918488045

FB event: https://fb.me/e/284tLrWtb

~

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Brown Deskins.  LFF Books is a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017). Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

Submissions always open: https://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/callforart-writing

[devizakura]

JELLICLE QUEENS #1 + #2 - Jennyanydots and Jellylorum

Decided to merge some neighboring prompts for convenience and also because bonus points for cute and underrated wlw ship, hellooo.

Aside from art, I wanna talk about my inspirations for the characters because while some of the them do have my favorite versions of them in the '98 film (for example, it's really hard for me to accept any other Gus Jr or the female part of the kitten squad), I truly dislike how... '98-normative the fandom is, seemingly pushing the narrative that that version is the right version (when there is no such thing), and I often seek out many versions when designing a "tailor-made" one.

Admittedly, Jenny is one of my least favorite designs because her make-up is either very busy (with the dots and stripes and all) or not looking much like Jenny - though her vivid personality more than makes up for anything I may not like about the make-up! But if I had to choose, aside from Susie which is admittedly quite nice but everyone already knows that, it would be Joanna Lee Martin and Amy Louise Whittle, and Dani Goldstein for the costume - I LOVE the costume.

Now Jelly... THERE ARE SO MANY VERSIONS OF JELLY I LOVE! It helps that I find the sole concept of her makeup very appealing (as you may have noticed, I tend to prefer the subtler designs instead of those with many details), so the only variables are the execution and the actress's face.

The one that takes the cake for me is Celia Graham. She looks mature enough AND gorgeous, and I like her body suit.

Here are some other, honorary Jellylorums:

Barbara Obermeier, Nikki Ankara, Francesca Benton-Stace

@jelliclequeens

[juliandrews2004]

Amy Louise Whittle plays JennyAnyDots in Cats at The Theater at Solaire. Manila. Do catch this Magical, Cute and Visually Amazing Musical! A definite Must See!!! Portraits at the 9th by Juliene Mendoza. taken during the Master Class for Audition Skills at the 9th. #catsmanila2019 #the9thstudioscreativehub #portraitsatthe9th #pentaxks2photography https://www.instagram.com/p/B5MRiM_h8h4/?igshid=1vaor80vjg50x

[frontmezzjunkies]

My Two Year Old Baby Blog

By Ross

In the year that has passed since I wrote my first year birthday blog (click here to give it a read), I have learned a great deal about the business of theatre and the press that covers it.  I learned so much about writing a blog, and writing about theatre.  For one, it took the helpful guidance of a few other blogs who post my reviews to teach me how to do a hyperlink.  I know that sounds silly, but what did I know? And I still don’t really understand what a ‘focus keyword’ is, or does, or what I should list.  Regardless, because of the helpful people at OutBuzz and Times Square Chronicles, my posts look better and are read far and wide. Wider than I could do on my own. Wider than I could ever imagine last year.

With thousands of more readers and visitors, Frontmezzjunkies.com has out performed my wildest dreams.  This past year has seen this blog change dramatically from a review-based posting of whatever theatre I could see (or afford), to getting invites and press passes to more theatre than I could ever attend on my own.  And I want to thank all of those at every theatrical press company that ever received any of my emails, and especially to those kind souls that responded.  I know my place in this theatrical press world, and by no means do I think my blog is so special to demand anything.  I am no New York Times reviewer, so my heartfelt thanks goes out to all that helped make this the most special year of theatre going that I can remember.

This past year, I have posted almost twice the number of theatrical reviews than the first year, and the theatre world has definitely taken over a good chunk of my life and my spare time. Just ask my friends, who are thankful that I get to invite them along on so many amazing performances, but who also find it more difficult to schedule free time with me outside of a theatre.  I’m either seeing a show or writing about one.  Or sleeping. Or doing my day job.  Which I still have two of those humming along beside me (I’m a personal trainer and a psychotherapist, for any of you who don’t know).

Some exciting things are in store for Year 3. When asked to submit a number of reviews for consideration for a few unique opportunities coming up (I’ll let you all know when I hear, as big changes are ahead, I think, I hope), I came up with this list.  I already submitted a preliminary list to get to the next round, but I need to resubmit in the summer. So I thought I’d share them with you.  I had to whittle it down to five, one per category, but here, there is no need.  Click on the name of the show to take you to the review, and let me know what you think.  Which review is the better read in each category?  Not which show you liked the most, but which review was written with a unique outlook or perspective. Which review made you think about a show in a different way? Which review is just pure crap?  It’s tricky, cause I certainly have my favorites, but is it because I loved the show, or what I said about it?  It’s hard to say. Tell me your votes.

