Hot Scotch Hard at Work

A photo of David taken by our production photographer during the EPK/b-roll the other day (when we shoot video footage from the show as well as take still photographs). David was fantastic setting up and organizing the dancers for excellent show "in action" still photos as well as video. This photo shows the young Associate Choreographer hard at work!

First Preview, Cocktoberfest, OH MY!

(David as "Young Bob Dylan"... with a Wiggles guitar...)

Last night was Halloween... and it was also our very first preview! The show went on splendidly and we had a fantastic audience. The cast was thrilled. We were all very happy and experienced a sense of accomplishment. There are tweakings to be done, of course, but the show is already in solid shape.

After the show, there were drinks at the theater for the company. And then there was Cocktoberfest. That's right, Cocktoberfest, in celebration of Halloween and Dirty Dancing first preview, hosted by Jesse, our resident choreographer. It was a fantastic, wild night. David dressed up as Bob Dylan; I was Edie Sedgwick. Although people tended to think, upon seeing David with a guitar, that we might be John Lennon and Yoko Ono (oh, the uncultured people!), we looked good, and we had fun. There were some incredible costumes -- people go all out for Halloween here in Toronto, and, well, when you get a bunch of theater people dressed up (it was also Jesse's boyfriend Adam's birthday, who is in We Will Rock You, so it ended up being a sort of joint cast party type bash as well). Although we all felt a bit dusty today, it was great to have a party after the first preview.

Here are some choice photographic record of the festivities:

(Tomoko, as Asian Edie Sedgwick, with Lydia and Joel, the Parisians...)

(Beautiful Diana Diaz transformed into Charles Chu, our company manager. The likeness is STUNNING!!!)

(Diana as Charles Chu, with me, the Asian Edie...!)

(With Astro Boy...)

(With Bat Man...)

(David as Bob Dylan with... a Diva...)

(With the hosts of Cocktoberfest...)

(With Starsky and Hutch... also known as Ryan and Chris, the hot Dirty Dancers...)

(Back home... and posing... GOOD TIMES!)

On discovering pilates... and the difference an amazing teacher makes

Since working on the Australian transfer production of Dirty Dancing in Melbourne, I have had chronic back pain whose cause and remedy no one seemed to decipher. I have no real idea how it began or why. Massage helped, and, fortunately for me, David has some training in it, but it was a temporary relief. I have good days and bad days -- it's hard to tell what triggers the pain. I have been struggling with this condition for the past two years, and have undergone a myriad of treatments: I've worked with numerous physiotherapists in New York as well as a man who was supposedly the best sports-injury therapist, who treats the New York Jets; a chiropractor who nearly suffocated me while "stretching" me out under all his weight and might; I've had acupuncture and electromagnetic machines used on me (apparently used by astronauts to cope with gravitational changes in their space travels); I've had Lidocaine injections along my spine. No one seemed to really help, except for the osteopath in London. I responded to his treatments -- I felt better for longer stretches of time -- but once I left London and I could not see my osteopath, the pain returned with a vengeance.

In Toronto, things with regards to my back had continued to be up and down. A few weeks ago, however, I had a particularly terrible episode that lead to David having to take me to a clinic just to get powerful enough pain killers and muscle relaxants for the time being. It wasn't good, it was scary.

We had been talking about my starting a pilates class for a while, for strengthening, but with our unpredictable lifestyle, with all the traveling, we never had the time to set it up or go, or for me to fully commit to it. After our visit to the clinic, we decided that Toronto would be the place where we did everything we could for me to start rehabilitative pilates while working around the show and our work. We asked around, and got a recommendation that seemed sound, a studio within walking distance from our apartment.

I have found the pilates teacher perfect for me. Monica, owner and instructor of Core Studio. She is Norwesian, married to a Canadian. She is beautiful and spiritual, as well as intelligent and fiercely strong. She explained that she discovered yoga and pilates when she used to be a "bad girl," riding motorcycles without a helmet. She got thrown off her bike, hit the curve, and was nearly killed. She survived, but with a severe neck injury. To recover she had work through pain, learn to manage and overcome her injury, starting with small movements and muscles we hardly think about when we're healthy and injury-free.

