#the last song is title ‘innocence’. Not incest.

[flock-of-cassowaries]

Canadian rock songs whose lyrics are not what my 2011 Honda’s terrible speakers lead me to believe they were:

- The Arkells, 2024: Apparently, the songs title is “Big Feelings”, so that’s probably what they’re saying in the chorus; but until the announcer clued me into the title, the best I could surmise was that Hamilton Ontario’s most-distinguished cultural export were, in fact, singing about a male organ of impressive proportions.

- City and Colour, 2023: It was not until I found the song on Spotify, that I realized that the lyrics are not in fact “Like a baconator in darkness, I will cover you…”

(In my defence, the song is about mortality and depression [I think?] and eating a Wendy’s bacon-burger in the dark sounds like some pretty serotonin-less behaviour to me.)

- Harlequin, 1980: The local classic rock station recently re-discovered this song, and I heard it several disturbing times before I finally worked out that the lyrics to its jubilant, triumphant chorus were not, in fact, “INCEST!!! Well, it’s all I’ve ever needed...”

[number1villainstan]

episode 31, it's got nanami in the thumbnail so i'm hopeful that it isn't as utterly soul-crushingly depressing as the last one. on the other hand it is literally called "her tragedy" so uh

forgot to watch the previews yesterday so we doing that now

oh they're talking blood types? anty's AB, which is apparently "evasive" and doesn't tend to reveal their true feelings. huh. i wonder why anyone would say that about anthy /sarcasm. utena's type B, which is apparently self-centered and tends to jump to conclusions. they're both out here throwing insults in each others faces

nanami replaces anthy in the yin-yang bed?? and nanami is also type B??

i wonder what i'd be lol. i'm type A-, though i'm not sure the Rh factor plays into japanese blood type mythos

still hate that end-card credits pic with juri and ruka. ruka you get your hands OFF of her! and your face out of her boob!!!!

unrelated to the episode entirely but "i wanna be a machine" from beatsaber is a mikage song. and also partially an anthy song i think. it's definitely a burnt-out voidpunk song and definitely a me song lmao. although it being a me song is like half the reason why i think it's a mikage song

not a full analysis of the intro song at all but huh. anthy in red armor, with the white rose painted on her chest, and at first she and utena look like they're about to charge at each other but then they switch to riding together. and anthy's on the black horse and utena's on the white horse (like dios' white horse). two opposing forces, the princess and the prince, but they're both knights fighting for the same cause. damn.

oh hey it's the story again. framed by red roses. red roses for anthy? red roses for akio???

OKAY SO at the beginning it's red roses. then the frame disappears for a while, and when it's back it's white roses (for dios, i bet). and then when it changes from baby utena in that yellow dress (bet there's symbolism there, like innocence or royalty or something, cuz yellow isn't a mourning color so far as i know) to utena grown up (more) in a prince outfit (blue and red, mostly blue, for...what?) the roses change to pink (for utena, probably). and the roses fade back to red for the episode title card. doesnt' seem like the story is different from the default?

moving picture of the shadow of a child playing and the vague sounds of laughing kids in the background. a deliberate callback to childhood with both the story and the pictures. one of them is a lone girl playing with a stick and hoop, then two girls (the shadow girls?) playing jump rope together, but each with their own jump ropes. again, a callback to childhood, but specifically carefree childhood. in the same breath that nanami says that touga is her blood.

"it says here that couples who are both blood type B are the least compatible" and then she says that the entire family is type B. if that isn't the show telling us the kiryuus are fucked up i don't know what is. and then there's anthy's mention in the previews that type b's are self-centered and jump to conclusions.

oh so the incest has been brought from strong subtext straight to text huh?

the crazy long silence broken only by a frog was kinda funny though. is frog gonna be a symbol for this episode?

nanami did you really just. no. nanami don't. you really really aren't supposed to walk in on people showering, especially on purpose

aaaand there's the red censor rose. red for touga maybe? since he's a "budget akio"? touga really seemed to be showing off behind that curtain

oh touga knew. i wonder if he caught nanami stealing his phone(?).

