Predictions for the year 2020

I've had it with year-end wrap-ups. It's all about the future, people! Jeff and I sat down over a bottle of Jameson and came up with our top entertainment predictions for the year 2020.

BY THE YEAR 2020:

Christian Bale will win an Oscar (for a role in which he uses his native Welsh accent).

Will Smith will win an Oscar for a daring, controversial role (Brokeback style).

Zac Efron will win an Oscar, following in the footsteps of teen hunks like Ryan Phillipe and Heath Ledger.

Lindsay Lohan will get her act together and begin a prolific career as the next Meryl Streep.

Tom Hanks will win one more Oscar.

Tom Cruise will accidentally come out of the closet during a live interview with Anderson Cooper.

Nicole Kidman will gain 30 pounds for a role and win the Oscar.

Alicia Silverstone will host a season of The Biggest Loser.

Patrick Swayze will make one more comeback, with an amazing, Oscar-nominated performance as a drug dealer.

Jamie Lynn Spears will have an incredible music career and become the queen of pop.

Christopher Meloni will win a Golden Globe for a comedic performance in a mini-series.

Mary-Kate Olsen will get serious, and win two consecutive Golden Globes for dramatic performance in a television series.

Tina Fey will be the new Steve Martin, writing both drama and comedy for film, television, novels, and whatever she likes. People will beg her to run for office, but she will refuse.

A cast member on a season of MTV's The Real World will commit suicide during the show's filming.

The Spice Girls will make a jukebox musical.

Catherine Zeta-Jones will make her Broadway musical debut and receive a Tony nod.

Hugh Jackman will win won more Tony.

Zoe Kazan will win an Oscar AND a Tony.

Claire Danes will also win an Oscar and a Tony, but her Evening co-star Mamie Gummer will receive neither.

A list of celebrities who have peaked and will never match their previous height, but still continue to chug along: Julia Roberts, Annette Bening, Jennifer Hudson, Angelina Jolie, Abigail Breslin.

A list of celebrities we will never hear from again: Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men, Lance Bass, James Van der Beek, Ashley Olsen.

Facts:

Leonardo DiCaprio will be 45 years old.

Jamie Lynn Spears' baby will be 11 years old.

Sarah Jessica Parker will be 54 (but her face will look exactly the same as it does today)

I must be losing it.

ABC is showing The Sound of Music, and every scene makes me cry! I love Julie Andrews! I love Christopher Plummer! My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds that rise from the lake to the trees! I love musicals!

Sunday To Do

Why don't you watch the fantastic film Once, and then download the soundtrack and listen to it with a nice cup of peppermint tea? I swear to god it is a perfect remedy for the wounded, deflated, or exhausted artistic soul.

The Little Mermaid: So How Bad Is It?

Oh it's bad. So bad, I missed In My Life. Essentially, Disney Theatricals has sunk its rabid teeth into The Little Mermaid, infected it with a terrible disease, and is forcing the maimed, grotesque beast of a show to go on despite being only a shadow of it's glorious former self.

As I watched in shock and horror, I longed for the adorable cartoon I loved in my youth. My heart ached to hear the same refrains that had given me such happiness - but this is not the same The Little Mermaid I loved so well. No, little Moxie, avert your eyes! This Little Mermaid is too sick to be saved, and if anyone at Disney had a heart, they'd put it out of its misery.

To list all that is horribly, horribly wrong with this production would turn this blog into a short novel. Here are just a few highlights:

- The ugliest, most non-sensical sets I've ever seen. I still don't know what all the plastic crap on that stage was supposed to be. Waves? Trees? No idea. Plenty of photos here.

- Humiliating costumes for the poor actors. The mermaid sisters' tails are so out of control, they hit each other in the face whenever they turn around. Norm Lewis looks like the toast of Coney Island. And Heidi Blickenstaff, I'm so sorry they did that to you. You are fabulous and everyone knows it.

- An uninspired, boring book by Doug Wright, delivered with utter lifelessness by a cast who I know can do better. Did they spend any rehearsal time on acting, or character? WTF? And yeah, Sherie Renee Scott is supertalented, but I cringed watching her with those awful, awkward tentacles. Terrible.

- Heelys. They don't look like they're swimming, they look like they're skating. Which makes the whole thing look like exactly what it is: Disney on Ice on Crack.

- They've taken some of the best great Disney songs and staged them with all the conviction of a shitty theme park ride. Under The Sea is mostly about a dancer shakin' it in a day-glo unitard. Kiss The Girl involves giant plastic spinning things, and a frog puppet that likely got rejected by Toys 'R' Us.

To make things even more maddening, there are a number of glaring solutions to the show's problems. For example, would it kill them to use some puppets? The actors are costumed as vague, bizarre ideas of sea creatures, and it is not working. Is that a seahorse? Or a crab? I saw eight-year-olds cocking their heads sideways, thinking, "what is that?" Hey, Disney, I don't know if you've heard of it, but there was this musical that really turned heads a few years back, it is called The Lion King.

As pissed as I am at Disney for being the embodiment of corporate evil in the theater, you can't watch this show and not blame director Francesca Zambello. From top to bottom the thing is a total mess, and what is most dramatically lacking is a cohesive directorial vision. I'm sure that many will have much to say at where she went wrong, but all I can say is failure, failure, failure. It is an utter failure. She has failed everyone who loved that movie.

**It is definitely worth noting, in spite of everything, that Sierra Boggess is a great Ariel. The best part of the show are the minutes she spends alone onstage, and when she sings "Part of Your World" it is, for a minute or two, magical.

What I'm Listening To: Wilco

Wilco's latest album, Sky Blue Sky. It's so beautiful, melancholy yet upbeat and uplifting. It plays like all the great records that end up going perfectly with anything. The quirky Wilco-isms that obfuscate their earlier stuff has been melted away, and the result this awesome whole record of crystal clear, really elegant rock songs. Definitely worth picking up as a last-minute christmas present or cashing in on that itunes gift card.

Happy Holiday Cheery Time, Etc.

My my my. It was like NaBloPoMo ended and everything else in my life suddenly demanded ALL of my attention. Here's the basic layout of my life for the past couple weeks. Work: insanely busy. Personal life: total mess (that's me up there). Family: still no presents bought yet. Blog: neglected. Help! But now I'm home, still wearing pj's at 4:15pm, and happy to be back in Moxie mode after a pretty anemic month on the blog. Thanks to the two readers from Chattanooga and Kalamazoo who are still reading (really, thanks guys).

