OK, a bit late with this but the week before last, Andrea and I watched the 2022 Tony Awards. Andrea is a big fan of The Music Man and I figured it was a chance to see a performance of the much ballyhooed Broadway revival starring Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster.
The cast put on a spirited performance of "76 Trombones" which gave some insight to the some of the mixed reviews I've seen. It's a perfectly fine performance with lots of energy and enthusiasm from Jackman and Foster but there's a certain rote quality to it, nothing really new from when Robert Preston was Professor Hill in the original show.
Billy Crystal did a number from Mr. Saturday Night that we quite enjoyed and a production from Paradise Square that neither Andrea and I had heard of before was very powerful.
OK, I've seen performances from Six twice now (last year during the Macy's Thanksgiving parade and during the Tony Awards) and nothing will convince me to like this show. It casts the 6 wives of Henry VIII as pop music divas and it just doesn't work for me at all.
The host was Ariana DeBose who I had no familiarity with but damn she was a terrific host. She did a musical bit about hosts going out into the audience which included sitting in Andrew Garfield's lap.
OK, I'm posting about an awards show from 2 weeks ago to avoid the evitable, to post about Gentleman Jack.
Don't get me wrong. I continue to enjoy Gentleman Jack but the 2nd season has ended and I didn't want it to.
While Anne Lister is busy flitting about building a hotel and casino as well as her on going efforts to become a major coal mining magnate in addition to influencing elections and what not, Ann Walker is dealing with the division of the estate left to her and her sister Elizabeth by their late father. Elizabeth's conniving husband Captain Sutherland has got his hooks into Elizabeth's half of the property and if he has his way, he'll have a grip on Ann Walker's share as well. The nefarious Captain seeks to gain influence over Ann Walker's estate by calling attention to her "unnatural" relationship with Anne Lister.
While Ann Lister and Anne Walker living together in Shibden Hall is very much the subject of idle gossip in Halifax and rife with the potential of scandal, their "unnatural" relationship is not quite the deal breaker Captain Sutherland thinks it is.
The look on Sutherland's face when he's forced to sign the papers agreeing to the division of the estate is the look of a small minded man who's done been beat by a woman and doesn't like it. And there's fuck all he can do about it.
Not that Captain Sutherland should worry long about Ann Walker's "unnatural" relationship with Anne Lister as the tapestry of their union is fraying at the edges. Far from fragile and timid woman we met in season 1, Ann Walker is no longer afraid to assert herself against the Captain Sutherlands of this world or for that matter to speak her mind firmly and forcefully to Anne Lister.
For all her progressive views, Anne Lister does frequently comport herself as a typical husband, being dominant and "logical" to Ann Walker's more "emotional" perspective.
Here in the 21st century, there are numerous sources of literature and support systems of what it means to be in a lesbian relationship. In the England of the 1840's, Anne Lister and Ann Walker are having to make up a lot of this as they go along. And Lister for all her years of experience of living with her sexual orientation and her time of being a force in a business world dominated by men doesn't always get it right. Anne Lister makes unilateral decisions about her life with Ann Walker and even if made with good intentions, she struggles to accommodate Walker's role in their marriage. Through Lister's own guidance, support and encouragement, Ann Walker has become a stronger, more assured and confident woman and will not play the role of the quite and demure good wife.
There's a point where Ann Walker is not convinced living with Anne Lister at Shibden Hall is a good idea.
But by the time the season finale episode ends and the whole nasty business with Captain Sutherland behind her, Ann Walker reaffirms her commitment to Anne Lister, promising to go into town on Monday to re-do their wills, each woman making the other her heir.
Anne Lister acknowledges the road ahead of them is fraught we challenges, that as she puts it, the only 2 people in the whole world who wants them together are the two of them.
The camera pulls up as we watch their carriage go up the road towards a future open wide to both of them, ready to face what comes, good or bad, together.
As much as enjoy watching Gentleman Jack explore this time and this world and this wonderfully drawn characters and yes, I very much would like to see a season 3 sooner rather than later, this does seem like as good a spot as any to end this journey.
Will Anne Lister ever finish sinking those damn coal pits?
Will her hotel/casino be a boon or a bust for Halifax?
Will Anne do something with the depressingly dark interior decor of Shibden Hall?
Can we convince Ann Walker to go with less poofier sleeves?
These are questions that would be nice to answer but I am content to know what Anne and Ann are together. I really want these two crazy kids to pull this off and make it work, even though a world is aligned against them.
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| Anne Lister and Ann Walker sparking some 1840s lesbian energy |
Until next time, remember to be good to one another and try to keep it down in there, would ya? I'm trying to watch TV over here.
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