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morporkian-cryptid · 4 months ago

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I’ve finally been able to watch the Lupin III kabuki play, so y’all get a second round of me nerding out, lucky you! (You can go watch it right now, it only costs $30 and you can see it however many times you want until August 18th!)

For context: in December of last year, the Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo put on a kabuki adaptation of Lupin the Third.

Following the success of the kabuki play, the company decided to live-stream it in several countries, and make the recording available on-demand for one week.

So yesterday I finally watched the play myself, already having a general idea of the plot and knowing what to expect. Which did nothing to prevent me from going full fangirl on the phone with my sister (who was watching it with me). I have a special interest on Lupin III, and a special interest on premodern Japan and traditional Japanese arts (which is entirely Goemon’s fault btw); what was I supposed to do? Not spend 3 hours losing my entire shit and stimming hard enough for my hands to fall off? Unrealistic tbh.

As a general note, I could not possibly be more impressed at this adaptation.

You have to understand that kabuki is, historically, a popular form of theater, created by and for the masses. It evolved from travelling performers and prostitutes’ dances, was developed in the red light districts, and was attended by poor people, merchants and samurais alike. It has always been bold, colourful, bombastic, dramatic as hell, with as much focus on situational humour and on epic fights and dramatic tales.

And that makes it a perfect media to adapt Lupin the Third into. The unserious, self-derisive tone of Lupin III fits great into kabuki humour, the over-the-top expressions and cartoonish disregard for the laws of physics translate perfectly in choreographed dance-fights, dramatic poses and exaggerated grimaces, the mix of what-the-fuck-esque “are the writers on crack” plots and of genuine emotional scenes and high-stakes fights is shared by many many well-loved historical kabuki plays. The core elements of a Traditional Lupin Plot don’t get in the way of the kabuki art form, and the traditional kabuki conventions don’t limit the very unique identity of Lupin III as a franchise.

With what little I know about kabuki as an art form (I had watched two plays and done a bit of research before this), it is obvious that a lot of work went into fitting Lupin III into the clear codes of a traditional theater form, and with everything I know about the anime, all the characters are their same old selves, banter and mannerisms and all, and the plot wouldn’t feel out of place in a TV special. The creation of this play clearly had to involve both kabuki experts and writers who love Lupin III, it is obvious from start to finish how much importance was given to both of these facets, and I am genuinely amazed at how well these two groups worked together to make everything work so perfectly. It’s almost as if Lupin III as a franchise was made to be adapted into kabuki. And I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that MP-sensei had used kabuki as an inspiration.

THIS CONTAINS (minor) SPOILERS! Read at your own risks ^^ If you’ve already seen the play, I give cultural and historical background for some scenes.

If you are familiar with Goemon Ishikawa’s background as a character, you’ve probably heard of the kabuki play about his illustrious ancestor, Sanmon Gosan No Kiri . A very famous scene from that play, the Nanzenji Sanmon (Nanzen Temple Gate) scene, is reenacted in the Lupin III play: Goemon appears at the balcony of the temple gate, reciting the famous line from Sanmon Gosan no Kiri. (I have been to that exact temple when I visited Kyoto, climbed up to the balcony on that exact gate, and recited that exact line. I then proceeded to spend half an hour trying to locate the temple graveyard where Goemon Ishikawa is buried. I found it and it was closed.)

I had been warned by Aime who had seen the play live, but I was still entirely unprepared for the fact that THE FUCKING TEMPLE GATE ROSE OUT OF THE STAGE TO REVEAL LUPIN STANDING UNDER IT. Practical special effects in kabuki are absolutely incredible and super creative, and most of them have existed since the Edo era.

Speaking of special effects, there are several revolving stages (the light play in the revolving stages!!! Holy shit!!!!), people coming out of the ground, and Lupin fucking flies off into the ceiling at some point.

In this play, Lupin and Jigen are just starting out as thieves, whereas Goemon is already well known as the greatest thief of his generation. Hence why, for a change, this time it’s Lupin who is constantly trying to find excuses to throw hands with Goemon, as opposed to how it usually goes in the anime.

