"So how could your hair have the nerve to dance around like that, blowing? And how could the air have the nerve to blow your hair around like that?" ~the national

Oh my goodness, I am so excited. Lauren Graham, my favorite actress in the world, is joining the upcoming Broadway cast of Guys & Dolls. I lined up at 3:00am to see her most recent Conan O'Brien taping; I'm a huuuuge fan. It's not one of my absolute favorite musicals, but getting to see Lauren Graham live on stage (on a Broadway stage!) is thrilling beyond words. I'm definitely going to see it multiple times. I can't wait until March. Seriously, you can't imagine how over the moon I am right now.

I've been busy lately; there's too much stuff to write about. I've seen a few plays in the past week. Here are some quick, not very well thought-out reactions (I'm tired):

I saw the Broadway production of All My Sons (link to NYTimes review), starring Katie Holmes, John Lithgow, two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest, and Patrick Wilson. I enjoy all of those actors and thought they were wonderful (even Ms. Holmes, despite her lack of stage experience and shaky start at the beginning of the play). It's such a depressing, emotional play (although I guess that's to be expected considering it's by Arthur Miller), but it was well done.

I also saw the off-Broadway production of Farragut North, starring John Gallagher, Jr. (Tony winner for Spring Awakening), Chris Noth (Mr. Big from Sex and the City), and Olivia Thirlby (Ellen Page's best friend in Juno). I can see it transferring to Broadway; I thought it was great. The characters aren't very likable at all, but the actors still make you feel for them and engage you in the action. It's relevant and thought-provoking. And you can't go wrong with a $10 student ticket, especially in a tiny, intimate theatre where all the seats are good ones.

I also saw Sleepwalk with Me. It's a one-man off-Broadway show written by and starring Mike Birbiglia. Mike, if your google alerts happened to alert you to this post, I think you are suave and svelte. Mr. Birbiglia is very funny, and his humor seems to come effortlessly. At times he reminded me of Jimmy Kimmel; I'm not sure why, and I'm probably the only one who's made that observation. Anyway, it was a night of good, clean hilarity.

What else did I want to talk about? I guess that's it for now; this will be a theatre post. I'll save my real-life drama for later. Ooh, one more thing! I went to see the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Frank McCourt speak tonight. He's brilliant. He taught in New York City public schools for 30 years, and after only a little over one year as a NYC public school teacher I know how impressive that is. His book Teacher Man is a must-read for teachers everywhere (and for anyone who's been a student, I suppose; actually, everyone can appreciate it). When I first read it I could not stop laughing aloud hysterically. Tonight he read some of my favorite part of the book (the sandwich incident in the first chapter) and spoke about the experience of being a teenager as well as his journey to becoming a teacher. I greatly admire him and value his thoughts, so I was grateful to hear him speak.