#because Mrs. Lovett has been singing along with him

[migleefulmoments]

Cassie: "Nonnie, I do get where you're coming from. I think C just realizes D is worth it and I do believe, in my heart of hearts, it won't always be this way." If your bf is choosing to live a fake life and expects you to just go along with it for X number of years, he is not worth it. I don't care if he is Darren Criss or any other attractive famous man, no person on Earth is worth the heartache that ccChris has probably been through whilst watching his "hubby" constantly choose fame over him.

Cassie’s answer really blew me away. She’s has chugged down all of Abby’s Kool-Aid and she’s fully buying into Abby’s juvenile ideas about relationships, sacrificing for love, and the power of love. THE 5 have clearly read Twilight one too many times! Everything they know about love, they learned from Bella and Edward who taught them with the idea that love is all-consuming, that there is no sacrifice that is too much as long as he loves you, and that in the end, happily ever will save the day. 

You’re right, there are a lot of scenarios where love is not enough and you have to walk away for your own mental or emotional well being. Sometimes it is an abusive partner making bad ccchoices and sometimes it is a wonderful partner whose future no longer looks like yours. One of my favorite Youtubers just announced she split with her husband 2 years ago and kept it a secret- even wearing her rings in the first half of this video! They broke up simply because they reached a point where they realized there was a fundamental difference in what they each wanted in life and the relationship couldn’t go forward (she wouldn’t say what that was). My husband’s cousin got divorced after her husband realized he wanted to be a dad and she wasn’t interested in children. Another YouTuber I watch called off their engagement after they realized she wanted a picket fence on a cul-de-sac and he wanted to a cave in the middle of nowhere (he was dead serious).  Their goals were incompatible and asking one to compromise wasn’t fair or healthy. ccDarren chose fame over ccChris and their relationship. ccDarren is unwilling to risk his position in Hollywood in order to openly love ccChris. He is so caught up in being THE actor, musician, and executive producer Darren Criss, that he married a woman he despises and spends all his time with her. She enjoys the lifestyle his fame has provided for him while ccChris has to hide in the rafters and scurry around ccDarren’s life completely unseen. ccDarren is incapable -or unwilling -to rid himself of his toxic team whose main goal is to “ccruin him” and by extension, ccChris. I don’t believe that the same man who gave this interview would choose to stay in a relationship where his feelings and needs always come second to ccDarren’s career.  Spending 1:00 am-7:00 am spooning the night away is hardly compensation for having to keep their relationship hidden and standing by while his lover lives his life with another person. Scurring in the dark and in disguise certainly isn’t enough to keep a relationship alive and healthy for 10 years.

(My comments are in italics below)

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Anonymous asked: I love Cc, but I just can’t imagine C agreeing with all this and if he did, my heart still hurts for him.

cassie1022 answered: Nonnie, you’re more than entitled to your opinion. I, respectfully, disagree. C is not a victim in all of this. He made a conscious and willing decision to stand with D. He’s just as culpable in all of this as D is and he’s tried to show that on more than one occasion. I’m not heartbroken for C and I don’t think he would want us to be. At the end of the day, he has a love most people only dream about. Many people perceive C as being the more fragile of the two, and I think that’s a grave mistake. C’s the glue that holds them together. He’s always had to fend for himself and the world wasn’t always kind to him. D grew up in this seemingly perfect little world where he trusted everyone and thought people were mostly good and that’s part of why he’s in this situation. (Cassie et. al believe that love makes it all ok and that ccChris chose to stay so making him as culpable as ccDarren. It’s an interesting theory- basically, she’s saying that anyone who is an abusive relationship is culpable for the abuse because they chose to stay in the relationship. This is a dangerous and harmful belief because it ignores all of the barriers that keep people in abusive relationships- lack of money, lack of a safe place to go, fearing for their lives if they leave, low self-esteem from the abuse-to name just a few. I realize that Cassie is just turning ccChris staying in an abusive relationship into ccconfirmation bias, but she’s speaking to a lot of young people who don’t understand that and are learning that they should always stay because love makes everything ok.  “At the end of the day, he has a love most people only dream about.” Besides the fact that that kind of love exists in fanfiction and Twilight, I am gobsmacked that a middle-aged adult would imagine she knows this about Chris Colfer’s love life. The most Chris has ever said about his love life is to say tell a young fan that his dedication was to his boyfriend, to acknowledge to Andy Cohen that he had a boyfriend, and to acknowledge to Sandra Bernhart that Will was his boyfriend. Oh, and he said several times that he was not in a relationship with Darren. To believe he has a “love that most people only dream about” she would have to fabricate every detail single details she thinks she knows.  That is not the behavior of a healthy adult.   Big strong ccChris who went through hell and came out so strong that nothing touches him now. He’s the “glue that holds them together” and the “Captain of the ship” even though he’s literally being ignored while ccDarren lives a very full life with Mia by his side. Poor widdle, innocent ccDarren who grew up wealthy and since wealthy people live perfect lives and everyone around them is kind, he never learned who to trust. Gag)  

flowersintheattic254 You only have to watch the impact theory interview to see what drives C. C is strong and he stands up for those who are marginalized. C is tough and stronger than people give home credit for and he’s loyal too. (See the video and my transcript below. Notice that Chris never mentions his love life in any of the statements that Flowers believes are 100% about his relationships) 

notes-from-nowhere:

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I agree with @flowersintheattic254. This is such a good interview

Anonymous asked: I guess it makes sense that C’s the rock. I guess it’s just me thinking that since C’s out and proud, he deserves the same from his partner. But as you said, D was too trusting and I guess C is his strength, keeping him from giving up on everything shitty he’s going through. (Such a good little minion, repeating everything she’s groomed to believe) 

Cassie: Nonnie, I do get where you’re coming from. I think C just realizes D is worth it and I do believe, in my heart of hearts, it won’t always be this way.

