Growing Up A Wee Bit More?

Capitol One just upped my Credit Card limit, without even notifying me, as a nice little holiday surprise! Guess I must be moving up in the world, grown up wise (haha)!!

(Always there can be joy in the little things)

More Errant Bits of Wisdom

Also, it is not a good idea to spend five hours gardening and planting roses in California mid day sun after having received a shot in each upper arm. Especially not before one's first day of snowboarding. Ever.

Yowza!

Love and hugs,

A Broadway Baby

California Realizations on Such a Winter's Day

1. I don't want to put aside the dancing/singing/acting business until I get the chance to be involved with the Cats musical again. Here's crossing fingers for 2012!

2. You know you're really in California when:

• You spot a Jonas Brother in your rear view mirror, then do a double take when you realize he's actually driving the vehicle behind you
• You get stuck behind an obnoxiously large pick up truck on the 710 freeway, and notice that there are huge blue balls dangling from the truck's rear license plate. ClASSy.
• Your friend takes you to the most delicious vegan food you never knew wasn't "Real Food," and it's conveniently located near an ostentatiously named succession of blocks that go West from "Harvard" to "Yale" to "Stanford" 
• What should have been a 25 minute commute becomes a two hour sojourn, and freeway detour signs send you into the heart of Compton (which is south of Central Los Angeles, and is also known as the home of some of more intense gangs than the Fast and Furious series could ever dream up)

3. Things do come full circle

• Watching your first love become promiscuous is one of the most painful - yet valuable - experiences that a person can have. 
• One day, many days after my own heart break began to heal, I  finally realized that I cannot change people. As my dad always says, "work toward acceptance, not approval."  
• Rediscovering that place of enlightenment (aka the awareness of my inability to make anyone change, even if I SWEAR I am trying to help them) and staying in that place is a daily struggle.
• Being a "solutions-based" thinker is not always the best approach one needs to solve a problem. Sometimes I just need to shut up and listen.
• Slowly, I've learned that I must let the people I love live the way they want, so I can learn what I  really need.
• For every one thing I do know, there exists an infinity of things I have yet to discover. Sometimes that is exciting. Sometimes it BLOWS.

But hey, shoot for the moon, and even if you miss, you'll still land among the stars, eh?

Happy Holidays!!

And in the darkest of night, remember, it's a WONDERFUL LIFE!!

Tilda Swinton & Merry Christmas Eve!

Sooooo Tilda Swinton was totally in my Boot Camp Christmas Eve workout class this afternoon!!! 1000 reps would have seemed pretty intense and undoable without her... What better inspiration can one have than working out next to the very woman who terrified the little Narnia kids into action as the Snow (Ice?) Queen! Sooo cool.

Also, I've just spent the past four hours making twelve servings of butternut squash soup, lasagna to feed 14, and five batches of sugar cookies (my great grandma's recipe) and some Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. My only fuel? A Rigoletto soundtrack from one of my dad's principal friends, four hours of sleep, and two glasses of yummy merlot (multiple bottles to choose from! ... Courtesy of the teachers who work for/with my dad)

Suffice it to say... I LOVE the holidays.

Merry Christmas Eve everybody!

Love, always,

A Broadway Baby

Noteworthy

Courtesy of my blog-surfing friend and fellow meta-thinker, EG, the most lovely person (inside and out) that I've had the pleasure to meet for lunch in Santa Monica!

"In life, we often place merit on someone based on the job they have. We may not mean to, but it's no real fault of ours if we do -- it's been ingrained in us almost since we could walk.

Parents tell us to get an education, or we won't get a good job.

Teachers tell us to study harder, or we won't get a good job.

Potential girlfriends and boyfriends often decide whether or not we're worthy of their attention, based on the job we have and the material things said job can bring. 

 We see someone being chauffeured from place to place and immediately imagine they must be quite important. 

In social media, this feeling is only exacerbated! Our blogs become popular, we allow Ads to be posted to our site, we get followers on Twitter, friends on Facebook, conferences invited us to speak; even the blogosphere has badges of merit to show how smart bloggers are. 

When one has that kind of adulation, it's easy to mistake one's importance and think one's job is something it's not. Sure, someone might have a great job with a personal secretary; someone else's golf course fees and table service might cost more than it takes to get a child through college.

Now, think about this: 

If every blogger in the world stopped blogging tomorrow, we'd still get our news and opinion pieces. Sure, they might be watered down a little, but we'd still get them.

If every chauffeur quit tomorrow, we'd still have cabs, buses, trains, subways, motorbikes, and even bicycles (not to mention our feet) to get around on.

If every girlfriend or boyfriend dumped his or her partner tomorrow, we'd still get by with our imaginations.

Life would go on.

There are jobs we often consider to be of lesser worth. What would life look like without them?

 If every trash collector quit tomorrow, we'd be faced with disease-ridden streets and pestilence and uncontrollable rat infestations (New Yorkers, you think we have it bad when they break ground for a new subway system? We ain't seen nuthin' yet)

If every sewage worker quit tomorrow, our streets, our toilets, our running water would be LITERALLY overrun with crap.

If every school crossing guard quit tomorrow, how long would our children stay safe while navigating busy intersections?"

 We look at life through odd lenses. We see people in a dimmer light because their job is perhaps not as socially acceptable as those six and seven figure posts. We celebrate our own importance, we compete, we seek approval instead of acceptance. Yet for the self-important person, take away their job, and the world still goes on. Our existence continues even if the source of our self importance were to disappear over night.

At the end of the day, we all have something important to do and to offer. Whether our calling is as a dancer, a teacher, a cobbler, a jeweler, a dreamer; we all have something worthwhile, something CONSTRUCTIVE, to offer society.

In a time as full of infighting, greed, anger, and lack of focus as the United States is currently facing, we can all stand to remember the commonalities we share. We owe it to ourselves, about each other, and to  our country to be the best, happiest, most constructive versions of ourself that we can be.

Next time you have the choice to either build up or tear down, choose the positive route. Build. Create. Move. Laugh. Give.

Anything Goes

... awry the minute you take a vacation!!!

Alas, ANYTHING GOES -- aka the Tony award-winning musical revival of the YEAR -- is holding an audition for the national tour in New York on December 29th, and I will be in LOS ANGELES!!!

Yiikes. Definitely one of those moments when I am seriously considering buying a round trip flight back to NYC just to audition for the opportunity of a lifetime...

Cwaaap. I'll have to hope that they have another audition later in the spring, since rehearsals don't start until September 2012 (according to this casting notice) Cwap CWAP cwap!

http://casting.backstage.com/JobSeekerX/ViewJob.asp?JobID=8iuMYq%2BdVgzgoDBbpZ4Ii%2Bb8ZMh3

I'll have to find a way to send a submission to that casting office ASAP.

Quiet Please

Apparently attendance at a group exercise class in California doesn't actually mean "I'm here to work my butt off" but instead means "oh, this is actually my social hour"

Reason(s) you know you're really becoming a New Yorker:

1. While the lady next to you is sharing the woes of her work day mid high kick repetitions, you can't help but want to shoot her a dirty "Stop talking please" look

2. Next time the high kick repetitions come around, you actually do send the dirty "Stop talking please" look.... And you only feel bad about it for about 1.5 seconds.

Whoops! So much for taking three weeks at the beach side homestead to become more zen...

Home in California

But sad to be away from my Met Opera family at a time like this!

I hope Wendy White is okay:

http://www.backstage.com/bso/news-and-features-news/performer-hurt-in-fall-during-faust-at-met-1005699952.story

Christmas Bonuses & A LOT of Ballet

Suitcase for Los Angeles is packed, house is clean, and operation "figure out a way to get Nordstrom status customer service at Century 21" is underway.

I took three ballet classes today and my bum and shoulders are burning from all the lifting and musculature flexing and attempting to look profesh, etc.

