In this issue of Obsessed! ~
House Of Gucci season is upon us so prepare yourselves for my obsession with Gucci Gaga!❣️I have feelings about who is and who isn’t cast in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked. ✅ ❎ Two stunning fashion moments enhanced my viewing of the Scotiabank Giller Prize ceremony.🌹Find out which looks and books I am obsessed with!📚
Gitchie, Gitchie, Gucci, Gaga
Gucci Gaga has arrived. In recent months Lady Gaga has been wowing us in a gorgeous array of gowns from top designers, including Valentino, Schiapparelli, and Christopher John Rogers. But many of us have been waiting to see how Gaga would present GUCCI as she promotes the upcoming film, House Of Gucci.
On Tuesday afternoon, the world stopped as Gaga gave us that good, good Gucci glory at the world premiere of House Of Gucci in London, England.
Gaga was wearing a dark violet silk chiffon pleated cape gown, Look #67 from the Gucci Love Parade, a new Pre-Fall 2022 collection by Alessandro Michele presented by models, musicians and movie stars on Hollywood Boulevard last week. This look went from runway to Gaga in a matter of days. She paired the glam with her trademark Pleaser boots that she recently spoke about in Life In Looks for British Vogue — “I’ve worn the same stripper heels my entire career. They’re tried and true, and they’re worth it.” Yes, they are!
We are sure to be blessed with epic daily Gucci reveals as Gaga continues to promote the film ahead of its wider theatrical release on November 24, and I am LIVING FOR IT!
I am also living for Gaga’s recent comments about her portrayal of Patrizia Reggiani, who was convicted of hiring an assassin to (successfully) murder her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci. Gaga was recently interviewed for British Vogue and she revealed that she practiced method acting; living, breathing, talking and acting as Patrizia for months on end.
Patrizia is currently living in Milan, and she is clearly curious about the production of the film and the infamous actress who portrays her. In speaking to an Italian journalist, Patrizia said, “I am quite annoyed by the fact that Lady Gaga is playing me in the new Ridley Scott film without even having the foresight and sensitivity to come and meet me.”
When asked if she had reached out to Patrizia in preparation for the role, Gaga said,
“You know, I only felt that I could truly do this story justice if I approached it with the eye of a curious woman who was interested in possessing a journalistic spirit so that I could read between the lines of what was happening in the film’s scenes. Meaning that nobody was going to tell me who Patrizia Gucci was. Not even Patrizia Gucci.”
My jaw hit the floor when I read those two quotes paired together. I have read The House Of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed, which the film is based on, and it gives real-life Sopranos mixed with a whole lot of Succession vibes. If I were Gaga, I would not be throwing shade at Ms. Patrizia!!!!
But, who would Gaga be without her grandiose statements, grand entrances and grand exits? NO ONE. I am in complete Obsessed! mode, and this piece is just the beginning of my going publicly gaga over everything House Of Gucci. Get ready for more!
Cynthia and Ariana - Yay! James Corden - Nay!
Broadway musical fans gave a collective virtual standing ovation when the announcement that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have been cast as Elphaba and Glinda in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked was finally made!
Cynthia Erivo will (shockingly) be the first Black woman to portray Elphaba, the reimagining of the Wicked Witch Of The West as an ostracized, oppressed antihero, since Wicked’s opening on Broadway in 2003. Erivo won a Tony Award for her portrayal of Celie in Broadway’s The Color Purple, and she received critical acclaim for her screen portrayals of Harriet Tubman and Aretha Franklin. Readers of Obsessed! might recognize Erivo from my relentless Instagram red carpet posts because she always, always slays. She also happens to be the partner of screenwriter, producer, and actress Lena Waithe. I commented on Lena’s IG post about Cynthia being cast as Elphaba and Lena “liked” it so I guess we are best friends now.
I am not best friends with James Corden, and neither is anyone else (except for Adele - sigh). Broadway devotees and gays everywhere have had enough of Corden being cast in (and ruining) movie musicals. A legitimate Change.Org petition, addressed to Universal Pictures, is rapidly circulating the internet to ensure that James Corden is not cast in Wicked. At the moment, there are over 82 000 signatures. I should note that this is a pre-emptive campaign as there has not been any formal talk of Corden being added to the cast of the movie musical.
Corden started his career as a stage actor and won a Tony Award for One Man, Two Guvnors in 2012. His transition to movie musicals began in 2014 when he was cast as The Baker in Into The Woods. He was subsequently played Bustopher Jones in the doomed movie musical Cats, Barry Glickman in The Prom, and one of Cinderella's mice. Fans singlehandedly blame Corden for ruining Cats and The Prom in particular.
I saw Into The Woods, but I was not necessarily put off by Corden’s performance because I have always been underwhelmed by that musical (there, I said it). I did not see Cats because I am terrified of adults dressed up as animals1. However, I did see The Prom, and this is when I joined the legions of Corden-haters. His portrayal of Glickman, a gay male character usually played by openly gay Broadway actors, was an insult and an injustice to gay men everywhere. I won’t ever recover from it. Then, as if that wasn’t enough, Corden visually assaulted me (and plenty of others) by stopping LA traffic, wearing a mouse/rat costume, while gyrating to Let’s Get Loud for a flashmob promoting Cinderella. He is dead to me.
