Day 354/365 (August 7, 2009)

going to try to talk only about the fun stuff for the last few days (we will see if that happens).

so i knew i was meeting Mary at Joe's Pub to see Sam Bradley in concert. I had no idea who he was or what kind of music he played but no one else would go with her so i said i would accompany her. i was looking forward to seeing Mary since it had been a while and not so much the actual show. All i knew was he was a solo artist and that it was just him and a guitar. which meant i figured it might not be the most fun since usually even the most talented of musicians if they are solo when they perform by his/her self are dull and boring because they are awkward up on stage and not engaging. I am so glad i could not have been more wrong! not only was he super talented but he was incredibly funny and engaging. he kept saying we were too polite and he worked the room and told funny stories/anecdotes and even had a funny choice of words when encouraging everyone to stay after to meet him. i will meet you in a room in the back (haha) but yea it was just good music and a good time with a good friend. i even took some videos for mary. we were a little thrown though since they are doing construction on the entrance to joe's pub so we had to go in through the public theater entrance. and i ended up there early so i did my favorite pre-joes pub wait time ritual which was go to walgreens and sit in the massaging chair for a while. it always makes my back so happy and it did wonders this time!

we stayed after and chatted with him for a bit and got a picture and he practically doubled over in laughter when i told him i was the one who kept snorting and he even remembered Mary from Texas! And his EP was the niftiest idea! instead of having a CD it was sold as a keychain that had a link and code etched on the back to download it!

Then mary and i said our goodbyes and i walked over to The duplex for mostly sondheim. (it was a pretty quick and straight forward walk. i was very excited when i got there since Colleen was there so she was my buddy for the night. It was so nice/exciting having Brian and Kate back too! (we think it was the first MS of the summer with all three of them present.) There were a lot of people and lots of singing and there was a word/theme of the night i am going to wipe from memory. i finally sang screw loose and after lots of practicing i actually remembered the words on my own and followed the music! HOWEVER i know for a fact i sounded beyond horrible and i guess i am ok with that, because it was fun to sing a different song :D

anywho i came home and after dealing with the insane mess that pip had made on his wee pad/my floor and a few other things i finally fell asleep about 5:30!!!!

Day 347/365 (July 31, 2009)

I have no idea what i did the first part of the day any more or what prevented me from updating then, but i do know towards the later part in the day i received this horrible wound that looked worse in person from Tucker and i reached my breaking point with him. He wont play nice with me i just wont go anywhere near him. This is the day i meant to delete a song from a playlist and accidentally deleted the whole playlist! so i cant connect phone to computer until i use my phone to recreate the playlist as was because i have that list set to automatically synch when connected and i would be sad if i was missing it since its one of my most used playlists

i feel like i made an outing of some sort before coming home and getting ready but can't be too sure. Anywho i made my way to mostly sondheim and was surprised to find Austin there as well, and of course dom. it took forever until they let us in but once they did it was one of the funnier nights for sure. i was brought to tears at one point by quite a funny discussion. Marty Thomas and Emily McNamara were the hosts and once again John Bronson was taking care of the piano (with a few hours notice this time!) They had a completely new staff and the waiter was a little too attentive for my liking but it was his first night. there was a guy who sang Part of Your World in Hebrew and a couple of boys tried and failed beyond all misery to sing Totally Fucked. There were quite the amount of single straight men that also sang... an often novelty there... haha. i even ended up signing the bitch of living (what?) by the end of the night (including all of our hosts) there were like only 8 or 9 people in the room which made for unusual fun... and i was requested to make satan's balls for another birthday party (i must get supplies). i also got complimented on my outfit twice which i always appreciate :D it was my AB jeans and the purple shirt i had bought before i went to TX. Also how did i almost forget the ongoing bump-it. you know that stupid hair thing well emily kept putting all sorts of things in her hair to pretend it was a bump-it such as a CD display case, a red bull can, and a tamborine to name a few!

i would also like to say it is nice coming home to pip because he is so excited to see you that he is a little ball of energy running around because he just cant contain that much excitement in his little body.

