#✷Interactions✷[Sonya & Paul]✷ | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

artdjgblog · 5 years ago

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Innerview: Sonya Baughman / Review Magazine

July 2008

Image: DJG's "Live & Let Die" Record by Paul McCartney & Wings

Note: Interview for a magazine feature.

01) Where did you grow up and where do you live now? My young cloth diapers treaded a lot of dirt, dead animal and doggy acres in the North Central stick regions of Missouri, Mid-West, USA. Currently, adult plastic diapers drag and sag me in mid-town Kansas City, MO. The first six years had me bucking bales, falling off hay wagons, piercing my cheek on a hay bale stinger, assisting with the old cow stuck in the mud, designing elaborate tunnels and forts from tomato cages, watching “The Muppets” and “Star Wars” a lot, hearing scary stories of Leopard Man, posing for many pictures with dead and live animals, rocking out in cowboy boots to “Live & Let Die” on my Papa Smurf guitar, and crying at night to my raccoon wallpaper…among many other early formative brain tattoos. Act Two had many dry summers and the bank repossessing the farm and moving us to the home and acres where my Dad grew up. The new place had a blacktop in front of it and a gravel lane with a bridge/creek. The blacktop was a reservoir for leaving behind summertime shoe and bike impressions and for popping tar bubbles in the blistering heat. I also was of age to really explore and build many forts and treehouses in the ditches, barns and woods. Also, I started to go hunting and spend time in the fields with my Dad. We never had a shortage of animals and pets too. A lot of spare time was also spent in the sandbox or in the bedroom designing and building things based on what I saw and experienced. There was also a massive in-take of drawing and pop-culture from comics, books, music, television and movies. There wasn’t much of a cap on what my siblings and I could devour. Oh, and loads of sugary sweets and cereals. Go through the yearly motions and I end up at Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO. There I got some very formal education and incredible interaction with students and design professors from the great making thing ways of Eastern Europe and Russia. I pretty much maxed out my art and design class card and was even making a ton of design work on the side for musicians. I then received a higher calling to drop out of school and make my guts out in Kansas City, MO which is where I’ve flopped around now for the past seven years. 02) Talk a little about your artistic background. Are you self-taught, did you go to college for art (if so, where)? My background is painted with loads of pop-culture from the 1980s and ’90s mixed in with the soil of farm life. I also designed and built many elaborate tree houses and forts up until the age of eighteen and spent most any spare minute in the sandbox or locked in my room drawing, reading, studying, video game playing, movie watching and just playing in general. I’ve never understood people’s ability to get bored or to not use the creation within them to ooze life out. I’ve enjoyed drawing comics, sports mascots and WWII battle scenes with my Dad at a young age that involved aircraft carriers, tanks and flags of those involved in conflict. My older brother would also draw a lot with me. He was better though. My younger sister and brother were pretty solid too. We have no idea where our creativity came from other than a great uncle, maybe? Also in my youth I would make giant collages out of magazine clippings and lots of mix tapes of Dr. Demento’s bizarre radio program and recorded and memorized many a variety of cartoon episodes and cool shows like Pee-wee’s Playhouse. I’ve also been a constant collector all my life. Back in the day I was all about the whole spectrum of toys, comics, ball cards, cereal boxes and loads of other junk…even kept dead animal parts under my bed. In the fifth grade I won a county wide logo contest for a skating and bowling fun center and it was the first time I realized disappointment with design as my logo was butchered by those higher-up. In middle-school up until my junior year of high school I studied more comics, logos, sports architecture and wanted desperately to design new-vintage baseball stadiums until the realization of my poor math skills hit like a ton of collapsed buildings. I even won a Kansas City Royals baseball essay contest. Getting made fun of daily in high school stunk, but it really fueled my work ethic, dreams and caused me to lock up in my bedroom at night. Though, I still wish I would have worked harder in my youth. I still really enjoy working hard and being alone to this day. In the summer of 1996 I was selected to attend the first ever Missouri Fine Arts Academy and learned that I had more to offer with my insides and got a chance to interact with more likeminded minds. I came back to my senior year of high school with notebooks of typographic graffiti designs and a whole new language of what I thought was the art world. There was also a new art teacher at my school and he was serious and seriously cool and recognized that I had something to offer. I also came back to my senior year with more confidence in expressing myself and decided to dive into the world of graphic design for my post-high school studies. I had no idea what I was going to really do with it, but I knew I just wanted to use my gift of making stuff for the rest of my life. And graphic design somehow promised a bit more security in money than going the fine art route. Though, I’ve now managed to merge the two and to still not make any money. My high school scores had me at number 12 out of 24 in my class and I scraped the bottom of the test barrels to get me into college. Southwest Missouri State University in Springfield, MO said I could come and so I did. They were the only institution I applied for and I had liked it from my three week stay at Fine Arts Academy the previous year. College was great, but I could tell quickly that I wasn’t a top art pup like I was in my small school way back down the line. I was with the bigger dogs now. I struggled with drawing classes because I realized that I wasn’t as good as I had been told I was for the previous eighteen years. That was a set-back and I still wish to this day I would have worked harder at drawing. But, mostly I have trouble drawing in a cramped room with a ton of people breathing down my neck and at certain times of the day. The introduction and foundation art classes were more my calling and I could take the stuff home and work alone and all night. Most of my friends complained because they couldn’t wait until sophomore year when we would be on the computer for design. I didn’t really understand what I was getting into with graphic design. In fact, one day I exclaimed to my friends that I was taking the graphic design route that didn’t use computers and was entirely hands-on. They thought I was pretty insane for saying that and pretty much called me a fool. It’s kind of funny now though. I was so naïve at 18 and 19 to what the formal graphic design world was and I think I still am ten years later. Back when I was more bushy-tailed, I just wanted to make things and cut stuff out and not chain up to a computer…and I guess I’m still bushy-tailed, though I have a computer and use it mostly as a tool. When I finally did get placed in front of a computer, it was a struggle and I just couldn’t get into it and past the screen barrier. It almost stopped me from majoring in graphic design. But, we weren’t on the computer all the time as we were taught to conceptualize and to think and to be hands-on too. But, we needed to know the computer too. I just couldn’t get along with the computer for the longest time. Of course, the computer whiz kids just couldn’t wait for the next semester that involved a wordy world called typography. Which, naively enough I thought was about the art of map making. I liked maps, so I was excited too. But, I soon found out it was a whole new world that would poison the ABCs in me forever…good and bad. At least in type class we were still taught to think and do things by hand before messing with computer fonts. That first year or two of official design school was just terrible for me as I felt I wasn’t really “getting” it and didn’t think I would be happy as a graphic designer. I was just fulfilling project requirements and with zero heart or much care. It wasn’t until I haphazardly signed up to duel major in illustration that things started to make music inside of me. I began to really pour myself out and realize that I could approach things in a similar light as to when I was a child and be happy. Illustration saved me and I found my voice with it and my classmates and instructors started noticing. The energy there was great and everybody fed off of each other and helped each other see in new light(s). I also began to understand the valuable importance of the experience of my schooling as the instructors not only had a unique style of teaching, but they also had interesting backgrounds and culture from Eastern Europe and Russia. I could mildly relate to them as I was a transplant from the foreign farm world of North Missouri. After many design trips to studios I began to feel a very empty feeling with the profession I had chosen to represent my working life. It was not what I wanted to do with a “career”, or my time. I didn’t wish to work in a factory of fried monitor goo-lash. I wanted to just make stuff and at my own pace and pleasure. I was also very protective of my work and wanted parental rights and not for it to belong to another man’s name or dream. My love for music started to fuse with design and I began to start making many things on the side for musicians, which spread to other types of word-of-mouth work for me. An eye-popping lecture by modern rock poster designer Art Chantry sealed my personal deal for wanting to do my own thing. Shortly after that I decided I needed to change many gears in my life and secretly drop out of school following my final design class in the fall of 2001 and live with a band (and some) in a big old dilapidated orange house behind the original Lamar’s Donuts in Kansas City, MO. While some senior students had trouble looking for one real world client to work with for their final projects, I had close to 10 off the top of my head and whole bunch of future blank pages to fill. 03) During the time you have been making art have you always been drawn to this type of graphic expression? Did you “find” a style or did a style find you? I’d say a bit of both. I’ve never really gone for a set “style”. I’m sure that I’ve got one that has become recognizable to my thumb prints. Honestly, I never really think too hard about what I’m making or the why or how of the making until I have to answer questions like this. Then I start to over-think things. Also, whenever I’m told that I’m a good collagist or good at hand type or so-and-so rendering, then that is the only time I really make an effort to switch gears. I have boiled the majority of my output to be relational to the immediacy of my moods, thoughts, tickles, inclination and whatevers. Though, sometimes life can get in the way and I’ll have to slide down a small sliver of time and energy depletion, like I am with trying to get this writing out on time! But, I’m a big fan of cranking stuff out no matter what. Life is pretty darn short to sit on my hands. It seems that style can be a bit of a drag for some people and/or a hole. I’ve always been more in-tune to the folks who just follow what their gut, heart, hands and eyes speak instead of creating a set template. Some people never stray too far from that and only a few can truly get away with it. Edward Gorey is perhaps one of the few who could really make it work for me. I would certainly love to draw and think as well as