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droughtofapathy · 6 months

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The Gilded Age's Broadway Divas: Aurora Fane (Kelli O'Hara)

Beloved by all, Aurora Fane enjoys a powerful position in Mrs. Astor's New York. Having suitably recovered from impending financial ruin last season, this season, Aurora has done some ill-fated matchmaking, worn some fantastic hats, and provided beautiful window dressing to scenes where she just sits there and looks pretty.

One of Broadway's (few) leading sopranos, Kelli O'Hara is a dying breed. As trends shift towards a more pop/rock sound, and classical musical theatre becomes a thing of the past, Kelli nevertheless finds her niche. A seven-time Tony nominee, Kelli has won Best Leading Actress in a Musical for the 2015 revival of The King and I. You'll recall another Gilded Age Diva who won for that same role some years prior. A proshot of the NT Live production can be found online. It is a gorgeous shoot, even if I take issue with that show as a whole.

She has also been nominated for Kiss Me, Kate (2019), The Bridges of Madison County (2014), and The Light in the Piazza (2005). Ironically, though Aurora Fane supports The Academy, Kelli is a classically trained opera singer who has appeared on the Met Opera stage three times, and will play Laura Brown in an encore run of The Hours this spring. (See my breakdown post over costumes here.)

However, prior to her opera appearance, Kelli will be starring in the new Broadway musical Days of Wine and Roses for a limited 16-week run, opening on January 28th. Kelli has been nominated for every role she has played since 2005, and this will almost certainly be no different. Booked and busy.

#1: "Shall We Dance?" The King and I (2015)

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Kelli's voice is otherworldly angelic. That much we already know very well. The King and I opened in 2015 at the Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Center, the third musical Kelli has starred in at that venue. The Beaumont is, of course, right next to The Met Opera, and the only Broadway theater outside the theatre district in Midtown.

As Anna Leonowens, Kelli travels to Siam to teach the children and wives of the king how to speak English. Orientalism aside, the show is a classic Rodgers and Hammerstein, and the score is divine in Kelli's mouth. Fun fact: Kelli's replacement was Marin Mazzie in one of her last onstage roles. Marin was the Passion co-star and dear friend to Donna Murphy, our Mrs. Astor.

This video is from the 2015 Tony performance and showcases the incredible quick change Kelli makes between singing "Getting to Know You" and "Shall We Dance?" aided by a team of unbelievable dressers. It is a marvel to witness. As is Ruthie Ann Miles, Kelli's co-star who recently performed in the Encores! production of Light in the Piazza.

#2: "What More Do I Need?" Take Me to the World: A Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration (2020)

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In 2020, despite a global pandemic, the theatre community still found a way to honor Stephen Sondheim's milestone 90th birthday with an online concert. Kelli performed a song from Saturday Night, Sondheim's first professional musical that was slated for Broadway in 1955, but was scrapped. It only got its New York premiere in 2000. This particular number is a cabaret favorite, and Kelli is an absolute delight with just a camera and digital accompaniment.

Fun fact: it wasn't until this particular performance that I truly started to appreciate the wonder that is Kelli O'Hara. I had previously seen her in concert just that March, and loved her, of course, but I have a complex relationships with sopranos. I now recognize that I love mature sopranos, but it's the ingenues I can't listen to without wincing.

#3: "They Don't Let You In the Opera" (2016)

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Lest we think Kelli is limited in her range and style, this song was written especially for her to showcase her vast talent and comedic timing. Kelli, an Oklahoma farmgirl, isn't the sort of person you'd expect to be both classically trained and country literate.

Kelli, who has been typecast as refined and often repressed characters who go through harrowing emotional experiences, much like Aurora Fane, is more than capable of bringing a rollicking comedy to the mix.

This number is a favorite in Kelli's concert repertoire. There isn't much more to say, except that you need to witness its hilarity for yourself.

#4: “Heaven? Somebody else’s heaven?” The Hours (2023)

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Speaking of opera, here is an excerpt from a scene in Act II where Laura Brown has fled to a hotel room to contemplate some very serious courses of action. Kelli, alongside soprano Renee Fleming and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, makes up a trio of phenomenal women in Kevin Putts' adaptation of the book and movie.

The Met Opera theatre seats nearly 4,000 people across six levels. The performers do not use body mics or amplification of any kind, but rather rely on intense vocal training to be heard across the theater. For this reason, alongside the vastly different vocal techniques and styles, musical theatre actors rarely cross over into opera, and vice versa. Notable exceptions include Renee Fleming, Kelli's Light in the Piazza co-star Victoria Clark, and Mary Beth Peil, who made her musical theatre debut in The King and I as yet another Miss Anna, hers in 1985.

#5: "So in Love," Kiss Me, Kate (2019)

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Starring in yet another Golden Age musical revival, Kelli brings a different take on Lilli Vanessi, a glamorous movie star in a turbulent relationship. Kelli's vocal talent, of course, speaks for itself. For Kelli, this role was a tribute to her dear friend, the late Marin Mazzie, who had passed away some months before the show opened. Marin, who replaced Kelli in The King and I, had played this same role in the 1999 Broadway revival to great acclaim. In her first entrance of the show, Kelli wore a costume that featured the very same hat Marin wore in her show.

Though this video is beloved, my personal favorite rendition can be heard below. It was taken at a concert Kelli put on at the 92Y in New York last February. In it, Kelli sings for and to Marin, and the entire theatre wept.

Bonus: "Back to Before," Ragtime Reunion Concert (2023)

The role of Mother was originally workshopped by Donna Murphy in Toronto in the early 90s, but she left to do King and I, which worked out well for her. In came dear friend Marin Mazzie, who originated the role on Broadway, and established a precedent no other has been able to top. Also in that cast? Audra McDonald as Sarah, for which she won a Tony, of course.

In 2023, after years of pandemic-related delays, they staged a one-night reunion concert of this special show. And who better to take on Marin's iconic role than Kelli O'Hara? Listen to her "Back to Before" here, and then do yourself a favor and run, don't walk, to listen to Marin's.

#the gilded age #aurora fane #kelli o'hara #met opera #sondheim #ragtime #marin mazzie #kiss me kate #the hours #the king and i

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thesinglesjukebox · 6 months

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CHAPPELL ROAN - "RED WINE SUPERNOVA"

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Next up, submitted by Joshua Lu, some good ol' capital-P Pop!

[6.78]

Joshua Lu: There's two sides to "Red Wine Supernova": a tender paean to a potential lover, and a hoedown about roping someone by promising the raunchiest fuck of her life. Chappell Roan understands how these two ideals can intertwine in your brain, and it's to the song's benefit that it doesn't just flitter between them but instead forces them to coexist. From the sweeping cry of how she doesn't care if she's a stoner, or how her ad libs reveal how she's just as into her boobs as much as her hair, there's a rawness to this love song that makes its grandiosity feel even stronger. And then there's the double entendres -- her being "choked up, face down, burnt out," and of course the wand and the rabbit. This is one of those rare pop song that's immediately thrilling on first listen but gets even juicier when you start peeling away the layers. [10]

Katherine St Asaph: Chappell Roan is perhaps the best pop-for-pop's-sake songwriter working right now; you can tell she's absolutely in love with the form. "Red Wine Supernova" does cheer chants and light yeehawing over the hook from "What's Up" -- just one of the details she gets right: going "supernova" as the melody soars -- with giggly, nervous, immensely likable charm. Kinda over using red wine as a cheap ambiguous metonym, though, and the wand-and-rabbit line is terrible (sorry!) [7]

Rose Stuart: For better or worse, songs about a first gay experience tend to be cutesy and innocent, most often about a first kiss and maybe a quick glance. Roan doesn't bother with beating around the bush, instead balancing a youthful exuberance with mature lyrics. Her backup singers well maintain young adulthood, all but acting like cheerleaders with each call and response. It's an incredibly joyful song, only increased by such wonderful lyrics like "I heard you like magic, I've got a wand and a rabbit" and having to amend your promise of a large bed to "a twin bed and some roommates". "Red Wine Supernova" is the perfect song for being young and in love, ready to be the ending credit song to the next queer coming of age movie. [7]

Alex Clifton: The only sex scene I can remember in the Discworld series notes that the bed springs go "glink." It's doofy and unserious and maybe the most wholesome sex scene I can remember. Chappell Roan is far less subtle than Sir Terry here as she yelps "let's get freaky, get kinky!" but she's got the same sense of fun. Moreover it's infectious -- I can't help but listen with a big, dumb grin, caught up in how much she's enjoying herself. There's a time and a place for purely seductive/erotic stuff, but the glinks are important, too. [8]

Hannah Jocelyn: Chappell Roan is the gay cheer captain; normally, I'm on the bleachers (why are you singing about Mulholland Drive in Manhattan?? what do you MEAN your kink is karma??) but when this doesn't put me off, it makes me smile. Roan's borrowing the right things from Gaga and especially Marina Diamandis -- there's a theatricality and mischief that's immediately endearing to anyone who grew up on pop music actually being poppy. Dan Nigro knows what he has, with acoustic guitar breakdowns and gang vocals straight out of a summer camp's 2009 iPod. The part of the bridge that gets me isn't "I heard you like magic..." but the roommates shouting "Don't worry, we're cool!" The first bit is calculated for SLAY QUEEN TikTok comments, the second part is genuinely relatable and funny. There's a more outrageous version of "Supernova" that's like a sapphic "Darling Nikki" ("she did it right there on the deck!"), but I don't need this to be anything more than it is. [6]

Will Adams: Upon first listen, I had detected a similarity to Olivia Rodrigo. While the most obvious link is Dan Nigro, who co-writes and produces with both, there's also the ~theatre~ energy both Rodrigo and Chappell Roan exude, the idea of hitting every mark right in the name of pop. "Red Wine Supernova" does just that -- it's big and brilliant -- though there are better mission statements from the album. [6]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: Not as devastating as "Casual," not as funny as "My Kink is Karma," not as c*** as "Feminomenon," not as anthemic as "Pink Pony Club," but probably the most karaoke-able Chappell Roan track. It feels good to have Midwestern queer representation. [7]

Alex Ostroff: The premise of Amnesty 2K23 makes it feel deeply unfair that most of the best singles off of The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess came out in 2022. I desperately want to rave about her aching situationship song "Casual" or her sugar-rush chronicling of nascent gay college crushes and those tentative moments before you're bold enough to make the leap on "Naked in Manhattan". Or, hell, "Pink Pony Club", the 2020 anthem that got her dropped from her initial record label and simultaneously sent her off in musical and aesthetic directions far more compelling than any of the mopey acoustic material that came before. The remaining singles that immediately preceded Midwest Princess' release tend to be full of call-and-response audience interaction, cheerleader chants (which I wish she relied on less, given how good her ear is for actual sung melodic hooks) and campy weird sonic details -- but less depth and self-interrogation than the audacious initial run that caught my attention. "Red Wine Supernova" peaks in the first verse with "She did it right there out on the deck / Put her canine teeth in the side of my neck", and nothing that follows recaptures that sense of possibility/mystery/danger/lust. The chorus is still incredibly catchy, though, and the sweetly sung "I don't care that you're a stoner" is a delight, and I can guarantee that I'm still going to be randomly absent-mindedly humming it when spring comes around. [8]

Ian Mathers: The #1 song I'm sad I didn't get to blurb here is Chappell Roan's "Casual," an easy [10] that just absolutely blew me away when I heard it. And now her other (for me, so far) [10] is pretty fucking different! Never underestimate the power of just sounding like you're having way more fun than anyone else. (And, sadly, of having seen some shit in the business before you start succeeding.) Also, and I mean this absolutely sincerely, I love that I have lived to see the day when a pop song can just say "you just told me you want me to fuck you/baby, I will 'cause I really want to" and it's just not that big a deal! Like, don't worry about it, people who want to be poetic or coy or suggestive can and will still do that, but sometimes you just wanna get in there. [10]

Claire Biddles: Has any response to a come-on ("Want me to fuck you?") had less rizz than "Baby I will because I really want to" [3]

Taylor Alatorre: I think it's meant to be clever, or camp or something, that she makes her voice get squeaky when she sprechgesangs "Let's make this bed get squeaky." Anything that draws more attention to a line like that is kinda the opposite of clever, though. Gen Z has the right to demand a better Kesha than this. [1]

Oliver Maier: You can't say it ain't fun. Roan's dream of a big bang is suitably extravagant, but the cheerleading and half-rapping is all a bit suffocating. I reserve the right to privately revise my score to an [8] if I hear this at a house party in a few months. [6]

Dorian Sinclair: There's plenty about "Red Wine Supernova" that doesn't totally work for me: Roan struggles to pull off the talk-sung delivery of the bridge, I'm not a huge fan of call and responses, and the ending is way too abrupt. But the track is overflowing with personality and there's a couple of monster melodies packed into the prechorus and chorus, which Roan sells far better than she does the spoken bits. There are songs that have won me over with less. [6]

Nortey Dowuona: Strange: this appears to be a indie folk song then turns into a 1986 pop song instead, then turns back into the indie folk by the chorus, then goes back to 1986 pop again and ends as indie folk. I mean, it sounds good, I'm not complaining, I just want to know what happened. [7]