Day 337/365 (July 21, 2009)

What the crap? last night i fell asleep on the couch shortly after midnight... close to 2 am i was woken up by emma who called me to bed. it is pitiful to be put to sleep by a cat, but much appreciated since my bed is more comfy than the couch! anywho i basically stumbled to the bathroom then laid down and was out like a light again. when i woke up this morning to emma curled next to my body and head and one paw draped on my arm i thought how cute and i wonder what time it is. it was kinda on the darker side outside and i knew i fell asleep pretty early so i was like i bet it is around 9 am... boy was i wrong! i looked at my phone and it said 2:24! i thought it was wrong since my phone sometimes displays the wrong time... no it was right which means i slept for just about 14 hours! i had no idea i was needing that much sleep, and now my day is wasted!

i did the massive dishes that some how appeared and that was at least productive.

eventually i got ready and headed to the 9 to 5 stage door since they had tweeted about wanting people there to be in a sing along video... so of course i went! "have camera, there is a tamra!" is my camera whore mantra. it wasn't done as i had thought (just everyone singing along) the producer guy was picking people who wanted to be picked, he sung them a line from the song 9 to 5 and then you sang it back in the camera... fun! the stage door guy was also pretty funny and very into making the lion king attendees jealous they werent at 9 to 5!

after i headed over to therapy for broadway sessions because marty thomas was one of the guests and joey was there... and he had a friend josh with him that was just fabulous, and eventually mike showed up. it was an interesting evening with "great" musical trivia... like i would know who the original Boq was... i could care less about wicked, lol! Marty sang his mashup of Single Ladies by Beyonce and Dont Rain On My Parade... and his one man Omigod You Guys from legally blonde. both complete with dancing and spectacular lighting. twas late so i went home.

Day 245/365 (April 20, 2009)

Today i paid lots of bills, and finally finished cleaning my room. i also had to puppy proof it since tucker can now get over all my well crafted blockades and that meant moving the cat food once again to on top of my heater. he also had more accidents on the floor, so there was alot of cleaning but he seems to be doing it right again which is nice!

I then cleaned all the dishes and stuff and just worked on organizing my life!

eventually i finished my cheese soup which was still as yum as ever and if you cant tell one of my favorite things to eat! there was lots of tv watching, and cleaning up after tucker, but we are making progress!

eventually i headed, in the pouring rain, to see the broadway beauty pageant. it was really quite a fun awesome thing! The host was Tovah Feldshuh and let me tell you she is absolutely hylerical! the judges were charles busch, beth leavel, seth rudetsky, and ana gasteyer. each one added such an amusing unique touch to the night!

the contestants were just um wow! i'll talk about each of them... but it in general the pageant went like this Opening number (which was cute and done by all the contestants), talent competition, interview, swim wear competition, then past winners performed, then marty thomas performed. in between there was voting and speeches.

Tony James (Mr. Lion King) did a stunning modern dance with a partner and he moved so beautifully and gracefully (and his partner) and made perfect lines and movements, what i rememeber from his interview was that he has been in TLK for about 9 years on and off. His swim wear (which he made himself) was done to i just cant wait to be king and he had a lion king towel to start off with.

James Brown III (Mr. Little Mermaid) also did an incredible modern dance with a partner. Once again i just cant get over the agility and gracefulness and control had over his (well their) bodies. his partner looked like he could be his twin. Sadly right now i dont remember anything from his interview, herumph! His swim wear was done to kiss the girl and he totally played to the audience and judges!

David Larsen (Mr. Billy Elliot, the first ever straight contestant in 3 years) oh his talent! he gave a brief synopsis of BE and a little story from the rehearsal process. He said this inspired the song and he wrote it and gave it to his cast on opening night (thankfully not the young ones) it was an original song about margaret Thatcher that had quite the catchy scandalous chorus! His interview caused him to recite the pledge of allegiance in the accent used in BE and he said his happiest moment ever was marrying his wife... awwweeee! His was the best swim wear! he came out in coal minor garb, complete with head light. then he cued the lights off took the stuff off and when the lights came on he had "super short shorts" that had a sparkly union jack on the front and a star on the back. (I dont know BE music so i dont know what song it was)

Adam Fleming (Mr. Wicked) he sang a song and danced with 4 girls that they choreographed. It was super fun and really got the energy of the crowd up! he was dr. feel good or something like that. yay for him dancing so well! What i remember from the interview was that he got his equity card when he got hairspray and wicked is his 2nd broadway show. His swim wear involved green and he came out with "green elixir" and pretended to be drunk while stumbling... his song started with have yourself a little drink my.... then turned into popular for a hot second.

