January 19, 2023
Samarkand, Uzbekistan: Gorgeous Preserved History on the Silk Roadby Randi / December 18, 2017
It’s Theatre Thursday y’all! Today we are talking about the new production of “Big Fish” at London’s The Other Palace, which is playing until December 31.
“Big Fish”, directed by Tim Burton and starring some faves of mine (Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Danny DeVito (go back and watch it’s true)), was a great movie that screamed out to me for an amazing big spectacular Broadway musical. That story would be perfect for one, right? It would be hard to match the magic of the movie but I had faith that it could because theatre is the best. Unfortunately, the Broadway bow it got in 2013 wasn’t very good. It was hugely fun and entertaining and I enjoyed it, but not as good as it should have been with that source material. The book was messy and Andrew Lippa’s score was mostly unmemorable. After a few years and a lot of retooling, ‘Big Fish’ is back, now in London, new and improved. I think. I’m still not sure.
“Big Fish”, directed by Tim Burton and starring some faves of mine (Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, Danny DeVito (go back and watch it’s true)), was a great movie that screamed out to me for an amazing big spectacular Broadway musical. That story would be perfect for one, right? It would be hard to match the magic of the movie but I had faith that it could because theatre is the best. Unfortunately, the Broadway bow it got in 2013 wasn’t very good. It was hugely fun and entertaining and I enjoyed it, but not as good as it should have been with that source material. The book was messy and Andrew Lippa’s score was mostly unmemorable. After a few years and a lot of retooling, ‘Big Fish’ is back, now in London, new and improved. I think. I’m still not sure.
When The Other Palace in London announced that it would do a revised version of the musical, I didn’t have high hopes like I naively did for the Broadway production, since London is consistently less ‘spectacular’ with musicals than Broadway. There’s just an inherent spark and magic that is often missing. I was right – there was no way this small theatre was going to beat Broadway in terms of magic and spectacle. However, the revisions may have worked better on the whole. It’s not as much fun and it’s not as grand, but it’s moving in a more subdued nature that packs more of an emotional punch.
My eagerness to love the show back in 2013 may have been responsible for some of my enjoyment back then. It starred my favorite musical theatre actor, Norbert Leo Butz, so I was working as hard as I could while sitting in a seat in the dark to love it, and no one should have to work that hard to love a show. It was joyous but inconsistently, flawed and kind of flat a lot of the time. The music felt mostly uninspired, but a few songs were stellar. The book was a bit messy, but had enough good feeling and intention for the movie’s amazing story to make it okay. But most of all, Norbert put everything he had into his performance, so much energy and love and emotion, that that’s what you remembered and loved about the show. Norbert is so amazing, he blinds you from noticing anything lackluster or actually bad. So when the London revival/rehashing this fall announced that it would star Kelsey Grammer, I was extremely skeptical. How on earth could old Republican buffoon Kelsey Grammer do what Norbert in all his energy and youth did? How is he going to distract us from noticing that the show doesn’t live up to its potential and is kind of flat? Answer: He doesn’t – because the show is entirely redone and suits him better. John August, who wrote the movie and the book of the musical, clearly has been working hard on this. I missed Norbert’s energy (and voice) the whole time, but I think mayyyyybeeee it makes more sense this way. It’s not as much fun, and it’s a smaller, more delicately emotional show, but I think – I’m pretty sure – it’s hard to say because Norbert – that it’s a smarter, better done show now.
I knew to expect changes with this production, but I thought maybe it would be a few lines here or there, maybe new and better songs. But I almost gasped when the very first song of the show was “Fight the Dragons”, in which Edward Bloom (Grammer) sings to his young son about why he lives such a fantastic fantasy life. I remembered this one because it’s the best song from the show and I listen to it regularly. So I remembered that on Broadway it came in the middle of the show. In this new version, it OPENS the show! I realized then just how different this was going to be, and I was shocked and scared and I wanted to break my #1 rule and TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT IT but mostly I was intrigued. The new framing device was quickly evident: Instead of jumping back and forth between present day and past, showing Edward as a yoot as he embarks on all the fake-sounding adventures he tells his son about and having the same actor (Norbert) jump from old man to young teenager and in between Edward (he’s amazing) and do everything he could to sell it to you that he could be all these ages, Kelsey’s Edward just was the old man version. In his old, dying state, he shared his memories with the dream-ghost young version of his now-grown son, Will. So Kelsey would be like ‘oh hey little ghost boy version of my Will who now hates me, remember when I met that witch’ and then ANOTHER ACTOR played young Edward and met the witch and stuff. I know, serious changes, guys. But it is so much better because no one is going to believe Kelsey as an 18-year-old with a sparkle in his eye. His sparkle died long ago.
Despite my reluctance to admit that it worked to have a different actor play young Edward (or ‘Story Edward’ as they’re calling it), it was hard to stay mad at you bro because Story Edward was maybe the best performer on the stage. Jamie Muscato, who was great a few years ago in ‘Dogfight’ here at Southwark Playhouse (still one of the best productions of the hundos I’ve seen in London), sings wonderfully and charms as the young version of Edward, saving Kelsey from having to get up from his hospital bed. I was so worried that we’d have to listen to Kelsey’s passable but not fantastic singing voice for most of the score. Having people who could actually sing musically theatrey play important roles was a huge relief. I sound mean to Kelsey but he knows he is an actor who sings, not a singer who acts.
