#AND THE BOOK IS WRITTEN BY JEN SILVERMAN!!!!
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theatre life is not real. i have an audition next week for a black swan musical written by dave molloy. and i have to just be normal about that
#AND THE BOOK IS WRITTEN BY JEN SILVERMAN!!!!#a fact which is significantly less important to the general public but is HUGE to a certain subsection of theatre gays#this is big you guys#im shaking at a subatomic level#theatre#acting#alex talks#.txt#black swan#dave molloy
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About Me Books
Rules: 10 (non-ancient) books for people to get to know you better, or that you just really like. (what classifies as "non-ancient"? lol)
tagged by @mathomhouse-e @academicblorbo and @seiya-starsniper
ahhh i'm not as big into reading as i used to be :') not sure if i can find 10 books to define me... but i'll try my best. here's a list of books that made me sit down for a while and/or yell about online...
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. anyone looking to get a little insight to the restaurant industry from the POV of a chef, this is the book for you. it's gritty and real and all narrated by Bourdain's dry, dirty, and dark humor. it's an easy read and for someone like me (who can't really stand kitchen TV shows or movies because that's the life i live) it is actually palatable and i really liked it.
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman. i only recently read this book last year and it blew me away. it is everything i want in a character story. it follows a young, bi woman, who's an up and coming play writer in NYC. she had done something so terrible she ran away to California to squat on an old friend's couch. while she's there, she meets with a woman who's shooting a documentary and while the protag gets involved and helps out, she realizes that it's... not a good situation. all the while hints are dropped about what she did in New York and-- its very relatable to me personally: running away from your problems, thinking if you bury it and dont talk about it, it will go away. distracting yourself into something else but it digs up old ghosts and forces you to make an uncomfortable decision... but its ultimately good for your growth and maturity. it's a fantastic read if you like character stories.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. read this book February last year and once i was finished, immediately fell into the deep, dark hole that was Greek Mythology (i never was properly taught about the myths. i was assigned the Iliad to read for my English minor, but had just skimmed it like the lazy 20-year old college student i was). and throughout 2022 (up until October when i watched The Sandman) Greek Mythology was my entire personality. and while this book takes A LOT of creative liberties (esp with Patroclus, dear god) i still love it to death. it's gorgeous and so poetically written.
Unwind by Neal Shusterman. we've come into the first (and only) YA novel on the list lol. i haven't reread this in probably a decade, so i'm not sure if it still holds up. but if you like dystopian stories, boy howdy do i got a fucking unique one for you. i found a really good article about it that starts with a perfect summary: "...follows three teens on the run from a government that believes “unwinding,” or body harvesting, is an alternate solution to abortions and unwanted teens... Although controversial in topic, this disturbing novel inspires deep thought about organ donation, abortion, and one’s personal right to make decisions regarding his or her body." it's so captivating that i had started writing a short film screenplay for it in college (that of course i never finished). i read this when it first came out in 2007 and i still own my original copy.
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. oof. so, this is one of those books that one read through was good enough for me, but it left me with such an emotional impact that i just had to own my own copy of it. if you dont know the book, it's a character story about guilt and redemption. it's set in 1970s Afghanistan and then again about 20 years later under Taliban rule. it's extremely hard to read (not just because of the subject matter, but it's also... incredibly dry). it starts off SO strong, falls in the middle (enough that i almost gave up) but then shoots off like a bullet during the last quarter of the novel. it's. phenomenal. heartbreaking and empowering and just such a good and believable story. (also the film adaption was done very well!)
From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty. just gonna start this one off by recommending all of Caitlin's books. this is her second and it covers Caitlin's relentless pursuit of encouraging "death positivity" by traveling the world to discover how other cultures besides our own, care for their dead. Doughty is a mortician (she also has a fantastic Youtube channel where she does mini documentaries and video essays on death and the macabre) and her writing is filled to the brim with respect, tenderness, and endless curiosity. i love her and share her beliefs.
The Martian by Andy Weir. i'm not much into the adventure genre or sci-fi... but this one took me by genuine surprise. the narrator is so dry and funny, despite his horrifying situation of being stranded on Mars. we work through his attempts at staying alive together, painstaking as it is, while also catching glimpses of what NASA is doing back on earth about the situation. it's soooo cool and fun (and the climax is fucking amazing. i knew the film could never pull it off but boy was i still disappointed in how the film handled it lol).
Lord of the Flies by William Golding. read this guy in high school and it's just always stuck with me. something something man's inherent evil. how even the most sophisticated and promising of us can be reduced to our base instincts in dire situations. how it's not always an adventure, there are real stakes and consequences and... it's just so sad and terrible, almost comically so. as a teenage loner who was horrifically bullied all through middle and high school, this book was my fucking staple. i wore out that paperback.
Circe by Madeline Miller. oh it's another M.M. book lol. listen, Miller owns my entire ass at this point (im so excited for her Persephone book omg) i didn't get around to reading this until i'd finished a ton of Greek myths podcasts and reading The Odyssey so i felt a little more prepared going into it. i love Circe in this book, i love that she's not perfect and has literally hundreds and hundreds of years to fuck up and get better, grow into who she wants to be as a witch and as a woman. going through classic stories through her perspective is also a lot of fun, and my man Odysseus is there for a good chunk of it.
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. a book about adventure, self discovery, learning what it means to be free and to govern yourself. being unafraid to be rootless while in search of your Personal Legend. this book reached into my brain and massaged it. if you couldn't tell by now, i'm obsessed with character stories. i am a vagabond in my real life and i can not settle down. this book was written for me lol i enjoyed every word. (it has Islamic/Christian undertones but it's not in your face, which would have been a major turn off otherwise). i listened to the audiobook version of this narrated by one of my favorite actors, Jeremy Irons *chefs kiss*
this took an incredibly long time, but it was a good way to spend my morning, rifling through my bookshelf while sipping coffee haha. and oh god, here we go being unsure who to tag: @tj-dragonblade @scifrey @issylra @hardly-an-escape @teejaystumbles @virgo-dream @watercubebee
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the concept for this list was: fifty books written by women about women, published within the past five years, (2017-now), that aren’t normal people and whatever else sally rooney just released. i also tried to avoid anything that gave explicitly rooney vibes. (here is why.) i stuck mostly with realism, though some have elements of fantasy or magic or horror. if you have questions about triggers for any particular book feel free to reach out.
Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi*
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet*
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood*
All’s Well by Mona Awad*
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett*
Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson*
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata*
The Push by Audrey Audrain
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Sad Janet by Lucie Britsch
Weather by Jenny Offill
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha
The Comeback by Ella Berman
The Farm by Joanne Ramos
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
Writers & Lovers by Lily King*
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Supper Club by Lara Williams
Vacuum in the Dark by Jen Beagin
In the Dream House: A Memoir by Carmen Maria Machado*
Severance by Ling Ma
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Lurkers by Sandi Tan
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Edie Richter is Not Alone by Rebecca Handler
Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Godshot by Chelsea Bieker
Betty by Tiffany McDaniel*
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Ordinary Girls: A Memoir by Jaquira Díaz
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland
Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
My Life as a Rat by Joyce Carol Oates*
Tell the Machine Goodnight by Katie Williams
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng*
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Penance by Kanae Minato*
Quicksand by Malin Persson Giolito
a note: this list is obviously limited to books that i have either personally read or know a lot about.
* means the author has other good books that i know of, i just didn’t want to repeat any authors
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book ask: 3, 11, 16!!
3: What were your top five books of the year?
this is what i'm struggling to determine!! right now i believe it's this:
a little devil in america, hanif abdurraqib
we play ourselves, jen silverman
drive your plow over the bones of the dead, olga tokarczuk
the buried giant, kazuo ishiguro
and honestly the thursday murder club by richard osman!
11. What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?
i finally got around to the sparrow by mary doria russell, which was published in 1997. i loved it because i could see how foundational it was to every recently-published boundary-pushing sci fi novel i've loved written in the last 5 years.
16. What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
hmmm let's see. probably nobody is talking about this by patricia lockwood, which made me cry the whole time kind of in shock? but in the end did not settle well with me.
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for end-of-year book ask: 3, 5, 12, 16, 17, 25!
3. What were your top five books of the year?
The Terrible Girls by Rebecca Brown
Why Fish Don't Exist by Lulu Miller
The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
Clear and Muddy Loss of Love by PDL
The terrible girls is a short story collection about toxic lesbian relationships and breakups it's extremely abstract and sometimes hard to tell what it even exactly is about but that's what I liked about it. This book is probably for smarter people than I honestly.
