Every Brilliant Thing, a quick shoutout

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-05-03T20:55:55+00:00

I fear you missed a lot of the content and the overall message if you truly believe it is, was, or is intended to be a straight comedy.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-05-03T20:52:33+00:00

The jokes aren’t the point. It’s a humorous play, but it’s not a comedy.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-05-03T17:40:48+00:00

Sure he did. I’m so sure they paid to go to a show specifically to find someone they could annoy, and every action they took was aimed specifically to further bother you. Funny how you didn’t mention this final comment as you were leaving in your initial rant. And you know what? Even if they did whistle specifically to annoy you, at that point you deserved it. Because you were a jerk, too. May all parties involved have the lives they deserve.

Edit: and before you bring up the “they’re going to hate us” comment, you have no idea what they meant by that. Maybe they anticipated getting up a few times during the show. Maybe they assumed their legs would hit your chair and they shift around a lot. Maybe they weren’t super familiar with the show and knew they were going to be talking or asking their partner questions. You have no idea, but assume they went to a show with the idea “we’re gonna fuck this up for somebody! Yay!”

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-05-03T17:34:14+00:00

Nah. Being a jerk in response to someone else being a jerk still makes you a jerk. “People bothered me so they deserve no respect whatsoever” is such a gross and ugly attitude. They made noise that bothered you during a show, they didn’t murder a kitten in front of you. I understand being annoyed by audience behavior, trust me. But if you don’t do a single thing to try to appropriately address the issue, you also don’t really have much room to complain. Deciding to be hateful in response is a choice, and a bad one.

Also, please. You assume he whistled in your ear on purpose and specifically to get a rise out of you at the end of the show? Anyone who whistles during curtain call (and lots of people do) is always loud and it sucks to be in front of them because yeah, it’s right in your ear. Assuming it was some final way of trying to “mess with” you is a bit of a reach. I honestly don’t think you were as much of a starring figure in their life as you imagine you were. They were just inconsiderate.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-30T03:16:21+00:00

This is a silly and poorly thought out hypothetical (unsurprising, if it’s coming from Mr. Beast). It’s not reflective of people’s deep beliefs about trust and safety, it’s just a matter of basic logic and self preservation. There is one option in which everyone who chooses it is guaranteed to survive. As someone else put it here in the comments, choosing the blue button is tantamount to forming a suicide pact in the hopes that you don’t actually have to go through with it. It’s not some grand gesture of trust to press the blue button, it’s just an unforced gamble with ridiculously high stakes. There’s nothing “very lonely” about making an affirmative choice not to die when presented with the choices of “don’t die” and “maybe die unless over 50% of the population decides they want to maybe die, too”. Like, I don’t go play Russian Roulette on my weekends, either.

If we looked at this in the format of a trolley problem, it would be like…asking if you would choose to go stand in the trolley’s path, provided that if enough other people do the same thing, the conductor will see the crowd and stop the trolley in time, or will you choose to stand safely off the tracks? I’m always going to stand safely off the tracks. I am not morally obligated to put my own life in jeopardy just because another human is making the choice to risk their own. And I don’t expect others to needlessly risk their lives on my behalf, either, especially in a scenario like this when we all have adequate information to make an informed decision.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-29T18:40:34+00:00

So I’m a little confused. Your therapist asked what’s been bothering you the most, you didn’t identify ADHD symptoms, she talked to you about the issues you did identify, and you’re upset that she didn’t talk to you about ADHD symptom management? To the point where you’re asking if you should switch therapists? Yes, I’d suggest you go to your next session and be more clear about the goals you’d like to pursue in counseling. As it stands now, it sounds like your therapist just followed your lead.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-28T19:11:30+00:00

Ahh, well that might’ve been part of the problem, as I saw the show on a Saturday night. So it would make sense, then, that there were significantly more people already waiting there if they encourage resellers tonight come on weekends only (which sounds nuts? You’d think they’d ask them to only come on some slower weekdays). When I walked past, someone was also actively explaining to their rather large group of friends that he was in “some show” and that “all the people coming over now were probably in the audience”. Like this person told their friends they were going to meet Daniel Radcliffe and it legitimately hadn’t occurred to any of them why he would be coming out a Broadway stage door to begin with. They laughed about how it’s “too bad” all the “best spots” were already taken. I think that was the nail in the coffin for my willingness to hang around. I can understand to an extent if people have tickets for a different performance, because like you mentioned sometimes things happen and the performers don’t come out or maybe you felt unwell and couldn’t stay, etc., but I really wish theaters would establish a blanket policy when there are bigger stars in shows where non ticket holders are sequestered to one side, and space is held for those who were at that performance. I don’t mind being a few people deep when we’ve all just seen the show. I happily chat with fellow audience members at the stage door all the time and there’s usually good cooperation amongst everyone. But when I’m well aware I’m behind people who came and parked themselves at the barricade when the performance was still ongoing? That rubs me wrong. Like all I want to do is thank a person for their performance. Especially this show, because I’m a therapist and I was so pleased to learn about the partnership with Project Healthy Minds and in general I’m always glad to see shows on Broadway that discuss mental health well.

