Birmingham, Michigan

Downtown Birmingham is a treasure: shopping that caters to everyone tastes—everything from locally made crafts, antiques, Mom & Pop restaurants, to pricey boutiques and handmade toys; downtown Birmingham has a thriving Public Library over-looking a beautiful local park that hosts a festival of twinkly lights in the winter, massive carnival in the spring (complete with giant Ferris Wheel with views of the whole town), and live concerts in the summer complete with bake sales, dancing, picnics and full-out patriotism and general community magic). And, because it is so easy to walk to the main strip almost anywhere in town, there is nothing like watching the tweenagers congregate on the streets outside the movie theatres trying to pretend they aren't waiting for their parents to pick them up around the corner... (that was obviously once me…wasn’t it also you? Didn’t I see you there…?)
There are so many beautiful nooks and crannies in this seemingly sleepy, Wonder-Years-y suburban town complete with wide American streets peppered with Labradors, slip-n-slides and children on bicycles. There is a buzzy downtown with two cinemas, boutique-y shopping, and utterly glorious places to eat for every budget.


But part of the peculiarity of metro-Detroit is that no single neighborhood is like another and they are all too nebulously nuzzled and inter-mingled up against one another to know where one begins and another ends. It is, of course, a driving city too, so as a kid you are stuck riding your bike to downtown Birmingham (scores of 12-year-olds wander the streets outside the cinemas at weekends) and as a teenager you are suddenly in a car and 40 miles away within 15 minutes on the giant American highways with nothing particularly important to do. Something about that dilemma feels charmingly typical to American suburbs— having been the plight of youth from the 60s until now.

Birmingham is 4.8 square miles, 12.4 square kilometers, 2 High Schools, 17 churches. 3 post offices. 1 train station. 3 golf courses. 2 cinemas. 4 seasons. 1 river. 1 annual Spring carnival. And 20,000 really nice Midwestern people and probably 1000 assholes. Give or take.

detroit from the air

The sun sets over the downtown and from the hill you see the kids riding off homeward bound, the teens driving down Woodward Avenue with a new taste for freedom.
Sleepy shops.
Families at home.
Swim meets.
Football games.
School plays.
Snow.
Birth.
Daily Life.
Love.
Death.
Repeat.
No, this isn’t a Thorton Wilder play.
This is Birmingham, Michigan, and it is more than merely a town in which I grew up.

*

Sure, Birmingham has its drawbacks.

Like any small, Midwestern town it can be small-minded, frustratingly provincial, gossipy, and even snobby, full to bursting with self-importance and incestuous jerkwater politics, but that comes with the small-town territory.

Some of the youngsters are so pampered and privileged that they lack drive altogether.
Example:

    Michigan Stoner Kid 1: Hey, wanna get stoned, then get a Slurpee and drive to the 24-hour Meijer?
    Michigan Stoner Kid 2: Do I!

These poor privileged losers spend their youths (and often, a great deal of their adult lives) stuck in an ambition-less, grey rut suffering from what I like to call A-ffluenza.

heaven.

Some more driven, visionary, or even just plain scrappy kids stare at the horizons beyond the country club golf courses, the endless miles of highway, or from the rooftops of downtown parking garages, and achingly itch to leave.
Some do.
Some do not.
But no matter where any of those youngsters end up, you would be hard pressed to find any one of them who wouldn’t agree that Birmingham was a great place to have been from.


For truly, no one could prepare you for an entire childhood spent walking along the banks of Quarton Lake; making tree forts in the spring, picking berries for pie in the summer, and, of course, ice skating in the winter.

Or trip after trip to Mills Pharmacy on Maple Road across from the both First Presbyterian and First Methodist, and next door to the First Lutheran Church, where we used to buy as much candy as possible for a single dollar (Individually wrapped Swedish Fish and Sour Patch Kids were only 5¢. Candy bars 50¢. Laffy Taffy. Pixie Sticks... Magic.) from the charming bearded man behind the old-fashioned candy counter so like the one in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory you practically expect the charming bearded-man behind it to burst into song at any moment.

Or little local quirks like a street named (I need everyone to just breathe): Big Beaver Road. Believe it. And the I-75 Highway Exit onto Big Beaver Road? That would be Exit 69.
(I’ll give you a moment)
Believe that too—you can’t make stuff like it up.