Here are a few updates on what's been going on while I've been crazy:

I was wrong about something! Zoe Kazan is still in Come Back, Little Sheba. I guess the dates for the Justice League movie must have gotten pushed, allowing her to participate in both. Nobody's seen a script for the movie, so it's quite possible that one hasn't even been written yet, and they'll have to wait for the WGA strike to end for production to move forward. If anybody has actually seen a script (or single piece of dialogue) from the film, let me know.

I still haven't seen August: Osage County, so all you snobs can just click over to the REAL theater blogs right now. I did catch I Am Legend though! And it fucking rocked. Well the first 3/4 of the movie did, and then it goes to crap. Don't get your hopes too high as far as plot and themes go, but it is absolutely worth seeing for two things: Will Smith's performance (I don't care how beloved he is, he is still a hugely underrated actor, oscar nom and all. Underrated.), and the incredible art direction and composition. OH! And the dog. My god I love that dog. Somebody get me a german shepard for christmas, k?

Also caught Enchanted, which isn't lying with that title; it is enchanting! It will make you swoon, sing, smile, and believe in love again! Amy Adams is a delight. For the first time in over a decade, disney has created a film that has all the magic of a great fairy tale, and has also - here's the real achievement - managed to update the old misogynistic ways of those tales, and spin a yarn that incorporates some of the imperfect complexities of true love. Great flick to take your family to over the holidays, and loads of fun appearances from the bway people (many of whom have recorded great disney songs in the past): Judy Kuhn, Tonya Pinkins, Jodi Benson (!!), and more. My only qualm: Idina Menzel. She is a hugely talented, beautiful actress who just doesn't look good in close-up. It's not her fault, and I truly wish it wasn't the case, but she just should stick to stage, or make really sure that makeup softens her up next time she does film, because she looks SO severe in this.

Couple thoughts on Rock 'n' Roll

I know Rock 'n' Roll is supposed to be, like, the crowning achievement of Tom Stoppard or something, but I gotta come out and say it: I was kinda bored. I don't think I was missing a major piece of the puzzle - I just felt ambivalent about a lot of what was happening up there. Okay, ambivalent about the first act, less so about the second act. I saw the show on it's first night back from the stagehands strike, so it might have been a little off or something, but I just didn't click with it the way that it seems like everybody else does.

My first complaint: I'm going to seem extremely dense saying this, but it sort of seemed like the use of the actual Rock 'n' Roll (between the scenes, not within the plot) played like an old dude's nostalgic mix CD. I know Pink Floyd, I love Pink Floyd, I get it. What's your point? I mean, I get the point - it's legendary, ground breaking, incredible, revolutionary. Yes, of course it was. But, what's your point?

And even though the performances were really, really great (especially Rufus Sewell, fucking incredible performance that made me miss British acting terribly), I didn't see any reason to care about the trademark Stoppardian philosophical debates of the play. With Coast of Utopia, the characters were so invested in the philosophies they were discussing - their lives and their country hinged on it, they were practically on fire with the passion they had for the subject. I mean that's why Billy Crudup won his Tony, right? Rock 'n' Roll, on the other hand, spends a lot of time with an aging professor who still believes in communism after everybody else moves on, and another man whose soul lives in music more than politics. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But it's just not very interesting to me to watch those kind of characters go through multiple looong conversations about politics and philosophy. Especially when I feel like I just got 9 hours of similar debates better-achieved in Coast of Utopia. Move on!

The rest of the play, all the stuff about family, love, trust, all of that I loved. In fact, the second act was way more engaging than the first because of how much more it focuses on those themes. Why do we need an hour and a half of philosophy to justify focusing in on matters of the heart? I can't help feeling that in Rock 'n' Roll, the long philosophical debates are nothing than the crutch that Stoppard just can't abandon.

Review: Doris to Darlene: A Cautionary Valentine

You can't argue with the fact that we've got a lot of damn fine theater going on in New York right now. I really hope Doris to Darlene doesn't slip between the cracks, because it's one of the best plays I've seen recently, even if it's not as earth-quaking as some of the high-drama stuff that's getting the spotlight right now.

Doris to Darlene: A Cautionary Valentine is a real ensemble piece, following the entirely distinct yet inextricably linked stories of varyingly fictional characters such as composer Richard Wagner, 60's girl-group star Darlene, and a present-day teenage music lover. The playwright, Jordan Harrison, weaves the three stories together so delicately that further plot description feels altogether beside the point - suffice it to say that Doris to Darlene is my favorite type of play: the kind that makes the audience feel emboldened to somehow get in there. Leaving the theater, I wanted to run home and listen to Wagner and 60's girl groups, and reconnect with that one high school teacher who I'm convinced really got it, without ever saying a word. It also just kinda made me want to be friends with Jordan Harrison, but that's another story.

The play itself is funny and compelling, and deeply moving without ever feeling pretentious or gooey. Harrison's play is an achievement, but the delicacy of it's message would be easily lost without the graceful, economical production surrounding it. The scenes are seamlessly woven together by way of two turntables that allow us to flow from one scene to the next with minimal effort and minimal distraction in shifting the focus between the stories. Designers Takeshi Kata, Jane Cox, Christal Weatherly, and Darron L West deserve so much credit for their work here.

The actors are uniformly fantastic, expertly cast and sensitively directed by Les Waters. Tom Nelis's performance is brutally truthful, hilarious, and heartbreaking. de'Adre Aziza is a perfect, effortless Darlene (look for her in Passing Strange, she was phenomenal in that, too). I was so psyched to see Tobias Segal, who was awesome and adorable in Victoria Martin: Math Team Queen, and proves here that he's going to be a force to be reckoned with in the camp of the young gawky actors - I predict indie film snatches him right up. Is it me, or does Les Waters have a way of accessing the unique beauty and truth in the actors he works with, and allowing that uniqueness to shine? I felt the same way watching Eurydice - his work leaves so much air and space for such sensitive performances.

So, to sum up, I know you're probably perspiring to get your hands on tickets for August: Osage County right now, but please also venture further west on 42nd street, cause Playwrights Horizons has got that good sweet stuff, too.

I. Love. Her. So. Much.

My lady love Eva Green on the next Bond movie:

"I don't know who the Bond girl's gonna be. I'm a bit jealous! I hope it will be terrible."

(via vulture)

Fuerzabruta

Seeing Fuerzabruta is like going to the best dance club in the world - except you don't do much dancing, and you don't need drugs to feel the exciting whirlwind of raw emotion and force swirling all around you.

