Latest news with #DorianGray
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
His Song ‘Married in a Year' Is a Runaway Meme. He's Just Stoked People Are Singing Along
In today's fast-paced digital world, posting a video of yourself is tantamount to signing an ironclad agreement that whatever happens next is far, far out of your control. And even if he didn't know it at the time, Brendan Abernathy quickly learned that lesson last week when his mom sent him a cryptic text message: 'I'm so glad you're with friends right now.' 'I was like, 'what?' Abernathy tells Rolling Stone over zoom, hands stretched out above his blond hair. 'So I open social media and I start scrolling. And I [get] a sinking feeling.' More from Rolling Stone Mom Influencer Emilie Kiser Sues to Keep Her 3-Year-Old Son's Death Records Private Why Are Health Influencers Drinking Raw Milk and Honey Shots at the White House? How Kip Williams Remade 'Dorian Gray' for the TikTok Generation On May 19, Abernathy, 28, posted a clip of himself performing his then-unreleased song, 'Married in a Year,' in the middle of a crowd at Los Angeles' Moroccan Lounge. 'You'll be married in a year in the suburbs/with a kid on the way in three/convincing yourself you're living the American dream,' Abernathy sings to his rapt audience in the video, with cell phone flashlights illuminating his impassioned guitar strumming, vibrato vocals, and feet balancing on his tiptoes in time with the music. Abernathy has been working as a singer-songwriter for over six years, releasing two country-twinged, indie folk pop albums, Single and in Love and Long Way Home, in 2022 and 2023. He posted the video to his TikTok as part of his regular music promotion. When it reached 50,000 views, he was thrilled beyond his wildest dreams. But the more it got, the more he realized people weren't watching because they loved it. They were making fun of him . In the twelve days since Abernathy first posted the video, it's gotten over 20 million views, which doesn't even begin to account for how that one line of lyrics has become a viral earworm on the app. His song has been parodied by comedy heavy hitters on the app like Mitsy, critiqued by Anthony Fantano, think-pieced by commentator Widlin Pierrevil, and recreated by countless TikTokers in videos that range anywhere from delightfully creative to downright cruel. But what surprised even the most caustic of commenters was when, instead of hiding from the attention, Abernathy began posting right along with them, explaining lyrics, playing the recorded version, even picking out his favorite jokes in the comments. 'I definitely had a sinking feeling, but I also felt very validated,' Abernathy says. 'Having really never had anyone hate my art, it was weird. But also good art is gonna be divisive. This means I'm making art that is going to connect with the right people.' Rolling Stone caught up with Abernathy to talk about the lead up to his viral moment, his decision to go along with the joke, and his honest hopes about his music finding the right audience. It's been a hell of a week for you, hasn't it? It's been a whirlwind, obviously. Seven days ago, no one knew who I was. I've had a really small, passionate fan base for six years that I've just driven around and built it up. I mean, I played for two people in a yogurt shop a year ago in February. So the opportunity to reach more people is so exciting. And at the same time, when you've been that unknown, notoriety is crazy. It's so jarring. It's just not natural to be seen by that many people How are you processing? And where are you calling from? I'm calling from Georgia, which is where I'm from. I'm volunteering at a summer camp right now. I'm the camp musician. I've done it for three or four summers and it's the best thing ever. You lead pop songs, like Shawn Mendes, Taylor Swift — my favorite artist — just really hard and fast, and kids are just going like crazy. But they don't have their phones. So none of the high schoolers know that this is the biggest thing on the internet right now. They have no clue. Talk me through the event that produced this video. Was it a house party, a show, what's going on there? The event has so much drama. The conspiracy theories about it are so funny to me. I'm an adult. I have to pay rent as a full time artist, selling sweatshirts and playing 200 capacity rooms, where sometimes nine people show up and sometimes they sell out, you know? So I have to tour a lot. It was a concert at the Moroccan Lounge where 200 people bought tickets and had the time of their life. What was up with the circle? Why were people filming you in silence? I care about connecting with people more than anything. I'm sharing songs that are very vulnerable and very central to my life and my insecurities. So I want the room to feel fully united, fully present in the moment. The circle is the last moment of the concert. So it's out of context, because there's an hour and 20 minutes leading up to it of high energy. And then at the end, I say, 'Hey, I'd love to come out in the middle and play you the next song I'm releasing.' I've done that circle, like 100 times at 100 different shows and every time I play an unreleased song, or a song that just came out. So people are, like, listening. They don't know the words. And the socks?Yes, let us be clear, I have socks on. The dogs are not out. The socks are on. Well, people seem to really be focusing on the way you're standing on your toes in the video. Is there a reason you do that while performing? I guess passion? Love? I use a loop pedal, and I'm not ashamed of the fact that I