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filipinfodump · 2 months

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Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical

A Filipino Musical that hasn't left my mind since the mid 2010s

Poster for Kabesang Tales posted by Palakat Batangas City via Facebook

Although the Philippines is known for its many talented singers which include many that had crossed over to Broadway such as Lea Salonga, and Rachelle Ann Go, alongside many other Filipino-American talents like Conrad Ricamora, Arielle Jacobs, George Salazar, and Darren Criss just to name a few, the musical scene in the Philippines itself isn't as popular nor as successful in the country as it really should be.

Even with Filipino-majority musicals in states like the controversial Broadway musical "Here Lies Love" which narrates the life story of Imelda Marcos, one of the most controversial figures in Filipino politics and history today, and with Filipino stars often taking in lead or secondary roles in major productions, the musical boom of the 2010s did not come with a boom for the musical industry in the local level compared to the sudden popularity of American musicals like Hamilton, Heathers, Dear Evan Hansen, or Be More Chill to name a few.

The very few musicals that did garner the spotlight did not receive the same notoriety of these foreign productions save for one of the few musical movies to have gotten major media acclaim Loy Arcena's Ang Larawan (2017) (en. The Portrait) based on the 1997 play of the same name by National Artist Nick Joaquin which became a media frenzy as being maybe one of the few if not the only original movie not based on major series or created by a large production company to be released that year for the Metro Manila Film Festival. One of the things that had skyrocketed it to media attention was the fact that most theaters did not screen it and it was only shown in very few cinemas, but that's a story for another time.

Despite the time and devotion Filipino musical fans may have for theatre, rarely do Filipino made and produced musicals ever enter the pop culture zeitgeist due to many factors like the lack of advertising, accessibility issues, and honestly the lack of cast recordings. Out of the many throughout the 2010s, one of the few I was able to watch that I still think about at times is Ricky Lee's very own rap and rock musical Kabesang Tales.

Background

Photo of Ricky Lee, the writer of Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical) (en. Captain Tales - A Rap n' Roll Musical) is a rap and rock musical first performed in the year 2015 and was written by renowned Filipino writer and National Artist Ricky Lee. The musical was directed by Alejandro "Bong" Ramos, with music by Jeffrey Hernandez and Alfredo Ongleo, and produced by Red Lantern Production (Inquirer, 2015).

Photo of John Arcilla, the lead actor for Kabesang Tales the Musical via Inquirer

The musical stars John Arcilla as the titular character Telesforo Juan "Kabesang Tales" De Dios, famously known for his breakout role as Hen. Anotnio Luna in the historical film Heneral Luna released the same year as the musical, alongside other talents such as Dio Marco as Karyo, Kevin Posadas as Tano de Dios, Alecx Lorica as Juli De Dios among many other talented actors (Inquirer, 2015).

A cover of one of the book's translations posted by twitter user El Filibusterismo (@/joseriz15155899) via X/Twitter

The play is based on Jose Rizal's El Filibusterismo (en. The Filibuster) and more specifically, the character of Kabesang Tales, the head of his barangay (a sort of Filipino village) and father of Basilio's main love interest Juli, who had turned into a guerilla bandit after his family and life were ruined by the Spanish friars. He becomes the feared Matanglawin (en. Hawkeye) who terrorizes the countryside. He plays a minor but important role in the books, being the father of one of the main secondary characters as well as being one of the main allies of the primary characters as they tried to start a revolution in the country.

The play primarily focuses on his perspective throughout the whole book with some scenes focusing more on the main protagonists Simoun and Basilio as well as his daughter Juli.

Performances and Releases

The musical had limited performances throughout some parts of the CALABARZON Region or Region IV-A, with some select performances in Metro Manila as well as some other provinces like in Mindoro, sometime during the years 2015-2017 with some being done in local cultural centers and schools throughout the region with very limited promotion outside of news stories.

The only promotional material I could really find are some posts on Facebook and a trailer in the Red Lantern Production's YouTube channel which could be seen here:

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Trailer uploaded by Red Lantern Production via YouTube

There are no original cast recordings that I could find of any of the songs and the only material that I could find besides this are uploads on YouTube of scattered scenes from different parts of the play:

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Full Playlist uploaded by YouTube channel pheejaypi here

I was also able to find a collection of clips of Karyo, a character possibly named after Karyo from Mga Ibong Madaragit which is a continuation novel of the El Filibusterismo written by Amado Hernandez, played by Terrence Guillermo.

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Video uploaded by YouTube channel pinoy music maestro here

I remember some time in the 2010s seeing uploads of members of the cast singing in interviews I believe but I could no longer find any of these videos.

As of now, it is unknown if the production will ever come back with the last post on the Facebook page having been in 2021 with a post prior to posted on July 2019 calling for auditions in August 2019, possibly hinting that there was a planned 2020 tour for the musical before the pandemic hit.

Photo of the audition announcement posted on Facebook

The Plot (mostly from memory)

As there's barely any material of the live musical, I'll do my best to recollect what I could remember with the aide of the actual books to guide me. Of course, spoilers for Rizal's books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo if you haven't read them.

The plot follows the events of El Filibusterismo but mainly from the perspective of the titular character Kabesang Tales. It begins with an extremely happy and optimistic scene with him, his family, and barangay as well as the visit of Basilio, Tales's daughter's lover to their house. I remember that there was an extremely cheesy song here between the two that a lot of people squealed over.

Photo of the mentioned musical number between Basilio and Juli posted by Jayson Pascua

The perspective switches over to Basilio and his visit to his mother's grave where he is shocked to see a man there who is revealed to be the thought to be dead fugitive Crisostomo Ibarra who now goes by Simoun, a jewelry merchant from the United States. The two have a bit of an argument where Simoun tries to convince Basilio to join him and his rebellion and I don't recall exactly if there was a song, but it seems likely.

Perspective switches back to Tales as tragedy strikes as his entire family gets struck with malaria resulting in the death of his wife. I don't remember all the details here or if there was a song, but I remember a sort of depressing atmosphere for the rest of this part.

Photo showing all of the actors playing the De Dios Family posted by Jayson Pascua

The family struggles with money and friars come over to cause even more problems for them. There's a rap battle here between Tales and a friar. Here starts his downward spiral as he struggles to make ends meet as well as handle the friars that had been trying to gain his land. I don't recall if it's shown that he has to pay for a lot of lawyers, but he starts paying more and more for legal fees because of the legal drama with the friars and the government.

My sister tells me that there's a song about how good the friars are before they get properly introduced and I have a hazy memory of three friars wearing varied outfits typically associated with friars posing for the stage as people sing songs of praise and goodwill. My sister tells me that Basilio was in the ensemble here.

His son, Tano, gets drafted to the Guardia Civil (en. Civil Guard) and sent to the Caroline Islands because Tales could not pay money to prevent his draft due to their financial struggles. This is shown as a heart wrenching scene in the play where the rest of the family is left distraught.

He starts guarding his property in fear of bandits possibly taking his fields and taking whatever he has left.

Tales then gets taken by these bandits who demand ransom money for his return. There he meets Karyo, one of its leaders who tells him about the struggles of the working class and why he and the others had resorted to being bandits in the first place (?). I don't actually remember if this is the first they meet or what since I do remember that the two have a philosophical discussion about violence later and that Karyo is definitely a member of the bandits but there are scenes where he acts as the emcee during Tales's rap battle with the friar.