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I listened to Chris’s interview and he was asked about ambition:

Chris: ... I was really good at playing that character (Kurt).  People really do think I was playing myself and although we were experiencing very very similar things, I was very different from that character.  I was much more cynical than that character.

Tom: In fact, I am glad you brought that up. I heard in an interview someone asked you if you were a character in Game of Thrones and you said ‘I want to say that I would be the Mother of Dragons but I think I am actually Cersei’. 

Chris: I‘m sorry but she is a woman who knows what she wants and she goes out and she gets it. Her methods-her strategy- is a little questionable but I just love any woman with a drive. I remember when I was in my senior year of high school I was chosen to put on my own show. It’s called the senior show.  Every year one senior in the drama class got selected to basically put on whatever they want and usually they would put on an SNL-type variety sketch kind of show, but I was like “Nope I’m writing a musical” and I gender-reversed Sweeny Todd and called it Shirley Todd so I could be Mrs. Lovett so I was Mr. Lovett.  Because we were all seniors, no one wanted to do it and I ended up blackmailing all of them to be in it.  It was a great show. 

Tom: Walk me through how that drive and ambition has manifested in your life. Is that something you value in yourself? Is that something that you’re skeptical of in yourself because when you answer that question- and I fully understand that was a little tongue-in-cheek, but when you say “I fear that I’m actually Cersei” is there part of you that is very cognizant that there is a line that you can cross with drive and ambition or...

Chris: Oh I think so, I think that ambition is so much a part of who I am-maybe to a fault- but I’ve never got to the point where I was so ambitions that I was causing harm. I think growing up, ambition and hope and goals and dreams was literally all that I had. My family didn’t have money and I wasn’t good looking and I wasn’t athletic, I could act and I could sing, I could write but there aren’t many areas for you to do that when you are a young person- at least when I was a young person they weren’t. So I think my ambition sort of just became my imaginary friend. It was a survival tool, it wasn’t narcissism, it was survival. 

Tom: In that, I can be somewhere else, I can be bigger than this, I can go places was that the sort of your savor mechanism?

Chris: Yeah, I think it was  Making a treasure map to a life that was better than what the life I was in currently. That is what it was for me.  Hence, why I also identify so much with fantasy and superheroes and Greek mythology and literature it was all part of ...yeah, I always use fictitious people as my examples of getting somewhere.

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Chris: To go back to what you said about bullying, I’m in a weird place right now because I played a bullied kid on national television, you know for 20 million people a week watched me get pushed into lockers and thrown on floors and called “a faggot” called “queer”... all these negative things and I experienced all that myself in real life.  I really let people know that was one of the reasons why people connected to my performance because it was coming from such a real place and I let people know i was bullied horribly when I was a kid. I was bullied so horribly in middle school that my mom pulled me out of school and homeschooled me because the harassment got so severe.  But I’m at his weird place right now that I feel like I’m so not a victim anymore ...that I kind of- maybe it’s my ego- I don’t know, but I get tired of being associated with someone who is bullied because I don’t allow that to happen anymore. At all! I’m proud of where I’m at now because the minute I see someone who tries to take advantage of me or isn’t kind... I have the option to walk away now- which I didn't when I was a kid. But I feel like I have to stop talking about it because I’ve told millions and millions of kids around the world that it is something you get to leave behind.  Because of my circumstances, I don’t get to leave it behind because I’m always asked about it and it’s a good thing to talk about because it’s still going on but as a certain point, I feel like I’m doing the kids who look up to me a disservice when I keep talking about it becuase it does-maybe for them-  seem like it doesn’t leave me. Does that make sense?

Tom: If this was the last words that you speak on the subject of being bullied what would you say that was your process to close that chapter.. to feel good about yourself.  I’m definitely putting words in your mouth, being born in some way where that is not who you are anymore? 

Chris: It is really about just knowing that you get to move on from it. That is the thing... adolescence is the toughest time in your life because you have no freedom but you have all this responsibility. You are expected to make adult decision but you don’t get the benefits of being an adult and you’re literally trapped in an environment- high school- unless you are homeschooled. You have no control of who you are around and probably the lesson or the bridge that I crossed in my life that has given me the most relief is knowing that I don’t have to be in any environment that I do not want to be in. I think that would be the message that I would give to kids who are being bullied. But also the world is full of assholes. Bullies, they do go away at a certain point, but there will always be people in your life that you don’t like, that are mean and rude and when you do go through a period of harassment- especially when you are young- you do learn how to overcome that and how to maybe have inner peace but you can’t ever control the world around you but you do learn a lot of good communications skills. I think. 

Chris makes it very clear that he is NOT Kurt

Chris identifies with a character who knows what she wants and goes out and gets it. That is very different from ccChris who is sitting back and accepting that he is not a priority for 10 years and counting. 

Ambition and drive are very important to Chris- ccChris is allowing Darren to drive the relationship.  Darren is getting everything he wants while Chris continues to make all of the sacrifices.  

Chris is adamant that he will not be bullied every again and that he will wake away from anyone taking advantage of him. The cc fandom heard this and saw it as confirmation bias because he is still in a ccrelationship with ccDarren aka he doesn’t see the relationship as being abusive or that he’s being taken advantage of therefore ccChris just confirmed CrissCofler is real and that ccChris is in control. 

The final paragraph is once again confirmation bias- Chris no longer has to be in an environment he doesn’t want to be in- hence he’s happy with ccDarren. By saying that people are still assholes, he confirmed that Ryan Murphy, Mia and Darren’s team are all assholes but he’s in control now and it doesn’t let them ruin his life.. 

[little-horror-girl-love]

Halloween Excerpt from “A Performer’s Life Beyond the Drapes”

Once the party was in full swing, everyone got separated. The only person Max noticed leaving was Greta; she’d met with John (who was dressed as Curly from OKLAHOMA) and snuck away to hang out with him. Everyone else just seemed to vanish, either getting all caught up in the party or meeting with friends and going to hang out with them.