John S. Quinn-Puerta: I wish it leaned more into the vampirism, but with its bar ready beat, its puffy bass, and its written to be screamed chorus and bridge, I can't fault it for much beyond a slight lack of imagination. [7]

David Moore: Just finished watching the rebooted She-Ra as part of my family's Sunday evening pizza and TV ritual. It is, like most quality children's programming these days, openly queer and much better than it needs to be. (Not sure if this is causal or if it just reflects a more interesting group of people writing the shows. Might be both.) It was a hit, natch, and everyone but me saw the OTP from a mile away, though the older kid had questions about the nature of platonic versus romantic love afterward, and only tentatively accepted the rhetorical shrug that the She-Ra reboot demands. My kids are thoughtful about this kind of stuff, but they aren't overthinking it. Partly this comes from us, but a lot of it doesn't: the capital-C culture really is better for their brains and bodies and souls than it used to be. They insist that anthropomorphic animal toys should really be referred to as they/them (because how would you know?); they are perplexed by the narrow-mindedness of the few kids who still insist, in sepia tones of unenlightened boorishness, that boys shouldn't wear nail polish; I overhear fourth graders playing baseball and responding to someone taunting "you throw like a girl" with "what does gender have to do with anything?" I see the relative ease with which they navigate all of it and think, is it really possible that my '90s childhood was more like my parents' '50s childhood than it was like the present? Which is all to say that I bet my kids, like me, would listen to this Chappell Roan song three times without giving a second thought as to what it's "about." But for them it wouldn't just be because they were a little bored and didn't pay attention to any of the words. We'd all agree it was a [6], but from worlds apart. [6]

Brad Shoup: The lyric wants to go about 10 different places; the arrangement can't quite get into formation (the instrumental cutout on the chorus should've been saved for the end if, you know, we're making pop). But the assemblage is as eager to please as the narrator, and the way she goes for it, rapping and smartass Greek chorus and magic jokes included, legit makes me tear up. [9]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: My one good musical deed of note was introducing my bisexual friend from Ohio to Chappell Roan. This is very fun but I truly am too Californian to have anything useful to say about it, sorry! [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

#chappell roan #music #pop music #music writing #music reviews #music criticism #the singles jukebox #Youtube

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lundgrenscarborough95 · 3 months

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Historic Places To Explore Near Agra During A Taj Mahal Tour

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chibimyumi · 3 years

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in my country musicals arent really big, we usually see aspiring or struggling rookie actors/actress do them, is it different in japan? are a-list actors casted in musicals? would u consider the past kuromyu to have been successful considering its getting another one?

Dear Anon,

In Japan musicals are still considered niche, but perhaps less niche than in other countries. There are many theatres in Japan, and every single month there is announcement of multiple musicals staged in theatres of all ranks and sizes. But compared to anime/manga or movies, theatre is still a less popular medium.

Musicals in Japan

There are quite some theatre companies of all sizes in Japan, and they all have their own fanbases. But if we are talking about A-rank theatre, then there are two prestigious theatre companies: TOHO stage (owner of the Imperial Theatre and affiliated with the Ministry of Culture) and Takarazuka Revue owned by Hankyu Railway, THE railway company in Japan. TOHO stage and Takarazuka however, ultimately belong to the same parent company, TOHO Co., Ltd., making them essentially sibling companies. So this parent company basically has the ‘monopoly’ of elite theatre in Japan. Officially, the top tier actors affiliated with these two companies are recognised as the A-list actors in Japan.

GENERALLY speaking TOHO and Takarazuka have little to do with 2.5D. The Takarazuka Revue is an all-woman theatre, and most 2.5D are pretty male-cast heavy. Besides, Takarazuka does not “lend” their actresses to other stage performances. TOHO also generally does not lend their affiliated actors to 2.5D except if they as a company have a hand in the production itself, like with Kuromyu 2016 and 2018. Besides, TOHO stage is as of now the ONLY Japanese theatre company that pays all its employees also for rehearsal time. (In Takarazuka only the few top tiered actresses get full compensation; lower tiered ones are in great part dependent on family support). So if one is allowed chance to work for TOHO, most actors would not be too tempted to work for a rehearsal-pay-less production unless they just love the production itself.

Is Kuromyu a Success?

Not all past Kuromyus were a success, but the reception has gradually grown over the years. According to the August 30th 2016 broadcast of Academy Night G, the tipping point of 2.5D as a whole was in 2011, and in 2015 it saw a dramatic climb in popularity in Japan.

According to Academy Night G’s data, Kuromyu 2015 (Lycoris that Blazes the Earth rerun) was the main contributor to the success of its genre as one of the very few 2.5D productions to not just have oversea performances, but an actual overseas tour. In 2015, Kuromyu visited three Chinese cities, Shanghai, Beijing, and Shenzhen.

Ever since 2015, all Kuromyu tickets have been completely sold out almost immediately. For Kuromyu 2018 they even had to arrange for make-shift seats and spots for stand-viewing.

A much credited factor to this enormous success was TOHO company’s support of Tango on the Campania and the aggressive marketing of: “starring the Imperial Theatre’s pride, first tier star Furuakwa Yuta as the title role!”

Demographic Shift Kuromyu

As for Kuromyu 2021, I myself don’t know how this production may or may not reflect Kuromyu’s success for multiple reasons. But to summarise, it is because regardless of what is going to happen, from 2021 on Kuromyu will have to take a different course than before.

Why does Kuromyu from 2021 on need to take a different course?

Though I reasoned wrongly about Kuro Potter being the least likely candidate for a new Kuromyu, I still stand my point that marketing-wise it is just a pretty poor choice. And indeed, while fans of Kuroshitsuji itself are overall quite happy about there being a Kuromyu at all, some concerns were also voiced. TOHO has apparently retracted their support for the production, and now the question is just how well MKP by itself can live up to the expectations of audiences who have gotten used to TOHO-supported budget production.

Something that must be remembered is that theatre fans and 2.5D fans can overlap, but are NOT necessarily the same. Some 2.5D fans only like their specific 2.5D because it has the association with their favourite 2D work, but don’t care about theatre in general. Some theatre fans only watch a 2.5D because it happens to star their favourite star, but would never touch any other 2.5D work. Then there is also the specific “elite theatre fan” sub-demographic, which is the group Kuromyu has drawn in since 2016... and that is also where it gets a bit tricky.

By so explicitly marketing Kuromyu as a bridge between 2.5D and “elite theatre” through “the most elite theatre’s” cow, the demographics of Kuromyu saw a clear shift from “2D/Kuroshitsuji fans only” to “including elite theatre-goers”.

2.5D has long had the (undue) reputation of “theatre just to please children and geeks”, and was viewed as “inferiour, amateurish” by the theatre-goers and elite theatre-goers. Especially the TOHO fans did so because - objectively - 2.5D is such a poor industry it cannot even afford to pay its employees for their rehearsal work. And unlike TOHO, 2.5D often stars younger and less experienced actors who are building their career through 2.5D. That is the reason many 2.5D actors tolerate the no-pay work because they can benefit from 2D’s popularity to expand their own name. TOHO in contrast, is a very elitist company and usually only casts actors who have already built their career.

Now that Kuromyu has zero TOHO affiliated performers and seemingly no TOHO support, the normal theatre fan demographic might shift away from Kuromyu, and most elite theatre fans have already shown disinterest.

This in effect means that Kuromyu that gained “semi-elite status” is now back to “normal 2.5D”. This does NOT mean that it is bad; it just means that the demographic of audiences will shift again. That in turn means that the marketing strategy will need to change. Kuromyu won the reputation of the production that got 2.5D into elite theatre culture discourse**, and now it is out of it again. (**I know that “discourse” became “discussion” or “controversy” on Tumblr, but the word actually just means “conversation”. ANYTHING people talk about is discourse.)

Even if we do not count in the (elite) theatre fans that were a very important group of later Kuromyus, fans of Kuromyu itself have surely gotten used to the higher budget. Some fans here on Tumblr have also voiced: “I can’t go back to bad quality again”. So, what will MKP now do to live up to the "elite” high bar TOHO had (helped?) set for Kuromyu?

Change marketing strategy, change M.O.

From what I have seen on the Japanese side, the marketing is now indeed more focused on and also resonates better with J-pop and 2.5D fans specifically. KMP has made no attempts to market Kuromyu to (elite) theatre fans anymore.

Conclusion

So can Kuromyu 2021 reflect the success of Kuromyu in general? That is hard to say, because their strategy has already diverted from when Kuromyu reached unprecedented “elite” status. I think if anything, it mostly reflects Kuroshitsuji’s success.

#Kuromyu #2.5D #Marketing #Strategy #TOHO #Kuromyu 2021 #Secret of the Boarding School

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silent-era-of-cinema · 3 years

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Jetta Goudal (born Julie Henriette Goudeket; July 12, 1891 – January 14, 1985) was a Dutch-American actress, successful in Hollywood films of the silent film era.

Goudal was born on July 12, 1891, the daughter of Geertruida ( Warradijn; 1866–1920) and Wolf Mozes Goudeket (1860–1942), a wealthy diamond cutter, in Amsterdam. Her parents were both Jewish, and her father was Orthodox. She had an older sister, Bertha (1888–1945), and a younger brother, Willem, who died when he was 4 months old in 1896. Her father remarried in 1929 to Rosette Citroen (1882–1943). Her father was murdered at Sobibor extermination camp, age 82. Almost all of her Dutch-Jewish relatives met the same fate. Only a daughter of her sister Bertha survived The Holocaust.

Tall and regal in appearance, she began her acting career on stage, traveling across Europe with various theater companies. In 1918, she left World War I-era devastated Europe to settle in New York City in the United States, where she hid her Dutch Jewish ancestry, generally describing herself as a "Parisienne" and on an information sheet for the Paramount Public Department she wrote that she was born at Versailles on July 12, 1901 (shaving 10 years off her age as well), the daughter of a fictional Maurice Guillaume Goudal, a lawyer.

She first appeared on Broadway in 1921, using the stage name Jetta Goudal. After meeting director Sidney Olcott, who encouraged her venture into film acting, she accepted a bit part in his 1922 film production Timothy's Quest. Convinced to move to the West Coast, Goudal appeared in two more Olcott films in the ensuing three years.

Goudal's first role in motion pictures came in The Bright Shawl (1923). She quickly earned praise for her film work, especially for her performance in 1925's Salome of the Tenements, a film based on the Anzia Yezierska novel about life in New York's Jewish Lower East Side. Goudal then worked in the Adolph Zukor and Jesse L. Lasky co-production of The Spaniard and her growing fame brought her to the attention of producer/director Cecil B. DeMille.

Goudal appeared in several highly successful and acclaimed films for DeMille and became one of the top box office draws of the late 1920s.

DeMille later claimed that Goudal was so difficult to work with that he eventually fired her and cancelled their contract. Goudal filed a lawsuit for breach of contract against him and DeMille Pictures Corporation.

Although DeMille claimed her conduct had caused numerous and costly production delays, in a landmark ruling, Goudal won the suit when DeMille was unwilling to provide his studio's financial records to support his claim of financial losses.

Goudal appeared in 1928's The Cardboard Lover, produced by William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies. In 1929, she starred in Lady of the Pavements, directed by D.W. Griffith, and in 1930, Jacques Feyder directed Goudal in her only French language film, a made-in-Hollywood production titled Le Spectre vert.

Because of her audaciousness in suing DeMille and her high-profile activism in the Actors' Equity Association campaign for the theatre and film industry to accept a closed shop, some of the Hollywood studios refused to employ Goudal. In 1932, at age forty-one, she made her last screen appearance in a talkie, co-starring with Will Rogers in the Fox Film Corporation production of Business and Pleasure.

In 1930, she married Harold Grieve, an art director and founding member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. When her film career ended, she joined Grieve in running a successful interior design business. They remained married until her death in 1985 in Los Angeles. She is interred next to her husband in a private room at the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of the Angels, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

In 1960, for recognition of Goudal's contribution to the motion picture industry, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6333 Hollywood Blvd.

On April 19, 2019, the City council of Amsterdam renamed bridge 771, previously without a name, the Jetta Goudalbridge. In early 2020 the name tag was placed.

Jetta Goudal lost nearly all her relatives in the Holocaust. Her sister Bertha died in 1945 in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, Bertha's husband Nathan Beffie died at the same place in 1944. Jetta's nephew Eduard Beffie (Berta's son) was killed at Sobibór extermination camp. Jetta Goudal's stepmother, Rosette Citroen, was also killed at Sobibor in 1943. Only Bertha's daughter, Geertruida (Truus) Beffie survived the war and died in 2013 in Pennsylvania, United States.

#jetta goudal #silent era #silent hollywood #silent movie stars #1920s hollywood #1930s hollywood

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thisbluespirit · 3 years

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James Maxwell TV/Film List

More of a guide than a recs list, because old tv/film depends so much on availability. It’s also hard as there’s nothing surviving that’s really like SotT for him (his voice is always slightly different, too & rarely the grand one from SotT) - I found it hard to find where to start back in the day, so I hope this makes it easier. However, I have starred my favourites (rated for JM content only).

