Friday Five

1. Excuse the language on this one, but it's amazing!  Our President's press conference yesterday was ridiculous to say the least, and Seth lets him have it for it.  
            

2. Seeing a show I've never seen before live.  I had read Peter and the Starcatcher but never caught it on Broadway.  So when Bowie Playhouse announced they'd be doing it, I was pretty excited.  I gotta say, even though the actors were pretty great, the show is still just as weird as it was when I read it.  I just don't get it.  But the rest of the audience seemed to love it, so maybe there's something wrong with me...

3. The best news I've heard all week is the casting of Miranda Hart as Mrs. Hanigan in Annie in the West End.  I've been wanting to see Miranda Hart in something fabulous since her television show went off the air, and now that I'll be in England this summer, this is the perfect excuse.  I'm pretty sure she'll be brilliant!

4. I'm sort of a sucker for Children's books about very diverse things.  I like kids books to share stories about lives in other places or about things that you don't usually see kids books about.  Add to that, great art that I've always loved and you've got a winner.  That's why I'm pretty excited about this kids book about Keith Haring.  I've always loved his simple drawings (his artwork was the logo for the original Falsettos!) and now there's a great kids book about his life and why art's so important.  Can't wait to snag it!

5. Coming from someone who saw this show in person, I have to say that this review is spot on!  I'm so happy for Brandon Uranowitz and also I'm pretty happy for me, because with reviews like this, it means he's gotta do another engagement, right?!

The Play's the Thing...

I've been reading a ridiculous number of plays lately.  In the winter months when it's dark and gloomy, they're the perfect thing to pick up because most are super short, and you can finish one (or two, or three...) in an afternoon.  Also if you're the type that can see everything that's happening in a book in your mind, a play is even better for you to read.  Plays set the scene for you already, so you've got a jumping off point.  All that's left is for the dream-casting to begin and away you go.

I'm not a person that actually sees a lot of plays, though.  I love musicals and see them regularly but for some reason, I never get up to NYC for specific plays, even though there are tons that I've always wanted to see - Angels in America, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Love! Valour! Compassion! You get the general idea, I have a list - honestly, when don't I have a list?  

Anyway, one I did see fairly recently, was one that I read this week for the first time - "Boeing, Boeing." A few years ago, they revived the farce for Broadway with an unbelievable dream cast: Bradley Whitford, Mark Rylance, Gina Gershon, Mary McCormack, Katherine Hahn and Christine Baranski.  Unfortunately, Christine Baranski's understudy was on the day we went to see it, but everyone else was on the top of their game.  I've never laughed so hard in a theatre in all my life! It was most definitely in my top 5 theatre experiences of all time.  The fact we were in a small theatre about 10 feet from the stage didn't hurt either. So obviously, while reading this one particular, I couldn't help but imagine all the players I saw. 

However, when you read a play you haven't seen, you start to dream-cast.  Ok, maybe I start to dream cast.  In this case, the play - another farce full of mistaken identities and slamming doors - was "Don't Dress for Dinner." Hilariously funny and I highly recommend it!  The play revolves around 2 men and 3 women.  The women were hard to cast in my mind. Megan Hilty was definitely playing one of the women, but the other 2 were hard to peg.  The men on the other hand - one straight man, and one funny man - were simple.  You need a great comedy duo.  Nathan Lane or Matthew Broderick would have worked perfectly, however I kept seeing Brian d'Arcy James and Christian Borle.  They so would have been perfect for the roles!

So the unfortunate part of all of this, is that I'm not sitting here just waiting for the right producer to revive this amazing play, just so I can hope they'll cast my vision.  It's a bit of an issue.  But all of this is beside the point.  The whole point of this was to say - Plays are awesome and you should totally read them : )

Summer Reading

During the year, I can find myself reading just about anything from Shakespeare to Biographies, to food and travel to mysteries and fantasy.  Anything that catches my eye, I'll pretty much pick up and read.  But in the summer, I like to keep it "pink".  I tend to stick to the girly, chick lit love stories that are just perfect for the beach.  This summer is no different and thanks to a few too many trips the Barnes and Noble, I've got the list pretty much ready to go (Of course the list also includes "Bellweather Rhapsody" and "The Corsican Caper" but they're not in paperback yet - hoping they will be soon!).  I've been slacking lately in favor of crafting, but I'm hoping the longs warm days will help my reading energy and help me cross off these awesome novels quickly.  Afterall, there are so many more great stories to fly through.

Bring on the books!

Curious...

I've been seeing this book on just about every list and in every bookstore for the last few years.  It always attracted my attention because of the bright cover and the strange title, but I never picked it up.  That is of course, until a few weeks ago, when I heard they had based a play on it in Edinburgh.  From the review of the play, I learned it was written from the POV of a boy with autism. After hearing how fantastic the play was, I decided I must read the book.

I am overjoyed that I did.  I began reading it yesterday and finished it up this afternoon.  It is the absolute perfect example of someone living and dealing with autism.  The author, truly understands what's going on in their heads and explains it beautifully.  If you are working with autistic kids, or just know someone with autism, I highly recommend it.  We all tend to know the "symptoms" or the signs but we don't ever really understand why or what may propel them to act a certain way.  When explained by Christopher, the main character, it all makes perfect sense.  Autism will never be easy, but understanding a bit better, will always make things a bit less difficult.

An absolutely beautiful book!