Chance = Change

...has officially begun!! The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade sort of kicks it off, I guess you'd say, with Santa Claus always being the last float in the Parade ... he symbolizes the entrance of the Christmas Spirit into this city so full of other sorts of spirit... like someone enormous sprinkles a thick layer of powedered sugar over a roiling mass of beef stew...somehow it all gets sweeter, even if it is not in the City's nature to be sweet.

But a palpable change comes over it all, no doubt about it. And I have always enjoyed that shift. The seismic shift from selfishness to an imperative sort of kindness: people actually smile more than they usually do. Perhaps it is the anticipation of the gifts they hope to receive around the tree on the Morning. Maybe all those extravagant windows at Saks Fifth Avenue actually do work some magic on the passers-by. Or it could be that childhood memories, insistant and strong, come back into even the most miserable of minds, and even if nothing is in the oven, we smell cinnamon and sugar everywhere we go...I dunno...but the City does begin to change into something nicer and funner at about this time every year. It all becomes like an enormous Yankee Candle Shoppe, and no matter how much it may give you a headache , you are forced to enter it and smile anyway!

The more Buddhism I read (I am reading a most amazing book right now by a Vietnamese Nun who has worked all her life with Thich Naht Han to help the people of her country...I am sharply aware of how my heart is opened by such selflessness)...anyway, the more I read, the less I need. And this simple fact is difficult to reconcile with how I have always lived. So, mountains of gifts under a festive sparkling tree, or sitting next to a glowing menorah...well...I do love prettiness, but I have learned that things are simply...well...things. There are these deeper and realler gifts I am uncovering lately. And the digging sometimes gets messy. I have, however, always liked to garden in the mud and rain, (easier to pull out old roots) ,so, I must remain patient and keep studying. And letting the earth of my being do what it will do.

I am having tea with Alex T. this morning before my afternoon class. A valued friend, Alex is also a private student of mine, and a gifted fine actor who can sing. More than that, he is a fine spirited man, and recently finished a run in HISTORY BOYS as the general understudy. I saw him in one of his five roles and he was wonderful...and he and his friend (who has also become mine) Caitlin F. have just returned from a good trip to London, and he has much to tell me. So we shall tea at a place new to me: Podunk, on 5th Street and 2nd Avenue....both Alex and Cait adore it, so to Podunk we shall go! I am looking forward to spending that time with Alex.

Over the Holiday, Peter and I got cught back up again in watching the 2nd Season of SLINGS AND ARROWS on the Sundance Channel...or is it Bravo?...in any event, wherever or whoever plays it, we will be watching! And we have learned that a 3rd season of it will be out sometime...can hardly wait. The show is about a fabulous and typically dysfunctional repertory theatre , this one in Canada, modeled on Stratford Festival no doubt, and it is so filled with inside theatrical references and personalities and dilemmas, it is irresistible!! We laugh and cry along with them , since we totally understand so much about what the people are going through. And the fact that the show is filled with genuinely fine Canadian actors, spouting off immortal Shakespeare lines as part of their "sit-com" journey,totally in story context as they rehearse and perform their regular season, is just the most wonderful icing on an already substantial cake! We adore this show. And appreciate that it even exists! Thank you Canada!

Labels: Holidays and Slings and Arrows

...at least on Thanksgiving Day, was clearly our place, specifically the new Red Dining Room... where 16 people (later 19), sat at two comfortable tables and ate the many delicious dishes we had prepared for them! The red walls, and the lovely table landscapes, shining with polished silver (I do seem to have a lot of that!) and gorgeous roses (thank you,dear Stephen for all those wonderful flowers and arrangements...such sumptuous beauty everywhere) seemed to create the perfect dining and talking atmosphere.

