"I wish the real world would just stop hassling me." ~matchbox 20

I have Broadway show updates. I've seen three shows (all for free) recently that I haven't written about.

I saw Waiting for Godot earlier this week. I've read the play many times (at least five) and did a project on college about it, so I know it well (and love it). I thought this was a great production. Nathan Lane, Bill Irwin, John Goodman, and John Glover were all wonderful in their roles. Bill Irwin particularly shined (I'm a big fan of his). The minimalistic set was perfect and the actors worked well together.

This afternoon I went to the matinee of The Philanthropist. Matthew Broderick hasn't done well choosing plays lately. I wasn't crazy about this one. Broderick's performance was good (despite his iffy British accent), but the show needs work. I was mostly excited to see it because of Steven Weber (LOVE him). For some reason he's not as charming with a British accent. He messed up a few times, which was funny (one time he cut off another actor and another time he forgot his line and said, "Oh, fuck, I forgot what I was going to say..."). Anyway, it was free so I can't complain.

I went to The Norman Conquests tonight (also for free) and saw Round and Round the Garden. I was sitting in the front row, practically on the stage; if I had stretched out my legs, my feet would have been onstage (the stage was at ground level). It was theatre-in-the-round, so I felt like the rest of the audience was staring at me. When one character tore open his shirt I got hit with a button (I kept it), and another character spit on me. I love being part of the action. The play was absolutely hilarious. I haven't laughed that much in awhile. Ooh, at the performance I saw Kevin Spacey, Mary Stuart Masterson, and Julie White, all of whom I love, so that was cool.

Spring break is almost over and I am dreading getting back to the real world. I got absolutely no work done over my break, so tomorrow will be a busy day. Ugh.

"I wish I could fly and magically appear and disappear. I wish I could fly, I'd fly far away from here." ~next to normal

I saw Next to Normal (a new Broadway musical) yesterday and fell in love with it. The score is absolutely gorgeous. All the performances were wonderful. If Alice Ripley doesn't win the Tony for best actress this year, I will go crazy. This is one of the best new original musicals I've seen in a very, very long time.

Here's a video clip of one of my favorite songs from the show.

"Superboy and the Invisible Girl":

"Linger on, your pale blue eyes. Linger on, your pale blue eyes." ~lou reed

It's been a good weekend. Yesterday Nicole and I went to the Mets/Red Sox game at Citi Field. The new stadium really is beautiful. My favorite part about it is that they have a Shake Shack! I love their burgers. The line was even longer than it usually is at the Shake Shacks in Manhattan, but the food was totally worth the wait.
We left during the eight inning. The Red Sox were winning 9-1(!). I was thrilled. As a huge Braves fan, I love seeing the Mets lose. I also love being surrounded by pissed off Mets fans. So it was a fun day.



Today I went to see the movie Adventureland. I loved it; it was a really sweet, funny film. In fact, it's probably the best movie I've seen this year. The soundtrack largely contributed to my enjoyment of it. It featured some of my favorite songs, including Lou Reed's Satellite of Love (sooo gorgeous, even though I actually prefer U2's cover) and Pale Blue Eyes (also gorgeous, even though I prefer Counting Crows' cover; originally performed by the Velvet Underground but written by Lou Reed).


I cannot wait for spring break. Because we've been doing a Katherine Paterson author study unit, I'm showing the movie Bridge to Terabithia this week. Hopefully that will help me keep things under control.