Gavin Creel, don't read this blog post.

Gavin, who stars as Claude in the Broadway revival of HAIR, has made it publicly known that he does not read reviews, not even his mother's. So I wanted to make sure he knows that he should not read this blog post, because it is one giant (albeit glowing) review. ;)

As you regular readers are aware, I was more than excited to be attending the Opening Night performance of HAIR on Broadway tonight. The experience was incredible, and I attempted to put it down into coherent thoughts about the show. I realize most of the people reading this probably haven't seen it, so I want to warn you that there are spoilers in this review, but nothing that would spoil your experience seeing the show if you get the chance after reading it. It's also insanely long, so I don't blame you for not reading it if you're not all that interested. I mostly posted it for myself. So here goes:

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Nothing interesting/exciting happened at the red carpet or leading up to the show’s start, so I’ll skip right to the moment when the house lights dim and the audience roared. You could feel the loVe in the Hirsch for sure. I was sitting way back at the tippy top, and had a beautiful panoramic view of the stage, which I think was perfect for opening night, just to take in the whole show and the entire experience.

I knew I’d be a sobbing mess by the end of tonight, but I did not expect to tears to start streaming down my face during Aquarius. You know that line in Chicago about the audience loving Roxy and she loves the audience and they love her for loving them and they all just love each other? Picture that, only as a “transcendental meditation on the ocean of reality,” as Berger would say.

In his scene, there were a lot of extra pauses and playful asides to the audience. Instead of just BananaBerger and KarmaBerger and UnzipperBerger, we also had BigFuckinNightBerger. And he commented on how dressed up everyone was. The man he asked for spare change gave him some flowers instead, which he stuffed into his “purse” and continued to sing Donna.

The beginning introductions were definitely milked for the highly responsive audiences, who were also prone to shouting back things like, “We love you too” to Woof. “Ain’t Got No” is the first big audience interaction number, and everyone was definitely into it. Well, except a pair of people over near me, who wouldn’t clap along. Gavin literally took the guy’s hands and clapped them together to get him to join in. There was a glitch in this song (I think) with Sasha’s mic not being on right at the start of her solo, but she’s Sasha Fierce and worked it. I could barely tell she was unmiced from the last row at first.

I don’t plan to do a song-by-song review, because quite honestly I got to a point where I forgot they were singing songs in the score. I was just engrossed in the experience of what was going on on that stage, or rather, in that theatre. I started the evening having decided to watch people who weren’t the focus of the scene during each part, to catch all the wonderful little characterizations and bits they added, but now that I’m looking back, I can’t remember what they were or where they went because I was so sucked in. I was definitely drinking the Kool-Aid tonight, you guys.

So, “I Got Life” is my favorite song, and I always get so excited with anticipation during that dialogue between Claude and his parents leading up to it. Then when he finally breaks into song with that first line, I’m always the girl who whoops right in the pause after “mother.” And it appears plenty of other people love it too, because I was not the only one whooping tonight (which made me happy because I always feel a little awkward when it’s just me). The moment when the Tribe and Claude are jumping up and down singing “Life, life life life” is so exuberant, you can’t help but feel happy about your own life. And Gavin KILLS on the “A-men.” I can’t wait for the album now, just so I can hear him wail on that without the cheers of the audience drowning it out a bit.

For you Theo fans, he was extra hilarious tonight – he did something different as the principal than I’ve heard, but I can’t remember exactly what the nonsense words he used were. Something to do with a Weinershnitzl. And as Hubert, I kept watching him do all these little hilarious things I’d yet to notice, like his goofy clapping along while the haggle of hippa sang “Hair.” And speaking of Hubert, I must mention the wonderful Andrew Kober as Margaret Meade, because he works it out. That’s all I can say because it pretty much goes without saying. This is another moment I was crying, but this time from laughter.

