#i'm trying to find if there's an official cast album

[familiariscanis]

alright so when is the no longer human musical getting an english version

[cowboys-tshot]

A Beginner's Guide to Epic: The Musical

Are you new to Epic: The Musical and overwhelmed by four years worth of content to go through? This is for you! (Note that this is a work in progress post that will be added to in the future as new information and Sagas are released).

LAST UPDATED: 09/01/24

*There will be some spoilers in this! The Odyssey is thousands of years old, but Epic: The Musical is an adaptation, meaning things are different. I recommend listening to all the songs in Epic before reading this, as this guide is intended to clear up misunderstandings/confusing moments and provide context.

**All of the underlined bits are links to whatever it is I'm referring to, just in case I'm making no sense. I will try to include sources for everything, or at least indicate where I got certain information from if there's no link available.

General Info:

*This is basic information about Epic: The Musical as a whole. This includes where to find new information and content, BTS things, etc.

• First of all, here's a quick rundown by the creator himself. There'll be some overlap in terms of what I cover here.

• Epic: The Musical is created by Jorge Rivera-Herrans, often referred to as "Jay" or "Mr. Jalapeño" by his fans. This is who writes the songs, casts the characters, and voices Odysseus himself!

• Epic: The Musical was originally (pre-Ocean Saga) produced under Blair Russell Productions, but Jay has never been paid the royalties from the songs released under them (and they have yet to give back control of the Epic social media accounts), so Epic is now produced under Jay's own company, Winion Entertainment LLC. (source)

• Jay is most active on TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. All videos that he posts to these platforms are generally the same, so don't worry if you can't follow him on all of them. He talks about several Epic-related things, including release dates, BTS, animatics, details about the music/story, snippets of released and unreleased songs, and also plenty of funny videos. He is very active within the fanbase, and you're likely to find him (and other cast members) leaving comments on posts by fans!

• Here are Jay's other links, including the Epic: The Musical Discord server. In my experience, the Discord server and Tiktok are the best places to get information as quickly as possible.

• Epic is still in progress. As of the latest update to this guide (09/01/24), the Wisdom Saga has just been released last week, leaving only two more sagas before the end. The songs are all part of a concept album, and there is currently no stage adaptation.

• Jay takes many creative liberties with The Odyssey for the sake of this adaptation of the story. He made a video recently explicitly saying to NOT use Epic as a basis for your knowledge of The Odyssey, at least when it comes to academic settings. Many of the things that occur in Epic DO NOT occur in the original story, and some parts of the original story have been cut out. Here is a video where Jay explains the purpose of Epic as an adaption. (I won't be including a list of differences in this post, but I might make a separate one if anyone's interested.)

• Although Epic takes a lot of these creative liberties, there are several little easter eggs sprinkled in among the actual plot points from The Odyssey. (I'll go into these later.)

• Jay will usually do a recap video before each new saga, going over all the events of the previous sagas for any newcomers.

• When a new saga is released, Jay will hold a LIVE listen-through. I highly recommend being there for these events, because they include lots of cool and important things such as:

official animations, animatics, and artwork, all of which provide insights into character design and events within the songs

Jay's live reactions (his facial expressions and little dances/lip-syncs are delightful)

details about the events within the songs that aren't made clear within the music itself (like what a character is doing, what is happening around them, etc)

Jay's comments in the LIVE chat, which includes details/easter eggs, BTS stuff, jokes, headcanons, and LOTS of love and praise for the actors and fans!

• Seeing as there is no stage adaptation for Epic, a lot of the visual elements come from artists and animatics/animations. Jay actually works with several of these artists for official trailers, artwork, and animatics/animations! Some of these artists include: Ainhoa Velasco, @wolfythewitch, @gigizetz, @_mircsy_, @drawing_angie, @anniflamma, Scilla_nimation, el_crafts, samantha_artt, and Giulia Toneatto. These people are all incredibly talented and deserve all the love from the Epic fanbase!

Info About the Music:

*I am not musically adept at all, and this post is already very long, so I am not going to list much specific information—just general common themes and some examples of them. Most of this information has been confirmed by Jay, in videos that I've linked below.

• If you're having trouble understanding the lyrics and/or the meaning behind the lyrics, Genius lyrics has the entire album and is full of helpful notes about the context within the musical. A lot of lyrics get misheard, so even if you think you understand what's being sung, I'd recommend checking just in case lol.

• The Troy Saga and The Cyclops Saga have been rereleased under Winion Entertainment LLC! This includes new vocals, altered music, etc. These were released alongside The Thunder Saga, along with new cover art. It's preferred that you listen to these versions of the songs, and NOT the originals, because Jay only gets royalties from the current ones.

• Many characters have their own musical motif, or even multiple motifs. There are also other motifs that are more general, like the "Danger is Nearby" motif.

• Many important characters have their own instrument that plays an integral part to the songs they're in. You can typically tell which instrument accompanies each character by listening to what is most prominent in a song that focuses on that character. (ex. Hermes with harps and the lyre, Athena with the piano)

• If you hear a character's musical motif or associated instrument in a song they don't play an integral part in, that can mean a few things (listed below). With the more general motifs, they have their own separate meanings outside of the characters.

That character is present, even if they're not singing. (ex. Hermes in "Puppeteer," signifying that he's listening to Odysseus' speech, which is brought up at the beginning of "Wouldn't You Like")

That character is related to whatever event/conversation is occurring. (ex. the same musical motif in "Ruthlessness" and "Storm," signifying that Poseidon is the one that sent the crazy storm)

The kind of instrument being played can indicate the emotion or tone of a scene. This is scene primarily with Odysseus, where the use of a nylon or acoustic guitar indicates that he is not being ruthless (source).

• When background vocals are accompanying a mortal, there is always a physical, in-universe source for those voices (ex. Odysseus' crew as background vocals in most of his songs). When background vocals are accompanying a god or other powerful being, there does not have to be a physical source for those voices—gods can basically summon a choir of voices at will (ex. "Ruthlessness"). (video explanation)

• Background chanting specifically is a common element in Epic songs. Typically, this chanting consists of the names of characters present/focused on in the song (as seen [heard?] in "Survive," "Ruthlessness," and "King").

Unclear/Vague Moments Explained:

*Some of the plot points, characters, etc. in Epic can be confusing on the first or second listen. So, I'll clear up some of the common things people (including myself) didn't notice or understand at first.

• The deep voice at the end of "The Horse and the Infant" is Zeus, voiced by Luke Holt. Zeus shows Odysseus a vision of Astyanax, the infant son of Hector, and tells him to kill the child.

• Odysseus drops Astyanax from the walls of Troy at the end of "Just a Man." Many people didn't catch this until the callback in "Monster" at the end of Act 2.

• "Warrior of the Mind" is quite confusing to those that don't have context. It is a flashback to a younger Odysseus, when he first met Athena and took her as a mentor.

• Athena has an ability called "Quick-Thought," which lets her have telepathic conversations with someone within milliseconds by pulling their mind into another dimension.

• Polites dies at the end of "Survive." He is the voice saying "Captain...". (I didn't realize this for a good while when I first started listening to Epic.)

• The voice telling Odysseus to wake up in "Keep Your Friends Close" is Penelope, not Aeolus.

• The lil' guys in "Keep Your Friends Close" are called winions (they're also the Lotus Eaters in "Open Arms"). Jay describes them as "little wind creatures that dance when they get excited and then float away uncontrollably." They don't actually exist in The Odyssey, but they're pretty cute!

• At the end of "Ruthlessness," the line "remember me" is said by Poseidon, who's basically sending his voice through the ocean fog (since Odysseus is very, very far away from him now).

• In "Done For," the yelling you are hearing in the background is essentially a Pokemon/Yu-Gi-Oh battle between Circe's chimera and the monster Odysseus summons using the moly plant given to him by Hermes. There is an animatic by mircsy to serve as a visual aide, which I find very helpful!

• In "There Are Other Ways," Circe was holding a knife and planning to stab Odysseus as she tried to seduce him. When he pulls away and rejects her, she quickly hides the knife.

• In "The Underworld," shades (souls) are in a constant loop, repeating whatever they were thinking when they died. Tiresias is an exception to this rule, seemingly because of him being such a powerful prophet. (confirmed in "The Underworld Saga" LIVE listen-through)

• I feel like this is fairly clear, but for those that aren't familiar with The Odyssey, I'll say it anyways. (Spoilers? I guess?) The prophecy in "No Longer You" is SUPER heavy on the foreshadowing. I won't go into it here, since many people already have, but let's just say the Greeks were big on self-fulfilling prophecies.

• As mentioned previously, background chanting is a big thing in Epic. In "No Longer You," the background chanting also serves as a prophecy detailing the future events of Odysseus's journey. Currently, only part of these lyrics have been confirmed by Jay: "SIREN SONG - SCYLLA THROAT - MUTINY - LIGHTNING BOLT." This leaves two lines that are not confirmed.

• In "Mutiny," after Odysseus is stabbed, he is tied up and knocked out before the crew sails to the nearest island. Right before he says to get to the boat and row away, he manages to untie himself.

Fun Facts/Easter Eggs:

• Circe is voiced by Jay's girlfriend, Talya Sindel.

• When Poseidon kills off most of Odysseus' crew in "Ruthlessness," he says that there are only 43 men left. But in "The Underworld," the souls of his crew say that 558 men died under his command. Considering Odysseus started off with 600 men ("Full Speed Ahead"), this math doesn't add up. This is because in The Odyssey, when Odysseus and his men party with Circe for a year, a man in his crew named Elpenor woke up drunk on Circe's roof and proceeded to walk off the roof and die from the fall. He actually has a cut song.

• Jay messed up the amount of years in "There Are Other Ways." It had not been 12 years, but 10. This little screw-up is referenced in "Different Beast."

• Odysseus' mother is voiced by Jay's actual mother.

• If you see people commenting "rawr rawr rawr" or "🦖" on Jay's videos, they're referencing his April Fool's prank this year. He made a video saying he'd completely changed the Act 2 closing song, "Monster," and proceeded to play a happy-go-lucky sounding song going "I am the monster, rawr rawr rawr."

