#watching her son perform for the first time.. i did choke up in the theater my eyes watered

[firelise]

Ronke Adekoluejo as Nanon aka Mama Joseph Bologne CHEVALIER (2023)

[melchron]

Nightmare Time Episode 3 Thoughts

I usually save this for the end of my thoughts but I have to say this now. OMG MATT DAHAN!!! I WILL NEVER NOT BE IMPRESSED BY HIM! Usually with the episodes I catch 1 or 2 motifs but I swear I caught everyone this time. And they all fit so well. My attention was evenly split between the music and the story this time. It was so freaking good. Matt deserves all the awards like omg.

I think this is the least laggy the theme has been. Good job going all out for the last one!

I said to my mom "Did Shashona record this video?" and she did!! Great cinematography Shashona!!

I also pointed out the Tim's daddy mask. I said "Aww he's wearing a mask for his son!". I guess my mom got confused and forgot Tim's name because she thought I was talking about Dylan's (nonexistent) son.

THE DRILL PRESSES!!

LEX AND ETHAN

I kind of already knew this but I love that Ethan knows cars. I just likes that he has a hobby.

Lex cares about Tom so much I love it.

WHY DID JANE TRY TO KILL ETHAN?!?!?!? TOM DOESN'T WANT TO MAKE LOVE TO HIM!!!! DID SHE HAVE SOME PERSONAL REASONS LIKE WHY!?!??!

That Lexthan interaction was so cute. I love how he saw she was super sorry and scared and he just stopped being mad and comforted her. They are so cute I can't handle it!!

KENDALL!!! Ok so through out this whole thing I know everyone was excited for their favorite character to come back but I really just wanted to see Kendall again. I guess after BF I assumed we would never see her again because I couldn't see them working with children becoming a normal thing. But when the original cast announcement came out I got so happy to see her name. So I was super excited to see her.

Her covering her hair with a beanie looks better than the wig

UNCLE PAUL I'M SOFT I CAN'T HANDLE THIS!!!!!

Cineplex Teen is like Larry from tawog. I guess we should start calling him Obnoxious Teen then. Until we get a name.

I love that Tim immediately likes Becky. Wish I could say the same for my stepparents.

Santa Claus Is Going To High School bb. Also I want to hear the rest of that song. Also also how many wigs does Lauren own?

TONY GREEN

Why must they make love to this movie everytime? Can't we simply just watch it and make fun of like normal people? That way Tim can enjoy it too.

Good for Jane for making sure her son doesn't have to eat disgusting school lunch. She gets good mom points.

Aww Becky reassuring him he's not a Dummy

Becky is like really horny this episode. Honestly Tom's into so go ahead girl

JAIME IS JANE

OK OK OK SO Jane said they were driving home from her parents house. Which means they were still alive when Jane died. That was only a year and a half ago so the Perkins parents might have died more recently than we thought. It's like Spring of 2019 right? So Jane died around Fall 2017. I don't remember if this was said in the show (it probably was and I'm saying nothing new) but I think Black Friday takes place about a year after her death. Tgwdlm took place October 2018. They have to have died only a few months before then. How long had Emma been in Hatchetfield before tgwdlm? Maybe there is a possibility we can see a flashback of an interaction with her parents depending on how long it's been. Also that means Emma lost her whole family in the span of a few months omg. And Tim lost his mom and his grandparents in that time. I want to see how they grieved with all of that. Also I know I'm crossing universes here but Emma also almost died the same day Jane did. Some strange force must really have it out for the Perkins family. Good on Emma for surviving like a champ.

Ok so I thought they went scouting for girls because Jane didn't want the man she loved to have to devote the rest of his life to a car. I thought she was trying to help him move on. She was getting good lover points but those have since been redacted.

Jane is definitely bi and I love that for her. I don't care if she tried to kill her new crush. It was new enough for it to mean nothing.

GREENPEACE GIRL

Tom does look like a creep ngl

Jane reminds us she's a car a lot. Like girl we get it.

No. No. No. NO NO NO NO NO NO NOPE! We're not talking about it. I don't want to. I stared at James the whole and honestly same dude. I saw Nick in my peripheral vision and loved/hated that he was laughing. RIP to me watching this with my mom. RIP to Kendall. Actually rip to everyone who had to sit through that. RIP to Jaime and Dylan for having to perform that. RIP to the cursed rehearsals. Matt and Nick seriously took the time to sit down and write that. What the heck you two?!? This made me more uncomfy than the entirety of mamd and Ted's character combined. I wish I was exaggerating. Maybe this was just me but it felt longer than it needed to. The relief and worry I felt when Tim walked in is a feeling I can not explain. Glad he was clueless.

Tim sweetie I love you but SHUT UP

Jane is crazy and Jaime is doing such an amazing job at portraying that.

Yes Tom. Because grave digging is way crazier than possessed cars.

I asked my mom why the didn't just go grave digging for Jane's body but my mom said the body is probably all rotted and gross so that explains that.

Why didn't Becky just go inside? If she went far enough I doubt Jane would have been able to hit her even if she managed to break into the house. Also let's assume Becky's house had an upstairs. There, perfect safety.

Did Becky seriously die in the same woods as Stanley?

Ok so I thought the tree thing was a reference to little Irish girl Becky from the Black Friday sk10 stream. But now it seems like something more serious and bad happened so I'm curious.

DID JANE GET TOM ARRESTED?!?!? It seemed like she could drive herself at that point. Why not let him get out and get Becky yourself? Is this that self confidence thing Tom talked about?

Is she really about to have her son be obsessed with Ms. Becky for the rest of their lives or is she gonna tell him?

This next episode made me physically jump twice. I say literally a lot but I promise you I'm using it correctly when I say I literally jumped.

KENDALL'S SINGING

I saw the thing about the ukelele being a bday gift from the cast so this was super sweet

Ok personal time. My grandmother's name is Pamela and my mom decided to permanently cut ties with her a few months ago due to her abusive behavior. Me and my sibling are still allowed to talk to her whenever we please but we haven't seen her as much as we used to. I got kind of scared watching this with my mom because I was scared this would trigger something. She didn't say anything and I didn't want to bother her about if she was fine so I didn't say anything. Anyway this just kind of hit different for me.

JAIME'S RANGE OMG

"I want to be alone with my man." Ms what are you about to do to your Tv?

DON'T GIVE HER BEER

Duke seems chill. I like him.

LEX AND ETHAN GOT ARRESTED!?!?!? FOR SELLING HER PILLS!?!??! THAT SHE TOLD THEM TO SELL!?!?!? I HATE HER!!!

Does Ms. Foster have a type or is being male good enough?

Hannah's 14? I thought she was the same age as Tim. I could have sworn in the BF commentary track they said she was 9 or 10. Did my brain make that up?

How does Kim change her hair so quickly? She did this in episode 2 too? I could never. I am very impressed.

Curt and Kim talking over the phone while standing shoulder to shoulder was funnier than it should have been

Ms. Holloway is cool. YAY MOSTLY GOOD WITCHES

How does Ms. Holloway know? I need a backstory please!!

Ok so I saw Jon in his cape and thought he might be the with. But then I saw James in his cape I y'know stopped thinking that. Anyway I'm obsessed with Jon and James in capes. Kind of wish Corey had one too.

OH I JUST THOUGHT THIS AS I'M TYPING NOW ok so that tree she was talking to at the beginning was one of the tree people. I'm embarrassed it took me this long to realise it.

Hannah is way too calm about these talking trees and sometimes spider ladies. I respect that.

There was a lot of black and white theming in this episode. More than normal. It makes me more curious about what exactly Hannah's connection to it is.

Hannah almost died in her own mind. I was kinda hating Ms. Holloway in this moment because she forced Hannah to go into her mind. But I know she had to so I'm cool with her again.

THE STARLIGHT THEATER

Did she really say just don't be scared next time? Like miss some actual advice would help.

CAN MS. HOLLOWAY'S MIND LEAVE HANNAH ALONE?? Like I know you didn't get the reaction you wanted out of her but you're seriously gonna give up and go for a little girl instead. Pathetic.

"What's shakin', Banana?" That was the first time I jumped.

WIGGLY

What exactly is that 6-legged girl? I wish we had a visual. Also how couldn't Ms. Holloway help her? What was her issue? Npmd you got anything for me?

Wiley. Just seeing him come up. That was the second time I jumped.

Also everyone already said this but props to Joey for his commitment. Shaving in between episodes like omg sir you didn't have to go all out for this. But you did and I appreciate you for it. Also HE KEPT THE JACKET?? WHAT!??! Just fully committed to this character go off Joey!!

Usually I would laugh at stuff phasing through the green screen but this just made it creepier.

HOLLOWAY AND WILEY/WILBUR BACKSTORY PLEASE

But also I love how the script had him listed at Wilbur above his lines. I remember Nick called him Wilbur once in the commentary track (possibly by accident) but it's nice to have it in cannon. I don't remember I any of the characters called him Wilbur because I'm so used to seeing Wilbur and Wiley used interchangeably but this was just nice to have canonized.

DUKE PAY ATTENTION!! FREAKING USELESS RIGHT NOW!!!

Dang Wiley she was already being choked in the physical world you didn't have to choke her in her mind too calm down

YAY MORE DOLLS

NICK I WAS KIDDING ABOUT AN APOTHEOSIS DOLL

Is the mouth one (I see we've named him Nibbly. Good because his full name is too long to type out) gonna be the npmd villain? The pick color theme seems cool.

ANGELA'S TRANSITION THOUGH!!! Omg she switched roles seamlessly. And her voice too!! Go off Angela.

MARIAH IS WEBBY

This is random and unrelated but I never noticed how big Mariah's eyes were before.

So Webby and the Doll Gang are all siblings? I find it interesting that the were described to all where black. And Webby's color theme is white. Like how the good and bad ukeleles were white and black. This might sound really dumb see as we don't have a 100% accurate visual of the black and white but I wonder if Webby ever left would it be 100% black? Like if Wiggly went through the portal would it become a little less black? Does this make sense? Also I'm starting to see the black and white as less of a bad place. Its starting to see more ominously neutral.

Hannah's favorite show is He-Man no I do accept criticism.

Ms. Holloway is a nerd. She saw Hannah make the reference and was like "Huh. I f she likes He-Man maybe making this hat a reference will make her like me." She would only know if she watched the show. But then again she seems to be stuck in the 80s so maybe she just thinks that's what's popular with the kids.

MS. HOLLOWAY PLEASE GET LEX AND ETHAN BACK

AND ANOTHER GREAT SONG TO END IT OFF

This episode was......a lot. So much happened. Loved all of it. I am scared of Nick and Matt's minds but also incredibly grateful for them. As usual everyone's acting was top notch.

I love this episode.

Also I'm just gonna say it. Jon ruined Nick's season one reveal.

[damfinofanfiction]

Chapter 8: To the East and The Gold Rush

Waking up in New York City was nothing new for the former Vaudeville performer. Buster was accustomed to whichever time zone he was in. He had gone to the east coast for a business trip/vacation with his wife Natalie and they’re staying at the Biltmore Hotel. The couple had attended the premiere of Seven Chances at the Capital theater. They were accompanied by people more favorable to Keaton such as his father Joe, a friend from childhood, Lex Neal, and Nick Schenck, a brother of his boss Joseph. Knowing that the missus missed their children and her sisters dearly, he held her hand the entire event. The screening had a good reception. Keaton was glad that the movie was well-received, although he remained resentful. Natalie was grateful for his presence, but nothing had changed as they still sleep in different bedrooms based on her insistence. After a few busy days, the real vacation began. Now he will be spending a day with his better half.

Once out of bed, Buster puts on his robe and went to the sitting area of their suite to call room service. He saw that Natalie was already awake and sitting frantically on the couch, he said to her, "Good morning Nate."

The missus stopped what she was doing and replied calmly, "Oh Morning."

Her fingers tapped on her knee as she appeared agitated. Buster had not seen her in this state in a while. Natalie was staring at the door and he shot his eyes at it, "Are you waiting for the letter?”

She quivered when she said, “I haven’t heard from mother yet.” Peg was watching the Keaton boys back in California.

He sat next to her and reassured her, "The boys are gonna be alright. We've only been gone since last Friday."

The tears started to form in her eyes, “This is the furthest I have been from our sons. Robert started babbling.” She wrapped her arms around herself, “What if he says his first word and I won’t be there to witness it?”

Buster patted on her shoulder, “I don’t think that would be likely.” He added, “I’m sure Bobby won’t say a thing until he sees his ma again.” To his surprise, Natalie hugged him in gratitude. Buster hugged her back until she broke the embrace to dry her tears. He went to the phone saying, “I’ll order us breakfast.”

That noon Buster and Natalie had lunch with the folks that went with them in addition to the Governor of New York. Joe Keaton shared stories of performing shows as The Three Keatons, dealing with wife Myra’s absences due to maternity leave, getting in trouble with The Gerry Society, and the times they fled out of burning Buildings. The couple spent the day together except when Natalie went out to buy gifts for the boys while Buster was catching up with Lex and discussing the latest film project. When he returned to their suite the middle Talmadge was already there, rounding out the toys and the clothes. He was going to ask her how much she spent on them, but he didn’t want to start another argument. 

She was in a cheery mood, “Got that letter back from mother. The boys are doing fine, they missed me. Dutch came over to cheer them up. She took them to the park for fun.” 

Keaton hid his hands in his pockets, “Did that letter said anything about me? Did the boys miss me too?” 

Natalie pulled a toy giraffe out of the bag, “It didn’t say anything about you. She usually didn’t acknowledge you in letters. I’m sure the boys miss you too. I can't wait to see their faces when they see what I got them."

What she said of the boys missing their father, Buster knew it might not be true. He wished to be a father, but had little time to spend with them because he was so busy at work. His fear arises with the thought of Natalie divorcing him and taking the sons away. He had to win her over to keep the family together. He asked her, “Nate, do you remember Coney Island?”

Natalie frowned upon taking a trip to memory lane, while neatly folding the boy’s overalls, “Why yes, it wasn’t long after Arbuckle made a short there. You took me because you wanted to include me and I obliged. You got us cotton candy to share, we rode on the carousel, and that one coaster you were begging me to ride along.”

Buster added with a narrow smile, “You were so scared that I held your hand the entire time.” he apologized for taking her to the coaster in the first place.

She concluded, “Then we finished the day with the Ferris wheel where we saw the bright spectacle and you pecked me on that cabin. It was a nice date.”

He sat gingerly on the bed, “I would be happy to take you to coney island again, but back then nobody could recognize me when I’m not with my folks, and then Roscoe and now if anyone took notice of me, that whole place would crumble.” 

She looked at him, “If you weren’t able to take me, why bring this up?”

