Today has proved to be one of the hardest days of my life, and the week that proceeded it a blur of colors that are only now starting to reshape themselves into actual memories.
I got my first ever LAMDA lay-in on Monday because I wasn't called for rehearsal until 1:30. Then we had back to back dress-runs and were in bright and early on Tuesday morning to warm up for the 10:30 am show (a time that should be banned for performers everywhere). Much Ado was great, and for all of the misgivings that went along with the direction and process, everyone was really good in it - regardless of the fact that we had to twirl off stage at the end. Also; the show will now forever be retitled: "Much Ado About Margaret, or, The Tragedy of Don Pedro". Way to go J.Lips.
Wednesday & Thursday started our individual tutorial sessions; which I originally thought would be pretty scary to go into but proved to be quite helpful, and reassuring. Most of the professors wrote really comprehensive reviews of our work this term in voice, movement, singing and acting, and thankfully, my cheekiness didn't get me into too much trouble.
Friday is a whirl of packing, caroling, dancing and crying. We had a late rehearsal for our carol concert which gave us the morning to get the majority of our packing done and start dismantling our teeny tiny rooms that we called home. The carol concert, a first for me, was absolutely lovely. It was one of the only times the entire school was all in one place and to look around the beautiful church, and see the candles candles burning and everyone dressed up and enjoying each others company was so wonderful. There was far more clapping at whooping than I would have anticipated in a church, but it's an absolute testament to the supportive family that LAMDA becomes, even with a Princess in the crowd (really, there was a Princess. Her name is Alexandra and I'm not sure what she does, but she's LAMDA's royal patron and it was a big deal).
After the concert was the end of the term party. LAMDA had rented out the entire bottom floor of a club in High Street Kensington and we all go to dance and hug and cry our goodbyes to the other LAMDA kids that we might not see again. The party ended with most of the semester still there, making the most of our time together, not wanting to leave.
Which brings us to today. My room is empty, my walls bare, most of my friends are on their way home and I am back in the warm embrace of Chez Mogilner, but everything feels off. It's as if there is this big empty hole in my stomach that is supposed to be filled by something, but isn't. I guess that's what you have to expect with these kinds of programs. You spend 4 months soaking up all of the people, places, memories and experiences that you possibly can, and when it's over you're bound to feel a little empty. This, as strange as it is, is exactly what I should be feeling right now; completely exhausted, sad, lonely and so grateful for every second I spent with the wonderful people in the unbelievable city that made this term so incredible. There are no words to properly thank everyone that got me here, made this time what it was, and walked away leaving impressions that have shaped who I am. I know that I will never have an experience quite like this ever again and because of that I can't help but be sad, and incredibly thankful.
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow
While the weather outside isn't exactly frightful, this last week did bring London's first snow of the season, a bit early according to real Londoners, but a welcome change to the landscape. This was my last week of real classes and it started off, as it does once every month, with a tube strike. Luckily, Margy and I are magic and got on a train heading to the wrong place with the intention of getting off at a station closer to school and walking the rest of the way, but half way through the ride there was an announcement that the train was redirecting to where we needed it to go so no walking for us! It was a Monday morning miracle!
Classes this week were all so bittersweet because they were our goodbyes. We have one more week left in the program but it's mostly rehearsal for Much Ado and activities here and there, so as we wrapped up our hour and half we said goodbye to our teachers and subjects forever (just to be dramatic). In incredibly cool news, my Historical Dance teacher, Diana, is one of the most fantastic women on the planet and just happens to choreograph for little movies like Elizabeth, Sherlock Holmes and The Three Feathers, just to name a few. Well... at the end of our class on Wednesday she pulled out the crown and jewels that Cate Blanchett wore in the movie and let all of us try them on and be Queen for a day (well... for a few seconds, at least). It was lovely.
Snow on Tuesday also brought the arrival of the most fantastic Blake all the way from Paris, and my first chance to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform, doing Romeo & Juliet, no less! I had never seen it done before and while there were a few questionable directing choices, the show was fantastic and the relationship between the two lovers was convincing and sincere. It was a production where you think to yourself "ya know what? I think these two are gonna make it this time!". Also fun fact, my voice teacher is friends with the woman who played Juliet, a very convincing looking teenager - turns out she's 32. Impressive.
Thursday was my big night out with Blake so I took him back to Brick Lane for authentic London Indian food, which was also for my benefit and a good ole English pub - it was such a great night and so exciting to have him in my neck of the woods (continent) this time!
The weekend brought warmer weather, and by that I mean that it was 40 degrees instead of 30, but it did melt the snow and allowed for a beautiful day on Portobello road Saturday morning. I did some impressive haggling at one of the stands and when the guy asked me where I had learned to be so stubborn I had to give credit to every angry Israeli I had ever encountered in a shuk - it is a good life skill. That night was the last LAMDA sponsored theatre trip we had to The Old Vic again to see "A Flea in Her Ear". Aside from some issues unrelated to the show, the performance was wonderful and it was so great to see a show where I didn't have to think. Farce, gotta love it.
Today proved to be one of the best Sundays I have spent in this city so far. After a leisurly morning, Maddie, Margy & I walked over to Harrods, a mere 20 minute journey, and had our first experience with proper English High Tea. We had a 3:30 reservation at the Georgian on Harrod's top floor and all thoroughly gorged ourselves on tea, scones, finger sandwiches, pastries, and chips - which are not normally a part of traditional High Tea, but we made it work. We ended up spending about 2 hours just sitting there, drinking tea and enjoying the experience, and after making friends with the French waiter, getting the piss taken out of us for our improper American ways of speaking, and playing name that tune with the pianist playing a Broadway medley, we spent the next 30 minutes wandering around the palace that is Harrods. I think that if I was ever forced to pick one place to be stuck in for the rest of my life, Harrods would be that place. Everything about it is over the top and unnecessary, therefore, completely exciting and enjoyable.
