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Bright blue sky, crisp air, and 80,000 of my closest friends. A perfect day for running the iconic City to Surf. Now in it’s fortieth, and my first, year, the City to Surf today was an amazing event. The logistics behind these kinds of things always staggers me. Who has to make the decision about how many plastic cups to buy? Organises the online registrations?
Packs bibs and electronic tags and stuffs bags full of newspapers? Organises the marshalling of 80,000 runners?! It’s mind blowing. But it is incredible to be a part of. Dad and Phoebe dropped my s’Mum (step-mum for the uninitiated, and pictured with moi above at the end of the race) Meg and I off at Hyde Park and my adrenalin started pumping. The park was full of people in sports gear, stretching, jogging, and greeting fellow runners. This is what life should be all about. People coming together to celebrate health and fitness and the beauty
that is Sydney on a bright sunny, albeit chilly, Sunday morning in early August.
The race start is divided into 6 groups based on previous experience (ie. the super duper runners start first), and safety (ie. the walkers and mum’s/dad’s/carers with prams are up the back). Meg was in the blue group, so I bid her farewell and made my way through the park down to College St to join the yellow group. I giggled at the long row of porta loo’s through the middle of the park, and the patient queues of runners lined up to use them (something about peeing in the middle of the city with but a wall of thin plastic between you and thousands of people is immensely amusing... after all is said and done, we are all human...).
Are you ready yellow group?! Cheers and waves. They called the start of the race, and we were off! Sort of. The sheer mass of people meant we really couldn’t get moving beyond a slight shuffle. Thankfully as we rounded the corner to William St, the pace picked up, the crowd thinned a little, and I was able to run right from the blue mat (the point from which the
electronic tag attached to your shoe starts recording your time... Ah technology! Back in my old running days it was a volunteer with a stop-watch...). And from then on, except for a couple of drink stops along the way, I pretty much didn't stop running until I hit the finish
line.
It was humbling, inspiring, and emotional to look up to the end of William St and see a mass of humanity running toward the tunnel. The sound of feet pounding the pavement around me, the smell of tiger balm, the spectators cheering us on. I was totally pumped! Running through the tunnel people were whooping and cheering, and a lythe young Mexican woman with a giant sombrero and an Ipod speaker dock, was playing awesome Latino tunes, all
the while cheering and running, (and totally outpacing me)! I had to keep reminding myself to not let the excitement (or emotions) get a hold of me, and focus on running!
I was shocked when we reached the 5km mark to realise we had already done 5km, because I was feeling good! The sheer momentum of the people around me, the bands playing along the roadside, the people who had come out onto their lawns and driveways to cheer and play music, the gorgeous day, it felt fantastic to be a part of it all. Heartbreak Hill was demanding, but with so much going on around me, people dressed in costumes - from Star Wars to Spiderman, several gorillas, a giant frog (how do people run 14km in head gear?!), wigs and capes, tutu’s and fairies, inspirational t-shirts, and people from all walks of life, young and old, walking and running, I didn’t have time to remember I was willingly running up a 5km hill, let alone a 14km race!
Rounding down the hill down Military Rd and Campbell Parade, I remembered why I love living in Sydney (especially my days of living in the east). Bright blue sky meets glorious blue ocean meets beautiful harbour foreshore. It's fairly spectacular. And coming into Bondi Beach was a mixed bag of emotions. I was excited, proud, tired, sad that it was coming to an end so quickly, and pumped that I had finally achieved something I had said I would do since I was about eleven years old. I’m a little sore tonight (ok, make that a lot sore... when Mum called out to say the race was on the news, I could barely make it from my room to the tv... go figure!), but I feel like I can achieve ANYTHING I put my mind to... look out world!
Packs bibs and electronic tags and stuffs bags full of newspapers? Organises the marshalling of 80,000 runners?! It’s mind blowing. But it is incredible to be a part of. Dad and Phoebe dropped my s’Mum (step-mum for the uninitiated, and pictured with moi above at the end of the race) Meg and I off at Hyde Park and my adrenalin started pumping. The park was full of people in sports gear, stretching, jogging, and greeting fellow runners. This is what life should be all about. People coming together to celebrate health and fitness and the beauty
that is Sydney on a bright sunny, albeit chilly, Sunday morning in early August.
The race start is divided into 6 groups based on previous experience (ie. the super duper runners start first), and safety (ie. the walkers and mum’s/dad’s/carers with prams are up the back). Meg was in the blue group, so I bid her farewell and made my way through the park down to College St to join the yellow group. I giggled at the long row of porta loo’s through the middle of the park, and the patient queues of runners lined up to use them (something about peeing in the middle of the city with but a wall of thin plastic between you and thousands of people is immensely amusing... after all is said and done, we are all human...).
