#Should be on Broadway

[stressoutlet]

me explaining to my dad in the car why this musical is so genius

[to-be-a-dreamer]

I can’t stand that TikTok trend that’s like “just saw Hadestown and my boyfriend is walking the entire way back to the hotel without looking back at me to prove Orpheus was a chump” because not only do they not get the whole point of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth they also Were Not Paying Attention to the musical they just saw.

Hate people who see WSS as “just a Romeo and Juliet retelling”. Hate people who see Hadestown as “Just an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling”.

Hate people who watch a musical that takes a classic story everyone knows and uses it to explore/critique our modern society and only see it as a funky retelling.

Not Getting The Point of WSS is one thing because it’s more subtle and it can be really easy to just see it as a modern R&J, especially if you don’t really know R&J.

How the fuck do you watch Hadestown and see it as just an O&E retelling? It is one of the most heavy-handed political musicals out there how are so many people missing the point?

Orpheus has to fail. Not because that’s how the Greek myth ends but because that’s the whole point of the message of Hadestown.

Social reform is hard. Changing the world is one of the most challenging things you can try to do. So often we see people try to make a difference in society, to change some kind of injustice in the world. And so often we see those people fail. It can feel so impossible to actually do some good in this fucked up world because we see these people who are smarter and stronger and more qualified than us fail over and over again.

Why do we even keep trying?

Because we have to.

Because one day, someone will try and they’ll succeed.

One day Orpheus won’t turn around.

One day the people of Hadestown will get to see someone escape and they’ll know they can escape too. Only then does the world get to change.

So we have to try. We have to keep singing the sad song, no matter how many times Orpheus turns around, because one day he won’t.

In the Greek myth, Orpheus fails because he loves Eurydice.

In Hadestown, Orpheus fails because we fail.

We try and we fail to make a difference. We try and we fail to change the world for the better. We try to see the world for what it could be and it keeps letting us down.

But we don’t give up. We don’t stop singing.

Hadestown is genuinely one of the best musicals ever. Full stop. This musical is one of the reasons i wish I was smarter because I would love to be able to do an entire thesis on this show and all the themes and messages in it. Some of them are subtle. Some of them aren’t.

It is not just an Orpheus and Eurydice retelling. I am begging people to hear the real message.

Never stop trying to change the world.

One day we’ll make it out of Hadestown.

We just have to keep singing the song.

[cowpokezuko]

A helpful chart

EDIT: Stop pointing out I made a typo. I know.

[thatscrooge]

Esther Fallick & Bryce Charles as Cole & Bethanne

This Could Be On Broadway by the Tin Can Bros. watch on Youtube until 21 October

[rexscanonwife]

Thank you sweet anon for giving me the idea to draw this in response to that shitty anon! 😊💖🫶💖 honestly it can be applied to any minor inconvenience in my life as well cause Beej loves me enough to offer every time! (Plus Beej dressed as Sportacus cause one of my favorite things to imagine him reacting to my current f/os or interests in my real life lol)

Taglist♡: @me-myself-and-my-fos @tiny-cloud-of-flowers @sunstar-of-the-north @dearly-beeloved @adoredbyalatus @changeling-selfship @crushes-georg @miutonium @cherry-bomb-ships @rosieaurora @rejaytionships @sunflawyer @in-true-blue-love @tropicalgothships @little-miss-selfships @hotrodharts @cupiidzbow @frozenhi-chews

[llightstarline]

how are we feeling abt this Enj doodle gang

[noys-boise]

i may have just created the best hyperspecific playlist

[flagbridge]

I Saw the Phantom Proshot at the NYPL

Happy 36th birthday to Phantom's first preview on Broadway! I was going to save this post for the actual 36th, but I figure all of us need some more Phantom Broadway "original" content since the official Insta accounts are reminding us today that Phantom is no longer (though it should be) on Broadway. I'm going to post about what I saw, and I'll follow up on January 26 with all my answers!

Some time ago, @or-what-you-will and I went to the NYPL's Theater on Film and Tape Archive, and viewed the archival pro shot of the Original Broadway Cast of Phantom of the Opera, filmed live on May 25, 1988. There is only one copy, and its purpose is artistic preservation (not commercial distribution--the library owns it). It was kept under lock and key during the show's run. All information about how to access the archive is on the website. I can't really tell you anything more besides what's out there because it will become identifying. You get set up in a room with monitors and can pause and rewind, although you can't touch the media.

This was not my first TOFT proshot, but it was the best-filmed. Some, there's a single camera just parked, or there's some generation loss because of when the tape was transferred to digital. This had absolutely vivid colors, a multi-camera shot, and brilliant and clear soundboard audio. I heard lyrics I have never heard (especially during Notes when everyone is singing over one another), the sound balancing was so good. It was as transformative as seeing it live.

