OPENING NIGHT!

High Maints Baby

I'm at the DMV right now waiting forever to exchange my expired liscense for a brand new one. The line would be moving a lot faster if the only teller was not occupied with a very high maints baby. Literally a tiny baby in Dora pajamas complete with footies is getting an ID. They keep trying to get a usable photo of her but she keeps looking away when they snap the photo. What are you? Hungry? Tired? You're so high maints baby!!! Baby's internal monologue, "listen- I'm going to need some breastmilk - in a sippie cup, I'm going to need a better photo background and I'm going to need you to replace this dingy florescent lighting honey. Then we can talk. And queen, hurry this up- my flight to Milano leaves in an hour and 20.

Delving back into the Book of Mormon

This week is the opening night for a new Broadway Musical:



Besides being really excited as a self proclaimed ex-mormon to have this musical come to the great white way, its even more exciting that I am able to be a part of it! I am in the ensemble of the show- which in this show means that I spend almost the entire show as a missionary. (Although I do make a brief appearance as Brigham Young!!) Being able to relive an experience that was as vivid as a mormon mission is a rare experience, and it is one that I am cherishing with every breath. The show is INCREDIBLY well written, well acted, and well directed and choreographed. It is one of those rare theatrical experiences where all the parts have come together in perfect alchemy to make solid gold.

During our preview process, I have already met a couple of people from the blogosphere at the stage door after the show! One young man told me that he has watched several of my youtube videos, and he introduced me to his boyfriend! Another pair of handsome guys told me on this last Saturday that they used to read this very blog- you know, back when I used to actually write in this very blog. In this very blog, there's quite enough love for one like me... I digress. In any case, it is due to those 2 new friends from Saturday that I am writing this post. I realize that this is going to be an experience that I am going to want to document- if for no other reason than just recording it for myself. After all, it is my heritage to record my personal history, and so I shall continue, even if sparsly so.

Its Mask Monday

Get into it.

Freestyle

I'm not writing with a purpose today I am just writing because I want to. I have to say, one of the major remnants of mormonism in me, which may have been an innate personal characteristic regardless of religious inculcation, is my absolute love of learning. I find that when I am not reading a book, or learning something new, I feel much less like myself. I have created a sort of public persona that really goes along with it too. For most of my life, I have felt some amount of pressure to live up to this persona; to always be learning a language, reading a dense book, or visiting an interesting country.

As a form of self-exploration I have, over the last few years, taken some time off from such lofty pursuits. I have spent quite a bit of time watching VERY delectable VERY trashy television (flavor of love 1, 2, AND 3-- nuff said), and have allowed myself a respite from my usual language studies. I haven't learned any weird alphabets and I haven't impressed co-workers by rereading "Heart of Darkness". I did, however, spend some time last Halloween speaking Russian to a random cab driver while dressed like Taylor from the Rachel Zoe Project. My cast mates were duly impressed, but I have to admit I was resting on the laurels of past linguistic pursuits. To illustrate, I was NOT speaking Hindi withe cab driver on the way home or even discussing the 5 Ks of Sikhism with him. And that haunts me to this day.

Just kidding.


But truthfully, after this self allowed cocoon from a persona greatly tied to my upbringing I have emerged the best butterfly I can be right now in my life. I have realized 2 wonderful things about myself: 1) that I feel most alive and most healthy emotionally and spiritually speaking when I am in the process of learning something exhilarating and fascinating and 2) I don't have to be doing it all the time to be a valid, whole, and happy human being. The "self" has no actual need for such rigidity after all! I think we are all expansive enough to realize and ACCEPT that we can be flexible with ourselves; even our own image of ourselves, and still be US. Not studying language did not take away my Clarkness. I didn't know that before, but now that I do, I can let my reading and studying and learning enhance my Clarkness instead of define it.

YES DIVA!!!

This is so funny to me!

Living for Liza in a sequined teal flowy top. YES QUEEN!!

Why not?

It just feels right to write today. Writing with the right to do so, and with the right writing attitude. Its all right. Right? Write. Maybe its the fact that a huge snowstorm is supposed to be hitting the city tonight, or maybe its just that my sister is starting a blog and that made me remember how much I like doing this, and how nice it is to write thoughts onto a screen and transform them into words. Irregardless, (one of my favorite controversial double negatives EVER) I'm posting today.

So much has happened, I took a marvelous trip to Spain and the south of France, I went BACK to chicago to do the Pre-Broadway tryout of The Addams Family, and now am back in the big apple for an indeterminate amount of time. This is odd: for the first time in probably 5 years (I'm guessing) I don't have any future flights booked. Although maybe thats more normal than I think. Most of my family and friends I guess are always planning a trip sometime in the next year. I am NOT, which is very unusual for me. I am in New York, or as my dear friend Carlos says, "la ciudad de muchos sueños, ojala que sean realizados, no quebrados". It appears for me, for the moment, they are being realizados. So I'm going with that.

