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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
ushering
How I love watching the audience
Seeing their joy
Their excitement
Re-living a show I’ve seen dozens of times
For the first time through their eyes
The laughs, the gasps, the moments of stillness
The raucous applause
It’s the same thing eight times a week
And every night it’s a different show
The privilege
Of being in the room
Where it happens
Seeing their joy
Their excitement
Re-living a show I’ve seen dozens of times
For the first time through their eyes
The laughs, the gasps, the moments of stillness
The raucous applause
It’s the same thing eight times a week
And every night it’s a different show
The privilege
Of being in the room
Where it happens
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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Ushering
During intermission
I met an elderly gentleman who
Back in the day
Was a set and costume designer
He worked on over 250 shows
And then turned to fashion
He’s still an avid theatre goer
Has seen almost every show this season
He was enjoying Hadestown
But thought it was missing elements of the opera
He took the time to learn my name
And remembered it as he was leaving
It was fun to talk theatre
And to be able to talk about shows
That had opened and closed before I was even born
To know their context
He and his partner made me smile
The joy of theatre.
I met an elderly gentleman who
Back in the day
Was a set and costume designer
He worked on over 250 shows
And then turned to fashion
He’s still an avid theatre goer
Has seen almost every show this season
He was enjoying Hadestown
But thought it was missing elements of the opera
He took the time to learn my name
And remembered it as he was leaving
It was fun to talk theatre
And to be able to talk about shows
That had opened and closed before I was even born
To know their context
He and his partner made me smile
The joy of theatre.
- Published on
luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Iolanthe
How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
Join a chorus and practice practice practice
And with a dainty string of lights
Upon your head
Become a fairy who declares
We must dance and
We must sing...
Oh yes, we must!
What a joy to be on stage again
What a joy to sing in the choir
(After all, happiness truly is...)
What a joy to play dress-ups
What a joy to be a fairy
We should all become fairies
And trip the light fantastic
And fall in love with music
And dance upon the wicked stage
And sing with all our collective might
And delight
In our existence.
Join a chorus and practice practice practice
And with a dainty string of lights
Upon your head
Become a fairy who declares
We must dance and
We must sing...
Oh yes, we must!
What a joy to be on stage again
What a joy to sing in the choir
(After all, happiness truly is...)
What a joy to play dress-ups
What a joy to be a fairy
We should all become fairies
And trip the light fantastic
And fall in love with music
And dance upon the wicked stage
And sing with all our collective might
And delight
In our existence.
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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Fairy Lights
The singing fairies
Shall wear
Wreaths of light
In their hair!
Shall wear
Wreaths of light
In their hair!
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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
The Start of Something New
I’m excited and sad
(To paraphrase Stephen Sondheim)
Moving back to New York
Finding a lovely sublet
Walking distance to the park and pool
Walking distance to the subway
Musical theatre flatmates
Twenty minutes into Manhattan
Everyone says the food is amazing
Coffee shops galore
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
Here we go.
(To paraphrase Stephen Sondheim)
Moving back to New York
Finding a lovely sublet
Walking distance to the park and pool
Walking distance to the subway
Musical theatre flatmates
Twenty minutes into Manhattan
Everyone says the food is amazing
Coffee shops galore
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
Here we go.
- Published on
luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Ted's Talk
You are in one of the most beautiful homes
You’ve ever been in
With a panoramic view of
The East River and Queens
(And the red and white stacks
Of the power station
That remind you of Sloan)
You’re watching an interview with Christine Ebersole
Conducted by Ted Sperling and
You feel oh so lucky
And thankful
To be in the room.
You’ve ever been in
With a panoramic view of
The East River and Queens
(And the red and white stacks
Of the power station
That remind you of Sloan)
You’re watching an interview with Christine Ebersole
Conducted by Ted Sperling and
You feel oh so lucky
And thankful
To be in the room.
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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Spirited Away
How lovely to sit in a cinema
And watch a play
Performed from across the oceans
Nearly 7000 miles away
And bought to you by the witchery
Of capturing theatre on screen
And the play is magical and whimsical
And full of surprise
And for a few hours
You are transported
Away.
And watch a play
Performed from across the oceans
Nearly 7000 miles away
And bought to you by the witchery
Of capturing theatre on screen
And the play is magical and whimsical
And full of surprise
And for a few hours
You are transported
Away.