Are you ready yellow group?! Cheers and waves. They called the start of the race, and we were off! Sort of. The sheer mass of people meant we really couldn’t get moving beyond a slight shuffle. Thankfully as we rounded the corner to William St, the pace picked up, the crowd thinned a little, and I was able to run right from the blue mat (the point from which the
electronic tag attached to your shoe starts recording your time... Ah technology! Back in my old running days it was a volunteer with a stop-watch...). And from then on, except for a couple of drink stops along the way, I pretty much didn't stop running until I hit the finish
line.
It was humbling, inspiring, and emotional to look up to the end of William St and see a mass of humanity running toward the tunnel. The sound of feet pounding the pavement around me, the smell of tiger balm, the spectators cheering us on. I was totally pumped! Running through the tunnel people were whooping and cheering, and a lythe young Mexican woman with a giant sombrero and an Ipod speaker dock, was playing awesome Latino tunes, all
the while cheering and running, (and totally outpacing me)! I had to keep reminding myself to not let the excitement (or emotions) get a hold of me, and focus on running!
I was shocked when we reached the 5km mark to realise we had already done 5km, because I was feeling good! The sheer momentum of the people around me, the bands playing along the roadside, the people who had come out onto their lawns and driveways to cheer and play music, the gorgeous day, it felt fantastic to be a part of it all. Heartbreak Hill was demanding, but with so much going on around me, people dressed in costumes - from Star Wars to Spiderman, several gorillas, a giant frog (how do people run 14km in head gear?!), wigs and capes, tutu’s and fairies, inspirational t-shirts, and people from all walks of life, young and old, walking and running, I didn’t have time to remember I was willingly running up a 5km hill, let alone a 14km race!
Rounding down the hill down Military Rd and Campbell Parade, I remembered why I love living in Sydney (especially my days of living in the east). Bright blue sky meets glorious blue ocean meets beautiful harbour foreshore. It's fairly spectacular. And coming into Bondi Beach was a mixed bag of emotions. I was excited, proud, tired, sad that it was coming to an end so quickly, and pumped that I had finally achieved something I had said I would do since I was about eleven years old. I’m a little sore tonight (ok, make that a lot sore... when Mum called out to say the race was on the news, I could barely make it from my room to the tv... go figure!), but I feel like I can achieve ANYTHING I put my mind to... look out world!
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Four years ago I was not in a good place. A counsellor at uni asked if I would like to be part of a study at the Black Dog Institute on the benefits of mindfulness meditation in the treatment of depression. I went along to the study and for twelve weeks struggled with mindfulness meditation. I fell asleep in just about every session. I cursed myself for not even being able to sit for five minutes and still my mind. Then in the final week, something clicked. Meditation was not something I had to achieve. I could not fail at it. But neither could I succeed. I just had to be - without judgement. Just be in the present moment.
This year I am completing a Meditation Facilitator’s Certificate. I have learnt all sorts of techniques, from mindfulness to guided meditation, inner and outer focus meditations, meditation to music, chanting, chakra meditations and breath meditations. My own practice has deepened as a result of the course, and it has most definitely strengthened me as a person. I have learnt that meditation is simply paying attention. To your breath. To your body. To the present moment. It is wonderfully easy, yet it requires skill. It requires dedication and practise.
The power of breath. The inward push down of the in-breath. The outward flow of the out-breath. The power of paying attention to the present moment. The power of being kind to yourself. The power of mindfulness.
Tonight I have been working on an assignment for my course on meditation in schools. I am inspired in my own practise. I am excited about sharing my practise and passing on these skills to other people. I am immensely grateful for all that I have learnt since that first class four years ago. Life is sometimes hard. Life is sometimes joyous. But, in the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn, wherever you go, there you are. And to be here with yourself in this moment, and be ok with that, is wonderful.
This year I am completing a Meditation Facilitator’s Certificate. I have learnt all sorts of techniques, from mindfulness to guided meditation, inner and outer focus meditations, meditation to music, chanting, chakra meditations and breath meditations. My own practice has deepened as a result of the course, and it has most definitely strengthened me as a person. I have learnt that meditation is simply paying attention. To your breath. To your body. To the present moment. It is wonderfully easy, yet it requires skill. It requires dedication and practise.
The power of breath. The inward push down of the in-breath. The outward flow of the out-breath. The power of paying attention to the present moment. The power of being kind to yourself. The power of mindfulness.
Tonight I have been working on an assignment for my course on meditation in schools. I am inspired in my own practise. I am excited about sharing my practise and passing on these skills to other people. I am immensely grateful for all that I have learnt since that first class four years ago. Life is sometimes hard. Life is sometimes joyous. But, in the words of Jon Kabat-Zinn, wherever you go, there you are. And to be here with yourself in this moment, and be ok with that, is wonderful.
