#event: ASTEP concert

[derekklenadaily]

Sierra Boggess, Derek Klena, and Lindsay Mendez Join New York City Christmas: A Concert to Benefit ASTEP

BY ADAM HETRICK

NOV 30, 2018

 The annual fundraising concert returns to Joe’s Pub December 10.

Phantom star Sierra Boggess, Carousel Tony Award winner Lindsay Mendez, and original Anastasia star Derek Klena will headline Artists Striving to End Poverty’s December 10 concert at Joe’s Pub.

Created and produced by Drama Desk winner Lynne Shankel, the sold-out 7 PM benefit celebrates ASTEP's 10th anniversary.

The concert will also feature Gerard Canonico, Becca Gottlieb, Chester Gregory, David Josefsberg, Melody Madarasz, Lauren Marcus, Eric William Morris, Alyse Alan Louis, Shea Renee, Marissa Rosen, Sally Wilfert, and recording artist Anya Singleton.

Featured in the band will be musicians Shankel (piano), Joe Mowatt (rums), Randy Landau (bass), Peter Calo (guitar), Eric Davis (guitar), Summer Boggess (cello), Max Mosten (violin), Colin Brigstocke (trumpet), Harry Hassell (saxophone), and Scott Kreitzer (saxophone).

ASTEP has just released a new single of “All I Want For Christmas Is You” performed by Aladdin’s Telly Leung, which is now available on iTunes and Amazon, as well as all streaming platforms.

Also launched is a CharityBuzz auction that includes experiences from Hamilton, Mean Girls, My Fair Lady, and Wicked in addition to The Prom, Come From Away, and King Kong.

[source]

[docgrassy82]

Okay it has been almost a whole week since Monday night with  with Raul Esparza and friends happened. I needed some time to process it and with the 400th episode this week, it has been a whirlwind! It was an amazing night and it was fun to hang out with other fellow Raul fans! I see you @mrschiltoncat @larkistin  @clowchan and Tina too! 

First off, Melissa Errico is an absolute sweetheart! She was the evening’s fairy godmother! She was so sweet to all of us and made sure we got a chance to chat with Raul at various times! 

Okay with that being said, the evening started with all of us waiting to get into the theatre. As we were hanging out Raul came out along with Melissa to get their pictures taken. Raul looked so amazing and handsome! Melissa looked beautiful! They posed for the cameras and got their pictures taken. As they were posing for the cameras, this voice from the crowd was yelling, “Raul Esparza!” I look over and it was Barbara Walsh! THE Barbara Walsh aka Joanne from Company! It was so cool to see Bobby and Joanne together again! And it was funny to see Barbara Walsh fangirl too! Anyways, after the pictures, our group was determined to get @larkistin to talk to Raul and show him her drawings. It took some coaxing, and a bit of dragging her by the hand on my part but it happened! It was such a sweet moment! I was so happy for her! He LOVED them so much! I love it when my friends get to meet their favs! It really makes me happy to see them happy like that.

Okay so for the musical portion of the evening! Raul and Melissa singing a song from Sunday in the Park with George was musical heaven! They were meant to duet together! One day I would love to see them together in a show again. They talked about the time they performed together a couple years ago at the State Department and they ran around touching things they shouldn’t have. It was funny and cute. Sounded like something I would do to be honest! Way to break the rules Esparza! HA!

Then at the end, Raul came back out alone for one more song. He told the story about when he first met Mary Mitchell Campbell at a Sondheim event. Then afterwards, Sondheim invited Raul and Mary Mitchell back to his place and she fell asleep on Sondheim himself. Ha! In her defense she had just come back from a trip overseas and was worn out. But then Raul started talking about working on Company with Mary Mitchell and he pointed out Barbara Walsh in the audience. This led into the most epic moment of the night, Raul singing Being Alive. While he forgot the lyrics at first and they had to start over, it was still the greatest thing ever! This song is everything to me! I have it tattoo’ed on my wrist. This song saved my life at a time when I wanted to give up. I wish I could explain how much this moment got to me. It’s just hard to put into words!

Well after the event, our little group got to talk to Melissa and Raul some more and it rocked! In keeping with the spirit of getting Raul to sign stuffed animals of mine, I got him to sign my little stuffed Charmander. I asked him who would his Pokemon starter and he admitted that he didn’t know Pokemon. He was too old. I wasn’t buying it. He isn’t old. But I brought up Mario Kart so we are good! I also asked him about how things were with his mom. He mentioned to me she was sick and had surgery when I saw him at the ASTEP concert. Good news, he told me she was doing a lot better! Yay! He looked relieved! I can imagine how stressful and scary it all must have been for him.

Last moment of the night was my picture with Raul. I was standing around with @mrschiltoncat talking when Melissa came up to us asking if we had a good time and if there was anything else we wanted or people to meet. I said well I want a picture with Raul but I don’t want to bug him anymore. She said to me, “You want a picture? Give me your phone. I’ll take it. Come on!” So she walked over to Raul and said, “Come on, Raul. She wants a picture with you!” So Melissa took our picture. A perfect end to a wonderful night!

