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Showing posts from July, 2020

The Emmy Nominations

We all have our version of self-care. Mine is picking apart cultural awards. Specifically the Oscar, Tony, and Emmy awards. Never has there been a more interesting time to look at the Emmy awards, because we are not only going through a never-ending television Renaissance, but we've all been forced to watch more television than ever over the past few months. So how did the Emmy awards do this year in terms of nominations? Ummmmmmmmmmm... Let's just dive in, shall we? THE NOMINATIONS Outstanding lead actor in a limited series or TV movie Jeremy Irons ("Watchmen") Hugh Jackman ("Bad Education") Paul Mescal ("Normal People") Jeremy Pope ("Hollywood") Mark Ruffalo ("I Know This Much Is True") -- You should know right now that any nominations for that garbage pile known as "Hollywood" are going to get lambasted by me any chance I get, buuuut that being said, I do think Jeremy Pope was the best part of the series, which...Ca

Theater and the Patty Entanglement

Sometimes you do a series of interviews pre-COVID and as you're about to release the latest installment, something happens in the news that lines up perfectly with what's going on in the wildest ongoing theater mess I've ever heard of in my life. You'll see what I mean. If you haven't started the series yet, you'll want to do that and read the first three entries by clicking on the links below in order-- https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-linus-incident.html Here's the interview: ME:  You were one of the harder ones to get on the phone. PATTY:  Was I?  I'm just busy, hon. I'm a busy woman. ME:  Well, thank you for making time for me. PATTY:  Pleased to do it.  Whatcha wanna talk about? ME:  I want to talk about the opening night where-- PATTY:  With all the fighting? M

Theater and the Linus Incident

This is the third in a series of interviews I'm doing about an opening night brawl that happened over twenty years ago at a theater somewhere in America. If you haven't read the first two interviews, you should do that here first by going to-- https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html Today, I'm talking to the person I'm calling Linus about his part in the brawl, including what could be considered the most dramatic part of the evening. Here's the interview: ME:  I just want to get right to it--What happened with the window? LINUS:  All you've been digging up and you keep coming back to that window. ME:  I just can't imagine somebody going through a window on an opening night. LINUS:  Not somebody.  Two people. ME:  You and Schroeder? LINUS:  Schroeder and me.  That's right. ME:  So we can agree on that?  You two were the ones who went th

Theater and the Pandemic Players

I promised for my birthday that if Epic (my home theater) hit its fundraising goal, I would publish this interview. So here we are. We've all seen the news about a handful of theaters that are performing in the midst of a pandemic, and I managed to find someone who is scheduled to perform in one of these productions who was willing to speak with me. Here's the interview: ME:  How are you doing? THEM:  I'm doing well, thank you. ME:  Great.  Thank you for talking with me. THEM:  Thank you for asking me. ME:  So...what...is going through your mind right now? THEM:  (Laughs.)  Um, as in-- ME:  As in--you're going to perform a show? THEM:  Yes. ME:  In a theater? THEM:  Yes. ME:  Inside a theater with other people? THEM:  Yes, I am. ME:  I-- THEM:  With safety precautions. ME:  But even with--Okay, so it's sometimes hard for me to do these interviews and not give away where somebody is, but, um, only two states in this country are doing okay with handling this virus.  I

Sexy vs. Seductive

Remember a few months ago when instead of arguing about masks, we were fighting over how sexual the Super Bowl halftime show was? After JLo and Shakira performed, everyone I know went on social media to either praise them or say "Look at these stripping hookers corrupting my football-watching husbands." Okay, I'm being hyperbolic, but not by much. At the time, I was still attending a writing group (in person) and when the topic of the show came up, the group was split right down the middle between "They did a good job!" and "Stone them to death in the town square." "But they weren't being seductive," I said, thinking I was dismantling the idea that these women were up there for the benefit of anyone but themselves, "They were just being sexual." I saw quizzical looks from everyone. Maybe it's the fact that I was an actor/playwright among prose writers, and they had never been yelled at to "COME UP WITH A VERB," but

Theater and the Sally Slap

This is a continuation of last week's story. If you haven't read "The Opening Night Brawl" yet, you'll want to click here and do that before you read this next part: https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html The person I got in touch with after speaking with the person I'll call Woodstock was the character I named "Sally." Here's the interview: ME:  Did you get a chance to read the interview I sent you? SALLY:  Yes. ME:  What did you think? SALLY:  I think it was a load of horses____.  That's what I think. ME:  You don't think _____ was being truthful? SALLY:  I think she was a f____-ing liar.  I think she's always been  a f_____-ing liar, and I don't trust her to tell me the time of the damn day. ME:  Did you slap her that night? SALLY:  Yes, I did. ME:  She said she doesn't know why. SALLY:  And she's a f____-ing liar. ME:  So why did you slap her? SALLY:  She's standing the