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JANUARY

January 6, 1999 — 1999 Is Here!!!!

Happy New Year!!! It’s unbelievably 1999!!! This is my first ledger all
year!!!

So how is everyone??? I hope those of you still on break are enjoying
yourselves… I’m back at MIT for IAP (independent activities period) and
I’m having the most awesome time ever!!!!!!

I had a superb winter break… managed to see LOTS of people in just 2
weeks… and managed to see Parade on Bway and also RENT from FRONT ROW
CENTER!!! Yes, that’s right!! We won the RENT lottery!!!!!!!! It was
SOOOOOO amazing! I mean I’ve sat that close b/f during bway shows b/f, but
RENT is powerful as it is, you know? It was an ineffable, remarkable
experience that lasted 3 hours but seemed to be over in a few seconds… ah,
show’s are so ephemeral.

In other fun break news besides the trip to NYC, I made cookies, went ice
skating, saw 3 movies: Step Mom, You’ve Got Mail and STAR TREK:
INSURRECTION (which was FABULOUS!!!), played Trivial Pursuit and Scrabble,
went to IHOP, went to the mall… ETC…

Right now, I’m in She Loves Me! I play Arpad, the delivery boy and have
this AWESOME song at the beginning of Act 2. I will DEFINITELY steal the
show! It’s just so much fun!!!!

Also, I have a UROP (undergraduate research opportunity program) in the
Media Lab!!! I sit there from 10-5 at a computer playing w/ music software
stuff… it’s SOOO cool. I could play that virtual keyboard all day!

The group I’m with (they hired 10 of us over IAP) is making Hyperinstruments
or Hypertoys which are pretty much music toys that using midi chips and
stuff. I’m working w/ the music part of the project to design what sounds
and noises come out of the speaker. It’s SOOOOO awesome…

check out: http://www.media.mit.edu/hyperins/toysym for more info.

So other than that, I’m hanging out w/ all my friends (since no one has
problem sets to do anymore!) and trying to enjoy every free second I have
b/c next term promises to be a BUSY one…

Btw, my bday is in 53 days for those of you who are counting (it’s 2/28)

I hope everyone’s doing well!! I promise to write back promptly to all mail
since I have plenty of free time this month!!!!

talk to you all soon!

Always–
Seth

FEBRUARY

February 2, 1999 — The Most AWESOME News of the Year!!!

Hi everyone! Yes, I know I haven’t responded to e-mail in about a week. I
be very swamped pulling the show (She Loves Me which opens FRIDAY night)
together. Since we don’t have a pub manager or box office manager (well I
actually just found one tonight) I’ve been helping our first-time producer
do those tasks while still doing my normal cast duties.

I PROMISE to write back to people who have writtne me (it’s all still in my
inbox.) as soon as I find time, but I have such news that I just had to send
a ledger in the 5 minutes free I have found.

B/f I reveal my news, I’ll moan about classes starting tomorrow. MOAN. I do
NOT want to go to class. I’m NOT looking forward to lectures again… =( I
actually haven’t found time to get any texts yet, so that’s on my list of
things to eventually do.

I be trying out for Chamber Chorus (sort of like EBHS’s Concert Choir while
Concert Choir here is more like regualr although it’s still not easy to get
in. does that make sense? I just mean sizewise) tomorrow at 10am.

I’m taking Intro to Algorithms (AHHHHH), Signals and Systems (not too bad),
Harmony in Tonal Forms (yay) and 20th Century Music (yippee!) this term.
Hopefully this’ll put me on the right track for a double major in music and
comp sci. I can’t believe college is almost half over. =(

Auditions for FORUM are next week (or the week after if we can’t find a
stage manager)!! I can’t wait! I can wait for problem sets though.

I did a laundry today and have to put it away sometime. I also have a few
more things to organize in my room (I spent every free hour today (not many)
trying to straighten up and organize since once the term starts I’ll have
like NO free time)

So… now the news!!!! So I sent my favorite singer in the entire world a
fan letter on 10/27/97 and today I open this envelope and out comes…
A PERSONALIZED, AUTOGRAPHED PICTURE OF BERNADETTE PETERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been beyond ecstasy since. I return you to your normal scheduled
lives now. Do write back if you get a chance and I promise to find a few
hours to clean out my inbox. =)

Always–
Seth

PS. I JUST GOT A PERSONALIZED, AUTOGRAPHED PICTURE OF BERNADETTE IN THE MAIL!!!!

February 14, 1999 — Those Darned Alien Rebels!

Howdy to all those out there in Seth Legder land! I hope everyone’s having
a funfilled semester (only a few more weeks til spring break)…

My show closed last night to RAVE reviews and grandorous applause! For the
review go to: http://www-tech.mit.edu/V119/N3/lovesme.3a.html
He loved me!

On the down side, that means the show’s over. In other really horrid news,
I seem to have lost my voice. Go ahead rejoice and shout! That’s all I’ve
been getting all day. It’s NOT unoriginal and NOT fun to have no voice.
Tis a good thing I’m good at charades.

And auditions for FORUM are Tues and Wed night! I BETTER HAVE MY VOICE BACK
BY THEN OR ELSE. OR ELSE I SAY!

XFiles rules! They revealed EVERYTHING tonight! It was SUCH a great
episode. Life all makes sense now (except the fact that I have no voice).

Other than shows and tv, I’ve become quite busy w/ classwork. Although it
hasn’t been that bad YET. And I really like having only 4 classes instead
of 5. And I only have 2 hours of class of Friday! (1-3).

