One of my guilty pleasures...

Yesterday my co-worker and I had tickets to My Big Italian Gay Wedding. Have you heard of this Off-Broadway show? It's a comedy that follows the trials and tribulations of a couple trying to throw a wedding... an Italian wedding, no less!
The show was quite funny- do you know why? (It's hard to tell, but this is a picture of the theater...)
Well, remember my hint from yesterday? (New Jersey?)
Guess who were the guest stars in the show for 4 nights?
That's right- The Real Housewives of New Jersey! The ladies, along with two of their daughters, had a limited engagement with the show as a fundraiser for Marriage Equality. As I've mentioned, I'm a Bravo junkie and TRHONJ is one of my guilty pleasures! My co-worker also loves the show, so when the opportunity arose to see the this play with our favorite housewives in the starring roles, we couldn't help ourselves! Our tickets were held for us at the box office, so last night we arrived to the theater about 45 minutes before curtain to pick them up... imagine our surprise as we exited the lobby and saw Caroline, Lauren, Ashley and Jacqueline! We were so excited, figuring that was as close as we would get to them all night.
Boy were we wrong! (Sorry for the picture quality- apparently Dina is just too pretty for my camera to photograph!)
We ended up meeting the cast after the show! The ladies were extremely nice, and we spoke to everyone for at least 5 minutes each! Dina was the show's producer, and we spoke to her at length about her work and how much we missed her on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. She couldn't have been nicer or more interested in speaking with us- no wonder we all love her! Then we talked to Lauren about how funny she was in the play we had just seen, and she told us about how on the TV show her brothers outshine her, but in real life she's hilarious- we were all laughing pretty hard at that! Then Jacqueline ran by and shook our hands before jumping into her limo (apparently Teresa was ready to go and Jacqueline was making her late). And finally we got to see Caroline. She was absolutely wonderful in the play (her hairdos were insane, as you can see)- and she couldn't have been nicer in person. She asked how we felt about the show and thanked us for supporting a cause that meant so much to her!
As you can tell, it was a really fun night! Thanks for stopping by- I hope you have a great weekend!

Waiting for tonight...

A couple of weeks ago, I got a frantic email from my co-worker. There was a limited run of a show she and I desperately wanted to see, and in the span of five minutes we bought the last two tickets that were available. We were understandably excited about our amazing timing and we've been looking forward to seeing the show ever since.

Well, tonight's the night! The curtain rises at 8 pm, and we can't wait! I promise to fill you in on all the shenanigans tomorrow... but in the meantime I'll give you a hint about what we're seeing:
Have you guessed yet?

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

Not that Graceland...

Remember this weekend when I was in Times Square?
I was actually on my way to see a show.
Nope, not Everyday Rapture...
I was headed to that intimate little theater just to the left... The Duke!
I had tickets to see a new show: Graceland! While previews started on May 3, it won't officially open until May 17. I was offered these free tickets at work, and I couldn't turn them down... plus, I was curious to see the theater. I hadn't seen a show here before, and was pleasantly surprised with the "black-box-esque" space!
Now, I must tell you right off the bat... this show had NOTHING to do with Elvis. Rather, the play centers around a pair of siblings who are burying their father at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. Here's the program- do you recognize this actress?
If you watch Two and A Half Men, she plays Jon Cryer's ex-wife on the show. The play also featured Brian Kerwin, who you might know from 27 Dresses (he played Katherine Heigl's father).

Now, I have to tell you- this show is considered a comedic drama. While parts of it are pretty funny, there were other parts that made me slightly uncomfortable. For example, there was a make-out scene. Normally, that wouldn't bother me in the least... except look where I was sitting:
That's right- second row! I think I spent half the show with my hands over my face... what a nerd!

As for the play, it was... interesting! I'm not sure I'd recommend it to everyone, but I really appreciate that new productions are being produced in this economy. Plus, watching a play written by a Chicago playwright took me back to my college days, which was fun. So, if you're in the mood for inside jokes about Chitown and a May-December romance, this is the play for you! It's playing at 229 W. 42 Street through May 29.

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

Colonel Brandon, I think I love you!

I had a really exciting night in Brooklyn this week. It all started normally enough: two of my co-workers and I stopped to grab some dinner at Linger.
Since the weather has been so nice, we decided to eat in the garden out back.
Isn't that gorgeous? There were pink petals everywhere.
We were pretty parched, so when the waitress brought our drinks, we were quite relieved.
As we waited for our food, I couldn't resist snapping a few photos...
However, our food arrived soon enough. This was my co-worker's, complete with marinated fennel on top.
I, on the other hand, ordered a delicious caprese salad.
And to top everything off, we finished our meal with a chocolate chip cookie, divided quite diplomatically.
While our meal was quite nice, it was just the beginning of a magical night, because we were headed here.
It's the Harvey Theater, part of BAM. We were there to see the opening night of The Creditors.
It was an interesting play, which happened to have a very famous director.
Now, I've saved the best part for last: one of the professors at my school was Mr. Rickman's teacher at RADA, so she took us backstage to meet him after the show. He was gracious and humble... and his speaking voice is even more incredible in person than in the movies. I got to shake his hand, and then he invited us all to be his guests at the opening night party. We got to hobnob with lots of lovely theater folk, and the paparazzi even took our picture... apparently when you arrive to a party with the director, they assume you're kind of important. (I have to admit, I could get used to that kind of attention!)
It was a wonderful evening, and I'll never forget the night I met Colonel Brandon!

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