Darlings, Did You Know, Besides The William Morris Theater Agency, There Was A Similarly Named Man Who Was A Designer?????????????

                                  January has just opened the floodgates of fashion design for me, girls, and here are some samples by William Morris.  The above would be perfect for the living room, wouldn't it??????????

                                        And this....wouldn't this just be perfect for the foyer??????????????

                                This, I think, would make the kitchen look charming and cozy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 And how about this for the bathroom?  Calm and relaxation when it is needed.

                                January is shaping up to be an unusual month.  No telling what I may discover next!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  So, stay tuned, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Cannot Stand These "Kohl's Mom" Commericials!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                           Now, don't get me wrong, girls.  Like Stephanie Courtney as Flo on Progressive, I am happy that Ellie Kemper has this gig.  I had no idea she was on "The Office," because I could not stand that show, either.  But "Koh's Mom" is nauseating.

                            First, she is too preppy looking for her age.  And second, she is so icky, sticky, pure and wholesome that, as a diabetic, my blood sugar rises at the sight of these ads.

                            Who the hell thought this up in the first place?  Again, kudos to Ellie, but the idea was terrible!  Is this the best advertisers can do?  No wonder there is so tension and conflict within the media.

                              I know Stephanie Courtney has been doing Flo for over 15 years.  So, I guess audiences are stuck with Ellie as Kohl's Mom.

                                But, really, is Kohl's really quality?  Do you think ANNA would stop there?

                                I prefer Williams Sonoma, myself, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 

Today Is Little Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  It is also known as the Epiphany, Three Kings Day, and Twelfth Night--yes, like the Shakespeare play.  But most importantly--

                                 It is the official end of the Holiday Season!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Wah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Tomorrow all the home decorations come down, and we go back to normal, which, after the holidays seems so dreary.  There is the Long Winter ahead, where I hope to read a lot of books, and things will eventually fall into place, but I sometimes get SAD during this period.  That is Seasonal Affect Disorder, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  It is hard saying goodbye to all the color and excitement we have had since Thanksgiving.  Every year one thinks it may last forever, but it does not.

                                    But the days are slightly getting longer, so keep one's eyes on the skies, and hope will fill the heart.

                                    Time to get on with the year, girls!  But, ah, the memories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

January Is Polar Bear Month!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Polar Bear Clubs are prevalent all over the country, darlings, but the definitive one, as seen here, is the one at Coney Island.  Note the famous Wonder Wheel in the background.

                             Would you believe, girls, that this tradition started at Coney Island, back in 1903?  That is right. So, this has been going on for 123 years.

                               It is simple. One wears swim wear, goes onto the beach and into the freezing water on January 1, each year.

                                Have you seen some of the people who do this?  Their skin has a toughness and hardness that I can't decide is from age or having done this polar bear thing for years.

                                  To think, when I was in my Twenties, maybe even my early Thirties, I wanted to do this.  What harm could there be?

                                   Decades later, I know better.  Plunging into that water further than my feet would probably cause me to go into hypothermic shock and throw my heart rhythm so askew I would have to be rushed to the ER again.  Or worse.  It is not worth it.

                                     But, like watching those in Times Square on New Years Eve, it is fun to watch the Coney Island polar bears take the plunge????????????????

                                       How many of you are willing to do it, darlings??????????????????????

Girls, Would You Believe I Have Home Decorating Ideas Already??????????????????????????

                               The other day, I was thinking about a kaleidoscope, which is something I have not owned in a long time.  I thought about how the patterns are formed, and what they are formed with.  Then I wondered how a kaleidoscope is made.  I am sure I could find it online, but I would never be able to do it.

                              Then I thought--how about home decorating in a kaleidoscopic style????????????

                               Remember German Expressionism Cinema???????????  Or when the stage in the original, 1971 production of "FOLLIES" transformed into Loveland?  That was the concept I found to go with.  Let me show you some examples.

                            How about this for the kitchen, darlings, both walls and floor?  It would be the talk of the neighborhood, let alone the borough of Brooklyn, and even the pit bulls across from us would love it.

                 Now, of course, for the living room, stronger color is needed.  So, I suggest this; I cannot wait to get our living room looking like this.  What a perfectly pink place to relax in.

                            I honestly was not sure about this one, at first.  But then I decided the foyer, where one enters our place, would be just perfect.  It lets you know you are not slipping into the conventional.  Bust then, those who know me personally know that already.  But wouldn't this make for the most exquisite foyer?????????????????????????????

                           And lastly, the bathroom.  Definitely some light pastels for this one.  Nice and soothing isn't it.  Especially when one is having the experience I had the other night.  But for everyone this can be bright, powdery and comforting.  And think of those perfumed scents!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                            So, here are some early home decorating ideas to think about, as Spring slowly approaches.

                            Remember, color at all times, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                                    

The Big Surprise Is "CHESS" Was Not Checkmate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           I was expecting that, darlings.  I mean, just look at this poster.  If you awoke in the middle of the night, and saw this, wouldn't you be scared?  Lea Michele looks like one of the Brides Of Dracula waiting to suck the next person's blood.  Rumor on the Rialto is backstage she keeps vials of the blood of her victims!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             But that is as far I am going to go with the Lea bitching, because she surprised me by giving a genuinely impassioned performance.  In one of the early numbers, trying to bring down Freddy Trumper from his high, I thought she was auditioning for the role of Fantine.