I’ve divided things into categories and @jurijurijurious (or anyone) can make up their own mind as to what to go for. (Also @jurijurijurious I have NO idea what old telly you’ve already seen, so forgive me if I’m telling you things you already know.)

Where to find it: Luckily in the UK, it’s not too bad! Network Distributing are the DVD supplier to keep an eye on (they do great online sales), you can find secondhand things cheap on Amazon Marketplace & eBay, and several Freeview channels show old TV & film, especially Talking Pictures. I’ll note if things are on YT or Daily Motion, but they come and go all the time, so it’s always worth searching.

***

Film serials (ITC mainly)

British TV made on film in the US mode with transatlantic cash, so generally pretty light, episodic (continuity is almost unheard of) etc. Some turn up on ITV3 & 4 on a regular basis (colour eps).

*** Dangerman “A Date With Doris” (ITC 1964) James Maxwell is a British spy friend of Drake’s (Patrick MacGoohan) called Peter who gets framed for murder. Drake goes to Fake Cuba to rescue him by which time JM is dying from an infected wound and faints off every available surface, including the roof. It’s great. On YT. (The boxset is v pricey if you just want 2 eps.)

“Fair Exchange” (ITC 1964) JM is a German spy friend of Drake’s called Pieter who helps him out on a case. Not as gloriously hurt/comfort-y as the other, but it does have some excellent undercover dusting. (Why Patrick MacGoohan has JM clones all called variations on Peter dotted around the globeis a mystery.) On YT.

The Saint “The Inescapable Word” (ITC 1965) This is pretty terrible, but entertaining and James Maxwell plays the world’s most hopeless former-cop-turned-security guard. With bonus collapsing. On YT.

“The Art Collectors” (1967). JM is the villain of the week. It does include a v funny bit, though, where the Saint (Roger Moore) goes for JM’s fake hair (and who can blame him? How often I have felt the same!) This one’s in colour so should pop up on ITV3 or 4.

The Champions “The Silent Enemy” (ITC 1968). Surprisingly good JM content as the villain of the week who drugs sailors and steals their clothes before realising that maybe he should have worked out if he could operate a sub before he stole it.

The Protectors “The Bridge” (ITC 1974, 30 mins.) Not worth seeking out on its own, but ITV4 seems fond of it and James Maxwell gets to do some angsting and wears purple, so it’s worth snagging if you can, but too slight otherwise.

*** Thriller “Good Salary, Prospects, Free Coffin” (ITC 1975; 1hr 10mins, I think). James Maxwell moves in with Julian Glover and runs an overcomplicated murdery spy ring where they bicker a lot in between killing girls by advertisement and burying them in the back garden. What could possibly go wrong?? Anyway, it’s solid gold cheese, has bonus Julian Glover and a lot of natty knitwear. What more does an old telly fan want? (tw: Keith Barron being inexplicably the very meanest Thriller boyfriend.) On YT but tends to get taken down fast.

***

Films

Design for Loving (1962; comedy). Can be rented from the BFI online for £3.50. Isn’t that great or that bad (or that funny either), but does have JM as a dim layabout beatnik, which is atypical.

***The Traitors (1962). This is a low-key little 1hr long spy B-movie, but it’s also thoughtful and ambiguous with a nice 60s soundtrack and location work (it’s a bit New Wave-ish) and the central duo of JM and Patrick Allen are sweet and it all winds up with James Maxwell going in the swimming pool. One of the things where JM is actually American. (Talking Pictures show this occasionally & it is out on DVD as an extra on The Wind of Change.) The quality of the surviving film is not great, though.

***Girl on Approval (1962). A Rachel Roberts kitchen sink drama about a couple fostering a difficult teenager. It’s dated, but it’s also really interesting for a 1950s/60s slice of life (and very female-centric) & probably the only time on this list JM played an ordinary person.

***Otley (1969). Comedy that’s generally dated surprisingly well & is good fun, starring Tom Courtenay +cameos from what seems like the whole of British TV. JM is an incompetent red herring & there are more cardies and glasses as well as a random barometer.

Old Vic/Royal Exchange group productions

(Surviving works made by the group that JM was involved in from drama school to his death, made by Michael Elliott or Casper Wrede. I like them a lot mostly, but they are all slow and weird and earnest & not everybody’s cup of tea.)

Brand (BBC 1959). The BBC recording of the 59 Company’s (the name they were then using) landmark production, starring Patrick MacGoohan. This was a big deal in British theatre & launched the careers of everybody involved. It’s very relentless and weird but interesting & I’m glad they decided it was important enough to save. First fake beard alert of this post. It won’t be the last. On YT & there is a DVD, which is sometimes affordable and sometimes £500, depending on the time of day.

***Private Potter (1962). The original TV play is lost and this film has an extraneous storyline, but otherwise has most of the TV cast & gives a pretty good idea of why as a claustrophobic talky TV piece it made such an impact. Tom Courtenay is Private Potter, a soldier who claims to have had a vision of God during a mission & James Maxwell his CO who needs to decide what to do about this strange excuse for disobeying orders. Tw: fake eyebrows (!) and moustaches. Only available on YT.

[???]One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch (1970). Again, no DVD release (no idea why), but it is on YT. I haven’t seen this yet, but it’s another Casper Wrede effort starring Tom Courtenay and apparently JM is especially good in it. (I’m just not good at watching long things on YT and keep hoping for a DVD or TV showing.)

Ransom (1974). A more commercial effort starring Sean Connery & Ian McShane; it gets slated as not being a good action movie, but is clearly meant to be more thinky and political with the edge of a thriller. JM’s part isn’t large but Casper Wrede shoots his friend beautifully, & it’s a pretty decent film with nice cinematography, shot in Norway, as was One Day. I liked it.

[I think this post might be the longest in the world, whoops. Sorry!]

Cardboard TV (the best bit, obv)

One-off plays etc./mini-series

Out of the Unknown “The Dead Planet” Adaptation of an Asimov short story; this is very good for JM, but hard to get hold of unless you want the boxset. I think someone has some of the eps on Daily Motion. (His other OotU ep is sadly burninated.)

The Portrait of a Lady (BBC 1968). Adaptation of the novel; JM is Gilbert Osmond, so it is great for JM in quantity and his performance, but depends how you feel about him being skeevy in truly appalling facial hair. Do the bow ties and hand-holding make up for it? but he’s in 5 whole episodes, and Suzanne Neve, faced with Richard Chamberlain, Edward Fox, and Ed Bishop as suitors, chooses instead to marry the worst possible James Maxwell. Relatable. XD

***Dracula (ITV 1968, part of Mystery & Imagination). JM is Dr Seward, fainty snowflake of vampire hunters, who falls over, sobs and can’t cope for most of the 1 hr 20 mins. More facial hair, but not as offensive as last time. Suzanne Neve is back again, although now JM is nice, she’s married Corin Redgrave, who’s more into Denholm Elliott. Anyway, I love this so much because it turned out that I love Dracula as well as shaky old TV with people I like in getting to fight vampires and all be shippy. Good news - TP keep showing M&I, the DVD is out, and there are two versions of it up on YT.

The Prison (Armchair Cinema 1974). This is the one with Lincoln in it, but it’s not that great & JM isn’t in it that much, so depends how curious you are for the modern AU! (But my Euston films allergy is worse than my ITC allergy, and I watched this when very unwell, so I may have been unfair.)

Crown Court “Fitton vs. Pusey” (1973) - part of the Crown Court series, set in a town full of clones who all keep returning to court. JM is on trial for his behaviour in (the Korean war? I forget?) although he ought to be on trial for his terrible moustache. It’s not that great, but it is nice JM content. He probably did it, but for reasons, and he wibbles & panics whenever his wife leaves the courtroom. Also on YT.

*** Raffles “The Amateur Cracksman” (ITV 1975) - He is Inspector Mckenzie in the Raffles pilot & is a lot of fun. At one point when there was a Raffles fandom someone in it claimed he was too gay for Raffles, which I’m still laughing about, because Raffles. Anyway, watch out if you try to get the DVD because it is NOT included in S1, whatever lies Amazon tells. It is up somewhere online, though, I think.

Bognor “Unbecoming Habits” (1981). Some down marks for possibly the worst 80s theme & incidiental music ever, but fun & has been shown on Talking Pictures lately. JM is an Abbot running a honey-making friary that is actually a hotbed of spies, murder, gay sex and squash playing. This is the point at which he chooses to strip off on screen for the first time, because strong squash-playing abbots do that kind of thing apparently.

Guest of the week in ongoing series/serials

Since even series with a lot of continuity tended to write episodes as self-contained plays (like SotT), these are usually accessible on their own.

Manhunt “Death Wish” (1970). This is one of the most serialised shows here, but this episode is still fairly contained. WWII drama about three Resistance agents on the run across France. JM is... a Nazi agent & former academic trying to break an old friend (one of the series’ three leads, Peter Barkworth) with kindness, possibly?? (Manhunt is very angry and psychological & dark and obv. comes with major WWII warnings (& more if you want to try the whole thing), but it’s also v good.) Up on YT, I think.

Doomwatch “The Iron Doctor” (BBC S2 1971). “Doomwatch” is the nickname of a gov’t dept led by Dr Spencer Quist that investigates new scientific projects for abuse/corruption/things that might cause fish to make men infertile etc. etc. JM is a surgeon who comes to their attention because he’s a bit too in love with his computer for the comfort of one of his more junior colleagues. (I think it’s perfectly comprehensible & a nice guest turn, but it is hard to get hold of outside of the series DVD. Which, being a cult TV person, I loved a lot anyway, but YMMV!)

***Hadleigh “The Caper” (S3 1973). Hadleigh is a very middle of the road show, but watchable enough (lead is Gerald Harper, who’s always entertaining) and this is pretty self-contained as it centres around an old con-man friend (JM) of Hadleigh’s manservant causing trouble by pretending to be Gerald Harper, for reasons. JM seems to be having a ball.

Justice 2 episodes, S3 1974. He guests twice as an opposing barrister & gets to be part of some nice showdown court scenes. Again, a middle of the road drama, but stars Margaret Lockwood, who was still just as awesome in the 1970s as she was in the 1930s & 40s. On YT.

Father Brown “The Curse of the Golden Cross” (1974). JM is an American archaeologist getting death threats; stars Kenneth More as Father Brown. Just a note, though, that 1970s TV adaptations tended to be really really faithful and this is one of the stories where Chesterton comes out with an anti-semitic moment... (JM was unconscious for that bit and, frankly, I envied him.) But otherwise lots of angsting in yet another fake moustache about someone trying to kill him.

The Hanged Man “The Bridge Maker” (1975). Confession time, I have v little idea what this one was about apart from Ray Smith being an unlikely Eastern European dictator, as this whole series went over my head and was not really my thing. (Ask @mariocki they’re cleverer than me and liked it & can probably explain the plot!) I don’t know if it’s available anywhere off the DVD but on a JM scale it was v good/different as he was a coldly villainous head of security & it wouldn’t be too bad to watch alone, but there was an overarching plot going on somewhere.

Doctor Who “Underworld” (1978). This is famously one of the worst serials in the whole of classic Who, but largely because of behind-the-scenes circumstances, not the guest cast. There is some nice stuff, though, esp in Ep1 (JM is a near-immortal alien who’d like to lay down and die but still the Quest is the Quest as they say... a lot) & it’s bound to pop up on YT or Daily Motion. The DVD has extras that include v v brief bits of JM speaking in his actual real accent (which he otherwise does in NONE of these) & making jokes in character. Honestly, though, this is the only DW where the behind-the-scenes doc is genuinely the most exciting bit as they desperately invented whole new technologies & methods of working to bring us this serial, and then everybody wished they hadn’t.

*** Enemy at the Door “Treason” (LWT 1978). This is a weird episode but I love it lots - from a (v v good) series about the occupation of the Channel Islands. (So obv warnings for WWII & Nazis.) JM is a visiting German Generalmajor, but he’s come for a very unusual reason - to ask for help from his brother-in-law, a blackballed British army officer (Joss Ackland). It’s all weird and low key and JM is doomed and nevertheless probably my favourite thing of his that isn’t SotT.

* The Racing Game 2 eps (1979). Adaptation of Dick Francis’s first Sid Halley novel Odds Against (ep1) + 5 original stories for the series. This is an interesting one - JM plays Sid’s father-in-law & they have a lovely relationship that’s central to the book BUT Dick Francis loved this adaptation and Mike Gwilym who played Sid and was inspired to write a sequel Whip Hand, which he tied in with TV canon - and adopted at least three of the cast, including JM. Which means that all the Sid & Charles fanfic is also JM fic by default and it’s quite impressive. (There’s not much but it’s GOOD.) On YT.

Bergerac “Treasure Hunt” (1981). Not a major role, but pretty nice & it’s one a Christmas ep of the detective show (also set on the Channel Islands) that involved Liza Goddard’s cat burglar, which was always the best bit of Bergerac.

His guest spots in Rumpole of the Bailey (1991) “Rumpole a la Carte” and Dr Finlay (1994) are both really just cameos, but both series come round on Freeview; the Rumpole one is funny and the Dr Finlay one his last screen appearance before his death the following year.

