I just sprinted through Times Square. I was in Astoria this afternoon looking at a couple apartments, and I left early enough to get to work by 4 (I'm working the front desk this evening). However, they like to do maintainance on the subways on weekends, and for some reason the N train toward Manhattan was closed, so I had to go farther into Queens, get on a different train, and this one decided to stop and sit in the tunnel between 2 stops for 20 minutes. So, in essence, I was 30 minutes late to work. All is forgiven though in NY when you have a good train delay story.


This last apartment I looked at was really good and decently priced. It was in a nice building in a nice area of Astoria in Queens...the only downside was the fact that it didn't have a living room (which we decided we need). Both bedrooms were ridiculously big though. And the real estate agent looked/acted like Lil Kim and carried a teacup Yorkshire Terrier in her bag. There were 6 other people looking at it at the same time, so if we don't just in the next 5 minutes, it will go to someone else...which is probably okay.


I'm trying to keep a positive attitude about finding an apartment in New York. Put lightly, it is a painful process that should not be subjected upon anybody.


In other news, I've been working quite a bit this week. I've settled into the routine now, and with the extra shifts at the Patron Lounges and the front desk, I'm workin about 55-60 hours/week. Multiply my salary by 40 and you might mistake me for an investment banker!


Tomorrow is the Patron Sneak Peek which is taking place at the Biltmore. Basically, there will be a panel of our artistic people discussing our season for our patrons with a cocktail schmooze-fest to follow. I will be helping with the check in/schmooze parts. Tuesday I'm working in the Patron Lounge at night, and then Wednesday is our very first Patron Night. Each MTC show has 3 Patron Nights where the upper-level patrons come to a special pre-show dinner or post-show cocktail hour. For Mauritius, there is a pre-show dinner at a Russian restaurant called Firebird http://www.firebirdrestaurant.com/html/index.htm where I'll be helping with damage control in addition to running the Patron Lounge at the theatre.


This last Tuesday I got free tickets to the MTV taping of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Apparently, MTV and the producers of the musical thought it would be a smart idea to broadcast it on TV. The musical was overall pretty bad, filled with lackluster songs, unimpressive sets, and poor casting choices, but taking it for what it is, it was still fun. Oh, and everyone had to wear pink to get into the theatre, too. Mostly, it was filled with screaming 12-year-old girls who were more excited about the presence of the stars(?) from MTV's The Hills than the actual musical. Check it out October 13th, even though you probably won't see me.

We got assigned out MTC mentors this week as well. They are important people from other departments, and we each get a different one to help expand our horizons, allowing us to have a second mini-internship. I got Kristin in Casting (my first choice!) and the other interns are jealous. We are going to have our first coffee meeting this week.

Our intern seminar this past week was RIDICulous. The Internship Coordinator Amy is good friends with the dramaturg at Disney Theatrical, so she got him to come in and talk with us. He is really friendly, has a doctorate, and is living the LIFE. He basically has a ton of power and say with actual artistic decisions that are being made in Disney musicals on Broadway (Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, and the much anticipated upcoming The Little Mermaid, etc.) He gave a lot of helpful advice, and spilled a lot of dirty secrets on Mermaid fiascos with script changes, last minute music re-writes, etc before it opens in November.

Up in the Heights this week, my landlord Ybelka decided to build a wall in the living room in order to create a fourth bedroom she can rent out. Since she doesn't live there, she gave me the money to pay the men who were doing the labor Wednesday evening. I was not having it, but after a bit of begging, I decided I would do her the favor (plus, she emptied out 2 mousetraps in my room that night that contained 1 dead mouse and 1 semi-dead mouse (that's a whole 'nother bucket of worms)). ANyway, the men built the wall, I did a little quality control to make sure it was complete, and then gave them the money, which apparently was about half of what they were expecting. After explaining to them in my best Spanish that they'd have to go through Ybelka if they had a problem with the payment, they shook my hand and left. Did I mention that the lightswitch to my bedroom, which used to be in the living room, is now in this 4th person's bedroom? Ah, the glamorous life...

bet on it.

