Vermont

Ryan and I took a trip out of the city to visit Amy and Pete in the great state of Vermont. The weather was not amazing as it was rainy and cold the ENTIRE weekend, but it was amazing to get out of all the noise and dirt of the big apple.

We spent Friday in Burlington walking around, shopping, going to the "mall" and eating at our favorite restaurant. We love to eat at American Flatbread when we are in Burlington as the food is awesome and the beer is even better. Pete picked us up around 3:30 and we drove down to Montpelier where Amy and Pete actually live.

Since the last time we were there they have acquired a very cute and energetic white lab puppy named Hudson. He added a little bit of spice to the day with his puppy antics and his insistence on playing tug every five minutes. He will take the toy and actually push it into your hand, lap, arm, leg or even face to try to get you to tug with him.

I think we ate or drank in every restaurant in Montpelier and it was all delicious. I feel about 15 pounds heavier than when we left but the conversation and companionship were worth the extra time at the gym.

Yea for being able to visit Amy and Pete!

The Velveteen Rabbit

Today I went to see Velveteen Rabbit at The Manhattan Children's Theatre in NYC. I had a meeting afterwards with the General Manager to discuss a contract for me to develop the study guides for next season. As I sat down in the little storefront theatre surrounded by around 100 2nd graders and realized that this was the first time in a very long time that I was watching children's theatre that I was not involved in.

Usually I am the one behind the performance. As a Stage Manager for mainly children's theatre I am the one calling the go, making sure the cues are set and generally supporting the work that the performers are doing onstage. This was the first time in a very long time that I had absolutely nothing to do with the production. Granted- I did go see Click Clack Moo a few months ago but since I know 2 of the performers AND worked for the company last year that seems different somehow than this totally unconnected experience.

I have a history with this story so I was prepared to be quite defensive. Luckily, the show was pretty good. There were some slow parts and I think the lighting design could have been handled differently but the script was nice, the Rabbit costumes were excellent and the animation behind the performers was awesome.

The kids loved it. They watched mesmerized as a group of adults turned into the book characters and then back out again. They laughed at the jokes, gasped when a hidden door was revealed and grew somber while the Rabbit sat outside by the burn pile and cried about her uncertain future. And that is really why we do it. Through theatre you can change the perspective of a child, teach them compassion and understanding and a love of a very primal art form. Honestly- the set and the costume and the script and the lights don't even matter as long as the feeling is there and the children respond.

So Brava ! Velveteen Rabbit cast- excellent work! or as a former cast member said quite a few times on tour, "Can you believe we get paid for this?!"

Pillowfight NYC- Union Square

Yesterday Ryan and I attended the Pillowfight at Union Square for about an hour. We then went to Starbucks, Trader Joes and Gamestop and when we walked back to Union the pillowfight was still going on!

Apparently the First Saturday in April is Pillowfight Day!

Us at the Pillowfight- It was BRIGHT!

The Mass

Even kids got into the action!

Watchers. Also a bunch of Tourists who were throughly confused.

The Feathers Fly!

World Theatre Day

Last Saturday I participated in World Theatre Day- NYC. In order to not have to go it alone, I called Candice (my TU/ NYC friend) and left her a cryptic message to meet me behind the big statue at the SW corner of Central Park. For the non-NYC'ers that is the corner near Columbus Circle which features later on in the story.

World Theatre Day is a celebration of theatre arts. Madame Judi Dench made a pronouncement and many arts organizations had some sort of special event. In NYC a few people organized flash mobs throughout the day in different areas of the city. I skipped the morning events and met Candice at 3pm for "Untitled" which ended up being a song and dance into and around the lower west part of Central Park with a minstrel.

After singing and dancing our way around the park we met in the middle of the traffic circle to get our next set of instructions. Our new "director" gave us the directions for "Cheers"- we were going to disperse and meet in front of the male statue in the Columbus Circle Mall. On the signal we were all going to start clapping and yelling for 40 seconds. Then a new signal would be given and we would disperse as if nothing had happened. It was pretty awesome.

The third activity was to be a group reenactment of "The Kiss" in Times Square but apparently we missed it. It was really cold and we stopped for Starbucks on the way down from 59th.


Watch videos and get more information here: http://nycwtd.com/ or at the world-wide blog worldtheatreday.org