“Sunday, sweet Sunday, with nothing to do…” That’s a lyric from Flower Drum Song, and it fits this particular Sunday. Nothing to do, except putter around, which is my favorite thing to do. It’s a rainy, drizzly day, so nothing is going to be accomplished outdoors. But I can play around with the stone on my dollhouse, and read, and listen to music.
I saw this guy outside the kitchen window yesterday and scrambled for my camera:
According to my bird books, he’s a Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.
Gorgeous. He didn’t do a lot of pecking, but he did do some preening.
Thank you, little guy, for stopping for a spell on this maple right outside the house.
The fern had to go outside yesterday. I had been noticing large ants on the kitchen table and finally figured out that they were attracted to the Boston fern after doing some quick internet research that said there’s something in the plant that can attract ants. So. Out it went. I will have to bring in inside at night for the next three nights because it’s going down below freezing, but it will go back outside during the day.
The yellow footed compote and the vase of tulips have now moved to the kitchen table.
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Just want to say a word about Anastasia, which is closing today. I have been involved with this show since its beginnings at Hartford Stage three years ago. I fell in love with the glorious music by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty and the direction and staging of Darko Tresnjak. Peggy Hickey’s choreography was the icing on the cake, as well as the costumes by Linda Cho, set design of Alexander Dodge, and projections of Aaron Rhyne. Getting to work with Bonnie Panson, one of the best Production Stage Managers I have ever had the privilege to know, has been nothing but wonderful.
Most important to me was, and is, the cast of superb actors, singers, and dancers that have made this show come to life. Everyone has been a joy to work with. Everyone.
But Christy Altomare, as Anastasia, has my heart. Besides being unbelievably talented, an actress/singer who has direct access to her heart and emotions, whose voice soars during Journey to the Past and brings down the house every performance, she is one of the kindest, most gracious people I have come to know. I adore her. I can’t imagine not hearing her sing that song on the stage of the Broadhurst ever again. Christy is humble. She has time for everyone and patiently stands outside the stage door every night signing programs and posing for pictures. She is the real deal. Working with her and getting to know her (we’ve had many long talks) has been one of the great joys of my life.
I know this is a tough day for everyone involved with the show. Saying goodbye to this magical production will be hard, especially for Christy and John Bolton, the two leads who have been in the show since the beginning, as well as at least 5 or 6 ensemble members who have also been a part of the cast since Hartford.
We always refer to the three words that Christy sings in Journey to the Past:
Home. Love. Family.
That’s how I feel about the cast of Anastasia. You’ve had a great two-year run. Bless you always.
Happy Sunday.
Listen to the Anastasia soundtrack as you do things around the house today, and let good happy memories flood you, Claudia.
Not going to listen to the cast album. It would be too difficult today. Thanks, Wendy.
Ah, how bittersweet, the closing of a show. Christy and the cast sound wonderful and it seems to be a most gratifying and fulfilling experience to have been part of the show. I know I enjoyed it greatly when it toured here (and yes, you’re spot on about the music). I will look for her name in productions to come.
Bummer about the fern… at least spring will soon be here. I hope. I’m getting a tad impatient.
She’s superb, Jeanie. And the best Anastasia I think there will ever be.
It’s so darned cold and damp out there today!
My husband and most of my family members enjoy going to plays. When they are NYC they often see at least one. I am sure that it is sad when a fine musical or play ends. I cannot go as I cannot sit up that long. Also, I am introverted and sensitive to noise.
Do you have any actors who tend to be in movies as well as plays? I enjoy Cate Blanchette. I hope I spelled her name correctly. I just finished watching Blue Jasmine which was directed by Woody Allen and I thought she did a wonderful job. Would you please share your opinion when it comes to her work.
I work with a lot of actors who work in both film and the theater, including my husband. That’s not at all uncommon.
I like Cate Blanchette. But they’re something distancing – for me – about her work. It’s good work, but there’s something that keeps me from being fully engaged.
Thank you for your response. Distancing? Something to think about!
xoxo
All good things come to an end, I guess. I hope I get a chance to see Anastasia in some form sometime. I love a good musical. Your birdie visitor is so pretty. It’s a reminder to keep the camera ready at all time now. I got all excited yesterday when I saw gold finches at the feeder for the first time since last fall. Spring really is coming, even if it won’t leave the thirties today. Sigh…
It’s a great musical. It’s touring in the United States right now.
Thanks, Kay. (It’s cold here today, too.)
It looks like dusk here in SE CT – waste of a springy Sunday….
