#spring awakening new york premiere
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[HQ] Darren Criss and Lea Michele attend the premiere of "Spring Awakening: Those You've Known" at Florence Gould Hall on April 25, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images)
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Excerpts:
That story is from the new documentary Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known, which chronicles the rehearsal process for an unlikely reunion of the Broadway musical’s original cast for a 15th anniversary concert and finds them revisiting what it was like to mount the surprise Tony-winning phenomenon.
It premieres Tuesday on HBO. I’ve seen it, and cried and cried and cried. Yes, I was even moved by the vagina anecdote.
The undeniably memorable moment was teased in an early report about what happens in the documentary. Michele, who starred as repressed teenager Wendla, and co-star Jonathan Groff, who played the lead and her romantic interest Melchior, were discussing the swift intimacy with which they formed a friendship. At the time, Groff was in the closet, even to his closest friends and confidants. Michele was madly in love with him. Obviously. It is Jonathan Groff. Get in line, Lea.
The thing is, in the documentary it’s an organic, relevant story, part of a beautiful sequence in which the two stars are candid about their relationship and what it was like for a confused boy from Lancaster, PA, to come to terms with his sexuality while cannon-blasting to Broadway stardom, and then how she saw her role as his support system.
She’s incredibly charming and funny while she tells it, but also so compassionate and empathetic to what Groff was going through. Believe it or not, the Lea Michele’s “whole vagina” story is a poignant moment.
Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known is somewhat revelatory in the way it uses the emotional reunion of these stars to reconsider and recontextualize.
With Michele, it’s a reminder of how magnetic and effortlessly humorous she is. There’s a lot of self-awareness there about her personality, a surprise given that the controversy surrounding her past behavior would suggest otherwise. It also makes a case for redemption. Any time she is singing or performing in the concert, you’re spellbound. Variations on marveled whispers of “she’s just so damned talented…” bubbled from just about every conversation I overheard from the crowd who was at the early screening I attended. Groff erupts in tears the second she begins singing the opening song “Mama Who Bore Me” at the first rehearsal.
But there wouldn’t be any inclination to crave that comeback if the documentary itself weren’t so successful in its nimble cross-stitch of heartbreak and inspiration when it comes to nostalgia. This is a musical that tackles teenage sex and hormones, mental health, abuse, homosexuality, suicide, and abortion, but it’s also about being seen and validated for who you are and how you feel at a volatile time coming of age.
To watch Groff and the cast grapple with what it meant to them to play those themes 15 years ago—and then to do so again now with the passage of time and the ensuing wisdom of life experience—is fascinating, and heartrending. I remember being in college and seeing the show multiple times when it first opened, being blown away by it—like Groff, closeted and in New York trying to figure things out, maybe not even sure why it meant so much.
But it wasn’t until watching the cast perform in the documentary and talk about these things that I realized just how formative the original production, its score, and these characters may actually have been.
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Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Announces New Cast Members for Season Two
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has announced seven new recurring cast members for the forthcoming second season, currently in production in the UK.
“Since its premiere, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been bringing audiences together to experience the magic and wonder of J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnificent Middle-earth. To date, season one is the top Original series for Prime Video in every region and has been viewed by over 100 million people worldwide, a truly global hit that speaks to the universal nature of powerful storytelling. We welcome these wonderful actors to our ‘fellowship’ and look forward to telling more incredible Second Age stories in season two,” said Vernon Sanders, Head of Global Television, Amazon Studios.
The new cast members are: Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour, Ben Daniels, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, and Nicholas Woodeson. The role of Orc leader “Adar” has been recast for Season Two, and will be played by Sam Hazeldine.
GABRIEL AKUWUDIKE
Gabriel Akuwudike is a British-Nigerian actor who has appeared in the acclaimed series Hanna (Prime Video). Other TV credits include Ridley Road (BBC) and War of the Worlds (FX/Disney+). He has appeared in films including Sam Mendes’ 1917, and HBO’s Brexit directed by Toby Haynes.
YASEN ‘ZATES’ ATOUR
Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour is most known for his role as “Coen” in Season Two of The Witcher (Netflix). He was also a series regular in Young Wallander (Netflix), playing the role of “Reza Al-Rahman.” He directed the film Good Intentions and was an executive producer and star of the film When the Screaming Starts.
BEN DANIELS
Ben Daniels has had recurring roles in television including Jupiter’s Legacy (Netflix) as “Walter Sampson,” The Crown (Netflix) as “Lord Snowdon,” The Exorcist (Hulu) as “Father Marcus Keane,” House of Cards (Netflix) as “Adam Galloway,” and Law & Order: UK (ITV) as “James Steel.” Film credits include roles in Benediction, Captive State, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Exception. Ben is an award-winning stage actor who has appeared in numerous productions including The Normal Heart (National Theatre – Olivier Award Nomination - Best Actor, Critics' Circle Theatre Award – Best Actor), All My Sons (National Theatre - Olivier Award – Best Supporting Actor), and Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Broadway - Tony and Drama Desk Nominations – Best Actor). Ben trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
SAM HAZELDINE
Sam Hazeldine’s credits include Peaky Blinders (BBC), Slow Horses (Apple TV+), The Huntsman: Winter’s War, Mechanic: Resurrection, and Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel. He currently appears in The Sandman (Netflix) and The Playlist (Netflix), and will next be seen in the upcoming Band of Brothers sequel Masters of The Air (AppleTV+) opposite Austin Butler and Callum Turner, and starring alongside Jonah Hauer-King and Dar Zuzovsky in the Casanova drama feature, A Beautiful Imperfection.
