Why I love Ghosts the most!

 

As you may well know by now, I can't stop talking (and thinking) about Ghosts! I had heard about it a while back, but I didn't think it would be something of interest to watch and I think I was immersed in Schitt's Creek or Ted Lasso, along with a few other favorite shows at the time. Sometime last year, a close friend was recommending it, but I was still hesitant to watch. Then I read Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca and enjoyed it so much that I decided to give Ghosts a try. And I'm SO glad I did!!! 

I binged through the first three seasons, as well as the first half of season four to get caught up to the new episodes that were starting up in late January. Then I told my husband that he had to watch and I binged them again with him. He's now finally caught up and we watched the season four finale together. He loves it as much as I do, but probably not to the same level of obsession that I'm at.  It's such a comfort show for me these days and even when it's not on or I'm not rewatching it, I'm still constantly thinking of it, especially while being immersed in all things about Ghosts on social media.

I've only seen the US version. People have told me they love the UK version, but I haven't brought myself to watch it yet. I'm just too invested in the US version. 

For those of you who love Ghosts as much as I do, there will be thoughts with spoilers below the trailer.

For those of you who don't know what Ghosts is about: 

Samantha inherits a mansion from a relative who recently died but had no other kin to pass it along to. She and her husband Jay go to check out the mansion, with the possibility of turning it into a bed and breakfast. However, there are ghosts living in the house and they don't like the idea of it becoming overcrowded by lots of guests. So they try to sabotage Sam and Jay's plans by showing how haunted the house really is. Except Sam gets injured as a result and when she returns from the hospital, she can see the ghosts. What comes out of that is Sam becoming a medium for the ghosts and trying to fulfill their requests and demands. They are always finding ways to cause chaos in her life, and it affects Jay too, even though he can't see them. I will leave it at that because I want you to watch it unfold the way I did, and you will definitely be surprised by how wonderful it all is.

Courtesy of Deadline

I didn't really know most of the actors going into this series. I had seen a couple on other shows, but I mainly knew Utkarsh Ambudkar, who plays Jay, as he's in everything. I also learned that he and Richie Moriarty, who plays Pete (the one dressed like a boy scout with an arrow through his neck) went to the same high school in Montgomery County, Maryland. Anyway, I love all these actors now and would be completely starstruck if I met them in person. 

Some reasons to watch Ghosts:

1. It's hilarious! I've laughed out loud many, many times in each episode and it's still just as funny on the rewatch. There were times I was laughing so hard I couldn't see straight! There are a lot of inside jokes. You have to watch from the beginning of the series because they refer back to earlier episodes and situations.

2. There is some history to be learned, but in a fun way. One of the ghosts is from the Revolutionary War era and he hates Hamilton (and I don't blame him after we learn why). There are a lot of Hamilton references, as a result. 

3. The ghosts are from a variety of eras ranging from thousands of years ago to the beginning of the 21st century. So there are somewhat modern pop culture references which have to be explained to the older ghosts. 

4. Sam and Jay's relationship. They're so sweet together. Jay puts up with so many ghost shenanigans because Sam just can't say no to them. 

5. Possessions... that's all I will say because you just have to see what happens!

6. The recurring side characters, both living and ghosts, who add to the conflicts, as well as the fun!

7. The diversity. There is LGBTQ, Jewish, African American, Native American, and Indian representation on the show. I'm sure other countries who do the show have different diversity groups represented, as well. 

8. The innuendoes. There's one for when ghosts are sent up to Heaven and another for when they are sent down to Hell (this has only happened to one ghost who earned that placement). There are also funny terms for other situations, as well. I don't want to spoil anything though!

9. The show just has a lot of heart and it's become a comfort series for me. I care not only about the ghosts, but also Sam and Jay. I love how everyone looks after each other. 

10. The costumes that the actors playing the ghosts get to wear. I especially love Hetty's gorgeous dress. Alberta's outfit is stunning too (even though Thor makes fun of her hat). 

If this hasn't convinced you to watch, check out a trailer from the first season.

Trailer:

Thoughts with SPOILERS:

First I want to talk about the characters. Then I will share some of my favorite episodes, along with some random thoughts.

When I first started the series, I had some favorite characters in mind. However, I love all the main characters so much that it's really hard to choose between them. This includes Sam and Jay. 

If I were to say there was an Alpha ghost, that position would go to Pete. I feel he has what it takes, including the advantage of one of the best ghost powers. He's also funny, optimistic, kind, supportive of the other ghosts (including finding Sass a girlfriend), intelligent, and likes geeky stuff (which aligns him well with Jay). His storylines have gotten me emotional the most, as well. And he has the most integrity. Plus, it's fun seeing his "bad" side (or at least Alberta appreciates it).  Pete is the one I'd want to go on vacation with, since he was a travel agent and all.

