Tony Update

First of all the Tonys were AWESOME this year!  Neil Patrick Harris makes an awesome host and this time was no different.  Many of my predictions were correct, and many were not but it was still a great show!  I thought in this post I'd share some of my favorite moments from last night.  At first I thought I'd also include the clips to all of the nominated musicals...but there are too many good moments and I don't want this post to be unbearably long, so I'll just share the highlights.

Starting off, Neil Patrick Harris was great.  He performed an opening number with several chorus members of the different nominated shows. He even got the audience involved! Brook Shields may be about to perform 8 shows a week in The Adams Family, but apparently she can't read a teleprompter :P



My next favorite Neil Patrick Harris moment was a bit between him and Hugh Jackman. Hugh Jackman has also hosted the Tonys before as well as won a Tony for his role in The Boy From Oz. So in the middle of the show the two ended up having a dance/sing/host off! It is all kinds of awesome.



As you may have noticed from my many posts about it. I really liked How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and may have seen it a total of 3 times (You have to love rush tickets!). So no blog post about the Tonys would be complete without the clip from How To Succeed. It may have only won one Tony but it is still a fun musical to see and sing along to.



The musical that just about swept the board last night, winning 9 Tonys (it was nominated for 14) and taking home Best Musical was The Book of Mormon. I definitely want to see this show. It is also sold out until late August so I think it will be around for a while. For those that don't know, it is the brain child of the two South Park creators paired with the guy who wrote Avenue Q. So...don't go if you are easily offended. But, if you like South Park and you like musicals, you may just like this musical. I've listened to the songs online and they are pretty risque, but it seems like a very funny smart musical. So here is the song they performed at the Tonys called "I Believe"



The two plays that won quite a bit were War Horse and The Normal Heart, both of which I now want to see :) I may miss The Normal Heart though because I think it will close before I'll have a chance to see it, it was a limited run anyway. Sad, but that's how these things go sometimes.

Two more clips.

This show was not nominated for anything and I'm not really sure why they performed but it is just so much fun I thought I'd include their clip anyway. So here is "It's Raining Men" by the cast of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert.



And finally, Neil Patrick wraps up the whole show...with a rap of course!

It's the Tonys!!!!!

Tonight is the Tony Awards and I will be watching along with the rest of America (or the ones who love theatre I suppose) on tv all the while knowing that they are taking place roughly 50 blocks from where I am sitting :)

So since it's Tony day, I thought I'd share with you my Tony predictions for tonight.  Keep in mind...I'm usually wrong and I tend to favor the shows I've seen and I've only had the chance to see one of the nominees (How to Succeed).  My choices are based on what I like and also who I think will probably win based on what I've heard in the news.  But just for funsies here's what my ballot would look like!

Oh, and on a side note I saw How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying again last night....for the 3rd time...hehehe

Back to the Tonys!  My picks are highlighted in green.

Nominations for the 2011 American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards®
Presented by The Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing

Best Play

Good People

Author: David Lindsay-Abaire
Producers: Manhattan Theatre Club, Lynne Meadow, Barry Grove

Jerusalem

Author: Jez Butterworth
Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Royal Court Theatre Productions, Beverly Bartner/Alice Tulchin, Dede Harris/Rupert Gavin, Broadway Across America, Jon B. Platt, 1001 Nights/Stephanie P. McClelland, Carole L. Haber/Richard Willis, Jacki Barlia Florin/Adam Blanshay

The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Author: Stephen Adly Guirgis
Producers: Scott Rudin, Stuart Thompson, Public Theater Productions, Oskar Eustis, Joey Parnes, Labyrinth Theater Company, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O'Donnell, Yul Vázquez, Danny Feldman, Fabula Media Partners LLC, Jean Doumanian, Ruth Hendel, Carl Moellenberg, Jon B. Platt, Tulchin Bartner/Jamie deRoy

War Horse

Author: Nick Stafford
Producers: Lincoln Center Theater, André Bishop, Bernard Gersten, National Theatre of Great Britain, Nicholas Hytner, Nick Starr, Bob Boyett, War Horse LP

