First I had class, it was my second to last class for that subject which is exciting, since that means graduation is just around the corner.  I’m not a huge fan of said class, but it is interesting at times despite the feeling that I have been sitting there forever.  But I digress.

The real excitement for me was that I had an interview that afternoon at the Studio Theatre in Washington DC.  I had applied for an apprenticeship with Studio Theatre, and after two phone interviews with the director of the program and the Technical Director of the theatre, I was invited to come up and meet with them in person.  I couldn’t believe how nervous and excited I was while I was traveling on the road.  I had been to many interviews for other jobs, but this to me was a representation of the first step in what will hopefully become a long stroll into professional theatre.

Overall, I felt that the interview went well, and I hope that I made a lasting impression on them.  Ms. Rogers, the director of the Education Program at Studio Theatre, and also in charge of hiring the apprentices, was very courteous as well as the Technical Director.  I should hopefully be hearing from them within the next week or two.

So to everyone I know, please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Have a great day.

So on March 6th, which was Thursday for those who are awful with dates like myself, I went with a couple of people to Izquierdo Studios. This place was really cool. They are best known for making the angel wings used in the Victoria Secret Runway Shows. But they also work on a lot of different projects as well, such as Broadway Bears and they also happened to be working on costumes for The Little Mermaid. It was really cool to see these artists in their element.

After the tour I headed back to the hotel and ran in to Emma who invited me to go to with her to the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, which will be the largest cathedral in the world once it is completed. It was a really impressive structure, and the detail and quality of the work was exquisite. One of my highlights was running into a peacock. There is a small fountain/garden area next to the cathedral and there happened to be a white peacock in there. I was able to get several pictures of it.

We then headed over to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where I wandered the European Wing and wound up studying Georges Seurat’s final study of A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. When I first saw it, I was like “Ok, well i have seen the finished product in Chicago.” But there was something about it that drew me in. The roughness of the piece gave me an insight I would guess as to how Seurat approached the work. It was interesting to see the color and lines used as the border of the piece. It gives true appreciation for the masterpiece that he created.

Friday I went out in the morning to get some breakfast/lunch before heading over to sit in at the interview/discussion with Natalie Joy Johnson. I really appreciated being able to sit in on the discussion. It really shed light on what an actor’s life is like, which I really did not have any concept of. But her story is just inspiring whether you are an actor or a designer, or techie, or stage manager. It just shows what the results of hard work and determination is. Her story helped me to confirm that I was choosing the correct path for my life.

After the discussion, I took Talya to Colony Music, so she could get some music for her lesson the next morning. It was fun, Talya isn’t a person I normally hang out with and we got to know each other a little better and hopefully, I believe, become better friends.

Saturday I got to see Sunday in the Park with George, which was visually amazing. I find the story difficult to grasp at times, and it is a little strange how short the second act is. But the projections and the music were wonderful.

That evening we saw Paradise Park which was very bizarre for me. The show made me uncomfortable, but I think that was its intention. Apparently, the playwright is considered one of the most prominent in the United States. I found that a little surprising at first, but when I think about how much that play made me think. Even if it made me think about what I just saw, what its purpose was, and why did we see it, its still making me think, for which I must respect the playwright. Very few shows have stuck with me the way that Paradise Park has.

Sunday marked the last day of this great trip. Gregg bought us lunch at John’s Pizza, across from the Majestic Theatre. P.S. NYC pizza is strangely good. Not quite sure why, being raised on Chicago Deep Dish, but its still pretty good. After lunch, I popped in over at Sardi’s to have a relaxing drink before going to the Lyceum Theatre to see Is He Dead? That play was hilarious. It was just funny and ridiculous, and it made the day go from sad because we were leaving NYC to happy because I felt good about life after that show even if we were going back to DC.

