My Adventures

My Last Trip To Disney World 9.23-9.29.15

2015-12-12T15:38:00.001-05:00

My Last Trip To Disney World I would like to begin with a little background. First, I have never had a less than magical experience at Disney. Not because of the “extras” that so many people expect, but because I truly believe that you create your own magic. I carry this philosophy not only at Disney, but in everything I do in life. My first trip to Disney World was when I was eleven, in 1991. My parents loaded us in the car to begin the 24-hour journey from Massachusetts to Florida. Not only was it our first trip, but we were going at Christmastime! Pretty awesome, mom and dad! We were mind blown at absolutely everything, and this solidified my infatuation with all things Disney. I couldn’t wait to get back to the parks! Fast forward to September, 2015. This was my twentieth trip to Walt Disney World! (And I’d even had a trip to Disneyland!) But this was different. I was finally going with friends, instead of family. We planned for a year. It seemed like time was moving so slowly, looking at my countdown on my phone every day. Even though I was going with friends, I had a completely different agenda than they did. They were looking to be more leisurely, while I was booked every minute! Finally, the big day arrived! We boarded our planes, and headed to Florida! ( I will admit, I am a huge Harry Potter fan, so I simply HAD to go to Universal to see the Harry Potter parks, which I did as soon as I arrived on the first day!) My friends headed to the hotel to relax. We were all meeting for dinner that night at Planet Hollywood. A tiring, but great first day! My second day, I had booked the Keys to the Kingdom Walking Tour. This is absolutely a must do! Our guide was Stephanie, and she was incredibly knowledgeable and fun! The tour takes you both onstage and backstage, and you are given plenty of information. I saw Magic Kingdom in a whole different way, after having my attention directed to the tiny details most people don’t notice. They also give you lunch at Columbia Harbor House, a “Keys” commemorative pin, and you get to go on rides without waiting. (I had Haunted Mansion and Jungle Cruise!) This is the classic tour, and I wouldn’t hesitate to go again! After the tour, I spent the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom, mostly taking character and décor pictures. For dinner that night, we had Chef Mickey’s. I had never been to a character meal before! It was so much fun! I loved the fact that the characters come right to your table! I was celebrating my birthday, and the “Fab Five” had all signed a card for me, and gave me a birthday cupcake, which was a nice gesture and totally unexpected! Something that happened this day, that I wasn’t too happy about, I somehow managed to lose both my Keys pin (which I was proudly displaying!) and my Birthday Pin. No idea how. The birthday pin was easy to replace, but I wasn’t sure how I was going to replace my Keys pin. Stay tuned! My third day, I was at Epcot, for the World DestiNATIONS tour. This is a relatively new tour; only in effect for about 4 months at the time I took it. It was a very small tour, with only 4 of us, and our guide, Matt. (Compared to the 20 or so of us on the Keys tour!) I loved this tour, too! We were again, both onstage and backstage. (Mostly onstage, but we did get to see where they keep the barges for Iluminations, which was cool!) Lunch was at Marrakesh, which no one was really happy about. I am extremely picky, and asked if they would give me nuggets and fries, and they accommodated me with no problem! I loved being able to walk through the countries without a lot of guests there. It was a surreal feeling of being in Disney, but without the crazy hustle and bustle! Another fantastic tour that I would definitely go on again! After the tour ended, I just hung in Epcot and did pretty much what I did in Magic Kingdom, which was take pictures. It was a challenge to try and time each meet and greet to maximize on characters! Dinner that night with one of my friends was at Via Napoli, which was simply amazing! Authentic Italian food (and I will actually eat sauce when it is from authentic places!) and we got to catch some of Illuminations after! Think I packed a lot in already? This brings us to our fourth day. This day was probably the craziest one! I was up early for Extra Magic Hours at Hollywood Studios. Thanks to the EMH and my Fast Passes, I was on and off Star Tours, Tower of Terror, Great Movie Ride, and Rock n Roller Coaster with no issues before ten am. I caught a meet n greet with Goofy and Pluto, and spent some time wandering around taking pictures. Then, I left to go to Magic Kingdom for an 11:45 reservation at Be Our Guest. I enjoyed the décor at Be Our Guest, but the food was only ok. I left Magic Kingdom to finish up at Hollywood Studios (I wanted Toy Story Midway Mania, but they were having issues with the ride, so I did One Man’s dream and a picture with Buzz and Woody, and the Green Army Man. Before long, it was time for me to go again, this time to Fort Wilderness for the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue. This was my first time at the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue, and I had such a good time! Plus the food was amazing! Two words: Strawberry. Shortcake. I barely had time to digest before I headed over to Epcot. I did Test Track, Spaceship Earth, and Soarin, and made my way amongst the Food and Winers to Akershus to meet my friends. My second character meal was with the princesses. Food was not my priority, as Hoop-Dee-Doo had more than taken care of it, but I would have to say their menu was my least favorite, being picky and not really eating different foods. The princess pictures were fun, though! If this day hasn’t been crazy enough, my friends decided we should take advantage of Extra Magic Hours at Magic Kingdom, so we ended the night (at 1 am!) there. Insane day, and almost did all the parks! Day five…I’m thinking it is going to start being more low-key at this point. HA! My feet were killing me at this point, as I was averaging 10-12 miles a day. I don’t have anything scheduled til 11:45, which was the Mermaid Makeover at Pirates League in Magic Kingdom. This Mermaid Makeover I cannot rave enough about. It was about an hour, and they gave you makeup, nail polish, a hair clip, a sash, and a necklace. The makeup also lasted 12 hours-until I took it off. And that was with extreme heat, a shower, and a torrential rainstorm. I was impressed! But even more so than that, the Pirates League staff are simply awesome! My artist was Jamie, and we quickly bonded when we found out we were from the same state! She did a phenomenal job, and after, they take you into the “secret” room where you get pictures taken. (At this point I should mention that we had the Memory Maker, and these pictures were included on the Maker, without charging me extra!) After the pictures, you go out and you pay for the makeover. Well, the pirates who waited on me were ALSO from my state! The people in front of me had done a pirate makeover, and I inquired as to what the paper with their name was for. They explained that as pirates, you take the pirate oath and you get a pirate name. I replied that that was awesome, and I would be back to do a pirates makeover next time, so I could a pirate name. They surprised me by offering to let me have one now! They read me the pirate oath and let me get a name. It was a nice, totally unexpected touch! Remember my beloved Keys pin that I lost? I had gone back to Magic Kingdom Town Hall and explained my plight the day before. They told me it was no problem, to just leave my name and come back the next day and they’d get me a new one. After my makeover, I headed back to Town Hall to reclaim my pin. They gave me not one, but two! After a promise to not sell them on Ebay, I took my treasures with me, tucked safely into the secret zipper pouch in my purse! Another time that Disney went above and beyond, completely shocking me! I went to Animal Kingdom after this. This was my first time back at Animal Kingdom since 2003. I knew I wasn’t going to have much time there, and at first I figured I would just do Festival of the Lion King, and maybe Expedition Everest, and call it a day. I did both of those, plus the Kilimanjaro Safari, which I absolutely loved! Animal Kingdom had changed a lot in 12 years, and I was disappointed I didn’t have more time. Was unable to come back to it, too, sadly. After Animal Kingdom, my friends and I headed out for dinner at Tony’s Town Square, followed up by Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. (Now you understand why I decided I needed to have the Mermaid Makeover!) The Halloween party was awesome, as always! I really enjoyed the Hocus Pocus Show, and of course, the Boo To You Parade, which is one of my absolute favorites! But my highlights of the night weren’t the lack of lines or the candy. I had two amazing moments: One, my friends and I were checking out the Gaston Fountain, when the man himself came strolling by. He said, “ I saw you guys checking out my statue, and thought you may appreciate the real thing!” Hilarious, and he was on my list to get a picture with, so it was perfect! He refused to take a picture with anyone else, and walked away! Awesome! The second moment was the meet and greet with Jack Sparrow. I absolutely LOVE the fact that the characters are SO in character! Because of my mermaid makeover, Captain Jack had to make “absolutely sure” that I wasn’t there to hurt him, and the interaction was just hysterical! (Oh-I guess my runner up was obtaining my poison apple cup…I was so happy to get that!) Day six was another Magic Kingdom day, and the day I had managed to snag a reservation at Be Our Guest for all of us, so we had lunch together. My friends ended up going to Downtown Disney (It was still Downtown Disney then! It didn’t change until the day we left!) and I stayed in Magic Kingdom to ride Mine Train (first time! It was awesome!) and get more character pictures (including Stitch, whom I’ve heard they have since retired from meet and greets!) I did end up going back to the room and relaxing before dinner at Crystal Palace, my 3rd and final character meal. I really loved this one, I would say this one was my favorite character wise, and Chef Mickey was my favorite, food wise! We stayed for the Kiss Goodnight, and it was nice just lazing around Main Street on our last evening! Day 7 was our last day. Of course, it was raining, but we went to Magic Kingdom. We were treated to the Rainy Day Calvacade Parade, which was fun. Remember my Mermaid Makeover Memory Maker pictures? They had never shown up on the band. (Go figure, as they were the only ones I couldn’t have backups taken on my own camera of!) We went to the photo service and they located and added in my pictures in record time. I totally appreciated all Disney did for me this vacation…pretty much everything was unexpected (the pictures being the exception, as I figured they would find them!) and personally, I think people going out of their way for anyone is worth its weight in gold! I didn’t need anything extravagant to make my trip special, but these special touches certainly enhanced it! This truly was one of the best trips ever, and will forever be in my memories! Even without my friends by my side the entire time, I still had fun! I talked to all kinds of people, adults, kids, everyone! Not one moment was I bored or unhappy being alone! The parks emanate a kind of magic all their own! I was just so happy to be there, to be home. That alone was enough for me, even with the heat and everything! Can’t wait for my next trip!

