Catching Up
Opening Night
Well the show finally opened, to much critical acclaim, Halleluah! Now the trick is to keep those seats filled. We are still in the beginning climb and the onus of generating word-of-mouth buzz from our audiences is on us in these early months. Opening night was a blast, and I was happy to perform that night because I actually sprained my finger in the show the night before. So, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to go on opening night, but I bit down and worked it out. The after party was huge, almost too huge because it was hard to find other cast and crew members. There was a red carpet just inside the entrance to the ballroom where the party took place and that was such a surreal experience. Camera people saying "Over here, please" and bulbs flashing. Robin Leach came over to my husband and said he was a "comedic genius" and then proceeded to film a sound byte on the show. Wow, six months in the making! The days following the opening, we were all so exhausted, I am sure because we had been working towards this night for so long.
Eyes on the Sparrow
My husband was standing with the dog by a tree on a patch of grass where he routinely takes Brooklyn on her walks. Out of his periphery, he sees something flapping right by his head. Not thinking too much of it, he sees it again, and upon turning, discovers that it is a sparrow. A combative sparrow. The bird is wildly swooping by his head, hoping to scare him away from the tree. He tells me this story and I think it must have just been some weird fluke, until he tells me the next day that the same sparrow swooped by his head as soon as he neared the same tree. A couple of days after that, I was walking Brooklyn, and sure enough, as soon as I stood by THE tree, the sparrow appeared, feathers all fluffed, chest all puffed. I have to admit that I am not completely fond of birds. When I was about 8 years old, I was obsessed with the idea of having a baby bird as a pet. The closest I got was a plastic Christmas ornament robin that I would pretend was my pet. Which was only entertaining for about an hour before complete disappointment would set in, making me wish only harder that I had a real baby bird. But "grown-up" birds, they kind of freak me out. Really most things with wings kind of freak me out, it's a mixture of awe and horror, awe at the grace and beauty of flight, and then horror at the sound of feathers swishing against each other, gives me the creeps a bit. So, as soon as I saw the sparrow, I booked it out of there. I was convinced that the sparrow was just a rabid creature (do birds become rabid?) until days later, when I noticed that the sparrow appeared as soon as Brooklyn lunged for some baby birds that were at the base of the tree, and then it was all clear: the sparrow was just a mother protecting her young. And you gotta respect that! So, Brooklyn and I just keep our distance, veering around the tree on our walks. Every once in a while, I'll see some unsuspecting soul running in horror from the tree, ducking the sparrow as it lunges for the head.
Zumanity
The cast got to see Zumanity, which is Cirque de Soleil's "Adult" show about sexuality, sexiness, and sex. And while I appreciated the ideas and the strength of the performers, I started to detect a Vegas show formula: long, flowing cloths, twirling performers suspended in mid-air, sets that appear and disappear through the stage floors, waterworks of some kind, lanky female dancers with rubber legs and protruding rib cages, muscular male dancers with long hair and loin cloths doing sexually "ambiguous" duets. The hostess was a deep-voiced drag queen, whose corsette evoked twinges of pain in my middle section. She sang a great torch song, it was perhaps one of my favorite moments.
I'ts A Rap
My husband took me to a Nas show here in Vegas and I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was curious to see what the hip-hop community would look like out here in Vegas - in fact, I am curious to see what any locals look like; most of the people we see are tourists, especially living near and working on the Strip. At any rate, the audience was a wide mix of people of all races and ages, not really a surprise there. But I think what surprised me was that in NY, the audiences, for the most part, still have an overall hip-hop, urban flair, whether it be attitude or wardrobe - and this is a gross generalization, but nonetheless, my observation. In Vegas, at the Nas concert, there were so many people there that I would never guess were Nas fans; and not only were they fans, but they knew ALL the lyrics. There was a couple, for instance, who looked more like Whitesnake fans than Nas fans, with the long, rocked out hair and tight heavy-metal gear; but they were throwing their hands up, rapping along, the woman straddling the banister like it was a stripper's pole (this IS Vegas). Another kid looked straight out of "Silver Spoons" in his polo shirt and khakis, and he was rapping at the top of his lungs, and accurately. If Nas had flubbed a line, he could have been right there feeding him lyrics. It was really cool, opened my eyes.
The Fix
So Brooklyn got spayed almost two weeks ago. And it was heartbreaking to see her so uncomfortable as she was in her early days of recovery. And I hate that spaying is also called getting "fixed", as if something was broken!!! And a few people, jokingly, said that she is no longer a woman, or something to that effect, and it kind of touched a nerve, as if femininity in a human or canine is determined by the ability to have offspring. I don't know, maybe I am just too sensitive about the whole thing. At any rate, she has had a cone on her head for the past ten days, which she has attempted to chew off (she never lets up with the chewing - right now, she is chewing... the TV remote, GREAT!), and she is back to her perky self.
