My Tony Award Predictions

As far as award shows go, the Tonys win hands down!  Chris and I have really enjoyed the show the past few years so when the opportunity arose to host a night of Broadway celebration with our new Bible Study Small Group we jumped at it.  It is sure to be lots of fun because each of them is closely tied to the world of theater and auditions. We are super excited to watch it all unfold tonight!  As promised, I have listed out my predictions for you!  Starting with the categories involving plays...

Best Play - The Humans

Best Revival of a Play - Blackbird

 

Best Leading Actor in a Play - Frank Langella for The Father

Best Leading Actress in a Play -
Jessica Lange for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Best Featured Actor in a Play -
Michael Shannon for Long Day's Journey Into Night

Best Featured Actress in a Play - Jayne Houdyshell for The Humans

Best Scenic Design of a Play - David Zinn for The Humans

Best Costume Design of a Play - Clint Ramos for Eclipsed

Best Lighting for a Play - Justin Townsend for The Humans

Best Director of a Play - Joe Mantello for The Humans

As you heard last week, we've seen The Father, Blackbird, and The Humans recently.  We also saw A View from the Bridge and Misery earlier this year.  Long Day's Journey Into Night is on the top of our must see list, but that beast is four hours long so we have to wait for an open weekend and we haven't had many of those lately.  After attending the Drama Desk Awards, we also decided to add Eclipsed to our list of plays to see.  We've waffled on seeing The Crucible (and heard it was just ok) so we may or may not see it, but it's not super likely to find its way into the rotation soon. Now for the categories involving musicals...

Best Musical - Hamilton

Best Revival of a Musical - The Color Purple

Best Book of a Musical - Lin-Manuel Miranda for Hamilton

Best Original Score - Lin-Manuel Miranda for Hamilton

Best Leading Actor in a Musical - Leslie Odom, Jr. for Hamilton

Best Leading Actress in a Musical -  Cynthia Erivo for The Color Purple

Best Featured Actor in a Musical - Daveed Diggs for Hamilton

Best Featured Actress in a Musical - Renee Elise Goldsberry for Hamilton

Best Scenic Design of a Musical - David Korins for Hamilton

Best Costume Design of a Musical - Ann Roth for Shuffle Along

Best Lighting for a Musical - Justin Townsend for American Psycho

Best Director of a Musical - Thomas Kail for Hamilton

Best Choreography - Andy Blankenbuehler for Hamilton

Best Orchestrations - Alex Lacamoire for Hamilton

We were so fortunate to have seen Hamilton to kick off our year - what a truly fantastic production in every possible way!!  I also managed to see The Color Purple with some friends around Christmastime.  I have a long list of want to see shows including Bright Star, She Loves Me, Fiddler on the Roof, Shuffle Along, and Waitress.  Hopefully, I'll find a way to knock out at least a few of those before the end of summer!

Do you watch the Tony Awards?

Andrea :)

UAE Healthy Kidney 10k

Don't let the photo fool you, my first 10k of the season didn't go so great. I can't say I was entirely surprised. It was a miserably hot day...and I really wasn't all that prepared. I'm hopeful the one I run today goes a bit better.

I've contemplated putting a hold on running since last fall. I don't have the same enthusiasm that I used to for it. Maybe it is time to focus on some other types of exercise and circle back to it down the line. It's tough though because I do like the aspect of competing with myself to improve...and it's always fun to get a new medal for my collection! I'll hold off on making a firm decision until after the Queens 10k that I am running with Chris next weekend, but I think it's time to make a change! Especially if I continually report 10k finishing times of 1:28:20 - that's 14:13 per mile. Such a disappointment for me.

Andrea :)

Five on Friday!

I am SO excited to finish the week and begin another wonderful weekend of fun!!  June has been jam packed for us already so let me catch you up on the adventures...

-ONE-

As you saw yesterday, we've been watching plays like crazy.  We've taken it a bit slower with the musicals - mostly because Chris isn't as big of a fan of them.  But also because they are much more difficult to squeeze in on a weeknight.  And our weekends have been crazy full of fun outdoor adventures like running!  Back to my point though - the plays!  Since we'd seen so many this year, we thought it would be fun to attend the Drama Desk Awards this past Sunday.  It was definitely an interesting experience.  We had lots of laughs and enjoyed hearing the strictly timed acceptance speeches - 90 seconds is a lot longer than I thought!

