#unprepared

iI had bonale as johnny both nights. jesus christ. the maturity he brings to johnny is crazy, both vocally and the way he acts. he's still a kid though, he just... watching him switch from "im with my friends and hanging out :D" to "those guys with the rings are right there" to "holy shit I just killed someone and we gotta Go" was so interesting

also a big fan of continued native johnny. as always

bonale also to me really embodied the johnny gets quiet and stays kinda calm and collected when shit goes down. I liked the fact that he never really screamed at ponyboy, only yelled to get his attention

on that note all the soc violence looked really good, I felt like I was just always watching bonale when he and pony get jumped. it looks good

another MAJOR win for me. jally is real, across multiple dallys (Tyler and Seth, more on that later). overall Johnny felt like a true equal to dally. this goes hand in hand with the maturity to me, because Johnny was also very accurate in the caretaking sense for pony, which I didn't totally get on broadway. this felt more like pony was genuinely younger and less mature rather than on the same level os Johnny right off the bat. and with caretaking, like, Johnny finishes cleaning up ponyboy after he gets jumped, and

but no jally was real and true and I loved it. like those were two boys who were in love with each other and won't talk about it

on that note. both Tyler and Seth were crazy good. like I was not well, they were soooooooo. they were also very distinct, which I love

Seth was a little too emotionally open/vulnerable for dally for me? but I didn't *not* enjoy it its just more open than I think dally usually would be with most people

im saying this, also saying im excited to relisten to my audio and see if a second listen/rewatch in my brain changes my perspective at all

something they both did was when they jump in front of the train, they sink to their knees and sit there while pony does his monologue about how dally took off. Tyler sits there and stares upstage during it, but Seth falls completely down on his hands and knees and sits there like that. and I was soooo. I felt like I was punched in the chest man

one thing I liked like I said was Tyler and Seth's dallys felt very distinct to me. like when Johnny dies- Tyler when hes standing in front of the train is almost challenging until the very last moment where he sorta.. drops the tough guy stuff. Seth though as soon as Johnny dies becomes a kid who very clearly believes there's nothing left to live for. I liked both of those a lot

both of them also realistically read like they were a kid. like I believed that they were young

jaydon was two-bit both times, loved him. very morally weird. a+

I saw Nolan/travis/Corbin as pony Darry and soda both times and they were great as a trio. travis's Darry makes me crazy hes mean and jealous and caring and stoic and

idk. it was really compelling to me especially the way he.. didn't cry. the closest he came was while he and soda were trying to get pony out of his funk, he got choked up, and then he stuffed it all down and did not cry at all. fucked up /pos

speaking of travis. his aversion to touch when he's emotional -> initiating the hug with soda at the end of throwing in the towel. I was unwell

he also had SUCH a country sound to his voice when he was singing alone, especially runs in the family/reprise. I was like yeeessss give me more country...

Nolan also I thought brought ponyboys youngness mixed with his thoughtfulness together sooo well

Brandon was hard not to watch when he was on stage. he's so funny and so Steve to me ngl. he also did a lot of cool acro tricks <3333

I think im gonna make a whole separate post about East Asian Bev and south asian two. and how much more interesting Bev being a girl of color makes her since she doesn't get a lot textually. but the asian politics are also really compelling and idk if its was intentional or not on casting's part

but basically it rocked. it was so much more interesting to me than when Bev is a white girl. and it ALSO makes it more interesting that Ryo was in as trip both times. I haven't fully formed my thoughts to articulate on that end but I just think. im gonna need to make a whole separate post on socness+conditional whiteness+the politics that an East Asian Bev specifically brings to the show

I need more people to talk about Emma Hearn's cherry! again, felt very...accurate to the book imo. like she starts with room to grow, and she goes on that journey throughout the show, and I genuinely could believe that she was upset to see ponyboy in such bad condition at the end of the show

the socs generally were really touchy with Johnny, especially at the drive in and then when he and pony get jumped. like....yeah, they were so targeting him :(

Dante bob was really good. like.. both times I found him sooo compelling in the sense that he's a boy who hasn't been told no. and I felt like it was obvious that he was spiraling out of control

The NSFT one can be found here on Pillowfort.