theater
with the worst of all possible worlds podcast
Comments (94)
I’m an un-unionized* part-time student employee at a mid-size university. I have made more in one week than some of those stagehands. Good thing I’m going into film, an industry with none of these issues and is based in areas with affordable housing— * For now—LETS GO WAWU-UAW 4929. THIS IS THE YEAR. #AFFIRM
Listening to the presidential race news in Feb 2025. Yall fuckin called it.
I know its not this video, but im watching the olympic one, use w2g.tv for video synchronizing in the future, works great.
Can you release the audio on the subscriber podcast feed? I want to listen to it while I'm not on the computer because the computer makes me sad :(
IATSE stagehand in San Francisco here, where i make 50 bucks an hour but barely scrape by. Still this is a good job, though unstable from one month to the next as you noted. I have recently had the horror of having to accept work on an opera which I thought you all might enjoy knowing about. It was called The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs, and it ran at the SF operahouse in the spring 2024 season. I am working on a safety third for y’all, and wanted to say thanks for this episode delving into my industry — if you could call it that. Thanks all
I know a bunch of people in San Diego IATSE, they do pretty well between the job, unemployment, and mostly under-the-table side gigs. Did you ever send it that Safety Third bit?
roz said everyone loves the big biden smile. NO.
My gf was in a show last month funded and choreographed by an actual dentist. Can confirm the existence of dentist ballets
i volunteer to be the liam stunt double!! i can skate real good!!
The crews from “WTYP” and “Worst of All” together in one place makes me so incandescently happy.
BERNIE SANDERS CAN SUCK MY DAMN ASS
Minneapolitan here, the shaft is none of your business
When I still lived in upstate NY my coworkers were really into theater and participated in community theater when they had the time. Right before the 2016 election there was some production in the area that managed to buy radio commercial spots. It was some musical parody of the Trump vs Hillary campaign. None of my coworkers worked on it but some of them went to see it and said it was the worst thing they had ever seen on a stage. It completely vanished after the election and everyone who worked on it is probably now credited as “Alan Smithee”
I'm a Minnesotan, and I've been to the Guthrie several times recently. The Shaft is a walkway to a kind of underlying observation lounge that looks out at the Mississippi, the old Stone Arch Bridge (Built by J.J. Hill for you railroad history nerds) and the waterfall that was the power source for the mills that provided the wealth that built the city. The waterfall is also why the river is not considered navigable above Minneapolis. I often drive right under The Shaft on my commute hone from work.
The Guthrie is so great
My partner is a theater actor and her most recent show paid her $175 for a six week run. Not 175 a week, 175 for the whole run, auditions, readings, and rehearsals included. I'm a musician who makes more than that a night and I just have so much respect for everyone involved in making theater happen
Yes! Please bring WTYP on Ice! To my midwest, mid-sized city. It will play in Peoria!
Speaking of theatres, when's the next live show?
Hearing Liam say "vore" is one of the strangest things I've heard on this podcast
I have to say, as much as I love the pod, it's hard hearing people say, "Back during Covid." It never ended. It's in the top four causes of death in the US, and is the source of a ton of new disability that we don't have a social safety net for. I just wish there was some acknowledgement of that sometimes. Maybe a better way of phrasing would be "during lockdown?"
Can we please send November down to watch the new Starlight Express revival? I need someone to get mad about hydrogen trains.
The cannon on the Guthry theatre has another smaller performing space, think one or 3 person shows. There is also the yellow room above the base that gives great views out onto the Mississippi River, the Stone Arch Bridge and St Anthony Falls. The photo in the slides is photo shopped because there are skyscrapers right behind the theater . Also, it’s a great theatre. The main stage is a thrust style stage with the audience on three sides of the stage
Wicked the musical was so goddamn awful I walked out.
I’ll volunteer to be anyone’s stunt double for WTYP on Ice.
