Steven Universe fans...Christine Ebersole to join Patti Lupone in Steven Universe?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 1:54pm

There was a rumor a while back that Patti Lupone, who voices the character Yellow Diamond on Steven Universe, let it out of the bag that Christine Ebersole was playing White Diamond, who may be the ultimate character of the Diamond Authority. A fan asked Ebersole about it during a signing during the War Paint period, and Ebersole said it "wasn't a rumor" that she'll be playing White Diamond. So San Diego Comic Con is going on this weekend, and during the Steven Universe panel, there was some audio clips leaked, and it does sound like like Christine Ebersole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAoSN1YXBQU

If it's true, then I'm super stoked. The SU cast is pretty filled with musical theatre or singer talent with Susan Egan playing Rose Quartz, Irish singer Lisa Hannigan playing Blue Diamond, Patti Lupone playing Yellow Diamond, and now Christine Ebersole. Of course Estelle playing Garnet and Deedee Magno Hall playing Pearl, among others.

Updated On: 7/22/18 at 01:54 PM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 2:46pm

PLEASE PLEASSE PLEAAASSSSSEEEEE. I just started the show and I'm already on Season 3 and I actually finished Patti's first episode asa week

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 3:07pm

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "PLEASE PLEASSE PLEAAASSSSSEEEEE. I just started the show and I'm already on Season 3 and I actually finished Patti's first episode asa week"

Wow! I hope I didn't spoil anything for you. Please continue watching and get back to me when you're all caught up.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 8:22pm

The latest episode was finally released today on the App and it's confirmed that Ebersole is playing the ultimate diamond, White Diamond (LuPone's character's superior!). I really wonder if Patti LuPone mentioned her work on the show and suggested Ebersole for the part. [Spoiler ALERT] Ebersole sounds like her sweet self and that makes her character sound even more menacing. I cannot wait to see what she brings to the show.

Updated On: 7/22/18 at 08:22 PM

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 8:25pm

I don't even watch the show, but now I'm thinking they need to have a musical episode (ala Buffy, Once Upon a Time, or Scrubs) just so Ultimate and Yellow can sing "Face to Face" with appropriately rewritten lyrics.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/22/18 at 8:48pm

Songs and music play prominently in the show (at first starting silly in episode 11 "Giant Woman", if we don't count the Cooke Cat commercial jingle in episode 1) and they even did an amazing musical episode called "Mr. Greg" that was nominated for an Emmy. Patti LuPone was given a song as "Yellow Diamond" called "What's the Use of Feeling Blue?" which was a play on both feeling sad, and feeling at all as she sang to a character called "Blue Diamond". But yes, I NEED a song with Patti and Christine. 

Blue Diamond is played by Lisa Hannigan who is a great singer, if not a theater singer, as well. Aimee Man played the character of "Opal" and Nicki Minaj played "Sugalite" so the show has a history of casting famous singers. Also, one of Rebecca Sugar's priorities is to cast voice actors who can sing as she and her other artists/writers may think up of a song for any character.

Updated On: 7/22/18 at 08:48 PM

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 12:15pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "disneybroadwayfan22 said: "PLEASE PLEASSE PLEAAASSSSSEEEEE. I just started the show and I'm already on Season 3 and I actually finished Patti's first episode asa week"

Wow! I hope I didn't spoil anything for you. Please continue watching and get back to me when you're all caught up."

Oh love, I already know what happens this season b/c of Tumblr and Twitter, so you didn't ruin anything :)

 

[Kad]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 12:19pm

Ebersole and her character make QUITE the impression in their debut episode.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 12:28pm

I CANNOT wait to hear her sing.

I admit it took me a while to get into Patti's song for the show. I heard Rebecca Sugar saying when she came up with the song with her fellow composers, she wanted the song to sound strange and not of this world since they are literally aliens and would not have the exact same musical language as we have. After a few listens, I got really into it. There's no denying Patti acted the hell out of that song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtA-juh3rf4

I seriously wonder how Rebecca Sugar pitched the idea to Patti to make Patti agree. It's one of the best and most progressive shows on tv right now, but the concept can be so easily dismissed by people who are not into animation, fantasy, sci-fi.