Well the show finally opened, to much critical acclaim, Halleluah! Now the trick is to keep those seats filled. We are still in the beginning climb and the onus of generating word-of-mouth buzz from our audiences is on us in these early months. Opening night was a blast, and I was happy to perform that night because I actually sprained my finger in the show the night before. So, I wasn't even sure I'd be able to go on opening night, but I bit down and worked it out. The after party was huge, almost too huge because it was hard to find other cast and crew members. There was a red carpet just inside the entrance to the ballroom where the party took place and that was such a surreal experience. Camera people saying "Over here, please" and bulbs flashing. Robin Leach came over to my husband and said he was a "comedic genius" and then proceeded to film a sound byte on the show. Wow, six months in the making! The days following the opening, we were all so exhausted, I am sure because we had been working towards this night for so long.
Eyes on the Sparrow
My husband was standing with the dog by a tree on a patch of grass where he routinely takes Brooklyn on her walks. Out of his periphery, he sees something flapping right by his head. Not thinking too much of it, he sees it again, and upon turning, discovers that it is a sparrow. A combative sparrow. The bird is wildly swooping by his head, hoping to scare him away from the tree. He tells me this story and I think it must have just been some weird fluke, until he tells me the next day that the same sparrow swooped by his head as soon as he neared the same tree. A couple of days after that, I was walking Brooklyn, and sure enough, as soon as I stood by THE tree, the sparrow appeared, feathers all fluffed, chest all puffed. I have to admit that I am not completely fond of birds. When I was about 8 years old, I was obsessed with the idea of having a baby bird as a pet. The closest I got was a plastic Christmas ornament robin that I would pretend was my pet. Which was only entertaining for about an hour before complete disappointment would set in, making me wish only harder that I had a real baby bird. But "grown-up" birds, they kind of freak me out. Really most things with wings kind of freak me out, it's a mixture of awe and horror, awe at the grace and beauty of flight, and then horror at the sound of feathers swishing against each other, gives me the creeps a bit. So, as soon as I saw the sparrow, I booked it out of there. I was convinced that the sparrow was just a rabid creature (do birds become rabid?) until days later, when I noticed that the sparrow appeared as soon as Brooklyn lunged for some baby birds that were at the base of the tree, and then it was all clear: the sparrow was just a mother protecting her young. And you gotta respect that! So, Brooklyn and I just keep our distance, veering around the tree on our walks. Every once in a while, I'll see some unsuspecting soul running in horror from the tree, ducking the sparrow as it lunges for the head.
Zumanity
The cast got to see Zumanity, which is Cirque de Soleil's "Adult" show about sexuality, sexiness, and sex. And while I appreciated the ideas and the strength of the performers, I started to detect a Vegas show formula: long, flowing cloths, twirling performers suspended in mid-air, sets that appear and disappear through the stage floors, waterworks of some kind, lanky female dancers with rubber legs and protruding rib cages, muscular male dancers with long hair and loin cloths doing sexually "ambiguous" duets. The hostess was a deep-voiced drag queen, whose corsette evoked twinges of pain in my middle section. She sang a great torch song, it was perhaps one of my favorite moments.
I'ts A Rap
My husband took me to a Nas show here in Vegas and I have to say that it was an interesting experience. I was curious to see what the hip-hop community would look like out here in Vegas - in fact, I am curious to see what any locals look like; most of the people we see are tourists, especially living near and working on the Strip. At any rate, the audience was a wide mix of people of all races and ages, not really a surprise there. But I think what surprised me was that in NY, the audiences, for the most part, still have an overall hip-hop, urban flair, whether it be attitude or wardrobe - and this is a gross generalization, but nonetheless, my observation. In Vegas, at the Nas concert, there were so many people there that I would never guess were Nas fans; and not only were they fans, but they knew ALL the lyrics. There was a couple, for instance, who looked more like Whitesnake fans than Nas fans, with the long, rocked out hair and tight heavy-metal gear; but they were throwing their hands up, rapping along, the woman straddling the banister like it was a stripper's pole (this IS Vegas). Another kid looked straight out of "Silver Spoons" in his polo shirt and khakis, and he was rapping at the top of his lungs, and accurately. If Nas had flubbed a line, he could have been right there feeding him lyrics. It was really cool, opened my eyes.
The Fix
So Brooklyn got spayed almost two weeks ago. And it was heartbreaking to see her so uncomfortable as she was in her early days of recovery. And I hate that spaying is also called getting "fixed", as if something was broken!!! And a few people, jokingly, said that she is no longer a woman, or something to that effect, and it kind of touched a nerve, as if femininity in a human or canine is determined by the ability to have offspring. I don't know, maybe I am just too sensitive about the whole thing. At any rate, she has had a cone on her head for the past ten days, which she has attempted to chew off (she never lets up with the chewing - right now, she is chewing... the TV remote, GREAT!), and she is back to her perky self.
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