#will the tight shirts be reprising their role too?

[mattmurdeaux]

MATT MURDOCK + Tight Casual T-shirts

(Somebody needs to hack into Charlie's trailer on the Born Again set and fill his wardrobe with more tight shirts and continue the great work the folks over at Netflix delivered 😌 )

[davidmann95]

Sooo… Superman and the Authority?

magnus-king123 asked: Your thoughts on Superman & the authority Give it to me...lol

Anonymous asked: Seeing Bezos take his little trip into space the same day Morrison puts out a Superman comic that touches on how far we’ve fallen from the days when we dreamed of utopian futures where everyone explored the stars was a big gut punch. Not used to Superman being topical in that way.

Anonymous asked: What'd you think of Superman and the Authority#1?

This is far beyond what I can fit in the normal weekly reviews, so taking this as my notes on the first six pages, with this and this as my major lead-in thoughts:

* Janin's such a perfect fit for Morrison - the scale, the power, the facial expressions selling the character work, the screwing around with the panel formatting as necessary to sell the effect, the numinous sense of things going on larger than you can fully perceive amidst the beauty and chaos. It's a shame he wasn't around 25 years ago to draw JLA, but I'll take him going with Morrison onto other future projects.

* His intro action sequence is such a great demonstration of why Black actually does have something to offer, and also how he's such a dumbass desperately needing Superman to save him from himself.

* While Jordie Bellaire didn't legit go with an entirely monochromatic palate the way early previews suggested, it's still an effect frequently and excellently deployed here. And glad to see Steve Wands carry into this from Blackstars since there's such an obvious carryover from its work with Superman.

* "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others." Great both because of the obvious - hey, Superman's nodding at me! - and because it's a phrasing that reinforces that this take on him (and let's be real Morrison) is old as hell.

* I'm mostly past caring about whether this is an alt-Earth Superman until it becomes indisputable one way or another, this and Action both rule so what does it really matter? But while there are still a couple signs in play suggesting some kind of division (the Action Comics #1036 cover, Midnighter up to time-travel shenanigans) the "lost in time" quote clearly thrown in after the fact to explain how he could have met Kennedy outside of 5G that wouldn't be necessary for an Elseworlds, the assorted gestures towards Superman's current status quo, the Kingdom Come symbol appearing in Action, and that Morrison would have had to completely rewrite the ending if this wasn't supposed to be 'the' version of Clark Kent going forward as was the intent when they first planned it all say to me that no, no fooling around, this is our guy going forward one way or another.

* Janin and Bellaire making the first version of the crystal Fortress ever that actually looks as cool as you want it to.

Anonymous asked: I like that Superman and The Authority is basically the anti-All-Star; instead of the laid back, immortal Superman who is supercharged, we have a stressed, ageing Superman whose tremendous powers are fading. The former will always be there to save us, but the latter is running out of time and needs to pull off a Hail Mary. Also, he mentions in his monologue to Black that he was "lost in time" when he met JFK, so maybe he is the main continuity Clark. Or he's the t-shirt Supes from Sideways.

* You're absolutely right - the power reversal is obvious and the ticking clock in play seemingly isn't for his own survival but everyone around him as he wakes up and realizes all the old icons grew complacent with the gains they'd made and he's not leaving behind the world he meant to. Both, however, are built on the idea of preparing the world to not need them anymore - it'll still have a Superman in his son, but that'll only work because of the others he empowers and inspires. The question is what happens to Clark if he's not going to live in the sun for 83000 years.

* Clark's 'exercise' here does more to sell me on the idea of Old Man Superman as a cool idea than however many decades of Earth 2 stuff.

* Intergang being noted alongside Darkseid and Doomsday speaks to how much Kirby informed Morrison's conception of Superman.

* This isn't exactly the most progressive in its disability politics but at least it makes clear Black's being a piece of shit about it.

* It's startling how much Clark can get away with saying stuff in here you'd never expect to come out of Superman's mouth. "I made an executive decision" "Privacy, really...?" "You have nowhere to go, Black. Nothing to live for." "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." It only works because there's zero aggression behind it, he's just past the point of niceties and being totally frank while making clear none of these assessments preclude that he cares and is going to unconditionally do the right thing every time. He is absolutely, per Morrison, humanity's dad picking us up when we're too drunk to drive ourselves home.

* The story doesn't put a big flashing light over it, but it's not even a little bit subtle having the material threat of the issue be a ticking timebomb left by the carelessness and hubris of generations past.

* Manchester keeps trying to poke the bear and prove his hot takes about Superman and it's just not working. The front he put up under Kelley is gone after decades of defeats, and as Morrison understands what actually conceptually works about him as a rival to Superman underneath the aging nerd paranoia he's exposed as what he absolutely would be in 2021: a dude with a horrific terminal case of Twitter brainworms. I was PANICKED when I heard there was an 'offensive term' joke in this, I was braced for Morrison at their well-meaning worst, but it's such a goddamn perfect encapsulation of a very specific breed of Twitter leftist who uses their politics first and foremost as a cudgel and justification to label their abrasive, judgmental shittiness as self-righteousness (plus it's a killer payoff to a joke from way back in his original appearance). Cannot believe they pulled that off when they're so very, very open about basically not knowing how the internet works.

* @charlottefinn: Manchester Black using his telekinetic powers to force someone he hates to fave a problematic tweet so that he can screenshot it and start a dogpile

@intergalactic-zoo: “Once they cancel Bibbo, Superman won’t be *anyone’s* fav’rit anymore!”

* Friend noted this issue had to be fully the conversation because the whole premise stands on the house of cards of these two somehow working together, and with three 'silent' inset panels the creative team pulls off that turning point.

* So much of this feels on the surface like Morrison bringing back the All-Star vibes with Clark, but when he drops a "That's all you got?" in a brawl you realize what's underlining that bluntness and confidence in the face of failure is that deep down this is still the Action guy too. This dude ain't gonna get wrecked in his Fortress while the other guy chuckles about him being A SOFT WEE SCIENTIST'S SON!

* Bringing up Jor-El made me realize that Morrison already spelled out that this is the final threat to Superman, what he faces at the end of the road:

"Now it's your turn, Superman."

* A l'il Superman 2000/All-Star reference with the Phantom Zone map!

* There's so much intertextuality going on here even by Morrison standards - Change or Die with the old hero putting together a team of morally nebulous folks out to 'fix' everything, Flex Mentallo with the muscleman trying to redeem the punk, Doomsday Clock with the fate of the world hinging on whether Superman can get through to a meta stand-in for an idea of 'modern' comics cynicism, DKR and New Frontier and Kingdom Come and Multiversity and Seven Soldiers and What's So Funny and All-Star and Action and the last 5 years of monthly Superman comics and Authority and probably Jupiter's Legacy and Tom Strong - but none of that's needed. You could go in with the baseline pop cultural understanding of the character and not care about any of the inside baseball shit and get that this is a story about a leader of a generation that let down the people they made all their grand promises to as inertia and day-to-day demands and complacency let him be satisfied with the accomplishments they'd made long ago, looking at a new era and seeing the ways its own activists are dropping the ball. The only thing that fundamentally matters in a "you have to accept you're reading a superhero story" sense is that because he's Superman he's willing to own up to it and listen to people who might know better about some things and try to set things right while he and those who'll take his place still have a chance. And yes, the oldster looking back on their legacy with a skeptical eye and hoping for better from the next generation, hoping most of all that their little heir apparent can fulfill the promise inside of him instead of being a provocating little shitkicker, is obviously also autobiographical.

* The overlaying Kennedy reprisal is such a great visual of a sudden intrusive thought.

* The Kryptonite secret is the obvious "This is going to matter!" moment, but "He lied about his son" is a bit that doesn't connect to anything going on right now so maybe that's important here too? More significantly, the Justice League can't actually be the villains here but that Ultra-Humanite's crew are in an Earth-orbiting satellite makes pretty clear what's up.

* I've said before that between Superman, OMAC, and a New Gods-affiliated speedster this was going to use all of Morrison's favorite things. King Arthur playing a role isn't exactly dissuading me.

* Love the idea that all the antiheroes have their own community in the same way as the capes and tights crew. They definitely all privately think the rest are posers though and that they alone are Garth Ennis Punisher in a mob of Garth Ennis Wolverines.

* Manchester's fallen so far he's gone from trying to convince Superman to kill to convince him to dunk on people for their bad takes and Clark just doesn't get it. Official prediction of dialogue for upcoming issues:

"According to these bloody Fortress scans, the only thing that can restore your powers is an unfiltered hit of dopamine. Don't worry, Doctor Black has a few ideas."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll plant a nice tree?"

"...fuck you."

* Ok I already talked about how great the Fortress looks in here but LOVE this library.

* A pair of pages this seems like the right spot to discuss from Black's original appearance that underlines both his and Superman's inadequacies up to this point:

Responding to the problem of "the government and penal system are hopelessly corrupt" neither of them has any actual notion of what to do about it in spite of their respective posturing beyond how to handle individual outside actors - each is in their own way every bit as small-minded and reactionary as the other. Clark's coming around though, and he's holding out hope for the other guy.

* Superman: Have a lovely mineral water :) proper hydration is important :)

Manchester Black: *Is a dude who can get so mad he vomits and passes out. At water.*

* That last page is the one to beat for the year, and does more to put over the idea of this as an Authority book than that Midnighter and Apollo are literally going to show up. It also feels like Morrison tacitly acknowledging all the ways the premise could go or at least be received wrong - from Superman saying 'enough is enough' to who he's bringing into the fold to go about it - in the most beautifully on-the-nose fashion imaginable. Maybe they'll save us all! Or maybe they'll drown us in their vomit.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

everything great about Burlington Carrie

i’m slowly watching every version of Carrie the musical on YouTube and rating them, so we’re kicking this off with Burlington Carrie!

The musical starts with fire alarms, police sirens, fire roaring, and people screaming, which is such a cool way to open the performance! Then they end and are replaced with a heartbeat that gets faster and faster, and agh! I love it!

Right off the bat, gotta say this show gets a point for having an actual set. As much as I love BK and Seattle, the lack of background and set pieces really throws off the immersiveness.

This show also doesn’t have the “everyone wears red” thing going on like BK and Seattle did, which I enjoy because in the book Carrie wasn’t allowed to wear red. 

Also, the ages in this cast are a little strange. Mostly all the students look like college kids, but the Chris looks like she’s in her thirties and Carrie looks like she’s fifteen, maybe sixteen. A little odd, but hey. If Chris is supposed to be an adult bullying a child, then I could get on board with that!

For the opening choreo in In, Sue kinda gets blocked and thrown around and then circled, which is something I’ve never seen before! It’s really cool looking! I love the way she stops being scared and starts singing with the others in a blink of an eye.

THEY LET MISS GARDENER SAY “you can choke on it for all I care” HELL YEAH

Miss G throws a basketball at one of the girls 

Really enjoying how they actually play a sport during the gym par of In. I love the choreo where the dances look like they’re playing, don’t get me wrong, but something about seeing these girls throw around a basketball feels a lot more immersive.

Cynthia Reynolds, the girl who plays Carrie, really goes hard with the whole “shy girl” mannerisms and I love it. She is so cute.

Carrie’s loud “WHAT” when Sue says she got her period

Also holy shit, Cynthia is actually naked. Like, I’ve always been under the assumption that the actresses wear a strapless bra and at least shorts or underwear under the towel, but no she has nothing around her chest. 

Good for her for doing that! If that were me and there was a wardrobe malfunction and the towel fell off, I would just die. Like, cancel the rest of the show, I can’t recover from that.

Chris’s face when Sue said Miss G isn’t a lesbian

(She is)

Cynthia’s vibrato in the opening note of Carrie is AMAZING

I love angry Carrie is! Both the character and the song!

Carrie falls to her knees and whimpers because of cramps in the middle of Carrie (song)

Look at this cutie!!

I love how unflattering Carrie’s clothes are. Like, it’s a wrinkly white shirt, a tan jacket with one (1) button buttoned, and fucking khakis that look way too tight for her legs. I love it.

Every time I watch a new version of Carrie, I always get nervous that the girl who plays Carrie won’t be able to hold the notes, since Carrie is an extremely difficult role, but Cynthia does a really good job! She has such a pretty voice, too!

Billy feels up and slaps Carrie’s thigh during the scene with all the boys

Carrie already looks like she’s about to burst into tears at the start of And Eve Was Weak

Where as in Seattle Carrie was on her knees for most of the song and in BK she was shoved around, here Carrie gets grabbed by the hair a lot and cowers. She also gets her arm twisted.

Carrie’s screams as she’s being pulled into the closet are heartbreaking!!!!

Billy snorts crack at the start of the party scene

The guys pick up Chris in The World According The Chris which was pretty damn cool

During the beginning of the show, they had chairs for the period scene, but for the scene where they’re actually in a classroom they make the kids sit on the floor lol

Carrie hugging her backpack in class, poor baby is so anxious

When Mr. Stephens was talking about who had the best poem and says that person should stand and read, Sue starts to get up and then immediately turns around and goes 😬 when Tommy’s name is said

But she’s supportive we stan

“Yeah, Tommy boy! That’s my baby!!!” -Billy

After Dreamer In Disguise, Sue immediately takes the poem from Tommy and starts reading it lol

The way Carrie says “it was beautiful” was so cute!!!

Billy mocks what Carrie said about Tommy’s poem in the most gay voice omg

The way Carrie speaks in this show is really in character for her. It’s kinda choppy and stammered. She. Talks. Like. This. There’s pauses and she stutters a lot and it fits so well!

Carrie SCREAMS at Sue WOW

Miss Gardener absolutely just tears into the girls during gym. She’s just insulting them left and right!

Have I mentioned that I love this Miss Gardener? Because she’s REALLY GOOD. Major props to Mackenzie Smith!!

The way Frieda says “sorry, Carrie” is a lot funnier than it probably should have been

Also Helen’s “Sorry????”

This Carrie is so fragile. Chris says she eats shit and she bursts into tears.

Carrie’s expression in the opening part of Unsuspecting Hearts.... She’s so sad

Also the bags under her eyes are HUGE does she ever SLEEP

Miss Gardener tries to dance with Carrie!!!! It’s so cute!!!!!

The way Miss Gardener spreads her arms and then Carrie looks down at her own and slowly copies her is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen

They t-posin

Even closer

Carrie immediately hugs Miss Gardener, it’s so cute!!

Carrie’s big grin and the way she says “thank you” after she gets invited to prom has my heart melting

The anger from Cynthia and Jillian (Margaret) in I Remember How Those Boys Could Dance is so powerful!!!!!

Instead of closing the windows, Carrie pins Margaret up against the wall with her telekinesis, which is a really interesting take on that part of the song that I’ve never seen before!

We love Carrie eating pie while watching her mom cry against a wall

So during A Night We’ll Never Forget, they have it set up where Norma, Frieda, Helen, Stokes, Freddie, and George are in class and singing about their plans for prom and Miss Gardener is reacting to what they’re saying. Another interesting take on the prom and very entertaining!

Look at this baby! Look at her with her hair down!

Isn’t she just the cutest little thing?

After Margaret calls Carrie a fool in Stay Here Instead she instantly flinches away like she’s scared

“I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LET YOU LIVE!!!” “Then why did you, Mama?” WOAHHH NEW LINES

Carrie grabs Tommy’s hand with both of hers

The way Carrie says “no shit” oh my god

Miss Gardener in her dress has me Big Gay

“After prom a few of us are going--” “OKAY”

Frieda clapping when Helen says prom king and queen insults women

MR. STEPHENS DANCING DURING PROM CLIMAX

Miss Gardener’s reaction to that

ALSO CARRIE GETS DOWN IN PROM CLIMAX HELL YEAH!!!!!

Her reacting to herself dancing and then giggling over it

She dances with Frieda!!

After Carrie and Tommy get announced prom king and queen, Carrie goes around hugging everyone and it’s SO CUTE

She launches herself into Mr. Stephens and he stumbles back slightly

And now we get to what is probably the best The Destruction scene I have ever seen before

FIRST OF ALL, the blood mainly goes all the way down Cynthia’s back, so she has to smear it on her dress and face, but I LOVE how dark red it is! 

Next, during “our father who art in heaven” she breaks down into sobs and it’s so heartbreaking!!!

On the first “oh my god” she slams her hand back against the wall and smears the blood. The look of terror on her face as she looks at her hands is incredible!!!!

During the Note Of Death, Cynthia has to shift her pitch to hit the note, but she ends it with a scream, which sounds so good!!! I still think Keaton sang the song better, but Cynthia had so much emotion!!

When the massacre begins, everyone starts to scream and run around in a panic instead of Carrie controlling them all and make them wiggle around like in BK and Seattle. Instead, she kills them one by one as they frenzy around and try to escape. They all cry and scream at the ones who died to get up. There’s also a “fire” going and it’s just so good!!!!

As Carrie slowly walks out of the prom, Chris screams at her. And then everyone starts to cry and moan and call for help as the lights fade to black and holy shit it’s so chilling.

Cynthia cries out her lines over the prom instead of whispering them. It’s so heartbreaking to see and hear her sob and wail! And she continues to do so even as Jillian sings the reprise of Carrie.

My god the SCREAMS after Margaret dies! The EMOTION! I actually started crying because it’s just so sad!

Sue pulls Carrie into her arms even as she wails and shrieks and cries with her, which hurts even more!!!!