Courtesy of TV Fanatic

Flower reminds me of a cross between Phoebe from Friends and Alexis from Schitt's Creek, but also with her own flair. The fact that she died while stoned and is perpetually in this daze adds a lot to the humor of the show. She's also just adorable! I love how she will throw a curveball when you least expect it, like when she figured out what Trevor and Hetty were up to with tricking her into buying candles and she bought the Cutting Edge ice skates to use as a bargaining chip. I love seeing Flower and Thor as a couple and how she keeps Thor's anger in check while still allowing him to be himself. I was sad when I thought she got sucked off and felt like something was missing from the show during the episodes she wasn't on. Oh, and did she ever tell you about the time she robbed a bank? Flower is the one I'd want possessing me, as I think she would help me chill out a bit. 

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

When I first saw the attractive young guy dressed up like he was going into the office, sans pants, I had no idea he was also going to be Jewish. Bonus points there! Especially when he fits Yiddish words and Jewish references in whenever possible. Of course, Trevor is totally crushworthy! Who can blame Bela for falling for a dead guy who is reaching out to her on a dating app? Especially when he shares a picture with his dog. *Melt* And I definitely envy Hetty, but that's all I will say on that... Yeah, he acts like a womanizer and refers to himself as T-Money and manages to cause trouble every so often, like giving Sam and Jay's money to an online scammer. However, he has these vulnerable moments that you don't see coming and those are just the best! I still get teary-eyed thinking about his relationship with his dog. Trevor died too young to get the future he wanted and I feel sympathetic to him for that, as well. At least he made his legacy at work with his hero move! (Which explains the missing pants.) I also love that he's a father for real, even though he missed out on all that time in his daughter's life. He has a really cool ghost power: the ability to touch objects and press buttons. He can also touch living people, as we've learned from the episode with his brother. It's just amusing how it takes him so long to initially press a button but then somehow he can do the others really fast. 

Courtesy of Hollywood Life

Hetty definitely has a dominating personality in the mansion, considering it belongs to her family. Unfortunately, she has a philandering robber baron for a husband and even though he went down on her, he still finds ways to cause trouble. What I really love for Hetty is seeing her learn the ways of the modern world and adapt to them. She's more feminist than before and appreciates a good ride on a washing machine, now that she knows what it can do for her. Her main weakness is cocaine, if she could obtain any. She does have her dark secrets that have come out during the show: being connected to Alberta's death and causing her own death. Hetty is a mother and now that she doesn't have that connection to her son anymore, she keeps the other ghosts, along with Sam, in check. She's also manipulative when it suits her best interest. Hetty is definitely a force to be reckoned with and I just wish her ghost power came into play more than once a year. I also love when she possessed Jay. Too funny! She's the one I think I identify with the most.

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

Now we have our pizza loving, storytelling friend, Sasappis. Honestly, I felt like he was more in the background initially. He just seemed quieter in comparison to the other ghosts and his main focus was food. It took more time to really get to know Sass, but once his ghost power was revealed, he stood out a lot more. He's grown on me a lot more than I thought he would and I feel like the show would be missing something without him there. I've noticed that Sass loves love. It shows in the way he crushed on Shiki for so long and fell headfirst for Jessica (the car ghost) in a short period of time. He also tried to manifest a connection with a living girl through Jay's dreams (and ended up manifesting them with Jay's interests). I really like him with Joan though. They're both storytellers in their own ways. Sass comes off as naive, but also really wise. And I love his friendship with Thor, considering Thor was his first friend in the afterlife. He's also a really good singer, which I was pleasantly surprised about.

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

Speaking of Thor, short for Thorfinn...he's the gentle giant of the group. Just don't mention the Danes if you don't want him getting mad enough to short out all the electricity. (Or cut off your hand, if you're a ghost too.) Thor is definitely one of the funniest (and everyone is funny, so that's a step above) on the show. I love his therapy sessions with Sam speaking for him. And just how he talks in third person with broken English. (He is a Viking from the 1000s, after all.) Thor has softened his stance a lot, especially when it comes to Flower, but it hasn't taken away from how funny he is. I think he's definitely my husband's favorite (and my husband does a great impression of him too). He's just generally lovable but that doesn't dismiss all he's been through in the past, with being abandoned, killed by a lightning strike, and still stuck in purgatory over a thousand years. (Not that I want him getting sucked off though.)

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

Saving Pony and Bangs for last (at least from the set of ghosts)!

