A Real Job and My Favorite Broadway Show--Could Life Be Better?

Over Christmas break I ran into an old friend of my parents' who I used to babysit for. We chatted and caught up over bagels with his two adorable boys and when he heard about my hopes to get into publishing/art direction/illustration, he did me a whopper of a favor and got me in touch with an old friend of his who is an editor at Lemondrop--we've been e-mailing, and I just sent off my first sketches with hopes of being hired for a new long-term project there.

It's a cute little project that is sort of perfect for me--wordplay, humor, and a casual, playful style. Let's hope I'm what they want! I have to say, the logo I designed for the project ('Chicktionary') is pretty damn adorable. Check out my art blog for more.

I'm in New Jersey, at John's now. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday day lounging around in Betsy's apartment (where I maaaaay be living after our summer stint in Mercersburg. *hopesprayswishes*)--John read us Harry Potter and we all fell asleep in her living room around 3 AM.

John and I got into the city around 4 and grabbed some Starbucks (Hot Chocolate for him, Caramel Apple Spice for me--the drink we ordered at our first post-Europe meeting) before finally getting in touch with Matt Hydzik (Tony in the production and Robert's ex-student) walking the thirty or so blocks to the Alice in Wonderland statue in Central Park. We made our way back along 5th Avenue, peering in at the displays and pretty clothes and jewelry. We saw Rockefeller Center--the tree was still up!

We grabbed some quick and yummy dinner at the exorbitantly expensive TGI Friday's next to The Palace Theatre (although, I guess it is Times Square) and got into the show and our seats at the perfect time.

The show itself was magical. Matt did a spectacular job (lovely voice and so handsome!), but his leading lady, Josefina Scaglione was, unfortunately, less impressive. I fell in love with Riff, played by John Arthur Greene (although Russ Tamblyn holds a special place in my heart!) and Anita (Karen Olivo) had a massive voice and presence. The dancing was captivating and thrilling, and--of course--I cried at the end. This revival was rewritten to include Spanish--most of the dialogue between the Sharks and some verses of their songs were sung and spoken entirely in Spanish. This was totally realistic, but I'm biased towards understanding the dialogue. :P

It was an amazing night, and the cherry on top was getting the chance to meet Matt and tour backstage (we were on "The List"). He was genuinely good-natured, sweet, and enthusiastic and seemed really pleased to meet us. Not at all like I was an annoying teeny-boppery fan. :D He even offered us reduced price tickets should we desire them, as he's obviously in contact with a lot of actors in a lot of shows. I told him to look Robert up when he goes back to Sewickley--I'd love to hang out with him again.

Anyway, I need to get to bed! We're getting up early and heading to Brick to move some stuff out of their beach house. Hope you're all having a great week!

Love,

-A.

P.S. Thank you, God. You are too good.