I've been spoiled...

Thinking back on my theatrical experience New York City and my movie theatre experience seeing Pirates of the Caribbean At World's End last night....

It's not the same. At all.

I know this may sound kind of dumb... Or rather... "Duh." But the movie theatre no longer holds the same aesthetic it did prior to New York.

You can watch a movie multiple times and it will always be the same. Always. The actors will always say their lines the same way. They will always walk across the screen in the same manner. Each time you watch it you may notice different things, react differently to the stimuli. It may change your perspective, influence how you talk and dress. But it will never change. Once filmed, that movie will be like that for as long as it lasts...

A play is constantly changing. You can never exactly duplicate the show night after night after night. You can get into a routine... Memorize lines, dance steps, blocking and with that you can get close enough that without focused scrutiny, each show, every night will look identical. But they aren't.

Because of a little thing called interaction.

A live show has that. A pre-recorded movie does not.

No one in the pre-recored show reacts when you applaud, laugh, gasp or open your cell phone. One person can change the way the actors perform to the audience and that can totally influence the mood of the show on stage and the mood in the audience.

After going to New York City, movie theaters and movies in general just are not that cool any more. Yes even PIRATES. There's no feedback. It's impartial.

I felt sad at the Palace Theatre last night, picking my own seat before the show and just leaving after the credits. Just leaving! That's it! How boring is that? I felt like I should be trying to find the stage door to meet the actors and tell them what I thought of the show. But no. Pre-recorded movies don't work like that. :-(

And I am a dork.

Live theatre all the way, baby.

:-O

ZOMG!!!! PIRATES!!!!!!!!!


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!





SO SPECTACULAR! :-O :-O :-O



Oh, and if you went on the NYC trip there was a Dalek-sec reference...heeheeheehee!!!!!






I LOVED IT! STAY FOR THE STINGER AFTER THE CREDITS!

*screams of joy*





I have decided that my perfect date would be for someone to take me out sailing..... :-) *sigh*


I am in awe.... :-) :-) :-)

Sarah's 2007 Tony Picks

Okay, so the names in the boxes with the pink font are the shows that I WANT to win the Tony... The ones with the asterisk (*) indicate the favored show for the award... We compared picks and discussed them on the last day of class... I'm kind of my own person with my choices, but that's okay.

-I only picked the shows I saw while in New York, so not everything has a box or asterisk.

Don't forget! June 10th people!

Best Play
The Coast of Utopia
Frost/Nixon*
The Little Dog Laughed
Radio Golf

Best Musical
Curtains
Grey Gardens
Mary Poppins
Spring Awakening*

Best Revival of a Play
Inherit the Wind
Journey's End*
Talk Radio
Translations

Best Revival of a Musical
The Apple Tree
A Chorus Line
Company
110 in the Shade

Best Special Theatrical Event
Jay Johnson: The Two and Only
Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway

Best Director of a Play
Michael Grandage, Frost/Nixon
David Grindley, Journey's End
Jack O'Brien, The Coast of Utopia
Melly Still, Coram Boy

Best Director of a Musical
John Doyle, Company
Scott Ellis, Curtains
Michael Greif, Grey Gardens
Michael Mayer, Spring Awakening*

Best Leading Actor in a Play
Boyd Gaines, Journey's End
Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon
Brían F. O'Byrne, The Coast of Utopia
Christopher Plummer, Inherit the Wind
Liev Schreiber, Talk Radio*

Best Leading Actress in a Play
Eve Best, A Moon for the Misbegotten
Swoosie Kurtz, Heartbreak House
Angela Lansbury, Deuce
Vanessa Redgrave, The Year of Magical Thinking
Julie White, The Little Dog Laughed

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical
Michael Cerveris, LoveMusik
Raúl Esparza, Company
Jonathan Groff, Spring Awakening
Gavin Lee, Mary Poppins
David Hyde Pierce, Curtains*

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Musical
Laura Bell Bundy, Legally Blonde
Christine Ebersole, Grey Gardens*
Audra McDonald, 110 in the Shade
Debra Monk, Curtains
Donna Murphy, LoveMusik

Best Featured Actor in a Play
Anthony Chisholm, Radio Golf
Billy Crudup, The Coast of Utopia
Ethan Hawke, The Coast of Utopia
John Earl Jelks, Radio Golf
Stark Sands, Journey's End

Best Featured Actress in a Play
Jennifer Ehle, The Coast of Utopia
Xanthe Elbrick, Coram Boy
Dana Ivey, Butley
Jan Maxwell, Coram Boy
Martha Plimpton, The Coast of Utopia

Best Featured Actor in a Musical
Brooks Ashmaskas, Fame Becomes Me
Christian Borle, Legally Blonde
John Cullum, 110 in the Shade
John Gallagher, Jr., Spring Awakening*
David Pittu, LoveMusik*

Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Charlotte d'Amboise, A Chorus Line
Rebecca Luker, Mary Poppins
Orfeh, Legally Blonde
Mary Louise Wilson, Grey Gardens*
Karen Ziemba, Curtains

