One Day More

Tonight is closing night of Les Mis! So, last night I arrived at 6:15 for the orchestra dinner party (normally the call is 7:00) and there was no parking left in the cast/crew/orchestra lot. I was so annoyed! Apparently lots of the parking was reserved for VIPs, so I had to park in the dirt lot up the hill. (At least the parking attendant let me drop off my instrument first) Half the orchestra complained about having to do that. After the show, I had to lug my instrument up the hill to the parking lot and was out of breath by the time I got there. Plus I had dirt in my lungs from tires spraying dust all over the place. So, I finally got in my car and sat for 15 minutes until I finally found another way out cuz no one was moving. I left the premises at 11:08 (when I usually get home.) I was so mad (I had to do the same thing opening night, but this was worse.) So, anyway, as I was arriving for the dinner party (catered by Pat and Oscar's, which I couldn't eat cuz I had no appetite,) there was an announcement made to the people who were already at the theatre that there was no water pressure and therefore, the restrooms could not be used. Luckily, there were bathroom trailers brought in the week before because every performance was sold out and intermissions were lasting for 30 minutes. So, at least they had something. But the announcement was made that they were either going to try restoring the water pressure or bring in more trailers. (BTW, the staff had one restroom for us to use, so we weren't as worried.) So, a few minutes before the show, the guy in charge gets up on stage and tells everyone that the truck bringing in the extra units got a flat tire! We all just cracked up. He just said, "No, I am not joking." It was a hoot! Every night, there is an announcement before the show about turning off cell phones, keeping the aisles clear, etc. Part of it says "Moonlight is a smoke-free venue." Our music director turned to us and said it was a bathroom-free venue. We were all pretty giddy. So, we start the show as everyone is trying to get in their last opportunity to use the restroom. At intermission, the announcement was made that the water pressure had returned! We got the biggest cheer out of the audience. It turns out that the reason the water pressure was turned off was because a guy from the city spotted a leak or something and turned it off and decided to come back and restore it on Tuesday. The only problem was that he didn't tell anybody. But, it's a funny story now. So, I have good news. I have no more pain when I play! It's because I bought a new shoulder rest last Friday that curves around my shoulder instead of pushing it back. I am so happy! Also, we found out that we were in the paper! Articles are after the pictures.

This says it all

Here's where he's making the announcement about the flat tire (notice he's holding a water bottle)

Full house! (and my mic)

My view of the stage lights

Getting ready to play

At intermission

This is my view in the pit

The publishers sometimes put blank pages in music after rests so it's easier to turn the pages, rather than turning in the middle of a phrase or something. I think it's funny that they have to let you know it's a blank page (I guess so you don't think some music was left out or something)

And this is my favorite phrase-marking in the whole book

Here's the Union Tribune article

And the North County Times Article
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2008/08/13/entertainment/theater/z9b40732f51bdfc57882574a2005240ba.txt

Is there a message in the fact that the last show that will grace the Moonlight Amphitheatre stage before it's torn down in a few weeks is about the French student uprising? Not only is "Les Miserables" one of the most popular rock musicals, it's also a compelling story about what leads the average person to make choices in a changing world.

Or there could be no symbolism at all. Perhaps it's really all about ending the summer season with a rousing, crowd-pleasing show. Moonlight is the first regional theater in San Diego County to produce "Les Miserables," and it closes a shortened three-show summer season so that Vista can tear down the old Moonlight stage to build a state-of-the-art stagehouse in its place this winter.

Adding to the event's excitement is the actor Moonlight has brought in to play the musical's lead character, Jean Valjean. Danny Gurwin has several Broadway shows under his belt, including "Little Women," "Urinetown," "The Scarlet Pimpernel," "Kismet," "A Little Night Music" and "The Full Monty." He also recently completed a run in "Most Wanted" at the La Jolla Playhouse.

While the role of Valjean ---- a petty criminal who reforms but is still hunted by the law ---- is a dream for any musical theater actor, Gurwin said he was concerned about his age at first.

