2007 IN REVIEW

 

with Elise, Stephen, and Rebecca

 

January, 2008

Dear Ones,

Another year has sped past, filling our lives with many memories which we would now like to share with you!

Stephen continues to teach cello and play freelance gigs all over the Southland.  This past year also included a trip to St. Louis for the Theatre Musicians Association (Stephen is now on the Board of Directors), and a trip to Toronto for the wedding of nephew Joshua and his bride Orit.

Rebecca started the year with a visit to Israel (through the Birthright program), and then finished her sophomore year at UC Berkeley by declaring her major as Linguistics.  After a short Toronto visit, and an LA visit from June and Art (Elise’s parents!), Rebecca headed off to India for a semester abroad at Delhi University.  While in India, Rebecca managed to take trips to Chennai (Madras), Amritsar, Varanasi, Dharamsala, and all over south India.  She was also the special guest at the wedding of a neighbor.  She got back to Los Angeles in mid December, and is now getting organized to return to Berkeley to complete her Junior year.

Stephen and Elise celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary by heading out to India to visit Rebecca.  For a detailed report of that adventure, CLICK HERE.

2007 was also a busy year at the Academy for New Musical Theatre.  A new sign and paint job on the building added some great curb appeal for our Salon Series which included visits from Tony award winners Jason Robert Brown (Last Five Years, Parade), Winnie Holzman (Wicked), and Jeff Marx (Avenue Q).  The annual 15-Minute Musicals were sold out again – and featured a show co-written by Jeff Marx.  The Summer Boot Camp was a big success and included a new course called Extreme Songwriting taught by radio personality Alan Chapman.  In August, ANMT produced the first Festival of New Musicals in Thousand Oaks, including a concert reading of The Grouch’s Daughter by Tony-award winner Mark Hollmann (Urinetown) which was directed by Elise.

Elise also threw herself a 50th Birthday Party that was quite the event, and included the premiere of the song cycle Der Strunkenwhitenleider starring Elise (as ‘Apostrophe’) and Scott Guy, and written by Scott Guy.  For details (and sound clips) from that musical extravaganza, CLICK HERE.

2007 wound up being a year full of performance opportunities for Elise, who also sang at the MBar in Hollywood in February; performed a one-woman cabaret called The Making of a Diva at the Long Beach Playhouse in October;  and premiered the brand-new one woman musical SPELLCASTERS at the Secret Rose Theatre in North Hollywood.  SPELLCASTERS was written especially for Elise by ANMT colleague Scott Guy, and is made up of two acts entitled Queen Mab’s Alarmingly Mandatory Bridal Shower and The Last Words of Sycorax.

Stephen and Elise rounded out the busy year with a visit to beautiful Rosarito Beach in Mexico.

We are looking forward to a fabulous 2008 – and wish all of you all the best!

Much love,

Elise, Stephen, and Rebecca

Stephen's new cello

Made out of carbon fiber!

Rebecca in Israel

Leslie and Rebecca in San Francisco

The beautiful coast highway

Elise and Scott with Broadway songwriter Jason Robert Brown

Some curb appeal for The Academy

Cabaret at the MBar in Hollywood

New resume photos

Elise's 50th Birthday Party!

The museum on the way to San Francisco

An overnight stop in Santa Cruz

Our official 25th Anniversary

Rebecca with Broadway writer Jeff Marx and his Tony award!

The cast and writers of the 2007 15 Minute Musicals

Writers Jeff Marx and Jake Anthony and staff Scott, Elise, and Ross

Elise and Scott with Tony winner Mark Hollmann and Jack Helbig at the Thousand Oaks Festival of New Musicals - produced by ANMT

The cast of THE GROUCH'S DAUGHTER by Hollmann and Helbig, directed by Elise

The Gourmet Club meets to eat

The sky after the fires

The family at the Taj Mahal

Our Indian bedspread and pillows

Queen Mab, Ruler of all the Fairies

The Sorceress Sycorax

Enjoying a Margarita in Rosarito Beach, Mexico

Stephen shopping in Mexico

Rebecca at an Indian wedding

Rebecca arrives home and has her first bagel in six months

Have a great year!