Best Original Score
John Kander, Fred Ebb, Rupert Holmes, Curtains
Scott Frankel, Michael Korie, Grey Gardens*
Laurence O'Keefe, Nell Benjamin, Legally Blonde
Duncan Sheik, Steven Sater, Spring Awakening*

Best Book of a Musical
Rupert Holmes and Peter Stone, Curtains
Doug Wright, Grey Gardens*
Heather Hach, Legally Blonde
Steven Sater, Spring Awakening

Best Choreography
Rob Ashford, Curtains*
Matthew Bourne & Stephen Mear, Mary Poppins
Bill T. Jones, Spring Awakening
Jerry Mitchell, Legally Blonde

Best Scenic Design of a Play
Bob Crowley & Scott Pask, The Coast of Utopia
Jonathan Fensom, Journey's End
David Gallo, Radio Golf
Ti Green & Melly Still, Coram Boy

Best Scenic Design of a Musical
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Christine Jones, Spring Awakening
Anna Louizos, High Fidelity (-this show opened and closed in an eye-blink, but it has a nomination... How fantastic that set must have been?)
Allen Moyer, Grey Gardens*

Best Costume Design of a Play
Ti Green and Melly Still, Coram Boy
Jane Greenwood, Heartbreak House
Santo Loquasto, Inherit the Wind
Catherine Zuber, The Coast of Utopia

Best Costume Design of a Musical
Gregg Barnes, Legally Blonde*
Bob Crowley, Mary Poppins
Susan Hilferty, Spring Awakening
William Ivey Long, Grey Gardens

Best Lighting Design of a Play
Paula Constable, Coram Boy
Brian MacDevitt, Inherit the Wind
Brian MacDevitt/ Kenneth Posner/ Natasha Katz, The Coast of Utopia
Jason Taylor, Journey's End

Best Lighting Design of a Musical
Kevin Adams, Spring Awakening
Christopher Akerlind, 110 in the Shade
Howard Harrison, Mary Poppins
Peter Kaczorowski, Grey Gardens*

Best Orchestrations
Bruce Coughlin, Grey Gardens
Duncan Sheik, Spring Awakening*
Jonathan Tunick, LoveMusik
Jonathan Tunick, 110 in the Shade

Regional Theatre Award
Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia

I'm back!

I made it home safe and sound! I have lots of stories to tell, but I need to unpack.

New York City was cool and all... But I missed Iowa a lot.

I saw seven of the thirty-one 2007 Tony Nominations. That is 23% percent! YAY! Not too shabby!
























More later!

New York!

Hello All!

I am posting this from Matt L.'s computer before going to bed. It's been a busy couple of days.

Company was amazing, and I will elaborate more when I have the time.

Tonight was a free night and we went and saw Phantom of the Opera. Even though I've seen it before it was spectacular! :-D Lots more pyrotechnics then Des Moines! We spent half the time trying to watch the show through retinal afterimages, but no complaints here! More about that later too!

For both Company and Phantom we went to the stage door after the show. We got 2 main character's autographs from Company, and the Phantom and Christine's autographs tonight. We chatted with them and were really dorky.... :-)

Yesterday Matt L. and Dr. Earl went to Corum Boy and while in line they saw David Hyde Pierce and Nathan Lane in line for Angela Lanbury's new show on Broadway "Duece." I think that is kind of cool too! :-)

We have already purchased tickets to The Drowsy Chaperone and Mary Poppins. Beauty and the Beast is in the works.

Today we actually went to Greenwich Village. It was a good time! We went to a NYC secondhand shop were 2nd hand clothes were like, $45. But it was a good time! Then we went to this AWESOME Hallowe'en costume shop... (I think it was the one in a Cyberchase episode, if you've seen that one.... or know what it is...) And I bought a LotR Lothlorien Brooch. :-D And then we went to a comic book shop.... AND THEY HAD DOCTOR WHO ACTION FIGURES! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! :-D

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

:-D

I bought a... a... A 30" Doctor Who doll...... Complete with an itty bitty sonic screwdriver! I love it! It will be my summer friend when Jessica is in China.

*is a huge dork*

Tomorrow is Pirate Queen. I like pastrami, and other cheap foods.

"New York, New York! A wonderful town! The Bronx is up, and the Battery's down..."

So tomorrow is the eventful day... I leave for New York City with my Intro to Theatre class... :-D I am really excited and it looks like it will be a very very good time! I get along with the class (although there are 2 people who get on my nerves) and I have the feeling I will learn a lot!

Here is a very very rough itinerary of what we plan to do. The only things set in stone are the scheduled shows, the TODAY Show and our free time... But this will give you an idea of what we will be doing... Just not perhaps in this order. I've included links to keep you busy and entertained, since I won't be posting for a while.

Saturday, May 5th: Leave Wartburg at 5:45-freakin'-am for the Cedar Rapids Iowa Airport. Depart at 9:25 am. Arrive at La Guardia New York, at 3:10 pm. Evening free for exploration.

