My First Half Marathon

I did it! I did it! I did it!

I ran and finished my first half marathon today! That's 13.1 miles (21.08 kms)!

I participated in the Nike Women's Half Marathon in San Francisco today. It was a wonderful experience. Very exhausting but it was so worth it. I was running for myself. :) And yeah, the Tiffany necklace at the finish line. hehehe....

My official time is 3:29:21 (hrs:mins:secs). I know, it's not an impressive time but you gotta take the hills in San Francisco into account. Those hills were killers! While running (errr... walking) up the steepest hill on the course, I couldn't help but think, "when will this hill ever end?"

I'm thinking of doing the Nike Women's Half Marathon again next year. :)

Here's my official results:

Overall
9239

Final Time
3:29:21

classrank
1625

sexrank
8837

pace
0:15:58

5k
0:44:45

10k
1:38:10

15k
2:30:28

Las Vegas

Yes, I'm at SFO again typing up this blog. I'm off to Las Vegas for 9 days for the SANS Network Security Conference.

I'm definitely racking up United mileage this month.

I really am in serious need of a vacation. Although the last thing I want to do right now is to actually get on a plane and go somewhere. I just want to stay home.

Anyways, Vegas should be interesting. I haven't really made any plans. Maybe I'll check out one of the newer Cirque du Soliel shows there.

A Chorus Line

I decided to just get it over with and go watch this show. I've been sitting on the edge and kind of pushing back watching this. Well, since I'm running out of shows to watch, I had to go see it. Plus it's a classic and won the best musical and the Pulitzer prize and ran for 15 years on Broadway.

It was okay. I just feel that something's missing in this production (revival). When the cast performs as one (chorus line), it's quite good. However, when it starts focusing on individual characters during the show, it's kind of lacking. It doesn't have the umph that should be there. I had a hard time connecting with the characters in the show.

An understudy (Jessica Lea Patty) played Cassie's role tonight. I wanted to see Charlotte d'Ambroise since she was nominated in the Tonys for this role. Well, Jessica Lea Patty did not disappoint. She was one of the standouts in the cast.

The finale was pretty impressive though!

A Chorus Line at the Tonys

Xanadu

Yep, you read it correctly. Xanadu -- a place where nobody dare to go... Seriously, it is a musical and it is on Broadway.

I've read positive reviews of the show so I decided to go see it.

You might ask, how could I possibly enjoy a musical that's based on the worst movie musical ever made in history? LOL! Well, it's campy, it's cheesy but oh so much fun! I had such a GREAT time watching this show! It's that one show that you take with a tongue in cheek attitude. They made fun of the movie, themselves and musical theatre. I guess that's why a lot of people actually like it.

The movie came out in 1980 so I vaguely remember anything about the movie. Now, I gotta go see it since I think they had a lot of references to the movie.

Kerry Butler is wonderful as Kira/Clio. She perfectly channeled Olivia Newton-John in her performance. Wonderful comedic timing. Wonderful voice. When she sings, you just want to listen and you don't want her to stop singing. She's in roller skates and leg warmers almost all night long.

Cheyenne Jackson is such a hottie! Very good singing voice as well.

I think this show is really well cast. The band sounds amazing as well. It's one of those shows that it's either you don't like it or you absolutely LOVE it!

I can't get the song "Suddenly" out of my head. Yep, this is show is starting to become one of my guilty pleasures. ;)

Check out the synopsis from the show's website: http://xanaduonbroadway.com.

Show preview on broadwayworld.com (need a fast connection or click pause and let it load): Xanadu preview from Broadway World

Also check out this performance of Suddenly at Bryant Park. The girl is Kerry Butler but the guy is not Cheyenne Jackson.

Curtains

I saw Raul Esparza in Company last year and I really thought he was going to win the Tonys. Well, he lost to David Hyde Pierce. That's pretty much the reason why I wanted to see Curtains. I wanted to see David Hyde Pierce's performance.

I can see now why David Hyde Pierce won the award. Raul is an awesome singer. However, the award isn't for the best singer. It's an award for the Best Actor in a Musical. David Hyde Pierce is a really good actor!

The show itself was good. I went in there with low expectations since it didn't really get high reviews when it first opened a few months ago.

Really notable performances by Debra Monk and Karen Zeimbra.