So, the bus ride back. Well, it started out pretty well. The wifi worked, which was nice since it didn’t work on the bus ride up to NYC. The DVD player however wasn’t working, which didn’t bother me terribly since I was planning on sleeping on the bus. The excitement came when we had a blowout on the highway and sat on the side of I-95 for about two hours until the tire was changed. Lots of fun and excitement sitting on the side of the highway. I felt really bad for the bus driver who was very apologetic, and drove fast when we resumed so we wouldn’t be more than about an hour and a half to two hours behind schedule.

I really enjoyed this trip. I learned a lot about the business and about myself.

So, the first full day that we were in NYC, Emma and I went downtown to take the Staten Island Ferry. Emma had never seen the Statue of Liberty, and so I felt obligated to make sure she saw it. When we returned from the ferry ride, we decided to walk uptown and explore the city. We stopped in at Fraunces Tavern, which happened to be a tavern that George Washington gave a speech at. It was a really cool place to eat. There were beautiful wood wall panels and antique chairs and tables to sit at, and the food was excellent. Since we finished lunch at 12:30, we decided to continue walking uptown and ended up walking through China Town, a section of Little Italy, and part of the Lower East Side. It was really cool to see the cultural transitions as we walked through these different sections of the city and to see the people who live and work there. Unfortunately, we were running out of time to get to the Classic Stage Company to see The Seagull, so we hailed a cab, sped through the city at around 65 mph, and arrived at the theatre with 10 minutes to spare. We stuck around after the show to meet the actors, and then went to Times Square with Talya and Helena to get some dinner from Spanky’s BBQ. That was an adventure in itself. I had my first fried pickle, which is not as disgusting as it sounds, its actually quite good.

The next day I went out to Times Square in the morning to go take in the sights and sounds. The area is just electric, there is something just special about that place. I don’t think anyone can put their finger on it except just explain it as the magic of Broadway. While in Times Square, I made certain to pay a visit to one of my favorite stores in the world, Colony Music. I swear that this store has any piece of music that you could possibly want or need, its library is so great that I have to tell myself not to by everything that I see. After spending a pretty penny at Colony Music, I headed over to the Drama Book Shop to see what they had on the shelves. The store was smaller than I expected, but they had so many plays I was overwhelmed. It’s very interesting to see how many people came in and out to buy plays while I was in the store.

Early in the afternoon I met up with Emma to go shopping on Canal St. That was a fun adventure, Emma was able to buy some items that she wanted and I just helped her haggle with the store owners. It was quite entertaining. Having bought what she wanted, Emma suggested we head over to Greenwich Village to explore and grab some lunch. We grabbed a slice of pizza from a local pizzeria, which was amazing, and then explored the streets of the Village. I got to see the Friends building, which was interesting given the shows popularity in our generation.

The next day I went and explored the Lincoln Center complex and spent about an hour in the Performing Arts Library. There were several very interesting photo exhibits at the library. One was large scale photographs of different productions across the world. The color and the moments that these photos captured struck me profoundly. I felt that the photographer was able to capture the essence of the moment in the photograph, which normally does not happen to me. The other photo exhibit I really enjoyed was a collection of photo portraits of American playwrights. I was able to put a face to some of the playwrights whose shows I have worked on. What I really enjoyed about these photos was that there was some brief biographical information displayed under each of the photos. After finishing at the Lincoln Center, I headed over to Grand Central Station. It really is an impressive building. I just sat down for about ten or fifteen minutes and watched the people go to and fro. I love just sitting and observing people go about their everyday lives.

The next couple of days I did not have time to go exploring in the city as I was very busy with meeting, interviews, and traveling from one to the other. But I will finish up my explorations in a later post.

