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[FOUND] 4 minutes of the lost Shepard & Kringas interview, 1973 (self.lostmedia)
Context: this was the last interview Shepard & Kringas, who wrote the musical Musical Husbands, did before breaking off their creative partnership completely. There's been a lot of speculation about it over the years, and this 4 minute segment of the interview might shed some light on that. https://youtu.be/37w7dUIh9Zk?si=Lf__q_TvVf9KL1NC
1 comment
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BroadwayWorld
@BroadwayWorld
Charles Kringas will have a good thing going this summer! Maria Friedman's @musicalhusbandsbway revival is coming to Broadway May 18th, plus the Pulitzer winner Take a Left will open Off-Broadway June 1st.
9:23 AM · 11 Feb 18
343 Retweets 108 Likes
its-about-cats Sorry I'm still thinking about how Musical Husbands ends with Gary stealing Hal's wife and going off to be a movie star and like,,,, the parallels between "Losing You" and the lost Shepard & Kringas breakup interview. 23 notes
its-about-cats crimebossmariavontrapp asked:ok yeah the parallels are there but MORE IMPORTANTLY THE BREAKUP INTERVIEW (partially) EXISTS! I'M SERIOUS JUST LOOK UP KRINGAS ON R/LOSTMEDIA LEE I'M SCREAMING OMG THIS IS THE GREATEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN. The parallels are SO THERE, like Kringas is so clearly having a panic attack and trying to not be that cruel and Shepard looks like he wants to kill him. It's so tragic! 41 notes
47
Why did Shepard & Kringas never write a followup to Musical Husbands? (self.MusicalTheatre)
I know that they had a falling out, but Musical Husbands ran for years. Surely it would have been better to do another show or two to cash in on that.
27 comments
gulligando7 points
It was more than just a falling out. Kringas humiliated Shepard and aired all their dirty laundry out on live TV. The footage is lost but you can read about it in a ton of places. I don't blame Shepard for never wanting to work with Kringas again, no matter how good a lyricist he was.
hairy-hairy-eyeballs
3 points
Wow, I didn't know it was that dramatic. It still seems like a waste tho
phantomoftheoperetta 11 points
You can actually find part of the interview on Youtube, someone found it on an old tape or something. If you actually watched it, you would see that Kringas was NOT saying anything that wasn't true. Besides, I think the guy with a Pulitzer and three Tonys knows more than the guy who wrote one score.
hairy-hairy-eyeballs
2 points
Just watched it. I still think that Kringas was the AH on this, but ig he had enough success without Shepard for it not to keep him up at night.
assassassins Alright guys imma do my BEST to do an actual Shepard & Kringas timeline breakdown. If you've been following ~the process~ you know there are, like, two proper interviews where they're actually together before The Breakup and those are mostly Shepard talking. I did my best I promise lol 1956: Earliest start to the timeline, since Kringas said he'd been working on TaL for "almost a decade" in the Pulitzer interview. 1958: Beginnings of MH/Musical!TaL/??? and the Shepard & Kringas collab. This really depends on who you listen to when - Shepard always calls it Musical Husbands, Kringas tends to go with Musical!TaL post-Breakup and Musical Husbands pre-Breakup. Let's assume there was a version of MH that had elements of what became TaL and leave it at that. The timeline on this one REALLY depends on whether you think they worked on anything else before what became MH. We know they started collabing in 58 but... yeah... 1963: MH is announced. First profile on Shepard. 1964: MH opens. MASSIVE profile on Shepard & Kringas in the NYT (you can find my scans in my MH tag). First mention of them working on Musical!TaL. 1966: Shepard gets divorced, it's very dramatic, he won't do an interview again until The Breakup 1967: MH closes. Kringas Village Voice interview - second mention of Musical!TaL. 1969: MH movie comes out and is in the top 10 movies of the year. 1971: Kringas New Yorker interview, he confirms that they're still working on Musical!TaL, first mention of Sundays (his second play that would win him his second Tony) 1972: Play readings of both TaL and Sundays, info is REALLY scarce on this but apparently Michael Douglas was involved in the Sundays reading 1973: The Breakup Interview. I've already talked about that at length so we can just move on. 1975: TaL opens on Broadway after a sold out off-Broadway run. It will go on to win the Pulitzer and be nominated for five Tonys (winning none). 1976: Shepard's wife is charged with assaulting Meg Kincaid, a young actress, at a party celebrating Darkness Before Dawn. They get divorced. 1978: Sundays opens on Broadway. It goes on to win three Tonys, including Best Play. Meg Kincaid has a supporting role in it, leading to Shepard doing some sniping in the press. And... that's about it. After 1978 they basically don't mention each other - Shepard's doing the Hollywood producer thing, and Kringas's interviews are about his plays. There's a brief mention from Kringas when there's a major off-Broadway run of MH in 1989, but then four years later he stops doing interviews or public appearances and the timeline REALLY goes cold. Shepard passed away in 2013, which was what really started talk about this revival, but Kringas hasn't talked about anything in such a long time that I don't think we'll be getting any more info even with the new production. 39 notes
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JGROFF'S BACK BABYYYY
@broadwaycoco
GUYS JGROFF JUST GOT ANNOUNCED FOR MUSICAL HUSBANDS!!!