The bandits later lets him go back to his family where he finds that he has no one left.

Juli, in order to help with her family's financial struggles as well as pay for her father's ransom, leaves home and asks for loans and find work.

If I'm not mistaken, his father Tandang Selo goes mute with the grief of the continuous tragedies that had struck the family as well. It's hard for me to remember if this was shown in the musical.

When Tales returns, he finds himself at a loss for what has happened to his family. He is left with his daughter forced to work and his father mute. He is then met with Simoun, who comes to him as a jeweler. Simoun tempts him with some ideas of radicalization against the friars and he refuses at first before spiraling further and joining Karyo and his bandits, becoming the feared Matanglawin.

I genuinely don't remember if his meeting with Simoun was also in the musical or not but it's important context for the story.

The musical then switches perspective to Basilio, who gets implicated with a conspiracy against the government and gets arrested. A heartbroken Juli goes to Padre Camorra, a creepy priest that's been trying to corner her, to beg for his help since she saw no one else that could help her. This leads into a rather intense scene acted in shadows and lights where it is heavily implied that Juli gets assaulted.

After this, Juli sings a song about her assault where she contemplates getting revenge or retaliating but instead chooses to jump off to end her life.

The scene switches back to Tales who, unlike in the books, meet with his son again who has returned to the Philippines. This one, I know had a song in it since I remembered the extreme daddy issues punk rock vibes the scene gave off. He sang about how he no longer respected his father and that it's too late to repair things if I recall as he's now a bandit and he's a member of the Guardia Civil.

Photo of the confrontation between Tales and Tano where Tano sings about his frustration with his father posted by Jayson Pascua

Desolate and distraught at the loss of his family, Tales gets visited by a diwata (a forest spirit/fairy) and this part was extremely out of left field and absolutely not in the books.

Here, the diwata shows Tales visions of the future (???) and directly tells him, without any sort of subtlety, that the working class, and especially farmers like him, will continue to struggle in his country in the future. He is then shown a scene of farmers in a protest who were then taken down by police in what I remember as riot gear. He contemplates the future and is further given resolve to continue his rebellion.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales first meets a diwata who will later send him to the future posted by Jayson Pascua

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is sent to the future by a diwata to witness farmers being taken down by cops in riot gear posted by Jayson Pascua

I need to cut in and say that this was so on the nose and is by far the weirdest and personally maybe the worst part of the show. I'm not even against the message, it just ruined my immersion and just left a weird taste in my mouth. I think the play was doing a plenty good job driving that point across already without the time travel diwata scene but maybe that's just me.

The scene cuts back to the climax of the story where Basilio, distraught over then death of Juli, finally joins Ibarra as they plant a bomb in a wedding reception that the Governor-General of the Philippines was attending. The scene plays out like it was in the books where the lamp gets tossed out by Isagani and the revolution doesn't start.

It goes back to a scene of Tales and his men trying to fight the Guardia Civil where he is shot and killed in action, by the gun of his own son. Tano realizes what he has done and is horrified. This leads to a song which later leads to a finale that sings about Tales as the cast come together for the curtains to close.

Photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

Another photo of the mentioned scene where Tales is shot and killed by his son Tano posted by Jayson Pascua

The musical ends and the cast is called on to the stage one by one, with the loudest applause going to Basilio who a lot of the girls found hot, and of course, the man himself, Kabesang Tales.

Photo of the closing song with Tales being shown front and center posted by Jayson Pascua

After the play and final thoughts

Ricky Lee actually attended the performance I watched and I remember so many people crowding around the actors to get their autographs. My sister bought one of Ricky Lee's book, his script writing guide "Trip to Quiapo" and had it signed but she genuinely can't find it anymore sadly. My sister also got the autograph of some of the actors and the director on that same book so I'm a little miffed that we can't find it.

I would discuss more things and even show off my old ticket but I'm pretty sure that I would end up doxxing myself if I speak any more details.

That's all I remember from it and I would love to say more or even discuss the songs but as you can see, I could barely remember them, with only maybe a solid grasp in about maybe four songs.

It's a shame that it doesn't have as much of an established release and media presence because despite that one glaring issue I had with the weird diwata scene, I quite enjoyed the musical and it remains one of the few that I actually got to experience live.

It isn't Les Miserables or Hamilton, but it's still a musical I'll probably fondly remember especially since El Filibusterismo is one of my favorite books of all time with the character of Kabesang Tales being one of the most interesting — a man of honor and virtue who slowly descends into extremist violence because society had failed him. It's sad to see this musical barely recognized and very little talked about today and I do hope that it will one day return to the stage.

References

Introduction

Palakat Batangas City. (2015, May 29). "The Batangas City Government and Red Lantern Production present Ricky Lee’s KABESANG TALES - Isang Rap en Rol Musical." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/palakat.batangascity/photos/a.1543377512565520/1636600273243243/?type=3&_rdc=1&_rdr

Background

El Filibusterismo (@joseriz15155899). (2019, November 13). "#TheFilibuster Ventura's salvificact made Rizal gave his original manuscript of El Filibusterismo, a pen and an autograph printed copy." [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://twitter.com/joseriz15155899/status/1194459895657041920

Inquirer. (2015, December 12). John Arcilla stars in Ricky Lee ‘rap en rol’ musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tales/

Inquirer. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee writes rap, hip-hop libretto for new musical ‘Kabesang Tales’. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tales/

Lee, R. (2015, August 29). Ricky Lee: “I have been longing to do a musical, music being a driving passion in my life.” PHOTO FROM RICKY LEE [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/204943/ricky-lee-writes-rap-hip-hop-libretto-for-new-musical-kabesang-tale

Red Lantern Productions. (2015, December 2012). John Arcilla. PHOTO FROM RED LANTERN PRODUCTIONS [image]. LIFESTYLE.INQ. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://lifestyle.inquirer.net/215824/john-arcilla-stars-in-ricky-lee-rap-en-rol-musical-kabesang-tale

Performances and Releases

Kabesang Tales - Isang Rap en Rol Musical. (2019, July 27). Picture of the audition announcement posted on Facebook [image]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://web.facebook.com/kabesangtalestherockmusicale/photos/a.459803204196123/1309076952602073/

pheejaypi. (2016, October 3). Kabesang Tales: Isang Rap en Rol Musical clip 1 [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jftRyZOpxAA&list=PL1Yv-w-s-ETvRYsDWtaMPw2q0QO0q8Nfc

pinoy music maestro. (2021, January 1). Kabesang Tales excerpts feat. John Arcilla and Terence Guillermo [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlOkDi8_D_A

Red Lantern Production. (2015, August 15). Kabesang Tales Trailer [video]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CKKJsuBiuc

Plot

Pascua, J. (2015, October 11). Various photos [images]. Retrieved on 17 February 2024, from https://estranghero.weebly.com/photo-blog/john-arcilla-on-ricky-lees-kabesang-tales-isang-rap-en-roll-musical

#filipinfodump #filipino #philippines #filipino theatre #filipino musicals #musical theatre #musicals #filipino music #el filibusterismo #kabesang tales - isang rap en rol musical #kabesang tales #jose rizal #ricky lee #violence tw #sa tw #police brutality tw #police violence tw #mod maya

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moon-jellie · 5 months

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what is hamiltome

I know this was re: a couple days ago but I have been quivering with anticipation for getting a minute to answer it since then

This book was like the BIBLE for hamilton fans. Arguably moreso than the actual biography that inspired the musical (from my middle school musical theatre kid perspective). Not only did it include annotated lyrics to the entire cast album (PLUS the bonus song that is not on the recording), but it told the entire story of how the musical came to be, narrated by lin manuel miranda, with SO many cast photos. I knew every ensemble member of the original cast by name. I could tell you exactly how each of the leads came to get the role, and what they were doing beforehand. This book was everything. This was the essential reading.

