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moonwest · 5 years

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Belated Thoughts on Norma Jeane Baker of Troy

I’m going to try to be honest and not let my tremendous admiration for both Ben and Renée Fleming cloud my review of the play and my reaction to it.

I saw the play twice. I had purchased a really good seat for April 26, and arrived in NY April 24. I spent the afternoon sitting in the sun at Bryant Park and walking the High Line (highly recommend doing both!) and of course the High Line starts (or ends) at Hudson Yards, so naturally I had to scope out the lay of the land and explore The Shed that first day. Completely on the spur of the moment I asked if there were any cheap seats for that evening and there were, in the very last row but one, so I went for it.

For anyone who may be going in this last week (and I apologize for writing this up so late) I would recommend paying more money and sitting closer to the stage if possible. The play is dimly lit and while the acoustics were fine, I missed a number of visual details sitting so far away. The theatre sits 500 people and is basically a black box – very stark (though the seats are comfortable enough). Sightlines were fine and the sound was very clear – as I said, it was really more the distance and low lighting than anything else that were a bit of a challenge.

There is no stage door per se. If you’re lucky (like I was), the performers exit via the escalator into the lobby bar area, and that’s your chance to meet them.

I can understand why some people have struggled with the play – it’s not a typical linear story, and it’s a spoken poem - not at all a naturalistic dialogue between two people. And I think a number of audience members were made uncomfortable seeing a male actor slowly transform into a woman – both nights I could feel a palpable shift in attention when the corset and padding came out.

I had the great pleasure of seeing Anne Carson’s Bakkhai in 2015 so I knew there would be a lot of both poetic and sung language – which is certainly delivered here. And because I was completely unfamiliar with the Helen of Euripides, it really helped to have read the play – which I did before seeing it again Friday night.

All that to say – while on first viewing I might not have understood every nuance of the text, I certainly got the gist of it: how women – their lives and stories – are so often controlled, co-opted and distorted by men, and no matter the time or place, there is something familiar and heartbreaking in seeing this play out over and over again. In many ways Ben and Renée are ciphers – almost acting as chorus telling this story rather than distinct characters with fully realized stories of their own. Why is Ben’s character dictating a new version of Helen? What is thge story behind his burn scars? Why is he obsessed with Marilyn Monroe and her link to Helen, to the point where he becomes her/their persona? Why does he feel so deeply for these women? Why is Renée’s character so desperate for money that she agrees to transcribe his words in secret and after midnight on New Year’s Eve? What is in her that reacts so strongly to his transformation that in the very act of witnessing she becomes complicit and tenderly compassionate?

I don’t think we’re meant to know any of these things – and honestly that didn’t bother me a bit. I was drawn in and mesmerized throughout. Some of the language, simple as it is, is so beautiful and rings so sadly true, as expressed by them both. There’s humour and tragedy and deep rage here, and wow – as performers they absolutely nail it.

Renée’s voice is almost otherworldly in its richness, strength, grace and sheer generosity, and to have the privilege of seeing her live in a smallish theatre was a privilege I don’t take lightly. There is a reason she is so highly regarded in the music world, and people around me the second night were marvelling that she had agreed to do this when she can so easily command huge audiences in opera houses and concert halls worldwide.

And oh Ben – the way he moves his body and the change in tone of his voice as he becomes Helen/Marilyn/Persephone is wry, funny, graceful, sexy, moving, tragic and impossible to ignore. @a-forger-and-a-point-man commented in her review how he commands the stage and is just spectacular in every way (she’s much more eloquent than I could ever hope to be). And yes – on a purely shallow physical note he does not disappoint! I don’t think even at my best my waist was ever that small. And yes he really can sing and the guts it must take to do a duet with Renée – but he pulls it off!

