#how to succeed in business without really trying

[timesadored]

ANOTHER REQUEST

WARNING: None that I can think of LOL

Wolf's Rain is a great anime from my childhood (from what I can remember)

So what about an batfam x neglected! wolf(?) reader

It would be super interesting in my opinion

But if you don't know Wolf's Rain, its an anime about a post-apocalyptic world where wolves, thought to be extinct, survive by disguising themselves as humans (as well as still being hunted if sighted)

NOW ignoring the post-apocalyptic world and its completely normal lol

Some wolves disguise themselves in big cities or towns, etc... in order to survive the world better while most don't

Imagine Bruce adopts this little girl (backstory is whatever)

They could have been a good family to her then start accidentally neglecting her or smth

Again this doesn't matter at least to me lol

Now we have this probably teenager or young adult reader who's been ignored and probably tormented by Damian for however long

She knows what she truly is, she wasn't human, she never was human and never will be

Sure the family thought she was, she was disguised as one simply for survival

But she feels like a pet

She feels more like a pet then the damn dog

And sure, she grateful for the family

She survived longer then she would've without them but she misses her natural form

She's also grateful that the family doesn't know about her true form even if they see it when they're playing heroes

She acted like a stray dog when she wanders Gotham at night everyone's distracted, they don't notice her

She's met the two hyenas of that one chaotic and playful villain, related to them even

They were pets just like her yet they are happy with that life

She craves the dirt beneath her paws

The howling of the wind twisting around trees

The chase of hunting

The taste of prey

Raw and wild

The exhaustion and disappointment of failing a hunt and potentially starving to death

Yes

yes

She craves even that

She knows that there are places she could go to for that

But its not the same

She wants a life with no humans

Not even her adopted family owners

She wants to be in a pack

She wants to struggle

She wants to fail

She wants to succeed

She needs to be her true nature

She needs to be a wolf

Wild and untamed

Untouched by mankind

Yet that wasn't possible

Not anymore

She's too soft now

She may tuck her tail between her legs but she'll never bare her teeth

How tragic

Yet how wonderful it is that she could unlearn that

The first step is leaving that lonely dog cage called a mansion and unforgiving zoo known as Gotham

It would be easy

At least she thinks it would

The family wouldn't notice, well maybe Damian would

Damian tormented her

He tormented everyone so she didn't take it to heart

She knows that if he knew her true identity, he probably wouldn't be as awful

She can see just as much as anyone could that he was a animal lover

Plus he was still learning how to be human and not a weapon

He made it look easy do you still crave being a weapon? it was easier, wasn't it?

Dick wouldn't notice unless Damian spoke up

But even then he would forget

Too focused on more important things then a missing dog

She doesn't blame him

He was trying so hard to get out of Bruce's shadow

He was still trying to fight the idea he was defined by Batman it's hard isn't it? do you choke on it?

Jason didn't care for her

She didn't care really, he was never around to put anything to his name

He was too busy being tormented by other things

She could taste the betrayal he felt on the tip of her tongue

Smell his rage and anger it was easy to hate, huh mutt? wasn't it easy to use?

Tim was too tired

For anything really

Too focused on crime- others then himself

Too much insecurity mixed with idealism in her opinion

He didn't make a name for himself to her

He was busy proving himself over and over again it was hard proving yourself time and time again, only to doubt yourself, isn't it?

Barbara ignored her

She didn't blame her

She ignored the impressive girl as well

Yet she was also too controlling

Too stubborn almost bitter are you?

There was nothing to say about her

Cassandra freaked her out

She was quiet

Too quiet

as well as observed too much in her opinion

She felt like prey when under her gaze

A weapon trying to be human you keep trying to be human but we all know you can't, can you?

Stephanie was annoying

She was kind, outgoing and upbeat

But she was headstrong and stubborn

She was driven and motivated, in a almost warm way

Oh so friendly while still being independent

It was annoying you're more of a dog, aren't you? where's your leash?