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Growing up we learn certain truths. Grass is green. Elephants are big. Sweet things are bad for you. And lemons are sour. We learn from a young age that lemons are condiment foods. We squeeze them onto fish and chips. We put lemon slices into jugs of water to make it less
boring. And occasionally we mix lemon juice with oodles of sugar and carbonated water to make lemonade (and more often we buy lemonade ready made, with no actual trace of real lemon...). And we learn that lemonade, no matter how delicious, belongs to the category of fizzy drinks. Therefore it is a sometimes food. Therefore it belongs in the category of all other junk foods: it’s tasty, but you can’t have it every day because it is bad for you. Sadness. And so goes the vicious cycle of human beings being addicted to sweet because it is rare in nature.
So imagine my surprise two weeks ago reading the Alfalfa House newsletter that there exists a fruit called a “lemonade,” and it is a sweet lemon. And imagine my delight, when visiting the Farmer’s Markets at Eveleigh last week, that it was readily available! According to Daley’s Fruit Tree Nursery, a lemonade is a cross between a true lemon and a Meyer lemon (apparently the most popular kind of lemon because it is a cross between an orange and a lemon and is not highly acidic). So I bought 2 lemonades, and let them sit in the fruit bowl for a few days. And then one chilly afternoon at work I cut open a lemonade and tentatively tasted the flesh.
Oh sweet heavenly goodness. It was all true. A sweet lemon! It’s so sweet you can eat it like an orange, and I’m sure when I’m sick of eating it straight, I’ll take up my friend Carmel’s advice to try it in a sorbet... Mmm... lemonade sorbet...
As grown ups, we learn that the truths we learnt as children are not always so true. Grass is more likely to be brown. Elephants are big (some things in nature we cannot change). Lemons can be deliciously sweet, and lemonade can be an everyday food... bring on the vitamin C boosting over the next few months whilst this new found joy is in season! (On a side note, whilst researching this post, I discovered there is a fruit called chocolate pudding... I think a visit to Tropical Fruit World around August/September is in order!)
boring. And occasionally we mix lemon juice with oodles of sugar and carbonated water to make lemonade (and more often we buy lemonade ready made, with no actual trace of real lemon...). And we learn that lemonade, no matter how delicious, belongs to the category of fizzy drinks. Therefore it is a sometimes food. Therefore it belongs in the category of all other junk foods: it’s tasty, but you can’t have it every day because it is bad for you. Sadness. And so goes the vicious cycle of human beings being addicted to sweet because it is rare in nature.
So imagine my surprise two weeks ago reading the Alfalfa House newsletter that there exists a fruit called a “lemonade,” and it is a sweet lemon. And imagine my delight, when visiting the Farmer’s Markets at Eveleigh last week, that it was readily available! According to Daley’s Fruit Tree Nursery, a lemonade is a cross between a true lemon and a Meyer lemon (apparently the most popular kind of lemon because it is a cross between an orange and a lemon and is not highly acidic). So I bought 2 lemonades, and let them sit in the fruit bowl for a few days. And then one chilly afternoon at work I cut open a lemonade and tentatively tasted the flesh.
Oh sweet heavenly goodness. It was all true. A sweet lemon! It’s so sweet you can eat it like an orange, and I’m sure when I’m sick of eating it straight, I’ll take up my friend Carmel’s advice to try it in a sorbet... Mmm... lemonade sorbet...
As grown ups, we learn that the truths we learnt as children are not always so true. Grass is more likely to be brown. Elephants are big (some things in nature we cannot change). Lemons can be deliciously sweet, and lemonade can be an everyday food... bring on the vitamin C boosting over the next few months whilst this new found joy is in season! (On a side note, whilst researching this post, I discovered there is a fruit called chocolate pudding... I think a visit to Tropical Fruit World around August/September is in order!)
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I had the absolute pleasure of seeing a new production of West Side Story at the Lyric Theatre on Friday night. I admit I wasn't going to see this production. The advertising has been billing the show as "new, hot, and vibrant", and I wondered how anyone could make a fifty year old classic musical "new". But when some discounted tickets came up, I had to go.
Whilst paying tribute to the original Jerome Robbins staging, Joey McKneely's slick and gutsy production injects modern flair and sensibility into a Broadway classic. Aside from the dancing, which was absolutely phenomenal, what stood out for me in this production was the story of immigration: everyone, at some point in the American story, is an immigrant, everyone struggles, and living in the city is tough. And when the fiery passions of the people defending "their" turf, and dream of a new life collide, you have a tragedy of Shakespearean scale on your hands. Paul Gallis' stylised and stark fire-escape set, along with the use of projected 1950s black and white images of New York City, created a sense of alienation and evoked the harsh reality of living in the city. The athletic and punchy choreography gave a sense of the raw strength and primal energy of the dueling gangs, making the stylised fight scenes entirely believable and gripping.
The ensemble as a whole were fantastic, and their commitment to playing street-toughened teens was convincing. I loved the unusual interpretation of the "Officer Krupke" number. It is usually played for comic relief, but in this production, it highlights the raw energy of disillusioned young men, and you can well understand why these boys would turn to gang life for solace. Alinta Chitdz as Anita was the standout lead. She is a total knock-out, and her saucy renditions of "America" and "A Boy Like That" were thrilling.