She has been amazing for me. I have been taking private classes with her 3 times a week for the last 3 weeks. I feel safe with her, I trust her, and I have learned so many things. Whereas many physiotherapists have just pointed out all I need to do is to improve my posture, Monica has taught me which muscles to use to naturally gain better posture. She is encouraging and empowering. This morning was my 9th pilates class--it almost feels as though I have been to more. In just those many classes, I feel my core differently, feel stronger, understand how I could modify my body to cope with pain better. David has come with me to many of my classes, too, so it has been a peaceful, spiritual, emotional journey as well. There is something about learning to strengthen one's "core" -- as in one's abdominals -- that makes one examine one's spiritual, emotional, human "core" -- especially while working through pain. I have cried on a couple of occasions, once upon discovering just how locked my back was and how incapable I was of making seemingly small movements; on another occasion when I really felt deeply understood by Monica, without having to tell her anything about myself, really -- I felt understood merely from her instructions and explanations tailored specifically toward me (she incorporates a lot of yoga and meditation into my sessions). It has been a fantastic experience.

I still feel pain. But I feel stronger about it. I hope to continue taking as many classes as I can while in Toronto, and try to find an instructor wherever I go. I practice pilates breathes while sitting around at the theater during tech. It has been a great discovery.

(Now if only I could get my hip flexors loose enough so I could do the Penny kick!)

A pleasant reminder of life outside of the theater and the show...

As I wrote a little while back, David and I befriended a lovely couple who were real life sheep herders just outside of Toronto. They know someone at the Mirvish company, it seems, and it turned out that they have been patrons of Mirvish productions for years and already had tickets to come see Dirty Dancing. They gave us their card, and invited us to their farm. Recently, I finally got around to emailing them a photo of the four of us at Peller Estates Winery, where we took the wine and food seminar together. They wrote back -- they were happy that we'd contacted them, and attached the above photo. The photo had a caption: "Our photo contribution is a few of our co-workers!" This gave us a chuckle. Somehow it amused me all day that we had, during our time in Canada, befriended shepherds who'd send a photo of a llama and sheep...

Tech, tech, and more tech!

We have been rehearsing on stage as well as tech-ing in the show for almost three weeks now, and it's getting quite intense as we are down to one more week before previews (PAYING AUDIENCE!). Long long hours, we hardly see daylight, now that we're in the theater all day and night. Sometimes, I feel the above silly photo we took a few weeks ago best depicts how David feels... as well as other creatives.

But so it goes on! And somehow the show will all come together. (Knock on wood.)

The cast remains lovely and amazing people. We continue to like life in Toronto, although we miss our New York friends and Whole Foods (the Toronto Whole Foods is just not the same). David misses certain New York restaurants, too. But besides approaching "the wire" before previews and all that comes with it, and all that lies beyond, and our general fly-by-the-seats-of-your-pants lifestyle, all is well.

One more week before previews!!! (Starts on Halloween, October 31st.)

The BEST Chicken Wings in Toronto (so far)

Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby present you a photo of what I deem to be the best chicken wings in Toronto. As I've eaten thus far. David and I discovered these delicious wings at Ki Restaurant in Toronto -- and they're BAKED, not even fried!!! They are heavenly.

YUM!

(A proper) Niagara Falls Tour

(The Canadian Niagara Falls... helicopter view!)

David and I had driven "by" the Niagara Falls as an addendum drive on our Niagara-on-the-lake trip, but we had not explored it fully. We had the opportunity to explore the falls further two Mondays ago, on our day off. A group of us from the show took a guided bus tour of the Niagara Falls and we had some excellent times. The best bits for us were (1) a helicopter tour above the falls (excellent geological perspective on the falls -- and my very first helicopter ride! I got to sit as the "co-pilot," right next to the pilot and the owner of the helicopter tour company), and (2) the Maid of the Mist boat tour close up and personal with the falls. Here are several key photos of our fun-filled day off:

(Me and David on the helicopter flying above the Niagara Falls...)

(David with Ryan and Lane, from our show, being badasses, about to go on the Maid of the Mist boat tour...)

(On the boat, about to get soaked by the falls...)

(David on Maid of the Mist, battling the wind and splash of the falls... and carrying my bag...)

(Braving the mist towards the falls...)

(Kinda wet... but David loved it, despite his weary face in this photo...)

Our Toronto "Home"...

(David in our new apartment, in the kitchen, having made himself a peanut butter sandwich...)

Last week, David and I were finally able to moving into a more spacious, "duplex/loft" style apartment within the Soho Condominiums (where we've been living). We were unhappy in the previous apartment unit, mainly because it felt very dark despite all the windows and the kitchen was utterly unusable. Although spacious, it was a bachelor pad and not a good match for us. We love living in the Soho Condominiums, however, because of its fantastic location and the fact that its amenities include use of the Soho Hotel (attached to the condos) gym as well as room service. Besides the apartment itself, the building was perfect for us... so very fortunately, our company manager was able to find a different apartment unit for us.

And this one is FABULOUS.

(David on our very own patio...eating his peanut butter sandwich...)

