My year of living theatrically

It's doubtful I'll get to the theater again before the end of 2007, so here's my tally - 30 shows in 12 months. (Interestingly, the list is about evenly divided between plays and musicals). Not bad when you consider my total for 2006 was 1; for 1999-2005, 0.

Here's the list, in roughly chronological order:

1) Wicked
2) Our Town
3&4) A Moon for the Misbegotten
5) Curtains
6) Frost/Nixon
7) LoveMusik
8) Deuce
9) Hairspray
10) Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life
11) Parade
12) The Clean House
13) Mamma Mia!
14) 110 in the Shade
15) Mary Poppins
16) The Color Purple
17) Gypsy
18) Grey Gardens
19) Spring Awakening
20) The 39 Steps
21) The Elephant Man
22) August: Osage County
23) The Farnsworth Invention
24) Rock 'n' Roll
25) Cyrano
26) The Receptionist
27) Young Frankenstein
28) Sweeney Todd
29) The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
30) Memory House

I saw national tours and productions by local theater companies. I traveled to Boston and Broadway. I sat in tiny theaters of a few hundred seats and massive houses of several thousand. The ticket prices ranged from $15 to more money than I care to admit in public.

While I enjoyed some shows more than others, I always enjoyed the experience of going to the theater and losing myself in a story for a couple of hours. There are some shows I liked better than others, but I don't regret seeing a single one. There's so much that I loved, I can't even narrow it down to a Top 5 or a Top 10.

But I do want to single out "Wicked." It was my first trip to the theater this year. I saw it in January, on tour, sitting up in the mezzanine, and I was totally captivated by the music and the characters and the story. I walked out of the theater wanting to see more. It set the stage for a an absolutely terrific, unforgettable year.

"Wicked" works so well on so many different levels: as an homage to one of the most beloved and quotable movies ever (even if the flying monkeys did scare the heck out of me as a kid!), as a political allegory and as an exploration of the trials and tribulations of adolescence. After nearly a year, "For Good" still chokes me up. The most stirring love song in this musical is about the enduring nature of friendship. How great is that!

Three months later, I was sitting in the audience at my first Broadway show. I'll never forget seeing Kevin Spacey walk out on stage at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre about 30 minutes into "A Moon for the Misbegotten." He's one of my favorite actors and suddenly there he was, so close I could have reached out and touched him. (Don't worry, I didn't!) It was thrilling. I can't even compare it with seeing him on television or in a movie.

There's nothing quite like the experience of watching a group of people, in some cases standing only a few feet away, tell you a story. Kevin Spacey compares it to walking a tightrope every night - anything can happen. There are no car chases or elaborate special effects, simply the power of words, the beauty of the human voice, the gracefulness of movement.

Regardless of where I sat or how much I paid for my ticket, or the hype or whether or not I recognized the actors on stage, in the end it really came down to the story - whether or not it grabbed me, engaged me, resonated with me, held my interest, made me smile or laugh out loud or cry. Once the show ends, that's it. I can't see it in exactly the same way ever again. It can only live on in my mind's eye. That's what makes the experience so unique and so powerful.

I've already got a good start on 2008 with tickets to the national tours of Rent, Spamalot, The Wedding Singer and The Drowsy Chaperone. I'm hoping the theater will take me back to Broadway, and to some new places as well.

Memory House

In February, I saw Susannah Flood give a terrific performance as Emily Webb in Trinity Repertory Company's production of "Our Town." Her mannerisms and speech perfectly embodied a teenage girl - the intelligence and curiosity, the awkwardness and insecurity.

Flood, who was then a student at the Brown University/Trinity Rep Consortium, has since earned her MFA and her Equity card. This month, she's back at Trinity, again giving a memorable performance as a teenager, but this time, a 21st-century one in Kathleen Tolan's two-person play "Memory House."

It's New Year's Eve and Flood's Katia is a high school senior, a child of divorced parents who was adopted from Russia at a very young age. She arrives back at her mother's apartment after a visit to her father's house across town. Her father is a college professor and her mother, Maggie, played by 28-year Trinity veteran Anne Scurria, is a former dancer who now has an office job.

Katia has just a couple of hours to complete an essay for her college application and get it in the mail by midnight, and we're not altogether certain that's going to happen. Going away to college is a step that will change both Maggie's and Katia's lives and over the course of the play, they examine their past, present and future.