AMELIA KENWORTHY
Amelia Kenworthy is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. While at RADA, she performed in numerous stage productions including Spring Awakening as “Anna,” A Midsummer Night’s Dream as “Puck,” Two Gentlemen of Verona as “Julia,” Pomona as “Ollie” and Against as “Shiela.” She has also appeared in short films IRL and Messenger. She will make her television debut in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
NIA TOWLE
Nia Towle was most recently seen in the Netflix film Persuasion. On stage, Nia debuted Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane at both the National Theatre and Duke of York Theatre. During her studies at Guildhall School of Drama, from which she graduated in 2021, Nia played leading roles in plays including Yerma, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Medea.
NICHOLAS WOODESON
Nicholas Woodeson is a veteran English performer of television, film, and theatre. In television, his credits include Silent Witness (BBC), Baptiste (BBC), The Honourable Woman (BBC), Poirot (ITV), and Rome (HBO / BBC). He can also be seen in films including The Hustle, Paddington 2, The Danish Girl, Skyfall, and Conspiracy. His most recent theatre performances include The Two Popes, “The Duke of Norfolk” in The Mirror and The Light, “The Mayor” in The Visit, “Pope Francis” in The Pope, “Mr. Kidd” in The Room, and “Willy” in Death of a Salesman. Nicholas is a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.
#the lord of the rings#the rings of power#lotr trop#Nicholas Woodeson#nia towle#Amelia Kenworthy#Sam Hazeldine#ben daniels#Yasen ‘Zates’ Atour#Gabriel Akuwudike
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A sighting of Jonathan and Tima in Philadelphia on 24 April 2022 from April Duncanson on Facebook. The ‘Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known’ premiere is tomorrow in New York.
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Jennifer Damiano poses at the NYC Premiere of The HBO Max Documentary "Spring Awakening: Those You've Known" at Florence Gould Hall on April 25, 2022 in New York City.
#jennifer damiano#jdamsedit#edits*#princess#when jenn damiano is alive and breathing i too am alive and breathing
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Holidays 11.1
Holidays
All Saints’ Day
Andhra Pradesh Day (India)
Anniversary of the Revolution (Algeria)
Bra Day
Calan Gaeaf (Wales)
Chavang Kut (Mizo)
Cook For Your Pets Day
Cross Quarter Day
Day of the Dead, Day 2 (Mexico)
Day of the Innocents
Dog Day (Japan)
Extra Mile Day
Face Mask Day
Family Literacy Day
Give Up Your Shoulds Day
Go Cook for Your Pets Day
Graveyards Day
Greenwich Mean Time Day
Harvey Day
Haryana Day (India)
Health Day (Turkmenistan)
Hello Kitty Day
International Coaches Day
International Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Awareness Day
International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day
International Scented Candle Day
Invention of Sex Day
Kalends of November (Ancient Rome)
Karnataka Day (India)
Kerala Foundation Day
Kut (Manipur, India)
Liberty Day (Virgin Islands)
Maastricht Treaty Day
NaNoWriMo begins [until Nov. 30]
National Author's Day
National Awakening Day (Bulgaria)
National Biologic Coordinators Day
National Brush Day
National Chesterfield Sofa Day
National Doubletalk Day
National Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation Day
National Revival Leaders’ Day (Bulgaria)
No Driving with Cell Phones Day
Plate Tectonics Day
Pooka Day
Prime Meridian Day
Remembrance Day (Slovenia)
Revival Leaders’ Day (Bulgaria)
Self-Defense Forces Commemoration Day (Japan)
Soul-Caking Day
Traffic Director’s Day
World Vegetation Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Cake Appreciation Day
French Fried Clams Day
National Calzone Day
National Cinnamon Day
National Deep Fried Clams Day [also 7.1]
National Pâté Day
National Vinegar Day
Pomona’s Day (Apple Festival) [also 8.13]
World Vegan Day
Xinomavro Day (Greek Wine)
Independence Days
Antigua & Barbuda (from UK, 1981)
Feast Days
Apaturia (Ancient Greece)
Austromoine (Christian; Saint)
Beltane (1st full day; Southern Hemisphere)
Benignus of Dijon (Christian; Saint)
Bozo Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Caesarius of Africa (Christian; Saint)
Condercet (Positivist; Saint)
Festival of All-Saints (Christian)
Festival of Saturnia (Ancient Rome)
Gnome Awareness Day (Pastafarian)
Harold, King of Denmark (Christian; Saint)
Marcellus, Bishop of Paris (Christian; Saint)
Mary (Christian; Martyr)
Mustache Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)
Pomonia (Ancient Rome)
Samhain (also celebrated as ...
