Provo Theatre Company

Yes, well, I work for them now.

My boss Doug designed the set for Big River at PTC...(the musical version of Huckleberry Finn). So, when the scenic they hired cancelled, Doug gave Mike (the technical director and production manager) my number. He called Friday night and asked me if I wanted the job. I had seen Doug’s elevations and knew that it was a pretty scenic-heavy show, so I asked him what kind of time-frame we were looking at. He said he’d like it done by Monday, Wednesday at the absolute very latest. I laughed and then realized he was completely serious. Well, I knew they really needed help, so I told him I’d take the job and do my very best.

So, Saturday, the next day, I went in at 1 p.m. in the afternoon and left at about 1:30 Sunday morning. We got quite a bit done because Mike (the TD) and Matthew Flynn Bellows (one of the actors) helped all day. Doug actually came in and painted for the last half of the night. I went in at 6 a.m. Monday and stayed until 6 p.m. Matty helped me again that day. The set was mostly done by that time and all that was left was some detail work like painting letters on the walls and floor. Oh, we had to finish the cover of the large book that sits onstage. Tuesday and Wednesday I worked at BYU in the mornings and went to PTC from 1 p.m. or so until rehearsal at 7 p.m. I put the finishing touches on the stage Wednesday and as they began rehearsal, Mike asked to talk to me.

Mike said he really, really, really (really x 10) wanted me to be his charge scenic for the rest of the season...the rest of the season being until next summer, at least. Wow. Totally amazing opportunity. I took him up on it. I am now the Provo Theatre head scenic.

P.S. Yes, I call Matt “Matty”. Good friend---makes me laugh all the time.

Hudson

Hudson is the name of the sprayer I have been using at work for the last couple of days. Well, I'm not in the habit of naming my sprayers, but that is the brand name and I keep telling my boss Doug that we need a new Hudson. In all actuality, these little sprayers (the pump kind you use for watering plants or spraying fertilizer or something) are not very expensive, but I have become fond of this one. You see, we use it to spray very watery paint onto the stage, but they weren't really designed for paint. So, it clogs rather easily, and whoever used it before did obviously not understand the concept of letting the pressure out before you unscrew the lid. The threads are all messed up and the pumping attachment no longer attaches properly. It doesn't leak, you just have to take it apart completely to get it on and off the sprayer.

To explain why I have become so familiar with Hudson, allow me to go back a little. I went to New York City a few weeks ago, as did my boss Doug. While we were gone, my assistant scenic chose and mixed colors for the floor for our upcoming show, Holes. The head scenic always chooses the colors (we've had issues in the past) because she's really the one that knows what is going on paint-wise...among other things. Well, they had to paint the stage while we were gone, so I told my assistant (upon my return) that I wasn't upset that she had chosen and mixed the colors, because she had to. It was sort of a lie because I was a little upset that they painted the entire stage the wrong color.

Hahaha...I even know my colors by heart. The stage is supposed to be a vibrant yet desert-ish yellow with reddish brown shadows painted into it. My assistant chose the colors Desert Sunset (a VERY light tan...practically an off-white) and Cinnamon-something, a grayish dark yellow. Well, thank goodness she realized that Cinnamon-something was the wrong color, so she added pigment and made it brighter and closer to what we needed. The yellow was supposed to be the base color for the floor, but for some reason, they used the tan as the base color and used Fixed Cinnamon-something to add a little texture. When they started to focus lights on it, the entire stage washed out to almost white and looked completely flat.

Another problem was that the platforms they built were not black when they painted the floor, so some of it looked opaque (on the wood), and some of it wasn't (on the black floor). It was splotchy and gross. My first job was to fix that and make sure that the floor around the gaff tape was opaque...because it just looked terrible otherwise. I spent a few days with a roller trying to fix all the taped places where they had added and taken out traps and things. Blech. Then, came the time to make the stage yellow.

Being the cunning scenic I am, I noticed that Fixed Cinnamon-something was actually quite similar to a color called Galena Gold. So, I mixed some of that and set out to spray the whole stage with my new color. I had to spend a while getting the consistency right and figuring out the quirks of the sprayer for the first couple of days. I was very frustrated. To say the least. Well, and lots of other things have been going on, so I was pretty desperate for SOMETHING to work and be right and the sprayer just wasn't cooperating. I fought with it and the lighting people (who took four days to hang and focus...FOUR DAYS!) for about five or six days to try to get the stage to look better. I mean, I wasn't working on that non-stop...I couldn't while the stage was dark...but it was a long, drawn out thing.

