Garett Hawe as Davey in Newsies

 

Many people might know that this show was sort of “thrown” into my schedule. On September 7, Garett asked me when I was seeing the show next and I answered September 28th. By the time the next person asked me when I was seeing the show again, I was answering with September 18. I knew there was no way I could wait three weeks again.

I got home that night and ordered my ticket. I would sit Orchestra Left, B 05, and it would be an amazing view. I was excited, and counting down the days already.

When I got to the theatre, I was flipping through the playbill and “discovered” that one of my wishes would be coming true:

At this performance, the role of Davey will be played by Garett Hawe.

I looked over at my friend, Sydney, and told her straight up that I was going to cry during this show. I was right.

First off, all the new guys are awesome! Nicholas Lampiasi is absolutely adorable, and he and Garett really seemed like brothers. David and Jacob Guzman were great dancers and fit right in. Iain Young shocked me. He did such an amazing job. I’ve always watched the role of Henry because of Jasmine, so I was sure to pay attention to how he did in the role, and I loved it! I was very impressed, and I hope she will be too!

I miss the original Oldsies, but Tom Alan Robbins did a good job stepping in for Kevin (here’s hoping the best Teddy I’ve ever seen gets well soon! Take care of yourself!), and LaVon Fisher-Wilson plays Medda a little harsher and tougher than Capathia did, and it will take me some time to get used to that, but it was good. I look forward to seeing her performance at least a few more times!

But back to the particulars of last night…I did a really good job holding it together watching Garett’s performance. He played the role so well, and I noticed a few subtle things about his performance that I really appreciated. For example, after he first buys his papes, he did a great job copying Corey’s Jack Kelly selling strategies with slightly more obvious looks at Corey on stage than Ben usually uses. Just before the World Will Know, Garett pulled off the change of heart scene for Davey. Still, I was able to hold it together.

Watch What Happens is one of my favorite songs in the show. It’s my go to song anytime I have writer’s block or any time I need to pump myself up, and Kara did not disappoint. I loved watching her performance yet again! And I still wasn’t crying! Yes!!!

And then everything changed. Basically, once Garett started singing Seize the Day, I was a wreck. I was crying and smiling so much (Sydney said that if she didn’t know better she would have thought I was related to him in some way…I think that’s the motherly-side of me. I get that way about people I’m attached to, like Garett and Jack and Brendon and Corey and all of my students).

Garett did such a great job with Seize the Day, you couldn’t help but love his performance! And the Newsies were nailing every step of their dances and the harmonies were exquisite. It was absolutely amazing to watch, and they really did an amazing job. I seriously believe that last night might be one of my favorite performances of Seize the Day EVER! It definitely helped that Jack Scott (who was playing Albert and Bill–Garett’s track) saw me in the seats and threw BOTH of his newspapers directly at me…literally. They were line drives to me (thank goodness I played sports growing up, and was able to catch it without it bouncing into someone else’s lap!). At intermission, I had to ask my friend if she thought that it was supposed to be directly at me, or if I imagined the whole thing.

I clutched my newspaper as I tweeted and caught up on the twitter news during intermission, and then I got to talk to the lovely women sitting next to me. I’m pretty sure I was just added entertainment for them, talking about how amazing the show is and how sweet the cast members are, and I convinced them to stage door after the show!

Of course, the lights flashed and the music began, and the audience was transported back to 1899…I really love King of New York. It’s absolutely fabulous to watch the cast tap away, and they all have so much skill! I loved seeing Kara Lindsay’s timid tap as Katherine, and the Guzman brothers do the first two table solos, followed by Mike’s stunning and glorious nerve tap (it truly fascinates me to no end…I love this part of the show). My other favorite part of King of New York only happens when Garett is playing Albert, because for some reason the way he sings “Nobbin’ with all the muckety-mucks, I’m blowin’ my dough and going deluxe” while crossing to the chair, sitting down, and crossing his legs in mid-air makes me smile. I don’t even bother trying to understand it, I just accept it. It’s wonderful. Jack always does a good job when he plays that role, but that part isn’t as momentous to me when it’s not Garett.