He took her hands, “We were both very happy. I missed the days when you were in love with me. The same woman who proposed to me from another coast. I know the old Natalie is still there when you hugged me this morning.”

She took her hands off him to cross her arms, “That was only because I missed our boys.”

He put his hands behind him, “I missed them too. I can’t imagine life without all of you. I will take back the times I was unfaithful to you.”

“Buster, I don’t care if you embrace another woman behind my back. Please don't entice me to be in bed with you again.” She pointed him out of the door, “Please let me be alone to change for dinner.” Natalie closed the door behind him after leaving her room.

Buster was puzzled about the unusual pairings in his life; his parents, Joe and Myra, Norma and Schenck, and Natalie and himself. None of them shared the same age group except for the latter. He wished that his wife wasn’t a strict catholic so she could be comfortable with taking contraceptives and not worry about getting pregnant again and he wouldn’t have to cheat on her. But that’s the way it has to be. If he failed to win back his beloved, there are still less than 3 weeks of vacation to go.

****************

The hopes of Gail being a screen actress were dashed when production was delayed after Sennett comedian Ben Turpin backed out of the upcoming project due to personal matters. Gail wanted to take his place, but was unable to due to a lack of a contract. Though Sennett knew she wanted prominent roles, he was unable to fill them because too many actresses sought her out. But instead, he had heard his former employee Charlie Chaplin just returned from filming in Truckee to film more scenes in his studio and is seeking extras. So he recommended she find work in Chaplin's upcoming film The Gold Rush, and Gail was fine with it just to gain film experience. 

There at the Charlie Chaplin Studio, Gail is in the dance hall scene where Chaplin’s Tramp character dances with his love interest. She was busy dancing with a partner to watch the toothbrush-mustached comedian, but caught the part where he was tied to a dog and it chases the cat. She could laugh at this gag, but didn’t want to ruin a good take. The chestnut-haired woman across the hall seemed familiar. Gail didn't think she’s a famous actress. It must be on a tip of her tongue. Then the realization struck her, that was the same woman who was next to her onset of the seven chances. Their time between scenes was too busy to get them to chat. When everyone gets their lunch break, she located the woman eating with the other female extras in the studio courtyard. 

Gail sat at the same table as them, “Hi you remember me?”

The woman paused figuring out, “Oh goodness, we were extras in seven chances. Sorry we didn’t get to be properly introduced.” The woman extended her hand,  “My name is Eliza Smith.”

“I’m Gail Anders.” She shook it in greeting, “It’s good to see you again and I never got to thank you for saving me from the ridicule.”

“Don’t mention it. We actresses had to stick together.” 

Gail and Eliza were talking while having meatloaf and salad. Their discussion consists of their start on careers, Gail’s experiences as a bathing beauty, Eliza’s acting resume, their celebrity encounters, and then the subject fell to celebrity crushes.

"For me, it's Charlie Chaplin of course. I have a crush on him since I was barely a woman. Hell, if I was a virgin, I'd have saved it for him. Are you a virgin, Gail?”

Gail almost choked on her food being asked that. She replied with a blush, “That’s a very personal question to ask.” 

“That’s alright if you don't have to answer.” She raised her eyebrow leaning towards the raven-haired woman. “But tell me this is Buster Keaton the cat’s meow?”, When Gail couldn’t understand, Eliza rephrased, “Do you have a crush on Keaton?”

Gail's eyes were looking both ways as she drank her cup of water to try to avoid the touchy subject, but Eliza noticed the signs. “Please It’s all in your face. Your gaze was fixated on the stone face as if he was the king of England.” She chuckled, “It helped when you “pretended to faint” in front of him.”

Giving in, Gail confessed of the time she started seeing Buster in the Arbuckle films. She thought he seemed charming and took interest in watching his films because of his fascinating past, then when she heard the news of his wedding, she was a bit let down, but was happy for him and then she talked about her two other encounters with Keaton. In conclusion, She asked, “Is it wrong to have a crush on a married man?”

Eliza dropped a bombshell,  “Chaplin wasn't married when we dated.” Gail’s eyes widen and her jaw dropped hearing this “Really?!”

Eliza with a coy smile, whispered to her to avoid having others hear her “I met Chaplin when I started working in California. I took a job here as a part-time receptionist, but when he noticed me, He then hired me as an extra for his previous film, The Pilgrim. After production ended, we started a relationship. Spent countless nights with him,” she then frowned when she continued, “Then we broke up when he was seeing another woman, and another and another and another. But he did come back to me only for one-night stands and one of them happened while he’s married. Last I heard, if it's true, he has feelings for his leading lady."

She covered her face with her hand, trying to comprehend what happened, "Why are men so unfaithful to their wives?"

“Gail,” Eliza explained, “Men and women in Hollywood have unhappy marriages and have taken lovers. If Buster is one of them, you might have a chance.”

Gail stated, “But I have a boyfriend, I think I still do. And besides, I can’t see myself dating a married man.” Adding a final thought, “I would rather wait until he’s divorced.”

"True, but then where is the fun?” Before they finished eating Eliza looked Gail right in the eye and said, “I would recommend keeping this a secret. God knows what would happen to dear Chaplin if word got out.”

Gail returned to Lenore’s around 6 in the evening. Going inside she was surprised to see a finely dressed man talking with Sally and Lenore at the dining table. Upon noticing Gail’s presence, Lenore called, appearing to break away from her niece’s latest paramour, “Welcome home! We saved you fried cauliflower and turkey.”

The man said in his British accent told Sally, “I didn’t know you have a sister.”

The blonde chuckled, “She isn’t, this is my friend Gail Anders. I took her in when she moved from Nevada.”

The man stood up and bowed in greeting, “Sterling Thomas, my pleasure.”

As they shook hands, Gail said, “That accent, you must be British.”

 “Yes, Edinburgh very nice place.” Sterling’s dark hair was slicked back.

Lenore brought over her meal, “Gail just came home from work and you should be leaving too, sir.” This prompted Sterling to grab his hat and approached to the front door despite Sally’s protests for him to stay a little longer

He replied, "We can meet again. I'm here quite a while." She kisses him before watching him leave.

As Gail started eating, silence went on between aunt and niece. She later broke it when asking Sally, “How did you two meet?”

“Both of us were in New York City. I went to a nightclub and he was there. Same story, different ending.” 

“How did you find each other?”

Lenore added while crossing her arms, “I presume one of your nightly outings?”

Sally glared at her, "Well Auntie, we met somewhere, and I never felt lucky to bump into him again."

“How is Mr. Thomas any different from your last boyfriends?”

“He happens to be rich.”  

The aunt gave her a sarcastic look, “Oh, so now you're a gold digger?”

Sally stood up fumed, “How is that any different from you and Uncle Stanley?”

Lenore stood up in retaliation, “Don’t you bring my Stanley-”

Gail also stood up to soothe this out, “Could you not fight? I had a long day.” Sally and Lenore agreed and the table fell into silence for the whole dinner.

After all that was going on around her, Gail would end the day by kindling herself to a good book. After losing interest in the middle of chapter four she switched to another book. It was a journal about her interest in Buster Keaton. She would write down about the movies she had seen and clipped off the news article featuring a movie review of his and just news about him. Gail turned to a page in which the subject was Our hospitality. A news article glued there featured a picture of Buster and Natalie both wearing pork pie hats for a publicity photo. It was interesting to see husband and wife on the screen together, but now it was bittersweet knowing that buster is probably cheating on his wife. If it was truly something that must be wrong between the two.

The next afternoon, Gail was making herself useful in the Sennett studio, modeling the swimsuits for the other bathing beauties. A crewmember notified her of a call from her residence. Gail answered the phone, the voice at the other end was Lenore.

“The telegram came from your mother.”

Gail has already known what was happening around her family; her sister Geraldine is having twins and her father is due to retire from ranch work. Judging from the woman’s sorrowful tone in her voice, it must be bad news.

 “It’s your grandmother, she died in her sleep.”

Devastated, She covered her mouth as her tears began to form and a similar lump grew in her throat. Her whole body shook with the realization that the woman who got her to California is gone.

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin around 1918

[tsarinastorm]

Feel Again-Charlie Barber/Reader-Chapter 1

You could feel the sunlight shining through the windows of the bookstore you were browsing through. It was a small, independent bookstore that had a mini café, showcased local authors and had writer’s events, it was the kind of bookstore that was hard to come across. It reminded you of the local bookstore back home that was your favorite, and this place in Los Angeles made it almost feel like home. You were a new transport to the city of angels, the decision to move was both easy and difficult. Your first book, a memoir, was well-received and made into a film whose screenplay you helped write. Your first novel was successful, and was now being made into a television series by a streaming service. When the producers ask you to be a consult on the series, you decided to move to LA and make a new life. You also taught seminars on writing and history at USC. You loved the warm weather, it was perfect for you to start your own little garden at the bungalow you were leasing, plus your dog, Freckles, loved having a yard.

               You browse the aisles and you grab a Russian history book before grabbing Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, a copy of Marina Carr’s latest play, and a couple new releases. On your way to the registers, you see a tall, handsome man with a pile of books head in the same direction. Your eyes meet and it gives you butterflies, it was the kind of thing writers write about but you had never experienced in real life before. You take a good look at him and notice he’s everything you find attractive in a man: tall, broad-shouldered with dark, thick hair, well-dressed, and obviously he has good taste for bookstores. He’s not wearing a wedding band either, you’re sure to make a mental note of that.

“Marina Carr is a brilliant playwright, one of the best of modern day.” He says, pointing towards the pile of books you’re carrying and he steps forward to the register. It takes you a moment to gather your thoughts and compose yourself before saying, “She’s one of my favorite writers. I’ve never actually seen any of her plays performed though.”

“There’s nothing like seeing a play being performed. I’m a theater director so I might be biased.” He chuckles and smiles at you. You can’t help but smile back at him, you respond with, “Well I’m a writer so I have a bias in favor of printed word.”

“Can’t argue with that, what do you write?” The man asks and you tell him that you’ve wrote a memoir, a novel, and are now writing screenplays. He goes to introduce himself, but his phone rings and he has to answer. He turns and says a few words hurriedly into the phone before turning back. He then says to you, “I’m sorry but I’ve got to get to work, it was really nice talking to you, I hope I’ll see you again.” He extends his hand to you and you take it. You notice that even though it was brief that his hand was warm and much larger than yours. You smile, nod, and watch him walk out of the store.

               You wonder if he’s a regular here, and then you begin to calculate how often you can make the trip to this bookstore. Maybe you should stop in more, and hopefully see him another time. You were intrigued and wanted to know more about him. But this was a big city, full of people moving in their own directions and it was more likely than not that you would never see him again.

*********************************************************

               It’s been a week since your encounter with the attractive, mystery man at the bookstore, and now you were on the other coast. Your former sorority sister, Blair, lived in NYC and convinced you to come visit her for the weekend. The two of you were now crammed in her small bathroom, trying to put on your makeup for the night while fitting in as much girl talk as possible. She was an off-Broadway actress, and you two were going out with some of her theater people. You had met several of them before when you were visiting and you looked forward to seeing them again. But you always felt sort of out of place with them because you weren’t a theater person and didn’t understand all of the inside jokes.

               The bar is already buzzing and you love the vintage, art deco style that exudes from the place. Blair is talking to a couple of people that she knows. She’s introduced to several of them, but you decide that it’s time to get a drink so you saunter off towards the bar. The man sitting there looks vaguely familiar but you can’t place him, until you’ve taken your seat, and given your order which makes him turn to look at you. Wow, it’s the mystery man or his doppelganger. He’s pretty unique looking so you figure it has to be him. Then it hits you, it is definitely the mystery man from Chevalier books with his signature style. You wonder: how did you possibly run into him again on the other side of the country? You can tell by the look on his face that he recognizes you at the same time, before breaking the silence.

               “You’re the writer from Chevalier books, I can’t believe I’ve ran into you again, and in New York of all places.” He says and stands up to move closer to you. You can’t help but follow suit and stand with your drink and take a step near him so you’re within a few feet of him. Trying not to be distracted by his freckles and hair that looks soft, instead, you smile and comment back, “You know what they say about a small world. I’m here visiting an old friend, what about you?”

               “I actually just moved to LA fulltime from New York, I’ve spent the past year commuting. I’m Charlie, Charlie Barber, and I regretted not getting your name last time I saw you.” He sticks out his hand to you, you take it then you nod your head for him to follow you. You sit together in the booth near where Blair is still chatting away. She notices you walk through and raises her eyebrows at you suggestively.

“I’m Y/N L/N, and I moved to LA only a few months ago. I had been commuting for a while then I decided I liked it well enough to live there fulltime. You do definitely strike me as a New York guy though.” You take a large sip of your drink, but you’re really feeling intoxicated by Charlie. There is something about that man that’s making you lose your head already. You were doomed, you knew it.

“This place was my life for so long. You don’t strike me as an LA girl or as a New York girl either.” He says and you hear the pang of sadness in his voice during the first sentence, for a theater director New York is the dream place to be, it must have been difficult for him to move. You’re curious what made him decide to leave the city he obviously loves, but you’ll save that question for later.

“I’m from a really small town in rural America, but I’ve spent the past few years travelling abroad while writing.” You’re used to explaining your accent, and you feel like you don’t really belong in any city. The two of you have moved closer to each other in the booth to where your sides are practically touching. You can feel the warmth radiating from him, and you take notice of his plump lips that look perfect for kissing. He leans in closer to you and his honey brown eyes watch yours.

“Where was your favorite place?”

“London has always been my favorite. I loved the architecture and culture of Florence,” you say as Blair and some of her friends join you at the booth. Charlie’s arm brushes against yours, and your leg tucks underneath his.

“Hi Charlie, hi Y/N. So do you guys know each other or did you just now meet?” Blair asks and you realize that Blair already knows Charlie. Of course she does as it hits you that they would have the connection in the theater world. Charlie answers her question, “We bumped into each other in a bookstore in LA, and then we were surprised to find each other here.”

“Hmm maybe it’s fate or the universe.” Blair says bluntly and you almost choke on your drink.  Charlie eyes you and smiles so you smile back. It might actually be fate, you think. Not that you were sure you believed in fate though. You notice a brunette that joined your table is giving a major side eye, to the point that it’s nearly a flat-out glare. You think her name is Mary Ann but you can’t remember for sure. You and Charlie continue your semi-private conversation, oblivious to the people around you.

“I ended up moving to LA for business reasons, to work on some screenplays. What about you?” You ask because you want to know what made him leave New York. You could also sense there was more underneath that he was leaving out. He had no obligation to tell you anything but you wanted to know everything about him.

“My son. My now ex-wife is an actress who unilaterally decided to just leave New York permanently for LA and take our son with her. After all that commuting for a year, I realized I needed to be there for Henry, so I took a residency at UCLA and got in with a well-respected theater company.” He grips his drink when he says that and you can tell it’s still a sore subject.

