Latest / Besties Do Verticals / Episode 34 - Stage Kiss
Transcript
- Aleta: Hello and welcome to Besties Do Verticals with your besties, Alita and Lucy. Hi, I'm Alita. LUCY: And I'm Lucy. Aleta: So Lucy, how are you doing this week? LUCY: gosh. That's a great question, Alita. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: I feel like we don't get to ask these questions of each other when we do interviews or recaps with Aleta: Ha ha LUCY: actors. So I feel like there's a long list of craziness. I guess fandom wise I think it's worth mentioning that womp womp my drama did say that they're gonna add some AI into their roster. So we are a little sad here at Besties. we hope that they continue their commitment as much as possible to live action. That would mean the world to us. And we hope they consider hiring some of our favorite BL actors 'cause we really want to see some more queer verticals. And one of my favorite things about my drama is I think they have been really leading the charge in queer verticals this past year, giving us some really wonderful stories, especially the Ukrainian ones. So I really hope we get some more Ukrainian ones. I hope we get to see some great Western BL and GL verticals. So I I hope they'll do right by everybody, but I think that's kind of like some big fandom news. real Aleta: Mm. LUCY: life stuff. birthday it's a birth birthday month. So y'all Aleta: Mm. LUCY: probably noticed we haven't been super consistent Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: on release dates. October is really busy for me in particular for Halloween, several birthdays. But we will try to put out what we can this month. November should be consistent and then December we're gonna take a break. And I love you all, but I'm super excited for a holiday break. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: So we will resume probably the first week of January after the New Year's. What about you, Bestie? Aleta: Nothing too exciting, just work Wearing my LUCY: Ha ha. Aleta: Duffy's merch today Repping the best faction. LUCY: Whatever. Whatever. Gremlins is the best. Don't listen to her guys. She's just trying to trying to start start things. Being sassy. Little sassy lady over here. Aleta: And and my Dehameen Path hoodie which I have been wearing every day for work because that's how I feel. Leave me alone. LUCY: Aww That's so cute. You know what I do love about Alita? Something that I can Aleta: No LUCY: add is she gave me such a wonderful birthday gift this year. I got wonderful excerpts excerpts? Excerpts Excerpts read to me. Yeah. Read to me from s one of my Aleta: Excerpts, yeah. But less we say about that the better. LUCY: Well, I'm just saying, I got some steamy stories in French and I'm so grateful to have a friend like her. So Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: thank you for my wonderful birthday gift. but yes. Aleta: Well, your actual birthday gift should be there on Wednesday, hopefully. LUCY: I don't know what if that can be beat. It's pretty steamy. Alright, bestie. Aleta: dear. LUCY: I think we're ready to get into what we're doing today. Aleta: Yes, none of that ever sees the light of day. LUCY: Ha ha ha ha. Aleta: All right, besties, today we are talking about Stage Kiss, a candy jarred drama that was directed by Carolyn Plyler, produced by Danny Dupre, written by Haley K. Goldstein, LUCY: Whoop whoop Aleta: and Olivia Coo was the intimacy coordinator. Our bestie, Olivia. LUCY: There we go! Aleta: It starred Sky Kawai as Elijah Rhodes, LUCY: Woo. Aleta: Felix Mervack as Lucas Sullivan. LUCY: Felix Aleta: Nia Baker as Nora, Haley Rutledge as Miss Harper, Chloe LUCY: Mm. Aleta: Sciore as Autumn, and Justin Stanek as Shane. LUCY: snap. Aleta: What a cast. The summary from IMDB is Theatre student Lucas makes a deal with Lacrosse rival Elijah. Passion lessons for Romeo and Juliet if Lucas ends his suspension. But as rehearsals spark real desire, Lucas risks Juilliard and his heart on a boy who swears it's fake. LUCY: You know what's really funny? We're gonna have to make a correction here. It looks like IMDB said Juilliard, but it's NYU. Aleta: Whoops. LUCY: They talk about scouts in NYU. I say we just keep that in because now everyone can know IMDB got a little silly. Because it was a scout Aleta: I LUCY: from NYU. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: Yep. Alright. The vertical opens to a party happening? The camera pans to a good looking young man hanging on a pool floaty. Laughing with his friends. We overhear someone congratulating Elijah, the young man on the pool floaty, for the best senior prank ever. We see another young man digging in a box, looking quite irritated. We find out the young man's name is Lucas, played by Felix Murbat, who goes to confront Elijah, whose senior prank involves water. And that water are getting his costumes wet. Elijah, played by Sky Kawai, tells Lucas to stop being such a drama queen. Lucas threatens to tell the headmaster, this gets Elijah up and out of his pool floaty, where he proceeds to bump into Lucas a little. He was very like I don't know, Elijah tried to chase after Lucas right after I don't know, Lucas turned around, it was kind of a bump. I don't know. Aleta: Yeah, it was one of those accidental impacts, yeah. I laughed at the makeshift slip and LUCY: They did a good job with it. Aleta: slide there. The tarp on concrete. only teenagers would think that was a good idea. LUCY: I didn't even notice that, you're right. And yeah, as a teenager Aleta: It's not a pool. LUCY: you kinda it's not a pull and you don't care. I I think if I had done that I would have done it on grass. Safer. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: Elijah looks amused at Lucas's hands on him. And Lucas looks horrified, especially when Elijah says you just can't keep your hands off me, huh? Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: And I do love from the very first scene we get to see Sky's playful madness. That's what I'm calling it Aleta: Mm. LUCY: nowadays. I enjoy every second of it. It's not a sky vertical without any of that, really, truly. Lucas says to get away from him and that he's not gay. Elijah tells him, Hey, there's no judgment. But anyone who prances around in tights on stage cannot be straight. There is some playful flirting here, more from Elijah, and then the banter turns to if you wanted to see it, you could just ask. Clearly the see what's in my pants innuendo. We get a slight growl from Lucas. I didn't notice that the first time. Gotta love Felix. Lucas calls out for Miss Harper, trying to tell her he just found the leak. Elijah replies, Stop playing. Just look at it. It's nice. As he looks down his pants, my god. I love the way that was delivered. Miss Harper shows up and Elijah gets promptly removed to the headmaster's office. they're banters just I don't know. I Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: I was thinking about it like you know, is it there's so much I talk about in here I I muse, you know, w was some of this improv was Aleta: Mm. LUCY: it all Hayley? Haley is the writer who adapted this to the screenplay. And I feel like a part of it has to be mostly Haley because she also adapted next door and so much Aleta: Mm. LUCY: of Next Door had just such rich and engaging dialogue and so none of this amazing dialogue surprises me knowing that she wrote it. but I get curious, like, was Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: it did they ever deviate the lines or is it just they're so like it's such good writing and like they just got to improv and act it out in their faces and mannerisms and either way it was like it match made in heaven in my opinion. I don't know. Aleta: Great delivery. Yeah. LUCY: Right? And timing? Episode three opens to Lucas sitting on a stage. People in the audience watching. He starts to recite from a script when Elijah suddenly bursts in to a fun song announcing his arrival. Lucas asks what he is doing there, and Miss Harper replies Why? Aleta: He is getting his just desserts. LUCY: Elijah looks thrilled as he hops up on stage. That looked really hot, and announces to everyone. I'm getting punished. As a penalty for getting a little water on some already moldy rags, the headmaster is making me miss my senior year lacrosse season to help out around here. Miss Harper replies. Aleta: A tragedy. LUCY: Elijah continues So congrats, Sullivan, your master plan worked. You got me all to yourself. Lucas says he wants to pass on that, but Miss Harper tells everyone that Elijah is going to be his new rehearsal partner for Romeo and Juliet, and they will be spending a lot of time together. Miss Harper informs them that Nora, Lucas' original scene partner, came down with Mono. Womp womp. Elijah looks extremely amused and delighted by this. They start to run their lines. I don't know if you noticed this, but it looked like all three actors were close to breaking during this Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: scene. Like I could hear the breaks in their voices a few times. Did you? Aleta: I don't think I noticed, no. LUCY: I don't know. I I've been editing it too, so Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: I love watching them almost break, it's great. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: Some extremely cute back and forth banter here, reluctant hand holding, Sky busting out a falsetto voice. Miss Harper asks Elijah to take one step closer to his Romeo and our first little damn scene. Some great lighting here as the two young men are lit up and they both feel the intensity brewing between them in a different way. Lucas seems to forget himself, staring straight at Elijah's lips as he recites another line from the play. Miss Harper tells Elijah to tenderly put his hand on Lucas' face, to which Lucas asks if that is necessary, breaking the moment. Did you notice that Miss Harper is basically written like a BL fangirl? Like this is just my my thought process. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: She is very very eager to see this play out. I should be horrified, but I can't be. It's almost too hilarious and feels like a nod to the fandom of housewives everywhere. Aleta: Well, I definitely felt from the beginning that Miss Harper is an ally. She's rooting for them. hopefully not in a creepy way. LUCY: Right. Aleta: 'cause they are high schoolers. but yeah, I I liked her and I love the costume choices for her. She just feels like a drama teacher, she has the right mannerisms and the flamboyant costume and yeah I like her. LUCY: Yeah, I think she was written well and cast very well. She was Aleta: Mm. LUCY: well done. Lucas lets Elijah proceed, and with Elijah's hands on his face, Lucas continues to recite from Romeo and Juliet. Some pretty sexy lines from Shakespeare here, maybe. And it seems like Elijah can tell that Lucas is more into it and asks him if he's stroking out, breaking the moment again. Womp womp. Lucas says he can't do this and needs anyone but him after he walks away. Elijah says to the quiet crowd, Come on, I was great. I can't Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: even right now. just the combination of Haley's writing and Skye's perfection at sassiness. It's just a match made in damn heaven at this point. And I know we're gonna be quoting a lot of the lines and god I just hope that I can do them somewhat justice because the way s both of them, it's not just Sky, Felix, the way they both land it, I'm just like you guys are incredible. Backstage, Lucas asks Miss Harper how sick Nora is, that he would risk mono. Miss Harper tells him that there will be a scout from NYU is at his performance, and she is worried he isn't up to the task. That he's not passionate enough. And it's crazy 'cause to me it sounds like she wanted them paired together because she knows Elijah can elicit reactions out of Lucas. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Yeah, she's already felt the vibe and and she's very intuitive. And I think, yeah. I like I say, I hope she's an ally. That's how I that's how I saw her. LUCY: Ha ha ha ha. Aleta: She's she felt something between them and she wanted to give them a chance to to figure it out. LUCY: I like your view of it 'cause I really like her. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: But I feel like she speaks for all of us right now. Lucas asks if he can punch Elijah. He can do that passionately. Elijah tells him that he can try, and then we get the boop scene. I don't think any of us expected that. That was fucking adorable. Ugh, fucking A, Skye. Fuckin' A. And again, do we think this was improv? I do think Haley would be talented enough to script that, but I just also believe Felix and Skye talented enough to create that hilarity all on their own too. Instead of a punch, Lucas angrily pushes Elijah away and everyone is happy about it. Miss Harper tells him that they both have palpable chemistry together and they need each other. Lucas needs Elijah to help impress the scout, and Elijah needs Lucas to sign off so he can go back to playing lacrosse. Lucas laments when Miss Harper leaves. Aleta: So you're the one who pulls the prank on school property and now suddenly I'm getting punished? make that make sense. LUCY: Come on, dude. I'm not that bad. Aleta: Yes, yes you are. You're a menace. You're a douchebag. You've been an asshole to me ever since freshman year, man. I'm done with this. LUCY: I love the way Felix said menace here. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Also, can we talk about Skye's hair right in the scene? It's like Ugh, if Skye listens to this, he'll eye roll probably. But to me, it is delicately touseled clown menace hair. And I am dying. And I wonder if Aleta: Loud? LUCY: that's what clown menace hair. It does, he looks like a clown. He could put it's just the way like his head was tilted. It's almost like manic hair and like he almost looked manic Aleta: okay. LUCY: and I was like I was like, yeah, just put some white makeup on him. And I don't know. I got the clown vibe with the hair a couple of times. Not the clowns. Aleta: Not the not the clowns Skye has great hair. LUCY: He does have great hair. It was just in the scene and I'm not against it. I like clowns. So everyone listening to this is like, shut the fuck up, Lucy! and if Sky's listening to it, he's like, what a fucking weirdo. But you know what? I'm not taking it back is how I feel. The hair the hair was menace hair, but Clownite. Anyway. I also wanted to make notes here. yeah yeah yeah. So I actually read this Galatean novel. So I I don't you guys might remember from next door, we learned that all candy jar verticals are adapted. So I think candy jar is owned by Inkjet. And Inkjet has like a site where Aleta: Inkit. LUCY: you Ink It. Mmm, this is why I need Alita. She keeps me straight Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: here. But so they have like a platform where you can almost submit original work, just like Wattpad. And then it sounds like Candy Jar takes from Inkit, right? Inket. And they'll take stories and put them on their Galatea platform. And Galatea is where the candy jar verticals are adapted from. So I knew that that was the only place that it could be. And so myself and a friend, another fandom friend, we searched for the original novel and it was called You Aleta: Mm. LUCY: Taught Me to Fly and w obviously was changed to Stage Aleta: Okay. LUCY: Kiss. And if you look at the opening scene it says that based on the Galate novel, You Taught Me to Fly. And Aleta: okay. LUCY: so before this even released I read it. as far as I know I am the only one in the fandom who has. if anyone else has, please D I I'd love to hear what you thought. it is nothing like the adapted screenplay by Haley. So it's the same characters and mostly the same personalities, but the story is really different. So, like in the actual novel, Elijah is gay. And it's Lucas who didn't realize he was until he met Elijah. And from what I remember, Aleta: okay. LUCY: Elijah never bullied Lucas. So, like him saying, Aleta: Mm. LUCY: You've been a dick to me since freshman year. I am pretty sure that didn't happen. He was just so popular, Elijah never paid any attention to Lucas. At least that's my memory. I read Aleta: Mm. LUCY: it maybe a month and a half ago. I will say that the personalities of Elijah and Lucas are spot on, but I don't think the novel had the strength to like hold the way the script did. So the adapted Aleta: Mm. LUCY: script that Haley wrote I just feel like allowed that story like it was it was almost like an original. It just blossomed and there was so much dialogue that was not in the Galatean novel. I mean don't get me wrong, there I I love seeing the similar personalities, but things played out differently and I just really Aleta: Mm. LUCY: loved how she took this. It was just they did a great job. Elijah asks Lucas to let him make it up to him by helping him find his passion on stage. Elijah will help him stop playing it safe. He offers to show him proof and grabs him by the lapels, pressing him up against him in another heated moment. Lucas isn't having that and tries to walk away, saying that he can't get past the last four years. Elijah tells him he's just too scared to try it. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I don't know if you saw Sky's little dance wiggle and taunt. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: Love it. This is Sky. Lucas reluctantly agrees but wants to go home. Elijah doesn't let him and tells him he wants to keep rehearsing. Lucas starts to pull out his script, and Elijah gives a perfect sky eye roll and says kiss me, dude. Elijah realizes that Lucas has never been kissed before as he tries to get out of it. Lucas seems like he's gonna give in. They start to lean in. Lucas looks scared and tempted and Elijah looks excited and so sky and then interruptions by Mrs it says Mrs. Hale. Miss Harper. Aleta: Miss Harper. LUCY: That happened. It literally Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: says Mrs. Hale. I don't know what the hell. Lucas uses the opportunity to leave while they can. Aleta: the interruptions. Too many interruptions. LUCY: Yeah. We recapped this so these so much that like I think Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: certain things were kinda like, okay, we're done now. I mean the interruptions are part Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: of like it's just I don't wanna see a whole lot, right? Aleta: Yeah, yeah. LUCY: The next scene shows Lucas complaining about Elijah to his sister Autumn at home. She calls him out and says he has a crush. He says he isn't gay and she tells him you don't have to be to have a crush on someone of the same gender. She tells him he's been talking about Elijah since he was fourteen. To which Lucas replies, It's because he drives them insane. Aleta: I really like Autumn. There's no parents in this one, which honestly good. given the way parents usually are in verticals. But the supportive sibling is nice. I think they did a really good job portraying a healthy sibling relationship, the teasing but supportive, and she's she's on his side from the beginning. LUCY: So in the Galatea novel, Lucas actually has a whole family. He has a a brother, I think a twin brother, and then a sister. And he has two parents. And the parents are exactly like vertical parents for the most part. They're not yeah, they're not supportive at all. It's interesting 'cause I think they're not supportive more I don't even know if it's because he's gay. I can't remember. But the sister is very much like that, so I'm like like how she is in the vertical. So I'm kinda glad they have that. And then, yeah, there's a twin brother who who who becomes problematic. and honestly, that's what I thought Justin Stanick's character was gonna be. was the brother, but yeah, it's that was not the case. but yeah, it's kinda cool. Seeing how she changed it up. Ugh Aleta: Well, I'm glad they left out the parents in that case. LUCY: me too. It's just too Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: extra, you know. Back at the school theater, Lucas and Elijah are rehearsing by doing something called mirroring. We get an adorable scene that I wonder if it was actually choreographed or impromptu We get flipping the bird, stretching, sky's hair flip, shirts coming up at another cute wiggle dance, then Elijah trying to torture him by unbuckling his pants and using the belt for something. Hahaha Like sticks it between his legs and does a little dance dance. when that finishes Lucas Lucas tells the teacher it would help him to get more into character if they wear costumes. To which one of the best scenes of the vertical, in my opinion, Elijah, Aleta: Mm. LUCY: but really sky fucking Kawhi, walks out in a dress and he looks fucking fabulous. Can this man do no wrong? Like god d he even looks hot as fuck in that dress, like Aleta: Mm. LUCY: He comes out in a dress and I'm just like, damn Sky, you look just as fine as you did in those cowboy gun pictures. Like, how Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: do you do it? Aleta: Not the gun picture. my goodness. LUCY: Mm, we like the gun picture. Aleta: Now I can see it. It is my beautiful Juliet. LUCY: Yeah, I think my Romeo is ready for his poison now. Miss Harper chimes in. Aleta: Well, we'll have to find something else for mister Muscles. In the meantime, take it off before you rip it in half. LUCY: Elijah's absolute sky smirk here. Hee hee. Aleta: Backstage, young man, again with the indecent exposure. LUCY: Dear God, I'm a little worried about this teacher. I think they stuck a BL fangirl in that character role. She is way too excited about her students stripping. But you know what? I can relate. I mean, in terms of, you know, the BL side of it not the teacher side of it. Aleta: Yeah. Again, I think she's just very perceptive and she could see the enem enemies to lover's trope coming a mile off. LUCY: Very true. Very possible. Yes, yes, yes. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Elijah asks Lucas to come with him, which we get a hilarious expression from Felix as he is bodily dragged off stage. I actually really love that. I l I I'm I ca I kinda hope the verticals keep adding those in. Like that happens with Declan too, he just randomly gets yanked out of frame, but it's just the Yeah it's adorable and comedic and I love it. Aleta: I like the one where where where Beckett slaps Cody's ass and then grabs him by the belt and drags him down the hallway. LUCY: Yes. Yes, me too. So good. Aleta: Ha ha. LUCY: The next day we are back on stage and Elijah and Lucas are rehearsing. When they move in to kiss, Lucas does the infamous thumb on Elijah's mouth. That's what Greg's girlfriend did to him and drive wild feelings. Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: I love how Elijah freaks out and says, Why the hell are you sticking your thumbs in my mouth? Lucas is annoyed and says it's a stage kiss and Elijah's expressions here are pure gold. So the exact faces he is making right now is exactly how I fucking feel whenever actors stage kiss and I can tell in verticals. Okay. You know what though? Netty and someone else told me that she actually learned it is very common in TV because apparently directors think it can look gross on camera, like you can see spit and stuff. I don't know how I feel about that to be honest, because Declan, Skye, Tristan, Greg, and others do just fine, tongues and all, and there was nothing wrong with it. I don't see any of that. But Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: when I was recently watching like the originals in the vampire diaries, I think I could actually tell, like I never noticed before. But now I'm like so hyper focused on kissing and I never used to be. I think I could tell where there was some stage kissing eventually, Aleta: Mm. LUCY: or at least opportunities that it could have been done. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: And they just had crafty camera angles and actually dis it made me disappointed. And I guess I'm just a girl who wants to see real kissing. I'm okay with it Aleta: Hm. LUCY: not being on stage, but in film and verticals, I do want the real deal. But I will say, I I remember our interview with Olivia and her talking about actors' comfort level. And Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: I did tell her I think after she said that I was like, You gave you given me a lot to think about. Because I do want actors to be comfortable, right? I don't Aleta: Yeah. Yeah. LUCY: want them to be uncomfortable. I just think and this is just my opinion, so drag me through the coals if you need to, but I think if you're gonna play a romantic lead, you need to be open to at least lip to lip touch. You know what Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I mean? Like just at least the Evan and Greg thing and straight until he kissed me. Because I was okay with that kissing. Like, yeah, it didn't have to be dirty and skanky, you know, or passionate. It can just be sweet and innocent. But I don't know what it is. Like I just I think if I can t here's my thing. If I can tell if it's a stage kiss, for me personally it takes me out of the moment. Aleta: Mm-hmm. Yeah. LUCY: And that frustrates me because I've never had that problem with the vampire diaries in the originals. there's so much kissing in it. And I was like, what the fuck? I've never noticed before. and you know what? Let's drag this out a little more. Okay. he was laughing at me. But I actually didn't have a problem with the OG BLs either. So Secret Agent Husband is like the c the king of stage kissing. I actually it didn't bother me. I mean, think it bothered me a little bit, but when I first saw it, I wasn't horribly affected. But as time goes on, I think the verticals I used to be able to handle with the stage kissing, I can't anymore. And I think it's because with queer actors, so actors that are openly gay and out. I don't think there is as are as many reservations. That's just my thought. I don't know if that's actually true. But everyone I know who has been providing some of the more passionate love scenes are coming Aleta: Mm. LUCY: from real queer actors. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I can't I can't say that about everybody. I I do know I think some other actors that are unclear if they're queer have also provided passionate, but I don't know. I'm just thinking of our main guys. I don't know, those Aleta: Mm. LUCY: are my thoughts. You can give your thoughts. That was a lot of babble. Aleta: Yeah, I don't know. I think I maybe we're just getting desensitized 'cause it's getting more extreme. So we wanna see the we wanna see more and more. But LUCY: Probably. Probably. God. Yeah. Aleta: I I think yeah, if it's if it's really obvious then it really does kind of LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: take you out of it. Where if if it is just at least kissing lips closed mouths, it's not it's not as bad as when it's obviously hidden. when they do the arm or the shoulder to block so you can't see that there's no contact and stuff like that. It it kind of kind of ruins the moment. So I don't know. I feel like the ones where i it maybe the chemistry isn't as good and so they just don't or maybe they're just personally not comfortable with that at all. And that's that's fair. LUCY: Right. Aleta: so yeah. We've modified our soapbox. LUCY: It's We did, we did. You know, but I have to say I think it's one of the reasons when we get more authentic romantic scenes, those are the ones that I think get edited, rewatched, and I think there's many reasons for it. I just I don't want to be taken out of it. I don't want to be taken out of the moment. I think that's like a big part of it. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: Yeah, I'm sure there's desensitized woman in there. Like you said. You just want more at this point. Aleta: Heated rivalry LUCY: But yeah. my goodness. It's okay. Alright. Aleta: just blew it out of the water, and now everyone wants everything. LUCY: It's true. Heated rivalry really elevated the expectations. you know what's funny though? I think Evan said this and I don't know Evan Gambordella, and I don't know if he said it off camera or when we recorded, but he had tal you know, I think it was off camera, but he had said somet like he he he was into spice, but he wanted it to have a purpose. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: So as long as the spice was not there just to be there, Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: like as an actor he felt comfortable, you know? And Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: I think that's very fair. And I I don't I don't think he's the only one who's ever said that. I feel like Jeff might have said that too. Like as long as it has a purpose to the story, it can feel, you know, like they're serving the story. Aleta: Yeah. I think Greg said the same thing. as long as it's as long as it's not just for sensationaliz LUCY: Okay, maybe it was Greg over Jeff. Aleta: sensationalizing it, as long as it has a has a place and and is appropriate. Yeah. Which fair, they're not They're not doing those videos that go on those sites. They're they're LUCY: Exactly. Aleta: they're good actors and they wanna be true to the story and tell the tell the love story, not just be be overly sensational. So Fair fair. LUCY: There you go. No, that's right. So we were previously talking about before we went on our tangent that Lucas was annoyed that Elijah didn't know what he was doing with the thumbs, and he told him it was a stage kiss, and then Elijah's expressions are pure gold. Elijah says, How the hell are you supposed to feel passionate about kissing your own thumbs? Come on, Romeo. Enough of the hand stuff. Just give it to me. I did a good job, didn't I? Honestly the waste guy did it, I was like, Yes, boy. Aleta: No, we can't LUCY: Why? Is there some sort of rule against it or Aleta: No, it's just it's it's LUCY: Dumb, boring, lame as shit. Aleta: It's how it's done. LUCY: Mm well I dare you to kiss me right now so we never get into any kissing. Miss Harper shows Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: up again. sigh. Can I also say when Elijah says dumb, boring, lame as shit, I was like, yes, that's how I feel too about stage kissing. beautifully done. Aleta: I love that double ent double entendre there in the first line too. LUCY: It's good times. She tells them it's time to make posters. Elijah tells Lucas the dare still stands whenever he is ready. The sign painting scene arrives. Lucas tells Elijah he is getting his tie dirty in the paint, who tells him he doesn't mind a little mess. Lucas counters that it explains his dating history. Elijah tells him he doesn't date, he just has fun. This whole time Lucas chose to get on his back under Elijah and tries to untie his tie for him. Elijah gets playful and pates a little on the other man's nose, and a most adorable pate fight ensues. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: And you know, I feel like I'm truly failing capturing the joy of this vertical because something I almost cannot grasp is how on point, how hilarious, how perfect the back and forth banter from Felix to Sky is. Like Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I can't even handle how good it is. It to me it's the best I've ever seen. They play off each other so well and are so quick, like so quick witted. And it's just killing me. Haley, if you were listening, was this your dialogue? I need you to DM me. Or better yet, just come on the podcast. Come talk about it. That's what I really want. Let's encourage Haley to come on the podcast and talk about next door in this because they are two amazing BL verticals and I I w I wanna hear all I wanna hear all the tea. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: or or did the guys just bust that shit out on improv? Because either way they are killing it and I just I feel like I'm not properly expressing my love for this banter at all. I I don't know how you felt felt, Alita, but god it just watching it at back again, Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: I was like, this is so good. Aleta: It it really is. It's it's really They're both very good actors and yeah, LUCY: Right. Aleta: great great chemistry, great rapport. Yeah. LUCY: Yeah, it really comes across on screen. Lucas pins Elijah after much laughing and adorableness. They have their awkward heat intention pause, and then Elijah decides to be Elijah and say, Is that a paintbrush in your pocket? Or are you just excited to see me? Aleta: Ugh I'm literally never, ever excited to see you. LUCY: You love me. Aleta: I hate you. LUCY: Such sweet nothings. Aleta: I hate $1, I hate $0. I hate $2. LUCY: Girl, that was a good job. I loved your ug. And I love the way I said I'm like, you like to say you're not a good actress, but I'm seeing some improvement. Aleta: I am very much not LUCY: I I'm seeing improvement. Like, as we go on and just start reading lines to each other, I think you're getting pretty damn good. Aleta: can I can read I can read a book and put some feeling into it, but I there's a reason why I was on the stage makeup. LUCY: Have you ever 'cause you're 'cause you're fancy, you're fancy pants like Andrew. you guys are the fancy people, I'm not a fancy person. have you like memorized Shakespeare monologues too or Shakespeare lines? Aleta: Yes. LUCY: Would you ever do one for me? Can that be next year's birthday present? You don't even have to do it in French. Aleta: I haven't memorized that many. LUCY: Could you like do one you memorized? Aleta: I I and I would have to me rememorize probably. LUCY: Could you just do a couple of lines for the fans of the podcast? Like once more with feeling, just what you have, like just a line or two, 'cause I imagine it's epic just like Andrew's was. Aleta: Okay, there's there's two that I can pull out a couple of lines from. I would need to rememorize, honestly. Hamlet, soliloquy. And Richard the Third. now is the winter of our discontent. Made glorious summer by these sons of York. And yeah, and Hamlet, to be or not to be, that one. I know a little bit of, but LUCY: Do you remember a couple of the lines from Hamlet? Aleta: god. Okay. LUCY: No, I'm serious, this is really good. Aleta: I am I am I am not Andrew Actor. To be or not to be That is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them. There you go. LUCY: Holy fuck You know what's funny? I never have cared so much about Shakespeare. Like the closest I ever got was the Romeo and Juliet with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes. 