Not worth getting just for JM: Subway in the Sky; Bill Brand and Oppenheimer.

These films only have cameos but some quite fun ones and they come around on terrestrial TV: The Damned (1962), The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) & (more briefly) Far From the Madding Crowd (1967). (I think his cameo in Connecting Doors must be at least recognisable as someone spotted him in it just based off my gifs, but it’s not come my way yet.) I’ve never been able to get hold of any of his radio performances, not even the 1990s one.

ETA: I forgot The Power Game! This is the one surviving series where he occurs as a semi-regular (at least until halfway through S1 when he went off to the BBC to be in the now-burninated Hunchback of Notre Dame). This isn’t standalone, but it’s a good series and it is on YT. See how you go with crackly old TV before you brave it but it’s the snarkiest thing ever made about people making concrete and stabbing each other in the back. JM is a civil servant who tries to run the National Export Board and is plagued by Patrick Wymark and Clifford Evans as warring businessmen.

***

[... Well, now I just feel scary. 0_o In my defence, I have been stuck home bored & ill for years, and often unable to watch modern TV while trying to cheer myself up with James Maxwell, so I didn’t watch all of this at once. It just... happened eventually after SotT. /waves hand

But if anyone feels the need to unfriend my quietly at this point, I understand. /o\]

#james maxwell #masterlist #rec list #well sort of #1950s #1960s #1970s #1980s #there are some things i haven't seen #and some things i know to be extant but unreleased #everything else is burninated or status unknown

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thatshithurted8 · 5 years

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Jealous

Summary: Y/N and Tom are secretly dating, but when fans start to ship you and a co-star Tom reaches his breaking point.

Prompts: “Why are you so jealous?” “Just talk to me.” “You’re so fucking hot when you’re mad.” “You’re mine. I don’t share.” “Just shut up and kiss me.”

Length: 841

Requested by: @castellandiangelo and one more person, but I sadly can’t find their @! You both requested similar prompts so I put them together. I hope you guys like it! :)

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“Thomas!” You yell as you walk into your boyfriends apartment who was currently sitting on the couch playing fifa on his day off. He instantly stops playing when he hears you yell his full name, especially in such an angry tone.

“What babe?” He asks looking at your enraged face.

“What the hell is this?” You shout while shoving your phone in his face. On the screen was a picture of you and Tom at the far from home premiere. Normally you wouldn’t care, but this picture is of you two before entering the inside of the theatre, kissing.

“A picture of us?”

“No shit dumbass!” You yell starting to pace with your hand on your hips.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Maybe the fact that we both agreed to keep our relationship private and you’re over here outing us without my consent.”

“Babe it’s not that big of a deal. Fans were going to find out sooner or later and I’m surprised they didn’t find out by themselves in the first place.”

You pinch the bridge of your nose as you sit down on the opposite side of the couch. “I don’t care if the fans know! I do care that you did this without asking me first. What would’ve happened if I still didn’t want them to know yet?”

“Love, calm down there’s no need to get upset the fans are happy for us.” Tom says leaning over and resting on your lap while looking up at you with a smile on his face. You look down and scoff before turning your head in the other direction.

“I don’t want to talk to you right now.” You say nudging your boyfriend off of you with your folded arms.

“Come on don’t be this way.” Tom says getting off of you, but sitting directly beside you on his knees. You simply didn’t answer instead you look at Tessa’s toys on the ground as if they’re the most interesting thing in the world.

“Baby.” Tom says with laughter in his voice at your stubbornness. “You’re so fucking hot when you’re mad.” Tom says with a smile evident on his face. The fact that he wasn’t taking this seriously made you even more mad. You elbow him in the stomach when he tries to get closer to you again, causing him to laugh.

“Just talk to me.” He says before turning your head with his hand to look at you.

“Why’d you do it?” You ask in a bitchy tone.

Tom was not expecting that question. Matter of fact, he didn’t expect any of this. He had no idea this was going to be your reaction especially since you guys have had conversations about announcing your relationship to the public.

Your boyfriend looks down at his hands as if the answer was written on them. “I-I don’t know.” He says looking back up at your eyes then looking everywhere, but you. Your eyes squint together in suspicion, it wasn’t like Tom to do something without a reason behind it.

“I don’t believe you.”

Tom sighs before deciding to tell you the truth. “I saw an edit.” He says as guilt seeps from his voice.

“An edit of what?” You ask with furrowed eyebrows.

“An edit a fan made for you and Zac Efron. It wasn’t just a normal one it was the type where they ship people together. You know the ones I’m talking about?”

You nod your head at your boyfriend, understanding what he was describing, but you were still confused as to why that had anything to do with it. “Go on.” You say with a lifted eyebrow looking at your boyfriend expectantly.

“Well, I’ve been seeing edits of you two a lot lately. Literally every social media I go on I see edits of you guys from your last movie and the amount of people that ship you two scared me. I guess I just wanted everyone to know that you’re mine, I don’t share.” Tom says the last part looking you in the eyes.

Your heart instantly melts and you feel bad for yelling at him. “Why are you so jealous though?”

“I don’t know, I guess I just didn’t like the fact that people have been wanting you and Zac to get together ever since your movie came out and I wanted the edits to be of us not you two.”

“Aweh Tom.” You say scooting over to your boyfriend, holding his sad face in your hands. “There’s nothing to be jealous about because I’m yours. Even if the fans didn’t know that, the important thing is that we do. I’m all yours Tom, no one else’s.”

Your small speech causes a small smile to form on Tom’s face, but it didn’t reach his eyes. You could tell that he was really sorry for what he did and that he realises that it should’ve been a mutual decision. He opens his mouth to say something, but you stop him before he does.

“Just shut up and kiss me.”

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #tom holland x reader #tom holland angst #tom holland smut #peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker imagine #peter parker fluff #peter parker smut #peter parker angst #marvel #avengers endgame #Avengers #spiderman #spiderman homecoming #spiderman far from home

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in-flagrante · 4 years

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'I feel sexier as I get older': Back on TV in a compelling new drama, Michelle Dockery tells how her own confidence has soared after playing a succession of strong, sassy women

By GABRIELLE DONNELLY FOR WEEKEND MAGAZINE

22 May 2020

Since she burst onto our screens ten years ago as Downton Abbey’s Lady Mary, all cut-glass vowels and nerves of steel, Michelle Dockery’s kept us in a permanent state of emotional whiplash with the sheer variety of roles she’s taken on.

She was a drug-addicted con artist in the 2016 TV series Good Behavior, a gun-totin’ cowgirl in the acclaimed 2017 drama Godless, and a Cockney gangster’s moll in Guy Ritchie’s crime caper The Gentlemen.

One thing you will not see, she insists, is Michelle Dockery playing a piece of arm candy.

‘I like to play strong women,’ she says when we meet for coffee pre-lockdown in New England, where she’s been shooting her new TV mini-series Defending Jacob.

‘And even if they’re not strong, they have to be interesting. Multi-faceted, complex, complicated, three-dimensional... and flawed too, because people are. Anything but boring!’

That doesn’t mean they can’t be sexy though, and she says the added bonus to playing these characters is that, at 38, she’s finding herself feeling sexier than ever.

‘Sexy is not about having anyone else make you feel sexy, it’s about how you feel inside, and I have certainly felt sexier as I’ve got older.

But I think that’s a confidence thing too. I’ve been lucky enough to play such strong, confident women, and when you do that you definitely take something from them with you into your real life – you sort of get inspiration from them.’

Her latest character in the thriller Defending Jacob is a straightforwardly good woman – although one thrust into bewildering circumstances.

Laurie Barber is happily married to handsome local Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber (Captain America film star Chris Evans), and mother to her wise-cracking 14-year-old son Jacob (Jaeden Martell).

She’s the sort of woman who goes for a run before breakfast, then quizzes her son on vocabulary over coffee before heading to her high-profile job managing a home for abused children.

She’s just so together... until her son is accused of one of the most hideous crimes imaginable – the cold-blooded murder of a classmate – and her entire life and social circle begin to unravel as the police investigate.

‘It’s a really gripping story, because it’s so difficult for this couple to comprehend that their child might commit any sort of crime, let alone a murder,’ says Michelle of the story, based on the 2012 novel by William Landay.

‘They’re both defending their son, and like any parent would, Laurie’s asking at the same time, “Where did I go wrong?”

'There’s conflict between Laurie and Andy because at the start of the story she’s the emotional one and he’s the calm one, but then as the story goes on there’s a need for Andy to be emotional too.

'So they’re always seeing things from a slightly different perspective.

‘It’s a very human, raw story about what something like this can do to a family, and what’s so interesting about Laurie is that as her life is turned completely upside down, she also begins to question things about her family – “How well do you really know your partner? How well do you really know your child?”’

Michelle’s own family background is modest but as stable as anyone could wish for. The youngest of three girls born to Irish-born lorry driver turned surveyor Michael Dockery and his redoubtable wife Lorraine, a former shorthand typist turned social worker, she was brought up in Romford, Essex, working class and proud of it.

‘My mum is loving but she’s also strict,’ says Michelle. ‘When I was about seven I stole some penny sweets from a shop. Mum caught me and made me go back and apologise to the shopkeeper, and I’ve never stolen anything since!’

She was also raised – as were her sisters Louise and Joanne – to speak up for what was right.

‘I was brought up to stand up for myself. To speak up when I felt passionate about something, when I felt the need to make my voice heard about something that mattered.

'I think a lot of that comes from having sisters, because we’ve always supported each other all along.

'If I’ve ever felt bullied or pushed into a corner, I’ve always been able to stand up for myself. And if I see it happening to someone else, especially younger actresses, I’ll stand up for them too.

‘I hate bullying. I have huge admiration for women in Hollywood and elsewhere who have come forward to tell their stories about that, and have stood up against people like Harvey Weinstein.

'It’s horrendous what they experienced and I’m glad something has been done about it.’

It’s safe to say no one has succeeded in taking advantage of Michelle, and she says now that when she first broached the idea of going into acting to her parents they were not in the least bit concerned.

‘They weren’t alarmed by it at all!’ she laughs. ‘They made sure I had a good education so I had something to fall back on.

'Both my parents are wonderful. My mum is the most incredible woman, she inspires me.

'And my dad’s amazing too – even though he spent our growing-up years with a bathroom that was never free! They let me be who I want to be.

'So between them and my two elder sisters, who are still my best friends, I’m very lucky. We call ourselves the Essex Mafia!’

Her career choice can hardly have come as a surprise to the family, as she says she wanted to be an actor ever since she can remember.

When she and her sisters were small they attended a stage school in the evening, and they would put on plays at home to entertain the family.

Michelle apprenticed at the National Youth Theatre when she was a teenager, and as soon as she’d taken her A-levels she enrolled at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

‘I feel I learned more at drama school than I did anywhere else,’ she says. ‘Even when I was at regular school I was never out of the drama department, so I didn’t do very well in other subjects.

'I just didn’t want to be taught anything else. But there’s a huge amount you learn in drama school besides acting, like history and literature, and that was where I came into my own.’

It was, of course, Lady Mary who made Michelle famous. ‘It happened overnight,’ she says.

‘Well, I’d been working in the theatre for seven years, so it wasn’t really overnight, but I remember after the first episode of Downton Abbey aired, walking into my newsagent’s where I was living and seeing a picture of myself, Laura Carmichael and Jessica Brown-Findlay, the three Crawley sisters, on the cover of three papers and that was huge.

'Then the first time I was recognised on the street was in New York, and that was even bigger because that’s when it hit me how big the show had become if I was being recognised in America.’

With talk of another feature film in the works after last year’s hit Downton movie, she says playing Mary is as comfortable as slipping into a second skin.

‘I have huge fondness for her, she’s been a big part of my life. That was a very special show, and I hope it’s one that stays with people forever.’

It was through Downton that she met the man she thought she’d be married to now.

In 2013, her co-star Allen Leech, who played chauffeur Branson, introduced her to Irish-born public relations executive John Dineen.

She and John fell in love, became engaged and were in the process of planning their wedding when John was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. He died in December 2015 with Michelle by his side.

At his funeral, the day after her 34th birthday and a day before what would have been his 35th, she told mourners, ‘He was my friend, my hero, my king, my everything.

'We celebrate him, we honour him, and we will miss him.’ She has not spoken out about her grief, but has admitted that it was her friends and family who helped her pull through, saying, ‘They are the ones who see you through the most difficult times.’

She has been dating Jasper Waller-Bridge, brother of Fleabag’s Phoebe, for a year now.

They met through friends and Jasper, who is six years Michelle’s junior and the creative director at a talent agency, accompanied her to red-carpet events before lockdown.

It was also reported that she bought a £1.7 million house in north-east London before Christmas.

Michelle hasn’t commented on the relationship but she does say that a sense of humour – surely a given with any member of the Waller-Bridge family – is vital in a relationship.

‘My parents always taught me to see the funny side of life and never to take myself too seriously.

'I find that more and more as I get older – I’m finding ways to laugh things off much more than I used to be able to.’