“Oh I’m sorry, that’s awful. I’m sure your son will appreciate your sacrifices when he gets older, and I’m sure it’s always worth it to put time in for your kid. When I was still practicing law, I would see all these couples tear each other apart to the point they ignored what they were putting their kid through.” You try to comfort him, and you admire his dedication to his son. You couldn’t imagine anyone wanting to divorce him.

“Henry just turned nine, any time with him is well worth it. Nicole and I tried to keep civil then it got nasty fast, and now we’ve cycled back where we co-parent effectively. You’re a lawyer too?” He asks you as his hand purposefully brushes yours. Your pinky reaches to hold onto his and he smiles at you while his eyes bore into yours.

“Regrettably, I graduated law school even though I knew it wasn’t for me, then I practiced for a brief time. I eventually accepted that it was draining me and making me miserable so I pursued writing, what I really wanted to do, and got my master’s in history.” You tell him and you just then notice that the two of you are alone in the booth again.

The two of you chat throughout the night about favorite books, movies, plays. You laugh as you watch the rest of your group participate in karaoke. Then they urge Charlie onstage, and you push him playfully in encouragement. He relents and goes. You can’t believe his voice, it’s beautiful and he remains eye contact with you during the entire song. You can feel a blush creeping up your cheeks.

“Can I get your number? It haunted me that I didn’t that day at the bookstore.” Charlie says as you come to a stop outside the bar. Blair is waiting for you but giving you space and privacy. It’s relieving to know he feels the same way. Your hand intertwines with his, and you respond smiling.

“Of course. The haunting went both ways.” He hands you his phone so you can add your number. You hand it back to him, and his hand goes around your waist, while yours grip his bicep.

“When we’re both in LA, can I take you out for dinner?” He asks innocently and you start nodding your head yes, and you’re certain you must look like a dashboard bobble head.

“Oh like a date?” You question incredulously. His hand rubs small circle on your waist and it feels electric. Damn, you’re already in too deep. You might as well write ‘sucker’ on your forehead, but you control yourself and try not to sound too eager.

“Yeah like a date, unless you don’t want it to be a date.” He looks like he’s hopeful, but he’s clearly questioning himself. He wants to give you a chance to back out and let you pace the relationship. If he only knew how into him you already were.

“No a date sounds fantastic. I really like you, and I had fun tonight.” You say and find yourself drifting even closer to him, if that was possible.

“Oh yeah? Good because I really like you too.” Then his hand cups your face ever so slowly and he descends his lips on yours. His lips are warm and soft against yours, your hands find their way to his chest then up around his neck. His tongue licks your bottom lip requesting entrance, which you give. You devour each other like you’ve been starving. Then, you both return to reality grinning as you slowly separate. You each are wearing a guilty-grin as  go your separate ways for now.

***************************************************************

This was your third official date with Charlie, and everything felt right. Your first date was dinner at an Italian place with drinks afterward at bar with rooftop terrace. The next morning, you grabbed breakfast and coffee together before heading to work. The second date was a picnic in the park, then exploring an outdoor art exhibit, and the next day you met for lunch. Tonight you went to see an Ibsen play and out for desserts. The two of you spent most of your time together talking about everything, and the dates would last for hours. He would talk about Henry, his previous marriage, and his upcoming play. You would talk about your books, screenplays, and your dogs. You had so much in common, it was crazy, but you also were different enough to keep it interesting. You could see it growing into love and becoming a long-term relationship. You were now walking back to his car, holding hands.

“Wow. I didn’t know if I could feel like this. I feel like the world is spinning, but in the best way. You know how in the summer when you first get in the car and you can feel the warmth, that’s how I feel when I’m with you.” You admit and you know it sounds cheesy. Before you really get to gauge his reaction, his lips are on yours, desperately as his hands wrap around your waist. He’s pulling you flush against him and you can feel both his heart pounding and his growing bulge against you. And fuck, he already feels big, but it would only make sense that he be proportionate. He stares into your eyes with his amber ones and tells you, “I never thought I could feel this way again, but here I am. I’m crazy for you.” You crash your mouth to his again, pulling him close, and you move your hips against his bulge.

               “You don’t have Henry this weekend, right?” You ask as you pant for air, pulling away from him briefly. He looks at you quizzically, trying to understand why you brought that up at this moment. Oh sweet, Charlie. You were going to take him home tonight and wreck him, but he thought you were meaning something else. You had wanted to bed him ever since that night in New York but you didn’t want to rush things or cheapen your connection. You had even wore a sexier dress tonight, had lace lingerie on underneath, and had a recent wax appointment. He answers, “No, not this weekend. What’s up?”

               “Good, you can stay at my place tonight then,” you chuckle and you watch as what you said clicks in his head. He leans and gives you a steamy kiss right under your ear, and he works his way down your neck. You can feel the heat gathering in your belly from just that, and you’re starting to get wet so you rub your thighs together desperately.

               You pull away from him only so you could get to his car. Driving to your place, Charlie placed his hand on your knee and you wrapped your hand around his, though you wanted nothing more than to move it upward between your legs, but you held yourself back. You could tell he was just as excited and eager as you were because he was hard already and his driving was faster than normal. Your eyes kept catching his and you were practically eye-fucking. Upon arrival in your driveway, he rushes out to open the car door for you.

               You step out and you both fast-walk towards your door. While you fumble with the keys, Charlie steps behind you and wraps his arms around your waist as your back is pressed into his chest. That’s certainly not helping your concentration. His hand creeps up so it’s under your breast, and his fingers trace your ribs. To make matters worse, his lips attach to your neck again and you can’t suppress the moan that comes out of your lips. You want to throw your head back and rock into him, but you need to get inside the bungalow first then he can fuck against the door or on the floor for all you care. You finally turn the key in the door and the instant you and Charlie step through the frame, you’re on each other.

[3starsquinn]

Home || Solo

AKA my excuse to go on hiatus for a week.

Summary: The Quinn parent’s don’t like how out of touch Orion has been with their family. They have decided to fix this.

Location: Quinn Household

Ft appearances by Linda and James Quinn.

Trigger Warnings: Abuse mention TW, Medical Blood TW, Emotional Abuse TW

The operating theater was always colder than the rest of the house, but today it just seemed downright frigid. The atmosphere seemed harsher, the lighting seemed dimmer and the look in Orion’s father’s eyes seemed even colder than normal. Orion hated being down here, hated witnessing whatever his father had on the table for him that day. And he meant that quite literally.  

 Today, on the operating table sat the body of a woman. Orion was smart enough to understand that this was not any normal woman. She was not human, although her exact species Orion could not be sure. In the end it never mattered who or what they were, their end would come slowly and crueler than anybody deserved, regardless of their species. Orion’s breath caught in his throat when he caught his dad fiddling with the scalpel. He broke out in a sweat as his father pressed the scalpel against the unconscious body’s chest and started cutting downward. Orion’s eyes shut instantly, trying to block out the image from his head. But no matter how tightly he squeezed them shut all he could picture was the incision over and over again.  

“You know one of the most common surgical errors?” Through shut eyes, Orion could hear his father begin to speak. He knew this was rhetorical, his father had no interest in hearing an answer from Orion, he just loved to listen to himself talk while performing a surgery. “Operating on the wrong patient.” He began chuckling to himself. The laughing made goosebumps run up and down Orion’s arm. “Like this patient right here. Open your eyes.” The humor was gone. That was a demand, and Orion knew the consequences if he didn’t obey. He peaked one eye open first, letting himself adjust to the sight of the woman’s chest cut open and pinned to the table. From the distance that Orion was standing away from the table, all he could make it was her rib cage. That was bad enough. “I accidentally cut her open for a heart surgery, but turns out she was the wrong patient, here for a brain tumor removal. Sew her back up.” 

Orion found himself back away even further from the table. “What? I- I can’t do that.” He stumbled through his words. Orion had spent more time down here than he was comfortable admitting. But he had always been told to watch and observe. To learn how nonhuman bodies differed from normal people. More often than not, Orion would do more listening than watching. The only thing that kept him from puking on the spot was the rush of pain in his arm that reminded him of the first and only time that he had puked in his father’s operating theater. He would not make that mistake again. “Please don’t make me do that.” 

His father merely shrugged, “Either you save her or she dies like this. If you save her, she goes free.” Orion stared at his father with an equal amount of confusion, suspicion and fear in his eyes. Orion did not trust his father. But what choice did Orion truly have? If Orion did nothing, she died regardless. Against his better judgement, Orion grabbed a pair of gloves and jumped in.  

Orion fought the urge to vomit as if his life depended on it. His father stood beside Orion as he worked, whispering instructions into his ear. Orion followed them as closely as he could, fighting his trembling hands and blurry vision to stay focused on making sure this girl lived through the torture that she was being forced to go through. The stitching was messy and uneven, Orion could not see anything through the blood. His father would curse and chastise him from time to time, shoving him aside to show him a better technique or what he had done wrong. The way he spoke about the woman as if she was some cadaver used for training med students made Orion cringe. His family had always considered nonhumans to be monsters, but his father was speaking of this woman as if she was nothing more than an object. When Orion finished stitching her up and his father gave the okay that the had finished Orion all but through himself away from the table. He ripped the gloves from his hands with a ferocity that he did not know he had. His clothes had spots of blood stained onto them and it was all that he could smell. He was hyperventilating now, a panic attack sure to come on any minute if he didn’t compose himself. He needed to compose himself. His father hated it when he had panic attacks. Deep breaths.  

“You did surprisingly well, the stitching was sloppy but expected for an amateur. This is a fine start.” His father studied his son’s handy work with a morbid fascination. Then, as casually as one would scratch at an itch, his father thumbed the scalpel and plunged it into the woman’s heart. 

A choked cry escaped from Orion against his will. Tears sprung from his eyes but he wiped at them quickly, not caring that he may have just wiped the woman’s blood across his face. “Why?” Was all that Orion could manage to breathe. He had done what his father had asked. He had saved that woman or at the very least he had tried his very best. What was the point of putting him through this, all for it to end with the same meaningless death it always did? 

“Because you are weak.” His father exclaimed, angrier than he had been the entire evening. He came around the table and marched up to Orion. Instinctively, Orion backed himself against the nearest wall. “I did what you should have done the moment I handed you the scalpel. She was a monster. A curse on society.” He pointed his finger at Orion, stabbing it against his chest repeatedly. “You refuse to fight, but you will not be useless to this family. Either you help us out there or you help us down here. Choose your battles son.” 

With that, his father brushed past him and made his way up the stairs, flipping the lights off behind him. For a long time, Orion just stood in the basement, staring across the woman’s body and into the darkness. He wasn’t sure how long he had stood there, motionless and holding his breath before he finally let himself begin crying. 

 Orion’s head was pounding by the time he crawled back up the basement stairs and into the kitchen. His mom was up there, working on cooking something. They both met eyes but neither said a word. She continued cooking as he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water. She chopped vegetables as he fumbled with the container of tylenol. Eventually, she put down the knife and stood at the opposite side of the kitchen island. The two of them stood silently, Orion trying to do anything but meet her eyes. Instead he found great interest in reading the instructions on the back of the medicine bottle.

“Look at me.” she said, about as quietly and calm as possible, but Orion still jumped. He set the bottle down, still pushing it around the counter with his fingers as he finally looked up at her. They stared like that for a long moment, fear and anxiety just rushing through Orion as the tension seemed to build thicker and thicker. “You’ve been gone a lot lately.” She finally spoke again. 

Oh god. Had they found out about the Scribe headquarters? If so, his whole life was over. She picked up the kitchen knife again and finally began closing the gap between the two. Orion froze, his entire body going completely still. She tapped her nails against the knife as she slowly walked over to him, “Where have you been again?” She asked. 

“Uh- “ Orion stumbled, clearly not off to a guard start. “The library a lot of the time. I have a lot of classes that I need to study for so… I get most of my studying done at night. And sometimes I just stay at a friend’s house on campus.” He answered, trying to remain as calm as possible. Easier said than done when someone was moving towards him with a knife.

“Right, right. That is what you’ve told us.” She didn’t sound convinced. “You know, I’m not sure I really trust these friends of yours. Not without meeting them.” She pointed the knife at him and he flinched backwards, closing his eyes and clenching his fists against the countertop. “You’ve never really been great at making friends after all. So I’m sure you know that this seems a bit hard to believe”

Orion didn’t have anything to say. He couldn’t say anything. He knew how she was. Sometimes silence was the safest answer. It was an admittance of defeat, that she had been right. And she loved that. 

His mom smirked. The battle was won, as usual. She moved the knife closer towards his hands, his fingers. He was shaking now. But she simply placed the knife on the counter, the sharp edges grazing his knuckles. “Be a dear and take over the cutting will you? I need to run over to the store.” Her smile disappeared and then walked away from the kitchen to grab her coat. Orion let a sigh of relief escape and gave himself a minute for his hands to stop shaking before he picked up the knife. 

“One more thing, Orion.” He heard his mom call from the front door, “No more going out during the night. You’ll be here from now on.”

[princess-of-france]

i would love to hear abt your rococo lll

Oh my gosh, you lovely human, settle in. This production is my Ultimate Theater Pipe Dream and I apologize in advance for how little chill I’m going to have as I explain it. 

Are you ready? 

I want to start with my standard disclaimer: I am a theater artist, not a literary critic or a historian. When I’m directing a play, I extract fragments of lit crit and historical fact as I need them and leave the rest on the buffet line. This LLL in particular requires me to play fast and loose with history, so be prepared for a truckload of anachronisms. They make the vision work!

So, with that…

The sad Catch-22 of my Rococo LLL is that no theater will ever put it up:  a smaller, indie, risk-taking theater wouldn’t be able to afford the astronomical production costs of casting the 20 actors I need, to say nothing of building opulent sets and period-accurate costumes that imitate the royal courts of the late 18th century; conversely, a large, well-funded, regional theater wouldn’t be able to justify funding a 2.5-hour Shakespeare retelling that turns one of his most sparkling comedies into a dark, violent allegory about the French Revolution and casts young, privileged, light-skinned European elites as the tragic heroes brought low by proletariat Jacobean reform. Even as I type these words, I realize how irresponsible an investment that would be. My Rococo LLL is not the kind of classical theater we need in America right now. It is retrograde in terms of diversity, equity, accessibility, and social justice. It probably says something terrible about me that I even dreamt it up in the first place.

And yet.

I want to direct this production so badly it feels like I’ve swallowed a piece of the sun. If I had all the proper resources (time, money, venue, artists, designers, marketing, etc.), I would do it tomorrow. It’s my baby.