AND THEN dear evan hansen got huge and they released a hansen-tome (this was not a real name that caught on for obviously clunky and nonsensical reasons), but similar concept to the hamiltome. Not quite the same cultural phenomenon, but avid broadway fans at the time (read: my sister and I) probably had a copy of this too.

Then like. Come from away did a "tome" of their own. Now I LOVE come from away, and it's got a super interesting creative history, but this show is and has never been on the fandom caliber of hamilton and dear evan hansen. Cool that they made a book for it but like ??? what was the audience here??? I remember wanting it when I first heard it had come out because I had listened to the show a couple of times and hey I had the hamilton and deh ones!

I fell out of touch with broadway news after that so I'm not sure if other musicals did this, but now I'm super curious -- I feel like I would've known if mean girls or be more chill did one, since they had a similar fangrip? but also neither of those can claim the same kind of taking-themselves-seriously as hamilton or deh, so idk if it would've made sense. Anyway thanks for letting me reflect on this

#muwutuals #musical theatre

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lynpheasmagix · 10 months

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Winx Musical Casting -The Winx and the Trix

So, yknow how there's those extremely underrated winx stage musicals in the early 2000s in Italy and The Netherlands? What if we brought a production over to broadway? WELL, i've combined my winx fan braincell and my theatre kid braincell and created a casting. HERE YA GO HERES THE GORLS! (the boys will come later)

Bloom: Mallory Maedke

Mallory's mostly well known for being an alternate and the dance captain for the North American premiere (Chicago, Edmonton, Cambridge, and St. Paul) and Broadway production of Six the Musical. She has such an amazing voice that I feel like she could kill whatever material is in the show, both acting and singing material. Her dancing? Amazing. She was the dance captain for a reason.

Example:

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Stella: Stephanie Styles

Stephanie's credits include: Katherine in the national tour of Newsies and Lois Lane/Bianca in the 2019 Broadway revival of Kiss Me, Kate, and Autumn on Zoey's Extrodinary Playlist. Her character has been described as having an "adorable flower child meets young Kristin Chenoweth vibe" and if that doesn't describe Stella perfectly? In everything I've seen her in, she just radiates stella energy.

Example:

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Flora: Krystina Alabado

Krystina's credits include: Ensemble/Understudy The Extraordinary Girl and Whatsername in American Idiot, Vanden in American Psycho, Gretchen Wieners in Mean Girls, Dot in Pasadena Playhouse's Sunday in the Park With George, Colombina in Hartford Stage's Kiss My Aztec. I've seen some videos of her and I feel like she radiates Flora energy.

Example:

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Tecna: Caitlin Kinnunen

Caitlin's credits include Thea in Spring Awakening, Carolyn in The Bridges of Madison County and Emma Nolan in The Prom, which she was NOMINATED FOR A TONY FOR! She's such an amazing triple threat so, I think she could definately step into the wings of our favorite fairy of technology.

Example:

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Aisha: Lorna Courtney

Lorna's credits include Understudying Zoe Murphy and Alana Beck in Dear Evan Hansen, Rosalia/Understudy Maria in the short lived 2020 revivial of West Side Story and Juliet in &Juliet, which she's in currently AND GOT A TONY NOMINATION FOR! . I've seen her in &Juliet and she's SO good. Her voice? Spectacular? Dancing? On top of it? Acting? A+.

Example:

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Musa: Andrea Macasaet

Andrea's mostly well known for originating the role of Anne Boleyn in the North American Premiere (Chicago, Edmonton, Cambridge, and St. Paul) and Broadway production of Six the Musical, she's most recently in Stratford Festival's production of Rent as Mimi. I've seen her as Boleyn and she is FIERCE! She's also a short queen which definitely reenforces the short!Musa headcanon lets goooo

Example:

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Icy: Renee Rapp

Renee's credits include: Regina George in Mean Girls. She's a Jimmy award winner and is currently releasing music. From what I've seen of her, she's SO talented. Her voice is KILLER. *it also reenforces the Belter!Icy pipeline so hell yeah* She's played a role similar to this so I think she could do a really good job as icy.

Example:

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Darcy: Isabelle McCalla

Isabella's credits include: Jasmine in Aladdin, Megara in Papermill Playhouse's production of Hercules (pictured) , and originating the role of Alyssa Greene in the Broadway production of The Prom. I've seen her in Hercules and she killled it. Her "I Won't Say I'm in Love' is spectacular and she really gave it her all with this material.

Example:

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Stormy: Tiffany Mann

Out of the videos I've seen of her, she has an amazing voice and I really think she has the proper energy from our favorite weather witch. Tiffany's credits include: Ensemble/Understudy Becky and Nurse Norma in Waitress and Jenna Rolan in the Broadway production of Be More Chill (pictured)

Example:

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#winx club #winx bloom #winx stella #winx aisha #winx tecna #winx flora #winx musa #winx icy #winx darcy #winx stormy

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memcrs · 3 months

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꒰ ˚ ( jordan fisher, cis man, he/him ) — 🎬 just announced, nico sharpe has been cast as chad danforth in the upcoming high school musical reboot. the twenty four year old is trending as people are debating if the observant glances, hidden behind a sunshine smile, being friends with everyone, ghost stories told around the campfire, the choice between contentment and endless ambition and long confident strides forward ; no matter the adversities that they are known for is enough to make them as good as original. a quick google search shows that their fans call them felicific, but internet trolls think they’re more heedless. i guess their newest interview for variety where they talk about how he once walked up 10 flights of stairs because there was a lizard in the elevator will let people to know them better.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 : 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂𝐒.

full name: nicholas callum sharpe. nicknames: nico, cole. dob: october 17th. age: 24. birthplace: los angeles, california. current residence: los angeles, california. gender: cis man. orientation: bisexual. languages: english, swedish, french, italian. occupation: actor, musician. education: completed private school. character inspo: chad dylan cooper ( sonny with a chance ), chad danforth ( high school musical ), jake peralta ( b99 ), austin moon ( austin & ally ), andré harris ( victorious ), caleb rivers ( pretty little liars ), nick miller + winston bishop ( new girl ). voice claim: jordan fisher.

𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺.

𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 : the backyardigans : tyrone ( voice ) the good place : chidi anagonye 𝑚𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑒𝑠 : let it shine : cyrus teen beach movie : seacat teen beach 2 : seacat grease! live : doody rent live : mark cohen high school musical reboot : chad danforth 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑟𝑒 : hamilton : aaron burr dear evan hansen : evan hansen hadestown : orpheus

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐖𝐎 : 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘.

our story begins on a windy morning in los angeles, california. after hours in the waiting room, the crying sounds of a baby are heard in the hallway; two parents are welcoming their second son into the world: nicholas. everyone in the sharpe family was awaiting that moment. only a couple hours born and the sound of endless laughter fills the room, turning into a permanent echo in nico’s head. his parents were both enthused, even though nico wasn’t their first child his arrival was a gift for both of them and their little growing family. it took the couple about six years to have another child after their firstborn due to a never ending share of complications. both sides of the families were concerned that they weren’t going to look for more kids — something that, for whatever reason, was a horrifying thought — since the couple never publicly shared their relationship struggles. luckily for them, and the couple, things turned around for the better.

now, the first few years of nico’s life, he never truly understood what he had managed to find himself in. having no concept of fame or stardom, being kept away from the flashes of cameras for as long as he can remember. it wasn’t until he entered kindergarten that he started to slowly grasp a bit more of that world. despite this, nico’s early childhood remains pretty close to his heart. his parents were wonderful, even though they always seemed to be busy with their careers yet none of their children ever truly felt like they were totally absent in their lives. sure, sometimes they would miss a school play or two, but they were pros at distributing the absences between the two of them equally ( if his mom wasn't there, his dad would be and viceversa ).

jumping ahead to when he was in college, he had already been eyeing the world of acting and performing, a very vivid memory of his mom taking him on a ‘ bring your son to work ’ kind of day and seeing her in her element first-hand, plays in his mind again and again. seeing the way she took over the character and made it her own, basically transforming in front of his very eyes. that was the time where he felt enamored by theater. after that, he just wanted to be on the screen and performing.

after years of taking many, many classes and being casted for short commercials; at the age of 18, nico with the help of his parents signed into an agency. pretty shortly, he was getting all kinds of auditions for all different types of shows and commercials. after a few rejections, he started getting call backs saying he got the part. they were all very small at the start, given his lack of experience yet, he constantly received praises for how much of a natural he was in front of the cameras. jumping ahead to 2016, he got casted for the role of chidi in nbc’s show, the good place; his big break. this was the first step into trying to create his own name and identity away from his parents. he was proud of being a sharpe, but, the expectations of the last name were, at one point, very suffocating.

aside from acting, nico devoted most of his teenage years into dancing and singing. showing his incline for music and art in various forms since he was a kid. he remembers the first time he went to a broadway show with his mom, they went to watch aladdin. now, the kid loved aladdin as well, but something about the energy, the performance, the visuals happened to take over everything for him. suddenly, life felt very much like a that's so raven vision, he could envision himself in a stage like that in the future and the idea of that was magical. he never knew you could get so much euphoria from a dream. so, he started looking into doing musicals. with this, he started sending resumes whenever auditions for a new musical would be announced. this lead to him getting casted in a few musicals such as grease where he was casted as doody, and rent where he was casted as mark cohen. after the good place ended, he continued doing a lot of musicals such as hamilton where he got casted as aaron burr and hadestown as orpheus.

in the midst of all his musicals and movies, he also began to start up his singing career outside of musicals. he started uploading videos of song covers to youtube, as well as working on his own singles as an artist. aside from this, he also worked on various soundtracks of different movies. eventually, he ended up releasing his first EP to the public. we’re now in the present and things continue to look up to nico. having recently getting offered the role of chad danforth in the netflix’s high school musical reboot.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄 : 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘.

if you look up the definition of extrovert in the dictionary, nico's face would show up. he is an incredibly social person, someone who is desperate to know what you’re thinking or what are the things that make you move. incredibly expressive, he kind of wears his emotions on his sleeve, he doesn't hide what he is feeling. he always tries to be the person in the room to make the dumbest joke if he senses that the air gets the tiniest bit tense so as to lighten up the vibe. he is a perfectionist and super self-critical, he’s probably his #1 hater in the sense that he always thinks he needs to try harder, like he’s not doing enough. he could be doing a summersault on stage and it could come out being incredible but he would still say ‘ i need to try harder, let me do it again ‘, it’s somehow never good enough for him, he’s really critical of his work and performance. whereas with other artists he thinks anything they do is out of this world. holds himself at an unrealistic high standard that he thinks he never reaches. he is a very people driven person, very empathetic, can sort of be an emotional barometer for everyone around him. loves making connections with people, has a very deep desire to be liked therefore is incredibly sensitive to feedback whether it is positive or negative, obviously negative feedback affects him way more than the positive still not knowing how to not let it get to him as bad as it does. he's very emotionally in tune when it comes to other people and being open with others about their emotions, he loves connecting emotionally with others. he doesn't try nor hides how he feels, being very upfront with his emotions. if he's angry or sad, he'll let you know and you'll definitely see it. he is a very calm person, he doesn't let anyone or anything disturb his peace. he prefers to not give other people that much power over him. in a emergency situation you can always count on him to keep his cool at all times. never one to emotionally explode, not because he's ashamed to show that or is unable to express that but because he thinks that not everything is worth or deserves a reaction. so, if he's gonna exhaust himself emotionally, it has to be for a good and deserving reason. he is constantly challenging himself, whether that is going out of his comfort zone both profesionally and personally or experimenting with new things, he hates feeling like he is stuck or trapped, so anything that gives him the sensation of adventure, release or change is incredibly important to him. he likes to pretend like he doesn’t catch feelings but he actually does so ridiculously fast, this clip defines him. when it comes to relationships, he doesn’t really care about privacy unless we’re talking about really meaningful, intense relationships; those he actually protects from everybody with a lock & key. but anything that he might consider foolish and meaningless, he doesn't really invest that much time or deep care for.

𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 : 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒.

best friends:

ride or die:

ex - flings ( could've ended good or bad )

pr relationship:

flirtationship:

frenemies:

unlikely friends:

good / bad influence:

someone he just can't seem to click with, no matter how hard he tries, they just don't get along:

one sided crush:

#2000s.intro

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evanbutnothansen · 4 months

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intro bc im literally autistic and forgot

general info about me

evan, 22, musical theatre major at bowling green state university, class of 25'.

he/him, gay male

generally just on tumblr to make friends, but i guess i'm here to , be chronically online, i guess.

yes i say theatre instead of theater what you gonna do about it

ok thats enough of that

now time for the actually interesting stuff!!

FANDOMS!!

dear evan hansen

heathers

i play stardew valley sometimes, i would consider myself in the fandom

#MUSIC!!

i'm not really a big fan of cast recordings, but i listen to them occasionally

kanye west ( i know that's controversial, but hear me out )

mitski

tyler, the creator

lana del rey

i know this is random but bhad bhabie ( she got me through high school )

rihanna

conan gray

bo burnham

boygenius

mccafferty

ice spice

justin bieber

arctic monkeys

zach bryan

carrie underwood

pheobe bridgers

lil uzi

so yeah!!

be my friend!!!!!!!!!!

if you read this whole thing i'm sorry

#intro post #pinned post #info #idk how to tag this #real

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fanfalc-616 · 2 years

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Okay so a long time ago I made this post about songs for Ninjago characters and some ships,,, but brain went brrrr apparently so uh yeah I have some for the seasons of the show. To clarify now: this is just canon stuff. I actually have playlists for hcs and fan stuff but,,, yeah this is just canon (Pilots to s7, in the order of events), even the annoying parts lol

The break is again to be nice because I know how annoying scrolling can be-

Pilots-Season 1:

(OG Four) Nights Fall by Dove Cameron

(OG Four) The Story of Tonight from Hamilton

(Lloyd) You’re Gonna Know My Name by Watt White

(Lloyd) Horrible Kids by Set It Off

(OG Four) Dance With The Devil by Breaking Benjamin

(Nya) Waiting For A Miracle from Encanto

(Lloyd) Myself by NEFFEX

(Nya) Defying Gravity by Glee Cast

(Lloyd) Good Kid by Rob Rokicki

(Cole) Anybody Have A Map? from Dear Evan Hansen

(Zane) Show Yourself from Frozen 2

(Jay) Life Afraid by Set It Off

(Cole) Surface Pressure from Encanto

(Cole) Scars To Your Beautiful by Alessia Cara

(Garmadon [@ Kai]) bad guy by Billie Eilish

(Kai) Believer by Imagine Dragons

(Kai) On My Own by Ashes Remain

(Serpentine) Monsters by Ruelle

Season 2:

(Lloyd) When I Am Older by Josh Gad

(Bizarros) Ways to Be Wicked by Dove Cameron

(Kai [@ Lloyd]) You’re Gonna Go Far, Kid by The Offspring

(Lloyd) Hourglass by Set It Off

(OG Four [@ Lloyd]) Hall of Fame by The Script

(Kai [@ Lloyd]) No Place Like Home by Todrick Hall

(Lloyd) This Is Me from The Greatest Showman

Season 3:

(Ninja) Eye of the Storm by The Fold

(Ninja) Spinning Out in Color by The Fold

(Jay [@ Cole]) Thank You by Simple Plan

(Lloyd) Mechanical Instinct by Aviators

(OG Four) Full Digital by The Fold

(Dark Nindroids [@ Zane]) Mangled by NateWantsToBattle

(Zane) Tokyo Ghoul by None Like Joshua

(Zane) After the Blackout by The Fold

Season 4:

(Jay & Kai & Cole) Never Really Over by Katy Perry

(Jay & Kai & Cole & Lloyd) Back to Ninjago by The Fold

(Zane) Imprisoned by Makeyla

(Kai [@ Skylor]) Freak Like Me by Hollywood Ending

(All) Enter the Tournament by The Fold

(Kai [@ Skylor]) X Games by Au/Ra

(Ninja & Elemental Alliance) Courtesy Call by Thousand Foot Krunch

(Ninja & Elemental Alliance) World’s Collide by League of Legends

Season 5:

(Morro) Queen of Mean by Sarah Jeffery

(Lloyd) Mind is a Prison by Alec Benjamin

(Morro) Empire by Beth Crowley

(Cole & Nya) Monsters by Timeflies

(Lloyd) War Over Me by Papa Roach

(Ghosts) The Finale by NateWantsToBattle

(Nya) Fight Song by Rachel Platten

Season 6:

(Jay [@ Nya]) How To Be Friends by Martin Jesper

(Ninja) Outlaws by Au/Ra

(Ninja) Bring on the Pirates by The Fold

(Jay) I Said Hi by Amy Shark

(Jay) Pity Party by Melanie Martinez

(Nadakhan [@ Ninja]) Friend Like Me/Friends on the Other Side by Scott & Ryceejo

(Jay) The Next Right Thing from Frozen 2

(Ninja) Russian Roulette by Tungevaag

(Jay) Be Careful What You Wish For by Written by Wolves

(Jay) Die Trying by Art of Dying

(Jay) Start Again by Ryan Dolan

DotD:

(Morro & Cole) Paradise by RIELL

(Cole) Ghost by Au/Ra

(Ninja) Day of the Departed by The Fold

(Cole) Close the Circle by The Fold

(Cole) Bring Me Back to Life by Ht Bristol

Season 7:

(Hands of Time & Vermillion) Rise of the Vermillion by The Fold

(Ninja) The Time is Now by The Fold

(Kai [@ Ray & Maya]) All You Had To Do Was Stay by Taylor Swift

(Kai [@ Ray & Maya]) Blood // Water by grandson

#ninjago #ninjago songs #ninjago music #music #ninjago pilots #ninjago season 1 #ninjago season 2 #ninjago season 3 #ninjago season 4 #ninjago season 5 #ninjago season 6 #ninjago season 7

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octolingo-writes · 2 years

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JRWI Characters and what musicals I think they’d like (going purely from what musicals I’m familiar with so this might be biased and I apologize)

Gillion feels like the kind of guy to like the Phantom of the Opera, purely because the music style seems like it would REALLY appeal to him (it’s loud!! And it’s more traditional operatic music which I also feel would fit him). Plus, the Phantom doesn’t win which Gill would appreciate (I think Pretzel would like it too).

Chip I think would be a Music Man fan, or Guys and Dolls. Stuff with lots of chorus-y parts and fun dancing. Music Man has tap dancing which I think Chip would really enjoy, plus the main character in MM is a scammer/traveling salesman and Chip could probably relate. I know a lot less about GaD, but it’s purely a vibes thing. The music seems like Chip would like it.

Jay, I think, would be a fan of more “traditional” musicals, but not to the degree of Phantom. She’d be more fond of Wicked, for example. I think she’d probably be reminded of her sister a lot watching that show, which could either be a good or a bad thing. And Wicked has some really cool special effects that I think Jay would really like, given her knack for inventions.

These two aren’t PCs but I feel obligated to do them anyways: Lizzy and Caspian would be Heathers and Les Mis fans, respectively. Heathers is loud and super fun and swears a lot (lmao) which feels like the type of music Lizzy could get behind. I think she’d like singing along with Veronica’s parts, she seems like she’d sound a lot like Veronica when she sings. With Caspian, I feel like Les Mis is a very elegant musical, and Caspian is a very elegant character. I think it would be the kind of musical to make him cry honestly. And it’s similar to opera, which I feel like would be popular in the Undersea.

I’m not going to do ALL the other JRWI PCs, that would take forever (I might do them later but not now). I’ll list a few if they seem very obvious:

Harlem would like Hamilton. It’s a rap musical, and it’s we know Harlem is a fan of rap. I think he’d cry when Phillip dies, not that he’ll admit it. Also, Legally Blonde! I think he’d be super embarrassed that he likes it so much, but it’s got the crazy, overdramatic vibe that he would like in a musical. I’m not sure if there are disco-style musicals, but if there were he would love those.

Br’aad and Sylnan would both be Beetlejuice fans. This is partly cause I saw an animatic of them with “Dead Mom” as the song and it killed me inside, but I think they would like it! Br’aad would definitely appreciate the humor, and both of them can relate to unlikable father figures (understatement). Sylnan might also be a Les Mis fan cause he can relate to the poverty-stricken lifestyle a little more than Br’aad, and I think Cosette would probably remind him of Katherine.

Alastyr would like The Addams Family. It’s got a super weird cast of characters I think he would enjoy, plus, super fun music! It’s not so serious that it would be a downer to watch but it’s got a message hidden under all that eyeliner and tango dancing. I think he’d like Wednesday a lot.

Taxi strikes me as Dear Evan Hansen kind of guy. While I personally don’t like DEH that much, I think the emotional-ness of it would really appeal to Taxi, and as far as I know there aren’t a lot of really loud and angry songs (besides “Good For You”). I don’t know if he would fully relate to Evan, but he could certainly sympathize.

