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thatsnothowyoupronouncemyname · 2 years ago

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A Chris Wood Deep Dive

This post will take a deep dive into The Vampire Diaries and Supergirl actor Chris Wood (CW) and why he is not as nice a person as many would like to believe.

Trigger warnings: this post discusses racism, homophobia, misogyny, domestic violence, abuse, and police brutality.

**Disclaimer: I do not endorse the gossip sites and their administrators mentioned in this post, nor do I claim that the information presented here is 100% accurate and confirmed to be such. This post is made up of publicly available information. Sources are linked.**

Part I: Cheating

1. Here are blind items, courtesy of the blog Crazy Days and Nights (CDAN), run by an entertainment lawyer (?) under the nickname “Enty”, from the past couple of years that allege CW has been cheating on Melissa Benoist, his wife of three years, starting not long after the two of them began dating. The latest blind also claims that he was “trying to move onto other people” while still married to her, and even attempting to submit information on himself to gossip sites.

September 2022 (revealed here)

June 2022 (revealed here)

July 2017 (revealed here)

There are others that show that he hasn't been committed to his marriage and that they were likely to get a divorce.

November 2021 (revealed here - where Enty also had a blind about Melissa potentially coming out in the future)

June 2021 (revealed here)

In case you are doubting how trustworthy Enty and his blind items are- it is a gossip blog, so most definitely not 100%. He has posted blind items before that ended up being verified, while others were never proven to be true.

However, with regards to CW, Enty posted a blind item in late October about the Almost Famous Broadway musical, in which CW appears as Russell Hammond, a main character. Prior to the company’s appearance on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Enty claimed that despite the appearance on late night television, the show wasn’t doing well and would be closing after Christmas. It was then announced December 19, 2022 that the show would close January 8, 2023 (Broadway shows usually close on Sundays). Originally, the musical was advertised to have an open-ended run (which is the norm, unless the show is brought to Broadway explicitly as a limited engagement), so there is a distinction to be made between a show ending its run after a while (like The Phantom of the Opera in the upcoming year) or being closed, mostly due to low attendance and grosses that are not enough to recuperate the money invested (like Almost Famous, K-POP or Ain’t No Mo’ in the most recent cases). Enty’s insider information was correct - it wasn’t public knowledge. So, it could be said that this is another case of “where there is smoke, there is fire”. I cannot claim with full certainty that he has been cheating, but there are many indicators that point towards these rumors being based in fact.

2. He'd dated at least four of his co-stars, all of whom were leading ladies on the “almost network” TV shows he appeared in.

First, there was AnnaSophia Robb, whom he met on the set of the Carrie Diaries. They dated for a while between 2013 and 2014.

Then, he was linked to Nina Dobrev, who led the The Vampire Diaries from 2009 to the end of season 6 in 2015. CW appeared on TVD in season 6 (2014-2015), and there were a number of pictures and claims that the two of them dated. Though, it has recently been confirmed by a former make-up artist on the show during a Reddit AMA that CW’s relationship with Nina was purely PR.

In 2016, he dated Hanna Mangan Lawrence, his co-star on the series Containment, which was also produced by TVD boss Julie Plec.

And lastly, CW met Melissa on the set of Supergirl. The two started dating in early 2017 and got married in September 2019.

In the video below (which will play an even more significant role in a second), CW said he “was playing hard to get” when offered a role in Supergirl without an audition by then-showrunner Andrew Kreisberg (more on him later). Finally, he did end up taking the role and moving to Vancouver for filming, partly because he apparently knew "he'd meet his future wife and the mother of his children" on the show.

At that time, throughout 2016, he was in a relationship with Hanna. CW’s twitter fans noticed that Hanna moved to Vancouver with Chris around August 2016 before he started filming Supergirl and the two were seen together there some time later, in November 2016, according to Twitter, so about three months into CW’s time filming. They appear to have broken up in December 2016, some two weeks after Hanna’s last post of CW, though the break up was only reported in early January 2017. So CW’s “hunch” about meeting his future spouse occurred when he was in a serious relationship with someone else. Sounds like a nice, faithful guy, right?

Part II: “First and last”

In 2020, CW was invited to appear on Kevin Smith’s “Fatman Beyond” podcast. As you might know, Kevin (the writer/director of the homophobic movie Chasing Amy) directed multiple episodes of Supergirl, and is good friends with both Melissa and CW. He himself once captioned an Instagram photo with her in 2019 by saying that “[Melissa’s] boyfriend is also [his] boyfriend”, and also posted on IG to congratulate them both on expecting their first child. This proved to be a “lucrative” friendship for CW, as it was Kevin who gave him the voice role of He-Man on Netflix’s animated Masters of the Universe reboot. In the podcast episode, Kevin told an anecdote when him and CW went to see Melissa in her Broadway debut as Carole King on Beautiful in the summer of 2018.

When Kevin emphasized that this performance was, in fact, Melissa’s debut, CW interrupted Kevin to yell that her turn on Broadway was her "first and last". Even Kevin seemed confused for second (at about 42:13), pausing what he was saying to ask, “Is she not gonna do it again?” with genuine interest, at which CW quickly backtracked by saying that he was only kidding.

I get that he was joking, but I think most people would agree that it was a shockingly poor and tasteless joke to randomly throw in there, unprompted. In fact, Kevin told this whole story to highlight how CW was "crying joyful tears" over the fact that his then-girlfriend’s long-held Broadway dreams came true. Why did he feel the need to say this immediately after confirming this was her dream, and one that he apparently shared with her, at that? Yikes.

In that same video, Kevin Smith mentioned that he mispronounced Melissa’s last name for some time as “Benoit”, until CW enlightened him with a joke as to how to correctly pronounce it. Apparently, CW likened the pronunciation of “Benoist” as something that rimes with “moist” (which is true, but he admitted that the joke was of sexual nature at 41:01 of the above video). And while this, too, was an obvious attempt at humor, my impression is that he seemingly has a pattern of making jokes in poor taste about his partner to others, which is definitely not an admirable quality.

Part III: A republican past

Recently, CW was known as a prominent supporter of the Democratic party, most notably tweeting his support for Joe Biden and the Black Lives Matter movement over the course of spring and fall of 2020.

Apparently, his frequent tweets did not go unnoticed and a person who knew him when he was still in high school in Dublin, Ohio, reached out to the gossip website “Blind Gossip” to tell a story about CW’s affiliation back when he was younger. The resulting blind item from 2020 was perhaps the most shocking piece of information I discovered while doing this deep down. Essentially, it claims that CW used to be "super conservative" and alleged that he and his friend routinely stole dozens of lawn signs supporting John Kerry, the democratic presidential candidate running to unseat incumbent president George W. Bush in 2004. The person who spoke to Blind Gossip claimed to have seen the stolen signs in CW’s car. Obviously, the theft of yard signs is a crime. So if this is true, a 16 year-old CW was not only a thief, but also a passionate supporter of George W. Bush. With regards to Bush, I don’t have to detail while he was a terrible president guilty of war crimes - if you are not entirely aware of his catastrophic tenure, you are welcome to google it and read through thousand pieces of evidence that will make clear why supprting should be condemned.

At this point, I have to make it clear that there is no further evidence to corroborate this story other than a person's submission who has seen the stolen signs and to whom he confessed the theft. As I said with CDAN, the trustworthiness of gossip sites is questionable at best. Nevertheless, the blind is eerily specific, and the theft of lawn signs is definitely not uncommon in Ohio or the U.S. in general during presidential elections, so this very well could have happened. But we will likely never know for sure.

