Change of Locale

I'm in L.A.

As in Los Angeles.

As in Los Angeles, California.

Home of the In-and-Out Burger and the Jurassic Park Ride.

I am not in New York.

As in New York City.

Although that is where I am usually found.

Los Angeles, California is a place where I would never have expected to live. Mainly because I now have to say Pacific Daylight Time after many years of saying let’s watch Jurassic Park tonight around 8:15pm Eastern Standard Time.

But no worries...those who know me and know how "un-LA" I am....Los Angeles is not my new home. I am only here on a temporary basis.

But I DO have to say...that in the few weeks that I have been here, I have adjusted quite well. Well, at least I've tried to.

My friend Jill does not believe that I am here and demanded some proof. And although I do not usually write directly about myself online, I thought I might as well kill a few pigeons with a puerto rican stone and just share some pictures of my crazy new life.

This is my new car:



Well, it was my new car. I wasn’t very happy with it. So I asked the theatre that I am working for if I could get something a little flashier. They got me this:



This is where I am living:



There is a nice pool out back:



And people here seem really nice. In fact, this is the woman I am currently staying with:



So, I am trying real hard to fit in:



Okay, fine.

As Anna Paquin once said in The Piano. “I tell a lie.”

She also said “She says it’s her piano and she won’t have him touch it!”

But that seems less relevant.

Confession: The above images DO NOT faithfully represent my current L.A. lifestyle.

But seriously...I am trying so hard!! I wear sunglasses and tank tops. And the theatre has provided me with a brand new PT Cruiser. I named him Anderson and I drive around listening to "Bad Day" on repeat. Very L.A.!!

Here is Anderson:



And here is where I am living:



A nice little downtown studio apartment...with a nice little kitchen:



And bathroom...(featuring me in mirror!):



And most exciting...for a young starving-artist New Yorker like myself...my own combination washer/dryer!!! Here it is:



I have named him Herbie. Herbie is also the name of my i-pod and laptop. Perhaps it is a name that I overuse, but it always seems so right.

So, yes...I can do my laundry in my bathroom. This is quite a novelty for me. So, I have been doing laundry constantly. Every night I come home and just throw whatever clothes I can find in the washer...even they are clean. Why? Because I can.

And there is a pool on the roof. Although I don’t have the energy to go upstairs and take a picture. But it's nice.

During my first week here I walked by Matt Dillon and saw a car crash. Very Paul Haggis.

I also visited the famous La Brea tar pits. Very Jurassic Park.

Here is a shot of the tar pits with faux elephants:



And here is my attempt to Spielberg-arize the experience:



Also, I like to say Spielbergarize. Why has nobody used this word before!? (Or have they...)

Also, there was a raptor cage. Or something that I believed to be a raptor cage:



Also, me with tar:



I visited the nearby Los Angeles County Museum of Art:



I went and saw A Scanner Darkly at 8:30pm pacific daylight time at the famous Arclight Cinerama dome:



The premiere for You, Me and Dupree was going on. Movie premieres. Very L.A.

I thought people seeing a film in the famous Arclight cinema dome in Los Angeles were probably somehow connected to the film...or that it would be somewhat of a religious experience and that everyone would sit in silence through all the end credits. I was wrong.

Then I went to Disneyland.

And conquered my childhood fear of Space Mountain...



...my fear of descending ceilings with spikes...



...as well as my fear of clown fish...



I am saving my return to the dinos for a special day. Be prepared...

Oh yeah. But I am actually here to work. And that is basically all I am doing right now. I am in tech for a new Kander & Ebb/Rupert Holmes musical opening at the Ahmanson. Here is the outside of the Ahmanson. It is kind of like Lincoln Center in the middle of downtown Los Angeles. A beautiful place to go to work every day:



And the other side of the plaza...with fountain:



I love it.

I think our show is going very well...and we are all having an amazing time.

So, yeah. Right now I am kind of loving the Los Angeles life. Amazing weather, no NYC summer humidity, Disneyland and dinos! I have no complaints. I think I am more of a New Yorker...but who knows...maybe I could live here for awhile. But I guess I am still living and working on a New York Broadway-style musical...so maybe I am not that L.A. after all.

Oh! But speaking of which...here is a little glimpse behind the scenes of our show (shhh!). It’s quite an elaborate production. Huge cast, enormous sets. Proabably the biggest production I, personally, have ever been involved in. But I guess this is just how things are done here in Los Angeles, California. Pacific Daylight Time...