Oscar Shirtlessness

Congratulations to all the winners of last night's Academy Awards! After the great fun I had last year in Alabama dressing up as the Black Swan, I found this year a bit underwhelming. But I was happy with the show, primarily because Billy Crystal kept things moving along and seemed to be sober. I also thought the speeches were across the board excellent, classy and humble. Meryl Streep thanking her husband first made me cry. And Jean Dujardin has that French accent which makes everything sound wonderful. I loved his screaming "Formidable!" at the end of his speech - his exuberance was infectious, even at the end of a three hour spectacle. Little do we in the US know about his career in France, but apparently, as seen above, he is not unfamiliar with good male shirtlessness, and I look forward to seeing more of him in the future.

In the meantime, our New York "winter" seems to be coming to an end, and I suspect that some live male shirtlessness may be just around the corner. Let's hope! Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Happy Birthday, Bobby!

I recently saw "These Seven Sicknesses" at The Flea Theater and can happily report that it contained a lot of good shirtlessness. Apparently in addition to performing a 4 and half hour show and serving the audience dinner and dessert, the cast also works out. A lot. "These Seven Sicknessess" is an adaptation of seven Greek plays put together in an evening long format to emulate the days of theater that occurred in Greek times. I'll admit I had serious concerns about being able to sit through four and half hours of anything, but I truly had a great time. The evening format was delightful, and serving food during the intermissions created a very social and convivial atmosphere. My friend Bobby (whose last name I will not post to avoid any strange Google alerts or unhappiness from an agent) was in the show giving excellent shirtlessness and steered me to this trailer for it. As you can see, the "Ajax" segment features quite a bit of male shirtlessness. It won't give anything away to tell you that a large portion of it features Ajax talking to sheep who are all either wearing bras or shirtless depending on gender. In addition to the good shirtlessness, it also featured a fantastic fight sequence. Overall, a great night at the theater!

It also happens to be my friend Bobby's birthday today. So happy birthday, Bobby! May this be the first of many shirtless birthdays for you!

This will be the final segment in my birthday trilogy. Having celebrated Erin, George Washington, and Bobby here, I think we are ready to move on. Hopefully I'll find something else to celebrate by Monday. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Happy Presidents' Day

Okay, so JFK Jr. was not a President himself; I do think he gave the best related -to-a-President shirtlessness ever. Rest in peace. There are few Presidents that I would like to see shirtless, and since our current Commander in Chief has banned shirtless pictures of himself, I thought I would post Jon-jon instead. He may not have run for office, but he sure did spend a lot of time helping the cause.

In honor of Presidents' Day, I am going to spend the day being optimistic about the Presidential election instead of being angry. It is a pleasant change. I worry that I will get an ulcer before November from the sheer negativity of the campaigning, and today will be a kind reprieve from that. Happy Presidents' Day to me!

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Happy Birthday, Erin, With Love

Last night I attended a reception after a special performance of Qui Nguyen's "The Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G"where I met a Ma-Yi Board member and some of her friends that she brought to the show. The mood was festive and light after a fun show filled with mystery, dance-offs, hand to hand combat, and meta-theatrical devices, and Ma-Yi's Executive Director was kind enough to tell the ladies about my blog which began a lively discussion about who should be on the blog (Matthew McConaughey - no; Daniel Craig - yes). One guest, Erin, asked after Marc Sanchez. When I replied that I did not even know who he was, she suggested I look him up and post him. And when she later revealed that yesterday was her birthday, I promised a Sanchez post. So here he is, Erin! Thank you for supporting Ma-Yi Theater on your birthday. Those of us in the Writers' Lab appreciate the generosity of patrons like you who help maintain the Lab as a place that nurtures writers of Asian descent and helps us tell our stories.

Speaking of the stories of Asian people, I attended a meeting on Monday night hosted by the Asian American Performers Action Committee to address the issues of under-representation of Asian Americans in the theater. The New York Times reported on it, and I am tremendously proud of my friends and colleagues who worked so hard to start this discussion. I do believe the first step in progress is awareness of a problem, and I hope that the discussion can spur some change on stage to reflect the world will live in rather than the curiously white-washed world on many New York stages today. Until then, I continue to be...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS

Athletic Shirtlessness

I think it can come as no surprise that a woman who considers watching "Downton Abbey" on Sunday nights the highlight of her week is not a huge sports fan. That said, I did watch part of the Superbowl last night so that I could see Madonna's show and the commercials before changing the channel to PBS at 9pm. And being a New Yorker, I have to give a shout out to the New York Giants for winning what seemed like an actual close game. As I searched the web for shirtless photos of Eli Manning, I came across this video of shirtless athletes that has certainly caught me up on some of what I have been missing on the sporting front. I find it amusing that the highest percentage of these players are from soccer, a sport that actively encourages taking off one's shirt. I depend upon the VP to keep me updated on the soccer shirtlessness in the future, and I may have to start paying attention to the World Cup, whenever that comes around again.

In any case, it has been a poor week for posting as I have found myself swamped with work assignments. Work is good, and I am glad to have it. I do miss the good shirtlessness, however. I am headed off to Denver today for a short gig and will just excuse myself ahead of time for not posting on Friday. Since I am not sure of either my schedule or my internet access, I will just bid you adieu until February 17th, when I will be back in New York and ready to look for more good shirtlessness. Until then, I am...

Yours in shirtlessness,
Nandita
President
IMS