Finally, yesterday, I got the stage yellow enough. Throughout the whole process, I hated the stage. I mean, I was almost at Music Man-blue-floor-hatred because I couldn't get it right. I really considered not getting tickets for it and just telling my roommates they could have all my comps and discounts...but I just kept going.

Today, however, was glorious. Redemption. I mixed the brown (called Heartwood) and put it in the sprayer and put the shadows and dirt all over the stage. It looks fantastic. I have hope for this show again. It was such a relief to see it actually have some depth and life. Everyone who saw it (having seen the blah it had been for two weeks) was very impressed.

Hudson and I have a love/hate relationship. I pretty much know how to run it, but still...it causes me quite a bit of trouble. The more I work with it, the more efficient and familiar with it I become. But, Hudson made the stage beautiful today in a way only a sprayer could.

Today was my first good day in a long time. And ALIAS is on tonight. For two hours. Hoo shah.

Highlights from New York City:

Attendees:

Doug --- BYU Technical Director; theatre instructor
Jennifer --- interested in scenic art and scenic design
Melissa --- interested in production design for film
Sarah --- grad student; BYU makeup instructor; costume, hair and makeup designer
Susan --- interested in costume and scenic design


SATURDAY APRIL 23, 2005

first night in the hotel:

So nice. See, we booked rooms at this place called the Wellington, but we didn’t get into Manhattan from JFK airport until 1:00am and they had given our rooms away because they didn’t think we were coming. So, for the first night, they set us up in this hotel across the street...I don’t remember what it was called. It was sooo nice. The shower was the best part. After the fiasco in my apartment on Friday night (oh my...so not good) it was very nice to have hot water that I could adjust according to temperature. Heh...rockin’.

SUNDAY APRIL 24, 2005

Church in Manhattan & visiting with Doug’s friends:

Quite enjoyable. The church building was two stories...something you don’t see often for an LDS chapel. It was a beautiful brick building surrounded with trees…right at the tip of Manhattan Island. All the people were very kind. Doug, my boss who sponsored and guided the trip, knew many people from the ward and had a good time catching up. After church, we went to the Briens’ apartment, a bunch of Doug’s old friends came over, and we all had sandwiches together. It was really great to talk to LDS New Yorkers because there aren’t that many of them. It was great to see their apartment too, and the Ortons’ apartment. After the Briens, we went to the Ortons’ in the same building, three floors up. He is currently the tour manager for Wicked and was working on getting us some tickets. We met his wife and three little daughters.

on the subway to church:

Public transportation is really a great idea. I loved the subway---and I loved that you could ride it anywhere in the city. It was a little creepy late at night...not that bad things happened, but that it was easy to imagine bad things happening.

outside the church building:

Here we are. From left to right, Sarah, me, Doug, and Melissa. Susan was sick that day, so she stayed at the hotel.

and, outside the church building again.

visiting NYU:

After visiting Doug’s friends, we checked into our real hotel room and then decided to get some dinner. Doug is the funniest person to hang out with because he knows everything about everything. We’d walk around and he’d randomly comment on the structure of steel buildings, the organization of New York's water system, or tell us all about every neighborhood and skyscraper we walked past. Usually pretty fascinating stuff. Anyway, we were going down to the East Village so we walked past the NYU campus...which is right in the middle of the city. It looks no different than the city buildings around it. Doug pointed out a row of windows that were still lit (at 9:00pm on a Sunday night) on one of the buildings and said that’s where all the theatre design students were. He talked about the countless nights he had spent there and wanted to see if we could go in and visit the students. Well, we went into the lobby, up the elevator and knocked on the door to the design wing. Doug asked the student if we could come in and see the projects they were working on. The student replied, “Well, uh, no, not really. It’s after-hours on a weekend, so I can’t really let you.” So, Doug asked if we could just walk down the display hallway and back, and the student let us in. We walked down the hallway and ended up peaking into the rooms to talk to students too. It was pretty neat to see all their work...and I kind of fancied that I could do what they were doing...not that I could ever hope to afford tuition at NYU, but it made me excited to try out some of my own design ideas.

the hallway at NYU: I snapped a picture while we walked down the hallway. I think if I had used a digital camera, it would've turned out better. And, if I had used a digital camera, I would take like, three pictures of this hall.

Indian food at Raj Mahal:

Very tasty...makes good leftovers too. Quite similar to The Bombay House, except with live music. So cool. I should learn to play the sitar.

	yummy, yummy bread: Everyone thought I was weird for taking random pictures of seemingly nothing. I like the candid, random pictures much better than the posed group pictures we took everywhere. Sadly, most of the pictures from the trip (especially the ones I snagged from both Doug and Sarah's digital cameras) are posed group pictures.
	posed group picture: There ya go. Posed and boring.

