#mozart i get he's mozart but rossini girl what are you doing !!!!!

[dolokhoded]

what i really love about figaro being a barber is that it serves absolutely no purpose to the plot. it's such a random ass useless part of the story and it has no reason to be written in. literally none. and on top of it all it's a Big Thing too the entire opera is called the BARBER of seville he has an entire cavatina talking about what an absolutely spectacular barber he is and that's how he's introduced to us. it's not going to contribute to the plot in any way. but you have to know.

[infinitelytheheartexpands]

Il viaggio a Reims (Liceu, 2003): Reactions, Part I

Alright y’all, time to dive in to what may be (please don’t kill me) my favorite Rossini opera. 

I love every Rossini opera I’ve seen but it’s either this, Ory (and a large part of that score was reused from this opera and I promise I will not speak about this further in the liveblog), or Tell for my absolute favorite.

fancy shmancy

Area Director Of The Staff Isn’t Having It

and the staff aren’t having it with her

taking all the delights you can under capitalism

down a sweeping staircase with gentlemen helping you down while grand entrance music plays...that’s how you make an entrance

lovely aria and lovely soprano

not sure how I feel about the dress, though (it looks like something you’d put on a turn-of-the-century doll)

(speaking of which, it looks like this production is...1890s? 1900s? somewhere in there? doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but okay. Nationalism. I can do that)

Folleville is just chilling in the orchestra seats lol

oh so I guess ALL the travelers are just hanging out in the audience

Madama Cortese is a top-notch businesswoman and we love to see it

hey she has a migraine leave her alone

pretty sure that’s...not what that means

Area Soprano Overreacts About Losing Her Luggage

“Mozart!”

*sings 3 seconds of ‘O mio babbino caro’*

“oh sorry”

*sings some ‘Non piu andrai’*

(also that is a very unfortunate choice of mustache)

he did the same thing again except he said Beethoven and then sang some “La donna è mobile” and then “Ode to Joy” lolol

girl PLEASE CALM DOWN YOU JUST LOST YOUR LUGGAGE 

this aria is so beautiful (same music as “En proie a la tristesse”)

congratulations on recovering one (1) very ostentatious hat from it all

also, just...the inherent absurdity of this entire scene

SEE???

fair point

I want that suit

and you’re a tenor

tfw you find yourself caught between a jealous and in-love-with-you bass and a jealous and in-love-with-you tenor

this sextet slaps

I LOVE THIS ARIA SO MUCH (also this lighting is great)

Madama Cortese is so delighted about Corinna’s singing and...same, girl

word on that

you tell ‘em, Corinna

be free little birdie (Corinna let a bird go free because #subtlety)

yes this is subtlety what are you even talking about

everyone just got Religiously Guilted all of a sudden

Alvaro I hate to tell you this but I don’t think self-flagellation with a bath towel is actual self-flagellation

hmm

she is Very Up On All The Tea

we love onstage instrumentalists

you could just tell her how you feel

but then again, you are a bass in love with a soprano in an opera, so...

aww a heart-shaped bouquet

they threw him into the bath lol

“does it look like I know anything about antiquaries, you annoying asshole”

hey Lord Sidney, it looks like EVERYONE knows about your “secret” little crush

friends! <3

and Corinna knows too rip Sidney

she’s so pretty

oh look Corinna has another admirer

Belfiore, you are desperate, not macho

and you are also a tenor

YEAH DON’T LET HIM MESS WITH YOU

this duet bops

(also, before you ask, do not be afraid: the brown stuff they’re putting on is mud [as in ‘mud mask’] because this opera is in fact canonically set in a spa resort/hotel)

I LOVE THIS ARIA

and I love it when the singer whips out some impressive accents

there is a plothole here given that it was earlier established that Folleville’s luggage minus one box with a hat was wrecked in a stagecoach accident but I find it funny that perhaps Luigino was just lying to get a rise out of her

about that...

hahahahahaha

also glad to see Folleville found a very chic outfit

well oops

and that’s why you make transportation plans in advance

we love a good a cappella ensemble (and I couldn’t get everyone in a screencap rip)

some good news

Madama Cortese’s husband (who does not appear in person in this opera) seems pretty cool

that’s nice of you

this hard slaps

group photo!

this got a bit long lol

[janiedean]

Idk if anyone already asked this but: what about ASOIAF/GOT characters and opera? Who are the experts, the casual fans, and the one who don't care but get dragged along anyway? Does anyone relate to a particular character? *cough* Is Tyrion the biggest Rigoletto fan? *cough* And/or, does any OTP relate to a particular opera pairing? :)

OKAY SORRY IT TOOK ME AGES BUT HERE I AM

(spoilers: you can find 80% of the following or will find it in my amazing opera singers au series)

lannisters & partners

tyrion is 100% an opera nerd and he identifies with rigoletto in frankly worrying ways - he’s like me with la traviata and cries at rigoletto’s first aria every single time and then at the ending PERIOD I DO NOT MAKE THE RULES but he also likes unconventional stuff ie russians/20th century germans (TYRION LOVES ALBAN BERG YOU CAN PRY THAT FROM MY DEAD HANDS)

bronn is the friends he drags with but the only character in any opera that he likes is sparafucile

cersei only listens to wagner because everything else is for the plebs and ofc her favorite is the valkyrie YES YOU KNOW THE ONE WITH THE TWINCEST she’s the biggest sieglinde stan

jaime likes it tho not as much as tyrion but he hates both dramas and wagner and tends to like comedies/stuff that ends well better and he and brienne meet bc tyrion set them up and sent them to see fidelio with his tickets and YOU KNOW THAT JAIME AND BRIENNE ARE 100% LEONORE AND FLORESTAN YOU DON’T CHANGE MY MIND ON THAT EVER IT’S THE MOST JB OPERA THAT EVER JB-ED