"it's so boring having nothing but girls over" just. fuck the girls nameless person on the other end of the phone

okay yeah that's kind of a power move on nanami's part. even if she's doing it for selfish motives i am so down to see touga's reputation get wrecked one girl at a time

"oh but that doesn't matter" girl it does matter you gotta find someone who respects you

damn she's so pissed off it freaked out her girl gang

nanami can't you see that touga's the problem? not the girls he's flirting with?

the roman busts with glasses? what's that supposed to represent? nanami's idolization of touga?

shiiiiiiit akio really just showed up out of nowhere

wait. if the statues are nanami's idolization of touga, then the triplets carrying the statues in between nanami and utenanthy, showing that nanami's blinded to seeing utena and anthy properly because of that idolization? and then it switches to her holding all three statues, representing that the idolization is a burden she can't continue to hold up for long?? are we getting Character Growth soon????

anthy eating a banana, huh. my first thought on seeing that was that it represents anthy's desire to bite off her brother's dick

kozue, then utena, then nanami. young girls keep getting their legs/feet injured around this guy. so nanami's agency/choice is restricted here? like kozue's and utena's?

free my girl nanami she did nothing wrong

utena touching akio's hands by accident and then blushing.....mmmm don't like that. and neither does nanami cuz she's smart

blue fed to akio (whose color is blue? or is it an emotion? just a contrast to red?) and anthy's is all red (mouths are usually red but. also red represents akio. and anger.)

nanami: "that's weird...THAT'S suspicious..."

omg utena being fucking oblivious

nanami was not in fact suspicious. she's just envious. goddamnit, i was thinking she might start to gain some insight about her own situation with touga

"your'e in love with the chairman" and the statue changes to The Rape of Proserpine. YEAH.

"let's both try our best" and it switches to the musicians of hat one town? the donkey, dog, cat and rooster. i can't remember what the tale was exactly

wait touga is type A? that's not what nanami said earlier--also how did they find this out

if type A is perfectionist, that don't spell good things for me lol

the Realization(TM). and the way that the girl gang mirror's nanami's expressions, almost as if to comfort her? or to show their loyalty?

"not one picture of [touga] when he was a baby" HUH. adopted???

oh yeah there's alos another thing--nanami's blonde, and touga's a redhead, and blond and red as hair colors are both recessive in the real world. so they'd need two copies of recessive genes to get their respective hair colors. i think? but then again it's anime, hair color is weird

bro just because he's adopted doesn't mean he's not your brother. if he's part of the family he's part of the family

she still has his cell phone. and she's still turning down girls in his place. man she is going through it isn't she. first she finds out her brother's adopted (and thinks that means they're not actually siblings which is wrong but) AND she keeps getting calls on her brother's cell phone from random girls he's hooked up with. nanami. wake up. the girls are not the problem. your brother is the problem.

hanging light has six sides. no idea if that's an important detail or not

someone introduce this girl to the found family trope

bright red censor rose as touga pushes his face right into his sister's. how fun.

BUT IT DISAPPEARS WHEN NANAMI PUSHES HIM AWAY--AND NANAMI ACTUALLY PUSHED HIM AWAY!! and said she wasn't a little kid! which is in direct contrast to that moment earlier in the series when she asked touga for a kiss and touga was the one to say they're not children anymore...and then touga summons the censor rose

the frog sound again. the interruption of affection?

nanami desperately trying to get distance as she figures this out

rule number 34 huh? anything like rule 34 of the internet?

she would have been safe(r) at tsuwabuki's than she would be at akio's place. also why was he playing minigolf right then the fuck

purple spinning censor rose this time. when akio jokes(?) that he wants to turn the residence into a harem.

the frog sound always comes right before either akio or touga says "just kidding" about something sexual (probably while not actually kidding)

"consider yourself family" aaaand there goes akio with the incest kink again

akio joking about making a harem. and then utena asking, much less jokingly, about if it feels like akio's making a harem.

flashback of the Car Kiss, framed with pink roses. utena's eyes are closed. akio's are open. utena doesn't know what's going on. akio does know what's going on.

"[akio] doesn't discriminate when it comes to girls" uh. what. i don't like that

anthy says just kidding but no frog sound effect. huh.

wait is utena on camera? anthy's holding the boomstick too--what are they filming? or maybe more to the point--what does it mean??

shadow girl play! the monkey catching robot is back! and then it switches to cuckoo parasitism, how fun--and then tying it into the ugly duckling tale? oh that's interesting. especially in the case of touga being possibly adopted?