This same device of course was used for Sandra, Edward’s wife, as Edward’s courtship of her constitutes a big chunk of the flashback/memory/story plot. Present day Sandra was played by Clare Burt, who was nice and fine, and Story Sandra was the spunky ginger Laura Baldwin, who looked like she grew up taking musical theatre classes, very textbook proficiency and skill. Good job ginger spice. You’d think this would mean Laura got to shine with big songs and stuff, but for some reason they gave the slowest most boringest most unnecessary song to Old Sandra, and it was bo-rang. Sorry Clare. You’re good and stuff this just should have been cut. The relationship between Edward and Sandra as oldies is believable because we see their backstory, so the attempt to shore up their current feelings instead of showing us more of what their love is based on failed for me dawg.
The weirdest thing that worked for me in this production was that Josephine, grown-up Will’s fiancé who I think had one line in the original production and could have easily been cut, was my favorite. I think it was really because the actress, Frances McNamee (omg that is so the last name you give when you want to give a fake name and can’t think of shit), was so wonderful and made a fully realized character with what little she is given. I so bought every single one of her reactions and facial expressions. She clearly deserves much bigger and better parts and I would totally go see a show if I knew she was in it. It was like obviously good acting which is very exciting to see every so often instead of like ‘oh hey look I’m in a play’ acting. You don’t know what I mean.
As grown-up Will, Matthew Seadon-Young was pretty decent. It’s kind of a thankless role because you’re like, hey dude your dad seems really FUN and yeah he wasn’t really there for you growing up but like, he has good stories and your mom did a good job so like take a chill pill. And then he finds out how good a person his dad was, just to other people, and you’re like see I told you you should have taken that stick out of your bum. I said bum! Hashtag so british. Anyway so it’s a little thankless but he did a good job making us feel for his predicament (wanting to still resent his absent father even though he’s dying) despite our instinct to shout ‘just be niceeeee he hella old.’ And Kelsey is so winning and likable and such a good actor that it made it hard to agree with Will that he sucked.
So the family relationships and characters were pretty well done, which is why this production felt more based in emotion and not in the fun spectacle aspect of the movie. Both are important sides of the story to tell, and while Broadway sold the spectacle amazingly and some of the emotion, this production sold the family story and emotion and less so the spectacle. The spectacle, of course, being the crazy characters of Edward’s stories, the ones we don’t know whether to believe he actually knew. The giant, the witch, the mermaid, all the people in the circus he worked in. This is a difficult balance to achieve with this show, and I think that’s why no production has been able to really achieve it properly. Broadway leaned too heavily to one side; this one tried to make up for that but ended up overcompensating on the other side. The actors were all good – Landi Oshinowo (almost my name!) as the witch has a kickass voice erma erma, and Dean Nolan as the giant Karl was solid – but in the small space with no effects there’s really only so much you can leave to the imagination. And so the pendulum swung to the side of focusing on the family dynamics and stuck there. They made up for this in very clever ways, like having the witch’s costume and her forest made from hospital supplies – because that’s where Edward is recounting her tale – and I loved that, but it didn’t lead to that same level of impressive drama that you want. This was hardest for me in my favorite part from the Broadway show – when Norbert I mean Edward sings “Daffodils” as he proposes to Sandra. On Broadway, thousands of daffodils ‘grew’ from the stage and all around and it was pure magic. I remember gasping. Here, that couldn’t happen, and they made up for it by having lots of deliveries of daffodils to Edward’s hospital room happening. So, again, it was a clever choice and made it sweet, but I can’t say I didn’t miss the thrill of all those flowers growing out of a stage.
Honestly the best part of the show is Forbes Masson, and not just because of that name. He played a few comedic roles, first as Don, Edward’s high school nemesis and a blithering idiot who in a movie (a different movie) would be played by Randy Quaid, and then as Amos, the leader of the circus where young Edward works. He was flipping hilarious and it’s worth seeing the show just to laugh at his dumb jokes. The circus parts were more enjoyable because he was so ridiculously fun and honestly I will hold ‘The Greatest Showman’ and Hugh Jackman to a higher standard because of it.
A few things fell seriously flat. First of all, there was no mermaid. Edward makes a big deal about how he once met a mermaid, and they cut that scene. Sure he sees a girl in the hospital in a wheelchair and sees a flash of a mermaid tail on her, but if you blinked you missed it, and that doesn’t count. The other thing was that one of the ensemble girls playing one of his high school classmates held a box with a weird cat on it in all her scenes. In the programme she’s listed I shit you not as ‘girl with cat’. There is no reason for this. This was just a dumb sight gag that no one even realized was supposed to be funny, and I feel bad for the girl holding that dumb box. Whoever came to work the day that decision was approved was flying high like Mindy St. Claire.
But those are really the only bad things I can point to. The creators clearly worked really hard to improve this show, and although apparently this show requires a choice between family-based emotion and story-based spectacle, I think they made the right choice while still telling a complete tale. So overall, it was a lovely night at the theatre. Everyone in the audience seemed to be rooting for the show to succeed, and there was a bit of bawling at the end and not just on my part. However, this might be the one time where a piece is better on film than in the theatre. I know I can’t believe I said it but it has happened, and despite multiple attempts, the show really can’t match the movie. It’s a great time in the theatre, it really is, and it’s an enjoyable show and I recommend that you see it if you can, but the film is just better.
