The New York Trip Revieew Post

No awesome backstage tours to report about this time unfourtunately but nonetheless any awesome trip to New York. Whenever the next time I go back to the city will be I may see A Litttle Night Music if it's still playing. Sam Burrow is working backstage on In The Heights but that's closing December 5th (unless the Broadwaysecrets post I saw last week is inaccurate.) I haven't talked to her in awhile so I don't know what other shows she is working on.

So my travels began at 4:30 am last Friday morning.. that's what time we left Matt's house to go to the train station. The Amtrak train was a lot less hassle free then taking the Peter Pan bus and having to transfer. We arrived into the city at 11:30 am, checeked into our to hotel and went out to lunch at Fuel a resturant down the street from our hotel that has really good sandwhices wraps and shakes. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn Marriot from which we had a nice view of the Empire State Building from our 8th floor hotel room. We then went to the Mueusem of Modern Art.. I found the photography exhibit to be the most interesting and then went to the Empire State Builiding where we took a ride to 86th Floor Observatory which has beautiful views of the City Skyline. Here are some pictures

After that excursion we went out to dinner at Tony Dinapoli's in Times Square (the same resturant I had the Barn Reunion at when I was in New York for Spring Break senior year at NEC) We met up with Melissa Parelli and Leanna Pizer. I had not seen Melissa in 7 years so it was so great to see her again and catch up. Delicious Itlaian food. Matt wasn't feeling well after dinner to Melissa Leanna and I hit the streets and explored Times Square. We went to Toys R US and some other souveneir stands then we went out for dessert at Europa Cafe.

Saturday morning after a leisurly brunch we took a walk in Central Park which was lovely. I espesically liked the views of the river. We then went to the subway station to catch the train for Jersey Boys.. the train ended up being delayed 10-15 minutes and by that time it was 1:20 so we ended up hightailing to the theatre so we could get there before the 2pm matinee. Jersey Boys was one of the best musicals I have seen in a long time. It's a biographical musical about Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. Such a good play. If you are looking to see a play by all means go see that one. We then got on the subway to head to South Street Seaport where we met Colleen Fee for dinner. It was nice to see her again since I hadn't seen her since March when I saw her in Junie B. Jones Got an update on all the people from my intern company that I have fallen out of touch with and glad to hear everyone is doing well. Sunday wemet up with my best friend Tiffany from high school and her boyfriend Brett and went out for dinnner at Jackson Hole a diner that is located near the Natual Musueem of American History. Good food. The museem was interesting though there wasn't a particular exhibit that stood out to me as a favorite. We then took a cab to 1st Ave around 6:30pm where we ate dinner at a Middle Eastern Resturant which was quite delicious. We then went to see a comedy show at Dangerfield's Comedy Club which was awesome. I have never laughed so hard in my life.

Great weekend. I am sad that this vacation is over. I think it will be quite awhile before I go back to the city again. Who know when the next time I will go back will be?

Amen for NYC!

Top Favorite Musicals I've Seen On Broadway

Top 5 Fave Musicals I've Seen on Broadway
1. Jersey Boys- I just saw this show this afternoon and it's amazing. I have never enjoyed myself so much at a musical. If you're looking for a musical to see go see this one.
2. HAIR
3. RENT
4. The Producers
5. Beauty and The Beast

If your house was on fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be?

If your house was on fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be?

Answer here

If your house was on fire and you could only grab three things, what would they be?

dog, scrapbook, ipod

Ask me anything

Broadway Secrets of The Week

Sadly I am really addicted to this Broadway Secrets forum on livejournal. I don't know what is so interesting about it really. All of it is mostly rumors and immature highschoolers bickering with each other anyways. Sometimes there are particular secrets that catch my attention. This week there are three.

#1: Wanda Sykes as Miss Hannigan. I love Wanda Sykes but I don't know how well she'd do at playing Miss Hannigan. That might be an interesting casting choice.

