#she reminds me a lot of tracy from hairspray

[fallevs]

I relate so much to Pen and that whispered what? after Colin's words in the carriage. The man of her dreams is telling her what she probably dreamed about every time, every night, yet she doesn't want to believe it. She can't! How could a dream come true? Please, don't say things you don't mean, is so real. We wallflowers are so used to being ignored; so used to always observing and never experiencing or feeling, that even in front of a real, concrete gesture of love, we still believe we don't deserve it. This is probably one of the sweetest and truest moment I've ever seen and I will treasure it forever. I wish I had had a character like Penelope to become attached to during my adolescence. When I thought I would never experience the joy of being loved, cherished and simply seen.

[random-cryptid]

I bring you a headcanon: Madrigal kids & Hairspray. (Hope you like it).

- Tracy is definitely Isabela's fave. Takes no shit and fights for what she believes. Kinda reminds her of her little sister Mirabel, btw. She also like the diversity of the cast. Reminds her of her family.

- Mirabel loves the songs, of course, but she loves the story more. She's inspired to start some protest to make Encanto a better place, she just needs a good reason to start.

- Luisa has a crush on Link. And also on Penny. She's a very soft girl who always sings along to "I can hear the bells".

- Dolores pretends that she's too cool for musicals but cries during the whole "Without love" arc because she's a hopeless romantic. (Not so) secretly hopes someone will love her like Wilbur loves Edna.

- Camilo spent 3 weeks trying to nail as much of the choreography as possible. He knows all the lyrics and is committed to make his school put on a production of Hairspray. Also tries to convince the teacher that YES - he can play 4 or 5 characters in the play.

- Antonio haven't watched it yet, but murmurs a few songs because Camilo heard the soundtrack so many times that is impregnated on everybody's brain.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA LET'S GO!!!!

Tracy being Isa's fave makes so much sense actually 😭😭😭😭 and the fact she reminds Isa of her sister is so cute 🥺🥺

Mirabel LOVING the story is such a her thing that's so nice!!! She truly is a lot like Tracy!

Luisa having a crush on Link? CANON. YES. On Penny??? ALSO CANON WHO WOULDN'T LOVE THAT GIRL SHE'S SO CUTE. Also her dramatically singing "I Can Hear The Bells" is something that I find really funny and so in character 😭😭😭😭

Dolores is definitely a real one, she understands my love for Wilbur and Edna so well 😭😭😭😭

Camilo. I didn't needed Camilo playing Link AND Corny so bad until now.

Antonio is basically my friends every time that I listen to Hairspray ngl.

Now you've only mentioned the grandkids, so what about the adults?

Pepa LOVES Edna's character arc solely because empowered women is something that she finds so cool, considering she comes from a family of mostly women. Not only that but seeing others supporting Edna makes her cry a lot. It reminds her of how supportive her husband and kids are too. "Big, Blonde and Beautiful" starts playing and she starts screaming.

Bruno is not the biggest fan, mostly because he's into more dramatic musicals, but he loves the costumes and stage design a lot.

Tracy is also Julieta's fave for the same reason she's Isa's fave as well. Tracy reminds her a lot of Mirabel.

Agustín is a Wilbur and Edna stan and he LOVES teasing Julieta when "You're Timeless To Me" plays. He knows the lyrics by heart at this point.

Félix loves the overall energy of the musical and his fave songs are surely "Run and Tell That" and "You Can't Stop The Beat". Seaweed is his fave and he's gonna make it everyone's problem.

Alma... even though she's not the biggest Hairspray fan, she always cries when "I Know Where I've Been" starts. Always.

[artificialqueens]

A Fresh New Start- Trixya - Chapter 1

A/N- Trixie and Katya are both women. It touches on Biadore and Shalaska but this is the chapter which sets the scene really. It also touches on abuse from Trixie’s stepfather. 

