On Sondheim's 80th birthday in 2010, @roundaboutnyc asked a bunch of theater composers to each write a song for the occasion & perform it for the maestro himself. Or as @lindsayabaire put it that evening: "It's Michael Jordan's birthday: dribble for him."
(1/i dunno yet by -LMM)
An intimidating assignment, to say the least. To begin to say what Sondheim means to you, to Sondheim himself. Everyone went at it differently & brilliantly. I went...meta. I rewrote the lyrics to Barcelona from Company & made it about the evening itself. One problem...(2/ha)
the central conceit of my rewrite hinged on @TheRitaMoreno being the other singer in the duet.
I did not know Rita Moreno.
And she had no idea who I was.
Here's an excerpt of my email to her agent (it went ON): (3/whee)
The resolve that the Ukrainian people have shown since this invasion began is humbling & inspiring. We advocate for an immediate end to Russia’s hostility against them, so they may continue to chart their own future. Ukrainians, we are with you. 🇺🇦 -LMM (1/4)
Donating may seem like a drop in a bucket, but it's a place to start. Our family will be donating to @UrgentAct, a feminist fund that protects, strengthens and sustains women and non-binary human rights defenders at critical moments. (2/4)
They are responding to requests from groups and individuals seeking emergency evacs; legal, financial, med support, survival training, shelter capacity, access to alt comm channels. (3/4)
One of the best side missions of @freestylelove supreme is that somewhere around 2004, I called dibs on making the pre-show playlists, & they just continue to let me? Anyway, I made EIGHT for the Bway run this year, here they are...--LMM open.spotify.com/playlist/16V7C…
The only mission in the pre-show playlists is to create as wild an array of music as possible: we don't know what's gonna happen in @freestylelove, so prepping the audience to be ready for anything is impt--LMM open.spotify.com/playlist/3c7uE…
Okay, going to post a bunch of bts pictures of the Sunday sequence from #ticktickBOOMmovie now. This was an early draft of the tableau, though we didn't end up putting Howard McGillin aka the longest running Phantom on the roof... -LMM #SundayDeepDive
Would not have happened w/o my fearless 1st AD @MComitini, who had to juggle LEVELS of quarantine & keep artists 6 feet apart at all times. Almost every group shot you see is several separate shots put together in postproduction. We had 3 days to get it. -LMM #SundayDeepDive
Example: @Andre_DeShields and @heebyfluff shoot at the same time, same with @MjRodriguez7 and Joel Grey, but I had to shoot them separately and put them all together after. Multiply by *you've seen the movie* and you get a sense of the logistics involved. -LMM #SundayDeepDive
On this #GivingTuesday, we are grateful for all the orgs with which we collaborate throughout the year. Here we highlight 4 orgs we love - we will be matching all gifts made through these links -LMM (1/6)
.@DRMariposas creates sustainable solutions to end generational poverty in the Dominican Republic by educating + empowering girls. They just launched a Spanish book series for kids & are raising money to print + distribute to children in DR. (2/6)bit.ly/3ljbtLA
My mom @ltmphd is on board of @PPAct which has been leading organizing + advocating for repro rights + education. This week #SCOTUS will hear a case explicitly asking to overturn Roe v. Wade. We cannot sit back + hope the courts protect our rights. (3/6)bit.ly/3llRCvr
It’s been a busy few weeks, but we are excited to finally announce the last 2 #YOULLBEBACK Flashtakes winners and the @Prizeo GRAND PRIZE winner!
We're sending our #YOULLBEBACK flash winner @lstearn to NYC for a New Year's Eve experience with @MHMarquisNYC! We hope you enjoy New Year’s Eve in the Big Apple!