• In every single saga, Odysseus says "what." in an absolutely bamboozled manner (or "huh" in The Troy Saga, and he does it twice in The Ocean Saga). It happens in "Open Arms," "Polyphemus," "Keep Your Friends Close," "Puppeteer," and "No Longer You." Occasionally, this "what" will be said by a different character (Poseidon in "Ruthlessness," the siren in "Different Beast")

• Perimedes (another man in Odysseus' crew, who lives all the way until "Thunder Bringer") and Elpenor were best friends.

[reiimicxii]

All Subtext I Could Find for Hamilton and Laurens' Relationship in Hamilton: The Musical

Since you guys asked for it, here it is!!

By the way, I've only gotten these details via being hyperfocused/staring at Laurens and Hamilton mostly throughout the musical's Act 1. Also overanalyzing their actions.

Again, Lin could've made this relationship more explicit, but he chose not to. They could've had a song, a SINGULAR SONG, but nothing? Just some light subtext that could be interpreted as platonic? Okay. I'll play your game.

If the ship was better intergrated in the story, maybe if there was a song explaining their relationship, or, literally anything Laurens-centric, I'd gurantee Laurens wouldn't be as UwU turtle boy twinkified by the fandom, honestly.

Because there's barely any OFFICIAL lams content in the musical to nimble on, I shall provide it myself by overanalyzing content. That is what I (try to) do best, after all. And this ship has been taking over my brain.

Also if there was any subtext that I missed, do let me know! I shall reblog if there's any more.

Alexander Hamilton

- When the cast are giving Hamilton his stuff, and Laurens gives his bag, a mild gay stare is at large.

(Detail!: Eliza gives him his coat, Angelica gives him his book, Laurens gives him his bag. Very specific character choices, I've gotta say)

(Side note: I've seen someone say Laurens mouths "Me? I loved him", but I don't exactly know if that's true or not, since he's in the dark)

My Shot

- (ESPECIALLY NOTICEABLE IN THE PRO-SHOT) Laurens checks him out a bit as Hamilton sings "These New York City streets get colder, I shoulder (...)"

- When Laurens sings his verse "You, and I, do or die (...)" he touches Hamilton's shoulder and gay-ass staring ensues.

- "Laurens I like you a lot"

(Laurens giggles a bit and acts embarrassed at that lol)

- Laurens says "Let's get this guy infront of a crowd" SO INTIMATELY like... compared to the studio album.... 🏳️‍🌈 (?)

- Just before Laurens shouts "Everybody sing!" He and Hamilton had a little shoulder-to-shoulder moment

Story of Tonight

- The gays do gays. That's all I have to say. You all know about the amount of gay stares and shoulder touches in this song.

- Also how they walk away together??

Right Hand Man

- During the final "Here comes the general!" Laurens and Hamilton do the "handshake thing", only noticed it just now.

Helpless

- After Hamilton tells Eliza "Swear to God you'll never feel so (...)" He and Laurens fucking come in CLOSE and Laurens congratulates him. And then gazes at him from afar before clapping then leaving. Jealous much?

- God, lemme just say, when Laurens and Angelica come down the aisle during the wedding they look so miserable...

Satisfied

- Laurens is like "Alright, alright, stop kissing infront of me mfs!!!"

- During the rewind part, Angelica, Laurens, and Eliza momentarily all stay in the light AT THE SAME TIME, the light Angelica was standing in.

(Side note: I am of the opinion that John Laurens should've sang Satisfied, yet I know that Satisfied was sort-of meant to be a female solo)

(2nd side note: Laurens could've gotten batshit drunk because his lover is getting married)

Story of Tonight (Reprise)

- When Laurens sings "But I've seen wonders great and small" he points at Hamilton. Didn't know Alex had such a small dick.

- Laurens clinging onto Hamilton and staring mindlessly at that man during the entire beginning portion of the song before Burr came in

- Also when they sing "Something you will never see again" Laurens gives Hamilton a sorta "I know I'm gonna die later lol" glance.

Stay Alive

- When Laurens sings "And everyday's a test of our camraderie and bravery" they do the "handshake thing" (which i think is a metaphor for queerness, or something like that)

- The transition from Stay Alive to Ten Duel Commandments ("Laurens, do not throw away your shot"), do I even need to say anything? ALSO THEY WERE IN A PINK LIGHT. (While yes, it is light, it classifies as pink)

CORRECTION: it was a purple pink-ish light, my bad

Ten Duel Commandments

- Of course, the bitches are gay af.

- Burr and Lee have a normal handshake during the seconds part, but Laurens and Hamilton do the "handshake thing" instead

Meet Me Inside

- During the beginning, the two share a hug and gazing. Also, "I'm satisfied!" being said by Laurens.

Laurens' Interlude / Tomorrow There'll Be More of Us

- Dead gay staring/pining ensues. Also, the fact that in the final version, Eliza doesn't even specify the letter came from South Carolina, yet Hamilton immediately assumes it's from Laurens...

Thank you for hearing my rambling, I have joined the fandom late, yes.

[blysse-and-blunder]

in lieu of a coffee shop

found out this week that the days of my long-time favorite café for working in my neighborhood are officially numbered, before they bust through the exposed brickwall and fireplace and connect it to the irish pub next door. rip to a real one, guess i have a lot of hours to clock in there before it's too late-- which is also good because i have. a dissertation to finish.

reading pleasantly surprised this week by the first hundred pages or so of lev grossman's the bright sword, which is an arthurian novel that manages to do something creative and original (at least in the dialogue) while also clearly clearly being informed by / engaged with / delighted by the tropes and canon. palomides likens the round table to a zero, in the days of its post-grail quest decline, and someone else asks "what the fuck is a zero?" 10/10 joke. lovely. excited to see where this one goes, i think. also continued listening to the memory of souls audiobook while fighting for my life in hollow knight (see below), and to dip in and out of kaikeyi, which i must say i have a new appreciation for now that i think i understand what story it's retelling. i have so far not been spoiled for classic piece of ancient literature the ramayana, but there's enough foreshadowing in the book itself that i am assuming everything goes very very wrong sometime soon. the dialogue and honestly protagonist's narration here not as much to my liking, but i'm curious.

listening many a podcast, tom scott's lateral, qi's no such thing as a fish, just wrapped up the first season of friends at the table (autumn in hieron), dimension 20 (crown of candy), the adventure zone (currently abnimals). musically, shout-out to tumblr user calliopeprelude for this post which alerted me to the new lucy dacus singles, music video, and forthcoming album, which happens to drop on my self-imposed dissertation deadline-- so that countdown in spotify has a cool double-meaning!

watching discovered over christmas break that i've been sleeping on only murders in the building, so i'm enjoying that as a solo watch when i can. love the tone of this show. love the podcast in-jokes (you may be able to tell that i am, while not a true-crime fan, a real podcast aficionado. as they say), love the flavor of new york which is somehow both today and yesteryear, love the three main cast and especially love that it is willing to get surreal! and atmospheric! while also being imo extremely 'cozy' murder, in a way that you usually have to go to the bbc for.

i just think they're neat!

playing

i have mentioned before (i think) that i've made it to the white palace in hollow knight, which is a real lesson in humility rn. did i mention i finished pentiment at last? i had saved it for the end of the semester, after literally teaching a course on medieval books, and it seemed super fitting to be playing it during the christmas break since the ending chapter is conducted in winter, and there's a big christmas feast to bring the town together at the end. the garlands of greenery and cookies and special spiced drinks? what symmetry. i had. some thoughts about the resolution to the mystery, some of which have to do with the representation of medieval faith in modern media, but overall three big thumbs up and much love to everyone who put so much into this game.

and i love that they found a way to work in this song, which is another one of those details that resonated. [link to the game's version of in dulce jubilo, the christmas carol]

making

fallow week. mulling over ideas for a creative outing to celebrate my b-day? they're all expensive or badly timed or i don't love the image, but i haven't given up on finding one of those paint night things that might be fun. i've also meal prepped decently this week and last.

as an aside, this week was the first in which i didn't have the tumblr app on my phone, having removed it to try and decrease the amount of time i spend mindlessly scrolling while not getting out of bed. i then replaced it with the self-care app + game finch, which, so far so good. mixed-success on the reduced scrolling (turns out i will scroll any random site, from clothing sales to facebook cinema history clickbait, to avoid getting out of bed), but it's early days yet. my finch is very cute, if you'd like to be friends hmu.

[hide-in-imagination]

Wait- like really? They've confirmed a new series? Is it already known if all the original actors will appear? Oh my god what's happening

"Oh my god what's happening" EXACTLY MY FEELINGS

So, Karol Sevilla, the actress who played Luna, went to an interview at Radio Disney Mexico and that's where she broke the news.

The audio it's in spanish, obviously, but here's the translation for everyone:

K: "In 2025... We're going to do Soy Luna 4."

Interviewer: *gaps* "NO WAY"

K: "And we're all very excited... because it was a great time for all of us... I think it left a mark in the lives of many, and my own as well, so we'll be getting back into our Luna personas next year."

I: "YOU HEARD IT HERE IN EXCLUSIVE! WE'RE GOING TO SWIPE THE DUST OFF THE ROLLERSKATES, Y'ALL!"

K: *laughs* "Yeah, to be honest, not even I was expecting it-- I'm so gonna get scolded for this, obviously-- but I'm extremely happy, for real. I think Soy Luna 4 is going to be something epic for everyone."

So, yeah, that's all we know for now. There hasn't been an official announcement from Disney Channel Latinoamerica to know if all the original cast is returning or not. I'm 99% sure Michael is returning tho because I follow him on social media and his WhatsApp channel and about a month ago he said something like "I can't say anything yet, but there's a very high chance that something you've all been asking for for a very long time it's going to happen. So wait for it."

Back then the first thing I thought of was "Is he going to act with Valentina in some new project?" But I quickly dismissed it because Michael is known for trying to create hype for everything he does, even if it's small projects that only mexicans will see sjfks. I thought maybe he was refering to his album, which he was supposedly going to launch at some point but it got paused because of covid. But now that Karol said this... 👀 Well, it would make sense if he was refering to that.

I'll be updating you all in case any new information comes out. I know Valentina's new project was the spin off of "El Marginal" which was announced some months ago, but by 2025, all of it should be filmed, so, unless she has some other projects I know nothing about, she should be free next year.