#2. I was happy when I saw this secret about Ramona. There have been a few secrets about other people in the cast but not very many about her. As for the secret itself I can't really comment much on it. I haven't seen A Little Night Music and I can't give a comment on Ramona's characterization though I have read somewhat mixed reviews about her performance. I have listened to the soundtrack quite a bit and she's pretty amazing. I wish I knew who posted this secret . The poster claims to be friends with Ramona . I don't know if this is true because a majority of the age demographic of people who use livejournal are high schoolers and not very many people in the 25 and over age demographic is. Maybe it's possible maybe it's not IDK. The people who post the secrets remain anonymous. No matter what people say though Ramona is amazing .:)

#3 Was not suprised when I saw this secret at all. When I first heard Vanessa Hudgens was cast as Mimi in RENT at The Hollywood Bowl I wanted to cry. Of course I never saw the show but judging from this secret she must have really butchered the role.

Summer loving had me a blast

Okay so this summer has been very much consumed by work and I haven't had much time to blog. That's why I am so behind on my commentary. I shall reflect while I watch the Red Sox and the 11:00 news

These are the shows I have seen this summer

• Trip To Bountiful Wellsely College Summer Theatre June 29th
• Dick Tracy Andy's Summer Playhouse July 8th

• The Pursuit of Happiness Milford Area Players July 25th

• Chicago Summer Theatre In Meredith Village July 31st

• Almost Maine Peacock Players August 6th

• Shout The Mod Musical Arundel Barn Playhouse Aug 14 (which I just returned from)

A mixture of the familar and something new. My theatre travels first took me to Wellsley College. My boyfriend recently moved to Welllsely and we decided to take advantage of the summer theatre offerings. Trip To Bountiful took place in Texas and was about an older woman who was struggling with moving on from her hometown and trying to escape from her son and daughter in law to return to Bountiful. It was a very powerful story with a good message behind it and one that especially resonated with me because of my struggles to move on from NLBP. July 8th I went to Andy's Summer Playhouse in Wilton with my sister to see Dick Tracy. The kid she babysits was in the show. It was my first time seeing a show at Andy's and I was very impressed with how talented all the kids were. For a review please scroll a few entries down. On July 25th I went to see The Pursuit of Happiness at Milford Area Players. This had a good mixture of drama and comedy in it. It was about a girl who is preparing to go to college but she is realizing in the process that going to college is not for her. It's a battle of wits between Annie (Kathy McKay) and Jodi (Grace Stover) I was laughing the whole time. A scene that I thought was particularly humourous was the scene that takes place between Annie and Skip in the mall food court.

July 31st my travels led me to Meredith where I saw Chicago at Summer Theatre in Meredith Villlage. This was my first time seeing a stage production of Chicago and I loved it. Maggie Politi played Roxie Hart and she did amazing. My favorite musical numbers were Razzle Dazzle. My Own Best Friend and Roxie. For a full review of the play and a letter to editor I have submitted to the Weirs Times in regards to the show please see previous entries I have posted.

Last weekend I saw Almost Maine at Peacock Players. Typically I am more of a fan of musical then I am of straight plays but this one was really good. It was directed and performed by the Peacock Players Young Company which is the youth theatre troupe at Peacock Players. It's a romantic comedy which is a seires of short vingettes of the various stages of love. Favorite scenes were They Fell, Getting It Back and Story of Hope. I was really impressed with the versatility and talent of the cast which is consisted of high schoolers from Nashua and surrounding towns.
and finally tonight Matt and I went to see Shout the Mod Musical at The Arundel Barn Playhouse. It was my first time back to Arundel after being there several summers ago when my family used to rent a vacation home in Wells... back then we saw I Love Your Perfect Now Change (which I believe was in 2003) and Nunsense (which I believe was in 2005) Shout The Mod Musical was a musical revue of songs from the 1960s. I had heard of a few songs by hearing my parents talk about them but had never seen them performed. There were times when I wanted to get up and dance along and sing along too. Overall a very enjoyable time. I will definitley go back to Arundel next summer.