brienne also likes more the happy stuff than the sad stuff but yeah fidelio is Their Thing okay

tywin went because joanna liked it and then he stopped 

starks & partners

ned & cat are that couple of nerds who goes to the opera for their anniversary and likes just about most stuff except a few single things they find boring but not as much to argue about it. for themselves, cat tends to like those donizetti operas with sopranos who at some point 100% lose it, ned is more into verdi and probably would agree with tyrion on rigoletto because y’know, FATHERS RELATE

but they also wanted their kids to get into it so their family tradition is that all go to see the magic flute together bc it’s kid-friendly and it worked bc all the stark kids love it ;)

robb’s totally into the comedies and hates the dramas and not counting the magic flute which ofc he loves because IT WAS HIS FIRST his fave is 100% rossini’s cenerentola FOR REASONS

addendum to say that theon is the friend he dragged with and thought would be boring but instead loves it and ends up converting and theon’s favorite - bc he’s a nerd - is most likely le comte ory ie THE ROSSINI CRACK OPERA WITH THE THREESOME WHERE THE TENOR IS CROSSDRESSING AS A NUN AND THE MEZZOSOPRANO PLAYS THE GUY AND THE BASS SINGS AN ARIA ABOUT STEALING ALCOHOL

but their ship they see themselves into are carlo and rodrigo from don carlo because lmao IT’S THEM

(robb prob. also have a soft spot for la clemenza di tito bc he and tito are the same person but nvm)

jon’s like 100% into dramas ALL THE DRAMA ALL THE TIME his fave is 100% la forza del destino ie the most terribly dramatic telenovela in history of dramatic opera

(he introduced it to ygritte who ofc is instead into all the rossini comedies with the a++++++ main lead ie italiana in algeri, barbiere di siviglia and so on which is a cause of endless amusement on her side because then they have to compromise)

(sam doesn’t need to be introduced because he’s 100% a nerd who cried over la traviata too but he likes all kind of stuff and who’ll go to both sand and fun operas and HE ALSO LIKES CENERENTOLA BEST THO)

sansa ofc is into THE ROMANCE so her fave is totally la traviata but she and robb totally agreed on cenerentola as well basically she robb and sam are the cenerentola stans cinnamon roll brigade

arya isn’t that much into it but she’ll go to most fun stuff and admittedly she has a soft spot for la fille du regiment because she totally identifies with maria (and tonio’s... well tonio is gendry let’s be real lmao)

(gendry is the friend she brought with once bc she likes that one and he immediately noticed)

bran goes with the others and he’s fine with it but he’s more into symphonic and not opera but he does like the family magic flute xD

rickon at some point got dragged to see the firebird when he was like six and everyone thought he’d sleep through it and instead he comes out of it like ‘guys I want to play the drums when I grow up’

baratheons & partners

robert thinks it’s boring af and wouldn’t set foot inside an opera ever, he just went once with ned to see don giovanni as a compromise

renly thinks it’s boring af and never went, then turns out that loras is 100% into it especially ACTUAL older stuff ie gluck and he totally dragged renly to see iphigenie en tauride BECAUSE ORESTES AND PYLADES ARE THE TWO OF THEM and renly had to relent and actually liked it

stannis is The Opera Nerd. he has a subscription to the local theater, he knows everything there is to know, he has a knowledge of minor baroque authors that would scare music professors, he also always goes alone because robert and renly wouldn’t go with him IF they cared, and his favorite is 100% rossini’s guillaume tell but only in the original french version WITH THE BALLETS or it’s a travesty

and he realizes davos is His Guy For Real when he shows up for their anniversary with tickets and then realizes that maybe someone who never went won’t want to see SIX HOURS OF FRENCH GRAND OPERA but davos just blinks like ‘k sure I’m open to everything’ and actually likes it (spoilers: davos’s fave becomes rossini’s la gazza ladra after he gets into it bECAUSE HE TOTALLY RELATES TO THE GIRL’S FATHER WHO SHOULD GO TO JAIL BUT IS ACTUALLY A GOOD GUY but he also likes le nozze di figaro bc YOU FEEL THE LOVE FOR THE LOWER CLASS)

tyrells

all of them used to go with olenna so all four are into it

loras as stated is into early-mid 18th century stuff ie gluck/handel/the likes (he’s the only one who actually likes julius caesar)

willas totally is into romcoms he cried the first time he went to see l’elisir d’amore and he’s been mercilessly mocked since

garlan is a sane person and likes more or less everything except extradramatic stuff

margaery is into bellini don’t tell me norma isn’t her fave

tullys

lysa never was into it bc cat was and so she always refused to go

brynden totally introduced cat to it but he’s a man of not much taste for EXTRA DRAMA so while he likes his verdi he just wants to relax with his mozart gdi but his fave is something totally overlooked ie PROBABLY IDOMENEO BECAUSE WHY THE HELL NOT HE’D LIKE IT

edmure totally went with cat & brynden and also was more into comedies turns out that his favorite is eventually falstaff and he’s always grumbling that verdi shouldn’t have made just ONE comedy ffs

targs:

viserys prob is a nerd but just of his favorite stuff and he’s either into countertenor stuff OR obscure shit or french grand opera AT BEST, he’s probably the only person other than loras who likes julius caesar

dany’s into it but very casually, she probably likes il trovatore because fire imagery everywhere tho

rhaegar is 100% into verdi drama like jon took ONE thing from him and that’s it, he probably is the kinda person who likes othello best for the Sheer Drama Factor

