#isadora wolfe

[thebloodybusiness]

I don't think I was emotionally prepared for Tim Heck's Banquo 1:1 and Isadora Wolfe's Lady Macduff 1:1 in one night.

Oh my…I’ve never had that combination in the same night, but I can certainly understand this.

So much heartbreaking, but ultimately ineffectual, parental concern. God, if you got them in the same loop you could spend the next half-hour crying your eyes out.

-C

[thebloodybusiness]

It was always Isadora Wolfe, every time I went, even when I went to a double performance. I thought she must be fucking exhausted!

I had a feeling! Yes, this was also true of Cawdor and I when we first started going to SNM two years ago - Isadora Wolfe was Lady Macduff for all of our first seven or eight shows. I too thought she was the only person playing that role for a time. I adore her Lady Macduff - her 1:1 is so tender and lovely. 

—Glamis

[thebloodybusiness]

I've always seen the same performer as Lady Macduff, and have been to the show numerous times. Have I just happened to always go on her nights, or is she the only actor who plays that role? If so, do you know why?

Glamis here, and there are currently five gorgeous and amazing women playing the role of Lady Macduff: Isadora Wolfe, Haylee Nichelle, Lily Ockwell, Mariel Lugosch-Ecker and Ingrid Kapteyn. I have followed all and all manage to put their own special touches on such a tragic role. Can I ask who is the performer you’ve been seeing?   

[elderflowerchampagne]

Sleep No More Round 10 - BE AGGRESSIVE. BE-E AGGRESSIVE.

Welcome back, suckers. So I've decided to instate a new policy on recaps. I got four one on ones this time, and I've decided from now on not to disclose what happens in them - partly because I know Marisa wants a lot of the ones I got, partly because people have suggested it to me in the past, partly because I'm too fucking lazy to detail them all.

So I arrived in the Manderley, threw myself down at my favorite table, and started to cry and laugh like an idiot. Forgive me that, friends, it's been a long time and I was desperate to be back. I wanted to grab hold of Violet and hug her and say, "It is indescribably good to see you again." Except I didn't because I've never really met her also it would have been weird also I am acutely conscious that she is not Violet but in fact Elizabeth Romanski who doesn't really talk like that and who sat behind me that one time we saw Macbeth. I did talk to her a little bit before I got on the elevator. She asked my name and asked if we'd met. I said the last time I saw her she was in red, and she giggled and said it couldn't have been her, unless she was very drunk. She only wears black because it hides the gin stains better.

As always I got off the elevator at the fifth floor because I still hold on to the idea that one day Isadora Wolfe will be the nurse and all will be right with the world and I can stop getting off on the fucking fifth floor. It usually takes me a while to find the nurse but this time I saw her immediately, arranging things in the ward. It was just her and I up there, and I bent down to see if I recognized her. I didn't, but a moment later when I ran into her again she held her hand out to me and I figured the nurse's 1:1 was worth another shot. It was dark in there and I couldn't make out her face, but I could tell it wasn't Isadora so once she let me go I bolted down to the fourth floor in the hope that I would be lucky enough to catch her as Hecate. I hung out in hallway by the rep bar until Hecate came crashing out - Julia Campanelli. On my way down Gallow Green I saw that Emeri Fetzer was Agnes, which left the matron, Lady Macduff and Lady Macbeth if in fact my perpetual favorite was in fact on. I went down to the third floor and saw that the Macbeths were Leslie Kraus and Joe Poulson, so I went over to the Macduff apartments, officially Lady Macduff Huntin'. It's just like Wabbit Huntin' except you look for a pregnant lady with a drug problem. I went down to the the ballroom and saw that Danvers and Duncan were having their duet, which I love and was happy to see again. I'm pretty sure Cat DeAngelis was Mrs. D, but I've yet to receive confirmation that she plays the part. I went after her, knowing that eventually she'd meet up with Lady Macduff. It was in fact Isadora and I very happily watched the milk dance in the hotel dining room. Is there some kind of class Lady Macduffs take where they learn to crash down onto the table without smashing the teacups?

I followed her down the stairs to the banquet scene, where I scoped out who was on for everything else - Lily Ockwell as Sexy, Garth the Newguy as Boy Witch, Hope Davis as Bald, Phil Atkinson as Duncan, William Popp as Malcolm, and two men I did not recognize as Banquo and Macduff, though I'm 90% sure Banquo was Jonothon Lyons. 

