Godot’s Excellent Adventure

Jamie Lloyd’s revival of Waiting for Godot starring Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter opened on Broadway last night. Broadway openings always draw a crowd but because of Keanu and Winter, last night’s crowd was especially starry. Besides Keanu and Winter, the premiere drew out Ethan Hawke, Chris Pine, Lin-Manuel Miranda, JJ Abrams(?), expecting parents Kieran Culkin and Jazz Charton, Danielle Brooks, Keegan-Michael Key, Jonathan Groff, and Bernadette Peters. 

Keanu was there with his fiancé, Alexandra Grant. Despite rumors they tied the knot, they did not. The source for that rumor was Radar Online, and they used AI images to “support” it, so I don’t know why everyone bought into it. Keanu is like a beautiful bird—a “lifer”, as I learned birdwatchers call them in the documentary Listers—we should just be happy to see him when he do and never mind the other stuff.

As for the play, the reviews are mixed, though it seems like most critics aren’t feeling Jamie Lloyd’s minimalist direction (par for the course with Jamie Lloyd). Some people are picking on Keanu’s acting, as some people are always wont to do, but Alex Winter is getting good notice across the board. I would love to see this production—I think sometimes of Keanu’s Hamlet, performed in Canada as he was breaking out in Hollywood—but the ticket prices are insane. They START at $113. Sorry Bill & Ted, that’s one adventure I cannot afford.

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What else happened today…

Ayo Edebiri has quirky style, and I love that for her and us. (Go Fug Yourself)

Terrence Stamp passed away in August, before production on a sequel to Priscilla, Queen of the Desert began. So he shot all his scenes anyway, just to make sure a “digital clone” couldn’t be used to fill his role after he passed. Apparently the swelling hype around AI prompted Stamp to get the director, Stephan Elliot, into gear to shoot his coverage, which Elliot can then add into the film later. That will still take a lot of digital work and effort on set, too, making sure to shoot any scenes involving Stamp’s character, Bernadette, with specific and matching coverage, but it’s worth it to block the AI hucksters from hijacking Stamp’s performance. (Pajiba)

Apparently the crowd at the Ryder Cup got completely out of hand this weekend. And not “out of hand” by golf standards, which is like, sneezing too loudly, but “out of hand” by ANY standards, including throwing beer at Rory McIlroy’s wife, Erica. The event was held at Bethpage Black Golf Course on Long Island, New York. Really not showing our best face here, my fellow Americans. This is basically me every time Americans show up in the news these days. (Celebitchy)

 

The rise and cultural absorption of the foodie. Like “hipster”, “foodie” has become a pejorative for an eye-rolling, snobby way of being, but also like hipsters, foodie culture went so mainstream it has now just become…culture. One of the most popular shows on TV is about a chef, cooking, and restaurant life, and people who would never claim the title “foodie” for themselves regularly seek out the best and hottest new eateries in town. I mean, my elderly parents recently drove over an hour into the Oklahoma countryside to a restaurant someone told them they just HAD to experience (they said it was very delicious). Foodies drove food culture until it became THE culture. (Eater)