Shortly after King of New York, another of my favorite songs is performed. The reprise of Watch What Happens is such a fun song to sing along with on the recording and it’s a little sassy at times. But there’s that one part (you know, the one all the fansies swoon over because Ben “riffs” it in the backstage rituals YouTube video and annoys Andrew to no end) that has always gotten me (because that part is the most fun to belt, too). And Garett nailed it, and I promptly burst into tears because it was perfect. Thank goodness Sydney was there with me, tossing tissues into my lap every so often.

I got it together for the rest of the show, and then Once and For All started, which is the song I ALWAYS cry during. Every time. Even when I tell myself, “Hey, Stephanie. I have a great idea: let’s not cry tonight? Maybe we can get some pictures where your eyes aren’t red and puffy!”. I can’t help it. I’m even quoted talking about it on Jonathon Mandell’s blog, New York Theater. So of course, the tears started to fall again.

After the show, I got to the stage door and waited patiently, talking to people and reveling in the emotions of the show. Jack Scott was the first one out, and when he got to me, I asked him if I could get a picture with him and the pape he threw me. He laughed and was just as happy about it as I was (well, not really…I was way happier than I can ever say). He apologized for the “line drive” and said that he had seen me in my seat and wanted to make sure I got it!

Jack Scott, Me, and the pape he tossed me. This guy is so nice, and absolutely adorable! (Also…he’s ridiculously talented!!!

Jess LeProtto was there shortly after Jack, and told me he saw me wiping tears away during the show. I guess the guys really can see the first couple of rows of the audience (hopefully, they think I’m a good audience member).

When Garett came out, he gave me a hug and thanked me for the little goodie bag I gave him. I got to congratulate him on an amazing performance, and I had him sign my ticket (which I had Brendon do back on July 2), my playbill, and the newspaper Jack threw me. Then he was sweet enough to  take a picture with me.

Garett Hawe and I! He was a star! And he’s ridiculously inspiring!

Basically, this night is way up there on my list of all-time favorite nights!

 

Trying to be back…

 

Getting back into the swing of the school year is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It’s my second year serving at my school, so I anticipated that things would be a little easier.

And in some ways, things are a little easier, which is nice. I’m more comfortable with the school environment. I’m more confident tutoring the students, despite the subject.

However, in many ways, things aren’t any easier. There are always students in my classroom, which I love, but sometimes I feel like I’m running a question-answering marathon. It’s exhausting to switch back and forth rapidly between subjects. I barely get a breath between answering a trig question and an Algebra 1 question. Fortunately, some students are getting help from my coworker, slowly but surely, and the pressure is slowly being lifted.

The end of the day comes quickly, and I’m always grateful for it. It’s nice to get out of the classroom and walk the streets of New York (which are no longer echoing with the voices of Newsies). Sometimes, I walk to the further train station, enjoying a few extra precious minutes outside before clambering back underground.

The ride home on the train is tough…no one wants to wait an hour before they can get home. One day, I hope I can apparate…but I’m just a Muggle, so it will never happen. I settle in with a book or “Newsies Got Swag” (I’ve just about got the rap down! I have to double-check a couple of lyrics with Bres, but I’m close!).

By the time I get home, I hopefully have a few minutes to sit and do nothing before community prayer and dinner start, and then its time to clean up and get ready for bed.

When night comes, and it’s time to lay down my head, I toss and turn. As grateful for the end of the day as I am, I’m excited to get back to work and to serve my students.

 

My Last Night in NYC

Last wednesday was my last day in NYC for he next two and a half weeks. We’re down to just two weeks now, and I still haven’t told you guys what I decide to do on my last night in the city.

Honestly, most of you probably already know what I did, because I think at least 70% of my readers follow me on twitter. The other 30% is a collection of family, friends, and other WordPress users who don’t follow me on twitter. (comment below and tell me which you are! 😊)
Anyway, for those of you still interested in this story, I asked “What do I want to do on my last night in NYC?” I don’t know why I even wasted the time asking. Everyone (and I dI in fact mean everyone. Even the Newsies cast members and security and merchandising) knows exactly what my answer was.

NEWSIES!

