Fabulous Fun with Friends and Food

These past few days have been filled with merriment, camaraderie, and a smörgåsbord of delicious food. I like each of these elements individually, but together they constitute a delightful time for all.

On Monday, the New York Arts Program had its annual festive holiday party! 'Twas a lavish catered affair, overflowing with joy and sweet treats. I chomped down on cupcakes, pizza, chips, cheese, crackers, et al. Most of the interns this semester showed up, along with all the advisers and even some interviewees. In fact, Michael Fentin of Albion College was in town for the occasion (interviewing for next semester), which was absolutely lovely. I got to mingle with fun folks and catch up with an old friend. To boot, a whole bunch of us gathered in the lounge afterward and watched a nice...um...Christmas movie: Mary Poppins. Christmas movie? I beg to differ...

And tonight was just as eventful...if not even more so! The day at MTC was capped off with a wonderful seminar with Lynne Meadow, the artistic director. She is a hilarious, fun, engaging woman, and I so enjoyed everything she had to say. After work, I headed over to the Ensemble Studio Theatre (EST) to see a play called Heaven Knows, because fellow NYAP interns Kevin and Sally are working on the show. Well, on the way out of MTC, I randomly asked Maddie (another MTC intern) what she was doing after work, and she said she was going to see a show at EST. Crazy - so was I! So we waltzed on over to the theatre together and waited for the show to begin.

The play was very strong and intense. I didn't love all the performances, but altogether the end result was cohesive and powerful. And of course, Sally rocked the wardrobe supervision, while Kevin assistant stage managed to perfection. After the show, we made a much-needed dinner stop at the Westway Diner. Our waiter was absolutely insane, and had quite possibly the most frightening smirky smile I have ever witnessed. Much to our delight, though, he managed to successfully split up our bills (see picture for our bewildered excitement). My Mexican chicken wrap was less than adequate, but we made up for it on the way home by stopping at Baskin-Robbins for some scrumptious ice cream - I got three scoops for the price of two! Food. Friends. Fun.

And finally, my semester has come completely full circle. You may recall that a couple of weeks into the semester, I went to a show entitled Race Music. Well, the one good actor in that play was a man named Chris Ceraso - who I subsequently have seen all around town - in subway stations and even at MTC. When I spotted him at EST tonight, I knew something was up. Well, it turns out that he is a teaching artist at MTC and the author of Heaven Knows. This man has been all over my life, and it has provided this semester with a bizarre connected thread. Thank you, Mr. Ceraso, for the memories.