These are all the notes we took while there (apologize if they can seem disjointed) More below the cut.

ACT 1 NOTES: 

-Multicam shot

-amazing audio (soundboard), vivid colors

-Raoul/Barton is crying in his voice during the auction

-there’s a “voice” that sounds like a woman singing with the overture (maybe a theramin?) We jumped in shock at this. We've never heard this before, not even on soundboard.

-Sarah Brightman comes on stage during the Hannibal rehearsal, moving across the stage with Meg during “Rome not Roma”--so she dances in the front row during the Hannibal ballet

-Hannibal ballet then has 10 dancers and since Christine is in the whole thing, there is slightly different choreo

-there’s a synth under Meg’s “he’s there, the phantom of the opera” 

-Firmin lights a cigarette and Andre (Future Phantom Cris Groenendaal) stops him right before “Think of Me’ which makes the “Defense de Fumer” on the back of the curtain make even more sense

-Think of Me Gala skirt is not as full (but of note, Carlotta’s Elissa costume is much more ornate than we have now or even at the end of Broadway)

-Raoul sings slightly different notes in Think of Me. Steve Barton goes down a few notes on “young and innocent” (it’s not belted) and is clearly wistful. 

-The think of me cadenza is absolutely effortless

-The “Bravi, Bravi” is haunting and perfectly sound balanced!

-Meg can actually sing and the Angel of Music harmonies work

-Raoul (Steve Barton) is nervous before going into the dressing room. He taps his fingers on the banister and takes a deep breath before going in

-He’s also nervous inside the dressing room–you can see him going from seeing an old friend to suddenly having feelings, being attracted to her. When he’s standing behind her he has a slight moment when he nearly touches a lock of her hair. 

-Raoul is wearing a ring on his right hand (signet?)

-Steve Barton says MY Little Lotte

-Christine (Brightman) is excited about meeting the Angel of music and has a wanting and longing in “Enter at LAST master” (in a way that Lily Kerhoas does now and we haven’t had many Christines who do this) 

-The picture is VERY CLEAR and NO WASHOUT when we see Michael Crawford appear in the mirror for Phantom’s entrance. You see everything

-When the door opens for Raoul to the dressing room after they go through the mirror, it opens slowly (vs banging open). It’s the same tempo that Phantom moves to take Christine through the mirror

-1925 Phantom silhouette vibes at the first “sing for me” 

-Not a particularly aggressive cape twirl, but def a twirl. 

-They get VERY close on “turn your face away”, almost kiss (like, Russians, Panaro/Joseph close) 

- he has a nice portcullis sprawl but she does not press against him, there is visible space between them the entire time

-”Caress” and “hear it, feel it” are explicitly seductive, the former in how it’s sung, the latter because he self-caresses on “feel it”

-the “Touch me” in touch me/trust me is half sung/half spoken order, she strokes her hand over the mask and he does not pull away

-He does have a little panic when she faints and he covers her with the cloak. He’s holding her hair when he sings to her there

-At the unmasking, MC holds for a brief moment before covering his face with his hand so the audience gets a peek of the deformity (before “damn you”) 

-Vixen not viper

-Crawls on knees, not stomach. We get…lots of crying and whimpering 

-Christine sees his face a lot during this sequence. MC lowers his hand as soon as he’s on her side of the stage from “secretly dreams of beauty” to “Oh Christine”, when he turns away–but she is looking at him the entire time. MC is angled right by a mirror shard so we can see a bit of the deformity reflected back

-Right before “come we must return”, MC is about to cup her face with both his hands before changing his mind–she starts to reach for him as well. 

-His Mandarin robe is much longer than we have now (ankle length vs calf length) 

-This Giry has witch vibes

-Steve Barton is playing eager puppy Raoul and it shows even though he looks older (Barton was 35 at the time)

-The sound balancing is so good that you can hear lines you don’t normally hear during Notes 1 and Prima Donna–including the Managers thinking that Christine has just been off with Raoul all night. 

-Sarah Brightman does a different pose on the bed as the pageboy during Il Muto. She crosses her legs vs putting her hands on her hips. 

-Firmin yells “the role of Christine Daae” to the proscenium, clearly directed at Phantom

-Barton Raoul’s “There is no Phantom of the Opera” comes off more as “Christine this is just some dude” vs “he doesn’t exist at all.” 