AND OH MY GOD THIS PART

When Sue sings alone during the end of Epilogue and all the kids part and there is Carrie, bloodied, staring blankly forward, and Sue just sings to her in tears

AND THEN CARRIE TURNS AND JUST LOOKS AT HER AND AAAGH 

GO WATCH THIS PRODUCTION THE ENDING WILL KILL YOU IF CYNTHIA!CARRIE’S ADORABLENESS DOESN’T

[mamapriest]

More Than 30 Years Later, Where Is the Cast of ‘Dirty Dancing’ Now?

Source: definition.org

The movie Dirty Dancing took the world by storm back in 1987. Everyone wanted to be Jennifer Grey’s “Baby,” dancing with Patrick Swayze’s character, “Johnny,” in his tight black pants and low-cut shirt (and stellar body). It was a journey of young love in a turbulent time, and it became a timeless, iconic movie, much to the surprise of everyone involved. The song at the end of the film, “(I’ve Had) The Time of My Life,” has inspired people to dance in the decades since. It’s been more than 30 years since the film smashed box office expectations, and it remains beloved by people of all ages to this day. Where is the Dirty Dancing cast now?

Jerry Orbach (Dr. Jake Houseman) - Deceased

Jerry Orbach played the poor dad in Dirty Dancing who just wanted his two girls to behave like ladies. Everyone wanted Baby’s dad to be their own when they saw the movie. Orbach was already a successful actor when he got the part, having received two Tony nominations for his roles in Chicago and Guys and Dolls. After the film, he went on to land many film and television roles, including the voice of Lumiere in Disney’s animated classic Beauty and the Beast. If you don’t know him from that, you most likely know him from his 12-year stint as Lennie Briscoe on Law and Order.

Sadly, he passed away from prostate cancer in 2004 at the age of 69. When he died, he donated his 20/20 eyes to medicine, and now it is confirmed that two different unnamed people are walking around with one of Jerry Orbach’s eyes!

Cynthia Rhodes (Penny Johnson)

Cynthia Rhodes was the tall, statuesque beauty who played Johnny’s dancing partner. Her long legs and professional dance moves made people either want to be her or want to be with her. Cynthia has had a long career as an actress. In addition to Dirty Dancing, she was in Flashdance and Staying Alive. After filming Dirty Dancing, she retired from acting to raise her three sons with her husband, singer Richard Marx. Sadly, though it lasted 25 years, the marriage ended in divorce in 2014.

Jane Brucker (Lisa Houseman)

Jane Brucker, who played Baby’s annoying older sister, was every teens’ version of a nightmare sibling. Jane played Lisa with great style, even with her off-key singing voice in the talent show. She had a couple of other movie roles right after Dirty Dancing, including one in a movie called Bloodhounds of Broadway, but she’s spent the last number of years raising her two daughters. Maybe once they’re all grown up we’ll start seeing more from her again!

Miranda Garrison (Vivian Pressman)

Miranda Garrison played the vixen Vivian, who just wanted a few “dance lessons” with Johnny because her own marriage was lacking desire. She may have been unfulfilled in her movie role, but her real life has had no such issue. Not only did she assist with the choreography in Dirty Dancing, but she also went on to choreograph a number of other high-profile films, including Evita, Selena and, if you can believe it, The Skeleton Key. (We bet you didn’t know that thrillers have choreography, too.) All in all, she has nearly 50 acting credits on her resume, and an equal number of choreography credits. Wow!

Patrick Swayze (Johnny Castle) - Deceased

Patrick Swayze was every woman’s favorite part of Dirty Dancing. With his slick moves, good looks, and charming demeanor, he managed to steal the hearts of all his fans. As almost everyone knows, Swayze starred in many successful movies after Dirty Dancing. Most notably, he played lead roles in Ghost, Roadhouse, and Point Break. He tragically passed away in 2009, at the age of 57, after a brutal battle with pancreatic cancer. He left behind his loving wife, Lisa Niemi, of 34 years.

Jennifer Grey (Frances 'Baby' Houseman)

Jennifer Grey, with her off-kilter beauty, stole the hearts of everyone who saw Dirty Dancing in the 80s. Small acting roles and a 2010 win on Dancing with the Stars — fitting, right? — kept her in the public spotlight until 2015, when she landed a starring role in the Amazon Studios comedy Red Oaks. The show ran for three seasons and ended in 2017. She’s married to actor Clark Gregg, who is famous for his role as agent Phil Coulson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Kelly Bishop (Marjorie Houseman)

Kelly Bishop played Baby’s oblivious mom in the movie, and boy, did she make her mark. (Not that she needed too much help; she had already made a splash as Sheila in the famous musical A Chorus Line, for which she won the Tony Award for Best Supporting Actress.) After Dirty Dancing, she went on to have a long career in film and television. She’s best known for her role as the matriarch Emily Gilmore on Gilmore Girls, which she played for seven years. She is still actively acting, and in 2016 she reprised her role as Emily Gilmore in the miniseries Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life.

Neal Jones (Billy Kostecki)

Neal Jones played Johnny’s younger cousin in Dirty Dancing (the one who helped Baby carry the watermelon). Billy has had a long career in both films and TV, with roles in The Devil’s Advocate, Law and Order, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, and Criminal Minds (pictured above). His last television appearance was in 2009. He may be finished with acting, but we hope to see him again!

Jack Weston (Max Kellerman) - Deceased

Jack Weston played the owner of the resort in Dirty Dancing. He had already had a long career in film and television, having acted professionally since 1949. He appeared in such films as The Incredible Mr. Limpet and The Four Seasons. After Dirty Dancing, he appeared in two more films: Ishtar and Short Circuit 2 in 1987 and 1988, respectively. In 1996, at 71 years old, he died of lymphoma after a seven-year battle. He was survived by his wife, Laurie Gilkes, and his stepdaughter, Amy.

DID YOU KNOW?

Jennifer Grey’s father is none other than legendary dancer and actor Joel Grey, of Broadway fame. He played the Master of Ceremonies in the 1966 musical Cabaret, and he reprised that role a few years later, in the 1972 movie version, alongside Liza Minelli. If you don’t know him from that, you may know one of his more recent roles: He played the original Wizard of Oz, alongside Idina Menzel and Kristen Chenoweth, in the smash-hit musical Wicked.

Not many expected Dirty Dancing to be such a hit. Not only did it exceed its box office expectations by hundreds of millions of dollars, but it exceeded its stay in theaters by months! The movie was actually popular with every demographic, but it really appealed to teenagers. They continued to see it in theaters. It was in theaters for so long after its initial release, in fact, that it was actually still playing after it came out on VHS. (Remember VHS?) This movie, with a budget of only $5 million, generated $219 million in revenue, and was the 11th biggest moneymaker of 1987.

[amintyworld]

Inconveniences - Sanders Sides Oneshot

A/N: This is for @an-agender-disaster 's Sanders Sides Fic Contest. Please go check them out, and if you like this fic go and give it a vote! Love all of you! -Minty

Summary: Roman sacrifices everything to save a stranger.

TW: Cursing, Bullying, Fighting, Blood, Pressure, Yelling, Caps, abuse of power

----------

Logan and Virgil were best friends. A fact that seemed unbelievable to the students of Sanders High. One was dark, mysterious, paranoid to flinch at a single touch. The other? A classical nerd who memorized more facts than a search engine.

The two outcasts were known throughout their grade for their so to say 'weirdness'. Virgil, though desperately trying to fit in, was a natural outcast. He was extremely awkward, especially in social interaction, a fact that the more popular students quickly took notice of. Logan was what Virgil called 'naturally smart'. The 16 year old could recite 150 digits of pi and the entire table of elements without breaking a sweat. It was no doubt the two would eventually found a friendship, a strong one at that.

They didn't have many friends, but...they had each other. And really, when bullying becomes a daily issue, a friend is all you need.

"So Specs," Virgil asked as they were walking through the hall toward their next class, "what was the probability again?"

Logan pushed his glasses that started to slide down his nose as he processed the question, remembering almost instantly. He smiled for the first time that week, facing his friend as he answered. "Of us meeting?" Virgil nodded. "That's nearly impossible odds, Virgil."

"Impossible odds…" Virgil breathed, listening to his friend rant about probability, and percentages. He sat down, sighing, closing his eyes briefly, just to relax. Virgil wouldn't admit it, but he loved just to sit and listen to his best friend explain any topic, there was some kind of comfort to it that Virgil couldn't explain.

For a small amount of time that day, Virgil wasn't nervous, or anxious. All the possibilities of what could go wrong stopped running through his mind. 

"Impossible...odds…"

He was just a regular high school student.

---------------

"GO ROMAN, GO, GO, GO, ROMAN!" Patton cheered from the sidelines. He was early for his cheer practice afterschool, so he figured he could fit in extra practice. He and Roman had been best friends since middle school, when Roman was the new kid, he'd recently moved from New York. Since then, they'd been practically inseparable.

Coach blew his whistle, and Roman ran back to the benches nearby, chugging water and running his hands through his sweaty hair. Coach gave him a stern look. "Take a break, Prince." Roman just nodded, catching his breath. Coach turned quickly, "Demenga! Sub for Prince! Come on, you pansies, on the field, NOW!"

Roman grabbed a second water bottle and sat down on the bleachers next to Patton. "Hey, you alright, Ro?" Patton asked. "You look… horrible."

"Well, despite what my father believes, I'm not made for football." Roman sighed. Patton gave him a sympathetic smile.

"You could always quit, I'm sure your father would-"

"You know what he'd say." Roman said. "Either UCLA, or nothing."

"I know," Patton said defeatedly. "I just hate to see you so... miserable."

"Well," Roman smiled. "Not completely miserable. I get to see you practice, at least. Who knew you had such a talent with pom-poms?"

Patton smiled. "I wouldn't have known if it weren't for you joining the team, Ro."

"Please Patton," Roman joked, smiling at his cheery friend. "You'd be a cheerleader anyway, it was only about making it official."

"You know me too well, Roman. How's Remus doing, by the way?"

"Absolutely loving his biochemistry classes," Roman said, wrinkling his nose at the thought. "...maybe a little TOO much." He shivered, wishing he could erase all the grotesque things Remus had sent him via text since the start of the year.

"But Roman, it's so cool! Look at it twitch!" Remus insisted when he shared a video of a rat dissection that nearly made Roman hurl.

He'd never admit it, but he wished he was the younger twin. Free to pursue anything he pleased, instead of having your entire life planned out for you from the first moment of your existence. God, how he craved to reprise his spark for Theater, one that his father tried so badly to put out completely, though Roman never truly lost the passion.

As he put it, it was in his blood.

Patton's parents, or parent, rather, were completely different from Roman's. Almost as full of sunshine as Patton himself, Mr. Foster was quite a role model for the young boy. 'Superdad' handled two jobs and three kids without breaking a sweat, and he was more than happy to let Roman into their close-knit family.

He showed Roman all of his kids' baby photos, smiling and cooing over how tiny baby Patton was, making Patton flush with embarrassment: "Daaaaaad!"

Patton, you could say, was the second parent of the family, cooking meals, helping with homework, keeping an eye on his younger siblings while maintaining a 3.5 GPA.

"I'm gonna go wash up, Dad will be here soon anyway, and he hates when I'm not exactly on time, you know." Roman said, grabbing his duffel and heading to the showers. "Be back in a few, Pat!"

------------------

"OH MY GOD, STOP IT!" Virgil screamed, trying to restrain the stronger teen as he easily slammed his best friend's face into the concrete wall. Richard turned, throwing Logan to the floor, his face busted and bleeding, his glasses snapped in half on the ground.

"What exactly are you going to do to stop me, Scaredy Cat?" Richard said, a smirk spreading across his lips.

"I...I'm...I'm gonna...I…"

Within seconds, his body was slammed on the concrete wall. He let out a scream of pain, Richard clamping his hand over Virgil's mouth quickly, nearly gagging him, Virgil struggling to breathe. "You're gonna do WHAT?" Richard said. "You are WEAK. You are POWERLESS. You...you're NOTHING, nothing but a wimpy dimpy Scaredy Cat." With that, he dropped Virgil onto the dirt, but he knew he wasn't going to get up.

He'd done his damage just right.

Tears fell from Virgil's eyes as the words cut him like a knife. He was right. He couldn't do anything, he couldn't even save his best friend. His hands gripped the dirt as tears fell, soaking the ground underneath him.

How absolutely PATHETIC was he?!

Richard laughed at the pain visible on their faces. "You two are nothing but a bunch of losers. Do you know what we do, with losers?" He couldn't help laughing as he asked. His father the mayor, Richard was power-hungry from the start. He ruled this school, this town, and no one, absolutely NO ONE, was going to say otherwise. 

As King, he had a duty to himself, and to everyone, to put these… these pigs, right in their place.

Virgil's heart nearly dropped. He knew what was coming next. Worse, he knew he couldn't fight back. He looked at Logan, who fell unconscious, bleeding. No one was around. No one ever was around when he did this.

"We… we kill losers."

Richard grabbed Virgil by the neck, Virgil no match for his size, lifting him off the ground, against the wall. He grinned, squeezing his neck. "Fat pig…" He breathed, sending chills down Virgil's spine. Virgil clenched his eyes tight, fearing he would cry if he opened them. He wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He didn't deserve to get what he wanted. He felt his hot breath on his face, his mouth getting closer. 

The world began to spin, almost getting darker. He started to choke in his grasp, gasping for air, for any breath. He didn't say a word, didn't fight back. He knew he'd just wind up back here, with his world dizzing, just like Richard wanted.

"Richard, what are you DOING?!"

Richard quickly dropped him, Virgil's world slowly coming back to focus, breathing heavily to get air back into his lungs.

"Ah, my old friend! I thought you had practice." Richard said, maybe a little too cheery.

"It's nearly over…" Roman trailed off, looking at the two students on the floor, then back to Richard. "What are you… you… you hurt them…"

Richard set a hardened glare on Roman. "It would be in your best interests, Roman, to not get in the way of the King." He smirked. "I'm sure your father would love to know all about your movie stash."

Roman's eyes widened. "How did you know about-!?"

His movies, hidden underneath his bed - the only thing left of the old days. Days when there wasn't a legacy, there wasn't football. When his father didn't care what he did, and… he was, well, happy. Happy to just have Roman.

Before, well… Roman went to high school.

"I have my ways. Now, back off, Prince. Let your King do his work."

Roman gulped, hesitating. He knew Richard picked on them, but this was too far. He made up his mind quickly, silently saying goodbye to all his DVDs. He raised his fists, getting into a defensive position almost instantly. "I...I won't let you hurt them."

Richard sighed. "Shame you had to turn on your people, Roman. You better believe that now, you're just like them. You're a weirdo, an outcast."

"You have no right to just go around saying whatever you want-"

Richard's face turned bright red with anger. "I OWN YOU."

Silence fell. Roman slowly walked over. Richard looked to him, something indescribable in his eyes. "You don't own me. At least, not anymore."

Roman stepped back as the sting of sliced flesh zipped through his body. He looked down, and there, clear as day, was a thin, bloodred line that ripped his football practice shirt straight across the middle. He knew what was going to happen when he got home, but at this point - Roman didn't care. His instincts from New York kicked in as he tackled Richard to the ground, holding the hand clutching the knife firmly behind his back. "Drop it." He growled, and the small pocket knife fell to the ground with a small clink. 

Roman kicked it a good ten feet away before dragging Richard up from the ground, leaning close to his ear, making sure the next words out of his mouth stuck. "Don't you DARE even so much as think about hurting another person, or I won't be so nice next time." He growled angrily. He let the boy go, pushing him away, and Richard looked back for a moment, mostly in shock, before seemingly shoving his hands in his pockets and trudging toward the road. 

Roman sighed, the adrenaline wearing off, realizing what he'd done. His father will kill him, disown him, if he isn't expelled from school first and kicked from the team.

But you know what? Roman thought, rushing back to find Patton (who was a certified first aid), Eff it.

[westcoastbroadway1443]

Welcome to Falsetto Notes

aka my thoughts on Falsettos as I actually finally listen to/watch the whole thing for the first time. I love what I’ve heard of of the show but, like with a lot of shows, I haven’t had the time to actually just sit and absorb the whole thing.  Probably nobody is gonna read this, but like what the hell, it’ll be fun to do.  So here I go..

"Four Jews in a Room Bitching" – I don’t know what’s happening but I’m loving the beards and the shimmying.  Also dig the set, I’m a sucker for a simple set.  

"A Tight-Knit Family" – Hearing a lot of bitching but not a lot of funny there, Marv

"Love is Blind" – It’s nice to see the couples set up right at the top here.  Mendel and Trina, Whizzer and Marvin, Jason and a chess board.  Also where I begin to fall in love with Mendel, love the way he says “alibi” and “I admit I admire you”.  Also Andrew’s face during “Hepatitis”, and having Marv and Whizzer just like low key making out in the background.  Good job y’all.  And praise to Stephanie J Block for having to rattle off super fast lyrics, my brain cannot.  I’m starting to realize William Finn doesn’t fuck around here.  

"Thrill of First Love" – The second song I ever heard from the musical because...well my two fav broadway guys are flirting, I looked it up.  I am so very very gay, and Andrew Rannells is so pretty he sometimes makes me forget I’m not into men.  This song somehow manages to make me feel “yipes, maybe you guys shouldn’t be together” and “marvin/whizzer 4eva” at the same time?  Their chemistry is pretty fantastic and this is a hard relationship to portray.  You see Trina so vulnerable in the last song and already feel bad for her and kind of hate Marvin and don’t know what the hell to feel about Whizzer.  

