I took this one during a break.  It’s my favorite of the bunch!

This guy isn’t terribly colorful, but he’s beautiful, isn’t he?

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Late one Friday night back in June, I drove up to New Jersey and stayed with my friend Pam who owns a hot tub and serves good wine.  We hadn’t seen each other in a year – and the time before that, we hadn’t seen each other in 25 years.  Facebook is a great thing! But I digress.

Saturday morning we took the train in to New York and caught a matinee of A Little Night Music.  I had never seen Angela Lansbury live and I was damned if this opportunity was going to pass me by.  Catherine Zeta-Jones was a delightful bonus.  And don’t hate on her because of the Tony Awards – I don’t know what that was about, but she was lovely in the show.

Michael Cole (aka Boyfriend) drove in from Mahopac to have dinner with us and I was thrilled out of my mind to see him!  We recreated the final pose of one of the dance numbers from our 1991 production of Dames at Sea.  Some things will always amuse us!

After dinner, Pam and I walked over to the Booth Theatre (which is one of my favorites) to see Alice Ripley and Brian d’Arcy James in Next to Normal.  OH MY GOD!!!!  It was brilliantly devastating! And Alice Ripley was off-the-charts amazing!  I was so high excited as I left the theatre that I forgot to take pictures.  It wasn’t until we were almost back to Penn Station that I remembered I was carrying a camera.  So I took this.

I’ll be back in New York at the end of this month.  Hopefully it won’t take me so long to blog about it next time!

According to Swift Creek Mill Theatre’s website, records indicate that Swift Creek Mill was in existence as early as 1663, and is believed to be the oldest grist mill in this country.  On May 9th and 10th, 1864, a battle was fought around the mill when General B.F. Butler’s Army of the James attempted to cross Swift Creek.  Good thing they weren’t attempting to do that in the winter.  Look how the ice is still covering the branches in the falls.

The water level of Swift Creek has gotten way above this marker many times.  The Granite Room, which is the lower dining room in the restaurant, has been completely under water on several occasions.  The most famous story of water in the Mill was when the show Two By Two, a musical about Noah and the Ark, lost its closing night due to the flood in theatre.

If Swift Creek Mill’s food isn’t your thing (and it’s not mine), Wagstaff’s Steak House is right on the other side of the creek.
(But take the bridge. The water is cold and rough!)

So come on down and see Pete ‘n’ Keely.  And while you’re there, take a look around.  You’ll be glad you did!

There went our opening.  A producer’s nightmare!  On a personal note, I thought “fine with me!”  I generally don’t enjoy the big opening night thing.  I barely know the show at that point, and the fact that the critics (and so many of my friends) are in the house usually makes me want to throw up.  However, I’ve got to say it was pretty strange to just…  go home.  No opening night party? No celebratory drinks?  Kinda sad.

Fast forward to last night.  Remember how we hardly knew the show last week?  Well now we’ve been away from it for six days.  Thank God our small, but lively audience didn’t mind.  They seemed to be having quite a good time!

And today – more snow.  And more cancellations. When did I move to New England?

It could be worse.  It could be Mulan.  They’re only scheduled to play three weekends and they’re losing two.  That’s gotta hurt! At least we’ve got until mid-March.  Russell and I are bound to hit our stride long before then!