I relaly can’t think of too much else. I’m going to see BERNADETTE on March
26 and I can’t wait! Also I turn 20 (I FEEL OLD) in 2 weeks.

Ok, I think that’s about it. I’m a little tired and feverish, but if you
write back and tell me what’s up then I promise to write an even longer
personal letter back to you.

Hope all’s going well! =)

Always–
Seth

MARCH

March 13, 1999 — Marching Through March…

March in a military style, march in a military one, two, three…

Yes, for those of you who understand that quote, the rumors are true. There
is a 75% chance that I will indeed return to Summer Theatre for the 40th
Anniversary, my 10th year and my 3rd annual “this is really my last summer
back here” summer.

What’s a non-teenager, 20 year old going back to summer theatre for? The $$
of course!

Actually, I didn’t get the job running orientation here, and really don’t
feel like getting a real job b/c I had one over IAP and that’s enough resume
building for the year, right? I actually sent my resume over to Cakewalk
Music Software Company b/c I heard they were hiring summer interns but
haven’t heard back. If I am offered a job there, I might take it. (it’s
$13.75/hour)

I estimate a 50% chance they’ll offer me a job and a 50% chance I’ll take it
if offered it, so thus, there is only a 25% chance of me staying in Boston
even though Josepha, Sherri and Dave already are… So maybe I’ll come up
and visit. I’ll definitely come back early for orientation again though.

I’m considering taking the SONDHEIM class at Rutgers this summer just for
fun, so if anyone wants to take it w/me, let me know!

In other news, I am currently passing ALL of my classes!! =) See when I
manipulate my schedule so that I don’t have to wake up until 11, 12 or even
1 on Fridays, I create ample time for studying.

I ordered my class ring (BRASS RAT!!!). Very exciting. Theyr’e going to
give them out on a cruise! I really can’t wait. Although that symbolizes
the halfway mark in my college career.

And then I might actually have to get a real job unless by some miracle I
get into grad school and find some way of funding it.

But at least going home this summer will give Scribby and me extra time to
work on our musical. And time to hang out w/ my EB friends again although
lots won’t be there…

Oh! Spring break is coming up! I will be home Friday around 11 and be
staying until Sunday at 2. So that’s an entire week!

I’ll probably be in NYC on the 24th (wed) and FRIDAY (26th) I’m GOING TO SEE
BERNADETTE IN ANNIE GET YOUR GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

ALso, for those of you who I haven’t talked to in ages, I have the most
awesome part in the next show!! I play Hysterium and am going to be so
funny that the audience will be peeing in their pants, hands down!
Rehearsals are going really, really well. It’s like one of the biggest
parts I’ve ever had, I think. And SO much fun.

So I think that’s all I have to report. Please do write back and tell me
how your semester’s are and whether you’ll be in NJ over break…

Later dudes!

Always–
Seth

March 29, 1999 — BERNADETTE!!!!

So I’m beyond exhausted, but felt that since I’m too tired to start work and
too lazy to start unpacking that I should send out a ledger to everyone I
know telling them about meeting BERNADETTE and some other fun moments of my
spring break… =) I do promise to keep this succinct b/c I’m pooped.

So at first I was bored in EB. I’ll admit it. Thankfully, the break picked
up though… I managed to see a myriad of old high school buddies which was
very nice… and I’m coming home this summer to see more of them!

I think the biggest highlights of the break were my trips to NYC. I shall
herein detail them in all their luscious excitement and then I shall unpack
and sleep since I have to (GASP) go to class tomorrow…

So Wednesday was just an amazing day in NYC. As Dave put in, “I can just
see the ledger now…” We got in around 10am and proceeding to the Charlie
Brown box office to get $20 student tix to the matinee. however, I
unfortunately didn’t realize that Charlie Brown doesn’t have any shows on
Wednesday anymore (they have 3 shows on Saturdays…) So all upset, we
(Andrea, Dave, Elaine and I) meandered over to the TKTS booth to see what
was up there. And lo and behold: CABARET was on the board! So we saw
Cabaret which was AMAZING!!! Unfortunately, Alan Cumming decided to sleep
in that day (he’s now on the bad diva list). But it was amazing. I ran
into 2 MIT acquaintances (Sarah Cohen and Damon) there actually…

OOOOH. B/f we saw the show we went to the NY public library for some reason
and then were walking down 5th Ave when we ran into Tim Meadows (from SNL).
So I of course recognized him since I always keep an eye out for celebrities
and reached into my coat and pulled out the pad and pen I keep in my inside
pocket in case I run into a celebrity. So I got his autograph! =) Then we
went to the Disney store and THEN to the show.

So after the show, Andrea and Elaine went home and Dave and I saw that Miss
Saigon was just getting out… so I ran in and got an extra playbill (Dave
already had his Miss Saigon CD book w/ him) and we waited for Lea. But,
alas, she did not come out. =(

So then we tried to find Amanda in the Hilton, to no avail. However, we did
find these free NY theatre guide magazines which had BERNADETTE’s picture on
it… I took about 4.

So after some more putzing around NYC, we went to see the Scarlet
Pimpernel… it was alright. nothing amazing at all, but enjoyable. The
leads were very good. You can tell it’s a Wildhorn show b/c all the songs
end on really high notes. It sounded like Jekyll & Hyde but less amazing
although it actually had a plot which J&H didn’t have.

