Setting-up home, London-2010-style

David and I kicked off our "making home" in London 2010 with a big grocery shop, which included this very lush basil plant.  There's something about having a real live plant (as opposed to fake ones), especially a plant like basil, which we might EAT, use for our cooking, that makes us feel more at home.  Although, strangely enough, we haven't had a basil plant in our NY apartment before -- we have, however, consistently bought a basil plant in our temporary, foreign "homes," such as when we've been in London or Berlin for an extended period.

Last night I roasted a chicken, sauteed mushrooms with scallions and and made a wonderful chickpea/leek antipasti from the new Mario Batali cookbook.  While I made way too much, it was very easy and delicious.  His new cookbook is WONDERFUL, I highly recommend it.

David being fed very well by his hard-working, casting supervising wife (he's hard working, too, of course!)... roast chicken, chickpea/leek antipasti, grilled mushroom with scallions, and, obviously, some quality organic cider so beautifully available here in London.

Back in London - together this time

David and I had a pleasant flight from Newark to London.  Everything went smoothly until customs at Heathrow, which we truly believe is the WORST customs anywhere in the world.  Long, dreadful waits, terrible, miserable people asking you questions in the most condescending way.   Ugh.  David fantasized about saying to the customs official, "Look, mate, don't worry, we really don't want to live your fucking country.  We're here because we have to be here, we're not staying, we're not taking any work away from your people (because they fucking can't DANCE!).  We live in New York, why would we want to live here?!"  I think this feeling is not helped by having been detained at Heathrow once (due to incomplete paperwork with the inept office at the time), but fortunately we avoided this uncomfortable - yet understandable - confrontation.

We got through fine past the dreadful customs official, and we're back in Bloomsbury where we will stay in a two-bedroom flat.  We have gone to Waitrose to do our basic grocery shop (i.e. organic cider and bottles of wine, oh, and fruit and veg of course); next up we hope to join a local gym for the 4 weeks we are here.  Getting back into the groove of things.

It's nice to be back in London TOGETHER this time.  And not in a hotel.  It's chilly here, though, much cooler than New York, but I suppose we've come to expect this from London.

Big day tomorrow to kick-off the 4-week casting marathon!

HOME!

Arrived home to New York this afternoon.  SO GOOD to be home.  And the weather is amazing here -- full sunshine spring mode!

The trip was very productive and I got to spend time with my London girl friends, which was wonderful and a great respite from the packed days.  But I am so glad to be back in New York, in our apartment, with my gorgeous husband.  Once home, I stuffed myself with Two Boots pizza and promptly took a nap.  The best sleep I have had in a week, feels like.

Back to London in 10 days... but next time we'll be traveling together.

Take-Away Dinner Disaster

Eating properly in London has been difficult -- audition days are packed, and it has very much been a "go-go-go" situation.  On top of packed days, my Invisalign prevents me from casual snacking.  In fact, I really can't afford to eat without getting food nastily stuck in my teeth, unless I have enough post-meal time for brushing and flossing my teeth... which, on days with very short lunch breaks, is not afforded.  This means I have not been good about eating substantial meals, and my jet-lag has been really bad this time around.  All in all, it's been super long and intense focus-required days, spotty meals, and not enough sleep.  Tonight, I decided I will stay in, get loads of take away food and just PIG OUT.  I went to one of our reliable Thai chains, Busaba Eathai, and got two people worth of food.  Sadly, the chicken curry container opened in transit and spilled all over the environmentally-friendly paper containers and bag.  Thank goodness for the USA Today newspaper I had lying around, so I can lay out my curry soaked dinner.

Not a pretty sight, or easy to eat, but it was good to eat my fill (I didn't eat everything, but a lot!) for a change.

Audition days have been very packed indeed.  I've done this all before, but I'm surprise just how tasking it is this time -- I suppose it's because this year, it's really just me and the casting director.  The resident director is not part of the process, as she is leaving at the end of contract.  This time around in London, it really is between me and the actor auditioning.  No buffers.  This process takes a lot out of me -- on one hand, I have met some incredible, super-duper experienced actors who have worked with directors I'd consider The Greats.  It's an honor to read them for parts and direct them, give adjustments in my own way.  But on the other hand, this great honor is a great stress -- I feel too young and inexperienced to be noting these incredible actors who have worked with directors and on shows I have studied about on paper.

I did make it to the gym once, so I'm not doing too shabby on the fitness front and not just drinking rose wine.  Although the wine does help me "ease" into sleep a bit better.

2 more days of auditions for this round!