-TWO- 

Chris ran another NYRR 4-miler on Sunday.  And he now has a new personal best!!  I'm so proud of how great he is doing with running!  He managed to run back-to-back races last weekend since we had the inaugural LIC Run the Waterfront 5k together on Saturday.  We are gearing up for our big race of the summer next weekend when we take on the Queens 10k together!

-THREE-

We escaped the hustle and bustle of the city after our 5k last weekend when we drove up to Baldwin Winery in the Hudson Valley.  They were having a Strawberry, Wine, and Chocolate Festival.  I was sold when Chris said the tasting included a chocolate covered strawberry, but we got a whole plate full of tasty treats to enjoy while we tried various wine samples.  Definitely a fun way to spend the afternoon!

-FOUR-

Earlier this week, we trekked out to Citi Field Stadium to see Beyonce perform her Formation World Tour.  To be frank, we were quite disappointed.  I was completely amazed when I saw her perform up close and personal at Super Bowl a few years ago, but she just didn't have the same appeal this time.  It seemed like her moves for every song were exactly the same.  And there was just a real strange feeling surrounding the whole experience.  Maybe I should have anticipated that I wouldn't love it since I am not really a fan of her recent work, but I still had high hopes for her performance factor.  She did manage to impress me with the final dance set done in a shallow pool of water - that type of entertainment was what I had hoped to see all night long!

-FIVE-

I shared with you our Date Box experience in May recently.  Well, the next date box that arrived was equally as fun - and we've only managed to make it halfway through the date!  The date box included a CD to learn some fun dance moves and a competitive card game, but we dove in for the make your own ice cream portion first.  We have plans to finish the rest before the end of the month, but we sure did have fun making (and eating) our ice cream!

What have you been up to in June so far?

Andrea :)

You Know It's Tony Season When...

You know it must be Tony season when you attend two multi-category nominated plays in the same week!  Needless to say, I'm beyond excited for the much anticipated Tony award show this weekend!  I must confess that I am MOST excited to see what song the Hamilton cast performs though.  I have been absolutely obsessed with all things Hamilton since Chris and I saw the show back in early January.  It deserves EVERY single award it wins - BEYOND fabulous!!  I'll post more about my predictions on Sunday, but today I want to share a bit about the plays we've seen recently today!

The first play we saw isn't nominated for any awards, but it caught our attention because it was titled Kentucky. The story finds one sister having escaped country life and her abusive father by making a new life for herself in New York.  When she hears that her sister is planning to get married back home, she attempts to swoop in and save the day by trying to convince her it is a huge mistake.  While the story was predictable, we enjoyed the usual aspects (a cat played by a human) and the familiarity of Kentucky living (lots of Big Blue Nation shout-outs).  The play didn't necessarily reflect the Kentucky I know and love, but I'm glad we took a chance on it.  Definitely gave us some solid laughs if nothing else!

Next, we went to see The Father starring Frank Langella - nominated for both Best Play and Best Actor.  The play follows the steady decline of Langella's character as his mind is slowly stolen by dementia.  We knew we were in for a dramatic 90 minutes, but there seemed to be a number of production flaws that left us scratching our head a bit at the end.  Don't get me wrong, Langella was fantastic!  The story was just a bit difficult to follow at points.  You weren't easily able to determine when a flashback was occurring and when the scene was set in the present time.  Definitely disappointed that aspect wasn't made more clear for the audience.

We continued with the tough and heavy topics when we saw Blackbird a week later.  Una (Michelle Williams) and Ray (Jeff Daniels) have a very convoluted past with one another.  And by convoluted I mean that 15 years prior to the scene viewers watch unfold, 40-something-year-old Ray had "consensual" sexual relations with 11-year-old Una.  A confrontation of sorts takes place in a messy office conference room...and in the end you are left with more questions than you started with regarding their situation.  It is wonderfully performed even though the topic is difficult to stomach at more than one point in the production.  Nominations include Best Play, Best Actor, and Best Actress - all quite worthy nods.  And two very friendly folks at the stage door!

Saving the best for last, we saw The Humans last week.  What a truly wonderful picture of the all-encompassing love present within a family!  This play is simply lovely.  It has you laughing one moment and on the verge of tears the next.  The story is simple - it's Thanksgiving and the family has all gathered to spend the day together.  I found myself resonating so closely with many of the ways the family showed love through teasing and comedy.  It was just a really fun play with a bit of a serious overtone to keep it balanced.  And it happens to be nominated for 6 Tony Awards including Best Play.  I would recommend that anyone go see it!

Which play sounds the most interesting to you?  