Lupin’s expressions are PURE GOLD. Kataoka Ainosuke is a fucking genius actor who perfectly nailed Lupin’s “insufferable cartoon monkey” vibe. EVEN HIS VOICE IS PERFECT!!!!!! The video allows for close-ups on his expressions that the live play did not, so I’m lucky to have been able to watch this version.

Speaking of expressions, I must make a small aside to explain that dramatic facial expressions, bombastic poses and colorful costumes are a staple of kabuki (in the same way that subtle shifts of light on masks to represent different emotions are a staple of No theatre). That is the reason Jigen doesn’t wear his signature hat in the play: hiding his face would defeat the entire purpose of a kabuki adaptation and spoil the actor’s performance. I think the costume designers found a very elegant work-around by giving him bangs that almost look like the brim of a hat. (He also carries a straw hat in his hand in the first scene, and occasionally holds it up above his head)

I already made a whole post to nerd out about the incredible costume designs and how they managed to translate the anime designs and Western style of clothing of the characters into traditional Japanese stage costumes, so I won’t do it here again, but HOLY SHIT those costumes are incredibly well thought out, with such a deep attention to detail, and Lupin’s especially blew my mind. 11/10.

Lupin and Goemon started threatening to throw hands, upon which Fujiko appeared, said something along the lines of “I am a beautiful woman, please stop fighting, for my sake”, after which Lupin and Goemon agreed to put off their fight and go their separate way. Several scenes later, Lupin and Goemon finally have their showdown (which I will detail later); it is eventually interrupted by Jigen… who repeats Fujiko’s word’s verbatim, “Please stop fighting, for my sake”, to which Lupin and Goemon reply, I shit you not, “Yes Jigen, we will stop, for you.” I had to take a minute to yell into a pillow about the parallels between Lupin/Fujiko and Lupin/Jigen.

Also, WE’VE GOT ANOTHER FRIGGIN JIGEN EX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think?? unclear. The dude's like, 60 years old.

The showdown!!! The showdown at the waterfall!!!!! First off, the fact that there is an Actual Honest To God Fountain On Stage is still blowing my fucking mind. This is apparently something that has existed in kabuki SINCE THE EDO ERA. Western theater could never. Second of all, not only is there an actual fucking waterfall onstage, the actors GO INTO IT. LUPIN AND GOEMON FOUGHT IN THE WATER. ENDED UP DRENCHED TO THE BONES. ONSTAGE.

The duel scene was prefaced by a shamisen player and a singer reciting a poetic description of the upcoming fight (featuring dragons and cherry blossoms), explaining how epic it was and how the swords clashed etc etc. Then the curtain opens and you get Lupin and Goemon who, yes, have a very dramatic sword fight (like I said, kabuki and bombastic poses and dramatic faces. INCREDIBLE.); they eventually both lose their weapons and devolve into a fist fight, until they finally end up in the waterfall and start splashing water at each other. I love these absolute idiots so much.

After a few minutes, the fight is interrupted by Jigen, and you can just feel the bone-deep tired babysitter energy emanating from him, you can hear how loud he’s thinking “alright boys you’ve had your fun, time to go back to being mature adults, can we go steal things now?”

Also, the fight scenes. Let’s talk about the fight scenes. Kabuki is a type of theater that emerged from dance, and the fight scenes really reflect that – the characters mostly don’t touch, instead they leap around the stage and gesture at each other, but even the stylized movements really translate well what’s happening. THERE WERE CHARACTERS DOING BACKFLIPS ONSTAGE!!! REPEATEDLY!!! Meanwhile Lupin’s just vaguely dodging blows and gesturing away at his opponents. The backflips are incredibly impressive, and also you really get the sense that the Random Antagonists are giving their all in this fight and have to call on all their fighting abilities to take on Lupin, while Lupin simply Does Not Give A Shit and just dodges every blow effortlessly. (picture his no-handed fight with the kidnapper in Part 6 – The Last Bullet and you’ll have a good vision of what I’m talking about.)

Lupin and Jigen STEAL GOEMON. I mean this entirely literally. They drug him, shove him in a box, and make off with the box. With Goemon inside. THEY STOLE A WHOLE-ASS SAMURAI. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!!!!!!