Afterwards we ran down to the stage door in record time (too bad we didn’t
have such timing w/ George Hearn in Sunset Blvd…) It was announced that
Douglas Sils wasn’t coming out but would sign stuff if we gave it to this
lady who came out… so I gave her one of the 10 programs (so I steal
programs…) I had and it came back in 5 minutes signed!

Keep in mind, Annie Get Your Gun is playing across the street and I had
heard BERNADETTE comes out around 11:30… so Dave is keeping an idea over
there just in case. Well, she comes out clsoer to 11:20 and we BOLT over
there!!! I got like 5 pictures of her and then had her sign the
aforementioned magazine with her picture on it!! And I told her that I
loved her!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we went back to the SP stage door and got Rex Smith’s autograph.
Unfortunately it was approaching midnight and if we miss the 12:00 bus back
to EB, we’d have to take the 1:00 one so we didn’t get Rachel York’s. =(
Which is a shame b/c I couldn’t get her after Victor/ Victoria b/c the door
people were so nasty (darned Julie Andrews who won’t sign.)

Anyhow, it was an awesome day. FRIDAY night though I actually got to see
Annie Get Your Gun and BERNADETTE was AMAZING!!! She is SOOOOO awesome.
Like SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome!!!!!!!! And then afterwards, I got her
autograph again (as well as Tom Wopat) and also got a PICTURE WITH
HER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SHE IS SOOOOOO NICE!!!!

So I be all content and in that, “oh my gosh, I’m actually back in boston
but I was just home this morning and in NYC a few days ago” mood.

but I thought you all needed to know about BERNADETTE. So now I don’t have
to tell everyone over and over again. (but I will anyway…)

If you haven’t written in awhile, do write back (MIT people are excluded,
esp if you live on my hall, but I better see you all b/f I go home for the
summer), and I promise to wirte back after Wednesday. (I have a pset due on
Tues and one on Wed)

For those of you who wanted the dates of my show, they are in the sig. It’s
going to be the best role EVER!!!!! I LOVE THIS SHOW!!!! IT’S GOING TO BE
SO GOOD!! (it’s FORUM for those who haven’t been keeping up w/ my life…)

So I do hope some of you made it down here. I promised brief, so I’m going
to end this b/f I get really verbose… =) Hope to hear from you all soon!!!

Always–
Seth

MAY

May 19, 1999 — I’M DONE!!!!!!!

YES! As the subject read, I AM DONE! I am now officially a JUNIOR in
college! (how’d I ever get this old?)

First off, welcome to the Seth Summer Ledger list. This is the list I will
use to send ledgers this summer. If there is an address change for the
summer, please let me know. Also, if for some reason you want off the list
for the summer or (GASP) off the list permanently, please let me know.

That said, I LEAVE FOR NJ FRIDAY!! I shall be forwarding mail to my AOL
address starting then to, so you can reach me here or at SethBH42@aol.com…
btw, if anyone knows how to BCC w/ AOL 4.0, please let me know. (everyone
on this list will be very grateful b/c my list is up to 200 or so people…)

It’s really HOT out. I can’t wait to be back in Air Conditioning!

So in other news, I AM DONE. I had my last final today. It is over! DONE!
FINISHED!!! I can actually RELAX and do CROSSWORD puzzles again!!!

I’m seeing CABARET tonight w/ Teri Hatcher (I got half price tickets)…
Dave saw it last night and said that she comes out RIGHT after curtain call
(sort of like George Hearn) so I am SKIPPING bows (the most important part
of a show) and RUNNING to the stage door to try and get her autograph.

In other autograph news, I saw CHICAGO last Friday night w/ ANNE REINKING
(original choreographer) and Ruthie Henshall (famous Brit). I got both
their autographs! They were AMAZING and really, really nice. They go on
the good diva list.

I managed to catch Howard Crabtree’s When Pigs Fly (the 3rd production ever)
which Elliott saw off-Bway and said was hilarious. And it was! And even
better, I wrote a review ofo it for the Tech (school paper) and they paid
for it! I love being on the Arts staff! (the only problem is this other guy
takes the free passes to all the real shows (ie Chicago, Cabaret…).

In other Broadway news, CAROL BURNETT, SUSAN EGAN, BRONSON PINCHOT and
GEORGE HEARN are coming back to bway in a SONDHEIM review, Putting it
Together. I can’t wait!!! (if you haven’t heard of at least ONE of the
above 4 names, then you are a pitiful excuse for a human.)

Did I mention I’m done w/ classes/ tests/ everything until September????

This summer I be going home as most of you know. I intend to SLEEP, WORK,
do CROSSWORDS, COMPOSE lots of music (esp for the musical), and HAVE THE
BEST SUMMER EVER.