Yes, that’s right. I wanted to leave NYC on a high note, so of course I would have to see Newsies. I invited a friend’s sister to tag along, and she did, so I wasn’t alone.

Of course, most of Wednesday was spent putting the finishing touches on my room and my packing. With the anticipation of seeing Newsies, though, I was done packing really early, and had an hour to spare before I could even check in for my Southwest flight.

Side note: Why is it that time drags on when something exciting is coming up? We really need to figure this out.

 

Of course, since I was done packing early, I was ready to leave early, because I had so much extra time to get ready. So I headed out, hoping that spending some time on the subway would mellow me out and calm me down. It didn’t.

I was still a hyper mess when I got to Times Square, but I resisted the urge to go straight to the theatre. It was barely 4:15pm. The matinee wasn’t even over yet.

I had recently been upgraded to a Starbucks Gold Card Member, so I thought I’d work at maintaining that privilege. That stalled me for about 15 minutes. I don’t think I’ve ever been so grateful for a long line before.

I walked past the theatre again, only to see that the show finally had been let out, and there was a huge crowd of people waiting for autographs. I was able to take a picture of one family under the sign, which was actually really exciting. It’s the only picture they have in NYC of all three of them! I talked to them about Broadway a little bit, and then they left to catch a dinner reservation.

I wandered back and forth along the street for a bit and then I settled myself at the front of the SRO line to wait for Anthea to arrive and the lotto to happen.

As it turns out, I didn’t need to get in that line. My name was called! I won lotto tickets! And a couple guys from the show saw that I won lotto tickets and gave me thumbs up!

Anthea and I went to Schnipper’s to get dinner before the show, and it was absolutely delicious! I definitely want to go back there soon. It was so good!!!

Anthea and I were the first people in the theatre, and we got all settled and really enjoyed the show from out 4th row seats! SO AWESOME! We even got to move over three seats for the second half. The show was amazing as always, but the best part was the curtain call.

Everything went very smoothly until Jeremy came out. He slipped a slid feet first, rolled himself over and stood up to continue running to the center of the stage. He played it off very well as if nothing had gone wrong, but a couple of the guys (Jeremy included) had huge grins on their faces. They were definitely getting a kick out of the fact that Jeremy ate it on stage.

After the show, I stage doored as always, and took pictures with a couple of the guys. I had everyone who came out sign a white Ivy Cap (similar to a Newsies hat) that I had to commemorate my 10th show.

NOTE: Pictures will be posted, but I forgot my cord to connect my camera to my computer…so it’ll have to wait!! 

UPDATE: See the stage door pictures by clicking here.

Five Fabulous Friday Favorites July 13, 2012

Here’s a list of some favorite things from the past week!

Favorite Concert Moment:

Can I just say that Garett Hawe and Eric Hatch dancing back-up for Steffanie Leigh’s Britney Poppins was spectacular?

Favorite Lunch Treat:

Sushi with Meagan for my first lunch in CA!!!

Favorite Plane Drink:

My favorite drink to get on an airplane is Ginger Ale (and water of course).

Favorite Summer Video:

This video captures glimpses of Andrew Keenan-Bolger’s summer, but it looks like what everyone wants in a summer experience!

Favorite Twitter Moment:

Garett Hawe favorited my tweet. He’s one of my favorite Newsies, and the “Meet the Newsies – Albert” video is super inspiring. I’ll be watching it all summer.

I was so surprised when Garett favorited this tweet! He is awesome and very inspiring!

Hope you enjoyed! Share your Friday Favorites in the comments below!!! Thanks all!

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Farewell NYC, See Ya in 18 Days!

Today is tragically sad and awesomely happy. Today is the day I leave NYC, hence the tragically sad. Today is also the day I go back to California to visit family and friends before heading to Chicago for Orientation, which makes it awesome.

Over the past several months of living in NYC, I have realized that I really like it here. I REALLY LIKE IT. I sort of knew that I would, but I was still surprised at how much happier I am in big city NYC. Now, I do have, as Jack Kelly (always have to have a Newsies reference) says, a big strong door to lock it out. But I think I’d even like it if I didn’t and struggled more. NYC has so much life, and so much diversity. There’s always something going on, and I never really feel bored except when I make myself stay home and get chores done. And then I’m bored because I’m all worn out from doing stuff all day that I don’t have the energy to leave at night. Also, the 1 hour+ subway ride is far from fun late at night.

