Into The Woods Review

Ok, so here it is. The shameless, "I'm an actor playing a dream role", pretentious post.
I am in the middle of a production of Into the Woods at Red Branch Theatre. Into the Woods (by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine) is the story of a Baker and his wife who desperately want a child but the witch next door has cursed them. To break the spell, they must travel into the woods in search of 4 items that are all too familiar in the storybook world....a white cow, a red cape, hair as yellow as corn and a slipper as pure as gold. To get these items they meet up with all too familiar characters as well but here is where things get interesting. This is where the stories take little twists from the originals. Cinderella's Prince while charming is not terribly sincere or loyal, and Little Red Riding Hood is not as sweet as we think. Once we get to the second act, we get to see what happens after happily ever after and the choices and repercussions of in life.
Anyhoo, this show is filled with incredible music and amazing roles, specifically for women. I have ALWAYS wanted to do this show. And I have always wanted to play either the Witch or the Baker's Wife.
I am currently playing one of my all time dream roles with an amazing cast, The Baker's Wife. The role is complex, scary, inspirational and just wonderful. It is a role that hits close to home sometimes and frankly, after playing it, I can now say, as cheesy as it sounds, that it is a role that I was meant to play.
NOW, I have friends who have played this role, and were incredible! I am not saying that I am better than anyone else. This is a role that becomes very personal to the actress. I am simply saying that it fits and I am proud and at the same time humbled that I get to do it.
The point of this post? The following review. I am so thrilled and surprised and excited that my (along with others) acting was noted and the fact that I "get" Sondheim. It is a huge compliment and I wanted to share it with you...oh blog reader.
So here is it...I know it's a bit self absorbed to put my review on my blog but hey, that's what it's for!


"In the show’s most complex and (not coincidentally) sympathetic roles, director Male casts three Red Branch veterans—Janelle Broderick, David Frankenberger, Jr., and Sara Cobb—and each gives a stellar performance. Broderick is a resourceful Cinderella as well as a lovely one, self-possessed and not at all sure she wants to marry a prince. In their scenes together as the unnamed baker and wife, Frankenberger and Cobb chart the whole course of a marriage, as support gives way to resentment, passion flirts with boredom, and the commonplace details of everyday living distract from the wonder of love.

Though the cast is filled with excellent singers, what sets these three apart is their ability to locate the many beats, large and small, in Sondheim’s score, to frame each thought as the melodic line carries it to them."

Read more: http://baltimore.broadwayworld.com/article/INTO_THE_WOODS_Worth_the_Journey_20110327#ixzz1IEUGy1Zf

Spring has sprung...well sort of. The last 2 days have been gorgeous and frankly, I can't go back. I had forgotten how to be warm! Last night while walking the dog, we needed nothing more than a fleece on!
This is the type of weather I hate, the in between. I am aware of how fickle mother nature can be and that quite possibly by tomorrow morning we could be covered in snow. But for today I am sitting in my living room with the sliding door open with a long sleeved tee on...and I can't go back. The dog is laying out on the porch! I need it to get no colder than 50 degrees from here on out.
Yes...I know it's February. But come on! Please! We have all been covered in snow and dirt and gray for far too long. We need a little sunshine...WARM sunshine. I need to sit on my porch again. I need to drive with the windows down again! I want to wear sandals!
That is all for now, Spring. But we will chat again.

Hey guys...I think we're getting old.

So...a lot of things lately have made me feel old. Not necessarily in a bad way...just older.
For example, yesterday a co worker of mine reminded me of the Challenger anniversary and explained how shocked she was when she watched footage because you see, she wasn't alive when it happened. I then, had to explain that I watched it too...the real thing, when it was happening...cause I was 9.
Aaaannnnd then there are my friends who are turning 30 and how it's such a big milestone and how they are not looking forward to it.
I get it. It is a milestone for sure!...that I passed...4 years ago.(dear god I'm almost 35!)
But really it's the daily things. It's driving home and listening to talk radio or classical music.
It's standing in the grocery store and putting prunes into my cart (not because I need them but because apparently they are good for you).
It's reading the backs of food items trying to calculate the saturated fat and the cholesterol.
It's being ok with a very quiet weekend at home with coffee and a good book.

