row-theboat

[solarmorrigan]

Movie Nights

For the @steddie-spooktober day 25 prompt: Frankenstein Friday Rated: T | Words: 1514 | CW: None | Tags: established relationship, outsider POV, I know the movie is over 90 years old but I didn't actually watch it myself until a month ago, so just in case there's anyone else out there who hasn't seen it, Frankenstein (1931) spoilers Divider credit: @steddiecameraroll-graphics

Part 3 of the Good Neighbors series

Gladys can appreciate new things. Books, television, music – the little joys to be found in new discoveries are what make life worth living. She isn’t as set in her ways as some people her age can be, but she does have her favorites.

She loves her mysteries and her thrillers above all else; the likes of Agatha Christie, Elizabeth Peters, and Arthur Conan Doyle line her shelves. She’s dipped into the genre of spies and intrigue, digging into Ian Fleming and John Le Carré. She’s even been known to appreciate a good horror film now and then.

Emphasis on “good.”

“So this is what passes for horror these days?” Gladys asks as a young man on the TV screen is sucked down into his bed, only to be spat back out as an absolute geyser of blood.

Eddie chuckles, glancing up from the screen. “Not your cup of tea?”

Gladys leans on the back of the couch, resting her arms there. She’d only come over to the boys’ apartment to see if they had a spare baking dish she could borrow; they certainly hadn’t invited her in to critique their choice of entertainment. But all the same–

“I just think they should try a little harder to really scare people. These days, it’s all shock and gore. All they have to do is shower people in blood and call it a day,” Gladys says. “I remember a time when they put real effort in.”

“Back in your day?” Eddie teases, grinning at her.

Gladys tsks, cuffing him upside the head – not hard, barely more than a tap, but he still falls sideways onto the couch with a gasp, clutching his head, and then rolls right off and onto the floor with a thump. Gladys rolls her eyes, but doesn’t bother to hide her smile at his antics.

“Hey, will this work for–” Steve exits the kitchen, a glass baking dish in his hands, and stops as his attention is almost immediately diverted to Eddie. “Why are you on the floor?”

“Gladys attacked me,” Eddie replies.

“Oh. Good for her,” Steve decides, holding up the dish again. “Will this work for you?”

“That would be fine,” Gladys says, accepting it as Steve passes it over.

“She also thinks my movie is trash,” Eddie says brightly as he levers himself back up onto the couch.

“I did not say it was trash,” Gladys says. “At worst, I said it was cheap.”

“Okay, but that’s not better,” Eddie says.

“I’m not a huge fan, either,” Steve leans in to stage whisper to Gladys, “but it makes him happy.”

“Yeah, yeah, everyone’s a critic.” Eddie rolls his eyes, then leans back a bit so he can look up at Gladys. “What would you call a good horror movie, if not the genius of Wes Craven?”

Gladys purses her lips, thinking for a moment. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen the classics? Dracula, The Creature from the Black Lagoon?”

Eddie lets out a thoughtful little noise, shaking his head. “Can’t say I have.”

“Well, you ought to. You’ll see where it all began, then,” Gladys says.

“And I get the feeling you’d enjoy showing us,” Eddie says, wiggling his eyebrows up at Gladys.

“’Us’? Who’s ‘us’? When did I get roped into this?” Steve asks, and Eddie reaches out to take one of his hands.

“We’re a package deal, baby, everyone knows that,” Eddie says.

“No one around here but Gladys knows that,” Steve reminds him.

“Everyone important knows that,” Eddie amends. “Anyway, what do you say, Gladys? Feel like educating a couple of horror philistines such as ourselves?”

“Well,” Gladys says slowly, “I’m sure I could come up with something.”

This is how she ends up in her armchair the following Friday night, the boys both sitting on the loveseat, all watching as the audience is warned of the frightening nature of the upcoming film playing out on the television.