Isaac (Pony) Higgintoot is a gem. He's the first ghost who really caught my interest when I started the series. Maybe it was due to his gay commentary on everything. I'm an LGBTQ+ ally and knowing that one of the ghosts was gay definitely won me over. I know it took him a bit to come out, and I was proud of him for being able to do so. (Even though the other ghosts pretty much suspected it anyway.) I especially love his friendship with Alberta (Bangs) and Hetty. I also love that he's an investor in Jay's restaurant, even though he was only just a tad difficult about everything when it came to decisions about how the restaurant should look. He also has the worst ghost power ever, but it does come in handy sometimes. His animosity toward Hamilton (the person and the musical) makes his story that much more entertaining. I especially loved the Ruffle Kerfuffle episode. Poor Isaac! He was in the room where it happened and he got kicked out. I didn't like his relationship with Nigel and maybe I'm in the minority here, but it was just full of strife for me. I know things didn't work out with Chris, but I hope that there could be potential for another gay ghost in the future. And maybe Isaac won't be so awkward this time. Finally, I love when he gasps over revelations. Especially his own!  Isaac is the one I'd want to be roommates with, provided no one walks through him.

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

It took a while for me to get to know and appreciate Alberta, but she's so darn lovable! Her ghost power is pretty cool in that she can get livings to actually hear her. She was even able to talk to an Alexa (and she learned how Sam felt in the process). Her voice is heavenly (excuse the pun) and I love how she used it to send a sign to her great great niece. I actually cried when she did that. Even though Creepy Todd isn't the person she wants sharing her story with everyone, I have to agree with him that she's legendary and worth telling everyone about. I enjoy that she has learned Yiddish from Trevor and can explain to others what he is talking about. And I love that she's into Pete now and that they finally got together. I was so excited about this in the season finale that I was laughing and crying at the same time! It's sad that she was murdered by Hetty's son, but I'm glad she has closure about what happened and has been able to move on from it. Even though Thor doesn't like her hat, I think she looks fabulous and I love her entire outfit! I could see her playing Medda in Newsies (the musical). Alberta is the one I'd want haunting my house. I love hearing her sing!

Courtesy of Ghosts Wiki

Now we've come to the livings.

I can't decide if I'm jealous of Sam or not. Like I think it would be fun and cool to have this connection with the ghosts at Woodstone. Maybe because I just love them so much. She also has an advantage because they can spy on people and tell her things. However, her ability to see and communicate with ghosts is also a curse. Like how she can't go to Starbucks because it was once an insane asylum or something like that. The ghosts also make demands like children, so it's like she became a mother to eight adults overnight and they don't know when to leave her alone. Like couldn't Isaac ask Thor to turn on the dinosaur light? 

I truly appreciate all Sam does for the ghosts but she needs to question their motives and think first before always jumping in to help them or believing everything they say to be the ultimate truth. She got burned by Stephanie when Tad arrived, because she blindly accepted what she said at face value instead of looking into things. She also believed Sass about the tree and tried educating someone who is actually Lenape about it. Not a good look, Sam! And since Jay is blindly going along with everything the ghosts want, she should cut him some slack. Sam also lies to Jay and the ghosts. She only really has a reason to lie to livings who don't know she can see ghosts or they'll think she's kooka-luka. (She comes off that way anyway when she stares off while the ghosts are talking to her or starts talking to them out loud when other people are around.) When she lies to Jay and the ghosts, she gets caught all the time and ends up looking stupid. I hated when she lied to Isaac about the book. I know it ended up working out in her favor in the end, but Isaac got hurt by the lie and it was actually insulting to his intelligence. And it also backfired when Trevor posted on social media. The other bad one was making Jay eat a sour ram testicle for Thor by lying to get out of doing it herself. 

Sam has a good kinship with the ghosts and is sensitive to them, which I appreciate. I love how kindly she handled things when she found out about Hetty's suicide. I also love how she helped Trevor connect with his daughter. 

Just for fun, here are some examples of stuff  Sam has done for the ghosts. My personal favorite is when she went to therapy for Thor. That was hilarious!

Jay's biggest vulnerability is Sam. He is such a loving husband to her and I'm glad she realizes how truly lucky she is. I think Kyle helped in that respect by talking about how it's hard to be in a relationship when you can see and talk to ghosts. I give Jay so much credit for not being able to see the ghosts (aside from Sass in his dreams) and thus being left out of conversations. It can't be easy to be in that situation and to have to trust Sam as the medium. I got annoyed when Sam told him to pay attention to Isaac's ruffle story when he couldn't see or hear him. He does a LOT for the ghosts and puts up with so many of their needs and demands, even to his own detriment. For example, I did not like how Flower tried to sabotage opening night at his restaurant over a fake meteor prediction. That was so unfair to him. I also hate that Elias pretended to be a publicist in order to take his soul. I really hope he will be okay and that this situation will be resolved. Even though Sam is the one who communicates with the ghosts, Jay is so important to the show in so many ways. I just think he should know by now that the ghosts can be anywhere in (or outside of) the mansion and he needs to be careful with what he says out loud.

Courtesy of ScreenRant

There are quite a few regular side characters I'd like to share my thoughts on. This won't be as long as my thoughts for the main characters, but I do have stuff to say!