I wandered off to find the porter after that. I think it was Matty Oakes....? I know he's not officially in the show anymore but comes around to fill in sometimes. I never really follow the porter so I've got nothing to compare his performance to, but it the thing that struck me is how fay his porter is  - limp wristed, etc. (I'm so out of the loop. We all agree that the porter's gay, right?) Anyway, the porter's life sucks worse than Lady Macduff's. I followed him into his office where he pounded nail into some kind of doll to drown out the sound of Lady Macduff getting killed. He put his hands over his ears and rocked back and forth, crying. When it was over he went out into the lobby, ducked behind the desk, and wrote a letter to God. "Dear Lord, I have done something terrible. Innocent blood has been spilt... Remember the porter." It was the saddest thing I've ever seen happen in the McKittrick.

I went up to see the Macduffs on the top of the china closet. (Official announcement: Lady Macduff's housedress is my favorite SNM costume.) I was back in the ballroom in time for the cycle to reset, and I set myself up in my Lady Macduff catching spot. I've got lots of catching experience. Aside from the rave it's the only thing I do every visit. I know that Lily goes sideways, everyone else backwards. Except I fucked it up this time, or perhaps Isadora has been taking Lily Lessons. I reached for her a second too early, and only managed to grab a bit of her dress as she threw herself down sideways. Oops. Now, Lady MacD and I have an abusive relationship. I catch her/drop her and attempt to follow her for her one on one, and she doesn't pick me. This time I was lucky. The girl she reached for turned her down, so I stepped forward and just came around the couch and took her hand. She smiled at me and whispered her thanks, and took me into her one on one room. I think hers is my third favorite, after the barman and the matron. 

After that it occurred to me that I was really thirsty, so I wandered off in search of a drink and instead ran into Banquo just in time for his one on one. Delightful, since I missed out on it last time and wasn't even tryin'. After that was over I realized I still hadn't seen Fulton, who might have been fellow Purchaser and default male favorite Zach McNally. I head into the rep bar, intending to hang out in the hallway behind it until he showed up to peer in. Side note: Julia needs to practice timing her breathing. I could see her tapping her foot under her dress but she was still messing it up. Anyway, Fulton never showed so I went out after Bald Witch. I cleaned her up in the apothecary and then went back to the rep bar to catch the barman as he was drinking tears. Hecate accidentally hit me with her fan. She shrugged. Classic Hecate.

I trailed the barman for a while after that. We went back into the rep bar to set it up for the next rave, and he backed into me, stepping on both my feet. He turned around,  grabbed me by the shoulders, and looked into my eyes until I nodded. When it came time for the one on one he picked me, I guess as an apology. Glad I caught it.

Towards the end of the night it was up to my favorite floor -5. I found the nurse as she was coming out of her one on one and followed her into the operating theatre where she played hangman. I've never seen that before. I think she might be one of my new favorites. She started scrawling out the text of Lady Macbeth's letter. "DEAREST. REST REST REST REST REST REST REST." Knowing that she used to be a patient there makes that a hell of a lot more poignant. As per usual I did the whole jump-backwards-through-the-window thing. It's the most exercise I ever get. I don't know who played the matron, it was dark and I'm terribly rusty. I was surprised that after that it was already time to head down for the hanging.

I got walked out by Lily, which has never happened before. All of I have to say about that is that she smelled overpoweringly of chocolate and I slammed my shoulder into the wall on the way out. Still hurts.

Round 11 on July 24. This one will be hard to top.

[thebloodybusiness]

Last night, I was Camped, VanComped, Goodwitched, Anayalated, Romanskied, Lockwelled and most of all, I was HecaWolfed*! I was serenaded twice, kissed approximately thirty times, watched malfunctions become choices that were amazing, saw someone entirely captivate two guests, making us both feel like the only (luckiest) boy in the world *at the same time*, saw ridiculously good dancers doing ridiculously good stuff, stole a paper boat, made giant-size uber-potions, street drank, street-ate dinner, had great conversations with almost all of my favorite people, experienced eleventy thirty-one moments of deja-vu and Lulu turned me on to my new favorite drink. Well, my second favorite, nothing beats a flask of gin & St. Germain fresh from the freezer. :)

Good, long, hot, sweaty, exhausting night.