Right now, Michelle Dockery would seem to have plenty to smile about.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-8336165/I-feel-sexier-older-Downton-Abbeys-Michelle-Dockerty.html

#michelle dockery #her interviews

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cristallsnoww · 4 years

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i saw dear evan hansen livee (review)

i meant to post this sooner but school was busy so here i am

this was the national tour in sac

i went w/ my sisters and my friend plus her siblings

i had upper balcony seats, i wish i got to see it closer, but i’m grateful they even came to my city uwu

let’s get to it~

STAGE & INSTRUMENTAL

*the stage was same as the og

* the projection of the social media posts were a good touch for the bg

* the lights were good too, the bg would change color (orange in sincerely me, pink in only us)

* the sound effects sounded real

* the lights were glowing the same as the the beat in good for you

* the way all of them kept walking around looking at “social media posts” on the projection bgs in some songs

* showing evan’s speech on the bg and the videos for the connor project too

* we can see the musicians bc they had a balcony where you can see a few of them

* the sound and instrumental were sounded real (guitar and piano)

* props to the musicians

ACTING:

* sam primack played evan

* he was super good !

* he portrayed evan well, the anxiety and all

* he gave a young fresh vibe of evan

* the panic in his voice, the sobbing and sniffing were so well acted

* evan looking lost in waving through a window

* the “WOOOOOOAAAHHHH” at the end of waving through a window

* them high notes in for forever and words fail tho 👌🏼

* “i’M NOT hYpERVenTILaNG!!” and then “Dear Connor Murphy..”

* when he dropped the note cards in you will be found

* he kept apologizing and picked them up w/ a small voice

* he sat on the ground for a while and starts to have a breakdown

* he tugs his knees and sobs there 😢

* when he walked up and KNEELED DOWN in only us, zoe was sitting on the bed, it was at evan’s verse, he went up to her and kneeled w/ both knees while singing + staring into her eyes singing “so it can be us~ it can be us and oooonly us~ and what came before won’t count anymore or matter we can try that~”

* that was unexpected by me since the only version i saw was the og broadway performance and it didn’t have that which rlly knocked my socks off

* the sloppy kissing tho 😔👌🏼✨

* he’s so LoUD in act 2, like damn he went all out

* his voice was squeaky/cracked from broken sobs at some points

* the way he looked so StResSed & shouting when talking to jared and alana before good for you

* his begging when connor took his letter and when alana posted the “suicide note” so painful but good

* also the way evan always wiped his hands on his pants when zoe would stick her hand out

* how panicky he was when he freaked out that zoe was gonna “break up” w/ him

* their chemistry honestly 😭💙

* he also said a lot “what do you means” throughout the show i noticed

* his lines in good for you w/ heidi, jared, and alana singing in bg were so overwhelming but in a good way

* just an overall fresh, awkward, anxious vibe to him 😔💙

* noah kieserman played connor

* his voice reminded me of the og broadway

* the face connor gave at cynthia when larry and zoe said he was high

* the way he play punches evan in sincerely me

* the choreo in sincerely me is so iconic

* “if i stop smoking POT then everything might be alright”

* he was snapping when he sang that which i thought was new lol

* that dance they did for “our friendship goes beyond..” between connor and evan

* “..your average kind of bond” they had their arms around their shoulders and stared into their eyes before evan said “BUt not Bc we’Re gAY-“

* living for treebros moments y’know

* his high notes in disappear tho

* “when you’re falling in a forest, and there’s nobody around, all you need is for somebody to find you..”

* evan was crouching down and connor crouched next to him when he sang

* “when you’re falling in a forest, aND WhEN YoU hIT THe GrOUNd,,ALL YOU NEED IS FOR SOMEBODY TO FIND YOUUUU~”

* he stands up and reaches his hand before leaving the stage

* one of my fave lines in deh honestly

* “did you fall? or did you let go?” will always hit

* “you can’t even tell yourself the truth” also

* when evan told the truth and the murphys left the living room, they showed connor too and he also left walking away w/ disappointment/pity

* zoe was played by stephanie la rochelle

* she was good and sounded nearly the same as the og broadway/laura

* the way how zoe was nice in the beginning to evan, distant to him at first in her house about connor, then slowly opens up to him and accepts him for who he is is just 🤧

* in for forever, “there’s nothing that we can’t discuss, like girls we wish would notice us but never do” evan looks at zoe and dramatically clears his throat and continues singing

* in if i could tell her, when evan said “he thought you looked rlly pretty ER-you looked pretty COOL when you had indigo streaks in your hair” she says “he did!” and evan says really fast “he dID AHAHAHAHAH”

* it made the theatre laugh and same

* the intro to only us “i need something for me”

* “i want...you”

* 🤧🤧🤧😭😫💙💙💙

* just;;;;;; i cry

* the way zoe would hold evan’s hands and the way evan would hold zoe’s hands—

* how she and evan would copy each other’s tone of voice

* “ᵗʰᵃⁿᵏ ʸᵒᵘ” “ᵈᵒⁿ’ᵗ ᵐᵉⁿᵗᶦᵒⁿ ᶦᵗ”

* “you’re so weeeeeird.” “i knooooww.”

* i love me so bandtrees ok, my crops have been watered and is flourishing

* jared was played by alessandro costantini

* his portrayal was accurate to the og

* “i have skills son”

* his laughs were A++, especially in sincerely me

* his evil maniac laugh in the sincerely me reprise

* he was so smol compared to evan and connor, especially during sincerely me

* vocals were gr8 in sincerely me and you will be found

* the dance w/ connor when he tried to put himself into the story

* he runs so fast to the stage when his parts came, tiny lil quick feet uwu

* he tilts his head a lot when giving evan the ‘duh’ face

* we all live for his sarcasm and jokes

* “do you need a paper bag? you’re having a considerable trouble time breathing—“

* the bitterness/sad look when evan says he doesn’t have any other friends/when zoe comes up and kisses evan

* my kleinsen heart 🤧💔

* alana was played by ciara alyse harris

* she was more lively than the og but sounded exactly similar

* she acted well, her vocals and the way she exaggerated words

* vocals in good for you 👏🏼

* alana singing “on the outside always looking in will i ever be more than i’ve always been cuz i’m tap tap tapping on the glass, i’m waving through a windoww”

* “very close acquaintances”

* all the titles + positions she gives herself in the connor project video

* while evan said he was just co-president

* murphys were played by claire rankin and john menphill

* cynthia had some light raspy voice? it was interesting

* larry sounded the same as the og

* the way they hugged each other so tight in you will be found and the lights were all on them T-T

* high vocals in requiem

* cynthia’s thank yous to evan

* break in a glove had some good vocals too

* when connor’s “suicide note” was posted around and “YOU ARE NOT ALONE” kept singing while the murphys were looking lost and afraid

* opposite to the other soft “you are not alone” while the murphy parent were hugging

* heidi was played by jessica e. sherman

* she was good, close to the og

* her gestures and little dances to evan to cheer him up

* she SNAPPED after going to the murphys house

* “DO YOU KNOW HOW MORTIFYING IT IS TO KNOW THAT YOUR SON WAS SPENDING TIME AT SOMEONE ELSE’s HOUSE AND YOU DIDNT EVEN KNOW?”

* her good for you performance was great

* during the bridge, “i’ll shut my mouth and i’ll let you go..”

* she STRUTTED that walk ok ✨ w/ all the lights on her

* so big/small was calming w/ the guitar

* the way they hugged u~u

* “when it all feels so big!” teasing evan saying he’s growing after they hugged

* he laughs 🥺 w/ a cracked voice from crying

* all the family fighting were so real, the shouting, the raising of voices

im so grateful i got to see it, such an emotional ride 😔💙

i hope people who wants to see it gets to see it, you’ll be blessed

or should i say you will be found

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born2battle · 4 years

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Baptism by Fire ---- 1971 War

On 01 Nov, I reported to Maj P V Mithran, the Battery Commander of Romeo Battery. He extended a hearty welcome & introduced me to all the Jawans, specifically mentioning about my outstanding performance as winner of the Silver Gun at Deolali. He expressed the hope that I will prove to be a competent GPO and a long term asset in the Jat Balwan family. He advised me to get conversant with all drills on the 75 mm Howitzer and the technical work in the Command Post, within next one week. He nominated the Instructors who would conduct this on the job training. Then, we had the “ Take Post “ ceremony at the Gun, which signalled the start of my Induction training. It was so encouraging to begin this journey, in a scenario, where the entire Regiment was deployed for the operational role.

All training was conducted within the perimeter of the Gun Position, covering an area of 2 square km. Individual training was conducted for the first two hours & was followed by Collective training for the next two hours. It covered Gun Drill, Command Post work, Survey schemes & Driving and maintenance. Soon after lunch, all Officers & JCOs had classes on special subjects such as Fire Planning, Radio communication procedures, basic battle procedures of an Infantry Battalion & Terrain analysis of the likely area of operations. Soon after dinner, we practised deployment drills, both at the OP end & the Gun end. This methodology of training would contribute as a battle winning factor shortly. Despite this hectic schedule, I managed to find time to write letters to my parents & friends.Interestingly, letters had to be written on Red / Green coloured Forces letters & dispatched via FPO --- set up by Army Postal Service !!

During my Induction training, I got an opportunity to observe the customs of my Jawans & understand their behaviour at the grassroots level. I had some difficulty in comprehending their JAT dialect initially but was able to forge a relationship gradually. I found the JATs to be robust and competent while executing any task. They were voracious foodies & loved to prepare’ Halwa’, even in small groups. Meanwhile, my BC monitored the progress about my training and allowed me to fire the Gun for the first time.I felt thrilled when I pressed the firing lever of the Ranging Gun, while all the Gun detachments cheered in unison ---” Bol Kishan Bhagwan ki Jay.” I was permitted to continue firing throughout the Shoot, which was controlled by the OP officer, engaging the target which was 8 km away. At the end of this maiden experience, I distributed sweets to all the Jawans , as per the regimental custom.

Meanwhile, a special Force named Mukti Bahini, was created out of the Bengali population of erstwhile East Pakistan. This special force comprised of 25,000 conventional forces and 80,000 freedom fighters. It operated as a part of the operations conducted by Indian Armed Forces. In our sector of operations Mukti Bahini was utilized for guerilla operations for the Battle of Pachagarh. It was the first time when I performed the duties of GPO giving fire orders from the Command Post. This was also the first occasion when we were under shelling from enemy artillery guns. However, we had to continue firing our guns in retaliation after moving to alternate positions.

In the last week of November, the situation became critical. As we advanced the enemy retreated to occupy defensive positions after blowing up the bridges on the rivers/ canals. 98 Mountain Regiment was part of the thrust from north to south while there were similar thrusts into East Pakistan from easterly and westerly directions. On 03 December 1971, Pakistan launched a surprise air strike on our air bases right from Srinagar to Barmer. In immediate response, our Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi announced on All India Radio “War has been forced on us”. Thus began the 1971 war.

Lt Col Chaturvedi, our CO held an urgent Sainik Sammelan and briefed us about the latest development. He also briefed us about the future plans for suitable response. All of us resolved that we will deliver the results to the best of our abilities and utmost of our capacities especially in this war situation. The very next day, we heard the news about the success achieved by Indian Navy who had sunk the Pakistani Submarine - PNS Ghazi of the coast of Vizag.

In our sector, our next objective was Thakurgaon which was very heavily defended. The planning for its capture was in progress by the higher commanders. At the gun position ,we were busy digging gun pits, weapon pits, command post and alternate positions which would prove their utility in the event of shelling. Our CO, BCs and OP officers evolved a detailed fire plan for the capture of Thakurgaon. These plans were sent to the Adjutant command post for further dissemination to each of the GPOs. We had to calculate the technical data and keep it ready for application on the guns. The capture of Thakurgaon was completed after two nights of intense battle. Major Virinder Kumar, who was our BC in this action, was later awarded the Sena Medal for his gallantry.

Our next objective was Dinajpur, which was another hard nut to crack. Similar preparations were carried out after we moved forward and deployed in a new gun position. It was equally essential to replenish the ammunition keeping in pace with the expenditure. This was done only during night. The attack was launched on Dinajpur which was captured after three nights. It was again another OP officer of our Regiment who proved his worth - Capt Prakash Chand who was later awarded the ‘Mention in Despatches’. However, two Jawans (L/NK Ran Singh and OPR Ram Chander) of his OP party were martyred. We were then ordered to move quickly towards Rangpur. This was achieved after crossing the rivers / tributaries en-route using pontoon bridges. Eventually, Rangpur garrison was surrounded by 14 Dec.

We learnt about the progress of operations along all the three thrusts which had converged very close to Dhaka. All India Radio announced about our successful amphibious landings at Cox’s Bazaar as well as a magnificent air drop at Tangail. These two surprise actions were a clear indication that the noose was tightening on Dhaka. Finally, on 16 Dec, the cease fire was declared bringing an end to the war in both Eastern and Western theatres. The main surrender ceremony was held in Dhaka where Lt Gen AAK Niazi, GOC in C, Pakistan Eastern Theatre surrendered along with 93,000 troops to Lt Gen JS Aurora, GOC in C, Eastern Command. It was indeed a decisive victory for India which resulted in the birth of Bangladesh.