Alllso I spent the evening doing some wrap up tutoring sessions and got more Christmas bonuses!! So exciting! Who knew that leaving an office job for something more fulfilling would have such an unexpectedly rewarding outcome?!

Here's to falling asleep in a bed of sparkles, wrapping paper, and gift bows.

Hooray for the holidays!

Whoa!

End of the week already?! Yikes!! I have to make sure I get all my New York friends' presents out to them before I leave this Sunday for California. Where did the time go?

So I tutored one of my students next to Michael Douglas at Avery Fischer Hall in Lincoln Center this evening. Classy.

Cheers to buying a bottle of Malbec because you deserve it, to repurposing Christmas presents from the samples at the sustainable clothing company where you freelance, and to Trader Joe's lentil soup at midnight.

Living the dream ya'll!

Now... what am I going to do about staying fit while I'm home for the holidays... better find my mom's old racing bike. Lance Armstrong, '60s style. DONE.

Typical Tuesday

Kicking a** ... taking names, you know, the usual.

(...Well I could have kicked some more metaphorical butt if I had chosen to work out this morning instead of get a full 8 hours of sleep, but then every one needs their rest days!)

Wrote out my holiday cards on the crosstown bus, then mailed them in the first post office box I saw. Score!  Picked up my "fellows" and escorted them to their first ever "Future Project" presentation in front of a panel. One less 14 year old out there who is worried about whether or not to date a soon to be 19 year old. PHEW.

Holiday bonus from my favorite and most regular tutoring family, DOUBLE score.

Spending the night planning and wrapping presents for the people I love, assisted by a lovely bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon and my new fave show How I Met Your Mother? That, my friends, is priceless.

As you may have gathered, this week is pretty dry on the auditions front, but I'm still hoping to get in some good dancing and working out before I head back home this coming Sunday! Here goes nothing!

Dear oh Dear

Guest blogger today, ya'll! Check it out:

"Dear A Broadway Baby,

This is your lower back speaking. I am not appreciative of how you have been pounding the pavement and the sprung floors of late, and I am sure you're feeling the little stabs of my displeasure.

While I am glad that you used me to support your epic Monday of yoga, vocal tech classes, and meeting with tutoring clients that amounted to a $500 net increase, I am not a valid excuse for you suddenly losing confidence in your acting/singing choices! Buck up! I have to bear the weight of your day, so get over yourself and get back to work.

Also, buy me a nice new warming device. I deserve it.

Treat me well if you want me to stick around. Pamper and rest and surround me with muscle if you want me to stay functional for more than a year or two. Just saying. Get on it.

This has been a friendly corporeal service announcement from your back.

Over and out."

Lord knows I've learned by now, if your back starts talking to you, you better listen. Rest week and careful yoga/pilates/ab workouts, here I come.

Love and hugs and happy 12 days until Christmas!!

-A Broadway Baby

Flying & Little Miracles

I love Alvin Ailey Dance Theater. It is one of the few places in the world where I can go to watch people fly without ever leaving the ground.

As to the little miracle, I am so happy to report that Let's Get Ready SAT Prep has been awarded Second Place and HALF A MILLION DOLLARS (last night) from the American Giving Awards.

Every student deserves the change to go to college, and their new $500,000 grant will enable Let's Get Ready (LGR) to continue the important work they are doing and serve even more students with free SAT prep and college application support and preparation.

Thank you for all that you have done to be part of LGR's success!

Santacon, Met Opera Babies, Rockefeller Roguery & Holiday Shopping

Saturday.

My only day off.

Today is often the most glorious day of my week. Usually, it consists of sleeping, eating, perhaps a yoga or spin class, more sleeping, some tv watching, and if I'm particularly motivated, cleaning.

Lately though, I have been feeling the urge to get all my holiday shopping out of the way before I fly home to CA on Dec 18th. Thus, today became a day like all my others; planned down to a ten minute window for error from about 8am to at least 8pm. 

Got up this morning at 8am for some yoga (paying $79 a month for a gym membership really inspires me to work out when usually I'd rather sleep). Turns out I really needed that, because I spent the next three hours with the Future Project, corralling some adorable yet nervous teenagers before their first ever presentations to request project funding.

After that, I managed to get way way way uptown (I'm talking Inwoods/Washington Heights, people) for my first ever grown-up people baby shower! Seriously... I have never seen more legit theme work and party planning in my life (Rock ON Met Opera super ladies)! Amazing food spread, everything was the color blue (down to the "it's a boy" Hershey's kisses), the entire registry was purchased ahead of time, and the house was immaculate. **Incidentally, now I want to live up in Inwood**

The ladies who co-hosted it have totally inspired me to be more creative, as have the Met Opera performers - men and women alike - who showcased their superior knitting skills in the form of beautifully made baby clothes and accessories! One of the male supernumeraries made a gorgeous matching sweater, hat, and booties set - and it only took him the down time of three weeks of rehearsal.

EPIC.

Midway through the gift opening portion of the afternoon, I had to peace out for my lady date with Anna near Rockefeller Center. WARNING: Woe be to those who go to visit the Rockefeller Christmas Tree during the holiday season in New York. Never in my life have I experienced such spectacular madness... there were tourists being barricaded and police officers with automatic weapons. Is that REALLY necessary?

Also, I'm pretty sure it took Anna and me 10 minutes just to cross one tiny street... I'd say I usually get across a New York street in 10 seconds. Anyway, after a good amount of rest and relaxation (and hot chocolate) far, far away from the mayhem of the crowds, Anna and I did some fun window shopping on Fifth Avenue and wandered up to Lincoln Center for some holiday gift forays (though I bought myself stuff too... gift shopping fail).

As the last anecdote for today's novelistic entry, I feel compelled to warn all New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers alike... If ever you are in the city on the second weekend of December, hide your children, because the Saturday of the second week of December has become infamous for it's Santa Con bar crawl. Imagine thousands of erstwhile twenty and thirty somethings (and in scary cases, forty and fifty somethings) dressed up like Santa Clauses and trolling the city completely WASTED. Then add some candy cane projectiles and the occasional drunk walking dreidel, and you have some idea of Santa Con. I KNOW that is not apple juice in your water bottle, thank you VERY much.

I can only imagine that the children are very confused, to say the least.

By the time I bid Anna farewell, it was 9pm and I was ready to fall over (but NOT due to any participation in the Santa Con madness). Still managed to drudge my way over to an adorable jewelry shop to pick up some presents for my girls, but CURSES to all the Santa con-ers who got all up in my business with their inebriation! One guy propositioned me with a pick up line involving his reindeer nose. Needless to say, my eyes rolled so hard they almost got stuck that way.

Oh... New York. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....

Can't Sleep?

An aggregate of ways yours truly spends her unexpected awake time:

1. Pictures of the Day
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/

2. Investment Banker's Highly Amusing, Slightly Scary, and Wholly Unacceptable Stalkerism http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/07/investment-banker-embarrassing-email_n_1135279.html

3. ABT dancers on Stephen Colbert Report:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/308311/the-colbert-report-the-nutcracker#s-p1-sr-i1

4. Make or edit a personal website:
http://www.wix.com

5. The every popular amusing pictures of animals accompanied by clever captions
http://icanhascheezburger.com/

6. Access to any TV Show you'd like to watch:
http://www.sidereel.com (**note** do not click track show, do not sign up for membership)

7. Access to any movie you'd like to watch:
cuevana.tv (**note** likely to be accompanied by Spanish subtitles... but who says you can't pirate and learn at the same time!?)

8. Check out some alternative gift ideas for the holiday season:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/opinion/sunday/kristof-gifts-that-say-you-care.html?WT.mc_id=OP-D-I-NYT-MOD-MOD-M230-ROS-1211-L2&WT.mc_ev=click&WT.mc_c=156191

What a Feeling!

After a week of lack luster auditions has left me feeling low, several exciting occurrences have conspired to completely save this week!!!

