Divamensch

I was in Spain a few weeks ago with a group of nine friends to experience the eclipse. We had an amazing time and (most happily) perfectly clear skies for the eclipse. I've posted a travelogue. I'm never quite sure if a link works in a post so if it doesn't work here's where to find it: Go to divamensch dot com. Click on the Travel Etc tab along the top. Click on Travel from the drop-down box. Scroll down to the last trip, Bilbao 2026. And here's the link (someone please emai

My brother Howard alerted me to two more celebrity demises. Yahoi Kusama (age 97) was a Japanese pop artist, known as the Polka Dot Queen. Howard said, in his text alert to me, "The only time I have been to a Prada store is when she did the windows here in SF years ago." Here's a short Tate bio of her: He also alerted me to the death of Jaye P. Morgan (age 94). She hit the scene as a singer, with "That's All I Want From You," which made it all the way to number 3 on the pop c

I’ve loved Carol Channing since I was a wee lass but I’d never known until now how perceptive she was. Such profound wisdom and insight.

They're coming fast and furious! My brother Howard alerted me to the death of Tim Curry, who died at the age of 80 (the same age as Dolly Parton). He was in Clue, Home Alone 2, the first Charlie's Angels movie, and he played King Arthur in Spamalot on Broadway, but will be most remembered for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter, the “sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania” in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. And somehow I missed Shelley Fabares (age 82) in the midst of the Do

The Tony for Best Musical in 1985 went to Big River. That show's mix of down-home Americana and show biz flash sort of straddled the Diva/Mensch divide. Thankfully two other nominated shows played in one camp or the other: Diva: Leader of the Pack Mensch: Quilters Leader of the Pack appears to be one of the first hit Broadway shows to be a proper jukebox musical, a show built around songs that were lying around, in this case songs written by Ellie Greenwich. And what a catalo

One of my coworkers just told me about the death of Dolly Parton (age 80). Brought a tear to my eye! She's an American original, not just an iconic singer and entertainer but a crackerjack songwriter and entrepreneur. In the midst of it all it appears that she held onto her roots and stayed authentic to her deep sense of self. I had one in-person experience with her. My husband Richard got two free tickets to a preview performance of 9 to 5, the Broadway musical based on the

I had a little "I Want Candy" moment on my recent trip to Spain. I'll save that story for my travelogue! Here's the song as recorded by Bow Wow Wow, always sure to get me on the dance floor: I read some of the comments on YouTube and was surprised to learn that it's not an original by Bow Wow Wow, it was a cover of a song written by The Strangeloves. Anyone heard of them? I'm sure my brother Howard has. Their original version is pretty fabulous, it made me want to hear it don

I just read in The Times about the death of the Romanian soprano Ileana Cotrubas (age 87). She had retired by the time I started going to the opera but I know a bit of her work from recordings and telecasts. Here she is in one of her signature roles, as Mimi in La Bohème. She was known for playing fragile, wounded characters. There was something sincere and heartbreaking about her performances. Or so I've heard. There was a funny story in The Times obit about La Bohème. They

Oh was there drama at the Tonys in 1984! The two shows leading the pack for Best Musical were La Cage aux Folles and Sunday in the Park with George. Diva: La Cage Mensch: Sunday La Cage is a splashy musical about a drag queen and his partner trying to put one over on their son's prospective in-laws. You've seen The Birdcage, it's the same story. Lots of feathers and sequins, I doubt any show with such heaping portions of those could be mistaken for a Mensch. It won the Tony.

Scott and I saw *Cats: The Jellicle Ball* on Broadway on August 6, 2026. It’s a reimagining of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical *Cats,* set at a drag ball in Harlem. I had heard about it when it was playing off Broadway last year and was intrigued. My friends Karen and Liz saw it on Broadway and were crazy for it, said it was a smash and so much fun. I have no familiarity with *Cats* and have always distrusted it so I resisted. Scott (a very dear friend from Wisconsin) was ea

I'm a big fan of Verdi's Don Carlo and my favorite moment in it is the wicked mezzo's aria "O don fatale." Here's the great Russian mezzo Irina Arkhipova singing it in Russian! It sounds even more desperate and acidic when sung in Russian. BTW is Princess Eboli truly wicked or simply misunderstood?

