#thanks to russian actor who shall not be named this musical is now on my mind and it is criminal that there's not more fics of kings on ao3

[krowscrawl]

gotta test these guys designs out so yknow

why not ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

og post by @pqnnier

[palmtreepalmtree]

Alright, this one is long overdue for an anonymous friend who really wanted me to review The Healer.  So after a short pause, here is another edition of

The Worst Movie on Netflix Right Now™

Heavy sigh.

Alright.  Let’s talk about this one.  

First off, I have to do some pretty serious content warnings, cause I know some people have been receiving some bad news recently and this review goes someplace you might not expect so, I love you guys, but please be aware that this review deals with: cancer, terminal illness, kids with cancer.  

Now back to the bullshit.

This is basically a movie about a fucking dumbass dude who has trouble making obvious decisions.  

SPOILERS AHEAD (are you new here?)

The main character Alec Bailey, begins the film as a total fuckwit.  He lives in England (somewhere about) and owns a failing electronic handyman business that he calls “The Healer” (in the most pathetic stretch of narrative bullshit, but okay) and is in deep gambling debts to the Russian mob. 

As our story begins, Alec discovers that he has a long lost rich uncle who makes him an offer: the uncle will pay off Alec’s debts if he agrees to live in Nova Scotia for a year.  The uncle will make all the arrangements: plane ticket, work visa, place to live, etc.  All Alec has to do is stay in Nova Scotia for a year.

OH NO!  WHATEVER SHALL I DO?!?  WHAT AM I GOING TO DO IN REMOTE NOVA SCOTIA FOR A YEAR AFTER ALL MY FINANCIAL CONCERNS ARE TAKEN CARE OF?  

HOWEVER WILL I SURVIVE IN SUCH A HORRIBLE PLACE?11?!?

I BETTER THINK IT OVER.

*eyeroll*

He finally makes his decision after getting chased by mobsters trying to collect on his debts.  ...like I said.  He’s a fuckwit.

So he moves into this beautiful house in Nova Scotia.  There’s no internet, which is a legit bummer, but his uncle has arranged a car for him to get to town.  Seems like a pretty good gig.  Even if it is going to be brutally cold come the winter months.  

Well as soon as Alec arrives in town, everyone seems to know and be expecting him.  He puts an ad out for his mechanical engineering services, again, under the name “The Healer.”  Well........... that goes awry in ways you would expect.  Suddenly, people start showing up requesting his physical healing services.

The thing is, the people from town seem to expect him to actually be a healer.  They keep referring to a secret and to him being “the chosen one.”  There’s no explanation for this.

Then there’s like... this whole weird interlude where Alec seems to kill the town priest, played by Jorge Ramirez (can someone please find this dude a good acting gig? my dude has decent comedic timing, he’s better than this shit). And Alec gets arrested.  Even though the priest got up and walked away.  All of this seems like a weird spinning of wheels before the actual plot.  Like why is this happening.  Why?  

Eventualllllllly......... his uncle shows back up and fesses up (in the most elaborate way possible).  People in his family have a gift.  Every other generation, someone is chosen.  And they have the gift of healing.  Based solely on being near to someone who is destined to be saved.

The gift can only be activated around their 30th birthday (if this sounds unnecessarily elaborate, that’s because it is -- and I’m even cutting shit out like the secret basement and portraits on the wall, blahblahblah).  The day after the birthday, the chosen one must decide.  They can choose to accept or decline the gift of healing.  Alec is given until midnight that night to make his decision.  WILL HE BE THE CHOSEN ONE?  WILL HE BE THE HEALER?!?!1?1

I mentioned that Alec is a fuckwit right?  

*Hagrid voice* YOU’RE A FUCKWIT, ALEC!

*squints*

Annnnnnyhow.  Alec goes to the town church where everyone is gathered at midnight (with thank you signs and a big round of applause) and he dashes their hopes.  HE WILL NOT BE THE HEALER, NO!  Even though it comes with no readily apparent downsides or costs.  And he’d be able to relieve the suffering of others with no cost to himself.  No, fuck it.  He’s going to go home.