"I think of myself as being on the young side of the role," said Gurwin, who is now based in Los Angeles. "Valjean is 38 when the play begins, and that's around the age I am now. But then he ages 20 years or so during the play. So it's a big undertaking to play it with sincerity and believability. It's a balance that I'm trying to find in the character, because it's one of the greatest leading male roles written in the last 30 years."

When "Les Miserables" hit the American stage in 1985, it was an immediate hit, taking the sweeping, epic story of the French Revolution and distilling it to the lives of a few people so we see how such grand events affected them. The musical by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil is based on the 1862 novel by Victor Hugo. Well-known songs include "I Dreamed a Dream," "One Day More," "On My Own," "Castle on a Cloud," "Do You Hear the People Sing?" "Bring Him Home," "A Heart Full of Love" and "At the End of a Day."

According to Gurwin, director Steven Glaudini (who helmed Moonlight's award-winning production of "West Side Story" and "Children of Eden") sees the show as more than a musical.

"He's treating it like a play that happens to be sung-through," said Gurwin. "It's a wonderful, rich play with such huge moments. But when the individual moments are played, the more intimate and more personal the story becomes. It's a huge journey."

Gurwin has recently been on a journey himself. Originally from Detroit, he moved to New York City and conquered Broadway. Two years ago, he moved to Los Angeles with a similar goal in mind for TV.

"I've been going back to New York for concert work," he said. "This is one of the first musicals I've done since I moved to L.A. It's a challenge to dive back in with such a demanding role. It's a huge ensemble and one the strongest ensembles vocally that I've ever worked with. That makes it quite exciting to be a part of.

"The music is stirring, but when you listen to the lyrics and follow the story, it's a very theatrical story we're telling. Some of the themes are on our minds today, with the war and the loss of friends. It's also about love of family and what we're willing to do to save them. There's really something for everyone to connect to."

Happy Birthday, Dad!!

We celebrated Dad's birthday by going out to a late dinner at TGI Friday's (yes, after I started this post.) He got to go shopping at Kohl's to get a whole new wardrobe this morning and then at dinner, we gave him his favorite candy, toffee. Happy birthday, Dad!

The family (minus Jordan and Jared)

This gorilla was walking around the restaurant bugging people. Douglas was not thrilled.

And here's Douglas' dessert. It was huge!

Opening Night and Cast Party

Tonight we got a standing ovation after the show! I didn't have as much pain as last night, but 3 hours of playing is always exhausting. After the show, we had a cast party at Hennessey's Irish Pub. It was very loud and hard to talk to each other, but it was fun. They provided us with some great food, especially Irish nachos. Yum! I got home from the bar at 1:00 in the morning and just before I arrived home, Douglas called me and "got after me" for staying out late at a bar and leaving him home with the "babies" (referring to our pets.) He was proud of himself for coming up with that one.

So, I realized why I've been so tired and stressed lately. I have taught, rehearsed or performed (or a combination) every single day this month (with the exception of the first 2 Sundays.) I didn't realize that I've hardly had a day off since July. Sheesh!

This is what was left on everybody's chairs for opening night by Skylar ("little Cosette") - a bag of candy!

And here's the note attached to it (the other side of the French flag)

At the cast party with my friend Sarah, who plays adult Cosette

Les Mis rehearsals and preview

Tonight is opening night of Les Mis! Last night we had a dress rehearsal/preview, which was pretty much like a real show. The only thing that was different was the fact that they called it a dress rehearsal. It went really well and everyone loved it! The costumes, sets, lighting, acting, singing, playing, etc. all were really good, (especially the violas.) The music director, Elan and her husband, Mike (my stand partner) were celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary so we surprised them with a card, a bouquet of roses and a cake at intermission. Their family got them pins to wear that said 25th Anniversary. It's been an exhausting week so far. And we haven't even opened the show! Sunday, Monday and Tuesday were all full run-throughs with rehearsals beforehand. Last night's show brought me so much physical pain, I don't know how I managed. It was the most pain I have felt so far. Wednesday through Sunday this week will be real shows with no rehearsals beforehand, at least. Then I FINALLY get a day off. I haven't had a day off of Les Mis since last Friday. This is a very fun show, but it's physically and emotionally exhausting. Physically is obvious because there is so much playing and it's such a long show. Emotionally because it's a sad show and I keep feeling the emotions over and over. As much fun as I'm having, I don't think I want to repeat this show for a LONG time.

