I *heart* New York

I really do. The trip to NYC was so much fun. Brittany and I saw Avenue Q, The Light in the Piazza, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Wicked. We had two great stage door experiences.


After Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, we exited the theater through the same doors where we entered. I noticed that many people were standing around and started to wonder if there were any actors around. I turned around and saw Norbert Leo Butz! He won the Tony for best actor in a musical this year. Norbert Leo Butz and John Lithgow signed our playbills. Then, as we were waiting for Sherie Rene Scott (who didn't come out through the main entrance), I saw Jai Rodriguez from Queer Eye and RENT walk past!

We didn't win the lottery for Spelling Bee tickets, but that theater is right next to where Wicked plays. There was an enormous line for the Wicked lottery, and when we went to get dinner, I heard my name: "Alli!" It was Anna! That was great we got to see her.

On Thursday, we went to a CD signing at Tower Records. Sherie Rene Scott, Gregory Jbara, David Yazbek (the composer of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Full Monty), Norbert Leo Butz, and John Lithgow were all there.

At the Gershwin stage door, there were metal barricades set up. David Ayers (Fiyero), Michele Federer (Nessarose), and Shoshana Bean (Elphaba) signed our playbills. Shoshana Bean rocked as Elphaba. She's an incredible singer.


I also got Sherie Rene Scott and Shoshana Bean to autograph the recently released recording of Hair, benefiting the Actors' Fund. Very cool. They both looked happy to see it. In fact, Sherie Rene Scott said, "Oh, I haven't seen this yet. Have you listened to it?" I told her no (well, I had just bought it and it came out on Tuesday), and she said that it was good. And it is!

Mmmm... bagels at Cranberry Deli. Mmmm... Jamba Juice. Mmmm... Ollie's. Mmmm... Katsu-hama. Hmmm... Seattle Cafe???

Visited Columbia, Barnard, Lincoln Center, Central Park, Battery Park, Ground Zero, the Museum of Modern Art, Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and oh yes, Times Square (many times).

Musical roots

Wow, what a day! What an afternoon, to be precise. My internship is off to a great start! I got the chance to meet everyone in communications as well as several other staff members at The 5th Avenue Theatre. They were very welcoming. I toured the offices and the theater, including backstage. Very cool! :)

Oh right, before I forget... I know I've mentioned this before to some people, but I just wanted to say that I got hooked on musicals thanks to Mom, who took Janice and me to see Jesus Christ Superstar at The 5th Avenue Theatre. I was six. :) So, I'm returning to the place where it all started, yet I'm a newbie to the world of marketing and communications for musicals. I'm thrilled to be doing what I have envisioned as my goal: to combine my passion for music(als) with my passion for writing/communicating. I'm not sure how long I've had this goal. Definitely before I declared my major. Perhaps it's been brewing for the past 15 years? There's definitely some rhyme and reason for why things happen the way they do.

I'm so excited to do this internship. I know I keep saying that, but it's true. I sat in on a meeting, and it seemed so natural and fun to talk about Miss Saigon and Brian Stokes Mitchell. Also, it's great to be onboard during the preparation of a Broadway-bound musical, Princesses.

Everyone who'll be here in August oughta come see it! That means you! Hehehe.

"What I up to"

LOL! Dad has been working on a family tree Web site, and it's expanding each day. It's pretty cool. I just clicked on my new page, and what you all must realize is that the song *isn't* my future wedding song. :)

"What is the feeling, so sudden and new? I felt the moment I laid eyes on you. My pulse is rushing. My face is flushing... What is this feeling, fervid as a flame? Does it have a name? Yes! Loathing. Unadulterated loathing." LOL! As much as I like the song for Wicked, well, now you can see why I'm laughing. :)) It definitely is a catchy tune. I question the use of the dreary-sounding organ at the beginning... I guess that's why it reminded me of a wedding. Heaven forbid any organist to play dreary-sounding music at somebody's wedding! Or even a baseball game for that matter. Heh heh.

Hey, Dad, do they (meaning, wherever you get your music) have "Defying Gravity" or "The Wizard and I" or how about "Dancing Through Life"? :)

Thanks for picking up the Wicked tickets.

Must sleeeeeep

Perhaps I should play "I Wish I Could Go Back to College" again. I stopped listening to music for a little bit as I continued to work on my paper. Yikes, this is taking a lot longer than I expected. I have since listened to Closer, Romeo et Juliette, and Prince of Egypt. More than once.

I keep telling myself, "I'm almost done." And I am. I just had to go back through and make changes to my verb tenses. Yikes, that was a mess. :) Yikes, it is a mess. :))

I plan to wake up at 7 to finish and also prepare my three-minute speech. Bwahahaha. I'M ALMOST DONE! *grin* (Okay, clearly this is a sign that I should sleep.)

Good night.

November 11: Time for RENT

OOOOOOH. I just watched the trailer for RENT. It looks great! (Well, I question Adam Pascal's hair slightly, but other than that...) I can't wait to see the movie!!!

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/rent/

Listening to Avenue Q

"I Wish I Could Go Back to College" just started, so I thought I'd take a break from writing my paper. Ha! I'm "cursing the world, 'cause I didn't start sooner." :) The paper is finally coming together, but I really *should* have worked on it sooner. Oh well. I definitely thrive on pressure, but I don't necessarily like it!

In two weeks, I'll be seeing Avenue Q with great friends. Yay!

(In case anyone's wondering why I didn't talk about the Tony Awards, there wasn't a whole lot to talk about... except I loved the performance from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and I hope we can see it in addition to Avenue Q, Wicked, and The Light in the Piazza. )

134 equals...

... my new expert minesweeper time! Previous record on my laptop was 153. I'll take it! :) OK, *now* I can work on my papers. LOL!

I think I can handle never getting 101 or 99 like a certain author of a certain lil' series about a wizard with a lightning scar on his forehead. Oh well!

The Saturday before Finals Week

I'm in Suzzalo Library right now. How incredibly fast a year goes by. I remember last year I was writing an English paper about a novel and my first complete song (*grin*), and I was looking forward to my vacation in California.

Now I'm writing history and communication papers, and I'm looking forward to my vacation in New York. Parallels? Yes. Though it's also strange to think that I have one more quarter to go after this one. Whoa.

But I hope that autumn quarter doesn't arrive too fast. After all, I definitely want to savor and enjoy my summer. :)

Somebody help me please. I canNOT stop playing Minesweeper, even if I'm terrible at it. Hey, I used to be somewhat good. The library closes at 5, which means I'll most likely return to my dorm, which means I'll have access to my mouse. Eeep. Curses to the library always closing at 5 on a Saturday! Hmmm. Maybe I'll go to the HUB, although it's nowhere near as inspiring as Suzzallo.

OK. Gotta get back to writing my papers. (At least, that's what I tell myself I'll do.)

It's official!

I'm going to do an internship with the communications department at The 5th Avenue Theatre! Am beyond excited! :) Yay!!! I interviewed for the position on Wednesday and accepted the offer this morning. :)