I have read somewhere that red stimulates the appetiite, which is why so many up-scale restaurants use the color on their walls,etc. Well, that certainly seemed true at our dinner party...people ate and ate and seemed to genuinely enjoy the food. Plates full , heaped high, with foods from the buffet we set up on the hallway bookshelves (also covered with silver serving pieces and vases of roses, as well as a turkey basket filled with colorful foil-wraqpped chocolates, some in the shape of turkeys, and chocolate kisses flavored with cherry and vanilla) Peter even published a prettily scripted menu for all to read,which I placed on the buffet so people could know what they were about to eat, another stimulus to the appetite, i think, because people were clearly very very hungry.

Two turkeys (one savory , one sweet), heaping bowls of mashed potatoe, sweet potato covered in marshmallow, roasted butternut squash, greenbeans with almonds, three different sorts of stuffings (one I invented with hazelnut and orange),and a gorgeous platter of vegetable lasagna brought by our pal Gabby (who is Italian , and who knows his way around lasagna preperation!).....a gorgeous and satisfying meal, covered in various gravies...and it all tasted so good! I firmly believe a Thanksgiving meal should actually taste good, not just look pretty, and this one was delicious! I now know, how to make a moist and tasty turkey! Thank you Food Channel! And thanks for the sweet onion tartlets and goatcheese -filled pears w/ prosciutto! YUM! And then of course, there were all those desserts! Especially the pumpkin rolls prepped and served by Steve's lovely daughter Katy, along with the turkey-shaped shortbreads made by his other girl Chris! Wonderful! And thanks to you both! As well as to Michael J. for the most luscious brownies! We had rich melted vanilla ice cream to cover all of it, including the pies! Urns of fresh coffee topped the dining experience, and bottles of red and white wines and champagne flowed throughout the evening. Very festive and relaxed. It was the relaxed part I liked the best...people really enjoyed each other and conversation flowed easily at both tables. We also set up our Purple Room as a "football" room, so it was often occupied with relaxed and chatting guests who used the televised games as an excuse to get to know each other...so easy. And I enjoyed my own party! That is an accomplishment in itself!

Peter and I discovered we can work very well together in our narrow kitchen. The night before the dinner party, Peter prepared a schedule (color-coded, no less) o allwehad left to do on that final day before guests arrived, and we followed the schedule to the minute (as best we could). The result was that we actually got everything done in a timely and relaxed manner, having fun in the kitchen while we cooked, and of all the things I enjoyed about the holiday, I believe that time with peter in the kitchen was my favorite. That and Paul sitting in the brown recliner knitting, while the party swirled around him. We did it so that Steve and Paul could relax (since they always are the holiday hosts for our family), and we seemd to accomplish our goal! I love those two so much. And, of course, as is our family pattern, whoever didn't do the cooking cleaned the kitchen, and boy did they ever! The best kitchen staff in town!!!

It was such fun!

Labels: Holidays and Slings and Arrows

....just in case I no longer have the chance to write Thanksgiving Greetings after today! Those two enormous feet sticking out from under that enormous hill of cookware, over-ready birds and mounds of fresh cranberry conserve? Those are my feet! Attached to my body that is overwhelmed by the amount of preparing that must soon begin on behalf of our dear 20 guests! It already has been enormous fun, getting all the groceries into the house and planning, planning ,planning....and I have been testing various Food Network recipes for the past two weeks, some of which are terrifically tasty and easy to prep ahead of time. But the serious cooking begins tomorrow, and we have the two 12-pound turkeys in the fridge to prove it! Of course, they will begin their slow journey to deliciousness on Thursday morning, bright and early, as I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and sip coffee, but many of the side dishes will be done by tomorrow evening. The various stuffings, the potato and squash casseroles, more relishes, and appetizers....we are ready to cook! So my main concern remains: how to set up the tables and where to place 20 people so that they are comfortable and can enjoy their meal! I think several tables is the key: two in the dining room and one or two placed elsewhere in the apartment. All made to look lush and celebratory. Decorated prettily for the special day. Colorful and comfortable.