I love the theatre district (aka Times Square). I love the 86th street, Lexington Ave area. I love Central Park. I love the East Village and Greenwich Village. I love Hell’s Kitchen. New York is filled with all of these wonderful things that I like.

NYC has Schmackary’s, aka the best cookies in the world despite my student’s claims that Insomnia has the best cookies. Schmakary’s is delicious and not too expensive. They have cookies and cream cookies. They have ice cold milk. They make ice cream sandwiches out of the cookies right in front of you if you want one.

NYC also has Newsies The Musical on Broadway. And I can go see the show whenever I want for a mere $30. Even if Newsies were to go on tour, that wouldn’t be the case anywhere else in the world. Now, most of you probably understand the importance of Newsies being in NYC for me. I’ve been waiting for this musical ALL MY LIFE. I loved the movie, and dreamed of the day it would finally be on stage. I move out to NYC for my volunteer program, and suddenly it is. My dreams are coming true. I love every single cast member in this show. Anytime I try to figure out who my favorites are, I suddenly end up with a list in alphabetical order of some 36 different people (there are 36 people in the cast). I love seeing the show no matter who’s on. I get excited when I get to see Jack Scott and Michael Fatica go on. I hope I will one day be able to see Caitlyn Caughell go on. I regret that I never got to see Maddy Trumble go on. Basically, Newsies is a happy place for me. I get days of happiness out of a few hours in the theatre.

NYC has lots of delicious ethnic food, and I can go try it whenever I want. Sometimes its hard to find someone to go with me, but I love that the option is there.

I love that I can go to Central Park and wander around for hours or sit and watch softball.

I love NYC.

Sometimes, I miss home. I miss small-town Petaluma, CA. I miss my sisters. I miss my parents. I miss my grandparent I miss my aunts, my uncles, my cousins. Sometimes, I miss college. I miss smaller Moraga, CA. I miss my friends. I miss my professors. I miss my jobs. I miss my classes. I miss the campus. But I don’t want to go back to either of these places forever. Not that I want to stay in NYC forever, either. I don’t know about that yet. But what I do know is that as much as I love my family, and as muchas I enjoyed my college experience, I’ve moved on for now. I definitely want to go back and visit them. I want to spend time with them, and remember my college experiences, but I’m not the person I was when I left California a year ago. A lot has changed. I’ve had some pretty crazy experiences. I’ve grown a lot. I’ve developed different ideas and passions.

So leaving NYC is sad for me. At the same time, it’s exciting because I get to go home and visit with everyone and tell them all about my life, which for sure makes them really happy. But when I leave NYC, I leave a little part of my heart here, in this big city that never sleeps, with the intention of coming back for it at some point.

This time, I’ll be back in 18 days. Yes. I started my countdown before I even left the city. I’ve been watching for a few weeks how long it would be until I’d be back in NYC. That’s how much I love it here. That’s how happy I am here, and that’s why leaving is such sweet sorrow.

Until then, NYC will be down one small person, and probably won’t even notice. But that’s okay, because I’ve got at least another year to make a real name for myself here, and I want it to be a good one.

So, NYC, I bid you adieux!

 

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Newsies Softball July 5, 2012

Today was a sad day for me. It was my last time getting to see Broadway Show League Softball games until August! That’s going to be a LOOOOOOONG wait for me.

Fortunately, I did get to see Newsies play today. They had a really small team there today, but they played well. Almost everyone on the Newsies of New York team got to base at some point in the game, which was hard to do because every batter started with a 1-1 count. That meant the pitcher only needed to throw two strikes to get them out.  The Newsies hit well, and rounded the bases a few times. Their fielding was great today, too. There were a couple of balls that they didn’t quite get to, but there were definitely some moments when the Newsies skills were on it. Today, you could definitely tell that Jeremy Jordan has a little baseball experience under his belt. Brendon Stimson made a couple of good catches today. Julie Foldesi put in great effort as the catcher, and Brady pitched beautifully, covering bases as needed. Unfortunately, Once a Salesman played a little better, and we lost.

