Two thumbs up

For the Ring and for Princesses

Yup, Wagner's four operas and the new musical comedy get two thumbs way up from me. :) Ain't too hard to please.

Subject line poetry

TGIF

Crash and burn

Don't run for the bus in 80-degree weather

Why did I eat that cupcake at 3?

I have "By Heart" stuck in my head

Will Princesses play at the Neil Simon Theater?

Crash and burn

TGIF

To buy or not to buy ...

... that is the question. Well, what do you think? Should I purchase Romeo & Juliet (1968, dir. Zeffirelli) on DVD at $9.36 from deepdiscountdvd.com, or should I wait? 'Cause who knows? They might release a special edition DVD in three years for the 40th anniversary. Hmmm... decisions, decisions. :)

You heard it here first

And when I say "you," I really mean me. And when I say "here," I mean The 5th Avenue Theatre. Hehehe.

Princesses was great! We saw the very first preview of the world premiere. Woohoo! My favorite LOL moment was:

Kevin Finch: "Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"
Dena: "IT'S JUST YOU!"

LOL just thinking about it. Sorry if I spoiled it for you, but I figure (as does Janice) that only our family reads these blogs. Family and a few good friends. You know who you are. :)

Yesterday, I used the restroom in the theater (well, whenever I use the restroom during my internship, it's in the theater) and got to hear the cast rehearsing withOUT their microphones. I noticed the vocal arrangement was different from Tuesday's show, and I have to say, the song sounded gorgeous. The father-daughter duet was enhanced by the girls harmonizng "ahhs." I wish you could have heard it for yourself. And I say "you," I mean you! Maybe they'll implement the change for tomorrow's matinee. I hope so!

This one's for Jason: "Whoa there."

Past hope, past cure, past help

My room's a certified mess. Certified by whom? I don't know. Me, I guess. Heh heh. I've been meaning to clean it this summer, but I just run out of time in the evenings and weekends. And now, my man-made disaster of a room is giving Janice a chance to work out as she jumps over my backpack to enter. Brave sister, that one. :)

Well, I'm determined to tackle the mess. I just have to do it a little at a time. But when do I get to write a brilliant song? When do I get to catch up on the books I want to read? *sigh* So much to do, so little time.

(Ring review and Princesses review to come...)

They're heeeeere!

Jason and Janice! Woohoo! Hi, sibs. Hi, 'rents. Lookin' forward to having pizza and seeing Princesses with you. Wow, it's so nice to have a day off, too!

S-M-R-T

I started listening to NPR yesterday. Hehehe. I have my reasons. Oh, you'd like to know? Okay! Well, the major one is that KUOW is supposed to air the 5th Avenue Theatre's underwriting about Princesses, and I worked on the copy. :)

ANYwho, it's amazing how intelligent you feel when you listen. All things considered, maybe it's just an illusion, a simulated feeling of intelligence, but I'm happy to be informed about things like the extension of daylight saving time. And you know NPR means business when they get it right. Daylight saving time. Not daylight savings time. Now, does this need a hyphen? Not that you can hear that on a radio, but I figure I should know it as a copy editor. I'm too lazy to look it up right now.

Sweet!

I just downloaded the RENT screensaver, and it has a countdown to the movie! Hence, "Sweet!"

Not so sweet: I went to the library earlier. As I was driving there, apparently I was on auto pilot 'cause I ended up driving past the intersection where I needed to turn left. Whoops. I suppose it didn't help I was singing "As Long As You're Mine" while I drove on down 320th. Chalk it up to driving the same route to the park & ride every day. Heh.

I love my internship at the 5th Avenue. I really do. It's so much fun. Got to go backstage and in the theater during rehearsals today. :)

Saturday, good ol' Saturday

No work. No bus rides. No schedules. I love Saturday. I spent the morning catching up on e-mail and reading about Harry Potter on various Web sites. :) I am definitely suffering from HP withdrawal.

Just wanted to post something new 'cause Mom complained that I hadn't updated in forever. So here I am. Not really sure what I should say. Here you go, Mom: Teatro Zinzanni. And happy 28th anniversary (plus one week), Mom and Dad.

Sweet smell of success

Booyah! :) Heh heh, can you read that? H$4,021,261.62. Too bad it's not real. Heck, I'd take 1%!

HSX: An update

To recap, when you start an account at Hollywood Stock Exchange, you get $2 million. Right now, I have $3.97 million. I'm oh-so-close to doubling my fake moolah! :) Thanks so much to RENT, Jennifer Garner, and Robbie Coltrane.

Yay!

My splurge package from Amazon.com arrived! I have a new book and two CDs: Lapsing Into a Comma by Bill Walsh, Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson, and Hybrid Theory by Linkin Park. OK, so I'm a little late in buying Linkin Park's CD. I actually wanted to buy the import version for the longest time because it has "My December" on it. However, I was able to re-acquire that song (hehehe) and just decided to buy the cheaper, regular release.

I just read the acknowledgments, introduction, and first chapter of Lapsing, and I'm already intrigued! "I couldn't diagram a sentence if my life depended on it." Right on, Bill Walsh! :) Should be a great read. I also expect I'm gonna mark up this book and place flags all over the place. I really am a dork. But you know, I don't care! :)

If I could be anywhere in the world tonight...

... I'd actually want to be at the Hollywood Bowl. Celebrities and regular peeps like me (OK, they're theater and/or major Sondheim fans... and/or Grobanites) will be celebrating Stephen Sondheim's 75th birthday with a concert.

Here are just a few names:

James Barbour (have never actually heard him, but I've heard much about him)

Carol Burnett (needs no parenthetical explanation)

Barbara Cook (she's legendary in the business)

Stephanie D'Abruzzo (Kate Monster and Lucy the Slut! Woohoo!)

Josh Groban (*grin*)

Marin Mazzie (just listened to her on Ragtime again. Wow)

Audra McDonald (I have who-knows-how-many CDs with Audra McDonald. She needs to return to Seattle someday and soon)

The list goes on. Dang, that's a great list. So yeah, that's where I'd rather be tonight. Hopefully, someday I'll have more money and time to travel and see these concerts.

Yo, check it out

http://www.5thavenuetheatre.org/staff.shtml

*grin*

I'm a dork

Or, at least I feel a little dorky right now. :) And not that that's a bad thing. Why do I feel like a dork? I haven't blogged in a few days, but I keep coming here (to musicallispeaking.blogspot.com) to check on my own blog. And I *know* that I haven't updated, but somehow I hope it'll inspire me to write something. Hasn't happened.

So let's see about updates: Me? Nope. How about Jason? Nope. Janice? Nope. Dad? Hey! Dad's blogging more than anyone else! Heh heh.

Mo-om... it's your turn. :) I'm in a bloggin' funk. No wit. No clever anecdotes. No stories to tell... other than I'm still deciding on how to spend my $94.45 that I won from gambling. Woohoo!

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/