Back to reality, barely.

I made it back to NYC after a lovely little break in Tennessee and Texas. The holidays were nice, if uneventful. Actually, I think they were nice because they were uneventful. Mine were comprised mostly of hangtime with the family, playing with puppies, playing the piano and watching a lot of movies.

Then it was back to the city and "real life", if you can call it that. I've already caught up with most of my lovelies here in a span of 2 days, so you could call that a success. I also consider it a success that I was able to introduce Emma to the joy of Will & Grace. Seriously, she'd never seen it. Ridiculous, I know.

Somehow in that span of two days, I've also managed to hit up several of my favorite eateries, at least the ones in my neighborhood. Just FYI, ice cream shouldn't crunch - Five Napkin seems to have issues with their desserts, but we always come back. And it was a small joy that the barista at Amy's Bread remembered how I take my tea. Sure, it was only a matter of weeks since I'd been there, but considering how frequently I'm usually there, I considered it a success.

Yesterday was also a sad day - the final performance of Aaron Tveit (and therefore the OBC) in next to normal. Louise and I went, sitting in excellent seats I was able to get thanks to a tip from Adam, and cried our little eyes out.

I'd write a mini review, but most of you haven't seen it and wouldn't really be interested in the details, so I'll just say that it was an incredible show, though also incredibly sad, but I'm quite glad I was able to be there.

Now it's back to work. Joy.

Equal rights! Right now!

This past Sunday in NYC, there was a big rally for marriage equality organized by Broadway Impact. I had the good fortune to get involved with this group a few months ago, and I volunteered to help out with the rally. This truly is the great civil rights fight of our generation, and I was thrilled to get to be a part of a day that turned out to be so amazing.



As you may have seen all over my Facebook, we've been promoting this pretty hard for the past couple of weeks, but when Sunday came it was time for the final push. My first duty as a volunteer was to pass out flyers the morning of the event, which I did for about 5 hours. I was assigned to the Theater District because I'm loud, not shy, and not afraid to engage people - not to mention the extensive flyering/handbill passing out experience I got in college. Thank you, CAC. I think I talked to around 300 people about marriage equality and the rally. It was so encouraging and exciting for so many people to engage and be so supportive of our cause.

I also volunteered to be a marshall at the rally itself. My friends Louise, Alexa and I were assigned to the 45th Street block, and then I got pulled to do crowd control at the southwest corner of 45th and 6th, aka where every speaker/performer entered. It was also the busiest place where people coming to the rally were entering, so there was a lot of excitement. It was definitely not a glamorous job though, mostly consisting of crowd control - keeping people moving along the sidewalks and making sure the rally stayed peaceful and that the "pens" in the streets didn't get too crowded.

Many notable people were at the rally, including Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg, among other speakers. There were also live performances from fantastic Broadway performers like the cast of HAIR, Cheyenne Jackson and Audra McDonald. Seeing the HAIR cast march down 45th was moving, and speaking to them as they left after the performance was wonderful. I love how tuned in and turned on they actually are. The entire experience was truly touching. I only got to catch snippets of speeches in between directing traffic and answering questions, but all of the people there were so inspirational.

After the rally, I scored a great seat on the right aisle of the orchestra for HAIR. I mean, come on, I had to be there. So I went, still decked in my Broadway Impact shirt and bright orange armband. It was beautiful, amazing, fantastic, everything else I can't imagine to say to describe the feeling. I cried a bit during "I Got Life" and was moved during "I Believe In Love." Oh, and random but awesome - Bryce RIFFED THE SHIZ out of his note in "3-5-0-0." It was phenomenal - as in, I spontaneously burst into tears because of HIS SINGING. And at the end, dancing on stage was even more exciting than usual just because there was so much joy.

We had a great time at the stage door, and the moment Gavin (who is one of the founders of Broadway Impact; I don't think I've mentioned that) came out, saw all of us supporters there and threw his arms up victoriously was just a culmination of the way today felt. Hugs and love were all around, and we all couldn't help but grin and be exuberant at being a part of history. As Gavin says, "It's going to happen, because we're right." As a side note, as we were standing there all talking, we heard the news that HAIR won the Drama Desk Award for Best Revival of a Musical, which was thoroughly exciting.

There are not enough words to describe how wonderful the day was, but there's my feeble attempt. Now it's time for everyone to start calling their Senator and urging him/her to vote for the marriage equality bill. We have until June 20 to get this passed, and I know we can do it.