The set, designed by Eugene Lee, consists of a small, sparsely furnished living room strewn with books and papers and a kitchen with a working oven. As the audience watches, Scurria makes a blueberry pie - kneading the dough, rolling out the crust, pouring in the filling, and placing it in the oven. We can see and smell it baking. It's a great device because it gives Maggie something physical to do.

Katia's essay has to be in the form of a memory house, a place where she stores her thoughts, experiences and recollections of her past. But she's troubled that she doesn't remember enough about her past, before she was adopted. Without those memories, she's unsure of her place in the world, and it makes her normal teenage sense of insecurity even worse.

She's at a point where she's anxious about her future, questioning what she wants to do with the rest of her life, wondering how she can make a difference in the world. Rather than seeing her parents as the people who rescued her from a dreary, loveless life in an orphanage, she sees them as privileged Westerners who snatched her away from the country where she was born.

That sense of being adrift manifests itself as anger toward her mother. Flood rolls her eyes, bites her lip and sulks as she slouches around their apartment. She talks about her "real" mother and expresses a desire to go back to Russia. She almost taunts her mother as she asks why she gave up doing something she loved, how her father's life seems so much better and happier, and wonders whether she should even go to college.

Scurria also gives a wonderful performance, imbuing Maggie with an abundance of humor, patience and common sense. Maggie is obviously hurt by her daughter's barbs, and makes the occasional sharp retort. She's clearly exasperated by Katia's procrastination over the college application. But overall, Scurria's portrayal is as warm and homey as the pie baking in the oven.

Tolan writes in a very believable, true-to-life way about the relationship between mother and daughter. There's a danger of having "Memory House" turn into a dialogue between a sullen adolescent and her exasperated mother. But Katia's questions about her past give the character a great deal of poignancy. Flood and Scurria make both Katia and Maggie very sympathetic and likable.

Trinity Rep's artistic director, Curt Columbus, says that "Memory House" examines questions of identity, both personal and national, and questions about how to create a "home" when the rules of "homemaking" have changed. Tolan has created "something which speaks to the uncertainty of the modern world in general, and of the turbulence in modern family dynamics within that world."

Katia and Maggie spend most of the play arguing in a way that will surely resonate with anyone who's ever been a parent or a child. Scurria and Flood really make this relationship work. By the end of the play you realize that despite the turbulence, these are two people who truly love each other and care about each other.

Sex and the City on the big screen

Fans of "Sex and the City" have a holiday treat. A very short trailer has been released for the movie, scheduled to open May 30.

The first shot we see is a beautiful bird's-eye view of Manhattan at night, all lit up, and then we hear Sarah Jessica Parker's Carrie Bradshaw: "They say nothing lasts forever. Dreams change, trends come and go, but friendships never go out of style."

Filming recently wrapped in New York City with the cast from the HBO television series reprising their roles. One welcome addition is Oscar winner Jennifer Hudson, who plays Carrie's assistant. I loved Hudson in "Dreamgirls," and I'm really looking forward to seeing her again.

"Sex and the City's" Web site is up and running with photos, a blog and interviews. A synopsis says that the movie will follow the continuing adventures of Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda as they live their lives in Manhattan four years after the end of the television series.

The trailer shows a kiss between Carrie and Big. According to an interview with Parker on the Web site, "As to whether or not Carrie and Big (Chris Noth) are actually getting married, or whether all the photos that were snapped of Carrie in a wedding dress on the streets of Manhattan were for a dream sequence, Sarah takes the Fifth."

I have to admit, I'm getting pretty excited about the movie. I'm halfway through watching Season 4 of the tv series, which ended its six-year run in 2004. And I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. Parker and costars Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon and Kim Cattrall are kind of growing on me. The characters they've created are just fun to watch.

I don't normally have a lot of willpower, but I'm going to try my best to stay away from more trailers and stories that have spoilers about the movie. Sometimes, you watch the trailers and by the time you get the theater, you feel like you've already seen all the good parts. I want to save some surprises for the big screen.

The most wonderful time of the year

Every year since 2001, blogger Rex Sorgatz of fimoculous.com has compiled a gargantuan and truly comprehensive list of lists - the best of the year in every conceivable category.

