Hey, it's okay!

I haven't done one of these in a while and decided to share a list. Hopefully it will also help me get back in the swing of things with blogging on here. (Aside from just posts about pop culture. I realize I haven't gotten personal in a while.)

www.airingmylaundry.com

Hey, it's okay...

*To have spent the evening of Valentine's Day meeting one of my favorite authors....Kristin Hannah

*To have no interest in the Winter Olympics.

*To have no idea what musicals my younger son does or does not want to see.

*To enter the Domino Sugar baking challenge.

First challenge: Red velvet cupcakes

*To be sad that season three of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend is done until the fall.

*To be excited for the return of Younger this summer.

*To read the book written by Jane from Jane the Virgin. The cover is a bit smutty looking, but it got me some street cred at work!

*To feel sympathy toward a stalker/serial killer from Caroline Kepnes' novels. Santino Fontana makes Joe Goldberg sound like the good guy, even when he's bad.

*To be annoyed that some of my favorite celebrities will be in my neck of the woods when I am not available to see them.

*To have enjoyed Something Rotten. It was hilarious!

*To refuse to watch the director's cut of Little Shop of Horrors. I caught a glimpse of one of the scenes a while back, and was traumatized. Happy ending for me only. Seymour and Audrey belong together somewhere that's green!

*To be annoyed that my phone has a bunch of cracks in it and that it costs more than the phone is worth to get it repaired. #FirstWorldProblems

*To like my husband's banana bread even though I won't so much as touch a banana.

*To cry whenever the quiet nun sings really well in Sister Act.

*That the actress who plays Beverly Goldberg replied to my tweet!

*To have Greatest Showman-itis. My friend describes it as: "A maddening, yet wonderful syndrome whereby whenever one wakes up, a song from The Greatest Showman is invariably coarsing through one’s brain. Symptoms include refrains of “Never enough, never never” and the “oh oh oh oh oh” chant from the movie’s opening that cannot be removed at any time!

Sing along time! :)




*That my "baby" is turning seven soon and I'm letting her have a sleepover party with her friends to celebrate. (May my sanity stay intact by the time it is over...)

*To not have seen any of the Best Picture Oscar nominations. (I did see some of the best animated nominees...Coco had better win!) Not like I'll watch the Oscars anyway, unless the station is generous with live streaming.

*To have gone to a painting event in my neighborhood. No "sipping" was involved, but we did get pizza!

And on a more serious note, it's okay....

*To be dismayed over how adults are handling the Florida situation. I'm pleased to see all the teenagers who have been taking action after a traumatizing day. As the late Whitney Houston said: "I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way." Even so, it is horrible that kids and teenagers should have to go through any of this. That they should have to worry about standing up for their LIVES! I thought Columbine was a one-off, but things have become progressively worse since then. As a parent, this sickens me even more. It should sicken everyone, but some people blame and attack the victims. Thoughts and prayers aren't helping anyone anymore! (Not that they did to begin with.)

You do/you don't wanna be crazy: Thoughts on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend season 3 (with spoilers)

Season three of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend has come and gone, along with a new theme song. This one is not as upbeat as the previous two, but it definitely gets stuck in my head a lot. In season three, not only is Rebecca going through a lot of changes, but her friends are too. There are some interesting twists and turns that I did not see coming this season. I like how they took some bold initiatives in talking about mental illness. There were also guest appearances by Josh Groban, Rory O'Malley (from Hamilton), Lyndon Smith (90210, Parenthood), and David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp/Ten Years Later).

I will be posting my favorite episodes and songs, so this will include spoilers. If you haven't watched this season (or the series), start at the beginning and then come back here when you're done. It's on Netflix and worth binge-watching. Enjoy the theme song, in the meantime...

Season 1 thoughts
Season 2 thoughts




Top 5 favorite episodes:
Episode 3: Josh is a Liar (I like how Rebecca goes out of her way to cover her own butt, even if it means discrediting Josh.)
Episode 5: I Never Want to See Josh Again (Naomi is back! And so is Audra Levine. I can't say I liked the ending, but it felt raw and honest.)
Episode 6: Josh is Irrelevant (a great follow-up to episode 5 and it reveals a lot about Rebecca and her friends).
Episode 11: Nathaniel and I are Just Friends (The time jump was so clever to move the story along. And it wasn't even that huge of one. I loved the Rent references. And it was nice to learn something new about Paula.)
Episode 12: Trent?! (As annoying as Trent is, it was a funny and entertaining episode overall. I also liked learning more about Valencia this time around.)