“Now, this wasn’t Universal’s first horror film, and it wasn’t even the first movie adaptation of Frankenstein,” Gladys says when the opening credits come on, “but it is a bit iconic. I thought you might get a kick out of it.”

“But is it scary?” Eddie teases.

“Well, I don’t know about scary, but maybe a bit shocking. Look at it this way:” Gladys says, “it was 1931. Graverobbing and murder might seem mundane to you, but we weren’t quite as desensitized to seeing it on the screen back then.”

Steve glances over at her. “Do you remember when this came out?”

“Oh, barely.” Gladys wiggles her hand back and forth in a so-so gesture. “I certainly didn’t go to see it in the theater, I was only six or seven at the time.”

“Still, that’s pretty cool,” Steve says, and Gladys favors him with a smile.

If they aren’t altogether horrified by the movie, the boys are at least engaged, keeping up a running commentary that has even Gladys laughing. (“He had that coming,” Steve says when the monster finally catches Frankenstein’s assistant. “Yep. Rest in pieces, Fritz,” Eddie adds.) However, as they reach the midway point, the father onscreen bidding his daughter to go play with her cat while he works, Steve shifts uneasily in his seat.

“Wait, they’re not going to do anything to the cat, are they?” he asks, cutting a worried glance at Gladys.

As if the thought hadn’t occurred to him until Steve voiced it, Eddie sits up straight in his own seat. “Gladys,” he says, pointing an accusing finger at the screen, “you’re not showing us a movie where they kill a cat, are you?”

One brow raised, Gladys regards the pair of them. “You’re worried about the cat, but not the child?”

Steve scoffs. “It’s 1931, they’re not gonna kill a kid,” he says, while Eddie nods in agreement.

Both brows raised now, Gladys only gives them a little “hm,” and turns back to the screen. With some suspicion, Eddie and Steve do the same, watching as the scene unfolds.

“Oh, shit,” Steve says, taken aback as the monster tosses the little girl into the lake.

“Damn. Guess we should’ve worried about the kid, after all,” Eddie says.

“You have to have some idea of how this movie ends,” Gladys says, shaking her head. “Did you really think they’d form an angry mob over a dead cat?”

“I would,” Eddie declares, then looks down at Steve, who at some point in the last half hour had ended up tucked into Eddie’s side (when, Gladys isn’t sure, but it’s sweet; it’s a pleasant feeling knowing how comfortable the two of them are here). “Steve, would you form an angry mob with me if someone killed our cat?”

“We don’t have a cat,” Steve says.

“That’s not the point,” Eddie insists, and Steve relents.

“I would come with you if only to make sure you didn’t get yourself killed,” he decides.

“I’ll take it,” Eddie says with a shrug.

The rest of the movie plays out on the screen – the forming of the mob, the confrontation with the monster, the burning windmill, and, at last, the peaceful conclusion.

“Wait,” Eddie says, brows furrowed as he watches the end credits play, “that’s it? That’s how it ends? A toast to the house of Frankenstein, the end?”

“Yes…” Gladys says slowly. “Why? How should it end?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about a little restitution for the guy whose daughter got murdered?” Eddie demands, shooting up out of his seat so quickly that Steve has no time to brace himself and falls sideways onto the loveseat with a little ‘oof.’ “How about a little accountability? I mean, seriously, this is just typical; some rich, entitled asshole plays around with things he can’t control, creates a problem he refuses to solve, and the poor end up being the ones to pay the price!”

“Now you’ve got him started,” Steve mutters to Gladys as he sits himself back up.

“Is there any way to get him to stop?” Gladys asks, though she’s a little fascinated with the theatrical way Eddie throws himself around the living room as he rants.

“Uh.” Steve glances over at Eddie and back away again, and there actually seems to be a little color rising in his cheeks. “Not, um…”

“Take him home first, if you’re planning to do something like that,” Gladys says primly, only to lose the fight to her laughter when Steve looks over at her, aghast.

“I wouldn’t–!” he protests indignantly, his face going redder.

