Here's a hilarious review of Picnic from the New York Times.

an excerpt:

The Roundabout Theater Company’s revival of William Inge's "Picnic" opened on Sunday night, starring an exceptionally well-developed torso. Of course the torso belongs to a person, the actor Sebastian Stan. But it has been given the kind of lavish individual attention that would seem to warrant above-the-title billing.

As impeccably chiseled and hairless as a marble statue by Praxiteles, this leading body part is not merely decorative. It's the catalyst that sets the plot a-boiling in Sam Gold’s stultifying interpretation of Inge's time-yellowed 1953 drama of a lusty, dusty Labor Day in a small Kansas town. (The show runs through Feb. 24 at the American Airlines Theater.)

Presented au naturel or in a tight shirt ripped at the chest by an admirer (leaving a strategic view of a nipple), it's a sight that arouses dangerous longings in lonely bosoms. From the moment it makes its first entrance, this is a torso named Trouble.

A TORSO NAMED TROUBLE. If that is not the title of a hilarious Steve/Bucky harlequin, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS*. Also, "Dangerous longings in lonely bosoms." By which I mean, Steve's, since he has a perfectly sculpted yet lonely torso himself.

*though angelgazing points out that it could also be a Middleman title, which, YES.

And here's a link to an interview with him about going shirtless on stage and being excited about Winter Solder, and one with Scarlett Johansson about being on Broadway and also playing Black Widow.

Between this and Anthony Mackie's awesome interviews (and habit of naming costars after baked goods), I cannot WAIT for filming on Winter Soldier to begin.

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In other news, I've begun watching Cowboy Bebop. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet? So far, there's one thing I love (THE MUSIC. HOLY SHIT, THE MUSIC.), some things I really like (Spike, Jet, Ein, Ed), one thing I'm still formulating opinions on (Faye), and some things that don't really engage me (some of the plots), but I totally understand the Firefly comparisons now, and wouldn't be at all surprised to find Joss was influenced by CB and its crew of ne'er do well bounty hunters.

I've seen up to "Toys in the Attic," so if you comment, please don't mention anything past that episode. Also, I'm watching the dubbed version and I don't really want to argue about subbed v. dubbed. The show's creator prefers the dub, so that's what I'm watching.

I've been enjoying watching it, though sometimes after an episode, I'm like, "Huh, what just happened?" The show gives you all the pieces but often leaves you to put them together.

It's funny, because I feel like I don't want to like Spike as much as I do, but he's so charming and nonchalant and appears not to give a fuck, right up until he does. Also, he lit a cigarette with a flamethrower. *hands* I'm eager for more of his backstory, and really enjoyed "Ballad of the Fallen Angels" despite, or, more likely, because of the OTT-ness of it all. I really hope he gets an attitude adjustment regarding women, though. I thought there were seeds of it in "Heavy Metal Queen," in his interaction with VT, but it doesn't seem to have taken root (yet).

Otoh, I want to like Faye more than I do right now, because she's pretty amazing, but she's like some kind of Jayne/Saffron combination that I'm finding it hard to connect with. (one of my biggest bulletproof kinks is loyalty/trust and one of my biggest squicks is betrayal, so she's kind of pushing my buttons in a weird mixed signals way right now.) I'm anticipating some backstory on her that will help me love her more.

I also like Jet, and not just because he's mostly the sensible one (and has a robot arm, the provenance of which I would like to know). I really liked "Ganymede Elegy" despite some things in it not working (all those jump cuts during his conversation with Alisa in the bar wtf?) - I like that the tragedy in it wasn't blatant (I was afraid Jet was going to have to kill his ex and her new bf), but more that Jet hasn't changed from the overly-protective man that she'd left - he's still the Black Dog, for good or ill; I liked that he took the bounty himself, not just because it was his old stomping grounds, but because that way, he could ensure that no one would get hurt further, and also because his crew needed the bounty and he owed them that, because his loyalty is to them now.

Ed's only been around two episodes, but she's a cutie, though I can see how her antics could get annoying in large doses. And Ein is a corgi in space - what's not to like?

So yeah, I've been watching a couple episodes at a time, since I find it requires my full attention, and I'm enjoying it.

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