Dear Diary Episode Updates

Hello darlings!

I have a quick message about "Dear Diary". I love you all so much and this podcast is a passion project of mine, but I simply cannot do what my original plan was and to release episodes continuously on a weekly basis. From now own, episodes will be released sporadically and when ready. All new episodes will still debut on Fridays, but they will not be consistent. I will try and do at least, one or two episodes a month, but I won't be able to do one every week. This is not how I would have liked to do things, but this relieves SO MUCH stress for me!

I have two wonderful episodes coming out in January with Q Lim and Bradley Dean.

Run and Tell That: West Side Story (2021)

Note: By now ya'll know that I'm a terrible editor. So be prepared for me to be editing this AFTER I upload it. Also, I'm not a professional reviewer nor do I try to be in these. I'm simply stating what I thought. Spoilers... duh...

"From that first frame on the balcony to that slow walk behind Tony's body at the end she [Zegler] delivers a star performance!"

When I first heard that they were going to do a a new movie adaptation of West Side Story, my first thought was "Why?" I did not understand why one would even attempt this feat, considering the original film is not only a classic, but ICONIC and legendary. The duo of Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins created one of the most iconic movie musicals of all time. When I heard Steven Spielberg was making it, I got even more concerned... Spielberg is a phenomenal and legendary director, but he's never directed a musical before. My question of "Why?" was

becoming even more relevant. As the cast list came out and more news came out, I continued to ask that question "Why?" Why would you change Doc, who in the show was a white man, to Valentina, a Latina woman? If the Jets hate all Puerto Ricans/Latinos, why would they be friends with Val? As for the cast itself, I was indifferent to the cast, except for one person (who I'll talk about later.) As well all know the pandemic struck and truthfully this film was put on the back burner for me. I originally had no intent of seeing this film in theatres, I'd wait until it came out on a streaming service. However, when the film came out it was receiving RAVE REVIEWS from EVERYONE and I had to see it myself because I thought, "There's truly no way this movie will be able to stand up to the original." (SIDE BAR: Look... I know in the original movie, that a lot of the Sharks were people in brown face, Natalie Wood and George Chakiris being the main two. Yes, I am whole heartedly against any type of brown face, yellow face and black face and I find it disgusting, but even in spite of that, I cannot deny that their performances in the original film were SUPERB. If that makes me a terrible person, then so be it, but that's my note on the original film. END SIDE BAR) Anyway, I went into the theatre trying to keep an open mind. First and foremost, I get to my seat (It's assigned seating in this

Rita Moreno

theatre, because they have those chairs where you press a button and it reclines) and as I'm wiping it down some guy comes in and says, "Do you work here?" and I said, "No. I'm just cleaning my seat." He then proceeds to go on this anti-vaxxing rant and I thought, "Nope. Not doing this." So I went to the wonderful ticket seller and asked for my seat to be moved and they wonderfully agreed. Anyway, I went into the theatre trying to keep an open mind. I found the opening to be incredibly boring. I wasn't drawn into the world and I quite frankly didn't care about the world, until Maria, Rachel Zegler, entered. I found myself a bit bored whenever Maria wasn't on screen. The film featured an updated screenplay by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Tony Kushner, who delivers another glorious script, to no surprise by anyone. While, I was originally against not excited for some of the changes, specifically the new character of Val, Rita Moreno, all of the changes worked gorgeously. I absolutely LOVED the character of Val (who replaced Doc from the stage show.) Her character adds so much depth to the story and to the character of Tony. Having Val sing a beautiful rendition of "Somewhere" and her touching little anecdotes were beautiful. I honestly think that from now on that Val should be retroactively added in every iteration of West Side Story. Another change Kushner made was to the character of Anybodys, portrayed by Iris Menas, who in this version is now trans. I thought this change was so small, but it added a lot of depth to the character. There were some other small changes that I enjoyed, such as Chino now having a character arc and some subtle changes to the character of Maria. However, there were some changes that I did not like though. I did not get the whole "Tony's on parole after doing a year in prison because he almost killed some kid" arc. I found that to be incredibly stupid and pointless. Another change, that I absolutely HATED was Tony fighting Bernardo at

