Sesame Street the Musical is opening off-Broadway later this week (Sept 8th). They have been promoting it with these fantastic spoof posters!

1st anniversary of the off broadway opening

Today's shamless promotion is one of my very favorite musicals, A Year With Frog and Toad.

Shockingly, not many people seem to be aware that the beloved children's book series is a delightful children's musical! The musical follows the "plot" of the books fairly closely, so if you've read the books you'll recognize the various vignettes, like "oh no we can't stop eating these delicious cookies" and "flying kites is hard actually" and "squirrels ruin an attempt at anonymous kindness."

What's the plot? Frog and Toad are friends (possibly queer "friends" if you like, there's more on this online if you want to get into it). They do things together and sing songs about it. It's very cute. Also, some other animals show up to sing songs, the best of which is Snail, who is doing his best to deliver a letter even though he is verrrrrrry slowwwwwww.

Who should watch? People who love nice things. Like, literally, the embodiment of nice, and also cozy. Frog and Toad is a great listen when you're feeling a little blue, or just need something cheerful on as you go about your day.

You definitely don't have to be a kid to enjoy it, but if a man earnestly singing about how he loves being a frog and being happy in the warm sunny summer doing nothing but chilling with his best friend makes you cringe, well, Frog and Toad is not for you.

Anything triggering? There's a song called "Getta Loada Toad" with the refrain "Toad looks funny in a bathing suit" which isn't explicitly fat shaming but sure isn't great for body positivity. Fortunately, it's easy to skip on the soundtrack.

Can I watch it online? Sort of! Frog and Toad is a pretty simple show to stage, with only five cast members and basic sets, so there are quite a few local/amateur productions filmed and on youtube. However, I recommend listening to the soundtrack first, as the songs are best when you can hear them properly.

What's the best number? My personal favorite is probably "Merry Almost Christmas," which is about how it's (surprise!) almost Christmas and Frog and Toad are together and is'n't that nice and lovely? Kids, however, are more into "Cookies" and "Down the Hill," which are more energetic and fun.

Links Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3ro3pvqmDCqk324ZzfHwEJ

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFBsR4X5Xno32fE2BvwXUG91mcRUPvzDV

A nicely shot production:

Frog is played by a woman in this, which is a bit unusual fyi, but no reason that can't be the case.

Costumes from Barbie Live! in Fairytopia by designer Gregg Barnes

i don’t think enough see the potential of like. animating a musical that already exists. not 3d animation but 2d animation. the whole musical. a 2d adaptation.

hadestown. wicked. fiddler on the roof. more. all animated with a unique art style. like. cmon people. USE YOUR BRAINS.

Holy Quadriology of cartoons with a lot of songs

Don't forget Centaurworld and wander over yonder.

Musical cartoons

Good Stuff: Arlo The Alligator Boy

If you told me an artist from Dreamworks and a director for Sanjay and Craig made this, I would 100% believe you. Arlo is a film that slapped my tushy with upbeat musical energy and left me wafting for a little more, which is what will happen because this surprisingly is getting a whole series later on. But the time will come for that, what about the film that it's based around? Is it uplifting like the swamp, or too grounded like New York or some other big filthy populated city?

I mean nothing can beat the swamp, let's not kid ourselves

Now, the heart is battling the mind. I can't deny that it is highy conventional. A chipper, optimistic flat fuck wants more, he travels away from home, meets new respectable people like big sweet, animated Mary Lambert (seriously look up Bertie's voice actress, the resemblance is almost uncanny), he knows that not everything is as perfect and cracked up to be when he finally makes it, but understands by the end, while getting a little closure, that the real daddy were the friends we made along the way. If we ended right there, this film would've been a simple joyride and nothing more, but there's more to it that makes this stand out to me. It's a musical.

An Superb Starry Eyed Musical at that

Call me crazy, but this reminded me of A Goofy Movie. Out there comparison, but they both musically strike a chord in being both evergreen and quality pop for their time. Both centered around a boy wanting to strike out his own, with such golden pipes, and him and his father being open with each other by the end. Coincidental but I love that this movie does embrace the philosophy of not only the classic Disney musicals of the past, but great musicals in general. I say it's up there with Hercules as a show that lets the animation enhance the music. I wouldn't imagine Wash the Hurt Away or Beyond these Walls or Follow Me Home without the elegance Titmouse puts into their respective moments.

This movie puts on a show well. It admittedly isn't breaking any ground, but I wasn't demanding for it to watching this. It wanted to be a film of belonging, self-love, and there's nothing wrong with a reminder of that every now and then. Pace runs pretty fast and at worst, you're craving more for the characters yet at best you understand enough. I was and am still not a fan of the 3rd Spongebob film for essentially feeling like a backdoor for its Kamp Koral spin-off. I could say this feels no different but at the same time, I wouldn't mind seeing more of Arlo and his newfound friends. The film kept its focus while the series is working to branch from the ending so it stands far better both on its own and the setup for more.