Here’s a blurb that kind of nutshells it all together:

July 1789. King Charles VI of Navarre has died, leaving his son, young Ferdinand III, to take the throne. On a tide of Enlightenment idealism, King Ferdinand commissions his three best friends to join him for a period of ascetic study at the court of Navarre. The rules are simple: no luxuries, no alcohol, and no women. For three long years.

The boys’ oath is immediately put to the test when four young ladies arrive in Navarre on a diplomatic mission from Versailles. Led by the spirited Duchess d’Albret, the Frenchwomen and their mile-high coiffures prove irresistible to the King and his companions. With the help of a motley band of scholars and servants, they set out to woo the Duchess and her friends. But when sober news arrives from Paris, will young love be enough to rewrite history?

Set against the glittering backdrop of the last golden days of the ancien regime, this bold reimagining of Shakespeare’s beloved comedy invites us to look at the most famous revolution in Western history through the eyes of the young elites who learned the truth about privilege just a moment too late.

Of all the radical things I want to do with this production, the thing that would probably cause the most controversy (and earn me a reputation for being a narcissistic, pessimistic, Shakespeare-desecrating hack) is my addition of a prologue set in Paris in June 1793. I could try to sum it up here, but honestly I think it would be a lot more effective and comprehensive just to post the excerpt from my script:

…etc.

So basically, half my audience will vomit due to the unexpected onslaught of blood, gore, and violence…and the other half will vomit from the sheer anti-progressivism of the show’s politics. And I don’t blame anyone who finds fault with this production concept. On a political level, I find fault with it. Arguably the last thing our society needs right now is a Shakespeare production that paints young, pale, overprivileged trust fund babies as the poor, helpless victims of a liberal-led revolution for social equality. 

But at the same time, I can’t help but think that the entire point of Love’s Labour’s Lost is to make us look hard at our own privilege and ego, and weigh those things that seem sooo valuable against the true gifts of love, empathy, friendship, generosity, and kindness. 

“This is not generous, not gentle, not humble!” Holofernes cries as the Crazy Eight—high on adrenaline and their own cruel wit—jeer him off the stage during his performance as Judas Maccabeus in 5.2. More than any other, this moment epitomizes the value of setting LLL in a sex-charged, champagne-fueled, pastry-laden, cream-filled, lace-drenched, satin-covered, feather-topped, Rococo landscape. There’s no way in hell the audience is meant to sympathize with the insult-flinging prep school Kens and Barbies when they humiliate Holofernes to the point of tears. Shakespeare is way too smart for that. In the final whimsical moments before the messenger Marcadé comes onstage, laden with the news that is going to change the entire genre of the play, the Bard turns a critical spotlight on the young people we’ve been rooting for since Act One, Scene One and invites us to view them—for the first time, really—through the lens of the hardworking, lesser-privileged plebs of Navarre. The portrait is revolting. However witty, cultured, and elegant the courtiers might seem, they clearly have a lot more homework to do. Marcadé’s arrival a few short lines later is the final test of their youthful ego. Is being clever worth the price of experiencing love? Is love worth the price of responsibility? Is she brave enough to admit that she’s scared to take up the mantle? Is he brave enough to give up the one person who matters for the sake of the people he once mocked, the people he now must lead?

I don’t believe the Navarre Nerds and Les Filles have survived the centuries because they end the play as sharp-tongued, entitled, and self-absorbed as they behave at the start. We wouldn’t still be making and remaking this play if the protagonists were so static. I think the young people of LLL resonate with us—or, at least, they resonate with me—because in the course of Shakespeare’s plotless little play they grow up right before our eyes. King Ferdinand learns that he can’t bury his head in his books and ignore the responsibility of ruling when he watches the love of his life choose duty to her country over the desires of her own heart. The Princess learns that the cost of being the cleverest person is human connection when she finds herself laughing alongside Ferdinand at the antics of the Nine Worthies and somehow feels happier than she ever did when she was mocking him into the earth. Berowne learns that love wins every argument: against wit, against intellect, against bachelorhood, against willpower itself. Rosaline learns that love is strength, not weakness, and that she is stronger when she allows herself to feel. Dumaine learns that love demands vulnerability. Katherine learns that love is not a game. Longaville learns that love thrives on honesty. Maria learns that love takes courage. When the Crazy Eight say their heartbreaking goodbyes at the end of 5.2, they no longer care about sounding smart or superior; in fact, they speak against their own intelligence. The erudite Ferdinand trips over his words, the cynical Berowne invokes romantic idealism, the boastful Dumaine speaks with humility, the shy Longaville puts all his cards on the table. The women are no less altered. I don’t want to fall into the trap of ascribing an easy, one-size-fits-all moral maxim to LLL, but what else are we supposed to take away from this play if not the fact that we fucking owe it to ourselves as a species to set aside our stupid pride and say, “I love you,” when we feel it because we never know when time is going to run out? What else are we supposed to feel if not pride in these young people for choosing to step up and take responsibility when they hear news that the world outside is ending? That there may be no world left? Les Filles go with their Queen. The Nerds rally around their King. They choose fidelity to their respective kingdoms over the indulgence of love. But they also learn to value love for what it is, and to call it by name…even if that love can only last for a few fleeting seconds:

“If this or more than this I would deny,To flatter up these powers of mine with rest,The sudden hand of death close up mine eye.Hence ever, then, my heart is in thy breast.”

(King Ferdinand, V.ii)

As the Crazy Eight grapple in real time with the consequences of Marcadé’s message and what it means for their role as leaders in society, Rosaline gives Berowne a task to complete in their year apart that practically hums with poetic intelligence. Her lines are so iconic, we still quote them colloquially today:

BEROWNETo move wild laughter in the throat of death?It cannot be, it is impossible.Mirth cannot move a soul in agony.

ROSALINEWhy, that’s the way to choke a gibing spirit,Whose influence is begot of that loose graceWhich shallow laughing hearers give to fools.A jest’s prosperity lies in the earOf him that hears it, never in the tongueOf him that makes it. Then, if sickly ears,Deafed with the clamors of their own dear groans,Will hear your idle scorns, continue then,And I will have you and that fault withal.But if they will not, throw away that spiritAnd I shall find you empty of that fault,Right joyful of your reformation.

(V.ii)

I think this is the moment when I would start crying if I ever watched my Rococo LLL performed live. Because of all les Filles, I think Rosaline is the only one who knows that by choosing to accompany the Duchess back to Versailles at the end of LLL, she is effectively signing her death warrant. The Jacobeans and sans-cullottes are not going to want young, eligible, Catholic Rococo princesses wafting around their new, secular state. The guillotine may not yet exist in the summer of 1789, but the there is a thirst for blood and Rosaline can smell it. And now Bastille has fallen. Paris is on fire. King Louis XVI has months to live. The world will never be the same. Rosaline’s once-ordered, once-gilded country is careening into a bloody nightmare of soured ideals and ruthless social weeding, and even though she can’t see the future, she can read men like books. Even Berowne. Even the charismatic nihilist who earned a bachelor’s degree in bachelorhood and tried to hide his heart under a bushel. She can read him and she can save him. They can’t kill her husband if she doesn’t have one. 

Rococo LLL? I don’t know. It’s a pipe dream. 

But can’t you picture it? 

Tagging my girls @harry-leroy @suits-of-woe @lizbennett2013 @dedraconesilet @exeunt-pursued-by-a-bear @henriadical in case anyone is interested :)

Thanks a million for one of my favorite asks ever! Happy holidays, friend!!

xx Claire

[never-2-far]

Remember that day when we walked hand in hand to the movie theater?

Smiles on our faces.

Love in our hearts.

Remember when you recorded me singing and told me it was that most beautiful sound in the world?

.

Remember when we walked hand in hand after getting new phones?

You made a slow motion video blowing out a dandelion.

You told me to make a wish.

I wished we'd be together forever.

.

Remember when we walked hand in hand when I needed a break from running and couldn't breathe and you told me to "shut up and man up"?

.

Remember when we walked around town doing Pokemon Go stuff but you were ashamed to be seen holding my hand anymore because too many people knew who and what I was?

.

Remember when we walked around outside fighting because you saved those videos. You saved them. You made up some lame excuse. You got caught. And you couldn't just man up to it. It wasn't the cheating. If you knew me...really knew me... you'd know it wasn't the cheating. It was the hiding and lying.

.

Remember when we walked around the house fighting because I was done. I couldn't take anymore hiding and lying. You once said you had a public life, personal life, and private life. And I was part of the personal life. That's why your private life was off limits to me. But that still doesn't make sense. Unless I was something to hide.

.

Remember when we walked to the gas station at night for drinks to drink away the pain that the relationship was over? We pretended like things were okay. Like maybe we could fix it. Remember when you got so drunk that night that you started yelling? Remember when I said I regretted that second chance?

.

Remember when we walked?

.

Remember when...

.

Remember?

.

"Your remind me of a peach, it makes me feel fuzzy inside"

.

"One week"

.

"Mist of water causes dew drops to form in his hair"

.

Remember?

.

Remember when it was easy? When you still wore your mask and I wore mine? Neither of us stepping on eachothers toes because we wanted so badly for everything to be perfect.

.

Well here's a new one for you that you don't remember.

You don't remember all the times I cried myself to sleep because you didn't want a boyfriend. You wanted a mystical unicorn. The best of both worlds.

But you assumed I was crying over us.

You don't remember all the late night conversations with my little sister where I needed advice and her to remind me you were damaged once and just need extra love but not with you around because you wouldn'thave understood.

But you assumed I was up cheating on you.

You don't remember how scared I was after my attack that I didn't want to leave the house.

But you called me a wimp, told me it was my fault for looking the part of a weak victim and forced me into workouts with you so that "next time you'll stand a chance"... not there won't be a next time...but next time I'll stand a chance... btw.. that was pride day downtown. I was attacked because I was alone in the open and the kid was homophobic and admitted not knowing what "it was" and that "it" had to go. I wasn't attacked because I looked weak. I was attacked because I looked queer. I was attacked getting diapers for YOUR son and my someday stepson.

But you called me weak.

.

You don't remember me donning caked on concealer to hide the broken blood vessels in my face after you choked me out for trying to get you to stay and actually fucking talk to me about where our relationship was even going..but no.. you wanted to go spend hours at a friends house I didn't know without a message or call to even know if you were safe. But you called me the problem. I wanted to talk. You chose violence.

.

You don't remember me crying to myself on the couch because every fight led to you physically hurting me and them retreating to their room to ignore it instead of help someone obviously being physically abused so they could deny ever witnessing abuse if it was ever brought against you.

.

You don't remember me paying for an online therapist because I don't handle face to face well and me trying to work out my own baggage and problems because you had so much on your own plate that I knew I knew I KNEW! That I was overwhelming for the already chaos you lived in. But you kept saying you loved and needed me. So that meant fixing me so you could breathe easy. But you pushed and pushed at every corner and instead of getting better, my therapist told me she thought I was getting worse.

But you called me sick and unstable and told me I needed to talk to a therapist.

I was talking to one. And she didn't condone our relationship and saw it as mentally damaging. But damn if I didn't love you.

.

You don't remember me breaking down at Pride. Crying into not only Dani's arms but also Drag king and his wife about how you were and how you were almost the reason I wasn't at my first pride. By the way... Dani is the one who told the performer exactly how you treated me. They only asked me to confirm what she was claiming. They consoled me, gave me their numbers if I ever needed and escape. And that was that. Earlier that day you went to get your uniform in CLT for being a KB trainer. You told me to wait on the lobby cause they didn't need to know you were with someone like me cause it could jeopardize the job. I waited for half an hour listening to the sounds of you and them joking and laughing and giggling. That's when pride popped up on my instagram. Showing it was going on at the exact moment. You took me to pride. Sure. But you walked around promoting your job to any transguy you saw like we are weak and need it and left me to wander alone.

Jokes on you. That's how I met him. Wandering around near the Drag Queens he called chosen family and I now call family too. He bumped into me..it hurt... and I apologized for getting in his way. He told me I shouldn't be the one apologizing when he hurt me. Funny... my therapist told me I needed to stop apologizing when you hurt me because I didn't force you to kick, punch, choke or throw things at me, you chose to. We may have been fighting.. but you CHOSE violence.

.

You don't remember me and Dani seeing him at the afterparty. You don't remember me saying hi to him again. You don't remember me rejecting him and pointing to the red and silver woven ring on my hand I wore since the day I proposed to you even if you laughed in my face and told me you'd never get married again. I wore it because maybe someday you'd change your mind.

You don't remember him saying okay and sorry for hitting on me because he had no intentions of chasing someone already taken.

You don't remember me walking away from the guy because yeah he was cute, but my tattooed punk was hotter.

.

You don't remember me arguing with myself that you were definitely in New York and your Google location was lying about you being elsewhere "17 minutes ago"

Funny... I hate that number now.

You don't remember me tearing apart the room for clues. You don't remember me finding notes. You don't remember me telling Dani "no I can't do that" when she told me to just break it off because they wouldn't let you kick me out if I did. You DON'T remember me making a second facebook account because if you could hide your life, then I was going to too.

But she was "just a friend" to you.

.

You don't remember me taking photo after photo in outfits I felt handsome in. You don't remember me reconnecting with old friends and them regrowing my confidence YOU destroyed. You don't remember me connecting with Mr. Pride because he knew Scott and Stacy personally and in my mind that meant he was okay because to them you were like a son. You don't remember me forming a new friendship where I talked about you constantly and how great you are. Never once did I mention the worst of the worst. You don't remember me falling to pieces in messages to him about how it had been over 3 years and I felt like marriage was not going to be our end goal. He told me to stop being silly and that it sounded like you loved the hell out of me and I was just reading into things too far. You don't remember the man you trash talked so badly and accused me of cheating with actually just being a friend who was rooting for us.

But you saw everyone else in my life as a threat. Friend or family. I know.. because you once accused me of cheating because you hear me tell my mother "I love you" on the phone but she was sick and her voice sounded too low to you to be my mom and you accused me of having a random guy under "momma" in my phone.

.

You don't remember when I gave up. Not really. You remember when I walked out. But you don't remember when I gave up. You were too obsessed with playing videogames hours every night to meet some silly made up quota after working all day. It was never us time, only you time. I had to be quiet. I couldn't even cough without you glaring. I couldn't move around OUR ROOM unless the camera was off.

I went back and watched one of you streams you did while I was at work one night. You called me your roommate. Said "yeah she's pretty chill" Fahl said "wait she?" And you coughed really loud to cover it and went back to chatting about living with 3 roommates that were annoying as hell.

.

You don't remember me making plans to hang out with friends and claiming I was at work. You never let me go anywhere but Walmart and work. You tracked my jogging route once. Timed it. Said I should have finished 4 minutes sooner. Asked me who I was "sexting" those 4 minutes. Didn't matter. You'd already cheated on me. That's why the accusations came so easily to you. The guilt was eating you alive. You don't remember me being excited to get away from you for a few days like you did in "new york".