Part IV: Performative activism

In spite of his youthful days of Bush-inspired theft, CW is a very vocal Democrat now. Yes, I know that people can grow and mature, and they can very well change their political affiliation over time, but I guess not everyone becomes a passionate democrat after stealing to benefit the GOP years before. Maybe the more liberal ways of Los Angeles genuinely rubbed off on him, or maybe his change of heart was merely motivated by the wish to be perceived as progressive in order to fit into Hollywood. Who knows the truth in his case?

1. Anti-racism

During the 2020 George Floyd protests, he actively advocated for the Black Lives Matter movement (which is great), tweeting his support quite frequently. He even called out and shamed others that posted literally anything else, like the publication Variety for continuing to report entertainment news like they always do (though merely a few months before, in mid-February, when reports of the pandemic had already surfaced and COVID-19 was rapidly spreading outside of China, he was more than happy to repost the news that featured him from these entertainment sites).

He also filmed himself calling representatives, posted an open letter to the president of Elon University (his alma mater), and took photos of himself holding books on the topic.

I wholeheartedly support BLM and anyone who seeks to proactively fight against systemic racism in the US and elsewhere. Except, CW posted a couple of weird tweets that were really not helpful. There were some in particular that clearly centered himself instead of BIPOC voices in an attempt to celebrate his own wokeness, like this one tweet where he gleefully patted himself on the back for tweeting the phrase “Black Lives Matter” 4 years prior.

Since then, he doesn't post about anti-racism and BLM anymore. To be fair, he rarely posts anything other than updates on his career, but he has also become very silent when it comes to activism, even with respect to his own mental health awareness campaign. That makes it seem like he wasn't actually committed to unlearning his racial bias, raising awareness against police brutality as well as white supremacy, and campaigning for Black liberation and equal justice. As others have pointed out before, he probably only spoke up at a time when he thought calling out injustice would benefit his image and only followed suit when he saw hundreds of famous people participate in the outrage sparked by George Floyd’s murder.

And the reason why his self-congratulatory attitude in 2020 rubbed me the wrong way was precisely this: he never seemed to committed to actually doing the work of becoming actively anti-racist, and instead lauded himself for being woke years prior to the events of 2020, even though he himself posted this tweet when the protests first started following Floyd’s death:

This first tweet from that time makes two things very clear: one, that he was absolutely not “woke” when it comes to racism, because otherwise, he wouldn’t have tweeted something like “I can’t believe this is happening” when speaking about police brutality against Black people. If he was, in fact, as woke as he claims in 2016, he wouldn’t have said something like this in 2020. Those who actually educated themselves on systemic racism were, though enraged and disappointed, probably not surprised by another instance of the violent policing of BIPOC in the US - it is an incredibly sad truth that such deplorable acts of violence happen every single day, but of course he doesn’t know that, because he is a white man that is afforded the extreme privilege of ignoring the everyday realities of being BIPOC in the US. Him saying “we shold have moved on from this hate by now” only shows how blind he was to the institutional and permanent nature of racial injustice in his own country.

Second, his rage is nothing but performative. He only speaks up about such topics when he can establish himself as a champion of social justice, but between these highly publicized and scrutinized incidents of racialized violence, he is most definitely not doing anything to unlearn his own biases or to actively participate in these conversations.

2. Condemning Mon-el’s misogyny

Then there's also him describing his sexist, slave-owning Supergirl character as a “puppy” in November 2016 (photo credit goes to @/avvatrice on Twitter) and then again at the infamous 2017 San Diego Comic Con (SDCC), insisting that he may have some less than savory views but doesn’t mean any harm or malice. Said character was not only a former slaver and a raging misogynyst, but he also turned out to be Supergirl producer Andrew Kreisberg's self-insert. Yuck.

Only after Kreisberg was fired in November 2017 and the details of his sexual misconduct were published, did CW write a little twitter essay fully acknowledging that his character, who was given lines that matched Kreisberg's own sexist, disturbing words and views in real life, was a misogynistic, small-minded piece of sh*t.

Photo credit goes @/avvatrice on Twitter.

To be clear, I do not blame CW for the abysmal way his character was written, that’s fully the writers’ fault. But I do blame him for downplaying and romanticizing the character’s unsavory, disgusting qualities for over a year, attempting to portray a sexist, lying white man who fled a planet full of slaves as a harmless “puppy”.

3. Homophobia

In June 2019, CW's mental health awareness campaign IDONTMIND (IDM) released two t-shirts for pride month. So let's see some of his past with the LGBTQ community.

To start with, this is in line with what many companies and campaigns routenely do when Pride month comes around every year, a practice called “rainbow washing”. This refers to cases when organizations “disingenuously use Pride branding for their own gain or to give themselves a deceptive air of liberalism and allyship”. Technically, IDM is a non-profit, and all profits of the campaign support their umbrella organization, Mental Health America (MHA), which qualifies as a 501(c)(3) organization in the US. CW himself was appointed to the board of directors of MHA in 2019, departing from this role in 2021. Nevertheless, the practice of rainbow washing is not solely reserved to for-profit corporations, as it is not just about aiming to bring in more money from those sales, but also about creating the impression that the organization is, in fact, accepting and welcoming towards all orientation and lifesytles.

The reason why IDM’s efforts to raise money for MHA (and the Trevor Project, according to their now-deleted IG post back then) is noteworthy here as a potential example of rainbow washing, is the history of its founder with the LGBTQ community, which the collection was meant to support. A history which is not exempt from allegations of homophobia.

First of all, there is a video CW made with his friend best friend and IDM co-founder Edward Schmit that taps into harmful stereotypes and is centered around mocking gay men. The whole skit is about two men having a pillow talk, speaking in a manner often dubbed as “gay voice” as a way to caricature gay men. Straight men mockingly imitating this speech is not just overtly homophobic, but is also a subtle type of misogyny, since it’s making fun of someone who is “sounding feminine”. They perpetuate the myth that whenever a man has qualities that are traditionally assigned as “feminine”, they must be gay and simply not “manly” enough.

There's also this compilation of him essentially doing the same in different settings, for roles and skits. How he approaches the topic of homosexuality and portrays queer men shows how he doesn’t shy away from tapping into these stereotypes instead of seeking to portray such characters as anything other than mere caricatures that are nothing but comic relief.

And then let’s not forget SDCC 2017 and the cast’s (Melissa, CW, Mehcad, Jeremy, David, Odette, Katie) infamous singing interview, where some of them, notably including Jeremy Jordan and CW, outright mocked the fans for shipping Supercorp.

When asked about Supercorp in the same interview, Katie McGrath defended the fans (at 7:15 of the video):

The great thing about what we do is, like any art, anyone can read into it what they want.

Upon hearing this, CW immediately felt the need to chime in and practically mocked Katie’s comment (at 7:38):

Sexuality is all about others’ perceptions of yours, right? That was sarcasm!

While Katie sought to validate fan’s feelings and interpretations of the show, CW’s facial expressions throughout the entire time they were speaking about Supercorp and his subsequent comment reek not just of some misplaced arrogance that his character wasn’t the hit he thought it would be, but also of the homophobia he wasn’t able to hide away. It’s clear he felt threatened by the incredible response to Kara and Lena’s storyline that massively overshadowed Kara’s forced and problematic relationship with CW character. It is also evident that the fact that many people saw a romantic connections between two, supposedly straight female characters, really bothered him - after all, it was “Karamel” that was supposed to be in the limelight, while any romantic undertones between Kara and Lena were unplanned. CW’s character was brought to the show with the purpose of becoming the lead’s romantic interest, but instead, many fans fell in love with the chemistry between Supergirl and Lena Luthor. To him, it must have been disappointing to lose the attention he thought he would get to a queer ship, leading to this obviously homophobic comment at SDCC.