This is it. Trixie thought to herself as she looked in the cracked mirror of her bedroom. She waited for the day she had saved enough money to leave behind her abusive stepfather and mother who never payed attention to the abuse or her. She hairsprayed her backcombed golden blonde curled hair and let out a sigh. She thought this is exactly what she needs. A fresh start. She finished covering her swollen and black eye with her extra coverage foundation, it now barely noticeable. She hardly had any belongings to take with her when she moved to L.A. Trixie shuddered at the sound of her stepfather coming up the stairs, drunk and as loud as ever. TRACY YOU BITCH, he screamed. She hid down the side of her bed and waited for him to walk past her bedroom door, he didn’t hesitate to bang on the door and listen to any movements coming from inside. However, she heard him fall in the room next to her with a thud. She said to herself, this is it now Trix, now or ever. With that she grabbed her things, leaving behind her blood stained, mascara stained sweatshirt but grabbing her small unicorn teddy her grandmother gave her before she passed away. She left her key on the cabinet near the front door of their home and with that she left and never looked back.

She finally felt free, she strolled along the sidewalk with her hot pink suitcase and bag. She smiled to herself as she thought about all the new things she could accomplish in L.A. She was finally living the life like Barbie did. She was the real life Barbie. As she sat on the bus to the airport, she held the unicorn her grandmother had bought her. She brought it closer to her face eyed and closed her eyes, picturing her lovely gran. She thought about how much her gran was the only person who truly loved and understood who she was. How she was the first person she came out to about her sexuality, and the only one who truly accepted her. How if her gran was still alive none of this would have happened, her mother would have still cared about her and her stepfather wouldn’t have been around to make her life a living hell. She remembered the day her gran died and her whole world around her collapsed. She would give anything to go back to that day. Before she knew it the bus had stopped at the airport. A sudden urge of excitement and anxiety filled up inside her. A massive adrenaline rush. Her boarding ticket said seat 32B. Trixie giggled to herself and thought that was the 32B she would fit in, relating to her larger sized breasts.

She sat on the plane and put her headphones in, she fell asleep before they had even took off. She awoke to a nudge from the person next to her pointing at the plane food being placed in front of her. Trixie scrunched her nose up at the food which resembled the food she used to feed to her kitten. She looked at the woman next to her who was giggling to herself at Trixie’s reaction. She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair and a beauty mark on her forehead. Trixie had never seen anyone quite so beautiful before, she was perfect and pristine. She couldn’t help but notice the chicken tattoo she had on her arm, staring a little too long before the woman said ‘Oh that. That chicken won me an award!’ Trixie quickly snapped out of her gaze and laughed at the woman.

‘My name is Fame, what’s yours?’ Trixie froze, how can someone be so friendly to her? She’s only used to people giving her abuse or completely disregarding her. ‘Um, T-Trac-I mean Trixie. My name is Trixie.’ Fame laughed. ‘Well T-Trac-Trixie, it’s nice to meet you. So tell me, what are you doing coming to L.A.?’ Trixie thought to herself, what do I actually say to this woman? It’s a long journey, do I tell her all? Do I tell her business what? ‘Oh I don’t know really, a fresh start.’ Trixie bit her lip and the woman realised something wasn’t quite right. As they continued to talk, Fame noticed Trixie’s makeup had started to rub away and her black eye was once again becoming more visible. She reached into her carryon bag and took out her makeup bag and turned Trixie’s face to her. Trixie seemed concerned at first but realised with the woman’s delicate touch, she was just being a good person. Had Trixie finally made a friend? Fame finished covering her eye again, eyeing her whole face up and down and nodded. ‘Yes. Perfect. Just like Barbie again.’ Trixie smirked to herself. She loved it when other people called her Barbie, seeing as Barbie was her favourite person in the whole world.

‘So where are you staying Trix? Oh I can call you that cant i? I mean we are friends now, right? Ha, I always do this to people but you’re really nice and I can sense us being really good friends, oh I’m rambling aren’t I sorry.’ Trixie laughed, this woman never shuts up, but it was comforting to know she didn’t have to make small talk with someone. ‘Oh I, I don’t actually have anywhere to stay yet, I was gonna stay in a hostel tonight and see tomorrow.’ Fame seemed shocked. Her smile widened as her eyes lit up. ‘No, no Trix, I have an excellent idea!’ Trixie swallowed with a gulp, her mouth went dry. She had never felt someone trust her so much just meeting them on a plane. ‘I live in a building with all my friends, we live on the same floor in different apartments. My friend, she’s just moved back from Moscow, she’s in need of a roommate, and this is so perfect!’ Trixie nervously smiled, oh  no, she was never good with meeting new people. Especially with a black eye. ‘You can leave your things at mine, we will meet them all at the bar over the road, that’s where we spend every night. Our friend Adore sings there, it’s also a karaoke bar.’ Trixie thanked her new friend. Wow, if she knew it was this easy she would’ve left a long time ago. Trixie dozed off again, waking up to the bump of the planes wheels touching the floor and the irritating sound of people clapping the pilot. Fame rolled her eyes and turned to Trixie ‘I hate when people do that’.

