Maren's Many Moments

I had a moment with my children this weekend.  It was not my best moment as a mother, but I hope it turned into a learning moment for all involved.  A little background is necessary.  Since we live in home that was a blend of two fully functioning homes, we have many duplicates and triplicates of things.  Because of work and interest, one thing we have in abundance is electronic devices.  Which brings us to the offending moment.  My two daughters and I were the only ones home, and I was upstairs when a fight ensued downstairs.  Upon my motherly investigation I found that the fight was over both wanting to be on one particular computer that was deemed the easiest to log into.   Maybe it was because of a long work week.  Maybe it was because of some of the difficult things I have seen my clients suffer, and maybe it wasbecause I have not been able to nap this weekend, but I lost it.  “Are you really telling me that in a home where we have ...

I don't know if the right term is karma or what, but sometimes I worry that if I say things are going great, that something will fall apart.  So it is with a little trepidation that I write this post.  Even though I have been plagued with allergies and headaches, this last week has been one of the most joyous in my life.  I turned 40 years old, got to see my daughters perform in their piano recitals, take my children, stepchildren, and husband to a beautiful show at a beautiful live theatre, sing in a concert, and attend a surprise party planned by my dear sweet husband where he sang me a song and put together a slide show of pictures and moments of my life and videos of my dear friends.  Oh, and the Dean signed my dissertation, officially ending my PhD experience and helping me acheive the highest degree confered in the US Educational System, the Doctorate. The first woman to earn a PhD in the United States was in 1877.  142 years ago.  Which is really aw...

I met a young lady who was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  She is a brilliant young woman, with a double major in chemistry and biology.  She wants to be a doctor. When she came to the United States at 14, she could not read in any language.  She was put into school with people her age and expected to understand a language she had never heard, work with a system she had never seen, and try to succeed in a world completely foreign to her.  I asked her to tell me a little about herself and her life. She told me that when she was growing up, first in the DRC and then in a refugee camp, her family told her she was a “nothing girl”. They told her she could not have an education. They told her that the only way she could help her family was to bring home a husband who would then pay the family a cow. Now she says she wants to go back to Africa, help girls learn about nutrition, education, reading and writing.  She feels blessed to have come to Ame...

I took time off from blogging.  I am certain there were many people crying silently into their pillows because of the definite loss that they felt when they no longer read my writing on a semi-frequent basis.  I am offering my deepest apologies to all five of you.  I had to focus instead on the little matter of getting married, and also finishing my PhD.  One of those things was infinitely more difficult than the other. All of my life, well, at least since junior high school, I have harbored a dream of getting a doctorate degree.  I love school.  I love learning.  I love writing papers.  I know what an absolute nerd this makes me.  I don't really care. Life and difficulties all got in the way, and now, a few weeks before my 40th birthday, which happens to be tomorrow, I finally finished this goal that I told myself about when I was 12. Part of the reason I wanted to do this was because I learned that for many generations, women could not go...

Every time I come to New York, I leave thinking that there is no way a trip could be as wonderful as this.  And each time I return, I find myself mistaken.  I love the energy and pulse of this city.  I love the feeling that I get as I see new shows, whether they blow me away like Come From Away and The Play that Goes Wrong, scare me like Sweeney Todd, make me smile like SpongeBob, or make me think like Once On This Island. Being an attendee and now presenter at BroadwayCon, I find myself very grateful for the opportunity over the last three years to find a space where people like me can find each other, and learn that there are fans all over the place, and we are not alone in our connection to the music and the stories we have found that speaks to our hearts. Watching Once on This Island as my last show before returning to Utah helped me to remember that the love of theatre is only a small but important part of my life.  Seeing the costume design choices, looking a...

Today I experienced the first ever Broadway Industry day, where people who work or wish to work within the theatre industry gathered to talk about how to better increase the fan experience.  One of the main topics was about understanding the difference between fans, and fans who buy tickets.  An often echoed discussion point was that many fans because of time, distance, or money, do not get to attend a Broadway show.  Interesting for me for a few reasons.  One, that is precisely what the panel I am moderating on Saturday is about, making sure to be a vibrant part of the theatrical community where you live, because art and creativity and community can happen anywhere.  Even more important though, is that for years I was that fan who did not buy tickets. When I was 12 I learned about a musical that had just opened on Broadway called the Secret Garden.  I remember we had an awesome music store near my house where you could listen to the cd on headphones befor...

It is rare to be able to say that a show is flawless, and it is even more rare to have two such experiences in one day, so I consider the events of this day to be an extreme anomaly. I attended the matinee production of Come From Away, which was the original cast except for Jenn Colella, which was sad in a way, but her understudy, Julie Reiber was phenomenal, and I have her Jenn talk about being the understudy for Idina Menzel and dealing with a disappointed audience, so I was not about to do the same thing to Jenn's understudy.  It did not matter because this cast was seamless in their presentation.  There is so much I could say, but one thing stood out to me.  This cast was realistic.  The people were talented and beautiful, but the natural beauty you find in your favorite aunt or your coworker that makes you laugh or your friend who brings you food when you are sick.  I have lived in a small town before, and the feeling that every cast member brought into thi...