Photo from the show Pink border doodle

DIANA Wears a Delightful, Dizzy Crown — Review

A review of Diana, The Musical by Juan A. Ramirez | November 17, 2021

What is taste? What is camp? Who cares? As the planet burns and floods, who am I to gatekeep this singing girlboss from a public hungry for in-person joy. Diana is not interested in the emotional nuances of the icon’s life—there are plenty of speculative stories around that already—nor is it a particularly sharp take on celebrity, or history. Rather, it is the blissfully bitchy tale of a kindergarten teacher who is pseudo-abducted into the nefarious romance between Charles and his longtime lover, Camilla Parker Bowles (Erin Davie, sly). It is the happily frantic musical that rhymes “bulimia” with “the media,” and has Queen Elizabeth II (Judy Kaye) openly wish for her daughter-in-law’s demise (intrigue!). The princess suffers a bit, laughs a bit, sings a lot, wears a couple of vengeful dresses, then steps out of the palace into eternity.

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Caroline, or Change: Inertia Buries a Musical Masterpiece

Juan Michael Porter II | October 27, 2021

When Caroline, or Change premiered on Broadway in 2004, critics lacked the imagination to appreciate what they had been given: a story that prioritized how many Black women bury their trauma in order to survive. Fifteen years later, one prominent theatre critic acknowledged that he was finally able to receive the glory of the story […]

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‘Dana H’: In Her Own Voice

Ran Xia | October 17, 2021

There’s something sinister about a motel room.  I think of buzzing fluorescent lights, the lingering scent of tobacco on every surface, nondescript paintings over nondescript wallpapers, and faint conversations from the next room. I’ve got vivid memories of those details, all of which could’ve been from an actual stay in a motel somewhere along a […]

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