Also, how to set up the Buffet, and make all the food easy to get to again and again.
We are thinking of using the Main Hallway as the Food Buffet Court! So that people are greeted by delicious foods as soon as they enter, and perhaps platters of pretty drinks as well. To go with the Sweet Onion Tartlets and Pears w/ Goatcheese and Prosciutto (and vegetarian ham for Paul and others)...that is my plan at least...and I hope Peter agrees. There will also be an official Football Room set up in our Meditation Room, for people who like to watch those things. Food will be in there to munch on too, of course.

And so, we shall enjoy!
Menu and Guest List to follow. Meanwhile, enjoy your Day! And love from our house to yours!

Labels: Holidays and Slings and Arrows

So, determined to get this job done, there we were, my insanely wonderful spouse and me, in the dark (Peter likes to turn of the circuit before messing with electrics...and who can blame him?), with me holding two flashlights on the specific work areas, installig the new ceiling fixture in the dining room. We chose the parchment colored glass lamp, with black and gold iron curlicues entwining it...and it is gorgeous! We will put the erstwhile stained glass lamp in the Hallway tonight. Because the parchment and balck and gold is so right for the new Dining Room!

And worth all our sweaty, late-night efforts to install. Peter was so diligent and patient, as he ached his way through the task...he had just come home from aorusing game of his regular Monday Night Basketball with the guys, but since he had promised we would do ths lighting thing, he was determined to keep his word and so he did. And I am grateful because it is simply one less thing to worry about as we head into prep for the large (and I do mean large) Turkey Day gathering we are hosting! So far, the official count is 19, and we expect more! Where we are going to put everyone is a bit of a mystery at the moment, but I have no doubt we shall work it out because no matter what, it will be fun! Steve and Paul will be back from San Francisco the Tuesday before and shall bring over the extra chairs and tables we need, and once we get a floorplan, I can think about how to decorate and make it all look nice and festive.

I was a fan of the plan that suggested we only invite as many as we could seat, but, Peter being more generous of spirit than I, we are happily sticking to his plan instead: anyone who wants to can come! It shall be a loving and civilized horde! My only hope is that they are comfortable and enjoy themseslves. And that the food taste good.

So, I have been watching the Food Channel for days now picking up recipes to make. For food as well as for drinks, since it might be fun to serve some festive holiday cocktail of some sort. And the Food Channel is so filled with terrific ideas, and personality chefs who make it all look so easy, it has been fun being inspired by them. Many different approaches, budgets, styles and scales of entertaining, with specific shows devoted to each and every approach you may want to take. With recipes ranging from the very easy to the more difficult and gourmet. I will use several ideas i have picked up, including one for a pre-dinner cocktail that looks pretty and probably tastes innocent, but is no doubt potent! And since it looks very orange, it seems ideal for Thanksgiving! I shall make an alcoholic and a non- version of that drink, and make the glasses look pretty with orange slices and sugar. It sparkles. At least it did on TV...I wonder if I can make it do that...hmmm... the thing about the Food Channel is that it is so much fun to watch it makes you think you can do anything! I tried a recipe for roasted brussel sprouts the other night and it was wonderful! I intend to use it for TDay as well.

Meanwhile, Letitia is here today helping me clear out the kitchen and organize it for the cooking ahead. Once I leave here today, i won't be home until late, as it is my 46-10 Village night, (we are deep into reading BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS), so I am trying to get stuff done while I can. I am so yearning to be at home more these days. This is so odd. But nice.

