#andrea skinner

[literaryvein-reblogs]

[warningsine]

The youngest daughter of acclaimed Canadian Nobel laureate Alice Munro has said that her step-father sexually assaulted her as a child, and that her mother stayed with him even after learning of the abuse.

In an essay published in the Toronto Star on Sunday, Andrea Robin Skinner described how her step-father began assaulting her in the summer of 1976 when she was nine years old and he was in his 50s.

One evening, when Munro was away, he "climbed into the bed where I was sleeping and sexually assaulted me", Ms Skinner said.

Munro, who learned of the abuse years later, remained with him until his death in 2013.

The author, who died in May at the age of 92, is one of the most celebrated short-story writers in Canadian history.

Her collections often focused on life in small-town Ontario where she was raised, earning praise for their nuanced portrayals of women and girls.

In the weekend essay, Ms Skinner and her siblings said they believed this dark family story must also be part of Munro's legacy.

"I never wanted to see another interview, biography or event that didn’t wrestle with the reality of what had happened to me, and with the fact that my mother, confronted with the truth of what had happened, chose to stay with, and protect, my abuser," she said.

In her piece, Ms Skinner said she was first assaulted during a summer visit to her mother and step-father, Gerald Fremlin, in their home in Clinton, Ontario.

She later told her step-mother, who then told her father, Jim Munro, who decided not to confront Alice Munro at the time.

Ms Skinner returned to her mother's home the next year.

The step-mother, Carole Sabiston, is quoted by The Star in a separate news story as saying: "I told her she didn't have to go. But she wanted to spend time with her mother."

Ms Sabiston confirmed the events as described by Ms Skinner to the BBC.

Ms Skinner was initially relieved her father kept the family secret, she said, because of fears over how her mother would react.

"She had told me that Fremlin liked me better than her, and I thought she would blame me if she ever found out," she wrote.

Over the next several years, during visits, the abuse continued.

Fremlin exposed himself to her during car rides, propositioned her for sex, and “told me about the little girls in the neighbourhood he liked".

He lost interest when she became a teenager, Ms Skinner told The Star.

She said kept quiet about the abuse but in early adulthood found herself struggling at university and with her physical and mental health.

A few years later, in 1992, she revealed the abuse in a letter to her mother. She says Munro reacted as she had feared - "as if she had learned of an infidelity".

Fremlin, meanwhile, wrote his own letters at the time to the family - excerpts of which were published by The Star - in which he admitted the abuse but blamed Ms Skinner.

"Andrea invaded my bedroom for sexual adventure," Fremlin wrote.

“If the worst comes to worst I intend to go public. I will make available for publication a number of photographs, notably some taken at my cabin near Ottawa which are extremely eloquent … one of Andrea in my underwear shorts," he said.

Amid the fallout, Alice Munro left Fremlin, staying at a flat she owned in British Columbia. But she returned to her husband after a few months and stayed with him for the rest of his life.

She said "that our misogynistic culture was to blame if I expected her to deny her own needs, sacrifice for her children, and make up for the failings of men", Ms Skinner wrote.

In 2005, Ms Skinner reported the abuse to Ontario police, presenting the letters written by Fremlin.

Police charged him with indecent assault. He pleaded guilty, but "the silence continued", Ms Skinner wrote, because of Munro's fame.

In a statement, Munro Books, founded by Alice and Jim Munro and now independently owned, said that it "unequivocally supports" Ms Skinner's decision to tell her story publicly.

In a separate statement released by the Canadian bookstore, the Munro siblings said that the store's decision to acknowledge "Andrea’s truth, and being very clear about their wish to end the legacy of silence, the current store owners have become part of our family’s healing".

[lamajaoscura]

Crooked Parallels: On Alice Munro, Andrea Skinner, and My Mother’s Failure to Protect Me ‹ Literary Hub

[certifiedbi]

To my non-superbike people of motogpblr, I hope this showcases the significance of the TDOL photo

[winged-cries]

[broadwaydivastournament]

Broadway Divas Tournament Bracket: Round 1B

Round 1B will commence tonight, March 9th at 6:00 p.m. EST. Send me your propaganda for any of the Divas on our list, but especially those about to make their entrance.

