My friend Fran Eppy died peacefully in her sleep this weekend.
If you saw Heights or Hamilton you met her.
She was an usher at the Rodgers.
& she was my surrogate abuela at the theater after my abuelas passed.
(it’s a miracle I even have this pic, she hated her picture taken) 1/2
No matter what was going on, I could escape backstage to talk to Fran (“Lin are you eating? I worry...”) She made me laugh so hard & treated me like family from the day we met in 2008. Her son shared this pic w me.
I love her and I’m gonna miss her a lot. Rip Fran Eppy.💔
(If any cast or crew from any Rodgers shows over the past 30 some-odd years wanna reach out to her family directly, I can put you in touch)
I tried to do a #Ham4Ham with Fran in 2016 but it went off the rails SO fast. 1) she didn’t like being filmed and 2) We made each other laugh too much and kept getting distracted. I never got a clean take. Here’s a highlight of her correcting my diction in Say No To This 💔
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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!