My eagerness to love the show back in 2013 may have been responsible for some of my enjoyment back then. It starred my favorite musical theatre actor, Norbert Leo Butz, so I was working as hard as I could while sitting in a seat in the dark to love it, and no one should have to work that hard to love a show. It was joyous but inconsistently, flawed and kind of flat a lot of the time. The music felt mostly uninspired, but a few songs were stellar. The book was a bit messy, but had enough good feeling and intention for the movie’s amazing story to make it okay. But most of all, Norbert put everything he had into his performance, so much energy and love and emotion, that that’s what you remembered and loved about the show. Norbert is so amazing, he blinds you from noticing anything lackluster or actually bad. So when the London revival/rehashing this fall announced that it would star Kelsey Grammer, I was extremely skeptical. How on earth could old Republican buffoon Kelsey Grammer do what Norbert in all his energy and youth did? How is he going to distract us from noticing that the show doesn’t live up to its potential and is kind of flat? Answer: He doesn’t – because the show is entirely redone and suits him better. John August, who wrote the movie and the book of the musical, clearly has been working hard on this. I missed Norbert’s energy (and voice) the whole time, but I think mayyyyybeeee it makes more sense this way. It’s not as much fun, and it’s a smaller, more delicately emotional show, but I think – I’m pretty sure – it’s hard to say because Norbert – that it’s a smarter, better done show now.
I knew to expect changes with this production, but I thought maybe it would be a few lines here or there, maybe new and better songs. But I almost gasped when the very first song of the show was “Fight the Dragons”, in which Edward Bloom (Grammer) sings to his young son about why he lives such a fantastic fantasy life. I remembered this one because it’s the best song from the show and I listen to it regularly. So I remembered that on Broadway it came in the middle of the show. In this new version, it OPENS the show! I realized then just how different this was going to be, and I was shocked and scared and I wanted to break my #1 rule and TALK TO PEOPLE ABOUT IT but mostly I was intrigued. The new framing device was quickly evident: Instead of jumping back and forth between present day and past, showing Edward as a yoot as he embarks on all the fake-sounding adventures he tells his son about and having the same actor (Norbert) jump from old man to young teenager and in between Edward (he’s amazing) and do everything he could to sell it to you that he could be all these ages, Kelsey’s Edward just was the old man version. In his old, dying state, he shared his memories with the dream-ghost young version of his now-grown son, Will. So Kelsey would be like ‘oh hey little ghost boy version of my Will who now hates me, remember when I met that witch’ and then ANOTHER ACTOR played young Edward and met the witch and stuff. I know, serious changes, guys. But it is so much better because no one is going to believe Kelsey as an 18-year-old with a sparkle in his eye. His sparkle died long ago.
Despite my reluctance to admit that it worked to have a different actor play young Edward (or ‘Story Edward’ as they’re calling it), it was hard to stay mad at you bro because Story Edward was maybe the best performer on the stage. Jamie Muscato, who was great a few years ago in ‘Dogfight’ here at Southwark Playhouse (still one of the best productions of the hundos I’ve seen in London), sings wonderfully and charms as the young version of Edward, saving Kelsey from having to get up from his hospital bed. I was so worried that we’d have to listen to Kelsey’s passable but not fantastic singing voice for most of the score. Having people who could actually sing musically theatrey play important roles was a huge relief. I sound mean to Kelsey but he knows he is an actor who sings, not a singer who acts.
This same device of course was used for Sandra, Edward’s wife, as Edward’s courtship of her constitutes a big chunk of the flashback/memory/story plot. Present day Sandra was played by Clare Burt, who was nice and fine, and Story Sandra was the spunky ginger Laura Baldwin, who looked like she grew up taking musical theatre classes, very textbook proficiency and skill. Good job ginger spice. You’d think this would mean Laura got to shine with big songs and stuff, but for some reason they gave the slowest most boringest most unnecessary song to Old Sandra, and it was bo-rang. Sorry Clare. You’re good and stuff this just should have been cut. The relationship between Edward and Sandra as oldies is believable because we see their backstory, so the attempt to shore up their current feelings instead of showing us more of what their love is based on failed for me dawg.
The weirdest thing that worked for me in this production was that Josephine, grown-up Will’s fiancé who I think had one line in the original production and could have easily been cut, was my favorite. I think it was really because the actress, Frances McNamee (omg that is so the last name you give when you want to give a fake name and can’t think of shit), was so wonderful and made a fully realized character with what little she is given. I so bought every single one of her reactions and facial expressions. She clearly deserves much bigger and better parts and I would totally go see a show if I knew she was in it. It was like obviously good acting which is very exciting to see every so often instead of like ‘oh hey look I’m in a play’ acting. You don’t know what I mean.
As grown-up Will, Matthew Seadon-Young was pretty decent. It’s kind of a thankless role because you’re like, hey dude your dad seems really FUN and yeah he wasn’t really there for you growing up but like, he has good stories and your mom did a good job so like take a chill pill. And then he finds out how good a person his dad was, just to other people, and you’re like see I told you you should have taken that stick out of your bum. I said bum! Hashtag so british. Anyway so it’s a little thankless but he did a good job making us feel for his predicament (wanting to still resent his absent father even though he’s dying) despite our instinct to shout ‘just be niceeeee he hella old.’ And Kelsey is so winning and likable and such a good actor that it made it hard to agree with Will that he sucked.
So the family relationships and characters were pretty well done, which is why this production felt more based in emotion and not in the fun spectacle aspect of the movie. Both are important sides of the story to tell, and while Broadway sold the spectacle amazingly and some of the emotion, this production sold the family story and emotion and less so the spectacle. The spectacle, of course, being the crazy characters of Edward’s stories, the ones we don’t know whether to believe he actually knew. The giant, the witch, the mermaid, all the people in the circus he worked in. This is a difficult balance to achieve with this show, and I think that’s why no production has been able to really achieve it properly. Broadway leaned too heavily to one side; this one tried to make up for that but ended up overcompensating on the other side. The actors were all good – Landi Oshinowo (almost my name!) as the witch has a kickass voice erma erma, and Dean Nolan as the giant Karl was solid – but in the small space with no effects there’s really only so much you can leave to the imagination. And so the pendulum swung to the side of focusing on the family dynamics and stuck there. They made up for this in very clever ways, like having the witch’s costume and her forest made from hospital supplies – because that’s where Edward is recounting her tale – and I loved that, but it didn’t lead to that same level of impressive drama that you want. This was hardest for me in my favorite part from the Broadway show – when Norbert I mean Edward sings “Daffodils” as he proposes to Sandra. On Broadway, thousands of daffodils ‘grew’ from the stage and all around and it was pure magic. I remember gasping. Here, that couldn’t happen, and they made up for it by having lots of deliveries of daffodils to Edward’s hospital room happening. So, again, it was a clever choice and made it sweet, but I can’t say I didn’t miss the thrill of all those flowers growing out of a stage.