Instructions to the reader (U) (in pseudocode):
if U <- NJ then CALL ME after Friday and we'll hang! if U <- Boston then CALL ME b/f Friday if you wanna say bye or hang out b/f I leave. In yet other news, I'm seeing the Star Wars movie FRIDAY at 5. My daddy was very nice and is going to his friend's for dinner so I can go see it w/ my hall buds. I leave right after. Which reminds me I have a LOT to pack. My walls are mostly bare now... =( and I only have 2 more nights of sleeping in this room since I move to a bigger one next year. In what is unbelievably another piece of news (sorry I haven't written in a LONG time...), only 12 days until Aviva is no longer a bachelorette! She's promised to go w/ me to see You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown on Bway and get me a back stage tour since her COUSIN is starring in it w/ ANTHONY RAPP and KRISTIN CHENOWETH!!!! We better not get any understudies is what I'm saying. I'M DONE WITH MY SOPHOMORE YEAR AND HAVE THE RING TO PROVE IT. The class of 2001 is the BEST MIT ring ever and since MIT is known for having the best rings in the world- it is by transivity the BEST RING EVER! =) So, we get to rent movies for free this week, and since I'm DONE, I'm going to rent a zillion movies and watch them while I pack. Which is what I'm going to do after I send this out and then send e-mail thank you cards to all my teachers this term (yeah I'm a kissup, but they have the power to make my C+'s->B-‘s and B+’s->A-‘s… and The + & -‘s ain’t seen by the
outside world…)

Um, so I guess that’s it. I’m going to also respond to everyone who wrote
me during finals period after I send this out, too.

I hope to see everyone either here b/f I leave or this summer in NJ! I come
back to help out during orientation on Friday, August 20th…

Oh, in other news, I might go see the Grand Canyon in August, and am looking
for a show to do in NJ that runs in July. If anyone knows of a show I can
audition for in the next coming weeks, please let me know!

Later dudes, and have great summers!! (and good luck on finals for those of
you who still have them…)

Always–
Seth

JUNE

June 2, 1999 — I LOVE SUMMER!!!!!!!!

It’s summer! It’s summer! Lalalalalala! =) I am having quite an AWESOME
summer so far, if you can’t tell. I had the most AMAZING day EVER today,
but let’s recap from the summer’s start…

So I’ve been home for a week and a half now, and TONS of stuff has happened:

First of all, I went to the library and found this wonderful list of the
century’s top 100 novels which has become my reading list for the summer
(and for how ever long it takes me to get through all 100- actually I’ve
read 8 already). Also I took out CDs! Now after taking all of those
wonderful music classes, I was ready to take out tons of classical cds,
however, one can only take out 8 at a time and I had 8 classical until I
went to the Bway section and found Sondheim’s Saturday Night, The Scarlet
Pimpernel (which is actually growing on me), Triumph of Love, Side Show
(which I saw w/ my HALLmates!!)…

So I listened to CDs, read 1984 (finally… 2+2=5), played piano, composed a
bunch, and of course did crosswords daily!!

Other than that, I am doing TWO shows:

1) I had sent a resume off to Premier Theatre (one of the top community
theatres in NJ) asking if I could possibly audition late since I was in
Boston for the auditions. They called me and asked me to come in last
Tuesday. I did and sung for 3 minutes, was given a script, schedule and a
costume! I’ve never been casted so fast in my life! The show is South
Pacific and there are 11 performances (after only 3 weeks of rehearsal…),
June 11, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18, 19, 24, 25 and 26. All at 8, except Sundays at
2 in the Henderson Theatre, off Rte. 520 in Lincroft.

2) I auditioned for a cute little comedy, the Somewhat True Tales of Robin
Hood at Playhouse22 (5 minutes from my house!) and managed to get cast in
the 2nd largest part in the show!!! (the narrator/ town’s boy) Fortunately,
the rehearsals don’t begin until after South Pacific opens, so I can safely
do both!! It plays July 16, 17, 18 and 23 & 24. If you have to choose
which one to see, see this one b/c I have a GREAT part and it’s also
cheaper… =)

On the social front, I’ve seen a whole bunch of friends already! =) I had
a smashing party last Saturday night to kick off the summer…

Sunday, I went to GREAT Adventure w/ Rachel. It was AWESOME (even though I
got sunburned). I went on MEDUSA and actually went UPSIDE-DOWN! Yes, I
have officially been on a REAL ride! It was actually quite pleasant, VERY
smooth and very fun!! We also went on the ride where you get soaked, and
some dinky ones, the carousel and the ferris wheel! Oh and Rachel won free
whistles playing SkeeBall! =)

Monday was another AWESOME day! Amanda and I went to Aviva’s wedding. It
was SOOOOOOOO much fun! I can’t believe I’m friends with a married woman!
=) We got her great Disney gifts (a musical globe from Sleeping Beauty that
play Once Upon a Dream and a sugar jar that’s the White Rabbit– his head
comes off and you put the sugar in! and a creamer that’s the Chesure Cat–
you put it in his back and it pours out his nose!)… The wedding was
beautiful, the food was great and I danced up a storm!

I also managed to have Aviva introduce me to her cousin, ILANA LEVINE, who
is starring right now in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown on BROADWAY!! She
is the NICEST person EVER!!!!!!!! So she said when I saw the show I could
just come back to the stage door and tell them I’m her friend, and I could
go backstage!!!

SOOOOO, today there was a WONDERFUL free concert in Schubert Alley… I
awoke at 7:20, went and picked up Rachel and we took the 8:40 bus into NYC
(we would’ve taken an earlier bus, but my window wouldn’t close… it’s
still not closed. I must take it into the shop tomorrow.) There were stars
from EVERY show on bway!! BERNADETTE was there!!!! And they did SOO many
songs! It was SOO cool! We got there at 10:30 (not a second too late b/c
as soon as we got there, it really started to crowd up)… it started at
11:30 and it lasted for almost 2 hours. Afterwards, I managed to get
MATTHEW BRODERICK’s autograph!!

