#sarah o'connor

[west-end-wonder]

Wicked x Frozen: Crossover

A list of actresses that have performed a leading role in both ‘Wicked’ and ‘Frozen’:

Caissie Levy: Elphaba in Wicked (Los Angeles) and Elsa in Frozen (Broadway)

Patti Murin: Glinda in Wicked (US Tour) and Anna in Frozen (Broadway)

Alyssa Fox: Elphaba in Wicked (US Tour, Broadway) and Elsa in Frozen (Broadway)

McKenzie Kurtz: Glinda in Wicked (Broadway) and Anna in Frozen (Broadway, US Tour)

Caroline Bowman: Elphaba in Wicked (Broadway) and Elsa in Frozen (US Tour)

Courtney Monsma: Glinda in Wicked (Australia) and Anna in Frozen (Australia)

Jemma Rix: Elphaba in Wicked (Australia) and Elsa in Frozen (Australia)

Sarah O’Connor: Glinda in Wicked (UK Tour) and Anna in Frozen (Singapore)

Willemijn Verkaik: Elphaba in Wicked (Germany, Holland, Broadway, West End) and Elsa in Frozen (Germany)

Honorable mentions:

Sabrina Weckerlin: s/b Elphaba in Wicked (Germany) and Elsa in Frozen (Germany)

Laura Emmitt: u/s Elphaba in Wicked (West End) and u/s Elsa in Frozen (West End)

[superelphie]

Wicked UK: Two GOOD friends, two BEST friends. 🫧💚 #wickeduktour 📸 @/dannykaan

[laurapick]

The sensational trio that is Carl Man, Laura Pick and Sarah O'Connor - a wonderfully wicked cast!

📸: Instagram

[sixqueendom]

Maddi as Elphaba 😍💚

[sarahoconnorxx]

third wicked uk tour 🩵

march 17, 2024

📍 birmingham

📸 showswithjess

[raven-curls]

X

[curtvilescomic]

[doomsayersunited]

[azaleasallalong]

thanks a bunch for your help Dottie you've been an absolute angel. incidentally, WHERE WERE YOU LAST NIGHT BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 1 AND 3 AM?

[andreycoded]

Troye Sivan in One Of Your Girls Music Video (2023) Britney Spears in Stronger Music Video (2000) Pussycat Dolls in Buttons Music Video (2006) Lady Gaga in Beyonce's Video Phone Music Video (2009) Sinead O'Connor in Nothing Compares 2 U Music Video (1990) SJP in Sex and the City S3EP1 (2000) Cindy Crawford in Revlon Unforgettable Ad (1990) Rihanna on stage in Köln (2011) Britney Spears in I'm Not A Girl, Not Yet A Woman (2001)

[girl4music]

Xabrielle VS Spuffy: Correlations between Xena’s ‘Fins, Femmes & Gems’ and Buffy’s ‘Something Blue’

You know they re-wrote the script 48 hours out before going into production for ‘Fins, Femmes & Gems’ from Gabrielle being obsessed with sexual positions to Gabrielle being obsessed with herself - but the funniest thing about that is they still had Xena obsessed with fishing but Xena never needs Gabrielle around her as much as she does when she’s not obsessed with that.

“She’s come for me. I knew she would. She can’t live without me for a minute. Not that I could blame her.”

Obviously it’s a metaphor but I still think it’s hilarious.

The way it comes across is that Xena is obsessed with Gabrielle as well as Gabrielle… But it’s just hidden behind the metaphor of “fishing” together. And they always pull that one out in this show: they’re “fishing”.

And so my question is - if Gabrielle’s apparent obsession in the original script was sexual positions rather than just an obsession with Xena… Why is it Xena that’s the main factor there? Obviously it’s because the “non-spell” parts of them still came through just as it does in the re-written script for the actual episode.

I just found it funny how Renee immediately jumped to “being in love with Xena” when the obsession in the original script was just about sexual positions.

Why is Xena even relevant to that?

And in the re-written script, if the obsession is fishing.

Why is Gabrielle relevant to that?

