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My Favorite Things

Here is a list of my favorite things as of March 8th:

1)  The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa.  So far, this is the best book I've read all year, and you can probably read it in one sitting.  It's a great story about a woman who cares for a math professor whose memory only lasts 88 minutes.  So yes, it's a little Memento, but very tenderly done.

2)  Rachel Maddow on The View.  Check it out on Youtube.  Smart, funny, and self-deprecating as always.  She was the anti-thesis to Ann Coulter.  She got everybody engaged in conversation, all the ladies looked like they were having a great time, and even Elisabeth complimented her.  Um, can we get her back as a guest host?  Please.

3)  The Rehearsal by Jean Anouilh.  So what's the best way to find plays you've never heard of?  Well, one way is to do what I decided to do this year.  Trinity Rep puts all the plays they've done--since the 60's--on their website, including the playwright and the person that directed it.  The early T-Rep years have most of the standards you'd expect (lots of Williams and Albee) but it also has great plays in it like this one that I'd never heard of--a cross between Oscar Wilde and Dangerous Liasons.  Oh, but stay away from Dark of the Moon, the hillbilly romance written in Appalachia-speak.  It's not pretty.

4)  The Secret Rapture.  Speaking of Trinity, I recommend seeing this production.  Aesthetically, it's gorgeous.  It's incredibly smart.  It's rarely done.  It's David Hare.  Let's try to support theaters that take on daring works, instead of continually rewarding those that trot out tired old fare, shall we?  I know it's an economic crisis, but that doesn't mean we have to give in to the dumbing down of the theater community.  That's all.

5)  My Monologue Troop.  That's not their official name, but I have to say, you couldn't possibly know a nicer and more talented group of people.  Yesterday, Rae, Tonia, Hayley, Christin, and Doug (the sexy one) performed at a church function for one of the members of my Writer's Circle at the Library, and they were phenomenal.  Doug doing "That Which Does Not Kill Us" was incredibly moving.  Rae officially owns the Miranda piece for all time in my mind.  Tonia once again made "Kathy and the Dogs" just the right mix of funny and heartfelt.  Hayley brought back "My Mother's Dress," and it was as good as ever.  And Christin doing "Melinda's Slideshow"--tour de force.

How did I get so lucky?

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