THEN, we went to see You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown for which we got $20
rush tickets!! We sat in the 3rd row, all the way on the right. It was
SUPER!! It was SOOOO cute and SOOO much fun!!! And SOOO colorful!!!
EVERYONE should DEFINITELY go see it b/c it may close in a few weeks if it
doesn’t win any Tony’s. Although I think both Kristin Chenoweth AND Roger
Bart deserve them!!

So the show was SUPERB and lively and SOOO cute and funny!! AND then… I
GOT TO GO BACKSTAGE B/C I’M FRIENDS WITH ILANA LEVINE!!!!! I ACTUALLY WENT
BACKSTAGE!!! I SAW ALL OF THEIR DRESSING ROOMS AND GOT ALL OF THEIR
AUTOGRAPHS AND A PICTURE WITH ANTHONY RAPP!!!!!!!!! In fact, I was the only
person in the audience that day to get Roger Bart b/c he decided to take a
shower and a nap instead of going outside (Ilana was SOOO cool- she asked
him to sign for me b/f he took his shower!!! She called me her friend!!!)

SO I HAD THE MOST AWESOME DAY EVER, EVER, EVER!!!!!!!!!!

I must take this opportunity to THANK AVIVA for introducing me to her!
(also, if anyone has her new #, please e-mail it to me so I can make sure to
tell her to thank Ilana when she sees the show next week.)

So, I think as of this point, I have seen everything I care to see that is
currently playing on Broadway. Although I still wouldn’t mind seeing Art-
George Segall (Just Shoot Me), Wayne Knight (NEWMAN!!!) and Buck Henry are
in it now.

I have 3 more weeks b/f Summer Theatre (my 10th year!) commences and am
searching desperately for temp jobs to make extra $$.

So I think that’s about it. My sister turns 14 on Saturday. She’s the
coolest sister anyone could ever want! I challenged her to tennis and
basketball this summer…

Therefore, I hope that everyone is doing as EXTRAORDINARILY well as me! I’m
still in SHOCK that I went BACKSTAGE!!!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME TO BE ONE OF
THOSE PEOPLE WHO COULD GO PAST THE STAGE DOOR!!!

Ok I think this ledger’s among my longest. (although I doubt anything will
ever top my PROM e-mail: available on my WEBPAGE…)

Btw, there is also a COMPLETE list of shows I’ve seen and AUTOGRAPHS I have
collected on my WEBPAGE too!

Ok, that’s it. PLEASE e-mail me this summer if I haven’t talked to you in
weeks/ months/ years!! KIT!! I promise, as always, to write long, personal
e-mails back to ANYone who writes me! =)

A GREAT summer to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Always–
Seth

JULY

July 2, 1999 — Where Is My Summer Going?

So I realized that I haven’t updated anyone on my life in ages. I realize
this when people don’t know what show I’m doing at night. =(

So let me quickly (I promise; I don’t have TOO much to say…) catch all of
you up (and remind you all to WRITE me. That’s the only way to get a
personal message from me! There are 300 people on this list, and I can’t
just send a personal letter to EVERYone…)

Anyways, Summer Theatre is now in its FOURTH week. It’s amazing how time
flies… SO far we did Peter Pan, a talent show, and Oliver Twist.

This week we’re doing the Emperor’s New Clothes. At the end the emperor’s
evil assistant wears a FAKE TOUCHE. (it’s Ivan Rushfield if anyone knows
him) Quite an exciting ending…

I’ve been Elliott’s right hand man, so I don’t get many breaks any more…
(Aviva- remember those days of keep away?)

The next two weeks are Alice in Wonderland and the Pied Piper.

And so ends the 41st year of summer theatre, and my 11th year there… but
my first actually playing piano and having FULL control of ALL the music!!
Btw, there’s going to be an article about summer theatre in the HOME NEWS
for those of you still in NJ…

At night, I’ve been MUSICALLY DIRECTING (for $$ of course) a production of
HOW I SURVIVE HIGH SCHOOL, which is a show Elliott wrote about real-life
high school problems. It’s actually touring NY public high schools next year!

The show dates are THURSDAY, FRIDAY, & SATURDAY: AUGUST 10, 11 & 12!!!!!!!
At 8pm. At Playhouse22 in EB. So everyone should come if they can; it’s
only $10.

Other than that my days are mostly like this: get up & shower, go to summer
theatre, come home, do my crossword, hang out with Andrea, eat dinner, go to
rehearsal, hang out with Rachel. Rinse and repeat daily.

Oh, and Dan found out Columbia has a program in Computer Music, too… so
now I have THREE schools to apply to: Columbia, Brown, and NYU… hopefully
I’ll get into all of them and they’ll all be willing to completely fund me.
Or at least one…

Other than that, I’m probably going to take a roadtrip to Canada the first
weekend of August just so I can LEAVE the country for a little bit.
Hopefully that’ll work out and be tons of fun! =)

Oh btw, I saw the Bubbly Black Girl Sheds her Chameleon Skin a few weekends
ago. IT was great. It’s nice to know there are still new musicals!
They’re just off broadway since producers are too afraid to produce them ON
broadway. Such a sad world. Maybe one day enough people will be
intelligent enough to enjoy modern theatre.

FYI, I go back to MIT in exactly ONE month (8/18) to be an orientation
leader again. And I take the GREs on 8/21 in Boston in case anyone is
desperately wondering when I was planning on taking them…

Anyways, I need to lie down since I’m completely pooped and have rehearsal
in another 3.5 hours…

I hope everyone’s having a SPLENDID summer!!!