Honestly the best part of the show is Forbes Masson, and not just because of that name. He played a few comedic roles, first as Don, Edward’s high school nemesis and a blithering idiot who in a movie (a different movie) would be played by Randy Quaid, and then as Amos, the leader of the circus where young Edward works. He was flipping hilarious and it’s worth seeing the show just to laugh at his dumb jokes. The circus parts were more enjoyable because he was so ridiculously fun and honestly I will hold ‘The Greatest Showman’ and Hugh Jackman to a higher standard because of it.
A few things fell seriously flat. First of all, there was no mermaid. Edward makes a big deal about how he once met a mermaid, and they cut that scene. Sure he sees a girl in the hospital in a wheelchair and sees a flash of a mermaid tail on her, but if you blinked you missed it, and that doesn’t count. The other thing was that one of the ensemble girls playing one of his high school classmates held a box with a weird cat on it in all her scenes. In the programme she’s listed I shit you not as ‘girl with cat’. There is no reason for this. This was just a dumb sight gag that no one even realized was supposed to be funny, and I feel bad for the girl holding that dumb box. Whoever came to work the day that decision was approved was flying high like Mindy St. Claire.
But those are really the only bad things I can point to. The creators clearly worked really hard to improve this show, and although apparently this show requires a choice between family-based emotion and story-based spectacle, I think they made the right choice while still telling a complete tale. So overall, it was a lovely night at the theatre. Everyone in the audience seemed to be rooting for the show to succeed, and there was a bit of bawling at the end and not just on my part. However, this might be the one time where a piece is better on film than in the theatre. I know I can’t believe I said it but it has happened, and despite multiple attempts, the show really can’t match the movie. It’s a great time in the theatre, it really is, and it’s an enjoyable show and I recommend that you see it if you can, but the film is just better.
INFORMATION
The Other Palace, having been remodeled and rebranded by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, looks mostly the same except for one very important change – the backstage bathrooms are now actually signed so people sitting in the front section know about them. It’s cool to go through this hallway where the racks of costumes are stationed but even cooler to have a human-sized bathroom with no lines! Watch for the ice cream seller at intermission though who for some reason has to position his cart right in front of that door to the hallway eye roll eye roll eye roll.
STAGE DOOR
At this theatre, the actors just come out through the lobby so yay you can wait inside! It’s a little awkward because without fail, every time I’ve seen a show here, the actor’s friends or family members are waiting with you and you’re like oh I just want to be weird, sorry. But they’re usually all nice and everyone was happy to sign or take pictures. Kelsey did not come out though, which is dumb not because I care but because the staff made everyone waiting make a single file line for him, and I was like ‘but I just want the others’ and they were like ‘tough’ and then he didn’t even come out and we were in a line for no reason.
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“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” Season 2: Episodes 5-9
Happy Pride Yall!
Oh herro! It’s been a while but guess what, I still haven’t finished season 2 of UKS! I spent a few weeks playing with my babiss (Helena voice) instead and ain’t nobody got time for television when you’re playing with the cutest puppy and cutest human in the whole world yes you are! And then we moved! And then people in the UK decided they hated the world and themselves and voted to destroy everything! Burn it all down! So there’s been a lot going on!
Before I was recapping just 2 episodes at a time, but ugh that would literallyyyy take foreverrrr? (Dong’s Kardashian voice!) and you all finished watching anywayyyyy so here’s like 5 and I just wanna share my favorite parts. So really this is a listicle, Buzzfeed a-hat style, of fun things instead because I just want to get this done with already Kimbecile! So really, think of this instead as is my imitation of a Buzzfeed piece! Enjoy!
Before I was recapping just 2 episodes at a time, but ugh that would literallyyyy take foreverrrr? (Dong’s Kardashian voice!) and you all finished watching anywayyyyy so here’s like 5 and I just wanna share my favorite parts. So really this is a listicle, Buzzfeed a-hat style, of fun things instead because I just want to get this done with already Kimbecile! So really, think of this instead as is my imitation of a Buzzfeed piece! Enjoy!
Episode 5: Kimmy Gives Up!
My prize for absolute winner of episode goes to Kimmy’s cold-open interaction with the staff member at the school she takes her GED class:
Kimmy: “That’s Dong Wen! We were basically the Roz & Frasier of our class. But not sexy like that, just, ya know, cool.”
Woman: “Yeah I get it. I kinda have a Kyle & Maxine thing with my boss. Oh you don’t know ‘Living Single’? But I’m supposed to know everything about ‘Frasier’?”
I was crying.
Jane’s (can I just call her Jane, Jacqueline takes too long to type; I’ll probably alternate) fake moving box labels were amazing: Silver, Crystal, Grand Piano. In this episode, Jacqueline was lent a gown for a benefit by Karl Lagerfeld, from that asshat’s designer line called ‘Crottes des Nez’. That might seem like a whatever line, unless you know French, like I do. No I used google because I knew it had to be something good. Guess what, it means boogers! Tee hee! Karl Lagerfeld is a booger maker! And a big booger himself! (He’s on my list.)
