#rebecca foust

[imaginemirage]

You made me while I made you; nothing is owed.

Rebecca Foust

[quaft-delicates]

by happenstance I read this poem today and now it's rattling around inside my skull like it has the place to itself

(if you're a cryer like me, be warned)

ALZ Ghazal

By Rebecca Foust

For my sister

It’s the same house, same rugs, same wallpaper, and bedroom repeating;

same dresser; same rocker. Same window and frame, repeating.

Same birds at the pane, same pots and pans, and—on the alarm clock,

the wall clock, the phone clock—the same time, repeating

each hour’s increment in a lived life. But, This is no life, each day like

before and to come, repeating.

The furniture set in a known pattern. The rugs there, like always, inking

the blueprint of home, repeating

jewel tones on the floor, but what was once north–south now seems to lie

east–west—who moved the rugs?—in sum, repeating

the familiar, but sideways. Your inner axis has shifted, the landmarks

somehow changed but the same, you repeating

Why do they keep moving the rugs?  The desk, the chair, your keys?

Home its own balm, repeating

the familiar, but neither keys nor your purse can be found—I know

I just had them—repeating

the questions yields the same, that is, no real answers. Your sense of taste

gone, like eating chum, repeating

the same million small motions: fork to plate then mouth, then back down,

always the same, repeating

the flavor of cardboard. You used to love to cook, that joyous jazz variation-

on-a-theme now a repeating

like pages of musical staffs, xeroxed blank with no notes. Lately, you refuse

to eat anything at all. In a poem, repeating

lines compose a refrain and, echoed again and again, the sum of refrains

is a song. But there is also empty repeating:

zero plus zero plus zero still zero, a void. No accretion, no growth, no life,

no thrum. Then again, birds—some, repeating

one clear note, are said to singing without tune—and, the same set of sounds

from a beaten drum, repeating

means nothing and everything at the same time. The gene runs in families

and can be followed like breadcrumbs, repeating

the precise map for getting lost, down through generations. She took the same

route to work on the town tram, a repeating

my sister relied on. We rely on a plum to taste purple when our teeth break

its skin. Some numbers go on ad infinitum, repeating

that reminds us of architecture and God. Rings of a tree, whorls of a shell,

sections of a lime, repeating

a sequence that re-enacts growth and change. Meiosis, mitosis, Eve cleaved

from Adam, other kinds of repeating

so life can go on. We are “pattern-seeking animals,” Hass says, and even

atheists pray in a jam, repeating

lessons learned as a child: “Now I lay me” like the promise of mercy, like mercy

itself, soothing and warm, you repeating

your talisman against terror. After your nap, I worry you’ll wake confused,

but then you resume, repeating

Where are my keys? Why do they keep moving the rugs? Always theft and loss

the theme, repeating.

They say you’ll forget my name, and your own. How to talk, small mercy

then, you no longer doomed to repeating

your aching questions. They say you’ll forget how to swallow, to breathe—

O God, will you forget to breathe?—just succumb, repeating

the pause in place of the heartbeat? The doctor says keep things simple

and flat, no drang or sturm, repeating

“Is it nice there today,” and “Have the tulips bloomed,” conversations dull

with the same datum repeating

catechism and cliché. You no longer work on your dollhouses, potting trees

the size of your thumb, repeating

postage-stamp paintings on walls, building one-inch-to-the-foot the lavish life

you never had or presumed, repeating

a litany of loss enlarged from what-was to what-will-never-be. The Christmas

tree shadowbox in simulacrum repeating

the childhood obsessions. Some of your dollhouses have tiny dollhouses

within them, repeating

themselves in infinite regression. All that helpless sap and surge of creation,

your xylem and phloem repeating

what to make of a diminished thing. You say you’ll burn them come spring,

without reflection or qualm, the future repeating

and eating the past. It’s happening so fast: a page torn, a book lost, then

whole libraries gone dumb, repeating

erasure until only erasure remains. O trochee, lilting your 10-beat line.

O river, O iamb repeating

the tide. Bishop called loss an “art.” I last saw you at home in October,

a glorious autumn repeating

saffron and scarlet against azure sky. Outside now, a robin taps at the pane,

ravished by her own image, an eye-rhyme repeating—

there’s been one bird each spring. Some beat their beaks bloody and die,

some stay for days, numb with repeating

their broken routine. Who moved the keys? Who moved the goddamn keys?

Your patient husband is grim, repeating

they’re-in-a-safe-place-so-we-can-keep-you-safe. We are all of us trapped

under a great dome repeating

our words and the cries of wild birds. This is harder in some ways, he says,

than Vietnam, repeating

his pledge to stay till the end. He tries to give you small pleasures, picking

and handing you the plum repeating

all you can recall of lush purple juice run down your chin, but at best,

it’s a dim meme repeating

as holograph plums eaten before. Soon, where are my keys will dwindle

to where keys, the totem repeating

as keys, then just key—what matters, the way out of labyrinth and code.

A chant or psalm, repeating

open vowels like water or rain. Luck—the river in poker, the silver ball

spun at the wheel’s rim—can be repeating

until it turns, and isn’t it possible to hear a persistent tune as anthem,

not ear-worm? Can’t repeating

strengthen a seam, or knit a long row? After you fell, I imagined you there

on the floor, the refrigerator’s hum repeating

its cold comfort until the ambulance came. Your husband cradling you

on the linoleum, repeating

presence in absence in presence in absence—cognitive dissonance—

or an inscrutable charm repeating

its mysteries. Your hip and arm are mostly healed. The house is still there,

but an interior door slams shut every second, an alarm repeating

its warning: all doors soon will be sealed. Where we stand in an earthquake

is an empty doorframe. Soon, repeating

itself will disappear: all language flown, a slaughtered lamb,

a shattered paradigm. Will your repeating

heart just—miss its cue? Will you forget how to swallow? O Fates, come, come,

/ Cut thread and thrum, repeating

its end-times refrain. Your jacks and pick-up sticks—you still love any game

—played now with your left arm, repeating

that makes of small movements an art, like dance. Your little jokes,

like the “ALZ tip jar”—now crammed—repeating

the ring of each coin dropped in. You pull my leg when I call, pretending

to forget who I am, repeating

Becky who? Becky who? until we both laugh, the sounds that sound so much

like crying but with a whetted edge; in time, repeating

a knife against stone will bring forth a terrible blade. O sweet sad funny sister,

you are the bird who flies away in my dream, repeating

its looping script on the blank page of sky. An unhooded hawk, a wild bird

freed. Calling Key? Key? Key?—repeating, repeating, repeating.

