Dr. Maya Cantu
@mayamcantu.bsky.social
Greasepaint Puritan: Boston to 42nd Street in the Queer Backstage Novels of Bradford Ropes, University of Michigan Press ‘24; Drama, Bennington College. www.mayacantu.com/news
Pinned
I’ve been impelled to revive my World of Bradford Ropes research blog: on ‘Val Burton, Jewish Culture, and the First Gay Movie Musical (1930):’ mayacantu.com/the-world-of....
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
November 3, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
The opening Nothing Ever Happens, a 1933 Vitaphone short parody of Grand Hotel. Fans of the Oscar-winning feature will enjoy the riffs on the leading performers (e.g., Greta Garbo) and their character's name (e.g., Joan Crawford's Flaemmchen is Jane Gale's Scramchen).
November 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
The opening Nothing Ever Happens, a 1933 Vitaphone short parody of Grand Hotel. Fans of the Oscar-winning feature will enjoy the riffs on the leading performers (e.g., Greta Garbo) and their character's name (e.g., Joan Crawford's Flaemmchen is Jane Gale's Scramchen).
The Bradford Ropes backstage trilogy, including ‘42nd Street,’ has vanished from Amazon.
November 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
The Bradford Ropes backstage trilogy, including ‘42nd Street,’ has vanished from Amazon.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Jack Smith - BOTD in 1932
November 14, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Jack Smith - BOTD in 1932
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
The Inattentive Reader, 1919
https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/1113963
https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/1113963
November 13, 2025 at 9:49 PM
The Inattentive Reader, 1919
https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/1113963
https://botfrens.com/collections/48/contents/1113963
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
-- FOR Outstanding COSTUME DESIGN For A Series (1987)! A first nomination and award for the brilliant Nanrose Buchman, who would go on to nab 4 more noms (most recent: "Perry Mason" 2023) & 1 more award ("The Queen's Gambit" 2021).
November 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
-- FOR Outstanding COSTUME DESIGN For A Series (1987)! A first nomination and award for the brilliant Nanrose Buchman, who would go on to nab 4 more noms (most recent: "Perry Mason" 2023) & 1 more award ("The Queen's Gambit" 2021).
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
It was the sixth and last season of FAME; Hans and I were invited in to pitch. One of our stories was a "42nd Street" homage; we almost didn't pitch it, because we figured they MUST've already done something like it already. But they hadn't, and they bought it! (And shot it!)
November 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It was the sixth and last season of FAME; Hans and I were invited in to pitch. One of our stories was a "42nd Street" homage; we almost didn't pitch it, because we figured they MUST've already done something like it already. But they hadn't, and they bought it! (And shot it!)
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
39 Years Ago Today: An episode of FAME I co-wrote with Hans Beimler -- our second produced TV script! -- got a "Close Up" in TV GUIDE magazine. Not bad for a little show running near-invisibly in syndication (and a troubled script that went to "Third Blue" [i.e., multiple rewrites/revisions)... 🧵
![TV GUIDE [logo]
America s Television Magazine
Vol. 34 No. 45 / November 8, 1986 / Issue #1754
* * *
BROADCAST
Syndicated Fame
Sun., ABC Disney Movie
Sun.,NBC Valerie
Mon.,PBS Story of English
Wed.,PBS Live from Lincoln Center
Thurs.,PBS Mystery!
Fri., NBC A-Team
* * *
This week: seven regular series try something out of the ordinary. Each in its own way succeeds.
* * *
Apart from PBS, Fame serves up an all-singing, all-dancing, hey-kids-Iet's-put-on-a-show show. The show they put on is rather reminiscent of ''42nd Street''--and really very well done. . . .
* * *
(5) FAME-- Drama; 60 min.
"All Talking, All Singing, All Dancing.'' See the Close-up on A-70.
* * *
close
up
FAME
3:30 PM (WGN)
8 PM (5)
9:30 PM (WGN)
[Photo (captioned "Gene Anthony Ray and Elisa Heinsohn"): A young Black man and young white woman in fancy 1930s outfits strike a dance pose.]
GOLDDIGGERS OF 1986
It's time to "put on a show'' as the "Fame'' regulars portray characters in a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical with Jesse (Jesse Borrego) as the harried director; Ian (Michael Cerveris) as the struggling songwriter; and Jillian (Elisa Heinsohn) as the naive chorine thrust into the spotlight when the Ieading Iady gets Iaryngitis on opening night. Miltie: Robert Romanus. Leroy: Gene Anthony Ray. Reggie: Carrie Hamilton. Lou: Dick Miller. Nicole: Nia Peeples. Danny: Carlo Imperator. Christopher: Billy Hufsey. Lydia: Debbie Allen. (60 min.)](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:ot3nzcyg5dqlrs27gvdqhouv/bafkreihah3fubqcysxtwtj7va7ke7it5kxzuml5a5i2iqznzadkzzfibcy@jpeg)
November 8, 2025 at 8:37 PM
39 Years Ago Today: An episode of FAME I co-wrote with Hans Beimler -- our second produced TV script! -- got a "Close Up" in TV GUIDE magazine. Not bad for a little show running near-invisibly in syndication (and a troubled script that went to "Third Blue" [i.e., multiple rewrites/revisions)... 🧵
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Nov. 13, 1925: A Charleston dance contest in front of St. Louis City Hall.
