We Have Come Full Circle

Well folks, the time has finally come. After 111 blissful days in the Big Apple, I must return home. Our plane flies out of LaGuardia this afternoon, so I will soon be back home in Lansing.

The past few days have been pretty wonderful - with an overabundance of full circles bringing this semester to perfect completion. It all started on Sunday morning, when Kelly and I attended mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. I first came to this church 5 1/2 years ago on Palm Sunday, during my first trip to New York. Attending an Advent mass has now brought my St. Patrick's experience FULL CIRCLE.


After picking up our final student rush tickets (FULL CIRCLE), Kelly and I attempted to eat lunch at the always-delicious Hale and Hearty Soups. This restaurant has eluded us in the past - for some reason, we can never manage to see it (even walking directly by it) and have walked blocks past it several times. Today, we attempted to eat at a location we had ne'er before been to - bad idea. We walked directly next to it, did not notice, and proceeded for 5 blocks before turning around. FULL CIRCLE. When we finally did find it...it was closed. So we sadly went to Pax Wholesome Foods instead, where I ate my final delicious chicken Caesar salad. FULL CIRCLE.


Sunday night, Kelly, Amy, and I made our final excursion to see improv at the Upright Citizens' Brigade. We waited in the cold for a solid hour and got into the show. Sadly, there was no one of great importance there, but the show was still solid. FULL CIRCLE.


Monday was a day of reminiscing and relaxation. During the day, we just kind of sat around and maybe even did a little packing. Come nightfall, Amanda, Sally, Kelly, and I ventured to the legendary Ziegfeld Theatre to see Nine in limited release - that's right, it isn't even out in Michigan yet! The film was decent - Marion Cotillard was great and "Cinema Italiano" will be stuck in my head for weeks (Guido Guido GuidoGuidoGuidoGuido!). I remember seeing this theatre when I first came to New York, so it was just lovely to finally be able to visit. FULL CIRCLE.

Tuesday was chock-full of full circles. My first order of business was to bid my final farewells to MTC and Theater Mogul. Of course, my goodbyes were long and drawn out, as I was more than heartbroken to leave these places I have loved so much. Before I left, Debra remarked that I was one of the 5 best interns she's ever had - she quickly switched that to one of the 10 best (3 of them were in the room...), but I'll still take the compliment. I reassured everyone that I would visit them during my next trip to New York - which will be no later than May. It was lovely to visit these beautiful places one last time. FULL CIRCLE.

Tuesday night, almost on a whim, Kelly and I decided to attempt the Hair lottery...again. It would be such a fitting end to our trip to see Hair one last time. Of course, my expectations were very low, given our dismal lottery record. We showed up to the lottery, and were delighted to find that there was barely anyone there! About three people in, they called out Kelly's name! They even picked me a few people later - we didn't need 'em. We got our tickets, and headed over to grab some quick dinner at the Sbarro at Times Square - where we ate our first dinner in New York at the beginning of the semester. FULL CIRCLE. Around 7:30, we entered the theatre only to find that our seats were even worse than the two times before. Fabulous.  I suggested we ask an usher if we could move - but I hate confrontation, so I made Kelly do it. The usher was surprisingly empathetic, and said we could move when the lights went down. So the show began and we sneaked to the middle of the mezzanine - absolutely perfect! We finally got to hear and see the show in all its glory. After one final dance on the Al Hirschfeld stage, we left the theatre on a high from the ultimate FULL CIRCLE.

After the show, Kelly and I wandered around Times Square for a while and said our final goodbyes. We visited the Colony one last time, purchased our final Jamba Juices (Peanut Butter Moo'd of course - hold the banana), and reminisced nostalgically atop the TKTS steps. FULL CIRCLE. This has been a semester of incredible opportunities, wonderful theatre, delectable food...and a whole lot more.

What more can I say? Some come to work; some to play. I was fortunate enough to manage both, and even learn a little in the process.