“Are you guys even listening to me?” Eddie demands, turning back to face the pair of them.

Gladys declines to answer, asking instead, “Eddie, dear, how did you like the movie?”

“Oh. Aside from the ending, it was great.” Eddie drops back onto the loveseat, reaching out absently to tug Steve back over to his side. “What else ya got?”

“Well,” Gladys says, picking through the stack of tapes she’d managed to dig up at the video store. “If you like entitled rich people, let’s see how you feel about Dracula.”

[yourpaljughead]

                                             summer time and the living is easy

want to plot with yourpaljughead during the summer hiatus? you’re in the right place! below is a list of show moments i would love to flesh out, or plot ideas i’ve always wanted to write. i will include an umbrella “season one” and “season two” plot call - since jughead is vastly different between the two. thank you for taking the time to read this and being interested in writing with my boy. if i am not following you no fear, just like this post (so i will message you) or reach out yourself so we can get the ball rolling! i’d like to write with new blogs as well as my tried and true, so this is open to everyone. (keep in mind the general rules i have for writing with other blogs still hold through this: if your blog doesn’t have a lot of writing i won’t follow, i’ll only write with mutuals, and anyone glorifying violence, rape, pedophilia or statutory rape will be ignored - writing that is fucked up). the plots will focus on specific show moments, but will also focus on characters and au verses.

                                       PLOTS AHOY - - - - ! !

jughead jones from the cw’s riverdale indie, private & highly selective eulogy given by v

show plot-specific:

one. season one homeless jughead (between the episodes of 1-4 when jug was living at the drive-in, and between episodes 4-7 before he “moves in” with archie). this is my most favorite jughead of all. i think he is very complex and guarded during these moments. i’m willing to “break canon” (for example having jughead interact with toni or any of the serpents). this is also room for jughead to hate on archie, which is very satisfying to write.

two. season two finale jughead. my second favorite jughead, the boy who now has leadership of the new serpents and is reeling after his almost-sacrifice. i want to explore his relationships with toni, cheryl, betty and any serpent characters who come our way. while he is dating betty canon, i’m willing to break that. i also don’t want to write things being lovey dovey and perfect between he and betty - this is just unrealistic given their particular placing (betty twisted up over her dad, jug having gone to die). i’m willing to play angst for this. i am also willing to explore fights with serpents. the serpents in the season two finale are not the serpents we’ve seen thus far. does your serpent character want this change? do they want to hold onto the old ways? do they like the changes jug is hoping to make? let’s explore. (this plot also includes camping!jughead).

two, a. i’d love to write out the serpents escaping through the town after cheryl warns them of hiram. that would be fun. obviously open to cheryls and any serpents! or those who might discover them along the way.

three. season two jughead circa episode 8 (or chapter 21). i want to explore what would have happened if jughead had kept true to his break up with betty. i want to explore what freedom feels like for him, since he felt very caged until that moment. i want to explore him descending further into the serpents as they stand pre-season two finale. my boy wants to cause a ruckus. ( shout out to @southsidelover​ )

four. what would have happened to jug if he’d followed in his father’s footsteps. serpent jug from the beginning, let’s explore how he would have moulded himself into the serpents. would he have even called himself jughead? or would he go by four/forsythe, and been a completely different person than we see in the show?

character specific:

jellybean. what if gladys had taken him to toledo and the two had grown up together? let’s explore an actual sibling relationship between these two. would they have moved back to riverdale together? in time for high school, or after graduation? let’s explore what would have happened if gladys and JB never left in the first place, or perhaps JB stayed without her mum. this is open for my JBs to explore and let me know what you think about your character!