Now, the best thing about sitting in the back of the theatre is Hare Krishna. I had made a decision to watch Gavin during this scene because I wanted to take note of what had been described as superb acting as he struggles with his decision. So, I was surprised when I couldn’t find him in the mix of people dancing around. Then I look to my right and see him walking down from the top of the mezzanine. I can’t adequately describe how moving his performance was throughout that entire song. He truly was trying to convince himself that beads, love, freedom, and happiness were enough and that he would join his friends and burn his draft card. So that made “Where Do I Go” even more heartbreaking.

I always cry from the moment he sings “where”, but tonight I set a new record for myself, with tears streaming down my face from the moment the music changed leading into the song. That song/scene was simply stirring – tonight was the first night I felt the impetus for why the Tribe strips off their clothes. And of course, I was still crying at intermission.

To be quite honest, the second act feels like a blur. That’s when I really started forgetting that I was watching HAIR, and felt more like I was there at the Be-In, experiencing things with the Tribe. I’m still amazed at how they made that connection even with an audience member in the very last row.

I will specifically mention a couple of songs though:
First, Walking In Space, because it’s my 2nd favorite song in the show, and a review wouldn’t be complete without it. So really, this is just a shoutout to the song because I love it. Also, Three-Five-Zero-Zero, because I once again lost it during this song. The image of them standing across the front of the stage, pleading in their characters’ different ways for their message to be heard, was something so heartwrenching. And then it leads into “What a Piece of Work Is Man,” and there was no turning back for me as far as crying went. That’s the moment when Claude becomes cynical about the life that he’s got, and that might be the most heartwrenching moment of all. Yep, tearing up just thinking about it again.

From that moment out it was tears and fantastic singing. Gavin’s Flesh Failures never fails to impress, and the quartet of ladies singing the beginning of Let the Sunshine In is so fierce. Everyone was crying to some degree as their voices faded out, whether it be shaking in silent sobs (guilty) or soft sniffles.

I think the people next to me thought I was extremely rude for squeezing to the end of the row during curtain calls, but I didn’t care. I had to be on that stage dancing at the end of this fantastic opening night. Right as I came up onto the stage, Nicole gave me a big hug and we danced together for a little while, then I danced with Jay for a bit. But mostly I just held my hands up in the air and closed my eyes and basked in the amazing moment. There was so much joy on that stage, with people lingering far after the music ended. I was quite reluctant to leave and head home, but I did with joy because I knew that something as beautiful as HAIR was on Broadway and that I will be able to come back and experience that again.

Thought it probably won’t ever be quite the same as it felt for opening night.

A Whole Haggle of Hippi

This past week was hellish, though it was marked by a few bright spots. I don't want to talk about the negative things, so I'll just mention the good stuff.

For one thing, Gossip Girl came back! (Love Blair and Nate together, by the way, so haters to the left.) Then, I finally won the HAIR lotto, which was fantastic. Katie Couric was at the show that night, by the way. Then on Friday, which was the worst day of all, my friends helped make it better with an outing to Blockheads for our favorite drinks - the Bulldog. And that night I saw the first preview of Next to Normal with the fierce Alice Ripley and the hot-hottie Aaron Tveit.

Saturday was shopping with Kennedy and Duncan down in SoHo & Nolita. It was my "hippie themed" day, though lately every day is, to be quite honest. I got a fun bag from Tibet, a bright happy sundress, a funky ring and some patchouli/nag champa scented body wash. Nothing says "let the sun shine in" like that, right?

Speaking of my hippie-ness, I am about to bounce off the walls from excitement because TOMORROW NIGHT I'm going to the OPENING NIGHT performance of HAIR. The capitols in that were necessary, and don't scratch the surface of my excitement. I have the cutest outfit planned, by the way.

This blog post is horribly written, because I'm feeling like a tweeny-bopper from my excitement. Apologies, but at least it's better than nothing. I'll post more tomorrow and a full review of my sure-to-be-amazing experience later.

Peace!

The best part about my job...

... are my friends at work.

When I'm having an incredibly awful, stressful day/week, they come get me and make me go to an actual sit down lunch and laugh about the ridiculous things we all say when we get together.