The answer is because they’re already in love with each other and they’re the main factor because that’s who the obsession informs regardless of the spell cast.

In this episode, it’s not a direct spell meant to make the one under it fall in love with anyone. It’s just making them have an obsession about something or someone.

But with Xena and Gabrielle in both the original and re-written script,.. the main factor is each other regardless what they’re apparently “obsessed” with because they’re not actually under a spell with each other.

They’re for real and so the “obsessions” they have are only so desirable because of that reason. Each other.

The same way in BtVS’s ‘Something Blue’ the spell Willow cast was “why don’t they just get married?” and not “why don’t they just fall in love with each other?”

It’s just a natural consequence because they’re for real.

It’s really about removing the restrictions/resistances to the characters’ sexual and emotional inhibitions. Meaning if you give them a reason to gravitate towards each other that does not directly mean “I chose this”, they’ll go for it because then they won’t feel any guilt.

Why would they? It’s just the “spell”.

So with ‘Fins, Femmes & Gems’ both in the original and re-written scripts, the “spell” isn’t the driving force of what’s pulling Xena and Gabrielle towards each other. It’s the excuse. The driving force is their real love for each other and romantic attraction and unresolved tension because that’s what’s really bothering them.

So depending on how they approached it - it wouldn’t necessarily be an insult to queer people if they were allowed to produce the episode with the original script so long as they made it clear the “spell” wasn’t the main factor just as they did with the re-written script.

There are several times in the episode where their respective “obsessions” were completely forgotten about in the midst of the crisis of losing each other.

Obviously it’s because each other mattered more to them than some daft obsession spell they were under - of which only appears to be desirable to them because they have each other to be “obsessed” with them for.

It’s a metaphor… The “obsession” is really each other and I think that would have been the case no matter which script they decided to go with for the episode.

If Gabrielle was obsessed with sexual positions instead of herself. If Xena was still obsessed with fishing. So long as they still approached it the way they did in the re-written script - I think it would have been totally fine because even in the re-written script, it was pretty clear that these “obsessions” weren’t why they were so,.. so

MARRIED. That’s the only word I can use that justifies what’s going on in that episode. Their need for each other to be around because they’re already married.

Therefore, I think the comparison to BtVS’s ‘Something Blue’ is dead on. Because Spuffy don’t act that way because the spell forced them to get married. They act that way because they already behave as if they are.

It’s just more so because “it’s not us”/“we’re forced”.

‘Fins’ is exactly the same. Behind the metaphor or the excuse - it’s just 2 suppressed idiots in love that can let go of ALL sexual and emotional inhibitions and just be happy because in those moments they’re just “Xena” and “Gabrielle” and the plot/seasonal arc can TAKE A SEAT to allow for some crucial character stuff that needs to take some precedence after what happens.

Those kind of “love spell” episodes are worth watching because you are seeing what’s for real there with them.

It’s just so exaggerated because it’s a release for them.

The spell doesn’t actually matter. But without the spell as the excuse - they’d never go there with each other.

They’d never be brave enough to because of all the other shit going on around them or they’re enemies.

But it’s like when real romantic feelings are there - none of that is even a focus. None of that is even relevant.

Only each other. That’s how I see ‘Fins’ and ‘Something Blue’ because the spell cast is really only the metaphor.

What’s the real deal is why the metaphor is necessary.

The desire for each other and unresolved tension there.

If you can show that that’s the driving force and the main factor - then any “spell” episode - be it love, obsession or anything else - is successful storytelling and - if approached well - successful representation.

There’s major correlations between these two episodes because the “spell” is not why the characters behave as they do. But it is the reason why they would allow it in the first place and why they go way over the top with it.

As far as the characters are concerned - it’s a release of everything that’s pent up inside of and between them.

When you use a “spell” episode like that - and that ends up being what is interpreted out of it - it is successful. I mean technically Spuffy is just a “b-plot” of ‘Something Blue’ whereas Xabrielle is an “a-plot of ‘Fins’ - but nevertheless - what stands out is their odd behaviour.

