“Chess” on the West End: Great Music in a Weird AF Productionby Randi / May 24, 2018
It’s Theatre Thursday! Today we are talking about the new revival of “My Fair Lady” at New York’s Lincoln Center.
I always felt that I knew “My Fair Lady” really well, even though I don’t even remember even seeing the movie. But the score is part of mainstream culture and you know the original story if you’re alive/have read mythology/have read Shaw/have read anything really/seen Freddie Prinze Jr. movies – haughty gentleman takes a bet that he can transform a poor, lower class girl into a well-mannered, well-spoken lady who can pass for upper class. Given that the framework here is of a story we’ve seen in one form or another, I expected to enjoy a high quality production but not be blown away. What could they do to make this simple story seem important? Well, a lot. I don’t know what I was thinking, because of course it was another perfect Lincoln Center + Bartlett Sher production of a classic musical, mining every ounce of emotion and intelligence and creating an experience so sublime and emotionally challenging that I’m still thinking about it constantly. I thought I knew “My Fair Lady”, but this production proved that I did not know what it was capable of. It’s one of those theatre events that I feel supremely lucky to have witnessed.
With a running time of three hours, “My Fair Lady” risks leaving modern, restless audiences bored at times and waiting for the end, or so I assumed. My attention span is dictated by my bladder so such long acts posed quite the potential threat to me. But instead, every single instant was riveting. I never wanted scenes, songs, moments to end. I would have been happy to sit there for twice as long if the extra three hours would have been equally enthralling and as precisely molded. This is not a thing I would ever say lightly, because I’m always tired and I always have to pee, yet here we are.
Most of the expert, meticulous perfection comes from the cast and the director, Bartlett Sher, who knows his way around a golden age classic as well as he does the Vivian Beaumont theatre. It’s well-written too, of course – this show has been so beloved for so long for a reason – but this production takes those bones and makes more of them than I could ever have predicted. The simple story, the question of how successful Henry Higgins’s training will be and how strong Eliza’s Stockholm Syndrome will become, all feel so much more complicated and important. From the first moment we meet our Eliza Doolittle (Lauren Ambrose), her complexity is clear. This isn’t some ordinary girl selling flowers in Covent Garden with dirt on her face. Her desire for more in life is so much more than her introductory wish of a song, “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” As she sings about the rooms she might find comfort in and the chocolate she might eat, the longing in her soul is clearer than the everyday things she vocalizes. Immediately this Eliza comes across as incredibly thoughtful and puts to rest any doubt about the surprising casting choice. Ambrose is a true find for this role, bringing a level of consideration to her performance that I have never seen. You can tell that everything she does is the product of deep contemplation to figure out what best serves her character and the story. It’s the kind of performance that reminds you how impressive and studied acting can be. This is true with her stunner of her big test, “I Could Have Danced All Night”, but proved most impressive when she had zero lines or notes to sing – as she watched Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering revel in their success in “You Did It”. Her silent performance in the background of that number cemented her Eliza as one for the history books.
No less her equal is Henry Hadden-Paton’s Higgins, a name new to Broadway that also caused some grumbles when announced. Why couldn’t we have gotten Laura Benanti and a guy we know, ooh like Colin Firth?! many on the chat boards wondered. Because Sher and producers knew what they were doing, and Lauren and Henry understand their characters so much you forget you’re watching a play. I’ve never heard Higgins’s “Why Can’t the English” and other early songs so fun and not annoying. And his “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” is spellbinding, all while being incredibly simple. Higgins’s songs are in large part talk-sung and HHP moves between that and singing effortlessly. He brings so much more to a character that I often write off as a chauvinistic jackwagon, and I’m still thinking about his character’s poignant, heartrending development.
These two actors help make this “My Fair Lady” feel fresh and vital. Our Eliza presents more awareness of herself and what’s going on and what she needs to do. She’s also strong and so funny much of the time, and not just in her uproarious performance (and famous line) at Ascot. Our Henry is arrogant and snobbish as always but with a very subtle suggestion that he wants to improve, or at least that he wants to understand why he can’t change. Both actors bring such nuance to their roles that the story feels compelled to move forward at every moment.