Round 1B: Lea Salonga vs. Christine Baranski Emily Skinner vs. Judy Kuhn Susan Blackwell vs. Harriet Harris Carmen Cusack vs. Vanessa Williams Beth Leavel vs. Donna Murphy Andrea Burns vs. Mary Beth Peil Judith Light vs. Tonya Pinkins Karen Ziemba vs. Marin Mazzie

Rules and Guidelines

Round 1A Winners

[velvetminefield]

🤬🤺🤺🤺🤬 CALL TO ACTION

If you, like me, are disturbed at the echoing silence that is surrounding the news around Neil and his victims, here’s something to do. I’ve compiled a list of journalists who have covered high profile media and entertainment sexual predators. Let’s start giving them a shout to see if we can make some movement happen or get some guidance on how to use our voice as a community. I’m going to make a google doc for easier reading and I’m also still searching (thanks, google, every day for breaking yourself in search of limitless profit) for reporters in children’s publishing.

Gabriel Sherman - Vanity Fair, freelance

@gabrielsherman twitter

gsherman99@gmail.com

(wrote extensively about Roger Ailes for a book and New York Magazine)

Kim Masters - The Hollywood Reporter, editor-at-large

@kimmasters twitter

@kimmasters.bsky.social bluesky

kmasters@hollywoodreporter.com

(has written extensively on hollywood predators and enablers)

Glenn Whipp - LA Times, columnist

@glennwhipp twitter

glenn.whipp@latimes.com

(reported on filmmaker James Toback many sexual assault allegations)

Emily Steel - NY Times, investigative reporter

@emilysteel twitter

emily.steel@ny.times.com

(broke the Bill O’Reilly sexual harassment case)

Michelle Cottle - NY Times, opinion writer

@mcottle twitter

(has written about sexual harassment in the magazine industry, including her own harassment at The New Republic)

Maryclaire Dale - The Associated Press, reporter

@maryclairedale twitter

mdale@ap.org

(covered Bill Cosby’s sexual assault accusations and trial and has recently done some campus rape investigations)

Alexandra Alter, NY Times

@xanalter twitter

alexandra.alter@nytimes.com

Elizabeth Harris - NY Times, reporter

@liz_a_harris twitter

elizabeth.harris@nytimes.com

(both Harris and Alter covers the publishing industry and has recently written about the sexual assault of Andrea Skinner, Alice Munro’s daughter, by her stepfather)

[coochiequeens]

It's never too late to expose the damage created by abusers and those who did nothing to stop abuse.

Ask Not: The Kennedys and the Women They Destroyed by Maureen Callahan review – a lacerating exposé

The journalist’s sickening account of how generations of Kennedys casually abused the women around them with impunity is a timely reminder of the dangers posed by damaged men who crave power

Peter Conrad Mon 8 Jul 2024

“Ask not,” said President Kennedy as he rallied young Americans to volunteer for national service in his inaugural address, “what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Kennedy had a stricter rule for the women in his life, as journalist Maureen Callahan reveals in her lacerating exposé: asking nothing in return, they were expected to do what their commander-in-chief required, which meant supplying him with sex whenever and wherever he fancied.

As a senator, JFK tried out his priapic power by impregnating a 15-year-old babysitter and positioning an aide beneath his desk to fellate him while he multitasked in his office. As president, he ushered White House secretaries upstairs after work for brief, brusque sessions of copulation and rewarded them with a post-coital snack of cheese puffs; at one lunchtime frolic in the basement swimming pool he instructed a young woman to orally relieve the tensions of a male crony and looked on in approval as she obeyed. His wife, Jackie, whom he infected with a smattering of venereal ailments, lamented that his assassination deprived her of the chance to vent her rage at him. Nevertheless, she embraced his naked body before it was placed in a casket at the Dallas hospital, bestowing a final, perhaps frosty kiss on his penis.

See rest of article

By Sian Cainun 7 Jul 2024 23.38 EDTShare

The daughter of Nobel prize winner Alice Munro, Andrea Robin Skinner, has alleged that her stepfather sexually abused her as a child, and that her mother stayed with him even after he admitted to the abuse.

Skinner revealed the allegations in an essay and a news article in Canada’s Toronto Star on the weekend, writing about how her stepfather, Gerald Fremlin, began sexually assaulting her in 1976 when she was nine years old and he was in his 50s.

She alleged that Fremlin got into a bed where she was sleeping at her mother’s home in Clinton, Ontario, and sexually assaulted her. Skinner told her father, James Munro, whom she says did not tell Munro.

Over the following years, Skinner says Fremlin propositioned her, exposed himself to her, and “told me about the little girls in the neighbourhood he liked”. Skinner said he stopped assaulting her when she became a teenager, but she developed bulimia, insomnia and migraines, which she attributed to the abuse.

In 2005, Skinner went to the police. Fremlin, then 80, was charged with indecent assault against Skinner and pleaded guilty. He received a suspended sentence and two years’ probation. Munro stayed with Fremlin until he died in 2013.