Whether you're looking for gift ideas or just interested in pop culture, it's a great way to review what many people considered the year's best. The lists cover movies, music, books, architecture, automobiles, gadgets, travel destinations, inventions and much, much more.

The 2007 list is still in its infancy, but he's already got some great entries, including the word of the year, from the New Oxford American Dictionary, the 10 most brilliant inventions, from R&D magazine, and the 50 smartest people in Hollywood, from Entertainment Weekly. There are also links to the safest and most dangerous U.S. cities, the top 25 censored news stories, and, just in case you're interested in yet-to-be-discovered large animals, like the Loch Ness monster, the top 10 cryptozoology stories of the year.

By the end of the month, the list of lists will contain hundreds of entries. In 2006, Sorgatz says, there were "a head-hurting and browser-dragging 712 lists."

While he calls the project "the stupidest thing that I do every year around this time," I really have to disagree. Personally, I consider it a selfless act of public service for Internet surfers everywhere. So check it out.

Happy Hanukkah or Chanukah

No matter how you spell it, Hanukkah, or Chanukah, the Jewish holiday that falls somewhere in the month of December has always been overwhelmed by the omnipresence of Christmas. When I spent a year in Israel, the elementary school where I worked held a holiday assembly. The students lit a Chanukah menorah, recited blessings and sang songs. I didn't recognize any of them. If they'd been Christmas songs, I probably would have known them all.

One of the things I loved about being in Israel was being able to tell which holiday was coming up by walking into the supermarket. For Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year, it was apples and honey. For Chanukah, it was boxes of candles, jelly doughnuts and milk chocolate coins. I was looking forward to having Chanukah take center stage.

One Saturday night, after the Sabbath ended and the mall near my home in Tel Aviv reopened for the evening, I headed out, shopping list in hand, with great anticipation. I wanted to buy a card, a gift and some wrapping paper. For once, I thought, I won't be out of synch with the rest of society.

First, I went straight to the greeting card store. I figured there would be rows of cards, not stuck in a back corner but up near the front. Visions of wrapping paper decorated with dreidels danced in my head.

I made my way down the narrow aisles, past the birthday cards, the bar mitzvah cards, even a display of Christmas cards, tiny Santas and ornaments. (I wasn't surprised to see the Christmas decorations. There are many Arab Christians, Asian workers and recent Russian immigrants who celebrate the holiday). But there was nary a Chanukah card in sight. Surely I had somehow overlooked them.

I asked a sales clerk for help. At first, she had no idea what I was talking about. I realized I was pronouncing the name of the holiday with an "h" instead of the correct Hebrew, with a guttural "ch" that sounds like you're bringing up phlegm. Eventually she just shook her head, bewildered, and said, "A greeting card? For Chanukah?" She suggested I try another store. Several stores later, I finally found a Chanukah card. It was in English, of course, since only American Jews send Chanukah cards.

I went to the next item on my list, a dreidel, the four-sided top that children play with during Chanukah. They come in wood, plastic, metal or a variety of other materials and have four Hebrew letters imprinted on the sides that stand for the phrase "A great miracle happened there." But in Israel, the miracle didn't occur "there." So the phrase is changed to "A great miracle happened here." The last letter is changed from a "shin," for the Hebrew word "sham," meaning there, to a "peh," for the word "po," or here. I knew the one I wanted: a wooden model with colorful scenes of Jerusalem painted on each side. Unfortunately, it had the wrong letter. I was so disappointed. I really wanted an Israeli dreidel.

I didn't even ask about the wrapping paper. I couldn't take any more disappointment. I was beginning to learn that in Israel, the food, the customs, even the message of Chanukah is different.

Chanukah commemorates the recapture of Jerusalem from the Syrian Greeks in 165 B.C.E. by Judah Maccabee and his followers. They cleansed the Temple and relighted the great Menorah, or candelabrum. A tiny bottle of oil was found with only enough to light the Menorah for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days. Chanukah, which means "dedication," is celebrated for eight days. Each night, another candle is lit on the chanukiah, or Chanukah menorah, and a prayer is recited.

Chanukah menorahs are supposed to be placed in the window or outside the home, so that the miracle is known far and wide. But throughout Jewish history, it was considered too dangerous for Jews to call attention to themselves by hanging menorahs in public view. In Israel today, it's common to walk through the Jewish Quarter of the Old City in Jerusalem and see chanukah menorahs displayed in glass cases next to the front door of homes.