After meeting with Scott, I had to book it uptown to get to the Winter Garden Theatre. Once there I got to meet Craig Cassidy, the Front of House (FOH) operator for Mamma Mia! He had arranged for me to be able to shadow him during the preshow check and sit at the console during the show. It was one of the coolest experiences in my life. I got to see how the show works and the responsibilities of the sound engineers. I have to admit, I watched less of the action on the stage because I was captivated by Craig running the sound board. I could tell by the way he moved the sliders his intricate knowledge of not only the dialogue of the show, but the orchestral score as well. It was very impressive to watch. So far, this has to have been the best experience of the trip so far, and I honestly dont think that I have done anything as exciting ever.

Today is a new day, lets see what excitement lays ahead.

One of the most enlightening parts of the conversation that I had with Darron was when he began to talk about being smart money-wise and making sure that taxes get paid, because it is very easy to overlook when you are constantly working. I also appreciated the advice he gave me when I asked him what the best way to proceed after college would be. He said that for the first four or five years to take whatever work comes my way, because it is only through doing theatre that you can discover which theatre you want to do for the rest of your life. I never thought about it that way, and yet it seems so simple.

There was one subject that I was very apprehensive about asking Darron though. I asked him what type of social life designers have and how to manage it. He laughed and said that there is no social life, at least a normal social life, when always working. He told me that the first couple of years will probably put a strain on any personal relationships as well as my relationship with my family. But Darron told me the key to it is to spend as much time with them when you have the chance and value the short times you get.

One of the coolest experiences Darron and I talked about was when he did the sound design for Rent at the New York Theatre Workshop. He told me about when he realized how great and powerful the show was when Jonathan Larson was trying to tie the two acts together. He said that Jonathan came in one day with the idea of the phone calls from Mark’s mother, but the problem was the actors were either already on stage or changing when some of the calls were supposed to occur. So Darron told them to call his apt and sing them and he would record them on his answering machine. And when he was on his way back to the theatre with the answering machine tapes, he realized that the show was going to be a powerful and moving piece.

Unfortunately, the hour and a half that Darron and I had to talk went by so fast and I had to leave in order to make the curtain for Gypsy. While watching the show, I couldn’t help but think that this show would probably not have gone to Broadway without a top biller like they had with Patti LuPone. However, I did find it very exciting to be at the first Broadway preview armed with the knowledge that no others would see the exact show that we saw last night since changes are always being made during previews.

Afterwards, Emma and I waited at the stage door to meet her and get her autograph. It was cold, and took a while, but she eventually did emerge and was so warm and friendly, making sure she got to sign as many peoples playbills and posters as she could. I really am so pleased that these great actors don’t try to avoid the fans and just get home, but actually embrace and make small chat with them. It’s so personal and inspiring. I can’t get over how these people who I look up to are regular people in the end.

I did get to go to the New York Library for the Performing Arts and explore it for about an hour, since I had gone to the Lincoln Center while trying to get in contact with Scott Lehrer. It is a very impressive building. They have a photo exhibit of about six or seven different productions. I found that there was at least one photo from every production that struck me as not only captivating, but emotionally evocative. I was surprised that production photos could evoke that response from me.

On the way home, I dropped in at the Drama Book Shop and browsed the aisles of plays. I loved the bookstore, the fact that there was a single store that had such a collection from so many artists was comforting. Most commercial bookstores have a very limited selection of plays that they carry in stock, and to be able to see the multitude of plays was really cool. I plan to go back before I leave to actually purchase a play or two. But just being able to browse was a fun experience.

Well, I just received a phone call from Darron L. West wondering if we could meet this evening before the show. So now we are meeting at 6pm to sit down and chat. Yay for Serendipity. Sorry if its use and meaning does not fully apply, its the first thing that came to my head. Gonna do some research.

After meeting these two greats, we chatted with Ryan O’Nan, who was a very down to earth person. We chatted with him about our class and the shows we had seen so far and what we were planning on seeing. He said that August: Osage County was an amazing show, which made me very excited to see it. I was glad to see that actors are enthusiastic about other shows that are running. The friendliness and approachability of these people who put out themselves for our entertainment was very refreshing and inspiring.

I’m literally floating off the ground.