...can't sleep...browsing Playbill online... and whoa!

IT'S FINALLY OFFICIAL. Patti's Turn at City Center this July.

Playbill News is reporting, 'round Midnight here:

"...Tony and Olivier Award winner Patti LuPone, who triumphed in last summer's Ravinia Festival production of Gypsy, will get the chance to perform her Rose for New York audiences this summer.
The New York Times reports that City Center will present the Arthur Laurents-Stephen Sondheim-Jule Styne musical as part of its new Encores! Summer Stars series, a spin off of the popular Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert series.
Laurents, who wrote the book for what is considered one of the finest American musicals, will direct the production, which is scheduled to begin performances July 9 for a limited run through July 29. The official opening night will be July 12..."

I'm so knee deep in soggy, chilly, filled with giant ego's, all encompassing, break neck paced pre-production that this news somehow seems pure and honest like real theatre is alive and justified. Seriously. I will be up to my eyebrows in principal photography in July. JetBlewIt taught me to fear the weekend jaunt when schedule is immovable... Will the geniuses I work with understand?

I'm a little concerned with Laurents directing... Oh, to be the piano gal at rehearsals! I hope Mr. Laurents allows her a warm Herbie and a real Louise. Jack Willis and Jessica Bogart were wonderful at Ravinia last summer.

There's been talk of celebrity casting...

Again, from Playbill news online a few weeks ago:

"...Question: Are you going to be involved in the "rumored" City Center production this summer with Patti?

Jessica Bogart: I hear they're looking for celebrities, which I'm totally bummed about because I would love to do it. I hope maybe I'll get really lucky and all of those fancy people will say no. [Laughs.]
Question: You never know. Maybe one of them will get a movie role.

Jessica Bogart: Right — even better, if Scarlett Johansson says yes and the day before she backs out, and they call me, desperate..."

I must get back to bed, but this news has lightened my brain somehow.

Patti, in a role she was born to play, I think. In one of my all time, top of the heap, favorite Musicals, at Ravinia last summer. The first time she played Rose. The Universe provided me a second row center isle seat. Much direct eye contact through out from Miss Lupone. Divine. I'll never forget it.

finally the sky is blue again...

...and the grey buildings have a colorful backdrop again today. Grey on grey is interesting only for so long. Today, from a rooftop at Randolph and State, I paused and took a few photographs of grey arrows pointing towards blue infinity...

Loooong days at work, short sun stays above the skyscrapers, cold Chicago weather and the lack of recent theatrical adventures to take me out of my world may not make a dull gal, but it makes this gal a lil more crabby, a lil less focused and a lot more ready for the change of seasons. Apparently, a change of scenery is out of the question.

Luckily, I do enjoy Chicago. And, as a quick flight to Narnia may have been ruled out, I'm lucky enough to have a job that takes me to new places within my old city on a daily basis. I try to keep my eyes opened even tho sometimes it seems safer to squint.

Dear David Neeleman, CEO of JETBLUE

I'm writing to you from my apartment in Chicago. I had been planning for months to be in Los Angeles today, relishing the company of two dear friends whom I haven't seen for 5 years. We decided to all get together in Los Angeles this weekend, and celebrate with expensive tickets to the LA Operas production of The Rise And Fall Of Mahagonny. We know each other from Drama School, so the idea of Audra McDonald and Patti Lupone in an Opera by Weill and Brecht, Directed by John Doyle, conducted by James Conlon at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for The LA Opera was the ultimate theatrical event of the winter for us.

I purchased my $190.00 ticket to the LA Opera online. I purchased my JetBlue airline ticket online. My job makes it impossible to travel except for one quick weekend at a time. I was looking forward to flying with JetBlue, for the first time, this weekend. There are many weekend journeys that I could take over the next few months and JetBlue's prices from Chicago to NY and LA make those journey's seem possible.

However, I'm sad to report that I can not, in good faith, book with JetBlue and expect to fit my tight schedule on to JetBlues flights.