McKneely's production was refreshingly all about story-telling. No celebrity castings, or flashy stage effects, just a strong and highly talented ensemble using song and dance to tell a story about the tragedy of alienation, violence, and forbidden love in the harsh and unforgiving city. It was interesting to note however the audience's reactions to the seemingly over-sentimental and heightened love between Tony and Maria. Even in a classic well-known musical, modern audiences can't buy this all passionate all consuming climbing fire escapes in the middle of the night, proclaiming I love you's and I'm going to marry you's, and "I'm going to have a thousand babies and name them all after Doc - even the girls" in the first five minutes of meeting a forbidden love.
The biggest barrier to this show is not sentimentality, but price. At $120 a ticket (for A reserve), I imagine many people are going to miss this show, which is a great shame, because we don't get musicals of this standard in Australia very often. The billing of the show as new, hot, and vibrant is spot on, and if you like dance this is a must-see production.
Whilst paying tribute to the original Jerome Robbins staging, Joey McKneely's slick and gutsy production injects modern flair and sensibility into a Broadway classic. Aside from the dancing, which was absolutely phenomenal, what stood out for me in this production was the story of immigration: everyone, at some point in the American story, is an immigrant, everyone struggles, and living in the city is tough. And when the fiery passions of the people defending "their" turf, and dream of a new life collide, you have a tragedy of Shakespearean scale on your hands. Paul Gallis' stylised and stark fire-escape set, along with the use of projected 1950s black and white images of New York City, created a sense of alienation and evoked the harsh reality of living in the city. The athletic and punchy choreography gave a sense of the raw strength and primal energy of the dueling gangs, making the stylised fight scenes entirely believable and gripping.
The ensemble as a whole were fantastic, and their commitment to playing street-toughened teens was convincing. I loved the unusual interpretation of the "Officer Krupke" number. It is usually played for comic relief, but in this production, it highlights the raw energy of disillusioned young men, and you can well understand why these boys would turn to gang life for solace. Alinta Chitdz as Anita was the standout lead. She is a total knock-out, and her saucy renditions of "America" and "A Boy Like That" were thrilling.
McKneely's production was refreshingly all about story-telling. No celebrity castings, or flashy stage effects, just a strong and highly talented ensemble using song and dance to tell a story about the tragedy of alienation, violence, and forbidden love in the harsh and unforgiving city. It was interesting to note however the audience's reactions to the seemingly over-sentimental and heightened love between Tony and Maria. Even in a classic well-known musical, modern audiences can't buy this all passionate all consuming climbing fire escapes in the middle of the night, proclaiming I love you's and I'm going to marry you's, and "I'm going to have a thousand babies and name them all after Doc - even the girls" in the first five minutes of meeting a forbidden love.
The biggest barrier to this show is not sentimentality, but price. At $120 a ticket (for A reserve), I imagine many people are going to miss this show, which is a great shame, because we don't get musicals of this standard in Australia very often. The billing of the show as new, hot, and vibrant is spot on, and if you like dance this is a must-see production.
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I have lived/dealt with depression since I was in early high school. I remember sitting on the train on a bright blue-sky sunny day and thinking "everything in life is good right now, but I just feel miserable." The following ten years saw me yo-yo between high and low moods, culminating in a feeling of total numbness by the time I was finishing uni.
Thankfully I discovered mindfulness meditation, and through reading, counseling, better eating habits, and much journaling, I have come to better understand my depression and how to look after it, and more importantly, my self. I can now recognise the symptoms of when I'm starting to feel down, and I'm on an ever continuing journey of how best to look after me. I'm eating beautifully, I'm expressing myself creatively, and I'm meditating daily.
I feel the one area letting me down is fitness. I'm distinctly lacking it! So I have finally signed myself up for something I have been promising myself I would do since I was twelve. I'm going to run the City the Surf! I have filled out the application form, paid my fees, and now I need to get running! For the goodness of my own health, for fitness, for the challenge, for proving to myself that I can do what I say I'm going to do, I'm going to run 14km from Sydney's CBD to the iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday 8 August.
Part of the race is fundraising for a nominated charity. I have chosen Beyond Blue: The National Depression Initiative. It feels positive to be raising money for an organisation that promotes better understanding, prevention, and coping strategies for depression through an event that will also increase my own well-being. If you can, please help me reach my target of raising $1000 for Beyond Blue by visiting Everyday Hero.
The paper work is done... now I need to get training!
Thankfully I discovered mindfulness meditation, and through reading, counseling, better eating habits, and much journaling, I have come to better understand my depression and how to look after it, and more importantly, my self. I can now recognise the symptoms of when I'm starting to feel down, and I'm on an ever continuing journey of how best to look after me. I'm eating beautifully, I'm expressing myself creatively, and I'm meditating daily.
