i just saw kristen schaal at the Y. (i've had all of the jewish holidays off in october, which means that on wednesdays i've been house-wifing it; cleaning, baking and going to the gym at mid-day.) i happen to think she is pretty funny, and while i love her on "flight of the conchords" (such a great show!) i particularly love penelope, princess of pets.
ruby the bird is my fave (i have an odd fondness for foul-mouthed animal puppets.)
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
blog baby
i totally missed the one-year anniversary of my blog! what a bad mama! well, happy birthday blog, i owe you a cupcake. in honor of such, i would like to return to the snapshot post, and take a break from the long recaps.
tonight mk and i came home on an a train full of entertainment. first a man got on and sang this beautiful song. (i have no idea what it was.) he had one of those voices that sounds full of anguish and love, a voice that has lived a real life. i gave him all the change i had in my purse. then we witnessed a dance-off between a teenage boy and an adorable dancing toddler. seriously, this baby breaker had to be no more than four or five, and he was popping and locking across the car, despite falling down a few times due to the motion of the train and his own under-developed center of gravity. the entire car loved him. one of the cutest things i have seen in a long time. i love it when the commute can surprise me in a good way.
tonight mk and i came home on an a train full of entertainment. first a man got on and sang this beautiful song. (i have no idea what it was.) he had one of those voices that sounds full of anguish and love, a voice that has lived a real life. i gave him all the change i had in my purse. then we witnessed a dance-off between a teenage boy and an adorable dancing toddler. seriously, this baby breaker had to be no more than four or five, and he was popping and locking across the car, despite falling down a few times due to the motion of the train and his own under-developed center of gravity. the entire car loved him. one of the cutest things i have seen in a long time. i love it when the commute can surprise me in a good way.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
thank you, mood
my mother visited this week, in town for some work meetings and some nyc-touristing fun. we packed a lot into tuesday (i know, this is a much-belated post), so bear with me!
we started by heading down to brooklyn heights and walking along the promenade. i think brooklyn heights is one of the city's prettiest neighborhoods, and the view of lower manhattan is an unusual one (and something you of course cannot see when you are in the city.) we meandered down to brooklyn bridge and fulton ferry state parks, and through DUMBO, window-shopping and coveting (well, for me at least) bridge-view properties.
s met us at the morgan library to explore "drawing babar", an exhibition of the paintings and processes that created babar, the be-suited elephant my sister and i grew up with. the morgan is a beautiful space, especially now that they've completed a beautiful renzo piano-led renovation. the exhibition was really wonderful. jean du brunhoff created the story, and his son laurent continued the tradition. they both had very different processes. jean would sketch and re-sketch, in pencil, moving the text and pictures around the page up until the final draft. laurent, on the other hand, would paint huge swathes of color across the page leaving space for his text. it was a great exhibit, and if you grew up with babar, i highly recommend it.
fabrics galore!
we walked west and headed to mood, the fabric store of project runway fame (well, for us, at least. i'm sure FIT design students know it for their own reasons.) my mother used to sew us halloween costumes and christmas dresses, so it made her happy to peruse the organzas and satins.
my mother is a long-time fan of patti lupone, and gave me the recording of "evita" at an impressionable age, so i have long time as well. so i knew that it would be special for us to see patti in "gypsy" on broadway. we had a wonderful dinner at nizza, a new restaurant on 9th ave. it was delicious, and it is always nice to discover a new place to dine in the theater district. we had center-mezzanine seats at the st. james theater (thanks again to tdf), so we had a great view of the stage. unfortunately, laura benanti wasn't performing that evening, but the understudy to louise did very well. patti lupone, of course, was the highlight of the performance, putting her heart into every word. she has an incredible voice, not even always a beautiful voice, but so full of character and experience. i had chills during her final number, and we lept to our feet with everyone else for the standing ovation at the end of the show. she is a real treasure. when we were leaving, my mother noticed that people were waiting for the actors, so we decided to wait and see patti. we thanked her for her wonderful performance, and while usually i am too embarrassed to do this, we got her autograph, which was very exciting.
wednesday my mother had meetings all day, but we were able to meet up for coffee and shoe-shopping before i put her in a cab to the train station. ccome back soon mama! we've got so much more to do! i love having visitors. who else wants to come see new york?