Oh, and I thought it would be cool to include some press coverage of the rally, too.
A video from broadway.tv
A story from Democratic Underground
Photos of the rally from Playbill.com
Photos of the rally from BroadwayWorld.com

For more info on getting involved, visit the Broadway Impact Web site.

How about a countdown?

• 11 days until my bestie Brin gets to the city.
• 24 days until yet another bestie, Kely, arrives.
• 26 days until the Tony Awards.
• 34 days until my conference in Houston (yay Texas).
• 36 days until I see my dad in Paris.

So exciting!

I promise I'm not dead.

I've been really terrible at updating, and I apologize. However, I think it's going to be a trend here for a little bit - my lack of posting, that is. There's just too much going on. 

Right now, I'm sort of busy at work, wrapping up everything from the 09 campaign and shifting into 2010 mode. I will be on a new team with new portfolio starting June 1st, and I'm really excited because I will get to recruit at OU! So all of you Sooners be prepared. ;)

Also, as spring has sprung and summer's on its way, a lot more time is being spent outside on patios rather than with my computer. Sorry, but I think you understand, right?

Big exciting news, though! The Tony Awards are exactly a month away, and I will be there! I'm especially excited to go because there are so many shows that I adore that are nominated (8 for HAIR, 11 for next to normal, 15 for Billy Elliot!). Kely's coming in for that weekend, and we have tickets to the awards ceremony. We'll also be at the first performance of HAIR after the awards. And I have to take him to see next to normal while he's in town.

But prior to that, my dear friend Erin is coming to visit, and I'm so excited to see her.

And then in June I have a work conference in Houston that I'm extending into a visit to Paris to see my family. 

And somewhere in all of that mess, my friend Brian and I are moving in together (whether we're moving to a new place or staying in my current apartment is yet to be decided). 

So, as you can see, I'm quite a busy bee. And though this post is far from poetic or insightful, hopefully it will tide you over until I have time to think of something more interesting to say.

Peace and love!

The sun is shining, it's a lovely day...

The beauty of my job is its flexibility. I always have a ton to do, and generally work pretty long hours, but there are some nice perks. For one, I can take a little bit longer of a lunch break than usual, if I put in the extra time to get things done later in the day.

And that was absolutely necessary on a day like today. The weather is gorgeous and it feels like the city's finally waking up to spring. At lunchtime, I ventured over to Central Park to soak in some sunshine. I also got to watch a bit of softball with the Broadway Show League. My favorites from HAIR were playing 9 to 5, along with matchups pitting the casts of shows against one another in a little friendly ballgame.

Coincidentally, it's also the first game in the new Yankee Stadium today. I missed out on that one, but I'll be at a Yankees game soon, I assure you.

Nothing like watching softball in the sunshine Central Park on your lunch break to pep up the day. And shout-out to Tommar and Jay for being ballers.

Dig it, people. It was about time to let the sun shine in, for real.

And this weekend is supposed to be gorgeous, too!

I can't believe I forgot to tell you this!

Guess who I met on Tuesday night? Go on, guess.

Ok, clearly you can already tell since there's a picture right here, but I'm excited to tell you that it was THIS GUY:

My friend and I won HAIR lotto because we wanted to see Jay go on for the Tribe (with the surprise bonus of Paris as Woof!), so we were in the right box. During one song, Tribe members pull people from the audience to dance with them in the aisles. I looked down and said to Mandee, "That guy dancing with Jackie looks just like Tom Hanks." To which she replied, "That's because it is Tom Hanks."

He didn't go dance on stage at the end, sadly. However, I did, of course, and Caissie pulled me up to the front to dance/sing with her for the Let the Sun Shine encore, and there was Tom dancing and smiling and sharing the loVe from his seat.

Afterwards, we were waiting at the stage door to congratulate Jay and Paris and chat with the cast, when who comes out first but Mr. Hanks himself. He didn't hang around for long, but he did stop to tell us all that he enjoyed the show. I complemented his dance moves, which he just kind of laughed at and said, "Thanks." Then some rando shouted "Bosom Buddies!" to which he replied, "Yeah... I was in that." And then he got into his car and away he went.

The cast was all star-struck when they came out. I think my favorite was John announcing that he must be infinitely more talented now that Tom Hanks had touched him. Ain't that the truth? ;)

In brief...