And they share sweet potato fries and chocolate milkshakes with me.

And typically every time we eat lunch all together, this comment is made, "This is the weirdest lunch conversation I've ever had."

Love those girls.

Let the countdown begin!

It is officially one month until my Golden Birthday.
Get excited!

Anyone know how to do an HTML countdown clock that I can put on here?

Beads. Flowers. Freedom. Happiness.

I don't even know where to start to describe this weekend. Oh, here's an idea for this post's structure: I'll tell you what I did after losing the Hair lotto each day, since I tried 6 times this weekend (since Thursday) to no avail. 

After trying and losing on Thursday, a friend and I gave it a go at the Rock of Ages ticket lottery, where we both won!  The show is cheesy, campy and filled with '80s rock - plus you can drink Coors Light in your seat during the show. Sounds like a good time in the making, and it was. I'm actually still finding silver confetti in my jacket from sitting under the machine. 

After trying and losing on Friday, I went to the Rock of Ages lotto again, this time to try for a friend. I don't know why I'm so lucky there and not at Hair, but I won tickets for her as well. Then, after a yummy sushi dinner, we decided to check out the cast listing board at Billy Elliot to see who was going on for Billy. I had seen every one of the young (and phenomenally talented) actors except for Tommy Batchelor. And what luck, because he was on that night! Unfortunately, it was sold out - but I lucked out again, because there was a last minute cancellation and I ended up in seat C105. (That's a really great seat, by the way.) I absolutely loved Tommy's performance. He comes across a lot like the Billy of the movie. 

After trying and losing for the Saturday matinee, I decided to check out student rush seats for a play I had heard a lot about called Exit the King. This stars Susan Sarandon, Geoffrey Rush and Lauren Ambrose. My super-cheap seat was front row center; the girls next to me and I were afraid a couple of times that we were going to end up with a king in our laps - we were that close. I really wanted to take a picture with Lauren, since through the years I've gotten comments that I look like her, but because of makeup the didn't come out between the matinee and evening performance. Sad day.

Then, as I headed back to 45th to try for Saturday evening at Hair, I realized I was just in time for the ending of the Billy Elliot matinee. I have been trying to get my fancy souvenir program signed by all of the Billys, but I was still missing David's autograph. I happened to have it with me on Saturday, and he had just so happened to go on for the matinee, so now my program is complete! 

After losing on Saturday night, I took a night off from the theatre (which my checkbook appreciated, I'm sure). That night included shopping on 5th Avenue - trying on dozens of headbands at Bendel's and ogling dozens of shoes at Saks - and seeing the film Sunshine Cleaning. Nothing too exciting there, except that on my way home I passed Eric Mabius with his wife, Ivy Sherman, on 8th Avenue! (He plays Daniel Meade on Ugly Betty, in case you were trying to think of who that is.)

After losing for the Sunday matinee, I also tried and lost the In the Heights lottery. Then I spent the day hanging out in bookstores and coffee shops killing time for the evening lottery, because A) I am stubborn and determined to win and B) If I went home, I'd just sit around being lazy all day anyway. 

So, at the Sunday evening lottery for Hair, I was determined to win, since it was my last chance this weekend. While waiting for the drawing, I see a familiar face come in and put his name in the bucket as well - none other than Jonathan Groff, who played the original Melchior in Spring Awakening, and the role of Claude in Hair at Central Park this summer (that's the production that transferred to Broadway). As luck would have it, Jonathan's friend was the first name called, and mine was never called. 

After the drawing was over and their tickets were bought, I decided to talk to Jonathan. He is truly one of the nicest, most gracious people I have ever met. I thanked him for sharing his amazing talents and told him I am looking forward to seeing what he does next. He asked my name and we chatted a bit; he even told me that, "If my name had been drawn, too, I would have given you my ticket." What a sweetheart. 