Nancy: She was a fun surprise. We didn't see her amongst the basement ghosts until Pete needed a fake girlfriend. And then, voila! I thought she was going to be annoying at first, and she basically was, but I appreciated how she got Pete to stand up for himself and also how she "broke up" with him to help him save face. Since then, it's just been so much fun to have her around. Betsy Sodaro plays this role to perfection with her voice and mannerisms. She's just hilarious! I especially love how she gets mad at Stuart all the time. Best line: "Nice ankle, ya whore!" (Said to Hetty about a portrait where it showed her ankle.) 

Nigel: Contrary to how much everyone else loves Nigel and ships him with Isaac (even now that they're not together), he's not a favorite for me. I felt like he manipulated Isaac and I just wasn't fond of their relationship. It clearly spoke volumes when Isaac started thinking about Chris a lot. Anyway, what really turned me off about Nigel was that he was blackmailing Hetty and Trevor after he caught them canoodling. I just wanted him out of the mansion at that point. I was relieved when Isaac decided not to go through with marrying him. Also, I was really angry when he basically "stole" Chris right from under Isaac's nose and then Isaac had the grace to not make him feel bad about himself when Chris left. Best line: "We were on a respite!"

Carol: When Flower predicted Carol would die in Woodstone, we didn't expect it to actually happen. She makes quite an interesting ghost though and I wish she were around more often. I'm glad Pete is over her, especially after finding out that she cheated on him. I also appreciate that she helped Jay get out of the situation with the mafia. Carol may be a piece of work, but she's just so entertaining. Caroline Aaron plays the part so well too.

Elias: He is just awful. I don't even know what else to say about him, honestly. I'm glad he went down though. That's where he belongs. And I'm glad he's doomed to listen to "Tubthumping" all the time. If you read Haunted Ever After, Elias reminds me of the villain ghost. I could see him playing Pulitzer in Newsies (the musical).

Patience: She's a bit of a handful to have around, considering she thinks everyone is living in sin and her anger results in blood coming out of the wall. It was not nice what she did to Sam's dad and his girlfriend, even though it opened a line of communication between him and Sam. It's not like Sam could easily explain the blood on the wall without sounding cuckoo bananas (the ghosts watch Degrassi so they'll get what I mean there). However, I think she may be the key to taking down Elias and reversing the contract he has with Jay. Let's hope! Also, I love how she says her name in that menacing way.

Stephanie: She's a bit of a brat. I mean, it horribly sucks how she died, but she's just so mean to everyone all the time. I didn't like how she was bullying Sam in her first appearance on the show. She also made Sam and Jay look foolish in front of Tad. (Good thing that happened on 4/20.) However, I felt bad for her that Ralph was sucked off before they got a chance to really be together. 

Joan: I really like her as a partner for Sass. Her personality and moxie are great and she totally gives off the feel for the time period she lived during. It's funny how she has no patience for certain people, like Trevor and Sam. 

Bela: Jay's sister is probably one of my favorite side characters. She's a lot of fun and has a great personality. I love that she believes Sam about being able to see and talk to ghosts and that she supports her in that. I don't like Eric for her and I can tell she's not fully invested in that relationship. He's nice and all, but I feel like she needs a living version of Trevor or that she and Kyle should eventually get together. 

Notable guest appearances:

• Chip Zien as Trevor's Father (He was the Baker in Into the Woods; the same cast as Bernadette Peters.)
• Laraine Newman as Trevor's Mother (from old school Saturday Night Live)
• Drew Tarver as Micah (He was the lead on The Other Two, while Brandon Scott Jones was his best friend. He's now on Running Point.)
• Mark Linn Baker as Farnsby (Larry from Perfect Strangers)
• Nichole Sakura as Jessica, the car ghost (I recognized her from Maggie, but I heard she's on Superstore.)
• Allegra Edwards as Donna (She plays Ingrid on Upload.)
• Andrew Leeds as Eric (Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist. A Million Little Things. So many other shows.)
• Tara Reid as herself (American Pie)
• John Reynolds as Nico, the guy who thought Jay murdered Carol (Search Party. Four Weddings and a Funeral. A bunch of other shows.)
• Gideon Adlon as Abby (She is sisters with Odessa A'zion who plays Stephanie and Pamela Adlon is her mom.)
• Lindura as Ashley on It's Getting Hot in Here (Sydney on Sullivan's Crossing.)
• Rachael Harris as Sam's mom (Bit roles in almost too many shows to count!)
• Ben Feldman as Kyle (He's on Superstore too.)
• Sakina Jaffrey as Jay's mom (She played Mindy and Rishi's mom on The Mindy Project, which means she's been the mom to two of Utkarsh's characters. She's been in countless other shows and movies.)
• Rob Huebel as Ari, Trevor's "friend" (I recognize him from The Goldbergs and Sex Lives of College Girls.)
• Nat Faxon as Hamilton (I remember him from Friends from College, but I know he's been in a lot of other things I've seen.)
• Rose Abdoo as the director of Dumb Deaths (She's recently been on Hacks, but I have seen her in so many other shows. I loved her on Reboot.)
• Joe LoTruglio as the restaurant critic (I remember him best from Wet Hot American Summer and the TV series about that movie.)

