The Good, The Bad and the Ugly

Last Friday, I was invited by Chad (the junior agent in the office) to Ragtime, my favorite musical of all time. I graciously obliged with out hesitation (more like hyperventilated from excitement) and didn't realize I had double booked my Friday. The RA's were planning a Halloween party in the house complete with pumpkin carving, costume contest and "Doughnuts on a String." I was sad I would have to miss the festivities, but could you blame me? Front Mezz comp'ed, plus going backstage. I did my part in setting and cleaning up though (I baked 50+ cupcakes!) The show exceeded my expectations. I was afraid that since I loved the PCPA's production so much, that I would be disappointed by this one. But the score is hauntingly beautiful, and paired with a complex, precisely crafted script that it can't help but be great. There were major differences, but also some similarities, and neither were bad. New things stood out for me seeing it this time, and through out the show I would be reminded of happy memories of the last summer I spent in CA. So it was a joyous experience over all. I had goosebumps almost the entire show--and I wasn't cold! There was not one element that I didn't like (but as I said before, I am biased..so I can only hope the critics feel the same.)
After the show, Chad checked his phone and found he had been notified of Brighton Beach Memior's close that Sunday and the cancelation of it's sucessor, Broadway Bound . Chad was immensely disappointed as he had seen the show twice in previews and thought it was one of the best shows he'd ever seen. It just wasn't fair for Neil Simon's finely crafted play to close exactly one week after opening. Ironically, we happened to be sitting next to the casting director of the show, who shared Chad's grief and exclaimed she spent a year trying to cast the role of Eugene. I enjoyed reading the play, and heard good reviews, so I decided to make it a point to see it that weekend.
Saturday night was Halloween. There is a huge annual parade down in Greenwich that anyone could walk in. About 15 of us left the house and headed down. After a subway ride with Bruno, the characters from Mario Kart, a slew of creative costumes we found that just about the entire city of New York was walking in the parade. I wondered who was left to watch it.

Half of our group got recruited as puppeteers, and the rest of us waited in line for 2 hours the parade to start. Just as the parade was about to get going, it started raining. Due to traffic, our group got cut in half again, and I was left with Fallon, Lisa, Matt and Bryce.

After five or six blocks of walking in the pouring rain, we decided this wasn't as fun as intended and ducked out to regroup. And by "regroup" I mean, the boys ditched us. All that was left was Fallon, Lisa and me lost in Greenwich looking like drowned hookers, (because who isn't scantly clad on Halloween?)
By the time we found a subway station, we were already 3/4 of the way home, so we figured we'd just walk. In the meantime, I got a text saying the other half of the non-puppeteering group were meeting at Chelsea Square Restaurant. Fallon and I met them there and had a delicious meal. Every time I go there, I can't decide between dinner and breakfast, but since I had the waffles last time I was there (last visit to CSR) I went with the Veggie Cheeseburger Deluxe. It was amazing. I also had a bite of Kelly's french toast, and it was the best French Toast I'd ever had (and I don't like French Toast) I'm getting it next time! After filling our bellies and feeling quite satisfied, we headed home for some classic Halloween movies; Direct TV was seriously lacking in the department, but I think we were all too tired to care. I had to retire for the night, and was asleep by 11:30 pm...EPIC FAIL!!
Ok, enough about Halloween. On to the good stuff: double show day! Nick and I were getting up at 10am on Sunday to rush Brighton Beach Memoirs which might have sucked, except that it was the day after Day Light Savings Time, so we got an extra hour to sleep in. While we waited in line, we befriended a woman who worked in the costuming industry. She was hemming pants in line since she was going to be late to her show to see the closing performance. While waiting for the box office to open, we sat across the street from the Mary Poppins stage door and saw Laura Michelle Kelly (title role) and the children arrive for their matinee. I really had no interest in seeing the show, until Christian Borle took over the role of Bert, so I decided to catch the evening performance of that as well. But first, Brighton Beach: OHMYGOD! SO GOOD!! It is a witty coming-of-age story intertwined in a drama about a Jewish family struggling to stay together and make ends meet in the 1940's. It was brilliantly directed and beautifully acted and had me sucked in the entire time. Our costuming friend informed us that a play on Broadway needs to make $100,000 a week in ticket sales to survive, and this show just wasn't selling. Which is a crime. It was better than A Steady Rain, or God Of Carnage both of which I loved, but they have big names to sell tickets. Other than Laurie Metcalf (whom I didn't even know was in until she stepped out on stage) the cast was all fresh-faces. Maybe that is something to be said of the marketing department. Regardless, it makes me ashamed of my culture when a show like Finian's Rainbow which has no substance, no plot, a dated score, an obvious lack of dramaturgical research can get rave reviews from the NY Times. But a show in which every relationship between each character is clearly defined; and each character's story line makes you laugh and makes you cry; with a script that is witty, and sweet, and heavy and light all at the same time, takes you on a journey and lets you into the lives of these characters and doesn't let you doubt for one second that this world actually exists, closes after a week not because it was bad, but because of politics and money, makes my blood boil. I hope that everyone involved in this production knows they had a great show. Maybe we just have to chalk it up to bad timing, but I hope regardless of how big a hit they took, they are proud of this show and I thank them for supporting such a beautiful piece of art and I'm thankful I got to see it.
We waited almost an hour at the stage door, but it was well worth it: I met NEIL SIMON (!!!) along with Noah Robbins, Santino Fontana, and Laurie Metcalf. Then I met up with Ricardo and Julie and hoofed it over to Mary Poppins, which was good...I mean, it's Disney: she flew, Bert tap danced on the ceiling, the set was larger than life, and it was fun. Not bad, nor thought provoking, but entertaining nonetheless.