Or the majesty of The Woodward Dream Cruise, a classic car event held annually on the third Saturday of August that spans all the way from Pontiac to the State Fair Grounds inside the Detroit City limits, just south of 8 Mile Road. During the post-war era, people would "cruise" in their cars along Woodward, from drive-in to drive-in, often looking for friends who were also out for a drive, perhaps seeking an opportunity for a chance to "burn rubber" in a quick getaway from a newly green traffic light. (Today, the Woodward Dream Cruise is the world’s largest one-day automotive event, drawing 1.5 million people and 40,000 classic cars each year from around the globe. You can see muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special interest vehicles dating across several decades. The majority of the cars on display are those that were prevalent during the 1950s, 60s and early 70s.)

Or, the joy of a visit to Dairy Deluxe, the classic Birmingham summer hangout that goes by many unofficial titles (among them, the "Twirly Dip," "Double D," to name but a few). Dairy Deluxe in reality is really nothing more than a hut with a giant, neon-lined ice cream cone sign atop it. But truthfully, it is much, much more. The same people have been running Dairy Deluxe for nearly twenty years and they still write down your order by hand on bits of paper, count your change out with their minds and make your order themselves, handing it to you through a teeny tiny window box on the corner of Woodward and 14 Mile Road. (A Snickers flurry is a summer classic. Or make it extra Detroit-y by getting a sundae with Sander’s Hot Fudge— un-be-lievable.  Also, you absolutely know you are in Michigan because Dairy Deluxe is closed from November through March.)

Or, fueled by the twinkling of taillights, and the ever-changing weather, the indescribable sense of purity that filled you as you drove down Woodward at midnight with a friend like Justin Bodary, where many a meaningful, formative conversation was accompanied by a plethora of his favorite classic film soundtracks.


Beyond Birmingham's borders lies the Detroit suburbs of Royal Oak, Dearborn, Berkley, Warren, and Bloomfield Hills among many others... all of which have their very own personalities and some very impressive features— such as Berkley's old fashioned drive-in A&W burger joint where they bring the food to your car on roller-skates. Or (one of the most elaborate and elegant shopping malls in the world) The Somerset Collection in Troy? Or Royal Oak's Yippie-ville (“Yippies” are a term I coined that describes the Royal Oakers perfectly— I perfect blend of Yuppie chic mixed with Hippie values. You know? Yippies…) delights which include the very best rubber stamp store, raging goth scene, community theatre, and (crucially) milkshake in town. Plus Greektown, a plethora of 7-11s, classic cars galore, lake culture, millinery shops and above all, quality people.

And it is of course the people of Metro-Detroit that I miss the most. My neighbors on good ol' Fairway Drive— we all used to get together for actual summer picnics and barbeques, we drank sangria in our backyards those summer nights, then walk along the River Rouge that flowed behind our houses.
We gathered together at Thanksgiving.
The childless German couple down the street threw an Oktoberfest gathering that included beer and an actual appearance of lederhosen.
Tom and Sal moved into the corner house by the river bridge with their beloved dog Riley after the elderly woman passed away in 1997. They were the first gay couple on the street and the Silbers rejoiced.
Bill across the street with his beautiful baritone voice and a love of classic radio, with his wife Pat and their flurry of offspring on the kitty-corner.
The sometimes surly Dick with his gentle wife Anne from directly across the street; Anne was our beautiful Southern Belle who watched the phones while we all trudged off to the funeral home declaring in her Virginia drawl as we left “why it would be my absolute pleasure y’all, your father once kissed me on the cheek in thanks and I blushed because he was so handsome.”
The aloof couple [left] next door with their pack of adopted greyhounds.
The almost frighteningly bright Augestein quartet [right] next door with whom we shared so many wonderful dinners.
And The Kuhnes; who lived around the sharp curve of the street and had two gorgeous daughters we all watched grow. They moved away in the late-90s, but we never lost touch because we would continue to check in, laugh, and meet for dinner in our very own Downtown Birmingham...

All of this begs the question: What exactly is a "home?" What makes our hearts cry out for both the crushing and the familiar, what makes us yearn when far away, fills our minds with exponential memories and fuels us when faced with every adversity life presents us?

I don't know the answers.
But I do know this: Though I was among the youths with eyes scratching at the sky, chest positively pounding with a charging sense of purpose that lay beyond the borders of our town; somehow, however reluctantly, and in some cloak-and-dagger, stealthy manner, Birmingham, Michigan became my home.

