From Spring Awakening:



Can you tell why I loved it?

Labels: musicals, New York, theatre

I'm having a great time in New York. I got to spend time with my friend Damon, who I lived with my senior year at Ithaca and who I haven't seen in a few years. I've been spending a lot of quality time with Miriam, which is wonderful. (I forgot to add that we went to see Hannah and Her Sisters last night at the Film Forum...there really is nothing like seeing a Woody Allen film on a big screen in NYC) Tonight I'll have dinner with my uncle and then see my friend Marla.

So far I've been to the Met and the Guggenheim and we went to see Spring Awakening on Friday night. I'm about to head down to the TKTS booth to buy a matinee ticket to David Mamet's new play, November, starring Nathan Lane and Laurie Metcalf.

Tomorrow (my birthday!), I may just try to get to the Today Show (Dad really wants me to). Then I have a deep tissue massage scheduled, thanks to my sister (thanks Deb!). I'm going to try and get down to the MoMa tomorrow too. Then tomorrow night, my cousin David is performing his stand-up act at Caroline's.

I said I was going to make the most of this trip, and damnit, I am! When I get back, I'll try to start doing a better job of saving, because I've been reminded of just what I'm missing in Tucson!

Labels: birthday, Debra, Miriam, musicals, New York, personal, the arts, theatre

If you're in Tucson, you simply must go see Arizona Theatre Company's new production of a classic of the American musical theatre: The Pajama Game.

Originally opened in 1954, the story about a labor dispute (this one at the Sleep Tite pajama factory in Iowa) still resonates today as images of striking workers still permeate the news.

The original production marked Bob Fosse's Broadway debut and launched a legendary choreography and directorial career. The 1957 movie adaptation (which I just ordered on DVD from Amazon) featured Doris Day and John Raitt (Bonnie's dad, a legend of the stage). Day replaced Janis Paige, who starred opposite Raitt in the original Broadway production.

There was a limited engagement revival on Broadway (actually Lincoln Center, I believe) last year, starring Harry Connick, Jr. It won the Tony for best revival of a musical.

The show is personally significant. As a confused, lonely freshman at Ithaca College, I enrolled my first semester in a 1-credit course called "Theatre Practice", which I thought would involve a lot of improv. Boy was I wrong. Theatre Practice is actually the Theatre Department's way of filling production crews for the mainstage productions, and I was assigned to the carpentry crew.

Mind you, I'd never held a power tool before in my life and was scared of hammers (heck, I was scared of my own shadow back then). But somehow being a part of that crew (and getting to serve as an extra in full costume during the run) helped bring me out of my shell, build self-confidence and self-esteem, and led me to realize that I wanted to change my major from film to theatre.

So you may not have the same emotional connection to this show that I do, but I promise you'll enjoy it just the same.

Labels: musicals, personal

I don't really have enough on any single topic to justify posting, so here are a few droppings on an assortment of things. Now with linky-goodness in almost every bite!

I'm edging closer to making reservations for my birthday trip to NYC, I just want to make sure I can afford it. You only turn thirty once, right? Unless you're my mother, in which case you just keep turning 29 year after year.

Speaking of Phyllis: her latest quip that made me uneasy, from a couple of weeks ago. When they were back east, they decided that instead of getting buried in caskets when they die, they will be cremated (to save us kids the money and trouble, of course). As mom put it, they're going to get "crispy-fried". She kept repeating "crispy-fried crispy-fried crispy-fried" with almost a southern twinge, like she was trying to channel the Colonel.

It will be public knowledge soon enough, so I think it's safe to leak it on the ole blog first: I've been named Outstanding Advocate of the Year by the Men's Anti-Violence Partnership of Southern Arizona. I'll receive my award along with five other honorees at the MAP Gala on November 18 at the Westin La Paloma. I'm deeply honored to be among such an amazing group.

Yes, Wingspan's Executive Director resigned after less than a month on the job. No, it's not the end of the world. Wingspan was around before Kent Burbank and Joseph Bodenmiller, and it will be around after them. The strength of the organization lies not in its figurehead, but in the community that has built and sustained it over the last 20 years. The sky is not falling. This too will pass. Chill.

Speaking of Wingspan, the Annual Benefit Dinner is September 29. Have you bought your ticket yet? I hear they've sold out.

I really love being a consultant. No, really. If I can figure out how to do this and continue making a good living, I'm totally doing it. Health insurance be damned!

Patreus or Betray Us? The Republicans are just grumpy because MoveOn came up with a pithy rhyme and Republicans hate whimsy as much as Germans love David Hasselhoff.

I bought my Avenue Q ticket! Yay! And I bought it as part of the LGBT&S Alliance Fund benefit, so it's going to a good cause. The internet is really really great...