Heisenberg New York City Center – Stage II Cast List: Mary-Louise Parker Denis Arndt Production Credits: Mark Brokaw (director) Other Credits: Written by:

One broadway play

The Present

Heisenberg

Oslo 

Sweat

The Glass Menagerie

Dear Evan Hansen

One Broadway musical 

Dear Evan Hansen

Come From Away

Sunset Boulevard

Sunday in the Park with George

Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812

Love, Love, Love at the Roundabout

One off Broadway play

Love Love Love

Notes from the Field

Man From Nebraska

Daniel’s Husband

One off Broadway musical

Band’s Visit

Ride the Cyclone

Sweet Charity

Kid Victory

A Streetcar Named Desire at St. Ann’s Warehouse

One Brooklyn/off off show

Streetcar Named Desire

Beauty Queen of Leenane

The Tempest

Escaped Alone

  The Tempest at St. Ann’s Warehouse

Which ones do you think are your favorites? I’d be thrilled to hear your opinion.  And below are some images of my favorite performances over the past year.  Can you guess what shows they are from?

Stay tuned.  A lot is in store for year number three of frontmezzjunkies!

#frontmezzjunkies is celebrating its 2nd year anniversary Happy birthday frontmezzjunkies.com My Two Year Old Baby Blog By Ross In the year that has passed since I wrote my first year birthday blog (click…

[white-cat-of-doom]

After a day off due to a typhoon passing through Taipei, Taiwan, Asia Tour 2022-2023 was back in action again today (04 August 2023).

Jennyanydots, played by Amy Louise Whittle, shows off the love of her life, Bustopher Jones, played by Ian Jon Bourg.

A pair of backstage photos featuring Saverio Pescucci as Alonzo, Johnny Randall as Mistoffelees, Katie Hutton as Rumpleteazer, and Taryn Donna as Cassandra.

Petra Ilse Dam is keeping busy in the Booth! The Bombalurina performer will likely stay there for the remainder of dates due to an injury.

[white-cat-of-doom]

The end of the first week in Taipei, Taiwan for Asia Tour 2022-2023 (30 July 2023), and the final show for Matt Krzan as Munkustrap.

With Katie Hutton as Rumpleteazer, Taryn Donna as Cassandra, Saverio Pescucci as Alonzo, and Lydia Gerrard.

A memento of past lives from Katie Hutton as Rumpleteazer.

Cian Hughes as Carbucketty finds a friend in Oliver Ramsdale as Admetus, and Johnny Randall got through the week.

If you wanted more Lucy Rice (and who does not?), she provided some photos with Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots, Cian Hughes as Carbucketty, and Nathan Zach Johnson covering Munkustrap.

[white-cat-of-doom]

The sixth last show of the tour was held today (10 August 2023) in Taipei, Taiwan for Asia Tour 2022-2023, and we still have noteworthy things happening!

Cian Hughes made his Mungojerrie cover debut today after many years of being a cover. Congratulations Cian! With Lucy Rice covering Demeter.

Lucy graces us with another Demeter photo, and Isabella Roberts as Victoria and Gabrielle Parker as Jemima are as ready as they were at the beginning of the tour for the end.

Anita Louise Combe shared some photos of herself as Grizabella from the tour, along with Cian Hughes as Carbucketty, Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots, and Matt Krzan as Munkustrap.

Taryn Donna was on as her usual Cassandra, but the last few days the role was being covered by Meghan Peploe-Williams, who receives some praise from Saverio Pescucci as Alonzo.

A five show weekend coming up to cap off this tour!

[white-cat-of-doom]

A comparison of two makeup stations and two Cats.

Francesca Benton-Stace as Jellylorum and Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots.

Asia Tour 2022-2023, Taipei, Taiwan; 13 August 2023 (closing night).

[white-cat-of-doom]

Closing night (13 August 2023) in Taipei, Taiwan for Asia Tour 2022-2023, a nine month journey across two countries for the wonderful cast that delighted audiences with the magic of CATS.

The full cast, crew, and company that put on the show.

Embraces after the final curtain call.

Final bows were taken by Katie Hutton as Rumpleteazer and Sophie-Rose Middleton as Electra.

Lucy Rice wrapped up the tour covering Bombalurina, a fitting end to the former RCCL Bombalurina performer. With Taryn Donna as Cassandra.

Lucy gets some snapshots in other performers to mark closing night.

Meghan Peploe-Williams as Tantomile and Nathan Luke as Coricopat had some fun in the tour, and Johnny Randall as Mistoffelees sweated out one last solo.

Jack Danson bids farewell to Taiwan as Rum Tum Tugger.

Oliver Ramsdale as Admetus and Russell Dickson as Munkustrap have one last hurrah.

Matthew Levick ends his time as Bill Bailey and six years of the show, while Lydia Gerrard shares her goodbye from her time as a Swing.

Some wigs belonging to Saverio Pescucci as Alonzo and Cian Hughes as Carbucketty.

The theatre is quiet once more; Happy Trails to everyone!

[white-cat-of-doom]

Cian Hughes shared some photos of himself as Carbucketty, with some friends, from today's week ending show day in Taipei, Taiwan.

With Meghan Peploe-Williams covering Cassandra, Taryn Donna covering Bombalurina, and Amy Louise Whittle as Jennyanydots.

06 August 2023; Asia Tour 2022-2023.

[white-cat-of-doom]

Amy Louise Whittle posted a video of herself as Jennyanydots performing the Gumbie Tap back when she was in the UK/International Tour 2019.

(Source)