When I've said this to people who saw the original De La Guarda show, they all respond with, "Oh! So it's like the last show." Apparently, but I recommend seeing it whether you saw De La Guarda or not. Everybody should witness the energy, spark, and deep human connectivity going on in that wild house every night. If you're curious about the title, it means "brute force".

Check out their website for amazing video of some of the crazy, awesome, beautiful shit they do.

NaBloPoMo: I did it! Well, almost.

Hey, today is the last day of November, which means NaBloPoMo is over! Wow, I can't believe how fast it went by. And a whole Broadway strike, and I still managed to have something to write about! I'm still pissed that I missed that one day when I was stuck in Pennsyltucky. I've learned a lot from blogging every day this month, but the most striking thing I've realized is that writing begets more writing - that the more you write, the easier it is to do, and the more naturally it flows. I expected this month to be really tough, but it was easy!

So here are two fun things to check out, one theater-related and one totally off-topic.


First, warm your winter-frosted heart with Bixby Elliot's list of the best of Broadway Youtube. He compiled it as a cure to the bway strike blues, but everything on there is great musical theater fun, strike or not. Highlights: Carrie the musical, Jeff Whitty doing a Katherine Hepburn rap in 1986, high school versions of Les Miz with through-the-roof production values, Lea Salonga's Miss Saigon audition, and of course, the legendary performance of Jennifer Holliday at the Tony Awards, singing THAT song.


And then there's this, the blog of a woman who rescued Charlie, a wild Coyote puppy, and is raising him and blogging the whole thing. Dooce says it better than me, "the photos alone will make your heart explode". Charlie the Coyote's mama says:

“What are you going to do when Charlie grows up?” Well, only one can answer this question, and it’s not me. It’s Charlie.

I took Charlie in because the alternative was him being drowned in a water tank. There was one clear answer at that moment in time, one clear answer of what I needed to do for him. And I know the answers will continue to come as he grows up and as we grow together....

...From the beginning, I have made the commitment to let Charlie decide his destiny; to do right by him without attaching my own desires to the outcome or interfering with human logic. You can join me in seeing what unfolds.

Obligatory Broadway Strike Post: It's Over!!

Crying babies everywhere are shedding tears of joy, for the strike is finally over. All That Chatters look forward to returning to the "usual schedule of kvetching and bitching", which will probably be all about this, which I saw coming.

Songco's Spike Marks

Check this out: artist/designer/photographer Jeffrey Augustine Songco created an art installation in his studio out of spike marks. So cool and whimsical, and a nifty little niche of his art that examines the theatrical in real life. Check it out for a refreshing take on a small, oft-overlooked little part of the process of making theater.

I hear...

That Zoe Kazan won't be seen at the Biltmore this spring as planned. Shortly after MTC announced it's casting for Come Back, Little Sheba, Zoe booked a role in the big comic superhero move Justice League - a direct conflict with the show. Pretty sure MTC's already seen every actress in NYC for that role, so who will they cast?

Jugi totally called it!

In The Heights photos

Remember when they were filming that ad for In The Heights over the summer? Well they've released some still shots that look amazing, and reminded me of why I adored that show. Here are a few pics, Stage Notes has more.

A Festival? Pour Moi?

Just stumbled on an old post from Mike Daisy on Moxie. He says:

My brother on Moxie:

Moxie: The soda that tastes like root beer and dead fish, mixed with love and dirt.

That's right folks, tastes like root beer and dead fish, mixed with love and dirt. I'd say that about sums me up! Well, you know. Except for maybe the dead fish part.

And look! A festival! All for Moxie!!!

"I've always known I was meant to dominate your sex and avenge my own."

It sounds like Laura Linney is finally confirmed to be cast in Les Liasons Dangereuses, playing La Marquise de Merteuil, the sexy villainess. After hearing about this for what seems like YEARS, I'm kinda over it. She's a great actress, yes, but... Merteuil? Something just doesn't fit to me. Isn't it more of a role for someone like, say, Helen Mirren? Laura Linney feels a little miscast, a little midwestern and plain, and that role really has to be seductive and manipulative and fabulous. Not that I'm not looking forward to seeing it, and seeing her in it. I am! It just doesn't seem like such a natural fit, and I have doubts.

Any guesses on who's playing Valmont?

Update: Announcement came today that british actor Ben Daniels will play Valmont. Here's his bio:

Olivier Award winner Daniels (who earned the honor for the Royal National Theatre staging of All My Sons) has appeared on the London stage in Therese Raquin, Three Sisters, The Wild Duck, The God of Hell, Tales From Hollywood, Naked, Waiting for Godot, Entertaining Mr. Sloane and more. He has been seen on television in "The State Within," "Elizabeth-The Virgin Queen," "Ian Fleming-A Life in Pictures," "Truth or Dare," and "Romeo and Juliet." Film credits include "Beautiful Thing," "Luna," "Doom" and "Madeleine."

Project Runway: with special guest Sarah Jessica Parker!

Just catching up on some missed television from the holiday, checking out last week's Project Runway and - WHOA SJP got some work done! Yikes. I guess she's getting in gear for the upcoming Sex and the City movie (which Gothamist had it's eye on today). Those squinty cat eyes are scary! Ugh. And another perfectly attractive face bites the dust.

Saturday Ramble: Musings on Broadway, Art, the Future, etc.

Check out Terry Teachout's strike-inspired essay today on the rising expense of a Broadway ticket. Terry asks an essential question: If Broadway costs twice as much today as it did in 1968, is the product twice as good? Are the current crop of plays and musicals even worth the outrageous expense?

It seems to me that the obvious answer is no, Elle Woods and her peers couldn't hold a candle to the Broadway of 1968, with its new plays by Arthur Miller and Brian Friel, performances by Dustin Hoffman, Lotte Lenya, and Zoe Caldwell, and long-running original productions of "Hello, Dolly!", "Hair", and "Fiddler on the Roof". But Terry has a great, and important point that beyond Broadway bashing, the forum for great new work has simply relocated, with the highest quality coming from Off-Broadway and regional productions, which also manage to remain affordable.

Don't get me wrong: I like musicals, the same way I like ice-cream sundaes. But man cannot live by dessert alone, and now that most of Broadway is shuttered, it has become clearer than ever before that there are better and cheaper places to get a steak.