8:23 PM· 18 Feb 18
17 Retweets 1 Quote Tweet 27 Likes
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still a theatre kid :/
@transwolfenstein
ig this is just gonna be a musical husbands fantwit now, sorry guys i'm crying lol
4:02 AM· 21 Feb 18
8 Retweets 2 Quote Tweet 13 Likes
alw-is-my-nemesis not to be an rps girlie on main but holy fuck 107 notes
charles-cringeass Pros of Hot Kringas Summer: People actually care about Charles Kringas. Cons of Hot Kringas Summer: People only care about Musical Husbands and not Sundays (Best Play winner, a heartbreaking portrayal of trying to help an alcoholic friend), Invidicum (DEEPLY underrated, reporter with AIDS takes on the medical hegemony and Ronald Reagan), Cold War/Lash Back (a series of vignettes about how the CIA and FBI screwed everyone over during the Cold War), and Take a Left (LITERAL PULITZER PRIZE WINNER ABOUT THE LAVENDER SCARE, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE THIS SHOULD BE TUMBLR GOLD) 4 notes
49
Should I see Take a Left too? (self.Broadway)
Musical Husbands is one of my favorite shows of all time, so when it was announced I took a few days off work and bought orchestra tickets as soon as I could. But now I've found myself with an extra slot where I could fit in Take a left if I wanted to. I'm completely unfamiliar with Kringas's non-musical work, but I'm willing to give it a shot if you think it's worth it.
29 comments
ignato30 points
It depends. Are you into plays in general? Kringas's plays are amazing but they're DENSE. I'd suggest at least doing a quick wiki read on the Lavender Scare beforehand if you do decide to see it. That being said, it won the Pulitzer for a reason. It really is just that good.
angelicvoces
23 points
I might skip it then. I'm not that into plays, and if I need to do research before going then it must not be that good anyway.
ignato26 points
No no no, it's amazing, and honestly you could probably see it without doing any extra research. It's just that you'll definitely catch more of the intricacies if you go in with at least a basic knowledge of the history.
deepseacreaturefeature27 points
Anyone who's into theatre (NOT just musicals) will tell you that MH is the worst Kringas thing by a MILE. He's known for his political knowlege and sharp but conversational dialogue, and being pushed over to lyrics meant that he couldn't show any of that. Losing his composer was the best thing that ever could have happened to him.
horseisahorse38 points
I can't really agree with that - MH is silly, sure, but the tone in the musical dialogue is all Kringas.
deepseacreaturefeature4 points
That's fucking stupid, MH didn't earn him a Pulizer,
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Broadway Tea Blog
@broadwaytea
The new Musical Husbands revival has brought new fans, new fiends, and new... Taylor Swift fancams? Read the tea here!