...are they seriously comparing adopted human children and people who feel Different to bird parasitism

okay never mind it looks like the monkey catching robot is being used as a framing device

NANAMI STRAIGHT UP REJECTING TOUGA HELL YEAH! even if it's not for the right reasons--

nanami, utena, and anthy are grouped together (all the girls), and akio and touga are grouped together (all the boys). with the reflection of the door frame dividing them. (although utena is standing where the door frame's reflection falls--a nod to her masculinity?)

and the discordant version of sunlit garden starts playing--

akio does not look happy with this development. like he looks downright angry about it. touga just looks kinda unhappy though

flashbacks with nanami-yellow roses, of course. "I still consider you my brother" but do i even like you anymore

"because i love you" but what meaning of love is she using here? i bet it might be clearer in the japanese

she doesn't want to be around him because his presence amplifies some Bad Emotions

there was a visible constellation over the yin-yang bed but idk what it was. there isn't usually a constellation like that, just stars in the window, right?

aaaaaand nanami ran into akio raping anthy didn't she

the way the rose bride dress just. falls. oh god. nanami might not know all of it but she's starting to get an inkling

...you know. i was wondering where anthy was. and now i know. and now nanami knows. and now nanami is freaking out about it. as is natural because yeah i would too if i didn't already know

i wonder what that scene of anthy standing up is supposed to mean

Oh also, along with writing the December 2023 Monthly Short Piece today, I finally watched the first episode of Revolutionary Girl Utena after days of seeing a moot post about it and--

"I am the Rose Bride. From this day forward, I belong to you."

i am going to murder everyone in this damn school for anthy

[computernerdjohanssen]

Great Comet Character Analysis (Hélène)

So, I did end up writing this instead of doing work for school, I’ll probably write the rest of them over the next couple weeks, but this is the Hélène post bc I love her & I feel like she can be super misinterpreted!

Disclaimer: I never saw Comet live; I’m just working off of a couple boots & 4 years of listening to the soundtrack plus a tiny bit of the novel & the official Great Comet book

So, the general characterization of Hélène in Comet is that she’s selfish and cruel, putting herself and her happiness first, BUT when you look a little deeper, you can see how bored and tried of this life she is and how her actions are really motivated by some kind of compassion

So, in War & Peace, Hélène is trapped in her loveless marriage primarily bc her father (Prince Vasili is the worst) wanted to get his hands on Pierre’s title and fortune

she and Pierre were never in love, and in Comet we see how toxic their relationship can be since Hélène constantly mocks him by verbally insulting him or flaunting her extra-marital affairs publicly

 However, Hélène does at least care for her husband, since she fears for his life throughout the Duel, pleading with him to not accept the challenge & screaming as Dolokhov shoots (emphasized further on stage as Hélène grabs at Pierre’s arms and bends over the railings during the duel in grief)

whether you want to attribute this to fear of losing her status or wealth is up to you, but I think it’s more compassion since she later risks her title trying to obtain an annulment from Pierre in the book

also, very interesting is how Hélène only screams for Pierre, despite the fact Dolokhov is the only one who actually gets shot. She only dismisses him, telling Anatole to take him away and then never really interacts with him again until the Abduction

the end of the Duel is one of the most notable points of Hélène being done with this kind of life; how defeated/resigned she sounds when calling Pierre a fool, the aggression in “it’s a gift” wow I love Amber Gray

Of course, one of Hélène’s most notable plots is her very public affair with Dolokhov (the motivation behind the “Hélène is a slut” line for the most part) but honestly, they barely interact beyond showing off at the Opera and during the Duel, Dolokhov is more of a distraction for Hélène than anything else

 in the end Hélène is only portrayed as a “slut” due to her affairs (just Dolokhov in Comet but there were others) but, I still love how Dave Malloy shaped Hélène someone who has embraced her sexuality with pride, she’s a badass, no one can tell me otherwise

Hélène’s main relationship in the show is really with Anatole, her brother, who she clearly loves more than anyone (I’m not touching the incest thing thanks) & throughout the first act, Hélène goes along with/encourages Anatole to pursue Natasha despite knowing better bc she knows it’ll amuse him

she & Dolokhov have clearly dealt with Anatole’s obsessions before, I doubt Hélène knew the full scope of Anatole’s intentions at first, if at all (Anatole takes money from her, it’s never implied she gave it or was aware of the plot to elope but she’s not totally innocent either)

during the Ball, Hélène is the last to stop playing her wine glass after Natasha & Anatole kiss, and repeatedly encourages Anatole throughout the ball despite knowing Natasha is engaged

she coerces Natasha to the Ball on Anatole behalf (literally all of Charming is for Anatole’s sake), she carries Anatole’s letter giddily across to Natasha (with a quick stop via an audience member), etc.

