Joey Khoury at Birdland. AMEEEZING!!!

So, one of my dearest friends in the world, the lovely and talented Joey Khoury performed a Christmas Concert at Birdland Jazz club tonight. He (along with two other talented boys) were SPECTACULAR!!! Joey, I love you so much. Don't kill me for posting a video of you. I got choked up and emotional during the show. I was overflowing with pride!

Christmas: A Season For Parties, Parties, and more Parties!!!

Okay, so for the entire month of December, there is something literally every single night. It's only the 15th, but I am already exhausted!
Don't get me wrong. I love the celebration. I love getting together with friends. I love an excuse to dress up. I just don't like waking up at 7am after going to bed at 2am every night for three weeks. No wonder I get deathly sick every time I go home for Christmas. My body finally has a chance to collapse.
So far this year, there have been some great parties.
Joe F threw a great Christmas party- amazing food, great crowd, and the first snowfall of the year enjoyed on his private midtown roof.
Chuck (Eve Starr) had a birthday a few days later. Again, the best company you could ask for. This is someone who's birth I would gladly celebrate... only Chuck loves Sandi Patti as much as I do.
Last Friday was Meredith's annual Holiday party. Always a gathering of my favorite Mormon friends... and one of the only times during the year we can all get together.
Sunday me, Seth and Rodolfo spend the evening fighting tourists and Long Islanders at Rockefeller Center. I have semi-severe crowd phobia, but it was worth it. I love Christmas!
This coming week brings several more parties. I am looking forward to the fun with friends, but to be honest... I am most looking forward to Saturday when I board a plane for Rexburg and can just chill for a week doing NOTHING!

Gypsy of the Year

I took a day off work last week. It was WONDERFUL!
Not only did I get to do lunch with friends Kevin and Doug (in town from LA), but I was able to see the annual Gypsy of the Year awards. GOTY is an event where the Broadway community comes together to put on a variety show of sorts to celebrate the fundraiser for Broadway Cares: Equity Fight AIDS.
Each Bway show performs a number- some are funny spoofy sketches, some are beautiful poignant performances. Either way, it's a great way to spend an afternoon (certainly better than the office). Some of the highlights included Tyne Daly hosting, and wearing the Equus horse hoof shoes, Daniel Radcliff doing a tap number, and the exquisite Lion King cast dance number.
It was great to see Kevin and Doug. I have been able to see Kevin a few times over the past three years, but I have not seen Doug since our Mediterranean Cruise adventures in 2006 when we vacationed in Croatia, Turkey, Greece, and Italy together.


Kevin, Karyn, and Doug outside the New Amsterdam Theater.

Doug, Paul, Kevin, and Karyn at Vynl for lunch.

Kevin, Karyn, and Doug in Rhodes, Greece.

Cast of The Lion King Performing at Gypsy of the Year. AMAZING!

I NEED YOUR ADDRESS!

Dear friends and family,
Due to a series of unfortunate events (computer crashed, had to reformat my palm, etc... ) I lost most of my addresses.
I am hoping to get Christmas cards sent out this year. PLEASE give me your address- even if you think I have it.
If you don't feel comfortable leaving it in a comment, feel free to email it to me at karynmann@gmail.com.
Hope everyone is enjoying the Holiday season so far!!!

Haul out the Holly!

I couldn't wait any longer. By noon on Thanksgiving day, Ashley, Jake, and I had decided it was time to go get our Christmas tree.
Getting a Christmas tree in NYC is a bit of a chore as we do not have the convenience of a car, so after selecting our 9 foot blue spruce on the corner of 110th and Broadway, we were forced to carry it the four blocks back to the apartment (and up four flights of stairs). Too bad I don't have those pictures to show you!
It was well worth it. In addition to eating, singing around the piano, and diagnosing our families mental disorders, we also spent Thanksgiving afternoon decorating our apartment.
Ashley's mom was in town and cooked an entire traditional Thanksgiving meal for us. During the course of the day, Eddy, Wade, Don, and Jacob joined in the fun.
If I can't be with my family for Thanksgiving, I certainly had the next best thing.