MAMO

GREEN RAISIN MAN IS HERE

NO ONE TOLD ME GREEN RAISIN MAN WOULD BE HERE

HE BREAKS THE FOURTH WALL TO EXPLAIN KABUKI CONVENTIONS TO THE AUDIENCE DURING INTERMISSION

M A M O

Also fourth wall breaking happens on occasions, Lupin tells Jigen he’ll take him to see a kabuki play (which happens to be the other play scheduled at that theater), and Jigen says his favourite kabuki actor is Kataoka Ainosuke, to which Lupin (played by Kataoka Ainosuke) replies “oh I hate him.”

(btw this is somewhat historically accurate. Kabuki was invented in the Edo era, so after the time period this play takes place in; anachronism aside, kabuki actors were the tabloid celebrities of their time, trend setters that people tried to emulate, and the subjects of woodblock prints that fans would collect and trade. So Lupin and Jigen discussing their favourite kabuki actors is entirely believable.)

ALL THE MUSIC THEMES PLAYED ON TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS. POLICE CHASE SCENE PLAYED TO THE SOUND OF ZENIGATA MARCH ON THE SHAMISEN. LOVE SQUALL ON THE SHAKUHACHI. I NEED THE OST OF THIS PLAY GIVE IT TO ME

There were people in the audience doing Shouts From The Great Beyond!!

Oh and there are aliens. And robots. And alien robots. I realize I forgot to mention this. The play takes place in the 1600s and Goemon’s girlfriend is an alien robot. I could not make this up if I tried. I love this stupid franchise so fucking much ❤

Zenigata throws a giant coin directly at Lupin’s face

Lupin Zenigata impersonation

Both Jigen and Goemon get tied up and I tried very hard not to find this hot (I failed)

Oh and at one point Goemon ends up in a fundoshi and nothing else. With his butt on full display. Onstage. No matter if it’s an anime or a theater play, Goemon-chan always ends up being Mr Fanservice XD

“My girlfriend turned into a sword.” “That’s rough, buddy.”

Fujiko mentioned stealing the Kusanagi (legendary sword from the god Susanoo and one of the three imperial regalia of Japan), and Goemon immediately went “I NEED IT” and fucking legged it, not waiting for the others. Upon which Lupin remarked “Wow, that guy really likes swords.” I fucking love this gigantic nerd. Goemon my beloved <3

There’s one scene where Lupin and Jigen run into Fujiko as she’s participating in an oiran procession through the red light district, Lupin recognizes her and immediately goes “Heeeyyyyyy Fujiko-chaaaaan!!!!! 😃” and you can just see on Fujiko’s face the words “Oh gods no NOT HIM AGAIN” writing themselves in big bold golden letters while she attempts to keep a straight face. Absolutely amazing XD

Goemon and Itohoshi. I am so soft for them. Dear lord they are adorable and they did not deserve all that shit. Please just let them be happy TT (“Gomen” WHAT DO YOU MEAN “GOMEN” JUST STAB ME WITH A SWORD IT WOULD BE LESS PAINFUL)

I don’t know how to explain how cool and funny Zenigata gets, he has his awesome badass moments, and he also gets played like a fiddle by Lupin, and from the way he is played you get the whole “this guy is a bumbling idiot (affectionate)” vibe but also he gets scarily competent at times. And you can see his underwear like half of the time.

Goemon has a resting bitch face the whole way through. AS HE SHOULD

The scene at the end, where all five main characters appear in front of the sea with blue kimonos and paper umbrellas, and introduce themselves, will be recognized by all long-time Lupin fans as a reference to the Red Jacket double episode “Kooki Kabuki” (aka The Mysterious Gang of Five). As it turns out, that scene and in fact the whole double episode was a reference to a kabuki play called “Shiranami Gonin Otoko” (Five Men of the White Waves). According to Wikipedia, “The play is perhaps most famous for the speeches made by Kozō and his compatriots when they dramatically remove their disguises and reveal their true identities.” (I’ve never watched that play, but a recording is available on the same website as the Lupin III kabuki play, so I might watch it soon.)

Please look at the designs on their kimonos on that scene. They’re so cool!!!! Lupin has a rose, a European flower that also features on his rapier (he is the only character to have a European sword rather than a katana). Fujiko has wisteria, which is called fuji in Japanese. Jigen has a kiseru pipe with plumes of smoke and a crescent moon. Goemon has a dragon because he is a Mighty Warrior. And Zenigata has zeni coins and HANDCUFFS ON A STRING!!!! THE AMOUNT OF ATTENTION TO DETAILS IN THE FUCKING COSTUME DESIGNS!!!!!!!!