I'm not sure Valentina would want to return to a childish role tho. She's been trying to shed her Disney skin by playing more adult roles (*cough* the sex fest that was Elite *cough*) so the only reason I can find for her to return would be if the money is very fucking good 😂😂 Which, it should be! I mean, it's Disney Channel 😂

Personally, I only care about those two, the rest of the cast could not return and I wouldn't care. Then again, if they make them return only to ruin Simbar, I will sue for emotional damage. You know the *amount* of fix-it fics I'll have to write if they dare to do anything to my babies? I'll die, y'all. My hands will cramp. They can not do this to me, I have enough wips already.

[man-down-in-hatchet-town]

hii i have a question regarding the soundtrack (btw im so sorry im sending you these asks, but idk you seem like a pro on any starkid related matter)

so.. starkid posted a link to buy and download the official soundtrack, right?

well. i found it on apple music.

is that normal? because if it isnt, then i wont listen to it from there and i'll see if i can actually buy the soundtrack..

lol no problem! I'm always happy to help, though I don't know how much help I am in this situation.

So I don't actually have Apple music, and I don't really know how it works but I'm guessing the general rule is that everything available on iTunes ends up on there? I don't know what Starkid feels about this, but its hard to imagine Nick Lang and Corey Lubowich not being aware of it.

What I will say is there is a reason it doesn't go up on Spotify for a bit, and that's to encourage people to buy the album, since purchasing it leads significantly greater profits for the cast and crew than streaming. Starkid is a really small company, and they do ultimately end up putting almost everything out there for free, so these little ways that they use to bring in money are super important to its survival as a company. And it's extra super important now, what with the strike. So if you have the money to spend, I'd absolutely try to purchase it instead. Starkid gets the money and the album also gets to climb up the charts, which might expose some new people to the show and is also just plain cool. You can find it on iTunes by searching Nerdy Prudes Must Die in the store.

(@melxody and @thatdelusionalnerd well I took one for the team and risked looking like a complete idiot by messaging Corey Lubo about it. Basically said "this might be super dumb but in case it's not here's what might be up:" and let him know what's going on. Just in case we have stumbled onto something they don't know about and don't want. No idea if he'll even see it but I'll let you guys know if he gets back to me)

[my-name-is-siduri]

The Search for Pet Shop Boys: The Musical

Image source.

Yep, I'm back at it again with an essay about an obscure Pet Shop Boys topic. For those that are just skimming through, here's a quick summary: Closer to Heaven (not to be confused with the song of the same name) is a musical created by the Pet Shop Boys in collaboration with Johnathan Harvey. While the cast recording album is easily available online, a complete video recording of the musical has never been released. Despite this, a few officially recorded segments as well as amateur recordings have surfaced over the years.

tl;dr I have created a Youtube playlist that contains every publicly available recording of the Closer to Heaven musical that I could find.

Want to know more? Read on.

While I could go into depth about the history, making of, plot, and critical reception of the musical, it's already been done by others on the internet who went into far more detail than I ever could. If you want that info, I would highly recommend reading Wayne's page about the musical as well as its Wikipedia article. Both of these pages helped me a lot in my research.

(As a side note, I attempted to contact the Closer to Heaven fan club linked on Wayne's page. I received an email back from the server saying that it's not longer in use. No fan club membership for me...)

And so began my search for a shred of footage from this musical. Youtube was my first pick...and I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are indeed a few clips that have been uploaded! There were enough clips that it was possible to compile them into a playlist!

What Has Been Found So Far:

The first nine minutes and fifty-six seconds of the musical, My Night (2001)

Closer to Heaven (2010)

Shameless (2010)

Friendly Fire, including a few of the lines leading in (2001)

Closer to Heaven reprise 1, does NOT include the lines leading in (2001)

The last four minutes and thirty seconds of the musical, note that all the clips available are of the Positive Role Model ending and not the Vocal ending (2001, 2010, 2015)

miscellaneous clips that I haven't been able to identify with certainty (2001, 2019)

For good measure, I also checked Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, Dailymotion, Vimeo, and Archive.org. Nothing came up on any of those sites. Granted, the effectiveness of these websites' search features wildly vary, so it's not impossible that there's something there, but buried.

I did find quite a few photos on Twitter of both the 2015 and 2019 productions. Enough, in fact, that I decided to start a Pinterest board to curate them and others. After some digging around online, I even managed to find a few pictures from earlier productions. So there's that as well.

So where does this search go from here? There's a few possible leads:

Amateur Recordings

I'm pretty sure this is the extent of this branch of the search. If any more video exists, it's way too buried for me to find. Really, the only way any progress could be made in this direction is if someone suddenly uploaded more footage one day (which does happen, but is hardly guaranteed).

2001 Official Recording

Small amounts of footage of the original 2001 production of Closer to Heaven has shown up in news coverage of the time and A Life in Pop. If I'm remembering correctly, a few sources from the time mentioned that Neil and Chris had wanted to do a home release of the musical at some point. Why that never happened, who knows. What happened to that footage, and if it still exists, is also not known.

I have to be honest, I'm not going to even try to pursue this route. It feels like the only way this will ever surface is if someone suddenly gave it to go ahead for it to be released. Not impossible, but I'm not holding my breath.

2019 Official Recording

Looking back at the 2019 production trailer, you might notice that it's a montage of several scenes in the musical. Now this is a complete guess, but it really feels like there's more footage than just what's seen in the trailer...perhaps even the entire musical?

Above The Stag, the company that ran the 2019 production, does have a contact email available on their website. I've heard from others who attempted this search in the past that contacting them has been fruitless. Still, I wanted to cover my bases. I sent a simple email asking if they recorded the rest of the musical and, if so, is it available for viewing anywhere. I'll provide an update if I ever get a reply.

Other Official Recordings?

If there were official recordings of any of the other productions, I found no evidence of them in my search. But if they do exist, they're probably even harder to find than these two.

Conclusion

I'm not the first person to search for a recording of Closer to Heaven, and I probably won't be the last. I'm not really sure if this is more progress than others have made before, or if this is just retreading old ground. In any case, I hope that making these compilations helps someone out.

And of course, I'd like to make a call here. If you have any recordings of Closer to Heaven, PLEASE make them publicly available and let us all know!

Thanks for reading, everyone!

[dustedmagazine]

03 Greedo — Crip, I'm Sexy (self-released)

03 Greedo · Crip, I'm Sexy Hosted By DJ A-Tron

It is, thankfully, getting to be harder to remember a time when we might’ve never heard from James Jamal Jackson again. Originally arrested in 2016 on drug trafficking and possession of a firearm charges facing down a sentence of 300 years, 03 Greedo took a plea deal for 20 just as his star was ascending, just as he was finding his voice with the Purple Summer mixtape trilogy and The Wolf of Grape Street. Clinked up for four years, Greedo waited out two parole denials with a steady stream of second-tier compilations cobbled together from the vaults before his release in January 2023. The man’s been on a tear ever since, picking up right where he left off at an unmatched pace that feels as desperate as it did before he began his sentence in the summer of 2018.

Case in point: Just half a month after releasing the official, Sony-backed album Hella Greedy, the Watts rapper dumped Crip, I'm Sexy on listeners with no warning in early November. At 36 tracks running more than an hour and a half, there’s a lot for you to sift through — and make no mistake, it is on you to do the sifting. Greedo’s already said he might yet have another album to drop before 2024 is over, so what’s on here is already in his rearview mirror.

But let’s pause a moment to reflect on it: Crip, I’m Sexy is his best post-prison release in part because it benefits from that aforementioned desperation, like he can sense a clock is ticking and his brain’s bursting creativity needs unleashing as immediately as possible. What that translates to is an expansive platform for his abilities, a SoundCloud-only mixtape that shoots in every direction at maximum velocity for a breathtaking display of Greedo’s formidable skill.

He’s not alone here, either. Along with an elite cast of producers bringing some seriously diverse heat — Lex Luger, Pi’erre Bourne and Turbo all show up behind the boards, though the majority of the beats are handled by Detroit’s Mia Jayc — Greedo’s trying out local flows and flavors alongside luminaries like Michiganders Icewear Vezzo (you might’ve read about him), Peezy and Bfb da Packman, not to mention up-and-comers like respective Es GrindHard and Babyfxce; Cleveland native Doe Boy; Houstonian Guapo; Skrilla, who hails from Philadelphia, the first city he calls out on the tape in the opening verse of “Best Thing Yet”; the Drake-adjacent Canadian R&B singer Roy Woods; dudes pulled from his local scene out in L.A. in Wallie the Sensei and 500Raxx; and dye-in-the-wool megastar Lil Uzi Vert. That he can move so seamlessly among them is a huge part of his talent, but the other huge part is that he never loses his voice. You always know when Greedo has taken the mic.

Whether he’s cooking at a more lively tempo (“Maybach Minivan,” “Lil Drummer,” “Back End Freestyle”), hooking the chorus croon (“Song 4 U 2,” “Exotic Everything,” “My Gun”) or getting in his grapes over a mournful piano line (“Maybach SUV,” “Exorcist,” “Died in Vain,” “2 People”), 03 Greedo is in top form throughout Crip, I’m Sexy and it’s hard to deny two things: First, this man loves Maybachs; second, he remains one of contemporary hip-hop’s most distinctive, intriguing stylists. “I ain’t been inside the trenches in a while / Tryna provide some more protection for my child” he sings as he winds down “Best Thing Yet.” Hopefully that’s true for the sake of both the artist and the audience … but hopefully it’s also true that he never stops rapping like he’s constantly peering over his shoulder. The quality of his prolific output in that mindset is self-evident.

Patrick Masterson

[europeanmusicals]

europeanmusicals is a 'source' type blog dedicated to European musicals, not including the West End. This may sometimes include Asian productions of European musicals, and European productions of Broadway and West End musicals. It also includes European musical actors solo work and concerts.

Here you'll find resources, masterlists and recommendations about how to get into European musicals, where to watch and listen to them, and where to buy tickets and merchandise. Along with posts of audios and videos, gifs, official images and news. Tracks #europeanmusicaledit and #europeanmusicals to reblog any gifs, edits, fanart, fanfic, videos and audios.