Thank you Melissa and thank you Raul for taking the time to talk to all of us and for the pictures! Thank you friends for the good time! Here are some of my pictures from the night!

[thatsprobablybullshit]

Sunday, January 7th, 2018

It’s been a while again, and A LOT has changed so be prepared for a LONG post. As you know, I broke up with the ex (henceforth known as Robert because that’s his name and no one reads this blog anyway). I fucked around a lot over the Summer - had a few one night stands, a few friends with benefits, traveled with my friends. 

Here’s a recap of my summer: 

Dating - I had a thing with this guy named Brandon who was pretty meh but a nice guy overall. I matched with this guy Brian on Tinder who was friends with Matty J from my Latin class in high school and we randomly ended up in San Diego at the same time so he rode home with me, Ronnie, and Cindy. He then asked me out on a “real” date and we ended up clicking as friends (who happen to have sex). He was a great time; 10/10 great experience. I also dated a couple of girls over the Summer, we’ll call them Dianara and Patricia. Dianara is another QPOC activist and was my first time in bed with another woman. She knew a person who dated my friend Ronnie, reinforcing how small the queer dating sphere is. Patricia and I met towards the end of the Summer in August and went out a few times, including to the LA County Fair. She was really nice too. I also started casually dating this guy Carlton - more on him later.

Travel - I went to San Diego with Jonathan and his friend Gus (who is my friend now too) and then Jonathan stayed with me in LA for a few days. I spent a week in New York City at a conference with the nonprofit Artists Striving To End Poverty (ASTEP) and learned so much and met so many amazing people. It was a blast. I also went to San Diego with Cindy and Ronnie, which was a fun break from life. The highlight of my summer though was going to Toronto, Northern Michigan, and Ann Arbor with Jonathan and getting to meet a bunch of cool guys there. We call ourselves Edgy Squad.

Moving onto the fall semester. I’m done with my major, which is awesome, so I only have 2 units left to get my minor and IT’S MY LAST SEMESTER. I got two tattoos: one of Indonesia on the left side of my back and one of a strawberry Layla and I designed to get together (so we have matching tattoos now). I worked on this film with Tiffany called Pay Attention which got picked up by a festival like 2 weeks after we finished it. I also got to work with rising filmmaker Ante Cheng on Minced Pork Rice (featuring David So). Johnathan came to visit me right before Thanksgiving, which was really fun, and also I had a really good semester with my roommates Nadia, Celina, and Jackie. Unfortunately, Nadia moved to Chicago, but her replacement Rachel is super chill (and also gay). I donated my hair and got a pixie cut and I am trying to eliminate toxic people in my life which mostly means Austin because he not only insulted my hair and tattoo, but also because he’s a misogynistic pig who tried to invite himself when I had a threesome with two girls, always gets upset at me whenever I’m not 100% jolly towards him, and acts entitled to my time/attention. Finally, I spent the semester learning to clown in hospitals and that was just such an amazing experience to be able to be that joyful and carry that joy into a hospital. Oh, and I can’t forget we fostered kittens and ended up keeping one (Cera) who is now Inyo’s best friend.

In terms of this upcoming semester, I am now the social and philanthropy chair of USC BJJ and I got cast in the VSA Play “Step by Step” for Vietnamese Culture Night. I’m playing the mom and I get to use a Vietnamese accent. I also get to dance which is the most exciting part for me. I haven’t really danced very much at all since the musical incident with Robert (see post from October 2014). I got recruited as the head of the Sound Department for this girl named Tanita on her grad thesis The Purple Iris. The crew is super professional and they’re all grad students (or MFA graduates) so I feel a bit out of place but they really trust me and I’m trying really hard not to let them down. I’m also interning with this nonprofit called Young Storytellers that mentors students from low-income schools to create screenplays and use their voice to tell stories. ASTEP is starting a chapter in LA which I’m also a part of so that’s cool.

Okay, finally I’ll talk about Carlton - and I’ll try to keep it brief. We met towards the end of the Summer and we just clicked as people. On our first date, we had no physical contact but ended up talking until 3am. Ronnie even called me at 2am to make sure I was okay and I didn’t realize how late it was until then. We dated casually at first, but he wanted something more serious and while I was initially hesitant, he proved to be a very worthy boyfriend. He is one of the kindest, most thoughtful, understanding, and patient people I’ve ever met. We almost never fight (it’s happened maybe once) and he’s supportive of my choices and ambitions (which is way more than what I can say for Robert). He’ll also go out of his comfort zone for me (like going to parties or concerts) and he just tries really hard to make my life easier (by driving me places, ordering food for me, or walking my dog). We also go on a lot of double dates together and he’ll come as my date to screening or sorority events. Everyone loves Carlton and agrees that he’s an upstanding guy. Even the animals LOVE him, especially Cera.

Anyway, I have an ASTEP meeting in the morning so it’s time I head to bed but there’s an update on my life for documentation. As part of my 2018 resolution, I’ll try to write here more. Also, I need to lose weight before grad pic season. WELP!