Munro, who was regarded as one of the greatest short-story writers of all time and won the Nobel prize for literature in 2013, died last month at the age of 92.

See rest of article

[trickybonmot]

cw: mention of childhood sexual abuse. This post isn't about that but it mentions a specific case of csa in the second paragraph.

So, my dad is a boomer and a pro-Trump Republican. Like a lot of people in that situation, I've been very puzzled, confused, and betrayed at how the person who taught me many of my progressive values, like belief in science, being kind to others, etc. can support what Republicans support.

I read something the other day that made it much clearer to me. Actually, it was in this post by Brandon Taylor about the sexual abuse suffered by Andrea Skinner, daughter of celebrated writer Alice Munroe, at the hands of her stepfather. The author, Brandon, draws a parallel to their own experience of disclosing their sexual abuse and having their family ignore it, minimize it, and even make jokes about it. Why did the family act that way? Why didn't they empathize with the victim and seek justice?

Here's a quote from the article:

Among my people, the rural and working poor, to make a history out of the past is taboo. To speak of a thing done is to make too much of it. To be fishing for sympathy, and for what, when there’s nothing to be done about it anyway.

Here is something that I remember about my dad. We used to watch David Attenborough's nature documentaries together, the old ones, Life on Earth and The Living Planet. In those days David Attenborough himself was in the shows; he would go to the locations and walk along and talk in his nice calm accent and point out the plants and animals. My dad, like me, was an atheist, so we didn't share any mythos of the workings of the world except the one that David Attenborough gave us: the cold, hard, fascinating, miraculous truth of evolution. To me, this was religion.

The last episode of each series was about Man on earth. Even back then, the closing message was a cautionary one: Man was changing the earth, Man was destroying nature with pollution and unchecked urbanization. My dad? Wouldn't watch that. He would turn it off and tell me that he hated that stuff. He didn't tell me that it wasn't true! But I came to understand that he felt there was a kind of wallowing, finger-wagging quality to it that simply made him cringe. Still to this day, when I see this kind of media my first thought is my dad would hate this.

To speak of a thing done is to make too much of it.

This quote hit me like a ton of bricks because I think this is exactly my dad's attitude toward everything bad in the world. This is why all talk of environmentalism, racial justice, reparations--any issue where people are seeking redress or repair of something awful that happened in the past. To make a history out of the past is taboo. To speak of a thing done is to make too much of it. To be fishing for sympathy, and for what, when there’s nothing to be done about it anyway. THAT IS MY DAD. And if you're wondering whether it also came up in the context of being raised by him, IT SURE FUCKING DID but that's a story for another time.

I think he knows that climate change is bad. I think he knows that racism is bad, and that what this nation has done to Black people is bad, and all the rest of it. But when people talk about it? When people beg for something to be done about it? Man, he just doesn't want to hear it. It makes him cringe inside. It's just unbearably awkward. In fact, I think the very hugeness of these issues, the very awfulness of what has been done and it still being done, is exactly why it's so out of line to bring them up.

So he's supporting the party that doesn't put that stuff up in his face all the time, is all. That's what I think. His reaction to the progressive agenda is just a knee jerk, gut-level negativity that has nothing to do with whether what we're asking for is good or right. He just can't stand for that asking to happen, because the MAIN value he was raised with was exactly this: you put your shoulder to the wheel and get on with things. I was talking to him about Putin or something and he said, "well, like my old ma would say, the trash still has to get taken out."

Now, for sure he has also been brainwashed by Fox News and he believes a lot of things that aren't true. But I think what initially opened the door for it was this feeling that it's just unseemly to make a fuss, to make a history out of the past.

I don't know if there's any hope, here--if being aware of this attitude can change anything. But it was comforting to me to find this clue, and maybe it can open the door to a way of talking about politics that doesn't activate his fight-or-flight response!