Similar surrender ceremony was held at Rangpur, where we were directly involved. It was a historic achievement for our Regiment, remembered forever, in our regimental history. Personally, I felt privileged to be baptised in the Jat Balwan family in this memorable manner. Hereafter, my course (38 NDA) earned the title “Born To Battle” Course.

In the midst of all this jubilation, there was a sombre feeling when I heard the news that Second Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, my Coursemate ( 38th / Foxtrot ) had been martyred in the Battle of Basantar on the night of 15/16 December. He was the Troop Commander in 17 Poona Horse and displayed extreme gallantry in a skirmish with enemy tanks, even after his tank was hit by enemy tanks. His act of supreme sacrifice, was honoured with the highest gallantry award --- the Param Vir Chakra !! The Drill Square in NDA has since been renamed as Khetarpal Parade Ground , as a mark of respect to the Bravest of the Braves !!!

#1971 war #indian army #fauji

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stardust-willows · 5 years

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In my French class, for one of our last projects we had to make a map of some place to learn directions, and so I figured why not make this fun?

And so I present to you, the tiny town of Hatchetfield!

Everything’s in French, so to translate, we have (from left to right kinda starting from the top) :

La gare = the train station (I don’t actually think that Hatchetfield would have a train station, but I like trains so we’re just gonna roll with it)

Le restaurant = the restaurant (red lobster!)

Le cinema = the cinema (”sing the beginning of Moana!”)

Le marche = the market

Chez moi = my house (this was required, otherwise I wouldn’t have added it)

La boutique = the boutique

Le magazine de jousts de Toy Zone = Toy Zone the toy store (where Lex Foster works!) (catch the Wiggly doll in the window with a sign that says “new on 11/29″ [Black Friday!]) (that’s actually my favorite detail) (I know it’s supposed to be in a mall I think but this is more fun)

L’eglise = the church (”I’m not gonna die in your dirty methodist church”)

La biblioteque = the library

Le theatre de Starlight = the Starlight theatre (catch the sign that says “now showing: Mama Mia!”) (”I never miss a musical at the Starlight, and if anyone thinks that makes me less of a man, they can talk to my hekKING GUN”)

Le cafe de Beanie’s = Beanie’s cafe (which is one block away from the office, which is across the street from a Starbucks) (“I know why you walk that extra block instead of just going to Starbucks across the street”)

L’ecole = the school (Hatchetfield High I guess)

Le immeuble de bureaux = the office building (I didn’t know if there was a name for it)

L’hopital de St. Damion = St Damion’s hospital (where Becky Barnes works!) (”the hospital is downtown”)

La poste = the post office

La banque = the bank

Le Boucher = the butcher’s (”it’s the same at the bank, the butcher’s, and the post office!” “It’s all downtown!”)

Le post de police = the police station (I just assumed that if Sam and co. were infected and so close to the squad™, then he was probably somewhere downtown)

Le cafe de Starbucks = Starbucks cafe

Le pont = the bridge

Le fleuve = the river

Street names (I got a bit more creative here, these are not what I think the actual names would be):

Rue de Travailler Garcons = Workin’ Boys Road

Rue de Latte Hottay = Latte Hottay Road

Avenue de Reste Vocal = Vocal Rest Avenue (”I’m on voCAL REST”)

Rue de Apotheose = Apotheosis Road (”the apotheosis is upon us!”)

Avenue de Trues Bleu = Blue Stuff Avenue (I couldn’t write a curse on this) (”some kind of blue… sh*t”)

Boulevard de Et Chad = And Chad Boulevard

Avenue de Jazz Mains = Jazz hands Avenue (”show me those jaZZ HANDS”)

For some extra info: The theatre, Beanie’s, the school, the office, the hospital, the post office, the bank, the butcher’s, the police station, and the Starbucks are all downtown because those were (supposedly) the first places to be infected, especially because it started at the theatre and spread out. The coloring is copic markers, micron pens (1, 3, 5), metallic brush pens from Bright Ideas, and some Bright Ideas colored pencils on that weird yellow-y/pale peach-y school paper.

This took several days, but I think it was worth it, and I had a lot of fun creating it!

I can also post some zoomed-in photos later with more detail if anyone’s interested in it

[REPOSTING BECAUSE TUMBLR BLOCKED IT FROM THE TAGS LAST TIME]

#tgwdlm #the guy who didn't like musicals #starkid #hatchetfield #professor hidgens #henry hidgens #emma perkins #paul matthews #ted richards #ted tgwdlm #bill tgwdlm #charlotte tgwdlm #sam tgwdlm #alice tgwdlm #deb tgwdlm #black friday #black friday starkid

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aliveandfullofjoy · 4 years

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100 Artists Who Shaped My Year: 2019

It’s been a few years since I’ve done this, and I’m technically two days late, but here we are all the same! A list of 100 different artists whose work made an impact on me in 2019. Some are local, but most are not. One has to remain anonymous for now, because life is silly.

In alphabetical order.

Pedro Almodóvar, for writing and directing Pain and Glory (2019, film) and Bad Education (2004, film);

Anonymous Playwright, for a play title whose name I can’t mention yet;

Will Arbery, for writing Heroes of the Fourth Turning (2019, play);

Frédéric Back, for making The Man Who Planted Trees (1987, animated short);

Antonio Banderas, for his performance in Pain and Glory (2019, film);

Ingmar Bergman, for writing and directing Scenes from a Marriage (1973, film) and Summer Interlude (1951, film);

Caty Bergmark, for directing Baby (2019, musical) and life;

Eli Bolin, for writing the music for Documentary Now: Co-Op (2019, television) and John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019, television);

Bong Joon-ho, for writing and directing Parasite (2019, film) and Snowpiercer (2013, film);

Nicholas Britell, for his score for If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, film);

Bo Burnham, for writing and directing Eighth Grade (2018, film);

D’Arcy Carden, for her performance(s) in The Good Place (2018-19, television);

Carol Channing, for being a light in the dark;

Benjamin Christiensen, for directing Häxan (1922, film);

Toby Chu, for his score for Bao (2018, animated short);

Olivia Colman, for her performances in The Favourite (2018, film), Broadchurch (2013-17, television), and Fleabag (2018, television);

Willem Dafoe, for his performances in The Lighthouse (2019, film) and The Florida Project (2017, film);

Ana de Armas, for her performance in Knives Out (2019, film);

Donna Deitch, for directing Desert Hearts (1985, film);

Kaitlyn Dever, for her performance in Booksmart (2019, film);

Eugene Fedorenko, for directing Every Child (1979, animated short);

Beanie Feldstein, for her performance in Booksmart (2019, film);

Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish (2019, musical);

Elsie Fisher, for her performance in Eighth Grade (2018, film);

Jennifer Garner, for her performances in Love, Simon (2018, film) and 13 Going on 30 (2004, film);

Greta Gerwig, for writing and directing Little Women (2019, film);

Brian David Gilbert, for Unraveled (2019, webseries);

Daniel Glenn, for Sixteenth Night (2019, play);

The Great British Bake Off (2019, television);

Adèle Haenel, for her performance in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, film);

Regina Hall, for her performance in Support the Girls (2018, film);

William Jackson Harper, for his performance in The Good Place (2018-19, television);

Jerry Herman, for his tremendous career;

Marin Hinkle, for her performance in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (2017-18, television);

Tom Hooper, for directing Cats (2019, film), the most fun I’ve had in the movies in forever;

Peter Jackson, for directing The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-03, film);

Barry Jenkins, for writing and directing If Beale Street Could Talk (2018, film);

Carly Rae Jepsen, for a damn good concert;

Erland Josephson, for his performance in Scenes from a Marriage (1973, film);

Kunio Kato, for directing La Maison en Petits Cubes (2008, animated short);

Val Kilmer, for his performance in Tombstone (1992, film);

Tim Kov and Anna Hulkower, for My Little Tonys (2018-19 podcast);

Yayoi Kusama, for her Infinity Mirrors exhibit;

The Lemonheads, for their cover of “Frank Mills” (1992);

Dan Levy, for his performance in and producing Schitt’s Creek (2015-19, television);

Eugene Levy, for his performances in Schitt’s Creek (2015-19, television) and Waiting for Guffman (1996, film);

Lizzo, for Cuz I Love You (2019, album);

Billie Lourd, for her performance in Booksmart (2019, film);

Jonathan Majors, for his performance in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, film);

Dave Malloy, for writing Octet (2019, musical);

Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, for writing Baby (1983, musical);

Djibril Diop Mambéty, for directing The Little Girl Who Sold the Sun (1999, film) and Touki Bouki (1973, film);

Corinne Marchand, for her performance in Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962, film);

Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, for writing Six (2018, musical);

Mike Marshall, for his performance of “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)” in The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, film);

Elaine May, for writing, starring in, and directing A New Leaf (1971, film);

Noémie Merlant, for her performance in Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, film);

Anaïs Mitchell, for writing Hadestown (2019, musical);

Hayao Miyazaki, for his entire body of work, but especially the films of his I watched for the first time this year: Porco Rosso (1992), Kiki’s Delivery Service (1988), The Castle of Cagliostro (1979), Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984), and Castle in the Sky (1986);

Elisabeth Moss, for her performance in Us (2019, film);

John Mulaney, for writing and starring in Documentary Now: Co-Op (2019, television) and John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch (2019, television);

Annie Murphy, for her performance in Schitt’s Creek (2015-19, television);

Bill Nelson and Joseph Trefler, for writing Men with Money (2019, musical);

Tim Blake Nelson, for his performance in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018, film);

Rosemary Newcott, for directing The Wizard of Oz (2019, musical) and A Christmas Carol (2019, play) at the Alliance Theatre;

Griffin Newman, David Sims, and Ben Hosley, for Blank Check with Griffin and David (2015-2019, podcast);

Yuri Norstein, for directing Hedgehog in the Fog (1975, animated short) and Tale of Tales (1979, animated short);

Lupita Nyong’o, for her performance in Us (2019, film);

Catherine O’Hara, for her performances in Schitt’s Creek (2015-19, television), Waiting for Guffman (1996, film), and Home Alone (1990, film);

ozello, for pronouns, but especially “caleb” (2019, album and song);

Nick Park, for writing and directing Creature Comforts (1989, animated short), A Grand Day Out (1989, animated short), The Wrong Trousers (1993, animated short), and A Close Shave (1995, animated short);

Dolly Parton, for her body of work;

Robert Pattinson, for his performance in The Lighthouse (2019, film);

Paula Pell, for her performance in Documentary Now: Co-Op (2019, television);

Joe Pesci, for his performance in The Irishman (2019, film);

Christopher Plummer, for his performances in Knives Out (2019, film) and The Man Who Planted Trees (1987, animated short);

Hal Prince, for everything;

Florence Pugh, for her performance in Little Women (2019, film);

Marjane Satrapi, for writing and directing Persepolis (2007, film);

Céline Sciamma, for writing and directing Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, film);

Andrew Scott, for his performance in Fleabag (2018, television);

William Shakespeare, for his body of work, but especially Macbeth;

Domee Shi, for directing Bao (2018, animated short);

Stephen Sondheim, for everything;

Emma Stone, for her performance in The Favourite (2018, film);

Jan Svankmajer, for directing Alice (1988, film);

Jeanine Tesori, for writing Fun Home (2015, musical), Shrek (2009, musical), and Caroline, or Change (2003, musical);

Alfred Uhry, for writing The Last Night of Ballyhoo (1997, play);

Liv Ullmann, for her performance in Scenes from a Marriage (1973, film);

Agnès Varda, for directing Cléo from 5 to 7 (1962, film) and Faces Places (2017, film);

Vernal & Sere Theatre Co., for their production of Spirits to Enforce (2019, play);

Alicia Vikander, for her performance in I Am Easy to Find (2019, film);

Paula Vogel, for writing Indecent (2017, play);

Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for writing and starring in Fleabag (2017-18, television);

Lulu Wang, for writing and directing The Farewell (2019, film);

Rachel Weisz, for her performances in The Favourite (2018, film) and Disobedience (2017, film);

Orson Welles, for directing The Other Side of the Wind (2018, film) and Macbeth (1948, film);

Lina Wertmüller, for directing Seven Beauties (1975, film);

Chloé Zhao, for directing The Rider (2017, film);

and Zhao Shuzhen, for her performance in The Farewell (2019, film).

#100 artists #year in review

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lockdownuk · 4 years

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Lockdown Diary Part 1

A personal account during the lockdown in the UK due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

23/03/2020 8:30pm Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister, gives a live address to the nation to, effectively, put the country on lockdown to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus strain, Covid-19.

Many of us have been self-isolating for days but this latest development within the UK in reaction to the pandemic feels very serious and very scary. I decided to keep a simple diary and where better but online.

Day 1: Last night Boris called it, today we’re doing it. I had started working from home (wfh) yesterday as had most people at my work (RCI)..last week I had been preparing laptops as fast as poss for everyone. Even just today, the idea of going into work seems alien and dangerous. Now lockdown (ld) means that it would soon be illegal to do so unless utterly necessary.