he did, but I might be quite miserable doing the same thing over and over even if I was able to do it for a living. I think that a lot of people get confused and think they need to have a style and either invent one or pick other people’s noses instead of sniffing what they’ve been wearing all their life. Style to me is a lot like decorating or something. Though, at the same time that decoration might marriage perfectly to what somebody thinks they need. I don’t know though. Sometimes I think it’s funny when we as people think we need something to look or feel a certain way that’s already been communicated or visualized. I think that sometimes we are too caught up in what’s done before instead of thinking for ourselves. I’m guilty too. What’s really confusing to me, on a personal level, is when I get a request like, “We like all your work so make whatever you want!” and then the client ends up being really disappointed because it wasn’t in their “style” and then it’s awkward. Style is just an odd thing to me. But, most things are. I try to just trust my gutty heart and just make. 04) Do you see your work as communicating your identity or as helping to communicate the identity and message of others? … or both? I see it as me communicating what I’ve gathered from being on the Earth for 29 ½ years and spreading that manure the best I can. It’s a heaping helping to tell the story of others by telling my story. Most of my work fits into fine art and design, at least I’m always told that. I’m not really sure. Of late I’ve been pushing into more of the fine art bin. But, I’m not a big fan of labeling things and I would like to do many things with this thing I do. With design, one does have a role to play with helping somebody else tell their story, and at times, sell their story. There is also a responsibility to the venue the product is in or where it will eventually end up, whether a fine package on a shelf or a poster in the gutter. I feel it can be easy for a designer to lose perspective of the role playing. With leaving behind an identity…well, I like the idea of a paper trail, time-line and bruising thumb prints on this life. However, I don’t necessarily have the intent to say “Hey, look at me.” I am just another human, and one who happens to make things. If the work speaks or inspires (probably frightens and confuses on occasion), then that means a lot to me, especially in these fast-paced and flashy “everyone’s a designer-decorator” times with millions of images and advertisements everywhere. I think it’s great to recognize and at times celebrate gifts and achievement. But, I feel there needs to be a healthy balance. It can be a dangerous thing to play with at times. Some artists I feel become the work of art themselves and end up playing God with the gift and this saddens me as it usually ruins them in the long run. 05) Is there anything about your geographic location that has given you a unique perspective on design and the art you create? Certainly, growing up country might have my visions at a stranger advantage, and a howling merge to that with the city life now. You might see a lot of wonderfully strange things on the streets of the city due to the amount of activity by varieties of people and culture. But, only in small town Missouri do the deer pile up outside the meat locker and blood runs next door to the Baptist church as the high school band splash-marches through it. Growing up it was easy to take my lifestyle for granted. I enjoyed it immensely, but when I was 15 to 18 I wanted to get out a bit more. I was hungry to explore, and not just the many acres we lived on. I wanted the rest of the world. I became a little disgruntled with growing up country and I think that there is a certain stereotype placed upon people anywhere they are, but country folk get it pretty bad. I definitely ate from both sides of the fence, but also didn’t want to be hung up in it for a living. As I grow older I appreciate my roots a lot more and celebrate them and am very thankful. I enjoy going back home. And some day I’d like to move outside of the city to a small plot of land with a making things shack out back. But, my family home isn’t too far down the road for a getaway weekend visit to sit with the stars, coyote yips and fish. 06) What do you consider influences on your art? (this can be other artists, music, philosophy, nature – anything. this question is not just limited to “I’m a big fan of Banksy”) First thing, I believe in the compiling of all days in life to influence an artist’s output (horse apples or clean streets). Our walks tell a lot about who we are in the present prints. I feel that one would be lying to me if what they created was not in their full vision. But, I too think that we all wear and share influences as witnesses to what we’ve seen and where we’ve been. We all help shape each other. I’ve rattled off my early influences of popular culture. I think I’m more in-tune with my child’s self now than I was then as I sit alone and make things and pull from all my days. It’s also easy to feel that I was really moving and discovering more back then with naïve, childlike faith that I’m trying to get back now. I have some good days though and mostly when I’m not thinking too much. I’m still a fan of absorbing lots of things and from many angles. Of course I have my artistic influences. One of my big influences as a child was my Grandma Gibson. She is from the old school of the country and a very hands-on person with making many things like clothing, dead animal backpacks, blankets, pillows, fridge magnets and game board pieces. I still have a lot of the things from those years. I think a lot of my approach to making things came from her. My “professional” art world as a kid had an outside knowledge from trips to museums and PBS specials, though I felt a little detached from that world and still kind of do. My heroes were at the movies because they were more immediate to me, guys like Jim Henson, Stan Winston, Dr. Indiana Jones, Rambo and Han Solo. But, it was Henson’s world that opened me up to the first idea of an artist’s legacy, vision and spirit and glimpse of another world. Something big-time ached in my decade old gut the day I found out he passed away. Musically speaking I was very much a child of my Mom’s Beatles records, “oldies” music and a ton of television theme songs, novelty sing-alongs and old church songs. I still put a lot through my ears now and my biggest influences in music in my older years are Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, Elliott Smith and Bob Dylan. Also, I am still a big fan of tons of picture books and just anything really. I just know that I’ve never had bare space on the walls and shelves of my home and head. Oh, and wherever I am I’m usually distracted by the stuff on the ground. I’m a big collector of found notes, writings, scribbles, addresses, children’s drawings and good-bad-silly-stupid-smart designs. I like to collect ‘em all. I’ve also collected stamps since I was 10. I’m a big nerd. Here’s a listing of some names in the art and design canon who have made things that either attracted, influenced or moved me in some ways (in no particular order): Saul Steinberg, Seymour Chwast and Push Pin, Lester Beall, Edward Gorey, Ray Johnson, Art Chantry, Henryk Tomaszewski, Vaughn Olver and V23, Raymond Pettibon, Paul Klee, Stanley Donwood, Stefan Sagmeister, Cy Twombly, Saul Bass, Ivan Chermayeff, Ralph Steadman, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean Michel-Basquiat…most anybody who has something to say and develops a bad back carving out their paper trail. Movies are also a giant influence on my work and I study them almost daily. Some of the filmmakers who capture a certain craft of unique spirit that I enjoy include P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, Michel Gondry and the Coen Brothers. Folk Art is another big mind-blow and one of my favorite areas to study and get ticked by the of-the-moment heart, purity and passion. I love the idea of somebody just up and making something for the heck of it and not for art’s or ego’s sake. That’s the childlike thing I miss the most. The makers and shakers that move me the most from the folk art movement are Henry Darger, Bill Traylor and Robert E. Smith. And sometimes I get more out of the work on display in county and state fairs by everyday arts and crafters than so-called “professional” art and design work. 07) What is your perspective on the place of poster art here in the Midwest (or KC specifically) as it interacts with the rest of the art community and how the poster art coming out of this community may be perceived on a more national level? I’m curious about this because of the recognition Kansas City artists in general have been receiving lately on a national and international scale and how the art world tends to waffle between interest and disinterest in artists in this region. The music scene here is very interesting to me and a lot of times I think that it is just like 20 people all making it happen. Though, there is a lot of talent, diversity and genre-bending for a small town like this. There are a lot of groups making a mark here and down the highways, same with the people making stuff for them. Though, I get a little strange sometimes because I sometimes feel that the small scene mixed with the internet’s social networks and fewer record stores (oh, and most of my posters take up a whole bulletin board!) makes the poster almost secondary information and so-so decoration. In the same thought though, most of the stuff I see on the internet passes by me in a two-second window like that of highway advertising. Though, some do stick out to me because I’m always on the look to get tickled. And I don’t feel the art of the printed piece will die any time soon. Anyway, the scene just works here in Kansas City somehow and everybody takes care of and appreciates each other’s roles and contributions. I’ve had some great response to what I’m slapping up, but at the same time I think that a lot of people don’t get it. What’s not to get, it’s not too special? But, that’s fine with me. I’m not sure where I am in the scene. Maybe more-so in the “seen” department with my meager budgeted work hanging above a stool in the blurry-eyed late hours. I still think that toilets are one the best places for information gathering. Poster art in general in the last ten years alone has received a great breath of fresh air. Many of the makers are respected within a small collective, and have also been breaking through to represent on a national level of design aesthetic, as well as a well-rounded view of the printed timeline to life and culture. It’s also something that anybody can do and a lot of bands still just make their own stuff, which I’m cool and whatever with it. Everybody has their own style, agenda and empty pockets. But, the personal computer has saturated the landscape with a lot of “samey”. Then again, if it works, it works. In the end if it gets people interested and enthused, then what is there for a bum like me to complain about? And sometimes I really get a kick out of unskilled design stuff(s). I try to stay out of design politics for the most part. There is more to life than design dogma. Though, there is design all around us as we interact with it in every way from the tip-top of a tree to a paper scrap for this article. I enjoy the simple act of creation and inspiration that comes from something that seems like nothing, yet has always been a “something” growing and building and will continue to grow if the viewer lets it do so. You just have to add the proper mix of ingredients, I guess. And I guess my brain isn’t one to formerly function on the full realization to what it’s thinking. So, I’m babbling right now. I do know that something I’ve always enjoyed about the concert poster is the relatively short life span it has and how that can be used to