A New Year!

Amongst the days of working that seemed never ending I did manage to have some fun.
New Year's Eve I worked in the morning and got off at about 2pm. When I got off work I went to Times Square to see how many people had arrived and to survey the area. There weren't that many people there so I was kinda surprised. It was really cold so I think that was part of it. there were a lot of tourists all decked out in New Year's gear. It was hilarious. I chatted them up a bit. Seems like every tourist in NYC is from Michigan. Am I missing something?
I got to see the site of the famous "Times Square Ball Drop." It actually looks pretty small in person. I mean, it's pretty high up. It was the 100th anniversary of the TS Ball Drop so I thought it would get pretty crowded that night. I was actually pretty impressed with the set up the NYPD had in the square. (which isn't actually square shaped) The streets and sidewalks get blocked off to through traffic gradually throughout the day until Times Square is closed down. You also can't just show up and pick a spot. The NYPD has a designate entrance at one point in the square. Everyone at the festivities had to enter through the entrance and they got shuffled around into one big blob of people. So there was no choosing of spots. Good idea. That way no fights broke out (at least over viewing spots).
There were also special bathrooms set up and sponsored by Charmin TP (pictured). Can't imagine what that was like. I did see in the paper on New Year's Day that a lot of people peed in plastic bags to avoid long bathroom lines. Yuck. The headlines read, "Hapee New Year!" Ahahah. I'd hate to be the person standing next to the plastic bag pee-ers.
I had to leave Times Square at around 3pm and I headed to Herald Square. I eventually traveled to Penn Station. I caught a train out to a little city in New Jersey where we performed a "Soapranos" show for a New Year's Eve party.
I had one hell of a time getting to the venue, (think ridiculously overpriced cab ride, thank you NYE). When I got to the venue it had this chintzy medieval themed decor that cracked me up. It was a huge and pretty fancy looking place though. The show was great. The audience was so full of energy that it made it a blast to perform for them. The show ended at 11:30pm. At that point we (the cast) caught up with the crowd (on drinks) and got our party gear on an noisemakers ready.
We danced and drank into 2008. We had a killer DJ, (our friend Dan from the show), free drinks, and tasty dessert. I really can't complain that I spent my New Year's performing. I think it may have been the best New Year's yet. Plus, the old folks (from the audience) cutting a rug with us into the wee hours was too fun.
Here's a shot of me right at midnight. Party much?
At about 2:30am I was back home safely in Queens. I called the west coast to wish them a "Happy New Year" and promptly passed out. (not literally)

I also had my first audition of 2008. I auditioned for the National Theatre for Arts and Education's touring production of "Tartuffe." It went really well and I could tell they like my reading for "Elmire." The only issue was that I don't speak French. (It's a bilingual production). They know (as I informed them) that I would learn the French but I don't think they are exactly desperate. Oh well; so I don't speak French? C'est la vie.

So far the new year has been spent working with an occasional time out. I've decided that '008 is to be the year of less working and more playing. To "kick things off" I'm headed home to Oregon for some time with the family and friends. Auditions here are really slow so I figured I might as well take a little time off. NYC is a great place to live but it's definitely a city you have to take occasional breaks from. It's a cement jungle over here. I want me some trees and horizon. Can't wait!

I'm flying out Wednesday morning and I'll let you know how things are on the left coast.

Happy New Year!