Now it's back home tidying up my room, thinking about packing (but clearly not doing) and trying to figure out where the time went. As for a brief reflection on my classes; I don't know how I got so lucky. Yes, there were times that I never wanted our lunch break to end, or I thought that doing one more roll down would make me scream, but I am so thankful for what I've learned and how I was pushed. I will take so much away from each of those lessons, and not just about technique, but about how much I can really take and how important it is to put your all into something, because it's the only way to really make the most of it. I should probably wrap this up now that I'm starting to sound like Mr. Rogers episode.
Onto my last week at LAMDA... saddest phrase in the world.
Classes this week were all so bittersweet because they were our goodbyes. We have one more week left in the program but it's mostly rehearsal for Much Ado and activities here and there, so as we wrapped up our hour and half we said goodbye to our teachers and subjects forever (just to be dramatic). In incredibly cool news, my Historical Dance teacher, Diana, is one of the most fantastic women on the planet and just happens to choreograph for little movies like Elizabeth, Sherlock Holmes and The Three Feathers, just to name a few. Well... at the end of our class on Wednesday she pulled out the crown and jewels that Cate Blanchett wore in the movie and let all of us try them on and be Queen for a day (well... for a few seconds, at least). It was lovely.
Snow on Tuesday also brought the arrival of the most fantastic Blake all the way from Paris, and my first chance to see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform, doing Romeo & Juliet, no less! I had never seen it done before and while there were a few questionable directing choices, the show was fantastic and the relationship between the two lovers was convincing and sincere. It was a production where you think to yourself "ya know what? I think these two are gonna make it this time!". Also fun fact, my voice teacher is friends with the woman who played Juliet, a very convincing looking teenager - turns out she's 32. Impressive.
Thursday was my big night out with Blake so I took him back to Brick Lane for authentic London Indian food, which was also for my benefit and a good ole English pub - it was such a great night and so exciting to have him in my neck of the woods (continent) this time!
The weekend brought warmer weather, and by that I mean that it was 40 degrees instead of 30, but it did melt the snow and allowed for a beautiful day on Portobello road Saturday morning. I did some impressive haggling at one of the stands and when the guy asked me where I had learned to be so stubborn I had to give credit to every angry Israeli I had ever encountered in a shuk - it is a good life skill. That night was the last LAMDA sponsored theatre trip we had to The Old Vic again to see "A Flea in Her Ear". Aside from some issues unrelated to the show, the performance was wonderful and it was so great to see a show where I didn't have to think. Farce, gotta love it.
Today proved to be one of the best Sundays I have spent in this city so far. After a leisurly morning, Maddie, Margy & I walked over to Harrods, a mere 20 minute journey, and had our first experience with proper English High Tea. We had a 3:30 reservation at the Georgian on Harrod's top floor and all thoroughly gorged ourselves on tea, scones, finger sandwiches, pastries, and chips - which are not normally a part of traditional High Tea, but we made it work. We ended up spending about 2 hours just sitting there, drinking tea and enjoying the experience, and after making friends with the French waiter, getting the piss taken out of us for our improper American ways of speaking, and playing name that tune with the pianist playing a Broadway medley, we spent the next 30 minutes wandering around the palace that is Harrods. I think that if I was ever forced to pick one place to be stuck in for the rest of my life, Harrods would be that place. Everything about it is over the top and unnecessary, therefore, completely exciting and enjoyable.
Now it's back home tidying up my room, thinking about packing (but clearly not doing) and trying to figure out where the time went. As for a brief reflection on my classes; I don't know how I got so lucky. Yes, there were times that I never wanted our lunch break to end, or I thought that doing one more roll down would make me scream, but I am so thankful for what I've learned and how I was pushed. I will take so much away from each of those lessons, and not just about technique, but about how much I can really take and how important it is to put your all into something, because it's the only way to really make the most of it. I should probably wrap this up now that I'm starting to sound like Mr. Rogers episode.
Onto my last week at LAMDA... saddest phrase in the world.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Running Away from the Finish
It's not so much that I'm running away from the end of my time here, I'm just trying to consciously will it away. Not that my time here in the grand ole UK ends as soon as some of the other people of my program who are leaving right away, but being here without them will be equally tough. ALRIGHT - enough of the ending stuff... what happened in my life this week you ask?
Well... Monday night Margy & I ventured over to Shoreditch, a recently-made cool area with a friend from LAMDA to see a musical that one of his mate's had directed. It was called "Bright Lights, Big City" and the best way to explain my feelings about it would be to tell you that there was a song titled "I Love Drugs" with a lyric "Drano for my brain-o". So... yeah. But it did end up being a really great night of adventures in new areas of London, and therefore, a successful evening!
