Happy Birthday Stephen Sondheim

Today is the 80th birthday of one of my favorite Broadway composer/lyricists, Stephen Sondheim. I have had the privilege of playing roles in 3 of his shows. The first Sondheim show I was ever in, "Into the Woods," is probably my favorite. I got to come in in the final days of rehearsal to replace the actress that was playing "Jack's Mom" and work with some amazing people: Tom Width, an extremely gifted actor, director and set designer and some fabulous actors, Paul Deiss, Robyn O'Neill, Debra Wagoner, Michael Cole, Larry Cook, Doug Jones, Harriet Traylor, Jacquie O'Connor, Robert Throckmorton, Joe Pabst and Julie Fulcher and musical direction was by the wonderful Ron Barnette. I loved the opportunity, but I was scared to death! You see, this was my first foray back into professional theater after a 3 year break. Nothing like jumping back in with "Sondheim" to learn. All fears aside it was a great experience and one I will always cherish. I also built some very cherished friendships during that show and rekindled others.
The second opportunity I had to sing his wonderful music was "Follies." My dear friend, Joe Pabst, directed this show and had enough faith in me to let me sing the coveted, "I'm Still Here," and he trusted me to do it the way I wanted to. I consider it to be one of my shining moments on stage.
The last role I played was "Domina" in last summer's "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at the Dell, also under the direction of Joe Pabst. "Domina" is one of the primo, diva roles. She sings a song at the top of the second act called "Dirty Old Man" So much fun, but talk about cramming some words in a song, Whew! I had a wonderful time with this cast as well, but getting the chance to watch Jason Marks play Pseudolus was a rare treat!
So thank you, Stephen Sondheim, for sharing your awesome gift and giving me some of musical theatre's most wonderful moments on stage and in the audience.
Happy Birthday!

Things I'm Going to Do

Last night I finally saw Up. And, Yes, I cried, several times, actually. True to Disney fashion, it tugs at the heart strings, but it also has a wonderful moral that made me think. It's not a new thought. I've heard it a million times, but, obviously, somebody "up" there, no pun intended, wants me to hear it because I've heard this same lesson many times this week.
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE DESTINATION. IT'S ABOUT THE JOURNEY. It seems that we spend so much of our life going after this adventure or that goal, that we don't take time to appreciate that grand adventure were on called "LIFE".
Anyone who is reading this who knows me knows that all my life I have wanted to be an actress, and truth be told, I wanted to be a famous one. That may still happen. Who knows? Even at the ripe old age of 46, I still have a few good years left, but I can't consider my life a failure because I'm not a famous actress. There are so many amazing things I've done in my life, and I have so much that I've accomplished that I am cheating myself by using that "famous actress" yardstick by which to measure the success of my adventure.
Life brings us all sorts of things that throw curves in the path on our journey. Lord, I've had some out-and-out detours, but the experiences I have had, good or bad, have brought me to where I am. No, I'm not a famous actress, but the pages in my "adventure book" that follow the "Things I'm Going to Do" page are chocked full.

It May say Ukrops on the building, but..........

So, is it just me, or is it obvious that Giant/Martins has already taken over our precious Ukrops stores? I know the purchase went through on February 8, 2010, and I'm not exactly sure of the details of the transition. All the press releases have said late spring. Yes, they are still closed on Sundays, and there is no beer or wine within it's doors, but there are other things that have happened to me in a "Ukrops" in the last week that have burst my Ukrops, good customer service bubble.
The other day I was using the self-check-out,and no one was manning the register to clear computer errors. I thought if I heard, "unexpected item in the bagging area," one more time I would scream. Finally someone came over to fix it. And then today, I went in for dinner ideas. Ah, I see a sign in the meat case, "London Broil - 3.98 per pound." Good, I love London Broil. Oh, sorry, Terri, we don't have any. There was not one in the case.
So sorry, kids. The day is here. Ukrops is gone for good. :(
I'm not sure, but I even think my favorite Hot Cross Buns taste different.