Interestingly, in January 2020, when it was announced Jeremy Jordan would return for a few episodes in season 5, a fan asked Jeremy whether his character Winn and CW’s since-departed former slaver “were married” in the future. In response to the people who were seeimingly shipping his character with Jeremy’s, CW tweeted this:

His response, particularly the quip “chemistry=too strong”, makes me think that he was either similarly sarcastic here about people shipping two supposedly straight, same-sex characters as he was back at SDCC, or, he was suddenly okay with the fans doing this if it was his character they were shipping and getting the spotlight from the viewers.

Overall, as these examples show, CW’s attitude towards the LGBTQ community is contentious at best. So it was understandably suspect when IDM released Pride merch a mere two years after the SDCC disaster. CW was all too happy to participate in the bashing of queer fans during that San Diego interview, and this attempt to appear supportive of the community was meant to absolve him from and make people forget about his history of belittling LGBTQ people, which he has never acknowledged, while presenting him as a benevolent ally with a charity that fully supports everyone under the rainbow umbrella.

Part V: Work ethic

Most recently, CW starred as Russell Hammond in the musical adaptation of the 2000 film, Almost Famous (AF). Russell is one of the three lead characters, and since CW was the most senior and well-known from the three performers playing those roles, he has been the one to receive top billing most times (even though Anika Larsen, a Tony-nominee, and Drew Gehling were in the cast, too, both of whom have more Broadway credits as well as name recognition in theatre circles and also play principal roles in the musical). In the beginning, he was all over the musical’s social media pages, too, though more recently, he has been featured less and less, and there was even an instance when on a cast photo, they tagged his understudy, Van Hughes, instead of CW, even though he was the one in the picture (the tag was later removed, and then CW was tagged in it).

This could have easily been an oversight on the part of whoever is running AF’s Instagram, but, as some have pointed out, they could have possibly shaded CW for skipping out too many shows, most notably also the one on the day that photo was posted. By my count, he missed about 18-19 shows - and most of these during the week before the company was scheduled for a nationwide televised performance.

In a SiriusXM interview with Casey Likes (the recording of which I can’t find for the life of me), CW explained that he doesn’t have a lot of memories from opening night, which is still more than what he can recollect from the final preview from the evening before, as he was on heavy medication. Apparently, he had been sick for the last few previews before the company’s performance on The Tonight Show, for which he did show up (and ended up getting a lot of negative buzz for butchering the only line in the song he had). One fan account of his, formerly @/chriswoodnetwork on IG (notorious for cropping Melissa out of every picture, generally ignoring her and posting throwbacks with his former girlfriends), claimed at that time that he was on vocal rest, which is in line with what he said himself.

However, those approx. five performances before the Fallon appearance and opening night weren’t the only times he was out for. According to the twitter accounts @/BroadwayCovers and his understudy, Van Hughes, he missed an additional 7-8 performances in November, particularly five in a row before coming back for the company’s appearence on CBS’ Good Morning America on December 1. He was also absent at least four-five more times in December.

These are the CDAN blinds that discuss how unreliable he has proven himself to be as a lead member of a Broadway company that claim that his absences should be attributed to his lack of commitment and questionable work ethic:

December 26, 2022

December 22, 2022 (revealed here)

December 8, 2022 (revealed here)

November 29, 2022 (revealed here)

What’s more is that it is highly likely he got this role thanks to the connections of his wife (though this, once again, cannot be fully verified). One the one hand, in the SiriusXM interview, he mentioned that after Colin Donnell, who played Russell during the musical’s San Diego run, had to bow out of the production due to scheduling conflicts, he joined a company for a workshop and did not have to do an actual audition for the part. On Twitter, @/PotionClass (here on tumblr @magicpotionclass) pointed out that one of the producers of AF was also the one to invite Melissa to lead Beautiful on Broadway back in 2018, and that the musical’s writer (and the original film’s director), Cameron Crowe, is repped by the same agency as Melissa.

While I believe he was in fact sick prior to opening night, the subsequent absences either prove that he is simply unfit to do eight shows a week on Broadway or confirm Enty’s claim that he only wants the fame (which is why he never misses a TV appearence) without the hard work.

Part VI: Standing up for victims of abuse?

One other point of criticism that has been brought up against CW recently is him working with people who are connected to Bl*ke Jenner (BJ), Melissa’s first husband who abused her both physically and verbally, causing permanent damage to her eye by throwing a phone in her face. In this regard, I generally say that actors don’t always have the luxury of picking who they do and don’t want to work with - Melissa herself is currently working on a show produced by Julie Plec, who was accused of racism, treating Black actors and their characters badly, and maintaining an evident racial bias in the production of her shows; while Katie McGrath’s new series, The Continental, will star Mel Gibson, a known antisemite and abuser. So, I was gonna go easy on CW for working with Daniel Sovich on AF. Sovich, an actor/musician, and member of AF’s company is good friends with BJ. Working with him is not CW’s fault, because he clearly wasn’t the one who brought Sovich to the musical and there is only little evidence that they are even friendly.

However, I recently discovered that it was Robert J. Ulrich who served as casting director for the Thirtysomething sequel pilot in early 2020, in which CW was cast in a leading role (though the project was never picked up). It is therefore likely that CW was cast in that role by Ulrich himself at a time when he was already married to Melissa and BJ’s abuse was made public by her. As these pictures show, Ulrich is a good friend of both BJ and Sovich.

Additionally, it was also revealed that he is working with Brad Pitt’s production company, Plan B Entertainment, on the development a feature film. It is well-known that Pitt was accused of abusing his former wife, Angelina Jolie, and their children. Particularly in this case, I believe it would be more than possible for CW to try to work on this feature with any other producer who is not a violent domestic abuser.

That makes it a total of three times in the past three years that he’s worked with either people directly connected to the man who abused his wife, or someone who has been accused of doing so with their own family. To be honest, these three instances make me question his support of his wife in the wake of her speaking out, as well as his public commitment to stand up against the abuse of women and

...”not work with those who continue to build toxic work environments.”

That particular comment did not age well.

Part VII: IDONTMIND making mistakes

1. Anxiety

Lastly, I want to mention two more things in relation to CW’s campaign, IDM. In the fall of 2020, IDM launched a new collection titled “Anxiety - Own Your Feelings”. The items in the collection (two sweatshirts, two baseball hats and a tee) were made with the graphic “anxiety” printed with an elegant, cursive font.

The collection immediately received backlash for romanticizing mental illness and using it as an aesthetic/fashion statement to sell merchandise. After even mental health professionals commented to state how harmful and foolish this idea was, IDONTMIND posted the following statement in the comments:

As you can see, they did not apologize for putting out such a collection and essentially attributed the backlash to a matter of opinion and taste. Needless to say, they went on with the launch of these products and sold them as planned, even if they were discounted some weeks later. After the above statement was posted, CW himself seemed to respond to the backlash with this (since deleted) vague “notes app” post on Instagram that did not take any accountability whatsoever or apologize for offending many people, instead trying to tell them they should just forgive him and IDM for the blunder:

Clearly, neither CW nor any of the team behind IDM was concerned with the whole incident, since they chose to sell the collection anyway instead of admitting their mistake and pulling these products.

2. Run IDONTMIND & TWLOHA

The second thing I wanted to include concerns IDM’s Run IDONTMIND program that they launched in May 2021. May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the U.S. and the program aims to encourage people to run a 5k, 10k or half marathon during those 31 days in order to raise money for IDM and their work in mental health awareness. That sounds like a cool thing, right?