You can find a synopsis of the show from their website at http://www.curtainsthemusical.com/.

Here's a clip from the show as well. This was during the Tony awards.

NYC Again

I'm back in NYC this week. I seriously cannot remember how many times I've been to NY this year alone.

Anyways, I'm hear for my Storage Area Networks class (yep, something geeky).

Weather's nice but the tourists are gone. Yay! shorter lines at TKTS -- where I go to get half priced theatre tickets on the day of performance. Almost all the shows, well, except for Wicked and Jersey Boys are up on the TKTS board so I've been able to watch the shows that I haven't seen before.

No running for me this week. I just don't have the time or feel like running when I'm traveling especially when I'm here in NY. Theatre comes first! ;) My miles on Nike+ this month are all going to be walking miles.

I'm back home on Saturday but flying to Las Vegas on Friday for 9 days to attend the SANS Security Conference there.

Avenue Q in SF

Everyone I know knows that I am a theatre snob. I have always preferred watching musicals on Broadway because the touring company is just not as good but I'm going to retract that statement. Arvin and I went to see Avenue Q here in SF today. I liked it a lot more than when I saw it on Broadway. The cast was amazing! Really notable performances by the touring cast. Well, most of them got to play it on Broadway before the tour.

This is my 16th show for this year. :)

I'm off to NY in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to seeing the shows that I haven't seen.

Cheers!

Traveling again (Houston)

I seem to have a lot more time to blog whenever I am traveling. Well, guess what? I have been traveling this week. The city of destination is Houston (again).

This is my third trip to Houston this year. The first time I ever came to Houston was in August last year and I swore that I would not go here in August. But oh well... Sometimes things do not necessarily go as planned.

My mom was commenting that I'm such a jet setter now. I do enjoy traveling. As long as I don't have to do it every week or spend most of my time on the road. I think this is my fifth trip this year. Don't think I'll ever top last year but we'll see. It's only August.

Anyways, I'm going home tomorrow and I really can't wait. I'm already so sick of the heat and humidity. It's just so hateful outside during the day. Quite ironic, eh since I grew up in the Philippines. Well, you know what they say, your blood thins out after a while and I have gotten so acclimatized to the weather in Northern California. The AC unit at home kicks on when it reaches 74F indoors. ;) Yep, I have gotten spoiled. I don't know what I'll do when I go home to the Philippines. The weather is almost the same as Houston.

I wish I could blog about interesting things during this trip. Unfortunately, it has been very BORING (yes in caps!). There's just nothing going on in this town this week. No ballgames. No concerts. No theatre. No symphony. Someone suggested that I go to NASA and check it out. I considered it however, I don't think I'm that interested looking at dead spaceships.

I think I've been to Houston way too many times over the past 2 years. I'm able to go around downtown without using a GPS in the car! I still can't find my way outside downtown but oh well. That's why the rental car has a GPS. heheheh....

I really am looking forward to going home. If I was in NYC, I would've loved being able to stay for the weekend. Oh well... few more weeks and I'm off to NYC.

Lion King meets Elle Woods

This is pretty hilarious. I almost fell off my chair when I saw this. The music is from Legally Blonde the musical.



I love the soundtrack for Legally Blonde the musical. Been listening to it non-stop for the past few days. I saw it when it was still in previews in San Francisco. I might watch it on Broadway next time I'm in New York. I never expected to like it since it'a another movie musical but it was very entertaining.

Yikes! 2 Months of No Blogs

Uhoh... I have been very remiss in my blogging duties for over 2 months. No, I'm not giving up blogging. It's actually pretty exhilarating writing down my thoughts plus I can't give up now, I've been blogging for over a year!

It's not like nothing much has been going on with me and I have nothing to write about. My excuse is, I've been pretty lazy. :)

Biscotti Calories

I just realized after eating the 3rd slice of Goldilocks Biscotti (biscotcho) that I ate in a matter of minutes whatever calories I've burned running for an hour (5 miles)! Yikes!

Oh well... You only get to live once...

Bumming Around

Why oh why do the days pass you by so quickly when you're on vacation? I cannot believe I'm already almost halfway through my vacation. Pleeeeeaaaassseeee, someone slow down the clock. I don't want to go back to work yet.

So, it's day number 8 of my 19 day vacation. Ever since we came back from LA, I have done absolutely nothing except bum around at home. Hehehehehe.... It feels great being able to say that.