Duke was new, not yet defined

He was a metahuman

Grounded and kind

That's all she knew of him

She didn't care about him just another thing added to the collection

Alfred was there

He took care of her

Much more fatherly then anyone

Yet he held so much loyalty to Bruce it almost blinded him at times

It didn't mean anything to her, really

He didn't mean much to her you're more of a owner then bruce, how many dogs have you taken care of by now?

Bruce was a memory

He was there at one point, at the beginning

Busy grieving over a son

Busy brooding over the past

Busy on anything but her

She couldn't blame him

She didn't want him

She hated him in a way how many dogs have you trained? how many are still here? how many do you expect to listen to your commands? wheres my treat for listening, dog trainer?

She wanted freedom

From them

From Gotham

From humans

She spoke to animals around the city

Deer, raccoons, etc.. in Gotham woods

The zoo animals when she managed to visit

Oh how she hated that zoo

Yearning to be with the wolves in there yet craving freedom more she wouldn't risk freeing them, how selfish

Dogs and cats, whether they were strays or pets

She remembered hearing about an pet stray cat who turned into a Red Lantern

She wished to get a ring after that

Not to help but for her own personal gain

She couldn't help the selfish desires running through her mind like a violent river

She was simply turning desperate

The hyenas, Bud and Lou if she remembered correctly, were ones she met the most out of any animal

For one simple reason

They were always around when their owner was

So loyal to her after being fed

it was almost sickening

Their instincts gone

How human of them

None of these animals were helpful

They didn't get her

Understand her

Not even those wolves

None of them could help her with her freedom

how pathetic

ANYWAYS IF ANYONE COULD WRITE THIS THAT WOULD BE GREAT

Or use this as inspo for something similar lol

I would but I'm not good at writing stories

Only the concept or ideas of them if anything LOL

Had to constantly google their personalities so I hope I did them justice

WHICH I WOULD ALSO LIKE TO SAY BEFORE I GO

I would like to say that for the most part all of the characters are in Reader's point of view so most of it isn't gonna be accurate

Especially since she would probably project onto them A LOT

This also could be yandere or not idc

[lets-go-bananas]

Look at the little Harry Potter men go.

[nakoayas]

Otozuki Kei as J. Pierrepont Finch and Maihane Mimi as Rosemary Pilkington for the 2011 Snow Troupe's How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying! performance programme ❄️

Scanned from my personal collection.

[mikifoldi]

Daniel Radcliffe / digital painting by Miki Foldi

[d-criss-news]

From Hedwig to Helperbot: Darren Criss Looks Back on His Stage Journey

It’s nap time for Darren Criss’s newborn son, Brother, when the Glee star hops on our video chat. The camera’s off, but he quickly turns it on to say hello face-to-face dressed in workout clothes — a green sleeveless top and a ball cap — as he tries to do some chores at the same time.

Criss has a limited window at home as he prepares to star in the new musical Maybe Happy Ending, now playing at Broadway’s Belasco Theatre. The story, with book, music, and lyrics by Will Aronson and Hue Park, takes place 100 years in the future in Seoul, South Korea. Criss plays Oliver, an obsolete Belperbot along the lines of Siri or Google, “except more human-like, who is definitely past his prime and has been just waiting [in a Helperbot retirement facility] for his owner to pick him up,” Criss describes to Broadway Direct of the role. He stars opposite rising star Helen J Shen, who plays Oliver’s retired Helperbot neighbor. “It almost feels like two people in an old-folks’ home trying to connect with a family member.”

The plot sounds dramatic, but “make no mistake: This is a musical. It’s a musical comedy,” says Criss. “It has a lot of heart and a lot of joy and a lot of humor and amazing music, and it’s a hell of a spectacle.”

His friend Michael Arden, who won a Tony Award for his direction of Parade, was a big reason for Criss to sign on to the project — and serve as an executive producer as well. Arden brought the show to Criss’s attention many years ago, and again recently when Criss was starring in Little Shop of Horrors Off-Broadway.

“This had been kind of percolating for a while, and between the pandemic and strikes and just a lot of other things, that really comes down to timing. So the stars just kind of aligned,” Criss says.

