The Weekly Spill #25
my horoscope says i should wear chanel to the jellicle ball @ the abandoned star wars hotel
Happy Friday! I’m taking a short break from panicking about the giant venomous flying spiders that are currently en route to New York to write about all of the other things that I’ve had on the mind this week. More fun things, like presidential astrology and Audra McDonald. We are all over the place this week, but in a really slay and cool kind of way, you know? Exactly, yeah. So anyway, let me spill this week’s beans.
Audra Gypsy announcement: Here she is world!! As someone who has spent most of my life as an Audra McDonald fan (1999 Annie was huge for me), I am thrilled about this news. Next year’s Broadway season is shaping up to be legendary. I can’t wait to see what she does with the role of Mama Rose. It’s actually been taking up quite a bit of space in my brain. You can make the argument that it’s the greatest role in all of musical theatre. Not only that, but many consider Gypsy to be the greatest musical of all time. Legends play Mama Rose. Everyone who has played her, has made the part their own. I mean Patti LuPone and Bernadette Peters did the roles so differently in the most recent productions. Who will Audra’s Rose be? I don’t know, but it will be amazing.
I can’t wait until they announce the rest of the cast. I have to go see it. This is a musical theatre event. Is this the biggest revival casting news since Bette Midler played Dolly Levi? Perhaps. Audra would be a great Dolly too, now that you bring it up. She really can do anything. I predict her 7th (!!!) Tony win is imminent. Can you tell I’m excited? Just checking!
Chappell Roan for Paper Magazine: Thank you Paper Magazine!! I’m glad that someone can spot a meteoric rise to pop girl superstardom when it’s happening right in front of them. I want to see her do more photoshoots. She’s so cool and down to wear weird stuff in a way that other rising stars probably aren’t. I love that they had Trixie Mattel interview her. Just two midwest princesses having a chat!
Jenny Nicholson’s infamous 4-hour Star Wars Hotel video: I was just going to try to watch a little bit of this to see what all the hubbub (x, x, x) was about. Before I knew it, the video was over. Maybe I had lost four hours of my life, but I gained so much useless tea. I sat, completely captivated, in front of my TV and watched her explain everything. I really don’t know how she did it. Was I ever interested in going to the Star Wars hotel? No. But now I know every detail about why I was correct to not be interested. And that’s really important because I love to feel validated in my opinions. Also, it’s nice to feel superior to those who paid thousands to essentially play games on their phones in a windowless building in Orlando.
The Ethel Merman disco album: Now I can’t get back on the topic of Mama Rose again, but I’ve got to talk about The Ethel Merman Disco Album because I can’t stop listening to it. The album is just broadway songs, but disco. She even does “Everything’s Coming Up Roses.” It’s bizarre and I’m obsessed. I want it on vinyl. Who’s doing it like this these days? No one! Please add to your disco playlists immediately.
Merman wasn’t the only one disco-fying broadway standards at the time. Grace Jones’s album Portfolio has some amazing musical theatre songs. If you haven’t heard her rendition of “Tomorrow” from Annie you are missing out. (Do you see how I connected everything? Audra, Annie, Gypsy, Merman, Disco, Grace Jones, Annie, Audra….. impressive, I know.)
Can we get disco-fied Defying Gravity for the Wicked movie soundtrack or something?
Nancy Reagan’s astrologer: I discovered this cosmic diva after watching the docuseries about the first ladies on HBO, and I feel she has been unfairly forgotten in American herstory. Nancy Regan was obsessed with astrology, especially after Regan was shot
by that guy who was in love with Jodie Foster.Astrologer Joan Quigley told Nancy that she’d seen the assassination attempt coming (obviously), and from then on most decisions were run by Quigley. President Reagan’s chief of staff wrote in his memoir, “Virtually every major move and decision the Reagans made during my time as White House Chief of Staff was cleared in advance with this woman in San Francisco who drew up horoscopes to make certain that the planets were in a favorable alignment for the enterprise.”
Quigley was so offended by the portrayal of her working relationship to the couple in Nancy Reagan’s memoir that she wrote a tell-all book about her experience in retaliation. I am tempted to read it. Look at the campy ‘80s cover art!
the choice to add the astrological signs around the presidential seal is inspired *chef’s kiss* Question for the culture: Where is the Joan Quigley biopic? I think that if Flaming Hot Cheetos can get a biopic, then so can the Reagan’s socialite astrologer. If Ryan Murphy is reading this (and I’m sure he is… hi diva!), you can have this fantastic idea for the next season of Feud. Call me crazy, but it kind of seems written in the stars. Get it? Okay, moving on.
Season 3 cast of Traitors: I don’t know who is in charge of casting this show, but maybe they should throw their name in the ring for President. This cast is amazing. I predict a few of these people will make excellent game players. And a literal gay lord? I hope he forms a royal gay alliance with Bob the Drag Queen. I want Dorinda to fight someone. I’ve missed her. Very excited about the new season. You can read about the full cast here.
Ballroom Cats: Have they… actually found a way to make Cats work? I am very excited about this new reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s infamous musical. I thought that the disaster of the movie would keep any revival from happening, but I am so happy to be wrong.
swifties, which era would we call this? or is it it’s own era? would love to know, thnx! The musical is essentially plotless, but follows a group of “jellicle cats” as they gather to compete at the annual Jellicle Ball. At the ball, the cats take turns presenting themselves via musical numbers for the chance to die and move to the next life. That’s basically it. There’s other weird stuff,
like the cat orgy, but we don’t have time to get into all of that. All you need to know is that the cats compete at the ball.This new staging with reinterpret the story and set it within New York’s ballroom scene. These “cats” are human, and they are bringing the Jellicle Ball from the junkyard to the catwalk. I applaud anyone who tries to take a classic show and find a way to make it work for modern audiences. Many revivals just feel like copies of the original production, but what the creative team has done here looks genius. From my understanding this short clip is the first sneak peek of the show, and I’m sold.
Virginie Viard leaving Chanel: The big fashion news of the week! Virginie Viard is stepping down as Chanel’s Artistic Director after 5 years. Viard was a protégée of the late Karl Lagerfeld, and worked alongside him for two decades. Her vision was, in essence, to continue Lagerfeld’s vision.
The question is: who will take over? I think whoever they choose will be very telling. We will get an insight into the direction they want to steer the brand in a way that we didn’t when Viard was appointed. Every name in the book has been thrown out since the news dropped on Wednesday. Will it be Pierpaolo Piccioli? Hedi Slimane? Phoebe Philo? John Galliano? Sarah Burton? I’ve even heard Jeremy Scott’s name in the mix. I would love to see Clare Waight Keller at the helm of a brand again, but I don’t know if she has the clout for Chanel right now. Would they bring in a celebrity a la Pharrell Williams for Louis Vuitton Menswear? Who knows? The celebrity thing feels highly unlikely, but never say never I guess. My Chanel source didn’t give me any insider info, so I have no clue. Guess we will all just have to wait and see.
That’s all for this week! I hope that all of you have a fabulous weekend dancing to The Ethel Merman Disco Album. Check your birth chart first though, obviously, and make sure it’s a good time cosmically for that. Go forth and slay my divas. Also, get excited for some very fun newsletters coming soon!!