Back in London - and back to a life in a hotel for the week

I arrived into London tonight -- fairly smooth trip.  Now back in the familiar Radisson Bloomsbury for the week.  I'm not happy with the room I'm in, but there's nothing the hotel can do for tonight (my having checked-in at 10:30pm or so).  Hopefully I will move rooms tomorrow.  The room I have looks onto the courtyard of an awful-looking apartment building deeply reminiscent of a prison.  I can't keep my blinds open because it's so ugly and confining.  Okay for a night, not good for a week's stay.

Anyway, it's too late to get any food, really, so I've gotten myself some take-away wine from the bar downstairs.  It's a Californian Syrah rose I've come to drink whenever I am staying at the Radisson Bloomsbury -- I find I drink more rose than white in London -- which I hope will help me get over the jetlag and go to sleep, ready for a big big day tomorrow, working with actors on my own.

London-bound

I leave for London early Thursday, will be there for a week.  Still no better at packing... And the dreaded question is, How do I pack for a week of London rain?

It's that time of the year...

... when we start talking about the London re-cast and we start planning to live in London for about a month.

It always gets busy all of a sudden when this re-cast season comes upon us.  Suddenly I'm incredibly aware of London time -- the work days are necessarily earlier, mornings are packed with phone calls and emails, which peter out in the NY afternoon once London has closed for the day.  As always, I don't think this re-cast will be easy.  And with the show going into its 5th year and the budget seeking to be smaller, there will be a lot to do in the 4 weeks David and I currently plan to stay in London.

Because of the demands and specific difficulty of this re-cast, I requested to have a week on my own in London to do further preparation work before the 4 week re-cast period that was originally allotted.  This request was approved this morning, which means I head out to London for a week around March 25.  While I feel fantastic and relieved about having my request approved (the letter to the producers took painfully long to compose), I feel sad about having to leave David and NYC for a week.  I know it's only a week; and I've done casting sessions on my own in London and elsewhere before, on some occasions for 2 weeks instead of 1.  But we'd fallen into such a great groove of healthy eating and living at home, I'm loathe to leave it all of a sudden.  I have great aspirations to continue the gym sessions while I am holed up in a hotel in London, however... crossing fingers!

So as of now, I go to London for a week the end of March, come back to NYC; then David and I go to London around April 11 for 4 weeks.

In other news, I've had some stomach issues this week, which explains why my cooking blog entries had stalled.  I've had recurring stomach virus issues this year, and it's been a painful and nauseous few days.  Hopefully I am on the mend, finally, and will be able to enjoy the weekend -- NYC is supposed to see some hints of spring this weekend, so we are looking forward to it!

IN BERLIN

Been too busy to update the blog... but we have been back in Berlin for the last 2 weeks and we have one more week to go. We are doing a re-cast - not a big re-cast numbers-wise, but a big re-cast for me because I need to find a new BABY. Always tricky..... and somewhat stressful.

Anyway we now have a weekend and happily Val has arrive for a visit - so we are going to do some sightseeing and lots of fun-having!

Hooray!

In London

David and I arrived in London Thursday, just in time for the Easter weekend. We don't begin auditions until Tuesday - so we have our first long weekend together in a long long time, which is much needed. Because we are in London for nearly a month, we are in an apartment -- different from the one last year, but in the same neighborhood, which is fantastic as we love Bloomsbury. We're in a modern flat on one of our favorite streets in the area. The flat itself took a little getting used to, as it is more like a hotel/flat and we felt for a couple of days as if we lived in doll's house... but now we have grown to like it just fine. So far it has been gray and rainy (no surprise, it is London after all), but we have hopes for a sunny and springlike London whilst we're here. Fingers crossed!

Over the last few days we achieved various setting-up-To-Do's. We went to Whole Foods and the local supermarket to set up the kitchen; we joined a gym (David's been dying to go to the gym as we didn't have gym access in Berlin - I scraped by doing yoga by DVD, which actually worked quite well); we re-arranged some furniture in the flat to make it more suited to our needs. And we've had a rather full social life -- We saw DD with Al Sapienza (he played "Jake" in Toronto) and his wife on Friday, which was a fun night; went to see "Saturday Night" with Val on Saturday, which was a disastrously AWFUL show (totally amateurish production, not at all a West End calibre show), but we had a good dinner at a new Mexican restaurant and had a few drinks, which is always a good time. Yesterday David and I went to see not one but TWO movies, which was a great treat. We saw "The Young Victoria," which we loved and highly recommend. We then saw "Dragonball Revolution," on a totally other spectrum -- it was good fun, though.

