Greetings to you from a relaxed being!
I am indeed on summer break - a wonderful feeling. And there is oh, so much to talk about! I shall try to cover all without too much rambling.
1) End of the school year.
I am actually a little sad about this year being over. I will certainly miss my Advanced Drama class. They were very sweet and rather sappy towards the end. I ordered various scripts to give to each of them as a "Thank you and good-bye" gift, which we did in a mock-graducation ceremony. I especially missed my classes last night as I watched the Tonys, as I remembered I would not be able to discuss the awards in school the next day. I think sleeping in until 10 for the past few days has tempered my sorrow, though. :)
2) Announcing the musical for next year.
We did indeed make the announcement. I think the kids are excited, too. Their reservations are coming mostly from having no knowledge of "Once on this Island", which is certainly understandable. They do have the summer, though, to do some research on it. I should be getting the materials for the show in the mail in the next few weeks, as well, so when school starts up again, I will make some of those scripts available to be checked out by the students. Since I began teaching, I have been trying the improve on what my professors called "transparency". I am certainly more open and forthcoming about this whole process than any of the directors I've worked with. For good or for ill, I am not sure.
3) Summer schedules
Since school has gotten out, I have relaxed into a delightful summer schedule. It won't last for too long, since I begin my travels in two days, but for now I am enjoying it. For example, here's what I've done today:
7:10 - Woke up, panicked that I was late.
7:11 - Realized I am not late, went back to sleep.
8:30 - Woke up with the cat sniffing my lips. Shoved her off, listened to the rainstorm pounding outside, smiled at that, and went back to sleep.
10:00 - Woke up, got up, and examined the cold sore that seems to be developing above my eye.
10:10 - Booted up computers to continue my current project: transferring my iTunes music files from my old computer to my new computer.
10:30 - Showered, made a bagel for breakfast (made with cream cheese, lox, and tomatoes - just what I've been craving since New York!).
11:00 - Left to drop off a copy of Tom's latest draft to him (I'll explain about that in a later post, if you don't know what I'm talking about).
11:30 - Drove to Gateway Mall in search of "25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" and "Light in the Piazza" CDs.
12:30 - Checked Barnes and Noble and Virgin Megastore, with no luck. Both stores had sales people who expressed surprise that they were sold out of those CDs. I refrain from informing them in a haughty manner of the Tony results last night (of COURSE they'd be sold out! You probably only ordered 3 copies! Bah!)
12:45 - Called around town, found another Barnes and Noble with both CDs in stock, put them on hold.
1:30 - Went to see "Dear Frankie" at Trolley Square - a delightful movie!
3:30 - Drove to other BN to get the CDs.
4:30 - Home now, typing this post.
Plans for later: Make a carrot cake, listen to my new CDs, continue transfer project, and discuss the Tony awards with Jason.
Not a bad life, now, is it?
I have really indulged in media since school got out. Since last Thursday (which was the last day), I have watched 6 movies (Spiderman 1 and 2, Fear and Trembling, Kinsey, Frida, and Dear Frankie), bought 8 books, and read 2 novels ("Eragon" and "Inkheart", currently reading "The Golden Compass"). Don't worry, though. I don't plan on keeping this lifestyle up. I'd go broke rather quickly if I did.
This is getting to be a long post, but I cannot neglect the Tony Awards. So -
4) The Tonys
I crave theater. I really do. It's so barren here. I want to be in New York, seeing all of these shows, and more! I am thrilled that we did go in April, so "Spamalot" was a lot more meaningful, but oh! I want to see more!
My thoughts
- I was surprised at how distributed the awards were among the nominees. I had expected "Spamalot" or "Putnam County" to sweep all of thier catagories.
- I did not like the choice of song for "Spamalot". It was fine, but there are better numbers in the show.
- I loved "Putnam County"! That show is now second on my list for "Must See ASAP".
- The "Sweet Charity" number was disappointing. Christina Applegate cannot sing, although that's not really a surprise. She can, however, take a joke. :)
- I liked the "Light in the Piazza" number more than I expected, which is why I bought the CD today. I am curious to learn more about it.
- I wonder if Sarah Ramirez will change the lyrics of her Diva song at tomorrow's performance of "Spamalot" - specifically the line "I've no Tony awards".
- I also like my dad's version of "Find Your Grail" for her - "Find Your Bra".
- It's wonderful to see people who are really grateful to be doing what they do - that seemed to be a theme in the speeches.
- I also loved how both Norbert Leo Butz and Dan Fogler proved that being different can get you places ("...with this hair!"). I think I'll use their clips as discussion points in Drama next year.
I will give you more thoughts later, but for now I better post. If you want a list of the winners, go here or to the New York Times here
Happy Summering!