Best Musical

The Book of Mormon

Producers: Anne Garefino, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Scott M. Delman, Jean Doumanian, Roy Furman, Important Musicals LLC, Stephanie P. McClelland, Kevin Morris, Jon B. Platt, Sonia Friedman Productions, Stuart Thompson

Catch Me If You Can

Producers: Margo Lion, Hal Luftig, Stacey Mindich, Yasuhiro Kawana, Scott & Brian Zeilinger, The Rialto Group, The Araca Group, Michael Watt, Barbara & Buddy Freitag, Jay & Cindy Gutterman/Pittsburgh CLO, Elizabeth Williams, Johnny Roscoe Productions/Van Dean, Fakston Productions/Solshay Productions, Patty Baker/Richard Winkler, Nederlander Presentations, Inc., Warren Trepp, Remmel T. Dickinson, Paula Herold/Kate Lear, Stephanie P. McClelland, Jamie deRoy, Barry Feirstein, Rainerio J. Reyes, Rodney Rigby, Loraine Boyle, Amuse Inc., Joseph & Matthew Deitch/Cathy Chernoff, Joan Stein/Jon Murray, The 5th Avenue Theatre

The Scottsboro Boys

Producers: Barry and Fran Weissler, Jacki Barlia Florin, Janet Pailet/Sharon A. Carr/Patricia R. Klausner, Nederlander Presentations, Inc./The Shubert Organization, Beechwood Entertainment, Broadway Across America, Mark Zimmerman, Adam Blanshay/R2D2 Productions, Rick Danzansky/Barry Tatelman, Bruce Robert Harris/Jack W. Batman, Allen Spivak/Jerry Frankel, Bard Theatricals/Probo Productions/Randy Donaldson, Catherine Schreiber/Michael Palitz/Patti Laskawy, Vineyard Theatre

Sister Act

Producers: Whoopi Goldberg & Stage Entertainment, The Shubert Organization and Disney Theatrical Productions

Best Book of a Musical

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Alex Timbers

The Book of Mormon

Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

David Thompson

Sister Act

Cheri Steinkellner, Bill Steinkellner and Douglas Carter Beane

Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre

The Book of Mormon

Music & Lyrics: Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone

The Scottsboro Boys

Music & Lyrics: John Kander & Fred Ebb

Sister Act

Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Glenn Slater

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Music & Lyrics: David Yazbek

Best Revival of a Play

Arcadia

Producers: Sonia Friedman Productions, Roger Berlind, Stephanie P. McClelland, Scott M. Delman, Nicholas Quinn Rosenkranz, Disney Theatrical Group, Robert G. Bartner, Olympus Theatricals, Douglas Smith, Janine Safer Whitney

The Importance of Being Earnest

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

The Merchant of Venice

Producers: The Public Theater, Oskar Eustis, Andrew D. Hamingson, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Debbie Bisno & Eva Price, Amy Nederlander, Jonathan First, Stewart F. Lane & Bonnie Comley, Universal Pictures Stage Productions, Merritt Forrest Baer, The Araca Group, Broadway Across America, Joseph & Matthew Deitch, JK Productions, Terry Allen Kramer, Cathy Chernoff/Jay & Cindy Gutterman, Mallory Factor/Cheryl Lachowicz, Joey Parnes, The Shubert Organization

The Normal Heart

Producers: Daryl Roth, Paul Boskind, Martian Entertainment, Gregory Rae, Jayne Baron Sherman/Alexander Fraser

Best Revival of a Musical

Anything Goes

Producers: Roundabout Theatre Company, Todd Haimes, Harold Wolpert, Julia C. Levy

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Producers: Broadway Across America, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Joseph Smith, Michael McCabe, Candy Spelling, Takonkiet Viravan/Scenario Thailand, Hilary A. Williams, Jen Namoff/Fakston Productions, Two Left Feet Productions/Power Arts, Hop Theatricals, LLC/Paul Chau/Daniel Frishwasser/Michael Jackowitz, Michael Speyer-Bernie Abrams/Jacki Barlia Florin-Adam Blanshay/Arlene Scanlan/TBS Service