To my (mild) disappointment, in this version of the scene, Jigen doesn’t describe himself as “onnagirai” like he did in the anime. For those who haven’t seen that Twitter thread floating around on Tumblr, “onnagirai” or “woman hater” is (allegedly) an old Edo-era slang term associated to kabuki and used to designate homosexual men. Yes, Jigen actually called himself “onnagirai”, out-loud, on screen, in a recreation of a kabuki scene, in 1977. (I couldn’t find any reliable source explaining the link between “onnagirai” and homosexuality in five minutes of googling, so take it with a grain of salt, but at least Wikipedia mentions the term and sources it from a 1997 book on homosexuality under the Tokugawa regime.)

All in all an incredible experience, 100/10 would tie up the whole fandom and sit them in front of the screen to watch this play whether they want it or not. Huge huge huge kudos and my eternal thanks to all the people who worked on making this adaptation come to life, they did an incredible job and it is clear from start to finish that this was made by people who love kabuki and who love Lupin the Third.

#lupin iii #lupin the third #kabuki #theatre #japan #lupin iii kabuki #elliott's japan trivia corner #elliott's nerd corner #the hobbit rambles

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oldmanontumbler · 2 months ago

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Ethel Archer and Victor Neuburg's friendship is so dearly funny to me.

You have this Kinsey 5 woman who married the only guy she ever fancied and loves him to bits and pieces, and spends her free time writing impassioned love poems about other women (and nothing else).

And then you have this lithe, faun-like man -- indubitably would've been called a "twink" in this day for his youth and slight physique -- who's nervous and gentle and looks at his mentor like a lovestruck puppy. Like that man hung the stars in the fucking sky.

And then he takes one look at Archer's poetry and goes "hmm... 🤨🏳️‍🌈 kinda gay."

And she's shocked at this -- vantablack pot calling the kettle black -- and whenever she voices that, he's just like, "okay, Sappho."

Yes, he took to calling her Sappho.

Neuburg reviewed all of the poems that appeared in The Equinox, and every goddamn time Archer submitted a poem, he'd turn to her and go, "gee, Ethel, pardon me if I am mistaken, but this sounds kind of gay..."

I dunno, the fact that this bisexual man and this bi/lesbian woman were friends and exchanged lighthearted banter brings light to my heart. It's sweet.

#posts I would make if I was on tumbler #not tagging AC because this ain't about him #(fun fact: this little group that Archer and Neuburg were part of - consisting of three women who wanted to fuck AC↙️ one Victor who wanted #the same↙️ two lesbians↙️ and one girl who was just like 'wow he's a freak. I need him for my freak collection' - became known as The Harem)#(they'd make for hell of a sitcom. a ragtag group of poets and musicians↙️ headed by England's insane occultist↙️ trying to keep their #esoteric newspaper flourishing. when one day Insane Occultist is like. ''GUYS. We're going to THEATRE. We're gonna DANCE and DRINK #CACTUS WATER and recite POETRY to the GODS and Mommy Leila here will ASCEND YOU with her VIOLIN'')#(yes he called his crush Mother in the year 191something. to be fair. it was short for ''the mother of Earth'' or something.)#(sorry the tags turned into Crowley Trivia Night. anyways. Archer/Neuburg friendship sweep)

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unproduciblesmackdown · 5 days ago

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oh i've been trying to find this interview again, which i remembered mainly for the parts about [interviewing the parents which is so Interviewing The Parents] but has many fun details