The supporting cast is just as strong as our two impeccable leads. Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering is flawless and extremely likable, which helps to make Higgins seem more likable. Best of all, we have Norbert Leo Butz, my favorite of Broadway musical comedians, as Alfred Doolittle, Eliza’s dad. When he was first announced I (like everyone) was like, Norbs and Lauren are pretty much the same age so ?? But since Alfred is a drunk and is so dirty so often, it was easy to age him. And no one could do the extended “Get Me to the Church on Time” sequence – a glorious spectacle of showgirls and drunkenness and dancing and pure joy – quite like he, the master, could. As expected, his character is a laugh riot, adding much-desired humor to a production that has already mined so much humor from the piece. He’s always great and this is no exception.
Also always great is the legend Diana Rigg, as Higgins’s mother. It’s a small part with no singing, but her line deliveries are killer and help her make her small role feel essential. Her Tony nomination is still a surprise, but it is Diana Rigg. A bigger surprise is the lack of nomination for Jordan Donica, as Freddy Eysnford-Hill, the gentleman who falls in love with Eliza. He’s sensational, honest and natural in his affection for Eliza, and his passionate rendition of “On the Street Where You Live” is an impeccably sung highlight. For the first time, I was rooting for Freddy, because of his winning performance combined with Lauren’s more thoughtful Eliza, who clearly deserves better than a verbally abusive grumpy old man. Maybe. I still don’t know. The new direction that Sher takes with the ending – which I’ll try not to spoil but it implies so much in terms of growth and decisiveness and belief in oneself – will divide long-time fans, but I loved believing that this Eliza had finally garnered enough strength to realize how strong she was. It’s heartbreaking when you consider the relationships involved in her decision, and the people who lose, but it feels necessary to go this route for her own happiness. I’m still thinking about how strikingly different are the various kinds of love on display, and how the deeper-felt one is more toxic here, yet you can’t ignore that depth. Still, I like to believe that this Eliza realized she would rather have someone fetching her slippers than be forever fetching someone else’s.
This production impresses in every possible way, with the singing and enunciation pretty much perfect. The set design, primarily Higgins’s study and house in general, is absolutely to die for. With other recent golden age revivals going the way of minimalism to obtain certain effects only in the audience’s minds (cough “Carousel” cough), this set was a happy reminder of why Broadway productions can and should be magical. Everything was flawless – except for one issue I have a problem with. To make the big ensemble scenes more realistic, the ensemble members are all having real side conversations with each other during scenes. So while Eliza was singing “Wouldn’t it be Loverly”, these other poor peddlers of what not were positioned with a cart super close to where I was sitting, and laughing and talking so loudly that sometimes I couldn’t hear her. I feel like that is a nice idea that just doesn’t work, especially since this production does not use microphones, so they can’t turn theirs down or turn Lauren’s up. It was super annoying, but luckily, that’s a small gripe for a largely outstanding production, and one you probably won’t have if you sit more centrally or farther from the stage than I did.
Overall, this “My Fair Lady” is a perfect revival of a classic that I cannot imagine being done any better in my lifetime. It’s a truly sublime theatrical experience with some of the best acting currently on Broadway and some of the best interpretations of Lerner & Loewe’s classic songs. This is the kind of show that reminds you what big, grand musical theatre can and should be.
INFORMATION
“My Fair Lady” is at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont theatre with an open run booking right now until January 2019. There are really no bad seats in this theatre, and the bathroom situation is among the best. If you are under 35, you can get $30 LincTix to the show (go to the Lincoln Center website for information). Reminder if you go that Lincoln Center is not in the Theatre District but 20-ish blocks north.
STAGE DOOR
It’s a little tricky to find since it’s outside the Center and not just outside the Beaumont, but it’s worth it (and theatre staff will give very clear directions). Everyone came out and took pictures (even Diana Rigg!) and they were all friendly and happy to chat.
