Winter Wrap-Up

Sat dec. 5th was the first snow of the year. Sally, Nick, Kelly and I all wanted to go ice skating at The Pond in Bryant Park. As we made our way over to 40th, we discovered that snow wasn't really sticking which made the precipitation pretty slushy. Unfortunately, these conditions are unfit for ice skating. The attendant told us we could skate at our own risk and should we fall, it would be like going swimming. We decided to save the ice skating for a nicer day. Instead we wandered around the shops and headed over to Rockefeller since Nick and Sally hadn't seen the tree yet. I was getting quite miserably soaked and cold, and frankly annoyed by how many time I was carelessly smacked with an umbrella! There were so many people, many of whom, could not maneuver through the streets of Manhattan let alone manage the common courtesy of lifting your umbrella when your practically about to decapitate someone with it!
Anyway, we made it home, soaking wet, but in one piece.
That wed. my dad arrived. He made sure to fit in all the sight seeing: Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, Central Park, Grand Central Station, etc. But I think the highlight came on sat. night. My friend, Fallon, who works at Saturday Night Live mentioned that if she had an extra pair of tickets to that week's taping she would call me. I hadn't heard from her by 9 pm, so I wrote it off. I was in my PJ's by 10:00. But at 10:30 I got a phone call from her informing me that if I could be at 30 Rock by 11, she had 2 tickets for me. Dad and I hoped in a cab and took what felt like the slowest cab ride in the history of the world. At 10:58 we were a couple blocks away and stuck in traffic. I figured it would be faster to run. I took off, and after asking a couple people where to go, got our tickets just in time at 11:02.
Oh, did I mention that this also happened to be the show that was hosted by TAYLOR LAUTNER??! And musical guest Bon Jovi! The show was awesome! I was so intrigued by how perfectly choreographed all the set changes were. As one skit was going on, another was being set up on the other side of the room. They have room to potentially set up 5 scenes at once. And all the computer images were synced perfectly. The show went seamlessly with out a glitch. It was easy to forget the show was being taped live. The audience wasn't that big and it felt so intimate like the performers were putting on a show exclusively for us.
Anyway, on to my last week at BRS. I'm going to miss them, but I'm ready to focus my energy on my career and auditioning. Mom's coming next week and it might be a little hectic with finding a day job and trying to move, but the new year will be a whole new beginning for me, and I can't wait to find out what it has in store.
Also, on one last note, I would like to mention an aspect that has come full circle in the Fall '09 NYAP. Nick, Amy and I went to see Kevin and Sally's show at EST last night, and come to find out, it was written by an actor who was in Race Music, the first show we saw as a group together. Granted this show was loads better than Race Music (“The nicest thing I can say about the show was that if this is considered Off-Broadway Theatre then I should have no problem finding a job.”) Anyway, regardless of the show's content or quality, I thought it was a funny little button on the end of the semester.

It's Starting to Feel A Lot Like Christmas

I saw this casting notice for an audition for Proof by David Auburn, which is one of my favorite shows, but it was up in the Bronx, so I was kind of leerie about going. Mostly because the Bronx is unexplored territory and it was at 7:30 pm, but I forced myself to suck it up and go. An hour subway ride later, I get off and start heading towards the address I had written down. It's sort of a main street, lots of cars and shops, kind of janky, but there seemed to be lots of families and people going about business as usual so I felt pretty safe. I headed towards the address, and I arrived at a cemetery. There was a little stone building a little ways off the road, and I could see they had an advertisement for Proof. I figured I was in the right place, although it seemed really weird. I had given myself extra time in case I got lost, so I was the only one there. I thought, "Great, not only am I in the Bronx, I'm in a cemetery!! Beginning of a bad horror story??" I didn't want to sit in the dark graveyard and wait, so I took refugee in the Dunkin' Doughnuts across the street. I figured I'd wait until 7 before giving up and heading home. About 20 minutes later four or five other actors showed up so I waited with them. Once the auditions got going, it was fine. It's a legit little community theatre, and they seem like really nice people. Unfortunatly, their venue happens to be in a cemetery...
I also saw A Starry Messenger with Matthew Brodderick, which was very good. I had my doubts but it exceeded my expectations.
Thanksgiving was very festive, Whole Foods catered, so it was very delicious. Black Friday I bought a new camera. Mine died after my trip to Vegas, and although it probably only needed a new battery, what's the fun in that? Besides, it came with a free printer! Anyway, I headed down to the Rockafeller Plaza, Bryant Park and Chelsea Market to test it out. These are the products, enjoy!

The Empire State Building gets different colored lights for different events and holidays. I thought the Thanksgiving colors were especially beautiful

Chelsea Market is home of many gourmet and specialty shops, like this bakery:

The Tree and ice skating rink at Rockafeller Center

My picture doesn't do justice to the 500 pounds Swarovski Crystal star, so, here's a close up
Granted, Fergie isn't the tallest, but the star is still ridiculous