How Time Flies...

I knew I hadn't written in a while, but then I check at I haven't written since July 25! Woops! Things have been great but crazy since then. As August came (and went) I was frantically searching for a job. I applied to so many jobs and interviewed with some places, but nothing was coming together. The Wednesday before my internship was up on Friday I got called into a meeting and interviewed for the office manager and development database assistant position. Unknown to me (and apparently everyone else knew), Noel was leaving at the end to the month and they were looking for a person to fill to the job. It was a shock to me because I had no expectation of getting to stay at NYTW, but it was exciting to think that I would still have the familiarity of working here as I was moving and getting settled. As you might know or can figure out, I got the job and have been in the position since late August. I couldn't imagine being new to NYTW and trying to learn this job because so much of it is just an understanding of what we do and how to work with everyone here.

Also, out box office manager left so I have gotten to work in the box office some, which is fun too because you get to interact with members, who often I would only talk to on the phone. I have also become the resident photography - which I love - and I get to take photos at various events and programs.

In the mean time, I needed an apartment. New York is a weird place for rentals and stuff comes and goes very quickly. I ended up finding a sublet for a few weeks that I could stay in that gave me a little more time to find an apartment. The place I ended up getting I first saw on Craig's List but it was through a company. The pictures were actually true to what the place look like, which is uncommon and I saw it and knew it was the place. It is a one bedroom (small bedroom) and has a kitchen down the hall and a great living room with two big windows.

Getting furniture was a nightmare - that may have to be a later post, but just say no to Ikea. I am mostly settled in and my parents are coming this weekend, so I hope they will help get all the little things fixed.

So there is no way that I will every go back and write about all the shows I have seen since July, but here is a list:
The Addam's Family
39 Steps
Trust (saw it three times, enough said)
Timing of the Day
Gate B23
Bunked!
Terms of Dismemberment
They're Playing Our Song - Concert version (loved it)
With Glee
Getting Even with Shakespeare
Friends Like These
Wicked
Bachelorette (twisted, but great)
Capsule 33
Through the Night
American Idiot
The Little Foxes (a little bias because I work here, but I LOVE the show)
Without You (which was incredible)

Ara Nova

It always great to see someone is a show, but it is also great to see people live performing their own music. As a benefit for Ars Nova, John Gallagher, Jr. performed with Fran Sancisco opening (Brian Charles Johnson and Chase Peacock). I went with Molly, a girl I meet with her sister at the American Idiot benefit from work. The guys in Fran Sancisco were great and John Gallagher, Jr. was amazing. He is very similar in his performing, his mannerisms, as when he is playing Johnny in American Idiot.

You can hear some of John Gallagher Jr's music on YouTube and Fran Sancisco.

Hello America

This is out of order, but last weekend I went to visit my friend Michael in DC. It was my first venture on Mega Bus and I was very pleased with the trip. Getting in about 7:30, I meet up with Michael, a friend of his Ashley (who is a fellow Gamecock) and a friend of hers (no clue his name but he smelled). First stop was dinner. Michael picked this place called Nando's. It was really cool, you got a table number then went to the counter and ordered. You picked the size of chicken you wanted (1/4, 1/2, whole) then the sauce/spices. Then you pick the sides, great southern sides. Corn on the cobe, garlic bread, mashed potatoes. Yum! Then after dinner we went to Fro Yo, this frozen yogurt place where you could pick the flavor/flavors you wanted (there were 20 or 30) and then add whatever toppings from the topping bar. It was so efficient because you get as much or as little as you want and you can get multiple toppings without paying per toppings. You pay by the ending weight of it.

To cap off the night we took a tour of the Washington, World War II and Lincoln Monuments. It was so beautiful to see them at night and it was cooler and less crowded. Saturday morning we meet up with Ashley again (minus the smelly boy) and drove out to Old Town Alexandria. It was so calm and peaceful. One of the neatest things was at the old torpedo factory they had partitioned it off into individual studios with artists who worked with any medium you could image. There was also this really cool set up where this woman had the steps of how silk worms make silk. We finished there and went to the Mason temple. That place was so creepy and there are some rooms there that you know bad stuff has happened in.

Saturday night we headed off to Wolf Trap to see Idina Menzel. It was with Marvin Hamlisch as conductor and the first section was just the National Orchestra playing songs from various musicals. The second part was Idina Menzel and she, as normal, was amazing. Sunday was a short day, but we headed to the Eastern Market that had the neatest local artists and vendors and grabbed brunch before I had to get to the bus to head back to NYC.