The Reign Is Over

Today marked the end of a wonderful era at MTC: both of our current productions, The Royal Family and Nightingale, closed today. Being the sentimental person that I am, I could not resist attending the closing performance of The Royal Family. I brought Kelly and Amy along with me, and we had a rick-rollicking good time. We even crashed the patron lounge and took our fair share of coffee/water/m&m's/chocolate almonds.

As for the show, I had not fully appreciated just how brilliant it is until viewing it again...but it is seriously hysterical, perfectly paced, and deeply moving. Jan Maxwell is truly a comic genius (Kathie Lee said this on The Today Show, and she was right), and I am seriously going to miss watching her catastrophic meltdown at the end of Act Two. The cast of course got a rousing standing ovation, and Ms. Maxwell and Rosemary Harris were thrown more roses than they could possibly know what to do with. I am so proud to have worked at MTC during the run of this show. It had a great run (or should I say reign?).

This night, we were all discouraged about attending UCB, since it was raining so intensely. Fallon, Lisa, Amy, and Bryce braved it and waited outside for 2 hours to get front-row seats. Kelly and I finally decided to go, and headed out way later so we would only have to wait 45 minutes or so. Upon getting outside we were delighted to find that the rain was over (see what I did there? Refer to the title of this blog post for the pun). Well, we still got second row seats, directly behind the rest of our crew. There was nobody particularly famous this week, but the monologues and improv were simultaneously hilarious and bizarrely inappropriate.

So all in all, it's been a good reign. Rain? Reign.

To Have and Have Not...

Sunday was another case of the good and the bad (well, more like the ugly actually), compliments of (respectively) the Upright Citizens Brigade and the Roundabout Theatre Company.

We kicked off the day with a visit to the theatre to see After Miss Julie. Amanda, Sally, Kellie, Kelly, and I picked up our $10 tickets and took our seats. Sadly, the lovely discounted tickets are the last good thing I have to say about the show...it was pretty awful. Sienna Miller did not deliver what the title character needed, a good 20 minutes of the play was unspoken, and there was a large table around which the characters walked at least 40 times - including one fantastical sequence in which Johnny Lee Miller pounded his fist while hopping bizarrely all the way around the room. Roundabout produced this play (along with Bye Bye Birdie...eek), so I'm not really sure what to think of them anymore. Yeah, I'll stick with MTC.

But at least the post-show activities were exciting. We trekked on up to Blockheads and had a delicious Mexican fiesta of a lunch. My nachos were spectacular. On the way home, we made a much-needed stop at Duane Reade. I can't honestly recall why we went in, but suffice it to say that we left with (between all of us) two large bags of peanut butter m&m's, a Diet Coke, two boxes of Christmas cards, a Sprite Zero, a bag of sour gummi worms, two festive holiday garlands, a box of decadent chocolate, and then some. A productive stop indeed.

And of course, the night was topped of with an always-hilarious visit to the Upright Citizens Brigade. Kelly and I chose to stand in the back, which was fine other than the two girls to my right who snuck in and slowly but surely ousted me from my prime position. So I took the passive-aggressive approach to stand directly behind them and whisper loudly to Kelly about how upset I was. Regardless, the show was absolutely hysterical. Amy Poehler showed up once more, as well as Jason Sudeikis from SNL. Both the monologues and the skits were enjoyable this time. I love being an Uptight Citizen!

It Won't Be Long Now

We have officially reached the one-month countdown to saying goodbye to New York City. Not that I will actually be counting, because that would just be tragic. There's so little time, and so much left to do...I suppose. I guess other than seeing the rest of the shows on Broadway, I don't have much planned. We'll see where the road take us.

One thing I will definitely miss (and am sad that I discovered so late) is the free improv at Upright Citizens Brigade. I returned there for a third consecutive week this past Sunday, and it was the best show I have seen yet. The troupe this time included Amy Poehler and Seth Meyers once again. Oh yeah, and did I mention Rachel Dratch?! That's right, the Rachel Dratch from SNL partook in the improv hilarity. Honestly, it doesn't even matter what she says, because I will laugh regardless. And Fallon and I took a seat on the floor, practically on the stage, so we were dangerously and awesomely close to the stars and the action. I love celebrities. I love comedy. Put them together, and I will have a good time.