[droughtofapathy]

The DroughtofApathy Theatre Awards Nominations:

Best Ensemble Stereophonic Jaja's African Hair Braiding Merrily We Roll Along Illinoise

Best New Song "Evanesce," Days of Wine and Roses (Adam Guettel) "Masquerade," Stereophonic (Will Butler) "East of Eden," Stereophonic (Will Butler)

Bad Accent Eddie Redmayne's Muppet Voice Whatever the fuck Jeremy Jordan was doing Colton Ryan's Muppet Voice from last season, I'm still not over it

Diva Performance of the Year Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Jessica Lange, Mother Play Emily Skinner, Suffs

Most Incredible Scene Transition The I Need That home cleanup transition Opening up Jaja's African Hair Braiding shop Mary Jane's apartment set lifting up to reveal the hospital set Doubt revolving set Appropriate house falling into shambles with a tree and everything De-renovating the Broadway Theatre after Here Lies Love flopped

Most Beautiful Woman On Stage Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret Kelli O'Hara, Days of Wine and Roses (bonus points for The Hours) Jessica Lange, Mother Play Anika Noni Rose, Uncle Vanya

Moment So Horrifyingly Bad I Physically Recoiled Eddie Redmayne as the Emcee singing "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" BEFORE the party Everything Gayle Rankin did on that stage "My name is Ponyboy//I'm the youngest of the three," lyric from The Outsiders The Hell's Kitchen book being allowed on Broadway at all

Most Hated Sound Designer Gareth Owen, The Who's Tommy Jon Weston, The Wiz Gareth Owen, Hell's Kitchen (hey, a doubly-bad showing) Brian Ronan, The Great Gatsby, but specifically those gunshots

Floppiest Flop Show How to Dance in Ohio Lempicka Here Lies Love Grey House Once Upon a One More Time

Weirdest Marketing/Publicity/Social/Design Decision How to Dance in Ohio only emphasizing "AUTISM REP" over everything that might have drawn in any kind of crowd at all.

The Lempicka social media team just straight-up lying with their pull-quotes and then doubling down and getting snide.

Broadway producer Greg Nobile's twitter discourse.

The Cabaret social media brand refusing to acknowledge Bebe Neuwirth exists and is the only thing holding that show together.

Who did the Days of Wine and Roses cast album design and like...why?

Can You Spell Miscast? Eddie Redmayne, Cabaret Gayle Rankin, Cabaret Eden Espinosa, Lempicka Basically all of The Wiz Doubly so for The Great Gatsby

Star-in-the-Making Sarah Pidgeon, Stereophonic The Grey House kids Hannah Cruz, Suffs Amber Iman, Lempicka Anna Zavelson, Encores! The Light in the Piazza (not Broadway, but I said what I said)

Criminally Underutilized Older Character Actress Jayne Houdyshell, Uncle Vanya Emily Skinner, Suffs Andrea Burns, The Notebook Beth Leavel, Lempicka Mia Katigbak, Uncle Vanya Bebe Neuwirth, Cabaret

Worst Audience Behavior The couple who stayed on their phones the whole time at The Wiz.

The guy who started screaming and fighting at the top of act two at Hell's Kitchen.

The drunk women at Melissa Etheridge who were singing and flailing the whole show.

Shrieking girls at Bad Gatsby whenever the leading man did anything.

Family in front of me at Heart of Rock and Roll.

Guy behind me at Cabaret crunching wine chips through all of act two.

Iconic Merch Item Rosie the Elephant, Water for Elephants: she's so soft and well-made and perfect and I love her and need her. Great American Bitch clothing, Suffs Mother Hat, Mother Play Tissue box, The Notebook

Moment that Had Me in Tears When *spoiler* off-stage, Jaja is taken in by ICE and her daughter can't find her and may face deportation herself.

Merrily We Roll Along overture.

Mary Jane breakdown over the music therapist.

All of Maryann Plunkett's masterful performance in The Notebook.

Me going home to sob over how they butchered Cabaret.

Kimberly Akimbo final performance, it might've opened last season, but fight me

Reading an article on the opening of the Bad Gatsby where a car hit a pedestrian right next to where all the celebrities were getting their photos taken and no one noticed. (tears of laughter-pedestrian was not hurt badly)

Single Best Costume Emily Skinner's Dorothy Louden coat Jennifer Simard, titties up and out as the Stepmother Sara Gettlefinger's fun jumpsuit and headscarf combo Anika Noni Rose entrance blue gown with the plunging neckline and deep v back Bebe Neuwirth's little pink nightie and phenomenal shawl Kate Baldwin's off-the-shoulder outfits in the regional production of A Little Night Music

Best Playbill Design Stereophonic - 10/10 no notes Suffs - Like the art style Illinoise - I really like the colors and art style Here Lies Love - I like the colors

Worst Playbill Design Cabaret - you should be ashamed of yourself. Not even the title Doubt - I know there was a last-minute replacement, but c'mon Lempicka - whoever did this should be taken out back and shot Spamalot - it's just the same damn design as the original, but brighter and worse

Tony Snub Laurie Metcalf, Grey House Jennifer Simard, Once Upon a One More Time Chip Zien, Harmony Days of Wine and Roses, Best Musical Grey House, Best Scenic Design of a Play