For a majority of her time there, Max wandered around aimlessly, mainly just looking for someone (anyone) to hang out with. And this is why I don’t come to parties, she thought. The only party she’d been to was a birthday party held by a friend in eighth grade (not much different from this one, only it was in a house and there were no costumes). Pretty much the same thing had happened: any friends she’d came with abandoned her, and she was left wandering around looking for something to do or someone to hang out with.

She was debating on whether or not to leave before she bumped into someone: a tall young man dressed as Jason Voorhees (the one from the 2009 remake; she could tell by the clothes).

“Oh, sorry,” she projected, trying to be heard above the loud music. The young man raised his hockey mask, and she smiled when she saw who it was.

“Where is everyone?” Darius asked, giving her a small smirk in return. “Greta and Elena and everyone else?” Max glanced around at the crowd of people (only managing to see Greta and John by the lobby doors) before turning back to Darius.

“Doing their own things,” she said, motioning over to Greta with her eyes. “Usually happens at parties; I get abandoned and just wander around.” He darted a brief glimpse back at Greta before turning back to Max.

“Well, I can hang out with you, if you want,” he offered. Max gave him a sweet smile and nodded before noticing a familiar face waving her over. She raised a hand in return to him, then turned back to Darius and motioned him over to Austin with her head. He nodded and followed her.

“What’s up? You guys by yourselves?” Austin asked. He was sitting in a chair in the back row, gleefully snacking on a bag of Kit-Kats. He offered them some; Max accepted while Darius declined and took an aisle seat, a good five chairs away from Austin.

“Happens a lot at parties for me,” Max pointed, crumpling up the candy wrapper and sticking it inside her costume sleeve. “It’s why I don’t go to parties that often. That, and it’s always loud and crowded.” That was both a lie and truth; she never went to parties after that eighth grade one, but the rest of her reasoning was truthful. Austin nodded before turning his attention to Darius.

“How about you? Same?” he asked. Darius darted a brief glimpse at him before nodding and shrugging his shoulders. Austin nodded, then turned back to Max. “So, I saw Greta and John together. What a scandal that Cinderella would leave her prince for Rapunzel’s!” Max chuckled at that joke.

“He’s a better prince for her anyways,” she joked, then grinned. “I’m really excited to be part of this show. How about you, hubby?” At the sound of that, Austin managed a laugh as his cheeks flushed pink.

“Yeah, definitely excited,” he said. Max smiled before going over to him, planting a peck on top of his head and resting her forearms there. He chuckled at her little gesture, darting a small smirk up at her. After a moment, she caught Darius giving her a curious look.

“Are you guys…together?” he asked.

“No, nothing like that,” Max denied, Austin shaking his head along with her. “We’re just playing the Baker and his Wife in INTO THE WOODS. They posted the cast list earlier today.” Before they could continue the conversation further, Max was surprised by the feeling of arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her away from Austin. She managed to struggle free before directing a pointed glare at Quinn.

“There’s my pretty little concubine!” he exclaimed, a comment which made Max’s skin crawl and her face flush red from embarrassment. Luckily, it seemed that no one else (aside from Austin and Darius) had heard him.

“Shut up, Quinn!” she growled. “What’s it gonna take to get it through your thick skull that the end of this relationship was your fault? You have no right to be treating me like this!”

“For the love of God, Quinn! Leave her alone!” Austin demanded, standing and giving him a matching angry stare. Quinn paid neither him nor Darius any mind, keeping his attention solely on Max.

“My fault, huh?” he asked. “I wasn’t the one acting like a little prude.” He shook his head and reached out to grab her arm. “Look, I need to talk with you, so come—” Before he could even come close to touching her, she gave him a hard punch in the sternum, then followed the attack with a swift reverse roundhouse kick to the side. He went down hard, a pained expression on his face and a hand held firmly to his side.

Austin only glanced at Quinn before giving Max a look of awe.

“Wow, that was awesome!” he exclaimed. He opened his mouth to say more, but couldn’t manage a word out before Max turned and hurried down the aisle back toward the stage. After this, she didn’t want to be around anyone right now. The only plan of action was to get down to the girls’ dressing room and lock herself in.

She pushed past people who were hanging out and crowding in the wings and scurried down the stairs, disregarding their annoyed glares. She could care less about seeming rude right now.

Once she entered the dressing room, closing and locking the door behind herself, she took a seat on the couch.

“Quinn, you son of a bitch,” she groaned, feeling humiliated by the experience. For God’s sake, he’d called her his concubine. Tomorrow, I’m going to Mr. Karpenter and telling him to boot Quinn from the cast, she thought, glancing at her bag. She was tempted to text Greta, but decided against it. She didn’t want to interrupt Greta’s little date with John; since nothing had really happened, there was really no need to.

As she sat stewing in her embarrassment and anger, she was surprised by a knock on the door.

“Kenzie?” Darius’ voice sounded. “Are you okay?” She stayed sitting for a moment, contemplating on whether to open the door or not. Come on, it’s just Darius, she told herself. He just wants to make sure you’re okay. She finally stood and opened the door, attempting to calm his worries with a small smile.

“I’m fine,” she said, stepping aside to allow him to enter. He stayed where he was for a second, still giving her a worried look, then stepped inside and took a seat on the couch. She closed the door behind him. “Just…you know, annoyed with Quinn.”

“You have every reason to be,” he breathed. “What with the way he treats you. You were right up there: he has no right to be treating you like he has.” Max huffed in exasperation, leaning back against the door and staring up at the ceiling.

“If I’d known how much of a douchebag he is, I wouldn’t have ever dated him,” she groaned. “And now it’s progressed to this: him calling me his concubine because of our casting in the show.” She caught Darius giving her a puzzled look. “He’s playing Cinderella’s Prince. In ACT II, Cindi’s Prince and the Baker’s Wife have an affair.” The confusion never left Darius’ face.