We have a Discord now! https://discord.gg/du7jmxXQd3

The blog is better views in the website view (username.tumblr.com) so you can see the theme properly and all the links and recourses within the blog theme.

About The Blog and Owner

This blog is run by @emptymasks , I'm a neurodivergent trans man who uses he/him pronouns and can struggle with understanding tone so use of tone tags in asks and dms are appreciated, especially so I can understand if you're joking or being sarcastic or not.

This blog doesn't tolerate bigotry of any kind. Any asks or dms sent with any sort of bigotry will just be deleted and the sender will be blocked.

I'm not taking requests to make any particular gifts, art, videos, fics, etc.

If you want me to be more likely to see your European musical content and reblog it to here please tag it with #european musicals I try to check that tag as often as possible.

I only speak English so if you send an ask in a language other than English I probably won't be able to answer it.

Useful Links and Resources

‘So you want to get into non-English language musicals?’ first recc list with links

WennLi3b3 on archive.org (lots of cast albums and proshots, subtitles and sheet music)

musical_lover_1980n on archive.org (not me or anyone i know) who has uploaded many cast albums

VK Communities (Russian website that has many fanpages for musicals that include info, photos, videos, audios, etc): Drew Sarich | Elisabeth das Musical | Mark Seibert | Takarazuka | Thomas Borchert | Máté Kamarás | Pia Douwes | Wenn Ich Tanzen Will (general musical theatre) | Uwe Kroger | Vera Sveshnikova | FrMusic (French Musicals & Music) | The Kingdom of Musicals (general musical theatre) | Kevin Tarte | moments. (general musical theatre) | The Phantom of the Opera | Love French Musicals | Jesper Tydén | Oedo Kuipers | Ramin Karimloo | Wicked | Willemijn Verkaik | musical.com | Kunze & Levay Musicals | Takarazuka Revue | Tanz der Vampire | Notre Dame de Paris | Elisabeth das Musical | Frank Wildhorn | Lestat Musical | Jesus Christ Superstar | The Phantom of the Opera | Les Misérables | Tanz der Vampire | Ivan Ozhogin | Yaroslav Bayarunas | Alexander Kazmin | John Eyzen | Jan Amman | Taffes Buro (Rudolf Affaire Mayerling) | Marjan Shaki & Lukas Perman | Romeo et Juliette (the Italian production)

#non english language musicals for all of my masterlists and info posts

‘Where to watch and listen to non-English language musicals?’ post with links 

emptymasks’ musical streams calendar & info post part 1 | part 2 (old/finished)

Elisabeth das Musical Japanese Productions Masterlist

German-Language Musicals with English Subs & German-Speaking Countries Performing Musicals in English Masterlist

[jaehyunsuh]

nct 127 reaction to: being interested in idol!reader

REQUESTS ARE: OPEN

please go to the ask box to send your requests or questions♡ you can interact as much as you want !

author's note: i tried to make this as a mix for a reaction and scenario so i hope it's okay, i'm sorry if it isn't that good

taeil

you just debuted and going into your 3rd debut stage, you are excited because you are meeting idols you have always admired and they have been all so nice. Today nct 127 is doing promotions as well, while taeil is in the living room he notices this really pretty girl, dressed in cute clothes while all she does is drink water. He is surprised because he was never seen here before. "hey, who is that new girl? Is she a backup dancer? She looks really well dressed for a backup dance." He tells haechan trying that no one listens to him. "hyung really? She is a new idol, she just debuted 2 days ago. Why? Do you like her?" He asks playfully while teasing his older member. "i don't know, I was just asking." Taeil says trying not to show his noticeable interest in you.

he just keeps staring and looking away when your about to look. You go on stage to practice and he is mesmerized by your beautiful voice, he even searches for you while you are on stage. After you are both done rehearsing taeil and some of the members go to some of the rooms looking for the staff, they enter one of the rooms and decide to sit in the couches there, for his surpsrise he finds you are there staring at yor phone. "I'm so sorry, i didn't notice you. Hello I'm y/n, nice to meet you." You say trying to be polite, the 127 members tell you not worry and say hi back to you while sitting.

you decide to put your headphones on and listen to some music, since taeil is focused on you by mistake he looks at your phone. "Wow, i really like that song." He says on accident realizing he was looking at your phone. "I'm sorry, i wasn't looking at your phone, it just was in my front view." He says panicking. "It's okay, i appreciate your good taste anyway." You say laughing. "Do you want to listen too?" You tell him while offering him one of your earphones. "Oh, yes, thank you." He says shy yet happy. He starts talking about how much you both like this artist, his music, lyrics and singing. He becomes really talkative and comfortable with those kind of topics. You exchange numbers and agree to recommend music to each other.

johnny

being one of the most popular and few english idols out there, you are offered to mc-ing a new youtube channel with nct's johnny. You were really excited with whole idea, for the first episode it was just going to be johnny and you answering some fans questions but for the next episodes you were going to interview more idols.

johnny enters the studio where you are recording, you are already sitting and waiting excited to start the show. Johnny is mesmerized by your beauty and the sweet way you talk to everyone in the room. "Hi, my name is johnny, I'm a really big fan of you. I'm glad we can work together." He says smiling confidently. "Oh, hi I'm y/n, thank you. I'm excited to work with you too." You began the show and answer the fans questions comfortably, even tho this was the first time you met each other you were always laughing and joking with each other.

you are finished recording and picking your stuff to leave, when johnny grabs your wrist. "Hey i want to show you something." You follow him in agreement. You both end up in the rooftop of the building. It was dark already and you could see the beautiful lights of the city of Seoul. "Wow this is beautiful, how did you knew about this." You say smiling while looking at the beautiful landscape. "I've worked here before recording some stuff and i found out about it once." He says smiling.

"And why did you decided to take me here, we just met." You say facing him. "I don't know, you are a really nice and pretty girl so i felt like we could come here and talk, get to know each other better." He says flirty getting close to you. "Okay, great. So this is were you take all the 'nice and pretty girls', now i feel special?" You say say smiling while being sarcastic. "Look babe, i haven't been interested in someone for a long time, don't worry I'm not a player, but i needed a way to spend some time alone just the two of us." He says being direct and getting closer. You smile knowing you want to go out with this guy as soon as possible. "Don't you think we are going a little bit fast?" You say taking a step closer to him. "If you are okay with this I'm okay with it too. So are you gonna let me take you on a date tomorrow." He says staring right into your eyes putting a piece of your hair behind your ear. "Okay, pick me up at 6." You say flirty biting your bottom lip and leaving just making him wanting you even more.

taeyong

you are excited that even tho you just started your idol career you are already having your own radio show, you are able to express yourself, interview some idols and also share music that you like.

today you are having taeyong from nct to come to you show since he has his solo debut. Taeyong enters the studio and when looks at you he immediately blushes and becomes shy, he greets you being polite and nice and you give him a comforting smile. You start the show by asking him some questions about how he feels about his solo album, the writing and producing process, the concept and what inspires him. You chat comfortably and even laugh a lot, everyone is surprised that taeyong is being so open even tho he just met you. Taeyong couldn't stop smiling since the beginning of the interview because you totally got his heart.

the show ends and you greet all of the staff while taeyong does too. You get out of the recording room and go to the rest area, in there taeyong approaches to you. "Hi." He says giving a cute smile. You say hi back smiling too. "I wanted to tell you that you were amazing at the show and i really enjoyed it." He tells you while he keeps smiling. "Thank you, i had fun too in this interview." You tell him. "Uhm, i wanted to know... do you come up with this questions or the staff gives them to you." He asks while being curious. "Oh, i make them myself. Sometimes i write them down or i just come with them on the spot, it depends on the artist and on how the interview is going." You say smiling. "Since you seemed so happy taking about your music it was really easy and comfortable to make this interview."

Hearing you say all of that completely caught taeyong's heart, it was like he had heart eyes forming, he was nervous and didn't even knew how to react. "Well if you don't mind, i really liked talking to you, maybe we can talk just the two us, without the public listening and grab some coffee after you are free?" He says nervous yet with a sweet smile. "Yes !! I would to listen more about you and get to know you better to." You say playfully. At this point taeyong was over the moon, really happy and proud of himself.

yuta

there is a new football (soccer for some of you) variety show you are being part of. This is the first time you are part of the official cast for a variety program, you just have been as a guest but never as part of the cast. There some many talented and popular mc's, actors and idols as part of your team so you are really excited to learn from them.

yuta arrives to the football camp were the show is being recorded, he feels happy that he can connect something so special to him with his idol side as well. He gets dressed in his sports clothes and stretches since this shows involves some physical activity. He is introduced to the rest of the cast and he greets everyone with his big and bright smile, he reaches into you and goes surprised since he has never met you before, also there is only two girls in the cast but the other one is a well known actress so he feels curious about you.

He tries not to stare so much at you but he finds your excitement and energy really adorable. You start recording and you are divided in duos, by luck yuta was your partner and you were excited since he was experienced with it. "Oh no, I'm doomed." He says playfully while laughing. You pout and make puppy eyes making him feel a little bit bad about his joke. "Hey i was just kidding, i will help you to be good." He says in a low voice really close to your face, which makes you blush but you nod your hair in agreement.

you are supposed to do basic stuff, like passing the ball to your partner, kicking it through some cones and then doing some penalties. You were doing pretty bad what made you feel bad and embarrased for yuta since he was your partner. You are taking a break and he approaches to you. "Y/n, you are doing really well don't worry". He says giving a warming smile. "I'm terrible and you know it, but i appreciate your effort in making me feel better." You tell him while looking at the floor.