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Brian Bedford, The Importance of Being Earnest
Bobby Cannavale, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Joe Mantello, The Normal Heart
Al Pacino, The Merchant of Venice
Mark Rylance, Jerusalem

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Nina Arianda, Born Yesterday
Frances McDormand, Good People
Lily Rabe, The Merchant of Venice
Vanessa Redgrave, Driving Miss Daisy
Hannah Yelland, Brief Encounter

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical

Norbert Leo Butz, Catch Me If You Can
Josh Gad, The Book of Mormon
Joshua Henry, The Scottsboro Boys
Andrew Rannells, The Book of Mormon
Tony Sheldon, Priscilla Queen of the Desert

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical

Sutton Foster, Anything Goes
Beth Leavel, Baby It's You!
Patina Miller, Sister Act
Donna Murphy, The People in the Picture

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play

Mackenzie Crook, Jerusalem
Billy Crudup, Arcadia
John Benjamin Hickey, The Normal Heart
Arian Moayed, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Yul Vázquez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Ellen Barkin, The Normal Heart
Edie Falco, The House of Blue Leaves
Judith Light, Lombardi
Joanna Lumley, La Bête
Elizabeth Rodriguez, The Motherf**ker with the Hat

Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical

Colman Domingo, The Scottsboro Boys
Adam Godley, Anything Goes
John Larroquette, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Forrest McClendon, The Scottsboro Boys
Rory O'Malley, The Book of Mormon

Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical

Laura Benanti, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Tammy Blanchard, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Victoria Clark, Sister Act
Nikki M. James, The Book of Mormon
Patti LuPone, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown

Best Scenic Design of a Play

Todd Rosenthal, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Rae Smith, War Horse
Ultz, Jerusalem
Mark Wendland, The Merchant of Venice

Best Scenic Design of a Musical

Beowulf Boritt, The Scottsboro Boys
Derek McLane, Anything Goes
Scott Pask, The Book of Mormon
Donyale Werle, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson

Best Costume Design of a Play

Jess Goldstein, The Merchant of Venice
Desmond Heeley, The Importance of Being Earnest
Mark Thompson, La Bête
Catherine Zuber, Born Yesterday

Best Costume Design of a Musical

Tim Chappel & Lizzy Gardiner, Priscilla Queen of the Desert
Martin Pakledinaz, Anything Goes
Ann Roth, The Book of Mormon
Catherine Zuber, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Best Lighting Design of a Play

Paule Constable, War Horse
David Lander, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
Kenneth Posner, The Merchant of Venice
Mimi Jordan Sherin, Jerusalem

Best Lighting Design of a Musical

Ken Billington, The Scottsboro Boys
Howell Binkley, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Peter Kaczorowski, Anything Goes
Brian MacDevitt, The Book of Mormon

Best Sound Design of a Play

Acme Sound Partners and Cricket S. Myers, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo

Simon Baker, Brief Encounter
Ian Dickinson for Autograph, Jerusalem
Christopher Shutt, War Horse

Best Sound Design of a Musical

Peter Hylenski, The Scottsboro Boys
Steve Canyon Kennedy, Catch Me If You Can
Brian Ronan, Anything Goes
Brian Ronan, The Book of Mormon

Best Direction of a Play

Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris, War Horse
Joel Grey & George C. Wolfe, The Normal Heart
Anna D. Shapiro, The Motherf**ker with the Hat
Daniel Sullivan, The Merchant of Venice

Best Direction of a Musical

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw and Trey Parker, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Best Choreography

Rob Ashford, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Kathleen Marshall, Anything Goes
Casey Nicholaw, The Book of Mormon
Susan Stroman, The Scottsboro Boys

Best Orchestrations

Doug Besterman, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Larry Hochman, The Scottsboro Boys

Larry Hochman & Stephen Oremus, The Book of Mormon
Marc Shaiman & Larry Blank, Catch Me If You Can

