#i am winning at broadway

[grilledcheeseandguavajelly]

Them: are you okay?

Me: absolutely fantastic

Narrator: she was not, in fact, fantastic. She watched the back of eden espinosa’s head for the entirety of the tonys, cried when she didn’t win, and now she’s sobbing into her ben and jerry’s while watching the slime tutorial of lempicka

[musical-chick-13]

UGH Why do so many songs I want to sing require a huge amount of charisma to pull off.

[jimmythejiver]

I don't have the citations and receipts to prove it, but I swear most creative decisions in the post-Eisner era of Disney has been fueled by the fact that their biggest rival Universal owned the rights to Wicked.

Think about the fact that they had Stephen Schwartz on Pocahontas and Hunchback of Notre Dame during the Renaissance and got him for their send up Enchanted with Idina Menzel in the cast) which like Tangled and Frozen would not be what they are without Wicked, from the stupid titling scheme to initially hiring Kristen Chenoweth as Rapunzel before replacing her with Mandy Moore and ultimately hiring Idina Menzel (again) for Elsa and deciding she ain't so bad after all and hell let's delete Kai and invent Anna the plucky contrast to her to really drive it home.

How about the fact that they bought and made a meh adaptation of Into The Woods, the original 'Kind is not Good' fairytale subversion broadway show. The okay that was a thing Maleficent movies where the king rips off her wings and Mal was misunderstood she was Briar Rose's real protector, see.

The fact that they sure love to market their villains, but boy do they not like to make new ones that aren't corrupted forces of nature that need their heart back to be good again or c.e.o.'s who gave us utopia only to find out he killing the planet oopsies or deceptive seemingly trustworthy Wizard-like authority figures who will stab you in the back in their best interest. A villain is either a twist to be subverted or is the hero you followed along, see. Something tells me the Mufasa movie is their half-apology or reasoning for why Scar is like that when the new Aladdin and Little Mermaid did shit for Jafar or Ursula but make them bland because they didn't have time to bake another uwu, babied misunderstood anti-villain so they made sure they can't chew the scenery or have too big of personalities to latch onto by children either, that be irresponsible.

Disney wants Elphaba and they're mad they don't have the special sauce that Broadway somehow wrangled out of a confusing book full of misdirection that pleased no one but the author and people who hate the Judy Garland film and would never read Frank L. Baum anyway to understand these characters are just different from that film and the shoes were not the Wicked Witch's birthright she wanted their power, it was not that deep, but so much of Maguire's decisions don't work once you account for Baum's that never accounted for the future MGM's art and costuming department, casting and script consolidations, but all Disney sees is, 'That Judy Garland movie should've been ours and fuck these people making sequels and prequels, those should've been ours.'

We see the root of this problem that existed before Eisner took over with Return to Oz under Ron Miller. As a company they've never forgiven anyone for having piece of the Oz pie. Oh, post-Eisner they swung their dick again and made that forgettable James Franco prequel, I almost forgot! A warning to Universal who guarded Wicked's movie rights for decades and the anger they have that Warner Bros. still owns the rights to the Judy Garland film while all of Baum's books are in the public domain before Eisner's lawyers could lobby with Senator Bono to extend copyright law in the 90's.

Eisner cooperated with Warner Bros. to license an Oz sequence with an advance for it's time Wicked Witch animatronic in the Great Movie Ride, in fact a majority of the films in that ride came from WB's vault. Bob Iger let that ride get scrapped for Pirates before he could own Fox's back catalogue. You know what else Eisner didn't do that Bob Iger did? Not make a stupid Cruella prequel to explain why she's so misunderstood, just a straight live action remake of the cartoon and Jungle Book that was boring, and not a whole lot of these were as churned out in his era as there was bad sequels to the cartoons, but oops Iger's doing that too.

Real point is Wicked the musical premiered in 2003, Eisner stepped down in 2005. Eisner and his people couldn't figure out the Snow Queen as anything but a romantic comedy co-starring a villain love interest because he forgot Ariel existed as a misunderstood and manipulated hero who could have served as a template for another similar Andersen character. Under Iger's people they casted og Elphaba and decided halfway they needed to not make her a villain after all. Coincidence? I think not!