My weekly meeting with the Future Project volunteer program yielded unexpected revelations that bode well for the future. One of the girls I've been working with is really happy with the progress she's made on her college applications, and to experience her happiness alone reminds me that there is so much to be grateful for.

I went to Strand Book Store in Union Square for the first time and promptly purchased $80 some odd dollars worth of Christmas gifts for my favorite people in the world, and got a free tote bag to boot!

On top of that, tonight was my last performance of La Boheme at the Met Opera this season, and it was definitely my most inspired night yet! My counterpart and I agreed that the aim of the day - acting choice wise - was to play it up as though this was a Paris we had never seen. As a result, everything was fresh and new. We had our hands kissed, we got to flirt with the flag and flower sellers, we had our fortunes read, we watched live horse drawn carriages flutter gracefully across the stage, and we culminated our participation in Act II with our customary exuberant yet staged wave to the audience.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to celebrate and say goodbye to a production that has been an absolute delight.

Ever Wanted to Talk to Meryl Streep?

I know I have... and now we can!! Today, December 6th at 8:45pm, Meryl Streep will participate in a live Questions & Answer segment hosted by Backstage.com and I can't wait!

Check out the link below:


http://bts.backstage.com/2011/12/on-tuesday-watch-a-live-online-qa-with-actress-meryl-streep.html

Also, please keep paying it forward this Holiday season and take a moment to vote for Let's Get Ready SAT Prep to win $1 million from JP Morgan/Chase towards giving free SAT prep to high school students in Harlem!

Check out THAT direct link, here:   http://VoteLGR.org

Shameless Plug for Let's Get Ready SAT Prep Non Profit!

Hey everyone! So I used to volunteer for Let's Get Ready SAT Prep while I was a student at Columbia. Several of my students at Harlem Children's Center increased their scores at least 200 points, one increased her score by 500 points and is now going to New York University!! 

This is a great program, it's free for the kids, and it's doing tangible work to help kids get into college. Please consider voting for Let's Get Ready in Chase Community Giving.

There are four more days left for Let's Get Ready to win the America Giving Awards, and your votes (once per day on Facebook) will give Let's Get Ready the chance to win up to $1 million and help thousands of students get into college!!

See link below:

http://www.facebook.com/ChaseCommunityGiving?sk=app_123284047772276

Thank you so much for reading, and for helping Let's Get Ready give students in New York City public schools a fighting chance to make their dreams come true!

When you wish upon a star.... :-)

Hugs and love,

A Broadway Baby

MMMMM Opera

What a weekend!

Rodelinda during the day, Faust at night. I am so  so  so in LOVE with Opera.

Pulled my Auditioning Muscle

Ouch. I am SORE. Haha I guess that is the outcome of firing on all cylinders yesterday. So in hind sight, it's cool to get to five auditions in a day, but holy moly make sure you are well warmed up, stretched, and hydrated. The big one I forgot to do yesterday while running from place to place is to stretch AFTER I dance as well. (Whoops). Only recently, I've begun to learn the value of the practice to stretch both before and after an audition or performance.

My difficulty moving around today strikes a memory chord from one of my voice coaches, who has always told us that auditioning is a technique that you develop in the way that ballet is a technique. The more you practice (the more you get out there to auditions), the better you become (and hopefully, the more likely you are to get hired). However, I've just discovered the flip side of that valuable lesson: sometimes you have to know when to go hard and when to go home. (Right now, I'm definitely home)

In other news, I am SO excited for the premiere of Faust this past Tuesday! If only I could be Marina Poplavskaya in this picture...

You better WERK!

Aaaarrrghh. Today is the first time in my life that I have actually had to turn down not one, but TWO performance job opportunities!!!

Positives first.

To all my dancer friends out there, I learned today that it IS possible to get to four, maybe five auditions in one day - even with call backs - as long as you're willing to hustle! So wave bye-bye to having to choose between auditions (unless you want to).

This morning, I got to Pearl Studios at 9am, just in time to sing for the musical Damn Yankees. I'm going back to dance for Damn Yankees tomorrow. After singing, I walked a block north to Ripley Grier Studios and got there around 9:30am to sign up for the Newsies singing audition. To my surprise, I also found a Disney Cruise line singing audition that was a total ghost town. I walked into the holding room (where you wait before they call your name), gave the monitor my headshot & resume, and literally walked into the auditioning room about 30 seconds later.

In a rare experience for me, I actually received feedback and direction from the Disney casting people while I was in the room. The main guy (eek I forget his name... that is such a NO-NO and I better Google it) actually recognized me from the battement (eye-high leg kick) picture on my resume before he recognized my face. It was so nice to have a real conversation and feel like a real person to them! He told me he liked my headshot, that I should never take off the kicking picture, and asked me how I had been.... he and the other lady - even the accompanist - genuinely seemed to care!

At their request, I sang one of my songs ("Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie) three different ways, then sang another song as well! He said that he was impressed with the adjustments I made, and I'm thinking to myself the whole time, is this a dream right now!? Completely unplanned, yet extraordinarily valuable audition. In the room, out of the building, and on my way to the next destination in less than 15 minutes.

Then I booked it down to Chelsea Studios (ten blocks away from Ripley Grier), to sign up for the 2pm dance audition for a revival of Mame, which is to be choreographed by hottie Vince Pesce. After that, I doubled back to Ripley Grier studios and brought a yummy vanilla rooibos tea to my namesake, since she kindly signed me up for an 11:30am Arizona Broadway Theater audition. (It's all about karma, people! Why NOT do a nice thing whenever you can?)

For the first time in TWO months, I received not one, but TWO callbacks, which was - I must say - a much welcomed surprise validation. Arizona asked me to sing, sing, sing again and read some sides, but I had to get to Mame and finish dancing there (ten blocks away) in a narrow one hour window. Suffice it to say, I cabbed it back to Ripley Grier so that I could make it on time for my call back appointments. Between Disney (I'm not sure I want to go on a 10 month cruise contract) and Arizona Broadway Theater ($200 a week to move back to Phoenix .... not sure that works for me financially) this Wednesday was something else.

I was also shocked when I realized once the option actually became viable, it was clear to me that neither of those contracts would really work. After a year of lusting after whatever job I could get, today's experience was a bit weird. To make matters MORE frustrating, I was recently asked to be part of the cast for the Met Opera's production of Gotterdammerung (which is really well paid) and I can't do it because rehearsals are during the holiday season, which also encompasses my best girl friend's wedding shower and bachelorette party. Chicks before contracts any day!

Long story short, after a significant dry spell and a persistent feeling of self suckiness, I seem to be back on my feet. I am so so so thankful to the universe for being nice to me today, and I plan to keep being nice to it. Hopefully what goes around will continue to come around. This post is also dedicated with humility to my closest dance friends, many of whom are much more talented than I, because I realized today that booking work is so rogue. There is no order to the chaos. These women I know and audition with deserve to book work ASAP and I just know they will soon.

Love you dancer girls!!

A Broadway Baby

A Gypsy, Paparazzi, and 70 degress in November

Third to the last La Boheme performance of the season this evening. I woke up to a surprisingly glorious day: 70 degrees and sunny. For a moment, I admit I was confused and thought perhaps I was dreaming that I was back home in California! But no, here I was, in good old New York, in what should have been the thick of winter but what really felt like summer!

As you might imagine, I took FULL advantage of it (and even perhaps went a bit overboard), by going straight for my summer clothes and grandma's jewelry. The result was an outrageous ensemble (even for me), complete with huge bangles and earrings, sparkly bead necklaces, flowing skirts, and a scarf that a friend brought me back from Thailand. It was pretty epic, but I looked right at home walking amongst the rows of costume racks in the hallways at the Met!

Today was a good Monday - full of yoga and salads and singing class, so I was really "present" with my acting choices during the Act II shopping scene. Still, every time Musetta hits her high notes, I almost cry (check out the gorgeousity of sound in the video below, especially at 2:19 and 2:25) What a nerd I am!

