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Friends of mine visited New York City last week and I got to give them a tour of AMT Theater and then we popped across the road for some coffee and a catch up, while we were talking Bobby Moresco walked past and I said "You see that guy walking past, he is a two time Oscar Winner!" and they were so excited, their first famous person in the Big Apple! That got them asking which other famous people I had met and I started going through the modest handful of Broadway and film luminaries I have had the joy of meeting or seeing and then I remembered that I had actually met a very famous and good man recently, a man who took Taavon Gamble's words away and brought tears to our eyes at the reverence he inspires. That man is André De Shields, an actor who has worked for almost 6 decades achieving enormous success and helping to pave the way for more inclusive and representative shows. This man is kind, funny and gracious, our Producing Director, Tamara Flannagan saw him in the hallway at the studio's we held auditions in and invited him in to meet our AMT and Upside Down creative team. It was wonderful seeing how moved everyone was, after reading his bio it is impossible not to be impressed by his talent, intelligence and activism. We all felt a little shinier after meeting Broadway Royalty! Thank you André for spending time with us, you are no stranger to our beautiful theater so we look forward to welcoming you back to AMT Theater for Upside Down!
Speaking of royalty, the Broadway palace that is the West Bank Cafe has reopened under the new ownership of Tom and Michael D’Angora! We are thrilled that this slice of Hell's Kitchen history is still with us, we wish you every success, long may the WBC remain a Broadway staple!
Here at AMT we support new works and new work development and we support writing groups who are fostering new plays, so last Saturday we were lucky to host the ShopTalk 3rd Annual Mimosa Mix 'n Match! They spent the day drinking mimosa's and reading brilliant short plays, it was marvelous and such a pity it had to end, I could have stayed all night too! Congratulations to all the writers, your work is stellar and I sincerely hope you continue to see your words grow and flourish. There was a wonderful comradery among everyone, as though everyone genuinely wanted to support and nurture all present, that doesn't happen often. I encourage all of you to join ShopTalk if you would like to surround yourself with talented and supportive writers.
Finally, it is my pleasure to introduce you to our newest AMT Theater team member, Luc. He is a friendly chap with healthy boundries who enjoys nothing more than bounding up and down the orchestra stairs and offering a helpful paw to Pete (his number one favourite person) or Aiden (his number two favourite person). He will accept cuddles and pets when he is in the mood (healthy boundries) and he offers emotional support to stressed team members. We are very pleased with our newest pawsome addition.
It's the season for illness, so remember to wash your hands regularly, stay hydrated, up your vitamin C intake and stay warm! We have a very busy few weeks coming up with rehearsals for Upside Down starting on Monday and then it is full steam ahead until we open (not that we haven't been working hard in the background, putting on a musical takes a lot of heavy lifting folks). We are looking forward to introducing our cast to you next week, EXCITING!
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