what a SWEETHEARTS: Kurt Crowley

it takes courage to
face the birds in the plaza
ev'ry single day

Thanks to Kurt Crowley for his generous contribution a couple days ago to the fundraiser to record a demo for The Sweethearts of Swing! His donation put us over the halfway mark!

Please visit our fundraising page - only 36 hours left to reach our goal! Every little bit helps, and for a contribution of $25 or more, I will write you your own haiku!

Haiku #300 - Thanksgiving

perfect autumn day

walk in park and brunch with friends

reasons to give thanks

Lysa and I pose next to Girls' Gate,
which evidently was created when people knew how to use apostrophes.

Kurt manages to channel Gene Kelly
and Donald O'Connor at the same time.

Haiku #259 - Guantanamera

old friends, Latin jams

y plátanos maduros

Guantanamazing

People, Places, Things:

Guantanamera

Kurt, Alex, Perry, Christina

Haiku #251 - Gelato

whiskey gelato

with macerated kumquats?

don't mind if I do!

tour family reunion, before Cherie takes off to CA for a couple months!

People, Places, Things:

Kurt, Cherie, Greg and Cass!

Cones gelato

Haiku #240 - Blockheads

me, Madeleinis, Kurt's dad, Christi...think Kurt's mom took the pic
We are not blockheads, we just drink there.

hanging with Crowleys
al fresco margaritas
on a summer day

people, places, things:
Kurt's fam!
Blockheads

Haiku #236 - Bring It On!

Kurt by his keyboard in the pit!

young actors flying
performing athletic feats
fueled by the music

People, Places, Things:
Kurt, Bring It On the Musical

Haiku #234 - Finale

tour comes to a close
you can't live forever in 
a D major chord


The Finale of In the Heights ends on the word "home", sung in a big fat root position D major chord. Early on in the tour, Kurt and I were talking about how it doesn't get much more "home" than a big fat root position major triad, and we have all indeed lived in that chord as much as any hotel room. It's time to move on to other homes and other chords, but this show, and the people involved in it, will always be very special to me. Viva In the Heights! 

Haiku #229 - New Haven, CT

such great energy

in the audience tonight

ev'ryone was there

We had a lot of In the Heights VIPs in the house last night - Lin-Manuel Miranda, Alex Lacamoire, Karen Olivo, our producers, a bunch of Lin's family and friends... we had a party afterwards. A particularly great show and a great night. My friend and faithful blog-reader Bear was able to come up from the city to see the show for the first time, and meet some of the people he's read about!

Bear (right) said he felt like he already knew Kurt & Cherie from reading my haiku!

Haiku #218 - Cuban home-cooking!

Yay, family and yummy home-cooking!

Abuela feeds us
threatening amounts of food
too full to escape!


Tourmate Carlos lives with his family not far from Newark airport, where we landed yesterday for one last layoff before the end of tour.  Since we arrived right around rush hour, he invited Kurt and me to hang with his family rather than head right back into the city. We both accepted, since friendly people and home-cooked Cuban food sounded like a better idea than surly commuters and takeout. It was definitely the right choice choice - got to play cards with the kids, and meet a bunch of Carlos' family, and eat beans and rice, frituras, guayaba cake, chicken, caldo, steak and onions, yuca, salad with mojo, finished off with cafe... don't hate me cuz I'm well-fed!

Haiku #207 - Sonora Desert Museum

Kurt and I play Organ Pipe Cactus at the Sonora Desert Museum
Photo by CBT

is it a cactus
or musical instrument?
try it and you'll see!


Trip to one of my favorite Tucson-area attractions, the Sonora Desert Museum! Had a lovely week in Tucson, now in Greeley, CO for a show tomorrow night.  Greeley, home of my alma mater University of Northern Colorado, is as it ever was (that is not high praise). But I am looking forward to seeing some old friends and familiar faces tomorrow night! 

Haiku #198 - Kokopelli Goes to San Francisco

on a perfect day
we'll get in a car and drive
to San Francisco

Kurt, Cherie, Clarkie, and I covered a lot of ground on our day trip - Lombard St., the Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli factory, Chinatown (dim sum for lunch!), Golden Gate Bridge, and the Castro.  The weather was perfect!  A nice outing heading into a five-show weekend - two more days in San Jose, then Tucson next week!