This is the scrim onstage

My view from the pit. I thought it was funny that they were half-dressed in costume.

I couldn't get the whole view of the cast posing so I had to take 3 pictures. Our awesome music director is 2nd from the left

Here is the right view

And here is as many of them as I could fit in the picture from the center view. The director is in between Marius and Cosette towards the right

Here is what we surprised Elan and Mike with. Sorry it's dark. The only camera I had on me was my phone. And this is WITH the flash.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We started out Mom's birthday by going to TGI Friday's at midnight. It's happy hour until 2am and appetizers are half off. So, Mom, Jordan, Douglas and I ordered 6 appetizers to share. We were stuffed! After going home and sleeping, we met at Souplantation for lunch. There were 18 of us (including babies and little ones.) Mom got a Willow Tree figurine from her friend Debbie, a Barnes and Nobles gift card from Grandma and Grandpa, money from Jordan and 2 Golden Spoon gift cards. Dad gave Mom a $47 gift card because she turned 47 and then Michelle handed Mom a gift card for $20 and said she looked 20. It was funny. Dad told us when he went to buy the gift card and asked for the amount to be $47, they looked at him funny and just asked, "Why?" Since we had forgotten to bring Mom her present to Souplantation, we brought it over to her later in the day. She asked for a mini hymnal so we got her a red one. :) She tried it out by having us all sing the first song in the hymnal - with 4-part harmony!

Appetizers at Fridays

At Souplantation. I managed to get everyone in the picture (some are just body parts, though)

Willow Tree figurine

Golden Spoon!

Since Mom is getting "old," she decided to try on "old lady" sunglasses

This doesn't have much to do with anything, but I like the picture. Mom is holding Chloe while Douglas is feeding her. Jenn is listening intently to the conversation and Anna is getting ready to pounce

Mom trying our her new hymnal

Les Mis, gigs, etc.

I started Les Mis rehearsals last Monday. Last night was the first rehearsal combined with the cast at Moonlight. It was neat! We pretty much ran the show with a few stops to get a feel for how it all works. It's long! Close to 3 hours with intermission and since it's an opera, it's constant music. It's one of the most difficult musicals to play. The notes themselves aren't too bad, but the counting and the constant meter changes combined with stamina and hardly any breaks make it difficult. This morning, we had another orchestra-only rehearsal to brush up on a few things before tech weekend (Sunday-Tuesday). BTW, this is going to be such a great show. Some of the days are already sold out, so get your tickets and come see me play!




After Les Mis rehearsal, I drove to La Jolla to have a quartet rehearsal for a wedding. Then we all carpooled to Point Loma where the wedding was held. This house was AMAZING! The backyard ended at the harbor. The wedding party drove up in a boat and walked up the pier instead of down the aisle. It was one of the neatest weddings I've ever seen. It was very windy, though, and our music kept blowing off the stands. I'm not sure why we forgot clothespins.

Yes, this is their backyard (or rather, backharbor)

I thought this was absolutely adorable. They put a garter around the dog and put it in the wedding party.

Me and Saki (2nd violin)

Me and Sophie (1st violin)

We were bored while waiting for the cellist to bring us the car so we decided to take pictures. :)

And here's all of us

You wasn't there!

