have you heard about this ballroom-style production happening in nyc this summer? i'm so intrigued!
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6EnK7xuf8_/
Yes! It's been on my radar for a while though I don't think I've posted anything about it yet - at least, I haven't decided on a tag for the production.
Honestly, going by my usual tagging system it should probably be '2024 pac' or '2024 nyc' but. For these guys. I sort of want to name it after its most prominent attribute which is. '2024 ballroom' 😌
Anyway have a promo clip, from their official insta, and some random cast photos out of costume.
(We don't have a lot of costume photos yet but we do know that these Jellicles will be fully humans, not feline: they are people existing within the ballroom cultural milieu of the period and 'jellicle cats' is just the pride name they use for themselves and each other. So if you strongly prefer your cats as cats, this might not be the show for you—but it's certainly a show that speaks to somebody else!)
(Also I'm just really enjoying the flurry of excitement from former Jellicles in comments on this production's posts.)
Dudney Joseph: Munkustrap (Emcee) (he/him).
Dava Huesca: Rumpelteazer (she/her)
Jonathan Burke: Mungojerrie (he/him)
Andre Deshields: Deuteronomy
Sydney Harcourt: Rum Tum Tugger
Baby: Victoria
Choreographers Arturo Lyons and Omari Wiles. (Obvs we're not going with Dame Gilly's choreo here.)
"A radical reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical based on T. S. Eliot’s Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats. Inspired by the Ballroom culture that roared out of New York City over 50 years ago and still rages around the world. Staged as a spectacularly immersive competition by Zhailon Levingston (Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicken & Biscuits) and PAC NYC Artistic Director Bill Rauch (All the Way), with all-new Ballroom and club beats, runway-ready choreography, and an edgy eleganza makeover that moves the action from junkyard to catwalk. Come one, come all, and celebrate the joyous transformation of self at the heart of Cats and Ballroom culture itself." (X)
Vampire Barnabas Collins has been part of Dark Shadows at least since we first saw his portrait on the wall of the great house of Collinwood in #204, more properly since they went to great lengths to make it look like there was a portrait on that spot in #195. He is now the main force driving the action of the show, and pretty much the only reason people are tuning in to watch it. The ghost of…
THE ARK (2023– ): Cheap and cheesy SYFY/Peacock sci-fi throwback, created by Dean Devlin (ID4) and Jonathan Glassner (STARGATE SG-1), about a colony ship bound for Proxima Centauri a century in the future. After a mysterious explosion nearly cripples the ship and kills all of its senior officers, a handful of junior lieutenants have to figure out how to keep everyone alive with their remaining resources, while dealing with the fact that they still don't know what caused the explosion — and that their self-appointed new commander (Christie Burke, pictured above) may not be what she claims.
With its modest "filmed in a warehouse" production values, broad characterization, clunky dialogue, hit-and-miss acting, and laughable special effects, THE ARK feels like a return to the direct-to-syndication sci-fi and fantasy shows of the '90s, enlivened by occasionally imaginative plotting (although Devlin and Glassner can't resist eventually breaking their own ground rules), some likable characters (my personal favorite is sour maintenance tech Eva Markovic, played by Serbian actor Tiana Upcheva, who becomes the closest thing the ship has to a chief engineer), and an endearing if dopey sincerity. If you keep your expectations low, THE ARK is a surprisingly good time, particularly if you have a soft spot for the older shows it resembles. It's much better than the 2019–2021 Netflix series ANOTHER LIFE (starring Katee Sackhoff), which had a similar premise, but was abrasive and mean where THE ARK is earnest. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Not so far, although there is at least one canonical gay guy. VERDICT: Not nearly as slick as the recent STAR TREK streaming shows, but not really any stupider, and it benefits from having a lot less baggage. Season 2 (currently only two episodes in) seems to be more of the same, although the loss of the Christina Wolfe character (opportunistic influencer Cat Brandice) is regrettable.