Anthony Hollock (Mr. Hair) wow! is talent he came out dressed as a girl playing the trumpet (fame) then started singing... pushed away the band, took over playing/singing a song at the piano, freaked out... had band play again while he sang some more, had some crazy flips, and was just over the top amazing! his interview he spoke about how freeing it was to do the nudity in hair and it was his first broadway show and how he wasnt equity or anything when he waited for hours at an EPA and was able to be seen that got called back, and got the part and said it can happen. For the swim wear he started out with an american flag wrapped around and i was so afraid he was going to be nude... but thankfully he was not and i think his song was hair.

Then after they left there was some a performance by the previous two winners Frankie James Grande and Marty Thomas (with some help, one of which was Jacob Ben Widmar... spelling?) It was a cowboy themed number that included some tap dancing and a very glittery chest. It was funny and had lovely singing too. Then there was some filler time that got us a 42nd street tap dance from Beth Leavel because she still remembered it and did it in crazy high heels! Then Marty came back out in a super snazzy sparkly coat and sand a beautiful rendition of i will always love you that i regret not taking a video of! (seth was nodding in what i can assume excitement at him sounding so great.) then he had to do some filler while all the votes were being tallied. (which by the way you could have your vote counted as double or triple if you attached a ten or twenty to your ballot... you could buy this election!) this resulted in him sharing his i beat britney story and he sang the song he sang on star search with some very dramatic stage direction and narration... loved it!

then they announced the winner who was Mr. Hair! (well irst the runner up mr. little mermaid (i think) who raised the most money online) and marty sang a song while he was crowned... it was just a really awesome way to raise money for a really great organization! i am so going next year!

i also noticed my last post had a bolded paragraph and i was having technical difficulties trying to fix it... i failed! i also ate a TON of celery left over from when i made the soup... i love crunching celery so much!

Links:

http://www3.timeoutny.com/newyork/upstaged/2009/04/photo-gallery-broadway-beauty-pageant/

http://www.popnography.com/2009/04/a-trip-down-memory-lane-at-the-mr-broadway-pageant.html

Day 169/365 (February 3, 2009)

This was the poster inside the York Theatre for Zanna Don't. It was a concert version of the show to raise money for the terrific organization called GLSEN. Although it said Marty Thomas was Mr. Broadway 2008 which technically he is but they arent supposed to use that name because of a copyright issue and seeing it on the poster made me laugh.

I was excited to see this for many reasons, including the fact i had wanted to see it so long ago when it first ran off broadway but never got around to it. After seeing this i really wished i had seen it back then. Everyone did such a great job in it and my favorite character was Candy. It was also nice to see Michael Kadin Craig do something non-altar boyz related and run into so many of my friends there. Mark, Michelle, Jo Ann, Shoshana, Kelly, Diane, Krysta, and Mary. Michael Urie was even there!

Highlights of the evening were them busting out into the Single Ladies dance thing, MT pulling out the Wicked Grimery and using it as the spell book and singing the no good deed allaga whatever, and the Xanadu choreography while singing Love Sleuth lyric, and Marty Thomas' spoof of the Patti LuPone/Gypsy freak out (

Day 153/365 (January 18, 2009)

The day was spent stage dooring the matinee of Spring Awakening on its final day, and meeting up with some friends: mary, Jo Ann, Mike. Then i went and helped people with the Avenue Q Lotto and went to have dinner with Krysta, Sasha, Matthew, and Nick was there too. Matthew was really sad that he wasnt seeing the final show and we tried to find him a ticket but failed.

Eventually we went to the the theater and i got bought him a ticket... 5th row orchestra and i am glad he was able to see the show.

My favorite part of the whole show was the encore of Totally Fucked and everyone just rocking out and singing along... best moment ever! I spent the first act in my favorite right box seat, and moved down to the empty seat next to Matthew for Act Two. I left in the middle of the speeches at the final curtain call because i had gotten word earlier in the day that Ravi was taking part in a concert of music last minute. It was by the composing team of Dabbon and Bruett. I had never heard of them but only went for Ravi. I was quite pleased Marty Thomas was on the list of singers as well when i got there. (ps i literally was seated just before it started). Their music was fantastic and funny and i highly recommend everyone to check them out!

It was all kinds of awesome to see Ravi sing a non- ABz song... boy can sing :D

Day 61/365 (October 18, 2008)

Everyone under the sun was going to The After Party (my usual friday night activity) for Hunter and Susan from [tos]. I wanted to go to Mostly Sondheim to see Marty sing. Not only am i proud of myself for going by myself... i am so happy i did because seriously the other hosts Kate Pazakis and Brian Nash are crazily talented and funny... i may have replaced The AFter Party... shhh!