My phone has been acting dumb lately. A couple months ago, it stopped taking and receiving calls. There would be no sound. So, I could only text. That was annoying. So, I took it in to the store and they replaced it. Transferred all the pictures, videos and contacts. I lost all texts, but that was all. No big deal. So, about a month later, the NEW phone started doing the same thing! Grrrr! Only this time, it would stop working for a few days and then work for a day. It would repeat this pattern for a couple weeks and then it just plain stopped. I could only text... AGAIN. So, I finally decided to take it back to the store to see if there was a glitch or something. They didn't know what the problem was, but they said they would replace it again. Phew! So, I asked them to transfer all the pictures and videos like last time. They took one look and said I had too many and it would take too long. They tried to sell me a memory card. I didn't want to buy one just to save those pictures. (I normally use pix place so I don't need a memory card any other time.) I told them that if I had known, I would have just sent all the pics to pix place. When I wouldn't back down (I was nice about it), they agreed to transfer everything. So, I sat and waited for an hour and a half while they transferred stuff. Sheesh! At least I got to keep everything (with the exception of texts.) I really hope this doesn't happen a 3rd time.



The Americans FINALLY dominated China in gymnastics and won gold AND silver in the individual all-arounds. Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson SO deserved this! I was ecstatic!



So, to celebrate, we went to Denny's at 1:30 in the morning. Douglas ordered off the late night menu, so his was tons cheaper than Jordan's burger... but also a lot smaller! It was funny.



Today is a special day. There is a scene in Oklahoma where Will and Ado Annie are discussing marriage. He has just earned $50 (the terms set by Annie's Pa.)

W: Now that I got the $50, you name the date.
A: August 15!
W: Why August 15?
A: Cuz that's the first day I was kissed.
W: Was it? I don't remember that.
A: You wasn't there!

So, we have a running joke in our family that we always say "You wasn't there!" in a thick southern accent on this day.



Since I didn't finish this post when I started it, I am finishing it after I got up. I didn't get to bed until 4 and was woken up 6 hours later by a telemarketer. *sigh*

International Youth Symphony concert - PLNU

The concert tonight was held at Point Loma Nazarene University in Crill Hall. It took me 50 minutes to get there (including 10 minutes driving around campus trying to find the hall.) On the way back, it only took 45 minutes. Meaning it took 5 minutes to drive from the entrance of the university to the concert hall. Crazy! We started out with a sound check from 6 to 7 and then hung out backstage before the concert started at 8. A bunch of us played cards in between the rehearsal and concert. We played Crazy Rummy and then Christophe taught us a German game (I don't remember what it was called) that was really fun. The concert itself went really well. We played better than last night. This will probably be the concert they use for the cd (we are always recorded during the concerts and have cds made.) The only problem was that Omar (violist who sat behind me) lost the grip on his bow and it hit his instrument during a REALLY quiet part where it is pizzicato (plucking the string.) He got a nice glare from the director. (At least he didn't drop it on the floor.) Since I didn't see it, I asked Omar afterwards what happened and he said, "Excuse me for dropping my bow, but I wasn't the only one." He was referring to Natan. It was funny! During intermission, we all gathered around the piano in the warm-up room while a couple people played some modern pop music and we all sang along. It was fun! After the concert, we said our goodbyes (boy, that was hard.) There are a few more activites going on this week after the concert, but I can't go to any of them because of Les Mis rehearsals. :( So, I had to say goodbye to everyone after the concert. The European and South American ways of saying goodbye differ from ours. We just hug, but they kiss first. Some are just one kiss and some are two. It was interesting getting kissed by 3 Venezuelan guys. All in all, these past 2 weeks were the greatest! I learned so much and gained a lot of friendships. I am gonna miss everyone SOOO much. But, at least I know that next time I visit Europe, I will have a place to stay in Belgium, Poland, Germany, Holland, etc. I seriously think I will travel there someday and visit everyone. I am so glad I got to participate in this summer program. I have many wonderful memories of hard work and good times. Hopefully, they'll invite me back next year. :)

This is the view from Point Loma Nazarene University. Beautiful!

Backstage warming up for the concert

Willie, Daniel, Magda (twirling the bow), Christophe and Lauren

Lauren posing with the quartet. They were so much fun to pose with.

Marjan playing her oboe

Marie-Luise playing her flute

And the three of us together

Gathered around the piano while Kevin and Andy serenaded us (sorry it's blurry)

Marie-Luise played the piano while Michael and Gaeton watched

After the concert, the boys showed off their Venezuela jackets

I know this is terribly blurry, but I love this picture. We asked them to act mad, so they did.