That said, it's also the most catchy tune from La Boheme for me. Thus I find myself singing it in the stairwells when I'm walking through the spiraling staircases toward the stage door exit. Normally, I'm mostly alone (the bowels of the Met Opera are immense), but this evening there were some VIPs wandering around looking to visit one of our principals. They were lost and confused, but I guess they must have thought I was one of the singers or something, because they complemented my outfit and TOTALLY took paparazzi-esque pictures of me while we were talking!

The guy had a camera in his hand the whole time taking video, and I didn't even notice until he turned the flash on in my face! 50% flattering... 50% incredibly rogue = 100% fun.

Dearest New York,

You are the crescendo to the melody, that melody I love. So here's to better days and get aways because every day's a holiday with you.

It's that time, ya'll. The holiday season is upon us!!

Love,
A Broadway Baby


P.S.
I really must use Iced Tea carefully. True, it makes me hyper productive, but also keeps my up until past 1am when I have 6:30am work out plans and an audition to go to tomorrow. Eek! :-)

Saturdays off

Spent my Saturday off in Randy's Intermediate/Advanced Theater tap class this afternoon and it was OH so good. I miss that kind of technical, speedy foot work, plus he has this fabulous style to his choreography that harkens back to the days of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire.

Oh and I forgot to mention, he's famous in the dance world. He originated the 42nd street choreography (among other successes) that remains on stages today and he has received Tonys and Drama Desk awards as well as many other accolades. Randy also seems to have his hands in almost every tap show or Tony awards show choreography that is created these days.

Thus, it is a critical dance networking opportunity to take class whenever he is teaching. He doesn't seem to be the biggest fan of teaching at Broadway Dance Center (he teaches much more frequently at Steps), so I almost fell over when he approached me in class there today... in part because I am still learning how to balance and dance in three inch high heeled tap shoes, and in part because he said that I must come back always and take his class at Steps. Eep! (Now if he would only fall in love with my West Coast enthusiasm and cast me in White Christmas!!!)

Got lots of new sheet music from the Performing Arts library at Lincoln Center, made a Trader Joes run complete with tiny Christmas tree and Advent calendar acquisition. Now I'm debating whether or not to pack it in and go to sleep early or summon up a second wind to do some laundry. Oy.

The dancer's life is definitely not all glitz and glamour. Still gotta take care of the essentials!

Epiiiic

Just spent about four hours with Cate Blanchett's Elizabeth and Hiyao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle on in the background. I stayed in after an invigorating Friday night performance of La Boheme (must remember to take all this stage makeup off!) just so I could reorganize my music for Broadway auditions.

It made for a really exciting evening - for me, at least. I just learned "Zero to Hero" from Disney's Hercules, which I am SUPER into. I mean, how can you not love something that starts with spoken lyrics like "He was soooo hot, steam looked cool."

'Twas quite the hack job I had to do to get a cut of music that I liked (fyi, typically one can only sing 16 or 32 bars in an audition room, which is equivalent to about two pages of music) from the eight pages of "Zero." Sorry, Mr. Menken!! After all the effort, I decided I may as well add some random new favorites to my binder as well: "Make You Feel My Love," by Adele, "I Want the Good Times Back" from Little Mermaid (on Broadway, this song's not in the cartoon), "Not for the Life of Me" from Thoroughly Modern Millie, and "Show Off" from Drowsy Chaperone.

The showbiz among you will recognize there's a wee bit of Sutton Foster evolution in music going on in my new songs. To my immense surprise, my vocal teacher thinks I'm kind of like Ms. Foster in terms of type (physical look and voice quality) as well as personality... so I should have some of her standard songs on hand. It's sweet of my music teacher to say such a thing (even though it's so not true - except maybe Sutton & I share some quirkiness in common). .... Still, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a skill set, a pair of legs, and a career not unlike hers!?

That said, it's crazy how much effort and tenacity a serious Broadway dancer/singer/actress should put in to keep his or her auditioning preparation in top form. For my "book" (that's what we call our immense binders of sheet music) alone, I have to keep several songs that are well prepared (with good musicality + specific acting choices), not to mention that the songs must be well suited to the "type" I portray.

*** "Type" is a weird thing to explain... it's basically the way that other people see you when you enter a room, so your personality and often your body type have a lot to do with it (e.g. I give off more of a chorus girl or quirky character actress/singer vibe than that of a leading lady, a matronly person, or say, a nun). Moreover, it's an increasingly difficult task to figure out what music best shows your strengths when the "type" that casting directors see in you is in flux. ***

Such is the case with me... apparently I give off "quirky, fun" vibes, but I'm told I am moving away from the "cute" and into the more "grown up" realm. God help me if another production assistant asks me if I'm grown up enough for my age range to be 28-35, though. I think I might pop a blood vessel somewhere in the vicinity of my scarcely existent smile lines!! (Just kidding, that's my dancer humor, I know I'm not "old."Actually, lately, I've been realizing just how young I am and how much about the world I have left to learn).

The performing arts industry is so interesting when it comes to age, look, and character flexibility. I like to think that I can understand and therefore portray many different types of people, so I make effort not to pigeon-hole myself into one category. Yet my personality, without my permission, seems to have a mind of it's own!  I'm lucky to benefit from great teachers and coaches like Bettina Sheppard at Broadway Dance Center, and Bryan Wade, who both help me find material that works for me. Can't wait to try some of these new songs out on the Wicked and Mame auditions this coming week!

Hugs and Love (and a post Turkey day spin class in seven hours... eek!)

A Broadway Baby

Happy Thanksgiving Day, Everyone!

Hope you and your loved ones have a marvelous day celebrating the people and things we are all so fortunate to have in our lives!

Lots of love to all and to all a good, fun filled eating fest.

Hugs,

A Broadway Baby

Student becomes Master

Today I got the kind of email that makes my teacher-heart sing.

One of my SAT students got a 2340 (out of 2400) on their most recent SAT exam!!!!

Thus, the student becomes the master.

::Sigh of happiness::

Today is shaping up to be an otherwise low key day. It's grey and cold outside, almost all of the fall leaves have fallen off their trees, and winter seems prepped to make a grand entrance. At some point today I'll get in the gym, then have an Alice's Tea Cup date with a fellow opera lover, tutor some kids, and get my Parisian on in La Boheme tonight at the Met Opera.

In the spirit of the coming Thanksgiving, I am thanking my lucky stars for my students, my job(s), and delicious pumpkin scones today!

Hugs and love,

A Broadway Baby

A Rabbit's Life for Me

My new thing for the past two weeks has been to replace any "unnecessary" grain/bread/cracker thing or cheese with a protein or vegetable dish instead. Self improvement and all that jazz.

Result? I have gained three pounds of muscle... but I feel like a little rabbit! I seriously cannot remember a single other period in my life where I have consumed so many obnoxiously healthy green things... Salads at least once a day for the past 12 days... I don't know how people can have salads all the time like this!

I'm making it work, but phew... there have been a few days where my pursuit of more muscle and better fitness has had the unexpected side effect of grainless grouchiness.

As always, I'm striving for that most coveted of balancing acts: eating moderately sized meals frequently throughout the day. Being healthy and fit is almost a job in of itself, people! I had no idea...

Need a Trader Joe's run ASAP before Thanksgiving... I think I'll plan out some super spread of  tofurkey, quinoa, spinach salad, and yams... like the good liddle wabbit I am!

.... I miss bread.  :-(

Happy almost Turkey Day!

Love and hugs,

A (hopefully) healthier Broadway Baby

Truth/Love: Weekend of the Arts

I cannot imagine a more arts-enriched weekend than the two days I've had!