Allantide (Cornwall, UK)
All Hallow’s Day
La Samhna (Pagan Ireland)
Old Celtic New Year
Samhain (Celtic, Pagan) [7 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]
Samhain (1st full day; Northern Hemisphere)
Santa Muerte (Folk Catholicism, Mexico and Southwestern United States)
Scoop Doozer (Muppetism)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Lucky Day (Philippines) [60 of 71]
Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]
Premieres
About Time (Film; 2013)
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2001) [Discworld #28]
Bartleby, the Scrivener, by Herman Melville (Short Story; 1853)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder (Novel; 1927)
Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling (Novel; 1897)
Cold Spring Harbor, by Billy Joel (Album; 1971)
Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie (Mystery Novel; 1937) [25]
Dickinson (TV Series; 2019)
Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy (Novel; 1874)
For All Mankind (TV Series; 2019)
Free Birds (Animated Films; 2013)
Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1994) [Discworld #17]
Jingo, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1997) [Discworld #21]
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling (Novel; 1894)
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1991) [Discworld #14]
The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann (Novel; 1924)
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1995) [Discworld #18]
Monk’s Music, by Thelonious Monk (Album; 1957)
MTV Unplugged in New York, by Nirvana (Album; 1994)
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2002) [Discworld #29]
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues, by Odetta (Album; 1956)
Othello, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1604)
The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald (Novel; 1872)
The Property of a Lady, by Ian Fleming (James Bond Short Story; 1963)
The Red and the Black, by Stendahl (Novel; 1830)
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Novel; 1910)
Smiley’s People, by John le Carré (Novel; 1980)
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, by William Morris (Poem; 1876)
The Tempest, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1611)
Terminator: Dark Fate (Film; 2019)
The Theory of General Relativity, by Albert Einstein (Scientific Paper; 1915)
The Truth, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2000) [Discworld #25]
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (Novel; 1972)
Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1991) [Discworld #12]
Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1920)
Wonderwall Music, by George Harrison (Album; 1968)
Today’s Name Days
Allerheiligen (Austria)
Benigno, Cezarij, Dobroslav, Harald, Svetislav, Sveto (Croatia)
Felix (Czech Republic)
Tiia, Tiiu (Estonia)
Lyly, Pyry (Finland)
Toussaint (France)
Allerheiligen, Harald (Germany)
Anargyros, Argyris, Damianos, Kosmas (Greece)
Marianna (Hungary)
Egidio (Italy)
lvita, Askolds, Ikars, Krivs (Latvia)
Andrius, Milvydė, Žygaudas (Lithuania)
Veslemøy, Vetle (Norway)
Andrzej, Konradyn, Konradyna, Seweryn, Warcisław, Wiktoryna (Poland)
Denisa (Slovakia)
Allhelgonadagen (Sweden)
Kuzma, Leonard (Ukraine)
Amabel, Hall, Halsted, Mabel, Sterling, Sumner, Zion (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 305 of 2022; 60 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 2 of week 44 of 2022
Celtic Tree Calendar: Hagal (Constraint) [Day 4 of 28]
Chinese: Month 10 (Lùyuè), Day 8 (Wu-Wu)
Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)
Hebrew: 7 Cheshvan 5783
Islamic: 6 Rabi II 1444
J Cal: 5 Mir; Fourday [5 of 30]
Julian: 19 October 2022
Moon: 56%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 25 Descartes (11th Month) [Condercet]
Runic Half Month: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 7 of 15]
Season: Autumn (Day 40 of 90)
Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 10 of 31)
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Holidays 11.1
Holidays
All Saints’ Day
Andhra Pradesh Day (India)
Anniversary of the Revolution (Algeria)
Bra Day
Calan Gaeaf (Wales)
Chavang Kut (Mizo)
Cook For Your Pets Day
Cross Quarter Day
Day of the Dead, Day 2 (Mexico)
Day of the Innocents
Dog Day (Japan)
Extra Mile Day
Face Mask Day
Family Literacy Day
Give Up Your Shoulds Day
Go Cook for Your Pets Day
Graveyards Day
Greenwich Mean Time Day
Harvey Day
Haryana Day (India)
Health Day (Turkmenistan)
Hello Kitty Day
International Coaches Day
International Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Awareness Day
International Pet Groomer Appreciation Day
International Scented Candle Day
Invention of Sex Day
Kalends of November (Ancient Rome)
Karnataka Day (India)
Kerala Foundation Day
Kut (Manipur, India)
Liberty Day (Virgin Islands)
Maastricht Treaty Day
NaNoWriMo begins [until Nov. 30]
National Author's Day
National Awakening Day (Bulgaria)
National Biologic Coordinators Day
National Brush Day
National Chesterfield Sofa Day
National Doubletalk Day
National Pinhole Gum Rejuvenation Day
National Revival Leaders’ Day (Bulgaria)
No Driving with Cell Phones Day
Plate Tectonics Day
Pooka Day
Prime Meridian Day
Remembrance Day (Slovenia)
Revival Leaders’ Day (Bulgaria)
Self-Defense Forces Commemoration Day (Japan)
Soul-Caking Day
Traffic Director’s Day
World Vegetation Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Cake Appreciation Day
French Fried Clams Day
National Calzone Day
National Cinnamon Day
National Deep Fried Clams Day [also 7.1]
National Pâté Day
National Vinegar Day
Pomona’s Day (Apple Festival) [also 8.13]
World Vegan Day
Xinomavro Day (Greek Wine)
Independence Days
Antigua & Barbuda (from UK, 1981)
Feast Days
Apaturia (Ancient Greece)
Austromoine (Christian; Saint)
Beltane (1st full day; Southern Hemisphere)
Benignus of Dijon (Christian; Saint)
Bozo Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Caesarius of Africa (Christian; Saint)
Condercet (Positivist; Saint)
Festival of All-Saints (Christian)
Festival of Saturnia (Ancient Rome)
Gnome Awareness Day (Pastafarian)
Harold, King of Denmark (Christian; Saint)
Marcellus, Bishop of Paris (Christian; Saint)
Mary (Christian; Martyr)
Mustache Appreciation Day (Pastafarian)
Pomonia (Ancient Rome)
Samhain (also celebrated as ...
Allantide (Cornwall, UK)
All Hallow’s Day
La Samhna (Pagan Ireland)
Old Celtic New Year
Samhain (Celtic, Pagan) [7 of 8 Festivals of the Natural Year]
Samhain (1st full day; Northern Hemisphere)
Santa Muerte (Folk Catholicism, Mexico and Southwestern United States)
Scoop Doozer (Muppetism)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Lucky Day (Philippines) [60 of 71]
Taian (大安 Japan) [Lucky all day.]