early demise of Neil Simon's chronicle

Mom's Visit

Thursday, my mom arrived. I took her to see The Lion King on Friday. Saturday morning I had a workshop with Kathy Rossiter (which was interesting, but nothing I hadn't learned at PCPA) from which I left early so mom and I could catch a bus to Ithaca, NY to look at real estate. It is very gorgeous there, the city is built on many gorges (a pun that you can find on tee shirts at most gift shops) and waterfalls are almost as common as taxis in the city. We were back in Manhattan by Sunday night so I could start another week at BRS. Monday I took mom to Trader Joe's for an experience like no other. I have been a fan of Trader Joe's since I left home and discovered their abundance of organic, meatless, fresh and relatively inexpensive food. I am not the only one who has discovered the joys of TJ's as the check out line wraps around the entire store! I have learned it is best to tag team; have one person get in line immediately upon entering the store, while the other person gets items from the middle of the store. You can grab you breads, dairy, etc while standing in line. Mom rekindled her love for her car as we hauled our groceries on two subways and up few flights of stairs. Tuesday, I gave mom her birthday present: front row mezzanine tickets to Hair. I did like the show better a second time, plus Gavin Creel's understudy went on, and (I hate to say it) I almost liked him better! Today I had to bid adieu to mom, a week that went entirely too fast (although, I will be happy to have my room back to myself). I have the rest of the week now to prep for Halloween. The RA's are throwing a party in the house on Friday, and I have absolutely no plans for Saturday, nor do I have a costume. But I do have a small issue with procrastinating, so like everything else in my life, I'll pull something out of my ass the night before.

My B!!

After work, on Wed Oct. 21, I met up with Trey, a friend from PCPA and we got standing room tickets for the 2009 best play, God of Carnage. I loved it. It reminded me so much of Life (x) 3 (a show I did at PCPA) by the same playwright, Yazmina Reza. It's a four person show, each of whom where well-diserveingly, nominated for a Tony. It's pretty short, an hour and a half, so it was easy to stand through. Not to mention there wasn't a boring part in the whole show. The last thing I was thinking about where my feet. Especially when Marcia Gay Harden pounced on James Gandolffini! Or when Hope Davis projectile vomited across the stage.

When Trey and I where leaving, we saw Jeff Daniels at the stage door, so we went to get autographs. I handed him my program and he said, “God of Carnage? Well, if I sign this, you have to come to the show. If you don't your teeth will fall out in the middle of the night.” I had no idea what he was talking about since I had just seen the show. Trey then informed me that we were at the Oleanna stage door, and that was actually Bill Pullman.

OOPS!! Wrong stage door! I did think it was strange that he beat us out, I figured he was a master at getting out of costume. I just hope he thinks I'm a tourist with limited English, which might be a good argument since I stared at him like he had three heads. Although, I wonder how the conversation would have gone if I had said, “What?! Your not Jeff Daniels??” I was pretty embarrassed, but hey, it makes for an entertaining story. Those kinds of incidents basically sum up my life.

 But the night doesn't stop there! Trey's roommate works for New World Stages and they just had their (re)opening of Avenue Q. For those of you who have been living in the real world (as opposed to the theatre world) Avenue Q is a musical that ran on Broadway for a few years, snatching a few Tonys on the way. It was set to close, but instead, it moved to Off-Broadway to extend it's run. Anyway, there was a party at the Glass House Tavern and Jana wanted to see if she could get us in. She pulled a few strings and dropped a few names, and voila! We're partying with the cast of Avenue Q and even Tom Kitt, the composer of Next to Normal was there! I had a couple drinks (courtesy New World Stages) and even ran into one of my bosses (who was very surprised/impressed to see me there) and a couple of clients. It was a memorable night, very worth the teasing that ensued the following day: "Not Amanda crashing the Avenue Q party!"

RIP Dig Cam

PS. If anyone's noticed the lack of pictures on my blog, it's due to the fact my camera bit the dust during my 21st in Vegas...maybe it partied a little harder than I did. Anyway, I will try to steal some (mostly from Nick who is the photographing king) to spruce up this blog.