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luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Back on Broadway
Back to ushering
For the first time in forever
I’ve missed it
And being back in the building
It feels like coming home
Patrons walk in
And they gasp
And they’re excited
And a couple of kids proudly tell you
This is my first Broadway show!
And you hope they will love it
As much as you do
Because this collective coming together
To tell stories
To sing and dance and trip the light fantastic
Makes your heart glow
Oh so bright.
For the first time in forever
I’ve missed it
And being back in the building
It feels like coming home
Patrons walk in
And they gasp
And they’re excited
And a couple of kids proudly tell you
This is my first Broadway show!
And you hope they will love it
As much as you do
Because this collective coming together
To tell stories
To sing and dance and trip the light fantastic
Makes your heart glow
Oh so bright.
- Published on
luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
A Salon
An extraordinary event
A salon (ooh la la)
Exploring “What is reality?”
Remember in high school when you read about
Voltaire and the Enlightenment
And how he and his lover
Marquise du Châtelet
Held salons
Where philosophers and poets and writers and artists
Would convene to share ideas
And perform plays
And you thought
Oh yes, that sounds
Very Appealing
You try a VR headset for the first time
A short musical theatre piece
About climate change and the rising oceans
Filmed in the Channel Islands
Off the coast of California
And first you’re on the dock
And then you’re on a boat
And then you’re in the ocean
And swimming in the water and
You have a flashback to Danbury Hospital where
You’re drugged up on morphine and a
Chemical chemo cocktail
And all you want
Is to swim in the ocean
You save pictures of beaches
From your childhood on your phone
And present day you is
Sitting on a hard plastic chair in an old factory in Chelsea
With a slightly cumbersome contraption on your head
And your heart catches in your throat and
Your body feels the longing and
You are swimming in the sea
And the sky is blue
And the music is gorgeous
And the visuals are stunning
And there’s even a hat tip to Esther Williams
And you don’t want it to be over
A room full of theatre practitioners
Folding technology and art
And performing musical plays
And you think about how one day
Manhattan will probably be under water
And you imagine future divers
Exploring Broadway theatres
Like underwater caves
And you wonder
Will they know what transpired here?
A salon (ooh la la)
Exploring “What is reality?”
Remember in high school when you read about
Voltaire and the Enlightenment
And how he and his lover
Marquise du Châtelet
Held salons
Where philosophers and poets and writers and artists
Would convene to share ideas
And perform plays
And you thought
Oh yes, that sounds
Very Appealing
You try a VR headset for the first time
A short musical theatre piece
About climate change and the rising oceans
Filmed in the Channel Islands
Off the coast of California
And first you’re on the dock
And then you’re on a boat
And then you’re in the ocean
And swimming in the water and
You have a flashback to Danbury Hospital where
You’re drugged up on morphine and a
Chemical chemo cocktail
And all you want
Is to swim in the ocean
You save pictures of beaches
From your childhood on your phone
And present day you is
Sitting on a hard plastic chair in an old factory in Chelsea
With a slightly cumbersome contraption on your head
And your heart catches in your throat and
Your body feels the longing and
You are swimming in the sea
And the sky is blue
And the music is gorgeous
And the visuals are stunning
And there’s even a hat tip to Esther Williams
And you don’t want it to be over
A room full of theatre practitioners
Folding technology and art
And performing musical plays
And you think about how one day
Manhattan will probably be under water
And you imagine future divers
Exploring Broadway theatres
Like underwater caves
And you wonder
Will they know what transpired here?
- Published on
luminescence: the emission of light by a substance that has not been heated.
LuMinEssence: the mission of finding light in the dark.
Hello, Dolly!
Musical Theatre Book Club
A room full of musical theatre nerds
Actors and singers and dancers
And lay people with a deep love
For the form
Singing through a score together
For fun
Low stakes
High joy
Deep appreciation
So much love
There’s a place for us
Somewhere over the rainbow
We’ll never go away again
A room full of musical theatre nerds
Actors and singers and dancers
And lay people with a deep love
For the form
Singing through a score together
For fun
Low stakes
High joy
Deep appreciation
So much love
There’s a place for us
Somewhere over the rainbow
We’ll never go away again