Category Archives: nyc

my own personal theater week

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Last week was seriously amazing. First, as I already posted about here and here, I got to see Twelfth Night in Central Park. Then, Friday night, Sarah, Kelly, Mark (Candice’s husband…Candice didn’t want to see it, so she was home with her kiddies), and I saw August: Osage County starring, none other than, Phylicia Rashad (aka Claire Huxtable). It was incredible. Seriously. I loved it. And meeting Phylicia Rashad was amazing, too.



Pre-theater, I met up with Sarah and Kelly for yummy sushi at Haru. My second time there…still loved it. Post-theater, we got to meet the cast, including Brian Kerwin (the dad in 27 Dresses). 

And a quick digression…what the crap were this kid’s parents thinking when they took him to see this very R-rated play? Not to mention that the guy played a total perv which makes this pic and the one below of him riding away on a bike kind of creepy.

And then, after the play, Emily (my MBA friend from Boston) met up with us. On Saturday, Emily and I went to see both Our Town and Mary Poppins. Our Town was fantastic (and just around the corner from my apartment). I’d never seen it before and I loved it. Such a different experience and one that really made me think. Kind of heavy for a Saturday afternoon, but I’m a fan of deep thought as a general rule

We followed it up with Mary Poppins, which I would have thought to be the opposite of heavy, but the Broadway production really puts an emphasis on just what a difficult marriage George and Winifred Banks had. However, in the end, it all worked out, just like it did in the movie version, so a much happier ending than that of Our Town. Overall, the musical was good, but I will say that it didn’t live up to my expectations. Some of those dancers would have never made it through Vegas on SYTYCD. And the actress playing Winifred Banks would have been cut from American Idol. Other than that, it was delightful.
Oh, and on Thursday, while not the theater, as in live theater, Kelly, Sarah, Candice, and I did go see The Proposal…again. It was in a movie theater, but a theater nonetheless. And can I just say Ryan Reynolds is dreamy!!! Part of it is that he is just good looking…the other part is that he is hilarious!!!
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We did do some other stuff over the weekend, but those are the theater highlights from the week. I may not be paying down my school debt, but I sure am enjoying myself!!!

proof

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So, here are the other pictures from last night. I don’t have time to label them. But the first pic is us waiting. The next is us with Anne Hathaway. And the bottom is Mark, Candice’s husband, with Raul (I can’t remember his last name now), but he played the Duke. Anyway…fun times.


shakespeare in the park

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I snuck a picture of the stage on my phone before the play started. The stage alone was super impressive!!!

So, thanks to my fabulous friends who got up at the crack of dawn this morning to go stand in line for five hours while I worked, we all got to see Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. Anne Hathaway was the major headliner, but I think Audra McDonald (of Private Practice fame) was probably the show stopper. Or…well, really, the whole performance was PHENOMENAL!!! It was the first live performance of Shakespeare I have ever seen and all I can say is that I’m sad I wasted so many years of my life not knowing just how amazing Shakespeare is live! I mean, I know the stories, and I’ve seen a number of movies, but it’s just different. And all of the live music, both instrumental and vocal…fabulous!

And then there was the theater itself. From our seats, we could see the castle behind the stage (look at the picture again…castle is real, not part of set). There was a beautiful sunset making me appreciate all the gray skies I’ve had since moving here. No rain (a miracle in and of itself). Seriously, incredible. And, afterward, we all got to meet the cast, including Anne Hathaway. She was so nice, too (as were they all). I’m a huge fan. I just wish I could see it again! (Assuming I move here next summer, I will for sure be getting here in time to do this again!)
P.S. Picture of all of us with Anne Hathaway to come.

where does the time go?

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Okay, I know where it goes. It disappears with work, commuting, eating out, the gym (which at this point is only ensuring that I don’t balloon from all of the delicious food here), Broadway shows, movies, starting and finishing a 350+ page book, and sightseeing. The two activities not getting much of my time? Internet communications (emailing, reading blogs, writing blogs, etc) and sleeping. 
It has been a seriously packed week…in fact, “sleeping in” on Saturday gave me my best night of sleep the whole week; a whopping 5 hours. And it’s not that I don’t have a lot to share. That’s the problem. I’m doing so much that I have too much to share so I don’t share any. In the meantime, here is a list of all that I did this week:
  • Sunday – Got back from my quick trip to Arizona, headed to the Harrison’s for dinner, wandered Riverside Park (of You’ve Got Mail fame), saw the apartment building from Enchanted, home to unpack.
  • Monday – Work, trainer, out to dinner with my new friend, Alisa (currently getting her MBA at NYU and interning at L’Oreal) which consisted of dinner, wandering the Lower East Side, dessert at Cups and Cones, a stop for Alisa at the Dessert Truck (yes, it’s a truck…with dessert), and then back home. Began the book.
  • Tuesday – Work, and then I can’t even remember what else I did on Tuesday because that’s how full my week has been. Maybe it will come to me? And it just did (pre-posting). I’m not sure how I forgot this. Pete Yorn came to play at the Apple store in SoHo…for FREE!!! So I took myself down there (sad the girls weren’t in town to join me) and listened to him play a bunch of songs from his new album, some old favorites and a few amazing covers. When the live recording comes out on iTunes (which I’m sure it will) you’ll know I was there. After which I got myself dinner at The Creperie on McDougal (thank you Oliver!). 
  • Wednesday – Work, then hung out with Kelly and Sarah who were finally back in town. We had dinner at Toast (a favorite) and then ice-cream at Ben & Jerry’s. Yummy!
  • Thursday – Work, delicious sushi at Haru, and then I went to see 9 to 5, with Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, and Megan Hilton…and yes, I totally met Allison Janney after the show. AMAZING!!!
  • Friday – Work, trainer, and then met up with the girls at Shake Shack, followed by The Proposal. (P.S. That movie is hilarious!!! I am in love with Ryan Reynolds!)
  • Saturday – Woke up at 8:30 (that’s an extra 2.5 hours of sleep over the norm…except that I’d gone to bed about 3:30) to talk to Emily in Boston. Met up with Sarah, Kelly, and Candice for lunch at Freeman’s (amazing!!!), spent a couple of hours reading in Barnes & Noble (we had some time to kill), then up to try for the lottery for In the Heights. Sarah won two tickets (and by “won”, I mean won the right to purchase two tickets at $26.50 a piece), so she went with her friend, Keila, and Kelly and I went to another movie. 
All in all it was  busy week. There’s just soooo much to do here…and see…and eat. And this week is already shaping up to be just as busy…if not busier.
So, I’m going to throw a couple of pictures up and call it a night. 

mormon dance party…on a boat

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Before moving out to New York, Sarah emailed me to see if I wanted to go on this Singles’ harbor cruise. Being me…I said yes, because I hate not doing things unless I have a really good reason not to. Really, it turned out to be dancing on a boat, but I did get to see the city skyline at night, and the Statue of Liberty. The fun part, in terms of dancing, is that normally Mormons dancing…kind of lame. But, when no one can leave, apparently it’s much better.

There were some other interesting parts to the evening, too. (Let’s just say I heard this kid’s life story…which included multiple TMI moments. I feel like I’ve met my “nice” quota for the year.)
And, to document the evening, I have the fabulous self-portrait at the top of this post (thanks to Sare…her camera is the best self-portrait camera EVER)! I have a few other pictures, but I haven’t downloaded them yet and I am currently in AZ, while my camera is still in NY.