Latest news with #KimberlyBelflower
Elle
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Elle
Lorde's ‘Green Light' Is the Soundtrack of Youth
John Proctor Is the Villain, one of the most talked-about new plays on Broadway, follows a small-town high school class studying The Crucible at the beginning of the #MeToo movement. One of its most memorable—and cathartic—moments is set to the song 'Green Light,' Lorde's lead single on her acclaimed 2017 record, Melodrama . As we kick off a weeklong celebration of the singer in anticipation of her upcoming album release , Kimberly Belflower, the playwright behind John Proctor , reflects on the significance of 'Green Light' and why it serves as a quintessential coming-of-age anthem — especially for young women. When the pre-chorus of 'Green Light' hits, the world changes. At first, Lorde's transcendent single from her sophomore album details the pain of a relationship ending in all its jagged edges. She uses a minor key and rebels against traditional rhyme structure to prioritize emotional truth over expectation or order: 'I know about what you did, and I wanna scream the truth / She thinks you love the beach, you're such a damn liar.' When you're in the middle of pain, there is no order to it. There is no reason. The first time my heart was broken, it felt like my life changed color. The wreckage seemed to have no end. Familiar places felt foreign. I didn't recognize the landscape of my own heart. Somehow, though, time passes. Slowly, strangely, but it passes. The pain doesn't leave, at least not entirely. But pain is a path, and it leads somewhere new. It crystallizes into different shapes. And then: the pre-chorus. The shift from minor to major. 'But I hear sounds in my mind / brand new sounds in my mind.' In this single moment of 'Green Light,' Lorde captures the feeling of transformation. Within the first 48 seconds of the song, she takes us on a journey from the lows of an ending to the highs of creation, moving into a beat that makes even the most hardened heart soar. The creation I speak of is that of being an artist, but also that of being a person. As an artist, I know the particular feeling of moving through pain and arriving at the moment of hearing 'brand new sounds.' There were pains inflicted long ago that I carry still, that I'll carry forever; pains that will always be tender to the touch. ('Honey, I'll be seein' you 'ever I go.') But that pain gave me new tools, new experiences, new modes of expression that I channel into my work. I wouldn't be the artist I am without the pain I've survived. I wouldn't be able to hear or harness those 'brand new sounds.' In a single sonic moment, Lorde gave voice to an alchemy I've never been able to put into words. View full post on Youtube But you don't have to think of yourself as an artist to be a creator. We all create our identities, our directions through life. We all know that 'brand new sounds' feeling. At a certain point, we each cross the bridge of a specific pain into new territory. And it usually happens for the first time, as so many things do, when we're teenagers. 'In a single sonic moment, Lorde gave voice to an alchemy I've never been able to put into words.' 'Green Light' was released when Lorde was 20 years old and is the first song on her masterpiece Melodrama . In the last song of the same album, she sings, 'I'm 19, and I'm on fire.' It's no coincidence that 'brand new sounds' came from a teenage brain. Everything is brand-new in those years. Everything feels extreme. Sometimes there are multiple opposing extremes in a single moment. As Lorde herself described 'Green Light' in a 2017 interview with Zane Lowe : 'It sounds so happy, and then the lyrics are so intense, obviously. And I realized, I was like, 'How come this thing is coming out so joyous sounding?' And I realized this is that drunk girl at the party, dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend who everyone thinks is a mess. That's her tonight, and tomorrow she starts to rebuild.' What If Lorde Was One of Us The reason I was asked to write this piece is because I wrote a play called John Proctor Is the Villain , now on Broadway through August 31. The play centers around a high school English class in rural Georgia studying Arthur Miller's The Crucible in the wake of the early #MeToo movement. The play also (spoiler alert!) ends with two teenage girls performing a choreographed dance to 'Green Light.' Julieta Cervantes Sadie Sink and Amalia Yoo dancing to 'Green Light' in John Proctor Is the Villain I knew from the start that the play should end with a dance sequence that doubles as an act of rebellion. This calls back to the girls in The Crucible dancing and casting spells in the woods, but it's also a way for the girls in my play to reclaim their own bodies, process their trauma, and cultivate joy in the face of a world that has never valued them and doesn't take care of them. It's sleepover dances in your best friend's basement meets ancient witchcraft meets demonic possession. I never had to think about what the soundtrack of the play's ending should be. It was always 'Green Light.' These girls have walked the path of their pain, and it led them here: harnessing their hurt and turning it into magic, into art. 