I have tons of books in my to be read pile but I've only read one book so far. The Promise by Harlan Coben. It's a pretty good book. He sure knows how to keep you on the edge until the very end of the book. It's another one of those page turner books. I've started reading Deal Breaker still by Harlan Coben but I'm only into the first chapter of the book. I think I need to go to the bookstore and get one of those lovey dovey chick lit books that I dearly love.

I have about 6 weeks worth of Grey's Anatomy in my DVR. I've gone through several episodes but I still have about 2 more episodes to go. One of them is the season finale. It's been a pretty decent season so far.

Finally 24 season 6 is over. Well, this is the worst season. What can I say, 24 just sucked this year. It's a shame because season 5 was one of the best seasons that they had.

Aside from sleeping in till noon, I've been playing Puzzle Pirates. Check it out when you get a chance. My nick there is pretty obvious. It's an Ilonggo phrase which really is meant as a joke. :) I love the fact that I just need a mouse and sometimes 3 keys to play this game. Doesn't need a whole lot of thinking either so it's a good way to waste time.

Anyways... 11 more days of lazing around. I love it!

My "Wicked" Birthday Weekend

I couldn't think of a better way to spend my birthday aside from spending it with Arvin and watching my favorite Broadway show -- Wicked. So, when the cast was announced for the LA Production in November and I found out that it was going to be Eden Espinosa and Megan Hilty, I immediately got tickets to the show for my birthday.

Dropped Jack at the kennel last Thursday and then off we went to LA. We took the ultimate driving machine for a long drive as well on this trip. I drove part of the way. The car's too fast. I normally just go maybe around 75 mph to about 80ish max on the freeway. With this car, I think I went over 100 mph and was cruising along at an average 80 mph while watching out for the CHP -- I don't want to end up with a speeding ticket! The handling is awesome with this car. Clearly, it also has the power. Having a GPS navigation system in the car is great! We're not familiar with LA but we were able to go where we needed to go. It rerouted us based on the traffic conditions and when we took the wrong turn, it told us how to get back on track.

So last night, we went to see Wicked on my birthday. After the show, I was telling Arvin that I really really want to see Wicked from the front row. You can only sit there is you win the Wicked lottery -- you put in your name 2 hrs before the start of each show and they draw the winners. If you get picked, you can get up to 2 tickets for $25 each. Anyways, I think he knew how much I wanted to see the show from the front row so he agreed to go try the lottery today. We went and played the lottery for the matinee performance. Arvin's name got picked!!!! So we were able to get tickets for the front row today! I keep on telling him that he's my lucky charm. I've tried the Wicked lottery in New York so many times already and I have never won. He kept on telling me that I picked well. He gave me my heart's desire -- to watch Wicked from the front row and the big plus was Eden and Megan were the ones performing!

I'm going to focus more on today's show since I got to see it from the front row. Our seats were almost dead center on the front row. You had to look up a bit from were were were sitting since we were so close to the stage but it wasn't such a big deal. I can't explain how awesome it is to watch your favorite show with your favorite performers from the front row. I absolutely LOVED it! The cast in LA is so much better than the cast on Broadway. I really liked this cast a lot. They're all so talented. Eden was amazing! I absolutely love seeing her perform. She has the best facial expressions and she absolutely rocks when she's on stage. She knows how to suck you into the story and makes you feel how she feels when she's performing. I've seen so many shows and not a lot of performers can actually do that. Seeing her fly in Defying Gravity from where I was sitting was just breathtaking. That scene never fails to give me goosebumps. Megan was wonderful as well. She really knows how to work the crowd and her comedic timing is awesome. Eden and Megan are still my favorite duo in Wicked. I've seen the show so many times but I still got really teary eyed when they sang For Good. I could see how sad they both were while singing that song and they were even crying so what can I say, I got carried away.

As of today, I've seen Wicked 7 times and I have seen 15 shows this year (Wicked 3x). I'm probably going to skip Wicked for a while even if I end up in NY again soon. I'm not too thrilled with the current Broadway cast-- they pale in comparison with the LA cast. We'll see once the cast changes if there is a compelling reason for me to go watch the new cast. It's too bad I don't really get to go to LA for business. I would love to see the show again as long as Eden and Megan are still in it.