Source: Poetry (May 2021)

by way of: www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/155783/alz-ghazal

[rustbeltjessie]

The arm still makes an arc from elbow to wrist to knuckle under the sunrise-tint skin,

its musk-rose bouquet. I know what you are thinking: not another poem where the subject is  

I     I     I summed up by a body part—usually, head or heart —but this time you’re wrong:  

the “I” who was here is the skipped-town, flown-coop ghost of this poem. No one’s seen her

since the trap tripped, its steel bar swung home, and she knew she’d do what she had to do

to anyone or thing that stood, as it were, between her and her freedom.

—Rebecca Foust, “Synecdoche” (32 Poems Magazine)

[seekingstars]

Ocean Beach - Rebecca Foust

[liuisi]

This is me asking you about poetry. Please tell me about poetry.

YAYYYYY I WOULD LOVE TO!!! now ngl this is very general..... so yk what i will simply give u my Top poems (for the moment!!) and why i like them heehee

OKAY!!!!

on our backs looking up by jan-henry gray

now something about me is that i LOVE run on poetry and this one has been my favourite of the kind for a while now... i dont know i just really love how it starts with the cockroach, ostensibly something so mundane and then links it and links it and links it and links it. like. does it make sense? not really. but at the same time it just Fits Together until it gets to the end with a link right back to the beginning, a neat little knot. I DONT KNOW MAN. i think that with run-on poetry you always have to keep in mind what your Goal is and where you want to bring it in the end because its SO easy to get caught up in just going and going and going and then getting lost in it esp since there's not really strict formatting. i think this is a really really good example!! (like just choosing a favourite part was hard because everything just fits together its SO hard to choose where to cut it off)

favourite line: in hotel beds, two windows facing south, ghosts of last night's feast, the smell of rot from the soil, on your floor, there is protocol and survival, torn foil, an entire body slackening, exhaling,

2. january 2 by zakaria mohammed

okay. okay!! i really like this one because of how meta (i guess?) it is? like it breaks the fourth wall. it KNOWS that its a poem it doesnt try to obscure the fact. it knows that everything that's inside it is for the Sake of the Poem.... if you know what i mean (Here, a gazelle is a poetic necessity, nothing more.) i just LOVE the idea of undercutting the Expectation of what a poem is (metaphor and simile and imagery) and Bringing attention to it i just think it gives SUCH a good dimension to the poem. its also VERY hard to do convincingly and not just sound ironic.... like yeah it's aware that it's a poem but in no way is it scornful of that fact... you know....

favourite line: There, you’ll find my will, and you’ll grab the gazelle by its horns.

3. ALZ ghazal by rebecca foust

okay this one is INSANE to me. a ghazal is basically a form of poetry where (in its most basic form) the last word/phrase of each couplet is the same (in this case, it's "repeating". and LISTEN i tried to write one and its INSANELY hard !!! (i gave up lol) DO YOU SEE HOW LONG THIS ONE IS??? thats CRAZY talent. other than me admiring the fact that she was able to go on for so long without it feeling over the top, i LOVE how this poem progresses. like it starts super mundane (It’s the same house, same rugs, same wallpaper, and bedroom repeating) and then devolves like you can FEEL it getting more frantic as you read on. its like. the familiarity of everything being the same -> the horror of Everything Being The Same and yet forgetting. I DONT KNOW I JUST THINK ITS KIND OF INCREDIBLE!!

favourite line: O trochee, lilting your 10-beat line. O river, O iamb repeating the tide. Bishop called loss an “art.”

4. to my mother by mahmoud darwish (honorary mention)

im including this as an honorary mention because im not AS insane about the poem itself (even if it is VERY good) but more about this video of mahmoud darwish reading out the beginning. it has just lived in my head rent free since i heard it like 4 months ago. i don't know theres something that i love a lot about hearing in the original language (fully realize it might not have the same effect on someone that doesnt understand arabic LMAO) like idk i feel like theres a Touch to it that is lost when i just Read it in english..... but translation is a WHOLE other topic i will NAWT get into right now or this will become a full essay.

ANYWAYS!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH i will keep my promise i now love you forever..... MWAH

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Bar Fights with Sad Kids by Melina Cohen-Bramwell

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/bar-fights-with-sad-kids-by-melina-cohen-bramwell/

Bar Fights with Sad Kids is a rollercoaster ride through a formative decade, covering topics such as #addiction, parental #divorce, and that pissy smell that pervades the city of San Francisco. If you remember what it felt like to be in your teens and early twenties, or how great it feels not to be in your teens and early twenties anymore, this book is for you. Grab your copy, brace your core, and make it out of the bar fight alive. #poetry

Melina Cohen-Bramwell dropped out of high school to join the circus but, as it soon became clear, was far better suited to a life of hermitage. Melina now communicates with the outside world primarily through scraps of paper covered in discarded lines that float out the window on breezy afternoons— and the occasional cohesive manuscript slipped in single pages under the door. If you wander about when the moon is high and the wind blows at just the right timbre, you might catch a glimpse of Melina darting in and out of the shadows in the San Francisco Bay Area.

