through my headphones

I am an avid theater fan, but do not (much to my disappointment) live near Broadway or the West End. Because of this, I am not able to see all of the shows I would like. And so, I've compiled a list of my favorites of the shows I've seen... and haven't seen.

Shows I've Seen:

The Crucible

This straight play is written by Aurthur Miller, the playwright of Death of a Salesman and once-husband of Marilyn Monroe. Inspired by Communist hunts and transformed to the Salem witch trials, The Crucible is completely heart-wrenching. It was also made into a film with Daniel Day-Lewis and Winona Ryder.

Chaplin

I was able to see this wonderful musical while it was on Broadway, which was a wonderful experience in itself. The show itself, however, managed to outshine the location. It featured lovely actors and actresses like Rob McLure (Chaplin) and Jenn Colella (Hedda Hopper). It shows a slightly adapted version of Chaplin's life, detailing his insane mother, film career, marital struggles, and his exile from America after Communist accusations. It's quite similar to the Chaplin film, in which the actor is portrayed by Robert Downey, Jr.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This poetic tale is weaved by the one and only William Shakespeare, and has to be included. It's one of his better known plays, and has been played many different ways. The version I saw included a segment about a boy dreaming, probably in the early nineteen hundreds- making the text of the play legitimately a dream. The dialogue is witty and funny, and the cast I saw acted the script so well every word of it was completely understandable despite the "stigma" of Shakespeare. The 1999 film version has great actors such as Christian Bale (Demetrius), Stanley Tucci (Puck), and Michelle Pfeiffer (Titania).


Shows I Haven't Seen:

Love Never Dies

This is Andrew Lloyd Webber's sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, in which Christine, husband Raoul, and son Gustave travel to America. It involves Coney Island, reappearances of certain characters, and quite a lot of drama. And all of this, I've only gleaned from the musical score- which is just as amazing and intricate as Phantom's.

The Addams Family Musical

It's the traditional ghoulish and grim humor one might except of the Addams family, but in a musical. Wednesday has just come of age, and after that, everything begins to happen. She has invited a boy and his family to dinner- a semi-normal family from Ohio. I've been able to watch much of it online, and with an original cast containing Nathan Lane (Gomez) and Bebe Neuwirth (Morticia), it's absolutely hilarious.

stuck in my head

A friend of mine recently introduced my to the musical duo of Twenty One Pilots. Though their genre of music isn't usually my thing, I couldn't help but be intrigued. They do a lot of rap, but also some "regular" songs. In all of it, the lyrics are gorgeous. I haven't heard a whole lot of their repertoire yet, but of what I have heard, "House of Gold" is my favorite.

"who is the third who always walks beside you?"

Since I have been talking much of novels and television and film of late, I decided I might add some poetry into the mix. One of my favorite poets (of which, of course, I have many), is T.S. Eliot. Besides being one of the main voices of the Jazz Age disillusionment, one of his poetry collections was turned into the musical Cats by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The man is a genius with words, and here I will share excerpts from a few of his lovely works- and links where you can read the rest.

"The Waste Land"

(lines 249-256)

She turns and looks a moment in the glass,

Hardly aware of her departed lover;

Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass:

“Well now that’s done: and I’m glad it’s over.”

When lovely woman stoops to folly and

Paces about her room again, alone,

She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,

And puts a record on the gramophone.

"The Hollow Men"

(lines 18-27)

Eyes I dare not meet in dreams

In death's dream kingdom

These do not appear:

There, the eyes are

Sunlight on a broken column

There, is a tree swinging

And voices are

In the wind's singing

More distant and more solemn

Than a fading star.

"The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock"

(lines 49-54)

For I have known them all already, known them all;
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?


I encourage you to click the links, read the poems, and revel in T.S. Eliot's mastery of the written word.

	50

lady detective

 Set in 1920s Australia, Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries defies most (if not all) stereotypes. She is a woman detective and quite independent. One of her friends- who is also a woman- is a doctor and scientist. The police (her particular friends, when it suits her) are completely competent, and the murders are not always based around the same thing.

