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musicaldamage · 15 days

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So having watched the vbw Falco musical recently. Rock Me Amadeus. I have Thoughts™

[ID: the mostly empty Ronacher theatre's auditorium seen from the 2nd floor on the right side. the stage is hidden behind a sort-of wall barrier curtain thing made of squares, some of which are reflective. the "Rock Me Amadeus" logo and an image of Moritz Mausser in character as Falco are projected onto it. Surrounding the stage there are a number of variously-shaped angular mirrors lined with glowing light. (additionally there's my partner's hand forming the peace sign on the right side of the image)]

side note I am irrationally annoyed that the squares of the logo don't line up with the squares of the curtain thing WHAT are they doing

Spoilers and further opinions under the cut

- The cast is stellar. Moritz Mausser is absolutely 100% brilliant, Katharina Gorgi's voice is beautiful, and Alex Melcher is there so that's in some ways already enough for me personally really. though he only really shows up in the 2nd act which is a bit sad. to me

but his presence is good bc. well. a lot of the things I generally value in a musical are kinda meh in this one tbh

- the music is fine! it's mainly Falco songs obviously, which I've been mostly neutral about so far but there definitely are some bangers, and, well, Moritz and Alex singing them sure is a point in favour. the additional songs written specifically for the musical are... I don't think they're bad, mostly, but they have a completely different vibe that doesn't really fit in with the rest. and. actually, some of them are bad. in my opinion. extremely cheesy. what's that doing there. one of them is hella catchy but the chorus lyrics sound like it's for kindergarden, two are just incredibly generic and boring and did I mention cheesy?

- Starting out with calling the day of Falco's death "the day the music died" sure is a claim. nothing to do with whoever is in charge at the vbw being weirdly patriotic (stares at the general Austria(ns) theme of quite a number of vbw musicals)

- Similarly his first sentence "In Wien musst erst sterben, bevor sie dich hochleben lassen" ("In Vienna you gotta die before they celebrate you") which sounds nice and dramatic and all but. come on. dude was #1 in international charts very much during his lifetime. they talk about this in the musical itself. he complains on stage about how the fame and stuff bothers him. where's the dying first part huh Hansi.

- Alex. listen I am stupidly into that guy's whole vibe. his everything. his voice is my favourite kind of male voice and his hair in combination with his entire profile and the lineof his stupid neck make me feel some kind of way. I wanna grab that hair and pull his head back like that one Sandman scene you know the one.

This one. also his tattoos and his absolutely deranged energy and willingness to just go off and do insane things rolling around on the floor. and then suddenly look like an innocent child in awe at seeing snow for the first time of his life. this tangent of Alex Melcher stanning has gone on long enough we'll return to our regularly scheduled musical discussion now

- They're simultaneously trying to make Falco a sympathetic figure while also showing him behaving like a dick. it seems to work bc the audience laughs and gets Emotional but. idk maybe it's me but the "I behave like an egoistic dick to everyone around me including my wife but it's ok bc I'm Misunderstood and actually very Deep and Emotional and I love my wife and need her to keep me sane and also I'm marionetted against my will by my Dark Impulses" shtick is sort of... you can't have him throw his wife to the ground and give zero fucks about her and then half an hour later at his funeral or wake or idk play a quote of him saying "I never hurt anyone other than myself" and have someone else call him empathic and sensitive and expect me to take that seriously and... look maybe I'd like it better if the jokes weren't so incredibly lame

- Female roles?? what's that. there's two (2) that get a name on the cast list (his wife and his mum). one (1) of them gets addressed by name on stage (Isabella, the Wife. his mum is Maria but only if you look at the cast list or the programme). Isabella's role is Sexy Lady turned Caring Wife and Mother who finally Leaves. the mum's role is Nagging Mum (in law) and Comic Relief. there's a second girlfriend (wife? secretary? idek) who apoears in one scene and gets called a name (Caroline) which I only caught bc I was looking at the surtitles. no one gets a personality not even the male characters really no one matters (I mean yes ok it's Falco's Story but ffs let Katharina DO something with her voice maybe)

- have I mentioned the awful dialogue and cheap jokes yet? "the best aspect of the American flag are the red-white-red stripes". terrible flirting with "ladies in uniform" who are trying to do their job when faced with an entitled asshole but of course it's portrayed as hilarious.