12:02 AM · 8 Mar 18
4 Retweets 31Likes
its-about-cats alw-is-my-nemesis ragtimed All you RPF freaks going after Shepard & Kringas,,, literally leave them alone, Musical Husbands had fans before you assholes came along and started clogging up the tag alw-is-my-nemesis Shepard's been dead for 5 years and Kringas hasn't done an interview since 1993 lmao, we couldn't bother them if we tried. Just block the shippers if you're so mad. 53 notes
assassassins Trying to find info on Shepard & Kringas is like,,, an interview from 1963. 5 photos from some awards ceremony - you don't know what awards ceremony. Shepard's getting divorced again. I'm the one who made the timeline thing and even I think it's impossible. 12 notes
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BroadwayWorld
@BroadwayWorld
Maria Friedman: "Kringas has been to a few rehearsals and loved them, but don't count on him showing for opening night." Read the full interview now!
11:00 AM · 13 April 18
107 Retweets 428 Likes
Best Dorks
vicki
vm.tiktok.kj38so14
hey granddad, this u?
david
Dad, don't click on that link.
evelyn
What is the video, David?
I see. It's a lovely video, Vicki, but I don't think Granddad would appreciate it.
charley
I watched the video, Vicki.
Why are there pictures and video of me over that Taylor Swift song?
david
Christssake, I told you not to watch it.
charley
Mary, I need your help. What is a fancam?
mary
?????
charley
Please, someone put pictures of me and Frank over the song "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift.
Also why is that interview we did in 1973 available for the "Bad Blood" video?
mary
Lmao, this is the best day of my life.
hold on, i'll call you, i want to hear your live reaction
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Mary Flynn
@maryflynn123
The theatre kids are gonna be FED this weekend, if you know you know.
10:03 AM · 1 May 18
3 Retweets 1 Quote Tweet 13 Likes
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The Cosmic Circus
@CosmicCircus
GUYS WE'RE GOING INSANE RN!!! Join @CosmicCircus and Charles Kringas in discussing the Musical Husbands and Take a Left revivals, his writing process, and what he thinks of theatre kids in his first interview in 25 years!
5:00 PM · 4 May 18
37 Retweets 578 Likes
Cosmic Circus Interview Transcript
[...]
Cosmic Circus: So what was your reaction when you did find out how excited people were?
Charles Kringas: Well, it wasn't exactly what I expected.
CC: You didn't think that your work would be enjoyed by the new generation of theatre fans?
Kringas: Now you're making me sound like a grumpy old man! [laughs] No, I don't know what I expected, but I've found that the theatre kids, as they're called, are incredibly enthusiastic. That can only be a good thing for the art, though I have to admit I was a bit put off at first.
CC: What do you mean?
Kringas: Maybe it's just because I don't exactly have social media and get this all second hand, but I don't exactly get the obsessive bent to it. I mean, they're just shows. I like to think that they're good shows, and I certainly hope that people see them and enjoy them, but there's an incredible amount of energy that I simply haven't experienced in the past. Plus the, uh, fancam was... interesting.
CC: There's a Musical Husbands fancam?
Kringas: [laughs] There's a fancam of me and Frank Shepard. It's very odd. You can't knock the enthusiasm, though. Though I do hope that their enthusiasm translates to a love for the theatre in general and not just my past creative partnership with Frank.
CC: I can't believe that you got on the internet and the first thing you found was the RPF.
Kringas: RPF?
CC: Uh, I'll explain it to you off mic. Speaking of theatre, what are some recent shows you've seen? Any thoughts on the creators working today?
Kringas: You caught me at the right time - I've been seeing more theatre in these past couple months than I have in years. Mostly because I've had to go down to New York so often for the shows. Let me see... well, on Broadway I've seen Network and Lifespan of a Fact - those were both excellent, though I definitely have my biases. I've definitely set an inordinate number of plays in newsrooms. Lifespan of a Fact, in particular, is probably the best media-related play I've seen ever. Off-Broadway I managed to catch Slave Play - I've heard that they're planning on going to Broadway next year. I don't look forward to reading those reviews, since it's just the kind of thing to get slammed for no real reason when the playwright and director have made something so complex and tangled and uncomfortable. It's really a wonderful script and a wonderful cast. If there's one currently running play I'd encourage people to go and see, it's Slave Play.