Why Fish Don't Exist is the only nonfiction on this list, it's..part memoir of the author and part biography of a historical figure and part science history. The author starts getting obsessed with this taxidermist whose whole collection is destroyed and how he didn't give up after that and rebuilt it because her own life is a mess and she finds some sort of solace in the guy. But in the process of that she also learns he was kind of an asshole.
The Ghost Network by Catie Disabato. this is a book about, city planning, and trains, and also pop music. None of which are particularly interesting to me at least before reading the book... I promptly lost interest shortly after reading the book too but it's commendable to make me interested for even such a short while. Actually it did change how I think about pop music quite a bit. It's written an a faux-non fiction style with the author trying to solve the mystery of a missing pop star and a few other weird thigns surrounding her .
We Play Ourselves by Jen Silverman
This is messy 20-something white woman with unfulfilling life literary fiction except the 20 something is 30 something and bisexual. I don't usually love these sort of books but this one stuck more of a chord with me. Roughly the plot is about the aforementioned 30-something moving in with her old best friend because her life is falling apart and she gets roped into helping film a documentary about a female fight club. This doesn't really encompass what it's about but putting into words what it's about feels like it almost cheapens it for me personally I got a lot of the book but I don't want to think about it in words..
Clear and Muddy Loss of Love
this..kinda belongs on this list and kinda doesn't. This is a huge fucking book about lesbian court politics. When it's good it's really good, and I could give it a much better sales pitch but after reading so many pages of it I'm just tired of it. I know I loved this but also I sort of don't want to see this book for a while lmao.
honorable mention goes to webcomic BUUZA it didn't really fit in with the rest but it's really good.
Writing these down ALL of these are gay in some form even if I didn't mention it.
5. What genre did you read the most of?
Hard to tell...I don't think any genre particularly stands out to me beyond like 50% of what I read being gay? That's not a genre though.
12.Any books that disappointed you?
I dropped 85 books this year but from ones I completed
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke - great concet but execution is just trash.
The Final Reconciliation - again interesting concept ruined by the author being afraid of women
The Hollow Places - almost the same as the authors previous book but inferior. Got a review with this one when I was more mad about it.
Court of Lions - this is a sequel of a book that was kinda fine but this one wasted all its potential. I got a review for it also
16 . What is the most over-hyped book you read this year?
Conversations with Friends probably. It's the one that stands out to me as especially popular. I didn't dislike it but it's very 20 something white woman has self aware bad sex with her not boyfriend thought provoking #womenslit. it's like...fine... I attempted to read other books like this before because this is the state of womens fiction and among them this is one of the better ones. It's very similiar in some ways to We Play Ourselves, both are themed around art and messy relationships but clearly I loved one more than the other. Anyway it's compulsively readable the way reality tv is, but I didn't get anything out of it beyond "huh, I'm glad I'm not these people".
17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?
Terrible Girls did because I didn't even know what it was about and I was about to delete it off my to be read shelf before going I might as well give it a chance. Same with the Ghost Network. Other than that I generally go into books hoping for the best anyway so I'm more often disappointed than surprised.
25. What reading goals do you have for next year?
I generally just set specific books to try (either read or set aside bc I have no interest). I also would like to read the books I bought this year which are just 3 or 4. I'll probably set the goodreads goal to something random I am not too concerned with that.
Thanks for the questions hope u enjoy this overly long answer
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You Lucky Dog - Julia London ⭐⭐
Recommended for You - Laura Silverman ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Hidden Prince - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Orphan Queen - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Glowing Knight - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Burning Hand - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Black Knife - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Umbrella Academy Vol 1 - Gerard Way ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Umbrella Academy Vol 2 - Gerard Way ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Mirror King - Jodi Meadows ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blood & Honey - Shelby Mahurin ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reverie - Ryan La Sala ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Inheritance Games - Jennifer Lynn Barnes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Catherine House - Elisabeth Thomas ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Well Played - Jen DeLuca ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Cemetery Boys - Aiden Thomas ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tools of Engagement - Tessa Bailey ⭐⭐
Scavenge the Stars - Tara Sim ⭐⭐⭐
September was the first month not dealing with moving, buying a house, or a major pandemic (still happening but I’m used to it at work now) so I think I got back on track with my reading. Granted, it looks like a lot but 4 of these were short stories and 2 of these were graphic novels so technically I only read 12 novels, but still; leaps and bounds better than what my last few wrap ups have been.
I read quite a lot of highly rated stuff, too. The Inheritance Games by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is definitely a must read for folks. I was intrigued the whole way, I never wanted to put it down, and there were several moments where I would sit up straight and go ‘WHAT THE FUCK!?’ to the amusement of my husband. Cemetery Boys was beautifully crafted and such a wonderful story. The Orphan Queen was super surprising for how forward thinking and progressive it was for a fantasy written 5 years ago. There was no female/female hate, no love triangle, and it was just *chefs kiss* a perfect light fantasy.
Tools of Engagement was my greatest disappointment for this month. I loved Fix Her Up so much and while Love Her or Lose Her really didn’t impress me, I had such high hopes for the third and final book in the Hot & Hammered trilogy. Granted, I enjoyed a good majority of it and it made me laugh out loud a lot but the way Tessa handled the very obvious mental illness in the book just pissed me off. I’m glad it’s the last one because I don’t think I would’ve continued on.
OCTOBER IS HERE SO SPOOPY BOOKS IT IS! I’m currently reading The Year of the Witching and I just dabbled into Deadly Education as well. I’ve got a boatload of books lined up to read and I’m super excited to get to them. If there’s one that I HAVE to read, it’s Firestarter by Stephen King because that was on last years spoopy TBR and I never got to it so I’m definitely reading it this year. Especially now that they’ve announced they’re doing a remake of the film adaptation with Zac Efron.
#booklr#books#read#reader#reading#wrap up#monthly wrap up#reading wrap up#bookworm#book dragon#bibliophile#mine
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National Enquirer, November 16
You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks
Cover: Jeffrey Epstein’s madam Ghislaine Maxwell’s nights with Prince Andrew and teen Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Page 2: Brad Pitt kicked married galpal Nicole Poturalski to the curb after getting flak from his ex Angelina Jolie -- Brad’s relationship with Nicole hit the skids after Brad decided he needed to shore up his image during his ongoing custody battle with Angie and his focus right now is to get his dad image back on track and give Angie no more ammo to fling back at him
Page 3: Tiger Woods’ romance with Erica Herman has gone off course over legal troubles and wedding pressure and bickering over where to live and Tiger is so fed up he’s considering ditching his nagging girlfriend in Florida and moving back to his native California -- Erica’s been pressuring him to put a ring on it ever since she moved into his Jupiter Island mansion and that’s something he just won’t do and she’s already taken over his household buying new furniture and remodeling the master bath and building a new closet and hiring a gourmet chef -- California is looking better and better to Tiger who only moved to Florida to play on its tough Bermuda grass which helped improve his swing but now Tiger’s ex Elin lives in Florida with their two kids
Page 4: Miranda Lambert is scoffing at ex Blake Shelton’s newly announced engagement to Gwen Stefani and she’s convinced Blake’s third walk down the aisle has failure written all over it because she thinks Blake’s bad to the bone and this marriage will wind up being a total disaster and after the hell Blake put her through Miranda can’t imagine his life with Gwen would be any different, lifelong bachelor Simon Cowell has had a change of heart since his horrific August accident and he’s finally ready to tie the knot with baby mama Lauren Silverman -- after spinal surgery to repair his broken back the entertainment mogul feels lucky to be alive and walking and the one constant in his difficult rehab after surgery has been Lauren and he wants to pay her back with a ring
Page 5: Train-wreck Wendy Williams’ wacky behavior has TV producers scrambling behind the scenes to find her replacement after her unhinged performance on a recent episode of her talk show where she slurred her words and rambled incoherently -- there had been a hope a chatfest helmed by Nick Cannon could be a safety net should the daytime diva who spent a stint in a sober living house last year not be able to continue hosting but plans for that were pushed back after the comic made anti-Semitic rants in a podcast -- they also tried Jerry O’Connell when Wendy was out for three weeks last year but he tanked with viewers -- Wendy’s a mess and it remains to be seen how long producers will be able to put up with her problems before they decide to pull the plug
Page 6: Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo hinted that she may be making her final rounds -- Ellen who has starred on the show since 2005 and makes $20 million a year admitted she’s considering slipping out of her scrubs after the current season 17 but her departure could spell the end of the beloved series and show creator Shonda Rhimes has said it’s unlikely the show could continue without her but Ellen has also expressed her desire to spend more time with her husband and their three children
Page 7: Mariah Carey’s brother Morgan blasted her memoir as filled with lies and distortions and he’s considering legal action -- the book called Morgan and sister Alison her ex-brother and ex-sister and Mariah wrote Morgan had a long history of violence and when she was six he slammed their mother into a wall -- Mariah also wrote her siblings and mother were heartless in terms of dealing with her as a human being and once she got famous they started treating her like an ATM with a wig on but Morgan is fighting back and looking to hire a lawyer
