#Bea and Hero’s first Q&A

[violivs]

NMTDaily: Q&A (Bea and Hero’s first Q&A video)

- Okay, I took a brief break from my rewatch liveblog, but I’m back. Let’s do this.

- “But first, tea!” Cute little teacup cheers animation and sound effect!

- Wait, also, this is another moment of Bea’s hypocrisy and the things she has in common with Ben being exposed! Miss No One Needs Tea actually IS a tea-drinker! (And Ben is still watching her videos at this point, I wonder if he noticed that…)

- Sigh. Content warning: Harry Potter. I continue to be aggressively furious with JKR. Ten years ago I would have never thought HP would become inextricable from a vitriolic hate group, and it breaks my heart every time I think about it. How trans people are suffering at the hands of that woman, most importantly. But also how she took away my ability to enjoy the series that got me through a bleak early adolescent onset of my anxiety disorders, AND she’s retroactively corrupting my comfort media by association now too. Boo. Hiss. Let’s move on.

- There IS some good character work in this Hogwarts House discussion section though. More foreshadowing of Pedro failing to live up to his brave, heroic image. Meg being a Slytherin. Bea thinking Ben would be a Muggle. It is interesting to think about what could replace this discussion today in terms of media references. I really don’t know.

- Hero being uncomfortable when Bea brings up Claudio and her being matching is interesting. I guess they aren’t officially official yet. And then she gets revenge by bringing up Benedick, lol. Perfect.

- Bea makes fun of her a bit again about the holidaying in the South of France, not really sure what to make of that.

- Bea catching that question and refusing to be tricked into saying Ben is her friend, and still refusing to watch his channel. Hilarious and plot-important.

- Arch-nemesis, what a strong word! Remember the fanart transforming Kate Beaton’s Nemesis comic to be about Ben having a photo of his nemesis Beatrice above his bed? I loved that, but now I think Beatrice should’ve been the star of her own version of that, lol.

- I love her making fun of Ben’s channel icon, because I still think that icon was a perfect character choice. Exactly the kind of deeply cringe nonsense that Benedick MuchAdo would and should do in a modern AU, I love it. And I love that Beatrice hates it. Perfect.

- “You have to pick a side, you pick my channel or you pick his!” “You do know you’re not the only two channels on YouTube?” Lol get her Hero!

- Just hollering again because Ben is definitely gonna watch this video and see Bea talking about their past I’m!!!!!

- I know what it’s like to be a kid and have a group of kids you only see during summer but who all see each other year-round, and you never feel as close to those people as they are to each other. So I understand why Bea might feel resentful that all her Auckland friends are still friends with Ben year-round, especially after she had such a falling out with him.

- “Like he does with his newest most bestest friend thing, he latched on to me as the other new kid in the group” MY HEART.

- Ben was clearly still struggling with being the new kid, and saw someone who related a bit to that and wanted to bond over it! Oh my GOD he is just the embodiment of the Puss-in-Boots-being-a-cute-kitten-with-huge-wet-eyes gif to me and I cannot help being absolutely in love. Protect this lonely baby!!!!!

- HE KNEW SHE WAS LEAVING AT THE END OF SUMMER. He was ripping off the band-aid early by pushing her away. We know he genuinely didn’t know his feelings for her were romantic at all at the time, so all Ben knew was Bea was trying to get closer to him right as he was about to lose her, and he was giving them both an out because it already hurt too much to lose her!!!!! (A HUGE parallel to his behavior of pushing her away ahead of losing her to travel in Lovely Little Losers by the way.)

- And poor Beatrice. She’s already used to maintaining friendships from eight hours away. She would have just taken for granted that she and Ben were going to stay in touch after she went home to Wellington, like she always did with Hero and Pedro. But she also knew she had a crush on Ben, and as soon as she tries to put herself out there in a messy 14-year-old way and create more situations where they’re alone together, Ben starts saying friendships die in three days. Because he doesn’t believe it’s possible to be friends from eight hours away, so why try? And Bea thinks he doesn’t care about her at all and she’s heartbroken.

- If Ben had only been able to communicate that he was scared because he liked her so much and insecure because he’d never had a friend who actually bothered to stay in touch before. If Bea had been able to listen without having her feelings hurt, and actually communicate her own feelings. If they both weren’t terminally fourteen years old about this, they could’ve been friends this entire time.

- Beatrice is SO heartbroken by Ben’s rejection that in the past 3 or 4 YEARS since this went down, she never talked to Hero about it before this video. Not once. And she tells Hero everything. That’s huge.

- “You know my life story now.” That’s how she phrases it. This friendship breakup is a defining event in Beatrice’s life so far. It’s the heartbreak of her life. No wonder she’s so adamant about hating him.