Friday night hailed the opening night of La Boheme and the Metropolitan Opera. Every performance, I get paid to fake shop around the set of a fake Paris with my fake cousin Lauren, who is from the South of France (or so our story goes). Musetta's waltz is just gorgeous, I never tire of hearing it. It's really a rare privilege to be part of something that is so beloved by the Met Opera audiences.

After Act 2, I got to bounce from the opera house, and was able to race up to Columbia's campus to support the lovely Erin in her choreographic debut at Orchesis (greek for "dance"). The show was lovely, and I especially enjoyed the choreographers' music choices. The best of the night was this cover of "Hey Ya": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c745E7T_Wvg

Today I woke up on my leisurely day off and spent the afternoon at the Met Opera - taking advantage of the free standing room tickets that come with my Met Opera employee benefits - and watched the matinee of the matinee of the popular Satyagraha, Phillip Glass' opera about Gandhi's formative years in South Africa. Satya is loosely translated from Sanskrit to mean "truth/love", and agraha to mean "insistence/force" and the combination of the two engrams encapsulate Gandhis' approach to nonviolent protest. I couldn't help but see significance given all the violence and uproar with Occupy Wall Street in recent weeks.

As to the Satyagraha production itself, I'll try to use words to describe it, but really nothing seems sufficient to detail the experience better than watching Phillip's libretto and McDermont and Crouch's production unfold in person. Satyagraha was equal parts mystifying, saddening, and enlightening. Gorgeous puppetry and symbolism, though perhaps a bit more thematic repetition than was necessary to get the point across. Then again, what do I know? I'm only an opera newbie! In a fun bonus, I got to watch the last two acts from the front row of the mezzanine when a few season ticket holders left (way too) early.

The most exciting part of the afternoon was when Phillip Glass himself came out at the very end of the curtain call to bow with the cast. I've heard him talked about for years, but never realized he was well into his 70s.... how the world turns. He's still fiercely original and quirky as ever... I hear his current partner is in his 30s... weeerk it Phil!

On a whim, I switched from clapping to waving (we wave at the audience in La Boheme after Musetta's waltz; it's always a crowd pleaser), and lo and behold a few of the principal singers and even Phillip Glass waved back!

After a wonderful dinner where I played sugar momma to a dear friend of mine as a belated birthday present, I stumbled upon a jazz performance at Columbia's Miller Theater, spent my night practicing "You and I" by Ingrid Michaelson on the ukulele, and am now happily off to bed.

Lots of love,

A Broadway Baby

Fun Fact Fridays

Starting now, I'm instituting "Fun Fact Fridays," when I'll share one delicious yet useful fact about showbiz in New York per Friday.

This week's tidbit: Work Study Program at Broadway Dance Center (BDC). Whether you're wanting to learn how to dance or sing, or you're an old hat at both, BDC is an amazing place to study. With the help of the Work Study Program, lifelong learners (young and old) can work two to four hours a week in exchange for $5 dance classes (usually dance class at BDC is $18 per class!).

The program is easy to access, just walk into 322 W 45th (you can't miss it, we're between a gentleman's club and a hostel... in true New York fashion) and request an application. Who knows, I might be the one calling you to set up orientation interviews!

You really can't go wrong with this program or the Broadway Dance Center people. No snooty-ness or hyper-competitiveness here. Everyone - from the dancers behind the front desk to the customers in the lobby and studios - is genuinely happy to be there and to be learning. I can't imagine a New York performing life without BDC!!

Special shout outs this week to my girls Camille and Sharon, who keep me in touch with my inner soul sister, and Joe and Scott, who keep me smiling all night long during the Friday night front desk shift at BDC.

All my love,

A Broadway Baby

What do Mamma Mia and Lady Gaga have in common?

Apparently a super spunky audition sequence with some flashy jazz hands at 10 in the morning, that's what.

 

So today began like most of my days: up early at the alarm clock, coffee, omelet, brush teeth + mouthwash if I'm lucky enough to remember, quick run/workout, shower (or birdbath... hopefully) then pack my stuff for a day of auditioning/tutoring madness.

The Mamma Mia audition is easier - in some ways - than most, because the dancers in that show wear street clothes, minimal make-up (a.k.a save your false eyelashes and blood red lips for Chicago and How to Succeed), and do almost nothing to their hair (otherwise known as, leave those curling irons at home, ladies!)

I knew I was going to have a hard day's transit so I texted a friend to sign me up around 8am, so I was #44 on the unofficial non-union dancers' list, but then I stupidly went to get coffee for her and print some head shots at the critical audition moment: when the Actors Equity monitor shows up and stakes her territory by tearing up the unofficial list.

At this point, one of two things happens:

1. The girls in the room bend to their internal moral compasses and do the right thing by transferring over the names - in the same order - from the non-official list to the official non-union dancers list.
2. There is a mad dash for the new list and all of the opportunists [sometimes physically] fight with each other to get as close to the top of the list is possible. 

There are variants along the spectrum of these two choices (I will never forget the hair pulling I witnessed at the epic Evita singers call, those b$&%*es are craaazy), and today's was unfortunately closer to the second of the two. So whilst in a Starbucks line, I found myself bumped down to number 84 on the non-eq list, with about 100 equity girls to audition before me and the other non-union dancers.

Some days, that bump down may have made the difference whether I was seen and had the opportunity to audition or not. Fortunately, today was a day where they were moving QUICKLY in the room, and so the Mamma Mia team from Tara Rubin casting company saw everyone - union and non union dancer alike. 

People in the room:

Janet Rothermel - Dance Supervisor

Ryan Sander - Dance Captain on Broadway

Lindsay Levine - Casting Associate from Tara Rubin Casting

Lesson from the day: wake up earlier for the next audition and don't leave until my name is on the official non union list. oy.

Learning the hard lesson to deposit cash money as soon as you get it: -$300... New found admiration for the MTA: priceless

Nothing like a Wednesday morning mugging on the crosstown 79 bus to get your day started off right!! Final day of dress rehearsal for La Boheme, and I still can't believe I managed to make it to rehearsal on time AND to retrieve le wallet (sans $300 in cash, unfortunately, but still with the $400 in checks.... memo to self: deposit that tutoring money asap in the future. Also, don't endorse your checks until right when you put them in the ATM, otherwise someone else can take them and use them).

After I realized my wallet was gone, I raced after the bus (at a healthy ten block sprint) to get its number, then managed to flag down a bus dispatcher and found - to my pleasant surprise - that the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) employees are actually really kind and obliging! One of the bus drivers got me water and napkins (I had a crazy cry + hiccup + make up running = altogether unattractive look going for me) and the other one managed to find the bus in the depot and send guys out to search it.

After what seemed like an eternity of waiting on the receiving end of a slightly crackling walkie-talkie, some dude named Elias asked me my full name and said that they had found my wallet!! It was a Met Opera Miracle!

The superintendent in charge of Manhattan transport had heard that I was crying over the radio I guess, and  so he came to drive me down to the depot near Times Square himself. Beyond that, he even gave me a lift back to the Met Opera, and I still can't believe I managed to get my wallet back, make a statement, get into costume, and get on stage before rehearsal started.

Who says there aren't nice people in New York? Cheers to you, Ronnie! And who knew that MTA employees could be so helpful and generous!

In summary:

Learning the hard lesson to deposit cash money as soon as you get it:  minus $300...
New found affection for the MTA and renewed hope for humanity: priceless

First Day of La Boheme Rehearsal!

Horseys and donkeys and drunkards, oh my!

This morning was my first rehearsal with the (enormous) La Boheme cast and chorus (and children's chorus!). At one point I was trying to count everyone onstage, but gave up because there are just SO many people.

The experience is fabulous; children are stomping around a two-story set, older (more mature... searching for the PC term here, people) ladies are giving sass and telling fortunes in no particular order. And LO and behold, there are two live animals in the show! One gorgeous Andalusian-looking horse to draw Musetta's carriage and one donkey to pull the cart with all the kids toys.