don't wear shoes on stage because I have horrible coordination. Awful. I have to hit the pedals correctly or it sounds horrible, so I just wear socks so I can feel them. The funny thing is that as I usually put my shoes on to go in the middle of the circle. This time, I stepped over them, and I was like, 'Whatever.' I vividly remember thinking, 'I should put my shoes on. Enh, it doesn't matter.' After you realized people were making fun of you online, what made you decide to double down on posting?I think the main thing that was jarring was the notoriety overnight, not the less positive comments. When you've been making the same type of music for six years, when you've been performing it the same way, when you've seen it connect with people, nothing on a screen is going to deter me or convince me that it doesn't work. And part of the thing that I do to connect with people is I'm a little awkward and I make fun of myself. So the fact that other people are making fun of me is great. People parodying my songs, to me, is a huge compliment that the song is catchy enough and good enough that they want to recreate it. The lyrics have been up for a ton of debate since you posted. Can you walk me through the story behind the song? I have no game. At the time of writing the song, I had taken seven girls on dates, who the very next person they went out with, they married. When you're trying to fall in love and then it doesn't work out, it can be easy to tell yourself that it's because the other person wasn't ready for it. But in my case, the person clearly was ready for it and so the problem has to be me. And that's a devastating reality. The song is me grappling through my insecurity and comparing myself to other people in the lives they're living. The tag that's gone viral was the very first lyric I wrote for the whole album. I wrote it in February of 2023 and then wrote the album for a year and recorded it for six months — because I had to make enough money to record the album through touring and selling sweatshirts. We're constantly comparing ourselves to other people and to the standard our culture gives us, which is a fake standard, and that's the point of the song. That's the point of the whole album. Which is why I think it's so sick that this is the part that blew up, because the whole album is exploring how, no matter what we do, we feel like something's off. Who would you say some of your biggest musical influences are? Of course, Taylor Swift. I grew up listening to Jim Croce, James Taylor. Jimmy Buffett was my first two concerts. HAIM. More recently, Holly Humberstone, Griff. British women really run my life. Speaking of conspiracy theories — did you know some people online think you're faking your love of Swift so her fans will come to your aid? Are you serious? You're joking. I am not joking. The Swifties can be very powerful alliesI will somehow figure out how to charge my old Xenon freaking slide phone that has a video of me at the Fearless Tour with Keith Urban. I have a Taylor Swift Diet Coke can [that] one of my friends got me at the 1989 tour because I couldn't go because I was on a retreat. My old password was… I believe you, I believe you. What has it been like to have their support? I'm hoping they keep coming because I am, genuinely, so one of them. I mean, I cover 'Getaway Car' every single show. Going viral is one thing, but it doesn't guarantee this moment will have longevity. What's the ideal goal you want to come out of this? How are you feeling? I've worked for a moment like this for a long time. I've played over 600 shows. I've slept on over 1,000 couches. I've driven 200,000 miles alone in my car. I really dedicated myself to connecting with people, and so I'm really grateful that I'm getting to connect with more people through the internet. I am definitely scared, or fearful. There's just so much unknown that comes with it and that unknown is scary. But really bluntly, I'm also very optimistic and hopeful. I believe in 'Married in a Year' and I believe in the album that's coming out after it. And I am confident anyone that listens to it will at least have an opinion. Best of Rolling Stone Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best The United States of Weed Gaming Levels Up
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Mom Influencer Emilie Kiser Sues to Keep Her 3-Year-Old Son's Death Records Private
Arizona-based influencer Emilie Kiser has filed a lawsuit to keep the investigative records of her three-year-old son's drowning private. On May 18, Trigg Kiser, son of the mega-popular mom influencer, died following a drowning incident. The drowning, which happened on May 12, took place at the Kiser family home in Chandler, a suburb of Phoenix. According to the Chandler Police Department, the circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation. 'Out of respect for the family's privacy, we will not be releasing additional details until the investigation is closed,' said Chandler police spokesperson Sonu Wasu. More from Rolling Stone Why Are Health Influencers Drinking Raw Milk and Honey Shots at the White House? A Momfluencer's Son Drowned. Now Other Parents Are Rethinking How Much They Share Online How Kip Williams Remade 'Dorian Gray' for the TikTok Generation Emilie Kiser, 26, has 4 million followers on TikTok and rose to viral fame by sharing videos of her everyday life as a mom and wife. Her eldest son, Trigg, was often featured in her videos, and the news of his passing was met with an intense parasocial reaction, with viewers combing through Emilie's videos for proof of whether or not she had followed safety regulations, and even searching government websites for proof of Trigg's death. Now, in the wake of the tragedy, Emilie has filed a lawsuit to keep the details of the incident private. The lawsuit was filed on May 27 and lists Emilie as the plaintiff (though she is listed under her maiden name). 