Tonight Constantine and I are seeing Carmet at the Met Opera. Its a new production, and it promises to be promising. I am back in rehearsals during the day for our impending Broadway opening of Addams Family. We have a new director now, Jerry Zaks, who is being credited as "creative consultant", but who is 100% in charge in the rehearsal room. Our prior director is still attached to the project creatively, but is not currently in the room with us. We have been told he will join us sometime after we get to the theater. I am not allowed to share details that have not been made public, so I'll leave it at that. Its been fun though, almost every show that is opening in the next several months is rehearsing in the same building, so were all one happy Broadway family. Were into the theater in about a week and a half. Here is our marquis.



Well thats all for now!

Obviously

I've been off of the blogging radar for some time.. I am back in New York City and have started working on my newest project-- the Addams Family! It is an extremely exciting adventure that is just beginning. We just have a 2 week reading right now, but we start up mounting the full production in September, and we will have our pre-Broadway tryout in Chicago from October-January! Its going to be a great show I hope. There are very creative people working on it, so I have high hopes!! Other than that I am just getting settled back here in the city. I hope that I can really start catching up with friends and acquaintances later this week! Constantine's birthday is Friday, so that will definitely be the big event of the weekend. New York is always fun to come back to.. it just never stops being New York, and I love that.

Hi

I've been away with my boyfriend and his mom for several days-- IN VEGAS!! It was an absolutely amazing trip and I will post some highlights later today. In the meanwhile, I found this amazing Marry Poppins remix-- its so clever! Its not a song from the movie, its a new song made out of different parts of the movie-- VERY EURO. I was mesmerized watching it!

The Racial Backpedal

This is my cast's newest spoof! Co-conceived and co-directed by yours truly! Enjoy

My Feelings on Prop 8

I found this video this morning and it really reflects my overall feelings on the upholding of prop 8. I am just not going to let this get me down in any way. I know that we have time on our side, and I do feel marriage equality is inevitable in this country. I like what this guy says here-- that even though this news is hard to take, it is positive because furthering the dialogue about marriage equality will speed up the process of marriage equality. What are your thoughts?

Popcorn with Wyatt

One of my bestest friends in the whole world, Wyatt Darling came and visited me in Chicago last weekend. We had SUCH a great time just living our lives. One specific thing we have talked about doing for a long time is making a video discussing our experiences as gay mormons. Wyatt, like me, served a 2 year mission in Mexico and attended BYU. If you have a few minutes on your hands and want to hear our perambulations regarding Mormonism and homosexuality, then I cordially invite you to JUMP IN.

The video has 5 parts.. they are all imbedded and should play one after the next!

BOOYA BITCH

I have posted somewhat on this "enhanced interrogation" issue-- aka torture. We even made a spoof about it! In recent news, Nancy Polosi has contradicted the CIA's claim that she knew about the torture methods being employed to extract information from detainees. Now whether she is lying about not knowing to cover her ass, or whether she really didn't know DOESN'T MATTER nearly as much as the fact that these things were allowed to happen. No one can tell yet whether Cheney was the originator of these ideas, but from how much he has been talking lately compared to his usual secretive approach to everything, it would seem he has something to hide. Here is a clip from the view from the other day.. Jesse Ventura vs. Elizabeth. Bam.

Pink Dot

I posted this a little while back, and I wanted you to see the rest of it. Its absolutely amazing and so profound yet simple. Its a pink dot seen from high above made up of people who are seeking tolerance and love. Its a pink dot of love.

This is such a coincidence

I was at work the other day on my phone just checking texts, emails, reading status updates, making an online reservation, playing cribbage, ordering flowers, and listening to fantastic music. I suddenly was just filled with happiness because I love my iphone so much. I just announced to all my dressing room-mates that I loved my phone so much, and how pleased I am because it can basically do everything. I then said I wouldn't be surprised if someone invented a phone that is also a vibrator-- because these phones do so much these days why wouldn't they also fulfill you sexually as well!! Literally, after we laughed about how funny that would be to have a vibrator/phone we forgot about it. UNTIL THE NEXT DAY THIS APPEARED AT MY DRESSING STATION:



This is an OhMiBod. The future is already upon us people. This is a vibrator that is powered by your iphone/ipod and happens to detect the beat of your music and well, vibrates accordingly. Now you can take the Wilson-Phillips song and turn it into more than a tear jerker.

I find this outstanding, amazing, and completely hilarious. Go after it!!!!!