S01.E02: You Can't Hurry Love

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Quote

With Katy's personal life in a holding pattern, which everyone seems to know about thanks to the newspapers picking up Pepper's blog, she can't seem to escape even at work. Josie finds a job to help pay the bills but picks up an extra job at a record store and quickly learns it might be closing, leaving Josie with an idea to help keep it open. Because of Jorge's outburst at his last audition, he finds himself on the outs with the Broadway community. After begging for one last audition and waiting to hear if he got the part, he must decide if he wants to give up performing as Ginger. Meanwhile, Pepper finds herself low on cash, but is somehow able to secure a warehouse in which she dreams to open up The Pepper Plant.

Promo:

Original air date: 2/13/20

[ElectricBoogaloo]

Requisite song reference:

 

Edited February 10, 2020 by ElectricBoogaloo

[alexa]

This show has clicked with me quickly.  I think it has a good balance in the character storylines, and I love having a simple show to watch again.

[allonsyalice]

3 hours ago, alexa said:

This show has clicked with me quickly.  I think it has a good balance in the character storylines, and I love having a simple show to watch again.

It truly is a breath of fresh air considering the shown its spun off from 😅

It was nice seeing more into Pepper’s life this ep, and she’s very good at fronting.

I’ve never been in love, but I can relate to where Katy is coming from I think. And having the ring be robbed was a great twist. 
 

I’ve seen Hadestown (twice!!) and Andre de Shields is a force of nature! I was pleased to see him and fingers crossed he sings something 

[memememe76]

I don't get the character turning down the touring gig. If you get a big movie role that shoots in London or a tv show that shoots in Vancouver, you're not going to accept it? 

[alexa]

31 minutes ago, memememe76 said:

I don't get the character turning down the touring gig. If you get a big movie role that shoots in London or a tv show that shoots in Vancouver, you're not going to accept it? 

Well, normally I would totally agree, but since the show just started and so much of it hinges on being in NYC, it wouldn't really work.  I am not sure why they even had that as a storyline other than to show how much each of the characters want to stay in NY?

[AnimeMania]

Why didn't Pepper ask to stay with her girlfriend?

[ElectricBoogaloo]

OMG Daphne Rubin-Vega!! But I call bullshit on her character's claim that she was a Rockette. IRL Daphne is 5'2" and the minimum height for the Rockettes is 5'6" (I know because I checked in my younger days and learned that I was too short to even audition).

And André De Shields - good lord, I want this show to stay on the air just so we can keep getting all these amazing Broadway cameos. At this rate, Katy Keene is going to beat The Good Wife!

"The historical rap musical Jefferson" - ha, that made me laugh! For the record, being cast in the national tour is NOT some kind of shitty third rate job, especially for a popular show that's still running on Broadway. Some of the actors cast in the Hamilton tour have used it to launch their tv careers and others have transferred to the Broadway cast. Ryan Vazquez, the current Hamilton on Broadway, started out in the ensemble of the Angelica tour. The previous Broadway Hamilton was originally a replacement Hamilton for the same tour. The current Aaron Burr on Broadway, Daniel Breaker, started out as a replacement Burr in the same tour.

Describing a national tour as "the easy way out" sounded like a load of crap. Staying in New York where your friends and family are is what sounds like taking the easy way out. As Francois said, if you're uncertain about something, you have to run towards it, not away. Jorge is choosing to stay in his comfortable routine instead of taking the opportunity to perform in a tour which will teach him a lot of valuable performance skills AND give him something to put on his resume. It will also give him a chance to prove that he's capable of being a mature and professional performer which might help counter being blacklisted by the Mannequin director. Accepting the job and then turning it down the day that he's supposed to leave is not going to help his professional reputation.

I get that they just wanted to give him a reason to think he was going to leave New York and then end up staying, but they should have given him a more plausible excuse. There are plenty of respected actors on Broadway who have done national tours. I have seen Adam Pascal, Eden Espinosa, Tony nominees Rory O'Malley and Carmen Cusack, and Tony winners Neil Patrick Harris and Betty Buckley all on national tours.