PRAISE FOR Bar Fights with Sad Kids by Melina Cohen-Bramwell

This fine book from an exciting new voice—by turns quiet and raucous, tender and cruel—tells of the costs and rewards of the emergence of the true self. The poems plumb the depths of bitterness and despair, sometimes with surprising irony and even humor (“I think of drowning when I think of freedom” and “He’s a three-time PTSD award winner”). Packed with fresh, raw images and perspectives, fierce, and achingly vulnerable, they remind us that humanity transcends gender and race, or should, every time.

–Rebecca Foust, Marin Poet Laureate emerita and author of ONLY (Four Way Books 2023)

An unabashedly honest, ticklingly sardonic and tauntingly witty collection of poetry, Bar Fights with Sad Kids, is a fearless journey through rock bottoms, childhood wonderments and self-rediscoveries like no other. Melina’s whiplash verse is a deftly composed tour de melancholias that, at times, hits like a wet slap— surprising, visceral and you’re definitely into it.

–Linda Maria Girón, playwright, multimedia artist

Please share/please repost

#flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

[lifeinpoetry]

You made me while I made you; nothing is owed. I came to the canyon rim and saw

how best to carry you: I let the stone go.

— Rebecca Foust, from "Echo," Only

[violettesiren]

Gray day upon day before snow, old tintype sepia tones muted so that color’s an incident, a jewel that glows.

Sunset caught roseate in each web of branches; bittersweet wearing motley beside the back roads.

The signal’s an exotic, daubed parrot or harlot— Emerald. Burnt gold. Then throat-caught scarlet.

November by Rebecca Foust

[allyourprettywords]

“Abeyance,” Rebecca Foust

                            letter to my transgender daughter

I made soup tonight, with cabbage, chard and thyme picked outside our back door. For this moment the room is warm and light, and I can presume you safe somewhere. I know the night lives inside you. I know grave, sad errors were made, dividing you, and hiding you from you inside. I know a girl like you was knifed last week, another set aflame. I know I lack the words, or all the words I say are wrong. I know I’ll call and you won’t answer, and still I’ll call. I want to tell you you were loved with all I had, recklessly, and with abandon, loved the way the cabbage in my garden near-inverts itself, splayed to catch each last ray of sun. And how the feeling furling-in only makes the heart more dense and green. Tonight it seems like something one could bear.

Guess what, Dad and I finally figured out Pandora, and after all those years of silence, our old music fills the air. It fills the air, and somehow, here, at this instant and for this instant only —perhaps three bars—what I recall equals all I feel, and I remember all the words.

[the-end-of-art]

What I recall equals what I feel

Abeyance by Rebecca Foust

letter to my transgender daughter

I made soup tonight, with cabbage, chard and thyme picked outside our back door. For this moment the room is warm and light, and I can presume you safe somewhere. I know the night lives inside you. I know grave, sad errors were made, dividing you, and hiding you from you inside. I know a girl like you was knifed last week, another set aflame. I know I lack the words, or all the words I say are wrong. I know I'll call and you won't answer, and still I'll call. I want to tell you you were loved with all I had, recklessly, and with abandon, loved the way the cabbage in my garden near-inverts itself, splayed to catch each last ray of sun. And how the feeling furling-in only makes the heart more dense and green. Tonight it seems like something one could bear.

Guess what, Dad and I finally figured out Pandora, and after all those years of silence, our old music fills the air. It fills the air, and somehow, here, at this instant and for this instant only - perhaps three bars - what I recall equals all I feel, and I remember all the words.

[csheapoet]

(via Poetry Sunday: “The Chill of Grace,” by Cathryn Shea)

[lylifeinspired-blog1]

“Abeyance” ~ Rebecca Foust

“Abeyance” ~ Rebecca Foust

letter to my transgender daughter I made soup tonight, with cabbage, chard and thyme picked outside our back door. For this moment the room is warm and light, and I can presume you safe somewhere. I know the night lives inside you. I know grave, sad errors were made, dividing you, and hiding you from you inside. I know a girl like you was knifed last week, another set aflame. I know I lack the…

[ninja-muse]

Read in 2019 Masterpost

Italics = 7-8 out of 10; Bold = 9-10 out of 10; Struck = unreviewed; * = in home library

Fantasy

Lies Sleeping - Ben Aaronovitch * In an Absent Dream - Seanan McGuire * The Kingdom of Copper - S.A. Chakraborty The Wolf in the Whale - Jordanna Max Brodsky Treason of Hawks - Lila Bowen That Ain’t Witchcraft - Seanan McGuire * A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery - Curtis Craddock Magic For Liars - Sarah Gailey Storm of Locusts - Rebecca Roanhorse Blood of Tyrants - Naomi Novik * Blood Engines - T.A. Pratt Middlegame - Seanan McGuire The October Man - Ben Aaronovitch Grave Importance - Vivian Shaw The Unkindest Tide - Seanan McGuire The Secret Commonwealth - Philip Pullman

Rereads

Discount Armageddon, Midnight Blue-Light Special, Half-Off Ragnarok, and Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire *

Making Money, Unseen Academicals, Snuff, and Hogfather by Terry Pratchett *

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett *

Broken Homes, Foxglove Summer, and The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch *

DNF The Vampire Files, Volume Five - P.N. Elrod * DNF The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow

Science Fiction

Mutiny at Vesta - R.E. Stearns Bellwether - Connie Willis * Blindsight - Peter Watts * Ringworld - Larry Niven * The Nobody People - Bob Proehl Fortuna - Kristyn Merbeth

DNF A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet - Becky Chambers DNF Space Opera - Catherynne M. Valente

Young Adult

Our Dark Duet - Victoria Schwab Hello Girls - Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens - Tanya Boteju The Princess and the Fangirl - Ashley Poston Night of Cake and Puppets - Laini Taylor