Online, FaceBook (fb) especially, is awash with reaction…a lot of calling out people who are out and about in greater numbers than 2, which is against ld rules.

Day 2: Just trying to let work occupy my thoughts and time which is easy enough ‘cos everyone I support (IT engineer) is new to wfh and is having teething problems with all the new laptops. Meanwhile, I keep abreast of comings and goings online…actually socially interacting more than I might otherwise, weirdly

Day 3: Highlight of the day is an online quiz organised by a chap called Jay Flynn on fb…a bunch of us took it as individuals while chatting on Messenger while Jay streamed quiz over fb live and YouTube. It was a good crack and I had two cans of Coors Light which got me pissed!

Day 4: Work is still mad - so many people with IT issues wfh…it’s challenging trying resolve all these probelms remotely but I am rising to it. I actually enjoy it. It satisfies my want for problem-solving.

The ld is in full swing but it’s very early days. The news is dominated, obviously, by Covid-19 and the ever changing stats of infections and deaths. Today, for example, the USA took over, from China, as the country with the most infections. I know there will be an end to all this and I am determined to be there, going out, getting pissed down the pub, gigging, shaking hands with my mates, hugging anyone and everyone who’ll let me - it’ll be a proper party. But I am filled with a dread that it’s going to be a fucking long time coming.

This evening was spent virtually with Foggy, Ham and Andy P…doing a quiz - a rehearsal for Foggy in the hope of doing one to a wider audience next week. It was good fun and great to have a few beers chatting with everyone, Later I video called Fog and we drank ‘til gone midnight, putting the world to rights. I was well pissed.

Day 5: First non-work day of the ld. Housework, daily walk, out for supplies (drop a script order off…queuing outside boots for 15 minues!, bread, baccy and booze). This evening, I’m listening to the next album in NME list of 1985 albums I’m working through - Grace Jones Slave to the Rhythm…fucking pain in the arse ‘cos it’s not on Spotify so I am searching for each song, in order, on YouTube. Plus eating and drinking, of course. Quick video chat with karen and Grace, Dan in the background. I wanted a tin of kidney beans for chilli but Karen hasn’t got one ffs. Burger it is. They are all playing scrabble - I’d love to join in…

Day 6: A quiet day…housework, cooking, daily walk. Highlight was a half hour chinwag with dad who, as I would expect, despite his 84 years, is coping and doing just fine. Most other people with a dad that age would have, on top of their own concerns, something more to worry about during this crisis….for me, it feels like I’ve got someone to turn to, should I need to.

Day 7: Work is starting to feel more routine but it’s a long way off being in the office, which is never routine anyway. That may seem surprising since I do IT support but it’s a varied role, especially at the modern dinosaur of an organisation that is RCI. I try to be as disciplined as possible but I miss not dressing for work, not driving to work, not needing to actually prepare lunch (until lunchtime). I don’t actually need to shower every morning. I don’t think I have to ordinarily but do because I’m mixing with others in the office. I certainly don;t need to now. I only mix with me, so showering becomes a chore but I’m doing it every other morning in the name of the aforementioned discipline. I am worried how long RCI can keep going before laying staff off. I dread being out of work full stop, let alone during this ld, or even thereafter. I think the economies of the world will need time to recover so finding work will be tough à la 2008. I think, if lay-offs were to occur, I’d be in real danger. Last in first out and all that. But, I’ll cross that bridge if and when I come to it.

Day 8: At work there was a large online meeting whereby the MD told us that RCI are going to furlough some staff. The UK, and Ireland staff will be consulted this coming Thursday and Friday (it’s Tuesday today). I shall be reading up on what the furlough arrangements are in the UK due to Covid-19. I know the government have set aside some money, I need to know what I might get paid and how to claim it. In the past, when I’ve been out of work, I’ve been entitled to jack shit other than JSA, This time around, should I be laid off as I expect, I might not have to eat into my savings, fingers crossed. Meanwhile, I have decided to knock up another blog with a photo of myself each day of the ld (from now on) - it’s a sister to this diary.

Day 9: Actually typing this on day 10. Yesterday was a strange day as I contemplate being furloughed (hope for the best, expect the worst)…I’d be paid 80% of my wage according to what the government have said to assist in the Covid-19 crisis…so, were that to be true, I’d be OK money-wise, although still earning way less than I want to prepared for retirement (I am currently still waiting for feedback on a pay increase request I put in at work last year!) I’m more worried about how I would fill my day if I wasn’t working. So, that being said, I flopped and moped about all yesterday evening after my daily walk and, without achieving much at all, didn’t find time to write this entry on the right day…so maybe I can fill my days without much effort!

Day 10: I was furloughed today, starting 5pm tomorrow (Friday 3rd April) and it’s fucked me off. I know it’s not personal but, actually, do I? They’re cutting back the Kettering Desktop team by one, redacted It seems obvious to do this by the ‘last in, first out’ maxim but what about money? others are on more than me (redacted). What about offering it voluntarily - others might go for 80% pay for fuck all - others have family at home to occupy the day (redacted) . A little bit of me thinks it might be preferable furlough me (redacted) …others seems to be a favourite and that annoys me. It annoys me because I think I shoot myself in the foot too often. I’m too vocal about some of the (redacted) decisions and practices at work, plus other reasons that I know but can’t be bothered to type. But, my point, is I don’t play the politically correct, corporate game and therefore forget to look out for my own best interests. FUCK.

So, as of tomorrrow evening, I’ve no work to do. The challenge will be to find a way to occupy my day. I’ve already registered to volunteer for the NHS during the ld…let’s see what becomes of that. And I’ve signed up for web development course. I’m going to get fucking pissed this w/e, starting early tomorrow evening.

Day 11: It’s day 12 as I am writing this entry…that might tell any reader, and remind me, that I did as I promised and got pretty drunk. I spent the day geting my work affairs in order i.e. clearing down support tickets assigned to me. I did a good job, nothing left to handover to the remaining team (Jim, Cristina and Mark) and onky one ticket put into the assigned pool. Some nice converstaions were had with associates, many of whom are, too, being furloughed. Nice words were said and Jim and Mark both were supportive in conversations and messages - they both know I don’t wnat this and, I think, they are both relieved it’s not happening to them. 5 pm arrives and I shutdown my work laptop for the last time for at least 12 weeks. After my daily walk, I video chat with Karen, crack open a beer, make Chinese chicken curry (fucking loads, fucking tasty), finish watching The National Theatre stream of One Man, Two Guvnors (really good, see twoinchreview) and the caught up with, and talked bollocks with Andy, Marc and Ham - we tried getting Rog in on it, no dice. I then watched The Heat (I fucking love that film), ate some more, smoked several single-skinners, drank, in total, three cans, seven bottles. I went to bed shortly after 4am. I felt resigned to my furlough and pleasantly wasted.

Day 12: A subdued day…didn’t wake until gone 1:30pm. Jaded but not really suffering. Mooched about, social media, listening to music, watching telly, farting about on the iPad. My daily walk, over the last fews days, has taken a twist…I am trying to run parts of it. Mainly short distances, 80-100m (I estimate) three, maybe four times. It’s fucking knackering me out. I used to run everywhere when I was a teen. Attempting to run now just makes me feel fucking old. Well, I am, so that’s about right.

Day 13: Another day like yesterday except I got up at 10:30 and didn’t feel jaded. The subdued feeling comes from the realsiation that the ld isn’t being treated as seriously as it should be across the board. The news and even posts by locals on FB (Oundle chatter group) suggest groups still meeting up. The weather this w/e has been a factor - 17°c today. I think a total ld will be enforced soon and that would fuck me off. My daily walk is pretty essential for me nowadays not least for the ‘good for your soul’ benefits that dad has always mentioned. Even today’s walk saw a car parked at the gates to the field on the way to Ashton and people on a blanket soaking up the sun, dogs off their leads and people (looked like a family) playing footy on South Road field. Individually they are not presenting any danger, what with the fact they are either living together or far away from others. But they are flaunting the rules and the more that happens the less likely they’ll carry on getting away with it, which will mean total ld for all! I finished the 50 1985 albums today. It mostly confirms to me that I only listened to two albums released that year (Kate Bush, The Waterboys) any other vinyl I spun would have already been in my collection pre-85.

The sausage casserole I made for tea was fucking lush - 4 birdeye chillies. I saw and spoke with Dan and Grace this morning, they were just coming back from a walk. I am pleased to fuck they are together and sorted out the issues they had earlier this year.

Day 14: My first day proper of furlough. Finished my two inch review of the NME 50 albums. Long chat with Rita, quick one with dad. Messaged Sam about Romiley’s present - she’s 10 on the 9th April (Thursday) - ordered some Lego thing from Amazon. Turned the car engine over (reminded myself the driver-side wing mirror is fucked) and moved it to another spot in the Co-op car park - bumped into Matt T. He’s struggling - no work coming in and he can’t claim any of the money on offer ‘cos he’s not being totally honest about his circumstances - made me realise I’m not that bad off…..but I feel depressed about it all, especially with the news that Boris has gone into intensive care.

Day 15: I began a diploma (?) course on web design with Shaw Academy (it was free). They have actual classes (which are recorded) which you schedule yourself. The first one was, I have to say, really interesting - I look forward to continuing. On my walk today, I saw a car parked at the gate to the field at the bottom of Riverside Close; it was branded with Cunninghams Estate Agent with a 01536 number. I am pretty sure I saw the driver walking her dog (unleashed) on the field. I took a photo and rang the number. Yes, I ratted the culprit out…fucking annoys me that I had to. Better than reporting to the police, all round. Hopefully her work will put a stop to her doing it and, the more people that adhere to the rules without the police getting wind of infractions, the more likely we’ll be able to continue to exercise away from home.

Day16: More online learning including checking out other sites (pluralsight) for more learning opportunities. Coded my first web page, basic but mine, in HTML and CSS. A few beers & smokes and watching White Boy Rick in the evening, interspersed with the usual social media / messaging shit, incuding this entry, of course!

Day 17: Typing this on Day 18. After a few beers last night while chatting with Fog (twice - the first chat ended with him ‘having’ to go to bed. Later, I noticed he was commenting on FB, so I video called him…round two of chatting!). I got quite fucking pissed. Bed around 4am.

Day18: Up at 1pm. Long walk today, 7 km. Anything over 40 minutes, I’ve realised, results in a hypo.

Day19: Well, having gone to bed at gone 5am I got up at nearly 1pm feeling far better than I should have. Breakfast followed by a walk, spoke with Karen (mowing her front lawn) and Dan. He and Grace have split up which is sad news but he seems OK. Went shopping (milk and sweets) and ended up with a shit load of booze, the post of which on FB was quite amusing. Homemade burgers for tea (they’re in the fridge as I type) - gonna try and make Five Guys…

Day20: The Five Guys burger attempt didn’t go as well as I wanted. I think less than 5% fat mince just doesn’t bind that well. However, I managed to get something resembling a burger into the bun and, with cheese, hot sauce and jalapeños, it was tasty enough. More of the same when I finish typing this entry. Strange Easter Day today, as I knew it would be. The best thing I saw today was a video Tom posted on FB of him and Molly doing a mashup of Starsailor and George Michael - Tom on guitar singing the former, Molly singing the latter. It was fucking fantatstic.

Day 21: Easter Monday. Surreal…it’s feeling very surreal now, this lockdown.

Two things that bother me right now:

i) The political point scoring on FB. I get it, I really do…people like to bring up ‘obvious’ failings in the party’s mistakes. For example, Marc posting comparisons between UK and Germany’s figures of cases and deaths due to Covid-19. I doesn’t make impressive reading for the government and it should be held accountable. But not fucking now!

ii) Will they introduce rotational furloughing at RCI? It’s only been a week, 11 to go. And, it bothers me that I was furloughed rather than Mark. Pathetic of me, I know! But, should it last the 12 week stretch, I want to go back to work and let someone else have the chance to have fuck all to do all day! That being said, I’m still learning web design through Shaw Academy. Even today, bank holiday, I revised Lesson 2.

Day22: Nice catchup with Dad today - he and Rita seem to be more than OK with lockdown. I actually cannot wait until we can meet up at The Farmers again!

Day 23: While I had a Corvee engineer come to the house today to do a gas safety check (I waited upstairs while he was here, self-isolation and all that), and had the fourth online web design lesson, had a trip to Boots to pick up insulin, got milk from Tesco’s, saw American Rachel and had a chat (while we both queued to get into Tesco’s) and had a very nice walk along a different route from the norm, in the pleasant sunshine and watched Contagion on Netflix - all today - I AM STILL BORED AS FUCK!

Day 24: I had plans for today - revise the last two lessons of Shaw Academy’s web design course, investigate a ethical hacking course, do some washing, clean upstairs (or at least the bathroom) plus all the usual stuff. Then, as a reward, have some beers. Well, guess what. I am not having beers this evening. I managed the laundry. Plus I manged to subtitle my YouTube perfect snabby video (something I have been meaning to do for a while, but, come on!) It took me fucking ages. But it is funny! So, a fucking far from fruitful day. Plus the government announced at least 3 more weeks of lockdown. There’ll be loads more, I reckon. Tomorrow…I promise I’ll be better tomorrow…

Day 25: I did do better! Firstly the Corveee man fucked the boiler which I only noticed late yesterday but still managed to get sorted today. I did some excellent revision and learning of HTML (tags) and CSS. I cleaned the bathroom and hall. And I discovered TikTok (fucking excellent dancing and funny vids) plus discovered a new FaceBook word game (Sam sent me an invite) called WordBlitz and I am pretty good. Having beers now (nearly 11pm).