"Marvin at the Psychiatrist (A Three-Part Mini-Opera)" – See this is why family members shouldn’t see the same therapist unless it’s family therapy.  Also if I ever had a therapist do weird hypno-hands at me there’s like 70% chance I would not go back.  Part 3 is probably my fav.

"Everyone Tells Jason to See a Psychiatrist" –  Because of the bad quality of the video I can’t tell if Jason’s shirt is Saturn with a bunch of starts behind it or all of that plus a weird space wizard in the corner.  Kids in musicals tend to annoy me, but I like Jason.  He’s a little shit, but in a believable way.  I wish we got more of him and Whizzer’s relationship to know why he’d want to talk to him, I mean maybe we do and I just haven’t heard it.  And Whizzer’s nervous little wave to Trina is everything.

"This Had Better Come to a Stop" – Yes!  Drag him!  I would conservatively watch like 3 hours of just Trina and Whizzer drinking wine and shitting on Marvin.  Songs like this make think of the fact that this was one of Christian Borle’s dream roles and he’s doing great, but I’m curious what drew him to it, I mean I only know him from funnier roles.

"I'm Breaking Down" – Somebody give Trina a hug please, and give Stephanie awards.

"Jason's Therapy" – This role is pretty demanding for a kid since you have to be on stage constantly and I think he does a good job.  CONFIRM: There is a space wizard on that shirt.  I also wish therapy was as easy as somebody snapping you into a trance, doing air sax, and telling you to feel alright.   And Jason encourage Mendel is the cutest.

"A Marriage Proposal" – And I complete the process of falling in love with Mendel, and Brandon Uranowitz.  For real this song is adorable and will probably be stuck in my head for awhile.

"A Tight-Knit Family (Reprise)" - NOBODY ASKED YOU, MARVIN!

"Trina's Song" – Trina, darling, go chill with the act 2 lesbians.  Fuck these guys.

"March of the Falsettos" – ...ok

"Trina's Song" (Reprise) – Trina rockin a new outfit and new outlook.  Rock on, girl

"The Chess Game" – I’ve heard William Finn being praised by Broadway peeps I like and I can see why, I love the way this song is just this verbal dance that keeps building.  Also Whizzer’s face during the second chorus is perfect.  As much as yeah, Marvin ain’t exactly mr popular in any viewers mind right now, you do see how both their frustrations lead to this point.  

"Making a Home" – This is pretty and everyone in this song deserves good things

"The Games I Play" – I feel like Act 1 Whizzer is kind of hard to pinpoint as a character, what he’s feeling and what he wants, but this song was beautiful.  I feel like I only ever hear Andrew doing like those big belting songs but this quieter and lower one is just fantastic.  Have all the range, young man.

"Marvin Goes Crazy" or "Marvin Hits Trina" – Jason’s face through this song breaks my heart.  Mendel, kick that man out your house and change the locks.  But I also like that he just holds Trina and Jason, he’s focused on his fam.  And Trina’s reaction makes me feel like it had happened at least once before, and Whizzer’s face made me thing with him it had happened a LOT before.  

"I Never Wanted to Love You" – MARVIN, YOU LEFT!  You’re in demand?  Bitch, calm down

"Father to Son" – Jason things about boobies for the first time, and Marvin tries to say oopsie I love you after smacking his mom in the face.  Ok, but I do like this song.  And I do think this is Marvin trying to change and not be such trash.  You get some points for effort.

"Welcome to Falsettoland" – This song is weird and all over the place but I kinda love it.  And surprise lesbians!  Always welcome!!  

"The Year of the Child" – lol I grew up in a very Jewish neighborhood and this is just giving me middle school flashbacks. “The whole things voodoo and I know more than you do” - Mendel (my current fav).  Jason’s wee prayer dance, that is all. Also I think I want to befriend my new neighbors just so I can dance into their apartment announcing myself as “the lesbian from next door”.  

"Miracle of Judaism" – Hey bro, what happened to chess?

"The Baseball Game" – I had heard this song before and it made me cackle.  My poor parents watching me play soccer as a small.  And Mendel being the hardest cheerleader!  Also how often to Jason and Whizzer talk?  What do they talk about?  I want these answers.  And Marvin quit your flirting, you almost look cute.

"A Day in Falsettoland" – The first song I ever heard, cause Tony’s.  Love everything of this song.  No notes.  Y’all keep being great

"The Fight" / "Everyone Hates His Parents" – I love how over it Mendel gets.  His relationship with Jason is one of my fav things in this.  “I’m a psychiatrist!  Get lost!”

"What More Can I Say" – Who knew?  If you’re sweet and not controlling things are nicer in your relationships.

"Something Bad Is Happening/More Racquetball " – DAMN YOU ACT 2 CURSE!  WHY YOU ALWAYS GOTTA BE SAD!  And hey, Tracie Thoms in a musical that actually shows some of the fucked up that was the AIDS crisis?  First time for everything!  (Ok that’ll be my only knock on Rent)  And fuck you for reprising welcome to falsettoland, I wasn’t ready to get teary yet.  Whizzer’s little “I’m sorry”

"Holding to the Ground" – One of the things I like about this show is it doesn’t make anything easy and it lets its characters be real people.  Trina is in a fucked up position when it comes to Whizzer, but she still feels some concern and I like that there’s a whole song for how off everything still feels for her.

"Days Like This" – Songs this bittersweet shouldn’t be allowed to be this pleasant sounding. Everyone is just so kind in this song I don’t know what to do with it but I’m gonna keep staying in this sort of state of almost crying.

"Cancelling the Bar Mitzvah" – Ugh Trina and Mendel are trying so hard.  

"Unlikely Lovers" – And then Whizzer got better and they all moved in together to be fantastic gay housemates.  Yep.  That’s what happened.  Seriously how’d we get from Thrill of First Love to here?

"Another Miracle of Judaism" – God: the big psychiatrists in the sky

"Something Bad is Happening (Reprise)" - Look when I was mad at Marvin last act I didn’t actually want him to die..

"You Gotta Die Sometime" – Again not the kind of song I’ve heard Rannells do before and I love it.  I think that’s what messes with me about this musical, it stars two people I’ve mostly only seen do comedy and now they’re fucking with me and making me cry, it’s rude.

"Jason's Bar Mitzvah" – Oh fuck you Jason.  Not really, you’re a doll I just don’t like crying in my room alone at like 4 am.  Son of Trina, son of Marvin, son of Whizzer, son of Mendel.

"What Would I Do?" – I was ok until Whizzer started singing too.  Then I was less ok.

"Falsettoland (Reprise)" - Marvin finally falling apart was hard, and was he crying because he lost Whizzer or because he knows Jason is going to lose him soon too?  

I really enjoyed this, I’m glad I finally listened to/watched it all.  As somebody who used to really not enjoy musicals besides Phantom of the Opera in middle school, I always like finding more songs to love.  If for some reason you scanned through this and want me to force myself to do it again with another musical, toss a title at me.

[ninasfireescape]

Some thoughts on the London Hamilton Cast

Firstly I’d like to say everyone was absolutely fantastic. There were so many standout performances so when saying I wasn’t a fan of someone I in no way do not mean they weren’t good, just that they weren’t my favourite in the role.

Jamael Westman as Alexander Hamilton: It was very surreal seeing Hamilton so tall. He was a very good singer and rapper as he should be but I don’t think he did anything that particularly made the role stand out. One thing I will say is I did not think he and Rachelle Ann Go had masses of chemistry. At least with this Hamilton I can understand why so many people are falling in love with him because he looked at me during Dear Theodosia and hot damn.

Rachelle Ann Go as Eliza Schuyler: She had a phenomenal singing voice though a little too pop for the role which made her enunciation slightly odd at the start but she did improve a lot. She was crying genuinely in Burn and looked so disgusted at him and she did the scream in Stay Alive (reprise) which just made me shatter inside. Overall one of the good Elizas but I still feel Pippa is miles ahead of her like with any of the others.

Sifiso Mazibuko as Aaron Burr: He was the understudy for the role and it’s a bit of a shame because they never announced to us there was an understudy so most people wouldn’t have known his name and thus appreciate him. He did a fantastic job especially as it was his first night. His room where it happens was incredible and he was lovely at the stage door and has an adorable accent. There was one bit where he slipped up on a lyric and had to repeat it twice and it was so sad because you could see the fear in his eyes at an audience who know the soundtrack by heart which meant they noticed and some even laughed which made me so angry. He did a great job and kudos to him.

Rachel John as Angelica Schuyler: First I’d like to say how happy I am that they’re having a chubbier actress as Angelica. I can’t say much on her other than that she played Angelica as Angelica is. She looked so disgusted by him in the reynolds pamphlet which made me very happy.

Jason Pennycooke as Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson: One of the standout performances of the show. I was on the fence in act 1 because his Lafayette was so small and squeaky but quite funny. It was only during act 2 that I was so amazed. Rapping and singing on point, he was so flamboyant and confident and used his full body at acting. My mum who didn’t love the show said he was in a new league to everyone else. At the stage door, he was so funny because he was wearing a hat so I didn’t spot him and he just came to me and whipped the sharpie from my hands to sign my programme.

Obioma Uguola as George Washington: The best Washington I’ve seen. It’s a very tricky role to play but he dominated it, loud and mature. His vocals in One Last Time were incredible and he was really nice at the stage door too.

Tarinn Callender as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison: His Mulligan was completely fine but it was quite funny because he was so small. He morphed perfectly into Madison in act 2 that it was like magic and he was certainly my favourite Madison. Again, really friendly at the stage door.

Cleve September as John Laurens/Philip Schuyler: He was the first Sonny I ever saw about eighteen months ago in In the Heights and made me fall in love with that role and it was no surprise he should be amazing in this role too. He was my favourite in this role because he brought a new energy and passion to Laurens’ belief in abolition. He was super friendly at the stage door, especially when I told him I saw him in in the heights and this may be me reverting to myself when I first got into Hamilton and was a lams shipper but I thought he did add some more subtext than in the obc. They didn’t do the face touch in Stay Alive but there was a lot of touching and standing close at other moments which was funny with the height difference and I was probably reading way too much into it but he looked really sad in Satisfied. I was a big fan of him and Peggy being friends during Helpless in the background. I’m very straight for him. Also how did I write so much about such a minor character?

Christine Allado as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds: OH MY GOD I AM SO GAY FOR HER. SHE IS SO GORGEOUS. Anyway, her Peggy was so happy and bouncy. She kept doing this cute little dance in both Helpless and Satisfied which I can’t describe but it was so adorable. Her Maria was HOT DAMN. She played the musical’s seductive Maria well but I didn’t see so much to suggest she was anything more than how Hamilton states she is. She did look upset at the very end of the song when Reynolds pulls her off and during the Reynolds Pamphlet but I still stand strongly by the opinion that the show needs to make it more clear if they want to go round saying they’re trying to portray her as a victim. I liked how Maria was on stage during We Know. She loved my ‘Don’t blame Maria Reynolds’ t-shirt and asked where she could get one and she is now my wife.

Michael Jibson as King George III: Everyone in the theatre loved him as British people do but I was not the biggest fan. I thought he looked like he was trying to remember the lines and was very static but for everyone else he stole the show. I am very irritated that all the reviews are saying he needs a musical of his own this is so Hamilton fandom 2015.

Ensemble: Great dancing, all super friendly. Leslie Garcia Bowman as Charles Lee was hysterical.

Other thoughts: My mum had a huge problem with the female ensemble’s outfits which I had never had much of a problem with before but the leggings were very tight she said. I’m not sure how I feel about it.

[sophiehunteroctopussyblog]

As Benedict Cumberbatch returns to screens big and small, he tells Craig McLean the secret to building a blockbuster body – and why his Sherlock co-star is wrong to fret about the fans

The last time I met Benedict Cumberbatch he was wearing only a pair of trunks, eating wine gums and worrying about the size of his abs. It was April 2017 and we were on the suburban set of The Child in Time, the first drama from his production company, SunnyMarch. In the lead role as a children’s author overwhelmed by grief following the disappearance of his daughter, Cumberbatch was preparing to shoot a scene in a bathtub – and was painfully aware that his toned torso looked out of place.

Shortly after the five-week shoot, the actor explained, he was due to fly to America to reprise his part as the disarmingly buff, dimension-bending Marvel superhero Doctor Strange. The year before, his stand-alone Doctor Strange movie had taken almost half a billion pounds at the international box office – and when it was announced that the character (also glimpsed briefly in Thor: Ragnarok last autumn) would be making a prominent return in this year’s Avengers: Infinity War there was no question of Cumberbatch returning to the role without first hitting the gym.

By the time we met, the actor’s pre-shoot fitness regime – which he described as “pretty full on… but a mental sorbet” – was well under way; hence those abs.

Fast forward to April 2018 and Cumberbatch – a 41-year-old father of two – is in front of me once again, in a London hotel room, midway through the global press tour for Infinity War. This time, thank God, he is fully clothed (in blue linen, denim and suede), but he’s still eating sweets.

Bulging with stars (Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana and Josh Brolin for starters), the biggest Marvel film to date promises to be a superhero Greatest Hits, featuring all of the Avengers, Spider-Man, Black Panther and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Such is the secrecy surrounding it that I’ve only been shown 25 minutes, all superhero banter and ear-splitting battles against Brolin’s intergalactic villain, Thanos.

Doctor Strange appears to be the main goody, no less. Coiled in his chair, Cumberbatch admits that, after all those hours in the gym, he “bristled” earlier in the day when a journalist commented that his Doctor Strange “wasn’t very brawny”.

“How dare he?” he tuts now in mock-outrage, “Didn’t he see my shirt-off scene? Just hours before we shot it, I was told to do nothing but drink coffee and eat Skittles. ‘What,’ I said, ‘you want to turn me into a trucker?’ But they said it’s about dehydrating – if you have that much of a sugar- and caffeine-hit, the skin ‘shrink-wraps’ round your muscles”. He grins toothily. “And it worked!” He frowns. “I would never advise it, though.”

Still, however Doctor Strange’s physique looks on screen, one place the Oscar-nominated, Harrow-educated star can count on his character having rock-solid abs is on the associated merchandise, from T-shirts to figurines. “It’s the lunch box moment,” says Cumberbatch, wryly.

He tells me about a recent visit to the home of his friend and co-star, Tom Hiddleston (“Hiddlebum”) who has been a member of the Marvel family since 2011 when he appeared as Loki in the first Thor film. “I went into his kitchen and I just said: ‘Holy s---, you’ve been merch’d: you are on the lunch box.’ And he went: ‘I know, it’s great, right?’ And, yes, it is great. It’s also slightly terrifying. I thought: ‘Oh, is that one of the hurdles? Is that a Hiddlebum moment or a McAvoy moment?’” (another peer, James McAvoy, got his “lunch box moment” with the X-Men films). That is: does the actor have to make peace with being turned into a moulded plastic souvenir?

He does, and Cumberbatch evidently has. “It’s terrible but I actually look for kids wearing Marvel gear,” he admits. “And there are very few Doctor Strange lunch boxes or backpacks.” Ten years and 19 movies into the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and with this year’s Black Panther receiving unprecedented critical acclaim – does Cumberbatch think the time for snobbery about superhero movies is over?

If, say, Eddie Redmayne asked him if he should put on cape and tights, would he encourage his friend? “I’d say he’s got his plate quite full with wizardry right now,” he chuckles, referring to Redmayne’s role in J K Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts franchise. “But, yeah, if you really are bored of that, come and join the party!”

With great franchises come great responsibilities, however. Recently, Cumberbatch’s Sherlock co-star, Martin Freeman, grumbled to me about the oppressive level of expectation created by the series’ obsessive fans. “Being in that show, it is a mini-Beatles thing,” the actor who plays Doctor Watson said. “People’s expectations, some of it’s not fun any more. It’s not a thing to be enjoyed…”

Did the fans’ obsession with Sherlock kill the fun for Cumberbatch, too? “Mmm, not really ’cause I didn’t engage with it that much,” he says. “I’m very grateful for the support, but that’s about it.” His attitude is that fan fervour becomes a separate, uncontrollable force, that “it takes on its own thing. But that happens with every franchise or entity like this.”

He pauses, frowns, then continues with what sounds like a bracing criticism of his co-star. “It’s pretty pathetic if that’s all it takes to let you not want to take a grip of your reality. What, because of expectations? I don’t know. I don’t necessarily agree with that. There is a level of it [where] I understand what he means. There’s a level of obsession where [the franchise] becomes theirs even though we’re the ones making it. But I just don’t feel affected by that in the same way, I have to say.”

He is similarly forthright on the subject of Patrick Melrose. In David Nicholls’s forthcoming five-part television drama, adapted from Edward St Aubyn’s autobiographical novels, Cumberbatch plays the lead, a character who, on the page, can appear to be an unlikeable, heroin-taking posho. “Well, your words not mine,” he replies. “I don’t think he’s unlikeable at all. I think he’s fiercely funny, erotic, charming and dangerous. And incredibly, incredibly damaged. So you should feel for him.

"The posh bit? I mean, what, you think people who are sexually abused by their father from the age of five to 10 aren’t worthy of our attention because they’re posh? You need to go back to ethics school, surely. That’s a terribly shaky moral position to hold. So,” he concludes briskly, “I don’t bounce with that.”