Two Month Update

2014-10-05T10:19:00.001-04:00

So I did see Bye Bye Birdie at the Stadium Theatre with Fabi. It was ok...I prefer the movie. They didn't do the title song, Bye Bye Birdie, which is the whole point of the show. I did see my friend Kat, which was nice! :) August 30 Kristin and I went back to NYC to see Cabaret. I spent the morning at Governor's Island again, to see the new hammock grove, playground, food court, and walking path(which was AWESOME!! Great views of the Statue of Liberty from this new section!) and I was hoping to go to Surprise House, but it didn't open until 2, and I had to be back for Cabaret. Maybe next year! Cabaret was awesome!! Alan Cumming is truly the man...he needs to be the only MC ever! Michelle Williams as Sally Bowles I was not thrilled with at all. I liked her as Jen on Dawson's Creek, but I do not like her portrayal of Sally at all. Sept 1 was Labor Day, and it was so hot out! My friend Tony and I went up to Boston, to the aquarium(I don't see much of a difference with the new renovations...to me, the $24 entrance price is hefty!) We walked around by the Harbor too. A nice day! Sept 5 I left for my cruise! I went to Montreal, and explored Montreal for the day. We found the Science Centre, which was free(thank god!) with my Boston Museum of Science pass...I would have been upset if I had had to pay, as it wasn't that great a museum. We also went to a farmer's market. We were excited to find a Ben and Jerry's! Sept 6 we boarded our boat, and set sail along the St Lawrence River for Quebec City! Our show that evening was a taste of all the performances we could see on the ship. They also gave us a sail away BBQ, which was great! I also won a bottle of champagne in one of the boat raffles. Sept 7 was Quebec City, and we went to St Anne de Beaupre Cathedral, which was a beautiful cathedral with carved pews, portraits, mosaics...it is also the church of miracles, so there are two columns of crutches, where people who needed them came to that church, prayed, and left not needing them. We also drove around the back roads looking at old houses, root cellars, and bread ovens. Then, we went to Montmorency Falls, which is a higher Waterfall than Niagara, (but Niagara is prettier, in my opinion!) After our tour we walked around the city, went to another farmer's market, where we had delicious gelato and bought maple syrup. We also took the funicular up to where Chateau Frontenac, the world's most photographed hotel, is. At night we had a guest piano man, Ryan Ahern, perform for us. He was fantastic! This evening, I won a bracelet in one of the raffles! Sept 8 was our day at sea, we saw a lecture on the Halifax Explosion of 1917, which I had known the bare minimum about-namely, Halifax had an explosion, Boston rushed to their aid, and as thank you, Halifax gives us our Christmas Tree in the Common every year. There was a bit more to it...back in WWI Halifax closed its harbor at 7pm every night. Any boats outside had to wait til the next morning. Well, one of the boats was carrying explosives. It was not labeled. The next morning, the harbor opened, and it was foggy, as Halifax is known to fog. a boat in the harbor was coming out, the boat with explosives came in, they didn't see each other til the last minute, and collided. The crew on the non-explosive boat all perished, while the crew on the boat with explosives survived because they jumped ship before the crash. The crash spread through Halifax, sending glass flying everywhere. There were 2000 casualties, and many many people who were left blind due to the flying glass. A telegrapher sent one final warning message out to incoming trains, warning them to stay away due to the crash. He lost his life, but saved hundreds of others, making him a hero! Boston came to assist right away, and the rest, obviously, led to why we now get a tree from them yearly. Haunting story. Our entertainment that night was Bob Mackie's Broadway, which of course, was my favorite of all the shows! Sept 9 we arrive in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. I LOVED PEI!! It was reminiscent of Martha's Vineyard, small, charming, seasonal. We had COWS Ice cream there, which was easily the best ice cream in Canada, true to their claim! We saw Anne and Gilbert, the musical, which is Canada's longest running musical. I expected it to be cute at best, but it was really, really good! Based on Anne of Green Gables, which is popular there, as it took place on PEI. Our entertainment that night was a comedian who was very funny! His shtick was joking about things that are real, which made it funnier! Sept 10 was Sydney, Canada. Sydney was also charming, but not much to do. We walked around the town, and realized everything was in the building outside of our boat! It is also home of the giant ciedleh fiddle. The fiddle is HUGE! 9 years old, built of steel, can actually be played, but they pipe music through it. Also inside were a farmers market, a craft show, a lighthouse which doubled as a theatre about the giant fiddle, a museum, and The Spirit of the Fiddle, which is an awesome show filled with Irish music with Cape Breton Island influence! They gave us a poutine bar on the boat that day! I loved poutine! Our show that night was supposed to be a fiddler, but they missed the boat...so we had a newly weds type game, which was really funny! Also that night was the Indonesian Crew show, which was pretty cool to see different cultural dances and songs! Sept 11 was Halifax, Canada...the day I'd been waiting for! I was excited for the Maritime Museum, which had the most extensive collection of authentic Titanic memorabilia! It didn't disappoint, either! The rest of the museum featured model ships, and other ships that had sunk as well. It also had life size models of famous figures from the War of 1812, and a parrot, Pierre, that spoke mostly French, but could ask me for a cracker in perfect English! We also went on a Duck tour of Halifax, which took us by the Citadel, around the city, and of course in the harbor by the Pier where our boat was docked and the Halifax explosion took place. After that we walked by the Harbor, shopped at a farmers market, and then boarded the boat for cupcake tea. Our show that night was a rock n roll/country show. Sept 12 was Bar Harbor, ME...back in the States! We had to take a tender to Bar Harbor, and then we took Oli's Trolley through Acadia Nat'l Park, which was beautiful! We stopped at Cadillac Mountain, another area where there were gardens, and Thunder Hole. It was such a gorgeous day! After that we walked around the town, cute shops, again, very Martha's Vineyard-esque! We will definitely be going back to ME! This was our last night on the ship. The show we had was Dancing With The Stars, where regular people learned to dance with the show staff, and the best one went on the next round, which is a big competition with all the boat winners at the end of the year. It was really fun to watch!! Sept 13 we arrive back in Boston! It was nice to arrive in my own state, with no stress of flights! I was tired, but far less tired than I would have been had I flown! I went to my friend Shirley's house at night to hang out and see people who weren't 85+!! (On Holland America, they tend to cater to the very elderly population!) Sept 21 was NYC! Kristin and I went in for the Broadway Flea Market, which was fabulous, as always! I spent $35 and got a lot of books, and of course my snow globe, and some pins. I also did lottery and won $37 tix to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch, with Andrew Rannells...who was better than Neil Patrick Harris, in my opinion!! 12 rows from the front also made a HUGE difference, compared to the back of the theatre, where I saw Neil!! Now it is October...October 4 I saw My Fair Lady at Ocean State Theatre, which was FANTASTIC! I would see another show there, def!! Upcoming events include Awesome 80's Prom at the Stadium Theatre with Leah on Oct 10, Salem with Alaina on Oct 11, NYC with Fabi on Oct 18, a benefit for my friend Andrea AND a baby shower for my friend Christina on Oct 25, a wedding for my friend Caity on Nov 1, and RI comic con on Nov 2. Hoping to go back to NYC 2 more times before the year is up, maybe a Wednesday day trip, and Dec 20(weather permitting!) Also planned are the Cape symphony on Dec 5, FL on Dec 13-15, and some shows at PPAC scattered in!

Poem For Uncle Danny, 7.29.56-7.20.14

2014-08-16T13:29:00.001-04:00

A Few Memories of Uncle Danny From his niece, Heather, and his nephew, Ray. Great sense of humor At movies and parks Always sneaking in snacks With triumphant remarks! Twizzlers and coke cans, cookies too- Always hidden safely out of view! Caring, devoted, enjoyed all our shows, concerts, parades, and more- Theatre productions, football games, So many-we can’t keep score! So full of life! So young at heart! Welcomed each day With a brand-new start! Always a big kid! And ready for fun! Fights in the pool with giant squirt guns! Enjoyed competitions and winning at games. That was his claim to fame! He liked to help at holidays and parties Cooking meals and cleaning up Like a smarty! His food was always Yummy and delicious! But, even better— He…did the dishes! Growing up he came on family vacations Cape Cod visits, the Islands, and Plimouth Plantations. Barnstable Fair, Edaville and Halloween- We had the most fun you’d ever seen! We will think of Uncle Danny each and every day, The memories we have of him will always stay! His sense of humor! His big, hearty laugh! His generous, kind, devoted spirit- All for another’s behalf! Very special-ONE OF A KIND- he will live on forever in everyone’s mind! Uncle Danny was a very special guy! We will miss him very much