Rumi/Elaina would like Six or Phantom. I think they’d like dramatic musicals with a lot of strong characters, and Six absolutely has a cast of strong female characters Rumi could get behind. Phantom, on the other hand, would be a relatable one for them. The Phantom’s whole character is that he hides behind a mask, and Rumi is literally a shapeshifter. Plus, they would love all the costumes in that show.

Dakota, and this may be a hot take, would like Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I just feel like all the bright colors and the different song styles would be really eye-catching for him, plus, it’s got some humor! I think he’d like the Pharaoh character especially (Pharaoh is based off Elvis in that musical and he’s hilarious).

Well, that’s it for now! I tried not to repeat multiple times, so I hope I didn’t make any far reaches. Feel free to comment or reblog with your own ideas; I’d love to see them! I was working with my musical knowledge, which is a bit lacking at times. I’m not too familiar with some of the classics. Thanks for sticking around to read all these :D! Hope it was worth your time!

#jrwi #jrwishow #octo posts #jrwi riptide #jrwi fated #jrwi convergence #jrwi apotheosis #jrwi pd

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unproduciblesmackdown · 11 months

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My priorities might be skewed, but my first thought after seeing that post addressing crazy musical disk-horse was, 'oh no, i'm gonna have to stop going in the Great Comet tag for a while.' I simply refuse to perceive discourse, i will make it wash over my brain like water off a ducks back.

My second thought was that ppl really gloss over 2020 as thee tony's musical snub year. the percy jackson musical probably wasn't good (haven't listened), but like. they refused to nominate it for leading role even though it was one of two musicals that qualified that year, giving it to the other by default. They changed the definition of best original score just so they could avoid nominating it. legitimately hilarious levels of haterism.

it's Unserious to approach some media analysis (like that one musical of an awards season was the objective worthiest one for any given category, much less Best overall, the vaguest) as though one theory is the Definitively Correct one. versus that it's an argument that could be backed up and hold up to figurative peer review, and even then, it'll always have limits and not be like "objectively" all-encompassingly accurate

it's also Unserious to say some shit like "great comet should've won best musical or gotten as many awards or swept or something....because dear / evan hansen is basically trump"

imo thee tony awards? are pretty much Unserious too. it Is enjoyable when any awards institutions recognize anyone or anything in ways that seem to reflect some actual value, and that would always be arguable / subjective / up for debate, but the major awards groups especially do not seem "good" at doing this, or "trying" to be. as a deh enjoyer and deh [head in hands wishing it was different b/c xyz criticisms &/or disagreements with concepts they were trying to execute, and executions of concepts....but i'm doing it better & differently than like "deh is bad, evan is evil" or "pretty much any of the movie criticism"]er, i'm not like, mad that it was tony-acclaimed. i also would not be mad if they hadn't really won stuff, i also wasn't following the show at that time lol. i also believe great comet had to close not long afterward, didn't it? after some kind of casting shakeups that many people did not really see as It? i don't know about the show; i don't like, disagree with anyone who likes it more than deh, and/or thinks it was Better, b/c i have no info of my own, and i would not have Serious arguments in saying "no, deh is better, factually, nobody should think otherwise"

like, first of all like you're saying, to have Lost to deh in the tonys is to have been nominated at all. nothing got tlt's treatment, ever, and that was just more ridiculously out in the open than any snub in any other season could have been....but second of all, i also have to imagine some of the beef w/deh winning so many tonys instead is that the main thing the tonys do is give featured / awarded shows boosts; it's always talked about as that important Commercial event for broadway, when getting to broadway & staying on broadway is incredibly difficult, incredibly complex, incredibly expensive....reminded of it in that it seems the televised tonys getting a waiver so they could happen at all was at all for the sake of supporting the performers' careers by extension of the tonys being that commercial for broadway & a potential box office boost. probably having your show close not long after the tonys were largely about deh was unfortunate for said show & fans of it. but it's also not like winning even Best Musical has meant that that show will remain open for even another full year; afaik deh was also really buzzy Before the tonys, even if that solidified that further / was indeed another boost. and it's like....deh didn't make them make them win lol. much less did the material in deh....somehow result in a tonys win in Any Way comparable to a US presidential election candidate??? It's Fully Unserious

the only time i paid attention to a tony season while it was happening was in 2019, as a bmc enjoyer, so that was a real illuminating crash course, and ofc i have that Unamused Emoticon perspective about like. a situation in which it's very evident that that wasn't just like oh this one other musical which is its Nemesis (fr i don't even remember what all won / was nominated instead) but rather deliberately being shut out. the One nomination was, aptly, nominal, like "well you see, you've been acknowledged at all;" the off the shits unasked unwarned mitb parody that didn't give credit while the show couldn't actually do any performance is like....idk what that was, or who it was for, Everyone Hated That. again, the show having to close not long after was also not fun for anyone; even if in retrospect it's somewhat tempered by like, that was august of 2019, so they only could've had so many more months of it anyways, but that doesn't change things At The Time. i also don't need to believe bmc was inarguably thee best most successful show of the season, i can't do that, nobody can. i think it's a way stronger piece than deh, i like it more, i like the concepts & execution more. i don't need it to have won awards, i don't even need to think any given show "deserved" more than any others to have a longer run when it's all so expensive and difficult and precarious at the best of times. like, here we are, after bway phantom of the opera had to close.

which, i never saw beetlejuice in any iteration, much less the musical. i may not ever, b/c i have never been interested in other iterations lol. but it was like, nodding respectfully re: it being another show that season that the nyt (also a vastly Unserious realm of critical media analysis) hated, that evidently the tonys also barely wanted to acknowledge....that then had the added layer of like, what do you mean hugh jackman music man. great for them that they got to reopen anyways, i do not need to love the show myself or think that this is all Art Meritocracy out here re: who gets to stay open for how long, or close. i don't know anything about the lightning thief, i don't need to think "well it wasn't that good" nor "well it was amazing so this is an Objective outrage," i think that the tonys are Unserious for evidently being unwilling to ""consider"" (for as much as i think that the Consideration of various awards voting bodies is, itself, that Serious either (i don't)), much less platform, the show, even if i thought it was Bad or Disliked it. there were like 0.8 damn musicals that season. aaron tveit default win. no original scores nominated thusly. tony voters/producers and nyt criticasters going "idk i don't think i personally liked it, might've assumed going in what it was Like or About and didn't engage with it, maybe didn't bother seeing it or paying attention while i did" and that gets to be a cue for who gets money; it's about their institutional power transferring their Arbitrary stances into material impacts, versus their Supposed efforts of Arbiters Of "Taste"....while also like, broken clocks and [only so many musicals any given year], many people will Like many of the musicals up for nominations lol and be mad or glad at any winners/losers/completely ignored eligible shows

oh have to shoutout another instance of the tonys Unseriousness: bitching and moaning about how they just caaan't change their rules rn to make All categories nongendered. great stuff.