“What…what’s a concubine?” he asked. Max thought it over for a moment, then shook her head.

“A mistress,” she said. “You know, like someone a man has an affair with. But every time I hear that word, the only thing that comes to mind is a sex slave.” Darius nodded in understanding before facing forward again.

“I really do hate that guy,” he murmured, then turned to face her again. “And I’m still in love with you, Kenzie.” Again with this, Max thought. He seemed to notice the slight annoyance in her eyes and shook his head. “I know you don’t love me back, I do. I’m not bringing that up for any hope that you do. It’s just…I know Quinn’s behavior really annoys everyone else…well, our friends, anyways. For me, seeing him treat you like that hurts me, because I love you. I wanna do all I can to make him stop, but…” He trailed off, then faced away from her again, resting his elbows on his thighs and covering his nose and mouth with his hands.

Max stared at him for a moment, feeling a little guilty for getting annoyed. It’s all innocent, she thought. He was just making a point. She stayed leaning against the door for a second longer before going and taking a seat next to him on the couch. He only glanced at her before turning his attention forward again.

“I appreciate your concern,” she breathed, placing a hand on his shoulder. “But don’t beat yourself up about it. He’s just an asshole who’s upset that a potential fuck got away from him.” He started chuckling at the sound of that comment, and she laughed with him.

“That…that’s accurate,” he laughed, straightening up but still only facing forward. “He must be bitter because he’s realized his scumbag behavior caused him to lose a literal angel.” She giggled at his remark before facing forward as well.

“Yeah, if ‘literal angel’ means ‘cannibal meat pie baker in love with a homicidal barber’,” she joked, glancing down at her Mrs. Lovett costume. He got a little chuckle out of that, glancing at her before turning away again. “I don’t know about an angel, unless angels have obsessions with gory torture-porn movies.” That got him to fully face her.

“But you are an angel. You really are,” he insisted, giving her a look like what she’d said was ridiculous. “I saw it when you were up there during Ms. Solace’s first dress rehearsal for PHANTOM. When you were glowing under the spotlight in that beautiful white dress, singing like that. It really was like witnessing an angel.” He seemed to realize how overly-passionate he sounded, then turned his attention away again. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so…enthusiastic.”

“Enthusiastic?” she repeated, smirking. “That’s one way of putting it.” He darted a brief worried glimpse at her before facing forward again, and she giggled and placed a hand on his arm again. “I’m just teasing you. You don’t have to look so worried.” He nodded, stayed facing forward for a moment longer, then turned to her, a hopeful look in his eyes.

“Kenzie,” he started. “I feel like I already know the answer to this question, but…would it be okay if…if I kissed you on the cheek?” She gave him a look of slight surprise. Kiss her on the cheek? Before she could reply, he shook his head and turned away again. “No, nevermind. I just…I couldn’t help but ask.”

“Sure,” she breathed, which seemed to catch him by surprise. He turned and gave her a look of pure shock, like he wasn’t expecting her to say yes. “That’s fine.” He stayed staring at her for a second longer before leaning in and planting a soft kiss on her right cheek.

When he pulled away, he just stayed staring into her eyes for a few moments.

“Satisfied?” she asked, managing a small chuckle. He didn’t say anything, only reached up and brushed a small section of her hair behind her ear before cupping her cheek in his hand. Before she could try and form any words, he leaned in and kissed her lips.

He pulled back quickly before she could react in anyway, a look of worry and regret adorning his face as he stood up and placed a hand over his mouth.

“I’m sorry,” he breathed. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I…I shouldn’t have done that.” He only glanced at her before heading for the door. “I should go.” He was out the door and gone before she could tell him to wait, and she was left wondering what the hell just happened. He just kissed me, she thought. She felt like she should’ve been furious with him, but she wasn’t. The only things she felt right now were surprise and confusion.

“What the hell?” she breathed, glancing at her bag and immediately going for her phone. She needed to talk to Greta about this. Now.

She sent a quick “I need to talk to you. I’m in the dressing room” text, and waited. She didn’t know what surprised her more, the fact that he kissed her or his reaction to kissing her. She was still thinking about it when Greta sent a response of “I’ll be right there”.

Only a minute passed before there was a knock at the dressing room door and Greta came in.

“What’s up?” she asked, closing the door behind herself and taking a seat on the couch. Max got up and locked the door before sitting back down and facing Greta.

“First off, I didn’t interrupt you from anything big with John, did I?” she asked, feeling a tinge of guilt for pulling Greta from her date. Greta shook her head.

“No, we were just kinda chatting when you texted,” she brushed off. “But that doesn’t matter. What’d you want to talk about?” Max glanced back at the door for a moment before facing Greta again.

“Darius kissed me,” she said, feeling it better to get straight to the point; what was the good of beating around the bush? Once those words left her lips, Greta gave her a surprised look.

“For real?” she asked, shaking her head. “Wait, what happened? You gotta give me the full story! I need to know.”

Max took a deep breath, having to psych herself up before explaining everything to her, then began talking. About how Quinn called her his concubine and she’d rushed down to the dressing room after incapacitating him. How Darius had come down to talk to her and see if she was okay. How he’d asked to kiss her on the cheek, then actually kissed her afterward.

Greta sat intently listening to every detail of the story before leaning back on the couch to process everything she’d just heard.

“First off, goddammit Quinn!” she exclaimed, eliciting an amused chuckle from Max. “And second, just wow. I mean, I know you said Darius has a crush on you, but I didn’t think he’d go that far.”

“Yeah, neither did I,” Max agreed. “I was more surprised than anything.” Greta gave her a sly, joking smirk.

“Did’ja smack him?” she asked. Max gave her a grim stare and shook her head.

“No, I did not smack him,” she pointed. “To be honest, I didn’t know how to react after he pulled away, acting the way he did.” Greta shook her head, getting serious now.

“How exactly did he act?”