Day 26: Today I found myself calling 111. I had a pain in my side last night, I thought it might be constipation! That not being the case (!), today I went to 111.nhs.uk and, following their questions, it recommended I seek out a GP straightaway. Once I let the website know that is not possible, it directed me to visit walk in centres. I spoke with Karen thereafter - for advice about whether it’s a good idea to enter such an establishment - I really don’t want to increase me chances of catching the Covid-19 virus. Karen recommended ringing 111 since the website does not take into account my diabetes (so bloody sensible a suggestion!)

After ringing and answering many questions, the lady said she’d get an OOHS GP to call. The doctor called soon after and it seems most likely I have a grumbling appendix (chronic appendicitis) and to ring again (well, 999) if the pain becomes unbearable.

I now have a bag at the ready for hospital which I really hope I don’t have to use. Today, I have, therefore, done fuck all - not even a walk - but I am having a beer now (midnight) and shall attempt to sleep as well as possible and hope this pain subsides naturally…

It occurs to me that I turn to Karen when things become flumoxing - my excuse, this time, is she works at the surgery but that was mere convenience.

Day 27: My ‘appendicitis pain was the same when I woke up (10:20) but no worse. I managed to change bed clothes and clean my bedroom but didn’t risk a walk (in case something drastic happens when I’m in a fucking field).

People’s responses and questions online have been heartening (Rachel Harris, Susie Grange, Bethan, Jo, Tracey Weber, Debbie De Prisco and, not least Dan). As the day progresses, I feel better but not right. I spoke with Dad about it and, as I told him, I shall ring Oundle GP tomorrow. Meanwhile, I did Sam Clew’s FB Live quiz, which was good, and am now having a beer or two.

Day 28: The pain in my side has definitley diminished. I called the Oundle surgery today to talk about what treatment I should have for ‘grumbling appendicitis’. The reseptionist organised a call back from a GP - Dr. Cash. Basically, he said he didn’t believe the condition existed, that acute appendicitis doesn’t happen after the age of 35, and ‘his gut felling’ is it will all just clear up.

I shall seek a more sensible diagnosis after lockdown and hope it doesn’t flare up again before then.

Day 29: I sent an email to the team at work today (Jim, Mark, Cristina and Sueanne). I hadn’t heard from them and I wanted to check in and, also, make a point that I will be posing the ‘rotational furlough’ question to HR at some point. It was as I wrote the email that I realised it’s only been two weeks and two days of furlough, and that includes Easter! Seems so much fucking longer. Anyway, everyone replied and it was good to hear from them….Mark came off his bike and broke ribs and collarbone! Lesson 5 of the Web Design course with Shaw Academy. It’s becoming apparent that, if you don’t pay for the course ‘toolkit’ it’s all rather patchy! The instructor dives into lines of code (HTML, CSS and Java) with no explanation….I feel like I did on the ifrst lesson of further maths ate Stamford School! I shall soldier on and beef up the missing parts with W3Schools (a great website and learning aid for coding). Two quick points. I am no longer running any part of my daily walk; hurts too much. I am addicted to Wordblitz and TikTok. Day30: I am writing this on day 31, I just forgot yesterday! It was a non eventful day. I did watch Midnight Run (again!) and had a couple of midweek beers though.

#diary #tumblr diary #lockdown #covid19 #lockdownuk

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superrichlads · 5 years

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“I always work off the motto of, ‘if you think you’re working hard, there’s always someone else who’s working harder’… there is nothing easy about the sport or music industries, and you have to work so hard to be successful.” - Niall Horan

On The Loose: released official fourth single from Flicker, including a radio edit, lyric video (rip), official video, behind the scenes video, Basic Tape remix, Slenderbodies remix, acoustic version, acoustic video, and vertical video So Long: performed unreleased song on piano throughout Flicker World Tour dates Mirrors EP: released on vinyl for Record Store Day 2018 Seeing Blind: released acoustic video, live video, and radio single in Australia Finally Free: released song for Smallfoot soundtrack and live video recorded at the Greek Theatre, Los Angeles Flicker (song): released as a radio single in the Netherlands Flicker featuring the RTÉ Concert Orchestra: released live album in Ireland, featuring nine songs including an official live version of previously unreleased song So Long

81 tour dates: across Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, playing arenas, amphitheatres, state/regional fairs, and large theatres Featured opening acts & special guests: including Wild Youth (Killarney), Julia Michaels (Europe), RuthAnne (Dublin), Lewis Capaldi (Glasgow), Hailee Steinfeld (London), Maren Morris (NZ, Australia, the Americas), Jayda (Manila), Ming Bridges (Singapore), Sugar Me (Tokyo) Setlist: featured 14-15 original songs and 3-4 covers Regular covers: Dancing in the Dark (Bruce Springsteen), Crying in the Club (Camila Cabello), Drag Me Down and Fool’s Gold (One Direction) Covers for select tour dates: Dancing in the Moonlight (Thin Lizzy - Dublin night 1), Where the Street’s Have No Name (U2 - Dublin night 2), Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty - Greek Theatre LA, Red Rocks & others), New York State of Mind (Billy Joel - Jones Beach Theater, Long Island), Life in the Fast Lane (Eagles - final September tour dates) Filmed Red Rocks show: for potential future release Top 50 worldwide tours of 2018: selling more than 445,000 tickets

BBC Biggest Weekend: played a six-song set on the second day of the festival in Swansea Reputation Tour: special guest for Taylor Swift’s first night at Wembley Stadium, performing Slow Hands together RTÉ Concert Orchestra special: performed nine songs from the Flicker album for broadcast in Ireland, later broadcast in France & South Africa Sounds Like Friday Night: performed acoustic version of On The Loose & interview New York State Fair: played the headline show on the final day of the fair Official livestream: of Flicker World Tour Amsterdam show, in partnership with Live Nation, for a global streaming audience Late Late Show: performed Slow Hands on London episode Virtual reality concert: made London Flicker Sessions show available on MelodyVR platform

Sounds Like Friday Night: interview on BBC RTE: interview with Eoghan McDermott, as part of RTE Concert Orchestra Special The Project: interview on Australian TV The Voice Australia: guest mentor with Delta Goodrem Today Show: interview on Australian TV Sunrise: interview on Australian TV Studio 10: interview on Australian TV Late Late Show: guest on London show, brief appearance on show in October

TalkSport: co-hosted breakfast radio show in January & September Dubai Desert Classic: played in Pro-Am with Rory McIlroy and a competition winner, and participated in a golf clinic, helping two of his Modest! Golf clients gain entry to the pro event US Golf Masters: ambassador for Drive, Chip & Putt competition Ladies golf: signed Maguire sisters to Modest! Golf, announced Ladies event for NI Open in 2019 Ryder Cup: played in celebrity match & Team Europe ambassador BMW PGA Championship: played in Pro-Am with the winner of a BBC Children in Need charity auction Sky Sports British Masters: played in Pro-Am Interviews: ESPN, SkySports, BBC Radio 5, Golf Channel, Bunkered, Ladies European Tour, The Irish Times, Golf Magic, among others LUFC: provoked an infamous Twitter clapback from Leeds United Modest! Golf: supported four players who have secured tour cards for 2019

Irish referendum: supported the yes vote to legalise abortion March for Our Lives: supported cousin’s participation in march for gun control US politics: publicly denounced Trump (again) US mid-term elections: urged US citizens to vote

Horan & Rose: hosted the second edition of the charity gala & golf event, upping the total money raised for charity to £1.5 million to date Charity t-shirt: released second charity t-shirt raising funds for Cancer Research UK and the Kate & Justin Rose Foundation Rays of Sunshine: hosted teens at Flicker World Tour London soundcheck & show, donated Jingle Bell Ball Santa shirt for charity raffle Charity auctions: donated items for multiple fundraisers, including a signed guitar & VIP concert experience for a Grammy auction raising $4,500 for Musicares Foundation; signed boots to a Small Steps charity auction, raising £1,130; signed artwork; signed guitar to Cystic Fibrosis Foundation auction, raising €4,000 Anti-bullying Week: supported efforts to stop cyber-bullying on Twitter Instituto Projeto Neymar Jr: supported Brazilian football superstar’s work providing education for kids in Praia Grande, Brazil World Cancer Day: supported Cancer Research UK’s Unity Band initiative LauraLynn Hospice: spent time with kids in hospice care before Flicker World Tour Dublin show

BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw: how real are these Niall Horan ‘facts’?, can Niall Horan remember his own lyrics? BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend: when Niall Horan met Shawn Mendes BBC Radio 1 Biggest Weekend with Matt & Mollie: Niall Horan answers questions he’s never been asked before EW: Niall Horan listens to Dua Lipa, Springsteen and more on tour - check out his exclusive playlist Billboard Pop Shop podcast: Niall Horan on new song 'Finally Free,' 'disappearing' after tour to work on next album & 8 Years of One Direction MORE FM: Niall Horan talks about his “intimate” connection with NZ The Edge afternoons with Jono, Ben & Sharon: Niall Horan talks about being mates with Dan Carter The Edge 30: Niall Horan says NZ is his favourite country to perform in Nova 969 Smallzy’s Surgery: could new Niall Horan music be on the way? Nova 969 Smallzy's Surgery: Smallzy’s backstage tour with Niall Horan Nova 969 Fitzy & Wippa: exclusive chat On Air with Ryan Seacrest: Niall Horan recalls best Flicker World Tour moments so far FUN 107 The Michael Rock Show: Niall Horan surprising secret to great hair Walk 97.5 Christina Kay: interview Coup de Main: interview - Niall Horan on his upcoming NZ show, recording live, and honesty in writing ‘Flicker’ Coup de Main cover story: interview - eye to eye with Niall Horan GQ Italia cover story: Niall Horan: my life after One Direction George Ezra & Friends the podcast: Series 2, Episode 1 Zeit Leo: "I get restless very quickly." Singer Niall Horan has a slight obsessive-compulsive disorder. How music helps him, he tells here.

GQ Italia: Music Issue cover shoot Paul Smith: guest at Paris fashion show and spent time with the designer in his studio Revista GQ: Niall Horan is, right now, the only person who knows how to wear a shirt with undershirt as it’s done in 2018 Fashion Bean: best-dressed men of the week

US RIAA certifications: Slow Hands 3 x platinum, This Town 2 x platinum UK Official Charts certifications: Flicker x gold Australia ARIA certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Flicker x gold Canada Gold/Platinum certifications: Slow Hands 5 x platinum, Too Much To Ask x platinum Chile certification: Flicker x platinum Songwriting awards: BMI London Pop Awards Song for Slow Hands, BMI Los Angeles Award Winning Songs for Slow Hands & This Town Spotify milestone: Flicker surpassed 1 billion streams in June 2018 Billboard #1s: achieved his 9th solo Billboard chart number 1, with Too Much To Ask reaching #1 on the Dance Club Songs Chart Billboard Year-End 2018: achieved album, song, radio, social and artist entries on the year-end charts US radio: On the Loose became Niall's fourth Top 20 single on Hot AC radio, and fourth single to chart on Mainstream Pop, Hot AC & AC radio formats, reaching #22 on pop radio Hollywood Music in Media Awards: Finally Free nominated for Original Song - Animated Film RTE Choice Music Prize: Slow Hands nominated for Irish Song of the Year iHeartRadio Awards 2018: winner of Best New Pop Artist & Best Lyrics (Slow Hands)

April: using soundchecks to come up with ideas October: wrote a tune on the piano November: ‘3 days into making tunes and it’s feeling good !!!!!’, ‘exciting watching ideas come to life in the studio’, in the studio with Julian Bunetta & John Ryan in Los Angeles I / II / III / IV, RuthAnne Cunningham tells CelebMix she will be writing with Niall for NH2 December: ‘exciting week of writing’, writing session with Jamie Scott, Mike Needle & Dan Bryer in London, ‘very much in writing mode’

Everyone loved Niall: and Niall loved everyone, but especially Hailee Steinfeld, whom he quietly dated while avoiding the media circus which often surrounds celeb relationships.

Soundcheck Q&A and Meet & Greets: made fan engagement a central part of his Flicker World Tour experience Golf events: made time for fans who came out to see him play at pro-am events Maintained boundaries: called out fans for taking creep shots & obnoxious behaviour Calmed audiences: and looked out for the wellbeing of fans at his shows, especially in Latin America Twitter & Instagram: read and responded to fan tweets and questions with a mixture of sincerity, gratitude, brutal honesty, and humour Jade: made one young fan’s night (/life) by inviting her up on stage to dance at the Allentown Fair show

Baby Marit: melted hearts everywhere offering reassurance to two new dads

#Niall Horan #2018 #highlights #aka NHighlights ;)

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