[faaun]

shaking of leaves by into it over it is genuinely one of the top songs of all time

[sureuncertainty]

lol so i started watching hazbin hotel cause i was curious and it's actually really fucking good y'all are just lame

[rootspiral]

Agatha All Along deep dive: episode 4 part 2

(Wandavision entries: [1][2][3])

(AAA entries: ep1 [1][2][3][4] ep2 [1][2][3][4] ep3 [1][2][3] ep4 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][+1] ep5 [1][2][3][4][5] ep6 [1][2][3] ep7 [1][2][3][4][5][6] ep8 [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] ep9 [1][2][3][4][5][6])

THE LITTLE FLOWER POPPIN. THE M'LADY

seems like agatha is having An Emotion

but look! look! rio is once again being super special extra on purpose!! because if she just strolled in agatha would be overwhelmed and run away again. so what does rio do??? she corners her with a grand zombie entrance!!! the more over the top she acts, the more agatha is in her element and comfortable interacting. and in this case, angry is a better start than sad. all part of rio's Brilliant 66-Steps-Plan To Win Her Wife Back™ (or was it 666?)

her face omg

oooh are you mad??? are you big mad at little ol' me???????

agatha is like nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope

imagine being aubrey plaza and being born so effortlessly cool. she's cool even when she's awkward dear lord

jen and alice: kinda stunned by both her hotness and her weirdness

lilia: VADE RETRO SATAN (lilia's spider senses are already tingling)

will I ever be over the fact that Death is just one particularly powerful green witch?? that she's a gentle if odd girl who grows plants and flowers and mushrooms and is called the River of Life??? that she is the embodiment of life in all her forms? that decay and regrowth are all part of the same natural cycle? that the hardest and most inexplicable thing a living being can go through is also the most reassuringly organic and normal???

have I already said "i love you patti lupone" today?

we're off to see the wizarrrrd. her cute peter pan outfit!

what do we think, billy? does she want to talk about it, or does she have the emotional maturity of a baby ostrich?

same girls, same

whoa there ladies, calm down. I'm already taken

lilia is also having an Emotion. it must be pretty weird to realize that your mortal foe is this hot

alice going NOPE when she sees her mom's house. the leaves are red alice, honey. it's your turn.

(does the back of rio's jacket look like a ribcage?)

it's going to be fine baby. your friends are all here. you can do this. deep breaths.

fire moon! fire moon! fire moon! oh this is my favorite trial

*grabs the mike* WOULD

from right to left: would, would, would, would, would, oh hi joe

rio: BITCH I AM?!?!?!?!?!?!? (everyone say thank you costume department)

the Road isn't subtle, BILLY.

sure, there wasn't enough sexual tension already, let's add side boobs, shall we? and rio being like hey agatha, hey agatha, hey. guess what. I'm here again agatha. you're not gonna get rid of me this time agatha.

I keep thinking that every reflection agatha comes across is a "te veo". and even when rio isn't there she is watching from mirrors and from puddles.

OH MY GAWD AGATHA how can you expect me to cope when you look around to make sure nobody is watching and then you lean in so so so sclose and then you say no with such a deep soulful voice and so much intimacy and such quiet anger and not one lil hint of clownery. I AM ABOUT TO GO FERAL

agatha around rio is like, mind screaming in anguish and body screaming in horny. lethal combination

lilia who's been trying and failing for centuries and centuries to come to terms with the violence human beings inflict on whoever is different

if there is one thing a broadway pro is trained to do is making people cry while wearing increasingly stupid wigs

JEN SEEING MASKS BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HIDES BEHIND THE MONSTER THAT BOUND HER

fletwood mac?!?!!?!?!?!?!? in this economy?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I cannot handle much more of this, my emotions are raw and fragile and tender as it is already!!!!!!!!

oh, alice.

well this episode is making me feel like agatha: sad and horny. weird vibe but okay.

go to episode 4 part 3

[thealogie]

ok spoiler free wicked movie review for the three of you who said you want me to go see it early and tell you about it:

-Let's get the bad out of the way first because (surprisingly) I mostly have positive thoughts. Do you know when a movie is so dark you cannot see? This was the opposite. Multiple scenes/shots in this movie were so bright I could not see. One shot would be beautifully lit/colored and then the next would be completely washed out with bright overpowering lighting reminiscent of an influencer ring light. I am not even a cinematography snob but some of this was distractingly bad. There's so much money on screen. Let me see it?

-Similarly, Jon M Chu cutting frantically between different coverages/close-ups/wide shots was just not for me but tastes can vary on this. Someone would be doing beautiful choreo and suddenly we'd cut to a reaction shot or close-up in the middle of a mesmerizing choreo move. Bro, I was looking at that why did you cut away? "Singing in the Rain" was not shot like this, bro.

-Ok on to the positive, which was most things. Most important thing: the movie understood the story and the characters. I truly don't see anyone walking out of there being like "the movie didn't understand the characters or their relationship." In the same vein, I think the performances were out of this world, which was to be expected. But like, stunning. Chemistry, singing...all on point. And I say this as someone who is not an Ariana enjoyer at all.

-As you might expect, they added some dialogue/backstory to fill it out and make it feel like a movie. These additions were small and excellent and improved on the story every time, which is often not the case with an adaptation.