Trust

On Friday I went to see the first preview of Trust, a new play showing at Second Stage. I have a ticket for a while because I'll go see anything that Sutton Foster is in. This is the first time I have seen her in a play, all the others were musicals. The synopsis is pretty vague about the show and that made it all the more intriguing. So it ends up that Foster plays Prudence, a dominatrix who runs into a guy from high school, Harry (Zach Braff). They end of grabbing coffee at the Tic Toc (which is the diner in my building!) and Harry invites her over to meet his wife. Harry sold his business for a ton of money (something like $300 million) and now just manages it through his foundation. His marriage is blah and does not know what to do to make it better. Prudence has a boyfriend who is controlling and abusive. To much disclosure and the four enter into a twisted web of lies and blackmail.

Recently I have become obssessed with set design. The picture shows the set before the show began, but each wall opened to allow other sets to come out: the sofa from an apartment, the bed for a bedroom and the office. The were chic and minimal and really helped to shape the show. I can't wait to see it again!

Long Story Short

One of the great benefits of being an intern is free tickets. The Theater Intern Group sent out an e-mail to get tickets to see Colin Quinn in Long Story Short, history of the world in 75 minutes. If only history had been this interesting in school I might have retained something. The show very comedically took the audience through the entire history of the world. It is hard to explain, but a great show none-the-less. And, as a bonus we got to meet Jimmy Fallon!

From their website:

Covering more than 2000 years in 75 minutes, Long Story Short is Colin Quinn’s hilarious look at the ups and downs of great civilizations gone wrong. In this one-man sendup, Quinn channels comedic personalities of nations past, offering satirical takes on the attitudes, appetites and habits that toppled powerful empires. Charting a comical course from the excess of ancient Rome to WalMart/Costco/BestBuy, Quinn proves that the forces undermining the American empire are as old as time. Directed by Jerry Seinfeld, the moral of Long Story Short is that the greatest Empires of history, like most people, have a basic approach to life and never really change, even if it is clearly leading them to ruin.

Neverland

How did Peter become the boy who could never grow up? Adapted from the book Peter and the Starcatchers, the play by the same name takes audiences through a journey that explains how Peter became the boy who could never grow up. I had read a script from June and then started in on the book, all in anticipation for the workshop reading on July 23. I loved the first script I read and was excited to see it performed. The show has a cast of 12 who play multiple roles and there are parts where they are talking to each other then they will address the audience directly. There is a also a person who reads stage directions. The show essentially has not props, a rope, pineapple and a few sticks.

All week we heard the cast upstairs rehearsing on the third floor. On Monday we got an e-mail that it could be possible that everyone wouldn't get to go to the reading, so it is an uneasy week until Thursday evening when we got confirmation that we could all attend. A couple people in the cast I was familiar with and I knew a few more when I saw them. Peter was played by Adam Chanler-Berat (Next to Normal), Black Stache by Christian Borle (Legally Blonde) and Molly by Celia Keenan-Bolger (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee).

Earlier in the week we got to meet with Alex Timbers, co-director with Roger Rees. I was surprised at how young he was, but it was wonderful to hear about his career path and how he got where he is today.

Seeing the reading was amazing. Since June, the script had been significantly re-written. Peter's character was probably the most evident change. He was much more lost and grew to become the leader through the course of the play verses being the leader from the beginning. Other changes were noticeable because of their uniqueness, like Molly said she skipped the odd years in counting her age instead of the even and they spoke Dodo instead of porpoise. The character that surprised me the most was Borle's portrayal of Black Stache. It was funny and engaging, something that didn't read that way on paper. His part had a lot re-writes as well. I am now excited for the spring when I can see it on stage.