Top 10 favorite songs (links are to videos):
Let's Generalize About Men (If you like the 80's, you'll love this song. It's very fitting to what is going on in the world today.)
The End of the Movie (Josh Groban sings this one and it has some major spoilers for the season, but it is so funny. It's not on Spotify for some reason.)
Strip Away My Conscience (Very, very sexy. Video is NSFW.)
This is My Movement (Valencia indirectly singing about poop was so funny.)
A Diagnosis (An upbeat song about Rebecca finally getting some answers.)
Heinous Bitch (A 50's style song about Rebecca's mom.)
Buttload of Cats (Going all Avenue Q with this song.)
Get Your Ass Out of My House (Lourdes is so funny with this song and I hope I can remember it if my kids ever outstay their welcome. ;) )
Without Love You Can Save the World (Cute and fun song)
Horny Angry Tango (Another NSFW video. I love the chemistry between Rebecca and Nathaniel.)

I look forward to season four and will be interested to see which direction they take Rebecca's life and what the new theme song will be.

If you made it this far, tell me what your favorite episodes/songs were.

"Something Rotten" this way comes....

Originally, when I heard that Something Rotten was about Shakespeare, I had zero interest in seeing it. Then some friends told me they loved it and I found out Adam Pascal was playing the role of the famous bard, so I decided to see it when it came to my neck of the woods....and I'm so glad I did!

A few months ago, I talked about my experience seeing The Book of Mormon and how I had gone in expecting to laugh the entire time and was let down. Well, that did NOT happen this time! I didn't go in with huge expectations of the humor involved, just that it was going to be entertaining and fun. However, my embarrassingly loud laugh came out to play many, many times! There are so many clever lines and funny song and dance numbers. The innuendos are to die for (thankfully most of them went over my son's head). If you're a fan of musical theater, you will get most, if not all, of the references to Broadway shows. (Some are just way too obvious, so it's hard to miss them.)

I only really knew of two of the performers in this production. One is obviously Adam Pascal. He's just as gorgeous and talented as he was in 1996 when he premiered in Rent (not that I saw him in it, but I have seen pictures and he was in the movie). He's also great with comedic acting. I did not expect that from him. The other is Autumn Hurlbert, who I saw 10 years ago in Legally Blonde: The Search for the Next Elle Woods. I wanted her to win the coveted role on Broadway and was so disappointed when she didn't. And seeing her as Portia confirmed this for me. She was so cute and funny, with a great vocal range. She reminded me of a cross between Kristin Chenoweth and Laura Bell Bundy.

Other standout performances are awarded to Rob McClure, Maggie Lakis, Blake Hammond, and Jeff Brooks. Rob McClure played Nick Bottom and was a lot of fun to watch. He reminded me of Ed Helms in some ways. Maggie Lakis, who is Rob McClure's wife, played Nick's wife Bea. She had a strong singing voice and fabulous comedic talent. I enjoyed watching her. Blake Hammond played Nostradamus and he practically stole the show. He was hilarious! And Jeff Brooks played Shylock really well and had me cracking up with all the Jewish references.

The stage had a lot of great settings that were able to be pulled apart and moved around. I loved how it looked when Nick went to see Nostradamus. The stage was darker and the signs looked like they were glowing. The costumes were also great and fit well with the time period. Shakespeare's costume was very imaginative. The combination of stage and set design along with costumes made me want to go back to the Renaissance Faire.

As for the songs, here are my top favorites:
1. A Musical
2. Right Hand Man
3. Bottom's Gonna Be On Top
4. Hard To Be Bard
5. Something Rotten/Make An Omelette
6. G-d I Hate Shakespeare

Listen for yourself if you want to know way.... (links are to the songs from the original Broadway cast recording).

Overall, it was a fantastic, funny, fabulous, funny, flamboyant, funny production. If it comes to a town near you, definitely go and see it. I would say the right age for kids is around pre-teen. There are some grown-up references that you might not want little ones being privy to!

Due to the late hour and having to catch a train home to relieve our sitter, we did not stay after to meet the cast. While I'm a bit dismayed, I did get to meet Adam Pascal back in 2001, so there's that.

However, I'm happy that I got to enjoy the show with two (out of three) of my favorite guys!

And one of my favorite lines? "My religion is theater!" (Said by Shylock. I may have to use that one sometime, or see if I can find it on a shirt.)

Okay...that's all now. Go see Something Rotten for yourselves!