The town takes it pretty well, all things considered.  The few people who had already been healed by being near him make speeches of gratitude.  They all wish him a happy birthday and tell him he’s welcome to stay.  Like these people are insanely understanding about him declining the gift of healing.  INSANE.

It’s worth noting that we’re about halfway through the movie at this point and we haven’t met one of the main characters of the movie.  

IN COMES ABIGAIL.  Cancer kid extraordinaire.  She is 14 years old.  Her parents have driven 7 hours to see Alec.  Their daughter is dying of terminal cancer, and all they want is for Alec to spend some time with her and give it a shot.  But she’s a pretty self-possessed kid.  She convinces the reluctant Alec to just hangout with her for the weekend to buck up her parents and give her parents some hope.  She doesn’t believe in the healing, so no harm, no foul.

And finally we’ve hit the meat of our story.  Will Alec be able to save Abigail now that he’s declined the gift?  Will he regret it?  WHY DID HE DECLINE THE GIFT!?1?

SPOILERS (really can’t discuss this movie without them)

It turns out, Alec had a brother who died of cancer.  And they were incredibly close.  In Alec’s words, “he was my everything.”  But now he deeply regrets giving up the gift.  Now he’s worried he can’t save Abigail.

You know what, man?  Same.

SO WHY THE FUCK DID YOU TURN DOWN THE GIFT!??!?

Listen.  Listen, listen.  I don’t know a single person who has been touched by cancer who wouldn’t jump at the chance to have a healing gift.  I mean, what the fuck.  Death sucks.  Losing someone you love from any kind of illness sucks.  Especially when it feels even remotely too soon.  And cancer is a particular type of FUCKING BULLSHIT.  It sucks.  

So it’s really fucking hard to understand why this FUCKWIT turns down the gift to begin with.  Death and suffering is not abstract for him when this movie starts!  So why we should feel sorry for his resulting anxiety, now that he has met someone who is directly negatively affected by his fucking BAD DECISION.

Anyhow, the rest of the movie is basically an exercise in how charming Abigail is and how much fun we can have with her before she goes off to die. Which like......... OH-FUCKING-KAY!

It should go without saying that this movie has a happy ending.  The music swells where it should.  The romance is consummated.  Abigail is healed.  All is going to be well with the world.

As a movie, this one has some weird fucking choices.  First, all of the music cues in this movie are just wrong.  “Faith” by George Michael is not a song about believing in something --- unless that something is having sex with someone who hurt you before.  And the lighting in this film is so beautiful all the time, it looks like you’re in a fucking ciallis commercial, even when you’re in the freaking police station, wtf?  

And last, the writing is just weird in places.  Like why have the love interest lie about being a lesbian through 90% of the film?  Why?  It’s not a good joke!  And  It is COMPLETELY fucking baffling to me why the good news of this story is delivered off-screen instead of on-screen.  If Abigail is going to be okay, why couldn’t she come back to Nova Scotia to tell him?  Why couldn’t she deliver that news in person!?  That’s just bad writing.  What the fuck is that?

But whatever.  

On the credit side, I think Oliver Jackson Cohen knows what he’s doing as an actor.  He’s not Oscar-worthy yet, but I believed him.  When he talks about his brother, I felt that.  And that could not have been easy in such a fucking weird script.

But as much as I’d like to end this review right here, there’s more.  Cause...

..........that’s not where the movie ends.  Not entirely.

As the end music plays, the movie is dedicated to Paul Newman who established summer camps for seriously ill kids.  And then we see images and videos of the kids all over the world enjoying activities at these camps.  

And that’s where this critique stops.  Sorta.  Paul Newman was a legitimately good person.  And his legacy of caring for sick kids carries on to this day, as was evident from all the footage.

But here’s the thing: healing as it’s depicted in this movie does not exist.  But easing the suffering of others does.  I wish this movie had been about that.  I wish it had been less focused on miracles and weird family legacies and selfish fuckwits and more about the kind of healing that Paul practiced.  But I guess that movie isn’t as fun, and it isn’t as hopeful and uplifting.

In the non-movie version of this story, Abigail Bryant died in 2014 at the age of 20.  Her obituary still appears online.  And it is still receiving comments and photos from cancer survivors and fighters, many of them who found her through the film.  And they talk about how the movie touched them.