Premieres
About Time (Film; 2013)
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2001) [Discworld #28]
Bartleby, the Scrivener, by Herman Melville (Short Story; 1853)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey, by Thornton Wilder (Novel; 1927)
Captains Courageous, by Rudyard Kipling (Novel; 1897)
Cold Spring Harbor, by Billy Joel (Album; 1971)
Death on the Nile, by Agatha Christie (Mystery Novel; 1937) [25]
Dickinson (TV Series; 2019)
Far From the Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy (Novel; 1874)
For All Mankind (TV Series; 2019)
Free Birds (Animated Films; 2013)
Interesting Times, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1994) [Discworld #17]
Jingo, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1997) [Discworld #21]
The Jungle Book, by Rudyard Kipling (Novel; 1894)
Lords and Ladies, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1991) [Discworld #14]
The Magic Mountain, by Thomas Mann (Novel; 1924)
Maskerade, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1995) [Discworld #18]
Monk’s Music, by Thelonious Monk (Album; 1957)
MTV Unplugged in New York, by Nirvana (Album; 1994)
Night Watch, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2002) [Discworld #29]
Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues, by Odetta (Album; 1956)
Othello, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1604)
The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald (Novel; 1872)
The Property of a Lady, by Ian Fleming (James Bond Short Story; 1963)
The Red and the Black, by Stendahl (Novel; 1830)
The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett (Novel; 1910)
Smiley’s People, by John le Carré (Novel; 1980)
The Story of Sigurd the Volsung and the Fall of the Niblungs, by William Morris (Poem; 1876)
The Tempest, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1611)
Terminator: Dark Fate (Film; 2019)
The Theory of General Relativity, by Albert Einstein (Scientific Paper; 1915)
The Truth, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 2000) [Discworld #25]
Watership Down, by Richard Adams (Novel; 1972)
Witches Abroad, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1991) [Discworld #12]
Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1920)
Wonderwall Music, by George Harrison (Album; 1968)
Today’s Name Days
Allerheiligen (Austria)
Benigno, Cezarij, Dobroslav, Harald, Svetislav, Sveto (Croatia)
Felix (Czech Republic)
Tiia, Tiiu (Estonia)
Lyly, Pyry (Finland)
Toussaint (France)
Allerheiligen, Harald (Germany)
Anargyros, Argyris, Damianos, Kosmas (Greece)
Marianna (Hungary)
Egidio (Italy)
lvita, Askolds, Ikars, Krivs (Latvia)
Andrius, Milvydė, Žygaudas (Lithuania)
Veslemøy, Vetle (Norway)
Andrzej, Konradyn, Konradyna, Seweryn, Warcisław, Wiktoryna (Poland)
Denisa (Slovakia)
Allhelgonadagen (Sweden)
Kuzma, Leonard (Ukraine)
Amabel, Hall, Halsted, Mabel, Sterling, Sumner, Zion (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 305 of 2022; 60 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 2 of week 44 of 2022
Celtic Tree Calendar: Hagal (Constraint) [Day 4 of 28]
Chinese: Month 10 (Lùyuè), Day 8 (Wu-Wu)
Chinese Year of the: Tiger (until January 22, 2023)
Hebrew: 7 Cheshvan 5783
Islamic: 6 Rabi II 1444
J Cal: 5 Mir; Fourday [5 of 30]
Julian: 19 October 2022
Moon: 56%: Waxing Gibbous
Positivist: 25 Descartes (11th Month) [Condercet]
Runic Half Month: Ngetal (Reed) [Day 7 of 15]
Season: Autumn (Day 40 of 90)
Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 10 of 31)
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LEA MICHELE at the “Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known” premiere in New York City on April 26th 2022 wearing JASON WU
Lea kept it sweet and simple at the red carpet event for “Spring Awakening”. I thought it was a really great look! It was understated, but not boring.
I really loved the pattern in the skirt. The way it’s different levels of sheer looks very nice in my opinion. I also love that the skirt has vertical stripes. I thought the whole outfit looked really nice on Lea.
There just wasn’t a lot of detail in this outfit however, so there’s not really much to discuss.
#lea michele#spring awakening#jason wu#celebs#celebrites#fashion journalism#stunner babe#fashion#beauty#stunning#celebrity fashion#femaledaily#red carpet fashion#red carpet#makeup#actress#stunner#red carpet looks#red carpet dress#fashion inspo#fashion inspiration#hot celebs#celebrity style#beautiful#style#celebrity#pretty#dress#gorgeous#celeb style
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leamichele: My reaction seeing @darrencriss absolutely blow me away last night on Broadway. So proud of you D❤️
*Bottom photo via her ig story
**original post was deleted
#darren criss#lea michele#american buffalo bway#andy mientus#spring awakening new york premiere#instagram#may 2022
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‘First look’ images from the ‘Spring Awakening: Those You’ve Known’ documentary have been released by HBO (via Broadway World).
A premiere for the documentary will be held on Monday 25 April in New York.
#jonathan groff#spring awakening#those you've known#spring awakening reunion concert documentary#john gallagher jr#lea michele
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Excellent article about bringing a re-make of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage to fruition, and the twenty-year friendship that Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain share:
There were days on the shoot for “Scenes From a Marriage,” a five-episode limited series that premieres Sept. 12 on HBO, when Oscar Isaac resented the crew.
The problem wasn’t the crew members themselves, he told me on a video call in March. But the work required of him and his co-star, Jessica Chastain, was so unsparingly intimate — “And difficult!” Chastain added from a neighboring Zoom window — that every time a camera operator or a makeup artist appeared, it felt like an intrusion.
On his other projects, Isaac had felt comfortably distant from the characters and their circumstances — interplanetary intrigue, rogue A.I. But “Scenes” surveys monogamy and parenthood, familiar territory. Sometimes Isaac would film a bedtime scene with his onscreen child (Lily Jane) and then go home and tuck his own child into the same model of bed as the one used onset, accessorized with the same bunny lamp, and not know exactly where art ended and life began.
“It was just a lot,” he said.