Don't Fly Away

It a little overwhelming how far behind I am in blogging. Chelsey came to visit two weekends ago and then I went to DC last weekend to visit Michael. So far this summer I have been lucky in getting comp tickets, but also winning tickets. I won tickets to see Love, Loss and What I Wore and then I won tickets to go see Come Fly Away. I wanted to see the show but wasn't really interested in paying to go because I really hated Movin' Out and I didn't suspect I would like this show any better. Well, that turned out to be 100% true. I just can't figure out what it is about Twalya Tharps shows. I love the music and the dance is great, but together it is one blah night of theater. The most annoying was this asian american woman who couldn't act and her dancing wasn't much better. I'm hoping she was an understudy, but anyway I literally couldn't watch the show if she was dancing alone or it was just her and a guy, it was awful. Some of the cast was so talented but blah. And then you get to the second act and apparently the bar turns into a brothel/ sex scene and Victoria Secret made a lot of money on the barely there costumes. Just glad I didn't pay for a ticket!

harsh reality

It has been the most exciting and scariest summer yet. I have loved every minute of the city but come August 13, if I don't have a job I'm headed home. It's not that I don't love home. I miss it and I miss the people, but at the same time I can't do the work that I love there. Over the past few weeks I have been applying for jobs like crazy. Anything and everything I could find. Some dream jobs, so just jobs that would mean I could stay in the city, others that are not marketing but would let me work in other areas of the theater. It is funny because when you are in school they talk so big about how you can get a job if you intern a bunch or have all this experience and yet it still isn't enough. I also find it hard to think that someone has to get an idea of you from two sheets of paper. I don't know, I guess I just feel lost because for the first time in 23 years I don't have a class schedule to go to and being the planner that I am, I can't make any plans because of all the unknowns.

I don't really bring up my job searching much to my mom because I know she really wants me to come home or closer to home. She always talks about how she and dad moved to LA and how hard it was and I get that, but this is different. I am so much closer to home and I am in a city where so many people share my passion. I have friends here and more are moving up. I am not sure where it came from but tonight she brought up what I was planning to do. Couple that conversation with a lack of sleep and you get me crying on the phone as my mom talks about the reality I am dreading having to face. She mentioned that people keep asking what I was going to do and that it didn't matter that she didn't have an answer for them but that I really needed to think about things. Which let me tell you, I have done more than she knows.

It makes me made because I have applied for so many jobs that I am more than qualified for and I have all the experience that everyone at school made such a big deal about and it is getting me no where. A few minutes later my dad called. Where my mom was realty my dad was the voice of reason tonight. Sometimes he is a little harsh about reality, but tonight he knew just what to say, or just what I needed to hear. It was comforting to hear him tell me to just keep trying and when he came to visit we could talk things over. I am just hoping things will come together. I don't know what I want to do with the rest of my life, but I know I want to work with the arts and even if I do go home, I want it to be with a few years experience here that will give me a leg up on the competition.

Love, Loss and What I Wore

Earlier this week at work we got an e-mail for Comp tickets to see the new cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore. I had the show on my list to see and what a better way to see it than free! The cast, which rotates monthly (usually) is five women telling stories triggered by the memory of clothing and accessories based on the book by the same name. The new cast includes Haylie Duff, Penny Fuller, Sharon Lawrence, Ashley Austin Morris, and Myra Lucretia Taylor. The stage is simple and they ladies are all in black dresses sitting on bar stools with music stands that have the stories for reference. What is so amazing is how much you have in common with the stories. I loved one that talked about choosing the right shoe, how you loved high heels but they hurt. It is hard to explain, but it was a unique concept that I really enjoyed. One character had images on coat hangers that showed the clothes she was talking about and at the end she showed the audience how to draw themselves. Here were her instructions (aka drawing for dummies):

draw two rectangles (one is the top; the other the skirt or bottom of the dress)
draw arms, but put your hands behind your back if you don't know how to draw them
draw an egg for the head
two lines for the neck
you can be sleeping, draw eyes and lots of mascara
an l for the nose
an m for the mouth and then add the lower part
add some hair
three lines for the legs
finish with the shoes
add detailing to the dress to match your clothes!

It's as simple at that!

A Short Week

This week felt like it went by really fast. I am in the process of applying for jobs, which is nerve-racking and daunting. Now that I have been in the city for a while, I do not want to leave. I love it here, the pace, the atmosphere, the shows. I have thought about looking for jobs in other cities, but I can 't figure out another city that I could work with the arts like I can here in New York. Slowly but surely I am getting to know people which is exciting. Probably the toughest thing about meeting people is that I am not a big drinker and that always seems to be weird. It's not that I am against drinking, but I have never cared for the taste of any of it, so I just don't drink it. I'm just as picky with food! My favorite drink is a champagne sorbet from Madrid, but that isn't easily accessible here in the states. I have found that I love strawberry margaritas. But most restaurants don't make them right. I want half regular margarita and half strawberry; the sour part of the mix but the sweetness of the strawberry - perfection. And not too much tequila. blah! But back to jobs...I have applied to a few. It is hard because they want a bajillion years of experience and I have great experience but most is in the form of an internship. What is frustrating is that paper doesn't begin show the extent of my work.