Super Update

2014-08-16T13:08:00.002-04:00

Hello! So it has been over a year since I've last updated...life has been so crazy and busy! Lets do a quick recap! So since the 5.8.13 Sox game, the Sox (obviously) won the 2013 World Series! Of course, I was at their parade! But more on that later. In May I saw Stomp for Leah's Birthday at PPAC, and in Boston Alaina and I went to see In The Heights, by the Speakeasy Stage Company in Boston(had never seen that group before, and I was impressed!) So in June, I went to Block Island in RI for the first time with my friend Jes. We were not impressed, and do not get the hype. My friend Alaina and I participated in the Jimmy Fund Scooper Bowl, which was fun. For just $10, it was all you could eat ice cream from about 20 different venues. I ate 13 cups of ice cream, she ate 16. Not bad, considering we went for a HUGE lunch before hand! I saw War Horse at PPac, which I surprisingly liked, and Kristin had her annual Tony Party in June, with Kinky Boots being crowned Best New Musical of 2013. Alaina and I dressed up as Elder Cunningham and Elder Price from Book of Mormon...cuz you know, rule 72 states you can not leave your mission companion! I saw Billy Elliot for the first time at the Bushnell theater in CT with Sarah, and LOVED it...Oh Sir Elton John, you do create wonderful musicals! I am sorry I boycotted this one for awhile...lesson learned! I also went to the Boston Children's Museum for the first time since I was 10, with Leah and her son, Kason. It was fun! I really enjoyed reliving my childhood! July brought me to another Sox game on July 2, plenty of fireworks, both at Mccoy Stadium and at Pierce Field, for the 4th, Back to Governor's Island in NYC to see my beloved Figment with Jes, (and this year they had vintage amusement park rides, which were awesome!) We saw Rock of Ages at night, and Jes found one of the guitar picks they throw out at the audience, and let me have it! We also went to Art of the Brick, which was an INCREDIBLE lego exhibit at Discovery Center Times Square. My Auntie Rea celebrated her 95th Birthday on July 14!! Imagine...95 years old! I visited Colt State Park several times this summer, and Boston many more times-including Boston's Figment-which doesn't impress me as much as NYC's, and something called Outside the Box, which was more art, performance art, street art, and free concerts-Including the Mighty Mighty Bosstones! I look forward to 2015's Outside the Box! I went to the WWII Memorial Park in North Attleboro, which had a little zoo. It was free, not super impressive, but had more animals than Slater Park! I also visited Fort Wetherell, which is an abandoned fort in Jamestown, and even scaled the cliffs to get down to the breathtaking water views...Me...scaling cliffs...Jes and Justin at their best lol It took some coercing, but they got me down there in one piece! Will I do it again? Not on your life! But I am glad I did it!! We also went to Beavertail in Jamestown, right on the water...the breaker rocks I am much more comfortable with! I'd go back there! :) August brought my annual trip to Martha's Vineyard, which was beautiful as always! Buttonwood Zoo with Brandon was fun, even though it was in the rain! Trinity Rep Celebrated 50 years, and had a Block Party, which was really fun, complete with performances, both inside the theater and out, food, costumes, walking tours of behind the scenes...nothing was off limits! Definitely a fun experience, one I am glad I got to enjoy! Went to Water Wizz for the first time in years, it was fun but definitely lost something since my childhood! I went to see Dropkick Murphys at the Newport Celtic Rock Festival, which was fun! Hung out with my friend Brigid and her son, and DKM were awesome! The end of August brought another Boston Adventure, with the Stone Zoo(They had a koala on loan, I HAD to see him!)not to mention the beautiful, upclose Jaguar!! and Shake Shack in Newton after that! I also started nursing school in August(but learned it wasn't for me after the first semester!) September I was back in NYC for the Broadway Flea Market, where I scored 25 tshirts for $12, my snowglobe of course, amongst other things! I also saw First Date as my matinee...SUCH a great show!! Very applicable to my life! lol October brought a Salem Adventure with Alaina, where we did the Salem Vintage Photos I love so much! The Jack O Lantern Spectacular at the Roger Williams Zoo, and of course my NYC bday trip with Pam...we saw How 2 B A New Yorker, and Big Fish, both which were fantastic, and spent the rest of the day at various stores and in Central Park! November the Sox had their World Series parade, and of course I was in my spot at Copley, and wormed my way right to the front! DKM were also in the parade as always! Afterwards Brandon and I met up and walked around Boston, to Fenway in time to watch the players drive away, and then to BU as he wanted to check it out. Later in November we also went back to Boston for the opening of the new Hall of Human Life exhibit at the Museum of Science, and to the Frost Ice Bar in Faneuil Hall...that was an experience! I would go back...it was fun. The whole room was made of ice-tables, benches, even the glasses you drank from! They give you big parkas to wear. Definitely something to see! And they change the decor in there as well! The end of November brought my first visit of the Christmas season to La Salette Shrine for the lights! December I went to the Cape Codder for the Enchanted Village, and saw the Cape Pops perform their Christmas concert. I went to the Taunton Christmas Parade for the first time since Ray graduated, and it was nice to see it again! We went to Sea World Orlando and Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at the Magic Kingdom on a Mini-Vacation. Right before Christmas, I did my annual New York at Christmas trip...I went with Jes, Kristin went with her brother, Kevin. We all met up for lunch at Serendipity 3! Jes and I went to the NY Botanical Gardens for the Christmas Train Show, something I had always wanted to do! It was awesome! The day was amazing, too...something like 64 degrees! On Dec 21!! We saw Gentleman's Guide To Love and Murder at night...something I'd heard nothing but raves about so I took a chance...and HYSTERICAL! We were 2 rows from the front! (Good thing we saw it then, as it went on to win Best New Musical in 2014! Now tix are untouchable!) Finally, to end the year, Mandi and I went up to Boston for First Night, where we basically walked around looking at ice sculptures and doing First Night Figment, which had an awesome fire skeeball, and then eating ice cream while watching fireworks on the Harbor. A fun night! Hello 2014! Winter brought one of the coldest, snowiest winters ever. January I still managed to snag tickets to Wicked, winning the lottery at PPAC with Kristin, saw Working, a musical collaboration with Stephen Schwartz and Lin-Manuel Miranda up in Boston on a very snowy day with Alaina, managed a NYC trip to see Matilda with Kristin, and finally, got Rock of Ages tickets at PPAC with Holly! Not bad for a bad winter! February was uneventful, as it was too bad to go anywhere. March, however, I was back in business! Back to NYC with Kristin to see Bullets Over Broadway, which was hilarious and I loved it! A true Broadway show, and I got to meet Zach Braff after :) We also went to see the Beatles Exhibit at Lincoln Center. It was(FINALLY!) warm enough to go walking around Providence, go to the RISD Museum, and even a trip to Colt State Park! We also celebrated my cousin Heidi's 26th Birthday at Spumoni's with the entire family, and Alaina and I went up to Concord, went to the Old Schwamb Mill where we got a free tour, checked out a farmer's market, ate at Fuddruckers, went to Walden Pond and the Author's Cemetery, Saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and ended the day at Jordan's Furniture in Reading for Beantown, USA, Trapeze School, and Liquid Fireworks, then popped over to Natick for Jordan's Furniture New Orleans show! April was long coming after this winter! As a family we went up to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History, which was cute, and then we went to the National Seashore, and saw some lighthouses.We also went to Ptown, and walked around in Hyannis at the Harbor. A beautiful weekend at the Cape! For my mom's Birthday, I took her to see Stars On Ice, featuring Olympians Charlie White and Meryl Davis, amongst others. Jes and I saw Rockapella perform at the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket, and they were fantastic! Ending April took me back to NYC, where I thought I was seeing the Rockettes' Spring show, Forbidden Broadway, and Rocky the Musical. Upon arriving in NYC, on this torrentially raining day, I learned the Rockettes' show was NOT going on as expected, they had cancelled it for a year. I got refunded my money and was trying to figure out what to do with my newly opened time. I decided walking in the rain was fun, so I headed up towards Dylan's Candy Bar, with the intent of going to Roosevelt Island. I stopped at FAO Scwhartz, to dry off and check out the Lego exhibits and other things. It was nice with no people! Finally got to the Roosevelt Island tram, which was fun to take over the city! Roosevelt Island itself, however, looked like Manhattan. Was disappointed, so took the tram back, stopping in at Dylans to dry off this time, and began talking to one of the workers there who told me about the show he was currently in(Tony and Tina's Wedding) until it was time to head to Forbidden Broadway. I arrive at Forbidden Broadway with ten minutes to spare...and the doors are locked. What?? I make a split decision and head up to Les Miserables, and managed to snag $30 seats...6 rows from the front! I FINALLY dry off completely during the 3 hours I am in Les Mis...only to go outside to a continual downpour...soaked again! I had some time to kill before meeting my friend Jenny for dinner, so I popped into the Tony Pop-up store across the street and plot what I want to buy in the future. I meet Jenny for dinner, dry off some more while having great company, and then head back in the rain to Rocky. I wasn't excited for Rocky initially, but the show surprised me! I loved it, especially how the ring was literally IN the audience at the end! I headed home drenched, but happy! May...so many things happened in May! First, we had our mini cruise to Canada from San Francisco! We almost didnt make it over, but somehow things worked out! we left from San Francisco, and headed for our first port, Astoria OR. But we ended up with a day at sea, because the boat couldnt pull in to Astoria. Bummed, but I had fun on board, watching movies and playing trivia games as well as whale watching-even saw some orca spouts! Our next port was Nanaimo, which was beautiful, a quaint seaside city! We had a walking tour, and tried the Famous Nanaimo Bar-def recommend!! Our final day was Vancouver, where we had some time to kill and rode the Vancouver Skyride which was like Disney's Soarin! The end of May, Kristin and I went back to NYC and saw Violet, with Sutton Foster, which we were initially excited for...but then found extremely boring! We also ate lunch with Jenny at Serendipity 3. I was supposed to see Forbidden Broadway as my makeup day, but wouldn't you know...the theater lost power that day! Unreal, right?? So I had to reschedule YET AGAIN!! I did go on The Ride in NYC...which was fun--and covered as it was raining AGAIN...but I didn't really learn anything I didn't know. Great for tourists, though! The day after was my friend Shirley's husband Mark's surprise 30th bday which was Ghostbuster themed, and fun! :) The end of May was our annual NYC weekend, which was with Kristin, Jes, and I! We arrived on a Thursday, after an hour train delay at New Haven. We dropped our stuff off at our hotel and went on our way to use our New York Pass! First was getting tickets to the Clipper Ship Cruise for later in the afternoon. Then we went over to Ellis Island, but we were disappointed, it wasnt what we remembered as kids! We left early, and headed to the Jewish Museum, which was AWESOME...but we had to leave before we were done to make the Clipper Ship! The ship was a relaxing ride(for us...for everyone else it was essentially a booze cruise) around the Hudson, seeing downtown Manhattan, Brooklyn, Brooklyn Bridge, Governor's Island, the Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. After that, we headed back to the hotel to get our bags to our room, relax for a few, then grabbed dinner at Cosi and saw our first show of the evening, Aladdin! Aladdin on Broadway was phenomenal, and James Monroe Iglehart as the Genie definitely stole the show! After Aladdin, we went to Rockefeller for Top of the Rock, which had beautiful night views! Yes, all in one day! Tired yet?? Friday we woke up early for Our Walkin Broadway Tour at 930. It was a fun tour with stops at various theaters with some information about shows, cast members, and the theaters themselves. There was some clips from shows being played on our headsets also. After that, we headed down to the Piers for the Full Island Circle Line Cruise, which was a 3 hour leisure cruise filled with information about the entire Island of Manhattan...which is the only way I will ever go to some places...such as the Bronx and Harlem! I absolutely loved this cruise. I recommend it for anyone visiting NYC for the first time...we had it on the NY Pass, but it's worth the price ticket! After that, we went on the Inside Broadway Tour, which was almost identical to the Walkin Broadway tour, but we didn't pay for it! Thank god for the pass, because I would have been upset if we had paid for essentially the same tour as the morning! After the tour, we headed to Buca di Beppo, which was ALSO on the NY Pass...Buca is a restaurant where they serve "family style" food...Jes and I split spaghetti and meatballs...and we ended up paying only $3 TOTAL...bc with the pass, Buca took $10 off your meal...PER PERSON! After dinner, Jes and I went to see the Accidental Pervert off Broadway--which was HILARIOUS! I hadn't laughed so hard in a long time! and Kristin went to see Rocky. After, Jes and I headed back uptown to do the Skyride(which is in the Empire State Building, and NOT anything like Disney's Soarin, or Vancouver's Skyride! I do NOT recommend seeing this UNLESS it is on the NY Pass... the ticket price is at a ridiculous $42 for a motion sim ride that hasnt been updated since 1995!) After that we went to the top of the Empire State Building, which essentially was the same views as Top of the Rock...I think we should have done one during the day, but maybe next time! On our way back, we stopped at Junior's Cheesecake...and then we saw a huge crowd outside the Richard Rodgers...it was IDINA!!! I managed to get a great pic of her, but no autograph, sadly! But I am happy with a pic! At this point you would think we are exhausted...and done...right? Nope. Enter Saturday!! Saturday we started the day with Serendipity 3, then headed down to see If/Then with Idina Menzel! I LOVED If/Then...don't know why it wasn't nominated for a Tony! I think we are all in consensus that If/Then was our fave show of the weekend! After If/Then Jes and I went to see 50 Shades The Musical Parody, which was funny as hell, and then we met back up with Kristin to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch with Neil Patrick Harris...who was superb! The show was fantastic! We didnt get to meet Neil, sadly, but I am glad we got to see him! Then we went home. 9 attractions(10 if you include Buca) and 5 shows in three days! Exhausting but fun! What a May!! June started out with a visit to the Museum of Science with Shirley and Nikki for the Grossology Exhibit which was fun! We also went to Terrorcon at the Convention Center. Jes and I went up to Salem and Gloucester, for the Hammond Castle(Very cool!) The Toy Museum(it has since closed, sadly, bc it was awesome!), the Peabody Essex Museum, and Salem WIllows(which didn't impress me much...except for the sunset!) We also went to Jordan's in Reading, for Beantown USA and Trapeze school and Liquid fireworks...and I finally got to try the ice cream in there which was great! June also had a visit to the Roger Williams Zoo and Colt State Park, and my first visit to the Bronx Zoo(via bus trip!) I really liked the Bronx Zoo...its HUGE though and I didn't get to see everything! But I enjoyed what I saw...I can only go by bus trip though, as I can't get there myself in NYC...not without taking busses and that isn't happening! To end June, was my cousin Heidi's Bridal Shower at Country Gardens in Rehoboth...a Beautiful venue! It was a hectic but fun month! July...July started out great-Went to Craigville Beach for the sunset and to Four Seas for my favorite ice cream ever! Went back to NYC with my friend Melonie for Governor's Island and Figment, which we sadly didnt have a lot of time as we decided to rush Holler If You Hear Me, the Tupac musical, which sadly closed...we had front row seats and though I liked the show, I knew it's shelf life was very limited...and sure enough it closed the following week. I FINALLY got to see Forbidden Broadway, and THAT was closing the week after as well...and because he felt bad that I tried for Forbidden Broadway TWICE and couldnt see it through no fault of my own, he gave Melonie a comp ticket too! We also went to the Avengers exhibit at Discovery Center Times Square. I went walking with Shirley, Nikki, Heather, and her daughter Lily, at Borderland, which was fun. The following weekend was my friend Shirley's Surprise 40th birthday, and I had volunteered to take her. That went well, as she was not expecting it from me :) She had a nice party. But that same day, I received terrible news. My Uncle Danny, father to Heidi, who was getting married in just three weeks, had passed away. Heart Attack. That week was extremely painful...with his wake and his funeral. My heart goes out to my cousins, and his poor girlfriend, Nella. My family collaborated with a poem for him, which I will post as a separate post. After all that, I ended the month with Fabi, seeing 13 the Musical at the Stadium Theater(because we had purchased tickets way back in March.) August...what a crazy month this has been!! I took Heidi for a pedicure as a pre-wedding present, which was fun to have some cousin bonding! Our family from California came in on August 5th. August 6th was the wedding rehearsal...and my orientation during the day at Bridgewater State University, where I am entering in Sept as a senior in the Health Management field...I am very excited about this, more so than I was for nursing! Heidi's wedding rehearsal went well, it was beautiful at Ocean Cliff right by the water in Newport! Afterwards, we all had a buffet dinner at a nearby pizza place and watched the slideshow of Heidi and Fabio that she had made. (Fabio is from Verona, Italy! He had 20 people fly in for his wedding, which was incredible!) The next day started out beautiful, my family and Nella and I all took a Gansett Harbor Cruise around Newport before the wedding. We went back to the hotel where my aunt and grandma were staying, and changed into our clothes for the wedding after. We were scheduled to take a 330 Trolley to Ocean Cliff. As we were waiting for the trolley, it started to torrentially rain. There were about 24 of us waiting for the trolley. The trolley was also late. But it finally arrived, (since the groom was with us, the wedding couldn't go on anyway with out him!) Thankfully, when we got there, it had cleared up enough that the wedding could go on, outside! The harpist played beautifully, and the ceremony was nice, especially the sand ritual the parents of Heidi and Fabio did, to symbolize the joining of our families. I never had any doubt that Fabio wasn't going to be part of our family! His family and friends are lovely, as well! The reception was fun, and their cake was adorable! It ended up being a great day! The following Saturday we had a huge BBQ with the pool for my family and Fabio and his parents. It was a nice day, followed by Waterfire. Then, my cousins from Cali had to go back home, sadly. I wish they could have stayed longer! My aunt and uncle are still here, until Tuesday the 19th. Today, August 16, I am seeing Bye, Bye Birdie at the Stadium Theater, and hopefully seeing my friend Kat at her restaurant. So that is my (extremely long!) Update! Upcoming are The Irish Rovers Concert next Friday, Newport Celtic Rock Festival for Gaelic Storm next Saturday with whale watching before that, NYC Aug 30 for Cabaret, maybe a Cape trip in the middle for Martha's Vineyard, and then in Sept we are going on a 7 day cruise to the other side of Canada--Montreal, Quebec City, Prince Edward Island, Sydney, Halifax, Bar Harbor, ME, and then in Boston. Sept 21 I will be in NYC for the Broadway Flea Market! And that is far as the crazy goes, so far! I promise to keep this updated more regularly!

Red Sox vs Twins 5.8.13

2013-05-16T22:43:00.001-04:00

Went to the Sox game tonight, with Alaina. The Sox sucked and lost 15-8. But I love being at Fenway anyway! The fans this year are not taking the BS of the Sox, if they lose most leave, as was the case here. It was kind of interesting to watch the place empty out before the game ended, something I had never seen before. Hopefully this isnt the start of a losing streak! Even though they lost, I still had fun...only thing was it was probably a bad idea to book a Sox game so close to returning from vacation!! Almost fell asleep around 8 pm, as had been my MO lately!

Johnny Baseball-Post from 2010 That I realized had never posted

2013-05-16T22:23:00.001-04:00

This was not a show I saw in NYC, but at the American Repertory Theater in Boston. I had been in anticipation of this show for over a year(when the Boston Pops promoted it at their Red Sox Album concert in May of 2009!), so I was excited the show was finally open!

I was not disappointed!

Synopsis:
This is the story of a young ball player, Johnny O Brien, who is on the Red Sox in the early 1900's, and befriends Babe Ruth. Ruth takes him to a night club where he falls in love with the singer, Daisy Wyatt, who is African-American. Being that it is the 1900's, white and black marriage is not acceptable in any way, but Johnny is prepared to deal with that as he proposes to Daisy. Daisy however, doesn't accept due to a deal she was given to NOT accept, so his career wouldn't suffer and for compensation, hers could take off. She couldn't turn that down, so she left town to save his career and start hers. About 20 years later, baseball and the world is changing and black ball players are being allowed to try out for the professional teams. Two black ball players try out for the Sox, and it turns out that one is the son of Johnny and Daisy. Daisy had implored to Johnny to help her son achieve his dream, finally admitting that her son is actually his son. His son doesn't make the team, and he turns to God, and says "God curse the Boston Red Sox, and all the boys who dream." The Red Sox(as everyone knows) does not win another game. Flash forward to 2004, all the fans are in the stands at Fenway hoping and praying the Sox are going to win. Right now, the prognosis is not good. An elderly black gentleman has been telling the story of Johnny O Brien to this little boy the entire game. The little boy questions the motive of the black ball player by asking why he cursed the team for the future players and fans. Here you learn the black gentleman WAS that ball player, and he lifts the curse by saying, "God bless the Boston Red Sox and all the boys who dream." And then David Ortiz gets that homer, and wins the game and the rest is history! I like the fact that the story goes back and forth between the 1920's and 2004. The songs are excellent also! And the acting was excellent! I would definitely see another show here! I just wish they had a soundtrack out! ** I just would like to add that I still feel this was a top notch performance, and it SHOULD go to Broadway...hint hint producers out there...its an ORIGINAL MUSICAL(which we need MUCH MUCH MORE of, no more movies to musicals please!) It also covers a subject that is America's pasttime: baseball...and its an underdog story...plus the Sox have a lot of fans out there(this girl included!) Damn Yankees got their shot on the Great White Way, why not the Red Sox???