*     *     *

Tony Nominations by Production

The Book of Mormon - 14

The Scottsboro Boys - 12

Anything Goes - 9

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying - 8

The Merchant of Venice - 7

Jerusalem - 6

The Motherf**ker with the Hat - 6

The Normal Heart - 5

Sister Act - 5

War Horse - 5

Catch Me If You Can - 4

Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo - 3

The Importance of Being Earnest - 3

Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown - 3

Arcadia - 2

Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson - 2

Born Yesterday - 2

Brief Encounter - 2

Good People - 2

La Bête - 2

Priscilla Queen of the Desert - 2

Baby It's You! - 1

Driving Miss Daisy - 1

The House of Blue Leaves - 1

Lombardi - 1

The People in the Picture - 1

Air Conditioners Are Amazing

Big news!  I just got an air conditioner :)  It is a magical magical thing.  I just couldn't handle my hot room anymore so the other day I went out and bought one.  It makes my life so much better!

That was really the only news I have.  But also I had to read this article for class today, well actually I've hard to read it for other classes as well, and thought some of my readers might find it interesting.

http://tv.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/magazine/24TV.html?pagewanted=4

It's about how television is actually awesome and it is based on a book by Steven Johnson called "Everything Bad Is Good for You"  It's an interesting read at any rate.  So Enjoy!

Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone had a lovely 3 day weekend!  I spent the weekend spending time with friends and trying to escape the heat.  On Sunday I had a great time hanging out with friends and we ended up going down to Greenwich Village and exploring.  I found this thing online where you purchase a game zone (its' called NY: The Game) and you text into a number and they send you clues and riddles.  You text in your answers and then it tells you if you're correct or not and also gives you trivia about the city.  It was actually pretty fun and was a cool way to explore the village.

Some of the trivia I learned:

On 6th Ave there is the Golden Swan Garden which stands in place of an old saloon called the Hell-Hole.  Eugene O'Neill was a regular there.

In 1837, Edgar Allen Poe was treated for a head cold at the historic Northern Dispensary founded in 1927. Its deed requires the building to be used for "the worthy poor".

St Luke's church, built in 1821, is the third oldest standing church in New York City

The Cherry Lane Theatre is the longest running Off-Broadway theater in NYC. Dozens of famous actors have starred at the theatre, including Barbara Streisand, Gene Hackman, James Earl Jones, and Kevin Bacon.

Author Washington Irving, most noted for short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip an Winkle" was a pioneer for international copyright law and lived in the village at 11 Commerce st.

The Village Voice, NYC's locally-focused, alternative newspaper based in the Village was founded in 1955 by Norman Mailer and 2 friends in a basement.
___________

Like I said, it was an entertaining way to explore a new part of the city.

On Monday I went with friends down to K-Mart to see if they had any good/cheap deals.  I ended up buying some great sandals :)  So yay shoes! haha.

That's all for now.  Today I have to work work work both for my job and on homework.  Luckily there is an air conditioner in my office so it's not actually a bad place to be stuck for several hours ^_^

Very Random Thought

So I was walking with my friend near campus and there is this interesting statue garden on Amsterdam.  We wandered into it because there is a very bizarre giant statue located there and we wanted to see what it was.  And there of all places we saw this enormous white peacock!  It was crazy!  And this peacock definitely was not afraid of strangers.  So anyway, here's a picture :)

Birthday Adventures!

So as many of you may know, on the 18th I turned 24 :)

I ended up having a wonderful birthday.  I hung out with friends during the day.  Then in the evening I met up with some of my friends to have birthday cake.  Afterwards we went to Amsterdam Cafe, a restaurant near campus that I like, for drinks and tapas.  It was great.  I couldn't have asked for a better birthday :)

My roommates are so sweet!

Me with the birthday cake my friend made.  It was delicious!

At Amsterdam Cafe

A Visit From Some Awesome People!

As soon as finals ended, I got my prize in the form of two visitors from San Francisco!  We had the most amazing time!  Here's a little pictorial peek at our fun week :)

Inside the Times Square visitor center

Central Park!

Friends in Central Park

Isn't it beautiful?

Not sure why this is in Central Park, but it's cool!