The best part is that we have just spent time together and not worrying about work. We've slept in everyday, which is amazing. We have today to hang about before we kick off auditions tomorrow...

and on to LONDON!

David and I are in the last hour of packing before the car arrives to take us to the airport. We're off to London for 3 weeks starting today!

Photos from the Berlin premiere to come...

How March flies

2009 seems to be moving along quickly!

I have been in London for a week now, beginning the re-cast process, while David remains in Berlin and continues the tech-ing process. I have 4 more days of casting in London, and then will fly back to Berlin on Saturday in time for the first preview. Then we will have a week of previews until DD Berlin opens on April 7th! It's all happening, and quickly.

After Berlin, David and I will make our way back to London, where we will stay for 3 weeks. We can ALMOST feel our home in New York... but we're not quite there yet!

London casting is going apace. It's a big cast change this year, bigger than we expected. But I have seen some interesting actors and dancers, so crossing fingers... being in London solo is a strange feeling, especially since everyone else in the creative team is in Berlin putting the finishing touches to our newest production. Fortunately, there are a lot of brilliant plays on in London at the moment, so I have kept myself busy with outings to the theater. I have seen 1 comedy show and 3 plays already, have seen DD twice; I have a ticket to see Madame de Sade with Judi Dench on Thursday (didn't get great reviews, but still good to see it). Not bad. I have been a social butterfly, went to an engagement party, went to dinner at Val's in Fulham, and have been keeping myself occupied. It's a good change to be in an English speaking country.

But I miss David of course and I miss watching the Berlin cast go into its last stages of preparation before opening, so it will be good to go back to Berlin on Saturday.

More soon.

And back to Germany...with holiday cheer

(Paper lanterns sold at the Weihnactsmarkt -- one of many Christmas markets that pop up all over German cities this time of the year.)

David and I returned to Germany last Tuesday. We flew into Dusseldorf, from where we were taken by car to Essen. We stayed in Essen for two nights, over the course of which we achieved various things and visited more German cities: on the first night we went to see "Cats" in Cologne, and on the second night we went to Dusseldorf to walk around the Japanese shopping area and ate dinner at a fabulous restaurant, led by our New Zealander colleague, Karin. All this we did as we kicked off more casting, mostly in search of dancers.

After Essen we spent two nights in Hamburg. And now we are in Berlin. It's been a bit of a whirlwind traveling and we have already consumed a great many mugs-ful of gluhwein (mulled wine) and bratwursts... but now we settle into being in Berlin for a week. We're in a different hotel in a suite this time, which makes things more comfortable... and now that we will stay put and not city-hop, we have been able to unpack! Hooray.

Here are just a few snapshots of our travels thus far:

(Delicious feuersangenbowle -- mulled red wine with rum, with a burnt sugar cube dripping into the drink.)

(On the audition tour in Essen with Christoph and Perrin... having a bit of a break with some feuersangenbowle to warm ourselves...)

(David pretends to be a wild boar... eating a wurst made out of wild boar...)

(In Berlin in front of the Weihnachtsmarkt in Gendarmenkarkt... we hear it is one of the prettiest Christmas markets in Berlin...)

(Baumkuchen!!! It is a cake that is a "tree" (baum) made up of layers and layers of thin cake that gets rolled around a metal pole...)

(Fancy baumkuchen ....)

(Feuersangenbowle -- in a big pot with flamed sugar block dripping into it...)

(David with his new favorite drink -- a mug of heidelbeergluhwein, a blueberry gluhwein with amaretto...)

London today. New York tomorrow.

David and I flew from Berlin to London on Sunday -- a sort of last-minute tack on to our European work travels. David has not had the chance to work with the new cast members of the London company (as he was in Chicago), so our few days in London proved productive albeit packed.

Tomorrow we finally FLY HOME!!! Cannot wait. It's been so long since we've been home properly. Berlin casting went well, we are mostly cast for the principals (very good actors), but we shall continue to cast the ensemble... which means we fly back to Germany in December. But for the time being, all I can think of is being back in New York for at least a week and a little bit.

More soon.

In Berlin

(David and I wore our animal-y printed outfits on Halloween -- as we had no costumes and nowhere to go -- me in zebra and David in elephant prints -- and pretended to be on a safari...)

Back in Berlin now... and continuing on with the search for the new DD company. A bit exhausted, really -- long days of casting, focusing on actors and dancers and singers, trying to find exciting performers... we want the Berlin show to be a NEW show, a show that reflects the evolution the production as a whole has underwent since the Hamburg show. We've been seeing some serious German actors, who could be downright WACKY, but it's been an interesting journey, and I feel we have learned quite a bit...