-The crowd i saw it with was NOT a "clap after every song" crowd AT ALL but we were all moved to applause after cynthia erivo's wizard and I. Truly, otherworldly.

-There was not enough lesbian subtext in the broadway show and there is not enough lesbian subtext in the movie but there was more lesbian subtext in the movie. Lots of tossing and turning on beds during "what is this feeling" and otherwise. A win.

-Really really minor spoiler: rip to glinda's yellow emerald city dress. You will be missed.

-Amazing use of special effects (which were used judiciously and well and not distracting) vs. practical effects (which were stunning and looked good).

-Dancing through life was so beautifully choreographed and performed. I'm gagged. I just wish I could have seen it better what with the bright lighting and the constant cutting to people's faces while my man J Bailey was doing stunning footwork. Again, Singing in the Rain would never do this.

[aconfusedkitten]

okay, so!

let's talk about telling someone that "not everything has to be queer."

some imporant context here, i am working on getting an english degree (with a focus on creative writing) and most of my writing, both fanfic and original, is queer. more than that, the main thing i love to analyze is how queerness shows up in older books. fuck, during the last two years of school, i did a major project adapting twelfth night into a series of poems exploring bisexuality, nonbinary characters, and other similar topics.

fuck, in my first english class, i wrote an analysis of sir gawaine and the green knight and said it's hard to tell who is courting who.

and adaptions are a part of that!

to me, adaptions are a great way of seeing how things that used to be only allowed in subtext can be brought to center stage. this isn't only regarding queer subtext, but that is admittedly what i'm best at catching onto.

so talking about this is an academic interest of mine, and just something i like to keep in mind, because i do wanna be a fantasy writer someday. and that's not a secret.

at all.

so why is that i'm immediately dismissed and my opinion disregarded as soon as i mention i was excited to see why some of my friends were so excited for the relationship between elphaba and glinda? it's something that the cast (both various broadway actors and the movie) have discussed, and even the original author has talked about it and said there's meant to be romantic tension.

but "not everything has to be queer, you know" wins once again, so i'll just let my opinion get brushed off again, because there's no winning that arguement.

[momtaku]

Thoughts on the Attack on Titan Musical

tl:dr; It's been two weeks but I am still not over it.

When I posted the photo of myself holding the playbill of the Attack on Titan musical the most common reaction was "WHAT???", so I guess some background might be good to start with.

Yes, the Attack on Musical is a thing. It was first performed in Japan in January 2023 with shows in Osaka and Tokyo. When it was announced that a second run of the musical would include New York City, I pounced on tickets.

See, it's real! This is my video of the closing number. We were allowed to record this.

The New York run was at the New York City Center which seats about 2200 people. There were a total of 4 shows the weekend of Oct 12. I attended the Saturday matinee. The style of this production is known 2.5D, and is incredibly popular in Japan. I did some checking and this is the first time a 2.5D anime adaptation has appeared outside of Asia. Did Attack on Titan work as a musical?

Surprisingly yes, although I think anyone who wandered in off the streets would've been thoroughly confused. The themes that attracted most of us to the series translate wonderfully to the stage, and despite knowing the story well, they managed to make it feel fresh. Carla's death, for instance. When she realized she was trapped and facing certain death, her song to Eren and Mikasa was a children's lullaby about survival. That portion of the manga always hit me hard, but the desperation, horror and love set to a lullaby? Damn it musical, you made me cry.

The original scene of Hange leading a Titan Biology class might be my favorite of the entire show. The actor who played Hange was the perfect amount of unhinged and delightful as they dance across the table while the 104th answered a pop quiz. (And yes to "they" since the playbill specifically mentions that the actor in the role was known for her portrayal of nonbinary characters.) It was genuinely hilarious.

The musical covers the first 11 chapters of the manga, stopping in the "Struggle for Trost" arc, where the plan for Eren to plug the hole in the wall was conceived but not yet executed. I remember reading that portion of the manga years ago and feeling that same sense of optimism. So the musical ends on a high. Humans finally have a way to win against the titans, It felt like a strange place to end, knowing what ultimately happens in the story, so I wondered if the intention is for a part 2 musical adaptation.

(btw, the staging of "can you plug the hole" had Eren and Levi kneeling closely on the floor together with a manly shoulder clasp looking earnestly at each other. It had me looking at my very ereri friend with raised eyebrows. It was for sure her favorite moment.) What was the performance like?

The short run 2.5D musicals don't have the polish or production budget of a true broadway musical, but it was still wildly entertaining. Since the director is known for breakdance and hiphop, there was plenty of that. The dance numbers were fun. The songs were catchy.