Most of the expert, meticulous perfection comes from the cast and the director, Bartlett Sher, who knows his way around a golden age classic as well as he does the Vivian Beaumont theatre. It’s well-written too, of course – this show has been so beloved for so long for a reason – but this production takes those bones and makes more of them than I could ever have predicted. The simple story, the question of how successful Henry Higgins’s training will be and how strong Eliza’s Stockholm Syndrome will become, all feel so much more complicated and important. From the first moment we meet our Eliza Doolittle (Lauren Ambrose), her complexity is clear. This isn’t some ordinary girl selling flowers in Covent Garden with dirt on her face. Her desire for more in life is so much more than her introductory wish of a song, “Wouldn’t it be Loverly?” As she sings about the rooms she might find comfort in and the chocolate she might eat, the longing in her soul is clearer than the everyday things she vocalizes. Immediately this Eliza comes across as incredibly thoughtful and puts to rest any doubt about the surprising casting choice. Ambrose is a true find for this role, bringing a level of consideration to her performance that I have never seen. You can tell that everything she does is the product of deep contemplation to figure out what best serves her character and the story. It’s the kind of performance that reminds you how impressive and studied acting can be. This is true with her stunner of her big test, “I Could Have Danced All Night”, but proved most impressive when she had zero lines or notes to sing – as she watched Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickering revel in their success in “You Did It”. Her silent performance in the background of that number cemented her Eliza as one for the history books.
No less her equal is Henry Hadden-Paton’s Higgins, a name new to Broadway that also caused some grumbles when announced. Why couldn’t we have gotten Laura Benanti and a guy we know, ooh like Colin Firth?! many on the chat boards wondered. Because Sher and producers knew what they were doing, and Lauren and Henry understand their characters so much you forget you’re watching a play. I’ve never heard Higgins’s “Why Can’t the English” and other early songs so fun and not annoying. And his “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” is spellbinding, all while being incredibly simple. Higgins’s songs are in large part talk-sung and HHP moves between that and singing effortlessly. He brings so much more to a character that I often write off as a chauvinistic jackwagon, and I’m still thinking about his character’s poignant, heartrending development.
These two actors help make this “My Fair Lady” feel fresh and vital. Our Eliza presents more awareness of herself and what’s going on and what she needs to do. She’s also strong and so funny much of the time, and not just in her uproarious performance (and famous line) at Ascot. Our Henry is arrogant and snobbish as always but with a very subtle suggestion that he wants to improve, or at least that he wants to understand why he can’t change. Both actors bring such nuance to their roles that the story feels compelled to move forward at every moment.
The supporting cast is just as strong as our two impeccable leads. Allan Corduner as Colonel Pickering is flawless and extremely likable, which helps to make Higgins seem more likable. Best of all, we have Norbert Leo Butz, my favorite of Broadway musical comedians, as Alfred Doolittle, Eliza’s dad. When he was first announced I (like everyone) was like, Norbs and Lauren are pretty much the same age so ?? But since Alfred is a drunk and is so dirty so often, it was easy to age him. And no one could do the extended “Get Me to the Church on Time” sequence – a glorious spectacle of showgirls and drunkenness and dancing and pure joy – quite like he, the master, could. As expected, his character is a laugh riot, adding much-desired humor to a production that has already mined so much humor from the piece. He’s always great and this is no exception.