greyjoys:

balon and victarion legit hate it

euron is the only person other than cersei who actually willingly would go to see the ring and loves wagner

asha only goes with theon but she doesn’t mind it also bc alannys is 100% crazy into it that said she hates drama

alannys loves it her fave is la traviata I don’t make the rules

martells:

oberyn’s the hugest don giovanni stan in existence I DON’T MAKE THE RULES HE IS HE IDENTIFIES TO A T

elia’s chiller but the martells have the best taste and so they’d all like mozart she’s prob. into le nozze di figaro best because she totally relates to the countess

arianne likes così fan tutte and would punch anyone who says it’s sexist

other ppl:

sandor was dragged by sansa and he had been like WHAT DO I EVEN DO IN A THEATER HELP but then she picked something like gounod’s faust which he would like, turns out that then he ends into the most obscure SAD stuff and likes boito’s mefistofele best lISTEN HE’D BE INTO FAUSTIAN DEALS OPERA

lf is the kind of person who says they love opera but then criticize every single thing in every single staging and keep on saying opera should have died with maria callas

pyp/grenn/edd/the nw crowd went with jon once to watch something REALLY fucking sad TBH IT’D BE ERNANI and they’re like ‘jon wtf this is the worst’, then when sam learns it he goes like GUYS NO LET’S RECTIFY THIS and he brings them to l’italiana in algeri or SOME rossini fun opera and they change their mind

... okay I think I got MOST OF THE RELEVANT ONES IF I FORGOT ANYONE/YOU WANT ANYONE ELSE PLS ASK ;)

[leporellian]

good news a good 25% of my social interactions are answering this question so here goes.

SOME GOOD STARTER OPERAS FOR THE DISGRUNTLED WARRIOR CATS FAN:

carmen by bizet was my first opera when i was but the tender age of seven, and it's one of the most beloved operas of all time for a reason- reason being it's damn good, when played right. essentially imagine an extended version of the ashfur mr. brightside pmv. don jose, a sevillian soldier, abandons his duties and identity when he meets carmen, a wild woman who listens to her own mind. as time goes on, his possessiveness over her gets worse and worse, until it naturally ends in tragedy (and something of a cliffhanger).

the barber of seville by rossini is a more fun intro to opera; its three hours of looney tunes ass shenanigans. a (rather selfish) young spanish count falls in love with a girl, and hires figaro- the titular barber- to pair them together and stop the advances of dr. bartolo, who wants the same girl for himself. (the girl takes a more active role in the plot than you'd think don't worry.) this ones funny as hell and it has....

AN EVEN BETTER SEQUEL! the marriage of figaro by mozart is the barber of seville's sequel, and it picks up three years later, being about figaro and his bride susanna trying to beat the odds and marry in peace. this one is better than barber of seville but also complicated as hell on purpose (youre SUPPOSED to not know what's really happening the whole time bc its funny like that). if you watch this one i recommend for the best viewing experience that you don't read about anything in the plot beyond act 2, there's a plot twist that has to be seen to be believed.

tosca by puccini is fucking crazy. political drama, banger songs, one of the most badass murders ever witnessed on the opera stage, this opera has it all. just balls to the walls crazy curtain to curtain. in some way it's what the broken code should have felt like, LOL. i usually dont like puccini but tosca is an exception. (content warning for implied attempted rape + suicide on this one)

'what if the new prophecy was good?' have il trovatore, by verdi! trovatore is ostensibly yet another love triangle, on the surface; but it's really about the fight between two brothers, manrico and count di luna, who don't know they're brothers. (this happened because of a very strange backstory involving setting the wrong baby on fire. oh yknow. normal stuff, for opera.) it's an opera really about the cycle of abuse and what it is to kill the people you are trying to avenge, and familial cycles and fratricide that is neither intentional nor unintentional. if you liked that post @/harriertail made with hawkfrost and the cain and abel poem watch this

wanna watch a silly thing that's also sort of a psychological horror? check out the rake's progress by stravinsky! (no it doesn't sound like the rite of spring LOL it sounds more like mozart in a funhouse that gets gradually more disturbing.) tom rakewell, a young and naive man, is told he has inherited his mysteriously-deceased uncle's fortune and is whisked off to the city, alongside nick shadow, his uncle's old servant WHO DEFINITELY ISN'T A DEMON. over time, however, tom loses it all- and there's the unsettling realization that the characters know they are in an opera, and are trying to escape their own narrative destinies, oh god the terror of being at the whim of a narrative you can't control or understand LOL!

i have to mention it here because it's my favorite ever. don giovanni by mozart is an opera with no real plot and yet a very real set of character arcs. don giovanni is a horrible, horrible person, and the opera is about the people he affects- particularly leporello and elvira, his servant and ex-lover respectively, who still care about him despite knowing he is an awful person (loving an abuser will do that to ya). over time, they must learn to let go- after all, the man will die at the end of the show, won't he? (tw for sexual violence on this one- don giovanni is... well... yeah.)

i should note opera isn't perfect. carmen and il trovatore, depending on the production, can lean into xenophobia towards romani people, and it should be noted many operas were written by white men hundreds of years ago so take that as you will. i highly recommend watching new productions of these operas, check out the met opera ones if you can find them (or... dm me...). heed the tws i give if you're sensitive to certain topics. however, with opera part of the activity of the work is to dissect and deconstruct it, and opera is always reinventing itself and deconstructing its own issues- something warrior cats, frankly, lacks. you are always meant to question opera. you are always meant to look it in the eye.

