Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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Rainy Monday

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This is the best I can do for you today – a quick photo of the coffee table. I’m exhausted and it’s raining outside and very dark inside, so photo possibilities are very few and far between.

These days in NYC are very tiring. It’s not the actual work, that’s not at all tiring. It’s – as Don calls it – the logistics. Driving to the train station, the hour and a half journey on the train, the subway, endless sets of stairs in Grand Central and the subway stations, maneuvering through a sea of umbrellas in the rain, running to get some lunch before the matinee. Then, a matinee that started late for some reason,  which required a speed walk to the subway station after the show ended so I could go up and down stairways again before I caught the #6 train, stopped at Grand Central (more stairs) and just made it to my train home. I didn’t get the chance to drink enough water, and the water I would have purchased at Grand Central was an impossibility because I had to catch the train. We won’t mention the runs to the bathroom. So I was dehydrated, which didn’t help.

When I was working on the movie, I faced much the same situation, but since I was there for 6 weeks, I built up my stamina and was in great shape by the end of my time there. Now, I do this sporadically, so every time I go in it’s like I’m doing it for the first time. It’s always been a tiring process, but I certainly feel it more at this age. Now, just imagine, Don used to have to do all of the same things for a 5 minute or less audition. Much worse.

All that is to say I’m tired today.

As I remind my husband on a daily basis, I don’t need the problem solved, I just need to talk about it.

At least I got to see the show again! It’s delightful and funny and moving.

I have to type up my notes this morning and send them to the actors. And then I’m going to do nothing. Maybe I’ll start my new puzzle. I read a lot this morning while sipping coffee. Very nice indeed.

We’re due for rain for the next three days. Sigh.

I know. There was a time this summer when I yearned for rain. Now, we’re getting too much – not really, of course, our water table needs it – but “too much” for my state of mind.

Okay.

Stay safe.

Happy Monday.

Sunday in the City

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I finished this puzzle yesterday morning – Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. I have another one on the way and it should arrive while I’m in NYC today.

I mowed several sections of our extended lawn yesterday. It felt good to get out there and mow but pushing through all the leaves took a bit more “oomph.”  There’s still quite a bit to mow and then…we’ll see if we have to mow again. We’re getting rain for the next couple of days so we might well have to.

The other day, a woodpecker flew right up to one of the windows in the den and looked in. I said hello. Then he flew up into the maple tree.

I’m writing this early as I have to get ready to head on into the city for a 2 pm matinee of A Man of No Importance. I’m looking forward to seeing it again because I love this production so much and also because the director, John Doyle, makes a lot of changes during previews and it’s been almost two week since I’ve seen it. It will be exciting to see those changes.

Another day of wearing a mask for 7+ hours. But I’m happy to do it.

Thanks for all your lovely responses to the interview! I really appreciate each and every one.

Okay. I have to start getting ready.

Stay safe.

Happy Sunday.

 

 

A Day in the City

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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.

Lambs Like to Party

Lambs Like to Party

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