Higgs

I was too cryptic, again. I meant Lea and Yvette, whose Val and Dina could provide dramatic tension by giving Courtney conflicting advice based on their respective roles and backgrounds, forcing him to make choices between people and ideas and thereby grow in the process. It's the triangle the show desperately needs in the absence of any romantic one. Yet any dialogue between the two women has been completely suppressed, even the one we know they must have had when Dina first let Val into her apartment.

I was attempting to indicate I agreed with you completely regarding the friends. But comedy can have drama, tension, and purpose in its own style. "All In The Family", "Modern Family", "Parks and Rec" are examples. Characters argue, get angry, make jokes, make choices. When the writers refuse to introduce politics and ideology when the opponent of a young black mayor is a figurehead puppet of local Republican power brokers (Gunt answering his cell after the kids' invasion: "... How's the dealership?"), it seems a gross misreading of the current public mood and "bland" is what you get. (Gunt is being treated as just a shorter and less masculine version of Sue Sylvester.) And can someone explain why the two most experienced actors on the show NEVER engage in even a brief dialogue despite appearing close together in several scenes and likely having some conflicting political viewpoints and principles. Now that would be tension.

In Elizabethan theater, the “bumbling friends” would have been called “comic relief”, their appearances very limited and in relief of dramatic tension. “Bland” suggests there is nothing you need relieved. What specific elements do you feel are missing? (This is NOT a rhetorical question or a graded test. But, yes, I do have my own answers.)

I am genuinely curious about your reasons. What's wrong/missing?

The series creator has said that a major theme was the growth of Courtney from boy to man to leader. Learning to listen to Val will be part of that process and therefore can't happen at the very beginning. And, while Courtney needs to find his brain, Val needs to find her heart. (Oz comes to Ft. Grey.) That might be the dynamic that leads her to a a romantic connection with Courtney, even if it's just a one-time event.

I first saw Jane Lynch in "40-Year Old Virgin", and her "fuck-buddy" scene with Steve Carell was brilliant. But as I encountered her in various other movies and TV shows and finally Glee, I noticed that while she was world-class in sarcasm/satire/snark/cynicism, and I always laughed, that's all she ever did -- always in the same way, always with the same voice. There were no end of complaints about the over-use of Sue on Glee, particularly that she had long since become a one-dimensional, mustache-twirling, Wile E. Coyote. But that's not because the writers didn't try, and often. They gave her a sister and protege, both with Down syndrome, a funeral eulogy, a mother, a boyfriend, and multiple reconciliations with other characters. She just seems to be incapable of evoking normal human emotion. The one scene that highlighted this inability most clearly was when she came into the radio station to meet Rod for a big date, and caught him making out with his co-anchor. She should have been furious/humiliated/embarrassed/..., but there was nothing, so they dressed her in a zoot suit to at least get the laugh. Something analogous happened with Megan Hilty on "Smash", a show that failed for many reasons, but I believe that one of them was that Hilty, as the star, couldn't get enough people to root for her because she couldn't do vulnerability. In one of the last episodes, she is playing Marilyn Monroe in a bedroom with JFK. After one or two failed attempts, in order to display the vulnerability the director of the show-within-the show wants, she suddenly, without prompting, drops her robe and goes full frontal for the audience. One show had to put a costume on Lynch, another show had to completely disrobe Hilty; the ultimate reasons were similar. Dorothy Parker famously said of Katharine Hepburn's performance in some play, "She runs the gamut of emotions from A to B." Hepburn was to get much deeper into the alphabet; Jane never has.

Somewhere Over The Rainbow at LA Grove Lea Lied, again (and a pun for multilingual snobs). Lea Unleashed: For Good with Kristin at the Hollywood Bowl. (I'd like to hear her do the whole damn thing, as with Torn.) Louder Live (5 songs - Walmart Soundcheck) As usual, greater passion than the studio recordings, with a possible hint as to stage presence in a solo concert.

From the NYTimes review: It’s interesting in this regard to listen to this podcast interview with Sarah Treem, the series’s showrunner. She talks about how writers on the show’s staff focus on certain characters, and mentions that Anya Epstein (who has worked on “Homicide: Life on the Street,” “In Treatment” and the underrated “Commander in Chief”) supplies much of the voice of Helen. So while we rightly sing the praises of Maura Tierney’s performance in the role, we should also give some credit to Ms. Epstein.

Ruth Wilson will be starring as Hedda Gabler in London. It will be shown in theaters all around the world in March '17. https://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/shows/hedda-gabler Alison is dead. Long live Hedda (well, at least to the end of the play.)