I'll never forget this birthday weekend. I really couldn't ask for anything more. It really meant a lot to me being able to see my favorite show with my favorite performers from the front row with Arvin.

I'm Officially Off for 19 Days!

Yessirreeee..... I am off work for 19 days! I don't go back to work till June 4th. :)

I never had the chance to actually take any time off last year so a lot of my vacation days got carried over to this year. I was only planning to take off maybe about a week but I've been feeling so tired and I just wanted to get away from it all for a while.

What to do? What to do? Well, you just have to come back and read about what I've actually been doing. I'm sure it'll involve a lot of sleeping. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz :)

NY Trip 4 Show Quota

I was in NY last week and I went to see 4 shows. If a lot of the theatres weren't dark (no shows) on Monday's, I probably would've seen 5 shows. Oh well, I shouldn't be complaining when I got to see 4 shows right?

Tuesday (5/8/2007): Les Miserables

The only reason I actually went to see this show was because Lea Salonga is in it and currently playing the fole of Fantine. She's in it for something like 15 minutes in Act 1 then comes back in maybe the last 5 minutes of the show in Act 2.

This was the first time that I've actually seen Les Mis. I know most of the songs (Surprise! Surprise!) in the show. The cast was pretty good. I really don't understand all the hype and when people start raving about it and telling me that is is such a great show and it's their favorite show-- well, I've come into a conclusion that people say that because it is such a popular show and a lot of people have heard about it. It is such a depressing show about the French revolution and almost everyone dies in the end. Not really my type of show. Well, I guess you won't see me blogging about it again in the near future unless one of my favorites actresses/actors are in it and I'd watch it for the sake of seeing them perform. If ever I go watch it again and non of my favorite actors/actresses are in it, that means, I went to watch it while I'm on Vicodin or Valium.

Wednesday (5/9/2007): Wicked

Did you think I'd ever go to NY and not watch Wicked? Well, it depends... I didn't get to see it during my last trip. Anyways, one of our vendors gave me free tickets to the show. Who am I to refuse them? What can I say, I'm weak. ;)

Julia Murney is now playing the role of Elphaba. She's a really good actress. I love how she delivers her lines. Very good singer as well. I liked how she portrayed the role. However, I still prefer Eden's singing. Eden's a more powerful singer than Julia. Don't get me wrong. Julia's a good singer however when she pushes her voice like in the money song Defying Gravity, her voice starts cracking.

As for Glinda. It's currently played by Kendra Kassenbaum (sp?). I really didn't care much for her portrayal of Glinda. I thought it was weak. Well, I may be a little bit biased because I so love Megan Hilty as Glinda. I thought Kendra's delivery of her lines were kind of rushed and a lot of the humor in the best lines got lost.

I still think the show is worth seeing with the current cast. If it's your first time seeing the show, you'd still be wowed with it. I think the problem with me is I've seen it with a better cast so I would be comparing the cast with the ones that I've seen in the past.

Thursday: 110 in the Shade

This has got to be my favorite show on this trip. It's a limited engagement show and I really wanted to watch it since I wanted to see Audra McDonald perform.

It's not difficult to figure out why Audra has won 4 Tonys. She is just amazing. When she sings, she makes you feel what she feels. I love the sound of her voice. You could really hear in her style of singing that she's a classically trained singer. Her voice is so beautiful and so clear.

The show's story is about a spinster who is looking for companionship and love. It is based on an old movie. I think the movie is called The Rainmaker.

Friday: LoveMusik

I really should avoid musica revues. They're just not my thing. This show is more of a musical revue of the works of Kurt Weil (composer) and the relationship between him and his wife. The performers were wonderful however, the book was weak. In several areas, it just dragged on and on. This is the second time I've seen Michael Cerveris. The first time was in Sweeney Todd. In that show, he was talking with an English accent. I had a hard time understanding him. In this show, he was talking with a German accent and it was soooo hard to understand what he was saying. Note to self, only go watch Michael Cerveris if he is talking with an American accent.

The story was forgettable, the songs were also forgettable but I still don't regret watching it. The only thing I regretted is that my time was so limited that I should've gone and watched something else that I would've liked a lot better. But then again, the problem is, I've seen so many shows that I really am running out of shows to watch on Broadway. They don't make shows as fast as I am watching them! ;)

It's been a while

Oh wow... It's been 2 months since my last blog. I didn't realize it until I actually saw the date of my last blog.