Thursday marked two exciting things; not only was it Thanksgiving when I got to head back to my favorite half-American, English family, the Mogilner's, but I also had, what I think, is my favorite class at LAMDA thus far. It was my Physical Theatre Class, an hour and half that usually leaves me sweating and sore in places that I didn't know could be sore, but this class was totally different. It's going to sound very artsy and drama-schooly, but we literally spent the whole class listening to our bodies and moving in ways that made us stretch and move around space in ways that made us feel good. It was entirely about impulse and pleasure, and was just a excerisize in cutting the crap and doing whatever you want. People in my class ended up strewn over ballet bars, climbing into rafters and somersalting across the sprung floor - and none of us had any idea what was going to come next. My favorite thing was to try and let myself fall and not think about how I was going to keep myself from getting hurt. Every single time my body moved in a way that kept me from every falling to the ground or hurting myself, leading me to wonder how in the world I can be such a klutz when I'm concentrating. I know it probably sounds a bit bizarre and the fact that that is a class that I am being graded in baffles most everybody I talk to, but it was such an unreal opportunity that I have never had before, and doubt I will have again anytime soon.
Friday night brought our "Improv Party", which sounds a lot like a party with "Whose Line is it Anyway?" games, but was actually quite far from it. For the last 2 months in class we have each been keeping a character journal, inspired by a picture of a stranger. Our instructions were to find a picture of someone of our gender over the age of 40 (ideally, someone you would never be cast as) and create a character around them. This included everything from first kiss to most recent pay-check and every week my improv professor would give us a series of questions to answer as that character. Friday night we arrived at the party in full-costume and make-up according to this person that we had created, and proceeded to socialize for the next 3 HOURS a them. We were pretty uniformly terrified about keeping it going for that long, but it ended up going a lot smoother than any of us had anticipated, and it probably didn't hurt that they served alcohol as a social lubricant. At 9 o'clock when we all left the party and returned to our normal hair, makeup, clothing and age there was really nothing else to do but head to Curtain's Up, the local LAMDA pub and reminisce about just how ridiculous the last 3 hours were - and they really were.
This weekend was lovely, albeit frigid, so Saturday after meandering about King's Road for the morning, I headed back to my hall to start preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner; pt.2 with all of the Americans from our program. We did it pot-luck style and called it for 4, which obviously means we didn't eat until 5:30, but it was such a wonderful time! Everybody was scrambling around the hallway from kitchen to kitchen checking on their food and tasting everyone else's. I made delicious brussel sprouts (if I do say so myself) and enjoyed a wonderfully veggie Thanksgiving of sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn salad, stuffing, mashed potato and LOTS of pies. We had to roll ourselves out of the common room by the end of it, but it was so nice to all be together laughing and eating on a Saturday night before people dispersed for their various shows, movies, plans, etc...
Today I woke up just as full as I was last night and somehow Maddie and I managed to get ourselves over to Brick Lane to do some Sunday afternoon shopping. They have all of these amazing vintage shops and craft tables, and there was one HUGE warehouse that was packed with rows and rows of vintage stalls, full of sequins, feathers, velvet and leather. It was such a lovely way to spend the day and we even managed to make ourselves hungry enough to both have our first experience with Burmese food from the international market. And a cupcake, from the not-so-international market :)
I am just so delighted with how I get to spend my time here. I really love everything about this city and how every part of it is different and interesting and beautiful. I keep thinking about ways to fill my days between getting back from traveling and leaving for home and keep realizing that the real problem is going to be deciding what I have to leave out. This week brings the last week of standard scheduled classes, which is just too too weird to think about, but time goes on, and to quote a true London-er singing about her city; "Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why, would I want to be anywhere else?"
Well... Monday night Margy & I ventured over to Shoreditch, a recently-made cool area with a friend from LAMDA to see a musical that one of his mate's had directed. It was called "Bright Lights, Big City" and the best way to explain my feelings about it would be to tell you that there was a song titled "I Love Drugs" with a lyric "Drano for my brain-o". So... yeah. But it did end up being a really great night of adventures in new areas of London, and therefore, a successful evening!
Thursday marked two exciting things; not only was it Thanksgiving when I got to head back to my favorite half-American, English family, the Mogilner's, but I also had, what I think, is my favorite class at LAMDA thus far. It was my Physical Theatre Class, an hour and half that usually leaves me sweating and sore in places that I didn't know could be sore, but this class was totally different. It's going to sound very artsy and drama-schooly, but we literally spent the whole class listening to our bodies and moving in ways that made us stretch and move around space in ways that made us feel good. It was entirely about impulse and pleasure, and was just a excerisize in cutting the crap and doing whatever you want. People in my class ended up strewn over ballet bars, climbing into rafters and somersalting across the sprung floor - and none of us had any idea what was going to come next. My favorite thing was to try and let myself fall and not think about how I was going to keep myself from getting hurt. Every single time my body moved in a way that kept me from every falling to the ground or hurting myself, leading me to wonder how in the world I can be such a klutz when I'm concentrating. I know it probably sounds a bit bizarre and the fact that that is a class that I am being graded in baffles most everybody I talk to, but it was such an unreal opportunity that I have never had before, and doubt I will have again anytime soon.
Friday night brought our "Improv Party", which sounds a lot like a party with "Whose Line is it Anyway?" games, but was actually quite far from it. For the last 2 months in class we have each been keeping a character journal, inspired by a picture of a stranger. Our instructions were to find a picture of someone of our gender over the age of 40 (ideally, someone you would never be cast as) and create a character around them. This included everything from first kiss to most recent pay-check and every week my improv professor would give us a series of questions to answer as that character. Friday night we arrived at the party in full-costume and make-up according to this person that we had created, and proceeded to socialize for the next 3 HOURS a them. We were pretty uniformly terrified about keeping it going for that long, but it ended up going a lot smoother than any of us had anticipated, and it probably didn't hurt that they served alcohol as a social lubricant. At 9 o'clock when we all left the party and returned to our normal hair, makeup, clothing and age there was really nothing else to do but head to Curtain's Up, the local LAMDA pub and reminisce about just how ridiculous the last 3 hours were - and they really were.