Hester is a murderous psychopath. Precisely because Hester is being played as neither a caricature nor a stereotype but as a real person (unlike most of the other major characters), nothing she has ever said or done can now be taken as inherently funny. Lea's fans might smile due to the skills she brings to the characterization, others because they generally have sympathy for the Devil. But when she lifts the mask, in the most genuinely terrifying moment of the series, we are left staring into the "blank and pitiless"* abyss of a deranged human mind. Scream Queens is driven primarily by the madness of Hester's implacable pursuit of revenge. Chanel, the focus of her fury, is not merely the mean HBIC of a sorority, she is the embodiment of an ignorant, hedonistic, self-centered populous oblivious to the threat of “the blood-dimmed tide”* until they find their own selves drowning in it. (Chanel’s quick killing would be too kind; better by far to have her agonize in the slow death of dread. Emma R is spot-on in her farcically satirical portrayal.) This morality tale of Evil loosed upon the world is given contemporary currency by the purposeful choice of the Ivanka costume, where the lipsticked porcine facade is pulled aside to reveal the malignant, menacing face of the vile Trump clan, as it "slouches"* towards Washington. We recognize a horror that’s been seen before and shall surely be seen again. *THE SECOND COMING Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity. Surely some revelation is at hand; Surely the Second Coming is at hand. The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand; A shape with lion body and the head of a man, A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun, Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds. The darkness drops again but now I know That twenty centuries of stony sleep Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle, And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born? William Butler Yeats (1919) Does any of this grandiose deconstruction capture the actual intent of the show's creators? If only.

There are four kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, statistics, and distortion/dissembling/disingenuousness in the manipulation of facts, repeated ad nauseum in the hope of persuading the preternaturally gullible, illiterate and/or innumerate to adopt them as truth. It doesn't take an advanced degree in Linguistics or data analysis to understand perfectly well that five "consecutive" RECENT weeks of low attendance at JCM's Hedwig performances might suggest an established TREND of declining interest which Darren cannot reasonably be expected to overcome.

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics." A bit of truth: http://www.broadwayworld.com/grosses/HEDWIG-AND-THE-ANGRY-INCH Darren's draw was competitive with JCM's in the five consecutive weeks before the one-off final week's rush to see him.

You were lucky to get even that. Until CC auditioned, the original script had zero gays. For a series about a high school show choir. Produced by a gay. In the 21st century. And not in Iran or Putin's Russia.

Then I suggest you stick to documentaries, or, when desperate, reality shows. Drama isn't meant to be naturalistic; it's heightened reality. Chris was accused of playing himself as Kurt. The key word there is "playing", which is an entirely different world from "being". Reduced to its inevitable absurd conclusion, the idea of theater strictly representing the real world would result in the elimination of, amongst a million or so other things, Beijing opera, Japanese Noh, science fiction, Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro", Strauss' "Der Rosenkavalier", virtualy all baroque opera, including Handel's, DD-L's Left Foot, Jon as Melchior, and Artie's fantasy scenes in "Glee", and would surely lead to the End of Western Civilization As We Know It when a 6', 210 lb. transgendered woman in spike heels drags Darren Criss kicking and screaming from the Belasco stage.

https://www.stjamestheatre.co.uk/theatre/mcqueen/The theater is not "West End". Dianna, an "acclaimed Hollywood actress", is the co-star. How she landed this role in a country of Ruth Wilsons and Carey Mulligans is beyond my limited knowledge, intelligence, and imagination.

Although 'twas I who called his singing "terrible", a word or two of caution is in order. The acoustics in many sections of Broadway theaters are notoriously bad, and the recording from who knows where was probably made with lousy equipment. There are also the factors of opening night jitters and his uncertainty about vocal stamina leading to a tendency to hold back early on. I've heard him sing better live.But all of this has to be understood from the perspective that I would never go to see either Hedwig or FN even if I were in NYC, unless the the former were led by Lea, Bette Midler, or Alan Cumming, and the latter was conceived as a flashback by Barrie in his dotage, played by Sean Connery, Cheyenne Jackson as the younger Barrie, and with no children except as portrayed by miming midgets.

"Believe" from FN: http://youtu.be/PjAoNH5iUwY It's the flagship song that is meant to convey the central theme of the show. Its production should soar. It didn't for me. Matt's singing and dancing are excellent, his (neologism alert!) brogueing is good enough for America, but he can't transcend the material. Nevertheless, he's having fun, it'll have more than a decent run, and his career will be considerably advanced. It's all good. Audios of Darren's singing on opening night/dress rehearsal(?): http://grassivan.tumblr.com/post/117756853693(click the titles) He's terrible, he'll be a great success, he's having fun, his run is guaranteed, and his career will be considerably advanced. No animals have been or will be harmed in the process.

Yes, I did confuse them - but that was because they were both so awful I had to stop listening. Actually, it might in fact turn out to be close, as JCM has explicitly indicated he might be re-conceptualizing the show to play off Darren's relative youth.

All I ever claimed is that Darren sings about as well as Jon Groff. Here he is with two more tasteless performers who chose Darren in order to trade on his worldwide fame in order to make a cheap buck. w/Salonga http://youtu.be/0bEk1l8ryeM w/Feinstein PLEASE HELP - how do I just include the link on an iPad? So I still stand by my original claim, but I resented having to go listen to him sing in order to prove it. As to Hedwig, I believe he has the uninhibited manic energy and boyish charm to pull it off. But then again, I expected (and hoped) MM would triumph in Neverland, but I was wrong.