Cars on Broadway The Bad Gatsby cars that actually drive The Lempicka silver car that isn't green and doesn't drive The Illinoise concept car made out of props and actor's bodies The Back to the Future car that files and spins and shit

[joker1315]

All the actors you can find on this blog

Use the following link and insert the tag you want to see:

a: adam croasdell - aiden turner - aimee garcia - alan rickman - alan tudyk - alex kingston - alison sudol - allen leech - amanda abbington - amir wilson - amita suman - anatol yusef - andreas pietschmann - andrew garfield - andrew scott - aneurin barnard - annette badland  - anthony hopkins - anthony mackie - antony starr - anya chalotra - august wittgenstein

b: barry bostwick - bellamy young - ben barnes - ben mckenzie - benedict cumberbatch - benicio del toro - bernard cribbins - bill nighy - billie piper - billy boyd - brendan gleeson - brent spiner - brianna hildebrand

c: calahan skogman - cameron monaghan - candice bergen - carla gugino - caroline dhavernas - cate blanchett - catherine e coulson - catherine tate - catinca untaru - chadwick boseman - charlie chaplin - chris addison - chris cooper - chris evans - chris hemsworth - chris malcom - chris pine - christian bale - christian clemenson - christian tramitz - christiane paul - christina ricci - christopher eccleston - christopher lee - christopher lloyd - cillian murphy - colin firth - colin odonoghue - colin woodell - corey johnson - cory michael smith - craig parker

d: dakota fanning - daniel brühl - daniel craig - daniel radcliffe - daniel sträβer - danielle galligan- david bowie - david dastmalchian - david duchovny - david morrissey - david tennant - david thewlis - david wenham - deforest kelley - diego luna - dietrich hollinderbäumer - dominic cooper - dominic monaghan - dominic west

e: eddie karanja - elijah wood - elizabeth olsen - elton john - emilie de ravin - emily beecham - emma thompson - emma watson - ethan hawke - eve myles - ewan mcgregor

f: ferdinand kingsley - frankie adams - freddy carter - freema agyeman

g: gareth david lloyd - gary oldman - geoffrey rush - george eads - george takei - georgia tennant - georgina haig - gillian anderson - ginnifer goodwin - gwendoline christie - gwyneth paltrow

h: hadley fraser - harrison ford - harvey keitel - hayley atwell - heath ledger - helen mccrory - helena bonham carter - henry cavill - hugh dancy - hugh jackman - hugh laurie - hugh skinner - hugo weaving

i: ian mckellen - imelda staunton - inbar lavi

j: jack davenport - jack wolfe - jackie earle haley - jake gyllenhaal - james mcavoy - james spader - jamie lee curtis - jared padalecki - jason isaacs - javier bardem - jayne brook - jeff goldblum - jenna coleman - jennifer connelly - jennifer lawrence - jennifer morrison - jensen ackles - jeremy renner - jim beaver - jodie foster - joel rush - joey batey - john barrowman - john boyega - john hurt - john larroquette - john rhys davies - john simm - johnny depp - jonathan frakes - jose pimentao - joseph gilgun - josh dallas - jude law - julia stiles - julianne moore - julie covington - juliette binoche

k: kacey rohl - karen fukuhara - karen gillan - karl urban - kat dennings - kate capshaw - kathryn hahn - keira knightley - kevin alejandro - kit young - krysten ritter - kyle maclachlan - kyra sedgwick

l: lana parrilla - lara pulver - lars mikkelsen - laura allen - laura dern - laura fraser - lauren german - laurence fishburne - laurie kynaston - laz alonso - lee arenberg - lee pace - leonard nimoy - lesley ann brandt - lesley sharp - lindsay duncan - lisa vicari - liv tyler - lizzy caplan - louise hofmann - lucas till - luke evans

m: mads mikkelsen - maggie gyllenhaal - majel barrett - margo martindale - marion cotillard - mark gatiss - mark pellegrino - mark ruffalo - mark sheppard - mark strong - mark waschke - martin freeman - matt smith - max schimmelpfenning - may calamawy - meat loaf - megan boone - mel gibson - melinda clarke - melissanthi mahut - meret becker - mia wasikowska - michael benyaer - michael bully herbig - michael cumpsty - michael des barres - michael fassbender - michael gambon - michael raymond james - michael sheen - michelle gomez - mikael persbrandt - miranda otto - misha collins

n: natalie portman - ncuti gatwa - neil patrick harris - nell campbell - nichelle nichols - nicolas cage - nicole kidman

