Dr. Nathan Loughstein
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rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Dr. Nathan Loughstein
@rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
290 followers 330 following 210 posts
Musical Theatre 🤝 Music Theory
That's the killer is, now you grow.
nathanbearyloughstein.com
("Lock-steen")
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rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Sharing these on behalf of my spouse, who does not have Bluesky but does love pigeons.
A white pigeon with gray spots, a gray tail, and a gray collar A slate gray and white pigeon mid-stride A dark gray pigeon relaxing
November 17, 2025 at 4:16 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Patrick offered some terrific insight into the history of the show and shared the story of how it found us. I talked a bit about what it’s meant to transcribe Carmines’s extravagant virtuosity. And we got to perform with a stellar cast.
THE GREEN ROOM 42 PRESENTS AL CARMINES’ JOAN A LOST OFF-BROADWAY GEM LIVE STREAM AVAILABLE Oct. 20 | 9:30pm LILA BLUE CARMEN RUBY FLOYD OLIVER RICHMAN MARK MITRAND EMILY ALVARADO ALICE SQUEGLIA ARYN GEIER GUNNAR MANCHESTER AISLEY WALLACE HARPER MELODY CHEN NATHAN BEARY LOUGHSTEIN MUSIC DIRECTOR PATRICK LOUGHSTEIN DIRECTOR
October 21, 2025 at 4:36 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Yesterday my spouse Patrick and I put on a concert of the 1971 Al Carmines musical JOAN at The Green Room 42. Two original cast members came to see it. So did Peter Filichia, cohost of “This Week on Broadway”—and here he is talking about seeing the show nearly 50 years ago, two nights in a row.
October 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Sunset from the Madison Building at the Library of Congress tonight
October 1, 2025 at 2:48 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
I made a video a while back about hidden rhymes in *Into the Woods* that includes Sondheim’s use of the word “dwell.” Well, “dwells.”
September 25, 2025 at 1:50 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
A couple years ago in DC, my spouse and I helmed a staged reading of a surreal, queer, preachy adaptation of Joan of Arc set in 1970s downtown NYC written by the brilliant Al Carmines. The reading was the first performance of the musical in nearly fifty years.
Yellow and black text on a red background that says 'The Green Room 42 presents Al Carmines' JOAN Directed by Patrick Loughstein Music Directed by Nathan Beary Loughstein 570 10th Ave, New York Oct 20 @ 9:30pm in association with Fickle Theatre Company.’ The ‘o’ in JOAN is a fiery heart.
September 2, 2025 at 8:24 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Only one channel responded to a request for comment, and the response is clearly itself AI-generated.
WIRED also reached out to several channels for comment. Only one creator, owner of a channel with 43,000 subscribers, responded. "I am just creating fictional story interviews and I clearly mention in the description of every video," they say, speaking anonymously. "I chose the fictional interview format because it allows me to combine storytelling, creativity, and a touch of realism in a unique way. These videos feel immersive—like you're watching a real moment unfold-and that emotional realism really draws people in. It's like giving the audience a 'what if?' scenario that feels dramatic, intense, or even surprising, while still being completely fictional"
August 15, 2025 at 2:14 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
He mentioned something I’d not thought about before when I asked him about the pivotal lyric fragments in “Epiphany”/“Priest.”
One interesting thing is, in both of those examples, if you were writing it as a straight play, they would still be there. You find reprises in plays all the time, and not necessarily the same phrases, but the same thought. Hamlet says things more than once.
August 15, 2025 at 12:56 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Dan Egan from VEEP
June 25, 2025 at 3:44 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
A few highlights of the collection include: A one-page inner monologue that Sondheim wrote as subtext for the character Desirée for when she sings “Send in the Clowns” from “A Little Night Music.” Lyrics for a reprise of “Side by Side by Side” that never made it into “Company,” the musical for which Sondheim won his first Tony Awards as a composer and lyricist. 40 pages of lyric sketches for “A Little Priest” from “Sweeney Todd,” with lists of more than 150 possible professions and types of people who could have been baked into pies written in the margins. Drafts of variations on the lyrics to “I’m Still Here” from “Follies” and “Putting It Together” from Pulitzer Prize-winning “Sunday in the Park with George” that Sondheim wrote for Barbra Streisand at her request. A spiral music book titled “Notes and Ideas,” documenting some of his musical efforts while a student at Williams College. Three boxes of specialty songs, such as the birthday songs he wrote for friends Leonard Bernstein, Harold Prince and others. Manuscripts for “Here We Are” (working title: “Buñeul,” based on director Luis Buñeul’s films), the show Sondheim was crafting when he died.
June 25, 2025 at 1:45 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Look, Ma, I’m a kicker.

