#Betrayal Broadway final performance

[jgroffdaily]

Merrily We Roll Along reviews (part 3)

User reviews are available at Show-Score.com, with a review summary at West End Theatre:

Time Out

Groff, Radcliffe and Mendez are so appealing as performers that they moot the pinched negativity of their characters’ first appearances. All three deliver exceptional work. 

As the story moves backward, Groff’s pallid Frank begins to glow with excitement and sincerity; he makes you feel how much Frank loves writing music, and what a self-betrayal his abandonment of it represents.

But who will get to see them? This Merrily is in an ironic position: It’s too big of a hit. Tickets for the limited Off Broadway run sold out more or less instantly, which means that we can only now hope for a Broadway transfer. This is a show that makes demands of its audience, perhaps sometimes unreasonable ones. But as Charley sings during a loving argument with his friends: “What’s the point of demands you can meet?” Friedman’s production meets the audience halfway, and a Broadway audience today just might be able to make up the difference as couldn’t in 1981. Cross your fingers: It finally might be Merrily’s time. 

The Guardian

Frank can often come across as a jerk, a sellout. But this framing device softens him. If he is pulled back into the past, then it must be his own unhappiness, his own irresolution doing the tugging. It helps, too that Groff has boyishness to him and a niceness backing up that flexible, emotive voice. His Frank seems less craven than pragmatic.

Maybe this was the real unspoken problem with that first production, that audiences resisted following a character they didn’t like. But Friedman has solved this. Frank is more likable now and his sins – wanting to make a little movie, dubious taste in second wives – are forgivable. In this light, he seems to be a projection of Sondheim’s own anxieties. How did he balance commerce and art? What did he sacrifice along the way?

Talkin' Broadway

The device effectively gives the events of the story more cohesion, and it establishes Frank as reflective and more sympathetic than we typically see him. Groff, who is an immensely likeable performer in everything, is terrific here, and he serves Sondheim's songs beguilingly. He plays the role as someone who is naturally charming and yet is aware of the power of that charm. You can't take your eyes off him.

And that's a problem.

Groff's dominance throws off the equilateral triangle's balance, particularly in Frank's relationship with his friend and writing partner Charley Kringas (Daniel Radcliffe). A self-aware Frank makes the moral compass Charley dispensable, and as hard as Radcliffe works (performing with the mannerisms and disheveled appearance of a young Woody Allen), the character keeps getting sidelined.

Telegraph (UK)

"Maria Friedman's acclaimed London revival of Merrily We Roll Along transfers to New York. Might Broadway beckon?"

"It’s taken a decade for director Maria Friedman’s lauded London revival of Stephen Sondheim’s infamous Broadway flop Merrily We Roll Along to hit New York – but it’s definitely been worth the wait. Like the Olivier Award-winning production that originated at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012, the current incarnation, playing Off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop, is a stellar, musically sumptuous affair featuring a captivating score by the late composer-lyricist. And this time the cast includes Daniel Radcliffe, who delivers a winning and wittily engaging turn as one of a trio of American friends whose bonds break down over 20 years."

"Having already done How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying on Broadway in 2011, he [Radcliffe] fits in well with these lesser-known but more seasoned musical theatre performers: Mendez, who turns her underwritten character into the show’s emotional centre, and Groff, who finds the midlife disenchantment in a potentially unlikable lead character. High points come in the buoyant songs all three sing, especially the optimistic finale, “Our Time”, when they’re together for the first time watching Sputnik in orbit."

AM New York

Radcliffe (as the principled Charley) and Mendez (as the heartbroken Mary) are wonderful, but it is Groff’s dashing and unusually sympathetic performance as Frank that makes this one of the most persuasive and moving productions of “Merrily” to date.

#jonathan groff #merrily we roll along #NYTW #reviews

[impulsea]

Speaking of Return to the Sea, another big inconsistent with the canon is that Morgana is Ursula's sister, and yet, in Howard's original vision, Triton and Ursula were the siblings, and the concept was later incorporated in the Broadway adaptation. I know it's a deleted concept, but it was deleted because they didn't wanted more exposition, not because they thought it didn't fit with the story, so I take it as canon in my head haha.

But on the other hand, I was watching the extended deleted scene of Poor Unfortunate Souls where it's shown that apparently Ariel knew Ursula tried to overthrow her father and still went with the deal. While I'm glad they cut it - mostly because it doesn't helps to sell Ariel's naivety to Ursula and the audience -, do you think it's still canon? How much do you think Ariel knew about Ursula before going to her lair?

Such great questions! So, I'm of the mind that there's a reason the creative teams make the cuts they do. For instance, in a deleted scene of Sleeping Beauty, Maleficent sang a song to Aurora that was entitled "Follow Your Heart". This was to lead the audience to believe that Maleficent was tricking Aurora into believing that touching the spindle was a choice she, Aurora, was making of her own autonomy. I much prefer the characterization we see in the finalized film, where Aurora is entirely under the evil fairy's hypnosis- and it makes it all the more salient when Aurora displays mental strength by breaking out of the trance, if only momentarily.

As you mentioned with the extended Poor Unfortunate Souls scene, I think the cut lines mess up continuity too much and sacrifice character integrity. Ursula's eels come to Ariel when she's at her lowest point. Ariel's own father just invaded her secret, personal space, essentially outed her, and destructed her personal property. She feels violated, humiliated, and is completely emotionally vulnerable. Ursula is aware of all of these factors, considering she spies on Ariel through her all-seeing crystal ball, and that's why she uses this time to strike and attack. The lines in the extended version, namely "You tried to overthrow my Father!", show Ariel to be actively aggressive and distrusting of Ursula and in a more astute mental state, siding with Triton and seeing his perspective as being the right side. This contrasts directly with her body language and energy in the rest of the scene, where she hesitates to even brush Ursula's tentacles off of her or the weak aside about never seeing her father and sisters again, which is performed as if she barely has any energy left within her. While Ariel did hesitate in the film multiple times to visit Ursula's lair (more on this later), I don't think she ever would've made the trip if Ursula's betrayal to Triton was so clear and obviously sinful on her part. As we see in the final scene, once she sees how evil Ursula truly is, she physically attacks the sea witch.

In regards to the relationship she has with Ursula and the relationship Triton had with Ursula, it's nuanced. For starters, I don't view Morgana as being canonical. I, frankly, don't view anything in the second film as containing anything canonical aside from the fact that Ariel would search the entire sea for her lost daughter. I think Ariel was slightly aware of Ursula prior to Ursula's banishment, but it wasn't anything extensive. She'd know Ursula as just another one of the many, many people of the Atlantican court. I doubt the two had a personal connection, especially considering how young Ariel would've been when they would've met, and I doubt Ursula was the type to lean over children's cribs. If she ever did, to impress Triton, it was performative and far from a repeat occurrence. Now, onto the relationship between Ursula and Triton. 

I am under the belief that they had an affair. Most homophobic parents tend to have had a past that's less than straight, so it would be in line with Triton's character, and it was apparently the motivation and backstory Howard Ashman gave Pat Carroll. I've also seen a copy of the original script in its finalized form, and it does specify that Ursula is flirtatious to Triton in the final scenes, which wouldn't make any sense if they were siblings. I don't believe that the two are brother and sister. However, I do think that's what the human characters might believe. Just as we think a lot of the Greek Gods and Goddesses that were married or had physical relationships were of some kind of kin, it wouldn't be impossible for a human to assume the same of Triton (who possesses many parallels with the Greek Gods and Goddesses) and Ursula. Also, I headcanon that, during the affair, Triton introduced Ursula to his daughters as their "new aunt", just as many parents do when dating someone new and wanting to establish that their partner might be here to stay (especially considering Ariel and Ursula seemed to be somewhat familiar with one another, with the way she calls Ariel "my child", which fits into the "introduced as an aunt" theory), but is still uncomfortable with coming out and labeling them as a boyfriend or girlfriend. Ursula pursed Triton to advance herself, her motives became clear, and he banished her. Whenever Ariel, or anyone, attempted to ask for more information, he'd be intentionally vague about it because he didn't want to out himself. So I think Ariel definitely understood that Ursula was a "traitor" to the kingdom, but I think that doesn't hold that much weight with Ariel. First, Ariel tends to identify with people who are "othered" and she wants to see the best in everyone. Secondly, wouldn't Ariel, too, technically be a traitor in her Father's eyes? After all, she made contact with a human and saved them from drowning, which Triton verbalizes is forbidden. So, especially with the mental and emotional state Ariel's in, for all she knows, her father thinks she's just as bad as Ursula, whose banishment he made intentionally vague. In the finalized film, we even get the hint that Ursula is "othered" for being known as the sea witch. Extending it to the real world, that'd be like demonizing a pagan person or playing into the bigotry that led them to be social outcasts in the first place. I, personally, wouldn't stop being friends with someone or deny someone helping me just on the basis of their being pagan, so why would Ariel completely rule out Ursula just because she's known as "the sea witch?"

Also! I'd be remiss not to mention my longtime friend who knows as much about the classic villains as I do about the classic princesses. I originally never gave much thought to Triton and Ursula's history because I was more concerned with my characterization of Ariel, but it was them who got me to see how the brother/sister angle wasn't right. Also, they have their own blog that they write Ursula on over on @eyeforabargain!

#ask #anonymous #- message in a bottle < #i love talking with you about the universe #you have such good takes! #the little mermaid #eyeforabargain

[ronk]

Daniel Craig & Stephen Colbert

NJ's Montclair Film Festival is proud to honor Daniel Craig with its 2022 Tribute! Stephen Colbert will host Mr. Craig on stage at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in downtown Newark, NJ on Friday, October 28, 2022, at 8:00 PM!

Daniel Craig is hailed as one of the finest actors of his generation on stage, screen, and television. Last year Craig returned for his fifth and final turn as ‘Bond’ in NO TIME TO DIE. The film was nominated for Outstanding British Film of the Year at the 2022 BAFTA Film Awards and won the Academy Award® for Original Song.

In 2019 Craig was seen in Rian Johnson’s hugely successful film, KNIVES OUT. A whodunit contemporary murder mystery, Daniel starred as ‘Benoit Blanc’ alongside Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Chris Evans, and Toni Colette. Craig’s standout performance earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination. He reprises his role for the sequel – GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY – alongside a stellar cast including Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Edward Norton, Kate Hudson, and Jessica Henwick.

Ticket information https://montclairfilm.org/events/an-evening-with-daniel-craig-stephen-colbert/ This event is the major fundraiser for Montclair Film.

2018 saw Daniel star as ‘Obie Hardison’ in KINGS with Halle Berry and Rick Ravanello. Set in the violent aftermath of Rodney King’s trial in 1992, the story follows a foster family in South Central and the implications the verdict has on their lives. Prior to this, Daniel was seen in Steven Soderbergh’s LOGAN LUCKY as ‘Joe Bang’ alongside Adam Driver, Channing Tatum, and Sebastian Stan. The story concerns two brothers who attempt to pull off a heist during a NASCAR race in North Carolina.

2015 saw Daniel star in the eagerly anticipated SPECTRE. Craig was seen returning as ‘James Bond’ for the third time, in the critically acclaimed box office smash SKYFALL. He has also starred as ‘Bond’ in QUANTUM OF SOLACE and CASINO ROYALE. In 2011 Craig starred in THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO directed by David Fincher, he played the lead character Mikael Blomkvist opposite Rooney Mara. Craig’s earlier film credits include LOVE AND RAGE, OBSESSION, THE POWER OF ONE, ROAD TO PERDITION, LAYER CAKE, INFAMOUS and Steven Spielberg’s Oscar®-nominated film MUNICH.