Rather than try to describe it, here's a TikTok review that shows off the 3dmg, the titans, and that two minute head spin that no one could shut up about.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by mixed feelings (@mixed.feelings)

Also, the cast could not have been for perfect. I mean LOOK AT THEM!

From this tweet

Who was in attendance?

As I mentioned before, this was a first in many ways so it attracted people from all over the world. While I was opening my blind box items, I met a group older women from Japan who'd travelled to New York from Tokyo and had purchased tickets to every single NY performance. Their English wasn't great, and my Japanese is nonexistent, but what surprised me the most wasn't their dedication to the show, but that they seemed genuinely surprised to see me. I don't know if that was because I too am an older fan like them, or if they weren't expecting equally passionate westerners at the show but I tend to think it was both. I suspect the Japanese fandom has no idea how big this series is outside of Japan, or that it attracts such a diverse audience.

My podcast partner Luna was sitting next to two women who'd flown in from California. They knew nothing about Attack on Titan but were fans of the actor who played Eren. Since it was his first time performing outside of Japan, they came solely to see him.

On my flight home was a 22 year old wearing an Attack on Titan musical t-shirt. We started talking and I learned it was his first time in New York, his first time seeing a broadway musical, and his first time traveling alone. He just loves the series that much.

In general the audience was much younger than what you'd normally see at a broadway show and 100% more excited. Plenty of people were in cosplay or else wearing Attack on Titan clothing. The atmosphere was insane.

My merch haul

The mug and t-shirt sold out before the second show so I was glad I was there early to snag them. The playbill is selling on Mercari for almost $50. Sadly my poster didn't survive the trip home. It cracked in about 50 places.

Did you do anything else in NYC

Aside from hanging out with so many of my favorite people, the Kodansha Popup House was going on. It was incredibly cool.

We met up with James from the Titan Teatime podcast. I think the plan is do a joint podcast in a few weeks to get everyone's thoughts . I'll post more about that if it actually happens.

Final Thoughts

Rumor has it that the show's successful New York run could mean it will branch out further. If it goes to London, nothing will stop me from being there. It was that much fun, and I can't wait to share the experience with my European friends.

[kingcrow01]

Marvel/DC Crossover Week | 2024

Day 3 | Team Red |  Morality Differences | “The metal of the human spirit is forged upon the anvil of sorrow.”

@marvel-dc-crossover-event

(Click for better quality and details!)

This is my last piece for this years event, and I am SO beyond happy with it! Particularly the coloring on DPs and RHs suits.

The dialogue:

Red Hood nudging a groaning Deadpool who ate too much: “You guys are such losers.”

Spider-Man: “Says the guy who moved cities to join Team Red.”

Red Hood: “I did not. Believe it or don’t, but New York has job opportunities.”

Spider-Man: “For a theater kid like you? What, gonna audition for Matilda on Broadway?”

Red Hood: “Fuck you, if I did, I would get the lead role and win every Tony Award possible–”

Spider-Man: “Oh my god, you’re such a nerd–”

Daredevil: “Would you two shut up–”

Barbara is absolutely listening to this through Jason's helmet and snickering to herself, imagining him as Matilda, brown wig, red bow and all.

Details!

burger frog! anyone recognize burger frog?

whoever guesses who C + S are gets a high five

yes, Jason did spray paint "Batman Sucks." Midway through making this, I had another idea of this Team Red spray painting together. I don't know who, but they'd be slandering someone.

family guy death pose

Bart and Miles were here

Things that could have been:

already-there simple graffiti art of original Team Red holding hands, but with a newly-added Red Hood at one end in a different color (all done by Deadpool)

as well as the food wrappers, they were going to be surrounded by obscure things they stole while fucking around the city: a Ouija board, some poor bastards steering wheel, Bucky's arm, maybe?

I was going to have them start stacking things on Deadpool, just to make them that much more irritating

[possiblyawesometmblr]

If you had to pick one song for each of your characters from their official playlist (if they have one, if not songs in general) to describe them, what songs would they be?

ooooooh oh this is a hard one. almost every song i throw onto a playlist is there for a reason but i'm gonna DO MY BEST here we go:

arisanna: home (beetlejuice cast recording) - i swear to god every day i am surprised i didn't write her specifically after this song. i like this one even better than dead mom for her overall because dead mom feels more angry, whereas this one feels like desperation and defeat that turns into acceptance. love the arc of this song and thinking about it in an ari context makes me want to cry so hard.

sylph: i love it (icona pop) - not ONLY does this one have sylph vibes in terms of lyrics, but it's funky 2010s dubstep pop. that's so them it hurts. sylph only listens to the most insane pop music of 2010-2014 i truly believe that in my heart

owen: waving through a window (dear evan hansen cast recording) - another win for the broadway bitches. perfect for him both in life and in death, honestly. i particularly love the "did I even make a sound? it's like I never made a sound, will I ever make a sound?" for him because of the idea that his life ended so fast he never got to do anything with it. also, similar to ari, this is a song with so much desperation in it.

