Maren's Many Moments

The first time I went to New York City, I was 18 years old and was in heaven as I saw the buildings, art, streets, parks, and most of all, the people.  Stephen Sondheim said it best when he wrote "It's a city of strangers.  Some come to work, some come to play.  A city of strangers.  Some come to stare, some come to stay." Over the years, I have been every one of those people.  Working, playing, staring, staying.  That is what I have done most of my life, wherever I have lived.  I like to o to the library to write and do research because I like to look at the people around me.  I like to think of them, their stories, their troubles, what makes them happy, what makes them sad. "And another hundred people just got off of the train."  The amount of people in this world astound me.  I reamember the first time I walked into a Broadway Theatre, and saw the most amazing cast put on the most amazing show.  And then I did it the next da...

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      I remember the first time I saw Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods.   I had attended a school production where the director had decided it would only be appropriate to put on the first act.   The music was fun, the story cute, and the lyrical rhymes of Mr. Sondheim were pure genius.   However, my sister informed me that this production was not the full story, and she had me watch the entire Broadway production that had been filmed for PBS with the original Broadway Cast.             Of course, now I have seen this show countless times in countless places, including the Disney movie produced only a few years ago, and it is one of my favorite pieces of musical theatre.  I have never forgotten the importance of the lesson of my sister that day: that is not the whole story.  At the end of act one, as the narrator points out, everyone is happy ever after.  All the stories have been t...

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Recently I took my ten year old to see a play with me.  Part of the show covered the story of Malala Yousafzai, an amazing individual that deserves to have many plays and stories written about her.  At one point, Malala was called a humanitarian, and my daughter gasped excitedly and looked at me. That word has been associated with my work and subsequently myself, so my daughter said in a thrilled whisper "she is a humanitarian, like you!" Now, I am no Malala.  I have not been through the tragedies she has faced, and I have never had anyone withhold my ability to go to school based upon my gender.  The word humanitarian, though, means to be someone who is concerned with or seeks to promote human welfare.  So, yes.  I am a humanitarian.  I am proud that I have spent my life caring about the welfare of others. On days like today, being a humanitarian leaves me feeling tired, scared, and worried that nothing I do really will make much of a difference. ...

The Secret Garden was one of the first chapter books I ever read.   The entire story filled my young imagination with thoughts of far off places and rich manors and chamber maids and hidden beauty.   So, in 1991, when my 12 year old self discovered that there was a musical based on the story, and a little girl like me won a Tony award for singing songs on a stage, my heart nearly burst.   I spent many an afternoon in the 7 th grade in my friend Michelle’s basement, belting out songs until my voice went hoarse.   However, it was in 8 th grade, when my young life was full of the drama that was the epitome of suffering in my world view that one song took on more meaning.   Of course, I look at my naiveté back then and smile that I thought that I had any troubles at all. Although the clarity of age and experience tells me my troubles at the time were minor, the lessons of theatre and music penetrated my young mind and the lyrics and meaning of the song have he...

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