                                               Now, Lea has never been known for vocal subtlety.  So, most of the songs she does fine with, particularly "Nobody's Side," where I can say she genuinely stopped the show.  My caveat with her was with "Someone Else's Story."  It is not entirely her fault because the song has been moved to the wrong place.  But it is a song of reflection and introspection, and Lea cannot do that. All she can do is belt like a belting trained seal.

                                                 Let's talk about Aaron Tveit and Bryce Pinkham.  Playing Freddie Trumper, and The Narrator, respectively, they are the true stars of this show.  Tveit nails all of Freddie's demons without losing sympathy.  He is the second hottest man working on Broadway; the second act opener, "One Night In Bangkok," has him in his underwear, just like Jonathan Groff six blocks up.  I am telling you; gay men are having a time running back and forth between the theaters showing these show--the Imperial ("CHESS") and Circle In The Square ("Just In Time').  Tveit does a very moving rendition of "Pity The Child," which I was waiting for all evening, because it too had been placed in the wrong spot.  Who wants to wait till the end to get to know Freddie and Florence?  Shouldn't we from the beginning???????????

                                                   Despite what I have said, Nicholas Christopher is the true problem here. Having played a superb Pirelli in "Sweeney Todd," and gone on for Josh Groban several times in the title role, I suspected he had a voice.  And he does.  The trouble is his rendering of the songs, especially the beautiful "Anthem" which ends Act One, are feats of technique, but with no distinctive warmth.  Yes, he has the voice, but it is a one note rendition.  Compared to David Carroll in the 1988 original, Christopher cannot hold a candle to that.  And Michael Mayer has pretty much directed the actors on a one note, as though still doing "Spring Awakening."  Ugh!  Thank God for Tveit and Bryce Pinkham who make the roles their own.  I cannot recall The Narrator from the original, but he is a presence that livens this show greatly.  No, he does not appear in his underwear, but it is a nice thought.  The voices of these two men save "CHESS" from becoming the disaster it could have been.

                                                      I feel so privileged to have seen Judy Kuhn, David Carroll and Philip Casnoff in the original production.  Their presence was with me as I sat through this one.

                                                       See it for the haunting cult score all of us Theater Queens love, and the two gentlemen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        And bring a crucifix to hold back Lea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Saga Of David's Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Next to my late Uncle Tom, who was my godfather, David is the only New Years Baby I know.  So, it was important to celebrate his birthday in a way I knew he knew it would be special.  So, unlike myself, no place where ANNA has been cited.  David has been craving Indian food for months, while I have been dreading it, for reasons that shall be clear.  But, for his birthday, I bit the bullet and took him on January 1 to Mint Bay in our neighborhood of Bay Ridge.

                               We each shared a Samosa, which was delicious. David had Lamb Korma, which was one of his favorites.  I had what I thought was the mildest dish, Chicken Biryani.  It usually is but here--WOW!  My mouth was flaming from spices!!!!!!!!!  We each had a dish of rice pudding for dessert, though, let me tell you, girls, the one at Something Greek is better.

                                   And that was that.  David was happy, and I was pleased.  But then we walked into our apartment, and my stomach felt funny. and I knew I had to head for the bathroom.  You guessed it, I was emptied out like a colonoscopy prep.  It took that short a time for the Indian food to react on me.  But it was not done with me yet.

                                    We went to bed, and right to sleep.  I awoke in the middle of the night--around 3AM--with a horrible stomachache, and the feeling I was going to throw up any second.  I knew it was the Indian food.  And we were supposed to go to The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular the next day.  I was running lists of friends I could pawn off the ticket to, while deciding if I had to throw up or not.  Nature decided for me; I went to sleep, and when I awoke hours later, the stomachache and nausea were gone.  And never came back.

                                    But that is it for me with Indian food.  At least for the next 364 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                Yes, we made it to Radio City the next day, for the 2PM show, which was David's choice, but what a time we had getting in.  As I recalled several years back, the management of crowd control was not good, and has not gotten better with time.  We had a time with the whole system of Ticketmaster, I was trembling whether of not we would get in, because I had paid a hefty sum for those tickets, but fortunately it all worked out.

                                  The show was dazzling and brought me to smiles.  Girls, how many of us, when young dreamed of being a Rockette???????????  You better believe I did.  The coordination of the entire show--costume changes, animals on and off stage, use of film and other media--I could just imagine the chaos backstage and how many stage managers and techies it took to put this on.  If someone were to approach me in the forthcoming year, to say "We would like you to stage manage "The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular," I would say, "What?  Are you crazy?"  Then I would go through an Equity directory, find all the best unemployed stage managers.", and assemble a dynamite team.  Exactly like what was done here.

                                 Now, The Nativity.  Oh, my God.  I fell to my knees, like Jennifer Jones in "The Song Of Berandette."  When the angel appeared in the sky, and sang "The First Noel," I was in tears.  Then the curtain parted and we saw, the shepherds, the animals, the Magi, with Mary, Jospeh and the Baby Jesus in the manger.  I am telling you girls; I have said this and will say it again--I do not think the Real Thing could have been better staged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     For those who think theater craft is gone--and I know  many of you Broadway Theater Queens do--I urge you to visit this attraction.  You have one more day for it this year, so, if you don't make it now, plan on visiting it come Christmas season 2026.

                                       And Happy Birthday to David, my love.  I had as much fun as if it had been my birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        Happy New Year, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!