Page 8: Reese Witherspoon’s marriage to Jim Toth is in the muck after the stunning collapse of his new business venture and tensions are mounting in the Hollywood power couple’s already troubled union now that the streaming service Quibi crumbled after less than six months leaving content acquisition president Jim out of work while Reese’s star continues to rise and there’s a real balance of power that’s been building up and that’s put a serious strain on the relationship -- living in quarantine added to the stress between them as Reese has been holed up with her two kids with ex Ryan Phillippe Ava and Deacon and her son Tennessee with Jim at the family’s ranch in Malibu
Page 9: Dementia patient Kenny Rogers cut his three adult children out of his $250 million will and now sources fear the late country legend could have been tricked into signing the document -- Kenny left everything to his 16-year-old twins sons with fifth wife Wanda and the will also stated it was his intent to specifically exclude his daughter Carole with his first wife and son Kenny Jr. with third wife and son Christopher with fourth wife and their issue as beneficiaries of his estate -- Kenny Sr. would never disown his own children according to the source especially since the singer’s son Kenny Jr. is incorrectly referred to Kenny Rogers III throughout the will -- the wording is not like Kenny Sr. and something is not right and his older kids are thinking about contesting the will
Page 10: Hot Shots -- Kate McKinnon shot a Saturday Night live skit in NYC, Sophia Bush hit the road in L.A. with her co-pilot pup Maggie, pregnant Jinger Duggar Vuolo in Venice with daughter Felicity, Heidi Klum walking the streets in her native Germany, Snoop Dogg saluted young rappers as he accepted BET’s I Am Hip Hop award
Page 11: Unwitting Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler once dabbled in the secret sex cult NXIVM -- the organization masqueraded as a self-help group but in 2017 it was exposed as a pyramid scheme for founder Keith Raniere who forced high-ranking female recruits to become his sex slaves -- in 2010 Jen and Gerry who were dating at the time wound up at one of the introductory seminars but they were turned off by the level of commitment expected and never returned -- they thought it was just a networking opportunity and had no idea what they were getting themselves into, cash-crunched Gwyneth Paltrow is facing hard times like everyone else and is looking to change her free-spending ways -- the belt-tightening caused by the coronavirus pandemic has even hit her lifestyle empire Goop causing her to shut down the London branch and make hard choices for the future -- Gwyneth may be worth $100 million but she and husband Brad Falchuk spend money like it’s going out of style on private jets they use on a whim and they own a fleet of fancy cars and pay steep salaries for staff who are at their beck and call 24/7 and it’s all draining their bank accounts -- they’re looking at making cuts across the board from personal trainers and chefs and drivers to the masseurs and beauticians who come to their house several times a week -- plus the couple believe it’s a bad look for them to be living so high on the hog when the rest of the world is suffering during the pandemic
Page 12: Straight Shuter -- Angelina Jolie spent years developing her own version of the Hollywood classic Cleopatra and now she’s livid that Gal Gadot has stolen the Egyptian queen -- Angie’s dream was to play Cleopatra the role that made Elizabeth Taylor an icon and it was to be the part that won Angie an Academy Award for Best Actress and now that’s over thanks to Gal who will be playing the Queen of the Nile instead, after ABC scrapped plans to honor Regis Philbin with a prime-time tribute Jimmy Kimmel insisted on honoring Regis on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, MSNBC talking head Rachel Maddow is fleeing New York for her Massachusetts farm after hanging a $2.3 million price tag on her NYC pad but Rachel didn’t want potential buyers looking through all the personal stuff at her apartment so all the personal pictures and books and clothing and everything else was shipped out and replaced with staged furniture, Ariel Winter and her dog (picture)
Page 13: Ailing Joni Mitchell opened up about how she’s still struggling to get back to her old self five years after a debilitating brain bleed -- after Joni was found unresponsive in her Bel-Air home in 2015 she said she was forced to relearn everyday tasks because the aneurysm took away her speech and her ability to walk and although she’s showing slow improvement she hasn’t been writing or playing the guitar or the piano, Randy Travis is defying all the odds as he plans the greatest comeback in country music history as he is making amazing progress after suffering a massive 2013 stroke that most believed would end his career forever and he was given just 1% chance of survival and even after he pulled through doctors believed he would be bedridden and unable to speak -- instead his grueling rehab efforts have miraculously put him on the road to realizing his dream of returning to the spotlight -- some of his motivation is financial; last year he sold his Nashville home and released his memoir which was fueled by his need to pay medical expenses after years of not being able to perform
Page 14: Hollywood Hookups -- Channing Tatum and Jessie J have split again, Cole Sprouse and Reina Silva dating, Kate Beckinsale and Goody Grace split
Page 15: Ariana Grande is raising eyebrows with her raunchy new record Positions -- the former squeaky-clean Nickelodeon star who has been dating real estate agent Dalton Gomez spouted off X-rated odes to an unnamed lover on the LP, six months after sidelining her marriage to former quarterback Jay Cutler Kristin Cavallari admitted there are good days and bad days but insisted it’s been nice to be able to focus on herself and figure out who she is now and what she ultimately wants out of life, hotel heiress Kathy Hilton is joining The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills as a friend of the main cast which includes her half-sister Kyle Richards
Page 16: Crime
Page 17: On Drew Barrymore’s talk show a psychic guest channeled the spirit of one of the host’s former in-laws but the man in question is very much alive -- medium Anna Raimondi told Drew she sensed the aura of a judge causing Drew to burst into tears and named David a relative of her ex-husband Will Kopelman claiming he’d passed but Judge David Kopelman is alive and still going strong -- Will slammed Anna was a submental hack and said he was surprised that Drew chose to give oxygen to someone like that
Page 18: American Life
Page 20: Cover Story -- Prince Andrew is desperate to quash explosive testimony by his pedophile pal Jeffrey Epstein’s accused madam Ghislaine Maxwell but the socialite’s second secret deposition is torpedoing his return from royal exile -- after Ghislaine danced around details of her relationship with the disgraced Duke of York in testimony released a few weeks ago Andrew is sweating bullets about her second grilling under oath which contains details of their intimate friendship and nights with Epstein’s teen sex slave Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Page 22: Don McLean viciously slammed ex-wife Patrisha Shnier as the worst person her ever knew but in their ongoing war of words she maintains he was abusive to her -- Don is still bitter over a 2016 domestic incident at their home in Maine that landed him behind bars and led to divorce after 30 years of marriage
Page 26: Matthew McConaughey confessed he nearly turned his back on Tinseltown to be a wildlife guide like late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin -- he made a splash in a string of blockbuster rom-coms in the ‘90s and ‘00s but he was eager to move on to meatier movies and even passed on a $14.5 million paycheck in 2010 to seek more substantial roles and the struggle left him considering other careers such as a wildlife guide, Jamie Foxx has been crushed by the death of his beloved sister DeOndra Dixon who was born with Down syndrome
Page 28: Good Catch -- Bachelor stars who are still up for grabs -- Jon Hamm, Owen Wilson, Drew Carey
Page 29: Benicio Del Toro, Ryan Seacrest, Matthew Perry, some stars seem to say I do at the drop of the hat -- Larry King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Bob Thornton
Page 32: Olivia Munn was caught on camera flashing what looked like engagement bling on her left ring finger as she exited a gym following a morning workout in Los Angeles but she reportedly broke up with boyfriend Tucker Roberts last year leaving fans wondering who bought the stunning sparkler
Page 36: Health Watch
Page 42: Red Carpet -- Michelle Pfeiffer
Page 45: Spot the Differences -- Allison Janney on Mom
Page 47: Odd List
#tabloid#grain of salt#tabloid toc#tabloidtoc#ghislaine maxwell#prince andrew#jeffrey epstein#virginia roberts#virginia roberts giuffre#brad pitt#nicole poturalski#angelina jolie#tiger woods#erica herman#miranda lambert#blake shelton#gwen stefani#simon cowell#lauren silverman#wendy williams#ellen pompeo#grey's anatomy#mariah carey#reese witherspoon#jim toth#kenny rogers#jennifer aniston#gerard butler#nxivm#gwyneth paltrow
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We're baaaaack and so excited to be here! Liz, Jose and Lindsay discuss six new shows from beyond Broadway in New York City. What we saw:
The Great American Drama, created by Connor Sampson, The New York Neo-Futurists (00:59)
En El Nombre De Salomé, written by Marco Antonio Rodríguez, Repertorio Español (12:45)
Girl X, written by Suguru Yamamoto, Japan Society (20:43)
Beardo, book and lyrics by Jason Craig, music by Dave Malloy, Pipeline Theatre (25:07)
Everybody, written by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Signature Theatre (32:33)
Blurred Lines, created by Girl Be Heard, HERE Art Center (45:26)
What we're looking forward to seeing (51:55):
Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare Exchange
Omega Kids, by Noah Mease at Dixon Place
Sundown, Yellow Moon, a nightime play with songs by Rachel Bonds and music and lyrics by The Bengsons at McGinn/Cazale Theater
The Moors, written by Jen Silverman from The Playwrights Realm
Pool Party 2.0, conceived by Erin Mee from This is Not A Theatre Company
Performeteria, TDF's first-ever immersive festival, Baruch Performing Arts Center
All the Fine Boys, written by Erica Schmidt from The New Group
The Light Years, written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen from The Debate Society at Playwrights Horizons
International Human Rights Art Festival at Dixon Place
Nibbler, written by Ken Urban from The Amoralists at Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre
Villa, written by Guillermo Calderón from The Play Company
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laurie Metcalf, Chris Cooper and Jane Houdyshell
Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,
“A Doll’s House, Part 2” by Lucas Hnath and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens have tied as the most produced plays scheduled for the 2019-2020 season, according to the annual compilation of Top 10 Most Produced by American Theatre Magazine.