 Home is a name, a word, it is a strong one; stronger than magician ever spoke, or spirit ever answered to, in the strongest conjuration.
                                                              - Charles Dickens

I've Been...

Broadway-Midwestern a trois!

JANUARY

- Evita Opening Night-ing with Jill Paice and Elizabeth Stanley

- Throwing (so many!) parties at The Winter Palace

- ...and really feeling the bliss of welcoming people into my home, a pleasure I have never previously indulged in. 
     Winter Palace gatherings such as
a proper Robert Burns Night (with real life Scottish friends visiting from across the globe),

FEBRUARY

- DIY (building a closet, frames, bathroom, bookshelves)

- serious quality time with Mama Silbs

- recovering from pneumonia

- Love Loss and What I Wore -ing

- seeing Macbeth at The Met!

MARCH

- watching a lifetime supply of MURDER, SHE WROTE

- Healing

- debuting my latest cabaret offering, "Ex Libris" at Feinstein's

- auditioning my FACE off

- Writing (finishing a very important project...)

- driving to the Berkshires (twice!)

Seeing some *amazing* performances:
- The Further Adventures of Hedda Gabler
- Carnegie Hall (Mavericks, Stravinsky)
- Merrily We Roll Along

SHOWMANCE! The To-and-Fro-mance: Max & Elizabeth

At rise…

An audition downtown for Olive Garden. Hundreds of young attractive people are there for the complex characters of Waiter and Patron.  Among them: Max von Essen (of Broadway’s Les Miserables, Dance of the Vampires and currently playing Magaldi in Evita) and Elizabeth Stanley (of Broadway’s Company, Cry Baby, Million Dollar Quartet and recently of Encores’ Merrily We Roll Along). 

They know of one another and have many mutual friends, but up until this moment, they have never met. 

     “I flipped for her performances in Company and Cry Baby” reports Max, “so I already had a talent crush on her.”
Elizabeth concurs, “Max was this legendary hottie to me for years before we actually met.” Says the girl who is affectionately known by those who love her as ‘El Stans,’ “Ahh... Google images. Thank you.” 

Here is an imaginary conversation I made up to illustrate this meeting:

     “Would you like some more bread-sticks?”

     “No thank you.”

Neither books the job. 

     “I assure you it was some of our best work” says Max. 

And THAT is how the magic began. 

TA DAAA! 

[: : …Crickets… : :]

WAIT. That is technically, how it began, but try THIS on for size:

Max and Elizabeth REALLY made magic happen when they were cast opposite one another in the National (and Japan) tour of Xanadu. Lights, camera, roller skates…

Now THAT is how the magic REALLY began. 

TA DAAAA!

[: * :  Fireworks! : * :]

"OMG PLAYBILL?!!"

Because although the theatre can bring you together like nothing else, just like Jack Kerouac taught us, that there is no bonding like the bonding you get busy doing ON THE ROAD. Seeing one another looking disgusting and un-showered at the Des Moines airport at 5am to catch a quick flight to Dallas? Pure glamor. Bonding in lonely hotel rooms in Indianapolis because you don’t know anyone else in town?  What a fairy tale. And seeing the world together during the day while you kick ass and take names on stages all across the country at night? Well—no actually, that is pretty amazing. These two not only lead the road company, they roller skated right into one anothers’ hearts. 

I bring you: 

TO-AND-FRO-MANCE - The pals that met on tour. 

(Because let’s face it: “UNLIMITED-SOUP-SALAD-AND-BREAD-STICKS-MANCE”… well, it…look, it just sounds a little clunky…)

*

I got to know Max and Elizabeth when we all worked together in Michael John LaChuisa’s Hello Again at The Transport Group last year Off Broadway with Max and Elizabeth playing opposite one another once again as The Soldier and The Nurse. Hello Again was one of those productions where the cast had no choice but to [achem again] “get close,” and so we promptly did (and continue to engage in epic email chains, as well as disgusting reunions for such occasions as “The Twelfth of May” and to see the Muppet movie…all together…at midnight…). 

Speaking of Muppets, when I asked them who would play them in the movie of their friendship, Elizabeth responded first, 

     “Well... I enjoyed when we were cast as Muppets...” 