I think we can (mostly) all agree that Off-Broadway and regional theater deserves a lot more attention for all the new work generated. But with the "arbiters of taste" promoting stuff like visits to grocery stores, and spending more time slamming some of Broadway's less interesting fare than discussing theater that's interesting and engaging but happens to take place in smaller houses with less funding... how do you get the butts in the seats? When art gets replaced by reality television and child-star idols, how do you wipe the slate clean? How do you shift the average American's appetite for cultural consumption, and change it from a craving for pink sugary fluff to a desire for something more unknown and adventurous? If we continue down this path we're headed on, is there any room for real art at all?

And hey, I'm not saying the only good theater (or art) is that which does something totally new/experimental/whatever. I really just want to see good stories well-told. That's what I crave. It just happens to be true that the artists who create good stories and tell them well, those artists often run with the creators and innovators who end up doing new, non-traditional work. I think of the innovation more as a positive result of good art, rather than the point and purpose of good art.

Technical Difficulties

Please pardon our appearance - we're experiencing some sort of bizarre technical difficulties in which Blogger isn't displaying my banner. Anybody else having problems like this? Drop me a line if so... Should be fixed soon!

the rasturbator

Here's something super-cool and FREE - The Rasturbator, a website that takes any image, enlarges it into giant size, and sends it back to you as a PDF file. You then print the image and put the pages together for a free mural! I'm picking what photo I'm going to use right now...

(via Apartment Therapy)

Gobble Gobble.

Happy turkey day! My mom's cooking and my own special "cranberry martinis" (ok they were cosmopolitans) were the highlight of my day.

But there's something else I can't stop thinking about, replaying it in my mind's eye... the ridiculous, absurd lip syncing extravaganza that is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. My own shameless indulgence in nostalgia keeps me tuning in every year, but it's just getting so awful. I mean, Wynonna Judd was clearly singing entirely different lyrics than we were hearing. And most of the performers were 14-year-olds from High School Musical or something. Isn't it time for the parade to get some new producers to bring the whole hulking thing into the 21st century? Please!?!

What the fuck, Chuck?

I need a few minutes to let the steam stop shooting out of my ears, but WHAT THE FUCK? Seriously, Isherwood??? SERIOUSLY?!?!?!

Thoughts on Bug.

Watched Bug last night - I've got a massive head cold so I kinda dozed through the first half, but I was terrified and riveted for the entire second half. Michael Shannon is fantastic, and Ashley Judd is really, really good. It actually reminded me why, throughout her career missteps, I'm always thinking "but Ashley Judd can really act." Her Broadway moment didn't show it, and most of her movies don't show it, but she's totally the real deal, and it's coming through loud and clear in Bug.

If you dig horror, you will probably really enjoy this, even though I wouldn't say it belongs squarely in that category. Fun performances from Harry Connick Jr, Lynn Collins, and Brien F. O'Byrne, too. Give it a netflix.

Don't Tell Mama You Fell Off The Chair

Just enjoying some old posts from Bixby Elliot's superfun blog Two On The Aisle, including this one that directed me to THIS amazing video of Natalie Portman performing a number from Cabaret at everybody's favorite CAMP - Stagedoor Manor!! One of her co-stars has a little mishap...

Sunday To Do

Why don't you take a moment and donate a few measly bucks (or more) to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids? Now is the time of year when the group would normally be receiving huge donations from Broadway audiences, but the organization is surely suffering through this strike just like everybody else, from tourists to street vendors to those directly involved. Take a quick minute to look at their website, and consider making a small donation.

NaBloPoMo: Zut Alors, I Have Meeesed One!

Well, crap. The dog totally ate my Saturday blog post. Actually I was visiting a town called Middle of Nowhere, Pennsylvania, and there was no internet access. Ah well, c'est la vie, things happen, and I'm not stopping the NaBloPoMo now! And now back to our regularly scheduled blogging.

Breaking: O'Byrne Weds Goldenhersh!

A very reliable source tells me that Brien F. O'Byrne and Heather Goldenhersh just got married at City Hall! I love this couple! Hooray! I wonder if she's got a bun in the oven... that would have to be the cutest baby in the world, with a slight irish brogue and a slight goldenhersh-lisp... ohhh jeez it's too much! Too cute!

Theresa Rebeck's response to Jon Robin Baitz on the HuffPo

Several bloggers are discussing Jon Robin Baitz's excellent piece in The Huffington Post. The piece goes a long way in explaining why it's so hard for playwrights nowadays, why they go to television and film, and why nobody lets Chuck Isherwood sit at their lunch table. It's definitely a must-read, and you should certainly check it out.

BUT I'm interested in a response in the comments. A mysterious commenter named only "Rebeck" (who could it be?) responded:

HILARIOUS. your posting cheered me right up, Robbie. it has never been clear to me why they get so mad when we make a little money from the big old evil TV machine. would it be better for our craft if we jus sat around in crummy overpriced New York studios, worried about how we were going to pay the rent?

my experience has been it helps to have a little money in your pocket, when the New York Times whacks you on the head because of some utterly inane new rule they've come up with as an excuse to dismiss your play. Ben Brantley suddenly decides he likes David Mamet and uses his review of my play to express this fact? Oh brother. Maybe I should dip into my savings and go to Italy for a few days...

Theresa Rebeck's response is interesting, but also sadly unsurprising. She obviously has a point about how it helps to actually get paid, but her mention of the critical response to Mauritius is whiny and embarassing. It's one thing when Brantley and Isherwood carelessly eviscerate work that deserves at least a little respect, but Brantley's review of Mauritius didn't read as a discovery that he likes Mamet - more like an acknowledgement that Rebeck's play (as many, many others said) is just like American Buffalo - only less interesting.

Frankly, I find it difficult to place Rebeck in the same category as those playwrights who would really benefit from a bit more kindness from the critics. With a very few exceptions, her plays aren't really challenging the form. Don't get me wrong, she's written plays I've enjoyed, particularly Bad Dates. But Theresa Rebeck is not.. oh, Will Eno, Adam Rapp, Adam Bock, or the many other playwrights whose work sometimes gets trashed because they're taking risks, and that makes people uncomfortable. Nobody is calling Theresa Rebeck a hipster from Williamsburg in their reviews.

Acting: Takes All Kinds

"I love method acting, so any way that I am able to become a character, physically, mentally, definitely is something I would love to do. For instance, I did this short film that's going to be unbelievable. It's like Transformers. Basically I had to act with nothing there, but I remember this scene where I'm running away from this robot, this transforming robot, and I'm freaking out. All of a sudden I was so genuinely scared that there was a robot following me that I had an anxiety attack." — Laguna Beach star Talan Torriero

Via vulture, who always delivers the most outrageous, strange, fabulous celeb quotes.