On a sidenote, Cassie (spelling might be off here, she runs the sound booth at Newsies) made a couple of killer catches for Davenport in the second game when they played against Book of Mormon!

Brendon Stimson Is Jack Kelly

Many of my friends know that after last Saturday (which you read about yesterday), the next time I was going to see Newsies wasn’t until Sunday, July 8 with Gigi (Twitter friends and fellow Fansie). Many of you also know that one little tweet from Jeremy Jordan yesterday changed all of that:

Come anyway? Psh. I wasn’t planning on coming, but you better believe I’ll be getting a ticket into this show one way or another.

The second I heard Brendon Stimson was going on as Jack, I was ready to run to the theatre, and it was barely 1pm when I found out. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve wanted to see him as Jack Kelly since I found out he was the understudy (not that I don’t love Jeremy Jordan, because I do, but I love Brendon’s acting. When he’s Oscar, I’m scared of him and don’t like his character, but when he’s out there as a Newsie, I’m in love with the adorable Ike. He’s that good). The desire was only heightened a few weeks later when I met Brendon’s mom in Times Square (What are the odds, right?), and got to talk to her about her son and how he would hopefully get to go on as Jack Kelly at some point.

Brendon’s Mom and I in the Disney Store Times Square     April 10, 2012

So of course, when I saw Jeremy’s tweet, I knew I was going to need to see the show. And then my twitter feed was just getting filled with more and more comments about Brendon being in the show, and I just kept getting more excited. I got to the theatre around 4:45 and went straight to the lotto guys and asked if I could start the standing room only line. They laughed and said yes, and followed me out to let everyone in the extremely long lotto line know I wasn’t cutting them.

I was anxious waiting there. I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to win, but I was also pretty sure that I was going to get a SRO ticket because the show was sold out on Ticketmaster. I just wanted to get a ticket in my hand. While waiting, I think I told everyone about how Brendon was going on as Jack Kelly, and how excited I was about it. Basically, some random 30-odd people who were waiting to get lotto and standing-room only tickets found out that I wanted to see Brendon as Jack Kelly. Some of them even asked if I was worried about hyping it up too much for myself (I suppose they had a point, but I ignored them).

After the excruciatingly long lotto drawing where I did indeed lose, the standing room only crowd got to move forward to buy tickets. As I was at the front of the line, the ticketing guy saw me first, and recognized me. He asked if I’d managed to find Nelson (I had), and gave me my ticket and change, and said to enjoy the show.

I then went outside to catch up with the lotto guys to get a picture with them, since I see them so often, it only seemed right to capture the moment (FINALLY):

The Newsies Lotto Guys and I

As the realization of having a ticket to see Brendon as Jack Kelly hit me, I saw Jack Scott and Kara Lindsay approach the theatre. I asked them if they could stop for a minute because I had managed to track down a copy of his trading card and wanted him to sign it. While that was happening, I told them I heard Brendon was playing Jack tonight, and that I rushed to the theatre to get a ticket to see him.

After they entered the theatre, I let myself react to having a ticket in my hand. I was definitely crying tears of joy, and I could feel all these wonderful emotions welling up inside of me. I had so much energy, I wanted to do some of the Newsies’ dances, but as I can’t dance (quite literally), I settled for walking laps around the theatre’s block for the next hour.

When I noticed Nelson, I went up and gave him a hug and said thank you for Saturday again. He asked if I was seeing the show, and I told him that I heard Brendon was going to be Jack Kelly tonight, so I had to see the show, and then Brady walked by and said that I couldn’t possibly be seeing the show. Once again, I told him I was there to see Brendon.

At this point, you can see that I was in fact truly excited about this. It’s quite possible that I was more excited to see Brendon play the role of Jack Kelly that I was before first seeing the show.

My “I get to see Brendon as Jack Kelly!” Tweet

At any rate, my excitement was justified. The show was amazing. Sure there were a couple of mistakes, but I forgot that that wasn’t how the show was supposed to go because Brendon was such a professional on the stage. For example, his first time meeting Katherine, he’s supposed to be fully dressed already. There were some, uh, difficulties getting the shirt on in time, but if you didn’t already know that (and even if you did), you didn’t notice that it was off until you relived the show on the subway ride home. He really did a great job during every single part of his performance.

