Dark Summer Days

I am a brunette till September for the shows I'm in this summer. Had it dyed from the platinum yesterday, and though I really like it, I'm definitely going back to blonde in the fall. My manager at the restaurant said, "You look like your own evil twin," which I thought was brilliant, and describes the effect rather well. I must say, catching sight of myself in the mirror is still a little disconcerting. I've always wanted an excuse to go dark brown, though, so haHA!

I'm taking pictures with my friend RL on Sunday, so I'll post something soon after that. I figure, hey, while it's brown, get something I can put on my website. It's easier for people to imagine me with different hair colors if I can...you know, SHOW them. Aldonza does not, in all likelihood, rock platinum tresses.

Rehearsals for AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN are going SO well. Having such fun. Onward!

Vote for Matt!

While I would love to sit here and dissect the Tonys, or rather, while I would be moderately interested in sharing a few of my opinions regarding last night's broadcast, I haven't time. Gotta run to class, and only have a moment to pimp my friend Matthew. Some of you may know that Oprah has some contest going on to become a talk show host. Matt sent out a fb SOS to people to vote for him, and I'm here to spread the word. His video is funny, but he's even funnier in real life. So quick, funny, and ridiculous. He graduated the year above me at BoCo, and we took several classes together, most notably jazz. I had some back troubles that had me sidelined for awhile in jazz, and Matt would always dance the warmup at me, which is to say he tried to crack me up the entire time with his facial expressions and overzealous pivoting. Watch his video and vote for him a lot! He'd be a hysterical and very refreshing talk show host.

Click here to see Matthew's audition video!

Things I Like

I was going to update yesterday, as I spent most of it on a BOLT bus going to Boston and back, but wasn't feeling well for most of it. I watched seven episodes of MAD MEN instead, which I've been trying to do for AGES! I just have the last two episodes of Season 3 left, and I'm all caught up! This is one of the trials of having what is known as a "flexible schedule," as getting addicted to a particular TV show requires DVR, planning ahead, and, you know, actually knowing what night and what channel something airs on. I'm a DVD junkie myself.

Anyway, as I'm still not feeling in tip-top shape, and I have about half an hour before a student comes over for a coaching (Bronx dialect, in this case), I thought I'd do a rather silly little list of Things I Like. I like lists, for one, so here goes:

List O' Things I Like (in no particular order):
Bite-sized Shredded Wheat
Flip-flops in fall
The color blue
Janis Joplin
The Chrysler Building
The kid in my building who is always wearing his Thomas the Tank Engine boots
David Suchet as Hercule Poirot
Asparagus
Headscarves
Winning, especially games like Scrabble, because then I feel victorious as well as wildly intelligent
Halloween
New York City
Picnics
Francois, the drunken Frenchman who lives in the Village
Michael's cooking
Sitting in the balcony of the Brattle Movie Theatre in Harvard Square
Karaoke
Cappuccinos
Jeff Buckley
Dumplings
Walking through SoHo or the LES on a Saturday or Sunday morning when there's nobody around
Absurd costumes & wigs, especially when I get to wear them
Family holidays
The Winter's Tale
Traveling alone
Zinnias
Chagall
McNally Jackson Bookstore
Scooby Doo Cartoons
The National Theatre in London
Gigantic earrings
Yoga
Godard's A WOMAN IS A WOMAN
Skype
My friend Jill's website, especially these webisodes
Berlin
Freckles
Coffee
Places I can wander around without shoes on
Rehearsal
My chiropractor
Rain
Grapes
Ella Fitzgerald
TX-style BBQ
Absurd fb profile photos
Cafe Reggio on MacDougal St.
Alfred Hitchcock
Girl Scout cookies from the freezer
Strangers with Candy
Regina Spektor
The Lord of the Rings books and films
How nerdy that last item was
Being exceptionally nerdy in multiple ways
How long this list has gotten

Happy Birthday to Me!

Oh, la la, it was my birthday today! I had my first rehearsal for The Baker's Wife in INTO THE WOODS this morning (ironically, Joanna Gleason, who won the Tony for this role, shares a birthday with lil' ol' ME), then hung out with my brother and Michael for the rest of the day! I went down to their restaurant near the Seaport, and we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and back again! Believe it or not, it was my first time walking across said bridge! Immediately after that, we hopped on the Z train - another first for me. Five years in New York, and nary a Z train have I taken! This is a woman who has taken the G train multiple times! Anywhoo, we went to Babycakes so that I could have something delicious and yet free of refined sugar (which I choose not to eat, for the most part), and took some delightful photos while on the Lower East Side. We then came back to my apartment, had tasty dinner (compliments of Mikey), and watched NOTES ON A SCANDAL - my first foray into that film as well! Huzzah! What a splendid birthday! Below, please see some silly photos:







I'm so behind. My birthday party this weekend - Crocus Pocus: the magic of Spring - was a delight! As ever, a marvelous group of marvelous people. Hoorah for a Lady Jo soiree! In addition to mere frivolity, I did two readings last week that I'm simply dying to discuss (short version - one took place on the second floor of the Random House bldg, which is GORGEOUS, and akin to stepping into heaven for those of us that have problems with buying way too many books. The second one was at The Flea - a new play by AR Gurney, who was there working on it with Jim and all of us Bats the entire day), but it's LATE, and I must to bed! Gotta put on the commentary to NOTES ON A SCANDAL (I am a sucker for a commentary track) and drift off into sweet slumber.