I have a new favorite TV show. Mad Men on AMC. I love anything mid-century Americana, but this has an edge of realism that I particularly admire. Television Without Pity has it on their recap roster.

I also recommend Moliere, which is playing at the Loft. In case you don't know, Moliere is often referred to as the French Shakespeare. Which I'm sure the French love.

And finally, my yoga practice was thrown off by being out of town last weekend and by meetings in the evenings throughout this week. In the last 7 days, I only made it to yoga class twice. Saturday's 3-hour yoga practice has been canceled due to a major event at the studio. I hope not all of the classes are canceled, or I may be one very grumpy yogi when Monday rolls back around.

Labels: birthday, career, jobs, MAP, mom, musicals, New York, personal, Republicans, television, theatre, Wingspan, yoga

The Grease sing-along at the Loft last night was a lot of fun. I don't actually sing along at these things because I don't sing in groups; I will only perform if I'm in the spotlight. My friends Emily and Maggie and I got our picture taken with Annette Charles, the actress/dancer who played Cha Cha DiGregorio in the movie. She still looks fab 29 years later!

Labels: musicals, personal

We're still working out some of the minor details, but it looks like I will start next week as the interim Development Director at The Brewster Center, one of Tucson's two largest domestic violence organizations. My hourly rate will be roughly the same as that which I made at Planned Parenthood. I'll be working up to 35 hours a week, and I can do as much of that as I need to do from home.

I'm telling you, getting laid off has been the best thing to happen to me in a long time!

I'm a little cautious about going to work for another anti-violence organization (did I ever really leave the field?!), knowing the strain that vicarious trauma can have. That said, I'll be in a mostly administrative role with no direct service and I have my yoga practice to keep me centered and stress-free.

And don't forget, Grease sing-along tomorrow night at The Loft!

All things considered, this weekend is getting off to a pretty good start.

Labels: career, jobs, musicals, personal, yoga

My former assistant sent this to me. It's the most perfect musical number ever!


In other Jew news, I didn't get the JCC job, but I'm pretty OK with it. I have a meeting in the morning to discuss one of several new and very sudden opportunities at The Brewster Center with their interim ED. When one door closes, another door leads to singing puppet Jews. Or something like that.

Labels: career, INAPPROPRIATE, jobs, musicals, personal

Because I know you're all just clamoring to know what's on my mind and leave your own comments...

• Everybody sing along..."When I was just a little girl, I asked my mother, 'what should I be? Should I be pretty? Should I be smart? Here's what she said to me...'"


• I may have a slight Target problem, but I can quit any time I want. Really.


• For what it's worth 10 months before a single vote will be cast, I'm supporting black horse candidate and current New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson for the Democratic nomination for President. His resume is more comprehensive and impressive than any of the other candidates - former member of Congress, former Secretary of Energy, former UN Ambassador and now Governor of a rapidly growing state in the mountain west. I got behind Howard Dean five years ago because of his experience and record as Governor of Vermont.
  
  Also, the last time a Democratic member of Congress won the Presidency, we were at the start of the Cold War and career options for women were limited to nurse, actress, teacher, model, ballet dancer and airline hostess(see item 1 above). Not a reason to vote for Richardson above the others in itself, but history can be instructive.


• I can definitely feel the difference when I go to yoga class versus when I don't. I went last night and this morning and I feel better than I have most of the rest of the week when I didn't get to go. So who's joining me tomorrow or next week?


• I'm still house hunting, and very little of what's on Craig's List or in the papers meets my needs. Who wants to go riding around town with me hunting For Rent signs?


• V-Day Tucson 2007 is next Friday and Saturday at the Fox Tucson Theatre. Publicity has been less than visible this year, so please consider purchasing tickets (available through the Fox's website or at various retailers around town). It's for a good cause and some really deserving people are being recognized for their work at intermission on the 16th.
  
  Please note, I no longer manage the V-Day Tucson website, so comments about the layout and/or outdated content can be directed to this year's organizer.


• I meant to post before Progressive Lobby Day at the Arizona legislature on Tuesday but didn't get around to it. I have to say I was pretty impressed, having participated in my share of lobby days back in Albany. Giving credit where it's due, AHRF did a hell of a job herding the progressive cats. We were also graced by the presence of a number of legislators from both parties, demonstrating that our common causes may not be as hopeless as we're sometimes led to believe. Thanks to those legislators who broke bread with us, and especially Senator Aboud for introducing our group, which filled the Senate gallery, from the floor.


• Are these not the cutest shoes ever? They're totally mine come next payday.


• My dear sister wins a prize for correctly guessing (or remembering!) who Ilene Graff is, without the assistance of IMDB. I don't know just what that prize is yet, but kudos to you, Deb!