My ticket on your cancelled flight to Long Beach, CA was not honored by any other Airline Company yesterday. I was not credited the money I spent on the ticket for the cancelled flight yesterday. I was given no alternative plan to get me to California yesterday by anyone who worked for your Airline or any other Airline. Nobody warned me not to check my bag because the flight was already cancelled. JetBlue accepted my bag and pointed me to the ridiculously long security line. I arrived at the gate to find another hundred people who had obviously been there for days. There were no monitors listing JetBlue Flights anywhere. The sign over the podium, where the JetBlue Representative stood, listed a New York flight as "Delayed". The Jet Blue Rep. told us over the loudspeaker that our flight was cancelled, due to no available Pilot. He told us there was one other JetBlue flight scheduled at 5PM, however it was oversold and unlikely to have an available Pilot either. Our best bet was to get to Midway Airport and try and purchase a full priced ticket on another Airline.

My $190 Opera ticket was nonrefundable. The Opera (that just got a lovely rave on Valentines day) will close before my schedule allows me to get back to LA. Most of all, I continue to miss my friends and we all missed a glorious weekend together.

I think about going to NYC for the weekend to see more marvelous theatrical adventures, but unfortunately, JetBlue has left me too disappointed to trust that JetBlue could get me there.

*Edited to add NYT Article on your mortification

My back door...

I rarely exit my building through its front door. I have no less than four options of building departure and arrival, not counting the most popular choice - the parking garage beneath the building. The buildings front door is by far its most gracious entry. The lobby is modest, immaculate, industrial and very minimally but elegantly appointed. One front door visitor remarked to me "you have a real entrance here! Makes me feel that somebody actually thought about it..." I put to use the front door mainly for two purposes... to accept delivered dining and to mark the beginnings and ends of daily walks during the Spring, Summer and Fall. The parking garage is my most prevalent form of egress. Its automatic door, reserved parking space and inherent, concrete weather shield may not be cinematic, but I admit to still being awed by the luxury of it all.... far more luxurious that my elegantly appointed lobby. The back door is my favorite. Its use makes me feel low profile. Unexpected exit. My building mates and I utilize our back door rarely. Occasionally, during Bears season, a handful of residents gather at our back door to watch the fireworks over Soldier Field. Daylight brings an urban view to my back door. The Sears Tower looms over the South Loop like a giant sun dial. Recently, I began to notice that I will have to rely on my own sense of place when exiting and entering my back door...

Tagged... what I read for work....

fun game... tagged by Sarah, I obey...

rules: WORKBOOK... "find the nearest book, turn to page 123, post the fifth, sixth and seventh sentences"; "tag three folks".

P. 123 - hmmmmm. My name and the words
"This script is the confidential and proprietary property of W__ B__. P___ and no portion of it may be performed, distributed, reproduced, used, quoted, or published or shared."
is overlayed on each page...

2nd choice "book", P123, 5th, 6th and 7th sentences...

"Producer agrees to indemnify and hold Licensor harmless from all claims for injuries to persons and damage to property (ordinary wear and tear excepted) resulting from Producer’s occupancy and use of the premises. Licensor hereby warrants and represents that the right to use and occupy said premises is under the exclusive control of Licensor and Licensor has full right and authority to enter into this agreement and to grant the rights herein granted. Licensor agrees to indemnify and hold Producer harmless from all claims made against Producer as a result of Licensor’s breach of this warranty."

I tag Little Voice, This Kids Got Moxie and Steve On Broadway.

...one who keeps tearing around

Principal photography for our bigger than it needs to be film is OVER. An exhausted happy dance and big sigh of relief was mandatory for all involved. No tears were shed, but plenty of sweat, mind numbing logistics figuring and no more blood than a band-aid or three... The must have piece of clothing for Chicago Movie makers that I will not be without next winter was insulated, flannel lined, Gortex ski pants. Sub zero temperatures through out filming helped with keeping looky-loos scare, but fashion quickly left the building once filming began. Finding someone on set involved remembering what their eyes looked like. We looked like we were filming a NorthFace commercial. One more week of wrap.