So Monday was a nice night to chill out and watch my Gamecocks dominate in Game one of the championship at the College World Series against UCLA. They won 7-1 and were is a good position going into Tuesday's game. Tuesday evening I went to see Next Fall. It was nominated for Best Play (and should have won). It was a brilliant play that tells the story of Adam and Luke that begins in the hospital waiting room and then flashes back to fills you in on how they meet, the growth of their relationship and their insecurities. When Luke is hit by a taxi and in the hospital, Adam is not allowed to see him because it is "family only." Luke had also never told his family that he way gay and they were not accepting of that type of relationship either, so he had never told them about Adam. The show made me laugh but also made me cry. Actually there might not have been a dry eye. Grown men sitting in front of me were brought to tears in the poignant, hard hitting issue. I wasn't familiar with the cast much going in, but Luke (PATRICK HEUSINGER) is on Gossip Girl and I grew up watching Connie Ray on The Torkelson's (played Luke's mom). Sadly the show is closing Sunday. I only wish I had time to see it again.

From their website:

NEXT FALL has captured the hearts and minds of Broadway’s toughest critics and most discerning audiences. In this contemporary love story, sparks of genuine humor lighten even the most difficult moments. The characters speak and act like real people; they have irrational phobias… conflicting beliefs… and lingering secrets. They are two men in love, two parents in denial, and two friends on speed dial. NEXT FALL weaves a story that’s as funny and infuriating and unpredictable as life itself – it will make you smile, laugh and perhaps even cry. Bring someone you care about, take a deep breath, and enjoy this bonafide Broadway hit.

Next Fall was over in time for me to get back to my place to see the end of Game two in the CWS. My wonderful friend Molly had been texting me game updates, but they were not what I wanted to see! We were losing 0-1 in the eighth by the time I started watching. Then we tied the game! I could finally breath. Next came overtime/ extra innings (as if 9 weren't already enough). Tenth inning, nothing, eleventh inning UCLA nothing, Gamecocks, a run! You could see the smile on his face as he ran in, knowing that they had just won. The University of South Carolina GAMECOCKS were the National Champions. It was amazing! Although I am not sure that my neighbors appreciated my cheering. And how are you supposed to go to sleep after that? I was shaking, so excited. So mark your calendars, but July 1 is Gamecock National Championship Day! These are the things that make me miss Columbia soooo much! But I am so proud on my Gamecocks!

Wednesday night I was invited by Chris (a friend of a friend) to join a monthly outing called Sushioke. I really had not paid much attention to the name, but I was excited to get to meet some people so I graciously accepted the invitation. Once I got there I learned that the name meant Sushi then karaoke and between to we stopped for ice cream (my kind of group!). It was nice to meet other people and the evening was lots of fun. New York karaoke is a lot of fun because unlike the south it isn't a country song every time and there isn't a stage per say, but people just sing where they are and everyone else helps. The first karaoke bar was pretty bad so we hoped in cabs and went to where they had gone previously. The cab ride was more fun than the first bar as we sang along to Lady GaGa's Bad Romance (much to the drivers despair!). Needless to say it was a fun night!

Where does the time go?

I could never have believed that I would be this on the go and busy this summer. To be honest I don't know where the time has gone. Since I last blogged, my friend Michael came to visit for the weekend from Washington D.C. and I can't remember the last time I walked that much! We got student rush tickets for American Idiot and had front row center seats. I am a little spoiled now and I don't think that I could ever sit anywhere else! We also got to see Hair one more time before it closed and Promises, Promises. During our walking tour of the city, we really got to see a lot of areas I had never been in around the city. Greenwich Village and the river area where there is a great walkway, Chinatown and Central Park. Sunday night was the most fun, starting off with seeing Jonathan Groff at Joe's Pub and finishing the evening with Broadway Bares: Stripopoly. After the concert, we got to meet Jonathan Groff and that made my night. Then we grab a cab uptown to see Broadway Bares, a huge fundraising event for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights Aids. Cameron Adams, who is originally from Myrtle Beach, was dancing along with 200 dancers from Broadway and celebs like Vanessa Williams, Kristin Chenoweth, Diana DeGarmo and Lucy Lui.