This weekend was lovely, albeit frigid, so Saturday after meandering about King's Road for the morning, I headed back to my hall to start preparing for Thanksgiving Dinner; pt.2 with all of the Americans from our program. We did it pot-luck style and called it for 4, which obviously means we didn't eat until 5:30, but it was such a wonderful time! Everybody was scrambling around the hallway from kitchen to kitchen checking on their food and tasting everyone else's. I made delicious brussel sprouts (if I do say so myself) and enjoyed a wonderfully veggie Thanksgiving of sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn salad, stuffing, mashed potato and LOTS of pies. We had to roll ourselves out of the common room by the end of it, but it was so nice to all be together laughing and eating on a Saturday night before people dispersed for their various shows, movies, plans, etc...
Today I woke up just as full as I was last night and somehow Maddie and I managed to get ourselves over to Brick Lane to do some Sunday afternoon shopping. They have all of these amazing vintage shops and craft tables, and there was one HUGE warehouse that was packed with rows and rows of vintage stalls, full of sequins, feathers, velvet and leather. It was such a lovely way to spend the day and we even managed to make ourselves hungry enough to both have our first experience with Burmese food from the international market. And a cupcake, from the not-so-international market :)
I am just so delighted with how I get to spend my time here. I really love everything about this city and how every part of it is different and interesting and beautiful. I keep thinking about ways to fill my days between getting back from traveling and leaving for home and keep realizing that the real problem is going to be deciding what I have to leave out. This week brings the last week of standard scheduled classes, which is just too too weird to think about, but time goes on, and to quote a true London-er singing about her city; "Sun is in the sky, oh why oh why, would I want to be anywhere else?"
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Pubs, Poetry, Potter, Passion and... Hamlet
It is becoming increasingly clear that time is winidng down. November 21st marks 1 month until my return home. A few friends and I have decided to set goals for ourselves in these last few weeks, and while it may not be very PC to say, and with the total understanding that my immediate family makes up the majority of people who read this - our goal for this week was to take advantage of our legal status every day of the week. We were successful. An added bonus to this accomplishment was that the closest pub to us, Cadogen Arms, was celebrating it's 10 year anniversary, so every night at 10 pm from 10-10:10, they had a 10 pence menu. That's like paying 15 cents for a glass of wine. It was pretty exciting.
In events that justify me being in a foreign country to study drama; Wednesday night was LAMDA's annual poetry-speaking competition where 12 students shared poems, 6 of which were original and had been narrowed down from the 20+ people that had submitted original poems and participated in the preliminary round. Among those talented 12 was our very own Maddie, who held her own as the only single-semester course student to make it to the finals with a beautiful poem entitled "Mare Serenitatis". She was unbelievable, and although she didn't win, we all agreed that it was a fabulous way to spend a night!
This weekend can be marked more-so by what I saw than what I did. For some ridiculous reason, Warner Bros didn't allow midnight premieres of Harry Potter in London (preposterous - I know), so instead we chose to see it as early as possible on Saturday morning, which was a great way to start the day (and I highly recommend Daniel Radcliff for breakfast).
Saturday night I got tickets with a friend to see Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. The tickets were standing room, which wouldn't have been so bad because of how small the theater was, but right before curtain one of the ushers asked us if we wanted to be seated downstairs to which we both responded with "uh... YES!". We ended up in the first two seats off of center in the 2nd row - not too shabby. "Passion" is not a show I knew very well, really at all, but this production, and the three leads especially, absolutely blew me away. I know what you're thinking... "Ariel liked a Sondheim musical? Shocker." but... I had always had this preconceived notion that it was a total flop, and nothing that I'd ever really be interested in, but when seats were available for £7.50, I figured - why not? And I'm so glad I did. The staging, music, lyrics, acting and what little choreography there was was utterly engaging and made the 2 hours without an intetmission seem like minutes. Two thumbs way up, Stephen.
Today was a South Bank kind of a day. We managed to get tickets to see "Hamlet" at the National early (a feat that was pretty phenomenal considering that the production sold out 1 week after going on sale), so we headed across the river for a day of Thames adventures, starting with Wagamamas for lunch. There happened to be this Christmas/Winter Time outdoor market thing happening which we perused for a bit before heading to the theatre. I guess Christmas starts early here because there's no Thanksgiving to split up the Winter, but we were happy to take in the festivities (and grab a crepe before the show). Now... I had read Hamlet countless times in school but had never had the opportunity to see it - and I am SO happy that this was my first experience seeing it performed. The guy playing Hamlet was a LAMDA grad which gave us a bit of nachus to say, not to mention how unbelievable he was in the part. He was seamless in every transition, nailed every monologue and portrayed, in my opinion, one of Shakespeare's most complicated characters with clarity and grace. There were some weak parts in the company but it was played in the same gigantic Olivier Theater where we saw Danton's Death, and still managed to be just as gripping as if it were 10 chairs in a black box. Still reeling, we left the theater to find the outdoor market still going on and the Parliament/Big Ben and The Eye all lit up for nighttime - beautiful. We made time for a quick carousel ride and hot chocolate before heading home.
So here I am, sitting at my computer putting off learning lines for Much Ado, even though I have to be off-book by tomorrow. It's unreal how quickly time is passing. I have to stop myself sometimes and remember where I am and how lucky I am to here. I guess at this point it's all or nothing and I'm ready to see where choosing "all" will get me!