The walls are a deep crimson red, eggshell finish, so that they sort of glow like a piece of polished red porcelain, and they really do seem to glow with a welcoming warmth. Against this stunning deep red ....we worried so about the right exact shade, and as it happens, we could not have chosen a more beautiful and perfect tone and color ...not too bright and not too dark...truly just right. Anyway, our ebony shiny black baby grand piano looks elegantly beautiful against that red wall, and the oak armoir, that we finally got rehooked up so the lights would work on the glass bar portion of it, well...that oak piece looks fabulous against the walls as well, especially with the lights on, and the shiny crystal glassware and bottles set just so on the top shelf. (Drew, finally we are able to display the fabulous cut crystal decanter and glasses you so generously gave us as a wedding gift...they look glorious in the oak bar)....I'm glad we put that piece back into the room....it adds elegance but of a less formal sort, and sort of makes the perfect bridge bewteen the dark table and chairs and the piano....the red walls warm everything up so wonderfully. The Andy Warhol "Gertrude Stein" against which I matched the red color I wanted (she has a small border of red around her matting) is hung perfectly on the wall you first see as you enter the room, so right away you know you are in what may be referred to as an "important" room (Ann J. you would be so proud of me)...and the two new orientals we bought, both against a cream background with intricate patterns in deep red, black and blue, tie it all together so deliciously. Perfect lamps from around our apartment seem to have been made for the new red room, and each one looks perfect. Tonight we will hang the new ceiling fixtures...and a dimmer switch to control them. We will hang either a Tiffany-style with deep red touches in it, or a beautiful classic looking thing with black curly ironwork around the glass shade...the one we don't use in the new dining room will go on the hallway ceiling. The Stein is on one wall, and the large black charcoal sketch of me done by Robert Reynolds in on the wall behind the dining table. It looks great. We will also hang the La Scala poster by the piano, and a cluster of beautiful things we have been collecting on yet another wall.

I taught a private lesson in there today and it was calm and lovely to work in. We were working on "Cordelia" from LEAR, (Kevin Kline is doing it at the Public and one of my students is up for that daughter). Shakespeare seems right for that room now.

For the past couple of days, now that I have seen how perfectly lovely the red walls are, I have been thinking a lot about my Momma. When she finally moved to her own apartment in Chicago, (after my Daddy died in Atlanta, Momma pulled up roots and moved back to her family in the Windy City), the first thing she bought, the very first thing she hung to establish the feeling of her new home: a long elegant set of deep red silk curtains at her windows! I was stunned because in all the years I had known her up to that point (I was in my early 20's) i never knew she ever even wanted such a thing as red curtains...and there they were!
It was like a part of her was free ...to...well...express herself! Daddy had always been the artist in the family and had made such decisions, although i don't remember our home being fashionable in any particular way...it was simply comfortable and very lived in. But those red curtains of Momma's...nothing else in the Fullerton Avenue apartment at all...but those deep red curtains hanging straight and proud. A deep blood red. I felt something for her that I had never felt before: pride. I felt proud of her. Not that i had ever been ashamed of her, but I had never felt that strong a pride either...i was too busy being self-concerned and self-ish. Those red curtains made me sit up and take notice of her! In a new way .

That is the red that now colors our dining room walls and I cannot help but think she would love that room . And be proud of that color that I chose. A Momma sort of choice.

...Cunningham, the talented and smart man who plays piano and helps me coach the students in the Song Analysis class each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon...we went to see Steinhardt's THE BOY FRIEND together last night and we had such a good time that we have another date to go see the New Student Cabaret together next Friday! This is all good, since not only does it give me time to spend with this person i enjoy, but Peter is so busy at his new job, he has not time for such outings right now and I get to have adventures with a friend! And the great thing about being with James is that we talk so deeply and well about the things we see in each class,
in each student, and he knows so much more than I do about the delicacies of the voice and music as written, that I am able to learn from him, as he says he learns from me in different ways, so the conversation is never dull...in fact, it's stimulating in a way I appreciate. Plus which, he has a wicked humor, and i do enjoy that. We laugh at the world in the same way.

We enjoyed our BOY FRIEND adventure last night. The production was energetic and I love seeing the Steinhardt kids dancing. It was at the famed old Provincetown Playhouse, which is now owned by NYU, and as I sat there, I wondered if the ghosts of Eugene O'Neill and his infamous cohorts were enjoying the bright young energies that were filling the space they had done such classic work in decades ago. I can never walk into the Provincetown without feeling a mild reverence toward what went on there way before any of us were born! The leaps forward in the American theater that took place there...the sheer daring of the new writing O'Neill and his pals represented...the shift in the world of arts and letters represented by the odd and gifted souls who made up that group of uncomfortable and brilliant writers, actors and musicians. The intrigues and courage.