Hawaii and California, 4.28.13-5.5.13

2013-05-16T22:22:00.000-04:00

Aloha! I went on vacation to BEAUTIFUL Hawaii! We stayed in Princeville, on the island of Kauai from Sunday-Thursday. Hawaii is GORGEOUS!! But very hot! And there is no air conditioning, not even in our resort! Walmart is considered a tourist attraction. They have air conditioning, but no bags! You have to bring your own! Unreal! Our resort was the Wyndham Bali Hai, and it was gorgeous! Two bedrooms, two bathrooms, washer/dryer, jacuzzi, dishwasher, and two patios! We were right near the pool, which was also gorgeous! Our Resort: The first day we were tired(we had come from California where we had had an overnight) but we did a lot of sitting around, me in Lihue(Kauai's airport) because I got on a flight before my family, and they did a lot of time sitting in California. The resort was an hour from the airport, and you have to drive S-L-O-W in Hawaii, the speed limits are ridiculously slow! So we only ventured out in the evening, where we learned the only thing open til a decent hour was the grocery store! Everything else closed by 8! Interesting. Second day, we went exploring. We discovered the feral chickens and roosters all over the island. We also found a random beach with high surf, Wailua Falls, Where Fantasy Island was filmed, and Opaekaa Falls, where Gilligans Island was filmed. The areas were really pretty! In the afternoon/evening we went to the Smith Family Garden Luau, where we took a boat over to Fern Grove, which was really pretty! And we got to walk the gorgeous gardens filled with flamingos! Then we had a real luau dinner and show, which was great! Random Beach, Wailua Falls, Opaekaa Falls, Fern Grove, Smith Family Luau Third day we went to the Kauai Coffee Plantation, which was kind of cool to see. They even gave out free cups of coffee, many different flavors. Too bad I don't like coffee! My family said they had the best malasadas there, too. Then we went to see Spouting Horn, which is really cool, the ocean hits up against lava tubes and "spouts" like Old Faithful! After Spouting Horn, we went to one of the Botanical Gardens on Kauai, which was gorgeous! We also found Glass Beach, but that was a disappointment, as the pieces of glass were so tiny! After that, we went on a sunset cruise on a catamaran. Saw the Napali Coast, which is amazing and gorgeous, a beautiful sunset, and even some breaching humpback whales! Kauai Coffee Plantation, Spouting Horn, Botanical Garden, Napali Coast, Sunset, Whales Day 4 we were up bright and early for an airplane ride around the island! We got to see the entire island, and it was beautiful! In the afternoon we just relaxed and took it easy, as we were leaving early for Ohau. I did get some nice pics of the resort and pool though! Kauai From the Sky, Resort and Pool Day 5 we bid adieu to Kauai, and hopped a flight to Ohau where we spent the day at Pearl Harbor-USS Missouri, and USS Arizona Memorial. I liked them both, it was really cool to be on the Missouri, and sad to be at the Arizona Memorial. However, I was annoyed by the group of late teen-early twenty somethings who thought it was appropriate to make duck faces and smile and pose for pictures. It was a sad place, a place where people lost their lives 72 years ago, and here were these children being disrespectful. There is still oil leaking from the Arizona, which rests beneath the surface under the Memorial. So incredible that it is still there! After Pearl Harbor, we went to the Bishop Museum, which was a great museum, featuring a working volcano three stories high! Amongst other cool things. After the Bishop Museum, we closed the day at Waikiki Beach, which was busy and fun! After Waikiki we hopped a red eye to California! Day 6 and 7 we spent in California, visiting our relatives. We were in the San Francisco area. It was really nice to see them, but too quick a visit! I did take pics of the marina, though. San Francisco Marina

North Shore Shenanigans 4.26.13

2013-05-16T20:52:00.000-04:00

So Alaina and I were supposed to do a day trip to New Hampshire today. That epic failed, as we got to the North Shore "to kill time" because we were waiting on the DeCordova Sculpture Garden to open, and ended up at Minuteman National Park...for hours! It was really fun though, we saw the spot where Paul Revere was captured, and the Minuteman statue and footbridge, the Old Manse house/boathouse, and some gorgeous cherry blossom trees. The grounds were lovely, we didn't walk the whole park as it is HUGE, but we definitely "killed time," as we didn't leave for at least three hours! After the park we went to the DeCordova Sculpture Garden, which was interesting. Nice weather we had, and the sculptures were cool! I wish they had had descriptors as to what made them art, but they just had what they were made of. But I enjoyed it very much! After that, we went to Sonic(Gotta get Sonic if you make the trek to the North Shore!) This is only my second time having Sonic, but it was great! After Sonic we went to the Jordan's Furniture in Reading, and then in Natick. Sounds strange, doesn't it? Why would you want to go to not one, but TWO furniture stores?? Because Jordan's is unlike any other furniture store! Jordan's has fun things inside! In Reading, they had "Beantown," where everything is made of jellybeans(including working stores!), a giant Wally the Green Monster holding a Yankee player in his glove, which raises and lowers to his mouth, "Liquid Fireworks," a really cool water and light show set to music, and a trapeze school...yes people actually learn how to do the trapeze there!! Natick features New Orleans and Mardi Gras, and has a short animatronic interaction with "Elvis," "The Beatles," "Richard Simmons," "The Supremes," "The Village People," "Louis Armstrong," and various other "special guests." Definitely fun places! Overall, it was a great day! Even though we didn't get to our destination!

NYC How I Missed You So! 4.19-4.21.13

2013-05-16T19:33:00.000-04:00

This was Kristin's and my NYC weekend! It had been a long winter, as I'd mentioned, and I had missed the city. This weekend was a bit surreal, as earlier this week at the Boston Marathon, there was a now-infamous bombing that occurred, killing four people, and seriously injuring hundreds more. While I was in NYC one of the brothers involved in the bombing was killed(thank god!) and the other brother was found, and is now locked in a prison hospital.(Was excited when they finally captured him!) In the wake of the tragedy that happened, I went to NYC proudly rocking my Sox gear, Boston pride...which normally I would never wear in NYC because I know better. Going to NYC was an experience. We took the train from New Haven as always, and not long after we had gotten on, we were stopped at a station for about 45 mins-an hour. We had no idea what was going on, finally found out that the Boston bombers were thought to have boarded an Amtrak train up ahead of us that was heading to NYC. Pretty scary to look out your window and see police officers with machine guns walking back and forth. Finally we get to NYC, and as I am walking out of Grand Central Terminal, my sandal breaks. Unreal. Luckily, there is a Modells across the street from Grand Central. $25 and a new pair of flip flops later, we were on our way. We stayed at the Mayfair Hotel, where we stayed last year. We dropped off our stuff and headed for the subway, where we went to Brooklyn(first time ever!) We went to the Botanical Garden, which was nice. Then we got lost and ended up walking all over the city til we found a subway. We ended up eating at a place called La Defense, which had amazing red velvet cake. After La Defense, we walked back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge, which was fun, and great views of the city! My evening show that night was the AMAZING Pippin! Pippin was delightful, incorporating a circus and acrobatics, with all the actors doing their own stunts! Pippin is the story of a guy who was trying to find his place in the world. It's a magical show that should not be missed! Patina Miller is the Leading Player, Andrea Martin is the Grandmother(Berthe), Terrence Mann is the king(Pippin's father), and Matthew James Thomas is Pippin. The doorman at Pippin teased me about my Sox hoodie, but immediately stopped when he found out I was from Massachusetts, and apologized. Saturday we started the day snagging my rush matinee ticket to Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, and then went to Serendipity 3 for early lunch and frozen hot chocolate. After Serendipity, we went to Dylan's Candy Bar(my fave candy place!) After Dylan's we walked back for our matinees. I was seeing Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, as Id mentioned. The story of siblings Vanya and Sonya who are in their late 50's, and live together. They bicker, and they really don't do much with their lives. Older sister Masha is a famous celebrity, and she swoops in with her gorgeous and very much younger boyfriend, Spike, to try to sell the house from under them. Vanya and Sonya are warned by their house keeper(who gets visions) to beware of the house being taken from them. At the end, Masha and Sonya and Vanya are sitting in the house(which is no longer being sold) and enjoying each other's company, Spike is out of the picture, and the housekeeper was right on her prophetizing. Sounds boring? It's NOT!!! It was absolutely hysterical! Vanya-David Hyde Pierce, Sonya-Kristine Neilsen, Masha-Demi Moore, Spike-Billy Mangnusen. At Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, I realized my external phone charger wasn't charging, and my phone was almost dead. No problem! We had a hotel room! After Vanya and Sonya and Masha and Spike, I went to Schmackarys to try their cookies. Had a chocolate chip and a red velvet. To me they were kind of dry, I much preferred my dessert from La Defense! But they are really popular, so maybe it was just an end of the day batch. After that I went back to the room to relax a bit, as I had two shows at night: Cuff Me, a 50 Shades of Gray Parody which was funny, and F%$king Up Everything, a rock musical. At the room I discovered my wall charger didn't really want to charge either, unless I bent the cord a certain way. Turns out the plug was fried. Cuff Me was really funny, they did the book by making parodies of songs and putting the story around the music. I don't even like the 50 Shades books, I find them boring and poorly written, but the cast of Cuff Me did a great job! I didn't stop laughing! F%$king Up Everything was really good! I loved the music, the storyline was good, and it was really upbeat! Definitely one of my favorite shows of the weekend, I really want a cast recording! It was a totally relatable show, also! After F%$king Up Everything, I was hungry so I went to McDonalds(it was around midnight) and I wasn't paying attention after I'd ordered, and these three stoner guys came up to me and started teasing me about my hoodie, which I promptly reminded them about the recent events in my state, and I'd said something that made me naturally drop my R's, and one of them actually came up to me and was like, I have to give you a hug, you dropped your R. It was really strange! But I figured stoner guys were harmless enough, and those guys and the doorman were the only people who teased me. EVERYONE was talking about the Boston Bombings all weekend, no one was disrespectful in any way, and it was nice to find camaraderie. Sunday we hung around the room for awhile, until about 1045. Check out was 11, and after check out Kristin went to rush Chicago to get us seats because Adam Pascal had just joined the cast. I went to Starbucks for a Passion Tea Lemonade and a Lemon Loaf slice, and then I went down to Old Jews Telling Jokes, which had been on my list to see for awhile. We both snagged our tickets, and we grabbed a snack at the Little Pie Company(vanilla cupcake with chocolate frosting for me as they had no red velvet!) and I went to my first show of the day(I had three more that day!) Old Jews Telling Jokes was HYSTERICAL! Again, nonstop laughing the entire time! I had read the book, and really enjoyed it! On stage was awesome! I was the youngest person in the audience, but that was ok! I definitely recommend this one, especially if you are in the city on a Sunday and want to do something before Broadway's start(most shows start at 3 on Sundays!) After Old Jews, Kristin and I both went to see Forbidden Broadway Alive and Kicking. I had been DYING to see a Forbidden Broadway show for years, so I was excited to see this one! It didn't disappoint! It parodied shows that were currently on Broadway(some had closed at this point but that was ok!) You didn't have to see every show to get their comedy though! They definitely did a good job, and it actually closed the week after we saw it, so I am very grateful that I finally got to see one of them! I hope they come back with it soon! After Forbidden Broadway, we had some time to kill before our evening show, Chicago. We hung around Times Square, just hanging out, mostly in the Marriot Marquis Theatre, charging our phones, til we got booted out of there. (Remember the shoes I had to buy? Yea. My feet were NOT happy with me at all! I could barely move!) When it was time for Chicago, I was excited because I hadn't seen it on Broadway, and I was going for Adam Pascal. We figured since he'd JUST signed on, there was no way he was missing a show yet--and an evening show to boot. WRONG!!! Mr Pascal had taken the night out!! I was really upset about that, but the show was still really good. If they had advertised that when we'd gotten the tickets, I woulda said forget it for another day! Very disappointed about that! On the way to Chicago, my purse broke. Awesome! But I managed to fix it thank god! We also tried to stage door at Nice Work if You Can Get It, but Mr Broderick decided to remain elusive and not come out. Which was also disappointing. It was sad to leave NYC, but it was a fun weekend! Still with me? Good. So if you are paying attention, That was SEVEN shows, kids. Seven shows, one weekend. Pretty Amazing, and topped last year by two! Don't know if I will ever be able to do that again, but I was really pleased! So. Seven shows, 5 dessert places, and 4 things that broke(BUT when I realized the external charger only wasnt working because of the cord and got a new cord, the external started working again, so YAY!) Now. You know they are coming, pics!!

Happy Spring!

2013-05-16T18:16:00.000-04:00

We had a cold, harsh winter here this year! Haven't done much, because of it! Went to Boston a couple of times, walked around in the snow. We hit 15+ inches of snow in a couple of snowstorms this year, had snow up to my waist at one point! We also had a giant tree fall and block our driveway, as well as power loss more than once! I will be very happy if we never see snow again, honestly! So lets see...I think I went to Boston five times, once with Mandi on New Year's Day, once with Alaina for the Sam Adams Brewery Tour, aquarium, and Fenway Park Tour with lights, once again with Mandi on "spring break" which was snowing and definitely NOT springlike, once with Ma for the MIT museum and Paul Revere House, and last, with Kristin to see Glass Menagerie at ART. Four/Five times we went to Mikes or Modern Pastries lol (both have great desserts!)Glass Menagerie was really good, and I don't like plays. It was the story of a girl who was shy when it came to men, and her overbearing mother who kept pushing her to date. There was also a brother, who was essentially the central character. He worked and tried to spend as much time as he could away from the house, and away from his mother. It was a good story, glad I saw it. Would I see it again? Not for a long time, as it was a play. I get the gist, wasnt a favorite that I needed to see over and over again! I went to Newport twice, once accidentally, once planned to see Brigid. Also went to Colt State Park for Easter. Im going to post quick pics of these events. "Blizzard Nemo" 2013 New Year's Day in Boston-Various spots around the city Boston with Alaina-Sam Adams Brewery, New England Aquarium, Fenway Park Tour Boston with Mandi-Museum of Science, Walking in the Snow, North End, Esplanade, Playground Boston with Ma-MIT Museum, Paul Revere House Newport-Sunsets, Water, Sun Colt State Park-Easter

12.9-12.16.12...IRELAND!!!