rowan: pink pony club (chappell roan) - i actually can't get too much into this one without spoiling things, but know that this song is her to the core. rowan is in fact a chappell roan girly

mal: r.i.p. 2 my youth (the neighborhood) - so this guy doesn't have a playlist yet but something about this song really speaks to me for him. he's gone through some SHIT and i can't wait to get into it in future campaign sessions :D

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss on counting his lucky stars

Thirty-seven-year-old Darren Criss is a star on Broadway, and a regular at piano bars. "Keep the music going, you know?" he said. "I think the expression goes, 'Life is a cabaret!'" When he's in Los Angeles, it's Tramp Stamp Granny's, where he and his wife, Mia, are the owners. "It's kind of a beautiful little Hollywood tale," he said. "She slings the drinks, and I sling the tunes."

One rule in a piano bar? Play the hits. Criss had his first hit at the University of Michigan. He starred as Harry Potter in an unauthorized student show based on the books that became a YouTube sensation in 2009. "This was a very interesting moment in time," he said, of "A Very Potter Musical." "That really did kind of change my life. That would kind of set me on the path to where I am now."

I asked if "A Very Potter Musical" was the first musical to go viral. "I don't know; I guess we'll let the YouTube historians sort of decide the validity of that," Criss said. But Criss took a detour on his way to Broadway, by becoming a TV star. "'Glee' was happening at the time," he said. "And I went out for it, like hundreds of thousands of other people in my situation at that time. And I happened to book it." He played Blaine Anderson, and quickly became a fan favorite. "I owe my tenure on that show to the sub-cultural fan base army that we had gathered from the Potter stuff," he said.

Criss went on to win an Emmy and a Golden Globe for his portrayal of serial killer Andrew Cunanan in "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story." Now he plays an obsolete robot named Oliver in a new musical, "Maybe Happy Ending," one of the most acclaimed shows currently on Broadway. The New York Times calls it "joyful," "heartbreaking," and "supersmart."

Criss said, "This show begins with a song which is the question the show posits: Why love? Why do we do it? If we know that loving something enters you in a contract that has an inexorable back end – which is the loss of something – why do we do that, if we know that that's gonna happen?" According to Criss, this show came along at the perfect time. He and his wife, Mia, have a two-and-a-half year-old daughter, and earlier this year they welcomed a baby son. I asked, "Does this feel like the best year of your life?" "Well, it certainly is a blessed one," Criss laughed. "I've had some extraordinary years of my life, and I think this has been a certainly exciting time." He's had some hard years, too. In 2020, his father, Bill, died at 78 from a heart condition. In 2022, his brother, Chuck, died at 36 by suicide. Criss said, "I don't necessarily think of my own experience with those people specifically in my life that I have lost. But I do think about the feeling of loss, the sadness and emptiness and loneliness that that yields, because we all feel it. But the things that move me, in life and in ["Maybe Happy Ending"], are not the darkness of the loss, but the Herculean grace that it takes to be resilient in the inevitable truth of that." When he thinks about that, Darren Criss can't help but sing. "I count my lucky stars every day," he laughed. "I'm runnin' out of – there's too many! They're still showing up. I'm doing 'CBS Sunday Morning'!"

[tragic-ships-tournament]

Well folks.

It's finally time.

It's finally fucking time.

For the finals.

A little more than 2 months ago on November 23rd, 2024, I decided to answer one singular question: What is the best Tragic Ship? I was inspired by the other tournament blogs around me, and also, there are a lot of tragic ships. And so I started this blog and embarked on a long, 2 month journey.

We started out with 64 ships. And now, we've gone down to 2.

And let's be honest, none of us knew it was gonna be these ones.

But hey, before that, let's do some honorable mentions to those who lost this round.

Don't worry Lawrence and Adam- you two are winners in my heart. Maybe not Jigsaw's though. But our favorite horror yaoi finally falls in the Semi Finals, coming SO close to making it.

But you know what was even more surprising? Destiel lost in a clean sweep this round- in the Destiel website no less! I guess the Supernatural writers were in charge of this round's results.

Wait a second... both of these ships.. they were... holy shit, there's no yaoi in the finals. We actually did it. Oh my god.

So let's finally get down to who bested them.

In the red corner, the winner of Bracket A, is an absolute classic in tragic ships. They were the og's, even. And years and years after their stories were told they were brought back, this time on the Broadway stage by Anäis Mitchell and winning 8 Tony awards, and now with a proshot on the way! Keep on walking and don't look back because our first pair of finalists are ORPHEUS AND EURYDICE!!!