o: olivia colman - orlando bloom - oscar isaac - owen wilson

p: paddy ohagan - patricia quinn - patrick stewart - paul bettany - paul chahidi - paul lux - paul mescal - pedro pascal - penelope wilton - peter capaldi - peter falk - peter hinwood - philip glenister - phoebe waller bridge - pierce brosnan - pip torrens

q: qorianka kilcher - quentin tarantino

r: rachael harris - rachel weisz - rafi gavron - ralph fiennes - rayner bourton - reece shearsmith - rene russo - rhona mitra - richard armitage - richard obrien - rob benedict - robbie kay - robert carlyle - robert downey jr - robin lord taylor - robin williams - ronald guttman - rose mciver - rupert graves - rupert grint - russell crowe - ruth negga - ryan gosling - ryan reynolds

s: sam neill - samantha smith - samuel l jackson - scarlett estevez - scarlett johansson - sean astin - sean bean - sebastian stan - sherilyn fenn - shohreh aghdashloo - sky du mont - sophia di martino - stanley tucci - stellan skarsgard - steven strait - susan sarandon

t: tan caglar - taron egerton - tilda swinton - tim curry - tim roth - toby maguire - tom conti - tom ellis - tom felton - tom hiddleston - tom holland - tom payne - tom sturridge - tomer capone - tony curran - tony curtis - tricia helfer - troy garity

u: una stubbs

v: val kilmer - vanesu samunyai - viggo mortensen - vivienne acheampong - vladimir burlakov

w: walter koenig - william shatner

y: yasmin finney

z: zachary quinto

[broadwaydivastournament]

Will She Get a Tony Nomination?

Tony nominations are out tomorrow morning, and how am I coping, you ask? Like Madeline Kahn's (Not) Getting Married Today.

This season, eleven of our beloved Divas have opened a show on Broadway. In a remarkably overcrowded season for musicals, the competition is stiffer than ever, especially for our women of a certain age. Statistically, women over fifty (or even forty-five) are less likely to be nominated and/or win a Tony. I have done the math, I’ve crunched the numbers, I have a stupidly detailed spreadsheet, and the mean age for both nominations and wins of Leading Actress in a Musical is under 40. This is largely because the parts for older women just aren’t there in the same quantity as younger women. Since the Tonys began in 1947, only twelve women ov 50 have won for Best Leading Actress in a Musical. And two of them were Chita Rivera, so like… eleven, technically.*

*I have thoughts on why Bette Midler (oldest winner) should not have won but that’s a separate post…

That being said, let’s talk Tony likelihood. But wait, you say, what makes me (@droughtofapathy) remotely qualified to predict anything? Well, nothing. I’m just some stranger on Tumblr who doesn’t do theatre professionally. However. As of today, I have seen 209 Broadway shows, and by the time the Tonys roll around in June, I will have seen every new show eligible.

Also. I read the Tony Award Rules & Regulations handbook (all 26 pages) because why not?

Unlikely:

Andrea Burns (Featured Actress in a Musical: The Notebook)

Andréa Burns has never been nominated for a Tony before, and is unlikely to do so in a fiendishly overcrowded musical season this year. I love her dearly, and she always steals the show, but she would be entering as Featured Actress in a Musical, and it is rough out there, let me tell you. There’s probably over fifty featured roles for women, if not more (though most would not be serious contenders), and only maybe fifteen even considerable. Andréa Burns alas, falls short. She does basically nothing.

Emily Skinner (Featured Actress in a Musical: Suffs)

Oh, I love me a broad, but Emily Skinner is kind of your definition of a working actress who’s generally pretty well-employed, but not your top-line star, or even your go-to featured. I adore her, she’s wildly talented. And she plays bit parts on Broadway. Her roles in Suffs, an ensemble show at its core, are small and offer just a few opportunities to ham it up, but are not going to nab her a nomination. She’ll be one of almost twenty women on stage, with at least half a dozen meatier parts. Still. I am deeply obsessed with her whole performance and I need her carnally.

Jennifer Simard (Featured Actress in a Musical: Once Upon a One More Time)

Darlings, if you asked me this in the fall, I’d say she had a great shot. Was the show good? Nope. But was it fun? Yeah, it was pretty entertaining. Was Jennifer Simard the singular best thing about it? Oh, fuck yeah. She had audiences screaming and crying with laughter as Cinderella’s Stepmother (one of three Stepmothers in three separate shows on Broadway in 2023, and probably the one with the best part). Her “Toxic” is on youtube right now, and you need to see it. The vocals will blow you out of your seat. But it’s crowded, and that show did not last at all. Recency bias is against her. I don’t see it happening, but it’s the one in this category I would be most ecstatic about.