The animals are so cute that I can put aside the fact that they make more than me.

Suffice it to say, it's been quite easy to act excited about everything that I see when I'm on stage with my shopping buddy, Lauren. We have this fun track where we hang out with the choristers and then wander up the center stairwell, play with the children, buy some jewels, and get sassed by some older ladies. Good times, good times.

Just finished a yoga class followed by a fabulous dinner of quinoa (my first time cooking it, HD, and I did it!), spinach, sausage, and corn. Can we say HEALTH? Had a protein shake for dessert... really working toward those extra five pounds of muscle for dance calls.

All in all, today was none to shabby on the pursuit of achieving goals front!

Hugs and Love,

A Broadway Baby

Mediterranean Life for Me

Red Wine & Greek Salad (though substitute mozzarella, and a LOT of it).

Best end to the longest weekend ever.

Here's to a fresh week of Mamma Mia and Rock of Ages and vocal tech.

Yay dance!

Hyperactivity

OK, so I just made $600 in two days (not including my Met Opera pay from Friday's last Don Giovanni show for the fall).

Awesome? Yes.

Sustainable? Definitely not.

My brain is HURTING ya'll! I mean, it's been super exciting to teach myself increasingly more difficult physics and learn all about integrative methods for assessing risk factors in child development, but I am close to worn out.

Need another rest day ASAP! It is not a joke that overworking oneself can increase the crazy...

It's a tough balancing act though. Part of me is like, ooo I have all these opportunities and nice, well-paying clients... ergo I should take advantage of this good fortune while I have it!

The other part of me is like holy CWAP you need to actually stop moving and RELAX on occasion or there will be hell to pay.

Let's see which part wins out.

...To be continued!

P.S. Big shout out of love and gratefulness to Cleo, who saw my last Don Giovanni performance at Lincoln Center yesterday and brought me the most gorgeous of flowers, and to Heather, who keeps me grounded and isn't afraid to call me out when I need it.


I am tres lucky!

Hugs,

A Broadway Baby

Go HARD or Go Home

First day in several weeks that my hip actually hasn't hurt while walking... then I had to ruin my wisely chosen days of rest by going to an abdominals class at the gym and sprinting to my last tutor session of the evening.

Now the back aches and the hip is tweaky. DAYUM.

Optomism: May as well get up at 8am tomorrow and do total body workout!

Here's to going hard instead of going home,

Your Broadway Baby

Resting the body, strengthening the mind

So just because my hip is janky (former roommate's adjective for all messed up) doesn't mean that I can't still work toward improvement!

As such, I learned You and I by Ingrid Michaelson on the ukulele! But ouch the stretch to that Emajor chord hurts my teeny hands! So silly.

Also, over the past few days I've had to teach myself conceptual physics so I could teach one of my private tutoring students about newton's laws of motion. (Hooray for Khan Academy videos).

In my kid's history class, they're learning about reincarnation, dharma (moral duty) and karma... so in hopes of following my dharma and building better karma, I'm sending hugs and love to all my dancers out there, especially the NYC ladies heading to Royal Carribean Chicago auditions tomorrow.

Break legs!

-A Broadway Baby

Fall Back to Move Forward

Today's the day we set our clocks back an hour to welcome fall! So I shouldn't be surprised by some other setbacks to my usual regimen, but what an unexpected delight to not be able to make it to spin class on 1st avenue because today is the New York City Marathon!

Those runners are SUCH inspiring athletes that I can't even be bothered by the fact that I can't get into my gym! Here's to a lovely alternative walk across central park with me mum.

Happy fall!

A Broadway Baby

Day of Inspiration

Three AMAZING things stand out about this brisk, yet lovely fall Saturday in New York

1. My illustrious mother is here visiting for the weekend. I could not have a better buddy with whom to traverse New York City!!!
2. Today was VISION DAY for the organization that is reinvigorating my optimism and hope for the world. We spent four hours in the Metropolitan Museum's innards, benefiting from the unique combination of jazz music, inspirational speeches from Tim Shriver (Maria Shriver's little bro, John F Kennedy's nephew), conjurings of Martin Luther King Jr, a surprising diaspora of inspiring young people, and a visit from the incredibly Yale-looking Yale acapella group. Deliciousness on all counts.
3. Just got home from seeing Billy Elliot on Broadway. Sooo reinspired to work ten times harder towards my dance dreams! Those little boys are FIERCE. The show is closing for good on January 8th, so if you're in the city and haven't seen it, GO!

It's sleepy time, and I'm looking forward to some good dreams.

Lots of love,

A Broadway Baby

Rest Day!

Though Chicago and Memphis Equity Chorus Calls are beckoning, I can be honest and realize there are no roles for me in either show (well, at least not until I'm thirty or so for Chicago). Probably for the best, because this hip situation needs to be resolved!

Looking forward to a day spent intensely cleaning the house to prepare for MOMMA's weekend stay!

In Met Opera news, I have still evaded the nightly threat of death by honing my dodging-projectile-silver-goblet skillz.

Oh showbiz.

Love and hugs,

A Broadway Baby

You REALLY know you've made it when...

Your Charles Schwab portfolio manager sends you flowers. So I guess I should go invest some more money with her?!

I mean the photo's backwards, but hey, proof:

"Artists are those people among us who realize that creation did not stop on the sixth day" - J.P. Witkin

Monday Fun Day

Nice to see the sun after surprise snow on Saturday!

Started the day off right with a fashion photo shoot for an SVA teacher (beginning at 8am, yikes!) What can I say, it's nice to wake up and have someone else do your hair and makeup. :-)

Now I'm off to a vocal rehearsal, here's hoping my morning coffee didn't disastrously dehydrate the old wind pipes.

Sending lots of sunny love from New York,

A Broadway Baby

You know you love opera when...

After three months of rehearsal, ten performances, and one High Definition live taping for 200,000 people across 44 countries, and you STILL come home after your Saturday matinee to watch the final scene on youtube.

If that's not love, I don't know what is!

Where'd I go?!

Just noticed my last post was Tuesday. Phew how life FLIES.

Beauty and the Beast callback, though I was a no go because they were clearly looking for a more voluptuous Babette cover. As a case study I'm def wearing three bras under a cute blouse for my next few auditions.. especially Jersey Boys. I'll report back with findings.

Finally have my work study shift back at Broadway Dance Center. Hooray for $5 classes!

Mariusz is Back!!

Hooray, Mariusz is feeling better and returning tonight to be our shorter, more even tempered, less inclined to throw people and stand on tables Giovanni.

Check out the NY Times article on him here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/arts/music/mariusz-kwiecien-on-the-mend-for-don-giovanni-at-the-met.html?nl=nyregion&emc=urb2

Didn't realize that the HD performance this Saturday is expected to reach an audience of 200,000 people in 44 countries. Eep!

....Today I'm feeling really sick. Hopefully no one will notice.

End of an Era

After four plus years, today was the last day I shall ever use my trusty red Blackberry Curve 8310. Now I own the technological equivalent of it's sexy granddaughter, I guess... but it's weeeird! I feel like I'm cheating on the best phone I ever had!

Oh... 21th century advancements ... you have yet to disappoint.

So my Kaplan kids are steadily improving, as are my private tutoring students. I'm holding the fort here on the Upper East Side.... after a day of vocal tech, vocal performance/audition tech, and two hours of working out, I'm prepped for an epic Tuesday.

The short list of tasks tomorrow:

1. Sign up for Beauty & the Beast singing call
2. Get headshots at the nearby Staples
3. Go back and sing for Beauty & the Beast tour
4. Investigate any other worthwhile auditions at Ripley Grier
5. Rush over to the School of Visual Arts for a modeling gig 1:30-5:30pm
6. Get to Lincoln Center before 5:45pm to meet with a tutoring client (that's going to take magic)
7. Swipe my ID and sign the cast list before my 7pm call time for Tuesday night's performance of Don Giovanni.