DNF Dread Nation - Justina Ireland

Graphic Novels

Rivers of London, Vol. 6 - Ben Aaronovitch * America, Vol. 1 - Gabby Rivera * Shades of Magic, Vol. 1 - V.E. Schwab Moonstruck, Vol. 2 - Grace Ellis West Coast Avengers, Vol. 1 - Kelly Thompson The Prince and the Dressmaker - Jen Wang Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5 - G. Willow Wilson * The Unwritten, Vol. 7 - Mike Carey * Rivers of London, Vol. 7 - Ben Aaronovitch *

Middle Grade

From Night Owl to Dogfish - Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer The Shepherd’s Crown - Terry Pratchett *

Rereads

Wintersmith and I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett *

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett *

Romance

A Princess in Theory - Alyssa Cole Red, White and Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston A Duke by Default - Alyssa Cole Well Met - Jen DeLuca My Fake Rake - Eva Leigh Once Ghosted, Twice Shy - Alyssa Cole •

Mystery

Murder Lo Mein - Vivien Chien Wonton Terror - Viven Chien The Alienist - Caleb Carr *

Other Fiction

Aces Abroad - George R.R. Martin, ed. * The Two Gentlemen of Verona - William Shakespeare * The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters - Balli Kaur Jaswal The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid A Bend in the Stars - Rachel Barenbaum Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters Three Men on the Bummel - Jerome K. Jerome Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded - Ann and Jeff Vandermeer * Amberlough- Lara Elena Donnelly The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett •

Rereads

Gulliver’s Travels - Jonathan Swift

DNF - City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert DNF - Donna Has Left the Building - Susan Jane Gilman DNF - Less - Andrew Sean Greer

Poetry

Monster Verse - Tony Barnstone and Michelle Mitchell-Foust, ed. * The Complete Poems - John Donne

History

How to Be a Victorian - Ruth Goodman * How to Be a Tudor - Ruth Goodman David Bowie Made Me Gay - Darryl W. Bullock Heart of Europe - Peter H. Wilson *

True Crime

Death in the Air - Kate Winkler Dawson Say Nothing - Patrick Radden Keefe Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann Chase Darkness With Me - Billy Jensen The Kill Jar - J Reuben Appelman

Other Non-Fiction

Twisted Tales from Shakespeare - Richard Armour Because Internet - Gretchen McCulloch The Survival Guide to British Columbia - Ian Ferguson In the Valleys of the Noble Beyond - John Zada * Giants, Cannibals and Monsters - Kathy Moskowitz Strain * The Curious Cures of Old England -Nigel Cawthorne *

Rereads - The Science of Discworld III by Terry Pratchett, Jack Cohen, and Ian Stewart *

Skimmed for research

Songs of the Pacific Northwest by Jon Bartlett and Phil Thomas

Dead Horse on the Tulameen - Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat

Ask a Queer Chick - Lindsay King-Miller

Astrology, Magic, and Alchemy in Art - Matilde Battistini

Total First Time: 75 Total Rereads: 17 Total Skimmed: 4 DNFs: 8

[smallpressdistribution]

Will we see you at the Bay Area Book Festival this weekend?📚 

Find us at booth #120! 

And if you're looking for more to do, we recommend checking out some of these exciting panels featuring SPD publishers, authors, and friends:

SATURDAY

The Legacy of Adrienne Rich and the Shape of our Feminist Future, Saturday May 4 | 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

Jill Bialosky, Aya de Leon, Susan Griffin, Nell Painter, Morgan Parker, moderated by Sandra Gilbert. 

Queer Poetics, Saturday May 4 | 11:45 AM - 1:00 PM

w/ Franny Choi, Tommy Pico, Sam Sax, Brenda Shaughnessy, moderated by Ari Banias

A Celebration of The Paris Review, Saturday May 4 | 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

w/ Franny Choi, R.O. Kwon, Kiese Laymon, Emily Nemens, moderated by Christian Kiefer

Political Optimism, Political Despair, and the Wilderness, Saturday May 4 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

w/ Pam Houston, Katie Peterson, moderated by Lucille Lang Day

Writer to Writer: Ishmael Reed and Morgan Parker, Saturday  May 4 | 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM

w/Morgan Parker and Ishmael Reed, moderated by Ismail Muhammad

SUNDAY

Straddling Worlds: Native Writers Reinvent Identity, Sunday May 5  | 10:00 AM - 11:15 AM

w/ Kali Fajardo-Anstine, Susan Devan Harness, Tommy Pico, and Rebecca Roanhorse, moderated by Greg Sarris

Lawrence Ferlinghetti at 100: A Tribute, Sunday May 5 11:45 AM - 1:00

w/ Garrett Caples, Julien Poirier, Barbara Jane Reyes, Maw Shein Win, moderated by Emily Nemens

Poetry For The People, Sunday, May 5 | 12:45 PM - 1:45 PM

w/ Aya de Leon, Yvonne Onakeme Etaghene

Literature Will Save Your Life, Sunday May 5 | 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM

Jill Bialosky, Niloufar Talebi, moderated by Rebecca Foust

Also, be sure to drop by and say hello to the other awesome booths, including:

Green Apple Books and Music (Booth #1)

Poetry Flash (Booth #31)

Prisoners' Literature Project - Berkeley (Booth #225)

Berkeley Public Library (Booth #61)

San Francisco State University (Booth #131)

Saint Mary's MFA in Creative Writing (Booth #138)

Left Margin LIT: A Creative Writing Center in Berkeley (Booth #136)

Mills College MFA & Lit Programs (Booth #7)

Moe's Books (Booth #130)

East Bay Booksellers / Diesel (Booth #5)

++ many more!

Hope to see you there!

https://www.baybookfest.org/schedule/

[norikateatro]

Norikateatro’s Audio List! 💙

As of:  January 6th, 2019 😄!