Hamilton was fine. It didn't live up to the hype, but it doesn't deserve the reactionary blowback, either. Also, I'm willing to give it a pass on its glossed-over portrayals of the characters. Anything that doesn't portray them as infallible god-kings is an improvement. An improvement over the HISTORY books that don't have the excuse of artistic license. Though it IS funny that even this decidedly pro-America, pro-Founding Fathers show still managed to piss off a lot of American conservatives, somehow.
I think its definitely one of those things that's better enjoyed for what it is rather than what it could have been. It's great as a musical, mediocre as a pop-history lesson and piss poor if you're expecting a detailed biography of a complicated historical figure.
"Me and and another gal were" is grammatically correct. Were is a linking verb so you use the objective form "me." Using "I" here is a rule from the renaissance era grammarians who really wanted English to be Latin. The other instance, without the linking verb, is because native English speakers vastly prefer the objective case for headless clauses. Prescriptivism isn't cool but you do you.
Ya'll need to get better on updating the RSS feed with the audio version of the podcast.
lol I work in philly's cantilever building
Liam, social worker by day, antisocial worker by pod.
We must discuss the greatest regional theatre…the Medora Musical (North Dakota)
The rangers riding horses on the hills around the stage is actually very baller
Shout out to the original Broadway production of Sweeney Todd (1979) with this wikipedia excerpt: ‘On the stage of the Uris Theater in New York, this tale of horrors was transformed into a mountain of steel in motion. [Director Harold] Prince's scenic metaphor for Sweeney Todd was a 19th-century iron foundry moved from Rhode Island and reassembled on the stage, which critic Jack Kroll aptly described as "part cathedral, part factory, part prison, that dwarfed and degraded the swarming denizens of the lower orders".’
Thanks for the audio fix! Can we get an audio-only release too? 🥺
Just chiming in to say the “shaft” of the Guthrie is basically exactly what Roz said it looked like: a sky bridge to nowhere. It is an observation deck overlooking the Mississippi towards northeast Minneapolis. Weirdly, the windows are strongly yellow-tinted, for artistic effect (I guess?)
In Boston we have our own Nicki Cochrane, she attends every show in a Hillary Clinton sweater and during any POC production, she makes sure to sit first row so she can turn to the entire audience during bows and point to her sweater
lmao
Listen, just run me as the Democratic candidate. Sure, I'm not a US citizen or 35 yet so I'm instantly disqualified, but I'd still have a better chance than Joe to beat Trump at this point.
Commenting before I watch the episode to tell you I disagree for no reason other than to get your attention
*shrug* I liked Hamilton Outside of that, between having to pay Ticketmaster their monopoly money or traveling to another country, theater just isn't a thing I can indulge in anyway. System is definitely fucked, but to me it's just another one of those "Whole world is fucked, here's a reminder" issues.
Local theater has it's value too. No where near the production values but still good fun
I am formally requesting a turn off the dark bonus ep
I want the Progressive Rock bonus episode
Thank you
I just want to appreciate the portrait of the supreme court justices inside the Black Lodge
Thank you, Devon, for fixing this so quickly! You're a wizard!
"I've put a lime in there" just killed me, man! Also, Cleveland Mentioned!
I am so fucking looking forward the DNC next month, and not for any good fucking reason tbh.
Joe should offer to play a quick 9 with Trump, loser drops out. (This is obviously a silly idea, but could Trump turn the challenge down?)
Liam yelling ruined this episode for me, his audio is so blown out it makes it physically painful to listen to. Please please stop doing this
The first date my honey and I ever went on was to see some cute young people we met in a gay club do a revue of Rogers and Hart songs. She told me that I was the first straight guy she'd ever gone to a musical with 🤣
Thank you for the correct Genesis opinions Roz.
I know the guy that was the swing for Patrick and Mr Krabs on Broadway, he'll make a great Liam
Is the Audio already fixed?
Yes is the greatest success of capitalism. Everything up to Close to the Edge would be worth it at 3 figures. The fact that i got this section of their catalog on 3 formats for under 10 bucks is a level of art accessibility that should only be possible under socialism. Meanwhile, the lack of demand is a failure of the masses and reveals the American working class as incapable of acting in self interest on any level.