Every Brilliant Thing, when Jonny Donahoe asks a member of the audience to portray the character that Donahoe has been playing when he was a child, and Donahoe plays his father. The audience member, an older man when I saw the show, just kept on asking why and was transformed before our eyes into a child, as Donahoe patiently answered increasingly cosmic questions.
Carmen Cusack and Paul Alexander Nolan (production shot from Kennedy Center)
The Wolves
The list is derived from 385 theaters that are members of the magazine’s parent non-profit, TCG, the Theatre Communications Group, which means non-profit theaters across the country. The compilers excluded all Shakespeare productions and Christmas Carols (since those might crowd out everything else.)
It’s interesting to compare to last year’s top 10 list, topped by Hnath’s play, in which Curious Incident was second and the Wolves was fourth. Curious Incident was the only show on the current list that was most produced in 2017-2018 as well.
Normally this is a top ten list, but there were several ties. All of the following shows will have at least eight productions over the season; the top two will have 12.
Below this list are the Top 22 most produced playwrights (again because of ties.)
Since almost all of these plays have been produced in New York, I link to my reviews of the New York productions.
A Doll’s House, Part 2 by Lucas Hnath
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens
Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe
Bright Star by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Pipeline by Dominique Morisseau
Tiny Beautiful Things adapted by Nia Vardalos from the book by Cheryl Strayed
Admissions by Joshua Harmon
Cambodian Rock Band by Lauren Yee
The Children by Lucy Kirkwood
The Great Leap by Lauren Yee
Murder on the Orient Express by Ken Ludwig adapted from Agatha Christie
School Girls or, The African Mean Girls Play by Jocelyn Bioh
The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse
The Wolves by Sarah DeLappe
Top 22 Most Produced Playwrights
Lauren Gunderson
Lauren Yee
Lucas Hnath
Tennessee Williams
Dominique Morisseau
August Wilson
Karen Zacarias
Ken Ludwig
Joshua Harmon
Neil Simon, 91, playwright
Simon Stephens
Margot Melcon, often in collaboration with Lauren Gunderson
Lynn Nottage
Duncan Macmillan
Kate Hamill
Quiara Alegria Hades
Paula Vogel
Playwright Sarah Ruhl
Jen Silverman
Lucy Kirkwood
Steve Martin
Steven Dietz
Top 14 Most Produced Plays in 2019-2020…and 22 most produced playwrights in America "A Doll's House, Part 2" by Lucas Hnath and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Simon Stephens have tied as the most produced plays scheduled for the 2019-2020 season, according to the annual compilation of Top 10 Most Produced by American Theatre Magazine.
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Is ‘Gypsy’ a slur?
Q: In the quilting world, there’s a popular design named “Gypsy Wife.” When a woman recently posted a photo of a nice one she made to a Facebook page, she was lambasted for using the term “Gypsy.” Because of the complaints, she removed the photo. Is “Gypsy” a slur?
A: This is a complicated and sensitive question.
Some people who identify themselves as ethnically Roma (also called Romani or Romany) are offended by “Gypsy,” and most standard dictionaries have reservations about using it to mean Roma. On the other hand, some Roma people don’t mind being called “Gypsies” and others even embrace the term.
What’s more, the uncapitalized “gypsy” has meanings that are ultimately derived from the original sense but no longer have ethnic or racial associations. And those uses are not regarded as pejorative, at least in dictionaries.
Our conclusions are that that “Gypsy” (with a capital “G”) is offensive to some people, and should be used with caution. Meanwhile, the non-ethnic uses of “gypsy” (with a lowercase “g”) should not be condemned. Here’s a summary of the word’s history.
The earliest form of the word in English, which the Oxford English Dictionary dates to the 1530s, was “Gipcyan,” an abbreviated version of “Egyptian.” At that time, as John Ayto writes in his Dictionary of Word Origins (2011), “it was widely thought that the Romany people originated in Egypt.”
They didn’t, as we now know. A genome study in Current Biology, December 2012, shows that the founding population of the Roma people originated in northern India 1,500 years ago and rapidly migrated into Europe through the Balkans, with some genetic input along the way from the Near or Middle East. The Romani language is descended from Sanskrit, in which romá is the plural of rom (man or husband).
So the “Gypsies” were mislabeled from the start, since they didn’t come from Egypt. And many early appearances of “Gypsy” in English were highly pejorative because, as OED citations show, these itinerant foreigners were often viewed with contempt and mistrust, suspected of crimes, and driven away. Here are the OED’s earliest examples:
“The Kinges Maiestie aboute a twelfmoneth past gave a pardonne to a company of lewde personnes within this Realme calling themselves Gipcyans for a most Shamfull and detestable murder.” (From a letter written by Thomas Cromwell on Dec. 5, 1537.)
“It is ordayned agaynste people callynge themselves Egypcyans, that no such persons be suffred to come within this realme.” (From The Newe Boke of Justyces of the Peas, 1538, by the judge and legal scholar Anthony Fitzherbert.)
“Hee wandring … in the manner of a Gipson … was taken, and trust vp for a roge [trussed up for a rogue].” (From Martins Months Minde, 1589, an attack by an unknown writer on the pseudonymous pamphleteer known as Martin Marprelate.)
The OED defines this ethnic sense of “Gypsy” as “a member of a wandering race (by themselves called Romany), of Hindu origin, which first appeared in England about the beginning of the 16th cent. and was then believed to have come from Egypt.”
But the word very soon acquired transferred meanings, the OED says. In the 1600s it was used to mean a man who was “a cunning rogue,” the dictionary says, and for a woman who was “cunning, deceitful, fickle, or the like.”
In later use, Oxford adds, “gypsy” (by this time lowercased) was used playfully rather than contemptuously for a woman, “and applied esp. to a brunette.” All those uses have died out.
But since then “gypsy” (also spelled “gipsy”) has acquired several more meanings, none of them pejorative. Most date from around the mid-20th century, and here we’ll paraphrase the many definitions in standard dictionaries:
(1) Someone who’s free-spirited or doesn’t live in one place for long.
(2) A person with a career or way of life that’s itinerant or unconventional, especially a part-time or temporary college faculty member or a performer in the chorus line of a theatrical production.
(3) An unlicensed, nonunionized, or independent operator, particularly a trucker or cab driver but also including plumber and other trades.
We don’t think any of those four senses of “gypsy” are offensive, though undoubtedly some could be used in a dismissive manner. At any rate, dictionaries attach no such warning labels to them.
Dictionaries also include without a caution the use of the lowercased term for a member of a traditionally itinerant group that’s unrelated to the Roma. This definition would include people known as “Travelers” in Ireland, Scotland, and the US, who are not descended from the Roma and do not speak Romani.
However, the original, ethnic meaning of “Gypsy” is another matter. Nowhere does the OED, an etymological dictionary based on historical evidence, label “Gypsy” as offensive or contemptuous. But many standard dictionaries do have reservations about the term.
American Heritage labels “Gypsy” as “often offensive” in only one sense, when it means “Romani.” Merriam-Webster labels it “sometimes offensive.” And Webster’s New World says it’s “now often considered offensive, the word Rom (pl., Roma) or Romani being preferred.”
As for the online standard British dictionaries, Oxford and Cambridge have no reservations. Macmillan labels the term “offensive” when it means “a Romany.” Longman says “most” Gypsies and Collins says “some” prefer to be called Romanies.