November 13, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Nov. 13, 1925: A Charleston dance contest in front of St. Louis City Hall.
Passed the time tonight with these two time-travelers.
November 12, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Passed the time tonight with these two time-travelers.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Edvard Munch in his studio at Ekely in Norway
Photo: Ragnvald Væring, 1938.
Photo: Ragnvald Væring, 1938.
November 10, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Edvard Munch in his studio at Ekely in Norway
Photo: Ragnvald Væring, 1938.
Photo: Ragnvald Væring, 1938.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
(Okay, it’s her birthday, so. . .)
Hang on, when did reading become performative?
📸: Michael Berresse
Hang on, when did reading become performative?
📸: Michael Berresse
November 10, 2025 at 4:18 PM
(Okay, it’s her birthday, so. . .)
Hang on, when did reading become performative?
📸: Michael Berresse
Hang on, when did reading become performative?
📸: Michael Berresse
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Dorothy Dandridge rehearsing at the Cafe de Paris nightclub in London with Phil Moore at the piano, 1951.
November 10, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Dorothy Dandridge rehearsing at the Cafe de Paris nightclub in London with Phil Moore at the piano, 1951.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
‘A New (Old) Look at Peggy Fears: Sapphic Showgirl, Broadway Producer, Queen of Fire Island:’ mayacantu.com/the-world-of....
October 13, 2025 at 7:35 PM
‘A New (Old) Look at Peggy Fears: Sapphic Showgirl, Broadway Producer, Queen of Fire Island:’ mayacantu.com/the-world-of....
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Nov. 8, 1925: A theater troupe in Zhytomyr in Soviet Ukraine.
November 8, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Nov. 8, 1925: A theater troupe in Zhytomyr in Soviet Ukraine.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Nov. 5, 1925: Italian playwright and producer Luigi Pirandello rehearses his actors for a staging of his drama "Henry IV" in Berlin.
November 5, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Nov. 5, 1925: Italian playwright and producer Luigi Pirandello rehearses his actors for a staging of his drama "Henry IV" in Berlin.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
The world is healing.
Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone Developing ‘Miss Piggy’ Movie With ‘Oh Mary’ Tony-Winner Cole Escola
Jennifer Lawrence says she's making a "Miss Piggy" movie with Emma Stone and Cole Escola.
variety.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:48 PM
The world is healing.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
this giant dime is still just sitting in my apartment btw
November 3, 2025 at 11:27 PM
this giant dime is still just sitting in my apartment btw
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
If it hadn't been his actual mother's name, "Foxy Sondheim" would be a great burlesque name
November 2, 2025 at 10:55 PM
If it hadn't been his actual mother's name, "Foxy Sondheim" would be a great burlesque name
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
Tallulah Bankhead by Mortimer Offner.
November 1, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Tallulah Bankhead by Mortimer Offner.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
‘WILL YOU CONDEMN OR FORGIVE HER?’ I love both the art design & marketing copy for this herald for the ‘33 MGM film adaptation of Bradford Ropes’s ‘Stage Mother,’ for which he co-wrote the (much more nuanced) screenplay. A holiday gift to myself; now to figure out how best to display this two-sider.
January 4, 2025 at 9:06 PM
‘WILL YOU CONDEMN OR FORGIVE HER?’ I love both the art design & marketing copy for this herald for the ‘33 MGM film adaptation of Bradford Ropes’s ‘Stage Mother,’ for which he co-wrote the (much more nuanced) screenplay. A holiday gift to myself; now to figure out how best to display this two-sider.
Reposted by Dr. Maya Cantu
How did Cyndi Lauper and Theresa Rebeck turn ‘Working Girl' into a musical (at La Jolla through Nov. 30)? By focusing on the absurdities of 1980s work culture and continuing inequalities.
A ‘Working Girl’ Who Just Wants to Have Fun (and Break Glass Ceilings)
Cyndi Lauper and Theresa Rebeck's new musical at La Jolla Playhouse, based on the hit film, eyes the absurdities of the 1980s work culture—and the inequalities that are still with us.
www.americantheatre.org
October 31, 2025 at 7:33 PM
How did Cyndi Lauper and Theresa Rebeck turn ‘Working Girl' into a musical (at La Jolla through Nov. 30)? By focusing on the absurdities of 1980s work culture and continuing inequalities.
I was going to go as a Zombie Tradwife this Halloween, but it just ended up Valley of the Dolls.
October 31, 2025 at 8:13 PM
I was going to go as a Zombie Tradwife this Halloween, but it just ended up Valley of the Dolls.