To date, I have only seen a few episodes of Miss Fisher. However, these episodes are enough to know that I exuberantly recommend diving into her dangerous world of gold plated guns and keeping daggers in your garter. Essie Davis (Miss Fisher herself) plays the part with such honesty, you'd think she'd lived her entire life chasing criminals in heels. Her friends include the dashing Nathan Page as the Detective Inspector, the young constable Hugh (played lovably by Hugo Johnstone-Burt), and Dot (Ashleigh Cummings), a girl who works at Miss Fisher's home and- defying the social standards of the time- has become her friend.

you can quote me on it

It has been a while before I've posted some of my favorite literary quotes, so I decided to renew that tradition:

“He stepped down, trying not to look long at her, as if she were the sun, yet he saw her, like the sun, even without looking.”
-Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina

“Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
-George Orwell's 1984

“When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived.”
-Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
 
“Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilised by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.”
-Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre

the eclectic authoress recommends...

43. The third season of "Sherlock", a show I've talked about much before. It's just ended its three episode run in the United States, and has ended with just as big of a cliffhanger as our favorite consulting criminal did in "The Great Game". The cinematography is as beautiful as ever, and the plot twists are even more intense.

midweek enjoyments

So many wonderful bloggers do "Friday Favorites", and I have tried to jump on that bandwagon a few times. I find it difficult, however, to that sort of scheduled post. I love that sort of collective, though, and have decided upon a new trend: "Whenever-I-Get-Time-To-Blog-During-the-Week Favorites". And here are mine:

1. Kate Gabrielle's (of Scathingly Brilliant) society6 shop has begun to offer wall clocks, and they are absolutely gorgeous. Basically, society6 takes her lovely designs- vintage wallpapers, phases of the moon, and drawings of 1920s flappers- and puts them on everything they can think of, including iPhone cases, t-shirts, and throw pillows. They're all completely lovely, but I am definitely a fan of the clocks.



2. These shoes  from Topshop are so incredibly beautiful. They are also rather pricey, and it is also very much still winter. Even so, I can't stop from looking at them every chance I get, and trying to find a cheaper version somewhere. (Even though the real things would be preferable. Perhaps they'll go on sale?)


3.  Urban Outfitters has its spring floral dresses collection out already, and it is making me seriously pine for summer. January has already been cold and long, so I think that perhaps we should all just skip February and March and move straight to sundresses.


4. The third season of "Sherlock", the raved about BBC show, is airing in the United States. The second episode (of a three-episode season) aired on Sunday. It was absolutely wonderful- just like all of the other "Sherlock" episodes. Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman already have a dedicated following, but I simply had to throw in my two cents for this one.



5. Frozen, the latest Disney animated release, is just as amazing as everyone is saying it is. At first, I was skeptical. That, however, changed as soon as I heard Idina Menzel (of Broadway and Hollywood fame) was going to be starring in the feature. The music is amazing, the dialogue is funny, and Frozen is a lovely movie whatever your age may be.

really terribly sorry

I have been very, very busy of late, and haven't had the chance to do much blogging. As I said in the title, I'm really terribly sorry, and I hope to return in full force by the end of this week.

stuck in my head

"Swingin' Party", a cover by Lorde, was originally sung (and written) by The Replacements in 1985. It's a wonderful song either way- just listen to the lyrics.

Let's Take a Moment

Named after the Martin Luther of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther King, Junior, had just as much effect on the state of the world. He, along with Rosa Parks, is one of the most remembered civil rights leaders. Even now, there is discrimination based on race, sex, or religion. Just think of the terrible uproar over the Cheerios commercial with the mixed race family. This is the sort of thing that Martin Luther King, Jr. fought to end. Instead of regarding the third Monday of January as simply a day off school, try to remember everything that this wonderful man stood for- and try to carry on his famous dream.