two thumbs up....

I realize I am not a theatre critic. However, I consider myself immersed enough in the artform that I can give a intelligent review of the shows I saw this weekend. So here goes...


Chita Rivera: A Dancer's Life - A look back on someone's body of work is only as good as that person. In the case of Chita Rivera, it's fascinating. Chita did not have a rough life, she had a loving family that supported her dream of being a dancer, or a gypsy as she calls it. Being 27 years old means that I will never have the chance to see many of the theatre legends on stage. That is why this evening was so incredible for me. I had the opportunity to see her sing and dance many of her signature songs, including A Boy Like That. I sat with my mouth open, amazed that at 76 years old, she acts like she's still in her 30s. It's brilliance.

Confessions of a Mormon Boy - The subject of religion and homosexuality is one that hits a little close to home for me. My father is a very conservative Southern minister who has no idea that his only son is married in MA to another man. Sad, but necessary for both of our sanity. This show was the story of a man who grew up struggling with his religion (Mormonism) and being a homosexual. He tried therapy, marriage, and even having children to change. It was when he made the realization that he couldn't that he confessed his affairs, got divorced, excommunicated and moved to NYC. The trauma and turmoil led him to drugs and a life of male prostitution to make ends meet. My eyes stayed wet as he talked about hitting bottom and the process of pulling his life of out the gutter, reconciling with family and friends and becoming the adjusted, happy, content father he is today. If you ever have the chance to see Steven Fales tell his story. GO!, you will not be disappointed.

Barefoot in the Park - This is arguably one of my favorite of Neil Simon's plays. I think there are great moments of humor and truth in the show. It's just a fun show that leaves you warm and fuzzy and loving the one you do. The performances were great, especially Jill Clayburgh as Mrs. Banks, the mother. She has impeccable coming timing and was a delight to watch. Patrick Wilson was great as Paul and of course looked the part of a handsome newlywed young attorney. The set was very realistic and fit the show well. My only wish that Amanda Peet had been a little less childish and a little more believable. I want to see Corie really upset and thinking it will just not work. Amanda Peet made her a little too whiny for my taste.

The Color Purple - Or should I say, OPRAH WINFREY presents The Color Purple. I went into this production with low expectations because of my dislike of Oprah and how much she LOVED it. I enjoy LaChanze and knew she would be great in the role of Celie, but I just didn't expect the show to grab me. I was wrong, very wrong. This is a beautiful production of Alice Walker's novel with music (save one or two numbers) that fit perfectly and add another level of emotion to the already powerful subject matter. Felicia P. Fields deserves a Tony nod and win for her role as Sofia (the role Oprah played in the movie). Her moment of "re-birth" is wonderfully played with such small beginnings that to watch her full process is hilarious! LaChanze does an amazing job of showing the passage of time with her body and her final moment of the show made me smile and cry all at once. This show has some small problems in a few songs and forced moments, but I loved it.

i'm in a new york state of mind.....

I'm leaving this afternoon for a weekend in NYC. It has been a while since D and I went down to see anything so we are taking this weekend to visit friends and see some shows. The four shows you see there are the shows I'm hoping to see while I am there. I already have tickets for A Dancer's Life and Confessions of a Mormon Boy, and am hoping to figure out a way to get tickets for the other things while I am there. I'm also going to pick up some Pajama Game tickets for our trip in April with Kate and Tonya. Tonya and I have a date!

It should be wonderfully relaxing weekend. We are staying with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend and will go out with Marty and friends tonight, I'll see my friend Daniel tomorrow (whom I haven't seen in a few years now) and on Sunday we'll have a brunch with Jay. I always love getting to the city because its such a nice trip away from it all and I get to see great friends and wonderful shows all weekend. God I'm so gay.

love is all around....

May each of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day. If you are with someone, make sure they know just how much you love them. If you aren't, it's just a day...

our fearless leaders......

I swore to myself I wasn't going to write about the Vice-President being a big idiot because all the jokes would be too easy, but a quote on CNN.com today has caused me to at least write about this statement. Ranch owner Katharine Armstrong told the press, "I would shoot with Dick Cheney everywhere, anywhere, and not think twice about it," she said. But she said, "The nature of quail shooting ensures that this will happen. It goes with the turf." Okay, now I know accidents happen and I will be the first to admit that, but when firearms and weapons are concerned I can't really get behind "quail shooting ensures that this will happen." No, it really doesn't. If you are hunting with other people, if you are not 100% that everyone is behind you and accounted for, don't shoot the gun! Futhermore, if you can't be patient enough to let some quail go instead of taking a shot unsafely then you shouldn't be out there in the first place. Thank God this man is okay, but I have trouble getting behind the, "Oops, my bad" philosophy when guns are involved.

SNOW........why is there so much of it?!?

So it isn't quite as bad as the blizzard last year, but there is still way too much snow out on the ground right now...and it just keeps falling. The worst part of it is that I will still have to go to work tomorrow. I have been having such a hard time focusing on writing this MCC grant today and I really need to have the majority of it finished before I go back to the office.

Part of the problem was that I was slightly hung over this morning. Dinner at Tim's house was an outstanding four course meal complete with dessert and a cheese plate. Included with the amazing food were two large lemon drop martinis and a plethora of wine and a very nice vanilla cognac. Needless to say there was a slight headache this morning when I got up.