Buckley’s school was cancelled for Rupert Murdoch’s birthday, and Jacqueline of course can’t afford help (and Kimmy turned out to be just another one of Buckley’s drawings on the wall), so Jacqueline has to watch her own son for an entire day. Perish the thought! She thinks she is up to the challenge but very quickly learns she isn’t. His doctor gives her Dyziplen, the coolest new trend in rich people drugging their kids so they don’t have to parent. Buckley and all the other kids on the playground turn into quiet, sullen robots, to Jacqueline’s delight…at least at first.
Doctor: Your son’s in good physical health…But in terms of behavioral development Buckley could benefit from a little discipline.
Jane: Ohh…
Doctor: Don’t worry, I’m not talking about actual parenting. I know how busy we all are. I’m talking about medication.
This was all worth it for when Jacqueline started Dyziplen-ing out at the fitting, seeing all the Booger clothes as boring gray stuff. “What’s happening…my brain…it’s Talbotsing!”
Dong was around, I don’t remember really why, but I remember this burn on white travelers: “I don’t want to go back to Vietnam, Kimmy. It’s full of baby-boomer tourists trying to feel something!”
Kimmy’s best line was of course her list of favorite jams: “Giving up is not my jam. My jams are grape, jock, and space!” Even Questlove tweeted this one out! Instant classic!
But the episode fully belonged to Titus (I mean as usual). It started with his perfectly deadpan response to Kimmy’s nonsense:
Kimmy: “Without blue, my entire scrunchie rotation is off. I mean, I can’t wear a green scrunchie on Thursday! Everyone will think I’m horny!”
Titus: “That’s true. I will.”
From there he only got better and better, as the show combined its two best aspects into the most enjoyable combination: Titus being nuts, and the ridiculously crazy original songs. Titus was so happy that he sang songs from failed (really failed) musicals. When Lillian called him out on it, he responded in true Titus form that I have been singing for weeks now:
I’m just an ordinary gay! Cry face emoji!
And here’s his rendition of the hysterically awful song from “Feels like Love”.
You might not have noticed but the voice of Daddy in the recording played in a different scene was Jefferson Mays! “You’re My baby Now” was the creepiest song ever made while retaining a feel-good vibe and jolly rhythm!
Last but not least, this season’s most improved character Lillian had my favorite passage: “I know you haven’t been studying because I found your GED books coated with a day’s worth of asbestos. What are you doing? Also try not to breathe in here too much from now on and before.”
Last but not least, this season’s most improved character Lillian had my favorite passage: “I know you haven’t been studying because I found your GED books coated with a day’s worth of asbestos. What are you doing? Also try not to breathe in here too much from now on and before.”
Episode 6: Kimmy Drives a Car!
Oh man this episode was JOY, except ughhh Fred Armisen is back. Stop putting him in all my shows for no good reason! Titus and Lillian decide to put the apartment on AirBnB – “so it’s like a sleepover but with strangers?…AND THEY PAY YOU??” Their first guests are Shosh (Zosia Mamet) and her boyfriend, hipsters to end all hipsters who, to Lillian’s horror, would contribute to the gentrification of their hood. But oh that horror leads to comic gold. She asks boyfriend some questions, like what he does for work (which is a word they don’t believe in, but they design artisan sneakers), and when he decided to grow his super hipster mustache, to which he responded, “I saw Michael Cera had one and I was like, I’m in.” Lillian’s response was to scream the following, which is my favorite thing poss ever:
The best!! Lillian had her best episode ever, with all of her lines being quotable, which is what I’m gonna do.
“You think I’m crazy just because they named that disorder after me. But this time I’m right.”
Lillian: “We already have a way to get sneakers around here – we wait till they fall off the telephone wire.”
Titus: “And they want to open Sole Food in an old soul food restaurant? Like how the first Hooters was opened in an old mammagram center?”
Lillian: “It’s not gross to me. And it wasn’t gross to my late husband, Roland.”
Titus: “Well until recently I couldn’t even have a dead husband so hashtag, respect my journey.”
Kenan Thompson as Lillian’s husband Roland was the best casting! I want more Roland and Lillian flashbacks. Especially if it’s to the exclusion of Armisen. One SNL alum at a time.
The dynamic duo outsmarted the hipster duo into leaving their neighborhood by out hipstering them, making them think the neighborhood had already become too hip and that they were too late. Titus as the hipster was genius! He is so wise. His get-up as the bouncer to the secret club was too much!
“You think I’m crazy just because they named that disorder after me. But this time I’m right.”
Lillian: “We already have a way to get sneakers around here – we wait till they fall off the telephone wire.”
Titus: “And they want to open Sole Food in an old soul food restaurant? Like how the first Hooters was opened in an old mammagram center?”
Lillian: “It’s not gross to me. And it wasn’t gross to my late husband, Roland.”
Titus: “Well until recently I couldn’t even have a dead husband so hashtag, respect my journey.”
Kenan Thompson as Lillian’s husband Roland was the best casting! I want more Roland and Lillian flashbacks. Especially if it’s to the exclusion of Armisen. One SNL alum at a time.
The dynamic duo outsmarted the hipster duo into leaving their neighborhood by out hipstering them, making them think the neighborhood had already become too hip and that they were too late. Titus as the hipster was genius! He is so wise. His get-up as the bouncer to the secret club was too much!
Other great lines:
Kimmy: “If I find a job in the classifieds, am I allowed to tell anyone?” Amazing! Why is it called that! Seriously!