Craig is also an accomplished stage actor and in 2013 starred in the critically acclaimed Broadway show BETRAYAL in which he starred opposite Rafe Spall and Rachel Weisz. Directed by Mike Nichols, the play ran for 14 weeks and grossed $17.5million in that time. Daniel’s most recent theatre venture was the off- Broadway production of OTHELLO alongside David Oyelowo and directed by Sam Gold, at the New York Theatre in the autumn of 2016. In 2009 Daniel starred in a twelve-week Broadway run of A STEADY RAIN. Craig played opposite Hugh Jackman in this contemporary American play. Craig’s other theatre credits include leading roles in HURLYBURLY with the Peter Hall Company at the Old Vic, ANGELS IN AMERICA at The National Theatre and A NUMBER at the Royal Court alongside Michael Gambon.

#Daniel Craig #stephen colbert #NJPAC #conversations #mff2022 #montclair film festival

[outoftowninac]

THE UNSEEN HAND / THE OUIJA BOARD

1920

The Ouija Board (previously known as The Invisible Hand) is a play in three acts by Crane Wilbur. It was originally produced by A.H. Woods and staged by W.H. Gilmore starring Alma Belwin and Mr. Wilbur (above). 

The supernatural themed play was billed as a “play of the seen and unseen.” This was Wilbur’s first play on Broadway as a playwright.  Rehearsals began in late January 1920. 

About the Title: A Ouija board, also known as a spirit board or talking board, is a flat board marked with the letters and numbers along with various symbols and graphics. It uses a planchette (small heart-shaped piece of wood or plastic) as a movable indicator to spell out messages during a séance. Participants place their fingers on the planchette, and it is moved about the board to spell out words. "Ouija" is a trademark of Hasbro, but is often used generically to refer to any talking board.

The play takes place in the library in Henry Annixter's house and a room in Gabriel Mogador's house in a large manufacturing town in the upper part of New York State. 

A woman who is left too much alone deserts her husband for another man, who in turn deserts her. Her husband condones her fault and she returns to him, but lives only a short time, leaving a little boy, the father of whom betrayed her. Her betrayer finally lands In prison, and after his release disguises himself as a spiritualistic medium and starts swindling the people of a large town by purporting to receive communications from the dead. Among his victims is the man whom he has wronged, and who believes he can communicate with his dead wife through the writing stunt. The mind of the faker becomes so unsettled that he Imagines he sees the woman's spirit and unconsciously reveals his identity In the writing. His patron becomes enraged and plunges a dagger in his back, killing him. When discovered, the dead man's hand is resting on the pad, and the message of the dead helps to solve the second crime, that of the killing of the man who killed the medium. The perpetrator of the latter tragedy is none other than the medium’s son, a dope fiend, who expected to marry the daughter of his benefactor, who inherited her father's fortune.

As The Unseen Hand, the play opened in Atlantic City at the Globe Theatre on February 16, 1920.   

It was next seen at the Lyceum in Paterson NJ on March 26th and 27th. 

After this engagement, producer Woods changed the play’s title to The Ouija Board, despite it having a very small part in the action of the play. 

The Ouija Board opened on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre (209 West 45th Street) on March 29, 1920. 

About the Venue: The Bijou Theatre was built in 1917. In 1935, it became New York's first all-cartoon cinema, beginning a rotating cycle during which the house alternated between legit and movie presentation (except when it was dark from 1937 to 1943). In 1959, the adjoining Astor was renovated and acquired a large chunk of the Bijou's space. It reopened as an art cinema in 1962. Intermittent legit productions followed until the theatre was demolished in 1982, making room for the Marriott Hotel.  

“One of the devices of the play which surprised but did not altogether please us was an electrical device installed n a phonograph by which anybody who played "Fair Harvard' would be shot in the chest. It served to kill one character in the play and another barely escaped. We would have found it more pleasing and convincing as well, if he had died from ‘Boola Boola’ or ‘Old Nassau.’“ ~ HEYWOOD BRAUN

The play ran 64 performances at the Bijou closing on May 23, 1920.  On Monday, May 25th the play decamped to Boston’s Plymouth Theatre where it quietly departed this theatrical world after a brief run. 

#The Ouija Board #The Unseen Hand #Crane Wilbur #Broadway Play #Broadway Theatre #Atlantic City #Supernatural #1920 #Theatre #Plays

[bates--boy]

I asked ChatGPT to write a drabble about Peter and Naseem. Some things were off, of course, but here's the result:

Peter had always been different from the other men he had met in his long life. As an immortal, he had seen the world change over centuries and had adapted to it, embracing his own unique personality and eccentricities. One of those was being openly effeminate, which had created complications in his relationships with mortals over the years.

One such mortal was Naseem, a Black man whom he had loved deeply during their polyamorous relationship. Peter had been open about his sexuality and his preferences, but he still felt betrayed when he learned that Naseem had slept with another person without informing him. That betrayal had led to their eventual breakup and had left Peter with a lingering sense of hurt and anger.

Years had passed, and Peter had moved on. He had found solace in his work as an actor, and Broadway was a new chapter in his long life. But fate had other plans.

As he was walking down the halls of the theater, lost in thought, he bumped into Naseem. The memories of their past relationship hit Peter like a ton of bricks, and the anger rose inside him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Peter spat, unable to hide his emotions.

Naseem looked at him with a mix of surprise and confusion. “I’m in the show, I’m one of the actors, just like you.”

Peter was dumbfounded. He had no idea Naseem was part of the cast.

“Well, that complicates things,” he muttered under his breath.

As they began rehearsals, Peter couldn't ignore the hurt and anger that still simmered inside him. He could see that Naseem was trying to make amends, but the betrayal still stung.

It wasn't until a pivotal scene in the play where they had to share an intimate moment that Peter finally let go of his anger. As the scene played out, Peter realized that the anger and hurt were replaced by a profound sadness for what could have been between them.

After the scene, Naseem pulled Peter aside and apologized for any hurt he had caused him. He explained that he had been young and immature when they were together, and he had made mistakes.

Peter thought about it for a moment and then did something he had never thought he would do. He forgave Naseem.

As they continued rehearsing together, Peter and Naseem built a new kind of relationship, one of mutual respect and friendship. And when the show premiered on opening night, they gave a performance that left the audience standing and applauding.

After the show, as they were leaving the theater, Naseem put his hand on Peter's shoulder. For a moment, Peter felt a rush of emotion that he hadn't felt in centuries.

"Thank you for forgiving me," Naseem said softly.

Peter paused for a moment, looked at him, and then smiled. "It's water under the bridge. Let's just move forward and make this show a success."

As they walked away, Peter felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Maybe there was hope for a future where he could learn to forgive and move forward, even after centuries of life.

#nothin’ but static ( ooc ) #chatgtp #hetalia fanfiction #washed ashore ( queue )

[unreal-entity]

#tom hiddleston #betrayal #betrayal broadway #zawe ashton #charlie cox #eddie arnold #harold pinter #harold pinter play #jamie lloyd #jamielloydco #jenny anderson #ig post #black and white #black & white #betrayal final performance #8 dec 2019 #8 december 2019 #8 dec 2020 #8 december 2020 #dec 2019 #december 2019 #dec 2020 #december 2020 #one year without betrayal #2019 tom #Instagram

[tomhiddleslove]

heyalyson_ on IG:

" Tom made a very nice 5 min speech thanking everyone but this part had everyone crying... "

[ Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, Charlie Cox and Eddie Arnold on stage during curtain call, after the final performance of Betrayal on Broadway, at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theater on December 08, 2019 in New York City. ]

#tom hiddleston #hiddles #Zawe Ashton #Charlie Cox #Betrayal Broadway #bernard b jacobs theater #Eddie Arnold #twhiddleston #curtain call #Theatre tom #tom hiddleston stage performance #tom as robert #zawe as emma #charlie as jerry #final performance #December 08 #hiddles 2019 #new york city

[sazc94]

The Three Times James "Bucky" Barnes Broke your heart.

This was inspired by @msmarvelwrites 2k Writing Challenge because I'm a sucker for Taylor Swift especially sad Taylor Vibes. I chose the all too well lyrics.

Apparently, I can't do anything small so it's in two parts. Pairs Bucky x Reader and Pietro x Reader. (Not at the same time)

Part 1 Here

No smut but mentions of sex so 18+ Themes: highschool, cheating, college/uni. Friendship

Words 3368 it's Suburban AU.

2015 You finished up Uni staring in the school's production of Rock of Ages, Playing Sherry opposite Loki’s drew. Loki also moved to New York staying with his half brother Thor Oddinson. You stayed in touch with Loki and Pietro. The thing that took you by surprise however was six months after moving to Detroit, whilst working for Bruce Banner's start-up you received a DM on Instagram from Bucky. He heard from Sam and Jane that you were now living in Detroit and he was moving to the area after being scouted by the Detroit Lions. Hey Y/N, I hope you’re good. I know this is random and please feel free to tell me where to go, but I was wondering if you wanted to get a drink sometime? It would be great to see you again and catch up. Let me know. So you replied feeling like maybe after all this time it might be good to finally hear Bucky’s apology. Pietro and you had stayed in touch but you knew he was dating someone else. Her name was Sue Storm, she seemed like a nice girl, very smart and could easily give Pietro a run for his money. After hearing Bucky’s apology, you two started to become friends again, he invited you along to his games always offering to secure you two tickets if you wanted to bring someone. He was a machine on the football field, earning the strange nickname The Winter Soldier.

2016

Everything changed in the summer of 2016 though when Bucky’s mother passed away suddenly in June. She had practically helped raise you, so you attended the funeral with Bucky. You stayed with him in the guest room in his childhood house, helping him sort through belongings and paperwork. Bucky’s dad had died when you were 8 and Bucky like you was an only child. You took in food from neighbours wanting to pay their respects. You held his hand squeezing it in comfort during the funeral, assuring him you were there for him. Two days after the funeral you and Bucky had finished packing up the final boxes, you were upstairs, and he was downstairs being awfully quiet. You went looking for him only to find him sat on the living room floor. He was crying holding a picture of you and him one Halloween when you were 9, Bucky had gone as Superman and you as Supergirl. Your mums stood behind you, both of them chuckling whilst you and bucky tried to out pose one another. Your heart swelled. Your Grandad had died in November and god how your heart had ached, but to lose your mum, you couldn’t even begin to imagine. “Hey, hey. It's alright I’m here Buck”, you said cradling his head to your chest whilst he sobbed. You stayed like that for an unidentifiable amount of time before Bucky’s crying eased. He looked up at you blinking away the stray tears, the familiar blue in his eyes pulling you in. Your not sure who kissed who first but that was how you and Bucky ended up sleeping together.

You and Bucky officially got back together in July. Your Grandma passed away in September, the start of football season. Bucky was unable to attend the funeral, he tried god he tried. Pietro made it though. He and Sue had broken up not that he told you. By the time November rolled around things were good between you and Bucky. Wanda’s fashion label Scarlett Witch was taking off and she invited you and Bucky out to join the rest of the old gang at the official launch in December of 2016. You accepted and for the pair of you assuring Bucky, there would be no awkwardness. Pietro was casually dating and was bringing a date called Crystal.

You arrived at the party in NYC completely blown away. Wanda had asked you to wear a piece from the evening wear collection, a Black strapless dress, the top if form-fitting made from chiffon fabric, the skirt cut out the front made of black tulle sparkled with the touches of glitter. It felt like you were wearing the Milky Way. After stopping to pose for photos for the press you made your way inside. The party was being held inside a beautiful gothic building. “Y/n! You look absolutely amazing, thank you so much for wearing this and of course for coming” Wanda practically pounced on you the minute she spotted you. “Bunny! I agree absolutely amazing. Bucky, you don’t look too bad yourself” Pietro said kissing you on the cheek. Pietro was wearing a deep blue suit, it made his hair and ice-blue eyes pop. Bucky had opted for the simple black tux to match you and your dress. He almost looked good enough to eat. After grabbing a glass of champagne, Wanda and Pietro took you to the rest of the gang who had made it. Jane was here with a date, Thor Oddinson you recognised him from the few times he had been to see you and Loki in shows. Carol was here too. Peter Parker was working the event as a photographer he had brought a date a lovely young lady called Mary Jane Watson. After about 45 minutes of schmoozing and catching up, you went to the ladies room. When you exited you were a little taken aback by the sight that confronted you, a redhead was hanging of Bucky’s arm chuckling away with Thor and Jane. You could only see the back of her from where you were standing. You decided to walk over and introduce yourself. However, when you got closer to the group the woman started to look vaguely familiar.