Zoe Kazan, future of American theater?

MTC's Come Back Little Sheba announced casting today, and Zoe Kazan will play Marie, the college student who boards with Lola (S. Epatha Merkerson).

Zoe Kazan is the future of American theater! Okay, maybe that's going overboard... (could it be possible for an actor to define the future of theater? talk amongst yourselves.) ...but is there anything she can't do? I still think she'd make an excelleng Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion - in fact, I'd rather watch her in roles she's not really right for than better-suited actresses, just because she's so damn interesting. No, entrancing. No, tranfixing. Not to mention smart, cool, and adorable. I love her, that's all.

I'm not a trekkie, I swear...

But for some reason, I'm excited about Zachary Quinto playing Spock! He's a really great, interesting actor. Above is a pic of him on set, via cinematical. Is anyone else weirdly psyched about this?

An Affront to Moxie's Childhood

Elizabeth Hasselbeck had a baby today, and named it Taylor Thomas Hasselbeck. Obviously, my next thought was, "as in JONATHAN Taylor Thomas??!!!??!" The brilliant, amazing ladies at Jezebel picked up the story, and a quick look at the reactions in the comments was enough to suck me into a shame spiral about my tween heartthrob of choice.

I mean did you even KNOW that JTT is vehemently anti-choice?!? He gives speeches at anti-choice events, and actually did the voice-over of a fetus in a pro-life campaign. In my tween years, I thought he was crunchy! He's a vegetarian, for christsake! What the fuck is going on here!? Did Hasselbeck name the baby after JTT because she, too, is anti-choice, anti-Roe V. Wade, anti-stem cell research, anti-not being an asshole? BTW here is JTT's fan site, if you're into that sort of thing.

Okay, I feel dirty all over. Enough of that.

Sunday To Do

Watch Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia.

It had been floating around my netflix queue since I saw Spalding Gray: Stories Left to Tell, and I'm so glad I finally got around to watching it. The man is absolutely spellbinding, and his stories are hilarious, startling, frightening, fascinating... he's just amazing. In a way, he reminds me of a dark, philosophical Larry David - which is just another way of saying he reminds me of my dad. I find myself looking for quotes to put into this blog post to try and make you understand, but you really just need to sit down and watch this thing.

It's fucking gold. Check it out.

MTC cancels Lonergan's The Starry Messenger

Here's something that slipped under my radar during all the strike(s) hubbub: MTC has cancelled it's upcoming production of Kenneth Lonergan's new play The Starry Messenger. Matthew Broderick was slated to star in the play off-broadway, and there was a lot of buzz around the show, as one of the highlights of MTC's season.

Manhattan Theatre Club's only expanation was, "Scheduling conflicts make it impossible to proceed in the allotted time slot," which means exactly nothing. Indeed, the production is still listed on the company's website, a full day after the announcement. I'm sure their subscribers will be thrilled to hear about the cancellation, and wonder what in the world would have stopped them from proceeding with the production. Casting was in progress, with some pretty great people lined up to star alongside Broderick. I wonder if it's something personal going on with Broderick or Lonergan, who was also set to direct the play.

Shoot! I was looking forward to this.

Stagehands Strike - what lies beneath?

The Stagehands began their strike today, closing down most of Broadway. I have to admit, I'm often a little befuddled by strikes. I get that people are upset that they can't see The Grinch as planned, and the whole industry is going to suffer economically from it (well, unless you're Young Frankenstein or the stamp play). But looking at this and the WGA strike, it seems like the public often experiences the effects of a strike usually without much understanding of why it's really happening.

I find myself wondering, "what's really being argued about here?" According to Playbill.com, the union hasn't released an official statement, but fliers are circulating that read, "We truly regret that there is no show. . . Broadway is a billion dollar a year industry and has never been more profitable than now. Cuts in our jobs and wages will never result in a cut in ticket prices to benefit the public, but only an increase in the profits for producers. Unlike the producers, we are not fighting for our second or third homes: we are fighting to keep the one that we have."

Meanwhile, the League released a statement that uses vague accusations of the union being irresponsible and unfeeling towards the industry and the impact of the strike, but the only thing they actually say about why this is happening is this: "Our goal is simple: To pay for workers we need and for work that is actually performed."

I think it's an interesting, unfortunate situation where the industry and the public are all involved in the repercussions of the strike, but it seems like people aren't really talking about the negotiations, or what the strike is really about. And it can be interesting to delve into the gossip about what's being negotiated (or not being negotiated), but that can get sticky pretty fast. Theatreforte posted about how dismaying it is to see CNN wondering "What were the stagehands thinking... going on strike during such a busy time of year for the Great White Way?"

Anybody out there in the thick of it? Care to shed some light?

Recent Casting Developments

Jeanne Tripplehorn is going to play Jackie O in the upcoming Grey Gardens film. I'm still nowhere near over the casting of Drew Barrymore as Little Edie, but I freakin love Jeanne Tripplehorn, and look forward to seeing her in this. Beyond the fact that she so strikingly resembles Jackie O, my favorite part of her performances in Big Love is how she manages to remain composed and poised even when she's totally losing it, which seems like it would translate well to playing a first lady. Hey, remember when she was in The Firm opposite Tom Cruise, and she almost went all the way with sleazy Gene Hackman? Good times.

Winona Ryder is playing Spock's mom in the Star Trek movies that they're apparently still making. [Insert joke about Ryder's career here.] Heroes star Zachary Quinto will play Spock. Wait, don't those two only look about 5-7 years different in age?

And Mayor Bloomberg recently shot a cameo in the Sex and the City movie. Huh. Remember when Ed Koch was in the SATC fashion show episode? More good times.

Young Frankenwhatever

Young Frankenstein hasn't even opened yet and I'm freaking sick and tired of it. And now channel 7 is reporting that the fucking EMPIRE STATE BUILDING will be lit in purple, yellow, and green in celebration of tonight's opening. Yes, that's right - the color of vomit. Ewwww.

Please let it be a bad dream... Jessica Alba on Broadway?

According to Michael Riedel, Jessica Alba is being courted for a Broadway revival of Speed The Plow. It's Reidel, so who knows if there's any truth there, but the mere suggestion is horrifying. In fact, I just threw up in my mouth a little. Oh, the humanity!