It's traditional during the holiday to eat foods made with oil. Latkes, the fried potato pancakes that are a staple of American Jewish Chanukah celebrations, are replaced by sufganiot, jelly doughnuts, in Israel. Trays of them start appearing in every supermarket, bakery and corner store about a month beforehand, and they'll disappear by the end of the week.

Chanukah is one of those holidays that unites all Jews in Israel, secular and religious. I remember walking downtown one evening, right around sunset. Many stores and restaurants displayed lit Chanukah menorahs in their windows. I walked into a record store and the clerk, with dyed blond hair, a nose ring and a paper yarmulke on his head, was lighting a menorah. Down the street, in the city's main square, a group of ultra-Orthodox were lighting a giant menorah.

In Israel, Chanukah seems to be mainly a holiday for children, who get some money from their parents or grandparents. When the Maccabees returned to Jerusaelm, they struck coins to show that they were a free people. So for Chanukah, children receive chocolate coins wrapped in gold-colored paper. Adults might hold parties, but it's not a big time to exchange gifts.

I remember a lecture given by a professor from Tel Aviv University who talked about the different way holidays are approached by Jews in the United States and in Israel.

In the United States, he said, the emphasis is on the miracle, how a tiny amount of oil lasted for eight days. When I was in Israel, the yearlong celebration marking the country's 50th anniversary of independence began on the first night of Chanukah. It probably wasn't a coincidence. In Israel, children learn that Chanukah is most importantly about heroism, about how a small band of people struggled against tyranny and kept their faith alive.

The Curtain won't fall yet

David Hyde Pierce, who won a Tony award for his role in "Curtains," has extended his stay with the show until Aug. 31. Here's what he told Playbill: "I just couldn't say goodbye yet — to this company, to this part, to this great show. Singing and dancing eight times a week may kill me, but I'll die happy."

Personally, I'm thrilled that Broadway audiences will have a chance to see this talented comic actor, who's also become a terrific song-and-dance man, through the summer. (Not to mention a very gracious gentleman. I had the pleasure of meeting him at the stage door afterward.) I loved the show and I loved his performance. I literally leaped up from the couch and cheered when he won the Tony as best actor in a musical!

"Curtains" was the first musical I saw on Broadway, so it'll always hold a very special place in my theatergoing heart. It's got humor, a murder mystery to be solved, intricately choreographed dance routines, a score that's alternately rousing and tender, and characters who are memorable, outsized personalities. It's just wonderfully entertaining from the thrilling opening notes of the overture, to a very dramatic start, to an unbelievably hilarious finish.

I also love the way that the show, the final one from the legendary songwriting team of John Kander and the late Fred Ebb, celebrates the theater. (For more on the cast of characters, check out the show's very complete Web site, which also has interviews, reviews, audio and video clips, and a great collection of e-cards suitable for any occasion).

David Hyde Pierce is funny and sweet as Boston police detective Frank Cioffi, called on to investigate the murder of an actress in a troubled Broadway-bound musical. Cioffi also happens to be a huge musical theater fan, and you can tell from the very moment he walks on stage that he's starstruck, as he tries to fix the show and solve the crime.

Having seen nine other Broadway musicals since "Curtains," I'm even more impressed by his skill in holding the show together. I had a great seat, second row in the center orchestra, and I was so close, I could see the sweat on his face. It's hard to explain, but he was a commanding presence in a way that I didn't always feel, for example, when I watched Roger Bart in "Young Frankenstein." (Of course, I was also sitting much farther away for "Young Frankensten.")

While I don't know whether anyone else in the cast will extend their stay, it's a great ensemble. I especially love Debra Monk as tough-talking producer Carmen Bernstein. Given Broadway's recent labor troubles, her big number, "It's a Business," certainly takes on new meaning. I have to admit, every time I hear on the cast CD that line about the theater being a temple, and Monk responds, "What, so it should only be open on Shabbos?" I laugh. Yes, it's silly, but her delivery is so perfect!

When I first came home, I didn't have the cast CD to listen to, and the show faded from my memory a bit. But since it came out, I've been listening repeatedly, and gaining even more appreciation for the humor and the music. I love the poignancy of "I Miss the Music," and the showstopping "Show People."