Mike Faist

the beginning of the rumble. It completely goes against everything he is as a character, at least in my eyes. His whole purpose of going to the rumble is to stop the fighting. He kills Bernardo in a fit of rage for killing his best friend. Having Tony have a fist fight with Bernardo before the knife fight between Riff and Bernardo just goes against Tony as a character. The mastermind behind this entire film is the legendary, iconic, world renowned director Steven Spielberg who of course delivers a stunning film. I was surprised at how musical he made his film. He didn't try and justify why the characters were singing he just said "They're singing... So what?" As well all know, Spielberg is a phenomenal director, but I don't think it was anything ground breaking, not compared to some of his other films. The choreography by Justin Peck is absolutely sublime. There were some wonderful nods to Jerome Robbins, while still being fresh and new. The cinematography by Janusz Kaminski was stunning and beautifully showed Adam Stockhausen and Paul Tazwell's gorgeous designs. The film was visually stunning, but I felt that several of the performances fell flat. There were some great featured performers including Brian d'Arcy James, Josh Andrés Rivera and Iris Menas as Krupke, Chino and Anybodys. They all delivered wonderful performances. The superb Rita Moreno portrayed a lovely Valentina, or Val for short. Her character had so much depth and warmth. She served as a motherly figure to Tony and delivers a heartbreaking rendition of "Somewhere". Unfortunately, I found Mike Faist who

David Alvarez and Ariana DeBose

portrayed Riff, the leader of the Jets, to be egregiously miscast. His portrayal of Riff was almost comical, it felt like I was watching a panto production at times. It felt like he was trying too hard, I was getting Joker vibes (That awful Jared Leto version though) and I did not find him exciting or even threatening. I did not believe for a minute that Riff was able to run and lead a gang. On the opposite end of the spectrum was David Alvarez who delivers a wonderful Bernardo. Alvarez portrayed the hot-headed Bernardo perfectly and with a beautiful singing voice and he is equally matched in his talents as a dancer. Alvarez was a knock out. Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita is portrayed by Ariana DeBose. I was very surprised by her performance. DeBose has improved immensely as an actor, but there is one major problem that I still have with her, she isn't captivating. She does not capture my attention. I didn't get that spark from her like I get when I watch Rita Moreno, Karen Olivo or Chita Rivera there's simply no, for lack of a better word, substance with her. At least not that I'm seeing. (I still firmly stand behind that Naya Rivera should have been Anita because THAT would have been an Oscar worthy performance. Her rendition of "America" would have been brilliant and she would have been terrifying in "A Boy Like That/I Have A Love". ESPECIALLY with Spielberg directing her.) The one who sets everything in motion is Tony, portrayed by Ansel Elgort. Elgort is overall decent. He has a decent voice, he's a decent actor,

Rachel Zegler

but he did not bring anything new to the role. I also found his Tony to be extremely predatorial towards Maria. It seemed almost creepy their relationship, I was getting a little bit of Joe from You. It was super creepy. The shining star of the night goes to Rachel Zegler. I mean JESUS CHRIST! Her Maria is absolutely GORGEOUS! Her Maria is strong, fearless and powerful, not the typical ingénue approach that you normally get. This Maria stands up to Bernardo and challenges him actively. Zegler's voice is just as beautiful as her singing, she delivers a gorgeous "Tonight", followed by a witty, fun and exciting "I Feel Pretty" to a heart wrenching "A Boy Like That/I Have A Love". Zegler's gorgeous soprano delivers again and again. From that first frame on the balcony to that slow walk behind Tony's body at the end she delivers a star performance! Overall, West Side Story is a gorgeous film, but it suffers whenever Zegler or Moreno aren't on screen. While it features some stunning performances, if I had to chose between the 1961 film and this one, I'd chose the 1961 film.