The Nurse & The Soldier

Because that’s right—the company cast Hello Again… with Muppets…
“I [The Soldier] would be played by Animal and she [The Nurse] would be played by Janice” Max chimed in. 

But Elizabeth related it to each of them as well, 

     “Janice is calm, but can also be a bit, well, kooky, and Animal is also tame until he cuts loose and then... watch out!!!”
Well said El Stans. We shall watch out. 
     “If we were to be cast as ‘real’ people” she continued “I'd vote for Magnum PI, Tom Selick to play me (because I've loved mustaches for quite some time), and I would want it to be a movie musical feautring Max’s soprano,” (which is AMAZING for those of you who haven't heard) “…so...  Shirley Jones?  Tom should be called ‘Stans’ and Shirley can be called ‘Maxi.’”

     “Um” Max insists, “if it was a movie musical, WE'D PLAY OURSELVES!” 

I am certain we can all heartily agree. 

"TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!"

When I asked both of them what their friendship’s motto would be they both responded almost in unison with "Do What You Can." 

     “That's just a little phrase I used to say to Max before each performance of Xanadu.” Elizabeth is known far and wide for her bone-dry, razor-sharp wit, and here is Exhibit A. Max clarifies, 

     “She started saying that to me in the wings of every theater we worked in on tour. I'd be in my teeny short shorts, head-band and tank top gearing up to play Sonny Malone, and she'd calmly walk over to me, pat me on the back and dryly say ‘Do what you can…’ It stuck.” 

     “But in truth I think it could be a bit of a motto!” Elizabeth insists, “we bonded early on over a mutual human respect for honoring what one CAN do.”

     “To get back at her, I'd often give her notes while she was making quick changes.  She'd literally have 30 seconds off stage to make a change, and I'd run up to her and say ‘Hey Stans, you're doing great, but I want you to make two quick adjustments...’ Good times.”

Max and Elizabeth’s bond on and off stage moved and intrigued me as I got to know them throughout Hello Again, and our friendships have continued to grow. There is something special about these two. They are passionate artists and speak with great knowledge and agency about their lives, their work, and their world. 

     “I've fallen in love with Max's kindness and tenderness” she continues “I felt early on in our friendship that Max would be a ‘lifer,’ but this past year there were some tough times for both of us. I knew when I was able to cry in front of Max, he was here to stay.” 

     Max agreed, the relationship deepened this past year, off and on stage, “I often think of our experience together in Hello Again in 2011,” he says, “My character had to literally unravel and [Elizabeth] was forced to be extremely vulnerable,” he continues, “—it was difficult to see the hurt in her eyes during the rehearsal process and through the run of the show. I was proud of us both for being so fearless…”

     “I think we first bonded over a strong work ethic,” says Elizabeth, “I appreciated that he was always so committed to being his best. I really admire that quality in anyone.” 

But also? They laugh. They weep with laughter. 

     “I can't imagine my life without his wHit!” she exclaims. 

On tour they were “exploring partners,” seeking out what each new city had to offer, “We'd wake up on our day off, grab breakfast and our guide books, and get on the subway or some bus to somewhere” Max says,  “I loved when we were exploring one night in Seattle and passed a coffee shop called ‘Uncle Elizabeth's.’ Well you can be sure the mustache came out.” Back in NYC they still love to explore,  “We’ll grab coffee or a meal and a glass (or glasses) of wine and catch up.”  

     “—And at some point sharing Max's favorite, M&M's” Elizabeth adds. 

     “No matter what, though,” says Max, “it never seems like enough time.”

Like I said— something special. 

Evidence: 

I need you to take a look at this photograph. 

 Wanna know how this photograph began? We were DONE taking the photographs. The shoot was complete. Suddenly El Stans makes her way over to Max’s piano and says 

     “Hey Max, wanna play a little something together?”

     “Sure” Max replied, smiling at the thought.

     “Do you have the Pathétique?”

[—Record scratch—]

Um, I’m sorry: THE PATHÉTIQUE? As in Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 8 in C minor, Op. 13, commonly known as Sonata Pathétique?! I thought we were doing a Playbill photo-shoot that literally five minutes ago included false mustaches on Max’s bed and now we’re playing Beethoven on some sort of casual whim?! Where am I—Manhattan School of Music? What is this— the CURTIS INSTITUTE?! I thought I needed a camera and witty banter for this article—my kingdom for a piano degree. 

