Category: Blogpost

I almost pinched myself whilst sitting in the balcony of the Richard Rogers theater Friday night (August 3, 2012) – finally I would be able to see the Broadway production of “Porgy and Bess,” featuring at least three amazing musical theater performers – Norm Lewis, Audra McDonald, and David Alan Grier. I had never seen a production of it before, neither on stage nor on the screen. I had only heard clips, and of course have heard “Summertime” in both classical and cabaret styles over the years. But I never knew the show from top to bottom, the characters, theContinue readingReview – “Porgy and Bess” on Broadway

Okay, okay, I’ll admit it – if I see any of the above logos plastered to the front door of a restaurant, I will pause and take a closer look. You see, I’m a sucker for social applications that provide financial ease, perks, discounts, rewards, “punch-card” freebies, anything that will make my pocketbook sing and my interest in trying something new get fired up. I’m an actress/singer – I have had to find the odd cheap meal between auditions or en route to rehearsal, and all these logos catch my “save a buck” eye.  I signed up for LevelUp andContinue readingEmerging Social Networking/Finance Apps and Theater/Cabaret Inclusion

In the past few years, I noticed each Summer solstice there occurs a Yoga day in Times Square – I think I read about it in one of the first TimeOut New Yorks I bought. I found this year I was able to participate on Wednesday, June 20th. It was a great afternoon, hot but in the shade, in the middle of Times Square (I was in the 42nd St-43rd St block). I discovered, as I did the “founders flow” all-level exercise, that even the noise of the traffic, sirens, tourist chatter, and other obnoxious sounds faded into the backgroundContinue readingTimes Square Solstice Yoga: Mind Over Madness

This past Saturday, the 16th, I was invited by one of the Producers of Broadway’s Godspell to come see the show before it closed. I must admit, I felt guilty for not having seen it yet, as one of my friends from the original Los Angeles production of bare, Wallace Smith (he played Matt, I understudied Nadia and was in the ensemble), has been portraying Judas for the past 9 months! He’s also known for Broadway’s American Idiot, The Lion King, and Hair. He is a powerful performer with an incredible amount of grace, humor and vocal savvy. It wasContinue readingGodspell on Broadway…Oh, Bless the Lord!

A friend of mine, after reading my blog entries of all the Broadway shows I saw this past month, challenged me to take a look at these shows and self-cast myself in them. I took an honest look and came up with these conclusions: The Best Man: In a few years more, I’d love to play Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge (Angela Lansbury’s part) Clybourne Park: I’d love to do Betsy/Lindsey, the part who is pregnant thru the show. I’d love the challenge of being deaf on stage, and to have such a fiery attitude in the second act. Nice Work ifContinue readingSelf-Casting

I watched the Tony Awards last Sunday night at a friend’s place on West 73rd. Nothing like getting off of the 1 train at 72nd, climbing up the stairs, and walking into a well-dressed crowd of attendees and seat-fillers, plus passers-bys taking pictures at the red carpet. I enjoyed the Tonys in general (was annoyed of the absence of the In Memoriam clip and Bernadette Peters’ acceptance speech missing from the broadcast. Certainly the Tonys have become a giant commercial (and rightly so) for Broadway (and now, apparently, cruise ship shows) and I thought they showcased some great options nowContinue readingThe 2012 Tony Awards – thoughts and thrills

On Thursday June 7th, in order to complete the TWO WEEKS OF DECADENCE with the in-laws, my husband and I met them at Chez Napoleon, a favorite restaurant of theirs which we had no objections to eating at for their last evening in New York. Chez Napoleon is a family-run, authentic French restaurant on West 50th Street with delicately made and served dishes that taste wonderful. Definitely order a flavored soufflé when you order the rest of your meal, since it takes an hour to make and they cannot in any circumstance hurry the process along. In addition to aContinue reading“String,” “Prometheus,” Mark Janas, and the last tortuous pictures of amazing food, I swear

In addition to being a singer/actress/director/puppeteer, I’m also a geek, which comes to mean in my mind a passion for knowing HOW stuff works (hey, I like How Stuff Works!). I’m a huge fan of the American Museum of Natural History. I am a proud member and I love all the programs and exhibits (both new and old) the museum curates. Thus, when a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence like the Transit of Venus happens, I wanted to be in the midst of fellow passionate geeks and kids (who I consider naturally-born geeks – it seems we typically lose our eagerness to learnContinue readingVenus would like to get back in her skinny blue jeans – AMNHx2, Birthdays, Shake Shack and FEAR

Sunday, June 3rd, was all about gluttony. Three feasts were had, two for the taste buds and one for…well…the 12 year old in all (or some) of us. We all started out with a celebration at the famous Waldorf-Astoria Peacock room, where one can purchase eating and gorging rights to their infamous Sunday buffet. We were celebrating both my husband’s birthday and my mother-in-law’s birthday, plus the 50th anniversary of our friend’s wedding. So, it was a good meal to be had in a “throw caution to the wind” sort of way. However, I stuck to mostly fish and veggies,Continue readingSomeone spin me a hammock to rest in – “Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark”

Saturday the 2nd we were still getting over a chocolate hangover from the Sardi’s dessert the night before, but my husband and I were excited to meet up with the in-laws and friends for lunch at Maison, and then to see “Evita” on Broadway! Maison is a French bistro-breakfast-lunch restaurant which invokes “the coastal flavors of Brittany“…whatever that means. The food is delicious (I had the Eggs Normandy: eggs benedict with lox), and the little beignets (basically little doughnut holes in a traditional French style) were hard to resist (I had half of one…good girl!). The only issue was thatContinue readingAnd the Musicals Kept Rolling in – “Evita” and lunch at Maison