Brendon’s performance was so beautiful, I literally cried during the entire show. My eyes were sparkling and I could not stop smiling. He truly commanded the audience’s attention when he was on stage. And his singing was so wonderful! I was surprised to find that I loved him singing “I Never Planned On You.” Normally, I like the song, but I don’t swoon during it. I did some hardcore swooning with Brendon singing that song. Also, his facial expressions were perfect during every single song. “Santa Fe” caused my heart to break. He did such a good job tapping into the emotions there. He matched Jeremy’s skill in that song every step of the way. I loved “Watch What Happens (Reprise),” which I always do, and Brendon definitely brought something a little different to the table with that one. And of course, “Something to Believe In” caused my heart to melt. It was so beautiful and gorgeous. I couldn’t believe it. I was stunned and  ridiculously happy and overjoyed.

I’ll definitely be on a high from this show at least until the next time I see it (Sunday July 8!!!). I was so happy and joyful during the stage door experience, and so many people came out (even the elusive Kyle Coffman, who immediately tried to say that he was 2 for 2…it’s 2 for 8, buddy, but since you asked about Jasmine’s video, I’ll let it slide), that it only added to the magic. I got pictures with most of them, which I’ll include below.

The highlight of my night was definitely much simpler than seeing the whole show. It was Brendon’s stage door. He came out, and when he got to me he said “Hey Steph, how’s it going?” He remembered me! Of course, I think I mentioned him in like 20 tweets that night (not really that many), but still. he stopped to talk to me for a minute, and I got a picture with the night’s big star and everything was right in the world. I was officially on Cloud 9, and I don’t plan on getting off anytime soon. Based on Brendon’s tweet, I think he’s feeling the same way:

Brendon’s Post “Jack Kelly” Debut Tweet

Basically, the moral of this post is “Brendon Stimson makes a fantastic Jack Kelly, so if you get the opportunity to see him in this role, JUMP ON IT! It’s totally worth it!!!” Oh, and “If you get front seats to see Brendon Stimson as Jack Kelly, I’m ridiculously jealous of you.”

Newsies Stage Door

Newsies Stage Door

Ryan Breslin

Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Michael Fatica

Jack Scott

Thayne Jasperson

The Elusive Kyle Coffman

Alex Wong

Ephraim Sykes

Andy Richardson

Mike Faist

Evan Kasprzak

Brendon Stimson after his Jack Kelly Debut!

Kara Lindsay asked me what I thought of Brendon’s performance after the show

Matthew J. Schechter

Ben Fankhauser

Jess LeProtto

The Newsies Lotto Guys and I

Brendon’s Mom and I in Times Square – April 10, 2012

Brendon’s Tweet

My “I get to see Brendon as Jack Kelly!” Tweet

Brendon’s Post “Jack Kelly” Debut Tweet

Lucky Number 7: My seventh time seeing Newsies.

The last day of June, Chris and Sophia had tickets to go see Newsies. My favorite Broadway show. When I finally found out, the night before, I decided that come hell or high water I was going to get into that show.

First off, I’d given Laurie a couple of trading cards to get signed by some of the boys for me, and I wanted to get them back.

Secondly, Lewis Grosso was going on as Les. Lewis is my favorite little broadway actor. Seriously. He’s the best and most adorable little kid ever.

Third, I just love the show and I happened to have had $30 in cash handy.

So after a quick little jaunt through the American Museum of Natural History, I went down to my favorite place in all of New York: 208 West 41st Street. As soon as I got there, I went to the box office. I’m glad they don’t recognize me yet. I asked if there was going to be standing room only tickets available for purchase after the lottery (there were) and if Laurie had dropped off my trading cards (she’d given them to a security guy).

Then I went to talk to the guys running the lotto. I needed to see the show tonight, which I told them, and I asked where the standing room only line was (even though I already knew), and got into that line, and entered the lottery.