In events that justify me being in a foreign country to study drama; Wednesday night was LAMDA's annual poetry-speaking competition where 12 students shared poems, 6 of which were original and had been narrowed down from the 20+ people that had submitted original poems and participated in the preliminary round. Among those talented 12 was our very own Maddie, who held her own as the only single-semester course student to make it to the finals with a beautiful poem entitled "Mare Serenitatis". She was unbelievable, and although she didn't win, we all agreed that it was a fabulous way to spend a night!
This weekend can be marked more-so by what I saw than what I did. For some ridiculous reason, Warner Bros didn't allow midnight premieres of Harry Potter in London (preposterous - I know), so instead we chose to see it as early as possible on Saturday morning, which was a great way to start the day (and I highly recommend Daniel Radcliff for breakfast).
Saturday night I got tickets with a friend to see Stephen Sondheim's "Passion" at the Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. The tickets were standing room, which wouldn't have been so bad because of how small the theater was, but right before curtain one of the ushers asked us if we wanted to be seated downstairs to which we both responded with "uh... YES!". We ended up in the first two seats off of center in the 2nd row - not too shabby. "Passion" is not a show I knew very well, really at all, but this production, and the three leads especially, absolutely blew me away. I know what you're thinking... "Ariel liked a Sondheim musical? Shocker." but... I had always had this preconceived notion that it was a total flop, and nothing that I'd ever really be interested in, but when seats were available for £7.50, I figured - why not? And I'm so glad I did. The staging, music, lyrics, acting and what little choreography there was was utterly engaging and made the 2 hours without an intetmission seem like minutes. Two thumbs way up, Stephen.
Today was a South Bank kind of a day. We managed to get tickets to see "Hamlet" at the National early (a feat that was pretty phenomenal considering that the production sold out 1 week after going on sale), so we headed across the river for a day of Thames adventures, starting with Wagamamas for lunch. There happened to be this Christmas/Winter Time outdoor market thing happening which we perused for a bit before heading to the theatre. I guess Christmas starts early here because there's no Thanksgiving to split up the Winter, but we were happy to take in the festivities (and grab a crepe before the show). Now... I had read Hamlet countless times in school but had never had the opportunity to see it - and I am SO happy that this was my first experience seeing it performed. The guy playing Hamlet was a LAMDA grad which gave us a bit of nachus to say, not to mention how unbelievable he was in the part. He was seamless in every transition, nailed every monologue and portrayed, in my opinion, one of Shakespeare's most complicated characters with clarity and grace. There were some weak parts in the company but it was played in the same gigantic Olivier Theater where we saw Danton's Death, and still managed to be just as gripping as if it were 10 chairs in a black box. Still reeling, we left the theater to find the outdoor market still going on and the Parliament/Big Ben and The Eye all lit up for nighttime - beautiful. We made time for a quick carousel ride and hot chocolate before heading home.
So here I am, sitting at my computer putting off learning lines for Much Ado, even though I have to be off-book by tomorrow. It's unreal how quickly time is passing. I have to stop myself sometimes and remember where I am and how lucky I am to here. I guess at this point it's all or nothing and I'm ready to see where choosing "all" will get me!
Monday, November 15, 2010
An American in Paris
Since elementary school I was told that my writing was always "too wordy", and this, I assure you, will be no exception.
While it would be impossible to do justice in writing to my weekend in Paris, I'm going to try my hardest to make it work. I left for the train station right from school on Friday and, with one minor delay, got into Gare du Nord train station in Paris at 10:30 with my darling friend Blake waiting for me at the gate. We took a bus back to his flat for my initial introduction to Paris, and in true European fashion went out that night to a bar called WAGG which was having it's carwash themed night, meaning a lot of Motown - not exactly Parisian, but a lot of fun.
Saturday morning began my whirlwind adventure, not only in Paris, the place, but Paris, the food. We had (delicious) croissants and orange juice on our walk over to the Catacombs, which turned out to be a bit of failure when the line reached right around the entire perimeter of the gate. Onward to the Eiffel tower! Not only was the view from the top unbelievable, the lines to get tickets proved equally entertaining. First, we planned on walking up, only to realize once we got to the front of the line, that we had been standing in the elevator line. Then, in line for security, a woman lost control of her purple umbrella and it went flying into the crowd of innocent bystanders waiting for their tickets - thank goodness Blake was there to save the day and return the umbrella to said woman. Lastly - in line for the elevator, we were separated from the other lines by a clear-plastic wall, which a little girl (about 3 or 4) proceeded to walk up to, isnpect, kiss, lick, walk away from, and then return to lick one more time. Blake and I were in tears laughing so hard as the girl's mother continued her conversation only to look over in horror at her daughter getting to first base with a window. Then it was a beautiful trip to the top with plenty of pictures to be taken.
From the Eiffel tower we did the walk over to Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees where we stopped at Laduree and I had my first experience with French macaroons, which are perhaps the most delicious things on the face of the earth. With treats in hand we got on the metro towards Le Marais, which quickly became my favorite place in Paris. Blake took me there with the intention of eating a kosher deli sandwich, only for us to realize once we got there that anything kosher would be closed on Shabbas... oops. But the crisis was averted when we found a lovely cafe where I got to have my first authentic French baguette and another wonderful meal with my wonderful guy.