     “When I first met Elizabeth, I knew I'd met a young, beautiful, kind and extremely talented woman. What I didn't  know was that I had met someone who would become one of the greatest friends I'd ever have. Yes she's beautiful, yes she's talented, but to me she's just Stans, my treasured friend.”

Incidentally? Max just did happen to have the Pathétique.  

And then what happened? 

They mutually agreed, without discussion, THROUGH SOME FORM OF FRIGHTENING TELEKINESIS, to assign the right hand to Max, the left to Elizabeth… 

“Do what you can…” went their mutual inner monologues. 

AND THEN THEY PLAYED IT. 

Really, really well. 

SHOWMANCE! The "Soro"-mance: Summer & Sierra

The Broadway community is no stranger to siblings residing together on the Great White Way—The Fosters, Gummers, Marshalls, Keenan-Bolgers and of course the legendary Booths of yore come to mind, to name but a few. But we all know sisterhood is an extra-special bond (and no, in this particular instance, I am not speaking of singing nuns). 

The point is, there is nothing like growing up side-by-side; sharing your dreams, ambitions and no doubt a community theatre stage (or five) together, and then seeing those dreams become a reality. 

But unlike the siblings mentioned above, the Boggess sisters had differing art forms and artistic ambitions (Summer as a cellist and Sierra as a performer)—but they just happened to land in the same destination. 

Ladies and Gentleman, 

The SoRo-mance.

And what a sister act it is (…loooook…I realize I just made that nun comment and… well, I don’t wanna get sued… so…forgive?) 

[Sound Cue:  “Sisters”—Irving Berlin’s White Christmas feather-fan spectacular…]

*

Play on!

Growing up in Denver, Colorado, Summer and Sierra Boggess were the eldest of a set of three sisters, all born two years closer apart. All closer than close; best friends and favorite playmates. 

Their first memories are of growing up re-enacting their favorite movie, Disney's Sword In The Stone. Summer played Merlin and Sierra, Madam Mim.

     “We had a small plastic inflatable pool in our backyard and we would have wizard's duels,” they cackle, “We’d stand back to back, count off, and march in place, trying to knock the other over into the pool.”

They also made up countless imaginative worlds. 

     “And they were really involved,” Summer, the eldest of the Boggess sisters, reports, “I was ‘Lucy’ and Sierra was ‘Sophie’ and they were best friends… who were also microscopic.” 

[. . . : ::—tumble weed—:: : . . .]

Um. Why, you ask? 

     “Why not!” They respond. 

     “We could go into great detail, believe me there's a lot of detail, but that's another article.” Sierra laughs flashing her signature glittering smile.

     “Or a musical,” Summer chimes in, doing a dead-pan take to her sister.

Well… 

Someone call Douglas Carter-Beane. 

Summer, Sierra and their younger sister Allegra, all began playing piano at the age of four, and then went on to selecting the musical instruments they wanted to play for their elementary school band.  As they grew, their exceptional musical abilities became apparent, and they began playing together. 

     “We would play trios in church, and for a few weddings” Sierra explains, “Summer on cello, me on the flute, and Allegra on oboe and sometimes piano— Allegra was definitely the ‘family pianist’” Sierra smiles. 

Also, the two eldest ‘Sisters Boggess,’ like any self-respecting Coloradan, engaged in winter sports.  

[Cue: a classic Goofy®-style cartoon theme song]

Thumbs up Sierra!

     “We ice skated!” says Summer, “The first ten years of our lives was spent ice skating, in competitions. We woke up at 5 am to be at the rink before school. The whole thing.”

But Musical Theatre quickly became Sierra’s primary passion.  “Summer loved and breezed through her academics, but just like a lot of people, High School was hard for me! But getting to school so I could go to Band, Orchestra, Drama and Choir? Those classes all saved me! Before long musical theatre became my world, and I knew I had to study in in college and become a professional.” But what of the flute? “Oh I still continued to play the flute! Though it is more of a hobby.” 

I mean… my hobbies are binging on crime drama on my DVR…but, no, flute is cool too. 

As for Summer, she went off to college at University of Colorado without a crystal clear path. 