It was even better on second viewing (center seat, third row), because: a) I knew what to expect and could really watch and listen for certain lines, movements and song; and b) I could appreciate the sheer fluidity of their choreographed movements, and how very in sync they were with each other. And oh my – the sheer detail in that tawdry office set is mind blowing when you see it close up. Ben was very beautiful up close (and very thin but sculpted muscle all over!) and well… just wow. And of course heartbreaking as always. And oh I have such a girl crush on Renée now!

I have to applaud them both for taking this on – because it’s such a departure and so brave – especially given the mixed reviews and less than receptive audiences (Four people walked out the first night I saw it). They’re both impossibly beautiful in this and it’s something I’ll be thinking about for a very long time. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing their interviews together because the level of trust, ease and joy they seem to have in each other is essential I think for making it work.

I was lucky enough to meet @midrashic the first night (we were sitting beside each other!) and Ben after the play – and as always he was quietly shy and charming and of course I was tongue tied and I’m sure came across as a blithering fangirl (which – let’s face it, I am – but I try not to make it too obvious). I’m glad I was able to tell him how strongly the play affected me as a woman. I said I was really looking forward to seeing him as Uriah Heep in David Copperfield in December and he grimaced and said he wasn’t sure how that was going to turn out. Oh dear. And of course I COMPLETELY forgot to mention A Very English Scandal. The overalls were in evidence and good god his hair in person really is still beyond belief and still totally deserves its own tag!

#Ben Whishaw #Renee Fleming #Norma Jeane Baker of Troy #my review

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angrylizardjacket · 5 years

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giselle/roger nsfw headcanons no-one asked for

except for my dear, filthy Queen Giselle Defense Squad @prettyboyroger & @ginghampearlsnsweettea. Disclaimer; I’m 20 and don’t know shit about being pregnant/having kids/being an aging rockstar, okay?

70s (beginning of their relationship)

i don't know how to phrase this politely

angry??

like they'd been both passive aggressive and openly hostile to one another for a few years

so when they first hook up after their terrible setup date it's sort of a 'i can't believe i'm doing this, but /yes/ i want to, please for the love of god stop talking you're ruining it, roger'

she makes sure he gets her off the first time they sleep together

they don't actually sleep together for a few weeks after the first date, like they go out, and it's weird at first because of course it is, and they usually take separate cars there and then back to their own homes, and they feel like they're in a weird gray area because they don't know if it'll last

one night, it's like eleven and roger's come straight from rehearsals, and he hadn't told her he'd be showing up, but he's on her doorstep and she's smiling at him like 'what are you doing here' and he just kisses her

"what are you doing here?"

"i- is that a joke? i mean, i can leave if you really want me to"

"don't be daft, come inside."

sex is fun, and they're adults and rock musicians it's not like they don't know what they're doing

and i mean that both metaphorically and physically

giselle is Flexible and roger can keep a rhythm like nobody's business and both of them have excellent stamina i'll tell you that for free

they still argue a lot, but a lot of the time they argue just to have angry or makeup sex

they're both switches, but giselle leans more towards being more dominant

roger smacked her ass when they were hanging out with the rest of the band and she almost decked him on the spot, instead when they get back to his place, she makes him apologise and she teases him so much as punishment that he's Begging for her to touch him before she does

they sleep together often, but it always feels quite casual, despite the fact that the relationship is serious; it's like the john mulaney quote when he's asked the last time he made love "made love? in college, but i had sex yesterday"

late late 70s/early 80s

they're comfortable with their relationship and things become more intimate and like... softer? if that makes sense

like giselle wakes up late one sunday morning and roger's sitting at the kitchen table and he's cooked them both breakfast, and like, it's not the first time but something about it just makes her heart melt and they have sex in the kitchen

neither of them are really the type to say 'i love you' during sex, but she's sitting at the edge of the kitchen counter and he's kneeling with his head between her legs, she's got her hand in his hair and she just whimpers 'god i love you' and he takes a moment to pause, press a kiss to her inner thigh and look up at her with a smile 'i love you too'

so now it's sort of a coin flip between sweet and more playful, or a combination of the two