Well, the problem is that they basically stole this idea from another mental health organization, To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA - if you’ve never heard of them, please check out this amazing non-profit!), a charity founded by Jamie Tworkowski in 2006. Curiously enough, TWLOHA was created sixteen years ago when Tworkowski designed a shirt which he sold in order to allow a friend to get the mental health care she needed. TWLOHA grew from here into a well-known charity that aims to spread a message of hope and help to people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicidal thoughts. Since their inception, they tried to raise money and awareness by selling shirts and later other types of merchandise that look unique enough to jumpstart everyday conversations about the meaning behind them - over ten years before CW founded IDM with the exact same “business model”.

In 2013, TWLOHA launched the annual event “Run For It 5k”. Every spring, they designate a day when the followers of the movement can complete a 5k to raise awareness for TWLOHA’s work. Prior to the event, TWLOHA usually sells a t-shirt with that year’s graphic and a finisher’s medal, among other things.

Besides Run IDM being an eerily similar initiative, in 2022, IDM even started selling shirts and medals just like TWLOHA always does (though TWLOHA’s medal comes for free if you buy the shirt for $30, while IDM originally sold it separately for an additional $20).

In many ways, IDM seems to be copying TWLOHA - their Journal also bears a lot of similarity to TWLOHA’s blog; they share the same business model, and now IDM is organizing essentially the same events.

Back in 2017, in an interview with TVInsider.com about his new campaign, CW was asked how he came up with the concept of this initiative, to which he said:

“...Then this fell into my lap, this little pocket of stigma awareness surrounding mental health that I felt wasn’t being approached in a way that I felt would be the most successful.”

...”because people wear shirts that say nothing phrases all the time, and by having a meaning behind it, the hope is that something simple like “Hey, I like your shirt, what does it mean?” people can then say “Oh, it’s actually a mental health awareness campaign.” And now we’re having a conversation, now we’re talking about mental health, which is the whole thing is that everyone’s terrified to open up about.”

In this interview, he presents IDM as a brand new idea to fight the stigma surrounding mental health awareness, a topic that he, in his own words, sought to approach “in a way that would be the most successful”. Needless to say, other campaigns with the exact same approach, like TWLOHA, already existed for years before he ever launched his own campaign. So, despite what he said in this interview, his idea was nothing revolutionary and only copied what other organizations while already doing. This doesn’t mean IDM is not doing good work and helping people, but CW definitely should not claim that he was the one who came with the idea to defeat the stigma by selling shirts that spark conversations about mental health.

Part VIII: The rest

There certainly are more rumors and topics to discuss than these, however, I found some of them on forums and blogs as they were mentioned by fans, so I chose not to include them unless I could find other sources for such claims.

What this deep dive was meant to show is that his “nice guy” image is likely just that - an image. Granted, there are many, many people in the industry who are much worse than he is. But this doesn’t absolve him on any of the less than nice things he did and comments he made over the years. He certainly doesn’t deserve the devotion of his fans and I hope some of them will recognize that his squeeky clean image is nothing but a facade that masks some of the ugly truth.

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d-criss-news · 2 years ago

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darrencriss: WOW. #AintNoMo #AintNoMo #AintNoMo

Aside from proving himself an extremely adept and promising dramatist, Cooper is also now the YOUNGEST Black American writer to have a show on Broadway. So, all in all, I believe this production is a true triumph for the new American Theater.

… And to think it was supposed to CLOSE today. While it’s only been extended for one more week, I believe this play’s power will last long after its closing notice. Its remarkable creator as well as its stellar players are at the beginning of something very special for the theater history books.

Really grateful I can say I was there. And hope I can be worthy of living in a world that Miss Bag has made so goddamn beautiful.

Wanna know what I’m talking about? Buy a ticket to see #AintNoMo or support it any way you can on whatever social stage YOU have. Cuz what this company of #AintNoMo is sharing on THEIR stage is something I wish could be on EVERYONE’S. It’s why I go to the theater.

#SAVEAINTNOMO

#darren criss #jordan e. cooper #ain't no mo' bway #instagram #dec 2022

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dorothy16 · 2 years ago

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darrencriss WOW. #AintNoMo #AintNoMo #AintNoMo

AIN’T NO MO' takes your hand— by the alchemy of @jordanecooper ’s powerful, provocative prose & poetry mixed with first-rate performances— and simultaneously has it slapping your knee, punching your gut, and clenching a fist in the air. It is a relentless, bedazzled Molotov cocktail of both humor and wisdom, provocation and protection, pain and pathos, solemnity and celebration. Aside from proving himself an extremely adept and promising dramatist, Cooper is also now the YOUNGEST Black American writer to have a show on Broadway. So, all in all, I believe this production is a true triumph for the new American Theater. … And to think it was supposed to CLOSE today. While it’s only been extended for one more week, I believe this play’s power will last long after its closing notice. Its remarkable creator as well as its stellar players are at the beginning of something very special for the theater history books. Really grateful I can say I was there. And hope I can be worthy of living in a world that Miss Bag has made so goddamn beautiful. Wanna know what I’m talking about? Buy a ticket to see #AintNoMo or support it any way you can on whatever social stage YOU have. Cuz what this company of #AintNoMo is sharing on THEIR stage is something I wish could be on EVERYONE’S. It’s why I go to the theater. #SAVEAINTNOMO

#darren criss #darren instagram #aint no mo #me edits

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rndyounghowze · 2 years ago

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Why Are We More Willing To Shame Audiences Than To Reach Them?

I’m going to say something that shouldn’t shock anyone reading this: the theaters are struggling for an audience. You don’t have to take my word for it. You can go to just about any publication and find someone announcing another show closing. You just have to go to your social media pages to find a friend or acquaintance who is either a) begging people to come see their show or b) asking for money because no one is coming to see their shows. I wish I was lying. I wish I could tell you that it’s not a daily occurrence. However, one thing is abundantly clear: theatre’s need to take some drastic measures to bring a new audience in, even if it’s bringing in people off the street. Well if this thing that we all know is in fact true why are we so ready to be mean to our audiences?

Again you don’t have to take my word for it. The very same publications that would announce a closing and bemoan the death of live theatre will also post an article shaming patrons that are disturbing others. Anecdotally we have heard stories from people who attended “K-Pop” who said that the mainstream audience was shaming the attendees that were dancing in the aisles and using props they bought in the lobby. Producers are in an epic struggle between three forces: wanting to stay open, wanting to find an audience that loves their show, and courting a rich subscriber base that keeps the lights on. It’s the age old struggle that producers sign up for when they go into business. I guess what we are asking is if it seems no one is coming to the shows isn’t it time to, if not dump the season ticket holders in favor of the nebulous new audience, at least go on a couple dates with them?

Dana likes to say that everyone has $20 in their pocket and are looking for a way to spend it. We aren’t talking about taking money from people who abuse staff or create a toxic environment in the house. In fact we would call those people a problem and not an audience. What we are talking about are the audiences who feel like they aren’t at home because they aren’t the audience you are marketing to. The people who don’t feel safe reacting honestly for fear of being shamed for laughing, the people who haven’t been “trained” as kids. The people who are used to a concert or stadium show more than a “traditional” theatre performance.

The existence of shows like “K-Pop” and “Ain’t No Mo” suggest that there is a hunger for this kind of show from a different audience that wants to come and see it. In both those cases the shows had to face a reality where producers faced the reality of rent being due before the audience knew to show up. This is where digital theatre has a leg up on the mainstream industry. We said before that indie media can take the time to build an audience through a slow release of digital content. That way when they go from “Couch to Stage” they know that there is an audience ready to see them. If this is the case why are producers so coy about their season announcements? There is a myth that digital is cheap but it is relatively cheaper. This is a good reason to normalize workshopping potential shows digitally a year before they open in-person. Wouldn’t it be great to know that there is support for a show before it opens?