     “But I had an amazing cello teacher there named Judith Glyde who opened my eyes to being a professional.” Summer switched her major to Cello Performance and soon she was spending ten hours a day in a practice room, and went on to get her Masters from Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Summer

When asked what made her take the Broadway route, Summer responds (and beautifully I might add), 

     “Well, of curse we all grew up watching musicals! But in college I always volunteered to play for every musical or opera— I loved working and collaborating with singers on vocal repertoire so much. I love how expressive they have the capacity to be, and I like supporting them. As a collaborative musician you have to be so aware and tuned in to a vocalist’s slightest variations in breath or expression—they always do a different show every night! Also, I have so much respect for the fact that a singer cannot hide behind an instrument. Their voice is who they are. It take so much courage. I consider it to be the ultimate expression.”

All three Boggess sisters have all gone into different areas of the music world, but they all began with, and majored in, music.  Allegra now teaches piano and oboe in economically disadvantaged areas of the world. 

     “That is another huge part of who we are.” Summer continues “All of us are passionate about using music to empower young people.”

All three Boggess sisters support ASTEP (Artists Striving to End Poverty)— founded by Broadway’s Mary Mitchell Campbell.

     “I recently returned from visiting Allegra in Afghanistan,” says Summer, “Allegra works there full time and I was visiting to teach and play concerts at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music. And we often spend parts of our summer at the Shanti Bhavan school in India. Sierra is always working but she sings on every album and at every concert!”

     “We’re so fortunate that each path has allowed us to be able to work together,” Sierra adds.

     “It was always the three of us—” Summer concurs, “playing music together.” 

But being part of the Broadway community together is an ultimate dream come true. One almost can’t imagine a more perfect living metaphor for the way each sister views and cherishes the other. 

     “I have always admired Sierra's courage to make her own path.  Growing up, I'd always watch her climb a tree or go over a bridge first and if she didn't fall I'd be brave enough to try it myself.”

     “When I was singing in The Little Mermaid” Sierra says, “It felt incredible knowing that Summer was in the orchestra pit playing her cello. Whenever she subbed for Mermaid I would listen for her solo cello-lines and it made for such an amazing performance…” Sierra stops a moment, then adds, thoughtfully,  “I trust Summer with my life. I know she always has my back.”

"...for there is no friend like a sister..." - Christina Rossetti

* * *

Summer is currently playing in the Broadway orchestra of Porgy and Bess at the Richard Rodgers Theatre

Sierra is currently playing in Love, Loss and What I Wore until March 25^th at The Westside Theatre and can be seen on the DVD and Blue-Ray recording of The Phantom of the Opera 25^th Anniversary concert at The Royal Albert Hall, starring as Christine Daaé. 

I've Been...

MIA.

Sorry folks.

Owls I Love: A List

Disney owls of note

1. Archimedes
As seen pictured [right], Disney owls of note include A.A Milne's very own "Owl" of Winnie the Pooh fame, Professor Owl (a school teacher from two classic cartoons Melody and Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom), Big Mama the owl (from The Fox and the Hound), the "hoo" owl from Sleeping Beauty that Aurora famously dresses up as Prince Charming.
But PEOPLE: there is a number one owl in my heart. No list of favo(u)rite owls could begin, or be complete without Archimedes (brilliantly voiced by Junius Matthews )-- Merlin's grumpy owl who bears the name of the famous mathematician in Disney's 1963 animated film The Sword and The Stone based on the story of the same name by T. H. White chronicling the educational adventures of the wizard Merlin, and a young boy named Arthur and how he became King of Camelot.

Oh Archimedes, how you huff and fluff and puff. And how we love you when you laugh to the point of near death.You are my favo(u)rite owl of them all, and that, my wise old peevish friend, is saying something...

2. The "Lovely" Owls
Particularly the massage owl...'Nuff said.


3. Hedwig
Harry Potter's snowy companion, how could we ever leave Hedwig, with her very own theme song, off this list?
Hagrid bought Hedwig as a birthday present for Harry when they went to Diagon Alley together. Harry decided on her name after finding it in A History of Magic. Before attending his first year at Hogwarts, Harry routinely stayed in his bedroom with Hedwig, away from the Dursleys, since she was the only living creature in the house that did not hate him. Throughout her life, Hedwig provided Harry with mail service, as well as loyal companionship. Hedwig often showed Harry her affection by gently nibbling his ears and fingers, and seemed fully capable of understanding his wishes (as she faithfully followed Harry's orders to peck Ron and Hermione until they responded to him).