My son and I were talking about whether a British actor has a harder time speaking with an American accent or an American one has a worse time speaking with a British one. With your experience, what do you think ? I thought Hugh Laurie did a great job in House.
About Fiesta: in the 70s, my mother-in-law gave me her whole set of wedding gift (1939) dishes in the original colors. It was collectible even then, but I donated it to Navy Relief because I thought it was ugly ! Dumb. I love it now and have a few pieces.
Take care, Connie
There are all kinds of British dialects, some much more difficult than others. The same goes for American dialects. But if I had to choose, I’d say it’s a bit harder for Brits to do an American accent. But as with everything, it depends on the actor and their ear for the sounds. Some Brits do great American dialects. British dialects have always come easily for me. They’re easy for me to hear. I thought Laurie did a pretty good job, but he did what a lot of Brits do: flatten all the sounds and also eliminated any musicality. And that’s not the way we talk.
What great memories you have of this wonderful production and time spent with all who worked on it. I love the music and while I’ve only heard Christy sing on recordings but she has such a magical voice. It is hard to see things you love end.
We’ve had a few birds today as I finally felt well enough to get some bird seed and fill all the feeders. Making me happy. Family was busy today so not seeing the Grands but maybe one night this week.
Well, not seeing the Grands gives you a few more days to feel fully better! xo
You have some wonderful memories of productions you and/or Don have been involved with over the years and I wish them to always be pleasant memories you carry with you. I am so thankful that you share them here on your blog otherwise, I would have no clue as that is a foreign world to me.
In my area, we refer to those woodpeckers as either Downy or Hairy Woodpeckers and the ones that are brown with a red head and yellowish underneath are the Yellow Bellied Sapsuckers. We have many different woodpeckers here in the mid-Atlantic region and I really enjoy them all. My favorite is the one that I see at the moment, don’t make me choose.
Hugs…
The males that are Downy or Hairy Woodpeckers don’t have the red on the throat. Only red at the rear of the head. We have those, also. But our yellow bellied sapsuckers, according to Birds of North America, are black and white and red – with the male having red in two places, the entire crown and the throat, with a white stripe down the folded wing. Young males have brown heads for a short time.
The only brown woodpeckers here are Flickers, which we also have.
Yellow-bellied sapsucker; I had to grin; I just KNOW I remember that being a line in a comedy I once saw; some old movie.
By the way, LOVE that you saw Henry!
Anastasia; it’s great you could be a part of something so memorable. A production of such quality.
Late start on Sunday for us here in HOT SoCalif; was nearly 90 degrees yesterday and was in the mid-80s about three hours ago (hotter now, I’m sure; ugh). We’ve got a bit of the Santa Ana condition and it’s ‘way too early for that, for me (who likes cool weather). We had to water the yard for the first time in a long time (spoiled us; all the beneficial rain we’ve had; clearly now OVER; April showers would be a remote hope).
I’m tired because I stayed up too late last night, scrolling thru a lot of stuff on the web, trying to gather info (local sourcing, like caregiving agencies, etc.) for an elderly neighbor (divorcee; lives alone, pushing age 90) who keeps suffering falls and has now, this time, fallen and broken her arm. I love her spunk, but she’s headstrong in the wrong ways, not being wise about being out at night (still drives), then coming home after 10pm in the dark, leaves no yard lights or house lights on; that kind of thing. In between, she doesn’t really exercise for strength & mobility or flexibility; for instance, my mother (even with debilitating arthritis) made herself walk around the block every day FOR YEARS, like to age 85; regular, consistent exercise.
(I’m being judgmental but, you know, there’s a lot of info out there about how to prevent falling, home safety, etc. And this lady is VERY well-read. But I’ve had a few falls myself, so I can’t throw stones. It catches up with you, with age. My mom could be so butt-headed, bless her; like thinking she could just tramp between the yards on uneven ground to return a heavy, oversized book to someone in the neighborhood and, boom, down she went, with me looking on, after I’d begged her to let ME take back the book; so, had to call the paramedics and then everything else that went on with that event, when prevention/common sense was the word. Just lucky, that time, she didn’t break a hip or worse.)
I have encouraged this neighbor to no consequence (my advice falls on deaf ears) to get the LifeLine/LifeAlert feature on her phone (the device which allows you to push a button on a wrist band or necklace which activates a call center to call your phone and ask aloud on speaker if you need help; my own parents, now deceased, used it too many times to remember; very helpful and lifesaving; I’ll prob eventually get it for myself).