“Hey babe,” Bucky said as you approached quickly removing his arm from the redhead. Babe. That was weird he never called you babe. His blue eyes looked like they were hiding something. “Lady Y/N. This is Lady Natasha” Thor said introducing you. The redhead turned to shake your hand smiling at you with a knowing look. “Lovely to finally meet the infamous Y/N,” she said. “I told Bucky how disappointed I was not to meet you when I was in the City in September. I’m so sorry to hear about the passing of your grandmother. Bucky kept me company whilst I was around on some Business” her voice sounded harmless, sweet and pleasant. Genuine. Her eyes and knowing smirk told a different story. Bucky looked at you, the familiar betrayal in his eyes, pleading with you. “I was just telling Bucky, I’ve been offered this amazing opportunity in Detroit so Ill be moving there in February, isn’t that wonderful?” she asked. You smiled taking a swig of your champagne. Jane looked at you, then Bucky. You shook your head.

That was the second time Bucky Barnes broke your heart. He assured you that they hadn’t slept together, however had admitted that he had kept her visit from you and that she had kissed him. “Did you kiss her back?” you asked pacing around your hotel room. “Doll, please what does it matter,” he asked reaching out for you. His calloused hands once again burning your skin with his betrayal. The fact he had chosen not to answer was all the confirmation you needed. You had left him in the hotel room. Loki had been unable to make the event due to being in a small play off-Broadway, but you had texted him asking if he wanted to get a drink. You had told him everything and he had walked you back to your hotel room. You were drunk and distressed. Bucky had opened the door his blue eyes flashing with jealousy when the handsome black-haired gentleman had his arms around you. “Easy James, if anything was going to have happened between us, it would have happened in freshman year of college,” Loki said helping you into your room. After you and Bucky returned to Detroit you guys took a break for a few months.

2017

Natasha’s job conveniently happened to be working as a fitness instructor at the Detroit Lions. After 4 months you and Bucky got back together in March of 2017. Things were going great, Natasha seemed to have released whatever hold she had on Bucky. Bucky was performing well with the Lions, his new teammate, Steve Rogers nicknamed Captain America seemed to have caught the eye of many ladies including Natasha. He however didn’t seem that interested in her and had his sights set on a girl from his home in Brooklyn her name was Peggy. Steve and you hit off due to your mutual disinterest in Miss Romanoff, he had come up with a nickname for her, he called her Black Widow because she seemed to devour the men in her life. Banners start-up tech company had taken off with thanks to your ad campaigns. You were also performing in the local summer show of Mamma Mia playing Sophie. In the summer of 17, Peggy Carter came to visit Steve, turned out she was from Britain originally. You liked Peggy and her no-nonsense approach. During July, the four of you went on lots of double dates like you were high schoolers again. For Steve’s birthday which happened to be the fourth of July, the four of you attended an event being put on by the Detroit lions. You had a great evening mixing with various teammates and their families. You even warmed to Natasha a bit that afternoon.

As the evening rolled around a giant cake was brought out to celebrate Steve’s birthday. Followed by a firework show. Everyone made their way to various blankets and cushions set out at the opposite end of the stadium. Somewhere along the way you and Bucky got separated. You didn’t worry too much, to begin with as you’d both drifted off to interact with various people throughout the event, however by the time the fireworks started Bucky was nowhere to be seen. You started to think the worst until you spotted Natasha’s red hair on the other side of the stadium flirting with a gaggle of players from various other teams who were invited. Confident Bucky would return shortly you turned your attention to the sky watching with a goofy grin, things were finally settled between you and Bucky. As the fireworks went on you decided to snap a few shots on your phone loving the way the sky lit up with bright colours. The Detroit Lions didn’t do things in small doses, so the firework display ended up going on for about an hour and a half. After about 45 minutes Bucky returned from wherever he had been slipping down behind you pulling your back flush to his chest. He stroked small circles on your arms. His rough calloused skin making you shiver from the contact.

In September you were approached by Tony Stark’s PA Pepper Potts, they had seen your campaigns for Bruce Banner and Tony was interested in headhunting you. Your contract with Bruce was up in October. You initially shot the idea down. Why would you want to leave Michigan? Your family home was a short 20-minute drive away, Bucky was doing well with the Lions. Peggy Carter was moving here after Steve had proposed at the end of Summer. It seemed ludicrous. After initially shooting down the offer. Pepper contacted you, doubling their initial offer. The offer was tempting, so you told Miss Potts you would think it over the weekend. There was no harm in bringing it up with Bucky, maybe a move would do you both good, Natasha seemed to have gotten under Bucky’s skin again. You left the office early that day. You didn’t bother to text Bucky figuring you could surprise him when he got home from training with a home-cooked meal. You stopped off to get some supplies to make Lasagne before heading over to his apartment figuring you could just let yourself in. You had called Wanda on the drive over through your cars Bluetooth. She and Vision were engaged, and she wanted you to be one of her bridesmaids. Partway through the call, Pietro had walked into Wanda’s office so you had told them both about the job offer. When you got to Bucky’s you immediately recognised the Black Widows black Mercedes. “huh, that’s weird, I wonder what she’s doing here,” you said out loud “who’s where?” asked Wanda. “oh um nothing, look I got to go I just got to Buck’s and I’m cooking dinner, going to talk to him about Tony’s offer,” you said before hanging up. You were so blind-sighted by Natasha’s car you didn’t clock Bucky’s Motorcycle parked in the corner of the small parking lot. You grabbed your bags walking up to Bucky’s figuring that you could invite Natasha in if need be whilst you waited for Buck to come home.

If you had noticed Bucky’s bike, then just maybe you would have been more prepared for the following events you unlocked Bucky’s apartment and you found clothes strewn everywhere, his jeans. A white Blouse. His boxer trunks. A Black lacy bra, that definitely didn’t belong to you. At first, you were so shocked by what you saw that you didn’t hear the moans coming from the bedroom. It was like you were possessed you carried your bag of groceries as you walked in a daze to the bedroom, you opened the door and found Bucky once again cheating on you. He and Natasha were in the throws of fucking each other, you found Natasha with her back to you, wrapped around Bucky’s waist. Bucky sat upright facing you however his eyes closed whilst he drank in the pleasure. You felt your heartbreak as you dropped your bag of groceries. The bag made a thud as it hit the ground, alerting Bucky to your presence. His eyes flew open connecting with yours. Natasha however didn’t stop riding your boyfriend’s cock. Bucky tried to push her off him, but you were already storming out the door. You grabbed your bag and left Bucky’s spare key in the door. Bucky grabbed a pair of joggers and slippers before chasing after you. Bucky’s apartment was on the second floor. All the apartments on the second floor opened outside to a walkway.

“Really James?!?” you turned round to face him before he could even say your name. “Was once not enough? Did you not hurt me enough the first time?” You asked. You could feel the anger threatening to burst in the way of tears. Bucky went to speak, his blue eyes once again filled with guilt. “How long?!” you asked quietly. Bucky moved towards you tugging on your wrist. “Come on Y/N, come back inside it’s starting to rain, we can discuss this inside,” he said, his eyes pleading with you. At that moment Natasha appeared in Bucky’s open doorway. She looked pleased with herself, wearing Buck’s shirt. The site made you want to vomit. “How. Long?!” you asked again through gritted teeth. Bucky faltered. “Since July. Since the 4th of July event,” he admitted rubbing his hand over his face. At that moment you felt completely and utterly broken. “I’m done, James. Do you hear me? I am done. We are through. You two.” You pointed to Natasha. “You two are welcome to one another”. That was the third time Bucky broke your heart.

You took the job working for Stark Industries. Your contract had ended with Bruce but your lease on your apartment was up until January so you stayed working for him until December of 2017 You said your goodbyes to Steve and Peggy in January and moved across the country to your new life in the big apple.

December 2018

The unknown number flashed up on your phone for the third time that day. You sighed before answering it. “Hello, Y/N Speaking how can I help?” you asked fiddling with your jumper. “Hey Doll, it's me. Don’t hang up.” Your breath caught in your throat. James Buchanan Barnes. You hadn’t spoken to him in over a year. He hadn’t even attempted to reach out to you after you split up mailing your things back to you, well all but a scarf. In January shortly before you’d moved to NYC you’d seen a magazine article saying the Winter Soldier was dating Natasha Romanoff. It confirmed what you already knew deep down, which was that you might be okay but you were not fine at all.

You’d worked so hard to forget about him long enough to forget why you needed to. He had better have a damn good reason for calling you. “You have 5 minutes,” You said getting up from the sofa you were sat on. “look, I know I fucked up with you. In more than one way on more than one occasion. I think it was the pressure to be the perfect couple, you know lifelong friends to more. And well I guess I just freaked out, and then I fell for her, but she didn’t want me, and when you gave us another shot, I thought I could convince myself to love you the way I did her, the way you had loved me. But truth be told, it was always Natasha after that summer. I know you deserve better, and I truly am sorry for hurting your doll. But I wanted you to hear it from me before you read about it in the news. She’s pregnant and also, we’re getting married.” Bucky said. You stood in the middle of the apartment stunned. “So, you call me up again, just to break me like a promise. So casually cruel in the name of being honest?” you whispered. Squeezing back the tears. “Well fuck you, James.” With that, you hung up. Of course, Bucky tried to ring right back, you declined the call, falling to your knees in pain. You had never asked for any of this, you had been quite happy being Bucky’s best girl as his friend. He was the one who kissed you at that prom.

You weren’t still in love with Bucky, you had moved on, forgetting about him and the pain he caused you. He hadn’t needed to call you, he could have given you a heads up through one of your mutual friends, but no. he had to go and stick the knife in. After lying there like a crumpled-up piece of paper and letting the tears fall. You picked yourself up. You washed your face and made yourself a mug of hot chocolate grabbing a Christmas cookie from the tin before making your way over to the bay window. You sat down taking in the view. The traffic had eased off a bit as things wound down for the evening. The snow had been falling pretty much all day. After about 15 minutes of sitting peacefully the key in the lock turned. You didn’t move you were incredibly content where you were, even if you could use a refill in the hot chocolate department.

“Hey handsome how was your day?” you asked not taking your eyes away from the street below. A group of kids were throwing snowballs at one another. You smiled to yourself enjoying their innocence. “It was good, busy” he replied taking off his coat and walking over to join you at the window seat. Wrapping his arms around you and pulling you close. “How about you Bunny? I saw a news alert. I’m guessing you know about the engagement?” he asked. You hummed a response. Before shuffling yourself around to face him. His floppy silver-blonde hair covering those beautiful ice blue eyes, they looked at you with such love and endearment, they also spoke a silent promise that he would never hurt you the way that Bucky had. You kissed him gently on the lips before standing up. “Come on Quicksilver let's shower before the Stark Christmas Gala,” you said pulling your boyfriend along behind you shooting him a knowing grin. His nickname may be Quicksilver for athletic reasons but there were some things he liked to take his time with.

A/N If you stuck with me through all this, I am truly sorry. I'm gonna go cry

Tagging the bestie @lannycleave

#bucky x reader #pietro x reader #avengers au #marvel #marvel au #avengers fanfiction #𝐦𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐬𝟐𝐤 #bucky barnes fluff #pietro #pietro fluff #bucky barnes #pietro fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfiction

[princesssarisa]

Cinderella September-through-November: "Rodgers + Hammerstein's Cinderella" (2013 stage musical)

It's hard to believe that despite its beloved status and despite having been given countless stage productions over the years, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella wasn't performed on Broadway until fifty-six years after its original TV debut. But in 2013 the musical finally received a lavish Broadway production, starring the Cinderella of Laura Osnes (who rose to Broadway fame as Sandy in the 2007 revival of Grease after winning the role in the reality TV contest You're the One That I Want!) and Santino Fontana as her Prince (just months before he would voice a very different fairy tale prince, the villainous Hans in Disney's Frozen). For this occasion, yet again it received a new script, this time by Douglas Carter Beane, who also wrote additional lyrics to flesh out the show in a brand-new way.