Please message me if you want a bootleg! Do not comment *If you want to trade with me that’ll be really cool!

Wicked: Chicago January 06, 2008 - Dan'yelle Williamson (Elphaba u/s); Kate Fahrner (Glinda u/s); Michael Seelbach (Fiyero); Peter Kevoian (The Wizard); K. Todd Freeman (Doctor Dillamond); Barbara Robertson (Madame Morrible); Summer Naomi Scott (Nessarose); Stanton Nash (Boq)

Wicked 9 September 2008, 1NT Cast: Carmen Cusack (Elphaba), Katie Rose Clark (G(a)linda), Christopher Russo (u/s The Witch’s Father), Deedee Magno Hall (Nessa), Brad Weinstock (Boq), Myra Lucretia Taylor (Madame Morrible), Paul Slade Smith (u/s The Wizard), Clifton Hall (Fiyero)

Wicked: San Francisco March 06, 2010 - Eden Espinosa (Elphaba); Libby Servais (Glinda s/b); D.J. Gregory (Fiyero u/s); Tom McGowan (The Wizard); Paul Slade Smith (Doctor Dillamond); Jody Gelb (Madame Morrible); Deedee Magno Hall (Nessarose); Etai BenShlomo (Boq)

Wicked Broadway: March 3, 2013 Cast: Willemijn Verkaik (Elphaba), Alli Mauzey (Glinda), Kyle Dean Massey (Fiyero), Randy Danson (Madame Morrible), Adam Grupper (The Wizard), Catherin Charlebois (Nessarose), F. Michael Haynie (Boq), Tom Flynn (Dr Dillamond)

Wicked: Broadway February 22, 2014 (Lindsay Mendez & Alli Mauzey’s Final Show) Lindsay Mendez (Elphaba), Alli Mauzey (Glinda), Kyle Dean Massey (Fiyero), Carol Kane (Madame Morrible), Tom McGowan (Wizard), Catherine Charlebois (Nessarose), Michael Wartella (Boq), Note: Lindsay, Alli, Kyle & Tom’s last performance.

​Wicked Mexico-June 20, 2014 Elenco: Viviana Barrera (u/s Elphaba), Cecilia de la Cueva (Glinda), Jorge Lau (Fiyero), Paco Morales (El Maravilloso Mago de Oz), Anahí Allué (Srita. Morrida), Marisol Meneses (Nessarosa), Sebastián Treviño (u/s Boq), Beto Torres (Dr. Dillamond), Emanuel Gáitan (Chistery). Viviana's first performance as Elphaba.

Wicked: London  June 23, 2014 Cast: Emma Hatton (s/b Elphaba), Sophie Linder-Lee (s/b Glinda), Jeremy Taylor (Fiyero), Philippa Buxton (u/s Nessarose), Sam Lupton (Boq), Sue Kelvin (Madame Morrible), Martyn Ellis (The Wizard), Paul Clarkson (Dr. Dillamond).

Wicked: Broadway ​January 27, 2015 Caroline Bowman (Elphaba), Kara Lindsay (Glinda), Matt Shingledecker (Fiyero), Tom McGowan (The Wizard), Kathy Fitzgerald (Madame Morrible), Alicia L. Albright (Nessarose u/s), Robin de Jesus (Boq)

The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Broadway March 14th, 1975 (Soundboard) Cast:  Bill Miller (Brad Majors), Abigale Haness (Janet Weiss), Graham Jarvis (Narrator), Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff), Tim Curry (Dr. Frank-N-Furter), Jamie Donnelly (Magenta), Boni Enten (Columbia), Kim Milford (Rocky), Meat Loaf (Eddie/Dr. Scott)  Notes: This is a live recording made on March 14th, 1975 of the (very short-lived) Rocky Horror Show's original run at the Belasco Theatre on Broadway.  

Cats London November 8th, 1995 Cast: Admetus/Macavity: Richard Armitage, Alonzo: Nunzio Lombardo, Bill Bailey: Daniel Crossley, Bombalurina: Vanessa Leagh-Hicks, Bustopher/Gus: Tony Timberlake, Carbucketty: Sandy Rass,  Cassandra: Deborah Shrimpton, Coricopat: David Olton, Demeter: Michele Hooper, Electra: Nicola Lee-Owens, Etcetera: Charlotte Peck, George/Rumpus: Steven Wayne,  Grizabella: Clare Burt, Jellylorum: Carrie Ellis, Jemima: Kimberly Partridge. Jennyanydots: Beth Robson (u/s), Mistoffelees: Thomas Paton, Mungojerrie: Ian Meeson, Munkustrap: Andrew Halliday, Old Deuteronomy: Graeme Lauren (s/b), Rumpleteazer: Vikki Coote,  Rum Tum Tugger: John Partridge, Skimbleshanks: Tommi Sliiden (u/s), Tantomile:  Tee Soo-Chan, Victor: John Stacey, Victoria: Sandra Kater

​Chicago: Broadway - 1975 8 Aug Cast-Liza Minelli (special temp. replacement - Roxie Hart), Chita Rivera (Velma Kelly), Jerry Orbach (Billy Flynn), Mary McCarty (Mama Morton), Barney Martin (Amos Hart)

Cats 15 July 1998, Hamburg Cast: John Partridge (Munkustrap), Kristin Hölck (Grizabella), Stephan Drakulich (Old Deuteronomy), Ray Strachan (Rum Tum Tugger), Damian Kacperski (Mr. Mistoffelees), Lachlan Youngberg (Bustopher Mürr), Tanya Christensen (Gumbie Katz’), Marco Krämer (Skimbleshanks), Virginia Lilly (Rumpleteazer), Livio Salvi (Mungojerrie)