Fame linked her new friend as they walked out the airport, Trixie looking round. WOW. This was her new life now. Goodbye every shit part of her old life. Fuck you all. They grabbed a cab and ended up pulling up outside this normal looking building. Nothing special. Trixie noticed the bar opposite and breathed. Aaaaah, this must be it. She stepped out the cab and looked around. Fame excitedly shimmied her inside to the elevator. Trixie was excited and nervous, she could feel her chest start to burn. The elevator binged, third floor. They stepped out and fame carried most of Trixie’s luggage. Trixie’s heart warmed, how somebody can be so lovely, she hardly knows anything about me. ‘So you’ll be in apartment 304, this is mine, 302. Come in. Freshen up.’ Trixie smiled as she walked in, wow this is beautiful. It reminded her of Monica’s apartment from F.R.I.E.N.D.S, with the purple walls. ‘So Fame…’ ‘yeah?’ ‘Can you tell me some things about my new roommate? So y’know im not sharing with a freak.’ Fame laughed to herself a lot more than Trixie expected. ‘Oh, you’re definitely sharing with a freak.’ Trixie bit her lip nervously and raised her eyebrow. ‘No, no! Don’t be scared. Everyone loves her, you can’t not.’ That made Trixie feel slightly better. Fame gave her a cup of coffee before they went to the bar and sat on the sofa with her. ‘Ok so, her name is Yekaterina Petrovna Zamolodchikova, but you can call her Katya. She is Russian, a bit of a whore if I’m honest.’ Trixie laughed. ‘Oh and she’s a lesbian. I hope that doesn’t bother you but if it does I mean you may aswell leave, most of us are.’ Trixie felt so much better about this whole situation, wow. ‘No, no that’s fine, I mean I’m a bisexual so it’s no bother at all.’ Fames face lit up, ‘GREAT!’ She exclaimed. She grabbed Trixie’s hand, ‘Let’s go to the bar and meet your new friends!’ Luckily Trixie got changed into a nice pink bodycon midi dress. She couldn’t go out in those jeans she had been wearing all day, they stunk.

As Trixie walked into the bar, she smelt beer straight away, it was dark luckily, but she could see groups and groups of people. Fame took her to the bar and ordered a lemonade for herself, and a beer for Trixie. Ugh a beer, who did she think she was? ‘Oh there they all are! Come over Trix!’ As Trixie walked over she seen a group of around 8-10 people. About 4 men and 6 women? Possibly more she couldn’t tell from afar. She noticed a beautiful dark haired girl, in ripped fishnets and a denim shirt. She looked like a ball of energy and Trixie automatically liked her.  Fame introduced Trixie, and the dark haired girl was the first to introduce herself, she hugged her straight away ‘Hi! I’m Adore Delano, I sing here!’ Trixie smiled back, ‘Oh you’re Adore, Fame was telling me about you on the plane here.’ ‘Yeah what star sign are you? I’m fucking libra, I love to sing, I’m bringing rock back into fashion.’ She laughed at Adore, she was so lovely, how was she so worried to meet these people, well she had only really spoke to one. ‘This is Roy, he’s my boyfriend. We live in 308.’ Trixie turned to the man she pointed to, he had the nicest dimples and sweetest face. ‘Hey Trixie, you look like a cunt. You’ll fit in well with these absolute bastards’ Trixie couldn’t help but laugh. She was a little shocked that someone could insult their friends so much and it be ok, but then again that’s because she didn’t have any friends so she wouldn’t know. She then proceeded to meet Alaska and Sharon, a very tall skinny woman with beautiful high blonde hair, and a smaller but slimmer woman who had the nicest dimple in her chin. They were 306, so they were to be Trixie’s neighbours. She then met Willam and Shane, two roommates who obviously had a thing for each other but continued to deny it. Tatiana and Pearl, who were also roommates but as Adore claimed ‘just fucking each other and anything’. She then met Jason, Fame’s roommate, lover, best friend and ride or die as it was described. These people were really warming and welcoming, Trixie was beginning to feel welcoming. As soon as Trixie sat down, she began to introduce herself. ‘My name is Trixie, I’m 23 and I fucking hate my family so I ran away’ as soon as she opened her mouth to continue, she was distracted. The most beautiful woman walked past her and sat down next to Adore. She had the most beautiful cheekbones, piercing blue eyes and bright red lips. Trixie felt lost for words. She was stunned by this beautiful woman. Fame whispered to her and she smiled at Trixie. Oh My God. How can someone have the most perfect teeth she had ever seen and be so beautiful? Trixie felt herself staring a little too long when she felt someone grab her hand to drag her to the bar, it was Adore again.