Titus: “Things change! I don’t look anything like I did when I was a baby!…Ok, bad example.” Get it because he looks like a baby.
Titus: “What’s scary about leatherbound books? Just a bunch of cows and trees that won’t rest until we pay for what we’ve done to them!!!”
Jacqueline: “And now I’m standing on a street named after a…rapper, I guess.”
Camera cuts to Malcolm X Blvd.
Kimmy: “For your information, Malcolm the 10th was a black pope.”
Kimmy recommending a dentist to Jane: “He does walk-ins and his bus ads make it very clear that he does not snitch.”
Jane: “I get making people wait for a kidney, but this is something people can see! The mouth is the eyes of the lower face!”
Jane’s whole dental debacle was pretty wonderful, for jokes and for character growth. Her temporary fix of a Mento stuck to her tooth paid off in spades when it fell into the receptionist’s Coke and the whole thing erupted like the biggest volcano in the world all over the dentist’s office. And I loved that they ended the episode with a Mentos commercial where they couldn’t actually say the word Mentos. A+ episode, with the second plus that I gave it subtracted because Armisen. (Every time I say his name I shake my fist in the air so picture that.)
Episode 7: Kimmy Walks Into a Bar!
Mimi Kanassis is back!! And making jokes about the British! Hoorah! Jane and Mimi were planning Jane’s big comeback benefit gala, with Mimi in charge of invitations – “I spelled honour with a ‘u’ like they do in England!” My UK iPhone does that. It is annoying because it keeps autocorrecting my more efficient spelling and I hate it. It changes my z’s to s’s too AND, because it was programmed by Borat, adds ‘not’ to the ends of lots of sentences. That one I don’t even get I think I’m being punked.
Anyway, this one focused a lot on Jacqueline, Mimi, and our favorite socialite since Celerie Kemble (I used to read the Vogue society section), Deirdre Robespierre, as they embarked upon gala season.
Deirdre: “And I know it just started, but I am already so exhausted by gala season!”
Jacqueline: “Tell me about it! Did you know that poor people don’t even have to do gala season?”
Deirdre: “What?! They just skip it?! Then why do they look so tired all the time?”
Besides Deirdre, the best was that Mimi f-ed up the invitations by trying to do the date the British way – day then month then year, so instead of today being 6.26.16 it would be 26.6.26 IT’S THE WORST and I’m really glad Kimmy Schmidt brought attention to how disastrous this English trickery can be. ENGLISH TRICKERY ABOUNDS. Unfortunately, the actual gala date wasn’t as obvious as today’s date is (because there is no 26th month in our calendar do you get it), and their 10.11 instead of 11.10 was easily confused. Damn the English and their stupid stupid decisions.
Mimi did make one incredible decision though – taking care of the musical guest, Sia, herself.
Anyway, this one focused a lot on Jacqueline, Mimi, and our favorite socialite since Celerie Kemble (I used to read the Vogue society section), Deirdre Robespierre, as they embarked upon gala season.
Deirdre: “And I know it just started, but I am already so exhausted by gala season!”
Jacqueline: “Tell me about it! Did you know that poor people don’t even have to do gala season?”
Deirdre: “What?! They just skip it?! Then why do they look so tired all the time?”
Besides Deirdre, the best was that Mimi f-ed up the invitations by trying to do the date the British way – day then month then year, so instead of today being 6.26.16 it would be 26.6.26 IT’S THE WORST and I’m really glad Kimmy Schmidt brought attention to how disastrous this English trickery can be. ENGLISH TRICKERY ABOUNDS. Unfortunately, the actual gala date wasn’t as obvious as today’s date is (because there is no 26th month in our calendar do you get it), and their 10.11 instead of 11.10 was easily confused. Damn the English and their stupid stupid decisions.
Mimi did make one incredible decision though – taking care of the musical guest, Sia, herself.
It was sad that their last-minute gala failed because the guests were all awful white 1%ers who don’t care about anyone else. The episode ended on a really sad note! But I love that Deirdre is just dark knighting Jacqueline this whole time and is indeed as insane as the joker, needing an equal worthy of the fight to be a lasting archrival. Genius. I need Jane to be back at her former level too. It’s weird feeling sorry for her ever. She is slowly getting back there though.
Jane: “And as soon as I stopped making those jokes, he did leave her! Men find funny women disgusting.”
In other stories, Titus and Mikey are freaking adorable and I hope they stay happy. I loved when they were trying to act bro-ish with the guys from the construction site and they all go “Sup…sup” and Titus goes “soup”. And nothing beats when Titus said to Mikey, “I saw how you were with the other contraption workers.” !!
Titus and Kimmy’s best interaction:
Titus: “Kimbecile what do I always say?”
Kimmy: “Don’t touch my dolls, they’re strictly look-upons?”
Titus: “Not that.”
The best thing by far though was the quick shot showing Pizza Rat Boulevard! He deserves it.
Episode 8: Kimmy Goes to a Hotel
We open where the season started – at Kimmy’s Christmas party! The one that asked us so many questions and then never returned to answer them, until now. Mimi Kanassis is there for some reason, Sonia barges in through the window to accuse Kimmy of stealing her husband, and Jacqueline is upset because the painting she spent all her money on needs to be returned to the descendants of the Jewish family the Nazis stole it from. Two of these lead to storylines. As far as I can remember, Mimi just slept on the couch the whole time. Mimi is wise.
First of all, the not so fun one. So Jacqueline’s $11.5 million painting, in addition to being the one thing shoring up Jacqueline’s claim to social status, is the subject of a legal battle. “The Jews are stealing my painting!” is Jacqueline’s take on it, but really it’s the kind of reparations we’ve heard about in real life. Kind of an odd choice for this show to include such a serious, awkward topic just to provide Jacqueline with the opportunity for some small growth.