we started by heading down to brooklyn heights and walking along the promenade. i think brooklyn heights is one of the city's prettiest neighborhoods, and the view of lower manhattan is an unusual one (and something you of course cannot see when you are in the city.) we meandered down to brooklyn bridge and fulton ferry state parks, and through DUMBO, window-shopping and coveting (well, for me at least) bridge-view properties.
s met us at the morgan library to explore "drawing babar", an exhibition of the paintings and processes that created babar, the be-suited elephant my sister and i grew up with. the morgan is a beautiful space, especially now that they've completed a beautiful renzo piano-led renovation. the exhibition was really wonderful. jean du brunhoff created the story, and his son laurent continued the tradition. they both had very different processes. jean would sketch and re-sketch, in pencil, moving the text and pictures around the page up until the final draft. laurent, on the other hand, would paint huge swathes of color across the page leaving space for his text. it was a great exhibit, and if you grew up with babar, i highly recommend it.
fabrics galore!
we walked west and headed to mood, the fabric store of project runway fame (well, for us, at least. i'm sure FIT design students know it for their own reasons.) my mother used to sew us halloween costumes and christmas dresses, so it made her happy to peruse the organzas and satins.
my mother is a long-time fan of patti lupone, and gave me the recording of "evita" at an impressionable age, so i have long time as well. so i knew that it would be special for us to see patti in "gypsy" on broadway. we had a wonderful dinner at nizza, a new restaurant on 9th ave. it was delicious, and it is always nice to discover a new place to dine in the theater district. we had center-mezzanine seats at the st. james theater (thanks again to tdf), so we had a great view of the stage. unfortunately, laura benanti wasn't performing that evening, but the understudy to louise did very well. patti lupone, of course, was the highlight of the performance, putting her heart into every word. she has an incredible voice, not even always a beautiful voice, but so full of character and experience. i had chills during her final number, and we lept to our feet with everyone else for the standing ovation at the end of the show. she is a real treasure. when we were leaving, my mother noticed that people were waiting for the actors, so we decided to wait and see patti. we thanked her for her wonderful performance, and while usually i am too embarrassed to do this, we got her autograph, which was very exciting.
wednesday my mother had meetings all day, but we were able to meet up for coffee and shoe-shopping before i put her in a cab to the train station. ccome back soon mama! we've got so much more to do! i love having visitors. who else wants to come see new york?
Monday, October 13, 2008
revenge of the book eaters
s and i felt very privileged to attend "revenge of the book eaters" last tuesday, the fundraiser for 826 NYC, the wonderful writing-tutor secret lair behind brooklyn superhero supply (which i have written about here.) i am on their mailing list, and got an email a few weeks ago about the fundraising event, and bought tickets immediately. (poor s, i emailed him afterwards and was like "i'm going! you can come too! give me $50!" i'm lucky he loves me and books.)
it was described on gothamist as a music-saturated nerdfest, and boy was it. ira glass opened the evening with two stories. i have to say, seeing ira glass while listening to ira glass is a wholly different experience, especially sharing it with so many other people. usually listening to ira glass is fairly intimate for me, as i mostly listen to podcasts on myPod, so it's just me on the train with ira in my ears. john oliver, of daily show fame, mc'ed the event, and was totally fantastic. we loved his comedy, and were laughing to tears at some points. two new musical acts followed, very good in their own right but not necessarily my taste. kyp malone (of tv on the radio) read a really sweet story by 826 students about monkey love. then my heart almost stopped because paul simon, my life-long musical love, came out and played "mrs. robinson" and "the boxer" and a brand-new song he had recently written and never. before. played. (be still, my heart!) it just felt so special. he played with a very talented man whose name i cannot remember (so sorry!) who played guitar, cello, and a haunting woodwind (maybe a pennywhistle? not usually described as haunting, i know.) it was wonderful. equally wonderful was the next performance, a surprise from angelique kidjo. she has an incredible voice that sent chills down my spine, and sang two songs, the second an african blessing that she had everyone join in on. it was so powerful, hearing hundreds of voices soar through town hall.