2012-12-29T20:41:00.000-05:00

To end out the year of 2012, we went on a trip to Ireland! It was the Taste of Ireland tour, through Triple A. This turned out to be the trip of a lifetime! We arrived on 12.10 in Dublin, at Dublin Airport. At the airport, we met up with our tour guide and bus driver, Martin. He dropped us off at the Burlington Hotel so we could freshen up. Around two, we met in the lobby of the hotel and met the other 18 people who would be in our tour group for the rest of the week. We boarded the bus for our tour around Dublin, stopping at the statue of the Potato Famine on the harbor, and at Dublin Castle for a tour of the building, and at St Patrick's Cathedral, and finally a Statue of Oscar Wilde. At night they took us to the Merry Ploughboy Pub to see a traditional Irish Music Show. It was a lot of fun, and we got to know our tour mates better!

12.11.12 We left Dublin for Killarney. Today we stopped at the Rock of Cashel, the town of Cashel, and Blarney Castle. I loved the Blarney Castle,(I love all castles, I think they are mysterious and romantic!) even though it was treacherous to climb(in flip flops!) I wasn't about to kiss that Blarney Stone though! People in my tour group did, but no thanks! We also went to the Blarney Woollen Mills too. Dinner that night was at the Killarney Avenue Hotel.

12.12.12 We went on the Ring of Kerry today. We stopped at the Killarney Golf Course where we had a group picture taken. We also went to see Brendan Ferris, a sheepdog farmer, who did a demonstration of how his dogs herd sheep. We stopped over at the Skellig Experience, where the monks carved a home out of rock, as well as 650 steps to the top. We also went to the village of Sneem, which was a cute village with brightly painted houses. We also stopped at some points along the way for beautiful scenery. Dinner that night was also at the Killarney Avenue Hotel, and then we went to explore the village of Killarney.

12.13.12 We left Killarney today for Shannon. We crossed the River Shannon on a boat...the whole bus drove on to the boat for the ride over! We also went to a village in County Clare with a gorgeous church! We went to Spanish Point and to the Cliffs of Moher. At night, we had dinner at Bunratty Castle and medieval Christmas show. We stayed at the Bunratty Castle Hotel.

12.14.12 I begin my journey back from Shannon to Dublin. Before I left, I had some extra time to explore Bunratty, and the cemetery on the hotel property. I saw some nice scenery and clouds on my 5 hour bus ride back.

12.15.12. So I didn't make my flight. I was so incredibly sad to have another day in Dublin. I rebooked my hotel and went off to explore the city on foot. I went to Trinity College and saw the book of Kells, and then just walked around the city.

12.16.12 I finally got on my flight today and headed home. It was a long journey, and while I was happy to be back in the States, I loved Ireland and will definitely go back!

2012-12-29T14:58:00.000-05:00

December 1, 2012-NYC Today was a Triple-Show day! We got to NYC pretty early(gotta love the express train they run at Christmas!) and we went straight to the booth theatre to get Kristin her Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Ticket. Then we went to Dylan's Candy Bar, where I had to stock up on my Red Velvet Cake Candy Bars! We had taken the long way to Dylan's, up the gorgeously decorated 5th Avenue, so it took us awhile! We left Dylan's at 11:15 am. I had tickets to the Rockettes @ 11:30. On my way to the Rockettes, I realized that I had brought my receipt for the ticket and not the actual ticket! The Rockettes staff was awesome though, they figured out where my seat was and I only missed the first 5 minutes The Rockettes were amazing, it was their 85th Anniversary show, and they had changed some things which I really liked! I will go back in 5 years probably. Maybe every 5 years is perfect! Though the Rockettes really put you in that Christmas Spirit, I was sad I didn't get to spend more time walking around 5th Avenue and seeing the Christmas Decorations! After the Rockettes, I went over to see the Rockefeller Tree and the skating, and of course the angels and toy soldiers they had set up. Gorgeous as always! I couldn't stay long though, because I had tickets at 2 to A Christmas Story. A Christmas Story was fantastic! This was a new Christmas show for the season, and they didn't disappoint! They followed the storyline impeccably, and the music was fun. The cast was extremely talented! They even had real hound dogs on the stage! One of the best scenes was the leg lamp dance. Hysterical! However, in the show, one of the patrons several rows ahead of me had a stroke. She apparently has TIA, but they had to escort her out of the theatre on a gurney. Scary!! I'd never seen that happen before! Of course, I had to take my picture with the pink bunny suit! Great show! After A Christmas Story, I went over to Macys to meet the Man of the Season himself, Santa Claus! The line wasn't bad, (Though this was Dec 1, at around 430 pm!) The Enchanted Village was wonderfully done, as always! And I got my traditional picture with Santa :) After seeing Santa, I met up again with Kristin for a very special Lion King Exhibit. Lion King is celebrating 15 years on Broadway, so they had set up a pop-up exhibit of costumes and props, and you could take pictures with everything. It was only up for two weeks, so we were lucky to catch it! And it was for free! :) After the Lion King exhibit, we went to the gorgeous Bryant Park to see the tree and skaters, and then we went to see Annie(My third and final show of the day!) Annie was phenomenal! I really enjoyed it! Katie Finneran was awesome as Miss Hannigan!Very good revival! After that we boarded the train to come home. Busy but fun day! And it flew by so incredibly fast!

2012-11-25T23:16:00.000-05:00

Exploring Massachusetts! 11.17.12 Fabi, Kristin, Melisa, and I had scored tickets to Next To Normal in Concord, MA. We were excited for the show, but I think I was MORE excited for the day we had planned prior to the show! We had planned to get up there early and tour the Orchard House(Louisa May Alcott house), Sleepy Hollow Cemetery(Where all the great writers were buried) and Walden Pond. Melisa, Kristin, and I have all lived in Massachusetts our whole lives. Fabi lives in Rhode Island. Out of the four of us, only Melisa had been up here! The day was gorgeous! We got up there and got right on the tour. Our guide, Nancy, was very informative. I enjoyed hearing about the family and the influence her sisters had on Louisa May Alcott's novel, Little Women. The house was filled with gorgeous pictures and paintings, most drawn by Alcott's youngest sister, May, who was portrayed as Amy in the novel. Beth's piano was there, there were two of them. The history was amazing. All I can say is, go to Concord and take the tour. It is worthwhile, and historical!

After, we went to Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. We saw the stone of French, designer of the Lincoln Memorial and student of May Alcott. We also saw Thoreau, Emerson, Hawthorne, and Alcott's stones. It was a very nice, pretty cemetery.

Finally, we went to Walden Pond. SUCH a pretty place! I can only imagine how gorgeous it is in the summer! So peaceful and quiet! I will be coming back!

We saw Next To Normal at night. I think the show was very well done with the cast members for the most part talented. The woman playing Diana may have been having an off day, her voice wasn't the best. I am hoping if I see her again I can hear how her true voice is. The guys playing Dr Madden/Dr Fine and Henry were HOT! Good production, I will be back for more!

NYC 11.3.12

2012-11-04T13:33:00.002-05:00

Today, Kristin and I went to NYC. I was a little nervous because Hurricane Sandy had just hit, and devastated most of NY and NJ, but Midtown was good, only saw a couple of ATM's shut down. Times Square was pretty deserted for a Saturday, though. We already had our show tickets, so we went around looking for tickets for Dec 1, and I got Rockettes, A Christmas Story, and Annie :) The city is getting ready for Christmas :) Our first show was The Mystery of Edwin Drood. This was written by Charles Dickens, and he passed away before he could finish it. It was sort of a Murder-Mystery, and the audience got to pick who the murderer was. The plot was about Edwin Drood, played by the wonderfully talented Stephanie J Block, who was the nephew of Jasper, played by Will Chase. Drood was betrothed to Rosa Bud, played by Betsy Wolfe. Jasper was infatuated with Rosa, and wanted Drood out of the picture. Rosa lived in a Nun's House because she was orphaned, and a tempestuous woman named Helena, played by Jessie Mueller, was orphaned,moved in and became friends with Rosa. Her brother Neville, played by Andy Karl, was in the hands of Rev Crisparkle, played by Gregg Edelman, to be his apprentice. Neville, who was known to have a violent side, fell instantly in love with Rosa. Jasper had a little habit of going to Princess Puffer's Opium Den(Princess Puffer was played by the always amazing Chita Rivera) and one of the times there, after he got high, he yelled out Rosa Bud's name, which alerted Princess Puffer to possible danger. Meanwhile, Jasper met with the local cemetery keeper, Durdles,played by Richard Creighton, to see the crypt of the mayors wife. Sneakily, he steals the key to the crypt, which is big enough for the Royal Family. Later that evening, Rosa and Edwin call off their engagement, vowing to keep it a secret for the moment because it was the holidays. They go to Jaspers house for Christmas. When everyone is ready to leave, they all part ways, Neville with Drood, Crisparkle with Helena and Rosa, Jasper on his own. The next day, Drood was missing, with it appearing to be Neville as the murderer. Act 1 ends. Act 2 begins with Princess Puffer and a new character, Dick Dratcher, as sleuths trying to crack the case of the murder.It comes down to 7 potential murderers: Jasper, Princess Puffer, Neville, Durdles, Crisparkle, Helena, and Rosa. Now the fun part! The audience got to pick the murderer! Our audience chose Rosa, and she sang a wonderfully wicked song about how it happened and it was meant for Jasper, but Drood was wearing Jaspers coat and in the dark she didn't know it wasn't Jasper. The next part was even better, as the audience got to pick which of the remaining lead males and females got to be lovers. Our audience chose Helena and Neville!! They are brother and sister! They had to sing a love song and they improvised it, one of the funniest improvs Ive ever seen! I kind of want to go back and see it with all of the possible endings and choices, but it is a limited run show, sadly! It was hysterically funny, and looked like such a fun show to do! The cast confirmed that at the stage door! Stage door was wonderful, got pretty much the entire cast except Chita Rivera, because she was in physical therapy. A little disappointing, but in the long run can't complain! There were also a couple of interesting twists :) All I can say is, DEFINITELY WORTH SEEING! I also want to mention there was a character named Deputy,played by Nicholas Barasch, the son of Durdles, who was a secondary character. He was the youngest member of the cast, at age 14. He performed well, and was very sweet and professional at the stage door. I look forward to seeing him in future productions! Our second show was called The Performers. It was a 90 minute show, with no intermission. This show promised to be funny, and it did not lie! The cast consisted of 6 people: Mandrew Roddick, played by Cheyenne Jackson Peeps, played by Ari Graynor Sundown LeMay, played by Jenni Barber Lee, played by Daniel Breaker Sara, played by Alicia Silverstone and Chuck Wood, played by Henry Winkler. Do the names of the characters give you any idea as to what the show is about yet? No? Read on! First, I do want to say for parents, don't let your children under age 16 see this show! So. The Performers is about 6 people, 4 of them are actors in the adult industry, and the other two are an engaged, relatively normal couple. The show opens with actor Mandrew Roddick doing an interview with his old high school friend Lee, who is a reporter for the New York Post. Mandrew is preparing to fly to Vegas for the Adult Film Awards, along with his wife Peeps, who is also in the industry. Mandrew is explaining the plot to one of his recent films, and encouraging Lee to join him in recreating a scene so he got the idea. He is also bemoaning his personal life with Peeps, who he said is a dinosaur-literally. She has been seeing a therapist for her problems, and the therapist encourages her to roar like a dinosaur to work through her emotions. As Mandrew is explaining this, the door flings open with a loud roar. Peeps bursts through, upset that a friend of hers in the business got implants, which means she will get more jobs, while Peeps is stuck in more matronly roles. Mandrew tries to comfort her, but only succeeds in making her more upset. Mandrew convinces Lee to join them after the awards for the after party, which Lee begrudgingly agrees to. Scene changes to Lee and his fiancee Sara's room. Lee and Sara are having a discussion about being an ordinary couple with not much spontaneity. This soon turns into an argument, as things that are said are misconstrued. Sara was supposed to take in a Barry Manilow concert in Vegas while Lee went to the Adult Film Awards to finish his interview on Mandrew. She expects to see Lee after the awards, but is dismayed to find out that he will be staying for the after party. She leaves the room in anger. Back in Mandrew and Peeps' room, she is practicing her lines for presenting at the show. Mandrew is more concerned with his reaction faces. Peeps tells him she is pregnant, and Mandrew is thrilled. However, he chooses this time to tell her he kissed her best friend, Sundown LeMay. The already crazy Peeps can't handle this information, even though her and her husband are both involved in adult entertainment, because kissing is the one thing they kept sacred between them. This is more than Peeps can handle, and she panics, wondering how she can possibly present side by side with her friend after knowing what she did with her husband. Enraged and wishing to hurt him, she informs him that she looked in the envelope and her husband doesn't win best male performance, another actor named Chuck Wood does. In the lobby of the awards theatre, we see Sara having a drink. In walks the famous Chuck Wood, with Sundown LeMay on his arm. He sees Sara and pours on the flattery of how he likes her "natural" look. Sara wasn't into it at first, but then sees her husband and decides to use Chuck for her newfound spontaneity, and accepts Chucks invitation to the awards, front row, and also to the after party, much to Lee's dismay. Lee is left with Sundown LeMay, and both of them are confused as to what just happened, how his wife left with Chuck, and how Chuck was Sundown's date for the evening. At the Awards, we see Sundown practicing her lines, and Peeps comes in. They have a discussion where Sundown tells her that her newest "additions" were done spur of the moment, and she hadn't had the opportunity to inform Peeps before it was done, she wasn't trying to hide it from her. Peeps is still angry, so during the presentation they end up wrestling on the floor in anger. As Peeps promised, Chuck Wood won best male performance. Mandrew is beside himself, but he and Lee go to the after party as planned, but Lee with a plan of finding his wife before Chuck Wood convinces her to join his repartee. Meanwhile, Sara has headed back to her room and has collapsed on the bed. No sooner has she shut her eyes, but there is a knock on the door. Peeps enters, claiming she needed to use the bathroom as hers is clogged. Sara allows her to use her bathroom, and the Peeps reveals she just wanted to talk to her because she seemed to have it together with her relationship. Sara tells her that she is uncertain and scared that what if Lee isn't enough for her, or her for him? The women form a strange friendship, and decide to switch places, Peeps wants to be more like Sara, with her "boring" life and Sara wants to spice up her life. They change clothes in the bathroom. While doing that, Mandrew and Lee show up, Lee is blindfolded. Mandrew is trying to make him feel better, so as a surprise he has Sundown LeMay show up to give Lee a night he won't forget. With incredibly bad timing, Sara exits the bathroom with Peeps in tow, only to see Sundown give Lee a passionate kiss. Upset that Lee is "cheating" on her and not realizing that he had nothing to do with it, she runs from the room. Lee is furious at Mandrew. Mandrew ends up in the hotel lounge, where he finds Chuck Wood. Chuck gives him some valuable advice, and Mandrew leaves in search of his wife, to try and make things up to her. Sara ends up drunk, in Peeps' and Mandrew's room alone. There is a knock at the door, and it is Chuck Wood, looking for Mandrew. Feeling depressed that Lee "cheated," she tries, in her drunken state, to chase him around the room and unsuccessfully seduce him. Peeps returns from her errand, and all three end up watching Mandrew's latest video, looking for clues that he indeed did have a thing for Sundown. Chuck tells her that Mandrew is only acting, and that the scenes he does with her are the real deal, because of their passion and love for her. Peeps is very happy with this information. Just then, Lee bursts in looking for Sara. She tells him he "cheated" on her, so she "cheated" on him with Chuck. Sundown is also in the room at this point, and Lee and Sundown explain to her that he never cheated, it was her, and Lee was a perfectly respectable fiancee, who wouldn't even touch her. Chuck explains to Lee that he never touched Sara. Sara and Lee make up. Finally, the man of the hour, who everyone has been searching for, finally shows up. He had bought Peeps a present, a picture frame for the baby. They make up. Everything is back to normal, and the show ends. Doesn't sound so bad, right? What have I left out? Many f-bombs, for starters. And some of the BEST one-liners I have heard in a long time, none which are suitable for printing, at least not on this blog! If you have a great sense of humor, go see this, it is nonstop laughing. If you are stuffy and can't handle things that are off-color, skip this one. Most of my friends would find this hysterical! Stage door was EXCELLENT! They all came out, and were all incredibly nice! Ari Graynor as Peeps probably stole the show, she was kind of like Brittany from Glee. Alicia Silverstone was very softspoken and sweet. Jenni Barber was super sweet. Daniel Breaker is a favorite of mine, I saw him in Shrek 3 years ago and he was fantastic in that also as Donkey! Cheyenne Jackson is GORGEOUS, and really nice! But my favorite was Henry Winkler, aka The Fonz! He was so personable and kind! I told him I had seen him perform with the Boston Pops several years ago in Hyannis, and he said he liked doing that :) For 71 years old, he is still going strong and is fantastic! :) I did feel bad for him during the show, when he was running from Sara they ran across the bed and across a nightstand, and the nightstand(which moved to indicate different hotel rooms) gave way with Henry on it, and he fell. He was down for several seconds, but then got back up and even tried to fix the defective nightstand! At the stage door, he was asked if he was okay from his fall, and he was like, "Oh yea! I'm fine!" Such a trooper, as it was a hard fall! Hopefully that doesn't happen again! Not sure how long this show is running for, but I would definitely see it again!