Anyways, I've really been busy. Lots of things going on and so little time.

Let's see, let me go through a quick recap of what has happened in the past 2 months.

* Bought my dream car -- yep, the ultimate driving machine! :)
* Been to Houston twice already. At least the weather was still nice when I went there.
* I'm at the New York JFK airport right now waiting for my flight back to SF.
* As of last night, I've officially seen 13 shows this year (and it's only May)! ;) I saw 4 shows this week. Will be blogging about those too.
* My priority date is finally current for my GC so hopefully my travel documents arrive pretty soon so that I can go home in time for Peace's wedding.
* I've finally decided to take close to 3 weeks off from work starting on Wednesday.
* I've ran 330 miles (528 kilometers) since I got my Nike+ gadget.
* I've signed up to run the SF half marathon (13.1 miles/21 kilometers) in July.
* I won the lottery and got an entry to run the Nike Women's half marathon in October. Yup, I want that Tiffany necklace that they give out to runners.
*I finally got talked into using a mac at work by my boss. So, I'm using a MacBook Pro (15 in). So far, I've been pleased with it. The battery life kind of sucks though. Can't get me through the SF-NY/NY-SF trip or even the SF-HOU/HOU-SF trip.
* I have not been reading much lately so my to be read pile at home is growing. Yeah, I still get the books but I'm not reading them as fast as I get them.
* I've seen Wicked 5 times already. Well, it'll be the 6th time on my birthday next week.

Arvin's doing well. Jack's getting bigger. He now thinks he's the homeowner. Such a spoiled dog! The tank is doing well too.

-Carmila

Wisdom No More

I had all of my wisdom teeth pulled out yesterday. Yes, ouch! Not exactly a fun thing to be doing on a Thursday afternoon but they had to come out.

Normally, do I not have any anxiety issues, however I told my dentist that if she was going to pull all of them out, I was going to freak out. She gave me a prescription for Ativan and told me to take 2 an hour before I went there or I might chicken out and not get there at all. Arvin took me the the dentist. When I got there, my dentist asked me if I felt like I had been drinking Margaritas all morning long. I told her, I didn't even feel a bit woozy after 2 Ativans and asked her if she could put me on the laughing gas because I really did not want to care at all!

This was the first time that I have actually been on the laughing gas. I've never taken any illegal drugs all my life so I think yesterday was the closest feeling that I would ever have to being "HIGH". The feeling was very weird you felt like you were floating. Had this warm fuzzy feeling and I really didn't feel much or care about anything. In the beginning, I was actually fighting it not wanting to relinquish "full" control to being under the nitrous oxide. I am a control freak so it was not easy give up that type of control. I was pretty conscious during the entire procedure except when it was time for the last teeth to come out. I remember telling my dentist that I feel sleepy. Anyways, I felt so relaxed that I was even joking that if Arvin took me to the BMW dealership, I would probably sign anything. I also said that if I went shopping right then and there, I would buy everything in sight. hehehehehe....

I was out for 22 hours after I left my dentist's office, thanks to the Ativan, Nitrous Oxide and Vicodin. Woke up, drank a shake and my meds and went back to sleep. I'm barely lucid right now. Just took my drugs again and waiting for it to kick in. Anyways, whatever happens in the next couple of days, really would not care much. Plus, I'm of no use, I not longer have any widom left..... ;)

My Theatre Marathon Week/NY Trip

This week was just wonderful. I came to New York expecting to watch maybe 4 shows. Never did I expect myself to actually watch 7. Ok, what can I say, I got carried away. I love musical theatre and I packed in as much musicals as I could this week. I doubt if I can ever top this trip. This is a record for me. The most number of shows that I've seen in a week used to be 4.

I watched Spring Awakening, Monty Python's Spamalot, Mary Poppins, Hairspray, Grey Gardens, The Apple Tree and Company. That's pretty much a show each night. My reviews can be found below this entry if you're interested in knowing what I thought about the shows.

Out of the 7 shows, I only paid full price for 1 of them. I got 5 off TKTS (half priced) and won the lottery for 1 of them. All the shows I went to see were shows that I have never seen before. So, I actually did pretty well...

