Sex & The City

So, this CB is just going to admit up front that she has never watched a whole episode of Sex & The City. I know, I know--it's almost un-American! My fellow CB has viewed a couple episodes while channel surfing (and has a major thing for "Big"), but she is also far from a S&TC super fan. Nonetheless, the CB's went to see the opening of S&TC last night with some other gal pals, and it was quite the happening place to be. I've never seen the parking lot of our local cineplex so jam packed. After waiting in line (tons of females of all ages and a few brave men) for 1/2 hour, we got comfortable in the excellent seats our friends were saving, broke out the thermoses of Cosmos that M. had snuck in (a rare instance of rule-breaking for her!), and settled back. The movie was too long and the plot was rather predictable and silly at times, but the crazy, over-the-top clothes (this CB loves a montage) were fun, the female bonding scenes were entertaining, and SJP was actually very good at playing both a fashion icon nutty person and a completely vulnerable normal woman.

The strangest thing was that at many key moments in the film, the boom microphone slipped into frame and was annoyingly obvious at the top of the screen. It was hard to believe that such a big mistake could have been overlooked in post-production, so we figured it was a sloppy job on the part of the projectionists at our theatre. Turns out, the same problem was reported at many of the locations where the movie was premiering! Unbelievable.

All in all, we are giving the movie *** and the experience ****. A Culture Buddy SHOUT OUT goes to Andy for supplying delicious Cosmos-to-go for the girls!!

A CultureBuddy in Austin

CultureBuddy moments happen in the strangest places. I have been at a conference in Austin this week and had several moments that made me feel like the world is sending me CB- messages. My favorite one of the week was when Larry Gatlin- yes, the Country Western singer- was presented with an award at the conference. He has been instrumental in starting a community college program called the Larry Gatlin School of Entertainment Technology at Guilford CC in NC. He helped raise over $9 million to build a state of the art building and students are flocking to the school. He is a very entertaining speaker and I was entranced when he spoke about his next project which is to get college students to work in collaboration to put together a show that he can try to take to Broadway. He spoke of shows that have successfully gone from colleges to Broadway and cited some of the CB's favorites like In The Heights, Avenue Q, and Putnam County Spelling Bee. He is working on a way that the licensing of a show produced by students can become a revenue generator for the community college. I was wowed by his vision and so impressed by his commitment to help students. A CB SHOUT OUT TO LARRY!!

Weekend in NYC--Part Two!

Although the rest of our weekend in NYC pales next to the excitement surrounding Spring Awakening, in true CB fashion, we managed to see four plays over the two days we were in town. On Saturday afternoon, we went right from the bus at Port Authority to Playwrights Horizon, a cool small theatre just slightly outside of Times Square. After a liquid lunch of Cosmos (hey, we have to celebrate being in the city!), we saw a new musical, Saved. It was pretty good, and definitely has potential. The cast is strong, the choreography is fun, and a couple of the musical numbers were great. We found the lyrics to be pretty pedestrian and predictable, as was the plot (based on the 2004 movie), but we still enjoyed ourselves. One of the things the CBs love to do is to chat up the people around us wherever we are. On this afternoon, we were lucky enough to sit next to a handsome young man who had graduated from a drama program in Michigan in the fall and is trying to make it as an actor. He has been cast as an understudy for a new Broadway revival of Godspell. We will be following what we hope is a long career for him!

Saturday night we took the subway out to Brooklyn to see Samuel Beckett's Endgame at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). It was quite the happening place, as the show has received rave reviews and it closed this weekend. We soon saw why the reviews were so great--from the minute he set foot on stage in the role of Clov, the young actor Max Casella owned the stage. It's a complicated, repetitive role, and Casella never once missed a beat--he embodied Clov with an incredible, consistent physicality that was truly mesmerizing. The rest of the cast was equally as good, and it was a wonderful night of theatre.

Sunday afternoon, we had tickets to the new revival of Caryl Churchill's 1982 play, Top Girls. It has an amazing cast of powerful female actors, and we were really looking forward to this one. We were, however, disappointed. We found it dated, rather obvious, and a little dull (and long--clocking in at three+ hours). This is one we would not recommend. All in all, though, another outstanding weekend of theatre in NYC--we look forward to our longer trip in June!

Sunday in the City with The CultureBuddies

The CultureBuddies were at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Sunday night for the last performance of Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff in Spring Awakening. What a night it was. It was a total EVENT!

As soon as Saturday night’s show ended, students began waiting in line to get the Student Rush tickets for Sunday night’s show. Kids formed a long line in front of the theater, and some even brought sleeping bags and tents. Of course, the CBs had tickets--we had raced to the ticket office back in February as soon as we saw read the announcement that Lea and Jonathan were leaving the show.

We had great seats and were seated only 2 rows away from the proud parents of Steven Sater who wrote the book and the lyrics for the show. We spoke to them about the show and learned a lot about their remarkable son. The audience was full of the show's producers, the proud parents of both Jonathan and Lea, a busload of people from Jonathan’s hometown of Lancaster PA, and many, many young fans. One of the most wonderful things about this show is how it has brought young people back to Broadway in droves. Kids see the show again and again. The theater was full of the kids who are truly devoted to the show.

