Spartan Girl

Well, on the bright side, Canada won the hockey game!

Quasimodo’s mom’s death in The Hunchback of Notre Dame might be worse than Mufasa’s in The Lion King. Mufasa traumatized us all, but we never actually saw him die. In Hunchback, we still her die: Frollo kicks her in the face and she hits her head on the stone steps. Even though there’s no blood or anything, it’s still pretty dark for Disney. And when Frollo repeatedly lies to Quasimodo that she abandoned him, he basically kills her all over again. As if that’s not bad enough, there’s this awful moment when he yells at Quasimodo for helping Esmeralda escape: “YOU IDIOT! THAT WASN'T KINDNESS, IT WAS CUNNING! SHE'S A G***Y! G****S ARE NOT CAPABLE OF REAL LOVE! THINK, BOY! THINK OF YOUR MOTHER!” Sit with that for a second. We all know Frollo taught Quasimodo that Romani were evil. This moment explicitly reveals Frollo did tell Quasimodo that his mother was Romani, and it twists the knife on two levels: the idea that his mother was a heartless witch, and that because he’s from the Romani he’s inherently a monster, and only Frollo’s charity is keeping him “good.” All to keep Quasimodo under his thumb. All that makes the death so much more devastating .

I have to commend my local paper’s review of MJ The Musical for addressing the issue of whether it’s possible to separate the art from the artist, which has been discussed in a lot of the threads lately. The writer concluded that everyone has to deal with it in their own way, but she welcomed a two-and-a-half long nostalgia break from the real world, and I had to agree with that assessment. That being said, I still believe that some of the Michael Jackson fans are so nuts, they make Swifties look mature.

I would have LOVED to see that again.

I think he spoke for all of us when he told off Debbie.

Has anyone ever seen Kimberly Akimbo? Is it any good? Asking because it’s going to be in Detroit next month, which means it might be in my next season, and I'm wondering if this is going to be the "I only saw this because I'm a season holder" show. But then again, I liked Jagged Little Pill more than I anticipated, so I am keeping an open mind.

Still feel like they should’ve done a proper In Memorium but the fake-out was funny. I keep singing “Cocaine and Some Vodka” in my head, and dammit “Hakuna Matata” is never going to be the same.

Only on this show can a story about accidental masterbation on a basketball be touching. Poor Jeff just wanted a little intimacy. Hayley and Stan have more in common than they do when it comes to their marriages. Did love Stan and Francine brushing each other’s hair. It’s been a while since we got a Bullock subplot. Loved the Picard in-joke, and h8m going Marie Kondo on the CIA. And feeding each other. Seriously, they need to do it and get it over with already.

Cant say I’m fond of him either, but the rest of the cast is promising and Christopher Nolan is a great director, so I’m willing to give it a shot. Again, I’m not expecting this to be 100 percent accurate, I just want it to be better than Troy.

So Damon is Odysseus. I think we all saw that coming. Now tell us who everyone else is playing because the cast is ridiculously huge.

It’s no secret that he’s been a dick to the newer casts every time he hosted, and the old cast didn’t think much of him either. Jane and Laraine were holding Gilda’s photo in front of his face. Could be a coincidence but who knows.

I wouldn’t call it “problematic” per se, just shoddy writing. You want me to like Dr. Pometer, don’t just write him as goofy and awkward to gloss over the fact that his messing around with a patient behind his wife’s back for no apparent reason. At least have us learn more about him and his marriage, or at least have him ACT a little more conflicted about what he’s doing. No disrespect to the late Adrienne Shelley.

I can’t believe they replayed Don’t Look Back In Anger. It was fitting but sad. If only John was the last one standing. He’d be such a funny old guy. I think Garrett is going to be the next to go.

Well I’ll be damned, ScarJo CAN do a good Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors!

Spoke too soon, Mulaney’s bringing the big guns! NATHAN LANE!!!

I think Adam just won the whole night.

Oh shit, MERYL!!! 😂😂😂😂😂

Tim! And Ryan!

I suspected as much…and he was close with Judy Belushi and she just passed away, so there’s that too.

Guess if they did Black Jeopardy, they won’t do Celebrity Jeopardy. Why is Dan Aykroyd the only original cast member that isn’t coming? Is he ok? More Eddie!

I remember that movie. I agree with everything you said. The takeaway is supposed to be that you should still love your family even when they’re the absolute worst? A film version of Waitress the Musical is on Max now. The one thing I hate about both the film and the stage version: I cannot buy the romance between Jenna and Dr. Pometer. Jenna was married to an abusive asshole, but we only see Mrs. Pometer and she seems perfectly nice. We never get a reason why he’s so unhappy with her except that he’s possibly resentful that she’s busy finishing her residency and she doesn’t need him the same way Jenna does or some Nice Guy horseshit as that. Ugh. Yes, they don’t end up together at the end, but still…

Saw the touring production of MJ. Whatever I think of Michael Jackson, I don’t hate the music. The numbers were incredibly choreographed and Jordan Markus and Deandre Hamilton both captured Michael brilliantly. They both practically glided on the stage. Also, I saw the proshot of Waitress the Musical on Max. Never thought that movie could make a good musical, but they managed to pull it off. My only gripe is I found Dr. Pometer even more repulsive than he was in the movie; the actor playing him reminded me strongly of Xander Harris. You can make a guy as dorky as you want, but that doesn’t make his cheating on his wife—with his pregnant patient—any less despicable.

My vote is both.

As do I, and I don’t buy Lorne’s “admiration” either. I wonder if she’d be invited back to perform for the 50th anniversary if she was still alive. My guess is no. I’m glad some of the musical acts they showed got to be on the Peacock special. Seeing them again after so long was a trip. Made me smile seeing Barbra Streisand on Coffee Talk and Aerosmith on Wayne’s World. And David Bowie… The Blues Brothers stuff was my favorite. If only things had turned out differently… Edited to add: Belushi doing Dueling Cockers! So glad they didn’t leave that out!

Black Woods, Blue Sky by Eowyn Ivey: I loved The Snow Child, so of course this was a must-read for me. It was good, but I was NOT prepared for the dark turn it took. You go in expecting a fairy table/dark romance a la Beauty and the Beast, and it winds up being more of a cautionary tale.