CC: And Take a Left of course.
Kringas: We technically haven't opened yet. We're still in previews. If some PR person calls me up to tell me that I've blown it, that's going to be my excuse.
[...]
its-about-cats Ok, first off, how DARE you guys not tell me that Charles Kringas DID AN INTERVIEW? Second off, WHAT THE FUCK HE KNOWS ABOUT US???? 42 notes
charles-cringeass mr. kringas, sir, i'm so fucking sorry, istg i don't think you're a cringeass pls forgive me 6 notes
ragtimed WHAT DID I FUCKING TELL YOU?!?! 8 notes
203
The New Kringas Interview is abolutely insane (self.Broadway)
There's a new Charles Kringas interview with some podcast and the whole thing is just utterly insane. Just in the first 20 minutes:
- He claims that the reason he didn't do interviews for 25 years because of a bet with his wife (actually, add in "new Kringas interview at all" to the utterly insane pile).
- He says that "Good Thing Going" went from a gay breakup song in Take a Left to a straight breakup song in MH to a straight love song in MH because of "the horn section".
- He mentions RPF/RPS??? for those of you who don't know, that stands for Real Person Fiction/Real Person Shipping. I hope the subject comes around again bc it makes zero sense in context
- He calls the Pulitzer award "an award for bootlickers and hypocrites" and claims he wishes he'd turned it down.
- The whole "fentanyl is just like crack, they're both crises invented by the police, this time the medical industry just got in on the fun" part. Straight up conspiracy theorist shit.
103 comments
queerlygo 109 points
I just got done with it and apparently there's a fancam with him and Shepard? I don't know how he saw it, but that's an absolutely wild thing to bring up in an interview
newaccountig 97 points
I'm not surprised that there are some weirdos out there, there were always rumors about the two of them. I can't really get a read on what he thinks about the shippers, the interview moves on really quickly.
queerlygo 95 points
wild behavior to come back from a quarter century of refusing to be interviewed and somehow have THAT be the main takeaway. Let's not even get into the conspiracy theories
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BroadwayWorld
@BroadwayWorld
Charles Kringas on @musicalhusbandsbway opening night: "Some people online call Frank and I the Musical Husbands, and I can't wait to see the reason for that up on Broadway again."
7:23 PM· 18 May 18
294 Retweets 502 Likes
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Mary Flynn
@maryflynn123
@musicalhusbandsbway Charley's drunk and talking about the Bad Blood fancam to reporters lmao, somebody get @evelynk over here STAT
10:34 PM · 18 May 18
34 Retweets 51 Quote Tweets 103 Likes
its-about-cats I can't believe that Charles David Kringas approved of Musical Husbands on the red carpet and all the press just ran with it lmao. Iconic. 28 notes
assassassins Charles Kringas: comes out of hiding after 25 years, gives a thumbs up to rpf, refuses to elaborate 39 notes
alw-is-my-nemesis A PULITZER AND TONY-AWARD WINNING PLAYWRIGHT ACKNOWLEDGED MY BAD BLOOD FANCAM AND NOW IT'S IN THE NEW YORK TIMES WHAT???? 43 notes
738
[Musical Theatre] Musical Husbands: The Musical, The Breakup, and the "Bad Blood" Fancam (self.HobbyDrama)
Alright, this is going to be a long one. There are a few facts that you need to know before we even start. First: the backstory. Musical Husbands is a 1964 musical with music by Franklin Shepard and lyrics by Charles Kringas. It's a show about a Broadway lyricist and composer who go their separate ways after the lyricist steals the composer's wife and runs off to write Hollywood screenplays. This is portrayed as a mostly morally right thing for him to do. In 1973, 6 years after the show closed on Broadway and 9 years after it opened, there was an infamous interview where Charles Kringas completely tore into Shepard for apparently breaking a ton of promises and being a sellout. Back in 2016, part of that interview was un-lost and put on Youtube. This is (mostly) not that story.
