#James Goldman

[angevinyaoiz]

Made a comic of one of my favorite John and Richard play-only interactions from The Lion in Winter, using my outfit designs I drew earlier.

[southwarkfair]

"He has a knife!"

"Of course he has a knife, we all have knives, it's 1183 and we're barbarians! How clear we make it."

[entropiasgift]

"Dear me, whatever shall we do with mother?"

[fairlycaught]

The Lion in Winter, 1966, by James Goldman

[lyledebeast]

Dark Christmas: The Lion in Winter (1968)

Festive beverage: Beajolais V.illages, Louis Jadot

I embarked on this rewatch with the 1183 appropriate meal of a roast chicken (in an oven, not on a spit, sadly) and light-bodied French wine.

We love Peter O'Toole in this house, but for me this has always been Katherine Hepburn's movie. It doesn't truly start until the scene where Henry's messenger, having taken the two sons who do not live with Henry completely by surprise, walks in to find her expecting him. Every line of hers is unforgettable, but my personal favorite is, "I could peel you like a pear and God Himself would call it justice."

This is directed at Henry, who, despite having more power than everyone else put together, continually presents himself as in need of compassion, and it takes all of O'Toole's charm to stop him from being completely insufferable. But then almost every character in James Goldman's play, on which the film is based, views themself as the most sympathetic character. The one who actually earns that position is Henry's powerless young lover Alais, who aptly says of her position, "Kings, queens, and knights everywhere you look, and I'm the only pawn." True words for so many young women forced into political marriages throughout history, but how many of them get to say it?

The 1960s was a great decade for dysfunctional families on the American stage, and this adaptation is one of my favorite 60s films, but I never think to actually watch it at Christmas. That needs to change because what says Christmas more powerfully than love soured not only by betrayal but by time and absence? The two other Christmas films I've watched so far this season are Home Alone (1990) and Krampus (2015) and, honestly, commonalities among the three abound.

[doyouknowthismusical]

[theoscarsproject]

White Nights (1985). A Russian American ballet dancer's airplane is forced to land in USSR, where he's "repatriated". He stays with an American man married to a Russian. Will the American help him flee USSR?

This movie is ?? Insane ?? Yet it kinda works! I think a huge part of that goes towards its terrific cast and some really affecting sequences that merge the Cold War thriller elements with the post-Vietnam War trauma and, well, the power of dance. If that sounds wild, that's because overall it is, and its a testament to Taylor Hackford's skill as a director. Just a surprise from start to finish (complimentary). 7/10.

[funeralmourners]

— James Goldman, The Lion in Winter

[sondheims-hat]

February 20, 1971: The pre-Broadway tryout of Follies begins previews in Boston.

[theseventhveil1945]

[morganlefaes]

The Lion in Winter by James Goldman

[angevinyaoiz]

merry crisis!

Anyway did u know for 5 bucks on gumroad u can get the LA Theatreworks 2001 live audio Recording of James Goldman's play The Lion in Winter w/ Alfred Molina as Henry II?

And if u have an account on hoopla, it's free!

Highly recommend if you've enjoyed the movie. The play has a lot more lines and fun details, and the style of this recording is a lot more quick paced, with the live audience giving it some humor and liveliness.

[ohwhatagloomyshow]

a friend asked why my url across platforms is always ohwhatagloomyshow & I explained that I had the honor of meeting Stephen Sondheim in 2013, where I built up the courage to thank him for his work and tell him the revival of Follies was the first show I’d ever seen on Broadway. He smiled and said kindly, “oh, what a gloomy show!” because I��m a 19 year old newborn baby praising a show about midlife crises.

Anyway, I told the friend it’s probably Sondheim’s gloomiest show, but that’s probably a debatable opinion! I would love to hear any arguments against it! I would say that of all his shows, it’s the one that ends with the least amount of hope. My definition of “gloomiest show” is most dependent on how you feel when you leave the theater, and in this case I do think Follies takes the cake, personally!

Full disclosure, the shows I’m least familiar with of Sondheim’s are Merrily & Passion.

[loveboatinsanity]

[abs0luteb4stard]

W A T C H 🔪 N G

[glimeres]

2012 Tony Awards - Danny Burstein, Jenifer Foote and Kiira Schmidt perform The God-Why-Don't-You-Love-Me Blues from the musical Follies