Then Kimmy & Dong went to an abandoned hotel and had a fun time, but really it made me feel awkward. It was all awkward. I know we’re supposed to root for them but it was just too weird, this whole thing and really the whole episode. The only things that stuck with me were amazing Mikey & Titus interactions and obviously a reference to Hams.
First of all, the not so fun one. So Jacqueline’s $11.5 million painting, in addition to being the one thing shoring up Jacqueline’s claim to social status, is the subject of a legal battle. “The Jews are stealing my painting!” is Jacqueline’s take on it, but really it’s the kind of reparations we’ve heard about in real life. Kind of an odd choice for this show to include such a serious, awkward topic just to provide Jacqueline with the opportunity for some small growth.
Then Kimmy & Dong went to an abandoned hotel and had a fun time, but really it made me feel awkward. It was all awkward. I know we’re supposed to root for them but it was just too weird, this whole thing and really the whole episode. The only things that stuck with me were amazing Mikey & Titus interactions and obviously a reference to Hams.
Bests
Mikey as Santa: “I can’t kiss you! I’m married, and Mrs. Claus is a beautiful and very sexual woman.”
Titus: “Where was all this acting commitment when I asked you to say it was my birthday at Baskin Robbins?!”
THAT IS ME I always want to say it’s my bday for free stuff!!
Titus: “You’re the worst actor since Cate Blanchett.”
Mikey: “What? She’s great!”
Titus: “IS she? Or is she just tall.”
OMG YESSSS! This is so ridiculous that it makes it seem true! I love how Titus doesn’t even ask, he states that last part because he knows it’s so true. I mean it’s not true, but it really makes you think about it.
Loved the part about the callback for Hamilton!
If I can rap and walk quickly in a circle, can I be in “Hamilton”?
Joshua Jackson in the convenience store and Kimmy yelling condoms suuuper awkwardly were hilarious bits! That’s the part that redeemed their whole storyline, sort of. But nothing upon nothing beats the crew singing Christmas carols and including this gem: “Come on let’s order pizza, come on let’s order pizza” is a much better lyric than ‘oh come let us adore him’. Oh my god when writing this I just sang it out loud and husband thought I sang “Come on let’s murder people” and is freaking out and I had no idea why because I’m just sitting here singing about pizza.
Episode 9: Kimmy Meets a Drunk Lady
Well, Titus has quit his job at the Jekyll & Hyde place, and his unemployment has led a bit of cabin fever that includes lots and lots of doll hair-styling. In this listless state of his, he complains to Kimmy, “SO FAR NO ONE’S OFFERED ME ANY AMAZING JOBS IN THIS APARTMENT.” Perfection.
So the drunk lady in the title is Tina Fey in a role A BAJILLION TIMES BETTER than the lawyer of the first season. It’s not even right to make a comparison. It’s like apples and hepatitis. Tina plays a therapist who gets super drizzunk at night to the point where she is sort of a whole different person, and her day and night selves hate each other. Kimmy picks up Drunk Night Tina in her job as an Uber driver, which is a brilliant development and way for someone to use Jacqueline’s stolen cop car (painted black). Kimmy complains to her a little about her roommate trouble and gets some good advice from Tina about how to handle it.
Tina: “You need to go home and tells him, what’s his name? Titties? You say, Titties, I value my needs and I needs to take a shower.”
Tina’s line when Kimmy drops her off made me pause and cackle. It’s the best line in years and I have used it about 97 times since hearing it, including in parking lots and in my She LOVES ME review.
So the drunk lady in the title is Tina Fey in a role A BAJILLION TIMES BETTER than the lawyer of the first season. It’s not even right to make a comparison. It’s like apples and hepatitis. Tina plays a therapist who gets super drizzunk at night to the point where she is sort of a whole different person, and her day and night selves hate each other. Kimmy picks up Drunk Night Tina in her job as an Uber driver, which is a brilliant development and way for someone to use Jacqueline’s stolen cop car (painted black). Kimmy complains to her a little about her roommate trouble and gets some good advice from Tina about how to handle it.
Tina: “You need to go home and tells him, what’s his name? Titties? You say, Titties, I value my needs and I needs to take a shower.”
Tina’s line when Kimmy drops her off made me pause and cackle. It’s the best line in years and I have used it about 97 times since hearing it, including in parking lots and in my She LOVES ME review.
The storyline got really annoying when they broke into a stranger’s house to steal a dog. Tina writes herself into shit and then gets stuck in it too often on this show and it’s so annoying! But overall her role is a great move. I’m excited to see what happens in their therapy sessions.
One quick thing in this episode that I found absolutely brilliant was Titus taking off his earrings and putting his hair up (no earrings and no hair), prepping to fight.
One quick thing in this episode that I found absolutely brilliant was Titus taking off his earrings and putting his hair up (no earrings and no hair), prepping to fight.
But nothing beats the Billy on the Street cameo, repeating the question about whether Cate Blanchett is good or just tall! THE BEST. I love Billy!
Kimmy’s best line: “I can help get that vodka monkey off your back…and into a tuxedo, the way monkeys look best!”
THE END FOR NOW. Did you think you were reading Buzzfeed?! I bet. Except there were words in addition to pictures.
Kimmy’s best line: “I can help get that vodka monkey off your back…and into a tuxedo, the way monkeys look best!”
THE END FOR NOW. Did you think you were reading Buzzfeed?! I bet. Except there were words in addition to pictures.