Neverthelesss, I suggest, it’s hard to imagine that Melrose’s life – from childhood abuse to the drugs with which he self-medicates to escape his pain – will make easy viewing. “I think at heart it will be a really enjoyable watch,” says Cumberbatch. “But it’s not for the faint-hearted. It is a story of salvation. But it is blisteringly funny. That’s the real hook for me. Even among the depth-charge moments of abuse, you’re kind of mesmerised by Hugo Weaving’s David Melrose [Patrick’s father], as you are in the books. He’s a really magnetic character.”

While researching the part, Cumberbatch talked to counsellors and former addicts. Was he also able to draw on his own school days? Surely, at Harrow, he wasn’t short of classmates weighed down by their heritage. “Well there was a prince of Jordan, so that brought a level of weirdness. But the more English version? I didn’t get an intro much into that world. I was very privileged to be at Harrow, but there’s not some part of Wiltshire that belongs to the Cumberbatches.

“We have our past – you don’t have to look far to see the slave-owning past, we were part of the whole sugar industry, which is a shocker,” he says of the revelation four years ago that an 18th-century forebear was a Bristolian merchant who established plantations in Barbados. But, no, he didn’t know “Lord and Lady Such and Such”.

His only ennobled classmate was Simon Fraser, whose father and uncle died “tragically close to one another in our last year,” making him the 16th Lord Lovat. “He suddenly became titled, and we didn’t even know. “The point is,” he continues, “weird though it might be [given] the perception of me out there, I had to push some to get to the right level of class for this. And that was a very important part of the process. Because Patrick Melrose is very much a study of class, and the disintegration of the moneyed, landed gentry to cash-poor, still possibly land-rich idiocy. Their hypocritical, cynical, back-stabbing, malicious, ironic unsympathetic behaviour is really exposed with a scalpel in this.”

Speaking of men behaving badly, if things had gone according to plan, we would by now have seen Cumberbatch’s performance as Thomas Edison in the historical epic, The Current War. At one point mooted as an Oscar-contender, the film’s original release was scrapped after its producer Harvey Weinstein (with whom Cumberbatch had previously worked on The Imitation Game) fell spectacularly from grace. Cumberbatch sounds far from disappointed.

“If it takes us not releasing our film for a couple of years just to be rid of that toxicity, I’m fine with that,” he says, adding that he wants “to step back and be as far removed from that influence as possible, both as filmmaker and as human being.”

He recalls being on the Avengers set when the Weinstein story broke. “You could feel people going: ‘This is important and this will change things…’ And that’s terrific,” he says. “But having worked with the man twice…” he exhales heavily. “Lascivious… I wouldn’t want to be married to him… Gaudy in his tastes, for all his often-brilliant film-making ability ...

But did I know that was going on? A systematic abuse of women, happening through bribery, coercion, trying to gain empathy, to physical force and threats, physical and to career? No. No,” he says firmly. “That was the true shock. That this has just literally happened. And it’s  been covered up by an entire body of people through lawsuits and gagging and money – hundreds of thousands of dollars paid to silence victims and survivors.”

He shakes his head, aghast. “That truly was a revelation. I have a film company. Our head of development is a woman. There are two women running the television side of SunnyMarch. Adam [Ackland, his SunnyMarch co-founder] and me are the only men in the office. Countless times I’ve brought up issues of equal pay and billing. And so to realise that this attitude is so deeply culturally ingrained – that was my rude awakening. We have to fight a lot harder.”

That’s toxic masculinity dealt with; now bring on Thanos!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/benedict-cumberbatch-privilege-marvel-muscles-martin-freemans/

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Mr. Hypocrite in action. Seems lying is his second nature now. Everthing for the image. What Martin said about Sherlock days ago is pathetic? Riiiiiight!

Sure it was controversial but pathetic?!

For those of you who think there will be another season of Sherlock: Think again!

And BC didn't know about Weinstein's "methods".

Doing a "Meryl Streep" here BC?!

I'm going with Martin here:

[creepynoodleheadcannons]

Creeps High School-Revelations

You were probably expecting this.

We practiced a few times that week. I came over each day after school to an empty house that was perfect for two teenagers to make out in, with privacy. Auditions were the following Monday, so Parker invited me over that Saturday. So naturally, I was stressed as fuck. “It’s not a date, mom, it’s just a rehearsal.” “Then why did you spend so much time straightening your hair Alice?” She leaned against the door frame, a soft smile on her face. “If only your mother could see you like this. She’d be so proud.” I copied the smile, grabbing my bag. “Mary’s proud of you, mom. I know I’m a handful.” She set a hand on my shoulder, pressing a light kiss to my cheek. “Please be responsible sweetheart. And don’t crash my car, okay?” “Yes ma’am. I’ll be back in a few hours.” She hugged me tight, her voice cracking. “Be responsible Alice.” “I’ll certainly try.” I pulled into the familiar drive, seeing Parker’s Jeep and a black car I couldn’t categorize next to it. The walk to the front door felt longer. I knocked on the door, eyes set on my feet. Parker opened the door, a smile on his face. “Hey Alice-woah, you look…great.” “Thanks, I tried to look presentable for once. Hope I didn’t disappoint.” He nodded, letting me step inside. “My sister’s home, but she’ll be fine. She’s practicing piano in her room.” I smiled, the memory of Carson flooding my thoughts. “So, I take it your room?” “Yeah, if that’s alright.” “Don’t see why not.” We headed down the hall, Parker closing the door once we were both inside. “So, what will it be today?” He slid his arm around my waist, lips matching with mine like he’d done it a thousand times. I begrudgingly kissed back, assuming that was the appropriate response at this point. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to. I was perfectly fine with it. I just didn’t get it. There wasn’t some spark, like you’d expect. There wasn’t some magical moment when everything in the world felt right. There wasn’t some fiery pit in my stomach boiling into my chest each time his lips caught my own. There was…nothing. It was simply a kiss. A sweet little moment that didn’t feel so sweet. Bland. Uneventful. The first one felt nice. It was soft and he was warm and I was cold. It felt comfy. The next one wasn’t so nice. It just warmed me up slightly when his body pressed to mine. The ones after that started losing warmth. It felt temperate. Average. Bland. Not like when I’d sat with Carson. I felt secure. Like someone could bust into the room and I wouldn’t give a singular fuck. That furnace rose into my cheeks, etching itself into my features. It felt exciting. Welcoming. Passionate, as much as it possibly could be.

However, it wasn’t that I didn’t want anything to do with Parker. He was sweet, and really kind, and a little cute. He treated me with respect and we had interesting conversations instead of awkward small talk. “Can we start with I Am Damaged?” We hadn’t done that one yet, considering it was one of the few when we didn’t kiss. We didn’t do anything expect step away from each other and sing in the general direction of one another. “I guess we can, why? Is something wrong?” “No, not at all. I just want to be prepared for Monday, and I’m not sure what song he wants us to do for the audition.” “Makes sense.” We started singing, the familiar pressure on the back of my throat returning. The notes matched, a cacophony of noise ringing in my head. Once the song finished, we moved backwards. We went onto Dead Girl Walking, the reprise, then Meant to be Yours, then Yo Girl, the small part we had together, and so on. He progressively got closer, his fingertips grazing my waist. One layer stood between his hands and my tense body. Then he removed it, sliding his hand beneath my shirt. I didn’t stop him, because he didn’t do anything. He just held me, his cool palm relaxing the muscles beneath it. Then it slid around, residing on the other side of my waist. He rubbed soft circles into the stiff skin. I smiled to myself, enjoying the minimal contact. It was at the end of Seventeen that he kissed me again. This time, he pushed farther than I expected. His fingers entangled themselves in my hair, lightly tugging on it. And to think, I spent so long attempting to make it neat. I moved my lips against his, trying to at least enjoy it as long as he was here, although I found that challenging. His other hands slid beneath my shirt, tossing at a faster pace than I would have requested. I pulled away slowly, pushing his hand down. “No thank you.” He nodded, pressing a tense kiss to my lips. “I’ll go get us some water, okay?” I agreed, sitting on the edge of his bed as he left the room. A certain sound caught my attention. It was the delicate rhythm of a piano from across the hall. Moonlight Sonata. I slowly stood up, letting myself move towards the sound. The door was cracked open, revealing a decorated room. Various posters lined the walls, light cream paint setting the background. The sound got louder the closer I got. I hesitantly presses the door open, my eyes locking onto the figure before me. “Carson?” She whipped around, fingers slipping off a note. Carson made a weak sound, a forced squeak from within her throat. Her hands frantically formed symbols I didn’t comprehend, aside from one I had picked up on from my mother’s wife. ‘I’m sorry.’ I stood in way of the ajar door, quickly putting my hands up. “It’s okay. If anyone should be apologizing, it’s me. I shouldn’t have barged in like that. I should have knocked. I just, really enjoyed your playing.” My words fumbled over each other, clearing up towards the end. She nodded, patting the seat beside her. I hesitantly sat down, eyes scanning her tense form. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose bun, small strands framing her face. Her lips were curved into a small smile, that scalding furnace burning in my chest again. She took a few light breaths, slowly raising her fingers over the ivory keys. She relaxed as she played, the melody striking my memory.

Our love is God. My lips mirrored her smile, my voice soft. We can start and finish wars We’re what killed the dinosaurs We’re the asteroid that’s overdue She glanced up at me, her shoulder bumping mine. When did she get closer? The dinosaurs choked the dust They died because God said they must The new world needed room for me and you Her eyes met mine for a moment. A sweet, warm moment that set off fireworks in me. I worship you I’d trade my life for yours They all will disappear We’ll plant our garden here Our eyes locked. I didn’t want to look away when I heard the door creak. She smiled. I did too. She was inches from my face. That warm feeling burned in my cheeks, that furnace broiling over. I rested my hand over hers, weakly singing. “Our love is God.” “Alice?” Carson broke away quickly, her pale cheeks blistering with heat. I turned away, my hand still hovering over her own. “Oh, you’re back. Sorry, I just heard her playing and-“ “how do you know Carson?” I looked between the both of them, hesitantly speaking. “How do you?” “She’s my sister.” “Alright, and lastly we have Alice and Parker. Whenever you’re ready.” Mr. Blake leaned back in his chair in front of the auditorium, a few others lined up behind him. About four people had already tried out, each better than the last. I didn’t exactly have hope for this, but I was already standing on stage. It wasn’t like I could just drop out. We had agreed on Seventeen. Nobody had done it so far, at least that was something to hope for. I started panicking. Everybody was staring at me, people were whispering, lights were in my eyes, if I messed up in the slightest I’d fuck this up. The furnace burned out. I was standing in front of people, frozen in my own anxiety. His voice brought my attention back. “Hey, Alice, calm down. It’s okay.” He grasped my hands, rubbing his thumbs over my knuckles. “You’ll do amazing. Just relax. Sing like you did when it was just us.” The furnace was glowing lightly. I turned towards the small crowd. Carson was smiling up at me. She waved lightly, giving me a thumbs up after a moment. The furnace ignited again. I took a breath, nodded towards Mr. Blake. The music started, preparing for the worst. I avoided the casting list. I refused to look at it. I didn’t want to see the damn piece of paper that would say that I hadn’t gotten the role. I found out in a much more forceful, disappointing way. A few of the girls who tried out came up to me as I was heading to fourth period the next day. I was just outside, in between the Ag building and another I hadn’t seen. “Guess who’s the new fucking Veronica?” “Wait, I got the role?” I smiled to myself, speaking in a hushed tone. I turned to see two pissed off girls, both with their arms crossed. “Little miss mad hatter, who’s been here for a fucking month, gets the role. I’ve been here for years, bitch. I deserved it much more than you did.” One got closer, mere inches from me. “Hey, I didn’t decide. I just auditioned. I’m sorry if I wasn’t exactly deserving of it in your eyes, but I got it regardless.” “And you’re going to fucking step down.” The other stood behind her, just as pissed. I laughed lightly, rolling my eyes. “You’re joking, right?” “Do I look like I’m fucking kidding? I don’t want a tone deaf actor in my fucking musical.” Okay, that crossed the line. “Listen, I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but-“ “someone who didn’t have to fuck the other lead to get the role.” I dropped my bag. She was close, too fucking close. My hand closed into a fist. I immediately regretted punching her in the fucking nose. Or did I? She immediately hit back, slamming her fist into my eye. The other one grabbed my shoulders, holding me up as her knee connected with my stomach. I tried pulling against her, but the other one shoved me back.

A voice I hadn’t heard before interrupted us. “Hey! What the fuck is going on?!” Some guy came over, catching all of our attention. He had a thin grey shirt on, untucked over his jeans. His arms stood out the most, the muscle definition intimidating, to say the least. His brown hair was swept back, a few black smudges over his cheeks. Mr. Rogers came out too, his sleeves rolled up. “What the h-hell?!” The two were pulled off of me, leaving me coughing on the ground. The other guy spoke up, pointing at us. “Office. Now.” He offered me a hand up, which I gladly accepted. I dusted myself off quickly as he spoke. “You’re lucky I showed up. I better not see you in another damn fight.” I nodded, gathering my belongings as I headed into the office.

[headquartersforlievmuses]

► Gaston

In the 1989 screenplay, the three suitors were condensed into a single character, Gaston. In this version, Gaston was depicted very differently. Instead of a hunter who was the town hero, he was a marquess, or French nobleman. He would have shared the role of antagonist with Belle's aunt, Marguerite who would have chosen him as Belle's suitor, specifically as revenge towards Maurice (who in this version was a failed merchant who lost his wealth at sea, just like in the original tale). In the climax, he was to have traveled to the Beast's Castle, also stealing the Sedan Chair to ensure he tracked down the castle, and upon arrival fight off several of the Enchanted Objects with a rapier before personally dueling the Beast in battle. He also met his fate differently.

As such, his design was also completely different. He was tall and lank with a mole on the left side of his face and a crooked nose. His attire consisted of a sky-blue jacket and a powdered wig tied with a red ribbon. All of these features gave him a somewhat similar appearance to French noblemen, such as Jean Rousseau or Napoleon.

After Jeffrey Katzenberg demanded a rewrite to the film, Gaston's characterization was altered significantly, being made into the town hero as well as the village's local hunter. According to Linda Woolverton, she had based this version on Gaston on previous unsuccessful relationships, and she had also wanted Belle's decrying of Gaston being her suitor (whom Woolverton referred to as a blockhead) to be the focal point of the film, necessitating that Belle's wicked sisters and their respective love interests be left out, as well as cutting her snobbish Aunt Marguerite.

Story reels for the original screenplay (included in the Platinum and Diamond Editions of the final film) indicate that his surname was intended to be LeGume, as he is referred to with said name by Marguerite. This acted as a pun on his small-minded views. This was presumably dropped by the first draft of Linda Woolverton's treatment of the story, as in both "Belle" and its reprise, the Bimbettes and Belle referred to him and herself as "Monsieur Gaston" and (albeit sarcastically) "Madame Gaston" respectively, implying that "Gaston" was his surname. In addition, Linda Woolverton's initial draft of what would become the story of the film had his role largely being similar, although he would have paid slightly more attention to the triplets by giving them a handsome look their way during the opening song, and also proceeded to sarcastically give his "review" of a book Belle was reading, and also supplied her with a trophy as a "gift." In addition, Gaston when learning the failure of his plans and Belle falling for Beast, also nearly attempted to hit Belle, but stopped when realizing the villagers were watching, although it was implied that their fearful gasps at what his nearly hitting Belle was what inspired him to rabblerouse them into killing the Beast. The initial draft also emphasized that Gaston was feared by the village rather than truly loved during the aftermath of the wedding scene, where he went over to the wedding cake in fury and the villagers were horrified. One of the cut lyrics for the Gaston song also had "Who breaks hearts like Gaston", implying that even before the Beast entered the picture, Gaston was a very treacherous individual to his friends and allies.

Story threads show that in the original screenplay, Gaston would have tried to use his sword to stab the Beast, only to lose his balance and fall off the garden wall to his death. In the 1989 screenplay, Gaston was not meant to be killed at the end of the film. Instead, the Beast was to finish their battle via knocking him over a wall, leaving him unconscious.

In one of the earliest scripts, Gaston's death would have been different, as the battle against Beast would have taken place in the forest. In this early version of the script Gaston would wound the Beast and nearly kill him with his gun, when Belle strikes him from behind with a rock. This would have prompted him to fall off a cliff. Upon trying to stand up, he notices that the wolves who attacked Maurice and Belle earlier are looking at him, and kill him. This idea was scrapped because the writers thought that it was too gruesome and horrible. Although this idea was later used in The Lion King, more specifically in the sequence of Scar's death at the hands (or rather, jaws) of the hyenas. Ironically, the above mentioned scene of Scar's death (as the final version of the ending) was chosen for the exact same reason why Gaston's original death was cut: The original ending was deemed to be too graphic and scary for a Disney film.

In one of the earliest scripts, Gaston's death would have been different, as the battle against Beast would have taken place in the forest. In this early version of the script Gaston would wound the Beast and nearly kill him with his gun, when Belle strikes him from behind with a rock. This would have prompted him to fall off a cliff. Upon trying to stand up, he notices that the wolves who attacked Maurice and Belle earlier are looking at him, and kill him. This idea was scrapped because the writers thought that it was too gruesome and horrible. Although this idea was later used in The Lion King, more specifically in the sequence of Scar's death at the hands (or rather, jaws) of the hyenas. Ironically, the above mentioned scene of Scar's death (as the final version of the ending) was chosen for the exact same reason why Gaston's original death was cut: The original ending was deemed to be too graphic and scary for a Disney film.