- “Traveling is going to be on the agenda in the next few years” and we already have the setup for Lolilo, not even halfway through NMTD.

- Like really, Lolilo is basically Ben and Bea having the same fight and making the same mistakes as they did when they were fourteen, and yet again finding their way back to each other, finally mature enough to never make the same mistakes a third time.

- Art Curator and Queen of the World. These precious girls.

- Beatrice wants to do something that challenges her and makes her think. She doesn’t want easy street. I love that. (Enjoying a challenge, enjoying learning and thinking, another thing that also applies to Ben.)

- Bea and Hero get along because they have the same sense of humor and they grew up together, they have history. Shows what they value in any kind of relationship, platonic or otherwise.

- I love Hero being sad at the idea of a world where she doesn’t know Bea, she’s so sweet. And Bea finding that emotional stuff gross is also perfect.

- “I think you have more in common with Ben that you do with me.” “Hero I’m going to kill you right now.” Perfect.

- Godddddd the pale blue dress I’m already in pain. Knowing what’s coming just ughhhhhh

- The beaded necklace! I love these two so much, we love sisterhood (cousinhood, you know what I mean)

- Ohhhhh St Miranda’s! I just got it, that’s a The Tempest reference and the magician principal is Prospero, or more likely Prospera a la the movie. I don’t think I had seen or read The Tempest yet when I first watched NMTD, so that went over my head. I knew it was a Shakespeare reference but it’s only now that I understand it.

- (About Pedro) “I can be myself around him, we just know each other really well” and again I’m in PAIN augh the foreshadowing

- Do we think Bea really doesn’t know that her name means Blessed? Interesting. Love that they worked that detail in.

- Saying goodbye in German? Well Hero is clearly a Sound of Music fan, lol. Well, that or Cabaret, but she strikes me as a Sound of Music girl.

- Reminding the audience that we don’t really know her outside of this channel, thanking everyone for their kindness and good questions, backhanding the ones who asked about Ben with “MOST of the questions were really good and not annoying at all”. Lol, way to model a mostly healthy relationship with your audience, Bea! I mean that genuinely. Boundaries are important. Even though you’re fictional.

- “Why are you watching us? We’re not that interesting.” This line will be paralleled somewhat in Bea and Hero’s final video.

- And all their favorite YouTubers in the description box! Mostly OG British YouTubers I haven’t thought about in years. That was a blast from the past!

- Thank you comment section for pointing out that Hero chose to include a question sent in by Benedick! She left out his name so Bea wouldn’t notice, but he’s the one who asked “how much of yourself do you put in your videos” and Bea said it was an interesting question. I love that.

- He wants to know how genuine the things she says in her videos are and he wants advice as a fellow YouTuber at the same time, and she lets him know that she’s for real. That has to hurt given the things she’s said about him, but he could also take from this video that he matters to her, or she wouldn’t still be so upset about their falling out. Whether he does understand that from this video is another question- probably not. Not yet.

- Someone in the comments, AlashiaTuol, is a genius, pointing out that Bea jokingly telling Hero to pick a side between herself and Ben is a direct parallel to a much more serious “pick a side” conversation Ben is going to have. I love that call.

- Another commenter said what I’m always thinking when I rewatch this series: “I’m so glad this exists!”

💖🥭🦩

[eydika]