‘Oh Trix, do you sing?’ ‘Uh yeah I guess so. I mean I used to. I used to play guitar but um things happened. I guess.’ ‘Well it’s a karaoke bar, you should put your name down for something.’ ‘Hmmm maybe. Adore? Who just sat down next to you and Fame?’ ‘OH! That’s Katya, Im guessing your new roommate’ No fucking way. Trixie found herself happier then she’d ever been, but how could she stop the obviousness that she was attracted to her? Next thing, Adore handed her 2 shots. ‘Bitch you better fucking shot them if you’re gonna sing here.’

Katya bit her lip. She was looking at this fucking beautiful Barbie doll at the bar with Adore, is this really her new roommate? Her curves were amazing, her bum was beautiful and as soon she turned around Katya couldn’t stop her eyes from wandering from her breasts to her legs and all the way back up again. She could actually feel something with this person. She didn’t understand why, she never felt like this. Infact, she hadn’t even fucking spoken to her but she knew they would be special.

Trixie didn’t feel like singing, she was too interested in drooling over her new roommate. Whenever Katya stood up for a cigarette Trixie would admire her. She was wearing a red fluffy coat with a matching pompom in her hair, with a braid hanging down from it. She was yet to hear Katya speak, but she didn’t need to speak, Trixie was already mesmerised. As Trixie watched Katya walk back towards the table, she felt Katya squeeze her hands on her shoulder and Trixie smiled to herself. She heard a laugh to her side and Alaska leaned in; ‘you could make it less obvious you like her’. Shit. Trixie turned to her. ‘Is it that obvious?’ Alaska giggled ‘No don’t worry. Katya gets that reaction a lot. Shes used to it’. ‘Oh I see, she’s beautiful.’ Sharon joined in. ‘She’s a beautiful mystery.’ With that, everyone decided to call it a night, Fame linking Trixie as they walked back to the apartments.

As Trixie walked in front of her, Katya lit a cigarette but focused on Trixie’s bum as she walked. Wow. Now that’s a woman she thought. Her mind started to wander about things she could do when she felt a hand on her arm. It was Sharon.

‘Don’t bother.’ ‘What?’ ‘Don’t bother doing anything to that one. She’s a good girl and part of this group now Katya, don’t hurt her like you do to the rest.’ Katya laughed. ‘Fuck off Sharon you cunt’ Sharon pushed her with a laugh. Trixie stood behind Katya as Katya opened the door to their apartment. Trixie walked in and looked around. It was odd in here but it was nice. There were different patterned throws on the sofa and Trixie couldn’t help but laugh and Katya’s taste in fashion. Katya looked at Trixie and smiled. Trixie’s heart melted. ‘That’s your room Trix.’ ‘Oh ok thanks.’ Her accent was fucking sexy wow. The roll of her R’s made Katya automatically all the more attractive. As Trixie turned around Katya smacked her ass. ‘Sorry about that, I’ve been looking at it all night and I’m constantly horny.’ Trixie laughed, she could get used to this.