Jacob, me, Jake, and Don around the decorated tree.

Sitting around my apartment digesting dinner.

Rhona and Don untangling beads.

Jake, Me, Pearl, and Eddy before the decorating frenzy began.

Ashley getting creative with bows and branches. Well done Ash!

We are the Champions

My good friend Lee Champion came to town this week to visit. Lee was a close friend in college who used to live in NYC (we were roommates briefly) and now lives in LA. It was SO great having him here! I know he must think I am a big dull dud because I FOOLISHLY wanted to sleep at night, when all he wanted to do was go dancing and club hopping downtown. I knew I was an old lady when Sunday at Midnight I was in my jammies getting ready for bed, and Lee was downing a Red Bull and getting ready to head out.
Despite our sleeping habit differences, we had an amazing time together. We saw several shows (see post below), went to Mariebells for brunch, hung out with friends Clark, Jen, Wade, Paul, Joe, Carlos, etc... and saw my friend Eve Starr's drag show at Therapy on Monday night.
It was a great week of entertaining. Lee, I love you madly, however, I have to be honest... YOU WEAR ME OUT! I am not as young or as cool as you. :)
I am already looking forward to your January trip to visit again.

They Say the Neon Lights are Bright on Broadway

This week I accomplished a life long goal. Well, maybe not lifelong... but one I've had for the past two decades or so.
As of this moment, I have seen every musical that is currently running on Broadway (except for Grease, but since I have seen nearly a dozen other versions and productions of this show, I am counting it).
This month was very show heavy, largely thanks to my dear friend Lee Champion who was in town and took me to several new shows.
If anyone is coming to town, or planning on attending a Bway show, feel free to ask for reviews. Here are some thoughts on the shows I saw this past month (from best to worst).
BILLY ELLIOT:
Amazing. Inspiring. Thoughful. Brilliant. A remarkable celebration of family, community, and individuality. Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. Bring kleenex.

PAL JOEY:
A revival starring Stockard Channing and Martha Plimpton (as well as my friend Matt Risch). I loved the style. Setting is the speak-easy glam world of the 1920's. This production was eye-candy.

EQUUS:
I am not even going to make a "Harry Potter's Magic Wand" joke because this show was so much more than seeing Daniel Radcliff naked. A great piece of theater told by amazing actors in a stunning creative space. Great design. I completely bought that the men in brown body suits were horses.

SHREK:
Prior to seeing Shrek, I had heard from several friends that it was not great. I was expecting to be slightly entertained, but walking away disappointed. WRONG! I LOVED IT!!! I would totally see this show again and again. It was pure fun.
FYI... if you are expecting to hear songs from the movie, be prepared that all the music is original new music. And it's GREAT!

IN THE HEIGHTS:
Amazing talent. Totally new and innovative. No complaints.
I especially enjoyed this show as it takes place in Washington Heights- the neighborhood I lived my first three years in Manhattan.

SOUTH PACIFIC:
South Pacific is long, dated, and a bit hokey. However, it is also familiar, classic, and the current Lincoln Center production does a great job of telling this love story. In a time when there is still such ugly racism in our country, this show was a powerful reminder that hate and fear are taught, not something we are born feeling.

13:
Ugh. This new musical by Jason Robert Brown (a normally spectacular song writer) is just one dud after another. I sincerely want to support all new creative endeavors, but this show about 13 year old performed entirely by teenagers, felt more like high end community theater than Broadway.

How Lucky am I??!!?

Seriously, I live within a short walking distance of both these places.
Talk about the best of both worlds!
Times Square
Central Park

Autumn in New York

I LOVE FALL!!!
The weather has been gorgeous lately and this last week Seth and I took a long walk through Central Park and did an impromptu photo shoot.
Next time I will plan better and hopefully I won't be wearing horizontal stripes (ugh). Flat Stanley even made it into a couple of pictures.
*** By way of reminder, you can click on any photo to view it full size.