Well it's been a while... Sorry for that. Anyway, first things first... My grandfather is currently in the hospital. Last week he had pneumonia and wasn't eating... He took a fall and called 911. They took him to the hospital and then brought him to rehab. While at rehab he took a bad turn and they brought him back to the hospital on Thursday. They found an infection in his blood. The doctor called my parents and said he doesn't know if he's going to make it... So we are suppose to just keep waiting to know I guess. They ran a bunch of tests Friday and he's currently stable, but it's still a waiting game. And we all know how well I do with waiting, especially with the unknown. Anyway, I'm not going to get into my family drama here, because that's now what you want to read about... But between that and a few other things, the past few days have been the polar opposite from the amazingness I have felt since being here. I guess that's what happens though... Life happens... The good, the bad. I think my heart breaks mostly for my dad. He needs something good to happen. Deep breathes.
Anyway, onto more exciting things. Veg arrived February 11th! It's been great having her here. I swear sometimes I believe we were separated at birth. I left for Sydney on the 16th. I flew up and stayed most of my time with Micharne. I felt bad because she was in school the entire time. (For those who don't know... Micharne is in the graduate playwrighting course at NIDA... Which is equivalent to our Julliard.) I tried to occupy myself during the days by exploring the city... Going into the opera house, hanging out by the bridge, ferry to Darling Harbour, bit of shopping in the massive new westfield. I saw two shows with her and some of her NIDA friends. One was a collection of 11, 8 minute monologues for teens around 16-20. Some were written by other kids and other written by real playwrights. I was really impressed with both the young actors as well as the monologues. The second show we saw was in Kings Cross at the Griffin Theatre. It was called "Speaking in Tongues". It's a very famous Australian play that was also turned into a movie. It was FANTASTIC! It was in a small black box and it worked so well! Not just the play itself, but the actors, the set, lighting, direction! Superb! So FYI.... Kings Cross is probably the craziest place I've ever seen! It's probably a cross between Christopher street in NYC (after midnight) and Vegas.... But the scary party of Vegas, not the strip really. Every other stores you walked by was some sort of sex shop. (no lie) the streets were covered in crazies, homeless people, and drag queens. Anyway, just a bit of trivia for ya. :-)
So Saturday night was the world premiere of "Dr. Zhivago". I took Kate McRostie as my date and thank goodness I did! Joe Corcoran (one of the co producers from NY who invited me) told me to arrive at 6pm for cocktail hour. Kate and I arrive, but because we didn't exactly know where we were going, we ended up going through the back entrance... Instead of the RED CARPET! Totally bummed about that one ps lol. O well. The rest of the night was so awesome, it doesn't matter. Any who, I go up to the box office, as they're suppose to have my tickets... They said they didnt have them, I asked if they could check under Joe's name they said they didn't but may have them later... Then a girl came up to me and said "o you're Joe Corcorans guests? There's a cocktail party upstairs for you all. Fancy! So Kate and I go up to this very small room which is filled with maybe 20 people... Who are obviously very high rollers. You can feel it in the room. You knew the diamonds and prada purses in there weren't from canal street. Anyway, we walk in and you're immediately asked by the bar staff what you'd like to drink. Kate and I both get a glass of champagne. You don't even get 2 sips in before someone is there to top off your glass! Lucy Simon (the composer who also wrote Secret Garden) came in for a few minutes. I walked over to her and mentioned who I was... She then gave me a huge hug and kiss and said how wonderful it was that I was there. I told her, I didn't want to keep her (as the entire room was now circling us to say hello) but that I did want to say hi and congratulate her. Joe and his wife Karen arrive and he hands me my ticket, and the wristbands for the after party. We then start to go into the theatre. We are sitting first row mez! My favorite seats in the house! :-) i haven't sat front row mez, in I dunno how long! The first Act ends and we head back to our little room. Joe tells me theres a few people he wants to introduce me to. The first one in John Frost! (for those who dont know... John is the #1 producer in Australia... Think the Australian Cameron McIntosh) Joe says to John that he's worked with me for the past few years in NY and Ive come to Australia and am searching for a job... John takes his business card out of this jacket and says to call him! That's right... I have John Frosts personal business card! How you like them apples? Lol. Joe then introduced me to a woman named Bernadette who is an Executive Producer and GM... currently the GM of Wicked here. She didn't have any cards on her, but took mine and said she'll give me a call to set up a coffee meeting. Joe also pointed out Mitzi to me, who is John Frosts GM and said when she wasn't speaking to someone later go up and introduce myself. We go back n for Act II. The show went soooo well! I was quite impressed. Lucy being one of my favorite composers didn't disappoint. The cast was perfectly cast and the set was great... Making it easy to change from location to location. After the show, we went up through the casino to the after party up in one of the very large ballrooms. You get up there and the outside is lined with red carpets and rose pedals scattered. The backdrop were all these massive posters of the show. You walk into the ballroom and its dimly lit with all red lighting. The walls are red curtains with Dr. Zhivago projected upon them. There's a few bars where you can get your drink. They have champagne, wine, beer, or their specialty vodka drinks... Which is sponsored by this new vodka that is organic and not suppose to give you hangovers (and I believe it... Even with the champagne I had). once again, there were people walking around everywhere ready to top off your glass after 2 sips. It was a bottomless glass. There had to of been a good 300 people there. Apparently the place was swarming with movie stars, tv stars, and models! I was clueless (aside from the models who towered over me) but otherwise I wouldn't know anyone.... EXCEPT CAROLINE O'CONNOR!!!!!!!!! The dancer (roxanne) from Moulin Rouge! I had a minor heart attack.... I really don't get star struck, but she was my favorite part of that movie.... LOVE HER! Anyway, aside from the movie and tv celebs I knew the place was swarming with Big shots! Your producers from all over the world looking to invest and bring the show to their country. Des Arnoff was there too! (he directed the show... Along with 800 other broadway shows including Jersey Boys and earned himself 2 Tonys in the past for his direction). I networked quite a bit and also felt like a big shot myself lol. I cannot thank Joe Corcoran enough for inviting me and taking me around to introduce me to all those people. It was truly an amazing night. Joe and I are going to stay in contact and he's going to look out for me with all those people. :-)
Anyway, after sydney I headed off to Adelaide. Had a good time there with Will. Went to Jacobs Creek winery which was GREAT! I had never been to a winery... It was a lot of fun and really quite interesting. We got to taste grapes and then taste 8 different wines.... For $14 HOLLA!!!!! Will also took me to quite a few bars and events that were happening for the fringe festival which was cool. The first day we actually just walked around Adelaide, seeing his uni and the gardens, etc. Met up with Steve one night too... He was there for the fringe so the three of us caught up.
I think that's about it at the moment. Back in Melbourne and VERY happy to be back. Feels like im back home with my girls :-)