While I waited for the lotto to happen, I saw Ryan Breslin (Bres) walk by looking all cool with his iPad and his sunglasses, then Tommy Bracco walked by with Alex Wong, and then the lotto started.

I lost. Chris lost. Sophia lost. The guy I partnered up with lost. It was quite tragic, but I was first in line for standing room, so I wasn’t too upset. When they moved us to go get our tickets, my skin was jumping. I was so excited to be seeing Lewis perform again. I hadn’t seen him since March 31, and I missed his cute sad face and the way he sings “and we’ve got Jack.”

I bought my ticket and asked about the cards. They told me neither Laurie nor Nelson had come by yet, to which I replied that I knew who Nelson was and that I would just ask him when I saw him.

After grabbing food with Chris and Sophia, we headed back to the theatre. I saw Nelson, and asked him if Laurie had given him any trading cards. He said he hadn’t seen her yet, and that he’d go check backstage for her and bring the cards to me.

I jumped in line and waited patiently, scouting out Newsies walking by. Nelson came by and told me Laurie hadn’t shown up yet, but that she might be walking by, and a few minutes later she did!

She looked happy to see me, and said that she’d get the cards to Nelson and to enjoy the show. Then Garett Hawe walked by and said hi, and I just about died right there.

Then the line started moving, and when I got to the front, Nelson asked me where I was sitting so he could bring me the tickets and I told him I was doing standing room only, and he said he’d bring me the trading cards when Laurie gave them to him.

Before the show started, I bought a new Newsies tshirt, and got Jack Scott’s trading card! Hello completed collection! Now I just need to get Lewis and Jack to sign their trading cards. I also got to talk to other people who were SRO, and give them advice on when to duck to see what was blocked by the mezzanine, which sort of bothered the guy sitting in front of me, even though I didn’t say anything about the actual plot that isn’t in the playbill  (Dude, it lists all the songs in order in the playbill, and I only referenced songs).

Then the show started and was just a beautiful as always. Newsies is filled to the brim with some ridiculously talented actors and actresses. They are all stunning and amazing every second of the show. Just after Watch What Happens, Nelson brought me the trading cards! I was so close to completing my set…just two more signatures on cards to go!

At intermission, I met more people who let me gush about how amazing the show is and how much I love the movie. Then I opened my envelope from Laurie to check out my four trading cards, only to discover a fifth! A fansie had made Laurie her own trading cards and she gave one to me! SIGNED! I was so excited!

When the second act started, I had calmed down a little bit. I was enjoying the show, watching my favorite people nail it on stage, when Nelson came up to me. “Come with me” as I started to follow he pointed to my stuff, “bring that with you.” Then he proceeded to walk me down to the fifth row in the center orchestra. “You can sit here for the rest of the show.” I just about died. I was in shock and awe, I’m not sure how I was functioning.

So I sat and cried and watched the most magical parts of Newsies (Something to Believe In and Once and For All) up close and center. My eyes are red in all of my stage door pictures as a result of this…but that’s okay because it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!

NELSON IS THE MAN! I adore him. I think he is the best thing since sliced bread. He’s ridiculously awesome. I can’t even explain how amazing I felt because of his actions that night.

I still got to the front of the stage door line, which was awesome, and I got to take pictures with just about everyone who came out.

And guess who came out? That’s right. The elusive Kyle Coffman. So we made a video of him saying hi to his biggest fan:

All in all, it was an amazing night, and I can’t wait to see the show again July 8!!!!

Jeremy Jordan

Ryan Breslin

Thayne Jasperson

Ryan Steele

Jess LeProtto

Michael Fatica

Garett Hawe

Andy Richardson

Kyle Coffman

Ephraim Sykes

Tommy Bracco

Brady

Capathia Jenkins

Evan Kasprzak

Andrew Keenan-Bolger

Kara Lindsay

Nelson

Alex Wong

Laurie Veldheer

Ben Fankhauser

June 2012 Music

In lieu of Friday Favorites, as this is the last post for June, I proudly present to you…JUNE 2012 MUSIC!

This playlist is really made up of different songs that remind me of events that have happened over the past few months since I started this journey as a volunteer.