So the apparent consensus among lexicographers is that as an ethnic term, “Gypsy” should be used with caution if at all.
Even the use of the lowercase “gypsy” to refer to theatrical performers came under attack last year, according to an article in the New York Times.
The writer, Michael Paulson, noted that the use of “gypsy” to refer to the performers in a chorus line apparently derives from “the fact that until the early 20th century, many American actors proudly earned a living by traveling from city to city” (April 20, 2018).
“To many,” he wrote, the word “is pejorative, no matter the context.” He quoted Carol Silverman, a professor of anthropology at the University of Oregon, as saying, “It is an ethnic slur.”
He also quoted Petra Gelbart, a curator at RomArchive, a digital archive: “The fact that the term Gypsy is so often used to denote free-spirited or traveling lifestyles has real-life repercussions for actual Romany people,” reducing them to “ridiculous stereotypes that can make it difficult to find employment or social acceptance.”
On the other side, Paulson cited Laurence Maslon, a professor at New York University and author of the book Broadway to Main Street (2018), as saying that to stage performers, “It was a badge of honor, not a badge of shame, that you were itinerant.”
And Tom Viola, executive director of the nonprofit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, said, “In our theatrical community, ‘the gypsy’ is beloved.” He said the organization is sticking with “Gypsy of the Year” as the name of its annual fund-raising performance.
As you may know, the issue of Gypsy persecution is much more prominent in Europe than in the US. In a 2012 report, the Roma and Travelers division of the Council of Europe had this to say about terminology:
“The term ‘Roma/Gypsies’ was used for many years by the Council of Europe, before the decision was taken to no longer use it in official texts in 2005.” The move was made principally because of objections by international Roma associations, the Council says, who regarded it as “an alien term, linked with negative, paternalistic stereotypes which still pursue them in Europe.”
But the report added that “in some countries, the term ‘Gypsies’ or its national equivalent has no negative connotations, is accepted by the people concerned and may occasionally be more appropriate.”
One organization that is not fazed by the term “Gypsy” is the 130-year-old Gypsy Lore Society, founded in Britain in the 19th century and now headquartered in the US.
The society publishes books, a newsletter, and the scholarly journal Romani Studies, which features articles on “the cultures of groups traditionally known as Gypsies as well as Travelers and other peripatetic groups.”
“Much of the material published on Gypsies and Travelers on the Internet,” the society cautions on its website, “is misleading due either to stereotyping, antiquated perspectives on ethnicity or culture, poor scholarship, excessive political correctness or other biases and, in some cases, outright fabrication.”
As for the striking quilt pattern called “Gypsy Wife,” there’s no special significance to the name, according to its creator, the Australian quilt designer Jen Kingwell.
In an interview at a quilt show in Austin, Texas, on Feb. 21, 2015, she said, “I have no idea why it’s called that. I find naming quilt patterns about the hardest thing ever.”
Personally, we think it’s an imaginative name and we find no offense in it. The design is certainly free-spirited and unconventional, though not unlicensed (it’s copyrighted).
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from Blog – Grammarphobia https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2019/03/gypsy.html
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4 Comics Who Are Keeping it Real About Motherhood ( and 4 Who Are Proudly Not Procreating)
Having children is one of life’s greatest pleasures…or so I’m told. But what happens when you become a mother and life is not the mommy-blog perfection that we all expect it to be? Lucky for all of us, some comedians have given us all a glance into the unfiltered world of pregnancy and parenting. And, greatest pleasure or not, that shit seems terrifying). An important part of the conversation when it comes to motherhood is that it’s a choice, and probably shouldn’t be considered the default choice for women. That’s not to say that women who don’t breed don’t like children, they’ve just decided that it doesn’t fit into their lifestyle. Like that time that I got side bangs without realizing the amount of work I would have put in to styling them every day. And yes, I’m saying bang maintenance is exactly the same child rearing.
Regardless of whether or not you want to raise tiny humans, here are the voices of comedy who are keeping it real on all ends of the spectrum.
Ali Wong
“I used to hate on other moms for the clothes that they wore, you know, all the cheesy-ass animal print and loud metallic shiny shoes, and now I see something that’s bedazzled in rhinestones and I’m like ‘oh that looks nice, I think I’m gonna get that,’ because when you’re a mom you need sparkle to compensate for the light inside of you that has died.”
I’m grateful the weekend is over. #WorkIsEscape #TGIM
A post shared by Ali Wong (@aliwong) on May 28, 2018 at 7:03am PDT
There’s something so incredibly wonderful about watching a heavily pregnant, 5’3″ woman dancing around the stage with her middle finger high in the air. Ali Wong became a household name in 2015 when she released her stand-up special Baby Cobra on Netflix. At the time, she was seven months pregnant with her first child. Three years later, and equally pregnant Wong came back on stage for her new Netflix collar, Hard Knock Wife, to report back to us on childbirth and motherhood. She gave the audience and viewers a…graphic look into what she’s been up to since we last saw her. She spoke about childbirth, breastfeeding and how she sometimes wants to throw her kid in the garbage (fair enough). She also speaks on her choice to continue her career after having children, and how that’s a choice she was privileged to be able to make. To sum up, Ali Wong should write a parenting book ASAP. Even my childless-self would read that thing cover to cover.
Natasha Leggero
“It is very humbling to think that you’re carrying life inside of you, you know? I don’t want to get too emotional but it’s even more overwhelming then when I realize that it’s gonna be five more months before I can do drugs again.”
A post shared by Natasha Leggero (@natashaleggero) on May 25, 2018 at 4:43pm PDT
Best known for her blasé delivery of shock-comedy, Leggero’s stand-up will have you thinking whether or not you should feel bad for laughing (you should, but it’s okay). When she walked out on stage for her set in The Honeymoon Stand Up Special (which she did with her husband, Moshe Kasher) heavily pregnant in a sequin minidress and white-fur coat and told the audience to hold their applause because she was “still in the abortion zone,” Leggerro proved that she had no intention in changing her comedic style due to her maternal-status (nor should she!). Though Leggero hasn’t released any new material since the birth of her daughter, she’s taken to Instagram to reassure fans that she’s still the same-old Natasha. Whether she’s posting a photo of her breastfeeding while adorned in gold or introducing her daughter to the world of Vogue, she’s making sure that her comedic voice is still known.
Katherine Ryan
“My daughter’s six. Right now I just have to keep her hair out of her face and her hands out of her pants and I’ve nailed the day.”
💜
A post shared by kathbum (@kathbum) on Aug 9, 2017 at 11:19am PDT
Originally from Canada, this UK-based comedian released her Netflix special — In Trouble — in 2017. Ryan talked about her dating life, pop culture and life as a single mother. She’s also quick to gossip about the other moms that she has to interact with, which is relatable to anyone with or without a child. In her most recent set at Noel at the Apollo, Ryan tells her audience all about a mother at her daughter’s school named Jane. “Does anyone know Jane from the North London school run?…Jane said to me ‘Katherine, you must be so sad that you don’t have a husband at Christmas.’ This coming from the woman whose ham-coloured husband Brian is a man I’ve never seen out of a bicycle helmet.” Whether it’s dealing with the death of her child’s pet or bringing her kid along so that she can meet Prince Harry (true story), Katherine and her daughter are setting up to be the modern-day Gilmore Girls.
Tig Notaro
“I feel like [my wife] and I are doing a great job, I really do. But I also feel like it would be reasonable if somebody called child protective services a couple of times.”
When I have to share my Cheerios 😕
A post shared by Tig Notaro (@tignotaro) on Mar 5, 2018 at 2:02pm PST
A veteran on the stand-up comedy circuit, Tig Notaro has always included her personal life in her bone-dry comedy. In 2015 she released her documentary Tig on Netflix, which followed her ability to find humour in her breast cancer diagnosis and eventual double mastectomy. In her newest Netflix special, Happy to be Here, Notaro had much happier experiences to draw from. She spends most of the hour telling stories about her wife Stephanie and their baby twin boys Max and Finn. A lot of her material now stems from her kids, including her one son’s sudden outbursts. “A couple month’s ago, he just out of nowhere yelled ‘I’m gay’.. yeah, Max the whole family is gay, it’s not a big deal, except for Finn but even [our cat] is bi-curious.”
Michelle Wolf
“If having babies really was the best job in the world, men would’ve figured out a way for them to do it.”
Not in the spirit of the mission.