anyways just like, nothing new in people trying to posit their preferences as Objectively Superior based on an argument of morality? and it's like, i'm sure there are people who are like "wow yeah uh evan hansen is as bad as a fascist politician. he's lying and manipulating, and that is close enough" and earnest about it but like, is it close enough, and is that an Serious analysis of the actual material? No....and like, sure, have opinions and preferences based on an Ethical Stance, god i hope you do, but like, you have to be able to communicate that stance in a way that actually is based on shit and holds up at all, versus just vibes or making shit up to obfuscate what you Really think. which can just be "i'm mad that this show closed and didn't win tonys and didn't become this hypey breakout cultural phenomenon in ways that many broadway shows generally Do Not anyways" without like, legitimizing anger and even show grief by making it a stance like "and deh is basically trump >:(" lmfao like, it's already legitimate to have a preference or emotional investment in something you enjoy / has significance for you

i am not here for / don't seek out or absorb any & all rando Takes anyways, but in being here alongside [bmc bway is happening] like even peripherally i was aware of people also having preferences / feelings that had a shit basis lol like. that basically they're pissed that will roland was cast and this is because of thinking that in various ways his body was Worse than will connolly's (i honestly forget if it's one or two L's in his last name....yeah two right) and really what made this very clear is that nobody was actually willing to Say That, and instead would make up stuff about how this was a Serious And Objective Stance they were taking based on Artistic Merit. suddenly it was an urgent issue of newly saying that will roland is bad at singing (or the backhanded constant comments like "wow will r's so much better at singing now" on videos and Only re: will like, yeah his skill levels are only giving more cunt as time goes on, that's effort, increased experience, etc, applies to any & everyone else generally too...?) or suddenly bmc was stuntcasting b/c will roland was in deh (lol) or like this is the only time a role has been recast between productions, or even During....god knows that "someone who originated the role didn't stay with it forever," as is especially & often relevant w/indefinitely-running (over)demanding bway productions, is an eternal source of people who have preemptively decided that whoever replaces them is Objectively Worse, and will just make up whatever story serves that purpose. some anon once tried to hate on sky lakota-lynch to me, presumably as a will roland aficionado, b/c he was the next jared kleinman principal actor....like, what, you want Nobody in that role?? as, after Years as jared, an actor chooses to leave to be a lead in another show (that they personally like more as an audience member / preexisting fan lol)....also, they were racist about it. like absolutely you can prefer Whatever. you can be like "haha yeah i'm just always going to prefer This and it's not necessarily about like making sure i couldn't Possibly like another version as much or more" like, you don't have to. better for anyone to embrace that they just think [xyz] is neatest to them personally. i have no reason to think will connolly was "bad" as jeremy, i hear it was a different approach too in being a bit more fragile(tm) / Sad, great if you like that, i'm sure he can sing well, i heard a few pre obcr tracks, etc etc, i'm not interested lol like i've showed up via this one actor for these couple productions and That Is My Domain. i think it's shitty to be fatphobic & biased against people's bodies which does include their voices, and it's bullshitting to make up some narrative to cover for it where oh suddenly this person is just unskilled or an Unworthy Stuntcast. it's Unserious, it's also like just some real life shittiness, whereas fictional character evan hansen is not affected by "lying? an extremely broad phenomenon that is actually All 'being a lil too fashy for my tastes imo...'" and it is more difficult to imagine such a stance being relevant in ppl's lives in other applications, but that is also Unserious. if people have a serious thought out idea, they should be able to express that rather than expressing some deflection about "deh should've lost b/c that was like the 2016 US presidential election" or "will connolly should be jeremy in all iterations b/c this other guy i'm seething at now has only existed as: in deh"

anyways like point is that yeah like sure entirely possible great comet was the best musical on broadway that season (even though i don't think there can be any Definitive conclusion thusly. how do we assess that....and do we want to have to like, pit all shows in a medium/genre together? with inevitable limitations &/or restrictions on who gets to choose winners?) but you don't even have to be mad at deh or make it about being mad about something else entirely for no reason. can be mad that the tonys get to make or break shows, that putting on shows is so expensive, that [capitalism], can even just be mad b/c you really liked it and you don't have to put on some more ""legitimate"" argument; it's its own argument lol, it's also an outright subjective & individual one and we can be individuals with preferences and likes even without having studied every other possibly comparable work to make sure it's superior, and Not be like "actually any & everyone else could Also only possibly think / feel the same, so really my having a fave musical lately Transcends being the opinion of one person." we can indeed even pick any two shows or whatever else and compare them, or have a critical lens and do anything but believe something is so univerally Perfect that there's not even anything to say or even question. meanwhile it's also definitely rough that live theatre is all Ephemeral and limited in distribution, but if there's enough out there about a show to be the basis of knowing that you like it, you still have that. bmc trt loyalists can stick with the ocr / relevant boots lol.

and yeah the realest Most Wronged show is the lightning thief lol truly. not even b/c you have to feel You love it or it Deserved to run for years or make it to Broadway in the first place, but like, just evidently the tonys are some nonsense, let's make That argument together, as well as the nyt, and in my Onion the overall format of "one individual critic expounding" is also not our best most serious effort at thorough consideration of some material, nor what makes it most useful for people who want to know about that material Through you....it's mostly entertainment, and it's also bad at being entertainment. we can all enjoy a good Disrespecting The Tonys B/c They Earned That together, wherein if they really don't want to recognize your show they Will just refuse to give it nominations no matter what. you can go "i think great comet > deh" or "i think great comet's awards-worthiness in comparison to all other shows that season > deh's" and not go "deh <<<< because when characters lie that makes them like an irl fascist" b/c what?? and no it does not lol

like gotta shoutout that i definitely disagree on points w/other Deh Likers and Deh Haters b/c of course i would. i have no inherent disagreement w/great comet likers b/c of course i wouldn't. and even if i'm sure by now "can you believe that (the 2017 tonys)" is a bit old, it's like, how is that gonna be Enriching to hear discussed some more if it's not saying (a) anything at all or (b) essentially not saying anything b/c saying "characters shouldn't lie, and if they do, it's like being authoritarian in real life" is truly too Unserious to bother entertaining as a [this is why i think this other show should've won] stance here, much less absorbing

#i'm out here like ''this thing i enjoy? is a solo activity save for the one person i talk about it with'' like #you dislike it? like it differently? okay. this is not relevant to me nor my having fun w/my individual experience.#not seeking out other's input nor aiming to; what; have my specificass niche enjoyment & takes align w/everyone else's possible ever??#anyways one is never hoping for [oh lord; Not This in the tag]

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kutnerx5 · 10 months

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Review #2: Mean Girls (Broadway)

To be honest, I was never a big fan of the original Mean Girls. I didn't grow up on it, and the people I hung out with weren't big on those types of movies either. So, neither nostalgia nor good memories were attached to the film. Then, once I got older and finally watched it, all I saw was another chick flick or boring teenager film that completely skewed my expectations of what high school was going to be like. Subsequently, my feelings going into this musical were nervous with a mix of high hopes due to societal influence. However, I was pleasantly surprised.

It was definitely not bad. Actually, it was pretty damn good. The music was really catchy and none of the vocals were grating or annoying. All of the songs were unique but still consistent, and I could actually understand what was going on all throughout. I enjoyed the choices they made both musically and within the cast, each keeping me actively involved in the story as I listened. However, it is fairly difficult to see the plot as anything but a modern, poor-man's Heathers, a belief I have held for a very long time. It really does not help that Barrett Wilbert Weed plays both Veronica in Heathers the Musical and Janis in this. The overall musical styles in both productions are extremely similar as well, making it even more difficult to separate the two. Plus, all of the characters in the story are just generally unlikeable? I will admit that you can 100% write a compelling plot with overall unlikeable characters (ex: Dear Evan Hansen) but the story in this is just not strong enough to compensate for that.