“Big Fish” on Broadway: So Much Promise, Not Enough Spark
With the 2003 film “Big Fish” (starring my love Ewan McGregor) being one of my favorites, I was itching to see the new Broadway musical ASAP. So SAP, in fact, that I saw it in previews. Now, it is the unwritten rule of Broadway that you don’t review previews. However, unless you want to buy me another ticket to see the show post-opening, keep your mouth shut.
“Big Fish” tells the story of a man named Edward Bloom (the great Norbert Leo Butz), who has larger-than-life, unbelievable stories that he loves sharing with his son. However, his son thinks that all his dad’s crazy stories are lies and resents that they form the basis of his parenting. As in the movie, action in the present day frequently flashes back to the origins of Edward’s stories. We see him when he’s a teenager (still Butz!) as he meets a witch who tells him how he’s going to die. We see him befriend a giant (Ryan Andes) and help him become a judge. We see him save his hometown from a flood and become a hero. He’s kissed by a mermaid, beaten by a bully, manipulated by a circus manager, and more. And we see him at present day, as an old man (still Butz!) on his deathbed, still standing by his elaborate tales as his married son begs him for the truth.
Norbert Leo Butz
Norbert Leo Butz was a huge reason I wanted to see the show so badly. I will see (and have seen) Norbert in anything and everything he does, as he is undoubtedly the greatest living musical comedy actor. I’m happy to report that Norbs is in fine form in “Big Fish” and giving one of the great performances of his impressive career. Before we go on, know that the show is worth seeing for him.
But go on we must. I enjoyed the show a good deal, especially for an early preview. but, throughout the evening, I had a nagging sensation that something was wrong. The cast? Mostly solid, with great turns by Butz and Kate Baldwin. The book? A decent adaptation, with some slow sections but overall good storytelling. And despite most other critics’ opinions, the heavily digitized set didn’t bother me (I was probably too far back to be bothered to much by it. I could hear the sound of rocks skipping in the digital creek downstage, but couldn’t see it). I realized what was left – the score. Aside from the lovely “Daffodils” and the wonderful, spot-on “Fight the Dragons”, the score was the problem, uncharacteristically weak and unmemorable from Andrew Lippa, who gave us “The Wild Party”. It really feels like something is missing, because the most important part of a musical is the score! Without consistent, kick-ass music, “Big Fish” lacks the booming heart-racing fun that it should be providing with this amazing source material.
Furthermore, the directing decisions seem off. This should be Edward’s story (stories!), but it feels rushed and impersonal sometimes, preventing the audience from connecting with Edward and being on his side as much as we should. This could be due to the lack of exciting and well-executed ensemble numbers, but it’s due to the direction as well. What I saw was not a cohesive, tight production. Hopefully by opening it was, but that would require the types of changes not normally made during previews.
Kate Baldwin is stellar as Edward’s headstrong sweetheart from their teenage years up until his dying day, always his biggest supporter and believer. Bobby Steggert does what he can with an underdeveloped role as Edward’s grown son, Will. I blame the book for this one, because Billy Crudup in the movie version had the same problems. My favorite surprise was newcomer Ryan Andes as the good-natured Giant, with great stage presence and command of his role. I look forward to what he does next. Norbert does his very best to sell the crap out of what he’s working with. It’s always a privilege to see him onstage, and his performance here is extraordinary, even if he’s forced to work much harder than he should be. No other performer could do with this role what Norbert does, or elevate the material as much as he does. Lots of the flaws seem to disappear because of him, and as a result I really did enjoy this show. I can recommend seeing this show because of a handful of wonderful moments, but mostly because of him.
But go on we must. I enjoyed the show a good deal, especially for an early preview. but, throughout the evening, I had a nagging sensation that something was wrong. The cast? Mostly solid, with great turns by Butz and Kate Baldwin. The book? A decent adaptation, with some slow sections but overall good storytelling. And despite most other critics’ opinions, the heavily digitized set didn’t bother me (I was probably too far back to be bothered to much by it. I could hear the sound of rocks skipping in the digital creek downstage, but couldn’t see it). I realized what was left – the score. Aside from the lovely “Daffodils” and the wonderful, spot-on “Fight the Dragons”, the score was the problem, uncharacteristically weak and unmemorable from Andrew Lippa, who gave us “The Wild Party”. It really feels like something is missing, because the most important part of a musical is the score! Without consistent, kick-ass music, “Big Fish” lacks the booming heart-racing fun that it should be providing with this amazing source material.
Furthermore, the directing decisions seem off. This should be Edward’s story (stories!), but it feels rushed and impersonal sometimes, preventing the audience from connecting with Edward and being on his side as much as we should. This could be due to the lack of exciting and well-executed ensemble numbers, but it’s due to the direction as well. What I saw was not a cohesive, tight production. Hopefully by opening it was, but that would require the types of changes not normally made during previews.
Kate Baldwin is stellar as Edward’s headstrong sweetheart from their teenage years up until his dying day, always his biggest supporter and believer. Bobby Steggert does what he can with an underdeveloped role as Edward’s grown son, Will. I blame the book for this one, because Billy Crudup in the movie version had the same problems. My favorite surprise was newcomer Ryan Andes as the good-natured Giant, with great stage presence and command of his role. I look forward to what he does next. Norbert does his very best to sell the crap out of what he’s working with. It’s always a privilege to see him onstage, and his performance here is extraordinary, even if he’s forced to work much harder than he should be. No other performer could do with this role what Norbert does, or elevate the material as much as he does. Lots of the flaws seem to disappear because of him, and as a result I really did enjoy this show. I can recommend seeing this show because of a handful of wonderful moments, but mostly because of him.
