Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘theatre’

There are certain things you just know, beyond the benefit of a Google search, originated in New York City. Examples: 24 hour delis, jaywalking, drunk brunch, sample sales, and gay boyfriends. In a city where there are 600,000 more single women than men (yes, that’s the statistic; yes, it terrifies me), it’s no surprise we’ve come up with some alternatives to the typical boyfriend-girlfriend hetero standard. A gay boyfriend (GBF) is there when you need a date for your company fundraiser; he’ll bring you soup when you’re sick (and you don’t have to worry you look like shit); he’ll properly acknowledge the fierceness of your Carlos Miele  jumpsuit. Where would Grace be without Will?

Or Carrie without Stanford?

My gay-boyfriend is nothing like Stanford Blatch. (He’s waaaay hotter.) We actually have a fairly conventional relationship by New York standards. For starters, we aren’t exclusive. I know he sees other women, in fact he lives with one (she honestly has more right to call him her gay-boyfriend but whatever).  Second, we never had the “relationship defining talk”. I just started calling him my gay-boyfriend (in a Valentine’s Day post here) because, well, because I felt like it. “I’m so glad I get that title,” he said, rolling his eyes. I love you, too! I said, ignoring the obvious sarcasm and thinking to myself, He loves it. He just doesn’t want to admit it!

I haven’t called anyone else my boyfriend in quite sometime. Not since Cute Theater Boy. Surprisingly, this doesn’t mean boys’ don’t call me their girlfriend. Safa Boy referred to me as his girlfriend in his diary (which made his infidelities all the more inexcusable). Though he shrugged off our breakup with a “We aren’t even really dating”, I know Banjo Guy calls me his ex-girlfriend. He ran into one of my co-workers at a bar and I was brought up in conversation via”My ex-girlfriend works there.” (Co-worker to me the next day: “I ran into your ex yesterday.” Me: What? Who? Co-worker: “‘Banjo Guy.’” Me: What? Did he say that? We casually dated. He was never ever my boyfriend. Co-worker: “Oh good. He seemed weird. Border-line creepy.” Me: Yep, he is!) Trader Joe’s Boy I have slightly less concrete proof: “girlfriend” was never said or written to my explicit knowledge. However, upon returning from a trip home to North (or South? I can never remember) Carolina, he presented me with a gift: earrings from his grandmother. If he told his grandmother I was just some girl he was sleeping with and not his girlfriend, I will break my Macbook up into little pieces and eat it (and you know what my laptop means to me).

Clearly I know, first-hand, exactly how weird it is to be titled “girlfriend” when the point has yet to be established. Yet, it certainly didn’t stop me from titling my GBF. Yep, I’m a hypocrite. No, I’m not reconsidering. The title stays…unless he breaks up with me. (I am leaving my bike, my baby of sorts, in his care this summer. I might not do that if he dumps me…If you’re reading GBF, that is as it looks. A threat. Xoxo!) But I don’t think he will dump me (despite the abusive/manipulative nature of that last parenthesis). Our relationship just got more serious than any other I’ve had recently. I met a parent.

________________________________________________________________________

I have mentioned my love of free/cheap theatre before. Honestly, I probably love it more than my GBF (sorry babe). I recently discovered an amazing website: www.studentrush.org and its Will Call Club. Sign up, they don’t send spam, and you get access to $5 Broadway (and Off-Broadway) tickets. (I just went on to make sure I had my details right, and saw they had $5 tickets for Arcadia! Seeing it tomorrow! SCORE.) They often pop up last-minute and may be for inconvenient matinees, but for my lifestyle and spontaneous nature, it’s perfect. That said, I’ll buy $5 tickets with mad abandon. I am prone to buy 2-3 and just assume I’ll be able to find people who want to go. So far I have seen Baby, It’s You and That Championship Season. Neither are productions I would exactly choose to see on my own (Arcadia is!) but well worth the cost of a Subway sandwich or a round trip subway ride. In addition, the feeling of paying a negligible sum and then sitting next to people who paid over a hundred dollars is nothing short of magical. Need I say more? If you live in New York, or are planning a visit, sign up!

