Anastasia

Joy and Sadness

January 25, 2023 at 8:39 am by Claudia

I’m back from NYC after a full day of rehearsal. The show is in excellent shape, the band has been added, and on Friday, it will be presented in workshop form to producers, etc. I left the house at 7:15 and returned home at 7:30 pm. Sorry I didn’t get any photos, I was too intent on getting to rehearsal and then, at the end of the day, catching a slightly earlier bus. But it was a lovely sunny day in the city – the only sunny day I encountered on these January trips.

But, I have to say, the last couple of times I’ve walked all those blocks, it’s been so much easier. Just had to get back in shape. The same thing happened when I worked on the film. I wish I had access to the city a bit more often because there’s nothing I like more than walking in a city.

Today we’re dealing with a snow event which will bring 3 – 5 inches, but then, in an all too familiar pattern, will turn to sleet and then rain. This happened a lot last winter. Frankly, we’d love some beautiful white stuff on the ground to help brighten up the bleak landscape. Anyway, this ‘event’ impacted my decision to go in yesterday rather than today. Because you never know – and the snow was expected during my travel times.

On Monday, we learned of the death of Peggy Hickey from cancer at the age of 60. Peggy was the choreographer for Anastasia and for A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, both of which were directed by Darko. The latter won several Tony Awards. I knew she had been ill, but what I didn’t know was how long she had been ill – over a decade. For all those years she had been fighting cancer and, at the same time, doing some of her best work as a choreographer. I don’t know how she did it. She had two daughters and a wonderful husband. She was loved and adored by all who knew her. She had a marvelous toothy grin that made everyone happier and the joy she exuded as she worked was beautiful to behold. I texted Darko on Monday and he was – and is – devastated. Four of us at rehearsal yesterday had worked on Anastasia and knew and loved Peggy. I wasn’t at Monday’s rehearsal, but I know it was extremely difficult for Darko. He and Peggy were close colleagues and friends.

God bless you, Peggy. Rest in Peace.

So much loss lately. Don is still having a very hard time with the loss of his friend.

A little Blythe photo for you – maybe it will bring a smile to your face – it does to mine.

Mei reading her journal.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

My Need for Play

October 10, 2021 at 9:16 am by Claudia

It’s a gray day today but I find it beautiful. It’s a Sunday so our normally busy road is quiet. The autumnal colors are just gorgeous and with a cloudy sky they have become muted and almost sepia-like.

I’m going to rest today. Between working on Anastasia, coaching Ben three times via Zoom, and wrestling with blog problems, it’s been an intense week. (By the way, the blog is fixed.) Today? Reading, some laundry and cleaning (but only a little) some list-making and then, later in the afternoon, the Red Sox.

In two weeks I’ll be heading to Brooklyn. It once seemed so far off, but now it’s just around the corner. I’ve never been on a movie set, I have no idea where to go or where I will work on that set but I’m going to ask Jim to show me around.

I’m more and more convinced that I need ‘play’ in my life. Of course, the theater is play in the purest sense of the word. But in my downtime, I also need to play. Dollhouses, miniatures, stuffed animals, charming little egg cups, and now, Blythe dolls in the form of Sophie and Imogen.

You remember ‘playing dolls.’ That’s what we used to call it in my neighborhood. Not ‘playing with my dolls’, but ‘playing dolls’. “I’m going to go play dolls with Kay, Mom!” Kay, my dear friend of, I think, 65 years or so, lived on the next block. Her parents were my godparents. They also happened to give me my first egg cup. Kay and I would play with Barbies for hours – sometimes at her house, sometimes at mine. Edith, my godmother, had big books of wallpaper samples. I can see them even now. We found patterns we liked and papered the inside of our Barbie cases. I used a dixie cup suspended with a piece of pipe cleaner as a hanging light. We also made houses out of shoeboxes. All of this was the precursor to the fairly recent reappearance of dollhouses and miniatures in my life. And now, dolls are reappearing.

Play. It’s so important to me. It grounds me in a way nothing else can, especially during these tumultuous times.

I was coaching Ben recently. I use our office and I carefully try to position my laptop so that Ben can’t see the Beacon Hill or Don’s collection of Big Boys. But, eagle-eyed Ben has, on two separate occasions, noticed both of those things. And he was fascinated – wanted to see the dollhouse up close. So I gave him a little tour. I briefly wondered if he might think me wildly eccentric. I don’t think he does. It turns out his mom has a dollhouse she wants to work on.

Am I becoming a bit more eccentric as I get older? Most likely. But I hope it’s a pleasant eccentricity – harmless and maybe even a little interesting.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

Hello

September 29, 2021 at 9:38 am by Claudia

First of all, apologies for not posting, but the Wi-Fi in the hotel was questionable and my browser kept giving me warnings that it was unsafe and I was so exhausted that I just shut the laptop and that was it.