'Emilie is going through a parent's worst nightmare right now,' reads the lawsuit. 'Emilie and her family desperately want to grieve in private but sadly, the public will not let them. Trigg's death has become a media frenzy.' Emilie is 'trying her best to be there for her surviving two-month-old son, Theodore', the lawsuit says, but 'every day is a battle.' The records could include 911 calls, the autopsy report, photos of the scene, the police report, 'graphic security camera footage of the accidental drowning', autopsy photos, and a death certificate, according to the lawsuit. The records have not been made available to Emilie or her counsel, the lawsuit says. 'Nor does Emilie wish to ever view them.' The lawsuit notes that over 100 public records requests have been filed with the City of Chandler and the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's office for investigative records related to Trigg's death. 'To allow disclosure in these circumstances would be to turn Arizona's Public Records Law into a weapon of emotional harm, rather than a tool of government transparency,' the lawsuit reads. Arizona Public Records Laws do include exceptions, including cases in which the release of a record would 'constitute an invasion of personal privacy and that invasion outweighs the public's right to know,' according to the National Freedom of Information Coalition. The lawsuit contended that the requests for the records related to Trigg's death were 'for commercial purposes' though Arizona law does not regard the requesting of records for journalistic purposes to be commercial. As such, if records were being requested related to Trigg's death for the purpose of news gathering, this exception may not apply. However the suit does not note who filed the requests. 'Trigg's untimely passing is a deeply personal and private family matter,' the lawsuit says, noting that the public was 'not involved in his passing' and the government was only 'tangentially involved' when first responders arrived at the home in response to a 911 call. 'Emilie and her family will suffer specific, material, and irreparable harm if the investigative records are released to the public.' The defendants include the City of Chandler, the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner, and the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Vital Records. None of the agencies immediately responded to Rolling Stone's requests for comment. 'Emilie respectfully urges this Court to prevent the profound invasion of privacy that would result from the public disclosure of these sensitive materials,' the lawsuit reads. Emilie prays that the Court either enter an order permanently blocking the defendants from granting public access to the investigative or post-mortem records or that the court review the records before they are released to decide 'what, if any, information may be lawfully disclosed.' As part of the lawsuit, Emilie filed a four-page declaration, which has been entirely redacted. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, drowning deaths are on the rise. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children between the ages of one and four. Best of Rolling Stone Every Super Bowl Halftime Show, Ranked From Worst to Best The United States of Weed Gaming Levels Up
Vogue
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vogue
Carlota Barrera Spain Fall 2025 Collection
Oscar Wilde emerged as Carlota Barrera's latest muse. The designer imagined an entire narrative around the author, one that unfolded not only through the garments but via a travel diary that accompanied the collection. At its center was a Dorian Gray-esque protagonist who took us on an immersive journey; by night, he stepped out in a crisply starched shirt and an impeccably tailored tuxedo—a pristine elegance that slowly faded as the hours went by, through rolled-up sleeves and loosened collars. 'It's about the journey of the garments, how they transform, as he does, throughout the night,' Barrera explained. Woven into this metamorphosis was a meditation on masculinity, femininity, and the inexorable passage of time. At their core, the pieces reflected how clothing evolves with us. 'I want to create collections with a life of their own—because life, after all, is revealed through the smallest gestures,' Barrera shared. It's a concept the brand has been exploring over several seasons. At first glance, the garments appear to be torn or distressed, but a closer look reveals an almost obsessive precision in their construction. 'That's the playful, punk aspect of it all,' she said. 'It might look like everything's been ripped apart, but every detail has been carefully considered.' Duality lies at the heart of Barrera's vision, a balance of knowing the rules of tailoring and knowing when to break them. 'There's a phrase that captures the essence of the collection,' she noted. ''Before the beginning of great brilliance, there must be chaos.'' And indeed, nothing was quite what it seemed: unexpected double collars, sashes that transformed into belts, cufflinks with whale motifs on them, shirts teetering on the brink of slipping off, and jackets worn inside-out to reveal their lining. It was a collection where garments intertwined and interacted, each marked by a subtle, subversive twist.