Beane's book departs further from Hammerstein's original than any of the previous versions. In a scenario similar to 2004's Ella Enchanted, the King and Queen are written out, making Prince Topher (as Prince Christopher is now nicknamed) an orphan raised in a boarding school while the pompous, selfish Lord Protector Sebastian rules as his regent. Sebastian builds up Topher's reputation as a classic Prince Charming and slayer of dragons and giants, carefully hiding that the prince is really just an ordinary, awkward yet warmhearted boy, and abuses his power by seizing land from the poor without Topher's knowledge. Cinderella's real name is now Ella, and another new character is a friend of hers: a slightly goofy yet ardent young revolutionary named Jean-Michel who inspires her with his ideals. The stepmother, now known as Madame, is the traditional nasty social climber, and one stepsister, Charlotte, is the usual obnoxious buffoon, but the other sister, Gabrielle, is a sympathetic character like Ever After's Jaqueline, secretly friendly to Ella and in love with Jean-Michel. (This change forces "Stepsisters' Lament" to be altered to the singular "Stepsister's Lament," a solo for Charlotte with a backup chorus of other jealous ladies.) Meanwhile, the Fairy Godmother first appears as a quirky old beggar woman known as Crazy Marie, similar to The Glass Slipper's Mrs. Toquet, whom Ella treats as a friend and defends from others' bullying. When she later reveals her true, glamorous self, she explains that she's everyone's Fairy Godmother, but only Ella has ever shown her kindness.

As in the 1965 TV version, Ella and Prince Topher first meet when he stops at her house for water. He surprises her with his kind, humble demeanor, and her wish to go to the ball gains a motive of political idealism, to talk to him about the lives of the poor and convince him to make changes. Of course she succeeds. Another twist in this version is that as in Perrault's original tale, there are two evenings at the palace: the ball in Act I, and then a banquet in Act II. Gabrielle and Jean-Michel try to sneak Ella to the banquet, but when Madame catches them she rips Ella's gown to pieces – and throws Gabrielle out of the house for her betrayal. Fortunately, the Fairy Godmother comes to her rescue again, and that night Ella carries her ideals further, leading Topher to befriend the peasantry and inspiring him to hold an election that finally ousts Sebastian from power and makes Jean-Michel the new Prime Minister. And when midnight chimes, she purposefully leaves her slipper to help Topher find her.

As in every new iteration of this musical, the score is expanded beyond the 1957 original. Once again, the songs "Loneliness of Evening" and "There's Music in You" are featured: Prince Topher now sings the former after three days of vainly searching for Ella following the ball, while the latter is now sung first by the Fairy Godmother to comfort a desolate Ella, and later reprised by the whole cast in the final wedding scene. The melody of "Loneliness of Evening" is also used in a new Prologue, repurposing more cut lyrics from South Pacific, and many of the classic 1957 songs are given new reprises. Three more songs cut from other Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are also introduced. "Me, Who Am I?," written for Me and Juliet, becomes Prince Topher's introductory solo; "Now is the Time," a battle anthem written for South Pacific, becomes Jean-Michel's revolutionary theme; and a melody cut from The King and I becomes "He Was Tall," a brief post-ball solo for the lovesick Ella.

Are all these changes worthwhile? To be honest, I'm not sure. The entire show feels less like the classic Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella than like an all-new adaptation of the tale that happens to use the familiar songs. I agree with several critics that it doesn't always seem to know what it wants to be: an innocent, child-friendly fairy tale, with romantic lyrics, sparkly magical dresses and cute animal puppets (a fox and a raccoon who become the coachman and footman), or a more grown-up, satirical, politically "relevant" retelling influenced by Ella Enchanted and Ever After. I'm sure it's a matter of taste whether these contrasting elements blend well together or not. Nonetheless, there's still plenty to enjoy in this edition of the show. Rodgers' re-orchestrated music has never sounded better (although I object to the slowed tempo of "Ten Minutes Ago"), and the 2013 Broadway production was visually stunning, particularly William Ivey Long's costumes with their stylized fairy tale blend of Renaissance, 18th century and 19th century fashions and with truly fantastical transformations of Ella's rags to ballgowns.

My personal favorite iterations of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella will probably always be the 1965 and 1997 TV productions. But this reimagining is most definitely interesting, creative and engaging. While I wouldn't want it to replace the musical's earlier versions, I'm glad it exists.

@ariel-seagull-wings, @superkingofpriderock

#cinderella #fairy tale #cinderella september through november #rodgers and hammerstein #musical #broadway #2013 #theatre #stage adaptation

[billiejs]

A Christmas Carol (or a Phantom story of Christmas

Julie and the Phantom Drabble, 1k, Julie/Luke, general fluffiness involved

“You’re not serious about this.” Luke stares Julie in the eyes, disbelief heavy in every word. 

Julie holds out three scripts and an ancient candleholder with a hopeful smile. Luke already knows he’s going to crumble. 

“Please?” She says, making a show of batting her eyelashes. “I know it’s a little…” 

“Insensitive?” Luke arches an eyebrow. 

“Viciously ironic?” Reggie adds.

“Downright offensive?” Alex supplies, looking at the scripts in Julie’s hands as if they’d personally insulted his drumming skills. 

“Guys, come on!” Julie stomps her feet, losing her pleading expression in favor of the trademark scowl she exhibits whenever she thinks they’re being unnecessarily difficult. Luke is half intrigued, half terrified by that scowl. “It’s for Carlos! You love Carlos, right?” 

She looks straight at Reggie, whose determination predictably begins to falter within the second. 

Low blow, Julie. Low blow. 

“Of course we do!” Reggie’s voice is an octave too high. “He’s like he’s our little brother too, you know that…” 

“And you know how excited he was about playing the lead in the Christmas play…”  

“Yeah Jules,” Luke sighs, “We helped him rehearse, remember?” 

Alex smacks him in the chest with one of the scripts and ouch, being human again hurts. Then again, Luke has just dug their own grave. 

“Exactly!” Julie’s eyes ignite with conviction and Luke has just given her the silver lining she was looking for. “You already know the lines! And he will be thrilled to know that you are the ones who will fill in for the kids who got chickenpox…”

Reggie is already flipping through the script, reading through the highlighted lines with a focused look. Alex looks ready to commit murder. Luke is just busy imagining how happy he would make Julie if he supported her little brother in his school play.

“You realize the irony of asking us, three people who have come back from the realm of the phantoms no more than six months ago, to fill in for the roles of the three ghosts in A Christmas Carol?” Alex says. He gestures heavily at the three of them as he speaks, and Luke has to bite back a smile. 

“There’s a song, too.” Julie, in turn, is doing nothing to hide her own amusement. “The kids wrote it. It’s called ‘Trust the ghosts (cause they know best)’.”

“Okay I’m doing it!” Reggie raises both his hands in surrender, “These kids are legit. Which one am I? The Ghost of the Christmas Present? Sweet!”

“Trust the ghosts cause they know best, put aside your interests, it’s Christmas Day, that’s what they say: put all greediness away.” Luke sing-songs along with what he supposes is a rip off of a classic Christmas song. “This puts all of Sunset Curve’s and Julie and the Phantoms’ lyrics to shame.”

Julie’s grin is infectious as she punches him lightly on the shoulder.

“Come on. I think Carlos helped with that.”

“Of course, the Molina talent shines right through.” 

This time Luke catches Julie’s fist in his hand and tugs her forward. She’s blushing heavily, but doesn’t step back. 

“So, does this mean you’ll do it, Ghost of the Christmas Past?” She breaths on his lips, and Luke gives his answer in the form of a kiss. Julie cups his cheek in her tiny pianist hand and he knows that there is no end of the Earth he wouldn’t walk to, if it means making her happy. 

“I cannot believe this!” 

Alex indignant screech kind of ruins the moment, but it’s nothing they haven’t dealt with before. Julie briefly touches her forehead on Luke’s with a laugh, before looking back to Alex. 

“I can tell Willie to come and give you a kiss too,” she says. “I pitched him this idea yesterday and he loved it, he told me to let him know if I needed backup to convince you.”

Alex’s eyes bulge out, but for once he’s speechless. 

“Betrayal,” he finally hisses. “This Ghost of the Christmas Yet to Come will have his own musical number with a song about the importance of having real, loyal friends.” 

“That’s kinda what the Ghost of the Christmas Yet to Come is all about, actually.” Reggie intervenes, nose buried in his script. “Making sure you have people who will actually cry at your funeral instead of exploiting the access to your room during the reception to steal your collection of Star Wars VHS.”

Julie, Luke and Alex exchange a silent look that spells INTERVENTION in blazing red letters, but they put it aside for the time being. Luke wraps his arms around Julie and flips the script open, putting his chin on her shoulder to read through it. 

“Ebenezer Scrooge! I am the ghost of the Christmas Past and I have visited you tonight to show you the wrong of your ways…” he proclaims in a cavernous voice, making Julie giggle. “What? You don’t like my ghost voice?” 

He can only see the profile of Julie’s face but he knows she’s giving him side eyes.

“I have met you as a ghost, and I know what your ghost voice sounds like,” she says matter-of-factly. “Spoiler: it’s not this pale imitation of Batman you’re trying to do.”

“Hey, I was bringing perspective to the character!” Luke laughs. “You’re never happy with me.” 

Julie turns in his arms and the script falls from his hands as he instinctively places them on her hips.

Julie is smiling at him like he’s just hung the moon in the sky for her, Reggie and Alex are discussing how to harmonize a song written by fifth-graders in the background and Rey Molina is going to film their performance at Carlos’s school like he’s shooting the live at Broadway Hamilton opening night.

“I am always happy with you, Luke.” Julie says, “So happy that most days it doesn’t even feel real.” 

And she touches his shoulders and his arms a little nervously, almost hesitant, as if he could slip away from her grasp at any moment. Luke holds her tightly. 

Life is good.

_____________________________________ Thanks for reading! Feel free to drop a prompt in my askbox if you’d like more stuff like this <3 

#julie and the phantoms #jatp #jatp fic #juke #juke fic #jukebox #jatp fanfic #jatp minific #my fics

[45paperplates]

More about Olivia Rodrigo: On her Lyrics

Starting some time in 2018 or maybe a little earlier, Olivia Rodrigo began to play original songs, or more often pieces of songs, one verse and a chorus, apparently unfinished, for her followers on Instagram Live. She was about fifteen at the time, although one of the more complete songs (“Naive Girl”) can be confirmed to date back to 2014 or 2015, when she was twelve years old. I began to listen to these songs, all but one of which are available to hear conveniently compiled into a single twenty-five minute Youtube video, when my appetite for her music was only beginning to grow to its present size, after I had listened to the album on repeat for a good three or four days straight. They are the kind of thing only obsessive fans can really gush over, something akin to Bob Dylan’s early Minnesota Hotel Tape from 1961: badly recorded and casually created by a young artist who never intended them to be anything more than they are, a fun and easy way to show off their talent at a time when a wellspring of inspiration was already pouring forth with no better available outlet.  

These little pieces, however, establish finally for sure what a major label pop debut with other ambitions, no matter how special it may be, can only hint at, which is that something within her is driving a preternatural attention for detail, currently unmatched in it’s free naturalism, imaginative power, and consistency, only possibly consistent as a result of its being deeply possessed and long established, despite her youth. I have already touched on what I think that something may be in my first post about her. But whatever it is, it is immediately apparent in her performances here, an instinct that had already cemented deeply considered vocalization as her default, as a simple creative necessity, although a few of the earliest recordings have added even another layer of Broadway-like drama that has since been stripped away, I am guessing as a result of the nascent growth of some level of creative confidence.