Michael left Monday morning, which came way too earlier and I headed off for another week at work. Ashley, who I went to school with at USC, was visiting her sister and so we got tickets to go see Best of Fest, a fundraiser that showcased past and upcoming works from the New York Musical Theatre Festival. I knew a couple of the people performing, but I was very impressed by the talent and excited to see some of the shows to come!

Tuesday I went to see Best Musical winner Memphis. I went into it having high expectations because it did win the Tony, and it did not disappoint. The entire cast was so talented, but Montego Glover and Chad Kimball were phenomenal. I'm still not sure how they keep their accents the whole show. Definitely a show to see.

Wednesday I went to the Carlyle Cafe, which was an intimate dinning room and small bar, to see Sutton Foster. I got a bar seat, which was great because it was high and you could see really well. Most of the concert was the same as what I had seen in Charlotte, but she did add some songs from Anyone Can Whistle and for her song drawn out of her Ho cup, Jonathan Groff (who came to see the show!) choose Don't Rain on My Parade. My favorite is when she sings Sposin' (not sure on the spelling), which was a song taken out of Thoroughly Modern Millie and another song taken out of Shrek.

Thursday was the 4th Street Bar Association (4SBA) event for work. Beginning at 6:15 we had a pre-show cocktail hour in the lobby of the St. James Theatre, followed by the performance of American Idiot and then Sardi's for the post-show party with the cast (or so we hoped). Luckily, a good number of the cast came and hung out for a while, which was a relief! The whole event went really well and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Friday it was off to North Carolina for mom's family reunion. It was really nice to go to the mountains and get away for a few days. Maw Maw picked me up at the airport and I drove us to our mountain house. It was really weird to drive because I hadn't been behind the wheel in over a month! Other than seeing my family, I was most excited about the food! For dinner we had roast and mashed potatoes and peas...so yummy...and then pancakes for breakfast. Lunch was at Juke Box Junction and dinner was my all-time favorite, Grandmothers creme corn and green beans. I don't know quite how to explain them, but the creme corn it like dessert. I literally had a plate with half beans/ half corn! Sunday morning brought sausage gravy and biscuits with peach jelly! Spectacular! Sadly the weekend had to come to an end, but we didn't have a car because once again the mercedes was broken (between the two that my parents drive, one is always not working). My grandfather ended up having to drive us to the airport and my parents had to rent a car to get home.

Sunday evening consisted of cleaning my room and laundry, my most unfavorite thing in the world to do! Another busy week ahead!

Playing Catch Up

I am kinda behind in the blog so this is going to be an overview of last weekend's exciting adventures.

Cole flew in on Thursday afternoon in time to see American Idiot. We had second row tickets and it was even more amazing than the first time (mostly because I knew more of the song lyrics). Sadly John Gallagher, Jr. did not come out and sign and according to the door man he never does.

Friday I had to work until 2 and then we grabbed lunch at Smac, a restaurant that makes mac and cheese any way you can think of. Of course, I got All-American, which was three cheeses and it was great. The rest of the afternoon we spend shopping and exploring the East Village and Soho (making a pit stop at Baked By Melissa - yum) and then headed to see The Addams Family. The critics didn't like the show at all, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but we really enjoyed the show. The sets were creative and transformed into the many different rooms of the house. Most fascinating was their use of the curtain. Most shows just pull it up when the show starts, although many shows don't even have that now, but for this show it has two pieces that pulled to the side and then three scallops that would rise and fall to create different looks. Unlike many shows, where you see the sets move, The Addams Family would have a character singing or talking in front of the curtain and move the sets then. Of course hand stopped by and Uncle Fester flew to the moon - which was very entertaining. Overall I really enjoyed the show and its story. The music was catchy and I have enjoyed listening to it since I saw the show too. I forgot to mention that the cast featured Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. I do feel that the show was overlooked for Tony nominations, especially sets and best musical. I think it was way more exciting than Million Dollar Quartet is going to be (I'm seeing that is a few weeks, so I'll keep you posted).

Saturday we wandered around before seeing the West Side Story matinee. I was not looking forward to this show because I had seen a horrible version at Town Theatre in Columbia. So a little unenthused, we saw the show and I really enjoyed it. The cast was so talented and authentic. The mix of Spanish and English was a little annoying because it seemed to randomly switch throughout scenes and I thought it should have been one or the other, but overall a good production. That evening we went to see Hair again. We got student rush tickets for $25 and had the amazing seats in the box to the left side of the stage. It was exciting because the cast frequently comes out in the audience and they were right there. Like last time we got to dance on stage at the end for the eParty. The stage door for this show is particularly fun because the cast is so nice.