Gaston is strong and handsome, and exploited these traits to the fullest. While it is not clear if he considers himself as a good person or not (like Ratcliffe and Frollo do), the villiagers very much do, considering how popular he is with them (especially the Bimbette triplets), and seem unaware of his true nature (Gaston reprise in the original film notwithstanding), and this serves to fuel his already massive ego. A narcissist who sees himself as superior to everyone around him, Gaston is proud, boorish, uncultured, impolite, and sexist. He was also arrogant, as evidenced by his setting up a wedding before he even proposed to Belle under the expectation that she'd approve of becoming his wife. He was also convinced that he is powerful enough to defeat the bigger and stronger Beast by himself. He even taunts the Beast, wanting him to fight back as he wants to prove that he can kill him in a fair fight. However, his arrogance makes him underestimate his opponent and once he realizes his life is on the line, he may have to rely on desperate measures to survive. Despite this, he was not arrogant enough to believe there was no risk to being killed by the Beast, as he freely admits that fighting the Beast does have the likelihood that he or the other villagers might very likely die during the "Mob Song".

Despite his belief that thinking is "a dangerous pastime" (suggesting that he is anti-intellectual), Gaston is not unintelligent; in fact, he is quite cunning, which is emphasized twice in the story; he comes up with a plan to get Belle to marry him by threatening to have her father, Maurice, thrown into an asylum should she refuse. When that plan is foiled by Belle showing the Beast with a magic mirror, Gaston simply improvises and quickly turns the tables by manipulating the villagers into forming a mob to kill the Beast, thus eliminating his competition. Gaston is not above using underhanded tactics, which had earlier been implied with LeFou's claim about Gaston being "slick" as well as Gaston's admission about being good at "taking cheap shots", and confirmed when he shows himself to literally be a backstabber in his final moments, showing that he also cheats at things. In fact, his "begging" to the Beast may have been nothing more than a trick: he still had a knife on his person, and if the Beast was as "kind and gentle" as Belle described him to be, then Gaston would've appealed to his enemy's better nature, thus allowing him to be brought back on solid ground before he could get one last shot.

Gaston is not one to give up on his goals so easily. No matter how much Belle evades him, and however hard the humiliation he receives, he is determined to make her his wife. His persistence is such that he will go to at great lengths and sink so low to ensure he wins. Even when the Beast overwhelms him, Gaston will not tolerate losing Belle to this "monster." This drive will blind him to the dangers of climbing a balcony, which overlooks a deep abyss, and lead to his death.

As noted throughout the film, he possessed an extremely athletic build, a cleft chin, and possessed a handsome appearance. His hair was long and tied into a ponytail. He possessed icy blue eyes. He generally wore yellow hunting gloves, although he discarded them by the midpoint. He also wore a red tunic and black tights, alongside boots. He mainly carried a quiver of arrows on his back and wore a cape during cold evenings and his final battle with the Beast. He also had a lot of hair on his chest.

During the failed wedding attempt, Gaston wore a red tailcoat trimmed with gold fabric, a waistcoat, black ribbon tie, breeches and even black boots, and also had white tights.

As a child, his hair was slightly disheveled with its ends standing on top, although he retained the ponytail. In addition, he possessed freckles, and his outfit consisted of a shirt, pants, and elf-shoes.

While lacking in agility, Gaston is shown to possess a tremendous amount of physical strength, evidenced by his effortlessly lifting up a bench with three adult females (the Bimbettes) on it, as well as holding it up with only one hand. He later effortlessly rips off a stone ornament from the castle to use as a makeshift club during his battle with the Beast. He is also able to fire his blunderbuss with pinpoint accuracy, noted by LeFou proclaiming, "Wow! You didn't miss a shot, Gaston!" This, however, was briefly contradicted in the Marvel Comics, where he managed to miss a rabbit despite it being fairly close by; since then, he had managed to improve on his aim. In addition, he has proved that he is a skilled archer during the climax at the castle. He is also shown to be skilled at stealth attacks, as implied in the song "Gaston" with the lyrics: "No one's slick as Gaston," and confirmed when he manages to stab the Beast in the back while the latter was distracted with joy that Belle returned, even though he had to climb up several areas to reach him.

As noted above, despite his otherwise revulsion to the idea of reading, ideas, and overall intelligence (specifically for wives), he is shown to be a somewhat skilled plotter, having come up with the blackmail idea. In addition, he also had decent enough observation skills to pick up the hint that Belle may have had feelings for the Beast just from a few subtle clues late into the film. He is also very good at manipulation; after discovering that Belle was in love with the Beast, he used the villagers' ignorance and prejudices (as well as his own popularity) to rally them into killing the Beast. Despite this, however, he has ultimately shown himself to be very reckless regarding his planning. This is especially evident in Gaston's reprise where he loudly divulged in a crowded tavern enough key details about his blackmail plan to have all but ensured that everyone knew his true nature.

Verses

tba

[yourneighborhoodhamiltrash]

Until the End (Pippa X Reader)

Words: 1782

Summary: You get some difficult news and live your final days

Warnings: Potentially horrible writing, ANGST

“I’m very sorry,” the doctor said as he stood in front of you with a solemn face. You felt your stomach drop. You looked around the room, trying to find something to concentrate on as your world seemed to fall apart. Your gaze landed on the clock on the wall.

“I need to get to work,” You said quietly, seeming to stumble over your words. He nodded and set up your next appointment before you made your way to the Richard Rodgers Theater.

Your eyes were glued to the ground as you walked down the streets of New York. You had always wanted to do something meaningful with your life. Yes, you got your roles on Broadway. You got your role in Hamilton. You met the love of your life. But, that’s just it. There was still so much to do. So many things to do. And, you seemed to be running out of time.  

God, there was so much. So many roles. So many things you could do. So many things you wanted to do. Your stomach fell more and more as fear crept upon you. You’d be playing your last show as Angelica soon. You’d be saying goodbye to so many so soon. You’d never be able to play another role. You’d never be able to have kids. Hell, you’d never be able to get married. Oh god. What would Pippa say?

Your gaze set upon the sign for the theater and your heart broke. You walked to the entrance and made your way backstage.

“Hey (Y/N)!” Daveed said as he and Oak walked by. You smiled in response, afraid of what would happen if you tried to speak. You greeted the rest of the company, trying to be as cheerful as you could. You made your way down to the dressing room you shared with Pippa and Jasmine.

As you stepped inside, you recognized the voice of Renee accompanying theirs.

“Hey (Y/N)!” Jasmine greeted from the couch where her and Renee sat. Pippa got up and trapped you in an embrace.

“Hey guys,” You said with a weak smile, about to start crying in your girlfriend’s arms. Pippa’s eyebrows furrowed as she looked at you with her eyes almost asking you “what’s wrong?” You gave her a small nod as if to say that you’d explain later. You gave Renee and Jasmine.

“So, Renee, what brings you back?” You said trying to distract yourself.

“Oh no reason in particular. Alexis agreed to take the kids out tonight so that I could watch my favorite sisters perform.”

Their conversation continue as your heart panged. It wouldn’t be much more time until you couldn’t perform along their sides. You looked around the dressing room, almost trying to memorize how it looked. Pippa sat down next to you and placed her hand on your knee, similar to how the doctor had done not too long prior. You turned to her and buried your head into her shoulder.

“Hey, what’s going on?” She whispered in your ear. You nodded just as you had done earlier. The thought of telling her tore your heart to shreds. How would you tell her? How could you? “Hey guys,” she said addressing the two other girls, “can we borrow the room for a moment?”

“Of course, we’ll be right outside if you need us.” Jasmine gave the two of you a small smile as they stepped out.

“Okay, what’s wrong, love? You’ve been off since you stepped in,” She said with her eyes full of concern. You looked down to the ground as you tried to find the words to tell her. She lifted your head ever so slightly to look you in the eyes.

“I-” You paused. “I went to the doctor’s this morning,” You said quietly.

“What happened (Y/N)? Are you okay?” She asked, her words laced with worry.

“Pip,” You paused, knowing that the next words would make everything so real. You looked back down not wanting to see her face. “I have cancer.”

The words seemed surreal leaving your mouth. You felt her arms wrap around you as you thought of just unreal it was. The tears came flowing down your face. Once they started, you couldn’t seem to get it to stop. She rubbed your back lovingly as you felt her own tears fall.

“Shh, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” She whispered, her voice seeming more and more weak with every second that passed.

You sat there like that for what seemed like hours (despite only being a few minutes). She finally sat back and looked you with overwhelming sadness. You took a deep breath knowing that the next words to come would be even worse.

“One year.” Her face dropped even more despite not seeming possible.

“What?” She said breathless.

“The doctor’s estimate was one year. It might be longer, but-” You were interrupted by her arms wrapping you in a hug. She seemed even more hysterical than you both were moments earlier.

“We’ll get through this, love, I promise.” She said as she calmed down. “Do you want me to ask Lin if your alternate could perform tonight?”

“No, I- I need to do this.” She nodded in understanding as she took your hand in hers. “Let’s go see everyone,” You said with a small smile pulling her up with you.

The two of you walked outside hand in hand. The rest of the company sat outside talking.

“Hey love birds!” Anthony said jokingly until the two of you came closer when everyone noticed your red eyes and tear stained cheeks. “Are you two okay?” He asked with concern, his goofy expression turning serious in an instant.

“I actually need to tell you guys something.” You said quietly as you took a seat, suddenly feeling exhausted. Pippa rested her arm around you, kissing the top of your head. The cast turned to you with concern. “You know,” You paused, “you guys are family to me.”

“And you’re family to us (Y/N).” Chris said.

“I’m going to be, um, I’m going to stop performing soon.” Lin frowned.

“We’ll miss you a lot (Y/N). Did you land another role?”

“Better than Angelica?” Daveed continued with a smirk.

“Oh please, Diggs, what is there that’s ‘better than Angelica’?” Renee asked with a laugh causing the rest of the company to join in laughter.

“Actually, no.” You frowned. “I found out this morning that,” Your words seemed to get stuck in your throat. You put your head in the crook of Pippa’s neck trying not to burst into tears for the second time that day. Thankfully, she understood the trouble you were having.

“She has cancer,” She said in a small voice. You looked up at the cast as you composed yourself. The faces of every person in the room dropped. Jasmine almost immediately began to sob in Anthony’s shirt. Lin’s mouth dropped open. Leslie looked down as if he were about to start crying as well. Oak was the first to get up and hug you tight. The rest followed suit and joined in the hug.

That was the hardest show any of you had performed. Pippa’s scream after Stay Alive (Reprise) was especially awful. You nearly broke down as you sung It’s Quiet Uptown. Pippa and Lin could hardly stop crying as you sang. The cast rotated in and out of your dressing room as you came on and off stage.

That night, you and Pippa sat on your couch in silence. You laid in her arms as she mindlessly played with your hair. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

During your last show, you struggled. Hell, the entire cast did. You were so exhausted from treatment that someone continuously held you up, trying to seem natural. Lin stood in front of the crowd at the end of the show in his full Alexander Hamilton get up.

“As most of you know, this is (Y/N) (Y/L/N)’s last show.” He called for Pippa and you to come up to center stage. You stood there in confusion. She turned to you.

“My love,” She started. “When we first met, I instantly fell in love with you. You made me feel so… so… “

“Helpless?” She laughed lightly.

“What I’m trying to say is that I know that we don’t have our entire lives ahead of us. But, I want you to know that I’ll be right here next to you. Always. Every moment until the last.” She got down on a knee.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), will you marry me?” Your hands flew to your mouth in shock. You shook your head and wrapped her in a hug.

And, she did. After you left the show officially, Pippa took a break from Hamilton. She was always by your side. The cast rotated in and out of your shared apartment and later, your hospital room.

Most of the cast stood in your small room.

“I’m going to get some food,” Daveed said as most of them agreed.

“Pip, go with them. You still need to eat.” You told her. She nodded reluctantly and followed them out. You were left with Anthony and Jasmine. “Guys.” Jasmine put her hand on yours. “It’s time.”

“No, no. (Y/N),” Anthony started.

“Can you please take Pippa home with you two?”

“What? You shouldn’t-”

“Please, Ant, I can’t have her here. She hasn’t slept in weeks-”

“(Y/N), you shouldn’t be alone when you go,” Jasmine continued.

“Guys, please.”

The cast said their goodbyes an hour later. You hugged Lin extra tight.

“Thank you for everything.”

Jasmine and Anthony, especially, had tears running down their faces.

“I love you, Pip.”

The couple nearly had to drag her from the hospital. You looked down at your ring with a small smile reminiscing on the times you had with her. You looked at the flowers that flooded your room, knowing exactly who gave you what. Lin sent almost half of them. You looked at the giant teddy bear by your window that Chris brought with him during your first month of being there. It had his extra George Washington hat on it. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes as you smiled at everything Alexander Hamilton’s story had brought you to. You reached for your phone and clicked to the group chat.

I love you all. x

You started to text them before sleeping during your final months. They didn’t know that this would be the last they’d receive.

My love, take your time.

I’ll see you on the other side.

[ericjuneau]

Reprise (Chapter 27) [Frozen/Tangled/The Little Mermaid]

CHAPTER 27: Fly on the Wall

Eric held out his torch, guiding them through the lightless tunnels. Ariel had never been in this part of the castle. Not because it was forbidden, but because it led to the dungeons. Or so she thought. But Eric assured her those were in the other wing. The cobwebs and roots seeping through the brick and mud walls did little to convince her. Not even Sir Grimsby was accompanying. Eric said he needed "plausible deniability" if anyone was captured.

They reached a heavy wooden door with a double lock. Two guards stood on either side, holding partisans. A key dangled from each of their belts. "Halt!" one said.

Eric reached into his shirt and pulled out a small medallion tied around his neck. One of the guards pressed a gem scope into his eye. He examined the medallion while the other held his partisan ready to spear Eric at moment's notice.

"Clean," the examining guard said. The other relaxed his spear. Together they inserted their keys at the same time and unlocked the door. Eric nodded his thanks and entered.

The same rock, overgrown with dirt and mold, made up this cavern. At a lone table, four military men rose at their entrance. They were all Eric's closest advisers--Colonel Jensen, Overseer Dahl, High Constable Holm, Commodore Krogher. In fact, they'd been in attendance of their wedding. And thus, knew her secret.

Eric placed his torch in a nearby sconce. Overseer Dahl approached the locked oak door. "Hey! Let us out! Come on!" he shouted.

Nothing happened. The guards on the other side didn't attempt to open the door. He returned to the table. "We appear to be in blackout."

Eric took his place at the table. Ariel stood behind Eric, unsure of where she belonged. "Gentlemen. Present your articles."

Each of the five dug through their pockets and held out various items. One was a medal, another had a metal rod, another was a charm of crossed bones. Eric held out his royal signet ring.

"And her?" Colonel Jensen asked.

"She can be trusted. Anyone who doubts her identity can consult with me," Eric said.

"Um, hi," Ariel said.

The men took their seats. Ariel remained standing as there was no chair for her.

"Thank you all for coming," Eric said.

"Princess Ariel, why did you come here?" one of them asked.

"I... I thought it was time I started taking more of a role in the kingdom. Making decisions, learning things. After all, I'm going to be ruling it someday."

"Good answer," Dahl said. "Wise."

"Are you recovered from your transformation?" Holm asked.

"Yes, fully."

"Do you know what caused that?" Commodore Krogher asked.

"Um, yes..." Ariel said. "And it's... I'm working on that. But I won't be turning back into a mermaid against my will, that much I know."

Krogher nodded, satisfied.

"The longer we stay here, the longer we risk losing privacy," Eric said. "What are our updates?"

"I'm sending scout ships with new orders for battalions four and five. When they'll arrive, I'm not sure. But estimate a week."

"Assuming they're still on the water," Dahl added.

Krogher nodded gruffly.

Dahl turned to Eric. "Our letter to install an Ambassador to the Southern Isles is ready. The contract has yet to be signed."

"They won't agree to that," Colonel Jensen said. "They want to win this war first, before they start accepting changes in their congress."

"The best time is while they're distracted. They won't give much thought to our representation. And the faster we can enter the bakery, the faster we can start stealing pies."

"They may have won already," Krogher said. "And we don't know it yet. News travels slowly on the sea."

"Go ahead and send it," Eric said. "I don't mind making plans for the future. But right now, our focus is backing the armada. We've been asked for full support and that's what we'll give."

"Speaking of," said High Constable Holm. "Councilors Roderick, Gunsen, and Skold."

Eric and the others nodded. They knew who they were talking about, even if Ariel didn't. But she felt too alienated to interrupt.

"We think we've found a way to... take care of them," Holm said.

Ariel put her hands to her mouth. "What are you going to do?" she whispered.

Holm eyed her. "Send them far away. Investigate mineral deposits, busy themselves with diplomacy."

"Will they protest?" Dahl asked. "They'll know that's no work for a councilor of the kingdom."

"They can protest all they want. They're still going," Holm said. "The last thing we need is separatists with convocation seats. They'll slow everything down. The more loyalists there are, the better. And Roderick, Gunsen, and Skold are the most vocal. Without them, resistance will break down."

