The magic of seeing Ever After
On the big screen 
For the first time since Christmas, 1998
A special gift for Christmas, 2023 
You've watched it so many times in the intervening 25 years 
That you feel it in your bones
Every line
Every frame 
Every note of George Fenton's gorgeous score
Now a part of your DNA 
But seeing it all on a big screen again
The colors! 
The details! 
The thrilling magic of the movies 
And at the end
Emerging to discover the world blanketed in snow
A fairy tale come true. 

Tonight while stuffing Playbills
My friend and I sang along to the
Original Broadway Cast Recording of 
The Little Mermaid 
We bonded over what a gorgeous score it has
What an insanely brilliant cast
And how it had been on Broadway
For just a moment 
How lucky we had both been
To have seen it
​Live

A big group of high school kids
From somewhere America
Visiting NYC and Broadway
Possibly for the first time
Getting them all seated took a lot of energy
But then the show started
And an electricity filled the house
The way they all leaned forward in their seats
The way they cheered when the actors came out on stage
The way one girl gasped and held her hands to her mouth when Lilias started singing
(Tony winner Lilias White! A queen!) 
Seeing their minds being opened and transformed 
​In the moment
The best kind of education

Today was my first run
In my new 'hood 
A lot of it was uphill
And then I came to the 
Morris-Jumel Mansion
The oldest surviving residence in NYC 
Built in 1765 by the Morris family 
It later became George Washington's HQ
And then home to Aaron Burr when he married Madame Jumel
History is happening in Manhattan 
Those lines could have even been created there
When Lin-Manuel Miranda used the space for writing
I'm excited to explore 
New/old streets and discover
The history of Harlem
Now right here on my doorstep 

I am thankful for long conversations
For opening up 
For honesty 
For being heard
For friendship
For love 

For the first time in over a week
​I slept! A whole night's uninterrupted sleep!
And then I got to spend the entire day at home
With nowhere to go 
And no one to see
Absolute luxury

Right before intermission
I was standing down near the front of the house
Two sisters, maybe 10 years between them, the younger one clutching the older one
The younger one grinning from ear to ear
Breathless with joy at what was transpiring on stage

During intermission
A lovely couple from Baltimore
Celebrating the husband’s birthday with a week away in NYC,
Kid free and seeing as much theatre as they could cram into 5 days

Toward the end of the show
I was standing in the back of the house
Two more sisters in the back row
Older than the first pair
One of them had those giant headphones over her ears
At random intervals she would raise her hands up in the air like she was on a rollercoaster
Her sister would join her, smiling
The eyes of the first sister set intently on the stage
Taking in every single detail

And then during walkout
Two young friends, barely 20
Giddy with joy
“We’ve been saving to see our first Broadway show!”
It was everything they’d hoped and more
Their genuine delight at being handed a “My First Broadway Show” sticker

This is why we do theatre
It’s not about the union contracts or the insanity of auditions or the constant hustle
It’s the communion of joy
Of heartbreak
Of loss and longing
And starting again
It's the telling of stories
And seeing our selves
Real, imagined, fantastical
Before our very eyes. 

The 1390th performance of 
Zefirelli's sumptuous production of 
La Bohéme at The Met 
It's always such a thrill just to walk into the building, 
It's so grand and beautiful 
And then to take your seat
And see those glittering chandeliers 
And all the players in the orchestra
And then you watch a stunningly realized opera
With its gorgeous costumes 
And mind-boggling sets and
A real live donkey! And a HORSE! And Puccini's 
Gorgeous music floating through the hall 
Viva la vie boheme!

I love the joy
That having sparkly hair
Evokes in others 
​It feels like I really am
A magical fairy

The first flurries
You're never quite sure
Is it...?! 
Maybe it's ash?
But there it is 
Soft lovely snowflakes 
And you know that even though it will turn to slush and
Make the commute an icy hell 
And make everything cold and wet
In those first few moments
Your little Aussie heart 
Thrills at the sight of it