Favorite episodes:

So many episodes have so many great things going on, so it's hard to choose from all of them. I did narrow it down a bit though!

Any of the episodes where someone gets possessed by a ghost. I'm eagerly awaiting more possessions in the upcoming seasons! I also love all the Halloween episodes. 

Pete's Wife (season 1): Just for the ending scene alone, but it was also a fun introduction to Carol.

Sam's Mom (season 1): The restaurant dialogue was hilarious. Especially when Sam is accusing her mom of lying so she can get sucked off but the waiter thinks Sam is talking to Jay. This episode also was the introduction to Nancy!

Jay's Sister (season 1): Introduction to Bela, and we got to see a different side to Trevor. 

Trevor's Pants (season 1): The story behind the hero move. 

Attic Girl (season 1): While Stephanie is a troublemaker, I did enjoy the ghost prom and the She's All That moment.

The Polterguest (season 3): This also had the dual bachelor parties, which were really the highlight of the episode. I also found the term for the poltergeist switching bodies to be hilarious. 

The Work Retreat (season 4): I was laughing so hard I couldn't see straight! I also love how Trevor became a legend for his hero move. I commented about this on an Instagram post and I've never seen a comment I've made get so many likes! This is where it is at as of posting time today:

Thorapy 2: Abandonment Issues (season 4): So many hilarious moments with the therapy sessions. I also loved how Pete went to find out about why Thor was abandoned.

The Bachelorette Party (season 4): I love how Alberta connected with Alicia through singing. I cried from that part. Plus, Sass as a country singer in Alicia's dream was perfection!

Stuff I wonder about:

If ghosts who died outside of the mansion can live in there, then why did they need to move Todd out of the mansion when he was potentially dying? If he died outside, he'd still have access. 

How was Flower able to shut the door to the vault if she can't physically touch anything? Even if it's not the same as the wall, it seems like it should be able to move unless a living touches it. 

If Trevor can physically touch people (like his brother with the ear thing), why does he need to possess someone to be with Bela? Or would that be weird if he didn't...

If Chris can roam because of his skydiving power, wouldn't he have the same issue as Pete with body parts disappearing if he's not back to home base within a certain amount of time? I doubt he has the amount of immunity that Joan does.

What is the criteria for getting sucked off? Not that I want the main (or even some side) ghosts getting sucked off anytime soon (it was hard enough when I thought Flower was gone for good), but it just seems so random. 

Finally, some social media pages I frequent that are connected to Ghosts:

The Sucked Off: Great group on Facebook where you can connect with other Ghosts fans.

Higgintoot Museum: Such a fun and creative page.

Official Ghosts account

Ghostscbsfans

Creative arts:

Legonillan: I love her Lego ghost creations

Hiitzbella: This girl is the same age as my youngest child and makes the cutest drawings of the ghosts

Figurine it Out With Les: She makes her own Funko pops of the ghosts

Pops I Wish Existed: I know this is AI art, but the pops they rendered of the ghosts are fun to look at

Furthest Thing from Unpleasant: Fun drawings and other stuff from the show

If you've made it this far, you're a fan like me. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the show!

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Mazel Tov to Everyone!

I submitted this essay to the On Being Jewish Now substack and for some unknown reason, they are not planning to publish it. Since it doesn't belong to them anymore, I am sharing it here, as I still want to put my Jewish joy experience out there. Just to show there are no hard feelings, I linked to the substack so that you can see other posts people have written and so that many more Jewish voices will be heard. For more Jewish Joy, check out the post at my Bookstagram from this past December.

This past summer, my husband and I went to an Orthodox wedding. We are Modern Orthodox and have been to weddings like this in the past, but this time it felt different. 

The kallah (bride) was the daughter of a family from our shul and her brother is close with my older son. I don’t really have any connection with her one way or the other, but I was really happy for her family. What I was not expecting was to cry at this wedding. Multiple times. 

I cried when I first saw the kallah, while she was sitting in what looked to be the shul’s social hall, with her mom and soon-to-be mother-in-law while waiting for her chatan (groom) to arrive. She was so beautiful and glowing with excitement. In contrast to the black skirt I wore with a black top adorned with a beaded purple flower, she was wearing a stunning white, long-sleeved bridal gown trimmed with lace and shimmery beads. Everyone was standing in a crowd to give her and her family good wishes. In the meantime, there were buffet lines of delicious Kosher meat items, such as ribs, chicken dumplings, steak, etc. This was well before dinner, but the appetizers were incredible. 

I cried during the badeken, when the chatan entered with all the other men to look at the kallah before covering her face with the veil. (This is a ritual that came about after Jacob was tricked into marrying Leah instead of Rachel.) There was just so much ruach (excitement) and I am even getting teary-eyed again just thinking about it as I am writing this! It was a combination of the music, the men singing traditional Jewish wedding tunes in unison as they danced the chatan into the room, and even the memories of my own badeken over twenty years ago. (I recall laughing from joy at that time, while watching the men dancing my husband over to where I was sitting between my mom and mother-in-law, so that he could see me before lowering my veil.)