Only it was 4 friends at a concert.

You accused me of being a whore and asked me if I liked being the slut at a metal concert and how I probably let a dozen dudes run a train on me. Then when I reached towards you with a simple hand gesture to tell you otherwise you jumped back and told me to "keep your slutty std riddled hands to yourself you fucking whore"

4 friends. A married cis couple. A gay trans dude. And a gay cis dude. They slept in their own room.

I bunked with my female friend in another.

I don't like women.

But you accused me of so so so much.

We weren't even together anymore.

So why did it matter to you?

.

You don't remember my anger when you told me I wasn't ALLOWED to tattoo the concert date on my skin. It was my first real concert. My first real road trip. My first real friend outting as an adult with friends I MADE instead of your roommate and her friends.

You don't remember me tattooing my foot anyway because we were not dating. You didn't have a say over my skin even if we were. You assumed it had to do with him, it didn't at first. But now.. it marks the day I freely got to enjoy something for myself without anyone else telling me what to do or say or think or feel. It was exhilarating.

.

You don't remember so much, because you focused on so much else. You chased after trends instead of the human standing in from of you begging for your love. You chased after others instead of the heart of the human that stayed by your side through your anger. You chased after popularity and false identity instead of the human who loved you for you in all your ginger haired, cheesy grinned, dorky giggly laugh self.

You chased everything else around me.

I guess that's how you chased me away.

.

Remember when you told me you loved me and I said it back? Remember how you told me it was all or nothing and I had to drop everything and move across the US for you or find someone else because you didn't have time to see where things went anymore. You were too old for courting games. You told me if I really loved you that I needed to move in with you and that your roommates would have to just live it with cause they'd "love me" .Remember how I did? I packed what I owned into a duffle bag and made the trip. Remember how 2 years later you told me you hadn't intended for me to actually stay. Only visit. Because you didn't see a future with me?

.

I remember.

.

What you don't remember is not your memory but mine. A day I sat on my bed as a teenager after a breakup crying while my mother consoled me and told me that when someone really loves you they don't give you ultimatums. That if anyone ever handed me an ultimatum to trust my gut because your gut knows the truth. Now I remember why my dad used to say my mother was always right. Without you I wouldn't be where I am right now.

.

When people ask me if I hate you I tell them no. I love you. I always have and always will. We shared a few sweet years together. I wouldn't take those back for anything. I look into my sons sleeping face and smile thinking about how without you, he wouldn't be here. I look at my husband and boyfriend cuddling eachother next to me exhausted from another night of consoling a crying 3 month old and smile. Tap then with my foot because once again they're hogging thr blanket. It makes me laugh that two grown men can use so much blanket between them. Without you.. I wouldn't have them.

I think of my house and my car and my job.

I wouldn't have any of it if our paths hadn't crossed. I look at myself in the mirror. Bags under my eyes, 5 o clock shadow forming from lack of shaving, misshapen brows, sore muscles, aching chest... but I'm happy. I'm starting to see the man I want to be in my own reflection.

I wouldn't be where I am had we never met.

Joseph C. F.

You were a treacherous and winding path in my journey of life. So many lefts and right and ups and downs I nearly lost my way. But it's the path that led me to where I am.

And for that... I still love you.

Ps...remember when you kept writing poetry long after I was gone? I never stopped reading. I was never 2 far.

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #190 - Robots (2005)

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: Yes.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: Yes.

Was it a movie I saw since August 22nd, 2009: No.

Format: DVD

1) From the very first scene of the film Robots is able to establish its wonderfully creative world through an incredible sense of visuals and place. You understand from the very first frame that we are in a different world.

2) There are so many jokes in this film I didn’t understand as a kid.

Mrs. Copperbottom [after Mr. Copperbottom missed the delivery of the baby]: “But that’s okay, MAKING the baby is the fun part.”

[Smooth jazz plays.]

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

3) See note #2.

Mrs. Copperbottom: “Honey? What’s that extra piece?”

Mr. Copperbottom: Oh. Oh, no, they always put in an extra...[Takes a good look at the piece. Chuckles.] We did want a boy, right?

4) Growing up with young Rodney not only clearly illustrates his hope/optimism/creativity but it also helps get the audience fully invested in his character and driving motivations. When Rodney really starts inventing/getting into inventing - when he finds his passion - you just root for him more. There’s a little bit of Rodney in each of us I think.

5) Stanley Tucci is a treat as Mr. Copperbottom. He is able to fully communicate his love for son Rodney in just a few lines, but you can also tell when something is concerning him. He doesn’t get a lot of time to shine, but through Tucci’s vocals he is one of the most memorable character in the films.

6) Ewan McGregor as Rodney Copperbottom.

McGregor is able to translate what we have learned about Rodney up tot his point - his optimism, passion, hope and drive - and amplify it considerably. It’s this character who we journey with throughout the film. His stakes are our stakes and McGregor is able to get the audience on his side. There’s a certain sense of naivety to Rodney’s attitudes in the big city but what’s important is that these never come across as annoying but instead are a nice source of conflict. All in all McGregor is I think an underrated part of an underrated film and I truly enjoy his role here.

7) The scene where Rodney uses Robot City’s public transportation is incredibly imaginative. It’s the thing I love about animation at its strongest: pure imagination.

8) Robin Williams as Fender

As Aladdin so iconically proved, Williams’ was made for animation. This film is no different, as his continuous energy and humor MAKE Fender as memorable as he is. A wonderful scene stealer with some great moments of friendship with Rodney, Fender is a lot of fun.

9) Greg Kinear as Ratchet.

Ratchet is a slick and fun villain made all the better by Kinnear’s cool vocals. You love to hate him as his charisma, style, and fun are reminiscent of Hades from Disney’s Hercules. Like the rest of the movie he’s just a lot of fun.

10) There’s this wonderful sense of old school slapstick and fun which permeates every moment of the film. It might not often support the plot but it’s just so freaking fun you don’t care. Almost like an old Chuck Jones cartoon, it’s just one great gag after another.

11) There is this incredible sense of place to Madame Gasket’s chop shop. Wickedly evil, as soon as we enter through visuals and even music the filmmakers establish that this is not a place you want to be in.

12) Jim Broadbent as Madame Gasket.

By completely letting go of any sense of ego Broadbent is able to be wonderfully villainous in this film. A cartoon villain in the best sense, more so than even Ratchet. You have to remind yourself that it’s Broadbent doing the voice regularly because he just embraces Gasket’s villainy so totally.

13) Amanda Bynes as Piper.

Like Williams and Broadbent, Bynes has an energy to her tailor made for animation. It infects her character and is a perfect fit for the part, making Piper a wonderful treat in the film.

14) So. Man. Butt. Jokes. So. Freaking. Fast.

15) I’m suck a sucker for found family dynamics, which is why I am so invested in Rodney and the the Outmodes together. There is this nice family dynamic established among the Outmodes very soon after meeting them, but they chose to be with each other. They’re lost, rusty, weird, but they can be that way together. I dig it.

16) I love this.

Rodney [after venting to Fender]: “If you burden your friends soon you won’t have any left.”

Fender: “What are you, a fortune cookie!? That’s what friends are for!”

17) The scene where Rodney is fixing up all the bots in town is not only wonderfully positive but also filled with that strong sense of humor I mentioned in note #10.

18) This line always stuck with me as a kid, I’m not sure why.

Madame Gasket [to Ratchet]: “Think! Use those brains I stole for you!”

19) The entire gag where Rodney is posing as a count and Bender as his manservant is an excellent example of the film’s energy and humor. There is just this wild sense of fun which can be seen in the scene which defines the whole film.

20) So when the opening credits started I saw Natasha Lyonne’s name…

And I thought to myself, “Wait, she’s in this movie?” Well it turns out, she is.

21) Halle Berry as Cappy.

Cappy isn’t really a developed character, I don’t think. She exists primarily as a moral compass juxtaposition against Ratchet who he lusts after, as a plot device to get Rodney out of trouble, and a shoehorned in love interest which is barely developed. This is not a criticism of Halle Berry’s performance, as I do think she’s good in the part. But what can we really say about Cappy? What can we say about her personality? That she’s…good? That’s about it. She’s a good guy. I could choke this poorly developed female character to sexism in the industry but the film also gave us Piper and Aunt Fanny and Mrs. Copperbottom who are all memorable characters in their own right. I just don’t really see the point for Cappy unfortunately.

22) The moment with the dominoes is brief but another fine example of visual excellence.

23) Mel Brooks as Bigweld.

Brooks is a legend of the film industry both in front and behind the camera. As an actor he brings his wonderful sense of enthusiasm to the part, but also plays Bigweld’s jadedness remarkably well. You can tell how hurt he is in just a few words, but when he decides to pick himself up by the bootstraps and continue on Brooks is even more fun in the part.

24) I love this. You really understand just how much Mr. Copperbottom loves Rodney in just a few words.

Rodney [talking to his dad on the phone]: “I’m really sorry I let you down.”

Mr. Copperbottom: “No no no no no. You could NEVER let me down, son.”

25) Rodney’s ride on Bigweld continues the excellence in imagination and visuals the film has shown through a gripping set piece. With a wonderful sense of creativity and madcap fun throughout, the scene even lands a few surprises your way which make it all the more enjoyable.

26) The upgraded team is actually something which I think is really freaking cool. I just dig the visuals of it.

27) …what just happened?

29) I’m a sucker for bringing a twist to a trope, so the way this scene handles “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” is great.

Bigweld [when their friends are in trouble]: “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” … [Rodney grabs Bigweld and cuts loose a support their on, acting as a giant pendulum to take out the bad guys.]

Bigweld: “THIS ISN’T WHAT I WAS THINKING AT ALL!”

30) This ending is a little cheesy but I dig it. It’s really fun, with a nice energy and good heart to it.

Crank [after Rodney’s dad starts playing music]: “Well, there goes our happing ending.”

Fender: “No! It’s a fusion of Jazz and Funk. It’s called JUNK!”

Robots is an underrated animated gym filled with a nice heart and an insane sense of humor. It’s voice acting and visual design are standout elements and al in all the film is just incredibly fun. Go watch it if you haven’t.

[zukadiary]

Bakumatsu Taiyouden / Dramatic “S”! ~ Snow Troupe 2017

nngg…

I always feel this weird sort of out-of-body sense of detachment in the Tokyo theater. It’s not home, I’m not grounded… you leave and it’s just Tokyo, no bowl of homemade oyakodon and sympathetic conversation waiting for you with open, friendly arms. I wound up watching Sou’s taidan here too, also in blistering heat. I so wish I’d seen this in Takarazuka, more times, and without such a vast sea of heads in front of me (although having the opportunity to read the July GRAPH talks first added some lovely nuanced depth to the pain).

I did not expect to be this invested in Chigi when my much-loved Sou left. The evolution of my interest in Chigi went from “I wish Kaname was still here” to “eh, I guess” to shattering my personal record for in-theater crying (and I’ve cried in *a lot* of theaters). She lasted longer than I expected, and no one leaving with her is a huge shock, but this taidan is gutting me. I love this Yukigumi so much. I’ve loved a lot of Yukigumis, but this one has its hooks in me real deep. And it feels like its soul is being torn out. 

At my first viewing my friend flawlessly described Bakumatsu Taiyouden as “distilled essence of Chigi ft. Miyu’s beautiful voice.” It’s a perfect, lovingly crafted tribute to the Chigi-est parts of Chigi, which also means it’s an amazing troupe show.  

::insert 7 minute crying break::

Koyanagi-sensei transformed what I thought was a really mediocre movie (that had me particularly worried Miyu would get shafted) into such a playful, fun, well-orchestrated musical. There are so many opportunities for ad-libs I think I could have gone every day of the run and not gotten tired of it. Even though I’d seen the movie, it was a bit difficult to follow at first; Chigi uses a silly voice and a lot of slang, and it’s kind of a slice of life story with a lot of random happenings going on as opposed to one continuous plot line… but it gets easier once you have a general picture of the character relationships. EVERY CHARACTER’s personality comes across so clearly even with no background (which was soooo refreshing after three viewings of Yamataikoku no Kaze), and I adore Koyanagi-sensei for how well she executed that. 

Chigi’s character, Saheji, has contracted tuberculosis and has come to this inn/brothel by the sea to live out the rest of his life (I thought tuberculosis was highly contagious, but *SHRUG*). He winds up meddling, mostly hilariously, in all of the brothel’s drama. The best parts should be seen fresh so I won’t spoil them, but in general, this was so on-brand for Chigi’s comedic abilities, and it looked like she was having a TON of fun. Saheji and Osome (Miyu’s character) aren’t romantically involved, but they play off each other so well and there are so many opportunities for primarily MIYU TO TEASE CHIGI that it’s just beautiful. 

Miyu is so heartbreakingly good in this show. Her growth over her tenure with Chigi has been incredible, and her Osome is overflowing with sass and confidence. She’s also dancing the best I’ve seen her dance and singing like an absolute angel; the last time I saw her live was in Kenshin when her voice was broken, so I was beyond happy to hear this. I’m so glad she’s going out on such an amazing performance, but also IT HURTS SO BAD. Lord I hope she continues a career on stage, because she is really blossoming right now… and depriving the world of the full bloom would be such a travesty.

The other taidansha: Anri landed the role of a lifetime with Koharu, Osome’s rival (and almost equal in terms of importance), and she slayed. Dai and Gaori don’t have a ton of stage time, but they each have their own very funny and memorable scenes, so charming that they don’t feel slighted. MomoHina and Miki are primarily dancers, but they get their time up front.

Daimon is the calm and collected leader of a team of hot-headed isolationist samurai comprised of Kiraha Reo, Tachibana Kou, Kanou Yuuri, Hinata Haruki, Suwa Saki, and Manomiya Rui (interestingly, Kari may have had more stage time than anyone other than Chigi and Miyu). And Shou I guess?? She seems to be part of their team but not 100% on board with their plans, which are to blow up the foreign traders’ living quarters. It’s definitely an amusing group; Daimon’s character is all SERIOUS BUSINESS, but between the ridiculousness of their plot and the buffoonery of her comrades it’s just as silly as everything else going on.

I was fawning over Saki after my jet lagged, unfed live viewing of Takarazuka senshuuraku. Unless she was particularly on fire that day, I’m not sure exactly what hit me quite so hard then… BUT, I DO really like this character for her. She’s the spoiled, kinda flamboyant, completely useless son of the two kumichou innkeepers, and she wore that really well. Since Kenshin was the first place I saw her start to level up, it was nice to see her do such a good job with something that could not be more different. 

HIME was used properly, which is REALLY IMPORTANT TO ME. 

