Mockingbird Hill Cottage

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March: You’re Driving Me Crazy

March 7, 2017 at 8:16 am by Claudia

Buds on the lilac bush.

Leaves on the wild honeysuckle.

Buds on the Climbing Hydrangea.

Not to mention the daylily leaves coming out of the ground that I keep covering up with mulch. It’s cold here and this weekend the temps are going down into the teens again. Next week, a little – not much – snow. March is turning out to be very changeable, indeed. And it’s driving me crazy.

Still congested, though I think it’s due to the recent extremes in the weather. Nevertheless, it leaves me feeling like I’m still fighting off this virus. And now Don isn’t feeling well. That started yesterday. Not sure what’s going on, but I’m doing my best to take care of him because he did such a good job of taking care of me. Poor baby.

But…I have to go into the city today for a final run through of Anastasia. Thursday, the cast moves to the theater and the long tech process begins. Very exciting!

I’m reading Rules of Civility  by Amor Towles and am enjoying it very much. And obsessively following my Twitter feed as this “administration” – I use that word very loosely –  implodes before my eyes.

As Dorothy Parker said, “What fresh hell is this?”

I have to get going, my friends. Today, work. Tomorrow, rest.

Rest in Peace, Robert Osborne. You were and are irreplaceable.

Happy Tuesday.

Filed Under: Anastasia, Don, garden 26 Comments

A Project

March 6, 2017 at 9:27 am by Claudia

A sunset for you. Friday night? I think so, though life has been rather unfocused lately. The past three weeks have been a blur and, though some of it has been lovely, much of it has not  been lovely. I’m trying to stay in the now for the next 8 days before Don leaves. I’m a bit resentful of this virus and the fact that it ‘took me away’ from Don. Of course, it really didn’t, as he was here and taking care of me. I guess I mean that I wish I hadn’t felt so god-awful so we could have had lighter, happier days. Ah, well. There’s no replay allowed, so we’ll move forward and enjoy the next week together.

I do have to go into the city tomorrow for a run through and then I’m done for about a week and a half or so, until final dress rehearsals begin.

Perhaps because I read that lovely new quarterly magazine, QuiltFolk, perhaps because I know my evenings will soon be something other than a time to cuddle with my husband – whatever the reason, I brought out this work in progress:

I pieced this together a few years ago while working in Hartford. It’s meant to hang on a wall, though it would also work nicely as a throw. (The wall it was meant to hang on is now our ‘gallery wall’ by the stairs.) I started hand quilting it back then and I’ve pulled it out a few times, but it hasn’t been touched in a while. Hand quilting – which is the only way I quilt – is slow going and I have to be motivated to do it.

I’m feeling motivated. I think it will be the perfect thing to do as I pass the time ‘of an evening.’ Nothing is quite as fun to watch alone as it is with Don. I’ll probably end up watching MSNBC, cursing repeatedly, and jabbing my needle into the quilt.

We’ve started watching Rachel Maddow again after having stayed away from the news after that man was elected. Maddow is brilliant, of course, and she manages to weave information together into something coherent. She does the hard work for us and like the teacher she is, leaves us knowing more than we did by the end of her show. A lot more. We find we’re clinging to her nightly show because we need to connect the dots and that’s something she does better than anyone else.

The winner of a copy of Wilde Lake  by Laura Lippman is Katheryn! Congratulations. I’ll send you an email, Katheryn.

Happy Monday.

 

 

 

Filed Under: Anastasia, quilting 48 Comments

Broadway Musicals, It’s COLD & Insane Tweets

March 5, 2017 at 8:53 am by Claudia

A photo of the skyline as we left the city last night. I figured I could post this since my fellow passengers are in silhouette and not identifiable.

Spent the day in the city and took notes on our second run through of Anastasia. It’s a gem. There were lots of ‘guests’ in the room; producers, people that work for the producers, designers, etc. I’ve worked on Broadway once before – also on a musical – and in both cases, I was/am aware that I am just a small piece of the whole puzzle. Broadway musicals are huge juggernauts, unlike anything else I’ve every worked on. There are at least three producers (maybe more) on this one. One of them knows me and took the time to introduce himself in Hartford, hugs me when he sees me etc. The others? They have no idea what I do, nor do they care. That’s not a criticism at all. It’s just an acknowledgement of how huge the whole thing is! There are so many elements for them to worry about, far more than when Anastasia  premiered in Hartford.

So I just do my thing, stay in contact with the actors and the writers and Darko, working quietly behind the scenes. In truth, I don’t know if I would ever want more responsibility than that! I like to maintain a quiet profile.

More from the bus.

It is friggin’ cold here today. It’s 8:30 am and the temperature is 8 degrees. I saw buds on my lilacs the other day and I’m praying they aren’t damaged. Enough with the bizarre weather! Each time we have a major change, as we’ve had more than a few times in the past couple of weeks, I get all congested again and this bug I’ve been fighting ramps up. Yesterday, as I was leaving the house, I felt sick. By the afternoon, I felt better. And so it goes.

Today I’m feeling better. I’m definitely through the worst of it and I’m very grateful I don’t have to work every day. I’ve got two days now to rest and relax and then one more run through on Tuesday. Then a break until the week of March 20th, when I stay in the city through dress rehearsals and the first four previews.

The man in the Oval Office is insane. I woke up yesterday to those tweets about “wire tapps” – his spelling, not mine, and he kept putting the words in quotes. The level of paranoia is ramping up and he’s losing it. Captain Queeg in his very own version of the Caine Mutiny. I was thinking of one of my very favorite movies, Doctor Strangelove, and how its brilliantly satiric look at the insanity of those in power doesn’t look so outrageous anymore. How can satire top what we’re witnessing now?

And yet, there are still those who believe everything he says. Ignorance is not bliss. And willful ignorance is choosing to remain uninformed, to drink the kool-aid, to blindly follow.

God gave me a brain and I’m going to use it.

Happy Sunday.

 

Filed Under: Anastasia, Donald Trump 59 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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