“Like he immediately regretted it. He looked like he was shocked that he actually kissed me, and started saying he was sorry and how he shouldn’t have done that.”

“Well, he was kinda right,” Greta remarked, giving Max a pointed look. “You can’t just do that to someone. If you’re mad at him, you have a right to be.” Max shook her head.

“That’s the thing, though,” she retorted. “I’m not mad at him, just surprised. That’s actually why I wanted to talk to you about this; I really don’t know how to react.” Greta gave her a puzzled look before shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head.

“Look, all I’m saying is that, if I were in your shoes, I would be mad,” she explained. “Now you not being mad about this? Who knows, maybe you have feelings for him you haven’t really realized yet.” Max gave her a confused look before shaking her head.

“What the hell does that mean?” she asked. Again, Greta shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s just a guess,” she said. “I’m just saying that it’s a possibility. Another possibility is that, because he pulled away so quickly and was acting so regretful and profusely apologizing, you didn’t have a chance to properly react.” Max thought it over for a moment, then nodded and shrugged her shoulders.

“Yeah, maybe that’s it,” she guessed. “I don’t have those kinds of feelings towards Darius, I’m pretty sure.” Greta held out her arms in an “I told you so” gesture before letting them fall back to her lap with a light thump.

“See? Everything has an explanation,” she remarked, to which Max gave her a mischievous smirk.

“If that’s true, explain Stonehenge,” she joked. Greta gave her a joking glare before turning it to the ceiling and shaking her fist in the air.

“Aliens, I tell you!” she exclaimed. The two of them broke out in laughter before Greta returned to standing, smoothing some folds in her dress. “Well then, now that that’s out of the way, what do you say we head back up to the party and enjoy the festivities before heading out and doing some slight trick r’ treating?” Max gave her an amused grin before standing as well.

“There’s nothing I’d enjoy more.”

[quinnmorgendorffer]

I've just recently in the past few years gotten more into musical theater, so I have a lot to learn. I'm not a singer or anything, but I like to watch and listen. Also, I have to randomly ask something. Why the heck did " Glee" have Brian Stokes Mitchell on the show and not let him sing more? What a waste. Ha ha. What are some really underrated musicals?

That’s awesome! Nah man, you don’t have to be a singer to get into/like musical theater! We actually need more people to appreciate musical theater who don’t participate, honestly. Same with opera, but that’s another story I know no one here wants to get into lol.

Who knows, man? I mean, they had Victor Garber on and didn’t have him sing and fucking Cheyenne Jackson!!!! Even The Real O’Neals had Cheyenne sing!!!! And he was on one ep of that unlike being in several episodes like he was for glee.

Okay, so as I said, I’m a bit of an MT hipster. So I like a lot of weird shit lol. A not very detailed list is below, with some notes by yours truly lol. Sorry that this got so long omfg

Bat Boy - based on the Daily News articles, this chronichles the story of a bat boy found in a cave in West Virginia. He’s taken to the local vet, and while everyone in town just wants the doctor to kill him, the vet’s wife wants to take care of the teen, who she names Edgar, and teach him how to behave. The doctor kind of goes crazy and their daughter, Shelly, falls for Edgar. A lot of the parts in the show outside of the family are double casted, and it’s honestly hilarious and also makes me cry by the end, poking a lot of fun at “Christian Charity” (that’s the name of one of the songs that also gets a reprise) and the like. It’s extra loved by me for featuring the impeccable Kerry Butler (the original Penny in Hairspray, female lead in Xanadu, Catch Me If You Can...the ageless girl wonder)Reefer Madness - the Off-Broadway production opened the weekend of 9/11, which definitely effected its possible success. It’s, of course, based off the ridiculous propaganda film of the same name, though it takes it a bit farther and pokes fun at all of it and even more of the racist/sexist attitudes of the 1930s. While all/most of the others I’m talking about here only have CDs and maybe some bootlegs, this one has a movie version!!!! That actually is almost 100% like the stage version (at least based on what I saw). The movie features Kristen Bell as Mary Lane, the part she originated, and also features Alan Cumming and the forever under-appreciated Ana Gasteyer and Amy Spanger. Side Show - you can debate which version is better, but whether you prefer the original cast or the 2014 revival that changed some of the story to make it more accurate, it’s absolutely amazing. A musical based (loosely) off the true story of the conjoined Hilton twins who made a career of their oddity by working in freak shows, vaudeville, and even a few movies, though they were all critically panned. Features some of the best duets for female voices (most famously “Who Will Love Me As I Am?” and “I Will Never Leave You”). The original has Alice Ripley as one of the twins (Violet, and while I still think she screams a lot, she does a great job), and Norm Lewis as Jake. If you ever want to cry, just listen to his big song “You Should Be Loved” or the above duets. Or just read about the Hilton’s lives because it’s so depressing and the musical doesn’t even touch on that. I’m forever sad this never gets awards or the long runs it deserves. It should also be noted that Alice and her fellow twin, Emily Skinner (Daisy Hilton), were nominated together for the Tony.[title of show] - okay, this show is just...fucking........hilarious. “It’s a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical...” Just a lot of silly fun and also some great quotes, like “I’d rather be nine people’s favorite thing than a hundred people’s ninth favorite thing.” It also points out a lot of flaws in Broadway, like the lack of original musicals and how there are waaaaaaaay too many musicals based off movies lol. It’s a four person cast, all of whom are named after the people who originated the roles, and it manages to be just so funny and still inspirational and such a joy to listen to.Zanna, Don’t! - okay. so I get why most “oppressed group written as oppressors” stories are awful, like that whole “save our pearls” book or w/e that happened a few years back. But Zanna, Don’t was written by a gay man who just wanted to write some musicals with fun, catchy love songs for gay couples. So, in this world, being gay is the norm and straight people are the hated group. Zanna is an actual fairy (in high school) who matches up everyone in his town and never actually remembers to pair himself up with anyone. So when a straight A student and the quarterback of the football team fall in love...well, it finds a way to be cute, funny, and poignant all in one. Features Queer Eye “culture vulture” Jai Rodriguez in the title role and the show should get extra points for the line “what kind of world would this be if the football star wasn’t the lead in the musical??”In the Heights - not necessarily underrated so much as it’s just forgotten in Hamilton’s success. This tells the day in the life of people in Washington Heights. It also features a completely diverse cast and, imo, has some catchy songs that outdo some of Hamilton. If you don’t bawl while singing along to “Breathe” while stressing about failing at college/your dreams, what do you even do with your spare time? That used to be my most common activity.The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown - Idk if I can truly say it’s underrated since it really hasn’t been on Broadway so it’s never had a chance to get known...plus I think it’s popular among actual theater performers, but not enough of musical fans know about this. A lot of theater kids probably know “Freedom” and “Run Away With Me”, as the duet is a great choice for two women and shows a ton of depth/vocal prowess, while the solo can show a very tender male voice, but the show is more than those songs or “The Proposal” or “The Girl Who Drove Away”. The story starts with Sam sitting in her car. She’s supposed to be driving to college, but she’s fantasizing about driving away. She conjures up her best friend, Kelly, in her mind, and Kelly convinces her to relive her senior year and figure out why she wants to leave. You eventually find out Kelly died that year, and along the way you learn about Sam’s college applications, her boyfriend, and how lost she felt all year, all while still trying to learn how to drive. It’s so moving, and, honestly, “Freedom” is still a jam and probably does deserve to be one of the most famous songs from the show. The show might also inspire you to run away so...watch out for that. The bootleg I have is what inspire my love for Melissa, quite literally, since I had stopped watching g/lee at the time. The Boy from Oz - one of the better done jukebox musicals, since it focuses on the writer of those songs, and also is the best role Hugh Jackman will ever have. I’m sure a lot of people on my dash are familiar with Chris’ version of “Not the Boy Next Door” on g/lee. If you like it, you should check out Hugh performing that at the Tony’s. Anyways, it tells the life story of Peter Allen, whose songwriting credits include the above song, “I Honestly Love You”, and “Don’t Cry Out Loud”. He met Judy Garland and, of course, then met and married her daughter, Liza Minelli. I will never praise Stephanie J. Block’s Liza enough, she is perf. And, again, Hugh is flawless, and he originated the part both in Australia (Peter Allen’s home country) and then on Broadway. Getting to see the original cast in this was one of the highlights of my life.