eydika’s name list 2.0

more... names because the first name list I made isn’t enough anymore

A

Abaddon

Abbey / Abbie

Abel

Ace

Ada

Adam

Adrien

Agnes

Aiden

Akari

Alaska

Alchemy

Alec / Alex / Alexa

Alessi / Alessia

Alexis

Aliana / Alianna

Alice

Alison

Alistair

Alivia

Allie / Ally

Alpha

Alya

Amber

Amelia

Amity

Amos

Amy

Andie / Andy

Andrew

Andromeda

Angel

Anita

Anna / Anne

Annabelle / Annie

Apollo

Apple

Apricot

April

Archer / Archie

Arden

Ares

Argus

Ariel

Aron / Aaron / Auron

Arrow

Artemis

Arthur

Artis

Arya

Ash / Asher

Aspen / Aspyn

Astrid

Athena

Atlas

Atticus

Aubrey / Audrey

Audio

Auger

Auggie

August

Aurelia

Aurora

Austin

Autumn

Ava / Avaline / Avalon / Aveline

Avery / Avrey

Aya

B

Baby

Barbie

Basil

Bea / Bee

Bean

Beatrice / Beatriz

Bébé

Beck / Beckett

Beetle

Bella / Belle

Beryl

Betty

Bijou

Billie

Birdie

Bishop

Bitter

Blair / Blaire

Blaise

Bloom

Blue / Blu

Boheme

Bonnie

Bowie

Briar

Bridget

Brina

Brody

Bryson

Bunny

Byron

C

Cade / Cadea / Caden

Cairo

Cal / Calum

Caleb

Callie

Calliope

Calvin

Cameron

Candace

Canopy

Carly / Carlie

Carol / Caroline

Carter

Casper

Cassandra

Cassius

Catherine

Celia

Cetus

Chance

Charlotte

Cherry

China

Chip

Chloe

Cian

Cinnamon

Civet

Clara / Clary / Clarabelle

Claire

Clementine

Cleo

Clover

Cobalt

Colby

Colt / Colten

Constance

Cooper

Cora

Corey

Corvus

Cosmo

Cricket

Cynthia

Cyra

Cyrus

D

Dacre

Daisy

Dakota

Dalia

Dallas

Damien

Dana

Dandelion

Dandy

Dante

Daphne

Darby / Darcy

Darius

Darla

Davina / Divina

Davos

Dawn

Deacon

Deb

December

Deja

Delaney

Delta

Demi

Denim

Denver

Desmond

Dexter

Diego

Digit

Dion / Dior

DJ

Doe

Domino

Donna

Doran

Dorothy / Dot / Dottie

Douglas

Dune

Dusk

Dylan

E

Eachan

Ebele

Ebony

Echo

Eden

Edris

Effi / Effie

Egan

Elijah

Eliza

Ella / Ellie

Elliot

Ellis

Elodie

Elsbeth / Elspeth

Elsie

Elyse

Embla

Emily

Emlyn

Emma

Emmett

Emory

Erica

Erin

Ernest

Ernie

Esryn

Estelle

Ethan

Eugene

Eva / Eve / Evie

Evan

Evangeline

F

Fae / Fee

Faith

Fawn

Fawke

Felix

Fenris

Fergus

Ferris

Fig / Figgy

Finbar

Fizz

Fletcher

Fleur

Flint

Flora / Florence

Forrest

Fox

Frankie

Freya

G

Gage

Gaia

Gavin

Gemma

Gene / Genesis / Genevieve

Gigi

Gil

Giselle

Gladys

Gloom

Gloria / Glory

Goldie

Grace / Gracie

Greta

Griffin

Gus

H

Hadley

Hailey

Hana

Harlow

Harmony

Harper

Hawk

Hayden

Hazel

Hector

Henley

Henry

Hera / Hero

Honey / Honeydew

Hope

Hunter

I

Ian / Ion

Idris

Ieni

Iesha

Illori

Ilya

Imelda

Imogen

Imp

India

Indira

Ingrid

Irina

Iris

Isaac

Isara

Isla

Ivory / Ivy

Izzy

J

Jack / Jackie

Jade

Jake

Janice / Janis

Jason

Jasper

Jay / Joy

Jenan

Jericho

Jerry

Jibo

Jill

Jinx

Joan

Jude / Judith

Juleka

Juli / Julip

June / Juno

Juniper

Jupiter

Justice

K

Kaiven

Kale

Kappa

Kayla

Kellen

Kelly

Kes

Kimber

Kitana

Kitty

Kiwi

Knox

Kris

Kristy / Kirsty

Krull

Kumo

L

Laken

Lana

Lapse

Lark

Laurel

Lavender

Lemon

Lenka

Leo / Leon / Leonie

Levitt

Liberty

Lilac

Lilith

Lima

Lindsey

Locus / Lotus

Lottie

Luca / Luka

Lucia / Lucie / Lucy

Lucille

Lucky

Luis

Luna / Louna

Luther

Lux

Lynn

M

Mabel / Mable / Maple

Madison

Mae / May

Maeve

Magnolia

Mango

Mantis

March

Marcia / Marcy

Margaux / Margo / Margot

Marina

Marion

Marley

Marmalade

Mars

Martha

Mary

Mason

Maude

Maura

Maxine

Maya

Meadow

Medea

Melancholia

Melba

Memphis

Mercedes

Mercy

Mick

Milan

Milla

Millenia

Milo

Mina / Mona

Minerva

Minnie

Minnow

Miron

Misery

Mona

Monday

Montgomery

Monty

Morrigan

Morwenna

Myrtle

N

Nana

Nancy

Nasira

Nate

Nathaniel

Naveed

Navy

Ned

Nefarian

Ness

Nestor

Never

Newt

Nikki

Noah

Nora

Norma

Nova

Nutmeg

Nye

Nyx

O

Octa

October

Odessa

Olive / Olivia

Ollie

Omega

Omen

Onyx

Opal

Ophelia

Oriana / Orion

Oscar / Oskar

Otis

Owen

Ozzy / Ozzie