Hélène’s involvement in the whole Natasha/Anatole disaster can really just be seen as a source of entertainment for her, it’s amusing for her to watch her brother act like that and so Hélène encourages it all for the sake of her own enjoyment (“how the thought of throwing them together amuses me”

 when the abduction goes south, Hélène is protective of Anatole and wants to shield him as much as possible (she calls for him during Find Anatole and tries to calm him, then Anatole collapses into Hélène’s lap as Pierre enters their home)

Pierre tears into Hélène once he finds them, but she puts herself between her husband and brother in a last attempt to protect him (in boots, you can see how threatening Pierre is to Anatole & the terror that crosses Amber’s face)

when Pierre first responds to Hélène, you can see Amber cradle Lucas’ face and whisper to him to keep him as calm as possible before pushing him away as Pierre walks towards them

When Pierre gets close, Hélène throws herself over one of the banquettes to protect herself from his path, raising a hand towards him as he passes by (this behaviour implies that Pierre had raised his hand to her before, or that she knows how dangerous his temper can be. Dave actually included this in an early version of the song, referencing how well Hélène knew Pierre’s rage)

When Pierre says “amuse yourself with women like my wife” during Pierre & Anatole, a spotlight shines on Hélène and she stands from the stairs in defiance, looking real pissed about how Pierre believes she should be treated

 “reflection of that base and cringing smile, which Pierre knew so well in his wife”, not only does this line further vilify Anatole but strengthens the similarities between the Kuragin siblings and how selfish Hélène can be too

 As Anatole makes his exit, Hélène runs down the stairs to get one last look & collapses over the railing like she does during the Duel. When the lights come back on, she glares at Pierre for abusing her brother & chasing him away

Hélène then sits beside one of the onstage tables for the rest of the show looking v depressed, and starts crying as Pierre confesses his love to Natasha which is so heartbreaking

in the end, Hélène is a more complex character than most people initially think and god bless Amber Gray for portraying her so magnificently

[arofili]

Maedhros

favorite thing about them

i’ve talked about this before, but even when he’s lost all hope he keeps on going. he keeps trying to do the right thing even when he doesn’t believe he can. no matter what he goes through he’s determined to continue - right up until he just Can’t anymore.

least favorite thing about them

the second and third kinslayings really get me - it’s so hard for me to justify, especially the third. i love love love Maedhros, but that amount of slaughter of innocent people for only a jewel... i try to understand through the lens of the Oath but god. i can’t blame anyone (characters or real people) who hate the feanorians for that.

favorite line

“A king is he that can hold his own, or else his title is vain.” like - he’s talking about Thingol here, but he’s also talking about himself, having just yielded the crown to Fingolfin. oof.

brOTP

Maedhros & Maglor!!! Maedhros & all his brothers!! Maedhros & Fingolfin!! Maedhros & various OCs! and I have a LOT of feelings about Maedhros & Turgon, but that’s definitely much more antagonistic, lol.

OTP

Maedhros x Fingon ...i’m predictable but they’re just. SO good,, the original silm OTP

nOTP

Maedhros x Maglor ... i get the appeal, and i’m not even judging the incest per se, it just..the dynamic of Maglor always being a follower and kind of the desperation that breeds within him and the way i’ve seen Mae portrayed as controlling or abusive in Mae x Mags content squicks me out. it’s just not my thing.

random headcanon

after being reborn without his scars and with a new hand, Maedhros feels weirdly incomplete without those marks of the person he became in Middle-earth, so he starts to paint his skin in gold where his wounds once were to remind himself of that part of his life.

unpopular opinion

i think he and Feanor had a very close and loving relationship, which makes Feanor’s betrayal at the burning of the ships and Maedhros’ complicated feelings about surrendering the crown even juicier - I don’t think Feanor would ever disown Maedhros, even for his relationship with Fingon (though he would certainly not be happy about that!), because he loved his eldest son so much - and Maedhros clearly loved his father, too

song i associate with them

“I See Fire,” weirdly enough. also “Kintsugi” by Gabrielle Aplin, though that’s a little too upbeat. and “East” by Sleeping At Last. and “Ulysses” by Adele McAllister @everywindintheriver​, specifically these lines:

And I am become a name for always roaming with a burning soulAnd I have fought both demons and the godsBut that was then, and now I am old

I wish I could lay down beside youWhen the end of days comes rushing in                      (end comes rushing in)Like a mighty wind                      (like a mighty wind)

though really i just associate that entire song with the Silm!

favorite picture of them

god i have an entire sideblog (saving a url) where i’ve just been saving my favorite Mae fanart, thinking maybe i’ll make a Mae-centric blog like i did a leg-centric blog at @obliviousleg​ , but we’ll see... let’s go with the pic that was my icon until recently, this art by @princess-faelivrin​ ! though really EVERY maedhros art is my favorite !

