Patty & Emily are back! We talk about a few of the things Emily missed while she was having her nervous breakdown, including the Encores! Off-Center shows and Rachel York Grey Gardens. They also talk about the two shows they saw together: the Matilda tour and Whorl Inside a Loop. It’s so great to be back!
I really wanted to see that production of Grey Gardens but I could not figure out how I was going to get out to Sag Harbor. I met a girl who played in the pit who tried to explain it to me but it just seemed like too much of a thing.
Ellen Greene in Little Shop was AMAZING. I think I went on a different night because I didn’t notice any of that drama in the balcony. I really enjoyed Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance but I don’t think he’d make it 8 shows a week as a lead in a musical without more training.
Steven Pasquale was incredible in The Wild Party. Joaquina was very different from Idina but also great. I felt like a lot of the changes didn’t work. I agree it was just OK and Sutton Foster was kind of miscast but it was a fun night.
I loved Whorl Inside a Loop. I saw it twice. The first time I saw it, it seemed more problematic. The second time I saw it, I definitely thought through all the complexities of the show and its implications more. I feel like it was the best way for her (as co-writer) to tell their stories and make the audience aware of that remove without being preachy… and also returning that sense of authorship to those real men in the end. That is, because she was the writer I felt like it was a necessary framing device. I don’t think it was necessary to have a white character mediate the experiences of these men. Though maybe it was for some audience members. I don’t think you’re wrong to feel how you feel but I think it’s a show that rewards a second viewing because I felt similarly to how you felt the first time I saw the show.
As for the show provoking further action, there is nothing preventing you from taking further action to promote prison reform.