It Started Out Like a Song
2018 was always going to be the Summer of Kringas. Even BroadwayWorld, who isn't right about anything on their Twitter, was right about this one. In addition to the first Broadway revival of Musical Husbands, Kringas's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Take a Left was getting a shiny new off-Broadway run. Take a Left, by the way, is all about the Lavender Scare and apparently really good, though I've never seen it. Whatever, not relevant right now.
What IS relevant is that, whenever a new revival is announced on Broadway, you're going to get a new fanbase as well. The fanbase for Musical Husbands wound up being... well, dramatic, obsessed theatre kids. The kind who make Founding Fathers fanart and harrass NYT theatre critics. This still shouldn't have been all that much of an issue, since Kringas was notoriously reclusive - at the time when the MH and TaL revivals were announced, he hadn't done an interview since 1993.
Yeah, put a pin in that. That "at the time" is going to become very relevant very quickly.
It Started Quiet and Slow with No Surprise
In any fannish ecosystem, you're going to have a certain number of Real Person Shippers. RPS, from the notorious McLennon to the obscure F1 shippers, is always going to be fairly controversial. Especially with living celebrities, there's always a chance of them either being harrassed by fans (see the 1D Larry shippers) or just coming across it and being fucking weirded out.
Fortunately for the Musical Husbands shippers (yes, they had a ready-made ship name, lucky ducks), both these problems were fairly easy to avoid, seeing as one half of their ship hadn't been a truly public figure in 25 years and the other half of their ship was dead. There were some dust-ups regarding shippers using the Musical Husbands tag on tumblr, but overall it was about as easy and simple as these things get. Even an avid anti-RPS fan such as myself can admit that there are some incredibly suggestive pictures that a lesser man could see as ship bait.
Unfortunately for the Musical Husbands shippers, their fandom would get blown up on May 4th, 2018.
Cause Baby Now We Got Bad Blood
May 4th, 2018, is a day that will live in infamy, at least in one segment of the theatre fandom. For some, it's the day that Charles Kringas did his first interview in 25 years on the Cosmic Circus podcast. Kringas is a guy who always gave wild interviews, and being rusty only made his quotes more insane (and fun). For others, it's the day that Charles Kringas mentioned seeing a Musical Husbands fancam.
The response was swift, dramatic, and sometimes vicious. The shippers were mostly just freaking out - trying to figure out which fancam it was, trying to figure out how the least social media-savvy guy ever found them, trying to figure out what his actual opinion was (trust me, it was hilariously vague). The anti-shippers crowed about how their anti-RPS stance had been validated. It was a mess, but it wasn't over yet.
On May 18th, despite the director stating the contrary, Charles Kringas attended the opening night of the Musical Husbands revival. On the red carpet, he acknowledged the ship name and... he seemed to like it? Later that night, he actually mentioned a specific fancam, and if the numerous articles are to be believed he liked it. The fancam? One of the most popular in the fandom - the Musical Husbands "Bad Blood" fancam.
As you might expect, the shippers had a lot of fun that night.
It's (Not) a Cruel Summer
So what are the consequences of all this, besides riling up the Musical Husbands fans and the, uh, ~Musical Husbands~ fans? Not very much, actually. Despite a couple of attempts by various newspapers and theatre podcasts, Charles Kringas has gone back to not doing interviews. In the words of one fan: "Charles Kringas: comes out of hiding after 25 years, gives a thumbs up to rpf, refuses to elaborate." Both the Musical Husbands revival and the Take a Left revival have done well critically and commercially - Musical Husbands is up for 5 Tonys and Take a Left just announced a transfer to Broadway. As for the RPS fandom, they'll probably move on soon, but not before a coup de gras that finishes this saga off nicely.
According to the creator of the "Bad Blood" fancam, they're working on a Musical Husbands "Cruel Summer" fancam. With all the drama surrounding the Summer of Kringas, it feels appropriate.
287 comments
alw-is-my-nemesis Anyways in honor of Musical Husbands getting 5 Tony noms and Take a Left announcing a transfer I'm working on a Cruel Summer fancam with the new material from the MH opening. Krinpard/Musical Husbands shippers stay winning. 21 notes
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