Trixie took off her makeup after a long fucking day. She looked in the mirror and her mood automatically dropped, her black eye. She couldn’t wait for it to fade so she could completely forget about her life. As she changed into her pyjamas she noticed a bruise around her ribs area. She prodded and realised how much it hurt. That fucking bastard she thought to herself. She felt her eyes start to burn and the tears start to fall. She pressed herself into the unicorn she brought with her. She didn’t realise how loud she was crying until she heard a knock on the door, she shot up. ‘Trix, are you ok? I hear you crying.’ ‘Yeah, yeah, I’m, erm, im f-f-f-fine’ her voice trembled. ‘No you aren’t I’m coming in ok.’ Katya swung open the door, to see Trixie sitting there in her underwear, this was not a sight she expected to see on their first night. She started to admire her body and realised why she was in there. ‘What’s wrong Trix’ grabbing her hands and turning her towards her. That’s when she say the marks. ‘What the fuck is this?!’ Trixie put her head on Katya’s shoulder and cried. And cried. And cried. When she finally calmed down, she explained to Katya that her stepfather was abusive but didn’t go into much detail. Katya could feel herself getting more annoyed the second it went on. How anyone could hurt someone so perfect and more so, how can she still look so gorgeous when she’s completely bruised and inconsolable.

‘I’m sorry’ Trixie explained. ‘I know we only just met and you shouldn’t be having to do this on a Tuesday night.’ But Katya didn’t care, something about Trixie was enticing, and made Katya feel things she’s never felt before. She’d only just met this girl, what the fuck was going on. ‘I know I’ve only just met you, but I really don’t want to be alone tonight… Will you stay with me?’ Katya didn’t think this would happen for a few days, even weeks but she didn’t care. All she wanted was Trixie to be ok. ‘Yes of course I will.’ They both crawled under the covers, and Trixie found herself cuddling into Katya’s side with Katya hugging and holding her towards her. What the fuck was Katya doing, she never cuddled. Even when her friends needed her, she offered sarcasm and twisted humour instead of affection. But something about this felt different. She felt Trixie’s breath on her skin and assuming she was asleep, kissed her forehead. Trixie wasn’t asleep, she smiled to herself as she felt herself blush and felt butterflies in her stomach. They both knew this was the start of something different, something new. A fresh start for Trixie and she couldn’t wait.

[marrymerrymarymorstan-blog]

My hair makes me look like an old sheep

Thursday, January 12 I went to get my haircut. I've been growing it out for years now, just getting the dead ends off 2 times a year. This time around my stylist cut it while dry instead of wet. The plan was to have layers, cut my bangs shorter to frame my face better, and go lighter for fun.

I got a lot more cut off than expected (two inches I believe) and my stylist ended up giving me highlights rather than lighting all of it, but the highlights came out really chunky and had a harsh contrast.

I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but I've been thinking more about it. The shortness I believe really lost the curl so far, there is barley any curl that holds, it's mainly a lot of frizz and poof and fluff. I've had a couple friends gleefully comment on it's poofiness,which I don't mind completely, but I am worried about it making me look like I put a fork in an electrical socket. I’m wondering if this had to do with the cutting technique my stylist did at one point, where she takes the scissors on the side and “slices” through each hair.

My hair color on the other is now some strands light brown, some strands warm caramel, and now chunky-streaks of light ash-blonde on top of it all. Initially it reminded me of Tracy Turnblad from Hairspray. At worst it reminds me of people dying their natural gray hair blond with how it shines and reflects in the light.

So honestly I'm at a loss. I think I can embrace it more if I can think of it more positively, like having an aesthetic for it. My new hair reminds me of that silver-hair trend in a futuristic sort, and also a sheep. (So I can be a sheep from the future!)

I’m gonna give it a few days before I decide to fuck with it again. I’ve been experimenting with it quite a but, washing it a lot. 

The last time I washed it, I wore it braided to the side a lot because it was just basically frizz. Thankfully it looked more coherent when I took it out, at least had sections to it and a wave going on. I just washed it again (and by wash I mean get it wet, put in a coconut mask thing, and wash that out) and fingered through it a bit so I’ll keep track of how that goes. Hopefully it will be more curly and less static frizz. 

Frizz could be from touching it too much (ringing it out to dry, some towel drying, and splitting some parts into sections). Towel and touching and parting while dry is a no-no, I think. Should probably avoid those. Try wide-tooth combing and parting when wet.

Until then, I must embrace my sheepishness.

[newyorktheater]

Adam Driver, from trooper to trouper

On Veterans Day, a reminder from Adam Driver, Broadway veteran  and military veteran, and the founder of Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit that brings theater to the military: “The birth of theater was from a military environment. The Greeks — Aeschylus, Euripides, all these elected generals — wrote plays for a culture that was at war.”