And in the blue corner, the winner of Bracket B, is our favorite anime timeloop yuri! With the critically acclaimed first season airing all the way back in 2011 and a movie in 2014, these two have still somehow managed to capture the hearts of fans all around more than a decade later. I wouldn't mind being stuck in an eternal maze for them, it's MADOKA KAMANE AND HOMURA AKEMI!!!

Two absolute TITANS of ships going head to head against each other, and the question on all of our minds is who will come out victorious? And to give you all ample time to vote and blow up my notifs, for the first time ever- the final round will be 1 week long, starting from tomorrow, 8:00 AM Eastern.

But before we get to that, let's just take a quick second here.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for everything you have all ever done in this blog. Whether you've just followed me or you've been here since the beginning, your support means the world to me. I started this blog just as a fun little project and a way to escape the shit going on in the world that November, and I'm sorry for being corny, but it's turned into so much more than that. I love reading all your little analyses and thoughts and memes and I love seeing how invested all of you have gotten into this silly little tournament. It really is just a testament on how people will come together for even the nichest arguments just for a metaphorical crown.

It's gonna be weird not having to check this blog's notifs everyday. But readers at home, I invite you to raise a (hypothetical or real, it doesn't matter) glass and enjoy this next week while it lasts.

[jbaileyfansite]

GQ Magazine Interview (2024)

It’s about four hours before the Los Angeles premiere of Wicked, and the actor Jonathan Bailey, who’s playing the male lead Fiyero in the feverishly-anticipated movie musical, is busy… playing Lego?

“I’m currently constructing,” he tells me, “the Atlantic Ocean of a globe, which I'm building as I travel around the globe [for Wicked].”

In a sunny Santa Monica hotel, in the middle of a whirlwind international promo tour for Wicked—director Jon M. Chu’s screen adaptation of the megahit Broadway musical, starring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo—the award-winning star of Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers says that playing with Lego has become one of the things helping him stay centered. “Lego’s 18+ Adult level, that's what gets me going these days,” he says.

It is, after all, a high-stakes moment for Bailey. Fan expectations for Wicked are sky-high, and every detail of the project’s rollout has been the subject of intense scrutiny.

Even Bailey’s seemingly innocuous decision to wear shorts to a photocall for Wicked in Australia made waves, and photos of Bailey in black pleated shorts and a sheer black long-sleeved polo by Giuliva Heritage quickly went viral—the gams seen ‘round the world.

“The idea of a very relaxed, elevated day look is something I've always enjoyed,” Bailey tells me, about the fit. “And of course, in Sydney and down under, we should be showing down under.”

“It's funny,” he continues. “Sometimes, you feel like what you decide to wear chooses you. The waist, the cut of the trouser, the pleat, and the waist—it made me feel very elegant.”

When the photos spread on social media, comments sections buzzed with people wondering about Bailey’s leg workout. Inquiring minds want to know: how does the Winkie prince get those legs?

“Well, they should be dancing from a very young age,” he says, laughing. “It's encouraging your sons to dance and do ballet. I played rugby growing up as well, and I play a lot of tennis now. I did ballet for a good few years, and I think the way that the body responds to that and gymnastics, I think, that's the key… Lots of handstands and deep squats.”

Another moment on the press tour that’s already gone viral is a video where Bailey talks about a small travel mishap during pre-production, in which every part of his Fiyero costume wound up stuck in airport limbo—except the footwear. "There's an amazing photo,” Bailey teases in the clip, “that no one's ever gonna see of me, in nothing but my boots, which sort of felt right for Fiyero somehow.”

When I bring it up, he reiterates firmly: “Never to be seen.” But maybe, I propose, that photo finally makes an appearance in a future museum retrospective on his career, the kind London’s Victoria and Albert Museum does for Britain’s most iconic performers? “Literally, let's not get ahead of ourselves,” he says, laughing. “There'll be maybe some shed in the Cotswolds that will be some sort of weird relic to my former career. Maybe it will be laminated there.”

It’s been exciting to watch Bailey’s red-carpet evolution in the last few years. Early in his career, the actor mainly stuck to more traditionally buttoned-up suit-and-tie looks. But recently, there’s a newfound confidence and playfulness to his red carpet style, a willingness to flip some red carpet traditions—and a frisky inclination to show off that body.

Part of that confidence has to do with just how fit the actor is. “I probably am in the best shape I've ever been,” he says. But it goes deeper than that: “I honestly think it reflects a confidence in identity, in one's self,” he says. “You realize how important it is just to be completely yourself.”

“Jonny is a whimsical, mischievous delight, so we try to show that through his sartorial choices,” says Emma Jade Morrison, his stylist. “He is joyful and cheeky, with an old soul, so I love to modernize classic shapes through colors, materials and saucy bits of skin.”

