HAWK NEWS: The NYU Baby Red Tail Hawk Has A Name

So the big news this week with the baby red tail hawk nesting on a ledge above Washington Square Park is that he has a name now....Pip.   There was a naming contest online and Pip won, with York coming in a close second.  The reference is to Dickens' "Great Expectations" as everyone was surprised when Pip busted out of his shell a week after the experts said he was not going to hatch.  Now Pip is thriving and getting bigger by the day.

If you need a daily hit of adorable, forget those cat videos on YouTube.  You can check out the latest star of Internet cuteness live on his own streaming webcam page.  You can even chat with other hawk watchers about all the excitement goin on in the nest as this little neighborhood bird gets bigger every day.  I challenge you not to smile when he turns his big black eyes to the camera and stares like the cute eyeas he is.

The Window Is Ready For WTC VIEW's First Performance

This is a picture from our set for WTC VIEW. This is the window which features the said view in the show.  I shot this yesterday after our final dress rehearsal. It's not, however, one of our actors but Brian Prather, our set designer who put the whole thing together along with his students up at Ithaca College. It has all turned out beautifully.

Today is our first public performance of the show up at 59E59 Theaters, with showtime at 7:30pm.  It's very exciting after 7 years to have reached this point of the show's off-Broadway premiere.  Everyone on this production has worked so hard to make it all come together, namely our director Andrew Volkoff and the incredibly talented cast of actors who are bringing new life to this show.

Our official press opening night is Tuesday May 24th. To those in the NYC area, I hope you can come see the show. It is truly something special.  Tickets are still available at www.59e59.org for our 3 week run, though we have a couple nights that are already sold it. I will be attending all the shows this weekend and our opening on the 24th. We also have talkbacks with me and Andrew after the shows on the 25th and 1st.  Hope to see you there!

NEXT, The New Yorker & Other Press Hits For WTC VIEW @ 59E59

We got some press hitting today, namely a listing in The New Yorker's "Goings On About Town".  That was amazing!

We also got a great write up in NEXT magazine's current issue, which has a nice picture of me and our two male leads, Nick Lewis (right) and Patrick Edward O'Brien.  This was based on an interview I did with Dan Avery, the magazine's Senior Editor which happened the day after Osama was killed. We talked about the effect that would have on references in to Bin Laden in the show but how I decided not make changes to those references as the play is squarely set in the last week of September 2001.  No editorializing from the future...

We also got a listing in The Advocate from Brandon Voss, who put WTC VIEW on his Hot Sheet of the top 10 things in entertainment on his radar this week. These mentions have double our ticket sales in the last 24 hours. So if you want to see the show, I encourage you to get your seats now.....only 18$ and selling fast.  They're available online at www.59e59.org/next.html.

50 Years Ago, The Freedom Riders Headed South

It was 50 years ago this month that a mixed group of activists, 7 black men and 6 white men, boarded a few Greyhound and Trailways buses in Washington, DC and headed on a journey into the segregated south.  Their trip into history ended in violence when the riders were attacked in Alabama and jailed, the tires of their buses slashed and one bus was even set on fire.

Their courageous exercise of civil disobedience is now the subject of a documentary that will be airing on PBS May 26th called FREEDOM RIDERS. A friend of mine, Alton Christensen, worked on this show and it looks like it's going to be good....you can watch some footage on PBS's website.  And you can read more about the Freedom Riders on the CORE website.

NYU HAWK UPDATE: Feeding Time & Rescue Mission

Below is an cute video of feeding time for Violet, the red tail hawk that has been nesting on a ledge at NYU library with her new baby hawk.  That's the good news.  The bad news is the swelling on Violet's leg from a wildlife band has gotten increasingly worse in the last week and there is now a plan to try and fix it.

Bird experts from the Bronx Zoo are planning to come in today and, with a baited trap, get Violet into their hands so that they can remove the band and treat her leg which seems to be infected.  Hopefully this will do the trick. But if not, then they will take Violet and her baby up to the Bronx Zoo where the eyeass will be raised in captivity, away from it's mother. Apparently, without the nest she built and instincts that come with it, Violet might not take care of her own kid.  Bizzare but fascinating.  And absolutely adorable too....

