Fornicating in New York City isn't fornicatining at all!

Okay, so that statement is totally not true, but it's something that my friend Erika said while we were there and I thought it was funny. Anyway, eat your heart out looking at this small handful of pictures! (On this computer, the pictures are looking a little dark, so I apoligize if they are on y'all's machines, too.)

This is me in the car on the way to Salt Lake. As you can see, I was pretty excited.


This is some of the group on the plane. Both pictures got a little blurry, but I like them anyway. In the foreground of the first one, from left to right is Mindy, Brenna, and Ben. In the second picture, you've got Christian and Erika, and Ally and Cameron behind them.

This is Kjersti with the hundred-dollar bill she found on the plane.

All of us walking from the subway to our hotel with all of our luggage on the first night in the city. I really like this picture.

This is JD and Sam at the Statue of Liberty museum at the bottom of the observatory tower of Lady Liberty herself.

Hooray for fun guys who love performing! You kind of can't see very well, but from closest to farthest away, Brenna taking a picture with Scott (Matthew), Danny (Mark), and Dennis (Abraham) with his beautiful curly hair.

Our own boys posing a la "Altar Boyz": Cameron, Sam, JD, Ben, and Christian.

I cannot tell you how disappointed I am that this picture turned out so blurry, but its a pretty fun one anyway. This is me with the Altar Boyz! James (Luke), Scott (Matthew), Ryan (Juan), Danny (Mark), and cutie-pie Dennis (Abraham).

What's a trip to New York City without cheesecake!? This is at the Roxy Deli...look at the size of those peices!

This is me with two of the actors from "Wicked." Jerad Bortz (Fiyero) and Megan Hilty (Glinda). They were both super-nice. What I wouldn't give for teeth like Megan Hilty's.

Okay, this is totally random, but it was in the film gallery of the Museum of Modern Art, and I thought it was hilarious, in a really gruesome kind of way. (It's big, cause it was sideways if it was smaller. I don't know why. Same with the next one.)

This is me in front of the theatre where we saw Spamalot!

That's David Hyde Pierce! He's a genius. I told him so, and he laughed and said thank you, and signed my Playbill.

This was just a crazy wierd coincidence. This potato sack was sitting next to an open-air french fry stand in the middle of Manhattan. Larsen Farms is totally in Rexburg, ID.

This is what I turned around and saw when I was sort of lost at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. After I gave up looking for the Arms and Armor gallery.

I don't think anyone can deny that this is a great picture. =) This is the state everyone was in by the the end of the week. Heidi, Eliza, and Benji asleep on the subway Friday night.

Kristi, Mallori, and Sarah on the car ride from Salt Lake to Rexburg. I actually have a picture of almost everyone in the group sleeping, but there wasn't enough room on the blog for all of them.

I don't know if words will be sufficient to describe what a wonderful and amazing experience this trip was. I learned SO MUCH! About people, about myself, about theatre, about art...
One of the things that stands out most in my memory of this trip is how it made Broadway more accessible. Before now, it had an "untouchable" nature. I learned so much more about what makes great theatre, and I remember sitting in shows and thinking to myself, "The friends I'm sitting next to could just as well be up on that stage, and do just as good of a job." I also sort of realigned my perspective on myself as a performer. To steal some words out of Ben's mouth, from a conversation we had about this on the trip: This trip has reiterated for me how much I want to be involved in theatre on a proffessional level. And the most necessary thing for that is TOTAL COMMITTMENT. Not just being on time to rehearsal, having lines memorized on time, and all that jazz, but committment to every single moment of your performance. That was one the things that made "Spelling Bee" so wonderful...every single one of those actors was right there, in character and in the moment EVERY SINGLE SECOND. Every physical, vocal, and emotional choice they made, they made totally and completely, and committed their whole self to it. When you don't do that as a performer, you short-change yourself, your fellow performers, and your audience. It's selfish not to give your absolute all. It's my goal now as a performer to COMMITT.
I also can't talk about this trip without mentioning the wonderful friendships that were born and strengthened. I didn't even know Brenna Dunn before this trip, and she happens to be one of the funnest, kindest, most spiritual girls I've ever met! Kristi Bates, too. Spending time with Erika, Ben, JD, Cameron, and Christian...I've learned so much more about them, and have come to love them even more deeply. We're so much closer now. And it's true of everyone who went on the trip, but especially those mentioned above. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by such amazing, wonderful, and startlingly individual people! I only pray and try to be as much of a blessing in their lives as they are in mine.

A blurry but nice picture of the group in the New Amsterdam theatre.

As a final closing commentary on the trip, I include these insights. On Friday, I got out the video camera and asked everyone about their experiences in New York City, and here are some of the answers:

"What did you do in New York City?"

"I went shopping!" --Hannah
"I saw some plays." --JD
"I made babies." --Ben
"What did I...? My favorite story that I...what?" --Brenna
"I forgot to shave." --Roger
"I don't know! Give me a break!" --Eliza
"I went broke." --Cameron
"No, that's not true...I saw a bunch of Broadway shows; that's what we all did!" --Ben
"Fffrrrrttt! 'Ats what I did! Heh heh heh!" --Christian (a.k.a. "Squirrel-Boy")

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Fornicating in New York City isn't fornicatining at all!