My favorite musical for this trip has got to be Spring Awakening. Mary Poppins is a close second although for the set, Mary Poppins beats every other show that I have seen-- EVER! The most beautiful theatre that I was in this week is the New Amsterdam Theatre on 44th street. It has been restored to its full glory by Disney and it's just so beautiful inside. The decor is very intricate.

Btw, if you click on the title of the blog for the musical, those are linked to the website of the show itself. In case you haven't figured that one out yet.

It's been a whirlwind week. I got to see some of my friends. A shocker, eh? You'd wonder where I found the time since I was working during the day and I was at the theatre at night. I was even able to go downtown on this trip to go eat at Hopkee with my friends. My normal route is usually bounded by 42nd Street to 54th Street and 2nd Avenue to 9th Avenue.

I'm so ready to go home. NY is just too cold for me. I always come here when the weather sucks -- it's either FREEZING or steaming hot. I'm done freezing my butt for this week (the temps at the beginnning of my trip was below 0 if you take the wind chill factor into consideration). I'm sooooooo tired and I miss Arvin and Jack. I'm at the airport waiting for my flight back to SF. Got my box of Dunkin Donuts (there's no DD in California and the boy wants them) and Junior's Cheesecake (the best cheesecake in NYC!).

Till next blog... Don't know when that's gonna happen. I seem to have more to write about when I travel...

Company

Day 7 of my musical theatre marathon... I really wanted to watch this show. I love Sondheim's music and wanted to add more of his work to the list of musicals that I've seen. This was also highly recommended by one of my friends who loves musical theatre like me.

I really didn't know much about this show. All I knew is Raul Esparza was in it and the show was directed by John Doyle -- the same guy who directed Sweeney Todd, another Sondheim musical that I saw last year.

I loved the story and the score. I'm looking forward to getting the cast album for this show. The orchestrations were wonderful. Sondheim's musicals are known to be very difficult to sing. Raul Esperza ripped through the score especially in the last song of the show entitled "Being Alive". I absolutely loved it. He has the markings of getting nominated or even possibly winning the Tonys this year.

As for the staging of the show, I'm not really too thrilled about it. I'm not a big fan of John Doyle's style which is having the performers double as the musicians. It's difficult to connect with the chracters when you see them marching around acting and holding instruments at the same time. Sure it's unique and some may call it revolutionary however, I still prefer the "traditional" staging wherein the performers act and sing and the playing of instruments are left to the orchestra. The set is minimalistic. No moving parts. The lighting is absolutely gorgeous. To get the best effect of the show, the mezzanine seats are actually the best seats for a John Doyle production.

I think this show is worth seeing. I enjoyed it.

The Apple Tree

Day six of my musical theatre marathon. I was supposed to meet up with a friend for dinner. We had to change our plans so I was left with no plans by 6 PM tonight. Off I went to TKTS. I was planning on watching Company however the only remaining seats were partial view seats so I decided on watching The Apple Tree instead.

I've heard mixed reviews about this show and didn't really know what to expect. At the beginning of my trip, I was thinking that the only reason why I would actually go and watch this show is to see Kristin Chenowith perform on stage. She's the original Glinda for Wicked and deemed as one of the musical theatre superstars of this generation.

They really should just rename the show as The Kristin Chenoweth show. She totally stole the show. She has one of the most amazing voices that I have heard in musical theatre. Very good actress and excellent comedic timing. Her co-performers were wonderful as well.

There's nothing sophosticated about the set. It was pretty plain. Nothing in the set really had the wow factor in it. So what really carried the show were the performances of the 3 leads. It's a funny show. Music is quite good. It's divided into 3 different parts -- different stories for each part. The first part was set in the Garden of Eden. The second part was about the justice system -- the lady or the lion and the 3rd part was about Passionella the Chimney sweep.

The show was at Studio 54 on 54th Street. The theatre looks a little bit run down now. It probably looked a lot better when it was a club.

Grey Gardens

Since my friends and I didn't win the Wicked lottery tonight, off I went to TKTS to just wing it and see what shows were available. Yes, I tried the lottery again. I've lost count of how many times I've tried and I have never won the Wicked lottery yet. One of these days, I will win! I can feel it! ;)

I decided to go watch Grey Gardens since I've heard people talk about Christine Ebersole's performance in the show. I had very little knowledge of the show and what it was all about. Anyways, I took the leap and decided to watch it tonight.

