This Can't Be Broccoli

It had to be said. Nobody wants to read this. Nobody wants my take on anything. Oh sure, maybe a snarky comment here or there, but a three-page thinkpiece on anything? Unwelcome. Unasked for. Unwarranted. Awhile ago I wrote that all I wanted from everything I consume (podcasts, books, cheese, etc) is insight or information. Once I set that threshold for reading articles or clicking on links, I immediately cut down my consumption of just about everything by half. It's remarkable how many people, myself included, have no information to offer and nothing new to say and yet churn out an unbelievable amount of content seemingly just for the sake of churning out content. Honestly, who is reading most of this stuff? Have you looked at Huffington Post lately?  It's a collection of tweets stating the obvious, many of which are probably fake accounts made up by Huffpo's editors, with little paragraphs in between them saying things like "But other people feel diff...

In January, I wrote a piece about a dead guy. You can read it here:   https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/01/theater-and-dead-guy.html At the end of that interview, I promised to try and get a plaque removed with the dead guy's name on it.  Since then, I've been in contact with people at the theater this dead guy used to work at, and a week ago, they agreed to let me speak with someone on their board. Here's the interview: ME:  So you're who I'm making my pitch to? THEM:  You want to remove the plaque. ME:  I do.  Well, I want you to remove the plaque. THEM:  I think you're going to have a hard time convincing us to do that. ME:  You sound amused by all this though. THEM:  I--When I read your interview, I was very surprised to hear a lot of that information. ME:  About [Name of Dead Guy]? THEM:  Yes. ME:  You didn't know any of that? THEM:  I knew that he was not everybody's cup of tea....

I knew this day would come. When I told a friend that I couldn't listen to "My Favorite Murder" anymore, because the two-hour episodes mostly filled with (admittedly somewhat enjoyable) banter, were too much for somebody who already has an 900-hour podcast backlog, they suggested I try "Crime Junkie." Right away, I was hooked. It gave me the "Just the facts" approach to true crime podcasting that I want, even if listening to the hosts felt like eavesdropping on a basic brunch that was going to immediately segue into a Jenna Bush Book Club meeting. Overlooking the flaws meant that I could get my quick, half-hour murder fix once a week and not have to listen to endless chitchat, which is really all I wanted. Then, a friend pointed out to me some of the more...troublesome elements of the podcast. And reader, I made the worst mistake any of us can when we find something we love. I Googled "Tell me what's wrong with it." And ohhh...

Today is a special interview for me, because I get to talk to one of my mentors about taking on a protege in the world of theater, and what that entails. Here's the interview: ME:  I'm so excited we get to do this. THEM:  Are your readers going to be mad that you're not cancelling someone this week? ME:  Oh, there's always someone to cancel. THEM:  You were cancelling people before it was en vogue. ME:  See, you've known me for too long. THEM:  I know all the secrets. ME:  Maybe I'll get cancelled this week. THEM:  That would get you a lot of clicks. ME:  Honestly, as long as I get the clicks, who cares? THEM:  I don't know if I want to be called your mentor if this is how you think. ME:  (Laughs.)  I have not done you proud. THEM:  No, I'm very proud of you.  Very proud. ME:  I was lucky because for a long time, as a gay man, I felt like--like there were all these other subsections of the...

When I was in college, there was a lunch place I used to love to go, and the love I'm talking about was of the psychologically damaging kind. Here's what I mean-- Every day, depending on what you wanted to order from this place, you would have to get there as early as 10:00am before certain lunch items ran out. The place was run by a bunch of women, all related, and they made it very clear that they had little-to-no interest in anything resembling customer service. If you got there and they were out of something, they expected you to order something else immediately or else they'd send you to the back of the line like the Soup Nazi if he had been five foot three and bore a striking resemblance to Strega Nona. I was there one day when some poor bastard suggested to the women that if certain items were really popular, they should consider making more of them. You know...inventory. Business. Capitalism. All the stuff that people running a bus...

This is the time of year when I crawl into a tree house with a stack of plays I'll never get the rights to and pray that somehow I wind up with a season that seems at least mildly interesting. That's why I thought this week would be the perfect time to publish an interview I did with another Artistic Director who is currently fighting for their season. Here's the interview: ME:  Was this your first year programming a season? THEM:  As an Artistic Director, yes.  I've had input into other seasons.  I was the Associate Artistic Director of [Name of Theater] for almost nine years.  Then I was asked to come here. ME:  They asked you? THEM:  They asked me to apply so they might--feel differently about me saying I was asked.  I was asked to apply.  I applied. ME:  And you got the job. THEM:  Yes. ME:  How's it been up to now? THEM:  (Laughs.)  You're sure this is anonymous? ME:  Pretty sure. ...

Last night, I did something I rarely do. I--a self-proclaimed atheist--said a prayer for a stranger I've never met. I don't even know their name. Somebody told me a story about them that was so awful and tragic I felt like I had to do...something for this person I don't even know. The thing is--that's been happening more and more. I don't know about you, but whenever I'm in a group of people now, the favorite topic of conversation seems to be-- Hey, did you hear about that horrible thing that happened to that angelic friend of mine who never hurt a soul in their life? And, you know, people die. People die all the time. Somebody just died right now. In a terrible way. Right as you were reading this. Except lately, that thing that seemed to first start lurking around in 2016 when all our favorite celebrities died seems to be...back, and like, stronger. Like, we didn't even defeated, we just outlived it, and so it went back to its cave...

There really isn't a great way to start this interview other than-- I'm a nosy little armchair detective. First off, you want the background, right? Okay, so--there is currently a West Side Story revival on Broadway happening right now, and there is a lot of drama surrounding it for various reasons, but the main one centers around the casting of one of the roles, and you can read all about that here-- ( https://www.onstageblog.com/editorals/2019/8/28/why-you-should-boo-amar-ramasar-in-west-side-story-revival ) Yes, I'm making you do some homework.  My apologies. Since all this began, I've been diving into every message board and Reddit thread asking questions and trying to piece together how someone could have this much baggage behind them and still get cast in a Broadway show. Usually I drop my email address at the end of anything I post along with a link to this blog and offer to talk to anyone who might want to speak to me, and for the most part, it lea...