When I taught a few classes in that space recently, I made sure the class heard the history of the place. It's important that they know where they come from.

Today, Peter is at work all day at a day of recruiting interviews for Inductis and that leaves me with time and space to get some cleaning done around here. YAY! The Red Dining Room is stellar and our new ceiling fictures are on their way from Home Depot. Soon, things shall be in their places and we can begin to actually plan and cook for our lustrous Turkey Day Dinner! I keep watching the Food Channel to get ideas, amd they are so much fun to watch, those food personalities...they make it all look so fun and easy and festive...I find that I appreciate the foods I eat more, lately, because of watching them work at preparing various dishes. And I do want this Thanksgiving to be a good and tasty one for all. We have a nice mix of friends coming so far. And more yet to answer our E-Vite.

Well, I had better get to work on this place of ours....I will crown all my efforts off today with the purchase of a couple bright new colorful chrysanthemum plants to put outside our door! Deep orange or burnt rust colors for Fall! (Though the climate is like a late Spring day today...are we ruining the planet?) I shall pretend it is chilly!

....as if it were Spring or Early Summer...sunny, cool and warm at the same time...just beautiful...a gift....wrapped in global warming...ah well...much like everything else on this human plane of ours: contradictory in nature....something to be sad and glad about at the same time...like the latest poiltical developments in this great land of ours: after the Tuesday elections, the Democratic Party has gained control of both the US House and Senate, for the first time in over a decade.... giving heft to the notion that President George Bush has made a lot of people angry and upset over the country's various problems, not the least of which is of course the war in Iraq...so, "our side" is in the ascendency once more and the reason i say it is both a happy and sad thing is that, if history is any sort of teacher, it has taught us that no matter which party is in control, human world events seem most often very much out of our control. no matter how hard we strive to make it otherwise...SO...in days to come, you can expect the Democrats to take all the hits that the Republicans are now taking...it may take a Presidential term or two, but one day, as the pendulum swings, the Republicans will be back in control, and they will be blaming their opposites for all the ills of the planet...and so it goes...nothing ever really seems to change , in the way of the human dance of life....we dance and dance and it is always awful and always gorgeous and always hopeless and always hopeful...and that brings me back to the deep wisdoms of Buddhism.

Paul and Steve are once more out on the West Coast, visiting San Francisco and scouting out possible houess to buy. They are looking for a two- family house, so that Peter and I can share the place with them , if and when we decide to make the move out there as well. This seems so impossible to conceive of at the moment, but in the rare moment of clarity, it also seems like the next great life adventure.....moving to San Francisco...I mean, truly, why not? Once again, my Personal History has taught me that anything is possible. That, in fact, even the most impossible things turn out to be true. So, since Peter and I love San Francisco and its surroundings, and since NYC holds so little charm for either of us these days with its noise and dirt and crowds , we have begun to talk about what it would be like to live by the other ocean!

And , somehow, the notion of West Coast living seems more consistent with pursuing deeper Buddhist studies. Perhaps that is because along with the idea of moving to the West Coast comes the notion of letting go of all that has been heretofore familiar in my over-worked, busy and concerned life...that to move away from here means to move away from all that...to move toward the vast Pacific means moving literally toward Peace...and I connect leaving here with leaving the tangle of all that has concerned me up to this point in my life: show business, teaching , pushing to get where I want to go, singing for my supper (so to speak)...obligations and ought-to's...better-hads and if-you-don't's....moving West may mean to me moving well.
If I stop to consider, I do think that is in my mix of thoughts as I consider a move. Wellness.

Escape? Why not?

Meanwhile, D.C.is a Democratic town once again, and i can only imagine the high spirits filling the Foggy Bottom....now, if those energies can translate or transmute into actual compassionate action, we will have voted well.