We know that we aren’t going to reach the larger houses that have become a Broadway Walmart, only producing shows from the canon to court a rich audience. As much as we don’t like it we respect the hustle. We also know more than a couple large regional theaters that are experimenting with XR and other ways to secure a future. What we want everyone who hears us to consider is, if the audience that knows how to “act right” isn’t coming then maybe it’s time to change the rules so that the rulebreakers can feel at home. The rulebreakers have money too.

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thenixkat · 7 months ago

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Club Down by Clppng

Lyrics:

[Intro: Daveed Diggs] Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down

[Verse 1: Daveed Diggs] The schoolyard reeks of sewage, broken pipes, broken promise The thin man staggers lucid for this time of night Drying vomit dangles from the beard, step, mumble, shuffle, trip But the trajectory is clear, he's headed for the covered steps Tut, tut, it looks like rain He remembers A. A. Milne each time the sky is this kind of grey That or his favorite film, Gene Kelly Leaping Technicolor through the fray and feeling glorious The story is an allegory for his days, but night is coming now Vials snap, aluminum sounds Fibers slap as drops descend on tall cans It's all hands on deck to chase the pain away Dealers rockin' parkas with plenty pockets for product The money, horrors, the logic and babies holler from colic The symphony is tectonic, it shifts as the Earth is settlin' Precious metals are mined And a million minds have been meddlin' with time In the hopes of getting a golden noose for the neck Golden goose from a fairy tale, shittin' Fabergé eggs Here snitches shit bricks, then quick to talk Pig Latin That black dart too slick for that kid tappin' a window While lookin' over his shoulder, stop lookin' over your shoulder You're never caught from behind as long as you keep movin' forward They long for the sleep like they mortal, these zombies But they got this portal in their minds And the molecules get rewired every trip they takin' through time And they trippin' nightly, the blacks of the eyes igniting The pits in the backyard biting, the cats in the trashcan fighting The feeling of guns pealing like bells in a telltale reeling Of bodies losing they feeling and falling down and the ceiling Is black from the smoke that's rising, the scent is just so enticing Descent is a small price for the right to live out your vices, now [Pre-Chorus: Daveed Diggs] Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down And every night after the club it goes down Plenty, plenty, mo' rounds, bodies, bodies on the ground On Broadway or Main Street they all stumble out To a dozen pairs of hands pullin' bottles from they mouths Hotties hardly walk now, everybody passed out In the backseat of the taxi, so they never heard a sound

[Chorus: Daveed Diggs] It's the city and the city and you only see one And it all looked pretty when it all begun But the shit has got to balance on the barrel of a gun All the money in the world ain't gonna stop none of That gangsta shit, that gangsta shit The whole world lovin' that gangsta shit Can't change this shit, it's dangerous But it really ain't nuttin' to a gangsta

[Verse 2: Daveed Diggs] Bitch, what you know about that? Don't act like a newbie New D boys get jacked, what you need is a New Jack Swing And a new truly discerning taste for the base, like a foodie Harmony's cruelly high when it's on his step Stepped on dope is a safety net And the dope fiends cry but they don't regret Everyone get high, go out 'til they

[Pre-Chorus: Daveed Diggs] Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down Why you fightin' all the shit that make the world go 'round? World go 'round, world, world go 'round Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down Turn the lights off, they done shut the club down Shut the club down, shut the, shut the club down

[Outro: Daveed Diggs] Got the twenties and the fifties wrapped up under all the ones Two for twenty, five for fifty, you could move a couple tons You could put it in the blood or you could put it in the lungs But, whatever you cough up, remember that it all begun with That gangsta shit, that gangsta shit The whole world lovin' that gangsta shit Can't change this shit, it's dangerous But it really ain't nuttin' to a gangsta

#youtube #clppng #clipping band #rap #hip hop #urban decay

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deadlinecom · 1 year ago

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impact24pr · 1 year ago

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#AintNoMo #ABeautifulNoise #SweeneyTodd #GoodNightOscar #Broadway #Theater #BehindTheScenes

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cyarskj1899 · 1 year ago

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AWARDS SHOWS

2023 Tony Awards Winners List

Broadway’s biggest night is back! The 2023 Tony Awards were held on Sunday, June 11, at the United Palace in New York City’s Washington Heights.

Julianne Hough and Skylar Astin kicked off the night as they hosted The Tony Awards: Act One, a live pre-show on Pluto TV. The first winners of the night were announced, and Jennifer Grey presented a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre to her father, Joel Grey.

Oscar winner (and Tony nominee) Ariana DeBose led the second part of the night, which aired at 8 p.m. ET on CBS.

Broadway's Best! Tony Awards 2023 Red Carpet Arrivals: Photos

Scroll down to see the complete list of nominees and winners at the 76th annual Tony Awards:

Kimberly Akimbo Wins Best Musical& JulietKimberly AkimboNew York, New YorkShuckedSome Like It Hot

Leopoldstadt Wins Best PlayAin’t No Mo’Between Riverside and CrazyCost of LivingFat Ham

Parade Wins Best Revival of a Musical Into the WoodsLerner & Loewe’s CamelotSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Stars on Broadway! Celebrities Who've Taken the Stage

Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog Wins Best Revival of a PlayA Doll’s HouseAugust Wilson’s The Piano LessonThe Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window

Kimberly Akimbo — David Linsay-Abaire Wins Best Book of a Musical& Juliet — David West ReadNew York, New York — David Thompson & Sharon WashingtonShucked — Robert HornSome Like It Hot — Matthew López & Amber Ruffin

Kimberly Akimbo — Music by Jeanine Tesori, Lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire Wins Best Original ScoreAlmost Famous — Music by Tom Kitt, Lyrics by Cameron Crowe & Tom KittKPop — Music & Lyrics by Helen Park & Max VernonShucked — Music and Lyrics by Brandi Clark & Shane McAnallySome Like It Hot — Music by Marc Shaiman, Lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman

Sean Hayes (Good Night, Oscar) Wins Best Actor in a PlayYahya Abdul-Mateen II (Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog)Corey Hawkins (Suzan-Lori Parks’ Topdog/Underdog)Stephen McKinley Henderson (Between Riverside and Crazy)Wendell Pierce (Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman)

J. Harrison Ghee (Some Like It Hot) Wins Best Actor in a MusicalChristian Borle (Some Like It Hot)Josh Groban (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)Brian D’Arcy James (Into the Woods)Ben Platt (Parade)Colton Ryan (New York, New York)

Victoria Clark (Kimberly Akimbo) Wins Best Actress in a MusicalAnnaleigh Ashford (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)Sara Bareilles (Into the Woods)Lorna Courtney (& Juliet)Micaela Diamond (Parade)

Jodie Comer (Prima Facie) Wins Best Actress in a PlayJessica Chastain (A Doll’s House)Jessica Hecht (Summer, 1976)Audra McDonald (Ohio State Murders)

Alex Newell (Shucked) Wins Best Supporting Actor in a MusicalKevin Cahoon (Shucked)Justin Cooley (Kimberly Akimbo)Kevin Del Aguila (Some Like It Hot)Jordan Donica (Lerner & Loewe’s Camelot)

Bonnie Milligan (Kimberly Akimbo) Wins Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a MusicalJulia Lester (Into the Woods)Ruthie Ann Miles (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)NaTasha Yvette Williams (Some Like It Hot)Betsy Wolfe (& Juliet)

Brandon Uranowitz (Leopoldstadt) Wins Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayJordan E. Cooper (Ain’t No Mo’)Samuel L. Jackson (August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson)Arian Moayed (A Doll’s House)David Zayas (Cost of Living)