A post shared by Michelle Wolf (@michelleisawolf) on Apr 29, 2018 at 9:52pm PDT
Michelle Wolf is most recently known for her set at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner which received mixed reviews to say the least. Now, she has her own show called The Break with Michelle Wolf on Netflix where she does a little bit of everything. In the premiere episode, Wolf sat with her friend and fellow comic Amber Ruffin to talk about their choice not to have kids. This isn’t a new topic for Wolf however, she touched on the concept of “making a human” in her HBO Special, Nice Lady. “It should be hard to make a human. It’s hard to make a croissant. It takes three days to make a croissant, you can make a human in that bathroom. You cannot make a croissant in that bathroom.”
Sarah Silverman
“I love kids, but I also really love what I do. Which is anything I want, all of the time.”
A post shared by Sarah Silverman (@sarahksilverman) on Nov 20, 2017 at 11:56am PST
Sarah Silverman is another stand-up comedy veteran to speak about the idea of motherhood. Silverman is known for never holding back, so it seemed perfectly normal for us to share her ideas on having children in a monologue for her show I Love You, America. Silverman also brought it up when she was on Chelsea with Gloria Steinem and Chelsea Handler, all who have chosen not to have kids. “Loving kids and having kids of your own are two very different things. The thought of having my own baby completely paralyzes me.”
Chelsea Handler
“Sometimes in your 20s and 30s people will trick you into having kids. But it’s possible to remain childless and alone. You just have to want it.”
This sums up what I’m dealing with on the home front. Every day, it’s like I’m starting over.
A post shared by Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) on May 22, 2018 at 4:52pm PDT
Chelsea Handler has always made her aversion to having children known in her material. In her show, Chelsea, she has a recurring PSA spoof called Kids: They’re Not That Great. She is seen having a cocktail in her bathrobe or binge watching TV, telling people that being childless is actually pretty great. She even got wrapped into hosting a kids Halloween party, and it’s absolutely hilarious.
Jen Kirkman
“If you do something as big as having a kid…you gotta have an urge to be good at it and an urge to do it. And I’ve never had the urge to ruin my life.”
Hello world!
As you can see – I’m not on tour right now. I’m on a job writing to bring you entertainment on the streaming teevee. Some years I hit 30-40 cities in about 3 countries – this is not that year! So far! ✈️✈️✈️ But there are plans and things in place for fall and winter – and things will go on sale before that. My weekly email newsletter is THE ONLY way to find out what’s going on in my head – where I’m thinking of heading next and why. 📝📝📝📝So, join up! Again, I am not on a big tour this year – I’m just going to be popping up in really surprising places in America and beyond. I KNOW WHAT they are – but you don’t! Cuz you’re not on my newsletter. CLICK LINK IN BIO TO JOIN. It takes you to my website homepage and the link is there. 🌟🌟🌟🌟😁 *****any question you ask below about what city I am coming to is literally the reason I have a newsletter. Save me the headache. The answer to all questions is JOIN MY NICE FRIENDLY FUN PERSONALLY WRITTEN BY ME 🙋🏻♀️ every week newsletter*******
A post shared by Jen Kirkman (@jenkirkman) on Mar 5, 2018 at 8:46am PST
In Jen’s first Netflix Special, I’m Going to Die Alone (and I Feel Fine), Kirkman speaks out about not having kids has never been an issue for her as much as the people around her. She even published a book in 2013 called I Can Barely Take Care of Myself: Tales From a Happy Life Without Kids. Needless to say, kids have never been on Kirkman’s radar, and the only problem she has with it is the fact that people have a problem with it.
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Vetting The Roommate
by Barbara Waldinger
A play bearing the title The Roommate evokes visions of college dormitories or New York City apartments, unaffordable for young people living alone. Perhaps the characters started as friends, perhaps they are strangers, but for sure the sparks will fly between them before the first act is over. But Jen Silverman has written a play that defies expectations in many ways. Here we have two middle-aged women: Sharon, a divorced Midwestern homemaker, has invited Bronx-native Robyn to move into her Iowa home. And although sparks fly, it is not in the way one might expect.
As playwright Silverman asserts, the play is about transformation—both characters choose to change their lives by making space for a new, completely antithetical person. Sharon’s son’s lesbian girlfriend, who lives with him in New York City (he’s a women’s clothing designer–NOT homosexual!) describes her as boring and judgmental. Indeed, Sharon’s only activity, besides calling her son whom she misses terribly, is her book group or, more high-mindedly, “reading group.” Robyn, whose initial entrance signals trouble, thanks to her black leather jacket, jeans and boots (the costumes are designed by Anita Yavich), is a lesbian, vegan, slam poet, former potter and scam artist, who likes to “grow things” (like marijuana plants). While Sharon can’t imagine Robyn’s life in the dangerous Bronx, the seemingly fearless Robyn, upon hearing that there are tornadoes in Iowa, is ready to bolt. In the course of the play, the women influence each other to reinvent their lives.
The Roommate is a comedy of character, not heavy on plot. Silverman has a fine ear and a distinctive voice that is at once natural and very funny. Because Sharon has lived such a sheltered life, she is like a child eager to explore this new world that Robyn brings with her. A self-described “nosy and persistent,” woman, she justifies her curiosity as part of a “mother’s line of work.” With her gift for dialogue the playwright invites us to uncover with Sharon the many secrets that Robyn attempts to hide. (The only lines that don’t seem organic are those in which Sharon speaks out loud to herself, as when she rifles one of Robyn’s private cartons, and announces what she finds.)
The actors (S. Epatha Merkerson as Sharon, Jane Kaczmarek as Robyn) give rich, multi-layered performances. When we first meet Sharon, she is a defensive, insecure, stuttering, giggling housewife, whose husband “retired from her marriage before she did.” Faced with the alien Robyn, whom she had never met before inviting her to share her home, she tries desperately to cover her shock by comically putting a positive spin on everything she sees and hears. Upon learning that Robyn is a lesbian, Sharon reveals that in college she once kissed another girl, and has no problem with gay marriage. Gradually the growing connection between the women enables Sharon to gain confidence, as she discovers happiness, strength, energy and many talents—some quite socially unacceptable, by the way–that she didn’t know she possessed.
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Kaczmarek’s Robyn, who comes to Iowa to escape from her past and start anew, does not smile for the first few scenes. She is suspicious, tough in her physical mannerisms and language, evasive, hostile, always ready for a fight. Silverman describes the character as someone who will not let another human get close to her. But as the women begin to share their stories, Robyn allows herself to open up, to express her longing for the daughter who rejects her, to smile, even to dance. Thanks to each of these talented actors, two characters we have come to care about have freed themselves from the chains of their past. Witnessing their transformations reminds us of what the magic of theatre is all about.
Mike Donahue directs with a firm and confident hand, having directed a previous staging of The Roommate at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Silverman describes him as a great dramaturg, who challenges her to “interrogate the limits of what can be.” He is also not above making counter-intuiti choices. He surprised both actors with their role assignments. According to Merkerson, “I’m playing a character who is quite different from me. I’m really opinionated and decisive. I’m my own person. Whereas [Sharon] is a little more dependent on those around her.” And Kaczmarek remarks: “When I read the script for the first time, I assumed I was being asked to play the part that Epatha is playing. That kind of nurturing, Midwestern sensibility is something I’m very comfortable playing.” But both appreciated the opportunity to stretch their considerable abilities.
The set, designed by Dane Laffrey, is gorgeous. Who wouldn’t want to take home this Iowa kitchen, with its beige cabinets filled with dishes, bowls, etc., wooden countertops with an overhang and stools, sink, stove, refrigerator (with magnets!), microwave, an island with a shelf filled with jars and pots beneath, windows with curtains, table and wooden chairs with white pads on the backs and seats, sliding glass doors to a lovely porch with bamboo shades, straw furniture and greenery? Director Donahue appears as attentive to the details of the set as he is to the text and the characters. Even the music, designed by Stowe Nelson, reflects the characters’ changes, from a CD sent as a Christmas present by Sharon’s son, to rock albums played on a record player bought by Robyn. The passage of time between scenes was cleverly suggested by a sound somewhat like a musical mobile, blowing in the wind, and by the lighting design of Scott Zielinski.
In an interview with the arts writer of Louisville’s Courier Journal, Silverman described the process of creating The Roommate as a collaboration, taking advantage of any idea that works, inviting conversation in the rehearsal room and not shying away from risk. How many of us in middle age would like to change the direction of our lives? Silverman has given us a play filled with humor, regrets and surprises, from casting to performance that has universal appeal.
The Roommate runs from June 27—July 16 on the Main Stage of the Williamstown Theatre Festival. For tickets call 413-458-3253 or online at wtfestival.org.
