Day 491 and 492: Dr. Tom Albert

If you have read the majority of my blog posts, or have ever heard me talk about the school in person, you have heard me talk about Dr. Thomas Albert. He is the God figure of the school. He knows everything. He has an explanation for everything. He is as wise as an owl mainly because of his age. However, he acts as young and full of life as the rest of us.

Unfortunately, after two years he has announced his retirement. Even though I am devastated and will go into a serious time of grief and mourning after he leaves, he deserves this retirement. The end of this year will mark 42 years for him. Luckily, he will still be involved with SSMT as Artistic Director and Musical Director for at least one of its shows.

To acknowledge Dr. Albert, we are doing some of his favorite musicals including She Loves Me. Also, next summer we are doing another one of his favorites that I can't reveal yet. To work on musicals with a musical director that has such a passion for those shows in particular is such a thrill. Here's to Dr. Albert.

Day 490: The Fabulous Five

Finally, if you take all of the things I've said over the past four blog posts you will reach the end conclusion about the students learning in the musical theater leadership programs here. As a group, we make up the fabulous five. The weekend blog will top off the trend of important people I'm involved with here making the super six, but below is a photo of the fab five since we could never get a photo of the super six for this weekend's post.

Day 489: John

We have another graduate student here this year named John Clanton. I think he's here for his doctorate. However, if that's true, nobody knows what it's for. For all I know, he is really here for his Master's in Musical Theatre Conducting like Cory. No matter what the reason he's here, I'm thrilled he is. He has so many credits and has met so many incredible people including the Queen of England and President George Bush. He got those opportunities because he conducted one of the bands associated with the U.S. Military. He is the assistant musical director for She Loves Me and an overall joy to work with and be around.

Day 488: The Other Golden Girls

If you combine my two previous blog posts, you will get a set of four fabulous people. Cory, Olivia, Catherine, and I refer to ourselves as The Golden Girls. We even have which character we are the most like. Catherine is Dorothy, I'm Sophia, Olivia is Rose, and Cory, without question, is Blanche. Also, we have a group text message whenever we need to contact all of us and we entitle the group message contact, The Golden Girls. Yes, this blog is short, but it's very amusing.

Day 487: Cory

I'm not sure if I have talked about Matthew J. Pool in my blog before. He is an alumnus of SU now because in May he graduated with a Masters in Musical Theater Conducting. To become the new Matthew, we received a new student this semester in that program. His name is Cory Davis. He's very over the top, wild, and quite eccentric. He's the complete opposite of Matthew, but there is something special about him. I'm getting used to him, but I can tell we will be good friends, especially if he stops talking about Beyoncé all the time. Here's a photo of us at Guerilla Theater.

Day 486: The Triumvirate

This year I have the great privilege of welcoming in two new MTAs. For those of you who haven't heard me use that acronym, it stands for Musical Theater Accompanying and therefore the people that are in that major. Humbly speaking, we rule the school and make up the accompanying "holy trinity." We are the triumvirate (even though they are both females and thus according to Dr. Albert doesn't count as one). They are so talented and I love working with them and guiding them into the world of musical theater accompanying with me. Also, they can help balance all of my work. Did I mention that I love it here?

Day 484 and 485: Food Porn

Before you start getting offended or concerned by the title of this blog, you must know that the "food porn" phrase is a very common hashtag and categorical idea of food photography. For those of you who know anything about me, you know that I eat out quite a bit. From waffle house to Perkins to Outback or to Chilis, I am very observant and particular when it comes to the dining experience. I'm especially determined to be served food that looks good enough for me to eat it. I probably get this fondness of food presentation because I watch a lot of Food Network cooking and competition shows. Now, if I ever go to a restaurant and I see a beautiful plate of food, I have to take a photo. Here are some of the delicious meals I've eaten recently.