Sadly, Joyce had to work on their birthday, so Ana spent the day at a beautiful local landmark home and garden. See the exquisite pictures. Ana had two more Elvis performances, one of which her mom attended, and another, her "son" Aaron watched. He reminded her that the costume she wore in this show was indeed the one he wore when they were both in Bye Bye Birdie back in 2006. Strange but True!! Here are a few pictures that were taken of her in the role of The King! Then she helped with the strike of the set, went to the cast party dinner, and then karaoke with some of her cast-mates. It will be a show she will remember all her days.
As she has done for so many years, she had birthday lunch one gorgeous October afternoon with her old friend ‘Fantasia Bob’ where they got to dine on the patio at one of their favorite cafés in Cupertino. Both their birthdays are in October, so this has been a ritual each has relished. They caught up on all the good and not-so-good happenings of the past year. Time is passing so swiftly, and this is one activity they each treasure.
At their theatre, the next show up is Spelling Bee, and Ana of course attended the opening and manned the “bar” for a time during the gala party afterward [picture].
Then it was time to get serious about moving. They had already been organizing and packing, and Joyce had moved her stuff out, so by the end of the month, Ana rented a storage space, a huge truck, and enlisted a few family and friends to help her get everything else out of the house they have lived in for eight years. She will move most of her stuff into storage, and will rent a room from a theatre friend she has known since Flaming Idiots. Two of her most precious belongings - her big art deco sideboard [she's had it since she was 19] and the piano her grandma gave her for a wedding present - are going to reside with her "son" Aaron at his new home, where he will be a wonderful caretaker to them.
For Halloween, she took a break from
packing and moving, slipped into the polyester jumpsuit one more time,
and played and sang like Elvis at her favorite karaoke joint! [picture]
She was so convincing, she was voted the first place winner of the
costume contest, and got a $50 gift certificate to use at that
restaurant! Wah-hooo!!
Shows they’ve seen with or starring friends: Ana went to the final Glue
Factory production,
A Funny Thing
Happened On The Way To The Forum;
after 14 years, the Glue Factory is folding, as the Director will be
retiring from his teaching position at Ana’s alma mater; Ana posed with
her friend Ken [picture] who played Glorius
Maximus. Ana went to a special screening of the movie
Celebration Day
about a Led Zeppelin concert from
2009 in London. She ran into Yosi, Adam and Adam’s step-dad David
there! Small world; she had a great time watching with 3 Zepp fans!!
Her Elvis cast-mate Ron, who also played Candy, had his three kids in a
production of
Seussical Jr. which Ana promised
his girl she would go see, so she did! It was so delightful to see those
kids so passionate about performing. Because she subscribes to different
theatre e-newsletters, Ana got an opportunity to see several Broadway
touring shows over the next few months for a reduced rate; the first one
was the amazing
Memphis
(which she LOVED!) which was made even better by sitting in the midst of
one of the cast member’s family.
For Thanksgiving, Joyce was planning on going to her dad’s, then to Aunt Stephany’s, then Ken & Carrie’s, but she was worried about all the driving, and weather, etc., so Ana felt compelled to invite herself along. Everyone welcomed her back with open arms; it was wonderful! They stayed overnight at Craig’s, then drove the rest of the way to Stephany’s and then Ken & Carrie’s on Turkey-Day. The food was wonderful, and the company terrific [picture].
Shows they’ve seen with or starring friends: Ana went to the Tabard to see another in the “True Lives” series (of which the Elvis play was one) called Trying, about Supreme Court Justice Biddle; it was funny and poignant.
One tradition that Joyce and Ana couldn’t continue this year – each Thanksgiving that a Daniel Craig Bond movie has come out, they have been in Disneyland, and gone to see the movie at the theatre in Downtown Disney; okay, so it’s a two-time tradition. Well this Thanksgiving and this Bond movie they couldn’t do that – so sad. Ana went to finally see it, and as she was leaving the theatre, she decided she needed to get her hair cut like Dame Judi, who played M. Her ladies at her favorite hair/nail salon thought it was the perfect look for her – and it was! She got so many compliments over the next several days everywhere she went; from karaoke, to Temple, to Tabard; family and friends. Okay, so it’s a keeper! [picture]
San Jose Ballet put the word out to the theatre community that they needed worker-bees to help set up trees and decorate for the upcoming production of The Nutcracker. So of course Ana volunteered – pass up an opportunity to decorate for Christmas? No way! And for her effort, she was rewarded with two tickets to see the ballet. Since her new house-mate Steve has never been to the ballet, she dragged him along to introduce him to this form of performing art. And he invited her to attend one of his acting gigs – which her mom also asked her to attend as well! His group from the San Jose History Museum performed at her Senior Center luncheon, and so Ana got to make them both happy in one shot!
The annual Chanukkah party and talent show at Temple was on Sunday evening, and Ana reprised her performance of her friend Ted’s Chanukkah song, If Not For You. Everyone loved its beautiful music and poignant lyrics. The next day, Ana drove Nana to see Janet play her bass and perform with the Campbell String Ensemble at the local library. And the following Monday, they went to see Janet play her trumpets (she got a purple trumpet for her birthday!) with the Campbell Express Band!!
Ana & Joyce went to the Stanford Shopping Center to Christmas window-shop, and to use a $50 gift certificate at Max’s Opera Café that Ana had received 6 Christmas’s before. About time! The food & wine were great, and their waiter was very attentive. Ana took Nana to the salon and they each got mani/pedi’s for the holidays. Ana auditioned for one of her favorite roles, Marmie, in the musical of one of her favorite stories, Little Women. Sadly, the director didn’t think that she would be a good fit for his vision of the show. Ana was honored to read in Hebrew from the Torah at Temple, the portion from Genesis titled vaYigash.
Ana did a couple of 'walkabouts' in her new neighborhood taking pictures of the Christmas decorations. This is apparently the place to see lights in San Jose! [pictures] The gals’ friend Woody drove down from Idaho to visit and celebrate Christmas week with family and friends, so they got to spend some time with him while he was in town. Joyce went to her dad’s on Christmas Day, so Ana had lunch with Woody and the two of them joined thousands of other folks at the cinema; they ended up watching This Is 40, which was okay, but Les Mis was sold out by the time they got there and that was really their first choice. He stayed through until Saturday, and visited with Ana & Nana at Shabbat services.
And on the final Football Sunday of the year, Ana and her choreographer friend Gary went to the 'Stick to watch their team win their division!! Woooott!!!!
Shows they’ve seen with or starring friends: Ana went to see the production of Annie that she had tried out for. It was a cute production (although she believes she would have been a better Hannigan ;-) ) and she got to see so many of her friends who were in it! Terrific fun. Ana went to Tabard to see a great music performance called Big Band Christmas. Ana and Steve attended The Nutcracker, and he was overwhelmed with the athleticism and artistic qualities of the production. He said it even made him cry. So glad he was able to see a really wonderful production. [The next evening, Ana was requested to come back and help staff the Boutique table where they were selling nutcrackers, stuffed animals, and tree ornaments.] Ana went to see her friend Ted’s second annual production of his original works called Decembrance. Wonderful, again! Many of her friends performed in it singing his music, including the song she had just performed at the Chanukkah party.
As 2012 wanes and 2013
is around the corner,
Ana & Joyce wish you and yours happiness, health,
and the prosperity of having everything you need.
God bless you in all
that you do.
We love you all.