I then decided that I really needed to see that particular performance of Hair. I knew of a discount code, so I called in to see what kind of ticket I could get. When the woman told me seat A113 was available for half-off, I sort of freaked out. Of course I bought it. For those of you who don't know, Hair is the kind of show where the actors really interact with the audience. That particular seat is on the far left of the front row of the center section, aka right next to where the actors come on and off stage. When Berger took off his pants after the first song, he handed them to me to hold onto for a while. When Claude came passing out Be-In flyers and flowers, I got a flyer and two daffodils. I was also kissed 3 times, had my hair tousled several times and was hugged. Oh, not to mention being pulled up onstage to dance with the cast and other audience members when "Let the Sunshine In" was reprised after the curtain call. I might call that the perfect ending to a fantastic weekend. I was vibrating with excitement from the moment I sat down, and I'm still beaming hours after the show ended. 

Throughout all that, I also ran into a ton of OU students who were in town for Spring Break, and it was really fun to get to chat with them. How crazy that in a "city of strangers" as Sondheim would say, that I spotted a few familiar faces in the crowds on more than one occasion. I also made some new familiar faces out of the other regulars at the Hair lotto. Pretty sure I'm going to be biffles with the guy who runs it before I finally win. He's fun, so I'm okay with that. I just find it so interesting how my unlucky weekend at the Hair lotto turned into a lucky weekend in so many other ways.

I'll leave you with some of my favorite lyrics from the show:

"Walking in space, we find the purpose of peace, the beauty of life you can no longer hide. Our eyes are open, our eyes are open. Our eyes are open, our eyes are open."

P.S. Some of my pictures are already posted on Facebook, so check those out. And there are more to come. 

Very funny, NYC.

It's the first day of spring, and I had high hopes all week of busting out sundresses and sandals.

Too bad, because when I woke up this morning, I was greeted by fluttering snowflakes outside my window.

NYC weather, you are officially on notice. Get your act together, now.

It lived up to the hype.

When I last left you, I was on pins and needles waiting for the weekend. Well, it measured up to the hype.

As you might have gathered by now, I'm a little obsessed with Broadway shows. Similarly, you might have noticed that I'm becoming addicted to Billy Elliot. I had been keeping up with the rotation of who played Billy which night because I really wanted to see my favorite actor in the role again. (By the way, none of you even attempted to guess which was my favorite when I posed that question, so I'll just tell you: It's Kiril. The blonde one.)

So, Kiril was on Friday night and I got myself a ticket and went. Yay payday! He was just as fabulous as I expected him to be, and his "Electricity" was phenomenal as ever. Something funny I noticed was that Kiril really likes to milk the occassions when Billy curses on stage. For example, there's one line where Billy usually says, "I nah, I nah (that's "know" in a Geordie accent), bloody hell." However, on Friday, Kiril said, "I nah, I nah, for f*ck's sake." Of course, his second line in the entire show begins with that pleasant little word, so it wasn't a shock to hear, though it did kind of make me giggle that I noticed it.

Last note on Billy... I kind of adore Matthew Mindler, the 7-year-old who plays the role of (I kid you not) "Small Boy" in the show. He wants to sign everyone's Playbill, though he obviously has just learned to write his name. And even though it made me feel like a 12-year-old, I got a picture with Kiril at the stage door. I'm a dork, but I'm okay with it.

Then Saturday, I began a massive project I had been planning: spring cleaning. I literally took every item I owned out of my room besides my bed and my shoes. By the time I got everything but the bed out, there was no room anywhere else in the apartment to move the bed anyway. And like I would really get rid of any of my fabulous shoes? I scrubbed the place down and was very picky about what made it back in. My decor got downsized and I rearranged furniture, so it also looks a little different too. The best part, however, is that my closet has so much more room in it now. The biggest space adjustment for me in NYC has been the battle with closet space, so every tiny victory is worth celebrating.

All in all, I was at it from about noon until 5 a.m. on Sunday, so it was quite a day. Now, I should clarify that I am prone to distractions like Facebook and The Girls Next Door on E!, so it wasn't like it took 17 consecutive hours. I'm so glad I got this project completed before spring officially begins on the 20th!

