aradia22

Everyone is more suspicious than ever. If Joi or Greg is the Mole, production is doing a terrible job of hiding it. But if I've learned anything from mysteries, sometimes it is the most obvious person. The alternative is that Joi is really bad at challenges. I did like the two challenges. The prison break was a good concept. I do kind of wish the rooms weren't sequential (i.e. the person in the upstairs room definitely had to wait for someone in one of the other rooms because there was no way of them getting to the key in the bible on their own). The editing was decent to make it interesting enough to watch 3 tasks that were somewhat repetitive. I also liked that production was doing a kind of Deal or No Deal thing to make them gamble away 10 minutes but also letting them win by paying for 5 minutes back. Weirdly, after this challenge, my attention turned to the competent people like Jacob. Was he uniquely good or did everyone else suck? It was a little funny they made all the pretty people get dolled up for a night out and then gave them a challenge. Though they were nice in not making it too physically taxing. I thought the red button challenge was a little dumb. They really should have just waited it out. But I guess they were too scared about the quiz.

I finally started watching this show tonight. I have no early guesses. It's way too early. Who is the most suspicious? Production, that's who. I was VERY surprised when they actually showed footage of Will and not a PA. I guess no one woke up to catch him. Though I do think it would have been hilarious if they'd caught a contestant or someone on the crew stealing the cargo. Imagine if the mole had gotten caught that early 😂 I feel like they were throwing a lot of heat at Joi, Will, and Greg in the edit. I think the format makes it very easy for production to manipulate this game. It has Big Brother energy but the fact that they're still doing the quiz means the Mole can't be voted out by the house. I think Alex is okay as the host so far. Friendly but not cloying. Professional but not trying to be too harsh or intimidating. I think the light up screen eliminations are dumb (especially if they're always going to leave it down to the final three). I feel like production really wanted us to think this was a diverse cast by emphasizing different careers up front and everyone's home state but I do wish they didn't look like people who could also qualify for Love is Blind. They're all relatively attractive. Like, putting aside face symmetry and whatnot, no one even has like visible acne or notable wrinkles, you know? They're TV normal and some of them could be on The Bachelor/Bachelorette. They're all relatively fit. No one is overweight. No one looks like they're older than their 40s. No one has a visible disability. Maybe they'll grow on me as we learn more about them but I'm ready to eliminate at least 5 of them right now. I agree with this. I expected the Mole to be in Team Up High or Team H2O. Though it's a reminder that you can't always attribute suspicious behavior to malice when it could easily be incompetence. Or production. It didn't look like The Amazing Race. I have no idea what clues they were giving them to navigate. Maybe Team Down Low had the worst clues. Team H2O seemed far from their cargo spot but they did mention that they had 100 yards to search so maybe production were being assholes. Team Up High seemed to get right to that tree by following the map.

Moulin Rouge has frenetic moments but I think the bulk of the love story is actually quite restrained. From what I can remember, Australia was actually rather boring. I've been waiting on Gatsby. I want it to be on Netflix or Amazon Prime so I can watch it on my TV rather than my laptop. Anyway, not lamenting Baz not getting an Oscar (or nomination) for directing. He's fine. Maybe she counts him under "family" but otherwise, no, she didn't acknowledge him in the speech or the backstage thank-you cam, even though he was hovering around backstage at that point. They've been engaged since 2005 which is WILD to me. That's a whole person who can drive and vote. Actually Cate's reaction was also quite flat when the other actresses in the category were instantly excited for Michelle. Even Andrea.

I'll be the dissenting voice on In Bruges (Colin's performance was fine but I hated the movie) but I loved The Lobster. Colin Farrell has been doing interesting work for a while.

I know she's in A Doll's House on Broadway and has to think about the cast/production as well as her family at home. But I'm sure she's not the only one in the theater currently working on a project so kudos to her for continuing to wear a mask.

