#mother play

[droughtofapathy]

2023-2024 Broadway Season Ranked

I saw every new show that opened on Broadway in the 2023-2024 season. Once more, perfectly normal and not at all cost-prohibitive. Compared to seasons' past, this one was plentiful in new musicals and utterly bereft of quality. Usually I have at least four shows that rewire my entire circuitry, but not this time.

Do you have strong opinions on any of these new shows? Are you filled with unstoppable rage at this list? Do you agree wholeheartedly? Discuss.

[broadwaydivastournament]

BROADWAY DIVAS SUPERLATIVES: And the Tony Goes to...

The play's the thing, and all of the nominees this year are superb. But one stands above them all.

Video Clips Beneath the Cut: More Polls

[someoneinthemirror]

jim parsons

[lesbiancosimaniehaus]

I had to sit on a cushion bc the woman in front of me was so freaking tall, but this was really something else. Celia Keenan-Bolger brought so much vulnerability to a character that is closed off for self preservation. Seeing Jessica Lange dance to I will survive was just so charming. She’s a true performer.

[sohaibsmart]

2024 Tony Awards nominations: Full listing of nominees

Amid a very crowded Broadway season of recent performs and musicals, “Stereophonic” and “Hell’s Kitchen” rose to the highest because the most-nominated productions for the 2024 Tony Awards on Tuesday morning. David Adjmi’s play a few Seventies band recording an album and Alicia’s Keys’ musical recounting her New York upbringing every earned 13 nominations. Introduced reside on CBS and on YouTube…

[caroleditosti]

'Mother Play,' Stellar Performances by Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons

The 'Mother Play' by Paula Vogel is a must-see for its profound themes and especially for its marvelous performances by Jessica Lange, Celia Keenan-Bolger and Jim Parsons.

(L to R): Celia Kennan-Bolger, Jessica Lange in Mother Play (Joan Marcus) One of the keys to understanding Mother Play, A Play in Five Evictions by Paula Vogel is in the narration. Currently running in its premiere at 2NDSTAGE, directed by Tina Landau, Vogel’s play is has some elements of her own life, by is not naturalistic. It is stylized, quirky, humorous, imaginative and figurative, like…

[cidnangarlond]

[wintergrofyuri]

izutsumi, to me, reminds kabru of himself in a way. both in a good way and a bad way. bc he doesnt really like himself. ykno. also i just really like how izutsumi acts all tough and independant but needs someone to cuddle with to fall asleep. she's perfect.

[findmeinthefallair]

The healing and lasting love of a mom

[droughtofapathy]

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby

Mother Play

April 26, 2024 | Broadway | Hayes Theater | Evening | Play | Original | 1H 30M

I am now deeply, and unsurprisingly, in love with Jessica Lange. After so many new and disappointing musicals this month, being able to sit third-row in a smart, well-written, expertly-acted play with no pomp and circumstance is a relief. Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Paula Vogel, the play examines her own childhood with a mother who should never have been a mother. Under Jessica Lange's masterful craft, Phyllis is part-Joan Crawford, part Mama Rose. Sympathetic and deplorable, enchanting and repulsive. A prime example of a woman who had motherhood forced on her, and tried to cope, but failed at every turn. Celia Keenan-Bolger, no stranger to embodying child roles as a grown woman, is the playwright's stand-in (here named Martha, not Paula) and carries the show's narrative with the same competence as the character has in packing up a house and moving out when the eviction notice comes. Jim Parsons, also a wonderful performer as Carl, the brother who doesn't survive. The three actors are so well-connected.

The show is comedy and tragedy. Morbid in the best way. The last scene, as a middle-aged Martha takes care of an elderly mother who no longer recognizes her, carried more power and nuance than the entirety of The Notebook's handling of the same disease. Vogel trusts her audience to still have an ounce of critical thought. The biggest example of this is in the play's subtle analysis of Phyllis's own sexuality. Her children, Martha and Carl, are very openly gay. Something that horrifies their mother, who slowly comes around (sort of) as the years pass, only to heartbreakingly not in the end. Martha, the narrator, never once comes out and says "I think my mother might've been a repressed lesbian," but that idea is woven into the entire piece. Phyllis, who is so tactile with her young son, but can't bear to touch her daughter, and who avoids any contact with women. In the end, old and senile, she is bathed by a daughter she thinks is just a nurse at the home. And as Martha drags a damp cloth over her mother's neck and collarbone, across her bare shoulder and down beneath the robe over her breasts, the relief and simple pleasure Phyllis gets out of this touch reveals more than any blatant statement. Jessica Lange's expressions in this moment are mesmerizing. And Celia Keenan-Bolger's just heartbreaking.