Charlie Rosen & Bryan Carter (Some Like It Hot) Win Best OrchestrationsBill Sherman and Dominic Fallacaro (Shucked)John Clancy (Kimberly Akimbo)Jason Howland (Shucked)Daryl Waters & Sam Davis (New York, New York)

Miriam Silverman (The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window) Wins Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayNikki Crawford (Fat Ham)Crystal Lucas-Perry (Ain’t No Mo’)Katy Sullivan (Cost of Living)Kara Young (Cost of Living)

Cue the Love Songs! Broadway’s Most Iconic Offstage Couples

Patrick Marber (Leopoldstadt) Wins Best Direction of a PlaySaheem Ali (Fat Ham)Jo Bonney (Cost of Living)Jamie Lloyd (A Doll’s House)Stevie Walker-Webb (Ain’t No Mo’)Max Webster (Life of Pi)

Casey Nicholaw (Some Like It Hot) Wins Best ChoreographySteven Hoggett (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)Susan Stroman (New York, New York)Jennifer Weber (& Juliet)Jennifer Weber (KPop)

Michael Arden (Parade) Wins Best Direction of a MusicalLear deBessonet (Into the Woods)Casey Nicholaw (Some Like It Hot)Jack O’Brien (Shucked)Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo)

Tim Hatley and Andrzej Goulding (Life of Pi) Win Best Scenic Design of a PlayMiriam Buether (Prima Facie)Rachel Hauck (Good Night, Oscar)Richard Hudson (Leopoldstadt)Dane Laffrey and Lucy Mackinnon (A Christmas Carol)

Beowulf Boritt (New York, New York) Wins Best Scenic Design of a MusicalMimi Lien (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street)Michael Yeargan and 59 Productions (Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot)Scott Pask (Shucked)Scott Pask (Some Like It Hot)

Tim Lutkin (Life of Pi) Wins Best Lighting Design of a PlayNeil Austin (Leopoldstadt)Natasha Chivers (Prima Facie)Jon Clark (A Doll’s House)Bradley King (Fat Ham)Jen Schriever (Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman)Ben Stanton (A Christmas Carol)

Natasha Katz (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) Wins Best Lighting Design of a MusicalKen Billington (New York, New York)Lap Chi Chu (Lerner and Loewe’s Camelot)Heather Gilbert (Parade)Howard Hudson (& Juliet)Natasha Katz (Some Like It Hot)

Brigitte Reiffenstuel (Leopoldstadt) Wins Best Costume Design of a MusicalTim Hatley, Nick Barnes and Finn Caldwell (Life of Pi)Dominique Fawn Hill (Fat Ham)Emilio Sosa (Ain’t No Mo’)Emilio (Good Night, Oscar)

Gregg Barnes (Some Like It Hot) Wins Best Costume Design of a MusicalSusan Hilferty (Parade)Jennifer Moeller (Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot)Paloma Young (& Juliet)Donna Zakowska (New York, New York)

Carolyn Downing (Life of Pi) Wins Best Sound Design of a PlayJonathan Deans and Taylor Williams (Ain’t No Mo’)Joshua D. Reid (A Christmas Carol)Ben and Max Ringham (A Doll’s House)Ben and Max Ringham (Prima Facie)

Nevin Steinberg (Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street) Wins Best Sound Design of a MusicalKai Harada (New York, New York)John Shivers (Shucked)Scott Lehrer and Alex Heumann (Into the Woods)Gareth Owen (& Juliet)

Michael Arden (Parade) Wins Best Direction of a MusicalLear deBessonet (Into the Woods)Casey Nicholaw (Some Like It Hot)Jack O’Brien (Shucked)Jessica Stone (Kimberly Akimbo)

Gregg Barnes (Some Like It Hot) Wins Best Costume Design of a MusicalSusan Hilferty (Parade)Jennifer Moeller (Lerner & Lowe’s Camelot)Paloma Young (& Juliet)Donna Zakowska (New York, New York)

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birdzflycom · 2 years ago

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Tony Awards Nominations 2023: The Complete List

Img Source: https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/05/02/multimedia/02tony-noms-list2-pvkl/02tony-noms-list2-pvkl-jumbo.jpg The nominations for the 76th Tony Awards were announced on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. Lea Michele, the current star of “Funny Girl” on Broadway, and Myles Frost, who won a 2022 Tony Award for his portrayal of Michael Jackson in the Broadway musical “MJ,” announced the nominations. Some categories were read live on CBS at 8:30 a.m. Eastern, and others were unveiled through a livestream on the Tony Awards YouTube page. A total of 38 shows were vying for Tonys this year. To be eligible, a Broadway show must have opened between April 29, 2022, and April 27, 2023. This year’s awards ceremony is slated for Sunday, June 11. “Some Like It Hot,” a Broadway musical version of the Billy Wilder film, picked up the most nominations of any show, with 13 in all. The musicals “& Juliet,” “New York, New York,” and “Shucked” each followed with nine nominations. Here is the complete list of nominees for the 2023 Tony Awards:

Best New Play

- “Ain’t No Mo’” - “Between Riverside and Crazy” - “Cost of Living” - “Fat Ham” - “Leopoldstadt”

Best New Musical

- “& Juliet” - “Kimberly Akimbo” - “New York, New York” - “Shucked” - “Some Like It Hot”

Best Play Revival

- “The Piano Lesson” - “A Doll’s House” - “The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window” - “Topdog/Underdog”

Best Musical Revival

- “Into the Woods” - “Camelot” - “Parade” - “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street”

Best Leading Actor in a Play

- Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, “Topdog/Underdog” - Corey Hawkins, “Topdog/Underdog” - Sean Hayes, “Good Night, Oscar” - Stephen McKinley Henderson, “Between Riverside and Crazy” - Wendell Pierce, “Death of a Salesman”

Best Leading Actress in a Play

- Jessica Chastain, “A Doll’s House” - Jodie Comer, “Prima Facie” - Jessica Hecht, “Summer, 1976” - Audra McDonald, “Ohio State Murders”

Best Leading Actress in a Musical

- Annaleigh Ashford, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” - Sara Bareilles, “Into the Woods” - Victoria Clark, “Kimberly Akimbo” - Lorna Courtney, “& Juliet” - Micaela Diamond, “Parade”

Best Leading Actor in a Musical

- Christian Borle, “Some Like It Hot” - J. Harrison Ghee, “Some Like It Hot” - Josh Groban, “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” - Brian D’Arcy James, “Into the Woods” - Ben Platt, “Parade” - Colton Ryan, “New York, New York”

Best Featured Actor in a Play

- Jordan E. Cooper, “Ain’t No Mo’” - Samuel L. Jackson, “The Piano Lesson” - Arian Moayed, “A Doll’s House” - Brandon Uranowitz, “Leopold

Best Choreography Steven

- Hoggett, “New York, New York” - Molly Smith, “Camelot” - Sergio Trujillo, “& Juliet” - Casey Nicholaw, “Some Like It Hot” - Rob Ashford, “Shucked”

Best Direction of a Play Kenny Leon, “Ain’t No Mo’”

Christopher Ashley, “Leopoldstadt” Daniel Fish, “Death of a Salesman” Gregory Mosher, “Topdog/Underdog” Best Direction of a Musical Diane Paulus, “& Juliet” Michael Mayer, “New York, New York” Jerry Zaks, “Some Like It Hot” Scott Ellis, “Kimberly Akimbo” Marc Bruni, “Shucked”

Best Scenic Design of a Play Tony Cisek, “The Lifespan of a Fact”

Miriam Buether, “Leopoldstadt” Andrew Lieberman, “Between Riverside and Crazy” Mimi Lien, “Ain’t No Mo’”

Best Scenic Design of a Musical David Rockwell, “Some Like It Hot”