Wow. It's kind of helpful to see the madness laid out like that. Here's crossing fingers that everything works out. Tomorrow night is our test for the Live in HD filming that will take place this Saturday, October 29th. I can't believe the fall run of the opera is almost over already!

(Lastly, a return to my Disney mindset of yesteryear)


Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme...

The Upside of Down

I managed to disguise the fact that I was sick as a dog all day today in my SAT class. Phew! Even though I was feeling icky and the trains were not functioning - today was one of those days where yours truly got stuck in a downtown N train for about fifteen minutes and had to cab it to class to make it on time - there was an upside to all the nasty!

On my return voyage to the Upper East Side, I ran into Aaron Tveit, recently of Catch Me If You Can on Broadway!!! At first, I wasn't sure if it was him.... the notoriety of Broadway stars is so much more subtle than that of many of their (arguably less talented) Hollywood colleagues... but then I pulled out one of those friendly A Broadway Baby smiles and mentioned that he looks even taller in person than he does on stage.

Luckily he got a kick out of it, because we had a nice little chat while an uptown bound N cooled its jets near Carnegie Hall. He may even come see the opera!

So here you go - my smile - is - a -frown - just - upside - down moment for the weekend:

Doesn't he just look so approachable and nice? Good times.

Bye Bye Birdie (in Oklahoma?!) and Beauty and the Beast auditions tomorrow!!


Back in the saddle again...

Putting the STAR in "Starting Over"

Every day - especially one I have off - has the potential to yield something wonderful. There's this great person in my life who thinks that a day rested is a day wasted, and I just can't wrap my head around that. At least not in the context of the pace of a life lived here in the quintessential metropolis of New York.

This Friday has been amazing... last night was a movie night in celebration of a dear friend's birthday, and today I woke up without an alarm for the first time in I can't REMEMBER how long.

After a week full of private tutoring clients, negotiating schedules with some intensely busy parents, and seeing success become a viable option for my kids, I feel grateful for a refreshed lease on my life.

Here's to facing each new day with a healthy and renewed optimism, and to putting the star in starting over!


http://www.ted.com/talks/sarah_kay_if_i_should_have_a_daughter.html

Covered in Glitter

And awash with new beginnings. Today was my 11 year old tutee's 12th birthday, which of course we had to celebrate at Alice's Tea Cup, with a healthy dose of purple fairy dust sprinkled over us to guarantee our wishes.

Tomorrow is my first full day off in three months. I can hardly stand it.

Complete dissolution and bed rest, here I come!

Back to the Grind

I cannot BELIEVE I have already made my month's rent in just the first three days of this week.

And all from a rather unexpected source: private tutoring!

After spending a year negotiating part time employment that was both unfulfilling and under-compensated, I think I have finally stumbled upon my niche. With the help of Craigslist, Sittercity.com, TutorPro and Tutorspree (essentially like a Facebook that connects tutors with people who need specific services), I now have five new private tutoring client/families that I tutor on a weekly basis.

If that weren't fortunate enough, I actually really LIKE all of them! Three teenagers, one hyperactive, dance-loving 11 year -old (sound familiar, parentals?), and a student at the Columbia University School of Social work. This morning I woke up at the crack of dawn to head down to Times Square, where I tutor my post doctoral student in the mechanics of APA style and Neurosci/Psych research paper writing. Two hours... Two hundred dollars. Not bad... not bad at all.

I'm still counting my lucky stars and not going crazy with spending or anything, but wow, I am so happy that I finally feel I can leave desk jobs behind!!!

Moreover, I can finally get back into the business of doing what I really want to do: DANCE!

Tomorrow I'll be heading out at 7am to catch a train all the way out to White Plains for an Equity audition for the musical Cats. Apparently I really, really want to be in this show again, haha. Thank goodness I have some leggy dancer company in the form of the Namesake, upon her triumphant return from China.

Adventures, new clients, rogue work outs, oh my! Back to the grind now that I've come back to reality after months in Met Opera heaven? Why yes, yes indeed.

Love,

A Broadway Baby

La Boheme at the Met Opera

Just got a new cast member and it's meeeee.

Woot!

Don Giovanni NY TImes Review is OUT!!!

Check it out! 
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/arts/music/don-giovanni-at-the-metropolitan-opera-review.html?_r=1&nl=nyregion&emc=urb3


This line rings particularly true:

"...[Petter Mattei] was superb, singing alternately with suave, seductive phrasing and menacing intensity. At 6-foot-4, he was lordly, cagey, heady with desire and glibly reckless."

Reckless with the bodies of those around him on stage! Eep... he really was a bit terrifying (and alluring in a disturbing, super-tall, hyperactively gyrating sort of way). However, I must say this entire experience going from Mariusz to Mr. Mattei has given all of us the opportunity to relish the time-honored role of creating a solid support system so that the central character can stand out (or stand on dining tables ... you know... whatever he wants to do in the moment), regardless of any other mitigating circumstances.


According to the New York Times, the Met Opera announced officially yesterday that Mariusz would return to the role on Oct. 25 (Twitter updates, anyone?), the fourth performance in the run.... we'll miss him and wish him the speediest recovery until then!


Oh, look, I found a line that sorta kinda refers to me!! (err... all of the Don's girlfriends, really): 

"... we see an inner curved wall of balconies, with groups of young women in every alcove: a [gorgeous] human panorama of Giovanni’s lovers"

In an indirect way I am TOTALLY in the New York Times .... hahaha, not. But hey, getting closer and closer!! :-)

Good news!

I managed not to break anything, drop anything (or fall myself) from my third floor, danger pay-meriting balcony window! Even better, I got through opening night no worse for the wear, despite a nasty onslaught of unappreciated heartburn. One of the supers made the most amazing snickerdoodles I think I've ever had... mmm... who knew a teensy bit cream of tartar could be used to create heaven in slightly under-baked cookie form??

Peter's Don Giovanni defies easy explanation, but let's just say he was huge, physical, and genuinely terrifying at times. It's always nice when I discover that acting moments are just natural reactions to the situation at hand.

Much love to my amazing parents for the gorgeous surprise flowers! I even got a special call to my dressing room that flowers had been delivered to the stage door in my name. Oh the romance - my first show bouquet!!

Exhaustion and hunger are setting in, so I must go do something about the latter before I address the first.

Don Giovanni Performance #1 - check!

OPENING NIGHT IS HERE!

Into the abyss.

Hopefully I manage to come away unscathed.... or at least, un-barbequed!

My love and thanks to all my friends and family, who have been so supportive and encouraging. You are the reason why I will be in my first opera tonight!

Here's a sneak preview of our overture, conducted by the man himself, James Levine. I can't believe I am such a huge nerd as to actually watch the entire opera on Youtube while I'm at work before my call time tonight. Oy! The 1990 version of director Zefirelli's production at the Met is heavy handed, but definitely a GOOD time. Sam Ramey is a hottie of a Don Giovanni, but I'm loyal to Mariusz and want him back ASAP.

Hugs and love,

A Broadway Baby

Two Days and Counting!

 Nothing like the Catalogue Aria of Don Giovanni - in which Giovanni's faithful servant lists the thousands of women Don Giovanni has seduced and conquered for the enlightening of Donna Elvira - to put one's modern day relationships into perspective!

I mean, hey, he (or she) may not be as supportive as you'd like, but at least your partner hasn't slept with 1,003 women in Spain alone. One hopes, haha. (Fyi the people in the above video are from the 1988 Covent Garden production, not the cast that I've had the pleasure to work with).

Two days and counting until opening night!!

Peter has been rehearsing like a madman for Thursday's show. Apparently it's quite rare for an understudy to go on unless its absolutely last minute (alas, for I so love Duane Croft!)