Now as summer winds down the only two upcoming shows that remain are my trip to New York this weekend during which I willl be seeing Jersey Boys and September 18th where I will go up to NEC to see the Open Door Performance of As You Like It. After that however I will be on hiatus until the spring when I go to see the Mainstage Theatre production of Hotel Laputts in April. After NYC I have start saving money up for an apartment bc I hope to move out of my house in the next year or so.

So You Think You Can Dance Finale Summary

So You Think You Dance Season 7 Finale Summary

Battaling out: Kent Lauren and Robert

Who got my vote Kent

Winner: Lauren

Ratings

Kent Routine 1: 8 Routine 2: 5.5 Routine 3: 9 Routine 4: 7 Solo:8 Total : 36

Lauren: *Routine 1: 5 Routines 2 &3 9 Routine 4 6.5 Solo: 7 Total: 31.5

* did not see whole routine Score based on portion I saw at the end of the show when they showed the phone #s

Robert: Routines 1&2: 9 Routine 3:6.5 Routine 4: 7 Solo 5 Total:34.5

Summary broken down by Genre

Bollywood This was Kent's first routine of the evening. Bollywood has never been one of my top favorite genres but I must admit it has grown on me in the past couple season. The thing I like best about this particular genre is the high energy. Kent and all star Lauren had good chemistry.

Broadway Once again Robert was paired up with all star Kathryn. They danced to Cool from West Side Story. Robert and Kathryn are very evenly matched pair. The story behind the dance was that Robert was being interrogated and the sexy police officer Kathryn is sent in to question him Loved the story line. Didn't care much for the dance. While it did do Jerome Robbins good justice it was not one of my favorite Broadway routines I've seen on the show.

Cha Cha Lauren has been known for her sultry and sexy performances all season. This one was no differet then the rest. Not one of my favorite performances by her. Her contemporary piece with Robert on the other hand is definitley in my list of top performances she has done this season.

Contemporary The dances in this genre never cease to amaze me.. the two performances

tonight were no differet. In the first one Robert and Lauren were paired up. They were phenominal together in my honest opinon. I don't know if they were paired up in previous episodes but if they haven't been the producers certainly know how to save the best for last. They showed the rawest emotion I think I've ever seen. Kent was paired up with all star Allison for the second piece. The story behind it was a couple in a turbulrant relationship trying to work things through. Truly amazing. I have a feeling Kent is going to win. If he doesn't I will be incredibly surprised and amazingly disappointed. While all three contestants have grown significantly since the start of this season Kent has shown the most energy, gutso, grace and maturity.

Jazz Two high energy performances that took watchers on a flashback to the 80s. For the first piece Robert was paired up with all star Marc and they danced to Whip It by Devo. Very interesting take on the song and an overall entertaining performance. In the second routine Kent and Lauren danced to Hip To Be Square by Huey Lewis and News. I was not as impressed with this routine as I was with Whip It . While I felt this routine was a tad cheesy for my taste Lauren and Kent have really good chemistry.

The final routine was a new type of Latin Dance which was performed by Robert and Kent. I can't remember the exact name of it but I wish they'd introduced sooner than finale because I thought it was awesome... not to mention wicked intensse

Overall this season of So You Think You Can Dance has not really all been desirable for me. I found myself bored a majority of the time. Imjury plagued the dances and took my three favorites out of the compettion too early. Though Billy made it to the double elimination round. All dances seemed to be the same to me and very few stood out to me as outstanding. I was really rooting for Kent to win but I guess you really can't be choosy. Kent Lauren and Robert will all have really great careers and Billy and Alex definitley will too. Not sure about the rest of them.