*Jesus effing Christ if you get the chance to see Isadora do this, take it! Imagine all the haughty arrogance of Lady Macbeth at the peak of her confidence but now she has real, actual magical powers. And a secret. And a fabulous dress. And lackeys. And she loves it. Right up until she doesn't.

[thebloodybusiness]

Adventures with Lady Macduff

Cawdor here.

The following is a true accounting of a narrowly averted crisis. :)

So there I was last night, watching this pregnant woman who just wanted to dance with her husband. First this witch steps in and steals her man, then this other horrible woman drugs her! She stood in front of me, swaying and stumbling until she fell, right back into my arms! I gently lowered her to the floor.

And that's when all hell broke loose for about 60 seconds. Apparently no one but me noticed.

First of all, it was Isadora Wolfe, so, hair. SO. MUCH. HAIR. :) The clasp of my bracelet got tangled in her hair as I lowered her to the ground. A slight-but-manageable panic set in.

Internal monologue: "I can get that out, I can feel that it's not too bad. As soon as I lower her head I'll use my left hand to separate the hair and we're OH MY GOD WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?" PANIC.

The THAT to which I refer was the fact that I caught, out of the corner of my eye, my thistle pocket watch falling out of my pocket and heading directly for her face. And her eyes were closed. PANIC.

With cat-like agility, I slapped the pocket watch as it fell with the back of my left hand. it hit the floor right next to her head, and the bow broke off. PANIC.

So now there's a swinging chain hanging off my vest, maybe an inch from her eye. My watch is on the floor next to her head and my bracelet is still caught in her hair. PANIC.

I scooped the watch, then shoved it and the chain in my pocket. I slipped my left hand into her hair, freed my right wrist and slid it out from under her head just as Danvers came to wake her. PHEW. PANIC OVER, YOU SMOOTH BASTARD. NICE ONE, ALMOST GAVE HER A BLACK EYE AND RIPPED OUT A CHUNK OF HER HAIR. YOU DA MAN, DAWG.

Longest minute I have ever spent in the McKittrick.

We went stumbling up the stairs together, and she seemed to recognize me. We prayed, I was salted, that all went super smoothly, Mainly because I tried not to move or blink or screw it up by, I don't know, tripping and crushing her to death or accidentally setting the apartment on fire or whatever stupid slapstick thing was threatening to happen next.

Later in the bar I asked Isadora and she said she didn't have any idea it'd happened. She also mentioned that stuff gets stuck in her hair all the damn time. :)

Needless to say, Isadora was brilliant and beautiful and she's the best.

P.S. Got the watch fixed today for five bucks. Old school watch repair guy with a huge box of spare parts for the win.

[thebloodybusiness]

Maybe a thesaurus would help

Cawdor here.

I'm having that moment when you want to write about your recent experiences at Sleep No More, but all your brain keeps doing is "LILY OCKWELL IS THE BEST AND OH MY GOD ISADORA WOLFE IS THE BEST JUST SAY THAT OVER AND OVER BUT DON'T FORGET PAUL ZIVKOVICH IS ALSO THE BEST AND AVA LEE SCOTT IS THE BEST, BUT ALSO CHELSEA BONOSKY IS THE BEST BUT LILY IS BUT ISADORA IS BUT HAYLEE NICHELE IS ALSO THE BEST WAIT HOPE DAVIS AND ZACH MCNALLY ARE THE BEST AND WAIT WAIT JOE POULSON IS THE BEST TOO AND LILY. AND ISADORA. AND PAUL. AND AVA. SHE'S ALSO THE BEST. AND YOU FORGOT THAT HAYLEE, HOPE AND ZACH ARE THE BEST. ALSO, YOU IDIOT, AUSTIN GOODWIN IS THE BEST, AND CONOR GODDAMNED DOYLE IS THE BEST. HEY DIPSHIT YOU FORGOT THAT ELIZABETH ROMANSKI IS THE BEST, AND THAT ISADORA AND LILY ARE THE BEST."

Then I start spinning out about how amazing the house staff and the bar staff are and how I should devote like, maybe a thousand words each to every single one of them.

So that must mean I need more coffee, more sleep or Addarall.