betty. the real betty cooper, not the romanticized one. the one who struggles with mental illness (functioning or otherwise), and who feels immense guilt from her position with jughead, her father and potentially the serpents. ( shout out to @forbiddenfrut​ ). this doesn’t have to be lovey dovey, in fact i don’t picture it to be. jug’s “want to be my queen” moment was, in my exploration of jug, out of love. like when kids say “marry me” but don’t really mean it. so let’s explore what happens if betty accepts and how jughead would fight back against that. or perhaps if betty had tried to become a serpent after her dance. let’s explore the angst, the fighting; the real.

veronica. i’ve had such a back and forth relationship with veronica during the show. i want to explore these two post season 2. i want to see their relationship grow as jughead realizes he can trust veronica, at the same time showing veronica that he respects her sacrifices. he can show her how to live a semi-homeless life, or how to break into pembrooke for her clothes without anyone seeing them. i want to explore a legitimate friendship between these two. (anyone who wants to explore pre-season 2 finale, that’s okay, but it won’t differ much from the show. jug doesn’t like her).

toni. i want to explore their wild, interesting relationship. how does toni know so much about him? were they close friends as kids, losing contact as jug moved his school life to the northside? or do they keep up on weekends, laughing about the privileged kids? is this verse based on a serpent jughead (see plot four, where jug was always a serpent)? this plot also intertwines with plot three, had he stuck with his break up with betty and dug deeper into the serpents.

archie. i want these two to fight - circa riverdale’s season one episode 1-4, and season two episode 6, chapter 19, and episode 16, chapter 29. i want to explore their friendship, both the good and bad. i want to explore how jughead handles archie’s PTSD and in turn how archie handles jug descending into the serpents. (there is zero room for romantic relationships here - platonic only). this is open for your interpretation on archie and how he handles his mental illness (if any) and his PTSD. this can also include any manipulation and emotional abuse from hiram lodge.

cheryl. i’ve always had a pull toward cheryl and jughead but i want to explore their relationship realistically. i want to explore the moment jughead returns her iconic spider broach, or after cheryl’s testimony at his father’s arraignment. would jughead find out betty blackmailed her, and if so how would that impact his relationship with betty? for season one, of course we can explore their non-existent relationship (if there even is much to write aside from them bickering/ignoring each other). for season 2, i want to explore a moment of vulnerability after jug’s sacrifice, since cheryl is the only one who can relate. i want to explore cheryl’s newfound serpent status and how jug wants her to be vocal about where she thinks the “gang” should go. this is open for platonic and romantic lines - but i suspect platonic will be where we start. i’m willing to break canon and make jughead single ( since mun and muse are sick of betty’s shit. smiley face emoji ). ( shout out to @chaosblossomed )

sweet pea. i want to explore their dynamic as it stands show canon. i want to see how sweet pea reacts to the things jug wants to change in the serpents, or if sweet pea cares at all. does sweet pea really want leadership, or is he okay being the Bodyguard, so to speak, of the “gang”? the show has moments where, while sweet pea DOES go head to head with jug, he shows up and comes through for jug. i want to explore that dynamic of “i’m here for the serpents even if i don’t agree with you”. (there is zero room for romantic relationships here - platonic only).

remaining characters. don’t think you’re excluded, i just haven’t had much interaction with characters other than the specific ones above. i am ABSOLUTELY open to exploring relationships with your character - just message me and we can figure out our own plot lines together. there are definite things i want to explore with characters outside the ones listed above, so let’s get talking!

OCs & non-Riverdale (riverdale verse specific, see below for AU). please don’t hesitate to reach out if you’re an OC or a character with a riverdale verse!!! i’m absolutely open to exploring new relationships. any plots will be fleshed out together! yay!