Cats London: December 27th, 2014

Cats:  Broadway September 24th, 2016 Cast:  Leona Lewis (Grizabella), Tyler Hanes (Rum Tum Tugger), Ricky Ubeda (Mistoffelees), Nathan Patrick Morgan (Old Deuteronomy u/s), Eloise Kropp (Jennyanydots),  Callan Bergmann (Carbucketty u/s), Jeremy Davis (Skimbleshanks), Kim Faure (Demeter), Sara Jean Ford (Jellylorum), Lili Froehlich (Electra), Daniel Gaymon (Macavity),  Francesca Granell (Rumpleteazer  u/s), Christopher Gurr (Gus/Bustopher Jones), Andy Huntington Jones (Munkustrap), Kolton Krouse (Tumblebrutus), Jess Le Protto (Mungojerrie), Georgina Pazcougin (Victoria), Claire Camp (Cassandra u/s), Arianna Rosario (SIllabub), Ahmad Smmons (Alonzo), Christine Cornish Smith (Bombalurina), Corey Snide (Coricopat), Emily Tate (Tantomile), Sharrod Wiliams (Pouncival)

Cats (1989 Original French Cast Recording)

Cats (1991 Original Mexican Cast Recording)  

Cabaret - Signature Theatre Washington DC - Date Unknown Cast: Wesley Taylor (Emcee), Barret Wilbert Weed (Sally), Gregory Woodell (Cliff), Rick Foucheux (Herr Schultz), Naomi Jacobson (Fraulein Schneider), Bobby Smith (Ernst), Maria Rizzo (Fraulein Kost)

​Carousel: 2018  Broadway Revival January 28th, 2018 (1st Preview) Cast: Joshua Henry as Billy Bigelow, Jessie Mueller as Julie Jordan, Lindsay Mendez as Carrie Pipperidge, Renée Fleming as Nettie Fowler, Alexander Gemignani as Enoch Snow, Amar Ramasar as Jigger, John Douglas Thompson as the Starkeeper, and Brittany Pollock as Louise

Dear Evan Hansen:  Broadway - May 15, 2018 Cast: Taylor Trensch (Evan Hansen), ​Laura Dreyfuss (Zoe), Will Roland (Jared), Phoenix Best (Alana), Alex Boniello (Connor), Rachel Bay Jones (Heidi), Michael Park (Larry), Jennifer Laura Thompson (Cynthia) Notes: Alex's first show as Connor.  

El Hombre de La Mancha (1969 Original Mexican Cast Recording)

El Hombre de La Mancha (2017 Mexican Revival Cast Recording)

Little Shop Of Horrors:  Broadway | September 16, 2003 DeQuina Moore (Chiffon), Trisha Jeffrey (Crystal), Carla J. Hargrove (Ronnette), Rob Bartlett (Mushnik), Kerry Butler (Audrey), Hunter Foster (Seymour), Michael-Leon Wooley (voice of Audrey II)

​Into the Woods National Tour (Fiasco Theater Production) 4/11/17 Ahmanson Theatre, Los Angeles Eleasha Gamble (Baker's Wife), Anthony Chatmon II (Lucinda/Wolf/Cinderella's Prince), Fred Rose (Mysterious Man), Darick Pead (Rapunzel's Prince/Florinda/Milky White), Bonne Kramer (Cinderella's Stepmother/Jack's Mother), Laurie Veldheer (Cinderella/Granny), Stephanie Umoh (The Witch), Patrick Mulryan (Jack/Steward), Evan Harrington (Baker), Lisa Helmi Johanson (Little Red Ridinghood/Rapunzel). *Includes BC/EFA Speech by Patrick Mulryan.

Wicked (2016 Original Mexican Cast Recording)This was released by the official Mexican Page on Youtube. It’s a Soundboard recording of Wicked México. Sound is crystal clear, some of the songs have dialogue. Cast: Ana Cecilia Anzaldúa (Elphaba), Cecilia de la Cueva (Glinda), Jorge Lau (Fiyero), Marisol Meneses (Nessarosa). Adam Sadwing (Boq), Beto Torres (Dr. Dillamond), Anahí Allué (Senorita. Mórrida), Paco Morales (El Mago de Oz), Beto Díaz (Frexspar/ El Padre de Elphaba), Lizeth Navarro (Melena/ La Madre de Elphaba). Alicia Paola Sanchez (La Partera)

Wicked - 2016.08.18 - International Tour Cast: Jodie Steele (Elphaba s/b), Elizabeth Futter (Glinda u/s), Steven Pinder (The Wizard/Dr. Dillamond), Bradley Jaden (Fiyero), Kim Ismay (Madame Morrible), Emily Shaw (Nessarose), Iddon Jones (Boq) notes: This was Elizabeth’s first show as Glinda!

On Your Feet: Broadway April 1st, 2017 (Evening) Ana Villafañe (Gloria), Ektor Rivera (Emilio), Yassmin Alers (Gloria Fajardo u), Alma Cuervo (Consuelo), Amaris Sanchez (Little Gloria), Eduardo Hernadez (Young Emilio and others), Eliseo Roman (José Fajardo), Genny Lis Padilla (Rebecca) My Master: This show was great but there was a very drunk lady sitting next to me, she belted some of the lyrics to the songs!

A Chorus Line:  Westchester Broadway Theatre February 3rd, 2018 (Evening) Cast: Drew Carr (Mike), Tiffany Chalothorn (Connie), Erika Conaway (Tricia), Joseph Cullinane (Greg), Kevin Curtis (Richie), Emma Degerstedt (Val), Brian Dillon (Larry), David Elder (Zach), Tim Fuchs (Al), Danielle Marie Gonzalez (Vicki),  David Grindrod (Roy), Michael John Hughes (Paul), Tyler Jimenez (Don), Emily Kelly (Maggie), Ashley Klinger Kristine), Joey Lucherini (Frank), Erica Mansfield (Cassie), Alexandra Matteo (Diana), Logan Mortier (Bobby), PJ Palmer (Mark), Lauren Sprague (Sheila), Kelsey Walston (Bebe), Caitlin Wilayton (Judy) My Master: This performance was wonderful, it had no intermission.