...is what we are experiencing today: yesterday, from dawn til midnight, this City was drenched in a thorough downpour of some of the wettest rain i have ever been out in! I mean umbrellas were practically useless (though my sturdy little black folding one held up miraculously, even through a windy walk through Washington Square Park!!) and finally, you just had to give up and accept that you were going to be wet, no matter what...it was an enormous sweeping rain storm and it lasted all day long. But:

TODAY is sweetly sunny, cool but pleasant, clear-aired and delightful. And, yet again, slightly on the warmish side, considering how November it is....a touch of tropical....so bewildering. And once again I notice how sunshine affects my mood. Whereas there was a certain Dickensian coziness in the atmosphere of yesterday's storm , not to mention it being a perfect day to work on the Chekov scenes we are doing in acting class, this sweet pleasant sunshine is a cheering thing. And I am glad for it. With the mess of stuff we have to accomplosh in this home of ours before we entertain Thanksgiving guests, a little sunshine seems to provide the extra energy needed to get it all done. I hope we have this sunniness for a few days anyway.

The new Red Dining Room is quite beautiful. And we have ordered two new styles of ceiling lamps to try, and the one we don't use in the Red Room we will use elsewhere in the apartment. This little note is for Anne J: we also discussed stenciling quotes on our new red walls like you did in your stunningly gorgeous Dining Room in Abingdon, but our quotes would have to do with food and music and love (..."If music be the food of love, etc....) but we realized we need you here to do that for us! Neither Peter nor I have the expertise (nor time...) right now...and it would be so gorgeous! So, our thoughts of such decor are an homage to you,dear much missed Ann!

E-vites went out last evening to our Thanksgiving Dinner....at least the first wave of them....it all looks pretty impossible to accomplish right now, with the mess the apartment is, but I actually have no doubts it will be wonderful, and that, as usual, we will accomplish all we need to do, and the dinner will be great. The important thing is to create a warm and loving atmosphere for people to enjoy "family" in...i woke up with the idea of making our Meditation Room the official football room, so people who want to go watch games and drink and snack will have a nice place to do that in...we have the space....we should use it!!!

I am having lunch with Bill W. today, and there is a list of things I want to discuss with him, ranging all the way from official (yet unofficial) policies on absences from class to more on the subject of acting teaching/vocal training we're all in the middle of discussing. Bill and I never have a lack of stuff to talk about....what I need to do is focus our conversation so i can keep learning more about what our "mission" at Steinhardt is. And then, as a teacher there, I can serve it better.

My personal goal is to free the student up as much as possible, to make them remember and understand the power of a calm, relaxed approach to their highly charged and emotional work. That whereas technique is paramount, it is not all there is to be concerned with. That personal memory and emotion are necessary and free access to both those things will serve them well.
How to do that and not get in the way of the fullest, most technically supported vocal production: that's the question on the table now. Essentially: if you reach the emotional center of a song, and it renders you unable to sing because you are weeping, then of course the point is to be able to sing...but where and when do you draw the line...how much vocal fullness do you sacrifice in service to dramatic truth...and when is it too indulgent. These are wonderful and interesting questions to think about. And in no way do i ever want to undermine the terrific work the voice teachers are doing. So I want to keep talking about it until I know how to do the best teaching i can do. Today's lunch with Bill W.: I would like it to be about that.

Meanwhile, the sun shines and tomorrow night, James C. amd I will go see Steinhardt's production of THE BOY FRIEND at Provincetown Theater. I could literally go to a performance every single night of the week downtown if i had the time and energy. And if I lived closer, I would go to more. But...well...there is this new red painted hurricane that just blew through our home and i feel the need to pay some attention to it! So, enough of this morning writing indulgnece,...I have to clear up some piles of stuff!!! So many piles! So little time!!!

...in the small ways that I am able to on a daily basis...in this world where Might is again equated with Right, and where doubt is viewed (by all the sad men who run our country) as a dastardly lack of patriotism ....where Death is used as the final threat in a War against people who view Death as glorious thing, and since we cannot understand that, we cannot understand them....in a world where Peace is viewed as weak....what on Earth can I i do to ever truly help?