David Korins, “& Juliet” Derek McLane, “Shucked” David Gallo, “Kimberly Akimbo”

Best Costume Design of a Play

Linda Cho, “The Lifespan of a Fact” Catherine Zuber, “Leopoldstadt” Toni-Leslie James, “Between Riverside and Crazy” Dede M. Ayite, “Ain’t No Mo’”

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Gregg Barnes, “Some Like It Hot” Emily Rebholz, “& Juliet” William Ivey Long, “New York, New York” Paloma Young, “Shucked” Best Lighting Design of a Play Jane Cox, “Leopoldstadt” Alan C. Edwards, “Ain’t No Mo’” Japhy Weideman, “The Lifespan of a Fact” Jennifer Schriever, “Topdog/Underdog”

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Howell Binkley, “Some Like It Hot” Natasha Katz, “& Juliet” Bradley King, “Kimberly Akimbo” Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, “New York, New York”

Best Sound Design of a Play

Dan Moses Schreier, “Leopoldstadt” Steve Canyon Kennedy, “Between Riverside and Crazy” Jane Shaw, “Ain’t No Mo’” Fitz Patton, “The Lifespan of a Fact”

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Peter Hylenski, “Some Like It Hot” Jonathan Deans, “& Juliet” Dan Moses Schreier, “Shucked” Kai Harada, “Kimberly Akimbo”

Best Orchestrations

Larry Blank, “Some Like It Hot” Bill Elliott and Greg Anthony Rassen, “Kimberly Akimbo” Tom Kitt, “& Juliet” Duncan Sheik, “New York, New York” Those are the complete nominations for the 2023 Tony Awards. Fans of theater will have to wait until June 11 to find out who wins in each category. The awards ceremony is always a memorable event, celebrating the best of the best in Broadway theater.

Conclusion

The 76th Tony Awards nominations have been announced, and it's a great year for theater fans. Some Like It Hot leads the pack with 13 nominations, while & Juliet, New York, New York, and Shucked are close behind with nine each. The awards ceremony is set for June 11, so there's plenty Read the full article

#Actor #BroadwayTheater #Hot #JustIn #tonyawards2023nominations #TopNews

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cartermagazine · 2 years ago

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Today In History Born on December 24, 1959, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Lee Daniels is an Academy Award nominated filmmaker, screenwriter, and broadway producer whose work is trademarked by authenticity and candor, providing audiences with a unique experience and raw character insight with each of his projects. His critically acclaimed 2002 hit, Monster's Ball, was not only an Oscar winner but turned a $2.5 million production into a $31 million success, making Halle Berry the first African American woman to win a Best Actress Oscar. His Academy Award winning film PRECIOUS was nominated for six Academy Awards, including nominations for Daniels in the category of "Achievement in Directing" and "Best Motion Picture of the Year, and wins in the categories of “Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role” Mo'Nique and “Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay” Geoffrey Fletcher. His visions go beyond the films and Broadway hit ‘Ain’t No Mo,’ — Daniels’ journey is in its prime with decades worth of incredible storytelling and creativity in the making. CARTER™️ Magazine carter-may.com #wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #leedaniels #staywoke #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history #blacktwitter https://www.instagram.com/p/CmjPNA3ucW5/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

#wherehistoryandhiphopmeet #historyandhiphop365 #cartermagazine #carter #leedaniels #staywoke #blackhistorymonth #blackhistory #history #blacktwitter

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eagletek · 2 years ago

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Jordan E. Cooper Created 'Ain't No Mo'' To Reclaim Black Spaces

To read about the other Culture Shifters for February, return to the list here. One December evening before Jordan E. Cooper’s play “Ain’t No Mo’” went onstage at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway, a playlist sequencing Luther Vandross, Destiny’s Child, Missy Elliott and Juvenile blared from the speakers. A few Black audience members started twerking and chanting from their front-row orchestra…

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papermoonloveslucy · 2 years ago

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CURTAIN UP!

Lucy On Stage ~ Act 3

Lucille Ball’s dream was to appear on Broadway. That dream become a reality in 1960, but ended prematurely. if Lucy couldn’t be on Broadway, Broadway would come to Hollywood – on Lucy’s new TV show “Here’s Lucy.”

“A MUSICAL EXTRAVAGANZA”

“Lucy and Carol Burnett” (1969) ~ Lucy convinces Carol Burnett to star in a benefit to raise money to build a gymanasium at Kim and Craig’s high school. The show is divided into three parts:

PART I - WE GOT NO GYM (Introduction)

“Yes! We Have No Gymnasium” (aka “Yes! We Have No Bananas”) was written by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn from the 1922 Broadway revue Make It Snappy.

Carol does a brief time step to the melody of “There’s No Business Like Show Business,” a song written by Irving Berlin for the musical Annie Get Your Gun.

PART II - WE GOT THE MONEY (a visual lesson in geography)

NEW YORK, NY ~ “The Lullaby of Broadway” was written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin. It was introduced musical film Gold Diggers of 1935 and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The song is now part of the Broadway musical 42nd Street.

ST. LOUIS, MO ~ “You Came a Long Way From St. Louis” by John Benson Brooks and Bob Russell.

SHEBOYGAN, WI - “Mention My Name in Sheboygan” was written by Bob Hilliard, Dick Sanford and Sammy Mysels in 1947. The second verse mentions NEW ORLEANS and the third TEXAS.

PART III - WE GOT OUR GYM (a celebration of physical education)

A marching band plays “Buckle Down, Winsocki” from the 1943 film Best Foot Forward in which Lucille Ball played herself.

Craig sings “You Gotta be a Football Hero (To Get Along with the Beautiful Girls)” by Al Sherman, Buddy Fields and Al Lewis in 1933.

Kim sings “All American Girl” written by Al Lewis in 1932.

A display of gymnastics in which Harry (Gale Gordon) does a cartwheel.

The finale is “Fit as a Fiddle” written by Arthur Freed, Al Hoffman, and Al Goodhart in 1932. In 1952 it achieved fame after being featured in the classic film Singin’ in the Rain.

“THE GENERATION GAP THROUGH THE AGES”

“Lucy and the Generation Gap” (1969) ~ Kim and Craig are in charge of producing the school play. At a loss for ideas, they recruit Lucy and Harry to be in a musical about the generation gap. The show is divided into three parts:

The Roman Era

Lucy and Harry play parents Calpurnia and Caesar. Kim is their daughter Kimea and Craig is their son Craigius. They sing “Kids Are Bugged About Parents” to the tune of “I’m Just Wild About Harry,” a song written in 1921 by Eubie Blake for the Broadway show Shuffle Along.

In The Gay Nineties

Harry plays Ambrose, the father. Lucy and the kids don’t get different names in this segment. The foursome sing “We’ll Just Cut the Old House in Two” which is sung to the tune of “Bicycle Built for Two” aka “Daisy Bell” written in 1892 by Harry Dacre.

In The Space Age

Kim wants to go to Jupiter with Spencer. When Lucy refuses because it is an overnight trip, Lucie reasons that Helen’s mother lets her go. Harry points out that Helen’s mother is a robot – and always “well-oiled.” They sing “Kids” a song written by Lee Adams and Charles Strouse for the 1960 Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie, filmed in 1963.

“IT’S ALWAYS DO-WACKA-DO AT BULLWINKLE U!”

“Lucy the Co-Ed” (1970) ~ Harry's old flame Gloria (Marilyn Maxwell) is in town to help produce a musical for their college alumni. They resurrect a show Harry wrote in 1928 and cast Lucy, Kim, and Craig in supporting roles.