Here are some photos from our badeken. My late father-in-law is on my husband's right side and my dad is on the left, in the first picture. My mother-in-law is blessing my husband in the third picture.)

I cried during the ceremony, seeing the bride walk down the aisle and witnessing all the rituals that took place during that time, such as the kallah walking around the chatan seven times, a variety of family members and friends saying the sheva brachos (seven blessings), and the reading of the ketubah, amongst other standard wedding procedures. The chuppah was covered at the top and on the sides with pink and white flowers and some more traditional wedding music was being played by a small orchestra of string instruments as everyone walked down the aisle. The ceremony felt more spiritual and moving than it normally does at any given wedding. I was watching two people at the very start of their new life together during a tumultuous year, and seeing everyone rally around them.

I cried when everyone was dancing, women separate from men. Everyone was just so happy and lighthearted and we were all coming together for this simcha. There was so much love for the bride from her friends and it was just so beautiful to see. They were all treating her like royalty and celebrating her with so much ruach. I felt at that moment that I didn’t need to be close to the bride to be cheering her on and I didn’t need to personally know the women I was holding hands with while dancing in a circle. I need to preface this by saying that I normally don’t like dancing at simchas and didn’t even offer the opportunity for dancing at my son’s and daughter’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. I just feel awkward when I’m dancing in a circle repeatedly at simchas. (I prefer events where my husband and I can dance together however we want.) I wasn’t even planning to dance at this wedding, but then the excitement just moved me to do so.

I cried because it was almost eight months since October 7th, but I was amongst a huge group of Jewish people who were there to experience joy and to show that this can not be taken away from us. We are strong. We are a community. We still care for one another. We still celebrate by wishing each other Mazel Tov, even if it’s not our wedding and we’re not related to anyone in the wedding party. We will continue to have simchas.We will continue to be part of something bigger than ourselves. We will prevail no matter what!

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Best of 2023

Courtesy of The Central Digest

I realize I didn't blog here a lot this year, and when I did, it was about pop culture. I also realize my last post was in September. I've been mostly sharing about stuff on Facebook and Instagram these days. I haven't even posted about my trip to NYC this past summer. It's been that kind of year, I suppose...

New TV shows that I enjoyed in 2023 (in no particular order):

Bad Sisters

Nine Perfect Strangers: It followed the book pretty well overall and I liked the White Lotus feel.

Shrinking: Well done show with all the feels. Harrison Ford deserves an Emmy for his role.

Acapulco

Why Women Kill

XO, Kitty: Fun and cute. I definitely want to see what happens next.

Not Dead Yet: I adore this show and am so glad it got a second season!

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Somebody Somewhere

The Other Two

The Bear: Took me a while to warm to it but now I want it to continue!

Tiny Beautiful Things: Really well thought out show with incredible acting by Kathryn Hahn.

Jury Duty: Really funny, especially with how James Marsden was acting as himself.

Lessons in Chemistry

The Flatshare

Sullivan's Crossing: If you watched this show, I'd love to discuss!

Series I'm sad to say goodbye to:

Riverdale

A Million Little Things

Manifest (this post is about season one)

Never Have I Ever  (this post is about season one)

Ted Lasso (this post is about the first two seasons)

Workin' Moms (this post is about seasons one - four)

Favorite movies from 2023:

A Man Called Otto

Theater Camp: This movie is so good! If you haven't seen it yet, drop what you're doing and watch it right now!

Are You There G-d? It's Me, Margaret.

Red White and Royal Blue

Happiness for Beginners

Quiz Lady: Really cute and funny story about two sisters trying to save their dog. I highly recommend it.

Runners up:

Barbie: It was good but not something I want to see more than once.

Wish: I enjoyed it, but I still felt like something was missing.

Elemental: For all the great artistry, I found the story lacking.

Side note: I don't see a lot of movies so the ones that are currently popular have not made this list as a result of just not seeing them yet.

Top 10 Books I read this year:

See my top five picks at Chick Lit Central, as well! I read so many amazing books this year (go to my Goodreads page and see all the five-star books) and am sad to have to narrow it down at all. Links are to reviews.

1. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt

2. Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

3. If I See You Again Tomorrow by Robbie Couch

4. The Women by Kristin Hannah

5. New Adult by Timothy Janovsky

6. In the Lives of Puppets by T.J. Klune

7. The Trail of Lost Hearts by Tracey Garvis Graves

8. What You Do to Me by Rochelle B. Weinstein

9. The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

10. Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes

Theater:

I got to see Something Rotten again (twice: once at a professional theater and once at a college)

Into the Woods (Touring from Broadway)

Jagged Little Pill (Tour)

Les Miserables (first time since 2005, they changed a lot in terms of the set)

Beetlejuice (Tour)

Kimberly Akimbo (Broadway)

Shucked (Broadway)

Moulin Rouge (Broadway)

I also got to see Ragtime again for the first time in 25 years. (Regional professional theater)

Spring Awakening (Saw at a small independent theater featuring high school students)

Avenue Q (Saw at the same theater as Spring Awakening, but featuring adults, including a teacher from my younger son's school)

My older son and I saw a musical about Audrey Hepburn, as well. It was interesting but went a bit long. (Small independent theater)

My family and I saw a production of Young Frankenstein. I was lukewarm on it but my younger son has been listening to the music ever since we saw it. (Community theater.)

There is more good theater in store for '24, including Company!

Highlights from 2023:

My daughter's Bat Mitzvah.

The NYC trip with my older son. (See above about the shows we saw.) I also loved going to Museum of Broadway.

Seeing my daughter in her camp shows this past summer. She owned the stage every time she was on.

Meeting Wade Rouse (a.k.a. Viola Shipman), Jean Meltzer, and Sara Goodman Confino. (Authors I adore!)

With Jean Meltzer

With Sara Goodman Confino

With Wade (R) and his husband Gary (L)

Pittsburgh trip with my family, which included getting to see "Will."

Seeing my older son in all his shows. He was especially amazing in his recent high school play, portraying a new role that no one had ever seen before and really making it his own. I also love how his improv troupe completely re-created a favorite experience from my 20s.

Visiting family in Chicago a couple times and seeing my nephew and some close friends. 

The amazing besherte timing that allowed me to meet my best friend's baby shortly after he was born.

My younger son getting his learner's permit (that just happened though, so I have yet to experience his driving skills). He's also been really into astronomy lately and I love seeing how passionate he is about it.

Making some new friends this year: One was through a cousin and one was due to my love of Kimberly Akimbo. 

Getting to see my sister-in-law this summer, even if it was only for a short period of time. I also enjoyed meeting her fiance. 

Taking on some new responsibilities at work, including the newsletter, which I'm enjoying.

Things from social media that made me smile:

Ayo Cheetah. These cooking videos are hilarious! 

Gen X Women are Sick of Your Sh-t. Great place to go for all things nostalgic.

On the down side:

The past few months of 2023 have been horrific. I wrote a post a while back about something very similar to what is happening now, but it captures my current feelings so accurately.

I hope 2024 only brings good things to everyone!

This is something I'm excited for, but dreading at the same time. Never mind that it will be 30 years since I graduated high school... (And no, I am NOT going to my reunion! Good thing I have no need to punish myself.)

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A Great Adventure: Thoughts on Kimberly Akimbo

 

"When opportunity knocks. When possibility calls..." You get tickets to see Kimberly Akimbo and you get to enjoy every second of the experience! (Trust me, it will make your sh*tty life better. ;) ) 

I had been listening to the Original Broadway Cast recording of Kimberly Akimbo for most of this past year and have really gotten to know the songs well and enjoy them more and more with each listen. So I was really curious to see how they would play out on stage and what would actually happen in the story. I can tell you that listening to the music is not going to spoil anything because you're still going to be plenty surprised! 

The show tells the story of a lonely teenage girl, Kimberly Levaco, who suffers from a condition similar to progeria that causes her to age rapidly, thereby giving her the appearance of an elderly woman, and how, according to Playbill, "[f]orced to maneuver family secrets, borderline personalities, and possible felony charges, Kim is determined to find happiness in a world where not even time is on her side." (Synopsis courtesy of Wikipedia.)

There's so much more to the story than the synopsis implies. It's full of many ups and downs, really funny moments, and some heartbreaking ones too. I loved it from the moment it started and walked out of the theater exhiliarated by the experience! We had almost the entire original cast, except for Victoria Clark, who normally plays Kimberly. In her place, we had Colleen Fitzpatrick, who did a marvelous job in the lead role. My main goal was to see Bonnie Milligan play Debra and I got my wish. She was even better than I was expecting her to be and I had high expectations. She definitely earned that Tony! Justin Cooley also delivered as Seth and was even more awkward than he sounds just from the songs. I loved him for that. Everyone in this intimately sized cast was amazing though. I loved the four teenagers and all their interactions with each other. The best part is when Debra calls them out on it, but that's all I will say... 

On the side doors, they have pictures and descriptions of all the teenagers, including Kimberly, of course!

The set was really well put together. It would shift smoothly between a house (as well as the basement of the house), a school, and an ice rink. The costume changes happened on stage sometimes. Kimberly would wear a robe over her clothes to go to bed and then would take the robe off in the morning to reveal her outfit. I liked the costumes a lot too. They were simple but they gave off the feel for the time period. 