I'm not saying that these things make you "old" or that we don't whoop it up...oh, we whoop! It's just little changes in habits that make me feel...what? Mature? Grown up? I don't know.
I have been saying that this is our year. 2011, baby! I will be more organized, more positive and I will make the things I want to happen happen!
But to do all those things...you have to grow up a little. Which kinda sucks.
The fact that I am a mere 390 ish days away from my mid thirties is scary, not gonna lie. At this age you have to start talking about scary things and start making scary decisions not the least of which is how to get more fiber and less saturated fat in your diet!
I'm not at senior citizen status yet (although the discounts would be nice) but I am also not 22 anymore (thank god!).
I am stuck somewhere in between. And somewhere in between has car payments and prunes and Cheerios. But it also has incredible relationships, hard work (in that good way) and a bizarre feeling of understanding that I have a lot more to learn.

This weekend my incredible husband decided to surprise me for our anniversary. Our actual anniversary was on Wednesday but with the holiday we decided to save anything big for Saturday. After much misdirection and a reeeeaaallly long car ride, we arrived at the first of a couple destinations.
Long (wonderful, romantic) story short, he took me to some local Maryland vineyards where we spent the day with wine, cheese and merriment.
But it was at the second vineyard where I saw "the parents I would like to be".
We stepped into the second vineyard and immediately knew we would be staying for a bit. Fireplace, extensive olive and cheese menu, beautiful artwork...the cheese menu. So when we were heading up to the tasting area and were told that the tour was just beginning we decided 'why not?'
The tour began right outside the front doors...now, let me preface this by saying that I was born and raised in Mn and lived for years in Chicago...but for Maryland, it was cold!I would say it was 35-40 degrees but the wind! Whoo!
So we started right outside the doors and continued up into the actual vineyard to see the dormant vines. Now if you haven't ever walked through a vineyard before let me say that it is not exactly easy terrain. First you're walking uphill. Second, you're walking through areas that have been hoed or whatever for the coming season. It's rocky, bumpy and not at all made for say, a stroller, no matter how off road it can go!
So there's this couple on the tour with us. First of all, the fact that they brought their mini me to a wine tasting at all earns my respect. Second, they just went with it. The owner of the winery kept checking on them as we trudged up the hill and they were just fine the whole way. They picked up that all terrain baby buggy and lugged it up the hill like nothing, baby wrapped up and all! And they kept going as we went down the hill across the property and into the barrel room. And when the babe got a little fussy, dad picked him up and was like "Hey little dude, look at all the cool wine shit"! It was awesome.
Yes, I realized that there were other factors involved. It was a pretty laid back tour, the baby was incredibly well behaved considering he was maybe 6 months and for all I know they could have tasted already and let the little buggar join them in one or two.
My point is though, I hope that I have the patience, relaxed nature and sense of humor that these parents have. Having a child did not keep them from doing the things they loved no matter how much of a hassle it seems to just bring the kid along. In a day and age where it seems to take an hour and a half just to get a kid strapped into a carseat it was nice to see that this did not deter them.
That is the parent I want to be.

Tis the season.

Starbucks Red Cups. Aaaahh... Now I know the holidays are here. I can put up my tree and I don't have to fight my year round pumpkin spice addiction.
My husband hates Starbucks, he hates everything it represents. I have tried to join him for many reasons. Money, the price keeps going up and I swear their cups get smaller. There are a lot of local coffee shops that I would prefer to support. Money...do you know how much a frickin latte is?
But the moment I spot the red cups I am taken in, to another time and place. Really, don't laugh.
For some reason I am standing outside a Chicago church waiting to get in for rehearsal, drinking a Gingerbread latte....in a red cup.
While I hate the corporate scheme-yness, I can't help but admit that I am suckered in every year. To me, those red cups are a celebration. It's a small pleasure that helps remind me that my favorite time of year is just around the corner.
While I will admit that I am bit disappointed in this year's red/white snowy scene (there's a little too much white for me) I still walk in on my once a week trips (I try and keep it to a minimum if I can help it) and spot those red cups and my head starts swimming. How many days til Thanksgiving? Christmas? 2011 is gonna rock.