Then, after going to bed so late on Saturday night/Sunday morning, I was actually up-and-at-'em suprisingly early on Sunday. I wanted to finish up a few errands before heading downtown for the event I had been so highly anticipating for weeks. Right before I hopped on the train heading downtown a little earlier than really necessary, my friend from NJ texted me saying he was killing time in Manhattan and wanted to know if I'd like to hang out. Unfortunately, I didn't make it in time because I got distracted listening to a certain Matt Doyle singing on my iPhone and got on the wrong train. Can I just tell you that makes twice in one week I've carelessly ended up in Queens because of a train mistake? Lame.

Oh, so you wanted to know what the highly anticipated event was? HAIR on Broadway. I am such a hippie at heart, and I simply ADORE the music from the show, but I had yet to see a production. I was especially excited to be going with a fun group of people from Student Media at OU. They were in town for the CMA conference (still are, technically), and my former adviser knows about my love of theatre and invited me to come along. I even had a surprise friend there, Lizzy from Phi Lamb, who I didn't know was coming on the trip!

I could gush about how much I loved HAIR for pages and pages, but you still wouldn't get the full feeling of how fantastic this show is. Sure, it really doesn't have much of a plot, and maybe some of the themes are a little controversial for the blue-hair crowd, but I had the time of my life seeing it. And, I might have mentioned that I have a ticket to the Opening Night performance, so now I can't wait for March 31. Our entire group was just enthralled by the performance, and a highlight was definitely Will Swenson walking across our aisle on the backs of the seats, and pausing in the middle of the song to ask me, "How are you doing tonight?"

We hung out afterwards at the stage door to meet all of the cast. Again, could devote pages to their talent and how fun/kind they are, but I won't. After I get my latest pictures uploaded, I'll share some with you - especially the super cute one of Gavin Creel and me. Seriously, I might have to crop him out of it and use it as my Facebook profile pic. Just sayin'. Then it was time for a late dinner at a cute little Hell's Kitchen diner, complete with flirty NYPD officers at the next table. All the Student Media girls were crushing.

So, that's how my weekend lived up to the hype provided by a dorky dancing Brad Pitt gif.

Sidenotes: Monday wasn't too shabby either. I ended up meeting up with the friend I missed because of the Doyle-subway-distraction event and we watched the EPIC new Gossip Girl. And today was St. Patrick's Day, which I LOVE! I even got to catch a quick glimpse of the parade, and I had a cupcake from my fav bakery with Shamrock sprinkles. Oh, and I've had two job interviews so far this week. (Like how I snuck that one in there?) As always, I promise more updates on my life sooner rather than later, but for now I'm actually feeling quite under the weather and am determined to be in bed before midnight.

Slainte and good night!

ETA: I always forget to tag my posts and have to go back in and edit them.

Let me express my feelings with a picture:

This will be me in 30 minutes.



I have never been so ready for 6:00 p.m. on a Friday.

Viva la weekend!

Rules for Living: Vol. 3

Today's rule for living is simple: sometimes you need to CELEBRATE!

I don't care if you're celebrating winning the lottery or a good hair day, it's important to applaud yourself every once in a while and treat yourself to some extra fun.

Tonight, we're celebrating the birth of one of my good friends up here by (gasp!) going out on a weeknight for dinner and drinks.

Tomorrow, I'm celebrating payday by... well, I haven't exactly decided yet. But it might involve a movie theater, or just crashing on the couch. (Hey, a night in can count as a celebration, too!)

Saturday, I'm celebrating the coming of spring (spring's awakening...anyone?) by doing a thorough reorganization and clearing out of my closet. Bring in the skirts and sandals, please!

Sunday, I'm celebrating friends from Oklahoma being in NYC by going to see HAIR with them. (And I'm celebrating seeing hair by wearing a cute new outfit I got while visiting home.)

Monday, I'm celebrating the return of Gossip Girl by... well, watching it? Okay, so this one is kind of lame.