Gizmodo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
Master of Multiplication Cynthia Erivo Will Play 23 Characters in a New Dracula Play
She sings. She dances. She plays historical figures, detectives, and murderers with equal flair. Is there anything Cynthia Erivo can't do? We already know she can play multiple people at once on the same TV episode (see: the Poker Face season two premiere, featuring Erivo as identical quintuplets)—and we have every confidence she'll bring all the characters in the new Wicked audiobook to vivid life. So there's no reason to think she won't kill it playing 23 roles, including the title vampire, in a new stage production of Dracula. Deadline brings this news that has us seriously considering booking an international theater trip, though the folks behind it also created and produced the Sarah Snook-starring The Picture of Dorian Grey—featuring the Succession star in 26 different parts—which came to Broadway after a successful run in London's West End. That's not a guarantee that Dracula, which will open next year and is described as 'a one-woman theatrical extravaganza,' will follow in its footsteps, but it is a hopeful sign for stateside Erivo fans. Kip Williams adapted Bram Stoker's vampire classic and will also direct the play, which marks Erivo's return to live theater after her Tony-winning stint in The Color Purple nearly a decade ago. According to the trade, 'the list of 23 characters that Erivo will perform include the fanged Count Dracula, who sustains life by sucking the blood of the living; Jonathan Harker, a newly qualified solicitor who travels to to meet his new client who resides in a castle nestled in the remote Transylvanian mountains; Mina Murray, Harker's fiancée; her friend Lucy Westenra; and Professor Van Hesling, vampire hunter and expert in occult lore.' Erivo will also get to flex her commanding vocal talents, though sadly Dracula only features one musical number. Speaking of, with Wicked: For Good coming out this fall, Dracula's co-producer Michael Cassel has already taken Erivo's potential need to attend award ceremonies during Dracula's early 2026 run (February 4-May 31). 'We're taking that into account, putting all those pieces in place so that Cynthia can be a part of everything else that's going on in her life—we'll build that in,' Cassel explained. She really can do it all! Definitely check out all the Erivo variants on Poker Face's season two premiere—the hilariously deadpan DJ Erivo was my favorite—now streaming on Peacock.
New York Times
03-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
How ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray' Went Digital
About five minutes into 'The Picture of Dorian Gray,' the stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde's 1891 novel, the actress Sarah Snook, playing the louche aristocrat Lord Henry Wotton, reaches out and rests a hand on Dorian Gray's shoulder. At nearly every performance, the audience gasps. Sometimes, from sheer delight, they giggle. The gesture itself is simple, but the execution is so demanding that two years ago, when Snook first tried it, she had a panic attack. Snook plays both Lord Henry and Dorian Gray — and two dozen other characters, too. So she is putting her own hand on her own shoulder by way of an elaborate synthesis of live action, live video and recorded video. 'The Picture of Dorian Gray,' a Victorian Gothic trifle, can now be seen in portrait mode. Even after a celebrated London run and weeks of performances at the Music Box Theater on Broadway, that moment, in which a recorded Lord Henry joins a live Dorian onscreen, hasn't become any easier. As it approaches, Snook said she will find herself thinking: What if I'm a millimeter off? What if the magic is spoiled? The recording doesn't protect her from imprecision, from accident. 'The thing is,' she said, 'it's live theater.' Kip Williams, the director of 'Dorian Gray' and until recently the artistic director of the Sydney Theater Company, pioneered this technique, which he calls cinetheater, about a decade ago. Rehearsing a production of Tennessee Williams's 'Summer and Smoke,' he decided to stage a chase sequence in the bowels of the theater. Some colleagues encouraged him to record it, but Williams resisted. 'Theater is a live art form,' he said. 'The audience knows when it's live and when it's not. That transiency, that temporal quality of being in the present moment is at its core.' He perfected the technique in productions of macabre dramas like 'Dracula' and 'Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.' His rule was always the same. He would use live video only, never recorded. Then in 2020, he began work on 'Dorian Gray' and that rule changed. Williams was struck by an observation Wilde had made in a letter: that Lord Henry is how the world sees him; that Basil Hallward, the artist who paints Dorian's portrait, is how he sees himself; and that Dorian is the person he aspires to be. So how fitting, he thought, to have all of those characters — and more — played by the same actor. (He was also inspired by a Michel Gondry music video in which multiple Kylie Minogues cavort amid a town square.) As he developed the piece in collaboration with Eryn Jean Norvill, who originated the roles, Williams soon realized that only recorded video would allow him to realize this idea of the multiplicity within any individual. 