D. e o Procurador | O Drácula antes de Jonathan Harker
D. e o Procurador, livro do escritor Fauno Mendonça é inspirado na famosa história de Bram Stoker, Drácula.
#dracula
Inspirado na famosa história de Bram Stoker, o escritor Fauno Mendonça lança romance inédito “D. e o Procurador”, sobre o passado de um dos vampiros mais famosos da história. A nova obra do autor Fauno Mendonça promete ser um prato cheio para os amantes de Drácula, eternizado como um dos grandes arquétipos do vampirismo na literatura.
Foto: Divulgação / Fauno Mendonça
LEIA TAMBÉM: Crítica –…
Joey and Kym- Samba (Judges' Score=27, My Score=9)- Okay. This was cool. But Joey did not look as comfortable and natural as he usually does. He was kinda hoppy and he and Kym weren't in sync (no pun intended) at the end. Everything else was good about the dance though. His posture has become really impressive.
Heather and Jonathan- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=23, My Score=8)- So I think Heather really worked a lot on her upper body. It looked a lot stronger than it has been. I actually had a bigger problem with her lower body this week, which usually is fine for the most part. It seemed like Heather was getting a bit stuck from time to time. I hate that this was her last week because I do think she could've made it to another level while I don't think a couple others had another gear to shift into. I would've loved to see her give us a dance with with both her lower and upper body on point.
John and Edyta- Mambo (Judges' Score=19, My Score=6)- This was better than last week's dance. He was having a blast. He loosened up quite a bit from last week. It was fun. I do agree with Len. It was kinda bad from a technical standpoint and he has definitely improved. He definitely has musicality and I will always appreciate that. It makes the dance so much easier to watch and so much more enjoyable.
Laila and Maks- Cha-cha (Judges' Score=28, My Score=9)- The more I watch of this season and the more I dissect it, the more I think that Laila probably was on track to win up until the week of the finals. These two are a perfect couple. And I always knew Laila was technically great, but really analyzing her dances has been such a treat. She is so precise and elegant and has great stage presence. She's amazing. One note that I have is that there was one point when I saw a slight mistake. It wasn't big, but I caught it.
Billy Ray and Karina- Jive (Judges' Score=21, My Score=6)- I'm only giving this a point more than last week because Billy Ray performed it much better than he did last week. BUT, it was worse than John and therefore, I cannot justify scoring him higher than John here. I have to wonder how Edyta and John felt every week watching the judges heap praise on Billy Ray for kinda just showing up and not falling over, but holding John, who was much older but also better in many ways, almost to the same standards of Heather and Ian. And honestly, that goes for everyone, not just John. I'm actually quite annoyed by it if I'm being honest.
Apolo and Julianne- Rumba (Judges' Score=28, My Score=9)- I thought this was great. I can't give it a 10, because I felt it was missing that extra oomph that their samba had. But, there was nothing truly wrong with it. He handled it well. He and Julianne had great chemistry. And his technique was really nice. I loved it.
Ian and Cheryl- Paso Doble (Judges' Score=24, My Score=8)- I really do agree that Ian is still keeping everything very safe. I also feel like his posture was off and the lines were not great either. Ian has everything to be amazing and you can literally see moments of brilliance when he dances. But he is just way too in his head for his own good. It was still a fine dance, but I know there is so much more there that is just waiting to be tapped into.
Group Swing- This is one of my all time favorite group dances. Everyone had so much fun and they were able to really act out an entire scene. It was nice seeing those (Ian) that struggle with being in their head really let loose and just have a good time. Heather and Laila were definite standouts. I just really enjoyed it and it looked like they all did too.
My Rankings and Scores Out of 30:
1 Laila and Maks- 28
= Apolo and Julianne- 28
3 Joey and Kym- 27
4 Ian and Cheryl- 24
5 Heather and Jonathan- 23
6 John and Edyta- 18
7 Billy Ray and Karina-16
So we end with John and Heather in the bottom 2. And as I said earlier, Heather was eliminated. I really wish she had stayed one more week. I think she would've really shown us something incredible. It was starting to click for her. But yeah, that's it. I'm ready for this next week with two full individual dances. Let me know you all's thoughts and I will talk to you all soon.