By doing what it is within my power to do: show younger artists where their powers lie within them, and help guide them towards using those powers in a way that will help heal pain and strife. And so, I am making a long day of it downtown today with not only my class, but helping the realization of a student's Recital as well...we just worked for an hour on the scenes from WEST SIDE STORY she is doing as part of her program, and will work again tonight at the actual performance venue on Barrow Street...this is a talented and good young actress...and she is working with other good talents as well, so it really is more a pleasure than anything else...it's just so tempting to want to go home and help Peter figure out how we are going to arrange the furniture in our gorgeous new RED Dining Room!!! It really does look fabulous...now, where are we going to put the table? And the piano (which is going to look so sexy in all its shiny blackness once we take off all its dust covers)? And all the other things we need in that room....basically, we want to keep it as spare and simply luxurious as possible. And we have yet to find the right ceiling light fixture. But we are shopping on line a lot for just the right look.

But, we shall get to all that later this week....today I am devoting to NYU...and that is that!!! And i love it down here. And am ever grateful for the opportunities Bill W. is giving me to teach these wonderful students. It's simply that I truly don't feel like working at much of anything lately! Not that I am a lazy bum...far from it! But I want to do what I want to do! Meditate, read, take long walks....go on long retreats in pretty places....Anything that does not require taking subways or bumping into large crowds of human beings! Or rehearsing. I think maybe I have had all I want of rehearsing. At least for now. I wonder what the root word of "rehearsing" is?

ANYWAY.....i don't teach until 2:00 tomorrow afternoon, so I can spend the morning wallowing in my messy home and figuring out what to keep and what to throw away, and what to put where......the sheer intense beauty of the Dining Room walls is so pleasing, i may just go sit in there on the floor for a while and let ideas come to me in whatever meditative state evolves in that new room...it is tremendously inviting, and our Thanksgiving party will be lovely there. I saw all sorts of gorgeous table decor yesterday on my long walk to and from Staples (where i worked on printing the next play for my 4610 Group) and I may just indulge myself and really get some pretty new stuff for our Holiday table......I want that room to shine!

It is practically tropical in its warmness outside today....where in the world is Fall and Winter and how can people say that Global Warming is not a problem? It has been an odd succession of warm, moist, then instantly chilly days and nights, followed by more warmth and humidity. The destruction of this planet is an inevitable thing, since nothing ever stays the same and change is all there is for sure....so to assume we are not doing damage is one more arrogant thing we all indulge in: lying to ourselves. We are all so good at that. This dream we live in.....

Got very sweet notes from both Lynn A. and Steve F. about the FAVORITE YEAR work...such nice people. And such deeply gifted people as well....I was glad to work with them. One more thing I can take off my "list"...you know that list of things we want to do in our lives? Working with that particular writing team was on my list, and now I have....also working with Steven Spielberg is on there, but that probably will not happen...at least in this lifetime. Oh well.

Okay, enough of this rambling...time to find a nice comfortable place to read in this vast and gorgeous NYU Library and settle down until time to get back to work with my recital folks.....we will not work too late! But for now...bye.....

And so it was: Doug Sills, Jen Gambese, Mary Stout, Gerry Vichy, Beth Leavel, Brad Oscar, Alan Muraoka, Lynn Ahrens, Steve Flaherty, David Holcenberg, and so many gifted others...there we all were, sitting around some put-together tables on the 7th floor of the Dramatists Guild on Broadway, and we were all in totally creative work and rehearsal mode...the entire process was, in fact, process oriented, so there were no nerves, no having to prove anything, no tacit assumptions that this was any sort of audition for anyone or anything...in fact, when we did the final read-through, there were no other people in the room, except for Steve's significant other, whose opinion he respects...we were each others' audience from beginning to end, and we watched as we each became familiar and comfortable with the pages in front of us...it was so respectful, so truly creative.