On that level, it doesn’t matter what I say here.  It doesn’t matter that there are weird parts of this script or that healing like this is a fantasy.  This movie does its job.  It touches people.  And if it inspires just a few more people to give money to help relieve suffering, then that’s all that matters.

Ronald McDonald House Charities Cancer Research Institute Hole in the Wall Gang (Paul Newman’s org) Serious Fun Children’s Network (established by Paul Newman)

[iridescentseawitch]

CH. 25 Here To Stay

Chapter 25 of my MysMe Fic - Star Crossed Entertainers This chapter has a lovely piece of art done by the magnificent @irageneveart and I cannot thank her enough! This fic is also on AO3 under the username: MonotoneManday. Enjoy!

"Hey! It doesn't look half bad!"

Samantha glared at Seven. He put his hands up in surrender and Vanderwood nudged him with a hard elbow.

"Really, it's not half bad."

"Give me more credit. You both just put me in a situation where we had to blowtorch half of my hair off and I cut it myself to get this result." Samantha held up a mirror and swayed her hair side to side. "It looks damn good."

"Well that means more easy to forgive!"

"We don't have anything to be sorry for, moron! She offered to come on the mission!"

"Ms. Mary, hush! I invited her!" 

"Alright, alright!" Samantha shouldered her way in between the two men, trying to push them at least arms length away from each other. "Seven's right. I'm not mad. I mean, this blows, yeah. However, I went on the mission voluntarily. Just like I have been for the past couple of months. I just, miss the action, ya know?"

Vanderwood's eye's narrowed and the now short haired redheaded woman. 

"I still don't understand this sudden change. You've decided to take over the family business, you have decided to reign as a Mafia Queen but, peacefully. You're not as hot headed as you were before and lately, you've acted like a lady more than anything else. It's weird. Creeps me out."

Samantha rolled her eyes and began to gather her things. 

"I've just made some changes and decisions that benefit my future."

"But won't you miss you're old life? Even a little? And isn't this new life...complicated?" Seven crossed his arms and looked at Samantha with concern in his eyes. A sadness that almost seemed like pitty. Samantha simply chuckled.

"Don't you worry about me and what I'm doing."

"I mean, sure, okay but that stuff in the states, how does-"

"Saeyoung. What's the point of having money and power if you can't live the life that you want?"

The woman didn't wait for a response. She shot a wink and a smirk at the two men and disappeared out of the front door.

"What do you think, Vanderwood? What is she accomplishing by doing any of these things?"

"Oh she has some sort of plan cooking. Trust me. But for now, I hope what we got tonight helps you get a little further."

"Do you think we should tell her that what I'm finding could involve 'He who shall not be named in front of her'?" 

"I'm sure her, and the rich kid will find out eventually. And he'll only get involved if you tell him about his friend. Which, speaking of, where is the mint haired guy?"

"I think I've found him. But I don't want to scare him away. Especially if he has the information I need. Which." Seven took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "I truly think that he does."

Vanderwood hooked his jacket over his shoulder and opened the door to leave.

"Hey, aren't you going to stay and go through what we found?"

"No. This bunker is filthy." "Mr. Han..." The security guard outside of his office didn't try to exchange pleasantries. He simply greeted, nodded and opened the door for his boss. Jumin shuffled around papers mindlessly. He sporadically ran his hands through his raven hair. Pacing. Loosening his tie. Exhaustion began to rear it's head and he heavily clunked into his desk chair. A gentle knock came from the heavy office door.

"Come in."

"Mr. Han, I gathered all of today's major newspapers and tabloids and looked them over for you." A nervous intern with armfuls of paper material stood in front of Jumin's desk.

"What is the damage? Anything we have to get in front of?"

"Well sir..."

Jumin arched his brow, not thrilled with the boys nervous and hesitant tone. "There were quite a few stories about your father and even one or two about you and a rumored engagement to that popular young actress..."

Leaning back Jumin began to rub his temples. He could feel a dark anger rising in him. Sheer frustration and humiliation at his father's actions.

"However, Mr. Han." The intern continued. "There was other news that overshadowed these things. Something that took over most all the major headlines."