[akane171]

Yes, I am sure😅😂

Yuuup, definitely poor dude 😅😖

Well, the SPN fandom is a place of crazies and madness, soo🤷🏻‍♀️😉😂

Wasn't that the scene in the OG Naruto? But Shipuuden had flashbacks of Naruto hanging out with Shikamaru and Choji🤔 Ah, whatever, I'm starting to get confused😂😂😂🙈

Yeah, I never understood that either, like the Third Hokage even PROMISED Minato and Kushina to protect Naruto and showcase him as a hero😅🤦🏻‍♀️

HAHAHAHAHA that is quite ironic😂 But didn't the newest pope even speak up several times about ACCEPTING such stuff? (I might be remembering this wrong, I don't really keep up with what which religion is currently in favor of but I think he said sth a few years ago?)🤔😅

Yes, worry about you... Calling that "entertaining" is quite worrying😅🙈

Yes, RL is like that, NOT fanfics😭

😂😂😂😂 I suppose? 😂😂😂😂

Hmm, not sure if the theory will ever be addressed🤔😅

Yeaaah...Most fillers are annoying tho some were indeed nice🤔😅

Hahaha, they'd throw the most awesomest of parties😂😍

...Please don't remind me of Scott and Malia, that was just random and weird...🙈😅

You're welcome?😅😂

Naah, I'll accept suggestions but most often then not, I'll choose, so kinda yeah😂 Everybody else just gotta shut their cakeholes😉😉

Honestly, Keith and Jim are two of my absolutely most loved things ever right now😂😂 I could watch them be silent and make gestures in interviews all day every day😂😂 (Imagine those Space puppies meeting our Karamel Space puppies😂 I feel like Keith, Jim and Mon (and Winn) would get along brilliantly😂😂😉)

Uhh, now that you say it, Linkin Park fans really do seem to be Skillet fans, too🤔🤔 Maybe because the vibe of both bands' older songs is kinda similar?🤔🤔

Ohh, Sleeping at Last is kinda an opposite to the rest😂🤷🏻‍♀️ They usually have more calming even kinda sad songs🤔😅 You might know their song "Saturn" tho, that one seems pretty widely known🤔

Ohh, FictionJunction and Two Steps from Hell?😱😍 I'll need to check out the rest when I have time tho, I'm really bad with titles and names, so not sure if I know them😅🙈

😂😂😂 medical harassment, Huh?😉

Thanks😊

Btw, OMG HAVE YOU READ THE NEW CHAPTER SHE UPLOADED, LIKE, OMG, IT WAS SO UNEXPECTED AND AHAHSHSHSHSHDKFLFLFLDNDBDKSÖSÖSNEBEKDODLDDK I WAS TOTALLY SCREAMING AND HYPER-ENERGIZED AFTER GETTING THE NOTIFICATION😍😍😍 (already read it twice, but still gotta read again and finally get around to commenting🙈🙈) I AM STILL SOOO HYPED EVEN THO IT'S BEEN HOURS😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

XXX

Don't believe ya :)))))

SPN fandom made me realize how incest is popular in some spaces.... and my life was not the same since then....

I think it was during the flashbacks of their first big ass battle? When Naruto was for the first time remembering how their relationship started. I think? It was long time ago and I ERASED the memory of that manga/anime from my brain =='

And here we ended, with Naruto hated by the whole village and Sasuke alone, miserable and cultivating a big ass piss at his brother. Splendid!

He was telling some progressive stuff and then told some shit about Ukraine and well, pissed me off :))) but I guess he is better than the last two. What is not a big... improvement, but whatever.

I'm innocent! You are creating some weird stuff about me in your head!

Probably it won't. That's how the producers approach their shows *glares at the SG*

Scott and Malia was the perfect example of how they fucked up perfectly working ships (Stalia and Scira) for fanonship (frucking sty dia) and realized they don't have a ship for the main hero, so they put him with his FRIEND, even when there was nothing romantic. Ever. Because friendships between males and females can't exist right??? I'm still so pissed :/

Lol, best pals for lives xD Seriosuly, we need more weirdos in our lives XD

Yeah, and some of the other bands you sent me have that vibe too, I guess it's similar genre? Not sure, because aside of the Linkin Park, I don't listen to this type too much. Still good music :D As for Skillet, there is something in their music that doesn't make me their fan, but can't tell what exactly.

Nope, sorry, I don't know that song, bands like them are not really popular here and I have never really dug into them.

