Dancing Penguins

I  have spent the last few days making a bunch of these little cuties for a fun event I'm participating in this month.  I'll have more info about that very soon.

While I was sewing them I was reminded of one of my favorite scenes from Mary Poppins.

Wouldn't it be fun if the penguin plushies could dance like that, too? :-)

Music Monday - Jonathan Larson

It's no secret if you know me that I love musicals...and that my very favorite musical is Rent.  Since Rent is open again off Broadway (I wish I could go!) Broadwayworld.com wrote a piece about Jonathan Larson and Rent in celebration of its return.  The best part of it is that they posted recordings of Jonathan and other artists singing his beautiful songs. 

These are just a few.  To see them all (and you should) you can find the article here.

Let's start with Jonathan singing One Song Glory from Rent.  This is one of my favorite songs from the show. 

This is the recording from the original cast recording.

Here is Jonathan singing La Vie Boheme.

And the original cast again.

It's interesting to hear the things that ended up changing in the final product.

Okay, I'm off to watch Rent and make some plushies for Atown!   I hope you enjoyed my little geek out music monday!  :-)

It's a Magic Number

Happy Sunday, Everybody! today is day three of my four day weekend and Rent Day number three! I'm going to see Rent at Zachary Scott Theatre for the third and final time today.  I'm a very lucky girl.  :-)

Why three times?  Well, it is my favorite show EVER!  But also because...Three is a magic number!  ;-) 

I just really wanted a reason to post this song today.  I love Schoolhouse Rock!  This is my favorite one!

Three is a Magic Number

I started working on my first Christmas craft projects yesterday.  I'm so excited!  I'm hoping to post some of them this week.  I'll be back tomorrow for Music Monday!

Have a wonderful day!  :-)

I Heart Stop Motion - Lost Things

Today was my last work day of the week.  I get a four day weekend!  My sister is in town for a few days visiting from Denver so I took Friday and Monday off work.  It is much needed.  It's been a crazy couple of weeks for me.  I am ready for a break.  Well, it's going to be a busy weekend but it will be very nice to not have to go to work for a few days.  I'm hoping to sneak in some crafty time.  I'm seriously missing it right now. 

The best part of my weekend is that I get to go see Rent one last time at Zachary Scott Theatre!  I'm so excited!!!  It's a little bitter sweet.  I'm so happy I get to see the show again, but a little bummed it's the last time.  I'm a nerd!  :-)

Anyway,  I thought it would be nice to share a little stop motion wonderfulness with you before the busy weekend starts. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lost Things

Written & Directed by Angela Kohler
Starring: Alison Sudol
Music: Sleepwalking by A Fine Frenzy

Lost Things from angelaandithyle on Vimeo.

I love Alison Sudol's voice.  Her music is very lovely.  I love the part of the film where the black circle turns into a hole and goes through it.  It makes me think a little bit about Alice in Wonderland falling down the hole when she follows the White Rabbit.  I think my favorite part is when her hair turns into a tree.  I'm not sure why.  I just thought it looked really cool!

Okay, off to spend time with the family.  See you tomorrow.  I'm posting my 365 project...on time!  ;-)

Food Face & Happy Friday

Happy Friday!  What a week it's been.  I am exhausted!  I haven't really worked on any craft projects because I've been so tired.  :(


The good news is this weekend is going to be awesome!!!  I have tons of project ideas that I want to try out and I'm going to attempt to start working on some plushies my friend ordered for Christmas gifts.  But that's not even the best part of the weekend!  It's going to be a total musical weekend.  My mom and I have Season Tickets for the Broadway Across America shows so we are going to see Shrek on Saturday.  That should be an interesting show.  :-)  Then, Sunday is the big day!!  I'm going to see Rent again.  Have I mentioned that I'm super excited??  Hee hee!

Tonight I'm having dinner with my mom and then we are going to visit her friend who had surgery this week so my 365 Project post will be postponed until Saturday again this week.  Not to worry.  I'm hoping to have a project to share with you on Sunday and possibly one more some time during the week.  I came up with a couple of simple things I wanted to try out.  I'm working on small crafts for when I open up shop next year.  :-) 

I'm also here because I wanted to show you what I found this week and MUST own!  These are the cutest plates I have ever seen!  I would love to have at least one of Mr. Food Face and one of Ms. Food Face.  It would be cool to have two of each so I would have a whole set, but they are expensive.  So, for now I will dream about having one of each.  One of these days I will convince myself that it's totally worth the money and go for it.  Until then, I will just admire the awesome pictures online.

Look!

Ms. Food Face

Mr. Food Face

{source}

Have a great day!  I'll see you tomorrow with my pictures!  :-)

Coffee Break - Rent

Welcome to this week's Coffee Break!  This one is going to be a little bit different.

Some of you who read my blog already know that I love Rent!  It's my favorite musical!  Well, it's playing at Zachary Scott Theatre here in Austin and I am in heaven.  I saw it with my mom in October and I'm seeing it with my friend Velma this Sunday.  Then...I get to see it again with my sister next Sunday when she's visiting from Denver.  That's three times!!  It's like my dream come true! 

I have been a fan of this musical since it opened on Broadway years ago.  Since I don't live in New York I had to settle for listening to the soundtrack over and over and over for years until I finally got to see the touring cast in Austin.  It was magical!  Even better than I thought it would be.  The second time I saw it was when Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal toured during the final year.  This made me very happy.  I'm a big fan of Anthony Rapp and it all kind of started with Rent.

I love seeing the show at Zach because they cast is filled with amazing local actors, singers and artists.  Austin is such an amazing town.  I think this story fits well here.  I wasn't too sure how well it would go staging such a big show in small theatre, but they succeeded and exceded my expectations.  It was beautiful!