Updated On: 7/23/18 at 12:28 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 12:32pm

It’s a beautiful show. I kind of want to know how Patti came to be involved- though she clearly relishes playing such a villain like this.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 12:40pm

Kad said: "Ebersole and her character make QUITE the impression in their debut episode."

She surely did. Look at how massive her character is:

https://www.reddit.com/r/stevenuniverse/comments/911x69/spoiler_my_god_she_is_absolutely_massive/

The SU fandom is passionate and devoted and I hope it makes them curious as to Ebersole's non-SU work like it did for LuPone.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 1:22pm

I've been a huge Steven Universe fan for a couple years now -- it's such a heartfelt, intelligent show, and I'm really glad it's on the air for kids. (It's got a ton of wonderful LGBTQI themes and representation, which makes sense, given the creator is part of the community.) I remember the moment hearing Yellow Diamond (LuPone's character) speak for the first time and having a record scratch in my head like "Wait, was that really...?" I'm thrilled that the Ebersole rumors turned out to be true! And holy ****, her character's debut was honestly pretty terrifying in the most delightful way.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 1:52pm

Is this Christine Ebersole's first ever voiceover work? I think this is Patti's first VO work.

[Taryn]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 2:03pm

Glancing through their IMDB credits, I don't think it's either of their first.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 2:10pm

Oh, I missed the credit for Ebersole that she did Hey Arnold!, another great show. She also did voice work for something called The Electric Piper. I'm actually surprised Patti has done more voice work after she did Steven Universe. Her previous voice work was on Frasier. IMDB lists an episode of The Simpsons, but it looks like it's an upcoming episode.

Updated On: 7/23/18 at 02:10 PM

[faceleg]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 7:23pm

 

I love Steven Universe so much I saw the tour of If/Then just cause DeeDee was in it. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/23/18 at 10:57pm

faceleg said: "

I love Steven Universe so much I saw the tour of If/Then just cause DeeDee was in it."

I'm so in love with Deedee. I remember seeing her when I was like 5-7 years old in the Mickey Mouse Club and memorizing that name because it was so memorable (I mean "Deedee" and because she was like the first Asian person I ever saw on television ever. I then remember seeing her name on a Playbill for the Miss Saigon National tour when I was a few years older in the 90s. I'm Vietnamese so of course so many of my family members went to see the show. I had no idea that like about 20 years later I'll see her name again, remember all of that, and then fall in love with her through this show. I swear Steven Universe is just combining all of my favorite things and keeps on doing it.

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 7/24/18 at 9:49am

What is "Steven Universe"? (yes, I feel old)

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/24/18 at 11:04am

BuddyStarr said: "What is "Steven Universe"? (yes, I feel old)"

It's an animated children's show on Cartoon Network about a boy being raised by three women who are not human but gems that take on human form and his single father. Steven is half-gem and half-human who goes on adventures and missions with his three female caretakers, who were part of a team with his mother. 

That's the premise of the show. It starts off as a seemingly silly show about a boy growing up and going on adventures and making mistakes and learning from them, but pretty early on you realize how deep and really emotional the show actually is. It's like a punch in the gut because you don't expect it. And the show just continues on outdoing itself in that aspect even when we now expect it.

The show actually uses that premise to really touch upon real human topics in incredibly nuanced and knowledgeable ways. The premise itself is about a boy being brought up in a non-traditional family household, his three heroes being all female, his father who seems like a deadbeat actually is not and is one of the best portrayals of fathers in television. It also delves deeply into gender identity/expression, complicated human relationships, dealing with burdens that you've inherited from a parent that everybody idolizes but you yourself have no memory of or relationship with, using animation and fantasy elements to symbolize human interaction and relationships, and utilizes reverse magical perceptions meaning that it's the fantasy characters that find mundane, every day human behavior to be fascinating. 