Long-Shot:

Uh, disclaimer, I will be seeing Uncle Vanya one day after nominations come out, so I'm just guessing here and don't quote me on any of this...

Lea Salonga (Featured Actress and Producer: Here Lies Love)

For the record, while I do think Lea Salonga realistically has less of a shot than Jennifer Simard for Featured Actress, I still put her here instead because she’s a beloved Broadway Diva who starred in a creatively innovative and novel show (that I hated it is, again, a separate post). I also don’t think the role itself is nearly large enough to garner a nomination, nor is it the sort of one-scene showstopping wonder that Katie Finneran was in Promises, Promises. So, unlikely, but hey, I’d love a win for Asians. She's also one of the show's many producers, which is more likely to net her a nomination. (Note: Lea Salonga getting a producer nomination for Here Lies Love is a likely for me, so move that down.)

Laurie Metcalf (Lead Actress in a Play: Grey House):

There are, I believe, eight leading actresses eligible for the Tonys, making this probably a four-person category, maybe five if they don’t hate women like they always do. And it is with great devastation that I report the four leading contenders are all white, blonde, screen actresses and I hate it. I hate everything about it. But I digress. Laurie Metcalf deserves to be nominated. Her performance was harrowing, unsettling, and so fucking weird. Grey House was an experimental horror play that didn’t open at the right time (mid-summer instead of Halloween? What the fuck?) and didn’t find its audience. But she had me in tears. If the world is good, and I doubt it, she'll get that fourth nomination. She's a Tony darling, so maybe?

Beth Leavel (Featured Actress in a Musical: Lempicka)

Almost no shot given the small part she has. The Baroness doesn't get much more than one heartwrenching 11 o'clock number at the end of the show, and little other chance to sing or shine. The book also doesn't lend her any opportunities to do much with the awkward and inelegant dialogue. But she's also a beloved industry favorite, so perhaps some miracle will happen? I doubt it. Especially given how the show's been received...

Jayne Houdyshell (Featured Actress in a Play: Uncle Vanya)

Jayne Houdyshell was a solid maybe/likely for me. Career vet with a great performance. I thought she'd get in. She got in for Music Man in 2022 and who the fuck saw that one coming? Yeah, she was good, but like…seriously? I mean, I know it was our first year back and all, but-- Actually, strike all that. I’m looking at the season list here and yeah, no, she deserved it. That tracks. I mean, I’d have put Luba Mason (heartbreaking) or Samantha Williams (a fucking delight) over her, but it makes sense. It was not a time in the world for downer stories. We needed levity and light and hilarity and that was Jayne Houdyshell. But apparently her part has been reduced in this production, so I'm amending my statement. Less likely than I thought. Sad times.

Anika Noni Rose (Featured Actress in a Play: Uncle Vanya)

Anika Noni Rose was our last hope of saving the Leading Actress category from the fucking white ladies with their A-list Hollywood names. But per the final eligibility ruling, she's featured. So there goes everything. Featured is just so damn stacked this year (and every year) that I don't know. But I swear, if I see the nominations for Leading Actress and it’s just a four-person box of white blonde Hollywood women, I will burn the American Theatre Wing to the ground.

Likely:

LaChanze (Producer: Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Here Lies Love, The Outsiders)

What a career transition this has been for LaChanze. From being nominated for Best Leading Actress in a Play in 2022 to winning TWO Tony Awards for producing in 2023 (Kimberly Akimbo for Best Musical and Topdog/Underdog for Play Revival), she’s on cloud nine. And now she’s back again with three more contenders. I think/hope Jaja gets a Best Play nomination. Out of the ten new plays, four are hard nos, but the other six are strong. Jaja's was fantastic. I loved this play. Strong and smart and well-received. It’s a decent, but not guaranteed, candidate. As for Here Lies Love, well… maybe. It was an ambition and creatively novel endeavor. I personally hated it for political reasons, but maybe it gets a nod? It’s a bloodthirsty year, but this show is shaping up to be one of the best-reviewed of the season. The most likely candidate would have to be The Outsiders, which may also be a moderate contender for Best Musical overall. However, having seen it, I hate it.

If She Doesn’t, I’ll Eat My Sondheim Hatbox:

Something something parallels, doomed relationships, exquisite performances, chemistry...