Please write back. I cleaned out my inbox the other day, and it’s very empty…

=)

Always–
Seth

AUGUST

August 6, 1999 — As the Summer Ends…

Well it has happened yet again. The summer has went by with enormous force
and verve. It has swept away in a blaze of heat and glory… Etc. Didn’t
it just start??

So what’s up, dudes? I haven’t heard from a LOT of you in OVER a year, you
know, but alas, I just keep on sending my ledgers anyway, undaunted. Yes,
I’m nuts.

So let’s start from where I left off… July. July was fun. It went
extraordinarily fast though. ROBIN HOOD was SPECTACULAR. Thank you to the
70 or so people who came to see me! I really appreciate it!!! =) It’s
amazingly fun to have a part that gets to talk DIRECTLY to the audience!
(it’s what I do best.)

Oh you know what was in July? Dave’s party! WHERE I WON CLUE!!! It was
amazing. An hour and a half game. More thinking than I’ve done ALL summer,
but it paid off! I accused the murderers correctly right b/f Amanda could!
We played Clue: The Master Dectective game which has 10 players (we played
w/ 7)… it was a rematch from the last time we were at Dave’s house LAST
summer.

The other big victory I had this summer was beating Elaine in TRIVIAL
PURSUIT!! WOOHOO!!! =) I really like winning. (if you hadn’t realized that)

In other news, Summer Theatre has ended. We all agreed that it went even
more quickly than usual… it just sort of FLEW by. I can’t believe that
I’ve spent half of the summers of my life going there. For those of you who
have never worked w/ Elliott, I pity you! (and for those of you who HAVE, I
empathize… =) )

My big part this year was Willy Wonka which was 2 weeks ago. It was one of
those, I didn’t do anything for the part until Wednesday. And so it’s one
of those, get my lines Wed, run through them during hte dress rehearsal
Thursday and then perform Friday weeks. It was quite exhausting, but
perfectly timed b/c Robin Hood had ended the weekend b/f… =) I watched
the movie the weekend b/f like 6 times. I am now hte WONKA expert!! I can
quote the entire movie.

I AM GENE WILDER!! I have the hair!! And the personality although HE is
WILDER!! =) (yes, I’ve been saving that pun for a few weeks now…)

Last night was our special 40th Anniversary of Elliott running Summer
Theatre night show of Pinocchio. It was there that Elliott got presented w/
3 awards/ plagues and a proclamation from the MAYOR proclaiming Elliott’s
dedication and wonderful creativity. He has truly enhanced the community
and the lives of thousands (including yours truly) which is probably why
instead of getting a real computer job and experience and learning how to
program, I come back each year. Who knows? If I can manage to get a
comptuer job DURING IAP and spring term, maybe I can come back for the 41st
year… (although I’d have to endure another summer at home which isn’t THAT
bad, but still…)

In honor of Elliott, I wrote a song the ELLIOTT CONNECTION (to the tune of
the Rainbow Connection) describing Summer Theatre. Some wonderful ALUMNI
(some of which came and ran backstage for us!!) and some of the rest of the
wonderful staff sang it as I played it on the grand piano, center stage. It
was the highlight of the evening methinks! =)

*************FYI, THE PARODY along with FIFTY PICTURES OF FRIENDS,
CELEBRITIES and some MTG SHOWS are NOW AVAILABLE ON MY
WEBPAGE!!!!****************

PLEASE CHECK OUT MY WEBPAGE. IT HAS BEEN FULLY UPDATED.

End self-plugging ad. The next part of the ledger is dedicated to my NYC
trip last Saturday. Dave, Elaine, Dan and I (Matt was supposed to come too,
but something came up) went into NYC to try to see I Love You, You’re
Perfect, Now Change. Unfortunately, it was SOLD out. =( So we were in a
flurry as to what to see. Dan ended up going to Squank or something liek
that. An off-bway show that was closing that he wanted tos ee b/c it was in
bad taste.

The rest of us ended up seeing Side Man which I figured would be good b/c it
won the 1999 Best Play Tony. While coming out from its box office, Dave and
I spied a crowd outside of ART. Buck Henry came out and signed ART ads we
had. And then we waited anxiously for Wayne Knight (NEWMAN) and George
Segall (JUST SHOOT ME) to come out. Unfortunately they didn’t. =(

So off we all went to Little Italy for dinner. I had my favorite of course
(veal parm) and then after walking around a little bit, we went back to
Times Square and went in search (for Dave) for an Into the Woods poster from
Bway, not London.

We were in Colony looking at music/ autographs/ posters etc, when who should
come up behind me, but ELLIOTT!?!?! He was in the city buying fake books.
So he ended up coming to Side Man too… Side Man was alright. Act 2 was
definitely better than Act 1. It was a little slow, but the acting was very
good… I got the Tony winner, Frank Wood’s autograph and also movie star,
Andrew McCarthy’s too.