4. My Owl Barn - a blog. Check it out. I could go broke on this blog. Thank goodness for discipline.

5. The Tootsie Pop Owl

A kid approaches Mr. Owl and casually inquires,
     "Mr. Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"
     "Let's see, one, two, three..." then he crunches into it and eats the whole things, handing the stick back to the kid, "THREE."

Dear Tootsie Pop Owl,
You are not helpful. You are, in fact, snarky. Plus, you stole the kid's Tootsie Pop just to sarcastically prove a point. But Sir? That was good work. Your sarcasm, on this particular occasion was welcome because the kid's question was a little bit frivolous and though his latent curiosity was adorable in it's naivete, you appear to be wearing a scholar's hat which would indicate that you have far more important questions of the Universe to contemplate. Good luck with that.

Love, Al

PS) 249. The answer is roughly 249. 

6. Night Owls
Circadian rhythms are a very real thing, people, a very real thing.

Anne Fadiman, Hunter S. Thompson, James Joyce, Elvis Presley and Robert Louis Stevenson who famously said 'there is a romance about all those who are abroad in the black hours...' Night owls. Like me. Like 1 out of every 7 people.


The End.

SHOWMANCE! The "BoCo"-mance: Nikka & Nick

Normal.

Picture this:

Two drop-dead gorgeous dancers climbing all over each other like spider monkeys talking at the same time. High-pitched squealing, lots of collapsed-over giggling “that makes other people on the street look at us like we should be committed,” the girl says, “Which maybe we should. Do they do musicals in psych wards or just plays?” Suddenly, the boy begins to sing “Snikka Lanzarone Snikka Lanzarone” to the tune of “Gary, Indiana” from The Music Man. 

These two have now greeted one another.

--Scene.--

No. No this is not the set of Desperate Housewives. 

Nor is it a dormant memory from your weird dream last night. 

It is not a party at Elton John’s house.

This is Nikka Lanzarone and Nick Adams, greeting one another in an everyday fashion. 

     “And then there were two…” Nick replies when asked for the name of this indie-short, and I would tell you which theme song should start playing as the camera pans out, but Nikka insists this might be a rather complicated matter.

     “Here's how this would go: we would try to discuss having a theme song, but I wouldn't want any Britney, and Nick wouldn't want any Wilco, so talks would stall after three hours and we would get a cocktail instead.”

Fabulous. 

*

...clearly up to NO good...

      “It was in 2001 at The Boston Conservatory,” Nikka reports when I ask about their origin story.

     “Capezionik@aol.com!” says Nick, “We chatted online (with my mothers dial up Internet) before we were Freshman and I knew then we would be in kahoots. “

So. Because this super-stretchy pair’s friendship blossomed at The Boston Conservatory, (aka “BoCo”) I bring you:

BoCo-MANCE.

[: : Jazz hands : :]

Now, everyone knows that college has the potential to be a veritable wilderness of insecurity, so it is always handy to have a companion. Nick and Nikka were matched instantly (the Lewis to each others’ Clarke, the Bill to each others’ Ted…if you will…and you will…) in and out of class,

     “We were always paired together, since we were The Dancers, Nikka reports. But their Bostonian duet wasn’t always fun and games (or jazz hands and high kicking).  “It also brought a lot of personal struggles and hurtles” says Nick concurs, continuing, “Nikka and I knew we had a very special bond early on in college.” 

In fact, it was those particular struggles that helped to define the friendship further. 

     “I think the two dancers doing Shakespeare together our senior year of college truly defined our friendship,” says Nikka. “We didn't mean to wind up in this super-serious acting class, but it was the only one we could take that allowed us time to take ballet with the dance majors!” Quite.  “It was WAY outside both of our comfort zones, but we knew we had to rally if we were going to do this in real life.  That was the moment I knew that we were truly in this together, and that we would support each other forever.”

But what makes this College-to-Broadway friendship extra special?

     “I can be myself with Nikka” Nick chimes, “I can be intellectual and silly all in the same conversation. She's that kind of girl…” Thinking further he adds, “She also inspires me with her incomparable fashion sense! Girl can put a look together.”  

Word Nick. Word. 

Super high-fashion Nikka Does. Not. Mess. Around. with the clothes. 

But in all seriousness he adds, 

     “Nikka is the definition of unique. She's smart, beautiful, talented. I can always count on Nikka for a polarizing opinion and she has the ability to read my mind.”