For situations like ours, the creative team does all in its power to get a singer with a strong reputation who also has Don Giovanni in his repertoire. In the case of Peter Mattei, he was actually taken off of Barber of Seville at the Met Opera tonight (Rodeon, his undertsudy, sung the Figaro in his stead).

I'm sure alls well that ends well, as I'll see Thursday night. I only hope Mariusz has a speedy recover and can return to us soon. Send out positive energy into the universe on his behalf, everyone!

Hugs and love,
A Broadway Baby

Oh noes!

Now that it's been made public via Met Opera twitter, I can lament the loss of Mariusz Kwiecien, who was to have opened Thursday's first performance as our Don Giovanni. Instead, he has been benched due to an injury at today's final dress.

The person the Met's chosen to replace him in the DG debut is not even his understudy, Duane Croft, who I thought was quite stunning in his gifted, last minute cover today. Mr. Croft was sitting in the audience among several hundred other covers, dancer understudies, and some students, founders and other lucky ducks who were able to get free tickets to the final dress rehearsal.

Suddenly, he was called from his sit and rushed to the stage this afternoon - in his street clothes, no less - to continue as Don Giovanni after Mariusz was hurt in the first scenes. As the show progressed, wardrobe peeps got him into Don Giovanni's costume, and by the end of the first act, he was wigged (thank god, because a balding Giovanni was not really working aesthetically, though the voice and acting were both quite sound).

Duane Croft was really good, it was a pleasure to watch his older, darker, different interpretation of Giovanni, especially in the final scene when he descends to hell. That said, I only hope that Mariusz heals quickly; he has put so much time, effort, and caring into his character. Everyone on the team has poured their life's blood into the rehearsals for this production - from the Directors to the dance covers, the principals to the stage managers. I am just so saddened by this unforeseen complication and the frustration that Mariusz must feel. Luckily, I am surrounded by incredibly professionals, and as the old adage goes:

The show must go on!

Don Giovanni in the New York Times!!

Don Giovanni Preview Article with Director Michael Grandage, Conductor Luisi (replacing James Levine who is out with a significant and persistent back injury), and our very own Don Giovanni, Mariusz Kwiecien.

See link - http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/arts/music/old-fashioned-approach-to-mets-new-don-giovanni.html?nl=nyregion&emc=urb3

Our Opening Night is this Thursday!!

All my love,
A Broadway Baby

Anachronism and A Lot of White

So during today's dress rehearsal, I found myself laced into three sets of 17th century style corsets, wearing a butt bustle and a 10 inch tall white Mozartian wig, struggling for breath as my boobs pushed their way towards my clavicle, and wearing the most beautiful maroon and gold dress I've ever laid eyes on.

Oh, and I was hungry.

In perhaps the oddest, most anachronist combination the Met dressing room has ever seen, I resolved said hunger issue with edamame and a bagel. Who knew it was so difficult to eat when your waist size has been reduced from 24 inches to 17??

I love my job.

Exhaustion!

Stunning how difficult it can be to keep up with a blog about getting a dance job once you've landed one! Rehearsals are going well; corsets are tight, pyrotechnics are stunning, all aspects of the Don Giovanni production at the Met Opera are happily above par....

Yet rent still necessitates other sources of income. Completely acceptable, just a bit difficult to negotiate. Took on some new tutoring clients, 2 of which I love, 1 of which is causing significant stress and frustration. Patience makes the heart learn to prosper, so I must - as always - remember to breathe and keep my end goal of dancing on Broadway in sight. Baby steps.

First night on stage

And it is a moment I'll never forget. All the other actors and dancers were busy off to the sides and no one had taken to the stage yet...so I had the wonderful luxury of walking slowly out from stage right wings and into the Met Opera spotlights.

Cameras are intensely forbidden, but honestly, I didn't need to capture that moment on film, because I will never forget the steep intake of breath and almost imperceptible rush of tears to the corner of my eyes that told me I had MADE it.

Oh and also, that fire scene in the final act of the opera is going to be intense. Stage fire is still real fire, and it's HOT! (Especially when you are three feet away from it).

Hooray for danger pay...

Postworthy

Can we say YUM?

In more relevant news, tonight is Don Giovanni's first stage rehearsal with piano. Holy crap!

Cheers,

A Broadway Baby

Super Nerd

listens to Saint-Saens and organ symphonies to get through two straight spin classes and morning lifting, all before 8am.

6am spin tomorrow. Burning off all the confusion and strangeness and lack of control.

A little epic organ to champion your daily battles: click here!

Cymbeline

is stunning. Seriously. Everyone must go see it asap at the Barrow Street Theatre near the Christopher Street stop off the 1 train in Manhattan.

The vigor of my recommendation comes fresh on the heels of my return from the performance, which I saw with my friend from Africa. This new production of Cymbeline demonstrates a perfect combination of humor and hope to jettison anyone away from the gloomy attitudes that muggy weather and gray skies bring.

I have to say I agree whole-heartedly with this New York Magazine review:

"The Fiasco Company brings joyful music, playful inventiveness and just an air-kiss of irony to Shakespeare's mock-epic. They remind us what theater, at its simplest and most powerful, is really for: the alchemical thrill of watching an entire world conjured into being out of sheer wit and will. A masterpiece."

- Scott Brown, New York Magazine

The most enjoyable aspect for me was that each of the actors not only sang (beautifully) the songs they composed together, but they also each played multiple instruments, and with genuine technical virtuosity!

If this is the future of theater, sign me up (and help me dust off my violin).

Progress?!

Went back in to sing for How To Succeed today. Got a "We'll be in touch" ... could be dismissive, could be good, who knows!  Any feedback is better than no feedback at all... at least it wasn't the dreaded, generic "Thank you!"

It was a gray, perfect day for me to sing my new favorite Sondheim go-to song, which literally has the line "What thought I could be duller, more depressing, less gay... now my favorite color is graaay."

Don Giovanni rehearsal was a bit full of the dramz... Don Giovanni himself even had a moment where he insisted, and this is a verbatim quote "I am the sun, you see, so everything in this production must revolve around me." True as that may be.... it was a bit absurd that he actually said that out loud! Leperello, as always, was full of timely comedic relief, and we finally met the Commendatore! What a deep voice, what a fantastic capacity to stoke fear in the hearts of all us lowly servants and party people on DG's final evening on earth!

Mr. Grandage is stunningly calm with all of the demanding personalities in his cast; I am continually impressed by his ability to coral the emotions and creativity of his team.

Anyway, another long day tomororow... now I think I may actually go to sleep super early, so lame, but soo necessary. Spin class at 6am tomorrow!

Living a lifetime in a day!

Today I was up at 5am to get home and work out and clean my house before the How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying dance call today (I know, it's an absurdly long name)

Got to the call in record time, and went in with the first non-equity (aka non-union) group of dancers. The choreographer read through my resume and got to the Met Opera engagement, and asked me about my schedule and availability. Eek! I was the only person in my room that he talked to.... it certainly doesn't mean a job, but in my world of endless optimism it means I'm one step closer to Brooooaaadwaaayy.

Met a long lost friend for a break in between parts of the audition.

According to Chris (the How To Succeed choreographer), there will be a glee replacement (Darren Criss) for Daniel Radcliff, and then, God help us, one of the Jonas Brothers (Nick, to be precise. The very same who played around on Les Miserables for about three months on tour... oh to be a Disney child). I'd love love love to dance for this show. So aerobic. So awesome!

And if the day wasn't awesome enough, I ran into Idina Menzel on the way out of Pearl Studios, and she said Hi and Thank You for holding the door open. And then my jaw proceeded to drop to the floor.... I'm about 40% sure that she saw.... embarrassment!

Anyway, spent the rest of the day at Broadway Dance Center in Theatre and Voice classes, and rounded up my day teaching for Kaplan at the JCC on the Upper West Side, and then interlude two with long lost friend. Phew!

Keep pounding the pavement ya'll!!

All my love,
Laura