IF YOU'D LIKE PRODUCTION RECS also dm me!!! i know my way around :)

hey wc fans this is another reason you should get into opera bc none of the characters (even those who are under copyright) are really actually owned by anyone. if someone says some dumb shit abt your favs you can just ignore them because they have no power EVEN IF they’re a director or dramaturg or something. food for thought (COME WATCH OPERA YOU WILL BE SOOOOOOO NORMAL ABOUT IT)

[chicagoindiecritics]

New from Every Movie Has a Lesson by Don Shanahan: MOVIE REVIEW: Love Wedding Repeat

LOVE WEDDING REPEAT— 3 STARS

I am starting to become convinced that there will never be a movie wedding that goes off without a hitch, as they say. It’s cinematically impossible not to have something, anything, or everything go wrong. But, that’s the fun of all those movies, including the new Netflix film Love Wedding Repeat. There is always comedy to be had when a springboard event of enduring love can survive in every cringe, surprise, fumble, flub, and fail executed by the doting newlyweds on down to the drunk ne’er-do-wells. 

LESSON #1: WEDDINGS NEVER GO AS PLANNED— Brides and grooms alike may beg, pray, and downright will these festivals of matrimony into the “perfect days” they say they always dreamt of. The wild truth is a zillion things have to align out of any couple’s control. The beauty, if anything, is in the luck born from imperfection that happens before one’s eyes. No one remembers perfection. They remember the unorchestrated happenstance that still turned out great, even out of embarrassment.

That said, we’ll always remember the truly mortifying too, and a dish of that awaits here. Love Wedding Repeat chalks up its minefield of mistakes to cosmic chance. A divinely voiced female oracle hammers that horoscope home, reminding viewers that “all it takes is one moment of ill fortune for our hopes and dreams to go right down the shitter.” Lady, you nailed it. The unique amusement of this movie comes from the “repeat” portion of its title. Just when you think what transpires can’t be recovered, writer-director Dean Craig rewinds to a crucial moment and tries it all over again.

Our narrative keel listing back and forth in the waters of kismet is brother-of-the-bride Jack, played by Me Before You’s heartbreaker Sam Clafin. For him, his sister Hayley’s (Eleanor Tomlinson of Jack the Giant Slayer) wedding is a chance to meet “the one that got away.” Three years earlier, he spent a dreamy night in Italy with Hayley’s American friend Dina, played as a fetching bullseye of attraction by Olivia Munn. A bad moment of that aforementioned chance derailed his momentum of sealing the evening with continuing connection and, more importantly, a kiss. She’s coming to this gorgeous Italian wedding and is stupendously single. Naturally and nevertheless, pitfalls of many forms block that prospect of renewed magic. 

Jack has to avoid his bitchy ex Amanda (Freida Pinto) and her jealous boyfriend Chaz (TV actor Allan Mustafa), dodge the chatty trap of the third-wheeled idiot Rebecca (fellow TV mainstay Aisling Bea), compete with his kilted wannabe lady-killing buddy Sidney (standup comedian Tim Frey), and practically babysit his unreliable best bloke and the “maid of honor” Bryan (Yesterday’s scene stealer Joel Fry). The worst danger of all is the uninvited and coked-up Marc (Poldark’s Jack Farthing) who has been obsessed with pursuing Hayley since they were teens. The catalyst that starts colliding these amorous asteroids is a wrongly-placed roofie at the “English Table” where all of these characters are assigned. 

LESSON #2: MISTAKES NOT MAKE AT A WEDDING— Oh my, this list could go on for days beyond the sleeping medicine that is already in play. The movie will tally new haircuts, inattention, kilts, “wedding buddies,” lies of infidelity, and over-drinking on that thick list. What always makes it funny to watch is the safety in knowing this is not your wedding from the comfort of your Netflix-receiving couch. 

Much of the deranged dither of these bumbling Brits is a hoot to watch. An array of physical expressions of delight, determination, hate, abbreviation, revulsion, concealment, embarrassment, and more emanate from the cast. Ahead of that body language, lines are pushed through gritted teeth and pensive smiles while the proper classical strings of Rossini, Verde, and Mozart orchestrate the chaos. The actors are given the space and the scenarios to have a ball. Eleanor Tomlinson’s f-word-laden frazzle through the facade of necessary pleasantry might even top the wincing unraveling of rooting for Sam Clafin to win the girl. 

LESSON #3: GET YOUR MOMENT— For as much as each of the ensemble has their twirl in the spotlight, their characters got there either stumbling to the front or seizing it for themselves. Either way, they rolled with it because, as the movie professes, “chance is success or failure in love.” It’s always quick to note “chance can be real bastard,” so be careful. The best route remains the latter one with confident initiative. Tell people in the way of your moment to f–k off and keep you from missing it.

Standing as a remake to the 2012 French film Plan de table, the unpredictability is what keeps Love Wedding Repeat quite lively. For the movie to freeze, turn on a dime, and take us back to the front of the roller coaster is a deft little dalliance. Bravo to Dean Craig, the double Death at a Funeral screenwriter of both the Franz Oz British original and the Neil LaBute American remake, making his debut as a feature director. He took the French’s concept and the ironic tropes of movie weddings and bent enough kinks to make something devilishly delightful.

LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#869)

Permalink

from REVIEW BLOG – Every Movie Has a Lesson https://ift.tt/2wq5SNc via IFTTT

from WordPress https://ift.tt/39XPd1n via IFTTT

[newyorktheater]

  Hamilton Off-Broadway in February, 2015 with original cast memberstop left to right: Phillipa Too as Eliza Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr,Bottom left to right: Okieriete Onaodowan , Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos. See July 3

Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry. See July 2

Amadeus, see July 16

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, see July 17

Carousel. See July 10

Heroes of the Fourth Turning . See July 18

Below is the day-by-day calendar of “theater openings”* in July, 2020. The big news is the release of “Hamilton” online at Disney Plus — and (less hyped) the “Freestyle Love Supreme” documentary on Hulu — but in truth Lin-Manuel Miranda’s shows are not all that’s exciting this month in the world of online theater — a world in which “online” and “theater” have been synonymous since physical theaters were shut down in March (though there are small signs this may be changing; see July 13). And most of the other shows don’t require subscriptions.