Also always great is the legend Diana Rigg, as Higgins’s mother. It’s a small part with no singing, but her line deliveries are killer and help her make her small role feel essential. Her Tony nomination is still a surprise, but it is Diana Rigg. A bigger surprise is the lack of nomination for Jordan Donica, as Freddy Eysnford-Hill, the gentleman who falls in love with Eliza. He’s sensational, honest and natural in his affection for Eliza, and his passionate rendition of “On the Street Where You Live” is an impeccably sung highlight. For the first time, I was rooting for Freddy, because of his winning performance combined with Lauren’s more thoughtful Eliza, who clearly deserves better than a verbally abusive grumpy old man. Maybe. I still don’t know. The new direction that Sher takes with the ending – which I’ll try not to spoil but it implies so much in terms of growth and decisiveness and belief in oneself – will divide long-time fans, but I loved believing that this Eliza had finally garnered enough strength to realize how strong she was. It’s heartbreaking when you consider the relationships involved in her decision, and the people who lose, but it feels necessary to go this route for her own happiness. I’m still thinking about how strikingly different are the various kinds of love on display, and how the deeper-felt one is more toxic here, yet you can’t ignore that depth. Still, I like to believe that this Eliza realized she would rather have someone fetching her slippers than be forever fetching someone else’s.
This production impresses in every possible way, with the singing and enunciation pretty much perfect. The set design, primarily Higgins’s study and house in general, is absolutely to die for. With other recent golden age revivals going the way of minimalism to obtain certain effects only in the audience’s minds (cough “Carousel” cough), this set was a happy reminder of why Broadway productions can and should be magical. Everything was flawless – except for one issue I have a problem with. To make the big ensemble scenes more realistic, the ensemble members are all having real side conversations with each other during scenes. So while Eliza was singing “Wouldn’t it be Loverly”, these other poor peddlers of what not were positioned with a cart super close to where I was sitting, and laughing and talking so loudly that sometimes I couldn’t hear her. I feel like that is a nice idea that just doesn’t work, especially since this production does not use microphones, so they can’t turn theirs down or turn Lauren’s up. It was super annoying, but luckily, that’s a small gripe for a largely outstanding production, and one you probably won’t have if you sit more centrally or farther from the stage than I did.
Overall, this “My Fair Lady” is a perfect revival of a classic that I cannot imagine being done any better in my lifetime. It’s a truly sublime theatrical experience with some of the best acting currently on Broadway and some of the best interpretations of Lerner & Loewe’s classic songs. This is the kind of show that reminds you what big, grand musical theatre can and should be.
INFORMATION
“My Fair Lady” is at Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont theatre with an open run booking right now until January 2019. There are really no bad seats in this theatre, and the bathroom situation is among the best. If you are under 35, you can get $30 LincTix to the show (go to the Lincoln Center website for information). Reminder if you go that Lincoln Center is not in the Theatre District but 20-ish blocks north.
STAGE DOOR
It’s a little tricky to find since it’s outside the Center and not just outside the Beaumont, but it’s worth it (and theatre staff will give very clear directions). Everyone came out and took pictures (even Diana Rigg!) and they were all friendly and happy to chat.
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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.
Edinburgh Fringe Part 2: The Stand-ups, the Two-Handers: Janeane Garofalo, Josie Long, Afghanistan is Not Funny
Welcome to Part 2 of our Edinburgh Fringe round-up! Today we are talking the two stand-ups we saw: American Gen X favorite Janeane Garofalo and British Gen X favourite Josie Long. We’re also talking about the show “Afghanistan is Not Funny” from Henry Naylor. You may be like ‘that doesn’t seem like it goes with two stand-up performances?’ and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong, but we are making it work because a) they are all two-handers so it makes sense (as does my version of the phrase two-hander to mean one person and not two because how many victims of chain-saw accidents are there in the theatre world? not many) and b) Naylor is a comedy writer and, despite the title, definitely fancies himself a comedian in this show! Was it all funny? Some of it was! Did they all start late and go long? You bet your ass they did, in true Fringe tradition!
Janeane Garofalo: Pardon My Tangent
The key lesson I took away from this set is that I forgot her name was spelled like that! Janeane was great to see mostly for nostalgia’s sake, and also because her jokes seemed tailor-made for ME! Not for the Edinburgh crowd, no sirree, it was all for me, from the perspective of an East Coaster trying to make sense of British cleaning products (awful!) and Scottish culture. Just like me! It was super New York (walking dogs around the city and getting jealous of bigger apartments!), super ’90s-era Americana (jokes about James Spader!), super left-wing (unapologetically anti-Trump supporters!). She used the word ‘shanda’ (it means shame!), and even brought up my favorite TV show from one month when I was 13 “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant” (I really only was interested because it was always on “The Soup”). I mean, no one has talked about that show since Kathy Griffin in one of her HBO specials from the early aughts! What a fun memory! “Ma, there’s a baby in the terlet!”
