DroughtofApathy

"Welcome to the Theatre": Diary of a Broadway Baby - July 2026

Henry VI: Part 1 July 5, 2026 | Off-Broadway | Public Theater | Play | 2H 30M Why I Love the Theatre

Henry VI: Part 2 July 8, 2026 | Off-Broadway | Public Theater | Play | 2H 20M Why I Love the Theatre

A Walk on the Moon July 9, 2026 | Off-Broadway | Musical | 2H 30M A Long Slog to Curtains

Broadway Barks July 11, 2026 | Shubert Alley | Event | 2H A Lovely Night

The Scarlet Pimpernel July 14, 2026 | 54 Below | Cabaret | 1H 15M A Lovely Night

The Whoopi Monologues July 21, 2026 | Off-Broadway | Lincoln Center | Play | 2H You Can Pry This Show Out of My Cold Dead Hands

Giulia: The Poison Queen of Palermo July 23, 2026 | Off-Broadway | PAC NYC | Musical | 2H 30M | Talkback A Lovely Night

Hungry Women July 26, 2026 | Off-Off-Broadway | Soho Playhouse | Play | 1H 20M Enjoyable, But Left No Lasting Impression

Paulo Szot July 27, 2026 | 54 Below | Solo | 1H 10M Why I Love the Theatre

Christine Andreas: S'Wonderful July 31, 2026 | 54 Below | Solo | 1H 20M Why I Love the Theatre

Knockouts July 31, 2026 | Joe's Pub | Concert | 1H 20M Well...I'm Glad I Saw It

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Stay tuned for the ADA issues at CSC today.

You're about seven years late with this one. In 2019, I was *the* Hadestown person around here. I saw the first preview, and then went another eleven times over the next year or so. And I haven't seen or thought about it again after 2022ish. Not when there's so much more to see. It's a good show to get young people into theatre, and they've done a good job keeping replacement casting hot and deserved. But I have no interest in seeing it again, listening to the OCBR, or watching any proshot.

I'm sure she's a lovely person. If I never saw her perform again, I wouldn't be cut up about it. She's fine. Grating, but fine, I guess.

🎶✨when u get this, list 5 songs u like to listen to, publish. then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (positivity is cool)🎶✨ (but also no pressure 😊) tagged by: @trying-to-get-somewhere-real and @dkc2017

Also entitled: Four Sopranos and also Katrina Lenk.

Tagging all of my mutuals. @lilias-craven, @voltives, @little-sweet-cheeks, @ruth-gemmells-boob-scar, @thehours2002, @all the other mutuals.

Tagged by: @thehours2002

Tagging: @turtle-down, @voltives, @jon-withnoh, @neednottoneed, @ruth-gemmells-boob-scar

In the words of Paula Glogau, "I loved it." I saw that thing four times, including the closing, and I think of it fondly every chance I get. What a batshit play. I loved it so much that I had no choice but to go home and write Harriet/Margaret power dynamics where Margie straps Harriet all night long. A Cunty Dawn, indeed. I should rewatch that bootleg I've got lying around somewhere. I listen to my audio when I'm just out and about all the time. It's got rollicking comedy, it's got middle-aged women, it's got lesbians (one ASIAN) that make out. What more do I need? Please, on my knees, I am begging for some kind of benefit reading that lets Katie Finneran go feral. I can see the cast now. I'm thinking Debra Monk as Harriet (though I will also accept Vicki Clark), Kara Young as Chris, Audra McDonald as Margaret, Rosie O'Donnell as Bernadette (Jenn Colella if Rosie's busy, and actually Lisa Kron would be great too), Katie Finneran as Stephanie, Kate Baldwin as Jean, and inexplicably 50-year-old Kelli O'Hara as Dusty. I just came up with this now, but I can't stop thinking about how unhinged it would be. That show should have run for years with a rotating cast of our most beloved character actresses dashing through that phenomenal rotating set.

I mean, look. If you made a list of top ten Act One Finales, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" easily clears the top five and probably slots into the top three as well. There are those that would say "Defying Gravity" or "One Day More" beat it out. I am not one of those people. "Everything's Coming Up Roses" have everything you want in a true Diva showstopper. It's got belting, it's got vim and vigor, it's got side characters who stand off to the side with their mouths agape as they behold the splendor of the greatest female musical theatre character in the canon. I'd say it's one of the best act one finales, and THE best when removed from its context. That's a song that will always bring the house down no matter what. Standing ovations every time. Sure, a lot of big Diva numbers fit that bill: "Defying Gravity," "And I Am Telling You," "Don't Rain on My Parade," "Before the Parade Passes By." But they all take their cues from Gypsy. It's the original (well, at least the most early well-known) Diva finale. If you look back at pre-Gypsy musicals, virtually none of them had a true park-and-bark power solo for it's leading lady in the act one closer spot. They'd end with company numbers or male solos. Look at the early R&H musicals, where they still had strong leading ladies. Gypsy paved the way.

That being said, personally, I'm partial to "A Weekend in the Country" because I go wild, simply wild, over overlapping melodies and all those harmonies. And if I were to be really pretentious, I'd say "Sunday" is up there too. And let's not forget "A Little Priest." Those are all far more complex musically (no offense to Jule Styne) and lyrically. But from an objective and historical standpoint, "Everything's Coming Up Roses" takes the cake.

It sets the women's lib movement back decades every time a bad actress and a bad female director pair up to make a bad production of an otherwise good play.

Anything dance-heavy that involves unsynchronized movement and a lot of ground to cover. I'm thinking especially about Great Comet where the ensemble was everywhere and climbing half a dozen flights of stairs throughout the show, with many of them also part of the orchestra. And that's a sung-through show, so there's few opportunities for breath. I'm sure Moulin Rouge is no picnic with all the corsets and can-canning. To say nothing of the horrible audiences. Shows like these that also require audience interaction can get rough.