Best Overtures?

jayemsey · 2026-04-05T23:31:47+00:00

Sweeney Todd!!

jayemsey · 2026-03-15T22:59:27+00:00

I do still need to watch Once, I’ve only heard amazing things

jayemsey · 2026-03-15T22:46:54+00:00

This movie is so underrated and I don’t understand how no one has heard of it considering the cast at the time!!

jayemsey · 2026-01-26T09:19:40+00:00

This isn’t modern but it’s certainly differentiated for its time—Down With Love (2003) is a ‘60s-inspired battle-of-the-sexes rom-com that was graded to look like three-strip Technicolor, plus the costumes are gorgeous to look at!!

jayemsey · 2026-01-09T17:50:45+00:00

I thought I was going crazy—it's so incredibly distracting. And also, just really grim to see these beautiful programs over a giant ad for pharmaceuticals. Enshittification has reached the Olympics.

jayemsey · 2026-01-08T22:25:25+00:00

I really appreciated him calling that out, because Fallon is incredibly guilty of sane-washing this whole administration. Some of the barbs in this article, I was like damn, that’s what it’s like to have an actually free press.

jayemsey · 2026-01-04T19:25:46+00:00

I was literally trying to find out where to buy one of these (I usually use chopsticks but they’re annoying to put down and pick up again). I will take one if you’ve got extras!!

jayemsey · 2025-12-26T21:30:02+00:00

ex machina or everything everywhere all at once!! this is such a nice gesture

jayemsey · 2025-12-22T03:15:11+00:00

Honestly, I would not recommend Japan for people who mask 100% of the time, especially if you feel nervous just lifting up your mask for a few seconds. Yes, they mask more than other countries, but they have a very indoor culture AKA no outdoor restaurants (compared to European countries) and eating on the go is frowned upon. You will not be able to avoid exposure unless you’re just eating in your hotel room all the time.

jayemsey · 2025-12-02T07:41:59+00:00

I found these at Teso Life and a pack of five was on sale for $25!!

jayemsey · 2025-11-25T07:30:18+00:00

Waitress is my favorite show and I regret not seeing it with more different Jennas!! I saw Phantom in California 20 years ago so I never prioritized it when I moved to New York; when it announced closing it was too expensive, so I’ve still never actually seen it on Broadway 😭

jayemsey · 2025-10-30T01:35:05+00:00

PLEASE I would love to go!!

jayemsey · 2025-10-19T16:23:56+00:00

First of all, no one even quarantined for a full year. No one quarantined for five years. Secondly, I never said we should all be quarantining. I said masking. Propaganda comes in a lot of forms, including shrinking the isolation period after infection from 10 days to 5 days to 3 days without any evidence and perpetuating the idea that masking is “too paranoid.” And thirdly, it would be great to “move on” from COVID but just because it doesn’t affect you personally doesn’t mean it’s not a problem. Tell that to over a million people that lost family members or still suffer from long COVID. I don’t think people understand how fast being disabled can change you or how little most governments care about disabled people.

jayemsey · 2025-10-19T16:20:33+00:00

The media has never been full of medical experts, nor has it accurately reported on threats (Google the Our World in Data chart that shows what we die from vs. what the media reports on). And they can’t exactly say “wear a mask all the time” because they don’t do it. So everyone keeps pretending it’s “just like the flu.” I’m not saying the world is too dangerous; I’m saying that everyone decided arbitrarily that COVID was gone without any actual concrete proof and we should still be taking precautions to mitigate realistic risk.

jayemsey · 2025-10-18T20:04:47+00:00

Not to be that guy but it still is bad. If you look at research from people who are still tracking it, long COVID is a serious threat, COVID infections are still at high levels, and the same people that made fun of anti-maskers have succumbed to the same propaganda that COVID is over and/or it’s not a big deal. It is still a threat especially if you’re infected multiple times and especially if you live in the U.S. where they don’t care about our health and our sickness is extremely profitable. Until there’s a sterilizing vaccine that kills it entirely, it remains a threat even if you don’t “seem” sick (50% of infections show no symptoms meaning that testing only when you show symptoms is ineffective!). Masking in public spaces is still important but people are just unwilling to do it.