Once again we're at Best Play. The 1983 Tony went to Torch Song Trilogy, a Diva of a play written by and starring Harvey Fierstein. It wasn't the first time a drag queen was seen on Broadway but it was the first time she won Best Play! And Best Actor. One of the other nominees was Marsha Norman's searing two-person play 'night Mother. About a woman saying goodbye to her mother so she can commit suicide at the end of the night. Mensch with a capital M. I couldn't find any foot

I'm a total amateur when it comes to The Beatles. I know maybe only about half of their songs...? And this is a dangerous thing to say when so many of my friends are highfalutin intellectual types but I greatly prefer the early Beatles to the later Beatles. Am I being banished from the Cool Kids Table? I had the song "Boys" stuck in my head for a while. It doesn't get much earlier than this, it's from their first album, Please Please Me. I listened to the whole album last nig

The 1982 Tony for Best Play went to The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a two-part, eight-and-a-half hour adaptation of the Dickens novel. Major Diva attitude just deciding to bring it to the stage. Another nominee that year was Crimes of the Heart, a charming little comic drama about three sisters in the South, total Mensch territory

Ugh, the recap from the previous episode was hard to watch. I hate to see tough girl Bobby being a weepy mess. Chloe was sent home. Bless her Mormon heart, being grateful for the opportunity. Jeffrey was saved, which brought it down to Andriy and Bobby. Whoa, Bobby was saved and Andriy was sent home. That was a surprise. In the early days of PR they used to do a clear-cut litmus test: which dress would you rather wear, if you had to choose one? In that case Andriy would be th

I kind of enjoy this cliffhanger situation, where we find out at the top of the episode how the previous episode ended. Christian read the votes one by one and it turned out that Bi was the designer who was saved. Dani, Octavius, Bao, and Yangyang were all sent home. Poor Dani has to go back to being a flight attendant. Poor Bao has to go back to being disgruntled and feeling wronged. Octavius and Yangyang just put on their shoes and went home. A team challenge! And the butto

Did you know I'm going to Spain next week? I'm going with a group of friends to experience the total eclipse. Not really my jam but an opportunity to go to Spain and hang out with my friends for a week? Yes, I'll take that with a side dish of total eclipse. You say the word "Bilbao" and I'm instantly sent to this beloved Kurt Weill song. Here it is sung by the ultimate Weill interpreter, his wife Lotte Lenya: Would you believe it became a semi-minor hit for Andy Williams in 1

R'Bonney, Plane Jane, and Robby were all sent home. Fascinating that the two Drag Race alums were both sent home. Robby infuriated me by saying in his interview that the piece he showed wasn't good enough and he wanted to show the judges that he could do better. Um, you had your chance! What did you think this was? I have to admit that my fortune-telling powers were off on this one! I was sure that Robby and Plane Jane would be in it for the long haul, that the producers had

Lena Horne did Lena Horne, the Lady and Her Music on Broadway in 1981. It was a concert, mostly, but highly theatrical in its conception an narrative if not in its presentation. I taped it off of PBS and watched it over and over and over, it was one of those shows that planted the seed of wanting to live in New York and see that thing onstage. Horne came to Milwaukee on tour with the show and I BEGGED my parents to take me to see it. They said no, I'm sure it was ridiculous t

Freddy Cannon died at the age of 89. He was a pop singer best known for "Palisades Park." I'm a big fan of his song "Tallahassee Lassie," which I first encountered as sung by The 5, 6, 7, 8s (who I know from Kill Bill Vol 1). Here's Freddy's version. Love this song!