Tonight's event was great fun!

Thank you to all who showed up tonight at Housing Works NYC to see "Broadway Backstage," in which I sat sandwiched between Michael Kostroff and Arthur Anderson -- both of them wise and gracious gentlemen -- talking about Unnaturally Green, my little-memoir-that-could.

If you'd like a peek at what you missed, check out these videos on my Unnatural UStream Channel (and thank you to all who watched it live!).

Peace out, chickadees!

Playbill.com gave us a holler

Hey, fun friends! First off, today is Gentle Rambo's birthday! (He's my bf, in case you didn't know -- read about his rippling abdominals in my book. Or, get the popular coffee table book Hot Guys and Baby Animals, in which Rambo is featured holding a baby goat. I'm not joking about this.) Everybody wish him a happy birthday in your minds and hearts and possibly bake a cake and eat it in his honor. We'll be devouring a massive, sugar-filled brunch at Norma's ("the best brunch in NYC!") in a couple of hours to celebrate.

Secondly, Playbill.com's Steven Suskin mentioned Unnaturally Green in his most recent theater book roundup (we got a pic and everything!). Even though he admits to only paging through (but not reading the darn thing), it's cool to get another shout-out on a site as well-known and prestigious as Playbill. So, thank you, dudes!

Bye for now. Hug each other!

Hearts,
Felicia

Visit Hamburg and feel like a GIANT!

Check out this ridiculously awesome video of the "Mini Wonderland" (or should I say, "Wunderland") in Hamburg, Germany -- its most successful tourist attraction. (If small things made to scale don't particularly interest you, watch it just to hear the Augustus Gloopian narrator.)

Watch live video of my Jan 24 event

While the fact that ye Unnaturally Green readers are scattered across the globe makes my life more exciting and colorful, it makes interpersonal interaction tricky. Take, for example, my January 24 book event at Housing Works NYC. I want to meet you all! But, alas. Plane tickets are mad expensive.

Luckily, there is hope!

Thanks to my lovely assistant slash voice student Lesley (who is a veritable online-media-organizational guru), recently I discovered that I can stream video online -- LIVE! -- as the book event happens.

Want to plug in and watch it all go down? It's simple:

1. On Tuesday, January 24, at 6:59PM EST, go here. (It takes you to my brand spankin' new UStream Channel called "UnnaturalTV.")

2. Watch, laugh, and applaud, and imagine that I can see and hear you! I will do my best to hallucinate visions that each and every one of you is sitting before me.

3. There may be ads that pop up on the site during the broadcast (between 5-30 seconds long). Fear not! These will go away eventually. Feel free to express your frustrations by shouting, cursing, and/or waving your fist in the air.

4. If you're going to be busy during the actual broadcast, the event will (if all goes as planned) be recorded and posted for later viewing.

Questions? Comments? Y'all know the drill!

Hope you can tune in!

Love,
Felicia

Come see me talk books on Jan 24!

Come see me move my mouth while words come out! That's right: I'll be speaking about my lovechild/memoir Unnaturally Green at Housing Works in SoHo, NYC on January 24 at 7PM! The event is called "Broadway Backstage" and features fellow author-theater-people Michael Kostroff and Arthur Anderson. The event is free, casual, and will be oodles of fun. Yes: oodles. Bring your book and I will sign it, even if it's a totally random book I didn't write. Only kidding. Maybe.

Housing Works is a non-profit that provides support, housing, and services for New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS.

Deets, location info and more on Housing Works' official site >

Daniel Radcliffe is a baller

This past January 1, The Boy Who Lived ended his illustrious run in How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying. (I didn't ever get a chance see him. Sad face.)

But -- get this -- according to Playbill.com, throughout 30 previews and 315 performances, D. Radz didn't call out once. Not once!

Pretty incredible.

For everyone except his understudy.

Broadway will miss you, D. Radz! Come back soon, preferably in a show that combines all your prior stage turns -- singing, horses, full-frontal. They could update War Horse for you: make it angsty like Equus while infusing it with Priscilla Queen of the Desert dance beats.

I would see that.

--FLR

And the winners are...

This past week, readers nominated their friends and loved ones to win a signed and personalized copy of Unnaturally Green in our blog's New Year's giveaway. Many folks had heartwarming stories about why their person was deserving -- and I wish I could give away 12 copies! Instead, I only have three, to bestow onto three randomly selected winners. Here goes!

Congratulations to...

Marissa (nominated by Bryce)


Casey (nominated by Ashley)


and Quenton (nominated by Asher)!


Wooooo!

(Bryce, Ashley and Asher, please send me an email at felicia at feliciaricci dot com so I can collect contact information for your prize winner!)

Thank you to all who participated, and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Share the wealth (3 ways)

As of tonight, Christmas and Chanukah will both be over (sad face), but that doesn't mean the spirit of giving has to end. Here are three small ways to keep spreading cheer and greenness the world over.

1. Give to Kiva, a non-profit whose mission is to end global poverty. 

With the help of your donations, Kiva lends money to small businesses in developing countries -- a concept called microfinance. Maybe someone is looking to start a general store in Nicaragua, or a rice-selling business in the Philippines. Kiva's belief is that people will lift themselves out of poverty if given access to financing.

All of these businesses are looking for an extra boost to start earning on their own, and all it takes is a few U.S. dollars. The coolest part? Your donation is actually a loan: nine times out of ten, you'll earn back your investment. Which means you can then re-loan to more people in need. So $25 becomes $50, becomes $75, becomes $100 (and so on)...

Learn more here!

2. Pay for someone behind you at the drive-thru.

I love this idea, submitted by Amy, one of our readers. It's so simple, and yet I'd never thought of it.  It's like insta-good-karma.

Next time you're waiting at the drive-thru (as a New Yorker without a car, I'm practically nostalgic for this delightful suburban-y experience) and there's someone behind you, roll out some extra cash at the pay window and offer to cover the next car, too. It's easy and quick, and you can stay anonymous!

3. Enter the Unnaturally Green New Year's Giveaway!

To ring in 2012, I'll be giving away a signed and personalized copy of Unnaturally Green!

The only catch? You'll have to give it away (to someone who really wants it!).

If you'd like to enter, tell me who it is you want to give your copy of Unnaturally Green. Your neighbor who loves show tunes? Your cousin, who's never had a chance to see Wicked? Your fanatical aunt who can recite every one of Elphaba's lines?

Then, tell me about that person by (1) posting in a blog comment (below), (2) writing on the wall of the Facebook Fan Page, or (3) saying it in a tweet (be sure to include my twitter name, @feliciaricci, at the end).

One winner will be selected in the New Year. Anybody in the world can enter! (Yes, you can nominate yourself -- but the whole idea is to spread the greenness. Loophole: if you give the book away, your recipient can always lend it back...!)

Questions? Shoot me an email at felicia at feliciaricci dot com. Be sure to enter! (And tell your friends.)

Peace and love!
--FLR

Merry Christmas! Here is a song medley

In 2005, my younger sister Tessa and I wrote a 38-song medley while touring Ireland in the back seat of a van. Being surly teenagers with no attention span, we were bored by the miles and miles of countryside, and so decided the best way to amuse ourselves was to string together songs from all genres in a seamless though nonsensical flow.

Our only rules? No musical transition could be forced, and all had to garner approval by the Medley Board (me and Tessa).

Six years later, and we're still making medleys, even on Christmas. Here is our latest. We filmed it in one take, using no notes. Enjoy!

Friday Chuckle

Considering my fondness for coat hooks, I'm appalled I didn't think of this myself.

Source: Happy Place. Submitted by Hannah W.