I feel the one area letting me down is fitness. I'm distinctly lacking it! So I have finally signed myself up for something I have been promising myself I would do since I was twelve. I'm going to run the City the Surf! I have filled out the application form, paid my fees, and now I need to get running! For the goodness of my own health, for fitness, for the challenge, for proving to myself that I can do what I say I'm going to do, I'm going to run 14km from Sydney's CBD to the iconic Bondi Beach on Sunday 8 August.
Part of the race is fundraising for a nominated charity. I have chosen Beyond Blue: The National Depression Initiative. It feels positive to be raising money for an organisation that promotes better understanding, prevention, and coping strategies for depression through an event that will also increase my own well-being. If you can, please help me reach my target of raising $1000 for Beyond Blue by visiting Everyday Hero.
The paper work is done... now I need to get training!
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Sydney is just under 16,000km from New York City, and if Luisa can’t be on Broadway, then you must bring Broadway to Luisa! And fortuitously for me, Broadway well and truly came to Australia this week. In the past 7 days, I have seen composer Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, and Wicked, among many others), actresses Shoshana Bean (Hairspray, and Wicked), and Donna McKechnie (A Chorus Line, Follies, Company, among many, many other shows)!
Last Sunday found me at the City Recital Hall in Angel Place surrounded by a full-house of fellow musical theatre nerds for “An Evening with Stephen Schwartz: Festival of Broadway”. The evening was a showcase of Stephen Schwartz’s music, beginning with Godspell and ending with “the W show,” Wicked, along with a discussion between Stephen Schwartz and Michael A. Kerker, (Director of Musical Theatre for ASCAP - the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). Directed by questions from Kerker, Schwartz discussed the processes behind developing a musical, his journey to the Great White Way, what it was like to have three shows playing simultaneously on Broadway, working with Alan Menken on the Disney projects, traveling to Denmark with a commission to write a new musical celebrating the life of Hans Christian Anderson, working on a new opera, and the story behind the inspiration for Wicked.
Hearing showtunes played by a full symphony orchestra is always a treat, and watching Liz Callaway, (another Broadway veteran, and also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in
Aladdin and the title role of Anastasia) was fabulous, but my highlight of the evening was definitely Stephen himself singing and playing his own compositions. He played early versions of “The Wizard and I”, and shared how the song, and subsequently the Wicked
plot, progressed from early drafts to the version we know (and utterly love) today. The night finished with a beautiful rendition of “For Good,” with Schwartz playing solo on the piano. “For Good” is a moving ballad of friendship and reflection, and to be sitting three rows from the composer himself, was nothing short of glorious. His warm spirit and youthful sense of joy absolutely shone through, and I just melted.
Three days later, I jetted up to Brisbane for the evening to see “Broadway to BrisVegas: Shoshana Bean Live in Concert”. The venue was the Brisbane Powerhouse, a former power station, that has been converted into a cultural centre in the lovely suburb of New Farm. The show opened with a jazz version of “Wouldn’t It be Loverly” from My Fair Lady and not a schmaltzy Michael Buble kind of jazz, but a vocally gymnastic riffed tribute-to-Ella kind of jazz. Wow! I had chills up and down my spine all through the song - a reaction I had right throughout the concert. The following numbers, including “Down with Love,” and “My Funny Valentine”, showed off Shoshana’s vocal range and ability to seamlessly transition from swing to sultry to sumptuous. The pianist, James Sampliner, also the MD of the evening (and later I found out the MD of Legally Blonde The Musical... OHMYGOD!), was an amazingly gifted musician. The audience was as much in love with him as they were with Shoshana Bean, and throughout his dazzling and spirited solos I could not believe that the piano was able to stay in one piece or not fly off the stage from all the energy poured in through each number.
After honouring the “classics,” Bean moved onto more contemporary Broadway composers, including Jeremy Schoenberg, Jason Robert Brown, and Georgia Stitt. Although she is well known for her Broadway showtune belting, the stand out numbers from the evening were from Bean’s own (debut) album, “Superhero”, written by Ms. Bean herself. It was amazing to see her singing her own material. It was almost as if she had stripped off a veneer (warm and beautiful as it is) to reveal her true self (equally as warm and beautiful), and it was breath-taking. Another highlight was Shoshana sharing her horrifying realisation, when she was about 13, that she wasn’t black. And so she sang a medley of all the parts she will never get to play as a white woman - ranging from AIDA, RENT, Porgy and Bess, Once on This Island, Ragtime, Children of Eden and Dream Girls. She jumped from pop to musical theatre to opera and back all within a breath. Hilariously brilliant.