If there is one show on Broadway that I would never, in a million years pay more that $5 for, it is Rain:A Tribute to The Beatles. Like any theater snob, I often turn up my nose at “jukebox musicals” (Jersey Boys succeeded where almost all fail). Though I love The Beatles (who doesn’t?), this picture alone was a turn off:

The shows tag line is “The Next Best Thing to seeing the Beatles!” Another turn off. Both scream “WE ARE TRYING SO HARD TO BE JUST LIKE THE BEATLES!” Which is going to be a loosing battle, no question. Plus, you don’t move to New York to see the next best thing! Regardless, when it popped up on StudentRush I snagged 3 tickets. As I said, who doesn’t love The Beatles? I figured it would at least be a cheap night of million dollar scenery and great music.

I ended up going with my GBF and his father. A man who’s lived in the state of NY his entire life, with hair swept up in a not-quite-long-enough-but-it’s-trying ponytail (GBF:”Dad, it makes you look like a lesbian.”), and not the most easy person to get along with (much like my own father). By the end of night I’d charmed him. He may not have thought I was as great as the show (which he loved, GBF was indifferent to, and I hated but didn’t tell anyone), but he gave me a hug at the end of the night. Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say I’d eat my laptop if proved wrong, I strongly suspect he is not  a “hugger”.

“My dad LOVED you,” my GBF reported the next day, “He thought you were so bubbly and sweet. ‘I hope she makes it big!’ he said.” I smiled. I know I’m good with parents. Being an only child, it was a necessity. Hopefully someday I’ll meet parents I really need to impress. I’m much more confident in my abilities at making parents fall in love with me than making men fall in love with me. (Sigh.) If you ever need to pretend you have a girlfriend, I said, knowing he had yet to come out to his father, I totally volunteer. I figured it was only polite (and funny) to offer. “I was planning on telling him at dinner that night,” he said. It was originally supposed to be just him and his dad at dinner the night we saw Rain, but after I’d got them tickets, I was invited along. “What?” I wasn’t sure I understood. “If it was just the two of us, I was going to come out to my dad at dinner.” I stopped you from coming out to your dad!? I shrieked. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll do it next time.”

Clearly I am causing more harm than good in this relationship.

Read Full Post »

Every day when I walk to the subway I walk past Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theatre (I also walk past Juilliard, Alice Tully Hall, Laguardia High School of Performing Arts…not to make you jealous or anything…) South Pacific was just playing there and oh am I sorry if you missed that show. It was beautifully done and really would make anyone miss the classic Broadway musicals, Rodgers and Hammerstein. I was lucky enough to see it with my old high school friend. He and I had been in the show our senior year of high school (South Pacific is a terrible show to do in high school FYI, but especially when your high school is 60% Asian because non-traditional casting just doesn’t work in the show as race is the huge theme of the show.)

I’m sad the show is over, not just because it is a show I would have liked to see again (though it did have an airing on PBS of a live performance- you should check that out). I’m sad because on my walk home I will no longer see this sight: A man with a crew cut, a button up short sleeve shirt, and snug, high waisted (by today’s standards) pants looking like he’s straight out of WWII era, leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette (totally completing the 1944 image the cigarette does).

This was some guy in the chorus- I bet you the same guy every time- that I saw many a night on my street. He always made me smile, not just his picture perfect 40′s-ness but the fact that he defied everything the director of my highschool’s South Pacific said. Do you think Broadway actors do things to destroy their instrument like smoking? You can bet they don’t! Defies the costume designer too: Broadway actors don’t eat in their costumes, they don’t go outside in their costumes, they treat their costumes with great care, and so will you! Through college they did this to us too Do you think Broadway actors don’t know their lines 2 weeks before the show?? Broadway has always been the standard, we’ve always assumed it’s where everything is perfect and perfectly professional, and perfectly flawless and nothing less. But now I know the truth! I’ve seen it with my own eyes! Broadway is where you take smoke breaks between your scenes on the street outside the theater (where nosy little aspiring actresses will see you and get all excited)!

There was a dumpster outside the theater with general debris, “South Pacific Backstage” signs, and prop plants from the show. I thought about taking one as a souvenir but then decided I was above it. Had the same debate about asking my smoker to sign my program. I may be a nosy little aspiring actress, but I still have my pride.