I'm still not over the fact that Alex's sister is named Alexandra. Who does that when naming their kids?

I liked Katy's cute red dress except for the little cutouts on the sleeves.

I was surprised that Katy didn't immediately tell Prince Eroll that Patricia was already uncomfortable with the fancy dresses that she tried on for the Met so that maybe a more understated ring would suit her better. If she wasn't comfortable with a $35K dress, is she really going to be comfortable with a 6 carat diamond?

Lindsay Weir's mom! This show is killing me with the casting.

How is Pepper planning to fit an art gallery, a black box theater, a live music venue, a runway, and an atelier all in 3500 square feet and still have room for artists to collaborate and party? That's a pretty small space to fit all of those different things.

Despite my nitpicks, I continue to love this show. I'm here for Josie singing, Jorge's weekly auditions/drag performances, and Katy's cute outfits. This is the kind of sweet light show that I need in the midst of all these other angsty shows!

[Panda Bear]

On 2/15/2020 at 8:15 AM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

"The historical rap musical Jefferson" - ha, that made me laugh! For the record, being cast in the national tour is NOT some kind of shitty third rate job, especially for a popular show that's still running on Broadway. Some of the actors cast in the Hamilton tour have used it to launch their tv careers and others have transferred to the Broadway cast. Ryan Vazquez, the current Hamilton on Broadway, started out in the ensemble of the Angelica tour. The previous Broadway Hamilton was originally a replacement Hamilton for the same tour. The current Aaron Burr on Broadway, Daniel Breaker, started out as a replacement Burr in the same tour.

Describing a national tour as "the easy way out" sounded like a load of crap. Staying in New York where your friends and family are is what sounds like taking the easy way out. As Francois said, if you're uncertain about something, you have to run towards it, not away. Jorge is choosing to stay in his comfortable routine instead of taking the opportunity to perform in a tour which will teach him a lot of valuable performance skills AND give him something to put on his resume. It will also give him a chance to prove that he's capable of being a mature and professional performer which might help counter being blacklisted by the Mannequin director. Accepting the job and then turning it down the day that he's supposed to leave is not going to help his professional reputation.

I get that they just wanted to give him a reason to think he was going to leave New York and then end up staying, but they should have given him a more plausible excuse. There are plenty of respected actors on Broadway who have done national tours. I have seen Adam Pascal, Eden Espinosa, Tony nominees Rory O'Malley and Carmen Cusack, and Tony winners Neil Patrick Harris and Betty Buckley all on national tours.

Yes, yes, yes to all of this! If you want to be a working actor and you've booked a national tour, you don't leave it because you want to stay in New York! This would have been his big break. And many of the cities that get touring productions in the Midwest (like Minneapolis, where I live) have sizable gay populations with gay bars and even (gasp) regular drag shows! He would not need to go back in the closet. I'm liking this show, but I hated everything about how this storyline played out. I get that New York is the center of this show and you want to keep your characters there, but let's not act like it's the center of the universe. 

[politichick]

Jorge stayed because going on tourin the Midwest would mean having to go back in the closet and lock himself in. The manager told him to butch it up for the audition. 

I like Pepper but think she’s based on Anna Delvey; who conned a lot of people and hotels in the city. 

[s-k-s]

So, I generally like this show - but does Jorge understand what being an actor is?  No one is telling him he can't be a gay man on Broadway.  They are telling him that he needs to play the role the way the director wants, which is ... kind of what you do as an actor.   Jorge should focus on Ginger and taking that show large if he wants to just express himself on stage and not play a role someone else wrote and designed.

And yes, as others point out, a national tour of a Broadway show is a good gig (and a good-paying one that is, as far as I know, usually equity).  I;m season ticket holder for the touring Broadway series in my midwest medium-sized city, and nearly all of the actors have Broadway credits in their bios.  Among other stars, I saw Betty Buckley last year doing a touring show - if she can do it, I think you can lower yourself to do it too, Jorge.

 

[methodwriter85]

I think I'm going to pass on this show. It's reminding me why The Devil Wears Prada isn't my favorite movie.