P

Paige

Paisley

Parker

Pat / Pattie

Paula / Paola

Pea / Peach

Pebble

Penelope

Pepper

Pepsi

Percy

Petrichor

Philippa

Philomena

Phoebe

Phoenix

Piccolo

Pip / Piper

Pixie

Poe

Pollux

Pomeline

Poppy

Portia

Primrose

Q

Queen

Quentin

Quibble

Quincy

Quinn

R

Rachel

Radian

Ransom

Raven

Ray

Razzia

Rebus / Remus

Reverie

Rhubarb

Rick

Rider / Ryder

Rigby

Rilla

Roach

Robin

Rory

Rosa / Rosalie

Rose

Roux

Rowan

Roxanne / Roxie / Roxy

Ruben

Ruby

Rune

S

Sabina / Sabine / Sabrina

Sable

Sadie

Saffron

Sage / Saige

Salem

Sam / Samantha / Sammie

Savant

Savian

Scarlett

Scotty

Scout

Sean

Sesame

Shea

Skye / Skylar

Sloane

Solomon

Spencer

Sprout

Star

Stella

Sunny

Sybil

Syc

Symphony

T

Tabea

Tabitha / Tabs

Tali / Talia

Tasha

Tate

Tau

Temper

Tharan

Theodora / Theodosia

Theros

Thimble

Thirteen

Thorn

Tia

Tilda

Tina

Topaz

Tora / Torian

Trinity

Trixie

Trope

Tulip

Turnip

Twig

U

Ukiyo

Umara

Umbra

Ursa

V

Valentin

Valerie

Valora

Vargas

Vaughn

Vector

Vega / Vegas

Velvet

Venus

Vera

Vernon

Vesper

Vinette

Violet

Vivek

Volt

W

Waverly

Wednesday

Wendy

Wes

Whisper

William

Willow

Winnie

Winona

Winter

Wish

Wren

X + Y + Z

Xena / Xenia

Xeno / Xenos

Yuki

Yuri

Zafira

Zaria

Zephyr

Zero

Zoe / Zoelle

Zona

Zyra

LAST NAMES

Abbot

Abernathy

Alton

Arcanum

Ashe

Astor

Badger

Balker

Bass

Bennett

Benton

Blake

Bleu

Blunt

Blythe

Cable

Cabot

Cain

Carter

Carver

Castillo

Choi

Clemonte

Coldwell

Collins

Colt

Craft

Craven

Crimson

Croft

Dabney

Danvers

Dayholt

Delpy

Driver

Dyer

Eades

Edge

Epithet

Epps

Evert

Farley

Fell

Fenner

Fig

Finch

Findlay

Fletcher

Foley

Fowler

Fray

Freud

Frost

Geller

Gill

Guest

Hale

Hapley

Harp

Hart

Hearst

Hooper

Hunt

Hyde

Ivy

Jinx

Keller

Kersey

Kingsley

Knight

Knox

Kraft

Krav

Laveau

Lecter

Lock / Lockwood

Lowell

Lush

Marr

Mills

Mist

Morgan

Morrison

Murray

Myers

Oaks

Patel

Pierce

Pike

Powell

Price

Pruitt

Quint

Quiver

Random

Ripley

Ryder

Sears

Sloane

Sparks

Stele

Strom

Sutton

Talbot

Tate

Thorne

Twig

Twist

Tycho

Utley

Valentine

Vance

Vaughn

Vos

Walker

Wallow

Weaver

Webb

Wiley

Wilkes

Winston

Wreath

Wright

Wrong

York

Zella

Zepeda

[papermoonloveslucy]

BOB CUMMINGS

June 9, 1910 - December 2, 1990

Robert “Bob” Cummings was born in Joplin, Missouri. His godfather was the aviation pioneer Wilbur Wright, so naturally he got his pilot’s license and studied aeronautical engineering. After the stock market crash of 1929, he gave up flying to study drama in New York City, making his Broadway debut in 1931. In 1934 he moved to Hollywood and started making films. During World War II he was a captain in the Air Force Reserves. His television career kicked off in 1952, winning an Emmy for for a TV production of “12 Angry Men.” Starting in 1955, Cummings starred on a successful NBC sitcom, "The Bob Cummings Show” (aka “Love That Bob”), in which he played Bob Collins, an ex–World War II pilot who became a successful photographer. The show ended in July 1959. It was then that he first teamed with Lucille Ball on an episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour.” CBS revived “The Bob Cummings Show” in 1961, but it lasted just one season. He reprised the character of Bob Collins on a 1972 episode of "Here’s Lucy” and returned the following season for another episode. Cummings was married five times and fathered seven children. He died in 1990 at the age of 80. 

Lucille Ball and Bob Cummings first worked together in the penultimate episode of “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour” “The Ricardos Go To Japan” (November 1959). 

Cummings played himself in Japan to make a film. In reality, his next film, My Geisha (1962) starring Shirley MacLaine and Yves Montand, actually was filmed in Japan, although “The Ricardos Go To Japan” was filmed entirely in Hollywood.  