The first time Will Roland auditioned for “Be More Chill,” he didn’t get the part. “It’s the reality of our business,” says the actor, whose family moved from Manhattan to Locust Valley when he was 8. “On any given day . . . you may be the person who is going to get the job and you may not be.” But let’s not feel too bad for Roland, whose theatrical trajectory is the stuff most people only dream of. At the same time he was auditioning for “Chill,” the sci-fi musical that made it to Broadway after its cast album went viral (more on that later), he was also involved with a workshop for, as he puts it, “another little show called ‘Dear Evan Hansen’.” He got cast in that show, playing Evan’s friend, Jared, a character who brings comic relief to a work that has its devastating moments. Roland looks back on his four years with the show as “an absolutely incredible experience.” The writers worked “my sense of humor, and the sardonic way I observe things” into this classic theater role of the clown, “the one who comes out and observes the ridiculousness of the situation,” says Roland, sitting in the balcony of the Lyceum Theatre where he’s rehearsing his next big Broadway gig — the lead in “Be More Chill,” which opens March 10. Obviously, everything turned out just fine for Roland, and for “Be More Chill,” a pop-rock musical based on a 2004 young adult sci-fi novel by Ned Vizzini that appeared to be dead in the water until the cast album went viral on social media. After the show played at a small theater in Red Bank, New Jersey, in 2015, “I thought it was going to be the next big thing,” says Joe Iconis, the Garden City native who wrote the music and lyrics. “There was so much momentum.” But after a review in The New York Times that “was not particularly helpful,” interest dwindled and Iconis and his partners moved on. Happily, some things are meant to be. The Red Bank theater had enough faith in the musical to order a cast album, and suddenly the fan base exploded, videos were all over YouTube and fan art appeared on Tumblr. That led to an Off-Broadway production last summer that sold out before performances started, and eventually to the Broadway run, with Roland, who is part of Iconis’ extended theatrical family, very much back in the picture.

Real people, real issues The young star was decidedly upbeat on Valentine’s Day, the afternoon following the first preview when he says those extremely vocal fans “brought some hard-core joy into this building.” Like everyone involved, he’s intrigued by the way the show took off, but really, he points out, it’s nothing more than word-of-mouth, which “just happens to be the internet right now.” On the other hand, he says, “I don’t know that word-of-mouth has ever put so much wind into the sails of a production.” When asked why the show resonates so strongly with fans, Roland says what they love about the show “is the same thing that I love about the show . . . that it is an honest depiction of real people dealing with real issues.” Roland plays Jeremy, a nerdy high schooler who never fits in until he swallows a SQUIP (a quantum computer in pill form) that has the power to turn him into one of the cool kids. There’s significant fantasy at play, says Roland, but “there is truth to every one of these characters . . . it doesn’t speak in broad, heart-rending poetry, it speaks in really human language.” Does he see himself in the character? “I think he sees himself in me a little bit,” jokes Roland, who talks about first getting involved with theater at Friends Academy in Locust Valley, which he attended from sixth grade through high school. “What they created for me, first and foremost, was a space where I found community and acceptance and belonging,” he says, which he notes, is why a lot of people start doing theater. Roland was serious about his goals “from the moment I met him,” says Tracey Foster, director of arts at Friends. “He knew what he wanted to do in life.” As the title character in “Oliver!” one of his first major roles at the school, Foster says that beyond his “big, booming, beautiful voice,” he was “touching, tender and scrappy.” (Roland’s recollection differs: “My voice was changing so it sounded really bad,” though he acknowledges that he’s “channeling a lot of those days in this performance.”) From the beginning, Foster says, Roland displayed “a wonderful combination of confidence and humility that . . . let him make mistakes and keep moving forward, pick himself up when he needed to.” Those qualities, she notes, suggest that “he’ll be able to survive the bumps in the industry.” Foster was in the audience for the first preview and naturally thought Roland was “spectacular.” But she also has raves for the production, which she first saw Off-Broadway. “They grew it up for Broadway,” she says, “in a way that was beautiful and fulfilling.”

Acting in his soul Roland’s family, of course, saw his raw talent early on. “Will sang before he spoke,” says his mom, Beth Roland, explaining that since she was a fan of “putting my child in front of a TV,” the first words out of his mouth were Big Bird’s alphabet song. Now, she says, “acting is just in him . . . it’s in his soul. I think he acts in his real life.” His dad, Bill Roland, who gets endearingly emotional when talking about watching his son onstage, has a simple response when asked about Will’s success. “Passion,” he says. For now, Roland, who turns 30 on Tuesday, is thinking less about the past than about opening night, managing the inevitable changes that Iconis and book writer Joe Tracz are throwing at the cast. He is getting married next year (check out Instagram for photos of his proposal at the ritzy but rustic Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Tarrytown). After that, who knows? “Be More Chill” could run for years, and there’s a movie in the works. No one’s called yet, but Roland says, “I would very much like to be involved.” Wisely, Roland is not thinking too far ahead. “I love doing TV and film, new plays, new movies,” he says, “really getting to put my stink into a character.” He looks forward to the day he can call his own shots and thinks at some point directing might be an option. “My dream role,” he says, admitting that he’s borrowing the thought from others, “hasn’t been written yet.”

