Love for Les Mis

While I was never in theater in high school, I love going to plays – especially musicals. I have had a love affair with Les Misérables since the second grade, when my mom popped in the cassette tape (this was in the late 80’s when those were still around) one afternoon after picking my sister and I up from school, and I’ve been hooked ever since. My favorite song was “Lovely Ladies” — you know, the song about prostitution that is totally appropriate to go around singing as an eight year old!

My obsession with this soundtrack has stayed strong all these years, though my taste in songs has changed and “On My Own” has replaced “Lovely Ladies” as my #1 Les Mis choice. Who knew I shared this fondness with two of my favorite actors, Neil Patrick Harris and Jason Segal, who performed a stellar version of “The Confrontation” on Bravo’s Inside the Actors Studio recently. Apparently they would get into it often on the set of HIMYM – which makes them all the more awesome in my book.

I think the movie would have been much better with these two in it! And Jason, if you happen to read this ­– call me!

Posted by Laura

Gallery Girls: Bad Art Imitating Life

Image source TVGuide.com

Gallery Girls is like Girls with more “art” and no sense of humor. I think I might be the only person watching it. Like Girls, it follows the lives of bright-eyed post-college gals trying to make it in NYC with frustrating internships, surprisingly large apartments and larger dreams (and parental support). Unlike Girls, Gallery Girls is a Bravo reality show about a few aloof, well-heeled young women with good vocabularies trying to make it in the vaguely defined “Arts World.”

The compelling thing about Girls is that it’s pretty visceral (too visceral for some people); Gallery Girls is like a boho-chic version of The Hills set at Williamsburg bars and art shows with internships where intern/employer relations might be sexually exploitative, which is terrible. It’s finishing school for the next set of “real” housewives.

Despite the sleek veneer of downtown chic, I think these girls are probably self-interested and frustrated with the current socio-economic situation. I don’t blame them. I was an intern in New York too, way back in 2009. In terms of the economy, that’s like walking ten miles in the snow to get to school!

The show isn’t a big deal and it’s not very good, but it’s a little bit freaky when a reality show feels even a little bit like your own reality. It’s all summed up in a few quotes spoken by girls with dark hair clutching glasses of wine (and I’m paraphrasing here):

“I don’t work out. I just can’t work out.”

“She’s too happy. It’s scary. She’s either totally insane or taking way too many antidepressants.”

“Mac and cheese is like… my faa-vor-ittte…”

“I can’t believe he threw béchamel sauce on me! Nobody fucks with my wardrobe.”

The béchamel comment really hit home and I’m not watching anymore; I’ll stick with the fictional girls in Bed-Stuy instead of the real-ish ones in LES gallery spaces. On my friend’s parents’ HBO Go account. On my iPad. Just don’t get near me with that béchamel.

Posted by Susannah

The Disconnected Life

Image source Kronstantinople.blogspot.com

For the last three months, I’ve gone without TV or Internet at home. To clarify: I’m not channeling Ted Kaczynski, nor am I making some sort of proclamation against popular culture. It’s just circumstances. I moved out from under the oppressive shackles of my roommates (JK, natch), and have yet to purchase my own TV or sign up for Internet service. That’s not to say I’ve been 100% off the grid – I’m attached to my iPhone at all times and spend upwards of 10 hours per day in front of an Internet-connected computer at work. I’m just not up to date on Keeping up with the Kardashians, which is really starting to hinder my ability to make small talk. (She’s dating Kanye?!) I wish I was joking.

For all The Real Housewives of New York debates I’m sadly no longer a part of, I have started to appreciate my newly disconnected life for all of the free time awarded to me that would otherwise be spent watching Bravo. Instead of hunkering down for a nine-hour marathon of Million Dollar Listing, I now do unheard of things like try and hem my own dresses as if I was on Project Runway, spend far too much time/effort on my living room layout like Jeff Lewis on Flipping Out, and cook overly elaborate meals for one à la Top Chef.

I always knew logging 1,000+ hours of Bravo would teach me something.

Posted by Amelia

Single at 29 Never Sounded So Funny

There’s no shame in my game: I watch Most Eligible Dallas on Bravo. At first I scoffed and guffawed (and all the other verbs out there that vaguely have something to do with boisterous mocking) at the ridiculousness of the concept and the blowhards who think their banal social lives are worthy of national consumption. But then I remembered we live in the age of the star-making machine of the non-star (otherwise known as reality TV) and decided to ease up and give it a shot. By the end of the first episode, I was hooked. Not because the dating lives of the six singles featured in the show are all that interesting, but for one reason and one reason only—Courtney Kerr.

A 29-year old sunglass shop manager who lives in a Dallas hi-rise and whose name is spelled out in dollhouse letters above a vanity in her bedroom, Courtney is an easy villain/victim. She pines after her best friend Matt (who strings her along), she blasts other girls who attract Matt’s attention and she gets drunk and cries about how she’s 29 and still single.

Aside from the pathetic behavior, Courtney has a knack for hypotheticals and description. When asked to describe her ideal man, she claims to have not given it much thought, then proceeds to rattle off qualities as specific as “left Texas to go to school, but is back now because this is where he wants to raise a family,” “has a globe in his office that his mentor gave him,” and “has a dog with a really manly name like Butch or Duke” in addition to more general characteristics like “tall,” “has JFK Jr. hair” and is “from a Southern family.”

For every mean dig she has at a 23-year old object of Matt’s attention and drunken cry in a restaurant bathroom, Courtney slays it in her interviews, describing the guy she sees her friend Tara ending up with (“someone who wears pocket squares, but not flashy design ones, something more understated”) and making fun of the stripper-esque names of the girls Matt dates (“They’re never normal names like Ashley or Brittany or Lindsay. They’re always things like MJ or Kat. Meow.”).

I hope to see a lot more of Courtney “I’m Crazy and I Own It” Kerr.

Posted by Amelia

Real Housewife of Pinot Grigio

Bravo’s wildly successful Real Housewives franchise has churned out the best of the worst in middle-aged women who believe they’re still 25 and above others in the class department.  TV viewers have been graced with weave-pulling, drink-throwing, plastic surgery, profanity, bad singing, PDA, questionable parenting techniques, and more.  But, hey, this is America, after all: land of opportunities.

It makes perfect sense, then, that New York Housewife, Ramona Singer, would use her newfound stardom to create her very own line of Pinot Grigio.  For those of you who haven’t seen her antics, Ramona loves to go wild, dance up a storm, and drink white wine like it’s going out of style.  In fact, years ago, in some miracle of science, a wine glass actually fused itself to her hand, and the poor gal’s been stuck with it ever since.  Ok, not really.

Jokes aside, this is one seriously savvy sister.  Instead of waking up with grand delusions of becoming a recording artist, Ramona recognized and seized a legitimate opportunity to expand her brand.  Produced in Veneto, Italy and distributed by Opici Wines, the 2010 Pinot Grigio goes for about $15 a bottle and boasts a “fresh and fruity” flavor with “crisp acidity” and pleasant finish.  It’s also “best enjoyed young and chilled”.

Wait. Are we talking wine or Ramona?

Posted by Haley