Lucy and Cummings were just two of the many stars participating in “Hedda Hopper’s Hollywood” (January 10, 1960). Cummings, alone on a soundstage, tells the story of how he was discouraged from pursuing an acting career. Despite this he got an opportunity that turned into the film Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939). While filming this segment for Hopper, his second TV series “The Bob Cummings Show” had just finished its five season run on CBS.

In a 1972 episode of “Here’s Lucy,” Cummings played Bob Collins, the character he played on his own show “Love That Bob”!  

In the episode, Lucy takes a liking to Bob, although her daughter Kim thinks he is an alcoholic womanizer and goes to great lengths to scare him off. 

In 1973, Cummings returned to "Here’s Lucy” to play Bob Henning, a deceitful antiques dealer who is after a priceless chair Lucy Carter unknowingly bought. To get it back, he pretends to have a romantic interest in Lucy. 

Cummings was in attendance at the “The 38th Primetime Emmy Awards” on September 21, 1986, when Lucille Ball presented the Governor’s Award to Red Skelton. 

THE CUMMINGS CONNECTION

While both “I Love Lucy” and “The Bob Cummings Show” were on the air simultaneously, “Bob” was on Sundays on NBC while “Lucy” held down Mondays on CBS. The first “Bob Cummings Show” (later re-titled “Love That Bob” for syndication, lest it be confused by the same-titled second iteration) was a mid-season replacement that featured many of the same performers as “Lucy”:

Joi Lansing (Shirley Swanson, 24 episodes)

Nancy Kulp (Pamela Livingstone, 16 episodes)

Eliva Allman (Mrs. Montague, 7 episodes)

Marjorie Bennett (Mrs. Neimeyer, 6 episodes)

with Doris Singleton, Benny Rubin, Robert Carson, Lurene Tuttle, Bea Benadaret, Dick Elliott, Doris Packer, Charles Lane, Ruth Brady, Madge Blake, Parley Baer, Hy Averback, Tyler McVey, Hans Conried, Ellen Corby, Jay Novello, Margie Liszt, and Will Wright. 

In 1955, a year after leaving his role as Jerry the Agent on “I Love Lucy”, Jerry Hausner played a show business agent on the series. 

In 1957, “The Bob Cummings Show” did a crossover episode with “The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show” that featured Bea Benadaret as Blanche Morton. 

The second iteration, sometimes referred to as “The New Bob Cummings Show”, ran on CBS for just one season just prior to Lucille Ball launching “The Lucy Show.”  Like Ball’s transformation of “The Lucy Show” into “Here’s Lucy,” Cummings played a different character in a new scenario, but it was basically the same show. Some of the “Lucy” character actors crossed over to the new series, including Paul Debov, Dick Elliott, Charles Lane, Norman Leavitt, and Jay Novello.

Cummings’ first time as a regular on a TV series was on the NBC series “My Hero” which only ran one season on NBC (1952-53), concurrently with season two of “I Love Lucy.” The Los Angeles Times thought the show would "rival ‘I Love Lucy’ in popularity.”  The New York Times accused it of being a copy of ‘I Love Lucy’ and said "Cummings brought a magnificent terribleness to his part." The show was executive produced and part owned by Don Sharpe, who was also connected with ‘I Love Lucy.’  A few “Lucy” players were seen on the show: Arthur Q. Bryan, Hal March, Will Wright, James Burke, Fritz Feld, Eve Whitney, Nestor Paiva, Richard Reeves, Mario Siletti, Florence Bates, Lawrence Dobkin, and Ellen Corby. 

Another one-season series for Robert Cummings was filmed at Desilu, aired on CBS, and ran concurrently with season three of “The Lucy Show”. In “My Living Doll” Cummings played an Air Force psychiatrist in charge of a sexy, naive android (Julie Newmar). “Lucy” actors who were also on “My Living Doll” included Ellen Corby, Joe Mell, Jonathan Hole, Jackie Joseph, Parley Baer, Nestor Paiva, Maurice Marsac, Olan Soule, Tyler McVey, Lurene Tuttle, and Leon Alton. 

Just before leaving “My Three Sons” for health reasons in 1965, William Frawley did one episode of “My Living Doll.”  A few months later a cameo on “The Lucy Show” would be Frawley’s final TV performance. 

Bob Cummings had done three films with William Frawley from 1936 to 1940: 

In 3 Cheers for Love (1936) Cummings and Frawley co-starred with Elizabeth Patterson (Mrs. Trumbull) and Irving Bacon (Will Potter). Patterson and Bacon also played the Willoughbys in “The Marriage License” (ILL S1;E26) in 1952. 

One Night in the Tropics (1940) was the first film appearance of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello. Five years later, Lucille Ball played herself in Abbott and Costello in Hollywood. 