the advantage. I just want to encourage people out there, designers/artists, non designers/artists or even church secretaries, to really push things and work harder. I don’t really care if everyone isn’t versed in design and art. In general I just encourage more to experiment with poster art, find your voice(s) and find new ways to spread the good word. Even if it’s not for a concert or an event, just make something and get it out there. Throw your junk off the overpasses if need be. 08) How has your work been received within the arts community here (and also in other geographic regions if you have been branching out)? For seven years now I’ve somehow managed to remain fairly anonymous and at the same time have sparkled a bit of attention…maybe just a glittering. Life and day job dwindle my hours to where it’s hard to even pay attention on my own stuff sometimes, so I don’t get out much here in the city. Though, I guess it is easier to keep up with things on the internet, papers and here-say. I think Kansas City is making her own dent right now with a wide variety of things going on in the arts landscape. The town is kind of booming and bustling right now. Being that we’re a small town, it’s easy for a small fish to get more wet feet. Though, I’ve never put my whole foot into anything. I just do my thing. Some days I’m not really sure what that thing is, but I do it despite my muck. When I first started on my design quest, like when anyone tackles something head-on, I was head-over-heels and not sleeping much. I was also living with bands and interacting more and actually going to shows several times a week. I don’t know how I did it without exhausting my ticker, but for some reason it all worked. I started to garner a little bit of buzz here that seemed to spread quick outside the state and international borders. Many people contact me from all over and slap my stuff alongside some of my design favorites in magazines and books. It’s a hoot. People are always interested in my story and creations. It’s all still really odd and blushing to me in some light that the little things I make are reaching a selective audience on a much grander scale. Anyway, I’ve certainly learned now that sleep is important and that it’s better for me to work smarter, not harder. Though, that’s not entirely the truth as I still work pretty darn hard and I believe in it greatly. Still, I’ve struggled with my own brand of discontent since I fell from a slide and blacked-out at the age of five. It’s something that I’m working and wrangling with. But, with any kind of actual work you’ve studied, worked hard with and duct taped up the switch with 24-7, you learn to just not think and rather DO and the moves become mechanical. I just have to put to use different types of oil to keep from rusting. It all becomes a fluid thing, or something constantly coming down on me in the grocery aisle, tree leave holes and side walk crack scribbles. It can be challenging when life stuff gets in the way, but I shouldn’t see it as getting in the way. I easily get confused, but then I realize that the things I experience and see and do (good-bad) all go into my design pot mixed with my past and then I just have to do the upchucking as I move forward and I tend to feel better. Recently I’ve definitely stepped back on my massive production of concert posters and I’m sure that many people reading this will think, “Geesh, I don’t think I’ve ever even seen this idiot’s work?” Not only has my life changed in some ways, but I also had to give myself permission to take a time out and to learn to say no to some things. A break was needed before burnout and bitter rotted my worms in the apple, among other things. I had a year of little activity and practiced sitting on my nest. I still made a bunch of stuff, but a lot just for me. I’ve also been involved in various group art shows around the country, design books and special art projects with friends spread about. Another thing I did, and still do, is just to see what other avenues I’d like to take my one man show. I’m learning to use the internet for the medium that it is too. Anyway, I’ve always got some stew samples back burning, but my biggest competition is myself…on top of time, energy and money. Mostly myself, as I’ve always been extremely hard on myself. Though, I’ve been told I make it look easy. I’ve never been good at math, so you go figure. I get exhausted from trying to figure this out. 09) Is artwork your main profession and, if not, are you intending to make it so? It’s really flattering and kind of sad when every spring I get more and more inquiries from freshly plucked and talented college students about a possible internship or job with DJG Design. In general, due to what most think to be a large and varied output of work, people who don’t know what I’m about think that there is a D, a J and a G making things. It always excites me to be contacted by enthused students and other design people (any walks of life, really) who saw something or connected to my work and got a spark. It makes me rosey, but it also keeps me a little down as I don’t make enough money to do this full-time. But, it all keeps me at my little basement bay working on my bad back and poor eye sight, keeps me (under)grounded in some ways. I’ve always worked full-time jobs and have been married now for three years. So, certain responsibilities come with walking hand-in-hand with another. For now I just spin the day job blues and try to stay content and disciplined, burning the fuel before and after work. But, age is setting in a bit and I’m getting antsy. I also grow tired easier. Good things do come out of day jobs, good design work does too. For the first four or five years I was a janitor and groundskeeper. So, loads of perks came from great finds, discards, dumpster dives and lots of free food and more time to read and study and draw. Heck, I even designed a few posters between clock punches. Currently my position has me staring at a computer doing data entry. The health care, artificial air and hours are great and I can walk out my back door and be there in seven minutes. But, it can be difficult to know that I’m sitting and squandering something back home. I do take it with me everywhere upstairs, and I do a bit of networking during the day time, but there is still that itch to make things full-time and not have a full plate of non-stop. It’s all hard to balance. But, making things is the only thing that I’m told that I’m somewhat good at. Well, other than eating junk food, watching movies, being confused and petting my four kitty cats. I am fast approaching thirty and the visual of time stacking is more evident than ever. Each space between second hand clicks is another scratch of tiny pine box to me. I am slowly checking off my list of “Before 30 Goals”, but I’m usually several cars back and sometimes it’s a pileup. Life takes a different course too. But, I have caught back a hold of a torch of some sort. I am constantly tacking up side boards to the wagon. After eight years of looking at Gigposters.com, I finally have ALL of my poster work up on there. It’s a great way to generate exposure and get my work out some more. I also have my new website up and an extensive volume of imagery on my Flickr.com account. It can be a bit odd to put one’s self out there in such a reservoir fashion, but I do like the idea of the timeline and personal file cabinet. And if my house burns down, it’s all digitized and makes it easier on my friends when they have to move me. So, day jobs…they are both blah and bling in my mind. My sling shots just point back at me on certain days. Sometimes they change direction with every sentence. At least I’m now under a thousand dollars on my student loans. I don’t make a thousand dollars in most years on design. 10) Tell me a story – have you had any strange poster requests? A project where you just about lost it? A poster that succeeded beyond expectations or failed in a way that took you totally by surprise? A project-situation-chaos that always sticks out when I’m asked a question like this happened to me back in June of 2002. It’s not a poster, but it’s pretty whacky and ended up being one of the best things that I think I’ll ever make. It was a special run of 250 homemade CD packages for the band Elevator Division. I’ve had many projects that demand more production time than my little brain imagines, but this one was the worst. Actually, the finished piece is a lot tamer than my initial idea. Though, the final image’s concept married to what the band was communicating on the disc inside is way better. The following true story I’ve released for a previous interview, I just tweaked a few glitches… The idea came at the night I started printing. Well, actually it was spray paint. I had an image made for a month or more and then changed it at the last stroke of inspiration. It married the themes for the album “Whatever Makes You Happy” perfectly. With reflections of war and relationships in the songs, I made an image of a hand shooting off its index finger like a missile. It was the idea of shooting off one’s options and making decisions. It was aggressive, inviting, serious and humorous all in one. It was not only fitting for the band/music but also to the national/world agenda and climate. I went to war that night with many cans of spray paint and the idiot mind to do two-hundred and fifty all in one massive sweep, and in my basement, which is something I will never do again because I could have died. I will probably also never be involved with another package like this again (take that back, I have been). Anyway, each one was hand-cut from cardboard and handmade stencil sprayed and rubber stamped. Inserts were cut, folded and glued. At the last mist of red spray a crack of thunder shook the massive turn-of-the-century home and I bolted from the basement and out the front door to a down poor fit for Noah himself. I was like a much less cool version of Dr. Frankenstein though. I leapt off the front porch and slid head first down the embankment and into the street turned river current. But, like a taxidermy nightmare, I was born again. The drug dealing squatters across the street were on their front step perch per usual summer evening, looking at the fire in my eyes and the red paint streaming from ears, nose and mouth. It was a high much higher than that of chemical substance. Well, maybe a three pack of design, life and paint fumes. 11) What is it about the poster as an art form that you feel is unique among other art forms? What purpose does it serve in your mind that can’t be served by another type of visual art? I’ve hinted at this in a previous question. I like the idea of the poster’s life-span being short, relative to the date and time…event, whatever. But, if it connects in the right way, and it can be different for everyone as art-design-whatever, is all relative to the viewer, I think that even a concert poster’s impact can last a long time. Since my first year in Kansas City I’ve had people find me out and say that they had a bedroom wall filled up with my work. It really moved me that something so simple (and sometimes stupid) that I squeezed out caused somebody else to be moved enough to hang it above their dreams at night. It means a lot to me when others get something out of something I’ve made. I know from child to adult, I myself have gotten something out of the stuff I’ve collected and tacked to my walls. It’s odd, yet a really nice feeling to know I’m somehow contributing to a landscape in some way. Making things is an act that I’ve always needed to do and has helped me get the best out of many days. I’ve always had difficulty with contributing in many forms of communication and on some days it’s terribly hard even just to be out and about. Making things has served as my calling with communication. It’s nice to know it can help others too in whatever way. -djg