I think the show works so well because it's the first show on Cartoon Network to be run by a woman, Rebecca Sugar. The way she gathered a seriously diverse team of talent with very different backgrounds (race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and even those with non-traditional art/music backgrounds in animation) and gave them a lot of freedom to create the storylines and overarching plot, and characterizations of the characters of the show (not just the main ones but all the recurring characters that make up the town and world this show portrays) was really beyond what many live-action shows have been able to do. Even the voice actors she's hired were made up of non-traditional voice actors for most of the characters and they are mostly Asian-American and black women (Steven is voiced by an actual boy who has really matured and grown). It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. Of course, those voice actors helped shape what the characters ended up becoming which adds to the incredible representation this show has. That's why it's considered one of the most progressive, and forward-thinking and yet non-preachy and entertaining shows on TV by some critics and most of its fanbase. 

Plus, the music (both the underscoring and actual songs) are pretty incredible. I also love how the show started out being unassuming and it turns out to be this massive epic story. It was a very slow world-build which I felt was a great way to slowly reveal the story and keep the audience not knowing what to expect.

[faceleg]

Posted: 7/24/18 at 10:57pm

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "faceleg said: "

I love Steven Universe so much I saw the tour of If/Then just cause DeeDee was in it."

I'm so in love with Deedee. I remember seeing her when I was like 5-7 years old in the Mickey Mouse Club and memorizing that name because it was so memorable (I mean "Deedee" and because she was like the first Asian person I ever saw on television ever. I then remember seeing her name on a Playbill for the Miss Saigon National tour when I was a few years older in the 90s. I'm Vietnamese so of course so many of my family members went to see the show. I had no idea that like about 20 years later I'll see her name again, remember all of that, and then fall in love with her through this show. I swear Steven Universe is just combining all of my favorite things and keeps on doing it."

Omg same. I loved her on the Mickey Mouse Club! I was so sad when she left to do that spin off group. I got to see her in the Wicked tour the second time it came to Dallas, I had no idea she'd been doing musicals! Lol

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 7/25/18 at 9:05am

ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "BuddyStarr said: "What is "Steven Universe"? (yes, I feel old)"

It's an animated children's show on Cartoon Network about a boy being raised by three women who are not human but gems that take on human formand his single father. Steven is half-gem and half-human who goes on adventures and missions with his three female caretakers, who were part of a team with his mother.

That's the premise of the show. It starts off as a seemingly silly show about a boy growing up and going on adventures and making mistakes and learning from them, but pretty early on you realize how deep and really emotional the show actually is. It's like a punch in the gut because you don't expect it. And the show just continues on outdoing itself in that aspect even when we now expect it.

The show actually uses that premise to really touch upon real human topics in incredibly nuanced and knowledgeable ways. The premise itself is about a boy being brought up in a non-traditional family household, his three heroes being all female, his father who seems like a deadbeat actually is not and is one of the best portrayals of fathers in television. It also delves deeply into gender identity/expression, complicated human relationships, dealing with burdens that you've inherited from a parent that everybody idolizes but you yourself have no memory of or relationship with, using animation and fantasy elements to symbolize human interaction and relationships, and utilizes reverse magical perceptions meaning that it's the fantasy characters that find mundane, every day human behavior to be fascinating.

I think the show works so well because it's the first show on Cartoon Network to be run by a woman, Rebecca Sugar. The way she gathered a seriously diverse team of talent with very different backgrounds (race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and even those with non-traditional art/music backgrounds in animation)and gave them a lot of freedom to create the storylines and overarching plot, and characterizations of the characters of the show (not just the main ones but all the recurring characters that make up the town and world this show portrays) was really beyond what many live-action shows have been able to do. Even the voice actors she's hired were made up of non-traditional voice actors for most of the characters and they are mostly Asian-Americanand black women (Steven is voiced by an actual boy who has really matured and grown). It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. Of course, those voice actors helped shape what the characters ended up becoming which adds to the incredible representation this show has. That's why it's considered one of the most progressive, and forward-thinking and yet non-preachy and entertaining shows on TV by some critics and most of its fanbase.