AU verse specific:

OCs & non-Riverdale (any verse not riverdale, see above for riverdale-specific). if you’re an OC or a character from another TV show/book/movie/etc verse, reach out! i’m more than happy to work in jughead into your world, whatever that may be. if you’ve always wondered how jughead would mix in with your character or your verse, i’m your muse!

gossip girl. for this verse, i want jughead to be similar to chuck bass circa season one. rich kid, drug user (we’re going to exclude the sexual assault). i’m willing to work jughead into wherever your gossip girl character may rest, or if you’d like to work your character into a GG verse as well.

the 100. i haven’t kept up with the 100 since the clexa nightmare, but i would like to focus on season 1-ish, where everyone has just landed back on earth. i want to explore a murphy-like verse, maybe a bit of jasper in there. this is open to discussing more since i haven’t kept up with the show in ages (remind me to do a re-watch).

animal kingdom. this show is amazing, go watch it immediately if you haven’t. i want to explore jug’s life if his entire family had been career criminals. very show specific plots in mind, happy to explore the canon verse in california. mix between season one and season 3 Jay.

scream tv show. shout out to the OG season 1, 2 and halloween special. i want to throw jug into this world so bad. whatever and wherever you want to put your character is good for me. if you have a scream tv muse, HIT A GIRL UP. if you want to throw your muse into the verse, too, let’s plot!

 rupaul’s drag race. im fucking kidding.

the vampire diaries/shadow hunters. i would be open to exploring a plot somewhere in these worlds. i haven’t watched either show in ages, but if you have a character and you’d love to see jug intertwined with your verse, let me know! i’m definitely open :)

various movies/horror verse. here are a list of movie verses i would like to explore, if you’re interested let me know and we can plot together!! the purge, the strangers, you’re next, baby driver, gone girl, hush, OG scream trilogy. if you have something in mind other than these, let me know!

[savedthosefeelingsforyou-blog]

I Am So Much Older Than I Can Take (Olivia Benson Biography)

Lieutenant Olivia "Liv" Margaret Benson (born February 7, 1968) is the commanding officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. Prior to taking over SVU, Benson worked as a SVU detective and was partnered with Elliot Stabler for over twelve years. After Elliot's resignation, Benson partnered primarily with Nick Amaro before she became a sergeant and took over the SVU unit from Captain Donald Cragen. In 2015, Olivia was promoted to Lieutenant. 

Olivia was born in 1968 as the product of the rape of Serena Benson in the spring of 1967 by a food salesman named Joseph Hollister, who later committed suicide. At the time of the rape, Serena had been working in the cafeteria of Columbia University. Benson's mother, Serena, was an alcoholic who emotionally and physically abused Benson. Serena died from injuries sustained in a fall in 2000 when she was drunk, which left Benson deeply saddened.

Benson has a half-brother, Simon Marsden. She didn't find out about her brother until they were both adults after she illegally ran her DNA through a kinship analysis. Simon was later accused of a series of break-ins and one rape, for which he was later cleared.

In 2010, Olivia was appointed to be the legal guardian of Gladys Dalton's cocaine afflicted premature daughter who passed away after Benson gave the doctors permission to perform surgery to try and save her life.

Olivia is appointed Calvin Arliss' legal guardian too, but her legal guardian rights were then terminated by Calvin's mother through his paternal grandparents. After her legal guardian rights were terminated, she is shown to still have kept in contact with Calvin, since he came over to New York on Halloween to see Olivia. 

In 2014, Benson becomes the court-appointed custodial guardian of Noah Porter, an orphaned baby. The appointment is for a trial period of one year, with the option to apply for legal adoption at the end of that period. Although the year is rocky due to Noah's health issues and the demands of her job, Benson formally adopts Noah a year later.

Benson is deeply sympathetic with victims of sex crimes and as a result, she is often quick to believe victims' stories. Her former partner Elliot Stabler was often more skeptical of victims' accounts, which often brought the two partners into conflict. Benson's ability to sympathize with victims is a tremendous asset, but there are times when it comes back to haunt her.

She went undercover in a women's prison to find a rapist and was almost raped herself until Detective Odafin Tutuola, also undercover there as a guard in the facility, managed to save her just moments before the man (a fellow guard) could violate her.