I don't have the energy for an update in prose, so we'll resort to the bullet-point format:

• I found out for certain that I will be returning to TFA next year on the recruitment team.
• I'll be working with schools in Dallas and Louisiana (most likely, it's about 90% set).
• Hooray for Iowa for embracing equality.
• Great quote of Friday: "You can get married in Iowa now, but just not to him."
• This guy has a great voice. And he's not hard to look at, either.
• No matter how many times I say that I need to get some rest, I can't make myself go to sleep before 1 a.m.
  
• I made new theatre-loving friends this weekend, which is always fun.
• Apparently, singing "Oh Great God of Lotto" works.
  
• I saw Josh and Chasten make their Broadway debuts!
• This girl is still my favorite ever.
• Our inappropriate lunch-bunch had an inappropriate brunch instead. No wonder they put us in the back room by ourselves.
  
• Free mimosas are wonderful.
• Justin went back to the land of cheese and it makes me sad!
• Only 17 days until my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY!
  

Life is around you and in you.

Since I was too wrapped up in dancing onstage to get my camera out during the dance party at the end, I'll let BroadwayWorld.com's photo coverage show you what the scene was like.

Down to the gutter, up to the glitter

Oh, and just so you don't miss it, my BroadwayWorld.com debut:
























I feel like the title of this blog post, a lyric from The Flesh Failures/Let the Sunshine In (which ends the show) perfectly describes this image.

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. 

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.

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.

Apparently, I'm now in love with several things...

I have turned into a terrible blogger. I keep saying that I will do better if I blog in little bursts, just covering one quick topic, but then I get lazy or forget and have too many things to talk about. This happens so frequently that big things don't even get mentioned. I'm going to try to catch everyone up.

So, I'm chilling in a hotel in Newark, watching the Oscars (which I'm really unimpressed by). I am here for a work conference, celebrating the end of the application deadlines, gearing up for spring campaigns and brainstorming for next season. It's always fun to bring the RT together, because boy, do we know how to have fun! Let's just say it's a good thing the conference doesn't officially start until 1 p.m. tomorrow.

The past couple of weeks have been transitional at work, switching from crazy finish-the-season-strong mode to admissions focus (i.e. applications and interviews). And it's time to start seriously thinking about next year. Don't worry, once something worth mentioning is in the works more definitely, you'll be updated.

Look at me, breaking one of my favorite rules: Not talking about work on the weekend.

So instead, let's transition to my favorite topic: Fun in the city. I've been having plenty of that. Yesterday I finally ate at the famous Stage Deli, and though I was skeptical, it definitely lived up to the hype. They had the most amazing potato salad I've ever eaten. Yeah, I just used the word "amazing" to describe potato salad. That means it must have been pretty dang good.

Also, my friend and I attended a makeup workshop at Henri Bendel, hosted by Trish McEvoy reps. I'm in love with Trish makeup now, by the way. If you are looking for something to buy me, that's always a good idea.

Hmm, what else? What about the places to eat and drink? Mostly we've been hitting up our regular haunts - like Silk Road, Rudy's, etc. But I would like to point out the fact that I have found the best cupcake in NYC. No, it's not Magnolia (overrated), or Crumbs (overfrosted), or any other chain. There's only one of these places in the world, and it's down the street from my apartment. If you haven't tried Two Little Red Hens Bakery, you absolutely must. I insist. I even brought my RD a cupcake from there as a gift because I had to share the joy that they bring.

Finally, what recap of my life would be complete without mentioning the Great White Way? There's so much to talk about (as always)! For Valentine's Day, I (along with everyone else in the city) went to see a show. I chose Billy Elliot, and that was a good and bad idea. Good because it was seriously incredible. Bad because I'm in love with it and want to see it a dozen times now. And of course, I need to see all of the actors who play Billy! (Kiril's my favorite, right now.)

Also, my friend and I have been attempting all week to win the Wicked lottery. If you're not familiar, Broadway lotteries are systems that allow people to get great seats for cheap, if you're lucky. Basically, you go to the theater two hours before the performance, put your name in a hat, and if it's drawn you get up to two tickets for about $25. We tried a couple of times this week, but to no luck. However, I was determined to win, so we went again yesterday. (Honestly, it was more about trying my luck and wanting to win than having a great desire to see the show at this point.) As luck would have it, I had luck that day, and I won! We sat on the 2nd row and had a blast. I'm now in love with Aaron Tveit, who played Fiyero. That's awesome because he'll soon be in Next To Normal, opening soon on Broadway.

