Scrappy Travels

The lovely set and the uber-talented orchestra at the Naval Academy Way, way back, many decades ago, I fell in love with a weird little musical called Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat . I'm not entirely sure how it happened. I don't even remember actually seeing it, until long after I had memorized the cast album. But there I was, singing these great (and strange) tunes at the top of my lungs most every day. I did finally see it a few years later, though I have no recollection of where I was. It was somewhere in Maryland and it was most definitely a community theatre production. What I do remember is taking my friend Jen with me. She is an English teacher, but not a lover of theatre, and she was convinced that this musical was going to have some redeeming quality. As if the presence of an underlying thematic quality would make the show somehow better. Other than the theme of destiny - which is inherent in the story, not just the musical - she realized what I had...

Chess is just one of those shows in the theatre community. Everyone has an opinion on it, but not many people have actually seen it. It has this reputation for having a fabulous score and a crazy mixed up mess of a story line. I've learned the writers have basically been tweaking the story line for the last 20 years, and are still no closer to cracking it than they were when it was first written. As you can imagine, based on these issues, it's not revived very often. But for this same reason, it's the perfect inaugural show for the Broadway CenterStage series - Kennedy Center's answer to New York's City Center Series. Their plan is to revive shows that aren't revived often and give them a concert staging for one short week. It's a win-win for us here in the DMV - Broadway caliber talent, without having to make the trek to NYC (not that I mind doing that at all...) So how exactly was Chess then? I absolutely loved it, even though I'm not entirely su...

I have this weird fascination with Street Art. I think it may have started in Austin, TX which has murals all over the city. I became so excited each time I'd find a new one, I'd feel the need to yell "Street Art!" It wasn't so bad when I was walking with someone, but when you're alone it's a bit embarrassing. This love affair with the medium continues today, especially in big cities like New York or Washington, DC.  It's now one of my favorite past times when I'm traveling; trying to find new and exciting forms of street art. Luckily others have this same fascination, because I've learned to use Pinterest to help fuel my love affair. The problem with seeking them out using Pinterest is that the address is not often posted - so I feel the need to randomly wander around cities just searching for specific murals. The positive in this way of travel is that I more times than most, find other pieces of art along the way. However, the neg...

It's hard for me to talk about just how lovely BroadwayCon is without thoroughly gushing about everyone and everything. It's just one of those things that you need to experience to really understand what makes it so wonderfully unique. However, I am going to try to give you a sense of its awesomeness by writing small samplings (vignettes if you will...) of each day of the Con, which will hopefully send you head over heels and push you to buy a ticket for next year's event! Here goes Day 1... ~ Shopping the Vendor Hall: So. Many. Cool. Things. The vendor hall is a Broadway lover's dream. Everything you can think of - tees, prints, jewelry, decals, etc. - are all there for purchasing. Last year I went hog wild, but this year I tried to keep my head. I managed to purchase a super cute Come From Away necklace (that matches my Come From Away Playbill flower headband from last year perfectly), and some decals that will need to wait until I get a new car to reveal th...

Here in Maryland, January has been a bit rough. With temperatures hovering around the 20s, we are so over winter. However, that hasn't stopped me from exploring some new opportunities and having a bit of fun - though, that fun has been mostly in doors as of late. January Reads 2017 was a very bad year for reading for me. I started off so well, but then I got a little bored and a little restless - having a ridiculous President and a 24 hour news-cycle will do that. But this year, I'm hoping to find my way back on track by completing a challenge I read about on Adventurous Kate's blog . She is reading one book per month around a certain theme. In her case, she's reading authors from countries she's never traveled to. In my case, I'm reading Young-Adult fiction. There's just so many good books out there that the former Elementary school teacher in me is dying to have an excuse to read. I'll be reading many more books along the way - hopefully. But a...