My friend Steve recommended "Curtains" to me on the strength of seeing it in Los Angeles during its pre-Broadway tryout. He gave it another rave after revisiting the show at New York's Al Hirschfeld Theatre. As he told me, "Curtains" is everything a Broadway musical should be. I can't say it any better than that.

iPod therefore I am

Podcasts take up a big chunk of my iTunes library. I listen to them when I exercise, when I'm driving around doing errands, when I'm waiting for appointments. It seems hard to believe now, but when I got my first iPod a few short years ago, they barely existed. Now, there are thousands, maybe millions, on every subject imaginable.

In fact, before there were podcasts, I'd make my own, by taping my favorite National Public Radio programs off the Web with a utility called WireTap, converting the files into MP3 format and uploading them to my iPod. It was a pretty time-consuming process. Luckily, I don't have to do that anymore, since any program I could ever want is only a click away.

Jan, the blogger behind Broadway & Me, recently posted a great list of the best podcasts for theater lovers. Since she's got that topic covered, I started to think about some of my favorite podcasts on other subjects.

To start things off, here are some of my favorite podcasts about movies. (And you don't need an iPod or other MP3 player. You can listen to all of these programs on your computer through the show's Web site).

Filmspotting I started listeningn to this weekly podcast out of Chicago when it was hosted by Adam Kempenaar and Sam van Hallgren. I loved the witty banter between the two of them as they discussed, and often argued, about the merits of a particular movie. It was like spending an hour with two good friends talking about a subject they were knowledgable about, and truly loved. Well, Adam's moved on and been replaced by Matt Robinson. While the show's not quite as witty, it's still a very worthwile listen for film fans. Filmspotting features an in-depth interview of at least one new release, listener feedback, and a marathon built around a single theme. Recent marathons have included Hitchcock, documentaries, musicals and silent films. There's also a contest, Massacre Theater, in which the hosts act out a scene from a classic film. Listeners have to guess the film. All the correct entries are put into a hat, and one lucky fan wins the DVD of their choice.

NPR Movies: National Public Radio's arts coverage is unparalleled. Every week, NPR gathers some of the movie-related segments that run on its shows, including Morning Edition, Weekend Edition and Fresh Air, and puts them into one neat podcast package of about 30 minutes. There are reviews of new releases and interviews with actors and filmmakers, as well as movie news, such as how Sputnik left its mark on the silver screen, a stage version of the cult movie "Donnie Darko," the new wave of cinematic talent coming out of Mexico and the 40th anniversary of one of my favorites, "The Graduate."

The Treatment: Elvis Mitchell, a former New York Times and sometime NPR film critic, interviews someone once a week from the world of film, television or popular culture on this show on radio station KCRW in Santa Monica, Calif. Some of my favorite interviews have included Entourage star Adrian Grenier, directors John Badham, Bryan Singer, Paul Greengrass, Ridley Scott and Bill Condon, and playwright Jon Robin Baitz, creator of one of my current small-screen favorites, the hit ABC series Brothers and Sisters.

The Business: Another one of my favorites from KCRW. Here's a description from the program's Web site: The Business looks deep inside the business of entertainment. A half-hour of thoughtful and irreverent dialogue with Hollywood's top deal-makers, filmmakers, moguls, artists and agents, The Business will clue you in on who's making pop culture pop and what's keeping Hollywood's Blackberries juicy. Recently, host Claude Brodesser-Akner has covered the writer's strike in a series of programs, chatted with Hollywood's man in Washington, the Motion Picture Association of America's Dan Glickman. interviewed "Wicked" producer Marc Platt, and discussed the process of product placement in movies and television.

Creative Screenwriting: As you'd expect, Jeff Goldsmith, senior editor of Creative Screenwriting magazine focuses on the writers. Goldmsith conducts an in-depth discussions with writers of current films, talking about how they got their start in the business, the writing process and what their role is once filming begins. When movies are released, it's usually the actors and directors who get the spotlight. But where would they be without the writers? These interviews offer a great look at side of the movie making process that's usually overlooked by the public. Goldsmith also talks with actors, directors and producers. Recently, he's interviewed co-writing and directing team Joel and Ethan Coen about "No Country for Old Men," Ben Affleck about "Gone Baby Gone" and Matthew Michael Carnahan, writer of "The Kingdom."