The musical comedy is set at Bullwinkle University. The cast includes Lucy as Ginger the head cheerleader, Harry as Crazy Hips the football star, Kim (Lucie Arnaz) as Honey, Craig (Desi Arnaz Jr.) as Dead End, Gloria (Marilyn Maxwell) as the Nurse, and Robert Alda as the Dean.

As the curtain goes up, the orchestra plays “You Gotta be a Football Hero (To Get Along with the Beautiful Girls)” written by Al Sherman, Buddy Fields and Al Lewis in 1933.

As Ginger (Lucy) enters, the boys sing “Ain't She Sweet” written in 1927 by Milton Ager and Jack Yellin.

When Crazy Hips (Harry) enters in his football uniform the girls sing “Baby Face” written in 1926 by Harry Akst and Benny Davis.

The students all sing “Buckle Down Bullwinkle” to the tune of “Buckle Down Winsockie” a song written for the film Best Foot Forward (1943) in which Lucille Ball did a cameo as herself.

Ginger, Honey, Dead End, Crazy Hips, and the Dean (Robert Alda) sing “Collegiate” written in 1925 by Nat Bonx and Moe Jaffe.

The musical ends with “Varsity Drag,” a song written by Lew Brown and B.G. DeSylva for Good News, which was seen on Broadway in 1927 and on screen in 1947 when it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song.

“THE HOLLYWOOD UNEMPLOYMENT FOLLIES or HOW TO STARVE IN SHOW BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING”

“Lucy and Carol Burnett Salute Hollywood” (1971) ~ Harry has fired Lucy again, so she visits the unemployment office where she reunites with secretary turned actress Carol Krausmeyer (Carol Burnett) and meets other out of work show biz folk. They decide to put on a show in order to make some dough!

The ensemble sings “Hooray for Hollywood” a song by Johnny Mercer and Richard A. Whiting that was first sung in the 1937 movie Hollywood Hotel.

After a backstage tour of Hollywood memorobilia, Lucy and Carol sing “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town”) a song written by Fred Fisher and published in 1922.

After a quick costume change, they sing “Alexander’s Ragtime Band” which was composer Irving Berlin’s first hit in 1911.

Kim introduces (through song) Bill ‘Bojangles’ Robinson doing a tap routine which she joins in.

Four Canadian Mounties sing “Stout-hearted Men,” a song by Sigmund Romberg and Oscar Hammerstein II written for the operetta New Moon in 1927, with film versions in 1930 and 1940. Richard Deacon (also dressed as a Mountie) and Carol Burnett sing “Indian Love Call” by Rudolf Friml, Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach, and Oscar Hammerstein II written for the 1924 operetta Rose-Marie.

Dressed as Marlene Dietrich, Lucy sings “Falling in Love Again (Never Wanted To)” from the 1930 German film The Blue Angel. Harry plays a World War I German soldier.

The Highhatters introduce Carol as Miss Ruby Keeler and they sing “Shuffle Off To Buffalo” by Al Dubin and Hugh Warren, originally written for the 1933 film 42nd Street.

As the finale, the entire ensemble is dressed in rain slickers and performs “Singin’ in the Rain” written by Arthur Freed and Nacio Herb Brown in 1931. It was most famously featured in the film Singin’ in the Rain in 1952. Jack Benny makes a cameo appearance selling umbrellas!

“THE FAREWELL SHOW”

“Lucy Goes Hawaiian: Part 2″ (1971) ~ Lucy and Harry have to put a ‘Farewell Show’ for the final night of their cruise. Viv, Kim and Craig are along to help her to produce a Hawaiian extravaganza.

Dressed as a canary, Vivian sings "Yellow Bird” (aka “Choucoune”) a 19th-century Haitian song composed by Michel Mauleart Monton with lyrics from a poem by Oswald Durand. It was rewritten with English lyrics in the 20th century as “Yellow Bird.”

Kim and Lucy sing “Ukulele Talk” by Ervin Drake, written in the 1920s.

Craig does an impression of Don Ho (inset), singing “Tiny Bubbles” by Martin Denny and Leon Pober. It was released in 1966 by Ho and became his signature song.

Lucy and Viv sing the 1957 novelty song “Mama’s Mumu” by Gene Burdette. Harry makes a special appearances as 'Mama’.

The Captain (Robert Alda) sings “Just Keep Your Eyes on the Hands” while Kim dances a seductive hula. The song was written by Tony Todaro and Liko Johnston and was interpolated into the 1956 film The Revolt of Mamie Stover.

The Carters perform “A Hawaiian War Chant,” written by Johnny Noble, a composer who was a native Hawaiian.

“Lucy and Candid Camera” (1972) ~Thinking they are pulling off a Candid Camera stunt, Lucy, Harry and Kim rob the City Bank. The crime is done while performing a Broadway Musical song and dance medley especially written for this episode:

“Stealin' the Jack” aka “Ballin' the Jack” was written in 1913 by Jim Burris and Chris Smith.

“Hello, Dollar!” aka “Hello, Dolly!” is the title song of the 1964 musical of the same name written by Jerry Herman.

“Whatever Lucy Wants” aka “Whatever Lola Wants” is by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross from the 1954 musical Damn Yankees.

“We Got the Money” aka “We're in the Money or The Gold Diggers Song” was written by Al Dubin and Harry Warren for the film The Gold Diggers of 1933. It is now part of the stage musical 42nd Street.

“The Impossible Dream or The Quest” was written by Joe Darien and Mitch Leigh for the 1964 musical Man of La Mancha.

“Please Don't Talk About Us When We Go” aka “Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone” was written by Sidney Clare and Sam H. Stept in 1930.

“Hey Look Me Over” written in 1960 by Cy Coleman for the Broadway musical Wildcat and introduced by Lucille Ball.

“NO ONE HAD AN INHIBITION ABOUT DISOBEYING PROHIBITION”

“My Fair Buzzi” (1972) ~ Kim’s shy and awkward friend Annie Whipple (Ruth Buzzi) comes out of her shell in order to audition for a 1920s revue. The episode title and story of transformation were inspired by the 1956 Broadway musical and 1964 film My Fair Lady, which, in turn, was inspired by George Bernard Shaw’s 1912 play Pygmalion. Both plays are mentioned in the dialogue of the episode.

In a rehearsal hall sequence, Kim performs “El Cubanchero,” one of Desi Arnaz’s biggest hits. It was written in 1947 by Rafael Hernández. When the director tells her that they are only working on the “Speakeasy” sketch, she offers a tap routine while singing “Anchor’s Aweigh,” the march of the United States Navy composed in 1906 by Charles A. Zimmermann.

Kim and Annie are members of the Community Drama Club. Lucy plays Dallas Noonan, a reference to real-life Texas Guinan, one of the first female emcees and speak easy owners. Annie plays Penelope, Harry plays gangster Big Jake, and Kim plays dancer Buttercup.

Buttercup and two flappers appear as ‘The Misstep Sisters’ and tap and sing to “Nagasaki,” a song written in 1928 by Harren Warren and Mort Dixon.

For the curtain call, the band plays “Tiger Rag,” a song that dates back to 1917.

“THE GIRL FRIDAY FOLLIES”

“Lucy Gives Eddie Albert the Old Song and Dance” (1973) ~ When producing a charity show, Lucy asks Eddie Albert to star in it. At the same time, a woman meeting Lucy’s description has been stalking Albert.

The show a show (which raises money to send underprivileged kids to camp) opens with Mary Jane and Vanda taking their final bows as the team of ‘Crime and Punishment’. Harry plays the Emcee.

For the finale, Lucy and Eddie Albert perform “Makin’ Whoopee” written by Gus Kahn and Walter Donaldson. The song was first popularized by Eddie Cantor in the 1928 musical Whoopee!

CURTAIN DOWN on ACT 3

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