Avenue Q 1999 Demos

Anastasia: Broadway July 21, 2017 ( 8:00 PM) cast: Christy Altomare (Anya), Derek Klena (Dmitry), Mary Beth Peil (Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna), Ramin Karimloo (Gleb), John Bolton (Vlad Popov), Caroline O'Connor (Lily), Kathryn Boswell (Countess Gregory swing) My Master

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: Broadway November 11th, 2017 (Evening) Cast: Christian Borle (Willy Wonka), Ryan Foust (Charlie Bucket), Kyle Taylor Parker (Mrs. Green), John Rubinstein (Grandpa Joe), Emily Padgett (Mrs. Bucket), Kristy Cates (Grandma Josephine), Madeleine Doherty (Grandma Georgina), Paul Slade Smith (Grandpa George), Mikey Winslow( Jerry u), Stephanie Gibson (Cherry), Kathy Fitzgerald (Mrs. Gloop), F. Michael Haynie (Augustus Gloop), Jared Bradslaw (Mr. Salt u), Emma Pfaeffle (Veruca Salt), Mr. Beauregarde (Alan H. Green), Violet Beauregarde (Trista Dollison), Michael Wartella (Mike TeaVee), Jackie Hoffman (Mrs. Teavee) (My Master)

Miss Saigon:  Broadway January 14th, 2018 Cast: Eva Noblezada (Kim), Jon Jon Briones (The Engineer), Alistair Brammer (Chris), Katie Rose Clarke (Ellen), Nicholas Christopher (John), Devin Ilaw (Thuy), Dorcas Leung (Gigi) (Final Show)

Mary Poppins: (2012 Mexican Cast Recording) Bianca Marroquin (Mary Poppins), Mauricio Salas (Bert), Catalina Farias (Winifred Banks), Paco Morales (George Banks), Daniela Meneses [?] (Jane Banks), Sebastián Gallegos[?] (Michael Banks) Andrés Elvira (Valentin), Mariano Bucio (Neleus), Alm Cristal (Mrs. Brill), Andrés Sáez (Robertson Ay), Laura Cortés (Ms. Andrew & Bird Woman), Sergio Carranza (Almirante Boom), Paloma Cordero (Mrs. Corry), Natalia Saltiel (Mrs. Lark), Vince Miranda, Eden Pintos, Marcela Nava, Alma Escudero, Yolanda Campos, Majo Perez, Julieta Martínez, Eduardo Ibarra, Carlos Pulido, Omar Rodríguez, Alexo Fergo, Antonio Mariscal, Alicia Paola Sánchez, Jose Sampedro, Kim Yañez, Raymundo Montoya, Óscar Hernández, Roberto Hernández, Cecilia Arias, Mariano Villarello, Marcia Peña, Ruben Plascencia, Lolo Jiménez. *Songs only. This was recorded from the soundboard from various dates throughout the run.

Once on this Island: Broadway Revival January 22nd, 2018 Cast:   Hailey Kilgore (Ti Moune), Isaac Powell (Daniel), Tamyra Gray (Papa Ge), Lea Salonga (Erzulie), Norm Lewis (Agwe), Alex Newell (Asaka), Kenita R. Miller (Mama Euralie), T Oliver Reid (u/s Tonton Julian), Mia Williamson (Little Girl), Alysha Deslorieux (Andrea/Storyteller), David Jennings (Armand/Storyteller), Tyler Hardwick (u/s Beauxhommes/Storyteller).

Frozen: Broadway March 4th, 2018- Cast: Alyssa Fox (s/b Elsa), Patti Murin, John Riddle, Jelani Alladin, Andrew Pirozzi, Greg HIldreth, Audrey Bennett, Brooklyn Nelson, Ann Sanders, James Brown III, Timothy Hughes, Olivia Phillip, Robert Creighton, Kevin Del Aguila Notes: Alyssa Fox’s debut as Elsa

Chicago Broadway: April 1st, 2018 (Evening) Cast: Amra-Faye Wright (Velma), Charlotte d’ Amboise (Roxie), Brian O’ Brien (Fred Casey) , Evan Harrington (Amos) , Katie Mitchell (Liz), Pilar Millhollen (Annie), Donna Marie Asbury (June), Beth Johnson Nicely (Hunyak u/s), Angel Reda (Mona), Valerie Simpson (Matron “Mama” Morton), Chaz Lamar Shepherd (Billy Flynn), R. Lowe (Mary Sunshine), Jessica Ernest (Go-To-Hell Kitty)  My Master: Act 1 only (Ends towards the middle of Cell Block Tango)

Kinky Boots: Broadway April 28th, 2018 Cast: Charlie Price (David Cook), Blaine Alden Krauss (Lola u), Cooper Lantz (Young Charlie), Jesús del Orden (Young Lola), Stephen Berger (Mr. Price), Eugene Barry-Hill (Simon Sr), Caroline Bowman (Nicola), Marcus Neville (George), Daniel Stewart Sherman (Don), Kirstin Maldonado (Lauren), Natalie Joy Johnson (Pat), Jake Odmark (Harry), Jennifer Perry (Trish), Ciarán Mccarthy (Richard Bailey), Adinah Alexander (Milan Stage Manager), Kevin Smith Kirkwood, Alfred Dalpino (u/s), Fred Odgaard, Kyle Post, Charlie Sutton, and Joey Taranto (Angels) My Master: Ciarán Mccarthy’s Broadway debut!