It's autumn in New York! The last two days have been incredible because I didn't sweat buckets as I stood on the platform waiting for the subway to come. It's still hot down there, but since it's cooler outside, walking everywhere is much more bearable. Yesterday was a perfect day. All the fashionable New Yorkers broke out their new fall attire and took to the streets. I met up with Alex and we did another round of apartment hunting in Queens, and we saw one that might be a possibility. Since he's done with his job now, he can come up more often and we can get this searching ordeal licked. Then, he headed back to New Jersey, so I did a little shopping on Fifth Avenue and then sat in Central Park and read scripts for awhile. Part of my job is knowing all about the plays we are doing this season, so I'm in the process of reading all of those now.

After the park, I walked over to Lincoln Center (where the Metropolitan Opera is, along with Julliard, The American Ballet, etc) and I just soaked it all in. It was the first time I got over there, and I felt like it was one of the most spectacular and comforting places I've seen in New York so far.

This week went very fast for me. I'm pretty much all trained in at work now, so I will probably start actually taking calls on the Patron Hotline this week. I spent a lot of time getting the Patron Lounge ready for its season debut on Thursday. Everything is well-stocked and in place. I was a little worried about running it, but after my first time, I've found that it's actually a lot of fun. I basically just chat with the patrons before the show and at intermission as I get them wine and make sure their experience is going well. One man even gave me a $10 tip just for watching a shopping bag of his for the first half of the show!

I got news that Aunt Janine passed away as this was going on Thursday, and it saddens me because I thought for sure that she had longer. But, it may be better this way instead of having it drag out longer and be more unpleasant in the end.

On Wednesday, MTC staff were invited to the final dress rehearsal of Mauritius before it started previews on Thursday. I wasn't as sure as to what the outcome would be when I read the script, but after seeing it staged, I can say that it's an incredible play. The cast is amazing, and there is a great dynamic tension that plays out well throughout the show. The staff at MTC were very happy, and there's talk that it might be the best play we've done here in some time. I think there's definitely some Tony buzz starting up. It's so cool to see the advertisements for it all over the city too. And the theatre, the sets, and everything else look great.

I had to stop by the theatre to drop something off on Friday before the show, and as I was leaving through the stage door I literally ran into Allison Pill (the main actress) smoking a cigarette. It was funny.

We started our weekly intern seminar this week where a different head of each department comes in and talks to the interns for 90 minutes. This week was George, the director of Telefundraising at MTC, and he was great. He has a pretty zany life story and he offered a lot of useful advice for making it in an industry like New York theatre. He really emphasized how you have to spend time learning names and knowing the important who's, what's, and where's of the industry's history.

Right now I'm working the front desk at MTC from 9:30-4 and then I'm working in the P.Lo for tonight's show. I've found I actually can make a bit of extra income by doing these outside-business-hours jobs. I got a new bank yesterday because apparently US Bank is not really a US bank. I decided to go with Chase because they have the most ATMs in NYC. I need to set up my direct deposit and then I'll be good to go.

Times Square (about a block from work)

Self-explanatory.

Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry

Ground Zero (they are just starting to rebuild)

Today posters in Rockefeller Center (this one's for you, Mom!)

Central Park

the first days.

Greetings from the Great White Way! I decided it might be a good idea to start a new blog as one way to keep in touch while being here in New York. I know most of you read The Milanese Exploit, so hopefully you will continue to read this one. In Milan, however, it was not as easy to keep in touch, so the blog was my main form of communication. Here it’s a different story. So just because I’m writing a blog doesn’t mean you get out of calling/writing/emailing me, and I will try to remember that on my end, too.

It’s been over a week since I’ve been here, but it definitely seems like longer. I pride myself on the fact that I’m quick to adapt, and I’ve found that after spending this short time here, I’m pretty well-adjusted. There has just been so much that has occurred in the last eleven days, so it’s been a little emotionally volatile for me.

First of all: I love my internship. For having so little idea of what I’d actually be doing at Manhattan Theatre Club before I came to New York, I am quite pleased with how this has worked out. The people are fantastic: it’s a really fun, young crowd that runs this multi-million dollar theatre company in the middle of Times Square, and I’m so excited that I get to be a part of it. Yesterday, we had a full-staff meeting (about 80 people) with introductions (the artistic director of twenty-some years, Lynne Meadow, is taking a year sabbatical and a well-known Broadway director named Daniel Sullivan is filling her spot for the time). It was really fitting for MTC: an interesting mixture of serious business and joking around.

