Hurricane Sandy

There's a Storm a-brewin' y'all!!

The conversations I've observed in the past 24 hours confirm the accuracy of the above chart.

Hurricane Sandy is upon the east coast, and most of the citizens of New York couldn't possibly be less prepared.

While one of my roommates ran into the local grocery store to get a few last minute ingredients for our pre-storm dinner last night, I looked into the baskets of other shoppers and almost laughed out loud. I saw entirely too many microwave dinners and frozen treats. Alcohol also seemed to be a top priority for these last minute shoppers. My roommate was in line for the cash register for about 45 minutes, which is not surprising. A little more surprising, though, was seeing one of my friends from church heading into the madness because he JUST realized he has no food in his apartment.

I think the most reasonable explanation for the last minute panic is the fact that Public Transit was shut down yesterday at 7pm last night, so there's really no way to get around the city without a car (and seriously, who has one of those anymore?? haha). This MTA shut-down could potentially make someone feel trapped. I am realizing I haven't had this much forced free time in YEARS. I'm taking this as a mini vacation with my roommates (at least until the scary weather kicks in).

I received a precious email from my boss yesterday informing me that our office would be closed today (Monday). Being a native New Yorker, he wanted to make sure I was fully prepared. His necessity list included a flashlight, bottled water, a pocket knife, duct tape, a first aid kit, and a whistle. I'm not 100% sure what I'm supposed to do with a whistle, but I appreciated his concern. For those of you down South who are worried, we're fully stocked with non-perishables, a tub of water, and flashlights. Whether this storm is bad or not, we're ready for it.

Last night we watched Young Frankenstein in honor of this Young Frankenstorm, and today my roommates and I are curled up watching movies and the news. The reporters are saying about 10-20 million people will be without power soon, so we're trying to use our technology as much as possible. :)

Yesterday at church I found myself standing with friends talking about preparation and what we should expect with the impending storm. It was eerily similar to the Sunday before Hurricane Katrina when we all stood around in the sanctuary, asking where our friends were evacuating and wishing each other the best. That Sunday burns vividly in my mind, and the months following keep playing through in my head, but I praise the Lord for his perfect plan and the beauty and growth he brought from that disaster. I think those memories have actually been the hardest part of this storm process... I honesty don't think much will come of Sandy. We may lose some power, we've already lost a crane, and work may be down for another day or two, but I know not to take anything for granted.

We are prepared for the worst but hoping for the best.

And we are praying, and I know many of you are praying too. 

Thank you for the prayers. We can feel them.

Grace be with you,

Lindsey Shea

Just Another Day in NYC...

I’ve settled into a pretty comfortable life routine here in New York City.

My weeks consist of work (casting assistant at Mungioli theatricals), choir practice, dance classes, Bible Study, and the occasional social gathering… OK, maybe social gatherings are more frequent than “occasional.” I stay pretty busy, but those of you who know me understand that I wouldn’t be happy any other way.

It’s just a normal life in different city.

Except… sometimes I get caught off-guard when I look at the skyline, or when see the sparkle of the lights in the buildings surrounding me, when I overhear bizarre conversations on the subway, when I leave a crowded theatre and go home instead of to a hotel, or eat a dessert in central park. Those are the moments that I stop and think Wow, I’m really here.

I’m ACTUALLY living in New York City.

I had one of those moments last night.

I was standing on the steps of a gorgeous cathedral sanctuary directly behind a 50 piece orchestra comprised of Juilliard students and alumni, singing choral music with some of the finest opera singers in the country.

UM WHAT?

Let me clarify and give details. Central Presbyterian is the incredible church body that I now call home. The Central building is an old gorgeous church building built in the early 1900’s. (pictures to come later) It was actually featured on “Sex and the City” in one of the early seasons as Mr. Big’s church. One of my roommates at the concert last night likened it to Hogwarts. It has a high arched ceiling, tall stained glass windows, and an ornate alter in addition to the stone columns and beautiful hanging lights. Basically, I’m completely obsessed with it… I’ll be getting married there if I ever find a husband.  ;-)

 I am a member of the choir at Central, and for the past few months we have been learning Felix Mendelssohn’s ELIJAH. (Oh brother some of those alto lines are pretty tough!) Our concert is this weekend (Thursday the 25^th and Friday the 26^th).

The soloists are as follows:

Mark Delevan- Elijah

His bio includes title roles in Falstaff, Rigoletto, Der Fliegende Hollander, Gianni Schicci, Simon Boccanegra, and Sweeny Todd.

If you’re anything like me, the only title that actually means anything is Sweeny Todd. He performs with the MET Opera, the New York City Opera, the Duetsche Oper Berlin, and the San Francisco Opera, among many others.

Basically, this guy is LEGIT!

Molly Fillmore – Soprano

Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Seattle Opera, Arizona Opera, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Cologne Opera, Washington National Opera, Spoleto Festival, Chattanooga Opera, Utah Opera, Carnegie Hall, and Avery Fisher Hall.

Impressed yet?

MaryAnn McCormick – Alto

Opera National de Paris, Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Teatro Regio di Parma; Title role of Carmen at Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, Teatro Regio di Torino, and the Staatsoper Stuttgart; The MET, Orchestre National de France, Opera theater of St Louis, New York philharmonic, lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, and the Emerson String Quartet.

Need I continue? Well, actually, yes because there’s one more soloist and I feel like it would be unfair to leave him out…

John Easterlin – Tenor

Metropolitan Opera, Madrid’s Teatro Real, Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre, a French Grammy Award, Vienna State Opera, Opera National de Paris, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, and the Canadian Opera Company, just to name a few.

Truth be told, I’ve never heard of most of those places, but I HAVE heard these soloists sing twice now. They are unbelievable.

In addition to the soloists, we have a 50 piece orchestra from Juilliard. How did we get Juilliard musicians you may ask? Well, that’s easy. All of the instrumentalists who play with our church choir each Sunday morning are Juilliard alumni, so they just asked their friends… 50 of them… Fifty unnaturally talented friends who have devoted their lives to playing music, and playing it perfectly.

I’m surrounded by insanely talented people!

And THEN, there’s the choir. What wonderful people they are. There are 23 of us. Most of which are professional opera singers themselves. All of which have a beautiful passion for sharing their gifts for the glory of God.

 And here I stand, the lowly musical theatre nerd, just starting out on her artistic journey- listening to these people, learning from these people, and trying not to get completely overwhelmed.

Last night, standing on that stage, I realized I could never have this experience anywhere else in the world.

And the best part was that as I looked out into the audience, there were faces of friends smiling back at me.

I’ve been blessed with some pretty incredible opportunities, but I’ve been blessed with even more incredible people who share these experiences with me.

As the Final Chorus of ELIJAH says:

“Lord, our Creator, how excellent Thy name is in all the nations. Thou fillest heaven [and earth] with thy glory! Amen!”