dave eggers and sarah vowell (president of the board of 826 NYC) came out to do some thanking of the attendees, performers and volunteers, and to make some palin jokes (oh sarah, you're everywhere!) then the piece de resistance, a new play by jonathan franzen, read by the author with bobby cannavale, patricia clarkson, parker posey, and tunde adebimpe. it was adapted from the new book state by state, about the fifty states, and it was a love letter to new york state. it was a really wonderful end to a truly magical new york evening.
it was described on gothamist as a music-saturated nerdfest, and boy was it. ira glass opened the evening with two stories. i have to say, seeing ira glass while listening to ira glass is a wholly different experience, especially sharing it with so many other people. usually listening to ira glass is fairly intimate for me, as i mostly listen to podcasts on myPod, so it's just me on the train with ira in my ears. john oliver, of daily show fame, mc'ed the event, and was totally fantastic. we loved his comedy, and were laughing to tears at some points. two new musical acts followed, very good in their own right but not necessarily my taste. kyp malone (of tv on the radio) read a really sweet story by 826 students about monkey love. then my heart almost stopped because paul simon, my life-long musical love, came out and played "mrs. robinson" and "the boxer" and a brand-new song he had recently written and never. before. played. (be still, my heart!) it just felt so special. he played with a very talented man whose name i cannot remember (so sorry!) who played guitar, cello, and a haunting woodwind (maybe a pennywhistle? not usually described as haunting, i know.) it was wonderful. equally wonderful was the next performance, a surprise from angelique kidjo. she has an incredible voice that sent chills down my spine, and sang two songs, the second an african blessing that she had everyone join in on. it was so powerful, hearing hundreds of voices soar through town hall.
dave eggers and sarah vowell (president of the board of 826 NYC) came out to do some thanking of the attendees, performers and volunteers, and to make some palin jokes (oh sarah, you're everywhere!) then the piece de resistance, a new play by jonathan franzen, read by the author with bobby cannavale, patricia clarkson, parker posey, and tunde adebimpe. it was adapted from the new book state by state, about the fifty states, and it was a love letter to new york state. it was a really wonderful end to a truly magical new york evening.
Monday, October 6, 2008
the play's the . . . oh, you know
september was my no-fun month, so i made the decision (consciously or unconsciously) that october would be full of fun, and it has kicked off with a bang.
seeing a broadway show is on the us map, so thursday night s and i went to see "spring awakening" the 2007 tony award winning coming-of-age musical about love and rebellion. it was really fantastic, so full of energy and emotion. it reminded me of "rent" before it reached mythical status, when it was still new and invigorating. the songs and music have wonderful range as well; loud and exciting at times, soft and touching at others. (i'll admit it; i cried at the end.) the cast was really great as well, though it would have been something special to see the original broadway cast. almost every young actor was making their broadway debut, and their energy and joy in the opportunity were infectious. s got the soundtrack last night, and i can't stop listening to the songs.
i've been getting over a cold (well, i've had a cold for over a week now, so i hope i am getting over it), so we laid pretty low this weekend, working, running errands, attending a bake sale for obama. sunday night, however, i went to see "the seagull" with aa. i feel chekov is better appreciated with age. now that i am older and have experienced the slings and arrows of outrageous life, i can better understand the emotions simmering under the surfaces of petty interactions. it was a truly beautiful production, both the acting and the artistic direction. kristin scott thomas is wonderful as arkadina, pulsing with pent-up energy and anger and jealousy. her aging actress is almost pitiable in her need for affection and adoration, but too cruel in her treatment of her son and nina to inspire true sympathy. i was very impressed by carey mulligan's nina as well (even though my actor-brain was giving my own line readings and admiring her physicality), and liked some of the men. mackenzie crook, or gareth from the british office, was pathetic enough as konstantin, and i liked art malik as dr. dorn very much. in fact, only peter sarsgaard as trigorin seemed out of place, but i think that was more his spotty english accent than his acting. (although i recently read that chiwetel ejiofor did trigorin in the original english staging, and i wish wish wish i had seen that--i think he's a really fantastic actor.) the production values were also really wonderful, mostly spare with hints of elegance. aa and i were particularly jealous of arkadina's costumes, simple yet gorgeous, and i really liked the delicate, keening score. (oh, and lest you think i suddenly found a pile of money on the ground, i scored both tickets through the theater development fund, which provides discounted tickets to members who work for arts non-profits.) it won't be here for long, and i recommend it very highly.
