BP Booker
Banned
My first attempt at writting something, in the form of a blog post from a theater aficionado.
I tried to write someone who would be more of “traditional girl” from the UASR who likes pretty dresses, period dramas from the BBC and is a little bit of a hopeless romantic and thus gets made fun of a lot for “being weird” She is based on a lot of girlfriends (as in; friends who were friends) I knew in high school and college. Not a conservative by any means, and would consider herself a feminist, just more on the "silly side"
Emilys Magical Musical Blog <3
My TOP TEN favorite musicals of the Great White Way! (Not in order, I love them all!)
1. Lincoln! [1]: Well DUH, who doesn’t like Lincoln(!)? I’m a sucker for blue grass so this musical is right up my alley, Its got awesome choreography too! (Who knew you could do a backflip while holding a guitar!?). I saw it on Chicago Peoples theater pretty much on a hunch that it was gonna be big and it was! Favorite Song: “Mr Lincoln, break these chains!” – F. Douglas and company
2. Nom de Plum [2]: Yellow journalism is so weird. This one is about Max Webber and his increasingly unhinged and false articles in his quest for being the Manhattan Heart (get it?) most read journalist. Its pretty clever how it turns out that ALL the articles he “wrotte” at the end were REAL (from real Journalists!), people could just print whatvever back then! Max is one of those “villain protagonists” that you don’t realize are the bad guy till like half way through. he ruins the life of some socialites, he makes some senator lose his job, he gets the whole city against striking workers, but his songs are super catchy! Doesn’t hurt I love love LOVE 20s aesthetics and this musical eat, sleeps and breathers them. Favorite Song: “You gotta give them what they want”- Max Webber, Editor Fink and the Newsies
3. Newsies! [3]: Yeah so what? Yeah, I have Newsies in DVD, judge me, It’s a fun musical!. It’s like the anti-Commune, (Americas short lived, ill thought answer to Les Misérables, don’t look it up) that musical is a bummer. Favorite Song: “Sieze the day” - Company
4. Call of the Wild [4]: The “artsy” one. At least more artsy that the original 70s Disney movie, which wasn’t even a musical. And they cut out like half the movie (The original movie was both Call of the Wild and White Fang). Like really, this had no right to be as great as it is, yet it is. Who would have tough that a bunch of actors running around in stylized wolf pelts singing to native folk music would have turned out as great as it did. Props for actually casting native actors too. Favorite Song: “My true home” - Buck
5. Phantom of the Opera: This one isn’t technically Broadway but it counts because I want oit to count and is my blog. Yeah, I know it’s a pop musical, WHO cares? Are those beneath us now? That’s such an elitist attitude to have! Or is because its British? I swear to god some people think EVERYTHING that comes out of Europe is “reactionary propaganda”. Honestly, Christine is as much of vibrant and passionate character as Maria from Harlem Song, its just that she wears a pretty dress and people call her a princess. BARF [5] Favorite Song: “The phaaaaaaaaaaaaaantom of the operaaaaaaaaaaaaa is hereeeeeeeee” – Christine and the Phantom
6. Huck and Tom [6]: This one is actually kinda obscure and it’s a shame. Its pretty clever, they manage to cram a lot of book (All of twains books, even his Hawaii memoirs) dialogue, even in the songs. Athou you might need a dictionary of slang in some places. This one is from the 50s so its not retro, it IS from the past. Be warned, its not the most politically correct show in the world, and it shows it was made by a bunch of white dudes with good intentions. But then again, isn’t that what Mark Twain was? Favorite song: “Hey, fish, come fish some fish with me” Huckleberry and Tom
7. Who Killed Mr McKenzie? [7] Miss Dora, Miss Dora killed Mr McKenzie. BEFORE you leave an angry comment about spoiling the plot, I didn’t. For those of how don’t know, this musical has 10 endings, depending on who killed Mr McKenzie, and they decide which ending to act by polling the audience. Yes, literally like the Clue Movie (well the Clue movie had 6 endings and they were random based on theater). Im saying Miss Dora killed Mr Mckenzie because her song is the best one out of the bunch. And her reason is so stupid is great. Althou General Douglas (har har) is also pretty out there. So if you have the chance to go see it, you know for whom to vote. Favorite song: “Who killed the asshole?” – the guests