"I mean it, if we don't win this time we will do it next time. Listen, you are an idol not a freaking football player, you just have to have fun." He says calmly with a comforting vibe. "Not everyone is good in many areas as i am". He says playful with a big smile in his face. "Thank you, that didn't made feel even useless in football." You say laughing. "Well, if you don't mind we can go and practice on the weekend, i know a good place where there's no many people so you don't hurt anyone while kicking the ball." He says while laughing and you punch his arm. "But no really we can go there and maybe eat something later." He says now with a serious face and flirty vibe. "Okay it sounds nice, i will accept your help then." You tell him smiling as well. Yuta felt weird since his normal self is really competitive and would have been slightly annoyed by you, but you captivated him as soon as he saw you, so him helping you was a great opportunity to approach to you.

doyoung

you are really excited because sm entertainment has sent you TVXQ tickets. You debuted just a year ago and you are excited that you are already being included in such cool things, even if it's just going to a concert. You were curious thinking about what idols were going to be there since so many idols end up going to their concerts.

doyoung enters the arena and his manager leads him to his seat, as the other invited artists he is sitting in vip seats. He goes closer to his designated seat at it's surprised but finding out he is sitting next to a girl he doesn't know. "Hi, excuse me, I'm doyoung from nct, nice to meet you." He says while shaking tour head slightly bowing to you. "I hope it's olay if i seat next to you, are you okay with that?" He says giving a shy smile looking nervous. "Oh, it's totally okay, i actually didn't wanted to seat by myself so I'm glad you are my partner." You say giving a big smile which warmed his heart.

the concert starts and doyoung stares at you, you have been singing and moving your lightstick since the concert started, reacting happily at every single stage, song and even the effects. He was glad he was with someone who was so genuine and not hiding her expressions at all, since some idols don't even react being at a concert. You react and laugh, sharing your thoughts with doyoung while he just nods his head laughing and smiling at you. He couldn't believe how nice you were. He wished this concert lasts forever.

The last song was performed and the duo waves saying goodbye to the fans. You are waiting for people to leave so you can leave as well. "Uhm, i know this might be unexpected but i have two tickets that the company gave for exo's concert. Since you enjoyed this so much i was wondering if you would like to go?" He says with a shy smile. "Oh my god yes! I love them so much, you are so nice, thank you." You tell him excited. "But the thing is that you have to go with me again." He says firm with a confident smile. "I would love too, i like seeing you smile while i was saying nonsense stuff, it was so sweet. You say while feeling touched. "Oh no no, i love hearing you talk, that's why i want to see you again." He says giving a warm smile. "Okay, see you next week then." You say to him while winking and leaving with your manager. After you left doyoung gasped letting out all the nervousness you made him feel while he smiles at himself.

jaehyun

since he is experienced with idols being around him all the time, talking to him and trying to get his attention, it was new to him to find out about this new idol y/n, she just debuted but has been training for years and it's already so professional and talented. He saw you for the first time at a little event where other idols were, he saw your mv and heard your album before and thought you were stunning and talented, but didn't had the opportunity to approach to you.

then he turns on tv and he watches your debut stage, he is shooked by the you dance, how stable you are and your mesmerizing stage presence. He knew that he definitely had to meet you.

there was a festival were nct 127 and you were both performing, as soon as he arrives the arena you cross paths with you, the staff introduces you to the 127 members and obviously, to jaehyun. His vibe is different and kinda intimidating, it just leaves you intrigued. You are left alone and he starts chatting with you comfortably, he asks about music taste, debut and whose friends you have in common, during the whole conversation he has really nice and friendly trying to hide his flirty side. He asks for your number and tells you to hang out when you have time.

suddenly your new friend bambam invites you to a little party at his house so you can meet new people and make friends, since you are new you accept. And there he was, jung jaehyun at the end of the living room. He immediately goes to you and starts talking, now he is being more teasing and flirty that before, he is being really straightforward and you can't deny you like that.

"So tell me more about you, how has the whole idol life been for you? Is it all new?" He asks curious. "Yes, everything it's so different. Everyone is always watching my steps, expecting something from me, fake people try to be my friends and famous guys thinking i want to date all of them." You say annoyed. "I totally understand, everyone is always expecting me to have the 'prince charming' image and sometimes is exhausting having to behave certain way, also it makes some girls expect me to fall for them and be really romantic." He says open up to you, which surprises you since, for what you know, he doesn't open up easily. "But right now I'm interested in just one girl that I've met for a while now. She seems to be down to earth, i feel like she is gonna accept the real me." He says taking sip of his drink and staring at you playfully. "Oh really?" You say teasing as well.

"Tell me more about her." You say while smiling. "Well, she is beautiful, kind, friendly and she never ever! Cares about what anyone says. She is so real and smart, i can't wait to take her out. Oh also! She is really really hot." He says giving a flirty and teasing smile. "Wow, she seems like a really nice girl, i hope you get her." You say playing along with him. "So do you wanna go out to take dinner tomorrow? I will take care of you, i promise." He asks without hesitation whispering at your ear which makes your body become weak. "Yes, i would love to." You answer rally close to his lips, teasing him as well.

winwin

in the last few months lots of clothing brands have been offering you modeling contracts to promote them, that has made magazines gain a lot of interest in you as well.

winwin has been really into modeling lately, brands and magazines from korean and china all want to have him in their team. A really big and important project came to him which made him really excited, it was a photoshoot with vogue korea! At the meeting he was told they were doing this with the purpose of promoting a clothing brand but also making a really aesthetically beautiful photoshoot, he is also told that that in this project he will be collaborating with a female idol who is getting popular in the modeling business as well. He was excited with the whole idea and curious to know who his partner was.

the day of the photoshoot finally comes, he enters the makeup and hair room and sees a really cute girl getting done while talking excited and smiling to the staff members, he immediately smiles feeling moved by the girl's excitement. He sits next to her and wonders if she if his partner for the photoshoot. He is getting done and constantly looking at the mirror to see the pretty girl sitting next him. He feels shy and nervous about her and doesn't even knows why.

the staff enters the room and introduces the two of you. You give winwin and kind and warming smile, he feels captivated by you and is curious to get to know you better. You both put your outfits on and are called to finally start the photoshoot. The concept and scenario were really artistic, romantic and beautiful, you felt like you were in a movie. You are told what type of poses and vibes you should do and you proceed to follow the instructions. "I need you two to come closer, like if you were in love. Winwin hold y/n's hip in a romantic way." The photographer says. Winwin proceeds to hold your hip asking you for permission. "It's okay." You tell him with a warm smile.

you have already been two hours taking pictures, making poses, changing clothes, makeup and scenarios and now you are finally done. During the whole photoshoot you both started to create a close bond between the two of you, feeling even more and more comfortable with each other. You head to the makeup and hair room one more time to finally take you makeup off and hange into comfy clothes. You are both wearing a jean and t-shirt looking at your phones, the stylists and makeup artists left the room so it was just the two of you there.

"Hey, i really liked working with you today, you are really talented." Winwin says with a kind smile. "I really liked working with you too! You are really talented as well and you also made feel really comfortable. Thank you for that." You say giving him a smile back. "I know this might sound straightforward and daring but... do you want to have dinner tonight? I had a lot of fun with you and i want to know you better." He says shy. "I would love too, to be honest you have been my favorite coworker so far." You smile. "So wait...is this a date?" You say shy. "If you want it to be one, i would like it." He says now with a flirty vibe. "Okay, let's go on a date then". You say while biting your bottom lip.

jungwoo

jungwoo has been a fan y/n since debut, he really likes your style, music, concept, dancing and everything that has to do with you. He is always wishing you go to the same events, have the same friends, go to the same hair shop or promote at the same time but none of those things came true.

you are having your first mini tour starting in seoul, since it was announced jungwoo was really excited about and he was expecting not to have any schedule so he could go. Finally he tells some of the members and they agree to go with him. He entered the arena and was so smiley and happy, the members found his excitement really adorable and the proceed to go to their seats.

the concert starts and you began to perform. "Hello Seoul, i hope you have fun tonight, please take of me. I will make sure you have a good time tonight." You say waving and smiling to the public. During the show you would have small talks and even do some aegyo to the public, all of these things just make jungwoo's love grow for you. Since nct are idols they get special seats so in the middle of the show the cameras film them so you can see the idols that came to your concert. "Hi, we have mark, johnny, haechan and jungwoo from nct here tonight." You say smiling while the nct members smile and wave to the camera as well. "Did you have fun? Have you like the show so far". You ask them, and they make thumbs up and smiling affirming. "Thank you a lot for coming, maybe you should go backstage later so i can get to know you since a big fan." The camera focus haechan who is nodding his head really hard making you and the public laugh. When you said that jungwoo's heart was about to get out of his chest, he know couldn't wait until the show was over.

the concert ends and you quickly change your clothes so you can receive you guests. Nct walks the hallway and find you standing giving them a warm welcome with a big smile. "Hi, nice to meet you all I'm y/n." You say smiling and bowing at them. They all introduce each other and shake hands with you, after jungwoo had to shake your hand he was speechless, he was all red, smiley and shy, the cutest boy ever.

You talk for a while and you all notice that jungwoo hasn't been really talkative. "Hey, actually i wanted to tell you something. My friend here is a big fan of yours, he actually invited us to come with him since he was really excited." Haechan says while hugging jungwoo. "Oh wow, really? That's such a honor!" You say smiling and patting jungwoo's shoulder. "Uhm, y-yes, I've like your music since debut, it really suits my style." Jungwoo says nervous. The members slowly leave the two of you alone so you can talk comfortably which, at the beginning makes jungwoo nervous but he manages to gain confidence since you are really nice and immersed in the conversation.

"Well, as you know I'm a big fan of yours, I've wanted to meet you before but we never had the opportunity to meet you. "Since we have become comfortable with each other would like to be my friend? I mean we can hang out and eat with the members too so you don't feel weird". He says doubtful but with a sweet smile. "Yes, i really would like to be friends. It's okay we can eat something just two to of use, I'm okay with it." You say smiling.

mark

it's been already 4 months since your debut and you can't wait to have your 1st comeback !! Your company told you that for this 1st mini album the wanted to include some collabs, a vocal one and a rap one. You were really excited with this idea, even tho you didn't knew who the collabs were going to be with. You wrote and co-wrote a lot of songs for this album so you were curious if one of the collaborators were going to be into writing their own parts for their songs, you love writing so someone adding their own lyrics and feelings to your songs was just amazing for you.

mark has been said he is collaborating with idol y/n who is in the making of her new album, he is also said that y/n said he could write his own lyrics for his rap and verses and eve tho he didn't know her yet he was really excited and thankful with that idea.

he enters your company and leads into the studio. Your managers introduce you to each other and then they just leave you with your writer and producer. Since he entered the studio he noticed youe excitment for making music, how involved you were in it and how you wanted to know about everything. You talk a lot about music which makes him feel like he is talking to one of his best friends.