     And it is not just the love, but the admiration that is mutual for Nikka, “Nick's tenacity, drive, and spirit is one of the most amazing things I've seen in action. He's gotten to the level he's at and has kept the pure love for what he does intact—that is incredibly inspirational.”

So much joy comes from watching your friends grow into themselves—to find their path, to soar and achieve their dreams. From where I stand, it appears Nick and Nikka inspired one another to become the inspiring adults entertaining the Broadway community today. The last two years have had the extraordinary pleasure of watching one another catch their respective “great white whales.”

     “Watching her make that legendary entrance for ‘All That Jazz’ as Velma Kelly in Chicago on Broadway...” Reflects Nick,  “[with] tears streamed down my face and my hands clutched my heart…I'll never forget that.”

You can tell: this is what knowing someone from the very beginning is all about.

     “There is nothing like watching one of your best friends in the world get entrance applause while starring in a Broadway show—” Nikka adds, “—it's such a magical moment, especially thinking back to all the late nights in college, dreaming of what our adult lives would be like. I cried watching him in Priscilla.”

When I asked them (separately!) how they might spend a day off together, I got these twin-like responses that I shall now share with you in TABLE form to further illustrate the point:

NICK	NIKKA
Eat.  Take class at Steps.  Buy clothes.  Watch movies.  Talk trash.  Drink wine.	Eat (where we'd argue uptown or downtown, but Five Napkin would probably win) Dance class (we haven't done that together in awhile).  Shop.   Rinse. Repeat.

* * *

Nick is currently playing Adam/Felicia in the Broadway production of Pricilla, Queen of the Desert at the Palace Theatre

www.nickadams.biz
twitter: @TheNickAdams

Nikka is currently playing Florinda in Into the Woods at Baltimore Centerstage through April 15, and at the Westport Country Playhouse from May 1-26. For tickets to the respective engagements, please visit Baltimore Centerstage and Westport Country Playhouse online. 
nikka-graff-lanzarone.com
twitter: @nikkalanz
showgirlgodzilla.tumblr.com

Quiet

Dear Blog-o-sphere,

I am so sorry to have been a bit quiet recently.
I needed the quiet.
Very much.

Isn't it interesting that in January we are inundated with television, internet and radio advertisements shoving pro-active, energetic new beginnings upon us? Buy this skincare line! Get in shape! Try this diet! That diet! Don't eat carbs! Don't eat meat! Don't eat anything! Find love! Find your ancestors! DO IT NOW!!!

I didn't want to "do it now," I wanted to sit alone in my house and be with myself (and at most, with Jessica Fletcher)... in the quiet.

I needed to think about my life, about life in general. About relationships with others and with myself. I needed to de-fragment the internal computer. Though the work was silent, I worked so hard, and multi-tasked so ferociously, that I made myself sick-- at the height of my internal re-organization I caught walking pneunmonia and was forced to go even deeper in.

Slowly, I am emerging. Slowly, I feel a very heavy veil lifting. But the work is arduous, and frustratingly time-consuming. Depleting.

I will come home from a day of actor-ing and tell myself to do something simple--
     "Boil the water" I say to myself. Out loud, like a crazy person, I respond,
     "Boil water? What am I, a chemist?!"
And I go to Plan B. [Please note: Plan B usually includes a can of black beans...don't you judge me!!]

All of this is to say the following: I have been getting to know myself again, and that didn't leave a great deal of space for sharing myself with others. But I value sharing life, and I value you, dear readers, and I apologize for leaving you so unceremoniously.
I have returned.

*

The other night I attended a concert at Carnegie Hall with Comrade Baker-- a marvelous evening of music which concluded with a performance of Stravinsky's The Firebird delivered by the St. Louis Symphony (passionately conducted by their own David Robertson).

I didn't just cry; I wept. I actually wept, and had to wait for everyone to leave the hall before I could get up and exit myself.

I know this is on the nose, I know that it sounds prosaic to say so, I know that--But music really does have the power to transform. Like winter into spring--the cold earth has not died, it has merely been resting, waiting to be shaken and invigorated by the tilting of the earth ever-closer to the sun. 

Welcome back, spring.
And Al.

Please: watch and hear the whole of this "mythical story of Life, Death and Renewal.".
You won't be sorry.