This Can't Be Broccoli

Before we begin, make sure you're all caught up by reading these in order-- http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-linus-incident.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-patty-entanglement.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-snoopy-snag.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-marcie-melee.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-franklin-fiasco.html This week is a big one. I was turned onto this story by one of its main player's relatives, but I had a hard time getting that person to speak with me. Until now. Here's the interview: ME:  We actually sort of know each other. LUCY:  Sort of.  (Laughs.)  I hope they don't go looking through your Facebook to find me. ME:  What made you hesitant ...

After last week's interview, a representative from a theater that recently experienced the results of opening too soon reached out to speak with me. I want to thank this person for coming forward in the hopes that it'll change some minds about what's safe and what isn't when it comes to the performing arts. Here's the interview: ME:  So this wasn't a full production or-- THEM:  No. It was us trying to do a little something for friends and donors. ME:  Who is 'us?' THEM:  The board of _____. ME:  And how long have you been on the board? THEM:  Three years. ME:  What was this going to be? THEM:  There's a, uh, beautiful park here in town, and we wanted to do an outdoor performance of a Shakespeare as a benefit, because, as you know, theaters are having a hard time right now paying the bills. We checked with the local government and the health department for the state to make sure we were doing everything the way we needed to in order to keep everyon...

Before we begin, make sure you're all caught up by reading these in order-- http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-linus-incident.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-patty-entanglement.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-snoopy-snag.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-marcie-melee.html This is the seventh entry in this series, and it focuses on someone who was not a part of the theater in question, but an arts writer in the area. Here's the interview: ME:  You might be the only person who reached out and offered to talk to me enthusiastically. FRANKLIN:  I think it's good you're doing this.  We need to get a lot of this out in the open. ME:  Specifically what? FRANKLIN:  Nobody paid for the things that h...

  Ever since my interview with someone involved with a production that opened in the midst of the pandemic (which you can read here  https://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-pandemic-players.html   ) I've wanted to talk to an epidemiologist about how safe it is to do theater at the moment. Surprisingly, a few that I spoke with were concerned about going public with their concerns, especially if it meant addressing specific productions and what they are or aren't doing correctly. Luckily for me, I have a whole series of anonymous interviews where people can speak freely and hopefully with more candor than they would otherwise. Once I offered someone the opportunity to do an interview anonymously, I found a pretty prominent specialist to sign up, and it was enlightening to say the least. Here's the interview: ME:  Before we begin, obviously I can't say too much about your career without giving away who you are, but just quickly--you have been an epid...

I think the final straw was seeing her hop on the COVID train. If you believe Alyssa Milano (and just the word "believe" in this context could be troublesome), she is now the Forrest Gump of modern American history. Since being an inciting force behind #MeToo, Milano--an actress I actually really love who has a decent, if not exactly noteworthy, career--did one of the most severe pivots from acting to activism that any of us have ever seen. In the process, she's become a juggernaut on Twitter, a place where you're allowed to brazenly chase whatever personal narrative will get you the most attention.  Attention on the Twitter-scape is like food in The Hunger Games .  Do whatever you have to do, gain as many followers as possible, and one day you'll have a Hulu deal after lip-syncing to Tucker Carlson while dressed like Cardi B. It's the Wild, Wild West. It's the Facebook we all think Facebook is--but this isn't about Twitter. It's about Alyssa. Part...

Before we begin, this is one of those series you want to read in order, so here's the list: http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-linus-incident.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-patty-entanglement.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/08/theater-and-snoopy-snag.html This week's interview is a little different from the others, because originally, "Marcie" had refused to speak with me about any of this.  Most of these interviews were done months ago. After I published the first interview, she began doing live Facebook videos responding to what was said in my weekly interview. I then reached out to her again and essentially said "If you can talk this much to the three people watching your videos, why not just talk to me instead?" She agreed, a...

During this pandemic, I've finally gotten through most of my podcast backlog, and since a bunch of people were sharing their podcast lists last month, I thought I'd join in. I'm not going to give descriptions of each one, but I'll clarify why some are favorites of mine. 10 Things That Scare Me Adulting - Admittedly I don't really like live episodes of podcasts let alone podcasts that are mostly live, but this one is an exception. Against the Rules with Michael Lewis All Songs Considered Articles of Interest Asian Enough Broken Record The Butterfly Effect with Jon Ronson - No new episodes for awhile, but sooo interesting. Cautionary Tales - Absolutely incredible Code Switch Come Through with Rebecca Carroll - Some of the best interviews you'll hear from the past few months The Daily - I go back and forth on this one because the New York Times is so problematic, but very few podcasts does what this one does as well as it does it Dead Eyes - If you're an actor,...

Before we begin, this is one of those series you want to read in order, so here's the list: http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-opening-night-brawl.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-sally-slap.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-linus-incident.html http://thiscantbebroccoli.blogspot.com/2020/07/theater-and-patty-entanglement.html This week, I'm speaking with Charlie's right-hand man, Snoopy. He asked to speak with me as soon as he heard I was interviewing people involved with the theater, but I wanted to talk to a few other people first to get a sense of what the perception was of his relationship with Charlie. Here's the interview: ME:  When did you meet Charlie? SNOOPY:  I met him at one of the auditions he did for one of the first shows at the theater. ME: Were you auditioning? SNOOPY:  My girlfriend at the time was, but I was there hanging out. Seeing what was up. ME:  How did you ge...