"this is the song we are doing together." You tell him showing a piece of paper. "I know you already listened to the demo but i wanted to know if there's something i should change. I'm a big fan of your work so i would like to have your opinion." His eyes became brighter and he flashed the biggest smile, he was happy you were reaching into him for help and also complimenting him. He reads the lyrics while nodding his head, he just marks a few verses and proposes you lines that could go better. "You really did a great job with this one, you are a good writer." He says while smiling. Then he begins to play the song on his guitar while singing the whole song, you join as well and he smiles and becomes shy but keeps singing.

After that you have a good time jamming with his guitar and talking about the same interests. He finally records his part of the song, you were really happy and pleased with it. "Wow, you are so amazing. Only your rap is better than my whole song." You tell him while laughing. "Oh no no, thank you but your song is amazing, I'm glad i can be part of it." He says while giving you a warm smile. "I was thinking if you would like to go to the han river with me? It's a nice place to play the guitar and we can also sing and see if we come up with any lyrics." He says looking a little but nervous buy adorable. "Yes, i totally want to see if we can come with another collab soon." You tell him grabbing you bag so you can go to the han river.

haechan

as a rookie idol you are invited to do a collab stage with some idols who are close to your age and that includes nct's haechan. As soon as the news are told to haechan he becomes really hype and excited about it, he has liked you since the beginning and he really likes you.

you enter the practice room at sm entertaiment which is were you are rehearsing for your collab stage. As soon as you walk into the room haechan becomes flustered and nervous, he was wondering what was happening to him since he isn't like that, he is always confident and cheerful with everyone, why were you making him so nervous?

"hello, I'm sorry I'm the last one to arrive." You say really embarrased because you arrived a little bit later. "It's okay, the choreographer hasn't come yet so we are fine." Han jisung says, who is also part of the collab stage. After everyone being weird and in silence the choreographer comes and the practice begin. "Haechan, y/n, you are having a dance break together at min 5:20 so you better work together, you need to practice together as much as you can. You both stare shyly at each other and nod to the choreographer. He teaches you the dance break amd haechan and you have to be on synch and really close also.

the rehearsal is finished and haechan finally gains to courage to approach to you properly. "Hi, i think i haven't introduced myself." He says smiling. "Im haechan, i really like you and your music." You smile back at him. "Hi, I'm y/n, I'm glad you like me. I'm happy that we get to do this together." You say being shy. "Yes, i think we should practice. Do you want to come over tomorrow so just the two of us can practice our part? " He says with a kind smile. "Yes, i will come, thanks for the invitation." You tell him while smiling. "Also you seem really nice. Do you mind if i treat you dinner afterwards? He says confident with a flirty look. "Okay, i will really like that." You say smiling at him while leaving the practice room. After you leave he smiles at himself knowing that he succeed.

[allons-y-to-hogwarts-713]

Ho ho hoooeello I'm back again! Don't worry about it

What do you like to do during the holidays season? Have you done anything holiday-related yet? Now that it's officially December, I will start decorating my home soon. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of time, since I have a lot of exams right before christmas! I haven't watched a lot of movies lately, though I always mean to. Aside from OUAT, some of my favourite shows are Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Schitt's Creek, the good place, Jane the Virgin & One day at a time! [2/? - I LIED]

We usually watch whatever is on, but I've seen home alone a lot of times! I'm really looking forward to heading home this holiday season and to having a traditional dinner with my grandparents (My grandfather prepares the main course & he is a great cook). I also love listening to Christmas songs! Do you have any favourties?. As for you gift, my creative talents mostly lie in writing, so I'll be preparing a fic for you! Are you more the fluffy or angsty type? Any tropes? [3/3] love, Santa

Hi, Santa!!

My mom and I decorated the house already and finally finished decorating our tree last night:

(This is my kitty cat Killian’s first Christmas with us, so we had to be more careful about which/how many ornaments we put near the bottom.)

I switched my stuffed animals on my headboard in my bedroom to my Christmas/wintry ones too (plus a turkey for Thanksgiving that I haven’t switched yet lol):

Good luck on your exams!! Are you in school or college? What do you study? (Or are you a teacher/professor with exams to give?)

My grandma has been watching the Hallmark movies that have been on tv every night since before Thanksgiving and I’ve kind of been vaguely watching along, though with some recent personal circumstances I won’t expand on right now, I’m finding more frustration than enjoyment from most of them for a few reasons, so I tend to end up putting on headphones instead.

I love The Good Place but I’m so behind right now. I’ve been meaning to check out One Day at a Time, it’s on my long list of things I should probably watch at some point (*John Mulaney voice* and then I Didn’t), and I want to give B99 a try but I don’t have a way to watch it at the moment.

A traditional dinner with family sounds awesome! My parents always cook a ham and sides, and my grandparents on my mom’s side always came to our house for the day, but they live with us now (for a year as of November) so they’re already here, which is nice lol. My brother is married now, so he and my sister-in-law come over too. With the things going on, I’m not sure what this Christmas is going to look like, but that’s what we usually do at least.

I’m excited to bake cookies, but my grandfather has diabetes and his blood-sugar has been a little high lately (partly because of the Thanksgiving food, but I think he’s been sneaking candy or chips too), so I’m putting off baking until that’s under control again. He’s all or nothing with sweets, eats too many and has problems, then gets mad when we ask him to hold back a bit and complains as if he can’t have any at all, instead of just having a small amount every so often rather than a ton all at once like we suggest. I’m gonna keep that temptation away for a while, unless I get a long enough time to make some before he comes in the kitchen so I can hide them, but he just knows. lol

Most years, I’m the kind of person to start Christmas songs in the summer or at least October lol. Not so much these past few years, but I still enjoy them in the season. While we decorate, my parents always play Alabama’s Christmas albums first, and then whatever else until we’re done. (This year I chose Peter Hollens’s Christmas album and Jason Manns’s Christmas album featuring Supernatural cast members, and then my grandpa played the Rudolph soundtrack.) I love Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” (the song and the movie), Straight No Chaser’s “The Christmas Can-Can” and “The 12 Days of Christmas,” and tbh I think my favorite version of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” is the one on the Phineas and Ferb Holiday Favorites album (and everything else on it is great too imo). I also love “Oh Santa” from VeggieTales. I pretty much enjoy most Christmas music though. Do you have any favorites?

I will very gladly receive a fic!! I’m open to pretty much anything, just preferably not smut (or at least not super explicit/detailed smut) unless that’s what you prefer to write, just because I try to keep my blog fairly pg/pg-13 most of the time other than some cursing and I want to be able to reblog whatever you give me. Fluff and angst are both more than welcome though, even also whump to some degree. Canon-divergent, au, anything. Lieutenant Duckling, Captain Duckling, Dark Ones, reversed roles, idk all the variation names, Neverland, Underworld, modern, coffee shop, roommates, neighbors, sci-fi, supernatural, band, parent, super sweet domesticity, total angst-fest, nightmares, torture, whatever. It’s all good. I will happily read whatever you write!

[sakurasakiyama]

Hi there. I'm a new fan of Tsubasa's and was wondering where I can watch his movies and shows for free. Thanks and keep up the good work!

Hi @anobodyisthelastthingyouare! Sorry for the late reply, IRL has been a bit busy for me >.

Unfortunately, not everything of Tsubasa’s work is available to watch for free, as some uploaders, such as myself, have stopped sharing some things for various reasons, some are still sharing things they can afford to get, and others don’t share things in the hopes to get others to purchase them if possible :)

But, I will leave a list of all of the stages, musicals, dramas, movies and CDs Tsubasa has been in or done, as well as some of his upcoming work as well! If they’re available, I will leave a link on where you can get it via the original uploaders themselves :D If there is no link beside it, you might want to consider attempting to save up to purchase the DVD if possible!

STAGES & MUSICALS:

The Prince of Tennis 2nd Season: Seigaku vs Shitenhouji (Played as ‘extras’ Kamio Akira & 2nd year Seigaku Tennis Club member) - You can find it in this masterpost on Tenimyutopia on Live Journal: HERE (Will need an account to join the community & will need HJSplit to join the files)

Present◆5 “Ore wa Zettai Warakunai” (His first appearance as Dot-kun who is part of a new Nelke Idol group called ‘CHaCK-UP’)

 Present◆5 “Koisuru Otoko wa Nemurenai” (Second appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

CHaCK-UP (CHaCK-UP’s official stage debut)

E.T.L vol.5 ～Aki Toieba Gakuen-Sai Dakedo Yappari Uchuu ni Tsurete ku ne!～ (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

NeruFes 2014 in Budoukan (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

Comic Jack (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

CHaCK-Up “Nerawareta Wakusei”

CHaCK-CHeCK-CHaRM case001 〜Chikyuu no Idol to Iu Mono wo Benkyoushitanodesu!〜

Kotou no Oni 2015 (played as the ‘current’ Minoura Kinnosuke)

E.T.L vol.7 ～ Uten Kekkou★Shuttle de Kimi wo Mukae ni Iku yo!～  (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

Kodomo no Omocha (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

Minna de! DoruFes 2015 (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

Musical Touken Ranbu “Trial Performance” (Played as Ishikirimaru) -  This is being shared on Tenimyutopia: HERE | Subtitles were made by @sohmariku: HERE

CHaCK-UP—Episode.0—

Noragami -Kami to Negai- (Played as an original character Suguru)

Musical “Dance with Devils” (Played as Sogami Urie) - You can find the video and subtitles provided by @janiesj: HERE

Kujira no Kora ha Sajou ni Utau (Played as Suou)

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Atsukashiyama Ibun~ (Played as Ishikirimaru) - You can find it uploaded (DMM Stream) and timed with @sohmariku‘s subtitles by @toukenranburuinedmylife: HERE OR This has been uploaded (with subtitles) by sindraa on Tenimyutopia on Live Journal: HERE

ROCK MUSICAL BLEACH ~Mou Hitotsu no Chijou~ (Played as Abarai Renji) - You can find this on Tenimyutopia on Live Journal: HERE OR This has been uploaded by @kosuukeh: HERE | Subtitles were made by @sohmariku: HERE