Speaking of a good time, one can also be currently be found on Broadway at Studio 54, home of Carrie Fisher's Wishful Drinking. And actually, the formula is pretty much the same as UCB: celebrity + comedy = good time for Nick. Kelly and I got some wonderfully discounted tickets for $10 (!) and the house wasn't sold out, so we even got to move closer to the stage. Now I've never been the biggest Carrie Fisher fan (although I do love her work in "When Harry Met Sally", and paricularly in "Scream 3"), but she is actually absolutely hilarious. She makes fun of herself and her ridiculous life (complete with lots of Star Wars references), and focuses on her struggles with addictions and manic depression. Another amazing part of the experience was the theatre itself - Studio 54 was a nightclub back in the day, and they have kept the wooden floors and cheetah-print carpet intact. Loves it.

Well, that's that. My dad and brother arrive in the city today! And tomorrow is Thanksgiving! So lots of fun things are in store - seeing The 39 Steps tonight, going to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade tomorrow, and seeing Next to Normal on Saturday. I'm not really sure what we'll do to fill in those gaps, but we'll figure something out. It should be an exciting time.

Passtime Potpourri

These past few days have been eclectic, to say the least. It wasn't my same old routine (work-->show; repeat) - I shook it up a little bit. On Saturday I did actually have a double shift working the patron's lounge for Nightingale. But I had four hours between shifts, so I hoofed it over to Central Park to (finally) get a look at the fall foliage! And let me say I was not disappointed. Sure, it was drizzling out, but the leaves were still all sorts of lovely colors - and the rain even added to the autumnal ambiance. That is until I reached the dead middle of the park...and it started pouring. Buckets. Vats. Dams. (It was raining very hard). I could not escape it, and even though I had my umbrella, I still got a got soaked. I hope the patrons at the night performance didn't notice my soggy clothing and the faint smell of mildew...











On Sunday, a whole gaggle of NYAPers went to see improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade. On Sunday nights, there are free shows - all you have to do is wait in line for an hour so, at which I am a pro. The show is basically an hour and a half of improv - the troupe performs skits based on improvised monologues given by a person called the "monologist" (who is generally famous). This was actually my second visit to the UCB - last time there was a whole slew of famous people - lots of SNL cast members, including Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, and Bobbie Moynihan, as well as Jack MacBrayer from "30 Rock" - and the show was absolutely hysterical. This time around, the troupe didn't have any particularly famous people, although the monologist was none other than...Chevy Chase. That's right, the Chevy Chase. His monologues were actually incredibly strange and not terribly funny (and the ensuing improvs were a little sub-par as well), but being able to see Chevy Chase up close was alone worth the trip. I shall be returning very soon.

And now comes Nick's advice for the day. This one is for prospective NYC tourists: if you want to win tickets to a Broadway show via a lottery, go for Rock of Ages. I tried this on Monday, and the contest was virtually nonexistant - roughly 14 people vied for 28 tickets (at 2 per person), so everyone got in. I had my hesitations about this show, but I cannot lie - I actually liked it. A lot. It does for 80's rock songs what Mamma Mia! does for ABBA - and it even does it slightly better (although sadly without the exclamation point). The show is just downright silly, and I even recognized most of the songs! Not to mention that the vocals were absolutely phenomenal. I really went for Kerry Butler, who did Xanadu last year - I know, you wish you had seen that one, right? She was hilarious and sassy of course. And Constantine Maroulis (of "American Idol" Season 4 - back in the day when I still watched) was surprisingly great. Add to the mix the battery-powered lighters they handed out and the glittery confetti at the end of the show, and I am sold.

And finally, tonight I attended a taping of "Inside the Actor's Studio" with the Strasberg Institute - Kelly got comps, and I tagged along. The special guest was Kate Hudson, so it wasn't the most intriguing of discussions. Although I do love her work in "Almost Famous" and am super excited for "Nine". In the end though, it was just amazing to see James Lipton in the flesh - he seriously had a colossal stack of note cards and went through all of them. So look for the episode to air later this year and listen for a sustained scream during the final applause - that would be me.