... although maybe not quite enough German. We intend to learn more, and are inspired to do so more than we were when we were in Hamburg. David and I really like Berlin so far -- we love the energy, the atmosphere, the "edgy" vibe, the late nights and the various dining, cultural and social options. It has qualities of New York City, in a way, the sense that there is always something going on, the day and night in Berlin can turn out to be as big or small an adventure as you want... at the very least it suits us far better than Hamburg ever did, and we are already happier in Berlin than we ever could have imagined being in Hamburg, which, despite the fans of the city we know, we find dreary, conservative, and downright dull.

We'll post photos soon... for now, off to bed!

Drive-by Homecoming

David and I flew home to New York late Tuesday night... and tomorrow (Saturday) we head out to Germany for 3 weeks. Yikes! Fastest turn-around we've had to do so far. As I face our collection of suitcases on the floor, I get confused as to whether I am unpacking or packing... only to realize I am doing BOTH.

Opening Night in Chicago was FANTASTIC. The show was great -- possibly the best opening night performance we have had -- and we had good times all around. Photos shall be posted as soon as we are in one place long enough to have some serious computer/internet/down-time moment.

Until then... we're packing and sorting out normal home-life details before we fly out tomorrow! (Hamburg first, then we train to Berlin.)

xoxo

Note from Hamburg

Hello, hello.

First preview Sunday afternoon went very well -- very good show, a responsive audience who enjoyed their experienced, and the team all around felt happy about the kick off. We had a big night out following the show -- drinks with the company, dinner, salsa-dancing, then after-after-party at our house. Never mind that I was leaving the next day at 1pm. We rallied on until 4:30am. Somehow I managed to wake up okay, and luckily I had pretty much packed before the weekend (I plan my partying in advance). I ran the errands I needed to run, and was ready to go to the airport.

David did not fare too well. He was, as we say in the DD company as coined by Ben Mingay, HURTIN'.

Anyway, good times were had.

And now I am in Hamburg, Germany, where it is rainy and cold. I'm in a suite at an apartment-style short-term residence. The suite is a split-level loft-style apartment, nothing big but nice. It seems kind of excessive for such a short stay, but apparently our usual hotel was fully booked. I kind of appreciate the coziness of the apartment though, and it feels quiet and homey (as much as staying in Hamburg will feel... yes, you're correct in surmising that Hamburg is not one of my favorite cities in the world). I'm in Hamburg for 2 nights, then I take a train to Berlin and will be there for 2 nights. Then train back to Hamburg and fly back out to Chicago the next day.

I didn't sleep at all on the flight, so I should try to get some rest. Today is my day off, for which I am grateful -- I shall have a chill day with myself.

It's weird to be out here on my own, when everyone else on the creative team remain in Chicago. Kind of like going away on a sleep-away camp by myself or something.

I hope David's feeling less hungover today...

What We're Up To, What We've Been Doing...

Just a few things yet to be thoroughly updated on this blog.... here goes:

David's Green Card Re-application: As we approach our third anniversary, we must petition to have the "conditional" status of David's permanent residency removed. Yet another process in the many hurdles of our international marriage. Lots of paperwork involved, trying to prove that we are a LEGITIMATE couple. Very strange and upsetting in many ways, that a marriage simply can't BE. It's a stressful and elaborate process, especially difficult to go through while putting on a show, but we are plodding along......... crossing fingers!

My new role -- International Casting/Creative Associate: A little over a month ago, my new title within Dirty Dancing Worldwide was announced to the international team. This title had been in discussion for some time now, and I have yet to finalize "the deal," but, for all intents and purposes, I was officially given this title and my work began with a BANG. The bang being (1) completing the Toronto casting (done!), (2) finishing up the London casting process (big task, but somehow I finished it), (3) beginning the Berlin casting, and (4) continuing to deal with on-going... changes... within the US Tour company. It's been a challenging role, but a role I had been doing in many ways unofficially already -- so it is nice to have the acknowledgment and title to go along with it. I go back to Germany for almost a week in October to move along the preliminary stages of the Berlin production casting, which should be interesting, if perhaps daunting, as it will be my first venture out ON MY OWN to begin the casting process with solely the local team.

CHICAGO: The Windy City continues to treat us well and charm us with all its energy, activities and fabulous restaurants. It's very easy-going living in Chicago, and David and I are enjoying the city and our life here. Our apartment is spacious and comfortable, and since many members of the company are also staying in the same building, there is a nice community/dormitory-feel to the whole stay. We have gone to a variety of fantastic restaurants..... and we promise to be more detailed soon (photos included). While we miss New York, Chicago has been a very easy city in which to live.