Musical Touken Ranbu “Official Fansite Premium Member LIVE” (Performed as Ishikirimaru)

*pnish* Vol. 15 “Samurai Mode” (Played Suzuki Katsuhide) - This is available in Tenimyutopia on Live Journal: HERE

VR Theater “E.T.L extra ～Volume Agete Rising★High! Space Trip ni Shuppatsuda!～” (Appearance as Dot-kun from CHaCK-UP)

Musical Touken Ranbu in Itsukushima Jinja (Performed as Ishikirimaru)

Musical Touken Ranbu “Shinken Ranbu Sai 2016″ (Performed as Ishikirimaru)

2.5 Escape Stage “Kou Tetsu-jou no Kabaneri [Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress]” (Played as an original character Jyuukei) - No DVD release was made

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta~ (Played as Ishikirimaru)

Rusted Armors (Played as Hototogisu)

Rengoku ni Warau (Played as Kumou Baren)

Musical Touken Ranbu “Shinken Ranbu Sai 2017″ (Performed as Ishikirimaru) -  You can ask @thatsakuragirl for her DMM copy: HERE

Kujira no Kora ha Sajou ni Utau Reprise (Played as Suou)

Ochanomizu Rock -THE LIVE STAGE- (Played as Ousaka Shouhei )

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Atsukashiyama Ibun 2018 Paris~ (Played as Ishikirimaru) - This has been uploaded (with subtitles) by sindraa on Tenimyutopia on Live Journal: HERE

Musical Touken Ranbu “Shinken Ranbu Sai 2018″ (Performed as Ishikirimaru) - The DMM version has been uploaded by @thatsakuragirl: HERE

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta 2019~ (Played as Ishikirimaru) - DVD/Blu-Ray won’t be released until October 16th, 2019.

Butai Bakumatsu Taiyouden Gaiden (Played as Inokori Saheiji)

Reading♥Stage “Yuri and Bara” (Characters name is unknown) - No DVD release will be made & no live stream was made for any performance.

Butai LOOSER ~Ushinai Tsuzuketeshimau Album~ (Played as Shige) - DVD/Blu-Ray won’t be released until November 1st, 2019.

Butai Yu☆Yu☆Hakusho (Played as Urameshi Yusuke) - DVD/Blu-Ray won’t be released until February 27th, 2020.

Musical Touken Ranbu “Utaawase Ranbukyouran” (Playing as Ishikirimaru) - Won’t start performing until November 24th, 2019.

WOWOW Original Drama x Butai Project ~Wakeatte Kasei ni Sumimashita ~Erabareshi 4 nin~ (Characters name is yet to be announced) - Won’t be performing until May 2020.

DRAMAS & TV SERIES (Excluding variety & music TV show appearances):

Flowers of Algernon (Played an extra in episodes 1 and 10)

2.5 Dimensional Danshi Oshi TV Season 1 (Guest, as himself, in episode 6 -final epsiode-)

Otretabi Season 4 -Hawaii- Kuroba Mario x Sakiyama Tsubasa (as himself) - You can find the Part 1 and Part 2 DVD’s uploaded by @twinklejourney​: HERE

Ochanomizu Rock (Played as Ousaka Shouhei ) - You can find the hardsubs of the drama, translated by @rz-jocelyn and I: HERE

Di Kita Malimot ~The Young Men of Ousen~ (Played as David)

Oretabi Season 5 -South Korea- Kuroba Mario x Sakiyama Tsubasa (as himself) - You can find the TV episodes 2-5 (10 in total) that were broadcasted on NicoNico uploaded by @ishikawadesu: HERE

Koukoku Kaisha, Danshi Ryou no Okazu-kun (Played Higashira Keisuke) - All episodes were uploaded by @ishikawadesu: Ep01, Ep02, Ep03, Ep04, Ep05-10

WOWOW Renzoku Drama W “Zekkyou” (Played as an extra - waiter in Violet Cafe, in episodes 2 and 4) - DVD Box to be released on October 23rd

WOWOW Original Drama x Butai Project ~Wakeatte Kasei ni Sumimashita ~Erabareshi 4 nin~ (Characters name is yet to be announced) - Drama will air in Januaru 2020. 

MOVIES:

Kurogarasu Part 1 (Played as Kuroto)

Kurogarasu Part 2 (Played as Kuroto)

Itsumademo Wasurenai yo (Di Kita Malimot Movie - Played as David) - Blu-Ray won’t be released until October 21st, 2019.

Koukoku Kaisha, Danshi Ryou no Okazu-kun Movie Version (Played as Higashira Keisuke) - DVD won’t be released until November 20th, 2019.

CDS & OTHER MUSIC RELATED RELEASES:

Musical Touken Ranbu: Touken Ranbu (Trial Performance), Kimi no Uta CDs & Atsukashiyama Ibun Albums - Some versions of the Trial Performance & Kimi no Uta CDs (all of Ishikirimaru’s versions are in there), along with Version A & B of the Atsukashiyama Ibun albums were uploaded by @wastingmyhistorydegree: HERE

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta~ Shori no Gaika Character CDs (& DVD) & M-Card Videos - They were uploaded by @itspocchi: HERE & HERE 

1st Single “Gekkaya”

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta~ Albums

Stage “Rengoku ni Warau” Original Soundtrack

Ochanomizu Rock CD: DYDATABOTCH & The DIE is CAST

2nd Single “Rasen”

3rd Single “Crescent Moon” 

1st Album “UTOPIA”

1st One-Man Live “UTOPIA” 

4th Single “Salvia/Taiyoukei Disco”

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta 2019~ Kodou Character CDs

2nd One-Man Live “TSUBASA SAKIYAMA PREMIUM LIVE -Flow＊er-” - Currently in rehearsals, unknown yet if a DVD/Blu-Ray of his live will be released.

Musical Touken Ranbu ~Mihotose no Komori-Uta 2019~ Albums - The albums will be released on November 20th, 2019. 

Hopefully this will allow you to see some of Tsubasa’s work with what’s available :D Although some of the things on this list I do own myself, but I’ve either stopped sharing it (temporarily for various reasons) or I haven’t planned to share them yet. 

But as I said before, you can even try to purchase a DVD of one of these things yourself to see it if possible, or DMM is cheaper to stream/download (but you will want to record it as they only last for a certain amount of time) as you can find most of the stages he has done on DMM as well! :)

I hope this helps ♥

[lesbianeurydices]

So I've been sitting idly by watching you blog about Hadestown for like three years and I'm also a huge slut for Greek Mythology so I don't know why I never got interested in the show until the Tonys hype but now I gotta say I really want to learn more about it. Would you mind pointing me to some resources (cast recording, videos, anything really) that will help me start appreciating this show?

oh my god, absolutely - i’m so glad you’re interested in it!!! I love seeing it finally getting the following it deserves  after all these years :) 

throwing this under a cut because it got a tad long - 

in terms of the cast recording, there’s not really one “official” one - there’s the studio, concept, live, various audio from shows - i’d recommend this one (youtube version here) to get started! 

The OBCR is being dropped in batches throughout the summer; there’s currently 13 songs out on most streaming services.   (i saw a post a while back with the whole thing in chronological order, as not all albums have every song- i’ll try to find that for you!) 

the hadestown youtube channel is a good starting place for videos!! this one in particular traces the journey of the show and is just generally beautiful and makes me sob every time. also, the iconic tonys performance here. there’s also a bunch of live performances that a quick search should bring up! 

these are just  the very very bare bones - its so hard to do this show justice, but i hope this is a good intro!! if you have any more questions or just want to scream sob about it, please hit up my inbox again!!

have a lovely day!! xx

[istheresomebodywhocanimagine]

Hi!! I saw you were still doing ships and was curious who you'd see me with out of Queen and the Bo Rhap cast. I'm a Korean girl with straight, dark brown shoulder length hair with bangs and blackish, dark brown eyes. I'm pretty short at 5'3 and I love music (mainly classic rock) and art. I play violin, piano, and dabble in guitar, and I love drawing and photography. Btw, I absolutely adore your blog and writing! Looking forward to your new posts! Much love xx

hiiiii THANK U FOR THE LOVE ahhhh!!!

i had some trouble deciding between two of them for the queen ship but i think i’m just going to choose one and go w it 

ships r below the cut :))

For BoRhap, I ship you with Gwilym Lee!

Yes, yes, the height difference, I know! 

But I think that Gwilym would absolutely adore the height difference just as much as he would adore everything else about you.

Gwilym is 100% the type of boyfriend that is posting videos of you noodling on the guitar, or just idly playing tunes on the piano. But the reason you two had met was because of your photography.

He was looking for some new pieces to put up in his home, and had heard there was going to be a sort of freelance art market happening downtown, and your photography/artwork had caught his eye first. But when he looked up to see who was behind the stall’s table, he suddenly turned into a blundering schoolboy with a hopeless crush again.

“Beautiful work,” he’d commented, making you smile as you came around the table to see which piece he was looking at. He easily towered when you got next to his side, but it didn’t seem to bother either of you as you smiled up at him, receiving a charming smile in return.

"Thank you! Which one is your favorite?”

“I think I favor this one the most.” He pointed to a beautiful landscape photograph you’d blown up onto a bigger canvas, watching as you scanned it for a moment, familiarity running through your eyes. “The color is phenomenal.”

“That’s one of my favorites too. I have it hanging in my apartment,” you’d replied, looking up at him again and admiring the way he was so responsive to all of your words, right from the jump. It showed you he was listening, and it was rare to find a man at these markets that absolutely respected your craftsmanship and didn’t try to mansplain your own work to you.

“Oh really? Where at?” Gwilym asked, intrigued that you both found a favorite in the same piece. His eyes twinkled with curiousity, and you found that your heart was racing as you raised an eyebrow at him teasingly.

“That’s quite a personal question to be asking before you even get my number first.”

He began to apologize profusely, his cheeks turning pink as he smiled sheepishly. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be nosy! I was just looking for some work for my house and-” 

“I’m just joking, no worries,” you giggled, giving him a gentle nudge. “I know these things can get a bit stuffy and seem too serious, so why don’t I do this?” You walked back around the table, pulling out one of your cards before uncapping a pen and and writing a note on the back, then handing it to him. “If you’d like to buy the print, here’s my card so we can talk more about sizes and pricing.”