"Hold my hand and we're half way there. Hold my hand and I'll take you there. Somehow. Someday, somewhere"

Broadway, Coronavirus and the Great Shutdown of 2020: A Look Back at Theatre in a Pandemic

Quick note: This was not an easy piece for me to write. I started this article the day Broadway shut down and it was just going to be me stating how disappointed I was and telling people to wear masks and follow social distancing rules. Then I stopped writing it and I would come back to it in April, December of 2021 before finishing it and posting it right now. Here are just some thoughts I had throughout the pandemic.

Date: March 12, 2020

Katrina Lenk
Company

Time: 2:12pm
I am getting dressed to catch the train to New York City with my Father. We had tickets to see a performance of the Broadway revival of Company and I was super excited to see it. I pull out my phone to tweet my excitement and the first thing I see is a tweet from Playbill that announces that all Broadway theatres will close that day due to COVID-19. I am absolutely crushed (and to be quite honest extremely angry.) I had been looking forward to this show for months and it was my annual tradition to see a show on Broadway during spring break with one of my parents.

Date: April 13, 2020
Time: 12:28pm
The Broadway shut down was supposed to end today and now it is likely to continue until June. Theatres around the world have shut down including the U.K. and Australia. These closures are understandable because theatres are ground zero for spreading germs with the close proximity everyone is in. Many shows have been either postponed, cancelled or closed early and even the Tony's have been postponed.

Date: December 18, 2020

Time: 4:42pm

Coronavirus has lasted longer than anyone expected it to. We had all assumed we'd be back to our normal lives by May. Australia, Korea, Japan and several other countries have all reopened theatres or have begun to reopen theatres with social distancing measures or safety protocols in place. Meanwhile those of us in the U.S. must deal with bootlegs, filmed or virtual

Empty street with empty theatres

theatre events. Trust me, I get that it is not the same...

I miss live in person theatre.

I miss sitting in those seats for two hours.

I miss battling the person next to me for the right to use the arm rest.

I miss the stage door.

I miss the applause.

I miss the lights.

I miss going deaf from the ridiculously loud speakers.

I miss the people you meet.

I miss nearly getting hit by cars while walking through the parking lot after a show.

I miss that commute home where you might listen to the cast album on repeat.

I miss it.

Date: January 24, 2021

Time: 9:10pm

I'm now back at college and quarantining before my final semester of school. And I'll admit I have started feeling what so many other people are feeling. I feel a bit hopeless as if theatre will never return... I hate myself for feeling that way. Theatre is not gone. Theatre CAN NEVER BE GONE. I feel that as a society we have gotten into the mindset that theatre is a building, but it's not. Theatre is the subway performer. Theatre is reading a bedtime story to a child and using voices. Theatre is playing Dungeons and Dragons. Theatre is cosplaying. THEATRE IS WHATEVER YOU MAKE IT. The only thing you need is yourself. I am so sick and tired hearing people say, "I can't practice my art form." or "What are we going to do without theatre?" I absolutely hate that mentality because it's ignorant and stupid. If you say "Theatre is gone" okay then it is gone... for you. Not for everyone else. I repeat... THEATRE IS WHATEVER YOU MAKE IT! Last semester I took a course and one of the readings was titled "After COVID-19, What?" which had a variety of theatre professionals answering that exact question. I specifically want to talk about Fawzia Afzal-Khan (Playwright and current professor at Montclair University.) and the response she gave. Afzal-Khan believes that COVID-19 is a way for artists to grow and sees it as a way for artists to enhance theatre and allows for: 

More work that experiments with online performances, that connects with remote audiences will surely also emerge and become part of a new way of 'doing theatre' and music and other performances as a result of the social distancing imperatives that will stay with us for a long time to come.

A perfect example of these experimental works can be seen with The Virtual Stage Co. whose first project was back in August 2020 and it was a zoom production of Seussical titled Seussical: A Virtual Musical! which featured performances from a variety of stage performers. These performers created their own costumes and props. They cleverly recorded in various places around where they live. It also featured clips from the various original Dr. Seuss cartoons of the works featured in Seussical and was cleverly edited to have wacky, zany and

Company members of Seussical: A Virtual Musical

creative transitions in the style of Seuss that worked. What The Virtual Stage Co. did was theatre! The artists involved in this piece didn't say "Oh what are we gonna do?" They said "Okay, there is an obstacle how do we get past it?" (That is what a true artist, in my opinion, does. They don't sit around accepting defeat, they fight and continue to make art!) Virtual productions of shows are now becoming more and more common especially in academic settings.

Date: December 14, 2021

Time: 1:08pm

I'm sitting here at my job (I'm on a break, calm down) and I was going through unpublished posts that I had on here. I found this post, which I honestly forgot. I was thinking about just deleting it, but I revisited it and said "No... This is perfect for what it is." This article is just a menagerie of feelings that I had randomly throughout the pandemic. Broadway is now open again, I recently saw The Phantom of the Opera and tours are touring again. However, I hate when I hear people say "Theatre is back" because theatre never left us. Theatre was always here. It wasn't in the medium we have gotten accustomed too, but it was there. There have been some truly brilliant works that have come out due to the pandemic. There have been truly creative works that pushed the boundaries as to what theatre can be. I don't know what the future holds in store for theatre. What I do know, is that theatre will never leave me. Theatre cannot leave me unless I tell it to. Whether that means I'm seeing a big budget Broadway mega musical, or if I'm just sitting in my room and making my goldfish talk to each other and create an entire 5 minute play. (Go ahead and judge me, I don't care.) Theatre is never gone. Theatre will preserve.

Run and Tell That: Annie Live!

Note: By now ya'll know that I'm a terrible editor. So be prepared for me to be editing this AFTER I upload it. Also, I'm not a professional reviewer nor do I try to be in these. I'm simply stating what I thought.

There was nothing that stood out it was generic and safe.

When I first heard that NBC was doing Annie Live! quite frankly I was less than pleased. I find Annie to be an annoyingly optimistic musical that is over done. However, I decided to give it a chance. Then, they started to announce the cast... I have no other way to describe it, but as an Instagram stan dream cast. The casting just seemed so generically bland and I truly did not understand why they chose who they chose. (Except for Megan Hilty who replaced an ill

Nicole Scherzinger and Ensemble

Jane Krakowski.) Before the show even started there were many cast changes. First, Jane Krakowski had to step away due to a positive COVID-19 test and was replaced by the wonderful Megan Hilty, who previously played the role at the Hollywood Bowl. Then, Andrea McArdle, the OG Annie, who was due to play Eleanor Roosevelt (A new role written for the show) backed out due to family matters that she had to attend to. But then, the video footage started to come out and I was less than impressed... All of the scenery looked like something you'd find in a prom catalogue. Even in spite of all of this, I said, "Paul, give it a chance... Not everything is going to be The Wiz Live!" and therefore, I stuck it out... Honestly, throughout the entire evening I was less than impressed. From the cheap looking sets, to the amount of times that someone WALKED IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA or the sloppy edits where you would see stage hands setting things up or you'd see another camera in the shot. Meanwhile, everyone on twitter was absolutely raving about the production and it left me asking myself, "Am I watching the right Annie Live?" The screenplay by Thomas Meehan was decent and for the most part faithful to the stage show. The script obviously cut out a few numbers, but it did manage to add two numbers from the 1982 film, "Sign" sung by Oliver Warbucks and Miss

Male Ensemble

Hannigan in a scene where Oliver is trying to adopt Annie and Hannigan is trying to seduce Warbucks. The second number they added was "We Got Annie" which was added to the 1982 film to show off Ann Reinking's dance ability. While "Sign" actually served a purpose, "We Got Annie" was nothing, but a glorified dance number. The direction by Lear Debessonet was stiff and boring. He did not push any boundaries and gave a very straight forward and safe approach to the material. I was confused by the dance troupe of young girls in modern clothing who appeared in the beginning (along with Annie and the other orphans also in modern clothing) as well as the end where they were completely out of place because everyone else was in period dress. What was the purpose of that? Other things that annoyed me was when actors would look directly into the camera or the fact that the camera would be facing the audience in some scenes. Debessonet failed to create a world that immersed me in this production. His direction almost felt stale in some scenes, specifically in "N.Y.C." where I found myself bored. The television direction by Alex Rudzinski was another very straight forward and bland approach. There was nothing spectacular and nothing dazzled me. The choreography by Sergio Trujillo was another case of very straight forward and bland. Yes, the choreography was beautiful as one would expect from Trujillo, but it did not push the boundaries in any way. It was very safe, from the "Oh,