It’s what people remember of the episodes themselves. But what’s not communicated is that behaviour is real because “we’re under a spell”/“we can’t be blamed”.

Yes, well that only stands when the spell is directly a love spell on each other. If it’s not - then it’s just void and the behaviour is a natural consequence of what is not being acknowledged and addressed in both the relationship and in the individual. So it’s a release for it.

In ‘Fins’ Xena figures out that the obsessions they had had nothing to do with the spell put on them but rather what it was that was bothering them deep down that they needed to get in touch with. It was about insight. Now if they were allowed to use the original script, then that insight could well have been that they were in love and were not letting themselves express it frequently. In that sense, it could have actually been a proper coming out episode that was very sincere in its intentional goal despite the “spell” factor because… I mean… I might be totally wrong about this but I don’t think anyone who watches ‘Something Blue’ - especially not on rewatches - believes that Willow’s spell was forcing Spuffy to kiss, so I don’t think that the spell in ‘Fins’ would have forced Xabrielle to “experiment with sexual positions” either - especially not if the obsession was really about insight because then the insight is that enough was enough. Either they come out to themselves and each other in how they really feel for each other and what to do about expressing those feelings physically or leave each other. And we all know there is absolutely no way the creators - not these creators - would have ever done the latter because despite not knowing the best way to go about handling it, they were all always on the side of the fans and shippers which is the only real striking difference between Xena’s ‘Fins’ and Buffy’s ‘Something Blue’.

Practically everybody in the writer’s room was on-board with Xena and Gabrielle. Not everyone was with Spuffy. But the jokes on them really because it was ‘Something Blue’ that even made Spuffy a twinkle in anyone’s eye because we had never seen either character so happy.

You know sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them. Other times they’re just a happy accident. A closer look at both Xena’s ‘Fins, Femmes & Gems’ and Buffy’s ‘Something Blue’ provides that of something which is missing in the TV art/entertainment of today.

FUN. CAMP. RELEASE. The other side of the spectrum where the plot/seasonal arc is not so important then. But the character representation and development is.

[therafanatics]

RAFAEL CASAL & MAYA HAWKE - WILDCAT / MOVIE HD SCREENCAPS (2024)

Rafael Casal and Maya Hawke in "Wildcat" movie in 2023.

Images by: Maya Hawke Fan

[backinthebottle52]

Rush (2023)

[laurapick]

massive W for Gelphiyero shippers

📸: lightbanditphotography

[sinceileftyoublog]

Andrew Bird & Mary Lattimore Live Show Review: 12/5, Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

Andrew Bird & Alan Hampton

BY JORDAN MAINZER

A few songs into this year's first Gezelligheid show--Andrew Bird's annual series of winter concerts at the Fourth Presbyterian Church--Bird mentioned that when he put on an Ella Fitzgerald recording when spending time with his family, his niece asked, "Why are you playing Christmas music?" To her, Bird posited, all old music sounded like Christmas music. It's a fairly easy misconception to understand. After all, the feelings you most associate with Christmas, holiday, or wintertime music in general--warmth, joy, familiarity--are often inherent qualities of songs that clearly are from a distant past. A great classic song can make you feel nostalgia for a time you didn't even experience. It's that phenomenon that Bird took advantage of most on Thursday night.

Bird & Hampton

Accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Alan Hampton, Bird played both original and cover favorites from his recorded catalog. Highlights of the former included Armchair Apocrypha's plucky "Plasticities", the minimal "Pulaski at Night", and the swaying "Alabaster" from holiday album Hark! He culled multiple times from his deep well of tunes by Vince Guaraldi and beloved Americana duo The Handsome Family. Midway through the main set, Bird took advantage of returning home and invited Evanston-based longtime collaborator Nora O'Connor on stage. Though O'Connor has long been a backing vocalist for the likes of Bird, The New Pornographers, and The Decemberists, she and Bird actually played a deep cut she recorded with him, a version of Bob Dylan's "Oh Sister" from Bird's 2007 Soldier On EP. The three musicians on stage broke the song down, a capella style, before Bird built it back up with his violin.