Among the scheduled delights are acclaimed plays by Pulitzer finalist Will Arbery (July 18) and MacArthur “genius” grant winner Samuel D. Hunter (July 11), as well as a new Richard Nelson Apple Family play (July 1) and a new documentary play about frontline medical workers by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, creators of The Exonerated and Coal Country (July 8.) There a couple of inventive substitutions for the usual summer theater festivals.

Since so many shows are being put together at the last minute — sometimes not announced until the very day of their launch .. and there also have been fairly frequent last-minute postponements/cancellations/replacements — I will be updating/filling in this preview guide every day, and highlighting the offerings each new day with the link up top. This calendar as of this moment offers a glimpse of what’s in store. Come back day by day for a better look.

Here are some ongoing series that have proven to be reliable sources of art and entertainment.

Four offer live performances (often called readings) of original plays: The Homebound Project Livelabs: One Acts from MCC Play-PerView Viral Monologues from 24 Hour Plays

Play-PerView makes an exception this month to its original plays with what counts as a coup — the live reading of the Pulitzer finalist play “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” (which was supposed to debut last month but was postponed, as were a good number of productions due to the Black Lives Matter protests.)

A fifth offers live readings of classics and recent favorites: Plays in the House, Stars in the House’s twice weekly matinees  and now Plays in the House Teen Edition.

Three offer recordings of previous (glorious) stage productions.

Metropolitan Opera National Theatre at Home The Shows Must Go On from Andrew Lloyd Webber

For details about these and other ongoing series, check out my post Where To Get Your Theater Fix Online  (which lists, for example, the many long-running online sites such as BroadwayHD and Marquee TV that offer video-capture recordings of shows that were on stage)

All performances are free unless otherwise noted, although almost all hope for a donation (either to themselves or to a designated charity.)

*My definition of theater for the purposes of this calendar generally does not extend to variety shows, cast reunions, galas, panel discussions, documentaries, classes, interviews — all of which are in abundance this month, many worth checking out. My focus here is on creative storytelling in performance. (I make an occasional exception for a high-profile Netathon,involving many theater artists.)

A reminder that this calendar lists when the shows “open.” Some are live and available only for that one performance. Others are available for a week or weeks afterward or longer.

July 1

Die Mommie Die Plays in the House Launches at 2 p.m. Available for four days. In this latest of Stars in the House’s Wednesday matinees, Charles Busch is joined by BD Wong, Willie Garson, Brandon Contreras, Jennifer Cody and Ruth Williamson in this reading of his campy 1999 melodrama Die, Mommie, Die!, a mix of Aeschylus and Bette Davis.Directed and narrated by Carl Andress.

The Book of Job Project Theater of War Launches at 4 p.m. live only The latest from Bryan Doerries terrific community-oriented theater using classic texts (best-known for Antigone in Ferguson), is a dramatic reading of The Book of Job as a catalyst for discussion about injustice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring performances by Jeffrey Wright, Frankie Faison, Kimberly Hebert, David Strathairn, David Zayas, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

And So We Come Forth Apple Family Productions Launches at 7:30 pm. Available for 8 weeks The Apple Family, a dramatic series of plays which first appeared 10 years ago, returned last April with the premiere of a play written especially for Zoom, What Do We Need to Talk About? Now this second Zoom play, And So We Come Forth is set in early July 2020, amidst massive protests against injustice and racism in our country, as well as the anxious easing of a worldwide lockdown.

Richard II, part 1 Shakespeare@ Home

Shostakovich’s The Nose Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours It all begins with an absurd scenario: A hapless Russian bureaucrat wakes up one morning to discover that his nose has gone missing. He eventually locates his fugitive facial feature, which has been masquerading as a human being, but has no luck reattaching it. Based on a satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol

Mary’s Mixology The Tank Launches at 8 p.m. Kev Berry’s monologue about his first year on the wagon. “What does it mean for a gay man to give up liquid courage?”

Borders Queerly Festival Launches at 8:30 p.m. live Boaz and George meet on Grindr. They are attracted to one another instantly and want to meet in person, but something prevents them from doing so. One lives in Israel, the other- in Lebanon. Also Friday at 3 p.m. The festival also offers three short plays tonight starting at 7 p.m.: Before We Can Make a Final Decision, Backup Plan, and an excerpt from “I Tried” by Veronica Garza, “my one woman show that I’ve been working on about the men I slept with in my struggles to be straight”

  July 2

Les Blancs National Theater Launches 2 p.m. Available until July 9 In this final play by Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun), in a production directed by Yael Farber in 2016, a society prepares to drive out its colonial present and claim an independent future. Tshembe, returned home from England for his father’s funeral, finds himself in the eye of the storm.

Hypochondriac! Theater in Quarantine Launches at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The first installment of a new adaptation of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid by David McGee and Joshua William Gelb.Featuring Gelb, Jessie Shelton, and Alex Hawthorne

Bizet’s Carmen Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours The tale of the irresistible and free-spirited Gypsy, whose fatal attraction with the jealous soldier Don José burns too hot for them to control.