Getting Old Sucks

I have been suffering from minor back pain for about a week now. At first it was nothing to be concerned about. It felt like a sore muscle and I just kept trying to stretch it, and crack my back. But last Tuesday I was in pain. Every step I took sent shooting waves of pain from my lower back to my knee. I couldn't climb stairs or bend down if I dropped something. Sitting was complicated too. I knew I needed a chiropractor or an acupuncture. The program coordinator referred me to her doctor and I set up an appointment to see him Wed morning. By Tuesday night I was in such crippling pain that all I could do was lie paralyzed in the confines of my bed. Every move I made hurt. I had to get up to turn off my light, and it literally took me 20 minutes to lift myself out of bed. I started to think about how awful it would be if I were a cripple and how much extra work every minute task would be. I also started to fear that the doctor would find something incredibly wrong with me and tell me I was going to be paralyzed or had cancer or something. After sleeping for about 12 hours I had enough strength to get out of bed and feebly make my way to Dr. Spendelli's office. He then worked miracles on my body. By the end of the hour, he had reduced my sharp pains to a dull stiffness. That was yesterday, and today, I'd say I'm about 85% better. Certain movements still cause discomfort, but I have faith that by tomorrow I'll be just about back to my old self. I'm looking forward to my follow up with Dr. Spendelli in the morning. Well, I'm going to go down stairs (because I can) and be social...
If you ever injure yourself, go see Dr. Spendelli on 7th and 56th. He's magical.

A Little More Than We Bargained For

Last Monday, Columbus Day, Kellie, Kevin and myself ventured into Union Square. We were having a lovely time bargain hunting at Filene's Basement and Forever 21 until Kevin's stomach started to eat itself. We found a pizza place that seemed satisfying enough. Kevin ordered a calzone hoping to get the most bang for his buck, except that only calzone they had was jammed pack full of cheese; nothing else. Kevin, being lactose-intolerant knew this was going to end badly. My piece of veggie (mostly broccoli--maybe they had a lot of extra that they needed to get rid of) was cold, and most unappetizing, but I managed to eat most of it. I couldn't throw it away, it was $5.50 (!!!!)
Poor Kevin tried to just pick at the bread, considering the cheese was a fucking scary lump of partly solidified goo, that would have caused him even more pain going out than in. Every time he took a bite, of his, cold, pathetic excuse of a calzone, he gagged a little and then wept. We left the shop disheartened and tried to carry on with our day. It ended up not being all bad. Kevin found a very pretty sweater at American Eagle and a killer halloween costume (stay tuned for pictures.) That night, I had a pretty awful stomach ache and a new sense memory that will haunt me the rest of my life.

Ya'll Can Sing Along Too, 'Aint No Thing But A Chicken Wing!

This weekend I saw 3 great shows. The first one, A Boy and His Soul at the Vineyard Theater, was so good. It is a one man show written and stared in by Colman Domingo. It is all about his life and struggles he went through and how music helped him the whole way. He played himself, his mom, dad, brother sister, aunt and others. It was amazing! I laughed, I cried (almost--I never actually cry at shows) and everything in between. His sister, Eve, was my favorite character, though. She is very ghetto-fabulous and in your face. She doesn't care what people think of her: "If my music's too loud, buy some ear plugs or move off the block!" I heard from Edward who is a PA, that a family member asked why he toned her down! Later that night, I hoofed on over to Joe's Pub for The Piven Monologues. Jeremy Piven is a big Hollywood actor from the HBO show Entourage. Last year he stared in Mamet's Speed The Plow but ended up quitting the run early due to alleged mercury poisoning from eating too much sea food. There was some controversy stirred up around it, due to lawsuits and media not knowing how to react. Should we feel sorry for him because he was very ill, or was he just being a wuss and having a diva moment? Of course us die hard Broadway fans thought, "Oh boo-hoo! Suck it up, the show must go on!" Anyway, the Piven Monologues is a collection of internet comments, posted on various blogs on the subject, read aloud. Of course Piven's lawyers had a fit, but since it is nothing more than comments already published for public viewing being read, there really is no claim. It was very funny and cleverly pieced together.
The third show I saw was the Sunday evening performance of The Royal Family. The Sunday matinee was canceled after Tony Roberts made his first entrance and suffered a minor seizure on stage. The curtain came down and he was taken to the hospital. But the evening performance went on as planed. The understudy was great. The show, which was written by Kaufman and Ferber hit home for me because of all the George S. Kaufman shows I had done in High School. He has a distinct writing style and his own comedy. It had so many moments that reminded me of Stage Door, Once In A Lifetime and The Man Who Came To Dinner. The show is based on The Barrymore family (the Royal Family of Broadway.) My only complaint was the third act. Act two ended with a huge monologue from Julie Cavendish played by Jan Maxwell, in which she basically had a breakdown and vowed to quit acting. Of course the joke was that she was late for her curtain and flew out of the room. The act ended on a high note and I felt that would be a sufficient end for the show. The bill said Act 3 takes place three years later, like an epilogue, and just as I suspected, the act seemed to drag on.
Speaking of dragging on...I'm going to end this installment here due to the fact I feel as though I am going to fall asleep at the keys. 'Night!