Then we were waiting for Dan to return and noticed it was 10:40. Now EVERY
good, dedicated BERNADETTE fan knows that she comes out at 11:15. And since
there seemed no way we’d catch the 11:00 bus w/ Dan no where in sight, we
figured we’d wait. I WAS THE FIRST PERSON TO HAVE BERNADETTE SIGN!!! This
makes 3 times I’ve waited for her. I knew EXACTLY where she was going to
come first and I stood there b/c we beat the people coming out of the show
to the stage door!!! BERNADETTE IS SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!! So then we took the
11:30 bus home… =)

In other NYC news, we saw RAGTIME this year w/ Summer Theatre. The 4 senior
counselors all got groups and stuff and most of the kids wanted to be in my
group… unfortunately I had to turn 4 away. =( SO I’ve now seen RAGTIME
THREE times. (once w/ the original cast and the touring cast once) It is
truly amazing. JOHN RUBINSTEIN was Tateh. He is AMAZING and the best Tateh
I’d ever seen.

Um, so I think that’s caught up. I be going to LAS VEGAS and the GRAND
CANYON from the 11-19th so I will (GASP) be w/o e-mail for that week. I do
not know how I’m going to survive that (or spending so much time w/ my
family) but we’ll see. I’m bringing books. Speaking of which, I read
Imzadi 2 last week. It was very good. If you don’t know what that is,
shame on you for not being a trekker.

I hope everyone is having a SPLENDID summer. PLEASE WRITE BACK b/c I’m
going to have too much free time for the next few days. Although I should
start packing.

I ARRIVE IN BOSTON ON AUGUST 21ST AT NIGHT.

Summers come and go so quickly… It will be nice to be back in Boston
though. =)

WRITE BACK and I’ll talk to you soon! Later, dudes!

Always–
Seth

SEPTEMBER

September 10, 1999 — Busy as a Bee…

I am busy. But, alas, September has already hit, and I haven’t managed to
send out a ledger, so I figured I should take 10 minutes to, right? =)

So I really haven’t written in awhile!! My vacation (which seems like
months ago) was lots of fun… We went to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas.
In Las Vegas we did the Star Trek Experience!! I was actually BEAMED UP!!!!
=) And I also won a singing contest and got a free disposable camera…

This term, I am busy. 5 classes is a LOT. I have to take this really awful
music history class for the major called Western Music to 1750, meaning
we’re doing Gregorian chants now. And I have to write a paper on them and
take a listening exam on them too! AH!!! But I love my Broadway Musicals
class even if I do have to write a 12 page paper for it in the near future…

I’m going to see REM in concert this weekend. This will actually be my
first real concert ever…

Um… Orientation was really, really fun, but too short! I was an
orientation leader, met LOTS of frosh, rushed EC and rushed my hall (ran my
hall rush actually)… it was exhausting and that’s why I didn’t have time
to write! (not like I really have time to write now…)

In other news I saw GODOT last Friday ngiht and wrote a review:
http://www-tech.mit.edu/V119/N40/Godot.40a.html

In yet other news, I have been hired for 2 weeks to poster/ advertise a
webpage… if you get a chance PLEASE sign up and upload some stuff,
PLEASE????? I need to get 1,000 people to sign up to get paid my $250.
Hopefully, you’ll find out it’s worth it? That’s the real reason I’ve been
inspired to write actually. So please do it. I’m enclosing the letter on
the bottom.

Other than that, although it doesn’t seem that way from my exhaustion and
busyness, I am having a GREAT term! I might be vocally directing EVITA!!
=) And I love being back in college!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Do write back, and I
promise to eventually clean out my inbox…

Always–
Seth

OCTOBER

October 10, 1999 — It’s a 3 Day Weekend!!!!

So, I said to myself, “Seth, it’s a three day weekend. I don’t feel like
starting work yet. Even if I do have 2 tests, 1 pset and a paper due this
week. I owe it to my loyal friends/ fans/ people who got on my ledger list
for some reason and are still on it b/c I never delete anyone to send out a
ledger since it’s been October for 10 days already and I haven’t sent one yet.”

So what’s up? Being that it’s Sunday, I haven’t gotten a single piece of
new mail so I figured I’d write you all in the hopes that someone’d write
back and then I’d have some e-mail to read…

I guess not too much has happened since last month. The term just seems to
speed on by at an enormously fast rate… I have my first tests this week in
my computer classes. I had a listening test in my chant clsas and got a B
which isn’t that bad considering only one person in the class got an A-.
And I got an A- on my first paper of the year! 3 to go… One is my 12 page
paper on Cabaret… it’s going to be fun to write! But alas, I wanted to
read the book, “the Making of Cabaret” and the “Berlin Stories” which it’s
based on first and they still haven’t come from Amazon.com yet!! UGH!

In other news, Dave and I SAW SARAH BRIGHTMAN last night! She is amazing.
Simply amazing. Which is exactly what my review says. She is AMAZING! She
is the nicest person too! She signed autographs for EVERYONE and smiled
when I took a picture and everything. She is just SOOOO nice! So EVERYone
should go see her if they ever can b/c she’s so cool. She did a bunch of
ALW stuff as well as some pop and classical pieces… and there was
differnet costumes and choreography and everything! (there’s an article on
playbill online about her now and also my review will appear on the tech’s
webpage in the near future)

I want to go see Waiting in the Wings w/ Lauren Bacall here b/f it goes to
Bway b/c it’s cheaper here… I do hope Ms. Bacall will sign autographs b/c
hers is definitely worth something, methinks.

I saw Elmo in Grouchland the other night. It was really, really cute! And
adorbale. AND MANDY PATINKIN had a song! (which is surprisingly not on the
cd- NO I didn’t buy it, I just looked at it… sheesh.) But it was cute and
Bert and Ernie kept interrupting, too! I love Ernie!