'It was a terrifying breaking of my fundamental rule,' he said. Snook ('Succession') joined the production in 2023, in preparation for its London run. 'This play is close to me as a person and an actor, the irony being that there's 26 different characters in there,' she said. Rehearsals were strenuous, not least because Snook had recently given birth to her daughter and she wasn't sleeping much. She described shooting the recorded sequences, including that first one, as one of the hardest experiences of her career. In addition to delivering her lines with conviction, in costume and wig, with differentiated gesture and voice, she also had to remember elaborate choreography of where to look and when to move and speak, so that the video, designed by David Bergman, might eventually sync with the live image. 'The pressure of that was a lot,' she said. I first saw the payoff of that pressure in a Times Square rehearsal room in late February. Snook, dressed in athleisure, stood on a makeshift stage. Five camera operators surrounded her, two with Steadicams strapped to their torsos, three manipulating cameras on tripods. These same operators handed Snook props — a cigarette, a paintbrush — as she morphed from one character to another, purring Wildean aphorisms. 'Go, camera five,' a stage manager murmured into a headset. 'Go, camera one.' On monitors in front of Williams and his colleagues, this live video was merged with the recorded sequences. The floor was dotted with dozens of pieces of colored tape, delineating precisely where Snook would have to stand so that the image of the shoulder touch would make sense. If she were off by even a millimeter, the moment in which Lord Henry seduces Dorian into a life of pleasure wouldn't read. 'It's practice, practice, practice,' Williams said. 'It's all about hard groundwork.' Two weeks later, the show was in previews at the Music Box Theater. Here, Snook was joined onstage not only by the camera operators and crew members responsible for pulling cables out of the way and adjusting camera lights, but also a patchwork of screens large and small. Sometimes she stood or sat in front of them, sometimes they concealed her from the audience. Offstage, a focus puller, a vision switcher and a video supervisor helped to coordinate the images. For Benjamin Sheen, a camera operator who has been with the production since 2020, these moments of integrated live and recorded video still feel perilous. 'It's a constant dance and juggling act,' he said. Sometimes he has mere seconds to scoot a camera into position, moving in unison with Snook's rhythms. 'If anything is even slightly off the illusion is broken,' he said. 'So that's very stressful.' He described that moment of the shoulder touch, and the moments after, in which Lord Henry and Dorian are joined by a recorded Basil Hallward, as 'insanely risky.' Sometimes, he'll help Snook out, gesturing with a finger so that she can adjust her stance or her shirt cuff. Some nights there are glitches, and in those moments Snook is free to acknowledge the audience until the problem is remedied. Certain sequences, like an opium den scene, filmed under the stage on smartphones is, Sheen said, 'absolutely rife with possibility for disaster.' (A filter will malfunction, a double tap will flip the camera, the Wi-Fi will cut out.) There are also intentional glitches in which a live Dorian and a recorded one conflict, the better to explore the work's theme of what constitutes an authentic self. Onstage, the screens become a new kind of canvas, suggesting the ways in which even the most distorting filters can lay our anxieties and desires bare. To see it, and to see Snook in her various guises, is to be forced to reflect on how we all present ourselves onscreen — cropped, edited and curated to within an inch of our lives. 'It's about concealing and revealing, putting on masks, taking off masks,' Snook said of the production. 'It's about having your soul be seen.' This was part of why Williams had wanted to cast Snook. 'Her capacity to unmask herself is incredible,' he said of her work in 'Dorian Gray.' Even amid the insane precision that the cameras demand, Snook finds moments to play and explore. 'There are spaces where it is really specific and technical,' Snook said. 'And then there are spaces for not necessarily improv, unless something really does go wildly wrong, but spaces for discovery and freedom.' The making of 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' was intense, rigorous and then some. But at the core of it, beyond the cameras and the screens, the production is for Snook every night, a place to pretend, avidly, which is why she became an actor in the first place. Playing all these characters, in whatever medium, reminded her of herself as a child, before smartphones, romping around her bedroom. 'It's like the most bananas version of a kid miming to their favorite song,' she said. 'They've got the hairbrush in their hand and they're just doing all the words.'