Criss, a figure on Broadway for well over a decade, started to gather a following while at University of Michigan as a founding member of Team StarKid, the student-run theater company behind the viral Harry Potter musical parody A Very Potter Musical. His big break came on the hit Fox TV show Glee back in 2010. The show had already aired for a full season before he was cast as Warbler Blaine Anderson and future love interest to Chris Colfer’s Kurt Hummel. If not for Glee, he believes his career would not have had the same trajectory.

“I felt like this was my master’s in performance of music on camera,” Criss says, admitting that, until Glee, he didn’t consider himself a singer — rather, a musician who acted. “I have that show to thank for giving me any headway in the musical-theater space.”

In the middle of filming Glee in 2012, his Broadway debut called. Criss was asked to succeed Daniel Radcliffe in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying for three weeks during a winter break from filming Glee. “I left on, like, a Friday night from my last day of shooting. I started rehearsal on a Saturday. Within 10 days, I was on a Broadway stage. I left my Sunday matinee, got on the plane, and went to work [at Glee] Monday morning as if nothing had happened. So it was a bit of a fever dream. It goes by as quickly as it came, like all other moments in life.”

Three years later, Criss stepped into his next Broadway role. This time, he played Hedwig in Hedwig and the Angry Inch for about two and half months, succeeding John Cameron Mitchell. “People always ask me, ‘What’s your dream role?’ I’m like, ‘I kind of did it,’” he says of the opportunity. “Hedwig was a role I always loved so much when I was a teenager, and getting to jump into it was so special to me and my wife. We both love Hedwig so much. It’s a big part of our relationship.”

More recently on Broadway, Criss starred in the play American Buffalo with Laurence Fishburne and Sam Rockwell in 2022 for a three-month limited run. “I completely idolized them,” he says of his scene partners. “I mean, if you see a pattern here, I recommend this to everybody, to just chase their heroes. I’ve just been chasing my heroes my whole life, and I’m not being bashful about it at all.”

Getting Rachel Evan Wood to play Audrey opposite Criss’s Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors at the Westside Theatre earlier this year was something that he says was his idea.

“I pitched her pretty hard,” he said of getting casting directors to choose the Westworld actress as his costar. “When they heard her sing, I think it was very clear that this wasn’t like a favor to anybody. She was doing us a favor. The fact that she said yes just blew my mind.” The role of the nerdy floral shop worker wasn’t something Criss thought he’d get the opportunity to add to his résumé “because it just was never something that I thought anybody would let me do. … I wasn’t sprinting to that in the way that I was the other things in my life.”

Criss welcomed Brother, his second baby, this past June with his wife Mia. The timing couldn’t be more coincidental, since their first, Bluesy, was born during his run of American Buffalo.

As our conversation comes to a close, Criss says he kind of got all of his chores done and haphazardly put things away and folded laundry. The next project he wants to pursue is his writing, something he hasn’t tackled much in five years. Until then, he’s reveling in Maybe Happy Ending.

“I do find myself at a loss for words, trying to truly put into words how special this experience has been,” he adds. “I think it really is a thing of beauty that can really add quite a bit of ornamentation in perhaps a grim world.”

[sweaterkittensahoy]

Had a dream the other night where I asked someone if they'd seen Daniel Radcliffe's turn in how to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and the dream friend said no.

And, like, he spent 40 hours a week for a YEAR learning to dance for this show, and he's SO GOOD.

So here. Watch it.

[fybrooksashmanskas]

Brooks Ashmanskas - June 14th

[mthguy]

Tony Awards Flashback

Greetings, Fellow Theatre Nerds!

The 2025 Annual Tony Awards are tomorrow! In celebration of this momentous event, I present the final Tony Awards Flashback before the show. It's "Brotherhood of Man," from one of my favorite Broadway musicals, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Prior to his Tony Award winning performance in last year's Tony Best Revival of a Musical, Merrily We Roll Along, Daniel Radcliffe demonstrated his musical theatre chops in this joyous number at the 65th Annual Tony Awards on June 12, 2011.

It's show-stopping numbers like this that make musical theatre one of the greatest American art forms. Just sit back and enjoy!