Rent is based on the opera La Boheme and the story was adapted to fit modern times and themes with a rock and roll background.  Jonathan Larson left us too early.  Can you imagine what other masterpieces we would have been blessed with had he lived longer?

I've read a lot about Rent and Jonathan Larson over the years.  As I was reading the Zach blog's information on the show I found these notes that Jonathan wrote when he was coming up with the concept for the show.  Who better to tell you about the show than Jonathan himself?  :-)

Love = Art = Disease = Pain = Life

Humanness

'Otherness'

In our desensitized society, the artists, the bohemians, poor, discarded, “others”, recovering addicts– all are more in touch with their human-ness than the so called mainstream.

despite everything– humanness,

Love,

Life,

Art

Survives.

Okay, thanks for stopping by.  I hope you liked my coffee break.  Time to go have a great day.  Remember to enjoy every moment of it.  :-)

No day but today!

{all pictures and music are from the Zach production of Rent.  Go see it!}

Happy Glee Day

Today is the season premiere of Glee!  I'm so excited! 

Last time I wrote about Glee I talked about some of the many things I loved about Glee.  Today, in honor of the premiere of season two I thought it would be fun to talk about some of my favorite musical guest stars from season one.  Season one was a musical theater nerd's dream come true.  Some of my favorite people were on the show.

Kristin Chenoweth

I first learned about Kristin when she was in the revival of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.  She played Sally Brown and she was magnificent!  Some of her other more famous roles have been Glinda in Wicked and most recently Promises, Promises.

Idina Menzel

I have been a fan of Idina Menzel since her Rent days.  Her voice in Wicked gives me chills.  I don't even have words to describe her talent.  She is amazing!

Neil Patrick Harris

Oh, Neil.  What do I say about Neil?  He can do no wrong.  We have all known him for years.  He has worked in musical theater on broadway, but one of my favorite Neil projects is (of course) Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog!  Did you know that he directed Rent recently, too?  Makes me love him even more!

Jonathan Groff

I know Jonathan Groff from Spring Awakening.  I love that show!  It was so original and the original cast was such a talented group!  He worked with Lea Michele in that show.  He also worked with one of my favorites, John Gallagher, Jr.!

 

Mike O'Malley

Okay, I know he's not a musical theater guy and he's not technically a guest star.  He's more like a regular cast member.  But Mike O'Malley deserves a moment for being so great on this show.  His scenes with Kurt are some of the best parts of the series. 

I think I'm ready for the show now!  :-)

Have a very happy Glee Day!!!

You're Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile

I'm so excited!  I'm going to see Annie at the Zilker Park Hillside Theater tonight!!

I love Annie!  It was one of my favorite movies when I was a kid.  I remember singing along even when I was really young.  I had never seen the stage show until a couple of years ago when my mom and I went to see it at Bass Concert Hall.  It was great!  I'm so excited to see it again...and it's FREE!!! 

This is the last weekend for the season, so if you live in or around Austin (and can stand the heat), head out to Zilker Park and enjoy a great show under the stars.  It's always fun.  HOT, but fun!

This is one of my favorite songs from the movie.

Tomorrow I'm taking a class at B&B Quilting in Buda.  We're learning how to make a Christmas stocking.  Hopefully I will finish it soon so I can show it to you.  :-)

Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend?

I'll be back tomorrow with my 365 post.

Have a lovely Friday.

And remember...

KEEP SMILING!!!

Spotlight on In The Heights

In The Heights is a musical about a community struggling with keeping it's traditions alive while also remaining current with today's society.  It's about a group of people living in Washington Heights.  They all have their own dreams to fulfill but they have to do this while remembering where home really is. 

Here's a little sneak peek!

Lin-Manuel Miranda is the genius behind this amazing show.  He started writing it when he was in college at Wesleyan University and with a little help from his friends Thomas Kail (director), Andy Blankenbuehler (choreography), Alex Lacamoire (music director) and Quiara Alegría Hudes (book) he turned this show into one of the most innovative musicals to come out in a long time.  I was not surprised at all when it won the Tony award for Best Musical in 2008.

A little more Awesomeness

The music in this show is so fantastic!  It is a mixture of hip hop, latin and old school show tuney goodness.  There's something for every kind of music lover.  The first time I heard a song from this show I was hooked!  It's the perfect marriage between musical styles.  Miranda knows how to do it!  He stayed true to his roots while also taking chances and trying new things.  To him there are no rules. 

Oh, and I haven't even mentioned the great dacing in this show.  So great!!!

It makes you want to dance, doesn't it?

I have wanted to see this show from the start.  And today I finally got that chance.  The touring cast is playing at Bass Concert Hall in Austin this weekend for the Broadway Across America Tour.  My mom and I have season tickets and I've been counting down the season waiting for this one.  I absolutely loved Sabrina Sloan as Vanessa!!!  She was on American Idol.  The show was even better than I hoped it would be.  I have had this connection with the music from the start but seeing it live just made it that much more amazing.  I really loved it!!

I wish I could have seen it in New York with the original cast because they are so spectacular but this is almost as good.  The original cast had some amazing talents that I love including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Chris Jackson, Karen Olivo, Robin de Jesus and Mandy Gonzalez.  They became those characters for me.  But it's not about the actors.  It's about the story and the story lived up to every hope I had for it.  If you ever get a chance to see this show I recommend that you do.  Lin-Manuel Miranda has an amazing career ahead of him.  I can't wait to see what else he comes up with.

While writing this post today I found out that they are making In The Heights into a movie! I'm so excited!!! Lin-Manuel Miranda will star in the movie!! I can't wait!!! I think it comes out next year so I will keep you posted.


Bonus Material: Lin-Manuel Miranda and Chris Jackson are in a hip hop comedy group called Freestyle Love Supreme together.

Here's a story about them