Next stop; Notre Dame (just the outside), across the Seine and over this quaint little bridge covered in locks, left there by couples who lock them together and throw the key into the Seine. It's romantic, and a bit odd, but the bridge was pretty. We headed back towards Blake's apartment where he took me to his to major landmarks, The Pantheon, and Picard, a store that sell only frozen items (including sushi... ew). Dinner that night was another metro ride up to a fondue restaurant where they give you wine to drink out of baby bottles. Not just small bottles - but actual baby bottles. Needless to say it was very weird, but the restaurant was right by Montmarte so we walked up to the Sacre-Coeur at night and saw the entire city lit up (insert cheesy line here; "you know... it is called the 'city of lights'!"). Also - because it was nearly 9 we stayed up there and watched the Eiffel tower sparkle on the hour before walking down to see the Moulin Rouge where Blake and I proceeded to dance for long enough to have our picture taken.
The next morning we were up and eating again, this time outside (thanks to a heating lamp) at a cafe right across from Luxembourg Garden, where we walked to after finishing our cafe au lait and pain chocolat (again... delicious). Blake took me over to the neighborhood where his school is, SciencesPo, and we walked around all of the (closed) designer stores before stopping for another meal at Le Duex Magots, one of the 2 famous cafes next to each other on Boulevard Saint-Germaine. Cue the Camembert on baguette sandwich. Delicious.
To walk off some of our meal we headed towards the Saine and walked along parallel to the Louvre, stopping at Musee d'Orsay just to see that the line for the catacombs had apparently moved there for the moment, so we continued on towards the obelisk and eventually to plaza outside the Louvre with the glass pyramids... it was all very Dan Brown, but better. We opted not to go into the Louvre because we didn't have 3 weeks to get it all done, and instead enjoyed a lovely sit to people watch the tourists that flocked to the museum.
From there is was a short walk to the Opera House and Galleries Lafayette where the Christmas windows were up and Judy Garland wad blaring from the speakers allowing Blake and I to take part in a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for a group of unsuspecting bystanders. Blake, since I had gotten there, had been telling me about "the fanciest Starbucks in the world" right by the Opera House and while he built it up quite a lot, and I did not train into Paris just to go Starbucks, we did end up going. He was right. It was the fanciest Starbucks in THE WORLD. It didn't just have tile floors and extended seating with plush couches and chairs, it had chandeliers - emphasis on the 's' for multiple chandeliers. It was absurd. But well worth the entire trip to Paris.
After leaving what is sure to become one of Paris' most sought-after attractions, I got Blake to take me back to Le Marais where we wandered around again, into furniture stores, little museums and thrift shops that all seemed to be more adorable than the last. Last stop in Le Marais was to get me an honest-to-goodness crepe from one of the guys with an outdoor stand - because that's clearly far more legitimate - and it really was. We walked back along the Seine as it got dark and passed Notre Dame again, this time lit up, and saw beautiful views from the bridge of Paris (insert cheesy line here; "no wonder it's the 'city of lights'!"). Last stop was a very hip bar right by Blake's flat for one final hoorah and then it was back to Gare du Nord and bye bye Louve, hello London.
I cannot believe how much we got done in one weekend, and just how wonderful that weekend was. My dad said that he knew it was a good trip because I didn't mention the fact that it rained the whole time until the very end - and he's right! Even with rain and overcast skies, Paris is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I'm so glad that I now fall among the ranks of people who can legitimately say that. Now it's back to school for the last 4 weeks (gulp) of the program. It's hard to think about how quickly time passes, but now that I can say that I got to do Paris while passing the time, I think it's safe to say that I've done pretty well for myself.
While it would be impossible to do justice in writing to my weekend in Paris, I'm going to try my hardest to make it work. I left for the train station right from school on Friday and, with one minor delay, got into Gare du Nord train station in Paris at 10:30 with my darling friend Blake waiting for me at the gate. We took a bus back to his flat for my initial introduction to Paris, and in true European fashion went out that night to a bar called WAGG which was having it's carwash themed night, meaning a lot of Motown - not exactly Parisian, but a lot of fun.
Saturday morning began my whirlwind adventure, not only in Paris, the place, but Paris, the food. We had (delicious) croissants and orange juice on our walk over to the Catacombs, which turned out to be a bit of failure when the line reached right around the entire perimeter of the gate. Onward to the Eiffel tower! Not only was the view from the top unbelievable, the lines to get tickets proved equally entertaining. First, we planned on walking up, only to realize once we got to the front of the line, that we had been standing in the elevator line. Then, in line for security, a woman lost control of her purple umbrella and it went flying into the crowd of innocent bystanders waiting for their tickets - thank goodness Blake was there to save the day and return the umbrella to said woman. Lastly - in line for the elevator, we were separated from the other lines by a clear-plastic wall, which a little girl (about 3 or 4) proceeded to walk up to, isnpect, kiss, lick, walk away from, and then return to lick one more time. Blake and I were in tears laughing so hard as the girl's mother continued her conversation only to look over in horror at her daughter getting to first base with a window. Then it was a beautiful trip to the top with plenty of pictures to be taken.
From the Eiffel tower we did the walk over to Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs-Elysees where we stopped at Laduree and I had my first experience with French macaroons, which are perhaps the most delicious things on the face of the earth. With treats in hand we got on the metro towards Le Marais, which quickly became my favorite place in Paris. Blake took me there with the intention of eating a kosher deli sandwich, only for us to realize once we got there that anything kosher would be closed on Shabbas... oops. But the crisis was averted when we found a lovely cafe where I got to have my first authentic French baguette and another wonderful meal with my wonderful guy.