Chastain agreed, though she put it more strongly. “I mean, I cried every day for four months,” she said.
Isaac, 42, and Chastain, 44, have known each other since their days at the Juilliard School. And they have channeled two decades of friendship, admiration and a shared and obsessional devotion to craft into what Michael Ellenberg, one of the series’s executive producers, called “five hours of naked, raw performance.” (That nudity is metaphorical, mostly.)
“For me it definitely felt incredibly personal,” Chastain said on the call in the spring, about a month after filming had ended. “That’s why I don’t know if I have another one like this in me. Yeah, I can’t decide that. I can’t even talk about it without. …” She turned away from the screen. (It was one of several times during the call that I felt as if I were intruding, too.)
The original “Scenes From a Marriage,” created by Ingmar Bergman, debuted on Swedish television in 1973. Bergman’s first television series, its six episodes trace the dissolution of a middle-class marriage. Starring Liv Ullmann, Bergman’s ex, it drew on his own past relationships, though not always directly.
“When it comes to Bergman, the relationship between autobiography and fiction is extremely complicated,” said Jan Holmberg, the chief executive of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation.
A sensation in Sweden, it was seen by most of the adult population. And yes, sure, correlation does not imply causation, but after its debut, Swedish divorce were rumored to have doubled. Holmberg remembers watching a rerun as a 10-year-old.
“It was a rude awakening to adult life,” he said.
The writer and director Hagai Levi saw it as a teenager, on Israeli public television, during a stint on a kibbutz. “I was shocked,” he said. The series taught him that a television series could be radical, that it could be art. When he created “BeTipul,” the Israeli precursor to “In Treatment,” he used “Scenes” as proof of the concept “that two people can talk for an hour and it can work,” Levi said. (Strangely, “Scenes” also inspired the prime-time soap “Dallas.”)
So when Daniel Bergman, Ingmar Bergman’s youngest son, approached Levi about a remake, he was immediately interested.
But the project languished, in part because loving a show isn’t reason enough to adapt it. Divorce is common now — in Sweden, and elsewhere — and the relationship politics of the original series, in which the male character deserts his wife and young children for an academic post, haven’t aged particularly well.
Then about two years ago, Levi had a revelation. He would swap the gender roles. A woman who leaves her marriage and child in pursuit of freedom (with a very hot Israeli entrepreneur in place of a visiting professorship) might still provoke conversation and interest.
So the Marianne and Johan of the original became Mira and Jonathan, with a Boston suburb (re-created in a warehouse just north of New York City), stepping in for the Stockholm of the original. Jonathan remains an academic though Mira, a lawyer in the original, is now a businesswoman who out-earns him.
Casting began in early 2020. After Isaac met with Levi, he wrote to Chastain to tell her about the project. She wasn’t available. The producers cast Michelle Williams. But the pandemic reshuffled everyone’s schedules. When production was ready to resume, Williams was no longer free. Chastain was. “That was for me the most amazing miracle,” Levi said.
Isaac and Chastain met in the early 2000s at Juilliard. He was in his first year; she, in her third. He first saw her in a scene from a classical tragedy, slapping men in the face as Helen of Troy. He was friendly with her then-boyfriend, and they soon became friends themselves, bonding through the shared trauma of an acting curriculum designed to break its students down and then build them back up again. Isaac remembered her as “a real force of nature and solid, completely solid, with an incredible amount of integrity,” he said.
In the next window, Chastain blushed. “He was super talented,” she said. “But talented in a way that wasn’t expected, that’s challenging and pushing against constructs and ideas.” She introduced him to her manager, and they celebrated each other’s early successes and went to each other’s premieres. (A few of those photos are used in “Scenes From a Marriage” as set dressing.)
In 2013, Chastain was cast in J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year,”opposite Javier Bardem. When Bardem dropped out, Chastain campaigned for Isaac to have the role. Weeks before shooting, they began to meet, fleshing out the back story of their characters — a husband and wife trying to corner the heating oil market in 1981 New York — the details of the marriage, business, life.
It was their first time working together, and each felt a bond that went deeper than a parallel education and approach. “Something connects us that’s stronger than any ideas of character or story or any of that,” Isaac said. “There’s something else that’s more about like, a shared existence.”
Chandor noticed how they would support each other on set, and challenge each other, too, giving each other the freedom to take the characters’ relationship to dark and dangerous places. “They have this innate trust with each other,” Chandor said.
That trust eliminated the need for actorly tricks or shortcuts, in part because they know each other’s tricks too well. Their motto, Isaac said, was, “Let’s figure this [expletive] out together and see what’s the most honest thing we can do.”
Moni Yakim, Juilliard’s celebrated movement instructor, has followed their careers closely and he noted what he called the “magnetism and spiritual connection” that they suggested onscreen in the film.
“It’s a kind of chemistry,” Yakim said. “They can read each other’s mind and you as an audience, you can sense it.”
Telepathy takes work. When they knew that shooting “Scenes From a Marriage” could begin, Chastain bought a copy of “All About Us,” a guided journal for couples, and filled in her sections in character as Mira. Isaac brought it home and showed it to his wife, the filmmaker Elvira Lind.
“She was like, ‘You finally found your match,’” Isaac recalled. “’Someone that is as big of a nerd as you are.’”
The actors rehearsed, with Levi and on their own, talking their way through each long scene, helping each other through the anguished parts. When production had to halt for two weeks, they rehearsed then, too.
Watching these actors work reminded Amy Herzog, a writer and executive producer on the series, of race horses in full gallop. “These are two people who have so much training and skill,” she said. “Because it’s an athletic feat, what they were being asked to do.”
But training and skill and the “All About Us” book hadn’t really prepared them for the emotional impact of actually shooting “Scenes From a Marriage.” Both actors normally compartmentalize when they work, putting up psychic partitions between their roles and themselves. But this time, the partitions weren’t up to code.