My heart’s not really in summary and analysis… I just want to gush. Spoilers ahead.

Dramatic S is a roaring river of tears. 

It doesn’t have a flashy theme; it reminds me of My Dream Takarazuka in that way, all soul-crushing lyrics and simple but sharp, passionate dance numbers. I find myself referencing most of the scenes by the color of the suit, versus “the pirate number” or “the gigolo number” or, you know, “the passion of the christ number,” etc. There isn’t a scene I don’t love, and all the music is beautiful; I’m excited to cry my eyes out at work while listening to the CD. 

The part choreographed by Bryant Baldwin, in particular, was a spectacle. It wasn’t a flashing lights and glitter spectacle, but the dance was cool, aggressive, and visibly challenging, and it was full of little Chigi things—a Lupin heel click, a kizuna fist pump…

My kangeki schedule last year included HOT EYES!! and The Entertainer, both of which featured breathtaking special top star numbers: Maakun’s barefoot dance to Chopin under blue starlight, and Micchan ascending from the floor singing while playing a glass piano. I’ve had my fingers crossed since leaving The Entertainer that Chigi would get hers. At first I thought she didn’t, but she completely did. You’ve probably at least seen the mint green outfits in pictures floating around if you haven’t seen the show; they’re from this cruel, devastating Kizuna number. Everyone is in it, everyone is gushing Yukigumi pride… everyone lines up and Chigi looks at them one by one. Chigi’s masterpiece is this close-knit family she built, and they showed it off absolutely spectacularly. I have no idea how they’re going to be able to do it the last time without breaking down.

The kuroenbi is also devastating. Every otokoyaku (except for the newly assigned 103rds) is in it, because that’s what Chigi wanted. I lost it every time they knelt down on the stairs in her direction.

It’s hard to decide whether the Kizuna number or the duet dance is the most awful part. The dance is so stupid and tender and terrible, I need them to stop touching foreheads and looking at each other like that on loop in my memory so I can stop crying and see my damn screen. 

……….

But as if that’s not bad enough, the song is so incredibly beautiful… Chigi starts singing it up on the stairs, and when she meets Miyu to dance Daimon’s voice takes over from the kage box. I was hoping that would happen… in her personal book’s Special Talk, Tomu mentions how much she loved dancing to Daimon’s voice, because it created a whole world she could get lost in. It did, and it was a lot… arguably too much. Honey and silk and love and admiration and maddeningly soft at times…

On a personal note, whoever thought of giving first Miyu and then Daimon to Chigi is an absolute genius. Not only did they support her in the exact way she needed to be supported, but she took these two insanely talented but somewhat shy/awkward ladies and nurtured them until they bloomed into something so BEYOND… And I seriously can’t think of a top 3 whose collective chemistry I love more. 

And on an even more personal note, as a Daimon fan, I watched Fancy Guy in my despair on Tuesday night and was struck anew by how awkward Daimon was when she came here, and how despite my JOY at my FAVORITE coming to MY TROUPE of all places I couldn’t help but think “Oh honey, I’m so sorry…” And now I get choked up looking at this bit of a photo…

…because look at how fully entrenched she is in our warm beautiful family, I’m so overflowing I genuinely can’t stand it. 

I remember Lupin shonichi too clearly for it to have been 2.5 years ago, even though I wasn’t there. It was New Year’s Day and snowing. How fucking perfect is that?

Chigi, I really can’t thank you enough for this ride. 

[marksburyscripts]

Episode 14-- The Forsaken Son

Google Doc

Content Warnings: -Strangulation

[Pre-episode announcement]

Hey, everyone, Victor Stark here, with a mic that my cat knocked off of a table and dented. Thanks, Zoe. 

I just wanted to tell you guys about some exciting news. Like I said last episode, The Marksbury Incident will be wrapping up its first season next episode, after which we’ll be taking a hiatus. And hey, you’re gonna need something to fill up that time. You like classic literature, right? Well, Alli Malone, voice of Christine Daae in The Marksbury Incident, is currently casting for Hamlet: A Modern Retelling. In this new adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, Hamlet, Horatio, and Ophelia must face off against family drama, corporate espionage, and supernatural forces. Casting is open through May 7th. For more information and updates, check out @PariahPod on Twitter, or at pariahpodcasts.com.

That’s it from me! Here we go!

--

[Immediately after the previous episode. Victor is breathing heavily, clearly terrified. Erik is loving it.]

ERIK

Why so quiet all of a sudden?

VICTOR

Get away from me.

ERIK

That sounds like a threat.

VICTOR

Maybe it is.

ERIK

Is that so? [He laughs] Now that would be a sight.

VICTOR

So-- So what, is-- Is it time, is that why you’re here? Finally bored of watching, ready for it to be over? [He forces a laugh] But you-- You can’t kill me. 

ERIK

And what makes you say that?

VICTOR

Christine Daae. Christine, she-- She knows everything. If-- if I turn up dead, who do you think she’s going to go to for answers? It’s not hard to put two and two together, she’s smart. Ooh, that’d break her heart. She’s already seen what you did, anything more and she--

[He is cut off as Erik begins choking him]

ERIK

Do not use her as merely a bargaining chip. You are unworthy to so much as say her name. And whatever reasons Christine has for protecting you, know that even she cannot deter me forever. Your time will come, Frankenstein. We both know how our stories end. But we’ve yet to arrive at that final chapter. That is not why I’m here.

[He lets Victor go, Victor gasping for breath and coughing. This man has been strangled a lot lately]

ERIK

You have far more eyes on you than you are aware of.

VICTOR

Wh-- What?

ERIK

How does it feel? Knowing that one selfish night undid all the work that your mother risked her life for?

VICTOR

What the hell are you talking about?! How do you-- How do you know about any of this?!

ERIK

One hears many things in the dark. 

VICTOR

What kinds of things?

ERIK

There has been talk. Whispers of plans nearing fruition, of allies being gathered. Propositions being made.

VICTOR

What are you-- What kind of propositions, what do you mean?

ERIK

You’re a clever man, Frankenstein. I’ve no doubt that you can piece it together.

VICTOR

...Someone wants me dead. Someone else. The woman in red?

ERIK

Among others.

VICTOR

Care to elaborate?

ERIK

No.

VICTOR

For goodness sake.....

ERIK

That being said, I will tell you that they have been seeking you out for some time. That they have plans even more horrible than mine.

She approached me several months ago. How she managed to find me, I am unable to say, but I will admit that I was intrigued. Ever since the disastrous series of events that drove me from the theater I’d made my home, I have been taking shelter wherever possible. For the moment, I had fashioned myself a small shelter in the forest, miles away from the nearest city and the cruelty of its inhabitants. For several weeks, I knew something quite nearly resembling peace, resting by day so that I might venture out under cover of darkness. 

It was as I slept one afternoon that I was awoken. Strange, perverse whispers that could not be dismissed as merely the wind through the trees. 

ERIK (Cont.)

As I heard her footfalls outside, I prepared to defend myself should the need arise. And yet, before I could investigate, she spoke to me. She called me by name, told me that she had been watching me for quite some time. And she asked if I wanted Victor Frankenstein dead.

ERIK (Cont.)

Cautiously, I approached her. For a moment, I wondered if she was perhaps the sister I had allowed to live, but this was not the case. This was a woman I had never seen, and yet she spoke of both you and I as though she had known us for years. 

She lifted her hand, and before I had time to react, my mask was ripped away and thrown to the ground, though she stood perhaps ten feet away, and she and I were alone. Even as she looked upon my face, she did not recoil, as most do. In fact, she approached, laying a gentle hand on my cheek as she spoke. I shall never forget her words, her voice so soft. “Look what he has done to you, my boy,” she told me. So few times I have felt such compassion, I was taken aback, near speechless. 

ERIK (Cont.)

I willed myself to form my question, asking who she was. She told me her name and her connection to your family, neither of which I will relay to you, dear creator. And with such vigor, she explained her situation, her grand scheme decades in the making. And how you and I fit into it. 

ERIK (Cont.)

It was now that she proposed collaboration. If I would work with her and her allies, then they would see to it that I would see you dead, and would never again live in solitude. I would walk the earth without shame, and all those who once derided me would fall one after the other.

ERIK (Cont.)

For weeks, she attempted to win my favor, bringing me food, blankets, books, even a viola. And while I did accept the gifts, bribery is a tool that is given far too much credit. However, I will admit that I was tempted. Had I not received another visitor, this could very well have been a much different conversation. 

ERIK (Cont.)

I would say that of the admittedly small number of people I have known in my life, only one has ever come close to being considered a friend. A curious individual, whom I have yet to understand completely. They discovered my sanctuary beneath the theater soon after I arrived, and have kept in contact ever since, always able to track me down no matter how far I may wander. Having seen my love for the music performed above, they gifted me a piece by a French composer, from whom I took my name. This composition in particular struck me, as it elicited both an aura of mystique, as well as an underlying sense of longing. And the structure itself, unique in its own way. For months, I was unable to get it out of my head, I was so completely enthralled. But… I digress.

ERIK (Cont.)

It had been quite some time since I had seen my friend, and I had begun to fear that perhaps they had fallen ill or something similar. And yet, they arrived looking just the same as last we met. They found me once again on a night when the warmth of summer was beginning to fade, and I confided in them my current debate, explained my conflictions. And before the night was through, I had made my decision.

VICTOR

And what decision is that…?

ERIK

[Audibly smirking]

Rest assured, I will not be accepting her offer.

VICTOR

Wh-- Why not?

ERIK

Because my vengeance will be mine alone. And your story will end only when I allow it.

VICTOR

And your-- Your friend. Who are they?

ERIK

I’ve no idea.

VICTOR

What’s that supposed to--

ERIK

They have not disclosed to me their name. 

[Victor scoffs. There is now more of an edge to Erik’s voice]

I am many things, Frankenstein, but a liar is not one of them. Even if I did know, that is not information that you need. I will not give you another person to harm.

VICTOR

For me to harm?!

ERIK

Have you still not accepted the fact that you are not infallible? That your actions have consequences on not only your life, but the lives of others? I thought I had taught you that lesson. Did you learn nothing? Perhaps you need another reminder.

VICTOR

Fuck you! [The sudden burst of strength fades just as quickly as it appeared] So-- So, what? Why are you telling me this? To make sure I'm prepared so that these people don't kill me before you can?

ERIK

I'm glad that you understand.

VICTOR

[He scoffs again]

Great. Fantastic. Thank you.

ERIK

...I can see it in your eyes, you know.

VICTOR

What?

ERIK

Your true self. Such a unique amalgamation of fury and cowardice. You long to end my life as much as I want to end yours. [Mocking now] Such a noble deed, avenging those you lost. And yet, you lock yourself away, drinking away your sorrows as you deny the fact that you are not the victim you claim to be. You want me dead, and yet, [He lunges forward just enough to scare Victor, who takes a sharp inhale] you lack the ambition, the ability to make your move.

VICTOR

I-- I could. I could, I--

ERIK

[Whispered, having leaned in close]

So try it. [Beat.] Such a pathetic child. Even if you brought yourself to attempt it, you know as well as I do that that is a battle you would not win. But then again, I must admit I am curious as to how that might awaken something in you, watching the life slip away from someone who has caused you such pain. No doubt, that would affect even your brilliant mind.

VICTOR

Shut up.

ERIK

Afraid you might enjoy it?

VICTOR

No. I know for a fact I'd enjoy it. And believe me, I wouldn’t lose a moment’s sleep.

ERIK

[He laughs] 

There is a darkness in you, Frankenstein. And your dear friend. Never forget that.

VICTOR

Wait, what? What are you--

ERIK

For now, this should help you find your way.

[There is a faint rustle of paper as Erik pulls a note out of his pocket]

VICTOR

[Reading]

“She intends to besiege the masquerade”? What the hell does that mean, what does any of this mean?!

HENRY

[Far off, but approaching]

Victor? Victor, that you? What the hell are you doing?

VICTOR

Clerval? Hold on, what-- What are you doing?

HENRY

You weren’t at home, I figured I’d find you here. Who were you talking to?

VICTOR

I…. [Beat. Erik has clearly vanished] ...No one. Listen, do-- Sorry, I just…. Would you wanna stay the night…?

HENRY

Say no more. 

[kartiavelino]

I Want Robin Harris To Wake Up:

“You understand you broke once they break in your home and don’t steal nothing…” Robin Harris opens a imaginative and prescient of his long-gone poverty with this foolish premise. Laughter bubbles in Los Angeles’ Comedy Act Theater. Massive, slick afros bounce on the outskirts of the highlight. And Harris simmers whereas they soak up his absurd setup from his self-titled Reside on the Comedy Act Theater. “Man, I’m so broke they left a be aware speaking ‘bout ‘Please purchase one thing.’ I purchased some. Once they got here again, they left one other be aware, it mentioned, ‘Steer clear of Ok Mart.’” I need Robin Harris to get up. In 1990, the Chicago comic died in his sleep. He was simply getting began. Rumors stirred about him residing a quick life, however they weren’t confirmed. His life went quick as a result of he pressed the gasoline when he acquired his breaks. He was on a world-famous run, starring in early Spike Lee hits Do the Proper Factor and Mo’ Higher Blues, glowing up in his scenes. Harris was born in 1962 to working-class mother and father in Chicago and utilized their regular ethic to his rise within the comedy world. As a nightclub emcee and after-hours common, Harris coloured his routine with improvised digs on the crowd and references to a bruised, beat-down life that wasn’t actually his personal. For a decade, he performed native golf equipment that invigorated the stand-up scene within the Midwest and drew main curiosity from Hollywood’s Black filmmakers like Lee and Reginald Hudlin. Though his most well-known set — a joke about relationship a single mother with dangerous children who by no means sleep — depicts him as a bachelor, he was a loyal father and husband. However on stage, he used uncooked language and didn’t maintain again. Ugly girls had betrayed him, he claimed. Ugly crowds weren’t well worth the time, he swore. “My outdated woman so ugly, y’all, the opposite day she was taking off her garments and a peeping Tom peeped by the window, broke in the home and pulled down the shade.” Harris was 36. Information articles checklist his official reason for demise as cardiac arrest from a bout of sleep apnea. Harris, like Patrice O’Neal, like Bernie Mac, left a bigger legacy than his persona. I’m 36, standing within the burly chuckling shadow he left, hoping to find him. Concern retains me from imagining my demise this month as a result of I’ll by no means do what he did in his storied dash of a life. On a Friday afternoon, the chilly vinyl cushion on the recliner at Maiden Lane Medical sticks to the naked pores and skin on my again. I’m laying down, comfortable stomach out, ready on the assistant. Her gloves snap, and I pop up from a Robin Harris daydream. I must understand how his model of “alive” felt, so I’m watching his sparse video clips over and over. For 3 weeks, I’ve been typing in his identify on YouTube, spiking his views one share level at a time, pondering he’ll present me who he was past the stage. He had 36 full years and, I guess, no gradual moments like this, ready for an ultrasound tech to use freezing gel to his love handles. I guess he tore up each stage and broke into sweats from the power of the laughter firing again at him. I solely really feel a cool drip percolating underneath my proper arm because it begins its roll down my facet. Robin Harris made jokes about being ugly and broke as a result of he was lovely and wealthy as the feel of his voice. His pressing grunt was the premise for Bernie Mac’s success. He was the surly uncle on the barbecue, cocking off jokes at bystanders, making you’re feeling each gross and fairly in the identical punchline. I sit at residence, propped up on a velvet sofa, not wealthy however not broke both, on the lookout for indicators of Harris within the too-brief clips. First, Do the Proper Factor tells me extra in regards to the Harris grunt than I first observed watching Home Social gathering. However the velvet sofa is so comfortable and comfy that I go to sleep at 1 a.m with the window open and the breeze tugging at my blanket. Robin Harris watched me doze from contained in the display.  I awoke gasping for air, like a phantom lodged the bushy blanket in my throat and stole the exhaling half. When I search for extra info on how Robin Harris lived inside his physique, his widow and mates discuss bother respiratory, and him falling asleep mid-conversation. I haven’t gotten this dangerous but, however possibly I don’t go laborious sufficient. Robin Harris died the identical month his largest film function premiered. I’ve already watched that film, Home Social gathering, 4 instances in seven days, as a result of I’m on the lookout for clues. The most effective proof I can discover of how he moved is in a particular known as Robin Harris Reside on the Comedy Act Theater. It’s a deep lower of him in 1988 internet hosting different rising comics, and I can shortly pull it up on streaming. He struts the stage, pivoting on his heels, half-walking half-jiving, belting out jokes and swallowing each ounce of air within the room. Harris dwarfs the opposite acts, a few of whom I’ve seen in bit elements, with out breaking stride or tripping up.    “The way you doing, waitress? Waitress positive look nervous spherical right here, don’t they? I’d be nervous too if I was stealing. Don’t fear, honey, I carry a razor too. A gun’ll misfire however you ain’t by no means heard of a razor mis-cutting. Stated I’ll lower you lengthy, deep, extensive and consecutively.” When I emerge from my daydream, I understand he’s joking however not. Robin Harris carried a razor as a result of he grew up on the South Facet of Chicago throughout a interval of the 1970s when rising up on the South Facet of a Black metropolis meant carrying razors. He matured quick and his tongue, his coronary heart, his lungs and his eyes needed to sustain. His piercing wit mimics the gesture of his knife joke, slicing gashes into my modest 36 years, chopping up what I’ve completed and have but to do. The medical doctors on Google bestowed me with sleep apnea, which may very well be both the dovetail to my tragic finish or a footnote in a protracted life. That sickness is the place the similarities begin and finish with me and Harris. However I acknowledge the deadly consequence when I learn accounts from his widow, Exetta. Within the Washington Put up report, an oral historical past of his mourners, she mentioned he’d been to the physician they usually wished to verify him out. Nevertheless it by no means acquired any additional. Harris’ household mentioned he talked in his sleep, nonetheless cracking jokes and taking pictures on the viewers in his head. Sleep apnea stays misunderstood regardless of how frequent it’s. The New York Occasions estimates 22 million Individuals have it, but few are conscious. The signs — loud loud night breathing, stressed sleep, grogginess upon waking — sound just like the sleep traits of most working adults I’ve recognized. Past that, we affiliate sleep apnea with weight problems (although it’s not confirmed that the latter causes the previous). Robin Harris’ widow, Exetta, noticed the signs that alert many spouses to a deeper well being situation. That’s why it’s additionally known as “witness apnea,” as a result of the sufferer’s sleep habits are a thriller to them in slumber.  I get up preventing ghosts that choke me, too, like on my Harris movie-marathon night time. I acquired so frightened of dying in my sleep, I went to get my aliveness checked as a result of I knew Robin Harris misplaced his the identical method. Although he spent his quick 36 years higher than I have, roaring previous friends, he turned the opposite cheek to mortal danger. That’s probably why it was straightforward to solid him as “Pop” in Child N’ Play’s Home Social gathering when he was solely 12 years older than his supposed son, Christopher “Child” Reid. Harris had grown right into a middle-aged man’s stout determine, so he was capable of painting a spread of murky ages. Whether or not because the shiftless Candy Dick Willie in Do the Proper Factor, laid again in his folding chair throne, roasting with the opposite street-corner drunks, or because the self-serious, quipping dad in Home Social gathering, Harris confirmed how light-hearted mockery might make any life extra fulfilling. Particularly his. The ultrasound tech presses down into my stomach and I really feel like I must pee. That is regular, she claims, however nothing appears that method when a girl you don’t know is enjoying together with your bladder from the surface. I maintain pondering of Candy Dick Willie saying, “It’s Miller Time,” as his drunk cohorts complain that Koreans personal shops they usually maintain shopping for extra beers from them because the “Black Man suffers.” Willie didn’t give a shit so long as he might get his beer on time and infrequently. As her latex hand relieves strain from my private space, she assures me there aren’t any issues. “It’s Miller Time,” I mumble, contemplating a beer since I have my aliveness again. “What was that?” “It’s from a film.” “You may go downstairs to reception to schedule a follow-up. The physician will clarify your outcomes.” Observe up what although? I’m fascinated with not going additional than this. Every week or two of checks, Google searches, filling out surveys, and finding out how aliveness ended and have become demise made me drained. If a person extra alive than me might die in his sleep, throughout the peak of his life, what probability did I stand in opposition to destiny? I need Robin Harris to get up. Within the opening scene of Home Social gathering, Pop yells at Child to complete his breakfast and go to high school. Within the subsequent beat, Child’s grabbing meals and screaming again that he can’t be scolded for not consuming meals earlier than he will get downstairs to eat. However when Pop doesn’t reply, he runs again upstairs to verify on him. Robin Harris as “Pop” sprawls on a king mattress in an undershirt and work pants, appearing out sleep. His film son unties his footwear so his dad can relaxation and provides him the sober, empathetic look of a young person understanding how a lot a dad or mum does to maintain them clothed and fed. When he’s Pop dozing on the mattress, he seems extra like Robin Harris, dishonest days to get greater than 24 hours and stealing treasured sleep. The director Reginald Hudlin made a bid to protect Robin Harris by turning the single-mom joke into the animated function Bébé’s Children. Harris died two years earlier than the film premiered, so Faizon Love voiced what was presupposed to be his character. In the end, the movie felt like a pieced-together memorial to a fallen jokester as a substitute of a fully-formed story. So many individuals owed a inventive debt to him, from Bernie Mac and Martin Lawrence to Lee and Hudlin, they spent years making an attempt to pay again what couldn’t be repaid. Harris probably didn’t relaxation a lot throughout his magical run from 1988 to 1990, and sleep appeared to overhaul him as a result of he had bother controlling it. Associates who knew him properly described him as hardworking and a worrier. He wished the jokes to land. He wished the group to burst into giggles. It’s laborious to learn in regards to the finish of his life and know that the one factor that eluded him, sleep, additionally carried him residence. That’s not how I wish to keep in mind his aliveness. Or mine. This week, I’m going for my follow-up appointment. http://feeds.bet.com/~r/Betcom-Celebrities/~3/nU2st7ZgbbM/robin-harris-tribute.html The post I Want Robin Harris To Wake Up: appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://kartiavelino.com/2019/03/i-want-robin-harris-to-wake-up.html

[ismael37olson]

YEAST NATION

New Line has produced only musicals over the years -- 84 so far, in fact -- but at the same time, we've told stories in so many different genres of storytelling, comedy, drama, film noir, crime drama, thriller, melodrama, allegory, fairy tale, fable, folk tale, science fiction, horror, documentary, sex farce, social satire, political satire, political drama, absurdism, expressionism, impressionism, religious drama, autobiography, confessional... But it occurred to me a while back we had never done a bio-historical musical. I don't know how we missed that, but we had! Luckily for us, Greg Kotis and Mark Hollmann, the mad geniuses behind Urinetown, have been nurturing and developing another wild, dark, comic show, and can you believe it, it's a bio-historical musical! I mean, what are the odds? "It is the year 3,000,458,000 BC. The Earth's surface is a molten mass of volcanic islands and undulating waves. The atmosphere is a choking fog lit by a dim red sun. And the mighty waters of the world are inhabited only by rocks, sand, salt, more rocks, a little silt, and the great society of salt-eating yeasts – yes, yeasts! – the world's very first life form! These single-cell salt-eaters are the only living creatures on earth, and they’re up against a food shortage, a strange new emotion called Love, and the oppression of a tyrannical Yeast King. But when the king’s son ventures out of the known yeastiverse, the yeasts’ story – and ours – is changed forever. " Now if that doesn't sound like a New Line show, what does? So we snatched up the rights and now we embark on yet another weird, uncharted adventure, though this time heading for the floor of the ocean three billion years ago. And all the actors will be playing yeasts. Single-celled yeasts, who can nevertheless sing and even dance a little. And Rob Lippert has to make our theatre look like the floor of the ocean. And Sarah Porter has to figure out what yeasts wear... As we often say, if it's not scary, where's the fun? Yeast Nation has been produced four times so far, at the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska, in 2007; at the American Theater Company in Chicago in 2009; at the New York International Fringe Festival in 2011; and at the Ray of Light Theatre in San Francisco in 2014. We'll be Production #5, and they've been doing some further rewrites, so the writers hope to come see us.

When we produced Kotis and Hollmann's brilliant Urinetown back in 2007, I had been in email contact with the writers, and recognizing the freakishly intellectual underpinnings to their intensely silly but sociologically dense, Brechtian comedy, I had asked them for suggestions on reading material. They directed me to Thomas Robert Malthus and his 1798 book, An Essay on the Principle of Population, which predicted that human population would increase geometrically, doubling every twenty-five years, but food production would only grow arithmetically, and that would result in famine and starvation -- unless births were controlled. And yes, reading Malthus really did help me understand and focus the show. This time around, a couple weeks ago, I asked again, and this time, Kotis suggested two books by Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Socieites; and Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. I'm in the midst of the first, which is also a short documentary series, by the way. And then Kotis also suggested Antigone and Macbeth. Yes, you read that right. Antigone and Macbeth. I laughed when I read that in his email, until I remembered that I'd no doubt eventually realize he wan't joking. And sure enough, last week I watched Antigone (the brilliant production on video with Genevieve Bujold) and Macbeth (Patrick Stewart's version!), and then I re-read Yeast Nation. And guess what? Kotis wasn't kidding. I see big, clear, interesting parallels to both plays in this crazy musical. And seeing those parallels really will help me get at what Kotis and Hollmann are after. I love working on material these guys have written! One of the fundamental things most people don't get about Urinetown is also an important foundation of Yeast Nation, the idea of taking the characters and story so intensely, freakishly seriously that it's hilarious. Same style as Bat Boy, Spelling Bee, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and the granddaddy of all neo musical comedies, Little Shop of Horrors.

Compare the following. First, bookwriter-lyricist Howard Ashman's 1981 forward to his published script for Little Shop of Horrors:

Little Shop of Horrors satirizes many things: science fiction, B movies, musical comedy itself, and even the Faust legend. There will, therefore, be a temptation to play it for camp and low-comedy. This is a great and potentially fatal mistake. The script keeps its tongue firmly in cheek, so the actors should not. Instead, they should play with simplicity, honesty, and sweetness – even when events are at their most outlandish. The show’s individual “style” will evolve naturally from the words themselves and an approach to acting and singing them that is almost child-like in its sincerity and intensity. By way of example, Audrey poses like Fay Wray from time to time. But she does this because she’s in genuine fear and happens to see the world as her private B movie – not because she’s “commenting” to the audience on the silliness of her situation. Having directed the original New York production of Little Shop myself, and subsequently having seen it in many versions and even many languages, I can vouch for the fact that when Little Shop is at its most honest, it is also at its funniest and most enjoyable.

I remember first reading that -- after already having seen and loved the show off Broadway -- and it really had an impact on me. I became aware that the funniest comedies are always the most honest and the most straight-faced. Now, here's Greg Kotis' new author's notes to the Yeast Nation script:

Yeast Nation (the triumph of life) is a comedy, but what kind of comedy? There aren’t too many jokes, and it’s not all that witty. The script and score actually seem to take themselves rather seriously -- which is actually the key to how to attack the show. For the comedy (and therefore, the show) to succeed, the production must commit whole-heartedly to the grim, ominous, brutal, terrifying reality of the world of the play. This is a tragedy, apparently, a great epic saga, an origin story, and perhaps even a very important work of art (at least in the mind of the production). The comedy is character-based, meaning the performances must be heightened just enough to be funny, but not so much as to be overly-broad or ridiculous. Calibrating this energy is, as they say, the whole ballgame. No winking! No clowning! Play it straight, essentially, and you’ll find the tone. There’s also room for tenderness and sincerity here and there, which might offer a welcome break from the madness from time to time. The comedy is also context-based, meaning this is a harsh, punishing world where imminent destruction lurks everywhere. People are jumpy! They’re frightened! They’re desperate! They’re also ruthless and fierce and determined and, hopefully, completely present and alive! Seeing our heroes and villains (and everyone in between) struggle to survive and prevail in this unforgiving world is where the fun of the show lives.

I was lucky to see the original productions of both Urinetown and Bat Boy before we worked on them. Like other neo-musical comedies, each show has its own feel, its own style, its own visual and physical language, its own oddball, straight-faced humor, its own quirky set of rules. No other show operates quite like Little Shop or Bat Boy or Urinetown or Yeast Nation. They are all sui generis, and that's one of the coolest things about this new golden age for the art form that we're in. I'm lucky to have both seen and directed Urinetown, and written about it, before working on Yeast Nation. The two shows are pretty different in most ways, but I feel like I understand Kotis and Hollmann's writing now and I get what they're up to; plus Kotis is really terrific about explaining anything that's confusing. He knows he writes crazy, fucked-up musicals, and he wants us to understand them as best we can. I love that. Our rehearsal process starts Monday with learning the songs, so I don't have to block anything for a couple weeks. I'll use that time to sit in music rehearsals and soak it all up, let it percolate in the back of my head, let my ideas form, morph, solidify. I can already see in my head several moments in the show. This is going to be such fun to work on. Another wild adventure begins! Scott from The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre http://newlinetheatre.blogspot.com/2018/04/yeast-nation.html

[drewaldridge-blog]

The Last Jedi

I didn’t cry when Han Solo died.