Touchdown, Army (1938) featured an uncredited appearance by Richard Denning, who, ten years later, would play George Cooper, Lucille Ball’s husband on her hit radio series “My Favorite Husband.” 

TV People, February 1956. Interestingly, Hal March (host of “The $64,000 Question”) was also a character actor on “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy Show.”  Liberace would guest star as himself on “Here’s Lucy” in 1970.  The top of the magazine promises an article about Arthur Godfrey and his singer Janette Davis. Godfrey guest starred as himself on  “The Lucy Show” in 1965. Jack Webb’s series “Dragnet” was second only to “I Love Lucy” in popularity during the 1950s. It served as the model for all other police dramas on television. 

“The Lucy Show” and “Love That Bob” can both be found on discount DVD.  Many episodes of these series’ are no longer covered by copyright and are in the public domain. 

[tyleroakley-obsessed]

Today, I took a cupcake break with two people who made me laugh for a solid two hours last night: Rob McClure and Maggie Lakis. They’re the stars of “Something Rotten!”, the Broadway musical playing at the Orpheum through this Sunday. I’ll get to my quick Q&A with them, but first let me tell you about the cupcakes and this show. First, the cupcakes: Huge thank you to 2 Girls and a Whip who made these adorable “Something Rotten!” themed cakes – which will make wonderful sense if you see the show, promise. Read more about their downtown cakery here. Then, the show: It’s the story of two brothers in the Renaissance who are competing with Shakespeare. They hate Shakespeare (really, there’s a song called “God, I Hate Shakespeare”) and they desperately need to write a hit. One brother, Nick, goes to a soothsayer for inspiration and finds out that the future of theater is…musicals. So they try to write the world’s first musical. Cast of the Something Rotten! National Tour. © Jeremy Daniel I have never laughed this much at a show. And the singing and dancing and acting were on point, too. There are references to all your favorite musicals, but I’d say 90 percent of the humor is just funny because it’s funny, no need to be an expert of the Bard or Broadway.    I don’t want to give too much away, so instead I’ll share with you a few of the thoughts that went through my head while watching it. (Note: The adult humor and innuendo makes this show PG-13, and so my thoughts will be, too. Proceed at your own risk.) —That first song just cracked my shit up. I was not expecting that! —Did they just rhyme “penis” with….genius? —UGH I hate this Shakespeare, too! But he’s kind of hot. —I think my dad would actually like this show, and he is not a musical kind of guy. —Plague jokes. Tap dancing. This is great. —This lady [Bea Bottom] is my hero. Badass woman, just out here TCB. Get ’em, Bea! —They can’t be committing to this one joke…oh…YES THEY ARE. They’re really doing this. —The Puritan Father is my new favorite “villain” in all of Broadway-dom. He’s too much. OK, now that I’ve sufficiently sold it, here’s a quick recap of my Q&A with Rob and Maggie, the cutest onstage/in-real-life couple ever. Holly: Hi! Tell us about yourselves and your characters. Rob: I’m Rob McClure. I grew up in New Jersey, started doing theater in high school and I’ve been doing it professionally for 20 years. I play Nick Bottom. Shakespeare fans will know the character of Nick Bottom from Midsummer Night’s Dream, but you don’t have to be an English major to enjoy the show. He is a playwright in the Renaissance who is competing with Shakespeare, who he hates because – let’s face it – he’s jealous of his success. Maggie: I’m Maggie Lakis. I’m from Philadelphia, been acting for about 20 years. I am very lucky to be doing this! I play Bea Bottom. We play a married couple and we are married in real life. In the show, Bea knows something’s bothering Nick, but he’s got pride issues and he’s not sharing with her. She wants to help the family, but it’s the Renaissance, so women are not allowed to work. So she has to be a little sneaky. She dons a bunch of disguises, in the tradition of Shakespeare, women wearing men’s clothing. It’s fun, I get to play a person who plays other people I get this great song at the beginning, and then I get to be silly for the rest of the show. Something Rotten! National Tour. © Jeremy Daniel Rob: Her song is one of my favorites; it’s called “Right Hand Man”, when she’s trying to convince me to let her help. If you haven’t heard Maggie sing – you should hear Maggie sing. Holly: So wait – the two are you are married in real life???! That’s too cute. How did you meet? Rob: We met in a production of Grease in New Jersey playing Doody and Frenchie in 2005. It was pretty immediate. Maggie: Yeah, the connection was pretty quick. There’s a lot of sitting around and waiting on tech – you’re holding for lights – and that’s when you usually get to know each other. Rob: I remember there was a scene in Grease where we were outside on picnic blankets. And we tech-ed that scene for hours and I just remember sitting on that blanket, laughing and laughing. That’s when she told me that her favorite movie is JAWS and I was like, “OK I dig this chick.” Maggie: I knew he liked me because he kept saying – at the time I was dating someone – but he kept saying “If you were single, I’d marry you.” Rob: It was really subtle. Cast of the Something Rotten! National Tour. © Jeremy Daniel Holly: When you first read “Something Rotten!”, what surprised you about it? Maggie: It’s a new show; it’s not an adaptation of a movie or a book, and it’s not a revival. That’s something that’s hard to come by these days. It gives you that unabashedly classic musical theater experience: you get the beautiful costumes and the amazing production numbers and you get laughs – lots of laughs – it gives you everything. Rob: If you love musicals and you love Shakespeare, then you’ll love the show. If you hate Shakespeare or hate musicals, you’ll love it as well. It pays tribute to these things while simultaneously making fun of them. Holly: Yeah, I think my dad might actually like this one. Rob: It’s such an accessible experience, because it’s so funny – funny to anyone. People have a really good time. Cast of the Something Rotten! National Tour. © Jeremy Daniel Holly: Why should people go see the show? Rob: You should come see “Something Rotten!” because it’s been crafted by geniuses. Casey Mc , who directed this, was choreographer on Spam-A-Lot, directed Book of Mormon, directed Aladdin. if you like laughing, he’s literally an expert on making you laugh. He’s a genius of a choreographer, and there’s throwbacks to big musical theater numbers. Maggie: Lots of tap dancing. Also, you know, it’s a show where you can kind of turn off from the world a little bit. It’s not a topical show. There might be a couple lines…but it’s actually not a topical show. You can go and turn off your phone and sit back and relax and you’ll feel like you can just enjoy yourself. Holly: It’s a really fast-paced show, too. Rob: Right, there’s no time for you to get distracted, it starts and it doesn’t relent until it’s over and people are willing to go along with the ride because it’s a fun one. Holly: Is this y’all’s first time in Memphis? Maggie: It’s our second. We were here ten years ago – when we were dating, we were touring with Avenue Q – so this is our second time. It’s awesome to go back to the places we loved last time and then to see all the new places. We’re going to Graceland, Sun Studio, the Civil Rights Museum. Rob: Maggie is going to be honorary Duckmaster at the Peabody on Friday! I can’t wait! [Here we descend into a whole conversation about where to eat and barbecue. I tell them about BBQ nachos.] Holly: Thanks y’all! Get more info about Something Rotten! and get your tickets on the Orpheum’s website. Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout https://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2018/04/something-rotten-something-sweet-eating-cupcakes-and-meeting-broadway-actors/