MONDAY APRIL 25, 2005

Barbara Matera’s costume shop

First stop on the Doug Ellis whirlwind theatre tour of New York! This shop is one of the three most successful costume shops in New York City. Almost all costume shop owners in New York City started at Matera’s, including the other two large ones. Matera’s is smaller than it has ever been right now with about 70 employees. I’m not a costumer and have no desire to become so, but it was still cool to see that world. Each major Broadway show divvies up their costumes between several shops and each shop rebuilds and maintains their costumes for the run of the show as they are damaged or a new performer is cast. The Lion King was divided up that way and Matera’s does most of the beaded costumes for the show. They’re kind of known for their beadwork there. They were also working on costumes for Wicked, which was divided between eight costume shops.

at Matera's on the cushy couch:

That was a nice couch. I liked it. I can't remember the guy's name (the one in this picture) who showed us around and told us about the shop. He had been a costumemaker before, but now he runs the business end of the company. Nice guy.

Atkin Pace:

Atkin (an old friend and co-worker of Doug’s) works for Robin Wagner, a major set designer on Broadway. Usually, they both talk to Doug’s students, but Robin Wagner was in Scandinavia overseeing the construction and installation of a set he designed. Atkin is technically an assistant designer, but they work together to create designs and build models. Wow, do they build models. They build about four separate models for each show they design and all of them are amazingly intricate. We were able to see some of their work while we were there. It inspired me to take more time and care with my model building. Wow. Just seeing their studio was a pretty big treat for me. They are one of the better-known scenic design studios in the city. Their largest shows for Broadway recently have been The Producers and The Boy From Oz. They also do quite a bit of international design. Great studio...so aesthetically pleasing.

posed picture at Atkin's:

The first one was an accident---Sarah and I were trying to figure out how
the timer on her camera worked. I thought it was a funny picture. Anyway,
Atkin is very shy, but quite a kind person and he did a fantastic job
talking to us even though he was nervous.

the beautiful studio:

	This was just a picture I snapped of Doug on the phone at Atkin's. Well, it was more for a picture of the room, but the window light was too bright.
	So beautiful. I want a studio like this one in downtown Manhattan. I was enamored.

Mac Pro Makeup Store

I didn't write much about this the first time around 'cause it was boring. They put some makeup on Susan and Melissa, we looked at some photos, and then Sarah bought some overpriced merchandise. That's about it.

the "makeover":

I don't know why we didn't take a "before" picure of Melissa...but here's one of Susan, anyway.	Here they are...Susan with "stage makeup" and Melissa with some hot eye makeup.	And here's Melissa's eye makeup. Very nice.

Subway to Brooklyn!

John Jerard’s Studio:

After visiting Atkin, we went to a Mac Pro store (makeup) but that was mostly for Sarah...boring for the rest of us. After some lunch, we went out to Redhook in Brooklyn to visit John Jerard’s studio where Doug used to work when he didn’t have a steady job. John is a prop designer and an everything designer. Basically, he makes everything and anything. They made the animated pigeons for The Producers, painted a giant glass and metal leafing installation for a children’s hospital in honor of Carl Sagan, rigged a contraption with poles to make it look like some fish puppets were swimming as a school, created huge statues of foam including a giant dragon that couldn’t weigh more than like, 100 lbs, and everything else. Basically, they are problem solvers...not just for theatre, but for anyone who needs a problem solved.

prop shop o' fun:

A nice posed picture of us with
John Jerard and Mary...and a
guy who works for them.


And, a picture I snapped of John telling
us about those glass panel dealys.
Danged disposable camera...
being all dark and stuff.

seeing the piers down in Brooklyn:

John’s studio was right on the water. Before we went in and for a little while after, we walked around the waterfront and took some pictures in front of the Statue of Liberty. All the buildings down there were falling apart, most of them brick. It was beautiful, but saddening as well. It looked like they were working on fixing them up as spaces to rent for offices and whatnot (or prop shops or something), so it will look nice when they are done. I hope they keep the old brick.