"Whatever happened with the Viscount of Glowerhaven?" Eric asked.

"No updates," Colonel Jensen replied. "We're still trying to convince them to join us. I think we're past the point of negotiation and have to try something more artful."

"Could we convince them that Arendelle and Corona are coming for them next?" Dahl asked.

"Maybe. I was more hoping an opportunity would present itself. The Viscount has a daughter-in-law that is... well, often running into trouble. Consorting with commoners, disappearing when she's needed. Rumors abound that she's purchased spells from a circle of witches."

Eric nodded thoughtfully.

"It's only a matter of time before she gets into some trouble she can't get out of. Then we can offer her asylum in exchange for their coffers," Commodore Krogher said.

Overseer Dahl scoffed. "So she can cause trouble here?"

"I don't know," Eric said. "It's not much of an exchange. Do more groundwork. See what it'll take. Commodore Krogher?"

Krogher leaned forward. "We've recruited twenty new ships for privateering. More than I expected. Good thing about a fishing village with no fishing--there are plenty of ships with nothing to do."

Privateering... Ariel searched her mental word bank. She'd heard of it before.

"They're clear on the rules, right?" Eric asked.

"Yes, but they wanted a monetary stipend in addition."

"What?" Eric said. "Those greedy freebooters. You must be kidding."

Krogher shook his head. "Said it's for the dangerous work. Plus there's no guarantee they'd get what they need. Said there's just as much chance of looting a vessel full of flour and cloth as anything valuable."

Looting? That's where Ariel heard the term. It was another word for piracy.

"You're sending out pirates? You're making your own citizens into pirates and sending them against the enemy?" She gasped. "They're not going to kill anyone, are they?"

Overseer Dahl snickered. "It's a war, milady."

Eric held up his hand. Immediate silence. "The deal is they can take any and all cargo they want. Dump the rest over the side, empty the stores. But kill no one."

"Whether or not they'll follow remains to be seen," Krogher said. "My hopes aren't high. There are no laws on the sea."

Ariel looked desperately at Eric.

"It's the best we can do," he told her. "I want an end to this war as fast as possible. I mean, we weren't coerced into this alliance, but we didn't volunteer either."

"Eric, I keep telling you. This war is the boost this country needs," Colonel Jensen said. "We're tumbling into oblivion. This economic blight is-"

"I don't want a throne built on blood," Eric answered.

"You may not have a throne at all, if our enemies surmount us," High Constable Holm said.

"Or our allies. They could take advantage of our weakened state to add another colony to their empire," Jensen added.

"Have you... considered what we've talked about?" Overseer Dahl asked. His eyes made the briefest glance at Ariel.

"The answer is still no," Eric said. He crossed his arms and glowered at Dahl.

"What?" Ariel asked.

"Don't worry about it," Eric said.

"She's here right now. We can ask her herself." Dahl gestured to Ariel.

"Don't you dare," Eric said.

"What? What is he talking about?" Ariel asked.

Eric remained tight-lipped and steely-eyed, staring at Dahl across the table.

Ariel said, "If you want me to take charge and act mature, then you have to treat me like it. Don't tell me 'not to worry' like I'm a child."

Eric sighed. "Overseer Dahl wants to know if you could employ the sea kingdom to strengthen our station."

Ariel frowned at Overseer Dahl.

"It could prevent the loss of lives," Dahl said. "There has to be untold wealth we can't reach, sunken treasure or loose gems. And other merpeople, we could train them to destroy enemy ships. Tear them apart from the bottom."

"The answer is no, Overseer." Ariel crossed her arms.

"There must be vast numbers of scuttled ships from past centuries, just sitting there. Merpeople have no use for human things. You've said it yourself. It could pay for this war."

"My kingdom... I mean, the sea kingdom, is not a place you can exploit," Ariel said.

"But-"

"The issue is dropped, Dahl," Eric said. "You heard straight from her. She said no."

He leaned forward, and clasped his hands together. In that moment, Ariel couldn't look at Eric the same. She always saw him as a young, handsome prince who loved the sea, loved his dog, loved her. But he had a dark side. The side responsible for a country. A country with a questionable ability to survive.

"I want to know about our land defenses. We've talking about the sea this whole time," Eric said.

Colonel Jensen unrolled the map. "I believe we're covered. No one thinks an invading land force will take us. Neither Corona or Arendelle have one to boast of. The biggest difficulty is transport." He pointed to several expanses of plains. "Our contingent battalions are here, here, and here. But you can see the path for resupply isn't exactly straight. We have to go around the Wittemore Bluff or Dugway Rim."

The four of them studied the map.  

"If we could occupy one of the nearby villages, we could set up a station depot," Jensen said.

"I don't like that idea," Eric said.

"Why don't you take this path?" Ariel asked. She traced her finger through a green mass. "Where it diverges in the forest?"

"What path?" Eric asked.

"This. Right here." She stabbed at the amorphous moss-colored circle with her index finger. "Just go through. You can avoid the cliffs. It seems simpler."

"What are you talking about?" Krogher asked.

"Right here! Don't you see it?"

Jensen, Dahl, Holm, Krogher, and Eric peered at the map below her finger, as if searching for an ant. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, dear," Eric said.

"Are you serious? This spot right here where I'm pointing." Under her finger, one path branched from the main road. It cut through the forest until it met with the route around the perimeter. "Can't you see it?"

Eric chewed his upper lip. "Well... I see... hmm... anyway, what were we talking about?"

Ariel's jaw dropped.

Dahl opened his pocket watch. "We're running out of time. You need to meet with the navy commanders."

"Right." Eric reached into the cloak slung over his chair and produced four leather-clasped envelopes with wax seals. "New codes and instructions." The four generals secured them in pockets or handbags. Eric stood up. "This meeting is adjourned."

Jensen approached the door. He knocked with an arrhythmic pattern for ten or twenty seconds. The others gathered behind him, waiting, until he finished and the door opened. All except Ariel, who remained looking at the map.

"Am I missing something?" she muttered to herself.

"Ariel? We need to get down to the city."

"Coming." Ariel rolled up the map and headed after him.

The best thing Elsa could say was that she hadn't lost control of her powers yet. But she felt close.

Not only did she have to ask all these strangers if they'd seen a girl with a round face and big green eyes, but she had so little information to give. Seventy feet of blond hair--that could have been it. But no, one slip would reveal their identity. So she was stuck describing characteristics which applied to everyone here.

A tavern was an unlikely place for Rapunzel to go--indoors, full of ruffians willing to take advantage of strangers--but she had run out of possibilities. Tired and lonely, she wished she had some silver to buy some food. Instead she asked the passing waitress. "Excuse me. I'm looking for a woman about my height, but with blond hair and light freckles. She's dressed like me."

"Dressed like you?" The waitress scrunched her nose. "Lady, the only people dressed like you are at the laundry pool."

"Yeah, where the washerwomen are. What'd you do? Steal their clothes?"

"Washerwomen..."

"Yeah, Minchin's working them to the bone right now. Best you don't let her catch sight of you, she might think you're one of them. I assume you're not, otherwise she'd be tearing the town apart looking for you. Best you stop taking fashion tips from them."

Elsa's eyes glazed over with thought. Ariel had fetched them washerwomen's uniforms. If that was the case, then maybe Rapunzel got...

She stood up and grabbed the waitress's arm. "Quick, where's the laundry pool?"

Confused, the waitress replied, "In the south quarter, behind a bamboo fence. You can't miss it."

Elsa ran out of the tavern, not hearing the waitress's final words, "Just listen for the shouting."

Rapunzel had only felt like this once before--when she saw Flynn escaping with the satchel. Now it was because she had lost their only lead to a sinister conspiracy of ancient magic and power. They had nothing. And it was because of her.

She had gone on this grand adventure thinking she could handle herself. It was such a little thing to take care of too. But without it, the world was doomed. She might as well stay here darning socks until she grew tired and old. She deserved it.

"Get those through the wringer!" Minchin yelled. "You know what one drop of moisture means? It means mildew. Mold! Plague! Do you want to be responsible for the death of the royal family? Because you couldn't push your elbows a little harder? At Rummersland I had to haul forty pound bags of grape shot. On each shoulder." She reached into her hip bag and produced a bronze medal. Shoving it into a girl's face, she said. "If I can do it, you can do it."

One woman with a dull expression dumped an oversized basket on the pile, then gathered the finished garments behind them.

Minchin approached a girl at a table, attending a large mortar and pestle. "Susanne, why isn't the lye and soapwort mixed up yet? It's essential for cleansing stains."

"I'm sorry, Miss Minchin. I'm trying. To be honest, the fumes are making me dizzy."

"Making you distracted, you mean."

"No, it's-"

"Don't make excuses. Do you want everyone to run behind because you were too slow?" She stood behind the girl and put her hands on her shoulders. "I'm saying this because I don't want you to end up on the streets. I'm trying to protect you all. You're my girls."

She patted the lye-mixer and walked off.

Rapunzel believed it. The world was a dangerous place. Maybe it was better to stay here and work hard than return in shame to Corona. At least she had a job here.

Minchin approached a girl at a folding table, fiddling with a never-ending pile of clothes. "Lykke, I don't know how you untie and retie these knots all day every day."

"It's nothing, Miss Minchin."

"Then why does it take you so long?" Minchin shouted.

Rapunzel stopped. Glassy eyes returned to sparkling. She recognized that phrase. She recognized this whole thing. She lived it for eighteen years. Brow-beaten into submission with passive-aggressive insults. Demeaning under the guise of nurturing. This is what she would have been if she'd never left the tower. Imprisoned, toiling, enslaved.

Rapunzel stood up. She dropped the clothing she was working on. "That's enough," she shouted.

The laundry pool froze.

"Honey, what are you doing?" Agitha whispered.

In the dead silence, Rapunzel turned to Minchin. "You are mean, manipulative, and selfish. You only care about yourself while we do all the work. Well, it's not going to work that way. Not ever again."

Minchin approached her, silent as the rest of the crowd. She towered over Rapunzel, but the princess kept going.

"You can't treat people like this. Not to me. Not to anyone. I am going to the castle and telling everyone how they're getting their laundry done. By an abusive tyrant."

Minchin shoved Rapunzel with her tree trunk arms, thrusting her into the ground. Rapunzel's already red and raw hands stung the stones.

Minchin glowered. "You dare talk back to me like that? You don't know what it's like out there. The countryside is starving. Buildings are falling apart. The port is a trash pile of empty ships. So you count your blessings you've got a job and a bed. All of you."

Rapunzel realized Minchin had a point. Women didn't have a lot of opportunities to work, especially in the city. She shouldn't have talked back.

"All of you owe me. I'm the one who keeps you safe. They wanted to dock your pay, but I said no. I said no one could produce the kind of quality I can. I may take a little more than my share, but that's because no one else can. I'm not selfish and cruel. The world is."

Rapunzel's eyes filled with tears. Why did she think this was a good idea?  

Minchin fished the bronze medal from her pocket. She held it in front of Rapunzel's eyes so she could get a good look. "You go ahead and tell the castle what's happening here. I'll remind them that I'm the hero of Rummersland. What do you think they'll say?"

"You're a liar," Rapunzel whispered, addressing no one particular.

"What?" Minchin raised the medal over her head, as if to strike her with it.

Rapunzel's eyes flashed from tears to scowl. She spun back up. Minchin moved to push her back down.

Rapunzel pulled back her headscarf. She yanked out her braid of blond hair and whipped it at Minchin's leg. Once it wrapped taut, Rapunzel pulled.

Minchin seemed to hover in the air for a second, then landed hard on the cobble stones. Rapunzel pulled the medal toward her, close enough to read.

"'Presented for honor and bravery in the first battle of Rummerslund Fort'. How did they know it was the first? How did they know there were going to be more?" She rattled the medal. "It's a fake. How many other things you've said are fake too?"

Minchin said nothing.

Rapunzel pulled the frock off her neck and threw on the ground. "I might have lost everything, but I'm still here. I'm still alive. So I can still get it back." She looked up at the gathering crowd. "So can you. And it starts out that door."

Rapunzel marched toward the bamboo gate. She undid the latch and pulled it open. But before she left, she took a look back to see if anyone was following.

They weren't. They were gathering around Minchin. At first, Rapunzel was afraid they were going to help her up. But they weren't. They were approaching slowly, malevolently. And Minchin was begging for forgiveness. Rapunzel shut the door behind her, confident she would receive none.

It took Elsa another half day to cross town and find the laundry pool. Just when she lost the trail, the smell of soap wafted by.

Then she spotted it--a tall bamboo fence blocking off the alley behind two storefronts. Elsa rushed against the gate. The door rattled and remained locked from the other side. Her powers could break down the door or make a tower of ice to stand on, but there were too many people around.

Elsa ran around the storefronts, searching for a way in. Her temper rose as she pushed past pedestrian after pedestrian. Idiots. They all had nothing better to do but stand around.

She was about to step into the street when a shopkeeper's hand stopped her.

"Whoa, lady, careful."

Elsa glowered at him. She contemplated jabbing him with an icicle.

Then he said, "You don't want to run into the street when there's cartage going by. Specially this one."

"What's special about-"

She stopped. Her eye caught someone across the street. Bright blond hair, big green eyes. She was looking down the street for the approaching carts.

Elsa raised her hand. "Hey! Hey!" Elsa pushed her way to the curb.

Rapunzel, along with the people around her, met her gaze. Her eyes lit up like fire.

"Els-" She hiked up her long dress and stepped into the street.

Elsa did the same as the shopkeeper again tried to reach for her. They met in the middle of the street and hugged.

"So glad I found you," Elsa said. "I thought I was going to be lost forever."

"Me too," Rapunzel said. "Do-"

A child screamed. Then a woman. A horse chortled close enough they could feel its hot musty breath in their ears. The animal raised on its haunches, becoming a terrifying monster with unwieldy claws. Rapunzel and Elsa fell back, landing hard on the street.

The horse's wrangler yanked the reins. Its hooves landed a foot from Elsa's toes.

"Watch out!" he said. "Have you lost your minds? Running in front of the royal carriage like that?"

"We're sorry, we're sorry," Rapunzel said. "Wait... royal carriage?"

[cvrnewsdirectindia]

PHOTOS: Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor & Sonakshi Sinha pose for a picture perfect moment as they party together

Sara Ali Khan, Janhvi Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha were snapped arriving at an event today and the three looked absolutely gorgeous in cool casuals

Two of the most pretty and fit actresses of Tinsel Town, Sara Ali Khan and Sonakshi Sinha were snapped arriving at Santacruz today. They were attending their Pilates instructor and friend Namrata Purohit’s birthday party at her Santacruz studio, with other celebrities such as Janhvi Kapoor and Malaika Arora in attendance. Interestingly, Sara and Sonakshi were twinning in matching neon green jackets paired with black t-shirts and tights. While Sara also sported an orange hairband Sona left her hair open, both looking beautiful as always.

On the work front, Sara is having an extremely busy year and is shooting for her upcoming projects back to back. She recently wrapped up the shooting for Imtiaz Ali’s next, opposite rumoured beau Kartik Aaryan, which is being called the sequel to Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone’s Love Aaj Kal. The actress will next be seen sharing the big screen with Varun Dhawan in Coolie No 1, a remake of the 1995 film with the same name.

ALSO READ: EXCLUSIVE: Sara Ali Khan’s weight loss process revealed by her fitness and nutritional doctor; read on

Sonakshi too is having a great year. She was recently seen on the big screen in Mission Mangal, co-starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan and Taapsee Pannu and was applauded for her performance. Now the actress is gearing up for the war drama, Bhuj: The Pride of India alongside Ajay Devgn, Sanjay Dutt and Parineeti Chopra and will also be reprising her role in the third and much-awaited instalment of the Dabangg series, opposite superstar Salman Khan.

Check out Sara, Janhvi and Sona’s pictures from the bash:

Read More

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from CVR News Direct https://cvrnewsdirect.com/photos-sara-ali-khan-janhvi-kapoor-sonakshi-sinha-pose-for-a-picture-perfect-moment-as-they-party-together/

[larryland]

by Lisa Jarisch

Since its arrival on Broadway in 1972, Grease has been the Word in more than 3300 Broadway performances, had 27 productions worldwide, made its way to the big screen as a feature film, been revived on Broadway twice, and has greased and graced the boards of high school stages around the country more times than Betty Rizzo has dated and broken up with Kenickie.

  Now the Class of 1959 from Rydell High has arrived at the Mac-Haydn Theater, with all the rock & roll sound, romance , and teen-age angst one could want on a hot summer night at the theatre.  Director/Choreographer Sebastiani Romagnolo has put his mark on a production that does fair justice to both the original stage production and the wildly-popular 1978 feature film with John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John in the lead roles. What the production may lack in depth, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm and performance value. There is little if any of the raw, edgy language and tone that characterized original versions; while teenage pregnancy, gang violence, and pressure to conform lurk subtly on the edges of this production, they are to some degree “glossed over” in favour of bringing the flavor of 50s adolescence and music to the stage. And frankly, there’s nothing wrong with that, because what they do with this production of Grease, they do with all the expertise, quality, and theatre-goers have come to expect—and receive—from a Mac- Haydn production. As it centers around the romantic inclinations of greaser Burger Palace leader Danny Zuko and new-girl-at-school Sandy Dumbrowski, this Grease is 2 ½ hours of foot-tapping, sing-along, sit- back- and -enjoy musical theatre.