So that's what's going on right now. Hopefully there are plenty more fun and exciting things to be happening in the near future. I can't believe it's already nearly March, but no wonder time flies when I'm having so much fun.

P.S. I watched several episodes of Gossip Girl on DVD this weekend, and now I really want to run into Ed Westwick in the city more than ever. Someone out there, make this happen please?

Broadway baby

I think I forgot to fill you all in on this one. I have recently enrolled in a musical theater class here in the city. On Wednesday nights, I head down to 24th Street for my Performance Techniques Workshop to sing my little heart out. So far, I have gone three times and I'm really enjoying it. Any outlet to sing is welcomed with open arms by this girl, of course.

Deciding to enroll kind of happened on a whim -- my friend was trying to convince me to take acting classes with her, but I thought that if I was going to take any classes, I wanted them to be specific to vocal performance. So, I found this class instead. It's basically set up like a master class setting; we bring in songs and perform, then get feedback from our classmates and the instructor, and work through moments.

It's a small class - the most we've had in attendance was 7, and we get a lot of opportunities to perform and work on our songs. What I really enjoy is how performance focused it is. Pretty much all of the classes I have taken in my life have been focused on the vocal technique. Now, I'm not denying the importance of that, nor am I claiming to need no instruction in that area. But it feels good to flex a bit of a different muscle, you know?

Along with flexing different muscles in terms of acting/singing, I am also trying to branch out of my musical style box. I choose a lot of contemporary musical theater stuff - specifically, a ton of Jason Robert Brown songs. And it turns out that I should probably have some variety in my book. Who would have thought, right? So that's what I'm doing.

It's fun to get involved in the theater in this small way, to feel like I'm doing rather than just observing. Of course, it's simply a small step. I don't know what direction I'm headed in, exactly, though. Does this mean I'm looking for auditions? This class is about preparing songs for performance and audition, so I suppose perhaps I should.

When leaving the class one evening, I was walking in the same direction as my teacher, John. He asked me about my background, and was surprised when I told him I was PR major, not musical theater. He said, "So, you moved to New York to do the singer/actor thing..." And, really, the answer is no. That's not the reason why I moved to New York. But John wasn't convinced when I told him so. "Don't be afraid to say it," he said. My response: "Well, it really wasn't my plan to come here and try to do this. But, I suppose this could be a step in that direction."

Then he asked me if I had gotten an agent yet. Now, that's a funny thought, and definitely a step I'm not quite ready to take. Though you never know what's going to happen...

To end on a less vague statement, how about a quick anecdote from the class:
After each song is over, we go around and say something positive about that person's performance. My favorite comment that I have gotten? "Well, you sure can sing the shit out of anything. And this week, I made people cry. In a good way. I sang Still Hurting from The Last Five Years.

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Apologies for the sub-par level of writing in this post. It's 6:30 on a Friday and I'm sitting in the office waiting for everyone's conference calls to end so we can go to happy hour at Blockheads. Viva la weekend!

Whispering, hear the ghosts in the moonlight.

Maybe it's because I'm a super fan of his.
Maybe it's because I blogged about the same thing just a day before.
Maybe it's because I went to the Duncan Sheik concert tonight.

But Matt Doyle's blog post definitely made me tear up a little.

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On a related note, the Duncan Sheik concert was what he called a "record release extravaganza party". He's been working on a new musical called Whisper House, and the new album is basically a polished demo version of the songs he has for it thus far. I'd never seen him in concert before and I must say, I love hearing him sing live. He also has something unexpectedly timid seeming about him when he's onstage, though not as a musician. Just something about the playful way he interacts with the audience, and ends songs with a simple, nearly whispered "Thank You." Oh, and the show is about ghosts. How poetic, that it all ties back in to the lyrics that make up this title. (They're from an SA song, if you didn't know.)

I met him afterwards, which was great because I missed out on that chance last Sunday after the final performance of Spring Awakening. He signed my copy of Whisper House and the Spring Awakening playbill I brought along.

I hope we get the chance to see more amazing things come from both of these very different, but also very talented men.

Across the boroughs

I have had the most utterly random day. Let me explain:

I woke up in Queens, where I had stayed the night before at my friend Jericho's place, along with another of our friends, Christa. This was my first outing to Queens, as a matter of fact.