Don't forget to check back on Sunday for my full Tony predictions!

Andrea :)

A Beautiful Country Wedding

It is a strange feeling to attend someone's wedding when you can remember them as a baby!  I haven't had that experience often, but I have a feeling it will be happening much more in the coming years.  Due to a bit of an age gap in the spacing of my mom and her siblings, I grew up in the generation almost exactly halfway between my cousins and their children.  That often made me the babysitter/entertainer for my cousin's children in my younger years, but as I aged into adulthood I started to build stronger bonds with the older generation of cousins.  It's an odd reality, but I kinda love it.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, we were set to attend the wedding of one of these cousin's oldest daughter, Kyli Jo.  I flew in a day ahead of Chris to spend some extra quality time with my family.  You can imagine my surprise when I saw my little niece and nephew greeting me at the Cincinnati airport with the most heartwarming signs.  Those two can be a handful at times, but I wouldn't change a thing about either of them.

We began our trek through Ohio caravan style making it to the small metropolis of Maumee just in time for a quick trip to the hospital.  The bride-to-be's sister (aka the MOH) had to be taken in for an emergency appendectomy just two days before the wedding.  Can you imagine?!?!

After spending Saturday morning relaxing and playing in the hotel pool, we made our way over to visit with family for the afternoon.  The day of the wedding was full of more family time as we awaited the ceremony inside the barn venue.  Last minute instructions were given to Brinley and Landon as they prepared for their role as flower girl and ring bearer.  And then it was time for a beautiful country wedding!

The rest of the night we danced and enjoyed sampling a variety of tasty cupcakes - yum!  Kyli's horse, Zip, even made a special appearance for the momentous occasion.  By the end of the night, I was completely exhausted from all the festivities!  It was truly a wonderful day with family!   

What do you enjoy most about a family wedding?

Andrea :)

LIC Living

When we moved to LIC (Long Island City) a couple of years ago, I had my doubts about the area.  It was a far cry from my previous anything and everything at your fingertips midtown Manhattan location.  And, of course, it involved the subway - ugh!!  Fortunately, it didn't take me long to warm up to the area.  Not to mention the fact that it has grown by leaps and bounds in just those two short years!

One of my favorite parts of LIC is the waterfront park area.  We stumbled upon it when roaming around the neighborhood our first Spring.  I've done most of my short runs in that area over the past year, and I've really grown to love it.  And you can't beat the view there!  Fast forward to about a month ago when we decided to check out the LIC Springs festival over on Vernon Blvd and discovered an upcoming inaugural Run the Waterfront 5k.  Needless to say, we promptly signed up.

The 5k was a run/walk format and really just a fun way for locals to celebrate life in LIC.  Chris and I were pumped to find out we'd be able to walk to the start!  We really enjoyed the experience from bib pick up at LIC Landing (complete with a free drink!) to running through familiar streets together.  We weren't the fastest in the bunch, but we really enjoyed the community feel of the race day experience.  Definitely something we would do again!

Andrea :)

Our May Date Nights

As always, we stayed busy in May. We participated in some training runs for our joint 10k run coming up in just two short weeks!  We spent some time checking out Tony nominated Broadway plays.  And we spent Memorial Day weekend visiting with some of my family in Ohio to celebrate my cousin's wedding.  In the midst of all the fun, our date nights prevailed!  I introduced us to a new date night experience while Chris planned a night of comedy fun!

Chris discovered that Colin Quinn was testing new material for his next big show over at the Comedy Cellar so we decided to check that out.  We've seen Colin on Broadway in Long Story Short and also off Broadway in Unconstitutional and The New York Story.  We knew it was a steal to spend an evening listening to him test his new stuff for merely $20.  He's a funny man. Lots of laughs throughout the night!

I came across a fun date idea while skimming my instagram feed - DateBox. Since I found a code for a free month, I figured it would be fun to surprise Chris with it and figure out from there if it was something we wanted to keep in the mix on a regular basis.  The idea is brilliant - everything you need for a fun date night at home is shipped to you in a handy box at the beginning of each month!

Our first one had an adventure theme.  It involved making candles that smelled like the forest and preparing chicken soup and s'mores to enjoy while we discussed our past adventures together.  It also included a deck of cards and rules for some really fun two person card games that we enjoyed!  We loved how everything was ready to go in one place.  We decided to give it a try for a couple more months so I'll be sure to keep you informed on the other neat ideas that we get to experience!

What is your favorite kind of date night?

Andrea :)