Long Live Musical Theatre!

It’s so wonderful to hear from so many of you – thank you! Please contact me: showtune.erica@hotmail.com

If you haven’t heard, KOSY “let me go”. As many of you have mentioned, it came as a shock – to me too! I’m mostly incredibly heartbroken about losing Showtune Saturday Night. I LOVED that show. I’ve poured my heart and soul into SSN for the past 7 years, bringing it to #1, buying the music myself to add to the program, spending countless hours watching shows (from Broadway to high school), and loving every minute of it. Thank you, thank you, thank you for letting me share my love of musical theatre with you each Saturday night. Hopefully, we’ll meet again.

In the meantime, this little snafu doesn’t stop me from getting out and enjoying some fabulous theatre!!

The week I was fired, my friend and I had booked a trip to Seattle to see the world premiere of the new Mel Brooks musical, “Young Frankenstein!” Since I’d bought all these non-refundable tickets, I figured… ‘Why not!’












WOW!!!

The worst part, I CAN’T ABOUT IT ON THE SHOW!!!! Grrrr…..

But I can share it with you. It’s an amazing show! I sat there watching these amazing performers dance, sing, do accents, masterfully handle comedic timing… just amazing. What a gift! And what a thrill to be able to see it!

The show has lots of the original movie in – favorite lines, neighing horses etc. But enough of the new to make it feel fresh all over again and still delight and surprise.

Sutton Foster…. Aahhh…. My fave. I LOVE that girl (she’s in France with her hub right now). She is incredible. I’ve seen her in Millie, Little Women, Drowsy Chaperone and now this and she has been fabulous in every one of them!! I’m such a fan, and… I got her autograph!!! Not to mention I got to shake her hand and she said “Hi, I’m Sutton” – umm…. DUH!! Of COURSE you’re Sutton!!!! Tremendous, quite tremendous for this theatre geek.

The rest of the cast was equally talented. Roger Bart – wonderful Dr. Frankenstein. Megan Mullalley is quite funny as well and she can really sing. She had quite a few belty notes and they didn’t faze her a bit. The whole cast was great.

They get a two week break now and then head to Broadway – can you imagine how exciting that would be?

It opens on Broadway Nov 8th at the Hilton Theatre. If you’re planning a trip to NYC, put this show toward the top of your list of shows to see!!

http://www.youngfrankensteinthemusical.com/teaser.html

A Kick In The Teeth

I’m so glad you found my blog!!

What a difference a day makes.

Aug 16th my sis was in town, I’d bought a crib and we had my baby shower with my fabulous Aunts. Aug 17th I was being “let go” from KOSY.

That’s certainly not what I expected when I got to work that Friday.

I suppose it’s never great timing - to lose ones job. I’ve heard all the horror stories about how it happens right before the holidays, right before a family vacation or just after buying a new house.

Ours is lousy timing too.

I was going to come home that Friday morning and Mark and I were going to put the finishing touches on our house in order to put it up for sale Monday morning. We were going to make an offer on a house we’d really fallen in love with – a great house with room for an actual nursery!! We were making that next big step. Well, needless to say, we called our realtor but not to tell him we were ready to move forward.

So, here we are. 1/3 of our house is in storage, 1/3 of our house is in the bedroom closet in my mom’s basement. And a few things are still boxed up – filling our garage – awaiting their trips to their waiting place. I’m not sure what to do about it all. We don’t have room for it.

Our little baby will be sharing a room with my piano – which actually my sis said could come in quite handy when the baby is having a melt-down. I have her nursery décor sitting my kitchen table. I’ve been putting off moving it upstairs since I’m significantly less excited about this nursery. But I keep telling myself the baby won’t notice, right? People have raised whole packs of kids in a lot less space. So, I’ll put my stuff up and make it as homey as possible.

Above all, we’re okay. We all have our health – which is the most important. The baby is getting bigger everyday (consequently, so am I!) and is kicking all the time. And we hadn’t actually sold our house – whew! – so we still have a warm place to call home.

I am sad because I loved my job. It was great fun – even getting up at 3:30a – to sit and chat with you everyday. So many of you have made contact with me and I’ve come to consider you friends. That’s been the biggest surprise to me: How lonely it’s been not working. Being let go means losing the e-mail address so many of you used to contact me… and it feels really lonely.

Please feel free to drop me a line! Showtune.erica@hotmail.com I’d love to hear from you!

House Hunt

The house search has kicked into high gear.

Mark and I have been looking off and on… here and there… for about 3 years. Every time we see a house for sale, we jump out and pull the info sheet. Usually we’re dismayed at the cost.

Apparently, we’re making this move about 3 years too late. We should’ve done it back when we first thought we needed the extra space. We’ve seen houses go on sale again that were on the market 3-4 years ago and we’re shocked at how the price has jumped and we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t just do it then.

Grrrrr…… How were we supposed to know that the market would climb to scary proportions and we’d start to wonder if it would ever come down?