Her belting, her riffing, her legit voice, her comic timing, her melty jazz voice, her perfectly not annoying pingy musical theatre twang... oh my! I LOVED IT! Am I gushing? She was gorgeous. I floated back to my hotel room totally and utterly inspired. And what about the effort of flying up to Brisbane to be there for less than 12 hours, and enduring a 6 hour commute to work the next morning, all for one hour(ish) of musical theatre? So worth it - so worth it in fact, I’m seeing her again tonight in Sydney! WOOHOO!*
On Thursday night, I headed out to the Factory Theatre in Marrickville to see Broadway royalty Donna McKechnie perform her cabaret show “My Musical Comedy Life”. McKechnie swanned on stage, looking every bit the Broadway performer, with fake eyelashes, theatrical make up, and glitter everywhere. The script felt rehearsed and a little overstaged, and I worried that McKechnie wouldn’t be able to hit all the notes after her first number left her out of breath, but while she found it difficult to speak between numbers, her singing voice was still clear and strong. And despite arthritis and her age, she can still dance!
A Chorus Line was the first musical I saw live, and I spent many inspired hours of my childhood listening, and dancing along, to the original Broadway cast recording. The ultimate moment of the evening for me therefore, was of course “Music and the Mirror”. The number was made all the more special by the back story of how the song came to be (it was the last number written for the show), and seeing McKechnie at sixty-nine years of age still belting it out just like that disembodied voice that has floated out of my grandma’s stereo so many countless times bought me to tears.
*I’m home from Shoshana Bean at The Factory... what can I say?! AMAZING. I am completely and utterly inspired and excited. The past seven days have been thrilling. I want to sing. I want to dance. I want to write music. I want to listen to every musical ever written. I want to see a thousand Broadway shows. I want to live in NYC and be surrounded by all of this day and night. Thank you thank you thank you Stephen Schwartz, Liz Callaway, Donna McKechnie, Shoshana Bean and James Sampliner for traversing 16,000km of continents and ocean and bringing a touch of Broadway to the land of Oz. It has been nothing short of WONDERFUL!
Last Sunday found me at the City Recital Hall in Angel Place surrounded by a full-house of fellow musical theatre nerds for “An Evening with Stephen Schwartz: Festival of Broadway”. The evening was a showcase of Stephen Schwartz’s music, beginning with Godspell and ending with “the W show,” Wicked, along with a discussion between Stephen Schwartz and Michael A. Kerker, (Director of Musical Theatre for ASCAP - the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers). Directed by questions from Kerker, Schwartz discussed the processes behind developing a musical, his journey to the Great White Way, what it was like to have three shows playing simultaneously on Broadway, working with Alan Menken on the Disney projects, traveling to Denmark with a commission to write a new musical celebrating the life of Hans Christian Anderson, working on a new opera, and the story behind the inspiration for Wicked.
Hearing showtunes played by a full symphony orchestra is always a treat, and watching Liz Callaway, (another Broadway veteran, and also the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in
Aladdin and the title role of Anastasia) was fabulous, but my highlight of the evening was definitely Stephen himself singing and playing his own compositions. He played early versions of “The Wizard and I”, and shared how the song, and subsequently the Wicked
plot, progressed from early drafts to the version we know (and utterly love) today. The night finished with a beautiful rendition of “For Good,” with Schwartz playing solo on the piano. “For Good” is a moving ballad of friendship and reflection, and to be sitting three rows from the composer himself, was nothing short of glorious. His warm spirit and youthful sense of joy absolutely shone through, and I just melted.
Three days later, I jetted up to Brisbane for the evening to see “Broadway to BrisVegas: Shoshana Bean Live in Concert”. The venue was the Brisbane Powerhouse, a former power station, that has been converted into a cultural centre in the lovely suburb of New Farm. The show opened with a jazz version of “Wouldn’t It be Loverly” from My Fair Lady and not a schmaltzy Michael Buble kind of jazz, but a vocally gymnastic riffed tribute-to-Ella kind of jazz. Wow! I had chills up and down my spine all through the song - a reaction I had right throughout the concert. The following numbers, including “Down with Love,” and “My Funny Valentine”, showed off Shoshana’s vocal range and ability to seamlessly transition from swing to sultry to sumptuous. The pianist, James Sampliner, also the MD of the evening (and later I found out the MD of Legally Blonde The Musical... OHMYGOD!), was an amazingly gifted musician. The audience was as much in love with him as they were with Shoshana Bean, and throughout his dazzling and spirited solos I could not believe that the piano was able to stay in one piece or not fly off the stage from all the energy poured in through each number.
After honouring the “classics,” Bean moved onto more contemporary Broadway composers, including Jeremy Schoenberg, Jason Robert Brown, and Georgia Stitt. Although she is well known for her Broadway showtune belting, the stand out numbers from the evening were from Bean’s own (debut) album, “Superhero”, written by Ms. Bean herself. It was amazing to see her singing her own material. It was almost as if she had stripped off a veneer (warm and beautiful as it is) to reveal her true self (equally as warm and beautiful), and it was breath-taking. Another highlight was Shoshana sharing her horrifying realisation, when she was about 13, that she wasn’t black. And so she sang a medley of all the parts she will never get to play as a white woman - ranging from AIDA, RENT, Porgy and Bess, Once on This Island, Ragtime, Children of Eden and Dream Girls. She jumped from pop to musical theatre to opera and back all within a breath. Hilariously brilliant.