'Cause that was like modern and Shakespearean but passionate and so Aleta: Mm. LUCY: like I have a real big soft spot for that. And obviously I was like thirteen when that came out. Aleta: Hm mm. LUCY: So it's the perfect age range for it. But Even that I don't think sucked me in to the idea of Shakespeare the way Andrew just did on his live a few days ago. Aleta: so good. LUCY: the feeling, the passion. You know what's interesting? A few things. So I don't know if I told you this, but I showed my kid, who is a budding actress, Aleta: Mm. LUCY: and I've never shown her Shakespeare. Like we've never watched Romeo and Juliet. I want us to watch it now. We're gonna watch it together. Aleta: Mm. Yeah. LUCY: I think she's old enough. And we'll watch the of course the the Leo version. But I showed it to her, Andrew, like giving Aleta: Mm. LUCY: that monologue and the way her eyes lit up and the way Aleta: Mm. LUCY: her jaw dropped. And I'm so thrilled because her school, not even kidding, it's a middle school, but it's a performing arts school. They offer a Shakespeare class. And Aleta: great. LUCY: yeah, and they do Shakespeare Festival. And so I was like, bro. And I told her, I was like, I think you should take this. And she was like, Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: I'm gonna take this. And I'm so excited to see that like joy. And Andrew, if you're listening, holy hell. Ser Aleta: He's not. LUCY: you never know. We're kinda cool. He might listen to Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: us. Aleta: No, that was my immediate thought. I was like, what the hell? You are wasted on verticals. LUCY: Right! Waste it. It's not just him though. Like something I think you know what I'm gonna do? I have an idea. my god, Evan's gonna kill me, but I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna ask for a cameo. Because I was unsure if I wanted to do a birthday cameo this year. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I got to see Evan in New Mexico and then I'm gonna go see him in Atlanta and I was like I was like, that's isn't that weird? I'm saying hi to him in person, like hey, go see his shows and I'm like, Hey, do a cameo for me But Aleta: I know. See, I was gonna get a cameo from Greg this year and then I was like, Okay, it's weird now. LUCY: I know it feels a little weird. It feels a little weird because we're like, hey guys. so but thank you, Greg and Evan, and every actor who's come on to be so kind to us Aleta: Yeah, for sure. LUCY: and the fans. I I mean, it's it's been awesome, but I I I actually would love to hear Evan recite Shakespeare because I think he Aleta: Mm. LUCY: said he took classes in that. He's performed Shakespeare. Was it Midsummer's Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Night Dream? Aleta: Midsummer Snight stream, yeah. LUCY: Yeah. And I've never heard him recite it, but like it really Aleta: Hm. LUCY: inspired me with Andrew. I'm like, I want to hear Evan do it. So I might ask him to do that. I originally was gonna be like, can you do a magic trick for me if I ever did another cameo but I'm gonna change it up. Shakespeare, please. I'd wanna ask him to sing, because I know he's a classically trained singer, but he is like so Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: reluctant on that, so I don't know if I could get him to do that. But I'm I'm very inspired by Shakespeare right now. Aleta: So were you there when Andrew did the the Shakespeare sonnets live when he was just reading sonnets? LUCY: I did, but girl, I don't think I was as sucked in Aleta: Mm. LUCY: in that moment. I know you were really thrilled and I think it might be Aleta: Mm. LUCY: recorded somewhere, either by you or me. Yeah, yeah. Aleta: It it might be. LUCY: I mean I could actually have it. I just I remember like kind of drifting off 'cause I was like, this isn't my jam. I was like, this is for fancy Aleta: Mm. LUCY: people and so I know Alita's like really fancy. Well Aleta: My God, Shakespeare was not for fancy people though. the sonnets may be more so, but the theater was not. the theater Shakespeare has so many different levels. So there's there's things that were were put in there to appeal to the masses, and there's things that are more, you know, require more knowledge or understanding or history or whatever to to understand. There's there's very different you can approach Shakespeare from a lot of different angles, I guess. And so it's it's kind of yeah. It it I I really appreciate. I I asked Andrew to read me a a poem for my cameo that I requested from him. And he did he reread the my My husband and I are not religious and in s where in in a tr in a traditional wedding you would have someone do a reading, we had my mum read my favorite Shakespeare sonnet. And LUCY: Mm. Aleta: I had asked for that in the live and then Andrew did it for me on on my cameo. So that was really nice. LUCY: So I like it. Aleta: But I mean I have it memorized too, but Yeah. So yeah, you gotta you gotta watch some Shakespeare. there's a really good film of Much Ado About Nothing with Emma Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh. Excellent, excellent. That's my favorite plate. LUCY: Do they do it like Romeo and Juliet though? Is it like all Shakespearean red? Or did they make the dialogue modern? Aleta: No, it's not modern dialogue. No. LUCY: Okay, so it's the Shakespearean dialogue from Okay. So Aleta: It's proper dialogue, yeah. LUCY: from the actual Shakespearean play. Okay, Aleta: Yes, yes. LUCY: cool. Then I might I might do that. Because Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: I honestly I was really like enthralled with Romeo and Juliet. So let me say this. I am a modern average American and I th and I guess I'm speaking for myself, but if there are other modern average Americans out there you can chime in. But to me, as a modern average American, that feels like fancy shit. It feels like extremely fancy shit. That's what Shakespeare feels like to me. And it is so funny because like I I remember in childhood in in high school they tried to have me read Shakespeare and I like, I don't understand any of this shit. But literally Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: when Andrew did it, I was like, I understand everything you're doing and saying purely by his expressions and Aleta: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. LUCY: by how he, you know his emotion, the way he did his emoting. And Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: it just really, I think, enthralled me and and it did for my kid. And it made me go and I I did get enthralled by Romeo and Juliet, the Leo and Claire Danes version. I just I just thought it was only Romeo and Juliet that could be good. So to ki yeah, to kinda like hear some of this other these other sonnets and other plays from actors I love. It's it's shifting my opinion. And I know we're deviating, but I don't even care. I'm leaving all of this in. Aleta: We are. That's another one. Again, it's much ado, but if you go on YouTube, there is you can see David Tennant and Catherine Tate do much LUCY: I heard about that. Aleta: ado about nothing. LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: they styled it eighties, but the but the the language is correct and they are so LUCY: Okay. Aleta: So good. how good they are together. LUCY: Right. Okay. Aleta: It's so good. But I also I I love the Emma Thompson version too, 'cause I love her. but yeah. LUCY: Okay. I will I will Aleta: Definitely you have to see it. Even if it's even if it's in a on on a movie, seeing it rather than just looking at it in a book helps, I think. But but I'm LUCY: I'll try. I'll try to do that. Aleta: a literature nerd, so I love all this shit anyway, right? I am not fancy. LUCY: 'Cause you're fancy. That's what fancy people like. She's so fancy, guys. my god. She kills me. Anyway, anyway. Alright, so Lucas was telling Elijah how much he hates him, hates him, hates him. And I noticed, as Lucas is walking away, I actually never noticed the handprint on his ass from the paint. No. I hear people talking about it and I kept Aleta: yeah. didn't you? Bright blue handprint. LUCY: Bright blue hand print. I well I was looking for it for my second rewatch because people talked about it and I was like, I didn't see that. And I finally saw it as he's walking away. I'm like, that's hot. I love it. The beautiful suggestiveness. I kinda wonder now, was it like Felix's own handprint and then you just had to like wear it? Like I don't even know. Had to be funny. Or someone someone well some probably props, you know, went put a handprint on it, but it's just funny. We are now in Lucas' house where Elijah and him are rehearsing. They do a lot of rehearsing in this vertical. Apparently Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Elijah wanted to rehearse there, so Lucas's first kiss would be in private. Lucas gets suspicious and asks why Elijah's doing all this. Elijah tells him it's because they are scratching each