Read Full Post »

I am not exactly the young engenue,  leading lady type. I am more the quirky⁄weird⁄flat-out crazy type. Those are the roles I find most fun, no question. But, probably because I am not fat (which I am convinced is the only reason I was not cast as the nurse in my college production of Romeo and Juliet-three years later, still not over it), I occasionally do get cast as the Romantic Lead.

My very first semester of college I was cast as Catherine, the love interest, in Pippin. I was super excited, my first semester of college, my first lead in a musical. In my high school freshmen never got big parts, so to me this was a Big Deal. The (cute) guy that was supposed to play Pippin dropped out (hello college theatre) and it took the director (“director” I should say, he was the poorest excuse for a director I’ve ever worked with) a while to find a replacement. I waited in anticipation. Would this new guy be my love interest on and off stage? That’s the sort of thing that happens in college, right? As this was musical theatre, I figured if not a boyfriend, at the least I would get a gay boyfriend. I was in need of both after all. I vividly remember Pippin walking in the door. Slightly overweight, bad skin, and poorly dressed. Not My Type. Not Gay. Fuck. Ten minutes after introducing myself to him I added “boring” to the list. The next day after rehearsal, I added “mediocre singer, abysmal actor, AND he smells funny” to the list. (Knowing my luck, he probably reads my blog…)

Hey, I was a bitchy, judgemental, disappointed, sullenly single, freshman (I’ve grown up since, I swear). Could I make it more clear he was not a love interest off stage? And yet, every one thought otherwise. Rumors flew around the cast I had a huge crush on him, friends came to see the show and raised eyebrows. You act like you’re in love with someone on stage, people watching that don’t understand it’s acting. Freshman year I was upset, offended- “You think I like him!? GROSS.” By the end of the run of Pippin, I learned to take it in stride. Now it’s as a huge complement if I’m accused of being interested in my onstage love interest, if his girlfriend gives me a mega Stink Eye after seeing the show. Clearly I’m producing a convincing, believable performance. What more could I want?

So did I have a crush on the guy who played Sir Francis Drake this summer? No I did not. But thanks for asking.

I still haven’t gotten to melons…more on melons to come.

Read Full Post »

Well guys, this is it.

My last entry on the clock. The last entry I can technically say I’m getting paid to write.

No, no one pays me to write this blog (big surprise right?) but my last dozen entries were written while I was on the clock, in the moments of so familiar to the administrative assistant- the phone isn’t ringing, reports are completed, mail’s been sorted- time must be killed. I hate to think what the secretaries of yore did sans computers. Us modern day office people sit in front of the machine that provides  society with more time wasting options than ever before. It’s either great or gross, your pick.

It’s my last half hour behind a desk. My bedroom is too small for a desk- that’s New York living- so all entries henceforth will be written from the comfort of my bed or the kitchen table. Or at Starbucks (or some other free internet venue) where people will oggle my netbook and I will feel pretentious.

I am not sad to leave this job. I think I’ve made that clear in previous posts, but I just want to reiterate. Let’s be honest, the 9-5 world kinda sucks. When the clock strikes 5pm today, I’m officially a working actor. I can say this because most of being a working actor is looking for work to pay the bills between jobs. That’s all I will be doing for the month of May. I’ve already started calling temp agencies, so who knows, I could be in back of a desk by the end of the week. But I already have some promotions lined up. Liquor, dodge ball, and protein bars. Hey, it’s better than theater consession sales and desks.

Though I will miss the theatre aspect of this job. I never benefited off the refreshment aspect-rather felt my eyes grow green with jealousy as a Jack Daniels connection gifted my manager multiple bottles of Jack- I have certainly benefited from the theatre part. I’ve seen half a dozen Broadway shows for absolutely free. It doesn’t get better than that. I was somewhat choosey with my picks- and therefore great enjoyed each one, but I can easily rank them:

1. Next to Normal Oh my goodness, I’ve never cried this much while watching a play. The music is great, the story original (this is a rare that a musical has no source material), and it is so well performed. I often have trouble watching musical theatre, it so often leans to showing show-men rather than showing humanity and that is what this musical captured beautifully

2. A View From The Bridge Liev Schreiber was brilliant and Scarlett Johansson not half bad. This play had the effect on me that tragedy aims for- catharis. I love leaving a theatre when a play has transformed my mental state, this and Next to Normal did just that.