Her belting, her riffing, her legit voice, her comic timing, her melty jazz voice, her perfectly not annoying pingy musical theatre twang... oh my! I LOVED IT! Am I gushing? She was gorgeous. I floated back to my hotel room totally and utterly inspired. And what about the effort of flying up to Brisbane to be there for less than 12 hours, and enduring a 6 hour commute to work the next morning, all for one hour(ish) of musical theatre? So worth it - so worth it in fact, I’m seeing her again tonight in Sydney! WOOHOO!*
On Thursday night, I headed out to the Factory Theatre in Marrickville to see Broadway royalty Donna McKechnie perform her cabaret show “My Musical Comedy Life”. McKechnie swanned on stage, looking every bit the Broadway performer, with fake eyelashes, theatrical make up, and glitter everywhere. The script felt rehearsed and a little overstaged, and I worried that McKechnie wouldn’t be able to hit all the notes after her first number left her out of breath, but while she found it difficult to speak between numbers, her singing voice was still clear and strong. And despite arthritis and her age, she can still dance!
A Chorus Line was the first musical I saw live, and I spent many inspired hours of my childhood listening, and dancing along, to the original Broadway cast recording. The ultimate moment of the evening for me therefore, was of course “Music and the Mirror”. The number was made all the more special by the back story of how the song came to be (it was the last number written for the show), and seeing McKechnie at sixty-nine years of age still belting it out just like that disembodied voice that has floated out of my grandma’s stereo so many countless times bought me to tears.
*I’m home from Shoshana Bean at The Factory... what can I say?! AMAZING. I am completely and utterly inspired and excited. The past seven days have been thrilling. I want to sing. I want to dance. I want to write music. I want to listen to every musical ever written. I want to see a thousand Broadway shows. I want to live in NYC and be surrounded by all of this day and night. Thank you thank you thank you Stephen Schwartz, Liz Callaway, Donna McKechnie, Shoshana Bean and James Sampliner for traversing 16,000km of continents and ocean and bringing a touch of Broadway to the land of Oz. It has been nothing short of WONDERFUL!
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The 64th Annual Tony Awards were on last night, and this is what winner Katie Finneran (Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for "Promises, Promises") had to say...
...I want to talk to the kids at home watching. I was a kid and I watched this show and it seemed so far away from me. And I want to tell you that all the people on this stage, and in this audience, we feel the same way. And, with the world being so fast right now, I want to remind you to focus on what you love. Because it is the greatest passport. It is the greatest roadmap to an extraordinarily blissful life. Just focus on that one thing.
Don’t listen to anybody else, and you will run into the right people, the right teachers, the right moments and circumstances, and one day you will meet a person that will share that love with you...
Amen to that!
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I wrote the following in early April, and today stumbled across this amazingly
appropriate Superforest blog...
I am... active beautiful charismatic determined evolving fortunate gorgeous hopeful iridescent journalling kind loving master novice open paganistic questing real sane tenacious understanding vivacious wicked young zesty...
appropriate Superforest blog...
I am... active beautiful charismatic determined evolving fortunate gorgeous hopeful iridescent journalling kind loving master novice open paganistic questing real sane tenacious understanding vivacious wicked young zesty...
- Published on
Musical theatre fans are often lauded as spirit finger, glitter loving, show tune belting freaks. There are “normal” people who experience life. And then there are people, who stand next to normal folk, who experience life and then sing and dance about it. I am in the latter category. And damn proud of it too. And as it turns out I am far from alone in the universe when it comes to making this statement. For hours of musical listening fun, deconstructions of divas belting out showtunes, and “daily shoutouts,” visit www.sethrudestky.com. For the latest in Broadway news visit www.playbill.com and click on Seth’s hi-larious blog/podcast Onstage and Backstage. And for weekly news/interviews/tidbits on what is happening on the West End, visit MusicalTalk and subscribe to their podcast.
Despite their fluffly reputation, many musicals tell the stories of serious issues - from racism and the nature of war in “South Pacific”, American politics in “Assassins”, AIDS in “RENT”, and most recently depression in “Next to Normal”. And in exciting sort-of-recent news, one of my favourite recent Broadway musicals, “Next to Normal”, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama. “Next to Normal” tells the story of Diana, a suburban mother, and her battle with depression. The music style ranges from rock to country to pastiche, and articulately describes the experience of depression, the medical merry-go-round of “curing” it, and the drama of depression within modern suburban life. It’s a gusty, unafraid musical that is full of energy and emotion. As Ben Brantley states in his positive review of the show, “Nor do musicals have to bubble with cheer to transport an audience as this one does”. Highly recommended listening (and viewing if you’re in NYC!). And then if you really need some good quality spirit finger glitter loving show tune belting fluff, you should like, totally check
out Legally Blonde The Musical.