8. Poseidon [8]: I usually don’t like multiple plot musicals or movies, But I’ll make an exception for this one. There’s 3 stories on this one: A Cinderella plot between a third class woman and a first class man (I love Cinderella <3), a “con job plot” between a fraudster woman and penniless merchant from second class and a love story between two gay stokers below decks which always ALWAYS makes me cry (Edwardian why were you so mean to Gay people ☹). This is probably the most “political” musical in this list (Although Huck and Tom did had a pretty anti-racist message), but I doesn’t really get in the way. Ironic considering a lot of “political people” hate Cinderella with a passion, I think it’s a beautiful fairytale and I hate how we never got the British stage show over here . Favorite Song: “Love can be enough” - Balthazar and Caspar
9. A Plot in 5th Avenue: Another “terrible people plot” Like Nom de Plum and “Who Killed Mr McKenzie?”. It’s also a lot like Nom de Plum in that it’s a 1920s swing musical. Its about two lawyers that tried to outwit a bank in a get rich quick scheme. Try. It all falls apart like 3 songs in. But am I the only one who feels like you need to get an economics degree to actually get what it’s happening? Like, I still don’t know what equity merger is!. Maybe it’s all made up. Favorite song: “I wanna be rich dammit!” George, Helen and Ian
10. Prince and the Sweeper [10]: Did you know the “Prince and the Pauper” trope was a book by Mark Twain? (I guess I must really like him because hes got TWO musicals here). I didn’t! This is also like Lincoln(!) in that it has “modern music” in a period setting (1880?) and its super good. I really like how the rich people are shown to be good people and not some evil monsters like ALL the period dramas from over here. Like, calm down with the agenda! Geez! Well whatever, I really like the choreography too. Favorite Song: “Talk like a Prince, Talk like s Sweeper” – Prince Eugene and Rudolph
[1] Think Hamilton
[2] Think Chicago
[3] OTL musical
[4] Think Lion King
[5] Emily has a bone to pick against the anti “Bourgeoise glorifying art” sentiment I feel would exist in the UASR, like, being against period pieces like Downton Abbey (which she would like) and stuff. I might write something about that
[6] Not really based on anything, but if you know Sondheim you can imagine the type songs
[7] Think Mystery of Edwin Drood
[8] There is a Titanic Musical from 1997, it won the Tony for Best Musical(!). It’s apparently a pure coincidence that it came out the same year as Titanic the Movie
[9] Think The Producers
[10] Think the style of Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away
I tried to write someone who would be more of “traditional girl” from the UASR who likes pretty dresses, period dramas from the BBC and is a little bit of a hopeless romantic and thus gets made fun of a lot for “being weird” She is based on a lot of girlfriends (as in; friends who were friends) I knew in high school and college. Not a conservative by any means, and would consider herself a feminist, just more on the "silly side"
Emilys Magical Musical Blog <3
My TOP TEN favorite musicals of the Great White Way! (Not in order, I love them all!)
1. Lincoln! [1]: Well DUH, who doesn’t like Lincoln(!)? I’m a sucker for blue grass so this musical is right up my alley, Its got awesome choreography too! (Who knew you could do a backflip while holding a guitar!?). I saw it on Chicago Peoples theater pretty much on a hunch that it was gonna be big and it was! Favorite Song: “Mr Lincoln, break these chains!” – F. Douglas and company
2. Nom de Plum [2]: Yellow journalism is so weird. This one is about Max Webber and his increasingly unhinged and false articles in his quest for being the Manhattan Heart (get it?) most read journalist. Its pretty clever how it turns out that ALL the articles he “wrotte” at the end were REAL (from real Journalists!), people could just print whatvever back then! Max is one of those “villain protagonists” that you don’t realize are the bad guy till like half way through. he ruins the life of some socialites, he makes some senator lose his job, he gets the whole city against striking workers, but his songs are super catchy! Doesn’t hurt I love love LOVE 20s aesthetics and this musical eat, sleeps and breathers them. Favorite Song: “You gotta give them what they want”- Max Webber, Editor Fink and the Newsies
3. Newsies! [3]: Yeah so what? Yeah, I have Newsies in DVD, judge me, It’s a fun musical!. It’s like the anti-Commune, (Americas short lived, ill thought answer to Les Misérables, don’t look it up) that musical is a bummer. Favorite Song: “Sieze the day” - Company
4. Call of the Wild [4]: The “artsy” one. At least more artsy that the original 70s Disney movie, which wasn’t even a musical. And they cut out like half the movie (The original movie was both Call of the Wild and White Fang). Like really, this had no right to be as great as it is, yet it is. Who would have tough that a bunch of actors running around in stylized wolf pelts singing to native folk music would have turned out as great as it did. Props for actually casting native actors too. Favorite Song: “My true home” - Buck