By the way, I'm not being coy, I just didn't think to mention it - I am now twenty-seven!

La Cage!

LA CAGE. Go see it. Douglas Hodge gives one of the best performances I've ever seen, Kelsey Grammer is wonderful, and the Cagelles are RIDICULOUS. I'll say it again. RIDICULOUS! A special shout out to my friend Nick, who was hilarious as the disgruntled drag queen Angelique. Those boys are amazing.

Anyway. Go. That's all.

Sandino!

I've been a busy bee!

ROMEO & HAMLET went fantastically - audiences of Shakespeare nerds and homosexuals alike seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly! The cast was absolutely delightful. Occasionally, it occurs that you find yourself infatuated with everyone you're sharing the stage with, and vice-versa. You want to spend all of your time with these people, even though you're already forced to spend all of your time with these people. There's an alchemy between the personalities. I felt that way about my castmates for R&H. Disappointing to do such a short run with such a marvelous group of folk! Oh, to try to keep it together every night, as certain scenes got more and more outlandishly hilarious...Not an easy task. Anyway, the fact that we all seemed to be enjoying ourselves on stage, and had great rapport were consistent audience comments, which is a good sign in a piece like that.

I've been working a great deal this week, as well as auditioning and preparing for the readings I have next week - one on Monday, and the other Friday. The first one is a play that was written by a friend of one of my R&H castmates (his name is Blair MacKenzie), and the one on Friday is a new AR Gurney play we'll be reading at The Flea. Exciting! I will be taking my computer with me to work today so that I can get some good work done on those (and hopefully my cabaret show) in between work and a play I'll be seeing tonight.

The biggest news from this week is that I FINALLY got to see my brother perform on Harold Night!!! Okay, I admit that I am biased, but I'm also an intelligent person with the ability to discriminate. He was freaking funny. His troupe, Sandino, gels really well together - they play well with one another. Oh, it was so fun! We had a huge posse there for him, including our friend Chris Ruth, who went to BoCo, but who we also knew from high school in Colorado. Chris and Aaron took improv class together, I believe. Was Chris on the improv team I put together in high school? You know, I honestly cannot recall...Chaos Theatre was what we called it. There was a joke that you had to be a sibling to be on it. Ten members, six of us half of a sibling pair. The Wyatt Brothers (both of whom live in NYC now, Paul & Alex), the Stacey sisters, and The Jackson Duo. That's how we billed ourselves. So many funny brothers and sisters. Anyway, ANYWAY, the point is that it was thrilling to see him up there, rocking it out and getting huge laughs from the UCB crowd. Some guys were going up to him afterwards to ask him about how long he'd been at UCB, his background, etc - he's cultivating a FAN base! Isn't that cute? Here is his UCB performer profile! They're performing three times in June, which is a sign that the artistic director thought they performed well last month. Come check out Sandino!

Off to work go I!

Tech-itty Tech Tech

I’ve neglected writing for far too long, but it’s been all for good reasons. Rehearsing one show all day, doing a completely different show at night, packing in the yoga classes, and occasionally working in a restaurant all mean there is very little time for blogging.

I’m on a break from tech for ROMEO & HAMLET, which opens tomorrow. Well, we begin previews tomorrow night, but as there’s only one preview, we might as well be opening tomorrow. I love these theatres with wifi! There are three of us who’ve been lugging our computers to the theatre, maximizing work time. Anyway, it’s been quite a ride, throwing this show together in so little time, but now we’re in the theatre, and in costume, stumbling through. Woo!

The cast is absolutely lovely, and really funny. The guy playing Rosencrantz (Phillip Taratula) is absolutely hilarious every single moment he’s on stage. Seriously. I have not had this much trouble holding it together on stage in years. Nothing like sitting centerstage, wallowing in grief, and nearly choking, you’re trying so hard not to break, while the “dead” bodies on either side of you are shaking with suppressed laughter. I am so blessed in my life to know so many talented, funny people.

Speaking of funny people, I went to an improv show my brother did with his indie team SWOON on Friday, which was delightful and a lot of fun. I brought my darling friend Nikka along. By the way, I check her blog out pretty much daily, and you should as well. She is a swanky fashionista!

I’m going to get some reading done and maybe take a quick nap before we’re back for our evening run. I suppose I have many, many more things to talk about, but bless me, I can’t remember a one! The joys of tech – your mind melts into a puddle of uselessness. Ha. Sadly, that’s not too exaggerated at times. Luckily, we get out early tonight (8pm). This tech is only an 8 out of 10, not a 10 out of 12 (meaning, we’re only called for eight hours out of a ten hour time block, as opposed to the usual tech schedule of being called for ten out of a twelve hour block). It’s amazing how much difference those two hours make. Freeeeeeeedom!