So I am gonna try something a little different with this blog. It dawned on me today that I blog a lot about the little things in life. In fact, that is typically what inspires a blog out of me, something little happens and I notice it and think "Shit, this could make a cool blog!".
So what I want to try and do is make that the theme of this blog. Now don't get me wrong, there will be days I need to bitch about the state of the world and the idiots that live in it and really at that point you need to just get out of my way and let me go. But in this crappy world where people can't be who they wanna be or love who they wanna love. Where the scariest movies are the ones that could actually happen and where people are torn apart by needless, judgemental bullshit. I need a little bit of the little things in my life....so here goes...again.
Booze. Let's talk about booze. Now, I'm a drinker, not afraid to say it. My husband's a drinker. My dog has been known to lick a little champagne out of my glass. We don't get hammered and puke everywhere...we just like our cocktails.
It took me a long time to figure out what I like to drink. I am convinced most people who drink spend the majority of their 20's figuring out "their drink". Here's how my journey went..
I spent my underage years trying to impress boys by drinking the cheap beer they brought to parties. I didn't figure out that beer could actually taste good until I was about 27.
Once I could legally order a drink I was over beer and wanted something that "tasted good"...Amaretto Sours". Oh the years I spent drinking amaretto sours, the thought makes me shudder.
There was that summer where all I drank was Cafe Zinfandel...if you don't know, don't ask.
Then I started really honing.
I liked wine, I knew that. I liked champagne (you couldn't grow up in my family and not). I ordered a martini once to be cool. Martinis are a funny thing. I mean, come on, it's just vodka (or gin). I think people who can drink a straight up martini are badass. Most folks I know like to mess with them a little...add some cranberry here, a little chocolate there. Me? Put all the olive juice you can find in it. I like them dirty. Not because it sounds cool but really, I love salt!
As I age I really do pick and choose what I want to drink. I only drink dark beers for the most part. Dry red wine, crisp white. And the occasional cocktail which changes like my hair color.
For a long time it was Jack and coke and then Jack and diet coke, the dirty martini of course and last summer was the "skinny girl margarita" which is essentially tequila.
Lately though it's been bourbon. Maker's Mark (or the cheaper Early Times) Mint Julep bourbon. It's smooth, a little sweet and just plain fabulous.
So Sara, what about this blog screams "the little things in life"? Let me tell you.
Today, this rainy yucky day, after cleaning, working and cooking, I decided to do a little something for me. I ran a bath and poured a fucking bourbon.
That's right! I took a late afternoon bath with a big old bourbon. And I loved it.

Ok, so, Ty and I both work with kids....I mean really work with kids. Ty teaches 5 days a week at a Special Needs school and once a week spends his evenings with a speech therapy group.
My schedule on the other hand is a little more erratic as my classes go in sessions. I have weeks where I am only directing kids once or twice a week to tech weeks where I will have one class and go straight into a tech rehearsal with another class...everyday. Lately I have taken on a little more at work. I recently taught 2 preschool classes (both culminated in a very cute musical performance involving a giant hand rainbow) and am currently in the middle of directing 2 productions of Oliver and teaching a middle school audition class. On top of all of that sometimes I teach all day workshops. Usually they are centered around a particular show or movie musical and the kids learn songs, dances and participate in related theatre games and crafts(that's a 7 hour day with no break...and I usually do a couple of hours of before and after care). I do not complain about any of this! I love my job. Are you kidding me? I actually get to make a living in theatre and while it is not always me performing I get to work every aspect. That being said a life in any kind of theatre is hard and sometimes the mixture of class, workshops, emails and not enough coffee creates the perfect storm.
Just the other day. I was asked to do a workshop. Knowing that I also teach a night class I said, "What the heck? I can sleep in tomorrow". By 4:30 I was hurting knowing I still had 30 kids that I had to corral and finish blocking the show. I got in my car with a coworker to pick up dinner, I pull out of the parking lot, who knows what happened...did a car pull out in front of me? Did a soccer mom not know how to back up her minivan correctly yet? Did I just spontaneously become afflicted with tourettes? I'll never know...doesn't really matter.
"What the fuck?" The words came flying out of my mouth. "Goddammit"! It felt so good! "Shit", cock sucking motha fucka!"
As I have stated many times in this blog. It's the little things that make me happy. And nothing made me happier yesterday, after spending 9 hours with kids and knowing I would spend another 2 1/2 with them, than to swear. Curse! Take the lord's name in vain! Profanity! Blasphemy! Cussing! Ooooh, I love it all!
In the right atmosphere of course.
I have never been afraid to swear or taken much offense by it. But dammit when you work with kids you really gotta check yourself before you wreck yourself! Sometimes it takes a lot, every fiber of my being in fact, to NOT scream out a profanity when a child accidently whacks you in the face with a prop. Or forgets his line after you've fed it to him 12 times, or is just being downright disrespectful.
It is hard teaching kids. Really hard. But when you've bottled it up all day it feels really good to get out a good curse word!