SIGNIFICANT OTHER: TO WATCH & LISTEN TO

By: Jul. 07, 2015
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Significant Other marks playwright Joshua Harmon's return to Roundabout following the success of his breakthrough hit Bad Jews. Warm, hilarious, and uncompromisingly honest, Significant Othertakes us into the single life of late-twenties Jordan Berman as he confronts the limits of friendship, the inscrutabilities of dating, and the loneliness of adulthood.

Below, in the third installment of our Read/Watch&Listen/Do lists, you'll find movies and music to immerse yourself in the world of the play and playwright.

MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING

This 1997 romantic comedy classic follows Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) as she attempts to break up the wedding of her best friend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) and his young fiancée Kimmy (Cameron Diaz). Julianne and Michael had an agreement to marry each other if they were still single at their 28th birthdays, and Michael and Kimmy's wedding is set to take place just before that milestone - and just in time for Julianne to realize she's loved Michael all along. Among Julianne's tactics to win Michael back is a staged engagement between her and her friend George (Rupert Everett), who is actually gay. The friendship between George and Julianne helped to define the trope of the gay male - straight female friendship (Newsweek critic David Ansen said of the onscreen pairing, "It is the friendship between a straight woman and a gay man that has the nuances and depths of a good marriage"), and Everett's character was famously such a hit with initial test audiences that the producers subsequently increased the size of his role.

THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 1870-71

Brush up on your history (and/or recreate Will and Jordan's date) with this documentary narrated by Bob Sessions, an installment of "The War File: The History of Warfare" series.

Music Videos for "I Hope You Dance" and "Because You Loved Me"

As the wedding songs for Kiki & Conrad and Laura & Tony (and the imaginary wedding song of Laura & Jordan), these two songs occupy major territory in the emotional landscape of Significant Other - not to mention the landscape of nineties-to-early-aughts romantic ballads. To fully appreciate these songs as the cultural milestones they are, music video viewing is a must.

"I Hope You Dance"

Lee Ann Womack

JORDAN: Oh my god, what is this?
...
LAURA: This is Kiki's song?
...
VANESSA: I am actually in heaven right now.
...
JORDAN: This is the girl who did coke off a FLOOR.

"Because You Loved Me"

Celine Dion

LAURA: What would our wedding song be? A jazz standard?

JORDAN: Eh. Wouldn't it be more fun to be like, ever-so-slightly subversive with the whole thing?

LAURA: What do you mean?

JORDAN: Like, pick something that's romantic but which is also, like, horrifyingly embarrassing, which you know there are people who choose that song without any irony but if we did it, it'd be like sure it's romantic, but also we're secretly ironically dancing to some retarded Mariah Carey early 90's number.

LAURA: Eh. Whitney?

JORDAN: Whitney. Is not. Ironic.

LAURA: No, I guess not.

Beat

JORDAN: Celine.


Significant Other is a limited engagement at the Laura Pels Theatre. For more information and tickets, visit our website.



Videos