That’s it for now. I’d also suggest checking out some classics. I didn’t put it on the list since it’s not underrated, but the original cast of Sweeney Todd is the best thing you could ever listen to - Victor Garber in his prime and Angela Landsbury is the forever best interpretation of Mrs. Lovett, #notsorry Patti. The movie version directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp is truly a disgrace compared to the actual version which has a legal taped version available for your viewing pleasure! You can see why it’s performed in opera houses nowadays!!! Though the video sadly doesn’t  have the original Anthony (Victor Garber) and the Johanna is bad...not that I’ve heard a Johanna I truly like. Rodgers and Hammerstein should at least be somewhat known, though a lot of their stories are like...gross. But Sondheim is pretty damn solid -- and if you didn’t know, he wrote the lyrics for Gypsy and West Side Story. A lot of people seem to not know that, but like he was making some big strides long before Company was a hit. Which also deserves a listen

[tune-collective]

Rising Artist Allan Rayman Discusses His Rule-Breaking Artistic Vision & More in First-Ever Interview: Exclusive

Rising Artist Allan Rayman Discusses His Rule-Breaking Artistic Vision & More in First-Ever Interview: Exclusive

Rayman and Ben Lovett, who signed the artist to Communion Records, reveal the many layers behind his mystique.

In the dimly lit and intimate basement of New York’s co-working space NeueHouse, Allan Rayman sits with a hat pulled over his face. He’s performing songs off his new album, Roadhouse 01, out Friday (Feb. 24) and has the small crowd entirely captivated. Rayman is a walking juxtaposition — his raspy voice and eerily enticing lyrics demand a listener’s attention, while he himself prefers to keep his head down and let the music speak for itself.

Little is known of the rising genre-melting artist, who fuses R&B swagger with hip-hop grit all while spinning compelling stories much like a country artist can — and the mystique is intentional. The 20-something Toronto native signed with Communion Records in November of 2016 (the label co-founded by Mumford and Sons drummer Ben Lovett) having only released one album, Hotel Allan.

Roadhouse 01 marks Rayman’s sophomore project, and it’s a deep, dark concept album that sees the singer explore an alter ego: Mr. Roadhouse. Days ahead of the album’s release, Rayman granted Billboard his first-ever interview, in which he and Lovett jointly discussed the new album, his rule-breaking artistic vision, the counter-cultural draw of his music and much more.

Ben, how did you first discover and meet Allan?

Ben Lovett: I came back from a tour a year or so ago and walked into the Brooklyn Communion office — there was music blaring out and the whole office was vibing. They were dancing around, singing along, and I felt like I had just been completely left out of the party and that was quite rare. If that’s happening normally it’s some classic hit, but it was something I had never heard before. It was Allan Rayman, obviously. I immediately got infected with the bug, went into my office, sat down and listened to what was Hotel Allan front and back and was completely blown away.

What was the first meeting between the two of you like?

Allan Rayman: It was intimidating, but right away we found out that we had more in common than we knew and it got on pretty easily. I felt comfortable. You know, you hear horror stories about labels and label execs, but meeting a real artist and someone who sees it from the same perspective was reassuring.

BL: We were sitting on the 20-something floor of this glass building in West Hollywood; it felt like a scene out of some weird movie. It’s a pretty cool place to meet someone for the first time and essentially talk about a vision, which is really what those early meetings were about, trying to understand the why and what [this project] will look like in the next few years.