I am now part of a subsection of society that gets joy out of reading nasty tweets and comments about James Corden. Twitter user @TheGrizness unknowingly helped me by coining a term for this particular joy — Cordenfreude.
I get inexplicable joy from reading the “reason for signing” comments attached to the petition. Here are a few of my favs:
“James Corden ran over my pet dog and then stepped out of his car in a rat suit singing Let’s Get Loud while thrusting his penis.”
“Film can be a transporting medium. I don’t want to be transported to James Corden.”
“James Corden killed my family and made me watch a Camila Cabello music video as they bled out on the floor.”
LMFAO!!!
I did sign the petition, and Change.Org asked if I would like to contribute $7 to ensure that the petition circulated more widely. Ummm. No. Surprisingly, a long list of petitioners DID donate money to this entertaining yet stupid cause. Thankfully, I still have some scruples.
That doesn’t mean that I’m mature. I will be watching the Corden situation with great amusement while rolling deep in Cordenfreude. In the meantime, someone needs to start a petition to free Adele from her friendship with the Menace of Movie Musicals.
Looks & Books
Yes, I’m a musical theatre geek and a pop culture dork, but I am also a hardcore book nerd. I have a degree in English Literature and once dreamed of becoming an author. Fast forward twenty years, and this burnt-out Social Worker is finally writing again. As I have documented in previous newsletters, the learning curve has not been easy and my difficulties with editing may keep me from becoming a celebrated author.
However, I am thrilled to celebrate the accomplished authors who bring meaning to my inner life. On Monday night, I tuned into the Scotiabank Giller Prize ceremony hoping for a win for The Listeners by Jordan Tannahill (I’ll get to the book in a moment). Unfortunately, I could barely focus on the words spoken during the broadcast. Instead, my eyes feasted on the looks of two authors, Tannahill and Joshua Whitehead. My fashion brain won over my literary brain and I spent the whole hour obsessing over “who” the authors were wearing.
With a lot of help from an inside source, I learned that Giller Prize jury member, Joshua Whitehead, was wearing a red faux leather ensemble from Orttu and boots from Syro.
Yes, I DM’d Jordan Tannahill to find out “who” he was wearing and, yes, he replied. He informed me that he pieced his look together himself from various thrift store finds. I refuse to believe him; it’s just too good. But, if he is telling me the truth, then I insist that he takes me shopping. The best thing I have ever found while thrifting is a vintage Dr. Pepper t-shirt that I am currently wearing with my H&M jogging pants. So, yes, I need Jordan Tannahill’s assistance.
That’s my gush over the looks. Here is my gush over the books. I have been a member of the Gay Writes book club for two years. This queer AF online book club is the brainchild of self-proclaimed queer lit wench James Resendes, who is passionate about ensuring that queer lit is celebrated and made accessible to the multitudes. Resendes introduced me to the works of both Joshua Whitehead and Jordan Tannahill.
The Gay Writes April 2020 pick was Jonny Appleseed, my favourite read of that year. Whitehead’s novel follows a young, Two-Spirit/Indigiqueer who is trying to make his way in the big city of Winnipeg, but he is drawn back to the reservation after the death of his step-father. The novel is a raw telling of survival in the face of colonialism, sex (both delicate and messy), and a tender tribute to kinship, community care, and love in its many forms. The book has been optioned for the screen , so we will be gifted more opportunities to celebrate Whitehead’s genius soon!
The Listeners is the Gay Writes pick for November, and I read it this week in less than two days. This novel is a unique and gripping story told from the point of view of Claire, a middle-aged, suburban, white woman who may or may not be a reliable narrator. When Claire suddenly begins to hear an unidentifiable hum, it starts to take over her brain and her life. She becomes obsessed with finding the source of the hum, making questionable choices along the way. Her decisions lead to the collapse of her personal and professional life, pushing her towards a group of other individuals who can also hear the mystifying hum. The novel explores timely themes such as faith vs science, conspiracy theories, mental health, charasmatic (and perhaps dangerous) leaders, and existentialism. The Listeners has also been developed as an opera premiering in 2022.
I am forever grateful to Whitehead and Tannahill for unintentionally inspiring the fusion of my obsession with fashion and my nerdtastic love for literature. I think I have found a niche.
Are You Ready For It?
Here is your warning - my obsessiveness is about to go next level. Tomorrow, November 12, Taylor Swift is releasing Red (Taylor’s Version)❣️along with the 10+ minute All Too Well (The Short Film). 🍂🍁 Help me, god! There is also a strong possibility that tomorrow will be Britney Spears’ final conservatorship hearing. 🎉Sunday is the Adele One Night Only special, which includes an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey. 😭 I’m not sure that my heart can take it.💓 There might be some Pop Notes coming to your inbox as I try to process these monumental pop culture moments.
Just add that last one to my long list of phobias, outlined in other newsletters, including masks of most kinds, vampires and Willy Wonka.