seeing theater always makes me miss the stage. i spent my whole life identifying as an actress, and yet here i am in new york city, sitting behind a desk. and today the director of our theater program and i were talking about something and he said "oh, you like theater, don't you?" and it made me realize that i know and work with people who have no knowledge of whole parts of me. i have always been a performer, from the plays of emily dickinson's life i staged at age five, to improv and theater productions in college, and it is only now that i no longer have that creative outlet. it was theater that brought me to new york in the first place, when i came out here to attend nyu's tisch school of the arts, and i hate to think i could give up on it so easily. i can ignore the longing when i haven't seen any shows, or spoken recently with my "theater friends", but seeing these two very, very different and yet equally impressive shows has made me miss the theater more than i have in a long time. i need to find a way to express myself again.
tomorrow night s and i are headed out once more, so check back soon. i promise more posts this month, as things are looking up.
seeing a broadway show is on the us map, so thursday night s and i went to see "spring awakening" the 2007 tony award winning coming-of-age musical about love and rebellion. it was really fantastic, so full of energy and emotion. it reminded me of "rent" before it reached mythical status, when it was still new and invigorating. the songs and music have wonderful range as well; loud and exciting at times, soft and touching at others. (i'll admit it; i cried at the end.) the cast was really great as well, though it would have been something special to see the original broadway cast. almost every young actor was making their broadway debut, and their energy and joy in the opportunity were infectious. s got the soundtrack last night, and i can't stop listening to the songs.
i've been getting over a cold (well, i've had a cold for over a week now, so i hope i am getting over it), so we laid pretty low this weekend, working, running errands, attending a bake sale for obama. sunday night, however, i went to see "the seagull" with aa. i feel chekov is better appreciated with age. now that i am older and have experienced the slings and arrows of outrageous life, i can better understand the emotions simmering under the surfaces of petty interactions. it was a truly beautiful production, both the acting and the artistic direction. kristin scott thomas is wonderful as arkadina, pulsing with pent-up energy and anger and jealousy. her aging actress is almost pitiable in her need for affection and adoration, but too cruel in her treatment of her son and nina to inspire true sympathy. i was very impressed by carey mulligan's nina as well (even though my actor-brain was giving my own line readings and admiring her physicality), and liked some of the men. mackenzie crook, or gareth from the british office, was pathetic enough as konstantin, and i liked art malik as dr. dorn very much. in fact, only peter sarsgaard as trigorin seemed out of place, but i think that was more his spotty english accent than his acting. (although i recently read that chiwetel ejiofor did trigorin in the original english staging, and i wish wish wish i had seen that--i think he's a really fantastic actor.) the production values were also really wonderful, mostly spare with hints of elegance. aa and i were particularly jealous of arkadina's costumes, simple yet gorgeous, and i really liked the delicate, keening score. (oh, and lest you think i suddenly found a pile of money on the ground, i scored both tickets through the theater development fund, which provides discounted tickets to members who work for arts non-profits.) it won't be here for long, and i recommend it very highly.
seeing theater always makes me miss the stage. i spent my whole life identifying as an actress, and yet here i am in new york city, sitting behind a desk. and today the director of our theater program and i were talking about something and he said "oh, you like theater, don't you?" and it made me realize that i know and work with people who have no knowledge of whole parts of me. i have always been a performer, from the plays of emily dickinson's life i staged at age five, to improv and theater productions in college, and it is only now that i no longer have that creative outlet. it was theater that brought me to new york in the first place, when i came out here to attend nyu's tisch school of the arts, and i hate to think i could give up on it so easily. i can ignore the longing when i haven't seen any shows, or spoken recently with my "theater friends", but seeing these two very, very different and yet equally impressive shows has made me miss the theater more than i have in a long time. i need to find a way to express myself again.
tomorrow night s and i are headed out once more, so check back soon. i promise more posts this month, as things are looking up.
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