Do the audio versions not get posted to the feed anymore? My podcatcher hasn’t picked one up since the LSD one.
no I gotta upload those my bad
it really feels like we're just winding down society cuz it costs money
If you thought Chevron deference was a judicial coup, I can't wait to hear the Goddamn News about laws no longer applying to presidents unless the 6 wizards feel like they do
Why does November have such a hard time pronouncing American names correctly?
Self defense against Roz's pronunciation of everything else?
We are working on fixing the audio issues, thanks everyone for bringing this to our attention
I blame Liam
Liam, you have the heart of a lion to do social work. Everybody else in the US, have an exit plan.
Wait, really? I thought his running list of careers was kind of a gag. Construction, finance, liquor store, oncology lab, social work? Edit: Im not being facetious, btw. It takes a masters degree and thousands of hours of training and a qualifying exam to be a licensed social worker in PA.
It isn't the opera episode I've been asking for but it will tide me over til winter
Broadway slants because there was an apple orchard in the way.
some of these recent episodes with multiple guests are damn near unlistenable because of how out of sync the audio tracks are. idk what sort of workflow you're recording in these days, but there's like 3-5 seconds of offset on some of the mic tracks, to the point where people just constantly talk over each other. i don't remember the older episodes being this bad.
26:50 for a specific example. He responds to both November's "misogyny" and Rocz's low whistle seconds before they actually give the prompt.
I saw THE PRODUCERS at a small play house, owned & operated by Don Bluth(of Bluth animations) They put on a really great show & I got to meet one of the greatest animators of all time.
Don’t forget the cops who live on Long Island and Upstate! They complained to the governor too about congestion pricing! Can’t be forced onto LIRR with the plebs.
Speed 2 wasn't *that* bad. I mean, it's not amazing, but if you think it's the worst sequel ever made you haven't seen many movies. Alright, I'll show myself out.
"Stone Cold" Steve Austin for president. Instead of debating he gives Trump another Stone Cold Stunner, and America is healed
I just wish Jesse Ventura had attempted to give it one more try. Likes Fidel Castro, sued Chris Kyle, and doesn't trust the cia
But is broadway "Back" I want to know.
it's back
I'm pro Milkshake but anti Milkshake's "Sit on Rocz's and Hurt him" Stance.
Worst theatre experience I've ever had (they are few; I don't like theatre in general) was Billy Elliot in London, where they took everything precious or poignant and turned it into something weirdly glib, loud and high-energy-camp shit. It's like they asked a dumb straight who is fundamentally uncomfortable with the material to adapt it to the stage. "Well, It's all dancin', innit? People having a good time, eh?"
Gerbert be praised
Great episode as ever!
Saw the title alongside the goddamn news preview still and thought to myself "haha that's a fitting title for whatever you're doing on the election", then as soon as AJ spoke I realized I was off the mark with that assumption and it's literally about theater. Not to complain, I'm here for anything featuring either y'all or the Lads, so I'm super fucking here for all of you at once. This'll be a hoot
thank goodness. a grand unified theory of at least half my exes
Looking forward to your systemic failure videos on SCOTUS and democracy 🫠
ps - a show on serfdom to prepare us might help
I don’t know anything about this and am excited
And you've got max. 120 minutes to wait, according to Roz
HECK YEAH
hyped for the news already great
Me, peaking in the window with the sickos shirt: yes! Heh heh heh, yes!
The best way to see Hamilton is to have Dave Anthony from the Dollop on a separate screen exploding in genuine annoyance every 10-20 seconds at both the style and content. Even if you knew nothing about any of the historical stuff, it was really annoyingly self-satisfied. It's like "what if a smug smirk was a play?". //it was a bonus for one of their milestones.
Imagine writing a musical about Alexander Hamilton, but not including how he destroyed the livelihoods of Appalachian farmers during the Whiskey Rebellion.
Can't wait to talk about Hamilton again 🫠
thank you for the food
The content gods have fed us hogs once more