Goals Update

So this entry is mostly for myself. I like to keep up to date on New Years Resolutions and goals and how I do with acheiving them. All non-theatre related new years resolutions are pretty typical excercise more and the like here are the theatre related goals

1. Add new showtunes to my library in order to add varietry to what I listen too.
A Little Night Music Soundtrack and a few other things I can't remember off the top of my head.
2. Get a job at a summer stock theatre this summer. This did not end up working out unfourtately. I have to get on my feet financially before I can get involved in working for a theatre again. Right now I am going to focus on the job training program that starts at St Joe's Hospital in a few weeks
3. Go to NYC in March to see A Little Night Music. Decided A Little Night Music did not really interest me very much. 15 ddays til NY and seeing Jersey Boys
4. Write more fan fiction. REfer to a few entries down for a recent fanfiction I wrote which was inspired by the performance of Chicago I saw last weekend.
5. Get more technical expereince besides props. My next technical endevaor is doing publicity and sound design for the Riverbend School of Theatre Arts 's fall performance of The Man Who Came To Dinner. Please stay tuned to my professional website blog for more updates on this show www.theatretechdiva.weebly.com

6. See shows at other theatre venues in NH.
1. Majestic Theatre
2. Stockbridge Theatre At Pinkerton Academy
3. Andy's Summer Playhouse
7. See more shows at more summer theatres in NH. Budget had a huge impact on the shows I went to see this summer and after New York I will be cutting back on going to see so many shows because it is strating to really affect my wallet. I wrote an article on summer stock theatre in NH which resulted in me getting complimentary tickets to a few shows.. that was helpful in a huge way. Other than that though I need to start financing my money better so I can save for an apartment next year so going out to plays and dinner so often will have to be scaled back.

In regards to Chicago

Letter to the editor recently submitted to the Weirs Times about the recent performance of Chicago. I am not sure when this is going to be published or if it already was.

To The Editor:

I recently saw Chicago at Summer Theatre In Meredith Village and I found this show to be one of the most amazing shows I have seen at STMV to date. The amount of talent amongst members of the cast was versatile and very impressive. People that particularly stood out were Maggie Politi, Jared Trolio and Kelsey Cooke. At this point I would like to congratulate Maggie, Jared, Kelsey and the rest of the cast and crew on an outstanding performance.

Since the theatre opened two years ago I have seen several shows at STMV some of which include Carousel, Grease and Oklahoma. I have found every production I have seen to be wonderful. I worked with Nancy Barry three years ago at the New London Barn Playhouse and she does an amazing job with running the theatre and putting on wonderful productions for audiences to enjoy.


I encourage people to support the Summer Theatre in their two shows that remain Camelot and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee as well as the last performance for the youth theatre Winnie The Pooh. You won’t want to miss them.


Sincerely,


Janine Leffler
Amherst, NH

My most recent fanfiction

I was inspired to write this fan fiction after seeing Chicago at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village on Saturday. Enjoy and tell me what you think.

The Audition
A Cabaret and Chicago Crossover

Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Roxie Hart or Sally Bowles. Kander and Ebb do
Notes: This takes place in Boston after the events of both musicals.


It was a bright morning in mid fall and the sun was just rising over Boston Common. Roxie Hart groaned and stretched as she looked at her alarm clock that blared the time in her face 6:45. She wanted to sleep in but she had to catch a train downtown to a 10:45 audition. She only had an hour to shower and get ready and go over what she thought she’d say at her audition one last time. Since moving out of Cooke County and quitting vaudeville she would have to get used to new theatrical experiences and she figured she’d start with television.

She grabbed a small latte and a bagel from Starbucks and jumped on the train. It was crowded with commuters and sleepy eyed college students who had 8:30 am classes. She was surprised she even found a seat. She didn’t expect someone else who was auditioning would be on the train but as luck would have it and girl with thick black hair got on the train at the next stop.

“Is this seat taken?” whispered someone with a light German accent.
Roxie looked up from the magazine she was reading. “No, go ahead and take it before someone else does.”
“Are you on your way to the audition?” the stranger asked.
“As a matter of fact I am. I’m pretty new to metro Boston, just moved here from Chicago.”
“I’m new to Boston too… actually more so new to America.. I just moved here a month ago from Berlin. I live on Boylston Street with my boyfriend Cliff.”
“What made you move all the way from Berlin?”
“The night club I sang at was doing poorly and I was pretty much out of a job. What did you do before moving here?”
“Well, I was in jail.”
Sally raised a skeptical eyebrow. “You were? What for?”
“ I was accused of killing someone but I was innocent. They let me go. I’m here in Boston to turn over a new leaf.”
“Are you nervous about the audition?”
“Sort of, are you?”
“Oh yes, this first time auditioning for anything I’m only used to singing in the night club.”
Roxie was glad she wasn’t the only person who was nervous about the audition.