July 3

Hamilton Disney Plus Available from this date on. A live-capture of the stage production with the original Broadway cast, which was shot over three days in June 2016. A Disney Plus subscription is required. One way to look at this is that it costs $6.99 to see “Hamilton” and you get a month to watch everything else on the service (which includes titles familiar to theatergoers though not the same versions — Frozen, The Lion King, Aladdin.) Here is my video review of “Hamilton” in 2015:

Here is my review of Hamilton on Broadway in 2019

  Mozart’s Don Giovanni Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours Mozart’s 1747 melodic version of the Don Juan myth, with two baritones starring alongside one another as the title Lothario and his faithful yet conflicted servant, Leporello, as well as three memorable female roles—multifaceted women who both suffer the Don’s abuses and plot their revenge.

July 4

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours Beverly Sills stars in her final performance as a clever young widow, who goes up against a crusty old bachelor, no match for her wiles.

A Capitol Fourth PBS 8 – 9:30 p.m. The annual July 4 celebration will feature new performances from locations across the country, as well as highlights from the concert’s 40-year history. Among the performers are theater artists Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Mandy Gonzalez and Renée Fleming

July 5

Rossini’s La Donna del Lago Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m. available for 23 hours The retelling of Sir Walter Scott’s shadowy epic of clan warfare in 16th-century Scotland, which is at heart a classic love triangle.

July 6

Summer Stock Streaming Festival Mint Theater Available through July 19 Archival recordings of three old and forgotten plays that the Mint resurrected (which is what they do; I saw two of these on stage and found them fascinating.) “The Fatal Weakness” written in 1946 by George Kelly: Society woman Ollie Espenshade, after 28 years of marriage is still an incurable romantic (her fatal weakness). Perhaps discovering that her husband is a lying cheat will cure her?

“The New Morality” written in 1911 by Harold Chapin who died at age 29 in World War I: A comedy set aboard a houseboat on a fashionable reach of the Thames in 1911, in which brazen Betty Jones restores dignity to her household and harmony to her marriage.

“Women Without Men,” written in 1938 by Hazel Ellis: An all-female cast tells this humor-laced tale set in the teacher’s lounge of a private girls boarding school in Ireland in the 1930’s, where young new teacher Jean Wade, popular with her students but at odds with her quarrelsome colleagues, is accused of sabotaging her main antagonist.

July 8

Unveiled Premiere Stages at Keane Separate live showings at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets $10 Rohina Malik plays five Muslim women navigating complex social issues in a post 9/11 world. Following the screening, Ms. Malik will host a live Q & A with all ticket holders.

The Line Public Theater Launches at 7:30 p.m. Available until August 4. This new documentary play by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen (The Exonerated, Coal Country) presents the experiences of frontline medical workers in New York and their battle to save lives in a system built to serve the bottom line. The cast includes Santino Fontana, Arjun Gupta, John Ortiz, Alison Pill ,Nicholas Pinnock , Jamey Sheridan and Lorraine Toussaint

July 9

The Deep Blue Sea National Theatre Launches at 2 p.m. available until July 16 In this play by Terence Rattigan, Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, which leads to the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge.

July 10

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel Lincoln Center Launches at 8 p.m. The latest of Lincoln Center’s Broadway Fridays (rescheduled from June 5) features a free digital stream of its concert production of this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical featuring the New York Philharmonic and starring Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Shuler Hensley, Jason Danieley,Jessie Mueller, Kate Burton, Tony winner John Cullum, and New York City Ballet dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck.

Freedom Riders An online reading of Richard Allen and Taran Gray’s award-winning Freedom Riders: The Civil Rights Musical

July 11

The Few Play-PerView Written and directed by Samuel D. Hunter, featuring Gideon Glick: Four years ago, Bryan abandoned his labor of love: a newspaper for truckers. Now he’s returned—with no word of where he’s been—and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads.

July 12

Hershey Felder: Beethoven Based on Memories of Beethoven: Out of the House of Black-Robed Spaniards, a first-hand account by Dr. Gerhard von Breuning.

July 13

Plays about memory loss Food for Thought Productions 1:30 p.m. — 3:30 Louise Lasser and Bob Dishey star in this in-person event of three short plays (Arthur Miller’s “I Can’t Remember Anything,” Robert Anderson’s “I’m Herbert” and Daniel Rose’s “Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem”) held at The Coffee House Club, 22 West 44th Street, available first come, first served by calling 646-366-9340 or emailing info@foodforthoughtproductions. However, “if you’d rather watch from home, you can request the Zoom link.” staged reading of short plays about memory loss starring Tony nominee Bob Dishy and Louise Lasse

Richard II, part 1 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown. André Holland (Moonlight) stars, and the supporting cast includes Oscar winner Estelle Parsons, Tony winner Phylicia Rashad and Tony nominee John Douglas Thompson. The production will be broadcast in four installments from Monday, July 13 through Thursday, July 16 at 8 p.m. ET nightly on WNYC. Listeners in the New York tri-state area can tune in at 93.9 FM or AM 820. It will also stream nationwide at WNYC.org.

July 14

Richard II, part 2 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown

July 15

The Homebound Project Available through July 19 The fourth edition

The Droll Bard of the Gate Launches at 7 p.m Meg Miroshnik’s play is the second offering in Paula Vogel’s play series,

Richard II, part 3 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown. licia Rashad as the Duchess of Gloucester.

July 16

Amadeus National Theatre Launches 2 p.m. Available until July 23 Lucian Msamati portrays the envious court composer Antonio Salieri who is envious of the obnoxious genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart In this popular play by Peter Shaffer that was turned into an Oscar-winning film.

Richard II, part 4 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown.

