casey (train musical flop queen)
@clberner.bsky.social
phd candidate, theatre artist, flop collector. i write about commercial failure(s), megamusicals, and neoliberalism. ask me about the 1986 musical RAGS. she/her/hers
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
Here's a thread of some Dan McQuade blogs that we really loved 🦅
The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...
The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...
The Garden State Parkway's Jon Bon Jovi Rest Stop Is Playing Fast And Loose With Famous Quotes | Defector
CHEESEQUAKE, N.J. — Have you ever scored a touchdown? I never played real football, so my own experiences have been pretty low-key, but man, did they feel great. I think I remember almost all of them—...
defector.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:23 PM
Here's a thread of some Dan McQuade blogs that we really loved 🦅
The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...
The Garden State Parkway’s Jon Bon Jovi rest stop is playing fast and loose with famous quotes: defector.com/the-garden-s...
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
it's here btw www.youtube.com/live/zqka9fU...
January 27, 2026 at 1:24 AM
it's here btw www.youtube.com/live/zqka9fU...
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today.
ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.
January 24, 2026 at 6:00 PM
As tens of thousands across America protest the violence that ICE sows with impunity, federal agents shot and killed another person in Minneapolis today.
ICE terrorizes our cities. ICE puts us all in danger. Abolish ICE.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
When it comes to documenting ICE activity, remember what Eisenhower said at the end of WWII.
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."
January 24, 2026 at 4:48 PM
When it comes to documenting ICE activity, remember what Eisenhower said at the end of WWII.
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."
"Get it all on record now - get the films - get the witnesses - because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say that this never happened."
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
It’s not enough to say Abolish ICE. It’s not enough to vote no on ICE funding. It’s not enough to confront Kristi Noem or Greg Bovino with Stern Words.
If you are a leader, what are you doing to protect your community? How are you using your power, privilege, and position to confront this threat?
If you are a leader, what are you doing to protect your community? How are you using your power, privilege, and position to confront this threat?
January 24, 2026 at 4:40 PM
It’s not enough to say Abolish ICE. It’s not enough to vote no on ICE funding. It’s not enough to confront Kristi Noem or Greg Bovino with Stern Words.
If you are a leader, what are you doing to protect your community? How are you using your power, privilege, and position to confront this threat?
If you are a leader, what are you doing to protect your community? How are you using your power, privilege, and position to confront this threat?
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
Abolish ICE. Fire them all. Prosecute *every single abuse*.
January 24, 2026 at 3:54 PM
Abolish ICE. Fire them all. Prosecute *every single abuse*.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
they’re abducting our neighbors and putting them in concentration camps and they’ll empty a whole goddamn magazine into you while you’re lying on the ground if you don’t cheer them on while they’re fucking doing it.
they’re abducting our neighbors and putting them in concentration camps and they’ll shoot you in the fucking face if you don’t cheer them on while they’re doing it.
January 24, 2026 at 3:52 PM
they’re abducting our neighbors and putting them in concentration camps and they’ll empty a whole goddamn magazine into you while you’re lying on the ground if you don’t cheer them on while they’re fucking doing it.
with everything else going on: tonight, the first musical i’ve worked on since GODSPELL in 2017 (!!!) opens. it’s been so nice to flex those dramaturgy muscles again, even minimally, and to work with some students on some Sondheim 💚 pics are my lobby display.
January 24, 2026 at 12:17 AM
with everything else going on: tonight, the first musical i’ve worked on since GODSPELL in 2017 (!!!) opens. it’s been so nice to flex those dramaturgy muscles again, even minimally, and to work with some students on some Sondheim 💚 pics are my lobby display.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project
January 22, 2026 at 3:05 AM
a heavily armed paramilitary force with legal immunity is occupying a city and going door to door kidnapping non-white adults and children in furtherance of an explicitly white nationalist political project
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
Liebe Medien, ich kann die Schlagzeile "Keine Einigung zwischen USA und Dänemark" nicht mehr sehen. Wenn ein Bewaffneter eine Bank stürmt, titelt ihr doch auch nicht: "Räuber und Kassiererin finden keinen Konsens über Geldübergabe." Hört auf, imperiale Aggression als normale Diplomatie zu framen.
January 15, 2026 at 11:11 AM
For non-German speakers:
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
“Dear media, I can’t stand the headline "No agreement between the US and Denmark” any longer. If an armed man storms a bank, you don't run the headline: "Robber and cashier can't reach an agreement on money transfer." Stop framing imperial aggression as normal diplomacy.”
genuinely: this is one of the consequences of collapsing all of performativity into 'falsity.' words DO things, especially when they come from someone in power!!!
There seems to be a mind-boggling collapse in Americans' ability to understand the concept of speech acts. When the president makes a declaration, that's not "mere" words. The statement constitutes a foreign policy action. I feel like I'm going crazy here. Nobody has ever not understood this before
January 14, 2026 at 7:31 PM
genuinely: this is one of the consequences of collapsing all of performativity into 'falsity.' words DO things, especially when they come from someone in power!!!
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
this???? this is how i learn that yeston has Gone Wild(horn)????