Songwriting, then, is to some degree shown to be a third result of that engrained ability, after said holistic sincerity and its resultant vocal intuition, and yet a good chunk of the songs are lyrically composed as well with a just as holistically sincere and intuitive affect, presenting very well-understood conundrums, pared down to koan-like solids one would think by years of rumination. A few are, I would dare to say, more tightly constructed and figuratively multivalent than the songs on her album, many of which share their succinctness but not the violently prismatic irony that seems to be able to overpower the sincere creative drive that gave it life in its brightest inspired flashes. “drivers license” in fact excels by flattening that figurative prism into a simpler and more benign shape, allowing the casual listener to both easily understand and retain some wisp of hope in the end, even if it is only implied.

I would not be so stupid as to claim that Olivia intended these best-written of her unreleased bedroom productions to be metaphysical poems somehow toeing the line between classical balance and baroque terror in their meditation on the reciprocal quality of human sin. That would be silly, not because I don’t think a teenager is capable of such a thing (teenagers have, in fact, always been capable of making high art) but because these few songs focus on themes common to all of her songs: teenage insecurity, uncontrollable jealousy, and betrayal both social and self-inflicted. The depth of her imagery comes instead, I think, from an intuitive understanding of where the cultural meat of an issue lies, and when she writes a song her drive craves and so aims for power and gets rid of whatever there is that lacks it. Perhaps working with a co-writer somewhat slows that drive.  

“Pretender” is a song about being “fake” and how it works both outwardly and internally. It’s personification, the “pretender” of the title, is accused, envied, pitied, and ultimately, understood. It moves through four key lines.

Pointing her finger at this automaton, about whom she alone knows the truth, Olivia first wishes vindictively,

If only they knew what I knew.

But then, now envious of the figure, she prays,

I wish I knew what you knew.

Maybe as a result of these two contradictory desires, she is forced to admit with regret that the pretender can only be a fantastic image rather than a full person, a strawman created by her mind to both embody her sublimated desire and reflexively maintain her own superiority when it goes unfulfilled:

I created you to be plastic and deadly.

Finally, in a relentlessly logical conclusion, she must admit, as the construction falls to pieces, that this is obviously all about herself:

I created you to hide my own envy, ... Maybe I’m a pretender like you.

With her catalog in mind, the canonical interpretation is pretty obvious. The pretender is someone who is perfect and happy and Olivia is jealous of that. By the guilt left in the wake of her accusation, she realizes, indeed it should have been quite apparent from the start, that perhaps the person who seems to be happy is actually not happy. She perceives by juxtaposition that maybe others see her, Olivia, the same way, and in a sinking conclusion, perfect happiness, the other’s and hers as well, is shown to be only truly possible in image and never in the fullness of experience. It is a song about the difficult process of empathy and its bitter personal rewards. This interpretation prevails in Youtube comments, specifically in reference to her other songs about the jealousy encouraged by social media. “I’m happy for them, but then again, I’m not.” Maybe Olivia’s own fun and carefree public-facing presence is just as false?

The genius behind this songwriting, however, is that this other person does not need to exist for the song’s structure to function. This is by design, no doubt; she could very well be speaking only to herself the entire time. If Olivia is pretending too, as the final line suggests, then why could she not have been the pretender all along? Indeed, how else could Olivia be the only one who knows “the truth” about this figure in the first place? A personal struggle with identity, that is the meat of it all.

Her first wish for the pretender’s exposure is based in personal remorse, for lying to the world about who she really is. That her own social facade might be justly but violently forced open to expose the truth would be a painful but cathartic release. She makes her second wish as she recoils in the face of such an embarrassing prospect, hoping against reason that maybe it’s somehow all avoidable, that by abandoning any loyalty to the truth and to herself altogether she might in fact achieve the paradise that the pretender affects, soulless but free of the pain of having a soul too. Third is the realization that this is evil, that her desire is sinful, both grotesque and inhuman (“plastic”), and cruel (“deadly”). Fourth and last she can no longer pretend that her original finger-pointing isn't itself the result of this same worldly desire, as narcissistic an attempt at personal redemption as the outward facade is itself. Insecurity and jealousy, no matter how embarrassing or ugly, no more compose an understanding of identity than any more knowingly-constructed and performative self-image, and are just as self-serving in their own twisted way.

So in this song she is deconstructing herself, from outward composure to cryptic narcissism, shattering layer after layer in an alarmingly accelerating regression. Unfortunately, all that is left in the end is what she has done after what she is—performatively, emotionally, intuitively—has fallen away, specifically the intended result of the accusation she threw at the pretender to begin it all: once again, guilt. What else but guilt is exposed now to be the substance left of the human individual? For Olivia, deep down at least, guilt is always the together creator and eraser of human pleasure, the identity that is desire, and the only thing that fears the emptiness that would be left without it.

That a teenager could write such a penetratingly self-critical work is of course impressive, but the fact that guilt, desire, pleasure, happiness, identity, and fear are shown ultimately to be one and the same generative source is far more exciting. Here she exposes the potential versatility of her created and creative ability, that in maturity this raw power without singular definition could be manipulated into many other things completely new, things only Olivia and not I can imagine now.

#Olivia Rodrigo #sour #drivers license #pretender #hsmtmts #bootlegs #bob dylan #metaphysics #john donne #existentialism #pop music #catholic guilt #taylor swift #lorde #billie eilish

[rachelbethhines]

TTS Songs Ranked Worst to Best

Someone asked me to rank my fav and least fav TTS songs a while back, but I’ve since then relistened to the soundtrack and there’s a whole bunch of songs that just forgot about, so here’s a more accurate ranking now that the songs are more fresh in my mind

32 .  Life After Happily Ever After (Reprise)

This song is infuriating, because the finale is infuriating. Listening to this song just makes me angry all over again because it reminds me just how unsatisfying the ending to TTS was. I wanted to turn it off at several points. I barely can get through it despite it being so short. It doesn’t help that the soundtrack leaves all the dialogue in there and fails to actually end the song. It just cuts off before the final note.

31. Hook Foot’s Ballad

Does this even count as a song? Why is it here on the soundtrack but not the Hurt Incantation? Did Menken really waste his talent writing a joke and did the showrunners really waste money and limited resources on this?

30. Friendship Song

Bland, boring, and pointless. It was clearly written as a marketing stunt for the radio disney charts and not as anything to do with the plot of the series. They just throw it up on screen to fill out the running time and don't even let the whole song play through. It’s pitiful.

29. Waiting in the Wings (Reprise)

I didn’t think much of the original song one way or the other, but the reprise is soooo dumb. The plot twist it introduces winds up ruining the whole show and sabotaging both Cassandra’s and Rapunzel’s characters. It’s not even a nice sounding song on it’s own. The kid’s voice is irritating (who I’m sure is doing her best, but really little kids shouldn’t be made to sing professionally as a general rule) and the melody just as bland as the first time it was played. The only reason to like this song is if you’r a mega fan of Cassandra’s or her VA, which I am not. (Note: this is not a criticism of Eden Espinosa, I just don’t happen to follow any of the VAs in this show)      

28. Through It All

I like the instrumentals in this song, and that’s about it. Everything about this song is wrong. It doesn’t fit the story, it’s a misuse of the cast and songwriters, it’s a waste of valuable screen time, the melody is dull, and the dang soundtrack had to throw in that lame dialogue about ‘greatest threat ever’ at the beginning. If you want a pump up song in your story then you got to earn it. You can’t just tell us things are bad, you got to show it. A joyful horseback ride and everyone sitting in a bar safe and sound isn’t threatening or depressing enough to warrant a cheering up session. Plus the song itself doesn’t add anything to the overall story.

27.  The Girl Who Has Everything

Sometimes I think the writers were willing trying to sabotage themselves. It’s as if they were determined to make the only two main female characters in the show unlikeable bitches in season three.   Don’t believe me? The creator Chris has said this song only exists to highlight how much easier Rapunzel has things than Cass and went onto say that Rapunzel was in the wrong during their conflict because ‘she held Cassandra back’. (Oh yeah she totally ‘held back’ the grown woman who left on her own accord, returned on her own accord, and then assaulted and tried to murder a bunch of people for no reason of her own accord.) But this song does succeed in furthering season’s three narrative that Rapunzel is a spoiled selfish brat. Shame the story fails to address this setup and never has Rapunzel learn to be a better person. Rather the narrative bends over backward to tell us how special Rapunzel is without any sense of self awareness and this song falls into that same trap; making it both irritating and pointless.

26. Listen Up

Yeah, I talked about this on my salt marathon, but I just don't like this song very much. The melody is fine but the lyrics are a real miss in my mind. It doesn’t help matters that the song is indeed pointless in the grand scheme of things.

25.  Livin’ the Dream

This is much on the same level as Listen Up as it features the same problems. It doesn’t add to the narrative and the lyrics kind of let it down. I placed it higher just because I like the melody a little more.

24.  More of Me

This song is a lot like the Friendship Song in that it was created to be an end credit song for the pop charts and you’d be forgiven in forgetting it even exists. However, it at least got to actually play all the way through. I think this song was a real missed opportunity. I honestly believe that it should have been the opening theme song of the show instead of Wind in My Hair. It’s more built to serve such a purpose and it’s a waste of resources not to actually use it. Alternatively, I would have accepted it being reworked into the actual series as a character song. Especially since we’re missing a song in season three due to budget cuts.  

23. Wind In My Hair

Speaking of theme songs, I think I would like Wind In My Hair a lot better if i didn’t have to listen to it every episode. On its own it actually has a lot of things going for it; a nice melody, interesting instrumentals, good singing, ect. Unfortunately it’s just over exposed, and none of those elements lend themselves naturally to an intro song for a tv show. In fact the theme song feels really out of place and is edited oddly to fit the shorter intro. 

22. Wind In My Hair (Reprise)  

Honestly the theme song is mostly comprised of this reprise, but it has the opening instrumentals from the OG song frankensteined onto it. This means that the version that plays before every episode is on fullblast all the time to keep the energy up, but that’s not how the song is suppose to go.  The actual reprise that plays in the pilot builds to a crescendo, starting soft and melancolony and getting louder and more hopeful and determined. It sounds a lot better in full because of that.  It’s still too overexposed though. Both these songs would probably be higher on the list of not for the theme song version. 

21. With You by My Side

This song is fine. It’s nothing special, but it’s not bad either. What knocks it down the list is the fact that Lance isn’t in it, despite Lance being right there.  Like don't bother hiring a famous Broadway singer if you’re not going to have him sing!  But that speaks more to the poor writing of season two than anything else. This song also doesn’t really add anything to the narrative as, contrary to what the writers intended, it doesn’t actually enhance the emotional impact of Cassandra’s betrayal later in the episode. The song itself is just tacked on and doesn’t take the opportunity to lay down any foreshadowing for that plot point.  

20. Next Stop Anywhere

Another perfectly serviable song. It’s not bad but nothing outstanding. It gets the job done. It’s also really ho-hum and the soundtrack keeps all the unneeded dialogue, which is a pet peeve of mine. 

19. Waiting In the Wings

Despite it’s hype, I never thought much of Waiting in the Wings. It’s got nice instrumentals and Eden Espinosa gives it her all in the singing department. The problem is it’s too generic. It’s a bare bones basic ass ‘I want song’. Cassandra's movations are weak and unsupported by the narrative, the melody is boring, and it honestly doesn’t add anything to her story. I mean it should, it’s her character solo, but because she’s written so poorly the song just winds up undermining the character in the end.   All I’m saying is that, this is not the song from season two that I would have nominated for the Emmys. But it’s still Alan Menken, it’s still nicely performed, and given the rest of the competition for that year, it did deserve to win. 

18. If I Could Take That Moment Back 

This song is also pretty generic, but it’s less boring than I See the Light, (yeah, I said it, I See the Light is boring) so that’s a win in my book. Ergo this holds the title of the only New Dream duet that I enjoy. But there’s better stuff on this list. 