As a result, the new work on the show got a good showing and we all had a really good time. It was so easy and congenial, Lynn even felt okay about giving me an entire new verse of Belle's song to try right before we began...she wanted to spring it on her co-workers as a surprise, and the lyrics were so clever and helped further the character so much, that it was a hit: sort of like a mini-opening, of at least some new lyrics...exciting and fun...that's how much we all trusted each other. That was nice. I truly loved sitting next to Doug Sills, who is so handsome and sexy and has such a great spirit and singing voice...he was delectable as "Alan Swann"...truly. And such a nice guy!

I'm so glad that Lynn A. asked me to be a part of that process.

Last night, I went down to NYU to work with some students on a recital I promised I would help with, and that was fun too! It's Stephanie Barnum's Senior Recital and she is so beautifully voiced and such a good actress...I discovered that when I saw her in John Simpkins' production of URINETOWN at NYU...John got wonderful work out of her in the role of young romantic lead, and I walked away from that fabulous production impressed by her skills ...she has put a section into her recital (as they are all required to do I think) from an American Musical and she chose WEST SIDE STORY, so we are working on scenes from that, and she has chosen such talented classmates to help her! We worked for several hours and made some good progress...her recital is on November 11th. This is fun, to watch these students grow so beautifully, and to be able to help them in any way.

Our Dining Room renovation is underway and we feel so good about it: fresh plaster and new paint do wonders....(that reminds me: I have to get a manicure and pedicure soon!) The walss will soon be a beautiful ruby red color, and when we find the right ceiling light, it will be a peaceful and elegant room. Perfect for Thanksgiving!

In other words, we are re-doing our Dining Room! And tomorrow afternoon, work will begin replastering and repairing the ceiling and walls, and then fresh, deep coats of a wonderful red will go on the (now yellow) walls! And we shall choose a new ceiling chandelier, and hang certain art work we have, and sort the creative clutter that has been housed there and poof!!! We will have a lovely Thanksgiving Dining Room for our dinner party! This will be a nice "lift" for the Holidays, and sort of a celebration of Peter's new job downtown!

Peter's folks have returned to Michigan and their visit was wonderful, as usual. I like these people so much, and would enjoy them even if I had not married into their family. They are kind and dedicated people, full of faith and love of others. Theirs is a positive outlook on life, and their kindness is a lesson to me every time i am with them. And every time we have the chance to visit with each other, it's always cozy and familiar and good.

Worked on MY FAVORITE YEAR yesterday morning, up until i had to go teach Song Analysis, and it was a good morning. Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty are gifted and exciting writers, and I simply like them as people , as well. A generous and welcoming energy comes from them both. The room at the Directors Guild offices on Broadway was filled with familiar faces, talented voices and high energy, as we explored the work page by page. Doug Sills seems the ideal "Alan Swann" to me, though perhaps too young, and his charm and voice are delightful to be near. Deeply theatrical and sexy energy from this talented man. Beth Leavel, an old pal from JAZZ SINGER days at Jewish Rep, is simply wonderful in the role created by Andrea Martin, and we shared a warm hug, as we giggled over memories of working on the Lower East Side. Another old friend Mary Stout is there reprising her roles she did at Lincoln Center, and it was so good to be with her again. We have shared many a time in this business. The work was fun, efficient and, hopefully, helpful to the writers. Joe Daugherty, the book writer from LA seems a nice man. The rest of the round table reading group was filled with Broadway veterans from tons of shows, and who I did not know personally, i certainly knew by name and face. Brad Oscar, Gerry Vichy, Jen Gambetese (who introduced herself as an old NYU alum), and others. Nice people all. We spend one more day on it tomorrow and then that will be that. A nice, short, small experience. And hopefully, i will have been of some help to them.

Paul and Steve go to San Francisco for two weeks starting tomorrow. They will be home in time for our Thanksgiving celebration.

Thanks to all you guys out there who have replied to my request for questions you have about subjects you want to know more about. Please keep the questions rolling in. I am making a list.
Now...back to clearing out our soon-to-be-renewed Dining Room! YAY!