He began to spread the reading material out on the desk for Jumin to look over as he explained what he had read.

"Remember when business tycoon Kang Dae announced his adoptive daughter would take over the business but then herself and his other daughter just kind of disappeared? Well not really disappeared, Kaeli actually ran off with musical actor Zen and I'm a huge fan of there's and-"

"Get on with it." 

"Oh right." Wiping the sweat from his brow and stopping his rambling, the intern continued. "There were all those rumors and speculation about gang involvement, mafia ties, Russian mobs, and no one really knew what had happened to Samantha."

Jumin felt himself clam up. He broke into a cold sweat. Hearing all these specific words along with her name. Knowing that big news laid before him, he could only imagine worst case scenarios. 

 "Seems like they finally figured out what she was up to."

 " Thank you that will be all. "

 "Of course Mr. Han. Thank you." 

The intern left the room and Jumin scrambled to get through as many headlines as he could in a split second. 

FEATHERS TO FINANCE

BURLESQUE TO BUSINESS

DADDY'S LITTLE SHOWGIRL

 "After a long absence from the family business, tycoon Kang Dae's oldest daughter has returned to sit on the board and claim next in line to run the company."

 Jumin was reading the words but didn't understand why he was hearing them out loud.

 "The heiress disappeared out of public eye in the corporate world but was quite busy overseas. For the year she was gone, Samantha Dae spent time building a problematic reputation as a showgirl in The United States. Mainly in Las Vegas, Nevada. Famously known as Sin City." 

 Jumin put down the newspaper in front of him and looked toward the front of his office. The doorway. Someone was leaning in the doorway. He followed red stiletto heels up long pale legs. A cobalt blue dress that laid above the knee. They were holding up the same newspaper Jumin was just reading himself. They dropped the newspaper from their face, folded it in half and tossed it to the side. Jumins breath caught in his throat. 

 "Tsk. If you read more, they try to make me sound like a real harlot." 

 She slowly walked toward the center of the room. A confident air surrounded her. A million dollar smile graced her face. Before she could make it anywhere near where Jumin had been sitting, strong arms wrapped around her and weighted her down like a ton of bricks. 

 "Samantha..." Jumins voice was barely above a whisper. He had his hand gently stroking her hair. It was shorter, but it was just as soft as he remembered. He inhaled deeply , trying to intake her scent he was always so fond of. 

Samantha wrapped her arms around his back and shut her eyes tight. For a year, everything she had done, all the moves she had made, everything was to get here. She was overcome with relief and unbelievable bliss. She pulled away and placed her hands on Jumins chest. He refused to let her go. She looked in his charcoal eyes. His bottom lashes sparkled, wet with tears.

 "Is my haircut that horrible?" Samantha chuckled as she wiped the tears from Jumins eyes.

 " It's lovely. You're beautiful. You're real. You're here. " Jumin could barely get the words out. His energy was dark and heavy. Samantha peered into his face, scanning every bit of him. Her heart broke. He was overwhelmed and under distress. She wondered what he had been going through in the past year, and knew he most likely had been shouldering it all himself. She was overcome with tremendous guilt. Pulling her body flush against his, Samantha spoke more tenderly than she ever had before.

 "There is no world that exists, where I would not come back to you. I'm here. To stay."

[newyorktheater]

  I was struck in seeing “The Great Society,” which depicts President Lyndon Johnson’s turbulent full term in office, how Robert Shenkkan’s play represents political theater in more ways than one.

Now, search the news these days for the phrase “political theater” and it is used as an accusation by people on the political right: The young people demonstrating to demand something be done for climate change, the antagonists say, are “props in political theater.” Above all, they label the impeachment inquiry of President Trump as “political theater”

We live in such a polarized time in our history that we can’t even agree on the meaning of words – as the theater artist known as Dyalekt pointed out in his (political) show, which I saw last week, The Museum of Dead Words. But I suppose political theater has long meant different things to different people. Political theater on stage is as old as theater. The Ancient Greek satires are said to have influenced public opinion, and Shakespeare is full of the politics of his day. The British critic Michael Billington recently named the Bard’s “Coriolanus” as  number one on his list of favorite political theater of all time (or, since he’s British, his favourite political theatre.)