Orphans

aren't I cool and modern for having the orphans do some form of modern dance in 'It's the Hard Knock Life'." To the leaping and gallivanting of the ensemble during "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here." There was nothing that stood out it was generic and safe. What was truly abysmal though was the sets, or lack thereof. The production design by Jason Sherwood looked like something one would order out of a prom catalogue. It was cheap and because none of it covered the entire stage you could see people preparing to make their entrances or exits. The costumes by Emilio Sosa was yet again another straight forward approach. Some of the costumes were even direct rip offs of previous versions of Annie. A lot of Grace's wardrobe was inspired by the 1999 film (the blue suit and the purple dress) and one outfit from the 1982 film (the yellow dress). I wish I could say that the performers made up for the production side of things, but they didn't. So many of the performances felt passionless. It felt like I was watching a cast 5 years into their run and they were just going through the motions. I do want to give a shout out to Alex Wong though who is just a phenomenal dancer! I saw people raving about all the kids (some of whom were actually full grown adults) during "It's the Hard Knock Life", but I was unimpressed. There wasn't a lot of passion in it. I've seen much better versions of that

Taraji P. Henson and Tituss Burgess

number. Alan Toy as Franklin Delano Roosevelt was good and delivered a nice performance. Meanwhile Megan Hilty as Lily St. Regis was fabulous, as always, especially considering she was a last minute replacement. Her boyfriend, Rooster Hannigan played by Tituss Burgess was better than I expected him to be, but he still could have been better. (Granted now I don't think anyone will ever be able to top the incomparable Tim Curry, but that's another story.) Meanwhile, Nicole Scherzinger who portrayed Grace Farrell, Warbucks' Chief of Staff (A bump up from the original stage show where she was just his personal secretary). Scherzinger is a wonderful actress and you could see the wheels turning in her eyes, but Grace is simply not her part. She did not have that same natural softness or warmness that Ann Reinking and Audra McDonald had. You could also tell she was struggling voice wise trying to stay gentle and light and not just belt, this was especially evident in "I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here." A surprisingly disappointing performance was delivered by Taraji P. Henson as Miss Hannigan who was extremely lackluster. When Henson was cast I was expecting a completely obnoxious and over the top performance. I was expecting to say "Taraji could have reeled it in a little" I wasn't expecting to say "Taraji could have done

Harry Connick, Jr. and Celina Smith

more." I found her "Little Girls" to be extremely lackluster. I was expecting to be cackling or at least crack a smile, but none of that happened... Someone who surprised me was Harry Connick, Jr. who, to no surprise to anyone, has a stunning voice and while his acting was a bit stiff at times, he was a very pleasant Oliver Warbucks. When it comes to the role of Annie, NBC held a nationwide casting search to find the little girl who will play the optimistic orphan. After all this searching they chose Celina Smith and my question is... Was she really the best choice? While Smith has a charming voice, there was no dynamics in her singing. She just belted everything at top volume. Her acting was also very wooden and you could see her going "Okay, I need to be here. Now I have to be here." Nothing about her performance flowed. She had zero chemistry with anyone. I didn't believe she cared about little orphan Molly, Felice Kakaletris, or that she even liked Warbucks and Grace. Everything felt incredibly forced with Smith. Overall, Annie Live! was nothing special. To repeat an earlier statement, "There was nothing that stood out it was generic and safe." I'm glad that we are getting more live musical events after the disaster of Rent: Pre-Recorded, but NBC better step their game up for next year.

"The sun will come out, tomorrow. So ya gotta hang on 'til tomorrow!"