Hey

Favorite Song: "Dirty Laundry"

Favorite Lyric: "Poor chicken little felt an acorn dropping on his head / Poor chicken little took to the streets / And cried and screamed and said / Run for the hills the sky is falling! / That's what he yelled / Far into the night / My what a laugh all his friends had / But what if he was right?

Who I Would Play: I obviously cannot hit the high notes for Felicia but I would eat the role up otherwise

So, it bears mentioning that just because something is a favorite of mine does not mean that I necessarily think that it is good- The Witches of Eastwick is messy as hell, but that's a big part of why I have such a fondness for it. I thought the show was neat when I first listened to it, but then I stumbled across a copy of the demo recordings (on J Musicals, RIP) and listening to them really gave me a new appreciation not just for the show, but for the delicate art of constructing a show in general.

There are interstitial numbers not on the cast recording, alternate/early versions of some of the big solos, extra songs for fleshing out the side characters, and all sorts of raw material that was gradually shaped into a musical; it's fascinating to toy around with and look at what works, what doesn't work, and even more fascinating because I don't think they ever really figured it out. There's an even better show still in there somewhere, we just have to find it.

Dempsey/Rowe did several shows together and while I don't think they ever wrote a truly great one, they did a lot of good work along the way and were an incredibly underrated composing duo. They are musical theatre through and through in a way that's both modern and nostalgic, and they clearly have a great love for the medium that shines through in the way they put things together. Ensemble numbers like the opening and "Dirty Laundry" move the plot along in an effective way and are as clever as they come (at times it's like listening to an operetta) while the solos are all carefully calibrated showcases of the different characters, and that's to say nothing of the iconic trios that they wrote for the titular witches.

There are pacing issues, the second act is weak and has some filler, some of the side characters are majorly underdeveloped, but in the moments it all comes together and the music swells... damn, it's what I love about theatre.

Favorite Song: "The Photograph"

Favorite Lyric: "And now it's time / To put that to bed / Now it's time / To let the dead / Be dead"

Who I would play: uuuuhhhhh probably the Brent track

In the spirit of hipsterism, let me point out that I knew about this show BEFORE it was popular from a tumblr mutual who saw the original production in New York and made sure that everyone on here was aware of it, so we were kinda the original fandom for it in a way! I got in on this one so early that I was able to snag the username "Ghost-Quartet" on a variety of platforms (sorry Dave!) so it's sort of extra special to me in a really strange way- there's a signed poster hanging just across the room from me right now.

I was always a weird kid, so it was such a treat to find a piece of musical theatre that was so unabashedly bizarre and unique and engrossing. It blends together so many things I love (horror, fairy tales, occultism, imagination) into a macabre puzzle box that challenges the listener in a really exciting way, and I've been toying with for years now.

Barbara Eden performs "Not Since Nineveh" in a 1967 made-for-tv adaptation of Kismet

I have always had a soft spot for Kismet despite the [gestures vaguely] of it all, and I imagine that this production was at least partially inspired by the prospect of giving Barbara "I Dream of Jeannie" Eden another vaguely Middle Eastern flavored star vehicle. Which... yeah, it was a different time, but she eats this number up at least.