17. Next Stop Anywhere (Reprise)

Well no, I take that back. The reprise of Next Stop Anywhere is also technically a New Dream duet. It’s still not anything amazing, but it works for what it is. Plus, Adria’s opening dialogue in the soundtrack version doesn’t bother me quite as much as some of the other dialogues choices that were kept in.  

16. Stronger Than Ever Before 

I really enjoyed this song in the moment. It’s catchy and fun, and it finally has Lance doing something rather than ignoring his existence. However it is borderline unnecessary in terms of story placement, and I’m slightly mad at it now that I know that we could have gotten a Rapunzel and Varian duet but it was scrapped for this instead.   

15. Crossing the Line

Keeping with the theme of ‘songs I have conflicting emotions about’, we have Crossing the Line.  This song is confused. It starts and stops, the melody isn’t clear, the orchestration is playing tug of war with the singers for dominance, and it’s basically Alan Menken and the show’s creators ripping off Frozen. (I guess he’s kicking himself for leaving that particular project?)   But it’s interesting. I never heard anything quite like it. It’s memorable even if it doesn’t fully work. It’s got these interesting bits and pieces to it that just never quite comes together as a whole. Some of the lyrics are some of the best Glenn Slater has ever wrote and is far better than the story actually surrounding the song. Yet there’s other lines that are total cringe. Sometimes the song is bold and catchy and gets you all hyped up, and then other times its limp and staggering and feels so awkward to listen to.  Yet it’s not boring or generic and so I have to place it higher than the rest of the songs that’s come before. (Also, there’s some amazing orchestral covers out there that really pulls together the various parts really well, just fyi) 

14.  Nothing Left to Lose

I really don't like this song.  I’ve been one of its biggest critics ever since it was leaked by the marketing team earlier this year.  And yet... I can’t in good conscience place any lower on this list.  All of the problems I have with it are the exact same problems I have with Crossing the Line. It’s confused, the various pieces don't line up, the instrumentals are competing with the vocals, the song’s progression is weird with it’s constant key changes, some of the lyrics are good while others are absolute shit, ect and so forth.  It also actively works against the story it's trying to tell. The song wants you to sympathize with Cassandra, but her lines are as shallow as a puddle and makes her look like a sociopath. Especially when she’s physically attacking Varian through out for no reason. Also neither character learns anything from the exchange and it fails to impact the story.  By all accounts this is a bad song.  But I’m Varian trash.  There I said it. You happy?  Varian’s parts in the songs are fine, good even, and the song is anything but bland. I would rather listen to a mess then be bored to tears by a competent yet standard four chord pop song. 

13. I’d Give Anything

This song is nice to listen to. Story wise it absolutely sucks and shouldn’t have been in the finale at all. But it sounds pleasant.  This is one of those songs that could pop up randomly on the radio and I would just think it it a nice sad break up song. I can’t say that about some of the other misplaced songs in the show. This one however, you can very much, absolutely divorce this song from the narrative and it would be fine.  Now that’s not good writing, and it’s very much a waste of limited resources, but I’m rating the music here first and story second. 

12. Buddy Song

The Buddy Song also absolutely did not need to exist but it also sounds nice. Plus, it makes use of Lance so I’m a little more lenient towards it.   I can’t however place it higher since it really is just Alan Menken ripping off Alan Menken. Like, I would not be at all surprised to find out that this was originally a deleted song for Aladdin or something.  

11. Bigger Than That

What can I say, Lance just gets good songs. When the show bothers to give them to him.  Unfortunately, it’s not the best placed. It kind of interrupts the more important drama of Be Very Afraid, and probably should have been saved for a later episode. Especially since it hinges on a plot point that is contradictory to Lance’s character.    We should have gotten a Varian and Rapunzel duet here and given Lance his own episode in the second half of season three. This song could have easily been refitted into being a bonding moment for him and the girls. That would also have filled out the season’s original songs to the usual eight instead of only  seven.

10. Life After Happily Ever After

Now we’re getting to the good stuff. The top ten. The best of the best.  This song makes the cut for three reasons.  1. It lyrically and musically interesting 2. It does the job of furthering the story and the characters  and 3. Eugene’s part is so damn good.  Like this song could have easily fell down into the ranks of ‘fine but generic’ if it wasn’t for the bridge with Eugene. That puts it over the top and to my mind makes it better than anything from the OG film. (well almost anything, Mother Knows Best is still great)    This is the barometer by which I measure all of the music in the series. Is it better or worse than Life After Happily Ever After? Because this is the level that I equate good musicals with.  What keeps on the tenth spot and not higher is the dialogue that still left on the soundtrack and the lack of a Cassandra introduction. That and also the rest of the songs are just flat better. 

9. Hurt Incantation 

Hurt, Decay, Reverse, whatever you want to call it, this was such a cool fucking concept. One that was utterly wasted by the show.  I place this so high because it just sounds awesome! It looks good too, and it offered up so many possibilities from a story perspective.  What lets it down is the lack of follow up for it and it’s too short. There’s needed to be another verse. It also should have been on the actual soundtrack instead of  Hook Foot’s Ballad.  (The Heal Incantation also was sung in What the Hair, but I’m not counting it since it was written for the film) 

8.  The Girl Who Has Everything (Reprise)

I hate the initial song and the set up that it took to get here, but I love this reprise. It’s perfect. This is what the story needed more of. Rapunzel taking her life into her hands, and her proposing to Eugene would have been the perfect capstone for her arc.  In fact I’m angry we didn’t actually get that. There’s absolutely no reason why Rapunzel couldn’t have done so and we could have had her and Eugene engaged during the second half of season three. How much better would have it been if Cassandra threatened their wedding plans and that’s why they couldn’t go through with it until after the series ended? So much more tension that way. 

7. I Got This

This is a really good song that actually futhers the characters and the narrative. Moreover it’s refreshing to see the heroine not be perfect and to fail sometimes due to her own inadequacies. It’s just a shame that the series didn’t follow through with this set up, but I appreciate the attempt all the same.   

6.  Set Yourself Free

This is the only song in the series that’s an actual satisfying pay off for anything. Music wise it’s nothing too special, but in terms of context it just works. We were sorely deprived of such resolutions and songs with actual meaning in the show. 

5. View From Up Here

This song is too good for the episode it actually appears in. We needed something like this back in season one to introduce Cassandra with. It also sadly doesn’t fit with the wider narrative after season three. However I shall still appreciate it as a ‘what might have been’ type song. 

4.  Let Me Make You Proud 

The only reason why this song isn’t higher is just overexposure and I’ve no one to blame but myself for that. I’ve listened to this song way too many times. As such it tends to alternate between this, View from Up Here, and the next song on the list. But make no mistake it is glorious. Fantastic instrumentals, set up, and of course amazing vocals. 

3.  Everything I Ever Thought I Knew

Yes, I know this plot point didn’t lead anywhere, but it works for this song at least. Also Eugene’s VA is a really underrated singer. He sounds nice and he emotes really well.  Though I’ll be honest, this jumped up to third place because it was fresh in my mind after listening to the soundtrack before making this list. I’ve always liked the song and I do rate it highly, but it can change places with Let Me Make You Proud and View from Up Here at anytime depending on my mood. 

2.  Let Me Make You Proud (Reprise)

This song is heartbreaking!  Story wise it probably shouldn’t exist because it gives away the twist too soon, but who cares, it’s awesome!  Varian’s arc is the most compelling in the show and the only thing that saves TTS from falling into mediocre obscurity; and it’s songs like this that help make the arc stand out even more than it already does. 

1. Ready As I’ll Ever Be

I said it before and I’ll say it again; Ready As I’ll Ever Be is the greatest thing Alan Menken has ever written in his entire career!  If you know anything about the multiple award winning songwriter then you know that is no faint praise and I do not dole it out lightly.  This song is the reason why this show even has a fanbase. People are still getting into the series because of this song. And no matter how many times you listen to it just rocks!   It’s complex, layered, moody, and with a fantastic beat and energy. The performances are wonderful and the instrumentation glorious. It belongs in the hollows of Disney’s greatest hits and not regulated to a spin-off tv show that failed to make its money back.  I weep for the lost potential that this song and this show had. It hurts to know that so many people will never see this flash of brilliance that has come out of the House of Mouse, will never know the wonderfulness that is Varian.  Ah, ‘c'est la vie’, I suppose. Tangled the Series got what it deserved, but it's crew did not. While I can not in all honesty recommend the series in full; I do sincerely urge any Disney fan to check out the songs at the very least. Especially this one.  And that’s it. There’s my official ranking of all the songs, and I hope those of you read my Tangled reviews appreciate the hours it took into making this. 

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #varian #rapunzel #eugene #cassandra #lance #alan menken #Disney #disney music #disney songs

[insanityclause]

Back in 2016, if your memory is able to rewind that far, Tom Hiddleston was coming off a stellar performance fronting BBC series The Night Manager and subsequently fending off Bond rumours.

Then came the infamous 'I <3 T.S' t-shirt he was photographed wearing while frolicking in the sea with then-girlfriend Taylor Swift. Their relationship ending provided only passing gossip, but the memory of the white vest lives on forever in our collective memory.

It turns out that his time as part of a couple in the media spotlight was worth it after all, because if you can't play Bond then the next best thing in terms of England's starting XI of icons is surely playing Prince Charles. He might need to dye his hair, but Hiddleston certainly has all of the nervous charm and plummy charisma to take on the throne.

This weekend brought the news that Hiddleston's The Night Manager co-star Elizabeth Debicki has been cast as Princess Diana for the final two seasons of Netflix's The Crown. Debicki played Hiddleston's love interest in the BBC series based on the novel of the same name by John le Carré, with the pair involved in a complicated and dangerous love triangle that gave the Charles–Diana–Camilla entanglement a run for its money.

Debicki takes over from Emma Corrin who plays young Diana opposite Josh O'Connor in the forthcoming season four, a chapter which will focus on Charles and Diana's romance and the strain that the media attention on the people's princess put on their relationship.

In his interview with Esquire, O'Connor spoke of how “the Diana stuff” has been “thrilling to play”, with one moment from their 1983 tour of Australia showing Charles' rage at being outshone by his dazzling wife. “I don’t deserve this!” he says in the scene. “This is supposed to be my tour.”

Their tumultuous relationship will carry on to season five, the penultimate instalment of the series, which is packed with high profile stars including Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth, Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret and Jonathan Pryce as Prince Philip. Given the patterns that previous seasons have followed, and the news that Staunton would be “taking The Crown into the 21st century”, it seems likely that the fifth season will focus on the early Nineties and end in the early Noughties.

This era included the divorce of Charles and Diana as well as her tragic death, the fallout of which show creator Peter Morgan has already documented in The Queen, the 2006 film which stars Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth in the wake of Diana's death.

The throes of these years require someone with the theatrical talent of Hiddleston, an actor who has been twice nominated [sic] for and once won a Laurence Olivier Award for turns in Shakespeare plays, as well as winning plaudits for his portrayal of Henry V.

Perhaps the greatest demonstration he is the man to play Charles was his recent performance in Harold Pinter's Betrayal, a simmering love triangle which dug into the complicated emotions, jealousies and veiled motives of each of the trio when it played in the West End and later on Broadway.

His Shakespeare pedigree as well as his time as a Marvel superhero are both roles which stand him in good stead to play a man who is somewhere between a King and a God, but never allowed to be fully human. His clear on-screen chemistry with Debicki and ability to play conflicted and complicated characters could make for an electric chapter of The Crown, with Morgan describing the marriage of Charles and Diana as, “three Brexits and three Covids wrapped into one.”

Cometh the hour, cometh the nervous Englishman.

#posting content so you don't have to click

[greatmuldini]

When the Sheffield Repertory Company, on 18 October 1948, invited local journalists to meet the new talent for the new season, it was not the shy smile of a timid stranger that for the Telegraph photographer epitomized the joyous occasion but the incandescent, albeit no less self-conscious, charisma of the naturally gifted performer - who may have begun his formal training on that very day in 1948 but who, by his own admission, had been acting “since birth.”