It's about the disfuctional relationship between a mother and a daughter living in Grey Gardens who were pretty much loons. The musical is based on a documentary of the same title.

The Act I was a little bit slow for me. A lot of the character building was happening in this part of the show so it kind of dragged a little bit. Act II was definitely so much better compared to Act I. I enjoyed Act II a lot more than the first act.

Christine Ebersole is magnificent in her role. I can see why people are saying that she is a front runner for the best actress award at the Tonys. Her acting and singing is wonderful. I definitely loved her performance.

The score is pretty decent however there are not a lot of hummable songs in the show. It's worth seeing at least once even just to see Christine Ebersole perform.

I sat right next to a very nice lady and was talking to her before the show and during intermission. She's also been trying to squeeze as much theatre as she could on her trip here in the Big Apple. I had several CD samplers that a friend of mine gave me so I gave her 2 of them and she was quite happy about it. Yep, I recommended that she watch Wicked.... hehehe....

Mary Poppins

I saw the most amazing set that I have ever seen on stage! It's in Mary Poppins the musical currently playing at the New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street. It was just wonderful. All the set transformations were seamless regrdless of how big the set was. It's the most beautiful set that I have ever seen in a Broadway musical.

The show had a lot of magic in it. The effects that they have done in the show were very impressive. The endless bag was present. Mary Poppins took out a lot of stuff from her bag! She slid up the banister. Bert walked up one wall on stage, dancing upside down on the ceiling and down the other wall in Steps in Time. Mary Poppins flew several times during the show which was wonderful to see but the best part for me was seeing Mary Poppins flying away at the end of the show. It was just amazing!!! I've never seen anything like it on live theatre.

Wonderful performances tonight by the cast. The "Banks" kids were very cute. The best perfomance for me was by Gavin Lee who played the part of Bert. He's brilliant in the role. Each time he was on stage, you just can't help but focus on him. Ashley Brown was wonderful as Mary Poppins. She sounded great, good onstage presence and she's a good actress. Although, I felt that there was something missing in her performance. I can't put my finger on what's missing. I knew that she was playing the role of Mary Poppins however, it did not feel like she was Mary Poppins for me. I kind of had a hard time connecting with her character. Nonetheless, I still thought she did pretty well.

A co-worker of mine went with me tonight. Our seats were wonderful! We were on the 10th row of the orchestra, right at the center. The sight lines were great from where we were sitting. This is the only show so far this trip that I actually paid full price. I wished it was at TKTS however, I don't see it happening for a while.

Mary Poppins is definitely worth watching. It's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Just a spoonful of sugar... ;)

Hairspray

I've been feeling tired and sleepy almost all day today. I was telling a friend that if I went and watched Les Miserables tonight, I would be sleeping in the theater and probably even snoring. I needed to go watch an upbeat musical. Yeah, I could've probably gone back to my hotel room and went to bed but that's no fun and I'm in New York city. So, off I went to the Neil Simon Theatre on 52nd Street.

Hairspray has a lottery on the day of performance. The start taking names 3 hours before the curtain rises and pick the winners 30 minutes later. I got to the Neil Simon 5 minutes before they drew out the names. Luckily enough, there were enough tickets for everyone who put their names in the lottery so we all won!

I was at the front row. Sight lines weren't that great because the stage is kind of high so you're pretty much looking up most of the time however, can't beat getting front row seats for $25!

The music was quite good. Not that memorable but there were definitely hummable songs. The performers were wonderful. It was a cutesy feel good musical and it kept me awake.

The big plus for me was seeing Diana DeGarmo from American Idol. She didn't really have any big solo numbers in the show but when she sang, she CAN sing! She definitely hit a lot of money notes tonight.

Monty Python's Spamalot

Tonight's show was Monty Python's Spamalot. I wasn't really planning on watching this show on this trip. However, it was at TKTS when I went there after work. This is a popular show on Broadway and in my past trips, tickets for this show has been kind of hard to come by so when I saw it on the TKTS board at 50% off, naturally, I decided to watch it.