Bird

But it was Bird's most recent releases of covers that ended up perfectly encapsulating the allure of the past. In May, he shared Sunday Morning Put-On (Loma Vista) with the trio of Hampton and drummer Ted Poor, a collection of jazz standards (plus one original) interpreted through Bird's unmistakable aesthetic. Bird knows that stringed instruments best emulate human voice, but on Sunday Morning Put-On, he explores the extent to which applying bow pressure on his violin strings can recall the rich sounds that result from blowing air into the mouthpiece of a horn instrument. Early in his set on Thursday, Bird and Hampton performed the Trio's rendition of Johnny Green and Edward Heyman's "I Cover the Waterfront", a song that's been recorded by the likes of Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday. Starting with violin, Bird's fluttering followed the original's vocal line; by the time he started singing, his bowing undulated like a tenor saxophone. The performance was eerie, uncanny, and time-bending.

Bird & Hampton

In October, Bird and singer-songwriter Madison Cunningham released Cunningham Bird (Loma Vista), a track-by-track recreation of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks' pre-Fleetwood Mac record Buckingham Nicks. For many in the crowd, even among the pop music aficionados, it was their first time hearing the songs at all: Remarkably, Buckingham Nicks is long out-of-print and not on any streaming services, save for some unofficial uploads to YouTube. Bird and O'Connor duetted a strummed, stripped-down, faster-paced version of "Races are Run". On both Cunningham Bird and on Thursday, for "Crystal", Bird inverted the gender of the lead singer, Cunningham and O'Connor, respectively, singing Buckingham's words, Bird harmonizing Nicks' parts. And there's a fun connection between Sunday Morning Put-On and Cunningham Bird, which is John Lewis' "Django", a song that not only did Bird and his Trio cover on the former but that Buckingham and Nicks covered for their album--meaning Bird also reinterpreted Buckingham and Nicks reinterpreting jazz. The version that led into "Races are Run" Bird played on Thursday was firmly the Cunningham Bird version--after all, Poor's drums are key on Sunday Morning Put-On--but the song's inclusion as a standard that can be adapted in many different ways underscored the very concept of Gezelligheid: conviviality, coziness, fun.

Bird & Hampton

Mary Lattimore

Opening for Bird was harpist Mary Lattimore, a musician who has demonstrated over the past several years that combining classical training with clear experimentation and a sense of humor can, too, result in something fun and beautiful. Lattimore, gifted her harp by Chicago-based factory Lyon & Healy, performed tracks from her dense back catalog, many of which had a story associated with them. She wrote Hundreds of Days' "On the Day You Saw the Dead Whale" after, yes, seeing a dead whale in a coastal California town where she was at a residency. "Wawa By The Ocean", included on her 2017 Collected Pieces compilation, was inspired by her holy routine of buying a hoagie from the Philadelphia-born convenience store/gas station chain and eating it on the Jersey Shore. (Upon finding out about the song, Wawa headquarters sent Lattimore a care package.) "Til a Mermaid Drags You Under" aims to reflect the duality of dark and light in the surf town where it was recorded with Slowdive guitarist Neal Halstead, for 2020's Silver Ladders. On Thursday, hearing the songs' contexts gave crowd members a starting point, either as a lens through which to take in the song or as a challenge to see if they could empty their heads and get lost in the pure sounds emanating from the stage. Lattimore, meanwhile, used synths and looping not to trick and lull you into layers, but to show you how she was manipulating the sounds in real-time, as tangible as her plucks and scratches of the harp. At one point, during Hundreds of Days standout "It Feels Like Floating", ambulances were outside driving down the street, sirens on, but the crowd was subsumed by Lattimore's playing. The harp didn't drown anything out by volume, but like Bird's violin would do later, it enraptured a group of people who had walked through the doors of the church to nestle in the safety of memory and imagination.

Lattimore

Lattimore

[sarahoconnorxx]

press night at in birmingham! 💚

march 6, 2024