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

Washington Post: Dupont Circle Park will remain open during Pride weekend

www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/202...
Dupont residents and people walking by the scene murmured about the waste of resources and how the whole situation seemed a distraction from the unbridled joy that should characterize pride. "It feels like it's meant to drum up a lot of emotion, exhaust us, make us feel a little confused, deterred," said Nathan Loughstein, 36, a musical theater artist with a local company. "Obviously it's so wonderful to see that people are going to have a chance to celebrate in the place that is part of D.C. history, gay history, but I don't know what all the gamesmanship was for in the first place." This is a developing story and will be updated.
June 7, 2025 at 6:35 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
The Three Stooges
June 6, 2025 at 7:46 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
"They're everywhere"—by coincidence, I just had this autocomplete jumpscare earlier tonight when I was looking into switching phone providers.
A screenshot of Google autocomplete suggestions for "Can I switch from," including "wegovy to zepbound," "ozempic to mounjaro, zepbound to ozempic," and "tirzepatide to semaglutide," plus several mobile internet providers and "ozempic to wegovy" at the bottom.
June 2, 2025 at 1:34 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
"When is it enough?"
April 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
A scene from The Simpsons with a caption that reads “IT SAYS THAT THE PROHIBITION LAW WHICH WAS PASSED HERE 200 YEARS AGO WAS REPEALED 199 YEARS AGO.”
March 24, 2025 at 1:57 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
A still from The Simpsons where Lisa is reading a thank you note, and a caption that reads "JD, this doesn't have your name on it."
February 28, 2025 at 9:20 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
The Kennedy Center has canceled its upcoming tour of FINN. I was the music director for the world premiere production this fall. It's the show I wish had existed when I was a child.

The Trump administration is trying to censor this story but it will never disappear.

@chrisnee.bsky.social's IG post
Dimond & Kooman & Nee are sad to announce that the Kennedy Center tour of our musical Finn was officially cancelled yesterday. While not a surprise given the events of the last week, it is a heartbreak. But we will not be silenced. And we will not abandon the kids we wrote this show for. They are already under attack from every side. We didn’t ask for this joy bomb of a show to be a part of the resistance, but here we are. Please repost, and follow us at @Finnmusical as we look to be loud in response to this administration’s desire to silence us. Finn is a musical for young audiences that was commissioned by The Kennedy Center. We premiered in December to rave reviews and financial success leading to the show being chosen as the Kennedy Center’s next touring show. We were so excited that more kids would see themselves in the world of Finn and know they were perfect just as they are. At its heart it has a universal message of love and acceptance. The fact that that extends to sparkly boys seems to be controversial. The resistance starts here – with a shark who wants to let out his inner fish. Follow us @finnmusical On Monday Finn received a Helen Hayes nomination for best new play or musical. Yesterday we got the call from the Kennedy Center closing down the tour. Today we resist, and ask you to join us. We will find a way to get Finn out to the audiences who need it most. Follow us @finnmusical so you’re ready to help us get loud. AUTHORITARIANS CANNOT RISE IF PEOPLE ARE ACTING WITH JOY. - HEATHER COX RICHARDSON An image from FINN the musical: seven actors in bright costumes in front of a stage with an underwater design.
February 13, 2025 at 7:28 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
This is not how I was taught to respond to nazis.
A tweet from the ADL excusing Elon Musk’s nazi salute.
January 21, 2025 at 12:13 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
The TikTok saga makes me angry. God, it is so stupid. And that makes me sad—the reception from posting this video on there was a true turning point in my life.
January 20, 2025 at 2:13 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
From *Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes*
For those like me who are curious about a writer's habits: the pencils I write with are Blackwings, a brand formerly made by Eberhard Faber but alas, no longer. Their motto, printed proudly on the shaft, is "Half the Pressure, Twice the Speed," and they live up to that promise. They utilize very soft lead, which makes them not only easy to write with (although extremely smudgy) but also encourages the user to waste time repeatedly sharpening them, since they wear out in… …minutes. They also have removable erasers which, when dried out, can be reversed to resume their softness and which are flat, preventing the pencil from rolling off a table. The pad I write on is a yellow legal pad with thirty-two lines, allowing alternate words to be written above one another without either crowding or wasting the space. These pads are hard to find, as most legal pads come with fewer or more lined spaces. Having been warned by Burt Shevelove, a stationery… …aficionado, that stationery supplies are frequently discontinued, I had the good sense to stock up on them as well as the Blackwings before they disappeared, and now have a lifetime supply. Some people write sitting at a desk, some standing at one; l write lying down on a couch (except when I'm at the piano), for the obvious reason that it allows me to fall asleep whenever I encounter difficulties, which is often.
January 19, 2025 at 5:58 AM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
I was so excited to read one of my Christmas gifts, Masi Asare’s *Blues Mamas & Broadway Belters,* but I just opened it today to find that inside the cover is… an entirely different book from @dukepress.bsky.social
The cover of the book, which is dark blue with a photo of a woman singing. Solid white text reads “Black Women, Voice, and the Musical Stage” and translucent gold text reads “Blues Mamas & Broadway Belters.” The cover is slightly open to include a preview of the “g” and “s” at the end of the title “Poor Things.” The same book, open to front page, which reads black text on a white background: “Poor Things: How Those with Money Depict Those without It.”
January 15, 2025 at 10:25 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Kamala Harris expressed what seemed like genuine surprise tonight when she asked the rally audience “Who here has already voted?”
November 1, 2024 at 11:17 PM
rhapsodyinblu.bsky.social
Martha-Ann Alito then got out of the car and shouted in apparent reference to the neighbors: “Ask them what they did!” She said yard signs about the couple had been placed in the neighborhood. After getting back in the car, she exited again and then brought out from their residence a novelty flag, the type that would typically decorate a garden. She hoisted it up the flagpole. “There! Is that better?” she yelled. A banner reading "TWO BAD NEIGHBORS" and crudely drawn images of Homer and Bart Simpson affixed above the front entrance of a house.
May 25, 2024 at 3:11 PM