I had a wonderful seat. It was dead center on the first row of the Mezzanine. There were no heads blocking my view at all. I would call them god seats! The stage was close enough to see the facial expression of the performers. Gotta love going to shows alone. I always, always manage to get really good seats (yeah, I forgot to mention that at SA last night, I was sitting on the 4th row. Close enough to see the facial expressions and far enough to not have spit landing on me but yeah, I was seeing spit flying all over the place!).

Spamalot is an enjoyable show. Lots of laughs -- lots of good jokes. It is a silly show. I was laughing during the show. However, after the show, I kind of felt a little bit disappointed and wished that I had picked something else. The performers were good. However, I love musicals that have good musical scores. Spamalot came up short in this area for me. I don't really feel compelled to go buy the soundtrack. There was one hummable song in the entire score -- Always Look on the Bright Side of Life. I thought it had more of a variety show feel to it than theatre. They're opening up in Las Vegas and I can see that it probably would appeal to people visiting there.

Well, at least I know what it's all about. If I had to rank it on the list of musicals that I've seen, it'll be towards the bottom. Not really my type of musical and seeing it once is enough for me. It left me wanting more -- a LOT more than it could offer.

Spring Awakening

I love Spring Awakening!

I went to watch it last night. I had very high expectations for this show since I'm familiar with the songs and love the sound track (I bought the soundtrack when it came out since it had good reviews plus I wasn't too sure if I could make a trip to NY before it closes). It was very interesting hearing the songs in the context of the story. I really knew nothing about the story.

The show did not disappoint. From the moment Lea Michele stepped on stage, the show had my attention. The cast was wonderful -- especially Jonathan Groff, John Gallagher and Lea Michele. The cast in this show is very young but very talented and each of them deserved to be on Broadway.

The set was very minimalistic. Pretty much there was no special effects that would distract your attention from the story. The story kind of lacked some type of cohesiveness. There were several concurrent tracks based on the characters of the show. It pretty much was about teen angst and growing up in an era where free thinking was being frowned upon. SA was very different from the typical musicals wherein the characters would be having a conversation and then all of a sudden, they would bust out into a song and a dance. The songs were more of the inner monologues of the characters and what they thought about the situation at hand. It had a little bit of similarity with Dead Poets Society. Notable songs for me were the following: B*itch of a Living, My Junk, Totally F*ucked, Left Behind.

Check out the "Bitch of a Living" video below from the show.



More clips and sample music on the SA myspace page.

It might not be the kind of musical that you would take a prude to. There is onstage nudity however it was done very tastefully and pretty much in the context of the story.

First Trip of the Year

I'm at the San Francisco International Airport waiting for my flight. It's my first trip of the year and who knows how many more trips I'll be taking again this year. Last year was pretty crazy for me.

I'm off to the Big Apple for 9 days. I'm pretty excited since there are a lot of shows that have recently opened. My mom was asking me last night if I was going to go see any shows. I told her it's a given. I never go to New York without watching any show. I'll probably watch 4-5 shows. I haven't decided which ones to see. I'm probably going to skip Wicked during this trip (shocking, eh?) since I have tickets to see it on my birthday in LA with Arvin anyways.

Legally Blonde The Musical

I didn't have any high expectations for this show since it's on previews and it's one of those movie to musical adaptations which I'm not really a big fan of.

I have to admit, I actually enjoyed watching the show. It was cute. :) Laura Bell Bundy's singing and acting was pretty good in my opinion. There were some scenes which were a little bit long which I'm assuming would be cut a bit shorter once it gets to Broadway. I love the overture -- it was loud, catchy and the length was enough to quiet down the audience. The song Omigod You Guys is now stuck in my head.

I should've bought that pink omigod! t-shirt!

My Theatre Season

.....has finally started!

I went to watch Jersey Boys (on tour) here in San Francisco. The theatre was packed! I love the music. The story was a little bit slow for me. The talent was great.

Next stop is Legally Blonde (previews) also here in SF. Will be watching it this coming Sunday. I don't really have high expectations for it since it's on its pre-Broadway run.

Anyways, I'm going to be in NY in 2 weeks. Looking forward to that trip. I have several shows that I really want to watch.

I'm an Aunt!

My brother and his wife had a baby a few days ago.

This is my niece Clarisse. Born January 17, 2007. My mom keeps on saying that she looks like me when I was a baby. My brother says she has my nose. My husband doesn't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing that she has my nose..... hehehehe.......

She's a cutie, isn't she?