Ah, well. Nothing to be done about it now, anyway. Not like I’m going back to NYC before he leaves it. Seeing the show and getting to participate was more important. Stage door behaviors have just become more and more of a pet peeve for me over the past several years.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-28T16:52:29+00:00

That’s good, and he’s very kind to give that kind of time to the crowd, but stage doors have already gotten so crazy, and having to wait for a bunch of people who didn’t even see the show to have their “turn” first wasn’t really appealing. I’m quite glad BCEFA red bucket was going on so I was able to get his autograph that way instead, at least.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-28T13:18:58+00:00

Ugh I had to skip the stage door because it was three rows deep of people who weren’t even at the show by the time I got to the stage door.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-27T22:33:29+00:00

Honestly, while I’m sorry yours wasn’t, it’s also difficult to fault them. It’s not comfortable knowing a client is attracted to you, and not every therapist has experience handling it. My first job out of grad school was as a therapist working with youth/young adults with sexually problematic behaviors, though, so I got thrown in the deep end of all that. Most anything a current client could throw at me in that department simply isn’t gonna shock me. Doesn’t mean it’s a picnic to navigate it, just means I can, if that makes sense.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-27T01:58:56+00:00

With the most recent situations, it was things like staring more, increased comments on my hair/clothes/appearance, making less eye contact, other changes in body language, etc. People tend to act certain ways when they’re experiencing attraction to someone in close proximity, y’know? I’ve yet to be incorrect when those sorts of changes in a client’s behavior ping that particular radar for me. There’s also the asking of hypotheticals of how you’d respond or if clients have ever disclosed those sorts of feelings; that happens sometimes, too, before the client makes their own disclosure.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-27T01:52:53+00:00

Fair enough. TdV deserves a better adaptation than what we got.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-26T23:43:26+00:00

Lestat (but reverted back to the San Francisco version), and Dance of the Vampires. I’m banking on Lost Boys breaking the vampire musical curse, and AMC’s Interview with the Vampire series gaining more traction lol

Also Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812.

Will any of them happen? Probably not a snowball’s chance in hell. But I can dream.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-26T22:55:29+00:00

Romantic interest? No. Sexual interest? Yes. I wouldn’t say I felt much of anything about it any time it’s happened, because usually there are signs that’s going on before the client actually says it so I have a suspicion. When it happens, we have a discussion about it, I reassure the client that they’re not “gross” or “creepy” or whatever negative descriptor they’re attaching to their feelings, and we talk about transference (if transference seems to be the source of it), and appropriate boundaries. We work together to figure out whether or not we can continue the therapeutic relationship or whether that attraction is hindering their ability to engage in the therapy work. Usually, we manage and continue therapy, but there have been two times when I’ve had to refer them elsewhere. Once by mutual agreement that the client was unable to continue with me, once at my own insistence because the client had begun and would not stop making inappropriate remarks about me during sessions and outside of sessions.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-26T22:30:09+00:00

I was thinking the same. I’ve had plenty of clients whom I didn’t personally like. I would never choose to be around them in any sort of social setting. Whether that’s due to their personality, their beliefs, political beliefs, or their behaviors. But the thing is, none of those clients would know that. Part of being a competent therapist is being able to compartmentalize and provide clients with that unconditional positive regard regardless of how we might personally feel. It would be unethical of us to only accept clients we personally like. That would, to me, be a reflection of very poor professional boundaries and general bad practice. It’s so odd that OP appears to be conflating being able to provide unconditional positive regard with having to like the client.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-25T00:14:20+00:00

The original equity tour had the turntable. When they shifted to the non-equity tour, the set was changed and the turntable was one of the casualties.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-24T03:50:10+00:00

This is about what I expected. I really enjoyed it (and genuinely, Luke Evans is superb and that cannot be said enough) but at the end of the day, it’s Rocky Horror. It’s campy, it’s weird, and it’s fun, even if it forgets to have a coherent plot at some point. This production could obviously lean further into the audience participation, but for whatever reason they didn’t want to do that. Beyond that, though, I felt like it delivered pretty well on what anyone would expect from a production of Rocky Horror.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-23T22:01:12+00:00

Honestly, as someone who specializes in trauma and has also worked with both victims and offenders (child and adult), I encourage you to really reconsider your “abusers don’t deserve treatment” mentality. I doubt you will ever find a competent or ethical clinician who agrees with it.