(to my virtual assistant with Jar Jar Binks voice mod enabled) "where is the palace of versailles"
January 10, 2026 at 5:19 AM
this???? this is how i learn that yeston has Gone Wild(horn)????
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
“When I speak about making our city more affordable, my vision is not limited to the homes that we live in or the child care that we’re making universal — it’s also a vision where we make it possible for working people to afford lives of joy, of art, of rest, of expression.”
Handing Out Free Tickets, Mamdani Says Theater Should Not Be ‘a Luxury’
www.nytimes.com
January 10, 2026 at 12:22 AM
“When I speak about making our city more affordable, my vision is not limited to the homes that we live in or the child care that we’re making universal — it’s also a vision where we make it possible for working people to afford lives of joy, of art, of rest, of expression.”
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
BIG: this morning, Mayor Mamdani and Under the Radar announced a new initiative to give out 1,500 free festival tickets!
To have someone at City Hall who supports not just theater but non-commercial, often experimental performance blows my mind.
To have someone at City Hall who supports not just theater but non-commercial, often experimental performance blows my mind.
January 9, 2026 at 5:16 PM
BIG: this morning, Mayor Mamdani and Under the Radar announced a new initiative to give out 1,500 free festival tickets!
To have someone at City Hall who supports not just theater but non-commercial, often experimental performance blows my mind.
To have someone at City Hall who supports not just theater but non-commercial, often experimental performance blows my mind.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
the discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs
January 9, 2026 at 6:48 AM
the discourse on what jobs are acceptable to replace with generative AI reveals a lot about what we think of other people's jobs
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
My roommate is a teacher and has reported that ICE has been hanging around Septa stops and depots in the interest of abducting kids on their way home because they aren’t allowed to enter schools. They claimed to be part of a “Septa Strike Force” which does not exist. Boost if you can.
ICE is in Philly posing as Septa workers
January 8, 2026 at 6:38 PM
My roommate is a teacher and has reported that ICE has been hanging around Septa stops and depots in the interest of abducting kids on their way home because they aren’t allowed to enter schools. They claimed to be part of a “Septa Strike Force” which does not exist. Boost if you can.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
Like there’s a ton of individual issues but the broader problem is that there’s an assault on giving a shit about anyone besides yourself, nihilism that tells people the only way to prevent getting hurt is to hurt enough other people and that sickness is filtering into the bones of everything.
January 7, 2026 at 8:03 PM
Like there’s a ton of individual issues but the broader problem is that there’s an assault on giving a shit about anyone besides yourself, nihilism that tells people the only way to prevent getting hurt is to hurt enough other people and that sickness is filtering into the bones of everything.
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
They're not just doing tyranny, they're doing the *exact* things listed in the Declaration of Independence that the colonists accused the king of. It's surreal
January 8, 2026 at 12:37 AM
They're not just doing tyranny, they're doing the *exact* things listed in the Declaration of Independence that the colonists accused the king of. It's surreal
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
publicly rejecting it, on every social media account you have, and amplifying every other rejection, is also signaling. they’re a weak regime, getting weaker, in a mix of false bravado and panic and fear, and who they fear is us. they should.
The president is also signalling to his followers in and out of government what the party line on this horrific murder will be. That it's transparently false is almost beside the point. Indeed, publicly adopting the falsehood will fast become a loyalty test.
That he chooses the "me or your lying eyes?" approach, in the full knowledge that there are multiple videos out there, is a striking commentary on the nature of propaganda in the modern information environment.
January 8, 2026 at 2:55 AM
publicly rejecting it, on every social media account you have, and amplifying every other rejection, is also signaling. they’re a weak regime, getting weaker, in a mix of false bravado and panic and fear, and who they fear is us. they should.
incredible read!! loved waking up to this in my inbox
TODAY on @theflytrapmedia.com, and unpaywalled for all, I'm talking about algospeak, cuteification, and the implications of softening language about hard things.
Algospeak Will Be the Unaliving of Me
Maybe we want to bare our teeth.
www.theflytrapmedia.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:58 PM
incredible read!! loved waking up to this in my inbox
just ordered yarn for my first project of 2026, so here’s a look at what i did in 2025: got good at making baby blankets (pics are all pre-blocking)
January 5, 2026 at 7:32 PM
just ordered yarn for my first project of 2026, so here’s a look at what i did in 2025: got good at making baby blankets (pics are all pre-blocking)
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
This place is morally superior to Twitter for reasons that don't need to be explained on here. But I think the sense that being here is a moral act in and of itself (it's not) gives a lot of people permission to lecture strangers about things that are dumb and also frankly none of their business
January 5, 2026 at 7:13 PM
This place is morally superior to Twitter for reasons that don't need to be explained on here. But I think the sense that being here is a moral act in and of itself (it's not) gives a lot of people permission to lecture strangers about things that are dumb and also frankly none of their business
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
The Empire by Mary Oliver
December 11, 2025 at 8:56 PM
The Empire by Mary Oliver
Reposted by casey (train musical flop queen)
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
January 1, 2026 at 10:30 PM
In 2026 I want all of the decent people to remember one thing.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.
You aren’t meant to be this disciplined, this self-sacrificing to survive. The environment is supposed to support good living. We can have that. You are not a failure. That is politics.
That is all.