we interrupt today’s regularly scheduled programming (aka, ‘future ex-husband friday’) to bring you great news! coco is going to be on broadway! ok, that’s not completely true…but i’ve been provided some amazeballs inspiration.
it all started last weekend when i randomly heard this song. twice.
and even though i may have been a smidge hungover both times (damn you, senior tequilla!), i couldn’t help but to bob my aching head back and forth to george benson’s beat. ooooh that jazzy, scratchy guitar! and oh my stars and garters, that soulful scatting! but my favorite part? that determined, most beautiful message: ‘i won’t quit ’til i’m a star on broadwaaaaaaaaay.’
fierce!
well, today i woke up to the news that dear friend clinton brandhagen debuted on broadway last night. and with tyne freakin’ daly! oh how i loved me some cagney & lacey back in the day! and their production of Master Class is reviewed by the NY Times and everything! and something about, “the first big production to open in the new Broadway season…”
wowza!
clinton and cagney...omfg!
and while i know a handful of infamous semi-famous writers and actors here in the land of la-la, there’s something super-special about watching the long and winding journey of a star-in-the-making. and come on people…there’s nothing more exciting than the rise of a broadway star, right?!
five years ago, clint and i met through a myspace ad. wait, that sounds super creepy and weird…let me explain. you see, coco was about to make her big move to LA, and helloooooo, she needed headshots. using the power of myspace (who knew myspace was good for more than just random hook ups and listening to emo bands?), i happened upon clint’s photography advert. after checking out his website and a few emails back and forth, i took the leap and scheduled my first headshot shoot. and truth-be-told, i was pretty nervous about the whole thing. at the time i was a VERY green actor. i feared that i would make an a$$ of myself during the shoot, that my pictures would prove that i was 15 lbs too fat for my soon-to-be new home, and that those emerging crows feet would be accentuated by the high resolution of his fancy camera. oh, and let’s just say that i took precautions to ensure that he wouldn’t roofie my water so i’d pose all nekkid (hi, paranoia!).
and yes he took me to a number of back alleys and i might have taken my shirt off in the back seat of his car…but it was all in the name of wardrobe changes and interesting backgrounds. indeed, he was a consumate professional. and during the shoot i found out that he was also an accomplished theatre actor. because he understands the inherent neurosis of the actor, he was able to put coco at ease and allow all my inner stuff to shine. and by the end of the shoot, i was pleased-as-pudding with what we were able to capture together.
in one of those back alleys in the name of art
and more importantly, i knew i also found a friend.
and to be clint’s friend is to know how hard he works. between being a highly-sought-after actor and a skilled photographer, he has nary a moment to himself. he takes his craft(s) seriously and, as such, works his canadian butt off. so to see first-hand the years of hard work and dedication pay off is kinda awesome. in fact, it’s awe-inspiring.
that's clinton on the far right. he makes a tool belt look right cute!
as a gal who oft dabbles in the dark arts of acting and writing, clint’s broadway success has given me a steriod-esque injection of inspiration. my secret dream of turning this crazy blog into a tv script that would then be discovered by Tina Fey that would then lead to a pilot that would then lead to a 15 episode deal…fills my heart with a warm gushy feeling. and while it all seems like a pipe-dream now, maybe with some good-old fashioned hard work and persistance, i, too, might actually be able to make it a reality. like, for real happen…not just pretend in my active imagination.
…from my typing fingers to lorne michael’s ears.
so if you’re in NYC go see Master Class at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (and feel free to buy me a plane ticket and take me!)
and for the rest of us, here’s to reaching our own personal broadways, y’all!