#innerviews

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wickedanddeadly · 2 years ago

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@paranormaljunction asked:

❛ you okay? caught you staring off into space again. ❜ (to Sonya from Paul)

Sonya was lost within herself with each passing second. She glanced at the clock on the wall, its hands mocking her with their fast progression. The weight of her impending departure hung heavily in the air, making it difficult for her to concentrate on anything else. It wasn't as if she wanted to leave but she knew Hades would come looking for her if she didn't report in to him. It was Hades Lord of the Underworld who held sway over her life and demanded unwavering loyalty from her.

If she had it her way she would stay right here with Paul and never leave. They could create their own universe, a sanctuary away from the chaos of the outside world. In this cocoon of love and understanding, time would lose its grip, and their worries would dissipate like smoke in the wind. But as time ticked by, she realized just how cruel of a punishment that had been placed upon her. The weight of solitude began to crush her spirit, suffocating any remnants of hope that lingered within her heart. The silence echoed through the empty corridors of her mind, amplifying the torment she felt.

It wasn't until she heard Paul's voice that she snapped back to the here and now. The sound of his deep, soothing tone cut through the chaos that had consumed her thoughts. It was as if his voice possessed a magical power, instantly grounding her.

" I'm sorry. " Her eyes look away then turn back to him. " I was just picturing this perfect little world where we didn't have to leave here. Where I could just stay here with you. "

#paranormaljunction #✷Muse✷[Sonya]✷#✷Interactions✷[Sonya & Paul]✷#✷Thinking We Should Cross The Line✷[Sonya & Paul]✷#✷✷✷ EARLY YEARS ✷✷✷[ Verse ]✷

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phantomtutor · 2 years ago

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SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay 1. Sue says, “Descartes fails to prove that the mind is, in its essential nature, entirely distinct from the body since he claims that the immaterial mind interacts the physical body.” Explain Sue’s criticism and discuss critically your position of this issue. 2. Gilbert Ryle says, “Talking of the mind as a separate realm existing alongside the bodily realm is a categorical mistake.” Smart says, “Sensation (a mental state) is nothing over and above brain processes (physical states).” Explain the dialogue between Ryle and Smart, and discuss your position of this issue critically. 3. Scientists approach the heroic Jane to go on a secret mission to disarm a nuclear device named ANIA. The mission could be highly dangerous to Jane’s brain (though not her body), so the scientists have figured out a way to send Jane’s body (let’s call it Lotte) on the mission while leaving behind her brain (let’s call it Tess) in the lab. Heroic Jane agrees to go. Her brain is surgically removed from her body and placed in a vat. Her brain still controls her body via implants and transmitters and antennae. Jane finally goes to disarm the ANIA. Unfortunately, Lotte is destroyed in the process. Tess lives on in the vat, but is now deprived of all sensory input, and goes to sleep for a year. Then the scientists establish a connection between Tess and a new body Veatrice. (Reference: Dennett’s “Where Am I?”) Is Jane dead? Where is she? Is Jane wherever Lotte is? Is Jane wherever Tess is? Or, is Jane wherever she thinks she is? Carefully provide your reasoning and argument. Your discussion needs your rational and philosophical justification of why you think so. Also, introduce your understanding of one of philosophers’ theories, such as Descartes, Locke or Parfit, and utilize it as a justification of your claim. 4. Ted says, “I agree on Locke’s memory criterion of personal identity.” Sonya says, “Well, I think Butler clearly undermines Locke’s thesis by criticizing Locke��s thesis is circular.” Explain the conversation between Ted and Sonya and discuss critically your position of this issue. 5. “Paul is having a toothache.” Considering the sentence regarding Paul, explain the behaviorist interpretation of the sentence. Social Science homework help “Our Prices Start at $11.99. As Our First Client, Use Coupon Code GET15 to claim 15% Discount This Month!!” Answer one of the following questions in 1100 words Coursework Geeks. “” CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

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artofwrestlingrpg · 2 years ago

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MOST WANTED MALES:

COREY GRAVES, MADCAP MOSS, MONTEZ FORD, ALEX REYNOLDS, JOHN SILVER, EVIL UNO, XAVIER WOODS,MATT JACKSON, NICK JACKSON, ANTHONY BOWENS, DAX HARWOOD, POWERHOUSE HOBBS,CHAD GABLE, OTIS, CASH WHEELER, PAUL HEYMAN, KYLE O'REILLY, DANTE MARTIN, DARIUS MARTIN, LUCHASAURUS, CAMERON GRIMES, CLAUDIO CASTAGNOLI, MATT HARDY, JEFF HARDY, ISIAH KASSIDY, ORTIZ, KEITH LEE, SHEAMUS, JUNGLE BOY, ANDRADE, JOSH BRIGGS, BROOKS JENSEN, BRAY WYATT,JOE GACY, PRESTON VANCE, AUSTIN GUNN, SAMOA JOE, DANHAUSEN.