July 17

“We Are Freestyle Love Supreme” Hulu A documentary about the improv theater company co-founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Virtual Fire Island Dance Festival he first-ever stream in the event’s 26-year history will feature world premieres of three new pieces and three beloved festival favorites.

July 18

Heroes of the Fourth Turning Play PerView Will Arbery’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist will now take place July 18 at 8 PM ET on Play-PerView after postponing the June 13 reading in solidarity with Black Lives Matter

July 20

Project Sing Out! Playbill Launches at 7 p.m. A one-night-only livestreamed event featuring musical performances, spoken word and special appearances from a variety of Broadway and TV’s biggest names, including Audra McDonald, Chirta Rivera, Don Cheadle, Vanessa Willams.

July 21

Coriolanus Bedlam

July 25

Knife to the Heart Play-PerView In this play by Stan Zimmerman and Christian McLaughlin, ulie Ann and Marshall are expecting their first baby—with Marshall’s mother Rhonda hovering over them and Julie Ann’s fellow teacher Deacon providing moral support. Everything’s going smoothly until Julie Ann accidentally learns just what exactly the bris Rhonda’s planning involves, and all good will and politeness dissolve.

July 2020 Online Theater Openings: Hamilton, PLUS. What’s streaming day by day Below is the day-by-day calendar of “theater openings”* in July, 2020. The big news is the release of "Hamilton" online at Disney Plus -- and (less hyped) the "Freestyle Love Supreme" documentary on Hulu -- but in truth Lin-Manuel Miranda's shows are not all that's exciting this month in the world of online theater -- a world in which "online" and "theater" have been synonymous since physical theaters were shut down in March (though there are small signs this may be changing; see July 13).

[barnhartcamero5]

Buy it on Amazon - - Discount Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy -- Click the link to buy now or to read the 6423 4 & 5 Star Reviews. Visit our Website: http://ift.tt/2DXaexR Subscribe to our Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD62MOcITsk0eqE0DqDWo5Q?sub_confirmation=1 Like us on Facebook for videos, pictures, coupons, prizes and more - http://ift.tt/2wCDdi2 Discount Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy When the first grandchild came along several months ago, there seemed to be a rush to buy books, toys, play mats, and about every other form of entertainment. Hands down, this Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes is our granddaughter's favorite of everything we have purchased or received as gifts. The lights are fascinating to her, and the music is exactly right. The button on the front is big enough and easy enough for her to push that even a three or four month old can change the music if you hol... Reviewer : Leah I bought this toy when my son was 5 months old. This is so far his favorite toy I got for my baby. I'm glad I bought this because he is surely happy with it. His music gifts were inspired, giving him fantastic feelings, offering him different explosions. There are 7 classical songs from Mozart, Chopin, Vivaldi, and Rossini, and he never get tired of hearing. He loved this at 5 months old and still loves it now at one year old. In addition, this caterpillar bead chaser handle is so cute and fun,... Reviewer : Michael Tatay Click to buy now on Amazon or to read more reviews. Lead-free, BPA-free, and non-toxic; 2 AA batteries are required Little hands can easily grasp and hold the caterpillar handle. Do you hear that? Baby will discover seven classical melodies from Mozart, Chopin, and more by pressing the center button. Wow, look at those lights go! Can baby dance to the music, too? This has been a lifesaver since day 1. We used this in the car to keep our little girl entertained when she would get fussy it always worked. We also keep this handy for doctor visits also been a big help with distraction during shots etc. My daughter loves trying to grab it, and the handle with the beads on the side is another fun aspect. PROS: - It's not annoying. The music is actually nice. It plays a bunch of different classical tunes - It has lights that flash in different colors ... Reviewer : Tech Insider Click to buy now on Amazon or to read more reviews. ***Let Us Know What You Think… Comment Below!!*** Watch my other review Videos – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD62MOcITsk0eqE0DqDWo5Q See other products on http://ift.tt/2xhK4Ru Subscribe to our Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD62MOcITsk0eqE0DqDWo5Q?sub_confirmation=1 Like us on Facebook for videos, pictures, coupons, prizes and more - http://ift.tt/2wCDdi2 #KIDS II, #Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes Musical Toy This is a review video for : B000YDDF6O Manufacture : KIDS II Thanks for watching! http://ift.tt/2xhK4Ru Related Videos in Channel

[bentchcreates]

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Seemingly unimpressionable Aomame finds herself living in a world that is almost unchanged except that there are now two moons in the sky. A writer, Tengo, notices the same, and notes its similarity to a fantasy book he has secretly ghostwritten. As the fine line between reality and fantasy blurs, a unique love story between the two blossoms and in time, they must find a way out of 1Q84 to escape the clutches of a mysterious religious cult that pursues them for something neither wants to give up.

I had put off starting this for so long because look at it! Haha! To say that I was intimidated by its size is an understatement. But like what my cousin – who absolutely adores all Murakami stories – said, this was such an experience. 

*also, I loved my cousin’s gorgeous hardcover copy so much, it’s graced my IG a bunch of times. heehee

This is my second Haruki Murakami book after Colorless Tsukuru so I was somehow familiar with his subtle integration of fantasy elements in a seemingly contemporary setting. I also know very little about Japanese culture, especially in the year 1984 so I will admit that there were parts of it that I didn’t fully grasp, or have completely flown over my head. Still here’s are my thoughts (also, mild spoiler alert!):

The femininity and sexual fluidity of Aomame. I will use the term sexual fluidity loosely here because Aomame is straight for the most part of the narrative, but as the blurred reality unravels around her, the readers are shown more of Aomame’s background and preferences. I didn’t want to point it out too much –because love is love, and I feel like Aomame’s lesbian trysts were borne out of love – but this book’s nonchalant presentation of it, of a woman comfortable with her sexuality like this, is notable.