Sunday was jam packed. It started with trapeze school at 10:30 until 12:30 followed by a quick lunch and then to see Restoration at NYTW where I work. After the show we hoped on the subway and ran back to my place to shower and change for the Tonys! Doors opened at 6 and you had to be seated by 7. It was raining so it was a little gross commuting, but it was exciting non-the-less. From 7-8 you get to see the "early in the evening awards were presented to..." awards actually presented and then the live show starts at 8. There is so much energy there and the sound is so much better than what gets broadcast on TV. I was particularly happy that Fences did well because it was a great show. Probably my favorite win was Katie Finnegan from Promises, Promises. She is only in two scenes, but if you ask anyone what they remember from that show, it is her parts. American Idiot was a great performance, but seeing Matthew Morrison and Lea Michele was my favorite. When Lea Michele sang "Don't Rain on my Parade" it was mesmerizing.

It was a great weekend, but as Monday came Cole had to head back to Columbia and I had to go to work. I was so tired on Monday, but we had a benefit event that evening so I had to help with the set up beginning at noon and finally got to eat dinner around midnight, but which point I was exhausted!

Fences

Before I moved to NYC I got an e-amil with a discount to get a ticket to Fences staring Denzel Washington. I've always liked his work so I got a ticket. Thank goodness I did! It is a limited run show and the night I went the house was sold out of seats and standing room only tickets. It also features Viola Davis and the two of them on stage is electrifying. The play by August Wilson is performed on a single set, the Maxson's front porch.

Described for their website:

Both a monumental drama and an intimate family portrait,FENCES tells the story of Troy Maxson, a man torn between the glory of his past and the uncertainty of his future. Emboldened by pride and embittered by sacrifice, Troy is determined to make life better for future

generations, even as he struggles to embrace the dreams of his own son.

Although their have been other shows that I love, there has never been a show that I found myself so caught in their story and emotionally touched. As the show came to an end, I just sat their and cried for the loss but also the life the others still had to live. Very rightfully deserved, both Washington and Davis won Tonys for their performance and the show won Best Revival of a Play. It was truly a phenomenal piece. I feel so lucky and spoiled to be getting to see so many shows. Normally when we would visit for a weekend, we would see all musicals, maybe a play, but being here for the summer is allowing me to expand to see shows that under normal circumstances I probably never would have seen.

The Arts In South Carolina

As you can probably tell, the arts are a HUGE part of my life and this past week our idiot of a governor vetoed two budgets that were the bulk of the budget for the SC Arts Commission. Not only would eliminating this money cripple the agency, making it so they would no longer be able to give grant money to artists, but it would mean eliminating arts in education and any other program as well as staff at the Arts Commission.

I spent the last school year interning at the Arts Commission and the do amazing work. It is the first time I have worked somewhere where everyone is soooo passionate about what they do. They don't just work at an arts agency, the perform, the are artists themselves. A lot of times people do not see the work that they do, but they make a huge difference, both in the lives of residence and economically by supporting arts that bring money into our state.

Today the House overrode the governors' vetoes and now they are waiting to go the senate. PLEASE click here and contact your senator! They are listening.

Here is an article from The Daily Gamecock I was quoted in.

Sondheim on Sondheim

This year is Stephen Sondheim's 80th birthday. He is the genus behind shows like West Side Story, Assassins, Sunday in the Park with George, Anyone Can Whistle, Gypsy, Into the Woods, Company, and some not so good shows, like A Little Night Music (see post to come). To celebrate his birthday, Roundabout Theatre Company decided to create a show the featured pieces from many of Sondheim's works as well as video clips of him telling about his life, entitle Sondheim on Sondheim.

There description of the show:

It's a completely different kind of Sondheim evening: an intimate portrait of the famed composer in his own words...and music. An ensemble cast, led by Tony Award winner Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams and Tom Wopat, will perform brand-new arrangements of over two dozen Sondheim tunes, ranging from the beloved to the obscure.

The show truly was an intimate look into the life of Sondheim. The video interviews of him introduced songs, explained changes to shows which included performances of songs that were dropped from the final versions and depth into his life that brought about a greater understanding and appreciation of his work. Probably the most interesting thing he said was that of all his shows, Assassins is the one show he sees and has nothing he wants to change about it.