Here we are down at the Brooklyn docks. The first picture is the
one Doug was taking in the fourth picture. The second picture is
of the masts of a sunken ship that has been there for who knows
how long. The second, third, and fourth were all taken by Sarah.

touristy picture taking time

So, this is about as close as we got to becoming tourists. While we were down on the docks, we noticed we had a nice, but distant view of the Statue of Liberty. So, we took pictures. Huzzah.

talking to the bus driver

In order to get to and from Redhook (the part of Brooklyn we were in) from Manhattan, we had to take the subway and take a bus. Well, on the way back, the bus driver noticed that Melissa had trouble putting her metro card in the slot the proper way and guessed that we weren’t from New York. I was sitting the closest to him, so he asked me where we were from. I explained that I was originally from Oregon, but that we were a group of theatre students traveling around New York to see the theatre scene. He was very interested and mentioned that he had taken some drama classes at one point, but that he wasn’t very good at improv. Anyway, he and I had a lovely chat for about fifteen minutes as the bus took us back to the subway entrance that we needed. We talked about the city and he said it is a difficult place to raise kids. Seeing a run-down part of Brooklyn and talking to a bus driver about his life in New York was really awesome. I loved seeing the non-Manhattan side of things and talking to a person who lives as well as truly struggles in New York. Going there, I think I had it in my head that New York was some sort of magical place where you can make anything out of yourself and do anything that you want. To some degree I think it is true, but I also think I was taking it out of context. Going and seeing how top Broadway designers (Atkin, Robert Wagner, Matera's) live and work is not a good way to connect to reality.

BYU Senior MDT Showcase

So, every year the MDT students (music, dance, theatre) get together a showcase, take a trip to New York, and perform for a bunch of agents and potential employers. They hang around the city for a week or so hoping to get phone calls and/or auditions. Sarah knew quite a few of the performers this year, so she and I went to go see them. I didn’t know anyone personally, but I recognized a few from some shows I’ve worked on. They were all pretty amazing...especially the girl who sang “Suddenly Seymour”...[sigh]...not just because I absolutely love that song, but because she was really astoundingly talented. I also enjoyed the tap dancers and the guy who sang “Once Upon a Dream”...I think that’s what it was. Anyway, they were all great. Afterward, I ended up talking to this guy who had starred in a show at BYU called Smart Single Guys (which was absolutely hilarious) for quite a while. I think his name was Bryant? He came up to me and acted like he knew me. I hadn’t ever talked to him before, but I had seen him a bunch of times while I had painted backdrops and things in the big tunnel outside the scene shop. I’m still not sure whether or not he thought he knew me at first, was wrong, and played it off like he did or if he recognized me from seeing me around and was just being friendly. He actually just finished up his sophomore year, so he’ll be around for a while. He was in the senior showcase to even out the numbers or something. I'm sure I'll run into him sometime soon.

the love that is Strand:

After the showcase, I got my introduction to Strand Bookstore. Oh the love. It is a HUGE bookstore in Manhattan filled with new, used, rare/out of print books, all at super discount prices. So fabulous. I didn’t buy anything that night because Sarah and I only spent about an hour there...and I just walked around and looked at everything.

The Love.

On the way back to the hotel from Strand, Sarah and I walked past some steam
in the street. We thought it was pretty neat, so of course we took pictures.
Steam in the street is a pretty New Yorkish thing.

calling people:

After Sarah and I got back from Strand, I got to use her cell phone. Oh the love that is the cell phone. Sarah let me use her phone because she has free minutes after 9:00pm. I called various people a few times throughout the week. I got to talk to John, Liz, and my mother. I would’ve called Jessi too, but I didn’t have her phone number with me and I didn’t have it memorized either. I would’ve called britt too, but she is all, like, in a foreign country and stuff. So, I’m sorry about not calling you two. It would’ve been nice. As it was, it was good to talk to mom, quite nice to talk to John, and intriguing to talk to Liz (it’s complicated).

TUESDAY APRIL 26, 2005

Here we are, sleeping while we wait in the ABC lobby to getinto the TV studios. I was the only one actually sleeping, but everyone mocked me by pretending to doze (I remember sort of hearing them make fun of me) and then Doug said, "Let's take a picture!" so I just maintained my doziness.

Then we joked about how we were all worn out after only one day.

TV tapings:

Tuesday morning we went to two TV tapings...Regis and Kelly and The View. The best part was seeing Barbara Walters and James Earl Jones in person and then sitting in Barbara Walters’ makeup chair during our mini-backstage-tour. The free stuff was fun too...they gave out gifts to the audience. All in all, I decided that I really dislike television of that sort. There really is no creative element to it and it is all completely an effort to subdue the audience for a bit. Guh.

taping Regis and Kelly:

in the audience	the set	the interview

taping The View:

		in the audience at The View
		the set of The View
		James Earl Jones...I still can't figure out how this blur was the ONLY picture we got of him between the five of us.
		Barbara Walters.
		Barbara Walters. Again. Fabulous.

the quickie tour with the makeup girl:

		with the girl who gave us the tour of the makeup room and the rundown of her job
		in Barbara Walters' chair!