MOST WANTED FEMALES:

NYLA ROSE, SONYA DEVILLE , ELEKTRA LOPEZ,RED VELVET, IVY NILE, NATALYA, MANDY ROSE, MADISON RAYNE, CHARLOTTE FLAIR, MICKIE JAMES, WENDY CHOO, DANA BROOKE, LASH LEGEND, TRISH STRATUS, BRIE BELLA, AVA RAINE, ZOEY STARK, SAYA KAMITANI, SAYA IIDA,KIANA JAMES, STEPH DE LANDER, KATANA CHANCE, KAYDEN CARTER, SHAYNA BASZLER, SAMANTHA IRVINE, RENEE YOUNG, NIKKI BELLA, KAIRI SANE

Role names in bold have multiple member requests and multiple potential plots and connections within the group. Original characters are welcome!

Art of Wrestling is an established ( since 2021 ! ) non-au wrestling roleplay on discord, and we'd love for you to join us.

With biweekly tasks, game nights, monthly events, a biweekly tabloid, and so much more!

We currently have FORTY TWO active members, and over ONE HUNDRED characters to interact with. Want to check it out before applying? No problem! Send us a direct message for an invite to the server today!

#wwe rpg #wwe rp #discord rp #wrestling rp #wrestling rpg #aew rp #wrestling roleplay #wwe roleplay #aew rpg #discord rpg

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jasonblaze72 · 3 years ago

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#Smackdown #WWE

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lucindarobinsonvevo · 3 years ago

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the more i think about it, the more i am disappointed that we never got to see izzy & sonya interact. could you even imagine how that would have gone down?! :))

I REALLY want her to go full claws out on her like she did Paul in 2010, I think that would make for some great television.

Something like. You dont CARE about Karl, you only care about how it makes you feel to win and take him away from his wife! You only care about yourself! something like that.

Sonya would have no patience at all for Izzy and her shenanigans and we would all have been so here for it!

#sonyarebecchi #mitzianswers

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tyedyebaby · 4 years ago

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my opinion on the 4/23 smackdown

meant to do this a lot earlier but yknow. Stupidity is Rampant where I am involved. also btw I watched the episode but I have a bad memory so I'm getting most of my info from an article im linking at the end

anyway!!

the beginning

if I remember correctly, cesaro was about to cut a promo but then seth interrupted him and cut a promo and they argue just a little and then jey interrupted both of them and cut a maybe promo and seth and jey team up and start circling cesaro and it looked badass and then daniel bryan interrupted him and cut a promo (basically owning seth and jey) and then ROMAN interrupted everyone and started bitching and then roman left and commercial break and boom tag match. after a match that lasts through two commercial breaks and 45 minutes with seth up and fucking leaving ¾ of the way through, daniel and cesaro win.

I love and hate this because a) it's the closest seth and roman have come to interacting in a damn while [to my knowledge anyway] and hey, daniel hyping cesaro is fucking great, and jey. jey!, b) it felt strange to have roman address everyone but seth because he literally verbally addressed everyone but seth. yeah seth was dealt a rain check but still I want WORDS man. CONVERSATION. it also strikes me as strange that seth left jey to the mercy of the face team because "I don't have time for this, I'm seth freakin' rollins" and he's AWOL for the rest of the show. dubious.

then theres a backstage segment with adam pearce, sonya deville, and apollo crews in which apollo complains about having to defend his title tonight (that's how wrestling works, genius). adam eventually reveals that apollos opponent is kevin owens, which, HUH?!? what happened to beating sense into sami?? tho maybe he's planning to get a title to prove a point to sami or something. it felt weirdly sudden to me either way.

then jey shows up, blah blah you disrespected the tribal chief blah blah and then he says he feels sick and smth about getting put down. typical guard dog jey imo, nothing incredibly notable.

then your regularly scheduled Women's Match That Feels Like It Was Thrown In Arbitrarily featuring nia jax and tamina. reginald, shayna, and natalya were also there, because why wouldn't they be. shayna interferes and it's not seen by the ref, but tamina wins regardless, so all is well I guess? idk I just wish there was more depth in the women's division and less tag action and a LOT less reginald.

KO shows up, talks about how it's his first IC title match in years, how he was delighted, how he wasnt expecting this but isn't complaining, how he's gonna knock apollo down, and then big e shows up because he's cool like that! then big es like "hahaha ur cool n shit but this is my match" and kevin goes "yeah this is ur match but not this week because this week is my match and I'll be champ" and they go "hahahahahaha" yknow the white girl fake laugh

it was funny to me but I didn't expect kevin still.

daniel bryan then tells adam pearce to make the match between roman and cesaro and when adam says he'll try dbry tells him to do more than try. persistent.

then comes the ic title match! sami joins commentary midway through the match and watches apollo retain after quite a bit via Surprise Rollup My Beloved (/s), kevin hit the stunner after losing, and the huge azeez guy fuckin' nail kevin in the face. then, sami gets up and dances over kevin which is the funniest damn thing

anyway I love kevin and hate apollo but I'm glad things ended how they did because this really is big es match.

then this segment, which I can only describe with this screenshot of the article I'm using to refresh my memory

just paul heyman rambling. typical.

then apollo shows up, talks, gets attacked by big e, and then gets checked up on by azeez.

then, we see aleister black (good to know you're alive, buddy!) and hes surrounded by candles, wearing glasses with a book in his hands. he tells a story from his childhood that involves dragons and then cuts a promo that digs at the viewers. I think aleisters character is interesting but I was also on video call with my partner so I didn't catch all of it BDIXNAODBSKS

then we see dolph ziggler and robbery noodle, and they cut a promo on how rey mysterio is epic but his son has "big gucci shoes" to fill. then we get the street profits, who are interrupted by BAYLEY MY BELOVED. she cuts a promo on how she's gonna kick biancas selfish spoiled ass basically BUT THE FUNNY PART is that montez was on the phone tattle tailing on bayley TO BIANCA. bianca shows up and a match between bianca and bayley is made for backla- scuse me, wrestlemania backlash. seeing bianca and bayley in the same frame made my heart happy regardless of context.

the mysterios take on the alpha academy, have some close calls, and then rey wins with the 619 as he does. smooth. there was nothing overly remarkable about it. it was just...a good match. wrestling.

then Good Ole Tony (cesaro) comes out with dbry. they taunt (?) roman, who comes out and challenges daniel for his own title, blatantly ignoring cesaro. BUT if daniel loses he has to leave smackdown. cesaro urges daniel to accept, and daniel does, loudly.

overall:

I think it was okay! I've always preferred smackdown to raw but there were things I couldn't make sense of, like kevin owens's seemingly sudden addition to the IC title scene and the women's tag matches in general. I was also miffed that seth just kinda...disappeared...in the middle of his match...and didn't show up...for the rest of the show. could just be me.

thank you for coming to my TEDtalk

#crowfeathers.txt #wwe #wrestling #i hope its ok

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lyininthelilies · 8 years ago