-Raoul loves Christine so much. He strokes her hair gently to comfort her right before “No more talk of darkness”--his eyes are soft and he’s genuinely caring and concerned (vs trying to be a hero) 

-”All I ask is for one love one lifetime”--different lyrics, she does it twice (This is on soundboards from the time)

-Raoul puts his face to Christine’s hands at the proposal. 

-Christine is clearly kissing his cheek right next to his mouth during the kiss (the final lair kiss is a real kiss) 

-Christine’s “I must go” is not as playful as we often see it later. She really is trying to go. 

-Raoul is nervous at “Christine, I love you”--he lowers his head for a moment worried that he said something wrong. He’s excited when she replies “order your fine horses”

-AIAOY Reprise: Michael Crawford is partially slumped over the angel, he’s holding hands with it to the audience’s right, and arm is slumped over on the left. We get a lot of anguished weeping, and little distressed moans as Christine and Raoul sing, there is rocking and head shaking and then covering his ears. It’s a HUGE difference then when he stands up fully for “You will curse” (he does this again during final lair between “unfeeling scrap of clothing” and “pity comes too late) 

-He also roars before standing

-The Phantom laugh/cackle continues well into the chandelier drop into intermission at the light cut out for about 15 seconds. 

Act II

-Carlotta masquerade costume has no mesh in the skirt–it’s much more of a see-through skeleton crinoline, so the feature is the purple tights

-Not surprising since Sarah Brightman is a dancer, but Christine does the proper choreography during Masquerade--she's the center of attention. Barton also does quite a bit of dancing.

-There’s an organ (almost like a circus organ) underlying the finale during masquerade

-Red Death double doesn’t run down the stairs, he stays at the top

-Giry/Raoul exchange after masquerade–both holding the lantern and super closeup

-Reyer is clearly gay–coded. Some voice and hand gestures during Sitzprobe

-Wishing–only one “help me say goodbye” (when did the second one get added?)

-”Far-reaching” gaze, Wandering Child is a duet

-Piangi says “conquest” is assured (at some point, this became “congress”)

-Michael Crawford imitates Piangi until “past the point…”

-Sarah as Christine is listening intently to Phantom’s voice and immediately noticed something is off–she doesn’t figure it out right away but she notices something. She is suspicious the entire time. It's not clear when she knows for certain.

-Christine never flees from him, during the first caresses, he hovers over her body, she turns to kiss him, he turns away, her hand lingers on her back, before she gets up to sing her solo part away from the table

-Michael Crawford’s hands are in in his crotch when Christine’s singing on the other side of the stage (“you have come here”)--he’s moving his palms in his lap the whole time, his hands are shaking, we only get glimpses of him, most of this part it’s focused on her

-There is none of the arm waving circling while their hands are held, she takes his hands, he switches his grip to hold one of hers, and they keep them on him

-She figures it out when she reaches down–she’s holding his hands above him and she pushes her left (our right) hand down and he pulls and she notices something–we can only see to his upper waist but her hand disappears and her expression changes, it’s implied he has an erection

-she doesn’t ever feel the mask, either accidentally or on purpose

-She doesn’t actually ever try to escape. It’s not the current West End or the past blocking–but more accurate in that she is aware of the situation and plays along. She keeps going with the blocking

-they both get up and keep singing, neither drags the other to the centre, they move together and keep singing 

-The last “return”--he sings it at the unhooding, she doesn’t

-”Say you’ll share with me”--he is really pleading and almost crying on “say you want me” 

-The managers don’t come out to try to usher her offstage, she doesn’t signal to them to stay

-When Phantom gives her the ring, she takes it, but doesn’t put it on–she just holds it

-He doesn’t scream at the unmasking, he just looks shocked and sad

-Ratcatcher order is different–it’s after Raoul and Giry’s first lines, that’s the indication that Giry needs to turn around, Giry screams

-Phantom is crying at “flesh” and through “unfeeling scrap of clothing”, he’s also hunched over through this sequence, and then stands to his full height at “Pity comes too late.”

-Phantom makes a big show of raising the portcullis, hands fully raised

-Raoul swats at Erik with one hand (the other is still on the noose) when Phantom grabs Christine on “start a new life” 

-Phantom is probably the “minimum” amount of rough as we see Phantoms be with Christine in this sequence, as in, he’s definitely scary and menacing but he’s not harming her. He does grab her and spin her around on “start a new life with me.” There are a few wrist grabs (which is book accurate). He’s realizing more that his plan is absolutely crumbling. We get some shots of him on the organ looking panicked.

-Phantom makes a low growling noise before “you try my patience”, which is delivered quickly and almost casually. It is not menacing as some later Phantoms do. 

