Profile for EmceeHammer

This season is cursed. f**k.

Mixed to negative from the NY Times (gift link):

 https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/theater/gruesome-playground-injuries-review.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k8.16WE.7hv9wThMv39Z&smid=nytcore-ios-share

‘Gruesome Playground Injuries’ Review: Does It Hurt?

Kara Young and Nicholas Braun star in the Off Broadway revival of Rajiv Joseph’s two-hander about best friends on parallel paths to self-destruction.

(not a critic’s pick)

NY Times: Senate Democrats Investigate Kennedy Center Deals With Trump Allies

Under Richard Grenell, the performing arts center has given steep discounts to CPAC and FIFA, signed contracts with administration associates and spent lavishly on friends.


Gift link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/20/us/politics/democrats-kennedy-center-investigate.html?unlocked_article_code=1.2k8.pMle.Cur7xkIqr5pw&smid=url-share

"The Kennedy Center agreed to let FIFA use much of the space, with 24-hour-a-day access, for nearly three weeks beginning on Monday, a period that spans the beginning of the center’s highly lucrative holiday season. The decision required the center to move, cancel or reschedule holiday programming, including an orchestra performance to the movie “Home Alone,” which was moved to a different venue, and a performance by the opera singer Camilla Nylund, which was rescheduled to March. The center also canceled contracts that allowed groups to rehearse their holiday performances at the center. Renting out the entire center during that period should have cost FIFA about $5 million, according to the contract. That $5 million amount included an estimated $2.7 million in “rescheduling expenses” and “potential lost revenue,” but the contract shows that the Kennedy Center waived the entire bill."

EmceeHammer said: "I propose a “Weisslers Stunt Cast Osnes in Chicago” challenge.

If she sells more tickets than Mira Sorvino she can have her Broadway career back."

—

FYI, this scenario is more likely to happen than young men getting myocarditis from mRNA vaccines.

 

Ok grandma, let’s get you to bed.

I propose a “Weisslers Stunt Cast Osnes in Chicago” challenge. 

If she sells more tickets than Mira Sorvino she can have her Broadway career back. 

According to Billboard, Gypsy is "the first show to spawn five nominated albums in this category," setting a Grammy record. 

"The album from the original production starring Ethel Merman won in 1960, a revival starring Tyne Daly was nominated in 1991, a revival starring Bernadette Peters won in 2004 and a revival starring Patti LuPone was nominated in 2009....West Side Story, Into the Woods and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street [have] four nominated albums each."

https://www.billboard.com/music/awards/grammy-best-musical-theater-album-2026-handicapping-1236086873/

Sunset was eligible and ran a FYC campaign. I suspect because it was a live recording, the audiophiles and techies at the academy overlooked it in favor of studio work. 

Call_me_jorge said: "EmceeHammer said: "Oh, Mary! with Special Guests The Muppets"

"I know this is a joke but Oh, Mary! starring Miss Piggy and Kermit as Mary Todd Lincoln and Mary’s Husband, respectively, has been one of my dreamcasts."

Shoot for the moon and you'll land among the stars...

Headline: ‘Miss Piggy’ Movie In Development With Cole Escola Writing

https://deadline.com/2025/11/miss-piggy-movie-cole-escola-jennifer-lawrence-emma-stone-1236607843/

MayAudraBlessYou2 said: "We don't need more half baked "guest appearances" please."
 

Counterargument: 

• Liberation with Special Guests The Muppets
• Waiting for Godot with Special Guests The Muppets
• Oedipus with Special Guests The Muppets
• Oh, Mary! with Special Guests The Muppets

You can't spell Frank N Furter without FF.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY at Chicago Shakespeare
 Oct 22 2025, 09:26:47 PM

The friend I’m taking to see PA saw 2:22 on the West End. He hated it and couldn’t understand why anyone thought it was scary. It will be interesting to see how this compares for him. 

I'm seeing this on Halloween. I've yet to see pure horror done onstage effectively, so I'm cautiously optimistic that this one is actually scary. 

NYT has a great write-up on the production with lots of images of the set (gift link): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/21/theater/paranormal-activity-theater-chicago.html?unlocked_article_code=1.vE8.m5rV.1S4n8n4VwkQT&smid=url-share

I agree this likely has a life beyond the tour and West End production. 

bear88 said: "When is the last new Broadway show that made significant changes in previews?”

When is the last new Broadway show that made significant changes out of town?

The system is broken. 

What would Wicked be without their time in San Francisco?

 

Ugh, this show could last a while if it's a vanity project being used as a backdrop for a reality show, which I believe is the synopsis of season 3 of The Comeback. Maybe HBO is thinking cross promotion? 

TBH, the drama and heartbreak of living through a Broadway flop could make for compelling TV.