other's backs. They had a deal. And then plus I think you're kind of cute. Aleta: Wait, are you are you gay? LUCY: No, I'm not gay. I'm whatever. Whoever. Sex is sex. It doesn't have to be a big deal. Look, man, this is not Shakespeare, okay? One day I'm gonna marry some senator's daughter that my parents love and build a killer legacy. But in the meantime, you know, there's nothing wrong with a quickie in the janitor's closet. You should try it. Aleta: Well, I'm not gay, so LUCY: Like I said, I'm not gay either, so look, you don't have to do anything that you don't want to. Aleta: I want to. I I mean I wanna make it look good on stage. With Nora and for the scouts, right? LUCY: Few more attention on the couch. We get some line reversing for the Romeo and Juliet kissing. Elijah scolds Lucas for looking at his ear and not his face. Felix's face here, dang. He looks like he's in physical pain. It's so hot and intense and then his fucking sister Autumn walks in and she screams I swear to fucking god that was a third interruption third interruption better not be anymore Dying Lucas tells Elijah they are done who decides to head home Lucas tells Autumn nothing happened and she replies nothing. Aleta: Nothing looks pretty hot. LUCY: The next day Lucas is hanging in the theater seats by himself. In runs Elijah, who sits next to him and says, Miss me? Aleta: You wish the other day we didn't really you know LUCY: Kiss. Aleta: Finish rehearsing. LUCY: Mm-hmm. And you want to Elijah's putting his fingers in Lucas's hair here. He's getting little head pets. So cute, I love it. Aleta: we probably should, right? LUCY: Come on, you can ask nicer than that. Say please. Aleta: Please? LUCY: Thankfully it wasn't a full almost kiss, but it was close enough. Our fourth interruption. Q whining from me, Aleta: Ha ha ha LUCY: Lucy. In walks Nora and Miss Harper. Nora shouts that Julie I didn't get to say this, guys. Let me go back. I didn't write this in the notes. I'm gonna go back up. So Nora is played by, I know she already said it, Nia Baker, and Miss Harper is played by Haley Rutledge. And then we missed Autumn. Chloe Ciori. Nora shouts that Juliet is finally here and Miss Harper says Aleta: Good news, Nora's feeling better. She was not thrilled. She was already over LUCY: I the No, not thrilled to Aleta: it. LUCY: Exactly. All three actors are on stage now, where Lucas and Nora are now taking over the same scene that him o him and Elijah have been working on. It results in a weak ass kiss. Nora tells him just to continue. There's a cute little moment that when Lucas is reciting his lines of love, he peeks over at Elijah, and Nora like moves his face physically back to look at hers. They have another attempt at a kiss and Nora says, ew, and tries to convince Elijah he would be a better choice to kiss. Also kind of sad that his first real kiss was Nora, at least lips to lips. I was like, Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: Elijah tells her this one is on her, and there's only one way to find out if Lucas is the problem. Nora thinks that means he is going to kiss her. But instead he walks over to Lucas for another queer's folk-esque moment. Elijah grabs Lucas for a steamy kiss and the lights dim, and we definitely get a queer as folk moment. And I know he said that about skating to him, but I actually really mean that for this one too. I need to re-watch queer as folk. God. Gotta get back to it. This ultimately leads Miss Harper to telling Nora that Elijah and Lucas will perform together, because that is the real traditional Shakespeare, all males. Nora asks Lucas to leave so she can have a moment alone with Elijah, where she boops him and then asks for his number. It's kinda cute, a little runaround, like the full circle thing there. Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: As Lucas is walking away, he watches all of this, clearly looking uncomfortable. Aleta: Nora is so annoying. I mean very well acted. But I was just cringing at her cluelessness. LUCY: We get a nice scene between Lucas and Autumn. Autumn works to get him to open up about Elijah. He confesses to her he can only feel passionate when he's with Elijah. He then tells her he thinks he's gay. She says Aleta: Yeah, no shit, Sherlock. LUCY: She tells him there's no rush in anything, but also takes steps to get Lucas a date at the park with Elijah. When Lucas gets to the park, he sees Nora and Elijah practicing some lacrosse moves at the park. This whole setup in the vertical was clearly for this lovely little scene and dialogue. We see Elijah standing behind Lucas helping him place his hands on the stick. You want your dominant hand up at the top of the shaft near the head. And then your other hands down here at the bottom, right? And then make sure you're not gripping it with your palm. You just gently she's laughing. You just gently wrap your fingers around the shaft like that. Yeah, that's good. It looks good. Does it feel good? She's so fucking red. We couldn't do this shit with the actors here. Aleta: Absolutely not. LUCY: Absolutely the fuck not. I wouldn't even make the actors read these, you know what I mean? So we just read this from the privacy of our offices. Whatever Aleta: I swear we're adults. We are not twelve year olds. my god. LUCY: I am. we gotta get our joy somewhere. Aleta: okay, okay. LUCY: Anyway, yeah, go ahead. Aleta: Yeah, it feels good. LUCY: Heated moment again. Nora interrupts, trying to get the same treatment Lucas just got. Elijah walks over and quickly helps her place her hands and then walks away quickly. He sends her off to catch a stray ball. Okay. Aleta: He like tosses it, go. LUCY: I know it's so bad. But whatever. Elijah. Okay. So cradling is the first of the core skills. Ha You knew I was gonna put these lines in. And I kind of wonder, did Haley Aleta: I did know. LUCY: I just this poor girl Hailey's probably never been so mentioned in a podcast. Sorry girl. I just think you're awesome. I'm just like imagining her writing this and be like, I ha she probably had to look up what how lacrosse works and had to write all this verbiage. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: Anyway. And and and I have to say, Skye delivered it so brilliantly. Like, it looked like him and Felix were just having fun with this scene, but like he honestly Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: didn't break. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: I'm breaking reading it, but it's Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: It's only because you're laughing. This is great. Alright. Aleta: Sorry guys. I keep dissolving in laughter here. LUCY: It's okay, it's okay. Here we go. We'll we'll repeat what I just said. Okay, so cradling is the first of the core skills. She's trying to do some breathing. So you wanna grip it near the head and keep your eye on the head so that you can keep the ball locked in the pocket, right? Aleta: Right. LUCY: And then just gently rotate the shaft and find your rhythm with it. Who Aleta: Can't argue with any of it. LUCY: No. If anyone ever needs tutorial Just watch Stage Kiss Aleta: pick. LUCY: You are purple. my god. my holy shit. Aleta: Ten out of ten dialogue, Hayley. LUCY: That's alright. Good job. Holy fuck. Okay, here we go. It's hard to breathe sometimes. Lucas breaks as Elijah helps him rotate the shaft. He asks Elijah if all sports are this gay. They laugh, and Elijah places his hat on Lucas, who asks if that makes this less gay. Elijah tells him no, that it just looks cute on him. Nora tries to call Lucas out for trying to get into Elijah's pants, and Elijah says What? You mean like you've been doing all day? Aleta: I am so not in the mood for a love triangle right now. Ugh. LUCY: Nora stalks away. No, don't go. Stay And here I thought you And here I thought you were the biggest drama queen I'd ever meet. Aleta: Think I still am. LUCY: That's fair. The two of them play lacrosse for a little bit. Elijah says Lucas is getting really good at catching. And does he want to try throwing for a little bit? fucking innuendo. God Haley, please come on the podcast. Tell me. Tell me, tell me, tell me. Was this improv? Was this you? Cause if this is you, girl, you just Aleta: No, there's so much innuendo in this vertical. A as you can tell, I I was howling then I'm howling now. LUCY: Fucking good. it really is. It's so good. They start talking about how bad they smell, and Elijah says they should hit the showers. Convenient. We then are in the school showers. Lucas sees Elijah already in there, stops to watch him. When Elijah catches him looking, Lucas starts coughing. If you're gonna choke on something, I've got a better idea. She's so red. it's beautiful. Aleta: I I don't really know what the etiquette is