3. Red A two person single set play, I am a sucker for them. About Mark Rothco and his abstract paintings, which are easily the most scoffed at paintings in the MOMA. Brilliant performances from both actors. I love when performers make me abandon my critical eye as an actor/director and just suck me into a performance.

4. God of Carnage Strong performances, single set, the rave reviews and last years Tony award gave me high expectations which were not met. I felt like the play had the potential to say more, I was waiting for its point, which never exactly came and I looked at my watch far to many times in the 90 minute run.

5. Behanding in Spokane Again, high expectations that were not met. I love Martin McDonagh and have read the majority of his plays. This is my least favorite. That said, I still enjoy his dark twisted humor and Christopher Walken was captivating in this.

6. La Cage Au Folles A lot of fun, just not my cup of tea. Apparently I like make-me-cry shows not feel-good ones. Really I like shows that have something to say and/or affect me significantly.

7. In the Next Room: The Vibrator Play Interesting subject-”hysterical” women and how hysteria treated in the Victorian era- presented in a straight forward way. Interesting but did not affect me

As I finish this post and pack up my things, “accidentally” slipping a box or 2 of tissues into my bag as well (and a pen or 2 and I printed out a bunch of resumes..), the girl who hired me and who told me I was fired says good-bye. Before she leaves she mentions if I ever want to see a show to just give her a call! Looks like I’m not even loosing that perk! Brilliant. Ok finished! Now to clear the computer history, turn it off, and I’m out of the office and on to better things!

Read Full Post »

There’s a cute boy in my theatre company. Okay, there are a lot of cute boys in my theatre company. That goes with the territory. But there is one in particular.

It all started right before Christmas. I had one week left before flying back to San Francisco and even though I was only looking at two weeks away from NYC it felt very final, so much so that I was ticking things off in my head in the very collegiate way of “17 papers, 12 finals, 55 power point presentations left until FREEDOM”- that’s always how the last week before winter break felt. Post college it’s more “last weekend in NY of 2008, last late shift at work 2008, last theatre company meeting until 2009…”

This last meeting can be divided approximately in two: one part theater, one part flirting with Cute Theatre Boy. It wasn’t purposeful flirting (I hadn’t quite pronounced myself 100% recovered from being dumped) and I didn’t think much about it, though I did find myself pleasantly surprised when after the meeting we just so happened to be walking to the same subway station. We end up on the platform, me waiting for the express and him waiting for the local, which of course came first. I see it arriving and in those  30 seconds-doors opening/people getting off/getting on/”THE DOORS ARE CLOSING. PLEASE STAND CLEAR OF THE DOORS.”- my mind is fraught with Hmm how do I say this goodbye? Wave? Is a hug too much? I mean, I don’t know him that well, but-. Fortunately my buzzing brain is interrupted by his hug and “Bye! Have fun at home, see you next year!” and as he does this I am completely overwhelmed by a strange, weirdly severe urge to kiss him. If my buzzing, overactive brain didn’t crowd out my instincts, as it so often does, I would have kissed him. Instead I’m left alone on the platform buzzing Well, there goes a guy I’m not going to see for three weeks. Damn. Oh well!

The following day I’m back at the theater putting in work hours painting the dressing room. I had systematically removed all costumes knowing they must be returned to proper places and remain paint free and was getting kinda lonely kneeling on the floor, paint brush clutched in paint covered hands, having deja vues of summer when I had to paint my entire apartment before we could move in, when who shows up but Cute Theatre Boy. Who just so happens to be putting in work hours as well. I hand him a paint brush. We quickly discover we have quite a few things in common. A mutual love of Edward Albee, two musicals most theatre snobs hate, Maine,  used books (which he claims to have an addiction to, where as I’m just a bargain hunter/frugal/green/”Asian”), and that we’re both leaving NYC to go home for the holidays on the same day. We end up painting two coats which we deem “totally necessary” (total lie) and before I know it I’m done with my last theatre work hours of 2008! And faced with another good-bye situation. This time however my choice is clear, limited by the circumstance of the presence of other company members. So I just hug everyone “bye” (though perhaps him a little tighter).