First of all, the kitchen. Terrific. Open plan, marble-top island in the middle, with wine rack along its side. Massive fridge, excellent oven and dishwasher. It's an electric stove top, but, hey, we can't have everything. We have our very own patio area complete with a grill, and 2 huge televisions, one in the living space and one upstairs in the bedroom. We have an extra den space to act as our work space, and there are 2 bathrooms -- very important when both rushing to work.

(David examines a grill on our patio... will we cook anything on it? Only time and weather will tell...)

(David by our wine acquisition from our Niagara-on-the-lake trip... eating, of course, a peanut butter sandwich.)

(David contemplating the remaining crumb of his peanut butter sandwich...)

Now all we have to do is to go grocery shopping so we could start cooking!

Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals

I am a big fan of Ben Harper. It so happened that his tour was coming to Toronto for two nights... and I managed to acquire two tickets for us on the floor, 3rd row from the stage.

Excellent!
This was David and my first big concert together, and it was fantastic. Neither of us are big on spending money to see concerts, but I thought Ben Harper would be great to see live. He was. We went to the Friday night performance at the historic Massey Hall, sat mesmerized through the evening until the end, when the entire concert hall got on its feet to groove to the music. Ben Harper's generous and seemingly endless energy and spirit were infectious and inspirational.
Good times.

Happy Second Anniversary to Us!!!

September 27th was our second year anniversary, and we had a lovely day of celebrating. Conrad, our musical supervisor as well as a beloved friend, brought in a giant chocolate chip cookie "pizza" decorated with our names (thoughtfully purchased, of course, by his lovely wife Penny, from Mrs. Field's Cookies). We shared the cookie with the cast, and they were fantastically warm and enthusiastic about celebrating our anniversary. It was a sweet day at work.

(Toasting champagne with oysters and caviar at Susur -- this was only the beginning of a fabulous culinary evening...)

That night, David and I had a gorgeous dinner at Susur. We have come to conclusion that there is no other restaurant like it in the world (as we've seen thus far). We ate beautiful dishes and thoroughly enjoyed our wine. It was a perfect evening at one of the top restaurants in Toronto, if not in North America.
Many of our friends have remarked that it seems our two years of marriage have gone by so quickly, that our wedding seems not too long ago. I'd like to think this perception is due to our "keeping it fresh," as it were. But a lot has also happened in those two years. David was a dance captain in the Australian production of Dirty Dancing when we married -- now he is an Associate Choreographer of the show in North America. Two years ago we still lived apart, on two separate continents; now, although we still travel in a restless manner with the show, we are based in New York and have worked together putting the show up in 3 different countries. It's been ride, and a very interesting journey to our second anniversary, learning to be partners in life.

We look forward to more exciting adventures together.

Niagara-On-The-Lake Weekend!

(David hugging our rented Mustang V8 convertible... needless to say, he loved the car.)

Long time, no blog.

We have been quite busy between work and trying to eat and sleep and have a breather as well as a bit of fun when not at work... and there hasn't been much internet action time. Hohum. But we have engaged in a few fun activities whilst we have been "away" from blogging!

Last weekend, we had two days off instead of our usual one-day-off-per-week scheme of things. David and I took this opportunity to travel to Niagara-on-the-lake, where we spent one night in a lovely hotel, the Harbor House. Niagara-on-the-lake is about a one and a half hour drive outside of Toronto, situated alongside Lake Ontario. The area is known for its wineries as well as for the theater festival that takes place each year, called the Shaw Festival. We have a friend who is a musical supervisor for the Shaw Repertory, who also composed music for one of the plays. The proper weekend seemed the perfect time to take a trip to Niagara-on-the-lake for a bit of wine touring, seeing a show other than our own, and, perhaps more importantly, for a peaceful, relaxing time just the two of us outside of Toronto.

The weekend turned out to be a glorious one. Weather, relaxation, fun and all.

(By the Ontario Lake...)

As our anniversary present, we rented a Mustang GT V8 convertible for David to drive for the weekend. This made David very happy indeed, and even I, who knows very little about cars and even littler about driving (i.e. not at all -- I don't drive), appreciated the "muscle car-i-ness." We had an easy drive into Niagara-on-the-lake, dropped off our stuff at the hotel and hopped onto a half-day wine tour caravan. The tour was perfect, as David did not have to drive and we had an excellent guide as well as group. We tasted numerous Canadian wines, learned a lot, and purchased wines selectively yet abundantly. In the evening, we went to see our friend's show and had a lovely, mellow evening.