they're also both insufferable teases

giselle gets invited to sing at a red carpet event and she brings roger along, and she stops to do an interview and he leans in and whispers something to her completely straight faced like he's a secret service agent informing the president about the presence of a bomb or something, and giselle just freezes and the expression on her face is that she's just been given some very surprising news when actually roger's just told her exactly what the sight of her in that dress makes him want to do, and that he knows how close the nearest bathroom is if she's interested

it takes her a full ten seconds to reboot her brain, and she finishes the interview without acknowledging anything had happened - as soon as the interview's over and they've walked far enough away, she does smile a little bit

"i don't trust you not to ruin my makeup, so not until after the show"

"okay, that's wise i suppose, but still..." and he trails off and gives her a /very obvious/ look over, and it takes a surprising amount of giselle's self control not to let him have his way (what can she say he looks damn good in that suit)

after roger cheats on her, and they get back together, there's like three months where he's barely allowed to Touch her

when she finally sleeps with him again, it's slow, deliberate, and he treats her like a queen

it's another apology on top of all the others he'd given

and she'd stopped being outwardly angry about it in the past few weeks but it all comes back

"i cannot fucking Believe you think you could ever find someone better than me"

it's easily some of the best sex roger's ever had and it was out of Spite

sex goes back to being angry/makeup sex for a while before giselle concedes, missing how soft and sweet he could be at times

okay so 'All The Queen's Men' was written about the American leg of their tour, where they'd already gone through the European leg, and the rest of queen had found out the hard way during that first leg that the adrenaline of performing really gets both roger and giselle going

there's a fifteen minute intermission between their performances, and they alternate who opens for who

after a particularly incredible performance by giselle, she's absolutely glowing with energy and adrenaline and roger can tell, and he takes her back to her dressing room for a quickie when he's meant to be warming up

he ends up being about three minutes late and has to run on stage, and freddie calls him out on it, asking him where he's been

roger sits himself behind the drums and leans in very close to the microphone, smirking 'just helping a friend practice her falsetto' with absolutely zero subtlety

freddie looks like he regrets asking and the line becomes Iconic amongst queen fans, especially girls who were thirsty over roger

the public still don't really know about giselle and roger being married, especially since they want to keep their relationship quiet after the whole cheating thing happened, people know they dated but it just sort of.... never really hit the public eye if that makes sense

a lot of girls like to claim it was them that he was talking about, and even though people speculate about it being giselle, even after the article comes out, some fans still think he might have been talking about someone else, that he may have cheated again, which giselle thinks is one of the dumbest things in the world when she reads it, she doesn't confirm anything until Much Much Later

she posts a #flashbackfriday clip of the line on instagram, since the concert was recorded, with the caption 'so that's what the kids were calling it back then.... '

lilith and rosemary are used to knowing too much about their parents because there's countless books, articles, and documentaries about them, but they still play mortified in the comments

okay jumping back to the 80s and the tour

after a show you cannot leave them alone for five minutes

okay not after every show, but after a Lot

whoever opened the show for the night will be all over whoever closes the show, and they disappear together almost immediately

they'll eventually turn up for drinks at the after party; giselle looks mostly innocent, her clothes aren't too dishevelled and she ties her hair back so it doesn't look too messy. roger always has the smuggest smile and if he's got a hickey or scratch marks, he's doing all he can to show them off

giselle doesn't get on her knees for just anyone, but damn if she didn't drop when roger came off the stage at intermission and she saw him in eyeliner and leather pants for the first time in person (a la We Will Rock You at madison square garden in the movie)

tbh she did not enjoy sucking dick when she was younger, but the way it makes roger moans is like music and she's grown to enjoy it, but only with him

giselle is very good at keeping quiet and not getting caught, and roger likes to try and test this

the rest of the band have learned to knock on the door of every smallish space they want to enter, closet, cupboard, bathroom, etc, because if giselle and roger are in there, there's a 70% chance the door is locked, but only a 40% chance you'll be able to hear them in there