The problem is that Jon's singing BEFORE the tap dancing isn't particularly good and is not as good as I have heard Darren at his best.The unfounded pre-performance attack on Darren's Hedwig amounts to calling John Cameron Mitchell a crass and venal individual who lacks the artistic integrity to prevent an unqualified actor from assuming the lead in his magnum opus. This may sound crazy, but if I want to know where the talent lies, I look to see in whom industry pros risk their money, time, and reputations. Sometimes it's merely a question of "horses for courses", and just as Darren couldn't do Barrie as well as MM, I doubt that MM could do Hedwig as well as Darren.

Very few leading men or ladies in Broadway musicals can "dance", and very few musicals of any widely-acknowledged prestige require that they do. If Darren can dance at all, as suggested by the NYTimes article cited, above, he'd be "better than most", by definition. Moving and dancing are not the same thing. Lea can move, but can't dance. NPH can't dance either, and Hedwig doesn't require it. "Choreography" can apply to individual or mass movement, not just dance.

Yes, Darren might be a better dancer than most Broadway leading men. Also, he sings about as well as Jon, but MM is better than Darren at everything. From: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/theater/darren-criss-of-glee-fills-daniel-radcliffes-shoes.html?_r=0 In a rehearsal studio off Times Square last week, Darren Criss — a breakout star of the Fox high school musical series “Glee” — was performing a bit too perfectly. Preparing for his Broadway debut on Tuesday night as the corporate climber J. Pierrepont Finch in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” Mr. Criss was leaping into the air during the number “Grand Old Ivy” and tucking in his feet as a dancer would. This drew a correction from the director, Rob Ashford, who wanted Mr. Criss’s feet to be flat and extend sideways like those of an outstretched marionette, because his character should lack finesse. “What you’re doing is almost too good,” Mr. Ashford told Mr. Criss, who stood panting slightly in dress slacks and a blue T-shirt from his alma mater, the University of Michigan. A moment later Mr. Criss nailed the leap with precise imprecision.

Actually, yes, she is. Lea can make herself look beautiful even though she isn't even pretty, she's a great singer even though she has real technical deficiencies, and she's a terrific mover* even though she can't dance to save her soul. What's her secret? Acting. It's all in the acting.*e.g., striding down the hall to get Sandy fired, "Gives You Hell", DROMP, "Go Your Own Way", standing up and walking while 35 weeks pregnant.

"See Jane sing" https://www.mondaviarts.org/events/event.cfm?event_id=1551&season=2014&ignoremobilepage=y&utm_source=wordfly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20150421ArtsMail&utm_content=version_A Well, I guess it's better than listening to her sing. $58 for all seats in the orchestra pictured at the top of the link.

When the camera focused in on Don's hand reaching down to touch the grass as he watched Suzanne, it was a glaringly obvious signal of his immediate sensual attraction. Females who look like Suzanne have been continually approached by males since they were, what, eight?, and they bloody well know the signs. The idea that there was any ambiguity about Don's intentions toward her is perhaps the most bizarre suggestion I've ever heard made about this show. Suzanne became an embarrasment to the professional reviewers who did not have the intellectual integrity to finally admit they had completely misread her, and to those who didn't wish to be reminded that the Drapers were lousy, emotionally-absent parents and that Don was as shitty a brother as he had been everything else but a storyteller. Suzanne was despised for reasons analogous to antibodies attacking a foreign biological invader. She wasn't just new or different, as many other accepted/tolerated characters were, she was a complete outsider to the cultural and political ethos of everyone else. The worst that can be said in comparison about Jugulared Joan or Pious Peggy is that the former whored herself out to get a partnership or that the latter slept with Pete (never mind her taste in men) on the eve of his wedding? Please. They had tried their maternal darndest to convince people to self-ingest cancer. These Mad. Ave. men and women are the Sopranos gone legit, but far richer and more powerful, and in addition to making much more erudite and charming dinner companions than the uncouth boys from Joisy, they are also exceptionally adept at cleaning up any blood-red wine they might spill on their carpets. Weiner could have had Bert Cooper be a devotee of any political philosophy (or none in particular), but he chose Ayn Rand, and for a reason. If someone had accused Bert of being an amoral, rapacious capitalist whose goal was to take as much as he could for himself and give nothing away unless forced, he would have thanked them for recognizing his intelligence, realism, and value to society. By the same token, Weiner could have given the firm, in general, and wayward author Ken, in particular, any big name client, but he chose Dow Chemical, also for a reason. In the late 1960s, Dow was generally thought of according to this: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/twodays/peopleevents/e_napalm.html http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phan_Thi_Kim_Phuc# Now, Dow had actually gotten out of the human-denuding napalm business by 1971 and was into the more gentle and benign Vietnamese-vegetation-denuding business with their colorfully mysterious Agent Orange. The PR advertising done on their behalf wasn't to get people to go to their local hardware store to buy either product, but to have the ultimate effect of getting Americans to accept what was being done in their name. So fuck off, Suzanne, go find yourself another serial philanderer to lead astray, another wrecked marriage to home-wreck, another maypole to traipse barefoot in the park about, and stop showing up in the middle of your summer vacation to run a solar eclipse event for no extra pay - it sets a bad example for the children.