I don't have MTV. I also don't have the time I used to when I was watching Work of Art and also that interior design Project Runway knockoff. I could see Netflix making something like this work.

While there are some exceptions, the more theater I see, the less FOMO I feel. My memory doesn't burn very bright. It's why I make an effort to write down reviews or at least thoughts after the performance when I can. I buy tickets when I think I'm going to have a solid experience in the theater and I budget accordingly... I'm not spending $100 on a performance I'm going to forget in a month. There are only a handful of shows I regret not seeing live.

Feel free to move this if it's in the wrong thread, but yikes on bikes. Something is wrong with Sam Levinson. https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-features/the-idol-hbo-next-euphoria-torture-porn-the-weeknd-sam-levinson-lily-rose-depp-blackpink-jennie-1234688754/

It's picking up attention now.

https://www.theatermania.com/broadway/news/lea-salonga-to-join-here-lies-love-on-broadway-for_94909.html

I know rehearsal footage lies. But just based on this, I feel like he's doing a lot of acting with the voice but the singing voice is still lacking. He still sounds like a tenor to me. He's just putting some flavor on it with an accent and emphatic delivery. It's all happening in the mouth and not where the sound is actually coming from.

Now that I've finished the season, I really think there were times the cake was obvious and the judges were just being kind to the contestants. Which wasn't really fair if someone was eliminated. It was the most egregious in the finale as they all looked like cakes but April's cake and Andrew's cake were obviously different from the others. April's was very matte and lacked the detailing except compared to the banged up sewing machine they did pick. And Andrew's was a good cake but obviously a different color and texture than any other suitcase, though again, the very basic one they picked was a good decoy. But like, come on. It would have been much harder to pick Hemu's bust cake at a distance. I'd be fine if they just judged all three cakes on taste/up close. There have been other episodes where I call shenanigans on them being able to find the cake. Either in the choice or in the verbal critiques they are very generous towards what are obviously cakes.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Joanna-JoJo-Levesque-Will-Make-Her-Broadway-Debut-as-Satine-in-MOULIN-ROUGE-THE-MUSICAL-20230223

https://www.vulture.com/2023/02/hawkeye-captain-america-musical-disneyland-resort.html

It didn't take up too much of the episode but Juan and Stephanie were giant babies about being left out of the showpiece challenge. Your ballerina box was just a box. Be quiet.

I feel like you could eat one of Amaury's showpieces (unless it was being displayed for an extended period of time) but I have my doubts about the contestants' work. It's the same way that people who make huge wedding cakes make them with the intention that you can eat everything and work cleanly in their professional kitchens but when they go on Food Network to compete on cake making shows, they're a lot sloppier. I think they would try harder in the real world for commissioned pieces but here Juan is forgetting to wear gloves and I'm sure if something falls on the floor, they'll just glue it back on because the goal is to have something finished to present for judging.

I think Amaury makes for a good judge. His critiques are generally kind and thoughtful and even when he's harsh, it's fair and he's not just trying to be mean or break the contestants. Anything I dislike feels like producer prompting (like him saying there was a tie and asking the contestants to vote). I wish we could spend less time on the manufactured drama between contestants so we actually got a sense of who Amaury's assistants are and what their role is in the show. I feel like they're obviously doing something like advising Amaury or helping the contestants but that was mostly cut down to showing one of them calling the poor performers of the week into an office meeting and announcing the amount of time left. Which could be done by anyone. It's not quite Bake Off, but it's not American Idol/X Factor either. I think they're going for Top Chef. It's very similar aesthetically. My least favorite parts are the parts that feel the most like a reality show. I like that no one gets eliminated and there's a cash prize but they're there to learn. I like that it's generally low stakes but also everyone takes it seriously in that bake off way so there's some drama. I hate the personal backstories (when it doesn't come up during the challenge) and phone calls to home, establishing shots (that have zero bearing on the show since it isn't even like Top Chef where the city they're in plays into the challenges), the scenes at the house, the producer prompting, the talking heads, the challenges to provoke drama... it's all very Bravo. Just let them make things and improve at different paces. I don't need manufactured drama. I do not like the way some of the episodes were divided strangely. You know I'm going to binge watch it. It felt very insecure. The episodes already have variable lengths. Either make each episode however long it needs to be or get your editors on the ball. I thought the contestants sucked after the first challenge so it was nice to see many of them step up rather soon after. I am curious how much time they have between challenges. Those are long work/filming days.