Alas….

We have a baby due Nov 2 and I’d really like a place to put the little thing. Ginger has 4 pet beds so perhaps they could share? … Doubtful. As of right now, our little girl will either room with my piano in the ‘music room’ or room with Mark’s ‘stuff’ in what I believe he calls his ‘office’ – though that’s up for debate.

But now we have a realtor. Yes, we’re very serious now. He’s supposed to help us find the home of our dreams AND sell our place. How about that?! Yes, yes I know… realtors have been around a long time doing that very thing but hearing him talk about what he could do for us was fabulous! Finally, we’re not on our own!

So, here goes. Here goes the big search. We drove passed about 30 homes over the weekend and we’re set to walk through a few of them today. So we’ll see. Please, please, please send positive vibes out into the universe for us!

Please?…

Shakes Fest

Every summer I look forward to it.

I love the Festival. I love the Adams outdoor theatre. I love the gold plating inside the Randall L Jones Theatre. I love the colorful banners that hang throughout the city. I love the fresh tarts (I recommend raspberry and blackberry!) I love the little gift shops. I love my dinners at The Garden House and breakfasts at City Creek Restaurant.

And, above all, I love the plays.

How lucky we are to have such professional quality, world-class, TONY award winning theatre right in our own backyard!

Is it rude of me to say that if you haven’t been down, you’re foolish? Is that too harsh?

Trust me, it’s worth your time. It’s just over 3 hours away and less than a tank of gas and you’ll feel like you’ve left the state. It’s such a treat!

This year my husband took his camera down. He did a story on the Festival’s Green Show. You’ll be able to watch it here soon – I’ll post it as soon as it’s finished. Here he is interviewing Festival Founder (and a VERY nice man), Fred Adams.

GO SEE LEND ME A TENOR!!!!

This musical has me itching for the CD like crazy – but they’re not able to do one just yet. It’s miserable having to wait. The music is so catchy and so sing-able and SO great! I find myself just singing the same lines over and over (since that’s all I know).

They have 6 shows to choose from so there is something for everyone.

So, go to http://www.bard.org/, order your tix, book a room. Then settle in with a fresh tart for the Green Show, off with your theatre compatriots to your show then head for a dessert afterwards to talk about it. You won’t be sorry!

Suzy

About 14 years ago, my youngest sister Laura returned from visiting our cousins in Arizona and she wanted a dog. A miniature Schnauzer, to be exact (the same my cousins had).

Now, we weren’t dog-people. We’d never owned a dog, didn’t really have any pets to speak of and still pretty much had a full household of mouths to feed, and shoes to trip over.

My sis was undeterred. She lobbied hard. She left notes on my folks bed, she left pictures lying around and she begged…. Incessantly.

I’m not sure why they relented, but they did. The fam drove out one evening and picked out a little Schnauzer puppy from the litter and brought her home.

Most of us were reticent. After all, my only prior experience with dogs was getting chased home once by a barking, snarling, awful dog (which required assistance from a neighbor to get the dog to leave me alone), and my best friend’s yappy dog which always served as a barrier between her house and me standing outside the fence.

Dogs were scary.

I came home that night and the whole family was gathered in the office around a cardboard box. Inside was a little silver-y puppy… with a tiny pokey beard. Laura was delighted and I think the rest of us were nervous. Pam (my other, younger sis) pouted for most of the night at the prospect of having to share a room not only with Laura, but also this new furry creature.

My how times changed. That little Schnauzer, named Suzy officially - but would undergo more nicknames than any living creature should, turned this clan of non-dog-people into a big bunch of dog lovers – quick to ooh, aah, gush, and baby talk any dog especially of the Schnauzer variety. We’d gush to dogs sticking their heads out of car windows, dogs on TV, dogs walking by, dogs in movies, any dog, anywhere.

Suzy taught us that barking doesn’t always mean ‘I’m going to eat you,’ and chasing doesn’t always mean ‘I’m going to eat you.’ She cured me of my fear of dogs. She learned how to manipulate us into giving treats (countless treats); she was remarkably patient during many fashions shows, costume contests and arms wanting to hold her.

You’ll notice in most of these pictures she looks 100% unamused…. But always patient.

Suzy made it through one house move, her ‘kids’ moving out. She was there through 3 weddings, the loss of 3 grandparents, 3 high school graduations, 6 college graduations, 2 new grandbabies (again, very patient), new cars, new jobs, new boyfriends, new highs and lows and she was there to greet you at every entrance into the house.

Over the years, we watched her suffer through Parvo (and survive!), a couple of minor surgeries (resulting in the nickname “Hop-a-long”) and the fear and loathing of haircuts and grooming (one time escaping and running along busy 3500 S with my sister chasing after her during morning rush hour – still good for a family laugh). She impressed us – even my dad - when she sniffed out and killed a ground hog that had been eating the flowers.