My first ever Yankees Game

Yankees Stadium

Play Ball!

The line for rush tickets for How to Succeed in Business
Without Really Trying.  The line is under the archway

We waited in line about 1 1/2 hours, but it was worth it!

Waiting outside the stage door for autographs

Still waiting.  I still can't believe we were in the front!

It's John Larroquette!

And Daniel Radcliffe aka Harry Potter!

My signed Playbill

We also saw the show Miss Abigail's Guide to Dating, Mating & Marriage.
The show was not great but had some funny parts.

We also made enchiladas!

Aaaand we went and sang Karaoke!

As you can see, it was a busy week, but one that was also full of fun!

Major updates!

Okay so I know I'm late.  But here is a little bit of an update haha :)

So a few weeks ago now I got to see an amazing show, Rock of Ages!  It was so much fun!  Good family friends came into NYC and I got to hang out with them which was really great.  Rock of Ages is a show comprised of all rock songs from the 80s.  So if you like those songs then it's definitely a great show.  The storyline is a little bit loose, but it was a fun show to see.  Here's the tony award clip :)



The next week I really didn't feel like working on my finals.  So I decided to take a break and I went to see a free concert on Columbia's campus.  It was Snoop Dogg! Now this normally wouldn't be my kind of scene but I figured he's really famous, and now I can say I've seen him. So I wandered over there to check it out. I actually only stayed for a little bit, but I DID see him so my plan was a success.  Oh, for those who may not know Snoop Dogg is a famous rapper.

You can see Snoop Dogg very small in kind
of a gray sweatshirt in the middle of the stage

The week after the concert I was crazy busy (as my previous updates have shown) with finals.  But, I managed to finish all of my finals and get them turned in.  I'm still waiting on getting back my grade for one class, but I received all A's so far!  :D

Speaking of finals.  I've now updated my portfolio website with my final Flash project from this semester.  It is an interactive map of Willamette's campus.  Well, 5 specified highlights of the campus.  You can check it out at this link:  http://allisonworld.com/mapFlash.html

I also can share my final video for my Culture, Media, and Education class.  It was supposed to be a 3 minute piece on a social issue of my choosing.  I decided to talk about how when budget cuts happen in schools the first things to get cut are arts programs.  And since I looove the arts, I think this is a terrible thing.  So here's my video on that:



Once classes were over I had two awesome visitors in the form of Kachina and Jess!  I'll talk about their visit in a new post.  So two posts will be arriving in the next few days.  1. Their visit and 2. A few pictures from my birthday!

And...just for fun.  This is the teddy bear I bought from the TC bookstore because it was on sale and it was soooo cute and it was calling to me to take it home.  His name is Dexter :)

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to Meeee!!!!!

That is all :)

Will update this weekend!

-Allison

It's Finals Season!

Hello to all :)

So...yes as the title shows...I am in the midst of finals at school!  Just to keep everybody updated...and to show that I am doing something besides not posting, here are the statuses of all of my final projects and essays.  And then as soon as I get a spare moment I shall update on my various adventures such as visiting James, hanging out with the Evenson's, seeing Rock of Ages, and seeing a Snoop Dogg concert :)  But for now, that will just have to suffice as a teaser!

Back to the finals!  I'll sort them by class :)

Culture, Media, & Education:
 - 3 minute social media issue video; due May 9 but I should turn it in earlier; about a quarter of the way finished.
 - Reflection essay to accompany the video; due May 9; haven't started.

Programming:
 - Design and code an interactive map in Flash; due May 13; finished most of the design process, have to start the coding still.

Pop Culture:
 - Group video project; due May 4; FINISHED!
 - Group essay to accompany video; due May 4; very strong outline, paper should be very quick to finish.

Television and Youth Development:
 - Essay; due by May 7; Ack, still need to work on this!

Masters Seminar:
 - DONE!

So according to this outline I will be completely finished by May 13th.  Except that I don't want to be working on Flash while Kachina and Jessica are here, so my goal is to turn my map in by the 11th.

Phew, it's a lot but here we go!

*starts up the Rocky training montage music*