For the Los Angeles premiere of Wicked last night, Bailey once again turned heads in an exciting ensemble—this time, in custom Versace, in a slinky, body-caressing chainmail shirt paired with immaculately white trousers, ruby-red slippers and a poppy boutonniere. (The cherry on top? A mischievous tuft of chest hair peeking out from that Versace shirt.)

“It was Donatella’s idea to allow me to wear the chain mail, the iconic Versace chain mail,” he says. “It's so part of the Versace DNA, and I wanted that DNA pumping around my veins tonight. It's a beautiful thing to wear.”

Bailey, who calls himself “obsessed” with the ‘90s, remembers the iconic image of Kate Moss in a Versace chainmail dress from 1999. “The thing that I remember is the way that it clings to the form of the body. It feels sculptural and sexy,” he says. “All I can see is the way she moved, [the way it] caressed every nook and curve and cranny… I'm excited to be celebrating nooks and crannies tonight.”

“From my moodboard, Donatella and her team honed in on two images of Errol Flynn and Cary Grant and put their iconic Versace twist on them,” Jade Morrison tells me. “We kept the shapes classic and the shirt a bit slouchy to stay true to Jonny’s style. There is literally no material as sexy as Versace chainmail and using chainmail felt like a princely nod to the Winkie Prince.”

“We loved the red slippers with the poppy—as Dorothy says, there’s no place like home, especially since the LA premiere was the weekend before Remembrance Day in the U.K.,” Morrison continues. “Versace also made us a Winkie Prince bomber—a perfect ode to varsity jackets of the 1930s and something that Fiyero would absolutely wear himself.”

“That's the thing about Wicked, and that's the thing about Oz,” Bailey adds. “It's like visually and thematically so inspiring to so many generations that when you work with creators like Donatella, and you work with fashion houses who have so much to say and [we have] so much respect [for] and so much in archive that we feel so nostalgic about these fashion pieces, it's like everyone just goes off like fireworks. And you come up with something incredible.”

Last time Bailey and I spoke, we were doing a mini pub crawl through Manhattan’s West Village with his Fellow Travelers co-star Matt Bomer last year, to talk about their work on the acclaimed series. During that interview, Bailey talked about the tricky balance he had to strike in order to shoot Wicked, Bridgerton and Fellow Travelers simultaneously. Now, with the benefit of hindsight, he sees how the projects inadvertently informed each other—and emboldened him as an actor.

“I just look back on Fellow Travelers with such fond memories,” he tells me now. “The confidence in telling that story, I think, is actually present throughout Fiyero. Wicked is so about identity. The resonance of the themes is even louder I think on film... Playing Tim [on Fellow Travelers] just beforehand allowed me to sort of maybe expand the part in a way that I wouldn't have done otherwise.”

At Wicked’s Sydney premiere last week, Bailey experienced a full circle moment that left him in tears. “I sat with my sister, who’s based in Sydney, and had my two nieces watching it for the first time in front of an audience. And I felt a volcanic sense of emotion,” he says.

“Me and my sister went to the back and had a pint and we both just had a good cry. What Jon Chu has achieved in this film is exactly the sort of cinematic experience, that my whole entire family loved [when I was] growing up, and it's what inspired me in the first place to want to [become an actor].”

At 36, Bailey is a veteran of the stage and the screen—he’s stolen scenes in Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s acclaimed pre-Fleabag series Crashing, held his own with Patti LuPone in a revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Company, and broken hearts in his award-winning turn on Fellow Travelers. But he’s hardly jaded and still finds himself overcome with emotion during various career milestones. “The wonder hasn't left me,” he says.

It’s that same wonder he hopes to impart to young viewers watcing Wicked. “The idea that some lads somewhere might turn to their mom and dad and go, ‘I really want to dance’? That's what it's all about.”

“And also,” he says, with a laugh, “they'll get bloody good legs in the process.”

Source

[rose-of-pollux]

SO

Saw BTTF the musical two times in as many days (originally was supposed to see just today’s matinee, but I arrived early enough yesterday to be like “This is my last chance, why not see it twice?” and saw last night’s show, as well. Behold, the highlights—

I saw Roger with Casey last night and Roger with JJ Niemann today; Casey and JJ are both amazing Martys

Roger has a new bit as Doc; after saying he remembers vividly what happened on November 5th, he just spaces out momentarily trying to recall until he is successful. Took me by surprise and I was cackling, but thankfully I was far from the only one 😆

I thought I was prepared for the Main(e) house bit. Casey threw in a random nonsequiter into it: “My grandmother is a psychiatrist.” It was SO out of left field that Roger broke, which prompted a “Why are you laughing, Doc?? This is serious!!” We are all laughing at this point.