- ok so back to Alex Melcher but his role is the most fun part of the thing. he's Falco's "Alter Ego" aka his, idk, hedonistic impulses and desire for fame and admiration and whatnot personified? there's a huge head on stage with a brain and all in it to make sure the audience understands that he is Inside Falco's Head and in case that's not clear enough yet he also verbatim declares that "I'm inside your head" so yeah subtlety is not required in this play. he and Falco/Hans are being incredibly homoerotic the entire time and I am personally offended that they're not kissing, but I'll take Alter Ego pretending to lick Hans's throat and clinging to him like a limpet. I would love to write fanfiction about them actually but I haven't figured out how to do that well when both parties are the same person/one is a personified fragment of the other's mind and not physically present. pity.

- idk I'd just. I'd have done it differently? again it's just. so unsubtle. why does Alter Ego just hover menacingly above the stage in a glass box once or twice during the first act, why didn't they idk put him in as part of the white-clad ensemble and make him stick out more and more instead of the Hovering and then the 5 minutes "I am you and you are me" song at the start of the 2nd act. Have him talk to people while Hans takes a step back to show it's his Dark Side™ taking over idk. I'm sure there'd also be ways to make Hans more actually sympathetic and less of an arse (fewer dumb jokes might help, or giving other characters more of a personality maybe) but yeah idk

- idk there's just. not much of a story? it's a Falco tribute show with some life moments thrown in. there's a Falco song, there's a crisis bc he's out of ideas, now he's taking drugs, now he's happy, now there's a new album without any clue where he got the ideas (was it the drugs?) now there's sth about his wife now his friend is reprising the basic as fuck Live Your Dream song yet again. then it's over and he dies in a car crash and it's all presented like it's all some incredibly deep and moving story but it's just Not That Deep

- I do like the Writer's Block song they put in, don't we all know that feeling

- I'm not sure it's a good idea to use Jeannie of all songs as a recurring motif the way they're doing? "quit living on dreams, life is not what it seems" "lonely little girl boy in a cold cold world" blah blah all nice and well but Do We Remember What This Song Is About. I mean it's a good song I'm not contesting that I like it! (if someone wants to come at me for "endorsing" anything just bc I like the song... just don't) But yeah no matter how good it is I don't think it's very uhhh fitting. Though in retrospect maybe it's meant to portray him as like... Someone At The Mercy Of Sth Evil And/Or More Powerful Than He Is. Fucking over his own life powerless to stop it or sth idk idk

- Generally I think they rely way too much on the use of background projection screens idk it seems lazy. it's fine in some scenes it can work really well but it gets too much and kinda cheesy

End of the random unorganised RMA thoughts yay! It was fun to watch. I know I mostly complain a lot here but it's definitely fun! It's just that a large part of the fun for me was despairing about how bad I found it and waiting for more homoeroticism and also for Alex Melcher to... do the things he's doing

Edit: ALSO I'm not sure if uhhh low-to-mid-key insulting (iirc) two of the three not-Austrian countries he goes to is. Necessary?

#Phoenix babble #rock me amadeus #RMA musical #vbw musicals #German musicals #European musicals #god idk I don't do original posts mostly and no one is talking much about this musical on here as far as I can see so #idk what I'm doing here either

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crown-eater · 6 years

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Book I: The 704

Book II: The world was beginning to fluoresce into wounds.

Book III: With Symbiotic Self-Indulgence

Book IV: The Sarpashana Solution

[[[[ Updated 2018.11.11 ]]]] Added part two to “Fluorescing into wounds,” and went back to cross-linking the Dunco chapters to their masterpost on my sin. I’m garbage, yes, I know

As Tri-City adapts to the loss of its first five levels, it’s a futile struggle to remain entirely human. Only two constants stand fast: it’s getting harder to hide from the city, and things have got to change.

Abdications of Flesh (added 2018.08.30; 3646 words)

Some outside perspectives of the consequences of the Stalkers’ Quarter quarantine.

TW: Drug culture, dysmorphia, police brutality mention

Just a series of brown jackets in varying stages of decay

The stalkers establish the seven Communes.

And Now a Break in Our Regularly Scheduled Programming (16.502 words; five parts; last updated 2017.08.16)

Duncan Cranford works the CNC equipment for a popular Thetic companion company. What could go wrong? (Henry and Jeremy are the same character, but I’ve never gone back and fixed it.)

Main TWs: Variably NSFW with cartoonish injury peppered in

Only the Vital Ones (4395 words, in two parts; added 2018.09.12)

While ‘Choly tries to make peace with everything he’s done, Augen does his best to make peace with his human side.