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Great Comet Experience

Haven’t been on in awhile, but if I was going to come back for anything, it would be this. (Btw, I don’t know during which songs most of these happened because I’m still in awe, but I’ll do my best) For reference, I was sitting at TP, one of the tables just upstage of Pierre’s Salon Lucas Steele gave me a pierogi. It tasted great, btw. So, Prologue, the show starts and I realize just how close the actors are to me. It’s more intimate than I ever could have imagined. At the start of any show I see, I always feel like happy-crying, but you can’t do that when it’s happening just a few inches from you. I was smiling a lot, but not as much as I wanted (while also wanting to cry) so my face was doing this weird twitchy thing, and while this is happening, Anatole (Lucas Steele) is just looking at me and smiling and singing. It was amazing. Pearl gave me a huge smile at some point. It weirdly felt like she was smiling at her child. It was a great feeling, honestly. In Private and Intimate Life, Old Prince Bolkonsky (Nicholas Belton) very purposefully coughed on me. Is it weird that I’ll treasure that memory? Maybe. Princess Mary (Courtney Bassett) also made eye contact with me. I made direct eye contact twice with Natasha (Denee freaking Benton) for several seconds, and now I can die happy During The Duel, Nicholas Belton was leaning back against the rail and turned his head just enough to say, “Call me” I got an egg-shaker! In one song (might’ve been The Abduction) Dolokhov (Nick Choski) smiled at me while singing and gave a little nod, I nodded back. We had a moment. Also during The Abduction, Balaga (Paul Pinto) leaned over the rail towards me, making direct eye contact, had me lean forward so he could sigh that “It just keeps going.” A couple ensemble members sat right next to me (so sorry I don’t remember who), and Sonya (Brittain Ashford) and Marya (Grace Mclean) did too. Marya was there with me for the last three songs. During The Great Comet, I could actually hear her singing (ya know, not over the speakers) and that’s probably one of my favorite memories ever. Before going downstage for curtain call, she smiled at me I might add more if I remember any other interactions, but that’s it for now

#great comet #natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #the great comet #the great comet of 1812 #broadway #theater #theatre

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wickedanddeadly · 2 years ago

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@paranormaljunction asked:

❛ did you miss me? ❜ (to Sonya from Paul)

For years, she had been consumed by a relentless thirst for vengeance. A vampire wronged her family, causing irreparable damage that haunted her every waking moment. Vampires represented everything she despised - the bloodlust, the immortality, and the darkness that seemed to follow them wherever they went.

The very idea of that seemed so crazy when both man and vampire had been on her hit list for so long. She would have never imagined anyone could leave her feeling this way. It was as if the walls she had built around herself had crumbled, brick by brick, in the presence of this man. When they were forced to spend time apart. It was as if a piece of her soul was missing, leaving her feeling incomplete and restless.

" Always ... " She shifted across the room, her heart pounding in her chest. The weight of his words hung heavy in the air, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze just yet. Anticipation swirled within her.

" I trust you found something to keep yourself busy while I was away? "

#paranormaljunction #✷Muse✷[Sonya]✷#✷Interactions✷[Sonya & Paul]✷#✷Thinking We Should Cross The Line✷[Sonya & Paul]✷#✷✷✷ EARLY YEARS ✷✷✷[ Verse ]✷

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cockvengers · 8 years ago

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Final Great Comet Notes (2/2)

So as I mentioned in Part 1, I was fortunate enough see Comet on September 2nd (matinee) and September 3rd (closing) with a friend. In Part 1 I covered mostly the 9/2 matinee but there may be a few leftover notes interspersed.

September 3rd:

So first we actually went to the stage door to drop off some candy before the show. We went the day before with baked goods from a local bakery and gave them to Alex Gibson who was super nice.

I usually don’t do pre-show stage door because I don’t necessarily want to interact with people on my way to work but since they prefer you don’t bring food food into the theatre it is what it is.

Lauren was signing things for fans when we got there and since I hadn’t had the chance to give her the drawing I got to do that and she signed my book which was really generous.

One fan had a rose for each cast member that came by and idk if they’ll see this but I thought it was a very classy move.

Moving on, we headed back around to go in only to be stopped by the massive line around the block that would eventually lead into The Imperial

We were in line behind some ladies in their mid-sixties who were complaining about the show closing. It was something I heard a lot of whispers between fans about. Obviously we’re all upset. I could write essays on my feelings about the whys and hows and the disappointment but no one wants to hear it. It led to such a negative atmosphere on what I had hoped would be a going away party of sorts (ala The Abduction)

Luckily we went separate ways once in the theatre and the atmosphere was much improved.

Unlike our stage seats last time we were in the front of the rear mezz (2C) along the aisle closest to the center. It was a few rows forward from where I had seen Comet the first time and I’m fond of that area for that reason.

We had another friend (and their friend) in Row C of the front mezz and said hi to them before the start of the show

When Rachel and Sam came in and sat on the stage there was much applause. We actually missed it them sitting down because we were prepping our drinks

We saw Scott and Celia in the doorway to the mezz before the start of the show and I gave Celia her drawing since I hadn’t been fast enough to yesterday and I know that during normal show days she often leaves early if she’s not on

Andrew gave out dumplings. My friend got one and was kind enough to share with me.

After the warnings it was time for Dave to come out. That was a standing ovation that lasted maybe a minute.

Natasha chases Andrei and there is applause for her entrance.

The Prologue starts and at this point I feel sorry for anyone who hadn’t seen the show. That includes a person behind us. Hopefully you got something out of the show because I’m pretty sure there was no way to figure out who’s who over the applause.

Natasha is Young... *LOUD APPLAUSE*

Sonya is Good... *Applause* The audience hadn’t decided if we planned to applause for everyone at that point so Brittain didn’t get as much applause. We made up for it when she sand Sonya Alone.

After that we had figured it out and we continued to applause for every character

At that point we already could feel the energy in the room. Things were electric.

Brad walked by at some point and sung “everyone has nine different names” and I held up 9 fingers and he nodded.

Literally if there was a spot at the end of a song to applause we were there. By the end of Pierre I already felt like my hands would fall off.

During most of the songs in the first act I really tried to take in the costumes and movement because it would be my last chance.

During Private and Intimate Life Blaine starts to sing in his old man voice and the girl sitting in the banquettes across the aisle from Bolkonsky waved and he flirted and waved back.

He also was all over the woman he picked to be the “Cheap French Thing”. At least from our angle he looked like he was halfway on top of her.

During No One Else the guy sitting near Denée nodded at her during “We were angels once. Don’t you remember.”

Was there applause and a standing ovation at the end of No One Else? You know there was.

During The Opera Dolokhov just kind of lets Helene go to Natasha with a shrug like “Kuragins gotta hit on pretty girls” kind of a shrug. He’s used to it.

I always love the black cloaks and candles part of the opera. The whole thing makes no sense

The Duel is always exciting to me because the lights hide some naughtiness. I believe Katrina was dry humped by Cathryn. There were definitely piggyback rides happening on the stage.

Also, I had never realized that Brad wears the same outfit as Sumayya and Cathryn and a few others and tthose shorts... that’s some equality right there.

Also during the Duel Paul did the Denisov lisp that Dave mentions in the book (and I think on the genius) that they had tried but people found distracting. It was subtle until the end.

So, Dust and Ashes got the LONGEST standing ovation during the show. Two minutes by my estimate.

Did Charming get applause? Was the entire audience in love with Amber Gray? You know we did and we are.

I love the Ball. I get distracted watching the ensemble dance.

I loved watching Helene’s glee at when her plan to throw her brother and Natasha together came to fruition.

The Natasha and Anatole kiss was wow. Normally Natasha leans into it but today Denée really took over the kiss.

Act II. Begin Letters. Who do we spot coming to the rear mezz but Kennedy and Celia. We later learned at stage door that stage management approved them to come out and do the second half of the show as additional tracks so they covered the rear mezz during letters. It was outstanding.

The woman who gave Natasha The Letter was there for it. I have never seen someone get on the stage so fast.

Just says “yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssssssssss” was longer than normal

As I said Sonya Alone got major applause. What I forgot to mention was something I noticed during the day before. As Sonya marches off the stage while Dolokhov starts Preparations she is pissed as hell at him.

