Theatre-Going 101

Last night, I spent a wonderful evening with two of my friends to go see the musical Once. It came on Broadway the same season as Newsies and won best musical at the Tony awards that year. When I went to New York to see Newsies, I would have loved to see Once as well. However, my bank account wouldn't let me see more than one show at a time. It was quite sad.

Don't you just love my bad Instagram photography?

The show was completely lovely, and wonderful, and bitter-sweet, and perfect. I'll be having dreams of musicians in Dublin for the next several weeks I'm sure.

As I was getting ready to go last night, I was thinking since I go out to the theatre so often, and I've been in theatre productions for so long, maybe I should give some tips for theatre-going for those who might be new at it.

What to Wear

I'm not going to lie, I'm a little bit of a theatre snob and a firm believer in looking nice when you go to see a show. You don't have to dress in a formal gown and a tux or anything like that. But, whenever I go I try to do a little more than just jeans and a t-shirt. Especially if you're going to classy theatre in the city. It's a bit more of a formal occasion than simply going out to the movies. Depending on the show and location, you can dress a bit more casually. If I'm going to a community theatre show or something along those lines, I might dress down a bit more. But, I still try my best to look put together out of respect for the performers. They're doing their best for us, so we should do the same for them. Here is what my friends and I wore last night:

See? Nothing outrageously fancy. But still put together and done well. I would also suggest bringing a light sweater or jacket just in case. Even in the middle of summer theatres can get cold from time to time.

What to Bring

When going to the theatre, I try to pack light. The rows and seats can get narrow and you may not have room for a gigantic purse. Here is what I brought last night:

My purse was on the smaller end but still had plenty of room to keep my stuff. It was a vintage Nine West (well... I think it was vintage. It used to be my grandma's) and had a small mirror inside which was handy in case I had to touch up my makeup. Inside was:

- My pink glitter pen/stylus. You never know when you need a pen!

- My cell phone (turned off during the show! More on that later.).

- Lip balm because my lips are always chapped.

- Lip stick for touch-ups.

- Binoculars because I usually end up in the back. While usually visibility is still great, sometimes it's nice to see the actors faces up close.

- Wallet with my ID, credit cards, cash, etc. What if you want to buy souvenirs?

And don't forget your tickets! Mine were not pictured because one of my friends had purchased them and were holding them for us.

Tickets

Let's be honest here - going to the theatre can get expensive. If you're on a tight budget like me, you need to learn how to work the system a bit. Even sitting in the back at a show, tickets can still cost you up to $40+. 

First, I learn to prioritise which shows I want to see. Unless I purchased season tickets for Broadway in Chicago, there is no way I would be able to see every single musical which came my way. When I see the ads for what's going to be in town, I make a mental list of the ones I know I HAVE to see and be sure I have money set aside for when they come.

It also helps to know people in the business and how to go around extra Ticketmaster fees. A lot of shows will have tickets you can purchase at the box office directly and you can avoid those. If my friend hadn't picked ours up in person, our tickets would have cost $51 instead of $40. Also, look out for deals. I follow Broadway in Chicago on social media and they'll have contests, a monthly deal of $25 on the 25th for certain shows, and some shows will have a raffle before the performance starts for great seats. You also can google for discount tickets and see what you can find on other sites. 

Just remember, you do sometimes get what you pay for. A few months ago I went to see Beauty and the Beast, and I got back row tickets for $18. Usually, even if you sit in the back, you can still see everything so I didn't mind. Then, when I arrived, I realised why they were so cheap. We were in the middle of a noisy Jr. High group and one of our seats was on a step which made it very uncomfortable!

Also, if you're hard-core about theatre or you see in a certain season you want to see almost every show, buying season tickets would be a smart choice.

Then of course, don't forget to support your local community and school theatres! Tickets tend to be less expensive, they tend to do shows which are tried and true crowd-pleasers, and you'll be supporting people in your own hometown. I'll be honest, when I lived in Missouri, the local Jr. High musical was almost always one of the best shows in town! Those kids were so talented!