Julliard

Well, not really a highlight of the trip...mostly we were there so Sarah could have an interview for a makeup teaching position. They gave us a tour, but they don’t have a technical theatre program...so, it wasn’t that great...but noteworthy.

Manhattan Temple:

Juliard is actually right across the stree from the Manhattan Temple. After we finished the tour, we took the opportunity for a photo shoot, of course. In the top two pictures, we're standing on the large student square outside of the main Julliard administration building.

here's a nice color picture			and a black and white one, which I prefer
here's the outside, up close			and me in the lobby

Killing some time downtown before the Phantom tour.
Posing in the Garment District. How quaint.

backstage at Phantom of the Opera (even though we didn’t see it):

We didn’t actually see The Phantom of the Opera (we tried to get last-minute tickets, but there were none left), but that afternoon we got to go backstage and look at everything. The guy who gave us the tour was a wig person, so we got to see the wig room and watch them comb, curl, and fix the wigs for the show that night. I’ve wanted to see that show for years...ever since like, sixth grade. Dangit for being in New York and not getting to see it. We tried.

underneath the stage	mechanics of underneath the stage (thank you Doug)	the ironing lady	wig guy/tour guide with Sarah

being silly and touristy---the cheap way

Between Phantom and Twelve Angry Men we got some time to walk
around downtown. Sarah and I were hanging out together and laughed at these
glasses which were ridiculously $5 a pair. We didn't want to buy them, of course,
so we put them on and took a quick picture instead.

Twelve Angry Men

Yes, I saw it on Broadway. After the Phantom tour we went back to the hotel for a bit and then walked around shopping on the streets for a little. That night, we went and saw the Roundabout Theatre Company put on the show. The script adaptation was slightly different than the one we performed in high school, but I knew most of the lines. The set was AWESOME. I really wish I could’ve taken pictures, but it’s copyrighted, of course. They had a bathroom on stage right (with running water), but you could only see when the whole set rotated about twelve feet. So awesome. It actually rained outside the windows and the lights outside progressively shifted to imitate the positions and colors of a sunset. Also, they had a bunch of killer period set pieces like a bench and a metal fan. Sweet. It was awesome and I loved, loved it.

Carnegie Deli and New York cheesecake

Our hotel was about a block away from Carnegie Hall and after the show, Doug, Sarah, and I went to the Carnegie Deli for some food. It’s not really affiliated with the performance venue, but it’s in the same area. They’re famous for their HUGE sandwiches (to the tune of $16-20) and they have signed pictures of all the celebrities that have visited the café all over the walls. We ended up having some knish and cheesecake. Both very tasty.

eating out:

Yummy cheesecake!

and my knish. Also very yummy.

WEDNESDAY APRIL 27, 2005

Doug is so silly. This is a picture he took of the structure of a bridge in Queens that we passed on the way to Showman. We waited about five minutes in the rain while he looked at it and took some photos. I thought it was important enough to post.

Showman Fabricators

This was a huge scene shop in Queens that does mostly TV sets (like news sets or special award ceremonies or events) or sets for cruise ship shows. They were having a dead week when we visited...only about 30 people working. When they’re up and running, they have over 200 employees on the floor. They had a huge space with a bunch of tools and space for building. The tour guide, named Mark, I think, talked a lot about the unions and the horrendous daily cost of running a shop like that. It was very educational and interesting to hear about the business side of things. At a place like that, it’s not about art at all, it’s about the paychecks, budget, and the deadline.

In Queens.
Showman Fabricators.

ABC Studios

Next, we went back to Manhattan to visit some ABC Studios. The guy who showed us around was the prop guy for The Tony Danza Show, but he has been working there for years and took us all around. We saw the set for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? as well, but the best part, by far, was the set for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. I got to sit in Peter Jennings’ chair. Oh man, it was AWESOME. He hasn’t been working much lately, of course, but still...I sat in his chair. Whoa.

the chair I will never forget:

	the chair
a view (albeit dark) of the World News Tonight studio		The view from the chair... I'm actually in the monitor but you can't really tell.

Wicked

Yep. Eric Orton came through for us and got us tickets to the Wednesday matinee of Wicked. It was the show we all wanted to see the most, but there were no good seats left online and they were all $270 each. He got us a great deal and great seats. The story was very clever. For all those unfamiliar, it is the story of The Wizard of Oz before Dorothy came to Oz and also a bit of what else was going on while Dorothy was there. There were some inconsistencies with the Wizard of Oz story, but all in all, quite clever and very entertaining. As far as the technical aspects, very neat. The only problem, as we discussed after the show, was that the costumes and sets did not mesh together. On their own, each was totally amazing, but they didn’t work particularly well together...but I still really enjoyed the show and the spectacle was great.