As I mentioned before, it was cool to see how some of the songs played out on stage. Especially with the context behind them. This was especially true for "This Time," "How to Wash a Check," "Our Disease," and "The Inevitable Turn." (The latter is one of my favorites and seeing it performed made me love it even more than I already do.)

If you're looking for something new and different to see on Broadway, you've come to the right place! It should be touring in the next year or so; don't miss out if it comes to a city near you. Definitely a rewarding production in every way possible. If you want to get a feel for the music and see the camaraderie of the cast, check out the Tiny Desk Concert. (A different actor is playing Seth, but he's still good.)

After the show, we stage-doored and met almost all the cast. The only two who didn't come out were Colleen Fitzpatrick (Kimberly) and Nina White (Teresa). Everyone was so nice too!

Olivia Elease Hardy (Delia)

Fernell Hogan II (Martin)

Steven Boyer (Buddy, Kimberly's dad)

Alli Mauzey (Pattie, Kimberly's mom)

Justin Cooley (Seth)

Bonnie Milligan (Debra, Kimberly's aunt)

Michael Iskander (Aaron)

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Corny, but A-maize-ing: Thoughts on Shucked

 

Earlier this spring, my older son introduced me to the music from Shucked. I had heard bits and pieces, but I wasn't prepared for how much fun the Original Broadway cast recording would be. It's a whole lotta country music, but that's my jam! I found myself listening to it every so often whenever I was out driving. The music is catchy and gets into my head a lot. So when my son and I were choosing shows to see during our Broadway trip, Shucked definitely made the list! And, of course, we both loved it!

The set is simple and rustic looking, but it captures the feel of the show. (Somewhere north of south and south of north.) We were sitting in the upper mezzanine, so we got a great view of the entire stage. 

Maizy and Beau, two residents of the rural Midwestern community of Cobb County, are forced to postpone their wedding when the corn crop is blighted. Maizy, on the advice of her cousin Lulu, the local whiskey distiller, leaves town to try to find a way to save their corn. Maizy travels to Tampa, Florida, where she meets Gordy Jackson, a con-man who claims he can help, but secretly thinks Cobb County might have riches he can take to settle his debts. When the two return, Gordy comes into conflict with both Beau and Lulu, which leads to some interesting situations. (Synopsis adapted from Wikipedia.)

What I didn't expect was how gosh darn funny the show was going to be. I only knew stuff from the songs, and there's a nice mix of humor there. However, the lines are the funniest part. Especially all the stuff Peanut says and how he delivers it. I was laughing constantly. Lulu had some great one-liners too. So many puns throughout the show, as well. If you're a pun fanatic, you will LOVE it! The characters seemed to enjoy making fun of themselves and each other. What my son didn't expect was to cry from the first song, which is about corn. I get it though. It was more the overwhelming excitement of seeing everything on stage. (I cry during the opening number of Legally Blonde every time I see it.)

We had two understudies for this show. One was for Maizy, who is usually played by Caroline Innerbichler. However, we saw Traci Elaine Lee in the role and she gave it her own spin. While Caroline comes off as more twangy on the cast recording (which is how she is supposed to sound and it is cute), Traci's vocals were smooth and still worked really well for the role. (Listen to her singing "Woman of the World.") Storyteller 1 was played by Yasmeen Sulieman (usually played by Ashley D. Kelley) and she was adorable and so much fun. She worked really well with Grey Henson, who played Storyteller 2. (We were thrilled that he was performing because he played Damian in the original Broadway cast of Mean Girls.) And of course, we were so excited to see Alex Newell as Lulu. I can't even imagine anyone else in that role. They were perfection! Everyone in the cast was wonderful. Kevin Cahoon definitely stood out as Peanut, especially with his accent and hilarious line delivery. The actor who played Gordy (John Behlmann) was on Riverdale, but I had to look him up and it still took me a while to remember him. 

I already like the songs a lot from listening to them, but now they make even more sense along with the story. All the songs are really good. Some favorites are "Woman of the World," "Somebody Will," "I Do," and "Independently Owned." It will be fun to listen to all of them again and be able to visualize everything that is going on. I am not going to spoil anything for you though. If Shucked comes on tour, I highly recommend it for a ton of laughs. Even if you don't like country music, it's so worth watching. (My husband isn't into the music but I think he'll find the show really funny if he actually sees it.) If you're able to see it on Broadway, definitely do so!

We got to meet a couple actors after the show. Kevin Cahoon (Peanut) and Grey Henson (Storyteller 2). They both were so nice! While we were hanging out around the city after the show, we ran into Grey and he recognized us from the stage door. He even chatted with us! Day? Made! Unfortunately, Alex didn't stage door, but we were glad we got to see them perform. It's not as common for actors to stage door between shows since they have so little time, so we're thankful for who we got to meet. (Also that we went last week, since they're holding off on stage-dooring this week due to a spike in COVID. Yikes.) Here's a funny video of Grey and Kevin having a little chat, but only one is actually in character.

Kevin Cahoon

Grey Henson

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