• If somehow you came to the blog during the middle of the night and saw a notice saying ‘Account Suspended’, let me assure you all is well. I had a cup of coffee this morning before I checked my email, only to find a warning from my security company that I didn’t understand, and a warning from my host – Bluehost – that I did understand. The account had been suspended because I hadn’t paid the renewal fee, which was due yesterday! In my defense, I thought the renewal wasn’t until the end of June. Ready to confront my host about this apparent discrepancy, I went back and checked my emails and realized that I had the date completely wrong. Whoops! The fee was paid, the site was immediately restored, and I learned yet another lesson.
It’s Monday, for sure.
• The first of the day lilies to open.
And the other peony bush has started to bloom. Goodness, how lovely!
Of course, as seems to be the case with peonies that have fully opened, we’re getting rain today. Thankfully, the rest of the buds aren’t open yet, so we won’t have too much drooping from heavy blossoms being pelted by the rain.
• We are off to Hartford today to be a part of their celebration of all things Darko as his time as Artistic Director ends. His last show at the theater ended its run yesterday and it’s the end of his time there. Bittersweet for everyone on staff who has worked with him for 8 years and for those of us who had the privilege of being a small part of the work he created while in Hartford. He made a lasting impact on that theater and he will be sorely missed. Two of his shows transferred to Broadway and, one of them, A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, won four Tony Awards. He’s brilliant and he’s kind. That’s a good combination.
• Speaking of the Tony awards, we watched the whole thing last night. I was so happy to see my friend Fitz Patton win for Best Sound Design of a Play for Choir Boy. Fitz and I were housemates a few years back when we were working at American Players Theater in Wisconsin. He’s a great guy and extremely talented. And the great Andre De Shields was a winner, at the age of 73, of his first Tony for his performance in Hadestown. I worked with him years ago at The Old Globe, but only a little, because he’s so skilled he didn’t need my help! And two of my former students were part of the award-winning cast of Boys in the Band – Brian Hutchison and Jim Parsons. Rick and I auditioned them for the MFA program, chose them, and had a part in their training. Bravo, Brian and Jim!
Lots of other moving moments, not the least of which was seeing an actress with a disability, Ali Stroker, win the Tony for her performance in the revival of Oklahoma! Her speech was empowering and triumphant.
Broadway tickets are expensive, but if I could see anything this year it would be Oklahoma! and Hadestown.
Okay. Have to make our second cup of coffee and prepare to drive to Hartford.
Happy Monday.
I am always amazed at the number of people that you have worked with and beside. You have had and will continue to have a fascinating career. Hope you have a great day of celebration with Darko!
The flower snippets are just beautiful….can’t wait to see my Stella D’Oro Lillies. Hopefully soon…I do have buds. Safe travels! ;)
I try to refrain from listing all those people – don’t want to appear as if I’m bragging!
Thanks, Donnamae!
I saw just a little bit of the Tony’s and enjoyed it very much. I had such a good dinner with the family. Flowers, gift cards, laughs, love, kisses and hugs. What more can a Mom/Grandma ask for.
You deserve it!
Congratulations to your friends and former students for their fantastic Tony wins! How proud you must feel, and deservedly so. And I’m glad you and Don are able to honor Darko for the remarkable work. he’s done in Hartford. So far the weather is holding so I’m hoping your trip is a beautiful run. The drive between where you live and the Hartford area is one of the prettiest I’ve experienced. Be safe and enjoy!
Rain coming this afternoon, so we’ll see how it goes! Thanks, Nora!
I saw the error last night and thought your hosting site was having a little rest or something. Glad it was an easy fix. I do have a question about your dollhouse links – The landing pages work (from the drop down menu) but none of the links on the pages work . At least for me – I get a 404 File not found error message. I was hoping to take another tour of Hummingbird Cottage for some inspiration.
Thanks for letting me know! I now remember someone at Bluehost fixing my permalinks, but apparently they changed them. I’ve gone back through the dollhouse posts and they’re now correct.