Behind the music and lyrics “When I wrote ‘Michael in the Bathroom,’ I was writing about myself,” says Joe Iconis, the Garden City native who wrote the music and lyrics for “Be More Chill.” If you don’t have a teenager in the house, note that the runaway hit from the show has all but broken the internet (it has its own Instagram account with, at last look, more than 12,000 posts). Iconis says when he wrote the song, about a guy who locks himself in a bathroom rather than face the other kids at a Halloween party run amok, he was writing about his adult self. But, he adds, “I hoped that young people would relate to it because it is a universal thing . . . someone else is going through this, not just the character in the show.” The success of the song and the show is part of a growing Iconis moment in New York theater right now. His musical “Broadway Bounty Hunter” will get its New York City debut this summer starring Annie Golden, and the cabaret group known as Joe Iconis & Family is set for a run in April and May at Feinstein’s / 54 Below. Sitting in a balcony lobby at the Lyceum Theatre, where “Be More Chill” is in previews, Iconis talks about getting the theater bug at 6, when his dad took him to see “Little Shop of Horrors” for his birthday. “I was immediately hooked,” he says, but as he grew older he realized performing was not for him. “I was terribly scared to be on stage.” With the support of his nontheatrical family (his dad is in information technology, his mom is superintendent of the Massapequa School District), the self-described “theater nerd” focused on music and says he knew by sixth grade that he wanted to be a Broadway composer. “I was definitely the only child who could say that. Ever.” As he works toward opening night on March 10, Iconis is focusing on fine-tuning the piece (“musical changes, script changes, things we want to tighten, numbers we want to reorder and rearrange”). It’s a huge enterprise, he says, but his faith in the show grows by the minute. He calls it “the little show that could.”

#try finding any interview or writeup about anything ft. will's family that doesn't have a note about how & they are so so proud of him #about how endearing that is &/or what great laughs people have & etc #the one worded yet genuine dad answer while your mom is speculating to the interviewer about your irl dramaturgy lmao....#AND we interview your middle / high school theatre Director Of Arts lol. & them being at that first preview like aw yay #is this written for like an audience of average age assumed 75? maybe. them saying ''young star'' like....will??#like yeah all of a month out from thirty but using that phrase i'd expect like. early twenties at the latest. more so an actual teen #just humorous....as are things like ''that was not particularly helpful'' lmao #the sesame street abcdefghi song lore is such a detail too. what trivia. what fun First Words #bmc #will roland #joe iconis #full text of the article here; the Formatting Breaks are from me driving back tumblr's block character limit with a large stick

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derekklenadaily · 1 year ago

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derek klena + emojis - (PART II) (PART I)

[INSP.]

#derek klena #derekklenaedit #insp #edit #broadway #moulin rogue broadway #anastasia #wicked #diner #sunset boulevard #appearance: fly girl vlog #appearance: royal misfits vlog #appearance: MT Trivia #appearance: ACT Happy Hour #appearance: Meet the cast of Diner #appearance: theatrely #tikok #social media #instagram

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theywontletmebeprincipal · 8 months ago

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As a wikipedia editor who loves wikipedia vandalism, you're right and you should say it

every day I restrain myself from vandalizing wikipedia like I am a werewolf trying desperately not to transform in the moonlight

#to be fair I’m not a very useful wikipedia editor in the first place #it’s all obscure theatre trivia n adding hyperlinks so I can wikipedia speedrun better #sanswers

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pynkhues · 2 months ago

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I've read all the books and unfortunately no, it's never mentioned that Louis had sex with men- or anything about his sex life as a human in general. There's the one line from the Iwtw when he says that "sex was a pale shadow of killing" that some people interpret as him being a closeted gay man who only had sex with women but i'm not sure, since in the last books Lestat, after finishing having sex, repeats sth similar: that for a vampire sex isn't as satisfying as drinking blood. And since all vampires are panromantic after turning, Louis' human sexuality is largely a mystery haha.