-”Pitiful creature”..MC’s hand is subtly shaking by his side

-The kiss: the 1st one MC stands with “claw hands” at his side, on the second one, the “claw hands” start shaking

-MC hunches over after he burns the noose

-He stands over the monkey, conducting it with one hand, he is mimicking the symbol clashes, he doesn’t touch it or cover its face

-When Christine returns the ring, his hand shakes as he takes it, he’s hunched over again. 

-She does seem conflicted about leaving, but she doesn’t press her hand back around his, she holds out the ring and his hand shakes as she takes it. She doesn’t linger very long. 

-He says a second “I love you” after she’s gone.

-He’s about to say it a third time, he says “I love…” and then see the veil, and grabs it and screams into it, and then turns and sees the boat leaving

-He sobs and keens a lot

-Raoul bends in the boat to caress Christine’s face on “say the word”)--this is halfway across the stage as opposed to during the stage right exit.

-Deliberately cracks voice on the "can" in “you alone can make” 

-MC Cradling the veil like a baby at the very end

SEND ME YOUR QUESTIONS! You can put it in comments, reblogs, AMA or DM's. I will answer all of them on January 26!

[still-alive-mp3]

Stuff I dislike in the Be More Chill fandom

(This is gonna be a long rant so yeah lmao)

1: Squipemy / Technical Difficulties is a horrible ship, you shouldn't ship it, and it is a PROSHIP.

The amount of people I see excusing it by saying that "the SQUIP is a computer he doesn't have an age!!" "The SQUIP isn't actually Keanu Reeves / Keanu Reeves' age he just looks like him!!" Is just gross

The SQUIP looks like an adult, speaks like an adult, and acts like an ADULT. Shipping him with a teenager is just so disgusting and seeing people ship them and giving lousy excuses makes me want to vomit

Squipemy shippers DNI block me you shouldn’t be allowed in the fandom

2: For the love of god can people PLEASE stop whitewashing Michael in fanart there so much art of him pale white and nobody talks about it!! The day that people stop whitewashing Michael is the day I can rest peacefully

3: Can the BMC fandom stop villainizing Jeremy please please please oh my god. Especially when it comes to that scene right before Michael in the Bathroom and the optic nerve blocking stuff

At the end of Upgrade / Loser Geek Whatever (depending on which production), Jeremy had already gone through tons of manipulation from the SQUIP, which heavily impacted his decisions, which weren’t really of his own volition anymore

Right before the dialogue before Michael in the Bathroom, Jeremy was assaulted (at least almost) by Chloe, causing him to run to the bathroom to avoid confrontation with Jake. During the dialogue with Michael, you can see that Jeremy’s honestly happy to see him, showing once again that he really didn’t want to leave Michael, but the SQUIP made him. However, Michael immediately goes into his dialogue talking about how bad the SQUIP is, and just generally bringing down the tone, making Jeremy increasingly upset, due to this plus what had happened right before this, eventually leading him to ditch Michael again and call him a loser.

TLDR; Can the fandom (especially the Michael defenders) PLEASE try to understand what Jeremy goes through during the musical and understand his actions are not from a place of malice

4: (this is the last take) Can people please stop infantilizing BMC characters

(specifically Jeremy, Michael, Rich, and Christine (Christine and Michael the most))

I know they are still minors, but they are 16-17 years old, there’s no need to act like they would have the maturity level of middle schoolers

Especially when people are like “[Insert character name here] shouldn’t curse!! They’re too innocent!!” And then it’s a character who’s either a late adolescent or a full grown adult

(I’ve seen that said about Christine mostly, which I get she never curses in the musical, but come on she still is 16 she can curse it’s not the end of the world)

Anyways thank you for coming to my Ted Talk

[nonbinary-arsonists]

based on a real joke i tried to tell

[sondheim-girly]

negative shoutout to the person next to me at stagedoor who got really mad at Jason for not stagedooring that day. It’s ok to be disappointed but it’s not ok to be super angry. They are tired. Meeting an actor at stagedoor is a privilege, but NOT A RIGHT

[broadway-stuck]

Hallows eve is upon us yet again. Tradition dictates a performance on this sacred night. And so, we sing. Lyrics and credits under the read-more

[EVERYONE]

Boys and girls of every age

Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come with us and you will see

This, our town of Halloween

[ARADIA, FEFERI, KANAYA]

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Pumpkins scream in the dead of night

This is Halloween, everybody make a scene

Trick or treat 'til the neighbors gonna die of fright

It's our town, everybody scream

In this town of Halloween

[SOLLUX]

I am the one hiding under your bed

Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red

[FEFERI]

I am the one hiding under your stairs

Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair

[EVERYONE] This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[KANAYA, KARKAT, VRISKA]

In this town, we call home

Everyone, hail to the pumpkin song

[KANAYA]

In this town, don't we love it now?