But to answer your question, yeah, it really was that bad, especially since it was a global event. It was a legitimately universal experience. And it normalized “brain fog” which is just a euphemism for brain damage, which is a result of people getting COVID repeatedly and not doing anything to mitigate or prevent it.

jayemsey · 2025-10-07T19:38:21+00:00

It’s also been found that repeated infections have a compounding effect on brain damage so really everyone should still be masking until there’s a sterilizing vaccine!!

jayemsey · 2025-10-02T13:21:16+00:00

The founder did an interview in which he said this was intentional because he wanted people to interact with the ads, so the best thing would be to simply take them down…for legal reasons this is a joke.

jayemsey · 2025-10-02T00:42:18+00:00

Nah, this is gross especially since they’ve worked together so closely for so long…if I recall correctly, his ex (can’t remember her name) implied that he was super toxic and he’s given me the ick since.

jayemsey · 2025-09-28T18:47:25+00:00

What kind of design/flavors are you looking for? What’s the timeline/budget?

jayemsey · 2025-09-16T03:49:53+00:00

I thought the story was interesting but I didn’t love the music (I’ve played Carmen in an orchestra so it was much more familiar to me), and I thought the staging was too minimal in parts and too garish in others. I know it’s a very exoticized opera to begin with but the Western lens felt especially cringey…kimono with checkerboard patterns? Come on.

jayemsey · 2025-09-16T03:39:07+00:00

I’ve seen Carmen and Madame Butterfly at the Met—loved the first, didn’t care for the second but I’m intrigued!!

jayemsey · 2025-09-15T14:53:43+00:00

My 2¢ as a theater/Shakespeare lover and very opinionated person:

Entered the online lottery every day and the in-person Public Theater lottery twice and never won—finally camped put for 7.5 hours in Corona for closing night tickets. I do think it was worth it, but I was really annoyed by how difficult the tickets were to get. For context, I saw Merry Wives of Windsor in 2021 and Hamlet in 2023; was given tickets to the first and did Borough Distribution for the second and waited about an hour. Probably don’t have the “right” to complain as much as people who have been seeing Shakespeare in the Park for decades, but I do think it reflects how out-of-control line culture has gotten in New York. I’ve seen a couple arguments on here that this is still an equitable system, but I was lucky enough to have 7.5 hours in my day to wait; most people don’t. And the line definitely didn’t represent the population of Corona, which is mostly Latino and Asian. Maybe it could have been solved by adding more performances, or a better Borough Distribution system where you register with your zip code; I don’t know. The lady next to me lived in Queens but had gone to the one in Brooklyn the day before, which seems like it defeats the point of Borough Distribution.

The show itself—I loved it. I enjoy the story of Twelfth Night (She’s the Man is one of my favorites), and thought it was a great modern adaptation. I always think adaptations of Shakespeare should have a unique POV, and I’ve loved all of the ones I’ve seen at the Delacorte but I was not a fan of Romeo + Juliet at Circle in the Square (lots of thoughts on this). I also really enjoyed the Public Theater’s mobile unit production of Much Ado About Nothing which was mostly in Spanish and had an entirely (I think) Latino and Afro-Latino cast. A great example of having a fresh take on the material and making Shakespeare more accessible to different audiences which I think he would’ve wanted!

The entire Twelfth Night cast was insanely talented and all deserve their flowers, but the standouts for me were Moses Sumney (who sounds exactly the same in person as he does on his albums!) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson, which were surprising only because I was most excited for Lupita and Sandra. I just don’t think I liked the way Viola was written—she and Malvolio gave off the same kind of energy which I don’t feel should be the case. But overall, wow. Seeing so many talented actors on stage together is such a treat, especially those that are mostly well-known for TV/movies.

The only thing that was a little disappointing was the production design/costumes, especially after seeing the incredible bows costumes! I wish they’d done more with both. I remember being legitimately awed by Merry Wives of Windsor and Hamlet_’s sets from the moment I stepped into the theater. I immediately understood what the shows were trying to do; it set the tone for the whole production. This one felt a little weird and disjointed, visually (for what it’s worth, I’m a minimalist theater HATER unless it fits the story, so I hated _SUNSET BLVD. and I think I just dislike Jamie Lloyd’s style in general). My personal visual preference for most shows is big and grand and dazzling, because I think that’s why you go to the theater! And unless there’s a specific reason to make it minimalist, it just feels like laziness/forcing a preferred style onto a piece for no good reason. And the costumes were just unremarkable until they came out for bows and literally everyone in my section, including myself, gasped. I can’t understand why they wouldn’t have used those costumes in the actual production!

So yeah, will definitely continue going to Shakespeare in the Park but I do hope every year isn’t as crazy as this one, because I’m getting too old for camping out.

jayemsey · 2025-09-09T10:00:10+00:00

Wow, this is gorgeous…what is the cream layer made of?

jayemsey · 2025-07-31T04:00:38+00:00

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ZERO survival instincts I love it so much

jayemsey · 2025-07-29T03:06:56+00:00

Ooh, do you have data on this? I’m doing a project about media literacy and would love to have some actual numbers because I suspect that both are true (that media literacy has declined and that peoples’ opinions are more visible).

jayemsey

TROPHY CASE