one time (early in the tour) brian comes to tell them about the afterparty, he listens at the door and it seems safe, but he opens it, and roger's got giselle pressed against the dressing room mirror, and he dress is pulled up around her waist and she's biting her hand with her head throwing back and she's been struggling so hard to keep quiet, the moment she sees brian she lets herself be loud, shouting 'Fuck Off' at the top of her lungs and she reaches blindly to throw a can of hairspray at him before he closes the door, and so the seal's been broken so she gasps and moans over roger's fucking laughter at the whole situation, but they're both too close for it to have ruined the mood

early 80s (trying for baby)

it starts because honestly, John and Veronica's kids are So Cute and things are finally settling down between Roger and Giselle, and they're both sort of like..... we could have kids, like that's a thing we can definitely do

also they're well aware their kids are gonna be outrageously pretty

giselle doesn't do things by halves and so she goes to see doctors and she and roger sit down and actually talk about having a plan, and what it would mean for their lives to have kids

the doctor is like..... the best conditions to conceive are stress free ones (being rockstars is kind of counterproductive)

so essentially they plan to Officially start trying for a baby in about a year, once their lives have calmed down a little and they can dedicate time to this, ahem, endeavour

that being said, before this, giselle was quite vigilant with birth control, but once they've planned everything she goes off of it so that there's time for any hormone changes will be corrected by the time they're actually trying for a baby

and at first they're still using condoms because The Plan, but after a while it just sort of becomes a 'well if it happens it happens, but it's not like we're tracking anything just yet so it's not like there's that high of a chance'

they fuck Everywhere

both of them try and justify it as 'maybe a different place/position is better for conception' which they both know is bullshit but it leads to some pretty interesting sex

also public sex

not that that was something either of them was Super into before, like they'd done it a lot on tour, and when they were first together, but now

"what if our kid was conceived at the grammys" (1983; giselle had been nominated for best music video for Heaven Sent) (it would be their third year in a row fucking in the bathroom at the grammys, which giselle is actually very proud of)

like she knows it's a joke but giselle's also Super Into It

they try to wait until after the award show, but giselle wins, and the moment she gets back to their seats he pulls her into the bathroom and eats her out, telling her how proud he is

they fuck at the grammys, and then procede to get high and fuck at the afterparty too

it's honestly one of the best nights of giselle's life and she remembers about 65% of it

also, roger meant the conception thing as a joke but...... whoops.

they're almost a year ahead of schedule

giselle panics at first because it's Too Soon, but roger's there 'we've literally already got a plan? just change the dates, we'll be fine'

but also they're both Super Excited!!

for the first few months they're still all over each other

he's So Enamoured with giselle when she's pregnant, he very genuinely thinks she's the most beautiful woman in the world

"what if our kid is prettier than us" is an actual thing he's said; "we're both very attractive people, Zelle, what if that kid gets only the good parts of us and has no, like, humanizing flaw regarding looks?"

"excuse me, roger, what do you think is my humanising flaw regarding my looks is?"

"that's my point! we don't have one either; this kid might end up being the most attractive person alive!"

when the ultrasound reveals that they're having twins giselle cries, she's so excited but also so nervous to carry twins

roger spins her around in a hug as soon as she's standing (he went with her to the appointment and was just frozen when they got the news, staring at the picture of the ultrasound absolutely shocked, but in a good way) and she has to be like 'careful, gotta take it easy' but they're both ecstatic!!

i won't go in depth because it personally squicks me out, but there's definitely pregnant sex

roger's so proud of himself and of giselle

they officially tell the rest of the band when they have them over for dinner, and giselle hasn't really planned exactly how she wants to tell them, but before dinner even starts she hears roger in the living room talking to freddie, and he announces 'also hey look what we made' and she peers in and sees him pull out the picture of the ultrasound, and just the way he's so casual about it just eases her anxiety so much, and she can't help but grin because Roger's smiling so brightly as Freddie hugs him so tightly, and they call the others over

roger sees giselle by the door and he waves her over, wraps his arm around her as they're both showered with congratulations