And yeah in the show, he was obviously sexually experienced but not emotionally, Lestat was the first man with whom he allowed himself to be emotionally intimate with and lose control, a lot of people forget that they were best friends for months and I think that's way more special than Lestat taking his imagined virginity hahaha.

(x)

I've read all the books and unfortunately no, it's never mentioned that Louis had sex with men- or anything about his sex life as a human in general.

Hahah, thank you for letting me know though! It's been a minute since I read IWTV, so I'd forgotten that section, and I've only read up to Memnoch, although who knows, that might change soon ;-)

It's interesting that the show would make him so explicitly gay in a way the books didn't, but yes! I totally hear you on the emotional intimacy. I so wish we got to see more of that, especially given it seems like they were pretty selective with how they opened up with each other still (particularly given Lestat seems to have revealed so little of his own history to Louis). I'd love to know more about what they talked about and what those earlier chapters of their life (both pre and post Louis' turning) were like.

#i just know that there's an entire section of louis' brain that's occupied with useless trivia about the 17/1800s parisian theatre scene #that he learnt when lestat was just a hot weird theatre kid he wanted to fuck #and nothing he can do can unwedge that information because that sort of intel imprints in those circumstances #he probably fact checked santiago once which was the real reason santiago decided to kill him <3 #iwtv asks

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titleknown · 1 year ago

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You ever think about the fact that Olive Oyl is public domain but not Popeye, at least in the US?

God copyright law is stupid...

#copyright #popeye #olive oyl #thimble theatre #silly #weird #trivia

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pretzelstickrockets · 4 months ago

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Today you're getting trivia dump on the musical The Drowsy Chaperone because I saw it last night and it's immediately become one of my dream shows (with the dream role of Man in Chair of course- look as a theatre kid who can't sing of course I'm going to latch onto a monologue-heavy character).

Let's begin!

The musical originated as an entertainment piece for the bachelor party of real life couple Bob (Robert) Martin (Canadian writer and actor) and Janet van de Graaf (Canadian improv and television artist). It was performed at the Rivoli Night Club and the admission costs were used to help fund their wedding

The original show did not have the role of the Man in Chair!

Despite having less than stellar reviews (notably being called a "sleeper" and having "forgettable" songs by critic Ben Brantly), TDC recieved thirteen Tony nominations and won five (Book, Original Score, Featured Actress, Scenic Design, and Costume Design)

The first translated version of the show opened in Japan (January 5th, 2009)

In the original Broadway production, during the Man in Chair's "intermission monologue", there's an added line about the Morosco theatre being torn down and a hotel being put in it's place. This line is a reference to the Marquis Theater (where the run took place) being part of the Marriott Marquis complex which was built where the Morosco Theater once stood.

The use of a deus ex machina in the form of Trix's plane at the end of the second act is one of the most literal version of the trope. The history of the term comes from ancient Greek performances, where, in resolution to conflicts, the Greek gods would appear in the show, often being delivered to the stage via a crane. So, the appearance of a character who can resolve the unsettled issue via a device from the sky is a fitting homage to the trope.

The Drowsy Chaperone is qualified as both a parody and a pastiche. If you didn't know what a pastiche means (aka me about five minutes ago), a parody mocks aspects while a pastiche celebrates aspects. Some examples of other pastiches are Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are Dead (for Hamlet) and The Second Mrs Darcy (Pride and Prejudice).

The song Love is Always Lovely in the End replaced a song in the original production titled I Remember Love

In many productions, the animal Robert is compared to in Bride's Lament is changed from a monkey to a bunny to avoid racist undertones.

Aldopho says his name 15 times in the song I am Aldopho (the chaperone says it four times)

Whilst on Broadway, TDC had 32 previews and 674 performances before it closed in 2007.

Robert and George's tap dance before Underling's entrance in Cold Feet is approximately 1 minutes and 32 seconds long.

The longest song on the cast recording is Bride's Lament at 5:13, whilst the shortest (excluding Man in Chair's actor backgrounds) is the Act 1 Finale with 47 seconds.

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