Reason # 2,498,736 that I love living in New York? Sometimes, even when I can't afford to go to an event that I really want to see, some generous friends offer me a chance to see a rehearsal. That happened yesterday.I spent a glorious afternoon yesterday in Carnegie Hall, reveling in the beauty of the lyrics and music of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. As a rule, I try not to mention real names in my blog (I don't know why), but Lynn & Steve are so kind, generous and out-of-the-ordinary wonderful, I can't resist giving them a shout-out.
When I met Steve, many years ago now, I happened to mention to him my experience of seeing Once on This Island. A friend was in from out of town and he wanted to see all the new musicals that were playing. We had seen a not-so-great musical early in the week, then, one night, we picked up tickets to a show we knew nothing about. It was Once on This Island. And I believe I've mentioned before that I think this musical is practically perfect. It's just a jewel, with nothing extraneous, just joy and beauty and the magic of theater. My friend and I LOVED it, and immediately bought tickets to see it again the next night.
Steve loved that story and remembered it, I guess, because when the reunion concert of Once on This Island was done in 2001, Steve asked me if I was going. I told him I wanted to, but couldn't afford it. He said he'd see what he could do, maybe I could go to a rehearsal, which would've been exciting enough. When he told me he got me a ticket to the matinee performance, I was so grateful. I figured I'd be sitting in the last row, but I didn't care. No. Steve got me a ticket to SIT WITH HIM. I was sitting with the creators and the friends and family of this wonderful show. Needless to say, I was crying before the show even started. And I kept crying for the rest of the day. It was one of the most moving and thrilling afternoons I've ever experienced in the theater. I'll never forget Steve's generosity. And many times over the years, both Lynn and Steve have been so wonderful to me, I can't even list the examples. I'm proud to know them.
When the New York Pops announced they were going to celebrate Lynn & Steve, I was so excited and happy for them, and disappointed that I couldn't really afford to go. But, again, the generous natures of these two wonderful people took over, and they put me on the list to watch yesterday's rehearsal. It was gorgeous. I find Lynn & Steve's work to be so personal and moving. I truly love all of their shows. Even hearing the singers do these songs out-of-context, in a rehearsal format, was enough to get me to tear up repeatedly. Here's a rundown of what I saw: the New York Pops did a bit of a Ragtime orchestral suite; Liz Callaway reprised her beautiful rendition of "Journey to the Past" from the animated film Anastasia; Andrew Rannells (who I'd never seen before since I haven't seen Book of Mormon) did a lovely and understated "Love Who You Love" from A Man of No Importance; Nikki James (also from Book of Mormon) did the adorable and heartbreaking "Times Like This" from Lucky Stiff; Brian d'Arcy James did "I Was Here" from The Glorious Ones - this is such a stunningly beautiful song and it moves me every time; Norm Lewis (oh.my.god.I.love.him) and Nikki James did "Wheels of a Dream" from Ragtime - I believe Norm was singing just to me (that's my story and I'm sticking to it); Rachel York did a sizzling "Speaking French" from Lucky Stiff; 
Jason Danieley beautifully performed "Streets of Dublin" from A Man of No Importance - why isn't he a huge star????; Marin Mazzie did "Back to Before" from Ragtime - she did it THREE TIMES and thrilled me each time; Jason and Marin did a heartbreaking "Our Children" from Ragtime; LaChanze was stunning singing "Human Heart" from Once on This Island; Tiler Peck (from New York City Ballet) and Boyd Gaines did a number from Lynn and Steve's new show, Little Dancer (it was lovely and I cannot wait to see the show); Kecia Lewis-Evans did "Mama Will Provide" from Once on This Island; then Kevin Chamberlin and a young boy whose name escapes me did an amazing and heartbreaking (I cried each time they did it) "Alone in the Universe" from Seussical. Unfortunately, I missed Rebecca Luker's rehearsal of a piece from Legacy. I love her voice so much, it kills me that I missed it. But it was a special day and I'm so grateful I was able to experience it, thanks to the generous spirits of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. I didn't want to take advantage, so I didn't take any pictures of anyone's rehearsing, but I did take one shot of the curtain call rehearsal, figuring I would've taken this shot if I had been at the actual concert last night... 
Last night, I trekked downtown to see a reading of short plays by a dear friend and colleague. All I'll say is that I enjoyed myself a great deal, it's always lovely seeing things at the Cherry Lane (even though it was so bloody hot in there I was afraid I was going to stroke out), and I was bummed that the Milk 'N Cookies store was closed when we left. I love the neighborhood of the Cherry Lane... With regards to the Tony nominations, I was THRILLED that Venus in Fur got a Best Play nom! I was so afraid it would be forgotten in the "how can we possibly remember what opened last fall when 143 plays opened last week?" mentality of the Tony nominating committee. I was also very happy to see that two of my rather off-the-wall suggestions from yesterday were picked up: Michael Cumpsty and Condola Rashad. Yay, me. I'm so smart. ;) In the "what the what??" department: Ron Raines nominated over Raul Esparza? Really? That's probably my biggest WTF thing. I was surprised that Alan Rickman was passed over for Seminar - I didn't love the play, but he made it an enjoyable evening. Laura Osnes got a nom over Bernadette Peters or Elena Roger? Interesting. After all the pre-show mishegos, I was rather surprised at Diane Paulus' nomination for best director for Porgy and Bess; I was very happy that Peter Kaczorowski's sublime lighting for Road to Mecca was remembered; Spider-Man got two noms - huh, imagine that; and did you see Emilio Sosa from "Project Runway" fame is up for best costumes?? Interesting. Should be a fascinating six weeks until the awards ceremony...
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