Janeane began her set in a remarkable way: by telling the crowd she never really was a stand-up comedian and is no good at it. Way to prime the crowd. She didn’t have a real set planned, just some notes and some off the cuff observations about NYC and Edinburgh. It was chaotic and messy, but still fun and enjoyable, at least for me, because I was the target audience. (I can’t say the drunk-off-her-ass-jerky girl behind me who was talking the whole time and kicking my seat enjoyed it as much.) The vibe I got was mostly that we could be, and should be, best friends.
She told a ridiculous story about how she was hit by a car in New York recently, but it wasn’t really the driver’s fault because “I was wearing these pants.” Reader, she was wearing camo print pants. I loved her jokes about her upper body strength, because as soon as she came onstage in her tank top I thought ‘man she looks ripped’. And lo and behold, later she talked about how we audience members may have assumed that she had muscle, but it was all an illusion she meticulously created: by pulling her bra straps and shirt straps high and tight behind her neck, almost like a halter (which she highly recommended we try) and by having strategically placed tattoos that made it seem like her delts were coming to a point. All of this together gave the facade of musculature from the front, while the people on the sides of the room could see it was all loose meatbags. I was dying, it was all so true, it really had worked on me.
The best thing about Janeane is how unapologetically left-wing she is, and rightly so. Now that Trump is out of office (omg hopefully forever but who knows) people seem less actively angry towards his supporters because it’s not as urgent a threat, but NOT JANEANE! She knows that we can never forgive, never forget, that they aren’t ‘decent peace-loving people’ BY DEFINITION. Loved her for this! I also loved that she makes relentless fun of Tom Cruise and got in a fight with her brother about it. Please let’s be friends!
INFORMATION: Janeane is playing at the Wine Bar at Gilded Balloon Teviot. It’s not even close to looking like a wine bar! There are some seats up in a balcony but mostly it’s very strangely laid out rows of chairs. The girl next to me was wearing a mask! First and only other masker of the whole Fringe!
Josie Long: Re-Enchantment
Let’s cut right to the chase (unlike this show because it started super late packing in last-minute wannattendees into the very hot basement (none of these venues had air flow, it was very concerning) which you can’t really fault because she is amazing and who wouldn’t want to see her?): This is one of the best, most cohesively written comedy specials I’ve ever seen. It was better than 90% of the specials on Netflix, all of which I’ve tried, few of which I’ve been able to finish. (No good!). Not since I saw Mike Birbiglia do his special “The New One” at the Leicester Square Theatre (which eventually went on to Broadway) did I find a comedy hour (plus 15) so well-written and performed.
The best part is that it seems so chaotic and casual, as Josie has such an open and friendly and spontaneous vibe, so it seems like she’s just talking, sharing with friends. But you see at the end that it was all perfectly planned and formatted. And HILARIOUS. She mainly talks about how she has moved from England to Scotland (all the cool kids are doing it!), about how great Scotland is (it is!), and about how urgently we all need to be fighting against impending fascism (we do!). For someone who looks like the nicest, sweetest mom at the preschool dropoff who brings cookies for the other moms, she is surprisingly and amazingly radical left-wing. LOVES IT! I loved that she told the crowd that we had to fight more, harder. That we had to stop making fun of groups like Insulate Britain because THEY’RE RIGHT. And they are! People complain about them and similar action groups because they don’t like their tactics, but, as Josie reminded us, that’s what people said about the suffragettes and MLK, and we’ve just conveniently forgotten all their controversial methods.