Then we decided, after a lazy morning of Facebooking and Googling ourselves, that we should go to Ikea in Red Hook, Brooklyn. (That's where the Real World cast was for the current season, just as an aside.) I am proud to say that I only purchased one thing, a really adorable pillow for the couch. We also had the perfect cheap lunch at Ikea - $2.25 for a hot dog, chips and a drink. Not too shabby.

We had been discussing the fact that there are multiple Urban Outfitters in Manhattan, yet none in Brooklyn, which we thought was strange. In fact, that is false. I used trusty Google Maps on my phone to find out that there is an Urban on Atlantic. So we drove there, too. (Jericho has a car in the city - crazy, I know.) After that rendezvous turned out to be unfruitful because we couldn't find a parking spot, we decided to continue our adventure elsewhere.

Christa and Jericho wanted to go to Home Goods to find stuff they didn't get at Ikea, so off we went. This time our trek took us to Long Island - Port Washington to be exact. At Home Goods, I really wanted to buy a lot of random crap - including a wooden duck painted purple, with a little wooden tag hanging from its neck stating, "My name is Alice." It was so ugly it was cute, but not $14 worth of cute. So Alice the duck is still at Home Goods in Port Washington.

Then we were super classy and had dinner at Taco Bell, because we realized that there aren't many fast food places in the City, and that was an experience we felt was appropriate for our very random day. Then we returned to the various boroughs we call home (Queens for Jericho, Brooklyn for Christa, and Manhattan for me).

We decided that we need to have a Five Borough Weekend soon. I mean, we hit up three of them today, but could not come up with a good reason to venture into Staten Island (is there really ever a reason?) or the Bronx. I have a feeling an outing will be planned to accomplish this feat soon, however. We are good at themed outings.

For the rest of the evening, I am crashing on my couch. I think you might giggle if you saw what I was surrounded by. It's all very Emily. I'm wearing my Spring Awakening shirt with my PJs, and I just got through practicing a couple of songs from The Last Five Years for my vocal performance class. I've been flipping through my Broadway history book, and I'm about to watch the HBO recording of Angels in America.

Random and assorted, indeed. But I think it makes for a pretty solid Saturday.

100

I've been putting off posting because I didn't know what to do to make my 100th post awesome. It's a lot of pressure, you know? I had several ideas, all of which involved me coming up with 100 of something. And try as I might, I didn't have the patience or the interest in writing 100 facts, blah blah blah... and you wouldn't have wanted to read that either.

So, instead I decided to share with you some of my favorite time wasters - since you're already reading blogs online anyway. With no further ado, in honor of all that is my 100th post of awesomeness, here are my current favorite YouTube videos. Some are really old favorites, and others are newer loves. (And ok, so a few of them are Spring Awakening related...)



(This one might not make sense to you if you haven't actually seen Spring Awakening. In fact, it doesn't really make any sense even if you have.)



(Kyle Riabko is currently on tour with SA as Melchior. He's a strange kid, but funny! And a great singer.)



(Oh, come one. You really haven't seen this?)



(Blake played Ernst in SA. He also has a beautiful voice. This song is great, too bad the band isn't together anymore.)



(This is one of those classics. It reminds me of sitting on the couch with Ross at Phi Delt and watching YouTube videos for hours. Actually, this whole post reminds me of that.)



(Kayleigh introduced me to this video. "It's like she thinks she's the dictionary..." That part is my favorite. You should watch the sequel, too.)



(Combining the comedy of Leave Britney Alone and I Just Wanted To Make It Snow. Brilliant.)



(Erin and I fell in love with this little precious.)



(I wish there was someone who looked like Tedward working in my office.)



(Another really old one, but it never gets old. Though the song kind of has by now.)


There were many other classics that didn't get posted on here, but that's for another day. Maybe in another 100 posts?

Anyway, you're welcome. Now get back to work.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

I had seriously the best weekend ever. If I tried to sum it up in words, it would be all wrong for two reasons: 1) I would ramble on forever and you'd get bored, 2) It would still not accurately capture it. So, they say a picture is worth 1,000 words, so here's a more succinct version.

After work, some of the girls went out for dinner on the Upper West Side. This restaurant is great. Yummy Chinese food yes, but the best part is the free wine. Sure, it's just Franzia, but that makes it so much better.