       Anthony DaSilva is spending his first season at Mac-Haydn, and in the lead role of Danny Zuko, he takes to the round stage as if born to it. With just the slightest channeling of John Travolta (which may be totally unintended, as the film was released well before DaSilva came into the world),  he struts into the cafeteria and leads the Burger Palace Boys through their paces, while alternately wooing and ignoring the new girl in school. He has the voice for the role–and then some !– and while disappointed that the song “Sandy” was substituted for “ Alone at a drive-in movie” there’s no denying DaSilva carries off Danny with power, panache, and presence. His voice rises above ensemble numbers, as it should as the leader of the pack. Let’s hope to see and hear more of this up and coming star as the season continues.

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    Emma Flynn in her second season with the Mac-Haydn company is an ideal  choice for the innocent, naive Sandy, taken in hand and under the collective wing of the Pink Ladies at Rydell High on her first day of school, where she quickly discovers the love of her just past “Summer Nights”  is Rydell student Danny Zuko. Flynn has a beautiful pure voice, with stage presence to match. Watching her journey from the wide-eyed ingenue who ultimately allows herself, admittedly at her own request, to be transformed to the bad-girl of Danny’s wildest hopes and dreams is a delight.  “Hopelessly Devoted to you” adroitly channels Olivia Newton-John, which is almost inevitable, as this too is a number “slotted in” to the stage version from its original appearance in the film. Her final solo reprising “Look at me I’m Sandra Dee” is filled with regret, resignation, and ultimately acceptance of her new role as a pure Pink Lady, and her final duet with DaSilva of “You’re the one that I want” literally shakes the rafters of this barn-cum-theatre in the round. A side note on that particular number.In general I am not a fan of music and songs from movie versions being, sometimes, summarily inserted into stage productions, but in this production I must confess it works to great effect, and was probably the better choice than “All Choked Up” was in the original production.

  Grease is an ideal production for an ensemble cast, which undoubtedly is why it is so often performed in schools, summer stock, and community theatres. Offering a variety of supporting roles for Pink Ladies and Burger Palace Boys makes it a perfect vehicle for the Mac.  Much of the pleasure in this thoroughly-enjoyable production comes from the quality of performance springing from the supporting cast.numbers. Loaded with all the energy of the assembled youthful cast , the stage almost literally shakes, rattles and rolls every time a member of the ensemble gets their turn in the spotlight. Virtually every character is given a featured turn and they make the most of it, with spot-on vocals and solid, committed performances. While none of the numbers are show-stoppers, they perform them as if they are. And so several all deserve their own moments of praise….

  As Doody,  Kylan Ross’s  rendition of “ Those Magic Changes”  earns him an A+ for his spot-on vocals regaling the gang with his mastery of 4 guitar chords learned over the summer. Perhaps my favorite song in the show, I confess to adding my own A, C, F, and G chords to the melody line , no doubt to the misfortune of those sitting within earshot.

Elizabeth D’Aiuto makes the most of her turn as Marty, as she lets her slumber-party Pink Lady guests learn all about “Freddy, My love”, who showers her with gifts sent from his overseas military service. A rogue Twinkie suffers a crushing fate as the Pink Ladies dancingly celebrate the benefits of young love, but D’Aiuto carries off her number with aplomb and vocal accuracy.

       Now, “Greased Lightning”, perhaps the song most associated with Grease…. While Jonah Hale’s lyrics in his portrayal of Kenickie are at times indistinct, or perhaps simply overwhelmed by a band clearly eager to rock and roll the theatre, there is no denying Hale’s enthusiasm as he presents this signature number. He leaps with abandon, sings with gusto, and overall makes us hope for a ride in his cherished automatic, systematic, fuel-injected, chrome-plated rod baby.  Especially impressive is the lighting that accompanies the number—black light, strobe effect, and splashes of vibrant color punctuate this paean to every teen age boy’s dream in the 50s…THE perfect car.

       As Roger and Jan, Joe Hornberger and Zoey Bright inject a lovely dose of almost over the top camp with their rendition of “Mooning”, as Roger musically and physically demonstrates the reason “the guys” have nicknamed him “Rump”  Fortunately for this family-friendly show, he stops short of a “full” explanation, but not before the audience enjoys their rollicking rocking tribute to the fine art of mooning.

  Maya Cuevas shines as Frenchy, the “Beauty School Dropout” nonchalantly attempting to pierce Sandy’s ears while the Pink Ladies smoke and drink at Marty’s slumber party. Her wide-eyed looks of astonishment, and subsequent reactions when her called-upon Teen Angel appears in silver lame, accompanied by a plastic cosmetic cape-draped, sun-glass -wearing Angel Chorus quartet, are worth the price of admission. 

    Last but by no means least of the supporting cast deserving of more than honorable mention is Angie Colonna as the hard as nails self-appointed Head of the Pink Ladies Betty Rizzo.  Sashaying onto the teen scene with a hip-swiveling swagger, Colonna creates the brittle Rizzo personna necessary to play against the sweetness and light of the soon-to-be converted, or subverted, Sandy. Her mocking “Look at me I’m Sandra Dee” in Act 1 is played with nuance and a curled lip; her voice is big, bold, and in perfect keeping with the character. In Act 2, as she reluctantly, angrily, and ultimately tearfully confronts Sandy’s attempts to sympathize with her possibly pregnancy, she declares “There are worse things I could do” with a combination of pathos and defiance that brings perhaps the loudest applause of the evening for a featured performance.

            Wearing his choreographer’s hat, director Romagnolo brings to Grease the signature style that brought him a Berkie Award in 2017. Lithe, sinewy, sometimes almost writhing dance movements infuse much of the dance work throughout the show, and capture in motion the burgeoning craze for rock and roll that was sweeping the nation in the 50s.  Romagnolo stages the assorted ensemble numbers throughout the show with verve and punch. The close of Act 1 brings the energy-charged cast into “We go Together” with rousing hand-slapping, clapping abandon performed in perfect synchronization , and as the cast comes together in “Born to Hand Jive”, the relatively small round stage pounds and  pulses with the gyrations of the dance. Could another Berkie be waiting in the wings…..?

       Scenic designer Kevin Gleason  brings home a Grade A report card for his set work and design.   The black and white checkerboard floor, punctuated with squares of turquoise and pink is the perfect setting for the classic formica tables and chairs that do triple duty as cafeteria, classroom and Burger Palace diner; draped with black leather jackets and hot pink Pink Lady jackets, the set immediately transports the audience back to the 50s before the first musical note. The collection of 50’s memorabilia and ephemera adorning the walls and the stage. Vintage vinyl 45 records, pink flamingos, guitars . From the wall-mounted rotary dial corded phone to the portable transistor radios and metal coolers, every item evokes the now-classic style of the 50s. It’s just a FUN set to look at throughout the show.

     Lighting by Andrew Gmoser complements and enhances the 50s “vibe”  of diners, high school classrooms and cafeteria, teen age girls’ bedrooms, and the occasional outdoor setting in the park or backstreets of Chicago. There is a generous use of color throughout, and happily, the use of a strobe light is forewarned with notices at each entrance to the house , as well as used judiciously and sparingly. 

  Costumes by Alison Zador capture the era of poodle skirts, greaser “bad boys” with their leather jackets, tight jeans and white-shirts, and bouffant hair and prom dresses. 

  While perhaps not the premiere offering of the season, Grease is more than worth a look, perhaps even 2, as one of my companions noted on a full-house opening night    “ I’d see this one again.” Hopefully Producing Artistic Director John Saunders would be quick to declare that “you’re the one that I want “ to make a Summer Night’s journey to Chatham for this production. 

  Grease with book, music and lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey is this season’s 3 week run at the Mac-Haydn Theater in Chatham, NY,  with performances from July 4 through 21. Direction and choreography by Sebastiani Romagnolo, Associate choreographer Madi Cupp-Enyard. Music direction by David Maglione, scenic design by Kevin Gleason, lighting design by Andrew Gmoser,  costume design Alison Zador, hair and makeup design by Matthew Oliver, props master Joshua Gallagher. CAST: Anthony DaSilva as Danny Zuko, Emma Flynn as Sandy Dumbrowski, Kylan Ross as Doody, Elizabeth D’Aiuto as Marty, Jonah Hale as Kenickie, Joe Hornberger as Roger, Zoey Bright as Jan, Maya Cuevas as Frenchy, Angie Colonna as Betty Rizzo.

REVIEW: “Grease” at the Mac-Haydn Theatre by Lisa Jarisch Since its arrival on Broadway in 1972, Grease has been the Word in more than 3300 Broadway performances, had 27 productions worldwide, made its way to the big screen as a feature film, been revived on Broadway twice, and has greased and graced the boards of high school stages around the country more times than Betty Rizzo has dated and broken up with Kenickie.

[mrmichaelchadler]

Obsession and The Void: The Performances of Christian Bale

In an early scene in Mary Harron’s “American Psycho,” youthful and Adonis-like stockbroker Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) runs through his almost pornographically detailed morning routine: a workout with 1,000 crunches, an array of hair and skincare products, all in an exact order to present “an idea of a Patrick Bateman.” Bale performs the scene with a blank fastidiousness, showing no joy or even stray morning wakeup feelings of exhaustion or boredom, all while narrating in a calm but detached tone of a magazine readout. There is a similar scene in the opening of “American Hustle” that functions as a parody, in which Bale’s con man Irving Rosenthal, flabby and balding, puts just as much work into maintaining his elaborately pathetic combover with a far more careful level of focus, a sense that what he’s doing to prepare himself has a real function. The two men are at different ends of the food chain, one obscenely wealthy, the other scrambling to get by; one is cold and unfeeling, the other empathetic and desperately human. Their commonality, then, is how much they have to work to do just to maintain a sense of self, to show that they have a reason for being, even if only to those on the outside looking in. 

That’s in line with much of the praise, and sometimes the criticisms, of Bale’s career. He’s undoubtedly skillful at reshaping his own appearance—often gaining or losing weight to extreme degrees—but the focus is frequently put on the surface external appearances, lauding how he’s become “unrecognizable” (both an exaggeration and more accurately praise for the makeup crew) or knocking his work for being too focused on nailing an impression or a physical quality at the expense of emotional connection. This misunderstands Bale’s strengths, however: he is an actor for whom physical transformation is but an anchoring facet to a depiction of obsession, be it Patrick Bateman’s pathological need to project normality to hide his depravity in “American Psycho,” Irving Rosenthal’s need to project success to attain some sad measure of it in “American Hustle,” or Dicky Eklund’s fixation on his one brush with greatness as a fighter to stave off the truth of his all-consuming crack addiction in “The Fighter.” They’re people who feel a deep need to construct or pursue some idealized form of self as a way to succeed or survive. It’s reflected in Bale’s own process, in which he seemingly constructs a façade, an attempt to hide himself, in order to find something authentic in his roles. The prosthetics, the hair changes and the punishing fluctuations in weight can sometimes be a crutch, but they’re also directly tied to the ring of truth in his best performances.

Bale’s new film, the Dick Cheney biopic “Vice,” has drawn fiercely polarized responses, with criticisms thrown both at typical Great Man Movie problems (lumpy one-thing-after-another structure, an over-explanatory script) and writer-director Adam McKay’s own additions (divisive fourth wall breaks and an uneasy tone that walks a thin line between “lacerating” and “lecturing”). The actor's deceptively sensitive work as Cheney, however, does showcase much of what makes him interesting as a performer beyond the bodily transformations and close attention to detail: he plays people with a single-minded obsession that outweighs other concerns, a need to pursue it at all costs or else fall into the void of their lives, and a self-presentation meant to prop it up.

One could look at any number of Bale performances to highlight this, but these five best discuss the range of emotions and tones he’s able to explore while exemplifying this theme.

"Empire of the Sun" / Warner Bros. Pictures

1987: “Empire of the Sun”

When Steven Spielberg cast 12-year-old Christian Bale as Jamie “Jim” Graham in his adaptation of J.G. Ballard’s semi-autobiographical novel, he had no way of knowing his young lead actor would grow up to become one of the biggest stars of his generation. Even so, “Empire of the Sun,” the story of an English boy coming of age in Japanese-occupied China, marks the breakthrough of an extraordinarily gifted young actor, one with a real skill for sketching out the death of innocence. Bale’s early scenes show a classic Spielbergian dreamer, one whose fixation on airplanes shows no real understanding of the ideology behind the battles or the life-or-death situations that people find themselves in. He looks to everyday misery (beggars in the street) with curiosity but not compassion, and his casual cruelty to his family’s Chinese servant (a matter-of-fact, disinterested “you have to do what I say” when told his mom doesn’t want him eating before bed) is less out of a sense of superiority than a total lack of understanding of how his privilege dictates her life, to the point where he's completely shocked when that same servant slaps him after the Japanese invade and she no longer has to pretend to respect him. 

As Jamie falls in with John Malkovich’s savvy crook Basie and they’re both sent to an internment camp, Bale shows a child’s adaptability, rushing through the camp and carrying out chores to win over everyone from his mentor to his captors. He’s at once a young opportunist and an earnest child, one whose mimicry of Malkovich and company (adopted American clothing, repeated jokes without understanding their cruelty) never quite gives way to comprehending that they don’t care about him (his sincere declaration that Basie is his friend is met with little more than amusement from the older man). At the same time, his admiration for the Japanese—a childlike fascination both with their aircraft and their sense of honor—protects him from the harsh realities of the camp, where people are beaten and starved or left to disease. In a late scene, Bale’s shift from unbridled joy at seeing bombers in action (hugging himself, cheering) to emotional breakdown after he’s rebuked by an elder (“I can’t remember what my parents look like”) show how much he’s depended on a fantastical sense of the world to escape how little he has left. His adoption of American habits and Basie’s theory of survivalism, paired with his salutes and bows to Japanese military men with a palpable sense of respect, is a child’s way of playing war games, an ideology- and nationality-blind view of war straight out of boys’ games and comics. Jamie has to act it out, or else realize that there’s little honor in doing whatever it takes to survive and that he’s unlikely to make it out in one piece. If the film and performance show a child’s resilience, they also show how quickly their views of the world can crumble, yielding only pain.

"Velvet Goldmine" / Miramax

1998: “Velvet Goldmine”

A few notable exceptions like his cocky performance in “Newsies” aside, Bale spent much of the ‘90s giving quietly sensitive, soulful supporting performances that he’s since only reprised on occasion (most effectively for Terrence Malick, who yielded one of his very best performances as John Rolfe in “The New World,” where Bale somehow makes unfailing kindness magnetic). Bale is very good in literary adaptations such as Gillian Armstrong’s “Little Women” (as the charming, lovelorn Laurie), but his best work of this period is in Todd Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine” as Arthur Stuart, a music journalist reminiscing about his self-discovery as a gay man in the glam rock era. Haynes’ film borrows its structure from “Citizen Kane,” attempting to find how Jonathan Rhys-Meyers pop superstar Brian Slade disappeared, but it also works as a “Kane” for Bale’s character, who’s introduced in the middle of a youthful, “A Hard Day’s Night” rush to a concert, all teased hair and youthful excitement. Then we’re yanked to 1984, and his eyes are sunken, his demeanor sad and reticent. What happened that brought him to this place?

Bale’s greatness as a physical actor is often yoked to his extreme dedication to losing and gaining pounds, but “Velvet Goldmine” can serve as an example of how he can use his body to tell a story. He plays teenage Arthur with a measure of shyness that suggests a boy who hasn’t yet found an outlet for his dreams or a place to be himself; he hangs his head in embarrassment when he’s told his musical hero is a “poof” and that he himself is “disgusting.” Contrast that with his first strut on the streets of London minutes later, in a tight purple shirt, a moment of freedom that’s both liberating and frightening, his gait more open but still uncertain. The rest of his journey in the ‘70s scenes of the film is a navigation between those two poles of repression—his heaving frame as his father shames him for his homosexuality—and short-lived freedom, including a first romantic connection with rock star Curt Wild (Ewan McGregor). It makes his scenes in 1984 all the more painful, in which a withdrawn, older (and older-looking) Arthur shuffles through the streets, looking as if he’s trying to blend in with everything rather than stand out on his own. 

Bale plays the role not as someone who’s found a permanent new identity and acceptance, but rather as someone who, briefly, saw a better life and the first stabs of individuality in the music and fashions that meant so much to him, before those small gains were rolled back and a new, more powerful form of repression turned his world to gray. Perhaps Arthur wouldn’t have stayed glammed up his whole life—most people don’t look and dress like they did when they were teenagers—but he’s stuck in a point in time where he can’t even find a modest form of self-expression. Bale the actor locates that moment of temporary self-discovery and shows just how it’s so intoxicating: it’s a first assertion of self, even in an idealized form. That adult Arthur can’t fully break from that fixation is understandable; that he should be required to totally deny any semblance of it is tragic.

"American Psycho" / Lions Gate Films

2000: “American Psycho”

Bale really arrived as a Great Actor™ with “American Psycho,” the first film that showcased his ability to dramatically transform his appearance for a role. Bale hasn’t shaken his attraction to these challenges, and while he usually manages to transcend the stunt-y nature of these roles (“The Fighter,” “Rescue Dawn,” the otherwise tedious “The Machinist”), there are times where the trick is more impressive than the performance (“I'm Not There,” the “Dark Knight” trilogy). Still, none of this detracts from his work as psychopathic yuppie Patrick Bateman, which remains his most iconic performance. 

