The Angel of Music

First of all,

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

My Halloween isn't going to be amazingly crazy and fun, but I think a couple of friends and I are going to get together and dress up and take pictures....and then go back to working on our midterms. Lame, I know, but I guess that's what happens when you get to grad school. But last night...last night was awesome!

I went with friends to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. This is actually the 3rd time I've seen that musical, but the first two times were in Portland and there is really no comparison. Somehow seeing a show in its home where it has been being performed for the past 20 years means that everything is so spot on perfect that after a while you don't even realize you're seeing a stage show and you just end up getting lost in the story. I think all of us who saw it are going to be humming the songs for several days...or weeks haha. Also, I got the tickets through my discount membership thing and so I figured we were going to be in the rear mezzanine but, in fact, we ended up being in the back of the orchestra so our seats were awesome!

Because we saw the show the day before Halloween we saw so many people dressed up on the subways and walking around the city. Some of the costumes were fairly crazy haha. But it was kind of fun to see everybody all dressed up.

The Stage

Because of the flash this picture turned out very Phantom-like I think

 That's really all the news for now.  I'm headed off to work on my midterm essay.  But because I'll be humming it all day anyway, I'll leave you with a video of The Phantom of the Opera performing at the 1988 Tony Awards.  :)

Flash Assignment

Okay, I'm trying to test out this work around I found to try and embed flash files into blogger.  Let's see if it works!

This is the front of the website we had to create.

*Update* I know the flash isn't really working on anyone's computer. I'm still not sure why, it's on my to do list to figure out :)

Day at the Museum

Saturday morning was a morning of culture.  Some friends and I went to the Guggenheim Museum of Art. I think I've said this already but one of the cool things about being a Columbia student is that we get into most of the museums in the city for free!  So we're trying to work our way through the museums.  Hopefully the next one will be the Museum of Natural History because I'm especially excited for that one.  You can see in the pictures, but the coolest thing about the Guggenheim has to be its architecture.  It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and has this giant spiral ramp which you walk around to see all of the exhibits.  The museum is mostly modern art and they were having an exhibit on Classicism which I guess is the period between WWI and WWII.  As a part of admission we were given an audio listening tour as well which provided a lot of historical background on many of the pieces.  I think my favorites that I saw were a couple of Manet paintings.  There was one other that I saw which was really interesting but I can't remember what it was called or who it was by (I know, helpful).  It was a painting of the painter but in the picture the painter was making an sculpture of his head.  So it was like a double self portrait which I think was a cool concept.

This is one of Manet's paintings I really liked

In front of the Guggenheim

The spiral ramp inside the museum

Me inside the Guggenheim

The start of the ramp

The ceiling

Improv Night!

The cool thing about TC is that they have a good number of free events on campus.  Just like when I went to the comedy night a few weeks ago, last night there was a similar event where they brought in members of The Upright Citizens Brigade to perform improv.  For those that don't know, this is, I'm fair sure, a very well known group in the world of improv.  There were two groups, both did what is called Long Form Improv (versus short form, which is what they do on "Whose Line is it Anyway?")  It was very good.  The only time I've ever seen long form performed was when we used to do a few long form games in improv club as an undergrad and, I'm only speaking for myself here, but I know I'm not very good at it haha.  So it was fun seeing the professionals in action.  I'm not sure what the name of the long form that the 2nd group did was but the first group did what is called a Harold, which (as I've been told by my friend) is the original and best form of long form improv.  It was basically made up of little vignettes, all centering on a similar topic.  It was very good actually.