Political theater is currently happening on and off the stage in New York – and throughout the world. London, for example, is reportedly full of new political plays: In  “Hansard” by Simon Woods, a couple during the Thatcher era bicker over politics in a way that critics see as commenting on the current Brexit polarization; “A Very Expensive Poison” a chlling satire by Lucy Prebble, features an actor portraying Russian Vladimir Putin and riffs on the 2006 murder in the UK by radioactive poison of the onetime Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko; “Faith Hope and Charity” by Alexander  show the people desperate for a meal who gather at a community center that may soon be shut down.

New York has always been a center of political theater – both on stage, and off stage, and a hybrid of the two. Both Arian Moayed and Robert Schenkkan have dramatized politicized issues  using verbatim transcripts  — in, respectively, “The Courtroom,” about a deportation case, and “The Investigation,” about the Mueller Report.

That’s why I Tweeted this a week ago

The non-verbatim transcript of call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky, in which Trump urges him to investigate Biden.

How long will it take before a theater artist — @ROBERTSCHENKKAN? @ArianMoayed? — produces a staged reading of it?https://t.co/gVxdPlzuvz pic.twitter.com/1ywBOjl7d1

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 25, 2019

“The Great Society” both embodies and depicts political theater.

There is the speech that Brian Cox as LBJ gives near the end of the play, which is verbatim announce that Johnson delivered in 1968:

“I feel strongly that I should not permit the Presidency to become involved in the partisan divisions that are developing in this political year. Accordingly, I shall not seek, and I will not accept, the nomination of my party for another term as your President.”

Since the play opened on Broadway exactly a week after the launch of the impeachment inquiry against the 45th president, it’s hard to avoid wondering whether The Great Society is intentionally designed to offer a contrast between the two men. After all, it’s impossible to imagine Trump voluntarily saying a single word from that announcement.

But the play also includes something of a subplot in the ways that Martin Luther King Jr. (portrayed by Grantham Coleman, pictured above in a clash in Chicago) pushed for civil rights, and especially for voting rights. He did so by….political theater: “We have to up the stakes. We’ve got to make people aware.” Political theater makes people aware. Even LBJ saw that (at least in the play): “We don’t disagree on tactics, Dr. King, just on timing.”

There are other plays about politics, and politicians coming up this month, such as Bella Bella, Harvey Fierstein’s solo show about Rep. Bella Abzug

October 2019 New York Theater Openings

New York Theater Quiz for September

The Week in New York Theater Reviews

The Great Society

The Great Society…is a sequel to All The Way, the Tony-winning play that was on Broadway five years ago (and is currently being shown on Netflix.) It starred Brian Cranston and chronicled the first year of LBJ’s presidency, starting in the immediate aftermath of the assassination of John F. Kennedy and ending with LBJ’s election. The new play offers some of the same pleasures. It too employs a big cast — 19 actors portraying some 50 characters — for a sweeping lesson in history and politics. It is smoothly directed, competently acted, and often fascinating, But it is ultimately less satisfying than All The Way.

Why?

Those for whom theater is their religion are more likely to appreciate “Why?,” a 70-minute theater piece about theater that, aptly, begins with a whimsically modified Biblical tale: God proclaims “There shall be theater” on the seventh day, because the humans had gotten bored on the day of rest….Written and directed by Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne, “Why?” is less a play than a kind of elliptical lecture-demonstration of, and paean to, the beauty and danger of the theatrical arts…more

The Height of the Storm

The same playwright who gave us “The Father” with a demented Frank Langella and “The Mother” with a depressed and possibly deranged Isabelle Huppert now offers us…dead Jonathan Pryce and Eileen Atkins?  Or maybe just one of them is dead? Or maybe neither?… Maybe we’re the ones who are dead – or wish we were by the end of “The Height of The Storm.”….

Both British actors of great renown… offer memorable moments of emotional power and clarity…But their performances were not enough compensation for sitting through Zeller’s trickster writing, which feels progressively less like a sensibility and more like a shtick.