Next stop; Notre Dame (just the outside), across the Seine and over this quaint little bridge covered in locks, left there by couples who lock them together and throw the key into the Seine. It's romantic, and a bit odd, but the bridge was pretty. We headed back towards Blake's apartment where he took me to his to major landmarks, The Pantheon, and Picard, a store that sell only frozen items (including sushi... ew). Dinner that night was another metro ride up to a fondue restaurant where they give you wine to drink out of baby bottles. Not just small bottles - but actual baby bottles. Needless to say it was very weird, but the restaurant was right by Montmarte so we walked up to the Sacre-Coeur at night and saw the entire city lit up (insert cheesy line here; "you know... it is called the 'city of lights'!"). Also - because it was nearly 9 we stayed up there and watched the Eiffel tower sparkle on the hour before walking down to see the Moulin Rouge where Blake and I proceeded to dance for long enough to have our picture taken.
The next morning we were up and eating again, this time outside (thanks to a heating lamp) at a cafe right across from Luxembourg Garden, where we walked to after finishing our cafe au lait and pain chocolat (again... delicious). Blake took me over to the neighborhood where his school is, SciencesPo, and we walked around all of the (closed) designer stores before stopping for another meal at Le Duex Magots, one of the 2 famous cafes next to each other on Boulevard Saint-Germaine. Cue the Camembert on baguette sandwich. Delicious.
To walk off some of our meal we headed towards the Saine and walked along parallel to the Louvre, stopping at Musee d'Orsay just to see that the line for the catacombs had apparently moved there for the moment, so we continued on towards the obelisk and eventually to plaza outside the Louvre with the glass pyramids... it was all very Dan Brown, but better. We opted not to go into the Louvre because we didn't have 3 weeks to get it all done, and instead enjoyed a lovely sit to people watch the tourists that flocked to the museum.
From there is was a short walk to the Opera House and Galleries Lafayette where the Christmas windows were up and Judy Garland wad blaring from the speakers allowing Blake and I to take part in a rendition of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for a group of unsuspecting bystanders. Blake, since I had gotten there, had been telling me about "the fanciest Starbucks in the world" right by the Opera House and while he built it up quite a lot, and I did not train into Paris just to go Starbucks, we did end up going. He was right. It was the fanciest Starbucks in THE WORLD. It didn't just have tile floors and extended seating with plush couches and chairs, it had chandeliers - emphasis on the 's' for multiple chandeliers. It was absurd. But well worth the entire trip to Paris.
After leaving what is sure to become one of Paris' most sought-after attractions, I got Blake to take me back to Le Marais where we wandered around again, into furniture stores, little museums and thrift shops that all seemed to be more adorable than the last. Last stop in Le Marais was to get me an honest-to-goodness crepe from one of the guys with an outdoor stand - because that's clearly far more legitimate - and it really was. We walked back along the Seine as it got dark and passed Notre Dame again, this time lit up, and saw beautiful views from the bridge of Paris (insert cheesy line here; "no wonder it's the 'city of lights'!"). Last stop was a very hip bar right by Blake's flat for one final hoorah and then it was back to Gare du Nord and bye bye Louve, hello London.
I cannot believe how much we got done in one weekend, and just how wonderful that weekend was. My dad said that he knew it was a good trip because I didn't mention the fact that it rained the whole time until the very end - and he's right! Even with rain and overcast skies, Paris is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been, and I'm so glad that I now fall among the ranks of people who can legitimately say that. Now it's back to school for the last 4 weeks (gulp) of the program. It's hard to think about how quickly time passes, but now that I can say that I got to do Paris while passing the time, I think it's safe to say that I've done pretty well for myself.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Just Keep Swimming
After commending myself last week for my relative promptness in posting to this thing, I have clearly dropped the ball again. Oops. Last week just wasn't all that exciting, so it didn't inspire much in the way of sharing, but I guess there were some highlights to be noted.
We got cast in Much Ado About Nothing - I'm playing Margaret. Not only is she written for a girl, but she's written for a sassy girl - so I'm pretty excited. The other fun fact about Much Ado is that my director has cut every Dogberry/Verges scene, claiming that "they're just not that funny" and also ONLY refers to them as Dogberry scenes. Much Ado: Part 2.
In the world of theatre, I have seen 2 musicals in the last week that could NOT be more different from one another. Last Tuesday I went to see Les Miserables, which was... Les Mis. Not much you can do with that one to liven it up, but Norm Lewis was in it as Javert and that was pretty breathtaking. Plus, our seats were first-row mezzanine, so no big loss. Last night though, I FINALLY made it to see "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" at the Palace Theatre. Priscilla is a movie that my parents were wonderful enough to let me watch at, probably, too early of an age, but because of that - it has always been one of my favorite movies of all time. There is really no way to describe the show other than informing you that there were men dressed as cupcakes, a pink bus on-stage, and more sequins used than in the entirety of La Cage, even if you add up every one of the revivals. It was non-stop fun, and non-stop camp, and the audience was so visibly and audibly into the production that it added a whole new dimension to the experiences. It is, by no means, a "serious piece of theatre" - but that suited me just fine!
Last weekend was great; nothing too out of the ordinary but a really great weekend to chill out and prepare for the week ahead. I saw "The Social Network", which I really enjoyed, especially because I think there is nothing more ironic than the inventor of Facebook being one of the most socially awkward human beings on the planet. There was a trip to Chelsea market, a head-shot session in the midst of terrible public transportation problems, and a lovely late tea at the Mogilners. All in all - not too shabby.
This week is just kind of dragging along because I'm going to Paris this weekend and clearly the universe wants to make it the longest wait of my life. Still - first time in France, to see my best friend, and eat brie and baguettes in the right way... I'll wait it out!
Sunday, October 31, 2010
My Whirlwind World
I've prided myself on being pretty consistent about my once-a-week responsibilities to this public journal of my life, but I'm going to go ahead a cut myself some slack for my recent negligence. The last 2 weeks have been nothing less than the most overwhelmingly amazing and exhaustingly wonderful of my life.
