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You are here: Home / Archives for Claudia

Tuesday Potpourri

October 4, 2022 at 8:42 am by Claudia

• I won’t be mowing today as it’s raining. I somehow missed the fact that rain was in the forecast but then again, I don’t remember checking it at all yesterday. Lots of rain today and some rain tomorrow, as well.

• It was so cold and gray yesterday. Once again, Don and I found ourselves feeling a bit blue. I miss summer. The zinnias are blooming which gives us a little splash of color. Some of the phlox is still blooming, as well as the butterfly bush, and of course, lots of autumn wildflowers.

• I know I’ve mentioned this before but I was a camp counselor for two summers when I was in college. It was a camp in northern Michigan affiliated with the Lutheran church – Michi-lu-ca. Sadly, it was sold a few years ago, which made all of us very, very sad. I had always wanted to show it to Don as it meant so much to me. I recently connected (via Facebook) to a fellow counselor from my second summer there. I suddenly wondered if there was a group of former counselors/staff on Facebook as there seems to be a group for everything under the sun. Sure enough, there is. It looks like it’s predominately more recent employees, but I found – or they found me – 5 or 6 fellow staff members from 1973. It’s been fun chatting with them SO many years later. Those two summers were extraordinary experiences for me and I remember them fondly. In those days, there were no cell phones or computers, so we really were cut off for the summer and it was quite magical.

• A coat arrived for the girls yesterday. A Blythe friend has been making lovely coats from felt – they remind me of swing coats. (I had two of them myself and loved them.) Since I only had one coat for the girls, I ordered one in red.

Red is notoriously difficult to photograph and can change dramatically depending on the light. Case in point:

Madeleine, photographed in the late afternoon light shining on the porch. The coat looks much brighter than it actually is. It’s a deep red.

Zoe, photographed in the darkish house. This is much closer to the real color (though a bit too dark) and of course, Zoe always looks great in red. Isn’t the coat adorable? Melissa calls them ‘adventuring coats.’

I also received a little hand knit beret from another artist in Ukraine. I’ll try to get a photo of it today.

• I’m working on a new puzzle and spent a nice chunk of time on that yesterday. I’ve also been reading The Ink Black Heart  for long periods of time.

I’m grateful to be home with my husband and feeling rather cozy.

Stay safe.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: Blythe dolls, jigsaw puzzles, life, Michigan 18 Comments

A Big Seasonal Change and Harper

October 3, 2022 at 9:01 am by Claudia

Yesterday was very cool and cloudy. A seasonal change had clearly settled in. Today is much the same. The leaves are turning, the limelight hydrangea is turning pink, the skies are gray and we have to turn the heat on in the morning. It was a rather melancholy day for both of us. Suddenly, we found ourselves looking ahead and talking about buying a snowblower that is more modest in size. Our current machine is very, very heavy and I can’t even push it. Don has trouble with it and with his hand problems, I think we need something either of us can navigate.

I always hope that my small paycheck can go into our savings account, but it looks like some of it will go towards a new snow blower. A good investment, for sure, but isn’t it always something?

I took it easy yesterday. I sent out notes to the actors, read a bit, took a short nap.

And I decided it was time to change Harper’s clothes. I came up with this:

Having mint green hair does have an impact on color choices. I put the outfit on her and then started going through my hats. This one was perfect.

She’s really, really gorgeous. I wish you could see her in person. Ferro Dolls are – to me – exquisite. The hand painting that she does is so detailed. Tiny little red veins in the cheeks, shadowing around the eyes, beautifully drawn eyebrows. I could study her face for hours.

I never thought I’d go for mint green hair and planned on finding a scalp replacement for her, but now I love it. Her previous owner told me she tried various other colors but none of them worked as well as the mint green. I get it. And Ferro Dolls clearly painted the face with the hair color in mind.

Still fully immersed in The Ink Black Heart.

Netflix magically came back. I had been checking on it every few days and suddenly, there it was. I signed back in and now we’re finishing the series we had been watching.

I suppose it’s time to mow again, but I really don’t feel like it today. Maybe tomorrow.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Filed Under: autumn, Blythe dolls, Harper 21 Comments

A Day in the City

October 2, 2022 at 8:51 am by Claudia

I’m back. Really, really tired, but I’m home.

These trips to and from NYC are always tiring, especially if you haven’t been there in a while. I was going to take the bus in but found out at the last minute that the schedule was wrong and I had missed it, so Don drove me south to the train station and I managed to catch the train. The train is always noisy on the weekends but this one was full of Yankees fans headed to a game. I found out this particular route was called The Yankee Express and it made a special stop at – I can’t quite remember – maybe 156th Street? Anyway, it’s the stop for Yankee Stadium. Once they got off, the train was fairly empty.

Arrived at Grand Central, ran to the bathroom, took the 6 south to Union Square. Then I had to kill time until the afternoon segment of rehearsal. It was raining, so no sitting on a bench in Union Square. I stopped at Strand Bookstore.

The Strand is always crowded and can be overwhelming. But I did peruse the first floor and found the book I was looking for:

Maggie O’Farrell’s newest. This picture was taken on a table at Whole Foods, where I also passed some time eating a bit of lunch.

Then I headed to the theater, which is only a few blocks from Union Square.

It was neat to finally meet the cast in person, having only worked with them on Zoom. I introduced myself to the stage manager and sat down quietly. Every time an actor saw me, there was a beat, and then recognition. “Claudia!”

And Lynn Ahrens and Steven Flaherty were there as well, both of whom I know from Anastasia, as they wrote the words and the music for that. And Ragtime, Once on this Island, and the show I’m working on: A Man of No Importance. It was so lovely to see them again.

I had taken a risk, going in for yesterday’s rehearsal. I really needed to see a run-through, but I didn’t think that would happen. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out what day might be best. I’m glad I chose yesterday because, at the last minute, the brilliant director John Doyle, decided to do a run.

I can’t say enough about John’s brilliant staging, the acting, the concept – I was shaken at the end of the run. It’s going to be beautiful. I don’t want to give anything away, but John directed a production of Sweeney Todd  with Patti LuPone that was innovative and brilliant and AMONI (shortened version of the show I’m working on) has the same kind of concept.

What made my day, as I’ve been worried about only coaching the actors from afar, was John’s approval of the dialect work. He was very complimentary. Some of that has to do with the ensemble nature of this piece and hearing what others are doing which leads, I think, to something fairly cohesive. Anyway, I was very happy. Though I do  have notes for the actors, which I will write up later this morning.

Then back home via the bus, but I had to kill at least an hour in Port Authority before it left. By the time I got home, I was tired and my back was complaining from the uncomfortable seats on the bus.

Don picked me up from the station and had dinner waiting.

Today, I’m going to do nothing but read and write up my notes and then email them to the actors.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Filed Under: bookstores, coaching, New York City 21 Comments

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Welcome!

Welcome!

I live in a little cottage in the country with my husband. It's a sweet place, sheltered by old trees and surrounded by gardens. The inside is full of the things we love. I love to write, I love my camera, I love creating, I love gardening. My decorating style is eclectic; full of vintage and a bit of whimsy.

I've worked in the theater for more years than I can count. I'm currently a voice, speech, dialect and text coach freelancing on Broadway, off Broadway, and in regional theater.

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