FictionJunction is just perfect. And Two Steps From Hell made a lot of pieces that help me creating the space opera ideas xD they are very... epic xD

medical harassment - fuck yeah.

Nooooo, still didn't have time for that, but will soon :D Happy you are happy and for sure LW is going to be happy too xDDD

[jillmckenzie1]

Sweeney Todd at the Equinox

Caution: Includes Spoilers!

With October comes pumpkin spice lattes, last year’s limp Halloween decorations dragged back out onto my neighbor’s lawn, and gothic theater productions. Front and center of Denver’s autumnal theater roster is Equinox Theater Company’s production of Sweeney Todd: Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Bug Theatre in LoHi. Stephen Sondheim’s opus is notoriously difficult and, well, the Bug isn’t quite Broadway, so my expectations were…reasonable. I’m happy to report that those expectations were far exceeded.

Sweeney Todd is basically a Liam Neeson movie set in Dickensian London. It looks like Les Misérables and Hamlet had a baby: An innocent man, hated and exiled by a girthy government official, returns to his city of origin. A woman needs to be avenged. In the meantime, a little blonde girl grows up. In the final scene, everybody who’s still alive dies sequentially, on stage, center-center. Sondheim’s musical deals with classic subject matter: power, obsession, sex, death, and secrets. Perfect stuff for Halloween.

We’re as obsessed with watching serial killers as they are with killing. Eighty-seven percent of podcasts can’t be wrong. Obsession gives us YoYo Ma playing the Prelude from Bach’s Cello Suite No1 in G Major. It also gives us Ted Bundy and the Darwin Twine Ball. Make of this what you will. Obsession first seeks its primary target; then it loses focus and takes whatever it can get. Sweeney Todd first seeks only to kill the judge who exiled him; he ends up killing dozens of others, his beloved, and, indirectly, even himself.

I mildly resent Sweeney Todd for having a straight-white-male for the hero, although almost all serial killers are male, so I will try to be understanding about this. (Thought exercise: How would this play be different if the title role were a female?) Sweeney Todd himself is a bit of a bore. He’s a macabre variation of the Great White Hero that made millions for Kevin Costner, Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and basically every other 180+lb actor in the guild. Mrs. Lovett, the character who was created to define the word “frowsy,” is slightly more interesting. She makes a horrifying moral choice and seems to think of it lightly. Is her decision to be pragmatic about murder a result of her perversion or of her necessity?

The plot resolves as the characters’ secrets escape. We assume that the truth always comes out in the end, but does it? How many of us take our secrets to the grave, at least until 23andMe outs us to the world? Perhaps the exceptions like Jaycee Dugard or Elizabeth Smart just prove the rule? I walk around my neighborhood and have my dark inklings about which houses could contain someone unwillingly chained up in a basement. 

Let’s get on with discussing this specific production of the play. I went to see the Saturday evening performance with someone, which I considered a first date, although I’m not sure that he considered it a date at all. In a reflection of this uncertainty, I wore fancy undies, but did not shave my legs. That’s the fusion of optimism and realism. (This was my second date of 2019; on the first one, several months ago, Date 1.0 mansplained to me that the wage gap exists because women don’t work hard enough. He did not get laid. However, while waiting for Date 1.0 to show up, I ran into and casually chatted with Date 2.0, whom I had previously met through writing this column. Small world.) I mention this only to highlight the oddity that is watching a dark and violent story unfold while sitting next to someone who you are completely clueless about with regards to what they will find horrifying or hilarious. It’s a great litmus test.

Local theater can be hit or miss, but Equinox hit it out of the park. The power and pitch of the opening songs quickly reassured me that this would not be Waiting for Guffman. The cast sang with skill to match their gusto, hitting all the high notes with confidence and filling up the small stage with big characters. I have been involuntarily removed from two singing groups because of my lack of vocal skills, and so my envy for their voices abounds. The casting choices seemed to fit the characters well: Todd (Derek Helsing) is a stocky, powerful man—you could nearly feel the rage radiating off of him; Mrs. Lovett (Emily Ebertz), a redhead whose beauty was unable to be completely hidden behind the disheveled aprons. Judge Turpin is probably Phillip Seymour Hoffman reincarnated, although he’s billed as (Zach Vaughn). Johanna (Alexis Webb), the daughter, is a reasonable facsimile for Reese Witherspoon.