Despite their fluffly reputation, many musicals tell the stories of serious issues - from racism and the nature of war in “South Pacific”, American politics in “Assassins”, AIDS in “RENT”, and most recently depression in “Next to Normal”. And in exciting sort-of-recent news, one of my favourite recent Broadway musicals, “Next to Normal”, won this year’s Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama. “Next to Normal” tells the story of Diana, a suburban mother, and her battle with depression. The music style ranges from rock to country to pastiche, and articulately describes the experience of depression, the medical merry-go-round of “curing” it, and the drama of depression within modern suburban life. It’s a gusty, unafraid musical that is full of energy and emotion. As Ben Brantley states in his positive review of the show, “Nor do musicals have to bubble with cheer to transport an audience as this one does”. Highly recommended listening (and viewing if you’re in NYC!). And then if you really need some good quality spirit finger glitter loving show tune belting fluff, you should like, totally check
out Legally Blonde The Musical.
- Published on
You may have noticed that the majority of this blog has been about food. That’s because food is awesome. Since reading Barbara Kingsolver’s delicious “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,” I have become a little obsessed with eating local, fresh, and where possible, organic, produce. I don’t care what the skeptics say about organic food, you CAN taste the difference, and it is a million times better. The flavours! The colour! The variety! I mean,
when was the last time you saw a round zucchin in the supermarket (pictured above)?
I’ve been visiting the Eveleigh Farmer’s Markets for about two months now with my market buddy Len (hi Lenny!), and I’ve become utterly addicted. Not only is the food fabulous, but the people (who also happen to be the farmers) are utterly wonderful. Karen and her completely brilliant Willowbrae goat’s curd, David and Kerrie’s Hand ‘n’ Hoe sensational roasted macadamia nut butter (no really, it’s so good I’ve pretty much single-handedly made my way through three bottles of the stuff in less than two months) and the best garlic on the
planet, Champion's Mountain Organics from the Central Coast with the best herbs, eggs, and veggies in the whole market, Yuri’s Sustainable Produce with the most wonderful seasonal fruits and farmers who will not take your money until your bag is full to bursting with produce (“It’s still not full enough. Here, have some grapes...”), and the Mancini family with their deliciously aromatic brilliant-for-cooking-but-so-good-you-could-use-it-as-a-dip
The Little General olive oil from Griffith are among my favourites.
Between the farmer’s markets and a new find, Harmony Wholefoods in Glebe, I’ve been able to eat pretty much all organic and mostly local food 7 days a week. I’ve been baking bread with wholegrain biodynamic flour (variations on a plain brown loaf have thus far included poppy seeds, oats, chia seeds, and rosemary), vegetable soups, salads bursting with so much flavour you don’t even need dressing, pizzas from scratch, tortillas, chickpea patties, fruit salads with apples, peaches, plums, pears, and passionfruit (oh my!) that have my office all sniffing the air enviously and asking where the delicious smell is coming from, freshly squeezed orange juice... And all this for less than $100 a week. Mmm hmm! Now let us all open our mouths and enjoy wonderful food, marvellous food, glorious food!
when was the last time you saw a round zucchin in the supermarket (pictured above)?
I’ve been visiting the Eveleigh Farmer’s Markets for about two months now with my market buddy Len (hi Lenny!), and I’ve become utterly addicted. Not only is the food fabulous, but the people (who also happen to be the farmers) are utterly wonderful. Karen and her completely brilliant Willowbrae goat’s curd, David and Kerrie’s Hand ‘n’ Hoe sensational roasted macadamia nut butter (no really, it’s so good I’ve pretty much single-handedly made my way through three bottles of the stuff in less than two months) and the best garlic on the
planet, Champion's Mountain Organics from the Central Coast with the best herbs, eggs, and veggies in the whole market, Yuri’s Sustainable Produce with the most wonderful seasonal fruits and farmers who will not take your money until your bag is full to bursting with produce (“It’s still not full enough. Here, have some grapes...”), and the Mancini family with their deliciously aromatic brilliant-for-cooking-but-so-good-you-could-use-it-as-a-dip
The Little General olive oil from Griffith are among my favourites.
Between the farmer’s markets and a new find, Harmony Wholefoods in Glebe, I’ve been able to eat pretty much all organic and mostly local food 7 days a week. I’ve been baking bread with wholegrain biodynamic flour (variations on a plain brown loaf have thus far included poppy seeds, oats, chia seeds, and rosemary), vegetable soups, salads bursting with so much flavour you don’t even need dressing, pizzas from scratch, tortillas, chickpea patties, fruit salads with apples, peaches, plums, pears, and passionfruit (oh my!) that have my office all sniffing the air enviously and asking where the delicious smell is coming from, freshly squeezed orange juice... And all this for less than $100 a week. Mmm hmm! Now let us all open our mouths and enjoy wonderful food, marvellous food, glorious food!