Gwilym smiled as he took the card, putting it in the breast pocket of his button up as he chewed on his lip, trying to single out whether you were flirting or not. “For business discussions, right?” he asked, although the way he smiled said otherwise.

“Oh, absolutely,” you agreed with the same smile, and then you were off to talk to a new possible customer as Gwilym walked away, reading the note you’d left on the back of your card along with your cell.

It’s above my piano, if you’d really care to know. :) xxx-xxx-xxxx

Once you two had finally started dating a few months later, Gwilym found any excuse to make you play the piano. Sometimes, he actually even pretended he wanted you to give him lessons, which consisted more of you playing and Gwilym watching you with complete ardor in his eyes.

“Wait, I missed that last part - play it again,” he’d insisted one time, smiling sheepishly as you rolled your eyes playfully at the obvious attempt to get you to play again so he could record it.

“If you miss it one more time, you’re in trouble, mister.” With that, you restarted the brief piece you’d just played, Gwilym sneakily holding his phone up to record you from over your opposite shoulder while your fingers moved expertly over the keys, not missing a single note. 

When you finally stopped and realized it wasn’t just his hand on your other shoulder, you laughed and grabbed at his phone, which he retracted quickly and shoved into his pocket as you wrapped your arms around his neck, trying to stop him from running off. But he easily just pulled you up off the bench with him, and you had to ride all the way over to the couch dangling off of him and laughing.

Finally falling back on the couch, he landed with a small ‘oof’ as you fell on top of him, giggling. “I ought to get you for that one, Gwil.”

“You’re too cute to be threatening,” he murmured, giving you a wide grin before quickly kissing your nose. Your hair fell down over his face just slightly, so he tucked it back behind your ear as you tried to look grumpy with him, failing miserably.

“You’re too cute to be mad at, that’s so annoying,” you sighed dramatically, moving down a bit to rest your head on his chest as you pouted. But Gwilym’s hand running back through your hair soon made you forget why were were upset with him, and you were about to ask him if he really wanted to learn piano when an Instagram notification popped up on your phone, making it buzz in your pocket.

Pulling it out of your pocket, you saw Gwilym had tagged you in something, and you opened it to see the video of you playing, the ending showing you laughing and grabbing for the camera before it went dark.

“You turd!” you gasped melodramatically, pretending to pin him down as you attempted to look as mean as you could. “I’m going to get you for that one for real this time!”

But Gwilym’s hands quickly subdued you when they went to your sides and started to tickle relentlessly, his lips matching the frantic pace of his fingers as he peppered kisses all over your face, making you squeal and giggle in pure delight. 

For Queen, I struggled between Roger and Brian, but I officially picked Roger Taylor! 

Although I think you would fit just as well with Brian, I wanted to pick Roger for the reason that I think you have some similarities, but you possess differences that would make a perfect pair that learns from each other!

Seeing your similarities with Brian, I actually think that you would originally meet Roger through Brian. We’ll say that you helped Brian on his solo project, and when Roger needed some help on his concerning some keyboard parts, you were the first person Brian recommended.

What Brian didn’t count on was Roger pretty much stealing you from him - as soon as you two met, you hit it off, and you spent more and more time around Roger, which took away from the time Brian usually had to shoot the shit with you and smooth things over after studio hours. 

But when he saw the way you were around each other, Brian seemed not to mind as much anymore.

“Oh, that was beautiful! Play that again, and put a little-” Roger made a gesture mimicking a slam of a single chord, “at the end, to round it off.”

“Yes sir, Mr. Piano Expert,” you teased, and Roger laughed as he waved off your playfully patronizing of him. Brian was watching from one of the chairs in the booth, where he was fiddling with a guitar that Roger needed him to play a few riffs on for one of his songs.

Brian couldn’t help but notice the way Roger watched your face instead of your hands when you played. Sure, he glanced at your hands every once in a while, but he was increasingly focused on your impressions as you played, and when he realized that Brian had noticed, he sent him a quick middle finger behind your back while you began to finish up. 

When you played the single slam chord to end it, Roger cheered, giving you a quick kiss on the cheek before starting to babble on about how he couldn’t wait to hear your parts on the songs after final production.

When final production had actually taken place and they had their end product, Roger invited you over to his place to take a listen. 

So you curled up on the couch together, listening to his album with a bottle of wine and a Polaroid camera, which you kept taking pictures of Roger with. Although he was no stranger to the lens, he kept insisting that you should be the one in front of the camera, not him. To keep him from stealing the camera from you, you’d sat at the other end of the couch.

“Oh, you’re full of it,” you laughed, raising the camera to your eye before taking another pic and pulling it out once it had dispensed fully. Climbing to your feet, you sat the camera down carefully before you tiptoed over to the drawers on one of his cabinets, setting the photo in it and closing it so it could develop properly. 

Before you turned, you could hear the familiar click of the shutter and the grin on Roger’s face when you turned said it all as he sat the camera back down, then stretched out on the couch with the developing photo. “I bet you look so cute in it.”

“I bet it’s blurry,” you teased, coming back over and crawling back onto the couch with him, letting him curl up around you and grabbing your glass of wine again as he did so. “Could be a bum shot.”

“Oh, it was definitely a bum shot.” You groaned as you realized the double meaning too late, and you reached back to give him a very gentle smack on the shoulder as he cracked up at himself, making you roll your eyes playfully. 

He got comfortable as he wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close while occasional chuckles still shook his body. “You are something else, Roger.”

“It was funny, admit it,” he giggled gleefully, pressing kisses to your shoulder as he went back to listening to his album, rubbing circles on your tummy with his thumb. “You love me.”

“If you say so.”

“Hey!”

[bopinion]

Album of the month / 2020 / 02 February

I like listening to music - gladly, all the time, everywhere. That's why I would like to share which music (or which album, after all I'm still from the vinyl generation ;-) I enjoy, accompanies me, slides up my playlists again and again...

West Side Story

(Soundtrack to the 1961 film adaptation)

Leonard Bernstein & Stephen Sondheim

Musical / 1961 / Columbia (today Sony Classical)

Who still remembers his first records from her or his childhood and youth? While I try to forget albums like "Music from the Elder" by Kiss, others remain in pleasant memory. In my parents' record collection I had found a real jewel between ABBA standards and peculiarities like James Last - and immediately recognized it as such: the soundtrack of the 1961 musical film adaptation of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story". In mono, with names unknown to me (at that time) on the cover, purchased in style on Broadway in New York (my father went to sea in the 60s and often commuted between Rotterdam and New York).

Even if I hardly understood the lyrics, I "was allowed" - thank you again, by the way :-( - to learn Latin as my first foreign language, the dramaturgy and characters directly captured me. Even if it was the umpteenth version of "They were not allowed to find happiness together, because society wouldn't accept that" and I had neither the slightest clue about love nor ethnic conflicts, I immediately felt the greatness of the subject. Hey, am I also a social disease?

And that music! So completely different from the usual radio chorus, it felt like a cross-over of classical music and rock'n'roll. This musical theatricality, this compositional versatility, this dramatic staging - even today, I can't listen to this album in the kitchen on the side, because I immediately seem to be unresponsive, drifting off into another world with a bitter-sweet expression on my face, and conducting myself to excess. Sooo beautiful...

Maria, Tonight, I feel pretty, (I like to be in) America, Cool, Somewhere... in West Side Story, Bernstein ranks one hit after the other, the performance is excellent and thanks to modern digitalization techniques, it doesn't get lost anymore. Fun fact: as it was customary at the time, the mimes cast for the screen did not sing themselves, but were doubled vocally. Whereby the real artists were not even mentioned in the small print, Milli Vanilli send their greetings. So Marni Nixon sang instead of Natalie Wood and Jim Bryant instead of Richard Beymer. Only Rita Moreno (Anita) offered her own voice talent - and maybe that's why she became a star with this piece. And what a star she became: only 15 performers managed to win all five major US artist awards - Oscar, Grammy, Tony, Golden Globe and Emmy - and she is one of them.

By the way: this album of the soundtrack stayed at number 1 in the Billboard Charts for 54 weeks after its release. And thus holds the record. And not Michael Jackson's "Thriller", which only lasted 37 weeks. But the King of Pop has enough records left...

I know that this year we have a remake of West Side Story (whose working title was funny enough called "Eastside Story") in the house. But even if it is realised by Steven Spielberg - Frankly, my dear: I don't give a damn!

Here is the link to the official (extra-long) trailer for the original movie:

https://youtu.be/NF1L3NorO3E

"Unlike other stories West Side Story grows younger". Indeed...

[musicalmatrix]

What are some good sung through musicals that don't have official movie productions? I really love musicals but I'm usually very bad at finding boot legs so I don't like getting into Ines that aren't sung through. Thanks 💜

Okay, so I can’t really think of many of these that don’t already have movie versions, but here’s what I’ve come up with:

The two obvious ones are Hamilton and The Great Comet. Both are essentially entirely sung and their cast albums cover the entire show.

Next to Normal is a very sung through musical. And the cd encompasses the entirety of the plot, except for the huge plot twist halfway through the first act, but no worries, you can just search this boot on youtube and it’ll come up. So if you watch it once, then you’ll be able to listen to the cd and get the whole story from there.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is pretty much entirely (gorgeous) music. The musical’s more based off the book than the movie, but you can get the whole plot just from listening to it.

Falsettos is very sung through, if you haven’t gotten into that yet. And the new cast recording of it is outstanding.

I’m not sure if you’d count it, but I’m going to include Fun Home on this list. There’s a lot of dialogue in the show, but they’ve put the dialogue into their own tracks on the cd, so you can listen to it all.

And the last one I have to offer is Daddy Long Legs. There’s a tiny bit of dialogue between the songs, but not enough that you’d get lost while listening.

All of that being said, if you’re ever looking for a bootleg of a show, just message me and I’ll try to hook you up :) I would hate for you to not be introduced to some amazing shows just because you can’t find a boot. That’s what I’m here for. ❤️ Enjoy listening!!