The musical was good, really good. The music was great and the plot was decent (once you view it outside of Heathers), but I really wouldn't consider it great enough to write home for.

My Top 3: World Burn; Apex Predator; Someone Gets Hurt (Reprise)

Soundtrack

#mean girls musical #no spoilers

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jelliclekay · 2 years

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what's your honest opinion of cats 2019

Alright fine, I'll bite and answer this. But warning anon, if you're thinking I'm going to just completely trash Cats 2019 here, you're mistaken.

Like a lot of us in the fandom, I got into Cats because of the 2019 movie. Not because of the movie itself, but because of Sideways' video essay on it. His praise of the stage musical got me interested in watching Cats 1998 and the rest is history. Obviously his video is negative about the movie from music aspect of the movie, and I do agree with a lot of what he had to say. There are aspects of the movie musically wise that I do not like, but there are also musical performances I like fine and have on my Cats playlist.

I'm not touching the CGI here. The general public has shit on the CGI to the point that there's nothing more I can or even want to say on it.

I don't think Tom Hooper is a good director when it comes to musicals. I think he lacks the understanding of why people enjoy musicals, and he even more did not understand the source material when making Cats 2019.

That said, I don't hate the movie. I've seen it twice and while I don't have a desire to watch it again, it is nowhere near as bad as critics or the general public try and make it out to be.

I love Jason Derulo's version of The Rum Tum Tugger and listen to it all the time (I may be biased here because I'm just a fan of Jason Derulo's music in general but whatever he killed it). Steven McRae's performance as Skimbleshanks was amazing and Skimble doing a tap dance to sound like a train engine start up was fucking brilliant.

While I prefer the more upbeat arrangement for Mungojerrie & Rumpleteazer compared to the slower jazz version, I still thought Naoimh Morgan and Danny Collins did great and the entire sequence with Victoria was fun to watch.

I also have a lot of love for the casting of Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy, I thought casting her was really sweet and a smart decision, her performance aside.

So yeah. I don't think Cats 2019 is great and I do much prefer the stage musical. But the hate it got was so undeserved and I have a lot of compassion for the performers, crew and animators who put so much work into it only to have it dragged through the mud. Plus, there are objectively worse movie musicals in my opinion that don't get nearly the same amount of vitriolic hatred as Cats (Dear Evan Hansen, for example).

Which leads me to my next point here. There are a lot of anons going around in this fandom dissing Cats 2019. I've gotten a few myself about how Cats 2019 is bad and how the stage version is so much better. While you are certainly entitled to this opinion, a reminder that Cats, both the movie and the stage version, is still seen as a joke to the musical theater community. Just being in the Cats fandom and loving the stage version is going to have some people thinking you're weird or cringe because of how low an opinion theater people have on the show. I get Cats 2019 soured a lot of the general public's opinions on Cats, but being like "Oh well the movie is bad I only like the stage version it's so much better" isn't going to change that a lot of people outside the fandom think Cats is cringe/weird/confusing/bad.

I deal with people like this in my real life all the time. I have a co-worker who loves musicals who ranted to me about how bad Cats is. I have friends who try and get me to listen to different musicals because they are "so much better than Cats." I had to see my local theater be filled with hate comments when they announced Cats as one of their shows for the season. It's annoying and frustrating. You aren't better for being in the Cats fandom and hating the movie. Just let people in the fandom have fun and block the 2019 tag if you genuinely hate it that much.

#this ended up long idk what happened #anyways dont ask me about cats 2019 again #unless it's about jason derulo tugger you can send me as many asks about him as you want

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hereliesbeetlejuice · 2 years

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wait why do you not want a proshot of this show? just wanna know cause you’re the only blog whose beetlejuice opinions i trust

oof ok. i didn’t wanna get into it cause i know it’s gonna be an unpopular opinion but like this is so kind?? so i’ll share for you beloved anon <3

(obligatory these-are-my-personal-feelings-and-opinions-based-on-my-own-experiences-with-the-show-and-not-objective-facts-that-i-expect-everyone-to-agree-with disclaimer !!!)

first off just wanna clarify if we do end up getting a proshot (and i have VERY strong suspicions that we will) i won’t be upset or anything i just really, really wish they had been able to film it before the shutdown like they’d planned, for a lot of reasons.

the show of course is a little different now, not so much in terms of the book or songs just small little updates made here and there in terms of the jokes, performances, etc. and 2019-2020 was this show’s peak in popularity, when it was huge on tiktok and selling at 103% capacity. a lot of us fans stuck around for re-opening but for the general public two whole years had passed by so they kinda moved onto other things (as shown in the difference in ticket sales). so for those that aren’t avid longtime fans to get excited about the pro-shot it would probably have to be the same exact show everyone was excited about in 2019, but it won’t be to them

and that’s not necessarily a bad thing, i think some evolvement is good to keep the show fresh. but the way i see it they could’ve either totally revamped and revitalized it or kept it the exact same and instead they went with this weird noncommittal in-between? where yea it’s different but nothing was really added to it. just enough for old fans to say a few “hey that’s new”s but nothing that made it better for new fans. and imo the show since re-opening has seemed to be very much aimed towards the old fans that stuck around from the Before Times. i feel like they relied too heavily on the show’s pre-pandemic popularity and assumed the exact same audience would be the ones coming back post-pandemic. it’s hard to explain but a lot of the small changes, line deliveries, how jokes play out, it feels like they’re switching it up to keep them new and fresh so it’s fun to hear it differently if you know the show but if it’s your first time it’s maybe not,, the best way? sorta feels like they had it right the first time and then felt like they had to switch it up to keep it from getting repetitive to the returning fans (that probably makes no sense it’s hard to put into words idk)

but ANYWAY there’s also of course the sad fact that a lot of the more casual fans will inevitably be disappointed that it’s not the entire OBC, there’s gonna be a lot of unfair comparisons to the actors that originated the roles because the songs won’t sound exactly like the cast album which is what people are used to, i worry that it won’t be received very well by a lot of people.

all this along with other nitpicky things. i think the new makeup design is literally horrid and it’ll look even worse in HD. alex’s character voice has shifted with all of the voiceover work he’s done since the shutdown. i have my personal casting preferences that don’t perfectly align with the current cast though i don’t mind it it’s just not my favorite cast we’ve ever had and not the one i would’ve preferred to be filmed (but i still love and adore them ALL)

tldr; i don’t think a proshot of the current show would be received as well as it would’ve been if it had been filmed when it was originally supposed to and i worry that a negative reception will impact ticket sales (like the dear evan hansen movie), which we can’t afford. although i love the current show it’s definitely not my favorite version so it’s not how i’d ideally like it to be memorialized, and it’s not the version i’d choose to be a lot of people’s first introduction to the show when imo it used to be better BUT i won’t complain either way, this show will still always be my whole damn heart and soul 💜

#i wish i had time to make this a little more coherent but here’s my jumble of thoughts sorry if it made no sense #don’t get me wrong tho i’m PSYCHED the show is back and it and everyone involved in it still own my entire ass #i speak #ask #anonymous

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