I don’t know why this neighbor’s three adult children or adult grandchildren (and great-grandchildren!!) don’t step in (they’re out of the area, which doesn’t help) but she is Aunt to another who, despite that person also living two hours away, does look in on her once a week (so, how lucky in that regard when too many other elderly people have absolutely no one). She wants me more in her life (as a companion/aid [we’re not even that ‘close’ or tight ‘friends’ although we’ve had the usual neighbor-chat fests ‘over the fence’ for quite a few years]) but I can’t take on that role again; I’m not her daughter; I was my mom’s caregiver for six years and it wore me out (and I have my own health issues; I guess I’m in self-protect mode but, you know, I’m not this neighbor’s ‘family’ and she HAS family; when I write this down, it makes me feel like a terrible, uncaring person but, at my age now, I have my limits [I’ve been a volunteer/driver for the local meal delivery to help seniors; I’ve in previous years tried to do some of my ‘part’ to be of service to others, not early as much as some people but, for instance, I’m still trying to survive cancer and recover my own stamina]).
This is all stressing me out, so I’m taking today to try to center myself. Sigh. I’ve really been trying hard to live a more stress-free life; aren’t we all?!!!
It’s always a challenge, isn’t it? Don and I were just discussing pulling away from the news this morning. We feel like we’re at a time in life where we should be able to relax just a little. Money is still extremely tight – those worries continue. But, we’re trying to let go of worry and just BE. Live in the moment, travel, stay present and appreciate the beauty around us. I need to meditate more. Selfish? Maybe. But I think, just as you have to make the decision to refrain from being a caregiver for a neighbor, that we need to insist on self-care. Draw the line, without being uncaring. It’s tricky, but it’s also a necessity.
Yes, life is hard, so we have to try even harder to simplify.
You’re wise, both of you, to give time to each other. To enjoy the small comforts; to have your hobbies, such as Don with his photography and music; you, with your crafting, reading, gardening, etc. (you’re a bit of the Renaissance woman; you do SO many things, Claudia!).
Thanks for your thoughts (when I overshared). I found my perspective on my neighbor dilemma, as I knew I would. She even has a weekly ladies-who-lunch group, so she’s covered on the friends front, too. She’s smart enough to get things figured out for herself; she will.
xoxo
And, ahh yes, always the money angle, huh! I relate! Like you, we went into retirement with a mortgage payment – – but I’ve found we’re not alone. So, sure, a few treats here & there but, mostly, needing to be quite careful with the ‘money in/money out’. We had formerly had a big trip planned for cross-country (road-tripping, starting this month) but it’s gotta wait; my husband is just picking up too much freelance work right now to be able to turn his back on it; not when we need a new roof come Fall!
We take a day now, once a week, just to be able to do something together and see something different (fortunate to have, from time to time [for instance], free museum exhibits, etc.), but have decided to nix the eating-out because, at least in the area I live, restaurant food is just too darned expensive; I’m still keeping my eyes open for that one great little unfancy hole-in-the-wall that serves decent food for an affordable price. And I’m currently revisiting our grocery budget because I can’t quite believe what we sometimes pay at the big-box market; it just HAS to change (especially when the food quality leaves something to be desired anyway). Also trying to get creative about food waste; I do NOT like to throw out food (a lot’s going into the freezer for soups [scraps can make a delicious ‘garbage pail’ soup!]).
It just takes so much to ‘live’ and I’m still trying to adjust to fixed-income life, continually (it seems) tweaking the overall budget, seeing where we can cut expenses. I like to shop and I’ve had to curb it, within reason. I’ve really never been able to afford my adult-long expensive tastes but then look around and remind myself that ‘I have enough’ (hard when one is a gatherer/’collector’ and not a minimalist; lots of tantalizing finds out there!), trying to have the necessary talks with myself about the ‘I want’ and ‘need’ to accumulate (and that there’s no reason to feel deprived if I don’t; maybe it’s just become a bad habit, and the old habits sometimes die hard!). There’s a lot of cute, creative stuff in the stores right now, for Easter/Spring (the season is so ‘refreshing’ and cheery and colorful) but, then, I have to again realize that maybe I just need to shop the house and rotate a few vignettes!
(And, rather than BUYING books, go to the library! How many times have I said that to myself, but then I backslide because new books thrill me, yet I ‘lived’ at the library when I was a kid, another example of the old ways often being the best.)
I’m also guilty as charged. I have to rethink everything and find a way to save money wherever I can.
I understand completely, Vicki!
It’s sad to hear of the closing of Anastasia…I know how much you loved that show and the people involved…
I will miss it.