Indeed, the formal introduction of the new Assistant Stage Manager came a good seven months after the young prodigyhad been granted permission to study with the Company: his first appearance to that effect in the Minutes of the Executive Committee on 9 March 1948 was followed over the summer of 1948 by small to medium sized roles for which he received full credit but no regular pay. The precarious arrangement was revised when a "striking performance" in The Hasty Heart convinced the Executive Chairman that a “very difficult part” had been “played remarkably well.”

Originally performed on Broadway in January 1945, The Hasty Heart takes place at a British military hospital somewhere in South-East Asia, where six wounded Allied soldiers are recuperating from their war wounds. Each one of them represents his particular corner of the Empire or, in the case of “Yank,” a former colony. Looking after them is the equally archetypal female character, Sister Margaret, whose no-nonsense style of nursing soothes fraying tempers, and her compassionate approach helps to heal not just physical wounds. One patient, however, presents an existential problem: proud and stubborn Scotsman Lachlen McLachlen is terminally ill but has not been told he has very little time left. Margaret falls in love with Lachlen and agrees to marry him despite the looming death sentence. When Lachlen finds out he is furious but can in the end be convinced to accept the inevitable as he learns to accept the heartfelt friendship of his comrades and the unconditional love of his fiancée.

Lachlen’s change of heart is the result of an intervention by the “difficult” character, whose presence is required for the sole purpose of effecting that change. As the catalyst who brings about the final reversal of Lachlan's fortune, Blossom provides the evidence of their shared humanity - ironically by being different from everybody else. When Lachlen, hurt and angry at the perceived betrayal of his friends, and the indignity of his situation, declares his intention to leave the hospital and die alone, it is Blossom who steps forward to offer a parting gift. Blossom - who does not speak a single word of English and therefore would not have been aware of what the others knew - communicates non-verbally the pure, raw, primitive emotion that he alone can express. His affection is pure, untainted by superior knowledge or ulterior motives and allows Lachlen to recalibrate his own highly irrational response.

Blossom is a "difficult" character for the actor, who must convey meaning mostly through mime - and who must perpetuate the racial stereotype of the “silent black warrior” as dictated by the script, the tastes of the time, and stage conventions beyond his control: in New York, the part was played by African-American actor Robert Earl Jones (1910-2006, father of James); the 1946 West End cast featured Nigerian expatriate and star of stage and screen, Orlando Martins (1899-1985), who also took the role in the 1949 film version. The Sheffield Repertory Company, as a permanent ensemble, remained throughout the post-war period a close-knit group of local players whose white working class background would have matched the equally homogenous crowd in the auditorium.

While “exotic” characters and locations were a welcome diversion from the daily grind of the steel mills, true-to-life authenticity would not have been the foremost concern on anyone’s mind. Likewise, any lofty notions of "inhabiting the character" would have been dismissed out of hand in the fast-paced environment of the repertory system with its weekly or, as in Sheffield, bi-weekly change-over. Unlike the commercial long-running ventures on Broadway or Shaftesbury Avenue, regional repertory companies relied above all on the "quick study" and improvisation skills of the actor, favouring versatility over diversity. The need for speed also meant that certain shortcuts were considered legitimate, including the use of Blackface to indicate a character's non-white ethnicity.

The challenge for the actor underneath the generic makeup would have been to preserve the dignity of the individual in his care. The experienced producer, for his part, who elected to trust the most junior member of the Company with that responsibility, would have made his choice fully expecting his protégé to succeed. More than an adequate performance, Geoffrey Ost would have seen the “disciplines of the theatre” brought to life on stage - for the final time by the amateur. With their next production, the Sheffield Playhouse set the scene for a professional debut that could have launched a respectable career for the new Assistant Stage Manager had the fierce young “teaboy” been so inclined.

#Patrick McGoohan #The Hasty Heart #Blossom #is a native of Basutoland a British Crown Colony until 1966 We are expected to suspend our disbelief in any theatrical situation #but a super-human effort would have beenr required to mistake a lanky Irish lad fora bulky Bantu from Southern Africa #Verisimilitude could not have been the strategy #this is where the character's lack of English comes into play #the actor must entirely resort to the use of body language #which suits some actors more than others #the most egregious transgression #of our modern sensibilities however #the one that stretches our disbelief beyond belief #is the liberal application of #blackface #still acceptable for Orson Welles in 1951 #controversial for Laurence Olivier in 1965 #unsustainable for Black Minstrels on the BBC in 1978 #I would like to believe that Blossom could have been #ahead of his time in 1948

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

some original nonsense

“I’m so glad I get to be here for this,” Eve practically flung herself onto the couch, bouncing slightly before settling. She’d just gotten dropped off after rehearsal and was miraculously still teeming with energy. 

Clara pursed her lips, an obvious attempt to cover up a smile. They’d spent the day helping Eli and Ann track down paperwork and somewhere between the borough hall and stopping at the deli for lunch had been seen by Oliver’s parents. Who forced him to introduce them to Clara and insisted she come for dinner. Ann managed to talk her way out of it by vague statements of “being with her family right now” that had the McNally’s cooing in understanding. Clara couldn’t manage the same without raising too many questions. At least not that quickly. 

So, she’d spent the evening at the farmhouse and then had herself talked into spending the night. The whole experience was odd, Clara settling somewhere between her true sharp self and the doe-eyed charming he’s seen her present herself as. Oliver had the sense that it was strange for her too and that Clara was navigating uncharted waters as she ate his mom’s chicken alfredo. 

But after dinner his parents retreated to the office that used to be the dining room, claiming to be going over paperwork but probably watching House Hunters or something. Leaving the living room to “the kids” which fit when Eve came barging in. 

“I was so worried you would be gone when I got home,” she told Clara, having latched on to the older girl a few days before. 

“I was somehow convinced to spend the night.” Clara narrowed her eyes, brows drawn low as she tried to puzzle out exactly how that had happened. It made her freckles scrunch up into an indistinguishable blur. 

Eve nodded sagely and began wrapping herself up in one of the afghans from over the back of the couch. “Yeah, they do that. It’s a weird quirk of being the ‘cool parents.’” Oliver knew by her tone that she was using air quotes but from the cocoon his sister had made herself it was hard to tell. 

Oliver finished tweaking the playlist he’d made, deciding to kill as many birds with one stone as possible, and pressed play. Rising from his crouch next to their entertainment center to go sit on the couch on Clara’s other side. The music began to play through the living room’s speakers and Eve giggled madly. 

Clara turned to give him the most suspicious look he’d ever seen, and that was saying a lot based on the past week’s events. “I know this song. Maybe. It sounds familiar.” 

Shaking his head, Oliver barely managed to contain his laughter. “Nope.”

The lyrics started and the look of baffled confusion that overcame Clara was the best thing he’d ever witnessed. She froze, shook her head slightly, narrowed her eyes, and then finally turned to him in betrayal. “When did this happen? I was just in Constantinople... When was I in Constantinople?” 

Eve squeaked, high and long as she inhaled. Unable to hold in her own laughter any longer. Oliver managed to remain silent though he was shaking and his stomach ached at the strain. 

“This isn’t funny,” Clara insisted. Her glare wasn’t that harsh though so Oliver didn’t relent. “Oliver!” she scolded. “It’s not funny!” 

“No, it’s hilarious,” he said between gasps of breath. “And it only gets better.” 

~

“Russia’s favorite love machine?” Clara looked like she was going to be sick. “I mean, I might have actually met Rasputin but honestly he was disgusting. And smelt terrible.” 

It was Oliver’s turn to look on in horror. “Of all the things you managed to miss, you met Rasputin?” 

“Possibly,” Clara said sheepishly. “It could’ve just been a drunk.” 

One day, Oliver would stop being shocked by things Clara said. But apparently not today. 

“Ok,” Eve interrupted, “but thoughts on the song?” 

“It’s... good?” 

The look of pure offense Eve gave her made Oliver want to whither and he was mostly immune at that point. Eve took a deep breath, seeming to recenter herself. “It’s a certified bop, Clara.” 

~

“Ok, I’m not an idiot. I know about the Battle of Waterloo. And I’ve read Les Misérables.” Clara was unimpressed by Abba. 

“You actually read Les Mis?” Eve clearly had her own priorities. 

Oliver might not really be into theater but Eve was and he managed to pick some things up. “Ok, hold on.” He tried to do some quick math, but just asking Clara would really be easier. “When did you just... stop following cultural events?” 

She shrugged. “I don’t know, some point after the second Great War?” 

Eve and Oliver shared a look, leaning forward so that they could do so. Eve’s expression said that either Oliver handle this or she would. And also, what the heck was he planning? 

“Ok, so World War II, not second Great War. Where did you even get that one?” he tried to be gentle. But honestly, what the heck?

Clara wrinkled her nose. “I’ve outlasted entire civilizations, Oliver,” she hissed. “Cut me some slack for forgetting some terms. English isn’t even my second or third language. And you people keep changing it.” 

Oliver lifted his hand in defense. “Ok, ok. Point taken. Still, did you not pay attention to the Broadway or West End theater scenes in the 1980s?” 

“No?” Clara turned to see if Eve might be any help. Her slightly manic look meant that probably not. 

“So, you didn’t know that Les Mis is a musical?” She gasped. 

Clara slowly shook her head. 

“Ollie!” Eve screeched, but he was already standing, going to shift through the many DVDs Eve had of various performances. 

~

“Bed,” their mom said, emerging from the office. Their dad had already headed upstairs sometime during One Day More and she was currently in her pajamas. 

Eve tilted her head up, shaking off the hand that Mom was combing through her hair. “But, it’s not over!” she whined. The drums of the finale refrain of Do You Hear the People Sing were starting up meaning that it would be over very shortly. 

“And you’ve seen it a million times and have school tomorrow. Bed,” she countered. 

“Clara’s never even seen Phantom!” Eve tried to counter, which they’d discovered when Eve began rambling about actors sometime during ABC Cafe. Oliver loved his sister, he hated that he knew the names of every song in Les Mis. 

“Clara can stay up and watch it with Oliver then. Or just visit another day,” Mom glanced to Oliver with an almost apologetic tilt to her smile. 

“I can come back,” Clara offered softly. The effect was immediate. Eve and his mom both had twin smiles of pure glee. Much like Ann a few years earlier, Oliver’s friend had been officially deemed another extension of the family. Well neither girl seemed to mind so far. 

Eve launched herself onto Clara in a hug, throwing her blankets to the floor and startling the blonde. Over Eve’s shoulder, he could see Clara’s pale eyes widen and it looked like she was trying very hard not to let her shock get the best of her. They’d managed to keep his parents in the dark about the whole “technically dead” bit but Eve passing right through Clara would kind of ruin the careful charade. 

“I’ll wait until next time for Phantom,” Oliver made it sound like a chore, but he knew Eve would be pissed not to be included. And the whole experience would be more enjoyable for Clara because the two girls had talked through the entirety of Les Mis about the characters and changes from the book. He was positive watching Phantom of the Opera would be the same. 

“You’re not a terrible human,” Eve said by way of thanks. 

Oliver shrugged and their mom rolled her eyes. She started ushering Eve towards the stairs as she said her goodnights. When it became clear that Eve was still occupied squeezing the unneeded air from Clara’s lungs, she gave up. “Don’t stay up too late you two. And Eve, your butt better be in bed by the time those credits stop.” 

Clara laughed and finally began to peel Eve’s arms off her. “You should listen to your mother,” she said kindly. 

“I’m going, I’m going.” 

“If you don’t leave now I will introduce Clara to Drunk Space Pirate without you,” Oliver threatened. 

Eve gasped and leapt to her feet. “You wouldn’t.” 

“I would.” 

The two stared each other down as Eve began backing towards the stairs, almost stumbling over the coffee table in the process. “I knew you like The Mechanisms.” 

Oliver smirked. “Space operas, Eve.” 

His sister huffed and ran upstairs. Clara started laughing softly. “What was that about?” 