Tengo’s complacence and his eventual longing to break the monotony of the life he had built around himself. As with Colorless Tsukuru, Murakami’s male lead here isn’t dead but isn’t actually living. He’s going through the motions. And Murakami shows in this story that it isn’t particularly bad if one chooses to live like this. There’s a reason why people would choose this and although boring, it makes sense. Ultimately Tengo makes a choice to leave it behind, to risk it, and I’m happy it doesn’t all go to waste in the end.

Complexity of characters. Tengo and Aomame’s depth of character were magnificently portrayed in this book. As well as  the supporting characters like the dowager, Tamaru, Ayumi (huhu), Komatsu, Fuka-Eri and Ushikawa. I also felt that Buzzcut and Ponytail were distinctly Japanese but maybe that’s just because they remind me of anime goons a lot.

Magical realism.  I will admit that I’m drawn more to books/stories where the magic is straight up fantastical and flashy, but the subtleness of the magic here is an artform. I can’t claim to understand and make sense of everything (i.e. what are the maza and dohta and what exactly do they do???)but maybe that’s how the author wants it to be? Reality is whoozy in the world of 1Q84 so my real-world logic must not apply.

Ushikawa. I was ready to sympathize with him because Murakami have drawn out his character so much, even giving him his own POV in the third book and then ~the end~ happens!? Argh. To this day I don’t know what I feel about that.

The romance. This is not in the same alley as the romance books I normally devour but it is successful in making me root for the characters and feel what they’re feeling. Murakami also painfully teases the reader, putting a lot of situations where they should’ve already met, and then twists it so they won’t meet yet. Agh! I actually had to cheat at one point and skimmed the last few pages for me to know the outcome. I’m not going to say what happens but for someone like me –who absolutely hates spoiling the story by getting to the end first – to take a peek at the endings, I have Murakami’s compelling writing skill to blame.

I understand why people tag this as a difficult read. It took me 8 months to finish all of it and I had to read other books in between for breaks. It’s not so much because the narrative is boring or is particularly bad, it’s just so long and winding. There’s a part here where Tengo was reading something from an encyclopedia (or something) about a group of indigenous people, I don’t know, and I skipped it. It might have something to do with the story, and underlying theme or what not, but I got so frustrated that I felt like I was reading it too slow so I did away with it. No regrets.

5 of 5 Stars. Why a perfect score, you may ask. Well, why not? I don’t think I will ever understand why it had to drag for so long, for a bunch of subthemes to just suddenly be there without direct importance to the plot, but there is no denying that Haruki Murakami has worked on this artfully. Maybe the reader’s frustration is deliberate to express the craziness of the parallel world; maybe it was there to distract us from the fact that Tengo and Aomame’s worlds are converging under our very noses. But when it starts to fall into place, when you’re at the edge of your seat at full attention to what is happening to the characters (this is after you power through 75% of the trilogy, I’m sorry to say) then it becomes clear why Murakami is such a prolific writer with fans all over the world, despite the mixed reviews this book is getting.

Blurb:

The year is 1984 and the city is Tokyo. A young woman named Aomame follows a taxi driver’s enigmatic suggestion and begins to notice puzzling discrepancies in the world around her. She has entered, she realizes, a parallel existence, which she calls 1Q84 —“Q is for ‘question mark.’ A world that bears a question.” Meanwhile, an aspiring writer named Tengo takes on a suspect ghostwriting project. He becomes so wrapped up with the work and its unusual author that, soon, his previously placid life begins to come unraveled.  As Aomame’s and Tengo’s narratives converge over the course of this single year, we learn of the profound and tangled connections that bind them ever closer: a beautiful, dyslexic teenage girl with a unique vision; a mysterious religious cult that instigated a shoot-out with the metropolitan police; a reclusive, wealthy dowager who runs a shelter for abused women; a hideously ugly private investigator; a mild-mannered yet ruthlessly efficient bodyguard; and a peculiarly insistent television-fee collector. A love story, a mystery, a fantasy, a novel of self-discovery, a dystopia to rival George Orwell’s — 1Q84 is Haruki Murakami’s most ambitious undertaking yet: an instant best seller in his native Japan, and a tremendous feat of imagination from one of our most revered contemporary writers.

Buy Links:

Kindle EBook: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004LROUW2/

Print copies are available in leading bookstores worldwide.

About the Author:

Murakami Haruki (Japanese: 村上 春樹) is a popular contemporary Japanese writer and translator. His work has been described as 'easily accessible, yet profoundly complex'. He can be located on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/harukimuraka... Since childhood, Murakami has been heavily influenced by Western culture, particularly Western music and literature. He grew up reading a range of works by American writers, such as Kurt Vonnegut and Richard Brautigan, and he is often distinguished from other Japanese writers by his Western influences. Murakami studied drama at Waseda University in Tokyo, where he met his wife, Yoko. His first job was at a record store, which is where one of his main characters, Toru Watanabe in Norwegian Wood, works. Shortly before finishing his studies, Murakami opened the coffeehouse 'Peter Cat' which was a jazz bar in the evening in Kokubunji, Tokyo with his wife. Many of his novels have themes and titles that invoke classical music, such as the three books making up The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle: The Thieving Magpie (after Rossini's opera), Bird as Prophet (after a piano piece by Robert Schumann usually known in English as The Prophet Bird), and The Bird-Catcher (a character in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute). Some of his novels take their titles from songs: Dance, Dance, Dance (after The Dells' song, although it is widely thought it was titled after the Beach Boys tune), Norwegian Wood(after The Beatles' song) and South of the Border, West of the Sun (the first part being the title of a song by Nat King Cole).