Sweeney Todd can be truly shocking. My notes say “Self-flagellation! I forgot about that!” followed by “Incest!��forgot about that, too!” The actors spend a lot of time sloshing around buckets of blood. You get to watch many people die on stage. You also get jolted back in time by present-day anachronisms. Dropsy! Plague! All the Victorian diseases! Freshly-shaven customers request a splash of Bay Rum, which I can only presume was the Axe body spray of the 1800’s. Sondheim’s score is ridiculously difficult. His virtuosity is ridiculously enjoyable. He serves up a bottomless mimosa of rhymes, just because he can. It’s sheer joy.

The good and the bad: Every production has strengths and weaknesses. These are a few that caught my eye.

The physical production values were top-notch; the props and set effectively conveyed the time and locations without distracting from the story. They did a great job of using the space and creating different locations on the relatively small stage. The costumes were slick, well-fitting, and well-suited to the characters. I particularly enjoyed that a female actor was cast as the beadle. There was a neat trick with the lighting that I won’t reveal here: you should go see it for yourself.

With such lovely props and staging, one choice in particular yanked at my eyes. Most of the props (buckets, razors, satchels, liquid “blood”, etc.) were real. The shaving cream and foodstuffs (both critical to the plot) were improvised. It pulled me away from the story while I wondered why. Also, the running time for this play is nearly three hours, a truly Victorian length. It supposes that you have nothing else to do but read Silas Marner and fend off the plague with Bay Rum while waiting for dropsy to kill you. It’s bladder-stretcher, for sure.

I’ll point out two moments of delight: the first is Jayce Johnson, who plays Perelli, Todd’s first victim, a competing show-off in the barber trade. He struts and poses like a showgirl, displaying the weird mix of sexiness and hucksterism required of all kinds of performers. It’s as delightful to watch as it is to listen to Sondheim’s rhymes. The other moment was the glowing faces of the cast taking their bow at the end. The joy of a job flawlessly completed was writ large. That right there is the moment that makes live theater worth the effort. Or, in this case, mostly dead theater.

Sweeney Todd runs for another few weeks. The performance I attended was sold out—for good reason—and I expect the rest of the run to sell out, too. Don’t miss this one—it’s well worth it.

from Blog https://ondenver.com/sweeney-todd-at-the-equinox/

[chenoutofchen]

kdramas i have watched and loved (or like loved until the end... which is quite a lot of them)

/ for alex, who is outgrowing netflix /

♥  = favs of favs

[ ] = sass commentary by yours truly

pls excuse the genres im pretty confused. also the summaries are shit. this isn’t even all the dramas i’ve ever watched.

{romance/comedy}

another oh hae young | guy meets girl. they fall in love. girl dumps guy. guy meets another girl. she has the same name as his ex. they fall in love?? [the songs are so pretty and you will cry]  ♥

beautiful gong shim | low key cinderella story but the “prince” is a cheapass lawyer but it cute

cinderella and the four knights | you’d think its a love pentagram but literally the title is misleading there’s like only two guys basically. also get juked the one who seems like the main guy isn’t actually the one she ends up with because it’s only cuz that dude was more famous irl and they needed the marketing

city hall | [i watched this when i was like in elementary school and remember nothing, except that it was good]

coffee prince | good flashbacks to the early 2000s where girls dressed up as guys and gave guys a real headache in questioning their sexuality trope. [super cute but is glad this trope isn’t as popular anymore]  ♥

sassy girl choon-hyang | [again, i dont remember much except that it was hella funny]

full house | another 2000s classic. the let’s-get-fake-married-but-end-up-falling-in-love trope is another trend im glad didn’t make it to 2017

goong | MORE FAKE MARRIAGE but let’s add the twist where the guy just so happens to be a prince. tldr drunk grandpas marry off their children and somehow in the 2000s, that seemed like a good idea to follow through with [it was cute af]  ♥

shy boss | ceo of a pr company is introverted af and he meets a girl who is everything he isn’t [main girl was annoying as fuck but she gets better]

it’s okay, that’s love | the one i told you about on discord. famous novelist meets psychiatrist [i love how real this is?]  ♥ ♥

kill me, heal me | dude has 7 diff personalities (one’s a teenage fangirl). girl has to help him keep them under control [also a faaaav his acting is a plus]   ♥ ♥

my girl  | where it might’ve been incest but nah she’s just pretending to be his cousin dw

oh my venus | girl gets hot after getting cheated on and falls for her fitness instructor except like not revenge body but like she had health issues so i guess that’s okay [i stopped halfway but my mom liked it so there’s that]

oh my ghostess | virgin ghost possesses super introverted girl to help her seduce her boss (and hopefully get laid) [this was super cute and there’s a lot of food cuz they’re chefs so it’s win/win]  ♥ ♥

