#michael arden to direct

[disastergenius]

my Only Good Thought of the day:

Come From Away but staged in the round/immersive. 

I think it would be a fun concept to introduce the audience into the show, it has the focus on bringing people together and community. Because while they are telling a story about the aftermath of one event, the show invites the audience to feel the grief and weight of 9/11 with the characters as they do, and then learn and grow with the community of Gander. 

[d-criss-news]

Darren Criss on Maybe Happy Ending – Meet the Broadway Company | Broadway Direct

[datshitrandom]

maybe it's not a happy ending after all 🤖💔😔

the source of my broken heart

[grntaire]

someone yell at me to get my shit together and buy tickets for queen of versailles bc i always miss boston shows that inevitably transfer to broadway

[the-river-rix]

I love moritz I forgot I drew this

[almayver]

Sorry to inform you all that I am so going to make Rome + Juliet my entire personality once the previews start in September

Maybe even before

I am at the end of the day a basic bitch and this checks all my boxes

[broadwaymemesandbrokendreams]

this is your daily reminder that michael arden was snubbed for a best direction tony for deaf west spring awakening

[ectonurites]

now i can say that i've beat a Tony Award Winning Director in bar trivia wahoo

[tulsa24]

YEAH MICHAEL ARDEN!!!

[olympain]

Best Direction of a Musical — Michael Arden, Parade

[frances-baby-houseman]

In case you’re wondering, Michael Arden’s bleeped speech, upon winning a Tony for best direction of a musical (for Parade!!!), was:

Growing up, I was called the f-word more times than I could count. But now I’m a faggot with a Tony!!

Also no writers at an awards show is the BEST. Just musical numbers and awards, none of the usual mishegos.

[tookishcombeferre]

Metamorphosis & Mutation: A Cedric the Sorcerer Playlist

My hand slipped and made a 2+ hour playlist. My challenge for myself was that I was not allowed to use *any* of the songs from the series.

If you know how much I love music, you know I love a good challenge. There are one or two songs that cuss in them. (Only one "f-bomb" from a Passenger song, but it's worth it because the song "Fairytales and Firesides" is beautiful. The line "We are bitter losers, snarling through our smiles" was just too perfect to pass up.)

"The Incident" and its immediate aftermath is represented by "The Sacrifice of Faramir" for ... reasons. It just felt perfect. Any LotR fans will likely understand that and where my mind was going with that one. (Surprising number of parallels between Sofia and Pippin, Cedric and Faramir, and Goodwyn and Denethor. Might make a post about this eventually. Due to the casting in movies, which don't get me wrong, overall I love, very few people remember (or know) that, in the novels, Pippin was 28 at the beginning of the book and turns 29 in Gondor near the end of the trilogy. Hobbits don't reach full cultural maturity, and are considered minors, until 33. Billy Boyd was actually the oldest of the hobbit actors. So, most people forget that/ don't know that fact. But, now you know! :D) (I may or may not have spent four years of my life researching these books and relationships in almost monastic levels of isolation except for when my [now] spouse and our mutual friends would drag me out my dorm room to ensure I ate and hydrated myself. The sad thing is I am only kind of hyperbolizing.) A note on the song "I Found" by Amber Run - that is meant platonically/ paternally. If people read anything else into that DON'T. Just DON'T. (For people who have read "In the Flares of the Sun," and continue to read it, this song will hit different. The whole idea of "I found love where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me, talk some sense to me." is just ... it hits. Platonically. It hits from two directions for folks who have read the chapter "First, Do No Harm." Honestly, this song has always given me *deep friendship* vibes more than anything else anyway. The first playlist I ever used it on was an adopted mother-daughter relationship in a dystopian novel I was writing. It was used right alongside "You'll Be In My Heart" from Tarzan. So, if you want to know the vibes I get from this song, now you know. The kid was based on Thomas Paine so it was actually a "Common Sense" pun. ;D) "Show Me" by Idina Menzel is also intended platonically. I first heard that song on an Anna and Elsa tribute video so I've always thought of that song platonically. But, if you're gonna weird about either of those songs, just don't. With that out of the way, there are some very "me" choices in here. "This is the Moment" from Jekyll and Hyde was my *jam* in middle school. I almost broke my CD of the "dream cast album" with Anthony Warlow as Jekyll/Hyde playing it so many times on my CD player before I got an iPod. (I NEVER claimed I was not old, y'all. Also, I'm actually auditioning for the role of Jekyll/Hyde in December. XD) The fact that there is both Jason Robert Brown and Marianas Trench on this playlist is a very "me" choice. Also, yes, I did put two songs from the new Hunchback of Notre Dame with Michael Arden as Quasimodo on here. Don't *judge* me. (Made of Stone is a perfect song for Cedric, COME ON!) Also, if I chose to set Cedric's rant to Roland as "If It's True" from Hadestown. It is *my* prerogative to give my sad trash-panda this beautiful rant. If I wanna play that pre-dungeon moment as a little more justified because it felt a little more true than not ... it's *my* playlist. (Hadestown is based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The song "If It's True" is set just after Orpheus has just gotten his butt whooped by Hades and told that he's worthless, that he's basically lower than dirt, and that music and love are meaningless.) (1. I'm absolutely setting this playlist in the universe of "In the Flares of the Sun." So, mild spoiler, in the first verse of this song, for backstory about something that has only been implied so far, but is coming up in a future chapter. The spoiler is very blink and you'll miss it. It's like a line and a half of the song. But, it's there, and I did choose the song intentionally because of the backstory I built in the world of that fic/ other fics I'm planning for future. So, you'll get a brief glimpse into my brain. 2. But, let's be real:

"'Cause the ones who tell the lies/ Are the solemnest to swear/ And the ones who load the dice/ Always say the toss is fair/ And the ones who deal the cards/ Are the ones who take the tricks/ With their hands over their hearts/ While we play the game they fix/ And the ones who speak the words/ Always say it is the last/ And no answer will be heard/ To the question no one asks" Mmmmm ... so perfect. So angry. Also that: "Tell me what to do" - so many different characters that could be directed towards.) But, this is also why I put the world's best anti-villain anthem that sounds like a Disney-princess "I want song" right before it. It's about the *juxtaposition.* It's about the *nuance.* (Cedric basically is Dr. Jekyll. Okay? It's probably why I love him. Jekyll/Hyde has long been a favorite character of mine.) Also, I'm obsessed with Collabro. Their covers are so good, and the story of how they came together is so supremely weird and serendipitous. Look them up. They do not disappoint. Also, "Chosen Family" is one of my favorite songs ever. I used the one where Rina Sawayama and Elton John sing together. Though, Rina Sawayama is the original writer. I love both versions, but I also just love Elton John so much, and I love the version where he sings with her. I hope y'all enjoy it too. I will spread the gospel of this song forever because I just love it. And, I had to end with the credit's song of "The Tigger Movie" - "Your Heart Will Lead You Home" - because that movie destroys me every single time I watch it. The end. That's my notes on this. There are a whole bunch of other songs I didn't cover. But, yeah. These are the ones I wanted to make notes on. This got really long. If you can't tell music is something of a special interest of mine. I managed to refrain from putting full blown oprea on here. You're welcome. I'm not sure exactly where I would have gone if I *had* decided to put opera on here. But, it's not an impossibility or something I wouldn't do, or haven't done, for other character playlists in the past. XD

[d-criss-news]

Photos: Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham Visit MAYBE HAPPY ENDING on Broadway

Kristin Chenoweth and F. Murray Abraham recently attended MAYBE HAPPY ENDING on Broadway and met the cast following the performance. MAYBE HAPPY ENDING is directed by Tony winner Michael Arden, who also directed the pre-Broadway run of THE QUEEN OF VERSAILLES, starring Chenoweth and Abraham. While backstage, Chenoweth also reunited with former WICKED castmate Marcus Choi who plays “James, Junseo & Others” in MAYBE HAPPY ENDING. Check out photos from backstage below!

Photo Credit: Tyler Gustin

[datshitrandom]

Darren Criss and Helen J. Shen will lead new broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending this fall | Direction by Michael Arden | Opening Night on October 17 at the Belasco Theatre

May 14, 2024 | 🎥 via MHE | 📸 via Helen & Michael

[sillyname30]

happy_thoms: Maybe Happy Ending (Saturday November 2nd Matinee) My favorite recent new musical! Technologically impressive, Visually stunning. Beautiful catchy music. I can’t believe how easy it was to fall in love with these dying robots and how much I believed their connection. The story of this show is heartwarming and breaking at the same time. Amazing performances by Darren and Helen with an absolutely insanely cool set. Michael Arden’s direction is seamless. Darren forgot one of his lyrics in the first song but covered it up with a very in character robot styles break down for a few seconds.

[lonelyroommp3]

☕️ spring awakening

flawless musical in its raw state but my god is it hard to actually get right. some people were just not put into this world to direct productions of spring awakening and i think it should be more socially acceptable to admit that. as i just said the existing text is already perfect. you do not need to add anything. don't throw in a random ensemble who do nothing but clog up the stage and the story, don't add in random and tonally incongruous scene change music, almeida spring awakening i love you so very much but that spoken word interlude in totally fucked did not need to be there... on the other hand i think the reason deaf west spring awakening was so ingenious and effective was because michael arden did something completely new and fresh with it but didn't change the fucking text and everything he did add or tweak (apart from melitta. i'm sorry girlie but who are you!!!) was in a way that was directly informed by and in conversation with the original play (for example: deciding which characters would be deaf, the actor/voice duality reflecting the existing duality between scene world and song world, even the rigidity of the school system and the tiny details therein, down to moritz getting his latin recitation wrong, being turned into a commentary on oralism in deaf education) instead of just adding things seemingly for the sake of Doing A New Fresh Spring Awakening, which is what a lot of directors seem to do

send me a ☕️ and a topic and i’ll talk about how i feel about it