Etiquette

Okay... here is where more of the snob in me comes out.

- PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CELL PHONE. Last night there were one or two moments when the show was so quiet and lovely and perfect - then I heard someone's ring tone and it ruined the moment. Even if your phone is on silent, don't take it out because just like at the movie theatre, it's very distracting to everyone around you. Sometimes even the actors can see you on your phone! Can you imagine being on stage singing your heart out and out of the corner of your eye you see an audience member texting? Also, if you can, turn it completely off. Sometimes cell phones can mess with the sound system (especially if it's a lower-budget theatre) and that throws everyone off, 

By all means, tag, Tweet, share, take selfies, etc. In fact, you might even get a like or share from the theatre, or if you're really lucky - one of the actors! Just not during the performance itself.

- DO NOT SING ALONG WITH THE SONGS. Yes, I know this might be your favourite show of all time ever. I get it. It's hard to not sing along. But you, along with everyone else, paid to see the professionals perform. If this is hard for you, go ahead and get the soundtrack before you arrive and jam out to your hearts content before and after the show. Or if you want to sing a couple lyrics during intermission that's fine too. Just not during the performance. This goes for lip-syncing too. You might think you're not distracting anyone because you're not making sound, but you are.

- DON'T TALK DURING THE SHOW. Again, it's like going to the movies. Does anyone want to be at a movie with someone who talks the whole time? Nope. Granted, sometimes the nature of the show might allow for some audience interaction. When I went to go see Motown the Musical, one of my favorite parts was how the audience reacted with their "mmmmmHHHHHMmmmmms" and "AMENS!" So, be sure to read the audience and the show to know how to react appropriately. 

- ARRIVE EARLY. I like getting to the theatre a little early for a few reasons. If you're late, the ushers may not let you in right away. When I went to see Les Miserables, we were running late, and we had to watch the entire prologue on a screen because they wouldn't let us to our seats yet. Then, when we finally sat down we disturbed everyone else around us, and it took a little while to get adjusted and we weren't able to enjoy the beginning of the show as much as we would have liked. Or, at least that's how I felt. I can't speak for everyone else.

You also might miss something awesome if you get there late. A perfect example was when I went to see Once last night. The bar on stage was open for patrons to buy drinks and the performers were playing music as everyone was getting their drinks and sitting down. Then, they transitioned from there to the show, and it was one of the best beginnings of a show I've ever seen. If I had arrived late, or even "just on time" I would have missed it. 

Also, if you get there early you have time to go to the bathroom and stop by the merchandise table. It's annoying when people get up in the middle of a performance to do those things. ;-)

- PLEASE DO NOT LEAVE DURING CURTAIN CALL. I know, I know, you want to beat the crowds and traffic. I get it! But curtain call is very important for theatre. This is your time to thank the actors for their performance, but also their opportunity to thank you for coming. Can you imagine being a performer and putting your whole heart out on the stage and when you go to take your bow you see people leaving? How heart breaking! Even beyond that, more and more shows are adding extras at the end where they do an encore song, or a mash-up of all of the numbers. You don't want to miss that do you?

So, those are my tips for going to the theatre. Anything I missed? Anything you'd like to add?

And in case you missed it, here are the videos I put up on YouTube this week:

- May Reading Wrap-Up

- My 1st Fandoms

- I Love You Beth Cooper Discussion Part 2

- My June TBR List

- Showtunes, Books, and All of the Things

Life Update Friday

As I promised yesterday in my video here is a quick life update for all of you who are tired of me talking about NaNoWriMo!

- Tomorrow my family is celebrating my grandpa's 90th birthday! 90 - that's crazy and totally awesome! I'm really excited to see everyone over the weekend and celebrate. We saw most of them for my sister's wedding, but with all of the preparations and craziness we didn't actually get to have a whole lot of quality time with them. So, this will be nice.

- I'm in a madrigal group! (Not magical, madrigal.) For those who aren't total nerds like me, it's a renaissance singing group. We get to dress up in costumes and sing old songs and talk about boars heads, figgy pudding, and wassail. I did it in high school and it was so much fun, and when a friend told me there was a group putting one together for Christmas, I was really excited. We've had about three rehearsals so far, every week on Sunday night, and I've liked it a lot. I'm still getting to know the people, but they seem pretty awesome. I love my director - he really knows his stuff- and he's a ton of fun. Even if he took my David Tennant phone background for Matt Smith. I definitely need to work on memorizing my music though.

- I also am starting a new job on Monday! It's only temporary through the middle of January. BUT, it's for a pretty big company, I'll get paid well, have a lot of hours, and if they'll keep their best people on full time after January. Which would mean actual salary and benefits. The job itself is answering phones for customer service, but I'm still excited. For now I'm still at the preschool though in the mornings because I don't want to give up a permanent thing for a temporary job.

- I feel like everyone is having babies. At least two of my friends have had babies this week. It's crazy. Really happy and awesome! But crazy too. But don't tell my sister, she's already ready to have one.

- It's snowing right now. There's only a dusting on the ground, but still. I'm not sure how I feel about this. Discuss.

- I heard Matthew Morrison (Mr. Shue on Glee) is going to be taking over the role of JM Barrie on Broadway's premiere of Finding Neverland, replacing Jeremy Jordan (the guy who played Jack in Newsies on Broadway and was Jimmy on Smash and will be in The Last 5 Years with Anna Kendrick coming up) who I LOVE. I love both actors but I'm super torn because I LOVE Jeremy Jordan. I know the rest of you don't care but I do.

- Recently I listened to Neil Patrick Harris' Choose Your Own Autobiography and it was every bit as awesome as it sounds. I'm also currently reading Mortal Heart by Robin LaFevers. It's the final book in the His Fair Assassin trilogy and I'm outrageously excited.

- My Facebook book club, The Book Worms, is currently reading The Circle by Dave Eggars. OMG it's crazy! You need to get in on this. If not, next month we're reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. If anything, you should join so you can watch videos of me talking about all of my feels about books.

- Kirstie and I are back at it with vlogging! Remember in August how I do Vlog Every Day August? (VEDA.) Well, now we're hosting Vlogmas. Basically, you vlog everyday December 1-24 leading up to Christmas. We (as in mainly Kirstie and I've been giving my two cents here and there) have been brainstorming topic ideas. Once the sign up is ready I'll let you all know. I think personally I'm going to do a weird hybrid of Vlogmas/Letters to Advent. When it gets closer I'll explain more.

I feel like this post needs a picture. Because every good blogger has pictures, right? Right. Here's me jamming on my uke. Cause you know... this is exactly how I look when I sing and play...

So... how is everyone today? Doing anything fun and exciting this weekend? Tell me about your lives!

The Kings of New York

So... apparently the VMAs were last night.

I didn't know this until I was already watching the finale of Rising Star (Go Jesse!) and mourning Newsies and their final performance on Broadway. (WAH!) Womp womp.

Oh well.

Apparently Beyonce was awesome - so go her. And Taylor Swift can't dance... neither of these things are new I don't think. So... I didn't really miss much, right?

Sadly though, with it being Music Monday and all, it probably would have been an awesome way to get material for today's blog post. Whoops.

HOWEVER I do have a Newsies song to save the day! (Or seize the day as the case may be?) This show has been running on Broadway since 2012 and I went to see it that year and it was AMAZING. It has it's final performance yesterday and I know a lot of people are sad to see it go.

But there's good news! Newsies is going on tour and I have full intentions of seeing it here in Chicago when it arrives in December/January.

In honor of the show, here is their amazing Tony Awards performance from 2012. Featuring one of the loves of my life - Jeremy Jordan (Jack Kelly), the incredible dancing of Ryan Steele (Specs), the loveable Andrew Keenan-Bogler (Crutchie) and the rest of the original cast.

Now, pardon me as I go wear my Newsies cap, watch the movie, and go through my book about them and cry.

10 Instagrams

I've done recomendations for blogs and websites before, but never Instagram. I think it's because I mainly follow people I know and other blog friends on Instagram simply because I know them or like their blog. Not necessarily because I just love their photography. So, it took me a little bit to dig through my Instagram account to see people who are genuinely good photographers to tell people about. However, I found some!

Andrew Kennan Blogger

Being a huge musical theatre nerd, and after seeing Newsies on Broadway a couple of years ago, I ended up following about 1/2 of the cast on Instagram. It turns out, the actor Andrew Kennan Blogger (he played Crutchie), is an amazing photographer. I always love looking at his photos and all of his NYC adventures.

http://instagram.com/keenanblogger

Beauty Edit Max

I have no idea who this guy is. All I know is that one day, forever ago, he followed my account for some reason and I followed back. Holy cow- he does amazing photos.

http://instagram.com/beauty_edit_max

Neil Patrick Harris

Um... who wouldn't want to see the world through his eyes?

http://instagram.com/instagranph

The Blog Baton

This is the coolest Instagram/Blogger idea ever. Basically, everyday a different blogger takes over the account. (I did it back in January.) It's fun to see everyone's lives and to get some more exposure for your own blog.

http://instagram.com/theblogbaton

Writers Atelier

This account is awesome for writers. They post different quotes, inspiration, words, writing prompts, etc. everyday. 

http://instagram.com/writersatelier

The Ugly Mug Cafe Chicago

You know that cafe sign you see on Pinterest all of the time with the best quotes ever? That's a cafe in Chicago called The Ugly Mug Cafe. They really do have the best signs ever.

http://instagram.com/uglymugcafechi

Humans of New York

This guy is all over social media. Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc. But I really love his stuff. I love how he takes pictures of random people in the city and shares their stories. 

http://instagram.com/humansofny

Pemberley Digital

Hello! Pictures from behind the scenes of The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Emma Approved, and now Frankenstein MD! 

http://instagram.com/pemberleydigital

Starbucks Olive and 6th

One of my closest friends who works for Starbucks runs this account. So everyone should follow it.

http://instagram.com/sbuxoliveand6th

Colin Wright

I kinda of want to be this guy. Colin Wright travels the world, writes books, and basically lives on the Internet. And gets paid to do it. Coolest life ever, right? Right now he's living in Prauge.

http://instagram.com/colinismyname

Who are some of your favorite Instagram accounts? You know... other than mine. ;-) Yes... this is a shameless plug. http://instagram.com/lovewokemeup

I Have Resolutions and Goals... I Think. Maybe?

Quick note: If you are on Instagram, you should follow @TheBlogBaton tomorrow because I'll be posting from there all day! The Blog Baton is an Instagram account where everyday a different blogger gets to take over and post photos all day long, and tomorrow is my turn!

Moving on.

Happy New Year!

It's 2014! How crazy is that? I feel as though I say this about every day and holiday, but I'm always amazed at how quickly these things come around. Wasn't I just writing for January 1 in 2013? No? That was already a year ago? Where have I been? Goodness gracious.

Like last year, I'm avoiding New Years Resolutions. I don't want to make promises to myself that I can't keep or don't want to keep. I don't want to be another New Year cliche.

Yet, still like last year, I can't help but think about what I want to accomplish in the next twelve months. This year is the start of something new. I'm no longer in Missouri, I'm not in youth ministry anymore, everything is wide open for me. As cliche as it probably sounds, one of the reasons why I loved timing this transition over Christmas was because I could time my starting over with the New Year.

Because if life can't be like a movie or a book, you can still do what you can to make it appear to be so, right?

So, here I am. New year. New life. Open doors ready for me to walk through, even if I don't know what they'll be leading to.

It makes me feel like I should be making goals of where I want to go in my career and making big life choices, but I just don't want to.

Why should I limit myself? I might make these huge plans and set lofty goals when God has something completely different in mind. You know that typical Christian phrase... "Want to hear God laugh? Tell him your plans."

There are some things I want to do, obviously. Find a job, eventually get my own place so I"m not with Mom and Dad forever, finish my NaNoWriMo novel and revise it a million times so I can send out query letters, travel somewhere new, get back to doing yoga (for real this time!) etc. I do have goals, I guess. But honestly, I just want to let things happen. See where God and life takes me.

Although... I'm pretty sure these are some things that will be happening in 2014:

- Watching hours of Supernatural on Netflix... along with all of the other TV shows

- Spending quality time with my favorite power trio: Harry, Ron, and Hermione

- Taking my family and friends to see Newsies when it travels to Chicago in December

- Spending far too much money at Starbucks and being sure the baristas who work at the store wherever I end up living know my name

- Blogging. Lots of blogging.

- Cuddle time with Bandit

- Crying over movies like Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, and Mockingjay

- Reading ALL OF THE BOOKS

- Participating in NaNoWriMo in November for the 7th time

- Being my sister's maid of honor for her wedding in September (and all of the wedding planning that goes along with it!)

- Wasting hours on Tumblr and other forms of social media

- Squealing like the fangirl I am over Emma Approved

- And of course, catching up with friends in Chicago while keeping in touch with those in Missouri

Here's to 2014!

What are your plans/goals?

Super Exciting Day!

So... do  you all remember when Disney emailed me a few months back?

Well....

My copy of the book came in last night! I hadn't been home since lunch and when I returned last night, there it was. The glorious UPS box.

Naturally, I opened it immediately.

It's fantastic! I am so beyond excited to finally get this book. I haven't read it all yet, but I love how they put it together. They include the history of the original newsboys strike in 1899, then share how the movie was made in the 90s, and the rest is all about how it got to Broadway. Scattered throughout are stories and photos of fans about why they love the musical so much. They didn't use a story I shared, BUT they did use a photo I submitted.

So yeah... my face is in a book about Broadway and Disney.

I did take photos of the page I'm on and everything. Then I remembered that the people who made the book know about my blog and I'm unsure about the rules of copyright and such. Sorry. However, I'm totally in it and if you want the book you can go here: http://www.newsiesbroadwaystore.com/

While I realize having my face in this book isn't the biggest thing in the universe - I still think it's pretty awesome and it made everything in life happy.

Then... if that's not enough excitement for you... as I was searching for excited GIFS for this blog post I got a phone call for a second interview for a job that I REALLY REALLY WANT! The entire time I was on the phone I was all serious and professional face.

On the inside I was all Love Actually...

When I hung I proceeded to message other people to share in my excitement and we were all like the cast of Friends...

So, if you all have exciting news as well, please share so I can Kermit flail along with you because clearly the last 24 hours are all about excitement.

Disney Emailed Me!

Yes, you read that title correctly.

Disney emailed me this past week while I was in Alabama - AND they read my blog!

Why, you ask? Why would they seek out my tiny little blog and feel the need to email me about it?

Well...

When I returned home from Alabama, this weekend I did my best to try and catch up on life. Watching YouTube Videos, reading emails, etc. (I'm getting to all of your blogs today, I promise!) When I opened up my email, there was a message from someone at Disney. Apparently, months and months ago they had asked for submissions from people who had seen Newsies on Broadway for a book they want to release called : Newsies:  The Unlikely Story of a Broadway Hit. I didn't even remember submitting something for this until they sent me this message. They needed release forms signed so they have permission to add my story and photo to the book.

Awesome Female Role Models- Katherine Plumber

Continuing with my series on awesome female role models! Today I'm talking about another character from a musical.

Katherine Plumber from the Broadway musical, Newsies.

As my long time blog readers know, last year I took a trip to New York and saw the musical Newsies. I completely fell in love!

If you are familiar with the movie, Newsies, there are two characters you will not find in the stage production. They are Sarah (the love interest) and Denton (the reporter). On stage, they combined these two characters and created Katherine Plumber.This is one of the changes between the film and stage production that I loved.

Sarah, in the movie, wasn't very prominent in the story and honestly was a weak character.

Denton was important to the story, (and I believe in the true story of the newsboys strike) but as a character I never liked him much.

Katherine Plumber however, I love!

Katherine in one of her first encounters with Jack "Cowboy" Kelly. Source

Reasons why Katherine Plumber is awesome:

• In a show that is run by men, she holds her own as one of the very few female characters. She can hang out with the guys, they listen to her, but she doesn't lose her own femininity.
• Katherine made her own way in the world. She goes against the status quo and society stereotypes to do what she loves - writing. Even if that means she is the only woman with a job and has to fight her way through.
• She's willing to take a stand. The big message of the musical Newsies is to stand up for your rights and what you believe in. Everyone has a voice. Katherine is all about sharing her voice, but also giving a voice to those who can't do it themselves. She's scared of what's going to happen and isn't sure of what to say - but she does it anyway because she knows it's the right thing to do.
• She doesn't fall for Jack's moves right away. He starts to flirt with her and she won't take that crap. I think this is actually part of why Jack falls for her. Just because a cute boy smiles at her, she won't forget everything she's about and go weak at the knees. (Although she is tempted to!)
• Katherine doesn't wait around for Jack to figure out what he wants. Through the show it's obvious she and Jack have feelings for each other. But he's more unsure of their relationship than she is. She's the one to make the first big move and kisses him first and reassures him that he IS worthy of love, even if he doesn't see it in himself.
• Even when Jack isn't there, she can still go on. Yes, he helps to bring her up and give her confidence. That's an awesome thing! But even when Jack has doubts about the strike she keeps going with it and brings him back, and encourages the other boys to keep going even when times get hard.
• Katherine continues to be strong, even when the odds are against her. Even when her family doesn't support her and she's on her own in the big bad scary world, she keeps going.

Source

A few flaws to look out for:

• It's awesome that she goes out on her own and doesn't do what is expected of her. She lives her own life and does what she thinks is right. However, she kind of cuts her father out of her life in the process. While it's understandable why she does this, I do hope at some point she and her father make amends. Family is important and you need to work out your issues!
• Historically, the changes the musical made aren't right. (But story-wise it was awesome!) During that time period women weren't reporters. They just weren't.*
• She's in major denial for a bit about liking Jack - just give in girl. The rest of us have.

Quotes:

• "Give those kids and me the brand new century and watch what happens. It's David and Goliath, do or die, the fight is on and I can't watch what happens. But all I know is nothing happens if you just give in. It can't be any worse than how it's been. And it just so happens that we just might win. So whatever happens, let's begin!"
• "The world finds ways to sting you, until one day decides to bring you something to believe in, for even a night. One night may be forever, but that's all right, that's all right. And if you're gone tomorrow, what was ours still will be. I have something to believe in, now that I know you believe in me."
• "I've got a headline for you. Cheeky boy gets nothing for his troubles."
• "The only thing I'm following is a story."
• "'Newsies stop the World.' Huh... a little hyperbole never hurt no one."
• "Now that's how you turn a boy into a legend."
• "Let's get drunk! Not with liquor, fame works quicker, when you're king of New York."
• "And if I was a boy you'd be looking at me with one swollen eye!"
• "Being smart isn't about having the right answers. It's about having the brains to know when you see the right one."

Have any of you seen the show? What do you think of Katherine? Any thoughts on the character changes from the movie to the stage production? Which fictional female characters do you think I should feature on the blog in the future?

Here is Katherine's big song in Newsies. If you can't see the video click this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbIWRgFhBC0

* - Since writing this post, Disney emailed me to send me some information about the historical accuracy of Katherine's character. There was in fact a female reporter named Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (Nellie Bly was her pen name) who was a foreign affairs corespondant for Pulitzer's "New York World" in 1899. The writer of the show, Harvey Fierstien, and Kara Lindsay who played Katherine, took a lot of inspiration from her life to create Katherine's character. You can read more about her here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nellie_Bly. 

How amazing is that? Talk about an awesome female role model.