2012-10-08T10:11:00.002-04:00

10.6.12 Leah, Kristin, and I all went to NYC. The plan for Leah and I was to see Rock of Ages matinee, a 6pm Naked Boys Singing, and an 8pm Forbidden Broadway. Kristin was going to do Forbidden Broadway with us. Being a huge fan of Forbidden Broadway for years now, this was the show I was most excited about. It was one of those days where you couldn't catch a Rush break. Leah and I got in line for Rock of Ages(yes, I said line!! Last year, Alaina and I went to Rock of Ages after the Hair matinee...around 5 pm and got rush tickets no problem. This year, because of the damn(suckish) movie, we had a line.) So there are two girls in front of us, who didn't have cash. They told the box office rep they would be back. Leah and I get up there, and he says he has one rush ticket left. I let her have it, as I had seen the show many times before, and I was not willing to spend $69(the next cheapest tier.) Leah later told me those girls who had left had come back...they were two rows ahead of her. They aren't supposed to hold rush tickets, it's first come first served. I shoulda called him on it. So this left me trying to find a show. Went over to Nice Work If You Can Get It(solely because I love Matthew Broderick). Of course, nothing was left. So I am wandering down the streets, going to meet up with Kristin, who is at Newsies(and scored 3rd row center for a pretty decent price!) and I end up on 42nd St. Scrolling through my phone, looking for discounts and shows on my "must-see" list. I end up across the street from an off-broadway show called Cock. I had been intrigued by Cock for awhile, but I had thought it had closed in September. I look at the marquee, and by sheer luck, saw that Cock was actually closing today! I was like well, it doesn't hurt to check it out! So I stayed outside the theatre for a half hour, only to go in to be told I had to wait ANOTHER half hour, til 1230, before I could rush.(So far, I had spent most of my day in line!) So I finally go in, and I scored a matinee ticket for $25. My show didn't start til 230, so I met up with my friends for a quick lunch and then we all went to our respective shows. Cock was about a gay couple. The first scene they were in love, and everything was fine. Next scene they are arguing, and one calls it off, much to the shock of the other. The next scene, the one who calls it off is telling his ex lover that he met someone and they are great but he's not over him, and SHE would very much like him to be, so they could be together. This shocked the partner, and he flips out over this. Then its almost a rewind, and it shows how the partner who ended it, John, met this girl and how their relationship has progressed to the point where she wants to sit down with John and his former partner to discuss the future. So we are brought up to date, and John, his new gf, his ex bf, and his ex bf's father are all discussing matters, and ultimately it ends with John being forced to make a decision. The story was actually hilarious! It was British humour, which I love I laughed through most of it! I don't know why the show is closing, the theatre was filled, it was a tiny theatre, with bleacher style seats made of wood and the stage was a circle. It was 90 minutes, no intermission, and those seats aren't the best! You will notice I only called one character by name. John was the only character who HAD a name. Not sure why. I would love to get a script. All I know is, it was hysterical, and I really enjoyed it! So after Cock, Leah still has about 20 minutes before her show ends, so I head over to Naked Boys Singing. I did get tickets for $21.50. I go and meet Leah, find Kristin, and we all go to Starbucks. Naked Boys was funny, and exactly what it sounds like. I had seen it before, in Provincetown a couple years ago. One of the guys I had seen up there was actually in this performance! I love the songs, they are so entertaining, and you don't really notice the naked after awhile. And of course, the guys are all good looking! Another quick, 90 minute show. So it is FINALLY time to try and get tickets for Forbidden Broadway(It is 730pm now) and we head over to 47th St. We go in, first we are told that they had student rush, then they told us they wouldn't take our ID's because of NO EXPIRATION DATE!!! That was bs. How is it our fault that our schools don't PUT expiration dates on them?! She offered us one seat for $29, and 2 for $70. We passed, I refuse to spend $70 on off-Broadway! What to do?! We didn't have a backup plan. We tried Chicago, they laughed at us(shows were starting in 30 minutes!) so we chose Mamma Mia. We scored standing room tickets for $27. Mamma Mia was excellent, as always. We stood the first half, and then an usher found us seats for the second half, 11 rows from the front! Awesome!! A long but fun day....with unexpected shows. I am glad Rock of Ages turned out the way it did, because I got to see Cock. Still not happy with Forbidden Broadway's treatment of us, and because of that I am MUCH less inclined to see the show now. We will see. To round out the year, we are planning on The Mystery of Edwin Drood Nov 3 matinee($22, we already got them because we belong to a program called Hiptix for people under 35!) and Annie, which we will probably have to buy in advance, as they are not offering rush, just lottery, and lottery is rigged on Broadway(they suck!!!) and I refuse to pay $70+ for Annie. Dec 1 we are also hopefully planning, and that day my MUST see is A Christmas Story. After deliberating, I think I am going to try to get tickets for Newsical. That closes Jan 6, and it sounds hilarious. As always, I have backup plans, but I will buy Christmas Story in advance if I have to....no way am I missing that one! Things can change though. We will see!

2012-10-08T09:37:00.000-04:00

10.5.12 Roger Williams Zoo Jack o Lantern Spectacular I go yearly to this event! This year's theme was shows from the Stage and Screen, so naturally I was excited! They did this IMO the best this year...things were more organized with the majority of the really awesome, intricately detailed pumpkins on one side, and the regular carved pumpkins on the other, so it wasn't a mass cluster. I also went the 2nd day after it opened, around 8 pm. There was no lines, and only a little bit of waiting once inside. As always, I was not disappointed! I love this yearly tradition!

Alaska 9.9-916.12

2012-09-30T17:58:00.001-04:00

So we went on a cruise to Alaska! We started the trip in Seattle, WA. We went to the Boeing Factory, where we learned such things that it takes 3 million parts to make a Boeing plane, and half of those are nuts, bolts, screws, etc. We got see planes-in-the-making, for the new Dreamliner series. We werent allowed to take pics in the factory. It was a nice, sunny day. I wish I could have seen more in Seattle, but I will def be back!

We left on Sunday for Vancouver, Canada, where we picked up our boat, Holland America's Statendam. The water was very rocky that first day, and almost everyone wasn't feeling well. By about 4 pm on Monday, the water had calmed down. We had quality entertainment on board, and the first night was Tiffany and the HALcats, and they were great, they did a bunch of cover songs. Tiffany was amazing! Ollie, a guitarist who sang back up vocals on some songs, was awesome. I loved watching him play, he was hot, and he was into his music which was fantastic to watch! On Monday night it was formal night, and the entertainment was Showroom at Sea. They consisted of Nathan Holland, Jordan Miller, Joseph Alhomora(sp?), Carenza Laguerre(sp?), Robyn Gayle, and Sean Samura. They were amazing! All of them! Wonderful voices and talent...Broadway should snap them all up(or put them back on, in Nathan's case!) ON Tuesday, we were in Ketchikan, AK. It was raining, so we pretty much went shopping and saw The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. It was funny, kinda hokey. Not my usual idea of a good time, but the audience seemed to love it! Back on the boat we saw a comedian named Mike Robinson. He was a ventriloquist, and very good and funny!

On Wednesday we were in Juneau. STILL raining lol but we went on a Musher's Summer Sled, got to pet the husky dogs and the puppies, and learned about the Yukon and Iditarod races. Very interesting experience! After that we went to Mendenhall Glacier(such a pretty area, even in the rain!) we saw the Glacier and a rainbow trout and a salmon and a porcupine. No bears though! Then we took Mount Roberts tramway 2500 feet up a mountain. We saw a movie about the Tlinglit people, and a family of string performers who were excellent. We also saw an eagle, she was in captivity because she lost her eye and some of her beak. Her name was Lady Baltimore. Back on the boat we saw Showroom at Sea performers as "Four Corners", a show pretty much based on The Four Seasons. A shorter Jersey Boys type show. It was very good! Such talent!

On Thursday, we were in Skagway, AK. Raining AGAIN(and this rain all week was not nice light rain mind you. It was cold, torrential rain.)I loved Skagway. It was a cute town! We saw a show, Days of '98, about the gold rush and Soapy Smith. We went on a Ghosts and Goodtime Girls tour, about the prostitutes and red light district during the gold rush. The interesting thing during that tour, we went to an area where there were three ghost stories told to us. I started snapping pics all over that area, hoping to snag some orbs. When I looked at my pics after, not ONE of that area even showed up on the role! So freaky! We also went to a museum that had a lot of scrimshaw pieces. It was free, and nice. Our ship entertainment that night was another comedian, he did impersonations and he was funny!

Friday we were supposed to go thru Glacier Bay. However, the weather was going to be hurricane force winds with 28 foot swells, so our captain decided to skip Glacier Bay(much to my dismay) and get us docked safely at Seward. So Saturday, they scrounged to get us some shore excursions. We went to the Sea Life Center and climbed Exit Glacier in the freezing cold torrential rains. They had given us an option to either wade through rivers to touch the glacier or climb 200 feet up to get the best shot of the glacier. We opted for the second option, thinking we would stay dryer. NOPE! From the waste down we were soaked! And freezing! But it was an accomplishment to get to the top! When we got back, the boat had a blackout. I was in the shower when that happened. I managed to finish my shower and get dressed in the dark. It was pitch black, and they had nothing but egg salad sandwiches for us to eat.(Gross!) The entertainment on Friday was Carenza and Jordan performing different songs. Both had operatic voices and it was delightful to hear them! Saturday was like a cabaret, had a little bit of talent from Tiffany and the HALcats, Showroom at sea, and the comedian. An excellent show!