Strikey Time

Hey, did you hear? The writers are on strike. Reruns are about to plague the airwaves, Jay Leno is bringing everybody doughnuts, the producers of Big Brother are salivating for those easy-win ratings, and suddenly every agent in New York is calling up theaters, trying to get some kind of work for their clients, even if its a play.

To shed a little light on how the rest of the country is taking the news, here's an article from the MetroWest Daily News of Massachusattes. Gems: "Kristen Titus of Waltham would be bummed if the strike threw a kink into her TV time routine - she records "Grey's Anatomy" and "Heroes" every week. "It'd be upset - those are my shows I like to watch.' "

And Gothamist checked out Seth Meyers on the picket line, who said, "TV is completely changing, the way people are watching is completely changing, and we just want some structure in place to make sure the union is treated fairly. I hope this ends as soon as possible; I’d be more than happy to do SNL this Saturday."

I think Tina Fey hit the nail on the head. From The Hollywood Reporter: "NBC is breaking away from iTunes," she said, gesturing to the company's headquarters up the street. "They know what they're doing with new media." Tru dat, Tina, tru dat.

"This is Danny Tanner reminding *you* that disco will never die!"

Ouch - only day 5 of NaBloPoMo, and I'm hitting a day when it's tough to post. Today was a very busy Monday, including the lengthy Artios Awards (for casting) this evening, which I'll post about in the next few days. Suffice it to say, it takes several drinks to sustain a jovial tone over the course of the evening. And if you don't take advantage of the free drinks, you'll be left sober at the end of the night with nothing but a gift bag filled with a Susan Lucci dermabrasion kit and backissues of Variety.

Highlights of the evening include Bob Saget's analysis of his current role as The Drowsy Chaperone's Man In Chair - produced by Bob Boyett, who also produced a little tv show called Full House. According to Saget, both shows feature him playing characters who wear cardigan sweaters and are ambiguously gay. More later on this, and other escapades in castingland.

P.S. The title of this post is an actual quote from Full House, taken from imdb's entertaining "memorable quotes" feature.

The Prigs are Awesometown

May I please direct your attention to The Prigs, the least pretentious, most funnest ever band in New York? I finally caught them on Halloween at Rockwood Music Hall, and can tell you firsthand that they put on an awesome show. Go see them sometime at Rockwood, and if you don't jump up and down with feverish delight, I'll personally refund the price of admission. (Okay admission is free, but I seriously guarantee you'll have a blast, if not several blasts.)

Here is their myspace page, where you can listen to songs with lyrics like "It's party time with an evil magic genie bartender".

Isherwood says there are no stage actresses who could play Eliza Doolittle.

In tomorrow's Arts & Leisure section, Charles Isherwood discusses his enjoyment of Roundabout's current staging of Pygmalion. He describes Claire Danes, "making her adventurous, her admirable first foray onto Broadway," and goes on to say "I'm hard put to name a single New York stage actress who could handily pull it off, with the possible exception of the up-and-coming Lily Rabe." Yeah Lily Rabe would be good, but, wait - what?

I'm so tired of Isherwood acting like just because he can't come up with ideas of his own, that means that something just doesn't exsist. He recently did it about playwrights, basically saying that there are no young playwrights concerned with politics. Which is obviously hogwash. And there are totally a bunch of actresses who could play Eliza Doolittle! Just because he can't think of any doesn't mean they don't exist.

Here's my hypothetical casting list, with a little help from the theater think tank over at All That Chat. I'm not saying every one of them could "handliy pull it off" as Isherwood says, but there are OPTIONS, people.


-Yes, Lily Rabe would probably be pretty great.
-Lynn Collins, duh.
-Lauren Ambrose
-Bryce Dallas Howard
-Paige Howard - pictured above. Did anyone see Mary Rose? I think she'd be remarkable.
-Aya Cash
-Samantha Soule
-Lisa Joyce - would fucking rock.
-Alison Pill - please Alison, just do something different already.
-Amy Rutberg
-Maggie Siff
-Wynn Everett
-Celia Keenan Bolger
-Elizabeth Moss
-Kerry Butler
-Maria Dizzia
-Zoe Kazan (think outside the box! She would be awesome!)

And there have to be more! Post them in the comments if you have more ideas.

(Thanks to Jesse21 of All That Chat!)

Does Disney think large flying objects are more interesting than good performances?

Is it me, or does Disney design its productions in a way that ends up swallowing the actors whole? These pictures of The Little Mermaid look like the actors are getting eaten up by the set, and I felt the same way about Mary Poppins. Everything was so supercalifragi-ridiculous that I could barely connect with the actors over the general din of the production values. Like the message is "Hey, Ashley Brown can sing real pretty, BUT LOOK AT THIS HUGE UMBRELLA!!!" It feels so disrespectful to the whole performance aspect of live theater. How is Sierra Boggess supposed to command the attention of the 1,000 people in the audience when there's a GIGANTIC SHIP passing over her head? It's like the whole audience is at Disney World, riding the Pirates of the Carribean ride, and tucked away in back of all the fake puppet pirates is Johnny Depp giving an actual live performance.

Speaking of supercalifragelisticexpial-atrocious, these costumes look like the aquatic version of that number in Mary Poppins.



Whatever. Bixby is right - no matter what, it will still probably make bijillions, because it's got "that song". Sing it with me now: "I wanna be where the people are. Ask 'em my questions and get some aaanswers! What's a fire, and why does it - what's the word - buuuuuurn???"

I fucking love Roseanne

I love how straight-up she is. She seems totally bananas, but the stuff coming out of her mouth makes more sense than a lot of the more "reasonable" sources! From her blog, which is fantastic:

Don't Legalize It???

Hilary does not want to decriminalize marijuana and neither does obama... They should both be locked up for that outdated crap! You know they both smoke it.

I just love a woman who says what she means. Her and Arianna Huffington are my favorite guests on Bill Mahr. No tap dancing or tiptoeing in Roseanne World.

NaBloPoMo, Yo!

Hey, y'all - today is the first day of NaBloPoMo! That stands for National Blog Posting Month, where participants are challenged to blog every day, all month long. I have to admit to some trepidation as I set out on this task, and fear I may be subjecting you to some more-zany-than-usual whimsy. You know, as opposed to my usual beautifully constructed, well-thought-out posts.

Other participants include Jaime of Surplus, and 87 people who blog about knitting.