There's also something delightful in the way Phyllis, who starts the play at 37 and continues into her seventies, is allowed to visibly age. By the curtain call, Jessica Lange is onstage with her wrinkles and lines and bags visible for all to see, and I love a woman who is allowed to be old on stage.

Verdict: Why I Love the Theatre

A Note on Ratings

[drenched-in-sunlight]

Erdtree’s Sacred Tears.

(discussion of my inspiration to draw this under the cut)

[bananafire11]

Tadc..... dinosaurs.... tadc dinosaurs

[hrokkall]

Mama gave me music lessons,

now I play the saddest songs

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 102

 Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose, taking a deep breath. In for ten seconds, out for eight. Alright. Okay. “Let me get this straight,” he didn’t motion to the three teens- or not teens even if two apparently looked like they were- but it was a close thing. “You-” 

 Phantom perked up, white hair flickering with what he was pretty sure were stars as they turned away from the window looking out into space. “-are two years old.” The fae-esque being who looked more like a fourteen year old gave a half-distracted nod. Which, for a toddler, they were paying attention pretty well. 

 “You-” Klarion looked up from where he was fiddling with the cuffs that had been on him, cat sprawled on his shoulder now that it was out of the carrier. “-are six?” Another distracted nod, the apparently-child seemingly enamored with the sounds the cuffs made when they clinked together. 

  “And you-” He turned towards Marvel, who shrank back before seemingly steeling themself. “-are in fact ten.” The… well they had thought demigod but apparently all three were some sort of realms-being, which had apparently made Constantine pale and start cursing before stomping out of the Watchtower. Another nod and shaky thumbs up. 

 Alright. Okay. They had in fact let a ten-year old join the league, which wouldn’t have been so bad if they had known. Especially the fact that apparently Marvel was only half-human, which suddenly explained so much about how he didn’t know so many things about a human life. Which-

 “You,” he turned towards Phantom again to make sure he was listening before returning his attention to Marvel. “And you have both lived at least a year in the human realm with human companions, but your-” He turned his gaze towards the ravenette in the center. The six year old apparently. “-experience with the human realm is literally just with the Light.” 

 Yet another distracted nod. Okay. Bruce was tempted to scream in a room for the entire situation that had cropped up from the single action of taking Klarion’s familiar and then the boy himself into custody. Then again, it was honestly a much better thing they had apparently caught this. 

 “Alright,�� he sighed, suddenly feeling incredibly exhausted. “To make sure I have all of this correct-” Because it was already a shitshow and the amount of shouting had absolutely spooked the child. To the point he’d- according to Marvel- made what was apparently some sort of very distressed noise that had made both him and Phantom running. Or rather flying and portaling. 

 “-in the realms, people there make friends through fighting,” Bruce pauses to make sure he got that part correct. The origin of this entire misunderstanding with the chaos-lord. Lordling? 

 All three nodded, Klarion losing interest in the cuffs and starting to pet his cat. Familiar. Everyone had referred to it as a familiar and Marvel had appeared utterly horrified that they had taken said familiar away. Somehow he was the one the trio were currently trusting and weren’t doing the same towards any of the other league members. 

 “And you have been trying to make friends with the Jr team, which they have been taking as an attack due to this miscommunication.” Honestly they should have gotten more information, though he couldn’t exactly blame any of the teens, what with everything they were currently dealing with. 

 “... is there any sort of guardian or something you might have, that can be contacted? Or anyone that could help prevent a situation like this from happening again?” All three avoided his eyes, suddenly finding things like the table and walls very interesting. 

 Oh. Hm. This could be a problem.