Other non-profit groups that help veterans pursue  the arts either as a vocation or an avocation:

United States Veterans’ Artists Alliance (USVAA)

Veteran Artist Program (VAP)

Society of Artistic Veterans (SocArtVets)

Also:

TDF’s Veterans Theatergoing Program

TDF partners with veteran groups in the city to provide free tickets to veterans to Broadway shows on select days. Next up: Tootsie on November 12, Come From Away on November 13, Beetlejuice on November 19.

The Week in New York Theater Reviews

Broadbend, Arkansas

“Broadbend, Arkansas” is billed as a musical about three generations of an African-American family in the South grappling with injustice.  While technically accurate, that’s a misleading description of a show that falls so short of what it could be, that I prefer to view it as a work in progress.

The Black History Museum

“Whoo, that was some heavy shit,” our guide says after leading us through 400 years of African-American history. It was hard to disagree. Every inch of HERE Arts Center has been transformed into an immersive “theatrical museum” – part theater, part museum — an impressively ambitious collaborative effort by a veritable army of African-American artists. “The Black History Museum, According to the United States of America” is illuminating, depressing, enraging, amusing, inspiring. It is overwhelming, in both good ways and bad.

The 2020 Book Report

David Lawson made a personal sacrifice as a public service: He read 10 campaign books, all but one by current candidates for President of the United States. From his reading, he has fashioned an hour-long show that should get wider exposure than the one-shot performance last night as part of the 2019 Gotham Storytelling Festival at the Kraine Theater

The Michaels

If Richard Nelson, the writer and director of “The Michaels,” were hired to direct the next Marvel movie, would Iron Man, Thor and the Hulk sit around the kitchen table in Rhinebeck, New York for two hours talking in barely audible voices about art, death, politics, and their old fights with Loki, while Spider-man bakes a loaf of bread, and the Black Panther takes Wolverine for a walk? That’s been the formula for Nelson’s four Apple Family plays and then his three plays in The Gabrielsseries, and it’s back once again with “The Michaels,” subtitled “Conversations During Difficult Times,” a play about a family of dancers gathering around a kitchen table in Rhinebeck, New York, which I’m hoping will be a one-off, rather than the first of yet another series.

Cyrano

Peter Dinklage’s singing voice would not normally qualify him for a role in a musical, unless in a Disney animated movie as a singing rhinoceros. But Rex Harrison couldn’t really sing either, and he was just right for My Fair Lady. In several ways, the star of Game of Thrones is an inspired hire for a musical adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac…Dinklage wears no fake nose. He doesn’t need to. He also proves once again to be a terrific actor… But ‘Cyrano’ is missing…panache.

Bella Bella

Bella Abzug spoke at my junior high school graduation, until Donna Florio’s mother told her to shut up. “This is my daughter’s graduation, not a political rally.”  Abzug paused, apologized….and kept on talking for ten more minutes, caught up in the vehemence of her argument against the latest political outrage.

That’s my most vivid memory of this fiery member of Congress, anti-war activist, influential feminist, and fearless advocate that Harry Fierstein is portraying Off-Broadway at MTC in his new solo play about her life.  Fierstein’s affection for his subject is abundantly evident in Bella Bella – so much so that he seems to have turned her into himself.

Dr. Ride’s American Beach House

The two ladies hanging out on the roof are lesbians; they just don’t know it yet. The title of Liza Birkenmeier’s play, which marks her Off-Broadway playwriting debut, may seem to promise something rollicking, but what unfolds is actually small, slow and seemingly random, existing almost entirely as subtext.  “Dr. Ride’s American Beach House” is largely about repressed desire.

The Week in New York Theater News

Bob Martin

Luke Kirby plays a movie star trying on “Hamlet” and Rachel McAdams a young member of the company in the first season of “Slings & Arrows.”

The first and biggest (and ok, only) scoop I’ve had on NewYorkTheater.me was when Bob Martin told me on Twitter that he and his two co-creators were contemplating a fourth season for “Slings and Arrows,” the cult Canadian TV series about a fictional theater suspiciously similar to the Stratford Festival.  The show is so wildly beloved that his Twitter remarks became international news, which I milked in a couple of subsequent posts, here and here.

