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.

It'll Fill Your Heart With Christmas

Today was a festive day indeed, filled with much mirth and Christmas cheer. The events that transpired at the Manhattan Theatre Club and subsequently at Radio City Music Hall got me in a happy holiday mood.

First off, Sunil (my MTC sponsor) is out of the office until Wednesday, so I have had the honor and privilege of completing his complicated weekly reports. I did the sales summaries and daily wraps for both The Royal Family and Nightingale, as well as the weekly Subscription Report. It literally took me a full 5 hours to complete the three reports, but I did indeed do so with much success. Debra even gave me the ultimate compliment - she said with all the work I had been doing with these reports, I could pretty much work in the General Management office. Thanks, Debra!

But even better than a successful day at work was the MTC Holiday Party that followed. We at MTC take this party very seriously, particularly the Pie-Off Competition - which awards winners in both the fruit and non-fruit pie categories. A presentation accompanying each pie is required. The grand prize: the coveted Golden Spoon!

Much to my delight, the Intern Brigade entered two pies (Scotch-Infused Pecan Pie and Vegan Pumpkin Pie Shots), and we whipped up one hell of a presentation to go along with it. Inspired by the song "The Juggernaut" from The Wild Party (which MTC produced 10 years ago), we sang and danced about baking pies. Have a look at our presentation here!: Intern Brigade 2009 Pie-Off Presentation

Upon viewing the video, you can see that we delivered a polished, flawless performance...Well, shortly after all the presentations were complete (others involved readings of children's books, short skits, dance routines, and song parodies), the winners were announced. Taking the prize for fruit pies was Laurel, who performed an inspired version of The Captain & Tennille's "Pies Will Keep Us Together." And the winners of the Golden Spoon for non-fruit pies...THE INTERN BRIGADE!!!!

So the party was a rousing success. I enjoyed the lovely potluck dinner (I supplied some scrumptious scallions rolled up in cream cheese and ham - they're called (w)rapscallions) and chatting it up with the employees at MTC. I really love working with these people - so it was wondrous to be able to relax and have a good time with them.

Directly after our win, I had to rush over to the Radio City Music Hall...for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, starring the Rockettes! It was the most beautiful, extravagant thing I have ever seen: the Rockettes kicked up a storm, took a trip around Manhattan, and performed the signature Wooden Soldier routine; Santa flew in 3-D (yup, we even got glasses) and made Patrick believe!; camels and donkeys strutted across the stage for a live nativity scene; and best of all, it steadily snowed! There is no better way to get in the holiday mood in New York City. The commercial jingle for the show is as follows:

It's fill your heart with Christmas
Take everyone you love
To the Radio City Christmas Show!

Seriously, everyone should see this show. Merry Christmas! (I know, we still got some time, but I couldn't resist...)