In the theater, on the opening day of ‘The Force Awakens’, I was trying to conjure up more emotions for the death of one of my childhood heroes. But it didn’t come. Why? People around me were tearing up. People I know reported back to me that they cried. Didn’t I owe Han a little sadness for his passing? He’s been with me my whole life. I realize it’s a fictional death, but I still like to feel a little when I watch things. Han Solo has been with me my whole life and I just got a little sad over it, but no strong emotions expressed. The truth is there was too much about it that just felt like a thing the writers could do for the story. I was more like, “Oh wow, that’s what they went with? Ballsy.” and less like, “Han Solo just got killed!” I think the passage of time between movies, spending a short while with old Han Solo who is familiar but different from the guy we remember, and just not having enough time to build an emotional connection to the backstory of his son, all contributed. I thought it was a very cool idea, very well performed, and a great launching point for the new character of Kylo Ren, who I like. However, all that hit me more on an intellectual level rather than an emotional one. I did cry during ‘The Force Awakens’. Did something bridge the gap to my childhood connection of the original trilogy and this new one? Yes. I got choked up when Rey Force pulls the lightsaber into her hand and we hear the “Force theme”. Music is a shortcut to emotion plus this new character that I now love is finally on the familiar journey that we went on, all those years ago. Which brings me to the moment of tears...

Rey has found Luke Skywalker. He turns towards her wearing a puzzled look, but also so much burden on his face. Our first glimpse of our original hero is one that silently tells us that he’s not the person we remember. He’s dealt with so much and I want to reach out to him in this moment. I was ok with Luke being absent most of the movie as he was almost this macguffin with an added bit of mystery that will hopefully be rewarded later. However, when he turned towards camera I instantly remembered how much I missed him. Then the “Force theme” plays again. I tear up. Why this moment and not the death of a beloved character?

Whether you related to Han or Leia more in the original films, Luke was the audience. Han Solo was a fun exciting character to help you into the adventure, but he wasn’t us. Luke was our way into a new world. His journey was our journey. Now with Rey handing Luke his lightsaber, a new generation of heroes and stories are reaching out to our past asking us to be a part of it. They can’t do it without us. We are all going on a new adventure together. And what’s really touching is that our hero who brought us into this world has gone full circle... a young person already in the fight is reaching out to say, “Help us, Luke Skywalker. You’re our only hope.”

I can’t wait to see ‘The Last Jedi’.

[kartiavelino]

Why we still can’t ‘fuhgeddabout’ ‘The Sopranos’ 20 years later

On Jan. 10, 1999, a little-publicized drama collection referred to as “The Sopranos” premiered on HBO, chronicling the home {and professional} lifetime of a ruthless North Jersey mob boss dwelling in suburbia along with his spouse and two teenage children — and seeing a shrink for his anxiousness. Its giant ensemble solid, together with James Gandolfini as titular mob boss Tony Soprano and Edie Falco as his spouse, Carmela, was largely unknown — as was collection creator David Chase, whose TV résumé included “The Rockford Recordsdata,” “I’ll Fly Away” and “Northern Publicity.” “The Sopranos” modified the panorama of cable tv and gained a slew of Emmys (together with three apiece for Gandolfini and Falco) throughout its six-season run. It ended with an ambiguous, WTF? cut-to-black collection finale in June 2007 — panicking 12 million viewers who thought their cable crapped out and leaving Tony Soprano’s destiny eternally open to interpretation. I spoke to a number of of “The Sopranos” solid members, who shared their ideas on their patriarch, Gandolfini, who died all of the sudden in Italy in June 2013 on the age of 51; their favourite episodes; and the groundbreaking collection general because it turns 20. How It Modified Their Lives Edie Falco: It’s such as you wish to be a race-car driver and the very first thing they hand you is a Lamborghini. That’s what [“The Sopranos”] felt prefer to me. It stays a really particular chapter in my life with super emotional reverberations, still. My household saved attempting to inform me [how good the show was] and I advised them, “Cease telling me that stuff as a result of it’s simply going to mess with me — I don’t know the place to place that info.” I felt possibly I actually don’t know what I’m doing or possibly they’re going to search out out I don’t know what I’m doing. If too many individuals begin this too intently, possibly I’m screwed. I still get waves of it now, when individuals say, “Do you understand what a cultural phenomenon ‘The Sopranos’ was?” It still feels uncommon, is actually all I can say. Edie Falco, who performed Carmela Soprano on ‘The Sopranos’Everett Assortment Tony Sirico (Paul “Paulie Walnuts” Gualtieri): The entire present was actual. You wanted some humor. Folks had been getting killed left and proper. Paulie made you chortle, however he killed just a few individuals on the present. Surely, he put me on the map till the day I die. Jamie-Lynn Sigler (Meadow Soprano): It gave me one other household, stability and safety throughout a tumultuous 10 years so far as my private life went. I believe that, in very some ways, had I not had simply the present, but additionally the help that I had from all these individuals all through all these years, I is likely to be a unique particular person. I actually really feel like that have had an enormous half in shaping who I’m. Vincent Pastore (Salvatore “Large Pussy” Bonpensiero): We’d all hang around over on the West Financial institution on 42nd and Ninth and have lunch and do theater downstairs. Sooner or later, the proprietor came to visit and mentioned, “Did you see what they did for you down on the nook?” So we walked to Occasions Sq. — me, Dominic Chianese and Tony Sirico — and we noticed the large [HBO “Sopranos”] advert of us and we mentioned, “What?!” It was insane! Falco: Carmela appeared just like the uber-mom. I do know ladies like this . . . who actually are happiest when taking good care of different individuals. She ran that home, she bossed Tony round, she was actually in cost and had whole confidence in her capacity to try this. It was simply a part of her DNA. David Chase jogged my memory an excessive amount of my father; I put him in that place in my head. My father was additionally kind of a small, very vivid, very intense Italian man, socially a little bit awkward however good. There have been plenty of instances the place I didn’t, in an mental approach, perceive a sure script or why Carmela was doing a sure factor, however I knew that David knew, in order that was completely fantastic with me. Favourite Episodes Vincent Curatola (John “Johnny Sack” Sacramoni): I’ve to say my favourite episode is [“Long Term Parking”] the place Tony and Johnny have a nighttime assembly in a car parking zone. After like eight hours of capturing, Jimmy turns to me and says, “You’re both a very nice actor or an entire psycho,” as a result of I got here at him when it was my close-up and I simply tore into him. I mentioned, “Possibly a mix of each — you [as Tony] piss me off sometimes.” It was certainly one of my favourite capturing nights. Vincent Curatola, who performed Johnny SackGetty Photographs Dominic Chianese (Corrado “Uncle Junior” Soprano): One second that stands out for me is [in the episode “Where’s Johnny?”] when Tony asks Junior, “Don’t you like me?” I let him know that I actually did love him, however I used to be simply crucial of him. I bear in mind once I noticed the [postproduction] looping on that scene, I couldn’t imagine how highly effective it was — I used to be in tears. Steve Schirripa (Robert “Bobby Bacala” Baccalieri): Clearly, “Pine Barrens,” which is without doubt one of the first instances they gave me one thing to essentially do with the blokes. Additionally the episode when we went upstate to the lake home [“Sopranos Home Movies”]. I loved that one. Bobby and Tony had the large combat; Jim and I had been pleasant and it was exhausting to try this . . . however we had been actually going for it, choking and pulling hair and all that stuff fats guys do after they combat. Sirico: “Pine Barrens.” You may elevate the American flag proper alongside it. And “Eloise.” It was my mom’s favourite episode earlier than she handed. She favored the truth that Paulie obtained the [restaurant] rolls again for his mom. [Tony to his mother’s friend Minn: “These Parker House rolls? They belong to my Ma!”] She thought it was foolish and silly and she or he laughed . . . that her son was lifeless and [the] middle [of attention]. He knew these rolls. Pastore: “Funhouse” [the episode in which Big Pussy is whacked on a fishing boat by Tony, Paulie and Silvio Dante]. That was in all probability my favourite second. It was delicate and was simply written properly and . . . it was a pleasant approach of me leaving the present. I all the time mentioned to myself that, yeah, [Big Pussy] was knocked off within the second season, however David Chase and all of the writers gave me such an amazing second season. That scene when Paulie says to me, “You had been like a brother to me” and Tony says, “To all of us” — that was all truthful stuff, the way in which we had been personally concerned with one another’s non-public lives and the way in which we labored. Memorable Moments Sirico: “The Sopranos” simply occurred. I do not forget that I’d met this hard-nosed man outdoors. It was David Chase. I went over to him and mentioned, “Mr. Chase, I’m Tony Sirico. Something you want from me,” and I obtained actually near him, “something in any respect . . .” He checked out me and thought I used to be a nut, however then he noticed me breaking balls on the set and hanging with the blokes. Jamie-Lynn Sigler, who performed Meadow SopranoEverett Assortment Chianese: I’ll let you know a beautiful story. I used to be going to Rao’s [restaurant] as soon as and there have been 4 girls sitting on chairs. It was springtime and the present was a significant hit. As I glided by, one of many girls mentioned, “You! Why did you shoot your nephew?” I mentioned, “Was I in my proper thoughts once I shot him?” She mentioned, “No.” I mentioned, “There’s your reply.” Folks actually believed the present, that’s how good it was. Sigler: My first massive second was once I filmed the faculty episode, which was kind of Meadow’s first massive second, and I had plenty of one-on-one time with Jim. I bear in mind him giving me plenty of appearing classes within the sense of what I might ask for, as an actor, on the set. The ultimate scene I shot at Silvercup Studios. It was a quite simple factor of getting me enter a room and go away, and so they requested me to do it once more and I used to be type of confused as to why. Once I did one other take, your entire solid and crew and all of the producers got here down from their workplaces and mentioned, “That’s a wrap on Jamie.” I still get emotional speaking about it now — simply searching on the a whole bunch of those that had meant a lot to me. The one phrases I might get out between my blubbering snot and tears had been “Thank You.” Schirripa: I got here on the present within the second episode of the second season. I had no [acting] profession earlier than that. I used to be the full-time leisure director on the Riviera Resort [in Las Vegas]. “The Sopranos” didn’t know I had one other job and the lodge didn’t know I used to be on “The Sopranos” whereas I used to be [first] capturing it. I particularly bear in mind this: It was me, Dominic and Jim doing a scene in Newark in Junior’s home. I bear in mind we rehearsed it and Jim mentioned, “Let’s return to my trailer and run the traces.” I used to be there with Dominic and Jim and I’m saying to myself, “How the f- -k did I get right here?” It was like an out-of-body expertise — I’d simply watched the present on TV and now I’m in Jim’s trailer. Tony Scirico, who performed Paulie GualtieriGetty Photographs I met [“Sopranos” co-star] Little Steven [Van Zandt] on the studying. I used to be all the time an enormous E Avenue Band fan, and the night time of the [season] premiere at John’s Pizza, Little Steven got here as much as me and mentioned, “You wanna meet Bruce?” I used to be saying to myself, “Bruce Springsteen simply noticed me act.” That’s what runs by way of your head. I bear in mind after capturing my first episode, on the finish of the night time, Jim obtained out of his SUV, shook my hand and mentioned, “We’ll see you once more.” That season I did six episodes. Curatola: I introduced [“Sopranos” writer] Terence Winter to Hackensack Medical Heart and obtained him attached with an oncologist who advised Terry what Johnny [who was battling cancer] would appear to be at sure factors, what medicines he can be on. Then we had the nice fortune to herald [acclaimed director] Sydney Pollack [who had a cameo as a doctor-turned-prison custodian who encounters Johnny before he dies]. That was a spotlight of my engaged on “The Sopranos.” The Legacy Chianese: One of many funniest issues occurred: We had been in France at a really romantic-looking and exquisite lodge, and I walked out on the balcony and mentioned to myself, “Oh, my God, I’m within the films right here, what am I doing in Paris?” And I appeared over to my proper — I anticipated to see possibly Sophia Loren or Katharine Hepburn — and Jimmy [Gandolfini] walks out in his gown, in his underwear, smoking a cigar. He appears to be like at me and I take a look at him and we begin cracking up. It was an amazing second, humorous as hell. Schirripa: Dominic [Chianese] has all the time obtained a spot in my coronary heart. I labored with him, largely, initially and he was very affected person with me, very soothing. He couldn’t have been extra nurturing. I used to be very fortunate to get to work with him initially. Sigler: What I used to be coping with in real-life stuff . . . I had an consuming dysfunction after which I went by way of a divorce and privately, I used to be coping with my MS prognosis. The present gave me a secure place the place I felt like these individuals who I regarded so extremely and admired a lot still liked me and supported me. Dominic Chianese, who performed Junior SopranoEverett Assortment Pastore: The mob films had been actually beginning to peak — you had “The Godfather” trilogy then “Goodfellas,” the films like “State of Grace” . . . so for individuals to have the ability to sit at residence on Sunday night time and watch a narrative a few mob household, it was actually due. “The Sopranos” crammed that void. Curatola: I believe individuals who watched and followers mentioned to themselves, “I want I used to be Tony Soprano — I don’t need to punch a clock, I make 100 grand every week and I’ve individuals I hope are loyal.” To me, in that subculture, that’s what’s golden to those guys: “My God, gee, I want had a crew like that, I might name up Paulie at three within the morning and he’ll handle it for me.” It’s that energy play. I‘ve all the time had the thought that whenever you take a look at guys like this [on “The Sopranos”], they by no means go to courtroom — they settle the whole lot in a short time. It’s about who has all of the toys on the finish. Possibly, to a level, they needed to present the impression that they had been doing the suitable factor by different individuals. Even Tony Soprano mentioned, “F–okay it. What’s all of it about? To place meals on the desk for future generations.” Sirico: We sat across the desk [for the read-throughs] for [one] week’s script and broke balls earlier than David got here down. All of us. It was like a household when it got here to the read-through, with all of the faces and the humor. It was completely stunning. Falco: A few summers in the past, Aida [Turturro] and I made a decision to take a seat down and watch the collection, right through. There are numerous I still haven’t seen and others I noticed once I shot them. However we couldn’t do it; we obtained 4 episodes into the primary season and it was an excessive amount of, it was too exhausting to look at it and go on together with your day. It brings up an excessive amount of — I do not forget that day or how I wanted a dressing up or this one was in a foul temper or regardless of the hell it was. Possibly sometime I can do it.” Share this: https://nypost.com/2019/01/09/why-we-still-cant-fuhgeddabout-the-sopranos-20-years-later/ The post Why we still can’t ‘fuhgeddabout’ ‘The Sopranos’ 20 years later appeared first on My style by Kartia. https://www.kartiavelino.com/2019/01/why-we-still-cant-fuhgeddabout-the-sopranos-20-years-later.html