It’s funny that both of our female comedian shows made it super left-wing and political, but while Janeane gives off that great “don’t you dare f with me” energy, Josie has the energy of a little blonde girl in a flower dress wearing pigtails, despite being 40. Her bubbly joyousness is infectious and I have absolutely added her to my list of faves.
INFORMATION: The show is at Monkey Barrel 3 (downstairs) at the Monkey Barrel Comedy venue. It is VERY HOT and there was an AC unit, but Josie had them turn it off because it was noisy. If I didn’t love her so much I would be cursing her out for that one (okay I did a little). There’s a bar upstairs with water pitchers, but after the show they shoo you out directly to the outside world, so you can’t go back up for more water. There are small toilets downstairs in the back of the room.
Afghanistan is Not Funny, by Henry Naylor
Henry Naylor has some STORIES. This writer and actor and comedian was doing regular radio and TV gigs as a writer and actor and comedian 20 years ago yet somehow ended up in Afghanistan during the start of the war, alongside photojournalists and government operatives and unofficial government operatives. He went to research his previous show, but man, the average playwright doesn’t just up and go to a war to do some researching on a whim! He was here to tell those stories, and we wanted to hear them. Unforch, he’s focusing too much inwardly, and not on what those stories mean outside of his career and to the wider world, despite what he says to the contrary.
That first Fringe show, “Finding Bin Laden”, was a successful satire about media representation of the Iraq invasion. So successful, in fact, that it almost became a movie with Hugh Grant. We learn all of this, because the potential and then non-potential of this movie’s existence seems to be the crux of this show. Even though this guy saw the real effects of the American presence, even though he saw endless suffering especially among injured children, even though he was literally held at gunpoint by a group of Afghani mujahideen, the thesis of this show seems to be about him and his success and his almost movie-making, which it shouldn’t be. He even talks at length about how he knew that in this show, as opposed to “Finding Bin Laden”, he needed to tell the story of those suffering children, especially of a girl his photographer friend captured who was holding what could only be the wrapped body of a dead baby, this poor girl whose memory haunts him to this day, to finally tell the world her story. But he doesn’t. Sure he shows her picture in a big dramatic flourish that is clearly meant to move us emotionally, but it doesn’t because it comes without support — after he rants endlessly about how his movie fell apart because Russell Brand is an asshole who f-ed someone’s granddaughter, and he says this over and over and you’re like, wait, I thought this show was about the suffering of children in Afghanistan, not about this guy complaining about how Russell Brand’s lack of tact ruined his movie. It made such a brave and open man, who has been through and seen so much, seem self-satisfied in his storytelling, which I’m sure isn’t the case.
So, tonally it was completely off, and it felt unedited. It ran 15 minutes long, but it should have been 20 minutes shorter. It’s so interesting how much he spoke about his intentions with this show — he clearly wanted it to be about the people and the things he saw there, and yet he didn’t make it about that. There was a great format he used, going through four stages of awareness he learned in therapy (unconscious incompetence to conscious competence), but after the second stage it sort of fell apart in relation to the narrative. There’s so much potential for his storytelling — like I said, he was HELD AT GUNPOINT BY THE MUJAHIDEEN — he just needs to remember his purpose in sharing. We want to hear more of those stories, which would automatically convey the gravity he wanted to share, and all the real things he saw over there, and not hear vulgarities about Russell Brand.
INFORMATION: The show is in Gilded Balloon Teviot, in a slightly-more-professional seeming room than a lot of the others, but it’s set up in the worst way: it’s a very steep room, with all the seats reached from just one aisle, and the only door is on the OTHER side of that aisle. Meaning, you have to cross the stage area to get from door to aisle and vice versa. MEANING, if you have to pee or leave early, you have to literally say excuse me to the actor on the stage and force him to take a step back, as one guy did. yikes! And yes you may see that we were in Teviot for Janeane and you might think ‘oh how convenient’ but nope, we had a different show in between these two, so we were constantly running back and forth across town. Felt like a bloody boomerang! Plan your days wisely!