pinocchio | boy’s family dies and he gets adopted by some grandpa. girl is forced to call the boy her uncle, even if they’re the same age. she also hiccups when she lies and wants to be a reporter. [is that even incest lbr]  ♥

secret garden | they swap bodies [the ending was boring tbh]

shining inheritance | MORE INJUSTICE. RICH PPL SUCK

strong woman do bong soon | smol grill can pack a punch and all she wants is to make her own game [cute af also the dude is even cuter its smol n tol here]  ♥

the greatest love | washed up kpop star bugs the shit out of famed movie star  ♥

the master’s sun | girl can see ghosts but they all run from boy. girl decides she will stick with boy. boy is not pleased [FAV]  ♥ ♥

legend of the blue sea | mermaids! [jun jihyun is an utter goddess]

my love from another star | descendants of the sun predecessor. bratty movie star meets hot alien.  [have you even lived if you haven’t watched this??]

fight my way | four bffs in their late 20s finally achieving their dreams of kicking ass [the mma fighter’s aegyo is ack]  ♥

goblin | [aka subway ads]  ♥

you’re beautiful | girl pretends to be her twin brother and joins a kpop band [classsssiic]  ♥

paradise ranch | married at 19 and divorced 6 months later, meeting again 6 years later

hotel del luna | iu is one fashionista ghost  ♥

{school lyfe}

age of youth | a super short one about 5 college students living in the same house. there’s a girly one, an innocent one, a perv, the hard working one and the sugar baby. [why does season 2 suck tho] 

heartstrings | music school students! but like trad and modern instruments which is pretty cool

reply 1997 | bffs living their 90s teen lives [all the reply 19__ are gold tbh you should watch them all]

school 2013 and school 2015 and school 2017 | high school students living basically [school 2017 is super cute af im gone]  ♥

weightlifting fairy kim bok joo | weightlifter meets swimmer. swag. [nam joo hyuk is one sexy ass mofo]

heirs | what is the plot? all i see are good looking ppl [LOVE IS THE MOOOOOMENTTTTTT]

{cool spy/police/action shit}

city hunter | aka shitty hunter. cool spy dude fucks up corrupt politicians’ lives. [why doesn’t this exist irl?]

descendants of the sun | have you been living under a rock? this was the shit last year nothing gets em hot like some military dude romancing a doctor in a fucking war zone [half a heart because i think i didn’t like the ending]  ♥

iris | the spy/assassin story that starts the trend of spy/assassin stories [i hate the ending]  ♥

healer | dude does random sketch hacky gigs just so he can live on an island [jichangwook is hot like hella hot]

the k2 | more changwook doing hot things like using guns and taking his shirt off [ending is sad]

designated survivor | wow hannah u into politics now? [i am now korean polisci major]  ♥

{joseon eraaaaaa}

arang and the magistrate | low key mystery but there’s demons and girl ghost trying to figure out who killed her.  [not gonna lie, i just read the synopsis but it was a good read so]

dae jang geum | the ultimate cooking show turned doctor show. gordon ramsay wishes he could cook like that. [are u even a kdrama fan if you haven’t watched djg even if it’s tediously long and eh still worth a mention]

hwang jin yi | the ultimate gisaeng drama it’s pretty great and based on rl [the instrumental soundtrack is gorgeous]  ♥

moonlight drawn by clouds | i lied, there is a girl-pretends-to-be-boy drama in 2017 [why do the girls always get the prince?]  ♥’

ruler: master of the mask | the main girl is useless and the prince is too righteous for his own good but watch it for the second girl cuz she kicks ass ok? [hwagun is too pure for us]

sungkyunkwan scandal | smart girl dresses up as boy to attend university. makes a lot of guys question their sexuality. what else is new [this started my long standing crush on song joong ki]

{mystery/thriller? idk}

liar game | short af but like kinda like a game show where you lie n cheat to steal money 

W | webtoon comes to life. more murder and shit [ending??? why?]  ♥

the village: achiara’s secret | more murder! yay! scariest one i’ve ever watched [by watched i mean i read it cuz i was too scared]

{sad lawyers}

i hear your voice | ulti fav. made me cry. i love crime solving lawyers, also the dude can read ppls minds 

remember - war of the son | so angery. son solves murder that his dad is accused of [all the anger and crying tbh be prepared to get mad, also the ending sucked]

suspicious partner | for a drama about finding who killed a bunch of ppl, this is pretty fucking cute  ♥