Most recently though, we watched as Suzy got a little older and a little slower. It became hard for Suzy to move, hard for her to hear and hard to her to greet us as we arrived.

I got a call one night from my younger sis, Laura who tearfully told me that Suzy had died - She just finally couldn’t get up.

We will miss Suzy. She has truly been our family mascot.

Thank you, Laura, for your begging all those years ago. I think we’re all a happier bunch for having had that little gray Schnauzer in our lives!

I Love Birthdays

I love birthdays. I know, I know, it’s all about getting older, more decrepit, loss of memory, slower moving, graying, lines etc. etc. blah, blah. Growing up you hear those jokes so many times that you truly DO start to dread it.

But, I’ve decided to put all that aside and not just for MY birthday.

Birthdays add a little spice to life. A little paprika during a boring ‘casserole’ of a week (how’s THAT for an analogy?)

What other time is someone going to get me a cake? I can honestly say there is not one other day when that would ever cross anyone’s mind.

I get phone calls from friends, cards in the mail, taken to lunch, and sometimes a little token of a gift.

Why would anyone have a hard time with that? It’s fun!

Look at this cake made by Baker Bill!! He owns Leslie’s French Pastry in Holladay (278-3341). I like to mention that but Bill hates it when I do. He’s the nicest friend and listener and he made the most unique, Erica-specific cake I’ve ever seen. I literally squealed with delight. Not to mention, it was super-tasty too!

So for you birthday bah-humbuggers… here’s a list of great things about getting another year older:
Cake!
A present or two – come on… admit it… it’s fun!
People thinking about you.
Being called the “Birthday Girl”… even still.
Being taken out to lunch/dinner.
Hopefully being surrounded by people you like.
Hearing people say “You look great!” (Doesn’t matter if they mean it!)
Colorful gift bags, with colorful tissue paper sticking out the top.
Treating yourself to something extra
Birthday calories don’t count!!!!!!!

Cooking Dinner

I did something yesterday I don’t normally do.

I cooked.

Mark and I aren’t home together at night since we work opposite shifts, so I usually make do with cereal, peanut butter sandwiches…. Umm….. cheese sticks…. That might be it.

But last night Mark was off and I decided to pull out a recipe I’d tried before and liked – Quick and Easy Lasagna. It has all the fab flavor of lasagna but the ease of a casserole (see?… I make it sound easy, right?)

I’m horribly out of practice!! I stumbled and bumbled my way through the grocery store. Studying the ground rounds, number of ounces in a can of tomato sauce and wondered why they don’t make any 8 oz bags of medium egg noodles. Why are they all 12 or 16 ounces?

Realizing that cooking is nothing like baking – which is an exact science that I’m MUCH more comfortable with – I thought it’d be okay if I fudged a few things here and there.

I kept thinking, “I could just go to Subway….” “Subway sure would be easier…” but I wanted to cook for Mark since I never get to.

So, I boiled the noodles and mixed my cheese mixture. Estimated the tomato sauce, and the ground round. I had to buy 1.34 lbs of ground round as opposed to 1 lb. And does that matter? I didn’t know. Ginger enjoyed a few extras of this and that while I had cheese, pans, sauce and noodles spread throughout the entire kitchen, on all counter surfaces and even a bit on the floor (again, it’s good to have Ging around). I certainly made a production of it.

I was happily singing to myself and mixing, dicing, and boiling when Mark came thundering out of his office, hollering down the stairs,
“Erica?! ERICA!”
“What?”
“What’s burning?!?!”

Niiiiice. That’s not quite the scent I was hoping to use to lure him away from him work project.

“Umm… just a little something I’m working on.” Which was NOT burning by the way… it just smelled like it was.
“You’re cooking?!?!?!?”

I listened for a squeal of delight from Mark when I said yes but I didn’t hear it. He merely said, “Okay,” clearly relieved the house wasn’t burning around him, and went back to work.

Nevertheless, I continued. I tossed my masterpiece in the oven, along with the garlic bread I’d picked up. Mixed up some brownies for dessert, and waited for my praise.

What a great wife I am! How sweet is this?! He’s working and I’m doing laundry AND cooking dinner!

Mark came down, asked if I concocted this dish on my own, sat down and ate. I sat there thinking, ‘Umm… you know this is the first time I’ve done this in years… don’t you?’ I waited for an “Oooohhh,” or an “aaahhhh” or a “Wow this is good! How nice!”

The look on my face must’ve said it all because Mark finally said “What?! I like it.”

I’m not railing on Mark for not gushing about my silly feast. I’m mostly frustrated with myself that I turned the kitchen into something that looks like a Thanksgiving meal for 20 was prepared in, I spent FAR more time than the 20 minutes the recipe told me I would, and I only made a marginal meal.

Mark is great. He’ll eat anything – even if I had burned it. But I think… probably… he’d rather have had the Subway sandwich!