"i knew you were worried about it, and if i recall we were supposed to keep your stress levels down" he murmurs it to her so she's the only one who can hear it, and they're smiling at each other, and the other three don't know what's being said but they've literally never seen the two of them so in love (which goes back to the bickering in public, sweet in private thing) and it's like 'ah yes, these two really do belong together'

late 80s/early 90s (after rosemary's born)

first of all, literally any of other band members are happy to babysit but rosemary ends up preferring to stay with John and lilith doesn't have a favourite but Jim's the only one who can tell her it's bedtime who she'll listen to without being told twice

Roger and Giselle fool around a lot when the kids are still babies/toddlers since they sleep in another room, but once the kids are able to walk around and open doors and they're no longer in cribs it becomes a lot harder

they're interrupted A Lot even when they think they have time

rosemary's asleep in her crib upstairs and lilith's on a playdate, and giselle finds herself pressed to the counter with roger's hands in her shorts as they're preparing dinner, and he tugs her pants down right as there's a knock at the door

"fuck, is it 5:30 already? that was quick" "don't worry, love, we can finish this tonight" roger smirks, kissing her quickly.

giselle pulls up her pants and opens the door where lilith's friend's mother is dropping her off, and the other woman gives her a Look and giselle's not sure if she looks flustered or if it's because she's Giselle, but either way the woman doesn't say anything, she just smiles and thanks giselle for letting lilith come to the park

when the girls get older and can look after themselves on weekend mornings, there's a lot of sleepy, quiet morning sex for roger and giselle

it's a rare moment of peace that they get to themselves and they're going to make the most of it

having kids has changed their lives dramatically, and so a lot of the time they take advantage of their alone time in the shower

idk i don't have huge amount of headcanons for this era i'm sorry

late 90s/present

they're disgustingly affectionate once the girls move out

not that they weren't sweet and loving before, but now they don't have to worry about embarrassing or scarring their daughters

even though they're getting older they still can't keep their hands to themselves, maybe now moreso than before

especially after both the girls have just moved out

there's a moment when they're both still in pyjamas, or well, giselle's in pyjama shorts and her shirt's been tossed somewhere to the side and roger wasn't wearing a shirt to begin with, and she's sitting on the counter, he's standing between her legs and he presses a kiss to her collar. she's got her hands on his hips, her thumbs dipping below the waistband of his pants, and he's got one of his hands is on the small of her back, holding her close, and the other on her breast, his thumb gently brushing over nipple, and she just starts laughing

"it feels like we just moved in all over again"

it becomes almost a game, but it's so much more tender and sweet this time around, they're having fun and reminiscing in their own way

so yeah, Super affectionate and handsy now that they can appreciate their time to themselves, if that makes sense

Lets Talk About Brian and Roger Going On Tour Again;

giselle performs with them at one of their tour stops, and after she's finished her songs, she thanks the crowd and goes to leave, but turns back and runs up the drumrisers to give roger a kiss, and the whole crowd awwws

"no, please don't encourage them" brian's there pinching the bridge of his nose and having flashbacks the 80s tour. roger pulls giselle in for a proper kiss and brian looks like his soul has left his body; "also just a heads up to the crew, i'd avoid roger's dressing room after the show"

giselle pulls away from roger who's now laughing his fucking ass off, and she grabs the microphone and it squeals but she doesn't care, she gets super close to the microphone and just says "that was one time, brian"

"one time that you saw, at least" everyone hears roger correct her, and the crowd is going absolutely mad, brian's just laughing (it was a long time ago after all) and giselle finally leaves the stage

he's right tho, performing still gets both of them going So Much

#roger taylor #roger taylor imagine #roger taylor x oc #and all the queen's men #giselle x roger #the angry lizard writes

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