https://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/news/atg-forms-new-partnership-with-jujamcyn_94867.html @EtheltoTillie Admittedly, people who think 1776 has catchy songs also think Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a bop. But people love Hadestown so that contingent exists. I agree that Hair is all bops though. Something I will eventually say if I ever get around to writing a review is that I was surprised at how goofy some of the humor in 1776 was. It wasn't bathroom humor or crass or mean-spirited like contemporary humor but it definitely had a hyuck, hyuck "this was written by men" energy. https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/DArcy-Carden-Katie-Finneran-Scott-Foley-Chris-Sullivan-Will-Lead-THE-THANKSGIVING-PLAY-on-Broadway-20230214 What a weird, interesting cast.

Sorry for being lazy. This was on my list of shows I saw but didn't get around to reviewing. I might still do it at some point. The short version is that the production was mostly competent as a showcase for the actors but failed in its overarching concept. It's strongest if you treat it as a concert with nontraditional casting. That said, taking a quick look at the tour cast, they replaced most of the Broadway cast and some of the few holdovers have been promoted to more prominent roles. Thus, I cannot recommend it so you can see a certain performances. You would be gambling on the casting director's choices. If there's something better, I would swap unless you like a particular actor in the touring cast. https://www.1776musical.com/ He Plays the Violin, Momma Look Sharp, Molasses to Rum

@oliviabenson What sites/apps are you on? The guys who message you seem uniquely terrible.

I don't think there are any magic tips that are really helpful in looking through online profiles. I've gone out with guys who haven't written a ton. And even if he has a great profile, it only proves he can write an appealing profile. I think you have to know what you want and to have the patience to suss someone out. That's really the only way to know. If you don't want to go on that many dates, I think phone calls can be helpful to determine chemistry. Otherwise, talk about real things on your dates... not necessarily heavy subjects, but things that you care about. Of the guys I went out with, 3-4 were relatively good guys but just not for me. I'm still on a dating hiatus. But personally, I could never find that combination of a person I could see myself going to bed with that I actually enjoyed talking to. A romantic partner should make your life better, not worse.

Sigh... no luck getting tickets to Days of Wine and Roses at the Atlantic. And I'm not paying full price for Adam Guettel. There is still decent availability after previews so I will wait it out. Speaking of discounts, I got an email from City Center for Dear World today. (I already have my ticket.) All the "discount" tickets are in the balcony for the same price I already paid months ago. That's not a discount. White Girl in Danger is selling on Goldstar. But $70 for what are probably tickets at the very back of the theater is not worth it for me. I'll wait to see what other discounts might materialize. I will go for whatever rush/lottery option Here Lies Love ends up having but otherwise I'm not too fussed about the other spring/summer options. I have my tickets for a few shows and I'll go back to doing the Funny Girl lottery. Some Like It Hot, Kimberly Akimbo, Shucked, Sweeney Todd, Parade, Dancin', Room, A Doll's House, Fat Ham, New York New York, Good Night Oscar, &Juliet, Once Upon a One More Time... nothing else has much of a pull on me, though maybe positive reviews will change my mind.

Thursday night is Julie Benko. If I'm going, it's to see Lea Michele.

I think interactions with strangers should start with an asking for directions or asking for the time energy. As long as someone is prepared to quickly disengage if they're not getting a good response, I think it's fine. Picking someone up cold should be casual and not intrusive. There are exceptions... like it's tough to make it work on the train or the bus when the person you want to talk to is basically trapped.