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No, I cannot be having with the tragic gay storylines. I've not been at home to them since the 80s. Thank you.

Thanks for this deep dive into the iterations of Cabaret! Must have been a lot of work, it's so rounded and thorough.

everything about this personal little mini-doc is great, nice merging of photos to match story were being told, it's well written, but its missing some thing very important, and it's a biggie; SOUND! Especially when the main thrust of the subject is music and singing, and music, is such a critical part of Barbra's legacy. After a while, we viewers start to realize that all we're hearing is the same narrator droning on and on, then it occurs to us that youtube can't allow copyrighted songs, music and even interviews with actual people actually saying something relevant ... even that really quiet music track is playing in the distance to give it continuity, only adds to the disappointment. Is there an official name for these quiet visual, Soundless quasi docs? They're ubiquitous all over youtube

"The Ethel Merman Disco Album came out in 1979. The genre was declared dead a year later." - (Ryan Warner for the Colorado Public Radio, 2023) I'm sorry this quote is hilarious 😭

As someone who has seen Wicked on stage two times, I really think finding out it's political undertones really makes the story even more interesting. Considering that the original "Wizard of Oz" was a commentary on America's blind trust in politicians (since we see the Wizard is a fraud at the end), "Wicked" on the other hand literally shows that the systemic government of Oz itself has been fraudulent and lying to its people since. It makes it even more deeper knowing that the musical came out during the Bush Administration after 9/11. Great analysis video! This is your best one yet!

I saw the Studio 54 version of Cabaret, but I don't remember who played the Emcee. It was well after Alan Cummings' original run. It's a fantastic show. And i love Schmicago's Jenny Banks. Kaput is a brilliant send up of Mein Herr...

this was a really interesting and excellent researched video. one thing i think it's a little irresponsible not to note though when speaking about baum and his connection to his MIL and her inspiration by indigenous communities, is that baum believed in the complete extermination of indigenous people in america, a hardline racist opinion that was no by no means the standard belief of the time.

The industry rewards bad behavior? Lols. Leave it to the audience to judge. We certainly know how to separate personal problems to wanting a great show. Thats why we showed up and watch.

See how pushing for ‘representation/diversity’ rather than talent can sometimes lead to disaster.

Full Tilt Theatre Diva Queen and I LOVE HER!

She was so talented ❤

I recall meeting her backstage at some Broadway show and I was struck by how her fore and middle finger on her right hand were absolutely burnt brown from smoking Camels (or Luckies) down to the bone. She was quite nice, BTW.

I blast the original album while rolling down the street, windows down, belting out every lyric. Loved it since I was a kid. Not ashamed. #ianandmurray

And now that we know she will be playing Mama Rose in the next revival of Gypsy... I can already say that another tony is on the way months before the first preview!!

“Secular” means void of any religion at all, not just Christianity.

I went to see Wicked a few weeks ago, that Unelected official line got a good response, as I imagine it has for the past few prime ministers.

You touch on it a little in the video, but the Finnish production is actually really interesting when it comes to the themes of populism/fascism. From the photos I've seen and things I've read, that production ratcheted up the authoritarian feel of Oz by doing things like having characters "disappeared" off stage by Oz soldiers and never seen again, designing the Wizard's lair with a lot of eye theming (Big Brother is watching you and all that) and costuming the Wizard to look like Joseph Stalin

It's interesting because I think with Barbra, it makes Funny Girl at odds with itself in such a way that remains unsolvable to this day. Fanny Brice's story is one about using your "flaws" to your advantage within the entertainment industry, and whilst Barbra's Fanny does practice this within the musical, her story is one of using your talent to change the perception of your beauty - everyone fell in love with her for her beauty, which uses quirks inspired by Fanny (though also very much Barbra) to come across endearing, but the music of it is the centrepiece, and Barbra's singing is beautiful. Fanny's story is to specifically profit off of exploiting her Jewishness, Barbra's Fanny's story is to become beautiful to the live audience - which is how Barbra's performance lives in memory, beautiful. This may explain why people were so pressed and hateful toward Beanie - Barbra's version made the story one no longer about the performances of Fanny Brice or embracing flaws, but one about being talented and beautiful, and unfortunately to many her inability to sing like Barbra. I'm not saying Beanie isn't beautiful, but people online found that she wasn't; I think this is due obviously in part to her looks, even though casting an unconventionally attractive actress for Fanny made sense back when Barbra did it, people remember Barbra as beautiful and expected that. You'd then expect Beanie to be able to do what Fanny did - sing her way into endearing the audience. And it's clear audiences weren't convinced. I think in this way, Lea Michele's rise to the role makes perfect sense - Barbra's Fanny in memory is not a story about Fanny as a person, it's a vehicle to showcase a big voice in an adorkably attractive character. Michele was kind of pimped out on Glee, really attempted to be sold as attractive to the audience (which was VERY strange, but anyway), but even the character of Rachel Berry has been collectively found annoying (I love her, mostly in Season 1, but I digress) let alone the perceptions of Lea as a person. She kind of has the same thing going that the Barbra production does in that Fanny's personality is secondary to taking in the awe of her talent (though Fanny is much more endearing than Lea or Rachel in personality). As Kurt Hummel once said, "She may be difficult, but boy can she sing." The Rachel Berry solos get tiresome, but people agree they are technically some of the best on the show - even if you don't like her "awful" personality, she has a seemingly beautiful talent to offer.