Plus, the music (both the underscoring and actual songs) are pretty incredible. I also love how the show started out being unassuming and it turns out to be this massive epic story. It was a very slow world-build which I felt was a great way to slowly reveal the story and keep the audience not knowing what to expect."

Thanks for your response.  I did do a google search and found out some of it but your explanation is much more thorough and succinct .  Is there any way to catch up from the beginning?  i.e., Netflix or Amazon?

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/25/18 at 9:46am

BuddyStarr said: "ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "BuddyStarr said: "What is "Steven Universe"? (yes, I feel old)"

It's an animated children's show on Cartoon Network about a boy being raised by three women who are not human but gems that take on human formand his single father. Steven is half-gem and half-human who goes on adventures and missions with his three female caretakers, who were part of a team with his mother.

That's the premise of the show. It starts off as a seemingly silly show about a boy growing up and going on adventures and making mistakes and learning from them, but pretty early on you realize how deep and really emotional the show actually is. It's like a punch in the gut because you don't expect it. And the show just continues on outdoing itself in that aspect even when we now expect it.

The show actually uses that premise to really touch upon real human topics in incredibly nuanced and knowledgeable ways. The premise itself is about a boy being brought up in a non-traditional family household, his three heroes being all female, his father who seems like a deadbeat actually is not and is one of the best portrayals of fathers in television. It also delves deeply into gender identity/expression, complicated human relationships, dealing with burdens that you've inherited from a parent that everybody idolizes but you yourself have no memory of or relationship with, using animation and fantasy elements to symbolize human interaction and relationships, and utilizes reverse magical perceptions meaning that it's the fantasy characters that find mundane, every day human behavior to be fascinating.

I think the show works so well because it's the first show on Cartoon Network to be run by a woman, Rebecca Sugar. The way she gathered a seriously diverse team of talent with very different backgrounds (race, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, and even those with non-traditional art/music backgrounds in animation)and gave them a lot of freedom to create the storylines and overarching plot, and characterizations of the characters of the show (not just the main ones but all the recurring characters that make up the town and world this show portrays) was really beyond what many live-action shows have been able to do. Even the voice actors she's hired were made up of non-traditional voice actors for most of the characters and they are mostly Asian-Americanand black women (Steven is voiced by an actual boy who has really matured and grown). It wasn't on purpose, it just happened. Of course, those voice actors helped shape what the characters ended up becoming which adds to the incredible representation this show has. That's why it's considered one of the most progressive, and forward-thinking and yet non-preachy and entertaining shows on TV by some critics and most of its fanbase.

Plus, the music (both the underscoring and actual songs) are pretty incredible. I also love how the show started out being unassuming and it turns out to be this massive epic story. It was a very slow world-build which I felt was a great way to slowly reveal the story and keep the audience not knowing what to expect."

Thanks for your response. I did do a google search and found out some of it but your explanation is much more thorough and succinct. Is there any way to catch up from the beginning? i.e., Netflix or Amazon?"

I believe seasons 1-4 are on Hulu. The show is wrapping up season 5 now (Cartoon Network is inconsistent with its scheduling of this show because they like to show like 5 episodes a week or even 20 every weekday for a month as it did once in what they call "Steven Bombs" to hype it up). They're already finishing working on Season 6 since it takes like 9 months to fully animate an episode. 

There's also a blog called World of Steven Universe that allows you to stream every episode from season 1 to the latest one.

Keep in mind that the first 20 episodes (episodes are only 11 minutes long) are where the show was still experimenting in tone. I personally love those episodes but some fans thought that period of the show was still geared too much towards the kids compared to what it is now.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/25/18 at 10:08am

Cartoon Network makes it next to impossible to watch the show as it airs.

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 7/25/18 at 10:11am

We've had long hiatuses of the show before, but the most painful was last year when they aired a new episode in April and didn't air another one until December. I think the hiatuses would be more manageable for the fans if they knew when the show would premier new episodes on a set schedule like a normal season. Instead it always feels like we're all depending on the whims and charity of the network. What makes it painful is that we know episodes are already done and just waiting to be aired and the Crewniverse themselves don't know when they will be aired.