Williamstown Theatre Festival presents The Roommate by Jen Silverman. Cast: Jane Kaczmarek (Robyn) and S. Epatha Merkerson (Sharon). Director: Mike Donahue, Scenic Design: Dane Laffrey, Costume Design: Anita Yavich, Lighting Design: Scott Zielinski, Sound Design: Stowe Nelson, Stage Manager: Dane Urban. Running Time: one hour forty-five minutes without intermission; at the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Main Stage (62’ Center for Theatre and Dance, Williams College campus, 1000 Main Street (Route 2) Williamstown, MA.) from June 27; closing July 16.
REVIEW: “The Roommate” at Williamstown Vetting The Roommate by Barbara Waldinger A play bearing the title The Roommate evokes visions of college dormitories or New York City apartments, unaffordable for young people living alone.
#62 Center for Theatre and Dance#Anita Yavich#Barbara Waldinger#Dane Laffrey#Dane Urban#Jane Kaczmarek#Jen Silverman#Mike Donahue#S. Epatha Merkerson#Scott Zielinski#Stowe Nelson#The Roommate#Williams College#Williamstown Theatre Festival#WTF
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Cicely Tyson
Rene Auberjonois
Christine Baranski
Maria Irene Fornes
David Henry Hwang
Adrienne Kennedy
Joe Mantello
James Houghton
2018 Theatre Hall of Fame inductees:
Actors Rene Auberjonois, Christine Baranski, Cicely Tyson
Playwrights Maria Irene Fornes, David Henry Hwang, Adrienne Kennedy
Director Joe Mantello
Producer James Houghton, posthumously.
Below: Complete casting for Glenda Jackson’s King Lear and To Kill a Mockingbird; highlights reel from Marin Mazzie’s career.
The Week in NY Reviews and Previews
Chaunte Wayans and Adina Verson in Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties
Collective Rage
The full title of “Collective Rage,” Jen Silverman’s playful, bawdy, and episodic genderqueer/feminist/lesbian comedy about five women named Betty, is 47 words long. Only once does it include the word “pussy.” That’s not true of the play as a whole. In 19 scenes over 90 minutes, the characters say “pussy” far more than they say, or express, “rage.”…But “Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties” etc. is not (just) out for some schoolyard impudence. The five good actresses playing the Betties deliver some memorable moments of oddness and hilarity….
Stars in the Night
Although billed as “an intimate immersive production,” what “Stars in the Night” actually offers, at its best, is the exact opposite — a spectacular public setting. An audience of no more than a dozen at a time are led through several locations indoors and outdoors in DUMBO, a Brooklyn neighborhood that feels inherently theatrical…Unfortunately, most of the show’s characters, portrayed by eight members of the Los Angeles-based company Firelight Collective, are not much more developed than those passersby. The story they act out is vague, arty, cliched and confusing….
The First Annual Trump Family Special
Trump Fatigue
“I think there has been a growth in Trump fatigue,” says Tony Stinkmetal, who admits that he himself shares it — which is why it’s surprising that he has created a show called “SlashR” that’s been promoted as an “outrageous, sexy, and bloody political satire that massacres Trump and the current era of American politics.” It is one of at least three Trump-related satires currently on New York stages with brief or sporadic runs….
Book: Lulu The Broadway Mouse
Jenna Gavigan made her Broadway debut at age 16 as a member of the ensemble in the 2003 revival of Gypsy…Now she has written
“Lulu the Broadway Mouse” (Running Press Kids), a book geared to readers age 9 to 12, about a young mouse named Lucy Louise who wants to be a star on Broadway….What the book does best is share some backstage lore and life – some of it well-known (never say “Good luck,” or “Macbeth” in a theater), some more obscure, at least to me, such as that Broadway actors have to buy their own makeup…
Week in New York Theater News
Joining Glenda Jackson in Broadway’s gender-nonconforming production of King Lear: Ruth Wilson (as Cordelia AND the King’s Fool), Elizabeth Marvel (Goneril), Aisling O’Sullivan (Regan) , Pedro Pascal (Edmund) and Jayne Houdyshell as the Earl of Gloucester (!)
Opens April 4. pic.twitter.com/QHCKeP6kEh
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 12, 2018
The Glenda Jackson Lear will also feature @SeanCarvajal (Jesus Hopped the A Train) John Douglas Thompson (Jitney, Emperor Jones, @carouselbway etc.), @russellwharvard (Tribes, Spring Awakening) and Matt Maher (The Flick). What a cast! pic.twitter.com/eZlUw1rHuZ
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) September 12, 2018
Joining Jeff Daniels in the Broadway cast of “To Kill a Mockingbird”:
Celia Keenan-Bolger, Will Pullen, Gideon Glick, Frederick Weller,
Gbenga Akinnagbe, Stark Sands, Dakin Matthews, Erin Wilhelmi,
Danny McCarthy, Neal Huff, Phyllis Somerville, Liv Rooth,
Danny Wolohan, Baize Buzan, Thomas Michael Hammond, Ted Koch,
David Manis, Aubie Merrylees, Doron JéPaul Mitchell, Jeff Still,
Shona Tucker, Rebecca Watson, and LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
WP Theater 2018-19 season
Lauren Gunderson
Oct 28-Nov 25 Natural Shocks by Lauren Gunderson, directed by May Adrales
A woman is forced into her basement when she finds herself in the path of a tornado.
Madeleine George
Feb 6-March 10 Hurricane Diane by Madeleine George, directed by Leigh Silverman
The Greek god Dionysus has returned to the modern world to gather mortal followers and restore the Earth to its natural state.
Rehana Lew Mirza
March 3-31 Hatefuck by Rehana Lew Mirza. Directed by Adrienne Campbell-Holt
Layla, an intense literature professor, accuses Imran, a brashly iconoclastic novelist, of trading in anti-Muslim stereotypes.
plus Parity Plays Festival & 40th Anniversary Reading Series
featuring the work of Anna Deavere Smith et al
Simon Russell Beale, Ben Miles and Adam Godley in The Lehman Trilogy
Another thrillingly ambitious play is coming to the Park Avenue Armory : “The Lehman Trilogy,” originally at the National Theater in London, follows the three Lehman brothers from their 1844 arrival in NYC to the 2008 collapse of the financial firm bearing their name. Written by Stefano Massini, directed by Sam Mendes. March 22-April 20
After 25 years, Theater Talk is coming to an end, thanks to a dispute with CUNY TV. “To me, it’s an art project. I don’t see a vision in going corporate or having overseers,” says host and executive producer Susan Haskins (Can’t you guys work it out?!)
Cynthia Nixon, 12-time Bway actress, two-time winner, and life-long activist New Yorker lost her bid to be the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York.
Thank you all for believing and fighting and leaving it all on the field.
We started something here in New York, and it doesn’t end today.
This is just the beginning. And I know that together, we will win this fight.
— Cynthia Nixon (@CynthiaNixon) September 14, 2018
R.I.P.
Marin Mazzie, 57, Theater Hall of Famer ( on Broadway: ‘Ragtime,”‘Kiss Me, Kate’ plus nine more), after a three year battle with cancer, during which she kept on performing. Condolences to her husband & frequent acting partner Jason Daniel.
Broadway lights will be dimmed Wednesday Sept 19 at 6:45 p.m in her memory, at the Al Hirschfeld, Broadhurst, Gershwin, Gerald Schoenfeld, St. James, and Nederlander Theaters
(What’s with the Broadway League’s new policy of dimming the lights only in a handful of Broadway theaters when a Broadway luminary dies? Did I miss the memo?)
2018 Theatre Hall of Famers. RIP Marin Mazzie. Lear and Mockingbird Casts Complete. The Week in NY Theater 2018 Theatre Hall of Fame inductees: Actors Rene Auberjonois, Christine Baranski, Cicely Tyson Playwrights Maria Irene Fornes, David Henry Hwang, Adrienne Kennedy…
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Ruthie Ann Miles and Kelli O’Hara
Ruthie Ann Miles as Imelda Marcos in David Byrne’s “Here Lies Love”
In the week since the horrendous car crash in Park Slope that killed two young children, including the four-year-old daughter of Broadway actress Ruthie Ann Miles, and put her in the hospital, almost 8,000 people raised more than $400,000 to help her family.
The driver who ran the red light has chronic illnesses, and was “cited on four previous occasions for running red lights and another four for speeding through a school zone.”
pic.twitter.com/Dx0f3RLnOy
— Ruthie Ann Miles (@RuthieAnnMiles) March 8, 2018
Here she is in 2015 singing Something Wonderful from The King and I, a role for which she won a Tony Award.
This week in New York theater: The Prom gets a date; Hamilton breaks another record, playwrights Lucas Hnath and Suzan Lori Parks get rich. A preview of Rise, the new TV series about a high school drama class. And two startling revelations from Shakespeare scholars in Cincinnati.