'Teenage girls, in all their big feelings and extremes, are terrifying to people who aren't teenage girls.' There's a stage direction in the play's final sequence that reads, 'It starts to look less like a dance and more like an exorcism,' which I wrote from what I feel watching Lorde perform. In the 'Green Light' music video, and in her many live performances of the song, she thrashes. She shakes. She jumps. She's wild, and a little scary. She's not dancing for other people's (namely: men's) consumption of her body; she's dancing as a mode of pure self-expression. Dance as bodily autonomy. Dance as sacred ritual. Dance as spell. Neil Lupin // Getty Images Lorde during her Melodrama World Tour. Right before 'brand new sounds,' Lorde asks: 'Did it frighten you? / How we kissed when we danced on the light-up floor?' And the answer is almost definitely 'yes.' Yes, whatever kinds of kissing and dancing that happened with Lorde on the light-up floor absolutely frightened this unnamed person. Teenage girls, in all their big feelings and extremes, are terrifying to people who aren't teenage girls. Throughout 'Green Light,' Lorde invokes that ferocity in her imagery: teeth that bite and screaming truths. I've been 'that drunk girl at the party dancing around crying about her ex-boyfriend,' trying to untangle and scream my own truths. I did rebuild. And let me tell you: I needed to dance that dance to know how.
Fast Company
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
How to watch the 2025 Tony Awards live online, on a phone, or on TV, including free options
Start spreading the news: Theater's biggest night is happening this evening (Sunday, June 8, 2025) in the Big Apple. The 78th Tony Awards will showcase this season's best theatrical moments, from revivals to new works, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET. Let's catch up on all the drama and how to stream the event live as the curtain rises at Radio City Music Hall. Who is nominated? Three musicals are tied for most Tony nominations this year. Buena Vista Social Club is inspired by real life events and tells the story of the four musicians in Havana, Cuba, who continue to play music despite a turbulent political climate. The Korean musical Maybe Happy Ending tells the futuristic story of two lonely abandoned helper bots who manage to find connection despite isolation. TikTok sound-bite sensation Death Becomes Her is based on the 1992 Robert Zemeckis movie of the same name. Meanwhile, two plays boast seven nominations each. Kimberly Belflower's play John Proctor Is the Villain takes a fresh look at Arthur Miller's classic play The Crucible and the historic Salem witch trials. Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California centers on the estranged Webb sisters who reunite to care for their aging mother and are forced to face past family secrets and traumas. Cole Escola's comedy Oh, Mary!, a farcical portrayal of Mary Todd Lincoln, boasts five nominations. On the musical revival sides of things, it is a tight race between Sunset Blvd and Gypsy. Many critics believe the winner of Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical category is between Nicole Scherzinger and Audra McDonald. You can see the full list of nominees here. Who is hosting? Movie Elphaba herself Cynthia Erivo will host the festivities this year. She has her very own Tony for her work as Celie in the 2016 revival of The Color Purple. Fans are eager to see the conclusion of Wicked later this year, so maybe this will tide them over. Brian Stokes Mitchell's smooth voice will help keep things moving as he is serving as the offstage announcer. Who is presenting? Many theater greats will help present awards. These include Aaron Tveit, Adam Lambert, Allison Janney, Ariana DeBose, Danielle Brooks, Kelli O'Hara, Kristin Chenoweth, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Lea Michele, Lea Salonga, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sara Bareilles, and Sarah Paulson to name a few. Who is performing? It's tradition (cue Fiddler on the Roof ) for nominated musicals and revivals to perform at the ceremony. This means that beyond the ones already mentioned, you can expect performances from Dead Outlaw, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical, Floyd Collins, Gypsy, Pirates! The Penzance Musical, Sunset Blvd, Just In Time, and Real Women Have Curves. Beyond