“I knew I was in trouble the very first week,” Chastain said.
She couldn’t hide how the scripts affected her, especially from someone who knows her as well as Isaac does. “I just felt so exposed,” she said. “This to me, more than anything I’ve ever worked on, was definitely the most open I’ve ever been.”
“It felt so dangerous,” she said.
I visited the set in February (after multiple Covid-19 tests and health screenings) during a final day of filming. It was the quietest set I had ever seen: The atmosphere was subdued, reverent almost, a crew and a studio space stripped down to only what two actors would need to do the most passionate and demanding work of their careers.
Isaac didn’t know if he would watch the completed series. “It really is the first time ever, where I’ve done something where I’m totally fine never seeing this thing,” he said. “Because I’ve really lived through it. And in some ways I don’t want whatever they decide to put together to change my experience of it, which was just so intense.”
The cameras captured that intensity. Though Chastain isn’t Mira and Isaac isn’t Jonathan, each drew on personal experience — their parents’ marriages, past relationships — in ways they never had. Sometimes work on the show felt like acting, and sometimes the work wasn’t even conscious. There’s a scene in the harrowing fourth episode in which they both lie crumpled on the floor, an identical stress vein bulging in each forehead.
“It’s my go-to move, the throbbing forehead vein,” Isaac said on a follow-up video call last month. Chastain riffed on the joke: “That was our third year at Juilliard, the throb.”
By then, it had been five months since the shoot wrapped. Life had returned to something like normal. Jokes were possible again. Both of them seemed looser, more relaxed. (Isaac had already poured himself one tequila shot and was ready for another.) No one cried.
Chastain had watched the show with her husband. And Isaac, despite his initial reluctance, had watched it, too. It didn’t seem to have changed his experience.
“I’ve never done anything like it,” he said. “And I can’t imagine doing anything like it again.”
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#oscar isaac#jessica chastain#scenes from a marriage#hagai levi#michelle williams#elvira lind#behind the scenes#article
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Musicals that deserve more love
Since I really only see the same few musicals being discussed on Tumblr, I wanted to recommend a couple of shows that I think deserve a little more attention, as well as links to the soundtracks.
1) Lizzie (2013) by Tim Maner [book/lyrics], Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer [lyrics/music], and Alan Stevens Hewitt [music]
An all-female rock opera about Lizzie Borden and the possible events leading to the 1892 Fall River axe murders. Recommended for fans of Six, Spring Awakening, and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson.
Listen to the cast recording here.
2) The Light Princess (2013) by Tori Amos [music/lyrics] and Samuel Adamson [book/lyrics]
Overwhelmed by the kingdom’s grief after her mother dies, Princess Althea of Lagobel resolves to never let sadness weigh her down and literally float through life without a care. This becomes an issue, however, when Lagobel wages war with a neighbouring kingdom, forcing Althea to fulfill her duty as the future queen. Recommended for fans of Wicked and R&H’s Cinderella.
Listen to the original cast recording here.
3) Five Guys Named Moe (1992) by Clarke Peters [book] and Louis Jordan [music/lyrics]
After his alcoholic tendencies ruin his last relationship, Nomax is visited by the members of his favourite jazz band, who magically appear out of the radio to help him get his act together. Recommended for fans of Company and jazz music in general.
Listen to the original Broadway or London cast.
4) Alice By Heart (2019) by Duncan Sheik [music], Steven Sater [lyrics/book], and Jessie Nelson [book]
While seeking shelter during the London Blitz, best friends Alice and Alfred are forced to separate when Alfred is quarantined due to tuberculosis. Knowing her friend may soon die, Alice reads him Lewis Carroll’s famed novel through the wall to allow them one last childhood escape. Recommend for fans of Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, and Jasper in Deadland.
Listen to the original cast recording here.
5) Lizard Boy (2015) by Justin Huertas [book/lyrics/music]
Due to a childhood incident that mutated him into a human-reptile hybrid, Trevor finds it difficult to trust other people. He is forced to step out of his comfort zone, however, after meeting Cary, the sweet but promiscuous man of his dreams, and Siren, a psychic willing to do whatever it takes to protect the city from an oncoming dragon attack. Recommended for fans of Be More Chill, Fun Home, and [title of show].
Listen to the cast recording here.
6) Allegiance (2015) by Jay Kuo [music/lyrics/book], Marc Acito, and Lorenzo Thione [book]
Following the attack on Pearl Harbour, Keiko and Sammy Kimura are sent to the Heart Mountain internment camp with their father and grandfather. While Sammy attempts to prove his family’s loyalty by enlisting in the army, Keiko gets involved with protests against the treatment of the camp’s inmates. Recommended for fans of Miss Saigon, The Band’s Visit, and Dogfight.
Listen to the original Broadway cast recording here.
7) Ragtime (1998) by Stephen Flaherty [music], Lynn Ahrens [lyrics], and Terrence McNally [book]
The matriarch of an upper-class white family, a Jewish immigrant, and an African American musician turned activist find their lives inexplicably entwined while dealing with the societal changes in New York during the early twentieth century. Recommended for fans of Les Miserables, Come From Away, and Anastasia.
Listen to the original Broadway cast recording here.
8) Passing Strange (2008) by Stew [music/lyrics/book] and Heidi Rodewald [music]
A young black musician leaves his Christian household in Los Angeles and travels to Europe in hopes of finding “the real.” Recommended for fans of Pippin and American Idiot.
Listen to the live cast recording here.
9) The Scottsboro Boys (2010) by David Thompson [book], John Kander [music], and Fred Ebb [lyrics]
An all-black cast re-imagines the infamous trial of nine African American youths falsely accused of raping two white women in the 1930s as a minstrel show. Recommended for fans of Chicago and Parade.