Then I’m gone, down the stairs, out of the theater, walking to the subway in the drizzling rain thinking Shit. Totally have a crush on Cute Theatre Boy. Hmm…I’m almost a block away when I hear someone shout my name. I turn around and he’s running down the street toward me. In the 30 seconds before he catches up to me, romantic Hollywood cliches of passionate, 360 degree kisses in the rain flash through my head.

(Surprise, it  also made me think of a Sex and the City moment)

Then he’s reached me and: “We forgot to put the clothes back in the dressing room.” All romantic thoughts flee from my mind and HI REALITY! PPBBT! I’m the only one who knows the proper place for the costumes. Great. I’m stuck going back to the theater. Great. great. great. (grumble). And we’re walking back. And then Cute Theatre says “Want to see a movie or something before we leave?” Yes!! Although I’m not a fan of movie dates…so “How about a play? Have you seen Gypsy?” “Sunday?” “No good, Friday?” “Ok!” “Great!” So this is what happens when two actors date- scenes like this and Friday nights spent on Broadway watching Patti LuPone do what she does best. As we walk down the rest of the block, some of the romantic thoughts begin to peak out from their place of hiding. I’m not a jaded New Yorker, I’m a New Yorker with a date!

Read Full Post »

We had a familiar face in the audience tonight. Back after seeing our Shakespearian tragedy less than two months ago, it appears James Franco is a loyal patron of the theatre. We had an almost identical conversation to our last (oh my that was fun to say. Let’s be honest- we’re totally bffs now), he was seated in my section. Again. I cursed myself for not having seen Pineapple Express last weekend and vow to see it asap- date or no date, in sickness or in health. Though had I seen it, I doubt I would have talked to him about it, however much I’d want to. He did his very best to keep a low profile and totally succeeded- I saw no one go up to him- I would have hated to ruin that. He seems like such a nice guy.

It’s already been 5 weeks of this show and still two to go and yet some how I still enjoy watching it. I’ve come to realize ushers may be the only people who truly get to appreciate all aspects of a show. We get to see all the tiny details that you just start to see after your tenth viewing. I doubt anyone appreciates the amazing work of the ensemble- I’ve begun to watch them more than the leads. I get to see all the individual stories and relationships that they’ve created which become even more interesting than the main action. It’s so fun to look everywhere but the place your eye is initially drawn. I just don’t know how I’m going to deal after this job ends when I can barely afford to see shows once. I’m spoiled. Sigh. My life is so hard.

The opening night party for this show was quite different from the last. I almost missed opening night as I had planned to take the weekend off and travel out of the city, out of the state, via plane. Instead I planned it out perfectly (so I thought). I booked a flight that left at 7am. Thus the plan: partying until the wee hours of the mourn, then taking the subway to JFK, then getting on the plane and sleeping the whole plane ride. A bit ambitious but totally doable and a time saver. The plan was made more doable by a much more low-key nature of this opening compared to the season opening gala. There was no pre-show dinner, no speeches from the mayor, no red carpet, no celebs. No cute caterers to flirt with. Which left me only with audience member prospects and I’m not comfortable flirting with audience members because it feels undeniably unprofessional. Unless they flirt with me first. Which actually worked out very well for me.

He was impossible not to notice. First because he was the guest of the man who created the show and second because he was freaking tall, at least 6’7″ if not more. And he was cute.

I on the other hand am very easy not to notice. There are 20 other people dressed identically to me in their khakis and blue STAFF issued shirt. STAFF is written in big letters across my chest and generally people behave like it is both my full name and full identity, so it’s always fun when someone takes a moment to realize my life dream is probably not ushering and that there is a lot going on under “Hi, may I help you find your seat?”

6’7 Guy immediately acknowledged this predicament upon entering the theater. He returned my “Hi” and complemented the flower in my hair (yes I’m a San Francisco flower child, I’ve embraced it) Nice flower, are those staff issued to? with a smile and a wink.