“I’ll explain later. I think the novelty of being a ghost would be ruined if I became one too, which would happen if I explained without Eve.” 

“Your sister does seem capable of murder,” Clara agreed. 

“I feel like all the women in my life are?” 

“Yes.” 

Oliver started cracking up at that. Clara joined him. It felt cathartic in light of... everything. Then they remembered that the rest of the house had been going to sleep so they tried to hush each other. Only to laugh more. 

Finally, they sobered and Oliver went to go get his laptop. “Do you know literally anything about the band Nirvana?” 

Clara blinked. “Do you enjoy asking questions you know the answer to?” 

Barking a short laugh, Oliver came back over to sit next to her again. “Ok, fair. But I’m going to play an ironic critic of how people respond to the lead singer’s death for you now.” 

“Why?” Clara asked incredulously. 

“I really just want to see what someone so totally removed from the situation thinks of this song.” Oliver shrugged. 

“You are very strange.” 

“And you shouldn’t throw stones.”

#hitch hiker #own writing #original writing

[thesaltysocialworker]

The Words (TH Edition)

So this is my first Tom Hiddleston fic, be gentle. I don’t normally write about celebrities but I wanted to give it a try thanks to some encouragement from the wonderful @just-the-hiddles​. :)

I’ve also used this song before in a Loki fic, but it’s my favorite so I decided to recycle because it’s good for the enviornment. 

The Words

Word count: 2427

Synopsis: You meet Tom during his run in Betrayal while living in New York. After a whirlwind romance Tom has to return to London, and you make the decision to stay in New York. But will a song you composed and put on his phone before take off change your minds about a long distance relationship? 

Warnings: Mentions of Sex.

It was never easy to say goodbye to him, it was harder because you didn’t get to say goodbye alone. The world had to be there at every stage, every difficulty (some which they had created) of your relationship with Thomas Hiddleston. You strolled hand-in-hand through the airport after he checked his bags, finally he was to the gate where he would board the plane taking him to London while your career kept you in New York. The two of you had yet to breach the subject of whom would move where and it was starting to get that point. The two of you longed to be in the same place; to wake up in the same bed, to eat meals together to have a place of peace where you didn’t have to worry about flashing cameras and the paps.

“This is me.” Tom smiled sadly. You almost thought to ask him for one more stroll through the concord, but you knew he needed to go through security now or he’d miss his flight. What a shame that would be. It was stubbornness, you were both unwilling to give up your careers; he an actor, you an up and coming musician. You were both work horses; devoting either every minute to your career or to each other. “Have a safe flight, Tom. Please call me when you land?” You asked, awkwardly shoving your hands in your jeans pockets as you glanced up at him. “Are you sure? It’ll be nearly two in the morning here when I land.” He questioned.

“I’m sure. I won’t sleep if I don’t know you made it home safely.” You saw him soften, his guard dropped and he moved to wrap his arms around you. You wrapped your arms around his neck, your fingers toying with the bronze curled curls that would soon be chopped off and colored black for the Loki television series. You’d miss the beard, the curls, you’d miss Betrayal because at least it kept him near. He kissed you, his hands cupping your face and holding you there until you were near breathless. But you were always breathless around him.You could see his reluctance to get on that plane. “It won’t be that long, you’ll see. I’ll come visit in two weeks. It’ll give you enough time to get settled at home and in some sort of schedule.”

“That’s two weeks too long, Get on the plane with me. Please.” He whispered, you could hear them calling for his British Airway Flight to start boarding. “Tom, I don’t even have a passport on me let alone a change of clothes.” You were shocked that he even posed the question. “Right, should’ve had my melt down at the house where you had time to pack a bag.” Tom teased, though there was a little bit of bitterness to his voice. You sighed as he moved towards security, letting them scan his bags. “Tom-“ You called out his name, and he turned to look at you. “I put a new song on your phone. Will you give it a listen and let me know what you think?” You asked, and he found the timing odd. “Yes, of course.”

Then he was gone, disappearing down the concord towards his plane and London. You should’ve told him the truth, you should’ve told him you loved him.

  Tom had convinced himself that it was best to not date another performer.  But then he met you, and he had tossed that notion out the window. You were an extra in a Broadway musical, he’d met you at a party and the rest was history. The two of you spent nearly every moment together when you weren’t working. It’d been a fast, exceptionally passionate romance. He knew he loved you, he knew it the moment he met you. He’d been breathless, watching you dance with your friends in a little black dress with a grin on your face. Your passion for music, for art, for life inspired him. He’d been you, once. When his fame was new, and he was trusting and less jaded by the reality of his new position.

The ugly reality was that he knew this moment was coming, he’d been dreading it. He knew that Betrayal would end. He knew he’d need to go home to his family for the holidays or else be faced with questions about what he was doing and why he was staying in New York. But it felt empty without you. He should’ve told you the truth, he should’ve told you he loved you.

When the plane was in the air, Tom finally thought of your words when he went through security. Your song. He grabbed his headphones and put them on, drink in hand, and scrolled through the playlist you’d created on his phone. There was song added at the bottom called The Words. It was a sweet piano melody, and he listened intently. Trying to take in the lyrics intently as he closed his eyes and relaxed into your voice. With each beautiful note, you transported him back to another time, another place.

 All of the lights land on you

The rest of the world fades from view

And all of the love I see

Please please say you feel it too

And all of the noise I hear inside

Restless and loud, unspoken and wild

And all that you need to say

To make it all go away

It's that you feel the same way too

 And I know

The scariest part is letting go

'Cause love is a ghost you can't control

I promise you the truth can't hurt us now

So let the words slip out of your mouth

 He was brought back to the moment he discovered you were his safe place. It’d been an exhausting night, a two-show day and then fans screaming his name at the door. He’d spent nearly an hour at the stage door trying to appease people. It hadn’t been enough, there were still people pushing the barricades at the door and screaming his name. He was tired. When he got the car his driver started driving him to his flat. “No. Can you take me someplace else instead?”

 That’s when he found himself at your apartment door. You were shocked to see him there as you stood before him in your pajamas, but welcomed him inside with tea. “You look exhausted, Tom.” You placed the cup of tea, and a few cookies before him. “I feel it, love. Things are moving so fast. I feel like I very rarely get a moment to just breathe. It gets overwhelming at times, the world watching your every move. People constantly screaming your name.” He felt like an idiot saying that to you, especially since you were still reaching for your own fame. “Were you planning to stay the night?” You asked, leaning against the counter as he finished his tea. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”

 “Why don’t you go take a warm shower and then meet me in the bedroom?” You suggested. “That sounds wonderful, that sounds wonderful.” He stood in the warm water, wondering and waiting to see if you were going to join him. Eventually, he figured out you weren’t. But as he stepped into your bedroom you figured out why. You had turned down the sheets of your very plush bed, it looked like you had taken the time to light every candle in New York. The room was warm and inviting. You stood by the side of the bed, gesturing for him to lay down. “I think you could use a massage. I can’t whisk you away from your troubles, but they don’t have to exist tonight in this room.”

 He wanted to tell you he loved you in that moment, but it seemed to soon. Tom climbed onto your bed, laying on his stomach. Your hands over his back, working the knots and tension out of his shoulder with lavender and vanilla massage oil. He was relaxed, practically asleep by the time you finished your ministrations. Then you lay beside him, looking at him with a small smile. You expected nothing in return, you simply wanted to see him happy and relaxed. “You’re too good for this world.” Tom sighed, pulling you closer to him. Your soft warm body seemed to meld against his and the two of you fell into a comfortable sleep.

 And all of the steps that led me to you

And all of the hell I had you walk through

But I wouldn't trade a day for the chance to say

My love, I'm in love with you

And I know

The scariest part is letting go

'Cause love is a ghost you can't control

I promise you the truth can't hurt us now

So let the words slip out of your mouth

 “I want you to move to London with me.”

 The words fell from his lips one evening as the two of you lie in bed together, limbs tangled together after an intense love making session. You were silent, your hand resting on his chest right over his heart. You’ve had your eyes closed, and in the dim lighting of the room he could see your eyes slowly open. “We haven’t even been together six months or a year yet, Tom. That’s a huge commitment. My career is here. My agent is here-“

 “I won’t be here, you and I won’t be together. I can find you another job, another agent in London. I need you with me.” He danced around the words again, the words he really wanted to say. He really wanted to tell you he loved you but he was terrified it would frighten you further, driving you away quicker. “I don’t want to have a career built on the fact that I’m Tom Hiddlestons girlfriend! I want to be successful on my own merit. I want my music to touch people, to move people-“

“Then for Christ’s sake, find your agent and job in London! We’re running out of time, y/n!” He could feel the sand slipping through the hour glass, feel the time running out on the clock and he was starting to panic. “Is there an expiration date on our relationship, Tom? If I don’t go back to London with you is this it? Is this an ultimatum?” He was shocked, so shocked he didn’t speak. He hadn’t meant to pressure you into this. He was just trying to express how much he cared, and he was bad at that. You moved out of bed, shimmying back into your undergarments and throwing on your clothes. “No, no, no! C’mon, y/n! It’s not an ultimatum.”

“It certainly feels that way!” Your retort was sharp, and you tried to put your jeans back on. In the dark of the bedroom you had a hard time seeing and you missed a leg. You stumbled, and Tom caught you before you slammed against the floor. “I’m such a klutz.” You whined, and Tom couldn’t help but chuckle as he helped you upright onto your feet. “You’re just as scared as I am, aren’t you?”

He called your bluff, and even in the dim light of the room he could see your face turning scarlet. His little spit-fire, who never hesitated to tell him what you thought or felt. There was silence between the two of you before you meekly responded in the affirmative. “What if it doesn’t work, Tom? What If I move there with you and it we fail? What if you don’t want me anymore?”

“I can’t ever think of a time when I wouldn’t want you.”

 I know that we're both afraid

We both made the same mistakes

An open heart is an open wound to you

And in the wind there's a heavy choice

Love has a quiet voice

Still you mind, now I'm yours to choose

 It rained constantly in the forty-eight hours since Tom arrived back in London. It was a bitter, cold rain that seemed to match the gray haze of his mood. The house was too quiet, you were too quiet. He’d called a few times, left a few text messages and you hadn’t responded. He should’ve said the words, he should’ve told you he loved you. He should’ve carried you onto the plane. He should’ve booked two seats. Anything to show you that he really wanted you to come with him, even if only on a trial basis.

 He lay in bed for a long time and listened to that song of yours on repeat while waiting for the phone to ring so he could just hear your voice. It felt like it had been a whirlwind five months. It felt like a haze, like a dream. Had it even been real? Your beautiful voice in that recording spoke to him, you must’ve been real and not just the elaborate fantasy of a desperate man. You truly were too good to be true; his match in every way. He cried, he screamed. He tossed things out of his suitcase and still you weren’t here. It changed nothing. Eventually, in sheer frustration, he got out of bed and moved to let Bobby out before throwing on a sweatshirt and sweatpants. He started making tea and making breakfast. Then he heard Bobby barking, and a knock at the door.

 Tom moved towards the front door, hearing a meek knock on the door. He pushed open the front door and there you stood, drenched to the skin with your hair dripping and shivering. You had a suitcase with you. He simply stared for a moment, unable to speak. “I’m sure I look a mess. I couldn’t think about anything but what I should’ve said when you left that night. I love you, Thomas. I love you so much and I want a future with you even if I have to change my own to do so. You were right, I was afraid. But I’m here now.” There was still silence, and you shifted from foot-to-foot uncomfortably. “Could you say something before I combust here, love?”

“I love you too, y/n. I thought you’d forgotten about me or moved on, that’s why you weren’t answering my calls. Come in before you freeze to death. Let me get you tea, and warm clothes.” You crossed the threshold into Tom’s home fearlessly in that moment, and his life.

 And I know

The scariest part is letting go

Let my love be the light that guides you home

And I know

The scariest part is letting go

'Cause love is a ghost you can't control

I promise you the truth can't hurt us now

So let the words slip out of your mouth

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