OOTI closed last weekend, and I'm surprised by how much I miss it. I see these people mostly every day, so it's not like I don't see anyone from the show anymore. But I miss seeing them every day and watching them perform from backstage. I went to an a capella concert last night and saw a lot of my OOTI friends and we were all talking about having a mini reunion at some point soon just to hang out and spend time with each other, which will be really nice.
The show went very well, it was sold out all four performances to the point where we illegally added seats (shhh) so that people on the waiting list could get in too. Michael had a ticket for Friday night but he didn't get in until after the show, so I let Elle's friend Gavin have his ticket. Michael ended up seeing the Saturday matinee, and then he hung out with me backstage for the rest of the shows.
Last weekend was one of the best weekends I've had in awhile. Michael came and visited from Georgia, which was absolutely amazing. When he got in on Friday, it was right after the show, and I got a text from him saying he was in the lobby. So I bolted out from backstage and ran into the lobby and jumped into his arms. It was the best feeling. He got to meet a lot of my VP friends, and I took him around the city a bit. We went up to Times Square and took some silly tourist-y pictures, and then we also walked around the NYU campus area. We spent a lot of time just hanging out and talking, which was really nice. After not seeing him for seven months, it was great to just be with him and spend time with him, even though we weren't doing anything super exciting. He would just hang out with me backstage and help me if I needed it, but for the most part he just sat around and played on his phone. I kind of felt bad but he said he didn't mind, he just wanted to be near me. We ate at some yummy restaurants too, which was a nice break from dorm food. We went to the Knickerbocker for Valentine's Day dinner, and that was soooo good. For dessert we had homemade coffee ice cream which was so delicious, I kind of wanted to order another one just for myself. The last dinner we had together was at Five Napkin Burger, which I've walked past a bunch of times and have always wanted to try. It was so good!! I haven't had a good, decent burger in a while. I definitely plan on going back there at some point. Michael had a 6 am flight on Monday so he got a cab at 4 am. We were going to go to the cast party which was that night, but we decided to go back to my room to enjoy our last few hours together before he left. Tears were definitely shed on my part, but he gave me his army PT shirt, a Tanker shirt, and my favorite plaid shirt of his. So I've been sleeping in those for the past week or so.
This week has definitely not been as enjoyable as the past weekend, I think I was just kind of sad about Michael leaving and about the show ending. I've started rehearsals for Legend of New York, which is the new musical that Steinhardt is doing this semester. I'm ASMing it, along with my friend Alex. She and I are both coming off of OOTI, so we're pulling two shows in a row. This show is a different experience from OOTI, because I think for OOTI the artistic staff was much more relaxed and laidback, and I also felt more a part of the team. With Legend, I'm the ASM so there's more running around making copies or returning carts or taping the floor. It's more busy work, but I think it's also more typical of an ASM's job. OOTI wasn't really a good example of the norm, but then again Legend is a new work so it'll constantly be in flux. We'll see, though. It's been getting better, I don't hate coming to rehearsal anymore, but it's still not the most exciting part of my day.
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Crazy busy!!
This week has been absolutely insane. First off, Once On This Island (OOTI) has been taking up all my spare time. At this point, my schedule consists of class, rehearsal, eating, and sleeping. I haven't had much time for anything else. But the show is coming along and it looks absolutely amazing. Originally, OOTI was a show that I was impartial about, maybe even not a favorite of mine, but what our director has done with it... it's unlike any other version of OOTI I've seen or heard about. We had our first rehearsal with the band today (it's just piano, and then we had the drummer and bass player come in), and it sounded so cool!!! I'm such a music geek. We made a joke out of it--you know you're a music major when you fangirl over a sitz-probe. Or, as our Jewish accompanist likes to joke, "If you need to relate to me what Christmas morning is like, you'd probably tell me it's like a sitz-probe".
We had Friday night off to go see the other show that Steinhardt is doing, Carousel. My first comment was that I didn't know we had so many skilled dancers! I kind of figured that because we were all music students, dance abilities came way last. But I was pleasantly surprised by the dance talent in my program. And again, like every time I see a program event, I got super excited and super proud of what people in my program can do. The skill level is simply unbelievable (yes I know, I'm geeking out again).
Classes have been pretty much the same as last semester, except for my Graphic Novel class. Not sure if I wrote about this already, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's so interesting to read comics and discuss them in class and recitations; I never thought there was much to comics, but there's so much you could talk about. There's aesthetics, style, genre, tone, the list goes on and on. And I'm also reading some classic, Golden Age comics like the early Fantastic Four and The Spirit and such. It's going to be a fun class!