“American Psycho” director Mary Harron has spoken about Bale being inspired by a Tom Cruise talk show appearance in which the star displayed “intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes,” and the film itself draws parallels between him and President Ronald Reagan’s use of sunny optimism to sell cruel policies. Either comparison works: in his public life, Bateman has a near-permanent tone of unfailing cheerfulness, discussing the importance of ending apartheid and world hunger as he flashes a killer smile. His eyes, however, always have the glint of predator, a coldness that only occasionally breaks through in creepy remarks, delivered with the same psychotic chipperness (“Not if you want to keep your spleen”) that might not hide their perverted nature if any of his friends were a little less self-absorbed and a little more perceptive.

What’s brilliant about Bale and Harron’s conception of Bateman is that they’re able to convey the character’s essential loneliness without losing the humor or downplaying the grotesque nature of his (possibly imaginary) crimes. Most talk about Bale’s performance focuses on his informercial slick delivery of Huey Lewis factoids before chopping up Jared Leto with an axe. More telling, however, is his scene with Chloe Sevigny’s secretary, in which Bale shifts from blithe morbidity (bringing up Ted Bundy’s dog, Lassie) to psychotic fixation on consumerism (lashing out at Sevigny for almost leaving an ice cream-covered spoon on his coffee table) to insincere, monotone openness (“I guess you could say I just want to have a meaningful relationship with someone”) to, finally, a real recognition of his own hideousness (“I think if you stay, something bad will happen,” delivered with something that approaches but doesn't quite reach sadness).

Bateman’s cruelty and emptiness couldn’t be plainer, and yet he finds no release in his actions or his confessions. We see that morning routine, the search for the perfect business card, the hunt for the reservation at the best restaurant, and see an attempt to assume the role of the idealized yuppie, but it’s all work ... no soul, no joy. The same goes for Bateman’s more sociopathic actions, whether it’s a self-regarding attempt at a threesome (in which he’s more enamored with striking godlike poses than the sex itself) or stabbing a homeless man on the street. He has the impulses that give him a brief flash of life, but there's little catharsis. Bale plays his compulsions, both murderous and consumerist, as those of a joyless man who attempts to approximate enjoyment. His intense commitment to the role’s physical requirements mimics the character’s own intense commitment to a lifestyle, but where one finds a pulse, the other finds a pit. If most of Bale’s characters attempt to outrun an emptiness or pain in their lives, Bateman is his own emptiness, and no amount of heavy lifting and slashing can change it.

"The Prestige" / Warner Bros. Pictures

2006: “The Prestige”

If “American Psycho” made Bale a name actor and “The Machinist” cemented his reputation for near-deranged commitment, “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” made him universally recognizable, physical transformations be damned. Truth be told, his most famous films with Christopher Nolan aren’t his most notable, succeeding primarily on the basis of their villains and thematic ambition. While he’s admirably grounded and present as Bruce Wayne, Bale never quite dives into the monster that Batman's alter ego is fighting so hard not to be; his line readings are too glum, his face too stoic, rarely registering the internal struggle that Nolan’s scripts try (a little too hard) to give him (for a better heroic Bale performance, see “3:10 to Yuma”). It’s his other collaboration with Nolan, “The Prestige,” that best exemplifies that inner conflict and, indeed, the defining theme of Bale’s career.

There’s no way to talk about Bale’s performance in “The Prestige” meaningfully without diving into spoilers, so here’s your warning.

Bale’s Alfred Borden is established as the more risk-taking of “The Prestige’s” central characters, compared with Hugh Jackman’s Robert Angier, something hinted in early scenes as the actor speaks to Angier and Michael Caine’s Cutter with an air of arrogance and almost demented devotion to the craft. This extends to his personal life, which is eventually revealed to be a literal double life: Bale’s playing both Borden and his twin (dubbed “Fallon”), who loved separate women (Rebecca Hall and Scarlet Johansson) and ruined their lives through a total obsession and commitment to their craft over all else. Observant viewers can spot the moments in which Bale’s warmth with Sarah (Hall), Borden’s wife, is genuine and when “Fallon” is speaking to her with nothing behind the eyes. One particularly painful scene, a final confrontation between “Fallon” and Sarah, features one of the most gutting moments in Bale’s career, in which his anger at her realization of the truth prevents him from even attempting to maintain the illusion. Asked if he loves her, he spits out a “Not today” with a level of coldness worthy of Patrick Bateman.

The performance is, on some level, as much of a stunt as “The Machinist” or “Batman Begins,” but the trick of it feels all the more appropriate, given the subject. Bale imbues his twin magicians with a combination of mischievousness and palpable sadness, showing a flash of joy in their eyes after showing a child a magic trick ... and a sense of loss as the twins face each other, knowing only one can exist. Perhaps Bale found something moving in the idea of men who find purpose in deceiving viewers in order to entertain them, and in the idea of men who are madly committed to realizing an idealized form of craft at the expense of their personal identities. The dual performance shows two men who are constantly amused at their own ability to pull off a trick (especially at the expense of bitter rival Angier) and simultaneously aware that they’ve sacrificed true happiness for an obsession that they seem to be pursuing without any real thought as to why.

"The Big Short" / Paramount

2015: “The Big Short”

By the late 2000s, Bale’s own commitment to his craft seemed to have lost real direction, lapsing into self-seriousness (“Terminator Salvation,” “Harsh Times,” his dull work in the otherwise sturdy “Public Enemies”) or pure imitation (“I’m Not There,” in which he’s by far the weakest Bob Dylan). Whatever the weaknesses of post-“I Heart Huckabees” David O. Russell (shapelessness, self-satisfaction, volume over everything), he managed to get Bale to loosen up as few directors beyond Gillian Armstrong and Werner Herzog had, directing a pair of lively performances in “The Fighter” (for which Bale won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor) and “American Hustle” (another nomination). Bale is at his best as of late when tapping into his comedic side, as best demonstrated in his first collaboration with Adam McKay, “The Big Short” (a third nomination). 

Playing hedge fund manager Michael Burry, the oddest of the men who made millions by betting the U.S. economy would collapse, Bale roots the comedy of the character in his behavior. A whiz with numbers, Bale’s Burry nevertheless has no social skills; the humor of his bizarre compliment (“That’s a very nice haircut. Did you do it yourself?”) to prospective employee is not only in its inherent strangeness, but in his halting delivery and blank expression, as if he knows he’s not good with these interactions but not exactly why the thing he’s about to say is weird. His gestures are similarly uncomfortable, whether he’s flashing a smile for no reason or awkwardly rubbing at his glass eye while stammering about subprime mortgages. And yet, Burry is one of the least deceptive and most honest characters in Bale’s three-decade career, focused entirely on the tangible at the expense of more difficult-to-pin-down things like social niceties and gut instinct. It is a very different, but equally telling, echo of Bale’s own methods that one can find in his more deluded characters. If Dicky Eklund or Irving Rosenthal act in self-deception to convince themselves and others of something, Burry concentrates only on what he can see empirically to find his truth, not unlike how Bale drills down on tangible external details (hair, weight, voice) as a way to find his own.

If Bale’s performance in “The Big Short” is his funniest, it is also among his saddest, as his character’s obsession with numbers at the expense of person-to-person interactions make him both the ideal person to predict a market collapse and the worst person to convey it. When confronted by angry investors, he does little to assuage their concerns, instead speaking in a low but self-assured tone (at the idea that nobody can see a bubble: “That’s dumb ... ”) that he can’t see is doomed to only further enrage people. When he’s rebuked, he can admit his weaknesses, but not without reinforcing his total conviction in what he does. “I don’t know how to be sarcastic,” Bale says with a slight shrug and a tone that’s equally confessional and weary. “I just know how to read numbers.” It’s the rare Bale character where one’s obsession is what can help spot the looming, soul-and-economy-destroying void, even if it can’t help avert it. 

"Vice" / Annapurna Pictures

This makes for a fascinating polar opposite to his most recent McKay-directed performance. Like Bateman and others before him, Bale’s Cheney in "Vice" is a cold-hearted cipher, a man so consumed with the idea of power and the need and ability to wield it that questions of ethics, morality or popularity never elicit a moment’s thought. His measured cadence and small gestures (a small head jerk on “different understanding,” a shift from a guarded posture to a hand wave on “mundane” to suggest a helping hand) show someone who has weighed exactly what he has to do to pull someone over to his side in a way that makes them think he’s nudging them along to where they always wanted to be, rather than totally manipulating them. 

Bale actually almost played George W. Bush himself in Oliver Stone’s “W.” before finding the prosthetics weren’t to his satisfaction (another case of needing tangible details, or self-deception, for a successful performance), but he feels like a better fit for Cheney, a man hiding behind a façade of reserved normality to hide an all-consuming desire for expanded empire, denying ulterior motives to the public and possibly to himself. The world is remade in his cruel image in a way that persists to this day, and that will be near-impossible to change. If Burry, like Bateman, can clearly see the void, Cheney, like Bateman, is the void.

from All Content http://bit.ly/2FvN4OM

[cwkrp]

have a little imagination, will you?

INTRODUCING   kim sunho, he/him, 23/11/95 COURSING   ba in architecture, third year AFFILIATION   crux ANNOTATIONS   n/a

a note from the past.

TOKEN.

everything starts at the beginning, it’s the defining moment for all that is to be, or to be not. things can be fixed or modified or broken, but the inception is the core onto which time works. and well, sunho was raised to be stupid.

he wasn’t an unintelligent child. he wasn’t noticeably bright either. but the question was never the potential of his intellect, it isn’t for most kids, but rather how it was cultivated into what it would come into being. how it was stimulated.

sunho was educated to be rich - and stupid, which is integral to the state of richness. knowledge was only useful, as far as the social structures in charge of building his character were concerned, in how it instructed rampant materialism, concealed aggression ideally teetering on psychopathy and an inherent sense of entitlement. being rich is the moral axis of his education, and the most notable variables applicable are behavioral, making luxury look good, and political, getting richer. books or whatever were for the misfortunate punished with the need for thought, enlightenment was for those born into opulence.

and yet, there are things he can learn. if not out of an inquisitive mind, from circumstance.

nothing is more circumstantial than being held on a tight leash by his mother during a fundraiser. she has had some to drink, and she thinks he can’t tell. she hisses at him not to make a scene when he talks back, prods at him when he goes silent with a visible roll of eye.

she has a way of ruining things. his hosting of this stupid fundraisers was her idea, to begin with. he had said no, but she makes his father dangle the office internship in his face with the one condition of making them look good, like his brother would. they blow the whistle and he wags his tail, like always. he doesn’t even want the spot, and yet there he is, on hands and knees to please them. please her.

he should have known better.

her boring old friends love him, like they would love any fresh-faced sixteen year old in a tux faking polite smiles at them. he doesn’t understand why she has to pick at mistakes like they matter. everyone loves him, and yet she asks him through gritted teeth why he has to embarrass her every time. why can’t he do better. why can’t he be proper rich and stupid. why can’t he be his brother.

why can’t he be his brother.

there’s something about the way she says it, eyes so cold on his that he can’t bring himself to look away. her voice never raises, but she foams at the mouth, hand squeezing his pulse. his fingers twitch in response while his lips part open. there’s a moment of clarity, a sobering effect to the voidness in her voice. he has seen her frustrated, he has seen her angry.

this is neither.

that was the first and last day his mother would teach him a lesson worth learning, the single instance in which she’d pass him a piece of wisdom he could actually do anything with. that day, his mother teaches him she didn’t (stress: wouldn’t) love him.

and then he gets research for homework:

i. parental neglect — the words his therapist would tiptoe around, her lips trembling at their whisper, while he busied himself with imagining them around his dick, nude lipstick smearing the shaft like his girlfriend’s pink one would, sometimes.

ii. gratitude — the distant sensation of resigned relief one experiences at finding something’s unattainable, putting one out of their lifelong, desperate search for it.

STEREOTYPE.

the first kim son is born a heir. he has an empire to inherit, and is trained to raise to the task from his earliest years. they made a picture perfect family on paper: the real estate mogul, the early retired modeling starlet, and their beautiful first born, a son. there is pressure on his shoulders, but there's also splendor, a calling to greatness few people are endowed with in their lives.

and then, well, there's also sunho. he is not as much of an investment as he is a vanity project. his mother had decided that a second child would be the god-given cure to her midlife crisis. like growing a fetus inside your womb in your thirties would freeze time on its tracks and end famine. not that she cared about the latter.

after a difficult pregnancy, his mother gets a difficult child. he rips her inside out and continues to ruin every plan she has ever laid out for herself with each breath he takes. her husband dismisses it as another instance of her being committed by her nerves. she continues to refuse to even look at the toddler.

off to a rough start.

sunho grows up on dangerously low expectations. with all the roles and tasks trusts to this brother, there is little left for him to do. it doesn't help that there's an eight-year gap between the two children, no one had ever planned for sunho.

the second kim son is born an inconvenience, and no one knows what to do with him.

there are perks. the main one being that he doesn't need to be the absolute idiot his brother is in charge of being, speaking like he is reading off a dictionary page, shirt buttoned up to the collar. he feels no sympathy when he notices the misery the roll puts the boy through, he never helps. they are essentially strangers living in the same house, barely exchanging a word throughout the day.

as for cons, there's everything else. his mother calls him difficult. his father doesn't do much to help. his brother casts a shadow on him. worst of all, sunho himself is pathetic. given no attention, he makes it his sole goal to get it. nightmare child at infancy, tamed rebel in his teens, then jaded asshole for the rest of his youth. he learns to stop begging and writhing, and takes the higher road of passive indignation. it doesn't much change things, but it's a whole lot easier.

he learns the value of low effort, the art in having it easy. he embraces his mediocrity and wears it like a crown, because that's all he is ever taught to do. he'll grow up and get a job with his brother, sit back and make the money while the poor fuck stands in the front line to let stress eat away at him. sunho can pay someone to write him a nice eulogy, that should make it up for it.

at the end of the day, he cannot bring himself to care what you call him. rich asshole. trust fund baby. desperate neglected child. pick and choose, sunho can put on a good show when given the right role.

a color for the present.

GREEN.

he wants a cig, that's all. he wants it between his fingers, the light flickering bright as he breathes in, lungs washed dry, and out again, fumes licking at this lashes. he wants it with whiskey, dry, and the dead quiet of the evening. just him, and the breeze, and the smoke. his soul longs for it with a burning pain. he really just wants a fucking cig.

but she makes it so hard, with her hands full of questions, and her eyes, barely able to hold a shape that isn't a frown. it's such a downer. 

the air misses his nostrils, and his mouth is all tongue and teeth, none of them his. what is she so fucking sad over all the time? you'd think he's a monster, with the way she mopes and whines and swears it's the last time to her friends. does she think he never heard what they say about him behind the closed doors, to make her feel better?

ashes stain his jeans, he wipes them off with an annoyed hiss.

"you have to give me space," he explains, as patient as he can be. he doesn't want a fight. he keeps saying that, over and over again. if only she would listen.

he takes a drag, but the tingle in his throat feels like shit with her staring into his nape. she laughs, like she does when she wants to punch him.

"you have all the space between us," she says somewhere behind him, facing away. she turns her back when he turns his, and that's part of the problem, isn't it?

the problem is much bigger than that, though. she wants to go in and get under covers, and he wants to stay and finish his smoke. she is asking why two bodies cannot occupy the same space, and he just wants his smoke. that is the problem.

her reprise, "I don't have any space left."

jesus. so fucking pretentious.

he laughs like he does when he wants her to punch him, tongue in cheek, head tipping. it's so easy not to care after a point, he wonders if there was ever a point in which it was more complicated than this.

"yeah, well. you could always get lost." he doesn't miss a bit this time, doesn't pick the right words. his fingers ache with cold, and when she tells him to fuck himself too, her fading steps echoing down the pavement, he finally throws the cigarette on the floor to dig balled fists into his pockets, shivering.

the cigarette lies half smoked on the floor when he walks out. he doesn't even remember to put it out.

BLUE.

he sits at the back, scratching his nose as he lets his hair curtain over his eyes. he tastes metal and smells the heavy rain seeping through thin walls in the stuffy room. there's not many people, but the limited space makes it look crowded.

there's a framed picture at the other side of the room behind a single candle, and two young girls sit next to it. they're around his age, and he knows their names without having ever talked to them.

he doesn't know fear until she dies.

she was not his mother, but she was the one his mother had thrown money at to make her problems disappear, make him disappear. she was not his mother, but she was the next best thing.

they had a rocky relationship. he gave her bile and snark, she gave him love and patience. he didn't know what to do with it, and she understood that. she used to pet him like one pets a scared animal, and he would read it as condescension.

he doesn't know if it's right to say he loved her, but he knows he misses her. he knows it was his place to do better for her. if not in life, at least on her deathbed. his mother said to her family there was nothing she could do while the poor woman wasted away in a hospital. he has such a fleeting grasp of empathy still, but he knows that to be bullshit when he sees it.

but he couldn't stand to embarrass his mother. he sat there and let her send the only person who had ever been patient with him to her death.

the weird thing is that, sitting there in that room filled with people who did more than he had done, unable to walk up to greet her family, he doesn't know if he came for her or for himself. he can no longer tell whether he's paying respects or seeking his own closure.

whatever it is he was looking for, he leaves without ever finding it. maybe it's what he deserves.