the present, Broadway loves to celebrate its past successes. It's almost as if history has its eyes on the industry. Lin-Manuel Miranda, Leslie Odom Jr., Christopher Jackson, Jonathan Groff, Ariana DeBose, Daveed Diggs, Phillipa Soo, and many other original cast members will reunite to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hamilton's Broadway debut at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. This special performance is not to be missed. What special Tony Award moments can audiences expect? Two new special awards have already been announced. The musicians in the band of Buena Vista Social Club will receive special awards as will the technical effects of Stranger Things: The First Shadow. Harvey Fierstein will be presented the 2025 Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre. His impressive resume includes work as an actor and writer on projects ranging from La Cage aux Folles to Newsies. The 2025 Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award will be presented to Celia Keenan-Bolger for her offstage advocacy work. She has championed many important causes, such as hunger, same-sex-marriage rights, and arts education. She also works as an end-of-life doula, helping the late Broadway star Gavin Creel transition peacefully at the end of his life. If you just can't get enough Broadway action, tune into Pluto TV early for the pre-show 'The Tony Awards: Act One,' hosted by Darren Criss and Renée Elise Goldsberry, which begins at 6:40-8:00 p.m. ET.
South China Morning Post
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Why Gen Z are suddenly flocking to Broadway productions like Sam Gold's Romeo + Juliet
Kimberly Belflower knew John Proctor is the Villain needed its final cathartic scene to work – and for that it needed Lorde's 2017 song 'Green Light'. Advertisement 'I literally told my agent, 'I would rather the play just not get done if it can't use that song,'' the playwright laughed. She wrote Lorde a letter, explaining what the song meant, and got her 'Green Light'. Starring Sadie Sink, the staggering play about high schoolers studying Arthur Miller's 1953 play The Crucible as the #MeToo movement arrives in their small town in the US state of Georgia earned seven Tony nominations. It is among a group of Broadway shows that have centred on the stories of young people and attracted audiences to match. Advertisement
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
‘John Proctor Is the Villain' flips script on literary classic
ABC News' Will Ganss sits down with Kimberly Belflower and Danya Taymor, the writer and director of the most Tony Award-nominated play of the 2025 Broadway season. June 3, 2025
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Popular Tony-Nominated Broadway Play Receives Summer Extension
Earlier this year, playwright Kimberly Belflower took the theatrical world by storm with her brand-new Broadway play, John Proctor Is the Villain. Starring Stranger Things' Sadie Sink and an equally impressive array of younger theatrical performers, John Proctor Is the Villain has earned all-around fantastic reviews from critics, eventually securing a total of six Tony Award nominations (including Best Play, Best Direction, and Best Actress in a Play for Sink). Originally making its Broadway debut in March of this year, John Proctor Is the Villain has now extended its run by two-weeks, rounding out its tenure at the Booth Theatre on July 13 and giving dedicated theater fans some extra time to reserve their tickets for the praised production. Loosely centered around Arthur Miller's classic stage play The Crucible, John Proctor Is the Villain follows a group of contemporary high school students as they attempt to perform the play. As their production of the show gets underway, however, the students begin to grapple with the thematic subject matter of Miller's text, as well as the play's historical basis in the Salem witch trials of the late 17th century. Originally staged in Washington, D.C. in summer 2022, John Proctor Is the Villain soon managed to make the jump to Boston and, eventually, Broadway in the ensuing years, acquiring increasingly glowing reviews from theater fans across the nation. Alongside the 23-year-old Sink -- who's best known for her roles in Stranger Things, The Whale and Fear Street -- John Proctor Is the Villain also stars notable Broadway talents Gabriel Ebert (Matilda the Musical), Molly Griggs (Hello, Dolly!), and Fina Strazza (Matilda the Musical). More recently, the play earned a total of six nominations at the upcoming 78th Tony Awards, including Best Play, Best Actress in a Play, Best Featured Actress (Strazza), Best Featured Actor (Ebert), Best Direction, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design in a Play. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved
