Presents for me?

Now that the school-year has ended, most of the students have gone, either for the summer or for good (graduation). But before they left, several students treated me (and my colleagues) to various gifts and treats. From flowers, to candy, and even a smörgåsbord of fried chicken from Popeye's, our students spoiled us rotten.

And while I appreciate all of the gifts I receive, some are a little more precious to me because the students brought them to me from their hometowns. For example, this lovely gift:

A student brought this mirror to me from Korea.

I love how colorful it is, and I think of that student every time I see it on my shelf!

Another student brought me this loose-tea...

Which she brought back to NYC from Honolulu (her hometown).

And last but not least...

This is my skilpad.

Skilpad means "tortoise" in Afrikaans, because this cute carving was brought to me all the way from South Africa!

As you know, I love my job. But receiving thoughtful gifts like these from students is certainly the icing on the cake!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!

All in a day's work!

At work I sometimes get to produce events. The other day was no exception, and I ended up spending the entire afternoon in and around a theater. I had my phone on me and decided to document some of my day... want to see what I was up to?

First, here is the outside of the theater.

The wall treatment outside of the theater is kind of unique.

From a distance it looks like a photo of a red curtain...

But up close, you can see that the curtain is actually made up of text... and that wall holds the entire work of Shakespeare- cool, right? (I happened to take this photo in front of A Midsummer's Night Dream, I think...)

The inside of the theater is just as cool as the outside. When you first enter, it's pretty dark...

But located next to each door is a smart pad!

To turn on different lighting combinations, all you have to do is push a button!

So within seconds, all of the work lights are on! This is so much easier than a traditional theater where the lights are controlled via a board in the light booth!

The work lights allow me to check out the space...

And ensure that everything is "good to go!"

From the audience seating...

To the placement of the piano- I have to make sure everything is set prior to the event!

Of course once the set-up is finished it's time to turn on the performance lights.

First comes the stage:

Next comes the house lights:

Doesn't that look nice?

I love this theater- it's so easy to work in and it looks beautiful!

If you're wondering, the event I ran the other day went well... but do you know what the best part of my day was? Getting to push the "blackout" button right before I headed home- that was glorious!

Thank you for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Light at the end of the tunnel...

With a handful of school days left in the year, I am finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And while there are still several performances, events and classes left to facilitate, we're slowly but surely checking things off of our "to-do" list. For example, the other day we produced a presentation (not to be confused with a performance), and I snapped a few photos of the details... from the conductor's podium:

To the cool, butcher-paper floor treatment.

From the plastic table clothes that were used as set dressing...

To the "period" lamp we used to light the pianist's music.

Believe it or not, I actually get to take photos of our events from time to time... can you believe I'm getting paid to do something I'd do for free? So while this is definitely a busy time of year, I'm also remembering just how cool my job is! Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Pizza, pizza!

Last week, I got to go to a pizza party.

It was really fun! The maestro decided to throw a pizza party for everyone involved with our recent production- wasn't that nice of her?

Since there were so many people attending, she had to order over 20 pizzas!

As you can see, I couldn't resist taking a few photos of the pies...

YUM!

I hope you had a good weekend- thanks for stopping by!

Behind the scenes...

As I mentioned yesterday, we are currently in performances for our final production of the season. But before the curtain went up yesterday, I was backstage... and I happened to have a camera... and the rest speaks for itself. So, would you like to join me on a quick tour?

All of the hallways and staircases backstage have these fabulous yellow lines that direct you towards the exit painted along the ground. When I first started working at this job, those lines were supremely helpful!

While all of the action takes place onstage, there are millions of actions that take place backstage to make it all happen! Here's a shot from the left wing- through the doorway you can even see the ghostlight onstage!

Oh- and did you notice those piles of books? One of the scenes onstage requires the look of a library- but we can't risk stacks of books tumbling over! So these prop books are drilled through with a rode and wrapped in thin wire... and none of it is detectable from the audience!

I eventually made my way into the orchestra pit of the theater, and shot this photo of stage from the conductor's podium. (FYI: Those yellow barriers are placed on the edge of the stage so the crew doesn't accidentally fall into the pit!)

I love the pit- here's a shot of the percussion corner:

And finally, a shot of the house from the conductor's podium... not a bad view, right?

Thanks for joining me on this little tour- I hope you have a great day!

One last show...

Yep, that's right... it's the last "official" show of my season (which should explain my blog-absence yesterday). I can't believe the year is almost over! There's still a lot to do, but it's weird to think that tonight will be my last "opening night" until next fall!

Luckily things will start to slow down in the next couple of weeks, and in the meantime I'm just enjoying all the exciting things that are still to take place before the summer vacation!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!!

It's that time again...

You might have noticed that I was MIA in the blogging world yesterday... which can only mean one thing:

Yep, we opened another show at work (if you've been counting, this is number 4 of the year)- it's such an exciting time! Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day!

Another late night!

I enjoyed the luxury of a taxi ride home after the second performance of our current opera... so here's a glimpse at the view from the Queensboro Bridge:



Fun, right? Oh, and as promised, here are the reviews that have come in for the show thus far: Associated Press, NY Times, and a local music blog.

Thanks for visiting- I hope you have a great weekend!

What a night...

I dragged myself home a few hours ago...
You see, it was quite an evening! Our show opened yesterday night, and after the curtain came down there was a reception...
And boy did I have fun! Not only was the performance AMAZING, but I got to wear a fancy dress, high heels, sparkly jewelry... and I was just doing my job!
But now I'm tired and all I want to do it stay in bed all day! But since that's not an option, I plan on pulling myself together and schlepping myself into work. And while it may be tough to stay awake, the excitement from last night will certainly carry me through the day!

Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great day (and I'll post the reviews as soon as they're out)!

Rehearsal galore

We're in the midst of tech week for the biggest production of the season, so I haven't had a chance to post in the last few days. But in case you're wondering, I've spent most of my evenings in the theater gazing at this incredible set!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend- see you next week!

Opening night...

Last night was the opening night of our first production of the year...

(Here's a photo I took of the set at the final dress...)

The show was extremely well- so while I'm tired, I'm also bursting at the seams with pride for how well our students performed!

I hope you have a great day- thank you for visiting!