Sketching for the Broadway....

A couple days ago I showed you my weekly sketch featuring new Broadway show, Next to Normal. Ironically, just after I had completed it, I received an e-mail from Rita Kitt, the wife of Next to Normal composer Tom Kitt. She asked about commissioning a last minute sketch to celebrate opening night. We were able to make it work out, and after a crazy whirling dervish of ink-slinging and an overnight shipping, the sketch was presented earlier to cast members and creatives. (The sketch features composer Tom Kitt, lyricist Brian Yorkey, director Michael Greif... and cast members Alice Ripley, Bobby Spencer, Aaron Tveit, Jennifer Damiano, Louis Hobson, and Adam Chanler-Berat.)

I'm really looking forward to catching this show when I visit NY in May. The music I've heard while researching it has been absolutely stunning, and friends who have seen the show have just been floored. Can't wait!

UPDATE: The reviews are in, and Next to Normal has received some fantastic notices. Congrats to the Next to Normal family!

The drawing board is getting crowded... some caricature commissions, a birthday card, and work towards putting my art on the proscenium of a production of Forbidden Broadway (at Musical Theatre West in Long Beach... on which creator Gerard Alessandrini is involved). Pimpernel is heading into its final performances too. So life is busy and full of art and music. I feel so grateful. Take care, all! Peace and love.

Lots of art and memories...

Hey all! I hope y'all are doing great on this Monday. I've been a whirling dervish of ink-slingin' amidst the continuing adventures with the Scarlet Pimpernel. We now have two more weeks of our run at the Welk Resort and folks are getting stir-crazy. I'm still enjoying the show (and the steady paycheck), but I've got to admit that I'm looking forward to getting back to the neighborhood.


As I mentioned, I've been sketching like a fiend. Two rather last-minute commissions landed in my lap towards the end of the week. I won't post them yet because they have yet to be presented (or even shipped). BUT I do offer for your perusal my latest weekly sketch over at my Facebook 'fan' page, "Squigs Knows His Lines." Next to Normal is a musical about a family dealing with their past, future, and mental illness. After quite a journey, it opens on Broadway on Wednesday. My best wishes are going out to the team for a fab reception on their official opening.


I've recently received some sad news. My first grade teacher, Mrs. Lori Van Leeuwen (nee Ohling) passed away last week. Here is a bit of a tribute that I've written...

I was in the first grade at Queen Anne Elementary in Lebanon, Oregon. It was a really fun year. Some of my memories include playing an elf in the holiday show, watching Pippi Longstocking at a school assembly, pretending I hadn’t just vomited so I wouldn’t be sent home from our field trip to the city jail, and winning a citizenship award (a plastic loving cup). And I really liked my teacher. Miss Lori Ohling had recently graduated from college and we were her very first class. She was fun and bubbly and I could tell that she really liked being a teacher.

At some point in the year, Miss Ohling gave us an art assignment that would be entered in a contest. I remember little about the project except that I drew a barnyard full of animals, some of which I had to look up in books around the house. But what I do remember came weeks later.

I rarely stayed late after class, but for some reason this particular day I was still gathering up my things and was the last one in the room as Miss Ohling looked through some mail. I was almost out the door when she screamed. It startled me, but as she started jumping up and down, she proclaimed, “OH JUSTIN, YOU DID IT!!” I had placed first in the art contest and had received a prize of ten dollars. It’s funny… as I think about it, the most vivid memory wasn’t the money which was a decent little sum for a first grader to deal with. What sticks with me most is the incredible reaction of my teacher, such outspoken pride and joy. Her support in that one moment has stayed with me throughout the years. I have received amazing support in my life. My parents and grandparents and other relatives, other wonderful teachers, and mentors of all kinds, but there’s something special about Miss Ohling and that wonderful reaction.

Mom just let me know that Miss Ohling – or more recently, Mrs. Van Leeuwen – passed away last week at the young age of 54. I sincerely regret that I never sought out the opportunity to express my thanks. I actually kind of ache right now. I really hope she knew the difference that she made in young lives.

Teachers, thank you for all you do every day to show kids that they are special. It makes a such difference.

Just so I don’t leave this post on a sad note, I want to tell one more story about myself and Miss Ohling. When I was in the first grade, the nation was in a Star Wars frenzy. On the playground, when we weren’t pretending to be members of the band KISS, we were swinging imaginary light sabers (or “light savers”as I referred to them). But I really wanted to fight off the Stormtroopers with more than just twigs I found under the big fir trees near the baseball diamond. My young scheming sent me on a quest through our big house on the corner of Oak and Williams. I found a possible weapon under the sink in the bathroom. The next day, a giggly Miss Ohling was forced to call my mother and inform her that I had been fighting the forces of the Dark Side with a rather skillfully decorated tampon. Oops.

Well, after a heartfelt yet wordy post, I offer my best wished to all of you. Take care, loved ones. Peace and love.