The Genre Mash-Up Goes Hollywood

This summer marks the start of a new mini-trend in H'wood; the extreme genre mash-up.  This concept started in the book world a few years ago with a novel called "Pride, Prejudice and Zombies", which had a big YA following.  This was followed by many imitators and sequels and, of course, Hollywood took notice.  This summer, a funny "little" movie (meaning it's not based on a comic, toy, or TV show) called "Cowboys & Aliens" is kicking things off with a bang it seems.  At least the trailer seems to indicate that.

Yesterday's TIMES reported on the next wave, specifically a movie about Abraham Lincoln's secret life as a vampire hunter.  Despite the sound of it, this is not some scrappy weird indie but a huge weird studio effort that FOX has put together for summer '12. The title?  Well, it's "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter" of course and has all sorts of history in it as well as the fact that the 16th president liked to slay the occasional blood-sucker.

I'm not sure if this genre has already jumped the shark with this title. But, if it hasn't, you can expect many, many more like it.

WTC VIEW in the NY TIMES Sunday Arts Section

I meant to put this up yesterday but got distracted by the exciting news in Ireland.  Anyway, over the weekend, WTC VIEW made the NY TIMES Sunday Arts section as part of a roundup of hot summer theatre happening across the country this year.  If you click here, just scroll down to the section about New York City and we got a nice mention.

In other WTC news, we got our poster/postcard art last week which looks great.  Tickets are now on sale for the run of the show....there are only 16 performances and seating in the theatre is limited (see "off-Broadway"). So if you're interested, I would encourage you to purchase your tickets soon at 59E59's website.  We will have a bunch of press coming out next week so this way you can avoid the rush!

Rehearsals for the show are continuing "every amazing day" (as Alex says) over in Long Island City while our set is being built upstate.  So it's all coming together!  Look forward to seeing it....and YOU at the theatre later this month  :)

Ireland Could Elect First Openly Gay President

Towleroad provides great world coverage of gay political news and, over the weekend, I spotted this story out of Ireland.  David Norris, a 66-year old out gay man in Dublin, is the front runner in the current race for Ireland's presidency.   While the election is still a a few months off in November, Norris who is a well-known Irish senator, has become the candidate to beat.  

The full story is over on Irish Central News, which notes that the Presidency in Ireland is not exactly the same as it is in other European countries.  There is still a separate prime minister who deals with more political issues but the presidency is a major position, the visibility of which has become increasingly important after two terms in which the current president Mary McAleese has made the job her own.  

I find this all very remarkable given Ireland's deep Catholic roots.  But Norris, whose popularity extends outside of urban Ireland, seems to transcend politics and sexual identity issues and has become the frontrunner due to the Irish love of outsider candidates who challenge the status quo.  It will be very  interesting to see how the rest of the campaign and upcoming election in the fall pans out. 

BREAKING NEWS: We Have A Baby Hawk In The Village!

After more than 5 weeks of watching, it appeared that the eggs that a Red Tail Hawk was sitting on high above Washington Square Park were duds.  Earlier this week, the eggs reached their so-called "expiration date" and professional hawk-watchers said there would be no baby hawks in this nest on a ledge of NYU's Bobst Library.

Well, lo and behold, this morning everyone got a big birthday surprise as the HawkCam showed a baby hawk in the nest.  The eyeass (which is the technical name for such a creature) had poked through its shell over the last 24 hours. Viewership on the HawkCam has nearly tripled with the news too.

So what's next? The hawks will be feed by their folks over the next few months. And what's on the menu? New York City rats of course! Fortunately, the hawk watchers have coordinated with the NYC parks department and the poison bait for rats left in Washington Square Park will be removed for the time being so that the young hawk can grow up nice and healthy in its deluxe nest in the sky.

Google Brings "It Gets Better" To Prime Time

During this week's episode of GLEE, Google aired an ad for it's Chrome browser which was also a beautiful PSA for the "It Gets Better" campaign that columnist Dan Savage started last fall with a video heard round the world.  The spot is really amazing...and a tear-jerker too. Bravo Google!