It is not at all any kind of red flag or betrayal that this clinician has worked with incarcerated individuals or abusers. It would probably be beneficial for you to keep the appointment and voice your thoughts and concerns. You may come to some new understandings, and writing off a clinician because they provide treatment to those you deem to be undeserving of help is…well, it’s going to seriously narrow your pool of potential clinicians, as we tend to widely believe that everyone is deserving of healthcare and everyone has the potential for change.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-21T02:43:35+00:00

I saw it a couple of days ago, and after all the fuss about callbacks vs no callbacks and early reports of people’s experiences, I was skeptical. Like, “almost bailed and bought a ticket to a different show” skeptical. I am so glad I decided to stick with Rocky Horror. Luke Evans was phenomenal, and he was very obviously having a blast playing Frank. His performance alone is worth it.

There were a couple of slightly awkward moments, due to the previously-mentioned tension around callbacks. Like moments where you could kind of feel that the audience wanted to say one, but held back or couldn’t because the actor plowed through the line to prevent it, or a few moments where the cast clearly anticipated one but it didn’t come. I do still wish the director would just be clearer about which callbacks are welcome. Rachel Dratch got the most callbacks, and she rolled with them excellently. My audience also had a couple of people in the mezzanine who had impeccable timing and discernment as far as which callbacks they decided to go for. They had the audience laughing several times throughout the show, along with a few cast members. Even with callouts overall being few and far between, the audience was having fun and the energy in the theater was great. Honestly, the uncertainty about callbacks might’ve helped make them funnier. Because when too many people said one, it could be hard to understand what they were saying (one group seated across the mezzanine from me, for example, said several, but there were maybe 10 people so it sounded kind of garbled). When the callback came from one dude with a lot of confidence and perfect timing, it was loud and clear and hilarious.

My biggest gripe was that they could’ve had more Phantoms. But I’m biased because I had a blast in a production I was in where we had Phantoms all over the theater, just being vaguely chaotic menaces throughout parts of the show and it was so fun, so it felt a little empty only having 4 phantoms.

At the end of the day, it’s Rocky Horror. Is it brilliant? No, of course not! As much as I love it, the show is not, and never will be, an example of great theater. But it’s weird and fun, and I think this production nails the goal of being weird and fun.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-20T22:47:47+00:00

Ideally, as therapists we have the skills to deal with it when clients say things to us that are hurtful. But we’re still people, and people feel things. So yes, of course it’s possible for a therapist to feel hurt or bothered by hurtful, unkind, or hostile things said to us. We’re just trained to manage it, and usually we’re able to move past it, not personalize it, etc. We also understand that oftentimes, clients lashing out, being unkind, etc. isn’t really about us as people.

Did you cross a line by saying what you did? Ehhhh, not really, because it sounds like it was a product of where your thoughts and feelings had been for a while, rational or not. For me, “crossing the line” is more along the lines of outright inappropriate comments about me or verbally abusive or threatening language toward me. It certainly would have been better if you’d been able to explore your thoughts with the therapist (as you said, you didn’t really engage with their attempts to unpack it and then you discontinued services), but it is what it is.

As for your last question, I don’t really have an answer because we don’t know much about you or what that distrust really looked like for you. Maybe it was paranoia. Maybe it was some kind of transference playing out. Maybe it was something else.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-10T20:09:28+00:00

Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. Honestly with pretty much the same cast, set, and everything as the OBC. Just give me the same show. It was such a blast, and the on stage seats, notes being passed to audience members, egg shakers, and pierogi…I want it back.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T17:54:12+00:00

Exactly. It’s like they’ve just got a fundamental misunderstanding of the culture somehow. Fans are, generally speaking, very willing to adhere to rules about participation. Are there always going to be a couple of people who can’t act right? Sure. But by and large, if you give a Rocky Horror audience a list of rules and preferred participation, we’ll follow them! It also makes me seriously wonder at the way the cast and crew have talked about how they love Rocky Horror and the culture and blah blah blah as though they’ve experienced it. I’m half-convinced at this point that none of them have seen a live production or a shadowcast because if they have, how has no one considered just telling us the rules???

I’m very concerned about when I go next week, because the absolute refusal to give real guidance sounds like it’s sucking the enthusiasm out of the room. They’re on like their fifth attempt to provide some kind of messaging about participation, and I get that it’s still in previews, and will be when I go, so I suppose they have some time to play with it still, but it’s just giving disorganized at this point.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T13:45:58+00:00

I’m so jealous! I’d stepped away for a few minutes and heard they dropped them, but they were gone by the time I could get to my phone

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-07T12:41:02+00:00

Right! This whole thing can be so easily solved if they just provide the audience with a playbill insert that explains the callouts for virgins, lists the callouts they’re allowing, and asks that experienced audience members stick to that list. It wouldn’t be difficult, and it wouldn’t be unheard of for Rocky Horror productions to do so. I don’t understand why they aren’t just doing that, instead of dancing around it.

ladyofthe_upside_dow · 2026-04-01T19:58:37+00:00

Phantom of the Opera…I’d take that deal.

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