TW: Drug use, alcohol, dysphoria, body horror

The world was beginning to fluoresce into wounds (5656 words; updated 2018.11.11)

A delightful view of the quarantine, and an interrupted walk home.

TW: Major public crisis and widespread loss of life, minor nsfw and drug use, violence and injury

Medical waste and its real role in our lives

Hoping to contribute to their access to reality disconnect, Augen does his best to include ‘Choly and Cecil in his everyday life.

TW: Body horror, drug culture

Strange declensions of skin and musculature (Added Jan 2015)

‘Choly does some arts and crafts.

TW: Gore, stitches, multiple major permanent character disfigurement

The 704, 1|4|0|SA (in two parts–I; revised 2016.09.09; 2684 words)

The haze takes its toll on Torber and Galen.

A Season of Derangement

Let’s host Potluck.

With the devotion of an earl marshal (Added Feb 2015)

When none of the Potluck can get tickets to the Gala, they aim to throw a lavish Potluck of their own. And despite an absentee Augen, Bernadette has something special.

MagicK Ultra

The confectioner mastermind behind Resin throws a gala to celebrate his self-reinvention, and Augen aims to crash it.

So Watch As I Start to Smile

Augen learns his lesson crashing the parties of complete strangers.

Dying by the roadside (picnic)

After Bernadette jumped the shark, ‘Choly can only fatalistically aim to outdo her, and all the others who attend Potluck.

#the uptake #biopunk #cyberpunk #body horror #wssi #with symbiotic self indulgence

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trendingnewsb · 7 years

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Congressional baseball players: We must unite

(CNN)After the shooting at the Republican baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, we asked members of the Democratic and Republican baseball teams to weigh in on the attack. The opinions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of the authors.

For the past 2 years, one of my favorite traditions in Washington has been participating in the Congressional Baseball Game. I usually play in the outfield.

For those who aren’t familiar with this annual event, it’s when congressional Democrats and Republicans get together to play each other in an exhibition game that raises money for different D.C. charities. Besides letting some of us relive our younger and more athletic days, it also gives us a rare opportunity to connect with our colleagues across party and state lines.

The vicious and horrific attack we saw Wednesday in Alexandria at the Republican team’s practice was nothing short of a direct assault on the institution we all serve and a deranged attempt to disrupt our democracy through violence. But it failed. When the Democratic team learned about what happened, our coach — Rep. Mike Doyle of Pennsylvania — gathered us in the dugout for safety and led us all in prayer. As I sat in the dugout, I was horrified as I thought about Whip Scalise, the heroic Capitol Police officers, and the young former and current Capitol Hill staffers who were injured. It could have been any one of us. This wasn’t just an attack on Republicans; it was an attack on our democracy.

The Congressional Baseball Game has never been about Republicans against Democrats. It’s about Republicans and Democrats. It’s about Americans coming together to support a good cause. The game is going ahead Thursday night. We will not give in to fear, violence or hate. We will play for those affected by these despicable and cowardly actions, to support local charities (including the Washington Literacy Center, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Washington and the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, and, as was announced Wednesday, the Capitol Police Memorial Fund), and to remind the American people that this violence will not define or divide us.

Pete Aguilar represents the 31st Congressional District of California. He was re-elected in 2016 and serves on the House Appropriations Committee. In the 115th Congress, Aguilar holds the leadership positions of whip of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and is an assistant whip in the House Democratic Caucus. He plays outfield for the Democratic congressional baseball team.

Tim Ryan: We must recommit ourselves to having and showing empathy

Since 1909, the Congressional Baseball Game has been a bipartisan tradition, which has come to define summer in Washington for members of Congress, their families and staff. As a member of the Democratic baseball team since 2004, I always look forward to the season when baseball practice begins and members enjoy good-natured jokes on who will win the game.

It’s one of those rare instances when divisive rhetoric is set aside, and we can come together — not just as teams, but as a community.

And so, early Wednesday morning, I jumped in my car and drove to baseball practice in northeast D.C.. On the other side of town, in Alexandria, Virginia, my Republican colleagues were doing the same, getting ready for Thursday’s big charity game.

Tragically, Wednesday’s morning routine ended with a vicious act of hate and violence designed to divide us.

Shortly after 7 a.m., a man consumed by hate opened fire on Republican members of Congress as they practiced. Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. Roger Williams’ staffer Zachary Barth, Matt Mika and Capitol Police Special Agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner were all wounded in the torrent of gunfire, but not before Bailey and Griner, along with the Alexandria Police Department, fought back.