During dinner, we decided to play the role of "douchey frat guys" and so what better place to go than "Bro-J's"? It's the land of boat shoes, croakies, pastel polos and '80s rock. Brings me back to South Greek days.

While wandering the UWS, we came to my favorite bakery, Crumbs. So Christa and I just had to have a cupcake. Those are some of my favorite NYC treats, and it had been way too long since I had eaten one!

Saturday, I slept in gloriously. I think I got 12 hours of sleep. Then I spent the day lounging about watching Season 2 of Dexter. Love that show SO much! Oh, and I nearly forgot to mention that it was snowing steadily all day, creating a beautiful backdrop to my lazy day from the window.

That night, Kayleigh and I braved the elements to go see a movie. While waiting in line at the 42nd St. theater, we saw the singer Adele. I was just saying how I felt like I was due for another celebrity sighting.

Though we initially intended to see Milk, we ended up going to Benjamin Button. I seriously loved this movie. The moment Brad Pitt comes on the screen on the motorcycle, I remembered exactly why he's always on the top sexiest men lists.

Sunday, I woke up relatively early and headed out for the day. At the suggestion of my mom, I paid a visit to Henri Bendel's, and I am beyond glad that I went out on that whim. They were having a massive sale - as in 80% off some things! I ended up getting several things that I would never have even considered buying before, at a total that would have been over $1,000 if I had payed original price. Luckily, I paid less for the grand total than one item would originally have cost. I have never experienced a sale that rewarding. Seriously.

And then, something that always makes a weekend great: I went to a Broadway show. And even better, when that show is Spring Awakening. I seriously cannot believe that it's closing next week, but it has been an amazing run.

Oh, and as if I was already having a phenomenal weekend, it just got better. Matt Doyle, who happens to be just my absolute favorite, was (to my pleasant surprise) playing the lead role this afternoon! I absolutely adore his voice and his portrayal of Melchior. I got a great discount ticket, which happened to be an amazing seat. The fifth row, on the left aisle! And of course, I stayed after at the stage door, and I got to chat with him for a couple of minutes. (This photo is from the last time I saw the show.)

And then I'm ending my weekend now, having just watched the Golden Globe awards. It reminded me of how many movies I still need to see from this year. Also, worth noting - the Old Hollywood look is back; everyone was so classy tonight!

And that's the way I like things: classy. I hope your weekend was even somewhat as amazing as mine, though I'm not sure if much else could compete with how great the weekend was for me.

An updated look

I did this a few months ago and thought it might be fun to take a look at the list again.

Shows I've Seen In the Past 6(ish) Months:
Spring Awakening (x3)
[title of show] (x2)
Hairspray
13 (x2)
College: The Musical
Aliens With Extraordinary Skills
The 39 Steps
Avenue Q
Boeing-Boeing
Altar Boyz
Gypsy
Legally Blonde
Tale of Two Cities
August: Osage County
Spamalot
All My Sons
Equus
Phantom of the Opera
Chicago
In the Heights
Wicked (The Yellow Brick Road Not Taken)
Forbidden Broadway Goes to Rehab

--- I hope I’m not forgetting anything…

Shows I Want to See in the Next 6(ish) Months:
Pal Joey
Billy Elliot
Hedda Gabler
Shrek
Cripple of Inishmaan
Guys and Dolls
West Side Story
Hair
Blithe Spirit
9 to 5
Waiting for Godot

I'm back.

Just so you know, I'm back in New York, after a wonderful vacation in Kingsport and Paris. Since I am sure to have more time to procrastinate and faster internet access now, expect more thorough posts. Here's a preview of what might be to come:

1. Rena and I are going to start working on a project. I might need your input.
2. Should I start doing a regular posting day, ala RubyTurtleHippie?
3. A review of 2008's shining moments
4. More videos, links and utter nonsense
5. The quest for that elusive 100th post.

For now, I'm actually getting back to work. But I must also mention that I am overjoyed because tonight Gossip Girl returns! I have been going into Chuck/Blair withdrawals. The rest of the week should be great, too. Tomorrow a coworker has a comedy show, Wednesday I'm going to see "In the Heights" and Thursday is the BCS National Championship game!

I hope you're all having a great Monday.

You watch me, just watch me...

Read this:
http://mattdoyleweb.blogspot.com/2008/12/last-night.html


Yeah, I was there. And I did the crazy fan-at-the-stagedoor thing. And I still love his voice more than anyone I've ever heard sing.