Listen to the off-Broadway cast recording here.
10) Follies (1971) by Stephen Sondheim [music/lyrics] and James Goldman [book]
A group of former showgirls bring their husbands to a reunion at the theatre where they used to perform, which is scheduled for demolition, and remember their glory days. Recommended for fans of A Chorus Line, Cabaret, and Sunset Boulevard.
Listen to the original Broadway or London cast or the National Theatre recording.
11) Venice (2014) by Matt Sax [music/lyrics] and Eric Rosen [lyrics/book]
In a dystopian society torn apart by war and terrorists attacks, Venice (son of the late activist Anna Monroe) decides to marry Willow Turner (daughter of the assassinated president) in an attempt to peacefully reunite the nation; however, his brother, Commander Markos, is determined to ruin the wedding to keep the public fearful and in line. Recommended for fans of Hamilton.
Listen to the original cast recording here.
12) The Wild Party (2000) by Andrew Lippa [music/lyrics/book] / Michael John LaChiusa [music/lyrics/book] and George C. Wolfe [book]
Based off the 1920s poem by Joseph Moncure March, Queenie and Burns host a party for their fellow vaudevillians in an attempt to save their floundering relationship. As the night goes on, however, the party dissolves into a murderous orgy. Recommended for fans of Cabaret.
The show is notorious for having two adaptions that coincidentally premiered at the same time: one by Andrew Lippa off-Broadway and one by Michael La Chiusa on Broadway. Listen to the Lippa version here or the La Chiusa version here.
#musicals#musical theatre#broadway#broadway musicals#off-broadway#off-broadway musicals#musical recs#lizzie the musical#the light princess#five guys named moe#alice by heart#lizard boy#allegiance#passing strange#ragtime#the scottsboro boys#venice the musical#the wild party#follies#spotify#apple music
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can i request headcannons of a beatle reader who maybe was/is on broadway before, after or during the time of the beatles? that’s it i just love broadway!!! ty for your time!!
oh my GOD yes. hello fellow theatre nerd!! prepare for some serious rambling.
so i’m inclined to say reader’s first venture into musical theatre is like, 1968.
lil reminder that john’s only non-musical role was in a film that starred the original phantom, michael crawford, who was also in the hello, dolly! film :~) stan
anyways, first thing is probably on the west end. i did actual RESEARCH for this (well. i googled shit ghafkjahg) and know what premiered on the west end in 1968? hair and cabaret baby! there were so many good things already playing too!! so.
AND because this is my blog baby... let’s just imagine if some musicals were created much earlier (especially bc i just know more about post 1960s musicals lol) 👀 wow sure is a shame phantom of the opera’s writer we just DON’T KNOW WHO DID THAT. hmm........... tragic.
roles i could totally see?? well..
female roles: sonya or natasha in the great comet (natasha’s a dream role, but so much of sonya alone reminds me of beatle!reader holy hell), tzeitel from fiddler on the roof, roxie hart from chicago, tracy or penny in hairspray, christine in the phantom of the opera, sally in cabaret, and umm idk anything about hair but anyone in that.
male roles: hedwig in hedwig and the angry inch, raoul in the phantom of the opera, pierre or anatole in the great comet, again anyone in hair, judas in jesus christ superstar. idk as many lad roles aaah.
oh also literally anyone from spring awakening baby!
SO. regardless of what part you’re playing, you’re probably doing this in tandem to writing songs for the band. that’s a lot of work.
the boys 100% come to your first night, and as many following performances as possible.
you’re pretty successful, ‘cause “holy SHIT one of the beatles is just doing stage stuff now woah?? let’s go see that!!”. and u ROCK.
post-beatles break up, you’d for SURE do some broadway stuff too! you’re not busy with recording and the tension in the group anymore, so go crazy do what you want!!!!
seeing as john and yoko lived in new york, it’s not totally uncommon for them to stop by a show, maybe visit you behind stage. whenever the others are in town, they def do the same.
beatle!reader 100% is an EGOT person (emmy, grammy, oscar and tony). and they have an olivier award, the british version of the tony award.
WRITING A MUSICAL THOUGH.. STARRING IN IT!! yes 😤
#asks#headcanons#we love death of the author and i hate alw so i'm claiming his work now baby!#omg this is so bad but i just. love musicals so much god.#Anonymous
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Clearing out extra Playbills
***June 6th Update - All of the Playbills from this list have now been claimed.
Following up on my recent post about extra Playbills I’d like to unload, the list of what I currently have available is under the cut.
Normally, I would raffle Playbills off and ask nothing in exchange except a follow for the blog, BUT I’m a little overwhelmed by how many I have accumulated and how much it would cost to mail these all out to people individually.
So....any of these can be yours for just the approximate price of shipping & packaging.
Within the U.S. - $5.00 for 1 Playbill add $0.50 for each additional.
International - $25 for 1 Playbill add $0.50 for each additional
PRIVATE MESSAGES ONLY.
First come first serve. If something is crossed out it is no longer available.