When they arrived at the TV studio the line was almost pouring out the door. “There must be about 200 people here.” Sally said, she looked nervous as she summed the amount of American competition she had.
Roxie was equally as intimidated by the long line of people. “Yeah I guess lots of people must have seen the audition notice in The Herald. They said it was open call.”

As soon as check in ended the auditioners were split up into two different rooms. There was a total of 250 people so Sally was not too far off with her estimation.. Sally and Roxie were into two different audition groups. Everything seemed to go slowly at first and then Roxie finally went. She was #17 in her group. She tried to be as suave as possible because this was certainly different from vaudeville. They had her to a blind reading with a script and a partner scene. It wasn’t as bad as she had thought it would be.

When she was done, Roxie went back into the hallway to look for Sally she was still waiting in line outside her room. “Really slow process, isn’t it? Roxie asked her.
“Yeah, I’m #45 and they’re only on 7. How did you do?”

“Pretty good I think. I just hope they call me back. I’ll hang out and wait for you if you want.”
“That would be great.”
Roxie looked at her watch it was 11:45. She figured Sally would be out of the audition room by 2:30.”

The casting studio was on the third floor. Roxie went down to the first floor and went into the bookstore that was in the lobby. She needed to get information about this place she would be calling home from now on. She want to the travel section immediately and got immersed in travel guide after travel guide about Boston and even decided to buy a few of them. Maybe she and Sally would do some sightseeing if there was enough time left in the day after the audition or maybe later that week. She looked at her watch. It was 2:35. Sally had to be done with her audition by now. She dashed up to the third floor. Sally was standing outside the audition room looking distraught.

“What’s the matter?”

”I don’t think I did very well. The director didn’t seem to understand half of what I was saying because of my accent and I was pretty nervous too.”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you did fine. They’re going to do callbacks tomorrow. Let’s go get something to eat.”
“Okay.”

Roxie smiled. She was happy she had met a new friend. She just hoped that they would both get a part in the commercial.

Razzle Dazzle rocks my soul

"Tell Bob Fosse that Chicago in the late 1920s is not Berlin." Hal Prince in a letter to Kander and Ebb about the similarities between Chicago and Cabaret

I have some issues with this quote mostly because I can't really see how Chicago and Cabaret are that similar. I guess one similarity is that both shows are about a certain aspect of show business but other than that that I can't see how the story lines for both shows connect to eachother.


Last night I went with Matt and Sonya to see Chicago at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village. It was my first time seeing Chicago performed... before hand I had only seen the movie with Catherine Zeta Jones, Richard Gere and Renne Zwellenger and it has always been one of my favorite movie musicals.

Chicago was directed and choregraphed by Brian Feehan who has also directed High School Musical, Grease, Carosuel, Buddy Holly Story and Sound of Music at STMV. For those who have never seen the show or the moive the story is set in Chicago in the 1920s and most focusses on show girls Velma Kelly (Kelsey Cooke) and Roxie Hart (Maggie Politi) Roxie has recently been thrown in jail accused of a crime she didn't commit and hires lawyer Billy Flynn (Jared Trolio) to cover her case and bring her to justice. To me Chicago is well known for it's sound track i'm not sure what else it would be well known for besides that. Favorite musical numbers included All I Care About, Mr. Cellophane, Cell Block Tango and Razzle Dazzle. This show is an emotional roller coaster as Roxie deals with her trial and Velma deals with her jealousy of Roxie taking her place in the spotlight. Things end up happy for them in the end.

Congrats to the cast and crew of Chicago on a great show.