That was seven years ago! Now, the TV critic of the L.A.Times casually  mentions in an interview with Martin’s two co-creators Susan Coyne and Mark McKinney the Slings and Arros “prequel they are currently shopping,”:

“Now you’ve written a prequel, “Amateurs.”

Mark McKinney: Yes. I’ve always loved that word, because of the Latin root, “to love.” There was kind of a lot of “Could you do a Season 4?” and we noodled around…We were driving down [to Stratford] and started talking about Cyril and Frank [gay, older members of the New Burbage company, played by Graham Harley and Michael Polley], because you were explaining to me how nice it was to drive down in the spring, and we thought, “Oh, my God, Cyril and Frank, what would it have been like in 1953 if they had been part of the original festival, not knowing that they were about to walk into the first society that would embrace who they were?”

The interview explains just what’s so terrific about the original three seasons of “Slings and Arrows

The Minutes will open at the Cort Theater on March 15, 2020 with Tracy Letts himself in the cast, along with  Ian Barford (currently in Letts’ “Linda Vista”), Blair Brown, Cliff Chamberlain, K. Todd Freeman, Armie Hammer, Danny Mccarthy, Jessie Mueller, Sally Murphy, Austin Pendleton, Jeff Still

Ivo Van Hove’s  West Side Story, which begins previews in December but doesn’t open until February, will be just one act (no intermission) — “I want to make a juggernaut,” Van Hove tells Adam Green in Vogue. To that end, he’s omitting the song “I Feel Pretty” and the Somewhere ballet — and adding videos!

Broadway’s Dirty Secret :Ivo Van Hove’s success shows how much American commercial theater relies on European state funding, as Helen Lewis details in The Atlantic.

The Trojan Women Project Festival at La MaMa ETC will feature a newly re-imagined version of La MaMa’s groundbreaking 1973 “The Trojan Women,” directed by Andrei Serban, with some original members of the cast and artists from  Guatemala, Cambodia and Kosovo. The two-week festival includes workshops, panel discussions, and performances. December 6-15th.

    Jagged Musical’s lottery at JaggedLottery.com and rush at the Broadhurst box office are both $40.

Whoa. Performances of Death of a Salesman in London starring @WendellPierce had to be stopped when the ceiling fell in. Five theatergoers hospitalized with minor injuries.https://t.co/snGAEaCi0U pic.twitter.com/k5EYUsYKxq

— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) November 9, 2019

She Persisted, the musical adaptation of Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger’s illustrated feminist picture book, “She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World, will play at Atlantic Theater in 2020.

   Composer Marc Shaiman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You can, Smash, etc.) will write original music for the revival of Plaza Suite, starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, directed by John Benjamin Hickey, which opens on Broadway’s Hudson Theater on April 13, 2020.

Yes, you CAN make a living as a playwright: Playwright Lauren Yee has won over $400,000 in literary prizes in 2019

Critics Corner

Michael Billington is retiring as theater critic for The Guardian after 48 years. He will be succeeded by Arifa Akbar.  Billington began at the British newspaper in 1971 and has written roughly 10,000 reviews,.“I shall shortly be 80 and, with the years, the stress of writing to a deadline doesn’t get any easier”

  The Power of the Critic: A Discussion

with Manohla Dargis (co-chief film critic for The New York Times), Antwaun Sargent (independent writer and critic and author of The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion), Jillian Steinhauer (art critic for The New York Times), and Daniel Mendelsohn (editor-at-large of The New York Review), moderated by Lucas Zwirner (head of content of David Zwirner).

On “thumbs up” criticism:

Manohla Dargis: Do you ever feel like a seller? Because there was an editor who used to always ask me to make sure I put a little word in the first sentence so everyone knew if I liked the movie or didn’t. But I just wanted them to read me. Maybe they’ll figure it out from my enthusiasm around writing, but I want them to know in my own sweet time.

Daniel Mendelsohn: What always gets eroded is any possibility of complexity. Thumbs up, thumbs down, five stars, one star—this is idiotic, right? Because most things are mixed. Don’t tell them everything in the first paragraph—because you liked certain things but not others, and that’s how most things are. If the whole discourse becomes “like/not like,” that’s not conducive to anything interesting.

  Rest In Peace

Laurel Griggs, 13, Broadway veteran of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Once.

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