• Speaking of both my musical sibling and fellow IC alums, don't forget to tune into "Grease: You're The One That I Want" tomorrow night (NBC, 7/6c) and vote for Kevin Greene to win the role of Danny in the latest Broadway revival. I'm going to tune in despite the fact that Andrew Lloyd Webber is a guest judge.


• A childhood dream come true.


• Speaking of movies I intend to see when they come out...


• And finally, since I'm on the topic of movies, the SHORTBUS DVD comes out on March 13.

Update, 4:42 PM: I meant to mention this when I wrote the original post, but Leonard Clark, the Iraq War veteran who tried to mount a primary challenge to Jim Pederson for the Senate nomination last year, is working on filing a petition to recall Senator Double-Talk himself. Cliff Schecter's original post mentions that there's no legal mechanism for recalling an elected federal official. Based on a cursory glance at state laws, this does not appear to be true, as Arizona law does apparently provide for the recall of any elected official: see these three statutes (that last one in particular specifies that members of Congress are included among those who may be recalled). If I read the law correctly, Clark would need to get signatures from a number of registered Arizona voters equal to 25% of the number of total votes cast in last year's Senate election for all candidates for the recall to make the ballot at the next statewide consolidated election. The recall would be an almost vertical uphill battle, but it sure could put a dent in the ole Double-Talk Express.

Labels: alumni, AZ Legislature, Bill Richardson, gift giving, Ithaca College, moving, musicals, personal, Pres-08, Progressive Lobby Day, self-care, social justice, Target, V-Day, women's rights, yoga

Oh! Calcutta! was terrible. Just awful. Poorly written, poorly acted, trapped in its own social milieu. And I imagine it was trite even in its time.

The one other interesting tidbit however is that one of the actors, Bill Macy, would go on to play opposite Bea Arthur in the television series Maude as her put-upon husband, Walter. He also still does guest shots on some present-day series.

That's the only redeeming quality of this dreck - getting to see this guy naked and giggle as you imagine Bea Arthur intoning, "God is gonna getcha for that, Walter!"

Labels: Bea Arthur, musicals, nudity, sex abuse, television, the arts

First, Merry Christmas to my many goyim friends.

Yoga Oasis was offering a free class this morning, so I figured I'd go. When I got there (only a couple of minutes before the class was about to start), the parking lot was packed. Busier than I'd ever seen it, though my frame of reference is admittedly small. Rather than staying, I decided to practice at home, which I ought to be doing anyway.

On my way home, I stopped by Casa Video to see if there was anything there I wanted to rent. For my four-year anniversary at the Center Against Sexual Assault, some of my colleagues chipped in and bought me, among other things, a Casa gift certificate. I've only used it once, so today I figured I might as well take advantage of my credit.

I rented Oh! Calcutta! and the second season of Little Britain. I was going to rent this other movie with Elijah Wood (who I've had a little crush on for years, Lord of the Rings nonsense notwithstanding). But the cover said it had extreme violence in it, and I'm not in the mood for that right now.

Side note: Hair is often credited as being the first Broadway musical with nudity, but it was actually Oh! Calcutta!. My high school chorus teacher frequently pointed that out for some reason. Also noteworthy, Oh! Calcutta! counts among its authors John Lennon and Sam Shepard.

So I came home (after nearly an hour of wandering around Casa), laid out my yoga mat, and proceeded to practice as best I could. I did all right. In fact, I did better than all right: I did a backbend rather effortlessly! Backbends are supposed to be good for stimulating the thyroid and pituitary glands and for heightening mood. Given how I feel right now, I'm inclined to believe it.

As I was typing this, Miriam called me to ask for a ride home from the airport later tonight. I'm so excited to have her back (for however long it lasts till she moves to NYC for good). She's usually my birthday buddy - what else would two Jews do on Christmas Eve but spend it together going to a movie?

This year I went to see The History Boys at the Loft by myself. I did enjoy the movie. I especially appreciated the reminder of the future subjunctive tense - that which may or may not happen. Seemed rather a fitting concept for me to think about on my birthday.

I also want to thank Hillary for spending so much time with me this weekend. She had an extra ticket to see the Arizona Theatre Company production of Ella on Thursday, came to my party on Friday, and went to yoga class with me on Saturday, after which she treated me to brunch at the Blue Willow for my birthday. And then she sent me a happy birthday text message yesterday.

I feel really blessed - as blessed as an atheist can feel - to have such light and love in my life. In the year ahead, I commit to remaining open to grace.

Labels: birthday, British comedy, celebration, Hillary, Miriam, musicals, New York, personal, relationships, Tucson, yoga