“Was ruining this family once not enough for you?” her look conveys.

Glad to hear Nick Choksi’s “NO” off mic again when Lucas explaining the argument for the hundredth time.

Balaga. Who got shakers? You know our row did. It was my first time getting a shaker and I was so excited when Brittain handed me the basket.

Our friend in front mezz row C said she had a good feeling about getting shakers and she was right as we all got shakers that night.

Did we singing along? Of course. The entire audience did.

Balaga and the Abduction were a non-stop party. Brittain held my shoulder and comforted a girl across from me who was crying as the ‘Goodbye my g*psy lovers’ portion began.

Anatole’s WOAHHHHHOOOOAHHHHHhhhhHHHHHhhhhHHHH was longer as expected for the final show. Lucas held all his really great notes for as long as possible.

Sometime around here you could hear Lucas trying to hold it together.

When Pierre did his WOAHHH. The audience did a standing ovation. The cast was sweaty as usual. Nick Gaswirth was on the floor in front of the mezz stage door panting. Everyone went all out.

Dave had to motion for us to stop twice before we actually did.

The song continued as usual. As you know the triangle strike was a miss. He hit it in the end.

Also a note from the day before actually being able to see Natasha pour the arsenic into the drink was helpful. The first time I didn’t see that and I thought when she poisoned herself with a “bit” of arsenic it was just a ton of arsenic in the whole glass.

The Petersburg Note was long as expected.

I really liked Blaine’s emphasis on “If you want to be MY FRIEND, Never speak of that AGAIN.”

Natasha and Pierre is wear things started to get awkward. I don’t really cry much over these very emotional things (luckily my friend doesn’t either) so while the audience was sobbing (some of you sobbed loudly) I kind of kept glancing at her for reassurance I wasn’t alone.

The last two songs of Comet are always so hopeful in message despite the melancholy tone and even during it’s closing their beauty fills me with such joy.

Denée was folded over and crying and it took her a little bit to recover. Then you could hear it in Dave’s voice that he was crying. Amber and Grace were both wiping their eyes from the tables.

There was so much love in that theatre at the end.

During bows Paul came out beardless and many I spoke to at stage door commented that they almost thought the beard might not have been real and that Paul was just so committed by doing stage door with it before logic won them over.

Bradley King runs down from the front mezz to make it to the stage.

Or Matias, Rachel Chavkkin, Sam Pinkleton, Badley King, Paloma Young, Mimi Lien, and Nicholas Pope all came on stage for Rachel’s short speech.

Erica Dorfler dame up as well and I saw Paloma Garcia Lee at the stage door at one point but I don’t think I saw her on stage.

Josh was there as well in the banquettes but he kept a low profile and I feel like that was probably the right move given how much hype his appearance would have caused during the show as a whole’s moment.

I was one of the first five or so people out the door from rear mezz and even the people from orchestra were just coming out. Normally that would have put me front row for stage door but today the first row was already full which was a little tragic.

While we were waiting for everyone to come out Sam Pinketon, Paloma Young, and a few others threw shakers at us. I caught one in the opposite color scheme from the one I had gotten from the basket. I was very excited.

Everyone was so kind at stage door. Most everyone who came out signed things. Or Matias, Nicholas Pope, and Paloma Garcia Lee did not but everyone else who is or was involved in the broadway run did.

People had been asking if Josh Groban would sign and they initially said no. Josh’s car was already waiting and everything but he went down the whole line and signed and took photos, etc. which was very nice of him.

I enjoyed talking to everyone and I was able to give out most of the drawings. I only had Brandt, Denée, and Amber left at the end of the night.

Since our friend in the front mezz talks with Nick Choksi every time she sees the show he stopped to talk for a minute or two longer than normal given the line size and I got to ask a very important question about his serving plate spinning while shot pouring skills. He said he came up with it at Ars Nova and asked for something that spins so he could use it to pour the shots. It seems like an important life skill we should all learn

That’s all I got right now (aside from a brilliant side story of what happened in the theatre while we were at stage door but that’s not mine to tell) but I’m sure I’ll think of more and maybe I’ll make a post for that later.

#audience reviews #Natasha Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 #The Great Comet of 1812

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intoanewlife · 8 years ago

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great comet 8/5 matinee

so first of all, great comet was amazing, not that i was expecting anything less, but still. i saw the matinee on 8/5, sat in the front mezzanine (house left, row A seat 3. 10/10 would recommend this view) and pretty much everyone was the usual cast except anatole was blaine alden krauss, sonya was ashley perez flanagan, and mary was courtney bassett. and they, and everyone else, totally killed it

so here’s some of the stuff from the performance i saw (under a cut because its A Lot):

pre-show: -the cast came out for the pre-show stuff, with the boxes of pierogis, and heath saunders (i believe) came right by my seat, asking who wanted one. i shouted ‘me!’, and he immediately tossed me one, so i guess enthusiasm helps. they all did like little PSAs about cast coming through and the strobes and no recordings, and heath did this little thing about making room for actors, like, heath: *gestures to seats* this is yours *gestures to aisle* this is mine *points to me and gestures to my seat* whats this? me: mine heath: *gestures to aisle* and whats this? me: yours heath: good job, 100%

prologue: -when anatole introduced himself and said “he spends his money on women and wine” he said it to a guy sitting next to him, who responded with one of those ‘sup nods -on the last big run-through of naming characters, when someone’s name was said, they were lit up in spotlight, spun in a circle and took a shot, which was great -paul pinto did a super quick costume change from balaga into what i think was a servant? anyway i glanced away for like a second and suddenly he was someone else, i was impressed

pierre: -ok first of all, oak is incredible. like, there’s something very sad and tired about his pierre, but at the same time, there’s a sense of youth in certain scenes, so despite everyone calling him old man, he feels like his canonical age and i loved it -right before pierre sings “you empty, you stupid contented fellows”, anatole walks by and toasts him

moscow: -when marya delivers her first “welcome, welcome to moscow”, all the audience members around her jumped on the first ‘welcome’ because it was so loud lol -marya was so enthusiastic about a game of boston, the whole audience laughed -when marya tells natasha to be kind to andrey’s sister, mary walks right between them, which i thought was cool -also at the start of the song, i saw mary trying to help old bolkonsky to his chair and he kept brushing her off

private and intimate life: -in that pause right before “people enjoy me though”, nick totally drew it out, and lights came up on the audience to his left and he stared at them for a long time. one girl did a little wave with the finger waggle and he did it back lol -when mary sings ‘yes father, yes father’, the lights all over the theater, including all the lights on tables, pulsed in time to the beat -paul pinto as the servant is hilarious? he’s all hunched over like he’s igor and he shuffles around the scene -when bolkonsky is freaking out about his glasses, marya is playing the cow bell looking so unimpressed it was hilarious

natasha and bolkonskys: -it was so awkward yet so funny, the way they not only put themselves at a table, but in a spot totally inconvenient for everyone sitting there, so there was a lot of scooching chairs around and giggling audience members -natasha had the most disney-worthy forced smile the whole time

no one else: -i had heard the staging of this was beautiful but thE STAGING OF THIS WAS BEAUTIFUL -the lights going blue! the way natasha practically floats around the stage the whole song! when andrey appeared in the snow! -i was in a spot so my view was natasha directly behind andrey, and i watched him read her letter as she stared at him longingly and let me tell you i was crying -when andrey hurries off, natasha chases him a bit, so then she’s the one in the snow and it was emotional -also pierre seemed to ignore a lot of things going on when he’s not in a scene and just sitting in his tavern, but he was watching natasha this whole scene