Sunday, May 6th: Morning free. 3:00 pm COMPANY by Stephen Sondheim at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Evening: Ride on the Staten Island Ferry.

Monday, May 7th: Day: Lower Tip of Manhattan, World Trade Center, Wall Street, Castle Clinton/Battery, Little Italy/Chinatown. Evening: Free.

Tuesday, May 8th: Morning: Lower Midtown, Grand Central Station, Chrysler Building, United Nations. Afternoon: Morgan Library. 7:00 pm THE PIRATE QUEEN (AHHHH! :-D) by Boubil and Schonburg at the Hilton Theatre.

Wednesday, May 9th: 6:15 am TODAY SHOW (we will be in the crowd, wearing Wartburg orange, and we will stay until we get caught on camera.) Morning: Rockefeller Center, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Saks/5th Avenue. 2:00 pm CURTAINS by a bunch of people, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. The evening is free.

Thursday, May 10th: 9:30 am tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2:30 pm tour of The Cloisters. 8:00 pm Puccini's Il Trittico at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Friday, May 11th: Morning spent in the theatre district, including a tour of the New Amsterdam Theatre. 4:00-7:15 pm touring the Museum of Modern Art. 8:00 pm INHERIT THE WIND (Starring Christopher Plummer and Brian Dennehy!) at the Lyceum Theatre.

Saturday, May 12th: Day spent visiting Coney Island. Evening is free.

Sunday, May 13th: Mother's Day! Morning spent touring the Lower East Side. 3:00 pm IN THE HEIGHTS at the Arts Theatre. The evening is free.

Monday, May 14th: Day spent touring Central Park, Museum of Natural History (Night in the Museum! :-D) and the Upper East Side. Evening is free.

Tuesday, May 15th: Day spent touring the Upper West Side, Harlem, Columbia University and Lincoln Center. Evening is free.

Wednesday, May 16th: Morning to be announced. 2:00 pm 110 IN THE SHADE (starring Audra McDonald!) at Studio 54. 8:00 pm SPRING AWAKENING at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

Thursday, May 17th: Day spent touring Greenwich Village, SoHo, and Tribeca. Evening is free.

Friday, May 18th: Day spent touring the New York Public Library, Herald Square and Macy*s. 8:00 pm GREY GARDENS at the Walter Kerr Theatre.

Saturday, May 19th: Fly out of La Guardia at 1:05 pm. Arrive in Cedar Rapids Iowa at 5:05 pm. Collapse and sleep.


For the free nights, we are allowed to do basically whatever we want... As long as we stay in pairs at least. Which is perfectly alright with me. If we choose, we could go see a Broadway show every free night we have. But that's expensive. The shows I REALLY want to see are Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast (which is CLOSING in July to make room for The Little Mermaid... Honestly, why not get rid of Tarzan?! Stupid Disney...), and The Drowsy Chaperone. I'm thinking MAYBE Phantom of the Opera again if we can get cheap tickets at the TKTS Office. Avenue Q, and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee are both coming to the Civic Center this coming year, and my parents already bought tickets to Spamalot. So I feel no need to go see those while in New York.


So that's what I'll be doing for 2 weeks! It should be a good time! Like I said, I'm excited! :-D I'm most looking forward to The Pirate Queen and Curtains. I'm least looking forward to Spring Awakening. I plan to try lots of new food (pastrami!) and to keep a journal, which is also a requirement for the class.

Good-bye for now! I'll write when I get back! :-D

5-4-07

Happy STAR WARS Day everyone!


























May the Fourth be with you!

May Term = awesomeness!

I'm enjoying this year's May Term a lot more than last year. Even though people are gone, or will be gone for parts of the term. Playing trombone in May Term band is proving to be a bit of a challenge, but I hope to improve by the end... :-)

I am finally past the halfway point in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire... It can't believe it's taken me so long to get through it... It's so easy to become distracted by the TV and other things... Like sleep....

So Monday night it was absolutely GORGEOUS outside--comfortably warm, nice breeze, bright moon... I wanted to go for a walk, so I found Rachel D. and we went for a walk to the river and it was fun. We just chatted and enjoyed the temperature.... Unfortunately, walking back, I got a GIANT blister on the ball of my foot... Like it's bigger than a normal sized band-aid. :-( Wearing Leah's flip-flops for a 2 mile walk was not a smart choice. So I've been limping around with a Kleenex masking-taped to my foot... Kind of a pain... I bought bigger band-aids today, so I hope it heals up a little more before New York.

I have a partial itinerary for our trip which I will post closer to when I'm going to leave. I doubt I'll be posting from New York, since I'm not bringing my computer. Everyone who reads this will just have to sit tight until I get back. I went shopping today for the last of the things I think I need before we leave on Saturday... And I bought Pirates of the Caribbean spray-on sunscreen. Hee... :-D

Yesterday I sat outside for two hours and did crosswords. It was nice. :-) Yay for sun! Also, the flowers are starting to bloom around campus and it makes me happy. :-D I love lilacs!

I'm hungry and am off to find something to eat!