We did some more wine touring the next day, and even took a short seminar on wine and food pairings. We had a fantastic lunch at Hildebrand Winery, too -- fresh, beautiful local produce and Canadian flavors (maple syrup and ice wines being utilized). As we started to head back to Toronto, we decided to take advantage of the car and go for a detour drive... this detour took us to the Niagara Falls! The falls turned out to be fairly close to Niagara-on-the-lake. We had a quick look at the falls at dusk (we are going to do a proper tour of the falls on a different tour)... it was a magical experience. Afterwards, drove back to Toronto. It was a warm night, so we drove with the top down. Although my hair was quite tangled at the end of the drive, we had a terrific time and a lovely weekend.



Here are a few more snapshots of our Niagara-on-the-lake weekend:

(At Jackson-Triggs Winery... we loved the Chardonnay here...)

(At Reif, in front of their massive barrels...)

(At the Food & Wine seminar at Pellar's Estate... we took the seminar with a lovely couple, who are shepherds.)

(David by the Niagara-on-the-lake shores of Ontario Lake...)

(Niagara Falls, at dusk... misty and beautiful...)

(David in awe of the majestic Niagara Falls...)

(Driving back to Toronto, top-down...)

Flying by times...!

Lots to blog, lots to post (photo-wise), not enough time! All goes well here in Toronto albeit busily. I hope later to load up some photos and write about less busy times we have managed to have here in TO... Stay tuned.

GOOD TIMES in T.O.

(Tomoko, David and Britta at Thuet Bakery and Bistro for Monica's birthday...)

David arrived in Toronto Sunday and it has already been quite a full week at work, with him having taken over as the associate choreographer of the production. He's doing a terrific job, and "Yes" (the number) already looks better than it has ever looked. I am a very proud colleague and wife indeed.

And we've already had some excellent social occasions since David's joining me here in T.O. Last night, Eleanor took us, along with Britta (who plays Penny) and Craig, our ballroom choreographer, and Monica (who plays Baby) out to dinner to celebrate Monica's 28th birthday. We went to Thuet Bakery and Bistro, which was delicious. David loved the dinner for the food as well as the company of beautiful women. He was quite pleased to take a photo with his wife (ahem) as well as with our gorgeous Penny, Britta. (See photo above.)

Tonight, we hit Toronto's Korea Town for dinner with a group of Dirty Dancers. GOOD TIMES. I truly love this company -- of all the productions I have done, I am having the most fun socializing and feel comfortable with the company. We had a gorgeous dinner and a good laugh, and we look forward to going out on the weekend.

Between then and now we have much work to do, of course, but we march on positively...

Change of Plan

It's been a busy and full week here in Toronto... and there has been a shift in plan. David will now come to Toronto earlier than we'd anticipated. He will be here this SUNDAY. As in, the day after tomorrow. Craziness! I am very happy about seeing him, of course, and working with him again, but as I did not expect him to be here until October, I am still processing it all. Whoa wa wa, I feel.

One never knows what tomorrow will bring in our industry, I tell you... and this means I have got to clean up my "bachelorette" apartment so he has somewhere to put his clothes. Alas.

BUT -- whether the cleaning up will happen by the time he gets here or not, two more sleeps and I shall have my husband in Toronto! Hurrah!

Much Ado...

(Photo taken on my laptop camera for David... a photo of moi in rehearsals...)

Lots going on these days. Rehearsals have kicked off and are going splendidly -- the company is truly gorgeous and I love working with each member of the company. They make me laugh, they make me so proud of the casting work that went into assembling this company. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. The days seem to go quickly... and I am still getting used to life as a "bachelorette" again. I finally managed to use the kitchen for the first time today for a bit of cheese omelet breakfast; I figured out how to use the large television set so I could watch a Law & Order: SVU re-run; the cleaning lady came and did a fantastic job cleaning up the mess that was my apartment, except upon my return I can't seem to find any of my bits and bobs. The days themselves seem to go quickly, but some other parts of life are a slow going process. So it goes.

TM

Gimme hot dog....

(Odd yet engaging sculpture on my street... someone put a hot dog in one of the figure's hands, so it looks like the other figure is saying, "Gimme hot dog.")

My first week in Toronto has passed, and today was my first day off. The day was warm and sunny, a perfect late summer Sunday. I did a bit of shopping but not much else, in no small part because I am exhausted from having been out until 4:30AM. Yes, that's right, 4:30. Ben M. arrived from Sydney Friday (he will be in our Toronto production), so he and a few of the creatives and I went out to dinner at the Ultra Supper Club... which lead to drinks on the rooftop deck of Schmooze... which led to some obscure yet very cool lounge/club/patio on Spadina. Despite his considerable jet-lag and lack of sleep, I cannot keep up with Ben. Yet I tried. And failed.

Tisk, tisk, me.

TM