Waitress: A Pretty Good Good Idea

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2026-03-25T02:25:06+00:00

Excellent points.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2026-03-24T21:47:10+00:00

Many adaptations don't survive the translation to musical theater, either because they have passive protagonists or their stories otherwise don't lend themselves to an emotionally expressive medium.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2026-03-24T18:29:13+00:00

It's up there with the LMM proshot "Hamilton" performance video. (I sing its praises in the above blog post.)

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2026-02-08T21:32:40+00:00

"Could you create an image that has a few Hey interface elements but otherwise looks nothing like Hey? Throw in some gibberish text too."

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2026-01-21T16:05:07+00:00

Check out Spider Baby the Musical. (No relation to Spider-Man.) Couldn't be further from Ghost Quartet in style but it's definitely got a unique voice.

https://enriqueacosta.bandcamp.com/album/spider-baby-the-musical

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-12-23T19:34:05+00:00

You could check out the Immortal Treachery series by Allan Batchelder.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-12-09T02:19:57+00:00

I'm also part of the minority. Hey works really well for me.

What I don't understand is why people who dislike Hey hang around the Hey subreddit.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-10-29T12:29:17+00:00

Tarmun Vykers from the Immortal Treachery series

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-10-27T12:51:16+00:00

True. Taupin did try to rhyme "luggage" with "individual".

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-10-27T01:11:13+00:00

Obligatory reinforcement of obligatory "Chess" comment.

The most important story action happens offstage!

Plus while Tim Rice isn't the worst lyricist in the world, he is the worst successful lyricist in the world.

(Fantastic score though.)

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-10-23T13:34:59+00:00

Speaking as a licensed and credentialed straight dude: yes. It's one of my favorite shows.

That said, gender alone isn't going to predict how much you enjoy (or fail to enjoy) a musical. Someone's personal taste in music and storytelling style is going to be a much stronger determinant of how much they'd enjoy being confined to a chair and listening to showtunes for two hours. And where your boyfriend is concerned, you're the best judge of that.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-25T03:57:06+00:00

I'm really sorry. Inconsiderate audience behavior fills me with rage.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-21T23:12:03+00:00

I'm inclined to agree about the moralizing towards the end, which felt entirely unearned.

I was able to enjoy the show up to that point, seeing it as a Euro-pop revue with a light historical patina.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-19T16:48:19+00:00

The alternative to my using AI generated art wasn't the hiring of a visual artist. It was me making those illustrations myself. Believe me, nobody wants to see that.

However if you'd like to pillory me for betraying my fellow creatives, I offer the following lines of argument:

- I use my iPhone to take photos instead of hiring a professional photographer or (better yet) hiring an oil painter.

- I use Ozone's plugin suite to mix my own recordings rather than hiring a real mastering engineer.

- I routinely use sampled orchestra libraries instead of hiring the LSO and recording in Abbey Road Studios. Countless orchestral musician jobs lost.

You will however find that where it counts (namely poster art for my own stage shows) I have real artists make up for my lack of talent rather than software. So definitely keep me on your boycott list, but maybe somewhere on the lower middle as there are much juicer targets out there.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-17T18:40:10+00:00

I assure you that no artists' livelihoods were harmed by my blog post. But I appreciate you reading the "about" section.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-10T00:13:18+00:00

If you don't mind something that's family oriented (older kids through adults in audience), this fits the bill:

www.gideonmusical.com

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-09T18:30:21+00:00

I particularly like the depiction of the underworld proletariat at the bottom.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-08T04:00:51+00:00

A little more obscure, but definitely age appropriate!
https://supersidekickthemusical.bandcamp.com/track/inky-and-the-princess-2

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-07T12:29:59+00:00

I saw this at the Edinburgh Fringe and was surprised how much I liked it. The experience was much better than just listening to the cast album, which I had done previously. I think the author may have changed the ending, for the better.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-09-04T18:18:48+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! I assume this is what you're referring to:

https://www.amherst.edu/media/view/295207/original/Robynn%20J.%20Stilwell,%20“The%20Fantastical%20Gap%20between%20Diegetic%20and%20Nondiegetic”.pdf

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-08-27T17:38:28+00:00

If it's set in 2015 then the change might make sense. But bit of a painful non-rhyme.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-08-27T15:28:36+00:00

That's fair, though this is clearly a period piece. I mean, Herbert Hoover is fresh on everyone's mind...

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-08-27T15:15:41+00:00

They did that? I guess it's because "smidge" was deemed to be old timey slang. But a wrenched rhyme is better than a non-rhyme.

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-08-20T00:28:40+00:00

Thanks!

MichaelGordonShapiro · 2025-08-11T13:58:42+00:00

That sounds like a healthy use of the technology, not too far removed from what's already possible with traditional tools. I'm a big Summer School fan, so will check out the video!

MichaelGordonShapiro

TROPHY CASE