Wicked marquee

Donna Langman

Awesome. My idol. Professionally, at least. She runs a small costume shop in Manhattan and she explained that she doesn’t like to do Broadway very much because she likes to work on different projects...instead of rebuilding the same costumes year after year. Her shop mostly works on dressmaking for leading ladies, and they don’t do very many costumes per show because they are so small. I asked her if she planned to expand her shop and she said definitely not. She told us about how she used to be larger, but the more projects she takes on, the more employees she needs, so it’s added stress and they don’t really make more money (it turns out to be the same for her paycheck). Her shop was small but cozy, and it smelled nice. So, professionally, I admire her.

A nice posed picture with the fabulous Donna Langman in her fabulous costume shop.

the rainstorm

Wow. It was amazing. After Donna Langman’s, we walked around to try to find something to eat. It started raining, then it poured, and we got drenched. It reminded me of home. The thunder and lightning was pretty awesome too...the thunder was loud, especially as it echoed through the streets of tall buildings. The other girls were doing their best not to get wet, hurry to find a place to eat, and get out of the rain. I was sharing an umbrella with Doug, and I almost just told him I didn’t need it. I wanted to just walk in the rain. However, I realized that if I did that, I’d have to sit through The Lion King that night in wet clothes...so, I stayed under the umbrella and only half of me was wet. Anyway, I love rain. I love it.

The Lion King

We had some pizza, and by the time we finished the rain had let up and we walked to the New Amsterdam Theatre. Okay, wow again. The show was amazing. It was my favorite out of the four we saw. It was a little disappointing that it was pretty much the same dialogue as the movie the whole time, but the production! It was breathtaking...especially the first five minutes when all the animals are coming out onto the stage and pride rock is rotating and coming out of the floor...so amazing. The costumes and set were brilliant. The show has been playing for eight years and I’m sure it will be playing for at least another ten or twelve. It was truly astounding. The designers of that show...wow. Anyone interested in theatre design should go see it. Wow.

The Lion King marquee

backstage at The Lion King

We got to go into the wings and on the stage, but not really “backstage”. There were some security issues or something that night, so we didn’t get to see the makeup and dressing rooms (our tour guide was a makeup artist on the show and wanted to show us where he worked) or go downstairs and see all the mechanics of how the show operated. They stored many of the pieces of the animal costumes in the wings, so that was pretty neat. And standing on the stage was pretty dang awesome too.

The Tour: short, but sweet. oh, so sweet.

The group shots...one more posed than the other.


We weren't backstage very long---but we took an awful lot of pictures.
Those gazelles I'm standing next to are headgear. They were actually
a pretty effective an amazing costume. I suppose you kind of have to see
it. And then we have Doug and Sarah with the baby Simba...the only
remotely lion-looking thing in the whole show. And finally, Doug's picture
of the mechanics of the flowers that rolled on and off stage.


And, another dark picture...this is the stage. I promise. I was there.

THURSDAY APRIL 28, 2005

Law and Order

We took a combination of subway and bus down to Chelsea Piers in south Manhattan that morning. Doug was full of stories and random bits of information, as always. Law and Order films in this little studio right on the water. We met the costume ladies and Ingrid showed us around the set and told us about how they costume for the show. Pretty interesting stuff...I was pretty bushed that morning and don’t remember too much of it. The set was smaller than I expected...but I don’t really know what I expected because I don’t really watch the show.

Sarah at one of the desks. Such fun.	Aaaaaaand another group shot. Captivating and completely creative, I know.	In jail.

Eclectic Encore

Yeah, wow. So, Eclectic Encore is a prop rental shop down near Chelsea Piers in a big warehouse-type building. The buildings down there are all twenty or more stories high and they house photography studios and stuff like that. This shop is three floors of props. THREE FLOORS. We walked around and just looked at everything, sat on furniture...they had it organized sort of into themes/time periods/colors/objects. It was all on computer and when people want to rent stuff, they just scan the barcode and you’re in the computer. Pretty nifty. They kind of have problems because people often offer to buy their stuff...but that would defeat the purpose of having a rental shop, now, wouldn’t it? So, the owner basically knows every object they have (and they have thousands and thousands) and about how much she paid for each one...at least the unique ones.

...giant Russian dolls...a shoe shining stand...and a pirate.


I am so, so very clever.