Roger got his revenge in the next scene, throwing out a random “Your great-grandmother taught me yoga.” The randomness of it coupled with the lore implications made me let out the most ungodly shriek of laughter; I was in row three—there was no way they missed that, and if either of them end up seeing this, I am so sorry 😅

In both shows, there was a lesbian couple at the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Would they have been realistically out in 1955? Probably not. Was it still awesome? ABSOLUTELY. Also kudos for having Strickland, of all people, not even batting an eyelash and instead continuing to police the heterosexual couples.

JJ had his own banter going with Roger, which was also great—there was an extended “Wait, what?”/“Weight?? What??” routine that was just as priceless.

I was also cackling at Roger basically chasing JJ around the DeLorean when he had the plutonium in one hand, waving him away with the other. 100% in character for both of them.

Added angst, which I am also always here for: just after Doc tears and trashes Marty’s warning note and just before the cable snaps, when JJ did the “I’ll tell you straight out!” line, Marty grabs Doc by the shoulders, and Doc responds by just shoving him away in frustration. Like this has to be the first time Doc, his mentor and best friend, who has been nothing but supportive and encouraging up until now, has ever done anything like that—and Marty doesn’t even get the time to process that, as the cable then snaps and they have to split up. But that moment is now Canon to me, and I absolutely have to pick it apart in a future fic.

There was an auction after the show for two puffy red vests signed by the whole cast with the proceeds going to Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS—the winning bid was $1500 for each one, far more than I could’ve afforded, so kudos to them, at any rate.

…I did, however, make a smaller donation to get a full-cast signed Playbill, which I shall treasure always.

As I guessed, as sad as I am about the show leaving Broadway, I know I will carry the inspiration it gave me forever 💜

[writingtips-resources]

Plotting vs. Pantsing: I Found My Writing Style

Every writer, at some point, faces The Great Question.

“Should I make my main character suffer more?”

(the answer is always yes, by the way).

I’m talking about: Are you a Plotter or a Pantser? And let me tell you—I’ve been on both sides of this chaotic, caffeine-soaked battlefield. "I found my style, but it wasn’t without trial, error, and a couple of existential crises along the way."

Let me explain to you- step by step.

I Started with Plotting

When I first started writing, I thought plotting was The Way. I had color-coded spreadsheets, a detailed scene-by-scene breakdown, and enough sticky notes to wallpaper a small room- thinking and writing as a Plotter.................

Chapter 7: Sarah finds the amulet.

Chapter 8: A mysterious storm begins.

Chapter 9: Emotional confrontation with the villain.

“Wait, why is Sarah suddenly flirting with the villain?

THAT WAS NOT IN THE PLAN.”

But, In simple words, Plotting gave me structure, clarity, and a false sense of control (spoiler: the characters always win).

I Shifted to Pantsing: My Wild West Era

At one point, I threw my outline out the window (metaphorically… mostly) and declared, “Let chaos reign!”

Suddenly, I was free.

No outlines, no bullet points—just me, my keyboard, and a vague idea of where things might end up- thinking and writing as a Pantser:

Sarah picked up the amulet. Cool. Now what?

Maybe it’s cursed. Maybe it sings Broadway show tunes. Let’s find out!”

“Oh no. I’m 40,000 words in, and I have no idea what happens next.”

Pantsing felt like an adventure. I was uncovering the story as I went along, and sometimes I wrote scenes so unexpected, I had to sit back and say, “Did I just… did I just make that up? Whoa.”

Then I Choose "The Hybrid Approach"

I realized I’m neither a hardcore Plotter nor a full-on Pantser. I’m somewhere in between—a Plantser if you will.

Now, I start with a loose outline:

“Sarah finds an amulet. The villain wants it. Big showdown at the end.”

But I leave the middle parts open for discovery.

If Sarah decides she wants to flirt with the villain in Chapter 9… well, who am I to stop her?

Now, the real magic happened and I was too satisfied!

Key plot points? Mapped out.

Character arcs? Clear.

Everything else? Chaos, baby.

So, What’s Your Style?

Finding your writing style isn’t about picking a side and sticking to it forever. It’s about experimenting, adjusting, and figuring out what feels right for you.

If outlines make your soul happy—Plot away.

If you thrive on chaos—Embrace the Pantsing life.

If you’re like me and want both structure and spontaneity—Welcome to the Hybrid Club.

At the end of the day, the goal isn’t to write like someone else—it’s to find your rhythm, your style, and tell your story.

So tell me, friend: Are you a Plotter, a Pantser, or somewhere in between?

Drop your chaotic (or highly organized) thoughts below—I promise we’re all friends here.