[tammydarling]

On this episode of Where In The World Is Hedy LaRue...

[doyouknowthismusical]

[musicthyme]

The Company Way / Paris Original (Company Party)" from How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying (1967) Songs by Frank Loesser Arranged by Nelson Riddle

[haveyouseenthismusical]

[thestarlightforge]

“Clerics Have Necromancy”

8/28/24

******

Sometimes, I wonder—

“Promise me?” said Caroline Argo.

After stumbling from sport to sport, school to school—

“Promise me, if something should ever go wrong…” Caroline asked the Boy Detective.

From musical to musical & play to play—

“I need you,” said Wendy Darling by her bedroom window.

If, these days, I am being brave, still trying to connect, despite all that I’ve survived—

“I felt that, and I bet you did, too,” said Slightly of Neverland.

Or if I am blundering through life, collecting ghosts.

“Promise me, you’ll send me a sign, to tell me you’re somewhere?” asked Caroline.

I wonder if this is how my Cleric felt in “Dungeons and Dragons,” the first time he used the same coin for healing as he had to speak with the dead.

“Sometimes people leave you… Halfway through the wood… Others may deceive you… You decide what's good… You decide alone… But no one is alone,” said Cinderella.

Wonder if you should let yourself laugh with the world—

“I believe in you,” said Rosemary Pilkington.

Or cry, as time and chance slip on—

“His eyes were blue. His eyes were brown. His eyes were green,” questioned the Lost Girls.

And try to memorize their faces.

“A little brush of whiskers, and that distant smile…” said Alice Spencer.

Because you’ve glimpsed at possibility, but only one you know by heart:

“In the story, there’s no moment of farewell, you know,” said Alfred Hallam.

You know?

[enohpollems]

Mr. Boss would love How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying I just know it in my heart

[spamhamandeggs]

I should take up knitting. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to knit my way to a promotion!

[thewickedbohemian]

Dream Animated Movie Musical Tournament Seed Round Group J

For information on this tournament as well as the seed poll for group A go here

Why I think these musicals should be animated movies (in my opinion)

Be More Chill: it's got the kind of plot that'd be hard to make work live-action but the kind of cult following that'd go see an animated teen movie and in the right hands (which if I had my druthers would be people like the studio behind Miraculous, some have suggested Illumination but have they ever made something non-family-friendly) it could turn into something truly awesome that could get the acclaim it never got at the Tonys

Starmites: speaking of shit that hits a certain sort of Tumblr teen demographic I'm surprised this show isn't bigger given it's basically to superhero comics and "toyline cartoons" what The Owl House is to Harry Potter and YA fantasy to the point where both even start with the neurodivergent heroine's call to adventure happening after her mom makes her get rid of her beloved books because she's been acting out at school. Also this wouldn't be all-animation as the parts set on Earth at the beginning and end would be live-action, the rest animated in if I had my druthers a style similar to She-Ra And The Princesses Of Power. Only issue is I first found the show through the school version and the professional version's different but the school version makes some but not all decisions I like better so if I made this I wouldn't be sure how to merge them

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying: this one I think would work animated for a combo of a couple reasons I've used for other ones as kinda just vibes kinda larger-than-life kinda animation dulls the datedness of period setting. I just really feel like this could be something surprisingly fun

Repo! The Genetic Opera: yeah this hasn't had a stage show or at least a Broadway one but I wish it did and I wish this movie was more of a well-known thing and an animated remake capitalizing off how it kinda feels like a sci-fi version of those dark fairytale retellings you sometimes see could help get more eyes its way

Fiddler On The Roof: it deserves a remake because its themes are relevant and it's been a while I think since it was even revived and people on my other socials when I asked about this idea specifically even said it could have saved Fox Animation if they'd made one in the 90s. While I'm not sure who'd make it now that at least proves an animated one could have legs

Ragtime: given the kinds of stories being told and just how "big" this musical feels but in a different way than stuff like Legally Blonde or Hairspray it feels like only animation could best do it justice

Tuck Everlasting: another underappreciated musical and another sorta-fairytale vibe but this time based on something that could get adult viewers nostalgic