Sunday we took a shuttle to the Anchorage airport. We stopped at an overlook and at the Wildlife Center. Arriving at the airport, it was sunny. Go figure. We dropped off our luggage and went to the Anchorage Museum and the mall. Anchorage had apparently had a power outage for two days. United had cancelled a flight and bumped passengers to Delta. We didnt get on our flights. While waiting for ma to get us rescheduled, I noticed a girl had my name on her boarding pass. I questioned her about it, (there is a possibility she has my name after all) and it turns out she did not have my name. NO IDEA how TSA let her in when her id wouldnt match her boarding pass! Long story short, we ended up living in the airport for a couple days. Delta had jacked their flights up to $4400!! We took Alaska Air for $771. Well worth it to come home! My luggage had arrived before we did, and luckily none of my snowglobes broke! It was an interesting trip, I was excited I managed to leave during the day and not at night like I was supposed to. I got awesome shots of glaciers and mountains, not to mention a gorgeous Seattle sunset and amazing Boston sunrise as we left and arrived!

A Quick Recap of the Past Year

2012-09-30T15:17:00.001-04:00

So I am a terrible blogger. I am awful at keeping my blog up to date. This is a recap of everything Ive done in the past year. To finish my California trip, we spent the last couple of days in Berkeley/Oakland/San Francisco area, visiting our relatives. It was a very nice visit! We went to Pier 39, and it was nice to see the sea lions and the shops and restaurants! They had an awesome carousel with a top level and a bottom level, which I had never seen before! We saw the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and we went to eat at a restaurant/brewery in a very nice area! It went by so quick, but I enjoyed it and would like to go back! I loved California! On October 30, I went to see Memphis in NYC. Adam Pascal had joined the cast as Huey. I have been an Adam Pascal fan since RENT, so of course, I had to go see him. I had had no desire to see Memphis prior, even though I was told that it was great. The cast recording didn't suck me in at all. So we went,got student rush tickets, and I got my FIRST box seats! Box seats are NOT wonderful, like you may believe. The farther back you sit in the box, the less of the stage you see. I was lucky enough to be closest to the stage, but I can see how miserable it could be if you were sitting farther back. I LOVED MEMPHIS!! Adam was wonderful, and the show was upbeat, catchy, and created many emotions. It is a feel-good show for everyone! Unfortunately, Adam didn't come out at the stage door, but I am so glad I got on the Memphis bandwagon before it closed! On November 19, I saw Godspell in NYC. I hadn't seen Godspell since I was a kid, at Harwich Junior Theatre. I liked it, the songs were memorable, notably "Day by Day," the trademark song everyone knows. This production blew me away! It was modernized and very lively! The cast was young, relatively unknown(Most notable-Hunter Parrish as Jesus, and Telly Leung, Lindsay Mendez is a hot up-and-coming.) This show was amazing! They utilized water, trampolines, impromptu rap...not a dull moment in the show! When Jesus died, the scene was haunting and very well done. Sadly, this show did not have as long as a shelf life as it deserved. Very Glad I saw it! In the evening, I saw an Evening With Patti Lupone and Mandy Patinkin. I enjoyed this show very much, they performed many songs from Evita, Gypsy, South Pacific, and others. Always amazing performers! December 17 I remember being a hard day for a show decision. I had already obtained tickets to Balls the Musical at night, but what to see during the day? I finally decided on Follies. Bernadette Peters was in it, and one of my goals was to see her perform on Broadway. However, she was performing in a Stephen Sondheim show. I have SUCH an aversion to Stephen Sondheim shows. I never like them, they are long and boring to me, which is why I never saw Bernadette or Angela Lansbury in A Little Night Music. But I'd heard good things about Follies, so I decided to give it a go.(Aside from Bernadette, the show also had Danny Burstein, Ron Raines, Jan Maxwell, Terri White, and Betty Buckley...pretty notable!) I surprisingly liked Follies. It didn't make my top ten must sees or anything, but I didn't hate it/fall asleep. I liked the music the most. The way they had designed the theatre/set was spooky and eerie, which I loved. I didnt get to stage door and meet Bernadette as it was a matinee, but I did like and do recommend the show. My evening performance was Balls the Musical. I LOVED THIS!!! I had a waiter at Ellen's Stardust Diner a couple of years ago, named Brandon Ellis. He has an awesome voice, and a wonderful personality! So I tend to follow actors I like, and I had seen he was going to be in an off Broadway called Balls the Musical. Of course, I had to see it! It was about basically four (straight!) guys who like musical theatre, and wanted to act in it. They made parodies of popular Broadway songs, and they were just hysterical! One of the funniest show I had seen! I wish it had ran longer, I would have definitely gone back! Guys...if you come across this blog, I wish you had made a cd of the songs!(And a possible reappearance off Broadway? We need more humourous shows!) (and Brandon, I am a huge fan!!!) January 14, 2012. I went to NYC without a plan! I decided on Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. SUCH A FUN SHOW!!! Will Swenson, Nick Adams, and Tony Sheldon were FANTASTIC!! (And Nick Adams is simply adorable!) This show was a jukebox musical, with pop songs from the 80s, and based on the movie of the same name. I can't imagine anyone hating this show! It was great! Sadly, it also closed well before its time! January 25-27 I went to Paris, France(for one day) and London, England for two days. I went to the Louvre and saw the Mona Lisa(amongst other things) and we went to the Notre Dame Cathedral(GORGEOUS!!! Loved the Stained Glass Windows!) and we went to the Eiffel Tower(not super exciting, it was rainy and foggy, and we went to the second level(we weren't allowed to go to the top) and you couldn't see much because of the fog. Maybe it would have been better in the sun or at night. London, I LOVED!!! It was sooo nice! We took a bus tour for four hours all around England. We saw Buckingham Palace, the West End of theatres(unlike NYC the theatres are VERY spread out!), Trafalgar Square, Picadilly Circus, all the museums(not enough time to explore many of them though!) The London Eye, The London Bridge, The Gherkin, The Armadillo, The Tower Bridge, The London Tower, and many other things. Our guide, Robin, was fantastic! At night, we rushed Wicked in London...we paid 32 pounds each for tickets...12 rows from the front! Wicked in London was AMAZING!! Just as awesome if not better than NYC! The theatre itself, not as many ushers as NYC. No one shows you to your seat, which was weird. And you have to buy your Playbill(which is the size of our programs here) because when the cast changes, they create new Playbills in full color for each of them. Kind of nice, but at the same time Id rather have my free Playbill! There was some British teenybopper boy band member there that night, someone from a band called McFly, and people went absolutely crazy for him(he was in the audience.) After the show, he walked right by me...and I had no idea who he was, just thought he was a tool in his outfit.(looked military with decorations, but just a jacket with jeans=loser to me!) Shoulda guessed he was someone, as he had a blonde trophy on his arm! The last day in London, we went on The London Eye, Went to the London Tower Tour, saw the Royal Jewels, Went to the London Tower Bridge tour, and went on a London Bridge Tour. It was so nice, I didn't want to come home! And remarkably warm for January! (A week after we returned, they were hit with a huge snowstorm! We had luck this time!) January 29, a day after I returned, I had tickets to American Idiot in Boston. I had come back from England with a bad cold, but I refused to let that stop me! Matt DeAngelis, who I had liked from Hair, and Jake Epstein(Who I liked from Degrassi) were in it! I was excited to see Jake, who had done Spring Awakening tour after it had left Providence, and I was elated to see Matt again of course. I had really gotten into American Idiot since I had seen it in 2010, and I was really excited for this show! I loved every minute, and look forward to catching it in Providence in January 2013! February 19 I saw Mary Poppins at PPAC. Such an enjoyable show! I didn't like it much when I had seen it 5 years earlier in NYC on previews, but it was great this time! I had forgotten so many things, the show was enveloped in the magic of Disney! I would see it again! March 4 at PPAC I saw Come Fly Away. A show much like Movin Out, the story was told by songs, in this case Frank Sinatra songs, and dance. Glad I saw it, wouldn't bother again. I liked the music, but I need dialogue, dance is boring to me! March 10 I returned to NYC and saw Carrie the Musical off Broadway. Marin Mazzie was Carrie's mother, and Christy Altomare was the girl who wanted to be nice to Carrie, I forget her name. I love Marin and Christy! The show was great, Andy Mientus, who I loved in Spring Awakening tour(with Christy Altomare!) was also in it, as was Jen Sese(who I had seen in Hair!) I think this show should have gone to Broadway. The music was great, the effects were great, and the cast was awesome! Stage doored after and got pics with most of them. Christy was an absolute sweetheart. Every show I like I have come to the conclusion has a short shelf life! March 23, I went with Leah and some of her friends to Thunder From Down Under. It was...interesting. I dont know, I get bored easily with half naked men gyrating. It isnt that exciting, but my friends liked them and got pics with them. It was repetitive to me, and they only got down to shirts off and underwear, so I don't really get the appeal. I am also not into overly buff guys, so that may have been a factor. Women were shameless, throwing themselves at the guys and rubbing up against them(touching was allowed!) but it was only ok to me. Id prefer to spend my money on the Sox or Broadway. Went to NYC for a weekend from May 18-May 20. We did so much! We did the NYC Water Taxi, The 9/11 Memorial(Such a beautiful, serene area! The Memory Pools were so nice!), the 9/11 Museum(we did it well, and thoroughly. It was nice, but I do not need to do it again.),and I saw 5 shows--most off Broadway. I saw Fuerza Bruta, which was an experience! You stand for that show, and people run in front of you, smash through walls, run circles around you on foil walls, and even swim above you on a sheet of plastic that comes about 3 inches above your head! It was interesting! I am glad I saw it! I also got up early on Saturday, determined to FINALLY see Book of Mormon! I sat in line for 4.5 hours. I got my standing room ticket for $27!! However, my back ended up hurting at this point, and I don't think I enjoyed Book of Mormon as much as I would have in a seat. The show was funny, and I did get to see one of Andrew Rannells' last performances as Elder Price(love him! he is adorable!) Anyone who is a South Park fan will love this show, and I can't wait to see it again! Saturday at 5, I headed back off Broadway to see Potted Potter, a Harry Potter parody. It featured two British guys, one who played Harry Potter and the other played all the other characters. It was funny, a good family show! I enjoyed it! I would recommend this to all Harry Potter fans! Saturday evening I saw Peter and the Starcatcher! Such a great show! Had Adam Chanler Berat, Christian Borle(of Smash fame) and Celia Keenan Bolger. It was a pre-Peter Pan, about Peter as an orphan and how he eventually gets the name Peter Pan. I really enjoyed it, it was funny and well thought through. I liked the songs they had though it was technically a play and not a musical. Sadly, it will be closing soon, but I think it had a good run! Finally, on Sunday, I saw Silence! The Musical. This was back off Broadway. It was a parody of Silence of the Lambs. It was hysterical, and David Garrison(who played Steve Darcy on Married With Children was an excellent Hannibal Lector!) It was a great show! A must-see for any Silence of the Lambs fans! July 13 I saw Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson in Providence by the Wilbur Group. SUCH a great show!! They did a wonderful job! My ONLY complaint was that the show was put on in a warehouse, with no air conditioning. It was hot in there! But the talent was awesome! I was as pleased with this show as I was when I saw it on Broadway! July 14 I saw Spiderman the musical. I wasn't a fan at all. The music was ok, I liked like one song. I am not a Bono fan. I was turned off by the fact that I could see crew moving the walls of his bedroom when he first realized he was Spiderman. I think the harness strings should have been less visible. The only awesome effects were the unfolding of the Chrysler Building and when he turned into The Green Goblin. I love Rebecca Faulkenberry, she was flawless as always. We had an understudy for Reeve Carney, so I wasn't happy about that. We did see Patrick Page in one of his last times in this role, so I was happy about that--and he was wonderful! I think The Green Goblin was my favorite. I was also turned off by the fact we paid $79 for tickets. We had missed rush, and for a show I didnt want to see in the first place, $39 would have been more than enough. $79 made me want to cry. We also couldnt see them flying after a certain point in our seats. At night we saw Mamma Mia. Christy Altomare is now in this, as Sophie. Wonderful, feel-good classic show!!! Love this show, and this cast had amazing energy! Christy was fantastic, as always! She has been wonderful in anything I have seen her in! Mamma Mia made up for awful Spiderman! July 28 I took myself to N Kingstown to see Titanic the musical. I had always wanted to see this show. They adapted it, so it was 90 minutes. I liked the show, I can only imagine how it was on Broadway! The soundtrack wasnt something I would listen to over and over, but I am a fan of all things Titanic! It was a small, local theatre. Kind of far from me, but I would go again if they had something I REALLY wanted to see! August 18 I chose to not see a matinee performance. Instead, I chose to take myself to Governor's Island to see Figment, artistic creations of various things like a Statue of Liberty head coming out of the ground, a giant tv, a mini golf course with fun things like Mario Brothers courses, skeeball, clowns, etc. A giant tree house you could climb in and slide down, and other things. It was a half hour subway ride down, and a free boat ride over. There was also a Castle that you could tour, with awesome views of Manhattan and the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty. Also going on that day was an old timey baseball game, and a Jazz festival. Everyone was dressed as flappers and people from the Prohibition Era. Very Great Gatsby. Best of all, everything was free! I fell in love with Governor's Island! I will be doing this yearly! At night I saw Voca People(another off Broadway!) I LOVED THIS SHOW!!! I had so much fun, they were an alien acapella group who sang popular music in their show in order to get the energy needed to fix their ship to go home. Sadly, this show closed a couple weeks later(they had had a long run!) but I will be looking forward to catching it on tour again! September 9-16 I went to Alaska. I will write a separate blog on that. September 23 I was back in NYC for the Broadway Flea Market! I saw Honestly Abe at 11am. This was another off broadway. The cast tried hard, but I wasn't a huge fan. I was bored, actually. Some things were funny, but it wasn't for me. I love history, and I think I was expecting more of a Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. I was sorely disappointed, and glad I only spent $15 on it. At 3 we saw Chaplin the Musical. This was such a good show! I really enjoyed this, it was the story of Charlie Chaplin, who he was, what he became, what he created. This had good music, fabulously talented actors. It wasn't boring in any way! However, because I liked it, it's not doing great on Broadway. Sadly. I hope it has a longer life than it's having so far. Soooo that brings us up to date. For the rest of the year: Pumpkins at the Zoo, Hopefully Salem, NYC (before Dec I would love to see Annie, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?, Mystery of Edwin Drood, a Christmas Story, and Nice Work If You Can Get IT (unless Matthew Broderick leaves, and then I will wait til tour!) I am also going to Ireland in December!