There is something about me that attracts winks. I get winked at 20 times a day. By men of all ages, shapes, colors and occasionally women. 6’7 Guy’s wink made sense to me. An “I’m kidding and possibly flirting with you”. The random winks by street passersby are much more confusing. What do they mean: You’re cute? I’d hit that? I have appreciation for your presence on this earth? There’s something in my eye? I knew you in a past life? I don’t know! Winks are more confusing than the illusive facebook poke.

to be continued..

(I haven’t posted in forever- you need new reads. I’ve been working on this post for awhile and hopefully posting it will inspire me to complete it. Your comments can effect the finished product!)

[edit April 25, 2013: This post was never finished. 6'7" Guy became the only successful no-strings-attached affair I have ever had. We kept in touch for over a year, until I lost interest. He thought I was a wild child, I never learned his last name. It was a perfect affair, of Sex and the City proportions. I will always remember it fondly.]

Read Full Post »

The show I usher for was originally set to close mid-August but it has already been extended twice. Which works out well for me and the hazard of unemployment. It also means that the lead (now that I no longer work there I can tell you I’m talking about Jonathan Groff**) had to leave the show to go film an Ang Lee movie and his replacement isn’t quite as charming.

He had the day off from filming yesterday. How do I know this, you ask? Because he came to see the show and of course he sat in my section, because awesome/famous people always sit in my section (I really lucked out with that assignment at the beginning of the summer). I didn’t notice him until intermission when I saw him sitting all by himself and realized he had been the annoying guy sitting next to the show’s costume designer whispering and laughing uproariously at everything the whole first act. Wow, good thing I hadn’t shot him a nasty “shut up!” look!

Well there he was, in all his adorable splendor, sitting alone as the costume designer had left to attend to things. Eee I want to go up there and tell him I think he’s awesome, but that’s not really appropriate. I’m supposed to stay here and man my spot. Damn. Ok, I will will him to leave the theater so he’ll pass by me and hopefully I’ll have the balls to say something. Willllllllllll. It works. He gets up and I’m searching my brain for something I can say that isn’t obnoxious or groupie-esque but he’s not heading for the exit. No, no. He is heading straight towards me.

“Hi! How are you? It’s so good to see you,” he says and then gives me a hug. Like we bonded during the show. Like we’re old friends. Like he’s at least talked to me once before in our lives. Planning my line? Fuck that! Not even my imagination considered this.

From where I stood there were two choices: play along or let the truth- that I’ve never talked to him before ever and think he’s very talented, not to mention the fact he’s already achieved most of my life goals- take over. No contest. For the entirety of intermission me and this Tony-nominated, the next hot thing, golden boy of Broadway are bffs. We talk about the show, how it’s been since he left, how filming’s been, laugh when some guy comes over to talk to him and ends his “I saw you in this show, you were so great” spiel with: My friend sitting up over there. It’s her birthday. She wants your dong. The guy quickly leaves and my new bff laughs and confides in me, “That’s one I’ve never heard before- ‘She wants your dong.’ And did you see how fast he went back to his seat? I bet that was a dare.” Oh commiseration, that makes me feel even more like we’re bffs.

Before I know it, intermission is over. The light’s are dimming and so is our friendship.

It was so great to see you! Good luck with the film! Enjoy the second act!

Thanks, you too. I’ll see you later. He says and gives me another hug before returning to his seat.

I can’t stop smiling.

It’s a good thing I’m 97% sure he’s gay (You can pretty much tell on stage.  It’s a vibe, a chemistry. When you have gay leading men in classic musicals this can limit the credibility of character portrayal. Like when I saw Wicked the Fiaro was so obviously gay it was distracting. But in this show it made his character much stronger. Which I didn’t appreciate fully until he left. Sigh. If he is not gay, he is a truly brilliant actor for creating that. His replacement doesn’t have the same vibe and it makes the whole show a little weaker, in my opinion.) (He actually came out a year after I wrote this.**) Other wise I would be head over heals in love. Such a sweet, modest, respectful, awesome person. It’s moments like these when I feel like the minimum wage I get paid is totally enough. Who am I kidding, I would do it for free.

**edits from 2/13/2011

Read Full Post »

Older Posts »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 702 other followers