Canal Street

Yep, we bartered. I wanted to go into Chinatown and Little Italy, but I was really too tired. I just kind of moseyed around Canal street....looking for a ring. I had been looking for one all week long...at all the shops and vendors we passed...and I finally found one. It was the only one of its kind, and I looked at ALL the shops. It’s the wrong size, but I think I’ll take it to a jeweler when I get back to Astoria and have it re-sized. No worries.

Pearl Paint

Huge paint/office supply store on Canal Street. Wow. Five floors.

The Met

Next came the Metropolitan Museum of Art in uptown Manhattan. So good. I was really worn out by that time. I had worn a skirt and heels that day because we were going to the Met and a show later that night. I thought it a good time to be a little dressy. Since we had stood around on the set of Law and Order, walked around Chelsea Piers, walked around Eclectic Encore, walked around Canal Street, and stood on the subway, my feet were pretty sore in those shoes. They’re actually amazingly comfortable for heels, and normally it’s not a problem...but standing around in a museum didn’t help matters. I was tempted more than once to just take them off and walk around barefoot, but I didn’t want to get kicked out...I wanted to see Van Gogh. Which I did. Oh, I did. The musical instrument part of the museum was closed, sadly...so was the costume part. I spent some time in the Americana wing, the modern art wing, and the Greek and Roman art wings. I walked around almost the entire museum, I think, but those are where I stopped for the longest. Well, I got kind of bored in the modern art wing, but I saw a Jackson Pollock painting and that was interesting. They should’ve had a video tape of him painting instead...those sillies. My favorite paintings were “Wheat Field with Cypresses” by Van Gogh and “Ice Floes” by Monet. I spent a lot of time in the French impressionist galleries. That was my favorite part. By far.

Wheat Field with Cypresses, 1889
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890)


Ice Floes, 1893
Claude Monet (1840–1926)

Eric Orton

Thank yous all around to Eric Orton for the Wicked tickets. We got to visit his office and hear all about the show and its tour. It’s going to Chicago and London in the next little while. Chicago first, and London within the next couple of years.

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

Who has seen the film? Well, I’d say, the film is better than the musical. The Broadway show was entertaining and the songs were clever, but Steve Martin and Michael Caine are just awesome. John Lithgow and Norbert Leo Butz, are awesome too...but the set was uber-cheezy and a lot of it was really raunchy. They gave out free soundtracks at the door...heh...that’s awesome. I’ll probably only listen to about a quarter of the songs on it. We’ll see.

backstage at Wicked

Eric Orton hooked us up with not only Wicked tickets for Wednesday afternoon, but also a backstage tour Thursday night. It was short and limited like the one for The Lion King but it was still cool to stand on the stage and see the wings and stuff.

outside the theatre	on the stage (dark, again---I know)	backstage with some props

FRIDAY APRIL 29, 2005

the jaded scenic

For breakfast, we met with Pam Lenau, a scenic artist of Doug’s acquaintance. A very interesting encounter. She is coming to the end of her career...she’s an older-ish lady...and she seemed pretty disappointed with the way things are shaping up for her. She told me (I being the only one in the group seriously interested in scenic art) that I should learn art in as many mediums as I could and learn as much about computers as I should. She talked about her regrets, and it kind of put a damper on things. I’ve been thinking quite a bit about her situation and the things she said and what I’ve learned about myself from her. Although that visit was rather sad, it was an excellent experience.

Cameron Kelly

This was a former student of Doug’s...I think...who is now doing editing in NYC. He works for a commercial editing company called Homestead. Doug told us, “He’s single, LDS, and successful” before we got to his office. We joked about Sarah being interested in him...but we didn’t blame her. The guy was very kind and very good looking to boot.

Cabot McMullen

A production designer we visited with for a short bit. Interesting wife. Nice guy. Great drawings.

TKTS

In Times Square there is this booth that opens at 3pm where they sell Broadway tickets for that night. They’re half price and you have to pay cash. There is this screen that shows which shows have tickets available. Susan and I wanted to see Phantom of the Opera, but, as I said, there were none left for that night. We almost saw five Broadway shows in one week. Yeah, I was pretty disappointed.

The line for this place was insane. Well, they have screens showing which shows have tickets available---so we didn't wait very long. $50. Cash. Ticket. Fabulous.