The Week in New York Theater Reviews
Chukwudi Iwuji and Chris Perfetti,
The Low Road
Bruce Norris’s “The Low Road” presents the improbable adventures of a scoundrel, one Jim Trewitt, to whom an adversary rightfully attributes “a rather comprehensive wickedness.” It is a wild ride through the first two decades of Jim’s life in Colonial America, which lead up to the American Revolution, peopled by some 50 vivid characters – whores and highwaymen and Hessians; celibates and slaves and British soldiers; Mohegan scouts , rich liberal benefactors and giant alien bees — portrayed by a superb cast of 17, including Chris Perfetti as the delightfully sniveling anti-hero, and the priceless Harriet Harris as the naïve Madame who raises him. Norris intends “The Low Road” as a lesson in economics – or, more precisely, as a cautionary tale about the evils of Republican-style capitalism.
Hangmen
“Hangmen” is Martin McDonagh’s first new play in New York since the misbegotten “A Behanding in Spokane” in 2010 (He’s been busy elsewhere, most recently writing and directing the Oscar-nominated film “Three Billboards in Ebbing, Missouri.”) “Hangmen” is undeniably entertaining….There are however several caveats…As with many McDonagh plays, the mordant humor, as funny as much of it is, involves a gleeful reliance on violence bordering on the sadistic.
Mark Blum, Jamie Brewer and Vanessa Aspillaga,
Amy and the Orphans
“Amy and the Orphans” is inspired by the playwright’s own Aunt Amy (who “was born with Down syndrome during a time in this country when medical professionals told my grandparents they’d just given birth to a ‘Mongolian idiot’” who should be institutionalized), and by her introduction to Jamie Brewer, the actress with Down Syndrome who is portraying Amy. “Spending only an hour with Jamie completely changed what I believed people with Down syndrome were capable of, despite having known my aunt my whole life.” It’s plainly the playwright’s main aim to have the audience spend 90 minutes with Amy/Jamie and change our beliefs as well.
queens
In “queens,” the latest resonant, heartfelt play by Martyna Majok, a Polish immigrant woman named Renia reigns over a crumby basement in the New York City borough of Queens, but she sees it as her home, her world, and her salvation…
“queens” is not just a portrait of one woman, but of a community of women, mostly newly arrived in America, who pass through this cluttered basement, with nowhere else to live, from 2001 (shortly after September 11th) to 2017.
Week in New York Theater News
The Prom, with Beth Leavel, @therealsieber, and Brooks Ashmanskas, is opening at the Cort Theater November 15. Plot: 4 “fading Broadway stars” descend on small-town Indiana prom to bask in publicity by supporting a student who wants to bring her girlfriend.
A sneak preview from BroadwayCon:
History repeating itself, across the pond: Hamilton gets 13 nominations for 2018 Olivier Awards, the most in the British award’s history. Not surprising, given what the British critics said
Other New York-affiliated shows nominated for Olivier Awards include Angels in America (which originated in England and is now on Broadway), Audra McDonald for Lady Day (which originated on Broadway), The Ferryman (which will be on Broadway in October), as well as a slew of shows by American playwrights.
Full list
Playwrights Lucas Hnath & @suzanloriparks among eight writers to be awarded @WindhamCampbell Prizes — each receiving $165,000!https://t.co/kpnc0tdlyz pic.twitter.com/pgjen8fkhL
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 7, 2018
The 2018 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize has been awarded to U.K. playwright Alice Birch for her play “Anatomy of a Suicide”. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, the Prize is awarded annually to recognize women from around the world who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. “Anatomy of a Suicide” premiered to glowing reviews at the Royal Court in the spring of 2017, directed by Katie Mitchell. The play portrays three generations of women struggling with a legacy of depression in a family haunted by its past.
Evan Yionoulis, professor at Yale Drama School, to lead the drama division at the Juilliard School, succeeding the late James Houghton.
2018-19 Paper Mill Playhouse season:
September: Unmasked by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. November: Irving Berlin’s Holiday Inn. January 2019: My Very Own British Invasion (music by Beatles, Herman’s Hermits et al).April: Benny & Joon, musical based on movie. May: Disney’s Beauty & the Beast 2018-19
2018-19 Primary Stages
Sept: Final Follies by A.R. Gurney
Nov: Downstairs by Theresa Rebeck, wit Tyne Daley
Jan 2019: God Said This, by Leah Nanako Winkler
May: Little Women by Kate Hamill
Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties, written by Jen Silverman and directed by Mike Donahue. replaces MCC’s recently canceled production of Neil LaBute’s Reasons to Be Pretty Happy.”
Darko Tresnjak, who’s just announced he’s leaving his job as artistic director of the Hartford Stage Company next year, is taking over as director of “This Ain’t No Disco,” at the Atlantic Theater Company this summer. Trip Cullman, who is currently directing “Lobby Hero” at the Helen Hayes, had scheduling conflicts.
RISE — “Most of All to Dream” Episode 102 — Pictured: Josh Radnor as Lou Mazzuchelli
RISE — “Most of All to Dream” Episode 102 — Pictured: (l-r) Ted Sutherland as Simon Saunders, Sean Grandillo as Jeremy — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)
Rise premieres March 13
Based on “Drama High,” Michael Sokolove’s 2013 nonfiction book about the visionary Levittown, Pa., teacher Lou Volpe, the first 10-episode season follows the permanently rumpled Lou from the moment he lands the drama job, beating out Rosie Perez’s better-qualified fellow teacher, to the opening night of his first musical: “Spring Awakening.” Hamilton producer Jeffrey Seller is making his first foray into series TV The showrunner of Rise, is Jason Katims, who created Friday Night Lights, and sees the show as closer to that sensibility than Glee.
Nevertheless, there are so many musical numbers that Atlantic Records will each Friday release original cast recordings of the tracks featured in the following Tuesday’s episode of “Rise,” culminating in a full album in May.
Last Friday, they released five, including:
“Glorious (Rise Cast Version)” – Rise Cast, Auli’i Cravalho & Damon J. Gillespie
Broadway Standouts at the Oscars
The fabulous @KealaSettle!! The rest of the world gets to hear what we’ve done on Broadway for years! pic.twitter.com/Yamo8OQTcE
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 5, 2018
You’ve got to love this couple!
They just won their second #Oscars for Best Song for @pixarcoco
Their beloved songs – and new ones — are in @FrozenBroadway, opening this month! pic.twitter.com/lkuMOn61NS
— New York Theater (@NewYorkTheater) March 5, 2018
With his Oscar, Bobby Lopez becomes 1st ever Double #EGOT (DEGOT?), with two Emmys, two Grammys, two Oscars and two Tonys (for Avenue Q and The Book of Mormon) .
Unexpected Broadway trend: Two of this season’s new musicals (SpongeBob and Escape to Margaritaville) feature scenes on volcanoes.
Shakespeare in Cincinnati
“Hamlet” outside Cincinnati Shakespeare Company
Brian Isaac Phillips, CSC’s producing artistic director in front of the set for the current production of “Othello.”
on the wall of CSC
Each room is named after a pub mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays
Shakespeare wrote his plays knowing they would be cut during performance, says Terri Bourus of the New Oxford Shakespeare Project, speaking at a panel on Shakespeare for the the first-ever Regional Conference of the American Theatre Critics Association in Cincinnati over the weekend. The city fathers of London REQUIRED running time be no more than around 2 hours, to avoid the spread illness and insurrection. Full Hamlet takes four hours.
As a result of the research conducted for the New Oxford Shakespeare Project, Bourus maintained, there will no longer be 38 plays in the Shakespeare canon. There will be 43, including The History of Cardenio and Arden of Fevershame
Gary Taylor and Terri Bourus, general editors of The New Oxford Shakespeare Project, in the lobby of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company after the Shakespeare panel
The panel was held at the brand new $17.5 million building of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, which features state-of-the-art acoustics and lots of whimsical touches: a sculpture of a pig outside entitled “Hamlet,” rooms named after pubs in Shakespeare’s plays (like The Elephant.) CSC began in a church basement 25 years ago; the Otto M. Budig Theater is its fifth venue, the first specifically constructed for the theater, and one that it owns.
CSC’s building is only one of an extraordinary amount of theater/arts building and rebuilding happening in Cincinnati, including a $135 million renovation of Cincinnati’s Music Hall
and continuing expansion of Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
as well plans for a new theater from the Tony-winning Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.
Ruthie Ann Miles. Rise is Not Glee. Bard Cut and Expanded. Week in New York and Cincinnati Theater In the week since the horrendous car crash in Park Slope that killed two young children, including the four-year-old daughter of Broadway actress Ruthie Ann Miles, and put her in the hospital, …
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