aradia22

Seems like a lot of people are calling out of shows lately with covid

https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/theater/here-lies-love-review-messiness-discord-dance-floor/

Very interesting review of Here Lies Love with more historical context. Also, SPOILERS https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/theater/inventing-imelda-review-here-lies-love-broadway

https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/03-2014/appropriate_67885.html/ Read this review after the announcement that Sarah Paulson is going to be performing in this play for Second Stage. I don't think it's for me. Family dramas have to be really special for me to care these days. Mild spoilers in the review but I skimmed it because it gave the best sense of the plot.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Jeremy-Jordan-Eva-Noblezada-Will-Lead-Paper-Mill-Playhouses-World-Premiere-of-THE-GREAT-GATSBY-20230724 This is NOT the Florence Welch Great Gatsby scheduled for ART in 2024.

Maybe I should have tried that on one of the nights with more availability (Tuesday/Wednesday). I don't think it would be worth the schlep to Lincoln Center tonight (since they're closing tomorrow and what seats are available now could go by the evening performance). As I'm typing this, there are still 15 seats for the 2pm matinee and 14 seats for the 8pm show. I feel like they might be nicer at the box office (you can only call Telecharge) but I don't know what they're playing at since I know LCT regularly papers their productions and Camelot has been a divisive so the seats could very well go unused.

Called every day this week. I can see available seats (sometimes a lot of them) but they wouldn't let me past date, so I will not be seeing this production of Camelot.

Stephen Sondheim's townhouse https://www.compass.com/listing/246-east-49th-street-manhattan-ny-10017/1352939100748859761/?fbclid=IwAR2oxaRWJoIpaL1s_u-xaY0dRTDBCQaD19rH4bBt9_il6qy65hypjYJVrb8_aem_ARgvEeXTW80bdG69175tw648DXEP6HNYovJMJkTBcwwNZgjbXv_HDQrmQW9_kvbVMsU&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

https://playbill.com/article/broadway-camelot-gets-early-closing-notice Camelot is closing early. Technically it extended and this is backtracking on that extension, but an LCT revival like this was never intended as a short run.

@ebk57 I wish I'd seen Camelot on my original date so I could tell you about it. Kimberly is fun if you haven't seen it yet but imo not a revelation. It feels like an off-Broadway show mixed with a sitcom but it's enjoyable as a competently executed smaller show. Personally, I'm curious about New York, New York for the set pieces/choreography though the book is apparently terrible. Good notices for Parade but I didn't want to see it at NYCC so I still don't at Broadway prices. (The leads seem miscast/distracting to me.) Nothing about Shucked makes me want to see it besides liking some actors in the cast. I haven't read the reviews for Once Upon a One More Time yet but I've skimmed enough to know they weren't great. People rave about &Juliet and I'm planning to see Here Lies Love. Did you see Funny Girl with Lea? My friend loved her.

They paid to perform. It still has months to go and I'm sure they'd like to pick up the advance before the panicked "show closing" buyers sell out the last few months. They're going on tour. Weird that she performed the same song again though. Alex and Bonnie are fun wins. Scene-stealing performances are a good use of the supporting awards. I still don't want to see Shucked though. I was less impressed by Victoria Clark than other audience members have been when I saw the show off-Broadway. Maybe it's just because I'm just over 30 and I also taught actual teenagers not that long ago who even made me feel old. I didn't buy her as a teen for a moment, but it was a fine performance and I'm certainly not mad about her win. I do hope Sara Bareilles keeps coming back to Broadway. Looking over the wins, there aren't any big surprises. I feel like all the jukebox shows and star casting and shows I'm generally "meh" about have me lukewarm about the wins. Like, what would I even be mad about? Solid performers like Bonnie Milligan took home trophies. Nothing I adored was snubbed. I don't follow plays as much but I didn't feel Topdog/Underdog or Sean Hayes in Good Night, Oscar were dominating the conversation so that's a mild surprise, but not super upsetting. I do remember people mentioning Miriam Silverman and of course there was a lot of love for Leopoldstadt. I didn't see any of the revivals besides Into the Woods so I didn't have much of an opinion of the field. Parade winning is fine. Arden is a good director. Overall, good job, Tony voters. I'll eventually go back to doing the Funny Girl lottery. But & Juliet and Once Upon a One More Time and Shucked and New York, New York (and whatever else I might be forgetting) all make me think "Oh, that could be fun." But not enough to pay those ticket prices and get all dolled up and deal with public transportation. I'm waiting for some more MUST SEE shows. I'm hopeful but not necessarily optimistic about Here Lies Love. But maybe I'll break and see something from this season over the summer. And I do still have to past-date Camelot.

I feel like there's been a weird amount of debate on Colton Ryan since he got this job. I didn't get to see him in Girl from the North Country since he was gone by that time. But I thought he did some good work in The Girl from Plainville (Hulu show).

I took a break to have dinner so... look forward to my comments when the show is over, I guess 😂🤷‍♀️

I watched the ones on The Reformation (Henry VIII) and Regency (George IV). I can't remember if I watched the Marie Antoinette one or if it was another series. I like them for the most part but I agree there's some forced "fake news" kind of stuff that is trying too hard to make it feel relevant. Like, I'm watching a PBS historical overview for an hour because I'm boring; I don't need you to make it cool for me. Also, I'm not sure I always believe her arguments but I don't mind a competing narratives version of history instead of the definitive truth.