Haven't Been On In Awhile..

2012-05-24T22:59:00.001-04:00

I haven't been on in awhile because life has been a whirlwind, but I will be updating this weekend where I left off, hopefully to current day!

California Adventure Oct 15-22, 2011(This covers 10.15-10.20)

2012-02-21T11:57:00.001-05:00

So its vacation time!! This time I went to California, for the first time ever!!

We arrived in LA and went to Hollywood. We went to the Hollywood Wax Museum, which was like a Madame Tussauds. The likenesses were incredible!!

After this museum, we wandered down Hollywood Blvd, looking at the Stars on the Walk of Fame, and ending at the famous Chinese Graumanns Theatre, where the hand and foot prints are.

Finally, we went to the Guiness Book of World Records Museum, before boarding our Amtrak train to Anaheim, CA.

Oct 16

We have three days to explore Disneyland!! We go to the original Disneyland today. It is similar in many ways to the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, but where Disney World has upgraded many of their rides to be more modern, Disneyland has maintained it's original rides for the classic feel! Rides like Mr Toads Wild Ride, 20000 Leagues Under the Sea(Though that has been redone to be Nemo-themed, but it's still the same ride that Disney World used to have!) Pinocchio's Adventure, Snow Whites Scary Adventure, etc still exist here! There is also a couple of "lands" that Disney World doesn't have: New Orleans Square, which is French-themed, and Toontown, which has the unique Roger Rabbit ride. Disney World got rid of Toontown awhile ago, so it was nice to see again! Disneyland also had more opportunity for pictures with the characters!

Oct 17

We spent the day at Disney's California Adventure, the new park that has been open about 10 years. I really liked this park! More adult rides, less crowds, an awesome Aladdin the Musical performance, and Boardwalk games that enabled me to win a big stuffed Goofy, a big stuffed Dumbo, and a small stuffed Timothy the Mouse(from Dumbo), as well as stuffed lobsters and crabs :) I would go back to this park any time!!

Oct 18
We went to the Disney Market Place today, and back to Disneyland for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party. The best thing in the Market Place was the Lego Store :) Huge difference from Downtown Disney, in FLA. There wasn't nearly as much to do here. The Halloween Party was fun, many opportunities to meet characters, but I stuck to just the Villians, as they are my fave! Not as organzied as Disney World's Halloween Party by any means, they weren't as strict about people with arm bands, but you were able to get as much candy as you wanted--we must have taken home about 5 lbs--and the lines for rides weren't long at all!

Oct 19

We boarded Amtrak again for San Diego. We saw HAIR at the Civic Theatre(YES, the same HAIR I had seen previously 3 times in NYC!! I HAD to see this cast one more time, they were that amazing! And I wasn't disappointed at all!! They gave the same wonderful performance that I had seen so many times previously! I bought a HAIR t shirt and a hoodie :) It was a fun ordeal to find the theatre. NO ONE spoke English on our trolley, and they ended up giving us directions...that took us to almost Mexico...to the Navy base. We got back on and headed back, finally got right directions. We had missed rush by ten minutes, but the box office was awesome and let us rush anyway after they heard our story and where we were from :) Got orchestra seats for $22.50! Cheaper than I'd ever paid even WITH rush in NYC! And of course, I got myself on stage with them after the show ended :) After the show was done, they had a talk-back, which I stayed for. It was interesting, people asked questions and the cast responded. I didnt get to ask anything, but I enjoyed listening and just being there!! After, while we were waiting for our trolley, an occupy protest was going on, and walked down the street right past us! Kinda interesting :)

Oct 20

We spent the day At Sea World, San Diego. Cute park, not nearly as big as Florida's. Many of the same attractions, but I love being around ocean creatures, so it was a fun day!! COLD day, who knew how cold Cali could get???

Gazillion Bubble Show, 10.3.11

2012-02-20T10:22:00.000-05:00

Providence Performing Arts Center was showing the Gazillion Bubble Show for $10 so I decided to check it out!

It was not disappointing! They had all kinds of bubbles, ranging from standard small bubbles to bubble archways, and bubbles big enough to hold people inside them! With a combination of lasers and music, the show was an action packed 90 minutes of wonderment and awe!

Verdict: Totally worth seeing, not worth the $85 price sticker they want in NYC, but $10-$20, if you can catch it, see it!

Broadway Flea Market, 9.25.11

2012-02-20T10:11:00.000-05:00

Again, it's been awhile since I have been able to write! So many things have happened since 9-3-11! So it's time to play catch up!

I was able to go to the Broadway Flea Market for the first time ever! The Broadway Flea Market is a giant day of shopping for Broadway Fans, with all proceeds going to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the biggest charity Broadway donates to.

So what goes on at the Broadway Flea Market?

EVERYTHING! It is a Broadway Lover's Dream!(Minus the crowds!) There are raffles and auctions with prizes varying from Theatre tickets to art to even on stage experiences! There are old used makeups from famous actors, there are games, food, even autograph sessions and photo ops with Broadway actors! And everything ranges from free-?

I was VERY overwhelmed, as this was my first time and didn't know what to expect, so I kind of went crazy, but I got some decent things for what I paid, a feather boa from Priscilla Queen of the Desert, magnets, pins, sterling silver comedy-drama mask earrings, show programs and posters, t shirts and hoodies, snowglobes, cds...even theatre tickets! I also managed to get a lot of pictures of actors as they were coming and going from the photo/autograph area! All in all, I spent $71 and got over $500 worth of stuff!!!

The Flea Market raised $547,658!!!

I know I couldn't spend much, but I was happy to be a part of it, and WILL be returning next year!! But now that I know what to expect, I will be more choosy on how I spend my money!

Tip: If you can stay later, more and more stuff goes cheap or free! My snow globe would have been $75-$85 when it first came out. They were selling it for $20. I waited til the end of the day and it dropped to $10 :-D

It is a great day, FUN and not to be missed if you are a Broadway fan!

NYC 9.3.11 HAIR and Rock of Ages

2011-09-05T15:27:00.013-04:00

I said I fell in love with Hair lol I was not joking! 3 times in 7 weeks! That's not bad! This time I went with Alaina, we tried lottery again and lost, but got student tickets for $37 for mezz. But we still had the entire experience, including going on stage at the end! It was great! We had several cast changes this time, my favorite being Marshal Kennedy Carolan as Claude. Not only is he incredibly adorable, his voice is AMAZING!!! It was a wonderful choice for Claude!! We also stage doored. Not a bad show for Alaina's first Broadway show AND first time to NYC! I will miss Hair when it closes next week :( Fingers crossed it comes to PVD for the 2012-2013 season!
Cast:
Dionne: Tanesha Ross(This show)
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Marshal Kennedy Carolan(This show)
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Cailan Rose(This show)
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Josh Lamon
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Josh Lamon
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett

After Hair, we walked next door to the Helen Hayes Theatre, where we snagged two student rush tickets @ $27. $64 for TWO shows is not bad at all! We had some time to kill, so we went to Madame Tussaud's for a couple hours before we went to the performance!

Then It was time for Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages is always a good time, and this time was no exception! Hysterical!!! (I have written a previous synopsis, so none will be included.)

Cast:
Lonny/Redord Company Man: MItchell Jarvis
Justice/Mother: Michele Mais
Dennis/Record Company Man: Adam Dannheisser
Drew: Dan Domenech
Sherrie: Rebecca Faulkenberry
Stacee Jaxx/Father: MiG Ayesa
Regina/Candy: Josephine Rose Roberts
Mayor/Ja Keith Gill/Strip Club DJ: Andre Ward
Hertz: Bret Tuomi
Franz: Cody Scott Lancaster
Waitress #1: Ericka Hunter
Reporter: Emily Williams
Sleazy Producer/Joey Primo: Jeremy Woodard
Young Groupie: Tessa Alves

NYC RENT and HAIR 8.20.11

2011-09-05T12:22:00.002-04:00

Hayley, Kristin, and I went to see RENT revival(?) off Broadway at its new home at the New World Stages. I was excited to see RENT, as it closed after a 12 year run on Broadway in 2008. I was a little apprehensive though, because of the changes to the show: modernization, costume changes, technology, etc. I was MORE than happy with the changes! The costumes, though Mark's trademark scarf was gone and Maureen wore a skirt instead of jeans, and Angel was much more masculine,(and not comic relief anymore! I hated when they made her comic relief!) worked well. Mark's old video camera was replaced with a slightly more modern (albeit still old!) camera. The technology was added to include more video footage(including live footage at the end) and it snowed every time they sand "And it's beginning to snow." The cast was very talented, and young. The set was incredible, and modern.

Some people may miss the charm and the simplicity of the old RENT, but as a RENThead for at least 15 years now, I can't stop singing it's praises!

I am not going to include a synopsis, as I am sure I have done that already previously!

Cast:
Mark Cohen: Adam Chanler-Berat
Roger Davis: Matt Shingledecker
Mrs Cohen, Coat Vendor, Others: Morgan Weed
Tom Collins: Nicholas Christopher
Benjamin Coffin III: Ephraim Sykes
Joanne Jefferson: Corbin Reid
The Man, Mr Grey, Others: Ben Thompson
Angel Dumott Schunard: MJ Rodriguez
Mimi Marquez: Arianda Fernandez
Maureen Johnson: Annaleigh Ashford
Mr Jefferson, Paul, Others: Marcus Paul James
Mrs Jefferson, Homeless Woman, Others: Tamika Sonja Lawrence
Gordon, Waiter, Others: Michael Wartella
Alexi Darling, Mrs Davis, Others: Margot Bingham

Then, Kristin went to see Death Takes A Holiday, and Hayley and I went to try for the Hair lottery. We lost, but we got seats 3 rows from the front for $37 student rush! Can't beat that!

Hair was as fantastic as it was 3 weeks earlier! This time we had much more interaction because of our seats, and we got to go up on stage and dance with the cast after! Such a fun time! Fell a little more in love with Hair!

Cast:
Dionne: Phyre Hawkins
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Paris Remillard
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Kaitlin Kiyan
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett

NYC Hair 7.16.11

2011-09-05T11:48:00.002-04:00

Kristin and I went to see Hair today. It was PERFECT that Hair had decided to do a ten-week run at the St James Theatre this summer! I had just gotten into Hair, and was DYING to see it, so we grabbed tickets!

Quick Synopsis:
Hair is the story of a group or friends, (The Tribe) who are hippies in the 60's, and protest war and fighting and promote love. That's essentially the show, though it is much much more than that!

This show is fantastic! This was my first time seeing it(but not my last, as you will see!) There was much audience interaction, with the characters running through the aisles and playing with you hair and handing out flowers and Be-In posters, and dancing over your seats. We were in the Mezzanine for this show, and it was not nearly as fun as orchestra. I totally recommend orchestra seats for this show! One of the things I LOVE is they let you come on stage after curtain call and dance with them! It's super fun(didn't do that this time because I didn't know about it!) The whole atmosphere is very relaxed and just happy! You can't come out of this show not smiling! We did stage door for this show, but I put all the pics in my hard drive and I can't find them!

Cast:
Dionne: Phyre Hawkins
Berger: Steel Burkhardt
Woof: Matt DeAngelis
Hud: Darius Nichols
Claude: Paris Remillard
Sheila: Caryn Lyn Tackett
Jeanie: Kacie Sheik
Crissy: Kaitlin Kiyan
Mother: Allison Guinn
Dad: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Principal: Lee Zarrett
Margaret Mead: Tripp Fountain(This show)
Hubert: Lee Zarrett
Abraham Lincoln: Lulu Fall
John Wilkes Booth: Lee Zarrett
Buddhadalirama: Allison Guinn
Tribe Members: Shaleah Adkisson, Nicholas Belton, Marshal Kennedy Carolan, Mike Evariste, Lulu Fall, Nkrumah Gatling, Allison Guinn, Sara King, Josh Lamon, John Moauro, Christine Nolan, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Arbender Robinson, Cailan Rose, Jen Sese, Lee Zarrett