Everybody's waiting for the next surprise

[NEPETA, ARADIA, KARKAT]

Round that corner bend, hiding in the trash can

Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll

[KARKAT]

Scream!

[JADE]

This is Halloween

[KARKAT]

Red and black

[EQUIUS]

And slimy green

[JADE]

Aren't you scared?

[JADE, FEFERI, ROXY]

Well, that's just fine!

Say it once, say it twice

Take a chance and roll the dice

Ride with the moon in the dead of night

[DAVE]

Everybody scream, everybody scream

[DIRK, SOLLUX, KARKAT]

In our town of Halloween!

[KARKAT]

I am the clown with the tear-away face

Here in a flash and gone without a trace

[ARADIA]

I am the “who” when you call, “Who's there?”

[VRISKA]

I am the wind blowing through your hair

[ROXY]

I am the shadow on the moon at night

Filling your dreams to the brim with fright

[EVERYONE]

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[JADE, FEFERI, ROXY]

Halloween! Halloween!

[KANAYA, DAVE, JADE]

Tender lumplings everywhere

Life's no fun without a good scare

[DIRK, ROXY]

That's our job, but we're not mean

In our town of Halloween

[EVERYONE]

In this town 

[KANAYA]

Don't we love it now? [EVERYONE]

Everyone's waiting for the next surprise

[ARADIA]

Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back

[KARKAT]

And scream like a banshee Make you jump [EVERYONE] Out of your skin

[ARADIA, FEFERI, KANAYA,]

This is Halloween, everybody scream

[DIRK, DAVE, SOLLUX]

Won't ya please make way for a very special guy?

[NEPETA, ARADIA]

Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch

Everyone, hail to the Pumpkin King now!

[EVERYONE]

This is Halloween, this is Halloween

Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!

[JADE, DAVE, KANAYA]

In this town we call home

Everyone, hail to the pumpkin song

[EVERYONE]

La-la-la, la-la-la (La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la, la-la-la (La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la, la-la-la (La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la, Halloween! Halloween!)

La-la-la, hey! (La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la)

Special thanks to;

@june-egbert-413 (aka gagrealTheatre) for the artwork! @lyricalkarkat for helping dividing lyrics! @broadway-calliope for the extra assistance!

Performers: @broadwayy-karkat @broadway-aradia @broadway-vriska @broadwayy-kanaya @broadway-nepeta @broadway-feferi @broadway-equius @broadway-sollux @broadway-jade @broadway-dave @broadway-roxy @broadway-dirk

[ashleyslorens]

the tortured poet composer

[josie-and-the-pussycats-2001]

I’m seeing a lot of information being passed around about the SAG-AFTRA strike and have already seen this line of questioning on Twitter so I thought I’d address what this means for Broadway actors as I understand it;

Many of your favourite Broadway actors work in film, television and other fields of acting outside of Broadway and do have SAG memberships and thus ARE currently on strike

HOWEVER

Broadway actors are also apart of the Actors’ Equity Association - typically known as Actors’ Equity or just Equity - this is a SEPERATE union

Broadway actors apart of Equity are signed and working under Equity contracts for the productions they are starring in

As they are working under different union contracts, if you see Broadway actors going to their jobs, performing as usual, promoting upcoming theatrical work, etc. - They are NOT scabbing or crossing the picket line as they are not under SAG-AFTRA contracts

Broadway actors are complying with their Equity contracts and to not do so would put their jobs in jeopardies

Remember, the people who comprise Broadway productions are not just famous names but are comprised of many hard working actors who do not have the status or recognition of their more notable co-stars and should NOT be shamed under the guise of false information

HOWEVER

If you see Broadway actors signing onto new screen productions, promoting upcoming screen work, and breaking any of SAG-AFTRA’s strike rules, then it is up to your discretion if you want to bring this to people’s attention

I would like to make it clear that I am NOT an expert nor a professional working on Broadway, this is all information I have gathered from discussions from people involved in the industry. I am only making this post as I have yet to see anyone else address this and have seen some people be confused about what Broadway actors are currently doing in this moment so I hope to help clear things up.

If there is any information I have misunderstood, failed to share or falsely spread, please feel free to correct me and I will update this post.

TLDR: Broadway Actors are not crossing the picket line by continuing to perform in their current theatrical roles as they are under Actor’s Equity Contracts which is a seperate union to SAG-AFTRA

[prncssangel]

i think about dallas calling pony "sleeping beauty" at least three times a day

[harveyverse]

rip two-but Mathews you would've loved scooby doo <3