here. LUCY: First things first, drop the towel. Felix looks so innocent here. As Lucas starts to shower, Elijah looks around and then tells him now might be a good time to work on his passion. Lucas asks him if he really wants to rehearse right now. Elijah replies, Who said anything about rehearsing? He then quickly goes over to the next stall and forcibly plants a hot kiss on Lucas. We get some cute banter, more hot kissing, some adorable laughing. These two look amazing together. And then the scene ends with Elijah falling to his knees. Afterwards we get one of the sweetest scenes I've ever seen in a BL vertical ever Elijah and Lucas cuddling on the locker benches, a sweet little afterglow scene. Elijah says next time janitor's closet. Lucas tries Aleta: Mm. LUCY: to encourage something more wholesome like holding hands in the hallway. This freaks Elijah out, who tells him this was really fun, and he wants to continue having it, but behind closed doors, and that he's not looking for anything serious but Yeah. Lucas asks if Elijah is done with him, who says no, but that he doesn't want to be boyfriends. He just wants to keep hooking up until Lucas finds someone better for him. Aleta: Elijah, just just listen to me. You were the one who told me to stop playing it safe, right? So I've always felt really, really passionately about you. At first I was pretty sure that feeling was hate. That pool party, you almost ruined my costumes. I was gonna kill you. But I got to know you, and I realized that feeling was something so much different. I like you, Elijah. I really like you. I want to be with you. I only want to be with you. LUCY: Ugh, these two men can act. They are killing me. I know, I know. Elijah's so taken with what Lucas says to him, he doesn't know what to say until he finally gets out. I I can't. Lucas tries to get him to tell him what that means, but they are interrupted by Nora, calling him on a cell, telling him she is going to check the locker rooms to find him. Elijah panics and says they need to get out of there. in turn that has him confessing he doesn't want them to be seen in public together. He just wants to keep things casual so that no one gets hurt. Lucas says Aleta: So much for no one getting hurt. It's just heartbreaking. they did an amazing job conveying the emotion. ugh It's beautiful. LUCY: It is beautiful. I wonder if Felix is also a theater kid, because remember you they had their not all of no, not all of are Aleta: Aren't they all theater kids? okay. LUCY: theater kids. Tristan never took theater. I Aleta: Okay. LUCY: think a couple of others didn't t I mean, Greg was a I think De Aleta: I guess Declan isn't. Greg was a theatre kid. LUCY: he is a little bit, but not the same. Remember? Like he had said that he had done some shows. I think didn't he say he was more into writing? I don't know. Aleta: In college he didn't do theater, but he did theater in high school. LUCY: In high school. Yeah. Yeah. but yeah, yeah, Declan did not. so some of them have not. But yeah, I'm curious because in one of the BTS they were singing the Book of Mormon. Like a like a I've Aleta: Mm. Yeah. LUCY: never seen that. Actually I'm really excited to see it someday. I heard it's amazing. Aleta: I haven't seen it. I've only seen clips online but 'cause nothing LUCY: really? Aleta: ever comes here where I live, so LUCY: Really? You live in such a beautiful area, right? Aleta: No, not in Vancouver, sure, but not here. Yeah. LUCY: Yeah, and you'd have to travel to Vancouver. Hey, Aleta: I would have to take a ferry to LUCY: I'm coming to see you in March. I got my time off. Aleta: Vancouver. Yes. Yes. LUCY: Yeah. I'm gonna I'm gonna take a ferry from Port Angeles and go see you, so you better be prepared for me. Aleta: See how beautiful and not exciting my city is. LUCY: Whatever, it's gonna be gorgeous. I I think we wanna go see the whales, although we're gonna go see in March. But anyway, you have to come to dinner with me. And like we're probably gonna stay in a hotel like near you. So you have to hang out with me for like a day or two. You're Aleta: Yeah. The weather is of course. LUCY: gonna have to take some time off. I'm just telling you what to do. Aleta: As if I wouldn't. LUCY: We can make con we can make content. We have to do it. Let's do it for the podcast. Aleta: I already have the worst FOMO about Atlanta, so my god, it's it's so LUCY: Ha ha ha. Aleta: sucks, but anyway, it will be lovely to meet you LUCY: It's okay. Aleta: in person at last. LUCY: Yes. It'll be so fun. It'll be so fun. Aleta: take you to my how well I'll have to figure out where to take you for dinner. LUCY: Yes, take us to good places. Well, my friend Tammy's gonna be with me, but you're gonna love her because she Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: I think about it a lot with like the two of you, like you guys are the same vibe. So I think it's gonna be really fun. Alright, I don't know if I'll take that up. Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Okay. Aleta: All right. LUCY: Alright. In the next scene, Lucas is wallowing on the couch in the dark. His sister Autumn comes in to talk to him about it. Lincas tells her that Elijah wants to keep him his dirty little secret. She tells him he should feel good about getting himself out there in the first place, and he sadly asks them why does he feel this bad? In the next scene, Elijah rushes into Miss Harper's classroom telling her he's here. She is surprised to see him, asking him if he should be off playing with his balls. Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: Me too. innuendo. He's confused and she tells him that Lucas signed off on his time, and that the Aleta: Time has come for you to return to your own passion. LUCY: Lucas shows up. When Elijah tries to thank him, Lucas tells him that he thinks it's best for both of them. We get a little surprise when we see Elijah on the lacrosse field, we see Justin Stannick. And it's never mentioned in this one episode, because he's only in one episode as a cameo. His name is Shane, according to Aleta: okay. LUCY: IMDB. But yeah, so. But he's never named. The actor who played River and Next Door So in this vertical he is playing Elijah's teammate, who starts saying it's such a good thing he's no longer hanging out with Lucas. When Elijah tries to tell him how great Lucas is, his friend tells him that Shane tells him that he should keep that to himself. It sounds a little gay. Well, maybe that's because I am a little gay. This surprises his friend, who tries to shift his opinion by saying Aleta: shit. man, I didn't really mean you know, like I was I wasn't trying to love is love and Lady Gaga's great. Slay. LUCY: Beautiful. Fucking beautiful. He did a good job with it too. He really did. It's great. He did a good job too. it was great. This makes Elijah laugh, who says to never do that again And his friend tries to say he is an ally. This seems to fix the no bueno tension. Elijah decides to confide in his friend and say that he messed everything up. He tells him that he told Lucas they couldn't be together because he was scared. Shane says Aleta: There's a first time for everything. Go get your man. LUCY: Elijah shows up at Lucas' door, Autumn answers the door and asks what Elijah wants, angrily, basically giving him a piece of her mind. He promises to fix it if Autumn can get Lucas to the school that evening. The next scene opens to Nora and Juliet's clothes. She is gassing herself up in the mirror, telling herself she is a star. She sees a note on the mirror from Elijah, telling her to meet him in the janitor's closet for a good luck kiss. She very excitedly goes to meet him and gets locked in the closet by Autumn, who left her some water in a protein bar. Lucas, who is looking melancholy in his Romeo costume, is asked by Miss Harper if yeah, it's asked by Miss Harper if anyone has seen Nora. And when Lucas tells her no, she says Aleta: This is a Scottish play level disaster. LUCY: I'm not sure what that means. Do you know what that means, Alita? Aleta: I do surprising no one. LUCY: What does it mean? Aleta: So the Scottish play is Macbeth, which I can say because we're not in a theater. there is a lot of super I mean, I guess theater actors are quite superstitious anyway. and there's a superstition that saying the name of the Scottish play in a theater will cause bad luck. LUCY: Shut up. Aleta: Because there's been a lot of instances throughout history of bad things happening when sh when Macbeth is being performed. So actors being injured, a theater burning down, various various things of that nature. So they don't say Macbeth. They call it the Scottish play. And there's like little rituals like Going outside the theater and turning around three times and