Suckwatch: A Tale of Two Cities - Follow-up

A Tale of Two Cities had its opening night down in Sarasota last weekend. Thankfully, I wasn't there. But others were! And here's what they thought. They were largely kinder to the show than I expected, but it's not off Suckwatch until I say so. Recognize.

Stage Notes was there, and called it "A Tale Worth Telling". "The work’s not yet done, but this Broadway-bound musical is on the right path, thanks especially to a handful of stirring Jill Santoriello songs, Michael Donald Edward’s brisk staging, Tony Walton’s ingenious scenic design and a strong company led by James Barbour, pouring his soul into a towering performance as Carton."

Local paper The Herald-Tribune said the show, "needs work to make it more dramatically and emotionally compelling, mostly in the first act... There is much to praise about the show, and it certainly will impress Asolo audiences. But it needs more punch before it is ready for Broadway."

Variety was relatively kind to the musical, acknowleging it's many similarities to Les Miserables (including an act one closer titled "Until Tomorrow" - not kidding.) "Santoriello has crafted some pretty melodies and a few comic songs (at least one of them unnecessary) matched with lyrics generally better at revealing character traits than advancing the story. But in both script and direction, the show needs more dramatic tension and greater emotional punch."

Everyone seems in agreement that James Barbour and Natalie Toro are turning in top-notch performances, and that it's a fairly compelling story, if one that we've, uh, seen before. I've definitely witnessed director Michael Edwards making magic out of lacking material before. But can Broadway really stomach another epic drama musical about love and redemption, set against the backdrop of a war in France?

Oh, Snap! Aussie actor disses Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett hasn't even started as the new Artistic Director of the Sydney Theatre Company, and already she's kinda getting trounced.

Colin Moody, a member of the company, resigned, saying, 'An Oscar for acting is not a suitable recommendation to run the biggest theatre company in the country.' Well, that's true. Here's what The Guardian said:

"Moody said he could not longer take the 'office politics' and 'hypocrisy' at the Sydney Theatre Company, adding the company had been 'importing people asking them to do a task that they haven't a clue how to do'."

Ouch!

Blanchett will share the "the top job in Australian theatre" with her husband, Andrew Upton. Though she does seem drastically underqualified, Upton is a screenwriter, playwright, and director who seems more credible as an artistic helmer. Cate Blanchett is already effecting change in Sydey - she persuaded Giorgio Armani to become a patron of the theater and donate a good chunk of change.

Still, it's hard enough for movie actors to be welcomed on Broadway in an acting capacity - is this only the beginning of the trouncing of Cate Blanchett?

The Queen's Corgies are the Best in the World - Officially!

Aw! At today's first annual Fido Awards, the corgies from The Queen were presented with the award for "Best Historical Hounds". They also took home the top honor, "Best in the World"! In the whole world!

FYI their names are Poppy, Anna, Alice, Oliver and Megan.

Helen Mirren, in her quest to do something totally awesome every moment, sent a message of praise for her co-stars: "I know one should avoid acting with animals and children, but these little chaps were a pleasure to work with and deserve all the plaudits for their fine performances." Aw!

Guess who's playing Hamlet

I have it on very good authority that a high-profile production of Hamlet is in the works for next year. I won't come right out and say who's playing the gloomy prince... but I will give you the chance to guess!

Here's a hint... the actor was in The Coast of Utopia. Hey, that eliminates almost half of the actors in New York!

Which Coast of Utopia cast member would make the best Hamlet?
	Ethan Hawke
	Billy Crudup
	Jason Butler Harner
	Josh Hamilton
	Brian F. O'Byrne
	David Harbour
	Martha Plimpton
pollcode.com free polls

Review: A Feminine Ending

A Feminine Ending made me feel awkward. On the one hand, it's an exploration of what it means to be a young female artist, which seems interesting and relevant to me. On the other hand, it's clearly written by a young female artist, and is distractingly autobiographical. I'm all for playwrights writing what they know, but being familiar with some of Sarah Treem's other work, I have to wonder if she's capable of writing stories that don't mirror her own.

Production notes explain the plot of A Feminine Ending: "Having recently graduated from a major conservatory, and with a rocker boyfriend on the brink of stardom, aspiring composer Amanda Blue's 'extraordinary life' seems to be all mapped out. But when she's called home to answer her mother's distress call about a marital crisis, Amanda's grand plan starts to unravel. A Feminine Ending is a bittersweet new play about dreams deferred, loves lost, and learning to trust a woman's voice in a man's world."

The play is constructed of scenes and direct-address monologues from Amanda (Gillian Jacobs), who explains growing up hearing everything in harmony, attending a conservatory to pursue orchestral composition, graduating and falling for a hunky on-the-brink rocker (Alec Beard), and finding herself having to prioritize art, relationship, and family - oh, did we mention that her family might be falling apart? As the "extraordinary life" ahead of her begins to look less and less appealing, the buttoned-up and always in control Amanda has to reliquish control and embrace the terrifying unknown that the future holds for any young artist trying to make it in New York.

For all the times we hear the word "extraordinary" in this play, it's striking how completely typical this story is. It's the story of almost every single young person who wants to be an artist! Which would be great and really relatable, if it weren't so generally told. It takes Amanda nearly the whole play to figure out what the whole audience knows from the beginning - that this rock star dude actually probably WON'T provide wedded bliss for decades to come, and that she probably WOULD be better off getting to work composing instead of fretting endlessly about this and that. Is this supposed to make young women look intelligent, or interesting? Eek.

Gillian Jacobs has a tough task in playing Amanda Blue, and she's working feverishly to create high stakes and make this *matter* to the audience, but the result lacks depth, and I couldn't help watching her from the perspective of an older, wiser sister who's waiting for the younger sibling to come around to reality. Perhaps this isn't aided by Blair Brown's direction, which is warm and fuzzy when Amanda's world should feel harsh and anxious. Marsha Mason is always a lot of fun to watch, and does solid work here as Amanda's neurotic mom, but she's handicapped by what seems like oddness for oddness' sake and some strange and implausible fits of cruelty towards her daughter. Joe Paulik stands out as Amanda's high school boyfriend, the prerequisite oddball with a heart of gold who provides some much-needed contrast to the dreamy rockstar hunk.