When the lights went up and Lea entered the stage to begin her song "Mama Who Bore Me" the audience exploded with what became a 10 minute standing ovation before she could sing a single note. Lea never broke character, but tears were running down her cheeks. When she finally began singing, we both commented on how much her voice has improved. Always beautiful, it is even finer now. The CB’s are hoping she has a long and wonderful career. What a talented young lady. The show was wonderfully over the top with lots of hamming it up by the cast. The love they feel for each other was so apparent. When Jonathan sang his anthem, "Totally F***ed", the theater just exploded and the standing ovation seemed to last forever.

I had a chance to speak to Jonathan’s proud parents. I told them what a fine, polite, talented young man they had raised. They seemed a bit overwhelmed by all the hubbub. They are from Lancaster PA, and his mom is a teacher. Lots of Lancaster folks came to see Jonathan’s last
performance.

After the show, we met our friends, Casey and Ben, for Ben’s 21st Birthday Dinner at a very nice small Italian restaurant, Maria Pia’s on 51st Street between 8th and 9th Ave. We sat outside and had a wonderful time. The food was delicious, and we regaled the boys with CB stories. Ben got a lovely birthday serenade from the waiters, and we had a great night. Meeting with our boys (who we like to refer to as the Boyz) is a trip requirement. They are just the greatest guys. The next morning we had breakfast at the Galaxy Diner and took the bus home. Another great CultureBuddies weekend in our favorite city!

The American Dream

One of the reasons I love working with young people--I am a community college librarian--is that I get to see the American dream in action. I am surrounded by young people who have dreams and goals. They are willing to work hard to make their dreams become a reality. What others see as roadblocks--no money, a houseful of kids, no transportation--these kids see as a challenge to overcome. Whether it’s a young girl who wants to become a nurse or a student who dreams of becoming the first college graduate in his family, the dream of succeeding in America is the same.

Yesterday, the musical In The Heights received 13 Tony nominations. This show is the dream of a remarkable young man, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who grew up in the Washington Heights section of New York City and began working on this musical in college. He is now 28, and the musical is a Broadway sensation. Not only did he write the score and conceive the book for the play, but he also plays the lead and has a really endearing stage presence. He received Tony nominations for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Musical and for the Best Original Score.

The CultureBuddies saw the play Off- Broadway in a small theater over a year ago. Before the end of the opening number, we knew we were in the presence of greatness. The energy and the cool mix of rap and hip hop music along with fantastic choreography and energetic dancing were so exciting to us that we have been following the show ever since. We were thrilled when they made the transition from Off-Broadway to Broadway.
Yesterday’s 13 Tony nominations for this show is proof that hard work and talent can lead to success, and Lin-Manuel Mirandos is living proof that the American Dream is still alive and well.

Upcoming May Trip to NYC!!

We're getting excited about our upcoming weekend in NYC, May 17-19th. We had tickets to see a new musical, Glory Days, an import from a theatre in VA that was a last minute addition to the spring Broadway season. Unfortunately, it received lukewarm reviews and the producers decided to close it after Opening Night. The consensus seems to be that the two 20-somethings who did the book, music, and lyrics are talents to watch but that this production didn't really have a chance. After much angst we decided to replace this open slot (it's always quite a debate to decide what productions are "slot-worthy") with another new musical, Saved, based on the recent movie of the same name. It is just starting in previews tomorrow, so we're just going on a hunch that it will be good. The cast is full of talented young actors we've seen in other productions, so the chances are good.
We'll get on the Greyhound bus early Saturday morning, probably go right from the Port Authority to Saved, check into our hotel, and then head to Brooklyn to see a well-reviewed production of Samuel Beckett's Endgame. Sunday afternoon we'll see Top Girls, which has an incredible cast that includes Martha Plimpton, Marissa Tomei, and Mary Beth Hurt.
The impetus for this trip was to see the last performance of Jonathan Groff and Lea Michel, the two leads in Spring Awakening. We've already seen this show three times (once from the audience, and twice sitting on the stage), but when we were in NYC in February and read that Jonathan and Lea were leaving the show on the same night we were up from the breakfast table and at the Box Office within about 15 minutes! We'll also be able to see Nashua's own Alexandra Socha who joined the cast this year which will be cool. Counting down the days!

Culture Buddies Shout-Out!

A big Culture Buddies Shout-Out goes to Phil G. for being so creative about maximizing his Hilton Honors points and for helping to sponsor the Culture Buddies' week-long trip to NYC in June. Thanks, Phil!!

Culture Buddy on the Radio

DJ Llu in Action
On a recent trip to Vermont, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by well-known local personality, DJ Llu, on her Friday afternoon show on WOMM-LP, 105.9 FM (The Radiator) in Burlington. We talked about movies that were playing locally, and I had fun sharing my opinions and recommendations (since, of course, The Culture Buddies had seen most of them!). Burlington has such a great selection of independent and foreign films playing--it made me wish I lived
there . . . Thanks for a great time, DJ Llu!