Definitely fun to see the Tonys this year. It’s wonderful to see Boys in the Band get such accolades. When I saw it in Los Angeles in 1968-69, it was a great show, but I recall feeling like it was less socially acceptable. Not everyone was interested to know anything about it . So glad it is now main-stream fodder now. We (a group from SD State) also saw You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. I was a theatre-geek – still am.
Happy Hartford reunion today.
Thank you, Martha!
Claudia, I know you’ll enjoy the Darko celebration and have lots of fun. It’s mid-morning here and I have to get out to the garden now, before the temperatures soar height. It’s supposed to go up 10+ degrees in an hour or so, and eventually get to mid-90’s by mid-afternoon; it’s already high 70’s, and I don’t like doing garden work in hot weather.,.
Stay cool! I don’t like to garden in hot weather, either!
Speaking of your career, I was wondering if you had watched Fosse/Verdon, and what you thought, specifically, of Michelle Williams take on Gwen Verdon. She got rave reviews, but I’d love to know a professionals’ take.
I wasn’t crazy about the flashback style of the show, but overall I thought it was well done.
thanks-
I haven’t watched it and don’t plan to. I’m not a fan of biographical productions that center on people who have lived during my lifetime. They have no say in the matter, there’s a lot of supposition – on this one, specifically from the viewpoint of their daughter. Too subjective. The same reason I won’t go see the new movie about Elton John.
Those flowers are so pretty, and I love the color of the peony! Hope you had a lovely day today and so special to be able to share memories. I always remember your posts from when you worked there and how you arranged the apartments.
We were supposed to get rain yesterday, but never had a drop. Maybe it missed you today as well. We enjoyed the Tony’s last night, too. There were some very special moments! Again, hope you had a great day today!!
We had tons of rain yesterday. Of course we did, the peonies just started blooming.
Happy to have Bob Mackie win a Tony. He i s so talented.
Marilyn
He is, though I was cheering for another designer!
glad you could help celebrate your friend in his retirement and cheer your former students’/colleagues’ tony wins … exciting!
hope the drives over and back are good, that the weather cooperates.
kathy in iowa
He isn’t retiring, rather, he’s moving on to other work. Eight years is a long time to be an Artistic Director, which is hard work and long, long hours. He has all sorts of things ahead of him. But it surely is the end of his time at Hartford Stage. He’s made his mark on that theater and left it better than ever!
Just catching up on your last few posts, and enjoying all the gorgeous flower pictures. And those chairs are just perfect for your kitchen. We’ve had more cold, wet and my allergies/sinuses just went haywire. Today though we had sun, it was dry, and so I was able to get outside and do some garden work. Your gardens are a week or two ahead of what’s happening here, so I kind of treat your posts as sneak previews. Super envious of your peonies.
Dean isn’t fond of them so we have none. All my potted blooms have been nibbled on this spring and it’s getting really old.
I watched a young deer walk up my driveway and take a bite of one of my plants! I, of course, urged him to ‘move on.’
Have a glorious time in Hartford. (Or perhaps by now you already have — I missed blog reading yesterday due to a flooded basement!) I suspect it will be (was) both a joyful and bittersweet gathering as you share memories and say goodbye. You are so fortunate to have had this remarkable working experience in your career. We can’t always say that about those we work for and for someone to combine brilliance and kindness is indeed a treasure.
I loved the Tony’s — hands down, the best awards show, even if one didn’t know a single show. They know how to do it well. Three cheers for your winners and nominees!
Sorry to hear of your flooded basement! What a pain.
Yes, the Tonys are always the best awards show. Thanks, Jeanie.
Good morning Claudia,
The headings for Small House Living and Room Tours has disappeared. Did you remove them or the problem with the BlogPost cause this? I miss them.
I deleted them. They’re really out of date and have nothing to do with the house as it is now. And I never really liked the small house posts – I did them with a fellow blogger and they weren’t really me. I’ll rethink those categories and update them. After 11 years, everything needs updating.