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December: Season’s Greetings

Updated: Mar 31, 2023

Happy Holidays to all! ‘Tis the season for reuniting with friends and family, celebrating the past year, and looking forward to new adventures.


Quote of the Month

“Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset. … His own heart laughed, and that was quite enough for him.”

- Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol


Current & Upcoming

With the end of December A Christmas Carol has just wrapped up it run at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, and with that I have completed my house management duties for their 2019 season. I am looking forward to a more flexible schedule which will allow me to return to some ongoing professional and creative projects in the new year, as well as at least one upcoming directing gig. Earlier in the fall I served on the reading committee for The Growing Stage Theatre’s annual New Play-Reading Festival, which focuses on new work for young audiences, and I am thrilled to announce that I will be directing the first reading of one of the finalist plays! The four selected scripts in development, very promising and quite different from one another, will each be given a public reading during the weekend of January 31 — February 2. Preparations for the festival weekend are just beginning, and I am eagerly looking forward to getting to know the playwright of my piece and assembling my cast.


Travel Log: Back in the Buckeye State

It was wonderful to return to Ohio to visit my college campus and several friends at the beginning of this month!


2019 Reading Wrap-Up

At the beginning of the year I started a reading challenge I’d been meaning to try for a while, which provides prompts to read books in 26 categories — one for every two weeks. Between an at-times unpredictable schedule and lots of materials to read for work I didn’t quite reach 26 within the year, but I am pleased to be wrapping up with 19 pleasure reads in 2019! With this challenge I finally found some time to get back to reading a wider variety of genres outside of work or class, which I’ve greatly enjoyed.


Here is my complete list, with the prompts:

1. A book written by a female author - The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson

2. A book from your childhood - The Wedding Planner’s Daughter by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

3. A book set somewhere you’ll be visiting this year - Lady Catherine, the Earl, & the Real Downton Abbey by the Countess of Carnarvon

4. A book you can finish in a day - The Balcony by Jane Delury

5. A book with someone’s name in the title - Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett (read my mini review from July!)

6. A book with over 500 pages - Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

7. A book someone else recommended to you - Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin

8. A book that will improve a specific area of your life - A Sense of Direction by William Ball

9. A book that became a film - Ophelia by Lisa Klein

10. A book published in the last year - The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson

11. A book written by a male author - Marisol & Other Plays by José Rivera

12. A non-fiction book - Not Just Jane: Rediscovering Seven Amazing Women Writers Who Transformed British Literature by Shelley DeWees

13. A book set in your hometown/region - The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis (read my mini review from November!)

14. A book you read in school - Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

15. An award-winning or award-nominated book - The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir by Jennifer Ryan

16. A self-published book - *alright this was technically an assigned project, but it was such a significant part of my reading for the year that it deserves to be included: 53 new play scripts, as a new play contest reader*

17. A book translated from another language - Antigone by Sophocles

18. A memoir or journal - Whenever You’re Ready: Nora Polley on Life as a Stratford Festival Stage Manager by Shawn DeSouza-Coelho

19. A book published over 100 years ago - A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens


Coming up in 2020, I will be diving into a new reading challenge focused on Shakespeare’s canon — stay tuned for more information and updates on that!


Throwback - Holiday Performances

A festive throwback to my December projects of the last few years!



It's a Wonderful Life!, 2016


Dancing with the Kenyon Stars, 2017


The Winter’s Tale, 2018

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