You better reco'nize!!!

This is the last weekend for Willy Wanker and the Hershey Highway. That's it!

Go. Feel. And bring a drag-fan you love.* And if they love theater and don't know anything about drag, then especially bring them because this really is some of the best theater in town.

* I stole a little of this wording from Louise's review of The Bacchae in the Globe, also an amazing show, but in rather a different way. Anyway, if there's ever anything Louise and I have fully and consistently agreed on it's the Gold Dust Orphans.

My enormous sense of entitlement.

I just want you to know how it's done. Last week I was invited to audition for a role of a woman several years older than me. The play is amazing, the role is amazing, it'd be with a theater I have never worked with but have really wanted to, it's a NEW work by a well-known playwright, and I was just all around excited about it. But the first time I read it, I saw GENA in the role. And there are a few scenes where this character is wearing sunglasses indoors. So I decided that a pair of huge GENA-style sunglasses was my window into this character. So the day of the audition, on my WAY to the audition, I breezed into Target to pick up a pair (my last good, big pair of sunglasses fell off my head in the bathroom at JFK airport and was flushed down the toilet. Really.). But when I got to the store, I saw that the sunglasses section, and ONLY the sunglasses section, was a little bare and roped off and in some kind of transition. I asked an employee to be let in, I was refused. I said:

Can I just go in there and grab a pair? I know which ones I want. I can see them from here.
Employee: No, sorry, no one can come in here.
Me: Why not? It'll just take a second and I REALLY need some sunglasses RIGHT NOW. I... need them... for work.
Employee: No, it's a security issue.
Me: Can YOU grab me a pair of sunglasses and hand them to me?
Employee: ...
Me: Please, I'd really appreciate it.
Employee: Well, I'll have to get security.
Me: ...
(Employee goes and gets a security guard)
Guard: What do you need ma'am?
Me: Hi. I just need a pair of sunglasses.
Guard: You can't go in th--
Me (shrill): PLEASE, then can you maybe go in there and get me a pair or two to try on? It's an emergency!
(Guard slides under the yellow tape and after some awkward "No, left, 2 down, more, no, not those ones, YES, those ones" gets me two pairs of sunglasses and hands them to me.)
Me: (nearly hysterical): THANK YOU! THANK YOU SO MUCH! NOW I NEED A MIRROR!!!!
Guard (getting into it): I THINK THERE'S ONE BY THE FITTING ROOM! OVER THERE!
Me: THANK YOU!!!

Anyway, I found the perfect pair, and got to the audition on time, and used them to GREAT effect, and got the role.

And that, people, is my PRO-CESS.

It's THAT bad, I guess...

Basically 2 for 1 Broadway tickets!? Just CLOSE already and make room for something good. A new play, maybe!

Damn, I love these two!

(panting)

I am doing a bit of a theater marathon at the moment. Last night I saw The Bacchae (clean, moving, refreshing, ensemble driven, smart direction) tonight I saw Strangers on a Train, where I got to see Bobby do what he does best (a sad, wounded, fucked-up, dangerous man-child), tomorrow night I get to see Willy Wanker and the Hershey Highway with friends (I actually met a few Gold Dust Orphans tonight and they were delightful), Saturday I'm doing a reading for the BTM "warm up-laps", and Sunday I see ASP's Much Ado About Nothing. Then, Wednesday I see Jerry Springer: The Opera!

I mean what's more fun than this:



The answer is nothing, except maybe this:



Actually definitely this. Look at all of them! And look at that Van Gogh backdrop! I can't wait.

A fun new blog discovered by Vivi

When the boredom is too much, check out Awkward Family Photos.

Useful information from YAHOO.

I clicked on and enjoyed this nifty piece of journalism on Yahoo's home page about "conversation killers." The meat of it:

Unless you get a truly enthusiastic response from your interlocutor—which is possible—be very wary of recounting…

1. A dream.
2. The recent changes in your child’s nap schedule.
3. The route you took to get here.
4. An excellent meal you once had at a restaurant.
5. The latest additions to your wine cellar.
6. An account of your last tennis game.
7. The plot of a movie, play or book—in particular, the funny parts.

Now, I couldn't agree more, especially about point 7, because I get this a lot, particularly from men. Hearing a book report or a lengthy re-cap of an NPR story sends me into the deepest, most painful zone of boredom imaginable. I know it's fun to read books, but I think it's a solo experience and tricky to share (fuck you, book clubs).

But I think point 3 is very funny. I hope I don't do that. I know I talk a lot about parking.

I appreciate Yahoo's no nonsense numbered lists of things not to do on dates, how to tell if he likes you, and how not to fuck up a job interview. And I'll take all the help I can get.

These kid win and we win, too!

I sort of stole this from Isaac's blog: He's found some beautiful PS22 choral covers of Joni and others, but I browsed around and saw they do the Innocence Mission, too! Perfect! Thanks, Isaac!

I'm a WINNER!

So the Nortons happened and I won for Blackbird! When they called my name I went into a near fugue state. Maurice gave me a hug and the award and I wanted to marry him. Here is me, pretty much blacked out but standing on stage talking to say 5 or 6 hundred people...



I was genuinely shocked, because I was so sure that I was the least likely of the three nominees to win. My speech was short (I didn't write anything) but I think I hit everything, more or less. The place was unusually full, I think because Al was there:



Everyone was so supportive! Here's what I was doing, I think, when Maureen shouted Happy Birthday from the way-back:



and it really was just the coolest birthday ever. I know it's not a Tony or anything, but it was a very big deal for me.

And Speech and Debate won best production!!! Go Jeremy!

And thanks for the photos, Claire!

Again, helping out those who don't hear about these things from all their other friends first.

Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'

In case you missed it somehow!

Is this ever coming to my town???

All the way down from 52 to 7! So close!!!!!

I was very moved and heartened by today's the NY Times article on families awaiting the return of their soldier husbands (wives, sons, daughters, etc.). I guess a whole bunch of people are coming back soon to the New Jersey area:

Mrs. Moore with her stepson, Austin, 12. To help Austin keep track of when his father will return, she made a paper chain with 52 links. Each week, they tear one off. She keeps the chain in the dining room, and they are both focusing on how short it is getting.

Damn, that's a huge photo of something not that interesting.

But there's a reason I posted it. I love this drink, but the bottles are impossible to open...



Look at my hand!



This is a condition I call "Owater hand." I even wrote to the company complaining about the twist caps, and they wrote back immediately saying they're sorry, it drives them crazy, they're working on it, please don't leave us. Which I won't, because it's a good drink. Try one. But get a big strong man (or woman) to open it for you because the burn hurts.

YES YES YES!!!!

I like the "vows."

The Hallway from The Hallway on Vimeo.

I've thought about making all those vows. I do my best.

...and say you had a bunch of good auditions and say you thought you were golden but maybe you were wrong... and th-... and that's it...

Paul says it all. Again.

Really? Really.

So I see two houses out my windows, and a few days ago, they were both gray. Now one of them is inside-of-an-in-ground-pool blue with teal trim and it's cramping my style. Used to be, I'd look out the window and everything was just this peaceful neutral color and now I feel like I need curtains. You really can't tell how ugly it is from the photo. Fuckers.

Yup. Still in love with Miranda ('s work).