1. California Gurls – Katy Perry feat. Snoop Dogg
2. New York, New York – Liza Minnelli
3. Chicago – Frank Sinatra
4. Eye of the Tiger – Survivor
5. New York, New York/I Love New York – Glee Cast
6. Steal Your Rock ‘N’ Roll – Memphis Original Broadway Cast
7. Phantom of the Opera – Andrew Lloyd Weber
8. Footloose – Blake Shelton
9. Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning) – Scotty McCreery
10. Drummer Boy – Justin Bieber feat. Busta Rhymes
11. Everything – Michael Bublé
12. Brotherhood of Man – Nick Jonas feat. Rob Bartlett & Ellen Harvey
13. Seize the Day – Newsies Original Broadway Cast
14. Party in the USA – Miley Cyrus
15. Life is a Highway – Rascal Flatts
16. Once and For All – Newsies Original Broadway Cast

Check out the music on iTunes HERE.

Related articles

• April 2012 Music (stephanieisms.wordpress.com)
• May 2012 Music (stephanieisms.wordpress.com)

Peter and the Starcatcher: Barnes & Noble Live Event

Barnes and Noble does all sorts of really interesting events, and the ones in New York are by far the best! That’s why last Thursday, I had an AMAZING opportunity.

Peter and the Starcatcher (5-Time Tony Award Winner) had recently released its annotated script (which is simply stunning, by the way. I think there should be one for Newsies), and B&N was hosting an event for it. They invited Ridley Pearson (author of Peter and the Starcatchers with Dave Barry, and The Kingdom Keepers) to host the event, and they brought in Director Rick Elice, and the three of the lead stars from the show: Christian Borle, Celia Keenan-Bolger, and Adam Chanler-Berat.

The format was pretty simple. Before the even started, twitter followers for @StarcatcherBway were invited to tweet in their questions. Ridley Pearson used those as a jumping block for questions to ask the cast, and he really only needed to ask three or so questions, because they were really good at telling the story of how the script came from a book, through La Jolla, to NY Theatre Workshop, to Broadway.

It was amazing seeing how connected they all are, and how they constantly give credit to each other for the show getting to where it is today. You can really see the camaraderie that defines their show come out in their interactions off stage.

After the question session, they all set up at a table and prepared to sign several copies of the script. They were all wonderful and were excited to hear what their fans had to say. They responded accordingly, and just had huge smiles on their faces the entire time. They are such a funny, warm, and welcoming group of people! It was amazing!

I was really excited to meet Ridley Pearson because he wrote the Kingdom Keepers, which is this awesome book series that my youngest sister and I just absolutely adore! It’s like mystery and adventure and excitement meet Disney.

Christian Borle is phenomenal, I’m surprised I was able to say thank you without stumbling over my words. I was so overwhelmed about being in the presence of such an amazing and impressive actor. I watch him on SMASH too, and I literally am stunned at how fabulous he is.

Celia Keenan-Bolger, big sister to Andrew Keenan-Bolger, is absolutely stunning. Girl has style, class, and an amazing voice. She can act the pants off of anyone. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: She could wear a paper bag and still look gorgeous. I definitely stumbled through my words to her, but man, she is so down to earth, and so kind to everyone.

Adam Chanler-Berat was adorable. Literally, I cannot explain him any other way. He’s funny, charming, and sweet. I was so impressed by how humble he is too! Everyone was trying to say that bringing him into the PATSC world brought the magic that was missing, and he was all bashful and shy about it, trying to credit them with the magic too. He is a winner in my eyes!

Meeting Rick Elice was almost too much for me to handle. By the time I got to him, I was already overwhelmed by all of the greatness and gratitude, and I feel like I made a fool of myself in front of him, stammering over words and sentences like none other.

Anyway, I also have some pictures from the event to share with you guys. Click on the images to make them larger!

Adam Chanler-Berat

Adam Chanler-Berat

Celia Keenan-Bolger

Celia Keenan-Bolger

Celia Keenan-Bolger

Christian Borle

Christian Borle

Christian Borle and Celia Keenan-Bolger

Rick Elice

Rick Elice and Adam Chanler-Berat

Ridley Pearson, Rick Elice, and Adam Chanler-Berat