Afterwards, Benson developed a severe case of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, but has been receiving counseling for the assault and has been seen dealing with it more constructively. While speaking to a victim of a separate rape, the victim asked her if she was better having dealt with her rapist, and Benson told her that she was better, but that she wouldn't ever forget what happened.

Benson is then later kidnapped by serial rapist/murderer William Lewis. Lewis makes her watch while he rapes and tortures the mother of his attorney and kills a police officer who attempted to pull him over. He then beats and tortures her, burning her with cigarettes and wire hangers, and holds her hostage for four days. Just as he is about to rape her, she breaks free, handcuffs him, and holds him at gunpoint. When he taunts her, she loses control and beats him within an inch of his life with an iron rod. She is rescued by her fellow detectives moments later, and Cragen puts her on mandatory leave so she can recover. 

Lewis fires his new attorney and chooses to represent himself. He calls Benson as a witness and accuses her of assaulting him because he rejected her sexual advances. She vehemently denies it, and lies under oath that he had broken free of his restraints and lunged at her. Lewis is found guilty of kidnapping and assaulting a police officer, but the jury voices doubts about Benson's story and acquits him of attempted rape. The episode closes with Benson weeping on the courthouse stairs and, four months later, Lewis being wheeled away on a stretcher.  Lewis uses the distraction caused by his (self-induced) cardiac incident to escape from prison. He then rapes a teenaged girl, kidnaps her younger sister and threatens to kill her unless Benson tells the truth about her testimony. Benson holds a press conference and admits that she lied on the witness stand. When Lewis does not release the girl, Benson tracks him down and surrenders to him. With his hostage watching, Lewis at first attempts to rape Benson, but changes his mind when she refuses to show him fear; instead, he forces her to play Russian roulette with him. As a police squad closes in, Lewis taunts her one last time before committing suicide right in front of her.

She is then brought before a grand jury to explain her admission and Lewis' death. Her career is threatened until Declan Murphy tells the grand jury that he instructed Benson to lie in her press conference, thus clearing her of Lewis' death and possible perjury charges. Murphy then makes Benson his second-in-command.

While a dedicated officer, Benson is more likely to go to bat for women she deals with during cases than men, and has shown skepticism during cases where women are the offenders and men are the victims, or allows her sympathy for the victim to cloud her judgement and make her commit actions without thinking. This was exemplified when she interrogated a man until he confessed to a crime which he was later found to be innocent of and sending him to prison for life, which could have been avoided if she was thinking clearly enough to check on the evidence.

[x]

[showbizchicago]

Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to kick-off 2017 with the announcement of its 15th season. Comments Artistic Director David Cerda, “We really want to thank our audiences for keeping us going for the past 15 years with their love and support, so we are doing a mix of new, old and most requested from our audience for our audience.” 

The 2017 season launches in the spring with the world premiere of VALLEY!, a rollicking unauthorized musical parody of the camp classic film and best selling book Valley of the Dolls. Written by David Cerda, Handbag tells the tale through the lens and life of its legendary author, Jacqueline Susann. Expect lots of booze, pills and (gasp) pre-marital sex!

For Halloween, Handbag definitely offers up a treat with the world premiere of BEWILDERED, a musical parody of the classic TV sitcom Bewitched, with book by Ron Weaver, lyrics and music by Ron Weaver and Aaron Benham and directed by Brigitte Ditmars. The spellbinding throwback is told from the point of view of Gladys Kravitz, the poor, misunderstood neighbor who keeps seeing crazy things at the home of Samantha Stephens, a beautiful witch, and her ‘ordinary family.’ Gladys’ husband Abner has had enough and is about to take drastic measures. Can Gladys prove her visions are real without destroying the Stephens family – or is she doomed to a life of pills and institutions? BEWILDERED will feature ensemble members Caitlin Jackson as Gladys Kravitz, Ed Jones as Uncle Arthur and David Cerda as Endora.