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NMTDaily - A Special Announcement

- Messina High has a new candidate for Student Leader, how auspicious! Still a riot that his campaign platform is his friend’s YouTube channel that hardly anyone at school watches though.

- Pedro and Bea’s friendship really is very sweet, I like their dynamic. Would be a shame if something… happened to it…

- “All Round Great Guy”. Never have four words been so laden with meaning that changes completely over the course of the story.

- Oh my god, Pedro was “a lonely kid” because he was living as an only child at the time. He met Bea before John came to stay. So the whole John thing was fairly recent. Finding out you have a secret sibling you never knew who you didn’t really get to grow up with is a trip. I wonder exactly how many years John has even lived with the Donaldsons at this point. Actually, it can only be four years maximum, because it was after Bea met Pedro. No wonder shit’s rough between the Donaldson boys. This is still very raw for them.

- “We’d been making real-life mermaid tails for ourselves… they exist, don’t crush my dreams.” The way this show sometimes feels like it was MADE for me though, mermaids are my favorite!!! I’m with you, Bea!

- I love this story. They met through a water and sand war! Why is fighting SO Beatrice’s love language?

- While we’re on backstory, do we ever learn why people started calling Peter ‘Pedro’? I don’t think we ever do.

- “You can’t beat me, you’re a girl, I play football.” Societal misogyny already being seeded in Pedro’s young mind like it still is in too many kids. A telling portent for his arc.

- They’re so cute! Love friends who make each other laugh.

- Bea independently bringing up Benedick again for no reason. Is this the first instance of “Dickface”, or have we gotten that nickname before? (Genuinely still headcanon that it eventually becomes a term of endearment.)

- “You were friends with him then.” “I tolerated him.” Ooh, the first hints of the lost friendship!

- “I don’t really have any big secrets or anything” *bisexual flag fades into view* That’s the edit my mind is visualizing anyway. Hugs and support for Pedro.

- “Obama had Yes We Can, I have An All Round Great Guy” - this took me OUT

- What do you MEAN this show is so old that Obama was President of the US when it was originally airing????? Time is meaningless!

- “Friends, high-schoolers, countrymen, lend me your ears!” That Julius Caesar reference, chef’s kiss! God, I forgot about that, and I love it a lot.