Mean Girls: Broadway 6/17/2018 Cast: Erika Henningsen (Cady Heron), Becca Petersen (u/s Regina George), Ashley Park (Gretchen Wieners), Kate Rockwell (Karen  Smith), Barrett Wilbert Weed (Janis Sarkisian), Grey Henson (Damian Hubbard), Kerry Butler (Mrs. Heron/Ms. Norbury/Mrs. George), Rick Younger (Mr. Duvall), Kyle Selig (Aaron Samuels), Cheech Manohar (Kevin Gnapoor), Iain Young (u/s Mr Heron) Notes: Becca's Regina George debut

Moulin Rouge: Boston Tryouts July 24th, 2018- Cast: Aaron Tveit (Christian), Karen Olivo (Satine), Danny Burstein (Harold Zidler), Sahr Ngaujah (Toulouse-Lautrec), Tam Mutu (Duke of Monroth), Ricky Rojas (Santiago), Robyn Hurder (Nini) Notes: Act I is pretty much the same but Act II has some changes. "Roxanne is now far more manic and powerful, Crazy/Rolling in the Deep has a much more desperate feel which makes the pain Christian and Satine feel much more obvious, and Come What May is restored in part to Satine's death scene."

Be More Chill-​August 2, 2018 (Off Broadway) Will Roland (Jeremy Heere), George Salazar (Michael Mell), Stephanie Hsu (Christine Canigula), Jason Tam (The SQUIP), Katlyn Carlson (Chloe Valentine), Lauren Marcus (Brooke Lohst), Gerard Canonico (Rich Goranski), Tiffany Mann (Jenna Rolan), Britton Smith (Jake Dillinger), Jason "SweetTooth" Williams (Mr. Heere/Mr. Reyes/Scary Stock Boy)

Once on this Island: Broadway Revival August 18th, 2018- 2:00 PM Cast:   Lauren Lott (Ti Moune), Isaac Powell (Daniel), Merle Dandridge (Papa Ge) Darlesia Cearcy (Erzulie), Quentin Earl Darrington (Agwe), Alex Newell (Asaka), Kenita R. Miller (Mama Euralie), Boise Holmes ( Tonton Julian), Mia Williamson (Little Girl), Anna Uzele (Andrea/Storyteller), David Jennings (Armand/Storyteller), and Daniel Yearwood ( Beauxhommes/Storyteller) My Master Notes: This was such an incredible show, I cried a lot!

Wicked - Broadway December 1st, 2018 Cast: Jessica Vosk (Elphaba), Amanda Jane Cooper (Glinda), Ryan Mccartan (Fiyero), Jye Frasca (Boq), Kristen Martin (Nessarose), Nancy Opel (Madame Morrible), Kevin Chamberlin (The Wizard), Jamie Jackson (Dr. Dillamond), Michael Di Liberto (u/s Witch’s Father/Ozian Official), Lindsay Janisse (Witch’s Mother), Kathy Santen (Midwife), Dominic Giudici (Chistery), Ioana Alfonso, Larkin Bogan, Teneise Mitchell Ellis, Dominic Giudici, Dan Gleason, Josh Daniel Green, Jeff Heimbrock, Manuel I. Herrera, Courtney Iventosch, Lindsay Janisse, Britney Johnson, Katie Ladner, Marissa Lupp, Matt Meigs, Dashi Mitchell, Lindsay K. Northen, Jonathan Ritter, William Ryall, Kathy Santen, Hannah Shankman, Travis Taber, Jeremy Thompson (Monkeys, students, Denizens of the Emerald City, Palace Guards and Other Citizens of Oz)   User: dnc445 on Reddit’s Master

Dear Evan Hansen - Broadway December 12, 2018 ​Cast: Roman Banks (u/s Evan), Lisa Brescia (Heidi Hansen), Mallory Bechtel (Zoe Murphy), Sky Lakota-Lynch (Jared Kleinman), Phoenix Best (Alana Beck), Alex Boniello (Connor Murphy), Garrett Long (u/s Cynthia Murphy), Michael Park (Larry Murphy) Roman Banks First Performance

King Kong Broadway: December 13th, 2018- 2:00 PM Cast: Christiani Pitts (Ann Darrow), Eric William Morris (Carl Denham), Erik Lochtefeld (Lumpy), Rory Donovan (Captain Englehorn), Harley Jay (Barman), Casey Garvin (Fake Carl), John Hoche (Voice of Kong ) My Master: This show was really fun! James Retter Duncan (swing) and Nick Rashad Burroughs’ first show!

Instrumentals: A Chorus Line US Tour  Pit Tracks

Cats Instrumental Tracks (Mortifer) A lot of the tracks are synthesized, sounds like someone took a lot of karaoke tracks and put them together with orchestra but they’re some great tracks.

Cats Mexico 1991 Orchestra Tracks (Teatro Silvia Pinal) ​

The Wizard of Oz Orchestra Tracks (RSC’ 1981)

Les Mis US Tour Orchestra Tracks

​Wicked Orchestra Tracks Notes: This album is given to cast members when they first get cast in the show. People say this orchestration is the First National Tour one but it really isn’t, it sounds much more like the LA orchestrations. Perfect quality, includes every musical interlude, underscore, song, etc.

Audio Wants: Audio of the current touring cast of Wicked, Any Cats Orchestra Tracks. Anything with Wicked, Cats México or Argentina, Dear Evan Hansen, Waitress, Once on this Island, The Wizard of Oz, and anything I don’t have!

​

[thefrostplace-blog]

Rebecca Foust and Susan Cohen Reading at the North Bay Book Launch

Rebecca Foust and Susan Cohen Reading at the North Bay Book Launch

Join Rebecca Foust and Susan Cohen for the North Bay Book Launch of ONLY (Four Way Books) and Democracy of Fire (Broadstone Books) on Saturday, November 12 at 2pm PT at Book Passage Bookstore & Cafe (51 Tamal Vista Blvd, Corte Madera, CA)! A ticketed event with Billy Collins will follow at 6pm, so parking will be limited. There is additional parking at the DMV lot adjacent to the Book Passage…