the opera: -when pierre says he’s enjoying himself at home he waved cheerily to the audience and gave an overly-enthusiastic thumbs up with a big grin, which immediately vanished when the lights on him faded -when natasha and helene meet, its like, there is no hetero explanation for it, they both sing their lines while reaching out to the other -marya sweeps in and grabs natasha’s shoulders and physically turns her away from helene -the opera was so weird but so great, one of the opera dancers, after the music stopped, kept making this weird noise you can hear in the soundtrack, and just? kept going? long past anything else? it was hilarious -the lights came up on natasha and sonya and sonya had this cute head tilt like ‘????’ and natasha’s jaw was dropped, eyes wide, it was so funny -anatole entered, and god, with blaine i could finally see what natasha saw in anatole because damn -OK SO ONE OF MY FAVORITE MOMENTS was when the opera performance was ending, andrey was getting “killed” right? except after he does, all the other “actors” clear off and he’s alone, all bloody and torn, and natasha had ended up in front of pierre’s tavern at that point, and andrey was on the other side, and he just stares longingly at natasha, until she turns around and spots him and realizes its him. they both circle pierre’s tavern, reaching for the other, and andrey has that red ribbon from natasha’s letters dangling from his hand, and where pierre had been ignoring the opera until then, he looks up and right after natasha saw it was andrey, so did he, and he jumps to his feet and watches natasha and andrey circling and reaching for the other with the saddest expression on his face and mY HEART

natasha and anatole: -for the entirety of the interactions between natasha and anatole down by pierre, pierre is reading with one hand over his eyes, not seeing any of it -yeah anatole totally primped in the mirror before entering the box, and then he struck a pose and waited for natasha to notice him -when natasha is all “as handsome up close as at a distance”, they’re standing behind a railing and anatole is looking away, and natasha leans her elbows on the railing and puts her chin in her hands and stares at anatole in that schoolgirl crush way. she immediately straightens up and turns away when he turns back

the duel: -when pierre is talking about natasha all “and long carried affection for her”, the way anatole says “yes. charming” basically translated to ’cool story bro’ -once it gets to the club, basically everything happens so much? people are everywhere, the strobe is going, andrey is being dj andrey 3000 in pierre’s tavern, THE OUTFITS, marya’s catsuit had me dying, pierre just drunkenly stumbles all over -on helene’s “he will kill you, stupid husband’ her voice broke, she was so upset oh my god, both anatole and helene were both so genuinely concerned when dolokhov fired, god my feels

dust and ashes: -holy shit oak is incredible, he’s a gift, he’s amazing, i love him -he actually flubbed a lyric near the beginning, but he absolutely killed the rest of the song -it was like a slow gradual build, where he started out sounding tired and then it crescendoed into this heartfelt longing and i cried and i died -let me tell you, hearing dust and ashes in surround sound (pierre in front, cast behind in rear mezz) is An Experience and i’m pretty sure thats what heaven sounds like -the applause was enormous and very long, which was great

sunday morning: -yeah i loved how pierre was right behind natasha when she was looking the mirror -marya was right next to our section when she did the “suuuuunday morning, time for church!” part and i basically got that at point blank range, which was amazing thank you grace mclean

charming: -natasha spends a lot of the song imitating helene, which was pretty cute. it started out when helene wasn’t looking, then by the end they were both doing the same gestures with their skirts and stuff

the ball: -at one point natasha and anatole are dancing together, but they’re across pierre’s tavern from each other, so they’re both doing the motions like they’re dancing together, but separately, which actually looked pretty cool -when natasha tells anatole she loves him, his face is so much ‘...what.’, god what a fuckboy

letters: -when pierre was talking about wanting to be in the war, he was like pretend-firing with the pistol he used in the duel, it was cute -when natasha and pierre sing “i see nothing but the candle in the mirror, no visions of the future...” they sing it facing each other -”a letter which i composed” had anatole whirling around to face dolokhov with a ‘cmon man why’d you have to say that’ kind of gesture and expression -oh my god anatole’s ‘just say yes’ bit. he did the first one standard, but the second one, he paused first then dragged the yes out for forever, then the third one he paused even longer and then he did like ‘just...say...yeeeeesssssssssssssssss’ and slowly got higher while grabbing onto natasha and god it was just hilarious and so Extra

sonya alone: -ashley fucking killed this one and i cried and the applause was so big -also pierre seemed like he was ignoring everything after his bit in letters, like he had in act 1, but he was watching this whole song

balaga: -pierre got up and joined the dancing with a shaker in each hand, he was having so much fun, i loved it

abduction: -anatole’s ‘whoa’ was so long oh my god -when pierre did his thing and everybody dropped, he bent over, stayed there a while, then stood up, looked around, and giggled, like he was so pleased -during this pause, everybody had dropped to the floor, except marya and helene who were standing side by side holding hands -marya was banging the huge drum after pierre’s bit, which was so cool, and helene played that drum for a bit earlier, but i can’t remember when -when anatole yelled for everyone to sit, he rushed up to a stage right table, and literally shoved and pushed at the guy sitting there, complete with dramatic grunting sounds, then plopped down, gave the guy the ‘sup nod and they fist bumped. anatole then let the pause drag on for so long, half the cast started looking exasperated, including pierre lmao -fucking marya’s entrance was so good holy shit. she delivered the line so calmly and crisply like, ‘you. will. not. enter. myyyyy house...ssscCOOOOUUUNNNNDRELLLLLLLLLL’ and it was amazing, anatole fucking bolted

in my house: -marya was so calm at the start of this song, it was kind of terrifying -when marya says to let natasha sleep, sonya is approaching natasha, and marya like, snarls at sonya

a call to pierre: -pierre was asleep at his desk at the start -there was a super cool lighting effect here, where marya had sat down on stage right, handed the letter off, and the lightbulbs hanging overhead lit up in a line (like they flashed one at a time) that went out into the audience and all the way back around to stage left where the letter was handed off to pierre -pierre’s ‘what’s started off kind of confused and calm, but once marya said natasha had broken with andrey they became more shocked and aggravated

find anatole: -oak actually missed the first ‘find anatole’ at the start because he was trying to get into his coat -he totally shoved paul pinto out of his way -anatole has his head in helene’s lap when pierre enters, and when helene is all “ah pierre, sweet husband’ i always thought it sounded kind of sly on the soundtrack, but when i saw it, helene sounded more genuine and concerned -when pierre is all angry and “more repulsive to me than ever”, he stalks towards the siblings and they spring apart and helene actually throws herself out of pierre’s way and they both looked so nervous when pierre asked to speak to anatole

pierre and anatole: -god this scene was intense, and oak plays pierre with such a tightly-bound rage, it was kind of frightening -when pierre is listing what anatole needs to do, anatole got angry and swiped everything off pierre’s desk -”amuse yourself with women like my wife” helene looked so offended and pierre delivered “then youre within your right” directly to her, ouch -natasha poisoning herself was so intense, she screamed and ran offstage and both marya and sonya ran after her

natasha very ill: -pierre helps marya to a chair, while everyone just slowly settles somewhere

pierre and andrey: -i had heard andrey shoves pierre, but when i saw it, andrey just straight up jabbed pierre in the chest and when andrey walked away, pierre just sort of rubbed at the spot

pierre and natasha: -here’s where i died again, because as soon as i saw natasha come down the stairs clinging to the railing i was crying -on “she began to cry” oak choked up and it was painful -when pierre called anatole a bad man, helene lifted her head looking pained, then when natasha said “don’t call him bad”, helene smiled sadly and lowered her head again -during this number i saw helene, marya and mary all crying so there was that -pierre delivered The Line to natasha’s back, since she was leaving, then immediately turned his back, which gave me a perfect view of pierre crying and wiping at his eyes. he didn’t turn back until natasha was right behind him again and he jumped, then the face touch was so tender and beautiful, and natasha had to shuffle forward a little to reach, god it was so pure great comet of 1812: -this finale was so beautiful and oak did an amazing job with this simple and quiet song, i loved it and the lighting effect that makes the comet was great, and the front mezzanine was a great place to see it

ok so this was really long, but i noticed a lot, and it was such a good show. if i could see it a thousand times more, i would, and i’m so thankful i got to see oak in it. long live the great comet!

#natasha pierre and the great comet of 1812 #great comet

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