A Little Slice of Heaven

When I was little, there was this really cool place I can remember going to eat. My Dad pulled up in this parking lot at the corner of Libbie and Broad. He backed into a parking space under a tin roof type awning and turned the headlights on. A short time after that a woman dressed in a dark green shirt came to the car to take our order. Daddy would say, "4 minced pork with slaw and fries, please." Then, this was the really cool part as a little kid in the backseat of the wood-paneled station wagon, they would bring your food out to the car and attach this really neat tray thing to the rolled down driver's side window, and we would all eat in the car. If you've lived in Richmond, VA, all your life like I have, you know I'm talking about Bill's Barbecue. The amazing thing is, they still do that today.
Bill's was founded in 1930 in Norfolk and then re-located to Richmond in 1931. For 80 years Richmonders have been enjoying Bill's minced barbecue with slaw, real, fresh-squeezed, as-you-wait, limeades, and the item that inspired this post, homemade pies, in particular, chocolate pie.
The first time I remember having a a slice of Bill's chocolate pie was at my Aunt Beulah and Uncle Bummy's house on Monument Avenue. They always had big parties at their house on the weekends by their very fancy swimming pool. There were always a lot of people there and Uncle Bummy would always order several pies, one of which was chocolate. How can I describe this mouthful of chocolaty goodness? First, I have to tell you, I'm not really a pie crust kind of a girl. When I was younger, I always ate just the filling and left the scraped crust for someone else. Enter the slice of Bill's chocolate pie. The crust has this very unique texture and salty flavor that is a perfect compliment to the chocolate cream filling and whipped cream on top. The reason's Bill's chocolate pie trumps all others in my book is that the chocolate filling and whipped cream have just the right amount of sweetness. Most chocolate pies miss the mark for me because the filling, quite frankly, would throw you into a sugar coma. Not so with Bill's and that is what makes it a little slice of heaven.
If you've never had a slice of Bill's chocolate pie, do yourself a favor and drive down to Libbie and Broad and turn your headlights on. You'll be glad you did. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait until after Lent. Eat a slice for me! :o)

WITNESS PROTECTION TV

Yesterday, I spent a total of three hours trying to hook up my new DTA (Digital to Analog) converter box to my TIVO and subsequently to my TV. After finally getting my DTA to talk to my TIVO to talk to my TV, I felt a sense of accomplishment until.....I realized that some of my favorite channels now have a "pixelated"(the Comcast Rep's word, not mine)picture and choppy audio. It's like all my shows are coming to me via the witness protection program, and they are trying to protect the actors' identities. Now, I realize that I have not dragged myself into the new technology age, and I still have a giant bear of a TV with a huge back. Yes, I know, GASP, NO FLAT SCREEN? you say. It just hasn't been a priority for me financially, but, now, I'm thinking, it's going to have to be.
My big beef here is this: Remember when all of this conversion to digital stuff started, and we were bombarded with commercials with warnings of the date of conversion and how we may lose our channels? Companies were selling these boxes, so you could still see all your favorite channels. Guess what those boxes were? DTA's! I also recall at the time that Comcast said not to worry, if Comcast was your provider, you wouldn't have to do anything. Not so, young grasshopper. About a month ago, we received a package from Comcast with instructions to have a CLEARER, SHARPER, picture, we needed to connect this box to our TV. You got it, it was a DTA.
So, now, my dilemma: buckle down and buy an HD flat screen or be doomed to watching WITNESS PROTECTION TELEVISION.....so where's that K-Mart Flyer?

A penny..Big Deal..How much can a penny do?

The answer....A LOT. On February 24, 2010, less than a week ago, a movement was started by 4 Moms in Henrico County called Pennies in Protest. They started the group as a positive answer to the HATE being spewed by a group that is coming to protest Jews and the Gay/Straight Alliance at Hermitage High School. Their thoughts were to make a plea for money to show love for these groups being protested rather than hate. Here's the twist, and this is the part that I absolutely LOVE. They are splitting all the money raised between the groups being targeted and...wait for it...here it comes....THEY ARE DONATING IT IN THE HATE GROUP'S NAME. Is that not priceless? In an interview last night on WWBT 12, a local NBC affiliate here in Richmond, one of the organizer's said that she was thrilled that these groups are getting all this money BECAUSE of the hate group coming here. So....thanks Westboro Baptist Church, you've just raised, at the typing of this post, over $8,000! Wow!!!! There is still time. Go to the website for Pennies in Protest and donate. They are taking money until March 3rd. LOVE CONQUERS EVIL! Doesn't that put a smile on your face?