If we get more Beastmode and Tigress, I'm especially down

I adored this. It's that good looking, bizarre yet charming film this Gaypril month needed. Honestly gave me exactly what I could expect with a film about an alligator boy and his friendly group of queens going to New York. It reminded me of Priscilla: Queen of the Desert and I can definitely see why where the journey is the pizzazz and, while it isn't as unique plot wise, the characters and presentation especially made the watch still worth it.

4 Out Of 5. A Gatorade Good Time

So I watched Arlo the Alligator Boy, and omg it was so good! :D

The animation is great, the story is heartwarming, and the songs are frikkin beautiful!❤

I simply adore Arlo! He's just so sweet and pure! 😊

I think my only real complaint about the movie is that the antagonists, the gator catchers, were kinda weak villains. They didn't add much to the plot and I think the movie would still work fine if they were cut out completely. But ah well.

That minor complaint aside, I definitely recommend this movie! It's such a cute little feel-good flick! ^^

And I'm definitely looking forward to the continuation in the upcoming animated series spinoff "I ❤ Arlo"! :D

- Sit down buckaroos because I’m gonna share some historical insight with you because of ignorant people who are trying to discard the most badass character in all of feminist characters in musical theatre history and I won’t take that. - Katherine Ethel Pulitzer was a real person - daughter of Joseph and Kate Pulitzer. So there’s fact number 1 to prove she was an actual living person in the 1800’s. Fact 2. When you say women weren’t journalists back then well you obviously have never heard nor read about Elizabeth Jane Cochran also known by her pen name “Nellie Bly”. She was the inspiration behind Katherine’s character in the first place. They basically merged the real Katherine with Nellie and created this character. Nellie Bly began writing for “The Pittsburg Dispatch” in 1885 and moved to New York City two years later to begin working at “New York World”. She was known for her investigative and undercover reporting, including posing as a sweatshop worker to expose poor working conditions faced by women. She earned her acclaim in 1887 when she went undercover at an asylum on Blackwell’s Island and posed as one of the patients to get the story and in turn had launched a full on investigation on the treatment of the institution and the well being of patients (which wasn’t a well being at all with neglect and physical abuse) in said facility. In 1889 she went around the world in a record-setting 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds in attempt to break the faux record of Phileas Fogg, the fictional title character in Jules Verne’s novel “Around the World in 80 Days”. At the age of 18 (my age) she submitted a racy response to an editorial piece that had been published in The Pittsburgh Dispatch that made sexist statements towards women. The writer was Erasmus Wilson (known as the Quiet Observer or Q.O.) Nellie’s letter grabbed the attention of the paper’s managing editor, George Madden, who then offered her a position. She later published a book about the experience titled: “Around the World in 72 Days” in 1890. - So don’t you DARE tell me Katherine Plumber wasn’t a vital asset to these boy’s story. She’s more of an inspiration to me than ANY character I’ve read about. Nellie Bly is an inspiration who makes me want a writing career. I am very much like Katherine (in more ways than just having power bangs) and because of her I’ve learned to love myself. Because of her I can get through days when I’ve got a shit ton of Senior year homework knocking me down. Because of her I’m happier. Katherine and Nellie are huge inspirations to me and if you hate either one of them just unfollow me now. Because these two are my role models and always will be❤

To everyone thinking the Spongebob Musical is a cash grab to profit from Stephen Hillenburg's death:

Not only was he involved in the creation, but even if he wasnt, yall are STUPID if you think that a whole broadway musical only takes a year to make. For example, Lin Manuel-Miranda says that Hamilton took SEVEN YEARS to write.

As for Spongebob, lyrics were being written back in 2014, it was announced in 2015, it didnt hit stages until 2016, and didnt go to broadway until 2017. Stephen Hillenburg died in 2018. Musicals take YEARS to write

👏🏾 YOU 👏🏾 KNOW 👏🏾 HE 👏🏾 BRINGS 👏🏾 IT👏🏾 EVERY 👏🏾 DAMN 👏🏾 TIME 👏🏾

details of glinda’s bubble dress

“LOOK, IT’S GLINDA!”

I’ve been listening to the Wicked Musical soundtrack and I just had to make fanart cuz their costumes are so pretty, so here’s one of Glinda for starters. This is the first proper fanart I’ve done in a while, and I gotta say, I really enjoyed making it more than I used to.

Follow @officialsidekickproductions to learn more about our upcoming new parody musical: Birds and Bats!

R.I.P. Carol Channing (1921-2019)

“We bonded instantly on the film, and laughed our way through the production. Ever since that time, we never referred to each other again as Julie and Mary. Whenever we bumped into each other, people must have thought us nuts…screaming across some shopping aisle in a supermarket or yelling to each other down the corridors of CBS…’Millie! Miss Dorothy!’ She was a joy to work with, her talent was monumental. She was brave, kind, generous and an activist for many causes. I will miss my ‘Miss Dorothy’ so much, but I’m comforted to know that the joy she brought us all will be everpresent in her many films and television shows.” - Statement from Julie Andrews on the death of Mary Tyler Moore

Happy 15th Anniversary Wicked!