Tag Archives: debbie lannen

Yours truly as The Pied Piper of Hamelin for Pass the Time Players + quick takes on the films Zack Snyder’s Justice League and Promising Young Woman

21 March 2021

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For kids of all ages – the #PiedPiper – with yours truly reading the title role. Thank you, Debbie DeCeco Lannen and Pass The Time Players, for having me. NOTE: no (virtual) rats were harmed in the making of this #Zoom event. You’re welcome. 😊 🐀 🎶

FACEBOOK: https://fb.watch/4nIAR3zxgD/

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/d4vjGcRynFU

The Pied Piper of Hamelin
Narrator: Debbie Lannen / Orlando, FL
Merchant: Sally Daykin / DeLand, FL
Erich – Kyle Coykendall / Wixom, MI
Advisor: Tomothy Majzlik / Westland, MI
Mayor: Joe Lannen / Orlando, FL
Pied Piper: Roy Sexton / Saline, MI

Only I would take this beautiful day, and spend most of it indoors, working my way through the very long Zack Snyder’s Justice League. But it was worth it. Even if every 30 minutes John wandered through and said “Is this still on?”

I can barely remember the theatrical version, which is likely for the best. What I found in this updated version is that Snyder had room to explore ideas and relationships. And that made all the difference. I am not a fan of his work. By any stretch. But, perhaps because of what he has lived through the past few years, this film had something many of his previous efforts did not: heart.

My mom Susie Sexton’s take on Carey Mulligan’s Promising Young Woman:

GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY…already loved this actress … discovered her on PBS in a Dickens entry years ago. Outstanding!

This movie upends with its surreal treatment of a very real truth bedeviling this globe since the appearance of manKIND walking on its own evolved two feet – astounding, disturbing and so true and sad that it hurts, haunts and breaks any heart that is the least bit human.

The barbie doll sets and clothes simply enhance the deep damage done to humanity as we have all looked the other way and endured unnecessary heartache. Give it a look, enjoy!

No nudity, and only one supposed murder. An oddly wholesome at times comedic treatment of a tragic problem. Bravo!

Threw this viewer for a loop (which most all of us have existed within for all of eternity). Truth on film if there ever ever was. Whew?

The Night Before Christmas with Pass The Time Players and yours truly

17 December 2020

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The Night Before Christmas read by yours truly – watch video here: https://fb.watch/2rMVQMOzDY/ … You’re welcome, America! 🎅🤣🎁 Thank you, Debbie DeCeco Lannen and Pass The Time Players, for having me!

Well, after nine months I finally wore a tie again. And jacket! For our Clark Hill town hall yesterday, I was honored to be asked to emcee a section on gratitude. We have so many wonderful people in our organization and they all contributed their thoughts, some written and some in video for the occasion.

Link to the video that we aired as part of the segment – thank you to my colleague Gloria Pak for her expert work on this: https://vimeo.com/488719637/c9cea08140

“Thank you for being a friend.” Want to join me in supporting a good cause? For my birthday this month (December 28 to be exact!), I’m raising money for Ronald McDonald House Charities Ann Arbor and your contribution will make an impact, whether you donate $5 or $500. Just click donate on this fundraising page: https://lnkd.in/eQ_NVZD

I’m a proud board member and have seen firsthand how every little bit helps. This little fundraiser is nearing the $2500 mark because of wonderful support from kind and generous friends like you!

Thanks to our donors since the last musical interlude: Mary Kimber, Guinevere Lehman Anderson, Gail Paul, Jan Anne Dubin, Tammy L. Zonker, Nathan Darling, Lauren Sargent, Zach London, Lauren M. London, Deborah Farone, Kim Perret, Randi Lou Franklin, Megan Hill. Love you! ❤️ … Thank you for your support.

“Thank you for being a friend.” Golden Girls

Pass The Time Players’ The Witch and the Wizard! My Zoom-children’s theatre debut?

19 November 2020

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View VIDEO here: https://fb.watch/1SYpY39sn7/

Thank you, Pass The Time Players and Debbie DeCeco Lannen, for letting me play a benevolent wizard in quarantine! If anyone’s ever desired to see me do Zoom-enabled children’s theatre, here’s your chance! It’s a sweet little story, and an unlikely parable for these fraught times in which we are currently living. A little bit of kindness is magic and can overcome the worst bullies in our midst.

The Witch and the Wizard!
Narrator: Debbie Lannen
Atlas: Roy Sexton
Magnus: Michael Micheletti
Dante: Joe Lannen

View VIDEO here: https://fb.watch/1SYpY39sn7/

“The most turgid and sordid ‘That Girl’ ever!” Author Susie Duncan Sexton offers guest critique of Darling (1965)

23 June 2014

66 Comments

[Image Source: Wikipedia]

[Image Source: Wikipedia]

I got an email today from my mom Susie Duncan Sexton that I found so very funny and spot on; I figured it was time for another guest reviewer on this blog! (Check out a guest review of ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ by Rebecca Biber here.) My mom is an author and columnist, animal rights advocate and culture pundit – you can read her wonderful and free-wheeling blog here and check out her website (including info on her two books Secrets of an Old Typewriter and Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels) here.

From Wikipedia: “Darling is a 1965 British drama film written by Frederic Raphael, directed by John Schlesinger, and starring Julie Christie with Dirk Bogarde and Laurence Harvey. Darling was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Christie won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Diana Scott. The film also won the Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Costume Design.”

Here’s Susie’s no-hold-barred-wittily-concise assessment of ‘Darling’ …

Susie Duncan Sexton

Susie Duncan Sexton

so atrocious…as if marlo thomas’ That Girl went apesh*t and became accidentally more comedic than one could ever imagine…move over holly golightly…welcome ‘holly go-darkly.’ awkwardly thunky…one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

for starters…christie is 5 ft. two in. and we are supposed to believe she is a model?  she got the academy award?  shirley maclaine was offered the piece of crap first.  christie looked exactly like carole king to me.  she has an abortion…a cuckolded husband, two lovers and marries a prince?  in the longest piece of drivel I have ever sat through.

just atrocious…that guy who hates giant and doris day [David Thomson] also hates this time-warped mod squad sleaze…if it weren’t so pathetically hilarious, it would be the most turgid and sordid That Girl ever!

Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels Thanks to Debbie Lannen for this fabulous review (just posted here!) of my mom’s book Misunderstood Gargoyles and Overrated Angels: “Susie Duncan Sexton has a way of opening your eyes into a world long gone. Her unique style invites you to imagine as she guides you through her experiences. A delightful book. I enjoy her references to musicals, theatre, and music of all types. It is a book that can be read in one sitting or enjoyed throughout a series of sittings, as I have. Sit back with your favorite beverage and enjoy!” Check out Debbie’s just-published We Won You in a Raffle: An Adoption Story here.

Secrets of an Old Typewriter

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Reel Roy Reviews is now a book! Thanks to BroadwayWorld for this coverage – click here to view. In addition to online ordering at Amazon or from the publisher Open Books, the book currently is being carried by Bookbound, Common Language Bookstore, and Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Tea Room in Ann Arbor, Michigan and by Green Brain Comics in Dearborn, Michigan. My mom Susie Duncan Sexton’s Secrets of an Old Typewriter series is also available on Amazon and at Bookbound and Common Language.