AR: Definitely sharing viewpoints and telling the story and direction I wanted to take it in. I could see the general intrigue was there, and that feels really cool when someone of his caliber is behind it.

Like you said, Ben, you two discussed the why behind Allan and his music. So, Allan, what is that why? Why do you do this and what inspires your music?

AR: [At first] I was making music on the side; I was working construction.

When did you start making music?

AR: I’ve been making music my whole life, very, very young. The Allan Rayman story that has been drawn up is about two years old now, it was really just for me. I pinch myself all the time because I never intended to be here. It’s surreal. Now it’s about not losing my head in all this epic stuff.

BL: You also had the encouragement of a group of people that formed in and around Toronto.

AR: [I have a] great group of friends and a great team behind me who pushed me to do this on a professional, it’s crazy to even call it that, on a serious level. My closest friends would be the ones to tell me if it was shit but they said, “Dude, I like this and he likes it and she likes it… let’s push it, let’s try to do something with it.” I agreed to that and buckled up and got ready for whatever was going to happen. I trust my team, I trust the people around me and that’s really it. At the end of the day, I’m surrounded by some really good people who keep me sane and humble and push me to do more, to keep pushing the boundaries and take the risk.

Ben, what would you say sets Allan apart?

BL: We’ve worked with a ton of artists over the years — last year was the 10th anniversary of Communion as a music company — but we’ve never worked with anyone who has had such a clear vision for how they want their music to sound and how they want their whole identity to be portrayed and that was refreshing. Sometimes we’ll meet people who really do just write songs for the sake of writing songs, and that’s great and there’s a beauty to that, but it goes so much further with Allan. It’s more that the music is a soundtrack to a world in which he’s created, and that’s pretty unique; When we first met it felt like a breath of fresh air.

Sonically, who would you compare him to?

BL: There are touches of soul and R&B to the melodies that are juxtaposed to some of the rap influences — it’s a hybrid of lots of influences. It makes as much sense [to play his music] in the club of a big city as it does in the truck on a highway between two small towns in the middle of nowhere. It can almost be it’s own genre — as things develop and more and more people get to hear his music I’m sure a genre will be built around him. Right now, Spotify can’t define it and it’s almost like the windows into Allan’s music are anything from hip-hop, to R&B…

AR: They throw it on all sorts of playlists, it’s nuts. Country one day. It could go that way, certain songs specifically.

BL: It’s country in the sense that [the music tells] slightly weathered true stories.

So for the sophomore album, what was the journey and creation process like?

AR: We’ve had this album thought out as we were making Hotel and same with Roadhouse 02 — we know where it’s going. This whole storyline is here and now I just release these albums in whatever kind of order I want to fulfill that. I know I had to stick to the development of these characters that I’m portraying throughout the story and show that there’s an evolution of Allan, especially with Mr. Roadhouse, this alter ego that I’ve created. Whoever has been listening, it’s giving them more to sink their teeth into, but for newer people, I want to show this torment between someone who’s trying to balance personal desires in life — even though you want to give all your time to your profession you’ve got to give yourself to the people that love you as well. It’s balancing that, and ultimately Allan can’t do that. He creates Mr. Roadhouse to kind of justify his selfish and dickish behavior in a sense — put it all on him. It’s a dark story and I don’t know if the ending is going to be dark or light yet, I haven’t figured that out. But I want people to be concerned about this guy, because it’s a heavy thing to fully invest yourself in your passion.

Do you have moments where you get consumed in your alter ego, and what’s it like to come out of that?

AR: On the road, yeah, you get caught up in it. Touring is a weird thing — it’s not a normal thing people should be doing where it’s just like, “Me, me, me” for a month, it’s not really right. But having this alter ego feeds that beast and feeds that story and helps the songs, but it’s very strange coming home and switching it off a little bit.

BL: The day you change your name to Allan Roadhouse I think you’ll be getting some concerned phone calls.

AR: Yeah, my mother for sure. She’ll keep telling me, “Don’t become the man that you speak about,” but it’s a balance, right? I’m balancing it, but in the story it is very much a story. There’s truth to it, but it’s a story at the same time, so I’m not going to lose myself… knock on wood.

Are there any songs that you’re particularly close to?

AR: “Shelby Moves.” It explains why I haven’t been doing many interviews and haven’t been all over social media; at the end of the day, I think fans build up these crazy ideas of celebrities or musicians or the people they’re listening to and watching and I think there’s a really dark undertone to that fandom and celebrity-ness. So “Shelby Moves,” I think, explains that at the end of the day. I’m a pretty average dude with a pretty boring story, but I can write some songs and I’m very creative — but I’m not going to wow you with my background. I often, especially recently when I’m at home, am wondering, “Why is this becoming so successful?” Because at the end of the day, I would say I’m just a regular dude, so why me? I still haven’t really figured it out.

Well, the music speaks for itself.

AR: Yeah, and that’s what I hope. Just listen to the songs and if you like them, great, if you don’t, I do. 

BL: Maybe you could also talk about the process of making the tracks and how it goes down in the studio?

AR: I love music, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not an artist that devotes all of his time and attention to writing songs. I don’t sit at a piano in a room and write songs like that, it’s very sporadic. I’ll get a creative burst and it will be like, “All right, let’s go,” and that will be maybe a week top and then I go back to chilling. I never force the music, but what I do love about what music has provided me with is the opportunity to create all sorts of stuff around the music: the films, the merch, the shows, the experience. That’s where I want to sink my teeth into. The music comes naturally. Some force that stuff, but I never worry about it and it’s working out. I worry about so many other things that I wish I could have the same mindset I do with music, but I love creating this world and these characters. I’m a huge film addict — most of my inspiration for my music comes from films. But [I’m always thinking], “How can you do things that aren’t being done?” And that’s what I love so much. What I’m finding out about myself and my creativity is that I want to push boundaries and walk that tightrope and take the risk — be different. At the end of the day, it can go to the moon and that’s great, or it can stop here and that’s fine for me too. I’m not trying to force anything on anyone, I’m not trying to be anything I’m not, let’s just roll with it. Keep your head down, keep moving forward, and if you give me the opportunity to create, I’m going to do it.

You’ve definitely had that opportunity. Ben, same question to you, is there a specific song off the album that resonates with you?

BL: When I first had the chance to hear the whole album back, my initial reaction was that it felt more daring than Hotel Allan — there are a couple examples of that progression. I think on “Repeat” and “25.22” it’s starting to become clearer that the artistry is being chiseled and defined more. In terms of day to day personal favorites they kind of rotate, as any good album does, and it’s not like this is a body of work underpinned by a couple of lead singles, it’s a narrative and it’s a concept where there are different songs for different moods and they each have their own identities and that’s connected to this idea of developing the characters, like mini soundtracks around a mood or specific people.

AR: I didn’t want to have a favorite song off the album, but more of a favorite part of a song. It’s always taking what you think is the proper formula or structure of how a song should be and throwing all that out the window and maybe even writing a song and having a hook just come in at the end once and then people will be like, “This is sick,” and they go to the end to listen to that. Making it very messy and weird and always asking, “How can you screw it up and start from scratch?” At the end of the day, it’s music and it’s subjective; there’s no real formula to tell you how to be an artist.

BL: And that’s what is so unique about it. Nowadays you have a lot of different writers sticking within some sort of structure, whereas what Allan is doing no one else could do. It’s not like someone could go and write an Allan Rayman song because there isn’t a defined roadmap to what that means, and that’s what’s exciting about it. I think it’s fine that there are recording artists out there singing songs created in hit factories in Nashville, but that’s a totally different kind of artistry to what’s going on here.

That’s probably fun for you.

BL: Yeah, it is.

AR: I try to keep him on his toes.

BL: Both as an artist putting stuff out and running a label putting stuff out, this is a completely fresh challenge. It’s not like we can just open up the rule book, we have to come up with a new way of doing it.

Going back to the album, what do you hope listeners take away from this body of work? 

AR: Business-wise I hope they like. If they do it’s great, but it’s really for me. I’m just trying to do what I set out to do.

BL: There’s something about anxiety though, right? That you wanted the empathy from the listener and their understanding, because you’re laying down a vibe with the songs in the live performances as well, which is a huge part of this that we haven’t talked about, but to actually translate something so that people feel that way, whether it’s concern about Mr. Roadhouse or…

AR: Well I’m definitely trying to make them feel something, and I do talk a lot about how it’s not for people it’s for myself, but at the end of the day I’m aware that a lot of people do listen to my music — or, some people — and I don’t want to use the wrong word here, but I want people to feel something close to discomfort, something that gets them feeling like they didn’t know they felt that way, especially in live settings, and mess with people’s heads a little bit. [My performances are] an evolution. I started off by not really addressing the audience at all. I just like to strip it down and make it so raw and show I’m just a regular dude singing my heart out. That’s what I want to portray on stage. Everyone’s afraid to show true feelings so I think if you can be raw and real and truthful, people are going to feel that and tell people about that truth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut8QmhLRW4k

That discomfort with the truth could stem from the fact that listeners find they resonate with Mr. Roadhouse, and they might not realize or like that about themselves.

AR: Right, that’s the thing. All of a sudden you’re cheering for the villain, and I find that suspension of disbelief helps a lot with the stuff that we’re making here.

BL: It’s pretty raw subject material, so even though it touches on elements of hip-hop, it does it in more of an old-school way. It’s more about the struggles of growing pains and love and loss, and stuff that other people don’t know how to deal with. There are a lot of people who are emotionally, not numb, but I think people sometimes struggle and that’s why they turn to music and film and the arts to help unlock that, and when they hear something articulated in a certain way it helps give them the comfort or release that makes them feel not so alone. Even if that is in hearing someone’s distress, sometimes a sad or an angry song can give someone as much hope and sense of purpose as a love song or a happy song.

AR: Counterculture is a good way of putting it, there’s a big sense of cool in the scene today and if you don’t fit in you can feel very isolated and alone and the majority of people don’t fit in. It’s just like high school all over again, really — which for me, I wasn’t a cool kid in high school, so it’s taking that angst and building on that. It was personal at the end of the day and I didn’t think that people would tie to it and feel like [the music] is talking directly to [them]. I didn’t know we were capable of doing that.

BL: I think you can make people feel better and that’s what you’re seeing in the response. That’s almost why people go out to the shows, people are turning up because they have that connection and they do feel like you’re talking to them and sometimes by talking to yourself you’re talking to other people. That’s what I think good music does in any genre.

Looking ahead, what are some of your goals and plans for 2017?

AR:I don’t think I’ve ever had a goal, really. Just keep doing what we’re doing and building the story, working on the next album and mapping out what we want to do: videos, shows, pop-ups — an experience. Just continue being creative and keeping busy.

BL: It’s going to be a really busy year. I’m doing a lot of writing on my own behalf and I’m excited about working with Allan on his emergence and having that discovery year, which I think this is going to be. Last year a lot of people were stumbling upon [him] and it was very organic and this year is about letting people know what’s going on, which I think is going to be very fun. I’m always the guy sitting at a party who’s asked to do the playlist, because people know that I’ll probably have a fairly encyclopedic knowledge of what’s coming out, and every single time, without fail, when I play an Allan song amongst 20 other songs the room asks, “What’s this?” So it’s really fun to be involved in that, and I’m really excited to hear about what Allan’s got cooking for this next album that we’ll be working on over the next year and throw in my two cents where it’s wanted and hopefully, more people will want to hear him than ever before.

Source: Billboard

http://tunecollective.com/2017/02/24/rising-artist-allan-rayman-discusses-his-rule-breaking-artistic-vision-more-in-first-ever-interview-exclusive/