Sunday: When I still didn’t have the results from the PCR Test by late morning, I sent an email to the lab, which is in Tennessee. Someone actually responded and said that they didn’t have my test yet and it wouldn’t be done until Monday. I was not happy. I contacted the guy who is charge of the COVID protocol for the tour and he gave me the name of two places in Manhattan where I could get a test with a quick turnaround. The problem is, I would have to pay for it (they will reimburse me.) Keep in mind I was doing all of this as I was trying to get ready to go out the door. One place charged over $300. The other, $195. Both of them had their last appointments at 5:30 pm. My train was arriving at 4:50. I booked the less expensive one, which was on the Upper East Side. When my train arrived, I had to run out of of Penn Station and try to get a cab. The line for cabs was long and SLOW. I kept looking at the time on my phone, thinking I would never get there. But when I finally got a cab, the driver worked his magic and I got to the testing center with 5 minutes to spare. I got the test and was told I’d have the results in under an hour. Then I went out the door, grabbed another cab, and went to the hotel. But that took me a while because I had the wrong address! By the time I had checked in, my results were in. Negative. Keep in mind that I had been awake since 4 am at this point. I went out to the local tiny grocery store and bought a couple of things to warm up in the microwave. But the walk to the store seemed endless because I was so exhausted. I spent the rest of the evening in a catatonic state in my room – I wasn’t crazy about the hotel at all, though it did have free breakfast each morning. I fell asleep around 9:30. The next day I woke up to see my other test results had come in around 11 pm on Sunday, so they would have arrived in time.

Sigh.

Monday: I bought something to have for lunch (I was hungry the whole time I was there because there wasn’t much at all around the hotel (in an industrial part of Queens) and it just seemed like I never got to eat enough food. Got to rehearsal at 10:30 and there was Darko! I didn’t know he was going to be there. And Sarah, his assistant, who directs the touring company productions. And the music director. It was like old home week. In fact, it felt like coming home. Darko and Sarah and I spent some time together catching up and we all felt very moved by the fact that we were working once again after so, so long away and better yet, that we were all together.

I watched the young cast rehearse for a bit, then at 1:30, there was a brief run-through of all they’d done so far. Keep in mind, they’re putting this together in 2 weeks. Insane. Sarah has done a wonderful job at that. I met the cast, then after lunch, I started coaching the principals. I worked until 6 pm. Sarah, the stage manager and I sat together and made a list of who I had to work with the next day and then SM figured out where to slot everyone.

Tuesday: Got up early, got some breakfast downstairs, packed, checked out, and rolled my suitcase several blocks to rehearsal. Then I started coaching. I was in “super efficient mode” and managed to have productive sessions with 10 cast members, one after another. It’s important that those in the ensemble who might have a line or two in the show but are also covering for a major role get a chance to go through that text with me so they’re prepared when they have to go on.

I don’t know if you saw this post on Instagram, but wearing a mask while teaching actors how to pronounce Russian and French words isn’t easy. These three days are the longest I have ever had a mask on. Adding in train transportation, it was easily 9 or 10 hours a day. You have to wear a mask on public transport. You have to wear a mask in the hotel (except in your room.) Obviously, you have to wear a mask in the rehearsal spaces. I’m not used to wearing one that long and I need to find a more comfortable mask for working on the film – those will be even longer days. My ears were aching by the end of the day.

I don’t mind telling you, I got sick of it.

At 4:00, I finished and tried to hail a cab, which took a long time. When I finally reached Penn Station, I was seriously dehydrated. That’s another problem. I need to drink a lot of water every day and when I was sitting in a small room working with individual actors, I had a mask on. I had to wait until I had a few minutes by myself to drink some water, and that didn’t happen very much. Anyway, I got to the station, was able to change my train that was scheduled for 7:10 to two hours earlier, and I sat in the newly built Moynihan Hall – it’s gorgeous – in a waiting room and drank lots of water. The trip home was smooth and the views of the Hudson River were gorgeous. I arrived to see a tall guy waiting for me – with food! I was so darned hungry, I ate dinner in the car on the way home.

There you have it. I have to do it again on Sunday and Monday.

It was exhausting. But it was also exhilarating. I can’t tell you how powerful it was to see Sarah and Darko again. We’ve worked on Anastasia together for a long time and seeing these two lovely souls again brought tears to my eyes. I’m very grateful.

I’m taking it easy today. And tonight, we have appointments to get our COVID vaccine boosters! Huzzah! So glad I’ll get this before I move into the city to work on the film.

Stay safe.

Happy Wednesday.

Joy and Sadness

My Need for Play

Hello

claudiahillsparks

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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