In other news, my hall is starting a tv show for MIT cable called, “Good
Morning, MIT!” it’s going to air at midnight everynight… (we’ll do one
new one per month- it’s a cross b/t SNL, Conan and the Muppet show)

Speaking of Conan, I ordered tickets to see him over winter break! I also
would like to go see: PUTTING IT TOGETHER (w/ CAROL BURNETT etal), Kiss Me
Kate (w/ BRIAN STOLKS MITCHELL and MARIN MAZZIE), Epic Proportions (w/
KRISTIN CHENOWETH!) and Marie Christine (w/ AUDRA MACDONALD)… we’ll see
how many I can squeeze in though. The rest’ll be for spring break.

So remember that webpage? It’s GONE now. But I still got my $250, so it’s
all good. 😉

I called my grandparents today. I am a good grandson.

I’m doing Choir this term… We be singing Opera Choruses at the Orchestra
concert next weekend and also we’re doing Poulenc’s Gloria and Mozart’s
something or other in November.

I set “To Be or Not To Be” to music for my advanced music composition
seminar… it was really quite fun. I really do love to compose. Mrs. Spad
said she’d premiere one of my pieces this year so I’m finishing up arranging
it for 4 parts… Mrs. Spad is da BOMB! =)

Well, it’s almost 7, so I suppose I should start one of my papers or
something. But do write back and I promise to write back when I find time!
(But have to fear I ALWAYS write back…) I do hope everyone is doing quite
well and having fun terms, etc. WRITE SOON!!!!

Ps. New XFILES in FOUR weeks!

Always–
Seth

NOVEMBER

November 12, 1999 — Neverending November…

Well, it’s almost halfway through November, and I said to myself, “Gee,
Seth, all of those people out there, just waiting to hear about my life. I
MUST send out a ledger ASAP.” And about a week later, I finally found time
to do it…

I am waiting for Godot. Except Godot’s name is Eric. My good friend, Eric,
is coming up to visit this weekend! He’s due to arrive around 4 or 5 (that
rhymes)… I’m considering staying up until 4, but I don’t think I’ll make
it to 5… we’ll see. I only have ONE class tomorrow at 12…

Speaking of Fridays, I have decided I’m not going to have any classes on
Friday next term. The course 6 classes I’ll be taking meet Monday-Thursday
instead of Tuesday-Friday next term, I think. And all my music/ theatre
classes are either MW or TR, so I never end up w/ no class on Monday…

So what’s up? It’s been about a month since I’ve talked to some of you,
others it’s been a REALLY long time…

So anyway, here’s what’s up over here at MIT:

My new show on MIT cable! Yes, we FINALLY finished (after many nights of
editing until 6am) our first episode of Good Morning, MIT… it will air
tomorrow night at midnight for the first time! We’re having a gala premiere
party to celebrate. I might wear a tux. (or not…) It is VERY, VERY
funny. I mean VERY funny.

**I will have a tape of it w/ me over Thanksgiving break if anyone wants to
see it (Warning: it’s tv MA in some parts). I will probably force people to
watch it at various get-togethers… it’s only 17 minutes long**

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I’m taking the 3:05 train home, methinks, so I’ll
be in around 11ish unless there’s lots of delays and stuff. Thanksgiving’s
at my house (so I don’t have to wake up early!). And I’m booked most of the
weekend already… I can’t wait to have a break though!!!! Phew!

In other news, I just got into Dramashop’s One Week Wonder!!! We rehearse
every ngiht next week for about 4 or 5 hours and perform next Saturday
night. It should be quite the experience. The show is Durang’s NATURE AND
PURPOSE OF THE UNIVERSE. It looks quite funny…

The most amazing thing happened the other day: I GOT AN A+ ON A TEST!!! Of
course it was in my music one, BUT there was SOOOO much information on that
test and it had lots of listening parts, etc. I had the highest grade in
the class!!!!

In other classes, I wrote a splendid 15 page paper on Cabaret for Broadway
Musicals! I have yet to get that back, but I think the paper is a
masterpiecal opus.

Speaking of opi, I finished my first song for my advanced music composition
class. It’s To Be Or Not To Be (lyrics by Shakespeare of course) and it’s
just marvelous. It really is.

**I will, of course, be bringing copies of it home for those of you who want
to hear it.**

I have just finished writing my 5 minute orchestra piece. It, too, is just
splendid. I marvel at myself sometimes. I orchestrated it today for 17
parts… I haven’t checked instrument ranges yet though, so there might be
some nitpicking stuff to do b/f it’s due (the day b/f Thanksgiving…)…

In course 6 news, I only have to take FOUR more course 6 classes to get my
degree in Computer Science! 😉 I actually like the ones I have this term.
AI is quite intriguing and in computational structures we’re designing our
own Beta processors! Although I won’t like them as much on TUESDAY when I
have TWO TESTS……….

We went to Vinnie Testa’s tonight for my friends (the twins)’ bdays. I had
(surprisingly) veal parmagian.

In other news, I made the easiest $75 ever the other day! I went to take
this survey/ do this focus group thing and they were going to pay $75 for 3
hours. BUT they had over-subscribed and I got to go home after 15 minutes
and got PAID ANYWAY! YIPPEE!!! I have like 6 shows to see over winter
break anyway (I’ll be lucky if I get 4 in…)

So I guess that’s about it. I just have 3 psets, 1 lab, 2 tests, 3 finals,
1 essay, and a few odds and ends left for this term…

Do write back and say hi! =)

Always–
Seth