MUST WRITE GRANT......MUST WRITE GRANT.....

the makings of a great weekend....

This weekend we are having dinner at Dr. Reese's house. For those of you who don't know who that is, he is our wonderful Doctor who gave us the most amazing engagement party and then was solemnized for the day to perform our wedding ceremony. He's a really wonderful guy, not to mention he's great looking and has a beautiful house! I am excited to spend time with him and Glen, the puppy, and our neighbors who will be there for dinner as well! It should be a great Saturday night!!

Also there is the potential for a rather large snow storm this weekend. Now when I say rather large, I mean in the 12 inches range. So not cool, but if it means I get an extra day this weekend because they can't dig us out fast enough to get to work on Monday, that would be fantastic and I wouldn't complain a bit.

pray to the development gods....

I have started writing a very important grant for the theatre. The Massachusetts Cultural Council grant is a symbol of excellence among MA arts organizations and can be a catalyst for increased individual and foundation financial support. This is the first time I have had to write a grant, other than for class, and it is a lot of self-imposed pressure. On top of writing the narrative for the grant, I have to build our one support material (a 10 slide power point) showing the quality, community impact, and organizational capacity of the theatre, and also compile all financial, production history, and board/staff related information. As I looked over our last grant cycle and after speaking with our coordinator I feel confident that I can write a solid grant that could potentially increase our rating and consequently our funding. This of course all hinges on whether our worthless Governor succeeds in cutting the MCC funding this year. Step up Reps, this is your time to shine! I have no doubt Festa has our back as do the representatives that oversee the theatre. I digress, this grant writing process is a little stressful so any good development prayers you can send my way would be greatly appreciated!

a day with paula deen...

I've spent the vast majority of my Sunday sitting on the couch watching a Paula's Home Cooking marathon on the food network. She makes me feel better for loving food as much as I do. It's not so much the eating that I like so much, it's the making of the food and the fact that so many good times come when friends and family are over for parties and other events where food is involved. I think the food network is a healthy addiction right?!? Okay, maybe not with all the butter that Paula uses, but damn does her food taste good.

D and I worked hard yesterday and made it through most of our taxes and figured out basically what we were going to get back and what he is going to have to pay back to Federal because of his 1099s with MTI. I finished up my federal (I get back a nice chunk of change because of grad school) and our joint state taxes and sent them off today! Because of school we were able to get money back from MA too. It was very cool to be able to fill out our state taxes as "Married filing jointly". It was just another one of those events that have come up since August that make me smile. So when April 15th comes, i'll have a beer.

a lot of livin' to do....

Sometimes I fear that I let too many possibilities in life pass me by. I mean don't get me wrong, my life is pretty damn good. I found the love of my life and because MA is so amazingly ahead of the times, I was actually able to marry him. My job is extremely stressful, but it's what I enjoy doing and finally I am just a few short months away from graduating from graduate school with my Masters degree. Not bad right? But sometimes I just feel like I am so busy that I never really take the time to stop and smell the roses. I have so many of my days booked and I don't allow that much time for flexibility in my life. I mean I once drove 7 hours to FL when I live in AL just to watch the sun rise with one of my friends. We then turned around and went home. I miss those days...

So I've caught up with a friend of mine that I haven't spoken to since before I left Washington, DC. He and I went out briefly, he broke my heart..lol, etc etc..so I avoided him for quite a while. But seeing as how I've grown up a lot and am married now, he and I actually started talking again the other day. It was nice to catch up and realize how much he and I have grown up. It made me think about what a crazy year or two I had in DC and how much things in my life have changed since then. So thanks Tom! It's good to talk to you again.

raindrops keep falling on my head...

When the day comes and I am finally able to rule the world my first order of business will be to institute a "rainy day" law. If you wake up in the morning and the rain is hitting the window above your bed, you will therefore be required to roll over, pull the covers up to your face and sleep in. Getting out of bed was rough knowing that I had so much work today, plus my meeting in Boston. I just wanted to be warm in bed and pretend it was Saturday.

tonight....tonight.....

Tonight we begin our semester of "See You at the Pub". Basically it is opporunity for all of the students in our grad school program to get together after class, network and meet with the professors informally over a cold one. Tonight we hang out with my favorite professor, Janet Bailey, Rich and Lew Karabatsos who teaches the Individual Giving class. I hope a lot of the newer students show up so that we can hang out and meet everyone. I think this will be an indication of how well things will be attended this year!

Marty J. made a suprise visit last night for D's birthday and stayed at our apartment. It was very good to see him and hang out for a little while. We don't get to see him much. Although if we make it to NYC to live this summer then maybe that will change. But that is such a far off plan for now....

happy birthday to you.....

Today is D's 30th Birthday!! I hope his friends and I can make this one of the happiest birthdays he has had in a while. I am going to go home for lunch today and if everything works out correctly, the flowers I have ordered him will be delivered while I am there. Otherwise he will just get them while I am at work. Then tonight our friend and all around humor genious Lindsay arranged a big party for him at Kowloon on Route 1 for Chinese food and Scorpion Bowls galore! From what she has said there are at least 20+ people coming to help him celebrate. It's amazing to see how many lives he has an impact on. Makes me very proud to be his husband.

On a slightly more personal note, I was sent an email saying my Charlie Brown lunch box is on it's way!! I couldn't be more excited! =)