Broadway Musicals
9 to 5 - OBC
Amazing Grace - OBC
Amélie – OBC
America Psycho The Musical – OBC
Bandstand – Pride Playbill June 2017
Bandstand- OBC
Beautiful – July 2015 Chilina Kennedy (x2)
Bright Star – OBC
Come From Away – OBC
Dear Evan Hansen – Pride Playbill June 2017
Falsettos - November 2016 - Christian Borle, Andrew Rannels
Fiddler on the Roof- May 2016 - Danny Burstein
Finding Neverland- July 2015
Frozen - OBC
Fun Home – May 2016 - Gabriella Pizzolo
Hamilton – Feb 2018 – Current Cast
Hamilton – Jan 2017 - Brandon Victor-Dixon
Hello Dolly – Bette Midler
Holiday Inn- November 2016 - Bryce Pinkham, Corbin Bleu
Matilda – September 2016
Mean Girls –Opening Night Playbill- OBC
Once on this Island – Current Production
School of Rock – OBC (x2)
She Loves Me – March 2016 Laura Benanti & Zachary Levi
Spongebob Squarepants the Broadway Musical – OBC
Spring Awakening- Deaf West OBC
Sunset Blvd – May 2017
Tuck Everlasting – OBC
Broadway Plays
Angels in America – Current Production
Children of a Lesser God – Current Production (x2)
China Doll – Al Pacino
Indecent
King Charles III
Meteor Shower - Amy Schumer, Laura Benanti, Keegan-Michael Key
Noises Off – Megan Hilty, Rob McClure
Significant Other – Lindsay Mendez, Rebecca Naomi Jones
The Humans
The Present – Cate Blanchet
Off-Broadway/ Out of Town Run Musicals
Anastasia – Hartford Stages (x2)
Jerry Springer the Opera - Signature Center (Current Production) Matt McGrath
Joan of Arc – The Public Theater
Mean Girls – National Theatre D.C.
Piece of My Heart
Ruthless!
Sweet Charity – Sutton Foster
The Robber Bridegroom - Roundabout – Steven Pasquale
The Total Bent- The Public Theater
Waitress- A.R.T.
Off-Broadway Plays
Buyer & Cellar – Barrett Foa (x2)
Church & State - New World Stages
Dinner with Friends - Roundabout Theatre Company
Eclipsed – The Public Theater – Lupita Nyong’o
Grounded- The Public Theater – Anne Hathaway
Old Jews Telling Jokes
Privacy – The Public Theater – Daniel Radcliffe
Tales from Red Vienna - Nina Arianda
The End of Longing – Pride Playbill – Matthew Perry, Jennifer Morrison
Who’s Holiday – Leslie Margherita
Yerma – Park Avenue Armory - Billie Piper
Special Events
1776 – Encores! – Santino Fontana
A New Brain - Encores! Off- Center – Jonathan Groff
Broadway Con- 1st Year/ Premiere
God Bless You Mr. Rosewater – Encores! – Santino Fontana, Skylar Astin
I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking it On the Road – Encores! Off- Center – Renée Elise Goldsberry
Little Shop of Horrors - Encores! Off- Center – Jake Gyllenhaal, Ellen Green
Manhattan Concert Productions, Broadway Classics in Concert – Norm Lewis, Ramin Karimloo, Lea Salonga, etc.
Manhattan Concert Productions, The Secret Garden – Lincoln Center – Sierra Boggess, Sydney Lucas, Ramin Karimloo (x2)
New York City Center Off-Center Jamboree! – Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff
Sunday in The Park with George – NY City Center Gala – Jake Gyllenhaal, Analeigh Ashford
The Golden Apple – Encores! - Lindsay Mendez
The Wild Party - Encores! Off- Center- Sutton Foster, Brandon Victor Dixon
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Neil Diamond Bio-Musical Sets Sights on Broadway A musical featuring the songs — and telling the life story — of Neil Diamond now has a title, a choreographer and scheduled performance dates in Boston, with Broadway plans next. “A Beautiful Noise,” named as a nod to the singer-songwriter’s 1976 album, is set to run for four weeks at the Emerson Colonial Theater in Boston next summer, the show’s producers, Ken Davenport and Bob Gaudio, announced on Tuesday. They plan to bring the production to New York following that run. “I personally hope that this announcement demonstrates to the world that the Broadway factory is starting to come back to life, that there is smoke coming from our chimneys,” Davenport said in an interview on Tuesday. “We’re starting to make stuff again — we may not be able to show it to everyone right now, but we will.” The show, first announced in 2019, has put together a marquee team: The director is Michael Mayer, who won a Tony Award in 2007 for “Spring Awakening.” Steven Hoggett, whose work has been featured in “Once” and “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” will supply movement and dance. Anthony McCarten, the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind “The Theory of Everything” and “Bohemian Rhapsody,” is writing the book. “A Beautiful Noise” will cover the ups and downs of Diamond’s life, from growing up poor in Brooklyn through his rise to stardom in the ’70s (thanks to hits like “Cracklin’ Rosie” and “Song Sung Blue”) and into the later decades of his career, when he became something of a living legend. In this respect, it promises to be similar to the shows about Tina Turner and Donna Summer that appeared on Broadway recently. Asked whether theater fans would still have an appetite for jukebox musicals after the pandemic-enforced Broadway hiatus, Davenport (a Tony winner for the 2018 revival of “Once on This Island”) said that “A Beautiful Noise” shouldn’t be pre-emptively pigeonholed. “I characterize it as a biographical musical drama and not a jukebox musical,” he said. “We’re excited to show people what separates it from some of the jukebox musicals that have been around.” In a statement, Diamond, who is now 80, said he thinks the opening of the show will be similar to performing his song “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway Park after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, an experience he called “a moment of relief, unity, strength and love.” When performances begin in June 2022 “and we’re all able to safely be in the same space together, experiencing the thrill of live theater, I imagine those same emotions will wash over me and the entire audience,” he said. The Boston area has lately been a popular proving ground for Broadway-bound musicals, including “Jagged Little Pill,” which opened at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge in May 2018, and “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” which received its world premiere at the Emerson Colonial that July. Both were enjoying successful New York runs when the pandemic suspended live theater, and are up for numerous Tonys, including best musical. Casting details and ticketing information for “A Beautiful Noise” will be released later. Source link Orbem News #BioMusical #Broadway #diamond #Neil #sets #Sights
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