{"id":93311,"date":"2024-12-08T21:01:42","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T05:01:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=93311"},"modified":"2024-12-08T21:01:42","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T05:01:42","slug":"strange-prada-bedfellows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2024\/12\/08\/strange-prada-bedfellows\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange Prada Bedfellows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every once in a while, someone asks me what T.R. Knight <\/strong>is doing.  I\u2019m glad to finally have an answer.  He\u2019ll be on Broadway <\/em>in Stranger Things: The First Shadow<\/em><\/strong>.  It\u2019s kind of a prequel to the Netflix <\/em>series \u2013 which means if you\u2019re a newbie, you still can follow along.  Phew!  Previews kick off on March 28th<\/sup> at the Marquis Theatre<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I have no idea who Betty Gilpin <\/strong>is.  She may be a mighty fine actress.  But the idea of a woman \u2013 any woman \u2013 taking the lead in Broadway<\/em>\u2019s Oh, Mary! <\/em><\/strong>when Cole Escola <\/strong>leaves the role on January 21st<\/sup> sounds like a death knell for the sensation.  I am reminded of Ally Sheedy <\/strong>playing Hedwig<\/em><\/strong> during the initial off-Broadway <\/em>run of the Angry Inch<\/em><\/strong>.  Nothing against Miss Sheedy, but that was a mistake (I suspect had Sandra Bernhard <\/strong>done it \u2013 as she was rumored to \u2013 it might have worked).  So catch Mary<\/em> sooner rather than later!<\/p>\n

In other queer casting news, we hear that the latest Emcee in the West End<\/em> production of Cabaret<\/em><\/strong> will be…Billy Porter<\/strong>!  He joins the cast on January 28th<\/sup> and stays until May 24th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

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Elsewhere in the West End<\/em>, the Elton John <\/strong>musical The Devil Wears Prada<\/em><\/strong> opened last week.  I think the opening night can be summed up in one photo \u2013 Vanessa Williams <\/strong>(who plays Miranda Priestly), a virtually unrecognizable Donatella Versace<\/strong>, Elton John <\/strong>(wearing sunglasses for obvious reasons) and Anna Wintour <\/strong>(the basis for Priestly \u2013 also in sunglasses).  Would that the level of camp in that group photo was reflected in the show.  After a rocky run in Chicago in 2022, Elton John revamped the show for London, and Williams was hired.  The result?   Critics feel it has something to offer.  Alas, terms like \u201cstyle not substance\u201d and \u201cforgettable songs\u201d also pop up in most reviews, which is never a good sign.  Would I see it?  Absolutely.  Would I plan a trans-Atlantic trip for it?  Probably not.<\/p>\n

Emily Blunt <\/strong>(from the flick) addressed rumors of a sequel.  \u201cThere\u2019s rumblings, there\u2019s stuff churning around, but I don\u2019t know if I can confirm anything completely…but we would be all delighted to work together again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Someone who showed up on the Prada<\/em> red carpet was the luscious Luke Evans<\/strong>, alongside his equally hunk beau, Fran Tomas<\/strong>.  He recently talked about his insecurities \u2013 reminding us that people who seem to have it all also have demons of their own.  \u201cI still sometimes go to the gym and just feel very anxious.  I look at myself in the mirror and just go, \u2018You don\u2019t look good enough\u2019 or \u2018You\u2019re letting it go\u2019.\u201d  All that tells me is there\u2019s no hope for any of us!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Every once in a while, someone asks me what T.R. Knight is doing.  I\u2019m glad to finally have an answer.  He\u2019ll be on Broadway in Stranger Things: The First Shadow.  It\u2019s kind of a prequel to the Netflix series \u2013 which means if you\u2019re a newbie, you still can follow along.  Phew!  Previews kick off<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93311"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93313,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93311\/revisions\/93313"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}