The excitement started 2 Mondays ago, when I, very skillfully, found free tickets to see "Hay Fever" by Noel Coward. In my excitement, I neglected (a theme of my last few weeks) to notice that the theater was located in Kingston, a 40 minute tube+20 minute bus ride away. Did we let that stop us? Never. We hurried there after school and made it in plenty of time to see the show, which, while not amazing, didn't cost us a penny - so it was pretty darn good. We even got out in enough time to cross the street to Wagamamas and have a delicious 10pm dinner - very European of us, if I might say so myself. Classes went along as usual Tuesday and Wendesday, and then it was time to start my jet-setting adventure back to the US to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of my beautiful baby sister, who, as far as I'm concerned, will never be older than 8 years old.
There had been so much anticipation leading up to this weekend, starting over a year ago when we realized that the Bat Mitzvah would coinside beautifully with my semester across-the-ocean. All of my hesitations, fears and jokes that I wouldn't be attending ended up being totally moot when the time came to be home and celebrate - and it was quite the celebration. Rather than go on in boring detail about the festivities of the weekend, I'll just say that there would be no better reason to do the 7 hour flight (with a broken video set...) than to surround myself with my wonderful friends and family and beam over how grown-up my little 8 year old really is. Mazel Tov again, Mira T - you really blew me away.
ANYWAY... I got back into Heathrow at 630 am with just enough time to tube back to my dorm, drop off my bags and get back on the tube to make my 10 am class. My body was less than thrilled with me that day, and while fighting back fits of narcolepsy during classes, I managed to not only survive, but get my grocery shopping and laundry done too! This week was also tough because we had the end of our Jacobean unit presentations of Friday, where my group performed The Changeling and got to see what the other class had been up to with their production of Tis Pity She's A Whore. While the shows both came together in the end, and it was great to finally see the other class' work, it was definitely a trying experience for me. As a wise woman said to me "learn from your experience" and "Move on - it's what you do, it's something to learn from." She's a pretty smart lady and, in this case, she was very right. Theatre doesn't click for every person every time, but it most certainly always teaches you something new, and I'm okay with that.
This weekend has also been quite lovely with my friend Laura coming in from Amsterdam to visit and finally making my way to the Victoria & Albert museum with her. We also got to celebrate Halloween a bit early leaving me with Sunday to readjust, recenter and refocus for the next chapter of my LAMDA career. We're moving onto Shakespearean comedies tomorrow and, wouldn't you know it, my class is doing Much Ado About Nothing, a play I hold quite near and dear to my heart already. Now it's time to gear up for something new and keep the momentum up... we're all a bit tired and a bit over-worked, but I can't wait to see what happens this time, an experience I've named "Much Ado: Part Two" I'll keep you posted!
The excitement started 2 Mondays ago, when I, very skillfully, found free tickets to see "Hay Fever" by Noel Coward. In my excitement, I neglected (a theme of my last few weeks) to notice that the theater was located in Kingston, a 40 minute tube+20 minute bus ride away. Did we let that stop us? Never. We hurried there after school and made it in plenty of time to see the show, which, while not amazing, didn't cost us a penny - so it was pretty darn good. We even got out in enough time to cross the street to Wagamamas and have a delicious 10pm dinner - very European of us, if I might say so myself. Classes went along as usual Tuesday and Wendesday, and then it was time to start my jet-setting adventure back to the US to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of my beautiful baby sister, who, as far as I'm concerned, will never be older than 8 years old.
There had been so much anticipation leading up to this weekend, starting over a year ago when we realized that the Bat Mitzvah would coinside beautifully with my semester across-the-ocean. All of my hesitations, fears and jokes that I wouldn't be attending ended up being totally moot when the time came to be home and celebrate - and it was quite the celebration. Rather than go on in boring detail about the festivities of the weekend, I'll just say that there would be no better reason to do the 7 hour flight (with a broken video set...) than to surround myself with my wonderful friends and family and beam over how grown-up my little 8 year old really is. Mazel Tov again, Mira T - you really blew me away.
ANYWAY... I got back into Heathrow at 630 am with just enough time to tube back to my dorm, drop off my bags and get back on the tube to make my 10 am class. My body was less than thrilled with me that day, and while fighting back fits of narcolepsy during classes, I managed to not only survive, but get my grocery shopping and laundry done too! This week was also tough because we had the end of our Jacobean unit presentations of Friday, where my group performed The Changeling and got to see what the other class had been up to with their production of Tis Pity She's A Whore. While the shows both came together in the end, and it was great to finally see the other class' work, it was definitely a trying experience for me. As a wise woman said to me "learn from your experience" and "Move on - it's what you do, it's something to learn from." She's a pretty smart lady and, in this case, she was very right. Theatre doesn't click for every person every time, but it most certainly always teaches you something new, and I'm okay with that.
This weekend has also been quite lovely with my friend Laura coming in from Amsterdam to visit and finally making my way to the Victoria & Albert museum with her. We also got to celebrate Halloween a bit early leaving me with Sunday to readjust, recenter and refocus for the next chapter of my LAMDA career. We're moving onto Shakespearean comedies tomorrow and, wouldn't you know it, my class is doing Much Ado About Nothing, a play I hold quite near and dear to my heart already. Now it's time to gear up for something new and keep the momentum up... we're all a bit tired and a bit over-worked, but I can't wait to see what happens this time, an experience I've named "Much Ado: Part Two" I'll keep you posted!
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