I celebrate with a grand reunion and my first visit to the LA Opera next weekend. Jet Blue will be my magic carpet. The prize is, with a dear friend on each arm, I will escape the real world for one fine evening at The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

I'm breathless about the whole 48 hours in LA, a city I've spent considerable energy avoiding.

The day after I arrive back in Chicago from la la land and its' richest artistic and personal rewards, I begin the next new big flick. It promises to be the biggest in scope, most expensive circus ride to date. Just when one sleigh ride is over, the Bat beam shines again on Chicago.

I miss my old friend...Bud, October 2006 in the sunny South Loop

GO BEARS but also GO to the supermarket DURING THE SUPERBOWL

...Dominicks is a dream during the Bear-full Superbowl. I parked in the first spot by the door and waited nor wanted for anything... except for maybe a loss of the fluorescent lighting and a sense of humbleness. I loathe the Supermarket experience and wish for the comeback of the corner store where I could walk to fresh bread, laundry detergent, butter and a light bulb. When I gather enough courage to enter a Dominicks, I usually go mid-day or midnight to avoid the crowds with shopping carts of issues. The South Loop Dominicks was filled with a handful of female 30somethings this Superbowl evening. No waiting, no idiocy.





The drive home last night was brisk, but I stopped and snapped a few photos of one of my favorite views from the 18th Street Bridge. Bitter cold but rich with team spirit.

What is it about what people choose to put on the top of their urban sky scrapers...?

Go Bears.

A very special napkin ring on top of a cat... Shazam is reluctant to become the Alfa Cat in Buds absence. He did agree to try on Buds crown, but was generally crabby about it.

What ever patience Bud taught him has remained.

Rest in peace...

BUD 1986 - 2007

In time, I won’t remember this past week as Bud. I'll mostly remember him by memory's of times like the 4 road trips, during the early 1990’s, in my Volkswagen - between Connecticut and Seattle - with him driving shotgun... One of those mornings, I woke up, alone with Bud, surrounded by Volkswagen GTI, in a rest stop I had chosen in Idaho (during the deep, dark, moonless night) to sleep a few hours till the sun rose. I sat on the roof with my legs comfortably draped through the sun-roof, Bud draped comfortably in my lap, and watched the sun rise from behind beautiful, moonscape mountains that we were surprisingly - not only among - but on top of. …or… living in the third floor walk up with him in Providence, Rhode Island while I went to Drama School. We would literally play hide and seek in that apartment. I would hide, he would hunt and seek me. He totally spoke English. Sometimes he spoke in meows; sometimes he spoke with his fabulous tail. It helped if you spoke Rago. And I did. Do. He made me want my own tail.

Bud was born somewhere near or in Providence, Rhode Island. He was one of the first Turkish Van’s in the U.S. I think. At least six toes on every paw made him unwanted by his original humans; Mange on his nose and skinny appearance made me think he was not likely to be adopted by anyone other than me at the Providence Humane Society. It helped that he looked at me squarely and calmly in the eye. Mellow and alert. A grand combination in baby cats. I try to be mellow and alert myself.

I’ve only known my “adult” years with Bud waiting for me at home. Various homes. 3rd floor walk up with Kathleen and her own baby cat, Lilly, in Providence; the cool, Victorian boarding house in Providence. The studio apartment in Seattle. Then Chicago… the beautiful, vintage, 3 bedroom apartment with Amy, Peter and their own good cat, Morgaine, in (at the time) scary Uptown, then to the Ukrainian Village with them. Then the great 7 years in our own one bedroom apartment in Ravenswood Manor. Than one year in Old Irving park (where we met Shazam and adopted him as our own), two years in Avondale, two years in the Ukrainian Village again and finally - the South Loop.

Bud. Not Buddy. Budly, yes. Buddy no. Rags, yes. Ragamuffin, Rago, Lamb, Lamby, bunny, Rabbit feet, BUD.