His parents divorced and his mother did not like him or spend a lot of time with him, so he spent most of his time with what became his second family, the Hammersteins. It was there that he learned piano and to compose music. He joked that he became a composer because he wanted to do what Oscar Hammerstein did; jokingly he added that had he been an engineer, he himself would probably be one of those today instead.

What made all this come to life was the brilliant stage. It consisted of flat screen video boards that came together to make walls where video and graphics were show on. One set up had a huge wall but the set turned and their was a flight of stairs and then what looked like screens sprinkled about. It was unlike any set I had ever seen and the integration of the video along with the song choices and order was great.

Stunt Girl

Sorry, but my posts are going to be out of order. I missed a couple days, but saw this show tonight and had to go ahead and post.

I am loving soaking up all the city has to offer and tonight I went to my first reading of what I thought was going to be a play but ended up being a phenomenal musical. It is part of Manhattan Theatre Club's 7@7 Series that shows 7 new works in 7 weeks at...can you guess??? at 7. It was free to go to any of the readings, all you had to do was e-mail in. This was the first one that was taking place since I had moved to the city and I really didn't know what to expect. In fact I got the address wrong and was almost late!

The theater it was in was part of City Center and it was maybe 300 seats. It was packed. I sort of felt like an outsider because everyone knew everyone. The group was a mix of theater professionals, actors and actresses, wannabe actors and actresses, some old people and me. David Yorkey is the director and I knew him from his work on Next to Normal. The female lead was Mara Davi who played Nellie Bly, who looked really familiar and when I looked her up realized I had seen her in White Christmas and A Chorus Line. She was amazing and a perfect match for Louis Hobson who played Arthur Brisbane. I also recognized him from Next to Normal and with a quick Internet search confirmed it.

Here are some summaries:

Nellie Bly was a groundbreaking investigative journalist, an intrepid world traveler, and a captain of industry - all in a time before women had the right to vote. She's brought to tuneful life in a rollicking new musical about her hopes and heartbreak and fascinating times

The Village previously described Stunt Girl this way: "Before tabloid television, before the paparazzi, back when the news business was new...she was the original sensation. Nellie Bly was a groundbreaking investigative journalist, an intrepid world traveler, and a captain of industry — all in a time before America gave women the right to vote. Bridging the years from the turn of the twentieth century to the First World War, this remarkable woman comes to tuneful life in the rollicking new musical Stunt Girl, a fast and funny account of her life and loves, her hopes and heartbreak, and her fascinating times."

The show tells the story of a Nellie who wants to be a journalist but is told no because she is a woman. She eventually gets a job under Joseph Pulitzer and does stories that uncover the treatment of people in situations like the mental hospital for women and buying babies from the black market and uncovering the truth about the Pullman villages employees lived in. Her biggest piece was racing around the world to take less than 80 days as the book "Around the World in 80 Days" was becoming popular. Although she loves Arthur, who also works at the paper and one day hopes to be editor, she marries a rich man (who she meet working on the Pullman piece). He keep telling her, "why run when you can fly" and he told her that money would let her make the changes she wanted in the world. Nellie really wanted to work for his company and he objected until she threatened to leave. When he was tragically killed, the men in the company tried to get Nellie to sign the company over to them and they would pay her money every year, but when she realized that they had made no provisions in the contract for the treatment of the employees, she decided she would run the company herself.

Being a woman in that position during the pre-WWI era was not easy and the men did not respect Nellie. It ended up that they were not keeping the books correctly balanced the company went bankrupt, forcing Nellie to flee to Europe to try to save some money and appeal her case. It ended up that WWI began while she was in Austria and with Arthur now the publisher of the paper, he reached out to her to cover the war from inside where he couldn't get reporters. Again, her pieces were a hit with readers and eventually Nellie came back to work at the paper, penniless. Even with all the years that had passed, Arthur had never found anyone to replace his feelings for Nellie and with her back working at the paper, it might just be the new start they needed.

For this reading, the cast had rehearsed 29 hours. There is essentially no set in a reading, but just chairs lined up for the cast to sit in when it wasn't there part and music stands to hold the notebooks with the script and music. For the most part they know the show, but they do reference the material sometimes. And with such a short learning period, there were a couple parts that got a little twisted, but I fell in love with the show. The lyrics were filled with imagery. Even thought there were no sets, you could see the scenes and locations they were talking about. And the music, it was infectious. I wish I had it on my ipod right now, I would be listening to it!