Maybe I would have enjoyed the play more if I was less familiar with Sarah Treem's background (she got her MFA from Yale two years ago), or if I was less familiar with her other work, which includes a play about a young poetess, who also happens to be a recent grad of a major MFA program, with a boyfriend with big aspirations and an "extraordinary life" ahead of her. Also, it really rubs me the wrong way when plays make noise about being about the female experience, and then turn out to be the stories of women deciding what to do with their men. Is that all there is?

Breaking: Claire Danes doesn't suck!

In fact, she's excellent.

I'm still reeling that I'm writing these words - "she's excellent". Truth be told, I have utterly detested Claire Danes ever since she abandoned Angela Chase characters in favor of playing precious, mannered good girls in films far and wide. From Juliet to Cosette in that awful film of Les Miserables to T3 to The Family Stone, she made me want to slap her. Oh, and I hated her in The Hours. And I didn't see Evening, but I hated her in the previews.

Well, imagine my surprise when I found myself charmed by her performance in Roundabout's surprising revival of Pygmalion. Rather than her usual wide-eyed, lost soul film acting, the role of Eliza Doolittle immediately pitches Danes into a character who is gritty, imperfect, gutsy, and not always a good girl. She sinks her teeth into the role pretty fearlessly, especially for an actor still in previews who has never once performed in a play. (She's done two dance shows, but no actual plays). It's not an easy role technically or emotionally, but Claire Danes embodies Eliza with aplomb - from the brassy, salty flower girl to the newly proper lady who will never quite fit in, she is convincing, dynamic, and charismatic enough to make every one of her scenes more interesting than the last. She's not entirely there yet and falters a few times, but as performances continue and she gains the confidence of commanding the stage, there's no doubt that her performance will only deepen and strengthen.

In less surprising but equally satisfying news, Jefferson Mays is triumphant as Henry Higgins. I have to confess to never having seen Pygmalion onstage, but it's hard to imagine that this interpretation of Higgins has been seen before. Mays' Higgins is not the patriarchal taskmaster, but an energetic, set in his ways little boy who never grew up and just wants to play with his linguistics toys. The boys' club created by him and Boyd Gaines' Colonel Pickering reminded me of high school science club, populated by adolescent males who are more interested in the behavior of molecules than the feelings of human beings, let alone women. This new interpretation of the character is fascinating, and just watching the minutiae of Mays' performance is bewitching.

The rest of the cast is more spotty - Boyd Gaines is as lovable as ever, Helen Carey is wonderful as Mrs. Higgins, but Jay O. Sanders seems like he hasn't quite figured out what he's playing yet, and Brenda Whele's painfully general Mrs. Pierce seems yanked off a regional theater stage. But those few hitches aside, it's a totally respectable production with two leading performances that may be the most surprising of the season.

Also - I should note that I saw Pygmalion for $20 through their Hiptix program, which is totally convenient and easy to use. I just called up the hotline, joined the program, and order two tickets. Our seats were far back, but the American Airlines Theatre isn't huge enough for that to be a problem, and it sure beat doing student rush.

Why I hated Mauritius

A whole lot of reasons.

But something's been bugging me since I saw it a few weeks ago, and I finally put my finger on it. (If you don't want spoilers, don't read on.) The whole play is supposed to hinge on our hero, Jackie (Alison Pill), right? She's the one who seems like a "lamb", but really is all feisty and smart and maybe a little out of control but STRONG and take-no-prisoners, right?

So WHY is it Dennis (Bobby Cannavale), the sly, attractive charmer, who resolves the drama into a happy ending? Why does it have to be Dennis who steals the inverted Jenny stamp, and offers to whisk her away to the land of infinite margaritas? All this yelling and screaming and fighting for two hours, only to have Jackie proven incapable of getting her due, and then have her rescued by an unlikely, outer-borough prince charming? I'm sorry, fuck that! It just sucks.

The Scene also left me with this feeling, like women everywhere were being put down, but in such a under-the-radar way that it was difficult to pinpoint. But now that I'm rethinking it, The Scene resolved with Tony Shaloub's life having been ruined by an sexy evil vixen, and Patty Heaton's character getting rescued by Chris Evan Welch. Does Theresa Rebeck hate women, or just think we can't take care of ourselves? Hard to imagine that of the playwright responsible for Bad Dates. But then again, that play resolved in Mr. Right finally coming along. And it really sucks that the only female playwright represented on Broadway this season can't do better.

What gives, Rebeck? You got some splanin to do.

Gypsy Gossip: Benanti "unavailable" for other projects

I heard through the grapevine that Laura Benanti's agency is a little harried these days. Her manager is saying Ms. Benanti is unavailable for projects in late winter/early spring '08, but they won't tell anyone, not even her agents, what she's got going on.

Looks like Gypsy is on, folks.

You likey playwrights horizons?

Cause they like you, and they want you to see Sarah Treem's play A Feminine Ending, which starts previews this week. They like you so much that they're offering you a discount code. I'm seeing it very soon, and will write about it sometime next week. In the meantime, here's the info:

Order by Oct 17 and tickets are $35 for performances Oct 4-15 and $40 for performances Oct. 16 – Nov. 11. Reg. price $50. Use code FEBL.

HOW TO ORDER:
* Online at www.playwrightshorizons.org
* By phone with Ticket Central at 212-279-4200 (Noon-8pm daily)
* In person at the Box Office: (Noon-8pm daily)

I got memed, and I liked it

Jaime tagged me in this fun meme game thats roaring through theater blogs faster than that video of Jenn Harris and Jeff Whitty. Never having been tagged before, it makes me feel, really, really, really popular. Here's the rules:

TO DO: List 5 things that certain people (who are not deserving of being your friend anyway) may consider to be "totally lame," but you are, despite the possible stigma, totally proud of. Own it. Tag 5 others.


1. I enjoy musicals more than rock concerts. There. I said it.


2. I like tofu, tie-dye, recycled everything, organic everything, yoga, and have spent periods of my life listening to nothing but Phish, The Grateful Dead, and Dave Matthews Band.


3. I have an aquarium, and spend a lot of time watching the fish swim around. I mean, a LOT of time. Just sitting there.


4. I am attracted to David Hyde Pierce. But not as attracted as I was when I was sixteen and he was Niles Crane. And yes, I'm aware.


5. I am a feminist. Many do consider it "totally lame", and it continues to carry a lot of stigma, but I am totally proud of it.

I'll tag back-in-action Rocco, that hot chick who writes No Stop Til Brooklyn, that drunk chick who writes Vera Vogue on Parade, up-and-coming artist Jeffrey Songco, and blogger demi-god Ken Levine, even though he doesn't know who I am.