Profile for Someone in a Tree2

We're elder gays who caught 5 shows a week ago. Our take--Avoid ROCKY HORROR like the plague, unless you're a dyed-in-the-wool Luke Evans (or Rachel Dratch) fan. The fun there ran out fast for us.We loved Act 1 of THE LOST BOYS, a show very firmly in the more-is-more camp. Major gay (and bi) storylines are front and center in the script, and the showbiz staging is top-notch. (About Act 2, the less said the better.) And the choral singing was ravishing.Our favorite show of the week by a mile w...

Agree that Act 2 was bad. But as for Act 1, we thought that once we get past the boring opening number, most of Act 1 was thrilling and captivating and kinetic and musically pretty gorgeous too-- just a great combo of stagecraft and choral harmonies and scenography and propulsive performances and basic theater magic on all fronts. We were very happy campers heading into intermission. A shame the team couldn't keep the balloon afloat for Act 2.

To Jeffrey Karasarides, you along with many others have credited Queen Jean's win for Best Musical Costume Design as the first time a Tony award has gone to an out trans artist. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Alex Newell win for SHUCKED in 2023?

I'm pretty sure no flying rigs are involved in the dead-falls off the train bridge (except for Michael's fall of course). Those drops down into the trap room with its trampoline crash pads are all done courtesy of gravity, I believe.

We finally caught The Lost Boys at the Wednesday matinee this week, and sure it has a disappointing Act II (what show doesn't these days?), but man are we glad we got to see it in all its glory at the Palace! We go to musical theater to be thrilled, and that's exactly what we got from Act I (if we agree to ignore the inert opening 20 minutes that gets the family from AZ to Santa Carla). We were thrilled by the motorcycle ride, thrilled by the railroad bridge, thrilled by the flying, and reall...

Our group of 3 white eldergays finally caught Jellicle Ball last Sunday at 7pm from 6th row, orchestra left side. I myself loved the concept, loved the queerness, loved the chance for real black and brown representation in a show with roots that were originally lily-white. I loved the party atmosphere between performers and audience but there's a BUT there-- our Sunday night audience was probably 99% white, being entertained by a largely black and brown cast-- the sense of racial minstrelsy (...

Just listened to episode 12. Yes there's too much of Martin and Peter, yes there's too much gushing sentiment rather than factual anecdotes, but ya know what? It's astonishing the amount of good work is here in the series as a whole, so I'll forgive them the swerve to mawkishness in the final 3 or so episodes. But gee whiz, after titling the episode "Goodbye for Now", why oh why didn't they play the song itself, sung by Maria Friedman or any other of the great Sondheim interpreters they have ...

I think you guys are too hard on the creators of this podcast, which for me was full of bits and pieces about SS's life I had never heard before. (I'm thinking about the episode dealing with SS's teaching stint at Oxford, or Jamie Bernstein's memories of SS's downtime with her folks.) It's also a remarkably polished audio experience, with overlays of sound effects, spoken dialogue to paint a party scene, and constant instrumental underscoring from SS's own scores. True, I was depressed and le...

I always had a soft spot for Rex Reed after he gave a rave to my set design for a little show up at Berkshire Theater Festival back in 1982. It may be politically incorrect to say, but I wish there were still a critic working today that had Rex's knowledge and bite. Rest in Peace, you old queen of queens.

Thanks Peppa, really helpful info to this gay guy who never knew that. From my standpoint, it had seemed a little like the straight-girl hen parties that often fill gay bars near me in West Hollywood. Glad to know cis girls are a part of the Ball tradition going way back.

Asking out of genuine curiosity: I could be wrong, but it appears from the press clips that the Jellicle Ball cast has many many cis-women in key rolls. This strikes me as a major departure from the community primarily of trans women and gay men for whom Ballroom was always their safe space. Am I wrong? Is it insensitive of me to even question a performer’s gender in this context? I’ll finally see the show myself in late May but would love to know what y’all think.

I get what you're saying.I don't know though-- I grew up in the 60's and my folks had classical music playing on the radio (WQXR) 16 hours a day in our house. We of course had all sorts of Original Cast LPs to play on our hi-fi, so I grew up with the OC albums of "South Pacific", "King and I", "My Fair Lady", "Sound of Music" (the Mary Martin one), "Oliver" and "Fiddler", but we also had LPs of Sinatra and Jazz and Pete Seeger. If I wanted to hear the Beatles or Simon and Garfunkel or Tom Leh...

"what sense does it make for characters living in the late 1960's to all be singing songs in the syle of 1950's musical comedy?"Actually the songs which were written in 1958 work quite well for these characters, most of whom are either of the older generation, or are very new to this country. None of them are hip enough to embrace the sounds of the 60's. (Well maybe Harvard would be into the swinging 60's vibe or more likely the Motown sounds of Diana Ross et al, but he gets virtually no song...

Happy to say we had a mostly great time last night at the East West production of FDS. This was a show with really big swings for this intimate company-- big sets, big costumes, big cast, big band, and a voracious everything-and-the-kitchen-sink script, and I'm cheered to say by the end of the night, the company somehow made this crazy quilt come to full life.Act I starts now with a gorgeously staged "A Hundred Million Miracles" taking our lead Mei Li from her start in China, through the Cult...

We were at the Bowl last night as well. For context, I had seen the Off-Bway revival some 15 years ago (meh)-- and the indie movie (Jeremy Jordan was great, Anna Kendrick much much less so). But I'm a big fan of the music and lyrics as an abstract song cycle if not as a stage show.My husband was coming to the show brand new, and for the most part admired some of the score, but HATED the basic conceit that Jamie and Kathy would never really share the stage in a scene, and thus could never have...

Thank you, JohnAdams and SteveSanders, for your helpful instructions.Turns out there's a purple podcast app icon already loaded on my iPhone (one of the countless apps I've never explored). My friend pointed it out to me and presto-- the Loving You podcast was easy to search for. Agree with others that there are yummy treasures galore here, though it does seem to meander from topic to topic like a dish session at a cocktail party among Data Loungers. Does anyone know when Episode 2 appears?

We're late to the party but were absolutely dazzled by the AMADEUS last night at Pasadena Playhouse. Raves to all concerned--the cast, the staging, the spectacular design by the team behind Broadway's Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder. We've come to expect great acting at the Playhouse, but rarely have been offered so elevated a production level. There wasn't a moment of staging on that regional stage that wouldn't have been equally at home in any Broadway theater today. Seeing the play ag...

Help! How does one listen to this series? Explain it to me like the Boomer I am, thanks.

There've been plenty of musicals on Broadway with big production values in the last few years-- they just haven't been that good. I'm thinking of NEW YORK, NEW YORK; QUEEN OF VERSAILLES; BACK TO THE FUTURE (and I'd include GREAT GATSBY and MOULIN ROUGE in that list too although that's a minority opinion, I know.) It's a bummer when the most fabulous sets accompany a less than great show, but Broadway has always been thus. Shouldn't we celebrate the great designs on great shows like MAYBE HAPP...

^ You're not alone here. We saw the original cast last November and wanted to love it lots more than we did. We found the final 20 minutes fantastic and but felt the first hour or so bordered on SNL level shtick. Ah well-- different strokes...