What I think it really means is that Sleep No More has an incredibly strong cast and crew, and I am lucky that they let me in the door. :)

[akajakeedwardmarks]

IS THIS MY LADY MACDUFF I SEE BEFORE ME? (11/20/12)

In the theatre world (especially Broadway), type casting can be a wonderful and terrible thing.  Wonderful if you are known as someone capable of understudying Matthew Broderick or Nathan Lane.  Terrible for much the same reason as producers may find it difficult to envision a performer in a different mold from what they might already know.  It also amazes me if you look at the ensemble photos for an original Broadway cast and compare it to an original cast for a National Tour of the same show.  However talented each of those separate groups of performers may be, the amount of doppelgangers between the two casts can be shocking.

At the McKittrick Hotel, while some of the performers may have similar looks, it is rare that they are hired to do only one role or be cast as any one “type”.  In fact, there is usually a great deal of contrast between the characters they play.  A few examples of this are, of course: Nick Bruder/Paul Zivkovich as MacBeth & Porter; Tori Sparks and Leslie Kraus as Lady MacBeth and Agnes Naismith; Lily Ockwell as Sexy Witch along with Lady MacDuff and Nurse Shaw.  For an entire group of amazing dancer/actors, it is most wonderful that they are given the opportunity to spread their wings and show such a very diverse emotional range. 

Upon her reunion with MacBeth in their Residence after the Ball, I was almost immediately struck by how much Isadora was reminding me of Kathleen Turner in “Body Heat”.  Does anyone remember this movie?  1981 film noir about a married woman who convinces her lover (William Hurt) to murder her husband.  I only saw it once long long ago but I remember Kathleen Turner being so incredibly sexy in this film, it made a lasting impression.  Isadora brought the same burning, sexual embodiment into her Lady MacBeth.  Everything was just on heat in that room and the sparks flew between her and Nick Bruder.

Later, when MacBeth returned after drawing first blood and the whole room is filled with that delicious chocolaty scent (yes…murder smells like chocolate in The McKittrick), she becomes even more seductive.  Oh, and her rage is terrifying.  The moment we specters appear to her for the first time whilst she’s in her dressing chamber, challenging and haunting her decision to embrace all of that blood just infuriates her and throws her into a deeper madness.  Madness that even causes her to dwell very briefly upon the possibility of escaping all the events that she is responsible for.  And it just kept building and building.  After the Banquet, she grabbed my hand, and led me upstairs for her final descent.  It was thrilling (and also totally different from my previous post about Leslie Kraus’ stunning performance).  

But, then, at the 2nd Ball, I was still teeming with Isadora’s energy and needed a release.  Malcolm.  I needed Malcolm.  Or more specifically in “McKittrick speak”, I needed to be “POPPed”.  I’ve never experienced it with William (although I have been “BenT” (is that a thing?)).  So, it seemed as perfect a time as any.  Glad I had my running shoes on because up (and up and up) we went.  But, while I got close, alas, it was not to be.  One night.

The next best thing that immediately occurred to me after Malcolm vanished into his secret space was sugar…I need sugar.  Just as I’m rounding the corner to Paisley Sweets the witches began to appear in Gallow Green and I thought a little handling from the formidable (and, sadly, soon to be departed) Kelly Bartnik as Bald Witch would be the perfect remedy.  While I did eventually get a gentle caress from her, I got a little green with envy when I witnessed Cawdor receiving her affections (but if it had to be anyone – I’m glad it was him – or any other Tumblr for that matter – it was Tumblr Tuesday for goodness sake).

So with some amount of tension released, I decided to take a further rest and visit Manderley to see Maximilian and Violet but became immediately sidetracked when I saw Porter Paul getting ready to hang the sheets.  This was my first Porter Paul follow and I’m still savoring it and sorting through it all. Even after the 1:1 left me a bit desperate and trembling, I couldn’t leave him behind through the remaining scenes.  I thought I had lost him as he ushered us down to the final Banquet but my newfound friend must have sensed my further need because my hand was soon in his again for the time remaining and the walkout.   

As previously posted by The Bloody Business, To Manderley Again, and Who Keeps With Wolves, it was a terrific Manderley/post-Manderley/post-post Manderley night.  Good people.  Good company.  Great stories.  All of us still entranced by this very special place.  I couldn’t have asked for anything more.   To Tumblr Tuesdays!