Back to the Square.

These past two weeks have flown by, and so much has happened! The week after I last posted, I went to the beach with my friends Dylan, AnnMarie and Juliet. Juliet has a really amazing beach house on Long Beach Island and graciously invited us to stay a day at the house, swim in the ocean, tan (or in my case burn) on the beach, eat food and keep good company. It was a blast. Being the fair skinned Irish lass I am, I burnt to a crisp and looked like a lobster for the next week. It was a wonderfully relaxing way to spend one of my remaining summer days. That weekend, Mauri arrived from Idaho. She was here for a five day trip before she headed to England for school. We did everything touristy; Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Chelsea Market, the Highline, Chinatown... She absolutely loved Wall Street, and New York bagels. It was great being able to spend a few more days before we both start school. And, I was excited to share New York. When people from home come to visit, I always love it. It not only brings a piece of home to me, but they take a piece of New York with them. As everyone who visits will attest to, you rarely leave New York unchanged. We went to Babycakes, a vegan, gluten-free bakery. I had the best donut. Mind you, I haven't eaten a donut in years. It made for a happy tummy. We saw a French film, "Diabolique". We drank a lot of coffee, had Sunday brunch, and explored the city at our leisure. Overall, it was a lovely visit and I can't wait to see her again!

Stumptown Coffee

This week was filled with rehearsals, practicing, buying textbooks, and preparing for classes this week. It seems like there's always something to do. Last night, we went to see Newsies. It was insane. I grew up watching the Disney movie and have anxiously awaited its opening on Broadway. It opened earlier this year and initially was set to close August 16th, but it's been extended, so I finally saw it! It was mind-blowing. The musical is quite a bit different from the movie, so to any theater-goer who might be expecting the classic Disney tale, you're in for a bit of a surprise.

Jeremy Jordan is an absolute delight, thrilling theater regulars and newbies alike. His voice is incredible. The character choices he made fascinated me; he was definitely the quintessential Jack Kelly, and he worked well with a lacking script, adding motive to lines that seemed sort of out of place. The script was possibly the thing that bothered me most. It just wasn't that strong. For me, it didn't do much. The music underwent an interesting change in the translation to the stage as well. New songs were added to incorporate different characters and their role in the story, and a lot of lyrics in the original songs have been changed. The plot is quite different; characters were both cut, added and changed. The storyline strays a lot from the movie version, although it maintains the "main" idea of the newsboys strike, there are different subplots that change the motives of each character. There's a new "love interest" for Jack, who plays a much larger role in the stage version, Jack is an artist, and his drawings serve in part as inspiration for the strike. The choreography and staging was brilliant. The dancing was absolutely insane. A very athletic, dance-oriented show, Newsies was very entertaining. Although I had my complaints, Newsies is definitely a must-see, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's been a great few weeks back in the city, and I'm looking forward to a bright new school year. Also, if you are in or around New York, buy tickets to the show I'm in - Fiorello! at the Skirball Center on September 29th and 30th. http://www.nyuskirball.org/calendar/fiorello. :) 


Saw this in Washington Square. "I was in love with New York. I do not mean "love" in any colloquial way. I mean that I was in love with the city the way you love the first person who ever touches you and you never love anyone quite that way again. -Joan Didion"

This guy's work was featured on HONY a few months ago. Look up "Honschar" on Facebook. He writes things on sidewalks around New York. It's pretty cool. 

Sending my love back home to Idaho.

♥Em