Tuesday, I plan to celebrate my Irish heritage on St. Patrick's Day by wearing green, using my fake accent and drinking a beer, but not a Guinness.

Okay, so maybe every once in a while is more like every single day. But wouldn't you rather celebrate something every day than waiting around for a big swirly special occasion?

Quick update

My next week in a nutshell:
Tuesday - Last day of vacation at home, then fly back to NY in the evening.
Wednesday - Back to work with an overflowing inbox, then to my Performance Techniques Workshop.
Thursday - Working, working, then Flavia's birthday dinner.
Friday - Work, payday (!!) and - gasp - a free evening!
Saturday - Hopefully a spring cleaning of my closet, and then a birthday party.
Sunday - HAIR!!!!!!
Monday - Work, and Gossip Girl returns.

On the bandwagon

I've jumped onto the bandwagon, y'all. I'm now sucked into Twitter. I have been registered for a while, but was a very lousy updater (worse than this blog, if you believe that). So now, I'm trying to build my list of people to follow.

So if you are on Twitter, comment and let me know your username so I can follow your tweets!

And feel free to follow me:
http://twitter.com/sooneremily

Sleep is overrated.

I haven't been to bed before 3 a.m. all week (Or, at least asleep. I'm currently sitting in bed right now, but wide awake.) Maybe it's because with the strange work agenda of the week coupled with the weird lazy weekend and my excitement about this coming weekend my internal clock is all screwy.

So it leaves me lots of time to goof around on the internet. Or read magazines. Or pack my bags, because tomorrow after work I am going to spend a few days in Tennessee, and I'm quite excited for the little mini-vacay!

Katie, if you're reading this, prepare yourself to be dragged to the movie theater. (I've already checked the listings and have three movies in mind, but I'm not announcing them on this blog because I probably already sound dorky enough, thankyouverymuch.) I'm also looking forward to the much needed haircut. Any style suggestions?

And of course there will be lots of homecooked meals, playing with the puppy, QT with the fam, and time at the piano. Plus, maybe I'll get all of the pictures uploaded that are long overdue. (Come to think of it, maybe I could have been doing that during these sleepless nights?) But what I'm most excited about is 5 days without my work computer or Outlook, and not a bit of a guilty conscience about it.

The next time I post, I will be mid-vacation bliss. Oh I just can't wait.

Welcome to my weekend.

I love a good lazy Sunday. Actually, I've had quite the lazy weekend, though I'd like to think it was pretty productive as well.

Though Andy Samberg might think that Mr. Pibb + Red Vines = crazy delicious, my favorite combination is Pretzels + White-Chocolate-Cherry Dip from the Biltmore. And instead of watching the Chronicles of Narnia, I've been filling my entertainment quota with an America's Next Top Model marathon.

Plus, I'm now watching the movie Billy Elliot for the second time this weekend. You know how I am, I get on these kicks where I want to watch/listen to/sing/etc. the same thing over and over again. And I certainly do love Billy Elliot. The musical might just be my favorite thing on Broadway right now.

If you haven't heard me gush about how talented these kids are, then consider yourself lucky, because I could go on and on. Plus, they're just adorable. There are 3 original boys who play Billy on Broadway - Trent Kowalik, Kiril Kulish and David Alvarez. Brownie points to anyone who can guess my favorite!


Also, I've been working on a couple of new projects. I've been getting involved with a theater organization here by volunteering my time with a mailing project and with some graphic design work. The event is called the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and it's basically pretty awesome. You should check it out!

I've also spent a significant amount of time this weekend downloading new musical recordings. (If you know what I mean... Megan.) Gotta love it, but I'm probably going to need more space to save things on my computer if I keep things up at this rate.

That's my update for now. This week is certain to be crazy at work, similar to the end of last week (consider this my feeble attempt at an apology for the delayed posting once again), so there's a good chance that my next update will be coming from Tennessee! I am excited to get to visit some of my family next weekend during my sister's spring break.

Until next time, hope you're enjoying a lazy Sunday, or at least having a good one.