REHEARSALS: Today was our last day in the rehearsal space. We have a long weekend this weekend, and when we come back together on Wednesday, we will be at the theater to kick off the tech. The show is looking terrific, we have a fantastic company, and it will be good to finally get on stage and put the show together in the environment.

MINI-BREAK!: David and I fly out to California early tomorrow morning. We have booked ourselves a little weekend getaway to Carmel Valley, which is a couple of hours' drive south of San Francisco. We will be staying at Bernardus Lodge, which is a spa/lodge in a vineyard. We will be hiring a car in San Francisco, then driving down the scenic drive along the coast, through Monterey, and onto Carmel Valley. David is looking forward to driving (a convertible, of course), and I am looking forward to the wine and relaxation!

And so we are hastily packing now... and we shall post photos of our weekend trip when we return!

Me, London; David, Chicago

I "moved" with my things to Chicago Friday night and joined David in the Windy City. As I unpacked in our Chicago apartment (very nice and spacious), I had to simultaneously re-pack as I flew out to London Sunday for nearly a week. I arrived in London this morning.

My time in Chicago was brief, but it was good to see David before my week in London and Hamburg. I got to see the Baby's, Johnny's and Penny's (the leads and their respective understudies). Everyone seemed to be in good, positive spirits. It was surreal to be in a room full of Baby dopplegangers, Johnny dopplegangers, and Penny dopplegangers. It's like being in a room full of genetically enhanced attractive people.

Their dancing already looks great. As usual, David is doing a terrific job! :)

Chicago seems like a fun city to live for a few months. I suppose it's a nice city in the summer. It was hot -- and I hear the Chicago summers are hot -- but it was less oppressive hot than New York has been, so it felt fresh to me.

But now I am back in London! Just hanging out in the hotel today, laying low. Walked around Covent Garden and tried to get a massage, but everywhere was booked. I walked over to the Sanctuary, which is a "ladies only day spa"... the idea being that women spent half the day there relaxing and being pampered. I didn't want to spend half the day there, only get a massage, but was willing to pay for the entrance fee if that was what I needed to do as I was desperate for a massage. But I encountered a fat, repulsive and rude lady at the desk, who insisted on calling me "Darling" as she emphatically and dramatically told me it was impossible for me to get a massage. She repeatedly emphasized the impossibility in a near panic-stricken and overly loud tone, as if my inquiring about a massage availability was an outrageously inappropriate question. A simple, "I'm sorry, we're fully booked" would have sufficed, it seemed to me, but she was nastily melodramatic and offensively unattractive. It was too much for me to handle having just flown in from Chicago without much sleep, with an aching back. I grumbled, "I understand that you don't have any openings but you don't have to be rude about it" and walked out. There's nothing "Sanctuary"-like about a place that is overseen by a hideous, rude, stressed-out and grotesque lady.

Luckily, I found a nicer, more elegant and certainly more peaceful spa at the One Aldwych hotel, where I booked a massage for Wednesday night.

Casting continues tomorrow, and on Friday I will fly to Hamburg. I hope the week will go by quickly... although I suppose I will also need to hope there will be enough time to complete what we need to complete.

And so it goes... I will miss David this week, but he will have a busy week in Chicago -- ensemble dance week -- so I shall take the positive outlook that we are both working very hard and making contributions to make our show better.

Where We Are...

David is now in Chicago, working through the first dance week of Baby/Johnny/Penny. He rang me from a bus en route to rehearsals on the first morning, and it was very funny to imagine him in Chicago on a bus-full of Baby/Johnny/Penny's... a very peculiar circus of attractive performers!

I am still in NYC, although I will leave for Chicago Thursday. Then it looks like I will fly to London on Sunday for 5-ish days, then onto Hamburg, Germany, for a day, and then back to Chicago.

This means I need to get my NYC life together by Thursday to relocate!

I don't know if I will ever get used to the packing/traveling/moving house.......

Aaaand, we're BACK... for a wee bit

David and I are back in New York City after a FANTASTIC holiday in the Caribbean.

Now we're running around in our usual kind-of-manic style, trying to get ourselves organized for our next installation DD... this time in Chicago! David heads out to Chicago this Sunday. I will join him (looks like, but yet to be confirmed) on Thursday, but only for a couple of days, as I will head out to London for a few days, do a day in Germany, and then back to London for a couple of days........then back to Chicago. It's a whirlwind, as ever. But at least this time we will be working in the US and kind of close(r) to home? It's kind of exciting, living in a different US city for a change...

More to come soon....