It must kill Lea Michele that she couldn't get a Tony nom for Funny Girl, and I don't know how I feel about that.

Well, I would love to hear you come back to this and talk about the very divided response to Eddie Redmayne's Tony performance

I saw it on stage and didn't think it lived up to the hype.

People have to accept that you can't make better of a perfect thing.

That trapezoidal mirror at 10:32 also appears in “Springtime for Hitler” from the Mel Brooks musical, The Producers. And it just helped me realize the multiple layers of satire.😮🤯😂

This is very late, but based on your chronology, my first awareness of Peters was in The Jerk, although I probably saw her in the Carol Burnett Show. I was definitely a fan and sought out her films and appearances from then on. I enjoyed the movie Slaves of New York, and of course seeing Sunday and Into the Woods on PBS.

Ironically, she was an educator of children. I love you.

They are both nepo hire!!!!! What they should have done was do a talent search! Barbra was the find of the century and has more talent than both combined!

I'm very hopeful the rumors of more inclusion of the book are true, as it's one of my favorites. My personal gripe with the musical is how they change the origin stories of the Tin Woodman and the Scarecrow; as an Oz purist, the changes feel like a cheap copout.

This video is awesome! Congrats!

Hedwig and the Angry Inch mention ❤

Watching this and hearing you say “I wonder how audiences will respond to this current revival of Cabaret” post Tony’s is so funny cuz for the past week twitter has been arguing whether or not Eddie Redmayne’s emcee is good or not

Imagine being Jean Ross and being someone who is socially and politically aware and struggling to make the best of life just for your friend who is Actually politically unaware to make you into a caricature. Then to have everyone associate that with being the real you ALONGSIDE also having your real trauma be one of the first things people know about you. I think Sally Bowles is a great character in the sense that the actresses who have portrayed her brought a lot to her character, but I can’t imagine how frustrating it must have been to realize your friend viewed you like that while they themselves were apathetic to politics and social justice.

A playwright friend told me Christopher Isherwood, upon whose stories the musical is based, said the real Sally was a hot mess, and if she were as talented as Liza's portayal, she would've been the toast of Paris and not struggling in a dive cabaret.

I’m a Right wing guy and still greatly enjoy this channel and the very well researched and presented material in every video. I saw “Wicked” in London in 2019, and it was a marvelous production all around. With that said, I will not see either film as (1) they’re at least a decade too late, and (2) I’m underwhelmed by the cast. Have no fear tho: by casting a Black woman as Elphaba, the producers are no doubt seeking to make allusions to modern racial issues in order to pander, and I’m sure that our 45th President will be worked into the criticism somehow.

I think those political tones in the story may have lost their specificity (I certainly didn’t think of Clinton or Bush when I first saw Wicked) but they haven’t lost their heft. I wish that it weren’t true but the concept of “you celebrate a unique person as long as it benefits you, and then publicly demonize their outward traits as soon as they disagree with you” is not only still relevant but increasingly so as modern day media and politics use it more and more shamelessly. If anything, it’s made Wicked slightly less subtle over time just by merit of how aware we all are of it now.

I came in interested in the title topic and ended up leaving OBSESSED with Matilda Gage

Well researched and beautifully told story of Wicked. Thank you for your scholarship. 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Margaret Hamilton brought to life one of THE greatest screen villains with her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West. She absolutely terrified me when I was a small child. Between her and Robert Helpman as the Child Catcher it’s a miracle I got any sleep as a kid!

In general any time people complain about “this song/character/line of dialogue from a bad character or set in a bad time is racist!” and can’t realize that YES! That is Literally The Entire Point! Sometimes, bad people exist, and sometimes we want to make bad people exist in media and the entire point is to make you feel shock and outraged. By realizing that Bad Guy Bad, you might go into the world and think “hey, this guy Bad like Bad Guy Bad!” And change your world, or at least know it when you see it.