Kelli O’Hara (Leading Actress in a Musical: Days of Wine and Roses)

I know I’ve been saying it’s a crowded year for musicals, but this one was already locked in from day one. It is unfathomable to me that Kelli O’Hara would not be nominated for an eighth time. She has been nominated for every single role she’s had on Broadway since 2005. She is the darling of Broadway, beloved by all, genuinely kind, unproblematic, hardworking. If you’re going to love a (living) white blonde lady, this is the one. Aside from that, she’s going to be nominated because her performance was exquisite. Heartbreaking, ugly, excruciating, gorgeous. Her voice in this show was as close to an aural sexual experience as you will ever get. Statistically, she probably won’t win. Leading Actress in a musical has not gone to a closed show since Angela Lansbury in 1975. But she’ll be recognized.

Bebe Neuwirth (Featured Actress in a Musical: Cabaret)

Bebe Neuwirth back on Broadway in a beloved classic role of a beloved classic show. It is a match made in paradise. Fraulein Schneider is a wonderful, understated, deeply moving role. It’s been nominated four times for every Broadway iteration there ever has been. Thrice in featured, and was even considered a leading role in the original 1967 Broadway production (hello, Lotte Lenya). If the streak breaks with Bebe, I’ll riot. The circumstances, crowded or not, are favorable. Bebe is a veteran stage actress. Voters and audiences think of her fondly. It’s a Kander and Ebb. She got the biggest rave reviews I've ever seen, even as the show itself got panned. Right now, I would say there are three sure-fire nominees, and she’s one of them. I want her to win. I need her to win. I need her to be one of only three nominations this goddamn production gets. (Her, Skybell, and maybe scenic design, even though I'm mad about that too.)

[noelevangilinecarson]

url songs

Rules: Pick a song for every letter of your url and tag that many people.

Oh no there's so many letters in my url 🤣 This is gonna be fun! Thanks so much for tagging me @viharistenno !!!

Here we go!

N - Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Astley)

O - Overture (42nd Street Original Cast Recording)

E - Everything's Coming Up Roses (Patti LuPone)

L - Look at Me (The Witches of Eastwick)

E - Everyone Will Die (Sky-Pony)

V - Video Killed the Radio Star (The Buggles)

A - Another Op'ning, Another Show (Kiss Me, Kate 2000 Revival)

N - Nobody's Problems (Angela Lansbury)

G - Gloria (Laura Branigan)

I - It Never Entered My Mind (Nancy Anderson)

L - Losing My Mind (Dorothy Loudon)

I - Invisible Touch (Genesis)

N - Nobody's Side (Jessica Vosk)

E - Easy Street (Dorothy Loudon)

C - Could I Leave You (Emily Skinner)

A - All That Matters (Laura Michelle Kelly)

R - Run Runaway (Slade)

S - Sweet Lorraine (Kay Starr)

O - One More Kiss (Stephen Sondheim)

N - No Time At All (Irene Ryan, Dorothy Loudon, Andrea Martin [they're all exquisite and it's one of my very favorite songs of all time])

Made a lil playlist for funsies

And now for no pressure tagging: @bincliff @findhergolden @confused-pie @room-on-broom @mya-devries @theluckydimecaper @ltcommanderkathrynjaneway @ithinkweneedmoreviolinsontv

If anyone else sees this and wants to do it, consider yourself tagged!

[iishtar]

Articles no. 20

The Musical History Lesson Buried Beneath the Song of the Summer by Dan Charnas Slate June 2024

Zadie Smith is just the latest. Fashion and literature have a long history by Rachel Tashijan Washington Post August 2023

Hyperreal Individualism by Safy Hallan-Farah princess babygirl March 2024

Princess Babygirl Forever by Safy Hallan-Farah princess babygirl February 2024

Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha by Lesley Downer New York Times 2001

A Matter of Survival: On the Value of Fashion in Literature by Rachel Wagner The Millions October 2017

It Girl: A Girardian Analysis by Safy Hallan-Farah princess babygirl June 2024

The 'Espresso' Theory of Gender Relations by Spencer Kornhaber The Atlantic June 2024

Brat Summer: is the long era of clean living finally over? by Zoe Williams The Guardian July 2024

My stepfather sexually abused me as a child. My mother, Alice Munro, chose to stay with him by Andrea Robin Skinner Toronto Star July 2024

[ophiedokes]

The podcast about the allegations against Neil Gaiman is weird and biased and so is how everyone is summarizing it and nobody seems to really be doing that to Andrea Skinner re her piece about Alice Munro because what her testimony was shared in wasnt fundamentally exploitative of her the way Boris Johnson's sister's terf podcast was of the victims they spoke to