On another note, today is my first day videotaping in the schools for my job!  I'm pretty nervous, but I think it will be okay.  I spent this week getting all of the equipment together and everything.  I also learned that TC has a Video Services office where students can check out video equipment and they also have a pool of freelance videographers that can be hired out for something like $35 an hour.  The person in charge of the office also showed me the recording studio they have set up.  Nobody really used it too much now because they don't have a full staff, but it used to be a fully functional tv recording studio and now they just use it for little projects.  He also has a music recording studio set up in the next room.  I think he was excited that I got so excited about the different capabilities of the room and I was telling him a little bit about my background with music and video recording and he seemed pretty impressed.  So that was cool :)

7 Cities 1 Night

So last night I went to an event hosted by Willamette of all places!  They set up this event for alumni that was held on the same night in 7 different cities (NYC being one of them of course).  I think there must have been 30-40 people there.  It was at a bar on Wall St (very fancy lol) in the Andaz Hotel and so that was definitely an adventure.  They had food and drinks and I met a lot of interesting and cool alums :)  It was fun to be able to talk to people and be able to say things like "mill stream" and have them know exactly what I'm talking about.  I didn't take any pictures, unfortunately because I was trying to wander around and meet people but you can check the bar out on their website, and I pulled the following picture from there as well.

Bubbles!!!!

Today I met up with a friend and we went to see the show Gazillion Bubbles but actually my interesting day started on the subway when a Mariachi band was randomly playing.  So I had a very musical start to my day.  Anyway, back to Bubbles.  It was actually a pretty good show.  I can definitely see kids liking it, I mean I liked it!  haha.  They had a lot of cool effects with lasers and at a couple of points in the show they filled the audience with bubbles (I think I must have counted at least 18 bubble makers around the room).  The theatre where it is housed is called the New World's Stage and is the same building that houses Avenue Q and 3 other shows (a total of 5).  I was talking to one of the ushers and he was saying it used to be a movie theater and they refurbished it for stage theatre.  2 of the theatres seat about 500 and the other 3 seat about 200.  (I'm pretty sure we were in a 200 seat one).

The outside of the theatre

The inside of the theatre building

This show is great for merchandising haha

The stage at the end of the show

After the bubbles show we went to find the Hungarian restaurant that I went to with my family earlier in the semester and we were successful!

mmmmm delicious food :)

mmmm polochinta (aka crepes w/ chocolate)

After we had the deliciousness that is both wienerschnitzel and polochinta (I have no idea if I spelled either of those correctly) we went adventuring.

Good idea:  Saving money for a taxi and walking home.
Good idea:  Walking through Central Park because it is the shortest route (also very pretty)
Bad idea:  Getting lost in Central Park when it's really cold outside...

Central Park

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir in the park

I think you get the idea, basically we walked ALOT.  We walked about 3 blocks from the restaurant to Central Park, then who knows how many blocks in the park, but it was at least about 20min of walking.  Then we thought it'd be a good idea to ride the subway from 96th street to 116th (Columbia) except that somehow we ended up on the express (even though they were supposed to be running local) instead of the local and ended up about 4 blocks too far east in Harlem. So then we had to walk those extra blocks.

Needless to say....my legs were TIRED!

And that was enough adventures for one day :)

Accomplice

Today I went to a show type thing called Accomplice in downtown Manhattan.  Now I don't want to give too much away in case anybody reading this ever decides to do it, which I highly recommend.  Basically the day before the show they call and tell you the location and then you have to meet there.  There are 10 people in the group and you have to walk around and solve clues in order to get to the end.  It takes about 3 hours, but you stop sometimes and go into bars (2 drinks were included plus appetizers) or restaurants and there are actors posted along the way to give you hints.  The actors were totally great, it was set up really well and I had a blast :)  It takes you through the financial district, soho, chinatown, and little italy so its a really fun way to see the city while also being immensely entertained.  I'll try not to go into too much detail but here are a few pictures from the trek:

***Caution! If you plan on going on this adventure at some point and don't want any spoilers then don't look at the rest of this post.  There, you've been warned***

We met at Seaport, which also is really fun to visit

One of the actors we interacted with

Yes...one of the clues involved buying a frog in Chinatown...

This doesn't have anything to do with the tour but aren't the fire hydrants cool in Little Italy?

A not so fun morning

(yes I realize there are a few posts in a row....I'm catching up haha)

So...last Friday morning (I think) I was awoken to the lovely sound of the fire alarm going off....at 7:30am....on a Friday when I was able to sleep in....and had gone to bed around 5am the night before....