We had Friday night off to go see the other show that Steinhardt is doing, Carousel. My first comment was that I didn't know we had so many skilled dancers! I kind of figured that because we were all music students, dance abilities came way last. But I was pleasantly surprised by the dance talent in my program. And again, like every time I see a program event, I got super excited and super proud of what people in my program can do. The skill level is simply unbelievable (yes I know, I'm geeking out again).
Classes have been pretty much the same as last semester, except for my Graphic Novel class. Not sure if I wrote about this already, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it. It's so interesting to read comics and discuss them in class and recitations; I never thought there was much to comics, but there's so much you could talk about. There's aesthetics, style, genre, tone, the list goes on and on. And I'm also reading some classic, Golden Age comics like the early Fantastic Four and The Spirit and such. It's going to be a fun class!
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Back to NYC we go!
First week back at school: check! I'd say this week went well, though it was long and stressful.
Started off with my birthday, which was cool. I got sung to a bunch of times in my various theater classes, and I passed out See's candy lollipops to my friends. They were a huuuge hit; people keep asking me if I've got any left. Sunday night I went to Max Brenner's with Elle which was easily one of my top favorite meals I've ever had. They're famous for their chocolate but the food was good too. I got really yummy mac 'n cheese. My birthday itself was pretty low-key, I spent most of the evening in rehearsal but I didn't mind, I usually spend my birthday in rehearsal for something anyway.
The majority of my classes are just the second half of a year long class, so there's really only two new classes this semester. I'm taking Advanced College Essay, and Expressive Cultures: The Graphic Novel. The first class is really just another freshman writing class, which I'm not a fan of, but I have to take it. The second class is easily my favorite class of the semester--we just spend the entire semester reading and analyzing comic books. What's better than that?! And it fulfills a GE requirement so it's not even a useless class. The professor is really cool, it's a lecture-based class but he's open to discussion whenever it arises. My recitation section is okay, the preceptor has a really heavy Indian accent so it's hard to understand her sometimes. But there are two guys who consider themselves very well versed in comic books so that'll be a good resource.
The majority of my week has been spent in rehearsals for Once on This Island, which is coming along really well. I'm so amazed by the talent in the show. And the director, Chris, is basically genius. Even though I'm not in the show, I pay attention to whenever he gives a big, impassioned speech about the show. I feel like I can learn from him even though he's not directing me... directly (hehe). The choreographer, Melissa, is a graduate of the Vocal Performance program so she knows a bunch of the juniors and seniors in the show. It got pretty confusing during the first couple of rehearsals so I told the cast members to call me Goldman. Sometimes they forget, but it usually works. Overall I really like working with this team. They definitely respect me and treat me as an equal which I appreciate. I don't feel like I'm just another student. Right now I don't have much to do but I know that once we get into the theater and start tech, it's going to be crazy.
Started off with my birthday, which was cool. I got sung to a bunch of times in my various theater classes, and I passed out See's candy lollipops to my friends. They were a huuuge hit; people keep asking me if I've got any left. Sunday night I went to Max Brenner's with Elle which was easily one of my top favorite meals I've ever had. They're famous for their chocolate but the food was good too. I got really yummy mac 'n cheese. My birthday itself was pretty low-key, I spent most of the evening in rehearsal but I didn't mind, I usually spend my birthday in rehearsal for something anyway.
The majority of my classes are just the second half of a year long class, so there's really only two new classes this semester. I'm taking Advanced College Essay, and Expressive Cultures: The Graphic Novel. The first class is really just another freshman writing class, which I'm not a fan of, but I have to take it. The second class is easily my favorite class of the semester--we just spend the entire semester reading and analyzing comic books. What's better than that?! And it fulfills a GE requirement so it's not even a useless class. The professor is really cool, it's a lecture-based class but he's open to discussion whenever it arises. My recitation section is okay, the preceptor has a really heavy Indian accent so it's hard to understand her sometimes. But there are two guys who consider themselves very well versed in comic books so that'll be a good resource.
The majority of my week has been spent in rehearsals for Once on This Island, which is coming along really well. I'm so amazed by the talent in the show. And the director, Chris, is basically genius. Even though I'm not in the show, I pay attention to whenever he gives a big, impassioned speech about the show. I feel like I can learn from him even though he's not directing me... directly (hehe). The choreographer, Melissa, is a graduate of the Vocal Performance program so she knows a bunch of the juniors and seniors in the show. It got pretty confusing during the first couple of rehearsals so I told the cast members to call me Goldman. Sometimes they forget, but it usually works. Overall I really like working with this team. They definitely respect me and treat me as an equal which I appreciate. I don't feel like I'm just another student. Right now I don't have much to do but I know that once we get into the theater and start tech, it's going to be crazy.
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