NBC Studios

I must say, visiting World News Tonight and sitting in Peter Jennings’ chair is pretty impossible to beat as far as visiting television studios...and NBC was no exception. It was fun, of course. We were planning on attending an SNL rehearsal, but the show wasn’t on the next day, so there was no rehearsal. Too bad. We got to see the set and take pictures and stuff. The normal guided-tours don’t get to take pictures, but we just walked around with an old friend of Doug’s and he showed us a bunch of studios. We walked down the hall where Conan’s studio was, but didn’t get to go in. We saw a glimpse of Gene Wilder as we walked past his dressing room.

us and our tour guide


Doug took the second picture on accident, I think.
I don't really know why. Anyway, it's clearer than the posed one.


on the set of SNL
Yay.

Friday night in NYC

We didn’t have anything on the schedule for that night and since we didn’t get tickets to Phantom, we had nothing to do. We were so tired that we considered just going back to the hotel and getting in bed early, but we decided that would be the most lame thing to do on a Friday night in New York City. Remember how I said there is nothing like traveling with people you love? Well, that’s why. If I had been with people I am close to, we could’ve found something awesome to fill our time. As it was, I was exhausted and kind of tired of being around the same people. That always happens when I travel with people I don’t know very well. Sarah had gone to meet a friend and Doug had gone as well, so it was just Susan, Melissa, and I. Anyway, we walked around and stopped at a bunch of little shops, but I didn’t buy anything. We looked around for a sit-down place to eat but none of us felt like spending $20 for dinner, so we just grabbed pizza and headed back to the hotel. We turned on the TV and watched Spiderman for a while. Sarah came back, and we all just chilled. Still pretty lame, but I cut myself some slack because I hadn’t really slept in the last four weeks.

SATURDAY, APRIL 30, 2005

back to the love that is Strand

So, I got up late-ish Saturday morning and packed up my bags. We hung around for a while, ate some breakfast, and headed to Strand. Sarah had a job interview in Illinois or something, so we didn’t see her after we left the hotel. She met with a friend and then went to LaGuardia to catch her flight. So, Strand. I could live there. I wish I had a week just to look at everything they have. We spent about three hours there, so that was nice. I ended up buying biographies of Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Olivier, and Audrey Hepburn...all three for like, $20. For some reason I keep thinking that I’ll have all this time this summer to read, but the truth is, I probably won’t. I’ll be doing well if I finish one of those books. You’d be surprised where the time goes when you sleep for eight hours a night. The days slip by so much faster now that I’m sleeping.

I repeat: I could live there.

the limo

We took a limo to the airport. I’d never been in one. It was nice.

Sarah wasn't there 'cause she caught a different flight to
Illinois or somewhere for a teaching position interview. She didn't
take it. Her heart is set on New York City. I don't blame her.

Slow down, you move to fast---You've got to make the morning last.

This is the 59th Street Bridge. We drove over it from JFK to
Manhattan, but it was too dark to take pictures. So, on the way
back to the airport, I snapped some photos. Again---the girls
thought I was crazy. Maybe I am. Maybe my love for S&G is out
of the ordinary. They do what Coldplay does to me---
and that's saying something.

the flight back to SLC

We got to JFK pretty early...about two hours before our flight took off. I wandered around the gigantic terminal for about an hour-and-a-half and sadly determined that in terminal two of the JFK airport, Toblerone is only sold in bulk. I really wanted some, but I didn’t want to pay for or eat six bars of it. I’ll get some sometime soon. The flight was less than half full. Sooo nice. I got a row of three chairs all to myself. I stretched out across them and slept for a good chunk of the trip. Otherwise, I nibbled on the tasty treats provided by the flight attendants/stewardesses and read my Laurence Olivier book unfortunately entitled, Laurence Olivier: A Biography. I must say, there is no happiness like free Oreos. Props to Delta for putting Oreos in their snack package. And they had raisins. I love raisins. And I love Craisins. But that’s another story.

and, back to Provo

My very kind new landlord let me stop by his place at 10:45pm (do you think THAT would’ve happened in the Villa??) to pick up the key to my new apartment. I met two of my roommates (the third was out of town, but she is back now) and we chatted for a while. I got in bed pretty early, and have been doing as much ever since. This whole “sleeping” thing is good in that I don’t feel like I’m destroying myself anymore, but not so good in that I loose like, four hours in my day.

A photo I snapped while walking...
I don't even remember which day it was.

I ♥ NY


The End.

___________________________

So, I had a fabulous time. Simply wonderful. There are many, many reasons why this trip was perfect for me...and I’ve typed way too much to start listing those now. I awkwardly tried to explain different parts of those reasons to each of my parents and both seemed to understand what I was trying to say, so that’s nice. I have a pretty good relationship with both of them, and I enjoy talking to them...but, I digress.

___________________________

the short version:
Loved it. Had a blast. Went to a ton of cool places. Learned a lot about the city and about myself.