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Finally, Handbag celebrates the holidays by bringing back its most popular show ever, RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER 2017 by David Cerda and directed by AJ Wright. A parody of the 1967 Rankin Bass television special, Rudolph has become a subversive Chicago classic that celebrates the MISFITS of the world. Chicago’s favorite transvestite reindeer celebrates his 21st anniversary this year – and Cerda always adjusts the show to fit the current social climate.

In addition to its mainstage shows, Handbag is also pleased to present THE GOLDEN GIRLS – THE LOST EPISODES. Join Dorothy, Rose, Blanche and Sophia on the lanai at Marys Attic this summer for some episodes that didn’t quite make it on the air. Plus, Handbag’s very own celebrity Rip Nelson’s long lost talk show has finally surfaced in Rip Nelson, AFTER DARK. The original tapes were thought to be destroyed in a grease fire at Dom Deluise’s annual legendary Hawaiian themed Labor Day pig roast – but now they’ve been restored for Handbag audiences to enjoy late night at Stage 773

Handbag’s 15th Anniversary Season will be staged at Mary’s Attic (5400 N. Clark St., Chicago) and Stage 773 (1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago). Season subscriptions and single tickets are currently available at www.handbagproductions.org.

Hell in a Handbag Productions’ 15th Anniversary Season includes:

April 27 – June 10, 2017

VALLEY! – World Premiere!

An Unauthorized Musical Parody 

By David Cerda

at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago

Handbag presents a musical parody of the cult camp classic Valley of the Dolls like only they could. Join aspiring model/actress Ann Wells Fargo, the talented and self-destructive Needy Mascara, and the beautiful but doomed Jennifer South for an evening of fame, fashion, sex and dolls…so many dolls…

June 6 – July 12, 2017

THE GOLDEN GIRLS – THE LOST EPISODES

By David Cerda, Directed by Shade Murray

at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago

Handbag’s way of thanking you for being a friend this summer! Enjoy lost, never-before-seen episodes of The Golden Girls featuring Dorothy, Rose, Blanche, Sophia and all of the siblings, daughters, sons, and rare diseases that were mentioned once, but never again. There will be Golden Girls trivia and costume contests to help fully embrace the Miami experience.

September 27 – November 11, 2017

BEWILDERED – World Premiere!

Book by Ron Weaver, Music and Lyrics by Ron Weaver and Aaron Benham

Directed by Brigitte Ditmars

Featuring ensemble members David Cerda (Endora), Caitlin Jackson (Gladys Kravitz) and Ed Jones (Uncle Arthur)

at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago

A reimagining of the beloved ‘60s and ‘70s television sitcom Bewitched, as seen through the eyes of Gladys Kravitz, Samantha Stephens’ iconic nosy neighbor. Poor Gladys knows what she sees next door is real, but can she prove it in time to save herself from being committed? Gladys finally gets her due in this fun and magical musical parody.

October 14, 2017 – November 11, 2017 

RIP, AFTER DARK

By David Cerda

Featuring ensemble member Ed Jones

at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago

Ed Jones returns as Handbag’s favorite faux D-list celebrity – and this time he’s a late, late night talk show host with a bevy of C-list celebrities. Come see Rip Nelson in his little known talk show with some of the most intriguing mix of actors, singers and comedians of the time. Relive the smoke-filled gabfests of long ago with your favorite long lost entertainers in an intimate setting.

November 25 – December 30, 2017

RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER 2017

at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago

Chicago’s favorite cross-dressing reindeer is back and he’s 21 years old! Hell in a Handbag closes its season with its most popular show ever. RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER, a parody of the classic children’s television special had its first reading in 1996 and has evolved into one of Chicago’s best anti-holiday, holiday shows. Join Rudolph and all of his misfit friends as they struggle with fitting in and being ‘normal’ in an increasingly abnormal world.

About Hell in a Handbag Productions

Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit.

Hell in a Handbag Productions Announces 15th Anniversary Season Hell in a Handbag Productions is thrilled to kick-off 2017 with the announcement of its 15th…