Went into NYC last night and met Nelson to go to see RENT on Broadway. Oh my god- the show was so incredible. On the one hand while I’m so bummed that it took me this long to get to see it, on the other hand the timing couldn’t have been any better. First of all, Adam Pascal (Roger) and Anthony Rapp (Mark) from the original broadway cast and from the movie version were back in the broadway show. Seeing them live was so awesome, I mean those boys can SING. Unbelievable. The actor who played Angel was great last night (so good that I didn’t miss the actor from the movie/the originator from the original cast), but I definitely prefered the original/film actors for Tom Collins and Maureen. Although the Tom in last night’s show did a great job with I’ll Cover You (reprise).  Now that I have seen both the movie and the show, the whole story makes a lot more sense- it’s a lot more rounded out. I think that the movie and show really compliment eachother in that each tells a part of the story that the other is missing.

Anyway, the other reason the timing couldn’t have been better was because during intermission, I looked over into the aisle and saw a very familiar face, but I couldn’t place it. After going thru the mental list of who she could be and why I knew her, I realized it was Tracie Thoms! She is the actor who played Joanne in the film version of RENT and she was sitting in the theatre watching the show! Once I realized it was her, I watched her during the second act singing along with the cast and dancing around in her seat and cheering like crazy. It was so fun to watch her sing along with such excitement and enjoyment. At the finale, some of the actors winked or waved at her. A few people asked for her autograph during intermission and she seemed very nice about it. I didn’t want to bother her but on the way out I kinda timed it so we would be exiting together and I told her that I thought she was incredible in the movie and that I loved her singing. And that I have my 8yr old twin boys listening to the RENT movie soundtrack in the car all the time. She seemed to like that and was very friendly and gracious- not to mention young, skinny, and so pretty.

So it was a great, great night. We even walked back to Penn and made it just in time for the train home (which was so packed due to the Jimmy Buffet concert at the Garden so we had to stand all the way home on the local train-yuck). As soon as the show was over, Nelson asked what we were going to see next. Maybe Spring Awakenings? Any suggestions?

Crazy day today. Boys to church in the morning with John, Timmy went on some errands with me. Down to the beach to do the last cleanup of the year since they close down today until next summer (waaaa!). Over to their cousin’s birthday party and then to their house for a birthday dinner. In the meantime, I had a photoshoot down at the beach for my friend Marianne. And one of my all time favorite movies was on today (although no time to watch it) 25th Hour with Edward Norton. Oh, I have SUCH a huge crush on him. Now gotta start preparations for tommorrow- back to school.

Here are a few shots from today at the beach playground. Boys were wearing their new shirts from Aunt Maureen. Just love those bright colors!

For their First Communion, Grandpa Ken bought the big boys shares in a racehorse, and here she is! Her name is Wheel Charmer and she is going to be racing at Belmont this fall. We finally got to meet her this weekend over at the stables at Belmont where she is currently living and training. Let me just say that 1. even though Belmont is in the middle of Queens (those of you who know me, know how I LOVE Queens-sarcasm) you would never know it. It’s like a whole nother world back there. There a chickens and roosters cock-a-doodle-dooing and walking around with baby chicks. Crazy. and 2. the horses are so cool. A little scary and intimidating but so cool.

Grandpa had the good forsight to bring some carrots along as a little ‘nice to meet you, here’s a snack’ treat. It worked well. Wheelie wasn’t in her stall when we arrived so we walked around the stable a little, saw the other horses, met her trainer briefly, and checked out the chickens. We even saw a runaway horse gallop by. Then Wheelie came back from her walk and got a little rinse off and went back to her stall. We were informed by her groom (Isobelle) that she is agressive and bites so we were a little wary at first. But the boys were very brave and jumped right into feeding her carrots and petting her face and neck. She didn’t bite and seemed interested or at least tollerant of them. No biting or agressiveness at all. She was sweet and pretty. Very muscular too.

We are looking forward to seeing her in her first race in October (hopefully). The boys want her to win at least one race just so we can go into the winners circle with her. It would be nice. We’ll see. We are all looking forward to visiting her again soon.