My department (Development) has a lot of cool people as well. My bosses are pretty demanding--yet very nice--and they are willing to answer any and all questions that I have as I adjust into the position. Overall, my job consists of several different areas. Here’s a brief outline…

I manage the Patron Lounges at both our theatre—the Biltmore—and the New York City Center where we rent space for our smaller productions. These Patron Lounges are perks for those who give MTC a lot of money each year to be patrons. So, basically I handle all the scheduling, ordering, facilitating between the space and the company, and other random tasks.

I also speak with patrons on a day-to-day basis through the Patron Hotline where they can call to order and exchange tickets and make other various requests/demands. These people are the highest of the high when it comes to New York A-Listers. We’re talking Tom Brokaw, R.L. Stein, CEOs of Fortune 500 companies…the list goes on and on. For this part of the job, I have to learn this software application called Tessitura that is used by most large arts organizations to store patron info, book tickets, and perform everything else you could ever want. My head is still spinning from “Tess Training”, but it is a really useful tool that will become indispensable to me in the future. I am trying to learn it thoroughly so I don't look like an idiot when I talk to someone who makes more than the GDP of most Latin American countries.

I also do a variety of other tasks, from conducting patron research (part of my job is to know all about these people from their jobs to their kids to their interests...but it's okay: I can find SO much information about them on Google!) to creating auction letters and certificates (basically every New York foundation asks us to donate tickets to their black-tie event’s silent auction). I won’t bore you with the other things I do, which, being an intern, includes the obligatory occasional copy duty and phone duty at the front desk.

The office itself is pretty neat. It’s two floors of a large building and the floors are connected with a nifty open staircase in the middle. The 8^th floor holds reception and all of the studio spaces and the 9^th floor houses all of the offices. Everywhere you look on the walls hang large photo stills of most famous people you can imagine in plays they starred in at MTC. Right now, we are in rehearsals for our first play of the season, Mauritius, so I often see the actors when they are not in rehearsal and it’s pretty surreal. No one too famous in this show, but people you would know if you saw them from their roles in various TV shows and movies (Allison Pill, Bobby Cannavale, F. Murray Abraham). Other big casting agencies will rent space from us as well to use for auditions because we have a pretty sweet set-up, and in the past week I've been there while auditions for Les Mis and Wicked were taking place.

The other interns are great, too. We have intern lunches and get to go to a lot of free theatre events around the city. I have a feeling that we’ll be hanging out quite a bit in the future.

I have spent a lot of time when I’m not at work trying to explore the city and get my bearings. I’ve learned the subway routes pretty well just by going around. Ground Zero, the Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Statue of Liberty, Union Square, Bryant Park, Soho, the Village…I’m making my way. Right now I’m living by the A train and the 1 train in Washington Heights (WAY up north on Manhattan). This is probably the part about NY that I am loving least right now. My apartment and building is nothing to look at, and by nothing to look at, I mean a bit dirty, noisy, and generally gross. The neighborhood is similar. But, that’s what I get for paying by the week, and I keep telling myself that Alex and I will find a place soon enough.

Speaking of which, he came into the city on Saturday and we started neighborhood shopping. For our price range, we’d like to live in Queens because it is a little bit cheaper but still safe. He is finished with his job in New Jersey tomorrow, so then he will come up to the city for a couple days and we will hunt more aggressively. I swear I will truly love this town once I get settled and have a place to call my own.

I met up with Laura Zeccardi (a Mac friend) this last weekend. She is going to grad school at NYU and lives in a dorm in a really nice area of Brooklyn. Since we are both new to the city, we went exploring, particularly in the Soho neighborhood, a really upscale, trendy area with a lot of bars and shopping. The next night I went out with a Waverly friend Cindy who was in town visiting some of her friends from Jersey. We went to an Ethiopian restaurant and then headed down to Little Italy (it took me back a bit).

Well, I should wrap up for now. Tomorrow I get to go to the invited dress rehearsal for staff for Mauritius, and there is a pre-show cocktail party at a bar nearby the Biltmore! Then, on Thursday the show opens for PREVIEWS. While open to the public, they will tweak things before all the big critics, Tony voters, etc. come. So, the Patron Lounge opens Thursday as well with me working it, so I have been scrambling to get everything ready for that.

I hope you all are well and have been enjoying the past couple weeks. I promise the future posts will be more thoughtful and reflective, I just got a little carried away with getting a whole bunch of info into the first one. I will try and post some pictures very soon of some things I have seen so far, but the internet connection at my apartment is very, very slow and spotty (we have to steal it, of course), so it might take awhile before those get up.