It was unlike any show I had ever seen and I hope it comes to a theater, at least off-Broadway, soon.

Back to the Real World

My work week started on Tuesday as my first day at my internship. When I was visiting in April I stopped by and meet Rebekah, who I am working under, and learn a little bit about the place. I think that really helped with making me more comfortable because I knew how to get to work and I had meet some of the people there. Like all first days, this one was a little weird. It is hard just to get thrown into work and projects you don't know a lot about. It's a little frustrating because no one really explains anything. One of my tasks on my first day was to delivery letters to restaurants and vendors that participate in the Good Neighbor Program. It gives season ticket holders and flex pass holders discounts at places near the theater to get food, etc before or after seeing a show. It was a challenge finding my way around at first and I'll admit I walked in a few circles before getting the lay of the land, but it was fun getting to see all the stores and restaurants. I have found so many places I want to go back to.

And what better way to celebrate the first day on a job but to see a show! Tonight I had a ticket to A Little Night Music. It is part of the shows showing this year in celebration of Stephen Sondheim's 80th. I had no clue what the show was about (this is not like me; normally I have the soundtrack memorized, summary read...) but it had Catherine Zeta-Jones and Angela Lansbury, so I was excited to see it. To be honest I really didn't like it. It wasn't very exciting, the music was kind of operatic and the story was lacking. I don't know what to compare it to. The only bright side was that Catherine Zeta-Jones signed at the stage door.

Day 1 - Holiday

I was all excited to start work Monday, but it was a holiday and New York Theatre Workshop was closed, so no go. It was nice though to have the day to get settled. Unfortunately the closest place for stuff to where I live is Kmart and you will be comforted to know that they are just as mess and unorganized here as in the south, but it is three stories! Making a couple of trips, one to get cleaning stuff and the other food (there is not the convenience of putting stuff in you car; you buy it you carry it!).

The day was pretty lazy, but to kick off my summer here I had a show to see. First up was White's Lies. It initially interested me because Christie Carlson Romano was in it (who I saw in Avenue Q), but I also learned that Betty Buckley and Tuc Watkins (from Desperate Houses) were also in it so I got a ticket. I knew it was a play, a comedy to be more specific, but the Web site is very vague about the show. My seat was in the front row, which was exciting. The set was simple, but it worked well for the show. The two settings were Joe White's law office and a bar (which would change themes throughout the show). His desk could be raised and would become the bar while one wall rotated to finish out the bar.

The show starts with Joe and one of his women (and lets just say he has a lot of them). But he doesn't want commitment, just have a little fun. His law partner, Alan, is to come in each morning to help get ride of the girl (they are always in his office). Joe says you never do breakfast because that shows commitment. Things were business as usually until one morning Barbara (Andrea Grano), an ex-girlfriend from college (who White doesn't remember), came in to get Joe to be her divorce lawyer. Her daughter Michelle (Romano) is 25 and takes a liking to Joe. Shortly after there first meeting, Joe's mom (Betty Buckley) tells him she has cancer and her one regret was that she didn't have a grandchild. In an effort to give his mom her dying wish, White concocts a plan where he will use Michelle as his long lost daughter. This is all fine and good until Michelle and Joe fall in love. Knowing the kind of guy he is, Barbara forbids the romance, but there is not stopping them now.

It all falls apart when Joe's mother admits she really isn't dying, but she wanted them to be closer and quit fighting. Michelle and Joe weren't planning of having to admit to their relationship because they figured she would be dead. Then Barbara and Alan get married in an attempt to get a restraining order against Joe to see Michelle (long story), and their shared love for Alf. In order to prove he is the father (which Joe thinks he is not) he demands a paternity test. In the final scene, the test results are in but before we find out, Michelle admits to Joe that she is pregnant, but then the results say he is the father. Things go awry for a moment, but eventually Mrs. White puts an end to it and tells them she had paid the "doctor" (an old friend's child who was in med school) to give the results. So it ended up that Joe was NOT Michelle's dad (thank goodness!) and they could now be together without hiding it. Whew, that was a little long winded and really doesn't do the show justice. I have never been big on plays because they are usually hard to get into, but this show was hilarious and the cast was amazing. Two other notable members who played multiple parts were Jimmy Ray Bennett and Rena Strober.

Cast of White's Lies (from http://www.playbill.com/multimedia/gallery//1270/?pnum=1)