I think the start time for "Act One" is too early but if I wasn't distracted, I wouldn't mind this speed-run approach. I don't know whose favorite part of award shows is pointless banter or usually lame host monologues. The Tonys was already superior to the other awards shows but, even though this is due to the writers' strike, they could really take a lesson in trimming things down... especially the Oscars. I only watch the clips now. I need to get around to reading Joel Grey's autobiography

I jumped back in for the end of John Kander's speech. I hope it gets clipped. Again, I would have loved a KPOP win in choreography because it was such a big part of that show, but it's hard to compete with Most Choreography and SLIH and NY, NY were always going to have an edge. Apparently there's a quick change/doors thing people are obsessed with. Idk... I like tap but I get over it quickly if it's not used judiciously.

I thought about seeing Life of Pi but I've really cut back on theater so I'm generally only seeing a few big shows. Less off-Broadway or stuff I'm just meh on.

Was there an intro on Pluto? It only started working for me during the Kimberly Akimbo (Jeanine/David) win. I would have loved a KPOP win for costumes but it was unlikely and I usually like Gregg Barnes' work (I haven't seen SLIH)

That makes sense. As annoying as the wait can be between seasons, with all of the Fab Five's other projects, I imagine they stick to a pretty quick shooting schedule for this show. I doubt they'd circle back to do pickups to round out the edit if they're already on to the next candidate. This is fine since you're changing it out daily, but it seemed like they were just keeping their moldy fruit and veg in there. I compost stuff that would otherwise be food waste, not stuff I forgot to use until it got gross. The only exception is when, for example, I pick out a few blueberries that seem suspicious right out of the container, but they go straight to the freezer. @angora I feel like we'd have mostly the same thoughts watching this show together.

https://playbill.com/article/2023-tony-awards-to-feature-performances-from-joaquina-kalukango-broadways-funny-girl-and-a-beautiful-noise-more Why do they insist on making it so confusing? This is how you get MORE people to just watch the clips.

I've discovered that there are guys who are attracted to at least aspects of me. They are either 1) In my age range but they live in another state 2) Significantly older than me 3) Guys I am not physically attracted to, or at least wouldn't be from a profile photo (like, if we worked together, I'd probably talk myself into it over time with some of them) 4) Carrying some baggage (divorced, complicated parents/family...doesn't want kids, weird kinks, etc.) Have I learned anything? Maybe to have more confidence and that some of the things I feel badly about (e.g. my mental health) are not dealbreakers for everyone. That when I was online dating, I probably missed some guys because I didn't want to set my age range lower (I was recently talking to a guy 4 years younger than me). That maybe I should live in a different state with less of a gender imbalance and fewer women who could be Instagram models. And that there are guys who like the body I'm so self-critical about. Someday I will date again. And I still think of myself as very monogamous. But my chatting experience has made me think maybe I need to be more polyamorous simply because it's so difficult to find a guy who will commit to you fully and be there for you all the times you actually need him. I'm encouraged that there are some sweet, smart guys out there who like talking to me and find me attractive, but it hasn't renewed any of my hope as I'm getting older and less "desirable" that I'll be able to find someone who checks even all the basic boxes (again, unless I move to another place).

So that's two of us down then. Who's going to keep this thread alive? That's something I learned. Trying to talk myself into a guy I wasn't into it physically was no guarantee of finding someone who would treat me any better.

As far as producing goes, basically since Reputation, I think she's been getting increasingly diminishing returns from Jack Antonoff. Either he's making bad choices or he isn't standing up to her bad choices, or both. As a songwriter, I think she definitely has skill but she's been rushing the albums resulting in a lot of filler and some clunky lyrics (even on the songs I like). At tea time??? Is she regularly having afternoon tea? That's a first draft and you can't convince me otherwise. What? On vocals... 100% yes. She has definitely improved over the years but there were lots of songs on Lover and Midnights that would be improved by covers. And again, from a producing standpoint, someone needs to tell her to ditch the breathy whisper and actually push herself to sing. I can't believe some of those vocals were the final tracks and everyone was just fine with it. Mastermind, The Great War, Labyrinth, Bigger Than the Whole Sky, Would've, Could've, Should've... I KNOW she can sing better than that. She wrote some pop songs for Mastermind but they needed to be punched up by someone who can sing. As I said in April, I'd happily listen to good covers of Anti-Hero, Karma, Bejeweled, Mastermind, The Great War, Paris, High Infidelity, Would've Could've Should've, and Dear Reader. Recommendations welcome.

Disappointingly, it just confirms she KNOWS about everything

@truthaboutluv Thanks for saying this. I don't have the energy to talk about it anymore. I mean, I knew. Part of the reason I like "The Man" is because it's a perfect explanation of white feminism. But he's more than a "bad boy." Choosing to date someone this extreme makes me think she's actively (not casually, obliviously, or otherwise passively) racist and that's been harder to come to terms with. I have a cynical view of most people in entertainment and their performative statements but excusing shallowness is different from excusing actual malice and harm.