5. Phantom of the Opera: This one isn’t technically Broadway but it counts because I want oit to count and is my blog. Yeah, I know it’s a pop musical, WHO cares? Are those beneath us now? That’s such an elitist attitude to have! Or is because its British? I swear to god some people think EVERYTHING that comes out of Europe is “reactionary propaganda”. Honestly, Christine is as much of vibrant and passionate character as Maria from Harlem Song, its just that she wears a pretty dress and people call her a princess. BARF [5] Favorite Song: “The phaaaaaaaaaaaaaantom of the operaaaaaaaaaaaaa is hereeeeeeeee” – Christine and the Phantom
6. Huck and Tom [6]: This one is actually kinda obscure and it’s a shame. Its pretty clever, they manage to cram a lot of book (All of twains books, even his Hawaii memoirs) dialogue, even in the songs. Athou you might need a dictionary of slang in some places. This one is from the 50s so its not retro, it IS from the past. Be warned, its not the most politically correct show in the world, and it shows it was made by a bunch of white dudes with good intentions. But then again, isn’t that what Mark Twain was? Favorite song: “Hey, fish, come fish some fish with me” Huckleberry and Tom
7. Who Killed Mr McKenzie? [7] Miss Dora, Miss Dora killed Mr McKenzie. BEFORE you leave an angry comment about spoiling the plot, I didn’t. For those of how don’t know, this musical has 10 endings, depending on who killed Mr McKenzie, and they decide which ending to act by polling the audience. Yes, literally like the Clue Movie (well the Clue movie had 6 endings and they were random based on theater). Im saying Miss Dora killed Mr Mckenzie because her song is the best one out of the bunch. And her reason is so stupid is great. Althou General Douglas (har har) is also pretty out there. So if you have the chance to go see it, you know for whom to vote. Favorite song: “Who killed the asshole?” – the guests
8. Poseidon [8]: I usually don’t like multiple plot musicals or movies, But I’ll make an exception for this one. There’s 3 stories on this one: A Cinderella plot between a third class woman and a first class man (I love Cinderella <3), a “con job plot” between a fraudster woman and penniless merchant from second class and a love story between two gay stokers below decks which always ALWAYS makes me cry (Edwardian why were you so mean to Gay people ☹). This is probably the most “political” musical in this list (Although Huck and Tom did had a pretty anti-racist message), but I doesn’t really get in the way. Ironic considering a lot of “political people” hate Cinderella with a passion, I think it’s a beautiful fairytale and I hate how we never got the British stage show over here . Favorite Song: “Love can be enough” - Balthazar and Caspar
9. A Plot in 5th Avenue: Another “terrible people plot” Like Nom de Plum and “Who Killed Mr McKenzie?”. It’s also a lot like Nom de Plum in that it’s a 1920s swing musical. Its about two lawyers that tried to outwit a bank in a get rich quick scheme. Try. It all falls apart like 3 songs in. But am I the only one who feels like you need to get an economics degree to actually get what it’s happening? Like, I still don’t know what equity merger is!. Maybe it’s all made up. Favorite song: “I wanna be rich dammit!” George, Helen and Ian
10. Prince and the Sweeper [10]: Did you know the “Prince and the Pauper” trope was a book by Mark Twain? (I guess I must really like him because hes got TWO musicals here). I didn’t! This is also like Lincoln(!) in that it has “modern music” in a period setting (1880?) and its super good. I really like how the rich people are shown to be good people and not some evil monsters like ALL the period dramas from over here. Like, calm down with the agenda! Geez! Well whatever, I really like the choreography too. Favorite Song: “Talk like a Prince, Talk like s Sweeper” – Prince Eugene and Rudolph
[1] Think Hamilton
[2] Think Chicago
[3] OTL musical
[4] Think Lion King
[5] Emily has a bone to pick against the anti “Bourgeoise glorifying art” sentiment I feel would exist in the UASR, like, being against period pieces like Downton Abbey (which she would like) and stuff. I might write something about that
[6] Not really based on anything, but if you know Sondheim you can imagine the type songs
[7] Think Mystery of Edwin Drood
[8] There is a Titanic Musical from 1997, it won the Tony for Best Musical(!). It’s apparently a pure coincidence that it came out the same year as Titanic the Movie
[9] Think The Producers
[10] Think the style of Dear Evan Hansen and Come From Away