Good boy. Lucky boy. Funny boy, smart boy. Turkish/American, New Englander. Those of us who knew him will miss him terribly, but are better, wiser, funnier and smarter for knowing him.

Shazam and I will be ok on our own in the South Loop. But it will not be the same. We will courageously soldier on without Bud on this earth, and maybe some day even save another Turkish Van who needs rescue. But I’ll never forget the guy who always was with me as I grew from a teenager into an adult, became a stage actress, moved around the country and joined the circus on the other side of the camera with the big boys of Hollywood.

Bud.

In acting class at Victory Gardens, they asked us to make up our own tongue twisters that were difficult to say fast repeatedly. Mine was particularly good. “Bad baby Bud bit a big bug.” I know for a fact of at least one Chicago Actress who still uses the phrase as a vocal warm up. I know I always will.

He kept my heart opened for 21 years. Now its up to me.

I can do it. Now I know how.

Bud... if he hasn't rallied by the weekend...

My honestly trusted and soul fused best friend of 21 years is in day five of being very sick.

I'm lucky enough to be able to have a Veterinarian who will come to me. After two heroic, way after hours visits, blood work and urine tests show remarkably good shaped heart, lungs, kidneys, liver and spine. Elevated White Blood Cells made the Doc hunt for tumors last night. He found a swollen right side of Buds back mouth. He prescribed steroid for a shot of life, appetite stimulant, and continued fluids injections daily, antibiotic, nausea mender and vitamin dose. That's one injection with a needle and a drip bag, 4 pills and a dropper in the mouth that Bud and I are living through the last five days. Production remains at full tilt. I steal home to him whenever possible. Doc, Bud and I reassess daily. Tomorrow may bring his turn to spiral upwards.

When all the world is a hopeless jumble

And the raindrops tumble all around

Heaven opens a magic lane

When all the clouds darken up the skyway

There's a rainbow highway to be found

Leading from your window pane

To a place behind the sun

Just a step beyond the rain

"SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW" - lyrics by EH Harburg and music by Harold Arlen

Rainy, foggy rooftops today...

Todays point of view...

first day... come and gone

A success. Whew. Mild weather made it less painful. A product placement deal with a different Starbucks allowed us to open the Starbucks on the corner of our set just for us! My Departments team is strong; we actually find time for a joke and a laugh throughout the day. The 16 hour day that was day one. Now I'm knee deep in production 'till the end of the month. The 20 Picture Cars and 150 Extras felt easy day one. As it should, since we managed 500 extras and another 20 Picture Cars on Michigan Avenue yesterday and today. My Department performed our responsibilities with grace and style, seemingly unnoticed, thanks to our diligent preparations. +*+Poof+*+ there's a warming tent. +*+Poof+*+ there's a Porta Pottie. +*+Poof+*+ there's 4 flagship super-corporation retail stores on Michigan Ave. whose windows are redecorated from their current SALE windows to their Christmas windows. +*+Poof+*+ Bus Shelter posters have been changed to Christmas themed, clearances approved, colorful posters. +*+Poof+*+*+*+Poof+*+*+*+Poof+*+ I'm eating my vitamins, trying to steer the ship rather than ride the wave and not forgetting to stop and enjoy the view.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

My street, New Years Eve, dusk...

Audra McDonald was broadcast live last night by the good folks at Live From Lincoln Center; imagining my front row, center isle seat was easy thanks to my favorite guilty pleasure purchase of 2006. I raised a delicious cup of Earl Grey tea to the gowned, glamorous New Yorkers and relished the in the moment nature of the live event. The New York Philharmonic sounded perfect with her. I feel that I now have heard an as brilliant version of "I Have Confidence," from The Sound of Music as Ms. Andrews blessed us with back in the day. It was a pleasure to hear Audras version of "Over The Rainbow" with a lone guitar. Pleasure became honor when she admitted to being afraid of the song and never being brave enough to sing it publicly before. It was lovely and so was she.

Happy New Year from Chicago's South Loop.

Proud to ring in the new year with brave Audra, Earl Grey and medium hot Chicago.