throwing something over your shoulder, there's all sorts to to dispel the bad luck if you accidentally say say it in in a theater. So yeah. LUCY: I didn't fucking know that. Like my kid's a theater kid. I knew about you don't say good luck. You have to say break a leg. Otherwise Aleta: Hm. Yeah. LUCY: that's a situation. But like I did not know about Macbeth, so you cannot say McBath Aleta: Hm. LUCY: on stage. Aleta: In a theater, yeah. And I think LUCY: Shit. Aleta: a a lot of actors probably don't say it anyway, even not in a theater, but I don't know. I LUCY: Shit. Aleta: remember one time LUCY: Now Aleta: Andrew was was on live and he said Macbeth and I was like, You said Macbeth and he's like, Well, I'm no, I said you said the name of the Scottish play and he's like, I'm not in a theater, it's fine, but ha ha Yeah. LUCY: Shit. I need to look this up. I've never Aleta: It's a thing. LUCY: heard of it. Aleta: Mhm. There's have you ever watched Black Adder? LUCY: I've heard of it. I have not watched Aleta: Tangent. LUCY: it. Aleta: Okay. That's that's the whole thing. But there is a s there is in one of the Black Adder series there's a called the A there's an episode called The Actors. And every time he he basically gives them a really hard time by continuously saying Macbeth and every time he says it they have to recite a little thing and dance around. It's really funny. LUCY: Holy shit Aleta: Anyway. LUCY: my god. Okay. Well but nothing wrong with that. Besties we all Aleta: I'm a nerd, what can I say? LUCY: learned something together today 'cause I'm curious how many of you knew that 'cause I did not. Be again, I am a modern average American, so I don't know these fancy things. Aleta: I'm just I'm just a literature nerd. LUCY: I'm never gonna tell my kid that though 'cause I don't want her to have that kind of power. You know, mess up her Aleta: What? LUCY: theater. I'm never gonna tell her about Macbeth. I don't want her to have that kind of power. She'll probably learn it in her Shakespeare class. Aleta: well she will, yeah, if she does if she does any Shakespeare she'll learn it. LUCY: Lucas says they should just call it. Elijah suddenly shows up and says Sounds like somebody has lost their passion. Did you hear the squeal from Miss Harper? Okay, definitely Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: a damn homage to vertical house five fangirls everywhere. Aleta: Ha ha ha ha. LUCY: She's all of our spirit animal. Miss Harper is so excited and says the show can still go on. Aleta: Lucas says. It's funny. I thought the last place you'd want to be seen with me is on stage. Pretty public. LUCY: I'm sorry. I know I freaked out. I just I've never done this before and I've never felt like this about anyone. And I got scared of feeling something real and I didn't want to lose it. Aleta: So you pushed it away instead? LUCY: I was playing it safe. Aleta: Hypocrite. LUCY: Yeah well I'm done playing it safe. And I'm done with casual. I want this. Us. For real. Do you? Aleta: Do I have to keep it to myself still? LUCY: You can tell the whole world and you know what they say. All the world's a stage. Aleta: My only love sprung from my only hate was LUCY: That's my line. Q epic kiss. The vertical ends with Elijah and Lucas standing behind the curtain and it opens. Awww Aleta: Mm. LUCY: What did you think, Alita? Aleta: I really like it. I love the way candy jar verticals look anyway. They don't have that there's something about verticals, they have very LUCY: Thanks. Aleta: harsh lighting. And and candy jar is softer. It feels more like like a a show, like a TV show or something. And Sky and Felix were fantastic. And all of the supporting actors were fantastic too. I liked I liked everybody. I do wish they didn't have so many interruptions and fades to black. But it's high school. It's YA, so I guess they get a pass there. but it was really cute. I I like the story. I do wish Candy Jar would do some adult BLs and hire more of our boys as leads. They 'cause they really do a a nice job. it's a nice production. and they also they're more reasonably priced than a lot of the other apps for fans, which I really like. It's the only app that I bought a year's subscription to because it was very LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: reasonable. So Candy Jar, hire hire our boys. Greg, Andrew, Evan, LUCY: Yeah. Aleta: Declan, Sky. LUCY: That's right. That's who we want to see, guys. Hook us up, okay? Aleta: Ha ha ha. LUCY: yeah, I agree with all of that. And it is funny because I feel like Candy Jar has some of the highest quality and yet they're Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: the most reasonably priced. It's crazy. Yeah. What a concept. Aleta: Yeah, I I paid fifty eight dollars for a year, which is and here's the thing is that all of these apps with this money grab, grant you, yes, I'll pay for a week, but like two weeks of real short is almost the same as a year of candy jar. And that's LUCY: Yep. Aleta: ridiculous. LUCY: Yep. Aleta: And more people would subscribe if it wasn't so ridiculous. You know. LUCY: I agree. Aleta: A lot of people that we know are just watching the ads to get through the the real short ones and the good short ones. LUCY: Yeah. No, I I I agree. I think that this one was really special. I was really happy with the casting. I remember when the casting was announced, I was like, give this casting director a raise and I Aleta: Mm-hmm. LUCY: remember getting to chit chat with someone on the production just to share my excitement. and I had told them how excited I was about the casting and I don't think that they understood quite what that was. But I remember speaking to them after it came out and they had said to me, I didn't fully understand the magnitude of those casting decisions of Skye and Felix. Because Aleta: Mm. LUCY: Felix is such a huge actor on the straight side and Skye is pretty much the biggest on the queer side for the most part. he's really well loved. And so to kind of mash those two worlds together was really special. And we knew that they were both high quality actors. so that I feel like if it's just a really smart move, I'm really excited that Candy Jar understood the suc sec the success of Nextdoor because Next Door was fabulous. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I had very few reservations with Nextdoor. I I think I made it really obvious what my reservations were and it was, Aleta: Yeah. LUCY: you know, minor compared to the quality of the story and the dialogue and the Aleta: Mm. LUCY: acting. But you know, it was very clear that Candy Jar was probably like, Let's use what works and so they brought back the same team, the same director. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I'm assuming it's the same producer or the same writer. I don't think Olivia did the intimacy coordination on Nextdoor, but she, you know, she did do Stage Kiss and We love Olivia and I think Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I think Felix and Skye did such a good job. I I mean, know I've been singing Haley's praises this entire podcast, but like I'm just so impressed with her writing, and Caroline's Aleta: Mm. LUCY: directing. Like it's very it's very clear, like she has got a certain vibe and a certain vision and I don't know, just the lighting of the vertical, like the way she set the mood. And that's something that's been really fun for me as a a stage mom, because I'm a stage mom because my kid does the theater. Aleta: Mm. LUCY: I have been impressed in some of the shows that I've seen where how much the lighting plays to bring out a mood, you know? Aleta: Mm. Yeah. LUCY: And I feel like it's elevated a stage experience. So I feel like she was Aleta: Mm. LUCY: almost like Caroline must have been paying like, you know, tribute to that. I don't I I feel like it's a vertical that yes, it's shorter than most, but I because it's candy jar. That's our only complaint with candy jar. But I do think that they ended it well. I do feel like it wasn't cut too short. it's one of the few I felt that way about. and I just I think I think they did a good job overall. Like thank you to the actors, everyone who put the work into this behind the scenes. I really hope we get more BL, maybe some GL in the future. Can we love candy jar. We really hope Candy Aleta: Mm. LUCY: Jar will do right by the actors, stay away from AI, really, you know, embrace the live action because that's what we love and we care for. Aleta: Mm. Definitely. Well, I guess that about wraps it up for our recap of Stage Kiss. If you haven't seen it, why are you here? LUCY: Ha ha ha ha ha. Aleta: go watch it. It's it's really good. So thank you for joining us and we'll see you next time. Bye Besties. LUCY: Bye besties