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From My Room

April 8, 2016 at 7:26 am by Claudia

4-8 hotelroomtable

Life on the road; a shot of my hotel room coffee table this morning.

I’m staying at Homewood Suites, a place very familiar to me as I have spent a lot of time here over the years. My room is very nice. There are a wide variety of them here, some too small, some rather large. This is mid-sized and perfect.

The best thing is that it faces an inner courtyard so I don’t hear the thundering bass coming from the local bars. That’s been a big problem in the past. I’m going to remember this for the future. Must have room facing courtyard. Everyone here is very nice – many staff members seem like old friends.

I was so tired last night that I fell asleep before 10 pm, which was fine, but the consequence of that was waking up very  early this morning. Ah, well. Homewood Suites has a free breakfast every morning, so I trotted on down to get some food and coffee. The in-room coffee is not at all good, but the ‘Robust’ version of coffee available downstairs is much better. It’s not Peets, but it will do.

4-8 hotelroom

The beds are wonderful. Firm. Good pillows. I slept like a baby.

Driving to Hartford was rather a mess because of the torrential rain that poured down for most of the two hour journey. I’m always amazed by the amount of drivers who don’t put their lights on during a storm. Really? I can barely see you!

It’s a state law in NY. If you are using your windshield wipers, you have to have your lights on. I don’t know what the law is in Connecticut, but there were a lot of cars without their lights on.

The read-through of Anastasia was wonderful, very moving, beautifully sung – very exciting! The music is beautiful. The cast is very talented. The room was full of the cast, the writers, support staff, producers, and designers. It’s going to be very fun to work on and I’m thrilled to be a small part of it.

Today, we’ll do some table work – talking about the script and the characters and the language. Then I drive home at the end of the day.

See you tomorrow.

Happy Friday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: coaching, On The Road, theater 24 Comments

And I’m Off

April 7, 2016 at 8:33 am by Claudia

4-7 view into the kitchen

Late afternoon picture-taking in order to have something to post today. Do other bloggers do that? Frantically walk around the house, looking for some photo that will ‘do?’ I left it late, which created a too dark picture, which I then tried to brighten – there’s too much ‘noise’ in this one. But I like the canvas of The Lamb With The Party Hat on the wall. Logically, since this is the symbol of the blog, it should be hanging in my office, but Don likes it here. He thinks it adds a touch of whimsy to the living room.

I got a late afternoon call from the stage manager of Anastasia, asking if I could come in earlier to have lunch with Darko and also if I could stay overnight to be there for tomorrow’s rehearsal as well. Of course. So I’m off to Hartford to work for two days. Then on Monday, I have to go into NYC for the day to work on another project.

That’s why I’m rather hurriedly writing this post. I have to get ready and get on the road. Hopefully, I’ll be able to write a quick post tomorrow, but if I can’t, you’ll know why.

4-7 view stairs

I officially gave up on Beach Music  by Pat Conroy last night after yet another stab at reading it in bed. As I was trying to go to sleep, I finally came to the realization that this particular Conroy was just not doing it for me. I feel guilty, somehow, because I am such a big fan of his writing and I love the way he tells a story.

But this one? I didn’t like the characters much, though I tried very hard to feel something for them. The fact is that after 200 pages, I still wasn’t on board. That’s a long time to hang in there, especially when the book is over 700 pages long.

So I put it back on the shelf this morning.

My time to read has been limited lately. And reading is so important to me that when I do get a chance to open a book, I want it to be one that captures my imagination and takes me, happily, to another place. I’ll grab another book, as well as my Kindle, for the trip to Hartford. I have plenty of books in my TBR pile!

Happy Thursday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

Filed Under: books, coaching, On The Road, reading 42 Comments

Birds, Russian, Seeds, a Gift, Appointments & Books

April 6, 2016 at 9:10 am by Claudia

4-6 birdslookingatCunard

The singing birds seem to be entranced with the Aquitania.

I noticed the change in their position the other day. Are they fascinated with ocean travel? Are they pondering landing on the deck of the ship, thereby bringing delight to the passengers?

(No doubt the change in orientation happened when I was dusting, but I like to think they turned toward the ship.)

Yesterday was taken up by a long phone call with my neighbor, who is from Russia. She was enormously helpful in clarifying some of the Russian pronunciations. I’m very grateful for her help. Then it was off to the Podiatrist for Don’s follow-up appointment. The cellulitis is getting much, much better, though, as I suspected might be the case, the doctor wants him to be on antibiotics for another week. His words to Don: “Chill out. Elevate. No commuting into the city.” (Too much walking.)

Needless to say, Don is going a bit crazy. I was in the same housebound state when I badly sprained my ankle so I understand. There’s only so much you can do from your chair….

Today I’m doing more prep work on Anastasia. I am traveling to Hartford tomorrow afternoon; just for the day, mind you. The actors are doing a read-through of the script. (I hope they sing, too!)

Monday’s mail also brought a package from my longtime blogging friend, Sheila.

4-6 giftfromsheila

She sent us wildflower, morning glory and forget-me-not seeds for Scout’s Garden. And she added two adorable pairs of gardening gloves. Sheila, this is the perfect gift for us and we are so grateful for your thoughtful gesture. We miss her. We are still in mourning. And we’re so looking forward to that time, hopefully in a few weeks, that we can break ground, prep the soil, and start planting her garden.

From Sheila: “I sent one box of wildflowers for Scout and one for Riley. The pink Morning Glory vine is for Scout, the blue for Riley, and the Zinnias and Forget Me Nots for their parents to cut and enjoy inside.”

And she sent pink gloves because we originally met while participating in the meme Pink Saturday. I’m so touched.

Thank you, dear friend.

I’m reading Beach Music by Pat Conroy, but it’s taking me a while to get into it. That’s not due to his writing, which is superb, it’s more likely due to the crazy week we’ve had. At over 700 pages long, I guess I’ll be reading this one for a while!

Oh, one more thing. Have you seen the new HBO documentary about Nora Ephron? I was a big fan of her work, both on the printed page and on screen, and this new documentary, It’s All Copy, has been produced by her son Jacob Bernstein. It’s wonderful. Run, don’t walk, to HBO to see it. We loved it and are planning to watch it a second time.

New post up on Just Let Me Finish This Page.

Happy Wednesday.

ClaudiaSignature140X93

 

Filed Under: books, coaching, Don, garden, gifts, Scout 51 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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