TueDo List: Winona + Birthday Video + Y2K Gifts
Plus, meet a casting director for the over-40.
THIS WEEK
📖 READ: Jodie Foster on aging in Hollywood. Your friends don’t all have to be the same age. Jezebel, your death was greatly exaggerated. Jill Fillipovic’s really relatable piece on the ambivalence of motherhood. The power of psychedelics and master plants. YES Magazine’s Honoring Our Elders issue. Optionality, a new hub for professionals reinventing their careers. The “radical sabbatical.”
👀 LOOK: The power of Sharon Stone... ACTIVATE! Michelle Pfeiffer’s soft glam. Strange, unusual, forever cool ‘90s photos of Winona Ryder in Winona. Have yourself a GenX-y little Christmas. Marisa Abela as Amy Winehouse.
🎧 LISTEN: “Hold tight to your female friends… the ones who hold up a mirror to you and force you to see yourself the way they see you.” —Brooke Shields. Kelly Clarkson covers the Eagles’ “Desperado.” Fascinating stats in this 2023 Spotify Wrapped breakdown. Juilliard jazz prof hears Nirvana for the first time.
🤣 LOL: Planning a “Christmas Rot Day,” immediately! From Smashing Pumpkins to Disney enthusiast? We don’t do much gossip here but Andrew Shue is dating who??
🛒 ADD TO CART: Lots of pop-culture camp: Barbie signature Ted Lasso doll. Star Wars ugly sweater drinking glasses set. Y2K gifts for your 1999-obsessed friend. And Bon Appétit’s buzziest food gifts.
📺 WATCH:
Wed: The French crime drama, The Blood Coast (Netflix). Docuseries John Lennon: Murder Without a Trial (Apple TV+).
Thurs: Waitress: The Musical brings the Tony-nominated Broadway hit to the big screen for 5 nights only (Theaters). The story of Cary Grant in Archie (BritBox).
Fri: The Great British Baking Show: Holidays season 6 (Netflix). Anne Hathaway in the neo-noir thriller, Eileen (Theaters). Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, and Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things (Theaters). Indie horror thriller and SXSW 2023 winner, Raging Grace (HBO Max).
VIDEO: Missed our TueNight Birthday Bash? You can watch it here!
On a rainy November 21, we celebrated our 10th birthday at Caveat on the Lower East side. We soaked up a decade of incredible Gen-X storytelling with six captivating storytellers who took the stage to share their tales of “Ambition,” the evening’s theme. Add in a few quick “secret ambitions” from the audience, and connecting with TueNighters (old and new) was just pure magic.
If you missed the event, well, never fear, we have the video evidence right here.
STORY: Like a Virgin: My Attempt at Christmas Pageant Stardom
By Ebele Onyema
The annual Christmas pageant was Holy Ghost Elementary’s crown jewel, but it was not your typical pageant. A parade of the major players of the Bible, it started with Adam and Eve and ended climatically, and inexplicably, with every character singing “Silent Night” in the manger. Mrs. Pulaski, best described as the type of teacher who did not like children, ruled over it all.
Casting was hierarchical and auditionless. You were appointed, as if your entire existence were the audition. One year, a kid whose mom consistently sent in store-bought brownies for the bake sales instead of homemade, was cast as a rock. A rock!
Every year, I had humble aspirations for the part I’d receive. I wasn’t a teacher’s pet and if forced to bring something homemade for a fundraiser, my Nigerian mother would sooner have sent me to school with a platter of jollof rice over a sweet treat.
But that year was different. I was in 8th grade and I wanted . . . more. So, against all social order, I set out to attempt a coup: to be cast as the Virgin Mary.
TUENIGHT 10: Robin Bobbé, Founder and Casting Director For Women 40+
Your Age: 71
Basic bio: Robin owns a casting company, Modernager Casting, for diverse women age 40+. She lives with her photographer husband in a landmarked loft building, Tin Pan Alley, in the Flower District in Manhattan. She also works with women over 40 who want to become commercial models. Robin has a penchant for street casting and discovering new faces.
Beyond the bio: I am a classic late bloomer. To me it was perfectly normal to switch gears at 50 and land my dream job. From that point on, my life began to take shape and continues to evolve.
What makes you a grown-ass lady? Being comfortable in my decision not to have children.
Wishing you love and light, TueNighters!