- Pedro’s politician voice is perfect, as is Bea laughing at him for it.

- Oh my god, I almost forgot to mention what a riot it is that Benedick has decided to spam the comment section with random comments and questions for her upcoming Q&A. He wants Beatrice’s attention so bad it’s a little pathetic.

- Oh honey. You do know you don’t have to share every thought that’s in your head? Some of these comments you did not have to share.

- “do you really think Pedro is an all round great guy? Because I’m pretty sure that’s me. I’m amazing. But like jokes, you know that.” Oh my god, he is SO jealous of Pedro, wow. I don’t know that he would have made all these comments if Pedro wasn’t in the video competing for Bea’s attention.

- “do you not feel like sometimes your life has actually been written out before you and you are forced to make decisions which are already determined?” Uh-oh, code red, major breach of the fourth wall! Also, it’s been this way since 1598 ;)

- Also the way that Ben definitely watches every single one of Bea’s videos up until Hero’s makeup vlog scares him off. He sees every mean thing she says about him and he’s STILL like an annoying puppy in these comments seeking her attention. He’s so drawn to her. It might not be super healthy right now, but it’s cute in a sad way.

- He also made another comment calling Leo hot. I think bi Ben is alive and well!

- Vote for Pedro!

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NMTDaily: Q&A for the Benaddickts

- This is interesting. With this first answer, Ben is talking about Claudio, but he’s really talking about himself, wanting only to love people from afar because that way you never experience pain and heartbreak. He is really really scared of rejection, of opening up and being hurt in return. He’s also a romantic against his better judgement, listen to how wistful he got on “love them”. (This is all deeply relatable to me.)

- It’s also an answer to Bea’s Single Pringle video: we saw why Bea doesn’t like relationships, now we see why Ben doesn’t like them.

- “And i am not gonna let that happen to Claudio” oh, honey, Claudio is not the one you need to worry about. *smash cut to Ben wrapped in a blanket and moping about love in a future episode*

- Rewatching this made me go add a Coldplay song to my Beadick playlist. (It was Fix You. Listen to that, think of the aftermath of Hero’s Birthday, feel your feels and thank me later!)

- “When did you meet Beatrice?” *hems and haws and pretends not to remember*

- I see you, you know exactly when you met her and it’s been burned into your brain ever since.

- “We tried to do a blood oath” is very rich Ben and Pedro friendship background information. It says so much, I love it. Sworn brothers.

- The way Ben smiles when talking about hitting it off with Beatrice and spending that first summer together! He is still so fond of her and of those memories. “It was great fun actually”- she was his best friend, that’s how they began. He adored her.

- He genuinely didn’t understand what he did wrong to make her turn away. “It suddenly felt like she really meant all those insults we were bantering around with” and THIS is why Ben is afraid of opening up to people and convinced no one really likes him. Someone he really liked and cared about seemed to turn on him overnight, and he has always deeply felt that it must be because there’s something wrong with him. And it kills me.

- I think Ben says dogs at least partly because he knows Bea would say cats- despite the fact that he has a cat! Also, we love a good self-referential inside joke costume choice with the Jake the Dog shirt 😉

- The Wally/Waldo costume and the upcoming “When will Claudio return from the supermarket” are so good. I love this nerd.

- The running Christopher Marlowe bit is also a delightful adaptational choice. Also, Ben is already a classic literature nerd! We love to see it and it will come back in Lolilo!

- Must have been insanely difficult to be uprooted to a new country as a young kid without even getting a clear reason why. I mean, every piece of backstory makes me want to hug Ben more.

- The accents! Another moment where my entire being is cringing, but still fun.

- Canonizing Ben being part Scottish! Another nod to the actor of course. (I made a post about this, but his Celticness theoretically giving him a solid shot at being able to correctly pronounce my Irish Gaelic first name from written makes me very happy. I came into the fandom after Ben’s second QnA went up, so I never had a chance at getting a question answered which could’ve told me for sure. Alas.)

- He mentioned Blanche Du Bois, and like, why isn’t Ben a theater kid? Why didn’t he get to do Faustus in Lolilo? (I know, the anxiety, same reason I didn’t do theater in college, but still!)

- I always notice that “cannae” and how he pauses and tries to not say it but can’t help it and says it again. Another Parradawks moment there.

- Aww I love you too, you dork. (‘Benaddickts’ as a name for the viewers always gets me, what a good adaptational/character choice. And a bit of a read on me, let’s be real.)

- Why would Claudio leave to go to the store in the middle of hanging out with Ben and stay gone long enough that Ben has time to film this whole video? I’m overthinking the bit, but it’s weird. Secret date with Hero that Ben can’t crash, maybe?

- When will my husband return from the war? *bi flag heart emojis here*

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