Antigone

Ethereal, stylized and visually stunning, Japanese director Satoshi Miyagi’s production of “Antigone,” at the Park Avenue Armory through October 6, fuses several theatrical traditions, some of them thousands of years old, some newly created. Twenty-nine performers, ghostly in flowing white kimonos, glide slowly and gracefully through the ankle-deep water that covers the stage of the Armory’s massive Drill Hall. Placed around them in this pool of shimmering water (made with 18,000 gallons of water) are boulders, meant to resemble a Buddhist stone garden. This is the setting in which Sophocles’ 2,500-year-old play unfolds….more

  The Museum of Dead Words

The artist known as Dyalekt (pronounced dialect) greets us looking like a young Allen Ginsberg in his Yippie Uncle Sam phase, holding up a bucket labeled “dead words,” asking us for words that we don’t think work anymore. He will be our rapping guide to The Museum of Dead Words, which is not really a museum and not really about dead words. It is a show about 11 red-hot words that are used in combat rather than conversation….more

Work in Progress: A Hill on Which to Drown

Three generations of black, queer theater artists – actor André De Shields, 73; playwright Kevin R. Free, who is 50;  and director Zhailon Levingston, 25 —  are collaborating on a play about a black, queer character inspired by August Wilson’s Century Cycle. From the very first Wilson play he ever saw, a community theater production of “Fences” in the early 1990s, Free has had the same two reactions to  Wilson’s epic 10-play cycle, each play taking place in a different decade in Pittsburgh’s Hill District.

“I love the productions I’ve seen, but have never really felt a part of the world,” Free says. “The Cycle is genius, beautiful and resonant, but it features no fictional LGBTQIA* characters.”

So Free set out to create one.

The Week in New York Theater News

Here’s the stellar cast just announced for Sondheim/Weidman Assassins at Classic Stage Company next Spring:

  “Girl from the North Country,” an Off-Broadway musical set to a score of Bob Dylan songs, will feature Jay O. Sanders when it moves to Broadway, opening in March, along with original cast members Todd Almond, Jeannette Bayardelle, Matthew Frederick Harris, Caitlin Houlahan, Robert Joy, Marc Kudisch, Luba Mason, Ben Mayne, Tom Nelis, David Pittu, Colton Ryan, John Schiappa, Kimber Elayne Sprawl, Rachel Stern, Chelsea Lee Williams and Mare Winningham

Theater artist Annie Dorsen is one of this year’s 26 winners of the MacArthur Foundation “Genius” grants

Ben Platt at Marie’s Crisis

“Thanks to The Politician on Netflix, Marie’s Crisis Is suddenly the hottest piano bar on TV” (Is there much competition?)

A look at Patreon and its founder musician/techie Jack Conte

Here’s how Patreon works: You, a creator in search of funds, keep producing and distributing things wherever you usually do—Medium, SoundCloud, YouTube, whatever. But you also set up a Patreon page and direct your fans there in the hope that they will become your “patrons,” committing themselves to recurring monthly payments. (Unlike on Kickstarter, where supporters pitch in toward the completion of an individual project, on Patreon the money goes toward a creator’s ongoing output and livelihood generally.) In turn, Patreon encourages creators to treat these patrons less like charitable benefactors and more like members who have purchased admission to a club—entitling them to exclusive perks, whether it’s gated chat sessions, bonus content, or early peeks at a work in progress.

The 17th annual Broadway Stands Up For Freedom, benefit concert for ACLU/NYCLU, on Monday October 28 at The Town Hall,  will have the theme “My Body, My Business” and feature performances by Kelli O’Hara, Phillipa Soo, Montego Glover,  Eva Noblezada among others.  The concert is directed by Tony-winning director Rachel Chavkin (Hadestown).

Jessye Norman, regal American soprano, has died at 74

  🙏🏾❤️ https://t.co/ztcTRKa19V pic.twitter.com/JIyE46wL9q

— Audra McDonald (@AudraEqualityMc) October 1, 2019

Political Theater in an Impeachable Age. #Stageworthy News of the Week I was struck in seeing "The Great Society," which depicts President Lyndon Johnson’s turbulent full term in office, how Robert Shenkkan’s play represents political theater in more ways than one.