Haiku #195 - Tech Museum

gadgets and gizmos
so many things to play with
at the Tech Muse'm


Went with Kurt, Cherie, and Christina to the Tech Museum this morning - played with hands-on exhibits, experienced a simulated roller coaster and a simulated earthquake, and saw Born to Be Wild at the Imax. It was nice to be reminded what amazing things we are capable of doing, when we choose to use our consciousness for good...


I liked this quote:

"Optimism is an essential ingredient for innovation.
How else can the individual welcome change over security,
adventure over staying in safe places?" -Bob Noyce

Haiku #184 - April Fools!

something is diff'rent
a certain je ne sais quoi
maybe it's the hair

"Lac" and "Zach"
Photo by CBT

For yesterday's April 1 matinee, "Lac", with his distinctive hair, conducted, and "Zach", his associate on Broadway, played Key 2.  "Zach" wore 4-inch platform heels for extra height, possibly the first time he's ever been in drag.  A good time and many laughs were had by all.  


By the by... goodness knows what was in that wig.  Kurt found it in Toronto.  He seems fine so far...


Great audiences and nice weather all weekend in Palm Desert.  


Sorry about the haiku silence - the internet at the hotel didn't work, and I didn't have the patience to contend with the mobile app.  In NYC this week for a short break, will try to catch up - lots of fun in SoCal to haiku about!

Haiku #183 - Mutual Admiration Society

guess who came to see
the show and hung out after?
Rico and Raini

Cherie, Rico, me, Raini, Kurt

Kurt, Cherie and I watch Modern Family every week, so we were pretty excited that Rico and Raini Rodriguez (Rico plays Manny on Mod Fam; his big sis Raini is also an actress) came to see In the Heights in their hometown, College Station.  There was a little meet-and-greet after the performance - turns out they're big fans of the show.  It was a mutual admiration society! 

Haiku #178 - Captain Kirk

today Kat 'n' Kurt
of the starship In the Heights
met William Shatner


During tech rehearsal back in October, Kurt and I took turns at the piano, but often we were both there.  Our director would call out, "Off of Kat 'n' Kurt" to have whichever of us was playing start a number. After about a day of this, he said, "I feel like I'm saying 'Captain Kirk'."  And that is how Captain Kirk became the music department's collective nickname.  

A friend from this tour is currently working William Shatner's one-man autobiographical show, Shatner's World which was in Dallas tonight.  We got to meet Mr. Shatner briefly before we had to go do our respective shows.  He was very gracious, and it was cool to watch him work for a few minutes and wish him happy birthday!  Living proof that one does not have to be a diva to have a long, illustrious career.  

Haiku #172 - Tex-Mex

Kurt and dessert (it rhymes!)

after rehearsal
refreshment - tres leches cake
and life-changing flan

"No mas postres!"

The flan was actually called Chita's flan, which led to fun lyric rewrites of Chita Rivera roles, like "A flan like that, who'd kill your brother/Forget that flan and find another", etc. 

Kurt and Cherie

Haiku #157 - Keyboard drama!

opening number

Keyboard 1 loses power

I got your back, Kurt

Yesterday matinee was an interesting beginning!  Luckily these type of things happen quite rarely, and our heroic sound people had it fixed quickly enough that we didn't have to stop the show.  I cobbled together both the keyboard parts for a few measures til we were fully functional.  What a way to wake up!

Haiku #152-4 - Sonnet

I've missed a posting a few days recently, so today, I will catch you up with a haiku each from Kurt, Cherie, and me, and a sonnet for good measure.  This is how we entertain ourselves during long bus trips.  Missouri overnight tonight, then Friday and Saturday nights, shows in Lincoln, NE!

I spy with my eye

something red and crescent-shaped

it is on the bus

-Cherie

(Yes, we played "I spy" via text-haikus.  Incidentally, it was the red handle to the escape hatch at the top of the bus.)

the Midwest is big

Haikus can get lost out here

free-range syllables

-Kurt

in this vast prairie

haikus turn into sonnets

that'll shut us up

-me

Sonnet #1 - Ode to Brilliant Friends

A long day on the bus I feared could cause

a numbing of the mind and of the ass.

I greeted six a.m. with no applause

And soon my phone began to me harass.

As if alarm had not been pain enough,

The texts began to pile up thick and deep.

Kurt and Cherie were riffing off the cuff, 

A clear result of brains on little sleep.

The bus's wheels went on their countless rounds

As Thursday's sun arrived to the Midwest

No subject for haiku was out of bounds

In fact, I think we wrote some of our best. 

The moral - brilliant friends will help you find:

The bus will numb the ass but not the mind.