Meanwhile, other members who were not injured rushed to the sides of those hit to offer medical assistance until help arrived. This bravery is commendable.

Together, they prevented what likely would have been a massacre. And my thoughts and prayers are with all those injured and their families.

There is no doubt that this morning shook many of my colleagues and me to the core. Several of my closest friends in Congress are Republicans, and we share stories of our families, children and sports teams after votes and throughout the day. When my wife saw the news, the first thing she did was text her friend whose husband plays on the Republican team. When I saw my friend Rep. Pat Meehan, R-Pennsylvania, in the Capitol building this morning, the first thing I did was give him a hug.

While members of Congress may disagree on policy and politics, we still respect each other as human beings. But that doesn’t mean we and the public don’t sometimes fall short in how we treat those we disagree with politically. As a nation, we must recommit ourselves to having and showing empathy toward each other.

I am proud to live in a country where expressing a strong opinion is a right, and one that I exercise regularly. And while we may disagree on the direction of the country, we all agree that violence is never the answer. It is an honor and a privilege to be a member of Congress, one that I know my colleagues on both sides of the aisle do not take for granted.

My hope is that in response to this horrific event, we begin to tone down the partisan language that has come to occupy our political dialogue and get back to the issues at hand. While Wednesday gave us all a pause, on Thursday we get back to work both on the House Floor — and on the baseball field.

Tim Ryan is the US representative for Ohio’s 13th District. He plays shortstop for the Democratic congressional baseball team.

Kevin Yoder and Emanuel Cleaver: We will remain unified in Thursday’s baseball game and in Friday’s debates

“I’m right and you’re evil.”

Too many arguments these days, whether at kitchen tables across America or in the well of the House of Representatives, revolve around that premise.

Early Wednesday morning, Rep. Steve Scalise, congressional staffer Zach Barth, and former staffer Matt Mika were injured when an extremist attacked congressional Republicans at a regularly scheduled practice for the charity Congressional Baseball Game.

Thankfully, special agents David Bailey and Crystal Griner, two brave Capitol Police officers on House Majority Whip Scalise’s protective detail, took down the attacker, after suffering injuries themselves, and prevented him from doing any more damage.

Thanks to the heroism of the Capitol Police, all those injured are expected to fully recover.

But this horrific tragedy, in which the shooter’s motive appears to have been his political beliefs, has shed light on a fact that we all know to be true: Our nation is deeply divided.

Now, we must be clear — the blame for this violence and bloodshed lies solely with the attacker. No political rhetoric in America, no matter how heated, advocates or condones violence.

But if our political arguments are based on the premise that one side is right and the other is evil, it makes it much easier for twisted minds to justify violence.

And we cannot deny that coming together to find compromise solutions to our nation’s biggest problems is much harder if we take this approach

How can you compromise with evil?

We’ve always believed that civility is a vital element of our democracy, but in today’s heated climate, we need it more than ever. It is this belief that has motivated us as chairmen of the Congressional Civility Caucus.

You may not find two members of Congress who disagree more on issues. We represent neighboring districts in Kansas and Missouri as Republicans and Democrats, but if you ask our constituents at home about the nature of our relationship, you’ll hear that we are great friends.

We often spend our periods of district work doing joint events, promoting the idea of civility and bipartisanship.

For us, it’s the norm. For too many, it’s shocking.

In light of Wednesday’s attack, now is the time to prioritize civility and tone down our rhetoric. If people are resorting to violence, we’ve clearly gone too far.

America is at its greatest when Republicans and Democrats are working together to move our nation forward, because at the end of the day we all pledge allegiance to the same flag and sing the same national anthem before every baseball game.

And that is what we will do Thursday night at the Congressional Baseball Game. We will not be deterred by this hateful act. The game will go on, as it has every year since 1909.

The game is one of the best things we have in Congress. It’s a night where we all come together –people who may be at odds during the day in the hallways of the Capitol — and head a few blocks down the road to Washington Nationals Park to work together for a good cause.

We hope the bipartisan, unified, and civil sentiment at Thursday’s baseball game will carry into Friday’s debates. And we will continue to bring that message to Congress and the American people.

Rep. Kevin Yoder and Rep. Emanuel Cleaver are the bipartisan co-chairmen of the Congressional Civility Caucus. Kevin Yoder plays outfield for the Republican congressional baseball team.