That's really the whole story, I just felt like sharing ^_^

fire trucks!

PS.  No, the building was not on fire.  They were pushing steam through the heaters to get them ready for winter and apparently one of the steam jets hit a smoke detector in the basement.

Weekend of Theatre

So this is way way way way way overdue but here's the run down of the weekend I had my theatre adventures! :D

On Saturday I went with some friends to see a couple of Off-Off Broadway shows. This basically means that the show is not on Broadway (like for example Wicked or Phantom of the Opera) and it's not Off-Broadway (like The Fantasticks). If anyone is familiar with the show Friends, the theatre shows that Joey appears in would be considered off off broadway. So basically they are in small hole-in-the-wall performance spaces that don't seat very many and the shows might be in workshop or they might only run for one weekend. Some are really really bad and some might be good, you never know. But basically I joined this program where I can get cheap tickets to off off broadway shows so I conned some friends into going with me :)

The first show was actually a double feature and here are the descriptions:
A Double Feature of
13 Ways to Screw Up Your College Interview
and
Post-Its (Notes on a Marriage)

Roy Arias Theater Center
at the Times Square Arts Center
4th Floor Off Broadway Theater
300 West 43rd Street
Between 8th & 9th Avenues
4th Floor

13 Ways....
When two college recruiters at a prestigious university need to fill one last spot to keep their jobs, thirteen eccentric, dimwitted and slightly-insane high school seniors are eager to come in for an interview. What seems like a simple task turns into a nightmare when the applicants turn out to be a reality TV star, a practicing vampire, an amateur magician, and others that are much, much worse. Each applicant's interview hilariously illustrates what NOT to do at a college interview.

Post-Its...
In this homage to Love Letters, an actor and actress read the Post-It notes between a couple that span the duration of their lives together. Hilarious and moving, Post-Its explores the ups and downs of a relationship that were unexpectedly captured on scraps of paper.

Running time is 1 hour.

The "lobby"

The stage

My "ticket" to get into the show

The show was actually on the 4th floor of this building (no elevator) and during the show you could actually hear music from something else going on.  I think there were about a million things going on in that building all at the same time.

The outside of the theatre

After those two shows we went to Lincoln Center where the other show was.  This one was called Under the Big Top:

UNDER THE BIG TOP

Manhattan Movement & Arts Center, 248 West 60th st. , New YorkNY 10023

ABOUT THE SHOW

Merril and Emmet, (almost) famous actors from Hollywood, have traveled all the way to NYC to become circus superstars. Unfortunately, they lack talent, and can only find work selling popcorn and cotton candy at the circus. One night, the ringmaster comes down with laryngitis. It's Marril and Emmet's big chance! As they guide the audience through a night of brilliant performances by acrobats, jugglers, contortionists, unicyclists and other polished acts, they sneak in their hilarious attempts at a variety of different performances, from an opera to a daring escape act! Do they have what it takes? Join Merril and Emmet Under the Big Top to witness their debut performance as circus superstars!

CAST

Under the Big Top stars commedians Jonathan Niel & Joe Kolbow (Merril & Emmet) and includes performances by Guinevere DiPiazza (aerial duo lyra & hammock), Mr. Fantastic (aerial duo lyra & trapeze), Julia Royter (aerial silks & rhythmic ribbon), Elaina Royter (rhythmic ribbon), Anna Chazelle (hula hoop), Jennifer James (aerial hammock), Rachel Salzman (handbalancing/contortion) & Paris (juggling/unicycle).

The theatre for the 2nd show

The program and yes, they were selling cotton candy :)

 Both shows were a lot of fun, and of course I was very tired.  But the very next day I went to see Promises, Promises!  (yes...again)  We had the best time and waited outside the stage door to get autographs!  I have to admit, I was pretty starstruck :)

Chillin' outside the theatre

Squeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

And there I ended my amazing weekend of theatre :)